Power Rangers Nexus
Chapter 26: Ninjetti Storm Part 4
"Damn," Deacon said. "She beat me to it."
Jareth blinked up at Electra in confusion, blood running from his nose.
"What in Hel's name was THAT for?" he asked.
"Being alive!" Electra declared, then reached down, grabbed hold of the front of his shirt, and hauled him to his feet, planting a kiss firmly on his lips.
"So was that," she added when she finally pulled back, smiling.
Everyone was surprised, but no one so much as Jareth himself. The Green Samurai blinked, dazed, wiping the blood from his face.
"Umm…Okay?"
Jareth had changed. He had remained immortal in the manner of a Ranger; six years or six million, he wouldn't age a day. His appearance, however, had been somewhat renovated.
His fedora was gone. His hair was shorter, and was tied at the top of his head, by some sort of metal clasp, into a topknot ponytail, while his bangs hung down in long braids on either side of his face. He still wore black clothing, but the ever-present long jacket was absent, leaving him with only a long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of cargo pants. The stitching of the pants was green, as was the obviously hand-painted emblem of the four-pointed star on his T-shirt. The Samurai Saber remained at his side, regardless of the fact that he had demorphed.
And, most curiously of all, he had a tail. Easily as long as he was tall, and about half as thick as his wrist, it emerged from beneath the hem of his shirt and waved lazily back and forth behind him, covered with velvety blue-black fur. There was a tuft of golden fur at the end, a bit like the tail of a lion, which held in place an ornamental jade ring.
Tommy didn't quite know what to say....was it rude to ask someone about their tail?
"What's with the new look?" Deacon asked.
Tommy immediately felt relieved....now Jareth would explain about the tail without the Red Ranger having had to ask.
"Yeah," Fox added. "Since when do you wear green?"
"It does kinda suit him," Deacon said, squinting.
Fox nodded.
Tommy gaped. Was no one even going to mention it?
"Tommy?" Jareth asked.
"Tail? I mean," Tommy twitched. "Where have you been?"
Jareth chuckled, glancing back at his tail. "That's right....you took off before I...acquired....this."
"Answer his question, Jareth," Terina said, crossing her arms. "Where HAVE you been?"
Jareth's everpresent grin faltered slightly at her tone, but he recovered quickly. "It's a long story..."
A peal of thunder split the air as the skies rapidly darkened. All eyes instantly turned upwards.
"What the Hell?" Mara asked.
TSEEEW!
Without warning, a ray of neon green light shot down from the sky, striking the remains of Armageddo. As the ray stopped, the pieces began to reassemble themselves, growing as they did.
"Eep," Jareth said.
"I didn't that could happen here," Electra muttered. 'The valley is supposed to be shielded…"
"I think that's my fault," Jareth said ruefully. "I'm like a beacon."
"Zord time?" Fox asked.
"Oh, yeah." Deacon replied.
Both raised a hand to the sky.
"Thunder Beetlezord!" Deacon called.
"Fire Insectizord!" Fox summoned.
From out of nowhere rolled two massive mechanical bugs. One was a crimson unicorn beetle, its heavy tank treads tearing up the landscape as it moved, its horn clearly designed to function as a massive plasma cannon. The other was a Navy blue stag beetle, rolling along on six round wheels, its powerful antlers opening and closing as if impatient to tear into its enemy.
In a flash, both Fox and Deacon streaked towards their Zords, quickly leaping aboard.
The Blue beetle split down its length, rearing up to form a pair of legs, while the Red beetle clamped into place atop it, its powerful treads transforming into arms. A head emerged from the top of the assembly, and the pincers of the Thunder Beetlezord attached to its chestplate.
"Thunder Megazord, ready," Fox and Deacon said in unison, their voices amplified by the Megazord's speakers.
"They can't call it that," Tommy griped. "We already had one of those."
"In your world, maybe," Terina said. "This is the first one we've had."
"Should we help?" Mara asked.
Tommy shook his head. "Not without Kalen and Angel. Individual Zords just get in the way during Megazord battles."
"You called?"
Tommy, Mara, and Terina spun around to see Kalen, leaning casually against the rocky wall of the cliff, Angel standing close by.
"Stephen and Lolli are still working on the portal," Angel said. "They'll catch up."
"How did you know...?"
