The chair was definitely comfortable. The office was comfortable, certainly, but the chair made it almost lavish. But the best part of the office was the two men tied to chairs across the desk from him. Andros, the headmaster of the Academy, in red, with blood on the side of his face, and Zhane, chief of security, in grey, with bruises. Vincent Corry smirked. It seemed he had done what all the people they had battled had been unable to.
He stood and paced back and forth, waiting perhaps less calmly than he should for news of the capture of Ashley Hammond. He remembered her from the beginning of the semester when he'd been a student four years ago. She was a cheerleader type, the kind he hated. That had been a while ago, and he wondered if she'd changed, especially since she lost her first child. He glanced sideways at her husband, then turned his attention to the field phone as it beeped at him. "Yes?"
"There's a cadet somewhere around Medical," Steve reported. It sounded like he was running. "I just caught sight of her, and I'm following her."
"Catch her, if you can. She might know where Ms. Hammond is. Try not to hurt her, but if you have to, try not to kill her."
"Yes, sir," Steve said, and the phone clicked off.
"Don't hurt her," a voice growled, and Vincent looked up.
"Welcome back to the waking world," he smiled at the headmaster, who scowled back at him, then glanced at the cadet sitting next to him, tied just as tightly as he was. Vincent smirked, knowing he could use her to his advantage. "Are you ready to tell me about the Battlizer?"
"What about it?"
"What you did with it." He tried to keep his temper under control. So far, it was working, but there was no telling how long he would continue to be this calm.
"What could I have done with it? I've been sitting here, tied up." The headmaster didn't take his eyes from Vincent's face. "Don't injure any of the students," he added ominously.
"You were free when I returned," Vincent reminded him.
"You got nothing from the camera?"
"Ah, yes, the camera, which conveniently stopped working just before you got free. Can you explain to me how the wires were pulled out of the camera without Will seeing it?"
The headmaster started to answer, and the phone beeped again. "What."
"I lost the cadet. I clipped her in the side, but there's no blood trail to follow. I'll keep looking, but Will says the cameras are going down fast around here. He says he can barely see anything at this point."
"Are they going around anywhere else?"
"I don't know."
With a sharp jab, Vincent changed channels. "Will, talk to me."
"Cameras are going down all over, especially in Medical. And I can't see who's doing it, either." He sounded frustrated.
"What about the Pit?"
"Nothing moving down there that I can see, but the coverage was never that good, so the cameras that are down leave really huge holes I can't see into. Eric is keeping in real close touch with David, and stops in front of one of the cameras often. And Steve is in contact with David, too. I think he's nervous."
"Good. Thanks." With a sharp jab, Vincent changed channels again. "Steve, any sign of that cadet?"
"No, but someone is up here. I keep hearing them."
"See if you can find them. We've still got people missing. And let me know if the body shows up."
"Whoa. I found her." He was speaking softly, and Vincent figured he'd come up behind the cadet and didn't want her to know it yet.
"Her?" His voice dropped in volume as well.
"Not the cadet. I don't recognize her."
"Describe her." He nodded at the headmaster. "You two listen." The security chief stirred and lifted his head sluggishly.
"Blonde, tall. She's carrying a staff, the top of it is a diamond. She's in black, and it looks like armor, and there might be a breast plate, I'm seeing her from the back. Tall boots.... She's turning around." He broke off, and the sound of electricity came across the phone. "She shot something at me!"
"Tell him to get out of there," the headmaster snapped. "Get him away from her." The expression on his face was one of realization and horror. "You don't want to mess with her."
Vincent's head snapped up. "You know who she is?"
"Astronema," Zhane said evenly. "She almost beat us. You aren't Power Rangers, your people don't stand a chance."
"And that is why I am here," Vincent growled with a glare at the headmaster. "Steve. Where are you?"
"I'm around the corner. She's coming this way, I think, I'm going to get a shot off at her."
"It'll only make her mad," the security chief said, his voice shaking. He flinched as the sound of electricity came across the phone again. "You really do not want that." He sounded like he'd had a personal experience.
"See if you can negotiate with her," Vincent ordered. There was silence, and he stared at the phone, willing Steve to say something.
"I negotiate with no one," a youngish voice came over the phone, definitely female. "I have no need to negotiate. I will destroy you all."
