Previously on Power Rangers: Foxhole Force.
Neil was having an off day in which he kept butting heads with his coworkers at the youth centre. The distance between him and the Red Fox was wider than ever, and though he managed to talk to Coach about the origin of the Foxhole Force, he didn't get to learn a lot. Later, he set himself on a mission destined to fail as he tried to recruit the Black Ranger into the team. The man, as elusive and cold as ever, blatantly refused on the grounds that Neil was no better than Riko if all he wanted was to add a number to their ranks. To add insult to injury, he and Andrew ended the day on pretty unfriendly terms and though he had fixed things with Red, Neil felt more isolated than ever from the rest of the team.
S1 E10: Neil who? (Part 1)
When the first thing you hear in the morning is the Raven alert, you know it's not going to be a good day.
"Wha'th'hell?" Neil mumbled half asleep as he reached towards the nightstand to quiet the device. He let out a yawn long enough to be his and Red's before pulling the covers aside. "Fuckin' Ravens"
He put on some shoes and a hoodie, and when he realized that it wasn't even light out, he checked the time.
It was 3:51 a.m.
"Fucking, fucking, Ravens"
He met Matt in the living room before they went out and ran into the others in various states of disarray. Allison had put on an extremely short night robe and her usually styled blond hair was sticking out in every direction. She was trying to braid it as they walked but she wasn't being very successful about it. Dan looked slightly more alert as she greeted Matt with a peck on the lips before going downstairs. Kevin wasn't even wearing a shirt, or shoes, but he didn't seem to either notice or mind.
Renee fell in step beside Neil.
"What are you doing up too?" he asked.
Renee shrugged and stifled a yawn. "I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep anyway"
"What about Coach?" the redhead asked no one in particular as they reached the Command Centre and turned the lights on. He had to squint against the sudden brightness of the room.
Dan sat in front of her computer and replied. "He called. He's on his way", which shouldn't take long because the man lived not ten minutes away from them.
"Okay" Kevin spoke then. "What's the alert about?"
They all gathered behind Dan as she worked fast over the keyboard. The image on the screen went from the map grid of Palmetto City, where a red dot was blinking alarmingly fast, to the images of a few street cameras on the actual site. By now, Neil was familiar enough with the place to recognize where it was.
"Central Park"
"It looks like a man. Is that Mureau?" Matt asked, making Dan zoom in on the silhouette obscured by the night shadows, but Kevin offered a gloomy response.
"That's not Jean"
As if the man at the park knew they were watching him, he turned to face one of the cameras head on, letting out a creepy smile and making everyone flinch back from the screen. For a moment, it felt like the man was inside the Command Centre with them.
"Guys… that's… it is, right?" Renee was the only one brave enough to even venture it out and when the man's features began to change, growing in width and hight, they knew she was right.
"The lost target" Allison said at the same time Kevin let out a gasp.
"Impossible. That's too soon"
"You said it would take a while for the transformation to happen"
"I… I mean… it was supposed to!"
"Will he be as strong as the other perfect Ravens?"
"I don't know"
"Can he even fully transform?"
"I don't know!"
But as the others debated on that, Neil figured it was useless to wonder. After all, the target was slowly transforming into a Raven right before their eyes. Was he as strong as Mureau or Muldani yet? Was there a chance he could still be saved?
"What are you lot still doing here?" Coach's voice had everyone jumping in surprise as if they had been caught red handed. The man looked slightly more composed than the rest of the team, though sleep was still evident in his gruff expression. "We won't know anything until you actually go out there, so go!"
"Right"
"Yes"
"You're right"
"Let's go"
The still half asleep Rangers stood in formation until Neil took a step forward. He cleared the sleep out of his voice but figured it wasn't necessary to shout out. No need to wake up the entire neighborhood just to morph.
"It's morphing time"
And then, as one, the team called out to the Foxhole Force until four brightly colored figures stood side by side in the middle of the Command Centre.
"Let's see what this is really all about" Matt offered before Dan opened the hidden panel on the wall and the Rangers left to do their jobs.
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Neil was still fighting a couple of yawns by the time they made it to the park.
Focus, Red chastised him.
I am.
Palmetto at night was an eery place. Neil had known many places throughout his life and though he'd spent many nights in quiet, lonely towns, nothing could ever really compare to the City of Palmetto at night. Neil could be mistaken, but he thought the eeriness had nothing to do with being a small city and everything to do with all the supernatural things he knew happened inside it.
Stepping into the gated park, the Red Ranger suppressed a shiver. Nothing good had ever happened to him inside this place and seeing the man-turned-Raven less than a yard away didn't promise anything better.
"Hey!" Allison called, announcing their presence. "What are you doing here?"
The Raven greeted them with the same evil smile as before. "The Power Rangers. So nice of you to show up. I've been dying to introduce myself"
His stance was cocky and his words even more so.
Allison took half a step forward. "We know who you are, Peter"
"My name!" he burst. "Is Captain Engle"
Well, that didn't sound good.
"Rangers" Coach called from the centre. "Let's give him a chance"
This time, Kevin took the lead on the conversation. "We can help you. Whatever Riko's done to you, we can find a way to help you"
"Who says I need any help?"
"You can't have turned into a perfect Raven yet. It's too soon. You can still fight this"
"You don't seem to know how powerful the Raven King is. The transformation was completed. I am number Six"
Neil's stomach sank at that. "Six?"
"The King is still looking for number Five"
His blood ran cold at the thought of Riko wanting him enough to leave the spot open for him. Hadn't he done the same with Kevin? The Blue Ranger was supposed to be his perfect Raven number Two and no matter how many times Kevin had proved himself a Fox, the position of being Riko's second in command was still very much open for him. Either Riko was a sentimentalist piece of bird, or he trusted he could still bring Kevin into his army, which wasn't a scenario Neil could even bring himself to imagine. Hearing Engle say the Ravens were still actively looking for him just sent his stomach spiraling down a hill.
"… one of you is Kevin?"
The mention of their blue teammate's name had Neil's thoughts stopping from wandering around just in time for Captain Engle's eyes to flash yellow.
"Why?" Kevin himself answered reluctantly.
"I have a message from our King" the Raven Captain smiled. "This is only the beginning"
Before any of them could ponder on that, the newest perfect Raven lunged forward.
The Rangers had not been prepared for such an attack. They had battled perfect Ravens before and though they had never actually defeated them, they'd at least been able to hold their ground for longer than this.