"Kinda hard to miss something that size," Kalen said simply.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Armageddo swung his colossal sword, but the Thunder Megazord grabbed the pincer from its chest plate and used it to grab the blade, wrenching the weapon from the monster's grip.
The giant monstrosity roared, tackling the 40-foot machine and knocking it to the ground. The two behemoths rolled, crushing the landscape beneath them.
After a few turns, they rolled to a halt, Armageddo having pinned the Megazord. Raising his massive, stone-covered fist, he brought several devastating punches crashing down onto the machine's face, mangling the metal.
"Hey!" Deacon said. "We just had this thing detailed!"
Fox nudged the controls, prompting the Megazord to close the pincer still in its hand around Armageddo's armored torso. The Pincer began to crush down, but it couldn't crack the thick, stone/bone armor.
"We're losing power," Fox said. "He's ruptured out main battery."
"Our main battery is in the head?"
"No, somewhere in the torso. Must have happened when we were rolling."
"Grrr," Deacon said.
"Very."
The massive hybrid laughed at the machine's futile attempts to injure him, raising his fist to deliver yet another crushing blow.
There was a flash of metal as something soared through the air, and Armageddo let out an agonized roar that could have probably been heard for miles. The fist came down, but it came down several dozen yards away from the combatants, no longer attached to Armageddo's arm.
Seizing the opportunity, the Thunder Megazord lifted the monster into the air, tossing the monster aside before climbing to its feet.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The Red Ape Zord raised its hand, neatly catching the sword it had thrown as the blade arced through the air, returning to its owner. Raising the blade, and its twin in its other hand, the zord took a few steps forward.
Armageddo pulled himself to his feet, scowling. He raised the stump of his arm. The blood flowing from the severed limb stopped falling to the ground and began to solidify, growing and shaping itself until a new hand had replaced the old one at the end of the arm, albeit minus the armor.
Spotting his sword lying on the ground nearby, Armageddo reclaimed his weapon, holding the blade in a fighting stance and stepping forward to meet the Ape.
A roar from his left drew his attention. Turning, Armageddo saw a massive, yellow metal bear, standing on its hind legs and snarling at him. The bear's eyes began to glow as the zord charged the laser weapons concealed within them.
Armageddo hefted his sword, preparing to throw it at the bear like a spear, but something long and thin darted forward from behind him, wrapping around the blade with absolutely no regard towards its razor-sharp edge. A sudden surge of electrical current surged along the cable, traveling through the metal sword and shocking Armageddo.
The monster let out yet another roar, dropping the sword like a hot iron. He spun around to face his newest attacker, and saw…a squat, black, metal frog, its long tongue snaking back into its open mouth.
"Ribbit," Kalen said smugly.
Rolling his eyes, Armageddo conjured a spherical orb of solid flames in the palm of his reconstituted hand. Aiming the hand at the frog, the monster launched the fireball.
The zord jumped like the frog that it was, easily avoiding the blast. Armageddo launched missile after missile, all of which missed.
The armor-plated creature was clearly growing more and more agitated, missing by more and more with each attack. Finally, he raised both arms above his head, building a massive fireball between his open hands, larger and more powerful than any he had yet thrown…And then gave a startled yelp, the fireball dissipating as he lost his focus.
Looking behind him, Armageddo discovered that a large blue wolf had attached itself to his hindquarters, its sharp steel teeth penetrating his armor and puncturing the soft flesh beneath. Reaching behind him, he wrenched the Wolf Zord free and brought it around in front of him, glaring at it malevolently.
"I suppose I could have thought that through better," Angel declared softly.
With a smug grin, Armageddo hurled the Wolf with all his might, right into the Frog Zord, which, for once, was unable to leap aside in time. The two zords collided with a crash of metal, and remained on the ground, twitching.
Armageddo smiled down at the injured zords with satisfaction…and then a large boulder smashed itself against his armored carapace. Turning, he saw the Yellow Bear, hefting another boulder.
Still grinning his grotesque smile, Armageddo waited for the Bear to throw the rock, then caught it as if it were nothing more than a beach ball.
Holding the massive boulder in one hand, the monster brought the other forward, wagging his finger at Terina.
"Ah, ah, ah."
