Rocky sat silently throughout Aisha's funeral. In the last two weeks,
he had seen his two best friends, his best friend's girlfriend, a teammate,
and his twelve-year-old replacement buried. He's not going to stop until
all of us are dead, Rocky thought bitterly. He didn't know how he managed
it, but he delivered his eulogy perfectly. It was a lot like his eulogy
at Adam's funeral, since until eleventh grade the three of them had been
inseparable.
After the funeral he went home, ignoring the rush of his brothers and sisters,
and locked himself in his room. With a sigh, he started cleaning.
"I'm worried about Rocky," Kimberly announced to the table
at large. Trini, Zack, Tommy and Jason all looked at her.
"Kim, we're worried about him too, but I don't know what we can do.
Adam's the one who talked to him after Justin died, and Aisha was there
for him when Tanya and Adam died. None of us know him the way those two
did," Tommy said gently. "Besides, according to Adam, when Rocky's
upset, he cleans. I don't think you'll have to worry about him doing anything
drastic."
"Still, I think I'm going to go talk to him after Lieutenant Stone's
done with us."
Jason shook his head. "I still can't believe the police are actually
getting involved in this. It must be Adam's dad who's pushing it. I really
wish we could just tell them the truth and get it over with."
"Me too," Zack agreed. "This is hell. It wasn't bad before,
when it was just monsters and putties who bit the dust. But now that human
lives are involved....you'd think Zordon would let us bend the rules."
They all sighed, a heavy sigh that reflected the pressures these teenagers
were under.
On the moon, however, Lord Zedd and Rita were enjoying a waltz. "Did
you see those talons, my dear?" Zedd asked in glee. "The way
they sliced through the Yellow Ranger's ribs like they were made of butter,
oh, it was glorious!"
"What are we going to do next, Zeddikins?" Rita purred. "How
many monsters are left in that book?"
"Oh, quite a few. There's one in particular that I've had my eye on
for quite a while, though, and I think now is the perfect time to deploy
it."
"Oh? Which one?" Rita's dark eyes glittered in anticipation of
the carnage to come.
"My dear, you've become quite bloodthirsty of late. I think I like
it." Zedd waltzed Rita over to the open book. "This one. Los
Lobo, the wolf."
Rita looked at the book, then up at Zedd. "Los Lobo? Zeddy,
even I know that's not proper Spanish."
"Ah, but Rita, darling, the name is perfect. This is the wolf that
is one, but many."
"Okay, Zedd, now I know you've lost it. Having your brains
exposed to the lunar atmosphere all the time has finally made you loony."
"Rita, just wait and see. This wolf is perfect."
Mrs. DeSantos opened the door and let Kimberly in. "I hope you
can help him, Kim," she told the girl. "He hasn't left his room
since the funeral. He hasn't even come down for meals."
"Whoa. I knew he was upset, but I didn't know it was that serious.
I'll try, Mrs. DeSantos." Kimberly climbed the stairs to Rocky's room.
"Rocky? Are you in there?"
"Yes. Why?" his voice came through the closed door.
"It's Kimberly. I brought you a sub from Ernie's. We're all worried
about you."
Rocky finally opened the door. He was still in his suit from the funeral.
The blue tie hung on his closet doorknob, and the jacket was hanging on
the back of his desk chair. Other than those two items, his room was spotless.
"Wow," Kimberly breathed. "Maybe I should have you come
over and clean my room." She handed Rocky the bag with the
sandwich. He put it on his desk, not even bothering to look inside. "So,
do you wanna talk?" Kimberly asked.
"No, not really. What's there to talk about?" he muttered.
"Hey, Rocky, we all lost friends. You're not the only one who's in
pain. Aisha was one of my best friends. Yeah, I know you knew her first,
but she was like my sister. Adam was a friend, too, and so was Kat."
"Kim, no offense, but you don't know what I'm feeling. It's just been
building up ever since Justin's death. I mean, he was my replacement."
"What was Justin like? The only time I met him, well, the circumstances
were less than perfect."
"Smart kid, a little headstrong, always upset because people treated
him like a kid. He was really good at martial arts, too. He was also reckless.
It's what got him killed."
Kimberly smiled. "Sounds kinda like Billy when he was younger. He
was always stumping the teachers."
Rocky continued. "I sent him to replace me because I thought he could
handle it. I thought the power would protect him. It didn't. Then, Tanya
was trying to protect me when Tigeron caught her. Adam, well, I think he
wanted to die after seeing Tanya killed. I know they're together now. I
just hope they're happy."
