ACCESS PART 2.
The medical bay at the base of Zone C had two new guests: Kal-El, the red Ranger who had been mercilessly attacked by a strange creature half cheetah and half human, and Major Wayne, who nearly sacrificed his life for save the life of Diana Prince, the blue Ranger.
Kal had only received several scratches, which fortunately would heal soon without leaving scars, but he had to use the different suit the next time he would face that creature to avoid further scratches. Kal was not someone accustomed to pain, but obviously nobody would know that until something bad happened to him. His fellow Rangers, they remained around his bed waiting for him to wake up.
Diana had saved Kal from a painful fall, but Major Wayne saved her from dying or from being badly wounded by a laser gun, so she was waiting for him to be fine.
Kal woke up half an hour after falling unconscious. While he was unconscious, he was very traumatized to see the girl who he wanted to impress become a murderous or aggressive creature against him. But he was more nervous because this meant that Lois had been kidnapped, since the creature also had red hair, and Lois was a brunette, which made the theory more viable that Lois had been replaced by her.
"Hello, partners." Kal said as he sat up feeling a bit of pain. When he felt discomfort in his torso, Kal lifted his shirt and saw a set of bandages around his torso. "This is terrible." Kal said as he touched the bandages on his body. He had never used bandages, and he had never been beaten so easily, especially by a woman or a woman-shaped creature.
"Obviously you'll have to tell the commander what you did, if he survives." John said with a stern expression, but was also happy to see Kal in trouble.
"Where is Diana?" Kal asked, as he
"She's with the commander, Kal." Shayera replied.
Kal stood up and saw Diana and J'onn staring with concern at Major Wayne, who lay in an unconscious bed. Kal put on his uniform jacket very gently and went to the bed where his unconscious boss lay.
"How is he?" Kal asked.
"He received a laser shot that was muffled thanks to the fact that he had protective plates, but he suffered a lot of damage to his back, which left him unconscious." J'onn answered before speaking again, but this time from Kal's state. "You got several scratches on your torso, but you'll be fine."
"Is he going to be okay?" Diana asked, who did not stop looking at Major Wayne.
"He's going to be fine, he's stubborn and strong-willed. Also, he is someone who can not stand defeat, which makes him very annoying at times." J'onn said.
"Cadet Allen is much more annoying," Major Wayne said in a whisper.
All the Rangers smiled when they saw that their commander was alive, but Diana was happier. They all put a hand on the commander's shoulders to cheer him up. Major Wayne tried to sit up. All the Rangers grabbed Major Wayne's limbs to keep him from moving.
"No, commander." J'onn told him. "You must rest."
"If I rest, everything goes out of control." The commander replied while still trying to get up. The Rangers put their hands on each of his limbs to keep him from moving. J'onn went to a table where there was a briefcase, opened it and took out a purple bottle. He put the purple vial on a needle shaped like a gun.
"Commander," J'onn said as he approached him. "If you do not want to rest, I'll force you." Major Wayne relaxed, so the Rangers released him.
"Well, I'll rest." Major Wayne said. "But before that, I want to know how it is that a woman we do not even know managed to access the base without triggering alarms."
"Thanks to the security cameras, Kal and I have seen it before," J'onn said. "Her name is Lois Lane, a rookie reporter from the Gotham City Journal. Or at least, that criminal replaced her and tried to kill him."
"How did she know where to get a gun?" Commander Wayne asked almost shouting. "How did she enter here without activating alarms?"
Nobody said anything. He did not want any trouble, but J'onn thought that this must be related in some way to Kal. J'onn thought about talking, but Kal had to be honest. Just as the other Rangers thought of betraying Kal, but they knew that this was only for Kal, not for them.
"It's my fault, commander." Kal said stepping forward with his head down. "I allowed her unlimited access to the base, but I thought it was Lois Lane, not that creature that tried to kill her. I'm sorry, commander." The commander said nothing until after a full minute.
"We'll have to talk about that later," Major Wayne said. "Now you must find that criminal scum, stop her and rescue the reporter that Kal introduced to the base. J'onn? "He concluded.
"Right away, Commander Wayne," J'onn said as he approached Major Wayne. "But you must rest." J'onn quickly nailed the needle to Major Wayne and injected the purple liquid. Major Wayne tried to fight, but he closed his eyes and his body relaxed.
"What did you do to him, J'onn?" Diana asked as she looked still worried at Major Wayne.
"I only injected him with a sedative. It's for him to rest, Diana. "J'onn said as he put the syringe on a table. "Come on, we have a mission to fulfill."
