[980308] [Preview] 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; find out what happens in episode 14, "Thieves" -- next... 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: "Greatest warrior indeed," Adol groaned. As the elderly but strong Nazitan paced back and forth at the top of the shallow stair case leading to his iron-clad throne, his subjects stood out on the floor with their heads bowed. Sitting down beneath the great mosaic dome that capped the primary chamber of the bunker beneath the surface of Pluto, Adol looked back and forth at them and sighed. "We're not going to find that beast egg with the Astrorangers in our way. And we must show proof to Lord Vahorra we are on schedule for producing brains and bodies for sustaining our race! I have just named three problems. Can anyone name me a solution to any of them?" "We must track down the Astrorangers and have them assassinated one by one," Ginara confidently replied out of the silence. Her voice echoed against the walls, "A warrior in disguise will keep them off guard and find them before eliminating them." Adol nodded. "Good idea, Ginara but does our resident bio-guru have anything that can carry out this plan?" "Another class of cyborg I have been working on just before our departure for this solar system is a clone drone of dynamic physical capabilities," Pleadia said, "it can shift into the shape of anything it has obtained a sufficient biological sample. Tissue, bone marrow, plasma from blood." "And what about the assimilation issue?" Pleadia pointed to the foggy glass globe on the pedestal facing Adol. "As we have seen, whatever casualties our Armatons have failed in recovering are taken by vehicles to a building humans call a hospital. There, they are helpless against us. The weak and disabled still have living, working brains--only their bodies are damaged." "We have obtained more sophisticated organisms from other worlds," Adol has recalled, "but the human brain is, so far, one of the more advanced we have encountered for life forms at this stage of evolution. Release your cyborgs at once, Pleadia." "What about the beast egg?" Tortan asked. "Patience. The fewer schemes in operation, the less likely complications can arise," Adol replied. "Igan, take special care to ensure the shape-shifting cyborg of Pleadia's reaches its ultimate destination; the domicile of the Galaxy Task Force." Igan nodded. Episode 14: "Thieves" It was a clear, crisp and cool evening as the sun had just left the sky leaving it dark and full of stars. That night in the Hollywood hills, the house and garage could be seen at the corner of the block. In Dave and Tom's room, Dave sat on his bed holding the telephone as he dialed in a number he had read from a post-it note. He put the phone to his ear and waited for an answer. "Hello, Beverly? It's Dave," he announced. "Dave Marcello?" Beverly put down a Cosmopolitan magazine and smiled as she talked into her cordless phone at her downtown apartment. "Oh, Hi, Dave. How are you?" "A little tired but I'm fine, how about you?" "I'm okay but I heard from my friends down at the station that all hell broke loose at Venice Beach," Beverly said. "I really wonder why all of that happened. Nobody knows." "Well, fortunately, nobody got hurt from what I heard," Dave replied. "Yeah," she said over his phone. "So... How did you enjoy dinner at my house? I never got to hear what you thought of it." "Oh, it was pretty good, Amy is an excellent cook," Beverly said. "I have never had ramen noodle soup that good." Dave slightly grinned. "I told her you might like it. Perhaps, we could have dinner again sometime." "Sure I'd like that," Beverly said over his phone. "Maybe even at a place a little bit more private, say, a restaurant?" Beverly smiled coyly. "If I didnt know any better, you were asking me out on a date." Dave looked down and smiled widely. "That's because I am, Beverly." Beverly took a deep breath and exhaled over the phone while Dave retained his smile, though wrinkling his forehead from concern. Beverly smiled sympathetically. "Dave, you seem like a really nice guy. You are, actually, the most unique person I have ever known. But I can't..." "What do you mean?" Beverly looked around and tried to speak diplomatically. "Please listen. I don't want you to think its you or anything. It's just that, right now, I'm not really dating--actually." "Oh," Dave said with a disappointed tone. "You probably already have someone else right now." "Well, we kinda just got started actually," Beverly said over his phone as he frowned sharply from what he thought was bad timing on his part. "But yeah, Dave; I'm not really available. I'm sorry." Dave sighed and thought how ironic it is for someone so close to what he needs in this mission is unavailable. He was almost convinced this were fate, though even he knew that was presumptuous. "That's okay, I wouldn't have ever known if I didn't ask." "Yeah," Beverly said. Dave looked more seriously as he knew that she could never understand how lonely he is--being away from his true home. "But hey, it's not like we can't