Chapter 1 : Rise in red
Beyond the borders of Earth lies another land and on this land rose a mighty kingdom, Avalon. A civilisation defined by it's mastery of magic and science, and the meeting of the two. Mana-logie they called it and for eons the avalonians prospered all thanks to it. Then came the darkness, from the deeps of their world spawned an army of beings made of metal and clockwork powered by demonic essence. The Mecha Empire was the name of this unstoppable force. Following it's arrival, a great war which lasted half a century erupted. Thousands died, entire cities were burned to the ground and for fifty years it seems as though the avalionians were doomed to defeat at the hand of their enemies, until a light of hope was brought forth in the form of a champion. Alexander Amuro de la Avalon, king of Avalon and the gold ranger, he alone turned the tide of the war. Using a crystal made from a dying star as a power source, the scientist and wizards of Avalon made him a suit of armor.
Avalon, Royal city: two years ago
The city was nothing but ruins ever since it had fallen to the Mecha Empire twenty years earlier. Now the only standing building is the imperial palace built by the mechas on top of the ruins of the royal castle of Avalon. Ever since king Alexander had become the Gold Ranger, the avalonians armies had taken control of every strong hold and pushed back the Mecha Empire until only the Royal city remained under it's control. Fighting erupted in every streets, soldiers were pushing hard on the machines. Luckily for them, the emperor did not know that while the two armies were clashing outside, his worst enemy had infiltrated the palace all thanks to tunnels that had been hidden when he had first invaded the castle.
In the lower levels of the palace, Gold Ranger was making his way to the throne room. Few foot soldiers were remaining, the rest had all exited into the city to fight off the rebels. The avalonian king was coming to an intersection in the corridor where he noticed an enemy coming from the front, a second one from the left and a third from the right.
-So, that's how it's gonna be huh? Said Alexander as he inserted a crystal disk the size of a quarter in a device he wore on his left wrist. PHANTOM STAR FORCE ACTIVATE, he then yelled.
His body shinned a golden light for a second. When the light dissipated, he found himself in a black body suit. He was also wearing black boots with golden shin and fore arm protectors, a golden chest plate and on his head was a black helmet with a golden crown design on it with the contour of the visor golden as well. Gold Ranger brought forth a black sword with golden designs on it and waited for his opponents to be in reach. The left one was the first to attack with a vertical slash. Alexander easily dodged it with a side step and counter-attacked with a horizontal cut decapitating the mechanical creature. The soldier on the right then tried to stab the lone ranger, but it was deflected and countered with a pommel hit from his sword. Gold Ranger then slashed the chest of the middle robot before turning back to finish the right one with a stab of his own. Alex, as he liked to be called by friends, took a moment to catch his breath when he noticed another mechanical soldier coming from the same corridor he had come from. The machine was tripped from behind however by a hooded figure before it could reach the ranger. The new comer quickly picked up the robot's sword and used it to finish it off.
-What are you doing here J.S.? Gold Ranger asked as he walked towards the man in the cloak.
-You really thought I was gonna let do this all by yourself? The young man answer as he pulled the hood on his cloak.
J.S. was only twenty years old, now that his face was no longer hidden, one could see his deep blue eyes and dark blond hair. He quickly got back to his feet, picking up the sword he had use on the robot.
-With all due respect to your title and position, I have dreamed of destroying this place all my life. Do not order me to go back, I don't want to disobey you.
-Stay behind me. Alex said as he let out a sight of desperation.
The two warriors quickly made their way to the throne room, disposing swiftly of all the opposition they encountered until they reached the last corridor that led to the emperor. The door however was guarded by four soldiers who were on high alert, so Alex and J.S. hid out of their sight at the edge of the hallway.
-Careful, if we don't take out these four silently, the emperor will know we're here and he'll escape like the coward that he is. The ranger informed the other man.
-Leave them to me. Go around and destroy the emperor while I distract them. J.S. sudjested.
-Give me a sixty seconds head start.
-You got it.
From his hidden spot J.S. silently counted to sixty while the Gold Ranger went back the way they came from. When the countdown was finished, he charged at the four sentry. Meanwhile, inside the throne room, the Mecha Emperor could hear the commotion on the other side of the door. The monarch looked like a metallic old man with a beard that went mid chest. Preoccupied by what was happening in the city and just outside the door, he never noticed the Gold Ranger entering the room.
-Your rule is at an end usurper. Alex said.
-You are bold, but your foolishness saves me the trouble of looking for you. Now I can end the royal lineage. The emperor proclaimed.
-No, even if I fall, there is another and more phantom star crystal. The ranger answered as he lifted his sword and charged at his opponent.
A blood colored sword appeared it the emperor's hand which he used to block Alexander's initial assault. Many more hits were exchanged with such strength and ferocity that sparks flew from the blades each time they came into contact. So focus on the fight were the two combatants that neither of them noticed a third presence entering the room. It was J.S., he had just finished dispatching the four sentries and thought he would go the aid of the king, but after witnessing the intensity of the duel, he chose otherwise and kept to the shadows observing the fight.
The battle between the two rulers had been going on for a few minutes now with no end in sight.
-You seem to be tiring human. I, however, will never slow down, I am a machine after all, powered by demonic forces. Claimed the emperor with confidence.
-Yes indeed, however, you seem to be growing over confident, big mistake. Gold Ranger answered with a smile hidden under his helmet.
