Author's note: I must apologize for this prolonged silence. School has been a real hassle and I've had to put this chapter together one small piece at a time. I will try not to let that happen again. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and I shall get the new one up as soon as I can. I also noticed some inconsistencies in my previous chapters with the numbering. I'll try to stick to words for the numbers from now on. My '***' for the POV also didn't show up in 'City of Ghosts' and it is now too late to fix them. Sorry! I'm going to insert horizontal rulers from now on.
Chapter Five: In Terrorem
Violet tapped her hands, rhythmically, upon her desk in homeroom. The plain white tiles on the floor, light blue paint upon the walls, and the whiteboard mounted behind the teacher's desk were a sight that any student would take for granted. It was getting close to 9 o'clock and there was still no sign of Ryan yet. Come to think of it, she didn't see Mr. Oliver anywhere either. She stopped rapping her palms against the wooden surface when she noticed that people were staring. With a blush, and a nervous chuckle, Violet slumped back into her seat.
It was just last night that Ryan went to explore a haunted house and became trapped inside. She vividly remembered how, in a moment of panic, she sought out Ryan's Uncle Tom for help. Ryan's guardian now knew everything, especially the fact that she and Ryan are Power Rangers. Violet thought more about how unhappy Tom looked when he told Violet to just go home and that he would go to the mansion to fetch Ryan himself. The science teacher also instructed her to not worry and just go to school like she normally would.
Wait a minute, she was listening to what someone told her to do? If Ryan didn't have to come to school, neither did she. She had a right to know what was happening. In her mind, she thought of Ryan as her partner. Besides, how could he ever love her if she wasn't near him all the time to show every side of her lovely personality. If being clingy worked for Bella Swan, it would certainly work for her. Ryan could be her Edward! Always running away, but doomed to succumb to her in the end. Or something like that anyway.
Violet waltzed out of the school, after quickly fetching her book bag from her locker. Her morpher and cell phone were contained within the belly of the large toothy brown square that was 'Domo'. She began to skip, as she neared the crosswalk, and merrily sing, "Skipping school! Skipping school!"
"Jesus christ," Ceres growled, holding the accelerator down with her right foot. "The one day I need to borrow the car, you decided to jerk off in the shower and make us all late!"
"Fuck off," replied Remus in protest, narrowing his blue eyes as he stared out the passenger window, "I was not doing that! I get plenty of tail, I don't need to jerk off!"
"Uh huh," grunted Ceres, brushing the wisps of blonde hair out her eyes, she then looked at her little brother and asked, "you mean that confused teenage humping that you think is real sex?"
"Ugh!" he sputtered, looking injured. "You're just bitchy cause you're on the rag."
Her silver eyes widened with rage. He did not just refer to the womanly cycle as THAT? Did he? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. She smiled wickedly as she slammed on the brakes without warning. Cruel laughter escaped her lips as her brother's forehead hit the dashboard.
"AGH! What the fuck?" he hollered at his sister, clutching his forehead and continuing to yell, "ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?"
"Crazy?" Ceres asked, grinning a grin of petty victory, "isn't crazy not wearing your seatbelt?"
"I hate you!" he yelled, unlocking the car and storming out of the vehicle. They were almost in front of the High School anyway. There was definitely going to be a red mark on his forehead for a while. What he didn't realize was the fact that he forgot his grey school bag in the back seat of his silver Pontiac G5 that his parents let her borrow today. Remus lost his car privileges for going over the text limit on his cell phone and making the bill way too high. In his mind, his parents were stupid, it wasn't his fault he was popular.
"Oh my sweet, little sugary, Remmy!" she called out, standing out of the car and dangling his book bag. "You forgot your backpack!" she said, lobbing the book bag several feet over to her brother. He was blushing as he caught it. "Make good choices!"
He turned bright red and stomped away, big sisters were just the worst thing ever. How dare she embarrass him in his domain? The young man disappeared through the front door of the High School, wanting to get as far away as possible. All the while, Ceres stood and enjoyed every second of what she was watching.
"OH MY GOD!" a shrill cry broke the air, Ceres turned around to lock eyes on the source of that noise pollution. "It's Lucy Lawless!" cried Violet, running up to Ceres who was still standing beside the car. "Can I please have your autograph?" asked Violet, her big brown eyes sparkling with reverence for her idol: Xena Warrior Princess.
