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Chapter 79 – Now, The Final Fury
The ground continued to be shaken by the force of the blows being exchanged in the large and abandoned quarry on the outskirts of Angel Grove; each booming impact splitting the air like a thunderclap yet far louder and more terrible, leaving stone cascading to the ground in a series of miniature landslides and unleashing a burst of coloured light as the three combatants one devastating assault after the next.
The fight against Lord Zedd raged on but it had been irrevocably changed with the arrival of the Green Aegis Ranger.
Those present were no longer relying primarily on their arcane and magical power, instead being more than willing to overwhelm their enemy with physical force, as was shown when Kay charged at Lord Zedd once again, rushing to meet their fathers' rampaging advance with the Dragon Blade in hand and glowing with ethereal emerald fire. The Green Ranger's usual approach to battle was far more stationary that that of other Power Rangers, often forgoing the acrobatic leaps and spinning motions in favour of planting themselves and becoming an immovable object and bulwark against attackers yet in the face of the overwhelming force of Lord Zedd that approach was simply no longer viable so instead they launched themselves forwards and swung their gladius at the same moment Lord Zedd swung his monstrous double bladed sword.
An explosion of green and crimson light exploded from the point of impact and appeared for the briefest moment like the light of collapsing star.
Kay had been ripped from their feet by the forced of his fathers' strike but rather than a crushing blow this was in fact entirely what they had been hoping to achieve, knowing that meeting the attack head on would be both foolish and utterly futile the Green Ranger had instead lashed out with their sword at the last possible moment and thrust it between the parallel blades of Lord Zedd's swords before simply allowing them momentum to lift them from the ground and send them sailing up into the air above their opponent.
At which point Zebidiah struck.
Using Acheron magic for any act of creation was always difficult as the forces involved were almost inherently diametrically opposed to one another yet the former Lord Zedd had found that weapons of any sort seemed to be something of an exception and he had always had a penchant for wielding staffs; with those facts considered it was of little surprise that the moment an opening presented itself the sorcerer lunged forth manifesting another weapon from solidified and crystallised light, this time a halberd with an almost ludicrously oversized spearhead which he promptly buried in his sons' blade-covered armour; sinking it into his gut and being rewarded with a river of viscous black fluid pouring from the newly rent opening and a snarl of pain like that of a wounded animal
"GRANDFATHER MOVE!" Kay's warning shout was enough to send the sorcerer retreating, leaving his newly summoned weapon behind and vanishing faster than the eye could see to a position of safety where he watched the Green Ranger reach the apex of the steep climb they had been thrown into before gathering a maelstrom of coruscating energy between their palms as they began to fall and unleashing it a beam of light which surged downwards and enveloped Lord Zedd entirely, shattering Zebidiah's spear in the process and reducing the warlords' armour to a molten, glowing state for several seconds.
And then the retaliation came.
"FOOLISH CHILD!" the roar that came from beneath Lord Zedd's damaged mask was as if a storm had been given a voice and with a single pulse of his own magic, a whirling manifestation of darkness that screamed like tortured metal dispersed Kay's attack entirely before reaching up with a single taloned gauntlet and seizing the Green Ranger by the torso, claws spitting sparks as they cut shallow gouges into the surface of the Dragon Shield; from here the warlord pulled his wayward child to his eye level, feet kicking feebly in the air and without a word simply drove his masked and horned skull into their helmet with enough force to reduce its' entire surface to a web of cracks and fissures before, with a sound of utter contempt and dismissal hurling them towards the nearest stone face of the quarry. The impact shook the entire surrounding areas and Kay was nowhere to be seen, Zebidiah instead being greeted with the sight of a simple hole in the rocky wall where it was clear his Grandchild had been smashed into it; without a moments' hesitation Lord Zedd hefted his enormous weapon once again and thrust it forward as one might a wand or staff whilst lightning began to arc and dance between its' twin blades.
"NO!" Zebidiah refused to stand idly by and flew into action once more, throwing himself in front of the bolt of crimson lightning that Lord Zedd unleashed and holding his arms out before him, forming one magical shield after another to hold the blast at bay as each shield shattered like intangible glass in terrifyingly rapid succession until finally the armoured tyrant grew tired of being denied and simply charged
"You can't coddle the child!" he spat as he appeared before Zebidiah in a blur of motion, the skull of some apex predator adorning his shoulder cracking as it was thrust through the various barriers
"They betrayed the Empire as you did and they will share your fate" Lord Zedd continued in a low guttural snarl, prompting Zebidiah to wreathe his fist in arcane blue flames before throwing a savage punch at the wound he had already left in the tyrants' gut which seemed to have done nothing to halt him; Lord Zedd was faster however and simply caught the blow, an enormous taloned gauntlet closing around the right hand and forearm of Zebidiah's new mechanical body.
"Your weakness disgusts me" with that Zebidiah crushed the limb to a mass of sparking, twisted and unrecognisable metal yet despite agony that washed over the sorcerer he forced himself to grit his teeth and remain silent and stoic even as the limb was torn away entirely below the elbow in a shower of sparks and coolant and other fluids; a follow blow that was more of a casual and dismissive slap than anything else sent Zebidiah sinking to his knees.
"And now Father, I finally put your spirit to-" Lord Zedd was silenced, sword still held at the ready as everything in sight was illuminated by a blinding, emerald green light that poured from the whole in the face of the quarry; the colour alone being enough to draw a primal snarl from the frozen tyrant as he realised what it was a precursor for.
"Get. Away. From. Him" Kay's voice trembled with fury as they strode out into the open air once again and both Lord Zedd and Zebidiah were treated to the sight of the Green Ranger in his higher Morphed state; the silver Surface of the Dragon Shield seemingly broken from beneath with a second, golden shield forming beneath it with the tips of its' shoulders resting at a different angle, fists enclosed within armoured gauntlets of green crystal which evoked the claws of the Dragonzord and their helmet had changed slightly all whilst their entire form glowed and shimmered with magic.
