[980224]
                                                                      [Preview]
After the introduction of Beverly into their lives, Will wanted to raise morals
with an untimely but appropriate mini-vacation  at the beach.  But, the fun and
games end when Cyborg Kappa is formed out of the sea. Stronger than gravity but
fluid as water, there isn't anything the Astrorangers can do against Kappa  but
let it attack.  Tonight is episode 13, "Possessed!  Beware the Demon Water".


Artist Bros. Enterprises presents . . .


                        GALAXY TASK FORCE ASTRO RANGER
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Starring...

         Sheratan Kasei, a.k.a., Dave Marcello.  MarsAstro!

         Australis Mokusei, a.k.a., Will Richards.  JupiterAstro!

         Messuta Suisei, a.k.a., Ron Michaeli.  MercuryAstro!

         Lotia Kinsei, a.k.a., Amy Leven.  VenusAstro!

         Nashiran Dosei, a.k.a., Tom Nevison.  SaturnAstro!

  and... Commander Leto, a.k.a., Dr. Aaron Hanson.

  Featuring...

         Detective Frank Mahoney and Detective Kathy Sanchez.



  ACT I:

     As the small, ice-covered world known as Pluto remained in the darkness of
outer space, the Nazitan outpost--a bunker beneath the surface, housed the
Pleadia's workshop.  Inside of the brown, stone walls of the oval chamber,
Pleadia sat looking through the eyepieces of a microscope-like device attached
to the wall while his arms were inside of hollow robot arms built onto the
other side of the wall.
  His hands meticulously manipulated the computer-controlled extensions that
operated many fine instruments simultaneously.  From Pleadia's point of view,
he could see a cell floating in protoplasm as a needle had inserted itself
inside and injected a group of bubbles that were not bubbles but hormones and
assorted alien chemicals.  After incision, he withdrew the needle and stopped
looking through the eyepiece.
  Pleadia dialed a number on the 9-key backlit keypad on the wall and returned
to looking through the viewfinder.  "I still can't see how humans can be
composed of over three quarters worth of one hydrogen molecules and two oxygen
molecules per atom.  It's too difficult to define various key biological
patterns in the DNA."  He took his eyes away and looked off to the side.  "I
need a host."
  Ginara walked into his workshop while saying, "You should spare yourself the
needless anxiety.  I have far worse information to bring you."
  "Adol wants me to make him a cyborg that can sing and dance?"
  "Amusing," Ginara humorlessly replied.  "The Astrorangers denied me the
opportunity to gain the egg containing the beast you're supposed to transform
into this super warrior to defeat AstroMan."
  Pleadia sighed.  "I won't even ask how that happened.  Where did it go?"
  "It is in a place the humans called Pacific Ocean and unfortunately there is
enough pressure beneath the surface to crush an Armaton the size of a titan if
deep enough."
  Pleadia paused.  "That gives me an idea.  A very good idea..."


                                  Episode 13:
                      "Possessed!  Beware the Demon Water"                    

