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 11- Triple Threat - The Threat Evolves!
Previously on Defender Beasts…
Eliastro had revived Skulker, a powerful general with the strength of an army of fallen demons. Together, they made a vile plan to destroy the rangers from the inside out.
While James complentated the many situations in his life, the remaining rangers trained at C3. Just when it seemed as though a conflict would break out between them, however, a monster attack occurred, and the rangers rushed to the scene.
All the while, Lexi was getting a bad feeling about what was happening. Aloora informed her that this "feeling" was right. The spirit was detecting negative energy readings.
The rangers shortly returned to C3, confused, as the spot of attack was completely empty. Slowly, they began to think that Zuthora's forces already got whatever they were searching for.
Their worst fears were confirmed, however, as they approached the main screen to a horrible sight- James had been kidnapped by Zuthora's forces.
Now, the continuation!
The rangers each had their own reactions to the scene that played- but none of them were particularly well-off from it.
Leon was hit especially hard- as his doubts regarding his relationship with his brother came to surface. Perhaps he wasn't as good an older brother as he thought- not only had James not confide in him about his problems, but he had also been kidnapped to who knew where. He was helpless to assist then, and just as helpless now.
Twyla felt the pain that her leader was going through. To at least alleviate that burden, she approached to console him. Of course, this wasn't denying that she wasn't hurt by this, as well...
Blaise was visibly quaking in rage. He knew that he was far too angered to stay around other people. Without a word, he rushed out of C3. Roxy took note of this, and followed after her teammate.
On the other hand, Tabitha's eyes filled with tears. It had been years since she last cried- and at last, tears were spilling over.
Eldon, silently, had his own dilemma. Should he stay, and console his friends, or go after his sister? Leon and James were close enough to him- they were like brothers. But, at the same time, Roxy was his sister by blood, and being around Blaise, of all people…
Eventually, Eldon gave in, staying to comfort Leon. He was certain that Roxy could handle it.
It was almost a celebration, within Zuthora's warship. For the first time in a long time, their plans were going right. Zuthora's three generals, along with the lord himself, discussed their malicious plan with great glee.
Between all who were there, however, Arustar seemed to be the least enthusiastic about the news- but could at least mask it.
"Fantastic acclaim on your success, Lord Eliastro." Skulker congratulated. The undead monster leaned against his greatsword, ecstatic about their progress. "One inquiry, however. Why choose the Garuda heir, out of all of the Great Beasts? Why not the Manticore who can be a more challenge because of his wild nature, or perhaps the leader Phoenix?"
"I'm so glad you asked." replied Eliastro, with a grin. "The best way to destroy a group is to take away their connecting link. The Green Ranger is the one who holds their fragile bonds together."
"What's your point?" asked Arustar, still confused. "This can't be your only reason for kidnapping him, can it?"
"Well, allow me to explain. To the Blue and Crimson Rangers, the Green Ranger is a faux brother. To the Red Ranger, he is a brother by birth. To the Black and Yellow Rangers, a close and trusted confidant. And to the Orange Ranger- their relationship is strong enough to be taboo. In short- with him out of the picture, the rest of the team is imbalanced, making it easy to defeat him." Eliastro answered. "And, I suppose you're right. There is something I want to find out through the Green Ranger…"
"Fantastic!" said Zuthora- jovial to see their plans moving in the right direction. "Now, what's the next part of your plan?"
Skulker grinned, turning to the main doors of Zuthora's throne room, raising a bony hand. "Wolftank! Your presence is required!"
From the room, mechanical-sounding howls echoed, filling the room with an air of curiosity. Three shadows darted across the room, jumping from wall to wall. The only thing that they could catch from the figures was the glow of red, blue, and green eyes.
Amidst the display, a wolfish creature entered the room- appearing more human than wolf. He was donned in indigo-colored robes, with a belt of a strange design.
"My liege." the figure said, with a sharp-toothed grin. With a snap of his fingers, another set of howls sounded. From the shadows, three mechanical werewolves dropped down behind their alpha. Each of the mechanical beasts had different colored fur- red, blue, and green; the same as their eyes. Each of them were donned in white chestplates, with the same strangely designed belts.
