Ice Queen

Ice Queen is the eleventh episode of Power Rangers: Lost Ninjas.

Synopsis
The last of the earthbound Season Ninjas escapes her prison as the Thinker tries to create his own White Winter Ranger.

Last time we saw the Season Rangers...
The Thinker used the captured Season Megazord to attack the city, but Tyler and Sienna managed to defeat the monster controlling it.

February 6th, Murdock Facility for the Criminally Insane, New Zealand, 11:14 am
Anya sat alone in a corner of the outdoor enclosure, facing the wall. In front of her stood a dandelion, nodding in the summer breeze. A few other inmates wandered around, white-clad nurses keeping a close eye on them. Out of the corner of her eye, Anya could see her own orderly nearby.

It had been over a week since Master Von Kreig's last visit. Anya could feel the cold building up inside her, without him to stifle it. She focused inward, setting her hands facing outwards against her chest. A cold gust blew her loose brown hair back, and white energy flowed from her hands. The dandelion and grass around it froze, glittering with frost. Anya grinned. Her ninja power had come back faster than she'd thought.

Standing, Anya turned and headed back inside. She needed to collect her things before she left. Immediately, the orderly moved to intercept her. With one gesture, Anya encased her feet in ice, rooting her to the spot. The girl had been pretty nice, not worth killing or even seriously hurting. The orderly didn't seem to see it the same way: she started screaming.

Anya broke into a run as the others started to chase her. She glanced back over her shoulder, counted six, and grinned. She'd been waiting for this for a long time. Slamming into the door, she froze the lock, and twisted the doorknob. It snapped off with a crack, and Anya pulled the door open. Planting a hand on it, she froze it shut after herself. One of the nurses ran into it with a thunk, and Anya laughed as they shouted in confusion.

The locker room was. . . down the hall and through the fourth door to the left. A siren started to wail as Anya darted down the passage, counting doors. She'd already practiced her ninja powers, now for a little hand-to-hand training. Anya froze the hinges and lock on the door, backed up, and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick. The door flew across the hall and crashed into a wall, hitting the floor with a boom.

Anya sauntered inside, and looked at the orderlies standing stock-still inside. Smirking, she gestured for them to run. Exchanging looks, the orderlies gathered and started towards her. Anya rolled her eyes and lunged. Diving under the first grab, she somersaulted and kicked the next man's knees, dropping him. She flipped herself upright and axe-kicked the third orderly right in the face: she staggered back clutching a bleeding, broken nose, wailing. Slowly, Anya turned on the last man. He was smart enough to run.

"Still got it," Anya said, dusting her hands off.

One of the buttons had come off her hospital pajamas, but she shrugged. Stepping over a moaning orderly, she counted the lockers, stopped, and froze a door. Smashing it, she reached inside and pulled out a wrinkly Season Academy uniform, trimmed with white stripes. Reaching further inside, Anya grinned, and pulled out an elegant, silver-and-white katana.

"It's been too long," she said, pulling the katana out of its sheath a little. She tsked. "You're dull, sweetheart. We'll soon fix that."

As the alarms continued to scream, Anya left, delicately stepping around the moaning orderlies.

Anahera Forest, New Zealand, 1:20 pm
The Thinker stood on the edge of a clearing, waiting for his Spider Drones to finish scouting. He didn't want any witnesses; people meant a way for the Rangers to find him and spoil his plans. Pulling out his handheld computer, he flicked through the list of Winter Ninjas again. Too bad most of the competent ones were such do-gooders; he needed someone skilled enough to wield the Winter Morpher, but also pliable enough to obey him. He'd asked Dean, but the Red Ranger's hatred for other schools prevented him from thinking clearly. A pity, but if the boy ever turned on him, it could be a valuable weakness. The Thinker had been privately cataloguing the weaknesses of each of his current allies from the beginning.

Finally, the Spider Drones trundled back into the clearing. Leaves crunched at their approach, sticking to their spindly legs like the spokes of a rake. One blipped a message in Morse Code: all clear.

"Good," the Thinker said. "Guard formation."

Obediently, the Spider Drones moved to form a ring around the clearing. The Thinker hit a button, and in blue-white flashes, six ninja students materialized in the clearing. He waited a few seconds as they dropped into fighting stances, looking around in bewilderment. None were dumb enough to try to flee, at least. When they'd recovered from their shock, he cleared his throat.

"You five are the best of your discipline. I need one of you to work for me as a White Ranger. Whoever succeeds will gain the morpher and be allowed certain privileges, including one request. The losers will return to their former imprisonment." His voice sharpened. "Any traitors will be executed on the spot. Understood?"

They did, though they didn't look happy about it. One boy in particular looked almost ready to turn on the Thinker. He gestured, and understanding, they fanned out into two lines of three, facing each other. The Thinker let them do the formalities, bowing to each other and striking fighting stances. Leaning on his cane, he watched as they began to fight.

The clearing air filled with noise rapidly: crunching leaves, thumps of punches and kicks meeting flesh, grunts and panting from the fighters. All moved rapidly and wordlessly, as if this was nothing more than a tournament. That potentially rebellious boy was doing well. Each blow was accompanied by a loud "Keeyah!" He especially wanted to win, that was clear. Interesting. A quick check proved that his name was Lyle Nolan.

Still, the Thinker wasn't so interested in the fight that he didn't notice one of the Spider Drones turn around. He glanced up. The machine must have detected something. It raised its guns, but before it could fire, a grey-white blur shot over it, backflipping and landing with feet wide apart. Raising a katana, the newcomer stabbed it into the Spider Drone as it started to recover, the blade tearing through its hull and coming out the other side. Sparks bled from the holes.

