Chapter Three: United
"So what was that all about? Those two demon women?" Jacquie asked when Christina returned.
"A little bit." Christina lied with a smile. "Come on, let's have that movie party like we planned." And she hurried inside after petting each of her cats.
"Christina, how long have you been a Power Ranger…?" Jacquie asked, following her friend. She wasn't going to back down that easily. "And not even told me?"
"Only a week or two at the most…" Christina said.
"But why didn't you tell me?" Jacquie asked.
"Honestly, I couldn't…" Christina replied. "It's one of the taboos of being a Power Ranger. Each one of us must follow all of the taboos. If we don't, I have the feeling serious consequences will occur."
"What are you talking about?" Jacquie asked as they headed to the kitchen.
"Think of it… If we were to go blurting out that we were Power Rangers… It wouldn't just be us that would be in danger. Our family, friends… Possibly everyone that we know could become the target of our enemy… Whose face hasn't even been shown to us yet."
"Okay, okay, spare me the lecture." Jacquie said, throwing her hands up as if to admit defeat.
Christina smiled as she put a bag of popcorn into the microwave.
"You failed me again, Izor." Zephron growled.
"I am sorry, but the Rangers are awakening faster than I had expected them to… I have already put a new plan into place." Izor said.
"Good. I will not tolerate another failure." Zephron said, his eyes growing darker than usual.
"Three strikes and you're out, kiddo." Char's voice came from the shadows.
"Calm down, my apprentice…" Zephron said, though he looked highly amused at the affect that Chars' words had on Izor. "We need to find the last ranger before they do…"
"Which ranger is that, my lord…?" Izor asked.
"The one that has the blessings of the planet of Fire, Mars… The Red Ranger." Zephron stated firmly.
"So this one also controls an element of nature?" Izor inquired.
"No, he controls the land of the pixies… Of course he controls an element of nature you imbecile." Zephron snapped. "Proceed with your plan." He ordered, still in a snappish tone of voice.
"Y-yes, My Lord." Izor bowed.
Izor watched as his master left silently.
"You heard him, Ruma." Izor ordered to a shadow in a corner.
"Yes, Master Izor… Operation Recap will commence shortly." A hiss of a voice answered.
In the Seymour household, a seventeen-year-old teenager was excitedly anticipating the return of his older brother, Ray. This teenagers' name was Eric Seymour and his older brother, Ray, was returning for the weekend to get away from his college studies and his new job. Eric hadn't seen his older brother for over a year now, because of all the homework he had and how much school he had been undertaking, but apparently Ray finally had some free time.
Eric watched from the living room window for his brothers' car- a green aqua colored ford aspire- to pull up in the driveway. He and his family lived up in the mountains, and because of that, it was always colder than down in the valley, and it took a lot longer for people to find their house. He got impatient, and decided to go to the kitchen for some hot cocoa.
He got a mug out and poured some tap water in it. He then placed his hand under the mug and a small red flame appeared just below it, bringing the water to a simmer. The flame disappeared, and he brought out a small back of hot cocoa powder and poured it in. Just as the cocoa was looking like it was ready to be drunk, Eric heard the sound of a car approaching, and a door opening and closing, then the entrance to the house opening and closing.
"Hey, guys, I'm here!" Came Rays' voice.
"Awesome! I'm just getting some cocoa ready, want some?" Eric called back from the kitchen.
"Sure, I'll put my stuff in the extra room…" Ray nodded and he went upstairs.
"Hey, Ray, can I talk to you about something?" Eric asked when his brother came back down.
"What? You got girl troubles or something?" Ray asked with a slight grin as he took his mug.
"No, nothing like that… But…" Eric sat down on his favorite recliner. "I think I might have special powers or something, bro… You know, like how you always seemed to be able to control storms and stuff?"
"Yeah." Ray said, nodding, suddenly very interested to hear what his younger brother had to say.
"I think I can control fire… I mean, I can make it appear just by thinking I need some, and I was able to use it to heat up the cocoa just now." Eric said. He raised up his right hand and a ball of red-orange flame appeared in his hand.
