The Power of Wind: Chapter One
By: Vilepawn Archfiend
Disclaimer: Necrid is the property of Todd McFarlane Productions. Talim/Soul Edge/Soul Calibur are the property of Namco. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, and Power Rangers in Space are the property of Saban Entertainment and now Disney (?). No profit was made in the production of this fanfiction work.
The Power of Wind: Rising Gale
"Don't allow it to escape."
General Necrid regarded his superior, Empress Pluto. The greedy gleam in her eye was only matched by the disturbingly bloodthirsty tone beneath the statement. The fiendish queen narrowed her eyes and smiled like a cat. "Soon, General, we will close in on the prize."
"As expected, my queen," Necrid growled obediently.
"Well, of course it was expected," Pluto hissed gaily, unable and uncaring to conceal her rising glee. "You have your mission; go now and carry it out. Don't forget anything I have told you."
A piece of his mind screamed at him that he had forgotten something, that there was something that needed to be done, but what?
This is not your calling!
The clanging of Necrid's footsteps as he left the room came close to drowning out the voice, but somehow, the whisper made itself known above the din. No choice but to ignore it, to bury it down, to cover it under going through the motions of his mission. It was a routine mission, only this time there had been a visual of the creature. A troop of Tengu warriors would be satisfactory for this mission—
This is wrong. You KNOW this is wrong!
The return of the voice was shocking enough to make the chief officer nearly drop his war-mask. Grimly doubling his focus, Necrid continued with the count of bird-men for the search-and-capture mission. Placing his war-mask over his face, Necrid relaxed as the electronic pulses enhanced his muscle mass and turned his skin a livid, fiery orange. Strapping on his horned titanium and bone buckler, the massive commander spun around to order the Tengu regiment—
You made a promise! Doesn't that mean anything?
"Leave me!" Necrid demanded, swinging his fists wildly at empty space. "Tarry no longer within the corridors of my mind! Speak to me NO MORE! Or if you will, then at least have the courage to fight me where I can fight back!"
His feral swipes at nonentity ceased suddenly when he noticed a single Skull warrior regarding him curiously. Obviously, the foot soldier had been coming down toward the opening hatch and had caught the general in a less than sane moment. In a single fluid movement, Necrid grabbed the infantryman's neck with his gigantic right claw and slammed him against the wall. Quicker than thought, an immense axe constructed completely out of black energy and silver-gold lightning manifested in the general's left hand. The Skull warrior flailed uselessly; its feet were about half a meter from the ground and much too far away from Necrid's hulking body to do any damage. The general's eyes burned with teal wrath as they stared down the quaking Skull warrior.
"Listen to me, Skull warrior," Necrid seethed in a voice of frantic rage. "You did not see anything, and you did not hear anything. Therefore, it is not necessary for you to say anything, for there is NOTHING to TELL! Do you understand, or might my Lambent Viper illuminate my commands a bit more clearly?"
"I understand, General Necrid," the Skull warrior stammered.
"Good," the fiery colossus boomed, willing away the energy weapon and stalking away, leaving the warrior to catch his breath by himself. Tapping a few buttons on the keypad with an outstretched claw, Necrid walked forward.
Straight into the door.
The confused general shook his head a few times; it was clear the security system was malfunctioning. But the beeping signals were not that of a security error, but rather those alerting one to an incorrect pass-code.
Growling furiously, Necrid stabbed in the correct pass-code with his index finger, and when the light came on he nearly smashed through the doors. He would have to face up to the fact that it was becoming worse. The lapses in concentration, the voices in his head, and now this. Every time he came back on a failed mission, his focus would continue to crumble.
"Not today," Necrid rumbled with resolve to himself. This mission couldn't fail. There was no feasible way that the Rangers would thwart his plans.
………
"You guys go on ahead."
Andros gazed at his second-in-command inquisitively. "You're sure, T.J.? You don't want any of us to go with you?"
"I'll be fine," T.J. replied, grinning at Andros' concern. "It's just a visit to see an old friend of mine. I'll be back before you guys know it. But I'm gonna have to do this alone."
As the others left T.J. to return to his quarters, the Blue Space Ranger sighed. It had been a nice run while he had done it, being first the main commander of the fighting force known as the Power Rangers, and then stepping down in the face of Andros' knowledge of space to become the Blue Space Ranger. But those times when he'd been the leader, literally in the "driver's seat" had been nice…
He hadn't even noticed that his key was in his hand. Now near-powerless, the key served only as a memento and a warning.
However, it was not always this way.
Once, it was the activator of the most powerful Turbo powers, those of the Lightning Fire-Tamer. Once, it could be used to call upon the mighty Turbo and Rescue Megazords.
And, at one time, the Red Lightning Turbo Zord.
T.J. remembered. He remembered the time that the powers had been granted to him and three of his friends. He remembered how immense the Turbo powers had felt. Like a raging inferno, he could do anything. Training for basketball, baseball had become near nothing as his powers increased toward infinity. Like a titan he had stood, the Lightning Fire-Tamer Turbo Ranger.
