Chapter Twenty Six. Shadow Force. Part One.
Previously On Poke Rangers G-Force...
Regli's monster, Z-Kecla, gathered some sort of data from Crane handing it to Jirona for safe keeping. Even though the monster failed to turn Crane against his fellow rangers, the research remained safe. Research that Darkia told Jirona to turn into something called Shadow Force. But, in the absence of viable test subjects, Jirona was forced to create a nest of Zanvipers. Savage warriors who had been used before to try and wipe out everything. The monsters managed to poison Duo and Chip, but they were saved by Mitzi and Dorlinda. And finally, the leader of the pack, Commander Zan was destroyed by the Meta-Force Megazord. But, Jirona had his five test subjects...
As he bent over the devices that he had been painstakingly creating for the past few days, Jirona was aware of Darkia watching him with interest. He couldn't help but somehow find it very disconcerting. Knowing that if he made a mistake, the General would hurt him badly.
"What's taking so long?" Darkia asked, his voice low and dark. Despite not looking at him, Jirona could imagine his arms folded impatiently. Could hear his foot tapping with the same expression.
"I can't rush this," Jirona protested, looking up from the work. "Otherwise, they could explode when used. And, I'm sure that we don't want that. We're not quite finished yet."
"What?! Just work faster," Darkia commanded, not in the mood for waiting.
"Patience is a virtue," Jirona muttered, comfortable with making the comment. At this moment in time, there was little chance of Darkia deciding to obliterate him for the insolence. "Tell me that the Zanvipers aren't going to rush in here and wreck things."
"As you requested, they are currently frozen solid in storage," Darkia insisted, annoyed at the remark. "So, there's no need to be nervous."
"There's plenty of need to be nervous!" Jirona exclaimed, leaping up in anger. "You're asking me to create a synthetic version of the morphing energy, install it in these morphers and then give them as a power boost to five bloodthirsty Zanvipers. I couldn't be more nervous if I tried!"
G-Force. G-Force.
The G-Force Rangers look at the camera.
Somethings coming from the future, something you can't beat.
Regli glares at the camera, before shaking his fist. Dorlinda rolls his eyes.
Somethings coming to the past, something that might spell...
There's a streak of red light, and Crane looks at the camera. Crane Edwards. Red G-Force Ranger. Created by Blue Bongo.
The End.
There's a streak of green light, and Mitzi looks at the camera. Mitzi Arnold. Green G-Force Ranger. Created By Jeanne Reveur.
The End is here, so you better pray for G-Force!!!!!
There's a streak of blue light. Duo turns around and looks at the camera. Duo Roronoa. Blue G-Force Ranger. Created by Jmb2nami
G-Force!!!!
There's a streak of yellow light. Chip turns around and looks at the camera. Chip Larson. Yellow G-Force Ranger. Created by Sage Monarch.
G-Force!!!!!! Go G-Force!!!!!
There's a streak of pink light. Paige turns around and looks at the camera. Paige Martinez. Pink G-Force Ranger. Created by Famousgirl01
G-Force!!!!!!
A streak of silver light. Scott turns around and puts a thumbs up at the camera. Scott Devaney. Silver G-Force Ranger. Created by Blue Bongo.
Always one step behind you, always three steps forward.
The G-Force rangers form the Force Cannon, and blast something with it.
Together, as a team, there's no one we can't beat.
The Rapidash Zord streaks forward and joins with the back of the Lapras Zord.
There's no height we can't reach.
The Lapras Zord joins with the Roserade and Manectric Zords, to form the body.
G-Force. G-Force!!!!!
The Clefable Zord forms the arms, completing the formation of the G-Force Megazord.
Protectors of the past and the future
The G-Force Megazord brings out the sabre, and uses the Slash of Time.
Go G-Force!!!!!"
The Metagross Zord emerges from the ground and fires a Hyper Beam attack from its mouth.
Next, the G-Force Megazord and the Metagross Zord combine to form the Meta-Force Megazord.
Poke Rangers G-Force.
Poke Rangers G-Force. Created by Blue Bongo. Verger region created by Blue Bongo. All rights reserved.
Poke Rangers Gooooooooooooo!!!!!
"Will you keep it down, you fool!" Darkia growled, banging his fists together. "Because there's a guy somewhere in Kanto who didn't quite here our plan, you moronic piece of..."
A shadow fell across the room, and Regli stuck his head in.
