DISCLAIMER: I do not own Power Rangers or Super Sentai. They are respectively owned by Saban Brands and Toei Company. I do not profit from this story in any way, shape, or form.
Nikki and the other Rangers watched on from the Gaia Megazord's cockpit as the dark cloaked stranger with the massive black and indigo blade resting on his shoulder walked down the hill toward Sphantis. He'd already severed one of the sphinx/mantis hybrid's scythes from his left wrist, and judging from his body language, the apparent Guardian of Darkness looked ready to finish the job.
"C'mon, we should get down there, in case Walker tries jumping him with Blots or something!" Patrick yelled, breaking everyone out of their stunned state.
"R-Right, let's go!" Nikki replied, the team pulling their weapons from the cockpit controls and teleporting down to the ground, their Zords taking their leave back to their hiding places. Once down to the stranger's level, they could see amber eyes peering out from under his hood, his gaze fixed on Sphantis as Walker's minion got to his feet.
"Look at his eyes," Dirk whispered. "There's something not right about them."
Sphantis roared as the stranger neared, running at him with his one good scythe as it glowed with energy. He swung it hard for the dark figure, who simply held his sword out to stop the attack. The resulting shockwave should've knocked him to the ground, but instead, it only blew his hood down, revealing a young man about the same age as Nikki and Layla, with short brown hair that had a single indigo streak down the left side.
"It's him!" Madilyn yelled, digging out the photo given to them by Professor Snyder earlier of a boy with similar features, only with blue eyes and no streak in his hair. "It's Drayden! He really IS the last Guardian of Gaia!"
The team looked on as Drayden calmly flipped an emblem on the hilt of his blade, resembling a dragon's eye, off to the side, revealing a compartment for not one but three crystals. He inserted an indigo crystal and flipped the compartment shut, causing his blade to glow with indigo light as a dragon's roar could be heard. He didn't even slash with the sword, just shoved it hard against Sphantis' scythe, knocking the monster to the ground.
"If I were you, I'd leave before I make them both match," Drayden muttered, gesturing to the place where Sphantis' other scythe once protruded from his left wrist.
"Sphantis crush you next time!" Sphantis growled, backing off as a portal formed behind him, disappearing from the area.
Drayden scoffed. "...Coward."
"Drayden?" the Guardian of Darkness heard the Red Ranger call as the team approached him, albeit cautiously. "You ARE Drayden, right? Your father, Professor Snyder, he asked us to find you."
Drayden tilted his head curiously. "My father?"
Nikki nodded, reaching up to pull her helmet off, looking Drayden eye to eye. "My name's Nikki. We're Power Rangers, and the new Guardians of Gaia."
"I know," Drayden replied. "I could sense your energy for some time now, especially within the past few days. You've become quite strong, and gathered a number of Gaian Crystals."
"...Yeah?" Dirk asked, a little on edge. "So?"
"I've managed to collect a few myself," Drayden responded, pulling out a white crystal and a black crystal from his pocket. At the sight of them, the team could hear the howl of a wolf and the roar of a lion.
"Three new Gaia Zords?" Layla asked. "Wow, that brings the total up to 11!"
"Yes, which begs a simple question," Drayden noted, pocketing the crystals.
Nikki blinked, confused. "What's that?"
Drayden smirked slowly before muttering "...Which of us do you think can handle all of the crystals?"
Before Nikki could ask further, Drayden swung his blade hard, knocking the team back and carving a deep line in the ground before them. Nikki winced as she and the others got back to their feet, grabbing her helmet, but as they looked to where Drayden had been standing, he was long gone, black smoke rising from the line he'd sliced across the ground.
"...Okay, what just happened?" Madilyn inquired, completely baffled.
"If I had to guess, I'd say that was a declaration of war," Patrick replied. "But why?"
"Well, I suppose this looks regenerable," Walker said, observing Sphantis' left wrist as the latter took a seat in the Dark Chamber.
"Uh, Walker?" Darkea asked, still watching the scene in the fireplace. "He's gone. He attacked the Rangers, and just disappeared."
"Disappeared where?" Walker inquired.
