A/N: It feels so freakin good to be back! After taking a good hiatus, the three of us are back to bring you a special two parter for Season 2 that will change EVERYTHING. Yes these chapters are getting long but it's gonna be with all the awesome stuff we got crammed in here. :3 Enjoy!
POWER RANGERS MYTHIC KNIGHTS
EPISODE 31: From the Ashes Part 1
WRITTEN BY ZAK KAYES, JOEY TURNER, AND JIMMY MAEHER
(BACKSTAGE AT THE TERRANOBIA CONVENTION CENTER: JANUARY 2013)
(From far away, you could have sworn there was a concert going on at the convention center by the harbor. The night had started off with a series of electronic musicians that took the stage to make remixes of their songs off of YouTube. This was the night Vance had been waiting for. Backstage, he leaned back against the couch of the VIP room. He nodded his head lightly, hearing the sounds of the muffled dubstep and cheers from the audience. He couldn't help but smirk, this was his night. The last seed of his tour in the one place he finally wanted to perform at: Terra-Ponycon 2013. He slowly got up and grabbed his guitar, a gift from a friend he hadn't seen for a long time. Walking to the mirror, he fixed the little thief mask he wore for his persona, CaballeroDelFuego. He wore a red leather jacket, black undershirt, and black leather pants he had bought to try something new.)
VANCE (V.O): Time flies when you're having fun, as they say. And for me, I've been having the time of my life. When I look in the mirror, I see someone confident, sure of himself. I see a rock star in the making that's put what he truly loves out there for everyone to see. We live in such a narcissistic society, where a small part of me feels like a hypocrite for signing Drake Kherick's generously tempting contract. But, then again, when was I ever going to get this chance? Up there on that stage, I'm alive. I'm free as a phoenix without a care in the world. I don't have to worry about anything. But right now, all I'm thinking is, am I missing something? Oh…that's right. Today's the day, the final day for me. I guess I should probably make myself clear to you. My name is Vance Archer. On one hand, I'm CaballeroDelFuego: Brony musician with over 20,000 subscribers as of this moment. I've traveled all around the world, showcasing my talents and living my dream, the one that got…sidetracked. That's because on the other hand …I'm a Power Ranger. Well, not exactly anymore. More like semi-retired; was. And not just any Power Ranger: A Mythic Knight, the latest in the long line of heroes that have defended our earth for decades. But I'm not a Knight this evening. I'm about to go and show the world who Vance Archer REALLY is…
(KNIGHT RANGER BASE, CURTIS' ROOM, 8:48 AM, THE NEXT MORNING)
(The morning sun had risen into the sky, casting it's radiance upon the West Meadowborough Woods. This time of day was usually very eventful for the Knights. That is if there were more around. With Vance touring overseas, JT and Alexis traveling together, and Gale having mysteriously vanished, this just left Curtis Wilson and Sondre Terretto: the White and Shadow Mythic Knight Rangers…in the same bed, cuddled up under the sheets. This would have been unusual but a lot had happened in the six months that the Knights had for their little break. Sondre lay comfortably on his back, one arm around the strong and confident White Knight who laid his hand comfortably on Sondre's chest, nuzzled up closely to him. Slowly Sondre' eyes opened and he yawned slightly, slowly sitting up before feeling the hand on his chest apply pressure and force him onto his back.)
CURTIS: NOW you wake up… (He smirked slightly, eyes closed.)
SONDRE: Morning to you too, Curtis. (He couldn't help but smile as well, letting his hand go up and run fingers through Curtis hair gently, producing a quiet and pleasant grumble from Curtis.) Come on, we need to get up.
CURTIS (Whining): Noooo…
SONDRE (He smirked slightly): is that a whine I detect?
CURTIS: It's a plea to keep you in bed longer so I can stay cuddled up to my Shadow Knight…
SONDRE (He chuckled gently, ruffling Curtis' head and sighing quietly to himself): You are so different now.
CURTIS: I sometimes question why I wake up next to you, you know? (He slowly leaned on his elbows, looking up at Sondre and then gently kissing him as he arched up.)
SONDRE: Or maybe I just softened you up?
CURTIS: No, dumbass. (He smirked and made his voice into a whisper almost.) That's MY job…for you.
(Sondre blushed. He wasn't used to Curtis making those little comments but he shook his head and touched Curtis's cheek lightly before getting up.)
CURTIS (V.O): For the longest time I thought I knew EXACTLY what love meant. For me, it was one long string of days that I had with the woman that I loved, Gale, which usually had us fighting side by side, protecting and understanding one another. She was my world, my treasure; the one who was going to be my future…until we became Mythic Knights. Probably should mention, I'm a Power Ranger. I was the Red Lightspeed Ranger before I became the White Mythic Knight so I came into the team with plenty of experience. Gale was the Pink Lightspeed Ranger before she jumped up to become the Green Mythic Knight so I was happy that we would still be fighting alongside one another. And then that world just came crashing down with just one word: Sondre. I knew he was trouble RIGHT when I first met him. It didn't help matters that I found out he had slept with Gale—no…she slept with him. He didn't know that we were together. I had hated him for so long, despised him for hurting my friends and I didn't understand what made him so special that she cheated on me with him. And then, to top it off, she lied to my face. We broke up after we defeated King Grieger III…and I haven't heard from her since. It took me some time to adjust but who should come along to surprise me and somehow bring me out of drinking my pain away…but Sondre. It was just a lapse…his room, my room, his room again…the garage…the archives…it kind of escalated pretty quickly. But then it turned into something that I wasn't expecting. He didn't seem to mind me getting more…intimate with him. Something about this just feels right, natural almost…
(Sondre stretched as he got off the bed, only wearing a pair of tight black briefs, looking back at Curtis for a moment with a playful smirk on his face. Curtis just laid there on the bed, watching him.)
SONDRE (V.O): I don't know what drew me to Curtis but he seems to be over the fact his girlfriend had an affair with me. Now it just seems like he treats me the same way he did with her but more…passionate. I only kissed him down in the archives to try and cheer him up and then it just sort of happened between us. He was half drunk but he admitted to me afterwards that there was some form of attraction. Things got intimate after and during training but he assured me, a month into our break that he did want to give things a try. And so we started dating. It was little things like going to places like a movie theater or going out somewhere to eat. Money was never really an issue. I knew a few ways around financial issues. And now…he's my boyfriend. I know what it's like to feel love in me and as corny or as campy as it sounds, I don't have to be the tough guy anymore. I'm just me. Yes in the past I was Arcana's Black Knight and the very first Red Knight but I feel normal alongside him, like a regular human being that doesn't have to worry about his own darker side. I love him. I can safely say I do. I don't know what's going to happen if Gale comes back. Last thing I want is for him to choose her but he seems happy with me. Six months, I can take that. I could cash it in and be happy because as long as he's happy waking up next to me or happy at all, that's all that matters.
(Sondre slowly slipped into his usual torn jeans and sleeveless shirt, looking for his morpher and attaching it onto his wrist. Curtis followed and looked around for his clothes, feeling lazy and just slipping on a white button up shirt without any of the buttons buttoned up and his jeans. He looked around for his necklace and turned to see Sondre holding it. Curtis reached for it only for Sondre to raise it up out of his reach. The White Knight rolled his eyes and kissed him gently before snatching his necklace, heading out of the room. However at the same time, Sondre caught Curtis's arm for a moment. Curtis turned back only to be dragged into another kiss, much deeper and a little more heated.)
CURTIS: M-mmff…what are you doing?
SONDRE: You're gonna leave me with a little problem unattended?
CURTIS (He smirked): I wouldn't call it a "little" problem…
SONDRE (He sighed and shook his head, looking to Curtis with a smirk): …ten minutes. And that's ALL you're getting, handsome.
CURTIS: Ohhh just ten? (He chuckled.) Fine…spoilsport.
(OUTSIDE THE BASE, AROUND THE SAME TIME)
(Six months, it had been a glorious six months for the newly christened couple had returned. After a little more than a year of darkness and sadness, Jackson Trace Collins, now sporting a red mustache, and Alexis Marie Gallows had achieved true happiness, under bittersweet circumstances though. And here they were six months later, Alexis missing the hallowed walls of her sanctuary, and JT looking at the base with anxiety and worry. Each of them carried their own backpacks with them, both wearing their old attires.)
ALEXIS (She sighed quietly): As nice as Venice was, I've missed the base so much. (She noticed JT and a look of concern crossed her face.) Jack? Are you ok?
JT (He snapped out of his reverie): Huh, what? Oh you kidding? I'm cool! I'm coo,l I'm cool, I'm ICE BABY! I am like an ICEBERG ON A RED WAGON OF FLAMES MOTHA!
ALEXIS (She rolled her eyes but smiled anyway): Well I'm glad to see your weird sense of humor is still there. But seriously, you've been fading in and out of reality since last week when I told you we'd be coming home today. (JT didn't respond at first.) ...it was the nightmares again, wasn't it? You promised me they were over.
JT: And they were! …until a few days ago?
ALEXIS: How many days ago?
JT: Uhh…about an hour after you said we were coming home today?
ALEXIS: Jack?! You've been having these nightmares all week!? Why didn't you say anything!?