"I'm sure they are, Rocky. They were both good people."
"And with Kat, there was nothing any of us could do. The monster hypnotized
her somehow. She just demorphed and walked right into its clutches."
Kimberly shivered. No one had told her much about Katherine's death.
"And now, Aisha. I wanted to help her, but when that...thing...impaled
her, I was frozen to the ground. It was like when we found the Zeo Crystal
and Zordon pulled us to the Power Chamber. I couldn't move. I wanted to.
I tried, but I couldn't. I couldn't save her!" Rocky started crying.
Kimberly put her arms around him and just held on to him as he crumpled
to the floor. To an outsider, it would have looked ridiculous: a five foot
ten man being held and comforted by a petite, five foot two woman as he
sobbed. For Rocky, it was the outlet he needed. "I should have been
able to do something!" he moaned.
Kimberly held him and stroked his hair. "It's okay, Rocky, it's okay.
We all wanted to save her. It all just happened so fast, none of us had
the time." She rocked him gently as he cried until there were no more
tears to fall.
Awkwardly, Rocky got to his feet. "I'm sorry, Kimberly. I didn't mean
to..."
Kimberly handed him the box of tissues by his bed. "It's all right,
Rocky. We all need someone to cry on every so often." She smiled as
he swabbed the tissue over his face. "You're right, I don't know exactly
how you feel. I have some of your feelings, though. Like I said, Aisha
was the closest thing to a sister I ever had. Kat was my replacement. I
didn't really know Tanya or Justin, and Adam was always so quiet, I didn't
really get to know him that well, either. He was a lot like Trini, though,
so I felt like I knew him."
Rocky sank onto his bed. "Do you ever feel guilty about Kat?"
he asked quietly.
"Sometimes. I know I picked her as my replacement, but she had the
right to turn it down. Having fought against us, she knew what she was
getting into when she took the job. So yes, I do feel guilty that she replaced
me and was killed in duty, but not very often. Why?"
Rocky looked at the floor. "When Justin died, I didn't even go to
the funeral. I didn't think I could face his father. The man had just lost
his wife and his job. Now his son was dead. I told Adam that it should
have been me in that coffin, not Justin."
"Rocky, don't think that way!" Kimberly protested.
"I can't help it, Kim. I can't help thinking that I should have been
the one who died, not Justin. If I hadn't been so stupid when we were practicing
for that competition, it would have been me."
"Rocky, you don't know that. You yourself said that Justin was reckless.
You were, too, before your injury. We all were. Tommy was telling me that
after your injury, everyone was hesitant except Justin. Your injury was
a blatant reminder to everyone of their own mortality. If you hadn't been
injured, it might have been Tommy in that coffin, or any of them. In fact,
all of them might have died that day. But in a way, you saved their lives."
"But I couldn't save them when it really mattered. Out of everyone
that fought that day, only Tommy is still alive."
"But you tried! You did everything you could. We all did." Kimberly
sat down next to Rocky. "Rocky, we all tried to save them. All we
can do now is stay alive, for their sakes. We have to."
King Mondo presented Los Lobo to Rita and Zedd. "Zeddy, I just
hope you know what you're doing with this thing," Rita grumbled.
"Oh, I do, I do, my darling wife," Zedd replied. "Let's
get this thing cranking!"
Zedd and Rita chanted the ancient chant. The wolf came to life in a shower
of blue sparks, howling at the blue globe on the lunar horizon.
As the wolf hurtled to Earth, the three evil personages watched in a fit
of glee. "So, Lord Zedd," Mondo said. "I'm surprised. This
alliance seems to be working after all."
"Yes, King Mondo, it does. The Power Rangers' ranks are dwindling,
their hope is diminishing, and their outlook grows dimmer with each death.
Soon, Earth shall be ours!" Three voices filled the lunar night with
laughter.
Walking along the lakeshore, Rocky finally felt like he had found peace.
Kimberly had talked with him for most of the afternoon, then Tommy had
stopped by to see him, too. After their visits, he felt emotionally drained,
but better. Now, gazing out across the calm waters, he felt like he could
finally face his life.
Finding a dry spot of sand, Rocky sat for a while. The beach was deserted
this time of night, so Rocky could sit without being disturbed. He gazed
up at the pale globe hanging in the sky. The night was still early enough
that the stars couldn't be seen; just the moon, alone, in the rich, deep
blue of dusk was out.
