Chapter Nineteen: And along came a spider
Cardio, that's what she needed. The young Ranger in pink ruminated this again, and again, as she sped and weaved through the traffic of Angel Grove, a picturesque coastal city-currently held beneath grey skies on what should have been a beautiful summertime afternoon. Getting stuck had perturbed her, and not because of her appearance. No, Violet was never a self-conscious person. In fact, she knew that she was a few sizes larger than the some girls, but she wasn't chubby either. What bothered her, and really pissed her off, was the lack of mobility. She was a Power Ranger now, and she needed to be in her best physical condition. So, as a result of her blunder in the Waffle House, she would be kicking off the next day with a healthier diet and diligent exercise regimen.
Vehicles of all sizes, shapes, and colors blurred through her field of vision as she continued to bid her sleek pink motorcycle, emblazoned to bear some semblance to the pterodactyl, on its hasty itinerary towards the monster that she could sense. The others had already arrived, she could feel it.
Fucking Remus, that cocky man whore with his perfect hair, steel blue eyes, chiseled bod- Fucking Remus, she repeated in her mind, pushing his redeeming qualities aside in order to hate him in this moment. She sneered inside of her helmet. How fucking accurate it was that his redeeming qualities happened to be his looks. Vapid creature; like brother, like sister.
She veered off of the freeway, exiting right, and not caring who she just cut off. Let them crash, she thought, angry with herself for being held up by that gorilla who thought he had a brain to match hers. The industrial park drew near as she moved through a succession of intersections, narrowly avoiding death on account of a blatant disregard for traffic safety. She was going to be late. There was a disaster at hand, and she was fucking late. Violet fumed. They were going to write it off as Violet being Violet, as always. What's more? That bitch Ceres would have some comment, even though this happened because the stupid whore had to tell her brother about her own tribulations as a fucking Power Ranger, surely. And Ryan, of course, Ryan would use this as another reason to not take her seriously and be cruel. She opened the throttle wider. Fuck Remus, that fucking asshole! She wished she had a nasty, but treatable, STD, so she could seduce Remus and give it to him. She blinked and shook her head, because she didn't really want an STD, and had no idea why she kept having sexual thoughts about Remus.
Damn it, she just had to get there. They needed her help, regardless of the mean things that they would say and think.
Barely avoiding the body shattering blow, Milo tucked and rolled to the right of this grey skinned creature's massive fist, her body conforming to the pavement as she moved beneath her own weight. The bipedal monster, with ominous white tusks, curved and massive, stood at a height twelve feet. This thick, naked, beast, a caricature of a trunk-less elephant and a violent ape, proved terrifying, and impervious to their attacks. The strike intended for Milo plunged into the red brick wall of an aging warehouse, collapsing the side of the building in a wild avalanche of wood, brick, steel, and concrete.
Milo, after rolling out of her evasive maneuver and propelling herself to her feet, ran across a short expanse to the other Rangers also in suit, all but Violet, who watched in horror at the raw power of this new monster.
"Any ideas?" she asked, turning to face the pile of rubble that had overcome the creature.
"I've got one," said Virgil, staring on incredulously as he stood to her left. "Be here on time, where the fuck is Violet?"
"Her bow might prove useful," Naomi added matter-of-factly, standing to Milo's right.
"Maybe she was sidetracked by a comic convention, or something shiny," Ceres added disdainfully, coming up from behind Naomi and standing to the Yellow Ranger's right.
"Forget the bow," said Ryan, standing behind all of them with his arms crossed, the dragon shield upon his torso shimmering with its mystic radiance. "You guys need the motherfucking cannon."
"Yeah," Milo sighed, suppressing all fear and uneasiness towards this precarious situation. "Cannon would be nice."
To signify the end of their conversation, or abruptly conclude it, Behemoth roared like the feral beast he was. His powerful limbs spanned out as he rose from the rubble, causing debris to explode out into every direction. The creature's vacant yellow eyes fixed upon the Red Ranger and her cohorts, swiftly lumbering towards them in powerful steps. Its body shook with ecstasy at the notion of trampling its prey and tearing them all asunder.
"Here it comes!" Milo cried, removing her bladeblaster from the holster on her right hip, pressing her left hand down onto the back the red dagger, closing the weapon forward and switching it into pistol mode with an audible click. "I hope you can all dodge."
They all leapt backwards, scattering, as Behemoth continued to hulk towards Milo. She smirked behind her mask, pleased that it came for her instead of her companions. The Red Ranger kicked into the air, twisting with the agility of a wildcat as she flipped and repeatedly pulled the trigger. Red blasts fired into the monster, causing it to stop in its tracks for only a split second. The damage from the bladeblasters would be dismal at best, but they needed to buy time while they planned their next maneuver. Milo landed in a crouching position, several yards away from where she had leapt. Her landing away from Behemoth subsequently signaled an onslaught from the other Rangers as volleys of black, yellow, blue, and green relentlessly fired into the beast with heavy slabs of muscle, enraging it. While still continuing to shoot, each Ranger leapt closer to Milo in an effort to concentrate the unrelenting blasts.
"Um, I think we're just pissing it off!" Virgil cried out, now standing close to Milo as he, and the others, fired shot after shot into it.
A yellow blast fired into the creature's left eye socket, charring the eyeball and surrounding flesh as blood poured forth and splattered onto the asphalt of the secluded street. The creature wailed with a rumbling bellow so potent that it caused Milo's chest to vibrate uncomfortably.
"Now you've done it!" Virgil exclaimed, his inflection perturbed and uneasy.
"At least I found a weak spot!" Naomi yelled back, indignantly.
It was obvious, they were all uneasy.
It was one thing to deal with an ambling incarnation of brute force, but to deal with a half-blind, exceedingly enraged, ambling incarnation of brute force, well, that happened to be an entirely different matter.
