Chapter Seven

It had almost been easy thus far, as if fortune itself was smiling upon him. The heroes would try to stop him, no doubt, standing in his way for their own blind reasons. But he would not - he could not - be defeated, and when the time came, they would either bow before him or be crushed underneath. Until then, his mission was his only focus. By the rise of the moon tonight, they would all know his power.

He'd waited until the approach of dusk, and had found the courthouse almost deserted. The building was old, nowhere near as old as himself, but old enough, with only three entrances and windows barred with curling steel against intruders. After locking the vermin inside and ensuring they could not leave, he'd set about making escape impossible. The side door was blocked easily enough, by an industrial rubbish bin that he picked up and dropped upside down before the door. The street behind the courthouse was empty, allowing him to shove a parked car towards the building's rear entrance and effectively bottle it shut.

Satisfied with his work, he glanced up to the velvet sky. The moon had risen, and the first stars were shining. He could feel the shadows in his blood. Time now belonged to him.

Laughing to himself, he stepped back into the shadows and reemerged at the front of the building, walking slowly and deliberately down towards the street. The citizens walking past the courthouse immediately noticed him - they couldn't have missed the six-foot armour-clad warrior if they tried - and the street suddenly grew quiet. Some immediately turned and fled the scene, while many simply froze in terror, unable to move.

Good. Let them fear. Let the world shake with his every step.

A parked delivery truck stood by the curb, and gripping the side of the vehicle, he picked it up. His supercharged muscles screamed in protest - the truck was heavy even for him. With all his strength, he launched the vehicle into the air. The truck landed with an almighty crash, rolling onto its side and shaking the street, windows shattering and front cab buckling. Stepping away from the road, Fury flipped the truck along the ground, rolling it towards the front of the building. Finally, the truck crashed into place, shattering the courthouse's windows, collapsing the entrance and sealing the building shut.

Now for the final touch. Stepping back into the shadows, Fury vanished.

"Where'd he go?" I asked, looking down over the balcony of the two-storey shopping arcade across the street from the courthouse.

"He's not finished," replied Teresa.

"Exactly," Jason agreed. "The spectacle isn't big enough, not yet..."

As if on cue Fury returned, appearing out of the shadows beside the building and striding towards the large statue of Justice that stood in front of the courthouse, holding something in his right hand. It was Judge Pembleton.

Oblivious to the crowd of frightened people around him, Fury stopped by the statue and slammed Robert Pembleton against the granite. Taking a length of chain from his belt, he secured the retired judge in place, burning the links closed with his bare hands.

"Please..." muttered the man, his voice nothing more than a whisper, "don't do this. I have a family...grandchildren...I've never wronged you, please..."

Fury laughed, a stinging sound that immediately silenced the man. "You're actually begging me?" he snarled. "Would you fall upon your hands and knees if you thought that would work? I remember a time many years past, where I begged you to overturn an injustice." Fury paused for effect, his eyes flashing with a predatory gleam. "Yet you did nothing while I cried. So tell me, Judge, how does it feel?"

He struck the man's face, a light slap delivered to an errant child, and turned back to the steadily-growing crowd of onlookers, none of them wishing to be there yet all of them unable to leave.

"Look at you, cowering in fear before me," he began, his voice echoing across the street. "But it is not me you need to fear! I am here only to punish the wicked and destroy the monsters who wish you harm. Let the unjust and the sinners, the murderers and thieves, let them tremble before me. From now on, there will be no place for them to run, no escape from my wrath."

He paused dramatically, and continued. "And yet nothing deserves fury more than the blasphemy that stands behind me," he growled, throwing his arm back towards the courthouse. Faint cries for help could be heard from within. "The law is a mockery to those trying to obey it, protecting the wicked while persecuting the innocent. What a pathetic figure, that of Justice, for not only is she blind, but deaf, dumb, and utterly helpless!"

He raised his arms in victory. "And those who enforce this system are just as guilty as those who willfully ignore it," and he turned back to the judge. "So tonight, this house of hypocrisy will burn at my hand, and the people will see the strength of my justice and will know the power of Fury!"

Jason shook his head. "This has gone on long enough," he muttered, and climbing to his feet, dived over the balcony, somersaulting down over the heads of the crowd and landing lightly on the street below. Teresa and I followed his lead, touching down on either side of the Red Ranger. Seeing the three of us arrive, the crowd immediately stepped back.