All four of them bowed before the three generals, in the same knightley manner that Skulker had before.
"We are ready to serve you." said the most humanoid one- "Wolftank".
"I hope you're more than just a showman." Zuthora huffed. "Do as we planned- and eradicate them all."
From the overlord's tone, it sounded much more like a threat, if anything. Wolftank nodded, and his mechanical betas lept into the shadows once more.
Fueled on pure rage, Blaise had stumbled back to the park where James was kidnapped. It was like he was seeing red- he hadn't been this pissed off since…
...He growled, and leapt up- grabbing a branch of a nearby tree. He tore it off with ease, despite its weight. With a vicious yell, he punched the bark of the tree- set on rampaging his feeling out.
Roxy had reached this same location a few minutes later. By the time she arrived, Blaise had kicked over a garbage can, bludgeoning it with the broken branch.
Roxy was considerably concerned to see the way the orange ranger was acting. Yes, she had seen Blaise angry many times before- but never to this extent. Besides, from what her teammates told her, Blaise was mostly calm when Leon, Tabitha, and herself were kidnapped. Here, it was the exact opposite.
She was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard another loud yell from her teammate. A pit of dread formed within her, at the very thought of being the one to calm him down.
Instead, Roxy sat at a bench a fair distance away, trying to think of a way to handle this situation.
She huffed, in frustration. By this point, Roxy was more than aware of Eliastro's cunning nature. Based on this relapse, she could easily tell why Zuthora's general picked James, out of everyone else.
Even then, she was unable to shake the feeling that something worse was coming soon enough...
"Looks like something's bothering you." said a female voice, behind her. "Mind sharing? Maybe I can help out."
Roxy jolted as her thoughts were suddenly interrupted, turning to see Lexi with a charming smile on her face. Roxy gave in rather shortly, kickstarting a conversation.
"Hey..! My name's Roxy Dunt." she said. "I'm sorry, but I don't think you'll be much help in this situation…"
"And I'm Lexi." she replied, in greeting. "And, well, it doesn't hurt to try, y'know?"
For some strange reason, Roxy began to believe and trust her words. From within herself, she felt a strong urge to talk to her, and form some sort of bond.
"Hmm… Well, you see…" Roxy began. She tried her hardest to try and word this without revealing that she was a Power Ranger. "A friend of mine has… Gone missing, and his absence has hurt our group of friends badly… In a way, he was the foundation that kept us together. Without him, we're crumbling…"
Roxy jabbed a finger towards Blaise. "For example, that kid over there."
He had moved on from the dented can, instead opting to begin hitting a nearby sign.
"...He's usually a lot calmer, trust me. But, even then, he's still the most hot-blooded person you could ever meet. See, the kid that's missing- he was able to calm him down… But, I feel like because J-... the kid isn't here, he's losing control." Roxy explained. "I feel like I'm watching our team fall apart, but I don't want that to happen..."
"Hm… I think what you're doing is right." Lexi said, reassuringly. "But… I think your friend there is just really upset right now. Once he calms down, without a doubt, he'll join you." She smiled, and patted Roxy on the shoulder "Tell you what… You should go and support the rest of your team. I'll talk to your friend."
"Huh?" Roxy yelped, startled. "You sure about that..?"
"Trust me, I have some experience dealing with someone with a temper. For now, focus on keeping your team together." Lexi reassured.
"...You're right." Roxy nodded, determined to follow her advice. "Thank you very much, for doing this."
Roxy jumped up from the bench, heading back from the direction she came. Lexi let out a sigh of relief, as she did so.
'Why is it that every time I meet one of these kids, they're always in some sort of trouble…?'
But, she wasn't about to turn back on her word. She turned to the boy again, getting a closer look. Upon seeing his face, she grinned. 'It seems like luck is on my side today! That's the third person I met that Aloora wanted me to bond with!'
'...But, why do I have a feeling that getting through to this guy will be a lot harder than the rest…?'
"Uh… Hey there!" said Lexi, as she approached Blaise. "My name's Lexi. It seems like you're in a poor mood."
"Piss off!" Blaise snapped. "It's none of your goddamn concern!"
