Phobias Mortem

Phobias Mortem is the forty-third episode of Power Rangers: Lost Ninjas.

Summary
Nero interrupts Alex's attempt to kill Chris, and this surprise leads the space ninjas to try a test of loyalty or two.

Last time we saw the Shinobi and Earthlight Ninjas
Rat had crossed paths with Chris in Mojave and joined forces, only for Alex to frighten Rat into betraying the Silver Ranger. With Chris rendered catatonic by a flashback spell, Alex dismissed Rat and prepared to kill his brother, not knowing he was being watched.

February 28th, Cerro Gordo Street, Mojave, 6:07 pm
The street was still all but empty, and the dust from Recurse's attack had begun to settle. Chris knelt in the middle of the road, breathing and blinking but doing nothing else. Grasping him by the upper arm, Alex looked into his eyes.

"Life flashing before your eyes, little brother?" He laughed a little and braced himself to strike.

Somewhere behind Alex, a sharp crack like a firework rang out—Alex ducked into his shadow before he'd even consciously recognized it, but not quickly enough. A bullet tore through his hand and into Chris's arm as he let go. The impact jolted Chris, and the spell broke; he snapped back into reality with a startled yell of pain. Looking around in bewilderment, he clamped a hand over the wound. Blood oozed between his fingers.

Footsteps scuffed the pavement, and Chris looked up. A tall, muscular man in a hoodie strode towards him. He wore a half-black, half-red mask and carried a sniper rifle. Stopping, he crouched and grabbed Chris's wounded arm, prompting him to make a grab for the stranger's wrist.

"What are you—" Chris cut himself off with a cry of pain as the sniper dragged him to his feet.

"Don't even bother fighting back. I want you alive, not necessarily whole," the stranger snapped.

"Alive? Who are you?" Chris demanded.

"Not here." Switching his grip to Chris's good arm, the man shoved him down the street.

Sickbay, Korassil's Ship, 6:24 pm
"Bullets," Alex said incredulously. "I haven't had bullets shot at me since I tangled with some cops a year ago."

He sat in the medbay, watching as Kelzak Berserks stitched up the hole in his hand. The shot had broken a bone, but nothing the space ninjas couldn't fix. Korassil stood nearby, observing.

"Do you know about any monsters who use that kind of weaponry?" Alex asked him.

"None who would stop at one shot—or avoid killing the Silver Ranger," Korassil replied. "According to our scanners, he's fully human, no unconventional weapons of any kind, which is why we didn't detect him before his attack. He's taken your brother hostage."

". . . That's new," Alex said. He hopped off the table, flexing his fingers, and winced in pain. "How long will this take to heal up?"

A Kelzak Berserk handed a small computer pad to Korassil, which he scanned for a moment. "Unless there are further complications, you should be able to use a sword again in about three days."

"Great." Alex looked down at Asamune, which he'd set on the table beside him for the operation. He brushed his fingers along the hilt. "Looks like that dance will have to wait."

A Kelzak Berserk moved to take the sword, but Alex glared at it, making it falter and draw back. Pocketing the morpher, Alex tucked the sword under an arm and carried it out of sickbay, following Korassil to the bridge. When he arrived, the general was already maneuvering nanocams into position back in Mojave. He already had a few unsteady shots of Chris and his attacker, inside a shabby apartment.

"He's not going to a hospital," Korassil announced, as Alex joined him.

Alex snorted. "Of course not; attract too much attention. Something tells me this guy isn't exactly on the side of the law."

By the shaky footage, the nanocam was creeping in through the partly-open window. It slunk behind the headboard of the bed and stopped. Chris sat on the foot of the bed, sleeve cut open and the stranger looking over his wound. A few dark rivulets of blood ran down his arm, spotting the yellowy-white bedspread.

"Bullet's going to have to come out," the stranger said. "I know a guy; it'll take us a little while to get to him, though. For now, we stop the bleeding and hope for the best. Don't move this arm unless you have to."