"Cool… Just don't use your powers frivolously… Oh, hey, I forgot something in my car. You wait here and I'll be right back, ok?" Ray stood up and drained his cup of cocoa.
Eric nodded and watched as his brother left. Unfortunately, he couldn't see outside because the weather had suddenly turned bad.
"Hey, Zephlin… I think I may have found our next Power Ranger." Ray said into his communicator.
"You really believe so? So soon?" Zephlin's surprised voice answered. "Who, then?"
"My brother… He seems to have control over fire… He has much more control over his powers than the rest of us did…" Ray answered.
"If that is so, then Zephron will surely try to claim his power…" A red column of light shone down from the sky and a silver watch with a thin, red band around the clock appeared in Ray's hands. "Give that to your brother… If the powers have accepted him, he will become the Red Ranger of Elysion…You know the drill, Ray."
"Right." Ray nodded.
"Is that all?" Zephlin asked.
"Yep." Ray responded.
"Good… Let me know the minute anything happens. That's all." Zephlin said, and he cut the communication.
Ray then pretended to go out to his car, where his brother could see him, and rummage around for something before closing the door and heading back into the house.
"Did you get what you were looking for?" Eric asked.
"Yep." Ray tossed his younger brother the watch.
"Awesome!" Eric said, his eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree. "I've always wanted one of these kind of watches… Cool."
"Thought you might like it." Ray chuckled. "Now c'mon, let's watch a movie or play a video game." He said as his brother put the 'watch' on.
Christina was looking out the window of her back porch in silence. She was watching the birds pecking away at the bugs in the grass. She sighed.
"Christina, you're missing the good part in the movie!" Jacquie shouted over the loud, thunderous soundtrack from the movie that was playing in the living room. "Why did you just leave all of a sudden?"
"Something's coming…" Christina said quietly, but still loud enough for her friend to hear. Jacquie stopped the movie and walked over.
"Something's… coming?" Jacquie blinked at her friend.
"Yes… Something is coming… Can't you feel it?" Christina asked. Her voice was strangely different, as though that of a child had taken her over. Her eyes seemed void of any life that had shown through before.
"Christina… What are you talking about?" Jacquie asked, feeling slightly disturbed on the inside. "I don't understand what you are saying…"
"Light and dark… The two call each other… Light and dark… The two cannot exist without one or the other… They are coming…" Christina said, looking now up at the sky as though in a trance. "Battles, hopes, dreams, loss… All exist to form what we know to be human…"
"Christina? What's wrong? You're freaking me out, girl…!" Jacquie grabbed her friends' shoulders and shook her. "I don't see where you're getting at with all of this gibberish!"
"Humanity is made up of millions of neurons, and of DNA… But so are other creatures as well… Do we have the right to fight the other beings because we do not see eye-to-eye? The knowledge one can gain in their search for the answers to what makes us human is infinite… Yet even now, we do not know what creates our powers… We are but mere fledglings in a tradition long upheld by those who are considered righteous." Christina turned to her friend, her eyes were gray, and that startled Jacquie. Instead of the usual, brilliant emerald green, her eyes were dull gray. It was as though she were a different person. "When you realize what it is exactly that gives us our powers… What it is exactly that we are fighting for… Then, my friend, you and I will see eye to eye."
"Christina… Snap out of it…" Jacquie shook slightly.
Christina looked at her, and blinked. The emerald green light her eyes usually revealed shone through that gray blackness.
"Jacquie? What's wrong?" Christina asked. "You look pale… Like you've seen a ghost or something."
"You mean you… don't remember?" Jacquie blinked, her hands were still on Christina's shoulders.
"What is it, Jacquie?" Christina asked out of genuine concern. Her voice was back to normal. "What is it that I'm supposed to remember?"
Jacquie stared at her friend for several moments. Had she gone into a genuine trance? But why? Talk to Zephlin. A small voice said inside her. Tell him about it before you forget.
"Um… Hey, I just remembered I forgot something at the store, so I'll… Um… be right back." Jacquie said.