Then, it was replaced by the smooth finesse of the Space powers. Fluidly accomplishing everything he needed, they had exceeded the Turbo powers astonishingly, even though they were much more subtle. The awe the powers inspired was immense now, as opposed to just the magnitude of the powers. Simple, yet stunning. Refined, yet radiant. Flair and fortitude mixed together to form a resplendent whole, the paradox of the Space powers.
Maybe it was better that he'd been demoted. After all, it'd been his judgment calls that had cost them the Megazords, and ultimately, the Command Center. If he'd come up with the idea of destroying Goldgoyle from the inside earlier, that would have saved them at least the Turbo Megazord. The Rescue Zords, by that time, were scrap anyway, but could have been repaired with time, and the full scale assault would have been literally crushed beneath Desert Thunder and Dune Star.
On the other hand, the most destructive group of villains they had ever faced, the Psycho Rangers, had been trampled by his insight. Having realized that the Psychos couldn't be beaten with brawn alone, as they constantly probed their minds while fighting to counter moves that hadn't even been dished out yet, T.J. had been the first ranger to discover and exploit the Psycho Rangers' weakness of being highly gullible, which proved to be the only edge the Power Rangers ended up having against the Psychos.
Don't count yourself out yet, T.J.
A familiar, six-note beeping brought T.J. back to reality. Glancing around furtively, something he'd never have imagined he would need to do inside the Mega-Ship, he pressed a small button on his wristwatch-like mechanism. "This is T.J."
"Hey, are you ready?"
"Yeah, I just needed to take care of a few things," T.J. replied. "I'll be right over."
"OK. Make sure you're alone. Tommy out."
T.J. folded his key and hung it back on its chain, then placed the chain over his head. Slipping on his cobalt beret, T.J. shouldered his duffel bag and headed for the jump-tubes. He wasn't sure, but he hoped the bubble of oxygen that materialized around every piece of Ranger equipment that went into space would get bigger for the extra baggage.
A pair of dark brown eyes watched him mysteriously from a distance. "Alone indeed, I don't think so."
………
"Wind, guide me."
The plaintive sigh was barely audible, as the figure climbed up the mountain. Cloaked in black silk with white trim, no one would be able to recognize her in this storm. The flashes of lightning would only illuminate her for a second, and a second was all she needed to get away. But first, she had to find something. Something left behind. That something would be the key to her mission.
It wasn't always this way, she mused. If it hadn't been for the takeover of her homeland and the time-warp that switched her with a wealthy businessman from Japan, she wouldn't be in this position. She'd be doing what she was called to do, to be the Priestess of Wind. Fulfilling her destiny, as it were.
But maybe this was fulfilling it anyway. Who was to say that this wasn't fulfilling her destiny? Perhaps she had been called to cut herself on the shard of metal that the westerner had said was a vitality charm, and be taken to this place. She remembered a quote from a piece of paper that she'd seen, that nature "does nothing in vain…there are no grotesques in nature; not anything framed to fill up empty Cantons, and unnecessary spaces." So perhaps she was in her rightful place after all. But that wasn't her worry right now.
If only it wasn't so cold out here…The young woman pressed on, tightening her cloak around her shoulders and pulling her hood in close. Don't feel it, don't let it affect you, she told herself decisively, climbing over another rock. The jagged edges had sliced fine rents in her hands and arms as she climbed closer to the remains of the Chamber. It was funny how everything her village had tried to protect her from was converging on her in this timeless moment. Harsh weather, possible sickness, corruption, just about everything in the outside world threatened to overwhelm her. Being a sibyl meant nothing now if she couldn't complete her mission—
Danger!
Turning her head, the young woman squinted…for a moment, she couldn't make out the person, and she had never met them before, but they knew her, that much she could tell from their surface thoughts. Something was blocking her from finding out anything more, however.
"I should know that sneaking up on you is useless," a voice said, sounding amused at the girl's inability to discern the identity. "I suppose, then, that I should count myself as lucky as getting this close to you."
"Show yourself," the young woman replied evenly, willing herself not to panic.
"Oh, if I did, not only would it be no fun, but it wouldn't matter, and you'll see why in a moment," the reply came.
An untrue form, the young woman deduced. "Well, if you don't reveal yourself to me, I will come over and find out who you truly are."
"Who knows who anyone is?" the voice returned, caustically. "For all either of us knows, the other might not be here. The other might not even exist. By that logic, everything might just be an illusion. Why bother?"
"Simple," the young woman replied. "Because I can. Furthermore, not everything is an illusion. I know who I am."
"Oh really?" the voice asked skeptically.
"Yes." The woman stood, and, spreading her arms, broke the skies with a strong north wind, revealing the moon and allowing light to flood the site of the destroyed Power Chamber.
"I am Talim Viento, last High Priestess of the Wind."