Mommy Dearest: Chapter 20

[solarbaby614]

Title: Mommy Dearest

Author: Solarbaby

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.

Words: 2796

Summary: They try to save Casey.

Spoilers: Nope.

Notes: So, if all goes well there will only be three more chapters before this fic is finished. I was supposed to be working on it over Thanksgiving break but that didn’t happen. But I’m working on it.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Chapter 20

“… Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”
-Stephen King
 
Karone couldn’t help but feel sick to her stomach as she returned. She couldn’t believe what was happening around her. Casey had to be one of the least evil of people that she had ever met, even when she herself was training him back on the Dark Fortress. Oh, he had tried, of course. The boy had tried to make both her and his mother proud. But while many things she had taught him came easily, being evil was not one of them.

And when she had turned from Astronema to Karone she had promised herself that she would never let Casey go through what she had. To have evil forced upon him. It was suffocating, almost painful. But what he was going through had to be worse. Because this was forced on him by someone he loved.

She had failed Casey.

Well, Karone was going to do everything in her power to fix this.

It was dark when she threw open the door to the pizza parlor, barely even noticing the sign proclaiming ‘Closed’. There was a jingle of bells before a ‘thunk’ where it bounced off the wall. The noise attracted the attention of those closing up for the night. Two sets of eyes landed on her.

“What did you find out?”

It was the blue ranger. Theo, if she remembered correctly. She had been a little preoccupied when the introductions had been made. Sorani was hovering what was apparently uncomfortably close to him, if his expression was anything to go by. She just grinned and moved even closer. He shot her a look and shifted away.

She former Princess of Evil shook her head. “It’s not good.”

He sighed and put down the rag he was using. Even Sorani turned from her inspection of the cash register. She tilted her head, hands mere moments from pressing another button on the machine. Theo nodded towards the kitchen door. “Let’s go up to the loft.”

They grabbed Lily and Dallina, one of which was doing the dishes while the other was playing with a very sharp looking knife. However, when the group returned upstairs both Scorpina and Swoop were gone.

“Hello? Master Swoop?” Lilly called out as she headed down.

Sorani was right on her heels. “I wonder if Mom killed him,” she muttered absently, running her fingers down the stairs railing.

“Sorani.” There was a definite warning to Dallina’s voice before she gave a long suffering sigh before following, obvious curious as well. There was no blood, so it didn’t seem as though a fight had taken place. The floor was devoid of scuffle marks and it looked pretty much the same as they had left it.

Her sister just shot her an innocent look before returning to her examination of the room.

There was an echoing sound from the window area. The group blinked as the window flipped open and Scorpina appeared, looking flustered. Moments later, Swoop showed up as well, also a little red in the face. It was silent in the room for several moments.

“Well,” Dallina began, her voice shaking a little, “this is new.”

“Yeah.” Scorpina looked decidedly uncomfortable now as she ran a hand through her tussled hair. She caught sight of Karone. “You find something?”

Karone nodded. “Nothing good. What do you know about brazza rings?”

It was Dallina who stepped forward. “They were created to suppress the goodness of someone. A very… inspired idea.”

Sorani sat down on the bottom step, absentmindedly taping her lips. “Never used.” She let a inquisitive noise. “Curious.”

“Yes, your right about that. Unfortunately, when they field tested the rings there were… side effects.” Uncertainty laced her voice, as if she wasn’t sure about the words.

“What kind of side effects?” Lily asked, anxious. She moved to stand beside Dallina, who shot her a dark look that was missing most of the heat.

Scorpina frowned, joining her children. She turned to find Marcus still standing there. Grasping his arm, she forced him over to stand by her side. He didn’t even look all that startled, just letting his arm come to rest around her waist. Scorpina stiffened momentarily at the touch but gradually relaxed into it. Both of her daughters sent them disbelieving looks before exchanging one with each other. This was certainly an interesting new development.

“The side effects varied on the individual, but I was able to find out that there were some consistencies,” Karone said. “Um, there were some small things such as nausea, fever, and there were even a few cases of panic attacks. Whether or not this would occur would depend on how strong this person is. Usually, it was the weaker ones who had these problems. Their bodies couldn’t substance the influx of energy and that would cause their core temperature to rise until they were literally baked from the inside out.” She caught sight of the panicked looks around her. “Don’t worry about that. This would happen within hours of putting on the ring. Casey strong enough to hold that kind of power.”

She gave a sigh and rubbed the back of her neck, continuing. “But there were others who survived. Unfortunately, they didn’t end up much better. The power changed them. Messed with their minds. They would be completely fixated on something. Sometimes it was a person, or wealth or power. Something they were never able to have before. The power would just keep growing, making them stronger and stronger. Too strong. Rita was never able to keep control of them. Eventually, the power would become too much and they would burn out.”

