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Chapter 33 – Asabiyyah
Kay hit the ground with a painful thud, stars dancing in front of their eyes beneath their helmet as they pulled themselves back to their feet and stared up at the landing at the top of the flight of stairs they had just been kicked down; Panthera had managed to manifest her curved blades once again and the Pink Ranger fought with Jin-Zhao the Arch Apostle, though as Kay watched her lock blades with the monsters' own cleaver weapons whilst at the same time weaving around grasping, stabbing attacks from her twin clawed and glowing tongues it became obvious that their fellow Ranger was in the clearly weaker position.
Kay prepared to rush back up the stairs and leap into the fray once again but came to a stumbling halt as they watched Panthera backflip over a slashing attack from Jin-Zhao, landing on the Acheron hybrid's weapon and lashing out with a kick which she in turn used to launch herself backwards and into a graceful leap which brought her almost sailing down the flight of stairs and into a crouch beside the Green Ranger who hastily gathered a small aurora of blazing green light around their palm and launched it with a thrust of their arm; the steady steam of carefully measured energy based attacks was draining and it would be suicide for Kay to unleash their full power in their current environment. Jin-Zhao parried the blast with her blades, their surfaces glowing and cracking until the hybrid vanished them back into ether from which they'd been summoned and unleashed an attack of her own; a psychic pulse which ripped into the walls of the of the stairwell as it surged downwards and both Panthera and Kay quickly sprinted to avoid it, fully aware of Jin-Zhao leaping down the stairs and giving chase.
All according to plan.
"Not much further" Kay noted, though their anxiousness was clear
"I can't believe this is actually working" Panthera noted, their brief conversation being held through the internal comms of their helmet so that Jin-Zhao couldn't hear it; they had made certain, as much as possible that the monsters' telepathy was a one-way thing and that she could only project her thoughts as a voice rather than the read those of her opponents. The two of them continued to sprint through the vast facility of the power plant, at impossible speeds with Jin-Zhao close behind until Panthera gestured for Kay to follow her and the two of them quickly took an unexpected turn which brought them into an open canteen, the large room filled with rows of tables and chairs but otherwise a suitable area in which to do battle.
"Don't give the game away to early" the Pink Ranger warned, she and Kay bracing themselves as Jin-Zhao thundered into the room.
"Running like cowards?" her psychic and oddly modulated voice taunted, reverberating in their skulls "I expected better, though it's nice to see that the enemies of the Dark Empire have learned their place" with that Jin-Zhao leapt lunged at them, leaping over several tables and unleashing twin strikes with her clawed tongues that sent both the Pink and Green Rangers flying backwards and crashing to the ground with visible gouges in the armour covering their chests whilst the monster continued her assault, leaping towards them with her claws extended; Panthera quickly combined her weapons into a single form and hurled them through the air, robbing Jin-Zhao of her momentum as she was forced to avoid the blades from slashing open her chest and then her back as it returned to the Pink Ranger's grip, the momentary pause being all the Green Ranger needed to surge forwards and deliver a devastating punch which sent the hybrid hurtling backwards; her claws tearing into the ground as she forced herself to a halt before rising to her full, intimidating height on legs which seemed at least a little unsteady and spitting out a mouthful of blood as she took several ragged breaths whilst Kay and Panthera watched her warily, searching for any signs that she'd surmised their intentions on her alien features.
