Chapter Two: Revelations

The usual Ninja zip from Blue Bay Harbor to Anaheim took approximately five minutes.

This time, Nosedive did it in one and a half, but it didn’t matter.

By the time he arrived at the Pond, it was too late.

Nosedive landed at the entrance to the Pond, crouching. His eyes ricocheted back and forth desperately as he reservedly stood. Gulping at the sight of the blown out door, the marks on the ground from fire and puck launchers, parts of the parking lot torn up and scorched, and the still fiery cars loitering, Nosedive felt his mouth dry. He panted, more from the dreaded trepidation gripping him than exertion from the travel.

Slowly turning, he tried to conceive just what happened. He shook his head and walked toward the entrance, praying silently that the confrontation had been short and his friends were already downstairs talking to contractors. He would rather face the wrath of Wildwing for not being there for the fight than…than…He banished the thought from his mind. They were alive. His brother was alive. He just had to find Wildwing.

As he walked past the first car, a queasy, sinking feeling clutched his stomach at the sight of the red tinged black top. He flinched and looked away, hoping that wasn’t what he thought it was.

A flesh wound…yeah. Maybe a flesh wound…

He made mental note not to look back there until he found the team—alive.

Under his feet cracked broken glass from the doors, and he made a point to step over the shredded and torched metal.

His eyes focused just inside the doors—and he froze.

His eyes grew, rapt and petrified. He shook his head slowly, as his body lost all feeling. A fine shuddering wracked his being.

Everything his mind conceived prior this didn’t prepare him for the sight of Wildwing’s jacket hanging from the edge of the rink—slashes carved through it, blood drenching the rips—as if someone had stabbed his brother.

“Wing…”

He stumbled backwards until the jacket was no longer in his sight and immediately crumpled to his knees. Hunching over, he wretched and expelled his fear and crushing remorse. Wiping his beak off with the back of his hand, he wrapped his arms about himself. Where was everyone? Where did they go?

“Wildwing, where the hell are you?” he whispered.

“Obviously not here.”

Nosedive whirled at the abrupt voice, his heart failing to beat correctly. He balled his fists as fuming anger and earnest anxiety vied in his heart. Staring venomously, he watched Vexacus as he leaned nonchalantly against a light post.

“See something you didn’t like?”

“Where is he, Vexacus?” Nosedive demanded, standing uneasily. Lothor had gone after his family— gone after Wildwing—because of him.

Vexacus didn’t need to ask who “he” was. “Wondering if he’s still alive?”

Nosedive gasped loudly. His stomach twisted with dread as he almost sunk back to his knees. No…he wouldn’t have… As much as he tried to rationalize why Lothor would keep his brother and family alive, he knew the raucous truth.

There was no reason.

Vexacus smirked maliciously. “I’ll let your mind wander a little more. The look on your face is priceless.”

“W—Where is he?” Nosedive stammered, not being able to stop the tears from trickling over the brim of his eyes. Desperately, he beseeched to Vexacus, “What did you do to him?” He honestly didn’t even think he could feign bravado.

The smirk only demonized, and Vexacus pushed off the post. “Fine. You win. He’s alive. They are all alive…for now.”

Nosedive almost collapsed from the crushing wave of relief flooding him. “W—Why did you take them? Where are they?”

“Do you really think I’m going to tell you?” Vexacus chortled. “No, Lothor has more operative plans for your friends.”

“What does he want?” Nosedive asked, his voice hardening as his stability slowly returned. Still, his eyes trembled.

Vexacus’s tone was flat. “I think you already know.”

Nosedive fought the urge to roll his eyes and scoff. What else could Lothor possibly want? “They’re his. Return my family, and I’ll surrender the Ice Powers.”

“Ah, not so fast, Teal Ranger. You know it’s not that simple.” He looked away suddenly, staring into the sky before affixing Nosedive with an stern glare. “I’ll be in touch.”

With that, he disappeared in a burst of light.

Nosedive ducked his head and closed his eyes. His muscles tensed, and his hands curled into fists. No matter how much he tried to keep his two lives apart, they had collided in the most horrific of ways. Lothor had his team, and he was, ironically, powerless to save them.

Behind him, a flash of red and yellow ricocheted off the Pond wall before materializing into two bodily forms.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Shane spurted as he stood.

Dustin looked over his shoulder and whistled, “Man, what happened here? Did someone do the Monster Mash?”

