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Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. They belong to Saban Brands. Jeff Kincaid and the Night Ranger characters are the creation of John Chubb. No profit is being made from this fan work.
Author's note: Okay folks this is basically a retelling of the end of Thanksgiving Night. That story ended with the Turbo Rangers being whisked away for some sort of research project. This chapter tells events as they should and really happened.
A Reason to be Thankful
"What are these things?" Rosa cried as the shapes closed in on them. Slowly, the creatures stepped into the light, revealing themselves to be large reptiles. Franklin couldn't suppress a shudder.
"Oh man, reptiles?" he muttered before his eyes widened, "no, dinosaurs!"
"Come on!" Tasha cried. "We can take these guys!"
Franklin shrugged although his face betrayed just how uneasy that idea made him. "Looks like we're going to have to...Here they come!"
As the creatures charged, the three quickly dodged, and the fight began. "Chew on this!" Rosa snarled, kicking one in the snout. It absorbed the blow without flinching, then sending her flying into a tree with a vicious backhand.
"Tasha!" yelled Franklin, running to her side. "Are you all right?"
"Never better," she replied weakly, allowing him to help her to her feet, realising they had left Tasha to deal with their opponents on her own.
"They're too strong," she informed them. "We have to morph."
"Shift into Turbo!" the three Rangers called together.
"Wind Chaser Turbo Power!"
"Dune Star Turbo Power!"
"Desert Thunder Turbo Power!"
There was a great deal more flickering than the Rangers normally experienced during their transformation. And once it was completed they felt weaker than they had before calling on their powers. But then the feeling was gone.
"All right," Frank grinned, slightly worried about what was happening. "Let's take these beasts!"
After that, the fight was less one-sided, although Pink Turbo received a nasty shock when one of the reptiles spewed a stream of green venom at her. "Ewww!" she cried, dropping into a split. The venom flew over her head, striking a tree, and instantly eating all the bark off of it.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you, it's not polite to spit?" Green Turbo asked, wrapping a length of chain from a nearby gate around the mouth of the offending creature.
"Fangs for the workout, Kaa!" chuckled Yellow Turbo, hitting yet another snake-man in the stomach. Realizing that they were outclassed, the creatures quickly retreated into the darkness.
This left the three Turbo Rangers alone and very confused.
"Um guys, where are we?" Franklin asked as for a moment their surrounding revealed a room filled with small chambers, each containing what appeared to be a sleeping person.
As their eyes roamed over the capsules they felt a sharp pain in their heads as memories they were unaware of started to surface; memories of news reports about caped vigilantes and masked super heroes saving the world. Names they had not thought about for a long time echoed through their heads.
"What is going on here?"
As the darkness suddenly closed in around them, the capsules vanished one by one until they were confronted by just three, each containing the sleeping body of a Turbo Ranger. At that moment they realised that that was a very good question and one they could not answer.
"This experiment is ended, put them back where they belong."
"But why? There is so much still to learn."
"We will need to find other ways to unlock those secrets. The attempt to remove them from the memories of their friends is failing. Even when reapplied it will not hold. And if they remember, we will be exposed and this mission will be placed in jeopardy. The success of the mission must come above all other considerations."
He didn't need to mention the massive influx of test subjects they had recently 'rescued' from machines they had created. Those test subjects would just about make up for a chance to dabble with the Turbo powers.
Calculations were made, buttons were pressed in the correct sequence as history was reshaped to accommodate their needs. Normally such acts were forbidden, but since they were setting right the problems they had caused, their actions were overlooked. Time was rolled back to a key battle and then events were allowed to play out naturally.
Thanksgiving Day, Recent Past
A tickling sensation warned him when the first Power Rangers arrived. He was disappointed, but not surprised to find that Jeff Kincaid was not with them. These were the Turbo Rangers if he recalled correctly, Earth's youngest team of Power Rangers.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with fire?" Rosa asked.
Crucible scowled. He'd hoped for a better opening than that.
"I don't see any fire," he replied before extending his arm and making a flicking gesture at the Rosa.
Rosa cried out as her uniform was engulfed by flames. Around her the other Rangers tried to help their friend, but nothing they did seemed to extinguish the magical fire.
"Looks to me like you're the one playing with fire, Rosa," Crucible mocked.
"Stop it, now!" Fred snarled, drawing his side arm and deciding that maybe the way to help was to attack the fire at its source.