be friends or anything," Beverly said while toying nervously with her magazine. "We can still do stuff together if you want." "Yeah, that'd be good," Dave said; upon saying it, he didn't know why he did because he knew being with her and not having her would be more depressing than anything. Dave felt that if he could ever stand a chance, it would be best if he remained friends with her anyway. "Dave, you're kind of quiet over there," she said over his phone. "Oh--uh," Dave sighed, "I'm just kinda thinking." Beverly paused a while. "Penny for your thoughts." "That's all right," Dave replied. Beverly looked down. "I hope I didn't upset you too much." "Oh no--I mean," correcting himself. "Don't feel bad. It's my bad sense of timing, right?" Dave chuckled--Beverly also chuckled out of relief knowing Dave was not too depressed. "Well, perhaps your day will come yet. Just have to give it time." How much time?, Dave asked himself. "Well--I guess I'll talk to you some time later then, okay?" Beverly nodded and smiled. "Okay." Dave smiled. "Goodnight." "'Night, Dave." Dave hung up and layed back in his bed as he looked up towards the ceiling pondering if this is what all Earth men feel. If they do go through this sense of always being on the outside looking in. And then he wondered why he felt this way about an Earth woman. Pluto--the gray, ice covered planet remained in the slow distant and orbit only to receive a fraction of the sun's heat and light. Beneath the surface, a workstation resembling an arcade stood next to the wall with Igan operating the panel while watching the screen. On the terminal, millions of dots of yellow, red and green color spotted a blue grid the shape of a white sphere. Igan groaned, "Ohhh! This is like looking for a Copolymer Flea on a Kaolin Wolf." Given that those wolfs were covered with dense fur and the fleas were thinner than a strand of human hair--it'd be a monumental task. "I know! Their biorhythms," Igan thought out loud while manipulating the controls. "The last time Adol had me check Pleadia's data, I noticed their biorhythms were significantly different from the average human's. I can specify that Cyborg Morpher should track down whoever is going within the vicinity of whatever is outputting these special biorhythm." Pleadia walked into Igan's workshop holding a pad with a clear, black surface displaying non-roman text in green. "Adol requests a status report." "Cyborg Morpher is combing the city in stealth mode searching for anyone destined for the biorhythm I noticed only the Astrorangers have." Pleadia shifted his head. "Ginara underestimates you for that was very clever." Igan looked to the side angrily. "Eventually, he will see that I have twice the intellect of her boorish mate Tortan." "He would split you in three for those words so I would restrict my emotions if I were you," Pleadia answered. "In any case, this data is remarkable. I'm glad we have decided to send down Cyborg Hebosha." "Why?" Pleadia held up a bizarre looking gun. "Ever seen one of these?" Igan shook his head. Pleadia aimed it at the wall. "It's an Organectomizor Mini-Rifle; this is the prototype but Cyborg Hebosha has the X11 model that works." "What does it do? It seems to have a lot of intricate instruments for a gun." "It scans for an internal organ, acquires a quantum-level resolution matrix of its molecular structure onto a kiloquad memory chip. Using subatomic photon magnets to remove it from its original location," Pleadia explained, "the mater to energy converters store the organs in a separate battery built into the cyborg. This keeps the organ in suspended animation for the duration of the electrical field's life." Igan nodded. "So essentially, it removes internal organs from humanoids and stores them for our usage." "Basically. And Cyborg Hebosha's optics have been programed to pre-evaluate conditions such as brain damage, tumors or other such elements rendering a human's brain worthless," Pleadia explained. "Hebosha's got it's work cut out for it," Igan remarked. Pleadia laughed. "Seriously--what does a human brain have to offer to our race?" Pleadia began to read from the pad he brought with him. "The human brain is perhaps the most useful aspect to these primitive creatures. Without it, they would actually be a step down in biological evolution to our species, Igan. The human brain can process an enormous amount of information; the eyes have 130 Million light receptors, 100 thousand auditory cells and 280 thousand touch sensors." "No robot we have ever developed has come close to such powerful intelligence!" Igan said with awe. "More. Tell me more!" "Yes. The brain can store an almost endless amount of information, calculate billions of instructions per second to maintain coordination and organism balance," Pleadia read from his notes. "I am very surprised such a magnificent mass of nerves and muscles is the central dominating unit within the masses of Earth people," Igan noted. "They have demonstrated so little intelligence." Pleadia nodded and replied, "Yes, well, that may very well be due to the fact that