Nosedive shook his head before whirling and glaring at Shane. “I need to talk to Sensei. Now.”

*^*^*

Wildwing groaned as pain radiated in his stomach. He turned his head to the side, feeling the cold metal against his cheek. It was comforting, a contrast to the heat in his gut. As slowly he was able to process coherent thoughts, he remembered the stabbing pain that had unhinged his body when another one of those—those—MONSTERS—had appeared.

However, the pain wasn’t as piercing as he thought it would be. It was dulled, more like a soreness than an open wound. Tentatively touching his side, he didn’t feel any bandages or even an gash. What happened?

“They healed us,” a feminine, familiar voice answered his unspoken question.

Opening his eyes, he focused on Tanya. She leaned over him, offering a small smile. “How are you feeling?”

Struggling into a sitting position, he rubbed his maskless face with one hand, while he held himself erect with the other. He fought back the heaviness of his eyelids and the funk that weighed down upon his head. “Tired, hurt, but okay. What happened?”

“They captured us and brought us here…wherever here is,” Canard considered resentfully, offering Wildwing a hand up.

Wildwing accepted it, noticing the blood soaking Canard’s shoulder and his navy battle gear, but like himself, there was no wound. Besides showing the same signs of exhaustion he, too, must have illustrated, Canard looked relatively healthy.

“Why? Who are they? Bounty hunters?”

“Not Saurian,” Mallory replied prosaically. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at something directly in front of her.

Wildwing narrowed his eyes, attempting to discern exactly what she was looking at it. Taking the Mask from Tanya’s hands, he quickly placed it on his face. Scanning with the infrared, he saw the waves of almost clear electricity—a force field.

“So, they captured us,” Wildwing considered out loud, looking down at his normal clothes, void of his jacket. His shirt was bloody, yet not torn, as were his jeans. Someone must have hit the auto retrieval for his clothes on his—his comm. was missing. “Why would someone take my battle gear and jacket, yet leave all your uniforms? More to the point, while would they go to the trouble of healing us? It makes no sense.”

“Yeah,” Tanya agreed dismally, “Dragaunus wouldn’t have kept us alive.”

“This isn’t Dragaunus,” Wildwing replied, sighing with blatant reservation. “Right after the fish stabbed me, he said something about teaching a teal ranger a lesson.” He looked to the group. “Any guesses?”

“Who knows? Who cares?” Duke shrugged, staring about the bridge of the ship. The command room was rather plain and not much different from the Raptor’s—a throne, a control panel, and an entrance way. “The question is: how are we going to get out of here?”

Wildwing discerned the underlying message in Duke’s words. The master thief was asking for an exit, which meant Duke felt trapped. If he couldn’t think of a way out, then they had no chance.

“Well, Dive’s still free,” Wildwing said suddenly, drawing the entire team’s rapt attention. “We can only hope he finds us.”

“Oh, I assure you he will…eventually,” a sinister voice hissed from behind Wildwing.

The leader turned on his heel, noticing the darkly dressed human with the rather long ponytail standing in the doorway. “Who are you? Why did you capture us?”

The man walked into the room, his dark lips curling into a deep, vicious smirk. “I am Lothor, Evil Space Ninja.”

Wildwing’s face darkened. “You kidnapped Nosedive.”

The evil space ninja’s brightened as he neared. “Ah, so your brother has spoken of me.”

“What do you want with us?” Mallory demanded.

“Bait, my dear,” Lothor said as he sauntered about the group, trapped behind the beam. “You are simply here as bait.”

Canard arched an eyebrow. “For whom? Don’t tell me Dragaunus pissed you off, and you’ve captured us to get at him.”

The human laughed and shook his head. “No, though I will be in touch with that scaling overlord shortly. You have been taken to get back at a certain double-crossing associate of mine...” Standing directly in front of Wildwing, he glared with obvious revulsion. “…and yours.”

Bewildered, Wildwing just stared at the human until his stomach twisted with stab of horrid realization. It couldn’t be…he wouldn’t have. “Nosedive…?” he gasped, his voice physically unable to rise louder than a whisper.

Lothor smirked. “Yes. I not only kidnapped him—Wildwing, is it?— but I also trained him and made him into an evil space ninja. And then what did he do?” He scowled succinctly, “Betray me and join those petulant power rangers! I trusted him and his abilities to help me takeover this miserable planet, and I will make him pay for leaving my side—even if it is with your lives.”

