Chapter Three
The entire street erupted in sparks and smoke as Aaron raced towards Ultramarine. Hearing a cry, he stopped and turned back just as the five of us vanished from the scene and the storm of lightning bolts ended, leaving nothing but debris and a clearing cloud of smoke. A brief second of almost-paralysing fear rapidly became white-hot anger, and the Aqua Ranger spun back to Ultramarine.
"Where are they?" he cried. "What did you do?"
Ultramarine narrowed his eyes at the Aqua Ranger, ignoring him. "That wasn't supposed to happen," he said quietly. "Why are you still here?"
Aaron shook his head and charged towards the warrior. "I said," he began, reaching down to scoop up an arm from a lamp-post Ultramarine had destroyed earlier, "where are my friends?"
He swung the pole in a wide arc as he approached, catching Ultramarine under his jaw and smashing the warrior backwards. Aaron swung again as Ultramarine stumbled back, slamming the bar into the side of Ultramarine's helmet before bringing the weapon back down towards the warrior's chest with all his strength. Dazed from the assault, Ultramarine could only stagger back, unable to defend himself as Aaron followed after him, swinging the weapon with every step and landing blow after blow. Finally, Ultramarine regained enough sense to step back around the bar, and when Aaron swung again Ultramarine raised his arm and cleaved the bar in two as it fell towards him.
Continuing forward, Aaron threw the bar away behind him and smashed his left fist into Ultramarine's jaw. Turning back to Aaron, the warrior retaliated - Aaron ducked under the warrior's armoured fist, and aimed high with a left hook. Ultramarine grabbed his fist, and caught Aaron's right when the Aqua Ranger swung again, holding his opponent in place. But Aaron took to the air, his boot catching Ultramarine's jaw as he somersaulted backwards. While the warrior was off-balance, he charged forward, taking to the air and aiming a kick for the warrior's stomach - Ultramarine grabbed his left boot, but without slowing down the Aqua Ranger used the warrior's own hand for leverage and kicked high with his right foot, knocking the warrior back before dropping to the ground.
Ultramarine quickly found his footing, and he angrily spun back to the Aqua Ranger. His wrist blades slid into position as he turned, and he sliced his blades through the air towards his opponent, forcing the Aqua Ranger back. Aaron ducked under a slice from the right, dodged another and stepped back around a third, all the while searching for a way to get past the blades and take the battle in close. Ultramarine slashed low, and as Aaron jumped up and over the blade, Ultramarine spun on the spot and slashed his right blade across Aaron's chest, sending the Aqua Ranger back in a blaze of fire and sparks.
Recovering quickly, the Aqua Ranger wordlessly summoned his blasters, immediately raising them and firing. But Ultramarine had already covered the distance between them, and he smashed his palms into Aaron's wrists - the blasts went high and Ultramarine began firing, the warrior's shoulder cannon lifting Aaron off his feet and sending him crashing through the side of a nearby building.
"You're strong, I'll give you that," said Ultramarine, as Aaron painfully picked himself up and stumbled out of the ruined store, "but you're still out of your league."
The Aqua Ranger slowly turned to face the warrior, holding his blasters defensively across his chest. "Where are my friends?" he asked. "Tell me, now."
"Somewhere out of the way," Ultramarine replied, "where they won't bother anybody, at least for now." He paused, and shook his head. "I'm not sure why you're not with them, but trust me," and the warrior raised his blades, "it won't matter in the slightest."
Leveling his blasters at his steadily advancing opponent, Aaron stepped back out of range of Ultramarine's blades, glancing hopefully up to the sky for any sign of the others and for the second time that day feeling very decidedly alone.
Watching the battle from afar, Rita had been dismayed to see something which she hadn't counted on - the Aqua Ranger escape the barrage and continue fighting Ultramarine.
"One small hiccup," she said, turning to Goldar who'd returned and was standing beside her. "It won't matter in the long run, it can't."
Goldar nodded. "I'll give the order to the putties to move out."
"No," began Rita, "wait. You've been so efficient Goldar, why don't you take the putties down and lead the charge yourself? I think you've earned it."
"Yes, Empress," Goldar replied, before turning and walking away.
"One lone Power Ranger won't matter much either way," said Rita with a nod, "and it may even have unforeseen advantages," and standing to her full height, she raised her wand. "This one's for old times' sake. Grow Ultramarine, grow!" And for the second time that day, lightning bolts crackled down from the moon heading straight towards the city.
With a relieved smile, Kimberly slid the reading comprehension part of the exam over to the 'finished' corner of her desk, and was just reaching for scientific reasoning when she suddenly became aware of a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Leaving the test where it was, Kimberly turned to the window beside the desk and gazed outside. As a gymnast, she'd trained herself to be totally aware of everything around her, every part of her environment - often the difference between a crash landing and a perfectly-balanced somersault - and she could feel something in the breeze, the faintest of sounds behind the ordinary noises of the day reaching the school. Whatever it was, Kim just couldn't shake the feeling that something somewhere was seriously wrong.
