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Chapter 66 – Inhuman Rampage

Even with their gathered and combined might the Aegis Rangers struggled to make any headway as they fought Lord Carnifex of Wyvern, thirteenth of his name; the Acheron hybrid expertly fighting the seven of them to a standstill at once through sheer strength of will and brute force combined with countless years of experience of combat against all those who stood against the vision of Lord Zedd and the might of his Empire from almost the moment he had hatched from an egg.

And to Carnifex himself the most amusing part of all was that the Rangers didn't even realise that they were playing into his hands and following his designs.

The next attack came from two points at once as the battle had moved further into the city and was currently taking place on an open thoroughfare through an abandoned street lined with burning buildings, the Pink and Blue Aegis Rangers attack from opposite sides. The Aquitian attacked much as Carnifex expected one of his people to, with a series of fluid a graceful sweeping strikes well suited to moving through a crowded battlefield where he was outnumbered; against a single powerful opponent however there were openings to be exploited and the draconian warrior thrust out with his left palm and seized the Blue Ranger's staff by the centre before kicking him backwards, taloned foot striking the boy square in the chest and Carnifex quickly turned his attention to the next opponent, using the Blue Ranger's staff to first parry the Pink Ranger's blades as she leapt into the air and prepared to stab at his neck and chest; from there he used the opposite end of the weapon to strike the Felidae in the face the moment her mobility was countered, sending her crashing to the ground with her helmet warped and misshapen and its' visor cracked.

The Green Ranger was the next to join the fray, forcing Carnifex back before he could properly relish his victory.

A massive beam of borealis green light ripped through almost the entire width of the street, though Carnifex's cybernetic arms were brought up to shield his face and torso before the blast could strike his flesh as this was exactly the kind of move he had expected from his Lord's bastard child. Kay forced Carnifex back several feet, his claws tearing into the surface of the road and a hiss of pain escaping him and the surface of his robotic arms began to heat and green lightning danced across the limbs until finally the Acheron hybrid mustered enough of his own magic to retaliate and answer, at least briefly the power of the Morphing Grid

"ENOUGH!" a dome of golden flames erupted outwards, reducing the ground at his feet to a bubbling molten mess whilst forcing the Green Ranger to halt his ranged attack, only for Carnifex to be surprised but quietly pleased when the traitor manifested his gladius in a flare of light and charge towards him. Without hesitation Carnifex charged, his triple-barrelled shoulder cannon forcing the Green Ranger to zigzag and evade until finally the ground shook beneath them as they met; he used the staff still in his hand to block an oncoming strike, the Green Ranger's sword shattering the weapon in a flurry on incandescent embers before he countered by stepping into their guard, claws sparking against the surface of their chest-shield as he kept their sword arm at bay and then he simply swept their legs out from beneath them and Kay promptly found themselves pinned underfoot

"And now you die traitor!" Carnifex roared, focusing his magic and the golden fire that seemed to blaze from within his bloodied form as he focused on the ash and dust falling in the air around them, gathering and coalescing it into first a swirling nexus and then shaping it into a new broadsword of black glass that glowed with heat as he stabbed downwards to impale the Green Ranger.

Only for the sword to shatter

"Not gonna happen!" The Red Ranger rebuked furiously, the glowing crimson blade of her katana ripping through Carnifex's new weapon in an instant as Mercy leapt into the fray, following that attack up with a spinning heel kick to his chest that sent him staggering backwards; an effort focused more on pushing him away from Kay than stopping him there and then. Thusly forced back again the crimson scaled warrior flapped his wings to propel himself backwards and several feet into the air only for him to be assailed once again, a pained snarl escaping him as something tore through the surface of his beak like snout, ripping into his jaw and cheek and spilling yet more of his dark blood as it went.

"There you are" his words came as a satisfied and rumbling growl despite his pain as he honed in on his hated enemy, the Black Ranger; holding one of their daggers whilst the other was the projectile that had struck him and being held upright by the Gold Ranger who promptly aimed one of her pistols and opened fire to which Carnifex responded by unfurling his shoulder cannon once again and returning with a destructive volley of his own, a ploy that cost him his limited ability to fly or even hover though he responded to the loss well and sent himself into a shallow, swooping dive towards the Black and Gold Rangers with the intention of crashing upon them like waves.

Only for the Yellow Ranger to announce her presence.

Blood flew from Carnifex's maw in a choked and agonised gasp as she swung her axe at his gut, the blow rending through armour, scales and flesh in a single strike and leaving the Acheron hybrid staggering on the hard ground with the weapon still embedded in his gut until Aslaug tore it free and prepared for another attack, bringing it down on the back of his neck like an executioner whilst he stood doubled over. At the last possible moment Carnifex recovered enough to react, whirling around and seizing the shaft of the weapon with both hands and holding the Yellow Ranger firmly in place even as the structure of his already damaged arms began to creak ominously.

