Disclaimer: I onw nothing but the OCs and the plot.
Chapter three: Back in Black, part two
Behind the orphanage, Shadow was walking betweent the rows of kids, occaisonally correcting their stance or something. For the most of them being under ten, they were fast learners. "Alright, that's enough for today and-" he was cut off by an explosion. "Get down!" he yelled as he jumped to the top of the building. What he saw made his blood run cold. The vilage was burning, and the clones Zeltrax and Goldenrod had made were mindlessly killing the villagers, who were putting up one hell of a fight. There were screams behind him, and the sounds of bodies hitting the ground. He went pale as he turned, to see the children being butchered like cattle. "No.." he whispered as he leapt down, drawing his sword. The look in his eyes would've sent the real Zeltrax running. With a battle cry, he attacked.
Zeltrax sat watching the destruction on the screen, laughing at how the villagers tried to fight back. Even though they knew they had no chance, they still fought. Pathetic humans. Then he saw two people who were actually able to kill the clones: that meddlesome Shadow, and his uncle, Chang. "Goldenrod, return. Let the clones do their job now." he said over the radio thingy.
At the village, Shadow was currnetly engaged in a fierce battle with two differant clones. With an impressive display of acrobatics, he dashed around the lot of them, destroying them. As suddenly as it began, it was over. Looking around, he could see that there was no chance anyone else had survived. The place was in ruins, blood soaking the ground. Sheathing his sword, he flung off his over coat and mask, revealing his gi, and the runes and symbols of the grand arcanum the now covered his arms. His left eye had been gouged at some pint during the fight, and by the looks of things, he would have to cut it out the rest of the way before he died of the infection. Reaching into his boot, he pulled out a knife, and began digging what remained of his eye out, ignoring the pain.
"Shadow..." he heard a ragged voice say. It was Ryuka. "No..kid, c'mon, don't die on me here!" he whispered as he held the boy in his arms. "What..happened..?" he asked weakly, coughing up blood. Shadow hung his head. "I..don't know, kid." he said. It was to late; Ryuka was dead. A heavy hand fell on his shoulder, nearly breaking it. "You see what your decision has done?" he heard Chang say behind him. He stood and turned. Chang recoiled slightly at the sight of his eye. He wordlessly reached into his pocket, and pulled out a leather ey patch. Shadow took it, put it on, and turned to go. "Where are you going?" Chang demanded. "To fix this." Shadow said as he leapt into a worm hole. Chang smiled. The boy had found the path, like he knew he would. He began to disappear, like Ashlee did. He had guided him long enough, now it was time for him to find his own path and follow it to the end...
Shadow appeared in front of the other black rangers, scaring the hell out of them. "What happened to you?" Carlos exclaimed upon seeing his face. It was covered in blood and had a new scar. "That bastard Zeltrax massacred my village!" he exploded. After about five minutes of mindless raging, he stopped for a breather. "You gave him those clones, right?" Carlos asked. Shadow nodded. "Then you know thei weakness?" he asked. Again, Shadow nodded. "They hate loud noises, like explosions." he said as he finally calmed down. "But the best way to kill them is to cut off their heads." he explained as he sat down. "Do you know what he's planning?" "He wants to resurrect Mesogog. He still don't get it, do he?" Shadow said as he beagn cleaning the blood from his sword. Toomy stared. "Hold on. Where did that blood come from?" he asked. Adam looked at it as well. "From one of the clones." Shadow answered, not knowing where he was going with this. "That means that they have human parts." he said excitedly. Shadow looked a bit skeptical. "Well they are cyborgs, so they should." he stated, effectively diffusing the excitement.