He laughed diabolically at the aghast look on Wildwing’s face, then promptly turned. As he treaded out the room, Wildwing shook his head. He couldn’t believe it. Nosedive had helped someone try to take over the world? But…he said the powers didn’t bond to him. He said he couldn’t have…

No, he resigned, Nosedive wouldn’t have.

Yet, a nagging dread clutched in his heart. He looked to other ducks, all of them sharing the same looks of appalled comprehension.

Was that what Nosedive had been doing for the last three months?

*^*^*

“Nosedive, you must sit,” Sensei pleaded with the furious and anxious teal ranger. “Please. Pacing will not help the situation or your brother.”

Nosedive did stop, but only to glare and point a shaking finger at the guinea pig sitting on Cam’s console. “You said he would in trouble if I told him. You said once he found out, he would be in danger. You lied! Lothor attacked and took him anyway! Lothor took all of them!”

None of the power rangers needed to ask the quivering mallard who “he” was. They all knew. Nosedive had spoke of him everyday, had the same conversation with Sensei everyday.

After practice and before Nosedive either joined them at Storm Chargers or headed back to Anaheim, he would sit on the floor, cross-legged in front of Sensei’s cage. “Sensei, I’m sorry. I know I ask you all the time, but...why can’t I tell Wing? How could it hurt just telling him? He won’t tell anyone.”

Sensi smiled gently. “I know this is hard for you, Nosedive, but it is for his protection. If he knew, Lothor would see him as a threat. You, yourself, do not wish to be in this war. You don’t want to put your brother in the same predicament but without powers.”

Nosedive ducked his hand and nodded. “No,” he admitted hollowly, “I don’t.”

It tore at Tori’s heart to think just what her friend was going through. For Hunter and Blake, who knew what Nosedive was feeling, it was a reminder of horrifying times when they were split, or for Blake, when Hunter had been strapped to a machine and drained savagely of his ranger energy. Shane and Dustin both shared a commiserating gaze, having seen the anguish Nosedive had right after the kidnapping occurred. This was actually an improvement.

Cam, however, simply shook his head. “Nosedive, Lothor is unpredictable. We were lucky he didn’t kill them outright.”

Nosedive stared at Cam, his eyes darting back and forth as his worn face only seemed to blanch. His beak dropped open, but nothing followed.

“Cam, come on!” Shane admonished, pushing to his feet. He clasped Nosedive on the shoulder. “Dude, it’s cool. He didn’t, and we’ll get them back.”

Nosedive stared down at the floor, shaking his head at the sight of his black uniform with teal sash. “I should have told him, then maybe he would have been ready for this!” His hands slapped to his sides, and he once more commenced pacing.

“That is in the past now,” Sensei interjected, flipping onto the table in the middle of the room. “We must focus on the here and now. Nosedive, take comfort in that Lothor hasn’t killed your friends yet, and he won’t until he gets what he wants.”

Nosedive glanced down at his wrist, then plopped to the table. “I need to get him back, Sensei. I—I can’t lose him.”

“I know,” the older guinea pig said soothingly, putting one of his little paws on Nosedive’s hand, “but whatever you do, you mustn’t give up the Ice Powers.”

“WHAT!” He leapt from the table. “Are you whacked!”

“If the Ice Power fell into the wrong hands, it would be disastrous. It could possibly even mean the end of the world.”

Nosedive shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. His hands curled into tight fists. “I won’t let my family die, Sensei. Not for these powers.”

“I would never ask you. I am simply asking you to see another option,” Sensei replied as serenely as ever. “Lothor will undoubtedly want you alone in order to get the powers, then as soon as he has them, he will destroy your friends and you. Allow the rangers to accompany you. Then, you can attack as a team and save your friends.”

Nosedive crossed his arms, letting the words sink in. Yet, he still shook his head, not being able to meet his friends’ looks. “No, I won’t jeopardize them.”

A second hand clasped his shoulder, drawing his attention. Hunter looked down at him sadly. “Trust us, man. We’ve been fighting Lothor longer than you. He never keeps his promises. He’ll destroy them no matter what you do.”

“No!” Nosedive tore from their grip and glared. “I won’t let him, and I won’t let you put my family in danger, either! What happens if Lothor sees all you there? What if he decides just to kill Wing? No! I won’t even give him the choice.”