Then the Red Ranger rejoined the battle and in doing so announced that the Aegis Rangers as a whole had regrouped.

Mercy leapt onto Aslaug's blade as she often did, though rather than using it as a spring board this time she back-flipped away from it and used the force as extra leverage to force the weapon down towards Carnifex's skull before landing and delivering a punishing kick to his already bloodied gut; from there Kay unleashed another of their energy attacks and Carnifex felt a fresh wave of pain wash over him as he was sent hurtling through several buildings before coming to a halt limp and motionless in a crumpled heap several streets away from where he had been fighting the Rangers.

They still had no clue that he was leading them along.

Coughing up blood that threatened to choke him and dragging himself slowly to his feet the Acheron hybrid deployed a small digital console from one of his damaged but still functional robotic forearms and saw that the location of the tracking beacon that he had been searching for this entire time was only meters away, on this very street and almost certainly within one of the burning and ruined buildings currently in sight.

He found his prize as the Rangers came rushing through the smoke to continue their futile battle.


Beneath the storm-racked and cursed skies of the planet Acheron stood the epicentre of the entire Dark Empire itself, the ancestral palace passed down from one warlord to hold the title of Lord Zedd to the next and whilst it was a fearsome sight from without, the building the size of a large town in its' own right, whose monstrous exterior was lined with living gargoyles that prowled and stalked across its' surface in search of any who dared intrude and was surrounded by and endless sprawl of a city littering with shanty towns that rose and fell between its' vast spires and towers like tides of manifest desperation none of this was of any consequence when compared to what lay within.

Amongst the many terrors that filled the darkness was the Throne Room of Lord Zedd himself.

The tyrannical supreme leader of the galaxy spanning and all consuming Empire sat upon his vast and archaic throne, flanked by spears upon which the helmets of Ninjor and Tommy Oliver, the Green Power Ranger were impaled; the truth of his towering form hidden from view by his armour which was in turn largely obscured by the darkness that Lord Zedd cloaked himself in, controlling it as though it were a physical thing which was pierced only by the deep crimson that shone from the visor of the grill-mouthed mask he wore to evoke his fathers' image, a light that radiated arcane energies and inspired a deep and primal terror in all whom it was directed at; at the current moment the subject of Lord Zedd's gaze was the source of several footsteps heading towards him. A quartet of the Obsidian Guard, Putties far faster, stronger and more durable than the norm made specifically for the purpose of guarding the palace or serving as Lord Zedd's personal and incorruptible entourage marched purposefully and inexorably along the single walkway towards the throne, passing the countless trophies taken from conquered worlds including the weapons and armour of slain Power Rangers without emotion, betraying themselves to still be soulless automatons despite how well made they were; between the four of them however was a living being clad in the arterial red robes of the Cult of the Eternal Devourer, the religious sect worshipping the current Lord Zedd as some messianic figure having grown to such prominence that several of its' members resided within the palace itself was unsurprising and the warlord regarded them with little curiosity, barely registering their features or even the species of his subject as the bowed and knelt before him in a proper display of awe and deference to the one true master of the galaxy.

"If it pleases my Lord-"

"Speak" Lord Zedd snarled, his voice sending tremors through the ground and causing a small whimper of fright to escape the robed and trembling figure before him who promptly reached into the folds of their clothing and produced an unwieldy device a little larger than a clenched fist and vaguely half-spherical in shape with an indentation in its' curved surface, his subject placed the projector on the ground before them and spoke as they had been commanded

"We received communication from an unknown and untraceable source….the speaker is pirate vermin who dares defy your self evident glory my Lord, yet they make claims that are-"

"Play the message" Lord Zedd commanded tonelessly, he had not expected to hear from any of the pirates he employed to journey to the hidden world of Furrous and that expectation had made bargaining and negotiating with those who dared defy his will more tolerable yet even veiled by shadows as he was and with his face hidden by the faceplate of his armour he allowed himself to betray nothing. The still-kneeling subject before him once again followed his orders without hesitation and the projector came flickering into life to display what must have been an excerpt of a larger transmission; the figure was bipedal and yet distinctly canine in appearance even despite the scales covering her hide, their colouration and the opulence of her attire both being washed out by the quality of the recording though Lord Zedd could still see the way every metal surface on her person reflected the light of fires raging around her.

It seemed Canis had survived after all.