JT: I dunno, I didn't want to ruin your chance of seeing the world; especially after that night in Venice. (He purred, and then sighed happily.) I just wanted you to have an awesome six months. Plus I thought a little international pizza run and being with you would get my mind off the sucky-ness of… well, you know. (He lowered his head.)
(Alexis looked to JT. A minute ago she felt hurt, like even after everything they'd been through, JT didn't trust her as much as he said he did. But remembering all the fun they've had on their worldwide trip, she could understand why he did it. He just wanted to forget about all that had happen during that horrible week, even more so than she wanted to. She gave an understanding smile and lifted JT's head up by his chin)
ALEXIS: I can't imagine what you've gone through during all that, but the important thing is you're safe, I'm safe, and everyone is safe. (A small tear leaked out of JT's eye, but Alexis caught it; deciding it was time to try and prod the old JT out.) Now if I may be so bold, where's the wild and crazy Jack Collins? (As she spoke, JT's eyes widened and his expression brightened.) Where's Yuranzo and every other demon's worst nightmare? Where's the keeper of- (Teasingly) oh I can't quite remember, what was it that the real Jack used to bring?
JT (He jumped onto a stump and raised his axe to the sky.): You're right sexy, ice lady! 'Tis time for the EPIC, CLIMACTIC RETURN OF DA THUNDAAAA!
(Using his speedy powers, JT started dashing straight for the base while Alexis decided to take her time following him.)
JT (V.O): You gotta love that woman. She's like an awesomely school guidance counselor. But with better hair… and girly bits! …wait what? …I'M SUPPOSED TO WHAT?! Oh man! I really blew the voiceover this time! (He cleared his throat.) Hello, I'm Jackson Trace 'JT' Collins, and I'm a Power Ranger and pizza addict, BUT I AIN'T WEARING THE PATCHES!…aaanyways, my life hasn't really started off as a bowl of cherries …oye how I hate cherries. But anyway, nobody really wanted to be my friend, probably because not many people like the random kid who pulls pranks on bullies and uses orange soda catapults. It was just me, my parents, my granny, my sister, Vance, Curtis, and someone I THOUGHT was a friend. …Yeah that lovely little painting didn't last long. Puberty has a funny way of kicking me in the pants. My parents died in a horrible car crash, Curtis left to join Lightspeed, and that so-called friend disappeared for a while and then just re-appeared as a bully. From then on, it was just Vance having my back with all my stupid antics, my Granny keeping me from going Little Orphan JT, and me… being the Power Rangers-loving little weirdo. But when High School came around…. THE DREAM HATH BEEN REALIZED! Vance and I had a run in with some icky demon dudes, where we got our butts saved by a Blue Knight, Alexis. She was always good at saving my butt. She took us to her master Terretto, really awesome kick-butt old dude, and gave us the opportunity of a lifetime…. TO BECOME MYTHIC KNIGHT POWER RANGERS! Of course I'd have to be an idiot, more than usual, to pass that up. So I became the Yellow Knight Ranger, kicker of demon booty, and BRINGER OF DA THUNDAAAAA! Of course it wasn't all easy, there were hiccups like: accidentally making my own archenemies, almost putting my friends and loved ones in danger about a few times, learning to work the Zords, SERIOUSLY! THAT MANUAL READS LIKE DVR CLOCK INSTRUCTIONS! Anywho, was it all worth it? …YOU BET IT WAS! I'm living the dream. I got the girl of my dreams who hated my guts when I started out, but something's missing though. I wish I knew what became of Vance. I miss him. I just hope he can forgive me after… (He suddenly accidentally ran into a tree.) Ow! Okay note to self: no more exposition narrations while running!
ALEXIS (V/O): If you had asked me nearly two years ago that I would be a Mythic Knight, I probably would have laughed at you. As the Blue Knight, I take pride in my skills and my intelligence to help my teammates get through the toughest of ordeals. My father knew I was destined for greatness one day and now here I am, standing tall just like he was. If he, my mother, and my brother were alive I know they would be proud of me. Alexis Gallows, by the way, if you were curious. In this past year, I can say that I've seen it all. I've fought demons and monsters the likes you would probably never believe. And the one thing I never expected to happen to me happened…I fell in love again with perhaps the most unlikely person I've ever met. His name is Jackson Trace Collins. He is the definition of spontaneous randomness. I couldn't stand any of his jokes or his mannerisms when we first met but as time passed, he was right there for me unlike the others. He stayed with me while I studied, trained with me, we shared pizzas and modern day food and activities together, he taught me so much about the world today, and I began to see the side of him that Vance had enjoyed. He was full of life and happiness despite how brutal his own past had been. He gave me courage to keep on going when I didn't think I could and in return, I opened myself up to him. He did the same and we were unafraid of each other. It almost felt like a fairy tale with me and him, going around the world and fighting monsters together. After all that's happened, Jack isn't going anywhere. I love him, truly. Now that we're home again and ready to get back to work, I'm genuinely excited. This is really the only life I've ever known with excitement and danger so to find someone who shares that same passion…well, it's not every day you find someone like that, right?
(OPENING CREDITS)
(KNIGHT RANGER BASE)
(Curtis and Sondre had both made their way downstairs into the kitchen area, Sondre sitting comfortably in one of the chairs while playing his ocarina quietly. They usually alternated cooking breakfast for each other but today they just decided to settle on cereal. Curtis looked through the various cabinets before Sondre stopped playing, getting Curtis' attention.)
CURTIS: What's up?
SONDRE (He smirked slightly): You don't sense that?
CURTIS: Sense what?
SONDRE: Wait for it, it'll kick in. You won't be disappointed. Go check the door.
CURTIS (He blinked before narrowing his eyes and walking past Sondre, patting his head): You better not be lying—
(Before Curtis could finish his sentence, the door burst open with JT standing in the door frame, a huge smile plastered on his face. Curtis froze and stared at both JT and Alexis, a mix of surprise and excitement on his face.)
CURTIS: JT!?
SONDRE: Told you. (He chuckled.)
JT: Curtis you're going to hate me for this but C'MERE YOU! (He immediately dropped his bags and scooped Curtis up into a huge bear hug.)
CURTIS (gasping for air): AGHHH! C-can't…b-breathe!
JT: OH HOW I MISSED YOUR FACE-HOLE! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN…how many months was it?
ALEXIS: Six.
JT: TOO LONG!
CURTIS (He could barely breathe in JT's iron grip): Yeah, I missed you too buddy, but I'll also miss the use of my lungs!
(JT kept hugging Curtis before setting him down and looking at Sondre.)
SONDRE: Don't even think about it—AGH! (He didn't have any time to move when JT suddenly picked him up into a tight bear hug,)
JT: OOOOH I MISSED YOU TOO YA WHITE HAIRED BAKURA WANNA-BE!
SONDRE (he could barely breathe as well): A-alright that's enough of that… (JT dropped him and he landed on his feet.)
ALEXIS: He's just happy to see you…as I am with both of you. (She said, nodding towards the both of them before looking to the table.) Guess we're back in time for breakfast.
CURTIS: You call cereal breakfast? We've barely been able to have a good breakfast for weeks.
SONDRE: You should have learned how to cook then, Curtis. I can't do this on my own.
CURTIS (Under his breath): Oh don't I know…
SONDRE: I heard that. (He looked to JT and Alexis.) Perhaps you two can help with breakfast then?
JT (He was already wearing a chef's hat and holding a whisk): Step aside Sondre. I'll have us more pancakes then you can shake a stick at in…how much time it takes to…shake a stick…WHO CAME UP WITH THAT SAYING!?
(It didn't take long for JT to get into the swing of making the four of them breakfast. Alexis was there to help with magic to speed up the process and soon their breakfast went from just a bowl of cereal to scrambled eggs and French toast with hash browns and fresh milk. Alexis and JT walked out of the kitchen and produced the plates onto the round table for the others to eat, just as another door opened. The four Knights turned to see a familiar face exiting from his room and smiling as he walked down to greet them.)
ALEXIS: MASTER! (She ran over to him and hugged him tight.)
TERRETTO (He chuckled lightly and put an arm around her): Welcome back, my student. (He turned to see JT and gave him a smile.) And the same goes for you, JT.
JT (He started running over to Terretto): Aww, THERE'S my favorite kick-ass old- (He suddenly found himself trapped in his own bear hug by Terretto.)
TERRETTO (He smirked.) Don't think I haven't learned a few tricks from you.
(Terretto released JT and, after taking a moment to catch his breath, JT stood upright and extended his arm towards the breakfast table.)
JT: Ze breakfest of champions for my lady, Sondre, Curtis, AND our kickass mentor awaits!
(Terretto nodded and followed JT and Alexis to the table, sitting down alongside them as they each began to dig in. It had been a long time since they had gotten a good, hearty meal and JT and Alexis's cooking did not disappoint.)
ALEXIS: Mmm… (She finished one of the slices of her French Toast with a pleasant sigh.) Clearly your mother passed on how to make the BEST breakfast ever to the right person.
JT (He chuckled nervously): Well I like to thank my lovely colleague/lover to help perfect said breakfast.