"Enough," said Jason. "Nobody else will die at your hands, Fury."

Fury glared at the three of us, his eyes burning bright with hatred. "I warned you last night Rangers - your interference will not be tolerated."

"No," replied Teresa. "We've come to save people's lives. It's what we do."

"Yeah," I said. "Fury, we understand your pain, but this is..."

"Understand?" he boomed. "I'd almost hoped you would. Killing monsters, that's all I'm guilty of doing."

"That's not what this is about," said Jason. "Ryan."

Fury froze in place. "So," he muttered. "You figured it out?"

Teresa nodded. "You lost your grandfather, someone you loved, and the law failed to avenge him. But Ryan, this isn't the way..."

"Fools," Fury sneered, dismissing Teresa with a wave of his hand. "You speak of pain and humanity, but you're no better than the monsters you destroy. You have such power at your command, yet the world continues to turn as it has since creation. An evil, tainted place. I'm using power the way it was meant to be used."

I raised my Power Sword. "Then you leave us with no choice."

Fury threw his head back and laughed, a short sharp bark. "Really?" he asked. "This is the time of shadows, Rangers. You're in my realm now."

Jason shook his head. "Not this time," he replied. "Guys, now!"

The other eight Rangers immediately sprang from their hiding places on top of the buildings surrounding the courthouse, each one lifting a large rectangular panel into place beside them. As one, the Rangers reached down and activated the devices, and the entire street was suddenly lit from all directions as each of the eight floodlights flashed to life. I quickly shielded my eyes from the artificial midday - it was as if the sun was directly above the street, shining down from all sides.

Fury spun around in confusion, as the Rangers all leaped across the rooftops and down to the street to join Teresa, Jason and I.

"Nice work," I said.

Billy nodded. "Thanks," he said. "We had to utilise the lamps from every zord, and reroute their power supplies one-by-one, but we managed."

Confusion rapidly becoming white-hot anger, Fury glanced from one floodlamp to the next. There was even one on top of the courthouse itself. Realising our plan, he raised his arms and launched several fireballs at the nearest floodlights. The blasts of flame whistled through the air, slammed into the invisible forcefields protecting the lights and dissipated into harmless puffs of smoke.

Scott grinned beneath his visor. "My idea," he said.

Jason took a step forward. "You've got nowhere left to run," he called.

"So either give up now," said Ian.

Trini's daggers formed in her hands. "Or we do it the hard way."

Shaking with rage, Fury spun back around to face us. "Fury will not be stopped by the likes if you!" he cried, and punching the air, immediately sent four fireballs spiraling towards Jason and I.

Standing our ground, Jason and I raised our swords and batted away the first two fireballs, both blasts smashing harmlessly into the ground. I deflected the third blast straight up into the sky, while Jason stepped forward and calmly raised his fist, the blast slamming into the back of his hand and dissipating.

"Try again," I said.

Fury glared at us in disbelief, and hesitating a second longer, charged towards the eleven of us with a roar.

"Ian, Tommy," began Jason, "empty the courthouse, leave Fury to us." The Green and Grey Rangers nodded and dashed away. "Okay guys, teamwork and skill. Let's take this guy!"

"Right!"

Instantly summoning her Power Bow, Kimberly shot a volley of arrows at the approaching warrior, the entire area erupting in sparks and fire. Roaring as he charged through the smoke cloud, Fury lashed out blindly at anyone within range, sweeping away Sarah and Zac before turning to face Trini and Billy. But the two Rangers were ready, leaping forward before Fury had the chance to attack, Trini slashing with her daggers and Billy aiming high with his lance. Fury blocked both daggers with one arm and caught Billy's lance with the other. But with Fury's attention diverted, Scott raced forward and leaped into the air, landing several rapid kicks to Fury's chest and head before somersaulting back to safety. Stumbling backwards, Fury grunted and launched twin blasts of flame that forced Billy and Trini to retreat.