"What was that I just heard?" he demanded, his voice a low growl.
"Crap!" Darkia snapped. "Damnit!"
He turned to smile at his boss, an uneasy grin on his face.
"Ah, my lord," he smiled. "I'm so glad that you're here. I was wondering the best time to tell you about this incredible surprise that Jirona and I have been working on for you. We might have found a way to destroy the rangers."
This caused Regli's terribly bad mood to fade away completely from view.
"What do you have?" he asked, his voice sounding much more mollified.
"Well, our plan started a while ago, mainly when we sent Z-Kecla down to try and turn the red ranger to our cause," Darkia said, keeping his calm. "Jirona gave him a device, and requested that he copy the data used in the red rangers morpher. When he tried to rewrite his mind, the data was gathered into the recorder. Fortunately, Jirona got the disc back before Kecla was destroyed. And, he's been analysing it ever since."
"For what purpose?"
"To try and copy it," Jirona replied, looking over to his lord. His face was eager to please, the body eager to avoid being attacked. "So that we could create a synthetic version of the energy and manipulate it for our own ends. But, we didn't have a viable source. Gollins would have been completely destroyed by the energy if they used the devices. Such is the power within them."
"Which is where the Zanvipers came into it," Darkia admitted. "The five surviving ones have been selected to bestow our own shadow morphers upon. We're just waiting for Jirona to finish them, and we can start to destroy the rangers."
A grin was starting to flicker across Regli's face, as he looked down to Jirona.
"How far along, are you?"
This caused his monster maker to hesitate.
"I've built the devices," he said, slowly. "They're currently empty shells. I still need to infuse both the morphing energy into them, plus a huge power boost of evil energy just to tip the balance into our favour."
"Then, I suggest that you hurry up," Regli remarked, turning to leave.
Leaning over the console, Dorlinda never heard him come in.
"What's going on?" Scott asked, jogging over towards the Lord of Time. "You sent me a message, saying that you needed to meet with me."
Hearing him speak, Dorlinda stood up, turning to face him. An uneasy grin passed across his face, as he wondered the best way to word his proposition.
"Scott," he said, speaking out with caution. "Listen to me. I need your help with something. Something most delicate."
"What is it?" the silver ranger asked, Dorlinda feeling mildly amused as he saw the puzzled look appear upon his face.
"Before I tell you, I need to swear you to secrecy. I don't want the other rangers to know about this yet."
The puzzled look was replaced by one of bemusement.
"This isn't something that they should know about, is it?" Scott asked. "Some big secret that..."
Holding his hand up to appeal for silence, Dorlinda shook his head to disapprove that notion.
"I promise you that it is not something that would harm them," he said. "Rather the opposite. But, I can't do it alone. I need a second pair of hands to help me out."
Musing on the thought for just a second, Scott eventually nodded.
"Sure, let's go for it," he replied. "Could be interesting, and I'm not doing anything."
"Hey, you guys seen Scott recently?" Mitzi asked, dropping down into her seat in the Pokemon Centre. Across from her, Duo, Danni and Paige were sat, talking to each other.
"Scott?" Danni asked, slightly surprised by the name. "Another friend of yours? Don't think I've met him."
"Nah, I don't think you did," Paige commented. "But, he's a pretty good guy."
"Used to be a cage fighter," Duo added. "Now, he guards an old abandoned building for a living."
"Why are you looking for Scott?" Paige wondered. "Any particular reason?"
Mitzi seemed to blush at her question, taking a few moments to brush it off and regain some of her composure.
"He just... Went off the radar for a while," she replied. "Haven't been able to call him, and there was something that I needed to ask him."
"Anything immediately urgent that we should know about?" Duo said, shooting a subtle nod to his disguised morpher.
His fellow ranger shook her head.
"It's more of a private matter," she admitted.
Both Paige and Danni shrugged, each of them prepared to let it lie.
Duo wasn't.
"Aww," he said. "What's she got to hide? Something..."
"Duo, sweetie," Danni said. "Let it go."
"Couldn't agree with you more, there," Paige remarked, the two of them high fiving across a bemused blue ranger, before Danni continued her story.
"So, here I was hanging from a cliff with one hand, only a few inches from dropping several thousand feet," she offered. "And, my only thought is that I'm desperate for a drink. Damn, it was hot out there."