Suddenly, as if in answer, the Dark Chamber walls shook hard, dust and dirt falling from the roof. Next, the whole chamber shook, knocking Darkea off her feet. Finally, the door was slammed clean off its hinges and hurled against the far wall, breaking into a few dozen pieces. The shaking stopped as Drayden entered through the doorway, observing the chamber, Walker scowling at the intruder.
"You dare enter my domain?!" Walker demanded, readying his staff.
Drayden scoffed. "Oh, sorry about the door, but someone went and locked it. And anyway, it's not YOUR domain anymore: I'm going to be running this show from now on."
"If you think you can come in here an-" Walker started to say until Drayden's sword was suddenly mere millimetres from the Shadowmancer's neck.
"This isn't a negotiation," Drayden said calmly, despite the murderous intent in his eyes. "I'm taking over this operation. You fall in line, and you'll reap the benefits of my destroying the Power Rangers. But any one of you so much as budges a little bit in my way, I take you all down. Is that clear?"
Walker's eyes narrowed in anger, but nonetheless muttered, "...Sounds acceptable."
"Good," Drayden replied with a grin. "Now, tell me about this Ebony Venom you've been brewing..."
"Found it!" Jowar announced, breaking the silence in the main chamber of the Ancient Library. The Rangers, who had been sitting around demorphed trying to grasp what had happened, and Professor Snyder, who seemed mostly depressed by the matter, practically charged the table Jowar was sitting at.
"Well?!" Nikki asked.
Jowar placed the book he was reading down on the table, showing an illustration of a man with amber eyes. "His name is Dargoon. He was a powerful Shadowmancer that battled the original Guardians of Gaia, and he's someone that Dradarius has spent a lot of time and effort into erasing the existence of."
"Why?" Layla inquired. "Weren't they working together?"
"Dargoon WAS a Shadowmancer operating under Dradarius," Jowar explained, "but, according to this, he was also notorious for being difficult to control, what with having his own agendas for how to deal with the Guardians of Gaia, and far greater power than any other Shadowmancer in Dradarius' army. His last recorded outing was a battle with the Guardian of Darkness, a battle that was unauthorized by Dradarius, after which he was supposedly destroyed...and shortly thereafter, the Guardian of Darkness was destroyed as well."
"You think he's possessing Drayden?" Charles Snyder asked.
"I'm afraid so," Jowar replied. "It seems he's placed a curse of sorts on the indigo crystal, and has merged his personality with Drayden's. Which presents a problem, as the records suggest that Dargoon possessed control over the shadows far greater than Walker and Darkea put together."
"Oh good, because we were having SUCH an easy time with those two," Dirk noted sarcastically.
Layla's face paled a little. "Oh man...You don't think that's why the original Guardian of Darkness...?"
Jowar looked away sadly. "There's nothing definite, but if I had to guess, either the other Guardians were forced to destroy him, or he realized what was happening to him and..."
Nikki's eye twitched at this information. "...No. We're finding a way to save him. We've gotta free him from Dargoon's control."
"The Unicorn Zord," Patrick said. "It has the power to peel away darkness. We could use Layla's miniature Unicorn Sword."
"That would still mean fighting him, though," Madilyn countered.
"I got that, but it might be the only way to save him," Patrick replied. "I mean, I know if it was me, I'd want you guys to do it."
"Patrick, if it was you, I'd be more worried for US," Dirk snarked.
Patrick grinned, ready to retort, when the alarm suddenly went off, diverting everyone's attention to the Viewing Globe. Upon inspecting it, they were shocked as the globe zoomed in to show Drayden, along with a pack of about forty Venom Blots or more, marching straight through the Everbright Forest toward the Ancient Library.
"...He's coming right for us?!" Nikki exclaimed, looking to Jowar. "Doesn't he know that you have full access to your powers in the forest?!"
"And what's he hanging with Blots for?!" Dirk demanded. "I thought they weren't on the same side after he attacked Sphantis!"
"Well, he's supposed to be even stronger than Walker or Darkea, so maybe he stole them or something?" Madilyn guessed.
The old wizard stroked his beard, looking utterly confused. "Something about this isn't right, but we can't risk not engaging a force that size without our full ranks intact."
Nikki nodded, preparing to lead the others out, only to feel Professor Snyder's hand on her shoulder. "...Please. Please save my son. He's the most important part of my life."