Glancing down to her wrist, Kim gazed at her communicator helplessly. She couldn't risk interrupting the exam or getting the attention of the other Rangers, but right then contacting Zordon to ease her nerves seemed like the most important thing in the world. A lot more important than, and she looked back down to the exam, the lifespans of exotic breeds of shellfish.
Without warning, an alarm began to sound, and as the loud siren echoed through the interior of the building, everyone immediately looked up and around in surprise. At the front of the room, the three teachers on duty glanced around to each other at a loss, but taking charge, Mrs Appleby got to her feet and raised her voice.
"Everyone!" she called. "That's the monster alarm! There's no helping it - you'll need to leave your desks and find the nearest underground shelter!"
The room instantly erupted into a panicked chaos as everyone leaped from their chairs and raced for the doors, the crowd almost breaking them down as everybody surged outside. Getting to her feet, Kimberly quickly scanned the room, and seeing the other Rangers heading towards Jason and Tommy at the back near the doors, she crossed towards them, everyone meeting up just as the building emptied.
"The monster alarm," said Tommy. "Figures."
"I just hope the Juniors are okay," said Jason, as everyone reached for their communicators to turn the devices back on.
Zac glanced to Billy beside him. "I gotta know, since the test is null and void, question fourteen's been bugging me for hours..."
"Thirty-seven point nine," Billy replied with a smile.
"Damn it."
"You know, while I was sitting there I could totally feel something wrong," Kimberly said.
"But I don't get it," said Zac, turning to her. "If that was the monster alarm, where's the monster?"
Tommy turned to the Black Ranger, but glancing out the windows behind him, Tommy's eyes went wide. "Zac - problem solved!"
Everyone turned to follow his gaze, just as a storm of lightning bolts struck down from the heavens across the city, and an enormous blue figure suddenly rose out of the smoke cloud to tower over the nearby buildings.
It felt like it took forever, but his communicator finally switched back on, and Jason instantly hit the top button. "Zordon, we're all here," he said quickly. "We can see it - what's happening?"
"Rangers, thank goodness," came Zordon's voice. "I had Alpha activate the school's monster alarm remotely, it was the only way to reach you. The blue warrior you can see is Ultramarine, an old ally of Rita's. The Junior Team were fighting him earlier but they were unable to defeat him..."
"Big surprise," muttered Tommy, but Trini jabbed the Green Ranger in the ribs.
"...before vanishing from our scanners. We still haven't been able to find them," Zordon continued. "But somehow Aaron was left alone facing Ultramarine, and he needs your immediate help."
"We can't fight this guy and go rescue the Juniors," said Tommy. "Not at the same time."
"The Juniors can take care of themselves," said Zac. "They'll have to."
Billy nodded. "Affirmative," he agreed. "They should be well equipped to handle their present situation, whatever that might be."
"They'd better be," added Jason, and everybody heard the anger in his voice. "Okay Zordon, we're on our..." But glancing up to the enormous blue figure in the distance, something much closer to the school suddenly caught his attention. "Oh no."
The other five Rangers turned to see what Jason had spotted. It was impossible to miss - Goldar, leading an army of what looked to be hundreds of putties, down the hill and straight towards the school.
"Zordon!" cried Trini. "Goldar and the super putties...!"
"We see it too," Zordon replied. "From here it looks to be, well, all of them."
"Ultramarine must only be a diversionary tactic," said Billy, glancing around the group. "While we engage him in combat, Goldar and the army annex a portion of the city."
"And hold us to ransom," finished Trini. "We have to stop them, as well as somehow fight this Ultramarine."
Billy shook his head. "Negative. If we split up, we'll lose both fronts."
"Can't we just blast 'em with the zords?" asked Tommy.
Jason turned to him. "When they're this close to the school?" he asked. "There's no telling who'd get caught in the crossfire."
"As much as it pains me to admit, I agree," said Zordon slowly. "As dangerous as Ultramarine is, you all have to stay where you are. Stop Goldar and the putties at all costs."
"Yeah," said Jason softly, glancing around the group. "Just one problem. Aaron."
The bolts of lightning had surged down through the atmosphere and towards the street just as Ultramarine had raised his blades to strike, and Aaron could only look on as several bolts suddenly struck the warrior - there was a rush of wind and a great roaring noise, and Ultramarine was suddenly rising out of the smoke cloud, soon standing fifteen storeys tall and towering over the apartment blocks and office buildings around him. Aaron leaped to safety as Ultramarine took a giant step forward, and had just rolled to his feet when his communicator chimed.