“Dive, please,” Tori interjected, standing from the table. “Think rationally. As much as you’re scared, we can be to protect your family—”

“—or send them to an early grave!”

“That won’t happen, dude,” Dustin assured. “We’ll be there to stop Lothor.”

“You know,” Nosedive started, gesturing to the two Thunder Rangers, “if this was Blake or Hunter, we wouldn’t even be discussing this! You would have let one of them go alone!”

Everybody in the room froze, including Nosedive. He couldn’t believe the words that just came out of his beak, and yet, at the same time, he believed every one of them. He couldn’t excuse the team for wanting to put his family in danger, more so than they already were.

Nosedive looked about the room. Tori was appalled. Dustin, eyes wide, looked shocked, but really, that was nothing new. Hunter stood with a look of sympathy, while Blake simply came up to his brother’s side. Eyes dark, Shane looked enraged, while Sensei’s little whiskers twitched.

Before Nosedive could look at Cam, the alarm to Ninja Ops. flooded the room.

The rangers ran over to Cam, hovering about his chair to see what was on the screen. Nosedive, the closest, couldn’t stop his feet from jolting up and down.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are, rangers!” a large, abdominal figure chanted. The monster had a lion’s head with great barred teeth, and the body of a bird. Sharp talons adorned its feet and hands, as it jumped up and down, shooting them off at people in the middle of the city.

“I hope birds of a feather don’t flock together,” Shane commented as the team moved away from the console and Cam stood.

“If they do, then we’ll just kill two birds with one Storm Striker,” the older man remarked, taking his place in line.

As Shane put up his hand, he suddenly realized that he was one person short. Glancing to the left, he winced, seeing Nosedive with his arms crossed, glaring bitterly at the group.

“Anymore bird jokes, or are we done?” he scowled before heading toward the door. “Maybe we can tar and feather him! Or—Or—!” He picked up speed, rushing toward the opening of Ninja Ops. Moving his arms methodically and smacking his morphor, he screamed, “Hail Storm, Ranger Form!”

Dustin shrugged. “He certainly seems, y’know, foul.”

The other rangers shook their heads, while Shane suppressed a chuckle. In all seriousness, he yelled, “Ready, guys?”

“Ready.”

“Ninja Storm!”

“Thunder Storm!”

“Samurai Storm!”

“Ranger Form!”

*^*^*

“Well, well, well,” the monster said gruffly as it turned to Teal Ranger, staring at him with his talons pointed toward the lone ranger, “where are your friends?”

“They’re taking a vacation to the Canary Islanders,” Nosedive spat, taking out his Ice Sword. “Now, where’s my family?”

“In a cage, where they belong!”

Before Nosedive could even answer, the confused griffin fired its deadly talons. He ducked, only for the talons to ricochet off of Blake’s Thunder Shield. As he stood, he noticed his six teammates standing before him.

“Why did the Rangers cross the road?” Shane asked coolly, pointing his ninja staff at the creature. “To the destroy the monster!”

“Name’s Grifftin,” the monster indicated, hitting his body and gaining a metallic-sounding bang, “and I’m going to scramble you!”

“We’ll see who’s cooked!” Blake exclaimed and dove toward the monster. “Thunder Blade!”

Next to him, Hunter yelled, “Crimson Blaster!”

With a burst of red blasting directly into the bird’s chest, Grifftin stumbled backwards but ducked when Blake swiped with his Thunder Blade.

Nosedive attacked next, his anger and worry finally having an outlet as he rolled upon the ground. Uncurling, he slashed with Ice Sword. He slashed thinking of his family. He slashed thinking of his brother’s jacket and wondering if Wildwing was okay. He slashed thinking of the blood upon the ground. He slashed thinking about his brother’s demoralized face, despite the Mask, and he slashed, remembering his brother losing trust in him.

He slashed and slashed and slashed until he missed the talons coming toward him and was blasting directly in the chest.

“DIVE!” Dustin’s voice rang out, but Nosedive heard it faintly as he was thrown backwards.

Rolling upon the ground, he grunted. He moved tentatively, his chest heaving up and down laboriously.

The rangers immediately gathered in front of him, making a protective barrier between Nosedive and the monster.

“What’s the matter, Teal Ranger?” Grifftin laughed, as he slowly fought to his feet. “Distracted? Why don’t I give you another reason!”

As Grifftin posed to attack again, the three Winds yelled together, “Ninja Swords!”