     In the blue, cloudless sky above the city of angels, the sun was brighter
than normal, bringing with it an unusually warm day for this early spring day.
As indicated by trees surrounding the house a block south of Los Feliz
Boulevard, the winds were also very calm.  Inside, Will held open the back door
in the kitchen for Amy as she walked inside holding big brown bags of
groceries.  "Thank you."
  "No problem--I'm just glad that's the last of it," Will replied.  He locked
the door to the garage and joined Amy in unloading groceries from the bags. "By
the way, I didn't get a chance to thank you for supper, I was a little
distracted last night."
  "Don't mention it," Amy replied.  "And don't worry, I think Dave was more
distracted than anyone else there."
  "Yeah.  I have to admit that Beverly is a little different than most here."
  Amy started taking items from the grocery bags.  "Well, I just hope that Dave
knows what he's doing.  I got the distinct impression that she was paying extra
special attention to me."
  "Gestures or just from what you could pick up from her mind?" William asked.
  "A little from both, but, Will--Beverly wasn't paying attention to me as if
she were suspicious of anything," Amy answered; she stopped putting up items to
look at William.  "It seemed to me that she thought I was 'nice' or something."
  William was confused by that.  "Well, anyway, Beverly doesn't seem too bad to
me.  Someone who exhibits concern over something other than anything directly
related to their own life is something rare on this world.  Well, everything
that is ever done is ultimately for oneself but typically it seems like the
people on this planet strive to make sure that self-improvement comes at the
neglect of others."
  "What I'm more concerned about is Tom's reaction to all of this.  Dave was
the only one of us he could count on for anti-human support," Amy explained.
"It must be kind of a slap in the face for him now that he's gone all gah-gah
over Beverly."
  Will shook his head.  "Distractions aren't good for the team and even though
the whole dinosaur egg crisis isn't over with, I say we take a little
unofficial vacation. Get Tom's mind off of Dave and get Dave's off of Beverly."
Ron walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of root beer after opening the
refrigerator.
  "That's not a bad idea," Amy replied.  "Hey, Ron--how would you feel about
going to the beach today?"
  Ron's eyes shifted back and forth before looking at her.  "Well, aside from
the fact that we got are butts kicked by Ginara over there, I'd prefer to avoid
going out unless it's mission critical, why?"
  "Hm.  It's too bad you feel that way 'cause we're all going," Amy replied.
  Ron didn't want to feel left out.  "Really?  Tom wanted to go?"
  Will was starting to answer, "Well, not re..."
  "Yeah, he and Dave thought it'd be cool so Will asked Leto and we got the go
ahead to head out to Venice later this morning," Amy interrupted.
  "Wow, that's cool of him," Ron replied--believing her implicitly.  "Well, I'm
bringing Lucy since I know Dave is undoubtedly going to ask Beverly to come."
  "Oh no no!" Amy quickly denounced.  "It's just the five of us."
  Ron arched an eyebrow.  "Dave went for that?"  Amy nodded rapidly with an
innocent smile.
  "(You sure know how to sell 'em.)  Okay--I'm game," Ron told her. "I was just
wondering what we're gonna do there?"
  Amy looked blankly.  "Uh..."
  "Amy and I just went grocery shopping so what we were gonna probably do is
toss frisbee, play some volleyball and have a picnic courtesy Amy's famous
sandwiches," Will said.  As long as we're making things up, I might as well
have some fun, Will mused to himself.
  Ron nodded.  "Sounds awesome actually.  I'll go get the others..."
  "Oh no!  That's okay!  I'll tell him, you and Will just get ready to load up
his van," Amy said to Ron.  "See ya!"  Ron watched Amy dash out of the kitchen
and looked at Will.
  "Well, let's go, Ron," Will said.  Ron shrugged and followed him out of the
kitchen as well.

     While the planet Pluto remained in space, Adol shouted out, "Silence!  Be
quiet!"
  Pleadia held up his hands while facing him.  "Sire, please!"
  "Shut up!  I don't want to hear another word until you can tell me why you've
launched a cybo-egg without my authorization!" Adol demanded to know.  "Answer
now!"
  "Adol the Great, please!  Once Cyborg Kappa crushes the Astrorangers, Tortan
or Ginara can easily obtain the egg in the ocean," Pleadia explained.
  Adol sat down within his throne and crossed his legs.  "I sincerely hope
you're right.  As I see this as nothing but a waste of valuable resource that
could be used in GETTING the egg."
  "Trust me, as long as the Astrorangers are still in existence, that's nothing
but a dream," Pleadia replied. "Cyborg Kappa is no ordinary cybernetic creature
as it has no body of its own but rather manipulates whatever it can embody as a
host."

