Disclaimer: I am in no way affilliated with Saban, Disney, or any other
owners of the Power Rangers series. All copyrighted material is property
of its respective owners. Power Rangers, all its past and present
incarnations, and all its distinctive likenesses are trademarked and
copyrighted by Disney and Saban Entertainment.
The Lone Wolf Trilogy
Prologue: Locked Away
As the flames died down over the remains of Master Org, I heaved a sigh of relief. At long last, the ordeal was over. With their leader gone, the remains of the Org army would crumble and fall, and it was only a matter of time before the other Warriors finished off the last of the heartless creatures. I reached up to remove the Wolf Mask. It seemed fitting that the Orgs' end stemmed from one of their own creations. Without the Mask, I don't think we could have even hoped to stop Master Org, let alone destroy him. The victory had come at a heavy price though. The Orgs had destroyed our villages, torn down our Sacred Palace, and even managed to destroy Animus, the mighty Lord of the Wild Zords. Although his wisdom and strength would be sorely missed, we would prevail. We would restore our land and make it greater than before, and the Sacred Palace would rise again. With the Great Battle over, the Animarium could be restored to the earth, and Shayla, O my beloved Princess Shayla, would be awakened from her slumber. At long last, my love and I would be reunited, and we could begin our lives together. For the first time in a long while, my future looked bright.
Touching the Mask, I felt a strange tingling sensation in my fingers and face. Jerking my hand away, I stared at the streaks of silver light that were rapidly encircling my gauntlet. As the silver streaks took on a dark purplish shade, I felt the tingling on my face increase, and I was filled with the sudden urge to remove the Mask immediately. I tugged sharply at the mouth of the Mask, and felt a pull on my own lips as the blasted thing refused to come off. I pulled and pulled until it felt like my face would be ripped off, but still the accursed Mask held fast. A terrible shock came over me. Accursed? Had the legend of the Wolf Mask not told of the terrible curse that befell all who dared to put it on? I grappled with the Mask, desperate to escape whatever it was that was happening to me. I cursed myself a thousand times over. How could I have been so foolish? The elders had warned me. "Beware the Curse of Zen-Aku," they had said. But like a fool I dismissed their wise words, thinking myself invincible. I reached around to the sides of the mask, only to find the edges gone, having melted through my hair and bonded with my skull. I could feel myself changing, my face filling out into the mask, rows of sharp fangs replacing my human molars. "No!" I screamed out. The victory against the Orgs would mean nothing if I became the successor to their fallen master. My life, seeming so bright just moments before, was rapidly falling apart. There was no way that Shayla could possibly accept me in my wretched state, and without the power of my Lunar Cue, the Animarium would remain suspended in the sky forever. Finally giving up any hope of escaping the Mask's power, I cried out in pain and collapsed weeping on the control console of the Predazord. The tears burned like fire on my no longer human face, and I watched helplessly as the changes overtook me. I watched the white and silver of my treasured Animarian Warrior uniform melt and deform, hardening into sinister midnight black armor. I watched my hands sprout the claws of a murderous beast. And as I felt my face become one with the Mask, and the horn of an Org sprout from my brow, I knew that all hope was lost. I had become the Beast.
I lifted my head up from the console, my vision blurred by human tears that still clung to inhuman eyes. Looking around, the Predazord seemed twisted and deformed. The place where I had bonded heart and soul with my Wild Zord friends now seemed cold and brutal. Just thinking about all the battles we had won together made this new darkness all the more unbearable. I looked out at the remnants of our last victory. Together, my Wild Zords and I had been an unstoppable force. Nothing could have defeated us. I braced myself, preparing for my inevitable rejection from the cockpit. I waited, and waited, and waited some more, but nothing happened. I didn't understand. The Zords had never allowed an Org within their beings before, so why now? It was then that it dawned on me. In infusing the Zords with the power of the Wolf Mask, I had cursed them as well as myself. Even now that I had become the enemy, the Predazord would remain under my control, and with the increased power the Wolf Mask had granted, we would create more destruction and chaos than Master Org could have even hoped to accomplish. I had not destroyed the evil, only substituted it for a greater monstrosity. In refusing to heed the curse, I had doomed not only myself, not only Animaria, but the entire world.