It was embarrassing, really.
Captain Engle worked his way through the Rangers one by one. His method was simple enough to pick up on yet completely fool proof. Neil had never seen anything like it.
The first one to fall victim of his tricks was Matt. The Raven slammed into the Green Ranger so hard and fast they ended up on the other side of the park, Matt trapped against the Captain and a tree but before any of the others could go help him, the Raven had already slashed Matt to the ground.
Then it was Kevin. Faster than was humanly or even ravenly possible, Captain Engle ran towards Kevin, slamming him away from the team and into the ground several feet away where he proceded to slash at him until their blue teammate was hidden by sparks and smoke.
"Kevin!" Allison yelled as she charged the Raven, only for him to turn and focus his next attack on her. She was pushed against the gates surrounding the park and slashed down to the ground much like Matt had been.
Neil ran to her.
"Hey! Face me, you piece of shit!"
The Raven turned and let out another of his creepy smiles.
It was truly frightening to have such a huge ass Raven running at you like a bull in a stampede and it was only by a miracle that Neil avoided the Captain's first try to slam into him. Neil pivoted out of range and summoned his weapon. The red staff materialized in his hands by the time the Raven circled back and attacked again, and Neil let out a grunt when he brought his weapon down but the Raven simply reached out and stopped the staff mid-swing. Neil was pulled forward by the Raven's grip on his staff and then kicked back with a heavy foot to the stomach.
"Omph!" he flew backwards until he slammed into a tree. Captain Engle threw his red staff to the ground before repeating what he'd done with Matt and corraling Neil against the tree. Then the slashes started coming.
By the time Engle was done with him, Neil couldn't even breathe.
"Let him go!"
Matt and Kevin were the first ones to recover so they charged the Raven together and kept it busy long enough for Neil to stumble out of his grip.
Allison joined him a second later. "He's too powerful"
"Maybe... maybe if we use our blasters together" Neil offered, holding a hand to his burning middle.
"We coul—"
But a shout had them looking up just in time to see Kevin and Matt falling into them after the Raven slashed them away.
The Rangers fell like bowling pins to the ground and the Raven Captain walked slowly towards them, casually picking up the discarded red staff from the ground and making a show of sharpening his talons with its tip.
"I don't understand what the fuss was all about" he said, looking down at the Rangers who were struggling to get back on their feet. "You don't look that powerful to me"
"You haven't... seen anything" Matt grunted in reply which surprised Neil like nothing else the other boy had ever done. He wasn't one to goad their enemies on, so it was clear he felt afronted by this new powerful perfect Raven.
"This was so easy you're not even worth my time"
"Try us again, you filthy piece of raven shit" Allison replied next as she finally found her way back to her feet. Neil had to hand it to her, she was braver than the rest of them put together.
Captain Engle tilted his head as if considering her challenge only for him to dismiss her with a flicker of his hand. He began twirling the red staff as he spoke and Neil felt the hot tendrils of rage pulling on his stomach at the sight of a Raven even touching his staff.
"Remember, Rangers" he said finally, lifting the red staff high and poising it to attack. "This is only the beginning"
The staff came down in an invisible and fast motion only to be buried in the ground in front of them as the perfect Raven laughed and disappeared into the night.
The Rangers were left alone, not only their bodies but their pride hurt as well as they gathered themselves around Neil's usurped weapon. It took a couple of tries but he was eventually able to pull it free so he could inspect it for any damage.
"Fucking Ravens" he cursed for the third time that night and put the weapon away.
"This is bad, guys. Really, really bad" Matt offered, echoing everyone else's thoughts.
Kevin sighed while he continued to stare at the place the Raven had disappeared to. "Let's go back home"
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Neil wanted to hit something.
He couldn't stop tossing and turning in bed, and knowing he had to get up again in a few hours made sleep a hundredth times more elusive.
But no matter how tired he was, he knew he wouldn't be getting any real rest any time soon, not with Allison's words playing like a broken record in his mind.
See? The Black Ranger didn't show. He just can't be trusted to be there. You don't really want someone like that on the team, Neil. It's just not worth it. You can't trust him.
And then Matt's words.
That Raven was too powerful. We'll never stand a chance against him. He could've killed us if he'd wanted to. We're nothing compared to that.
Of course, Kevin had added his own two cents, as honest and pessimistic as he ever was.
He said it was the beginning. He's definitely coming back for more and I don't think we're ready for that. Next time we fight, we're probably not coming out alive.
It wasn't that Neil necessarily disagreed with them, any of them, but damn if he hadn't spent the last couple of weeks looking for a way to bring the team closer together only for a new hotheaded Raven like Captain Engle to bring their team morale lower than it already was.
The Black Ranger would never join us, Neil. He shouldn't even be a Power Ranger in the first place.
"Fucking Black Ranger" the redhead mumbled as he turned yet again trying, and failing, to get into a comfortable position. "Fucking Black Ranger and fucking Ravens and fucking everything"
By the time he finished cursing anything he could think about to curse, he'd already punched his pillow like Riko himself could feel the hits.
"Fucking Riko"
Calm.
Neil consciously inhaled deeply and resolved to just throw the pillow aside. He put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling.
Life used to be simpler before, if not necessarily better. Before he got himself roped into this whole Foxhole Force business, he'd never really had to make any important decisions. There was never a greater choice than fight or flight and Neil had always been hotwired to do the fleeing. His mother had done most of the fighting for him, as well as all the decision making.
But ever since they got separated, Neil found himself making big scary decisions every day, decisions that landed him in the middle of a battle that hadn't even been his to begin with but that he wasn't so sure he could, or would, escape from now.
Yes, everything was harder now. He had to manage coordinating a daily job with the responsibility of being a Power Ranger, he had to interact with more than a dozen people every single day, he had to lead a team of warriors that fought to protect innocent lives from the evil of the world. Neil had never been one to worry about innocent lives. All he cared about was his own, and his mom's.
But now he couldn't fall asleep because the mere thought of his team getting hurt or killed by this new Raven was keeping him alert and at the edge of springing up and doing some laps inside his room.
Sleep.
"Yeah, I want to"
The mere thought of the Black Ranger never joining the Force had him replaying their first and only conversation over and over in his head.
The mere thought of the team never being united again haunted him until eventually the yawns got deeper and his eyelids got heavier and Neil suspected Red was messing with his body just to get him to sleep.
The fucker. But the warmth inside his chest did nothing but grow.