Terina's eyes widened, her hands flying across the controls of the Bear. She managed to activate the zord's optic lasers in time to shatter the boulder as it flew towards back her, but those shards of rock that remained were still large enough, and flying with enough force, to knock the large yellow machine to the ground.
Armageddo turned towards the one zord remaining, the Ape, which stood ready. Opening his own hand, Armageddo willed his own sword to return to him, which it did instantly, as if eager to destroy something. Closing his fingers around the hilt of his weapon, Armageddo strode purposefully towards his relatively small opponent.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Jareth smirked up at the battle from his position, seated atop a low, flat rock, one of the only rocks around that Armageddo hadn't absorbed. He toyed with his sword, pondering his options.
"Hmm. I really should save a few surprises for next time….and I have done more than enough showing off today. On the other hand, if I don't jump in, there may not be a next time….Decisions, decisions."
Opening his palm, he willed his old Power Coin, minus the morpher, to appear, which it did with a flash of green light.
"Wow….even that's gone green. Okay," he said, standing atop the rock. "Lion I jump in, Raven I don't." And he flipped the large golden coin, catching it as it fell and slapping it against the back of his hand.
"Lion. It figures. All right. Fine." He stowed the coin back wherever it had come from.
"Samurai storm, Ranger form!"
In a flash, he was clothed in the Green Samurai armor again. He raised the microphone-handle of his sword to his mouth.
"Samurai Star Megazord!"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Tommy struggled with the controls, but all he could do was make the Ape flail its limbs uselessly as Armageddo lifted it up off the ground by its throat, both of the Red Ninja Zord's twin swords lying on the ground.
Armageddo seized one of the Ape's feet in its other hand, tensing to tear the construct in two. ..and something tapped thrice, gently, on his shoulder.
Turning, Armageddo blinked as he gazed into the battered metal face of the Thunder Megazord.
"Back, and fully charged," Deacon said, grinning beneath his helmet.
Fox deftly manipulated the controls, causing the Megazord to bring its large metal fist forward, connecting squarely with Armageddo's face. The monster dropped the Ape zord and stumbled back as the bony ridge that covered his nose shattered, being driven into his skull.
"Well, actually, we're running on reserve power," Deacon amended. "But still. Back."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The five injured Ninjazords regrouped as the Thunder megazord traded blows with Armageddo.
"My weapons are out," Kalen said.
"Mine as well," Angel added.
"Time to bring 'em together," Tommy declared. "Ready?"
"These five make a Megazord?" Mara asked. "Good to know."
There was a shifting of mechanical parts as the five Rangers activated their respective Megazord systems, and their Ninjazords began transforming into various body parts.
The Frog zord stood upright, its large hind legs straightening and its forelegs attaching themselves to its knees. The Yellow Bear compressed in on itself, its limbs folding away so that it formed a large oblong structure that locked onto the top of the Frog's head, forming the Megazord's torso. Once the main body assembly was complete, the Wolf and Ape zords leapt into the air, transforming into a pair of arms as they snapped onto the Megazord's sides. Finally, the delicate Pink Crane Ninjazord flew down, attaching itself to the top of the assembly, folding back its wings and tilting back its small triangular head, revealing a much larger metal face.
"Ninja Megazord, online," the Red Ranger declared.
"Not too shabby," Terina said, running her fingers delicately across the controls. Her gaze fell on Mara, sitting next to her in the cockpit. "Where were you during that fight, may I ask?"
"Waiting for someone to decide we needed the Megazord," the Pink Ranger replied. "Crane doesn't have anything that could hurt Armageddo. All I'd have done is gotten myself blown up. Then we-"
"Then we couldnt make the Megazord, yeah, I get it," Terina said grudgingly.
"If we could?" Angel suggested. "Our friends don't appear to be faring too well."
"Ninja Saber," Tommy summoned, and the hilt of a sword appeared in the Ninja Megazord's hand, in the shape of a fish, its open mouth facing upwards. No sooner had it appeared than a thick plume of flames jetted out of its mouth, solidifying into a blade of crystallized fire.
The Megazord took a few steps towards Armageddo, who was busily punching the Thunder Megazord in the face again, his left hand clasped around its throat. The Ninja Megazord raised the blade to strike down the monster, but as they did, Armageddo paused, turning around and grabbing the blade in his right hand as it fell.