"Well, since you're destroying public property and putting yourself and others in danger- it kind of is my concern." Lexi replied- annoyed by the boy's response. "Look, instead of this reckless destruction, it's better to sit, talk, and discuss a solution for your problem."
Blaise growled- not acting, only tightening his fists. His eyes seemed conflicted, almost, as he began to calm down.
"I understand that you're frustrated. You have every right to be." Lexi continued, gently. "But, instead of wasting your energy like this, you should try and find a solution to your problem."
"... Y-you're right…" Blaise uttered, dropping the broken branch. He took a deep, shaky breath, and cleared out his throat. Without the constant yelling, it almost sounded like he was crying. "I apologize for my… abhorrent behavior."
"It's okay. Do you mind telling me what's wrong? My name's Lexi, by the way."
"Blaise Hawking…" he replied, softly. He almost seemed burned out. "I… I have a... friend that's in danger somewhere. I was unable to protect him. I'm… I don't know what to do, alright? I-It was my fault he's in this mess in the first place! I should've been there! I should've gone!"
The passion had returned rather quickly during his ramble, however.
"Blaise… Listen. You have to stop blaming yourself. You have heart- I know you do. Use that drive to find him." Lexi said, shortly.
She would've continued, however, had an orange light not appeared in Blaise's pocket, vibrating like some sort of cell phone.
Wryly, Blaise chuckled. Something of a smirk formed on his face.
"Maybe you're right. Good talk, I have to go!"
With that, Blaise darted off, faster than any track member Lexi had seen, leaving Lexi confused.
'Same old trends…' Lexi sighed, deeply.
Despite leaving much later than Roxy, Blaise skidded into C3 only a few minutes after Roxy arrived, buzzing Morpher in hand.
"Did you find James?!" He yelled the instant he arrived- almost out of breath.
"No… We haven't found anything yet." said Roxy, with a sigh.
"God fu-... No. No, it's okay." Blaise huffed, curtly. "What's happening?"
"Unfortunately, Zuthora has planned even more trouble for us." said Prince Alveno. "We have three attacks at the same time, distanced throughout the city."
"I know we're not in the best condition to do this, but we have to." said Roxy, in an attempt to build up the team's spirits.
"...She's right." said Leon, with a nod. "I know we're all worried about James, but protecting the Earth is our first priority… And perhaps, this could give us a hint, as well."
'Just hold on, James. We're coming to save you…!' Leon thought. Before he could get sidetracked, however, he turned towards his team, preparing himself to lead his team.
"We'll split up. Blaise and Tabitha, head to the attack on main street. Roxy and Eldon, head to the attack on the mall. Twyla, you're with me- to the shopping district."
The group nodded, and headed out to their designated battlefields.
Tabitha and Blaise reached the coordinates they were assigned to- on main street. They could see the civilians- panicked, as they ran away from a few gobots. Strange claw marks scratched against the streets and walls.
"Just the infantry?" Blaise asked. "Fine. Go help the civilians, I got this."
"Please." Tabitha huffed back. "And let you hog up the fun?"
They would've continued to bicker, had they not felt a presence behind them. From their behind, claws struck against their backs- not very hard, but enough to sting. The two rangers winced, as they were face to face with a blue, mechanical werewolf.
"Tch… Looks like no one taught this monster that you shouldn't backstab people." said Tabitha.
"Cowardly, just like his tail of a general! Big Bad Wolf will be the first to face my wrath- and then, Zuthora!" Blaise declared, with a wide grin on his face.
The two took on a fighting position, as the android beast unleashed a loud howl. The gobots rearranged themselves, prepared to fight the rangers.
Blaise rushed headfirst into the group of gobots to destroy them. His livid state was visible by how violent his moves were. He punched down a gobot, and dragged the blade of his nagamaki through it, using that momentum to drop-kick another one. He ran up to the third and rammed his weapon into its chest, slowly dragging it out. As he approached the fourth, he grabbed onto its head, throwing it to the ground, and rapidly slammed its head onto the concrete sidewalk.
"Who's next?!" Blaise roared, as he leapt off the ground. Immediately, he ran into the next batch of gobots.
