A Light on the Water

A Light on the Water is the fifth episode of Power Rangers: Lost Ninjas.

Synopsis
Rat and the other students are picked up by a passing cruise ship, but their survival is soon discovered by Xumara's first monster.

Last time we saw the Earthlight Rangers...
''Zart interrupted the morpher presentation ceremony, and killed the would-be Lifelight Ranger when he protested. Another Lifelight student offered Zart the dead teen's morpher to try to make him leave, but Zart only launched his attack. In the chaos, one of the chosen Rangers, Jess, was able to morph. Wyatt, who'd been late to the ceremony, rescued the Sensei's young daughter and got the Crimson Morpher from Jess. The trio fled the island as it erupted, the rest of the school being captured by Xumara.''

February 2nd, The Caribbean, 1:19 pm
Mason Green, known to most as "Rat," gave his outboard motor a smack. The machine chuttered a little, but did nothing else. With a groan, the fourteen-year-old flopped back in the boat, and looked around at the dark Caribbean. Too dark to tell if there were any cruise ships around, or islands.

Sighing, Rat shut his eyes and concentrated. His hands, resting loosely in his lap, began to glow green: he could see the light through his eyelids. The glow spread up his arms and all across his body. Hopefully someone would see the huge green light floating in the middle of the water. At least it kept him pretty warm.

Then he heard a shout. His eyes snapped open, and he stood up, swaying as the boat rocked. There was something off to his right, something large, black and glittering with lights. He cupped his hands over his mouth.

"Hello? Is someone there? I'm stuck!"

"We're sending out a boat—hang on!" The voice was too echoey for him to tell whether it was a man or a woman. Rat sat down quickly. He began to bring the light down gradually. If these were normal people, the whole bioluminescence thing would raise some awkward questions.

Soon, he saw a boat motoring toward his, a lantern glowing on the bow. Quickly, Rat grabbed a bundle of supplies out from under the stern—he'd been able to salvage some food before the island blew—and started paddling towards them. Soon, he reached the boat, and several uniformed men caught it. By the black and white and shiny buttons, they were stewards on a cruise ship.

"My motor died," Rat said, climbing into the boat with help. "I've been drifting for hours." Someone gave him a coat, and the men tied the two boats together. They turned and began back towards the cruise ship. It looked like a lit-up skyscraper in the ocean, making the waves flash. One of the men said something in Portuguese, drawing a few laughs from the others.

Finally, they reached the side of the cruise ship. Above them, the name Alejandro gleamed in black letters. In a few minutes, the boat was fastened to pulleys hanging over the side, and it began lifting out of the water.

It was windier up on deck, and Rat wrapped the coat tighter around himself. As the stewards put the boat away, they were greeted by what looked like an officer. He looked Rat up and down, and shook his head. The teen tried to look helpless and small.

"Another one?" The man shook his head. "Tonight's the night for castaways. Put him up with the others. We'll sort this out tomorrow." One of the men started walking, and Rat followed him quickly.

Music wafted through the wood-paneled corridors, along with a faint hum of voices. Rat kept close to the steward, who barely even looked back at him. Heading down a flight of red-carpeted stairs, the man turned into a corridor and stopped in front of a narrow passage, with doors on either side. He rapped on one, and after a moment, it opened. A fair-haired boy, older than Rat, popped his head out of the doorway.

"This is another castaway. The first mate said he should stay with you for the moment," the steward said.

"Sure," the stranger replied, and opened the door the rest of the way. Rat came inside, and found a young woman—Jess, from the Academy—sitting in a corner. She recognized him and sat up as the other boy closed the door.

"Rat!" She grinned. Relieved, Rat flopped down on one of the beds face-first and shut his eyes. "How did you escape?"

"Ran, got a boat and some supplies, but the engine died on me," Rat replied, his voice muffled by bedding. The bedspread was fluffy and cool, though the springs squeaked a little. "You?"