Sarah and Zac charged through the smoke cloud as Fury regained his footing, Zac swinging his axe while Sarah attacking with her mace. Fury dodged the mace and struck Sarah back while stepping around Zac's Power Axe and lashing out at the Black Ranger. Zac dived over the punch and rolled to his feet as Fury turned after him and kept swinging. The Black Ranger blocked one punch, dodged another and leaped back and over a third, spinning his axe in midair, dropping to the ground and opening fire. Kim took advantage, dropping down beside Zac and peppering Fury with arrows. The blasts froze the warrior, and Sarah charged back towards him, striking away a punch, spinning on the spot and aiming her mace squarely for Fury's jaw.

Fury's head snapped sideways, but he recovered quickly and spun back around, only to face Jason and I standing side-by-side with our blades raised.

"Fury," I began.

"This ends now," finished Jason.

We struck out in unison, slashing high then swinging low. Fury ducked back out of range and we followed after him, our blades slicing through the air. I slashed forward with a wide horizontal stroke, but even as Fury batted the blade away, Jason stepped forward and cleaved his sword through the warrior's chest armour. Fury roared and lashed out - Jason spun under a blow and landed a low kick, while I blocked Fury's fist and smashed the hilt of my sword into his stomach. Fury grunted, and before he could recover, Jason leaped up and kicked forward, slamming his boot into the stunned vigilante's jaw and sending him crashing.

Recovering from the blow, Fury roared and began firing at anything in sight, just as I charged forward to continue the attack. A bright fireball slammed into my chest - I barely felt the heat but it still sent me flying back through the air and crashing to the ground amid the crowd.

I shook my head, slowly picking myself up as the battle continued. At least I hadn't landed on anybody, although that probably would've been softer.

"Abusing your power again?" came a voice.

I glanced over my shoulder - a man was standing over me, fairly short and dressed in obnoxiously bright clothes. I recognised him instantly, it was James Pratt, the libertarian who'd been protesting outside the council building all week. Just from the look on his face, I knew he was about to launch into a speech I didn't have time to hear.

"He's just airing his opposition to a flawed legal system," Pratt began tersely, "that only protects..."

I only meant to shut him up with a light backhand, but I'd forgotten about my Ranger-strength and he went flying, disappearing into the crowd behind me. Raising my sword, I charged back towards the battle, and somewhere in the distance, I could hear sirens - Brendan was arriving with the police and paramedics.

To everybody watching, the battle was turning. Fury's fireblasts, used increasingly out of desperation, were growing steadily weaker, and his punches were lacking more and more force. Trini and Sarah were attacking as I returned - they landed twin punches on Fury's stomach before Trini slashed both daggers across his chest while Sarah landed a blow with her mace. Dazed from the assault, Fury stumbled backwards shaking his head, only to see the Grey and Green Rangers drop down before him.

"Forget about us?" asked Ian. Glancing back, I saw the crowd tending to Judge Pembleton and the other people Fury had trapped inside the courthouse.

Fury lunged at the two Rangers, swinging wildly, but they dived around him, rolled to their feet and attacked from both sides with simultaneous spinning kicks. Tommy spun the warrior around to face him with a shoulder strike, before sending him reeling with a chest-high kick. Ian quickly followed after the warrior and landed a storm of rapid blows to Fury's chest and head. Dazed from the assault, Fury's ears were still ringing when Tommy leaped past his junior counterpart and attacked again, slamming his fist into Fury's chest and spinning around in one smooth motion to deliver a powerful left backhand. Fury staggered back, blasting desperately at the road beneath the two Rangers and forcing them to retreat.

The warrior glanced around for a chance to escape, for a shadow to hide in, for anything, but turned to see a lone figure emerge from the smoke cloud - the White Ranger, her Power Whip at her side.

"Enough," Teresa said simply.

Out of options, Fury charged, thundering towards the White Ranger. Teresa stood her ground, and cracked the trailing end of her whip at Fury's face-plate to briefly blind him before coiling the whip around his ankles, bringing him face-first to the ground and pulling the whip free. Using the opportunity to roll back to his feet, Fury leaped forward, raising his arm to strike. But as he fell towards her, Teresa held the whip taut, blocked his arm and struck Fury back with a chop to his side followed by a palm strike to his chest and several high kicks delivered in rapid succession. Stumbling backwards, out of breath, Fury eventually found his footing, and raising his arm weakly to launch another fireblast, he lurched back towards the White Ranger - but once in range, a single spinning roundhouse kick was enough to send the vigilante crashing to the ground where he moved no further.