"Truly you've become powerful" Lord Zedd acknowledged stepping over Zebidiah's prone form to acknowledge this new threat "We were my masterpiece and it will be a shame to unmake you….No matter, when I retake your Power Coin my next attempt will be a success"
"You will take nothing from this planet, or from me" Kay answered coldly before charging once again.
"TAKE COVER!" Jack Landors, Red Lightspeed Delta Ranger heard Mercy call out to him and responded by tackling a Putty to the ground and driving his knee into its' torso with a single fluid motion a moment before the ground shook under the force of an explosion that rocked the battle-scarred Seoul street that the two of them were still situated on.
The source of the explosion was revealed to Jack a moment later as a squadron of half a dozen fighter jets passed overhead, human designed things with weapons and propulsion systems that were clearly the product of alien technology being added later, he followed the contrails of light that glowed faintly behind the aircraft in the morning sky and saw that high above Seoul several other squadrons could be seen which indicated that Earths' defenders were beginning to overcome the disadvantage they had initially been at and build some momentum in their efforts to counter-attack. Turning his attention back towards his immediate surrounding Jack saw that along with several dozen Putties being blasted apart, their shattered remains now littered the crater-riddled street the lone, gravity-defying Empire tank that had been troubling the Delta Rangers was now laying upturned on the road with plumes of smoke rising from the mangled remains of its' left side.
A deafening metallic groaning caused both Jack and Mercy to whirl around in shock, the two Red Rangers being left with stunned expressions on their face as they saw the full extend of the local militaries' air strike; the Empires' monstrous Pseudo-Zord which had been left immobile since the death of its' crew had been heavily damaged, several missiles having struck and blown open the featureless and arrowhead shaped skull which housed its' cockpit and more importantly managed to unbalance the thing; a fresh wave of ominous creaking preceding the entire upper portion of the war-machines' segmented body beginning to slope slowly forwards until came crashing downwards
"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Mercy bellowed, sprinting towards Jack and seizing her fellow Red Ranger by the shoulder as she led him from beneath the shadow of the falling mecha with as much speed as weary and aching muscles could provide her, warbling and flailing Putties giving chase until finally the mechanical behemoth collapsed and crushed another swathe of the Empires' footsoldiers with an impact that almost flung the two teens to the ground yet they managed to continue onwards and as they did so bat aside several more automatons until finally they caught a telltale glimpse of vibrantly coloured armour in the sea of grey as the other Delta Rangers continued to fight on.
"Come on! We've gotta get to 'em!" Jack demanded, filled with fresh hope and fire in his belly that sent him racing ahead and directly into the path of half a dozen Putties which he struck with the force of a falling star. The first pair were felled in an instant as the Red Delta Ranger flung himself counter-clockwise into a spinning sweep that knocked the legs out from under the first Putty, grabbing it by the shoulder and slamming down onto the asphalt with crushing force as he used his momentum to hurl himself back to his feet and deliver a spinning back kick as he did so; from there another pair of Putties lunged at him from opposite sides and Jack threw a roundhouse kick from his right leg into the midsection of the construct on his left before bringing the leg snapping back into a kick to the knee of the Putty to his left and taking advantage of both of their prone states by launching a cartwheeling kick to the right which struck the face of one of his attackers before delivering a front kick to its' chest that sent it crashing back into the second Putty and shattered them both. A final pair rushed towards him and with a wordless yell Jack grasped an arm that was swung in his direction in a sloppy facsimile of a haymaker before simply barrelling into the automaton and using what leverage him could to drag it to the ground and shatter it with an elbow strike to the body before the final Putty managed to deliver a kick to the helmet which left a small crack marring the surface of Jack's visor and forced to spring to his feet once again.
Only to see the Putty torn apart from behind.
"Glad you could join us" Sky panted out, breathless from exertion despite the power coursing through him and clutching the crushed and severed remains of the final Putty in the oversized pincer weapon known as the Rescue Claw that had replaced his drill. Jack merely grinned beneath his helmet for a moment, thankful for both the aid and that his friends were unharmed before seeking out Mercy in the rapidly growing mass of Putties.
The Red Aegis Ranger was a whirlwind of destruction as she chased after Jack in an effort to rejoin the Delta Rangers, felling Putties with practised ease that would have served to show the Delta Rangers just how much they had to learn if they had been in a position to watch. Two of the chattering things were broken apart with a single fluid motion as she leapt into the air and used the circular plates embedded in their chests to vault forwards and land in a relatively open area of the now ruined street in order to force the remaining enemies to come to her. The first Putty to reach her was ended with ruthless efficiency, Mercy sweeping it at its' legs with her left to rob its' momentum and in the same motion bring her leg up to perform a crushing karate style side kick; another Putty followed close behind and Mercy continued without pause by first throwing her left leg out again, this time for a crescent kick aimed at the head which forced her opponent to attempt to block only for it to be destroyed as she threw a roundhouse kick from her left into its' now unguarded chest.
From there however the Putties seemed to sense that their end was fast approaching and acted with a fit of self-destructive desperation and threw themselves at her from all angles, the Red Aegis Ranger reacted by first carrying the momentum of her last attack into a leaping hurricane kick that sent the shattered remains of the Putty it stuck hurtling into the crowd with devastating force whilst in the same motion manifesting her katana once again in a pulse of light before unleashing several spinning slashes that cut through several Putties each, leaving their horizontally bisected forms glowing as their molten cores spilled from within them faster than they could cool; the onslaught ended with a lone Putty leaping at Mercy only for her to bury her sword in its' chest whilst another flailing automaton rushed at her from the side yet was mowed down by a hailstorm of laser fire before it could reach her.
"Thanks for the assist" Mercy breathed out, ripping her katana free of the still crumbling stone body it was embedded in whilst turning her gaze towards where the Delta Rangers had regrouped to defeat the last of the Empires' grunts in the area, Sky's Rescue Claw and Sydney's brute strength smashing the things asunder whilst Z and Bridge weaved around one another to unleash a barrage of crippling blows; Jack however had followed Mercy's example by manifesting his own weapons and opening fire.