these are creatures of free will. Other species we have found of equal intelligence are also bound by biological cycles of instinct, not leaving good behavior up to chance." Igan nodded. "In any case," Pleadia concluded, "keep searching, Igan; we must find at least one Astroranger so that we know exactly what we are looking for beyond a color coordinated warrior." The next day at the a house and garage on the corner of the block south of a main thoroughfare, Will walked inside of their home with the newspaper. Dave was toweling himself off while breathing heavily, having just exercised. "Dave--I just know how you like this world so much so I figured you're gonna fall in love once you read this," Will replied. "What? Woah--what's this all about?" Dave said as he read the front page of the L.A. Times reading: FBI ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION OF COSTUMED CAPER "Aw crap. This is not good," Dave said. "What are they talking about??" "Let me turn to page A24," Will replied. As he did, Will's eyes skimmed some text before sighing. "Here..." Dave shook his head, "I can't--look at that, there's a picture right there of SaturnAstro shooting from the black HydroCycle on the front page!" "Here's what they said: After thousands of citizens witnessed an unusual phenomenon of a ghostly creature, the Astrorangers, a team of so-called heros with super powers, arrived on the scene. After there sudden departure, the "being" was no where to be found. The first of such incidents occurred at Griffith Park when scores of golfers and other citizens were reduced to green puddles of gel that was sucked up inside of a hideous monster that caused the weak hearted to go into cardiac arrest. Since then, a spree of previous acts of violence have proliferated after the arrival of the mysterious metal sphere had attacked much of the west coast. After the National Guard had lost track of soldiers monitoring the sphere, various attacks from mutants that had arrived from outside of Earth's orbit had began on the city. At this point, a team of costumed warriors with science-fiction style weapons worthy of George Lucas's special effects appear and have annihilated the so called villains. The L.A.P.D. have identified the team by what they call themselves to be the Galaxy Task Force Astro Rangers. In some instances, regularly appearing warriors such as the samurai-style creature shown above grow to such enormous sizes similarly to that of a Godzilla movie. Astrorangers had then boarded vehicles that resemble shuttles and rockets that miraculously unite into an equally gigantic robot and eventually destroy some of these giant sized beasts. Though the heroic actions of the Galaxy Task Force Astrorangers are commendable, critics warn their actions could pose serious threats to the physical safety of the people. "What will the value of the city be if there are giant sized monsters threatening to destroy and kill everything and everyone?" Assemblyman Marigold said at a press conference yesterday evening. "I cannot imagine anyone feeling safe in the city of Los Angeles anymore." Meanwhile, the Christian Community have been working overtime to prevent panic. "We cannot allow people to go around committing suicide because they believe the apocalypse has come," Reverend Harrison said in an interview. "Nothing like what has gone on in the past couple of months has ever been proclaimed in either the old or new testament of the bible." Regardless, the people of Los Angeles refused to be scared out of their home though many have left. While small businesses have gone out of business from the lack of patronage, many have banded together to keep Los Angeles thriving as a major metropolis. Including the sudden increase in applicants to the LAPD and the donations to charities from corporations to restore business and residences in L.A. area. "Will, the media is painting the Astrorangers as the villains here! They're saying that they are trying to survive, despite them protecting the public." "You know, Dave--this doesn't surprise me in the least," Will remarked. Dave shook his head. "Humans are known for biting the hand that stops a bullet or something--I don't know! I'm too mad to talk straight." "Calm down, Dave--there's more. The borders and airports have beefed up security provided by the US Department of Defense," Will read. "Nobody is getting in, nor out of this country without a full background check via computer." Amy just walked in from the kitchen eating a tuna sandwich. "Hey, Amy--read this..." Will said giving her the newspaper. "Oh no I can't," she said with a full mouth. "Holding food. What is it?" "Bad news," Dave told her. Ron also walked in drinking root beer. "The last thing we need right now is more bad news," Ron interjected. "I got this in the mail; it's for you, Will." "The internal revenue service?" Will asked. while opening it up. Tom stood behind him while he read it. "Uh oh." Dave looked at Tom and asked, "What does 'uh oh' mean?" "It means I'm being audited," Will answered. Downtown--yellow police tape roped off the area of a Metro bus