Chapter Forty Eight: Fatal Mistake

It was uglier than anything she had seen before.

Covered in tiny spines that seemed to be moving independently of each other, the monster seemed to ooze its way towards them. The sun gleamed over its green, grey and brown skin and the edges of its mouth seemed to stretch out past the vaguely defined borders of its face, revealing small teeth that glinted dangerously in the sun like diamond daggers. Much to Bree's disgust, there wasn't a shred of clothing on the monster – not even a belt or a fingerless glove. That being said, if there was clothing, it wouldn't have helped as its skin was constantly moving. The effect was akin to having waves lapping just under its skin and made her nauseous just looking at it. Its arms hung loosely at its sides, in contrast with the threatening and aggressive stances the other monsters usually had…yet, its right hand looked different. It twisted and churned, bubbled and rolled like it was made of nothing but sea foam but it also shimmered and shined as if there were a million diamonds studded on its surface. The single eye in the middle of its head radiated intelligence and there were no illusions to what it would do if it captured them.

"What are you going to do? No Rangers can protect you from me and your police are too pathetic to be of danger."

Bree's left hand slid into her pocket and grabbed the small blaster. Keeping her eyes on the monster, she withdrew it in one fluid motion and snapped off several shots. As the energy blasts streaked towards the creature, the young girl grabbed Olivia's hand and began running in the opposite direction. Shouts and screams filled the air as, for the second time in as many days, panicked civilians scrambled for the nearest Monster Shelter. Stopping only to shoot off a handful more blasts, the would-be Ranger checked the power gauge and swore under her breath. Belatedly, she remembered Andros saying that there was only enough in the battery for a handful of shots and the thin red line she could see didn't bode well for the future.

Still dragging the shocked and stunned teacher behind her, they ducked behind a pile of rubble and Bree deactivated the blaster. Slipping it back in her pocket, she hoped it wouldn't burn through her pants and leave a few marks that would be nigh-impossible to explain to her guardians. Of course, she could shift it on the Power Rangers but she didn't want to give them more trouble – no matter how minor it would be. Lifting her wrist to activate her communicator, she swore in disgust as she stared at the bare patch where it should have been. Blaming herself for forgetting to put it on, she turned to Olivia and spoke as loudly as she dared.

"Are you all right?"

The Italian woman shook her head violently and Bree could see that she was quickly slipping into shock. That was both a blessing and a curse as it meant she was limited in her decisions. Stashing the teacher away was certainly an option she was comfortable with but all it would take was a stray laser blast and there'd be a mass of explaining to do. She peeked over the rubble to see what the creature was up to as Olivia's voice reached her ears.

"What was that? Why did that monster call us allies of the Rangers?"

Glancing down at her, Bree did a double take as she realised the woman wasn't in shock at all from the unexpected turn of events. Instead, she saw a gleam of anticipation as the young woman's mind started to click over the words and their possible meanings. Spying the creature walking over to a pile of iron bars that had been stacked neatly to one side, she shook her head as it lifted its right arm up. Forcing herself to stay as calm as possible, she stared as the flesh on its hand bubbled violently for a split second and, as the bubbles popped on the surface like bloody mud, extended the flesh on its hand to cover the entire pile of iron. A stifled gasp escaped her lips as the spines on the creature seemed to twist in ecstasy as a strange metallic creaking filled the air. Feeling, not seeing, Olivia pop up next to her, she watched in fascination as thin sheets of iron armour formed over the shoulders and chest of the creature; thankfully hiding its warping skin from her view. Experimentally flexing its left hand, Bree's eyes widened in shock as a long, serrated blade slid out of the skin just above the wrist. Everything hit her like a ton of bricks and she felt the ice-cold sensation of fear flood her veins.

The creature could absorb anything it touched.

Not only that, it could use the materials to augment various parts of itself. The iron rods had provided enough material for armour and a blade, so what had her blasts given it? Ducking back down and pulling Olivia with her, she began to think about what she could use to ensure the creature was destroyed. Knowing Jabarkas or the other aliens orbiting Earth, they would have sent down masses of grunts to another location to distract the Rangers. Maybe they would have sent more than one group down in an attempt to split the remaining Rangers and force them to call on the others for assistance. On the other hand, to be regarded as a massive threat by the attacking evil force that a monster was personally sent to kill you was somewhat of a compliment…if one actually liked being complimented by the creatures who wanted to rampage over one's dead body. Shuddering lightly at that thought, she picked up a medium-sized rock by her feet and prepared to stand up.

"What are you doing? We need to think this through!"