It was probably close to dawn by the time his eyes slipped closed and Red's warmth had spread enough that Neil could to nothing but succumb to the inviting arms of sleep.
And what felt like five minutes later, his communicator buzzed alive.
Neil startled awake, eyes burning with exhaustion but heart racing with adrenalin as he fumbled for the device.
He let out a sigh of relief when his morning alarm flashed brightly from the screen instead of a Raven alert. When he looked out the window, he was dismayed to find it was completely light out and the day was just about to start.
He probably hadn't gotten more than a couple hours of sleep and though he had ran on less than that for days before, he hadn't had the need to deprive himself from sleep just to stay alive for a pretty long time now.
Damn... what would his mother say?
He knew exactly what she would say.
With a heavy body and a shaky resolve, Neil got up from bed and forced himself to start the day.
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"Can I steal some?" Matt asked, joining Neil at the breakfast counter and signaling his box of fruit cereal.
"Sure" the redhead replied around a yawn.
Both boys were quiet as they ate.
Some days Neil struggled to come to terms with the fact he lived somewhere permanently enough to have things like a favorite brand of cereal to buy or a not so secret stash of peanut butter to indulge himself in when he craved his guilty pleasure. Not that he had to feel any guilt about it because his mother wasn't there to tell him how useless it was to get attached to such insignificant things. Things they shouldn't waste money on. If anything, Neil felt more guilty about the fact he didn't feel guilty about it and the more days he spent at the Tower, the easier it was to forget the strict regime he'd lived on for years.
But today wasn't one of those days as he carelessly reached for the cereal to fill his bowl again.
"Id'you ge'nysleep?" Matt asked with his mouth full.
Neil shrugged. "Some. Not a lot"
"Yeah, me neither man. Last night sucked" he said slightly more intelligible than before. "Seth was a great Ranger and four of us aren't powerful enough"
Tell me about it.
"Yeah"
"You never told us exactly what the Black Ranger said to you anyway. What did he say?"
"Not much" Neil replied with another shrug, swallowing a mouthful of cereal before adding on. "Just that he wouldn't do it"
"Fucker"
"Yeah"
"I mean" Matt continued. "I guess I'm not opposed to the idea of him joining us, but I'm also not entirely convinced. He's too unpredictable"
"I know" Neil mumbled into his bowl.
"And yes, he's a strong warrior but what good is he when he's not around? Imagine we have to fight Captain Engle again or Riko himself? We wouldn't stand a chance. Our weapons wouldn't combine the same, the Foxes Blast wouldn't work the same, four Rangers can't—"
"Matt" Neil interrupted at the same time he sprung to his feet and took his finished bowl over to the sink. "I know"
A soft hum inside his chest.
"Right, right. I know. I know you know. Sorry. I'm just rambling. I'll shut—"
This time, the sound of their communicators coming alive was what stopped Matt's rambling.
"You've got to be kidding me"
They reached for their devices at the same time to confirm the Raven alert and let out a few more curses before they even left the apartment.
Coach was already downstairs, having spent the rest of the night in one of the beds from the medical bay, and the Rangers gathered around him and the central work station. The rest of the Court employees stood back to listen but they would soon have to go down and open the centre. It was too damn early for this.
"What is it this time?"
"Is it that crazy Raven again?" Nicky asked, probably having heard about Engle from Kevin.
"Doesn't look like it" Coach replied, zooming in on the screen. "The alert comes from Europe Street. It looks like a simple pair of Ravens"
"That's odd" Allison commented.
"Maybe we got lucky for once" Matt added hopeful. Neil wasn't so sure.
"Let's just morph and be done with them"
Everyone scattered to give the Rangers room to morph and Neil caught Andrew's bored gaze before focusing on his job.
"It's morphing time. Power Rangers, Foxhole Force. Ha!"
It felt like deja vu having to shout those words again so soon.
When the energy was done flowing through his body, the Red Ranger stood next to his teammates.
Duty, Red said, as if wanting to remind him why he put up with it all.
"Let's do this"
"Good luck!"
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"Stop right there!" Allison shouted once they reached the scene where the pair of Ravens were destroying everything in their pass. "Corsac Fox. Power Ranger Pink!"
"Not this again" Neil whined as the others fell in line next to Allison.
"Swift Fox. Power Ranger Blue!"
"Kit Fox. Power Ranger Green!"
"Still not doing it"
People cheered as they ran away and the Ravens forgot all about their preys in favor of greeting the Rangers with wild eyes and loud screeches. Then they attacked.
They were regular Ravens alright, because despite being set on destruction, they didn't hold that vicious glee in their eyes when they managed to clip one of the Rangers with their talons. They were just wild animals, not an inch of human intention inside them, which was still rather off putting since they had to have been humans at some point. For a brief moment Neil wondered how exactly Riko turned humans into Ravens, but that wasn't really an image he wanted to keep stored in his mind.
"Who's calling your shots?" Matt asked them but of course he didn't get any answer. As far as Neil knew, regular Ravens didn't talk.
While they fought, Neil kept an eye out for either a monster, a perfect Raven or the Black Ranger but he wasn't sure any of them would show. It was weird. The Rangers had never had to fight regular Ravens alone. They always came as a distraction or mere brute force to overpower them. Never had they attacked the people of Palmetto on their own.
"Rangers" Coach called after a few minutes of battle. "I think it might be time to test the Foxes Blast"
They all hesitated.
Allison was the first one to react. "Without Seth?"
"We were gonna have to try eventually" their blue teammate said and despite being in the middle of a fight, Allison stared at him as if considering whether to protest his words or not.
Eventually though, she sighed. "Fine. Okay. Let's do this"
They all waited on Neil.
They hadn't dared use any of their combined attacks since Seth's death, nor the Foxes Blast or the Fox Cannon, and Neil could tell they were all scared to do it. Either the combined attack didn't work at all and it just served to prove how much disadvantage they had against the Ravens, or it did work and then it would seem like they never needed Seth or the Blanford Fox to begin with. Neil knew they were all worried about the Blast not working, but he could tell they were terrified about it working just fine.
Try.
I know.
"Alright" he said. "Follow my lead"
The Rangers pounded on the dark creatures a few more times before gathering around Neil and taking out their blasters. They pointed them at the sky.
"Foxes Blast!" and Neil knew it wasn't going to work. "Now!"
They aimed the blasters down at the Ravens and fired, and though the creatures did screech and die, exploding in a small show of sparks, the Rangers stared at their weapons in disappointment.