"What did you forget? I might already have it here so you won't have to go all the way to the store." Christina suggested as her friend went over to get her purse.
"No, no! It's something special… You just stay here and get some rest, you look like you might be coming down with something again." Jacquie said as honestly as she could.
Christina watched as her friend left in a hurry. What happened? Did I do something that I wasn't supposed to? Or did I say something wrong? I just went over for some fresh sunlight… She raised her hands up so that she could look at them at eye level. I can feel a change within me… Something is trying to get out of me…I can't let it… Not yet anyways… I have to hold it in… But why?
"So the Rangers are continuing to awaken to their powers faster than probably their fool of a leader even expected…" Zephron muttered from his throne. "It won't be long now… Unless we stop themnow. I hope Izor has come up with a plan that will make up for his last failures."
"Master, wouldn't the Ranger we should be most concerned about is the Gold Ranger?" Chars' voice came from the shadows behind him again. "If I remember correctly, the Gold Ranger is the Key to uniting the Crystal."
"Each of the Rangers of Elysion holds a part of the Key… But you are right… the Gold Ranger is the one who holds the most important part. Without each of the Rangers, the Crystal cannot be summoned… and only the purest hearts are chosen to be the Guardians of the Crystal, as I have stated before… Char… I want you to send the Army of Hibiku1… To keep the Rangers busy and possibly capture one of them… I don't trust that Izor will succeed in his mission this time…"
"Yes my Lord." Char's voice sounded excited and slightly anxious. It was finally his turn to please Zephron.
Char looked as though he was only ten years old physically, but the look in his eyes was that of an experienced warrior. His eyes were a deep teal blue, and his hair was black like his masters', only his own hair was straight and went just above his shoulders. He wore a black long sleeved shirt, black pants, and black shoes.
He stopped walking when he reached the outside of the ship. And began to summon the Army of the Hibiku. The army was made up of a group of creatures that looked like armored men, with dark, shoulder length dread-locks. Their eyes were dark, and cat-like, and their teeth were more like fangs.
"What is thy bidding, master?" The soldier with dark armor said with a hiss like a snake.
"I want you to go to the surface and bring me the Gold Ranger…" Char said, raising his right hand in front of them. As he did so, a rectangular screen appeared in front of him, and an image of the Gold Ranger appeared in both normal form, and battle form. "But I will need some of you to keep the other members of her team busy, as well."
"Don't worry, master. We will take care of them." The leader of the army bowed, then he barked out the order that half of the group would find the others, while the rest of them would take care of the Gold Ranger. Then the group vanished with a hiss, and a poof of black light.
Jacquie teleported in front of Zephlin, who looked surprised.
"What is it, Jacquie?" Zephlin asked.
"Something strange happened to Christina…" Jacquie said after a few moments of silence.
"Strange? What do you mean by that?" Zephlin looked concerned, and Jacquie explained what had happened.
"So what should we do…?" Jacquie asked after she was done, and there was no response for a while.
"We should wait, and if anything else happens to her, and you're around, bring her here—" Zephlin began, but a sudden loud screeching, like that of a bird sounded.
"What in the heck is that…?" Jacquie felt like she was shouting to make herself heard over the screeching noise that came from nowhere as she held her hands over her ears.
"My Phoenix… He looks out for trouble and alerts me if there is any." Zephlin answered. He raised his hand and pointed to the large stone that was shaped like a giants' chair, opposite of the waterfall. Jacquie turned and saw the stone morph into a large, glowing box.
Cool. Jacquie thought as she watched the box glow silvery-white, but in the next instant she was repulsed by the sight of the ugliest army she had ever seen.
"The Hibiku…" Zephlin growled.
"The what?" Jacquie asked, blinking in her confusion.
"The Hibiku… an Army that Zephron has control over. Light cannot stop them, as with most demons of the underworld… They were bred to be fierce fighters to the end and anyone they bite turns into one of their kind."
"Like vampires." Jacquie said.
"Yes… Exactly like vampires." Zephlin nodded. "Only more deadly."
