Jonathan felt the ground shake under his feet. At that exact moment, his insides began to melt, and his stomach was quickly filled with a murky sort of liquid that threatened to force his body to the ground.
He quickly rushed out, just in time to see the hellfire erupting a few blocks down the road. Cameron was at his heel, the black haired boy watched with a slack jaw. "That's approximately where the rest of our team was." Jonathan felt a surge of anger rush through him. He prepared to dash towards the wreckage, but Cameron stopped him. "We have a job here."
"That's easy for you to say!" Jonathan spat, "I'm not some emotionally stunted nerd."
"No, you're an emotionally unstable badass," Cameron said.
The two Rangers quickly became keen to the approaching figure. They both turned to the sight of Beevil. The red ninja walked with a feminine grace, a deadly grin was on her face.
"Enjoy the show?" She asked.
"It was lovely," Cameron replied.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it because your friends didn't"
Jonathan tightened his fists.
"Oh relax." Devon said as he jumped down from a nearby building, "Reese probably didn't even feel it. The blast was too quick, he was ash before his nerves could register the heat."
"Shut up!" Jonathan shouted.
"He's playing you." Cameron said, "Don't listen to him."
It was too late, Jonathan was already charging towards Devon. "Ninjetti Power!"
Ninjetti Navy jumped at the pale skeletal human. Devon's armor wrapped around his thin body. Twisted Crimson swiped Navy from the air and threw him into Rocky's dojo, breaking through the glass and sending his body tumbling.
"Ninjetti Power!" Cameron said and his armor formed around him.
Ninjetti Green charged at Beevil, but another villain blocked his path. He was new, a pale-faced jester with a maniacal grin. "Sorry to meet under such poor circumstances, I'm Shimazu, and I'll be hosting your funeral."
Ninjetti Green swung at the villain, but he proved to be too swift, instead he slipped away and punched Ninjetti Green in the back of his helmet.
Beevil and Twisted Crimson rushed into Rocky's Dojo. Ninjetti Navy stood his ground, he armed his staff forward and prepared for their strikes.
"This is useless." Twisted Crimson said, "Give us the Shard before the Ninjetti Rangers are completely wiped off the map."
Choobo and Sankari rushed into the broken room, probably due to all the noise. Choobo moved in front of Sankari, which was probably the smartest move. The green brute armed his staff.
"Pitiful." Twisted Crimson said, "This is all the Rangers have?"
Twisted Crimson charged an orb of dark energy and fired it at Ninjetti Navy. The Ranger flew back, smoke drifting from his body.
Ninjetti Green tried to fight off both Beevil and Shimazu. Both ninjas moved with an incredible swiftness, the two of them were proving to be much too powerful for the hero. Ninjetti Green sighed, "I was afraid I'd have to do this." His body began to glow with green energy, his shield fell to the ground, and his helmet flipped backwards.
Ninjetti Green managed to slice into the two ninjas, sparks expelled from their body as Ninjetti Green gained the upper hand.
Twisted Crimson approached Sankari and Choboo. The green sage held his staff forward, he was ready to fight to the death.
"You've done a lot of good for this galaxy." Twisted Crimson said, "Nobody would blame you if you stepped down."
"I would," Choboo replied and sprang at Twisted Crimson.
Sparks flew from his dark armor as Choboo's staff made impact. Twisted Crimson whipped around with his spear, but the green sage dodged with surprising agility.
"I'm bored of this." Twisted Crimson said, the dragon sticking out of his chest opened its wide mouth and fired a blinding blast. Choboo didn't have time to dodge. Ninjetti Navy and Sankari watched as Choboo struggled to repel the blast. Large cracks began to form in his staff.
Choboo looked directly at Ninjetti Navy, piercing through the dusk of his helmet. "Don't let the universe fall to darkness." Choboo uttered as his body was reduced to ash.
Sankari had seen enough. He jumped into action, firing a wave of silver Ninjetti that blasted Twisted Crimson off his feet. "You've been a nuisance this entire time." He uttered in a soft breath. "I should have taken care of you when I had the chance."
Sankari summoned a blade of pure Ninjetti and rushed at the villain. The two exchanged blows, they moved faster than the normal eyes could follow, two rushing blurs with little strings of ninjetti flowing behind them.
"You never had the chance to beat me." Twisted Crimson said in a smug voice, "I've always been stronger than you." Twisted Crimson fired a blast of black lightning, it struck Sankari in the chest, knocking him to the ground with smoke rising from his chest.
Ninjetti Green watched this from the corner of his eye. He felt himself tense up, things weren't going very well at all. Fortunately for him, Ninjetti Green noticed Beevil was distracted as well. The Green Ranger dived forward, stabbing Beevil through the chest. The red ninja gazed at him with wide violet eyes as sparks raced around her.
"Too late, Ranger." She whispered as she fell to the ground.
Ninjetti Green looked back to Twisted Crimson. She was right.
Twisted Crimson held the Shard firmly in his hand. It's dark energy flowed like wispy smoke. "It's time…" Twisted Crimson said in a dark voice. "It's time for Zoltar to arise." The single Shard absorbed itself into his form and his body began to explode with dark energy.
His spear grew another tip, it gleamed with a wet sort of energy, something that reminded Ninjetti Green of poison. The spear stabbed through the air, and suddenly impacted some dimensional existence that didn't seem possible. The tip of the sunk into empty air, momentarily becoming invisible as the universe flowed around it. Then Twisted Crimson slashed the blade down, creating a ripple that tore through reality. The space around the tear was completely dark, blacker than anything conceivable in natural reality. Deep inside that space, two yellow eyes glowed.