     Two-hundred and thirty-eight acres of sand at Venice Beach faced the tides
that came in from the pacific ocean.  Thousands of sunbathers took advantage of
the sun's heat while the coastal breeze kept them cool.  And through the beach
ran a busy bike path that featured bikinied men and women riding bicycles and
rollerblading.  Children played at the playground while people lifted weights
at Muscle Beach and on Venice Pier, people fished near by.
  On Washington Street, where many places rented bicycles and roller skates,
William managed to park his minivan by an expired meter and pulled his parking
brake into position.  "I've got change for the parking meter, Amy; you find
some where to get these guys something to wear."
  Amy nodded and smiled.  "Come on, guys--let's go."
    Behind the palm trees at the rear of the beach was the famous boardwalk
that featured restaurants, food stands, gift shops and street performers.
  The five of them were walking between the masses of people walking back and
forth and, as a woman walked by in a tonga, Ron's head cranked behind himself
and started loading his camera with Fuji Film but didn't notice the fire
hydrant his shin slammed into.  "Agh hagh!"  Everyone stopped to look at him
but he looked up and smiled.  "I'm okay!"  Tom shook his head.
  "I'll take that," Will said to Ron.  Ron gave him his Canon camera and Will
put it on.  "I've got a little experience at taking pictures."
  Amy looked over at a shop where they were all going to get swimsuits.  "Okay,
here's the place."
     Some time later, Amy walked outside in a pink two-piece swimsuit holding a
big bag that had her stirrup-style stretch pants and t-shirt and looked inside
of the shop.  "Well, come on--the sun's not staying up there forever."
  "Oh wait," the sound of Dave's voice said, "I thought we were gonna just try
these out."
  Amy put a hand on her hip and sighed.  "I bought them because you're supposed
to where those on the beach."
  "Yeah!  But this stuff hasn't got a whole lot to it," Tom was complaining.
  "Less talking, more walking," Amy interrupted.  Ron walked out in white
trunks while Tom followed in black Speedos; Will was in a green pair of trunks
and finally, Dave snuck out wearing red bikini briefs.  "Looks better in the
sunlight, don't you think?"
  "Well, these fit remarkably well," Dave said just before Tom smacked him on
the arm.  "Uh'oww!"  Amy giggled and shook her head.
     On the beach, Ron tossed a yellow frisbee straight ahead and Amy jumped
into the air to catch it before landing in the sand.  Meanwhile, Will took
pictures of the pier, the coastline at the horizon and the rainbow of swimsuits
and beach umbrellas that lined the shore.  Dave and Tom sparred intensely with
their fists and feet until Dave chopped down Tom's arm, upper-cut him in the
ribs and locked arms to make him fall.  "Heh-heh, good one, Dave."
  Amy tossed the frisbee back to Ron but when he jumped for it, he fell without
catching it while it flew on.
  Tom was smiling at watching Dave when he turned around and the yellow frisbee
bounced off of his forehead knocking him down. Amy put her hands over her mouth
and gasped in embarrassment.
  Later--Ron ran along the wet sand near the water as fast as he could for
exercise.  In the sky, he somersaulted out of sight and dove head first into
the water.  Swimming vigorously, Ron stayed parallel to the shore while
switching arms.
  Looking at everyone from behind, Will shouted out, "Hey, guys!"  Amy turned
around to look at him, wondering what he wanted.
  "Let's get some photos," Will said.  "Come on!"  Dave, Tom, Amy and Ron all
ran across the beach to get close to him.  While aiming the 90 millimeter zoom
lense on Ron's camera, Will looked at them and said, "Okay, here we go!"  He
looked through the viewfinder again and began to take multiple pictures:
  In one photograph--Tom smiled with his arms crossed while Ron had his arms
around Amy and Dave; Amy smiled widely with both hands on her hips while Dave
had his hands on his back, smiling conservatively.  In another picture--Dave
stood behind Tom making a silly face, causing Tom to frown at him; Amy was
hanging off of Ron's back.  The third picture was a wide shot of Amy assuming
her Libra-scales pose, Tom in his Saturn battle position, Ron's Mercury battle
posture and Dave's Mars insignia stance.  Another photograph had Dave holding
Amy's body and legs in his arms while the final picture had Amy standing on Ron
and Tom's shoulders with Dave kneeling in the front holding up two fingers.
  "Okay, let me set the self timer," Will said while looking at them.  After he
sat the camera on the sand, slanted so that it pointed up, Will ran away.  When
he joined them, they all lined up and he asked, "Ready?"  They all nodded and
when they struck their pose, the final frame was exposed on the roll of film.
On that photograph was a picture of the five of them with their right hands to
the sky and left fists beside themselves--the Astroranger position.
     Later in the day, the five of them relaxed on beach blankets lined up
together facing the afternoon sun.  Wearing black Rayban sunglasses, Amy looked
up and suddenly shade covered her.