I gritted my teeth, my fangs, together in determination. I could not allow this to happen. I would not allow this to happen. All the striving and suffering of my people could not and would not be in vain. My fate was sealed, but Animaria could still be saved if I moved fast. I could already feel the brutal Org mind surfacing in the back of my head. I burst out of the Predazord, taking the Animal Crystals with me as I half leapt; half fell to the earth below. I hit the ground running, stumbling over rocks and roots as I listened to the Predazord disengage behind me. I knew that as long as the cursed Wild Zords remained in their hiding places, the world would be safe from their terrible destructive power. If my plan succeeded, the Predazord and its once human master would never rise again to threaten the world.
They were there waiting for me, the only five people in the world who could do what had to be done. The Sacred Warriors of Animaria. They had obviously seen the battle between Master Org and I, and they had seen me leave the Predazord at its end. Not one of them knew what to think. Wild Zords only served the people of Animaria, yet they had just witnessed their greatest enemy destroyed by a Megazord under Org command. It was impossible. It violated everything they had been taught, everything that their fight against the Orgs had relied upon. And yet, there I was, a living testament to what they had just seen. None of them dared approach me, until one small, blue-scarved Warrior took a tentative step forward.
"Merrick?" she asked, her voice uncertain. I took a deep breath, trying to hold back the Org presence long enough to say what had to be said.
"Yes, Mylana, it's me," I answered, the words feeling strange in my new fang-filled mouth. Not giving them a chance to respond, I continued, fighting the pain in the back of skull. "I used the Wolf Mask to defeat Master Org, but now I can't remove it! It's making me evil. Soon, it will control me, and make me attack you!" The pain surged up again in the back of my head as the Org presence battled my mind for control. I was suddenly on my knees, grasping at the side of the Mask - my face - trying to make the pain go away. The moment it subsided, I continued speaking, desperate to get the words out while there was still time. "You must destroy me! I beg you! It is the only way for you to remain safe!" I attempted to stand and approach them, but the struggle was weakening me, and I fell into Tandor's arms. As he caught me, I could almost feel the pity-filled eyes burning through the top of my skull.
"No!" he shouted out. "We will not harm a friend!" I looked up with what I hoped was an expression of surprise. I had never expected them to give in to my demand, but I couldn't let them know that, I couldn't let them see any sign of human rationality left in me, or else they wouldn't be able to make themselves destroy me. The Warriors of Animaria would only attack for one of two reasons, either to stop a heartless destructive force, like the Org, or else in self-defense.
"You don't understand," I cried, "I can't control it much longer!" Then I released all the pent-up pain of fighting the Org mind, and let out a howl no human could have made. Had I still been human, it would have made my own blood run cold. I pulled away from Tandor and staggered off, screaming in agony and clutching at my face. Suddenly taking control again, I dropped my hands to my sides. It took an incredible amount of willpower, but gave the appearance of an absolute physical and mental surrender. I quickly turned to face them, letting out a deep snarl that came all too easily to my wolfish throat. There was suddenly a wickedly curved black blade in my hand. I had no clue where it came from, but felt it would suffice for the task at hand. As I swung my Crescent Blade around in front of me, I could see Rowan reach for his Saber. Good. My apparent breakdown of humanity had weakened their resolve. I leapt towards them, wildly swinging my Blade like a mindless brute. My movements and speech had become purely animalistic. In their eyes, I had become a crazed beast, bent on ripping them apart. I suppose that was true in a way. The Org mind roared for the sight of their spilt blood. Its rage allowed me to play my part to perfection. The incredible bestial strength behind my attack blinded them to the fact that my blows were purposely avoiding them. What must have seemed like an animal frenzy was in fact a coldly calculated attack designed to fail.
Their last bit of resolve must have finally broken down, because before I knew it, Rowan was slashing me across the chest with his Crystal Saber. And before I could even react, I felt the sting of another saber in my spine. The pain was bittersweet as young Mylana made the next blow across my armored chest plate. As the five Warriors surrounded me, I prepared for what was to come. Still reeling from the blows, I could barely discern what they were doing. My mind cleared a bit just as I heard noble Tandor speak out.