"Wyatt and Malaya and I just got a boat at the last second," Jess replied. Wyatt was blondie there, Malaya…? Rat cracked an eye open. Nobody else was in the room. "I found the sea lane and the rest is history."

"Now what?" Wyatt asked, coming over and sitting on the other bed. Rising, Jess began pacing. She was biting her pinkie nail.

"Sensei Kai—not Nardu, his father—always said he made sure there was a friend of the Academy working on the local ships. If there is one here, he—or she—will probably hear about us some time tonight. We should wait for them to make contact. They'll tell us where to go next."

"Home sounds like a good idea to me," Rat suggested.

"That'll take a few steps," Jess replied. "Anyhow, our next stop is Palencia; we won't get there for a few days. I think we should just try to relax until then. If anything comes up, I'll let you know."

"Yes ma'am," Rat replied.

Jess checked a clock on the wall. It was one of those numberless things, but even at a glance, midnight had passed. She brushed her hair out of her face. "Okay. See you guys tomorrow. I'm with Malaya in the other room if anything comes up."

Quietly, she slipped out, closing the door behind herself with a click. Rat began pulling off his sneakers and socks with his toes. Scratching his head, Wyatt came over and sat on the other bed, taking off his own shoes.

"Is your name really Rat?" He asked, balling his socks up and sticking them in the toes of his shoes.

"No, but I don't like Mason," Rat replied, sitting up so he could get under the covers. This was ten times better than those stupid hammocks at the Academy: half of the time he couldn't even get into the thing properly. "Can you get the light?"

"Sure." Wyatt got up and switched off the light. As Rat lay down, he heard Wyatt bump into something, then climb into the other bed. "We don't have pajamas."

"I know. Go to sleep."

"Where are you from? You have an accent," Wyatt said.

"I'm Cajun and tired. Good night."

"Okay, I was just curious. Good night." Rolling over on his side so he faced the wall, Rat shut his eyes. Faintly, he could hear the engines thrumming somewhere beneath him.

Xumara's Ship, Airspace above the Caribbean, 7:45 am
Xumara, reclining on her throne (well, technically a captain's chair, but she preferred throne), eyed the monster before her. It was essentially a collection of grey-green radar machines with red screens slapped together and granted life.

"ScanJammer, according to our databases you have the best scanning technology in the fleet."

ScanJammer raised its head. "I am the best scanning technology in the fleet." Its voice was robotic, and the line running across its screen-face jumped with the words.

Xumara cracked a smile. "Good. I want you to go to Earthlight Island and search it for any traces of the missing morphers. If you don't find anything, head for the mainland; the school had to have liaisons, they may know something."

ScanJammer gave a quick bow, rose and headed for the teleporters.

February 3rd, Cabin, the Alejandro, 11:14 am
Jess was woken by Malaya yelling her name. She snapped awake with a snort, and looked around. For a minute, she was disoriented, staring at the sun-drenched cabin in bewilderment. Then she remembered everything that had happened, and sat up slowly.

"Jess? Jess! Oh, ooh, Jess!" Malaya exclaimed, grinning hugely as the older girl looked at her and holding out her chubby arms. "Up?"

"Okay, up," Jess said, pushing the covers aside and gathering the toddler. Her stomach growled, and she checked the time. Wow, almost time for lunch. Malaya smelled like soot and sweat, and wincing, Jess knew she was just as bad. Were the guys up yet?

Jess went to the door, but as she opened it, the door bumped a small suitcase in the hall. There was another in front of the boys' room, identical to it. Intrigued, Jess set Malaya in a chair, and pulled the suitcase into the room. There was a note resting on top of it, addressed to her. She unfolded it.

Ms. Walsh—

Here are a few things you'll need until we arrive in Palencia. We received word of what happened on Earthlight. It is not safe to discuss yet. Please do not try to find me or do anything that might attract undue attention.

A friend

Jess nodded and tore up the note, tossing the bits of paper in the trash. She'd tell the boys later. For now, she and Malaya were both in dire need of a bath. She started snapping the suitcase clips open.

