Suffice to say, I own nothing, except for the OC, who you will meet in a minute, but I've had this idea for a long time, and I want to get it out there. This is hopefully the first part of a series I have planned out. Enjoy and constructive criticism, please. AU, in the since that Merrick is already part of the team, so no Zen Ahku. Enjoy!
1
"Elephant Zord!" Alyssa called out, her voice echoing through the forest. The only sounds to answer her call were the chirping of birds, and the crunching of leaves under her shoes, none of those were even close to the trumpet of an Elephant. Alyssa tried to focus on the connection she had with her second zord, but her mind was a mess of emotions; ranging from anger at the situation, to self-loathing at how she felt. Sighing, she thought back to how everything started and led to this moment.
It had been a string of victories for the Wild Force Rangers, each Org beaten just as easily as the last. Max was boasting that they were unstoppable, that nothing could beat them, with Danny and Cole backing him up. Taylor, however, was vocal about being humble, and always prepared for something next. Merrick said just as much, and Alyssa agreed with Max, but also believed in humility. In the end, it was Taylor who was right.
The Org that came after them was powerful in its simplicity; skin as tough as iron, steel claws that almost ripped their zords apart like tin cans, and strong enough to bench press the Megazord. In the middle of the battle, Alyssa had gone up against it, only to be slammed back into a building so hard, her Elephant Crystal dropped out of its holster. Struggling to work through the pain that radiated from her shoulder blades, she watched as the Org picked up the little orb, and cackling, crushed it. Alyssa, fueled by rage and grief, got up. With the others, they finally beat the Org, but the damage was done. The rest of the day, Alyssa wouldn't talk to anyone, even Cole, who tried everything he could think of to make her smile, failed. She tossed and turned all night, until finally passing out. The next morning, she got up with Taylor, but declined to go on a run with her, saying she was going to check on the White Tiger and walk around the Animarium.
Alyssa knew it was dangerous to go off by herself without telling anyone, but she had her reasons, faulty as they were. She felt she had to prove she could handle things herself. Bad enough she was the smallest of the group, even Max, who was younger than her, was taller than her, though not by much, but now, she lost a zord, thus is a liability. So, she wanted to find her second zord and prove her worth as a Ranger. Strengthened in her resolve, she called out again.
Over a ridge line, Jindrax and Toxica were lying in wait. Well, Toxica was staying as still as she could to avoid catching the White Ranger's eyes with movement. Jindrax on the other hand, was twitching with excitement, barely holding himself back from jumping out.
"This is great! We can take her out right now and not only would they be down a Ranger, but we could give the boss the White Tiger Crystal! He'll be so impressed, probably make us Generals on the spot!" He hissed, face unmoving as ever, but Toxica never had a problem picturing the facial expressions in her mind. She ignored him, she was focusing on the feeling that crept over the forest, slowly rolling through the air like an invisible mist. Just as Jindrax was about to jump up, she put a hand on his shoulder.
"Wait, there is something here, something… ancient. Older than Orgs." She spoke. Jindrax mentally rolled his eyes at her melodramatic way of talking, and was about to say as much, when her felt it too. Then, someone new caught his eye.
A figure emerged from behind a tree, one hand trailing along the bark, slowly maneuvering herself to be behind Alyssa.
"Well, I don't know what an 'Elephant Zord' is, but I can tell it means a lot to you." Alyssa whirled around at the sound of the voice. It was smooth but sounded like it held intentions. The owner was a young woman around Alyssa's age, but the air around her felt older than the centuries. She was wearing a black overcoat, white blouse tucked into black slacks, and black loafers. Her skin was pale white, hair tar black done up in a ponytail, and smoldering red eyes. The smile she wore was just shy of a smirk, but genuine. Alyssa felt a chill go through her body at the sight of this… person. The other woman quirked an eyebrow, cocking her head to the side.
"What is the matter? Parents teach you about stranger danger. I think you are old enough to forgo that rule, but, if it makes you feel better," She bowed low over her right arm, the left going behind her.
