The Last Warriors.
I do not own Power Rangers. It belongs to Saban Brands. I don't own Frank Castle, he belongs to Marvel.
"Italics" = messages.
"Italtics" = thoughts
Note: For fans of Power Rangers. This will have some shoutouts to previous incarnations.
Note 2: Chapter 10 and 11 will be taking place at the same time, just from two prespectives. Maritza's and Jesse's.
Complexo do Alemao
Maritza climbed down and noted the Pink Ultimo Morpher's bright light and eventually walked to Sr. Becker's store, an cantina that sold soft drinks and the occasional snack like Doritos or Lay's. She walked up to the entrance and asked
"Olá. É ... esta loja ... abrir? Tengo una problema..." said Maritza who had an loose grasp on the language.
"Você não fale Português em tudo? Não se preocupe, eu sou proficiente em Inglês."
"¿Qué?"
"How does this sound? Better for you?" said Becker in excellent English, but the accent was fairly strong.
"Yes."
"I cant tell you're not exactly from here, you must be from the fancy city where everyone can speak English perfectly."
"Uh... yea." said Maritza, working with this lie.
"What brings you to Complexo do Alemao? Besides the cable car, there's nothing of interest here."
"Just taking in the views and there's something important I need to tell you. By the way, where did you learn English?"
"It was pretty easy, I used to be an taxi driver up in Rio de Janiero, mainly the rich parts and I did learn some English in school, but there, I pretty much learned the language from there. Why I came here? Well, I got fired and I heard this shop needed someone to look after it. I wasn't doing anything else, so why not?"
"Do you ever miss where you work? The city and all? One thing, the gangs constantly plaguing his favela? How do you deal with that?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. It's easy, the girl inside is an problem-solver. Her name: Catalina Hashimoto. An Japanese Brazilian I found on these streets when she was seven. Don't know who dropped her here, the only thing from her previous life is an Buddhist bead, mostly like from the temples in Purana which is in Sao Paulo."
"Whoa. An girl who lived miles away is now living here? Who the hell would be callous enough to drop her in this neighborhood?"
"Don't know, but it's irrelevant. She grew up in my home, I raised her like my own daughter. In this town, sometimes, money can be tight. However, Catalina showed off an surprising talent: street fighting. She started defending herself at eight years old after an bunch of young boys cornered her. In time, she started becoming an feared street fighter. At the age of 13, she became involved in an local street fighting circuit, fighting people older than her. I try my best to get her out the circuit... but it's never easy."
"I know the feeling. I have an little brother who got into an lot of fights at school and I try my best to help him avoid fighting. So far, minimal success."
"At least you're getting some progress. Catalina still kept fighting, though she made an few friends in this neighborhood. Some of them are orphans too, forming an small club."
"A club?"
"An club, mainly telling stories of what stuff they seen in the favelas, mainly funny stuff and some scary stuff."
"They sound pretty positive."
"Some of them do petty thievery, but they're mainly stealing from militia-owned shops and hiding it in an safe."
"I hope for their sake they're good at disappearing. Now, can we go inside and talk about Catalina?"
"Why?"
"We have much to discuss."
They both go inside the shop and find an sturdy table alongside an stove and an small TV on the side. They both sit down, look at each other and start.
"Why is Catalina important?"
"Well, I can only show you. Telling you would be hard to do."
Maritza shows the glowing Pink Ultimo Morpher to Becker who reels in shock and is stupified. He couldn't believe what he seen and uttered one word that surprised her.
"Power Rangers... Back?"
"How do you know about them?"
"A long time ago. An big alien invasion that happened in 1999. It was led by some devil-looking motherfucker and an red-haired chick who looked like an reject from Hell. Then the Power Rangers put up an valiant effort and in one minute, an wave of light appeared... destroying the villains' alliance, either erasing them or reverting them back into their originally good selves."
"Damn... so you have heard. Have you heard about us?"
"Yes... I heard about the Crimson Ranger on the news. He's different... he's no hero, he's an killer. He just up and killed criminal scum without hesitation. He's no different than BOPE."
"I can assure you, he isn't like BOPE. The difference: He doesn't let civilians get killed in the crossfire. He would rather put himself in prison than let an civilian get killed."
"He has to prove it. Besides, how do you know him?"
"It's because... *shows the Golden Morpher* I'm one too."
"What the!? How?"
"Apparently, these Ultimo Morphers have some sentience. That and Jesse told me this: They can apparently take control of an host if said host is in extreme danger."
"Who the hell commissioned these... morphers?"
"That's an mystery for another day. But I'm dragging... the reason why I need to talk about Catalina is because... she's the Pink Ultimo Morpher's host."
Those six words made Becker's mind turn upside down. Catalina. An street fighter picked by an alien device to be on the forefront of an intergalactic war.
"What... can... I do... Catalina is only 19, barely an adult."
"I'm afraid there's no choice. Either way, Catalina is going to become one. An Power Ranger."
"Just... tell me, who exactly are you fighting?"
