Summary: The Ninja Storm Rangers and Dino Thunder Rangers head to Reefside for its final defense. Can the Rangers withstand the nearly insurmountable power of Raizerus and his Zeo Beasts or will they finally fall?
A/N: I'll let you in on a little hint for the next story arc: Ranger. Oh! Cliffhangered'd :P
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The Ninja Storm Rangers were the epitome of courage, strength and honesty. During their time as Power Rangers they had successfully defended Blue Bay harbor from fifty or more of their strongest enemies they ever faced and even managed to defeat the Dino Thunder Rangers outright, both with and without their powers – though, honestly, without their powers it was a lil more even.
Then there was Lothor. Though he got the best of them, the Ninja Rangers never once gave up. Even without their powers, they gathered together and fought with every bit of energy they possessed. They would have gladly died fighting for Blue Bay Harbor. After all, that's what they had been trained to do, right?
So when Dino Thunder Rangers walked into Reefside and saw nearly a hundred Dryzards being lead by the Zeo Beasts they weren't afraid. They weren't afraid because they had the best of the absolute best standing right beside them – the Ninja Storm Rangers. When Kira, Trent and Ethan drew their weapons, they felt a confidence they never had before – not even with Dr. O. So powerful was this confidence, they knew that defending Reefside would be a mere formality.
Then the Ninja Storm Rangers withdrew their weapons – a trio of swords and a pair of odd looking staves. The energy radiated off them in thick, fiery waves and the Dryzards immediately took a step back but raised their own weapons. Just their mere presence had struck fear into the hearts of their enemies.
And for this, the eight rangers smiled.
"Ready Rangers?!" Trent shouted and stepped forward, the Drago-Sword clutched tightly in his hand. A confident Ready echoed behind him and then they raised their blades. For one split second, there was absolute silence. Everyone sucked in a breath of air and then…charged.
Eight rangers plowed into the front line of their enemies; blades, staves, shields and daggers weaving in every direction. One by one the Dryzards fell like cattle to a butcher. So quick were the Rangers, it was nearly impossible to see their arms moving. So powerful were the rangers, each strike emitted an earth-shattering crack that on more then one occasion splintered several store windows.
Trent cut down the Dryzard and rushed forward again but ran into the slashing blade of the Green Zeo Beast. At the last second, the Dragosword slipped between them and Trent managed to deflect the sword before it cut his head off. Stepping backwards, he raised his blade defiantly, letting the massive Nodachi slide off the side of his blade, and then Trent ripped the sword down the length of the beast. Sparks showered Trent but he rushed forward and jammed a shoulder into the beasts gut…
And received a rising knee to the chest for his actions. Trents blow barely even scratched the beast. The Green Zeo grabbed him by the neck, ripped him up and then smashed him face first into the ground. A kick followed that cracked hard against his ribs; then another and another. To finish off the little skirmish, the Zeo Beast raised the Nodachi and plunged it for the final blow.
Except Trent had anticipated the strike and he managed to roll harmlessly out of the way. Several Dryzards descended upon him, but three quick slashes of his sword and they collapsed to the ground beside him. A kick flip later and Trent was spinning around, leg swinging with him and smashed into the Zeo Beasts jaw. Surprisingly, that blow did hurt it.
"Their faces…that's their weakness." Trent threw another high kick that cracked hard against the end of the beasts long snout and it let out a painful howl. "RANGERS! AIM FOR THEIR FACES!" Trent surged forward and his gem reacted instantly. Time seemed to slow down around him as he ran forward, cutting the sword across the Beasts chest, spun and then caught it square on the face. Another pass, another spin and another cut across the face.
Over and over this happened before the light in his gem faded at the beast howled a final time before it collapsed to the ground and erupted in a fiery mushroom. But Trent did not get the moment of rest he begged for as a dozen Dryzards suddenly descended upon him…
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Kira snarled as she pushed herself up from the ground and quickly raised her Dagger, blocking the massive Nodachi that threatened to cut her in half. Jumping backwards, she launched a kick for its stomach, but it side-stepped and cut her across the thigh. She let out a painful and collapsed again. Quickly, Kira rolled onto her back, raised both Daggers into an X and blocked the falling blade.
"Fucking beasts! Tommy, I'm going to kill you for leaving those crystals lying around!" Kira kicked her foot up into the Zeo Beasts armoured gut but only succeeded in hurting her foot. She winced hard and then threw her other leg up and cracked it on the jaw. And with this, she noticed that kick had hurt it. Then she heard Trent shout Rangers! Aim for their faces! She scowled mentally and then thrust both feet into its chest and knocked it backwards. "Great time to tell me, goon!"