(He touched her hand and raised it up to kiss it gently and though Alexis rolled her eyes, she let him and giggled quietly.)
CURTIS: Well look at you, Mister Smooth. (JT turned his head to look at Curtis.) I never thought I'd see the day when you'd get a girlfriend.
JT: Well, I think it's safe to say since becoming a Knight I've done a LOT of things you thought you'd never see. (He looked to Sondre.) And I've proved a lot of people wrong that I'm not just some comedic side relief… unless I want to be. I'm here to stay. And to cement my manliness, I even grew this here moustache. (He showed off his moustache to Curtis) That's right. The new JT comes with FACIAL HAIR BABY! (Curtis reached to the moustache, and using his super strength powers, RIPPED it off! JT hollered in pain and clutched his lip.)
CURTIS: Your manliness includes fake facial hair?
JT (he groaned in pain): ...It WASN'T FAKE! (Curtis' eyes widened, and he awkwardly flicked the moustache away.)
TERRETTO (He smiled awkwardly): Yes well, facial hair aside, you've matured just as quickly as Alexis did. Speaking of which, what exactly did you two do in Venice during this break?
ALEXIS: Well uhh…we mostly explored. We took in all of the sights and sounds—
JT: Sampled all the foods…
ALEXIS: Rode on the canals, listened to the music—
JT: Cuddled… something about vacation cuddling is much more satisfying. (He and Alexis blushed) and we also—
SONDRE: Took on monsters? (Alexis and JT turned their heads to him.) Don't think we don't know. We saw footage of two Mythic Knights, particularly Blue and Yellow, taking on a duo of water demons.
JT: Hey! They ruined our date so we figured we'd go and teach them a lesson …and one of them got his foot in my gelato!
ALEXIS: I told him to do so quietly but well, no offense babe, quiet is not in your dictionary.
JT: W-well…I can try new things?
ALEXIS: You tried sushi and you hated it.
JT: …Touché.
TERRETTO: Have either of you heard from Vance?
(An awkward silence fell upon the table as JT looked to both Curtis and Sondre for an answer. Teretto hadn't asked because he knew Vance wanted space but today was the end of the break. He would have expected Vance to be back though around this time.)
ALEXIS: Not a word. (She looked to JT and his expression said it all.) I don't see why he would try to contact either me or Jack.
JT: I've tried to…three times a day. But I think he's blocked my number and when he just so happened to be playing in Venice, we couldn't get through to find him.
SONDRE: He's not dead at least. That's a start.
CURTIS: He used to talk to me but recently he's been quiet. I don't know if I did anything to piss him off.
JT: At least YOU didn't, so he isn't back then?
TERRETTO: Unfortunately, no. The same goes for Gale as well. (Curtis looked down slightly but Sondre gripped his hand under the table to cheer him up.) I am glad to see that you both had a relaxing time in Venice but, as your mentor, I'm afraid the time for relaxation is over.
SONDRE: We know, father.
ALEXIS: And, whatever Xavious is planning now, we have to be ready for it. I'm guessing both of you have still been training?
CURTIS: Every day, without a miss. Don't forget, there's been a few left over demons that snuck through the crack in the Nether. Sondre and I have been taking care of the disturbances. But we could always use your help.
JT: Aww, (He sniffed.) it's just nice to feel missed. I'm itching to get back to fighting on our home turf. Venice was nice but it doesn't beat the city. (He spun his Thunder Axe in his hand.) and old Axey has been aching to bring down the epic climactic return of DA THUNDAAAAA!
CURTIS: You named your axe Axey?
JT: …well what was I supposed to name him, Gordon!?
(Suddenly, the alarm began to go off. The Knights turned to the sound of the alarm and then rushed to the crystal ball. There was a bit of a fog but there was the outline of some sort of demon in the downtown area.)
SONDRE: Looks like he isn't waiting any longer. (He looked to Alexis and JT.) You two up for this?
JT: Boy… I was WRITTEN for this!
ALEXIS: Born ready.
CURTIS: Let's do it then!
CURTIS, ALEXIS, JT (They each summoned their morphers): MYTHIC KNIGHTS, UNITE!
SONDRE: SHADOW KNIGHT, ACCESS!
(They each quickly summoned their suits and headed down to the garage, hopping on their Jet Streamers and heading out to the city.)
(SUNDRAVILLE, DOWNTOWN PLAZA)
(The Knights wasted no time in heading out to the plaza on their Jet Streamers. Even though they were down two team members, they knew that they'd be able to take on whatever Xavious could throw at them. They landed outside of the plaza and parked their Jet Streamers, running into the plaza and helping some people that were busy running for their lives get to safety. In the middle of the plaza was a bizarre looking demon, resembling that of a female pharaoh hound, sitting on the ground Indian style. She looked like a regal knight, wearing silver armor all over her body with a helmet covering the top of her head and a black visor covering her entire face. Her black cape slowly swayed in the wind and a long sword was attached to her belt by a holster. The Knights stopped a distance away from the creature to observe it.)
CURTIS: Who is that?
SONDRE: …someone very strong.
ALEXIS: How can you tell?
SONDRE: This one isn't like the others. This one has an aura stronger than the ones Curtis and I have been fighting.
JT: Well how dangerous are we talking? We're not talking impossible to defeat, right?
SONDRE (He turned his head): Do NOT underestimate this one. This one feels just as strong as Grieger.
CURTIS: Crap…
ALEXIS: Then we don't take any chances.
(The sky began to darken and some clouds in the sky began to manifest into the face of a familiar demon: Xavious, the new and old king of the Nether.)
JT: Ooo! This is one I do know. Uhh…wait…remind me who that demon is again?
XAVIOUS: Mythic Knights! Your six months have finally come to an end. I, King Xavious-
JT (He suddenly interrupted): Oh wait! I remember: his name was Cheryl! (Everyone just looked at JT in confusion.)
XAVIOUS: SILENCE! I, King Xavious, look forward to only one thing now: seeing you destroyed. It appears you're down two team members…but they won't be able to save you from your handpicked destruction!
CURTIS: This is nothing new to us Xavious, we can—
XAVIOUS: THAT IS KING XAVIOUS TO YOU, MORTAL!
JT: Yeesh, and to think he was such a nice creepy-looking demon king! I mean he DID help us defeat Grieger!
ALEXIS: That and…him.
XAVIOUS: You have been a thorn in King Grieger's side for almost an entire year, Mythic Knights. But today, you stand not against a demon general, but a TITAN!
CURTIS: A Titan?
ALEXIS: That's not possible! All the titans have been sealed away!
XAVIOUS: Are they now? As king, I have access to them. And you're only lucky I chose to bring out one because it will only take ONE to destroy you, mark my words.
SONDRE: Marked and noted. We're putting an end to your reign NOW!
XAVIOUS: Your shallow promises mean nothing. Now…NEBULAI! Wipe these mortals out of existence!
(The clouds turned back to normal as the Knights turned their attention back to Nebulai who slowly stood up, facing away from them. Placing her hand on the hilt of her word, she slowly withdrew the blade…revealing it to be a blade of nearly five feet in length. She wielded it easily, turning around and placing the blade on her shoulder casually, not making a sound or any sudden movements.)
ALEXIS: …what's it waiting for?
SONDRE: For one of us to attack. She doesn't seem intimidated.
CURTIS: She should be. We have a JT.
JT: Damnnnnn skippy, son! See, Curtis gets it.
CURTIS: Exactly, now let's see how she likes this! (He brought up his Ivory Crusader and charged in.) UNI CRUSHER!
(Curtis aimed his sword and made it go into whip mode, heading straight for Nebulai. In one swift strike, she sliced the sword out of midair and her sowrd moved in a blur, hitting three swift strikes and an ice beam to the chest that sent Curtis skidding back and crashing into a car. Nebulai hadn't budged from her spot.)
JT: Whoa-papa. She doesn't mess around.
CURTIS (He slowly got back up and joined the three): No kidding…I couldn't even counter that.
ALEXIS: Then we attack as a unit. Curtis, JT, follow my lead. Sondre, keep her on her toes.
SONDRE (He nodded and spun the Sparrow Blade in his hand): No problem.
(Sondre sunk down into the shadows while Alexis, JT, Curtis rushed in with their weapons. Nebulai changed her pose to that of a samurai and watched the three of them charge, swinging her blade to create an energy wave. The trio leaped over the energy wave and JT moved in first, axe charged up with electricity. He clashed against Nebulai's sword and managed to get a few good slices in, leaping up with a high double jump kick that made her step back. Sondre reappeared from the shadows with his Sparrow Blade and slashed into her back, hoping to break through some of the armor. Alexis rolled off to the side and drew her bow, waiting for a moment to strike as Nebulai spun her sword and slashed into JT, grabbing him suddenly and slamming him into the ground like a ragdoll. Curtis yelled as he charged in, hitting Nebulai with strong cross slices. The two clashed swords in a duel, Curtis being kept on his toes, but he eventually broke through and powered up his sword to deliver one swift slice that caused Nebulai to start sparking.)
SONDRE: NOW!