"Ugh, that's the second time I've heard that," groaned Ceres, standing a few inches taller than the softer and curvier ginger that stood before her. "Hey, Hello Kitty, I'm not Lucy Lawless," she said, looking at Violet's backpack that looked like some crazy jap cartoon character, before pausing to ask, "shouldn't you be running off to class, or something?"
Violet was taken aback as the surprised and appalled gasp pushed out of her throat. She glared and exclaimed, "You're stupid! It's DOMO! HELLO KITTY AND DOMO AREN'T EVEN ON THE SAME NETWORK!"
Ceres heard some of that as she climbed back into the car and sped away before the young red head could finish her sentence. Violet's features scrunched as her disdainful gaze followed the car. Her countenance suddenly relaxed when the car went out of sight. What was she doing again? Oh yes! Going on a quest to make Ryan love her! She'd cut across the Angel Grove Park and get lunch for Ryan from this cute little diner downtown. There was a bus stop nearby and she could ride the public transit to Ryan's house. Her brow furrowed at the thought of having her car keys taken away from her. She had been caught sneaking out with the car last night and was now stuck on foot for the next month.
Azrael stood atop the charred ruins of the Heaven's Way Hotel. Even after a month since the inferno, renovations were delayed. Lately, this was his vantage point of choice. Since last night, he could not help but feel a little stronger. What was the cause for this? What exactly had happened last night to break the seal on his own powers. Ever since the advent of the new Power Rangers and their morphing apparatus, his powers were greatly downsized and he was but a mere shadow of his former self. Whether or not he wanted to admit it, he was tied to them. At least, that was the conclusion that he had arrived at. The new Rangers emerged and were weak, suddenly he was too. This mysterious connection, he would get to the bottom of it soon. He also wanted to find out what had happened to make them all stronger. Just what had transpired on the previous night?
His breath snagged as he sensed something in the Angel Grove Park, not too far from the hotel. The sorcerer had finally found the last Ranger out there, he could sense the Pterodactyl Coin. He had failed to get the Mastodon Coin from Virgil, yet he now had the team in his sight. If they could assemble and grow in power, maybe his powers would return to him.
Azrael smiled darkly beneath the black hood. Thanks to someone's efforts last night, his ability to summon weak and multiple minions returned. That meant that he wouldn't exhaust himself by summoning a lesser demon. No, he could summon dozens of creatures to whittle away at their strength and wipe them out with the invocation of a demon if he chose. Revenants assisted him on battle field in medieval Europe hundreds of years ago, they would assist him again today.
Without further delay, he conjured an elegant and grand scythe. The handle was stark black in contrast to the decorative, and deadly, steel blade that was engraved with large letters to spell 'In Terrorem' which was Latin for 'Upon Fright'. The mystic reached out and took the scythe from where it had appeared. Azrael lifted off of the rooftop, levitating like a vision of the Grim Reaper itself. He was going to formally introduce himself to this new Ranger and unleash a horde of revenants upon Angel Grove as he was suddenly in a playful mood.
"I'm so glad she wasn't Lucy Lawless," grumbled Violet, stomping along the cobblestone pathway of the Angel Grove Park. The deciduous trees rustled in the gentle breeze as the soft rays of sun melted through the leaves, plastering subtle dapples upon the young woman. "Lucy Lawless wouldn't be rude anyway. And what was I thinking? She's fat," Violet hissed, scathingly, "well, maybe not. ARGH! I hope I never see her again!"
Several heads turned in her direction as she stomped by and recited her angry monologue. After several seconds, many of them resumed their own business and forgot about the odd young woman that had passed by.
To reach the Diner, one must veer off of the main path and head through the flower gardens. As Violet came to the fork in the road, she did just that. The flower beds were elevated up off of the ground and enclosed by brick walls, roughly, three feet in height. The pathway moved between two of the large flower beds for a lengthy stretch of the walk. It was a serene walk for many, but absolute hell for those with allergies. There were a wide variety of flowers throughout the flower garden that made for a vibrant display of so many colors, so many symptoms. Anything for Ryan though, anything.