"Guys, now isn't the time to bicker." Milo said, evenly, trying desperately to swallow the panic that ensnared her like a bandit caught in a hangman's noose.
The bellowing beast hammered its fists down onto the street, cracking and shattering the asphalt as the ground trembled underfoot. Milo's footing shifted as her throat tightened, a side effect of the surmounting trepidation. Their battles, they kept getting tougher and tougher. How many more would they survive if they made it through this one? By the way it shook the ground with its bare hands, would they survive at all?
"We have to get the other eye," Milo declared, banishing all doubt and insecurity from her voice. She was the leader, the Red Ranger, and she could not afford to display her true emotions before her comrades, ever. To the very end, regardless of the outcome, she would remain stoic-a courageous leader no matter what happened. Though negligible, this external resolve seemed to dull the thundering of her heart and the hurricane in her stomach.
The tremors ceased, the beasts nostrils flared, and it lowered its head as it broke into an explosive sprint towards the Rangers. Instinctively, they all soared into the air with a burst of momentum from their crouching jumps. They cleared the beast, turned mid-air, and landed back down onto the precarious battlefield as the monster barreled forward like a tanker truck with a full load. It was a few dozen yards before the creature was able to come to a complete stop and face them again. As its remaining eye locked upon them, it roared fiercely. Milo felt the intensity of such a roar burn within her soul, it wanted them dead and not by merciful means in the least.
"Scatter!" Milo ordered the incomplete team, her fingers tightening around the grip frame of her bladeblaster.
"But!" Virgil piped up, seeming opposed to the idea of Milo using herself as bait.
"Do it, Virgil!" she hissed, not willing to budge on the issue.
Virgil turned his head away, appearing to comply reluctantly. "Tch."
With that, each Ranger leapt away from Milo, dispersing in every direction and out of harm's way. She had to distract it, gauge its power, and find a fatal flaw that could topple this monster like a house of cards. Taking the blaster from her right hand with the left, Milo then envisioned her sword. The image of the red hilt, the golden emblazoning upon that hilt, and the stark grey of the long, narrow, steel blade flashed through her consciousness until she could balance its tangible weight in the palm of her right hand. Smiling, she secured her grip upon the hilt and anticipated the impending onslaught of Behemoth.
Behemoth, from afar, crouched and leapt towards Milo in one explosive burst. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of his impact, Milo knelt and launched herself into the air. Behemoth landed where Milo had stood and then pushed himself vertically so as to pursue her. Milo rotated her body, hanging upside down in midair, so that she may face the ground and the gargantuan beast that pursued. Her left index finger squeezed the trigger several times, releasing the red blasts into the monster's face; a useless effort.
Milo cried out as she felt the jolt of its large hand grasp her by the torso. The entirety of his right palm and massive fingers easily encompassed her frame. She wriggled, with futility, against the solid prison of flesh and bone. Her breath escaped her as his grip began to tighten during their descent. Behemoth then landed hard on his feet, as evident by the erupting chunks of pavement and a cloud of dust billowing from the disturbance. She was held not only in an unnatural position, but also vulnerable to its powerful—fatal—grip. This was bad.
As Behemoth's hand tightened around her, Milo could feel the mass exodus of oxygen from her lungs, not to mention the excruciating pain that ignited over her entire body like fire ants tearing at her flesh. She knew, then and there, that her suit had absorbed the brunt of the damage and that a regular person would immediately die from this. She was thankful for that, but also knew that her suit could give out at any moment. To revert right now, right here, in the grip of this fiend, that meant the end for her. She closed her eyes, feeling the beads of sweat pouring forth while the burning sensation in her lungs utterly debilitated her.
The Red Ranger's vision began to blur, consciousness would fade soon—her life, too.
Virgil, she thought, not having the means, or the energy, to mutter his name in her final moment.
What happened next, one might call it luck or even fate if they believed in such a thing. She called it badass camaraderie.
The grip of Behemoth slackened immediately, causing her to fall the short expanse to the pavement, head first. Managing to tuck her head to her chin, and swing her legs down, Milo landed flat on her back, staring straight up at Ceres and Virgil, who were gripping the pole of the Power Lance, using it as their anchor, and standing on opposite sides while it protruded from the creature's back. Had they leapt into the air together in order to drive the large spear into the creature and save her? By the way it looked, strange as it seemed, it had almost appeared as though the two Rangers saving her life had descended from above. No sooner than Milo could attempt to process how exactly they had closed the distance so swiftly and drove the Power Lance home into the monster's back, her gaze lifted to the ruthlessness of her lover's and friend's attacks. Virgil relentlessly smashed the Power Axe against the right side of the creature's fortified skull while Ceres fired round after round from her bladeblaster into the back of Behemoth's head. The beast was stunned, but it wouldn't be for long.
Before Milo could stand again, beams of yellow and green energy fired into the face of Behemoth, making the creature already under heavy assault from the Blue and Black Ranger stagger backwards. Milo saw Virgil and Ceres look forward and cease their assault, and then immediately knew why. Naomi sprinted headlong into harm's way, leaping into the air and slamming her pelvis right into the throat of the creature, tightly snaking her thighs and legs about its neck. To Milo, it looked like riding a bull, but upside down. She stood up and watched with awe as Naomi held her body upright with the strength of her core and drove her right hand Power Dagger into Behemoth's good eye, crimson liquid spilling forth and staining her yellow thighs with it.
"Holy shit," Milo murmured, having no idea that Naomi had it in her.
Just then, Ryan came up behind her, to the left, and took her by the wrist as she still clutched her weaponry in each hand. "Going up?"