Leto Deck, the Alejandro, 11:55 am
With a flash, ScanJammer materialized in the narrow hall. It looked around, but didn't see anyone. It scratched its head, metallic gauntlet clinking against the square computer.

"Funny. I was certain I picked up Earthlight energy from here," it said. "Scanning…" All of its screens lit up, radar lines wiping in circles. Then they picked up a cluster of blips, and ScanJammer turned. "Earthlight energy detected."

It started walking, barely making a sound on the carpeted floor. Voices rang out somewhere up the hall, and ScanJammer sped up. The blips were growing, separating into three different signatures.

Two teenage boys stepped into the hall, and ScanJammer halted. The younger, bearded boy spotted him first, yelped and ducked behind the other, who dropped into a fighting stance. He looked bewildered, even amused, by the sight of the bizarre monster.

"Earthlight energy detected. Identification process underway," ScanJammer said, and a red laser flashed from the projector atop his head-screen. The two froze, unable to move while they were being scanned. To the monster's radar vision, the morphers tucked into their pockets glowed red. "Identified: O'Hare, Wyatt, Green, Mason. Earthlight morphers detected."

Then someone else stepped into the hall behind the pair, and a gout of fire shot over their heads. It hit ScanJammer squarely in the projector, cutting off the scan beam, and the two boys leaped aside. The younger one was halfway down the hall before ScanJammer could even recover.

"Rat?" Wyatt asked, confused.

"Never mind him—we've got to take care of this guy," the girl said. She sucked in a deep breath and breathed a huge gust of flame at the monster. It ducked, only to feel her foot slam into its head with a clang.

"Can you move, Jess?" Wyatt called, and Jess somersaulted over ScanJammer's head. The monster looked up in time to see a blob of magma growing in Wyatt's hands. Alarmed, ScanJammer turned and tried to grab Jess, only to get its hands enveloped in flame. ScanJammer yelped in pain, recoiling and looking at its glowing orange gauntlets.

It remembered the magma at just the last second, and threw itself flat. The liquid fire shot over his head, abruptly hardening into a jagged blade of obsidian, swinging around and coming back at him. It missed again, almost stabbing Wyatt on its way back.

"I'm getting really sick of this," Jess snapped, and sprang onto ScanJammer's back. It tried to flip over and knock her off, but Jess sprang up into a full split, catching herself on the walls of the narrow corridor. She pursed her lips and sent a stream of white-hot flame down into ScanJammer's shoulder as it tried to turn over. It started burning through its armor.

"Here we go again," Wyatt said, telekinetically picking up the obsidian lump. At a gesture, it shattered into dozens of blades, and they all flew at ScanJammer. The monster tried to wriggle away, but only managed to scratch the wood paneling. The little black blades stabbed into ScanJammer's screens, cracking them with pops and pings.

Blinded, ScanJammer roared, flailing madly at the two ninjas. It felt the volcanic glass melt again and begin tunneling into its body along with the fire. Yelling in deafening white noise, the monster swung up and slammed bodily into Jess, throwing her flat. It was too late anyway: with a few convulsive bursts of sparks, ScanJammer collapsed.

Xumara's Ship, Airspace above the Caribbean, 12:20 noon
Xumara crossed the room, and looked down at the wrecked ScanJammer. A few sparks still fizzled from its shattered screens and exposed wires. Straightening, Xumara let out a little laugh, and kicked the monster.

"So, a few escaped. Lovely. Korassil will be pleased." She wrinkled her nose at the acrid smell rising from the wrecked robot. "Someone get rid of this piece of junk—no, wait." The Kelzak Berserks who'd come out paused. Xumara grinned. "See if you can get it repaired. Also add a few actual weapons."

Obediently, the Kelzak Berserks dragged the ruined robot away. Humming to herself, Xumara returned to her throne.

Villains

 * Xumara
 * ScanJammer
 * Kelzak Berserks

Allies

 * Malaya Kai