There was little chance however as Jin-Zhao almost immediately began her offensive anew, this time the alien horror leapt to the side and bounded across one of the canteens' walls before hurling across the room to the opposite side and then leaping once again, crashing bodily into Panthera with enough force to send her flying across the room. Kay immediately came to her aid and forced the monster back with a spinning heel kick followed by a wild and uncoordinated haymaker which left Jin-Zhao's blood spattered across the linoleum floor in thick gobs before she retaliated furiously; distending her maw and unleashing her twin tongues once again, the muscular appendages ensnaring the Green Ranger's arm and hauling them overhead before slamming them through one of the canteens' many tables then promptly dragging them free of the debris; Kay manifested the Dragon Blade in their free hand and attempted to stab at Jin-Zhao's chest only for her to bat the blow aside, the weapon clattering to the ground some distance away as the monster seized one of the Green Ranger's arms in each of her prehensile tongue
"A valiant effort" her psychic voice sneered before held Kay in place and unleashed a flurry of blows at their skull which shattered the visor of the Green Ranger's helmet and tore deep gouges into its' surface whilst small cuts in their flesh where her claws had pierced began to rapidly heal
"I'm going to enjoy watching you die" Jin-Zhao assured him "Your body will broken down and your genetic material returned to the Empire, for use in a more worthy-" Her tirade, punctuated by more blows was cut short and interrupted a shriek of agony which left Kay disoriented as they struggled free of her grasp.
Panthera stood, clutching the Dragon Blade as one of Jin-Zhao's prehensile tongues fell to the ground with rivers of blood cascading from the wound before it sealed
"You okay?" Panthera asked as she pulled Kay free and the Green Ranger managed to nod in reply before their opponent unleashed her latest attack, all three of her electric blue eyes glowing with ethereal light as she projected another pulse of psychic energy, this one accompanied by a low, warbling and vaguely metallic grating sound and appearing somehow more focused and concentrated. Both Kay and Panthera were struck by the blast and hurled backwards, painfully aware of the sensation of walls shattering behind them despite how dazed and stunned the blast left them.
When they managed to help one another to their feet they realised that they had been blown out of the power plant entirely.
"Well….the plan worked" Panthera managed a smirk beneath her helmet even as Jin-Zhao stalked out of the hole in the side of the building, her remaining tongue retracting back into her mouth. She and Kay had planned to take this battle away from the power station so that they could fight without being hindered by their fear of damaging something volatile or vital to the colony of Prosperity. Kay and Panthera were forced to leap aside and away from each other as their opponent leapt into the air and came crashing down between them, her knee cracking the ground as it impacted before promptly spinning and rising to face the Rangers whilst summoning her weapons to her hands once more, their blades somehow repaired in the time that they had been out of use.
"Now you die Rangers!" the Pink and Green Rangers had swiftly moved to position themselves between Jin-Zhao and the power station and now that the two were on opposite sides Kay began gathering his power to himself as he gave a weary but defiant reply.
"No….now we can fight without holding back"
Tempestus's hands danced from one piece of ruined machinery to the next in a frantic and desperate attempt to repair gutted and destroyed consoles so that he might save Prosperity from a chain reaction that destroy it more completely than the Dark Empire's forces could ever hope to. His efforts were rewarded by sparks that were spat angrily at his armour and yet more alarms and sirens screaming harsh warnings until, with a sense of grim finality something within the tangled mass of burnt wiring and twisted metal that the Blue Ranger was attempting salvage exploded and whilst he was entirely unharmed by the flames and force the armour around his hands and visor were blackened as a result. Tempestus sank to his knees and stared wide eyed at the situation before him, several seconds passed, each of them a vital commodity which could not be reclaimed before Tempestus opened a comm channel and addressed Mission Control.
"Order the evacuation of Prosperity" his voice cracked and though Aquitians did not cry in the way that humans did he let out a single choked sob nonetheless "The power station is going to explode, the chain reaction caused by the Horusite will wipe out the entire colony….I've tried to stop it, I've tried to fix it but I can't" the admission of defeat hung in the air and the Blue Ranger's broken spirit was laid bare for all to see, with only tense and heavy silence answering him for what seemed like an eternity until finally a warm, soothing and instantly familiar voice gave him a simple reply.
