Chapter Text
Usually there was more mystery, more mayhem, more – well, Heckyl-ness.
This seemed less planned and more, well, random. Or half-assed. Kind of like the alien’s heart wasn’t in it.
Ha, that was a joke – Heckyl didn’t have a heart. Or if he did, Poisandra stole it to add to her collection. Chase frowned and wondered if perhaps he wasn’t too far off the mark with that thought. Granted it was obvious that the hearts Poisandra wore weren’t REALLY hearts. Right?
The black ranger shook off the thought as the Vivix he was fighting exploded into a cloud of dust. The wind changed directions and blew some of the Vivix bits into the vents of Chase’s helmet. He sneezed just as Heckyl stepped up to face him.
“That’s disgusting.” Heckyl said with a twisted up nose as he observed Chase from a safe distance. The alien looked uncertain of Chase after the sneeze, as if he might be afraid he could catch whatever Chase might be diseased with.
“Yeah well,” Chase wished he could rub at his still tingling nose, “It’s not half as disgusting as your plan!”
“Ah, the insults.” Heckyl rolled his eyes and seemed to deflate a little. “So redundant.”
“What, we’re not boring you, are we?” Chase asked playfully before he jumped into battle against Heckyl. It was clear after Chase landed the first hit that Heckyl really wasn’t into the fight. Something seemed to be wrong, but Chase had no idea what or if it was a good thing for Earth in general, or a bad thing.
It definitely seemed like a bad thing for Heckyl who slowly got up as Chase stood by and watched.
“Are you sick or something?” Chase asked hesitantly. On some level Chase knew he shouldn’t be questioning his fortune and that he should destroy Heckyl while he had the opportunity, but it didn’t seem right to kick a guy – literally – when he was already down.
“No.” Heckyl said simply and held his hand out as it started to glow blue with magical electricity. Chase shrugged and readied himself to continue the fight when a flash of light caught both the black power ranger and Heckyl’s attention.
A creature appeared from the light and stood in front of the two.
“Chase?” Shelby called just as the creature’s sharp face twisted into a wicked smile.
“It’s been a while.” The creature said, its words directed to Heckyl.
“Friend of yours?” Chase asked, but felt a turning in his gut that felt wrong. This new creature-alien-thing had a dangerous vibe about him. More dangerous than Heckyl seemed to be, anyway.
“Hardly.” Heckyl answered Chase, the alien’s full attention on the creature that had joined them. “What do you want Port?”
“You and your other half to suffer.” Port said and then pulled out a glowing stick-thing and zapped the air behind Heckyl and Chase.
Chase turned and watched as the air started to turn and swirl with new energy. Wisely Chase took a half step back before the air started to shift and pull. It was already too late to run, call for help or do just about anything.
“Chase!” Tyler’s voice shouted over the rush of sound as Chase was lifted off his feet and sucked into the twisting light. The world brightened before it turned dark as Chase and Heckyl were pulled into the hole in space.
There was no sound in the void. Chase opened his mouth to scream and it was like the sound was nullified. Gone. He could hear the rushing of blood in his veins and the pounding of his heartbeat in his chest.
Then – darkness.
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Chase woke with a gasp – instantly panicked. It was hard to breathe, like someone was pressing down on his chest.
Above him the sky was a rusty orange color. Disoriented Chase blinked up at the moving sky. The clouds were wispy purple-grey, shifting shapes as they passed slowly overhead.
Chase’s body felt numb and heavy, too heavy to move. He was too tired to think. It took Chase several drawn out minutes to realize he was no longer morphed. He felt drained.
The strange world around him started to spin as Chase attempted to move and failed. With a short groan Chase slipped back into the safe arms of sleep.
When Chase woke up next he heard birds singing in the distance. He still couldn’t move and he still felt sick to his stomach from all the spinning he had experienced prior to passing out.
Gravity helped tip Chase’s head to the side. Sprawled out not too far away on his stomach was Heckyl. The alien was greyish blue in color and didn’t look like he was moving, let alone breathing. Chase wasn’t even sure the alien was still alive. Judging by how awful Chase felt after their little trip through – whatever that thing had been – Heckyl probably was equally or more effected by what happened.
Still hopelessly weak, Chase’s eyes slipped closed again.
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The next time Chase pried his eyes open he focused his blurry vision on Heckyl’s crumpled form. The alien didn’t appear to have moved from the last time Chase had been conscious. Chase felt a ping of worry as he managed to roll over onto his own stomach and glance around the clearing they were stuck in.
It was darker than the last time he opened his eyes. The air was heavy with dark purple light streaming from what Chase assumed was a moon or stars. The world started to spin again and Chase gagged from the uncontrollable motion. He must have been unconscious for longer than he thought, because nothing came out of his hollow stomach.
When the nausea passed Chase moved his arms awkwardly underneath his body and pushed himself up into a kneeling position. His stomach turned again and he groaned with his eyes closed and wondered if it would be poor judgment to willingly fall back asleep. Being awake really wasn’t worth it.
“Heckyl.” Chase managed to whisper – his voice hoarse.
There was no response, but honestly Chase wasn’t expecting it. Slowly, carefully Chase crawled his way over to Heckyl’s side and placed a shaky hand on the alien’s cold shoulder. “Heck – Heckyl? Come on, mate, give me a sign here.”
Heckyl groaned.
“Thank goodness.” Chase leaned over the alien and rested his head against Heckyl’s back. He could feel the alien breathing, ever so slightly. Heckyl was alive and although he wasn’t the most ideal person to be stuck with in – wherever they were – Chase was happy not to be alone in such a strange place.
Of course that relief might be short lived when Heckyl was up and feeling better.
Exhausted Chase gave in and laid down on the ground next to the unconscious alien. He fought sleep for a moment before falling into oblivion.