[FangRX]

Inside the Blizkon, Serpen stepped into the laboratory, closing the door and locking it behind her. She ran over to the figure sitting on a slab, wrapping a sheet around the form. “Are you alright?” she asked, clear concern in her voice.

Nodding, a mass of brown hair fell around a feminine face. “I…I think so,” she whispered. “Wait…where am I?”

“Someplace where you’re going to be safe. I promise,” Serpen said, putting her hand on the young woman’s cheek. “I swear. You’ll be safe here. If I can’t protect you here, I’ll take you someplace safe. I swear.”

The young woman nodded, shaking softly. “I believe you,” she whispered. “What’s your name?”

“Artemis,” Serpen said, her body melting into itself again, her light red hair springing forward again. “My name is Artemis.”

“What’s my name?” the other girl asked, looking up at Serpen, confusion in her eyes.
_____________________________________________

As the Rangers milled around the ship getting to work on repairing whatever Geeps couldn’t get, Drake--the newest addition in Silver--was busy learning the ropes of how the Rangers worked, each one giving bits of information about themselves, with the exception of Thomas. Drake sighed as he watched the Rangers interact, each of them laughing about random things, be it stories or memories from before they became Rangers.

“April?” Drake asked, the Pink Ranger pausing her DVD and popping out her headphones.

“What’s up, dude?” April asked, smiling warmly.

Drake sighed, holding his hand out. “Here,” he said, putting the Silver Ranger Key in her hands. “You don’t need me. You proved that a couple of hours ago. I mean…I did nothing during that fight. You don’t need a Silver Ranger. Not at this point in the fight.”

“Drake,” April said, closing her DVD player and standing up, looking at the young man in front of her. “We do need you. We just need to get things back up and running so we can get you integrated.”

“April, please. We all know that the only reason Thomas took me on was because I was an asset for five minutes,” Drake said. “I’ll see you around, kid.” He turned and walked out, dropping down into the crowded street before blending in, disappearing into the twilight sky.

“Drake!” April yelled, getting up and running out after him, looking around before she lost him. Her hands crossed in front of her, sniffling softly. “Damn it.” She ran back to the ship, sinking down into a chair as Demi and Richmond came out of the kitchen.

“April?” Demi asked, kneeling down beside her friend’s chair. “What’s wrong?”

“Drake left,” the Pink Ranger whispered, setting the Silver Ranger Key on the table. “Said we didn’t need him.” She sighed softly, watching Richmond pick up the key. “What do we do?”

“Survive,” Thomas said. “We did kind of shove him to the side last time. We didn’t give him a chance. No Shifts, no Megazord, no nothing. We did act like assholes.”

“Well, you did,” Demi said, smirking. “I mean, what the hell was with you today? You…really were a jerk to everyone, Thomas.” As Demi talked, nobody noticed the Pink Ranger slip out of the ship, disappearing into the crowds.

“I don’t know,” Thomas admitted. “I honestly don’t know what got into me.”

“Well, whatever it was, don’t let it happen again,” Richmond said. “Honestly, next time it happens, I’ll shoot you myself.”

“Get in line,” Alec smirked, looking around. “Hey, where’d April go?”

“She was here a minute ago,” Richmond said. “Maybe she just headed to her room. She was saying on the way back from the fight that she was a bit worn out.”

“I might have an idea where she’d go,” Demi whispered, the men’s eyes turning to her. “I know where she’d go.”
__________________________

Stopping at a flower shop, the Pink Ranger had managed to get the last of two dozen tulips and some petunias, walking through the city with the flowers in hand before taking a taxi to the Cemetery. Paying her fare, April got out and headed deep into the granite headstones, tears falling down her cheeks slowly.

Kneeling down in front of a grave, she removed the dead flower stalks and replaced them with the new ones, sitting on the ground in front of the gravestone. Inscribed were the words:

Here lies Virginia “Ginny” Underwood
Beloved Mother and friend
December 23, 1956--October 13, 2006

“Hi, Mama,” April whispered, dusting off the gravestone softly. “I’m sorry I haven’t been by lately. I’ve been busy with some friends. I know you’re watching me, so I won’t go into the details since you probably already know. I…it’s been seven years and I still miss you. I wish you would have taken me with you when you left…”

As the day wore on into the early night, April stayed beside the gravestone, never hardly moving except to try and find a more comfortable spot until a flashlight caught her eyes. She held her Caller and Key tightly, hoping she was only being found by the groundskeeper instead of a mugger. She really didn’t want to have to hurt an innocent civilian as a Ranger.

