Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. The Garnecia Elephantis is from the
Yu Gi Oh card game, though I think it has made a brief appearance on the
anime. Most of the monsters I've used so far have come from the card game,
though a few have come from Magic: The Gathering, though Voricifa and
Divorx come from my own twisted and demented imagination. The White Dragon
is property of its authoress Anne McCaffrey and Del Rey Books.
~~
The Ranger's were training in the Hall of Heroes, the home base of sorts for the Atlantean Warrior's and now the Atlantean Ranger's. Bethany and Holly were sparring lightly in one corner and Alex and Petite were going through an intense kata. Alex wasn't a Ranger, but he wanted to stay in shape in case they found some power source for him to use to protect himself.
"I still can't believe that Jesse is the Silver Ranger," Nathan says as he lays into a punching bag, "but the Silver Ranger's attitude makes so much sense now."
"What do you mean?" Ben asks, holding, the bag for Nathan.
"Jesse was a social outcast in school," Nathan explains, "he made sure that he had very little to do with girls, or other people in general."
"Is he gay?" Ben asks.
"I'm not gay," Jesse growls as he walks into the gym, dressed for a workout, "I thought I'd been telling people that enough over the years that it'd finally sunk in."
"I never said you were gay," Nathan replies defensively, "I was one of those who believed you. Still thought you were weird for not liking girls, but I didn't think you were gay. Some guys just notice girls later than others."
"I'm never gonna bother with girls," Jesse says adamantly as he stretches, "they're too much of a hassle, you can't understand them, and their the source of constant turmoil. Look at how much trouble throughout history has been caused by females."
"I don't think I appreciate that observation," Holly says. Bethany solidly agrees, a cross look on her face.
Jesse smiles mockingly. "Oh, you're here? I didn't notice."
The two girls glare at their leader, but Jesse ignores them. Jacolby enters the room and immediately feels the tension.
"I take it you need something to do, Jesse," Jacolby says, "well, you all have something new to start studying."
"And what is that?" Bethany asks.
"Etiquette," Eleanor says as she enters the room, "in two days there is a banquet for the nobility of Atlantis. They want to meet the successors to the Atlantean Warriors. Your Morphers could possibly help you through the banquet, but it would be better to just teach you what is needed for Atlantean etiquette. The Morphers will help you learn. Alex, you have an impeccable memory and already know many rules of social gatherings like this."
"So do I," Jesse says, "I took a class called Work Readiness, and it covered etiquette for stuff like a banquet. Though I'll probably need some polishing for the atmosphere of Atlantis. Besides, I'm always willing to learn how to be more of a gentleman so I can act properly around ladies."
"Then why are you always so abrasive to me and Holly?" Beth asks.
"Because the only lady in this room, in my opinion, is Lady Eleanor," Jesse replies coolly. Alex duly noted that only an idiot wouldn't wilt under the twin glares that Holly and Beth were giving Jesse. And in Alex's opinion, Jesse was being an idiot right now and he would not bail him out if he got in trouble.
Luckily, it did not come to Holly and Beth teaming up to rip Jesse's lungs out.
"Jesse, that was unworthy of you!" Eleanor scolds. Jesse hangs his head sheepishly.
"Sorry," he mumbles, just loud enough for everyone to hear. He knew full well that if he didn't say it loud enough, he would be ordered to say it a lot louder, so he decided to head off that indignity.
"Now, clean up and follow me to the Great Hall," Eleanor orders, "I'm going to teach you the customs of Atlantis."
~Dark Specter's ship~
"Dark Specter, the Garnecia Elephantis has arrived," Darkonda says, "there is a comm. screen ready for you to speak to him."
"Very good, Darkonda," Dark Specter says, "leave me."
"As you wish, my lord." Darkonda bows, then exits the Dark Specter's throne room.
A rectangle edged with fire appears before the Dark Specter, showing a purple-skinned monster that resembled a humanoid elephant. Zedd's Octophantom may have supposedly been an incredibly powerful monster, but the Garnecia Elephantis was one of the mightiest creatures in the entire universe. Short of growing spells, only King Mondo's Staroid and Rita Repulsa's Mutitus were even close to matching the Elephantis, and of course they were no match. The incomprehensible Goldgoyle had been extremely powerful, but he had flaws that an experienced team of Rangers could overcome. Those Turbo Rangers, four of whom had become the Astro Rangers, had gotten incredibly lucky in destroying him.
"What is your bidding, all powerful Dark Specter?" the monster within the magical screen asks.
"Ah, my loyal warrior," Dark Specter says, "welcome to this fairly unimportant part of the universe."
"Thank you, Master Dark Specter," the Garnecia Elephantis replies, "what would you have me do?"
"Destroy the Atlantean Rangers," Dark Specter replies.
"Atlantean?" the Garnecia Elephantis replies, puzzled, "didn't we destroy Atlantis twelve thousand years ago?"
"We did," Dark Specter replies, "but apparently the Atlantean Morphers survived. Six of them have so far been located and are being used against me. I want you to destroy the Rangers and their mighty Zords. Even if the last Morpher is found, one Ranger alone could not possibly defeat me, not even one powered by the magic's of Atlantis."
"When do I start?" the Garnecia Elephantis asks, eyes glinting with evil glee at the thought of destroying something."
"Tomorrow," Dark Specter replies, "rest from your journey today and fight the Ranger's at full strength. I will send down the Wolflord of Fire and Earth to soften them up."
"Master, it is not necessary," the Garnecia Elephantis protests, "I will face them on my own!"
"No, you will obey my orders!" Dark Specter commands, "I want the Atlantean Rangers dead! Between the Wolflord of Fire and Earth and yourself, these Ranger's will perish for certain."
"They would fall at my hands even without the Wolflord," the Garnecia Elephantis replies, "but I shall obey your command. I shall rest in the remains of Zedd and Rita's Moon Palace."
"There are no remains," Dark Specter comments, "it was never destroyed. Mondo just ran Zedd, Rita, and their henchmen off and then just ignored it."
"There will be remains about five seconds after I get there," the Garnecia Elephantis replies, "with your leave, my master."
"Go and rest," Dark Specter replies, eyes actually glinting in amusement over the Garnecia Elephantis' sense of humor.
The Garnecia Elephantis teleports in a whorl of purple and white energy.
"Darkonda!" Dark Specter bellows.
Darkonda hurries in. He had never liked the Garnecia Elephantis. The monster was brutally efficient, Darkonda could not deny that, but it was also completely obtuse. It relied completely on brute strength, hardly possessing any skill at all. Its skin was thick enough to repel almost any sword, even those wielded by the various Megazords. Lasers didn't have much affect either. And its skin was also dense enough to take the blows from any bludgeoning weapon without missing a beat.
"Yes, mighty Dark Specter?" Darkonda asks.
"Summon the Wolflord of Fire and Earth," Dark Specter orders, "send him down to Earth. He can choose where he attacks. Just make sure it is heavily populated."
"At once, Dark Specter," Darkonda bows, "shall I send a platoon or two of Spectrons with him?"
"Send down a single platoon," Dark Specter says, "they are to keep all but one Ranger away from the Wolflord. He shall work hard on each one individually, hurting them as much as possible, physically exhausting them as best he can. He will then toss them back to the Spectrons and pick another Ranger out. If he can destroy one, all the better. But he MUST exhaust them physically. He must hurt them as much as possible so the accelerated healing abilities of the Atlantean Morphers cannot completely heal them by tomorrow."
"It shall be as you say, master," Darkonda says, "shall I accompany them? Between the Wolflord and myself, we can harry the Ranger's exceptionally well."
"Do as you wish," Dark Specter says, "you can even attack another location with a platoon of Spectrons."
"Divide and conquer," Darkonda grins, "the oldest strategy, but one that easily works no matter what the circumstances."
"Go and do as I have commanded," Dark Specter orders, "Wear the Ranger's down, kill them if you can. They must not be at full strength when facing the Garnecia Elephantis."
"It shall be done, Dark Specter," Darkonda says with a bow, then exits Dark Specter's throne room.
Dark Specter's cruel, chilling laugh echoes through his throne room. "Soon, the Atlantean Ranger's will fall, and the Earth, and then the universe, shall be mine!"
~At Atlantis~
"How does he do it?" Beth asks in disgust as she watches Jesse perfectly use the manners asked of them by Eleanor.
"Jesse prides himself on being a gentleman," Alex replies, "but in truth, I think its because he reads so much. I expect that the court functions in those fantasy he reads are very similar to Atlantean court behaviors."
"Its disgusting, if you ask me," Holly says, "he tries to be the perfect Ranger."
"If he is, then he's succeeding," Nathan adds.
"Oh, I don't think he's trying to be a perfect Ranger," Ben says, "I think he's succeeding."
"He just puts himself into the training more than you guys because he's always wanted to be a hero, and now he is one," Alex says, "he's always been taught to mind his manners. Thing is, he's also adopted his own code of honor. Apparently, it coincides with the Silver Morpher's Code of Honor."
"The Code of Honor of the Silver Morpher is very loose," Petite says, "and yet very strict. Even under the most powerful of mind control spells, those who wield the Silver Morpher have yet to compromise their integrity. They will willingly give up their lives to save someone else. They are not the most sociable of people, but they do make the best Ranger's."
"Are they immune to spells?" Beth asks, "I remember him telling us about Voricifa, the Mistress of Seduction. He completely ignored her advances, and Connerly said that she used spells to boost her sensuality."
"He was actually able to resist Voricifa?" Petite says, shocked, "unless he is completely devoted to someone else, has interest in men instead of women, or hormonally deficient, he should have done whatever she asked, even if it was sawing off his manhood with a dull knife."
"He's none of the above," Alex says, "at least, he's not devoted to some girl that I know of. He just doesn't have interest in the opposite sex."
"Are you done talking about me?" Jesse asks as he walks up.
'I have got to ask how he does that,' Alex says to himself.
"How do you do that?" Beth demands.
"Ever heard of the Japanese folklore that if you sneeze three times consecutively, someone who doesn't like you is talking about you?" Jesse asks.
"You actually believe that?" Holly asks skeptically.
"Whether or not I believe it, I just sneezed three times consecutively," Jesse replies, "I look over in your direction, and your talking while looking at me fairly often."
"You really do believe that nonsense," Alex chuckles.
"Whether or not I believe it, I got some chores to do at home," Jesse says, "it's too bad that even since our Morphers enhance all of our abilities, I still can't vacuum worth a flip."
With that, Jesse teleports out.
Beth and Holly look at each other and giggle.
"What is the matter ladies?" Eleanor asks as she walks up to them.
"Nothing," Holly grins, "its just that its funny. Jesse is our best fighter since he is the only one of us who completely immerses themselves in the knowledge from the Morphers. He is also very good at Atlantean court behaviors."