"Not bad for a rook-" Jack fell silent as Mercy flung her sword at him, the weapon sailing over his shoulder and impaling a Putty that had managed to go unscathed for long enough to creep behind him. Any witty remarks that the Red Delta Ranger might have offered were quickly silenced as Mercy stiffened, hand jerking towards her helmet in a way that made it clear that she was speaking to someone, most likely Mission Control over a comms channel before her gaze snapped towards the Delta Rangers and she simply said
"I've gotta go" Jack was taken aback by the news and considered arguing for a moment before remembering exactly who he was talking to; Silver Guardian Cadet Mercy Jackson, dubbed 'Captain Tyranno' by her friends and classmates within the Lightspeed Aquabase had been an example for others to follow and had exemplified what it meant to be a Power Ranger long before either of them had ever considered that they might one day actually wield the Power and Jack knew that if Mercy was leaving this battle-field then it was only so that she could turn the tide elsewhere.
"Okay, go….do what you need to" beside Jack Sky fell into place at his right hand
"With the Zord down and the military giving us air support we can take out any priority targets while Seoul is evacuated….Go, we've got this" Mercy paused and looked from each of the Delta Rangers to Jack before answering in a voice that was thick with some hard to describe emotion
"Yeah….Yeah I think you really have got what it takes. May the Power protect you….Rookies" with that she held out a hand for Jack to shake until she spoke into her comms again "One to teleport" with that the Red Aegis Ranger left the battle of Seoul to the Ranger team that would succeed her own, vanishing in a streak of fiery red light so that she could be where she was needed most.
The last thing she saw before vanishing being Bridge Carson put his precognition to use by driving his elbow through a Putty that attempted to pounce on his back.
The Empires' forces had long since breached the confines of Central Park, as the defensive perimeter put in place by the Quantum Ranger and his detachment of Silver Guardians whilst local forces were mobilised had been left in tatters by the whale-like monster Eric had fought against being enlarged to titanic size and the battle that ensued as the Q-Rex Zeta had been deployed into New York City to combat the threat.
The Battle between the two titanic figures raged on, steadily moving further away from the park itself with the giant monster and the Quantum Ranger's Zord currently facing off in the densely crowded geography of the city, each blow they exchanged tearing into one of the many towering skyscrapers or other similar buildings nearby and sending tremors through through the ground yet those fighting heroically on the ground were forced to continue on regardless; human soldiers being aided by allies who were beginning to teleport into the city from Alliance ships that had arrived in Earth's orbit as they faced off against all manner of aliens, automatons and war-machines whilst Alliance and Empire aircraft waged a battle in the sky which had been darkened by the presence of the Empire warship above them and was now lit almost entirely by the explosions that filled it.
Until twin streaks of light, one blue and one gold streaked through the air.
"WE'VE GOT BACK UP!" a bloody and exhausted Silver Guardian Captain called out, relishing the cheer that went up from their fellow soldiers. This particular group had been amongst those hand picked by the Quantum Ranger but had been steadily pushed back as the Empire Forces had fought their way out of Central Park, cut off from immediate aid as they were forced to place themselves as a buffer in front of advancing tanks and other crawling mar-machines; their heavy weapons blasting chunks from alien armour whilst the soldiers bellowed orders to any civilians yet to flee in a desperate attempt to speed up the evacuation process in any way they could. In truth neither the Captain or any of the soldiers that served under them had expected to see the end of this battle had simply resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible however the sight of the Blue and Gold Aegis Rangers teleporting into the street and planting themselves between the Silver Guardians and the advancing Empire forces that rounded a nearby corner represented a sudden and dramatic change in the tide.
It represented hope
"Fall back soldiers, we've got this!" Marigold called out to those behind her as she and Tempestus readied their weapons, lessons learned as a Cadet on Leslie Colony rising to the fore in her mind as she took in the sight of their current adversaries; the Silver Guardians had done tremendous work but still two Empire tanks remained, crescent shaped and swept forward with a single turret mounted in the centre of their curved forms they hovered above the ground and flanked something that was altogether more unusual. The central and presumably leading figure of the attacking force was in fact not a machine but rather a colossal beast, a vast fleshy tube of a thing that resembled some abhorrent fusion of a slug and lizard that propelled itself forwards on its' belly with a series of squelching sounds; the things' head was covered with blinders as one might a horse and much its' green-grey hide was covered with thick armour plates whilst at the peak of its' back was a turret featuring several multi-barrelled machine guns being operated by a lone Empire warrior straddling this immense steed like a jockey and letting out a series of wordless screams and war-cries.
"The slug-thing is the least of our worries, the tanks have more dangerous weapons and move faster. We should focus on them" Tempestus noted, his bubbling tone oddly flat and perfectly conveying how utterly unimpressed by the enemies' savage display he was.
"Agreed" Marigold nodded, readying her Buster Pistols and charging for the tank on the right without another word.
The Gold Ranger became a blur of motion, zigzagging through the street and weaving between abandoned cars that the Empires' vehicles could simply hover over and force aside, snapping out short bursts of return fire as the slug-things' machine Guns were levelled against her and each salvo shredded the chassis of whatever car she had been stood nearest to at the time until finally Marigold found herself close enough to the hovering tank to leap first onto the roof of a yellow taxi and then high into the air.
Just as particles of light began to stream towards the barrel of the weapon on the tanks' turret.
With a slow exhale Marigold engaged her ability to subtly manipulate the flow of time around herself, causing everything to move in slow motion as she fell towards the now glowing cannon of the hovering tank; quickly she aimed both pistols and fired them so that the team beams of golden light that they discharged struck one another and formed a glowing sphere of coruscating energy which she unleashed a the exact moment her fall brought her into contact with the tank.
The Gold Ranger's attack triggered a chain reaction within her target as its' weapons were overloaded and when the flames of the resulting explosion died down Marigold was crouched on one knee in the midst of smouldering wreckage.