"How is the project coming?" Darkia growled, striding into the workshop. His eyes, filled with a perpetual anger, flashed down onto Jirona who was startled into dropping one of the devices he was using. It crashed down into one of the morphers, shattering the casing.
"Until you interrupted me, I was just about finished," he snapped. "Now, I've got to completely rebuild that."
"You've got twenty minutes," Darkia hissed. "Work fast, and we won't have a problem."
"We might," Jirona insisted. "Risky equipment is..."
"Don't want to hear it. If one of them explodes, then you'll meet the same fate."
With those words, Darkia strode out of the workshop.
"I really need to find some new employment," Jirona muttered. "Wonder if I could resurrect some classic Poke Ranger villains and work for them. I'm sure the Reckless Riders might take me. If I was more reckless. And they weren't destroyed."
Shaking his head at the pipe dream, he went back to trying to fix the morpher.
True to his word, Darkia came striding into the small chamber that passed as Jirona's workshop twenty minutes later, accompanied by Regli. Pura, Chimzor and Nocto came in moments later, pushing the frozen Zanvipers in on a cart.
"Couldn't you have created a monster do this?" Nocto complained. "Something that could push better than the three of us could. Maybe a Machamp monster or something."
"Hmmm..." Jirona muttered, leaning over to a note on his clipboard. "Machamp monster. An idea for the future."
"Never mind about that!" Regli snapped, looking at the devices on the table. "Okay, give them to the Zanvipers. I'm already waiting to see the rangers crumble under their greatest enemies yet."
Suddenly feeling very weary, Jirona picked up each individual morpher and started to attach them to the wrists of the frozen monsters.
"Do I have to say again what a bad idea I think this is?" he asked.
"Yes, but we're still not going to pay you any attention," Pura commented. "You're just being negative."
"I'm being realistic," Jirona protested, finally attaching the last morpher he had built to the final Zanviper. It had been a surprising struggle to attack the straps around the thick furred wrists, but he had finally managed to do it. Checking that they were secured tight, he took a step back, breathing heavily.
"Let's just hope that this works," he muttered.
"For your sake, it better."
Ignoring Regli's thinly veiled threat, Jirona began to unfreeze the Zanvipers from their stasis. As they began to return to normal, he turned to his computer and began to activate the morphing energy within the devices.
As the shock troopers stood up, they began to change. Roars of pain ruptured out of their jaws as strange armour rushed over their bodies.
"That looks painful," Pura commented, taking a step back away from the wildly flailing claws of the one closest to her. "Wouldn't like that to be happening to me."
Before Darkia could admonish her, the transformation ended. As soon as the Zanvipers stopped shaking, they stood up from the trolley, admiring their new armour.
Their natural weapons still visible, the claws and teeth, the rest of the creatures were completely different. Armour covered their bodies, each of them wearing a different colour. Red, blue, green, yellow and pink. All of it mixed with black patches on the stomach, shoulders and boots. But, it was ill-fitting, the helmets only covering the top half of the face and leaving the mouth visible. There were no gloves on the armour to allow the claws free reign. The rest of their tightly muscled forms were masked by the costumes, but their was no mistaking what they were.
"So, this is Shadow Force?" Darkia asked, his voice dripping with irony. "Got to say, I'm not impressed."
"They might not look the most impressive..." Jirona began to say, before being interrupted.
"Well, that's something that we agree on," Regli snapped, seeing Jirona throwing his hands up in the air at the way he had been cut into.
"But, wait until you see them fight," he insisted. "Then, they'll be most impressive."
"Why isn't there a sixth?" Chimzor wondered. "The rangers will still have an advantage."
"There weren't enough Zanvipers left for that," Jirona said, his voice a wave of acid as it rang out. "Now, does anyone else want to criticise me?"
Seeing that his monster was about to have a nervous breakdown, Regli interjected, taking centre stage as he looked at the Shadow Force.
"Now!" he said, proudly. "Go down and destroy. Destroy like you've never destroyed before."
With those words, the mutant rangers vanished.
"Wait, so you got double teamed by Paige and Danni?" Chip asked, grinning at the thought.
"Not even that," Duo insisted. "That would be a great place to be."
Dropping back into his chair, a sleazy grin flashed across his face.
"It really really would," he smiled, speaking quietly.
"What's up with him?" Mitzi asked, coming over. Something about her looked dejected, but neither Chip or Duo noticed it.
"I think that..." Chip began to say, seeing Paige and Danni sat at another table, still talking. "Something to do with those two."