Silence fell as Teresa turned to the warrior and Fury rolled onto his back. He moved weakly to get up, but the White Ranger slammed her foot against his chest, forcing him back down. Approaching the two of them, the rest of us formed a circle around Teresa and the defeated vigilante.

Ignoring the rest of us, Fury glared up at Teresa. "Why?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "Why did you stop me? You alone should have understood what I was trying to do..."

"Why!" repeated Teresa. "You were killing people. You would've murdered innocent people tonight!"

Fury shook his head. "No. The men and women I chose deserved my wrath. You cannot deny their evil..."

"And what about those who didn't?" Teresa asked. "The two janitors we rescued from the courthouse, or the secretary whose only crime was staying late to finish some work for her boss? What about them?" Fury didn't answer, maintaining his silent gaze, and Teresa continued. "And what if the fire had spread? There's a hospital down the street, did they deserve to die as well? How many would it have taken, Ryan, before you could stop justifying this to yourself? Well? How many?"

Fury shook his head, his voice rising. "No, you're trying to deceive me, to tempt me from my mission." He lowered his arms, attempting to lift himself off the ground. "I will not be..."

Teresa forced him back to the gravel with her foot. "Stay down," she said, making it very clear that he would not be disobeying her again. "What about Judge Pembleton? You signed his death warrant for doing nothing but his job, a decade and a half ago."

"He failed me!" Fury cried.

"And did you ever stop to consider the countless thousands of people who went through his court for fifty years that he did help?" Fury froze, and lowered his head. "And what about me? I disagree with you, are you going to try and kill me, too? I'm eleven years old, Fury, what kind of protector are you?"

Fury didn't answer, and glanced over to where several ambulance officers were tending to the retired judge. It was several seconds before he spoke again. "No," he said, shaking his head. "We are better than them, White Ranger. Stronger, faster, more powerful, capable of anything. We are beyond their stupid, pathetic laws. You cannot deny this."

"Which is exactly the reason why we need to follow them," Teresa replied, her voice softening. "This power we have, yes, it makes us stronger - but it also brings us closer to becoming what we fight against." The White Ranger paused, letting her words sinking in. "Monsters. I know why you sought that power, Ryan, but although we walk the very fine line between intervention and domination, we do not cross it. We use our power when we need to, when we absolutely must. But becoming a superhuman judge, jury and executioner? No." The word was like a slap in the face, and Fury visibly recoiled. "Down that road we become tyrants, forcing people to our will. For better or for worse, people have to make their own world. Not have one forced onto them."

Fury remained silent, and Teresa continued, her voice calmer.

"Which is why we use our powers to protect. Ordinary people are capable of hurting each other on their own, as I'm sure you know, and using our gifts for those ends achieves nothing. But using them to help, that's what makes us special. It's why we were given those powers in the first place. Not to reflect the world, but show it the way it could be."

The vigilante turned away from her, and began muttering to himself. His voice was soft and quiet, completely removed from Fury's usual bellowing. Teresa couldn't hear what he was saying, but somewhere within, somewhere very deep down, she knew she'd finally reached Ryan Anderson.

"I just wanted to help," he began, turning back to her, the fire in the vigilante's eyes dying. "To protect children from monsters..."

"And I believe you Ryan," Teresa replied. She took a careful step back, and Fury made no move to get up. "What happened to you was a horrible injustice, and should never happen to anybody. The law isn't perfect and never will be. But your way, Ryan, with fire and death - this is wrong. You need to know that, you need to understand that." Teresa paused. "And deep down somewhere, I know that you do."

The vigilante who until five minutes ago had been Fury nodded slowly, his body shaking. A sudden sharp intake of breath confirmed Teresa's suspicions - he was crying.

Standing behind them, I turned to Jason in awe. Teresa had done it.

"Okay Ryan," she began, "if you can hear me, I need you to do one final thing. The demon you summoned, Aesma Daeva - it may have granted you power, but it's still a demon. Whatever it is you did to bind yourself to this thing, you need to reverse it, okay? That demon cares as much for you as it does for the criminals you murdered, and you need to get it as far away from you as possible. Is there something I can do, or...?"

Slowly, Fury shook his head. Reaching down to one of the rubies in his belt, he pulled the jewel free of its holder, and with the last of his strength smashed it against the road, the stone instantly shattering into thousands of tiny shards.