"The reinforcements you sent crashed their ship and levelled the central area of the city, extensive damage to around thirty percent….More importantly some wreckage smashed through the prison I was being kept in, they could have killed me" the alien pirate looked furious at that, ears pricked and eyes flashing dangerously as though she could actually do something about her anger "Whoever is leading the charge is keeping the Power Rangers busy though, so at least they're not completely worthless….It looks like they're leading the Rangers on a chase towards my tracking beacon; that works for me. I'll collect the artefact while everyone's distracted and make my own way off-world; there's some interesting sub-space portals here that should do it. Have an escort into Acheron space ready for me….I'll be delivering the goods in person and I expect payment in full" with that the transmission ended and a squawking sound of pure, insensate hatred escaped the bowing subject that had delivered it

"They should perish for their disrespect! To appear before the Great One and not bow! To speak thusly….My Lord I beseech thee, give the order and I will see to it-"

"Silence worm!" the tyrants' bellowed words echoed unnaturally with each reverberation striking their quailing target like a physical blows, after letting out a low and rattling gasp of a breath to calm himself he continued "Prepare an escort at the edge of the system, the pirates' vessel is to be brought to Acheron itself and she is to be brought before me….Furthermore send word to the Flesh-Crafter guilds, the Over-Coven of Dread Mages and the magisterium of the Cult of the Ouroboros; I demand the presence of their greatest representatives….It is time for a great work to be done"

"Y-yes my Lord, at once" with that the robed servant rose to their feet and backed away slowly, still flanked by the Obsidian Guard until they were out of view at which point they turned an all but fled. To Lord Zedd himself they may as well have ceased to exist entirely, his mind was focused on Carnifex whom it seemed had taken the final chance at reclaiming his status and honour with fresh vigour and gusto and the various scientists, sorcerers and necromancers that he had demanded be brought to his palace.

The key to winning the war was almost in his grasp.


"KAY!" one of the Power Rangers called out to their ally in fearful desperation yet Carnifex paid their bleating no mind and instead focused on pressing the advantage instead; he had managed to block and parry their sword and eventually knock it from their hand in a display that proved that lived experience would always be superior to whatever artificial ageing and learning the Green Ranger had undergone; from there the Acheron hybrid grasped their helmet, metallic clawed fingers crushing part of the visor that resembled stylised flames and reached back to behind their head before driving their armoured snout forwards to crush and shatter the Green Ranger's visor, leaving the entire helmet reduced to a mass of cracks. Kay responded by matching their opponents' ferocity by simply lowering their head and headbutting Carnifex, using the representation of the Dragonzord's head crest that lay along his helmet to cut another bloody gouge into the scaled warriors' face. Carnifex remained standing however and simply backhanded the Green Ranger away, shattering their helmet entirely and leaving them dazed and staggering yet another attacker was on him in an instant; a flash of obsidian darkness preceded a fresh wave of pain and then Carnifex was falling as the floor of the building that he was stood in collapsed under the force of the Black Ranger's blow.

Carnifex had fought his way to a goal, one of the already burning and partially destroyed buildings close by; specifically the one from which the locator he was tracking was broadcasting its' presence. In an odd twist of fate there had already been bodies sprawled and strewn on the ground upon his entry whose injuries were inconsistent with being killed by fire or debris, as though something had already fought its' way out of what Carnifex quickly realised was some kind of prison or dungeon and not what he had been expecting to find although he had little time to worry about such things as the sound of movement behind him alerted him to the fact that the Black Ranger had followed him down into the basement of the building.

"No more chances, no more offers to stand down!" Rensa declared furiously, both daggers in hand once again as he charged; Carnifex braced himself as the Black Ranger rushed towards him, as weary and injured as he was he was certain that he could outlast and overpower a direct assault from the lone opponent only for the youngest Aegis Ranger to show that he had come to a similar conclusion by leaping upwards and scuttling across the ceiling whilst losing none of his momentum and striking from above faster than the draconian warlord could hope to counter, one of his daggers tearing a deep and bloody gash into Carnifex's chest and the other ripping through his robotic left forearm to leave the limb sparking and twitching as it struggled to respond to commands and from there Rensa followed up with an acrobatic kick to Carnifex's already grievously wounded chest that sent him staggering backwards before preparing to launch another assault despite his own clear exhaustion that left his entire body trembling. The attack came, another leaping downward slash but this time Carnifex was ready as he reached out with his dark magic to gather and sculpt the dust and debris in the air into a shield of black glass; Acheron magic was a primal and destructive force and using it to create in such a way as anathema to most who practised it, Carnifex was uncertain how many more times he would be able to perform such a feat and as the Black Ranger landed on the surface of the shield in a crouch it became clear that he needed to form a new strategy; without hesitation he took the initiative and hurled his adversary backwards with all of his might, sending him crashing into a wall before shattering his own shield and hurling each of its' shattered fragments at Rensa like molten, jagged comets.

Only for them to be expertly parried.