"Yes you can. Wait there" Tempestus was left blind-sided by the blunt assertion and more so by far when, mere seconds later a teleportation stream erupted into being within the ruined control room, an oddly colourless stream of light rather than the vibrant streaks that announced the Ranger's arrival or departure, a simple glowing distortion of the air whose dissipation revealed Billy Cranston, former Power Ranger and one of the undisputed greatest mind ever produced by humanity clutching a toolkit in one hand and adjusting his glasses with the other.
"Father what are you doing?" Tempestus demanded in a panicked cry "You need to go, the controls are in-"
"A sorry state I'll admit but nothing that you can't work around I'm sure" Billy interrupted with a bright smile as he set down the tools he had brought "So, I can pull up a diagram of the controls and how they connect with the power station as a whole….where should we start?" Tempestus stared at him in utter disbelief, his father had gone mad; insanity after being pushed to the breaking point by one too many missions and the shock of finally being surrounded by humanity again after decades on Aquitar were the only possible answer
"I can't do it!" he shouted, proper Aquitian decorum and deference to ones' elders entirely forgotten
"You need to leave! Mission Control needs to start an evacuation or thousands of people are going to die!….I can't repair this, I don't know how….even if I did we'd have to replace most of it; it would take days, we have minutes" his voice cracked again, becoming something hollow and fearful only for him to be left completely dumbfounded at the sound of Billy letting out what sounded like an amused chuckle.
"Aquitian thinking and Aquitian society" the former Power Ranger sighed "Logical and orderly with everything in it's place….it certainly has its' positives but the conformity does make things terribly unoriginal after a while"
"Father….I am an Aquitian" Tempestus pointed out, not certain of exactly what Billy was driving at.
"You are Tempestus, scion of Anuket….Tempestus Cranston to me, what the Elders allow be damned" his adoptive fathers' voice grew forceful as he continued "You're same Tempestus that tinkered with anything and everything with buttons and wires that was left unattended until you learned what it was for and how it worked, that asked me why I had hair and no facial ridges in front of Cestria's family and wanted to know everything about everything. You were the youngest Aquitian to be accepted into Anukets' Artificer Guild for a century because you were a bright, brilliant mind and bursting with questions….you can be anything you want to be despite what anybody tells you, but what you will NOT be, what I will not allow you to be is a quitter!"
Billy's words echoed off of the walls and Tempestus remained silent with his head lowered, his Ranger suit breaking into a maelstrom of incandescent shards which flickered like cobalt embers before fading away; silence reigned for a little longer and Billy almost thought that he'd pushed too hard and too far until his adopted son glanced upwards and squared his shoulders and the elder Blue Ranger could almost see the thoughts racing and forming into something great behind those pale, coral pink eyes.
"I know how to stop the explosion"
"How?"
"I've been too focused on the controls, thinking that what was used to create the problem must hold the solution, focused on restoring it" Tempestus admitted "We need to disable the entire system at the other end which will forcibly enable the fail-safes which the Dark Empire's monster has attempted to override. We go from the entire colony being destroyed to a temporary blackout….though we may still need to evacuate or at least pre-warn the hospital" Billy nodded in understanding before cocking his head and smiling with immense pride and a faint yet odd sense of amusement
"Fixing a problem by breaking it somewhere else" he noted "That's a distinctly human approach….let's get to work, your plan is definitely the most feasible we have and time isn't on our side"
"Groovy" Tempestus noted with dry sarcasm that he hadn't possessed when he had left Aquitar
"Morphenomenal" Billy agreed as father and son set about the task of saving lives.
The battle against Jin-Zhao's Arch-Apostle continued though Mercy, Aslaug and Rensa could not be said to be gaining any ground by any reasonable measure; the fanatical monstrosity continued their relentless assault against the remaining Rangers despite the blood still leaking from the various wounds they had accrued, with even the loss of an eye seeming to do nothing to halt their rampage.
A fact which they underlined as six palm strikes struck Aslaug in the chest and midsection, each striking with the force of a falling comet and bringing the Yellow Ranger to a halt but also collapsing to her knees as sparks of crackling golden yellow light burst from each point of impact, her Morphed state fluctuating for a fraction of a second.