"That's not gonna work on a monster, or a perfect Raven" Matt stated what they were all thinking and Neil holstered his weapon.
The Foxes Blast had been weak. Neil hadn't even seen the colored energy beams connecting their weapons to the sky. Yes, the current threat had been dealt with but Matt was right. Such a weak attack would do nothing against a bigger enemy.
"Patience, Rangers. You will get there again"
When the other three put their weapons away as well, they started walking back to the forest.
But it wasn't even five minutes after the fight when Coach made them halt. "Rangers, wait. There's an alert popping up"
Neil's body sagged. "Another one?"
"Another pair of Ravens, down by the beach"
Kevin cocked his head. "What are they playing at?"
"No time to wonder. You have to go there now"
Tired.
Neil tried to reassure his Fox that they'd be done with this soon, but he wasn't so sure himself and seeing as the day had only just begun, he didn't hold that much hope at all.
"The sooner we get there, the sooner it's done. Come on" he said to both the Fox anyway, and to the team.
When they got there, the situation was the same. Two regular Ravens were scaring people off and occasionally hurting them when they happened to run too close to them. Neil really didn't get it. Regular Ravens never tasted anybody, that was the perfect soldiers' job, and Riko's. So why send only regular Ravens if it wasn't for luring the Rangers in? Were they being lured right now? Were they walking into a trap?
"Coach" he called. "Do you see any other Ravens on the monitors? Any monsters?"
"Nothing" he replied, confusion evident in is voice as well. "It's just the two"
"Well, I don't understand" Kevin said.
"We don't need to understand. We just need to kill them" Allison replied.
"I don't think it's that simple"
"I think we don't have time to figure it out now"
And yes, that sounded more like them.
"I think I could use my employees back at the Court so quit stalling and start punching"
"Sorry Coach" both Allison and Kevin said in unison.
Neil took a step forward. "Ready, Rangers?"
"Ready!"
So they marched on.
The battle was easy, just like before and, just like before, they tried to use the Foxes Blast. This time it took two different shots to finish the Ravens off but eventually they succeeded. Despite how quickly they disposed of the creatures, by the time they circled back and reached the hidden entrance in the forest, Neil was panting like he'd ran an entire marathon. His Fox was panting as well.
They made it inside and into the Command Centre in time for Coach to very purposefully shove them down the stairs. "The kids are waiting"
"I don't work with the kids"
"I'm sure you'll have lots of stuff to clean"
Neil grumbled and followed the rest of the team down to the youth centre.
"Busy day?" Neil turned around to find Andrew perched on the threshold of the gym door. For once, the place was completely empty and Neil had poured himself into polishing every surface clean to keep his thoughts from wandering off. He did not appreciate the interruption.
"Hm"
"I heard there was a big new Raven in town" the blond commented offhandedly, somehow not surprising Neil by being the only one willing to talk about the Raven business during work hours. "Everyone alright?"
The question shouldn't have been unexpected, considering the reason why their deal had been made in the first place, but it made Neil frown in surprise anyway. "What do you care?"
"I'm gonna take that as a yes"
"Take it whatever way you want"
Neil went back to dusting off the weight machines, turning his back to Andrew and not necessarily waiting for a response.
"You know…" he got one anyway. "I can't help but feel a little aggressiveness coming from you"
"Hadn't noticed"
After a beat, the blond spoke again. "What's your deal?"
"No" Neil replied, turning around to stare at him. "What is your deal. Are you on drugs or something?"
"Not at the moment, no. Used to be, but not anymore" Andrew answered with a shrug, shocking Neil slightly but not enough to ask about it. "Why?"
"Gee, Andrew, I don't know. Maybe because sometimes you talk to me, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you can't even stand me around and sometimes you like me enough to never shut up"
When the blond broke out of his usually stoic expression to let out half a snort, Neil knew he'd been stupid for ever bringing this up. "I don't like you. I dislike you. Most of the time the mere sight of you makes me wanna carve my eyes out, or commit murder. Your murder. It really just depends on the day"
"Well, good for you" Neil replied, turning to head to his cart and switch the dust rag for the broom.
"But don't worry, that's only like 90% of the time"
"Good to know" he said, using that curt tone of voice again.
Neil half expected to see Andrew turning on his heels and leaving him to his tempered little tantrum, not that the redhead thought he wasn't completely justified in it, but the blond remained where he was. During the whole conversation, the other boy hadn't even shifted from his position by the door. He was leaning sideways against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest and unexpressive hazel eyes tracking his every move. The sight of him didn't really match the uncharacteristic light tone of voice he was using today, but Neil figured it was just another proof that Andrew was as unreliable as his mood swings.
When an entire minute passed and Andrew wouldn't stop looking at him sweeping the floor of the gym, the redhead sighed. "What about the other 10?"
It was as if Andrew had been waiting for him to ask. "You amuse me so I indulge you"
"You seem chatty enough right now so you must be on your 'I tolerate you' 10%"
"Indulge you, not tolerate you. I never tolerate you"
Right. "Well, unless this has something to do with my lost mother, I've got work to do. And so do you"
Petty, Red hummed inside him.
He asked for it.
Andrew straightened away from the wall. "Alright, I get it. No pissing off the rabbit today"
"Don't call me that"
"Don't act like one" Neil didn't even understand what the rabbit reference had to do with anything, but he guessed he had already established that there was no understanding how Andrew's brain worked.
"I'm gonna go clean the bathrooms. You can have the gym" he said in another strike of childish pettiness before taking his broom and cleaning cart with him towards the exit.
"Okay" the blond replied, barely moving to give Neil enough space to walk through the door.
"Okay" Neil parroted, purposefully bumping the cart into him on his way out.
Andrew, the inmature young adult that he was proving himself to be just had to have the last word.
"O-kay"
And then Neil wasn't able to stop thinking about how annoying Andrew was until it was time to go to lunch.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
At least his encounter with Andrew had kept him from thinking about anything else until he finished his morning shift and it was time to go get lunch.
He ran into Matt coming out of the sport material's room after he parked his cleaning cart in the storage room and the broader boy talked him into having lunch together.
Once their trays were filled, they rendezvoused with the girls at the staff table.
"Fuck, I wanna sleep" Neil grumbled as he sat down.
Matt shook his head. "Fuck sleep. I want to eat"
It wasn't every day that he chose to eat with Allison's crew during lunch rush hour, usually preferring how much more silent eating with Aaron, Nicky and Kevin was, but he didn't mind the girls' chatter that much today, or Matt's enthusiastic opinions. Today he was all about welcoming the distractions.