As the light crested over the small hill that her mothers gravestone was on, April put her Key and Caller away, seeing Demi. “April,” the Yellow Ranger said, her voice a sigh of relief as she hugged her best friend. “Don’t do that to me. I thought something bad had happened to you.”

“Sorry,” April whispered, hugging Demi back tightly. “I just wanted to see Mama, and I know the guys wouldn’t have understood.”

“Yeah, they would have. At least Alec and Rich would have. You know?” Demi asked, putting her hand on the gravestone. “Come on. Let’s go home. The Pay-per-view was getting ready to come on.”

“Summer Super Slam 40? Punk and Orton?” April asked, a small smile coming to her lips.

“Um, duh,” Demi smirked. “Come on. If we hurry we can beat the pizza man and have a couple of beers while we watch and drool over the semi-naked men.”

“Oh, you know me too well,” April said, smiling as she followed Demi back to the road. “But, one question. Why would we drool over semi naked men when we’ve got perfect hunks on the ship?”

“Touché, Ms. Month,” Demi snickered. “But, these are ones that fight for fun, not because the world’s in danger.”

“Yeah, I heard that,” April laughed, shaking her head.

As the two headed towards the exit again, April stopped and put her hand on Demi’s arm. “Hey, give me a minute, alright?” she asked, turning and ducking back, running down the far side of the cemetery before she found what she was looking for. Kneeling down in front of Andrea’s gravestone, the Pink Ranger put her hand on the marble. “Hey. I know that you’re watching us kick some major ass from above, Andrea, and…I’m so sorry we couldn’t save you. I hope you can forgive us. Trust me…we’ll get her for what she did to you. I swear.” She smiled softly, getting up and running back to Demi who had a confused look on her face.

“What was that all about?” the Yellow Ranger asked.

“I wanted to see Andrea and tell her hi,” April said. “When I was a girl, my mom used to tell me, “Appy, when someone passes away, you have to visit them occasionally or they’ll get angry with you.” So I made it a point to see her again. Her and Mama.”

Demi smiled softly, nodding. “You never told me that,” she said, wrapping her arm around April’s shoulder. “Come on, Pinkie. Let’s go back to the house and drool.”

“Alright, Twilight,” April snickered, walking with Demi out of the cemetery.
______________________________________

Two days later, the Empire started to get restless. Without orders to attack, they didn’t know how to fully function, Serpen being less then her usual leading self since Lothor’s…“disappearance”.

Serpen, having returned from her time in the lower labs, sighed as she watched the generals of her empire mill around, each of them looking for something to do. “Dimas,” she uttered, motioning him forward. “Take some Kelzaks and the first round of Eternaks and head to the surface. Just cause some destruction. It’s too quiet.”

“Yes, my queen,” Dimas said, motioning the Kelzaks forward. “Head to the landing bay, and I will meet you with the Eternaks.” When they didn’t move, he shoved some of them forward. “MOVE!”

Shaking her head, Serpen watched Dimas walk out before she turned to Vexacon. “What happened to Lothor?” she asked.

Laughing, Vexacon simply pulled up the surveillance video from two days before. As Serpen watched the footage, she had started wishing her cameras had audio instead of just visual. As Lothor was beheaded, Vexacon arrived on the scene and dragged the body off, the footage switching to a camera near the furnace, Lothor’s body being thrown in.

Serpen growled lowly in her throat, shutting off the footage. “I do not see why you are laughing, Vexacon,” she growled, standing and turning her back to the shark-headed ninja. “I see nothing about this that is funny. Not when you are next to be eliminated if you do not swear yourself fully to me. Like you should have done before.”

“My apologies, Lady Serpen,” Vexacon said, bowing his head. “I was walking by the room on my way to the Landing bay to go down to the surface when Dimas asked for my help.”

“Do NOT let it happen again, or what happened to Lothor will happen to you,” Serpen growled, her hair hissing and shaking violently. “Now get out.”

