Chapter 21
Note: This will mark the end of the battle. The previous chapter as well as this one was to avoid making my character becoming a Gary Stu. I assure you that both the Rangers and Zero will have a hand in Zarden's defeat.
I stood in a crouched position in my Zero exoskeleton. I panted heavily as I leaned against my sword. The broken cinder of the collapse building rumbling before me as Zarden was clawing his way out from within it. Suddenly Zarden busted through the side of the rubble. His clothing partially tattered and he had small cuts on his body, but otherwise he was unscathed. Zarden laughed under his breath as I stood up, holding my sword horizontally in front of me.
"Well, DeSean. I didn't think you had that in you." Zarden said. "Let's see what little you have left." Zarden ran at me and attempted to grab me, but I rolled beside him. Zarden turned toward me and kicked me while I was kneeling, knocking me into the rubble. Zarden extended his arm and then used his psychic abilities to lift me off the ground. He then used them to slam me back first into the rubble and finally pull me to him. I stabbed him in the abdomen with my sword causing him to let go of me. I then pulled my sword out and turned to deliver a side kick to his chest, causing him to stagger back. I stood before him breathing heavily, his purple blood dripping from the edge of my kitana. He held out his left hand and his Z Staff appeared in his hand. He twirled his staff and pointed it toward me, shooting an energy ball at me, but I dived out of the way of it. Zarden turned toward me and I got up in a crouched position. He ran at me and swiped downward with his staff but I blocked it with my sword over head. Zarden retaliated with a kick to the side of my head, knocking me over. He then swiped down with the Z end of his staff, but I managed to move my head out of the way as the Z end struck the ground. I rolled to the side and got up, barely standing and holding my sword defensively. Zarden giggled and said, "There's not much fight left in you Cosdonian. Marduk will finally have his revenge." Zarden ran at me and swiped his staff at me, but I grabbed my sword with both hands and swiped upward, cutting his staff in half, then I turned and delivered a side kick to his chest. I came at him again and Zarden grabbed me by my neck. He lifted me up and I attempted to stab him again, but Zarden grabbed my other arm and then twisted causing me to drop my sword. He then began surging with electricity and electrified me.
Back at the Command Center, Kim was lying on the gurney moaning and writhing. The Rangers went to her as she shook her head as if she were having a bad dream.
Zarden continued to electrify me but then suddenly stopped and dropped me to my knees. He then punted me down the street. I skid to a halt yards away from the amalgamation. Zarden picked up my sword and examined it before walking toward me. I sat up and finally got up to my feet. Zarden attempted to swipe at me with my own sword, but I caught it between my hand. Shaking violently I started to conduct electricity and caused the sword to discharge a bolt of lightning that knocked Zarden back. I took the sword by the handle and slid it in its sheath. Zarden lifted his hand as it glowed with green energy and threw an energy ball at me, knocking me back to the ground.
Kim continued to react to the fight psychically tossing her head from side to side. Zack looked up at Zordon.
"Zordon, what's happening to her?" Zack asked.
"I am uncertain Rangers." Zordon said. The rangers continued to focus on Kim.
I pushed myself back to my feet, barely standing. I staggered forward as Zarden approached and Zarden hit me with a right cross punch. I fought to stay up and Zarden hit me with a left followed by another right. Still fighting to stay on my feet, Zarden finished me off with a backhand punch that knocked me off my feet. Zarden walked over to me and picked me up by the neck, holding his other fist up.
"You've lost, Cosdonian. Your world will end. I will destroy this planet just as Lord Zedd wishes, and then I shall move onto your reality where I will destroy Earth, Cosdon; the entire universe. Nothing will survive, and there is not a single thing you can do to stop me." Suddenly the ground began to shake. Zarden dropped me and looked around in confusion. Soon the sky began to rumble with thunder and the wind increased. Zarden breathed heavily and searched for what was causing the change. He was unprepared for what happened next. Suddenly a fireball hit Zarden at the chest tossing him back. Zarden stood up and said, "Who dares…" But before he could continue, a white blur moved around him. The blur maintained Tommy's all too familiar ki-ya. Finally the White Ranger himself appeared and delivered a front jump to Zarden's chest. The White Ranger landed and whipped his hands clean as he said, "Guess who's back." Zarden stood up in a puddle of water. Before he could move the Black Ranger sprung up from the ground, upper cutting Zarden while the puddle underneath him disappeared. Zarden landed on his back and then got back up to his feet. Zarden turned as the Yellow Ranger ran at him. She drew her right fist back and delivered a punch powerful enough to cause Zarden to stagger back. She punched him two more times in the face before finally delivering a powerful uppercut that knocked him off his feet. Zarden got up. The Blue Ranger arrived next, carrying his power Lance. Zarden stood up to face him and charged energy in his hands. He threw a ball of energy at the Blue Ranger but a hard gust of wind acted as a barrier protecting him from the blast.