Nikki gave a small but warm smile to the professor. "I promise, we'll do everything we can."
Charles nodded, and so the others all headed out of the main chamber toward the front door of the library. The middle-aged man pulled up a chair, watching the Viewing Globe as his son came closer to the centre of the forest. He couldn't shake feeling helpless, only able to sit and watch and pray that the Power Rangers could somehow save Drayden.
"Oh, Drayden," Charles uttered sadly. "Why did you have to have your old man's sense of curiosity?"
Drayden smirked as he laid eyes on the Ancient Library, exiting from the shelter of the trees with his army of Venom Blots. It seemed to possess even more luster than he'd anticipated, something he planned to deal with in due time. Upon arriving, the front door opened, the Guardians and their wizard running out to confront him.
"Come to meet me at the door?" Drayden asked, his face putting up a friendly smile. "That's pretty nice of you. But where's my dad? Doesn't he wanna say hi?"
"Cut the act!" Nikki yelled. "We know who and what you are, Dargoon! Let Drayden go and get outta here while you still can!"
Drayden/Dargoon's head lowered, at first looking hurt, but then started to laugh. "My my, it looks like there were records of me left over after all! And here I thought Lord Dradarius had actually managed to erase me from the record books. Guess I should've known he couldn't do his job right without me."
"Enough!" Jowar shouted. "Go back to the shadows, Dargoon, and leave the boy with his father!"
Dargoon smirked, holding up the indigo crystal. "Sorry, can't. See, the infection I left on the Dragon Crystal has now spread to Drayden here, and as such, our minds are one. Even if I had ANY desire to remove myself from him, which I don't, it would be impossible for me to do."
"Then we'll have to do it ourselves!" Nikki retorted, grabbing her Crystal Blast Morpher. "It's Morphin Time!"
At this command, the four members of the team at her sides pulled their crystals free of their chains and placed the crystals inside their Crystal Blast Morphers. Jowar, on the far side of the group away from her, twisted the unicorn horn at the end of his staff back, pulled the Light Crystal from his pocket, and inserted it into the hidden compartment. Raising their weapons up to the sky, the group cried out, "Guardians of Gaia, AWAKEN!" Nikki and the other blaster-toting teammates pulled their triggers, five rainbow coloured blasts shooting out and spiraling around in the air above as yellow rays shot out from Jowar's staff. The gorgeous array of lights eventually coated the team with their energy, morphing them into the Gaia Rangers.
"Guardian of Fire!" Nikki exclaimed as an red ember-like light burned around her. "Red Gaia Ranger!"
"Guardian of Wind!" Patrick shouted as green light whipped up like a gust of wind. "Green Gaia Ranger!"
"Guardian of Water!" Layla cried as blue light splashed over her like water. "Blue Gaia Ranger!"
"Guardian of Earth!" Dirk roared as orange light came off the dirt like sand in the wind. "Orange Gaia Ranger!"
"Guardian of Lightning!" Madilyn called as violet light crackled around her like electricity. "Violet Gaia Ranger!"
"Guardian of Light!" Jowar yelled, slamming his staff down as golden light shined around him like the sun's rays. "Wizard Ranger!"
The six Rangers struck a pose together as a large silver flash of light came up all around them, followed by a large, rainbow coloured explosion behind them. "Power Rangers, Guardians of Gaia!"
Dargoon yawned, arching his back and stretching his limbs out. "Oh, I'm sorry, you just took so long showing off, I got a little bored, and then I got sleepy. Venom Blots, if you will?"
The Venom Blots all growled menacingly, charging the Rangers as they immediately went to work. Nikki ran at the closest one to her, throwing a big boot up at its gut. Naturally, the Venom Blot caught her foot, giving her the chance to throw her other foot up and catch it in the side of the head, using the momentum to do a little spin and shoot another Blot with her blaster. Finally, she leaped up, sprung off the shoulders of one more Venom Blot that tried to ram her, and fired a charged-up shot, blowing all three of her opponents away.
"Bronzooka!" Layla called, bringing out the massive weapon. Opening a panel, she placed her own Leviathan Crystal inside, along with the Focus Crystal, before shutting it closed, the targeting scope sliding out. She aimed the bazooka ahead at the group of about six Venom Blots charging right at her.