"Rensa cover her!" Mercy bellowed as she flung herself between the Yellow Ranger and the lashing tentacles that made to attack her once again, the Red Ranger leaping around the attacks that ripped through the air and ground, her Katana a crimson blur of motion as she slashed at the Arch-Apostle's tentacles; blocking, countering and parrying dozens of blows within the space of second before a single blow struck her and sent her skidding backwards in a crouch, her blade cutting a gouge into the grassy ground beneath her as she came to a halt beside Rena and Aslaug.
"You will perish here Rangers" the many-limbed monster burbled as Mercy rose to her feet once again, gesturing wildly with its' boneless arms "Here, in a field; no great battle and honourable sacrifices just more bodies to be ground into the dirt"
"Sorry Squid-Worse" Mercy sneered, trying to convey a sense of brave defiance that she didn't quite feel "You're gonna need to be more than well 'armed' to beat the Power Rangers"
"Vexatious child!" the monster spat "No more words, to battle!"
"Let's get this….kraken" Mercy was fully aware of how unlikely it was that she would be unable to enrage their opponent to the point where they threw caution to the wind and made a critical mistake, however at this point she knew that she, Aslaug and Rensa needed some kind of opening and she was willing to try anything.
Letting out an irate, almost gargling snarl the Arch-Apostle launched themselves forwards by hurling the lowest of their three pairs of arms into the ground close to the Ranger's feet and using them as anchors as they sling-shotted themselves into their enemies
"GO WIDE!" Mercy yelled, launching into action and acting completely on instinct. The vaguely squid-like creature rocketed towards Mercy with its' middle pair of arms launching out to the right and left, ripping trenches into the ground as they wildly and blindly sought out the Black and Yellow Rangers and the uppermost limbs streaking downwards towards the Red Ranger at an angle, rippling the air as they grazed her armour whilst Mercy surged forwards to meet her adversary, letting out a feral war-cry as she charged.
The monster answered her with a howl of pain.
Mercy came skidding to a halt behind the Arch-Apostle, the blade of her katana glowing with fiery red light as her power coursed through it and the monster collapsed to the ground in a heap as they were thrown off balance; the Red Ranger had cleaved through their lower right arm whilst it was anchored into the ground and the sudden lack of tension had sent them careening to the left.
Mercy realised that this might be the opening that she had needed to create, though before she could act on it her enemy reacted in a berserk fury; retracting all of their limbs back to themselves and abandoning their attempts to subdue the Black and Yellow Rangers for the moment and instead whipping back around to face the Red Ranger, their single remaining lower tentacle arm sweeping out in a counter-clockwise arc that struck Mercy square in the gut and lifted into the air; forcing the air from her lungs and leaving her vision swimming as the blow tore her legs from under her and caused her to almost somersault over the clammy grey appendage with her sword falling from her grip in the process. Mercy tried to rise, still wheezing for air only to be halted by multiple writhing limbs colliding with her; each possessing the force of a moving train as they cratered the ground beneath her and cut gouges into her armour, she was almost certain she felt her Morphed state fluctuate for a moment as Aslaug's had as her helmet was warped by the impact with her cracked visor finally shattering.
Still reeling from the crushing assault she was entirely unable to stop one of the Arch-Apostle's spindly hands closing around her katana and bringing it overhead, blade held downwards for a skewering attack that she would almost certainly be unable to avoid.
"Rensa, help me!" Mercy was stirred by the sound of Aslaug's voice, normally gruff and rumbling letting out a frightened yell before another pained scream was torn from the Arch-Apostle's lips, the grey-skinned horror losing yet another limb as the Yellow Ranger poured her power into the weapon and hurled it like a blazing, golden yellow comet into the limb that held the stolen sword.