Shadow looked around. "You know we're missing a ranger, right?" he asked. "Who?" "Danny. The wild force ranger." Tommy shook his head. "Couldn't make it. His wife Kendall is pregnant." he explained. The alarms went off, making Shadow jump slightly. He never did get used to that sound. A quick look at the moniter revealed the clones were busily digging for something out in the woods. Shadow looked at the others. "Time to go to work." he said with a sigh. "Shadow Storm Dragon, power UP!" he yelled doing the dino thunder hand motions. The others morphed as well. Shadow looked at his new suit, taking in its appearance. He was a black version of the original green ranger, with yellow stripes on his arms and legs that looked like slash marks. In his holster was his sword. With a small smile, he drew it and attacked the unsuspecting clones. The others watched as he attacked with abandon.
"So much for ranger ethics.." Zack muttered as he drew his blade blaster and fired. The others drew their weapons and began their attack as well. Shadow leapt backwards and formed some thing on his wrist. "You might wanna cover your ears." he said as he luanched it. The reason became apparent as the object exploded and massive sound waves rocked the area. It sounded like a bolt of thunder up in the mountains. The clones all ceased their attack and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. "Whatever that was, it worked." Carlos panted as he stowed his blaster. Shadow bent over and picked up a fragment of something. "Whatever was here, they have it." he said gratingly.
In Zeltrax's lab, he looked at what seemed to be a chunk of metal. Those fools thought he was trying to revive his master. He was glad he had let that slip to the idiot Shadow. Now they were blissfully unaware of their other plan. Yes..not even Goldenrod knew of it. That would ensure his victory..
At Tommy's lab, they sat around a table trying to figure out what the substance they had found was. "I still say it's iron." Carlos said as he looked at it under a micro scope. Shadow stood off to the side, racking his brains trying to figure this one out. By now he would have it, but something was bothering him. Why would he want a piece of metal? Was he gonna build a new body or soemthing?
His train of thought was interrupted by the beeping of his watch. Puzzled, he answered the communicator. "Holler at me." he said, ignoring the stares of the other rangers. "Get out of Reefisde." a voice said. Shadow looked confused at first, then angry. Before he could say anything, the connection was lost. Jst freaking great. Now there were people trying to make him leave. He spunaround and left. "Wha-?" Zack said. "There's something I have to take care of in Angel Grove. I'll be back soon." he said as he teleported away. "You think there's something he's not telling us?" Zack asked. The others nodded. The alarms went off again, this time at a constrution site. Morphing, they left.
As they arrived, The real Goldenrod stepped forward. "Where's the other one?" he sneered as he drew his sword. This time, instead of using clones, he was using triptoids and tyrannodrones. "Do we wanna know what those are?" Adam asked. "Think of em as putties or tengas." Zack said sagely as they began yet another battle, this one on a more level playing field. After five minutes, only Goldenrod was left. With a hiss swearing revenge, he leapt into an invisportal. Zack lifted yet another chunk of metal from the ground, and the group left to examine it, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.
In Angel Grove, Shadow sat in front of a business man, who had started out as a drug dealer. "I need to know what this is, Kurugi." he said impatiently as the man in front of him lit an expensive hand rolled havana cigar. "No clue what that is, but it looks like junk." Kurugi said as he puffed the said cigar. "Yeah, every time you say that, it's really valuable." Shadow said with a roll of his eyes. "Alright! It's aspharine! It's used to make duplicates of something made of metal." he cried as Shadow prepared to throw the chair he was sitting in out the window. Shadow thanked him and left. Aspharine? What would Zeltrax want with aspharine?
At Tommy's lab, the four rangers sat around the table again, analyzing their newest find. "I have no clue what this is." Carlos said as he looked through the microscope. Tommy took a look at it, and was met with the same result. "There's gotta be some one who can tell us what this is!" Zack said as he paced a pathway in the floor.
In Zelrxa's lab, his plan was finally finished: the Zelzord was rebuilt, and stronger than ever. His first target? Reefside, California. If all went well, then he could kill the rangers and begin his own ruke over the planet. With an evil laugh, he slid the door shut and left, not even knowing he was being watched.
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