On the other hand, Tabitha was using her trident a tad bit more effectively. She stabbed and slashed through any of the gobots who dared approach her- over the mad dog that was her partner. She kicked down one, and then another two with a sweeping kick. She backflipped- kicking down one who was approaching her from behind.
At their pace, the gobot menace was quickly dealt with. Blaise wasted little time in rushing towards the mechanical werewolf.
"You wanna dance, you goddamn clunker?!" He shrieked, nagamaki in hand. "Hope you like breakdancing!"
The blade intercepted with the azure wolf's claws, causing sparks to fly.
"Tch… You never change, do you…?" Tabitha scoffed at her teammate's reckless behavior. Though, she didn't waste any time in joining him.
Tabitha attempted to cut down the beast- but her trident bounced against its steel hide. The werewolf continued after Blaise, ignoring the hit from Tabi.
"Oh, what the hell?!"
"Come get me, you overgrown fleabag! I'll tear you limb from limb!"
Of course, Blaise was far too into it to notice. Tabitha rolled her eyes, pointing her trident towards the beast. From its tips, a high-pressure blast of water shot at the creature.
Before it could strike again at Blaise, it made impact. Slowly, the mechanized wolf reared its head in the Blue Ranger's direction.
"Oi! Your fight's with me, furball! Accept your destruction!"
The Orange Ranger tried to stab the creature in the gut, but his nagamaki's blade deflected off of its chestplate.
"...You're really shi-"
He didn't get to finish, as a hard punch knocked him to the ground.
"...This one's going to be tough…" Tabitha hissed, as the beast turned fully to face her.
Meanwhile, Eldon and Roxy reached the second area of attack. With their entry, however, they could see the gobots causing trouble. Their leader- a mechanical werewolf with green fur.
Eldon smirked, spinning his tonfa within his hands. "This'll be fun… Roxy, stay close by, and make sure you're safe while fighting. If it gets too dangerous, call me over. I'll be there in a flash. Quite literally."
"Yeah, yeah…" Roxy replied, to prevent her brother from arguing. "I have a bad feeling about this, though…"
"No worries! It'll be just like the last time! We can handle this together!"
With Eldon's speed, he was able to take care of the gobots with ease. Tackling into one at the speed of light, causing it to slam into another group like a bowling ball. He slammed his knee into the guts of one, then hit another on the head with his tonfa.
Meanwhile, Roxy had her hands full with the jade-hide beast. She lifted up her staff to block a blow from its claws. Quickly, the wolf backflipped, kicking Roxy down in its leap.
"E-Eldon..? You're done back there?" Roxy asked, as she got back on her feet for the hard blow.
"G-give me a second!" Eldon called back. Knocking the last of the Gobots to the ground with a sweeping kick, he blitzed towards Roxy's direction, standing between her and the wolf.
"Don't mess with my sister, you bucket of bolts!" he yelled, charging towards the beast. He leapt up, and attempted to drop-kick the wolf. However, his legs were caught, mid-fall.
"Oh crap-"
Before Eldon could finish, the beast threw him towards his sister, the impact causing them both to hit the ground.
"Gah..!" Eldon yelled, slamming his fist on the ground. "We have to think of something, and fast!"
At the Shopping District, damage was done- but it was almost as if Leon and Twyla missed it. There were items strewn about from panicked shoppers, with claw and burn marks indicating a battle.
"...It's pretty quiet…" Twyla muttered.
"Yeah…" Leon nodded in agreement. "I want to get this over with quickly. I should be focused on saving James..."
Quickly, two laser beams were fired at the two. Just barely, Leon and Twyla managed to jump out of the way. Gobots leaped into the scene, ignoring the hail of lasers.
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Leon scorned. "Enough of this!"
"Let's stay focused." Twyla mumbled. "Though, this is pretty tedious…"
Leon spawned in his katana, bursting in flames. Rushing towards the source of the laser fire, he cut through a gobot, and punched down another. Seeing another beam coming towards him, he grabbed onto a nearby Gobot, using it as a shield against the attack. Lowering his unorthodox "shield", he saw a mechanical werewolf with red fur. There were cannons placed on its shoulders, and in its mouth, as well.