The ground immediately departed and she felt the sensation of the free fall while they gained measurable distance from Behemoth upon their subsequent landing. Was it their growth? Is this what purifying the Dead Zones meant? Growing stronger and, in turn, making Azrael stronger? It all seemed to dawn on Milo when someone like Ryan could effortlessly haul her into the air all while traversing a respectable length—half of a football field to be exact. Herself, Virgil, Ceres, Naomi, Violet, and Ryan, they were all growing in power by leaps and bounds. It was incredible, yet terrifying. Even out of suit, she was beginning to feel different. If they survived, if being the operative word, she would seek Tom's counsel and learn more of their predecessors. Surely the Power Rangers of the previous generation weren't superhuman while in suit, it just wasn't how she remembered things at all.
"Are you all right?" Ryan asked, now they had achieved a safe distance from the fray.
It was strange. Since when did Ryan show concern for anyone else's well being. This, this was genuine compassion.
"I-" she began, surprised by her comrade's latest display, "I'm fine, for the most part. I don't think I broke anything."
"Good," said Ryan, he continued speaking in a manner unfamiliar to her. "It was ballsy, I'll give you that. But, you really had me worried," he trailed off, almost seeming to be ashamed he was admitting that he cared.
"Thanks," Milo said, wincing in pain from being handled so roughly a moment ago.
"I don't know why Violet is late," he added, almost reflecting out loud as he didn't seem to be talking to her. "We left at the same time."
Violet rounded a left turn hard, finding the evacuated street where the others were. By the look of it, the burly beast had already taken down one of the warehouses. Closing the distance on her motorcycle, as she rode straight towards Behemoth, she quickly assessed the location of each comrade; Ryan and Milo were talking from a safe distance and Naomi seemed to be leaping away from the creature, covered in its blood, that Ceres and Virgil were standing on top of—a tall, thick, and monstrous beast, it looked like they had barely touched it in spite of how brutally they were lashing out at it. What in the hell was that thing? Did an elephant rape a gorilla in order to produce that? Jesus, it looked tough.
To shake her into reality, and confirm such a notion, the creature's massive right fist collided with the side of Virgil's helmet. The sound of the collision resounded like the ominous boom of a powerful war drum, Violet supposed, and it didn't look too good for Virgil either. Like a paper doll in the rain, Virgil's knees buckled as he reverted to human form. She could hear Ceres curse, while slightly bending her knees, as she reached out to catch the unconscious Black Ranger with the hand that she had originally anchored to her weapon with, and then viciously tore the Power Lance out of Behemoth's back with her other hand before leaping away to safety—Virgil in tow.
Virgil may have gone down, but this was her moment to make the dynamic entrance and redeem her tardiness, no thanks to that asshole Remus.
As her bike continued on, she leapt up and stood erect atop the seat of the vehicle as it travelled, summoning her Power Bow. Violet quickly braced her left arm, gripping the weapon tightly, as she made an arrow of energy by drawing the string back with her right hand. She let fly the explosive arrow, which staggered Behemoth back in a vivid explosion of pink energy, before the motorcycle wobbled out of control. The injured creature roared, stunned from the earlier assault, the loss of its vision, and now the arrow, while Violet lost grip of her weapon and toppled from her bike which tipped and slid on the ground in a hellish screech and shower of sparks. The craft came to a complete stop, and both the weapon and motorcycle dispersed into the nothingness from whence they came.
She rolled across the asphalt as her suit absorbed the brunt of the damage due to falling from her bike. All the while, she resolved that she would also be adding core training to her new workout regimen. Violet sighed, slowly standing and pacing backwards, gaining distance from the flailing, blind monster.
"Come on!" Naomi cried out, grabbing Violet's left hand with her right in a bid to turn her around and make a hasty retreat towards the rest of the team, now fully assembled.
"I think he's alive," Ceres said to the others, having knelt at his side as she checked for a pulse, Violet just catching the tail end of the conversation as she and Naomi came to a stop, and as the rest of the group stood around Virgil in a protective circle. "He took one pretty hard, but it didn't kill him."
"This is bad, he needs a Doctor," said Milo, speaking calmly in spite of the fact that her knuckles were obviously whitening around the grips of both of her weapons. "But, we can't leave that thing unchecked."
Violet's nostrils flared from within the pink, black tinted, helmet, they were probably going to blame her. She looked to the muscle toned young man, sleeping on the bare asphalt as though death itself had taken him. It would be a miracle if he could get up from that. Even if they did try to blame her, what difference would it have made if she had arrived any earlier? Her shot with the arrow barely did anything to it. They were clearly outmatched. She sighed, noiselessly, even if she felt some guilt, she tried so hard to get here, she really did.
"Violet," Ceres said with no trace of anger or contempt in her voice; however, her voice was raised all the same. "What the hell took you so long? We needed you to form the Power Cannon, and now we can't," she added, gesturing her white gloved hand towards Virgil.
"Oh, shut the fuck up!" Violet spat, all but ignoring the beast that threw a wild, flailing, tantrum nearly half the length of a football field away. "It's not like I was doing my hair, I tried to get here as fast as I could."
"Well, what made you late, then?" Milo asked, her voice barely clasping on to its stoic inflection. "Did something happen?"
To answer Milo's question, with such impeccable timing, Violet's silver corolla screeched to a halt just a few feet from the flank of the group. Who was the vehicle's driver? Remus Freyja.
"Oh fuck all kinds of duck," Ceres groaned, her white hand draping over the front of her blue triceratops adorned mask.
"VIOLET!" Remus cried, leaping out of the driver's side of the four door sedan. He continued to bellow with his fists clenched. Truthfully, he looked like a bit of a raving lunatic. "Violet, I know you're the pink one!"
Violet rolled her eyes while she felt the burning stares of the other Power Rangers on her. "Um, I'm not Violet…you crazy bastard."
Remus raised the Domo backpack aloft, like an ancient warlord raising the head of a slain king. "I HAVE YOUR POKEMON!"
"It's Domo, you inbred ape! Give it back!" Violet growled.
"HAHA!" Remus exclaimed, almost euphoric with his victory as he tossed the backpack into the cab of the stolen car.