"Your swordplay is impressive" Carnifex admitted, the ghost of his old composure rising to the surface as the Red Ranger leapt down into sub-basement and came to Rensa's rescue, her katana flashing out and destroying the projectiles faster than the eye could see, at which point the crimson-scaled warrior simply readied his shoulder weapon, acutely aware of how little ammunition is had left and simply opened fire at the walls around him to bring vast swathes of the building down around them and hide himself from the Ranger's view with a wall of rubble.

He was to close to his goal to allow himself to be denied.

With that in mind Carnifex did something that he would once have decried as simple cowardice; he turned and fled from the Aegis Rangers who were already beginning to tear their way through the temporary barricade between them.

With dark blood pouring from his countless wounds spattering on the floor and its' loss leaving his vision blurry the Acheron hybrid trudged and staggered through the unlit corridors of what he was quickly coming to understand was a jail or whatever the people of Furrous had in lieu of such things, meaning that it was likely the place that the space pirates Lord Zedd had entreated were being held; the idea of working with such filth made Carnifex's boil boil but he was realistic enough to realise that there were few options available to him now and so he continued onwards through the twisting maze that used the natives' architecture as a form of misdirection until finally he reached the location of the tracking beacon that he had been following since his violent and dramatic arrival to the planet, only for his golden eyes to widen in horror.

"No….this cannot be" he breathed out as he realised that the relic the pirate had used to make their way onto Furrous had been taken from them and rather than a cell Carnifex had fought his way to nothing more than a store room lined with evidence and the belongings of criminals waiting to be processed.

"No" he repeated, utterly aghast "No, no, no-" he trailed off as something caught his eye and after a moment of deathly silence, punctuated only by the sound of the Rangers steadily breaking their way through the rubble he let out the demented laugh of the truly insane as he strode into the store room, ignoring the relic which had been used as a locator and moving towards a device that was clearly of Acheron origin.

A mutagenic grenade

"So the pirate was never truly intended to live" Carnifex chuckled evilly to himself as he took the device in his right hand, his left still being too unsteady to be trusted "Better it be given to someone more capable of an honourable death" the saurian warrior took a moment to steady himself and make peace with the fact that this would be his ending, he had no idea where the artefacts that Lord Zedd had sent him to retrieve could be found, he was entirely without allies and the Aegis Rangers could be heard closing in; there was nothing left for him to do but die in a manner befitting of his heritage and the grenade in his hand ensured that he would be slain in a dingy store room and consigned to the vagaries of history.

"IT'S OVER CARNIFEX!" the Red Ranger declared as she and her comrades appeared in the doorway that Carnifex himself had stepped through only moments ago and as he turned to face them he saw that enough time had passed for the Rangers whose weapons had been destroyed to reconstitute them, as was proven by the fact that the Green and Gold Rangers were stood off to the side and the original five Aegis Rangers had formed the weapon they called the Power Blaster.

"No more pleas to stand down?" he mocked "No more misguided belief that this can end peacefully"

"It could end peacefully" Mercy's voice was almost mournful as she shook her head "But you wouldn't let it, that's why you need to be stopped"

"I can respect your convictions" Carnifex nodded "To the bitter end then!" with that he charged forwards with a roar of fury and determination, crossing the room in an instant only for his vision to be obscured by blinding and incandescent white light crackling with lightning the colours of the Power Rangers armour yet even as certain death raced towards him the Acheron hybrid allowed himself a smile, his last action before he was struck down being to prime the mutagenic grenade and hurl it into the path of the attack.

He would perish here but he would die as a titan and the Rangers would die by his hand.


"We need Aegis Zord power, now!" the panicked cry from Mercy had been received by the Inner Sanctum and sent Mission Control aboard the Asteroid Base into a frenzy of urgent activity.

Many of the Aegis Ranger's helmets had been damaged or destroyed entirely, rendering it impossible to access their live feeds and assess the situation and the footage that Karone and Charlie had managed to acquire had been shaky and garbled to say the least though there was no mistaking the sight of something already massive and still growing to a truly titanic form erupting from beneath the ground and tearing several buildings apart with ease which had made it a simple matter to deduce exactly what had happened.

"Carnifex used a mutagenic grenade on himself whilst still alive….you know what this means" Karone's words issued from Justin's communicator and the former Blue Turbo Ranger felt his stomach plummet and a wave of icy dread washing over him as the scale of the threat the Aegis Rangers faced became painfully clear. The mutagenic grenades used by the Dark Empire, either fired from warships or in decades passed hurled to Earth by Lord Zedd himself were intended to be used on a recently deceased target as the combination of vile concoctions and dark magic stored within each grenade, whilst capable of at temporarily reviving the dead and granting them colossal size would have truly horrific affects upon the mind and body of any still living target that was subjected to them though including an inevitable an explosive death; in times of desperation however warriors had been known to do as Carnifex had done and sacrifice themselves resulting in them being grown to enormous size and empowered whilst also retaining most if not all of their intelligence and self awareness rather than becoming the mindless, ravenous husk that a revived monster would have been.