Tempestus also found himself weaving away from gunfire as he charged towards the tank on the left yet as the Blue Aegis Ranger lacked any ranged weapons of his own he was forced to rely on a more blunt approach to the battle, leaping from the roof of one car to the next with his staff held beside his head ready to be thrown as if it were a spear until finally he leapt into the air and hurled the weapon directly into the cockpit of the Empire tank, the glowing weapon shattering the protection afforded to the pilot with ease and as he landed on the hull of the vehicle with a dull metallic thud the Blue Ranger quickly made to retrieve his weapon.
"FOR THE EMP-" the Empire warrior who had been pinned in place but not critically injured by Tempestus's staff had made to level a side-arm at him only to be knocked unconscious with a single blow before the Blue Ranger reached into the cockpit of the tank and violently jerked its' controls before leaping free of the alien vehicle and watching as it veered and careened to the ground where it came crashing to a halt.
"Now we've just gotta deal with the slug!" Marigold called out, both she and Tempestus bracing themselves the Blue Ranger found himself hesitating a moment; a pang of guilt coming to him unbidden as it occurred to him that this animal had likely never wished to be used as weapon or beast of burden though he would likely still have to inflict harm upon it in order to save lives. A wave of gratitude washed over him a moment later however as he was spared from the moral conundrum by a well placed laser blast boring a smoking, fist-sized hole into the chest of the beasts rider leaving them limp and lifeless in the saddle and the many guns mounted on the slug-thing fell silent with no-one to aim them.
"I though I told you to fall back" Marigold noted, though with only mild exasperation as she and Tempestus turned to see the Silver Guardians heavy weapons squad still in position; their Captain holding a weapon whose barrel still smoked and faintly glowed though it was lowered as they snapped off a salute and answered
"Negative Ranger, orders are to hold the line until New York can be evacuated….Although I don't know how the hell we're gonna evacuate around that" they gestured in the direction of the still ongoing fight between the Q-Rex Zeta and its' colossal opponent; Tempestus and Marigold considered for a moment before the Gold Ranger answered
"Use the subway stations" she informed the soldiers "Spread the word, Lightspeed can teleport people onto colony ships easier if they're in easy to identify groups; get underground"
"There won't be enough subways" one of the soldiers lamented, prompting Tempestus to speak up as a solution came to him
"Use the sewers….there are people who live in them, friends of the Astro Rangers; they're likely already helping the city" the soldiers, more than one of whom was a native of New York City considered the answer, muttering in disbelief that the fabled Ninja Turtles were in fact real though the Blue Ranger was quickly distracted from the ongoing discussion between Marigold and the Silver Guardians as a comm channel was opened within his helmet and he found himself almost overwhelmed with emotion by the voice that greeted him
"I'm glad you're okay son"
"I...It's good to hear from you father" Tempestus croaked out, in truth they had been apart for less than two days though it had felt much longer with all that had occurred
"How did you make it back to Earth?" Billy enquired, his voice wavering with his own tenuous grip on his feelings
"We used the magic of Furrous the same way Lord Zedd did, through Goldar's Dark Dimension" Tempestus answered, the explanation allowing him to focus his mind on practical matters "Marigold and I are in New York city, we're helping where we can but-"
"Another Zord is already en route, you need to leave and head to Angel Grove" Billy instructed "Lord Zedd is there, Kay and Zebidiah are holding him off but-"
"I understand" the Blue Ranger nodded slowly, taking a moment to consider before adding "Father….before I go, I want you to know that-"
"I know son and I love you too" Billy's voice cracked the former Blue Ranger unable to keep his composure as he added "But this isn't a goodbye or a heroic last stand, you can win this fight. I believe in you, despite the odds"
"Thank you Father" Tempestus answered, forcing his voice not shake and crack as he gestured to Marigold before adding "Standing by to teleport"
Silver Guardian cadet Group One-Nine-Nine-Three, the group which Mercy Jackson had once been a part of, the group spending much of their early lives being raised and taught together had never missed their former friend and team-mate more than they did in that moment.
The squad currently consisted of Izzy, the tall, dark-skinned and wiry young man who had taken up Mercy's role as de facto leader of the group in her absence, CJ the freckled and red-headed teen with notable marksmanship, Myers a waif of a young woman whose lack of any relation to Eric Myers did nothing to stop her claiming otherwise and finally but made up for such quirks with her natural affinity for explosives and demolition and finally Briggs, a short and stocky young woman who despite being the muscle of the group was training to be a medic, something that the latent magical abilities she had begun to hone aided greatly. The five of them had been transferred from the Lightspeed Aquabase shortly before its' near destruction by the rogue Green Ranger and had since been living on the Colony Ship dubbed 'New Angle Grove' where their lives had been predictable and relatively peaceful
Until today.
The Colony Ship New Angel Grove had been designated to receive evacuees from one of the many cities on Earth that was currently under siege by the Empire warships currently encircling the planet like vultures yet that plan had been discarded when one of those same axe-shaped ships had fired a series of torpedo-like boarding vessels into the enormous spacefaring city. Fortunately the enormous environmental dome which kept the colonies' atmosphere in place and protected its' population from the freezing and deadly vacuum of space had remained undamaged and instead the boarding craft had smashed through the lower reaches of the colony and been pushed back by the defenders aboard it, though this had pushed the jabbering packs of Putties and strike-teams of Empire warrior up from the restricted and vital areas of the lower colony that contained the control hubs for its' life support and propulsion systems and upwards into the city itself.
Which had led to the situation Izzy and his fellow cadets had found themselves in.
"They're still out there" he growled out through clenched teeth, careful to keep his voice low and quiet as he risked a brief glance out of a window through the slightest gap in the curtains. The Four of them had been amongst the many cadets that had been deployed with an equal mix of haste and reluctance to defend their home and the people within it only for them to separated when Myers's attempt to lure Putties into CJ's sights by using a flash-bang grenade had seen them utterly swarmed by chattering and flailing automatons whose stony bodies were largely impervious to the weaponry that they had on hand; Briggs had unleashed a bolt of unnatural lightning from her fingertips which had reduced one of the tide of enemies to shrapnel whilst Izzy had crushed the central plate of another though he had paid dearly for it, the blow breaking several of his fingers and the magma which had spilled from the stone constructs' core leaving his fist and arm with severe burns that his magically inclined friend had since done her best to alleviate. Realising that they were overwhelmed the four of them had made a hasty retreat through the streets of New Angel Grove before finding any empty building to hide in, an office of some sort from which they carefully watched the Putties flailing and scuttling around aimlessly yet somehow still insistently as if they knew that their quarry was still close by.