"Bronzooka, FIRE!" the Blue Ranger shouted, pulling the trigger. The large blaster launched an effigy of the Leviathan Zord at the Venom Blots, first colliding with the initial three before curling around and striking through each one of the pack, eliminating them all.
"Storm Lance!" Patrick yelled, bringing out his trademark lance as he leaped into battle alongside Jowar, right into a group of ten Venom Blots. The two Rangers fought back to back, swiping their weapons across anything that came near them. After a few moments of this, Jowar leaped up, leaving the Green Ranger to swing his lance around hard and fast to create a twister that sent the Venom Blots floating in mid-air helplessly. The Wizard Ranger grinned under his helmet, spinning and firing a beam of golden light from his staff that vaporized the Venom Blots before landing on his feet, getting a thumbs up from Pat.
Madilyn let out a loud cry as she dive-kicked a Venom Blot down with everything she had, only for five more behind it to raise their claws up, ready to fire. Thinking quick, the Violet Ranger switched her Thunderbird Crystal in her blaster for the aquamarine Turtle Crystal and pulled the trigger, creating a shell-like shield that reflected the claw shots back at the Blots. As they were stunned, Dirk, who'd caught sight of this, inserted his Root Crystal into his Gaia Saber and slammed it into the ground, summoning vines that tangled the Blots up. The Orange Ranger then fired a charged-up shot from his blaster, destroying them.
With only a little over a dozen Venom Blots left, the team immediately regrouped. The core five Rangers loaded their Crystal Blast Morphers with their primary crystals and charged up a blast, all the while Jowar gathered energy into his staff. The six all aimed their weapons forward, just as the Venom Blots began to dash at them.
"Sextuple-mental Blast!" the Rangers called, unleashing their charged-up shots on the Venom Blots. The blasts overloaded most of the monsters, causing them to collapse to the ground in an explosion, while the remaining four fell back behind Dargoon.
"Huh, I'll be honest, you're quite a bit stronger than I was expecting," Dargoon admitted.
"We got way more where that came from!" Dirk boasted.
"We'll see," Dargoon replied, raising his fist skyward as it glowed indigo. "...Grow...!"
Suddenly, the Venom Blots behind him began to take the black and eggplant mist floating in the sky, leftover from their fallen allies, into their bodies. The four monsters growled, growing to giant size and knocking over several of the trees behind them as the Rangers backed off.
"We better call the Zords!" Madilyn yelled, drawing her Gaia Saber.
"No, you all need to keep focused on Dargoon," Jowar interjected. "I can handle the Venom Blots."
"Alright, Jowar, but be careful!" Nikki advised.
The Wizard Ranger nodded, raising his staff up. "Magna Buster, power up!"
The Magna Buster lifted itself out of the Ancient Library's roof, Jowar teleporting up into the control station. Removing the Light Crystal from his staff, he placed it into the charging chamber, causing the controls to come to life as a panel opened for his staff. Inserting his staff into the control panel, the Wizard Ranger aimed the Magna Buster at the Venom Blots and opened fire, blowing them back a bit.
Meanwhile, back on the ground, the team had drawn their Gaia Sabers, dueling against Dargoon as the Shadowmancer managed to parry each and every one of their strikes with his massive blade. He quickly dug out the Dragon Crystal, inserting it into his sword, as it began to glow brightly with indigo light.
"Dragon Buster!" Dargoon roared, grabbing hold of the blade with both hands. "Shadow Break!"
Swinging the Dragon Buster hard, Dargoon sent out a giant slash of indigo light that blew the Rangers onto their backsides, their Gaia Sabers being knocked from their hands. Nikki groaned, wincing in pain as the team got back to their feet, Dargoon tapping the blunt side of his Dragon Buster on his shoulder, like he was timing them or something.
"Okay, I think it's time we took it to the next level!" Nikki shouted.
"Right!" the team yelled as they crossed their arms in front of themselves. "Powered-Up Mode!"