To say that the situation was bleak was a monumental understatement.

The efforts to finalise the bases' newly made teleportation system had continued even as the Aegis Rangers themselves had been enjoyed some well earned downtime of Furrous however and now, whilst Karone and Charlie were overseeing events on the ground with the Pink Astro Ranger handling the Rangers and the former Silver Guardian Specialist lent her skills to Zhane and his forces evacuation efforts Justin stood on a gangway high above the metallic floor of the Zord hangar, entire body clad in a spacesuit that was mercifully far less cumbersome than those made by Earths' own space agencies save for his head as his helmet was currently tucked under one arm.

"You hear that Billy? There's no more time….What's our situation?" the scientist breathed out, both cautious and optimistic with both emotions buried beneath a respectable amount of fear, though as he gazed out at the gargantuan form of the seven Aegis Zords, each of them surrounded by immense works of scaffolding and support structures he felt that fear abate somewhat.

"All systems are nominal" the next voice to sound from Justin's communicator was Billy's, the former Blue Power Ranger and fellow scientist having sequestered himself in what would become the control room for the teleportation system and spent hours working tirelessly to ensure that every line of code was without flaw and there would be no errors when a crucial moment such as this arrived; Justin had been the one to venture into the Zord hangar and ensure that the physical aspect of the machinery was fit for this behemoth task and as he let out another slow breath in a futile effort to calm himself he took his helmet and slid it into place, the hiss of compressed air informing him that it was secure before he spoke again

"Then let's do it….Prepare Zord teleportation sequence" the effect was almost instant; the enormous hangar was cloaked in darkness for a moment before emergency lighting cast everything in a bloody glow and sirens began to blare out at deafening volume, interspersed with calls for all personnel to leave the area immediately; though Justin was the only one present he made no effort to move, should their be any complications or failures it would fall to him to leap from the gantry and manually course correct the Zords if possible. A new sound forced his mind to the matter at hand, a truly apocalyptic metallic screeching that sounded as though the entire asteroid that this segment of the base was housed in were being torn apart from within; a description that proved itself to not be entirely inaccurate as the entire floor of the hangar began to unfurl and retract, vast sheets of steel rotating out of place to reveal the waiting void of space below. Justin felt his stomach lurch as he began to rise from the gantry for a fraction of a second before the boots of his spacesuit reflexively magnetised and a fresh wave of icy cold washed over him that was nothing to do with fear as the clanging of metal on metal became overpowering; each of the Aegis Zords now hung above an open hole, suspending by the scaffolding around them and a single mistake could see them sent toppling out into the darkness beyond yet the procedure continued onwards as expected, the teleportation gate had been established in the hangar and as its' floor was retracted the various reference and anchoring points that it relied on were relocating, effectively widening and enlarging the teleporter whilst also making it more powerful.

It was a system that could not be used multiple times in rapid succession, it was intended to simply deploy and recall the Zords; nothing more.

"Commencing launch" Billy informed him, Justin sensing the tension is his predecessors' voice and realising that his fellow Blue Ranger was just as nervous as he though there was no time to dwell on such things as the countless flashing alarms grew more insistent, though the sirens that accompanied them were left muted by the lack of air currently in the hangar.

And then it began.

The teleportation gate came into life with a storm of crackling energy, a whirling nexus of light that filled entirety of the now open floor of the hangar came rushing into existence and as he looked down at it Justin noted that it was most likely making a tremendous amount of noise even though he was unable to hear it; then he mentally counted backwards from five and at the exact moment he reached zero various support struts and clamps holding the Aegis Zords in place were disengaged in perfect unison and the seven colossal machines went hurtling downwards, drawn towards the teleportation.

And then, in a flash of light they were gone.

"Karone….Zords have been deployed" Justin announced, voice trembling and he swallowed thickly before he continued "What's the situation of Furrous?" the pause between his question and the answer could not have been more than a second yet to Justin it felt like an age, eventually though he was rewarded with the sound of Karone's voice in the headset of his space helmet

"Zords were successfully deployed, Rangers are moving to engage Carnifex" Justin might have cheered there if the circumstances were different, using nothing but stolen and scavenged equipment and ingenuity he, Billy and their fellow scientists and engineers had managed to create a teleportation gate on par with anything in the Dark Empire's armoury and possibly even comparable to the Alliances' teleporters which had been vital in the war thus far.

Right now however he was simply concerned that Mercy and her team were rushing into battle against the most dangerous enemy that had ever faced.


