[See Profile of a New Team for disclaimer]
Ecliptor's Trial
By Mindy Mills
By Mindy Mills
Months have passed since Ruth and Carlos married. One day, Ruth walked out of the hospital in Angel Grove, and Carlos was waiting for her in the parking lot. He looked at her, and knew that she had some news. Something very extraordinary.
He walked to her and asked, "Well, what happened?"
"Carlos," she began. "The tests are positive. No doubt about it."
"That means that I'm going to be a… And you're going to be a…" He couldn't finish either of his sentences. He was too happy. Ruth smiled and nodded. He hugged her gently, but excitedly. Then, he was able to speak again. "When?"
"In about 7 months."
"7 months? Can we wait that long?"
"We have to wait that long, silly boy. We don't want them to come out too late or too early, do we?"
Carlos was shocked again. ""'Them?'"
Ruth nodded her head again. "Twins."
"Oh my goodness! C'mon, we have to tell the others!" He grabbed Ruth's wrist and gently pulled her to where no one would see them. Then, they teleported to the ship.
Meanwhile, the Rangers, Jenny and Hanim were in the dining room. C. K. was also there, but he was buried in his newspaper as usual. He listened when they were talking about Ruth.
"Have you guys noticed some strange things happening to Ruth?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah," Hanim answered. "While sparring, I saw that she is going noticeably slower and a little more ineffective."
"And sometimes," T. J. started, "when I enter the bridge, I find her asleep in one of the chairs. I would wake her, and she would say that she didn't mean to sleep there."
"And it's a good thing that the Synthetron is unlimited," Andros added. "Did you notice how much she's been eating?"
"Yeah," Jenny answered. "She and Rocky would make pretty good friends."
"Carlos and Ruth have arrived," Deca announced. "They have important news for everyone on the bridge."
C. K. placed his newspaper on one of the chairs. "Maybe they found Zordon."
"So quickly?" Jenny asked, confused.
When everyone arrived at the bridge, they didn't see anything that indicated that Zordon has been found. They both looked at the couple, who were smiling.
"What's the big news that I had to interrupt my newspaper?" C. K. asked. He heard several people snickering.
Ruth smiled again. "We have big news. You know that Carlos and I have been married for a while."
"Yeah," Cassie said. "About 4 or 5 months?"
"4."
"And now, we have wonderful news," Carlos announced. "Ruth visited the hospital at Angel Grove and the doctor said that her tests are definitely positive."
"Which means…?" Jenny asked. She paused.
"I'm expecting twins," Ruth answered.
Most of the people gasped; especially the Rangers, Jenny, and Hanim. So this was the reason why Ruth was behaving so strangely. They smiled at Ruth and Carlos, as if wanting to apologize for something.
Suddenly, they received a distress signal. Carlos and Ruth turned around and saw a desert planet. It was Forza, the same planet that Jenny was on, thinking that Zordon was there.
There was an astronaut standing next to a damaged shuttle craft. Even though some sort of static covered most of the message recorded for Earth, what was heard by everyone present was enough to go down. They heard a man's voice asking for help. They all got ready to go, including Ruth.
"Oh no, Ruth," Carlos stopped her. "You're in no condition to go down there. You are going to stay right here, where you'll be safe."
"Carlos, I'll be fine if I go with you."
"Ruth, please."
"Oh, fine, if it'll make you feel better. I'll stay here and help Alpha."
Everyone except Ruth left the ship to find the source of the distress signal. They found nothing, but continued searching.
Darkonda appeared in the Dark Fortress. "None of them realize that they are walking right into our trap," he announced.
"Only one human is aboard the ship," Ecliptor announced.
"When you find that human, Ecliptor, I want you to destroy it," Astronema commanded.
At her command, Darkonda fired several lasers that formed a sphere around the Astro Megaship. Alpha, on the bridge, discovered the problem first. He found that the sphere of lasers won't let the ship through.
After informing the Rangers, who powered down because of the captivity of the Astro Megaship, Alpha tried using the Megalasers to pierce through the web. It failed.
Suddenly, a green ball of light entered the bridge through a screen, right in front of Alpha. When it transformed into a body, Alpha saw Ecliptor in recognition.
Deca intervened by asking Ecliptor for the security code. He answered by destroying one of the red lights, thinking that Deca would be destroyed by doing that. From another red light, Deca informs that the security code Ecliptor gave was insufficient; try again.
