I would like to thank LovingGinger30, Fool Arcane Kaiju, Ahkalia, NitroTheKidd88, Author196, UgunsGreka, HiroshitheHawk and WinxPossible for allowing me to use their characters. Also, NitroTheKidd88 [( *• `ω•´ )b] is my beta reader and my house stock for everyday monsters. Thanks for support guys and hope the story will be a great success and you all enjoy it.
Chapter 10 - Triple threat - Part 1
Within Zuthora's base, the alien overlord himself was burning with rage. Every plot his "generals" made to defeat the rangers had failed.
Miserably.
He was red in the face with anger, tearing apart the throne room, and whatever else dared to come his way.
"Control your anger, my liege. I am well aware that with the ranger's interferences in our plans, it is quite natural for you to be so enraged." Eliastro walked inside, daring to interrupt the most vile monster on this ship. "But, I have excellent news for you."
"What sort of news could you have as good, Eliastro? It had better be good enough to cover up for your constant failures, or you know the consequence." Zuthora threatened.
"I am very much aware, master." replied Eliastro, teeming with confidence.
Zuthora huffed, turning his full attention to his general.
"Okay. Tell me what this 'good news' is." Zuthora demanded.
"Of course. Your forces had at last found the three Devil Stones, and using its power, I raised this general to great heights. I call forth… Skulker!" Eliastro announced.
As the announcement was made, the remaining members within the room turned towards the main door, curious to know who Eliastro was addressing with so much gratitude. From the main door arrived a massive skeletal creature, adorned in worn-out, yet strong rusted black armor, along with a tattered red cape. A massive broadsword and shield hung over his backside. The look on his face was terrifying enough, and what more- his entire body seemed to glow with an eerie green aura.
He came towards Zuthora and bowed before him, like a knight of old. "Milord, we have returned to serve you, and aid you within this new quest." Skulker informed. His voice was deep and scary, echoing as if more than one person was speaking at the same time.
"What do you mean, returned?" Zuthora asked, confused- certain he had never met this monster before. "And Eliastro- what does this have to do with the 'good news' you were talking about?"
"Master, Skulker is the conglomerate of all of the deceased soldiers who had served you as members of your old forces. However, they were felled by the Defender Beasts of that time. But now, since all of them have been merged together, Skulker is legions more powerful, deadlier, and more fearsome than any other monster!" boasted Eliastro.
"Hm… This seems good, but what now? What plan do we have to end the rebellion of those annoying brats that call themselves Power Rangers?!" demanded the fed-up king of the Zuthorean forces.
"Milord, if I may." Skulker interrupted, with a grin. "I have a plan that will destroy all seven of those pesky rangers at the same time.
"Eh? And what plan is this?" asked Zuthora, out of curiosity.
"The plan to disintegrate and destroy." said Skulker, with a malicious smirk.
Meanwhile, standing at the entrance gates of Majestic High stood a 5'9" girl with a defined figure, dressed in dark colors, denim, and purple. She didn't hesitate as she entered the building, heading towards the principal's office.
As she passed by the soccer field, however, a small group of the players stared at her.
"Who's that girl?" asked one of the boys. He seemed to be their "leader", sticking out due to his well-groomed blonde hair.
"I don't think I've seen her before…" uttered another boy.
"Well…" said another, with a soccer ball in his hands. "Let's have some fun with the newbie."
The four of them grinned.
The same boy dropped the ball in his hands, and purposely kicked it towards the girl. To their surprise, the girl stopped the ball in mid-air, with nothing but her leg.
She turned towards the football field with a deadly glare- clearly revealing the faded scar on the girl's left cheek.
"Well, it looks like this chick has some guts, eh?" the golden-haired boy asked. Him and the rest of his posse began approaching the girl- with cocky looks on their faces. "But this is a boy's game, babe. You should go join cheerleading and root for me when I kick that ball in, hot stuff." He added, with a wink.
The rest of the boys snickered, teasingly.
"...Seems you're one of those idiots who are too orthodox." the girl replied. Her voice was calm, yet intimidating- a voice that sends chills down your spine. "The only way to prove how wrong you are is to defeat you."
"Oh?" asked the golden-haired boy, mockingly once again. "And how will you do that?"
The girl kicked the ball into her hands, and glared at them with electric blue eyes.
"I'll kick your ass in soccer. To make it more interesting- you four against me."
"Baby, I think you're out of your mind." said the boy, dumbfounded. Quickly, though, his shocked expression turned arrogant. "Alright, fine, I accept. I've put a girl in her place before. First to score wins."