“Yes, my queen,” Vexacon said, stepping out of the bridge and heading down to his quarters, anger in his eyes. “You stupid woman. You don’t even know what’s coming for you.”

Serpen activated the communication systems, the other end of the line “ringing” before the being on the other end accepted. “Mitagas.”

“Ah! Lady Serpen!” the professor on the other side said, grinning as he typed on the computers. “Are you calling about the CyborEx program?”

“You know me too well, old friend,” Serpen said, smiling. “Is he ready for active combat?”

Nodding, the aged professor panned the camera around. “As soon as his Twin DioSabers are done cooking, he’ll be fully combat ready,” he said, looking at his creation. “It wasn’t easy grafting the CyborArmor on his body with how mangled he was, but I managed. He’s the ultimate warrior now, my queen.”

“Good,” Serpen said, nodding lightly. “Also, Mitagas. Thank you.”

“For what, Lady Serpen?”

“The other thing that I requested,” Serpen said, a rare sign of “humanity” in her silver eyes. “You don’t know what it meant that you could rewind what had happened with that subject.”

Nodding, Mitagas bowed his head. “No thanks are required. You and I have been friends how many years, Serpen? You asked this one for personal reasons, and I did not ask why, I just did. If you want to explain the reasons to me, that’s fine, but otherwise I won’t pry,” Mitagas said, smiling. “Now, I need to finish the DioSabers.”

“Of course, Mitagas. I’ll leave you to your work,” Serpen said, smiling softly before cutting the connection, her face and smile dropping and turning cold again. She sighed softly, putting her hand on her head before taking a drink out of a silver flask, shaking her head. “Goddamn it.”
____________________________________

April, having managed to get some time alone in her room, turned up her DVD player, thankful she didn’t need her headphones this time. Bobbing her head to the opening of the DVD’s first disk, she pulled a bowl of custard into her lap, dipping some breaded fish fingers into the bowl and grinning. “Now this is cool,” she grinned, chomping down on the custard-coated fish finger. A knock on the door made her pout, reaching over and opening it. She looked up at Richmond, grinning. “Hey!”

“What are you hiding in here for?” the Green Ranger asked, sitting on the bed. “And what the hell are you eating?”

“Hiding so I can watch some DVDs I’ve been meaning to,” April said, holding up the Doctor Who Series 1 Box, grinning. “As for what I’m eating, it’s Fish fingers and custard.” She held up an unbitten fish fingers before dipping it into the custard, twisting it and letting some of the excess fall off before holding it out. “Take a bite.”

Raising his eyebrow, Richmond cautiously took the custard coated treat, taking a bite of it. His face contorted in disgust before he slowly came around. “That’s good! Why didn’t we think about this before?”

“Because nobody wants to explore my weird food choices,” April giggled. She started the DVD again, growling in frustration as the alarms rang out. “Damn.”

She ran with Richmond out of her room, diverting to the kitchen before putting her custard away, throwing the last couple of fish fingers away. She met with the rest out in the main galley, looking at the monitors. “Yuck! What are they?!” she asked, pointing to the screen.

“Eternaks. They’re going to take all of us to beat,” Thomas said. “Upgraded Golbaks, they’ve got immense power. It’s going to take…all of our strength to make a dent.”

“Then let’s go,” April said, smirking.

“Jesus, what’s gotten into you? You’re awful eager for a fight, Appy,” Demi said, raising her eyebrow softly. “Did he wrestling match really pump you up that much?”

“Among other things,” April smirked, playfully bumping Richmond with her elbow, making the Green Ranger turn red.

Shaking his head, Thomas laughed as he watched his team interact. “Let’s roll, guys. Geeps, get the UQRs gassed up. We’re taking the quick way.”

“You got it!” Geeps chirped, hitting several buttons and causing the bikes to gas up, the engines revving from their spots inside the cargo hold. “Refuel complete. Quick Runners ready to ride.”

“Thank you much!” Thomas smirked. “Let’s go!” He led the Rangers downstairs, the back hatch of the ship opening and causing a ramp to fall, each Ranger blasting out of the ramp and tearing down the street, people moving aside for the multi-colored bikes that sped by in a blur.