"Robot," Ecliptor said, turning to Alpha. "You know the security code. Give it to me!"
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from one of the hallways. It was Ruth. No one saw her until she entered the bridge, and she didn't know that Ecliptor was there. "Alpha, I need you to help me with the security systems."
She looked up as she turned the corner to the bridge and saw Ecliptor. She screamed. She ran out of the bridge, with Alpha close behind her.
Ecliptor followed…
"How did he get here?" Ruth asked, while hiding from the evil cyborg.
"I don't know just how. At first, he was just a ball of light that entered through one of the screens. Before I knew it, Ecliptor was there."
"Shh! Here he comes. You know the plan."
Ecliptor looked around and listened. He heard nothing. He saw no one. Ruth saw him looking around and quietly prepared her part of the plan. She gently twisted a large pipe off of its hinges, and was so quiet that she would have humiliated a mouse. She placed her lips inside the pipe and began whispering.
"Now, all we have to do is just wait. Boy, is he in for a surprise." She giggled. Then, she looked through the door. Ecliptor heard her whisper and her giggle, but it seemed to come from the end of one of the halls. The pipe she used extended several meters away from Ecliptor.
He began walking down the hall from where he heard the voice. But he stopped hearing another obvious whisper. This time, it seemed to come from behind him.
"He fell for it, Alpha. Come on; this way."
They were hiding in an area so close to where the obvious whisper was that it seemed like forever before Ecliptor came to investigate. The moment he turned the corner, he slipped and fell on tens of marbles. As he groaned, Ruth and Alpha left their hiding places.
"Ha ha!" Ruth shouted.
"Neener neener neener," Alpha added.
Ruth giggled, then pulled Alpha's wrists along with her. Ecliptor was beginning to get up. By the time he got up, they were gone. Instead of chasing them, however, he looked at a vertical keyboard in the room where Alpha and Ruth were hiding before. He tapped on it, punching in a few commands. He didn't know that Ruth was watching, with Alpha close behind her.
"Astronema," Ecliptor said through communication. "I found out where the Mega Voyager is." The Spices had hidden away the Mega Voyager until there comes a time to really need it.
"Good," Astronema responded. "Go there, and destroy it!"
Ecliptor left, in the exact same way he came.
Meanwhile, the Rangers and the Spices were fighting a losing battle. When Darkonda was about to destroy the Rangers, he heard a zooming from behind him. When he looked up, there was what seemed like a silver car coming his way. Several blasters were fired, hitting the Quantrons and releasing the captured heroes.
At first, they didn't recognize who was behind the wheel. But when they heard a familiar voice asking if they needed a hand, Cassie shouted, "Zhane!"
Darkonda and Zhane went into battle. Jenny could not bear to watch. Zhane started driving in Darkonda's direction. He was going so fast that Darkonda didn't have time to get out of the way. Zhane drove right through him, wasting yet another one of Darkonda's lives.
A few moments later, Alpha informed the others that Ecliptor was going for the Mega Voyager. Since Zhane's power doesn't come directly from the ship, he is the only one who is able to go. He leaves, while the others attempt to figure out how to get the Astro Megaship free.
Ecliptor arrived at one of Jupiter's moons, where the Mega Voyager was hiding. He began to destroy the entrance to it when Zhane arrived.
"Ecliptor!" he shouted. "You want the Mega Voyager? You have to get through me first!"
"Very well, Silver Ranger!" Ecliptor shouted.
At first, nothing happened. Then, gaining a tremendous amount of power, Ecliptor turned to a crimson red color, and increased his size dramatically.
Zhane was caught by surprise. "Hey, don't you think that's a little unfair?" Even after he called on his ship, the Mega Winger, he was fighting a losing battle.
At that moment, the Astro Megazord and the Delta Megazord arrived. Andros found a way to break off the web surrounding the ship. Now, it was three against one. The Delta Megazord was Ecliptor's first target. He was able to cause severe damage to it, but he didn't destroy it.
For he sensed some unhappiness inside one of the other ships. It can't be the Mega Winger, because the only one inside it is Zhane, who didn't feel unhappy towards him. It had to be the Astro Megazord, but who would have been in there to… Then, the answer came to him: Ruth!
Zhane had used Ecliptor's thoughts to his advantage, knowing that he was distracted. He made several cuts on Ecliptor's chest, but Ecliptor counter- attacked at the last possible second, making the Mega Winger go down.
