Chapter 34 – Symphony Of Destruction
Downtown Angel Grove
Across the ruins of Angel Grove Square, the Space Rangers squared off against two of their most dangerous opponents. Darkonda by himself was an extremely tough opponent but the upgraded version of Ecliptor was a mystery. He appeared to be under Darkonda's complete control and he was desperate to get his hands on the rangers, straining at an invisible leash around his neck. "This isn't the first time we've taken over a planet", Darkonda taunted, "hundreds have tried and failed, what makes you believe you can beat us?"
"You just said it Darkonda", Andros replied, "we believe we can beat you. We've done it several times over the last few months and we can do it one final time".
Darkonda grumbled and turned to the silver ranger, "What about you Princess? You really think you can beat the guy who taught you everything you know?" he asked, pointed at Ecliptor.
Karone raised her Silverizer, "Guess there's only one way to find out".
The bounty hunter was infuriated that he hadn't been able to get under the ranger's skins. He was about to say something else but Carlos beat him to it, "You talk too much Darkonda". The bounty hunter didn't realise that the black ranger still had the Quadra Blaster in his hands. His eyes opened wide as a powerful blast flew towards the villainous pair, so shocked that they didn't have time to move. The pair flew through the air and crashed through the window of a nearby shop.
It was a bold opening gambit by the black ranger but the rangers weren't stupid enough to think that Darkonda and Ecliptor would go down so easily. Carlos disassembled the Quadra Blaster and handed back the component weapons to their respective owners. Darkonda had barely extracted himself from the broken window when the rangers pounced on him. Andros slashed him across the abdomen with his Saber, drawing a cry of pain from the bounty hunter. Darkonda was prepared for the second attack and fired a burst of energy from his palm. The rangers dodged the blast, rolled effortlessly to the side.
"Let's see how brave you are with only one life left", Ashley said and fired a series of blasts from her Star Slinger. Darkonda swung his sword and deflected the energy attacks away from his body. He charged at the yellow ranger and almost took her head off with his sword. Ashley dropped down low and retrieved a fallen piece of masonry. She smashed it into the knee of Darkonda, drawing a furious outburst from the bounty hunter.
"You bitch", Darkonda cried and put his full body weight behind a kick to her chest. The yellow ranger skidded across the ground, slamming heavily into the side of an abandoned car. Darkonda sensed someone from sneaking up behind him. He turned around quickly but not fast enough to block the Astro Axe of TJ. The blue ranger caught him with a horizontal slash across his face.
Darkonda recoiled from the attack and placed his hand to his face. Looking down at his hands, he caught sight of his blood. Since selling his soul to Dark Specter for his nine extra lives, Darkonda had become almost impervious to serious injury. He could still be overpowered and 'killed' but no one had been able to draw blood from him, until now. The sight of his own blood sent him into a frenzy and he swung his sword horizontally in the direction of the blue ranger. The blow caught TJ on the upper body and arms and he fell to the ground in agony.
Firing blasts indiscriminately, Darkonda tore into a nearby building where a couple of people had taken shelter, "Stay with Darkonda", Andros called out, "I'm going to help those civilians". He called on his Galaxy Glider and flew up to the second storey window, "Quickly there's not much time", he said to the young couple. They hesitantly clambered onto his Glider and the red ranger manoeuvred them as quickly as he dared to the ground. He was just in time as the floor they had been standing on collapsed under the heavy fire from Darkonda.
"I-I don't know how we can thank you", the young woman wheezed.
"No thanks necessary", Andros replied, "you two should get as far away from here as possible". He quickly scanned the battlefield, Darkonda was now duelling Carlos and Cassie simultaneously whilst Karone checked on the two fallen rangers. He could just about make out the two Turbo Rangers fending off some more Quantron's with the help of ninja's. They should be able to stop anyone else from entering the square. Suddenly he saw something approaching his sister, "Karone, look out", he shouted.
"Hey TJ, how you feeling", Karone asked the blue ranger.
"Like I've been run over by a truck", he groaned, "but I'll live". The silver ranger heard her brother shout a warning from the other side of the square. Almost on instinct he called on her Silverizer Blade and turned around, blocking an attack from Ecliptor. The force of the blow threatened to knock her to the ground but somehow she found the strength to fight back. "TJ got help the others", Karone said, "I'll keep Ecliptor busy".