  "Gonna need sun screen, Amy," Dave said while holding a brown bottle of SPF
45 lotion.  Taking off her sunglasses, Amy smiled and leaned up while he knelt
down beside her.  Dave opened the cap and put some on her shoulders.  "Now, I
was gonna start kicking some ass when I realized I was not only tricked into
going somewhere with a lot of people wearing this silly little piece of nothing
for no reason; but I started having fun so...  I couldn't stay mad."
  "Hehe, I'm glad to hear that," Amy said, "but you'd have a hard time trying
to kick my butt."
  Dave stopped applying the lotion and looked at her with a grin.  "Wanna bet?"
  Amy pointed to the sky.  "See that kite up there?"
  "What kite?" Dave asked while Amy's arms locked around his neck.  Suddenly,
his whole body was pulled over her shoulder and into the blanket.
  Dave tumbled but stood up again.  "Heh, good one, but now I'm ready."  Amy
faked a yawn and bent over slightly with her hand on her hips.
  "We'll see, Dave," Amy said while pointing at him.  Dave chased after her and
Amy ran away, getting the attention of Ron, holding up a novelty barbell for
Will to take a picture.
  Amy slapped down Dave's leg before pushing off his arm and elbowing him in
the abs and pushing his head out of the way.
  Ron dropped the feather light barbell while Tom joined them to watch Amy and
Dave goof off.  Tom looked at him and Will.  "What's going on?"
  Ron shrugged.  "Your guess is as good as mine."
     Dave's tornado kick missed Amy's head but when he turned around, Amy's
hands grabbed his shoulders before she kneed him in the abs.  She then took his
hand and rolled him over onto the sand.
  When he tumbled over, Dave looked up with surprise to see Amy falling out of
the sky.  Just then, she landed directly on top of him, pinning his shoulders
to the sand.  "I won the bet--now you owe me."
  "I don't have any money," Dave replied.
  Amy grinned and looked at him.  "Well, then, I guess we'll just have to think
of an alternative method of payment."
  While Tom and Ron looked on, Will chuckled. "Better break those two up before
they tear each other apart trying to be the toughest."  The trio began to move
away from where they were taking more pictures on another roll of film.  And,
as they walked along, Tom couldn't help but hear people talking to one another
on the beach with animosity about the subject matter.  Being Terranian allowed
him to sense that their thoughts of 'those guys' were the Astrorangers.  Ron
noticed Tom stop walking and his stopping caused Will to stop as well.
  "Hey, Tom," Will said, "what..."
  Tom brought a finger to his lips and said, "Shhh."
  "...'cause yeah, I mean, they wont even sell insurance for cars, businesses,
equipment or anything no more," a hispanic guy said to his girlfriend.  "But I
can't afford to move.  And what's not to say these guys aren't gonna go
somewhere else.  I mean, this sucks."
  "They blame us," Tom moaned quietly, "yet, they wouldn't live today to
complain unless we were here..."
  Ron looked at him and interrupted, "Hey--don't let it get to you, man."
  "Yeah," Will added, "we're not on duty right now, so let's try not to think
about it."
  Tom looked down and frowned harder.  "Something isn't right."
  "Tom--listen to me, they don't know any better and they can't know," Will
explained, "it's just the way things have to..."
  Tom looked at him and then raised his fist.  "No, I mean, this!"  The onyx
GeneGem stone on his ring was glowing and Ron looked at his diamond ring before
Will saw his.
  "Uh oh," Ron said, "we got trouble."
  While Dave was still pinned beneath Amy, she watched him squirm while she
said, "Now, I could keep you here like this but it'd be more fun if I got you
to stay here willingly."
  While Amy held Dave beneath her, the horizon of the sea behind the both of
them featured a dark humanoid form rising from the sea that they didn't notice.
  "I don't know what you've got in mind, Amy, but, I'm gonna get you for this."
  Amy smirked.  "I hope you do."
  Dave looked at her with confusion.  "Huh?"
  While grinning at him, Amy looked to her right and, in the double take,
looked again and screamed.  Dave's eyes squeezed shut from the high decibels
striking his eardrums but when he opened them again, he looked to his left.
"Woah!"
  Stepping out of the sea and onto the sand was a humanoid made entirely out of
water--it was Cyborg Kappa.  And running through the beach were Tom, Will and
Ron but they stopped after seeing that.  "What IS that??" Tom asked.  The
ghostly transparent mass of water walked through the sand, sounding like the
tides itself with every step.
  "We can't AstroCharge with literally thousands of people here," Ron said.
  Meanwhile--as Dave and Amy were running, she shouted, "Hey...  Wait a sec.
Dave, stop a minute."
  Stopping and catching his breath, Dave looked at her and asked.  "What!?"
  "Where're the others?" Amy asked.  Cyborg Kappa's arm started running like
water from a fire fighter's hose.  Dave looked to his side and jerked back.
  "Amy, look out!" he shouted before jumping on top of her--both dropping into
the sand just as the water streamed over their bodies.


