The Storybook Dimension

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The Weakest Color

Chapter 15: The Genetic Accelerator (Part 1)

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I don’t know anything about what’s going on anymore.

Everyone’s so suspicious and afraid. I don’t blame them; there’s so much at stake here, so much we could lose.

When I signed up for SPD, I had no idea what I was getting into. I didn’t understand what it meant to fight a war – actually, I’m still not sure I do.

It was easier when it was just me and Z. True, there were hard times even then. We spent many nights not knowing where our next meal was going to come from, or whether we’d be able to find a safe place to sleep.

Here, it’s different. I don’t have to live from meal to meal anymore, or worry about getting attacked in my sleep. No one here ridicules me, or spits on me in the streets. People respect me now. They look up to me, depend on me to lead them to victory.

I never wanted this kind of responsibility.

The battles I can handle. They’re simple, easy. I know what to do. I’ve fought my entire life – the only difference is that now I fight as part of a team.

You know, I’ve never had many friends. I guess I never stayed in one place long enough to make them. But over time, I’ve become friends with Syd, Bridge and even Sky. And if you’d asked me a couple weeks ago, I would have said that I trusted them with my life.

I don’t know who to trust anymore.

Why does it always happen this way? I warned Z, but she’s too gullible, too willing to trust people. But I know the truth – in the end, we can only rely on each other. Why doesn’t she understand that?

I only joined SPD for her sake, and it’s because of her that I stay. She was right about one thing: we’re now part of something that matters, something much larger than ourselves. But since I’m red ranger, everyone expects me to have all the answers, to solve all of their problems.

I can only do the best I can, and hopefully it will be enough.

–

Inside the Troobian mothership, evil was more than a passive entity – it was alive and it throbbed with malice. He could feel its tendrils invading his mind, searching, prodding.

Bridge blocked it out the best he could.

Moments after he teleported to the ship, two orange-head krybots had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. They said nothing, but Bridge understood – they were there to guide him to Gruumm.

He had no choice but to follow.

They fell back as he approached the throne room, leaving him to face Gruumm and Mora alone. Straightening himself, Bridge cautiously entered the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Broodwing lurking nearby, as well as Mora’s monster… Invisor, wasn’t that his name? The monster caught his gaze and gave him a look of pure hatred and malice.

‘So you want me dead,’ Bridge thought, uncharacteristically cynical. ‘Well, at this rate, you’ll have to get in line. Once the other rangers find out what I’ve done, they’ll probably want me dead, too.’ Bowing stiffly, Bridge waited for Gruumm to address him directly.

“Ranger.” The monster said, after staring at him for an uncomfortably long period of time. “I see you successfully completed your mission.”

“Yes.” Bridge looked at the floor. “I did what you said. It was difficult, but not impossible.”

“Good.” Gruumm replied. “I have another task for you, but it can wait… for now.” He looked pointedly at Mora, who was practically squirming in excitement.

“Will you play with me?” Mora asked, hopping off her throne. Bridge was going to say no, until he saw the dangerous glint in Gruumm’s eyes. “Well, yes…” He agreed hesitantly. “I guess.”

“Good.” She said, talking him by the hand and leading him away. It took all of Bridge’s self-control to not pull away, but somehow he managed it. He could not, however block out all of her thoughts and feelings while in such close contact, and shivered involuntarily.

Mora smiled wickedly. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

“No, I’m not. At least… I don’t think so.”

Mora shrugged. “You should be.” She led him to a playroom, filled to the brim with toys and tiny play sets. Releasing him, she took a seat at one of the tables, and began to pour tea for them both. Noticing Bridge’s hesitation, she looked up. “Remember, you have to play nice. Otherwise, I’ll call Gruumm, and you won’t like that.”

“I’ll be nice.” The green ranger promised, kneeling on the floor next to the table. Taking a plastic cupcake, he pretended to take a bite and swallow. “Your cupcakes are very… nice, Mora.”

“Why, thank you.” Mora smiled, clearly enjoying the attention.

A sketchbook, discarded on the floor, caught his eye. He reached out, and carefully flipped through some of the pages. The monsters within were so familiar, and drawn with an expert hand. “Did you draw these? Because they’re really good.”

“I’m a good artist.” Mora boasted proudly, taking another sip of her tea. “I can create monsters just by drawing them.”

“How long have you been able to do that?” Bridge asked, genuinely curious. “I mean, were you born with it or did you get it later?”

“I’ve always been able to do it.” A haunted look passed across her face, but it was gone so quickly that Bridge almost thought he imagined it. “It’s a pretty cool power, isn’t it?” Mora continued, a cruel note in her voice. “It’s much more useful than yours.”

Bridge said nothing. It was true that his powers were often of little use in battle, or anywhere else. Sometimes, he thought that his powers existed just to make his life more complicated.

“I can change that, you know.” She said it so softly, he almost didn’t hear her.

“What?”

“You didn’t think I’d forgotten about your present, did you? Don’t you want to know what it is?”