The Rangers threw their arms down as they became engulfed in light resembling their elements. Dargoon rushed them, swinging his Dragon Buster at the team, only for Dirk and Patrick to block it between their palms. This gave Layla and Madilyn a chance to leap up and dive-kick the Shadowmancer in the head, forcing him backward. Finally, the four formed a circle and crossed their arms together, Nikki flipping up and springing off their arms like a trampoline. Dargoon, in his stunned state, couldn't get his blade up in time to block as Nikki came back down, karate chopping him in the shoulder with a hand filled with flames and sending him crashing to the ground.
"Unicorn Sword!" Nikki shouted, summoning the miniature Unicorn Sword with the Unicorn Crystal before opening the unicorn's jaws and plugging the crystal in, causing the blade to shimmer with a silver light. "Unicorn, remove the curse from the Dragon Crystal, and release Drayden from Dargoon's possession!"
Dargoon roared, getting back to his feet and looking to block with the Dragon Buster. Nikki yelled out as she thrust the blade forward, which glowed like a silver beam of light, and pierced the dragon eye emblem on the hilt of the Dragon Buster, where the Dragon Crystal hid underneath. Dargoon cried out as silver shocks of energy rippled through the blade and himself.
"GRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Dargoon roared, his face full of agony, before looking into Nikki's visor, smirking every so slightly. "...Oh wait, no, not so much!"
With a single swing, Dargoon knocked Nikki to the ground, much to her astonishment. "Wh-What?!"
"Really, you think the old Guardians didn't try using the Unicorn Zord's light when I possessed their friend?" Dargoon mocked as the Rangers looked on in disbelief. "No, they tried every last trick they had, to no avail. In fact, the ground where the Dragon Buster was left for a thousand years is littered with empty, lifeless crystals from their attempts, and the best they could do was force the Guardian of Darkness to the surface just long enough for him to destroy himself, never aware that my curse would live on through the Dragon Crystal."
Nikki gripped the Unicorn Sword tighter out of anger, the group getting distracted momentarily as Jowar unleashed another massive blast from the Magna Buster on the Venom Blots. Dargoon sighed, watching as his foot soldiers tumbled backward again.
"For what it's worth, you're really NOT the only pathetic ones fighting this war these days," Dargoon went on. "Just look at those Blots, enhanced through science by the top Shadowmancer general of Dradarius' army today, and THAT'S the best they can do? It's just SAD. But, then again, that Ebony Venom of his COULD be used for other purposes..."
Raising a hand to the sky, his glance fixed on the Venom Blots, Dargoon curled his fingers menacingly as the giants began to convulse in pain, their bodies falling apart into clumps of mist. The Rangers saw this, preparing to charge him, but the Shadowmancer merely swung his Dragon Buster once, knocking them away and out of Powered-Up Mode. As they hit the ground, the Venom Blots finished dissolving, their mist being pulled into Dargoon's body. He groaned as he felt new power enter him, quickly manifesting as a suit of dark armour, much like Darkea's, only with indigo and eggplant accents instead of dark red, and wearing a dragon-styled helm that covered his head and face.
Walker growled, watching as the events unfolded through the fireplace. "I KNEW it! He was just using my Venom Blots for his own gain!"
"Well, it was either letting him have them or losing our heads," Darkea noted. "Besides, if he destroys the Rangers, what do we care how he uses them?"
Walker looked back to his sister as she tended to Sphantis' wound from earlier. "No, Darkea, you really have no idea the kind of Shadowmancer we're dealing with..."
"There, that's more like it," Dargoon said, observing his armour. "It's just like the armour I wore a thousand years ago, only a bit sturdier."
"Great, now he's only stronger," Dirk observed as the Rangers got back to their feet.
"And we can't chance using Powered-Up Mode again, weak as we already are," Layla groaned, rubbing her neck.
Dargoon scoffed. "You're still here? Oh well, I guess I'll give you a nice gift for making it this far...!"
Dargoon opened the panel on his Dragon Buster, inserting the white and black crystals into the hilt alongside the Dragon Crystal. He then closed it shut, the dragon eye emblem spinning as the blade flashed between indigo, white, and black over and over. The Shadowmancer then swung it back, the Rangers preparing for his attack, when he instead sliced the blade a bit higher, sending a massive slash up at the Magna Buster. The team could only watch on in horror as the Magna Buster was blasted hard, Jowar being shocked by the energy build up and falling to the floor of the control station, demorphed and unconscious.