"Hey, they get on really well," Mitzi commented. "Never saw that coming around."
She looked down to Duo, shaking her head.
"Now, are you going to stop being such a drama queen, or..."
"Breaking News, here on Eon TV!"
The three rangers looked at each other, surprised at the sudden exclamation from the TV screen. Across from them, Paige did the same. Even over at the counter where he had been getting a drink, Crane was startled into action. He came jogging over to try and get a better view of what was happening.
"In the financial district of our fine city, it appears that five beings resembling Poke Rangers are attacking. What this means, nobody knows but have our fair protectors gone rogue?"
"That's impossible!" Chip yelled, before seeing the looks that he was getting. "I mean... What's going on?"
Crane dropped down into the seat across from Duo, bringing his communicator up to his mouth.
"Dorlinda," he said, masking what he was doing as best he could. "Do you hear me? We've got a situation."
Nothing came from within the item, leaving just a strange silence.
"That can't be good," Mitzi muttered.
"We need to get over there right now," Crane said, standing up to head for the exit. "Anyone heard from Scott?"
Mitzi shook her head.
"He's not answering his... Phone," she replied, noticing two other people walk past them. "So, we don't have a clue where he is."
"Not good," Crane muttered. "No Dorlinda or Scott. Where the heck are they?"
"Ah, we can take them," Chip said, looking over to the door. "We can take the phoneys. Let's go!"
With that, the four of them headed for the exit. Paige took a moment to explain, before following them.
In an alley outside, the five rangers looked at each other and around the area. They needed to know that they were alone.
"Okay, let's do it," Crane said, as they brought up their morphers. "Go... G-Force!"
Quick as a flash, the five of them morphed, the mystical sprites of the Pokemon they gained their powers from charging out of the devices to create their armour.
Summoning their G-Force Patrollers, their thoughts only on the upcoming battle, the five rangers got on the bikes before speeding away.
Yet, unknown to them, Danni stepped out of the Pokemon Centre, just in time to see them vanish. A look of puzzled bemusement passing across her face. Something about the scene that she just couldn't quite place.
And, where had her friends gone? Something wasn't quite right here.
A explosion rang up on the horizon, directing the rangers as to where they needed to go. A handy marker in the times of confusion.
"Guess that's where we need to be," Paige called.
"Something's really not right here," Duo said. "That explosion was too big to be caused by one monster. Even if it was something that could explode, like a Koffing or something like that."
"What are you, an expert now?" Chip shouted.
"No, I think he's right," Crane said, from the front of the pack. "Brace yourselves, this might be a tough one."
"Is it ever anything else?" Mitzi quipped. "Anyway, what are you talking about? They said that there was five ranger-like beings. So, there's bound to be..."
"Don't believe everything you hear on the TV, Mitz," Duo said. "It has to be a mistake. Evil rangers, please. That has to be a mistake!"
"Technically, it is impossible," Crane offered. "In order to create an evil ranger, they would need something that they don't have. Readings of the morphing energy, which could only be gained if they'd scanned data from our morphers."
"Then again, we live in a world where the six of us are Poke Rangers and fight off a mutant from the future," Paige commented. "It might just be me, but impossible doesn't mean the same as it did three months ago."
Another explosion burst up into the sky, the fireball vanishing as it touched the atmosphere.
"Anyway, enough with the talk," Crane yelled. "We need to find these things and put them down. Hard."
Accelerating around a corner, they spotted the threat. And, instantly knew what the news report had meant.
"Holy crap, that's impossible!" Mitzi shouted.
"And so, it begins," Darkia proclaimed, as he dropped down onto the couch. Popcorn was down on the table, along with nachos, beer and blood. Virtually everyone who lived in the cave was crowding around the TV to watch the battle. Including a few Gollins who were trying to get at the blood. "We've got nibbles. Want some. Then, get what you need. Just keep the Gollins away from the blood."
"This ought to be interesting," Chimzor smirked. "I look forward to seeing someone get their ass kicked here."
"Does it matter who?" Pura asked him, slightly surprised.
"Well, I hope it's our enemies but if it's our own guys then..."
Chimzor tailed off, seeing the look of anger that he was getting from Jirona and Regli.
"Go Shadow Force, go!" he said, limply. His hand came up to punch the air, but he wasn't fooling anyone.
"I guess we know where the rest of the Zanvipers went," Crane said, his voice darkly grim as the five G-Force rangers got off their Patrollers.