While Franklin and Tasha tried to douse the flames with water, Justin and Fred attacked. Blue Turbo fired his Hand Blasters while Red summoned the Lightning Sword. For his part Crucible just stood and allowed the blasts to strike him while the sword slid harmlessly off his armour.
"My turn," he told them. He gave them a mental push that sent both Rangers sprawling back across the ground. As they struggled to stand, he raised his arms and they were levitated into the air. "I wonder how far a Turbo Ranger can fall without being killed or seriously injured by the impact?" he mused. "Let's find out!"
He was distracted by a sharp pain in his side. He turned to find that Franklin and Tasha had realised they could not help Rosa until Crucible had been forced to release his fire spell. Tasha had jammed her Star Chargers into his side and had sent a jolt of Turbo energy into his armour; he had barely felt it. With a grunt he backhanded her, knocking the Ranger aside. He was so busy concentrating on her though that he almost failed to notice Franklin firing his Thunder Cannon. Almost. He batted the energy away with his hand, directing to where Blue and Red Turbo were still hovering.
"Enough!" he snarled, pushing the five Turbo Rangers into the ground with a mental shove that managed to break Franklin's collarbone in spite of his armour. "If this is all that Zordon will send against me, if he does not value this world enough to fight me, then I will burn this city, the legendary home of the Power Rangers, to the ground."
He wanted Kincaid. Kincaid knew that, Zordon knew that. He suspected even the Turbo Rangers were aware of it. But still they had sent him children. He was offended, angered that they had sought to fight him when it was clear that they were outmatched.
The fire was gone now, Rosa felt the pain but she had not been harmed. Blue and Red Turbo were shaken but intact and despite the broken bones they had suffered - for Tasha was certain that the blow Crucible had landed had cracked her jaw - Franklin and Tasha were back on their feet.
"Turbo Power Weapons!" Fred cried.
The five Rangers lifted their weapons and lined up. Red was on the right hand side, the green, yellow and pink with blue on the left hand side.
"Ready!" the others cried.
"Turbo Scramble Charge Attack!" Fred ordered, "Begin!"
And with that the five Turbo Rangers sped forward, using all the power they could draw from the mystical energy source known as the Speed Force through their Turbo Keys. This was an attack that used their speed to its fullest, an attack the other Rangers of Earth could not duplicate, although Gold Zeo Ranger's Gold Rush came close. Building up speed as they approached, they veered off sharply, covering as much ground as possible, each footfall helping to build a store of energy within their suits.
Again and again they flashed passed the bemused villain, occasionally reaching out to land a not so gentle tap with their fists before moving on. As they continued they grew faster and the distance they seemed to cover before returning to land another blow grew larger, yet the time it took them between strikes never varied. Their Turbo Power Weapons started to glow as they fed the stored power into them. And then at just the right moment, Red Turbo Rangers gave the command and the Turbo Rangers landed their first real blow.
Watching from the sidelines, a considerable distance from the battle, Savrod winced. He knew that the Turbo Rangers' strike had to hurt and he was impressed that Crucible was even standing after such a blow. Five fully energised Power Weapons wielded by five Turbo Rangers at near maximum velocity had struck Crucible simultaneously. The Wind Bow, Hand Blasters and Thunder Cannon had been passing shots as the three Rangers had kept up the momentum and sped away. Tasha had somehow reconfigured her Star Chargers into knuckle dusters and had landed a superb double-handed blow. Red Turbo's Lightning Sword attack delivered if Savrod recalled in a style used by the team Megazord had been especially impressive. But more impressive was that having delivered their blows they had discarded the Power Weapons, pulled their Turbo Blasters and prepared to strike again.
He had been expecting them to stop after the blow they had delivered. He believed that any other team of Rangers would have decided that such an all out attack would have been sufficient. Instead the Turbo Rangers had moved away ready to strike again, not willing to take Crucible's defeat for granted. Savrod was actually impressed.
Not that the Turbo Rangers stood a chance. Their attack had been powerful by most standards, but Crucible was a whole different level. Still as he observed the slight dents in Crucible's armour, which rapidly corrected themselves, he had to admit he was impressed.
"Strike two!" Red Turbo ordered.
With that the five Rangers charged in, Turbo Blasters firing. Even from a distances their shots connected with enough force to throw Crucible off balance. And because they were attacking from different directions, he had to adapt to the forces applied in different areas. As one targeted his knees, another would strike at his chest. There was no way to predict where the Turbo Rangers would aim and while their shots would not harm him, Crucible was growing annoyed that they were making him look bad.