All the Rangers began to follow J'onn out of the medical bay, except for Diana, who stood looking at Major Wayne.
"Diana?" J'onn asked.
"Give me a minute. I accompany you later to the conference room. "Diana answered without turning around.
"Do not delay, Diana," Kal said.
When the Rangers and J'onn left, Diana finally had another moment alone with Major Wayne. She moved closer to him, and put her right hand in his left hand. She could not believe that this man had risked his life to save her, since she did not remember any man doing that, and even noticed some concern when he called her name when he jumped in front of her. This man was different from Kal, and everyone else, which left her more interested in knowing this man. But now, she had to stop that creature that kidnapped Lois. Diana wanted to thank him, so she approached him and kissed him on the cheek. Diana went to the conference room.
The Rangers saw the location of the strange creature in a building in the northeast of the city. They expected him to be there, especially Kal, who hoped that Lois was safe. J'onn spoke,
"Listen Rangers, after watching the security videos we have seen the creature that you faced, and there is nothing in our database." He paused a moment analyzing the situation. "But we must stop her, and rescue the hostage. I wish you the best of luck, Rangers. "
The Rangers started walking, but Diana asked Kal to talk to her alone. Kal accepted and they went to a hallway alone.
"Kal, I think I know what we're up against. So I could go and stop it alone. Let me go, please." Diana asked.
"Diana, I already made that mistake and it almost killed Wayne, I can not sacrifice another." Kal said very disturbed by how things had turned out.
"Then let me go, Kal." Diana said again. "Unless you do not want to rescue Lois."
"I think it will take us about five minutes to get to the hangar." Kal said very annoyed. "I order you to come before us."
"I will not fail Kal." Diana said before running to the hangar.
Kal returned with the other Rangers for five minutes, knowing he had to settle his affairs with John. When the five minutes ended, the Rangers went to the hangar, obviously, the male Rangers would use their bikes, but Kal saw that his was not there.
"Diana!" Kal shouted his name. "Shayera, do you have one more place?" Kal asked as he walked towards Shayera's vehicle. John and Barry were smiling, as was Shayera.
"I drive, Kal." Said Shayera. Kal climbed in and waited for his bike, Lois had to be fine. Now Kal had to trust Diana.
XXX
Diana parked Kal's red motorbike a block from the house, from which the tracker pointed out that it was the place where the mysterious criminal creature was. Diana knew that she had to act well but she had to get in slowly, since Kal was trusting her and a life was at risk. For this time, she had to be careful. Diana reached the door, opened it and entered the house. She did not study the plan of the house because it was small and she did not think she needed it. She slipped on tiptoes to the center of the living room of the house. Thanks to her viewer, she could see some stairs, but the place was dark. Diana used her Morpho to use a flashlight to see. Everything was fine, until a yellow light came on and saw that there was the creature that easily defeated Kal.
"Hi, Diana," the creature said as it descended the stairs.
"Hi, Minerva." Diana said.
"I knew you would go after me, that's why I did not remove the tracker, because I knew you would not come here if I took it off," said the creature, while pulling out the tracker that J'onn put on him and destroying it with her claws. "Now I'll fulfill my job."
"Why are you doing this, Minerva?" Diana asked, wanting to reason with her. "When we were on Themyscira and you were a great friend. What do you enjoy while doing this?"
"We were never friends. We fought that day against those evil men, but you left me for your sister. You did not try to rescue me, and to top it off, those men gave me ruthless women who experimented on me, and used me as their laboratory rat, but I took revenge on them, without your help. Then, I realized that it was better to eliminate people and get great rewards in return."
"Then you just wanted to get revenge on me, Minerva?" Diana asked, who could not help feeling sorry for her.
"I'm no longer Minerva, I'm Cheetah, a paid professional killer, and my mission is to eliminate you: the daughter of the queen of Themyscira. Although they can pay me twice for eliminating the insignificant commander who tried to save you. I managed to locate you after a long time, and thanks to the red loser, I located you and I had unlimited access to eliminate you. Now I will finish my work."
"That insignificant man who saved me is still alive. Like me." Diana answered.
"Then we'll fix it the old way: with a single shot." Cheetah replied as he drew her gun.
"Justice League, activate." Diana said using her Morpho, becoming the blue Ranger.
"One, two ... three." Cheetah said.