"Strange," Rocky murmured, "that something so beautiful
houses such evil." In the distance, Rocky heard a wolf howl. Then
again, but closer, and closer still!
Rocky heard something behind him. Whirling around, he saw a large metal
wolf, steel body gleaming blue in the faint moonlight. Slowly, he brought
his wrist up so he could activate his communicator.
"Zordon," he whispered, "contact the others. There's a large
steel wolf at the lake." Rocky ended the transmission and looked at
the snarling wolf. "Easy," Rocky murmured. "Easy... Mountain
Blaster Turbo Power!" In the flash of blue light, he was the Blue
Turbo Ranger.
"All right, buddy, you and me, mano a mano!" he called
out.
"As you wish," the wolf snarled. With a clanking of gears, the
wolf stood so it was on its hind legs. "I am called Los Lobo,"
it snarled.
Rocky started laughing. He knew the gravity of the situation, but he couldn't
help it. "Get your Spanish right, buddy. It's either Los Lobos or
El Lobo," he said through his laughter.
Just as the other four Rangers transported in, Los Lobo snarled, "Oh,
I have my tenses right, Ranger!" Just then, the creature split into
two, then four, then eight. "I am Los Lobo, the wolf that is one but
many!" it howled. Three of the wolves sprung at Rocky. He leveled
his hand blasters and blasted them into cinders. Five wolves remained.
One wolf attacked each Ranger.
Tommy was doing well, holding off his wolf with the Turbo sword.
Trini was blasting hers with the Star Charges.
Zack neatly toasted his with the Turbo Cannon.
Kimberly was doing well with Wind Fire.
The wolf that was attacking Rocky was the main wolf. Rocky quickly found
his weapon knocked away. "Pathetic," the wolf growled. "You
really are pathetic, you know that? First, you send a helpless child to
his doom. Then, you stand by and watch as your two best friends die."
The wolf shook its head. "You really don't deserve to live."
"No!" Rocky growled. Unthinking, he rushed Los Lobo.
"Just what I wanted," the wolf growled, catching Rocky in its
claws. With no effort at all, the wolf removed the morpher. "Now,
you join your friends in hell!" With a savage rending of its claws,
the wolf had torn Rocky open from belly to neck. Satisfied, the wolf sat
back on its haunches and howled, an eerie, blood-chilling sound.
The other Rangers, finished with their wolves, turned at this. "No!"
Kimberly screamed.
Tommy leveled his sword at Los Lobo. "You're going down, you bastard,"
he screamed. The four remaining Rangers leveled their weapons at Los Lobo.
"Now!" Tommy called.
Four blasts of energy wound together, unerringly seeking their target.
With one final howl, Los Lobo was no more.
"Rocky!" Kimberly screamed. She ran to his side. His eyes were
still clear, filled with disbelief.
"Kimberly," he whispered.
"Rocky, you're going to be okay. We can stop this! We need to get
you to the Power Chamber!" She tried to grab the morpher from Tommy
and strap it back on Rocky's wrist.
Rocky, using the last of his strength, stopped her. "No," he
whispered. As Kimberly looked into Rocky's eyes, she saw the truth: Rocky
wanted to die.
Kimberly just looked at him. Tommy came to sit beside him, heedless of
the blood that was rapidly soaking into the sand. "Are you sure?"
was all he said, holding the morpher where Rocky could see it.
A slow nod was his answer.
The four teens stood in a protective circle around their friend, the only
solace he would allow. Within moments, he was gone.
Sadly, the four gathered his torn body and prepared for the worst.
As the teens expected, Mrs. DeSantos didn't take the news of her oldest son's death well. It had been hard for the Rangers, seeing the strong woman who had raised seven children by herself collapse into a heap on the floor, crying and wailing in Spanish and English, cursing the devils on the moon who had taken her son from her.
Back in the Power Chamber, the others waited anxiously for the latest
arrival. He transported in, bringing a fair amount of water with him.
"Billy, thank goodness!" Kimberly exclaimed, giving the
new Blue Turbo Ranger a swift hug, managing to dampen her clothes on his
still-wet scuba gear. "I hope Cestria doesn't mind that we pulled
you away like this," she said.
"She understood that this was what I was meant to do," Billy
replied. He looked over the group and a sudden flash of nostalgia washed
over him. "It's almost the way it was when we began," he murmured.
He hoped that the one missing member didn't have to return the way he himself
did.
Red
Haze
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