Twyla bashed her shield over the head of one of the gobots approaching her, then cut through one with her retractable blade. Keeping her momentum, she jabbed the blade into one of the gobots, and kicking it into another before it could fall.
With the gobots defeated, they both rushed towards the wolf. The red beast noticed, and fired another shot.
"We have to get up close…" Leon muttered, quickly jumping away from another blast.
"I can't see an opportunity…" said Twyla, worried. "We have to work out a plan!"
Before Leon could stop and think, however, the red beast charged up its lasers once again, this time firing all three at once. Both Leon and Twyla were sent flying to the ground.
"...Hm… I got it." Leon gleamed. "You go left. I go right. On my call."
"Uh… Huh…" Twyla muttered, watching as the wolf charged up its lasers once more. "Can that call come faster?"
"...Now!" Leon yelled.
As the beast fired its lasers, both rangers darted in opposite directions. As the smoke cleared, the mechanical being grew confused, trying to figure out where it should fire.
Seeing their chance, the two rangers cut diagonally through the wolf, ending up on the sides opposite where they started. Again, the beast fired a blast from its maw, but Twyla used her shield to deflect the laser. Leon leapt over both the blast and Twyla, again cutting at the beast.
The two rangers now stood together, their weapons in hand. Leon's katana glowed with flames, and Twyla's shield and blade was surrounded with a black aura.
"Hippocampus-Phoenix Dual Strike!"
With their yell, the two rangers slashed with their weapons, unleashing beams of their energies. The two blasts took the form of a flying Phoenix and a galloping Hippocampus, but then fused together into a brilliant beam of white light. The impact eradicated the wolf, forming a massive cloud of dust.
"Did… Did we win..?" Twyla asked, trying to squint past the smoke.
"...It seems so." said Leon, sighing in relief.
All that remained of the red werewolf was its belt.
Growling, Eldon hopped back up to his feet, spinning his tonfa in his hands. Roxy propped herself back up with her staff, trying to think of a way to deal with the jade werewolf.
"...Eldon, I have an idea." Roxy said, looking at her brother. "Can you distract this thing for me?"
"Eh? Well, alright." replied Eldon, with a nod.
Quickly, the Crimson Ranger darted forwards, in front of Roxy and the wolf.
"Hey, hairball!" Eldon taunted. "Come get some!"
The beast growled, and chased after him. Each strike it made to capture him was futile- as Eldon's power was his speed. At times, Eldon would hit the wolf- further irritating it.
"Keep him still!" Roxy yelled. Electricity began to charge within her staff.
"Gotcha!"
Eldon skidded to a halt, and began to run in a circle around the beast. The mechanical deity grew confused with every revolution he made.
"Now, Eldon!" cried Roxy.
Eldon leapt to the side, revealing that Roxy had jumped into the air, supercharged staff in hand. With a heavy impact, the beast began to overload from the excess energy, and exploded.
All that was left behind was its belt.
"Haha! Great job, sis!" Eldon congratulated, raising his hand for a hi-five. However, he quickly lost his enthusiasm, noticing the look of concern on Roxy's face.
"Oh… James, right?" Eldon sighed.
"...That's not exactly what I had in mind…" Roxy muttered. "I dunno why, but this all feels… odd…"
"Eh… I'm sure it's just a few bad vibes." Eldon said, shrugging it off.
The azure beast continued to give Blaise and Tabitha a rough time. As Blaise hopped off the ground, ready to rush in again, she quickly stopped him.
"What?!" Blaise yelled, skidding to a halt behind her raised arm.
"Blaise, listen. You mind holding this thing down for a bit?"
For a moment, he seemed confused, but nodded.
"Aye. What's the plan?"
"Continuous attack." Tabitha replied.
Another maniacal grin stretched across his face. "I like this plan already."
Blaise dropped his nagamaki, and rushed towards the wolf, arms outstretched. His hands began to burn with an orange aura.
"Hey! Come on, you filthy bitch! Make my goddamn day!"
The beast howled, and ran towards Blaise, brandishing sharp claws. With his hands still glowing, he caught the wolf's arms, causing the metal being to skid to a halt.