"How the fuck did he find you out?!" Ryan yelled, his body language tense and agitated in spite of the fact his green suit with white diamond patterns concealed all of him.
"It's not my fault, Ryan!" Violet replied, gasping at the realization that she just said Ryan's name. "Er, Ryan, who is definitely not from my school!"
"Ha! I knew it!" Remus cried out, triumphantly.
"This is your fault!" Ryan hissed scathingly. "You ruin everything! Why would the Ptera morpher even choose someone like you? You're useless, you bring nothing to the team, and you're dumb as shit. Is this some last ditched effort for even the great and powerful coins to include retards in the year 2011? Because, I think it is. You stalk me, you fuck shit up, and you almost got us killed more than once. Now, you've compromised our secret identities, the one thing we even had going for us! I FUCKING HATE YOU!"
Violet exhaled, feeling the air being sucked from her lungs. The words felt like heavy blows while her eyes misted and stung.
"Ryan!" Milo cried out, openly scolding him for the way in which he had just spoken. "That is no way to talk to her, apologize."
"Fuck off, Milo!" Ryan spat, turning away from group. "I also don't even know why you're the leader."
Milo spluttered, appearing to be on the verge of losing her temper.
"Now calm the hell down, Ryan," Ceres growled, "you're completely out of line and I don't like the way you're talking to Milo and Violet."
"Shove it up your ass, you over privileged slut. I know all about your little affair with the wannabe mayor, not surprising someone like you would latch onto that," the Green Ranger snarled, his gaze snapping towards Ceres as his body turned to face them all again. "You don't even know how poorly led this team is and how difficult it is to put up with all of you. I could easily do a better job."
"You punk ass little shit," Remus growled, walking up to the Green Ranger and shoving him backwards. "Nobody talks to my sister like that! Violet doesn't fucking deserve that either. You were just as fucking obvious as she was, Mr. Oliver, too. You little fucker! Why don't you take off that helmet so I can smash your face?"
"Sister? Mr. Oliver? What?" Ryan asked, easily recovering from being shoved, his tone was even yet curious. "And how would you know about all of that?"
"Unlike you, my head isn't up my ass and I pay attention. I know a lot, like the fact that you're lucky enough to even be the Green Ranger, because a little douchebag with a chip on his shoulder, like you, doesn't deserve to be a Power Ranger, let alone something as cool as the Green Ranger," Remus replied, shoving him again.
Violet watched with awe as Remus stepped up to defend her, nobody ever defended her. In that moment, she began to look at the jock that teased her in the hallways a little differently than she had before.
"You want to fight me while I'm in suit?" Ryan asked, laughing. "Let's do it. Come at me, bro."
"Come at me bro?" Remus asked, almost laughing. "Get off 4chan and get laid, you little pussy. Fuck, this tough guy act is obviously a front for the pathetic little weasel that you really are. You would need superpowers to fight evenly with me, too."
"Um," Naomi began, looking behind to the monster now lumbering towards them and then back to the group several times, nervously. "Um, guys?"
"Oho," Ryan chortled as he grabbed Remus, four inches taller than he, by the collar of his shirt with his left hand, "you're going down, gorilla man. Fuck the rule about personal gain; I'm going to enjoy this."
"HEY!" Ceres yelled, angrily. "You hurt him and I will rip off your head and shove it up your ass!"
"G-guys!" Naomi yelled out, her voice filled with panic. "In the time you've all been arguing, that monster is no longer stunned. I fear that we might have lost that small sliver of an advantage, because it is coming towards us."
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Ryan yelled out, appearing to remember the monster as he released Remus from his grip. "Fuck this, fuck all of you!"
Violet looked over to the monster and to Remus, wondering what they would all do with him if they even survived this. He knew most of their identities now, well all but Naomi's and Virgil's. Though, Violet supposed, he did see Virgil unconscious and out of suit.
"Well, knock him dead," Remus said, chuckling nervously, as he noticed the large and muscular creature for the first time. "I now know all of your names, except for the jogger with the sexy ass. Oh, and I guess I don't know the half dead guy's name either. Got what I came for, haha."
"Wha?" Naomi uttered, stunned by his comment.
"Er, anyway, I was totally out of line pestering you all on the line of duty," he continued chuckling, backing away towards the car. "So, uh, keep up the good work and have fun not dying, kay?"
Violet glared through the visor of her helmet, seeing nothing but a cowardly ass. Maybe she was wrong about him after all.
"Remus," Ceres said, voice booming. "Whether or not I wanted this, god knows that I wanted to reveal my identity so as to DETER you, you're a part of this now. Take Virgil in Violet's car and get him to the hospital, now."
As much as Violet didn't want Remus in her car, she couldn't help but agree with Ceres. Plus, getting it out of harm's way would prove advantageous; she wouldn't get grounded if Behemoth managed smash it to bits, well, if she lived, of course. Plus, Virgil did need medical attention. It was probably better this way, in the grand scheme of things. If the rest of the team were up for it, Remus could be a little morale boosting errand boy on the battlefield, like those drummer boys that were the first to get blown up in the American Civil War. Yeah! Perfect!
As Ceres' brother scooped Virgil into his arms, Milo immediately felt a deluge of relief as it washed over her. Remus put Virgil into the backseat as Ceres opened the door for her brother. She'd heard what Ceres had said to Remus. Ceres had told her brother of her Ranger identity, because he was beginning to get too close and she wanted him to keep his distance. Milo understood her reasoning, but it didn't change the fact that her revelation had the opposite effect and compromised all of their identities. What now? Where would they go from here? They couldn't kill him, nor would she ever entertain the idea. She also couldn't bear to exile Ceres from the team, they needed her. Yet, the reality remained; an innocent bystander now knew what they were and was at risk for even knowing their secret. Could they ethically rely on him like this, carrying fallen members to safety? It seemed like a lot to ask, and how would he explain Virgil's injuries when he arrived at the hospital?