"Think we can make a break for it?" CJ asked, the redhead dropping the weapon slung over his shoulder onto his lap and rechecking it out of habit, Izzy looked at his own scorched and bloody flesh for a moment and considered before answering
"I don't wanna hide in here while people are fighting for us but I don't want us to die for nothing either" his shoulders sagged under the weight of responsibility nobody the cadets' age should have carried as he added "I count over a dozen Putties….you got any armour piercing rounds? They should be enough to break 'em"
"I got three" CJ answered tapping three shells held on a small brace on the side of the weapon itself ready to be loaded, a small sigh escaping him as he realised that whilst better than nothing it was far from enough.
"I've got one flash-bang left" Myers added, producing the explosive in question with one hand whilst unsheathing a small knife from her boot with the other and continuing with a thoughtful expression "What's this building we're in? A dentist or something like that right? I can pry open the casing on this flash-bang pretty easy and I'm sure there's gotta be something in this building that'll burn or boom if I light it….You want me to try and make something that can blow up a few more Putties?"
"We're really desperate enough to consider letting her re-take her last chemistry exam now?" Briggs gave a muted chuckle and shook her head before adding "I wish we'd been deployed to Paris for the evac….I mean I know it's on fire right now but we're probably dead anyway right and I kinda wanted to see it at least once"
"Hey we're getting out of this!" Izzy countered, raising his voice far more than he intended to and immediately regretting it as the warbling of the Putties lurking outside changed in tone and intensity, indicating to the cadets that they had been uncovered yet before any rebukes could be given or frantic orders could be snapped out a flash of golden yellow light streamed through the window of the room they had taken cover in; the curtains doing nothing to prevent the blinding light.
And then a familiar voice bellowed out a challenge and the sound of shattering stone filled the air.
"Holy crap it's the Aegis Rangers!" CJ exclaimed
"No" Izzy interjected as he rubbed his eyes until he could see again before peering out of the window "It's just one Aegis Ranger, Aslaug's on her own out there!"
"We've gotta help her then!" Myers demanded flipping her knife in her hand and preparing for action despite the fear that had clutched at them all only moments ago. Izzy watched as Aslaug, whom he had not seen in months rampaged through the chattering automatons in a berserk fury that would have been terrible to behold were she not an ally; several Putties had been destroyed already and as four of them charged at her from all sides the Yellow Ranger first headbutted the construct in front of her, the tusks decorating her helmet gouging deep wounds into the things face before she kicked it in the chest with enough force to smash a hole through its' body even before it began to crumble. The Putty behind her tried to leap onto her back only to be dragged over shoulder and crushed underfoot with a single blow before batted the Putty to her right aside with a vicious backhand as she moved into position to bludgeon both of her remaining attackers at once. Despite all of this however Izzy could see that more of the automatons remained and without a second thought he readied his weapon, a standard issue laser blaster and drove the butt of the rifle into the glass of the window that he had watched through and climbing into the frame.
"Come on!" without waiting he lunged out into the street and let out a yell fuelled by simple adrenaline as he rushed into the fray; Izzy sent a bolt of lightning streaking by him and the distinctive report of CJ's weapon informed him that his team-mate had used one of his limited supply of anti armour rounds yet all Izzy focused on was the single Putty directly ahead of him, its' soulless red eyes locked with his own and the young man swung his rifle in a blind fury; being rewarded with the sensation of a stony body stiffening and beginning to crack under the assault as he struck the central plate of its' body. The wild swing sent Izzy off balance however and he found himself staggering and struggling to regain his footing as he stumbled into the path of another of the Empire's footsoldiers which raised a craggy fist to strike at his face.
Before being cleaved from the skull downwards by the blade of an axe that glowed like sunlight.
"That wasn't necessary….But it was appreciated" Aslaug noted as she tore her axe free
"Where's Mercy? Is she okay?" Izzy asked without hesitation.
"She is where she needs to be, as we all are" before Izzy or any of his fellow cadets who had known Mercy since childhood could enquire further Aslaug held up a hand to silence them, everything about her body language making it clear that she was receiving orders or information that only she could hear
"I understand" she growled, voice suddenly urgent "There are still enemies here but I believe they can be pushed back"
"What's going on?" Izzy demanded
"I am needed elsewhere….Where Mercy will be heading"
"Then go get her" Myers interrupted "Keep her safe….And tell her to get in touch when this is over"
"We've got this" Izzy paid no mind to how odd it felt to be the one reassuring a Power Ranger whilst Aslaug for her part simply nodded
"Fight well friends" with that Cadet Group One-Nine-Nine-Three watched as the Yellow Ranger vanished as quickly as she had arrived in a streak of light.
"Come on team let's move!" Izzy ordered, doing his best to sound as inspirational as Mercy no doubt would have before turning to Briggs and cracking a smile "Get through today and we're all going to Paris"
Zhane had been deployed to one of many cities that Project Lightspeeds' forces were simply too thinly stretched to lend any support to directly, though this was not to say that the citizens of these places had been abandoned as aid had come in the form of shadowy figures flitting through the streets and unleashing terrifying acts of elemental destruction upon the invaders when the various secretive Ninja Academies had dispatched their finest alumni.
Yet still the city of Osaka burned and crumbled around him.
The Empire's forces had first materialised in the cities' 'Castle Park' at roughly mid-morning with satellite images showing that a sizeable portion of the enemy army had chosen to secure and fortify their position by using the castle itself that the park was based around as abase of operations whilst using the legions, or more accurately incoherent mobs of Putties that they dispatched into the surrounding areas more as a distraction or buffer than anything else which had initially suggested that these particular Empire forces were led by a more shrewd or conservative tactician; though this had been proven to be incorrect in short order soon after Zhane had arrived when the Empire began firing artillery into Osaka's skyline and tearing any fighter jets that tried to reach them from their newly fortified position.