Mercy sprung to her feet and caught the weapon as it fell, time slowing to a crawl for her as she watched the now unarmed Aslaug barrel into the monster with a primal roar, seizing each of the two limbs that the Arch-Apostle sent snaking towards her in her own grip and holding them at bay through sheer, unrelenting force of will; Rensa rushed in from the monsters' right and hurled his daggers into their chest and flank, fresh waves of watery blood soaking the ragged crimson robes of the Cult of the Eternal Devourer before the Black Ranger vanished the weapons away and manifested them in his hands once again as he weaved around the Arch-Apostle's final pair of limbs before finally leaping over them and pinning them in place as he landed before stabbing through the tentacle like appendages to stake them into the ground.
Mercy glanced to the katana in her hand and then to the Arch-Apostle as they continued to fight, slowly beginning to overpower her friends; face contorted with rage and an unfathomable hatred filling their sole remaining eye.
It was clear what she needed to do and in a fluid blur of motion she'd closed the distance and delivered a single slash, precise and impossibly fast.
The Arch-Apostle's head fell to the ground and their body collapsed under its' own boneless weight.
"Oh my God, oh my God what did I just do?" Mercy's voice trembled as she willed her katana to disappear; unable to stand the evidence of the bloodstained blade. She had led the Aegis Rangers to well over a dozen victories against the Dark Empire at this point and each of them had culminated in the destruction of some Acheron hybrid or gene-spliced horror that had been defeated but this felt different, decapitating a restrained opponent rather than the use of something like the Power Blaster feeling far closer to murder than she was comfortable with.
A strong pair of hands on her shoulders turned her away from the body a moment before she would have seen Rensa, in his a display of his usual unfiltered pragmatism, begin to kick the headless body to ensure that the Arch-Apostle was indeed dead.
"You did what you needed to do. You ended one life to save thousands" Aslaug leaned down enough to rest her own head against Mercy's and though the two of them still wore their helmets they could see each others' eyes through their broken visors, exhausted and pushed to their physical, mental and emotional limits by the gruelling battle they had endured.
"The mission isn't over yet" Corcus's almost unintentionally abrasive tone informed them, though it sounded closer to a warning than the chiding that Mercy might have expected from the former Black Ranger.
"Billy is on site with Tempestus counteracting the damage done to the power stations' reactors, Panthera and Kay have engaged the second monster….they're going to need help"
"Understood" Mercy managed a small nod with the reply, entirely out of habit as she looked to Rensa and then back to Aslaug
"Time to keep doing what the people need us to do" she managed to straighten her back and force her concerns to the back of her mind "Back to action"
The struggle against Jin-Zhao continued and Panthera and Kay could only hope that Tempestus was having more success than they were.
The Pink and Green Rangers had managed to draw the fight further away from the power station, though that was the closest thing to a victory they could honestly claim as the fanatical horror that they fought continued to keep them at bay and steadily overwhelm them with a terrifying mixture of raw psychic might, mastery of her chosen weapons and simple brute strength; as was proven with each blow Panthera and Jin-Zhao traded in their current exchange, both of them wielding two bladed weapon which had become blurs of motion surrounded by magenta coloured sparks, the Pink Ranger's ruthless and underhanded style of fighting pitted against unhinged and reckless ferocity.
Panthera blocked a pair of downward hacking attacks aimed for her shoulders and waited until Jin-Zhao began to put her weight behind the blow and promptly lashed out with a kick to the monsters' knee, buckling the joint and sending her toppling to the ground just as the Pink Ranger leapt into the air and delivered a crushing knee-strike to her snout; in response Jin-Zhao's jaw splayed open wide and her remaining prehensile tongue whipped out to grasp Panthera's leg and slam her downwards with enough force to leave a web of cracks on the ground beneath her before rearing up and bringing a taloned foot over the Pink Ranger's prone form, clearly intending to shatter her ribs.
A burst of emerald coloured light sent her reeling backwards.