"Where's Allison?" he asked, taking the first bite of glorious lasagna. Maybe that's how famished he was, but even lukewarm and greasy, the lasagna was to die for.
"She's at the front desk" Renee answered. "We have to take turns eating now because the desk can't be left unattended. I'll cover for her tomorrow"
Neil nodded and didn't ask any more about it. With Seth gone, Renee had to step in and help Allison with all the protocol and organization stuff she and Seth used to do together. Once, Neil himself had to explain to a new kid how the Foxhole Court operated because Allison had been busy taking a call from a potential new benefactor. It was a sore subject for everyone, of course, so no one really mentioned anything about it as they shared Seth's tasks between them.
Neil fought a yawn and washed another bite of lasagna down with water.
If he thought about it, he guessed the Foxhole Court was now understaffed enough to maybe need to hire a new employee. They were looking for people before Neil landed on their doorstep to fill in as a janitor so he guessed they could look for someone else now to help Allison manage her tasks. Of course, even he knew it was way too soon to hire a replacement for Seth, but maybe they were going to have to eventually.
But since today's goal was precisely not to think about his million unresolved problems, he left the matter for la—
Their communicators went off.
"Oh for fucks sake!" Matt shouted, frustratingly dropping his fork and very nearly smashing his communicator into the remnants of his lasagna.
"Matt, shhh!" Dan chastised him when his colorful outburst brought the attention of the nearest table. Neil couldn't really blame him. He would even let out his own reproachful vocabulary if he wasn't staring longingly at the rest of his lasagna. He hadn't even eaten half of it.
Hungry.
You don't even eat, Neil retorted back to the Fox but Red wasn't having it.
You do.
Instead of trying to understand the notion of his Fox eating through him, Neil regretfully put his fork down and stood up from the table.
"Come on, man"
Dan patted Matt's shoulder as the three of them went into the kitchen and up into the Command Centre. Renee went to relieve Allison from her desk duties.
When they reached the second floor, the monitors were all beeping like crazy.
"The hell is going on today?" Kevin asked when he appeared at the top of the stairs a few seconds after them, Allison not far behind.
Dan ran to the main computer and began doing her magic. "Those are multiple Raven alerts and they're coming from all over the city"
"How multiple are we talking about?" Kevin asked.
"Three— no, four! Four different attacks"
"Where?" Allison asked next.
Dan worked her fingers over the keyboard and the four blinking dots became images of the actual sites. Neil leaned forward over Dan's shoulders and stared in disbelief at the screens. His heart was already threatening to beat wildly out of his chest.
"Those aren't regular Ravens" he stated and finally let a few curses break free when one of the four attackers turned out to be a new monster.
"We have to fight the three perfect Ravens? We're screwed" Matt stated unnecessarily. "Definitely, totally screwed"
"We're not screwed" Neil countered, not because he necessarily believed that but because he felt it was his duty to keep the team's spirits up in the face of certain death.
"Where's Coach?" Kevin asked, worrying the crook of his nose.
"He was in a phone meeting"
A quick silence followed Dan's reply before Kevin tapped into his inner bosy self and began handing out tasks. "Okay, okay. We have to do something so, each of us pick a scene and we'll spread out to cover them all"
Their other two teammates were already in motion before Kevin even finished talking, heading over to their morphing spot and getting into position. But Neil stood rooted to the spot.
"Hold on" he said, stopping Kevin from getting into morphing position as well. "You wanna fight them separately?"
Kevin frowned like he wasn't expecting Neil to question his plan. "We have to cover every site"
"But we can't even handle two perfect Ravens when we're all together and you're saying we should go one on one?"
"What else do you suggest we do?"
Neil looked pointedly at everyone as he replied. "We go against them one by one, together, until we deal with them all"
The others remained silent, but Kevin shook his head. "That could take hours. We can't leave those people unprotected"
"And what about us?"
"It's our job to protect them"
"So is protecting ourselves. If we go out there like this, we're gonna get killed!"
"Think about the targets!"
"I rather think about us!" Neil shouted back, his frustration building quickly enough. "Don't you see it? They're attacking separately for a reason. We're gonna get crushed"
This time it was Allison who spoke. "Neil, the safety of the targets always comes first"
"And what good are we to them if we're dead? Besides, who's gonna willingly go against Engle alone? He's too strong"
Kevin stepped back into his morphin spot next to Allison. "I will"
"Then Muldani's mine!"
"I guess I can take on the monster" Matt added to Neil's dismay.
"Are you serious?"
Allison reigned in her feral excitement about a one on one with General Muldani long enough to put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Neil, we really can't leave those people at the mercy of the Ravens. They're already tasting them and we absolutely cannot let them find a new target. We'll be too late if we go one by one"
Neil considered his teammates. They all looked equal times worried and determined.
If there was something Neil had always frowned upon but secretly admired, it was the way his teammates willingly put themselves at risk just for the sake of others. How they never failed to get back up and ask for more even when beaten to the pulp by their enemies. They had done that for Neil the very first day they met him, without knowing who he was or who he would be to them later on. They were all selfless, which in turn made them reckless. And it wasn't that he was scared of doing the same, it was that he didn't want to die. He didn't want anyone else to die.
But he could also see that there was no changing anyone's mind, so he roughly pulled the hair at the top of his head for a second before letting out a worried sigh. "Fine. I'll take on Mureau"
Danger.
"Great" Kevin stated. "Now that that's settled, let's go" of all the moments Kevin could've chosen to reclaim some of his leadership back, he had to go and choose the one where they were all about to die.
Regretfully, Neil fell in line with them.
Alone.
He knew where Red was getting at, but he couldn't do anything about it.
Wrong.
Neil tuned the Fox out as Kevin took a step forward.
"It's morphing time!" the other boy called and Neil felt an uncomfortable pull on his chest. He didn't think this would work out either.
Stop.
Red, I can't stop them.
Stop.
There's nothing I can do.
Leader.
Not today.
"Power Rangers, Foxhole Force. Ha!"
Something wasn't entirely right when he morphed and he didn't think it had anything to do with the Fox not wanting the Rangers to go out there alone. Instead of feeling energized by the encompasing aura of the Fox, Neil's body felt heavy and dragged down. By the time the endless red background gave way to the Command Centre again, the red suit didn't feel like a second skin on his body but a heavy burden to bear.