Almost immediately, Fury's cloak and armour vanished in a puff of foul-smelling smoke, and Ryan Anderson slumped to the ground before us, broken and defeated. His blonde hair was disheveled and tangled, and tears were streaming from large brown eyes. Unable to face anybody, he hid his head in his hands and continued sobbing pitifully.

Teresa glanced back to Jason and I, and we nodded. Looking back down to Ryan, she stepped forward and knelt down beside him.

"Ryan..." she began, but was interrupted by a flash of flame and a shower of sparks several metres away above the street. Everybody turned to look as the air began to ripple, and something like steadily-thickening smoke started taking shape in the centre of the road.

Scott immediately raised his communicator. "Zordon," he began, "what's going on? What is that?"

"My best guess," boomed Zordon's voice, "is that when Ryan smashed the ruby, he released the demon and forced Aesma Daeva to take on physical form. And judging from previous experience with vengeance demons, Aesma Daeva probably isn't particularly happy about that."

Anticipating our next move, Tommy spoke next. "What do you think guys? Can it be killed?"

"If it manifests physically in this universe, it can theoretically be killed," replied Billy. "Although the difficulty of such a task is another matter entirely."

But even as Billy spoke, the air ceased to ripple, and in a flash of flame, Aesma Daeva had materialised before us.

The demon emerging from the cloud of smoke had a human-shaped blood-red body, covered in a mix of skin and scales and with one more noticeable difference - six arms protruded from Aesma Daeva's shoulders, three on either side. Its hands and feet ended in black claws, and every superheated step caused the ground to protest with a puff of smoke. The demon was adorned with wrist and ankle gauntlets, a belt of chain links around its stomach and two curved horns on its chest and back.

The demon's face was vaguely-reptilian, with smoking red eyes above a snout filled with jagged white teeth. Aesma Daeva's ears sat flat against his skull, and horns protruded above his head. The demon was truly terrifying - the crowd behind us whimpered, several people screaming and a few passing out on the spot. I can't say I blame them. We all immediately raised our weapons and stood our ground.

Glancing around the street, the demon's gaze fell upon Teresa and Ryan, and muttering dark curses in an ancient tongue, he turned towards the former vigilante. It took us all a second to remember the universal language translators attached to our belts, but we immediately reached down and activated them.

"...rend you limb from bloodied limb," the demon was saying, slowly advancing on Ryan, "you weak and pathetic child of a dead race..."

"Guys," said Teresa, looking up to Jason and I. "Handle it."

"Gladly," I said, tightening the grip on my sword. "It's about time we got to pound something and not feel guilty about it."

Jason nodded. "Amen to that," and the ten Rangers all moved to protect Teresa and Ryan. Seeing us put ourselves between the demon and his former human host, Aesma Daeva paused and roared defiantly.

"Ten mortals or thousands, you challenge me and die!" he cried, and we raised our weapons and raced forward to take Aesma Daeva at his word.

Zac and Tommy reached the demon first, the Black Ranger swinging his axe while the Green Ranger slashing with his Dragon Dagger. Raising an arm, Aesma Daeva caught Zac's wrist and threw him away with a double punch while swatting Tommy aside with his other three hands. Jason and I leaped forward to take up the attack, swinging our blades in unison - the demon raised both his highest fists, blocking the two weapons before attacking with his lower four hands. I ducked under a high swipe, batting away one fist with my blade while kicking away another, while beside me Jason rolled under one arm, dodged two more fists and sliced diagonally
with his sword. It was impossible trying to fight Aesma Daeva and keep track of all six arms at once - Jason and I were moving as fast as we could, but the demon quickly outfought us and struck us both away.

Even as we fell, Billy swung high with his lance while Scott aimed his staff for the demon's chest - Aesma Daeva blocked Billy's lance, caught the staff, batted both weapons aside and easily began trading blows with both Rangers at once, forcing them on the defensive, blocking and dodging attacks from all sides. Behind them, Trini leaped forward, somersaulting over both her team-mates on a direct course for Aesma Daeva. But the demon stepped to the side, smashed Trini out of the air, caught a low kick and launched Scott into Billy, downing them both.

"Sons and daughters of fools!" the demon cried, as the Rangers climbed to their feet and warily kept their distance. "I have lived since the beginning of time, and you attack me with hands and feet?"

