Chapter 21: Not Fun

"What the fuck was that?"

Through the dust clouds obscuring his vision, Weihan cracked a small smile at Zriac's words. It seemed his rather abrasive language was rubbing off onto the Black Ranger fairly rapidly, over-writing her pre-established speech patterns. Or maybe she was pulling the profanity out of his mind as the Hurantic language didn't really have the same swears. The echoing booms shook him out of his reverie as he rolled to avoid a large chunk of masonry that had come from, of all places, the ceiling. The canine themed monster Dasur had morphed into had taken one step towards them and then had leapt up, using its claws to dig up into the ceiling. The monster had vanished up the hole and it had been extremely fast…at first. A few minutes after that, the first growled curses had started as three claw-tips had fallen from the exit point of the monster. Still, the tunnelling of the monster was nothing to sneeze at as his internal radar estimated the fiend would reach the surface of around three minutes.

"…with language like that, you are indeed my daughter. Getting back on the topic; that was what happens when a fool forces a connection with Powers that were not meant for evil. I never thought I would see it in my lifetime. Judging on its speed on the ground and its agility, I cannot continue on the chase as I lack the power needed for pursuit."

Weihan nodded and looked up the hole, carefully avoiding the waterfall of dirt, rock and masonry chunks raining down. He could teleport to the surface and catch the monster unawares but that would be a bad move considering he didn't know the true objective of the monster. A better plan would be to wait until the monster appeared on the surface and re-engage it then. He looked at the other Rangers carefully for any sign of weariness or signs that they had been beaten down by the avoidance of the traps and trials in the hall. Droas seemed to have regained his centre after the emotional reveal but seemed to be shakily looking around; almost as if he was expecting more monsters to pour out from the walls of the Vaults. Xristi was slightly nervous and was alternating from tugging her shirt and bending over to massage her thighs…both actions not really doing him any great favours. Zriac was pacing and casting timid glances at Jabarkas, who was trying his hardest not to give her any sort of notice at all. And then there was himself, who had been mere seconds from getting a new hole in his head and had witnessed a Huran painfully transforming into a dog monster. Jabarkas caught his uneasy look and nodded slowly.

"It pains me to say this, Ranger, but you are the only person that can chase after it. I will see if the Emergency Escape Vent is unobstructed and will get the Rangers away from here. I am sure the other Rangers will assist you but, until they arrive, you will be on your own."

The Orange Ranger nodded and Jabarkas fought the urge to sigh. He had been on Huran for little more than ninety standard Earth minutes and had already lapsed into the old instincts that had saved his team from destruction. He had mostly avoided thinking about his past as a Ranger under the service of Xonix but now that his Master was trapped in another dimension, he had found his thoughts wandering on more than one occasion. Of course, as he was on the planet he had sworn he would never return to, the feelings had intensified with the knowledge of his daughter but…well, it was rapidly becoming clear to him that the Huran of the present had no place for a warrior like him. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about the prospect of leaving the planet empty-handed, though he felt a deep sense of calm wash over his mind as he looked at his daughter. She would guide the Huran Rangers to their sweetest victories and raise them up from their most crushing defeats. On the other hand, she would have to learn how to rein in her temper from the Orange Ranger and that was something he didn't really want to think too much about.

There was one thing that he was totally sure of: Xonix would never be allowed to come near Huran. He would fight his master on that point but, seeing as how it was rather insignificant in the grand scheme of destroying the Ultra Crystals, he doubted more than a second glance would be made to the planet, even if Xonix knew about his daughter. Actually, he thought with an internal grimace, he would have to brace himself for a few bits of teasing from his Master on occasion as well as, if he had to tell the entire story, jokes about the Orange Ranger being his future son-in-law. He hoped that never was the case and his daughter moved on to someone more…respectable. On the other hand, it wasn't really his business anyway.

"I see light at the end of the tunnel. He's broken through."