"Final pass, then switch to Turbo Swords!" Red Turbo ordered.
The others acknowledged and the five ran off into the distance and then vanished from sight. For a moment Crucible wondered if he had won. Then he dismissed the idea only to reconsider when they did not reappear. Then his eyes widened as he understood their plan. He turned around just in time to cover his eyes. The Turbo Rangers had been running so fast that in the time he had spend wondering where they were, they had managed to run across the world to attack him from behind.
This time he had been staggered by the force of their attack. With each pass they drew more energy from their Turbo Keys, allowing them to run faster. And with their Turbo Blasters discarded, the next three passes allowed them to land a series of sword slaps to his armour.
By the fifth time they raced passed him with their swords, Crucible had had enough. He tried to fight the blurs as they went passed, successfully knocking Blue Turbo hard enough to break his concentration. His punch put the Blue Turbo Ranger into a spin and he crashed into the remains of a building. His next strike caused Red Turbo to stumble. It didn't put him down like Blue Turbo, but it slowed him so that he could not keep up with the other three. And when the came passed for their next attack, Crucible was ready for them.
"Goodbye Turbo Rangers!" he snarled before hurling a ball of blue energy at them.
The Rangers couldn't dodge, the energy beam was too broad to avoid. And at their speed they could not duck or find cover. Their own speed drove them into the full and deadly force of Crucible's attack. They appeared to shimmer and then turned into the tiny sparks of teleportation as they were whisked away to safety, leaving Crucible to turn his annoyance on Red Turbo.
"What did you do to them?" Red Turbo demanded.
There was a skid mark extending for over half a mile where he had been forced to brake. His boots were smoking from the friction and physically he was exhausted. Still he was in better shape the Justin, who had not moved since he hit the wall.
"What did I do?" Cruucible asked. He seemed to be offended. " I did nothing more than create an energy sphere. They were the ones that ran into it."
"Where are they?" Red Turbo demanded, once again holding the Lightning Sword.
Crucible Shrugged. "Who knows? I hear Tibet is nice this time of year. The middle of the Dead Sea perhaps; maybe they got thrown into space. The thing is, Red Ranger, that I don't know where that energy pulse carried them, but if they survived they will have a real job trying to build up that much speed again in time to save you."
"Don't worry Fred, we have them," Alpha reported. "Zordon teleported them out just in time."
"Then I guess it's down to just us," Fred said.
"Us? You mean yourself and your little blue friend over there? I doubt he is in any condition to fight."
"Or perhaps he meant us," a new voice said.
And at that moment a question that had been burning in the back of Crucible's mind was answered: where were the other Rangers? He had known that Kincaid would not make an appearance. The Night Ranger was too cowardly to fight his former friend. But Earth was known to have multiple teams and yet only the Turbo Rangers had emerged to confront him. But as he turned toward the voice and saw the gather Power Rangers waiting for him he instead wondered what had taken them so long and why was Kincaid not with them?
"And they're off!" Hard Drive reported.
"Then so are we," Jeff replied as he pressed the sequence of buttons that activated Defiant's flight systems.
It had been difficult finding a way to launch the Zord without the risk of allowing Crucible to find the Power Chamber. Many villains knew where the Power Chamber was located, some had been there, but very few could actually find it. Which was why while the Turbo Rangers had done such a good job of distracting Crucible at a high cost -- for a moment Jeff had been certain that Crucibles energy attack had killed three of them -- the other Rangers had shifted Defiant to a new launch position and had then taken the liberty of destroying some of the ships in Crucible's fleet.
"Launch!" he ordered as Defiant's thrusters came to life.
"Set controls for outer space, now flying higher than ever before..." Hard Drive started.
Kincaid shook his head, he had no idea where the computer had picked up that song.
"All right, find Crucible and get ready," Kincaid ordered. They needed Crucible to know they were leaving so that he would follow.
"Crucible," Savrod repeated for the umpteenth time.
It seemed the Rangers of Earth had managed to outmanoeuvre their forces. While the Turbo Rangers had been fighting against Crucible, the rest of the Rangers had had other targets. The units Crucible had dispatched to cause as much death and destruction as possible, had been routed. The Power Rangers had appeared in force, fought a swift and decisive battle and then moved on, leaving the Guardsmen to the mercy of some very angry locals. The drop ships had been damaged and isolated to prevent escape and despite succeeding, even the attempt to snatch Bruce Greene had proven costly in terms of manpower.