 ACT II:

     At Venice Beach, sport-utility vehicles painted black and white with blue
and white strobe lights crawled over the bumpy sand at quick speed with their
sirens screaming.  Lifeguards were also running all over the beach trying to
restrict the chaos.
  "You can't go in the water," a life guard said to some young adult guys, "if 
get into trouble, we wouldn't be able to get you out of there, I'm sorry."
  A fit guy with a moustache looked around desperately while his daughter, not
older than 14 asked, "Dad, where'd mom go?"
  "Uhhh...  I don't know--hey, sir," he said to a lifeguard running by, "did
you see a hispanic woman go through here in a blue bathing suit with the..."
  The lifeguard started shaking his head, "I'm sorry sir, there are way too
many of you out here right now--try the police..."  The guard ran off.
  Meanwhile--Ron, Will and Tom ran over to Dave on top of Amy in that order and
as he climbed off of Amy, Will put out his hand to help her come up out of the
sand.  While Ron was helping, he asked, "Hey, Amy, how're you doing?"
  While rising she said, "Oh fine, I've just got sand in my face, sand in my
mouth, sand in of my bikini.  It's windy and my skin is burning but other
than that, I'm great."
  "Well prepare to be really, really great 'cause here comes that thing again,"
Tom said.  Cyborg Kappa, the humanoid form of water was walking along before it
came to a stop and bent over.  And where it's head would be became a stream of
water.  People gazing at the beach looking for friends and family looked over
but before they knew it, they were blown out of the way with a blast of water.
A group of people behind them were wiped out as well. 
  Will looked away and at Dave asking, "Dave, any idea what thing is?"
  "We wont find out at this distance," Dave replied--he stepped forward and
continued, "we gotta move in!  Let's go!"  Tom ran ahead, followed by Will, Ron
and Amy before Dave joined them.
  Cyborg Kappa was surrounded by them and it looked from side to said and
gurgled.  Like a star, water streaming out of its body in five different
directions hit all of them.
  As the water smacked into them, they brought up their arms and hands to try
and block out the water.  After getting stunned, Kappa started charging after
Tom.
  All of a sudden, the water condensed in its arm and when it formed a fist, it
slammed into Tom before flipping him straight over.  Behind Kappa, Ron tried to
dig into its shoulders but his hands swam straight through.  "What the hell?"
  It turned around and then used the back of its fist to swing up against his
face.  In the sky, Ron went sailing overhead and out of sight.
  After William gave the signal by extending his arms, Dave and Amy
somersaulted over his shoulders.  Cyborg Kappa transformed both arms into jet
streams of water that flowed freely into the air.
  In the sky, the water rushing against Dave and Amy caused them to rotate
endlessly in midair before falling into the sand again.
  Will's forearm blocked Cyborg Kappa's punch and tried an upper-cut punch but
it passed through Kappa's abdomen.  But when Will tried a recovery punch to its
face, Kappa's hand caught it somehow and yanked him off his feet.
  Behind Cyborg Kappa--Will's airborne body flipped over and dropped out of
sight.
  Kneeling, Ron looked over and said, "Tom, spot me!"
  "Ok!" Tom replied while kneeling down with his hands together.  Ron ran after
him and after stepping onto Tom's hands, he raised his arms.  Ron was boosted
into the sky and Cyborg Kappa looked up to see him.
  In midair as Ron descended, he swung his legs sideways in opposite directions
as to split-kick Kappa but his bare feet merely swam through its body-water.
After not harming the cyborg, Ron dropped out of sight.
  On the sand, Ron picked himself up and spit sand out of his mouth before
looking to the others.  "This isn't working!!"
  "Come on everybody, follow me," Dave said, "I've got an idea on how to even
the score.  Let's go!"  Dave headed for the water and Will and Tom joined him.
As the five of them ran into the water, they hopped over the waves before
swimming further towards the sea before diving underwater.  Cyborg Kappa,
standing at the sand back on shore, looked on and waited.
  While it stood watching the horizon the water at sea suddenly exploded into a
wall of white froth ascending skyward.

     In the blue sky, the red Astroranger had leaped diagonally overhead into
flipping out of sight before the green Astroranger somersaulted in the opposite
direction.  Black, white and pink Astrorangers also somersaulted overhead and
out of sight in opposite directions.
  With the five of them in the sand, MarsAstro shouted, "Roll call!"
  Striking her battle stance, the pink Astroranger shouted, "VenusAstro!"
  "MercuryAstro!" announced the white Astroranger.
  The black Astroranger's arms locked into place while he said, "SaturnAstro!"
  "JupiterAstro!" the green Astroranger called out.
  The red Astroranger assumed his battle position matching the Aries insignia
shouting, "MarsAstro!"
  Bringing up his arms and putting them out, he cued, "Galaxy Task Force..."
  And the rest struck a uniform battle stance when shouting, "Astroranger!"
     Cyborg Kappa bent over and rammed its arms into the sand.  The sand was
getting soaked a lot deeper than it seemed.  Kappa sucked out solid columns of
sand at the end of its arms and hurled them.
  The sand columns blew up into huge dust clouds behind and head of the
Astrorangers.  Closer to the shoreline, the Astrorangers rolled out of the way
and MarsAstro stood up shouting, "Attack!"  They charged out of sight upon his
order.
  Cyborg Kappa stood their as SaturnAstro came running after him and jumped
into a flying spin-kick.  And after his white boot swished through its body of
water, Kappa's fist hardened and knocked him down into a tumble.
  After jumping in his place, JupiterAstro swung a fist at Kappa and its arms
beat them out of the way in succession after turning around and knocking the
green Astroranger into a flip off his feet.
  From behind, MercuryAstro saw its other fist coming and ducked to high-shin
kick its side but it's arms knocked his leg right back down again.  Kappa
turned around and hook-kicked down the white Astroranger.
  Cyborg Kappa's arms came down on VenusAstro but she high kicked its fists up
while they were solid and side-kicked its abs.  After her foot passed through
its body, the pink Astroranger was locked down by its arms.  "Rrrgh.  Ahh, damn
it!"
  "Lotia!  Uhn," MarsAstro gasped while jumping into the air.  In the sky, the
red Astroranger achieved a triple, cannon-ball somersault before he suddenly
ascended into a flying sidekick.  "Comet Kick!"
  Cyborg Kappa gurgled again before dropping to the sand as a puddle of water.
VenusAstro looked up and jumped out of the way just as the red Astroranger came
down.  The pink Astroranger got off of her hands and looked over.  "Watch where
you're going, Sheratan!"

