CHAPTER!TWO
Aftershock
Emily Chamberlain, aka Omega Pink awoke with a mild gasp some time later with a splitting headache. She moaned and brought a gloved hand up to touch her forehead… only to feel it tap up against the hard, not quite metal, material of her crowned helmet… She was currently morphed…
“My friends!” she bleated as some of it came rushing back to her, with a smooth practiced movement she rolled off of the surface she was laying on and rose to her feet… but then a dizzying wave of nausea overcame her. She uttered a clipped “O-oh- uuuuohhh…” before her ordinarily able thighs turned to jelly, her knees drifted inward toward one another and she collapsed down onto them. With seemingly no strength to stop it from happening, her upper body then pitched forward, but luckily she managed to get her sluggish arms to cooperate enough to get her forearms down against the ground just preventing her from slapping helmet first into the earth.
She ‘stood’ there, panting, on her forearms and knees for what felt like an eternity before her head stopped spinning.
What’s… going on? Emily pondered desperately; panic steadily tingled up her spine while she started to try and piece together anything to explain her current predicament. She had to look at her gloved hands one more time just to remind herself that she even was in her Ranger uniform,
I’m a Power Ranger? She reassured herself,
So… why do I feel… so weak?
She could not afford to be weak right now! Her friends were fighting that… that monster with her and… and she had to… how long ago had that been? Where even was she?
“Ngh… no!” She gritted her teeth. She wasn’t going to stand for this sort of thing! Get up Emily! You’ve been in worse scrapes than this! She balled her fists and, with monumental effort she pushed up off her forearms and onto the palms of her hands… she shook a little with strain but once she locked her elbows she had enough support that she could shift her right leg out underneath her. Once she felt comfortable the foot was solidly planted she carefully pushed off of it…
Emily succumbed to a brief moment of elation when she was finally up onto two feet… a moment that was dashed an instant later when she sighed out a despondent tone of understanding as she began to tip backwards and knew deep down that she could do nothing to stop it…
She did not strike the ground, instead she fell into a pair of arms. “Ah!” Emily cried out and squirmed pitifully, whose arms could these be but the enemy? “N-no! Don’t! Let me go!”
“Steady yourself Ranger,” the person, or woman rather by the sound of her voice, spoke soothingly. It did a little to assuage Emily’s fright… but not entirely, the voice had a degree of musical authority… but it was trilled, she didn’t sound right… before she could wonder any further at the potential monster holding her however, the acquaintance shifted her grip ever so slightly so that Emily rolled into her, when the Pink Ranger’s head tilted up from the crook of an elbow she saw the white helmeted head of what could only be a Power Ranger… it all came back to her now, even those final delirious moments of the white blur rescuing her…
“P-put me down…” Emily asked her. As if to indicate her intent to get up on her own the Ranger’s shining pink clad form wriggled, the silky material of their suits were a little slippery against one another but it wasn’t enough of a problem to even register to the stoic other.
“That would not be wise,” the White Ranger responded, she stiffly shook her head, “You will probably faint again if I allow you exert too much effort, it is astonishing that you even managed to rise to your feet at all.”
She would probably
FAINT?… faint
AGAIN? What was that supposed to mean! Emily felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment and was mildly thankful for the helmet. She would not just have… have fainted like a defenseless damsel! She was a Power Ranger! Power Rangers did not… they did
not faint!
But maybe she had been knocked out? Her head was still splitting… Emily decided she ought to at least figure out what was wrong with her first? “What… happened to me?” she finally asked, “I… I feel…”
“You and your team were defeated by Empress Medula of the Crimson Collective,” the White Ranger explained. “She is an extraordinarily powerful being, you must have drawn to deeply from your Power Core when you attempted to wrest yourself free of her grip”
Defeated… despite herself, Emily shuddered in the White Rangers grip… and she hated herself for it.
“My… Power Core?” Emily asked, as much to cover up her momentary lapse of emotional weakness as to know.
The White ranger’s head tilted to the side quizzically. After a short pause she said, “You do not understand even the most basic principles of your abilities do you?” The chastisement burned just a little bit… the White Rangers voice was devoid of reprimand or disappointment as she spoke, they were words spoken simply as matter of fact, “It is no wonder that Medula has rendered you so helpless.”
The Pink Ranger felt so much heat built up within her helmet she was certain her redness must be visible even through her Ranger gear! Her breath caught somewhat short…
Why… does she have to-to say it like that?
“You need to let your core recharge,” the White Ranger pressed on, oblivious to Emily’s predicament, “It is safe for you to de-morph here. You shall find that for the time being your ordinary form will be stronger than you are now.”
But if I de-morph… she’ll see how embarrassed I am! “N-no!” Emily gasped, just a little too emphatically. She could not do that! Not right then, “I… We should return to Ranger Central… it should be… safer there.”
“Oh… you have a headquarters? Excellent,” the White Ranger remarked and before Emily realized what was about to happen, she uttered a mild squeak as she was scooped up into her… rescuers arms. She could just die of shame! “Where should I go?”