"Joy." Jacquie sighed, speaking in high sarcasm.
"Guys!" Ray's voice came over their communicators. "We need help here!"
"Morph into the Rangers… Tell your brother how to." Zephlin said.
"Roger that, Zephlin." Ray's voice confirmed that he heard him.
"Jacquie, go help them. I will alert Christina and Spike." Zephlin instructed her.
"Right!" Jacquie nodded, getting into position to morph. "Elysion Silver Ranger, transform!" She said, and was soon off to the battlefield to help Ray and the new Red Ranger.
"Uh… bro… what's going on here…?" Eric asked as the Hibiku appeared in the front yard and surrounded the house.
"Too much to explain, too little time." Ray answered. "Save it for when we're out of this."
"We…?" Eric blinked, looking at his older brother.
"Yeah… Listen, Eric you know that watch I gave you?" Ray said, looking back at him.
"Yes…" Eric answered slowly.
"Well, watch what I do…" Ray instructed. He held up his watch, and pressed down on the clock while saying, "Elysion Green Ranger transform!"
Eric's eyes went wide when the Green Ranger appeared before him.
"Whoa…! You're a Power Ranger?" He half-shouted in his amazement.
"Yeah, and so are you. All you have to do is what I did, only you are the Red Ranger." Ray explained.
"Awesome…" Eric said, and he imitated what his brother did, while saying, "Elysion Red Ranger transform!"
"Ray, I'm sending the others over to help you." Zephlin said over the communicator.
"Who's that guy?" Eric asked.
"He's the one who gives us the orders… You'll meet the others soon, too." Ray answered. "But for now… how bout you try out your new powers as the Red Ranger?"
"Let's go, brother." Eric nodded, and they both headed out the door ready to fight. Eric's outfit was colored a deep shade of crimson red, with black vertical stripes down his arms and legs like the others.
"So you're finally here Power Rangers…" The leader of the group hissed at them.
"Man, you're an ugly one." Ray said.
"Tell you the truth, brother… I think they're all ugly." Eric said, and Ray chuckled.
"You won't be so humorous when we're done with you…" One of the soldiers said. He unsheathed a scimitar blade, the other soldiers followed suit.
"Aw, come on… one thousand against two? That's not very fair." Eric said casually. He knew he had weapons, but right now he wanted to fight with the good old martial arts.
"How about we even up the odds?" Spike and Jacquie's voices came from the sidelines.
"Cool, you made it… Where's Christina?" Ray noticed there was one that was missing.
"She's not here yet?" Jacquie asked, concerned even more now about her friend.
"Zephlin, Christina's not here." Ray said.
"I'll look for her, you take care of the Hibiku." Zephlin replied.
"Right." Ray nodded.
Eric watched as the other Rangers prepared their weapons for attack, or defense. Whichever came first.
"Looks like a good old fashioned stand-off in the mountains." Eric said, getting into his own fighting position.
"Christina, where are you? The others need you." Zephlins' voice sounded over the communicator, but Christina had no chance to respond. She had already transformed, and was fighting using both of her swords to cut through the army.
"Sorry, Zephlin… I'm a little tied up right now." Christina finally had a chance to pause, but only for a moment. It took all of her concentration to use both swords at once to cut through the army that looked like a bunch of armored vampires in dreadlocks.
"I'm going to be on my way to help you, then." Zephlin said after a few moments of thinking while the sound of sword battle echoed throughout the clearing as though the battle were taking place right there.
"What?" Christina found herself exclaiming in surprise. It was a moment of surprise that the enemy took advantage of, and used an attack that Christina had no idea that even existed.
The army surrounded her, and held their swords up to the sky.
"Strings of the Sinner come to us and lend us your strength. Siege upon this warrior with your shrill truth and make her heart shudder… Hoshi no Zo… Hareru, Tsutomeru Korosu2!"