"Actually, on the court behaviors he needs a lot of practice," Eleanor grins, "he has the basics down very well, but he couldn't pass off as an Atlantean like that."
"Still, he can do all of those things that we are only barely adequate at, and he can't do the things that we're good at," Beth giggles.
"Jesse's been like that as long as I've known him," Alex says, "it's just the way he is. He prides himself on being different. He even wrote a poem once on being an outcast."
"I remember that poem," Nathan says with a faint smile, "rather, I remember someone telling me about it. A lot of the people who gave him the outcast perspective were in his English II class when he read it. A lot of them still won't look him in the eye, and that was two years ago."
"That must have been some poem," Ben muses.
"No, it just had a lot of emotion in it," Nathan replies, "personally, I'm surprised he didn't get a lot of people extremely mad at him. He practically accused half of the class of having no souls."
"Jesse usually doesn't do something thinking of other peoples feelings," Alex says, "its his most serious fault."
"A pretty big one, I'd say," Holly adds.
"Another one is not being a people person," Beth adds.
"Considering the way he's been treated, I'm not surprised," Petite says.
"Whaddya mean?" Ben asks.
"He has been treated like a total social outcast for the last six years," Alex points out, "even by most of those he considers friends and whose opinions he values."
"Still, we're trying to get to know him and be his friends," Holly protests, "we were all chosen by the Atlantean Morphers to fight Dark Specter and his minions. I, for one, really would like to be his friend."
"He's been burned by most of the new friends he's made since moving her, and he hasn't talked to any of the friends he had before moving to Jackson since he moved," Alex replies, "just give him time. Jesse's not stupid. He knows you're sincere in wanting to be his friend; he just doesn't want to believe it. Just give him his space and he'll come around. I just hope its it's before we have to worry about Y3K."
Beth arches and eyebrow. "He's that that standoffish, is he?"
Jesse plops down on the couch after finishing his chores to rest and catch his breath. Even if he lived a hundred years, he would never learn how to vacuum properly!
"I need some new hobbies," Jesse mutters as he heads to his room, grabs a book, and plops down in the easy chair in his bedroom. He opens the book to his saved spot and resumes reading one of his favorite books, The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey. He admires the dragon on the cover.
"I wish the Silver Dragonzord looked that good," Jesse mutters, "it looks like something a preschooler came up with. I got the short end of the stick in Zord designs."
Jesse reads through the book at his usual pace, starting about a quarter of the way through the book and finishing the book a half hour later. Setting the book down, Jesse goes to find something to eat, only to discover that the only edible things in the kitchen were things he did not know how to cook and baking soda.
"Man, I really hope my aunt cooks tonight or gets something on the way home," Jesse whines as he rummages through the cupboards. Finally, he gives up and heads to the living room to turn on the TV.
Apparently, his aunt had been watching the news before leaving for work. Or a channel that had news shows on it. What he saw surprised him no end. It was a live news feed from Chicago. A humanoid wolf monster wielding a giant double-bladed battle-ax in one hand and had a circular shield in the other was attacking the city. It was slicing through anything that got in its way, occasionally slamming its ax into the ground and sending powerful shockwaves that felled nearby buildings. So far it had avoided destroyed any skyscrapers, but there was no telling how long that would last.
Bringing his communicator to his mouth, he taps the comm. button that would enable him to talk to whoever was keeping a lookout for evil at Atlantis.
"Folks, we have a problem."
The Wolflord of Fire and Earth was having fun for a change. It had been a long time since he had taken time off from being a mercenary and just have fun. And fun for him was terrorizing inhabitants of backwater worlds like this one. He was usually able to do this on the job as well, but it was never the same as doing it for no reason other than the fact that he wanted to do it.
But the Dark Specter had simply told him to do what he loved doing: destroying things. He was given leave to do whatever he wanted, as long as he destroyed or at least horribly wounded the Atlantean Rangers in the process. And since he was being paid in tons of starfire diamonds in advance, he eagerly took the job.
The Wolflord of Fire and Earth slams his ax into the ground, sending out a shockwave that obliterates an armored vehicle that was obviously some sort of weapon that the humans had. Humans were funny creatures, thinking their meager technology could stand up to the unsuppressed might of a being such as himself.
"Hold it right there, bucko!"
The Wolflord turns around to see the six Atlantean Rangers standing there, Blade Blasters drawn and Silver Staff at the ready.
"So, you finally arrived," the Wolflord huffs, "Spectrons! Attack!"
A full platoon of Spectrons appear out of nowhere and attack the Silver, Platinum, White, Crystal, and Aqua Rangers. The Wolflord charges the Bronze Ranger, slamming his ax down into the ground and sending a shockwave of power at his target. The Bronze Ranger leaps out of the way, sending a small flurry of laser bolts from her Blade Blaster that are effortlessly blocked by the Wolflord's shield.
"Pathetic," the Wolflord says, a feral wolfish grin spearing on his muzzle, "I had expected better from Atlantean Ranger. Clearly I was mistaken."
"We've only just begun," Bronze Ranger replies, summoning her Bronze Staff and transforming it into her Bronze Battle Axe, "let's rock."
The two axe-wielding warriors charge each other and clash axe blades, engaging in a furious battle. The Wolflord had strength, size, and experience on his side, as well as a shield to deflect blows from his opponent, but the Bronze Ranger had agility on hers, and it was enough to keep from being totally pummeled by the Wolflord. But in the end, the Wolflord was far too powerful for the Bronze Ranger.
A brutal overhead chop from the Wolflord's ax connects with the Bronze Ranger's shield armor slices through to the bone. The Bronze Ranger immediately teleports out in a streak of bronze light.
"Hey, Fluffy!" a male voice calls out from behind the Wolflord. The Wolflord turns around just in time to see the White Ranger slam his White Warhammer into his chest. The Wolflord staggers back, but soon recovers. As he glances around, he sees that the Spectrons were losing miserably against the Ranger's. Perhaps this plan had a few flaws in it, such as the incompetence of the Spectrons or an underestimation of the abilities of the Atlantean Rangers.
"At last, a challenge," the Worlflord grins, "bring it on, Ranger."
The White Ranger charges in, slamming his White Warhammer into the Wolflord's shield. Thinking his opponent's weapon is out of the way at the moment, the Wolflord raises his ax and chops down with, but is blocked when the White Ranger lifts his left arm and blocks the chop with the lower end of his weapon. The White Ranger spins, bringing his Warhammer around with him, and delivers a mighty blow into the side of the Wolflord, driving the air out of his lungs and caving in some of the Wolflord's vital organs.
The Wolflord barely misses a step, clubbing the White Ranger with his shield, sending the White Ranger flying into the side of a building and knocking him unconscious. Smirking to himself, the Wolflord moves in to inflict more damage, but is stopped by a pair of energy beams hitting the back of his head. Snarling, the Wolflord turns around to see the Crystal and Platinum Rangers with their Blade Blasters drawn. The Aqua and Silver Rangers were still preoccupied with the Spectrons, though they were now dealing with the whole group on their own.
"Bring it on," the Wolflord snarls and slams his axe into the ground, sending out a powerful shockwave that catches the Platinum Ranger completely and sends her flying high into the air. The Platinum Ranger lands on a nearby parked car that was already severely damaged from being grazed by several energy shots from Spectrons and Rangers. The car caves in and explodes around the Platinum Ranger and she is forcibly teleported to Atlantis before she demorphs from the damage she had just received.
"Is this the best that the Atlantean Rangers can do?" the Wolflord snorts, "pathetic. I expected better of the supposed greatest fighting force to ever exist."
"Then let us show you how dangerous we can really be," a voice from behind says. The Wolflord turns around just in time to see the Crystal Ranger slice him across the chest with his Crystal Cutlass. The Wolflord staggers back, but then unleashes a bolt of energy into the Crystal Ranger, who blocks it with his Crystal Cutlass
The Wolflord prepares to unleash an even more powerful attack, but he is knocked to the ground by the White Ranger, who hits the Wolflord full in the back with his White Warhammer.
As the Wolflord gets back to his feet, the Crystal and White Rangers regroup, ready to take the Wolflord on together.
"Ouch!"
"Hush, its not that bad," Eleanor tells the whining Bethany, "but we have to disinfect it before we can apply healing magic to it."
"I know, but it still hurts," Bethany complains.
"Hey, at least you weren't as hurt as Holly," Connerly says soberly, "if we had been a second later in teleporting her out, she would have been gravely injured."
"How is she doing?" Bethany asks, wincing from another cotton swab going through the deep cut on her shoulder.
"She's gonna be fine," Alex says as he applies his healing magic to the unconscious Holly, "but it was a close call. Where did that monster come from?"
"Where else?" Bethany asks, "Dark Specter."
"No, his energy readings are not of those monsters who specifically serve Dark Specter or are created by him," Alex says as he rigidly controls the flow of healing energy, "and its different from anything on file."
"It's a mercenary," Eleanor says, "under Dark Specter's payroll. He must be softening you up for something."
"Yes, the Spectrons did try to keep all but one of us away from the Wolflord," Bethany muses, "and its moves look more to hurt than to kill, though there probably won't be much grief if it did manage to kill one of us."
"It would keep you from forming one of the Binary or Trinary Zords," Alex says as he takes a break from tending Holly's injuries.
"Not only that, but it would stop you from forming the Quadro Megazord or the Silver Atlantean Megazord."
"Silver Atlantean Megazord?" Bethany asks, "Quadro Megazord?"
"The Quadro Megazord is a combination of the Crystal Chimera, White Gargoyle, Platinum Winged Unicorn, and Bronze Griffin Atlantean Zords," Connerly explains, "the Silver Atlantean Megazord is a combination of the four Zords that make up the Quadro Megazord and the Silver Dragon Atlantean Zord."
"And thus our most powerful weapon," Bethany says.
"No, the Aqua Golem Zord can form an Armor Mode for the Quadro Megazord and Silver Atlantean Megazord as well," Connerly says, "the Silver Atlantean Megazord Armor Mode is the most powerful weapon in our entire arsenal."
"So the Dark Specter obviously fears it could beat whatever he's planning, so it must be big," Bethany says, "but what could he be planning?"
Alex sighs. "Connerly, any ideas?"
"None," Connerly replies, "we've detected nothing in the solar system except for communications, but we couldn't crack the magical encryptions. Whatever's going on, its big."
"He's probably using the Staff of Kaishin for something right now and is using the Wolflord as a distraction," Holly observes, surprising everyone. Noone had noticed that she had awakened.
"How's your head?" Alex asks, moving to Holly's side.
"Could be better," Holly groans, "got an Aspirin?"
"Here," Alex says, holding his hand over Holly's forehead. Mint green light flows out of his head and into Holly's head, soothing her headache. "How does that feel?"