"Tch… You'll regret it." the girl said, entering the field and taking off her jacket. She tossed it haphazardly to the sidelines, revealing the two tattoos on her arms. The first was green and red, decorated with vines and roses- with the single phrase "Beauty".
The second was of chains and barbed wire- with the sole phrase "Deadly".
She dropped the ball as she stepped into the field, and quickly began to dribble, making her way to the goal. The four boys were positioned to defend along the way.
The golden-haired boy came in quickly to stop her, but she began to slide the ball towards the left. The boy, seeing this movement, followed the ball's direction, but with a sudden switch, the girl slowly kicked it outside her legs to the right, dribbling past the first man in his path to the goal.
Two other boys ran up to stop her- but the girl easily passed through them, as well. She was now rushing towards the goal, set on the prize, but with three boys on her tail.
A smirk formed on her face.
She kicked the ball a bit hard, and picked up her pace to pass before the boys, back facing them. She punted the ball into the air, and turned quickly to avoid the boys- whose attention was focused on the ball alone.
The girl leapt up, and kicked the ball while it was still in the air. Like a shooting star, it flew into the goal.
"Well, looks like you got your answer." the girl huffed, approaching the exhausted boys. A deadly glare returned to her face, as she picked up her jacket. "Blake. Blake Noxic. Never forget my name. It'll be a reminder to never mess with me again."
With that, Blake left the field, and headed towards the principal's office once again.
'Great.' she thought, exasperated. 'I suppose this is how my first day of college is going to start.'
James sat by himself on a bench at the park. There was plenty going through his mind- regarding his personal life and relationships. He needed some time alone- to at least organize these thoughts.
Firstly, his mother and grandfather. James knew that the gap between himself and his mother was mainly due to his own behavior. But, at the same time, who was to blame when his mom was too busy with her job, and himself being busy in his studies? The only other reason he could think of would be the secret his grandmother told him and Leon with her dying breath… But, he didn't think that could apply to his mother.
He sighed, as his thought process shifted to his grandfather. The very first thing that came to mind with their relationship was a simple question: 'what's his problem with me?' His grandfather had always been hard on him. He constantly gave him the evil eye, suspecting him as if he was some sort of sinner. Meanwhile, his relationship with Leon was always happy-go-lucky.
Coming forwards to the present, he thought about Tabitha. He couldn't neglect the almost sibling-like feeling and instinct that came out when they spent time together. At times, he began to slowly connect the dots- maybe she was the one he was searching for...
Lastly, there was Blaise. A small smile formed on his face when his teammate came to mind. He was such a dork. His constant stupid actions and vile nature… The orange ranger was such a tryhard. It was charming- no, adorable, even...
…
… 'Wait… N-no, it can't be that…'
Face red, James tried to get rid of the thoughts coming to mind.
Around the same time, the other rangers were in C3, doing their daily training. Roxy and Twyla had chosen to spar against each other, while Tabitha was helping Eldon with honing his weapon skills. As for Blaise and Leon, they faced each other.
Prince Alveno and Merlin kept a close eye on their matches. Alveno was happy to see the progress each ranger was showing. His thoughts moved to the ways the rangers had developed on their own.
Roxy had improved greatly in hand-to-hand combat, and was starting to show less dependence on her weapon.
Twyla had become more agile, and more confident than she was prior to joining the team.
Tabitha seemed to be getting adjusted to working in a team, and trusting in others.
Blaise was beginning to learn how to curb his recklessness and anger. Or, rather, channel it- becoming the team's powerhouse.
As for Leon, his leadership skills and on the spot decision-making had developed far quicker than the Prince had thought. He was amazed- this trait had reminded him of both his father and brother. In fact, this very same quality prevailed through his family line, since his ancestor fought alongside the great phoenix.
Eldon was doing well, despite being so new to the team. Though Alveno didn't have much data on his progress, the Crimson Ranger was adjusting well.
As for James, Alveno was happy that he was giving himself time to face the other issues going on in his life.
"Hey, where's James? Why isn't he here for practice?" asked Blaise.
"He wanted to have some time to himself." Prince Alveno replied. "He told me that there are many things he wants to think over. So, I gave him a day off."
"Eh? Why?! Leon! What's the matter with him? Has he told you anything?" Blaise began getting an uneasy feeling- hearing about James being in some kind of trouble.