"Guys," he said, bringing his wrist to his visor, "wherever you are, I could use some serious back-up."
"Aaron," came Jason's voice. "I don't want to be saying this but we can't - Goldar's leading an army of putties straight into the school. We can't leave - we have to stop them."
Behind his visor, Aaron's expression fell. "So I'm it then?" he asked, his voice sounding small. "You guys aren't coming?"
"Alpha and Zordon are trying to find the others now," Jason replied. "They shouldn't be much longer..."
"No," replied Aaron, his voice clear, the Aqua Ranger realising what he had to do. "Jason, we both know the city can't wait that long. Look, I can hold off Ultramarine in the Parazord until you guys can help, or until the others get back from wherever they are."
"No," came Tommy's voice. "The Parazord won't survive. You can't fight him alone."
"Yeah," said Jason. "I have to agree with Tommy on this. Are you sure?"
"What other choice do we have?" Aaron asked, and that was it - there wasn't.
There was a second of silence, and Aaron could just imagine the discussion on the other side of the communicator. "Okay," came Jason's voice finally. "Just... be careful. Good luck," and with that, the communicator fell silent, and Aaron looked back up to the towering figure of Ultramarine.
"Okay," he said softly, "this is it Aaron. This time you're on our own," and lifting his arm to the sky, Aaron raised his voice. "I need dinozord power, now!"
With the battle looming, Goldar advanced towards the city, leading the army of putties past the high school and continuing down towards the city park.
"Hold it right there!" came a voice. Goldar looked forward and growled - the six Senior Power Rangers stood in a line across the road, effectively blocking the army's march forward.
"You again, power weaklings?" he grunted, raising his sword.
"Whatever you're planning, don't," continued Jason, and Goldar couldn't help but notice the edge to his voice. Hard and sharp, like a sword.
"Yeah," said Zac, "because we have other places to be and other badguys to fight."
"Fools," growled the golden warrior, before turning back to the putties and raising his sword. "Charge!" he cried, and as one, the entire army surged forward, the agile grey warriors rapidly covering the distance between them and the Rangers.
"We took 'em all out once," said Jason, not even contemplating the odds of losing, "and we can do it again. Power Sword!"
"Power Axe!"
"Power Lance!"
"Power Daggers!"
"Power Bow!"
"Dragon Dagger!" finished Tommy. Summoning each of their Power Weapons, the Rangers hesitated for a second longer before racing forward to meet the approaching army.
"So what do you think?" asked Kim, dropping an entire line of putties with a barrage of rapid-fire arrows and glancing to Jason beside her. "Did we make the right call?"
A few feet away, Jason blocked a low kick, struck back with a roundhouse punch and sent several opponents crashing with a slash from his sword. "Not sure," he replied, looking up the towering figure of Ultramarine across the city. "But I really hope so."
"A snake?" repeated Teresa. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. "Well it was long and heavy, and it felt like it was moving pretty fast."
The Rangers all nodded, and everyone began gazing down into the mist, trying to catch a glimpse of what I'd seen. Across from me, Teresa shivered - it was cold and way too quiet in the place.
"Why did it have to be a snake?" she murmured, glancing across to me. "Snakes just give me the creeps."
I nodded. "I heard that."
Suddenly, something heavy brushed past Brendan's leg, and he instinctively jumped back with a loud yelp.
We all spun towards him. "What is it?" asked Scott. "Are you okay?"
"Peter's right," he replied, pointing down into the mist. "There's definitely something in here with us."
"Which way did it go?" asked Sarah.
Brendan shrugged. "I'm not sure."
I gazed down into the mist, straining my eyes to see whatever it was that Rita had left in here with us. Between the eerie silence and the thick mist, this place was creeping me out more and more with every passing second. Whatever it was, it could attack from anywhere, and wrestling a giant snake was most certainly not on my 'to do' list.
"Well," said Scott brightly. "You've got to hand it to Rita, she's definitely thinking her plans through a lot more these days."
"You can say that again," muttered Sarah. "I just hope Aaron's okay..."
All of a sudden, Brendan yelled, "Heads up guys, over there!" We all instantly spun around to where he was pointing, and sure enough, something was rising out of the mist about ten metres away from us. A head with a long, scaly neck attached, but as we watched the beast's head rise out of the mist, the rest of it seemed to be all neck, and I realised I'd been right - it was a snake. Peering across to us through two red eyes, the creature flicked its tongue between long sharp fangs to taste the air, and gazed at us in the cool predatory way that only snakes can. Its reptilian skin was light grey, almost white, giving it perfect camouflage in the mist.
"At least we're invulnerable," said Brendan, then looked around. "Right?"
I nodded. "We don't break, but we still need to breath," I said. "If this thing is a python, well..." and I let that sentence finish itself.