There was a tense moment as Armageddo glared at the newly formed Megazord…which was abruptly broken as the monster tore the sword out of the construct's grip, swinging it by the blade and bashing the Ninja Megazord upside the head. The Ninja Megazord staggered back a few steps, and Armageddo tossed the sword aside, releasing his grip on the Thunder Megazord, which stood as though dazed.
The Ninja Megazord raised its fists and went into a fighting stance as the beast drew nearer, but before Armageddo had taken three steps, he was bombarded by a storm of green laser blasts.
Startled, everyone turned to see what appeared to be a green helicopter soaring towards them, constructed in the shape of a bird. As it drew near the battle, it paused, twisting in midair, its parts rearranging into the shape of a massive green robot, the star-shape rotor blades becoming its chestplate and the propellers at the back becoming a pair of legs, the rotors still whirring as they gently lowered the construct to the ground.
"How many of these insipid toys do you people HAVE?" Armageddo demanded.
"Me?" Jareth's voice came from the new arrival. "Just the one. Meet the Samurai Star. Named it myself."
Armageddo gave a colossal snort. "Nice name."
"Oh, this from the guy named 'Armageddo'? Spare me."
Armageddo opened his mouth to retort, but was distracted by the Ninja Megazord's fist, slamming him upside the head. The monster staggered, regaining his footing, then turned to face the Ninja Megazord, but before he could make a move against it, the Samurai Star was behind him, pinning his arms behind his back and holding him.
The Ninja Negazord took a step towards the bound monster and delivered a devastating punch to his stomach, cracking the bony armor.
"THAT'S for throwing me headfirst into a javelin," Terina's voice called. The Megazord pulled back and punched again, this time causing bony splinters to fall to the ground.
"THAT'S for destroying my Sabertoothed Tiger Zord," the Yellow Ranger continued. One more crushing punch fell upon Armageddo's midsection.
"And that's just because I don't like you."
Armageddo snarled in pain and anger, trying to retaliate. The Samurai Star strained to hold him back, the smaller, lighter Megazord nearly being lifted off the ground by the monster's strength. Its head turned back towards the Thunder Megazord, which still hadn't moved.
"Feel free to jump in anytime, guys," Jareth said.
"Can't," Fox replied. "We're dead. Barely enough power left to work the comm system."
Jareth frowned for moment, then his face lit up. "I've got just the thing." The Samurai Star's head turned again, facing forward. "Guys, I'm letting him go. Okay?"
"Go ahead," Tommy agreed. "We got it."
The Samurai Star released the monster, which promptly sprang forward, tackling the Ninja Megazord. Turning to face the Thunder Megazord, the Samurai Star leapt into the air, propelled by the rotors in its feet. Flying around behind the powerless construct, the green robot changed form once again, this time becoming a sort of backpack that attached itself to the back of the Thunder Megazord, its star-shaped rotor blade facing upwards and it's foot-rotors mounted on the Megazord's shoulders like cannons. Two of the Thunder Megazord's own cannons, which had been mounted, inactive, on either side of its chest, now fell down into place facing forward, ready to fire.
There was a surge of energy in the Thunder Megazord's cockpit, the controls lighting up as Jareth shunted the Samurai Star's power into the new assembly.
Fox rubbed her hands together eagerly, grinning beneath her helmet. "Oh, goody," she said.
"Shall we blow something up?" Deacon asked.
"Oh, do let's," Jareth agreed gleefully.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Okay," Tommy said, as the Ninja Megazord struggled to hold back Armageddo's fist, which was currently just a few meters from the construct's face. "Maybe we don't got it."
A massive explosion rocked the Megazord as a missile flew into Armageddo's side, blasting him off the Megazord and sending him rolling across the ground, crushing what remained of the landscape as he went.
"About time," Terina grumbled, as the Ninja Megazord pulled itself to its feet.
Tommy blinked, grinning as he recognized the White Falcon Zord, which flew down and looped the Megazord lazily.
"Hey, guys," Stephen said "Am I late?"
"Just combine already," Terina said.
The Falcon Zord flew behind the Ninja Megazord and locked onto its back, adding wings to the assembly.
An automatic door at the back of the cockpit opened and a sixth chair slid into the room, carrying the White Ninja Ranger.
"So," he said. "What'd I miss?"
