Mighty MorphinPower Rangers: Armageddon
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or anything affiliated with them. And in a fair world neither does Disney, but this isn't a fair world so Disney does own them.
Author's Note: This story take place three (3) months following the events of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. The movie's canon is in effect, meaning that the morphing sequence is out of order from the show, and the Ranger's suits look like armor, not the spandex from the show.
Special thanks: My editor, Sirius's Whim.
Warning: This is a tale of death, destruction, blood, death, evil, death, and some happiness. Do not advance further if it is your wish not to be exposed to such graphics. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Chapter 1: Countdown to Destruction
Location: Lord Zedd's Castle
Lord Zedd was in a good mood. A really good mood. He had figured out the secret to beating the Power Rangers: exhaust them. His latest strategy was to send a monster down as fast as Finster was able to create them, which was about one monster a day. For the past thirty days Zedd had sent one monster a day to attack the Rangers, with victory drawing ever so closer with each battle.
After all, he thought, they are only human. And they have limits like humans.
His previous monster, Voltertron, had the rangers against the ropes. His greatest strength was the ability to absorb physical attacks. Somehow, the Rangers had been able to pull out a win, but just barely. That bastard Billy created a bomb that the Rangers planted inside Voltertron.
But this time, this time they will not win. Zedd was sure of it. He had saved his best monster for this purpose. A monster with power and strength second only to Lord Zedd himself. Xheorrth, an eight foot tall armored monster who wielded an axe that could cleave mountains. In combination with the ability to move at great speeds, he was force to be reckoned with. Even if the Rangers hadn't been fighting nonstop for the past few weeks, they wouldn't be able to last very long in a battle against him.
This is the one. This is the monster that will defeat the Power Rangers once and for all.
"Xheorrth, are you ready to defeat the Power Rangers?" Zedd asked his monster.
"I live to serve Lord Zedd, Master of all evil!" Xheorrth replied, raising his axe in the air to emphasize his statement.
Kiss ass. Zedd said in his mind. He laughed a little, and then launched his monster down to Earth.
"Soon the Rangers will be gone and the Earth will me mine!"
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Location: Earth, Angle Grove, CA (same day)
The bell rang and the students of Angel Grove High rushed off to their classes. This particular class period was Adam and Rocky's study hall, and they would usually go up to the wrestling room to spar. They would spar to practice but also so they could relieve the stress of the day, and today Rocky needed to blow off some steam, as he had just bombed his last physics test.
Barley a month into the new school year and I'm already behind. Damn you Zedd Give us a break.
Rocky had a right to complain; in fact so did everyone else. Zedd's constant bombardment of monsters left them very little time and energy for their studies. Each Ranger (even Billy) was starting to fall behind.
They set their stuff down and changed their shoes (the wrestling coach hated it when people would track over the mats with regular tennis shoes) and got into their fighting stances. Rocky was the first to make a move with a spiral kick at head level, but Adam quickly dodged it. Adam followed with a right punch fake, proceeded by a left grab onto Rocky's shoulders and tossed him to the ground. Rocky countered with a foot sweep that had Adam on his back. Before they could reset, their communicators went off.
Rocky spoke into his communicator first. "We read you Zordon."
Zordon response sounded…off. "Rangers, teleport to the Command Center right away." Rocky and Adam knew something big was going because Zordon sounded nervous. In the background they heard Alpha curse. With the exception of his typical "Ai-yi-yi," Alpha never cursed. Rocky was actually pretty sure Alpha didn't even know how to curse.
They teleported to the command center and met up with the others. Alpha was running back and forth checking data, ignoring the Rangers, and to the Rangers Alpha seemed frustrated. Tommy approached Zordon and asked "What's going on Zordon? Your call sounded urgent." Tommy must have sensed the same thing Rocky did because he looked concerned.
Zordon replied, "Yes Tommy. We have a serious problem." The Rangers simultaneously became more nervous. Alpha, meanwhile, kept dashing back and forth between the control panels and looking at readouts and pushing buttons, muttering to himself.