(Alexis nodded and shot up a high powered ice arrow from her bow but to her surprise, Nebulai raised her hand and shot out an icicle that destroyed the arrow in midair. She growled and roared out, releasing an energy discharge that sent the Knights flying. She leaped up and began attacking the Knights in midair with her sword, spinning in the air like a tornado. She was too fast for them to counter, her sword glowing cyan blue as she mangled the Knights in midair. The Knights collapsed on the ground as Nebulai leapt onto one of the plaza statues and spun her sword skillfully to create a blizzard. The Knights looked up in time to face the blizzard as it sliced through them like a thousand knives at once. They screamed out in pain as the attack didn't seem to let up. Realizing they had little choice, Curtis, Alexis, and JT brought out their artifacts.)
ALEXIS/JT/CURTIS: EXCELSIOR! POWER UP!
(Their transformation managed to stop the attack as the three of them dashed forward in beams of light in their respective colors, slashing through Nebulai in a heated rush to take her out. Sondre vanished into the shadows in order to recharge while the trio slashed and attacked Nebulai with everything they had to try and disable her. Nebulai managed to keep up with some of their slices, blocking the best she could but their strength was increasing. Their adrenaline was kicking in and their attacks grew fiercer and more precise. Alexis spun like a tornado and slashed into Nebulai from one side with her shark fin blades while JT followed suit with a similar tornado with his axe. With her distracted, Curtis leaped high into the air and dove down with his Ivory Crusader fully powered up.)
CURTIS: UNI-SLICER!
(The attack successfully broke through and Nebulai roared out in pain, the energy discharge blasting her off the statue, straight through a bus, and several feet away from them on her stomach. Her sword went flying and stabbed itself into the ground, exploding. She began to spark, twitching from the attacks before slowly getting back up.)
JT: Did we get her?
(Nebulai just stood there for a moment before cracks began to appear in her armor. Within moments, it shattered into dust on the ground to reveal her full Pharaoh hound body. Her dark purple eyes stared at the Knights as she roared out, rushing in to attack with her bare claws. Sondre quickly rejoined the trio with his blade still in hand.)
ALEXIS: LET'S FINISH THIS! (She drew her bow.) ALL TOGETHER!
SONDRE: SPARROW'S DAWN!
(Sparrow wings appeared on Sondre's suit as he zipped in with a swift uppercut that sent Nebulai flying. Sondre charged and dealt a series of swift slices into her from all sides before Sondre flipped and drove his foot into her abdomen. This sent her crashing down into the ground while Sondre powered up his blaster. Curtis and JT wasted no time charging in as she tried to get up while Alexis raised her bow to the sky with her attack ready.)
CURTIS: COURAGE SLASH!
JT: ROARING THUNDER!
ALEXIS: HEAVENLY BLIZZARD!
(Nebulai was unable to defend herself as Alexis shot a huge ice ball into the sky, right in front of Sondre's blaster. He nodded and fired the blast, causing the ball to explode and rain down a flurry of arrows on Nebulai. JT and Curtis had rushed in just in time and dealt their double slice together, tearing through Nebulai as the arrows found their mark and froze her. Alexis raced in with one final strike from her bow and sliced through Nebulai. Nothing happened for a few moments before the ice began to shatter and then explode. JT, Alexis, and Curtis panted as they returned to their normal morphed states. There was nothing left of Nebulai except for a few remnants on the ground.)
JT (He panted quietly): W-we…we got her. HALLELUJAH!
CURTIS (He chuckled quietly while he panted): See? That wasn't too hard.
(Alexis made her way back to Sondre and rejoined the other three as JT hugged her.)
SONDRE: Xavious seemed sure of himself that we would lose.
CURTIS: Don't we prove these kinds of demons wrong ALL the time?
SONDRE: Yes… (He looked behind Alexis.) …though I think she isn't QUITE dead. This isn't like anything we've faced.
(The remnants of Nebulai rose up and swirled around, suddenly growing much bigger than before.)
JT: OH COME ON! It's still alive!? What is she some kind of ICE HULK?!
ALEXIS: Of course…her mega form.
(To their surprise though, the remnants instead began to form a large cocoon, three times as big as any normal demon they had fought. It hovered lightly in the air and stayed there. None of the four Knights made a move.)
SONDRE: A cocoon?
CURTIS: That's not a good sign… (He looked to Alexis.) What do we do?
ALEXIS: Whatever we just did, we may have just made our problem worse. I've never seen a demon general do this. But I know what happens when things come out of those shells. They come out even stronger. And if we had a hard enough time trying to take out Nebulai on her own…we're going to need help.
CURTIS: Protostar? We've tried reaching him. He's only shown up maybe one or two times. I tried getting a hold of him today, he's not answering.
ALEXIS: We don't need the showoff. We need Vance.
JT: But he doesn't want anything to do with being a Knight anymore… (He looked away sadly.) or me.
ALEXIS: That's why we're going to find him, RIGHT NOW.
SONDRE: Now? What about this cocoon?
ALEXIS (She paused): …JT and I will go and find Vance. You two keep us posted. I know this isn't a wise strategy but we NEED his help. Where would he be now?
CURTIS: Terranobia. That's where he'd be performing right now.
ALEXIS: Perform-… (She sighed and looked to JT.) Come on, we don't have much time.
JT: Rodger that! We grab his morpher and then it's off to…that one place over the seas that we only went to once.
(The two ran as quick as they could over to their Jet Streamers and hopped on, firing up the engines and taking to the skies, making a beeline for Terranobia.)
(KING XAVIOUS' CASTLE, THRONE ROOM)
(In the six months since Grieger's defeat, Xavious had taken the throne all to himself, proclaiming himself as king. Seeing as how he was already a King, no one really objected. For six long months, he had scoured all over the Nether to try and gather more souls to bring himself back to power. They had moved the castle to a new location in the Nether, far away from the Triskan Mountains and Pyranis. This time it moved into a dark valley, filled with chasms and mists of illusions. The castle sat atop the tallest mountain in the darkest part of the Nether: the Valley of Shadows. From the throne room, Xavious watched the fight on the floating mirror, shaking his head as the mirror showed Curtis and Sondre attacking the cocoon to try and break it. Triano stood by, watching the action as well.)
XAVIOUS: I don't see why Grieger didn't bring out a Titan before to stop the Knights when he was King. Did he even know, I wonder?
TRIANO: Not that I can recall. How many of them are there?
XAVIOUS: Alas, only three. Nebulai, Omegalon, and the mighty Jundaiso. Had he brought out all three from the start, this world would be his. Yet he fell back upon his precious Centaurion. And look where he is now: rotting away in Pyranis.
TRIANO (He hesitantly lowered his head): Well, you can't say he didn't go down trying. He was a good king.
XAVIOUS: Yes, perhaps he was. (There was a brief silence.) Very soon Nebulai will awaken from her cocoon and when that happens, she will send this Earth into another ice age.
TRIANO: How? I don't understand.
XAVIOUS: You will…VERY soon Triano.
TRIANO: What about the Red and Green Knights?
XAVIOUS: What of them?
TRIANO: What happens if they come back?
XAVIOUS (He chuckled quietly): No matter how many Knights they bring, there is nothing they can do to stop Nebulai. Having seen their powers and megazords in action, I have studied their magic and have created the perfect counter spell. Once she emerges from her cocoon, the spell will kick in and she will be IMMUNE to their attacks.
TRIANO: Immune?
XAVIOUS: Meaning, she will not die. They will waste all their efforts to try and destroy her but there will be nothing they can do to stop their own destruction. However, there is one catch. The spell lasts for quite some time but should they last long enough, they will have one very small window to destroy her.
TRIANO: Assuming of course they last that long. (He crossed his arms, looking back up to the mirror.) You have to admire their courage. They always seem to come back no matter what the Nether throws at them.
XAVIOUS: All legends come to pass eventually, Triano. (He turned his head and noticed the mirror starting to change, showing an image of the interior of the Nether prison.) What is this?
TRIANO: There appears to be—(He noticed the mirror show that several different demons had broken out of their cells and were rampaging through the prison.) A riot?
XAVIOUS (He shook his head): Their attempts to escape will be folly. (The mirror moved to one of the cells that had been smashed open.) No matter. They're nothing but rats the Knights can exterminate on their own.
TRIANO (He looked to the dust and the remnants of a statue base inside the cell, eyes widening slightly at the site): Wait, wasn't that the cell with…hmm, interesting. What are you up to, jester…?
(BACKSTAGE AT THE TERRANOBIA CONVENTION CENTER)
(Backstage at the convention, Alexis and JT had managed to get backstage. The place was packed with maze-like corridors filling the second half of the building. JT walked alongside Alexis while she kept looking down at Vance's morpher like a compass.)
JT: You sure the morpher will be able to find Vance?
ALEXIS: All morphers stay connected with the ones who use them. It just takes a little magic to turn them into homing devices. (She paused briefly and looked to the bucket with a map in it.) Hold on. We passed that bucket before.
JT: We have? …Wait, you're right, that's the same bucket I stepped in… twice! We've been going around in a circle!?
ALEXIS (She groaned in frustration): Damn it!
JT: Easy there, babe. He's around here somewhere.