Are you okay?, he asked with a frown and a hand on his chest.
Tired.
We can do this, Neil encouraged not entirely able to hide his worry while Dan opened the panel door for them, we have to do this.
Together.
You and me.
Together.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Neil couldn't stop thinking about Red's urgent warning. Danger. Wrong. Stop. The Rangers had each taken off their own way right after stepping out of the hidden tunnel and now Neil was running alone through the forest intent on finding Lieutenant Mureau.
"Where am I going, Dan?" he asked inside his helmet.
"You're heading downtown. Mureau is in St. Agnes plaza"
The redhead tapped into the map function of his helmet and simply followed the path towards the Raven Lieutenant.
As he ran, he tried to settle his nerves and prepare for what was coming, he also tried to plan the best possible course of action. The guys had been clear about one thing: the target's safety always came first, so he needed to keep Mureau's attention away from the people and into himself. That meant heading straight on for battle and hopefully lure the Raven away from the crowds. With a little luck, Neil wouldn't die before the plaza was evacuated.
He could go in guns blazing, shooting the fox blaster until Mureau went blind from it, or he could start out the battle with some hand on hand combat and leave the show of sparks for when things got complicated. He could also drop in by surprise or he could announce himself from farther away.
Nearing the plaza, an image of himself doing those weird tai chi movements while shouting out to the world that he was the Red Power Ranger made him cringe and shake his head to dispel such an embarrassing scenario from his mind. He was sure he didn't want to embarrass himself like that.
Shame?
Red sent out a cold wave of feelings that had him shivering on the run.
I'm not ashamed of you, Neil thought back, hoping he hadn't managed to offend his Fox right before going into battle. It's just that, come on, that's completely unnecessary.
Red didn't answer anything back but he switched from cold to warm by the time Neil made it to the scene, so he took it to mean everything was okay between them.
Knowing he'd rather face a hundred monsters than announcing himself to the world, he decided to drop in on Mureau as the Raven was about to taste someone new.
The Lieutenant looked like a freaking vampire, hand bloody while he sucked on his talons tasting his victims blood. It was downright creepy, so the first thing he did was kick Mureau's hand away from his face and land between him and the victim.
Mureau hissed, but Neil didn't think he'd hurt his hand at all.
"I was beginning to think you would not show up" the Lieutenant, who had already transformed into his big ass Raven self, forgot all about his victims and stood up against Neil.
"And miss the pleasure of your hideous company?"
"Where is the rest of you entourage?"
"You know damn well where" Neil replied with a murderous tone of voice . The Raven wasn't fazed though and he let out half a smirk.
"I was looking for an opportunity to fight you alone, Red Ranger. You are annoying"
Neil snorted. "You clearly haven't listened to the sound of your own voice"
He was trying to keep Mureau occupied without engaging in battle so soon, giving everyone in the plaza enough time to slip through. There were no other Ravens, just Mureau, so Neil didn't have to worry about protecting them from multiple enemies at once.
"You are going to die today. All of you" the Lieutenant continued, so Neil kept up his chatter.
"Maybe. Maybe not"
"You don't seem worried" the Raven commented with a frown, which only served to prove how good of an actor he was turning out to be. "Have you forgotten this morning?"
"How could I? That's another ugly face to keep track off"
"You will not be so insolent when I am done with you"
"Does that mean I'm gonna be alive to not be insolent or...?"
"Argh!"
Neil guessed he'd gotten away with it long enough.
Antagonizing a perfect Raven right before battling him was probably not the best choice to make, but Neil figured if he was really going to die, he could at least piss off the Raven who killed him.
"Red Staff!" the weapon materialized in his hand just in time to prevent Mureau from slashing at his chest. "Hey! Keep the bloody hand away from the suit or you're washing the stains"
"Argh!" the Raven charged again, enraged by Neil's attitude. The redhead had to admit that as terrifying as goading the Ravens on was, it was also freaking hilarious. He could understand why everyone else did it.
Careful.
Neil countered the Lieutenant slashes hoping he was doing enough damage to his wrists for the Raven to stop using them, but no such luck. The attacks kept coming, each one faster than the last until eventually the talons caught him on the shoulder. Neil gasped and jumped back out of range.
"If this is all you got" Mureau started. "Then this will be over sooner than expected"
"I don't think so"
Neil disengaged his weapon in half and went all out on the Raven, mixing in his parallel strikes with round house kicks and backward elbows. As always, Red was feeding him all this information and while he continued to roll in and out of reach of the Raven, Neil gave himself entirely to the Fox.
Maybe we can beat him, Red!
But the Fox didn't acknowledge him beyond a renewed flow of information to his brain.
He was so focused on the battle that he didn't notice how fast he was running out of air.
Neil let out an energized yell as he charged Mureau again, pulling energy from his Fox to land a powerful strike, drawing a double lined X over Mureau's front and sending him crashing to the ground with a painful grunt.
Taking advantage of the Lieutenant's momentary fall, he tapped the side of his helmet.
"Dan, how's everyone doing?" he'd been able to hear bits and pieces of his teammates own battles but nothing to indicate which way the winning scale was tipping. He figured that as long as he didn't hear loud cries of pain, then things were under control. But it wasn't like he could focus much on the others while dealing with a perfect Raven himself, which was the main reason he hadn't wanted the team to fight separately in the first place. He just hoped things didn't take a turn for the worst.
He kept an eye on a struggling Lieutenant Mureau as Dan replied. "Amm, not bad. Not good either, I guess. But you're doing great!"
Neil was feeling pretty proud of himself. Maybe if he hurt Mureau enough that he couldn't go looking for more targets, he would be able to go help the others.
That was until the Raven got back up and summoned his black sword.
"You have skills, I will admit" he said, pointing the sword at Neil. "But alone, you aren't enough to defeat me"
Neil put his weapon back together and tightened his grip on the staff. "And you, like to talk to much"
The Raven charged and so did Neil. Their weapons sparked in mid-air and Neil found himself engaged in a battle he knew he was destined to lose. Mureau's swordfighting skills way surpassed his own and though he tapped into every bit of knowledge the Fox had to give, his movements were just slower and simpler. His arms soon grew heavy and just blocking the sword strikes became a challenging task, so he didn't have much room to deliver his own strikes. In a matter of minutes, he was taking more sword slashes than he could give and his body felt heavy and raw.
This was not going to end well.
Then the Raven pointed his sword at the sky and Neil cursed for the hundredth time that day.