Holly smiles. "Much better. How's the battle going?"
"Crystal and White Ranger's are taking on the Wolflord," Connerly replies, "Silver and Aqua Ranger's are dealing with the Spectrons."
"How are Crystal and White Ranger's doing?" Bethany asks.
"Fairly good," Alex replies, "they're not getting their keisters handed to them like you were, but they're not kicking his rear either. It's a stalemate so far. They'll win if either the Silver or Aqua Ranger's can get free of the Spectrons to help them. You two are in no condition to go and help at the moment."
"But they need help!" Bethany protests, then winces as Connerly brushes another cotton swab through the cut on her shoulder, clearing away any foreign particles before applying healing magic. Sapphire blue light emanates from Connerly's hand as the healing magic accelerates Bethany's natural healing ability beyond what the Bronze Morpher gave her.
"Can they win without us?" Holly asks as Alex finishes setting the healing magic into her, letting it do the rest.
"They should be able to," Alex says, "if just the Crystal and White Ranger's are doing this well against him, then if just one more Ranger helps them he'll be finished."
~The Battle~
The Crystal Ranger blocks the Wolflord's axe slash with his Crystal Cutlass, his legs almost buckling under the sheer force he was holding back. The Wolflord had put the force behind one of his earth shattering blows in that strike. The White Ranger slams his White Warhammer into the Wolflord's back, but the mercenary merely shrugs it off and backhands the Crystal Ranger into the air. The Crystal Ranger quickly draws his Blade Blaster and blasts away some of the mercenaries fur. The Wolflord smashes his shield against the side of the Crystal Ranger's helmet and follows up with a kick to the midsection.
An energy bolts rips into the Wolflord's back. Snarling, he turns to look at his attacker. It was the Aqua Ranger. Behind him, the Silver Ranger was dealing with the rest of the Spectrons, including the ones that had been distracting the Aqua Ranger. The Aqua Ranger was holding his Aqua Double Dirks dangerously, poised to strike. He glances at his two teammates.
"You two help the Silver Ranger. I'll deal with this one."
The other two Ranger's look nervously at their teammate. Sure, he was more experienced than they were, but they had just seen this creature take down their most formidable team with ease and had just taken them for a ride.
"You sure man?" Crystal Ranger asks.
"Just do it!" Aqua Ranger orders, "trust me, I can handle this slouch."
"If you say so," Crystal Ranger says, then fires his Blade Blaster at a Spectron that was about to slash the Silver Ranger in the back, then charges into the platoon of Spectrons with the White Ranger close behind.
"You're pretty cocky for such a small Ranger," the Wolflord says mockingly.
"Size matters, not," Aqua Ranger quotes as he leaps forward into a teleport and appears behind the Wolflord, kicking him soundly in the back. He then back flips into another teleport and lands into a head press, driving his heels into the Wolflord's snout, then whirling around, grinding them into the Wolflord's sensitive nose and then kicking him straight in the eye before flipping off of the Wolflord and driving a fist into his gut as he leaps forward and checking him into the side of another building.
The Wolflord slowly pulls himself out of the wreckage. "You're fairly strong for one so small. And fast, though I figured you would have to be fast. But you are dangerous. Very, very dangerous."
"You bet I am," the Aqua Ranger says as he crosses his arms above his head, then slashes down in an "X" pattern, sending out a tremendous blast of energy at the Wolflord who blocks it with his shield. The Wolflord counters by firing flaming energy blasts at the Aqua Ranger in return, but the Aqua Ranger crosses his arms even with his waist and then brings them up, slashing in an "X" pattern. The focal point of the "X" becomes the center of an energy shield that stops the Wolflord's assault.
"And very tricky, it seems," the Wolflord says, dropping into a wary fighting position. The two combatants circle each other warily, neither one wanting to make the first move in case the other can counter it and thus spell disaster for them.
~At Atlantis~
"Wow, look at those two go!" Bethany cries out, watching the battle in a magical viewscreen conjured by Connerly.
"The level of their attacks is above what most Ranger teams are capable of," Connerly says, "in fact, only the Gold Zeo Ranger, the Silver Astro Ranger, and the Magna Defender come close to that level of power. The Titanium Ranger isn't too far behind them, and no one really knows how strong the Phantom Ranger is."
"Its amazing," Holly says, "I didn't think Petite was that strong."
"He's the most experienced member of the team," Alex says, "true, Jesse is more experienced with the Ranger aspect of the Atlantean Morphers, but Petite is more at home with the Atlantean energies. They are unlike any other form of magic in the entire universe. Nothing has been recorded that even comes close except for the Dark Specter's elite henchmen."
"Well, it looks like Petite will be able to destroy that thing while the others take out the Spectrons," Jacolby observes.
"Uh oh, they got company," Bethany says, pointing off in the distance. The distinct ripple of several teleportation signatures is evident.
~The battle~
Darkonda chuckles evilly as he watches the battle. The Crystal and White Ranger's were tired due to their intense fight with the Wolflord, and now they were being swamped by Spectron after Spectron. The Bronze and Platinum Ranger's were gone, presumably too hurt to continue. The Aqua Ranger had its hands full with the Wolflord. The only Ranger present that still seemed in good condition was the Silver Ranger. And that would soon change.
"Oh Silver Ranger!" The Silver Ranger turns around just in time to block a flurry of powerful energy bolts thrown at him by Darkonda with his sword.
"Darkonda," Silver Ranger mutters, "I should have expected you to be here. A sneak attack. How contemptible. How like you."
Darkonda laughs. "Come and test your mettle against me again, Silver Ranger. We didn't rightly finish our last fight."
The Silver Ranger lets out a yell and leaps at Darkonda, hacking and slashing with his sword. Darkonda parries the attacks, laughing maniacally as he punches the Silver Ranger in the gut, following up with a vicious spinning backhand to the jaw that sends the Silver Ranger flying. The Silver Ranger slowly gets up, clutching his sword desperately in his right hand. Darkonda was far stronger than the records indicated. How did he get so strong?
"Is that the best that the most powerful Ranger in the universe can do?" Darkonda asks mockingly, "or are you so pathetic that even your Ranger powers can't help you?"
The Silver Ranger growls and leaps at Darkonda, his sword tip pointed at Darkonda's throat. Darkonda just idly sidesteps the leaping Silver Ranger, at the same time slashing upwards and catching the Silver Ranger in the stomach with his sword, slicing through the Ranger armor but not cutting through the flesh underneath. The Silver Ranger falls to the ground in a heap, clutching at the damage to his outfit with his left hand as he tries desperately to get back to his feet.
"So pitiful," Darkonda sneers, "I think I'll kill you now and let the Garnecia Elephantis take care of your friends tomorrow."
With a yell of desperation, the Silver Ranger hurls his Silver Saber at Darkonda with all his might. The sword flies true, slicing through Darkonda's right shoulder with ease and then clattering onto the ground behind Darkonda.
"A fit of desperation, eh?" Darkonda chuckles, clutching his wounded right shoulder with his left hand, "not bad. But also not good enough."
Darkonda raises his sword and prepares to deliver the final blow, a crushing downward slash that would cut the Silver Ranger's head in half, helmet and all. Darkonda executes the finishing maneuver, but the Silver Ranger is teleported away in a column of silver light.
"Damn!" Darkonda growls, punching the ground with his left fist, "he got away. But I'll get him eventually."
But now only three Ranger's were there to fight the Wolflord, Darkonda, and the Spectrons. Darkonda rushes the Crystal Ranger with a powerful slash, but the Crystal Ranger blocks with his Crystal Cutlass, parrying Darkonda's blade and kneeing the villain in the gut. Darkonda steps back, somewhat impressed.
"Not bad, for a rookie," Darkonda chuckles, "still not as good as your leader though."
Darkonda rushes the Crystal Ranger, hacking, slashing, and thrusting ferociously. It is all that the Crystal Ranger can do to block.
~at Atlantis~
"Hurry up," Jesse growls as Connerly and Alex disinfect his wound and prepare it for their healing magic, "I have to get back out there."
"Easy there, kiddo, that was a nasty cut you took," Jacolby says, "take it easy. You'll be ready for action by tomorrow."
"Good," Jesse says, "I managed to get some info out of Darkonda. He says that the Garnecia Elephantis will be attacking tomorrow. It appears that today's attack is just to soften us up."
"The Garnecia Elephantis?" Connerly asks, "that is one of the Dark Specter's most powerful monsters. Its naturally at Zord size. There are few monsters in the entire universe that big."
"So Dark Specter is pulling out its most fearsome minions, is he?" Jesse asks.
"Apparently so," Connerly says, "Bethany, Holly, you head back to the battle. I hate sending you back into action so soon, but being Morphed will help you heal faster. Take down the Spectrons yourselves so the Crystal and White Rangers can double-team Darkonda. Aqua Ranger is doing fine against the Wolflord."
"Right," Bethany says as Holly gets up off the cot she had been placed in, "it's Morphin time! Bronze Power of Atlantis!"
"Platinum Power of Atlantis!"
The Bronze and Platinum Ranger's teleport out in streaks of bronze and platinum light.
"Good luck, girls," Jesse sighs as Alex begins applying the healing magic.
"They're strong, they'll make it," Connerly says.
"I know that," Jesse sighs, "I just don't like being left out of the action."
~the battle~
With the appearance of Darkonda, three separate battles were now being fought. One was the Aqua Ranger versus the Wolflord of Fire and earth. The second is the Crystal Ranger versus Darkonda. The third battle is the White Ranger versus a full platoon of Spectrons. Granted, the Spectrons were damaged from fighting the other Ranger's, but their sheer numbers were proving to be too much for the mighty White Atlantean Ranger to handle.
He holds up as best he can, now using his White Staff and Blade Blaster instead of his White Warhammer, and was blasting Spectron after Spectron with Staff and Blade Blaster as soon as he would get a clear shot. However, he was still taking many hits. Twin blasts of energy, one bronze and the other platinum in color, rip through a pair of Spectrons that try to blindside the White Ranger.
"I'm so glad you're hear," the White Ranger says gratefully as he fends off another Spectron.
"Don't mention it," Bronze Ranger says, tearing through a Spectron with a single swipe of her Bronze Battle Axe, "now go help the Crystal Ranger. Platinum Ranger and I will take care of these Spectrons."
"But you were injured!" White Ranger protests.
"We're not so hurt that we can't take care of a few measly Spectrons," Platinum Ranger laughs, twirling her Platinum Partisan around, keeping the trio of Spectrons that were advancing on her at bay.
"If you say so," White Ranger says softly, "take care ladies."