(Not too far from them was Vance's VIP room where Vance, having just finished his final set for the afternoon exhibition, was comfortably relaxing with his two other band members. Vance sat comfortably strumming his guitar while he kicked his feet back. Across from him in the two chairs were a man, roughly 22, and a female, roughly 23. The male sat back and sipped from his can of Mountain Dew, crossing his legs while he listened. His spiky platinum blonde hair was covered with a beanie with a tight brown "FoxtrotAlpha" t-shirt and camouflage pants to match. The female to his right was content with checking her phone for the most part. She was cleaning her face with a towel to get rid of her face paint. She had shoulder length brown hair and glasses, a black vest over an orange button up t-shirt, and tight blue jeans.)
TODD: Dude, we KILLED it out there. Can you believe how epic that was!?
VANCE: Just as epic as any other night. It doesn't matter where we are, Todd. We live to entertain. Right, Rika?
RIKA: I'm surprised they let us go for an encore. We usually don't get those.
TODD: Yeah but we don't get huge autograph lines either! I think, in all honesty, we had the most fun out there then we've ever had before.
VANCE (He smirked slightly and sat up): And that's just the first tour. It's not just about the music. It's about seeing the world, showing the WORLD what we do best. And I couldn't have done it without you two.
RIKA: Awww, you flatter us. More importantly, where would WE be without YOU, Vance Archer?
TODD: Probably still performing here but not having AS much fun as a six month tour of awesomeness?
RIKA: True. We'd still be having fun though. But now that it's over, what's next for us?
VANCE: Well I can't just wish us another tour. We can ride out our new found popularity for as long as want. Creativity never stops so why should we?
TODD (He finished his drink and smashed the can against his head, chucking it away): WELP…I'm gonna see what's going on for the last day.
RIKA: Same with me. You coming, Vance?
VANCE (He shook his head): Nah. I'd like to uh…collect my thoughts for a bit. Go ahead. Keep me posted.
(Todd and Rika nodded, getting up and heading out the door before bumping into JT and Alexis.)
ALEXIS: Sorry, excuse us.
TODD: Nice costume there. Didn't know we got Kingdom Hearts cosplayers backstage.
ALEXIS: …kingdom what? (She shook her head.) We're looking for Vance Archer?
RIKA: Join the line. You friends of his?
JT: Well, friend-ish. It's uh…kind of an emergency. Can we speak with him?
TODD (He suddenly snatched up the morpher from Alexis' hand): WOAH! Check it out Rika, she's got one of those Power Ranger morphers!
ALEXIS: H-hey!
RIKA: To be fair, we've seen our fair share of Power Rangers cosplayers running around here. Walking around, acting like celebrities…
JT: Hey! I say those are the COOLEST cosplayers ever!
RIKA: Though…they're the real heroes.
JT: Yeah they are! Anyways, that AIN'T no toy there Beanie boy!
TODD: It isn't? (He played with it.) Heh, so what are you two then, Power Ranger cosplayers? And how do you know Vance?
ALEXIS: Cosplayers? We're—
JT: Yeah! She's cosplaying, I'm…being myself ….recently un-mustached. (He grabbed his lip gently again.) Wait, who are you two and how do YOU know Vance?
RIKA: …Hm. (She looked to Todd and then to Alexis and JT.) He's FoxtrotAlpha, I'm Sonrika82.
TODD: Sup!
ALEXIS: Alexis. This is JT.
TODD: …Ooh. YOU'RE the JT he talked about?
JT (His eyes widened with hope): He mentioned me!? Ooh! What he say, what he say!?—
TODD: Actually he told us you two WERE best friends until things kinda went south. He—
RIKA: Todd. (He looked to her.) It's best not to delve into personal matters. (She looked to JT and Alexis and directed them to a room.) His room is right over there.
(Alexis nodded as Rika and Todd walked past them and down the hallway.)
ALEXIS: Odd, do those two remind you of anyone?
JT: Hmm…. NOPE, can't think of a soul. (He looked back to them before looking down slightly.) …I'm not one hundred percent sure on this. What if he doesn't remember us?
ALEXIS: We don't have a lot of options Jack. If he won't listen to reason, I will personally drag him back and let him see exactly what he's been missing.
VANCE: That seems typical of you.
(Alexis and JT nearly jumped, seeing Vance standing right by them with his arms crossed. He looked to both of them with a slightly annoyed look.)
JT: VANCE! (He opened his arms ready for a hug.)
VANCE (He made brief eye contact with JT before turning to Alexis, turning down JT's hug): …What are you two doing here?
ALEXIS: We could use your help right about now.
VANCE (His blank expression turned into a frown): Right…"use" seems like the appropriate word. But I'm not interested. (He turned to walk back into his room.) As you can see, I've been a little busy these past six months.
ALEXIS: Yes, I can see. (She and JT followed, Alexis closing the door behind them.)
JT (He chuckled nervously): So uh…nice place you've got here. Ooh, day old pizza! (He grabbed a slice of pizza from one of the boxes.)
VANCE (He rolled his eyes): Help yourself. (He noticed something on JT's lip.) Why is your lip re-
JT: CURTIS RIPPED OFF MY MUSTACHE OK!?
VANCE: Still no need to shout. Then again, obnoxiously shouting everything seems to be your trademark.
ALEXIS: Are you even aware of what's been going on or have you been having too much fun to realize you got responsibilities as a Knight?
VANCE: You two seem to be getting along just fine without me. (He walked over to both of them and put his hands in his pockets.) I didn't know that you and the others were fighting monsters and demons while I was out trying to put my LIFE back together. I have a LIFE, Alexis. This, these past six months, that's been the space that I needed from all the drama, the stress, and the pain that came with being a Knight. Here, I can be myself. Nobody knows I'm a Knight and all they see is someone on stage that is having the time of his life.
ALEXIS: So that's what you want, fame and fortune? Yes, I'm sure that will give you EVERYTHING you need in life Vance. (She brought out his morpher and handed it to him.) THIS is who you are.
VANCE (He looked down at the morpher and then to her): …I've done enough damage with that thing. Besides, now's your grand chance to become the leader you've always wanted to be.
ALEXIS: I'm not here to argue with you. We NEED your help, Vance—
VANCE: Well I don't need you! I don't NEED to go back to being a Knight again when someone like you, who's always wanted that chance, has the perfect opportunity to take it now. All that shows is that I'm NOT important to that team anymore. If anybody can use the Red Knight morpher, why don't you go and just use it and be the leader you keep claiming you want to be? That team was everything to me until I ruined it. Because of me, I became something I SWORE I would never become. I broke the Oath and I had to KILL not just my former boss but someone I considered my best friend. (He looked to JT with a sullen look.) And to top it off, you died trying to fix my mistakes.
JT: To be fair, your boss was a douche bag, and it was every bit MY mistake as much as it was YOURS!
VANCE: You DIED Jack! I couldn't do ANYTHING to try and save you. I've had this stupid mindset that you're weak and I need to protect you. Well I was wrong. That perception got chucked out the window when you DIED. That kind of trauma doesn't go away. Nightmares exist and so do scars. Those don't ever go away. You should know that. (He turned his head to Alexis.) I quit because I needed to find myself, find a reason as to why I shouldn't just walk away from everything, and I did. I didn't join the Knights to be a hero. I only joined it to protect Jack.
JT: Vance…
VANCE: Everything I've known about being a Knight or a Power Ranger got turned upside down the moment we defeated Grieger. I know my time is up. I don't have any excuse to not come back other than I cannot risk making the same mistakes again. (He turned away from them.) Just go, I'm no longer a Knight and I don't think I'll ever be ready to be one again. Not after what I let happen.
ALEXIS: …Jack, may I speak with him alone please?
JT (He nodded): Sure thing, I'm just gonna ….do the thing that you do …backstage.
(JT quickly left the room, leaving Vance alone with Alexis.)
ALEXIS: When I first met you, Vance Archer, I didn't know what to expect from you. I knew you could be the leader if you pushed yourself and you far exceeded my expectations. We took on the best Grieger had to offer and we WON. I understand why you needed those six months. But to me, this isn't finding yourself. This is hiding.
(Vance said nothing)
ALEXIS: You are hiding from everyone because you blame yourself for what happened. You're not the only who was torn up over what happened. EVERYONE was. In these six months however, JT and I have been trying to take a break as well, in Venice. We kept our morphers and we continued to fight and protect the world from any leftover creatures. We didn't stop. Neither did Curtis or Sondre. YOU stopped. All because you're feeling sorry for yourself that you WILLINGLY went down Arcana's path because you knew you had no choice but to play his game in order to save me and the others.
VANCE: …And he's still out there.
ALEXIS: We all know he is and we can't take him on alone. Xavious has brought out a Titan of ice the moment JT and I got back and we only just barely defeated her. But she went into a cocoon immediately after and…I don't know what will happen next. We've been looking all over for Gale but haven't found her and so I am turning to you Vance and I'm pleading for your help. Once that cocoon breaks, she will be unstoppable. And the four of us can't do this alone. It won't just be the entire city; it could be the entire WORLD that could be frozen over unless we do something to stop Nebulai. And if that happens, do you want to spend the rest of your life knowing you refused our help because you were hiding? That you let an entire world freeze over because you felt sorry for yourself? Please, I can't do this alone. Neither can JT or Curtis or Sondre.