Suddenly, the snake dived forward, its head plunging into the mist and disappearing from view.
"Where is it?" asked Teresa quickly.
"Coming straight for us," said Sarah. "But let's not wait for it. Power Mace!" And in a flash of purple light, Sarah's Power Weapon materialised in her hand.
"Got that," nodded Scott. "Power Staff!" The blue staff formed in Scott's hands, while I raised my sword and Brendan held both sai at the ready. Realising that her whip wouldn't be the most effective weapon against the creature, Teresa unsheathed her blaster.
"We can take down monsters, we can deal with a snake," she said, as everyone waited in tense silence for the snake to strike.
A grey serpentine head suddenly rose from the mist behind Scott. The creature glared at him a second longer before darting forward and immediately throwing several loops of its long grey body around the Blue Ranger. Scott cried out in surprise and tried to defend himself, but the snake quickly pinned his arms to his side, its head rising up to peer down at its struggling prey.
We heard his cry and all dashed over to help. Teresa reached her brother first, and wary of accidentally injuring Scott, dropped her blaster and grabbed hold of the snake's body, trying to loosen its deadly hold. Sarah, Brendan and I reached Scott's side a step behind Teresa - I couldn't risk a clear swing at the snake with my sword, but beside me, Sarah swung her mace for the creature's head, while Brendan rammed one of his sai into the snake's body, driving the weapon right up to the hilt. With a screech of pain, the serpent immediately loosened its hold around the Blue Ranger, the creature's body dropping down in the mist and disappearing from view.
We all helped Scott stay on his feet.
"Are you okay?" asked Brendan, then frowned. "Sorry. Stupid question."
Scott smiled. "Been better," he puffed, resting on Teresa's shoulder, his heart still racing, "but I think my ribs are all in one piece. Did we get him?"
Brendan shook his head. "Nope. Just made him angrier."
Sarah nodded. "Good," she said. "That might just make this fair."
I turned to her, about to reply when the snake suddenly attacked again, rising from the mist and wrapping its body around me in one fluid motion, pinning my sword arm to my side. I threw my shoulder back and freed my left arm just as the snake wrapped itself around my ribs, and I reached up and managed to catch the beast's head as it lunged for my helmet with an open mouth.
"Guys, help!" I shouted.
Sarah, Teresa and Brendan immediately turned to me and leaped to my defense. But as they approached, the snake's tail flew up out of the mist and slammed the Rangers back, Brendan's sai and Sarah's mace clattering into the mist as all three Rangers crashed to the ground. Even as they fell, the snake threw more loops around me, and it felt like it weighed a ton - it was becoming impossible to stay standing.
I felt the snake's body tighten its grip around me. With every breath I exhaled, the pressure on my ribs and stomach increased.
"Guys!" I gasped, as the snake shook its head wildly, trying to break my grip. A few metres away, Scott had watched the other three Rangers fall, and gritting his teeth, he raced over, reaching down into the mist as he ran and managing to grab one of Brendan's sai. As he continued forward, the beast's tail flew up out of the mist, but he dived over it and rolled to his feet.
Without slowing down and with only a second to gauge his aim, Scott rammed the sai down into the snake's head, right between the creature's eyes. The snake let out an instant pained screech, and I threw the beast's head away as it began to shake from side-to-side. The snake screeched again but it was a weak cry, and I immediately felt the pressure on my chest decreasing. Then, Scott pulled the sai free of the beast's head, and the creature's body uncoiled away from me and fell down into the mist.
Scott helped me step over and away from the snake's body.
"Thanks," I puffed, as everyone ran over to us. "Just... thanks."
Scott smiled. "Anytime," he said. "One problem down, one to go."
"Great move," nodded Brendan, as Scott handed him back his weapon, "but next time, can you clean the sai off afterwards? Eugh..."
I stepped back from Scott, and my feet managed to hold me up. With a nod, I looked over to the gateway. "Well, I guess we should..." but my voice trailed off when I saw it - a grey head with red eyes, rising from the mist a step behind Sarah. Oh no! There had been two of them!
"Sarah!" I cried. "Behind you!"
Sarah spun around, raising her mace, and just as the snake lunged, she smashed the snake across the side of its head with all her strength. The blow was intense, taking the snake's head clean off and sending it flying across the room in a crimson blur before disappearing into the mist. The now-headless body hung in the air for a second and fell to the ground with a 'clump', and then the place was silent again.
"Well," she said, turning back to us. "That was fun." Everyone stayed staring at the Purple Ranger in a mix of shock, awe and fear, and she looked away. "Just worried. We've spent too long in here as it is."
I walked over to her. "Aaron'll be fine," I said. "In fact I'd bet Ultramarine won't even know what hit him when Aaron gets through with him. Now let's find that stupid key and get out of here."
