Chapter Eight

Behind Enemy Lines

It was a… skeptical decision, to help Princess Shayla, but it was one the young adults accepted anyways. Shortly after exiting the Animarium, they reached the plaza, where the org had been spotted.

The beastly book was indeed still there, but there seemed to be another one besides it, one significantly more humanoid.

"They kind of creep me out…" Emily mutters. "All those eyes…"

Pavel gives his so-called teammates a glance, before looking back to the human-ish one. It reminded him of the beast he faced when he received his animal crystal from that strange girl…

"That looks like the one the princess told us about." Zack says, pointing towards the book org.

"Be cautious, rangers." A voice rings through the Growl Phones- Princess Shayla's. "The org to your left is known as a Duke Org. It is much stronger than the average Org, and probably more than you can currently take. I advise that you avoid engaging it."

"Oh, she can speak out of the phones now..! That's convenient…" Mutabae says, with a gulp.

"Jeez, there's a lot of terms she wants us to remember…" Sammy mutters.

Both the Duke Org and the Book Org turn towards them, noticing the group of humans that weren't running in fear.

"Ohohoho!" Chiropetia laughs. "It seems we have a set of heroes amongst us."

"More like a bunch of zeroes!" Vexbook's pages grin. "I'll write the end of this sob story!"

"You have to morph, now!" Princess Shayla commands the young adults.

… "We have to what?" Pavel mutters. He was already getting sick of this lady. "Save the world, shapeshift, find a cure for cancer, end world hunger- the absurd requests never end..."

Olivia sighs to herself, laying on the hard, tattered cot that served as her "bed", staring at the hallway on the other side of the bars. Master Org's task was instead completed by Irawulf and his so-called twin, and Chiropetia ordered her back into her cell.

Or, well, most would see it as a cell. She liked to think of it as a bedroom, despite the piss-poor conditions.

She hated it all the same. Even the foster homes were better than this.

Olivia sighs, and stands up, moving to a formation of rocks that served as a makeshift desk. Her three animal crystals rested atop the rocky surface.

She frowns looking at them, and sighs once more. "I'm so sorry…" She whispers.

Merrick was still reeling from the recent events.

He was captured by Master Org, whom he thought was defeated by him and the other rangers… And the same could be said for Zen-Aku. The mask was destroyed, and the curse was lifted, right..?

None of this made any sense.

He hears a voice coming from the wall next to his. "Is someone there?" He asks. Cautiously, it could be a trap.

Olivia looks up at the sound of a second voice. It must've been the other prisoner. "Hey, um…"

She pauses. It was sort of her fault he was stuck here in the first place… What do you say to someone when their suffering is your fault?

'So there is someone else here…' Merrick thinks to himself. "It's nice to hear another human's voice." He says, an attempt to ease the scared-sounding girl. "I'm Merrick Balton. What's your name?"

"Yeah… It is nice…" Olivia nods, and smiles just a bit. Talking to someone could help ease the pain she felt- how much she missed her friends… "You can call me Liv. It's nice to meet you, Merrick."

"Take out your Growl Phones, and push the top button, while calling out Wild Access." The princess instructs. "The Phones will do the rest of the work."

"Alright, if you say so…" Zack mutters, pulling out his Growl Phone.

"Wild Access!"

Like a passcode, once the word had been spoken, the animal spirits enveloped the young adults, donning them in proper Power Rangers uniform.

"Wh… What the…?" Emily mutters, looking at her suit in awe.

Pavel looks down at himself, almost disgusted. "What the bloody hell did I just get myself into..?" He mutters, glancing at the awestruck group of misfits.

Chiropetia's eyes widen in surprise. "The rangers are back… This isn't good." She directs her gaze to Vexbook. "What are you waiting for, you oversized novella? Get them!"

Vexbook's eyes dart from the Duke Org to the rangers, and he charges at the five while they're still distracted. But, before he could reach them, a red shield smacks him across the face. The shield whips back and lands on Zack's right arm.

"Let's kick some demon ass! We'll show the princess that she made the right choice!" Zack yells, rallying the rangers into the fight. With a flick of his wrist, the shield extends into a large kanabo, and he charges towards Vexbook.

"Huh, we have weapons..?" Sammy mutters. A pair of tonfa appear in her hands as she speaks. "W-woah…"

"This is kind of cool..!" Mutabae beams as a pair of boomerangs appear at his side. Emily nods in agreement, drawing a pair of twin swords. The three charge towards Vexbook alongside Zack.

… "I wonder if they would notice if I left." Pavel mutters to himself. His weapon- a chain scythe. "What the hell, it's been a while since I got in a scrap." He shakes his head, and joins the scuffle.

Zack swings his kanabo at the book org, who manages to block with one of its mangled arms. It blocks Sammy's quick strikes as well, ducking under one of Mutabae's boomerangs. It moves to counter another one of Zack's blows, but is stopped short as a chain pulls its cover closed.

Pavel pulls hard against the org's squirming, as Emily leaps up, and slashes at the enemy with one of her swords. Its tongue flies off, and Pavel yanks the chains, sending the org to the floor.