VANCE (He turned back around to look at her as she presented the morpher to him): …I don't know if I can do this.
ALEXIS: Neither do I, but I won't let this world suffer at the hands of a Titan. You're the Red Mythic Knight Ranger, Vance, and once a ranger, always a ranger….please.
(Vance looked down at the morpher, a thousand thoughts rushing through his head before slowly taking it out of her hand and looking at it. Memories flooded his mind of all his fights and encounters and also the memories of losing Quintin and fighting Arcana.)
ALEXIS: You need a reason to come back. I hope you find that answer. Until then, you know where to find us.
(Alexis turned and left the room, walking down the hallway with JT in tow. Vance sat down and looked at his morpher, rolling it in his hand before sighing quietly and putting his head in his hands.)
VANCE: I need a reason and if I don't…this whole world will die. Why does it feel like I can't refuse anymore? Am I even ready? (He slowly leaned his head up and let out a heavy exhale.) …Am I?
(KNIGHT RANGER BASE)
(Terretto watched the entire conversation unfold on the crystal ball. Being connected to the Knights meant he could be with them where ever they went and keep an eye on them. It wasn't spying per se; more like watching them fight and see who they would be facing. His heavy sigh was cut short when he turned his head. He sensed something. Someone was close to the base…and they weren't friendly.)
(SUNDRAVILLE, DOWNTOWN PLAZA)
(JT and Alexis had arrived back just in time to help Curtis and Sondre try and destroy the cocoon but they quickly realized though their attacks were having no effect. The cocoon was still standing, pulsing like a heart with something dark glowing inside.)
CURTIS (He panted and held his sword loosely by his side): That thing's tough as hell…we can't even make a scratch on it.
ALEXIS (She looked down to her morpher and the energy bar for the cocoon that showed up as question marks): I can't tell if we've even made a dent in her armor. There's no energy reading from her. No signals, no—(Suddenly the cocoon began to glow.) …why is it glowing?
JT: Whatever's inside, I think it's done cooking…
(From far away over the ocean, Vance could see the cocoon raising and expanding. He revved his Jet Streamer and raced towards the city as fast as he could.)
SONDRE (He brought up two cards from his deck holder): Hurry, before it breaks out!
ALEXIS/CURTIS/JT: Right! (Summoning their artifacts) EXCELSIOR, POWER UP! (They morphed into their battilizer modes. Then Curtis took out the Horn of Justice).
ALEXIS: Where did you get the Horn?
CURTIS: Gale left it behind before she vanished. Luckily I got it just in case something like this would happen.
SONDRE: Let's get going! SHADOW STALLION ZORD! SHADOW SPARROW ZORD!
ALEXIS: SAPHIRA SHARK ZORD!
CURTIS: LUNAR GRIFFIN ZORD! EMERALD SERPENT ZORD!
JT: GOLDEN LION ZORD!
ALEXIS/CURTIS/JT/SONDRE: ARISE!
(Each of their respective zords, including the Serpent, appeared from their usual spots and they each jumped into their zords' cockpits to begin assembly.)
SONDRE: MEGAZORD MODE, ACTIVATE!
CURTIS/ALEXIS/JT: Beasts of the earth, sea, and sky, combine and unleash your might, GUARDIAN SPIRITS, ARASTANU!
(The Ancient Guardian Megazord, minus the Phoenix, and Shadow Stallion Megazord quickly assembled. The rangers plugged their weapons into their respective consoles and Curtis plugged the Horn into its console, but the panel didn't light up. Just then, the cocoon broke open. Nebulai emerged in her mega form but nearly twice as big as both their megazords. Her armor was back but it looked sleeker and dark purple-like. Tentacles expelled from her back, each with razor sharp blades, and her right arm wielded a black cannon on the wrist.)
SONDRE: Prepare yourselves everyone, this Titan isn't going to be like anything we've faced before.
ALEXIS: Neither was Centaurion and we STILL won. Whatever it takes to destroy this monstrosity, we'll be ready for it, just the four of us!
(Meanwhile, Vance had touched down from the sky and drove his Jet Streamer close to where the fight was taking place. He stopped to see the megazords begin throwing punch after punch at Nebulai, only to deflect off of her armor. The Titan countered by blasting a large ice beam from her cannon that sent both megazords skidding backwards. He watched silently, almost paralyzed by the sight. Looking down at his morpher, he raised it up.)
XAVIOUS: Good to have you back, Red Knight.
(Vance turned around to see Xavious walking slowly behind him. He immediately got into a battle stance, summoning his Rapier by his side. He gripped onto it and wielded it in a defensive stance. Despite being on the road for those long six months, he never slacked off with his training and exercise regimen. There wouldn't be any rust this time around.)
VANCE: So you're bringing out the big guns on your first round as king, huh? I'd say you're making a good first impression. What brings YOU down here?
XAVIOUS: I'm here to see how you're doing, nothing more. I see you haven't lost your touch at going on the defensive right away. There's no need for that, because I'm not here to fight you.
VANCE: Yeah, well I'm not convinced. Something tells me you're not like Grieger. You're not gonna sit up in your Hall of Doom fortress and just let us walk through all your creatures. You're a lot smarter than that. If you want to fight, bring it on.
XAVIOUS: Isn't that just typical of someone like you? Always wanting to take care of something that doesn't even require your attention when you have a bigger problem to deal with? (His hand drifted towards the fight.) Like that?
(Vance turned around slightly to see Nebulai use some of her tentacles slash against the Ancient Guardian and use others to constrict the Shadow Stallion. She opened her mouth and a large cyan energy beam came shooting outward, crashing against Sondre's Megazord. The Ancient Guardian charged forward to try a few kicks, but just like the punches, they were deflected off the Titan's body. The Titan's claws clenched together into fists and began to glow dark purple. She delivered a hard series of punches to the Megazord's head, causing sparks to fly which rattled the rangers inside.)
VANCE (He turned back to Xavious): Look I don't have time for this. I need…
XAVIOUS: Time, that's all you need right…time? You had your time to do whatever it is you wanted for six months. While you off doing whatever you felt, I spent my time thinking of how to put an end to your team as well as construct new foot soldiers for my army. I'd use them right now, but just look around you. Why overkill things?
VANCE: And you think we're afraid of these new soldiers you can create? They're FOOT SOLDIERS, cannon fodder. New soldiers or not, it won't interfere when the Mythic Knights defeat you just like we did Grieger.
XAVIOUS (Chuckling a bit): What a generic response! But then again, what else could I expect from just another pathetic human?
VANCE: That's your first mistake. (He rose his sword up.) I'm NOT just another pathetic human.
XAVIOUS: You, Red Knight, are just like any other human demons have dealt with throughout the years. Your kind think you can do whatever it is you want and not have anything to regret from your words or actions. Can you not see these large buildings crumbling down and people running in fear? (Vance looked around and saw exactly what Xavious said.) Your kind love to talk big but when it comes to matching that talk, you cower away like the insignificant vermin you are. You delight in waging wars against your own kind, fueled by anger, greed, power, anything it takes to get the upper hand and prove yourselves "almighty." Sorry to break it to you boy, but your vision of the world is far different from mine, for mine is based on truth. The truth is this universe can live without such an insignificant race like yours. Your contradicting words and feelings created nothing but misery and pain. I am simply here to put you and your fellow man out of their misery. Try all you want to vanquish my army, but no matter how many times you strike, I'll be there to return the favor. So do you still wish to fight me?
(Vance looked at Xavious, then at the crumbling buildings, then at the people screaming and running, and finally at the Megazords being punched harder by Nebulai. He clutched his chest with one hand, his heart feeling heavy. But he slowly turned his head up and smirked.)
VANCE: …Yes. Because I know exactly who I am. I'm the Red Mythic Knight POWER RANGER! I'm the one who sent King Grieger III to his demise in the volcano of Pyrannis! I'm the guy who led his team to defeat the Psycho Rangers! And I'm the guy that's going to take down your army piece by piece! You keep saying that mankind is like some pest that needs to be exterminated but you're forgetting that Power Rangers WILL NOT DIE! AND NEITHER WILL I! (He thrust his morpher forward.) MYTHIC KNIGHTS, UNITE!
(Vance quickly morphed and wielded his Rapier in a pose. Xavious watched but chuckled quietly to himself.)
XAVIOUS: Very well then. Let today be the day you sealed your fate, Red Knight…
(Xavious opened a portal and walked through as it closed behind him. Vance watched him leave and nodded before turning back to the fight.)
VANCE: Right…no turning back now.
(Meanwhile, Sondre used his Megazord's double lance to strike Nebulai's arm, but the weapon bounced off and vibrated the inside of cockpit as well as the megazord itself. Nebulai growled loudly as she clenched her left claws and proceeded to punch the Megazord's head. Then she raised her right arm to fine another ice beam cannon blast, sending the Shadow Stallion flying backwards and crash landing on its back. The Ancient Guardian stepped forward and got into a stance.)
ALEXIS: Maybe normal punches won't work, but maybe punches with an extra kick will do it. FROST BARRAGE!
