POWER RANGERS :- Demon Wars
Coming to Terms
Chapter Two
Connor cursed as the two kids lay on the floor of the Coffee Shop. It was only the five Rangers left in the room now. Which was a good thing. 'Cassie, Sari! Clear the room!' Dawn shouted
'But…' Cassie looked up from her friends prone bodies.
'We'll all end up like that.' The Green Ranger shouted, smashing a wave of the creatures away with her chair. 'Just do it!'
Sari was already doing as she'd been told, much like her face had earlier the dark skinned girl's hands opened. Panels and plates sliding behind one another to reveal a glowing energy crystal in the palm of each hand.
Pointing them at the swarm she fired. With a high pitched whine two blue shockwaves rippled over the floor, sending creatures and overturned furniture away like debris caught in a strong wind.
Cassie stepped away from her friends and closed her eyes. Raising her own hands sharply. As she did broken glass all over the room suddenly flinched and began to float. Cassie gestured and the broken glass shredded its way through what was left
Connor let out a whistle, that was fairly impressive. He knew they had powers, other than the ones they had in costume, but two energy weapons like those and magic powers? No wonder the girls had been giving A'Zores a run for his money.
'Duck.' Faith snapped at him. Connor didn't wait to think, just threw himself to the ground. The Slayer, reeled back and threw one of her chair legs at the wall. It buried itself halfway in the concrete and through the dead centre of one of the creatures. Killing it.
Magic and ray guns were all well and good, but a Slayers arm was usually enough to get the job done right. 'Good arm.' he said looking up.
'Thanks.' Faith nodded and helped him stand as Sari and Cassie let lose another blast. Clearing the floor again, but they were just going to keep on coming.
Wave after wave of the little monsters, there were thousands outside, all clambering to get back in. Dawn saw that too, hitting the button on her wrist watch. 'Alpha, its Dawn. We need you to get everyone here to the Command Centre, right now. Emergency Teleport, Rad-bug or carrier pidgin. Whatever's fastest.'
The robot Ay-ay-ay-ed for a moment before Connor felt himself picked up by the half familiar feeing of transport.
Landing in the computer wear house that was at the heart of the Command Centre everyone but Connor moved as if they somehow knew what to do. Sari and Faith dashed off to one side to retrieve a pair of stretchers from one side. Cassie knelt beside her friends, checking pulses and their eyes for some reason. 'Dawn! The City's overrun by these demon creatures!' The fussing robot Alpha exclaimed, getting her attention
She shot the robot a dark look, one that Connor wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of. 'I know, what do you think happened!'
Alpha somehow managed to look uncomfortable and shuffled away without another word
'We should have beamed out earlier.' Connor muttered without thinking.
Dawn spun on him, that same look on hr face. 'How would we explain that to Jenny? We have to keep our identities secret, remember.'
Fighting down a shudder he said, defiantly, 'Would they have told anyone?'
'Jenny? Not tell anyone?' Cassie asked looking up from her prone friend. 'She couldn't keep a secret if the world depended on it.'
'How is she?' Dawn asked gravely
'I… I don't know. Poisoned obviously, whatever it is she like a statue.'
'Paralysing poison.' Connor said. 'They sting you with that spear of theirs then drag you to a big one, a queen.' the others looked at him. 'I saw it in Quor'toth. There was a nest in a valley, most of the smarter demons avoided the place, but sometimes packs of those creatures would look for a meal.'
'Quor'toth?' Cassie asked, she hadn't been filled in on that part of his history.
'A demon diminution, one of the worse out there. I spent some time trapped there.' He told her, keeping it simple.
Dawn put a hand on the Blue Ranger's shoulder. 'Time for backstory later. What can you tell us about them?'
Connor took a deep breath. 'Not much, like I said anyone smart kept out of their way. They hunt in packs, but never in those sorts of numbers.'
'You said something about a Queen?' Sari prodded.
'Big ugly thing, if you're lucky it eats you. If not…' he shuddered. 'I only saw it once, it's how they breed…'
'Let me guess; eat their way out from the inside?' Dawn said looking pale. Connor nodded as the others backed of. Cassie couldn't hide the look of horror on her face. 'You've heard of them before?'
'No, but I've heard of something like them.' She said grimly. 'And we have a horde of them stinging and infesting a whole City of people.'