"What are they wearing?" Paige asked, shocked. The Shadow Force rangers turned to glare at them.
"Well well well," the red shadow ranger remarked. "Look who showed up at last."
"We've been hoping to get your attention for a while," the green shadow ranger continued.
"And, it's nice to know that you haven't disappointed us," the blue shadow ranger snarled.
"Because, there's no time like the present," the yellow shadow ranger roared.
"To destroy you once and for all," the pink shadow ranger finished.
"What are you?" Chip asked, still too stunned to fully comprehend what they had just heard.
"We are Shadow Force!" the five shadow rangers shouted. "And, your worst nightmare!"
"Beg to differ," Duo said. "My worst nightmare is waking up without..."
He was aware of the other nine rangers looking at him.
"Too much information," Mitzi told him, shaking her head. "Keep it to yourself in the future."
"I second that thought," Paige offered.
"Not the time," Crane muttered, keeping his eyes on the Shadow Force.
"Destroy them," the red shadow ranger ordered.
At his words, their opponents charged.
"You're a genius," Scott said, as he and Dorlinda arrived back in the Time Hole. "I don't know how you could even conceive something like that. Well, I do, but the fact that you've managed to create them is fantastic."
"Well, you live for over twenty thousand years and you learn a few tricks," Dorlinda admitted.
"Twenty thousand?" Scott wondered, almost staggered by the revelation. "What are you, joking?"
"I've aged remarkably well," Dorlinda quipped. "Plus, this isn't really me. This appearance is just the host body that whose appearance I took when I arrived in this world. So..."
The alarm started to ring.
"Looks like we might have a slight crisis," Scott muttered, jogging over to the console. Pictures of the two sets of rangers battling appeared on the screen. "What the hell are they?"
"That can't be good," Dorlinda said, grimly.
The red shadow ranger withdrew a sword and slashed at Crane, who was thrown to the ground by the powerful and unexpected strike. Bringing out his Horn Sabre, he blocked the next attack and began to duel with his counter part.
Swords met, sparks flying up off the meeting blades. The boots, slightly torn at the ends to let the Zanviper claws appear through the edge, kicked up into Crane's stomach bringing him down with a gasp of pain. It didn't take long for him to recover and leap to his feet, using the element of surprise to run his sword through the stomach of his deadly opponent.
Mitzi dueled with her own deadly double, the two green rangers going at each other. For some reason, all of the Shadow Force rangers were equipped with their own swords. The Plant Scythes crashed against the blades, Mitzi trying to force her opponents weapon out of his grasp. It wasn't easy, the three blades crashing against each other. Finally she managed to do it, one of her weapons blocking the sword aimed at her, while the other came up and hacked the green shadow rangers arm into two pieces. She spun around and raked both blades into his chest, throwing him back.
Fighting the blue shadow ranger, Duo brought out his Jet Cannon, using the bulky weapon to block any attacks thrown in his direction by his opponents sword. Dents rapidly appeared up on the huge blaster, only for Duo to leap away and blast the blue shadow ranger with a powerful torrent of water.
Paige's daggers began to light up, one with fire and one with ice, as she went on the attack to try and defeat her pink enemy. The weapons repeatedly clattered against the sword, her opponent apparently thinking that he was faster than her. Feinting to the left, his weapon whistled up to try and take her down. Only for her to react faster than he had expected and block the blow. The pink shadow ranger's sword shattered, and Paige stuck her two daggers into his stomach.
Facing the yellow shadow ranger, Chip blocked the oncoming sword attack with his Thunder Lance, continuing to parry the blows for as long as he could.
Then, gaining an opening, he spun around on the spot and began to attack. The threat of his assaults were almost enough to force him back, going from attack to defence in moments. Increasing the frequency of his assaults, Chip finally managed to gain the upper hand and throw several powerful blows into the body of the yellow shadow ranger.
Leaping away from the attacks thrown by their good counter parts, the shadow rangers regrouped. Burns and bruises remained up on their bodies, courtesey of the attacks from the G-Force ranger's weapons.
"These clowns aren't so tough," Chip quipped, the rangers doing the same.
"We hear you there," Paige offered.
"Now, let's hit them with the Force Cannon," Crane shouted. "Bring them together."
Faster than the shadow rangers could react, they began to assemble the weapon, Crane aiming the fully formed blaster at their group of enemies.