She kipped up and fell into a butterfly kick that nearly tore the poor beasts head off. It staggered hard from the blow and collapsed against the wall before Kira advanced upon him with savage slashes of her daggers. Try as the beast might to defend her attacks, a single swipe got through and cut it down the left eye. Another scream echoed through the air as Kira planted her fist into its uncovered throat – which quickly silenced it – and then shifted her stance, jamming her elbow into the side of its head.
Dazed and stunned from the blows, the yellow Zeo Beast staggered aimlessly to its left. Thinking that Kira was directly in front of it, it attacked the air much to Kira's amusement. But in a way…she felt oddly sorry for the poor thing, even if it was pure evil. Deciding to put it out of its misery, she raised her daggers and a yellow glow consumed them.
"Turn around, freak." The Best shook its head and let out a snarl. Doing as the Ranger commanded, it spun around but that, unfortunately, would be the last thing it'd ever do. The pair of daggers raced through the air and exploded against its face.
Kira turned to face the Dryzards that gathered around her as the massive fireball mushroomed into the sky…
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Ethan, Blake and Hunter teamed up to take on the Red Zeo Beast for it seemed to be the most vicious of them all. Almost literally, it spat fire at them as smoke plumed from its nostrils. The mighty beast raised an even mightier Nodachi and beckoned for them.
The Rangers were quick to please. Hunter and Blake charged forward first, Staves at the ready, with Ethan backing them up a mere steps behind. Two staves descended, one Nodachi raised and three rangers were lifted into the air from the near fatal blow. They slammed hard into the ground but the Zeo Beast was instantly upon the closest ranger which happened to be Ethan, unfortunately. Its foot dropped a dozen times or more and each slammed shield and arms harder into the Blue Rangers chest. Its blade was ready to descend when the Thunder Rangers finally managed to attack again; both stabbed their staves into its chest but the Beast simply looked up at them and grinned.
Losing interest in Ethan, its raised blade fell upon Hunter and then cut back across Blake's side. A half second later, the Red Zeo Beast punched Blake to the ground and threw a side kick into the charging Crimson Rangers stomach. Like that, two of the greatest Rangers were disposed off and all that was left…well…was a Blue Ranger who was just as thrashed.
So when he stood up and the Zeo Beast was already upon him, he wasn't at all surprised. Sidestepping, the blade smashed into the ground beside Ethan and he stabbed forward with his shield, cutting the beast across the chest. It let out an angry roar and then proceeded to backhand him firmly across the face.
Sent staggering from the blow, Ethan was unable to hold himself up and he fell to the ground. Dazed and stunned from the blow, he vaguely heard the thunderous footsteps that approached. Nor did he see that Blake had risen again and blocked the blade with his staff, which had turned into a sort of energy shield.
"HUNTER! AIM FOR ITS HEAD!" Blake cried and shoved the blade upwards just as Hunter's staff came crashing down upon the beasts skull. This time, the beasts roar was painful rather then angry. The Beast quickly countered though by throwing Blake into a near by wall and rounding on Hunter just as he landed and cut him across the chest. Just as the second reverse swing fell, Ethan stepped into its path and intercepted it with his shield. Taking control of the sudden situation, Hunter lashed out with his staff and blasted the beast across the face.
And then, all three of the rangers gathered, their weapons raised. As the beast let out another cry, they charged forward and with one, final downward slash, they nearly split the beasts head in three as it flipped into the air, crashed to the ground and exploded into a fireball. Whirling around, they angled their weapons in defense as the Dryzards descended upon them…
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Shane stood alone in his fight with the Blue Zeo Beast and boy did he fight. For his life, that is. He pushed hard up against the Nodachi but the beast was slowly pushing the Ninjato back onto him. Desperately, he fell to one knee and swept the beasts legs out before he rolled into a butterfly flip and landed in a crouch and then snapped the blade to attention. Quickly, the beast charged again with the blade raised high above his head. Shane pushed forward into a leap and their blades connected halfway. Using the Ninja Skills their Sensai thought him, he spun hard through the air and jammed the heel of his boot into the beasts jaw.
He noticed that seemed to affect him. Shane dropped into a crouch again, cut the Ninjato across the Beasts gut and found it barely managed to stagger him. Instantly, the Red Wind Ninja was on the move and side-stepped the downward blow as he pressed a golden button on his sword. The beast turned to attack again, but Shane lashed out with a diagonal cut that left a searing burn mark across the Blue Zeo Beasts face. It roared in pain and frustration as it began to wildly flail its sword about, hoping to hit something, but Shane had long-since dodged and was already raking the blade down its back.