Light continued to coalesce and arc around the Green Ranger's hand as the Dragon Blade manifested within it and Kay leapt into the air, attempting to deliver a downward stab to Jin-Zhao's skull. The Acheron hybrid's psychic snarl rang in their ears as she pounced upwards and left sparks showering from the Green Ranger's shield as she parried Kay's attack and retaliated with her own blades; the two of them continued to dance around one another, their blades clashing at an impossible rate until it became clear that, as impressive a warrior as they were the Green Ranger was simply exhausted and that Jin-Zhao had the upper hand. Each blow that Kay blocked was quickly followed by a punishing strike from the weapon in the hybrids' opposite hand until finally her clawed and barbed tongue lashed out to deliver a blow that could only be described as the equivalent to a gut punch which brought the Green Ranger to their knees, struggling to rise as their Morphed state faltered around them and the monster loomed over them menacingly.
"NO!" Panthera's yell shook the air as she re-entered the fray; Jin-Zhao managed to bat aside the combined form of the Pink Ranger's curved blades as they hurtled towards her though she left her self unguarded in the process and Panthera took advantage as she leapt over Kay's still prone form to deliver a spinning heel kick to the jaw which impacted with a resounding crack as it sent Jin-Zhao tumbling to the ground.
"Than-"
"Stop thanking me and start trying to survive today, idiot" Panthera spat as she dragged Kay to their feet; Jin-Zhao righted herself a moment later and let out a psychic snarl that reverberated in their minds and the three of them faced off against one another, the air between them charged as the bloodied and mauled Acheron hybrid regarded the two weary Power Rangers stood before her in their now heavily damaged armour.
Then she attacked.
The Psychic pulse she sent forth rippled the air and left both Kay and Panthera reeling and disoriented, unable to counter her charge as she made to cross the distance between them.
Yet a counter attack still came.
Jin-Zhao's ears pricked up as she heard movement behind her and she began to turn just in time to see the Blue Ranger manifest their staff and drop into a low, spinning sweep that brought the weapon crashing into her ankles and tore her legs from under her.
Leaping to her feet she launched her clawed tongue at her latest adversary only for him to twirl his staff and drive the weapon into the bottom of the muscular appendage, leaving Jin-Zhao with the taste of blood in her mouth as he fangs ripped into her own tongue; another blow knocked the air from her lungs and was quickly followed by the Blue Ranger letting out a grunt of exertion as he used the leverage to hurl Jin-Zhao overhead and casting her aside. Without a word Jin-Zhao leapt to her feet once again and threw her cleaver-weapons at Tempestus, whose staff blazed with cobalt light as he span the weapon to deflect the attack, both his staff and the monsters' blades being destroyed by the burst of energy yet Jin-Zhao was relentless and continued to charge towards the now unarmed Blue Ranger.
"TEMPESTUS!" the Aquitian turned towards the yell and saw the Red, Yellow and Black Rangers racing towards the ongoing battle as fast as their superhuman power would allow, Mercy throwing her katana towards her friend.
Tempestus's entire world narrowed to the blade soaring through the air and the Acheron hybrid bounding towards him with her claws extended and he allowed himself to sink into an almost meditative state, a serene sense of calm washing over him as he clutched Mercy's Katana and dropped to one knee, spinning the sword and stabbing behind him; a shadow falling over his body and a pained gasp echoing in his thoughts confirming that the blow had found its' mark and in a single fluid movement the Blue Ranger kicked Jin-Zhao off of the blade and launched himself towards the Rangers were regrouping.
"We need to finish this, can we form the Power Blaster?" Mercy asked as she regarded Jin-Zhao, the Acheron hybrids' crimson robes soaked with blood that leaked from her mouth and the new, grievous wound that Tempestus had pierced through her chest and back; Tempestus would have answered that they could not, his staff would be unavailable to them for some time yet before he could it became a moot point ad Jin-Zhao's voice echoed in not only the mind of the Aegis Rangers but was forced into the consciousnesses of everyone for miles around as the monster performed the psychic equivalent of screaming to the heavens as she gave an order to the crew of her ship, determined to slay those who opposed the Dark Empire at any cost.