"Red Hawk Zord is online, all systems are go!" Mercy declared, unable to keep a touch of giddy enthusiasm from her voice as the familiar rush of her consciousness accelerating and expanding to control the massive mecha she piloted took hold.

"I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to that but it's still awesome" Marigold announced, for a moment sounding as though she might still be intoxicated despite her suit having the flushed the alcohol out of her system and granted her enough clarity to fight and focus, her tone quickly become more serious as she added "Everyone else? Sound off"

Confirmation from each of the other Aegis Rangers came in a matter of seconds and Mercy turned her attention to what had become of Carnifex.

He was monstrous in every sense of the word.

The Acheron hybrid had of course grown to a truly titanic size and now stood taller than both the edges of the vast canyon that the city was built into and many of the spires and towers that rose up from its' base though this was by far the only change that had befallen him. Firstly his arms, one lost in battle and the other ripped away by Lord Zedd had regrown though the limbs were entirely without scales and were instead enormous masses of raw, rippling muscle and flesh that grew over the cybernetic limbs and simply crushed and consumed them to leave enormous, jagged shards of metal bursting from the limbs' bloody surfaces only for those shards to warp and reshape themselves into swept forwards blades that reached beyond Carnifex's newly formed hands. His wings were similarly mutated, his right wing being flesh and blood simply grew even larger in proportion to the rest of his body and moved from being draped over his shoulder to arcing up and over his body from behind whilst his mechanical left wing shifted and transformed into a cape of warped and bladed metal plates that reached to below his waist. Carnifex's skull began to change, the six swept back horns that grew from the back and sides of his head head growing and splitting into a twisted and gnarled mass before the final changes to the draconian warlords' form occurred; scales that had been a deep, rich crimson with iridescent blue tips darkened to a dark, scab coloured reddish-brown that was almost black against the night sky and the space between the scales began to glow with some intense, golden inner light and Carnifex threw his head back; torrents of golden fire erupting from his eyes and mouth as he roared.

"Remember, he isn't like most of the monsters we faced" Tempestus warned "He's still in full control of his faculties….this will be most gnarly"

"And we're on a timer here" Panthera noted, her worry obvious to all who heard her "He's gonna explode eventually and if he's still in the city when he does…." there was no need for her to specify what that would mean for those still nearby and Mercy found herself frantically trying to form a plan of attack that had at least some chance of success as she brought her Zord soaring through the air only for Carnifex himself to hone in on her, blazing golden eyes that still spewed fire following her flight

"I think he's got a lock on me!" Mercy exclaimed worriedly as the titanic monster turned whilst continuing to track her.

"He should worry about me!" Aslaug snarled, her words announcing the Ursa-Titan Zord before the enormous mecha, resembling the fusion of a lion and a bear with a tusk jaw came rampaging through several building that were already aflame and so thoroughly damaged that it was unlikely their destruction would make any great difference yet before her Zord could reach its' target Aslaug was brought to an abrupt halt as Carnifex let an echoing bellow

"YOU ARE FOOLS AND WEAKLINGS!" with that he swept his left arm out in a wide arc and the mechanical wing that had been morphed into a bladed cape was thrown back in a theatrical display that unleashed howling winds and a blast of concussive force that simply levelled dozens of nearby buildings with the initial shock-wave whilst also hurling the Ursa-Titan Zord backwards and fanning the raging infernos around it. Before Mercy could even scream out in fear at the sight she found herself once again the target of the Acheron hybrids' wrath as the triple-barrelled cannon mounted on his left shoulder unfurled and belched flames as its was aimed, revealing that the mutagenic grenade had somehow replenished its' depleted ammunition or changed the weapon in a more fundamental way. Forcing every ounce of her focus and control into the action Mercy brought the Hawk Zord into a steep bank and roll as Carnifex opened fire, a barrage of golden fireballs that tore through the night sky only to be detonated prematurely as each of them were struck in turn by missiles with jagged tips that looked unmistakably like claws

"Pull back cousin, your Zord doesn't have the firepower for this" Kay instructed her as the Dragonzord soared overhead, its' massive form casting a shadow over the Hawk Zord for a moment though Mercy remained close to the action and surveyed the scene from above. Aslaug seemed to have suffered no lasting consequence and the Ursa-Titan Zord was dragging itself free of the wreckage and rubble that it had been sent crashing into whilst Panthera had the Sabre Zord skulking around close by to offer support if the need arose. The sky was being constantly set alight as Carnifex fought three of the Aegis Zords at once, holding his own in a truly terrifying display that set him apart from the usual brute force that the Rangers were usually confronted with a this point in a battle; Kay and Marigold were forced to keep a safe distance as they used the weapons of the Dragonzord and Winged Lion Zord respectively to unleash salvo after salvo whilst circling the saurian from the air whilst Tempestus fired from the ground, using the devastated city as cover for the Plesion Zord where possible.