"Forgive us, friend. Your sacrifice has saved us all. But we have no choice!" I heard this, and knew I had succeeded. I was ready to embrace death, knowing that to do otherwise would be to doom the world. But instead of feeling the quick release of the combined Crystal Saber blast, I was surrounded by an inferno of fire. Looking around and shielding my face from the flames, I could make out the hazy forms of the Warriors. They had formed a circle around me, each with his or her own Crystal Saber embedded in the soil before them. My eyes widened as I realized what they were doing. I tried to cry out to them, but my voice was lost in the crackle of the flames. This was not the formation used to destroy Orgs. It was the one used to capture them! Blast! In my planning I had never taken into consideration that they would use the Ring of Power. I thought they would understand that I was just too dangerous for them to take that chance. My pleading cries fell on deaf ears as the flames closed in, growing thicker and thicker, becoming like stone. I was still screaming when the prison formed around me, and through it all I thought I could faintly hear Tandor.
"Sleep peacefully forever, Merrick," I heard him say in a voice like a whisper. Then I heard no more. Nothing but my own hate-filled screams.
"Fools! Cowards! Blast you all to the depths of the Nexus! Come back and destroy me! I thought the Warriors of Animaria were brave! I thought they had honor! You dare leave an Org such as I?! I'll be the death of all of you! I'll destroy everything you love! Come back and kill me! Kill me! Spill my vile Org blood before I spill yours! You can't leave me like this! Finish the job! Don't leave me here! Don't leave me... alone..." I finally broke down and wept. I wept for the life that had been lost to me. I wept to for my beloved Shayla who would never wake as long as the Orgs were gone. I wept for all the hurt the Orgs had caused, and for all the hurt I would cause if I were released. I wept for the few who would miss me and mourn my sacrifice. And lastly, I wept for the right to die that had been stolen from me.
After what seemed like an eternity, I stopped my weeping, exhausted by the seemingly endless sobs that had rippled through my body. I looked at the darkness around me. I had never known such darkness. The coffin was sealed so tight that no light could possibly find its way in. Yes, that's exactly what it was. A stone coffin. I had been buried alive, for I was dead to the eyes of the world. My eyes strained to see through the darkness. I felt so tired. I chuckled a bit at the thought. Where better to rest than one's final resting place? I continued laughing in the dark as I slowly slipped out of consciousness. Just before I fell asleep, I couldn't help but think, with my own laughs echoing through the coffin, that maybe I wasn't so alone after all.
The Lone Wolf Trilogy
Prologue: Locked Away
As the flames died down over the remains of Master Org, I heaved a sigh of relief. At long last, the ordeal was over. With their leader gone, the remains of the Org army would crumble and fall, and it was only a matter of time before the other Warriors finished off the last of the heartless creatures. I reached up to remove the Wolf Mask. It seemed fitting that the Orgs' end stemmed from one of their own creations. Without the Mask, I don't think we could have even hoped to stop Master Org, let alone destroy him. The victory had come at a heavy price though. The Orgs had destroyed our villages, torn down our Sacred Palace, and even managed to destroy Animus, the mighty Lord of the Wild Zords. Although his wisdom and strength would be sorely missed, we would prevail. We would restore our land and make it greater than before, and the Sacred Palace would rise again. With the Great Battle over, the Animarium could be restored to the earth, and Shayla, O my beloved Princess Shayla, would be awakened from her slumber. At long last, my love and I would be reunited, and we could begin our lives together. For the first time in a long while, my future looked bright.
Touching the Mask, I felt a strange tingling sensation in my fingers and face. Jerking my hand away, I stared at the streaks of silver light that were rapidly encircling my gauntlet. As the silver streaks took on a dark purplish shade, I felt the tingling on my face increase, and I was filled with the sudden urge to remove the Mask immediately. I tugged sharply at the mouth of the Mask, and felt a pull on my own lips as the blasted thing refused to come off. I pulled and pulled until it felt like my face would be ripped off, but still the accursed Mask held fast. A terrible shock came over me. Accursed? Had the legend of the Wolf Mask not told of the terrible curse that befell all who dared to put it on? I grappled with the Mask, desperate to escape whatever it was that was happening to me. I cursed myself a thousand times over. How could I have been so foolish? The elders had warned me. "Beware the Curse of Zen-Aku," they had said. But like a fool I dismissed their wise words, thinking myself invincible. I reached around to the sides of the mask, only to find the edges gone, having melted through my hair and bonded with my skull. I could feel myself changing, my face filling out into the mask, rows of sharp fangs replacing my human molars. "No!" I screamed out. The victory against the Orgs would mean nothing if I became the successor to their fallen master. My life, seeming so bright just moments before, was rapidly falling apart. There was no way that Shayla could possibly accept me in my wretched state, and without the power of my Lunar Cue, the Animarium would remain suspended in the sky forever. Finally giving up any hope of escaping the Mask's power, I cried out in pain and collapsed weeping on the control console of the Predazord. The tears burned like fire on my no longer human face, and I watched helplessly as the changes overtook me. I watched the white and silver of my treasured Animarian Warrior uniform melt and deform, hardening into sinister midnight black armor. I watched my hands sprout the claws of a murderous beast. And as I felt my face become one with the Mask, and the horn of an Org sprout from my brow, I knew that all hope was lost. I had become the Beast.