'What do we do?' Faith asked
'I don't think there's an antidote, at least I've never seen one.' Connor told them.
'Here, let me try something.' Dawn knelt by Jenny and lifted an arm. When she let go it stayed there.
Cassie looked back and forth between them. 'What did you do?'
'She's posable, that's a good sign. Means we might have a way.'
The four of them looked at each other. 'Urm way to what?'
Dawn though was hovering over the controls. 'A way to undo this.' she said absently, bringing up an image of the little creatures on the Viewing Globe. 'No mouth, didn't think so. Alpha scan the City and surrounding area, we have to find that Queen.'
'Hold on Dee.' Faith jumped in. 'Slow down for those of us that don't speak Watcher.'
'They don't have mouths, don't you see?'
'So they don't have mouths.' Sari repeated, sounding as confused as Connor. 'So what.'
'All things have to eat. Even demon's need energy somehow. I'm betting these little monsters need mommy to feed them. Kill her they'll die out.' Dawn announced.
It made sense, but he was sure she was missing something. Cassie saw it before he did. 'What about Jenny and Michael and everyone else stung by these guys and what's this got to do about them being posable?'
'A couple of years ago, hell maybe three now I got poisoned the same way. Couldn't move and was stiff as a board, but I was posable too!'
'You have a cure then? We have to call Buffy, come up with an excuse.'
'Or we could just kill the Queen.' Dawn pointed out. 'That's how we did it last time. Any luck Alpha?'
'I'm having trouble narrowing it down,' Alpha started playing with dials and switches. 'There are so many readings of evil energy I can't tell. Give me a few minutes.'
Faith watched as Dawn took charge, very much like her sister. The difference was she was at least going to listen to her. Well maybe. 'You think you're going to be up for this one?'
'Up?'
'You're still not quite up to full strength, we don't want you collapsing half way through the fight.' Faith said pointedly.
'I'll be fine.' Dawn tried a smile before looking back at the creature in the Viewing Globe. 'I promise, the moment I feel weak at the knees I'll get out of the way. I don't want you putting yourselves in danger trying to cover my butt.'
Faith didn't believe her for a second. 'Good, I'll hold you to that.' Dawn didn't take her eyes off the Globe but began to frown. 'Something wrong'
'A'Zores. I get he's desperate, but I know him. It feels wrong.'
'Huh?' Sari asked.
'He's always been after the fight.' Connor said. 'The way he talked about you guys. Like you weren't people, more a challenge to overcome.'
'Exactly.' Dawn nodded. 'He's a lot of things, crafty, traitorous, a good fighter and an absolute rat, but this just isn't him. These things are just too mindless. Too unthinking.'
Faith saw where she was going with it. 'You think he's back? Tretrax?'
'Who?'
'The first General the Warlord sent here. I thought he was gone for good after he tried that thing with Cassie?'
'Tretrax?' The Blue Ranger was on her feet. 'You think he's behind this.'
'Fits his MO.' Dawn shrugged.
'He's mine.' she growled. 'No, after what he did to me I want him.'
'What about what he did to me?' Faith asked. He had unleashed a demon that warped Cassie, transforming her into a feathered demon, but she had a bone to pick too. He'd sent a strange bug to bite Faith, meant to drive her insane and force the others to kill her.
Dawn was right about MO's, these skittering creatures we just the sort of thing he'd use. 'Finders keepers.' Cassie suggested.
'Oh you're on.' Faith agreed.
'Hey, hey hold on!' Dawn waved her arms. 'This is Tretrax we're talking about with an army and I'm supposed to be the impulsive one!'
'We've handled that moron before. He's not that bad.'
Dawn smirked at Faith. 'We've handled vampires before too. That mean we shouldn't worry about one that comes after us?'
The Slayer frowned at her, the little brat really was turning into mini-Buffy. Not quite as bossy, a bit smarter, but really Buffy like.
'Found it!' Alpha shouted. from his controls. As he refocused the Globe, to show the queen, Faith wondered if it was to late to go on holiday.
It was like a fat mount of flesh, covered in wrinkles and bumps. It took the Slayer to realise it looked more like a brain without a skull than anything else. Somehow though it still resembled the creatures. Four short, stubby, legs that didn't look strong enough to hold it up and the same pointy head that whipped back and forth.