And then Rensa joined the battle.

The Osore Zord came bounding through the flames with no regard for anything other than the utter destruction of its' quarry; buildings shattering as it leapt from the roof of one to the next before finally pouncing onto Carnifex's back with its' massive claws extended and its' lashing, serpentine tail wrapping around his shoulder cannon to hold it firmly in place.

"COME BLACK RANGER! COME AND MEET YOUR END, DIE WITH HONOUR!" Carnifex's voice boomed throughout the city, filled with mad glee even as the Osore Zord tore chunks of scaled flesh from his body until finally Rensa and the enormous war machine he piloted were flung away as the Acheron hybrid unleashed their magic with devastating effects; the golden light and fire bursting from within them shining even brighter and sending a wave of pure destructive force out in all directions to leave the Osore Zord buried beneath the molten and sundered remains of several buildings.

"RENSA!" Mercy screamed, preparing to bring the Hawk Zord into a dive and attack Carnifex in any way she could until the rubble Rensa's Zord had been buried beneath exploded outwards

"WE NEED TO FORM THE ULTRAZORD! THIS HAS TO END NOW!" Rensa demanded and Mercy saw immediately that he was right, tearing her eyes away from the damaged form of the Osore Zord whose armoured exterior had been rent and torn it was clear to see that Carnifex's use of his own magic was destabilising the arcane and chemical concoctions that had granted him his size; meaning that his body would soon betray him.

"Kay, Mari we need a buffer!" she demanded and within moments the Green and Gold Ranger had acted, setting the sky ablaze with their Zords' weapons once again as they opened fire on the pained and injured Carnifex and staggering him just enough for each of them to act in unison.

'Ultrazord activation has been initiated'

The synthetic voice sounded out within all seven Ranger's cockpits and the now familiar transformation process began; the initial five Aegis Rangers combining their Zords into the Aegis Megazord before the Dragonzord and Winged Lion Zord disassembled themselves to form armour and weapons for the behemoth mecha until in resembled some six-winged and terrible yet almost angelic figure wielding a lance and a shield. From the instant the seven Rangers felt their consciousness blur together as they joined the matrix of the Ultrazords' cockpit they were under attack; Carnifex came charging towards them with booming footfalls that made the ground beneath him tremble and a fierce, wordless roar spilling from his maw.

"Shield-" Mercy made to act but it was Rensa's mind that reached out and took control of the Ultrazord, spurring it forwards to lash out with its' massive shield and back hand Carnifex away, the forcefield that formed much of its' surface burning and shearing away his blackened scales before the Black Ranger drove the lance into the left thigh of their monstrous opponent

"This is my fight" Rensa declared simply as he maintained total control of the Ultrazord, directing the machine through sheer force of will alone. Any dissent was silenced as Carnifex lunged again despite his injuries and made to drive the horned crest of his skull into the Ultrazords' cockpit only to be struck in the underside of the jaw by the shield

"LOOK OUT!" Mercy yelled vocally and into the telepathic bond that they shared within the cockpit as Carnifex belched flames, she and her fellow Rangers managed to wrest just enough control from Rensa to force the Ultrazord into a defensive manoeuvrer that pushed the hybrid back

"Don't be reckless!" Aslaug warned

"I know what I'm doing!" Rensa countered "We've already won this fight, it's just a matter of time...Like stalking a wounded animal"

"That sounds-" whatever Tempestus intended to say was cut off as Carnifex unleashed a salvo from his shoulder cannon that left the entire Ultrazord wreathed in flames and rather than make any real effort to defend Rensa simply seized control of the mechas' own weapons batteries and returned fire; it was not the apocalyptic barrage that it would have been if all seven Rangers had piloted with a shared purpose but still Carnifex was blasted backwards with his scaly hide torn open and the golden light shining from within him shifting and fluctuating.

And then Mercy understood.

"Guys" she breathed out slowly "Rensa knows what he's doing, follow his lead" as she spoke Carnifex, bloodied and beaten but still undefeated braced himself and bellowed out a challenge

"NO MORE GAMES RANGERS! NO MORE TRICKS, THIS ENDS NOW!" and with that he charged once again, this time foregoing his magic, his flames and his ranged weapon entirely and instead simply brandishing the masses of jagged and cruelly sharpened metal that grew from his restored arms as he prepared to gut the Ultrazord as if it were no more challenging than the defenders of any world he had claimed for Lord Zedd.

This was the moment Rensa had been waiting for.