Zordon continued. "Behold the viewing screen. This is Xheorrth, Zedd's newest and deadliest monster. We have no data on him. His armor is made up of some material that our databanks cannot recognize. From what he have gathered so far, he stands over eight feet tall and wields an axe. Other than that Ragners, I can't tell you anything else about him."
Kimberly was the first to ask "If there's no data on it, how do you know its Zedds? Couldn't it be from someone new?"
Zordon replied "Alpha, play back when the monster first landed on Earth." Alpha silently obeyed, then continued his work. The screen showed the monster landing on Earth and said "Xheorrth will destroy the Rangers, and will not let you down Lord Zedd!"
Something about this whole thing made Tommy's stomach churn. Maybe it was because Zordon himself was nervous, or maybe because his Rangers were exhausted from the past few weeks and looking at this thing knew it was going to be a rough battle. For the first time in his Ranger career, Tommy felt uneasy about a battle.
It must have dawned on Zordon that the Rangers were nervous. He quickly composed himself and said in his normal father-like tone "Rangers, this battle will be tough, probably one of the toughest you've had yet. This will put your new ninja powers to the test. Remember what Dulcea said to you about those who are Ninjetti and anything being possible. You can do this. I believe in you." And with that, Zordon lowered his head as if to bow to them.
Tommy snapped out of his nervous state and seemed to be rejuvenated by Zordon's pep talk. "He's right guys. We can do this. IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
"Pink Ranger Power!"
"Blue Ranger Power!"
"Red Ranger Power!"
"Black Ranger Power!"
"Yellow Ranger Power!"
"White Ranger Power!"
"Good luck Rangers" Zordon called after them. Yet still Zordon did not feel right. Something about this monster seemed different, and what bothered him the most is the lack of help he could give the Rangers. For all he knew, he was sending them to their doom. If anything happens to any of them I'll never forgive myself.
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The Rangers teleported to where Zordon said Xheorrth would be. When they arrived they were taken back by the enormous creature before them. In front of the usual group of putties stood the tallest and fiercest looking monster the Rangers had ever seen. The sun glared off the huge axe on his shoulders and he was clad in dark blue armor. The axe head was double bladed and the golden handle seemed disproportionate to its sheer size. The butt of the axe had a dangerous looking spike on it that looked like it was made of the same material as the axe blade. His armor was dark blue and his helmet supported huge orange horns and had a twisted medieval knight look to it. Long red hair flowed out from the back of his helmet. His gauntlets were spiked, as well as his waist and knee caps. His presence was so intimidating that the putties kept their distance from him, which was first for the Rangers.
"Good lord this guy is massive!" exclaimed Rocky in shock. Behind his helmet his eyes were wide, and a little sweat started to form on his brow.
"Oh…shit" said Billy. Even Billy, who over the past few years grew exponentially in his courage and self confidence as a Ranger, seemed to revert back to freshman year when he first received his powers.
Tommy was speechless. Judging by the monster's sheer size, he knew that this fight was going to be bad. The armor the monster wore seemed to lack any weak spots. Even the joints were armored. The only way that he could see to tell the monster was in any way organic were the two purple eyes (or what he assumed were eyes) staring through the visor. The power that was thing was emanating was incredible. Tommy started to get nervous. He knew the other Rangers had begun to sense it, because none of them made a move to attack the gargantuan monster whose shadow loomed over the Rangers like a bad omen. Kimberly drew closer to Tommy and grabbed his arm with one hand, the other shaking as she reached for her blaster on her hip. Rocky dropped his fighting stance, while Adam and Aisha switched to defensive stances, but only halfheartedly. Billy and Tommy gave each other a quick glance but remained in fighting ready position. None of them were prepared for this.
Xheorrth however, had other plans than just standing around all day having a staring contest. He shifted his axe, and before any of the Rangers could blink, swung his weapon like it was nothing and cleaved every single putty within reach in half, leaving only three left. This took the Ranges back because they thought the only way to beat Zedd's putties was to hit the Z on their chest.
Before the remaining putties could react to what just happened, Xheorrth demonstrated his great speed and agility and threw two punches and a kick directly into the Z on each of their chests. Then, as if nothing had happened, Xheorrth returned to his original position.