(The megazord's left fist turned into ice. It charged toward Nebulai, but the latter quickly shot out another energy beam from her mouth. The megazord used its wings to fly up to avoid the beam, and came back down to deliver its icy punch, which made contact with the Titan's armor and it turned to ice.)
CURTIS: Alright, we got her now!
(But then, the ice quickly shattered off the armor. Nebulai used her tentacles to grab the Ancient Guardian by the arms, and released another energy beam from her mouth, striking the Megazord's chest, and was shot backwards as her grip was released. The Megazord fell down and the rangers were bounced around inside.)
JT: Oh come on, can't anything stop this thing!?
(Just after he said that, a fireball shot down from the sky and landed next to Nebulai, causing her to jump back a bit and fell to the ground with a rumble. The rangers looked out to see that the fireball came from the Crimson Phoenix Zord, with Vance in battilizer mode piloting inside.)
CURTIS: VANCE!
JT: VANCE!?
VANCE: Alright, time for the phoenix to take the stage again! (He gripped the hilt with both hands, glowing with fire.) BORN IN THE FLAMES, DRAW FORTH YOUR POWER OF THE PHOENIX, MYTHICO SPIRITS, ARASTANU!
(The Ancient Guardian rose to its feet, as did the Shadow Stallion, just as the Crimson Phoenix came further down. The Phoenix screeched as it wings separated, turning into a circular shield with the symbol of Qerravale on it. The Phoenix's head glowed as it detached and formed the helmet for the Griffin. Excalibur materialized inside the Serpent's weapon holster, and the Griffin grabbed the sword's hilt to wield the powerful sword. JT, Alexis, and Curtis dared not speak as Vance slowly entered the cockpit and sat at his console, plugging Excalibur in. Vance could feel them staring at him, suddenly feeling very awkward but he sighed and brushed it off.)
VANCE: Activate AI units!
(After speaking those words, the console holding the Horn of Justice lit up, operating the controls manually. Nobody knew what to say. Even Nebulai was eerily quiet as she picked herself up, ready to fight again.)
ALEXIS: …Thank you, for coming back.
VANCE: You kidding me? You guys get to fight an ice titan? I wouldn't miss this for the world. But I'm doing this to get one step closer to Arcana. (He looked to JT.) …and you and I have unfinished business. (JT smiled hopefully as Vance gripped Excalibur.)
CURTIS: As long as you're here, that's all that matters.
SONDRE: We need all the firepower we can get.
VANCE: Exactly. Now, let's see if six months has been kind to this thing and let's ROAST this bitch!
(The two Megazords looked at each other, nodded, then stomped forward towards Nebulai, who just stood there unmoving. Then, Nebulai thrust two tentacles into the ground, and they rose out of the ground and sucker punched both Megazords in the face, throwing them backwards. Nebulai raised her blaster cannon, and fired several shots at the Megazords. The Ancient Guardian Megazord raised its shield to block the attack, and it was proving effective. The Shadow Stallion raised its lance, ready to strike again, but once again a tentacle punched it back.)
SONDRE (He grunted): I can't get close enough to attack with those blasted tentacles in the way!
CURTIS: Our attacks can't leave a dent, but maybe severing those tentacles might help weaken this thing!
JT: Well then, time to do it like a JT do, HYPER ROAR!
(The Golden Lion detached and made a beeline for Nebulai's face. Lightning shot out of its mouth and zapped Nebulai in the face, scorching it. Nebuali rubbed her face, not even phased, but now mildly annoyed. Her eyes glowed and an ice ball fired at the Megazord, hitting the shield but pushing the Megazord backward. Vance facepalmed at this and glared at JT through his visor.)
VANCE (He groaned sarcastically): Nice! Great work as usual Jack!
JT (He giggled sheepishly): To be fair, this is not the first, or last time I done screwed up?
VANCE: Yeah, and now you just made her angrier!
ALEXS (She groaned and then noticed Nebulai's face was steaming): Wait…Jack, I think you're onto something.
VANCE: You have a plan?
ALEXIS: Just wait. She's gonna fire another ice ball any minute now. Just follow my lead.
(Just then the Megazord lowered its shield.)
CURTIS: Alexis, are you insane?! She's gonna bowl us over!
ALEXIS: Wait for it….
(At that moment, Nebulai fired another ice ball from her mouth.)
ALEXIS: NOW! FROST BARRAGE!
(The Megazord's left fist raised and turned to ice just as the ice ball was approaching the zord, it fiercely punched the ball with its fist, sending it back into Nebulai's face. Her face started steaming even more, and she roared and hollered in pain, using both her hands to cover her face)
JT: AW YEAH! ITS SUPER EFFECTIVE, BABY!
VANCE (He blinked inside his helmet, looking at the site in shock): Wait… what? How did you know that would work?!
ALEXIS: Simple, Jack's blast may not have dented her face, but it did heat it up. And if her face has the same texture of a plate, it cracks when in contact with heat and bitter cold!
CURTIS (smirking): You gotta admit, that WAS clever. (He looked to Vance.) Right?
JT: Like a JT and Lexi do! (He and Curtis fistbumped.)
VANCE: Quick, while she's distracted, take out those tentacles!
(The Shadow Stallion raised its lance, and swiftly sliced one of the tentacles, only to not make a dent and another vibration.)
SONDRE: What?!
(The tentacle whipped both mMgazords backwards. Then, Nebulai's eyes glowed an eerie, piercing red. The same glow then surrounded the megazords, floating them up into the air. Suddenly blue lightning bolts fired from Nebulai's tentacles and struck both Megazords, coating a small portion of them in ice and sending them flying backwards into 2 buildings, crushing them. Inside both cockpits, the consoles started sparking and exploding.)
JT: Lightning ice?! SHE'S GOT LIGHTNING ICE!? What the hell kind of power do these titans have!?
ALEXIS: Far beyond anything we've ever faced!
CURTIS: If these things are so powerful, why didn't Grieger use these things on us?
VANCE: Because Grieger treated this all like a game. He needed to keep us alive in order to power up Centaurion. He could afford to lose. Xavious is not messing around.
JT: Well that makes him both dead, AND stupid! So now what, do we just cut to the chase and final attack this thing?
VANCE: Can't hurt to try! (He raised Excalibur.) Ready Curtis?
CURTIS (He raised up the Crusader): You have to ask?
VANCE: Let's hit her with all we got!
(The Megazord feebly rose, now holding both swords, and then leapt into the air, the Shadow Stallion following, holding its blaster.)
SONDRE: WINGED RHAPSHODY!
VANCE/CURTIS: GUARDIAN DOOM STRIKE!
(The Shadow Stallion fired its blast at Nebulai, and the Ancient Guardian swung both its swords. Both blasts made impact on Nebulai, pushing her far back. But as the dust cleared, she just stomped towards them menacingly.)
ALL 5: WHAT!?
(Nebulai raised her blaster, and fired a deadly barrage of lasers at the megazords, forcing them down onto their knees, and landing face first into the ground.)
JT: DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! This thing is like an icy rock! (He slammed his fists into console, causing it to spark and explode again)
CURTIS: We're almost completely out of power! One more hit like that and we're finished!
VANCE (He growled): No way! I didn't come back just to go down like this! There's gotta be something left!
JT: We've got nothing left! We don't have enough energy to use any more of the attacks! There's so much more we could have done with this megazord! Seriously this thing's only been around for two episodes. That's kinda sad.
CURTIS: Then that's it, we're toast!
ALEXIS (Her face turned to a solemn frown): …Not exactly. There is one thing we could still try.
SONDRE (His eyes widened): Wait… you don't mean…?
ALEXIS: Yes, we'd have to use up all our power.
CURTIS: Are you nuts? There's barely any power remaining in BOTH megazords! Even if we had enough power for one blast, it wouldn't even leave a dent!
ALEXIS: No, I'm not talking about the megazords' power. We'd be using up all the power from the gems.
VANCE: You can't be serious! We can't use ALL the gem powers?
ALEXIS: Yes, the gem powers are twice as powerful as a megazord blast. If we can gather every last ounce of our gem powers together in one final blast…
SONDRE: It may be enough to destroy her, supposedly.
JT: What-what do you mean supposedly?
SONDRE: A titan's power is unlike anything we've ever seen before, such a blast can leave noticeable damage, but we don't know if it's strong enough to destroy her for good.
VANCE: If we did this blast, what'll happen to the gems?
ALEXIS (inhaling deeply): No more alternatives. Like you said, we've got nothing left-
VANCE: Alexis. What happens?
ALEXIS: We lose our powers.
CURTIS: WHAT!?
VANCE: You want to risk EVERYTHING on one final blast? Alexis, we can't afford that kind of risk!
ALEXIS: NO ALTERNATIVES, VANCE! It's either this or be destroyed. So let's make this blast count!
VANCE (He stared at her and exhaled bitterly): Alright. Everyone, focus everything you have left in your gem to the blades. It's time to put it all on the line.
(Each knight began to glow their respective color, a bright colorful aura surrounding each of them. Then their zords were glowing their respective colors, the same white aura glowing around both megazords.)
VANCE: We call upon the power of the elements combined! FIRE! (He began glowing bright red.)