With that, the stranger started to stand up, turning towards a shabby nightstand nearby. Chris's free hand shot up and clamped down on the stranger's arm, jerking him to a halt. White-faced, he glared up at the man.

"Who are you and why are you doing all of this?"

"Mark Nero, and I want to get rid of a mutual enemy of ours." Nero didn't even sound annoyed. "By the way, you're welcome for saving your life. Why exactly was Alex Slater trying to kill you?"

Chris looked down. His grip loosened, and Nero freed himself, going to the dresser. The drawer stuck, but he managed to jerk it open and pull out a first aid kit. Popping the latches, he opened a plastic-wrapped wet swab and started cleaning the bullet hole in Chris's arm.

"He's my brother," Chris said at last.

Nero glanced up at him, eyebrows raised, and snorted. "Not surprised. Family fights are the worst. Think he'll come after you again?"

Chris seemed to realize he was missing something. He glanced around, checked his belt and his free wrist, even dug in his pockets with his good hand. Watching, Alex chuckled at his brother's increasing alarm as he failed to find Asamune or the Shinobi Morpher.

"What now?" Nero asked, as he patched up Chris's wounds with wads of gauze and medical tape.

"Where's my sword?"

"The katana? He took it," Nero replied, closing up the first aid kit. "You haven't answered my question."

"What?" Chris took a second to register what Nero had said. "He'll come back. He wants me dead."

"Good. Next time he won't get away," Nero said, putting the kit away. Chris had no response for that—he didn't seem sure whether to be relieved, aghast or something else entirely.

Back aboard the spaceship, Alex stifled a guffaw, but Korassil silenced him. "He wounded you once. Do not overestimate him."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Please. He's a human bounty hunter. The only reason he managed to hit me was he had the element of surprise." Facing the screen again, he studied Nero. His smile became more calculating. "This should keep things interesting for a while."

March 3rd, Cell Block, Korassil's Ship, 5:22 am
Whistling, Zart unlocked a cell door and shoved Jess inside. She stumbled, falling to her hands and knees as the door locked behind her. Shakily, she crawled to the wall and slumped against it. Sobbing for breath, she looked around to see a couple of Kelzak Berserks throw Wyatt into the next cell over.

Cape rustling, Korassil strode up the hallway, stopping in front of Zart. "Progress?"

"You were right—all I have to do is threaten that guy and Jess stops whining." Zart frowned a little. "Though she still can't do anything with her hands."

"She may have had a point earlier," Korassil put in. "Your abilities do not seem natural for a human, much less one without any special training as you were. I'd like you to go to sickbay for a scan."

"Now?"

"As soon as reasonably possible, yes."

Zart shrugged. "Whatever."

Both space ninjas walked away, footsteps fading into the ship's other noises. Jess shut her eyes, resting her head on the cold metal wall. At this point it was more like her holes had some uniform in them than the other way around. She had burns on top of her burns, never mind the other injuries Zart inflicted on her whenever she didn't perform to his standards.

"Jess?" Wyatt whispered.

With a groan, Jess dragged herself to the door and looked through the bars. She could just barely see him if she cocked her head the right way. "Hey. Doing okay?"

"Ow," he said. A dark red burn scored his cheek, he had a black eye and a split, puffy lip, and Jess could see other injuries through the rips in his clothes.

"I hear ya." Jess leaned against the door, shutting her eyes. "I don't know how much longer I can do this. Zart's already started on live animals; next he'll make me try to kill a baby or something."

Wyatt was quiet for a minute. Then, in a subdued voice, he said, "If you decide to rebel, just go for it, don't hold back."

Jess opened her eyes, startled. "But—"

"If I'm there I'll try to fight back too, but don't do anything you'll regret just to protect me. I know I'm not as good as you—I'm not very good, period—but I'm a ninja too. I'm my own responsibility, not yours." He half-smiled. "Besides, we aren't the only Ninja Rangers around. Maybe some of those guys in New Zealand will show up in the nick of time, or Rat will have a change of heart."