Before anymore battle could begin, some of Ecliptor's powers left him, and he transformed back to his original size. In disbelief, he went to attack Earth. The Rangers followed him, except for Zhane.
The Rangers fought fiercely, but Ecliptor still had his powers to help. The battle went on for a few minutes. Ecliptor looked at his defeated opponents lying on the ground and smiled. He approached Carlos, who was lying closest to him. He placed his foot on Carlos' stomach, pinning him to the ground. He brought up his sword and prepared to bring it down on Carlos!
While Ecliptor was bringing his sword down, at the very last possible moment, two dagger-like weapons blocked the sword. Ecliptor looked at defender, but the sun was at the defender's back, making it difficult to tell who it was. Ecliptor attacked the standing opponent. They were turning as they were attacking.
During the fight, Ecliptor's sword swept through the long hair of his opponent. In reaction, a white something from the hair fell to the ground and landed near Ecliptor. Looking at it, he realized that it was a rose.
The moment the rose fell out of the hair, the defender gave a female gasp and felt through her hair. Then, seeing the rose, she boldly walked to Ecliptor.
"Ooh," she scolded fiercely. When she got close enough, she used a powerful side kick to push Ecliptor aside. Picking up the rose and placing it back in her hair, the girl exclaimed, "Nobody touches this!"
Ecliptor recognized his opponent by voice. "Ruth!" He backed away, shocked that he was actually attacking her. He smiled, trying to be innocent to Ruth. But she kept a large frown. She ran in front of the Rangers, and helped Carlos up.
"Ruth!" Ecliptor shouted. "Stand aside!"
Ruth turned to him fiercely. Her green eyes were sparkling with anger. Her long, light brown hair was flowing in the wind. She was even more beautiful than Ecliptor remembered. Also more courageous than he remembered, since she stood her ground, and remained motionless.
"Ruth," Carlos said. "You're in no condition to be here. Go back to the ship."
"I'm not going to leave you here, Carlos, where you could be killed," she responded. She kept eye-contact with Ecliptor. He became afraid. "I'm very disappointed in you, Ecliptor. I thought that we could have been friends, ever since you battled against that demon, Beelzebub. But now, I don't care."
Ecliptor said, "Ruth, I'm not humiliated to admit the you're scaring me. I didn't know that you would come here."
"Neither did anyone else," she answered. "If you're going to destroy the Power Rangers, or even Carlos, then you have to destroy me first, no matter how brief or long, no matter how painful or how comforting. You would have to destroy me first!"
Astronema was watching. She was angry when Ruth rescued the Rangers and spoke against Ecliptor. She used communication with him. "Ecliptor, do not let your personal feelings affect your duty. The Power Rangers must be destroyed. So destroy her as well!"
Ecliptor hesitated. He looked at Ruth. "What are you waiting for, Ecliptor?" Ruth asked in a shout. "Destroy me if you have to destroy them! I'm not afraid of you, or the death you could bring! If I was, I wouldn't be here!"
Ecliptor began to raise his sword, but he merely looked at it. It was once stained red with the blood of her father. He had cleaned it, but the guilt made the blood look like it never vanished. He couldn't think of the idea that it could be stained with Ruth's blood. He looked at Ruth a second time.
"Ecliptor, destroy them all!" Astronema shouted.
"I don't have much patience, Ecliptor," Ruth said. "Either destroy the six of us, or spare the six of us. Those are your two choices; choose now."
Ecliptor looked at his sword again. Then, he looked at Carlos, then at Ruth again. Finally, he looked at his sword a third time and threw it aside. "I can't!" he shouted.
Ruth walked forward. Carlos didn't even stop her. She stopped walking at about 5 feet in front of Ecliptor. The wind was flowing against her back, making the dress she was wearing flapping towards Ecliptor. Her hair was doing the same.
"I had gone through a lot of changes in thought about you," she said. "First, I thought that I would never know you more than an enemy. Then, I thought that I would never forgive you for killing my parents. Last, I came to thinking that I misjudged you, ever since you battled Beelzebub. But now, I know that I was right about you in the first place."
Ecliptor lowered his head in shame.
"I thought that we would have been friends," she continued. "But if you are going to go about doing evil things, I do not want to be involved with you anymore than battle encounters. You killed my parents, and you're never going to get away with it."