–

Kat had been working as a scientist for longer than most of her co-workers at SPD had been alive. And while she appreciated a challenge, Kat hated feeling stumped. No matter how hard she searched, no matter how deeply she analyzed the evidence, it all just didn’t add up.

She was missing something important, some critical connection.

Kat sighed. Maybe this really was a witch hunt, and she was simply paranoid. It was still possible, however unlikely as it might be, that the last week’s events had simply been a string of unfortunate coincidences.

‘No, I can’t take that chance.’ Kat thought. ‘I care too much about Earth, and the people here to risk throwing it all away.’

‘Maybe I just need to look at this from a different angle.’ She thought, determined to get to the bottom of this. ‘Let’s go back to the incident with the lab computers, and the first few moments when it was accessed. There must be something, a file or a record, anything that was not deleted.’

‘If there’s something here, I will find it.’

–

“Your powers are unstable.” Mora explained, walking at a brisk pace through the winding hallways. “You’re lucky that the other rangers are too stupid to realize that, and what a danger you are to them.”

“How do you know all of this?” Bridge asked, a little defensively.

Mora shrugged. “I know all kinds of things. And did you really think that Gruumm would let you onto his spaceship without scanning you? And after Invisor told me about what happened when you fought him, it didn’t take long for me to put the pieces together.”

“Oh.” Bridge replied, feeling stupid. “But… what are you going to do? And why do you care?”

“I don’t. Care, I mean. All I care about is defeating the rangers, and Gruumm conquering this planet so that we can move on to the next one.” She flashed him a quick smile. “That’s why I chose you.”

“We’re here.” Mora announced a moment later, coming to a stop in front of a door. A techno-organic grate slid open, and Bridge cautiously entered the room.

It was an area of the ship he had never seen before. He was standing on a wide platform, and in front of him was a bridge leading over what looked like a whirling maelstrom of energy. ‘That must be the engine core.’ Bridge thought, his analytical mind already at work. ‘Why would she bring me here?’

The entire room thrummed with power, and occasionally, he could hear a deep grinding noise, coming from somewhere deep within the ship. A little to the side, Gruumm and Broodwing waited, clearly watching him with great interest. If this was a trap, there would be no escape.

‘No.’ Bridge reasoned. ‘They won’t kill me now, not when I’m still useful to them.’ It was then that something, far at the other end of the bridge, drew his attention.

Against the wall was what looked like a huge metal pillar. In front of it was a door, and from between the cracks he could see a pulsating green light shining from within. “And that,” Mora pointed proudly, “is the genetic accelerator.”

“What does it do?” Bridge asked, with a vague sense of foreboding. ‘Why does it feel like I’ve been here before?’

“Well, I haven’t actually been able to test it, of course. It was built for your genetic makeup alone. However, what it’s supposed to do is to rearrange your genetic structure. No, don’t worry, I’m not going to turn you into a monster.” Mora added, easily reading his horrified expression.

“You see, your powers are part of your genetic make-up. But they’re incomplete, unstable. This machine will change you– evolve you so that you can use the full potential of your powers.”

“Why… why would you do this for me?”

Broodwing answered the question for her. “Because, as you are now, you can’t defeat the other rangers. This will give you – give us – the advantage that we need.”

“But what if it doesn’t work?”

The mercenary looked downright pleased that he had asked. “It’ll probably kill you – or damage you beyond all repair.”

Bridge gulped. “And if I don’t want to do it?”

“You don’t have a choice, ranger.” Gruumm’s staff glowed menacingly. “Now, I grow tired of waiting. Get into the machine, or suffer my wrath.”

–

Bridge looked at the machine, and then looked back at Gruumm. It was a difficult decision. On one hand, he would love to finally be able to control his powers. It was something he had struggled with his entire life, and to have the solution right in front of him was tempting indeed.

However, this was a Troobian machine, and Bridge was absolutely certain that he didn’t want a group of evil aliens meddling with his genetic structure. They could change him in so many ways – change him until he was no longer himself, but a psychopathic monster. For all he knew the machine would destroy his mind, or unravel his DNA until he died.

He took a step forward, and nearly stumbled in shock. Suddenly, Bridge knew why this was so familiar – it was because he had seen it before, in a vision, and he knew what would happen next. There would be pain, and searing light.

Broodwing had turned away and was saying something to Gruumm, but then the bat grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. As if in a trance, Bridge obeyed and walked to the machine.

The door opened with a hiss, and Bridge stepped inside, feeling strangely disconnected from what was happening. Mora and Broodwing stood nearby, manipulating dials on a panel while Gruumm simply watched, his eyes narrowed. “It’s ready.” Broodwing announced.

“Turn it on.” Gruumm commanded.

There was a soft click, and then the humming increased in pitch. Bridge pulled his hand to his sides as the metal itself began to glow. ‘This is it.’ He thought, with no small amount of fear.

There was nothing he could do. Bridge closed his eyes against the blinding green light, and braced himself for the inevitable pain.

—

To Be Continued

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