"There's little info known, he's known by many names, but they call him The Adversary. He was an former Power Ranger, corrupted by power and in an few years, he created an intergalactic empire with an sizable army and in that army are some very powerful aliens. I know because I speak from personal experience."
"I can't... believe it. An Ranger gone bad? There has to be something more than that. Power can't be the only thing."
"I know. I have an hard time believing it too. An war hero suddenly turns fallen hero and conqueror the next day. But that's the situation."
"So, you think Catalina is the host? There's a few reasons why I don't think she's the host: an brutal fighter, she breaks the law and also is no big fan of the police. What makes her special?"
"I don't know how to explain it... but it just chose her. She's the perfect host."
"Maybe..."
"We can't really discuss that. But what does Catalina do in her spare time?"
"She's either hanging out with her friends or working out for an upcoming pit-fight. However, that may change..."
"Did she piss off some powerful gangster?" feigning ignorance of what she seen.
"Tiaga? Oh, no. He's mid-level and part of the gang that runs this place, Comando Quimera. CQ was created from the remnants of Comando Vermelho after it broke apart. Even though CQ is small, they're potent, organized and most of all, tactical. I swear, some of those CQ guys could be ex-military. One time, an platoon of CORE officers came into the neighborhood after hearing some disturbing complaints."
"What happened next?"
"They were ambushed by CQ members who were on top of favela buildings, dropping grenades and using military-grade weaponry. Otherwise, they managed to kill several CORE officers and only five escaped. They sent in BOPE as an response and managed to only kill five CQ members, the others managed to escape."
"Jesus... so could Tiaga call in an death squad right now..." said an now-worried Maritza.
"No. I barely think so. He's mid-level and let's be honest here, he got beat by one person. His boss won't take it too seriously, he'll just get five better armed guys."
"Well, I should help just in case. In addition, we'll need prevent BOPE from coming here."
"Everyone's gonna be hiding in case. They lock their doors and put up the furniture against their doors."
"Well, then. I'm gonna find Catalina before this gets out of hand."
"Wait... she's at the cable car. Baiana Station. It's further up north. Please, if she goes with you... please can you tell her I said goodbye."
"Better than that, I'll bring her to you in person so you can say that."
"Thanks..."
Maritza left the store and jogged up north and went on a search for Catalina.
Meanwhile...
Tiaga finally got his backup, it was five guys but decently armed. The various firearms they had were an M9 pistol, H&K G3 sniper rifle, MAC-10, TEC-9, M60, AK-47 and last, Saiga-12. From what Nascimento told him, these five guys were experienced in gang warfare and were able to fight off BOPE, somewhat.
"Silva, Thiago, Ricky, Philip and... Ned, right?"
The last one nodded. Tiaga led the group to find the girl who beat him into an pulp and he wanted to pay her back. He would search the first thing that came to mind: Baiana Station. Why? Locals or tourists would go there a lot and critically thinking for a bit: There's a good chance she might be there.
"Eu vou pegar você, você não vê chegando."
An hour later...
Maritza finally found the Baiana Station. She was kinda pooped. She had to search for Catalina, but saw something peculiar, an group of people circled around for something. When she got closer, she saw an fight taking place between an well-built brawler wearing only dark sweatpants and having the tattoo of knives surrounding an human skull and an girl wearing some simple jeans and an blue shirt with an plaid overshirt and having an serious desposition. There was an staggering difference: the brawler was 6"5 and the girl was around 5"7 or 5"8.
"LUTAR! LUTAR! LUTAR!" cheered the surrounding crowd.
The tattooed brawler went in first with an strike, but to Maritza's surprise, she dodged it and struck him with an uppercut and followed it up with an roundhouse back kick to the gut, putting the brawler down on one knee.
"Ceda a vitória e você não irá para a hospital. Rego." said the girl.
The brawler just spat on the floor and girl responded with an dodge. The brawler just tried striking again, but the girl responded with an knee strike which kept him off balance and capitalizing on it, she did an hip throw. Next, she proceeded to bash his skull in with knee strikes until he was unconscious and bleeding.
However, before an winner could be declared. Several girls came in, spitefully looking at the girl. One them saying
"Catalina, Você. Eu e minhas amigas vai bater o seu rabo. Você segurou sobre essa reputação suficiente." said the leader. Catalina just shrugged and took them all out with well-placed strikes and streetwise grapples. Before she would celebrate her victory, she heard shots and the crowd dispersed.
"Oh, shit." said Maritza. She saw the previous the cornrow man, this time, coming with an group of armed thugs. The only ones who stayed were Catalina, Maritza and a group of her friends who were frightened.
"Activiate!" yelled out Maritza and she turned into the Golden Ranger. Tiaga and his thugs were momentarily surprised before firing. Catalina and friends simply ran and hid, but Maritza came into close quarters, snapped one thug's firearm in half and used the butt, smashing in said thug's face. Ned, shocked at Thiago's injury opened fire with the TEC-9, but Maritza was able to stand up to it. In response, she did an sweep attack with her arm and used Ned as an club, injuring two others who quickly responded with fire. However, she punched through an blonde-haired thug's gut and then headed for the bandolier-wearing thug and caved in his skull with an minor seismic impact.