Christina looked around, and saw the soldiers fade away into a darkness that suddenly surrounded her. Her heart began to race as she looked around for an escape from this nightmare of darkness. The next thing she knew, she felt an incredible pressure binding her body tightly together. Someone help. She thought, closing her eyes and shutting out the sight of the everlasting darkness around her.
"Christina, hold on!" A familiar voice shouted inside her helmet.
"Zephlin… Where are you?" Christina asked.
Zephlin stood just behind the group of Hibiku warriors that surrounded Christina.
"Over here!" He said, and the Hibiku creatures turned around in an instant.
"So the little worm has decided to show himself!" The leader hissed.
"I'll decide who's the worm here." Zephlin snapped, and he held up his wrist to reveal a watch similar to that of Christina's, only it had a white band around the clock. "Elysion White Ranger, transform!" He said, pressing his hand down on the clock. Within seconds, the White Ranger stood in front of the Hibiku. His outfit was different from the others; there were gold stripes like lightning going vertically, and on his chest was what looked like a golden crest with a white wingless dragon encircling a gold star. His helmet was white, and had the same pattern as the other Rangers did.
"Another one…?" The leader growled.
"That's right… Elysion White Ranger at your service." Zephlin said. On his waist was a sheath, with a sword that had a white and gold handle on it. He unsheathed the sword. "And you'd better let the young lady go, or you'll get a taste of my own brand of power." He ordered.
"You, order us around? Now that is an interesting proposition… Here's ours… You leave us alone, the Gold Ranger lives… you see this isn't just a column of black gravity… it also rips the person's body apart from the inside out upon our command… You won't want to be making any sudden movements there, Zephlin."
Ray, Eric, Spike and Jacquie were all standing there, still in their morphed states with their weapons at ready, waiting for the Hibiku to make their first move. Finally, the leader of the Hibiku let out an ear-piercing screech, and the creatures lunged forward, swords outstretched towards the Rangers, and fangs ready to bite.
"Here they come…" Spike grumbled, readying his staff.
Within seconds, the two sides collided with each other
"Lightning Arrow Strike!" Ray said loudly, releasing his two arrows from the bow that he held at the ready.
"Life Drain!" Jacquie yelled, holding up her scythe to the air.
Two arrows became several streaks of green light, and the scythe generated an energy force that could only be felt by the enemy, which faded into a dust like form on the ground. The creatures affected by Ray's attack exploded upon impact with the green arrows of light.
"Wow… that's totally different from before." Spike noted out loud.
"It's probably because we're all together as a team now." Jacquie nodded. "It's just like the old saying 'individually, the powers are small, but together people can do great things.' "
"Well… for starters, let's kick those tin cans out of town." Eric said as the Hibiku prepared for another onslaught. He didn't want to use his weapons unless absolutely necessary. He noted that he had two twin daggers along with two blasters. The blasters were crimson red, while the daggers' hilts and handles were crimson red as well.
"Let's go." Ray fitted two more arrows to his bow, and the others prepared to go and meet the Hibiku.
"Ready!" The rest of the team said, and Ray released his two arrows, which once again became several streaks of piercing green light, allowing the others to attack while the Hibiku were distracted.
"I've got a better plan…" Zephlin said, holding his sword with the tip pointed at the army. "Ice Fury!" He shouted, and the sword glowed an eerie blue-white light, which then let out a bang like a shotgun, that released thousands of shards of pure ice crystals at the Hibiku. The shards then stopped in midair surrounding the individual soldiers.
"You've got to do better than that if you're going to stop us!" The leader shouted, laughing.
At that very moment, however, the ice shards began to expand in their size, soon engulfing the soldiers under one large iceberg that shattered and faded away. This left the column of dark energy that imprisoned Christina.
"Christina, use your attack to weaken the force field from the inside… then I'll take care of the rest from here." He instructed her over the communicator.
"Right." Christina nodded, standing up as best she could under the weight of the gravity. She then unsheathed her swords, and directed them towards the sky. "Solar Eclipse Meteor Shower!" She shouted. The column of black light soon became a column of gold light, and for a moment, the effects of the gravity did not impact Christina at all as the column was being weakened by her attack on it. "It's all yours, Zephlin." Christina said after the light faded away.