“I… can activate the teleport from… my belt…” Emily told her… but felt her shoulders shrink even further when the white Ranger shook her head no.
“In your present condition it is better not to risk it.”
Of course it was better ‘not to risk it’ for poor
helpless Emily! She bit her lip before she realized she’d been lapse and forgotten something more important than her own soiled pride. “Wait! My friends they…”
“I’m afraid to report to you that your friends are in no condition to aid us at this time,” the White Ranger’s voice dipped low as she said this, a tinge of sadness seemed to overcome her, “You’re medical professionals were able to collect them from the scene of the attack… rest easy Ranger, they yet live… but we should speak of these things somewhere less open.”
“O-okay…” Emily tried not to sound shell shocked. “But… I’ll have a lot of questions. I’m… Emily, by the way. Emily Chaimberlain.”
“Lumara,” the White Ranger responded, bobbing her head in what almost appeared like some sort of attempt at a bow that was only blocked by her armload of precious Pink Ranger, “Lumara Synergon… where do I take you Emily?”
Emily sighed and relaxed in Lumara’s arms… resigning herself to be carried like a waif for the time being as she pointed a direction… it wasn’t like Ranger Central had a Street Address , “It’s this way…”
* * * * *
Turn Around!
Medula was screaming at herself silently. Her eyes were glued ahead out the front viewport of the landing craft cockpit, her hands were in death grips on the control stick and throttle while for some reason she simply could not make her body respond to what she was thinking.
What are you doing! You could have killed her right there? You should have just killed her right there! It was over! Now it isn’t! Now it may never be over!
“It IS over,” she mumbled at herself, her eyes were wet and she realized as the first tear began to roll down her cheek that she’d forgotten to blink!
She certainly wasn’t crying. She slammed her eyes shut and back open to relieve the strain.
It was never over. That’s what she was coming to realize. She’d only thought it was over! What a fool she’d been! Thinking that they were all gone! How could she? How could anyone be so confident in the eradication of an entire species as to assume that one might slip through the cracks?
She released her hold on the control stick and clutches at her face, a gesture that covered some of the skin around her mouth and the eye ports of the Medula Mark 1. She let out a sound like a scream or a growl. Wynken, always the first to know when its mistress was upset helpfully slammed hard into the mostly broken door between the cockpit and troop area. The door finally smashed completely off its supports.
Go Back! Kill them! The tirade of self defacement continued… but the logical part of her brain was already countermanding it. It was too late to kill them, the Rangers wouldn’t be where she could easily find them anymore.
She’d blown it. There was no going back now.
You left General Zultch! You coward! That thought at last broke through the shell she’d been constructing around herself. Her skin prickled in goosebumps. “Oh Gods…” She slammed on the afterburner. She would run out of fuel if she turned back now, one glance at the counter told her that, but as soon as she was back in the Fallen Palace she could use the mothership’s sensors to locate her General and get him home.
If she hasn’t killed him already…
“No!” Medula slammed a fist into the dash. No! She wouldn’t think about that. He’d be fine. He was a good soldier. He was a survivor, like her. He’d make it.
* * * * *
Emily was so used to the sensation of morphing at this point in her life, that awesome moment when she transformed from an average young woman into a Superhero! She’d always reveled in it. It was like a broadening in her chest, like a glowing hot ember of pure strength that fueled her limbs with health and vigor…..
Emily was not used to what she felt that afternoon when she finally de-morphed at Ranger Central. Nothing in her life had ever felt more… wrong. It wasn’t right that what had made her so powerful had become so weak! The sensation of that energy running off of her, but feeling stronger for the absence of that energy… it felt like a perversion, and even though she knew that being a Ranger wasn’t a ‘sentient’ power or anything like that… she nevertheless thought a silent apology,
I’ll never feel like that again, she swore,
I’ll never let any Ranger feel that again!
She’d gone ahead and had Lumara leave her in Ranger Central’s gymnasiums changing room, so with her ordinary human condition apparently more than strong enough to walk, Emily made sure to really set her shoulders and hold her head high when she left the dressing room for the Briefing Room. She had a few questions… and accusations, for the mystery Ranger.
“Welcome back Emily,” AVA, the headquarters AI greeted her. The soft almost motherly tone of it was comforting after all that occurred. “I am so sorry about the others, If I had suspected Medula was coming personally I never would have... I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Thanks Ava,” Emily put her hand down on the nearby control console and looked down at the ground which caused her long auburn hair to hang down past the front of her shoulders… “I know… none of us were prepared.”
“I’ve been monitoring the situation at the Angel Grove Medical Center. The team is alive… their identities are unfortunately now public, but in their condition that’s to our benefit as they are being provided the best care possible. They are even flying a neurological team in from the New York area.
“The Hero treatment…” Emily mumbled and nodded solemnly. So her friends were alive… but needed a neurosurgeon or something like that? She felt that bead of worry for them in her stomach intensifying.