Ned and Silva decided to turn to the Saiga-12 shotguns, but she merely jumped over them and sliced one horizontally in half with one of her dimensional axes, then responded with an knee strike.
"AHHHHH!" said Silva who came up at her with an knife but she merely ended it with a roundhouse kick, knocking him out cold.
In the corner, Tiaga was cowering away but was grabbed by Maritza who held him over an steep drop. Tiaga was begging to be spared, but seeing that her mission was important, she dropped him into a small car, hurting him badly. Tiaga simply limped away, muttering about payback.
"Okay, that's one group down."
"Ok ... quem é você? De onde você tirou essa armadura foda?" said one of Catalina's friends, an African-Brazilian.
"Uh... no se... la lengue..." said Maritza awkwardly.
The group of friends just laughed and one boy was curious to see who was under that armor. However, little did they know, the female group that Catalina single-handily took down woke up, albeit in pain saw the Golden Ranger and Catalina's friends.
"No, você não está recebendo longe tão facilmente, eu quero que a glória pondo abaixo Catalina." said the hurt leader. However, one of her friends, Tori responded
"Ária por favor me diga você está pensando em linha reta?"
Aria paid no attention and came up to Catalina to try to fight her again, but Maritza pulled out an dimensional axe up to her face and simply said
"You are not going to hurt her. If you want to, you're gonna deal with me and the Crimson Ranger."
The last phrase frightened everyone. Maritza assumed they saw him on the news and they were rightfully scared. Aria simply walked away, hurt and potentially frightened.
"Good. Catalina. I need to speak with you."
"Por quê? Quem é você? Como o inferno você me encontrar? Que tipo de armadura que é isso?"
"It's better if I just show you." said Maritza told the morpher to go back to Becker's shop. In a flash of light, they teleported back to the store and everyone backed away in shock and awe. Catalina did one thing that shocked Maritza, she spoke some English.
"What are you... doi-ng here? albeit in an strong accent.
"I'm here because of this." said Maritza as she pulled out the Pink Ultimo Morpher, shining extremely bright. She looked in shock and surprise, but it wouldn't last long. Jesse came in running, armed with an G36C assault tifle.
"Jes-Jesse. What happened?!"
"Comando Quimera is being wiped out by BOPE." said an panting Jesse.
"Let's go now! Becker, you have an place to hide?"
"Yes, I do. An decently-sized panic room."
"Get inside fast. BOPE are looking for stolen firearms, specifically the type I took from them. You know what else I found? An big weapons cache."
"So?!"
"That means we can bring in the cache back to the Alpha-7 Lab in case. Modify it and use it."
"Okay."
Catalina was confused by what they were saying. She wanted to ask, but an bullet just whizzed by them, hitting the wall.
"Kid, you gotta fight with us!"
"Catalina, you have to fight! These people will take care of you!"
Catalina simply nodded and grabbed the Pink Ultimo Morpher and questioned
"Como é que essas coisas funcionam?"
"You punch in the code, seu código 4681. Then yell "Activate"."
"Como este... *punches in code*.. Activar!" yelled Catalina. She was enveloped in an pink light, covered in carnation pink-colored plate armor and an menacing facemask (resembling Talon from The Fraternity of Raptors, only a bit feminine). What set her apart were the arrowheads resembling twin mini-machete blades, made for slicing.
Catalina became the Pink Ultimo Ranger and stood by Maritza and Jesse who were facing the small army of BOPE operatives by themselves. They took their positions and in an short time, they arrived, guns ready and eventually an authoratative voice yelled
"Hold you fire! So... Power Rangers, what are you doing in Brazil?"
Review.
BOPE have the Rangers cornered, but the Capt. Rogelios doesn't want to shoot them. What agenda does he have? Is Comando Quimera truly wiped out? Tune in...
Eu vou pegar você, você não vê chegando = I'll get ya, you won't see it coming.
Ceda a vitória e você não irá para a hospital = Hand over the win and you won't go to the hospital.
No, você não está recebendo longe tão facilmente, eu quero que a glória pondo abaixo Catalina = No, you're not getting away that easily, I want the glory of taking down Catalina.
Ária por favor me diga você está pensando em linha reta? = Aria, please tell me you're thinking straight?
Why? Who are you? How the hell did you find me? What type of armor is that? = Por quê? Quem é você? Como o inferno você me encontrar? Que tipo de armadura que é isso?
Ok ... quem é você? De onde você tirou essa armadura foda? = Okay... who are you? Where did you get that badass armor?
Você. Eu e minhas amigas vai bater o seu rabo. Você segurou sobre essa reputação suficiente = You. Me and my girls will beat your ass. You held onto that reputation enough."
Criticism is Welcomed.
Rider Paladin: *getting the translator* Okay, this might take awhile.