With a yell, White Ranger leaps at Darkonda, swinging for the side of the demonic alien's head. Darkonda ducks and spins around, delivering a powerful kick to White Ranger's gut, sending the White Ranger flying. This gives the Crystal Ranger an opening to slash at Darkonda's unprotected back. Darkonda growls in pain as the Crystal Cutlass chips his back armor, sparks flying. Darkonda whirls around and slashes the Crystal Ranger down, cutting deep into the Crystal Ranger's shield.
White Ranger takes this opportunity to bring his White Warhammer down on the center of the cut that the Crystal Ranger had made. Snarling in pain, Darkonda turns and fires a full power magical blast point blank into the White Ranger's shield. The blast has enough force to completely shatter the White Ranger's shield, revealing the solid white bodysuit that covered the White Ranger's torso. The blast is enough to singe the bodysuit as well and send the White Ranger crashing into a street post. The White Ranger crumples down to the ground, dazed but relatively unharmed.
Crystal Ranger, upon seeing what Darkonda has done to his friend, cuts loose into Darkonda in pure unchecked fury, drawing his Blade Blaster in Blade Mode, he attacks Darkonda with both Crystal Cutlass and Blade Blaster. Darkonda is barely able to block the onslaught. The pain from the concentrated attack into the new niche in his natural armor is diverting his attention just enough to make it hard to fully concentrate on this fight. The evil alien delivers a cruel left uppercut to just under the Crystal Ranger's jaw, sending him soaring across the street to crumple into the ground, out cold.
"NO!" Darkonda turns around when he hears the enrage cry. He turns around just in time to take the White Warhammer full in the face as the White Ranger slams it in down hard. Darkonda backpedals. That attack had hurt! Not a large amount, but it had hurt. It had penetrated the defenses he had at half power. These Atlantean Rangers were stronger than anticipated. They were above the power levels of any of the other groups of Power Rangers to surface. The Astro Ranger's weren't even half as strong as these Atlantean Ranger's. Not even the Silver Astro Ranger or the Gold Ranger were this strong, and they were the two most powerful Ranger's to ever face the forces of evil.
"Grr, that hurt," Darkonda snarls, bringing his hand to his smashed face.
"It was supposed to," White Ranger says coldly, readying for another swing.
Darkonda, knowing that his wounds were too serious to risk more surprises like this, and with Ranger's the surprises always seemed to be on their side, decides that leaving now would be a good idea if he wanted to keep all nine of his lives and his full power. He teleports out in a whorl of red energy tinged with white.
White Ranger looks at Crystal Ranger as the Crystal Ranger gets back on his feet and shrugs. "Well, what do you except from scum?"
"True," Crystal Ranger admits, "you go help the girls, I'll go help Aqua Ranger."
"Gotcha," White Ranger replies, "good luck. That guy is tough."
White Ranger changes his White Warhammer into the White Staff and sends out several energy blasts at the Spectrons. Crystal Ranger leaps at the Wolflord from behind, slashing at the bounty hunter's back.
The Wolflord turns and blocks the slash with his shield, then slams his axe into the Crystal Ranger's side. The axe blade buries itself into the Crystal Ranger's side, but luckily it does not piece the armor. The Crystal Ranger is knocked into the side of a nearby building from the force of the blow.
Taking advantage of the distraction, the Aqua Ranger drives both of his Aqua Double Dirks into the kidneys of the Wolflord, causing the Wolflord to scream in pain. He twists around, wrenching the Double Dirks from the Aqua Ranger's grasp and slams his shield into the Aqua Ranger's gut, sending the short Ranger crashing to the ground.
Just as the Wolflord is about to advance on the Crystal Ranger, a white energy blasts hits his left shoulder. He turns to see the White Ranger with his White Staff ready for battle.
"So, you'll challenge me too?" the Wolflord scoffs, "I've taken out everyone else on your team at one time or another. Granted the Aqua Ranger was very formidable, but he fell to my power as well. What makes you think you're any different?"
"Because he has back-up," a calm feminine voice says from behind. The Wolflord turns to see the Bronze and Platinum Rangers facing him with their Blade Blasters pointed right at his head. They both open fire, salvo after salvo of bronze and platinum energy pouring into the Wolflord's skull at near-point-blank range at full power. The energy eats into the Wolflord's flesh and sears his skin, boiling his eyes as the energy bolts hit him and go through his eyes straight to his brain. A few seconds later his magical energy erupts in his death and destroys his body.
The Ranger's sag their shoulders in relief. They had one. They were heavily injured, but they had won. The White Ranger lifts the Crystal Ranger up, the Crystal Ranger slinging an arm around the White Ranger's shoulders for support while the Bronze and Platinum Ranger's help the Aqua Ranger to his feet.
"Let's get back," Crystal Ranger says, "we could all use some rest."
The Bronze and Platinum Ranger's nod wearily. In flashes of multi-colored light, the five Ranger's teleport back to Atlantis.
~Dark Specter's ship~
"Curse those Ranger's!" Dark Specter growls, slamming his fist into the armrest of his throne, "Darkonda, get in here!"
"Yes, master?" Darkonda grovels as he walks into Dark Specter's throne room.
"Why didn't you stay to help the Wolflord?" Dark Specter demands, his eyes the color of molten copper.
"Because, master, I did not wish to lose one of my lives and my full power," Darkonda replies, "I wasn't using my full power anyway. If you give me a half hour's warning before the next battle, I can perform the ritual that will grant me my full power. Then the Ranger's will be history!"
"Very well," Dark Specter says, "you still did well. The Ranger's are injured and will not be fully healed by tomorrow. Then the Garnecia Elephantis will destroy the Ranger's once and for all!"
~back at Atlantis~
"Well, I must say you did very well," the Elder tells to the Ranger's, "yes, you sustained injuries, but you did win. In two days the healing magic will have fully set in along with your powers and you will be back at 100%."
"One problem, Elder," Jesse interrupts, "when I was fighting Darkonda he said that Dark Specter had called in the Garnecia Elephantis. We should expect another fight today or a fight tomorrow."
"The Garnecia Elephantis?" the Elder gulps, "that monster is one of the most powerful monsters in Dark Specters army."
"Then we had best be on our guard," Jesse says as he sits up in, "Darkonda said that the Garnecia Elephantis would attack tomorrow, but since we got away with minimal injuries Dark Specter might send it down today."
"The Garnecia Elephantis is a gigantic monster, the size of your Zords in Warrior mode," Connerly says, "if it attacks, it will be a Zord battle. While not directly influenced, you will are physically tested with each Zord battle. Injured as you are, you may not be able to win a battle with the Garnecia Elephantis, even with the Atlantean Megazord."
"Then we had best hope that it does attack tomorrow and not today," Alex says, "your Morphers and the healing magic we have placed on you should have you healed up to about eighty percent. By tomorrow night you should be fully healed."
"That's good," Bethany says, "what about Petite?"
"My repair systems are much more sophisticated than your healing powers," Petite replies, "I will be at one hundred percent within two hours. I am currently at eighty percent."
"Good," Jesse says, "its still fairly early in the afternoon, so we should take the day off and relax. That's just a suggestion though. And I really need to get home. Aunt's probably worried about me. At least I've always been in a habit of walking up to the nearby park and just relaxing there."
With that, Jesse nods and teleports out in a stream of silver light.
"Just great, not only do we have a banquet the day after tomorrow, but we have a powerful monster to worry about as well," Ben grumbles.
"At least I don't have to worry about the monster that much," Alex remarks, "though I do need to rest to recharge the energy I used to heal you guys."
"And you have to worry about the banquet as well," Holly points out.
"I may need to make more of an impression than the rest of you," Alex says, "I'm not even a Ranger. But I need to be heading home as well. I don't have handy excuses like Jesse does. I'll see you all tomorrow."
With that, Alex teleports out in a stream of white light.
"We all need to get back home as well," Bethany says, "our parents are probably a little worried as well."
"Not mine," Nathan says, "they think I'm hanging out with Ben till seven."
"Same with mine," Ben adds.
"You should still go home and rest," Eleanor says, "you've had a busy day of training, learning Atlantean etiquette, and a very harsh battle. Take the rest of the day off."
"Sure thing ma'am," Ben says. The four Ranger's teleport out in streams of platinum, bronze, white, and light blue light.
~the moon, location of the remains of the former palace of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd~
A set of blood-red eyes gaze at the Earth. The eastern portion of the Eurasian supercontinent and the northern part of Australia were in view at the moment. The owner of the eyes was a gigantic creature, the size of a Megazord. It has purple skin and wore a skirt-like garment covering its lower torso and upper leg area. It wore a necklace-like breastplate that had brightly colored clothe attached to it in an ornamental fashion. It had gigantic ivory tusks strong enough to penetrate Zord armor. A short distance away the creature's large jagged sword was stuck into the ground.
"So, this is Earth," the creature muses, "hardly a fitting conquest for the mighty Dark Specter. And yet so many evil warlords have tried to conquer it. Rita Repulsa. Lord Zedd. The Machine Empire. The Space Pirate Queen Divatox. The Princess of Evil Astronema. And then there are these evils that are from Earth's own past. The Demon Queen Bansheera. The mutants that attack that one city, Silver Hills. And these 'Orgs' that attack that town Turtle Cove. Such a small, insignificant planet, and yet it has attracted the most evil beings the galaxy has ever seen. And now it has attracted my lord Dark Specter, who has summoned me. And then there was the insidious Count Dregon who fought his nephew the Masked Rider."
The creature, dark Specter's mighty giant warrior the Garnecia Elephantis, smirks evilly, his tusks gleaming in the light that barely caps the Earth from the systems star.
"So many Power Ranger's," the Garnecia Elephantis smirks, "I shall enjoy destroying them all. I will have fun destroying the Ranger's who served under Zordon, and especially have fun destroying the Astro Ranger's. These other Ranger's are weak, but it will still be fun to destroy them. They still hold the same noble ideals as any that served Zordon. But the most challenging to face will be these so-called Atlantean Ranger's. But they cannot be Ranger's of Atlantis. Atlantis had no Power Ranger's, only the Atlantean Warrior's. The colors match up, though there is no Green Atlantean Ranger. Not yet, at least. But powered by the magic of Atlantis or not, they shall fall by my hand!"
The Garnecia Elephantis prepares for the coming battle, making sure that his weapon is in perfect condition and his body is thirsting for true destruction, murder, and mayhem.
A low evil laugh bubbles forth from the throat of the Garnecia Elephantis as he thinks of the slaughter that he will create tomorrow.
And from the top of a crater not far from the former Moon Palace, a pair of blood-red inhuman eyes watch the Garnecia Elephantis with complete and utter disdain.
~~
You know, there's nothing that'll get your own mind running smoothly like reading someone else's work of the same genre that you're writing. For me, reading the works of Ellen Brand get my mind flaring and my fingers flying. I suggest that you read any of her Personality Conflicts Series. Just copy and paste this link - www. ted posting them. He updates fairly often, too. Twice a month is the least so far, I think.