"Noo! Not my bookmark!" Vexbook screams out, attempting to reach the injured appendage. "Now how will I know what page I'm on?!"

"Guys, I have an idea. Hold out your weapons!" Zack yells, as Vexbook bemoans the loss of its tongue.

The rangers comply, and the weapons fly out of their hands, floating into the air and combining to make a single, giant cannon.

"Of course, that's stupid enough to work…" Pavel mutters, grabbing onto the cannon with a single hand.

"It's a bit heavy..!" Mutabae hisses.

As Vexbook stands upright, pages flipping wildly, the cannon makes its way into the ranger's hands, locking onto its target.

"Fire!"

At their unified yell, the cannon fires, a blast of pure energy, piercing Vexbook through his center.

"No! Why must my story end in a tragedy?!" He yells, and explodes, right in front of the ranger's eyes.

"Alright!" Sammy yells, jumping for joy. "This ain't so bad!"

"It's worse." Pavel mutters.

Chiropetia stares in shock, but her expression turns to a glare. "You think this is over? You have much to learn." She smirks, summoning a piece of paper, with a rune scribed on it in red. It floats towards the remains of Vexbook. "Spirits of the past, grant me the power to revive this fallen org!"

The lump of slime and stationary begins to bubble, and the paper begins to glow. The slime rises, fusing with the paper, and expands. Vexbook once again takes shape- only now, he was the size of a building.

"...Oh. That's quite the improvement." Pavel mutters, staring at the beast beneath its shadow.

"Suddenly this tragedy takes a shift in tone!" Vexbook laughs. "Squashing all of you will be a Shakespearean comedy!"

"Rangers, you need to call the Wild Zords." Princess Shayla speaks once again through their Growl Phones. The rangers' animal crystals appear in their hands, alongside the crystal sabers.

"Well, listening to you has gotten us this far." Zack says, looking towards his fellow rangers. Most of them nod in agreement…

Except…

"I'm out." Pavel turns on his heel, and begins walking away. "Done with this shit."

"You're kidding." Zack mutters- in shock. "C-come on, we're supposed to save the world!"

"What has the world done for me?" Pavel asks, still walking away.

"If you don't stop walking, I'm actually going to fight you." Sammy threatens, grip tightening on her tonfa.

"You can try!" Pavel chuckles, and flips the bird behind him.

"Don't you have any loved ones?" Emily asks- and that gets Pavel to stop. "If not for us, or for the world, then… Do it for them."

Pavel frowns, and sighs. "It's just a one-time thing, anyway." He hisses under his breath, begrudgingly turning around.

Zack can't help but smile. "Thank you. Really."

"Whatever." Pavel grumbles, placing his animal crystal into the crystal saber, and the rangers do the same.

A sound rings through the air, and dropping from the sky were a giant squadron of animalistic robots. A vulture with blue feathers, a fox donned in white, a spider painted black, a jaguar coated in gold, and a lion standing proudly in red.

'I've honestly had enough.' Pavel thinks to himself.

The Wild Zords quickly gang up on Vexbook without the need for their chosen partners to speak.

Sammy's fox swings at the book org's leg with its sharp tail. Emily' jaguar bites at the beast's pages. Mutabae's spider traps the book closed in a vice-like grip. Pavel's vulture slices off its tongue once more with bladed wings. And Zack's lion gives a deafening roar, stunning the beast still.

It was honestly very one-sided. Vexbook stumbles back as the zords regroup, each one opening their mouths, and firing a beam of its respective color at the org, piercing it fully.

"My second life ends as soon as it begins! Call that a comedy!" Vexbook yells in defeat- exploding just the same.

Chiropetia stares in shock as Vexbook is downed once more. She then glances at the rangers and scowls- "Don't think you've won, rangers. This is only the beginning."

Her form shifts into a swarm of bats, and she retreats.

Chiropetia growls as she struts down the hallways of Master Org's lair. A group of pesky humans had defeated Vexbook- twice, and now she had to report her failure.

She hears noises coming from the cells, and decides on a perfect way to let off a bit of steam. The Duke Org glares into Oliva's cell. "Olivia, stop talking with the prisoner."

"Make me." Olivia spits- but soon regrets it as she sees the rage in Chiropetia's eyes. The duke org grabs her neck, bringing their eyes to meet.

"I won't. But Salazar will." Chiropetia hisses.

Olivia shivers at the thought. Salazar and his minions brought painful memories- and Chiropetia took delight in taking advantage of them.

"Please, no… I'm sorry…" Olivia whimpers. Chiropetia lets go of her neck, and stomps out of the room. Humans were so annoying...

Olivia coughs, violently. She doesn't even have the strength to move to her cot. Her eyes close involuntarily.

"Liv? Hey, are you okay?" Merrick's voice asks.

"Yeah… I'm okay…" She manages to say, a bit weakly. "Just a bit of a sore throat…"

Pavel begrudgingly returned to the Animarium with the rest of his so-called teammates. It was a small celebration, if only to ease the shock, but he took no part in it.

The Duke Org's words pissed him off. He'd be in this damn thing for longer than he'd hoped.