"Right… Get as far away from the front of the column as you can." Zephlin instructed.
She took several paces backward.
"Okay, Zephlin."
Zephlin nodded, and ran towards the column of black energy. When he reached it, he thrust his sword into the wall, and the wall slowly began to shatter. Then, all at once, it exploded and faded away.
"Thanks for your help… Now I need to go help the others." Christina sheathed her swords and prepared herself for transportation.
"I'll come with you… I imagine the other half of this army is keeping them pretty busy." The White Ranger, Zephlin, nodded.
"Right." Christina then prepared to transport herself to the spot that the others were at, Zephlin along with her.
The sound of swords and other weapons clashing could be heard in the mountains, and the four other Elysion Rangers were fighting hard now just to stay on their feet, having resorted to using their weapons- even Eric used his daggers now, as they were more effective than martial arts- and were surrounded by the Hibiku army.
"Why don't you surrender, Rangers?" The leader hissed. "It'll make our job easier for us."
"How about not?" Ray snapped, fitting two more arrows to his bow.
"Don't you ever run out of those?" The leader hissed angrily, having now grown a great dislike for the Green Rangers' Lighting Arrows.
"Fortunately for us, no. But that's the unfortunate news for you beasts." Ray smiled beneath his helmet.
"Solar Eclipse Meteor Shower!"
"Ice Fury!"
Two voices seemed to come from nowhere, and the Hibiku was covered in what looked like a crystallized ice glacier, seconds later the Gold Rangers' familiar attack annihilated the ice glacier in a flash of golden yellow light.
"Aw, come on… Can't a guy have any fun once in a while?" Ray said in a tone that sounded exactly the opposite of what he said.
"You'll get your chance, Ray." Zephlin's voice came from their right.
The Green, Red, Blue and Silver Rangers all turned to see the Gold Ranger, and yet another member to their team standing there.
"Woah… who's the dude in the white spandex?" Eric asked.
Christina had to cough violently in order to cover up her outburst of laughter, the others had to do similar various things to hide their outbursts of laughter at the Red Rangers blunt question.
"Let's all head back to the clearing." The White Ranger said. His posture was that of a strong man, but currently, his voice sounded highly amused.
"Right." The Rangers automatically nodded.
There were several moments of silence between them as they teleported out of the mountains and to Zephlins' clearing, where everyone but the Gold Ranger got the shock of their lives to learn that Zephlin was indeed the White Ranger when he un-morphed.
"Rangers, you did very well today, I am proud of you." Zephlin said. "And to answer your question, Red Ranger, I was that dude in the white spandex." He added, barely able to restrain himself from grinning ear to ear. "Now the team is complete, and I think it is safe to say that a good rest is in order before I explain everything to you… I will call you each tomorrow, and you will learn the truth about your mission, and why you have been called upon to protect this solar system."
"Wait… solar system?" The Red Ranger asked.
"I will explain everything tomorrow… But first… You must know the taboos of being a Power Ranger of Elysion now." Zephlin said, and the Rangers fell silent. "First, you must never reveal your true identity… Doing so could endanger all who are around you, and all that you hold dear to yourself. Second, just because you can control the elements of this universe does not mean that you can use them frivolously… Doing so will cause the powers to rebound against you, and destroy you. You must use extreme caution when transforming, and when you're morphed. As your physical strength increases, so will your powers and abilities. And finally, never use your powers to attack, unless you are attacked first… You must always answer a call from me, or any other members of the team. Because anything can happen at any time, and in order to complete your mission, you must work as a team. Do you accept these terms, Rangers?"
"Yes, sir." They each said in unison.
"Good." Zephlin looked highly pleased. "Now, go and rest up… Tomorrow you will learn the true objections of your missions. I want you to be at your best so you can focus and remember what I am going to tell you."
1 Hibiku- Japanese for Resound.
2 Hoshi no Zo… Hareru, Tsutomeru Korosu- Statue of Crimson, Swell, Serve, Destroy.