Ninjetti Navy couldn't believe what he was seeing. He'd seen this monster before, he existed in the deepest part of his mind. It was like someone had given his darkest nightmares a tangible form.
The man's thin body stepped through the void. His body was completely ambiguous, nothing but slimy black skin. Dark luscious hair flowed from his skull, but even that seemed to be made of some sticky substance.
Nobody knew what to do. Both Rangers were mesmerized with fear, and the Dark Ninja Legion was struck with awe. The man smiled at his servants. Shimazu bowed, as did Jabbar, who had materialized moments ago. Twisted Crimson stood completely still, his body seemed to be encased in clear stone.
"You have freed me." Zoltar said in a slimy voice, "and I thank you for that. We will begin my comeback in just a moment." Zoltar took a few steps and exited the Dojo, it was then that he approached Beevil's fallen form. He lifted her up, examining her carefully. He then tore off her arm and began to shove her bloody meat into his mouth. He grinned as her blood dripped from his mouth. "I haven't eaten in years you wouldn't believe the appetite you develop."
Wing Knight watched as Ninjetti Blue was dominated by Siren. It was incredibly sicking, knowing that the poor girl was riped of her humanity and forced to be a tool. Sure, he was a tool, and he had been constructed as such against his will, but atleast he maintained his will. He was still a human, at least in some regards. Maya wasn't a human anymore, Dr.X had scooped out her personality and filled her brain with an undying obedience. That wasn't something Wing Knight would stand for.
Ninjetti Blue backed away as quickly as she could. Her thin legs trailed backwards as she desperately tried to gain distance away from the killer cyborg. Suddenly Wing Knight leapt to her aid, he jumped between the two of them and swung his blade into Siren.
"What are you doing?" Dr.X asked in an annoyed tone.
"Consider this my resignation." Wing Knight said and armed his blade forward.
Armored Rider Camo and Armored Rider Torque jumped at Wing Knight.
Guard Vent!
Wing Knight's cloak covered his body and protected her from the assault. The distraction allowed Ninjetti Blue to collect herself and aid Wing Knight. The two of them fought off the Armored Riders. They pushed far enough to allow Dragon Knight some breathing room, though it was hard to tell if he was breathing at all.
"Earth to Kit!" Wing Knight called, "I know you're having your little crisis, but this isn't over." He swung his blade into Siren and knocked her back. "We can save her!"
Dragon Knight moved, he whipped his head in their direction.
Wing Knight knew he'd gotten his attention, now it was time to make things happen. "If we destroy Dr.X's control room we can sever their connection. Maya is still in there, she's just buried under a barrage of signals."
It was then that the sky grew horribly dark. Everything was enveloped in a pitch black darkness. Wing Knight and Ninjetti Blue knew it was time to cut their loses. The two of them rushed away from the firefight.
Slowly, but steadily, Dragon Knight followed.
Zoltar belched loudly in the quiet air. Beevil's blood leaked down his onyx face in greedy crimson streams, her entire arm rested comfortably in his stomach. The rest of her body lay a crumpled mess on the cold floor.
Sankari approached Ninjetti Navy, the galactic ninja moved with incredible stealth, even managing to sneak past Sankari as he began to dig deeper into Beevil's corpse and stuff his face with her stringy tendons.
"I'd suggest we make our escape," Sankari said in a soft voice.
Ninjetti Navy couldn't agree more, the two of them collected Ninjetti Green and rushed out of the Dojo's back door. The three of them rushed through the darkened city, none of them spoke for a long time. The three ninja moved to the only place they had Rangers demorphed as they moved closer to the entrance. Jonathan felt his stomach escalate downward. He'd hoped he'd never have to go back there.
The entrance to Nova's cave seemed like an accusation to Jonathan. He was flooded with dark memories. Nothing good ever came from this place.
"This must be some kind of government compound," Cameron said with wide eyes.
"God, I wish." The Navy Ranger said in a low voice.
The three of them slowly paced past a row of broken monitors. Their long dead screens stared blankly at the heroes. Jonathan suppressed the chills that attempted to invade his spine. Simply being inside that place was leaving Jonathan's skin with a slimy texture.
Nova's work desk was covered in a thin sheet of dust, yet it still carried a ghostly sense of her dark work. Wires lay like dead cobras, and computer chips like poisonous beetles. This was a place of dark arts, a land of forgotten magic.
"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Cameron asked, his eyes were filled with wonder as he scanned over all of the equipment.
"I figured it would be the only place out of Zoltar's warpath," Jonathan said in a soft voice.
"So this is it huh?" Cameron asked in a low voice, "The end of the world."
"Don't be so sure about that," Sankari said.
"I kinda agree with Camey on this one." Jonathan spat. "Zoltar isn't going to stop until he destroys all life in the universe."
"That's why we have to stop him," Sankari replied.
"How?" Cameron asked, "We lost more than half of our team already."
Jonathan felt like he'd been stabbed in the chest, he didn't want to think of Reese's supposed fate.
"Zordon of Eltar did it once, it can be done again," Sankari spoke with a certain level of confidence, something Jonathan was actually envious of.
"So what now then?" Jonathan asked. The two other ninja responded with blank stares. After a few moments, Cameron's eyes lit up. He quickly dashed over to one of Nova's computers and fired it up.
"What are you doing?" Jonathan asked with a shaky voice.
"We need to get all the help we can get right now." Cameron said in an unsure voice, "We need every Ranger in Stone Canyon."
A/N: So it's finally happened, Zoltar is here! This basically sets the scene for the climax of Ninjetti Force.