"But we can help each other," Vincent protested, managing to keep his voice steady. He thought he did a pretty good job of not begging, either.
"What can you give me? I have the battlizer and one morpher, it will be a snap to defeat the Rangers without two of their number. And your crew is laughable." She did laugh, then. "Prepare for your defeat." The phone clicked off.
He turned to his captives, staring in disbelief as the two of them struggled to get free. "You have to let us go," the headmaster said, out of breath. "We have to...."
"Don't even suggest it," Vincent said lazily. "For all I know, this is part of a plan."
"Believe me, I wouldn't use her in a plan." The headmaster looked at him, wide eyed and scared, and Vincent sat down without taking his eyes off of him. He had never seen anyone quite as frightened as this man was.
"Why not?"
"Because she plotted to overthrow everyone she knew," the security chief said, his words slurring together. Vincent made a mental to not have anyone hit him again. "And she nearly destroyed us and the earth." He glanced at the head master, who was staring at Vincent. He seemed to have gotten himself under control.
"You don't believe us," the headmaster said flatly.
Vincent leaned back. "Oh, I believe she's who you say she is. I also know she married him," he pointed to Zhane. "And she's your sister."
"She won't recognize those ties when she's like that," the headmaster protested. "I know. We tried to get her to remember..." He trailed off, then sighed. "You should have gotten him out of there."
"But then I would have less information than I had," Vincent said softly.
"Hey, Vinnie. The commissary is going nuts, man, this is unbelievable!" Will's voice from the phone startled him, and he jumped a little.
"What do you mean?"
"It looks like a food fight... I'm taping it so you can see it later. Man, there's a guy in there that can move... Oh. It's over." A short chuckle came over the phone. "Rich shot one of the teachers. Missed the Asian guy, but got the black one."
Vincent looked up. "Who is that?" he snapped.
"TJ Johnson," the headmaster said, looking stunned.
"I don't want to be in your shoes when he gets to Medical," Zhane mumbled. The headmaster shot him an indecipherable look.
"If he gets to medical," Vincent said, and switched channels again. "Rich. Talk to me."
"The cadets started a food fight that the teachers took advantage of. I decided if we shot one, the others would calm down. It worked."
"Is he alive?"
"Yeah, the blonde girl down here, one of the teachers, was asking for a doctor. He's alive for now."
"What did you say when they asked for a doctor?"
"Called David. He said we didn't know where they were." Vincent could almost hear the smirk on Rich's face.
"Good. Thanks, Rich. And good job." He turned off the phone and smiled at his captives. "I guess I'll just have to see what happens when he gets to Medical." He leaned back in his chair, figuring nothing major would happen for a while. "You know why I'm here, of course."
The headmaster looked up from the floor. "I would guess revenge," he said.
"Very good." His face twisted at the condescension in Vincent's voice. "For what?"
He sighed. "You feel you were dismissed unfairly."
"I was dismissed unfairly," Vincent said. "You were grieving for your child, worried about your wife, and the Black Ranger had just disappeared. I can imagine you were in a less than charitable mood." He cast a glance at the Cadet; she was listening, eyes wide, and still trembling. He smirked at her and turned his attention back to the other captives.
"If the baby had been born the day before, alive and well, I still would have dismissed you," the headmaster said evenly. "Injuring other students on purpose was not acceptable. You were dismissed for unRanger-like behavior, not because of how I felt at the time."
"UnRanger-like behavior?" Vincent couldn't believe his ears. "All I did was get rid of the competition!"
"There is no competition among the rangers!" the security chief snapped.
"And what if they had been your team?" the headmaster asked.
"Team," he mumbled, "if they were injured that easily, they weren't worthy of being on my team." He brushed him off with a gesture. "I was following what I was told: get it done, no matter the cost."
"No matter the cost?" Zhane looked incredulous. "So, what would have made us better than Astronema?"
That was obvious."You weren't trying to conquer the galaxy."
"No matter the cost to yourself," the headmaster mused softly. "We do as little harm as possible, use only enough..."
"Which is why Angel Grove was trashed how many times?" Vincent asked sarcastically.
"Five times once I knew it even existed," the headmaster said, and he even sounded less than thrilled about that. "Ask Tom Oliver, Jason Scott, and TJ Johnson about the other times. I'm sure they know the exact number. It's not something you can ignore, or forget."