Leaving the sword where it was, the newcomer—a young woman—somersaulted up to the other fighting ninjas and joined in. The Thinker scrutinized the girl with interest. Dark, but fine features, probably of Middle Eastern descent. Wore a Winter Ninja uniform, wrinkled, blade had a brand-new edge—she'd dressed and armed in a hurry, and it had been a while since either uniform or sword had been used, but she was clearly very skilled. A former student? She wasn't in the files, probably didn't leave the school on good terms. Expelled? Some of the older ninjas recognized her and seemed alarmed; the younger ones were just confused. Definitely expelled, several years ago at least.

As these thoughts flew through the Thinker's head, the woman roundhouse-kicked an older student right out of the cluster, rabbit-punched another in the gut enough to knock her down, and caught a third in a headlock. The remaining three charged her. Swinging the ninja she still held out, she blocked the first man's punches. Lyle Nolan lunged at her from behind, but she seized his arm and twisted it around so he punched himself in the face. The final girl came in with a low leg sweep, but Anya leaped over it and threw both boys at her. They fell in a tangled heap.

Well, this was a contest for the most powerful Winter Ninja. A student without attachments to the school might be more loyal. The Thinker began teleporting away those who clearly didn't want to fight anymore. Then he pulled out his handheld computer and began searching through Season Academy's other files for any mention of this stranger.

Struggling to their feet, the three younger ninjas struck fighting stances in a row. The stranger now had the older man in a headlock. Turning, she grinned at them, and gestured for them to come at her. They obeyed, and she swung the man out to arm's length, bodily slamming into the girl ninja. With a loud yell, one of the boys leaped over his head, aiming a kick at the stranger's head. She ducked and delivered a kick to his mid-back. His momentum threw him flat on his face. An axe kick to the back finished him: he stopped trying to get up. The Thinker teleported him away.

Before the stranger could get up, Nolan's legs locked around her neck. He somersaulted over her head, flipping her flat on her back. As she struggled to get up, he drove an elbow into her solar plexus. She brought her knees up, but Nolan jumped out of the way, slamming a hand down on her throat to hold her still. The other two ninjas had been standing and watching the entire time. Rolling his eyes, the Thinker teleported them away. Hesitation, cowardice, distraction, whatever it was, he didn't need it.

The computer blipped. The Thinker glanced down at it. There was a photo of the stranger—but not in school files. It was from a news report from three years ago. "Katana Girl" Insane? Doctors Discover Tell-Tale Signs of Sociopathy. There were a few other news stories along those lines, which the Thinker scrolled through to skim. His mystery contestant was one Anya Barnes.

Anya caught Nolan's wrist and pushed, arching her back to flip over. He brought up a swift uppercut with his other hand, but she leaned back to avoid it. Swiftly, he pushed, trying to force her off-balance, but she turned it into a somersault and came up out of reach. Standing, the pair circled for a minute, both breathing hard.

In a rush, Anya charged with a high axe kick. As Nolan ducked that, he brought his head down on her uppercut. Recovering, he feinted to the left, switched legs and drove a punch into her gut. She backed up, and Nolan pressed his advantage, forcing her backwards with a series of rapid blows, blocking any punches she threw. The Thinker realized Anya's plan, and wondered if Nolan would. It didn't look like it.

They'd almost backed into the Spider Drones by now. Anya fell down with a thump, scrambling away as Nolan advanced on her. He clearly thought he'd already won. As he prepared for the coup de grace, Anya's arm shot back, grasping the katana hilt back-handed. Dragging her katana free, she swung the blade up over Nolan's arm and against his throat. He froze, but it still slashed his neck. A little blood stained the blade.

"Enough," the Thinker interrupted. He teleported Nolan back to the ship with the others, and entered the clearing. Anya flipped the katana around, cleaned the blade on the leaves, and stood up, sheathing it across her back. "Very good. Do you know what you have just done?"

"Won?" She was still tensed and ready to fight.

"Won the Winter Morpher," the Thinker corrected her. "Let's just say Season Academy is under new management now."

Anya stopped and straightened. A slow smile spread across her face. "Finally."

The Thinker hit a button on his computer, and the Winter Morpher teleported into his hand. He held it out, and Anya immediately strapped it around her waist.

"Your Zord, and the others, have been stolen by a pair of runaway students. I'll need you to retrieve them," the Thinker began.

"Thanks for the tip, I'll take care of that," Anya interrupted. She smirked at him again. "Oh, did you think I was really on your side? You're not very clever, are you?"

"Clever enough to know you might be unpredictable, Anya Barnes," the Thinker replied, his voice not breaking an octave. Around them, the Spider Drones raised their weapons. "Don't try anything unless you want to be vaporized."

Anya glanced around at the robots with a bored air. "Oh, right, them. Funny thing about machinery." She raised a hand, and white energy began to glow around it. "Doesn't do well in the cold."

Anya hurled the energy ball to the ground. It exploded, blanketing everything in white. The hologram of the Thinker flickered and died as its emitter was frozen solid.

From the safety of the ship, the real Thinker looked back at the viewscreen. All of the Spider Drones had frozen solid, and Anya was nowhere to be seen. He growled. She was faster and bolder than he'd guessed: from the looks of it, she'd gotten hit a few times before escaping, so at least that would slow her down. The other generals would not be pleased that he'd lost another morpher—even if its new wielder wasn't exactly on the other Rangers' side. He'd find her soon enough.

Allies

 * Lyle Nolan

Villains

 * The Thinker
 * Spider Drones

Trivia

 * Anya's profile picture is a cropped sketch of her collecting her things during her escape from the insane asylum.