"JOWAR!" the Rangers screamed in terror.
"Worry more for yourselves, 'Power Rangers'!" Dargoon threatened, raising his blade skyward. "Dragon Zord! Wolf Zord! Lion Zord! Arise!"
The Dragon Buster suddenly released three beams of light out which entering a dark fog that seemed to be rolling in out of nowhere. A trio of loud roars pierced through the darkness, and the fog soon dissipated, revealing an indigo medieval dragon, a white wolf, and a black lion, all staring menacingly at the Rangers. The five Guardians of Gaia quickly scooped up their fallen Gaia Sabers, inserting their crystals.
"Alright, you want a Zord brawl?!" Nikki yelled. "You've got one! Gaia Zord power, now!"
The Rangers thrust their Gaia Sabers skyward, which shot out multicoloured beams that brought the Phoenix, Hippogriff, Leviathan, Behemoth, and Thunderbird Gaia Zords to the team's location. The team then leaped up into the air, teleporting into the cockpits and inserting their weapons into their holsters in the control panels.
"Log on!" Nikki commanded.
"Green Ranger, armed and ready!" Patrick responded.
"Blue Ranger, go for butt kicking!" Layla replied.
"Orange Ranger, ready to knock this guy down!" Dirk shouted.
"Dargoon shoulda checked himself, and now he's gonna wreck himself!" Madilyn exclaimed.
Dargoon chuckled lowly, leaping up and teleporting into the Dragon Zord's cockpit. It lacked a seat of any kind, simply having footholds to stand in. Stepping into them, a panel opened for the Dragon Buster, which he placed into it, gaining full control of it and the other two Zords. The Dragon Zord flapped its wings, taking off into the air and breathing columns of dark flames at the Phoenix, Hippogriff, and Thunderbird Zords, nearly knocking them out of the sky. The Wolf and Lion Zords, meanwhile, pounced upon the Leviathan and Behemoth Zords with claws and fangs, causing them to fall back a bit.
"We've gotta take him down!" Patrick yelled, inserting the Unicorn Crystal into his blaster and pulling the trigger. "Unicorn Zord, power up!"
The Hippogriff Zord launched an array of light that created an effigy of a silver moon in the sky. Soon enough, the Unicorn Zord climbed out from behind it, standing atop the moon and firing rays of light down on the Wolf and Lion Zords, knocking them back. However, upon looking at the Dragon Zord and seeing its darkened form, it took a hesitant step back.
"What's the deal?!" Madilyn demanded. "Why won't it fight the Dragon Zord?!"
Nikki's eyes widened as realization hit her. "You guys, remember the cave Professor Snyder told us about? With the statue of the dragon and the wall-carving of the unicorn? Snyder said the two looked like they didn't want to fight."
"Of course!" Dirk shouted. "The Unicorn and Dragon Zords must've been friends, and now the Unicorn Zord won't attack it!"
The Dragon Zord breathed dark flames at the Leviathan Zord, sending it rolling across the ground as Layla cried out. "Well, whatever the reason, it's not exactly doing us any favours!"
Dargoon sneered. "Well, let's see how you handle my next trick: Dragon, Wolf, Lion, COMBINE!"
To the Rangers' collective shock, the Dragon Zord twisted its long body around, resembling the legs and torso of a giant robot with the dragon head forming the chest. The Wolf and Lion Zords tucked their legs in, connecting with the Dragon Zord as arms. Finally, a robotic head slid out, resembling a dragoon's helmet, as the robot landed on its feet before the other Gaia Zords.
"Dragoon Megazord, power up!" Dargoon called as the dark Megazord came to life. The Wolf and Lion heads opened their jaws widely, releasing a pair of black energy orbs that blew apart the moon effigy, knocking the Unicorn Zord to the ground hard. It laid on its side, sparks flying from its body as it was heavily damaged.
"Okay, kid gloves are off!" Dirk roared, pulling out his Unity Crystal. "Gaia Zords, combine!"
The team switched out their crystals for the Unity Crystals, causing their Zords to spring up and shift their bodies around, combining into their own Megazord as their cockpits came together in the head. "Gaia Megazord, power up!"