I lifted my head up from the console, my vision blurred by human tears that still clung to inhuman eyes. Looking around, the Predazord seemed twisted and deformed. The place where I had bonded heart and soul with my Wild Zord friends now seemed cold and brutal. Just thinking about all the battles we had won together made this new darkness all the more unbearable. I looked out at the remnants of our last victory. Together, my Wild Zords and I had been an unstoppable force. Nothing could have defeated us. I braced myself, preparing for my inevitable rejection from the cockpit. I waited, and waited, and waited some more, but nothing happened. I didn't understand. The Zords had never allowed an Org within their beings before, so why now? It was then that it dawned on me. In infusing the Zords with the power of the Wolf Mask, I had cursed them as well as myself. Even now that I had become the enemy, the Predazord would remain under my control, and with the increased power the Wolf Mask had granted, we would create more destruction and chaos than Master Org could have even hoped to accomplish. I had not destroyed the evil, only substituted it for a greater monstrosity. In refusing to heed the curse, I had doomed not only myself, not only Animaria, but the entire world.
I gritted my teeth, my fangs, together in determination. I could not allow this to happen. I would not allow this to happen. All the striving and suffering of my people could not and would not be in vain. My fate was sealed, but Animaria could still be saved if I moved fast. I could already feel the brutal Org mind surfacing in the back of my head. I burst out of the Predazord, taking the Animal Crystals with me as I half leapt; half fell to the earth below. I hit the ground running, stumbling over rocks and roots as I listened to the Predazord disengage behind me. I knew that as long as the cursed Wild Zords remained in their hiding places, the world would be safe from their terrible destructive power. If my plan succeeded, the Predazord and its once human master would never rise again to threaten the world.
They were there waiting for me, the only five people in the world who could do what had to be done. The Sacred Warriors of Animaria. They had obviously seen the battle between Master Org and I, and they had seen me leave the Predazord at its end. Not one of them knew what to think. Wild Zords only served the people of Animaria, yet they had just witnessed their greatest enemy destroyed by a Megazord under Org command. It was impossible. It violated everything they had been taught, everything that their fight against the Orgs had relied upon. And yet, there I was, a living testament to what they had just seen. None of them dared approach me, until one small, blue-scarved Warrior took a tentative step forward.
"Merrick?" she asked, her voice uncertain. I took a deep breath, trying to hold back the Org presence long enough to say what had to be said.
"Yes, Mylana, it's me," I answered, the words feeling strange in my new fang-filled mouth. Not giving them a chance to respond, I continued, fighting the pain in the back of skull. "I used the Wolf Mask to defeat Master Org, but now I can't remove it! It's making me evil. Soon, it will control me, and make me attack you!" The pain surged up again in the back of my head as the Org presence battled my mind for control. I was suddenly on my knees, grasping at the side of the Mask - my face - trying to make the pain go away. The moment it subsided, I continued speaking, desperate to get the words out while there was still time. "You must destroy me! I beg you! It is the only way for you to remain safe!" I attempted to stand and approach them, but the struggle was weakening me, and I fell into Tandor's arms. As he caught me, I could almost feel the pity-filled eyes burning through the top of my skull.
"No!" he shouted out. "We will not harm a friend!" I looked up with what I hoped was an expression of surprise. I had never expected them to give in to my demand, but I couldn't let them know that, I couldn't let them see any sign of human rationality left in me, or else they wouldn't be able to make themselves destroy me. The Warriors of Animaria would only attack for one of two reasons, either to stop a heartless destructive force, like the Org, or else in self-defense.