"Well then," came a voice, and Aesma Daeva spun around to find Ian holding his twin Power Blasters at arm's length, centimetres away from the demon's scaly face. "Welcome to the twentieth century, jerk," and he began firing.

The demon's head exploded in sparks and fire as the blasts slammed him backwards to the ground. Enraged at our sheer defiance, Aesma Daeva rolled to his feet, threw his arms wide and roared ferociously. Using the opportunity to catch the demon off-guard, Sarah raised her mace and charged towards him, smashing away one of his right fists and blocking the other two. The demon raised his three left fists, but having learnt from before, Scott attacked again, blocking all three fists with his staff and landing a solid kick to the demon's gut. Aesma Daeva grunted - feeling fear for the first time in centuries - and batting the staff away, struck out at the Blue Ranger. Trini dashed forward, slashing all three hands with her daggers, while beside her, Tommy leaped to Sarah's aid, using the Dragon Dagger to help the Purple Ranger fend off the demon's three right fists, before a double high kick from the Blue and Purple Rangers sent their opponent reeling.

Watching the fight, Teresa looked back down to Ryan, who was staring in wide-eyed horror at the monster gunning for him.

"And now do you see what you unleashed?" she asked. "Why we wanted to stop you? There are forces in this world that are far more dangerous than any normal human." Ryan nodded dumbly, and Teresa turned back to the fight.

Aesma Daeva staggered backwards but regained his footing, only to find himself under fire from Ian and Zac as they blasted him with their Power Weapons. His torso erupting in smoke and flames, the demon lurched towards them raising all three right hands, but Ian raised his blasters and the demon's fists were lost in a blaze of fire. Aesma Daeva froze, howling in pain, and Zac dived forward, rolled to his feet and swung his axe, cleaving right through the demon's lowest right hand. Aesma Daeva roared and slashed all three left fists towards the Black Ranger, only to scream in pain as pink arrows thudded into each of his palms. Ian and Zac somersaulted back to join Kimberly, and the three raised their weapons and fired again, the entire street erupting in sparks and fire.

Aesma Daeva staggered out of the cloud, shaking what was left of his hands with rage.

"I have lived for centuries!" he cried, his eyes burning bright with hatred, "and I have never been defeated by mortals!"

"Then clearly you've never been defeated by us before," I said.

Standing beside me, Jason nodded. "Six arms, too, and we didn't even need the Megazord," he said. "Combined swords?"

"Thought you'd never ask," I replied.

Charging our swords with glowing light, Jason and I raised them high into the air above us. The blades met, and like nothing so much as thunder, a massive energy blast exploded forth from the twin blades, scorching the air above the road and slamming into the demon. The effects of the blast were instant and catastrophic - with a final defeated scream, Aesma Daeva was ripped apart in a massive explosion that lit up the street and sent a plume of smoke rocketing skywards.

Silence fell as Jason and I lowered our blades. Behind us, we could suddenly hear the crowd of onlookers parting, and everybody turned to see the Aqua Ranger leading a troop of police officers, Sergeant Thompson at the front, towards the White Ranger and the figure of Ryan Anderson.

Ryan looked up as the police approached, and taking Teresa's hand, slowly climbed to his feet. Sergeant Thompson stopped a few metres away from Ryan, and the officers behind him all held their hands over the firearms at their sides.

"It's okay," Ryan stuttered, stepping away from Teresa and offering both wrists to the Sergeant. "Fury's gone now."

Thompson nodded, then reached for his handcuffs and proceeded to arrest Ryan Anderson. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. The vigilante had been apprehended.

I turned to Jason but saw him standing a few metres away with a group of people in the crowd. Two of them were significantly older than the rest, while there were three about the same age as Ryan and two teenage boys. They all bore more than a passing resemblance to the former vigilante.

"Thank you for coming," said Jason, speaking to the eldest man and woman in the group. "I'm sorry to involve you, but you would've stood a greater chance of stopping him if we'd fallen."

The man shook his head. "No, thank you Red Ranger," he began, "for everything you did. I only wish you could've met him under different circumstances."

Jason nodded, shook the man's hand, and walked back over to where I was standing.

"Who were they?" I asked.

"Plan B," Jason replied, before turning and heading towards the other Rangers. And it was then that I realised I was looking at Ryan Anderson's family.