"This is the first time I've heard of it." Leon answered, calmly. "He hasn't mentioned anything like this before…"
"The hell kind of brother are you, then?!" a wave of anger overcame the Orange ranger. "You don't have a goddamn clue what your younger brother's going through! What if it's serious?! You wanna continue this sparring lesson outside?!"
"Calm down, Blaise. It's not his fault." Twyla, unexpectedly, came to the Red ranger's defense. "Besides, James is mature enough to tackle these problems on his own. You don't have to worry."
"Oh come on! We haven't seen the guy in ages, and he's facing a serious problem! Ain't it our responsibility- as his friends to help him out?!" Blaise yelled, trying to prove his point.
"Correction." Tabitha smirked. "All of us, including you, had met up with him during lunch- making it only a few hours ago since we last saw him. And besides, don't you sit next to him? In all of your classes?"
Eldon, Roxy, and even Twyla tried to stifle back their laughter, as Tabitha riled Blaise up yet again. Between James and Tabi, it was almost a competition of who could get 1the Orange ranger pissed the fastest. The difference, though, was that James found it adorable, while Tabitha did it to keep their competitive spirits burning against each other.
"Besides, it'll be good if we just give the guy some space." Eldon tried to convince him.
"And if the problem persists, we'll help him find a solution." Roxy assured him.
"W-well… No. No!" Blaise retaliated, face red. "I'd rather go look for him, since the rest of you don't wanna take action!" He looked ready to bolt out of C3.
"Wow… I never thought that you, of all people would be a caring, overprotective boyfriend." Tabitha sighed- bluntly.
Immediately, Blaise's embarrassed expression shifted to a scowl of burning rage.
"He is not my boyfriend, get that in your thick skull, girl! And never, ever again dare pin me a homo!" Blaise threatened- getting awfully close to Tabi- slamming his fist against the nearby wall.
"Not again…" Roxy sighed, dejectedly.
Quickly, the other rangers worked to settle down the dispute between the two.
"Wanna fight me, Little Mermaid?! You really wanna mess with me?!"
"If you're not dating him, why are you getting so defensive? Sounds pretty suspicious..."
"Show me under the sea! Do it! Fight me, come on!"
"Eldon, hold him back!"
Though Leon would want to calm the boiling conflict, Blaise's sudden concern made him think about his twin brother. What exactly was wrong..?
It was then that the alarm went off.
Around the same time, Lexi was taking a walk down some fields, taking a break from her work. A strange feeling of dread was within her- as if something big and bad would happen.
And soon, at that.
"Alexandra…"
A familiar voice made her jump out of shock.
"Ah… Aloora…" Lexi turned to face the spirit maiden. "When will you stop scaring the crap out of me..?"
"Alexandra, I am getting three very strong energy readings. But the energy signatures did not says whether they are good or are foul. I feel as though a great evil has been awakened…" the spirit mused.
"I've been getting a bad feeling, too…" Lexi replied. Her expression turned worried, as the feeling intensified.
"...But, we can pull through, right..?"
The spirit sighed, looking off into the distance.
"I can only hope so…"
Barely a few minutes after they left C3, the rangers returned- save the green ranger. Prince Alveno and Merlin stared up at the central screen, the color of their faces pale with fear.
"There wasn't anything at the park…" Eldon mumbled, almost disappointed. "Must've been a dud…"
"I didn't get it… Why now, of all times, would no one come..?" Twyla questioned.
"Waste of my time…" Blaise scoffed. Though, a smirk formed on his face. "I miss smashing them to bits."
"Not as much as I do." Tabitha said, agreeing. Though, she quickly turned to the more concerned expressions of her remaining teammates. "Nevertheless, I agree with Twyla. Something's definitely up.
"Could it be… By the time we got there, they already got what they wanted…?" Asked Roxy.
"...That could be it." Leon nodded, approaching the Prince and his assistant. "Do you guys have any ide-"
"...No way…"
The rangers turned to their leader at his sudden change in tone. They all hurried towards the trio, showing the clip on screen.
"...You're sh!tting me…" Blaise croaked.
The scene proudly broadcasted a handful of gobots grappling onto their missing second-in-command, James, and teleporting off to somewhere unknown.
Author's Note: Here we go with this new chapter arc. There are many twists and turns just waiting to come. Plus the chapter raised many questions to be answered. So, what do you think of the story? What plan does Skulker have to eliminate the rangers? What are the three energy waves Aloora was talking about? Who is James looking for? And why did Zuthora's forces kidnap James?
Next Chapter - Triple Threat - Part 2