     Adol walked up the stairs of the primary chamber within the Nazitan
outpost beneath the surface of Pluto.  Before he turned around to sit within
his iron-clad throne, Adol was laughing.  "They thought they were so smart.
Hah-hah!"  After sitting down, he looked at the glass globe upon the stone
pedestal.  The water in the sand re-solidified into the form of Cyborg Kappa
again and the Astrorangers re-grouped.  "Those fools can't fight anything more
sophisticated than animated toy soldiers." All of the critical chemicals of its
body shifted from one location to the other as needed to avoid being
dissipated.

     On the beach, Cyborg Kappa was already marching towards the Astrorangers
who were scattered along the sand.  MercuryAstro pounded the sand.  "It lacks a
solid form!  There's nothing we can do to make contact!"
  MarsAstro held up his Moleculatom Weapon and shouted, "All together,
everybody!"  The black and green Astrorangers stood up holding the same weapons
and the pink and white Astrorangers nodded after drawing them as well.
  "Star position," MarsAstro commanded--the pink and white Astrorangers stood
on the inside while kneeling down while on the outside, the black and green
Astrorangers stood tall.  The red Astroranger in the center shouted, "Fire!"
and they all fired blue beams of electricity directly ahead.
  Five beams all converged on one point that pushed through the center of
Cyborg Kappa and steam began to come out of the hole.
  "It's working!" VenusAstro said while her weapon was heating up from power
output.
  MarsAstro continued the beam, "Keep firing."  Steam was rushing out from the
hole in Cyborg Kappa before it split into half with each side becoming its own
whole body of water.
  "Oh no!" MercuryAstro shouted.  "There's two of them now!"  As the two of
them started to glide over the sand towards them very quickly.
  "Sheratan, we've got to coordinate with Commander Leto--NOW," JupiterAstro
said.
  MarsAstro nodded.  "We've got no choice.  Galaxy Task Force Command:
HydroCycles ignition!"  The clouds in the blue sky began to part as the faded
image of a white saucer began to warp into visibility.  Beneath its ventral
hull, two black lines perforated a plank that lowered out of the saucer's
underside.  Five motorcycles with red, green, black, white and pink body shells
rolled out of the saucer.
  In the sky, the Astrorangers had group-somersaulted side by side and one by
one, became seated on each HydroCycle.

     The Astroranger SpaceBase, an opal globe shaped satellite, stayed in
synchronous orbit with the dark-side of the lunar celestial body.  Inside, the
top floor marked Deck A on the floor featured a wall showing an active matrix
color monitor with five work stations on the left and right with the whole
chamber illuminated by the entire ceiling.  The sliding double-doors parted,
allowing Sheratan, Australis, Nashiran, Messuta and Lotia to walk in.  Turning
around and standing up at one of the station was Commander Leto who greeted
them.  "Astrorangers, report."
  "They mean business," Sheratan answered.
  Australis stopped walking and looked at Leto.  "There's no touching it.  It
lets physical objects pass straight through it but it changes the concentration
of water in its body so it can strike more powerfully than most cyborgs."
  "Cybernetic controlling signals emanating from the outer rim of this solar
system are being received by an electrochemical reaction within that cyborg,"
Commander Leto replied.  "However, I cannot determine the controlling factor
that has tied its receiver to its mental processes."
  "Maybe the program is running from the same source as the signals," Messuta
hypothesized.
  Leto shrugged.  "Perhaps, but that doesn't help us understand what is holding
it together and how to destroy it."
  "But how do you destroy water?" Lotia asked.  "You can freeze it and smash it
apart or evaporate it so it becomes droplets of water but it never really goes
away forever."
  "Well we were winning when we used the Moleculatom Weapons and it did have to
dissolve itself into water when I almost succeeded in the comet kick," Sheratan
said.
  Nashiran looked at him and rebutted, "Yes but how do you know we were
winning?  It was probably dissolving so that your kick would hurt Lotia.  It
wouldn't have hurt the cyborg anyway."
  "The only thing I can imagine is that a dense and active formula of
electro-biochemicals are some how manipulating the water," Leto replied, "So,
the only thing we can do is suspend those chemicals control over the host that
it's using to take form."
  "Those chemicals could have been poured into a wooden puppet and it would
have been animated the same way," Messuta submitted.  "They probably chose
water because it would confuse us very, very easily."
  Sheratan shook his head.  "Okay, so we know that the water is being
manipulated by chemicals that look like water but we don't know is how to
suspend or terminate it's ability to access the water."
  "Changing the molecular composition of water itself might confuse the
artificially-intelligent formula so that it no longer knows how to manipulate
it," Messuta replied.  "What about liquid helium?  It's a gas that would turn
the water into a fuel that we could set on fire.  That is a liquid that can be
destroyed."
  "Good thinking, Messuta," Commander Leto, "I'll supply RescueShuttle's cargo
bay with plenty for its water jet guns used normally for putting out fires."
  "The only problem is that if it splits into two, we're out of luck,"
Australis pointed out, "it can probably divide itself a thousand times before
running out of enough of itself to divide with."
  "Worse yet, it can loose its form and regain it at anytime," Lotia replied.
"How do we make it stay put and stay solid enough for us to use the gas?"
  Nashiran took a deep breath.  "I've got an idea but Sheratan and Messuta
might not like it at all."