Currently Zhane was in the middle of an Osaka street, wide and open enough for several lanes of traffic with massive buildings of glass and steel rising on either side of him yet currently debris and wreckage from those same buildings littered the road and the air was filled with smoke and the glow flames along with the panicked screams of civilians fleeing from the scene in a desperate search for shelter. The Silver Astro Ranger caught sight of several Putties coming into view directly ahead, flooding into the area that the Empires' guns had shelled in an obvious attempt to pick off survivors in a display more akin to carrion birds or scavengers than actual warriors; Zhane readied his unique weapon in its' ranged form and took aim yet before he could open fire he caught sight of the tell-tale movement, all shifting shadows and indistinct forms in the corner of his eye that announced that there were ninjas present a moment before a warning was frantically called out to him
"Take cover!" Zhane quickly leapt aside as several figures rushed into view, one of whom bore a black gi with blazing red accents and the emblem of the Fire Ninja Academy and it was this young woman who held her hands aloft, gathering the flames that raged in the gutted remains of bombed and shelled buildings into her palms where they seemed to condense and coalesce before being pitched forward as one would a baseball, striking a Putty and reducing it to molten slag within an instant.
"You're a Fire Ninja?" Zhane enquired of the young woman "Where's Sensei Kazama?"
"Not all of us are" she answered, her English fluent and her accent decidedly not Japanese "Sensei isn't in Osaka, we're under Thunder Academy command in this city….working in mixed teams"
"Okay well send word to the Thunder Academy that they should see if they can bring lightning down on the castle, it's the easiest way deal with those artillery pieces" Zhane suggested before turning his attention towards the remaining mob of Putties which continued to advance unhindered "We can't keep picking them off piece by piece like we have been, I'll take these Putties out and you start using your powers to create defences to keep the enemy at bay or at least slow them down" with that Zhane readied his weapon again and charged though as he began to move he caught the first glimpses of his orders being enacted, the Fire Ninja whom he realised with a pang of guilt was only old enough to be a student working alongside an alumni of the Wind Ninja Academy to continue combating the fires around them whilst a pair of young men whose uniforms bore the insignia of Earth Ninjas sent tremors through the ground before bringing walls of earth and stone rising up to form impromptu barricades.
Yet Zhane was quickly forced to pay attention to the matter at hand.
The swarm of Putties he had charged numbered in the dozens and despite the power of the Morphing Grid coursing through him being combined with and honed by his years of Experience the Silver Ranger knew that this would be a gruelling battle due to simple volume. He reached the chattering constructs and shattered the first of them a simple well placed kick before whirling around to fire his blaster into the face of another as it attempted to tackle him, sending the thing staggering back with much of its' cranium blown away yet somehow still flailing all the same until Zhane transformed his weapon, its' blade cleaving through the Putty as it extended and ending the thing. The sensation of movement behind him sent the veteran guerilla fighter into a low spinning sweep that kicked the legs from another attacker and sent the automaton falling into the path of his blade yet even then the Silver Ranger did not halt and instead flung himself upwards and forwards to drive his knee into the central plate of another Putty before cartwheeling and back-flipping over the attacks of several others, weaving around their wildly thrashing bodies as he stabbed, slashed and struck out at them with increasing difficulty as the sea of animated stone began to close in around him and cut off his angles of retreat.
Until the sky was split by streaks of Pink and Black.
"Uncle Zhane, we came to help!" Rensa's usually quiet voice announced in a fierce yell as the Black Aegis Ranger materialised, his Battleizer already formed around him and propelling him to such incredible speeds that it seemed as though he had teleported again as he crashed into the tide of Putties; he crossed his arms over his chest as he charged and the oversized and curved blades fitting to each forearm that resembled the wings of Andros's old Battleizer tore through a vast swathe of the Empire's footsoldiers before Rensa came skidding to a halt and aimed the under-slung laser weapons mounted to each of his arm-blades and continued to rip through the bulk of the attacking horde, volleys of searing light piercing their chests or blasting limbs away.
Despite lacking a Battleizer Panthera still made her presence known and felt upon arriving on the battlefield, Zhane watched as the Pink Ranger hurled her twin blades into the crowd of warbling constructs before even landing and as the weapon arced through the air, shearing away heads and limbs as it went Panthera herself hit the ground in a roll which she sprung upwards from and used her momentum crash into a handful of Putties which she dismantled with a series of punishing blows that crushed and jammed joints in order to create openings in the guard which she ruthlessly exploited until finally her weapon returned to her hand and she cut down the last two Putties by separating it into its' twin curved blade form and burying the claw-like implements in each of their chest.
Leaving Zhane momentarily stunned.
"You….have gotten really good at this" he finally chuckled, unsure of what other reaction he could be expected to give after seeing the display from Rangers whose initial formation as a team he had borne witness to; whilst each of the Aegis Rangers had been capable and were hand picked for their roles the progress they had each made was simply astounding. Rensa quickly focused his honorary uncles' mind however
"What's going on here? Where are Andros and Karone, are they leading the charge?"
"Sort of" Zhane answered "Andros and Karone are helping lead the Alliance ships get the Empire out of orbit, that way they can't fire mutagenic grenades or orbital barrage any cities….Right now I'm aiding the local army and some Ninja Academy students push the Empire back but they've dug in at Castle Park"
"Just let me get close" Panthera offered "A couple of well placed charges and the whole building comes down with the Empire commander still inside….they won't see it coming" Zhane was momentarily taken aback by the suggestion, though he supposed he had no right or reason to be after living with Karone for so long, his own Pink Ranger often employed strategies that were just as unconventional for a Power Ranger though before the conversation could continue any further Rensa found himself distracted by a voice within his helmet
"Welcome back Rensa" Billy's voice was a relieved sigh yet still held incredible tension "Your help in Osaka was no doubt greatly appreciated but you and Panthera are needed alongside the other Aegis Rangers in Angel Grove"
"The other Rangers?" he asked quietly
"Kay engaged Lord Zedd, your team-mates are moving to assist"
"I understand" with that the communications channel ended and the Black Ranger was left glancing to Panthera who gave him an understanding nod, seeming to understand what was happening despite not having heard the conversation and then to Zhane though before either Rensa or the Silver Ranger could speak the sky was illuminated as an endless cascade of lightning bolts burst forth from a clear blue sky in an open defiance of nature somewhere in the distance
"That'll be the Thunder Ninja Sensei hitting the Empire position" Zhane declared with smug confidence "We're taking back control here, so that's your signal to go where you're needed….that's what Mission Control told you right?"