The shadow rangers didn't seem impressed by what had just happened. They raised their hands up, as Crane pulled the trigger.
Laughing as the beam of energy burst from the weapon, the attack crashed into the five impostors before exploding.
"Well, that turned out to be a bust," Pura muttered, getting up to leave. "Another scheme failed."
Seeing her react like that made Jirona snicker.
"You might think that," he said, grinning. "Wait and see what happens next. You won't be disappointed at all."
"So, you managed to put in what I requested?" Darkia asked, joining the monster maker in grinning. "Excellent."
"What did you do?" Chimzor wondered.
As the smoke cleared, the five shadow rangers were still stood strong across from their good counter parts.
"That the best that you can do?" the green shadow ranger asked. Something seemed different than before. A sense of sheer power crackled across their armour, electrical in its nature
"Mirror Coat!" the red shadow ranger commanded.
Bringing their hands up again, the five Shadow Force rangers unleashed a retaliatory blast towards their opponents. A multicoloured streak of energy that tore through the rangers defences and knocked them to the ground. The Force Cannon clattered away from them, the five heroes badly hurt by the attack.
"Ouch," Duo moaned, trying to get back up.
"And now, it's time for the big finale," the blue shadow ranger laughed.
As he finished speaking, the five of them began to grow.
"Uh oh," Scott said, taking a step back from the console. "This isn't going to end well."
He looked around, taking deep breaths.
"Guess I better go and help them," the silver ranger said, bringing up his morpher. "And, you better send them the G-Force zords."
"I'm not sure if..."
"Every little helps," Scott said. "Psychic source... Steel force!"
He appeared down on the battlefield, fully morphed next to the other five rangers.
"Sorry about the delay," he said. "The G-Force zords are on the way. Now, it's time for me to get on with the fight. Metagross Zord, arise."
Even as he finished speaking, all six zords appeared far in the distance, charging towards the rangers.
Six different coloured beams burst out from the cockpits of the each individual zords, sucking the respective ranger in there.
"They're playing right into our hands," Regli smirked, as he watched the zords steam into battle.
"Makes a nice change not to have to fly down and make them all grow myself," Nocto commented, stretching out her wings across the couch. "Someone chuck me a piece of Rattata so I can enjoy this."
"Okay," Crane shouted. "G-Force Megazord formation begin."
The Roserade and Manectric zords started to fold in their limbs, as they straightened up. The Manectric zord doubled up, resting on the breast part of its stomach. The Lapras zord rolled forward, folding the head back against its body, as did the flippers. That part then joined to the Roserade and Manectric, creating a torso and legs for the Megazord. The Clefable zord split in half, before the base started to split into five fingers. The top part them joined next to the Lapras, creating arms.
Next, the Rapidash charged forward, before leaping into the air. As it sailed through the air, the snout folded away, creating a more human face, as the four legs retreated into the body of the Rapidash. The body then connected to the top part of the Lapras, forming a face.
The five rangers appeared in the cockpit, as the G-Force Megazord stretched out its arms.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Paige said, as the five shadow rangers began to circle the two newly formed machines.
"Five against two aren't great odds," Mitzi commented, agreeing with her.
"It doesn't matter how many there are," Crane insisted. "We can defeat them. Right, Scott?"
The silver ranger to the left of them let out a non committal grunt.
"Maybe," he muttered. "Ask me again after we're done and I'll try to agree with your slightly misplaced optimism."
"Damn your negativity," Duo quipped.
As he finished making his joke, the shadow rangers attacked.
Several attacks crashed into the G-Force Megazord, the red, pink and yellow shadow rangers attacking. The other two, the blue and green, went off to attack the Metagross Zord. Still clad in their strangely ill fitting armour, the morphed Zanvipers landed blow after blow into the two machines. Sparks began to fizzle up out of the zords.
"Thunder Kick," Chip commanded, launching the attack. "Let's hit the pink one."
Even as the Megazord moved into an attack position, Shadow Force moved to counter it. The green shadow ranger stepped in to take the attack, the electricity not able to do much damage to him. Making the situation completely worse, he grabbed the yellow leg of the Megazord and flipped it over to the ground. The red and yellow shadow rangers started to kick the machine as Crane tried to pull it back up to its feet. Unable to get back up, the limbs slipped uselessly in the earth.