     Signs were posted on the beach marked KEEP OUT where the tides came ashore
which were usually used whenever the water was contaminated.  There was nobody
on the sand which gave Venice Beach an eerie ghost-town atmosphere.  From over
the horizon of sand came the red Astroranger with his white and black comrades
on each side.  After they ran into place, MarsAstro pointed and said, "You look
over there while Australis and I try here.'
  "All right," SaturnAstro replied after running out of sight.  MercuryAstro
followed MarsAstro in the other direction.
  After SaturnAstro ran into the deserted Venice Boardwalk, he stopped to look
around.  With his hands on his lower back, he looked back and forth and sighed.
  "It's probably waiting for us and hiding until it finds it's opportunity."
Suddenly, one of the ends on a yellow fire hydrant on the corner popped off and
a stream of water came rushing out.  The loud pop got his attention and he
turned around to look at what happened.
  The water spraying out filled in the ghostly appearance of the humanoid
cyborg made entirely out of water--Cyborg Kappa and as its body filled in with
the spray, the hydrant's flow of water slowed to drips on the street corner.
  "Oh boy," SaturnAstro moaned.  Cyborg Kappa threw its arms high and shot two
streaming jets of water diagonally.  Upon an electrical poll, the wooden
structure held the metal supports for the high voltage wires connected to the
transformer.  Sparks started spraying from the water mixing with the
electricity until the wire fell from being broken.
  The black Astroranger jerked back while looking down at the puddle of water
he was standing in and followed it back to the street where the water was
falling.  "Oh NO!" SaturnAstro shouted as he back flipped out of the puddle at
the same time the live wire hit the water.  Sparks chaotically sprayed
themselves skyward as the black Astroranger landed on dry pavement.  "Is that
the best you can do!?"
  Through the clear smoke from the sparks that had flown, Cyborg Kappa slid
over the road like a snowman at a high rate.  SaturnAstro relaxed and stood
still not moving at all.  Kappa launched its fist straight ahead, hurling
gallons of water in one punch.
  The fist of water splashed off of SaturnAstro's body.  Kappa stepped back and
used its other arm but failed to pound him down.
  The visor of his black helmet shined a strip of light across SaturnAstro's
eyes as his eyelids opened.
  The black Astroranger walked ahead confidently while pointing.  "If I don't
resist your impacts, that your water has no effect on me!"
  One could see through Kappa the white and red Astrorangers running into place
behind the cyborg.  It turned around and launched itself into the air.
  In the sky, the blob of water came out of the sky like a ghost flying down.
  Standing relaxed, the Astroranger's let their arms hang loose while the water
washed over their bodies without being forced back.
  Cyborg Kappa collected itself and turned around to watch the three of them
stand on the boardwalk and MarsAstro stepped forth.  "Take your best shot."
  "Yeah," MercuryAstro added, "your momma..."
  SaturnAstro looked at him and asked, "Huh?"
  The white Astroranger shrugged.  "It makes humans angry."  Coming after them
with its arms outstretched, all of its body of water had concentrated tightly.
  "It working!" MarsAstro cheered, "Now Lotia!"  At sea, the pink RescueShuttle
broke the surface of the ocean at a slant and flew out of sight.  In the sky,
the two bay doors beneath the shuttle opened, dropping gallons of liquid
helium.
  On the boardwalk, Cyborg Kappa lurched after the Astrorangers quickly until a
mass of transparent liquid showered Kappa.
  In the sky, the green Astroranger somersaulted overhead and out of sight and,
in midair, JupiterAstro let go of an arrow in his bow with a flaming head.  The
fiery arrow shot through the blue sky until it passed through Cyborg Kappa.
  Fire ripped through the center of the water-beast that quickly burned its way
out in all directions until being reduced to steam.  VenusAstro joined the
Astrorangers standing their watching the smoke that was left behind by what
used to be Cyborg Kappa.  "Woah, what happened to it?"
  MarsAstro shook his head.  "We got rid of it, thank goodness but I'd love to
know why it came here and what it was."
  "I'm glad we were able to get rid of it," MercuryAstro replied.  "If what
sent it was who I think sent it, they wont try it again."
  "Yeah," SaturnAstro replied, "but what will they try next?"  The view of
their back sides as they stood side by side was slightly distorted by a
transparent ghostliness.
  The pink Astroranger turned her head.  "What was that?"
  "What was what?" MercuryAstro asked.  Something moving at the Astrorangers
from behind was beginning to pick up speed.
  SaturnAstro turned around just as it closed in on them.  The other half of
Cyborg Kappa as its own body washed against the standing task force, knocking
them down out of sight.
  Against the boardwalk, the five of them hit the pavement before tumbling out
of place.
  "Damn it!" MarsAstro replied.  "There's no getting rid of this thing!"
  "Wait," the white Astroranger said, "I've got an idea.  Lotia, I need your
RescueShuttle!"
  VenusAstro jerked.  "What?!"
  "Just do it!" MercuryAstro replied.
  "Well, okay...  Galaxy Task Force command," the pink Astroranger called out,
"RescueShuttle lift off!" In the sky, the pink AstroShuttle lifted off from the
beach, causing sand to fly as it's jets lifted the massive RescueShuttle.  In
the sky, it banked around before flying straight ahead.
  The white Astroranger, leaping skyward landed within the VenusAstro's cockpit
and looked back and forth along the control panel.
     Meanwhile, Cyborg Kappa was already holding SaturnAstro over its head
before hurling the black Astroranger out of sight.  After falling into the side
of a wall, he fell again before JupiterAstro and MarsAstro got on both sides
and helped him up.  VenusAstro looked behind herself at them and MarsAstro
shouted back, "Don't worry about us, just keep that thing at bay!"
  Cyborg Kappa let its arms of water become jets of water the pushed forth like
a wide hose blasting water straight ahead.  VenusAstro's head shifted from left
to right while her hands tried to hold off the water.  However, as Kappa's jets
continued to push stronger, the pink Astroranger found herself airborne while
continually somersaulting in midair.
  While Kappa continued to increase the water pressure, VenusAstro found
herself pushed backwards over the ground free of her own control.  An iron
fence found her body roll up against its bars before falling onto the pavement
again.
  Cyborg Kappa's arms returned to their liquid form before it started walk
towards the near-drowned VenusAstro.  In the sky, RescueShuttle flew straight
down while shooting down a stream of white liquid.  Liquid Nitrogen.
  Looking up, Kappa resisted by holding up its arms to uselessly attempt to
prevent becoming frozen.  Through resisting, Kappa's body of water became more
solid so all of itself was all in one place to be frozen solid.  There, like a
man made of ice stood Cyborg Kappa.
  Aboard the pink AstroShuttle, MercuryAstro said, "Lotia--use your Sonic
Boomerang!"
  VenusAstro stood up and took deep breaths and nodded.  "Ok!"  And after
winding her arms behind her back, the pink Astroranger drew her metallic
boomerang. "Looks like we're gonna finish you again!"  She tossed her Celestial
Weapon and while Kappa stood their frozen.  And, after the boomerang plowed
through the center of its body it busted into millions of fragments of ice.