"My turn!" The Blue Ranger said as he twirled his staff over his head. He pointed one of the ends at Zarden and discharged bolts of electricity that struck Zarden several times in several different places. The Pink Ranger landed ahead of the Blue Ranger and then ran at Zarden, holding her power bow in hand. She dived toward Zarden and while spinning in the air, created a tornado that knocked Zarden back. The five Rangers regrouped and the Red Ranger landed ahead of them, holding his power sword.
"Alright Rangers, let's do it!" The Red Ranger said. Zarden stood up, breathing heavily. He held his sword so the blade pointed downward and pushed his sword forward creating a burst of flame that eventually managed to cause several explosions that knocked Zarden back. The Red Ranger stopped his flame onslaught.
"Alright Aisha, you're up." The White Ranger said.
"oh yeah." The Yellow Ranger said. "It's time you went down." He extended her arms forward. Zarden stood up, but suddenly the ground beneath him began to shake. Then just as with the Rangers, the ground opened up and Zarden fell under. The Rangers celebrated but soon the Red Ranger stopped and said, "No time to celebrate, that won't hold him long."
"Jason's right." The White Ranger said. I made my way over to them and the Rangers gathered around me as I dropped to my knees. The White and Red Rangers helped me back to my feet.
"You ok man?" The Red Ranger asked.
"You guys showed up just in time." I said weakly. "I don't know if I would have lasted much longer."
"We just used the techniques that you taught us." The Black Ranger said.
"Yeah, it's a good thing your powers didn't give out." The Yellow Ranger said.
"You gave us power to make us stronger. Now were gonna return the favor, and give you some of your power back." The White Ranger said.
"We're gonna need your help if we have any chance of taking out Zarden." The Red Ranger said.
"Alright." I said weakly. "Put me down." The Red and White Rangers complied and lowered me to a crouched position. Then the six Rangers created a circle around me.
"Alright guys let's do it." The White Ranger said. The Rangers all grabbed their belt buckles and it caused all of their power coins to glow their respective ranger color.
"Tiger Zord, power of Shadow." The White Ranger said. He brought a white energy ball up to his chest creating a diamond with his hands around it.
"Mastodon, power of Water." The Black Ranger said as he brought a black energy ball to the front of his chest in the same manner as the White Ranger.
"Pterodactyl, power of Wind." The Pink Ranger said as she brought a pink energy ball to the front of her chest in the same manor.
"Triceratops, power of Thunder." The Blue Ranger said as he brought a blue energy ball to the front of his chest, following suit.
"Saber-toothed Tiger, power of Earth." The Yellow Ranger said as she brought a yellow energy ball to the front of her chest and followed suit.
"Tyrannosaurus, power of Fire." The Red Ranger said as he brought a red energy ball to the front of his chest and ended the cycle. "We call on the power of six elements combined." The Rangers all pushed their energy balls toward me all of them in unison calling "Power Up." As the balls hit me, I began to glow blue, groaning in pain. The glowing became more brilliant and soon became a flash of blue light. When the blue light faded, I was totally healed. My exoskeleton was completely repaired and, though I was not at full power, I was strong enough to carry on the fight.
"Alright!" The White Ranger said.
"Prodigious!" The Blue Ranger said.
"Totally!" The Pink Ranger said.
"Yeah!" The Red Ranger said. The six Rangers joined me. I put my hands on the Red Rangers shoulder and said, "Thank you Rangers."
"Hey don't mention it bro." The Red Ranger said.
"With as much as you've helped us, we're honored to give some back." The White Ranger said. The ground began to shake again and the seven of us looked toward where Zarden had fallen. I stepped ahead of the group.
"Now what do you say we end this once and for all." I said.
"Right!" The Rangers said. Zarden busted through the ground and climbed out.
"You will pay for that." Zarden said.
"I don't think so Zarden." The White Ranger said. "Cuz this time you're light are going out permanently." I reached back and grabbed the handle of my kitana.
"It's time we end this." I said. I ran toward Zarden and as I got to him, I pulled out my sword, moving as fast as I would at full strength, I swiped my sword at him from different angles, which he was barely able to block with his gauntlets. I swiped horizontally and Zarden somersaulted over my sword. But upon landing, I threw a right side kick at his back. The Pink and Yellow Rangers both did a moonsault over Zarden and then kicked him in the back after landing. The Black and Blue Rangers followed by tripping Zarden as he staggered forward. As Zarden got up to his knees, the Red and White Rangers threw front kicks at Zarden's chest sending him skidding back. But as he slid back, I did a cartwheel over his shoulders, stood him up and threw three roundhouse kicks at him, each kick sparking electricity. Zarden staggered back and I held my arms out to the side. The Black and Blue Rangers jumped onto my shoulders and then launched themselves off both of them swiping their weapons at the amalgamation. The Pink and Yellow Rangers then jumped over me, The Yellow Ranger throwing her daggers at Zarden and the Pink Ranger taking a shot with her bow and arrow. The Red and White Rangers stood at either side of me, both wielding their individual swords.