"ACHOO!" she sneezed, wiping her nose with the back of her right hand. Her eyes began to water and the roof of her mouth felt itchy. "I HATE THESE MALICIOUS FLOWERS! THEY WANT ME TO SUFFER!"
In the midst of her ranting and sneezing, she failed to notice the man in black robes that softly landed upon the brick ledge of the flower bed. When she turned around to see a hooded man in black, holding a scythe, she screamed and backed away. Violet stumbled backwards, over the ledge of the opposing flowerbed, and wildly flailed her limbs as she fell into the flowers.
"OH MY GOD!" she screamed, rolling in the flower bed that exacerbated her allergic reaction. "My allergies are killing me and the Grim Reaper is here for my soul! I'm in a rainbow of hell!"
"The Pterodactyl Coin chose you?" he scoffed, rhetorically, watching this pathetic creature succumb to the flowers she fell into. "Truly pathetic indeed."
Violet rose from the flowerbed, petals mashed into her now messed up hair. The young girl was standing in the flowers, wiping her eyes and nose. She met Azrael with an inquisitive stare, through her reddened and irritated eyes.
"Yeah, I mean, how did you know?" she asked, continuing to wipe her nose, her voice nasally from the plugged sinuses. "Wait, I'm not pathetic! I have hidden potential!" exclaimed Violet, looking injured before adding, "besides, you look like a bad Halloween costume! Who are you?"
Azrael shook his head in disgust, disappearing. With any luck, she'd perish at the hands of his Revenants and the Pterodactyl Coin would choose a better candidate. He didn't really care and was somewhat disappointed with this meeting.
"He's gone?" Violet asked herself, leaping down to the cobblestone pathway. "Haha! I scared him away. Suck on that, bitch!"
A bony arm rose from the flowerbed, the dirt rumbling as more followed suit. Violet shrieked as half a dozen skeleton warriors rose from soil like daisies. Their sights were fixed upon auburn haired young woman, yielding the directive to kill her without hesitation.
Naomi strolled along the pathway of the Angel Grove Park as it was a great shortcut from the University to the Diner. The Diner, in the past month, had become a great place to hang out with her new friends, the other two Rangers she knew, Ceres and Milo. Class was cancelled, it looked as though she could meet her friends earlier than expected. The young woman marveled at how beautiful the day was, yet she felt like she couldn't fully appreciate it. Despite the fact that there were no demonic attacks in over a month, it seemed like her and the others were waiting for 'the other shoe to drop' this whole time.
Naturally, the screams and clamor of people fleeing reminded her of how right they were to hold that mindset. Naomi then ran directly against the flow of people, people fleeing whatever was going on up ahead. The commotion seemed to be taking place over at the flower gardens. As she arrived, her soft blue eyes hardened upon the gaggle of undead skeletons trying to have their way with some poor girl. Their bones were black and pieces of dried, broken flesh, hung in rotten chunks from various joints. They only moved due to supernatural influence.
Naomi noticed that this young woman with the wild locks of red hair was holding her own, she was flailing at these skeletons with her 'Domo' back pack and haphazardly mimicking every move from random action movies. Naomi couldn't help but stare as this girl bounced on the balls of her feet, kicked behind her, and tried to strike upon another skeleton with an open palm. It looked ridiculous, but this inexperienced civilian was trying to defend herself while everyone else ran away. To Naomi, that was admirable as she had no idea that this girl was another Power Ranger.
She couldn't morph around a civilian. These skeleton monsters would have to be fought back and Naomi did just that, closing in on them. The first one, she kicked at the back of its knee and knocked it down to the ground. Her arms were held up, ready to block any open space upon her torso from the blow of an opponent. These things weren't so bad, she was worried for nothing. Naomi followed up by pivoting on her heels, raising her right leg high above her head, and smashing her heel down into the skull of the next monster. That was something she learned from watching the White Rider when he used it on that golem a month back. The other four monsters released Violet and lunged upon Naomi, wrapping their bony digits around Naomi's limbs. The other two got back up and joined in. Her movements were restricted and she was now vulnerable as they began to pull on her. One of the monsters opened its mouth and sunk its blackened teeth into her left shoulder. Naomi cried out, feeling the white hot pain scorch through her entire torso.
"Oh no!" cried Violet, reaching into her back pack, fetching her morpher, "I'll save you!"