     On the now deserted Venice Beach--Dave, Will, Tom, Ron and Amy strolled on
the sand that late afternoon. Amy sighed. "I'm sorry this turned out to be such
a disaster.  I just wanted us to have a good time."
  "We did before that thing showed up," Ron replied.
  "I guess it looks like we wont be able to take a vacation until this is all
over," Will said, "and our mission is done."
  Tom frowned and took a deep breath. "It's not like it's that easy to have fun
on this world anyway."
  "Yeah, I know," Dave replied, "but I'm still glad we actually did this.  For
a second there, it almost felt like we were really living."

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    


Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger . . .

Accountant William Richards finds himself audited by Dieter Frapschnitzelhausen
of the Internal Revenue Service, unaware of this IRS agent's ulterior motive.
Meanwhile, Tom faces Cyborg Hebosha on the job while gardening at a Hospital
and AstroCharges into action in episode #14, "Thieves".

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"Galaxy Task Force Astroranger" is a trademark of Artist Bros. Enterprises. The
above text is protected under laws of the  United States  and other  countries.
Unauthorized duplication,  distribution  or  exhibition  may  result  in  civil
liability and criminal prosecution. Copyright (c)1997 Artist Bros. Enterprises,
Artist Bros. Music and Dairenn Lombard.  All Rights Reserved.  Country Of First
Publication: United States of America.  Artist Brothers and Dairenn Lombard are
the author of the preceding text.  The characters and events depicted  in  this
story are fictional.  Any similarity  to  actual  persons,  living or dead,  is
purely coincidental and unintentional.  This copyright notice does  not  extend
to infringe upon the  existing  copyrights for `Super-Sentai' titles maintained
by  Toei Company LTD., Toei Agency, Toei International, Asahi-TV, Marvel Comics
and Ishimori Productions.                                               [TV-PG]
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