"Shall we?" The White Ranger said. Zarden got up to his feet when blurs of white, red and blue passed him several times, cutting him after each individual pass. The Red and White Rangers stopped and at one side of Zarden while I stopped at another. The Rangers regrouped and returned their weapons to their holsters.
"Alright Jason, time to show you something new and improved." The White Ranger said. "Power Rangers, prepare to receive power cannon." The Blue and Black Rangers turned to face Zarden and while standing next to each other crossed their inboard arms as they surged with white energy. The Pink and Yellow Rangers followed suit in front of the other two Rangers and finally the White And Red Rangers at the front. "Brace!" The rangers all reached up as if getting ready to catch something. And electricity surged from all of them and after a flash of light created a large Cannon. The Rangers dropped the cannon onto their inboard shoulders as the White Ranger said, "Lock and Load!"
"Pink Charge!" The Pink Ranger said as she dropped her colored energy ball into a compartment.
"Yellow Charge!" The Yellow Ranger said as she did the same.
"White Charge!" The White Ranger said as he did the same.
"Red Charge!" The Red Ranger said as he did the same.
"Prepare to fire!" The White Ranger said, as the other Rangers pushed in different mechanisms along the cannon. The Cannon started to activate with engines within it beginning to warm up. Meanwhile I held my sword inverted in my left hand. I brought my sword up in front of me as I began to charge with electricity and held it in front of my chest. I brought my right hand over the blade handle with my middle and index finger pointing upward and soon created a large ball of electricity in front of me. As I charged the ball, it grew larger and larger until it was as big as me. My top hand shook violently as I charged the ball with power.
"Fire!" All of the Rangers said at once. The Cannon discharged a large blast of seemingly five balls at once. And in midair the five balls combined into one and shot at Zarden. Meanwhile I let out a scream as I cocked my sword and hand back and pushed them forward, launching the ball at Zarden. Both the combined blasts of my Electricity ball and the Rangers power Cannon hit Zarden at the same time causing a large explosion. Zarden could be heard screaming from within the explosion and after it subsided, all that could be seen was smoke. When the smoke cleared both Marduk and Lord Zedd were lying on the ground. The Rangers celebrated as the long battle had finally come to an end. Goldar suddenly appeared and went to his master. He lifted him up on his shoulders and suddenly disappeared again. The rangers joined me as I slid my sword in its sheath.
"It's finally over. The threat of Zarden is gone, and now that Marduk and Zedd are separated. After I repair the damages to your city, it will be time for us to return."
"Sean, I've been thinking. With a power like Marduk, I don't think you should bring him back to your world." The Red Ranger said.
"Yeah, he could end up fusing with someone else and causing all sorts of problems." The Yellow Ranger said.
"And if what you've been saying about our world being a kids show in your world is true, then killing him would probably not be the best thing either." The Pink Ranger said.
"Then what do you suppose we do?" I said.
"Well I have a plan that will ensure he doesn't bother us again." The White Ranger said. I folded my arms at my chest looking at the White Ranger.
Later, Jason, Adam, Billy, Tommy and I were at the mountains, carrying a dumpster similar to the one that carried Rita. We had shrunk Marduk and locked him in the dumpster using the combined energies of Zordon and myself.
"Ready guys." Tommy said. The five of us lifted the dumpster up and a bolt of electricity struck the dumpster causing it to disappear. "Alright." Tommy said slapping hands with his friends. But I stood there pondering.
"You ok man?" Jason asked me.
"Yeah." I said. "I just hope locking him in that dumpster was the best thing to do." Tommy chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it. Marduk's gonna be floating in space for a long time." I still was unsure. Still I shrugged my shoulders and left with the Rangers.
The city was still in disarray in the aftermath of the battle with Zarden and his forces. In the rubble of one of the buildings however, a feminine hand managed to free itself. Climbing out of the debris was none other than the evil witch Rita Repulsa, her clothes dirty and her white horned hair had streaks of black.
"Eh, that's the last time I lift a finger around here." Rita said, with her original annoying voice. She looked up toward the moon and said, "Oh Zeddy, I'm not done with you yet!" She laughed as the debris she was standing on began to rise from the ground and carry her into space.