stop with multiple lines listed on the sign. Detective Sanchez and Mahoney were at the scene with a couple of officers just leaving, looking at a pale, almost blue corpse on the ground wrapped in a blanket. Frank Mahoney nodded. "We're done," he said to the Coroner, "take him away." Officer Tenmei, who'd first responded to the 9-1-1 emergency dispatch request, was standing near Kathy Sanchez soon joined by Frank. "His name's Dieter Frapschnitzelhausen and according to the contents of his brief case, he was about to conduct an audit on behalf of the IRS," Beverly Tenmei reported. "When we found him in the dumpster, he had no clothes on and no blood according to the paramedics," Beverly Tenmei told them. "There weren't even any signs of physical entry or harm at all. So, we don't know how he died." Kathy concentrated for a moment to ponder. "Do they know when he died?" "According to the office where he worked, he left at 9:20 A.M. and 9-1-1 dispatched me and the others at 9:50am so apparently he died just after leaving the office," Beverly replied, "not at home." Kathy sighed and shook her head. "Somehow, these things don't surprise me anymore." "Yeah, I know," Frank replied, "but what do you make of it?" "How do you mean?" "I mean, how did whatever it was that did this drain the stiff's blood?" Frank wondered. "Orally?" "Maybe," Kathy wondered. "We need to contact whatever family and friends he has and also find out where he was going. It's pretty obvious to me that whoever Dieter was about to audit had something to hide and wanted it kept hidden through murdering him." ACT II: At the Civic Center, citizens of Los Angeles entered the Metro Red Line subway station. Underground, people stood on escalators entering and leaving the station while others purchased tickets at the machines. Meanwhile, a train was coming out of the tunnel from Gateway Transit Plaza on the rails slowing to a stop while the operator announced its arrival. The front of the subway train indicated its final destination is Wilshire/Western while its automatic doors opened. When the people left, they did not notice a fleshless, muscle-exposed creature, Cyborg Hebosha, with a skull-head wearing a white cape to resemble a lab coat. Hebosha carried a large black gun in its brown belt mounted holster while it had hid behind the ticket machines as the people had walked towards the exiting escalators. Cyborg Hebosha then stood up and fired a fuzzy red ray at a woman in a business suit leaving the station. She couldn't even react as she was frozen still and when Hebosha stopped firing, the woman dropped the ground unconscious. MTA Police officers turned their heads and saw the woman and then the hideous mutant cyborg. "Hey, Stop!" a guard said. Walking up to to Hebosha, the cyborg turned around and zapped his forehead before he fell down. "Freeze!" another MTA policeman ordered when Cyborg Hebosha looked at him and began to take steps towards him. The officer in blue opened fire and the terminal occupants started screaming as they ducked down onto the floor. The bullets sparked off Hebosha's body as it fired from its ray. The red beam struck the MTA police officer directly between the eyes, causing his body to jolt spasmatically until he froze. When Hebosh stopped firing and the ray disappeared, the blue-uniformed man dropped his gun as he fell down with it. Onboard a train leaving Pershing Square, the operator got a message from dispatch. "This is a message to Metro Red line Operators proceeding to Civic Center Station. We have been notified by Metro Police to temporarily discontinue all traffic to the area until the Los Angeles Police Department can disburse a reported disturbance in the area." The operator in his light blue uniform had picked up his microphone and hit the floor-pedal activating it. "We regret to inform you that train service will be temporarily interrupted at this time and we will proceed at our earliest opportunity." The passengers started complaining as their subway rolled to a stop. Meanwhile, sparks were exploding everywhere with white smoke to follow as Cyborg Hebosha dodged bullets being fired from LAPD officers and firing back with his ray. When officers dodged, the ray caused sparks to blast from walls while on the floor, bodies were strewn everywhere at the station. Some officers were caught by the red ray causing them to stiffen up and then hit the ground. "What is that damn thing doing??" an officer asked while shooting at the cyborg. "I wish I know--I just don't wanna be hit by that thing," another one said while also firing. "It looks like the ones that get hit don't get back up." "I wonder if they're dead?" The fire stopped when Cyborg Hebosha, wrapped himself in his coat and disappeared into a bright puff of smoke. "Hold your fire! Men! Hold your fire!" an officer said as they got up from behind the benches and ticket machines. While the policemen walked around the platform, smoking from the exchange of gunfire. "Where did it go??" one of the men asked. The other policeman shook his head. "I have no idea, but we better find it and fast!" "This