ALEXIS: ICE! (He began glowing bright blue.)
JT: THUNDER! (He began glowing bright yellow.)
CURTIS: EARTH! (He began glowing bright white.) PSYCHIC! (The horn began to glow bright green.)
SONDRE: SHADOW! (He began glowing bright gray.)
ALL 5: MYTHIC KNIGHTS! RHAPSHODY GUARDIAN STRIKE!
(Both Zords glowed a blinding white light, then after a few minutes, two large colored beams fired out both Megazords, before merging into one rainbow-colored beam, striking Nebulai as she released a cyan energy wave towards the rainbow-colored beam, but the blasts were so bright, nobody could see what had happened. Dust and static electricity covered the entire arena. At that moment, both megazords' colors turned black and white, and fell to their knees. Inside the Zords, the Knights were no better, the color had completely left their suits, and they were all groaning and moaning like they had just had all their life-force sucked away.)
CURTIS: What… what's going on? (He quickly took off his helmet, clutching his eyes) My-my eyes, they hurt and…everything looks a little blurry.
JT: Oye, feels like my stomach got hit by a truck. (He began to notice his pale suit.) Uh, I think the blinding light made me color blind.
ALEXIS (She grunted, clutching her stomach): No Jack… the color's fading with our elements. In a few seconds we'll be back to how we were before bonding with the gems.
VANCE (He tried getting to his feet, groggily): Oh… I can't see straight.
(The four Knights stumbled, barely holding on to consciousness as their consoles sparked and exploded. Finally the four Knights passed out, falling out of the cockpits as the Megazord began to fade. The four landed with a thud onto the pavement below, the armor protecting their unconscious bodies, before fading completely. Finally, the Ancient Guardian Megazord flickered and faded in and out until finally it vanished. In its place lied the 5 artifacts, completely white, drained of all their precious powers. Finally Sondre, who was still conscious but barely holding on, leaped out of his Megazord and rushed over to the four knights, slowly demorphing from his own armor. He struggled to get over to the Knights, who had demorphed for their suits as well and tried waking them up.)
SONDRE: No, please! Vance! Alexis! JT! Curtis! Come on, stay with me!
ALEXIS (Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she groaned in pain.) Guys? Guys, get up! (She shook JT by the shoulder. Meanwhile he, Vance, and Curtis all struggled to get up.)
JT (He mumbled groggily): Not now granny, I don't wanna play ball-in-a-cup. (He shook his head awake.) Oye, my head!
CURTIS: Anyone else have a hallow feeling?
VANCE: Yeah, it's like a flame on a candle just blew out.
(Just at that moment, a shrieking crack was heard. Vance, JT, Alexis, and Curtis looked to their morphers, in horror. Their gems had crumbled into brightly colored dust, and poured out of their morphers.)
JT: What? …No! No! This can't be real. Th-this has gotta be a trick! (He raised his axe.) Just watch, a-as I bring down DA-THUNDAA! (He raised his axe but nothing happened. JT looked at his axe in horror. He couldn't summon the thunder.) Axey!? Speak to me baby! (Hysterically) AXEY! COME ON AXEY! DON'T YOU QUIT ON ME NOW!
(Alexis swiftly wrapped her arms around JT as he continued his hysterical breakdown)
ALEXIS: Jack! Take it easy! I'm sorry but it's over!
(JT's hands shook, and the axe fell out of his hands. And with the axe, JT's dreams dashed into the winds, is this how every power ranger felt like when they've lost their powers? JT didn't know what to do next, first he lost his parents, then he lost Vance, and now he lost his powers! There was only one thing JT could think to do now he buried his face into Alexis' chest, and sobbed for the first time since six months ago. Vance turned his head away. It was eerily too painful to watch as he went to Excalibur and slowly picked it up, looking at it.)
ALEXIS: It's ok Jack… its ok. It's over, we beat her.
(Suddenly, a large rumbling was heard. The knights all looked to the source of the rumbling. And then everything in the world turned bitter cold; even after using every last ounce of their gem powers, there stood Nebulai, still very much alive, with a gigantic crack in her armor, holding her ribs as if she was in pain.)
VANCE: …No…no, no, NOOOOOO! SHE'S RIGHT THERE! SHE'S VULNERABLE!
CURTIS: I don't believe this…
SONDRE: RRGH! We don't have the power to finish her off! (He looked down at his morpher, seeing part of his Black Knight gem still attached). Strange, why didn't my gem get completely destroyed?
(Nebulai slowly began to dematerialize and vanished like the wind, some form of maniacal laughter mixing in with the wind as Nebulai vanished.)
JT: Where she's going?
ALEXIS: To heal.
(For the first time in ages, Vance felt empty. After all they had done, they came so close to beating Nebulai and they failed. This wasn't like their fight with Centaurion, this was far worse. Vance clutched onto Excalibur tightly and suddenly he began to feel a rage filling him up like nothing he ever felt before. He was shaking, tears nearly forming in his eyes.)
CURTIS (He slowly approached, putting a hand on his shoulder): …Vance?
(Vance screamed out and stormed over to Alexis, suddenly pointing his sword at her JT instinctively jumped in front of Alexis to protect her.)
VANCE: WHY!? WHY DID YOU BRING ME BACK!?
JT: VANCE!
VANCE: I NEVER SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOU! I WAS DOING JUST FINE ON MY OWN UNTIL YOU BROUGHT ME BACK! You wanna talk about how my refusal to come back would doom the Earth!? I come back and within just a short span of time, not only have we lost, our powers are GONE!
ALEXIS: V-Vance it—
VANCE: I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY OF YOUR EXCUSES! I-ARGHH!
(Curtis and Sondre watched as Vance held onto his ribs, stumbling back slightly while trying to catch his breath. He coughed and tried standing up with Sondre and Curtis' help.)
ALEXIS: Quit trying to put the blame on me, alright!? I get it! I screwed up! But how many other choices were there?! I had to make the decision because it was either that or we all get frozen to Hell!
VANCE: And now the entire world is going to suffer anyway so why bother even bringing me back if all you were going to do was pull this stunt? You wanna talk guilt tripping me Alexis? No ranger team, not a single one, is going to be able to stop Nebulai! If we can't, who the hell can!?
SONDRE: We need to get back to base, NOW. Terretto must have something that can help us.
CURTIS: It's all we got. Come on.
(JT and Alexis made their way back to their Jet streamers along with Curtis, Vance, and Sondre. They were still able to use their vehicles but they were running out of energy.)
(WEST MEADOWBOROUGH WOODS)
(Despite suffering severe injuries in their fight against Nebulai, the Knights had enough power to get to their Jet Streamers and retreat back to base. With their morphers drained, they hoped and prayed to the gods above that Terretto would have some sort of spell or power up that could help them. But as they took to the air and headed to the Woods, they saw smoke coming from one section.)
VANCE: Smoke?
(Sondre's eyes widened as he revved his Jet Streamer, making a beeline for the smoke.)
SONDRE: Come on, we have to hurry, NOW!
ALEXIS: You don't think…?
CURTIS: We're in no position to take on another demon, and I don't like how this is looking at all.
(The five of them raced towards the smoke and landed a distance away from it, right in the middle of a raging forest fire.)
JT: Yeah so today, looking REEEAAAAAL sucky right about now!
VANCE (His eyes darted around, looking all over the raging fires that were engulfing the trees): This can't be happening…
(The four quickly made their way over to the direction of the smoke, only to discover the remnants of the Knight Ranger Base, a giant hole torn through the entrance to their hideout. The rangers' eyes widened and their faces turned into fear as they saw their base in complete ruins. The others were too shocked to move. Sondre, however, quickly raced inside, looking around frantically. He saw everything was completed broken. The furniture was ripped apart, the books shelves in the main room were torn to bits, and even the crystal ball was smashed, Sondre began calling out for Terretto.)
SONDRE (Checking he kitchen area) Father! (Running through the living room over to the staircase) Father, are you up there? (Dashing upstairs and looking in all the bedrooms) Father! Father! Father, can you hear me!? (Rushing back downstairs and heading towards the basement, which was perfectly fine) Father, are you hiding down here!? Come out please! Father! FAAAAAATHEEEERRRRR!
(The others were still outside, horrified at the sight. They paced around the outside.)
VANCE: …No…
CURTIS: You have got to be kidding me…
ALEXIS: W-who…who did this?!
JT: You guys think Terretto is…okay?
VANCE: Not sure, but hopefully Sondre found him.
(Sondre emerged, for once looking genuinely terrified and concerned.)
SONDRE: I-I can't find my father anywhere! He's gone!
ALEXIS: What do you mean he's gone!?
SONDRE: He's not in there okay! (Tears began to form in his eyes before his expression changed to anger.) Whoever the hell did this, they WILL suffer…
ALEXIS (looking at the fire from the trees): Curtis, JT, we need to put this fire out now! Follow me!
(Alexis rushed away with JT and Curtis in tow as Vance looked to Sondre with a concerned look, both of them for once having the exact same thought: …they had lost. This very well could be the end of the Power Rangers.)
(TO BE CONTINUED… FADE TO BLACK, END CREDITS)