Dark Ranger
Chapter 1: I bet my life
Present day
Cade Williamson is a twenty-three year old man living in Blackwater city. Two years ago he donned the black mask of Dark Ranger, becoming the protector of the city & savior of the people. Both of his parents were killed in a car crash when he was twenty. He is the last surviving member of his family. This is his story.
Downtown Blackwater is a peaceful neighborhood with friendly citizens almost always filling the bustling streets, purchasing a wide variety of trinkets from gift shops & jewelry stores that seemed to litter the area like a plague. That was on a normal day. Today was panic engulfed the area as two young men, bearing the elemental powers of thunder & lightning, began terrorizing the citizens & destroying everything in sight. They were searching for the one called 'Dark Ranger'.
"Where is he? Where is Dark Ranger?!" The lightning wielder called out to the terrified citizens. "My brother & I need to have a talk with this 'Dark Ranger' scumbag." He flung a lightning bolt at a nearby stop sign, cutting it in half. It fell to the ground with a loud ting.
"Maybe he isn't here. Let's go before we make fools of ourselves." Black Thunder didn't have patience for an unconfirmed rumor of the ranger's whereabouts.
"Shut up!" White lightning bursted out in fury at his brother. "He's here somewhere & I will have my revenge. His crimes will not go unpunished."
Dark Ranger lurked deep within the shadows, waiting, inspecting the two elemental crooks. He was waiting for an opening to attack. He tended to reveal himself sooner than this, but he had to take extra precaution as he was used to petty thugs & thieves.
"Brother, please let's go before we make fools of ourselves." He repeated. "If he was here, he would've shown up by now wouldn't he?"
White lightning sighed. "He's most likely watching us at this very moment. The Dark Ranger is known to stick tot he shadows, even in the brightest of days. Did you not read the profile report before we arrived?" Lighting looked at the shadows in the alleys casted by the buildings trying to see through them & spot his target. "Damn it, Thunder! Did you read the report... Or not? The hell?! Thunder! I demand you come back from whatever dumbass place you've gone yo this time! Where the hell are you?!" Lightning raised his guard and prepared to fight.
"Listen here purple guy, i don't know who you two are, but I suggest you get your friend over there and disappear before things get ugly. And no one wants to deal with ugly, right?" Dark thunder asked the purple skinned thunder wielder. While Lightning was distracted, Dark Ranger pulled Back Thunder into the shadows. Thunder opened his mouth, but Dark Ranger covered it before he could speak. "Don't speak. I swear, I will end you right here. Just nod your head. It's that simple." Thunder nodded in agreement. "Good good. Now go back out there and make sure this never happened. Go get 'em you big grapeball. I'll be watching. So don't fuck up."
Lightning spotted his round shaped brother coming from an alleyway. "Where did you go? Did you find him?" Thunder hesitated to answer the questions and White Lightning grew impatient quickly. "Answer the me you damn dirty ape!" Lightning's eyes were turning pure yellow with rage & Thunder finally let out a reply.
"No. I thought I had found him but I didn't find anything."
Lightning's eyes returned their natural green color. "Next time, answer me when I ask something. I hate being ignored." Suddenly, a sharp pain arose in lightning's back that felt as if something had pierced his spine. "Aggh!"
"Sorry for the cheap shot, but I take what I can get. No hard feelings, okay?" Dark Ranger grabbed White lightning's head and elbowed him into the ground. Lightning's eyes quickly turned back yellow as he stood up.
"You bitch!" Lightning yelled in rage. "No one attacks me and lives to tell the tale!" He hurled a lightning bolt aimed for Dark Ranger's head.
He rolled out of the way & the bolt of electricity exploded on the street, destroying the smooth pavement. "I'm not paying for that." Dark ranger said.
"Damn it! Thunder! Stop hovering around like a useless fuck and and attack this fucking dumbass!" Lightning yelled at his brother. Thunder do as his brother commanded and clapped his large hands together, creating a loud boom of shockwaves that echoed throughout the alleys & forced the hero down into a kneeling stance.