They pulled their swords and leapt toward the action. Nosedive watched as Cam dove for the monster with his sword, only to be kicked away. Hunter and Blake instantly pulled their Thunder Staffs and slashed Grifftin’s chest and back simultaneously.

Nosedive moved to head back into the action when he felt someone standing behind him. Immediately, he whirled and placed his sword to Vexacus’s neck. “Where are they?” he demanded, his voice leaving no room for argument.

Vexacus chortled, hitting his sword directly into Nosedive’s blade and knocking it away from his neck. “You want them? Come to the old candle factory—alone.”

“They’ll be there?” he questioned again.

Vexacus shrugged. “Depends on your cooperation. They might find themselves dinner.” His sadistic laugh faded gradually, along with his body, leaving Nosedive alone.

Nosedive growled. Hearing Hunter’s yell, he peered over his shoulder. The crimson ranger rolled upon the ground but was quickly watched over by his little brother. The Winds took their place in the battle.

As Blake helped Hunter to his feet, he shot a look toward Nosedive.

Nosedive gazed back at him, then looked to where Vexacus had been standing. “Sorry, guys, but I just can’t risk it.”

In a blur of light, he zipped away.

*^*^*

“DIVE!” Blake screamed, then turned to his older brother, who now stood by himself. “Hunter, Dive just left!”

“We have bigger problems now, little bro,” Hunter said curtly. “Thunder Blaster!”

Shane followed suit, as he and Winds took out their weapons on the side of Grifftin. “Storm Striker!”

Grifftin looked nervously from one weapon to the other. “You know what they say! Got to fly!”

Together, Shane and Hunter screamed, “Fire!”

As Grifftin disappeared, the two blasts burned toward the two groups of rangers.

Blake’s eyes went wide, but before he knew it, a hand wrapped around his waist and tugged him out of the way of the energy blast. As he was crushed to the ground, two explosions erupted simultaneously.

Thrown into the air by the force, Blake was slammed into the ground with a grunt, forcing the air from his lungs. He coughed and sucked in rigid breathes as his uniform glimmered from sight.

“You okay?” Hunter gasped next to him, cringing in pain.

Blake winced as a stab of agony surged through him, but he nodded quickly. “In one piece, if that’s what you mean.” As he looked at his older brother, he noticed smudges of dirt on Hunter’s face and his ruffled hair but decided he probably looked the same. He really wished that Tori didn’t have to see him this way but immediately remembered she had seen him worse.

“Yo, you guys all right?” Shane asked, disheveled as well as he staggered over, offering Hunter a hand up. Tori did the same to Blake, and both leaned on each other for support.

“Dive left,” Blake informed sharply. “I think he was talking to Vexacus.”

“Cam, can you trace him?” Tori asked.

Cam fixed his glasses on the bridge of his noise, but it still didn’t help his rumpled appearance. His hair was in a state of complete disarray, while black smears of dirt blemished his face. “I can try, but most likely, if Lothor doesn’t want him found, he’ll have blocked Dive’s energy signature. Only a direct transmission will give me a pinpoint on his location.”

“So, pretty much, he’s on his own?” Dustin inquired sadly.

Cam agreed reluctantly. “Yeah, pretty much.”

*^*^*

Once more slowing down to normal time, Teal Ranger crouched on the concrete and looked about the candle factory. It wasn’t anything great, simply a few convey belts and a platform directly in front of him about two feet off the ground, while to his left were vats holding tons of wax. He turned around on his heels, searching for any evidence of the evil space ninjas or his team.

“Come on, Wing. You here?” he whispered mutedly.

A zapping noise drew his attention, and Nosedive swiveled to watch as Lothor teleported onto the small landing in front of him. Next to the evil space ninja was his two nieces, Vexacus, Zurgane, and Choobo.

“Ah, Teal Ranger, I see you have accepted my invitation,” Lothor said, feigning sincerity.

“You know it,” Nosedive scowled, taking out his Icicle Blaster just for good measure. “Where are the Mighty Ducks?”

“Oh, they’ll be here.” He motioned to the left of him, and in a burst of golden light, the team appeared.

Nosedive let out a pent-out breath, his body losing tension. His weapon almost tumbled to the ground, but he managed to catch it and himself. He looked at the team, watching as they shook their heads to rid themselves of the disorientation of teleportation. They were still trapped by a force-field, Nosedive noticed, while kelzaks slithered about their confinement.

