:: PRBL Episode #19 - "Cassiopeia's Revenge, part 1" ::

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#19 - "Cassiopeia's Revenge, part 1" (Originally Written In: 2001)

Previously...

"Only three?" Cassiopeia seemed shocked. "Three newbie Rangers beat us?!"

"It wasn't my fault," Orion explained. "Those monsters I sent down weren't really strong, and--"

"Zip it! I should've known better than to let you do anything. Watch as a real villain -- or, in my case, villainess -- goes to work. I'm going down there myself. If I don't come back, you're obviously capable of following in my legacy and seeing to their destruction."

"You can't go down there alone, Cassiopeia," Orion said.

"You're right," she replied. "I need a monster." Cassiopeia snapped her fingers, causing a male monster to appear. "Orion, meet the Scattergory monster."

---

"You're not afraid of us?" Devon was hoping that morphing would scare her off.

"Oh, please," Cassiopeia said, laughing. "I've taken on seven Rangers before, and defeated them all! You thought three of you would stop me? Ha!" She aimed her staff at the Rangers, and let out a blast, knocking them back.

"We have to do something," Karone said. "We can't lose on our first major battle!"

"Remember our training session earlier?" Trevor took the reins of leadership for a few minutes. "Pretend that she's me."

"What are you talking about?" Cassiopeia seemed confused.

The three slowly got up, and rushed towards the villainess, throwing punches and delivering kicks. Cassiopeia tried to fight back, but couldn't. She teleported back to her fountain-top perch and fired blasts at the Rangers, missing.

"Come down from there, you coward," Devon yelled.

"Never," Cassiopeia replied, firing at him.

---

"Ooh, weapons," she taunted. "Should I be scared?"

"Fire!" The three fired their weapons at her. Devon leapt through the air and sliced at Cassiopeia as he passed, injuring her. Karone sent about 6 energy arrows at her, wounding her further. Trevor launched a blast from his cannon. When that hit Cassiopeia, she groaned, and fell from the fountain. She laid on the ground next to it.

Scattergory made it back in time to see her fall. "Cassiopeia!"

The Rangers turned around and saw him. Before they could say anything, Scattergory fired a blast at them, knocking them out of his way. He ran past them to Cassiopeia, kneeling at her side. "Are you all right?"

She struggled to get up, but eventually did. She leaned against her staff for support. The two turned to the Rangers.

"You may have won this battle, Aniforce Rangers," Cassiopeia said, "but I will be back, and when I do come back, you'll be sorry." She collapsed. Scattergory caught her, placing her arm around his neck to support her.

"You're going to regret doing what you did," Scattergory said. The two teleported.

---

"What is this I hear about Cassiopeia being wounded in battle?"

Scattergory stepped forward. "You see, Emperor Perseus, I did accompany her into battle, and--"

"It's all his fault," Orion interrupted. "Her injury is his doing! He let her fight the Rangers alone!"

Scattergory turned back to Orion and raised a fist. "It was not my fault. She told me that she wanted to fight alone. When I got back to where she was, the park was destroyed, but she was badly injured in the battle with the Rangers. I tried to help, but I was unable to."

"Sure," Orion scoffed. "That's what you want me to think, isn't it?"

"Silence, both of you!" The two monsters faced their supreme leader and bowed. "Now, with Cassiopeia down for who knows how long, I have decided to take over for her and battle in her absence."

---

"Scattergory was destroyed," Perseus said. "It seems that the Rangers are more powerful than we thought."

"Yep," Orion commented.

"This is all your fault," Perseus shouted. "You know how this fortress works, and you should've said something if we could've increased our power."

Orion stood in amazement. "You think that I'm keeping secrets?"

"Yes, I do," Perseus said. "Anyone who keeps secrets from me doesn't deserve to live."

"I would never --"

"Zip it. Astrobots! Take this traitor to the isolation chamber. I'll deal with him in time."

"You'll pay for this, Perseus," Orion said, while being escorted off by the Astrobots. "Mark my words! Your day will come!"

---

And now, our tale continues...

Cassiopeia made her way to the lockdown section of the Galactic Fortress, where she had overheard that Orion, her trusted lackey, was being held. As she made her way back, she flashed back on what she had done over the past couple months of being isolated.

~*~ flashback ~*~

After Scattergory placed her in her bed, Cassiopeia looked up at him. "You... saved me."

"It was the least I could do, my queen," Scattergory replied. "You would have done the same for me."

"Thank you," she said.

The two stared into each other's eyes, until Scattergory broke the trance. "I have to go. Perseus is going to wonder where I went, and you know how he gets when he's mad."

"You'd better hurry," Cassiopeia replied. "Be careful!" She drifted off to sleep.

Scattergory walked to the door, turning to her once more before he left.

~*~

A couple days passed, and Cassiopeia was wondering what was going on outside her door. Nobody seemed to be caring about her, and she was getting rather ticked off by this lack of support. She watched as Orion passed by her door, muttering something about Scattergory being destroyed by the Rangers, and how worthless that monster was.

"Scattergory..." Cassiopeia buried her face in her pillow, saddened by this news. Her tears wet the pillow. This sadness soon turned into inspiration. She looked up and saw a sketchbook and a pencil set on the dresser at the other end of the room. "I'll avenge your unnecessary death," she said to herself. She walked over to the dresser and picked up the materials, and set out to work on drawing some monsters in Scattergory's likeness.

~*~ end flashback ~*~

Cassiopeia was now at the door to the containment chamber. She input the access code, and the door slid open. In there were monsters that had gone against Cassiopeia in the past. As she walked past them all, they all yelled obscenities and disrespecting statements at her, but she didn't pay them any attention. She walked through the long corridor, and found who she was looking for in the very last cell.