"Remus, thank you," Milo said, kindly, stopping him just before he got into the driver's side of the vehicle, "I worry, but I can't abandon my duty either. So, thank you."
"Hey," Remus said, smiling as he opened the driver's door. "You're the Red Ranger; it's your job even if it's hard. For what it's worth, from what I've seen and heard, you're doing fine. Don't listen to Ryan, I'd trust you if I were one of you."
Milo smiled, needing that more than she realized. "Thank you."
"I should go," Remus said, continuing to smile at her. "He's probably got a nasty concussion. If he's really unlucky, he might have some brain swelling, too—worst case scenario. Well, I guess not with the helmet and all. But, I've seen something like this in football. Er, take care and I'm sure I'll see you all at the hospital when you're finished up."
"Tell them th-," Milo began, only to be cut off.
"Don't worry, I've got this," Remus interrupted, closing the door of the car and speeding away in reverse before turning and driving away. Within seconds, he was out of sight and out of harm's way.
"Okay," Milo agreed, words reaching no one's ears, turning to face Behemoth as it advanced upon her and the group.
Violet, standing not too far from the rest of the group, was the first to initiate the assault by re-summoning her bow and letting one of her energized arrows shriek towards its mark. The explosion resounded, echoes bouncing throughout the empty streets and warehouses, as the monster staggered back. Perhaps, if they had the ability to combine their weapons, they might have been able to put an end to this monster's rampage. Now, well, now they were going to have to work a little harder. It was blind now, luckily, but that almost seemed to make the creature even more dangerous than before.
"Hold the line!" Milo cried, taking aim with her bladeblaster and firing numerous shots into the hulking frame of their enemy while sparks and smoke dispersed off of each impact and its subsequent burst of energy.
The other five, Virgil now excluded, fell into line, unleashing volleys of blasts from their guns while Violet stubbornly continued to rely on her bow. An arrow flew into the Behemoth's right shoulder, exploding and rolling it back dismally, mirroring the effect of a .22 magnum on a charging bear. Yes, charging, their assailant was now running towards them.
Milo wanted to scream, but found no air in her lungs to do so when she realized that the massive creature was RUNNING. Yet, her courage prevailed as she continued firing rounds from her gun at the moving target. While the effects of Violet's bow were comparable to an ineffective rifle, the bladeblasters seemed like mere pea shooters against this thing. He was getting closer, they had to evade, and they had to scatter.
"Scat—"
Violet let another arrow loose, this time flying to Behemoth's left foot where it reached its mark, exploded, and violently tripped the great brute. The group leapt back landing a short, but safe, distance away as Behemoth rolled forward several times with violent thuds before it came to a stop on the cracked pavement and faced the grey sky, unconscious.
"Huh." Ceres grunted sounding quite satisfied with the outcome. "The old adage prevails."
"The bigger they are?" Naomi asked.
"The harder they fall," Ceres replied, all but finishing her sentence.
"I guess that's one way of doing it," Milo said, appraising the damage they had done on the beast all the while. "That thing is tough. Violet's arrows couldn't even pierce it."
Ryan made a noise in his throat, conveying his obvious disdain from moments ago. Milo felt a little disheartened by Ryan's behavior, and not because his words hit home or hurt her. No, it hurt that the rapport the whole team began to build with him seemed so frail, so easily destroyed. How could they ever succeed as a team when they could barely fight as one, let alone get along with one another? When it wasn't Ryan verbally abusing other teammates because they weren't fighting up to his standards, something he couldn't even achieve on his own, other teammates were coming down on Violet for her antics. Granted, Violet didn't always speak or behave appropriately, but she was a kid in high school with a huge burden on her shoulders, they all were carrying a huge burden. Milo exhaled sadly, realizing she was maybe only a year or two older and seeing Ryan and Violet as children. But, the difference was that Violet was growing with each battle in both power and maturity. Sure, Violet was immature, wildly inappropriate, and sometimes irresponsible, but she wasn't the one that Milo saw as the weakest link; it was Ryan. He hadn't made any effort to grow with the team at all, and, if he did, such growth was swiftly retracted.
"You didn't kill it, Violet," he said, voice condescending. "It's going to get back up. I don't know why you're all acting so relieved."
"Enough," Milo sighed, capturing his attention as he turned towards her, exasperation seeping through her voice. "Your attacks are just as ineffective, Ryan, please stop acting like this. You're not making this battle any easier!"
"Well, I," he began, abruptly cut off by Ceres who came up beside Milo and placed her left hand on her shoulder reassuringly, Power Lance held in the right.
"You've a plan? Please don't hold out on us," Ceres said, coolly, waiting for him to respond. "No? Well, drat. I guess I should just do what I was going to do and try to cut his throat with my lance."
The vicious bellow erupted from Behemoth as he stood up, disoriented and agitated—far from defeated or dead.
"Or not," Ceres said, retracting her idea while the group huddled closer together and backed slowly away from the obstinate monster.
As Milo felt and heard her heart throbbing within her chest, she wondered for a moment if she could also hear the sound of a motorcycle in the distance, drawing closer.
Wyatt sat alone on his motorcycle, a black VRSCD Night Rod to be precise. He came to rest in this shadowy space some moments ago, when he could hear the distant roars of a beast on a rampage and when another Kamen Rider had obliterated the black dragon that briefly terrorized the sky.
Priorities, priorities, he reminded himself as he suppressed his rage towards that primitive looking Rider.