Scott wasn't having much better luck. He had been unable to launch off a series of effective attacks towards his two opponents due to their speed. Inwardly, he cursed the cumbersome nature of his Metagross Zord in this situation. Something that he had never done before. Water and grass attacks hit him from all angles, the blasts sending the zord tottering backwards.
Off with the kid gloves, he thought to himself with a savage grin. His hand reached down to the weapons systems.
"Hyper Beam, fire!" the silver ranger commanded.
The jaws slid open, delivering the blast towards the two shadow rangers. To the silver ranger's dismay, they managed to dodge the attack that was streaking through the air towards them.
Having got back up to its feet, the G-Force Megazord went back to back with the Metagross Zord, holding the sword in its hands.
"We might have problems," Scott said. "My shields are going down heavily."
"Ours too," Paige reported. "They're only operating at fifty five percent. Another few hits and we're done for."
"We have to stop them!" Chip argued. "Can't let them escape to destroy this world."
"I never said that," Paige snapped. She jerked her lever forward to attack. "Let's try a Meteor Mash!"
The glowing silver arms of the G-Force Megazord swept out and hit the yellow shadow ranger in the chest. He let out a growl and backed off, rubbing his stomach.
"Use the sword!" Mitzi shouted.
"On which one?" Crane pointed out. "We unleash a Slash of Time and we'll be defenceless."
He threw his controls into action, the sword sweeping out and hitting the red shadow ranger across the neck.
"Finish 'em off," the wounded Zanviper hissed, clutching at his throat.
As the two zords held their ground, the Shadow Force around them held up their hands. With their palms outstretched, it made for a slightly intimidating sight.
"Shadow blast!"
Waves of dark purple energy burst out in thick blasts, the sheer power racing through the air, eventually hitting the G-Force Megazord full on with its full force.
The five rangers inside the cockpit yelled in pain. Huge sparks of electricity crackled up out of the consoles.
"Shields are gone!" Chip yelled, worry in his voice. "We don't have much left."
Again, Shadow Force charged as one. Unrelenting attacks thumped into the body of the Megazord, the machine shaking under each blow.
"Armour has failed!" Paige reported, unable to disguise the worry that was now creeping into her speech. "We're almost done for."
For a moment, the Megazord stood there, tottering on its uneasy legs. And then, it started to fall.
As it hit the ground, Dorlinda's voice came through the speakers.
"Rangers!" he said. "You have to abandon the G-Force Megazord right now. I'm currently recalling the zords back to their storage."
"We can't!" Crane bellowed, furious at the prospect of what the Lord of Time was suggesting. "They'll destroy the entire region."
"My scans indicate that they are nearly at boiling point," Dorlinda's calm voice replied. "They'll need to recharge before doing that. And, if you get back up, there's a good chance that your Megazord will be destroyed. Return to the Time Hole, you can't win this fight."
"We're not abandoning the G-Force Megazord!" Crane insisted, banging his fist against the console. Parts of the machine were on fire, the flames spreading slowly across the body.
"Crane, we have to," Mitzi said. "Live to fight another day. We can't help anyone if we're destroyed."
With resignation, the red ranger sat back in his seat. He still wasn't happy with the result, but knew that it was inevitable that they had to do so.
"Okay, let's eject."
As the six rangers appeared on the grass across from the battlefield where they had been beaten by Shadow Force, they turned to see the G-Force Megazord and the Metagross Zord vanish from view. Laughs of derision rang out from the shadow rangers, before they also vanished. They knew that they had won. Their celebrations were like a knife to the heart.
"No!" Paige hissed, angrily.
"So, now that the Megazord's been totalled," Mitzi started to say. "What do we do?"
"Nothing," Chip replied, shaking his head in despair. "We're done for."
To be continued...
Author's Notes.
Dedicated to Blazin' Saddles on his birthday. Who inspired me to write this story.
So, it doesn't look good. An evil plan actually worked for once. And with no Megazord... The rangers look screwed.
Thanks for the reviews. All appreciated. And just as importantly thanks for reading.
Now, don't forget to review!!!! Please!!!
Chapter twenty seven, Shadow Force Part Two, will be coming soon.
Dorlinda: I'm sorry.
Mitzi: Is there no chance of fixing it in time?
Dorlinda: I'm afraid not.
Duo: So, this is how it ends.
Scott: It's not over yet.
Jirona: We did it!
Regli: For once, you did something right.
Dorlinda: There's one last hope. Something I've been working on, just in case.
Coming soon.