What the evil monarch thought to be fatigue was actually a feint by the ranger to have the evil machine lower it's defences. And so an opening presented itself to the true king of Avalon, which he didn't hesitate to exploit. He stabbed his opponent right in the center of it's chest. When Alexander pulled out his sword, a black fluid poured out of the Mecha Emperor and splashed all over the king. The liquid then turned into an eerie black smoke which penetrated Alex's helmet forcing him to breath it in. Alexander screamed in pain as he bent forward as if someone had stabbed him in the guts.
When the pain was gone, Alexander canceled his transformation and returned to his human form. His eyes however, had an evil red glow in them. From his point of view in the shadows, J.S. had understood what transpired before his eyes, the Gold Ranger was being possessed by the demonic essence that escaped the emperor when it was impaled earlier. Alex walked slowly to the throne and sat on it. The huge chair gave whoever was siting on it control over the mechanical armies. When the ranger took place on it, he turned his attention to the city and ordered the soldiers to retreat.
-This world is already mine. I'll hide the mecha soldiers for now and replenish their numbers. With the resources of Avalon at my disposal, I should be able to easily conquer other worlds. Alex said to himself, his voice distorted by the dark forces inside of his body.
Having witness all of this, J.S. discretely exited the throne room then the palace. Once outside, he knew his options were limited and with the king as his new found enemy, his best hope for survival was exile, at least until he found the other crystals, like the one the king used, and the warriors who can wield their power. The young man also knew that the wizards would have send them to a world beyond this one where the Mecha Empire would have never imagined existed, a planet called Earth.
Planet Earth, San Angel city: present day
San Angel was a busy city, in the lights of day, it's streets were crowded with pedestrians and cars. Down the main boulevard was walking a young man, the very same that had witness the final battle between the Gold Ranger and the Mecha Emperor two years earlier, J.S.. Ever since the end of the battle, he had been hiding on Earth, adapting to the local customs. His hair had been cut short and he traded his avalonian clothes and cloak for a more discreet outfit composed of black leather boots, black cargo pants, a red t-shirt and a black jacket. So lost in thoughts he was that he didn't notice the girl and boy in front of him until the three collided into each other.
-Ouch, hey watch where you're going. Said the girl as she felled down.
-Sorry, I guess I was somewhere else. J.S. answered as he got up and offered his hand to the girl to help her up.
She gladly accepted his help and got quickly back on her feet. Only when she was up and close to him did J.S. noticed the pendant she was wearing, a simple silver chain but attached to it was a blue crystal circle the size of a quarter.
-I'm okay, no need to worry. Said the boy as he slowly got up.
When J.S. looked at him, he noticed the boy was also wearing a pendant, another crystal disk identical to girl's but this one was yellow. The avalonian took a moment to observe the two young people in front of him. The girl was about twenty years old, she had shoulder length light blond hair, soft crystal blue eyes, five feet and eight inches tall. She was wearing running shoes, dark blue jeans pants, a white tank top and sky blue hoodie. The boy was the same age as his friend, he had brown eyes and hair, he was five feet ten inches tall. He wore black skating shoes, black jeans pants, a dark yellow t-shirt and a white open shirt. Could these two really be the allies I've been looking for? J.S. thought to himself.
-I'm really sorry about this. I'm… J.S. started but was interrupted by screams of terror coming from behind him.
As he turned around, the young man saw smoke in the sky and people running away from it's point of origin.
At the base of the smoke, mecha soldiers had appear and were attacking everything in sight. These robotics creatures had black metallic bodies, their forearms, hands, shins and feet were grey. Their head was also grey and they had four eyes that were glowing red, two on the left side of their faces and two the right. Some of them had short swords in their hands while others had laser canon instead of their right hand. The robots were too busy with their task at hand to notice a presence watching them from a hidden spot in a back alley nearby. The presence was none other than J.S. who had made his way to the scene when he heard the screams.
-So they finally made their way to Earth. J.S. said to himself as he watched from his hiding spot.
The avalonian warrior took his hand to his neck and pulled a pendant out of his t-shirt. The jewel was a red crystal disk attached to a silver chain from which it was quickly detached by the young man. Then he inserted the disk in a device that was attached to his left wrist. When looking at the device, one could see the disk through the lid, a light was turned on in the device and the image of a dragon's head could be seen on the crystal.
-PHANTOM, J.S. shouted as he lifted his left fist above his head. STAR FORCE, he yelled next as he brought his right fist so that his arms would cross at the wrist. ACTIVATE, he finally screamed as he brought his fists at the height of his belt, one on each side of his waist.
J.S. jumped into the air as a transparent red dragon entered his body through his back. J.S.'s whole body then caught on fire. When the flames died out a second later, he was wearing his ranger suit. After he landed, the dragon's head appeared again and covered his head before transforming into his helmet.
The newly morphed Red Ranger walked out of the alley slowly and full of confidence. The legs of his suit were black, he wore red boots that went mid shin and a golden belt around his waist. His torso was red, on the center of his chest was a dragon's head drawn in a circle. On his shoulder he had armoured plates that were crafted to look like a dragon's paws each holding a blue sphere. His arms were black and he wore red gloves that went mid forearms. His helmet was red and was crafted to look like a dragon's head with it's opened mouth as the visor.
-Fire dragon ranger, J.S. said as he lifted his right hand and then gave it a quick shake as if it were on fire and he wanted to blow it out before he rushed at the soldiers.
To be continued…