"Can you hold him down for a bit more?" Tabitha asked, brandishing her trident.
"Kyahaha! Don't worry about me! Keep going!" Blaise yelled in response.
"If you say so!"
Tabitha leapt upwards, and stabbed at the beast- again, and again, and again. Blaise, noticing Tabitha's strategy, began to increase his output, slowly crushing the azure wolf's metal arms. The beast was too overwhelmed- and couldn't figure out who to deal with.
As Tabitha- at last- broke through the beast's metal hide, stabbing through it, Blaise broke through its claws, short-circuiting the wires beneath. Slowly, the wolf began to shut down, but then exploded- leaving behind only its belt.
"I still feel restless." Blaise muttered, taking a few short hops. "This is unsatisfying…"
"At least it's over…" Tabitha sighed.
Before they could properly relax, however, their morphers went off. Blaise's eyes practically gleamed as he answered.
"Did you find James?!"
"I... apologize. We haven't found any information, but we're trying our best." said Prince Alveno, sadly on the other end of the line.
"For fu-... No. No. No! It's okay! What is it?"
"There's another attack, at Central Tower. You're to rendezvous with the rest of the rangers there."
"Perfect. Some monsters for catharsis. We're on our way."
"This is just becoming a pain…" Tabitha sighed.
Though, quickly, they rushed off to the new set of coordinates.
At last, all seven rangers reached the base of the tower. Yet again, it was the gobots, creating chaos and panic. The odd thing, however, was that there was a girl already fighting the menace.
"I have a really bad feeling…" Roxy muttered. "Like we're playing right into their hands."
"Trap or not, I don't care anymore! Any member of Zuthora's pawns that catch my sight will pay!" Blaise roared.
"Let's get to work. After this, we find James." Leon directed.
With a mutual agreement, the seven rushed onto the battlefield, taking on the gobot army.
"Excuse me, miss!" Twyla called, approaching the girl that was already in the fray. "You should head to a safe place. We can handle this!"
The girl seemed to be handling the gobots just fine, however...
"So what?" the girl asked. "You expect me to sit and watch as these creatures destroy the city?"
Noticing the scuffle, Eldon rushed towards them, knocking down a few gobots on his way.
"Look, I get how you feel, but it's our job to keep you civilians safe." he explained. "We got this, trust me. If you really wanna help, then get everyone else out of here, yeah?"
"Fine. Whatever." the girl huffed. Quickly, she ran over to a group of civilians, trying to help them out.
"...Haven't I seen that girl before..?" Eldon muttered.
"Not sure…" Twyla responded. Quickly, she ran back into the fray, while Eldon continued to think it over.
'Ah! She's the new girl! We share some of our classes, right?' Eldon thought. 'What was her name, again?... Blake?'
Soon after, the rangers regrouped, the gobots destroyed or knocked out.
"What a goddamn chore!" Blaise yelled, pacing the area. "Waste of my time! I should be trying to find James! And I still feel so restless! Gah!"
"For once, I agree..." Eldon groaned. "This is a chore."
"Y'know… I'm wondering what's going on in the mind of Zuthora." said Twyla.
"Yeah… This feels so… Anticlimactic. Like there should be something worse…" Tabitha agreed.
"Something is definitely wrong." mumbled Roxy, nervously.
Though, slowly, a low cackle sounded from the shadows, followed by a second, howling laugh.
"That would be right, Yellow Ranger!" yelled the howling voice.
From the ground raised three beams, that slowly began to glow with energy. Tall walls began to connect, forming a net around the rangers.
"The Thunderbird was always the most cautious…" said the low voice. "I won't allow you to defeat us this time."
From the shadows emerged Wolftank and Skulker, triumphant in their victory.
"It seems you grew gullible over the years." Skulker taunted, raising a bony, armored fist. "You fell into our trap like the credulous children you are!"
Author's Note: Here is the second chapter of the arc. So, what do you think will happen next, and where is James? There are many questions and all will be answered soon. Till then, continue to guess/tell/suggest what you think will happen. Every review gives me new power and excitement to write so keep reviewing. Criticisms are welcome. Until next time, bye!
Next Chapter- Triple Threat - The Conclusion!