In the moments past, the tawny young man with tight curls drew closer to the pandemonium on the ground, as close as any observer would get, and happily took in the noises of the unfurling chaos. Indeed, out of sight and only able to listen to the heated battle, all the while lurking in the dark alleyway, between two unoccupied buildings, several twists and turns away from the fray, the young man adorned in dark blue denim jeans and a black leather jacket that concealed his grey polo smiled darkly. His logic: lie in wait near the carnage, and those rainbow cretins shall surface. As he watched them fly to the danger, like moths to the flame, one by one, he could all but sense Virgil among them. Considering what Virgil was last time their paths had crossed, it made sense that he had cast his lot with them. However, what perturbed Wyatt, and even confused him, was the fact that Virgil wasn't parading about in his shining white armor, literally. It wouldn't be like Virgil to completely forsake that power and take on another, though his rival had lost his will to fight on occasion—demoralized by the cruelty of fate, or Wyatt's hands. No, this wasn't right. Something had happened; something had compromised the Lespid Zecter…something had destroyed the Lespid Zecter. But, what was it?
What a pity, Wyatt thought while sighing disappointedly. They weren't able to pick up where they had left off. No, he had to approach this from a new angle. Granted, he'd already taken to getting to know some of Angel Grove's locals and that proved entertaining. He even had a date with Naomi coming up this weekend. Perhaps, this game of stalking the Rangers and biding his time wouldn't be so bad, especially if he already had Virgil's love interest and friends on his radar. It was so easy that he almost felt sorry for them, but knew that in the moment when the light left their eyes that he would not. He'd keep his distance from Virgil for now, though he would get in closer to Virgil's lover, as well as her friends, and win them all over until the moment of his cruel and fatal betrayal. It would be the perfect way to hurt the fallen Rider, and bring that lost fire out.
Wyatt smiled maliciously, taking the black helmet that hung from the right side of the bike's handlebars and played with it between both of his hands.
Virgil was emotional, and transparent in what he felt. He also had a penchant for forging ill-fated bonds with those he fought alongside. That being considered, Wyatt speculated, the other Power Rangers weren't too far away from Virgil at all. It was possible that they were even his love interest and other friends that loitered in that diner, Naomi too. He felt revulsion turn his stomach, hating the very idea that Virgil had become one of them, a Power Ranger; grownups in spandex, flamboyantly colored spandex.
Beyond the mouth of alley, into the light and out of the darkness, a silver car, a Toyota by the look of it, sped past. Wyatt cocked his head to the right for a moment, pondering the direction in which it had come, before lifting it straight again. That was most certainly driving from where the battle began, a Ranger had been injured and was being carted to safety. And then, just like when the Black Ranger sped towards the battle a few moments sooner, like a sudden rush of cold air, like pins prickling his skin, he could sense the presence of Virgil Cross. This, this was certainly new.
"Convenient," he muttered aloud, fascinated by his new ability to sense when his rival was near. Perhaps, in some twisted way, he was also speaking to the fact that the battlefield was now absent Virgil. He could intervene mysteriously; he could keep Virgil at a distance. And, if Virgil's memories survived, he could taunt his old adversary when others lived to speak of his presence. Without further adieu, his right hand flashed to the key near the handlebars and turned it, bringing the bike back to life.
Wyatt took the black helmet, reminiscent to an old fashioned helmet, circa World War II, and fastened it upon his head. His hands reached for the handlebars, clenching eagerly when they had landed upon them. It had been a while since he had transformed, this would be fun. The back tires of the bike spun as the metal beast roared forward, into the soft light of the overcast city and the direction in which the battle waged on.
He was still out of sight from that disgusting lot of rainbow miscreants, but not for long, now would be the time to transform.
Wyatt raised his left hand high into the air, bidding a small white hole in the sky to open. From this small portal, a mechanical spider, violet and the size of a grown man's fist, leapt forth, flying towards its master. The mechanical tarantula, with large yellow eyes, and claws at the tip of each leg, landed upon Wyatt's right hand—the hand controlling the throttle—and sank its fangs into the fleshy part of the hand, injecting its master with some of its power in order for him to survive the transformation. Upon the bite, Wyatt's now glowing yellow eyes had almost rolled into the back of his head with pain and ecstasy while his shoulders tensed. Not losing control of the bike, he removed the spider and placed it upon the mechanical belt that simultaneously materialized upon his waist. The Tarantes Zecter's merging with Wyatt's Rider Belt signified with a resounding click.
"Henshin!" Wyatt called out, now gripping the handlebars with both hands.
HENSHIN!
The familiar voice of the zecter, boisterous and artificial, announced the advent of Wyatt's transformation. And, with it, black and purple matter moved over his frame in honeycomb-like patterns, consuming the human upon the motorcycle.
Kamen Rider Tarantes sat upon the bike with a sleek helmet of deep violet that fully encased his head, a point emerging out from each side like a pair of subtle horns. The helmet had a thick, horizontal, v-like visor that glowed yellow and had a gold plated mask beneath which covered the lower part of the Rider's new face. A golden plate of armor that began from his shoulder blades emerged, comprised of what looked like large interlocking spider legs of metal as it wrapped around to his chest and latched together seamlessly, protecting his shoulders and upper torso, while a menacing cape of black leather billowed out from beneath the golden shoulder armor like a hellish curtain in the winds. The heavy purple armor that fastened around his shins, thighs, forearms, and upper arms released a quick burst of steam out from beneath them, finalizing his transformation. During Wyatt's change, the motorcycle had also been consumed by purple electricity and undergone its very own transformation—a golden headlight within the purple casing and yellow spider fangs beneath it, to begin with. Then, plates of dark violet armor had covered the bike, radically altering its appearance. From the front and back of the bike's body, four large metallic spider legs, much like Wyatt's shoulder armor, protruded and encased the wheels in perfect harmony so as to protect them while allowing them to rotate freely. The only difference from Wyatt's armor was the fact the casing about the wheels pointed out and could stab into whatever the bike rammed due to its staggeringly sharp edges. The bike had changed with Wyatt, becoming augmented to look like the demonic vessel of the sinister looking Kamen Rider he had become.
The purple visage of a demon knight sped onwards, drawing closer, towards the Power Rangers, towards the monster that they battled futilely, and towards the ill fate that Wyatt would joyously dole out to that creature. The roar of the engine advancing towards the battle, of Wyatt approaching, that was the very sound that filled Milo's ears.