"Damn. I can't move!" Dark Ranger muttered. An electrical wire coiled around the him, forcing his arms flat on sides. The coil rose up to where Lightning was floating in the air. The villainous wielder of lightning stared into Dark Ranger's eyes with hatred and rage. They were green and the only thing that wasn't covered by his mask.
"Go ahead. Kill me. It won't change a thing." Lightning snickered.
"We aren't here to kill you per say, more like, interrogate you and then judge whether or not you deserve to live anymore"
"You attacked an entire city just to ask a few questions? What, you want my autograph or something? All you had to do was ask. Jeez. Overreacting much?" Lightning right hooked him as he finished talking. Dark Ranger attempted to retaliate, but the coils had bound him to their bidding. "That isn't going to make me want to give you my autograph yknow."
"You're smartass remarks are going to be your downfall if I don't kill you first. Do you recall the events of eight months ago?" Lightning asked.
"Probably not. I rarely remember what I eat the day before. But you're welcome to enlighten me."
"Does the name 'Gray Cloud' ting any bells?"
"Hmm.. Maybe. It seems like its ringing way off in the distance though. Why?"
"He was our father! You murdered him you selfish fuckstick!" Lightning kept himself from striking the hero.
"Oh. Yeah I did do that. But I know what your thinking, but I had no choice. I didn't want to do it. I tried to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen. I understand you lost your father. I list both my parents at the same time. I feel your pain. But you have to understand that I had no choice. It was either him or the city. I'm sorry."
White Lighting laughed. "You're going to share his fate Dark Ranger. I will have my revenge." Lightning resonated in his palms, but before he could deliver the fatal blow to the shadowy hero, he was stopped by a force grabbing his arm. Lightning's eye twitched as he slowly turned his head to see that it was own brother that had stopped him.
"Don't do it brother. He had no choice. It's not his fault." Thunder told his brother.
"You want me to let him go free? To not answer for his mistakes? He killed our father! Does that mean nothing to you?!" Lightning's rage was pouring out of him like a waterfall. Thunder bowed his head before facing his white suited brother.
"Its sad, our father is dead I know. But that still doesn't give us the right to end this man's life! Even if he did kill our father." Thunder's eyes watered.
"You're a disgrace. Do you know that Thunder? You are the biggest piece of shit I've ever had to be around in my life. Even worse than this fucking murder! Just leave. I don't care where you go. Just get the fuck away from me before I put you both down. I never want to see you again, Thunder. You're no brother of mine."
Black Thunder let his brother's arm go as a tear ran down his cheek. "Fine. But when you're dying & wishing I was there to save you, don't expect me to bail you out." Thunder snapped his finger & vanished like a magic trick. Lightning turned to Dark Ranger, who still trapped in the coil.
"Now that one of you is out of the picture, its time for you to die. I'm going to kill you. Then I'm going to kill every last person you fight to protect. Their cries for you to save them them will be music to my ears."
"Yknow, you may kill me now, but I'll be back. And I'll keep coming back until the day I kill you with my own hands because you are a worthless parasite that needs to be extinguished. I don't care if you kill me, but I won't let you touch anyone else in this city. That is my word and I will keep it."
Lightning laughed. "You can't stop me. I can kill you right now." Lightning shrugged his boney shoulders and smirked.
"I can't die tight now. I have some pizza rolls I need to eat back st home and if I don't they'll go bad & I would've just wasted money. I'm sure you understand." Dark Ranger told his captor.
"I don't care about your pizza rolls. I don't even know what that is. Stop with the remarks already. Its getting tiresome."
"Fine. I'll make you an offer you can't refuse. Just hear me out. I may be able to resurrect your father." Lightning's eyes widened. "Give me... Give me a month. In one month, meet me here & if I've succeeded in the resurrection, you all leave and never come back. If I fail, I'll allow you to kill me. But only if you don't kill anyone else."
"And the catch?" Lighting asked unable to believe such a deal didn't have some strings attached.
"You can't interfere with the resurrection. That means no crime or anything against the law for the entire month. That'd all I'm asking. Just give me some time."
Lighting thought for a moment. The coils suddenly lowered Dark Ranger back to the ground and unraveled. He Shook's his arms to wake them back up and looked up to White Lightning who was eyeing him like a hawk.