"You don't stand a chance against him alone", TJ replied.
"Aren't you forgetting that Ecliptor taught me everything he knows", she began, "I'm the best one to go up against him". The blue ranger looked hesitant but he left Karone behind and joined up with the other rangers.
"You're right Princess I taught you everything you know", Ecliptor charged up his sword and sent a powerful energy blast at the silver ranger. Karone deflected most of it but she was still sent flying by the power of the attack, "but I didn't teach you everything I know". Karone began to think that it was a bad idea sending TJ away but it was too late now. Summoning all of her courage, she powered up her own blade and went on the offensive. Their respective blades clashed, sending sparks into the air. They repeated this same manoeuvre twice more before Ecliptor shot an energy bolt from his eyes. Karone was able to quickly raise her blade and deflected the attack back onto Ecliptor, "Very good Princess, you've learned how to counter that attack", he taunted.
"Stop calling me Princess", Karone cried.
"I thought you liked it when I called you that", Ecliptor began, "you told me that it made you feel like you still had a father". The pair continued to circle each other, "Surely you can't kill two of your father's in one lifetime", and the mention of her real father, Karone froze and this was the opening Ecliptor need. His sword ran down across Karone's chest, dropping the silver ranger to her knees, "Say hello to your parents for me", Ecliptor was about to bring his sword crashing down again but Andros blocked it with his own blade.
"I'm sorry Andros", Karone began, "I just froze".
"Don't worry about it", her brother replied, "now let's show him what these twins can do".
Back with the other rangers, they were slowly beginning to wear down Darkonda. Carlos' opening attack with the Quadra Blaster was really paying off. They felt like one strong attack was all they needed to finish off Darkonda for good. The bounty hunter felt that as well so he was trying his best to keep at least one of the rangers grounded at all times.
His primary target was the black ranger, as he was the one who typically fired their team's weapon. Without him at full strength, he might stand a chance of escaping. He blocked the black ranger's Lance and responding by slashing him across the arms. Immediately Carlos dropped his weapon and he was now open to attack from Darkonda. The black ranger wasn't going down without a fight though and he pulled out his Astro Blaster. He kept firing, hoping that it would distract Darkonda for long enough allow him to grab his Lance. Darkonda wasn't going to let a little laser fire stop him from ending the black ranger for good. He swung his sword in an upwards motion, catching Carlos under the chin. The black ranger flew high into the air before crashing back down with a thud.
Satisfied that he was safe for now, Darkonda allowed himself a glance at Ecliptor's battle with the Karovian twins. The red and silver rangers were throwing everything at Ecliptor and so far the contest was finely balanced. "Hey Darkonda", he suddenly heard the pink ranger shout in his direction. He turned around and found himself staring down the barrel of the Quadra Blaster, "Say night night", she added before pulling the trigger. The blast tore a hole in Darkonda's chest and he had just enough time to register this before he fell to the ground. "That's for my Mom", Cassie added as she watched Darkonda take his final breath.
Over with red and silver rangers, they were beginning to struggle with Redcliptor, a name they had just invented for this new version of Ecliptor. Sheltering behind a parked car, the pair came up with a quick plan, "We need to hit him from both sides", Andros began, "I'll tackle him head on, which should give you enough time to sneak up behind him". His sister nodded and crept towards another parked car. Placing his Spiral Saber into booster mode, Andros jumped up from his hiding place and unleashed a powerful blast at Redcliptor.
"You missed red ranger", he taunted.
"I meant to", Andros replied just as his sister slashed Redcliptor across the back with her blade. Andros fired his weapon again, hitting Redcliptor in the chest. The creature cried out before he crumpled to the ground.
"You guys did it", Carlos wheezed as the others caught up with the Karovians.
"Darkonda?" Karone asked.
"Dead", Cassie replied, "I know I shouldn't say this but it was very satisfying watching him die".
Redcliptor began to growl and his body shone bright red. He then began to grow until he towered over the square, "I'm not going to miss this", TJ grumbled.