It was difficult to fathom exactly what had happened in that moment. For a start, she had been facing the angry creature that they could barely harm. And then, a violet blur had rammed into the creature so hard, so fast, that it was sent back hurtling and bleeding, rolling pathetically upon the ground. This unexpected savior, if he could be referred to as a savior, rode right through the group, not seeming to care if he had hit any one of Milo's comrades. Luckily, they had managed to evade the motorcycle. It was demonic and bore the semblance of an arachnid, much like the humanoid being sitting upon the halted vehicle.
Milo swallowed hard as her gaze met that of the man in purple. That yellow glare, how it fixed upon her like an apex predator sizing up its prey. Some part of her just knew that it was out of the frying pan and into the fire for her and her cohorts. Though, when Behemoth rose to his feet and roared viciously, enraged that someone actually held the ability to throw it off balance, Milo's head whipped away from the sinister looking Kamen Rider and to the monster not yet vanquished.
The armored motorcycle roared loudly, rolling forward as the back tires spun with dust and smoke. The bike shot past Behemoth until the brakes screeched and the vehicle spun to face the monster that had turned its back to the team of Rangers.
The team moved closer together, standing shoulder to shoulder with Milo at the center. Ceres and Naomi were to her right while Ryan and Violet stood to her left. Milo wondered if the others felt the same foreboding, the same terror that she felt, and if they had sensed that this Kamen Rider would very likely choose to move on to them once it had finished with its current prey.
"He's like Virgil, but…." Naomi trailed off, sounding as though she searched for the words. "It just doesn't feel like the same kind of presence."
"Rest," Milo said, keeping herself together, barely, hoping that the group could regain their bearings and take advantage of the opportunity presented. "If he comes for us, let's at least be ready."
She, with the rest of the group, watched on, bearing witness to what had happened next; the four metal spider legs that encased and protected the front wheel opened like a sinister lotus. From each leg, a barbed harpoon-like blade fired, attached to cables. The blades pierced into the creature, two into the chest and one in each thigh, causing it to roar in agony as blood gushed forth onto the pavement.
"Oh!" Violet cried out, not taking care to conceal her horror. Even from behind the monster, it was still a horrific sight. "I think I feel sorry for it."
Behemoth resisted against its bondage in vain as the Kamen Rider threw his motorcycle in reverse and drug Behemoth forward. The creature tumbled and bellowed with its maddening cries of pain. After stopping the vehicle, as the monster weakly rose to its feet, the cables retracted the harpoons back, in a bloody spray, into the spider legs that harbored them. The spider legs wrapped around the front wheel again, encasing it as it had been a moment ago. The Kamen Rider then dismounted, and slowly walked towards the monster on its hands and knees.
"He's going in for the kill," Milo muttered, her voice but a dull whisper.
CAST OFF!
She knew those words, she knew that artificial voice, and it sounded just like Virgil's power before he had lost it. This malevolent Kamen Rider had similar powers; it might even be stronger than Lespid was. This did not bode well, not at all. Milo looked to both sides of her, to her team, was she a fool for not ordering a retreat? They failed today; they failed as a team as much as she failed them as a leader.
Violet electricity arced across the his frame as the black cape released from the armor and fortifications upon various body parts jettisoned in every direction, some striking Behemoth while others narrowly missed the other Rangers and made impact upon surrounding buildings. Amidst the cacophony of shattering glass and Behemoth's labored breathing, the shoulder armor broke apart into four large, bladed, spider legs that looked as though a pair had sprouted from each shoulder blade like evil wings. The armor upon his upper arms split into three prongs and rose up to become diabolical looking shoulder pads on each side of him. The gold plated mask had also flung off of his face, giving way to the four pairs of golden tusk-like daggers that came forward, from the sides of his helmet, and overlapped his face, creating a new mask while the top pair bisected his yellow visor to take the appearance of two eyes. Not only did the two side panels of the helmet that were discarded allow the pieces of his face to shift upon the front, but their absence also made the prongs that mimicked horns on the sides of his head stand out more so than they did in masked form. Wyatt stood a moment, moving the fingers of his black gloved hands purposefully while the electricity subsided. Beneath all of the purple armor was a black leathery material that coated his body. Where the hands and arms joined, the Rider, with an already terrifying arsenal, also had two golden points atop his purple forearms that resembled the ends of large and deadly carving forks so as to make his punches even more devastating.
"Now you die," Wyatt growled lowly, his voice carrying nothing but disgust for the large and hideous creature. "Rider Punch."
His left hand tapped the large spider, whose fangs pointed up towards Wyatt's lower stomach, while his right balled into a fist. The spider chattered in a high pitched giggle as it eagerly extended the pointy tips of its legs to each side of the belt's center, sending a surge of purple electricity throughout the belt and into Wyatt's fist.
As he ran towards Behemoth, his fist began to pulse with a fiery malevolent aura of the same color as the electricity still danced about his waist. The sadistic man crouched slightly to the right, twisting his torso down and back as he then followed up by exploding upwards with lethal force into the jaw of Behemoth—his prongs piercing the Behemoth's throat as it was sent skyward. He wasn't finished, not by a long shot. The pairs of deadly spider legs on each side of Wyatt aimed up to the flying Behemoth, firing the tethered harpoons towards their mark. When the blades sunk into the same places that the harpoons from the motorcycle had hit, Wyatt threw his shoulders back and bid the cables to retract in order to pull his prey back to him at a neck breaking speed. As Behemoth came into range, Wyatt sent his final, deadly, punch into Behemoth's chest while the energy leapt from Wyatt's fist and into the pitiful creature. The dead monster flew backwards and landed in front of the stunned Power Rangers simultaneous to the blades retracting and returning to their rightful place. As Behemoth rapidly decayed until nothing but a blemish on the pavement remained, Wyatt began to stalk towards the group of Rangers. It was time to test the extent of their abilities, which were probably dismal since it looked like the monster had been winning.