“Correct, i-in the meantime, I’ve been speaking with our incredible new friend!” Eva’s synthesizers pressed out optimistically, “She says…”
“That your friends are Rangers and strong,” Lumara spoke up for the first time since Emily had entered the room, apparently she wasn’t willing to be spoken for. The White Ranger was standing where it looked like she might have been pacing a few feet away from the console and surrounding furniture. Emily was a little surprised when she looked up to see that Lumara was still in her ranger gear… but was more interested in what Lumara was saying for the time being to make a note of it, “They have been gravely injured, it is so, but a Ranger’s physiology is strong. I know not when they shall return to us, but I am absolutely confident that they shall. In time.”
“Us?” Emily asked. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was even asking.
“Yes, us?” Lumara’s head tilted, she stated it like fact, but there was a degree of strong emphasis In her voice as she added, “Rangers.”
Emily felt a strange outpouring of
something in response, much too great a something to quantify or categorize… “We were lucky that you showed up when you did. Thank you for your support.”
“It was my privilege,” Lumara actually bowed, almost regally, at the waist. When she rose back up she said, “You will have questions?”
“I do…” Emily nodded again… though not as many as she thought she would. They’d already covered her friends, which was the majority of her main concerns for the time being… and she wanted some time to herself, but she did have two very important questions that couldn’t wait, “Just a couple for now.”
When Lumara nodded a ‘go ahead’ Emily asked, “Power Cores… what’s all that about? I’ve never felt like that before… not ever and it isn’t like we’ve never been up against long odds.”
“Your Power Core appears to be present primarily in your morphing device,” Lumara answered, she pointed to the rectangular device clipped to Emily’s belt which took the form of her belt buckle once the Ranger transformation was complete, “I shall need time to confer with your Advance Voice Assistant to understand completely but…”
“Please just Ava,” Ava interjected, she sounded embarrassed “Designations make me feel naked.”
“Noted,” Lumara nodded at the console. Due to a tendency to sometimes speak stiltedly and with care, Emily had at first wondered if Lumara herself was a robot… but the more she studied the Ranger the more she began to recognize a more militant attitude. Lumara was probably a soldier, wherever she came from.
“As I was saying, while your Core seems to be located within that device, it seems to act predictably with my experience in function. It is, in laymen’s terms, the well of Power that allows you to be a Power Ranger.”
“Alright, but then why do I feel stronger now than I did when I…” Emily clenched her fists, “if it’s all power, why did I feel like that at the end?”
“Your core fuels your powers… but the transformation you make to be capable of utilizing your core is actually quite taxing. Your physical body, as point of reference
no physical body, is capable of acting as a Ranger on its own without a core to provide energy. When low on core energy, a body is essentially pulling the weight of being a Power Ranger itself. The power becomes a strain upon the it, demanding more energy than it can provide”
So my body wasn’t strong enough, Emily snarled the unspoken addition at herself. So she’d have to be extra careful from now on. She wanted more specifics about the core, how to measure her usage of it, anything it took to never feel that weak again… but that could wait till she’d had some rest.
“One more question then,” she took a deep breath, scowled and her frustrations came boiling out of her, “Who are you? Where did you come from! Why haven’t you… we’ve needed you! For a long time! Not just… and you waited till now? When…” Her anger continued to spill out until she realized that her words were hitting Lumara hard. The White Ranger’s head was lowered and turned away.
“Emily… this is not her fault,” it was Ava who spoke up, “Lumara only just arrived here, I tracked her arrival personally.”
“What do you mean? Where was she?” Emily wasn’t ready to let go of her anger just yet. Wherever Lumara had come from she’d have had access to a TV and national news! She wasn’t going to get off that light!
“I mean that I tracked her entry into Earth’s atmosphere only a few hours ago,” Ava dropped the bombshell. Emily’s mouth slowly gapped open as she realized the implication… It should not have hit her so sideways, she already knew Medula and her minions were Alien… but a… an
Alien Power Ranger?
“I was not here…” Lumara spoke up, solemnly, as she reached up to tap the side of her helmet, the saucer areas creased and clipped out to the sides. Emily realized that Lumara was taking off her helmet. “but I wish it had been otherwise… young Ranger, I wish more than anything I had been here to protect you…”
Lumara slipped her helmet completely free and secured it neatly under her shoulder. The being that now looked across the room at Emily was… beautiful unlike anything the young woman had ever seen. Lumara’s skin was white yet shone like alabaster, her eyes like pools of purest blinding light while glowing golden blonde wisps of energy rose off her crown like shifting curls devoid of gravity.
The beautiful woman put her free fist to her heart and bowed once more, “Emily Chaimberlain… I ask your forgiveness for my tardiness. Though I know I have arrived as soon as I could, great hardship may have been avoided were I…”
“Stop…” Emily interrupted and held up her hand… she could not hold onto her anger any longer… it was clear to her now that none of this could ever have turned out any different, “I believe you… it’s okay. You don’t need forgiveness.” She turned and started to leave the room… for though she no longer held any anger toward Lumara she didn’t actually want to be in the same room with the Alien just now… it hurt to lose that anger, she needed time.
When Emily was gone, Lumara slumped against the nearby wall and stared blankly into the hallway that her new friend had disappeared off into.
“Yes,” she whispered to no one, “Yes, I do.”
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