Wildwing came to the edge of the force-field, looking down directly at Teal Ranger. Nosedive’s heart skipped a beat as he saw the blood on Wildwing’s shirt. His breathing increased, and he only kept from hyperventilating at the sight of no wound. Obviously, Lothor had healed him very much like Nosedive had been after he was taken the first time.

Wildwing’s eyes narrowed at Teal Ranger, as if examining him visually. Nosedive took comfort in the fact that Cam adjusted the suit’s look. Since Nosedive had begun to hang out with the Rangers, they were afraid that their secret identities—as well as his—might be compromised by the blatant differences of his anatomy. By projecting a hologram about his suit like the waterfall outside Ninja Ops., Nosedive now looked no different than any other Ranger.

Not seeing any confirmation in Wildwing’s eyes, Nosedive focused heatedly upon Lothor. “Okay, Lothor, you got me. So, Ice Powers for the Mighty Ducks?”

When Lothor smirked, Nosedive closed his eyes, feeling the six pairs upon him. Well, there was no getting out of it this time. He didn’t want to give Lothor the power to take over the world, but for his family’s lives, it was the price he was willing to pay.

Ducking his head, he redeposit-ed his weapon and readied himself. He didn’t want to do this. This wasn’t the way he wanted his brother to find out.

Forgive me, Wing.

Before he lost his nerve, he brought up his right wrist and smacked his morpher with his left hand. “Power down!” In a shimmer of teal light, his suit dissolved about him. Standing in front of the Mighty Ducks, Nosedive Featherburn now simply wore his beach bum clothes—a cut-off T-shirt, long shorts, and low-ride shoes.

“NOSEDIVE!” Wildwing hollered, horrified.

Nosedive looked up at his brother, meeting his eyes with a small, hesitant smile. “Hey, Wing.” He gazed to the rest of the team. “Sorry to get you guys into this.” He quickly turned his attention to a satisfied Lothor and unclipped his morpher. He almost felt exposed without it on his wrist. “There you go. All yours.”

Marah instantly jumped down from the platform and walked toward him. She smiled sweetly as she took the morpher from his hands. “Y—You know, now that you’re not a ranger…” she stammered, her face tinged pink.

A flash of pink burned past Marah’s head, almost hitting Nosedive, too. “Oh, no you don’t!” Kapri yelled as she rushed up to her sister’s side. “I told you I wanted to ask him! How could you? He’s totally my territory!”

“No way! I had the idea first!” Marah rejoined. “I get to ask him!”

“Nu-uh!”

“Yeah-uh!”

Nosedive heard Canard crack up laughing, and he looked up at the ducks. Wildwing, though seemingly still angry, smirked and shook his head. Duke raised an eyebrow to him, though Mallory seemed shocked. Tanya joined Canard in laughing, while Grin simply smiled. What did they know that he didn’t?

“GIRLS!” Lothor chastised. “He is still our enemy!”

“W—Wait a minute,” Nosedive interrupted as the two girls continued to scream at one another. They abruptly stopped and looked at him. “Ask me what?”

Canard’s laughter cut through the air, and Nosedive sparred him an acidic glare. “Whaaattt?”

“Well, see, Kapri and I were wondering, if, y’know, maybe, you’d like to go out with one of us?” Marah ventured, batting her eyelashes.

“Go out? Go out how?” he asked genuinely confused until he interpreted the tantalizing smiles they wore. His eyes widened, and he took a half a step back, his hands up in front of him. “Whoa…y—you don’t mean…I mean…Oh…” He blinked, then finally collected his bearings. He blushed, realizing his family was watching him being asked out on his first date. Talk about embarrassing. “Uh, look, I…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “…see, I have two rules about dating. One, I won’t date anyone out of my species, and two, I won’t date anyone evil.” He cringed. “While the former of the two I can dismiss for the sheer fact that I may never get home, the latter I can’t change.” Smiling sympathetically, he said, “Sorry.”

“See?” Kapri scolded as she and her sister headed back up to the platform. “This is all your fault! If I would have asked him first—”

“—he might have barfed!” Marah exploded, handing the morpher to her uncle.

“Take them for a simple summer internship, they said,” Lothor muttered, shaking his head. “They’ll get along great learning how to take over a world.” He looked directly at Nosedive, commiserating, “It’s so hard to get good help these days.”