"Remember these comments well, Ecliptor, because you shall never have me."
For the first time in a while, Ecliptor spoke. "Why not?"
"Three reasons; (1) is that you're evil. (2) is that I love Carlos more than you. And (3)…" She gently touched her abdomen, indicating to him that she was with children.
Ecliptor gasped. "No!"
"It's true, Ecliptor. When they are born, it will forge a bond between me and Carlos. A bond too strong for me to separate, even if I wanted to."
Before anything more could be done or said, Ruth shouted, "Le Collier de l'Amour: Acctionne!" That meant, "Pendant of Love: Activate!"
A red beam of energy enveloped Ecliptor, he staggered from one position to another, but couldn't be able to get the energy off of him. Suddenly, he exploded. When fire was present and the smoke began to clear, all six of them saw the cyboric Ecliptor. He was green, just like he was before he gained the extra power.
Carlos walked to Ruth. He whispered, "What are you going to do with Ecliptor's power? And wouldn't they make you evil, since the power belonged to him?"
"The magic protects me from his evil, just like the spell from the Hate Master," she whispered back. "And what do I usually do when I steal something from someone?"
"You return it?"
"Precisely." She activated her Pendant of Love again, this time throwing the power she took at him. It created another explosion. Fortunately for him, Ecliptor weakly escaped before he could be destroyed. She was angry that he escaped, but quickly covered it. "Let's go," she said.
At the Megaship, Ruth was thinking about Ecliptor. Once again, her heart was filled with rage. She thought that she would be able to forgive him, but now she knows that it was impossible, especially since he wanted to kill Carlos.
She arrived in the dining room. Hanim, Hallie, and Jenny were already there. They looked up and saw Ruth.
"Hey," Jenny said cheerfully. But Ruth, still unhappy about Ecliptor, walked past her without saying anything. "Ruth, I said hey." Ruth looked up.
"I'm sorry, Jenny," she answered. "I'm a little upset. Hey." She tried to smile, but her attempts were futile.
"What's wrong?" Hanim asked.
"I think I know," Jenny answered. "Carlos told me about the recent battle. I feel sorry for you, and for Ecliptor."
Ruth looked at Jenny. "You feel sorry for him? Boy, you are really in hot water, friend. Ecliptor is nothing but a bloodthirsty murderer! And his roguishness is nothing to be overlooked!"
Hallie giggled. "That is what makes him fun to play with."
"Well, you can compliment him all you want, Hallie," Ruth said. "I don't see how it would do anyone any good. He loves me, but I cannot accept him. I cannot take the name of a murderer in my magical heritage. Millions of people depend on me keeping the magic safe!"
"We didn't say anything against your magic," Hanim said.
"Please, don't talk to me right now. I'll only get upset again." She went to the Synthetron and activated it. She pulled out a healthy meal containing everything from the Food Pyramid, as well as a glass of milk. She sat down to eat her dinner.
Poor Ruth, the others thought. She is terribly angry. And trying to help her will only hurt her. They waited until her anger cooled before they approached her in a friendly manner. But Carlos didn't get any problems from her.
7 months later, July the 15th to be exact…
Jenny paced around impatiently. Ruth and Carlos left just the other day for the hospital. Now, there's no telling how much longer it takes to wait. Ruth had decided to allow her children to have their examinations and have their home on Earth. Surely, they won't be in Space forever.
Finally, Deca said, "Ruth and Carlos have arrived."
Everyone left where they were and went straight to the bridge. Ruth and Carlos were smiling, and each were holding a small baby.
Ruth was the first to speak. "They were born yesterday, about 30 minutes apart. Carlos is holding the older; I'm holding the younger."
"Can I see one?" Ashley asked. Ruth nodded and handed her the baby she was holding. Some of the girls, including Ashley, began to coo at the baby girl.
"Can I see the other?" Andros asked. Carlos gave a small chuckle. He gently handed the other child to Andros. This was the first time he had ever held a baby. It seemed to be a wonderful experience.
"Names?" Earl asked.
"The one you're holding, Ashley," Ruth began. "Her name is Robyn; spelled with a Y, not an I."
"And the other," Carlos said. "Her name is Rachel."
They all began to be excited. Who knows about the future of these two children. For all they know, they could become Power Rangers, or even Spice Club Members, someday. They could be anything. No one knew for sure.
But Ecliptor knew that he will never have Ruth.
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