"HA!"
He barely escaped it. Right before the lightning could hit him, Neil rolled out of the way and came up swinging, slashing at the Raven with the red staff only for it to be countered and nearly ripped off his hands.
"HA!"
"Damn it!" Neil rolled again and this time broke out into goosebumps at the static created by the lightning attack. He sought refugee behind a wooden bench and struggled to take in a breath. When had he started heaving so much?
"Hiding, Ranger?"
Neil drew his blaster but didn't have enough oxygen to reply. He broke cover to fire a few shots but had to quickly roll away when a lightning beam fried his wooden hideout.
As before, he pulled on the Fox's energy and did a quick combination of slashes with the staff, shots with the blaster and then a well placed kick, but the most he did was make the Raven stumble before regaining his ground.
He frowned at the weakness behind his attack.
Tired.
It wasn't until Red practically spelled it out for him that he realized that the reason he'd felt so heavy since the moment he morphed was because his Fox wasn't just tired but exhausted. It had been such a busy day. First the perfect Raven in the middle of the night, then the constant alerts throughout the morning. The Ravens had been slowly tiring up the Foxes so they could later get them alone and finish them off.
This is only the beginning, Captain Engle had said. How had they not seen this coming?
"Ugh" Neil grunted when the black sword caught him in the middle and he ended up on his hands and knees. He only had time to look up before a new lightning strike finally hit him.
"HA!"
The pain he felt was indescribable.
He flew through the air as he felt every fiber of his being exploding in electrified pain. No matter how many times he experienced this attack, each one felt as powerful and as painful as the first one.
All the oxygen got knocked out of his lungs when he landed back on the floor with a soundless shout, but the worst thing was knowing, and feeling, the agony ripping through his Fox. Red was screaming as only foxes knew how to do and he continued to writhe long after the electricity left Neil's body.
The Red Ranger panted and struggled to get back on his feet.
Hold on, he begged Red, but the Fox was nearing the end of his rope. Neil picked up his staff from the ground and holstered the blaster he'd miraculously managed to hold on to. There was smoke coming out of his suit, but he readied the staff and faced off against a smirking Mureau again.
And that's when he heard what he'd been dreading the most from their open communication channel.
A loud cry of pain.
"Who was that?" Neil shouted into his helmet, his arms straining as he blocked another one of Mureau's sword strikes. "Guys! Who was that!?"
Nobody answered him for a full minute in which he struggled to split his focus between Mureau's unrelenting advance and the background noises he could hear inside the helmet.
"It was Kevin" Coach said grimly, finally making himself known in the Command Centre. "Captain Engle is too powerful"
"We have to help him!" Allison shouted next, winded from her own fight.
"I'm fine!" Kevin protested but Neil wasn't convinced.
"We can't keep doing this!" he said between clenched teeth. Mureau's sword clipped him on the thigh and his leg buckled but he rolled out of the way and regained his feet after that. "We can't beat them alone"
"Problem, Ranger?" Lieutenant Mureau asked, cockingly raising an eyebrow. A shiver ran down Neil's spine as he remembered the last time Mureau acted like this, the day Seth was ambushed and killed.
He renewed his efforts to gain some ground against the Raven.
But then it was Allison who cursed and Neil was so distracted trying to figure out what had happened to her that he failed to dodge a swing at his arm. The whole left side of his body flared up at the burning pain before going slightly numb. He wouldn't be able to hold out much longer with his arm like that.
"Kevin! Matt! We have to fight together. They're... they're gonna kill us if— argh, if we stay like this. Allison!"
No one answered, either they were too hurt to do so or simply didn't have enough breath. He himself was having trouble keeping a straight thought with how hard it was to take a breath in and the inside of his helmet felt steamy and uncomfortably hot.
Tired.
Neil almost wanted to whine. Me too.
The red staff and the Raven sword clashed above his head.
But we have to...
A blocked strike from his left.
... hold on. And...
A downward swing.
... go to the others.
"Fucking hell!" he shouted out loud when the sword caught him in the arm again and he had to take several steps back out of range just to hold on tight to it.
Then came the sound of an explotion and the sound of another cry.
"Guys!" he asked desperately, but no one answered.
"It is time for you to die, Ranger!" Lieutenant Mureau charged at him and Neil tried to lift up his staff to counter, but his left arm was practically useless and the sword was coming down at his head and he didn't have enough strength left and the Fox was so weak Neil almost couldn't feel him and the Raven sword was inches away and there was nothing he could do and—
A black shield materialized out of nowhere just in time to stop the sword from taking Neil's head off.
The shocking surprise had him rooted to the spot until the Black Ranger pushed Mureau away and sent him flying backwards with a powerful kick to the chest.
"Arctic..." Neil whispered, still clutching at his numb arm.
"Go to them" the Black Ranger replied in that electronically modified voice of his without taking his eyes off Mureau. "I've got this"
The man gave Neil a light push to get him moving and the redhead stumbled a few steps before slowly walking away from the fight, not entirely sure he wasn't hallucinating right now. The Black Ranger had shown up. Their odds had now improved even if just minimally and Neil was free to go drag his team together so they could fight the Ravens one by one like he'd insisted on at the Command Centre.
And he was about to go do just that when Mureau's next words had him stopping in his tracks.
"I was waiting for you, Black Ranger" the Lieutenant said, not surprised or worried about the other Ranger showing up. If anything, he looked pleased and that, more than anything, had Neil's hackles raising up. "And this is something I perfected just for you"
Neil didn't like where this was going.
Mureau pointed his sword at the sky and the thunder began to roll. "HA!"
The redhead watched confused as Arctic lifted his shield to protect himself from the strike. Didn't Mureau remember the Black Ranger stopping two lightning strikes at the same time with his shield? What did he expect would hap—
When the lightning came down on the shield, so did the Black Ranger.
The powerful strike made the Ranger's knees buckle and Neil could've sworn he heard the man grunt as the impact pushed him face down into the ground. But Neil's eyes widened when the lightning spread over the Ranger to create an electrified grid from which he couldn't get out from.
"No!" the redhead watched horrified as every time the Black Ranger breathed, his body came in contact with the tight electrified net on top of him and his body spasmed at the shocks. This time he definitely heard the grunts of pain and he knew that if the Ranger spent too much time trapped under that grid, then he would probably morph out and die.
He could not let that happen.