“And by ‘burn out’ you mean?” The expression on Theo’s face said that he already knew. But he wanted to hear her say it anyways. Maybe… just maybe… He was wrong.

“Die.”

He wasn’t. “So, you’re saying that Casey is just going to keep getting more powerful and then d-die?” His voice cracked on that last word.

A nod was all he had for an answer.

“We’ll go there and stop him.”

“Scorpina…” Marcus started, placing a hand on her arm.

“No, Marcus!” She shot him a look. “We have to stop him. We’ll go there and get the ring and drag him back here. And save your friend,” she added as almost an afterthought.

Sorani gained a thoughtful expression than shrugged and standing up. “Gotta fix Casey.”

Dallina nodded and glanced around the group. “As much as I loath to admit it, we’ll need your help. Anyone else in?”

Lily was the first one to make a move, stepping forward in agreement. “I’m in.”

Theo joined her seconds later followed by Karone. Marcus still looked unsure. Going in like this, with no real plan was not a good idea. But it was the only one they had. They were going to get his son and RJ back. “Alright.”

A bright look appeared on Sorani’s face. “Shotgun!”

oOoOoOoOoOo

They arrived at the temple in record time, parking the van on the outskirts of the woods and walk the rest of the way. Forgoing the van would have had to have taken at least a few hours longer and none of them liked the idea of having to carry a body back even RJ or Casey ended up being seriously injured (RJ more likely than Casey given the circumstances).

Other than a Rinshi greeting party as they entered the temple, it was relatively unhindered. Entering the dark halls, it seemed almost as if this idea was going to work. Even making it to the throne room seemed easy enough.

As they entered, it seemed as if the room was empty. It was Lily who first spotted the man. “RJ!” He was chained up beside the throne, gagged and dressed in what seemed to be only a pair of black pants. She ushered the others in as he began to make vaguely alarmed noises. Both her and Theo ran up to him, undoing the roped wrapped around his mouth.

“Don’t--.”

Whatever RJ was going to say was cut off as the door to the room slammed shut. The group turned to see forms appearing from the shadowed walls. The first were Dai Shi and Camille followed by General Tyrlin and finally a large group of Rinshi.

“Tyrlin.” Scorpina growled, murder in her eyes as she saw him. “You did this,” she spat out.

He gained an affronted look, seeming faintly shocked by the accusation. “Me? Whatever do you mean?”

She responded with another growl and made a move to attack. An arm snaked around her waist, pulling Scorpina back. “Not just yet,” Marcus whispered in her ear.

“Hi, Camille.” Sorani grinned at the chameleon. Licking her lips, she giggled and winked at her. ‘You’re mine,’ she mouthed. Dallina caught this exchange and shook her head.

Camille looked like she was going to run for a moment, but she held her ground.

“Well, well, well. It looks as though the white hats are gathering an army.”

Another figure stepped from the shadows, sauntering up beside the general.

Casey.

He smirked at them. “Lucky for me, it’s an incompetent one.” He examined the group, laying his eyes on one certain individual. “Karone.” A smile crossed his face, looking somewhat pleased, before it turned to a snarl. “Now this is a surprise.” Catching sight of movement from behind the group. Theo and Lily were desperately trying to get RJ unchained. Well, Rinshi could fix that. He turned to the foot soldiers. “Stop them,” he said, in an almost bored voice.

They moved quickly, catching the group by surprised. Forgone was the normal hopping that had become a trade mark Rinshi move.

Casey grinned at their expressions. “I made a few improvements. I really should thank you. You saved me the trouble of having to send someone to grab you.” Frown. “It’s actually a little disappointing. Having the Rinshi warn me as to your arrival. Oh well.” Shrug. “Grab them.”

The three moved. It wasn’t long before groups had been separated.

Sorani was moving in on Camille, looking as though she was playing more than anything. Well, it had been a while since she had a decent fight and she was going to drag this out as long as she could.

Dallina had immediately gone after Dai Shi. Her moves were calculated and vicious. He barely had time to dodge one blow before another hit him. She kneed him in the stomach, grabbing him by the hair as he went down and slamming his head into the stone wall. There was blood pouring from his noise as he stumbled back.

Scorpina had unfinished business with the General, wanting to take out this threat first. Swoop feel into step beside her. It wasn’t long before Tyrlin was dodging attacks from both the assassin and the bat master. The two moved together, falling into step the same as they would have long ago. It was refreshing and invigorating. But the sound that the General’s arm made as it snapped in two places was even more so.