The two women shot, Diana was not shot, but Cheetah fell to the ground. Diana approached her. Cheetah pressed a button and a gagged Lois Lane came out dangling from the ceiling. Diana saw Lois, when Cheetah raised to attack Diana, scratching her in the back. Diana turned around and punched Cheetah's stomach.
"Diana!" Kal shouted. "We are here!"
"Kal!" Diana shouted. "Lois is here! Help her!" Kal ran and saw Diana fighting the strange creature, but focused on seeing Lois gagged. All the Rangers were already in their uniforms.
"I'll release Lois, help Diana," Kal ordered.
Cheetah heard this, so she hit Diana in the ankle, causing Diana to fall to the ground, then Cheetah used a gun that she hid in her ankle and fired at Lois, but Kal jumped in front of Lois and was shot. At least his suit protected him. The other Rangers helped Diana as Kal pulled Lois out and untied her. Kal left Lois in the patrol car, and ordered him to stay there. Lois covered herself and Kal went to help.
When Kal returned, he saw that all his companions were on the ground, except Diana. Everyone tried to fight Cheetah, but she was faster and her claws were strong. Kal ran to Cheetah, who saw him coming, so she pulled Diana away and beat Kal again with her claws. Diana pulled Kal away from Cheetah and kicked her, but Cheetah intercepted her and scratched Diana in the leg. Diana walked away, punched her in the chest, which Cheetah also intercepted and scratched her but Diana distracted her and kicked her hard in the ankle. Cheetah fell, and Diana kicked him in the face. Cheetah got up but Diana hit her in the face before giving her a strong kick that sent her to the wall.
"Super cannon." Diana ordered. The Rangers used their Morphos and the super cannon was in front of them.
"Stop!" Cheetah shouted. "She is ...!" He tried to say Cheetah.
"Fire!" Diana shouted. The fireball shot out and hit Cheetah, causing her to break the wall and end up in the street. Diana approached her running.
"They will find out that you are ..." Cheetah started to say before Diana hit her in the head, leaving her unconscious.
"What happened?" Kal asked.
"Nothing. I left her unconscious to handcuff her. "Diana said as she handcuffed Cheetah. "Ask for the patrol, please." The patrol arrived and took Cheetah a few minutes later. John, Shayera and Barry left, but Kal and Diana took Lois to the Gotham City Journal.
XXX
Kal accompanied Lois to the office and explained why Lois had missed work. It turns out that Cheetah kidnapped Lois after Kal went to help the Rangers with the Thousand Eyes. At the entrance to the Gotham City Journal, Kal and Lois said goodbye. Obviously Lois thanked Diana for coming to her rescue.
"But can I still go to the base?" Lois asked.
"No, since my commander has already returned and I will surely receive severe punishment for all this," Kal replied timidly.
"Thanks for saving me again." Lois said. Then she leaned down and kissed Kal on the cheek. "Well, then we'll see each other again. We planned it, right? "
"Yes." Kal replied. "See you."
"See you," Lois said before entering the offices. Kal and Diana started walking towards the vehicle.
"Do not steal my motorcycle again," Kal said.
"It was only this time Kal. Besides, you do not have to worry about me, you know? "Diana replied smiling.
"Yes, I know." Kal replied very nervous, although he was happy to have received a kiss from Lois.
XXX
John, Shayera and Barry looked and laughed at Kal, who was cleaning the outside wall of the main entrance using a toothbrush.
"So Commander Wayne punished you by making you clean the outside wall with that brush?" Barry asked.
"Not only that. Also the other walls and entrances of the base. " Shayera and Barry could not help but strike Kal on the shoulder.
"Well, we're coming later," said Shayera. "Maybe in three hours... let's see if you're done."
Barry and Shayera left leaving Kal and John behind. Although it sounded weird, Kal preferred this instead of sitting in the conference room all day while watching the city, but he could not help but feel bad for what he had done. John knew he had to solve this.
"I think Wayne overdid it," said John, who obviously was also amused to see Kal clean the walls with a toothbrush.
"Well, he told me it was for him to learn that access is restricted to journalists, and not even a cocky and arrogant red Ranger is immune to that." Kal answered as he kept his back to him.
"Cocky and arrogant?" John asked.
"He said worse things. It was not kind at all." John laughed a little.
"I'm sorry, John." Kal said as he lowered his head. "Maybe I'm a lousy Ranger. I treated you horrible and almost died the commander because of me. I should go." Kal cried; John put his hand on her shoulder. He patted him.
"You're not a bad leader Kal," John said. "You wanted to impress a girl, and you did, but you exceeded yourself." John took a pause before continuing. "But I would have done the same thing if I had tried to impress my wife." Kal stopped crying and turned to John.