"Uncle Zhane I-"
"Go on kid, we'll be fine here" the Silver Ranger assured him, resting a hand on his shoulder "If Andros doesn't already know you're here he will do soon and he'll find you when this is over; right now we've all got a job to do"
"May the Power protect us all" Rensa murmured and with that he and Panthera felt the familiar sensation of teleportation beginning to wash over them.
The pace and direction of the battle in Angel Groves' quarry had changed the moment the Green Aegis Ranger had ascended to his higher Morphed state though that was not to say that victory was in any way assured as both Kay and the now injured and one-armed Zebidiah Lord continued to fight against Lord Zedd with everything they had.
And yet the tyrant simply would not fall.
Kay was forced to launch their body into a wild back-flip as Lord Zedd crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye and slashed and their midsection with his enormous sword and from their they gracefully manoeuvred themselves so that they landed on the parallel blades of the weapon, unleashing a burst of ethereal green light from a hand now encased in a clawed gauntlet of translucent emerald crystals directly into the already cracked visor of Lord Zedd's helmet and from there Kay threw themselves in an acrobatic butterfly flip whilst slashing out with their sword, the Dragon Blade leaving a trail of molten metal in its' wake as it tore a shallow scar into the warlords' armour yet Lord Zedd shrugged this off as he had every other assault thus far.
"Insolent little whelp!" he spat furiously before reaching out with his empty hand and grasping the Green Ranger by the torso once again, noting as he did so that there was now an odd resistance from the enhanced Dragon Shield as his claws sunk slowly into its' surface, as though the excess power radiating out from Kay's form were pushing him back. With a wordless snarl he hoisted them off the ground and simply thrust his sword at their chest which Kay responded to by allowing the Dragon Blade to vanish from their grasp and thrusting their palms together to catch Lord Zedd's sword; their crystalline gauntlets crackled and sparked with arcane energy and the bones in their arms felt as though they might shatter at any moment under the force they were being subjected to, Kay struggled to breathe and their head pounded yet still they endured and forced Lord Zedd's sword back inch by torturous inch.
Eventually the tyrant was forced to throw them aside and hastily block.
"Oh I haven't forgotten about you Father, our reckoning is still at hand" he snarled as he flung his forearms in front of his face, shielding himself as Zebidiah struck him with his remaining hand, palm outstretched and wreathed in a blazing orange light that wrapped around the sorcerers' form to give him the appearance of a comet entering the atmosphere and even though Lord Zedd blocked he was still sent backwards, taloned feet cutting deep trenches into the ground and the armour of his forearms being warped and shattered under the force of the magical attack with the twisted and ruined metal plates falling away from his right arm revealing the mechanical workings underneath. Zebidiah had intended to deliver a suitably scathing retort or perhaps ask a question about exactly how his son had lost his arm if only only to throw him mentally off-balance for a moment but the moment was lost as Kay came tearing back into the fray, their fists blazing with jade light as they delivered an earth-shattering blow to Lord Zedd's gut which landed on the already damaged and wounded area where Zebidiah had impaled them. The warlord sunk forwards, almost dropping to one knee as a pained grunt a thin trickle of blood escaped from the grill covering his mouth before the Green Ranger followed up by taking the curled horns growing from Lord Zedd's skull which were now at a reachable height and slamming his face into the ground with a booming impact that was heard for miles around.
"GRANDFATHER, NOW!" Kay called out "WITH EVERYTHING YOU-"
"ENOUGH!" Lord Zedd roared, sinking his sword into the ground before surging to his feet and thrusting his arms outwards in a single motion and unleashing a pulse of raw arcane power that visibly warped the air as a wave of crimson light passed through it with a low, shifting bass note that Zebidiah felt in his chest. The Sorcerer watched as Kay flung through the air by the attack and landed in a crumpled heap on the ground with Lord Zedd steadily advancing on him and decided that he needed to intervene
Exactly has Lord Zedd had planned
"Were you always such a fool, so limited and predictable?" Lord Zedd demanded in a sneering voice that dripped with content as his hand flew out to grab the torso of Zebidiah's new android body and the revived sorcerer both heard and felt components within himself break and give way as his tyrannical son increased the pressure he was exerting to lethal levels before relenting a fraction as he hoisted his victim up so that they could look one another in the eye; Zebidiah had honestly expected more taunts or demands for answers and recognition though it seemed that Lord Zedd, or Orcus as he would always be to his father was beyond such things and now and simply exhaled a stream of flames from beneath his grilled helm before casting him aside. Zebidiah didn't feel himself hitting the rocky ground of the quarry, his bodies' ability to feel pain being entirely overwhelmed by the sensation of most of the synthetic hair and flesh covering his face being melted away though despite this he managed to regain enough of his senses to hear the sound of Lord Zedd's sword being ripped free of the ground.
"Any last words, either of you?" the warlord enquired in a low rumble that would almost have been a purr of satisfaction if not for the clearly laboured breathing in the wake of the toll the battle and the supreme act of magic that had preceded it had taken on him. When no answer came Lord Zedd strode calmly towards Zebidiah and held his sword overhead, blade pointed downwards as he prepared to finish what he had started during their last battle.
And then his chest exploded outwards.