The two Megazords approached each other, exchanging punches as sparks flew off them. Eventually, the Dragon Zord's wings, which were folded down around the Dragoon Megazord's sides, unfolded, firing energy bursts from the leathery-looking wings that sent the Gaia Megazord stumbling backward. The Rangers' giant robot quickly recovered, the Behemoth Zord's jaws on the chest of the Megazord opening to fire an orange orb of power at the opposing robot. However, the Dragon Zord's head on the chest of the Dragoon Megazord mirrored this action, only firing a large ball of black flames. The two attacks collided hard, cancelling each other out and knocking both Megazords off their feet.
"Dang it, we're running out of power!" Patrick cursed. "If we don't disable his Megazord, we're gonna be in deep trouble!"
"Hate to do this, but we don't have a choice," Nikki muttered, bringing out the Phoenix Crystal. "Guys, power up the Shield and Bow!"
Dirk and Layla nodded, getting out the Focus and Turtle Crystals. Nikki and Layla inserted their crystals into their blasters and pulled the triggers, calling out the Kitsune and Turtle Zords in flashes of pink and aquamarine light. The Kitsune Zord flipped up off the ground, forming a crossbow for the Gaia Megazord's right hand, while the Turtle Zord rolled into its shell and bounced up, forming a shield for the left hand.
"Gaia Megazord, Shield and Bow!" the team called as the Gaia Megazord got back to its feet, as did the Dragoon Megazord. The latter fired another black fireball at the former, the Turtle Shield managing to block the attack before its wielder returned fire with shots from the Kitsune Bow, forcing the dark Megazord to back off a bit.
"Guys, I think if we hit the Dragon Zord with enough force, we can force the Megazord apart!" Layla explained.
"Okay, hit it Dirk!" Nikki ordered, Dirk powering up the Focus Crystal. The Gaia Megazord began glowing with bronze light as the Turtle Shield was loaded onto the Kitsune Bow, the aquamarine Zord flashing in the seven colours of the Zords used in the current Zord combination.
"Heptagon Blast!" the Gaia Rangers shouted, the Kitsune Bow firing the Turtle Shield with the combined power of all seven Gaia Zords. The Turtle Zord erected a heptagon-shaped shield of bronze light around itself and slammed into the Dragoon Megazord hard, bouncing away to safety as the dark Megazord began to overload with energy, sparks flying from all over.
"GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!" Madilyn cheered.
Dargoon chuckled evilly from the Dragoon Megazord's cockpit, eggplant-coloured energy pouring from his hand into his blade and down into the control panel. "Pretty impressive attack. In fact, it should've been more than enough to force my Megazord apart, if I wasn't feeding it with the Ebony Venom I took in from Walker's Venom Blots. I'll give him this much credit: He may be an incompetent fool, but he gave me such a wonderful gift!"
The Turtle Zord quickly landed on the ground, peeling out toward the opponent at high speed. However, as it skipped up into the air, looking to slam into the dark Megazord, Dargoon fed a large amount of dark energy into the Dragoon Megazord, releasing a massive beam of darkness out of the Dragon Zord's jaws. It engulfed the Turtle Zord, stopping it in mid-air and knocking it to the ground in an explosion, its shell blown almost completely off as its power died off.
"TURTLE ZORD!" Madilyn screamed, the Zord fading away in a dim, aquamarine light.
"Okay, now I'm REALLY mad!" Dirk roared, the Kitsune Bow switching to the left hand and transforming into its longbow form. The Gaia Megazord created an arrow out of white hot flames, setting it on the bow.
"Gaia Megazord, Kitsune Bow!" the Rangers called. "Final Flare!"
The Megazord released the burning arrow, sending it sailing through the air straight at the Dragoon Megazord. The arrow hit the dark Megazord hard, causing it to stumble back a few steps, only for it to power up with even more dark energy from Dargoon.
"Eternal Bleak!" Dargoon shouted, the three Zords making up the Dragoon Megazord opening their jaws and firing out massive indigo, white, and black beams of energy out at the Gaia Megazord. The relentless assault of the beams knocked the Kitsune Bow out of the Gaia Megazord's hands and crashing into the trees below, while the Megazord itself crashed across the forest, the Rangers tumbling out of the cockpit and falling to the ground as the giant robot blew apart into its individual Zords, all looking heavily damaged.