"As if," Jess muttered. "But I couldn't—"

Before Jess could finish her argument, a squad of Kelzak Berserks marched into the hall and stopped in front of her cell door. She scrambled back, confused and wary. Stepping out of the group, Alex typed in the key code, and the door slid open with a whoosh.

"What's going on?" Wyatt asked.

"We've decided to step things up a little," Alex replied, looking at Jess. A couple of foot soldiers grabbed her by the arms, hauling her to her feet. "Once you've been patched up, you're going to deal with a few friends of mine."

Madras, New Mexico, 6:31 am
Nero looped the seat belt around Chris's arm sling, and the handcuff fastening his good arm to the car. Chris watched, still kind of woozy from the anaesthetic the doctor had given him before taking the bullet out of his arm. He could feel enough to know that it would hurt a lot in a couple of hours, just like it had before the operation. That was the only reason he hadn't managed to strangle Nero or escape—though he had made several valiant tries, hence the handcuffs.

Walking around behind the car, Nero climbed into the driver's seat. Slamming the door, he started the engine. Chris rolled his head around to look at the bounty hunter.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere we'll have the advantage when your brother comes calling," Nero replied, not looking at him as he drove down the street.

Chris managed a slight, wry smile. "Considering he's got a whole armada of space ninjas backing him, I don't think that's possible."

Nero didn't respond, just watched the road. Settling back, Chris started dozing while he was still numb enough to do it—only to be snapped back into reality by a fireball slamming into the car. It rocked back, flames rolling up the windshield and knocking the hood up. Nero slammed the gas and swerved, fire and smoke trailing from the vehicle.

"What—" looking out the window, Chris saw a slim blonde in scorched clothes, standing as if braced to fight.

As he watched, she straightened and spat a stream of white-hot flame at them. It scored right through the car's trunk with a searing sound, and the vehicle flipped over. He tucked his head in and tried to shield himself as the car's roof crumpled like aluminum foil. With a crackling noise, the interior caught fire.

"What the—" Unbuckling, Nero rolled out of the car and sprang up behind it, drawing a handgun from under his coat. He opened fire almost as soon as he was up, but the girl darted away almost too quickly to see. Another, smaller fireball slammed into the side of the car, jolting Nero back so he almost fell down.

"Careful—she's a ninja," Chris shouted to Nero, recognizing ninja-streaking when he saw it even if he was upside-down. Awkwardly, he started trying to free himself. The handcuff was still attached and unbroken, and the shift in gravity was sending the weirdest pains up and down his bad arm. No matter how hard he jiggled and wrenched the buckle, it wouldn't budge.

Nero ran out of ammunition, and ducked behind the car to load another clip. Hearing a familiar whoosh, Chris looked around to see a pink light shooting towards them. He let out a shout of warning, and Nero ducked aside. The blast tore right through the car's trunk and into the side of a building; if he hadn't moved, it would have gone clean through him.

As Nero sprang up, a pink flash of fire struck the gun, knocking it out of his hands—and by the yell of pain, burning his hands. Inside the car, the buckle finally came loose, and Chris fell headfirst to the ground. The handcuff jerked his hand up and back towards the seat. Cradling his wounded arm to his chest, he started kicking out what was left of the windshield.

With another flash, the girl was standing on the other side of the car, glaring intently at Nero. Up close, Chris could see what looked like band-aids dotting her body, as well as a few bandages showing through holes in her clothes. She was trembling, but otherwise didn't move.

Slowly, Nero began to walk around the car towards her. Chris stopped struggling for a minute and stared at him in disbelief.

"Stop," the girl said.

"Why? Can't kill me up close?" Nero asked. He didn't look or sound even the slightest bit afraid.

"I'm warning you." She sounded desperate.

"What for? You're here to capture or kill us, aren't you?" Nero kept coming, and the girl actually backed up a step.

"Please. I don't have a choice."