He read another report and realised that this was not some lucky strike. Jeff Kincaid had been spotted directing the action at two of the battle zones. The Night Ranger had joined forces with the planet's defenders in a direct breach of the Council's rules. And it seemed the local
Masters of the Morphin Grid -- for he was certain that one of the warriors he
had spotted was the legendary Ninjor -- appeared to approve.
"I'm here Savrod."
Crucible sounded annoyed, but given that a large number of Rangers had just teleported to his location, that was not surprising.
"We've been deceived," Savrod told him. "While you were fighting Turbo Rangers, Kincaid has been attacking our forces all over the planet. We're suffered an almost complete loss."
"Kincaid's not here," Crucible answered after some thought. "The others just arrived, but no Kincaid." There was a long pause. "Savrod, prepare for pursuit, he's planning to run."
"Are you sure?" Savrod asked.
"This whole battle has been a ploy to launch the Defiant," Crucible told him. "Check the energy web."
Aside from ferrying troops to cities around the globe to punish the planet for siding with Crucible's enemies, the drop ships had been acting as transmission nodes capable of broadcasting a net of destructive energy. The intention had been to activate the net the moment Defiant had appeared, damaging the ship and allowing Crucible to find Kincaid before the Night Ranger could escape.
"There's a hole in the network," Savrod confirmed. "I'll order our forces to target the hole."
"Don't bother," Crucible answered. "Just order them to track him."
It was already too late, but he was not going to give Kincaid another moment of triumph. He was certain that when they investigated later they would find that the net had been shut down to draw their attention while Jeff had another route open to him at a moment's notice.
"In the meantime I'm going to kill as many of these Earth Rangers as possible."
"Let's go!" Red Zeo ordered and the army of Rangers attacked.
One thing Crucible had never lacked was confidence. When Savrod had helped to strip away the remnants of Mark Kinega's personality, he had instilled him him the believe that there was no opponent he could not overcome. However confronted by the horde of charging Rangers, Crucible found that for the first time that he was questioning his chance of succeeding.
The Rangers attacked in a predictable manner. First they used their side arms before switching to personal weapons. Next they tried combining their weapons before shifting to their special attacks. The assault was creative and extremely powerful, but as he battered aside the Shadow Ribbons and fought off a jolt from Jamie's Sword of Lightning, Crucible knew that this was just another distraction.
"Brachio Staff!"
He ducked the assault from the Din Thunder Rangers while blocking a swinging blow from Gold Zeo's Golden Power Staff.
With a grunt he threw his arms up, pushing the Rangers far away and readied a blast. He stopped when he noticed that although they were back on their feet, they had not made an attempt to charge him again.
"Crucible, we've found him," Savrod reported. "He's six miles north of your location and heading towards you."
"So he finally decided to face me," Crucible concluded.
He couldn't hear a reply as he was deafened by the roar of the Defiant's engines as the huge craft came to rest above him.
"We're detecting Defiant's engine signature above your position. Kincaid could be on board."
"Thank you Savrod, I am aware of that," Crucible groused as he noticed that Defiant's weapons and those of the surrounding Rangers were locked on his location. "Any time you feel like ordering your crew to retrieve me -- before they open fire -- would do," he added. He wasn't worried, but didn't envision the pain caused by the combined power of so many Rangers and a giant ship as an enjoyable experience.
"Fire!" he heard the Red Rangers cry.
He felt the familiar sensation of teleportation, ten full seconds after the first blast connected with his armour.
The clean up had taken longer than normal. There had been a great deal of damage to repair both in Angel Grove and the many cities where Crucible's forces had tried to land. The Guardsmen had not been easy to defeat and the Rangers had been forced to use some of the tactics they normal reserved for powerful monsters in order to defeat them. Lives had been lost, buildings and property had been damaged. And because Crucible and his forces were not the result of a spell, the damage they caused did not simply reverse after the battle. It had taken a great deal of work and a large number of failures to repair what damage they could and to offer comfort where possible.
But not everybody survives a monster attack. Rocky had once said that to Lita Kiino, a psychiatrist that helped the Rangers in times of stress. However the Rangers had never realised how true those words could be. The Turbo Rangers were recovering. Justin had sustained the worst injuries although the others had not been that much better off. All would be back in action before long. Of the other Rangers there had been a few injuries from the battles with Crucible's forces and Zack had taken a nasty head blow from Savrod, but they were alive.