"Smart man." Shane thought and effortlessly parried the counter and slashed the beasts face again, exciting another scream. "He covered them with nearly impregnable armour to defend the beasts, but left the most obvious weak point wide open." The Beast unleashed another crushing blow that drove Shane to one knee but he pushed back and buried his elbow into the beasts face. "But then again, they possess such vast strength, most would be dead before they figure out the weakness."
The beast staggered as it clawed at its burning face. Shane inhaled powerfully, raised his Ninjato and waited for a single second. Even though this was his enemy, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of pity for the beast. And then, with that thought washed away, he drove the Ninjato down across the Beasts face and body. For a moment, there was silence as they stood there then Shane stepped back, turned and walked away.
The Blue Zeo Beast exploded and a ball of flame raced into sky as the Dryzards charged at Shane from behind…
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Dustin and Tori spun through the air and dropped the Ninjato's down across the Pink Zeo Beast and then both stepped in with a thunderous side kick to the chest that heaved the beast into the air. With a mighty cry, they dropped the blades a final time and twin crescent energy waves slammed into the body of the Beast and exploded.
Thinking the battle to be over, they turned their backs and were bull rushed from behind by the Beast. It clothes lined both to the ground and came to a skidding halt several feet away. Its eyes flashed a deathly pink and then charged forward again, withdrawing a pair of short swords. Before the Rangers could even think of countering – much less see the beast coming – it slashed the rangers with two lightning-quick swipes, turned on a dime and drove its bony elbows into their backs. They hit the ground with a painful thud but the flurry of strikes didn't end there. Continuously the beast drove its fists into their backs; each one driving them deeper into the ground.
Suddenly, it stopped and let out a mighty roar, almost as if it was crying out in pain. And it was, to be honest. The rangers stood behind it, their blades had pierced through the armour and dug into its back. Ripping their blades out, both fell into a spin and cleaved the Zeo Beasts head cleanly in half.
A ball of fire ripped into the sky as they turned to face the Dryzards that awaited them…
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Raizerus held his hand out and the five Zeo Crystals returned to his hand. "Stupid Zeo Beasts." He snarled and closed his hand, crushing the crystals into nothingness. The shockwave exploded from his hand but he greedily drank the energy up before looking down at the rangers. Even the overwhelming odds of Dryzards were no use. Seething with anger, his eyes flashed a bloody crimson red and threw out his staff. The pearl white lightning consumed the Dryzards and they let out ear-splitting screams as the lightning gathered them into one single beast.
Instantly, the Rangers turned and looked up at Raizerus who was pulsing an odd red. "Raizerus!" Shane hissed, stepping forward as he clutched his Ninjato. Before he could say anything else, the single Draconic Dryzard rushed forward and shoulder blocked him to the ground. The other rangers surged forward to attack, but the Dryzard turned and unleashed a dozen arcs of lightning that snapped against them and exploded.
"Rangers!" Raizerus hissed and raised his staff. "Met my final monster! The Daizard!" Suddenly he drew his staff back and launched it towards the beast. "MAKE MY MONSTER GROW!!"
The staff struck ground and suddenly blue-white lightning erupted from the end and consumed the Daizard. It let out an earsplitting roar as loud pops and cracks echoed through the air. Slowly, its body began to shift and grow taller and taller. The Rangers stepped back reflexively, looking up at the massive beast.
"Ohh…this could be a problem." Trent said and looked up at the beast. "Uh…Cam…tell me you can help us man?"
"Zords are on their way." The Morpher chimed, except it wasn't Cam – it was the Dino Gem. "Man you get yourself in some seriously sticky predicaments, you know?"
"Tell me about it." Trent hissed and then all eight turned. Not just the Dino Zords stood behind them but the Ninja Storm Zords as well. Trent looked over at the others, inhaled powerfully and nodded. "Shall we go?"
They all nodded in union. "Lets." They said and then took to their zords…
Meanwhile, Raizerus stood atop the building, watching the battle that was to unfold. But he heard something shift behind him and he turned to find Hayden standing behind him. A thin grin was plastered on his face beneath the mask and he summoned the staff to his hand again. "I was wondering when you'd show up." Raizerus said, lifting his head.
"You die today." Hayden answered and raised his own hand. A golden light flashed and then expanded outwards into a bladed staff. "You've used Kim and I long enough, but no more." Raising the staff, he sank back into stance and angled his weapon down to the ground.
"Yes…lets end this." Raizerus hissed and then with a mighty cry, he rushed forward to the final battle…
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A/N: OH! CLIFFHANGERED'D AGAIN! Sucks to be you all :P You all know the drill. winks