is Unit Charlie-89. Requesting paramedic units at 1st and Hill," the first officer said into his walkie-talkie. "We've got a lotta casualties here." "Acknowledged, C-89," dispatch replied via his radio. The officer activated the talk button on his radio. "Charlie-89 out." "I copy. LAPD Dispatch." Cyborg Hebosha ran down the tunnel on the tracks towards the train leaving Civic Center Station. It jumped onto the back of subway train and punched in the window. Passengers in the rear car jumped when they saw the windshield get punched in. Suddenly, the cab door was kicked down by the 6' 9" cyborg and started waving its gun around while the people started to scream and scatter. Hebosha opened fire as it started zapping people left and right. A man tried to run into the other car but he was hit and went down. A woman reached for the emergency handle above the door to bring the train to a stop and open the doors but she was hit as well. Her body pulled the signal which caused the train to skid to a stop while the doors pulled back. Standing passengers were knocked off their feet and onto the ground. In the tunnel, Hebosha was found still standing as it continued to zap people. Flashes illuminated the tunnel walls while the people were systematically exterminated through the loss of their brains. In the Hollywood Hills was the Terranian's house and garage on the corner of the block south of a main thoroughfare marked by the traffic signal. Inside, Will sat at the desk in the study in front of a man wearing glasses and a business suit. On the desk were bills, receipts and canceled checks from the bank. The man, the IRS Agent auditing Will, calculated while reading more of his papers while comparing them to Will's receipt. "According to this form, you said this receipt is for a business dinner at The Olive Garden," said Dieter Frapschnitzelhausen, "that is correct?" "Yes sir," William answered. "The bill was itemized for everything we ate." "Yes, so then, how come instead of your total coming to $12.89, as your receipt details, you write 21.89?" he asked. "That was, no doubt, a clerical error, Mr. Frapschnitzelhausen," Will said. "I see," Frapschnitzelhausen replied. Will sighed and then stood up to go open the window--starting with the curtains. "No don't open the window, it aggravates my allergies!" he quickly said. Will stopped immediately and then went to go sit down. "Well, okay--sorry. Would you like something to drink? Water perhaps." "No thank you." When it glanced at the Amethyst Genesis Gemstone on his golden ring, it started glowing and Will became confused. He covered his hand to not let that be seen when all of a sudden he noticed that Dieter Frapschnitzelhausen was trying to light a cigarette. "Um--Mr. Frapschnitzelhausen, we don't allow smoke in the house," Will said. "Sorry." "Oh okay," he replied when he re-closed his cigarette lighter; Will noticed the man passed his finger straight through the flame of the lighter upon closing it without even so much as a twitch. He also noticed his finger wasn't burned in the slightest degree. ``My eyes are playing tricks with me,'' he thought to himself. "William, I will require records that go back further than this, to complete my calculations. Since you are a home-based self-employed person, it is more complicated to calculate what you owe us." "Yes, Mr. Frapschnitzelhausen," Will replied. "I will be right back." At Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Tom was clipping bushes with his hedge clippers while he noticed many people being rushed into the entrance of the hospital with wounds and all sorts of injuries after leaving the ambulances. Tom sighed and shook his head as he returned to work when suddenly loads more with no apparent injuries whom were very pale were loaded in through the emergency entrance. Tom stopped to looked at those being rushed into the ER. "That's unusual." His GeneGem Ring started glowing while in the distance, the smell of blood was attracting Cyborg Hebosha. It jumped off the back of the ambulance it was riding and started running through the parking lot towards the Hospital entrance. Tom saw the mutant and dropped his clippers. "Damn--those people in there are already injured!!" Tom said when he saw it approaching the entrance. "ChangeForm to Black SaturnAstro!" Tom shouted in bringing up his right fist. "AstroCharge!" Forcing out his Genesis Ring, the Onyx Gemstone flashed brightly. Nashiran's face appeared in front of a black with red grid backdrop as his head became a black silhouette. The white beam of light scanned back and forth across the silhouette of Nashiran's head becoming the Black SaturnAstro helmet. In a flash of white light, SaturnAstro appeared in the parking lot assuming his battle position. "Astroranger!" Hebosha tried to get into the hospital when SaturnAstro ran past the parked cars and shouted, "Hey, stop! I said stop!" Hebosha turned around and saw him and immediately pulled out his large black gun-like blaster. "Woah boy..." Hebosha opened fire as SaturnAstro was already turning over in the air from the explosion of