"FIRE A MUTAGENIC GRENADE ON MY POSITION!"
Billy's eyes widened in shock behind his glasses. The Former Blue Ranger and his adopted son had worked frantically to counteract the damage done by the Dark Empire's fanatical minion and prevent the destruction of the Prosperity colony; using the various tools that he had brought to cause a degree of damage that bordered on sacrilege to the marvel of technology that was the Xybrian designed power plant. Once it had become apparent that the risk of mass devastation and countless casualties had been averted Billy had sent Tempestus to rejoin the battle and aid his friends, his pride being intermingled with an entirely warranted and understandable sense of worry.
With the immediate crisis averted and every faith in the Aegis Ranger's ability to overcome the current threat despite the reservations he forcefully reminded himself were entirely illogical Billy had remained within the vast power plant and began the process of undoing some of the damage that had been done, making sure that there was no lingering risk of an explosion and chain reaction in the process.
Then he had heard the psychic order, Jin-Zhao's mental scream sending him crashing to the ground and clutching his skull in pain.
"Mission Control!" he gasped into his communicator, hi breathing ragged as he scrabbled to his feet "Bring me back to the Command Centre! We have a situation!"
The shimmering particles of light that preceded a teleportation stream began to flicker into existence a moment later and before Billy had fully recovered he felt the familiar tingling sensation before his surroundings were consumed by a bright light which soon dissipated to reveal that he had been returned to the spherical Command Centre aboard Promethea One.
"What's going on?" Corcus demanded as Kimberley reached out to drape Billy's arm over her shoulder and support weight that his legs currently seemed unable to.
"The monster at the power station just ordered a mutagenic grenade to be fired on her own location"
"That's insanity!" Corcus declared "She's still alive"
"A cloaked Dark Empire ship just fired on the colony, working to extrapolate coordinates!" a voice from one of the many officers working within the base of operations called out, confirming Billy's fears
"I don't get it" Kimberley admit it "They grow their monsters all the time, why is this different?"
"Mutagenic grenades are intended to be used on a recently deceased warrior, why do you think the Dark Empire never leads with a giant monster, even with the tactics my second born allows?" it was Zebidiah Lord who answered, his image presented within the tube that currently housed his consciousness wearing a pensive expression
"A living target subjected to a mutagenic grenade will keep much of their motor and higher brain functions….for a time, however it is a certain death sentence and the results can be….volatile" as if to highlight his point the vast viewing globe that formed the central sphere of the Command Centre now displayed Jin-Zhao, who had grown to a towering and titanic height and whose three eyes had become nexuses of swirling psychic energy and crackling lightning, the milky white stripes adorning her iridescent black scales becoming more jagged in appearance and her claws lengthening whilst her gaping maw spread wide to reveal her prehensile tongue and the bloody stump of its' companion twisting, merging and finally splitting, bursting out into a dozen glowing, serpentine appendages lined with barbs and claws which writhed and thrashed with a mind of their own.
"Oh this looks bad" Kimberley noted with a visible wince, Billy nodded in agreement before letting out a sigh as he answered.
"Maybe, but it's an opportunity to field test some upgrades that I made to the Aegis Zords"
Author's Notes:
Boom, three quarters of the way through Arc 08 and we're ending on a cliffhanger, so I'm sure at least some of you can guess what's gonna be coming in Chapter 34.
In keeping with the theme of this arc the Chapter Title is a sociological term, Asabiyyah (Arabic) being defined as: "A concept of social solidarity with an emphasis on unity, group consciousness and sense of shared purpose, and social cohesion, originally in a context of 'tribalism'" for example the kind of thinking which Tempestus was struggling with, as it seems to be a large part of Aquitian society as well as the Cult of the Eternal Devourer's own brand of single-mindedness.