After a few minutes of driving, the Rangers skidding to a halt and jumped off of their bikes, Thomas stood in the middle of the team’s “line”, Alec and Demi on his left with Richmond and April on his right. “Dimas!”

Turing around, Dimas smirked as the Kelzak Poisons and Eternaks stood beside him, stopping their assaults on the human population. “About time. I was starting to wonder if you’d ever come out to play,” he said. “Besides, I’ve got an old friend of some predecessors of yours that wants to play.” He snapped his fingers, a red crack appearing in the sidewalk before the Nighlok Negatron--looking rather decomposed--appeared, cracking his neck. “Negatron…welcome back from Hell.”

“I’d say it’s good to be back, but when Rangers are involved, it’s going to a challenge,” Negatron growled. “Lucky for me I know some better secrets this time.”

“Enough,” Thomas said. “Let’s Ranger up!”

“UNLEASHED ENGAGE!” Turning their Keys, the five Rangers transformed, going from their street clothes into their multicolored spandex forms of the Unleashed Power Rangers.

“Oh, shiny. Too bad it won’t help you!” Negatron laughed, rushing forward as the Kelzaks dispersed around the Rangers, starting to throw punches and attempt to hit them.

Thomas lashed out with his Saber, slashing one in the chest before coming face to face with Negatron. “What do you want?” he asked, trying to land a slash with his sword before Negatron caught it.

The three eyes on Negatron’s back glowed, the Nighlok grabbing Thomas by the neck. “You’re afraid of failing these losers,” he said, letting go before the Red Ranger exploded, flying backwards from the force of the insult.

“Thomas!” Alec yelled, lunging at Negatron before getting kicked in the stomach and slammed onto the ground. “Get off me!” He slashed out, missing and getting his sword knocked out of his hand.

“You’re too chicken to tell the girl you like that you want to stay. Don’t deserve her anyway,” Negatron snickered, Alec flying across the pavement as sparks flew off of his suit.

“Ok, I hate this guy,” Alec growled, standing up weakly and holding his chest where a few thin gashes were seen bleeding slowly.

“Thank you,” Negatron laughed, rushing Demi who dodged a few swings before he grabbed the Yellow Ranger’s arms and pinned them behind her.

“Hey! Get off of me, creep!” Demi growled, driving her foot back in an attempt to connect with Negatron’s crotch, only to end up on her stomach.

“Anorexic failure,” Negatron laughed, Demi yelping as she collided with Alec and Thomas like a bowling ball. “Strike!”

“Demi!” April yelled, jumping onto the Negatron’s back before slamming her sword into his side, making him yell out in pain.

“Oh, I’ve got the juiciest secret about you!” he laughed.

“No…don’t you dare!” April growled, yelping as Negatron spun around and knocked her off of him. “Please…don’t.” Her sword fell limply from her hand, fear in her eyes. “Please…”

“You’re just a scared little girl who’s afraid of everyone abandoning her,” Negatron laughed, April’s yell of pain as her suit exploded music to his ears.

The Pink Ranger hit her back, holding her ribs as she tried to sit up. Fear clouded April’s eyes, tears streaking down her cheeks behind the broken visor of her helmet, flecks of black plastic pierced into her face and making some small cuts that bled.

“April,” Richmond said, kneeling down and blasting Negatron in the chest, the Nighlok backtracking. “Come on. Let’s get you--”

“Don’t touch me!” April screeched, throwing Richmond aside and scrambling away from him. With cold fear in her eyes, the Pink Rangers suit fell away, revealing a broken young woman underneath.

“Negatron. That’s enough for now,” Dimas said, tossing Thomas onto the ground where he rolled to a stop. “We’ve done our damage for the day.” Turning and brushing his arm away, he vanished with Negatron and the remaining Poisons and the pair of Eternaks, leaving the Rangers to regroup.

“April, come here,” Demi said, running over to her friend only to get shoved away. “April?”

“Leave me alone,” April whispered, her Key and Caller dropping onto the ground before she took off running, leaving her UQR behind as she tore off for the ship.

“What the hell?” Thomas asked, stepping beside Demi. “Demi, what’s going on?”