Theo held off the Rinshi as Lily worked on freeing RJ. It took a few moments, after a few Rinshi managed to make it passed Theo, and locking picking skills that Lily would never explain to having but eventually the chains gave away. A look of triumph appeared on her face as she helped him to his feet. His feet gave way at once, but he caught himself and managed to pull himself up.

That left Karone and Casey. The two circled each other, one smirking, the other sporting an unyielding expression.

“Give me the ring, Casey,” she called out.

He laughed in response. “Why would I do that?”

“It’s dangerous. We just want to protect you.” Karone barely blinked before she had to block an oncoming attack. She grabbed his arm, pulling him in.

“Everyone seems to think they have to protect me,” he hissed at her. Casey jerked away. “Because you did so well the first time.”

The next thing she knew a sword moved past her head. Rolling out of the way, she caught sight of the handle. “No way.”

“Yes way,” he laughed.

This continued on and Karone had to pull from everything she had learned while being Astronema. She kept evading his attacks, returning them just as ferociously. This was frustrating Casey to no end, she noticed. His moves got more and more erratic. She saw her opening and took it.

Casey found himself on the floor, a thin knee digging into his back. He bucked and struggled but she held fast. His arms were pinned to his back.

“I trained you, Casey.” Her hand worked on forcing his open. “And if you won’t give me the ring, I’ll take it. You’ll be okay.”

He didn’t know if she was trying to reassure him or herself. A hand dug into his own, trying to force it open but he held fast.

She growled as she strained. Finally she sighed. “I’m sorry, Case.” And she pressed her thumb to the soft area of his wrist below his palm. A howl of pain escaped him but his hand loosened up, giving her the in. She pushed it the rest of the way open.

“No!”

With one final yank, the ring came off with ease that surprised her. Casey went limp under her, letting out a whimper of pain. She gave a sigh of relief. It was over.

Then Casey’s whimper turned into a shriek. He began convulsing and his body began to glow an eerily familiar green color.

The energy turned on Karone, sending flying back and crashing to the floor.

The whole room went still. All attention turned from their battle to the man on the floor.

He started to shake, pulling himself to his knees and rubbing his head.

“Casey?” Scorpina called out to her son. She made a move to approach him, but Marcus stopped her. “What?”

“Something’s not right.” He could smell it. Casey didn’t have the same bitter scent that the ring gave him, but something was still wrong. There was movement from beside him and he caught scent of a wolf. RJ had joined him.

“What’s wrong?” RJ asked looking at the tiger. A deep growl caught his attention. It wasn’t the same kind of growl he had heard from Scorpina earlier or even the darker one Casey had admitted. This one was more feral, almost animal in nature.

It was coming from Casey.

The tiger pulled his head up and there was a sharp intake of breath. Black strips crossed his face and his normally brown eyes had turned a glowing green. He barred his teeth, giving another snarl. A sharp pair of canines appeared with the rest of the teeth.

“Hell,” RJ cursed, his eyes widening. “Casey?!” He turned to Karone, who had limped back over to them. “I thought you had grabbed the ring?”

“I did.” The ring glinted in the light as she held it up. The tiger’s growl grew deeper as he caught sight of it.

“Go.” Marcus back away from his son. He knew what was happening and it wasn’t good.

“Huh?”

“I’ll explain later. Move!”

There was something in the sound his voice that had the others responding. Theo helped a limping RJ hurry out the door, followed by Lily. Scorpina grabbed her daughter’s shirts as she hauled them out of the room, Swoop taking out the rear.

The tiger just laughed.

oOoOoOoOoOo

“What the hell was that?!” Dallina demanded of Swoop as they got into the van.

He took of his glasses and rubbed his face. “An unforeseen side effect.”

“What is that supposed to mean? What’s happened to my brother?”

“Marcus, what has happened to Casey?”

Swoop turned to look at Karone. “Of all those cases you mentioned, were any of them Pai Zhuq? Had any of them ever studied?”

She blinked, thinking back to what she had learned. “Not that I know of.”

“Why?”

“There is only one thing I could think of that could cause that. A corrupted animal spirit.”

“Wait,” RJ groaned. “Are you trying to tell us that that ring…?”

“The energy must have been absorbed by his animal. The ring had been controlling it, regulating it you might say. When the ring was taken removed, there was nothing stopping it. It has corrupted his tiger spirit.”

Theo shifted in his seat, slightly. “So those strips, the eyes, and the, uh,” He made a move with two of his fingers, “the fangs are due to his animal spirit?”

Marcus Swoop shook his head. “Not exactly. His tiger has taken control.”