Nikki winced and gasped in pain as she dragged herself up to her hands and knees, her visor broken apart in the top left corner. Reaching over, she grabbed hold of her discarded Gaia Saber, which had apparently fallen out with her, and used it to force herself shakily back to her feet. As she did, though, her eyes widened in horror at the sight of the Gaia Zords, all heavily damaged and drained of power. In a word, dead.
"No...!" Nikki gasped, all the while the others tried to pull themselves back up.
"Feel glad for them, because THEY got it easy!" Dargoon yelled from the Dragoon Megazord. "I'm sick of this stupid, infinite war on this light-tainted rock of a planet! I'm bringing an end to it once and for all, by destroying this planet and leaving only a dark abyss in its wake, leaving the darkness as the one true winner of the war!"
"Is he serious?!" Patrick demanded.
"In twenty-four hours, I expect you, Guardians of Gaia, to bring me all of the Gaian Crystals in your possession, so I can proceed with the quick, decisive destruction of Gaia!" Dargoon called. "If you don't, I'll destroy every single one of the cities on Gaia, and everyone in them! And trust me, I will make it agonizingly SLOW!"
With this thought left for the Rangers, the Dragoon Megazord teleported away, taking Dargoon with it. Likewise, the other Gaia Zords soon faded away into nothingness, leaving the Rangers to wallow in their own terror and depression.
Darkea gulped hard, having heard Dargoon's declaration. "...Okay, I think I'm getting what you meant before."
"Gee, you think?" Walker snarked as he finished using the dark smog in his staff to regenerate Sphantis' missing scythe.
"So, okay, what in the wide world of Gaia are we gonna do to stop THAT?!" Darkea demanded.
Walker sighed, turning away. "...Something I tried to tell myself I wouldn't have to do..."
Professor Snyder groaned as he carried Jowar down to the main chamber, laying him down on the mattress he'd pulled out. As he did, the others quickly ran in, all demorphed and looking anywhere from concerned to terrified as they gathered around.
"Is he...?" Dirk asked, tears forming in his eyes.
"No, he's still alive," Snyder replied, "but I think he might be comatose."
"Oh jeez..." Patrick muttered, falling to his knees. "I can't believe this is happening! What else could possibly go wrong today?!"
"I can think of a few things..."
The group immediately spun around, facing the source of the voice. To their combined shock, entering the main chamber of the Ancient Library was Walker, flanked by Darkea and an angry looking Sphantis. Nikki stood balled up against the three, unsure if she was ready for a fight or not, but prepared to fight the Shadowmancers to the death to protect Jowar.
"You can relax, Red Ranger," Walker assured. "I'm not here to fight you, amusing as it would be to kick you while you're down."
"Then what do you want?" Nikki inquired.
Walker sighed, looking EXTREMELY pained and conflicted, before staring into Nikki's eyes and simply uttering the words, "...I'm here to help."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: And just when they thought they knew the answers, I changed the questions! XD
So, much as I hate to bore you with details, let's recap some of the new stuff shown off this chapter. First off, the Dragon Buster is a large black and indigo sword, close in size to the Fire Smasher from Power Rangers Samurai. The crystal compartment is hidden behind an emblem resembling a dragon's eye, and can house up to three crystals at once, making it the vast superior to the Gaia Sabers in nearly every way. Naturally, it takes a strong-bodied individual to wield it properly, but once mastered, it works well as both an offensive and defensive weapon.
Next, the new Zords. The Dragon Zord is very much styled like the typical medieval dragon, in that it's a quadruped with a single set of wings, a tail, and its head sitting atop a neck comparable in length to the tail. The Wolf and Lion Zords are pretty much what they sound like, a white wolf and a black lion. When the three Zords combine into the Dragoon Megazord, the jaws of the Wolf and Lion Zords operate both as hands and as blasters.
And lastly, I better not hear anyone in the comments snickering at the use of the word 'sextuple'. Just saying. lol
Next time on Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia, the Indigo Nightmare Saga continues as the Rangers are left without their mentor or their Zords, but will help from a surprising source tip the scales back into their favour? Find out as the Rangers seek to uncover the means of tapping into the full extent of their powers! Ja né!