"Your girlfriend?" Kal asked, very surprised.
"My wife," John said firmly.
"You are married?" John nodded.
"How did that happen?" Kal asked.
"We met at the base of zone A. We fell in love ever since we saw each other. We were both partners and dating in a short time. We were unstoppable teammates, and we always trusted each other." John said without stopping looking at Kal.
"What happened?"
"After two years of dating, she got pregnant. She tried to continue serving in the league, but her pregnancy was discovered. They forced her to retire. Since she was forced to retire, I promised her that I would do everything to keep her and our son. Since then I have remained a soldier for the League, then they recruited me. If I die, my wife would be left with nothing, or she and my son would have a difficult life."
"What are their names?"
"Mari and Rex."
"Why do not I know them yet?"
"Because I promised her that when this place was safer, they would come to live here." John took out a toothbrush and began to clean the wall that Kal was cleaning. "You missed here."
"Hey, you do not have to..." He tried to say Kal.
"I want to do it, Kal." John interrupted. John and Kal started cleaning the wall. After two minutes, Kal started to laugh, but then laughed at a very loud volume.
"What?" John asked, but Kal was still laughing. "What's so funny?" Kal continued to laugh for ten seconds before stopping and telling John:
"Excuse me... but I'm using your toothbrush," Kal said before continuing to laugh.
John threw his toothbrush on the floor and left, leaving a laughing Kal. John went to Kal's room, entered it, and went to Kal's sink. John took Kal's toothbrush and rubbed it in his armpit. John put Kal's toothbrush in his glass and went to his room. He was not sorry to tell Kal about his marriage and his son, but he wanted this little revenge. Sadly, I had to wait four hours to hear Kal complain about his toothbrush.
XXX
In the conference room, Major Wayne watched attentively, through the monitor, at Kal to comply with his punishment. The commander knew that Kal was a good leader, but he had a lot to learn like the other Rangers.
After punishing Kal, Major Wayne returned to the conference room in an automatic wheelchair, as the wound he received from Cheetah's shot would leave him in that state for a few weeks. But he would not let this stop him from continuing to do his duty, although J'onn had told him that he should rest for an entire hour. The sound of the door opening interrupted his concentration.
"I told you I'm fine. I do not need rest. "Major Wayne said as he turned around, but his face softened when he saw that it was not J'onn who had entered, it was Diana Prince who was facing him in rest position. "Oh. Excuse me, Prince. I thought you were J'onn. "
"It's okay, Mr. Wayne." Diana answered.
"To what do I owe this visit?"
"It's very obvious. I want to thank you for saving my life. It was something I had never seen before. "Diana said while playing a little with her hair, as she was nervous to act like that in front of a man. "Thank you, Mr. Wayne."
"You are welcome. Anything else? "Commander Wayne asked as he waited for this conversation to end.
"Yes. I'd like to know..." She paused before continuing. "Why did you sacrifice yourself for me?"
"Because you are a Power Ranger. You are important."
"Mr. Wayne, I have met many men who never care about another person except for themselves. You can tell me the reason."
"That's the reason. You are Power Rangers, and Power Rangers bring hope to people. And I am expendable," The latter surprised Diana.
"What makes you say that?" she asks with a very sad face.
"Because people see you as icons. Nobody sees me, so it would not matter if I'm not here." Diana came over and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Mr. Wayne, you are the commander of this base, and now I see that without you we can not function. You are fundamental to this base, to this area, to us, so do not say that again. "Diana said looking at him fixedly. Bruce did not know what to say. Definitely this woman was bold and very smart about this. Literally no one had spoken to him like that in a long time.
"It's okay, princess." He replied with some shyness.
"All right. I'll leave but think about it, Mr. Wayne. "Diana walked away, but spoke again before leaving. "Do not push yourself too hard, Mr. Wayne. The last thing we want is to see you in the hospital again."
"I'll keep that in mind, princess." Said the commander with a poker look. Diana left, but she kept wondering what other secrets Major Wayne was hiding, something that seemed to be beautiful and bright. Meanwhile, Commander Wayne was constantly surprised at how his blue Ranger broke all his defenses and made him feel good. Major Wayne banished these thoughts and returned to watch over Kal.
You see? This was another moment for WonderBat, as was another moment in the friendship of Kal and John. I hope you liked it. Obviously, Diana's conflict will be seen later.
NEXT: A SINISTER PLANT, PART 1.