'Ugh.' Cassie shuddered. 'We have to get close to that?'
'Unless you can think of another idea.' Dawn pointed out darkly, she didn't like the idea anymore than Faith did.
Connor coughed. 'I think getting close might be difficult. When I first saw one of these things they were surrounded. Alpha, can we zoom out?'
The Viewing Globe blurred for a second and pulled back. He was right, there was a whole army of the little creatures surrounding their queen. 'Holy, holy crap.' Faith whispered to herself.
'We have a bomb, or something, right?' Sari asked. 'I mean that, that's…'
'We could hit it with a Zord, or the Megazord.' Cassie suggested, 'But I'm not going to be the one to clean up afterwards.'
'We can't.' Dawn disagreed
'We can't?'
'Never escalate a battle unless we're forced to, remember.' She quoted part of the Ranger code. 'The last thing we want to do is stomp around the city in a twenty story battle machine scaring the people.'
'We really don't, especially when those things can smell fear.' The four other Rangers and their robot helper all turned to face Connor.
'What did you just say?' Cassie asked carefully
The Red Ranger winced. 'Something else, they smell fear. Don't know how but I think that's how they hunt.'
'Anything else you forgot to mention?' Faith asked acidly. 'They have laser beams coming out of their eyes, or maybe that they fart flamethrowers?'
'No that's it.'
'So everything's five by five? We just have to find a way past thousands of those little monsters and kill a big mommy that might as well eat… It doesn't have a mouth.'
'No.'
'How does it eat without a mouth?' Faith asked, not liking what she was thinking.
Connor coughed 'From what I saw the little one's sort of drag the, well, food under it and it rolls on top.'
Could be worse.' Faith had thought of worse, most of which would give her nightmares for the next few nights.
'Guys, this doesn't help.' Cassie pointed out. 'The whole city is being poisoned and is going to be fed to that, that thing and unless we have a really, really big gun Zord's are the only way!'
'What did you just say?' Dawn spun on her friend, a very big grin on her face.
'A big gun? I was kidding, there's no way to get close enough for Blade-Blasters to do any good.'
Dawn's smile grew even bigger. 'With Connor here I think we can find something a little bigger. I have an idea!'
Faith wasn't sure that was a good thing.
The room was a large office, with no corners. It was quite famous for that, almost as famous as the building it was in. Jack was a regular visitor to this special office these days and he hated it.
Sure it was bigger and more spacious than the old supply closet he was forced to work in most days, but it wasn't where he wanted to be. He wanted to be traveling back and forth through the Stargate. 'Are you sure about this Jack, we're taking a lot on faith about these Rangers of yours.'
Jack straightened his cap under his arm and ran a hand through his close cropped hair. 'I understand sir, but as I told you.'
'Jack, I was in the military remember. I know the logistical nightmare of manoeuvring our own forces on American soil.' he held his hand up. 'The National Guard aren't trained for this I agree and if we start sending SGC personnel down there it would cause even more trouble.'
Jack hated these meetings, the man who worked here was good. Almost too good. Jack couldn't slip anything pass them and he had an unerring trick of know just what it was Jack tried to hide. Damned politicians. 'Internationally?' Jack clarified.
'And locally Congress is pitching a fit over this and the national news stations are starting a campaign to take me out of office.'
'The Trust again.'
The other man suddenly looked very tired as he sunk down into the sofa. 'Yes, them. When I took this job I never thought I'd be debating inter-dimensional invasions in secret and negotiating with Tok'Ra ambassadors. Speaking of.' He jumped up and checked his watch. 'Yes I'd better deal with this. I want to meet them.'
'The Tok'Ra sir.' Jack asked, wondering why anyone in their right mind would want to meet a Tok'Ra.
He picked up his brief case and threw a jacket over his shoulders. 'No, your Rangers. If I'm sticking my political head out for them I want to know them.' He walked to the far side of the room, between two doors and fished around in the inside of his jacket. 'You think you can arrange that?'
'Yes Mr President.' Jack said helplessly
'Good, knew I could count on you Jack.' The leader of the free world found what he was looking for in his pockets. A small black box with one button on it. 'I am so glad I had this installed. So much better than a limo.' he pressed the button and the ring platform descended. Taking him up and onto the awaiting Odyssey in orbit.
End Chapter Two
