Forever Red v.2
Based on the original “Power Rangers: Wildforce” episode written by Amit
Bhaumik
Chapter
2 - The Mirror of Remembrance
Vile
rode hard across the wilderness of Dexta, gripping the reigns of his quadruped
dragon tightly in his wrinkled hands. He was accompanied by a horde of Tenga
warriors, who flew by his flanks, wings beating hard as they strove to keep up
with the pace of Vile’s scaly charger. Mountains loomed in the distance and a
red mist hovered in the sky, occasionally flashing oranges and pinks as distant
thunder rumbled and lightning flashed.
The
mirror was close by…
* * * *
Before
Rita, there was just a blank. Before Rita, there was nothing… Why was there
nothing?
The
man who’d been identified as Zedd stared at the ceiling of his cell, trying to
think… He indeed had no memories from before a certain point in his life,
though he could have sworn that his name had always been Edmund - what kind of
name was Zedd? All he could remember was being with Rita, and she, in return,
could only remember being with him. They’d lived happily on Vectra these past
few years, and had their one daughter, Elle… Things seemed to have been going
great, in fact, until now.
Elle’s
life was in danger unless he could remember who he once was. Yes, he had nightmares,
and he often dreamt of the most bloodcurdling things, but could a dream really
be the key to his past?
“Think…”
he mumbled to himself, fingertips clawing at the arms of his seat, “Think!”
What
did he dream of…? The worst nightmare he‘d ever had, he had to admit, was one
where he took a razor to his skin and peeled the lot off his arm; it didn’t get
much more grotesque than that, or much more nonsensical. He’d also dreamt of
dragons, white tigers, enchanted snakes, all-powerful crystals… Could any of
that tell him about who he was?
“Was
I an Emperor?” he went on; a sensation of former omnipotence hit him for but a
second, before it floated away again, leaving him with a feeling of déja-vu. He shook his head; this
was all just too weird. He wanted to know what had gone before, and why he
suddenly had known nothing of his past, but he wasn’t sure that the ‘new’ him
was going to like it.
* * * *
-- Carmorphen, Planet Vectra, Vika
Galaxy
Andros,
Red Space Ranger, was in conference with Trey, the Gold Zeo Ranger, who had
remained as guardian of the Vika system once the wars with Astronema had ended;
“Something isn’t right,” Trey disclosed quietly, “I have done my best to keep
an eye on these former villains, and things have gone well, until now…”
“What
has happened?” Andros asked, his tenor equally low.
“Zedd
has been taken. So has his child,” Trey replied, “I managed to get Rita to
safekeeping before it was too late, but I don’t understand what’s going on… I
fear that some evil force, untouched by the Wave of Goodness, is behind this… a
force that needs the assistance of the true Lord Zedd.”
Andros
swallowed, “They can’t turn back the clock, though… they can’t return him to
his former state.”
“We
had better hope not,” the Gold Ranger insisted, dourly realistic.
Andros
sighed again, shaking his head, “We must remain alert - there can be no good
behind all this.” He looked earnestly at Trey, “Keep Repulsa in your custody -
I’ll check up on the other who was spared… Divatox.”
* * * *
“You know, I’ve been thinking!” Divatox
mumbled as she stuffed her mouth with noodles.
Gasket watched her with ever the more
abhorrence, unable to relate to her hunger; “Yes?” he murmured.
Divatox put her fork and knife down,
chomping on her last, colossal mouthful, then said, “Lord Zedd - I reckon
there’d be another way to help bring back his memory.”
Gasket sat up straight becoming more
alert, “Really?” He leant across the table, set up in the centre of Divatox’s
cell, clasping his hands together, “Do tell…”
She had quickly picked up her fork again
and twisted some more of the pale noodles around it; “He had an enchanted staff
- do you remember it?”
Gasket nodded rigidly, “I do.”
“Well,” she went on, stuffing her mouth
with another wad of pasta, “His staff was actually a serpent, an immortal
reptile, handed down from generation to generation of Nimian Emperors…” She
swallowed her mouthful and burped; “Ooh, excuse me,” she laughed, putting a
hand to her mouth.
“I could tell you all this myself!”
Gasket suddenly shouted, slamming a fist onto the table, “I know of Zedd’s
heritage!”
Divatox grasped her bowl, making sure the
Machine Prince didn’t knock it off the table; “Yes, but this serpent will only
react to its master - it works for none other unless its overlord acknowledges
it.”
“So what?”
“Find the snake and give it back to your
‘human’ Zedd… I’m sure it’d bring back a few memories, especially when it
transforms to his personal sceptre in his hands. It’ll at least prove to him
that he was who you claim him to have been… and remember that this serpent is
an enchanted creature - they can work miracles.”
Gasket mulled this over in his mind - it
wasn’t a bad notion; “So tell me Divatox, my dear - where would one find this
snake?”
She shrugged, “Search me - do I have to
do all the thinking?”
Gasket left her to stuff her face and
returned to the bridge of his vessel. There, his princess awaited him; “How
goes things, my lord?” said Archerina, daughter of Aradon and wife of Gasket.
He sighed, shaking his head, “I’m getting
somewhere… just not quick enough.”
Archerina placed her slender, metallic
hand on her husband’s arm, “Patience, my love. Things may pick up speed.”
“They’d better do… the sooner I get my
hands on this ‘Demon of Destruction‘, the better.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The Machine Prince stared out from the
bridge into the cosmos, smirking, “Zedd was a fool to leave it out there, just
lying around, waiting to be found… and I’ll find it. I will.”
~~I will hunt you down in time
Will have you in my sight
Can see throughout this night
Will find your weakness now
You belong to me solely now…~~
* * * *
Vile’s dragon roared as he yanked its
reigns and brought it to an abrupt halt by the roots of a mountain, a dark,
cavernous place void of foliage and reeking of sulphur gas, which rose from the bowels of the
planet. The tengas all took perches on large boulders that littered the ground
and watched their master attentively, folding their wings into their sides.
Vile sniffed the air and dismounted,
patting his dragon’s flank and pacing forward; there was an opening in the
mountain base, a hollow filled with smoke and shadows. He was here.
Leaving the tengas on their roosts, Vile
walked blindly into the abyss, letting his finely-tuned senses guide him; his
eyes alone were no good for navigating through the thick smog that occupied
this tunnel. He trod onward for some time, feeling the uneven stony surface
crumple and crunch beneath his feet with every step. As he came closer to the
mountain’s heart, he sensed the power of the mirror intensify in his mind‘s
eye, and allowed himself a smile - it wasn’t far now.
Finally, he emerged into a volcanic
chamber, lit by magma that flowed in crevices far below. There, on a plinth in
the room’s centre,
was the mirror, a simple, rounded glass embossed within black, molten rock.
Whoever had placed it here had not intended for its next seeker to have an easy
trip, that was for sure… But it was the way of things.
The warlock stepped forward across the
cave, his trusty staff by his side, and paced about the podium until he stood
facing the mirror’s rear - he had no inclination to look into its front and see
his past. He then cast his cloak over it and took it into his hands, smirking
wickedly; it all seemed too easy! Just this one trek into the wilderness would
yield him Zedd and his wretched spawn; and then, he could finally be rid of
him…
TBC…
NB: “I will hunt you down…etc” words from the
song “Cross my Line” on the “Power Rangers: The Movie” soundtrack.
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