Bree made a face for a split second as she realised the woman next to her was correct. On the other hand, her plan didn't really consist of more than 'find out what my lasers did to it'. The finer details would be fleshed out using instinct and tapping into whatever strange power was inside her. Perhaps if she linked it to a trigger word, she could fire those creatures out on command. The only issue was what would happen if the monster sucked them out of her body entirely. Would they return to her when it was destroyed or would her one, and possibly only, chance at being a Ranger of sorts vanish in a pyrotechnic burst? Whatever the case, it was a risk she was absolutely unwilling to take…which brought her back to square one.

"Found you!"

Moving on instinct, she dove to the right as the pile of rubble exploded outward. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Olivia roll over a hedge and away from the line of sight of the monster. Sneaking a fleeting glance at the rock in her hand, she swung her arm back and lobbed it as hard as she could at the monster's head. Surprisingly enough, it was still uncovered and unprotected by whatever armour had sprung out. However, the rock had no sooner left her hand when she spied something she hadn't noticed before. Whereas before its impossibly wide mouth had been the most distinguishing feature of its head, now it had a strange curved horn rising from the back of its skull. She could have kicked herself, yet watched a glowing red light slowly build on the tip. Picking up more chunks of concrete and asphalt, she began to fling them at the creature as fast as she could…noticing with growing dismay the thin beams of energy that smashed through each of the projectiles before it could hit the monster. If she didn't think of something fast, this wouldn't end well.

Rolling along the ground as the creature finally realised it could blast energy from its horn, she groaned under her breath as she lifted a rather heavy cube of concrete. She could hear the roar of blood in her ears mixed with the very animalistic roar of the beasts awakening once more inside her. Not wanting to infuse the rock with the power from the beasts, she braced herself and threw the cube at the air above the monster's head. Even with the energy helping her throw, her arms screamed in protest as the stone left her hands and it was all she could do not to collapse to the ground under the pain from her aching muscles. Running to Olivia's side as she heard the blast shatter the concrete cube, she threw an arm across her shoulders and began looking for a better hiding spot.

As she had planned, the cube didn't disintegrate upon impact with the lasers. Rather, it shattered into smaller chunks that the monster had to keep firing at so its attention was elsewhere. Despite having seemed as if she was keeping her cool, one look into Olivia's eyes showed that she was anything but. The redhead internally praised the training that the school would have given the teachers on how to deal with monster attacks if this was how everyone would act…yet there was a hint of darkness in the depths, something that nagged at her and whispered doubts in her ear. Shaking her head, she dragged the woman to a protected alcove leading into a repurposed Monster Shelter and looked around for weapons of some sorts. What she saw didn't fill her with a lot of confidence but allowed her mind to work at several times the speed. A few plastic tubs containing some sort of grey-red powder and thin silver material that looked like cooking foil. If that was what she thought…well, she would have to work fast.

"Hey ugly! Over here!"

She watched as the monster turned her way and swallowed in fear as the gravity of the situation finally caught up to her. What the Hell was she doing, trying to destroy a monster that could absorb anything it touched? There was a very high chance that the creature would absorb the effort and everything would be for naught…but she had to try. If her first solution failed, she would keep trying again and again until she managed to destroy the creature without assistance. Sure, it would paint an even larger target on her back and force the aliens on the Moon to see her as a viable threat; however, it would be worth it in the end. Bringing her hands out from behind her back, she looked down at the bucket she held in her gloved hands. The over-sized garments hung off her fingers almost comically, but she could see tiny strips of silver in the dusty mix. Taking a shaky breath in, she fixed the lid in place and heaved the full bucket onto her shoulder.

"Take this!"

For the second time in the span of ten minutes, her muscles screamed in agony as the girl tossed a heavy projectile at the monster. Somewhere between leaving her hands and hitting the monster, the lid she had fixed in place came off and some of the powder spilled out of the bucket. Bree made a mental note of where the powder landed and noted, with some small degree of relief, that there was no twinkle of silver in the mess. So, on the bright side, she didn't have to worry about some yahoo with a lit match cutting through the pavement…yet that would mean the attack would be slightly less effective. On the, admittedly hypothetical, third hand, she favoured getting the monster destroyed over allowing several bits to survive unblasted. The bottom of the bucket bounced comically off the head of the creature and it looked down as if it was some sort of bomb. She held her breath as it lifted its right arm and hovered above the powdery mix. Olivia was still slumped in the alcove, her eyes glazing over slightly as the shock of the situation finally gripped her. She was safe and that was all that mattered…until she started asking more questions about the words of the monster. Bree wasn't sure what she would say in that regard.