The Yellow Ranger sighed, looking down as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. She knew about April’s past and she’d sworn never to talk about it unless April told her it was alright, but she knew that the boys needed to know. “Her mother left when she was eight years old,” she said. “Her father was an abusive jerk, always hitting her and making her a punching bag. She ran away when she was fifteen, and I met her a few weeks later. She broke into the house looking for food. When my mom saw how thin she was, April became a welcome addition to the family. My brothers liked her, but she stayed beside me until we graduated high school.”

“Then what happened?” Alec asked. He knew he shouldn’t pry into April’s life, but he wanted to help her. “Dem?”

Before the Yellow Ranger could answer, the four felt something tugging at them, almost like they were being called away before the four disappeared.
_______________________________

Throwing Dimas and Negatron into the wall, Serpen lashed out and slammed her fist into Negatron’s stomach. “Gorgon Conversion!” she snapped, two snakes on her head hissing as they stood up and turned Negatron into a statue, the Empire’s leader shattering it and leaving the pieces on the ground. “I send you to do something simple, and you don’t do it! Why shouldn’t I kill you where stand, Dimas!?”

“Because as of right now, spores that I crafted myself a very long time ago are weeding into the Rangers bloodstreams. In a matter of minutes, the four main Rangers are going to be stuck in our Ship where Mitagas will begin his testing on them for turning them into the ultimate warriors in your CyborEx Program, so that when the Outlying get here, you have nothing standing in your way as you conquer,” Dimas said, standing up and shaking his head out before hearing the sounds of teleportation devices.

Four black flashes later, the four Rangers stood in the middle of the bridge on the Blizkon, Demi and Thomas looking ready to fight while Richmond and Alec stood confused.

“Oh, hell no!” Demi snapped.

“Welcome to the beginning of the last day of your lives, Rangers,” Dimas smirked, throwing an electrical field around the Rangers as Alec lunged at Serpen, ten thousand volts of power being surged through the Blue Ranger.

“What do you want with us?” Thomas asked. He knew that if Serpen and Dimas wanted them on the ship that he and his team would be out for a fight to the death soon.

“That’s for us to know and you to find out, Thomas,” Dimas smirked, waving his hand. “Take them to the cells. Take their Keys and Callers and lock them up separately. Put the girl in my chambers.”

“Don’t touch her!” Richmond snapped, getting a fist into the mouth from a Golbak that knocked him into Demi, the Yellow Ranger helping steady him.

“I’ll be fine,” Demi said, noting the look in Alec’s eyes as well. “I promise.”

As they were marched off, Thomas noticed several small objects in the laboratories that they passed, objects that looked strangely like their Keys….
________________________________

Having run away back to the ship, April heard Geeps teleport her Key and Caller back into the Chest, the young Pink Ranger sinking into the couch before the alarm rang. “Damn... Now what?” she whined, not in the mood to fight.

“We’re getting a message, April,” Geeps said, tapping a few keys on the computer before Dimas’ face popped up. “You!”

“Hello, little birdie. And hello to you, Pinky Pie.” Dimas sneered.

“What do you want, you son of a bitch?” April growled, standing up. “It wasn’t enough to humiliate me with your stupid Nighlok? Have to taunt me in a video call?”

”Oh, no. That’s just the icing on the chocolate cake. You see….I want something that you’ve got. I want the Keys. But, I also have something that you need. Your friends. If you want them alive, bring the Keys to the coordinates I’m sending to your computer in two days. Until then, have fun trying to find me.” Dimas smirked.

“Bastard!” April yelled. “Give me back my friends!”

“Why? So that you can run away because you’re a scared little girl? I don’t think so. If anything, you’re going to come to me, Pinky Pie. See…it works like this. I’m the bad guy. I hold your friends lives in my hand. And something else of your Yellow Ranger friends, but that’s not here or there. So you see…either do what I want or I kill them. And then we’ll see how well one Ranger stands up to an Empire!” Dimas laughed, cutting the call.

April’s hand clenched, anger in her eyes. “This is not over,” she growled, cold fury replacing her anger. “Nobody insults me and kidnaps my friends and gets away with it.” As the Pink Ranger ran towards her room, she started forming a plan in her mind--one she hoped would save her friends, her own life be damned.