"PTERODACTYL!" she exclaimed, holding the morpher out in front of her. The coin within the device began to shimmer with a radiant and pink light.
"What?" Naomi managed to vocalize, absolutely stunned that the girl she tried to save was actually one of the other Rangers out there. This was fantastic! They only had to find out who and where the Black Ranger was. Her joy was short lived as the monster biting her now broke the skin and warm, sticky, blood trickled down her shoulder. She struggled in vain, realizing that she was reliant on this new Ranger to set her free.
Pink ribbons of energy danced around Violet's limbs, entwining upon them. As they bonded with her, she felt a sort of surreal vertigo from the infusion of power. There were butterflies in her stomach as she was bound by these vibrant ribbons of energy. The spandex like material formed upon her, her hair tightened to her head, and the helmet formed around her. She now saw the world through the tint of her black visor. The pink fabric, with white diamonds strategically placed throughout the outfit, also accentuated her forty three inch bust line which she was sure Naomi stared at, even though a skeleton was trying to eat her.
She might have been a clumsy, dorky, teenager when she wasn't the Pink Ranger, yet she adopted a completely different persona when transformed. The Pink Ranger was a vicious brawler, no she was a berserker. This immediately became evident when the Power Bow, the Pink Ranger's personal weapon, appeared in her left hand. It looked as though she would fire on the skeletons until she clutched the bow with the other hand and held it like a club. With a fierce battle cry, she ran towards the skeletons holding Naomi captive and then leapt high into the air. As she descended upon the skeleton holding its teeth in the other girl, she growled, the Power Bow in her hands fell swiftly upon the skull of the monster and shattered it into splinters. Naomi fell to the ground, clutching her bleeding shoulder. Violet sized up the situation, five skeletons remained.
In what felt like slow motion, Violet stepped into the fray, her bow swung with a swift ferocity into the ribs of another skeleton. The bones shattered and dispersed into every other direction. She growled, spinning and swinging in the opposite direction to gain greater momentum. Another skeleton was annihilated by the blunt force of the bow that she swung. There were now three remaining.
One of the skeletons jumped onto her and tried to restrict her, wrapping his arms and legs around her. In a howl of rage, she broke free as she stretched her arms out with maximum force. The skeleton fell to the ground and she jumped onto it. The Pink Ranger was now seen jumping up and down on the unfortunate skeleton, stomping it into splinters with both feet. When she was finished jumping on the fallen skeleton, another punched her in the kidneys. Instead of faltering, she grabbed the monster's arm, ripped it off, and commenced beating it with its own arm. The skeleton fell down and she realized that its own arm was not effective enough. The arm was discarded and the Power Bow now screamed down into the pathetic creature, ending its short life. One skeleton remained.
"Die," Violet uttered, adopting a classic archer pose, drawing her index and middle fingers from the bow to the string, and conjuring an arrow of pure energy. She took hold of the newly created arrow, pulled back on the string, and released.
The arrow closed in on the remaining skeleton, connecting upon it. In an explosion of pink energy, the creature was utterly vaporized. Violet turned away, aloof to the beating she laid upon these creatures. This was the first time she had ever fought like this and her heart was pounding inside of her chest like a war drum. Naomi was now in sight again, staring in fascination.
"That was incredible," said Naomi, rising to her feet, "I didn't know you were a Power Ranger like me, but I'm glad I found you. We didn't know if the Black and Pink Ranger were somewhere out there. My name is Naomi and I am the Yellow Ranger."
"Huh?" grunted Violet, cluing in that this girl was a Power Ranger too. It definitely explained why she rushed in to help fight the skeleton monsters. "I'm Violent, er, Violet."
"It is nice to meet you. I am good friends with the Blue and Red Rangers. We have met the Green Ranger, but we do not really know him," confessed Naomi, rubbing her shoulder. God, it hurt a lot.
"I know him," said Violet, dreamily, "I love him."
Before she could revert, or say anything else, the man in black robes reappeared before them, clapping his hands.
"Bravo," he said, ceasing his applause. His voice was so smooth, yet so powerful and penetrating at the same time. "While we're all introducing ourselves, I thought I'd join in on the formalities. My name, to the likes of you, is Azrael."
End of Chapter Five