The arm plunged into the mix and its flesh began rippling as the new substance was sucked into its body. The creature snarled softly as it felt the different texture changing its internals. There was a slightly metallic taste in its mouth and it swore that there were silver scraps dancing through its eyes but that was of a minor annoyance. If it meant the allies of the Rangers were destroyed sooner, it would put up with the discomfort. Mutator just hoped there was nothing flammable in the mix. An elemental absorber could easily repurpose fire, water and even air into deadly weapons but a Repurposer like him would keep the fire as a whole reaction for a few short seconds. He wondered if he had made a mistake in both coming to the planet too soon and informing Jabarkas that he was indeed a shape-changer. As the steel armour plates and blade fell away from his body and the spines reformed, he turned his gaze back to the human that Jabarkas had informed him was a danger to the Master.

"Come here little girl. Come to your death!"

Bree rolled her eyes as she ran away from the creature. There was only one chance she had for a flame to ignite the magnesium in the mix and she prayed that it hadn't gone out. Leaping over slabs of rubble and dodging the energy beams from the horn that, strangely enough, hadn't burnt out with the absorption of the mix. Jumping up as a burst of heat caught her left heel; she used a fallen piece of rebar as a springboard and vaulted the last few feet to the puddle of still-flaming oil. As three blasts flew above her head, something caught her eye at the edge of the puddle – a lab coat that had been dropped too close to the edge of the puddle and was, for lack of a better word, burning. Well, the flames were present, the material was being consumed at a slow pace and all of the sounds normally associated with a fire were present but there wasn't any smoke or heat. She would only have one chance for this to work and she had to act swiftly.

Dropping to the ground, she grabbed the only part of the jacket that wasn't on fire and slowly stood up. Keeping a close eye on her grip to ensure her hand didn't burn up, she waited until the monster was literally at arm's length. The ore mix that had been in the bucket was peppered over its skin as a form of armour and she fervently hoped at least some of it was inside the beast. As the monster stopped, she briefly wondered of the Ultra Rangers ever allowed a monster to come so close to them. The distance was possibly a double-edged sword though as the monster would be able to see any move they made to destroy it. Silently hoping that her 'energy dinosaurs' would protect her from the resulting explosion, she steeled herself for what she had to do. The creature came closer and lifted its right arm up, revealing that there was a small 'mouth' where the palm was. Its 'lips' peeled back to reveal rows and rows of tiny, silver teeth; all of which looked razor sharp and ready to make her a part of it forever.

Swallowing nervously, she took a small half-step back and, as both mouths of the monster began to curl up in a bloodthirsty smile, flung the blazing jacket directly at the right arm. As expected, the 'mouth' opened wide to swallow the improvised weapon whole and, as with most monsters that operated on instinct, took a while to realise what it had swallowed wasn't something that could be easily 'digested'. Bree edged back a few more steps as she waited for the first flames to ignite the magnesium strips. If what she had overheard from the scientists was correct, the flame seemed to burn brighter and 'hotter' in an enclosed environment. How they could test the heat emitted from something that didn't emit heat was beyond her understanding but she could hear the flames crackling as they sought out flammable materials. Eyes searching the practically-deserted streets for a place to duck and cover from whatever reaction signalled the end of the strange shifting monster. A sharp crack made her look the creature in the eyes, the very ones that were starting to spark as the flames took hold. Spinning on her heel, Bree ran away from the monster as the final pieces of her plan fell into place.

It was either a combination of dumb luck and extreme coincidence that she had found that bucket of ready-to-ignite thermite mix but, all things considered, she shouldn't have been that surprised. The metal from the scouts and the larger armour plates of the cruisers were highly resistant to the blowtorches that were employed to try cutting them up. The Astro Rangers had declined to help, paving the way for the arrival of the Lightspeed Rangers and their extremely heavy-duty plasma cutters. Yet the other cutters would need some form of ammunition or melting agent, which readily explained the thermite buckets. A roar of pain forced her to look over her shoulder, her eyes widening as she struggled to run faster. The monster was a literal humanoid torch, tongues of flame jutting out from every orifice it could find and making its appearance seem less crude and more demonic. It was almost like a beast from Hell was after her and her mind came up blank on what to do next.

Rounding a corner, she spotted what appeared to be large slabs of ice that had been removed from the freezer of one of the nearby fast food chains. The requisite warning signs were around the slabs, yet one was loaded onto a strange device that looked like a catapult. By far, it was the largest piece of ice on the ground and she could see a refrigerated truck nearby with both rear doors open, indicating the ice was about to be transported elsewhere. Leaping over one of the signs, she crouched next to the catapult-like device and studied the controls. It was a design powered by hydraulics, but could act like the siege weapon under certain conditions. Groaning as she attempted to push the catapult into position, she grabbed the 'firing' mechanism from the underside of the control panel and prayed to Celestia that this would work.

She would only get one chance.

TBC…