Zebidiah was left blinking spots out of the eye that still functioned and then left blinking in stunned confusion for a fraction of a second until his mind pieced the puzzle before him together. A beam of brilliant, coruscating brilliant white light which crackled with lightning of red, blue, yellow, pink and black had struck Lord Zedd in the back and ripped through his armour, flesh, bone and the countless augmentations that the warlord had made to himself before bursting through his chest in an attack that would have felled any normal adversary. Lord Zedd was in no way normal however and no sooner had Zebidiah followed the beam back to its' source and found the Aegis Rangers, with the Black Ranger in his Battleizer form firing the Power Blaster than the now heavily wounded tyrant responded in kind, turning and ejecting a bolt of raw destructive force from his fingers up at the mouth of the Quarry where the Rangers had perched themselves; the six of them managed to leap away and in doing so came down into the battleground that the area had become once again, their weapons spent and vanishing though the Rangers themselves, battle-weary as they clearly were showed no sign of relenting and as the fanned out and took their positions Zebidiah saw Kay stagger to their feet and join them.
"It's over Zedd! It's over for you, your Empire and the terror you spread across the galaxy" Mercy declared, voice filled with fire and defiance "This is where it ends!"
"Indeed it is Red Ranger" Lord Zedd rumbled, his flesh already beginning to knit itself together once again though it remained raw, bloody and blackened from the wound he had been dealt and it was clear that as mighty as the tyrant was he had been severely hurt and injured.
"So it seems I am forced to finish your war directly" he snarled as he cast Zebidiah a final hateful look "Here are the champions of Earth and the Alliance, your precious Power Rangers….And here I stand Father, your last living son, rightful ruler of Acheron and champion of its' Empire. It ends here, with one final battle to the death"
And with that Lord Zedd lunged towards the rangers and the fight to decide the future of the galaxy began.
Author's notes:
Oh boy, halfway through the final arc of the story!
We've three chapters left which includes the fight, the wrap-up and then an epilogue so including the prologue and epilogue this story is gonna be 84 chapters long.
We're really in the final moments now.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
In my head this just started off like an episode of DBZ.
Yeah, less magic tricks and more straight up fighting now.
Kay's usual approach of fighting just doesn't work against someone like Lord Zedd.
That little combo move was nasty and the fact that Lord Zedd can literally shrug off being impaled should give you an idea of how tough he is.
I've honestly lost track of how many times one character has jumped in front of an attack meant for someone else in this story.
And now he's disarmed.
Kay bringing out the big guns, just to make things more interesting.
The Ranger team-ups are great but look, they're in teams of five on average and the Empire sent an entire invasion force; the military is gonna have to pull its' weight this time.
Honestly the Red Ranger team-up was fun to write, it's basically the story coming full circle and Mercy being in the situation Zhane, Karone and Kimberley were at the start.
The Aegis Rangers pulling back was a theme across the chapter and I think you all knew how this chapter was gonna end from the moment you saw Mercy leave Seoul.
Also, Bridge just finishing a Putty without even needing to turn around is the sort of thing we should have seen more of in SPD.
I deliberately didn't focus of the Q-Rex Zeta Vs the giant monster in this chapter, we're getting it next chapter….Also yeah, the second the monster grew any chance of keeping the Empire forces pinned in Central Park was gone.
Yeah seeing Power Rangers show up would definitely get that kind of reaction.
The slug tank thing was actually loosely based on the worm tanks from Beetleborgs…..Because fuck it, why not throw that reference in.
Honestly the fight between Mari and Tempestus against the tanks was just to spice things up and add some variation because I didn't want everyone to be brawling with legions of Putties when we're already seen the Empire use more diverse forces.
Remember that Mari had a less extensive version of the training Mercy went through and she's well aware of what the Alliance and Project Lightspeeds' emergency procedures are.
"Use the sewers….there are people who live in them, friends of the Astro Rangers; they're likely already helping the city" look, I said that we're calling back everyone for this finale and I mentioned that the Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers in Space crossover was canon.
Billy and Tempestus needed to have a brief moment but with both of them being who they are they were never gonna have a full reunion when there's still work to be done.
In the spirit of bringing back everyone, here's the cadet group Mercy used to be part of that we haven't seen since the start of the story because they've been on the Colony Ship "New Angel Grove" this entire time.
Boarding Torpedo….because Warhammer 40k and also because once again, the Empire are not utterly one dimensional in their approach.
The kids are brave….But there's four of them against a ton of Putties, there's a point where running and hiding is the smart choice.
Trying to make improvised grenades, this kid really thinks she's Rambo.
Rushing out to help the Aegis Rangers, just like the last time we saw them.
Zhane and Ninjas working together, because these random team-ups are fun.
Also yeah Empire setting up a fortified position and just shelling the city around them, because once again they have a variety of tactics.
Castle Park is a real place in Osaka that you can Google.
Fire Ninjas don't just hurl fire balls, they can control flames ergo they are perfect firefighters.
Also yeah, ninjas acting in the shadows is cool and all but at the same time using geomancy to make defences to stop the Putties is just great.
I actually watched Zhane's first fight before writing this scene just to get a feel for how he moves and honestly his style isn't that eye-catching.
Yeah Rensa wasted no time, he showed up with the Battleizer already on.
Panthera and Rensa ironically would have been the two Rangers best suited to infiltrating the Empires' position and bombing it.
Big guns….cute, the ninjas have actual lightning bolts.
Look, normal sized character landing on the blade of the larger person their fighting is a trope I will never get bored of.
Just think about how tough you have to be to catch Lord Zedd's sword between your palms.
Zebidiah almost got payback for that missing arm, but not quite.
They way Zedd grabbed and finished Zebidiah off there was based loosely on Doomfist in that one Overwatch short, obviously applied very differently though.
Yeah Zebidiah is heavily wounded and basically out of the fight, but come on you didn't think it was gonna end like that?….when the other Rangers were still en route?
And so the fate of the planet is being decided the only way it could ever be in this kind of franchise….Mortal Kombat.
Thank you to Blue Legends for their review on the last chapter.
The scene between Taylor and Shayla was fun to write and still having these character moments even this close to the end felt important.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review