He dropped the Ultrazords' shield and sunk its' lance into the ground beside it before bringing the Ultrazord itself into a low crouch, lunging and bursting upwards like one of the savage beasts that stalked his home-world Rensa had the titanic machine tackle Carnifex and seize him by the midriff before urging his fellow Rangers onwards

"NOW, FLY!" with the goal suddenly realised the seven Aegis Rangers acted in unison and the Ultrazord surged upwards, dragging Carnifex off the ground and high into the skies of Furrous; continuing onwards even as the enlarged warrior tore into their war machine and left warnings flashing across the display of the cockpit until finally his limbs began to slacken as they reached altitudes where the air became thin and then even higher still, with frost forming on his scaly hide as the edge of the planets' atmosphere became visible. The golden fire within Carnifex suddenly became to flicker and shudder violently and all of the Aegis Rangers instinctively knew what was happening, the consequences of using a mutagenic grenade were about to make themselves known in a horrifically violent fashion.

"Mission Control!" Rensa called out "Recall the Zords! Get us out of here!"

The battle ended in two flashes of light; the first being that of the Ultrazords' teleportation and the second being that of Carnifex's body exploding from within; his final scream of hateful rage going unheard on the edge of space as he perished alone and with none of the glory he had sacrificed everything for.

Author's Notes:

And there we have it, the end of Lord Carnifex of Wyvern, thirteenth of his name.
Still one chapter of this arc left to write and it's the wrap up.
Three arcs of the story left to write and do you understand now what I meant when I said things were gonna get a little crazy? We really are heading into an endgame scenario now.
….And what happens in the next arc will prove it beyond all doubt.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Carnifex being able to fight seven Rangers at once and direct the fighting where he wants it isn't a stretch at all, he's in the same general ballpark as Paradoxa was when it comes to raw power, but with a lot more experience of leading from the front where she tended to do the big picture and planning.
Writing this scene I realised that my basis for Tempestus's fighting style, especially when armed comes from specifically the novelization of Star Wars Episode 3 and the way it describes Anakin and Obi-Wan's style as being more suited to cutting down crowds of Droids than fighting a Sith Lord.
I still have the Rangers attack in smaller groups 'cos otherwise there's just too much going on at once.
Carnifex just channelled Cinder Fall from RWBY with the glass sword.
Damn, Aslaug was not playing and if that was any other opponent it really would have been game over there and then.
I felt like we had to give a little more description to Acheron just because we haven't seen it for a while.
The Obsidian Guard he brought to Unus with him might have been destroyed but he's got more.
Surprise, Canis is still alive and is loose again and is gonna make another attempt on whatever artefact she was sent to steal, except this time there's nobody to stop her because the city is being evacuated and the Rangers are busy.
Now what could Goldar's people have that would make Lord Zedd so confident?
Two dragons trading headbutts in a chapter that's named after a Dragon Force song….Metal A F.
Damn, Rensa broke the floor under them with one hit.
Carnifex has been able to do magic like this the entire time, but he's being sticking to simple energy blasts because it's usually more cost effective and comes more naturally to him than creating stuff.
See, we knew all along that Carnifex was doomed to fail here because we know that the artefact is still in the Silent Catacombs which aren't in this part of the city and Canis doesn't have the tracker on her person….It really was just a ploy to get Carnifex to the Mutagenic grenade that Mercy took from Canis a couple chapters ago.
Still, he played the Rangers for idiots and made them detonate the grenade for him.
The teleporter scene really wasn't meant to be as long as it was but it just started feeling more and more cinematic despite basically being a glorified transition.
Yeah Carnifex is a thinking giant monster, I think Jin-Zhao did that first in this story.
So Zhane and his team are still on the ground and Charlie is coordinating them while Karone does what she can for the Rangers and Billy and Justin are on tech support.
The new teleportation is a) cinematic and cool as fuck but also b) quite possibly so risky its' just stupid, I mean the entire hangar floor being moved out of the way and then dropping the Zords is up there with the Warhammer 40k "Boarding Torpedo"….Yes you read that right.
Carnifex got an upgrade form….but he's also a Kaiju sized living time bomb.
Yes he slapped a Zord through a building with a dramatic cape-flip.
Y'know in Pacific Rim where one of the Kaiju jumps out of the water and lands on the Jaeger's back….That was Rensa.
And finally they form the Ultrazord.
Okay Rensa's phrasing might be a little off there, but he's not wrong. Carnifex was marked for death the second he used that grenade on himself so it is just a matter of playing smart and outlasting him.
Carnifex was going for a heroic last charge where he would have blown the Zords and Rangers up along with himself.
Unfortunately Rensa saw that coming from a mile off and so Carnifex got the ending he deserved, alone in the dark and cold, with no glory and achieving nothing.

Thank you to Blue Legends for their review on the last chapter.
I'm glad you liked the fight scenes and I hope that Carnifex's last stand lived up to your expectations.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review