“You’ve got the Ice Powers, Lothor,” Nosedive stated bitterly, resentful of the evil space ninja. “Release my family.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you thought it would be that easy,” Lothor chastised, twirling the morpher in his hand. “You almost disappoint me.”

Nosedive didn’t like the feigned pleasantries in Lothor’s voice or the obtrusive knot that had formed in his stomach. “What else do you want? I gave you my powers. There’s not much more I can do.”

“Oh please. You know as well as I do that when you joined me and the powers bonded to you—”

“WHOA!” Nosedive cried, striding forward a few feet. “What the hell do you mean joined you? I never joined you!” He shook uncontrollably at the accusation. Knowing that his brother had been questioning his trust, he could only imagine what insecurities were crawling through Wildwing’s brain. “You wiped my mind and made me think I worked for you, and then gave me those powers! If Wing and Duke had been there that day—” —he gestured to his brother and teammate—“—I might have destroyed the power rangers and helped you take over the world.”

“You wouldn’t even have had these powers if it weren’t for me. I chose you,” Lothor spat, his eyes narrowed, and Nosedive had to face the irrefutable truth. “However,” Lothor continued, “you know as well as I do that the Ice Powers are bonded to you for life. As long as you live, these powers will be useless to me.”

Yeah, he’d thought of that but decided against following that particular train of thought. Nosedive decided against thinking that his friends were right and should have accompanied him, too, but at the moment, he couldn’t deal with that.

“Leave him alone, Lothor,” Wildwing commanded suddenly, drawing Nosedive’s attention. He smiled at his older brother. Even captured, stabbed, and going through hell because of him, Wildwing still stuck up for him. “He’s just a teenager. He poses no threat to you. Let him go.”

“Oh, but that is where you’re mistaken, duck,” Lothor addressed him, then smirked diabolically at Nosedive. “He has already caused me more harm than you know. He must be dealt with and taught the true way of being a ninja—now.”

Nosedive gulped. “So, what are you gonna do? Ki—Destroy me?”

Lothor grinned deviously, noticing the subtle change in wording. “No. I’m going to impress you.”

Nosedive scoffed. “You think I’ll work for you?” He crossed his arm and looked away, disinterested. “I’d rather be destroyed.”

“Trust me, duck. Destroying you is the furthest thing from my mind.”

Nosedive instantly went rigid. His eyes snapped toward his brother, who glared, unforgiving, at Lothor as he sauntered over to their confinement. His hand glowing, Lothor stood in front of Wildwing and put the light in front of his face, albeit in front of the force field. Wildwing only glowered defiantly at the evil space ninja.

“Don’t!” Nosedive screamed, his hands falling to his sides in helpless fists.

“Oh, I will not destroy your team, Teal Ranger,” Lothor hissed as he allowed the golden light in his palm to fade to nothing. “Dragaunus will be most pleased to receive them and finally leave this wretched planet.”

“You really think Dragaunus will leave here?” Nosedive snorted. “He keeps his promises worse than you.”

Lothor turned his back on the ducks to focus his entire, twisted evil upon the youngest member. “Of course he will leave. Once he receives this pathetic excuse for a resistance, then he’ll return to his rightful throne on your home planet. If they are rebuilding and even not enslaved, your people will not be able to resist his firepower again. You know it, Ice Ranger, and so does Dragaunus.”

Nosedive gasped, his beak agape as he shook his head. His face tensed suddenly. “You bastard.”

“I must admit,” Lothor continued in a menacing tone, “I was even impressed by his evil, malevolent mind. The camps, ingenious. The mines, profound. I understand you spent a good deal of time in one of them. Is that correct?”

Nosedive couldn’t answer. He nor his brother hardly spoke of their times in the camps, and his in the mine, and when he did, he always found himself sobbing and trembling—even a year and a half later. His haunted and embittered eyes followed Lothor’s movements. Slowly, water began to drip from their clenched palms, seeping through his tense fingers.

“Ah, so you’ve already mastered the Power of Water,” Lothor marveled, his tone pleased.

Nosedive shook his head and wiped his wet hands on his shorts. “Mastering is a little stretching it.”

“It’ll only be a matter of time before we finally have your Ice Powers controlled.” He smirked hellishly at the disgusted and even frightened look on Nosedive’s face. “Yes, for why would I destroy you, Ice Ranger? I would simply be wasting all my brother’s work. He has already nurtured your Water Powers. Together, we will help to bring the Ice Powers under your control and use them to freeze the entire planet. Then, you will help me to establish these so-called mines.”