"Get out of here before I change my mind, human."
"Not until you give your word. If you don't, strike me down now and lose your one chance at getting your father back." Dark Ranger replied.
Lightning rolled his eyes. "Your earth customs are demeaning. I give my word to follow your rules until the month us over, but if you fail, I'm killing you while the biggest smile I can muster is on my face."
"Close enough. Watch out! Thunder's going to kill you!" Dark Ranger said as he pointed behind White Lighting.
"What?! Thunder you-" Lighting turned around only to see the deserted buildings behind him.
Lightning smiled. He was going to have a lot of fun with this hero." You better keep your word, Ranger. I'll be keeping mine." He called out, thinking maybe the hero was still hiding close by. Lightning vanished similarly to the way his brother had earlier.
As cade jumped through a second floor window, that led into his bedroom, he angrily ripped the black mask of Dark Ranger from his face. He knew there was no way to resurrect Gray Cloud & even if there was, it'd take much longer than a month to complete. He sat comfortably in a rolling chair in front of a flat screen computer monitor. He had three new messages on an online chat software. All three were from an account by the name of 'Beatrix22'.
The first was a simple "hey" that was sent two hours ago about the time he'd left to deal with Black Thunder & White Lightning, followed by a row of five questions marks that was sent twenty minutes after the first message. The last message was more recent, only fifteen minutes ago & read 'Are we still meeting tonight or not?'. Cade leaned back with a sigh, the chair rolling back a few inches. He'd forgotten he was supposed to the woman tonight at 9:30. He sighed again this time louder and began typing a reply.
'I'm sorry. I want to meet with you, bit recently things have come up that will prevent me from doing do any time soon. I hope you aren't mad. I promise we'll meet up soon.' Within a minute, Cade had received a new message from the woman. It read 'I understand. Don't worry. Do you want to talk about it?' He relied quickly with a 'no, I have to go. I'll see you later.' As he stood up, he realized h hadn't changed our of his costume. Cade undressed and and put a pair of black pants and a black shirt with a gray skull covering the front. Cade put the hero costume deep into his closet, away from view and made his way downstairs into the kitchen. His friend Johnny, Red was lying on the couch asleep in the living room.
"Johnny!" Cade yelled. Johnny woke up with a jump & fell on the floor. "Why are you in my house? Cade asked as he waked over to Johnny who was on the floor rubbing his head.
" well, before you nearly killed me just then, I was trying to sleep. But you rudely interrupted me." Cade grabbed Johnny's arm and pulled him up.
"But why in my house? You have a house to yourself to sleep in."
"I came over to see if you wanted to hang out and you weren't here so I figured you'd be back soon and waited for you. I fell asleep while you were gone." Johnny noticed how messy Cade's hair was from the mask he'd been wearing. "You weren't out doing the thing were you?"
Cade rolled his eyes. "Yes. I was out risking my life so you could sleep peacefully in my house on my couch instead of yours."
Johnny smiled. "So when are you going to let me go with you? We could fight together, side by side, Dark Ranger & his sidekick Johnny Red." He said as he executed poor karate moves in the air.
'"Dark Ranger & Johnny Red' will never be a thing. Just be glad you know my secret. I didn't want you to know at all. Especially not the way you found out. Its best if you just forget about joining me. Stop chasing a dream & start progressing towards reality." Cade relied as he grabbed a bottle water from the fridge in the kitchen. Johnny's blazing fire of hope had been reduced to a dying ember of despair. Johnny sat back on the couch in disappointment.
"Johnny. I don't need your help out there. I need you out in normal society with everyone else, keeping up with what I can't. You're my second eyes and ears. That's more Important than fighting beside me."
Johnny gave a faint smile and stood up again. "That makes sense. With you out fighting all the time, you don't have time to be social & keep up with the rest of the world. I'm one of your most important assets!" Johnny's fading ember had been restored to its natural blaze. Cade smiled and welcomed his friend to stay the night, which Johnny happily accepted.
Cade hated lying, especially to his friends, but Johnny couldn't handle the truth. Not yet.