I hope people like this chapter, it feels like I rushed it in some places as writing was a bit of a slog this week just because I've had a few projects on the table, general Lock-down brain-fog and the fact that I've used the lock-down as an excuse to up my efforts to get into something resembling shape….meaning my arms have ached all week.
But all complaining aside, let's summarise:
No messing about, let's get straight into the fight scenes….in fact, most of this chapter was fights and I know that we're all PR/Sentai fans so we're kinda okay with that being a good chunk of an episode/chapter, but was this a bit too much?
Panthera's action scenes are always great fun, she's a mix of bits of Tempestus's fluidity, Mercy's overall style and Rensa's berserk energy.
All according to plan, because Rangers don't run away for no reason.
Yeah if Jin-Zhao could read thoughts as well as project them the Rangers would be fucked.
Oh you know it's gonna get hectic when someone spits out a mouthful of blood and carries on.
Y'know in Dark Knight Rises when Bane just beats the stuffing out of Batman until his cowl caves in, that was what I was thinking with Jin-Zhao laying into Kay's helmet.
You knew Panthera was gonna step in.
And now they're outside, which was the entire point.
Oof, Tempestus being ready to give up is definitely a sign that things have gone completely wrong.
"Tempestus Cranston to me, what the Elders allow be damned" oh Billy went off.
Damn Billy went for the full supportive but stern Dad speech….hope I got it right, I've never had one of those.
"Fixing a problem by breaking it somewhere else a distinctly human approach"….Work with mechanical fitters and tell me I'm wrong.
"Groovy" and "Morphenomenal"….you love it, don't lie.
Aslaug getting floored like that was slow motion in my head.
Damn the Arch-Apostle hitting with those insults…..you're not just gonna die, but it's gonna be in a random park.
Puns and stupid nicknames for the monsters are Mercy's coping mechanism.
That elastic arm slingshot move is just funny to me.
Mercy just pulled some straight up cinematic shit….like the scenes where they're both frozen for a second and then one fighter collapses, something like that except with an arm falling off.
Okay Aslaug taking the arm off with an axe and Panthera cutting the tongue off with Kay's sword….I'm not even trying to be subtle with the parallels.
I think throwing his daggers and then vanish/re-summoning them is becoming Rensa's signature the same way Panthera's combo-blade move is.
Oof, the kids are not okay, like not even slightly….and you can definitely see where I'm coming from with this right? Using the brightly coloured lights and hero posing or summoning your giant mech is one thing, straight up stabbing someone to death like you're making a Drill music video is different.
"Back to action"….look if anyone's gonna use it it's Mercy.
So when I started writing the second part of Kay & Panthera Vs Jin-Zhao all I had in mind was RWBY Vol.3 when Neo jumps over Roman's back to join the fight on top of the airship; so I took that idea and expanded it outwards, I want to make the whole 'Pink and Green combo' thing that started in the last arc something of a running trend.
"Stop thanking me and start trying to survive today, idiot"….such a Tsundere.
Low spinning sweeps are more Mercy's speed than Tempestus's, yet he pulled it out of the bag anyway.
And Tempestus pulling off a cinematic move of his own with the 'Faux sheathing' maneouver, I felt like it had to be Tempestus that landed the decisive blow of the fight; he's getting some focus in this arc, although I'm still not sure if I'm doing him justice.
Billy's a Dad of course he worries.
I'm gonna assume that the Ranger's armour filters out at least some of the damage from Jin-Zhao's psychic attacks, Billy was close by and doesn't have a Morpher; hence being floored by the psychic scream.
So once again I've taken the monster of the week leading to a Megazord fight formula and given it an in-universe explanation; the Dark Empire might be a callous meat-grinder but there's no point sending good soldiers to their certain death on a regular basis, that type of stupidity fuels rebellions.
Zord upgrades….as I said, you know what's coming.
No reviews on the last chapter.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.