“Like hell,” Nosedive murmured, yet it was still just a firm as a sacred vow. “I’ll never help you.”

“Then your team will be handed over to Dragaunus,” Lothor returned, disinterested. “Originally, you were part of that deal. Dragaunus seems to believe killing you in front of you brother would end this miscreant resistance. However, I reserve that pleasure for my own forces unless you work for me. Then instead of handing your friends over to Dragaunus, they will simply live in my dungeons until they die of natural causes.” A hateful, hellish grin formed on Lothor’s face. “Their fate is in your hands.”

Nosedive scowled as he ducked his head and closed his eyes. He knew what he was going to choose. There was no point even mulling over it, but…he shivered noticeably. Helping someone to take over the world just like Dragaunus…the mines…the mere thought of them only intensified his quivering. He would be putting people through the torture he had endured and thankfully lived through. Could he do that?

For his brother, he would do anything…even that.

He raised his head, defiant tears coursing his cheeks. He opened his beak to answer—

“Nosedive, no.”

Nosedive didn’t meet his brother’s eyes. “I don’t have a choice, Wing,” he muttered, abashed.

“Yes, you do. There is always a choice,” Wildwing emphasized, his voice nothing but fond. “And as your older brother and leader, I’m telling you not to join him.”

“But WILDWING!” Nosedive shrieked, head snapping upward to stare at his brother. “He’s going to send you to Dragaunus! He’ll kill you!”

“Let me deal with that,” Wildwing replied, the corner of his beak edging up in a smirk. “Gotta trust me, little brother, just like I trust you.”

Nosedive couldn’t help but return the smile cheekily, which quickly fell to a frown. “But—”

“Will you just shut up and listen to me for once in your life?” Wildwing yelled in exasperated affection.

A hand clasped Wildwing’s shoulder. “This guy as dangerous as Dragaunus?” Duke L’Orange asked, gesturing with his head toward Lothor.

Nosedive nodded. “You’d bet your saber.”

Duke smirked and shook his head. As the team knew well, Duke’s saber went everywhere with him, and it was the one thing he’d take with him to the grave.

“Then you must balance the karma of this place,” Grin encouraged, striding up behind Wildwing.

“E—Even if it means your deaths?” Nosedive faltered.

“It’s either this goon or Lizard Lips,” Mallory concurred, punching her hand in her fist, “and we can stop Dragaunus. You take care of this reject.”

Nosedive knew Canard’s response simply by his hopeful, soft smile. It mimicked his older brother’s one. That only left one duck from whom he still needed to hear. “Tanya?”

The team tech was peeved. “What are you waiting for me to say? Refuse already!”

Grinning still, Nosedive focused directly upon Lothor. “I guess my answer’s no. Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t think ‘evil space ninja’ would look good on my resume.”

Lothor, eyes malevolently dark, whirled to Wildwing. “Watch him die.”

Nosedive didn’t flinch, as he suddenly put his hands straight out at his sides, then slowly moved one about his head, the other underneath his torso, making a makeshift circle. Thrusting them forward in front of his chest, he shouted, “POWER OF WATER!”

Lothor staggered backwards into the wall of the candle factory as a stream of water spurted from Nosedive’s hands.

Wildwing was speechless…almost. “D—Dive…what the hell was that?” He looked at his brother, his eyes wide and rapt.

Nosedive smirked and shrugged. “You wanted to know what the guys from Blue Bay Harbor were teaching me.”

Lothor wiped off his face with his gloved hand. “Vexacus! You were the one who nominated the duck for the Ice Powers. Why don’t you demote him?”

“It would be a pleasure, Lothor.” Bowing, Vexacus drew his sword and strode toward the teenage duck.

Nosedive grinned wickedly and grabbed his left shoulder of his T-shirt, throwing off his civvies. Now, standing in front of Vexacus, his left hand straight up in front of him, his right in a fist at chest level, he wore a black and teal uniform. On his left breast was adorned a teal jagged icicle, while a teal sash encircled his waist.

“Just a warning, Vexacus, but since you blasted me off my bike, I’ve gotten better at fighting,” Nosedive boasted.

Vexacus leveled his sword, standing in front of the teenage duck. “Then I will thoroughly enjoy roasting your feathers even more.”

To Be Continued…