Regardless, Wyatt thought, smiling within the helmet, I'll know their suit's weak points and have at least learned something useful today.
"Retreat!" cried the Red Ranger, a female by the sound of it. Interesting.
"Clock up," Wyatt said softly, tapping his belt at the left hip.
CLOCK UP!
The Power Rangers froze into place; everything did when he clocked up. It was almost serene, that moment when his prey succumbed to the slowing of time and became utterly defenseless. He stood, staring a moment. This was almost too easy, how would he go about this one? After a brief pause, he sprung towards the Green Ranger, sending a barbed punch into his gut which lifted him off of his feet before he hung in the air.
Resistant to piercing, but still soft and vulnerable. Satisfactory, he thought while spinning and backhanding the Pink Ranger with the hand that struck his earlier prey. The busty Ranger began on her trajectory of falling to the ground, but she too became suspended in the realm of drastically slowed time.
Laughing, he then leapt the short distance to the Yellow and Blue Ranger, bashing their helmets into each other. When he released his grip, they remained frozen with their heads still connected.
Wyatt turned away from the four Rangers he made short work of and traipsed towards Milo, grabbing her by the throat and raising her feet off of the ground.
CLOCK OVER!
Everyone he struck had fallen to the ground in a daze while Milo dangled in his malicious grasp. He loved when time regulated and everyone came to awareness after being knocked down, truly hilarious.
"Why?" she asked, all but choking. "Why are you doing this to us?"
Wyatt rolled his eyes, not that she could see. Couldn't people say better things than that? Couldn't they do something less pathetic than pleading for their lives or asking him for his reasons? Perhaps, he'd actually release the next one to say something creative. Squeezing her throat harder, he held the hope that she'd revert when she fell unconscious. After a few more seconds, the Red Ranger went limp and her morphed appearance fell away. He released her like a piece of discarded litter, now confirming that Milo was one of them and that their necks were their weak points. He turned away from the unconscious waitress, pleased with the result and ready to face the other four lifting their weary bodies off of the ground. The foolish creatures would have been better off if they had stayed put. He aimed the tips of his deadly spider legs at each Ranger and fired, the harpoons flying to the helmets and striking them fiercely before glancing off of them. The cables with blades on the ends retracted while the four Rangers went down. The Pink Ranger reverted when she laid there motionless, showing him that it was the ever obnoxious Violet. As the Blue Ranger reverted and fell into a barely conscious stupor, he noticed that she was the one with the sordid love life; Ceres. The Yellow Ranger's suit dispersed into oblivion as she remained on the ground, groaning; Naomi. The Green Ranger didn't revert at all, indicating to Wyatt that he was still conscious.
"You…fuck," the Green Ranger groaned, getting up though he continued to brace his hands upon his knees and pant as though it were an effort to stay conscious.
"I suppose that I didn't hit you as hard as those girls, because you seem quite weak," Wyatt said, taunting the remaining Power Ranger. "It would have been to your advantage to stay down, now you've gone and annoyed me."
The Green Ranger stood erect, maintaining some pride at least. "You moron," he said, sounding less winded than a second ago. "It's my shield; I can take a hit more than the others can."
Why is he telling me this? Wyatt asked himself. What a moron.
"Oh? Shall we test this?" Wyatt asked, his left hand hovering over the mechanical tarantula curled up into the front of his belt like some kind of stylish buckle. He tapped it once, causing its legs to extend and fill the belt with purple electricity once more. "Rider Rend."
"Gigigigigigigigi!" it chuckled in delight, almost comparable to the noise of a rattlesnake.
The harpoons fired out of the spider legs, two wrapping around each of the Green Ranger's arms and binding them. The purple electricity moved up into the large legs coming out of his shoulder blades and down the cables to the poor young man bound by them, electrocuting him.
"This will hurt," Wyatt said matter-of-factly.
RIDER REND!
He rolled his shoulders back violently, retracting the cables at the same time. The Green Ranger screamed in agony as the finishing technique ripped at his arms and pulled the shoulders from socket. As the blades returned to their homes, taking their place as deadly leg tips, the Green Ranger's arms hung limply as he crumpled to the ground and reverted—having passed out from the pain. He was some blonde youth that Wyatt had never seen before, someone who never frequented the diner. What was his role? Was he an outcast, so to speak, a straggler from the flock? Wyatt now knew the first one he would target when he was through toying with these rainbow weaklings.
No longer interested in the tableau he had created; Kamen Rider Tarantes moved towards his motorcycle and drove away from the injured and beaten Rangers who had been knocked back into human form. He'd savor this, this opportunity to observe the group, these new friends of Virgil's, from afar and even manipulate them as they had no idea he was the Rider that had defeated them on this day. Then, in the right moment, when so many held his trust, while Virgil remained oblivious to his presence, he would lunge forth and sink his fangs into his prey like the tarantula he resembled. Yes, Virgil would suffer and he would delight in this, nearly as much as he would revel in the subsequent fight with the rival he had clashed with so many times before. Wyatt would see the fierceness of Virgil invoked again, and every step of the journey would be savored as sweetly.
Despair awaited and he would be the one to deliver it.
End of Chapter Nineteen
Author's Note:
Alright! NEW CHAPTER KITAA! I started this at the beginning of July, finishing the first half of it. I had to put it on the back burner while my wife and I packed up and moved to a new place. After settling in, I was finally able to finish this over the past couple of days. I'm not entirely sure when the next chapter is coming, because my wife could go into labor for kid number three at any time. But, I can promise two things: it will have a deadzone and I will be getting started as soon as the new baby is home and settled in. If there are enough people interested, I may make a twitter specifically for my account. You know, an excuse to visit and post my progress. Let me know if it sounds like a good idea or a dumb idea. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.