sparks in the pavement. He hit the ground and rolled out through the smoke lifting from the asphalt. "This isn't off to a good start!" SaturnAstro said as he pulled out his Moleculatom Blaster. Hebosha reloaded and fired a ray at the black Astroranger again. He leaped over the tower of sparks and tumbled through the white smoke. After jumping into the air, the black Astroranger appeared in the sky, shooting a beam into the ground. Cyborg Hebosha jerked side to side away from both explosions on the ground as it jumped away and rolled over. SaturnAstro landed on the ground and watched as Hebosha stand up again, re-load and open fire. SaturnAstro ducked behind a van as sparks exploded from the parked vehicle. He came out again and returned fire shooting from his blaster. Hebosha ducked behind a wall when the electric blue beam zapped the surface and sparks blew from the electric shock. "We're getting nowhere like this!" SaturnAstro said as he had gotten up. "Moleculatom Dagger!" SaturnAstro turned his weapon upside down and pulled his fist away from the base of the hilt causing a white beam of light to follow. Eventually, the dagger was formed and he came running after Hebosha. The cyborg slung its blaster into its belt-hung holster and charged after him as well. "Saturn Ring Attack!" the Black Astroranger called out when turning around to cut across; Hebosha ducked and then pointed its fingers and hit SaturnAstro's torso in specific targets momentarily paralyzing him. "What the hell?!" he said when it turned around and kicked him into flipping over onto his back. SaturnAstro managed to roll over when Hebosha stomped down. "How did it know to hit those specific targets??" he asked himself upon getting up. Cyborg Hebosha positioned its hands and fingers again when throwing a few decoy kicks at SaturnAstro that he blocked. The kicks were strong though SaturnAstro managed to ignore them long enough to see Hebosha's fingers heading for his arms. He performed the Saturn Ring Kick that turned the cyborg around. SaturnAstro punched Hebosha across the head twice from both sides when it ducked a third swing and then dropped down to chop particular sections of his leg with his hands. SaturnAstro fell onto his knee as he looked up to see Hebosha swing back with his fist. Out of the air, SaturnAstro tumbled over and rolled clear and Cyborg Hebosha prepared to attack once more. While a Union Express truck was heading northbound on the Hollywood Freeway, Ron, in uniform, listened to a portable radio on his dashboard while returning to the division to turn in his truck. "KMX 10.70 Newstime, 10:42--this just in to the newsroom, Los Angeles Police Department has issued a statement that the IRS Agent murdered has been identified as Dieter Frapschnitzelhausen. It is unclear as to whether or not.." Ron's eyes jumped wide open. "DIETER?! Will called me a half an hour ago telling me that Dieter arrived--how could he be dead if he's there right now?" He shook his head. "No... Somethin' ain't right about this." Meanwhile, at The House--Frapschnitzelhausen was at the desk writing down his previous calculations in the study. Occasionally, he would take a look around paying special close attention to the telephone, radio and television. Will returned to the study, "Mr. Frapschnitzelhausen, I apologize for the delay; I am having difficulties locating the documents you have requested." "That is perfectly all right, Mr. Richards," he replied. "Take your time." Will nodded and left. Frapschnitzelhausen looked around--stood up and looked out the doorway to ensure Will's occupation. Once satisfied, he turned around and took off his glasses. The pupils of his eyes began to glow red when a thin laser-like beam streamed from his eyes. The telephone jack on the wall was incinerated by the light thus destroying the telephone's cord. He turned his head and fired the beam on the antenna of a clock radio. Finally, the beam hit the electrical cord of the tiny television set in the corner causing sparks to fly from that. Frapschnitzelhausen turned around to sit down, however he knocked Will's drinking glass off the desk and broke when hitting an uncarpeted portion of the floor. He could hear Will returning, so he put the glass back on the desk in a panic. "These records go back as far as I've lived here in Los Angeles, sir," Will said upon returning. "Good good--set them down, I will read them," Mr. Frapschnitzelhausen said. When Will sat down, he smelled smoke and looked around. "Frapschnitzelhausen, do you smell smoke?" "Me? No." Frapschnitzelhausen waved his hand by the broken glass on the desk and Will jumped to caution him. "Sir--that's cut glass!" "What?" he replied when his hand had already been cut; grabbing it, he held his knifed hand in the palm of his left hand. "I'm terribly sorry about that, I didn't even know that was in here before," Will said. "Can I get you anything?" "No no--that's okay," he replied. Will, who was already focused on his hands, noticed that the flesh was torn but there was no blood, and no stain on his left palm either. He was going to say