Vincent's lip curled slightly. "I don't think I can ask TJ," he said, and leaned back. "You know, I ought to tell you my plans."
"Plans for what?" Zhane asked. The Headmaster stared at the floor and didn't respond.
"For the Headmaster and his wife," Vincent said, and tried to keep the smirk off his face when the Headmaster looked up, eyes wide.
"I told you to leave her alone," he said ominously.
"It's not a good idea to threaten her right now," Zhane said, almost conversationally. "I've never seen Andros mad, but I've heard he can be quite destructive." Then his eyes narrowed. "You're behind the threats they've been getting. Aren't you."
Vincent waved them off. "You're just normal people now," he said. "And she shouldn't be too hard to... well," he broke off at a glare from the Headmaster. "I'm not going to do anything...." He laughed. "I was going to say that I wasn't going to do anything bad, but it is bad, and it will probably hurt, but she'll recover, she looks strong. First thing is to kill the baby, of course. Just like I promised," he added with a nod to the security chief.
They all three gaped at him, and Vincent concentrated on keeping his face straight. The reaction had been better than he could have possibly dreamed. "You can't kill an innocent child!" the Headmaster protested.
"Because it's a child, or because it's yours?" Vincent asked blandly. The Headmaster stared at him. "Second, then, is to make sure she will never have any children, your's or anyone else's."
"You can't do that," the Headmaster whispered. "You'll destroy her. Don't do that to her."
"Yes, it will be rather difficult for her, won't it?"
"Please, don't do that to her." If Vincent hadn't know better, he would have thought the man was begging. The Red Ranger, Headmaster of the Ranger Academy, was begging that Vincent spare his wife. He rather liked the feeling.
"Perhaps," he said. "But you see, if I... damage her, you will both know that you could father children on any woman you wanted to... except the one you really want to." He smirked and enjoyed the pain that played across his captive's face. "On the other hand, if she were here, I could make that decision a little better, couldn't I?" It would be interesting to see her beg for mercy, he thought.
"I don't know where she is." He spoke it so softly that Vincent barely heard him.
"I know," Vincent responded, just as softly. "It stinks, doesn't it." There was silence in the office, and Vincent decided to let it grow. Let the horror of what would happen, the horror of the unknown grow until it became unbearable for them. One of them had to know where she was. One of them would eventually break.
"Marc! She's by you guys now!" came from the phone, and Vincent picked it up, surprised by the urgency.
"Will?"
"The woman who shot Steve! She's up by the executive offices. She just pointed the staff at the camera and blasted it!" Vincent heard a muttered curse and glanced up; the Headmaster did not like that, he could tell by his expression.
"And?"
"Nothing. We found the camera," Marc reported. "She's not here. It's in... well, it's not there either."
"I can't find Steve," James reported. "There's a scorch mark on the wall, though, and one of his shoes. Could she have killed him?"
Vincent looked at the Headmaster, who could not seem to look up. "She can do that?" he demanded.
"Those people aren't Power Rangers and don't have the protection we did," Zhane snapped. "Tell them to stay clear of her!"
Vincent waved him off. "Yeah, it seems so. If you see her and can get a shot off, kill her. If not, stay clear. That goes for everyone! James, you stay around Medical."
"Yes, sir."
Vincent looked up, furious. "You let him get killed."
"I did no such thing," the Headmaster looked up, and Vincent hid a smile at his haunted expression. "I warned you. You didn't listen to me."
"Hello, Red Ranger, Silver Ranger." The youngish voice came over the phone again, and Vincent scowled at it. She still had Steve's radio. He was going to have to be careful what he said. "I can't see you, but this young man has told me where you are. I can see where and how everyone else is, and he has told me that you are quite helpless. I'll be there soon, to take care of you."
"I'm taking care of them just fine," Vincent growled.
"No," she said. "You're going to let them live. I want them destroyed."
"What did you do to Will?"
"He is of no consequence." There was a sharp click as it turned off, and he stared at the phone.
"If I could just get her to help me out, I'm sure I could find Ms. Hammond," Vincent muttered, and leaned back in the chair. "I wonder how I'd do that."
Go on to Next Chapter | "I Wonder What it's Like...."