"I think we need to go all out with this one", Andros began, "Ashley, you and me will pilot the Mega Voyager", he then turned to TJ, "reckon you can handle the Astro Megazord?"
Not a problem boss", TJ replied before thrusting his hand to the sky, "I need Astro Megazord power".
"Mega Voyager online", Andros called.
Karone tapped a code into a Digimorpher, "Mega Winger online", she cried. In a matter of seconds, the three remaining Megazord's in their arsenal appeared on the battlefield. The rangers would have to be extremely careful as they didn't want to step onto any civilians that might still be in the buildings.
Redcliptor had no such reservations though as he fired a powerful blast from his eyes. The Astro Megazord deflected it with his sword but it struck a nearby building, turning it into rubble, "We need to end this as quickly as possible", TJ said into the radio, "the longer this lasts, the more damage he's going to cause".
"Easier said than done", Karone replied from the Mega Winger. She commanded her zord to swing its bladed weapon towards Redcliptor. It caught him just under the arm, drawing a cry of pain from the creature. He aimed a backhanded punch at the Mega Winger and it caught the silver ranger's zord on the head. It stumbled backwards, crushing a couple of cars in the street below.
The numbers game soon began to work against Redcliptor, no sooner had he removed one Megazord from the equations, one of the other two would take its place. The Mega Voyager punched Redcliptor in the chest before kicking him into the side of the building the rangers had been waiting on before the battle. The building was crushed like cardboard as Redcliptor fell to the ground.
Redcliptor stumbled to his feet but he ran straight into the Astro Saber. He took the full force of the attack before staggering in front of the Mega Winger. Karone unleashed the Winger's blade cannon, tearing into the outer body of Redcliptor. "This is it everyone", Andros called from the Mega Voyager, "Mega V3 Missile". The missile exploded on contact with Redcliptor and he crashed to the ground, taking another building with him. He gradually began to return to his normal size and his original colouring.
The rangers barely had time to celebrate when the sky began to get unnaturally dark. They were a furious sounding roar that seemed to echo throughout the atmosphere, "Guys Dark's Specter's here", Karone began, "we need to regroup".
"Alright TJ, Karone get your zords clear", Andros replied, "we'll hold him off".
"Andros that's suicide", Carlos replied from the Astro Megazord.
"We need to try", Ashley replied and grasped her controls tightly.
Dark Specter appeared in the sky and he didn't look happy. The Mega Winger converted into jet mode and tried to fly away. Dark Specter wasn't going to allow that though and fired an energy bolt at the craft. It clipped one of the wings and the zord began to plummet towards the ground. It hit the tarmac with shuddering thump and skidded out of sight between two buildings.
"Karone!" Andros cried into the radio but there was no response. Dark Specter then turned his attention on the Mega Voyager. Energy bolts rained down on the Voyager, tearing through its body like it was tissue paper. The Voyager couldn't withstand the barrage and toppled to the ground. It exploded on contact with the ground, a column of smoke towering high into the air.
"Andros! Ashley!" Cassie shrieked, she tried to abandon ship to search but TJ and Carlos held her in place.
"There's no time", TJ said, "we need to get the Megaship to a safe place. He knew that underneath her helmet, Cassie had tears streaming down her face. The Megaship sped away from the square as quickly as it possibly could.
Dark Specter watched them retreat and thought about firing on the Megaship. Deciding to have a little fun before killing them, he called out to all of Earth, "The Power Rangers remain the one stumbling block to a peaceful resolution", he bellowed, "bring them to be before sunrise in Angel Grove and I will spare your planet". He paused for a moment, "Anyone who brings me any of the rangers dead or alive will receive a significant reward".
He could almost hear the greedy people of the Californian city rubbing their hands together. He knew that the rangers kept their identities a secret so most likely people would bring him anyone they suspected of being a ranger. He would turn the people against the rangers and each other purely for his own amusement. Dark Specter looked down at the burning wreckage of the Mega Voyager and chuckled to himself. Burning itself to the ground, it was symbolic of the rangers failure to defeat him. By sunrise tomorrow, the Power Rangers would have been eliminated forever.
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N - As a bonus I'm not going to keep you waiting until the weekend for the next chapter so stick with me, we're almost done.