None of the Rangers knew what to do. After witnessing the monster's incredible speed and strength, they knew that this guy could cause some serious damage. But they also understood that if they didn't attack first, the monster would. Tommy realized he was the one who had to make the first move. He drew Saba from his holster and began the attack on the monster, knowing at that instant the other Rangers were shaking off the shock, calling their power weapons, and following behind him.
But before the Rangers could get close enough to use their weapons, Xheorrth swung his axe, the reach of which was twice as long as any of the Rangers' weapons. Tommy, on instinct, back pedaled to avoid the devastating blow. And just in time too, because when he looked down, he noticed that the front lower half of his shield was on the ground…and a line of red on his white ranger suit he immediately recognized as blood. Xheorrth let out a small chuckle. The Rangers were speechless; none of them have ever bled from an attack by another monster before.
Yet that did not stop them. This time they all attacked at once, attempting to overwhelm the monster. And still they could not get close enough to land a solid attack. Xheorrth was just too fast for them and could maneuver his axe with minimal effort. Adam got lucky and was able to get around Xheorrth's axe during his follow through and hit him on the neck with his Power Axe. Then Adam's luck changed. His Power Axe shattered on contact, and Xheorrth's armor unscathed. Letting out a small chuckle, Xhenorrth grabbed Adam by the head and proceeded to pile drive him into the earth. Adam didn't even have time to scream.
Tommy saw it all happen, and what made him feel worse was that he could do nothing about it. He saw his partner, his fellow Ranger, smashed into the earth with enough force to shake the tree branches. What was left of Adam's Power Axe laid on the ground; the handle being the only part that wasn't shattered into a fine powder. The impact created an imprint of Adam that seemed to embody him. Tommy was too dumbfounded to speak. Rocky however, was not.
"YOU BASTARD! I'll FUCKING KILL YOU!!"
"Rocky don't do it!" Tommy yelled to Rocky.
Rocky didn't pay attention. He launched a sloppy and rage blinded head on attack on the monster that had just crushed his friend into the ground. Rocky jumped into air, sword ready for a downward strike, hoping that the sun's glare would give him an advantage. What Rocky did not count on was Xheorrth's next move, as he pointed the butt of his axe in Rocky's direction and fired the spiked tip like it was a grappler. Rocky's Power Sword hit the ground before the other Rangers noticed that Xheorrth's spike had pierced Rocky through and through. The monster then pulled Rocky in and retracted his chain, with the spike passing though Rocky again. Rocky couldn't see out of his visor because of the blood he spat up when the spike when through him. Holding Rocky by the neck, Xheorrth landed a powerful kick square in Rocky's chest, launching him through a nearby tree. Rocky didn't get up. All this happened in a matter of seconds, too quick for the other Rangers to react. Seemingly determined to finish the job, Xheorrth started walking toward Rocky's limp body, making sure to crush the Power Sword under his massive foot.
Aisha decided it was her turn to take on this behemoth. Because of her new ninja powers, her high beams now came with a new trick: she could produce a mini flare that had the same effects of a flash bang grenade.
"Ninja solar flare!"
Her helmet lit up and forced the other three rangers to cover their eyes, because even through their visors the light was bright enough to temporarily blind them. Ideally, Aisha would be the only one not affected. However, this was not an ideal situation. Xheorrth swung his giant fist and connected with Aisha's head. The force of the impact was so powerful, her helmet cracked. Before her body hit the ground, Xheorrth caught her body with his leg and launched her into the air. He then used his axe in the same fashion as a baseball bat, swung, and catapulted her into the air. Her body hit the ground a few seconds later.
Tommy knew they had to retreat, and they had to do it now. They were down three Rangers with almost no visible effort from Xheorrth. Tommy knew in the back of his mind that left unchecked, this monster would cause serious damage. But he had to get emergency help for Rocky, Adam, and Aisha if he was to save them, unless he was already too late.
No. Don't think that way. They have to be alive…they have to be!
Billy and Kimberly seemed to acknowledge Tommy's desperation. Using their new ninja speed, they each gathered the body of a fallen comrade and teleported to the Command Center, hoping against hope that Zordon could help.