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Armageddo scowled, brushing burnt, blackened bits off of himself. He was getting downright sick of new zords showing up. How was anyone supposed to keep track of them all? Well, at least they kept sticking together into new robots. That meant there were less of them.
Once again summoning his sword, Armageddo leveled it at the latest new combination robot and fired a stream of destructive energy, easily powerful enough to shred the machine.
Unfortunately, the NinjaMegaFalconZord saw the blast coming and brought one of its wide, broad wings around, using the appendage as a shield. The blast splashed harmlessly off the white metal feathers.
Armageddo broke off his attack, sheathing his blade and preparing to charge the vehicle, no longer wanting anything but to shred the metal construct with his bare claws, to feel the armor ripping beneath his hands, the sparks of severed cables dance across his skin, to pick the puny armored humanoids from their seats within and devour them whole, crunching their armored bodied between his multiple rows of teeth.
The other Megazord flew into position, hovering slightly to the left and behind the one with the wings.
"Should we fry him now?" Fox asked from the cockpit of the combined Samurai Star/Thunder Megazord.
"Nah, let's wait for Lolli," Terina said. "We should all be here for this."
"There she is now," Jareth said from his vantage point in the floating Megazord. "Unless there are other big, green, metal serpents in the area."
"Nope, just the one," Angel confirmed.
Tommy glanced around, expecting to see some strange new Zord….and instead his eyes fell on something he'd hoped never to see again…a very familiar, massive, green flying metal serpent, its gold armor and claws glimmering in the fading sunlight. Serpentera!
Tommy's blood ran cold for a moment, and he nearly turned the NinjaMegaFalconZord's weapons on it before he remembered the emblem on the front of Lolli's Ninjetti robes: a serpent. Serpentera was her Ninja Zord!
Shaking his head, the Red Ranger breathed a sigh of relief. How many more twists did this world have in store for him?
As it drew nearer, Tommy realized that it wasn't quite the same Zord he'd remembered…this Serpentera was far smaller than the one he'd known, which had been large enough to squash a normal Megazord like a roach. Lolli's Serpentera was roughly the size of Titanis; large, but not unreasonably so.
Armageddo stared, aghast, at the massive serpent, which stared down imperiously at him. Behind him, the two Megazords moved into position, the three constructs forming a perfect equilateral triangle, with the monster at its center.
"On three?" Lolli suggested. "One.."
"Three!" Jareth yelled.
The Thunder Megazord leveled all four of its cannons down at Armageddo, firing them in rapid succession at the beast. At the same time, The NinjaMegaFalconZord brought both its wings forward, deploying a dazzling barrage of missiles from its wingtips, all of which struck Armageddo, exploding with surprising force.
Serpentera reared back its head, opening its mouth and releasing a river of emerald green flames, which lanced down, piercing Armageddo's stone/bone armor as though it were tissue paper, shooting straight through his heart and emerging from the carapace at his back, burning into the ground.
There was an incredible plume of multicolored flames as the powerful monster exploded, the firey light shooting up into the sky, sparks of all colors orbiting the column of fire at high speeds. The effect was strangely beautiful…but didn't last more than a few seconds, at the end of which the column shot back down, vanishing into the ground below, almost like water whirlpooling down a drain.
The zords seemed to relax, as though they knew the battle was over, the Thunder Megazord landing and retracting its cannons, the NinjaMegafalconZord brushing dirt and carbon scoring from its surface, and Serpentera preening, running its claw along the feathery fins that grew from its head.
The battle concluded, the Rangers leapt from their zords, encircling the scorched area where Armageddo had finally been defeated. Sitting in the middle of the blast zone was a small, green, perfectly ordinary turtle.
"You have GOT to be kidding me," Mara said. "All that…from a turtle?"
"What did we guess?" Stephen asked. "Cockroach, elephant, armadillo?"
"I tossed in gorilla," Terina added, picking up the small reptile and examining him closely.
"We were WAY off," Deacon said.
"I dunno," Stephen said. "An armadillo's kinda close to a turtle. Terina, please tell me you're not keeping that thing."
"Why not? He's cute." Terina held the small turtle up for everyone to see. The turtle looked very, very confused. Once everyone had gotten a good look, she gave him a small kiss on the nose.
"All he needs is a name."
And, ignoring the strange looks the others were giving her, she tucked the turtle under her arm and started back towards the Ninja Temples.