Please review. Reviews make me try harder at continuing a story. And if you're an anime fan, particularly of Digimon and Dragon Ball Z, check out some of my other stories.
~~
The Ranger's were training in the Hall of Heroes, the home base of sorts for the Atlantean Warrior's and now the Atlantean Ranger's. Bethany and Holly were sparring lightly in one corner and Alex and Petite were going through an intense kata. Alex wasn't a Ranger, but he wanted to stay in shape in case they found some power source for him to use to protect himself.
"I still can't believe that Jesse is the Silver Ranger," Nathan says as he lays into a punching bag, "but the Silver Ranger's attitude makes so much sense now."
"What do you mean?" Ben asks, holding, the bag for Nathan.
"Jesse was a social outcast in school," Nathan explains, "he made sure that he had very little to do with girls, or other people in general."
"Is he gay?" Ben asks.
"I'm not gay," Jesse growls as he walks into the gym, dressed for a workout, "I thought I'd been telling people that enough over the years that it'd finally sunk in."
"I never said you were gay," Nathan replies defensively, "I was one of those who believed you. Still thought you were weird for not liking girls, but I didn't think you were gay. Some guys just notice girls later than others."
"I'm never gonna bother with girls," Jesse says adamantly as he stretches, "they're too much of a hassle, you can't understand them, and their the source of constant turmoil. Look at how much trouble throughout history has been caused by females."
"I don't think I appreciate that observation," Holly says. Bethany solidly agrees, a cross look on her face.
Jesse smiles mockingly. "Oh, you're here? I didn't notice."
The two girls glare at their leader, but Jesse ignores them. Jacolby enters the room and immediately feels the tension.
"I take it you need something to do, Jesse," Jacolby says, "well, you all have something new to start studying."
"And what is that?" Bethany asks.
"Etiquette," Eleanor says as she enters the room, "in two days there is a banquet for the nobility of Atlantis. They want to meet the successors to the Atlantean Warriors. Your Morphers could possibly help you through the banquet, but it would be better to just teach you what is needed for Atlantean etiquette. The Morphers will help you learn. Alex, you have an impeccable memory and already know many rules of social gatherings like this."
"So do I," Jesse says, "I took a class called Work Readiness, and it covered etiquette for stuff like a banquet. Though I'll probably need some polishing for the atmosphere of Atlantis. Besides, I'm always willing to learn how to be more of a gentleman so I can act properly around ladies."
"Then why are you always so abrasive to me and Holly?" Beth asks.
"Because the only lady in this room, in my opinion, is Lady Eleanor," Jesse replies coolly. Alex duly noted that only an idiot wouldn't wilt under the twin glares that Holly and Beth were giving Jesse. And in Alex's opinion, Jesse was being an idiot right now and he would not bail him out if he got in trouble.
Luckily, it did not come to Holly and Beth teaming up to rip Jesse's lungs out.
"Jesse, that was unworthy of you!" Eleanor scolds. Jesse hangs his head sheepishly.
"Sorry," he mumbles, just loud enough for everyone to hear. He knew full well that if he didn't say it loud enough, he would be ordered to say it a lot louder, so he decided to head off that indignity.
"Now, clean up and follow me to the Great Hall," Eleanor orders, "I'm going to teach you the customs of Atlantis."
~Dark Specter's ship~
"Dark Specter, the Garnecia Elephantis has arrived," Darkonda says, "there is a comm. screen ready for you to speak to him."
"Very good, Darkonda," Dark Specter says, "leave me."
"As you wish, my lord." Darkonda bows, then exits the Dark Specter's throne room.
A rectangle edged with fire appears before the Dark Specter, showing a purple-skinned monster that resembled a humanoid elephant. Zedd's Octophantom may have supposedly been an incredibly powerful monster, but the Garnecia Elephantis was one of the mightiest creatures in the entire universe. Short of growing spells, only King Mondo's Staroid and Rita Repulsa's Mutitus were even close to matching the Elephantis, and of course they were no match. The incomprehensible Goldgoyle had been extremely powerful, but he had flaws that an experienced team of Rangers could overcome. Those Turbo Rangers, four of whom had become the Astro Rangers, had gotten incredibly lucky in destroying him.
"What is your bidding, all powerful Dark Specter?" the monster within the magical screen asks.
"Ah, my loyal warrior," Dark Specter says, "welcome to this fairly unimportant part of the universe."
"Thank you, Master Dark Specter," the Garnecia Elephantis replies, "what would you have me do?"
"Destroy the Atlantean Rangers," Dark Specter replies.
"Atlantean?" the Garnecia Elephantis replies, puzzled, "didn't we destroy Atlantis twelve thousand years ago?"
"We did," Dark Specter replies, "but apparently the Atlantean Morphers survived. Six of them have so far been located and are being used against me. I want you to destroy the Rangers and their mighty Zords. Even if the last Morpher is found, one Ranger alone could not possibly defeat me, not even one powered by the magic's of Atlantis."
"When do I start?" the Garnecia Elephantis asks, eyes glinting with evil glee at the thought of destroying something."
"Tomorrow," Dark Specter replies, "rest from your journey today and fight the Ranger's at full strength. I will send down the Wolflord of Fire and Earth to soften them up."
"Master, it is not necessary," the Garnecia Elephantis protests, "I will face them on my own!"
"No, you will obey my orders!" Dark Specter commands, "I want the Atlantean Rangers dead! Between the Wolflord of Fire and Earth and yourself, these Ranger's will perish for certain."
"They would fall at my hands even without the Wolflord," the Garnecia Elephantis replies, "but I shall obey your command. I shall rest in the remains of Zedd and Rita's Moon Palace."
"There are no remains," Dark Specter comments, "it was never destroyed. Mondo just ran Zedd, Rita, and their henchmen off and then just ignored it."
"There will be remains about five seconds after I get there," the Garnecia Elephantis replies, "with your leave, my master."
"Go and rest," Dark Specter replies, eyes actually glinting in amusement over the Garnecia Elephantis' sense of humor.
The Garnecia Elephantis teleports in a whorl of purple and white energy.
"Darkonda!" Dark Specter bellows.
Darkonda hurries in. He had never liked the Garnecia Elephantis. The monster was brutally efficient, Darkonda could not deny that, but it was also completely obtuse. It relied completely on brute strength, hardly possessing any skill at all. Its skin was thick enough to repel almost any sword, even those wielded by the various Megazords. Lasers didn't have much affect either. And its skin was also dense enough to take the blows from any bludgeoning weapon without missing a beat.
"Yes, mighty Dark Specter?" Darkonda asks.
"Summon the Wolflord of Fire and Earth," Dark Specter orders, "send him down to Earth. He can choose where he attacks. Just make sure it is heavily populated."
"At once, Dark Specter," Darkonda bows, "shall I send a platoon or two of Spectrons with him?"
"Send down a single platoon," Dark Specter says, "they are to keep all but one Ranger away from the Wolflord. He shall work hard on each one individually, hurting them as much as possible, physically exhausting them as best he can. He will then toss them back to the Spectrons and pick another Ranger out. If he can destroy one, all the better. But he MUST exhaust them physically. He must hurt them as much as possible so the accelerated healing abilities of the Atlantean Morphers cannot completely heal them by tomorrow."
"It shall be as you say, master," Darkonda says, "shall I accompany them? Between the Wolflord and myself, we can harry the Ranger's exceptionally well."
"Do as you wish," Dark Specter says, "you can even attack another location with a platoon of Spectrons."
"Divide and conquer," Darkonda grins, "the oldest strategy, but one that easily works no matter what the circumstances."
"Go and do as I have commanded," Dark Specter orders, "Wear the Ranger's down, kill them if you can. They must not be at full strength when facing the Garnecia Elephantis."
"It shall be done, Dark Specter," Darkonda says with a bow, then exits Dark Specter's throne room.
Dark Specter's cruel, chilling laugh echoes through his throne room. "Soon, the Atlantean Ranger's will fall, and the Earth, and then the universe, shall be mine!"
~At Atlantis~
"How does he do it?" Beth asks in disgust as she watches Jesse perfectly use the manners asked of them by Eleanor.
"Jesse prides himself on being a gentleman," Alex replies, "but in truth, I think its because he reads so much. I expect that the court functions in those fantasy he reads are very similar to Atlantean court behaviors."
"Its disgusting, if you ask me," Holly says, "he tries to be the perfect Ranger."
"If he is, then he's succeeding," Nathan adds.
"Oh, I don't think he's trying to be a perfect Ranger," Ben says, "I think he's succeeding."
"He just puts himself into the training more than you guys because he's always wanted to be a hero, and now he is one," Alex says, "he's always been taught to mind his manners. Thing is, he's also adopted his own code of honor. Apparently, it coincides with the Silver Morpher's Code of Honor."
"The Code of Honor of the Silver Morpher is very loose," Petite says, "and yet very strict. Even under the most powerful of mind control spells, those who wield the Silver Morpher have yet to compromise their integrity. They will willingly give up their lives to save someone else. They are not the most sociable of people, but they do make the best Ranger's."
"Are they immune to spells?" Beth asks, "I remember him telling us about Voricifa, the Mistress of Seduction. He completely ignored her advances, and Connerly said that she used spells to boost her sensuality."
"He was actually able to resist Voricifa?" Petite says, shocked, "unless he is completely devoted to someone else, has interest in men instead of women, or hormonally deficient, he should have done whatever she asked, even if it was sawing off his manhood with a dull knife."
"He's none of the above," Alex says, "at least, he's not devoted to some girl that I know of. He just doesn't have interest in the opposite sex."
"Are you done talking about me?" Jesse asks as he walks up.
'I have got to ask how he does that,' Alex says to himself.
"How do you do that?" Beth demands.
"Ever heard of the Japanese folklore that if you sneeze three times consecutively, someone who doesn't like you is talking about you?" Jesse asks.
"You actually believe that?" Holly asks skeptically.
"Whether or not I believe it, I just sneezed three times consecutively," Jesse replies, "I look over in your direction, and your talking while looking at me fairly often."
"You really do believe that nonsense," Alex chuckles.
"Whether or not I believe it, I got some chores to do at home," Jesse says, "it's too bad that even since our Morphers enhance all of our abilities, I still can't vacuum worth a flip."
With that, Jesse teleports out.
Beth and Holly look at each other and giggle.
"What is the matter ladies?" Eleanor asks as she walks up to them.
"Nothing," Holly grins, "its just that its funny. Jesse is our best fighter since he is the only one of us who completely immerses themselves in the knowledge from the Morphers. He is also very good at Atlantean court behaviors."
"Actually, on the court behaviors he needs a lot of practice," Eleanor grins, "he has the basics down very well, but he couldn't pass off as an Atlantean like that."
