The End
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Author's Note:Oh jeez, this is the first thing I've submitted in months! I hope I'm not getting out of touch... ^_- Well, anyway, this takes place right before Ryan goes to fight the cobra. Enjoy!
Ryan tugged the back of his shirt up for what seemed like the millionth time to look at the large tattoo covering his back. He sighed as he gingerly touched the large cobra. It was all ready halfway to his neck, one more time morphing and he was most likely a goner. He groaned at the thought and slipped his shirt back down. His eyes wandered to the clock and discovered it to read "12:07pm". He let his mind shut down as he pulled back the blankets on his bunk and crawled beneath them.
Though he had told his mind to shut up, or at least had tried, the thoughts churned through his head, all of them eating away at his brain and making his stomach sick with worry. He wasn't one to worry, but with this live cobra slowly crawling up his back, he believed he had reason to. He turned to his left side and then to his right. It was impossible to fall asleep. He sat up in bed and ran his hands through his hair; the hands came back damp from sweat. As he sat there, his face in his hands, a thought suddenly struck his mind. He opened his mind as he was mentally whisked back to Diabolico's lair.
Ryan stood off to the side of the dark stone room, watching Diabolico and Vypra argue.
"Diabolico, the cobra will be in greater need later! Too use it now, would be a waste! What if they defeat him?" Vypra shouted, her hands motioning her words.
"The cobra is all-powerful, more powerful than you and I combined! He will not be defeated!" Diabolico retorted.
Queen Bansheera appeared then in her misty fog form and interrupted them. "Hush, both of you! You are fighting like children! And in front of this...this human!"
Diabolico stepped in front of Ryan, blocking him from the Queen's view. "I assure you he is trustworthy. I have raised him as my own."
The Queen snorted. "I will have your tongue if you are lying to me, Diabolico. Now, what seems to be the problem?"
Vypra came forward then, silent since the Queen's arrival. "Diabolico wants to use the cobra on some stupid alien from Corscet because he beat him in a game of cards," she scoffed.
As Bansheera opened her mouth to tell what she thought of that idea, Diabolico cut in. "Vypra makes it sounds so petty, but this beast cheated! I lost almost all I have!"
"I do not care, Diabolico. You're right, it is petty. And you are not going to touch the cobra. That is to be used in the situation where worst has come to worst and you know the culprit can not be disposed of otherwise. Do you understand?"
Diabolico mumbled his answer.
"What was that?" Queen Bansheera demanded.
"Yes, your majesty," Diabolico said this time, more clearly.
"I'm glad you agree, I'll check in later."
After the Queen had disappeared, Diabolico turned to Vypra and gave her an icy glare before stalking out of the room. Vypra shrugged and exited the room through another corridor.
Ryan was left there, wondering what had just happened. He didn't think it mattered anyway, so he pushed the last 10 minutes out of his head and went to his quarters to train.
Ryan pulled himself out of the memory for a moment and let the information seep through his thought process. Slowly, he pushed himself back into that day, trying to remember if they had said anything about where the cobra was. He couldn't recall anything and he sighed with frustration when suddenly an image appeared to him. It was in the middle of a desert, a dark crevice in the ground surrounded by broken pillars of stone.
The cobra! The source of my tattoo! The information hit Ryan like a ton of bricks and he jumped out of bed, his body ready for action. He didn't know where the image had come from. Perhaps he had seen it before; perhaps it was the work of a higher power, which knows. Who cares for that matter? He was going to find this hole in the sand, find this cobra and beat the crap out him. He is undefeatable, his mind reminded him. Ryan shrugged the thought away and grabbed his morpher from the nightstand.
He left his room without a further muse and started off down the hall. He passed Kelsey's room on the way, and out of sudden impulse, stopped. He looked at the closed door. She was most likely fast asleep. He reached his hand up slowly to the touch-pad next to the door and hit it lightly. The door, almost silently, opened and he wandered quietly into the room. Kelsey, as he had thought, was sleeping peacefully in her bunk, her brown hair spread around her soft face. He wanted to go run his hands through it.
He blinked at his sudden rush of feelings. Obviously, he'd never thought about it before. Kelsey was cute, smart, aggressive, daring...and well crazy. Seem like a harsh word? Well...it fits her. He smiled at the thought. The innocence in her face hardly did her justice... He bit back his better senses and inched farther into the room, kneeling down next to the Yellow Ranger's bunk. He could see the slow motion of her chest rising up and down through the blankets as she breathed. He didn't think he'd ever felt this jittery. It seemed as though his heart wanted to jump out of his chest. Jeez, since when do I like girls? I'm a free man, I don't wanna be held down by a girl... He sighed. Obviously louder than he thought, too, cause Kelsey's eyes began to flutter. He panicked and jumped, narrowly missing the top of the bunk with his head.
Kelsey's mouth opened with a long yawn. "Ryan...*yawns*...what are you doing?"
"I...uhm...", Ryan stuttered.
Kelsey pushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face and swung her feet over the side of the bunk, sitting up. "What's the matter?"
"Well..." Ryan just couldn't come up with anything to say.
Kelsey stood up then, and moved toward her desk, picking up the light yellow bathrobe. That's when Ryan noticed that his teammate was only wearing a long T-shirt that touched mid thigh. He blushed warmly and turned his head while Kelsey slipped her arms in the robe and tied it around her middle.
She walked back over to him, and tugged on his arm, pulling him to the couch that sat against the wall in her room. She collapsed on it, brining the somewhat-reluctant Ryan along with her.
She turned to face him, "Now, Ryan, what the heck are you doing in my room at 12:30am?"
"I was just walking by...and..."
That's when Kelsey noticed the morpher clutched in his left fist. "You're not planning on.-"
"Morphing? Yes." He'd finally found his voice.
Kelsey's relaxed face, turned into a fierce scowl. "What are you thinking? The cobra will kill you! And why are you morphing at this time of night, anyway?"
"I found the cobra..."
"Yeah, he's on your back!" Kelsey was fuming mad, and the words didn't make sense to her.
"No. The source of my tattoo, a living cobra, somewhere in the desert."
"Somewhere in the desert? The desert is huge!" She was now on her feet, motioning her words with her hands.
He jumped up after her, clamping a hand over her mouth. "Kelsey, please...you'll wake someone else," he hissed into her ear.
He felt her body loosen, and he let go. In a much calmer tone she said, "Ryan...I'm having trouble understanding most of this. But I do know you can't do this on your own. I'm coming with you."
"No, Kelsey. This is definitely something I have to do on my own."
"But..."
Ryan stopped her with his pleading dark eyes. "I'll be back soon, I promise.
Kelsey forced her head to nod against her better judgement. "All right, Ryan. I'll do it your way. But what happens if you aren't back soon? I'm telling them."
Ryan let his mouth drape open to argue but shut it. "Okay."
Ryan leaned down then and kissed the worried girl gently on the cheek. He then turned, before she could answer or argue against the sudden rush of emotions she felt, and walked out the door. Kelsey watched until she could no longer see his dark form. "Be careful Ryan, please be careful. I think I'm in love with you..."
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