Retracing the few steps he'd taken away, Neil tapped into the Fox's last reserve of energy and faced off once more against Lieutenant Mureau. With his team's efforts in the background and the Black Ranger's struggles merely a couple of feet away, Neil charged forward wondering how on earth he'd be able to save them all.
"What did you do to him?" he asked, still not sure how the lightning strike could trap the Black Ranger like that.
Mureau dismissed his question and lifted his sword at chest level. "You will not escape me, Red Ranger and he will not interfere again"
Neil looked at Arctic's slumped form. The other Ranger was shaking with constant electric shocks and though the black shield had been trapped along with him, it was useless against the grid holding him prisoner.
Neil raised his staff and got ready to attack. He needed to free the Black Ranger from that deadly trap. "Well, come on then!"
Perfect Raven and Red Ranger went at it again, sword and staff clashing in mid-air and sending painful spasms through Neil's shoulders.
Tired.
Neil knew his Fox couldn't take much more of this, and neither could he.
Hurt.
Hold on.
Neil drew his blaster and fired, but Mureau was fast enough to dodge and he kicked the blaster away from his hand. The redhead cursed and spun around to deliver a round house kick followed by a slash of his staff, but no matter what he tried, the Raven would counter it all. He was just too strong.
Then the next time he brought his staff down on Mureau, the Lieutenant took a hold of it instead of just blocking it and ripped it away from Neil's exhausted arms. He expected the Raven to just throw the weapon away and finish him off with the sword, but what he actually got was much, much worse.
Mureau put away his sword, the weapon blending with his feathered arm until it disappeared from sight and the Raven stood holding Neil's own weapon against him.
To Neil's horror, he lifted it and pointed it up at the sky. "What are you doing!?" he asked in shocked disbelief.
"HA!"
The only thing he was able to see before the strike reached him was that the lightning was red instead of white this time around and then it was just pain.
He screamed as the electricity ripped through his body and he was lifted several feet off the ground before slamming back into it and rolling away from both Mureau and the still trapped Black Ranger.
Neil's vision dimmed and he clutched at his chest where the lightning strike had reached him, struggling to draw in a single breath and coughing from all the smoke coming out of his suit. A suit that slowly flickered out of existence to leave him unmorphed and unprotected on the ground.
For a moment, all Neil could focus on was his own irregular breathing and the sudden silence around him. He didn't really understand why the silence was bothering him so much until Lieutenant Mureau broke it with the words he'd always been afraid to hear.
"It's you"
Neil gasped and looked up at the Raven and that's when it finally dawned on him. He'd morphed out.
He had morphed out.
Everything was silent because he didn't have a helmet on, because the Fox had been so hurt Neil's suit disappeared from around his body and Lieutenant Mureau was seeing his face because he had morphed out!
"You look different but it's you!" no, no, no. "You are number Five!"
No!
Neil's panting now had nothing to do with the lightning strike and everything to do with the perfect Raven having discovered his identity, and he began crawling away from the Raven. Not that Mureau was advancing any further, instead staying rooted to the spot while he studied Neil's exposed features.
His eyes flashed yellow. "Our King is going to love this" he said with a feral grin and then he did the most unexpected thing.
He threw Neil's red staff to the ground and ran out of sight.
Neil's heart was beating wildly inside his chest. He didn't know what Mureau was doing, he didn't know why his staff hadn't disappeared along with his suit. He didn't know how the rest of the team was faring because he couldn't hear them anymore and he didn't know where the Fox was because he couldn't feel his Fox's presence inside him at all.
But in the silence, he heard the Black Ranger's little gasps of pain every time his body came in contact with the grid so he forced himself to stop worrying about anything other than getting back on his feet and trying to help him.
With a few pained grunts himself, he dragged his exhausted body off the ground and shuffled from side to side as he made his way towards his discarded staff and then the trapped Ranger. He also took out his communicator.
"Neil? Oh my God, Neil!" Dan squealed when he called the Command Center. "Are you okay? We saw what happened"
There weren't really enough words to describe how not okay he was right now. "Mureau... Mureau saw me. He... he knows who I am. The Black... Black Ranger is trapped. I... he knows..."
"Neil, calm down" this time it was Coach.
"Arctic... I have to help him. And the others" he carefully picked up his staff, not sure how the weapon could help him free the Black Ranger but certain he had to try something while Dan and Coach tried to get him to snap out of his dazed state.
But just as he was about to reach the lightning grid, the Black Ranger shifted his head marginally to shout at him. "Watch out!"
Neil didn't even have time to turn around before a shadow fell upon him and he felt sharp talons digging into his upper arms. With a startled yell, he was lifted off the ground, the staff and communicator slipping out of his grasp and his stomach dropping to the bottom of his feet. When he looked up at the creature that had snatched him from the plaza, he paled all the way to his bones.
It was Riko.
The Raven King had flown in to take him away from the scene and even though Neil wanted to trash around to break the sharp hold, they were flying so high over the City of Palmetto that he risked falling down to his splattered demise.
So he settled for insulting the Raven until they reached their destination, wherever that may be.
"Let me go you piece of shit!"
Was Riko taking him to the infamous Nest?
"Fuck off you crazy bird!"
He hoped not.
A scream of fear was ripped out of his lungs when Riko actually let go of his arms and he fell a couple of feet before the Raven snatched one of his arms again. This time Neil was left dangling from one arm and when the Raven dug his talons into the skin of his forearm, blood started running down his arm.
Neil's stomach continued to do summersaults as Riko flew him all over the city, but eventually he recognized they were getting closer to the beach and for a moment he wondered if Riko would just drop him deep into the sea and let him him drown without having to do much of the work himself considering how tired and weak he was right now. But the Raven King veered to the left and brought Neil over to a lonely sandy surface surrounded by rocky cliffs. He flew down in a diving motion, levelling parallel to the ground at the last second and dropping Neil unceremoniously on the sand.
The redhead gasped and it took him an embarrassingly long time to find the ground under his feet with how fast the world was spinning around him. In the meantime, Riko continued to fly over him, circling him in a predatory motion before dropping heavily into the ground in front of him.
Their eyes met and when the Raven King broke out into a feral green, that's when Neil knew he was doomed.
Alone and isolated from the rest of the world, surrounded by threatening cliffs and the water of the sea, Neil was absolutely sure he was about to die.
Red?
But silence met him.
The Fox was too hurt and out of commission to even talk to him and when Neil faced off against Riko, he was painfully aware of the obvious.
He was weak.
He was exhausted.
And he was alone.
Next episode: Neil who? (Part 2)