something but suddenly sat down again to study him further. Will was very suspicious. "Sir, exactly what is it that you are attempting to find out here? It seems like to me, the entire focus of your research has been on the nature of my activities when all you are supposed to be doing is auditing my income and expenses." "That is what is involved, Mr. Richards. Please let me do my job." ``Why is it that I cannot read any thoughts from this person??'' Will thought to himself. "This will take some time," Mr. Frapschnitzelhausen announced. Meanwhile at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital; Cyborg Hebosha and SaturnAstro engaged in high-speed hand-to-hand combat in the parking lot. From left to right, SaturnAstro blocked punches with his hands when he turned around to kick away a direct punch. Hebosha performed an inward roundhoused that SaturnAstro had ducked; while below, he performed a low spin-kick that Hebosha backward somersaulted over. When SaturnAstro stood up, Hebosha punched him with the back of its fist. SaturnAstro was knocked back when Hebosha came around and shin-kicked his side. SaturnAstro blocked the kick and then turned around to high spin-kick the cyborg; however it ducked and blocked a shin kick to its side. Hebosha threw a fake punch at SaturnAstro that missed distracting him long enough for the cyborg to kick SaturnAstro into flipping over onto his back. Like break dancing, SaturnAstro spun around on his back with his legs in V-formation which tripped Hebosha into falling over. SaturnAstro used his hands to push himself onto his feet and reassumed his battle posture. "Much better! Black Saturn BattleScythe!" he called out when drawing his black bi-directional double-bladed scythe with his fist in the air. Cyborg Hebosha kicked at SaturnAstro whom already turned around and cut across its chest causing sparks to explode from the slice. When Hebosha turned around to try and face him again, SaturnAstro cut it down again causing more sparks to explode from its chest. While Hebosha stumbled back with its chest smoking, it soon wised up and turned around to spin-kick the third approach of his BattleScythe off aim. Hebosha then side-kicked into SaturnAstro's chest causing him to fall back. Rolling away, SaturnAstro got up on one knee with his Celestial Weapon still aimed. Cyborg Hebosha drew its mighty large weapon from its hip side holster with lightening speed; he flipped certain switches on the weapon and fired several beams of light. Sparks exploded on SaturnAstro's uniform after one grazed past his chest while being surrounded by towers of sparks exploding. Eventually, SaturnAstro was blown off his feet as he twisted around and fell back through the white smoke. Cyborg Hebosha put away its blaster when suddenly, in the distance, an ambulance's siren was blaring in the air while it drove towards the parking lot. When the van entered, the paramedics jumped out the ambulance and opened the back. The medics inside wheeled the injured person out of the back of the vehicle and towards the entrance of the ER. Cyborg Hebosha jumped off a wall and ran after them. He kicked and punched personnel away as the gurney rolled to a stop. "Hey! What the hell??" a paramedic said as he watched Hebosha pull out its weapon, return it to its original mode and then fire the red fuzzy ray upon the patient on the gurney. SaturnAstro ran down the sidewalk and jumped over a bush into the secondary lot where Cyborg Hebosha had affixed its ray upon the patient's head. When it was finished, the cyborg put away its blaster, wrapped itself up in its lab coat and disappear into a puff of smoke. SaturnAstro stopped running and then punched the palm of his left fist. "Damn it!" he said to himself. "I let him escape!!" "Micheal, the patient!" the driver said. "Right," the first paramedic said as he got up off the black pavement and checked its pulse. He refused to believe what he felt when he had put on his stethoscope and pressed the listening spool on his chest hearing nothing. SaturnAstro looked at the scene with anticipation when Michael took off the stethoscope and looked at the others. "He's dead," Michael announced. "But his injuries were non-fatal!" the second paramedic said. Michael nodded. "I know, but that monster killed him. Get him in there, and find out how he died. I wanna know." "Don't take this too personally," the driver said. "This happens all the time, Michael." "Not on my shift, Kate. Not like this." SaturnAstro stood by watching as they wheeled the dead one into the hospital. ``If only I'd called the others before going into action, this never would have happened,'' he thought to himself. SaturnAstro looked down on the ground and clenched his fist. TO BE CONTINUED Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger . . . The battle team gets wise to Cyborg Hebosha but don't realize Will's IRS Agent, Dieter Frapschnitzelhausen, has revealed itself to be Cyborg Morpher. Now, he's alone with Morpher--without the others in episode 15, "More than Meets the Eye" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------