"Still, he can do all of those things that we are only barely adequate at, and he can't do the things that we're good at," Beth giggles.
"Jesse's been like that as long as I've known him," Alex says, "it's just the way he is. He prides himself on being different. He even wrote a poem once on being an outcast."
"I remember that poem," Nathan says with a faint smile, "rather, I remember someone telling me about it. A lot of the people who gave him the outcast perspective were in his English II class when he read it. A lot of them still won't look him in the eye, and that was two years ago."
"That must have been some poem," Ben muses.
"No, it just had a lot of emotion in it," Nathan replies, "personally, I'm surprised he didn't get a lot of people extremely mad at him. He practically accused half of the class of having no souls."
"Jesse usually doesn't do something thinking of other peoples feelings," Alex says, "its his most serious fault."
"A pretty big one, I'd say," Holly adds.
"Another one is not being a people person," Beth adds.
"Considering the way he's been treated, I'm not surprised," Petite says.
"Whaddya mean?" Ben asks.
"He has been treated like a total social outcast for the last six years," Alex points out, "even by most of those he considers friends and whose opinions he values."
"Still, we're trying to get to know him and be his friends," Holly protests, "we were all chosen by the Atlantean Morphers to fight Dark Specter and his minions. I, for one, really would like to be his friend."
"He's been burned by most of the new friends he's made since moving her, and he hasn't talked to any of the friends he had before moving to Jackson since he moved," Alex replies, "just give him time. Jesse's not stupid. He knows you're sincere in wanting to be his friend; he just doesn't want to believe it. Just give him his space and he'll come around. I just hope its it's before we have to worry about Y3K."
Beth arches and eyebrow. "He's that that standoffish, is he?"
Jesse plops down on the couch after finishing his chores to rest and catch his breath. Even if he lived a hundred years, he would never learn how to vacuum properly!
"I need some new hobbies," Jesse mutters as he heads to his room, grabs a book, and plops down in the easy chair in his bedroom. He opens the book to his saved spot and resumes reading one of his favorite books, The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey. He admires the dragon on the cover.
"I wish the Silver Dragonzord looked that good," Jesse mutters, "it looks like something a preschooler came up with. I got the short end of the stick in Zord designs."
Jesse reads through the book at his usual pace, starting about a quarter of the way through the book and finishing the book a half hour later. Setting the book down, Jesse goes to find something to eat, only to discover that the only edible things in the kitchen were things he did not know how to cook and baking soda.
"Man, I really hope my aunt cooks tonight or gets something on the way home," Jesse whines as he rummages through the cupboards. Finally, he gives up and heads to the living room to turn on the TV.
Apparently, his aunt had been watching the news before leaving for work. Or a channel that had news shows on it. What he saw surprised him no end. It was a live news feed from Chicago. A humanoid wolf monster wielding a giant double-bladed battle-ax in one hand and had a circular shield in the other was attacking the city. It was slicing through anything that got in its way, occasionally slamming its ax into the ground and sending powerful shockwaves that felled nearby buildings. So far it had avoided destroyed any skyscrapers, but there was no telling how long that would last.
Bringing his communicator to his mouth, he taps the comm. button that would enable him to talk to whoever was keeping a lookout for evil at Atlantis.
"Folks, we have a problem."
The Wolflord of Fire and Earth was having fun for a change. It had been a long time since he had taken time off from being a mercenary and just have fun. And fun for him was terrorizing inhabitants of backwater worlds like this one. He was usually able to do this on the job as well, but it was never the same as doing it for no reason other than the fact that he wanted to do it.
But the Dark Specter had simply told him to do what he loved doing: destroying things. He was given leave to do whatever he wanted, as long as he destroyed or at least horribly wounded the Atlantean Rangers in the process. And since he was being paid in tons of starfire diamonds in advance, he eagerly took the job.
The Wolflord of Fire and Earth slams his ax into the ground, sending out a shockwave that obliterates an armored vehicle that was obviously some sort of weapon that the humans had. Humans were funny creatures, thinking their meager technology could stand up to the unsuppressed might of a being such as himself.
"Hold it right there, bucko!"
The Wolflord turns around to see the six Atlantean Rangers standing there, Blade Blasters drawn and Silver Staff at the ready.
"So, you finally arrived," the Wolflord huffs, "Spectrons! Attack!"
A full platoon of Spectrons appear out of nowhere and attack the Silver, Platinum, White, Crystal, and Aqua Rangers. The Wolflord charges the Bronze Ranger, slamming his ax down into the ground and sending a shockwave of power at his target. The Bronze Ranger leaps out of the way, sending a small flurry of laser bolts from her Blade Blaster that are effortlessly blocked by the Wolflord's shield.
"Pathetic," the Wolflord says, a feral wolfish grin spearing on his muzzle, "I had expected better from Atlantean Ranger. Clearly I was mistaken."
"We've only just begun," Bronze Ranger replies, summoning her Bronze Staff and transforming it into her Bronze Battle Axe, "let's rock."
The two axe-wielding warriors charge each other and clash axe blades, engaging in a furious battle. The Wolflord had strength, size, and experience on his side, as well as a shield to deflect blows from his opponent, but the Bronze Ranger had agility on hers, and it was enough to keep from being totally pummeled by the Wolflord. But in the end, the Wolflord was far too powerful for the Bronze Ranger.
A brutal overhead chop from the Wolflord's ax connects with the Bronze Ranger's shield armor slices through to the bone. The Bronze Ranger immediately teleports out in a streak of bronze light.
"Hey, Fluffy!" a male voice calls out from behind the Wolflord. The Wolflord turns around just in time to see the White Ranger slam his White Warhammer into his chest. The Wolflord staggers back, but soon recovers. As he glances around, he sees that the Spectrons were losing miserably against the Ranger's. Perhaps this plan had a few flaws in it, such as the incompetence of the Spectrons or an underestimation of the abilities of the Atlantean Rangers.
"At last, a challenge," the Worlflord grins, "bring it on, Ranger."
The White Ranger charges in, slamming his White Warhammer into the Wolflord's shield. Thinking his opponent's weapon is out of the way at the moment, the Wolflord raises his ax and chops down with, but is blocked when the White Ranger lifts his left arm and blocks the chop with the lower end of his weapon. The White Ranger spins, bringing his Warhammer around with him, and delivers a mighty blow into the side of the Wolflord, driving the air out of his lungs and caving in some of the Wolflord's vital organs.
The Wolflord barely misses a step, clubbing the White Ranger with his shield, sending the White Ranger flying into the side of a building and knocking him unconscious. Smirking to himself, the Wolflord moves in to inflict more damage, but is stopped by a pair of energy beams hitting the back of his head. Snarling, the Wolflord turns around to see the Crystal and Platinum Rangers with their Blade Blasters drawn. The Aqua and Silver Rangers were still preoccupied with the Spectrons, though they were now dealing with the whole group on their own.
"Bring it on," the Wolflord snarls and slams his axe into the ground, sending out a powerful shockwave that catches the Platinum Ranger completely and sends her flying high into the air. The Platinum Ranger lands on a nearby parked car that was already severely damaged from being grazed by several energy shots from Spectrons and Rangers. The car caves in and explodes around the Platinum Ranger and she is forcibly teleported to Atlantis before she demorphs from the damage she had just received.
"Is this the best that the Atlantean Rangers can do?" the Wolflord snorts, "pathetic. I expected better of the supposed greatest fighting force to ever exist."
"Then let us show you how dangerous we can really be," a voice from behind says. The Wolflord turns around just in time to see the Crystal Ranger slice him across the chest with his Crystal Cutlass. The Wolflord staggers back, but then unleashes a bolt of energy into the Crystal Ranger, who blocks it with his Crystal Cutlass
The Wolflord prepares to unleash an even more powerful attack, but he is knocked to the ground by the White Ranger, who hits the Wolflord full in the back with his White Warhammer.
As the Wolflord gets back to his feet, the Crystal and White Rangers regroup, ready to take the Wolflord on together.
"Ouch!"
"Hush, its not that bad," Eleanor tells the whining Bethany, "but we have to disinfect it before we can apply healing magic to it."
"I know, but it still hurts," Bethany complains.
"Hey, at least you weren't as hurt as Holly," Connerly says soberly, "if we had been a second later in teleporting her out, she would have been gravely injured."
"How is she doing?" Bethany asks, wincing from another cotton swab going through the deep cut on her shoulder.
"She's gonna be fine," Alex says as he applies his healing magic to the unconscious Holly, "but it was a close call. Where did that monster come from?"
"Where else?" Bethany asks, "Dark Specter."
"No, his energy readings are not of those monsters who specifically serve Dark Specter or are created by him," Alex says as he rigidly controls the flow of healing energy, "and its different from anything on file."
"It's a mercenary," Eleanor says, "under Dark Specter's payroll. He must be softening you up for something."
"Yes, the Spectrons did try to keep all but one of us away from the Wolflord," Bethany muses, "and its moves look more to hurt than to kill, though there probably won't be much grief if it did manage to kill one of us."
"It would keep you from forming one of the Binary or Trinary Zords," Alex says as he takes a break from tending Holly's injuries.
"Not only that, but it would stop you from forming the Quadro Megazord or the Silver Atlantean Megazord."
"Silver Atlantean Megazord?" Bethany asks, "Quadro Megazord?"
"The Quadro Megazord is a combination of the Crystal Chimera, White Gargoyle, Platinum Winged Unicorn, and Bronze Griffin Atlantean Zords," Connerly explains, "the Silver Atlantean Megazord is a combination of the four Zords that make up the Quadro Megazord and the Silver Dragon Atlantean Zord."
"And thus our most powerful weapon," Bethany says.
"No, the Aqua Golem Zord can form an Armor Mode for the Quadro Megazord and Silver Atlantean Megazord as well," Connerly says, "the Silver Atlantean Megazord Armor Mode is the most powerful weapon in our entire arsenal."
"So the Dark Specter obviously fears it could beat whatever he's planning, so it must be big," Bethany says, "but what could he be planning?"
Alex sighs. "Connerly, any ideas?"
"None," Connerly replies, "we've detected nothing in the solar system except for communications, but we couldn't crack the magical encryptions. Whatever's going on, its big."
"He's probably using the Staff of Kaishin for something right now and is using the Wolflord as a distraction," Holly observes, surprising everyone. Noone had noticed that she had awakened.
"How's your head?" Alex asks, moving to Holly's side.
"Could be better," Holly groans, "got an Aspirin?"
"Here," Alex says, holding his hand over Holly's forehead. Mint green light flows out of his head and into Holly's head, soothing her headache. "How does that feel?"
Holly smiles. "Much better. How's the battle going?"
"Crystal and White Ranger's are taking on the Wolflord," Connerly replies, "Silver and Aqua Ranger's are dealing with the Spectrons."