As Adam sat down to a late Thanksgiving dinner with his parents he was thankful that despite how bad things had seemed, the Power Rangers had emerged relatively unscathed. He glanced at Franklin on opposite him and was thankful that he had not been one of the many casualties. At the DeSantos table, Rocky paused briefly before giving thanks for his family and friends. His older brother had checked in and his younger siblings had been safely within the Monster Shelter. Rosa had recovered from her ordeal but had complained of strange dreams. He gave thanks for that they were all safe.. At the Kellman residence, Fred and his dad sat down for a modest meal, while at Little Angel's Haven, Justin and Tasha enjoyed a meal with the other children.
Zack had once described a trial by fire, the moment a Ranger came to terms with his own mortality. Today had been the day when that message had been brought home to the planet's youngest Ranger team. Their job was difficult and the risks were real. Success was never a certainty and a mistake could cost them their lives. All were thankful that they had learnt that lesson without losing a comrade.
"So you're going to leave their memories intact?" Jeff asked incredulously.
The Night Rangers were the embarrassing secret of both the Grid Masters and the Galactic Council. For a whole planet to be aware of their existence would be unacceptable to most. But worse still still one of the witnesses to Jeff Kincaid's actions had been the Lord of Triforia; there was an equal chance that Dex of Edenoi had also seen the battle that had taken place. Two powerful races were suddenly aware of a secret that the Council did not want exposed.
Zordon had already received his instructions, direct orders from the Council to swear his Rangers to secrecy and take steps to ensure that the people of Earth forgot about the Night Ranger. That was easier said than done. There was no way to wipe the memory of everybody on the planet without resorting to some very strange magic. One of the councillors had suggested adding something to the water supply, but Zordon had ignored the suggestion when he had learnt that it could cause fatalities.
"It is not my place to erase them," Zordon told him. "Too many people saw what happened. There were news reports from Angel Grove and around the world. If I attempted to cover up there would be clues left that would rapidly expose the truth. The Council has forgotten, again, that the Earth is not a part of their jurisdiction and that they have no right to demand the people forget something that happened to them."
"So what are you going to do?"
Jeff was not convinced Zordon would just allow things to remain as they were. There were too many unknowns in such free knowledge and Zordon was too responsible to allow such chaos.
"I instructed Alpha to make all the information that should be available about the Night Rangers available," Zordon answered.
"But that would mean people would have access to everything without ever searching. Oh!"
"Yes Jeffrey," Zordon agreed. "People will have full and unrestricted access to all the facts. And you know what happens when people have all the information with nothing hidden from them."
"They forget," Jeff concluded. "They grow bored because they don't have to search. The grow suspicious of all the information so easily available. They start to question whether what they saw was real and then look for conspiracies to poke holes in the facts they've been given."
"Exactly," Zordon agreed. "Before long the humans will deem the Night Rangers as a myth and start looking elsewhere."
"And the Rangers?"
"They agreed to protect your secret," Zordon told him. "They promised before the Council demanded that I obtain their oath. The Council were displeased that instead of the formal promise they required the Rangers only gave an oath that was to the point. Where will you go from here?"
"Crucible will need time to track me down again," Kincaid said. "He's already left the system because he thinks I'm ahead of him. It should take a while before he catches up and discovers it's one of his own ships. I'll drift off in the other direction, wait a few months and then stick my head out in some backwater galaxy. By the time he hears where I am I'll be the other side of space. I'll keep doing it until I can find a way to defeat him. But otherwise I'll stay low and make sure I don't draw anybody else into this mess."
"Jeff..."
"Don't Zordon! Don't you dare try and comfort me. You know what happened today and so do I. People died today because I led Crucible here. Good people, bad people... people. I won't risk the lives of anybody else by getting involved with Crucible. He wants me, let him find me, but when he does there won't be anybody else around to get hurt."
With that the Night Ranger cut the communication and Defiant took off into space, leaving Zordon to hope that in his grief, Jeff Kincaid would not become a bigger monster than Crucible.
The Rangers had hurt him, but he had hurt them too. He had taken something precious and he would take more. Already he was aware that Bruce Greene was being dumped on an alien world, fully aware that Jeff Kincaid was to blame. If by some chance he survived, Crucible imagined the man would become bitter and twisted, willing to train Crucible's Guardsmen in return for a chance at revenge against Kincaid. And that in turn would hurt Kincaid.