"You don't understand," I cried, "I can't control it much longer!" Then I released all the pent-up pain of fighting the Org mind, and let out a howl no human could have made. Had I still been human, it would have made my own blood run cold. I pulled away from Tandor and staggered off, screaming in agony and clutching at my face. Suddenly taking control again, I dropped my hands to my sides. It took an incredible amount of willpower, but gave the appearance of an absolute physical and mental surrender. I quickly turned to face them, letting out a deep snarl that came all too easily to my wolfish throat. There was suddenly a wickedly curved black blade in my hand. I had no clue where it came from, but felt it would suffice for the task at hand. As I swung my Crescent Blade around in front of me, I could see Rowan reach for his Saber. Good. My apparent breakdown of humanity had weakened their resolve. I leapt towards them, wildly swinging my Blade like a mindless brute. My movements and speech had become purely animalistic. In their eyes, I had become a crazed beast, bent on ripping them apart. I suppose that was true in a way. The Org mind roared for the sight of their spilt blood. Its rage allowed me to play my part to perfection. The incredible bestial strength behind my attack blinded them to the fact that my blows were purposely avoiding them. What must have seemed like an animal frenzy was in fact a coldly calculated attack designed to fail.
Their last bit of resolve must have finally broken down, because before I knew it, Rowan was slashing me across the chest with his Crystal Saber. And before I could even react, I felt the sting of another saber in my spine. The pain was bittersweet as young Mylana made the next blow across my armored chest plate. As the five Warriors surrounded me, I prepared for what was to come. Still reeling from the blows, I could barely discern what they were doing. My mind cleared a bit just as I heard noble Tandor speak out.
"Forgive us, friend. Your sacrifice has saved us all. But we have no choice!" I heard this, and knew I had succeeded. I was ready to embrace death, knowing that to do otherwise would be to doom the world. But instead of feeling the quick release of the combined Crystal Saber blast, I was surrounded by an inferno of fire. Looking around and shielding my face from the flames, I could make out the hazy forms of the Warriors. They had formed a circle around me, each with his or her own Crystal Saber embedded in the soil before them. My eyes widened as I realized what they were doing. I tried to cry out to them, but my voice was lost in the crackle of the flames. This was not the formation used to destroy Orgs. It was the one used to capture them! Blast! In my planning I had never taken into consideration that they would use the Ring of Power. I thought they would understand that I was just too dangerous for them to take that chance. My pleading cries fell on deaf ears as the flames closed in, growing thicker and thicker, becoming like stone. I was still screaming when the prison formed around me, and through it all I thought I could faintly hear Tandor.
"Sleep peacefully forever, Merrick," I heard him say in a voice like a whisper. Then I heard no more. Nothing but my own hate-filled screams.
"Fools! Cowards! Blast you all to the depths of the Nexus! Come back and destroy me! I thought the Warriors of Animaria were brave! I thought they had honor! You dare leave an Org such as I?! I'll be the death of all of you! I'll destroy everything you love! Come back and kill me! Kill me! Spill my vile Org blood before I spill yours! You can't leave me like this! Finish the job! Don't leave me here! Don't leave me... alone..." I finally broke down and wept. I wept for the life that had been lost to me. I wept to for my beloved Shayla who would never wake as long as the Orgs were gone. I wept for all the hurt the Orgs had caused, and for all the hurt I would cause if I were released. I wept for the few who would miss me and mourn my sacrifice. And lastly, I wept for the right to die that had been stolen from me.
After what seemed like an eternity, I stopped my weeping, exhausted by the seemingly endless sobs that had rippled through my body. I looked at the darkness around me. I had never known such darkness. The coffin was sealed so tight that no light could possibly find its way in. Yes, that's exactly what it was. A stone coffin. I had been buried alive, for I was dead to the eyes of the world. My eyes strained to see through the darkness. I felt so tired. I chuckled a bit at the thought. Where better to rest than one's final resting place? I continued laughing in the dark as I slowly slipped out of consciousness. Just before I fell asleep, I couldn't help but think, with my own laughs echoing through the coffin, that maybe I wasn't so alone after all.