"How are Crystal and White Ranger's doing?" Bethany asks.
"Fairly good," Alex replies, "they're not getting their keisters handed to them like you were, but they're not kicking his rear either. It's a stalemate so far. They'll win if either the Silver or Aqua Ranger's can get free of the Spectrons to help them. You two are in no condition to go and help at the moment."
"But they need help!" Bethany protests, then winces as Connerly brushes another cotton swab through the cut on her shoulder, clearing away any foreign particles before applying healing magic. Sapphire blue light emanates from Connerly's hand as the healing magic accelerates Bethany's natural healing ability beyond what the Bronze Morpher gave her.
"Can they win without us?" Holly asks as Alex finishes setting the healing magic into her, letting it do the rest.
"They should be able to," Alex says, "if just the Crystal and White Ranger's are doing this well against him, then if just one more Ranger helps them he'll be finished."
~The Battle~
The Crystal Ranger blocks the Wolflord's axe slash with his Crystal Cutlass, his legs almost buckling under the sheer force he was holding back. The Wolflord had put the force behind one of his earth shattering blows in that strike. The White Ranger slams his White Warhammer into the Wolflord's back, but the mercenary merely shrugs it off and backhands the Crystal Ranger into the air. The Crystal Ranger quickly draws his Blade Blaster and blasts away some of the mercenaries fur. The Wolflord smashes his shield against the side of the Crystal Ranger's helmet and follows up with a kick to the midsection.
An energy bolts rips into the Wolflord's back. Snarling, he turns to look at his attacker. It was the Aqua Ranger. Behind him, the Silver Ranger was dealing with the rest of the Spectrons, including the ones that had been distracting the Aqua Ranger. The Aqua Ranger was holding his Aqua Double Dirks dangerously, poised to strike. He glances at his two teammates.
"You two help the Silver Ranger. I'll deal with this one."
The other two Ranger's look nervously at their teammate. Sure, he was more experienced than they were, but they had just seen this creature take down their most formidable team with ease and had just taken them for a ride.
"You sure man?" Crystal Ranger asks.
"Just do it!" Aqua Ranger orders, "trust me, I can handle this slouch."
"If you say so," Crystal Ranger says, then fires his Blade Blaster at a Spectron that was about to slash the Silver Ranger in the back, then charges into the platoon of Spectrons with the White Ranger close behind.
"You're pretty cocky for such a small Ranger," the Wolflord says mockingly.
"Size matters, not," Aqua Ranger quotes as he leaps forward into a teleport and appears behind the Wolflord, kicking him soundly in the back. He then back flips into another teleport and lands into a head press, driving his heels into the Wolflord's snout, then whirling around, grinding them into the Wolflord's sensitive nose and then kicking him straight in the eye before flipping off of the Wolflord and driving a fist into his gut as he leaps forward and checking him into the side of another building.
The Wolflord slowly pulls himself out of the wreckage. "You're fairly strong for one so small. And fast, though I figured you would have to be fast. But you are dangerous. Very, very dangerous."
"You bet I am," the Aqua Ranger says as he crosses his arms above his head, then slashes down in an "X" pattern, sending out a tremendous blast of energy at the Wolflord who blocks it with his shield. The Wolflord counters by firing flaming energy blasts at the Aqua Ranger in return, but the Aqua Ranger crosses his arms even with his waist and then brings them up, slashing in an "X" pattern. The focal point of the "X" becomes the center of an energy shield that stops the Wolflord's assault.
"And very tricky, it seems," the Wolflord says, dropping into a wary fighting position. The two combatants circle each other warily, neither one wanting to make the first move in case the other can counter it and thus spell disaster for them.
~At Atlantis~
"Wow, look at those two go!" Bethany cries out, watching the battle in a magical viewscreen conjured by Connerly.
"The level of their attacks is above what most Ranger teams are capable of," Connerly says, "in fact, only the Gold Zeo Ranger, the Silver Astro Ranger, and the Magna Defender come close to that level of power. The Titanium Ranger isn't too far behind them, and no one really knows how strong the Phantom Ranger is."
"Its amazing," Holly says, "I didn't think Petite was that strong."
"He's the most experienced member of the team," Alex says, "true, Jesse is more experienced with the Ranger aspect of the Atlantean Morphers, but Petite is more at home with the Atlantean energies. They are unlike any other form of magic in the entire universe. Nothing has been recorded that even comes close except for the Dark Specter's elite henchmen."
"Well, it looks like Petite will be able to destroy that thing while the others take out the Spectrons," Jacolby observes.
"Uh oh, they got company," Bethany says, pointing off in the distance. The distinct ripple of several teleportation signatures is evident.
~The battle~
Darkonda chuckles evilly as he watches the battle. The Crystal and White Ranger's were tired due to their intense fight with the Wolflord, and now they were being swamped by Spectron after Spectron. The Bronze and Platinum Ranger's were gone, presumably too hurt to continue. The Aqua Ranger had its hands full with the Wolflord. The only Ranger present that still seemed in good condition was the Silver Ranger. And that would soon change.
"Oh Silver Ranger!" The Silver Ranger turns around just in time to block a flurry of powerful energy bolts thrown at him by Darkonda with his sword.
"Darkonda," Silver Ranger mutters, "I should have expected you to be here. A sneak attack. How contemptible. How like you."
Darkonda laughs. "Come and test your mettle against me again, Silver Ranger. We didn't rightly finish our last fight."
The Silver Ranger lets out a yell and leaps at Darkonda, hacking and slashing with his sword. Darkonda parries the attacks, laughing maniacally as he punches the Silver Ranger in the gut, following up with a vicious spinning backhand to the jaw that sends the Silver Ranger flying. The Silver Ranger slowly gets up, clutching his sword desperately in his right hand. Darkonda was far stronger than the records indicated. How did he get so strong?
"Is that the best that the most powerful Ranger in the universe can do?" Darkonda asks mockingly, "or are you so pathetic that even your Ranger powers can't help you?"
The Silver Ranger growls and leaps at Darkonda, his sword tip pointed at Darkonda's throat. Darkonda just idly sidesteps the leaping Silver Ranger, at the same time slashing upwards and catching the Silver Ranger in the stomach with his sword, slicing through the Ranger armor but not cutting through the flesh underneath. The Silver Ranger falls to the ground in a heap, clutching at the damage to his outfit with his left hand as he tries desperately to get back to his feet.
"So pitiful," Darkonda sneers, "I think I'll kill you now and let the Garnecia Elephantis take care of your friends tomorrow."
With a yell of desperation, the Silver Ranger hurls his Silver Saber at Darkonda with all his might. The sword flies true, slicing through Darkonda's right shoulder with ease and then clattering onto the ground behind Darkonda.
"A fit of desperation, eh?" Darkonda chuckles, clutching his wounded right shoulder with his left hand, "not bad. But also not good enough."
Darkonda raises his sword and prepares to deliver the final blow, a crushing downward slash that would cut the Silver Ranger's head in half, helmet and all. Darkonda executes the finishing maneuver, but the Silver Ranger is teleported away in a column of silver light.
"Damn!" Darkonda growls, punching the ground with his left fist, "he got away. But I'll get him eventually."
But now only three Ranger's were there to fight the Wolflord, Darkonda, and the Spectrons. Darkonda rushes the Crystal Ranger with a powerful slash, but the Crystal Ranger blocks with his Crystal Cutlass, parrying Darkonda's blade and kneeing the villain in the gut. Darkonda steps back, somewhat impressed.
"Not bad, for a rookie," Darkonda chuckles, "still not as good as your leader though."
Darkonda rushes the Crystal Ranger, hacking, slashing, and thrusting ferociously. It is all that the Crystal Ranger can do to block.
~at Atlantis~
"Hurry up," Jesse growls as Connerly and Alex disinfect his wound and prepare it for their healing magic, "I have to get back out there."
"Easy there, kiddo, that was a nasty cut you took," Jacolby says, "take it easy. You'll be ready for action by tomorrow."
"Good," Jesse says, "I managed to get some info out of Darkonda. He says that the Garnecia Elephantis will be attacking tomorrow. It appears that today's attack is just to soften us up."
"The Garnecia Elephantis?" Connerly asks, "that is one of the Dark Specter's most powerful monsters. Its naturally at Zord size. There are few monsters in the entire universe that big."
"So Dark Specter is pulling out its most fearsome minions, is he?" Jesse asks.
"Apparently so," Connerly says, "Bethany, Holly, you head back to the battle. I hate sending you back into action so soon, but being Morphed will help you heal faster. Take down the Spectrons yourselves so the Crystal and White Rangers can double-team Darkonda. Aqua Ranger is doing fine against the Wolflord."
"Right," Bethany says as Holly gets up off the cot she had been placed in, "it's Morphin time! Bronze Power of Atlantis!"
"Platinum Power of Atlantis!"
The Bronze and Platinum Ranger's teleport out in streaks of bronze and platinum light.
"Good luck, girls," Jesse sighs as Alex begins applying the healing magic.
"They're strong, they'll make it," Connerly says.
"I know that," Jesse sighs, "I just don't like being left out of the action."
~the battle~
With the appearance of Darkonda, three separate battles were now being fought. One was the Aqua Ranger versus the Wolflord of Fire and earth. The second is the Crystal Ranger versus Darkonda. The third battle is the White Ranger versus a full platoon of Spectrons. Granted, the Spectrons were damaged from fighting the other Ranger's, but their sheer numbers were proving to be too much for the mighty White Atlantean Ranger to handle.
He holds up as best he can, now using his White Staff and Blade Blaster instead of his White Warhammer, and was blasting Spectron after Spectron with Staff and Blade Blaster as soon as he would get a clear shot. However, he was still taking many hits. Twin blasts of energy, one bronze and the other platinum in color, rip through a pair of Spectrons that try to blindside the White Ranger.
"I'm so glad you're hear," the White Ranger says gratefully as he fends off another Spectron.
"Don't mention it," Bronze Ranger says, tearing through a Spectron with a single swipe of her Bronze Battle Axe, "now go help the Crystal Ranger. Platinum Ranger and I will take care of these Spectrons."
"But you were injured!" White Ranger protests.
"We're not so hurt that we can't take care of a few measly Spectrons," Platinum Ranger laughs, twirling her Platinum Partisan around, keeping the trio of Spectrons that were advancing on her at bay.
"If you say so," White Ranger says softly, "take care ladies."
With a yell, White Ranger leaps at Darkonda, swinging for the side of the demonic alien's head. Darkonda ducks and spins around, delivering a powerful kick to White Ranger's gut, sending the White Ranger flying. This gives the Crystal Ranger an opening to slash at Darkonda's unprotected back. Darkonda growls in pain as the Crystal Cutlass chips his back armor, sparks flying. Darkonda whirls around and slashes the Crystal Ranger down, cutting deep into the Crystal Ranger's shield.