As for those other Rangers... One day Crucible would return and would conquer the Earth. And when he did he would take revenge on every Ranger that had dared to fire upon him. And he would take special pride in putting an end to the Turbo Rangers.
"Crucible, there is a messenger here to see you," Savrod told him, strolling into the chamber as if he owned it. There was a good chance he did own it, Crucible had never thought to ask who paid for all the ships at his disposal.
"I'm not expecting a message," he said after some thought.
"I'm aware of that," Savrod told him. "I am responsible for sending most of your messages after all. This messenger demanded an audience and I would suggest you grant him one."
"Show him in then," Crucible sighed. The problem with being a leader was having to deal with other leaders.
"The Messenger of Fire," Savrod announced. His voice sounded odd. Was that awe? "Ambassador for the Grand Monarch of Evil, Dark Specter."
It was an impressive being, even Crucible had to admit that. Seven feet of billowing flame was bound to impress some. His mind briefly caught onto the memory of a story about a burning bush, but he ignored it.
"Crucible," the messenger greeted. His voice sounded like twigs crackling on a wood stove. There was an uncertainty, as if he had wanted to add something before his name. And Crucible realised in that moment that to the Messenger this was a very odd situation because unlike others, Crucible had not given himself a title. "I come with a message and an invitation. The message is as follows: you and your followers have been accepted into the ranks of the United Alliance of Evil. Congratulations on your achievement. Acceptance is mandatory. You are instructed to accept the enclosed invitation to attend the first meeting of the United Alliance of Evil and to swear allegiance to Dark Specter, the Grand Monarch of Evil."
"And if I say no?"
The fire seemed to grow brighter. "When others refused they were taught that my master could have them destroyed in flame."
"I'm not like the others," Crucible answered. "And I have no desire to follow or swear loyalty."
"The Grand Monarch does not share," the Messenger warned. "You are powerful, but you are untrained and not ready to challenge the Grand Monarch."
"I would try," Crucible warned. "I will not bow to another and I will not share."
"You would fail, and be destroyed. But what then?" The Messenger seemed to drift off. "You are unimportant and would not be missed. But you represent is something the Grand Monarch was not meant to be. That makes you important. But the Grand Monarch cannot have an equal."
"Perhaps a compromise then," Savrod suggested. "You said Crucible is unimportant to your master, so why create a problem by trying to force him to do something he is unwilling to do? Crucible is still learning to become the leader his people need and until then he is only the leader in name; I am the commander of his forces, himself included. I will agree to accept this membership and give the oath. Be warn though that Crucible will not be bound by any such agreement. IS your master willing to divert his attention to fight on multiple fronts?"
"Dark Specter might have use for his services," the Messenger of Fire claimed.
"Crucible is nobody's lackey!" Savrod answered with a hint of anger. "Should the Grand Monarch request his aid and Crucible should feel it serves his purposes, he might oblige. But his priority is to his training and the destruction of the Night Ranger Jeff Kincaid."
"Destroying the last Night Ranger would be of great service," the messenger mused, reinterpreting the words to suit its needs.
The flames grew brighter and then vanished, replaced by a green skinned alien with a tall head. "Find your missing Ranger and destroy him. I shall summon you if I have need of your other skills." the Grand Monarch ordered before vanishing. "But for the first meeting, YOU WILL ATTEND!"
Savrod nodded wordlessly as the intensity of the being he had been willing to fight sank in. He had felt Dark Specter's power over the connection and had been staggered by its potential. Having sensed the power of all those Rangers on Earth, he knew which was the greater threat. Crucible was not ready for such a battle, yet. He would not stand against Dark Specter until Jeff Kincaid was destroyed and the power of the Mirror of Night was his once more. Perhaps one day Dark Specter would become a part of the mirror's power too. The Messenger of Fire vanished leaving Savrod and Kincaid to plan.
"Before we deal with this, there was one more thing," Savrod told him. He looked pleased with himself. "I remember Mark Kinega mentioned something about a young lady... Leslie? I thought you might want to show her your appreciation for the way she treated Mark, especially since it helped Crucible to emerge."
Crucible grinned. "A fine idea Savrod, but we're behind schedule. Have her brought to my quarters later. In the meantime, let the hunt begin."
End
<post_date>2015-03-17 12:00:01</post_date><post_modified>2022-11-15 14:09:36</post_modified>