"Am I stopping you?" Nero finally stopped, and threw out his arms. His palms were pink and shiny with burns. "Go ahead, put me out of my misery. I'd appreciate it, really."

The girl's shoulders rose as she drew in a deep breath. Chris tensed, expecting her to spit out another fireball. He could feel heat on the back of his neck from the burning seat behind him, taste sharp melting metal and noxious burning rubber in the air. Nero stared intently at the ninja.

Abruptly, the girl's legs pleated, and she sat down with a thump. Rolling up what was left of her left sleeve, she ripped off something that looked like a black armband and threw it away. It vanished in a flash of light before it even touched the ground.

"I'm sorry, Wyatt!" She cried, on the verge of tears.

Nero darted forward, seized her and slammed her into the ground in an armlock. She didn't fight back. Chris half-expected them both to teleport away, but they stayed right where they were.

"Key's in the glove compartment," Nero said to Chris.

Yanking the compartment open, Chris was showered with gun cartridges, a couple of pocketknives, and bottles of painkillers. He dug through the mess with a foot, spotting the shiny little key, and grabbed it with his bad hand. Awkwardly, he started unlocking the cuffs.

"How did you know she wasn't going to kill you?" He demanded.

"I didn't." Nero jerked the girl upright.

As Chris finally got himself free and scrambled out of the burning car, he heard the hum of a teleporter. In the middle of the street stood a pair of teenagers, one of whom looked even more battered than the girl ninja, and wore a similar-looking uniform. Something told Chris this was Wyatt. The other was a morphed Green Ranger. Chris recognized him immediately.

"Rat!" He and the girl had shouted at the same time.

The Green Ranger seemed to hesitate, looking from one teenager to the other. Wyatt looked like he was bracing himself for something bad about to happen. Still in Nero's grip, Jess stared at the Green Ranger with a mixture of hope and dread.

Drawing himself up, Rat raised a hand.

"Glow Jutte!" One of the green-and-copper daggers materialized in his hand, and he seized Wyatt by the arm. In a rush, Rat shouted, "This is what happens when you cross Korassil, Jess!"

With that, he stabbed Wyatt in the back. He let out a grunt, head snapping back, and Jess screamed wordlessly. Rat shoved Wyatt away as he fell, yanking his jutte out. In spite of his injuries, Chris lunged at him, but the Green Ranger teleported away. Skidding to a halt, Chris punched the air with helpless fury. Why did people die everywhere he went?

Jess was crying quietly behind him. Turning back, Chris saw Nero release her. Slowly, she walked over, and sat down next to Wyatt's body with a thump. Without a word, Chris put his good hand on her shoulder.

The Bridge, Korassil's Ship, 6:40 am
"Didn't think you had it in you," Alex said to Rat, as the Green Ranger demorphed, looking queasy. He leaned on the console, where Korassil and Zart also stood, having watched the entire exchange.

"Well done," Korassil said, nodding. "In spite of your whining earlier, you've proven your loyalty."

Zart, on the other hand, wasn't nearly so happy. "Bring her back! Now!"

"If you have nothing productive to add, please leave the bridge." Korassil sounded mildly irritated, nothing more.

"Don't ignore me!" Smoke began to curl from between Zart's fingers. "I'm not a child!"

"Then stop acting like one." Korassil walked away from the console, cape swirling.

"The plan has changed?" Alex asked.

"Jess is most likely aware of the situation in Scrimshaw, and will urge her new comrades to head there—taking them far away from Lothor and the Wind Ninja Rangers. We are already united and in close contact; together we will have the advantage over these scattered ninjas."

Alex nodded in acknowledgment, Rat looked a little less nervous, and even Zart stopped seething visibly.

"We'll still get her back," the pyrokinetic said.

Korassil took his seat in the command chair, and leaned back. "If possible, yes. One of you, alert the others that we will be joining them in a few days."

"Got it," Alex said, moving to the console.

Alles

 * Mark Nero

Villains

 * Korassil
 * Kelzak Berserks