White Ranger takes this opportunity to bring his White Warhammer down on the center of the cut that the Crystal Ranger had made. Snarling in pain, Darkonda turns and fires a full power magical blast point blank into the White Ranger's shield. The blast has enough force to completely shatter the White Ranger's shield, revealing the solid white bodysuit that covered the White Ranger's torso. The blast is enough to singe the bodysuit as well and send the White Ranger crashing into a street post. The White Ranger crumples down to the ground, dazed but relatively unharmed.
Crystal Ranger, upon seeing what Darkonda has done to his friend, cuts loose into Darkonda in pure unchecked fury, drawing his Blade Blaster in Blade Mode, he attacks Darkonda with both Crystal Cutlass and Blade Blaster. Darkonda is barely able to block the onslaught. The pain from the concentrated attack into the new niche in his natural armor is diverting his attention just enough to make it hard to fully concentrate on this fight. The evil alien delivers a cruel left uppercut to just under the Crystal Ranger's jaw, sending him soaring across the street to crumple into the ground, out cold.
"NO!" Darkonda turns around when he hears the enrage cry. He turns around just in time to take the White Warhammer full in the face as the White Ranger slams it in down hard. Darkonda backpedals. That attack had hurt! Not a large amount, but it had hurt. It had penetrated the defenses he had at half power. These Atlantean Rangers were stronger than anticipated. They were above the power levels of any of the other groups of Power Rangers to surface. The Astro Ranger's weren't even half as strong as these Atlantean Ranger's. Not even the Silver Astro Ranger or the Gold Ranger were this strong, and they were the two most powerful Ranger's to ever face the forces of evil.
"Grr, that hurt," Darkonda snarls, bringing his hand to his smashed face.
"It was supposed to," White Ranger says coldly, readying for another swing.
Darkonda, knowing that his wounds were too serious to risk more surprises like this, and with Ranger's the surprises always seemed to be on their side, decides that leaving now would be a good idea if he wanted to keep all nine of his lives and his full power. He teleports out in a whorl of red energy tinged with white.
White Ranger looks at Crystal Ranger as the Crystal Ranger gets back on his feet and shrugs. "Well, what do you except from scum?"
"True," Crystal Ranger admits, "you go help the girls, I'll go help Aqua Ranger."
"Gotcha," White Ranger replies, "good luck. That guy is tough."
White Ranger changes his White Warhammer into the White Staff and sends out several energy blasts at the Spectrons. Crystal Ranger leaps at the Wolflord from behind, slashing at the bounty hunter's back.
The Wolflord turns and blocks the slash with his shield, then slams his axe into the Crystal Ranger's side. The axe blade buries itself into the Crystal Ranger's side, but luckily it does not piece the armor. The Crystal Ranger is knocked into the side of a nearby building from the force of the blow.
Taking advantage of the distraction, the Aqua Ranger drives both of his Aqua Double Dirks into the kidneys of the Wolflord, causing the Wolflord to scream in pain. He twists around, wrenching the Double Dirks from the Aqua Ranger's grasp and slams his shield into the Aqua Ranger's gut, sending the short Ranger crashing to the ground.
Just as the Wolflord is about to advance on the Crystal Ranger, a white energy blasts hits his left shoulder. He turns to see the White Ranger with his White Staff ready for battle.
"So, you'll challenge me too?" the Wolflord scoffs, "I've taken out everyone else on your team at one time or another. Granted the Aqua Ranger was very formidable, but he fell to my power as well. What makes you think you're any different?"
"Because he has back-up," a calm feminine voice says from behind. The Wolflord turns to see the Bronze and Platinum Rangers facing him with their Blade Blasters pointed right at his head. They both open fire, salvo after salvo of bronze and platinum energy pouring into the Wolflord's skull at near-point-blank range at full power. The energy eats into the Wolflord's flesh and sears his skin, boiling his eyes as the energy bolts hit him and go through his eyes straight to his brain. A few seconds later his magical energy erupts in his death and destroys his body.
The Ranger's sag their shoulders in relief. They had one. They were heavily injured, but they had won. The White Ranger lifts the Crystal Ranger up, the Crystal Ranger slinging an arm around the White Ranger's shoulders for support while the Bronze and Platinum Ranger's help the Aqua Ranger to his feet.
"Let's get back," Crystal Ranger says, "we could all use some rest."
The Bronze and Platinum Ranger's nod wearily. In flashes of multi-colored light, the five Ranger's teleport back to Atlantis.
~Dark Specter's ship~
"Curse those Ranger's!" Dark Specter growls, slamming his fist into the armrest of his throne, "Darkonda, get in here!"
"Yes, master?" Darkonda grovels as he walks into Dark Specter's throne room.
"Why didn't you stay to help the Wolflord?" Dark Specter demands, his eyes the color of molten copper.
"Because, master, I did not wish to lose one of my lives and my full power," Darkonda replies, "I wasn't using my full power anyway. If you give me a half hour's warning before the next battle, I can perform the ritual that will grant me my full power. Then the Ranger's will be history!"
"Very well," Dark Specter says, "you still did well. The Ranger's are injured and will not be fully healed by tomorrow. Then the Garnecia Elephantis will destroy the Ranger's once and for all!"
~back at Atlantis~
"Well, I must say you did very well," the Elder tells to the Ranger's, "yes, you sustained injuries, but you did win. In two days the healing magic will have fully set in along with your powers and you will be back at 100%."
"One problem, Elder," Jesse interrupts, "when I was fighting Darkonda he said that Dark Specter had called in the Garnecia Elephantis. We should expect another fight today or a fight tomorrow."
"The Garnecia Elephantis?" the Elder gulps, "that monster is one of the most powerful monsters in Dark Specters army."
"Then we had best be on our guard," Jesse says as he sits up in, "Darkonda said that the Garnecia Elephantis would attack tomorrow, but since we got away with minimal injuries Dark Specter might send it down today."
"The Garnecia Elephantis is a gigantic monster, the size of your Zords in Warrior mode," Connerly says, "if it attacks, it will be a Zord battle. While not directly influenced, you will are physically tested with each Zord battle. Injured as you are, you may not be able to win a battle with the Garnecia Elephantis, even with the Atlantean Megazord."
"Then we had best hope that it does attack tomorrow and not today," Alex says, "your Morphers and the healing magic we have placed on you should have you healed up to about eighty percent. By tomorrow night you should be fully healed."
"That's good," Bethany says, "what about Petite?"
"My repair systems are much more sophisticated than your healing powers," Petite replies, "I will be at one hundred percent within two hours. I am currently at eighty percent."
"Good," Jesse says, "its still fairly early in the afternoon, so we should take the day off and relax. That's just a suggestion though. And I really need to get home. Aunt's probably worried about me. At least I've always been in a habit of walking up to the nearby park and just relaxing there."
With that, Jesse nods and teleports out in a stream of silver light.
"Just great, not only do we have a banquet the day after tomorrow, but we have a powerful monster to worry about as well," Ben grumbles.
"At least I don't have to worry about the monster that much," Alex remarks, "though I do need to rest to recharge the energy I used to heal you guys."
"And you have to worry about the banquet as well," Holly points out.
"I may need to make more of an impression than the rest of you," Alex says, "I'm not even a Ranger. But I need to be heading home as well. I don't have handy excuses like Jesse does. I'll see you all tomorrow."
With that, Alex teleports out in a stream of white light.
"We all need to get back home as well," Bethany says, "our parents are probably a little worried as well."
"Not mine," Nathan says, "they think I'm hanging out with Ben till seven."
"Same with mine," Ben adds.
"You should still go home and rest," Eleanor says, "you've had a busy day of training, learning Atlantean etiquette, and a very harsh battle. Take the rest of the day off."
"Sure thing ma'am," Ben says. The four Ranger's teleport out in streams of platinum, bronze, white, and light blue light.
~the moon, location of the remains of the former palace of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd~
A set of blood-red eyes gaze at the Earth. The eastern portion of the Eurasian supercontinent and the northern part of Australia were in view at the moment. The owner of the eyes was a gigantic creature, the size of a Megazord. It has purple skin and wore a skirt-like garment covering its lower torso and upper leg area. It wore a necklace-like breastplate that had brightly colored clothe attached to it in an ornamental fashion. It had gigantic ivory tusks strong enough to penetrate Zord armor. A short distance away the creature's large jagged sword was stuck into the ground.
"So, this is Earth," the creature muses, "hardly a fitting conquest for the mighty Dark Specter. And yet so many evil warlords have tried to conquer it. Rita Repulsa. Lord Zedd. The Machine Empire. The Space Pirate Queen Divatox. The Princess of Evil Astronema. And then there are these evils that are from Earth's own past. The Demon Queen Bansheera. The mutants that attack that one city, Silver Hills. And these 'Orgs' that attack that town Turtle Cove. Such a small, insignificant planet, and yet it has attracted the most evil beings the galaxy has ever seen. And now it has attracted my lord Dark Specter, who has summoned me. And then there was the insidious Count Dregon who fought his nephew the Masked Rider."
The creature, dark Specter's mighty giant warrior the Garnecia Elephantis, smirks evilly, his tusks gleaming in the light that barely caps the Earth from the systems star.
"So many Power Ranger's," the Garnecia Elephantis smirks, "I shall enjoy destroying them all. I will have fun destroying the Ranger's who served under Zordon, and especially have fun destroying the Astro Ranger's. These other Ranger's are weak, but it will still be fun to destroy them. They still hold the same noble ideals as any that served Zordon. But the most challenging to face will be these so-called Atlantean Ranger's. But they cannot be Ranger's of Atlantis. Atlantis had no Power Ranger's, only the Atlantean Warrior's. The colors match up, though there is no Green Atlantean Ranger. Not yet, at least. But powered by the magic of Atlantis or not, they shall fall by my hand!"
The Garnecia Elephantis prepares for the coming battle, making sure that his weapon is in perfect condition and his body is thirsting for true destruction, murder, and mayhem.
A low evil laugh bubbles forth from the throat of the Garnecia Elephantis as he thinks of the slaughter that he will create tomorrow.
And from the top of a crater not far from the former Moon Palace, a pair of blood-red inhuman eyes watch the Garnecia Elephantis with complete and utter disdain.
~~
You know, there's nothing that'll get your own mind running smoothly like reading someone else's work of the same genre that you're writing. For me, reading the works of Ellen Brand get my mind flaring and my fingers flying. I suggest that you read any of her Personality Conflicts Series. Just copy and paste this link - www. ted posting them. He updates fairly often, too. Twice a month is the least so far, I think.
Please review. Reviews make me try harder at continuing a story. And if you're an anime fan, particularly of Digimon and Dragon Ball Z, check out some of my other stories.