Jabarkas nodded and ushered the others away from the mouth of the opening. Weihan swallowed hard and began channelling his energy to his hands and feet. He had no idea if this was going to work or not and, if it didn't, had no other backup plan ready. Exhaling slowly, he pushed the first flames out of the soles of his feet and felt himself rise shakily off the ground. The mini-jets that were shooting out the palms of his hands gave him some degree of stability but he still wondered why he was doing something that was both flashy and extremely idiotic. Perhaps it was to make himself look better to both Zriac and Xristi but, if what he had experienced in the lift was any indication, they had already gravitated towards him and would ignore any other signs. Pushing away the more favourable thoughts, he applied more power and rocketed up the shaft – wondering why he hadn't just summoned his Assault Armour or his Battlizer for the ascent. The spikes of his shoulder-pads scraped against the sides of the walls, producing brief bursts of sparks but there was little to no damage from the minor collisions. His eyes scrolled through the menu options as he heard the first terrified screams coming from above.

"Orange Ranger, can you hear me?"

The voice washed over his ears so suddenly that he had to jerk his body to a halt to avoid crashing into the wall. Regaining his equilibrium and balance, he began his ascent once more and answered the call from Muitime. The former Blue Ranger sounded worried and slightly apprehensive about something, though that was possibly just his imagination. On the other hoof, Dasur had mentioned something about the group of rebels trying to break into the Processing Core being sacrifices for his power or something along those lines. He wondered off-handed how they would have met their end but banished the morbid thought. Without waiting for his reply, Muitime continued.

"We have a large doglike monster tearing up the city. He's headed for the Y'lchn fields on the other side of the mountains. You and the others need to stop him before he escapes. The other crisis is that the large crowd of rebels and rioters that were outside the doors of the Processing Core just exploded and…and their remains coagulated into some sort of fleshy mass monster. I've dispatched the other Rangers to deal with it but it looks like you are on your own for the canine."

He nodded once as he burst from the hole to find he was still inside the Royal Palace. The wall directly to his left sported a large hole with jagged sides, sparks weakly bursting as the self-repair systems struggled to cope with the massive damage. Pawed footprints led out of the Palace and into a small house that was nearby. Gruesomely, he could see a large puddle of blood spreading out from under the door and he swallowed hard. Dasur needed to be stopped one way or another and if that meant he had to destroy the Cerberus Crystal, then so be it. Cutting the energy to his hands and feet, he landed on the ground softly and took a brief moment to look down the hole he had just come from. Extremely disconcertingly, he couldn't see the bottom and had to close his eyes as a wave of vertigo swept through his body. Staggering away from it, he passed through the gaping hole and out into the city.

He was at a different point than his initial entrance point; though from the scuff marks his enhanced vision picked up on, it wasn't that far away. Drawing the Raptor Sabre, he walked toward the blood-splattered house, wary of what he would find within. Pushing open the door, he activated his rather underused helmet 'headlights' – spotlights that shone out from the eyes of the Utahraptor – and looked into the darkness. There had been a family of three living here; that he could see from the remains. Half a male Huran was strewn across a table, green and grey organs still pulsing weakly. His other half was dangling from the ceiling by a foot, the claws on both feet ripped out violently. Reaching out with his left hand, Weihan closed the eyes of the Huran and swore he saw the edges of the mouth crease into a smile before the body fell limp.

He didn't have to look far for his wife.

A female Huran had been thrown violently into the corner, several long scratches carved into her naked body. Although he tried to look away, the Orange Ranger could see the area between her legs had been utterly destroyed by something extremely thick. Her eyes were open and filled with terror and pain as her breathing rapidly weakened. Crouching down to close her eyes, he heard her death rattle as she finally expired from the trauma and horror of her experience. As he stood up, he accidentally nudged to side of her body and watched, with growing nausea, as it flopped over to reveal a large exit wound on her back. Shuddering in revulsion, he pushed past the back door to reveal the ultimate fate of the third occupant.

"Sweet Celestia…"

The third Huran could have been a young child or even a baby; it was hard to distinguish how big he or she might have been due to there…not being much of a body left. Literally, all he could see was a small pool of blood with the mangled remains of a hand and a leg that looked gnawed on. Bloody paw prints led away from the scene of carnage to a small alley that ended at a railway to the mountains.

The hunt was on.

TBC…