"Orion?" The black and green warrior looked up, and ran towards the cell door. "I've come to set you free."

"Why? After everything I--"

"There's no time to explain. Perseus called you a fool, and I think he's planning on eventually destroying all of us!"

"That's unacceptable," Orion said, struggling to express his true feelings in a clean manner. "How do you plan on freeing me, and what about the others?"

"Just point me in the direction of the access panel," Cassiopeia replied, "and I'll handle the rest." Orion pointed towards a dark corner, where a slightly opened door stood. Cassiopeia walked over towards it, examined it, and walked back. "What's the access code to open the doors?"

"What?! It's your Fortress, and you don't know your own access codes? Why, I ought to--"

"1356," a pair of voices spoke. Cassiopeia walked over to another cell and saw two monsters. One was red and resembled a beetle, and the other was purple with many white eyes covering his body. "The access code is 1356."

"Thanks," Cassiopeia said. She ran back to the panel and pressed the sequence of keys, which granted her access to open selected cells. She pressed the buttons representing Orion's cell and that of the two monsters that had helped her. "Come on, we're going to get out of here!"

Cassiopeia and Orion started to run out of the chamber, when the two monsters stopped them. The purple one took Cassiopeia's hand in his, and kissed it. "I never got a chance to introduce myself," he said. "I am called Visionary, and, since you released me, my assistant, Sonichron, and myself will forever fight at your side."

"How sweet," Cassiopeia replied, turning to Orion. "I wish all my followers were this loyal." She walked out, followed by Sonichron and Visionary.

"'I wish all my followers were this loyal,' bah," Orion mocked. "Just you wait, and we'll see who's the loyal one around here." He ran after the others, catching up with them near Cassiopeia's quarters. "Shouldn't we have some plan for when we go in to confront Perseus? We wouldn't want to just barge in there and take over, you know."

"Good point," Cassiopeia said. "Follow me." The bunch walked into Cassiopeia's quarters, closing the security door behind them.

~*~ Later... ~*~

Perseus stood and looked at the monitor in front of him. On it was an image of the planet Mirinoi. "Why do those Rangers always show up and stop me from committing my acts of evil? Why?"

A voice bellowed from afar. "That could be because you're a horrible ruler!"

Perseus turned abruptly. "Who said that? Show yourself!"

From the shadowy corridor emerged Orion. "I did."

"You! I thought I locked you away!"

"Do I look locked away?" Orion drew his sword and walked towards the Emperor. "Now, what you think you did and what really happened are two different things, aren't they?"

"Pirhanotrons! Astrobots! Attack him!" None of them showed up. "Pirhanotrons! Astrobots!"

Orion haulted his progression, and crossed his arms. Behind him, from the same shadowed corridor, emerged Cassiopeia (who had let her hair grow out while she was resting, and now sports bright green and yellow) and her new henchmen, Sonichron and Visionary. Along with them marched the army of Pirhanotrons and Astrobots. Cassiopeia summoned her wrath staff and pointed it at Perseus. "Attack him!" The fighters, armed with sabers and blade blasters, lined themselves up around the perimeter of the room, and aimed their weapons at the Emperor.

Cassiopeia walked towards him. "From what I've been hearing, Emperor, you've been planning on taking over. Is that true?"

"Not in the least, my dear," he replied, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Cassiopeia looked at it, and smacked it away. "Don't touch me. Orion tells me that you were plotting a takeover. That wouldn't have been real smart of you to do... especially with me still alive in the room down the hall!"

"Is this true, Orion?"

"He doesn't need to answer you," Cassiopeia interjected. "See, the current circumstances have called for us to choose a new leader, and I pick... me!"

"You little brat," Perseus said, summoning his golden axe, "I never liked you from the get-go. You were always Andromeda's twin sister, and you could never handle playing second fiddle to her leadership. That's why you sent her off in time somewhere, isn't it?"

"Leave Andromeda out of this! She was my problem, and I handled her, didn't I? And, if I can handle her, surely I can handle you," Cassiopeia said, acknowledging her new army, "especially with my new friends back there." Sonichron and Visionary ran forward, and stood behind Cassiopeia. She looked around behind Perseus. "I don't see anybody standing behind you."

"Oh, yes, there is," Orion replied, walking from behind Cassiopeia to behind the Emperor. "You thought that I was on your side, did you? Well, my queen, you were mistaken!"

"How dare you defy me, Orion, after I freed you from the containment chamber!"

"Thanks for that, by the way," Orion said, "but I'm afraid that you'll regret that move when I destroy you!"

"I take back what I said about you, Orion," Perseus said. "You're not a traitor after all."

Cassiopeia gave a slight nod, and began to back up. When she was a safe distance away, she aimed her staff at the Emperor, motioning for the surrounding warriors to do the same.

Perseus looked around in front of him, unamused. "We could destroy you all with one blast. Isn't that right, Orion?" He turned to look for his ally, but found him in line with the Pirhanotrons and Astrobots, his sword aimed right at the Emperor's chest. "You ARE a traitor! I should've known!" As he raised his axe to strike Orion, Cassiopeia and the warriors fired a huge blast at the Emperor's back. He screamed, and fell forward.

Orion looked around, and then down at the Emperor. Raising his sword to the air, he quickly rammed it through Perseus's chest. The fallen Emperor looked up at his former ally and said, "backstabber." Perseus let out one last moan, before disintegrating into a massive pile of sand.

"That's the end of Emperor Perseus," Orion said. Looking up, he saw that everybody was still armed.

:: To Be Continued! ::