'Cyna Nostradamus, at your service. And you are?" she finished, looking up at Alyssa. Alyssa gulped but fought past the lump in her throat to speak. She was a Power Ranger after all, not a scaredy tiger.
"A-Alyssa." She forced out. Cyna smiled fully, showing slightly pointed white teeth, as she came up out of her bow.
"There, now was that so hard?" She said, putting her hands behind her back, slowly starting to walk around Alyssa, looking her up and down with a light sound of intrigue.
"Now, was it exactly that you are looking for? What does an "Elephant Zord" look like?" Cyna asked. Alyssa tried to stamp down the gut feeling that something was very wrong. Deciding to create a story so as not to reveal the true nature of it, she explained,
"It's a family heirloom. About the size of a ping pong ball, kind of blue, with a…"
"With a tiny Elephant figurine inside? And it's not blue, is cyan." Cyna finished for her, coming to a stop in front of her. Alyssa gapped.
"How did you know?" She asked. Cyna came closer and reached out a hand.
"Because it is right… here." She said, drawing her hand back from behind Alyssa's ear, and with it, the fully intact Elephant Crystal, shining like new without even a smudge. Cyna rolled it around her fingers, over her knuckles, and playing with how the light came through it.
"How did you fix it?" Alyssa gasped, watching her toss it up and down. Cyna shrugged.
"I have my ways. But it took quite a bit of work. Very tricky bits of magic. So, I would say something of a reward is in order, wouldn't you?" She said, still showing her pointy teeth. That gut feeling Alyssa had finally spoke up.
"What are you?" She asked. Cyna started walking around again, looking up at the sky through the treetops, and into the wood line.
"A bargainer to some," she turned to Alyssa with a wicked smile.
"A demon to all." She finished. Alyssa wanted to run, fight, scream, but found she couldn't even move. Her eyes showed her fear though, which Cyna saw and laughed.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to take your soul, and you won't go to Hell just for talking to me. I am merely giving you something you want more than anything, and in exchange, I get something I want. Simple." Cyna explained.
"And what do you want?" Alyssa asked. A part of her wanted to run and never look back, but another part wanted to stay and hear this thing out. Cyna adopted a thoughtful expression and began gesturing with her hands and arms, clearly enjoying explaining what she does.
"Oh, it can be anything, I've made many a deal in my time. A man once wanted to be a famous painter. I gave him the skills and took his sanity in trade. Another man wanted to be the most powerful wizard in the world. For that, I took his evilness. He literally could not think a bad thought. Lastly, a warrior wanted the glory of battle again. I took his honor in battle. Never saw so much crotch kicking, eye gouging, hair pulling in my life. The point is it can be anything. So, that begs the question: what do I want from you?" Cyna began looking Alyssa up and down again.
"You can have my Tiger Crystal." Alyssa said, a fair trade in her mind, and she didn't mind being the Cyan Elephant Ranger. Cyna shook her head, mouth twisting in thought.
"No, that won't due, let me think…" Cyna rubbed her chin, looking at something inside Alyssa only she could see, before snapping her fingers.
"I got it. I want your heart." Alyssa backed up, covering her chest with her hands. Cyna clarified.
"No, not your real heart, ew. Your emotional heart. The heart that makes you feel joy, love, all those sappy emotions that make me feel like I just took a shot of insulin." Cyna explained, making a face as she did so.
"What will that do to me?" Alyssa asked, still covering her chest. Cyna shrugged.
"It won't kill you or anything, it will just make you more bitter, surly, harder to feel true happiness. Though you won't be a psychopath or anything." She spoke. Alyssa rolled the thoughts around in her head. She would keep both crystals in exchange for her true happiness. It didn't seem like a bad trade, might even make her better in battle, more fearless and tough. Cyna was watching her with a small smile.
"Do we have a deal?" She asked, extended her left hand out. Alyssa looked at the hand, then at the face. There was something behind those eyes, something dark, but held no deception. Alyssa took a deep breath, whatever happened, she would prove to the others she was not a liability. It was worth shaking hands with this… thing. She slowly extended her own hand and clasped Cyna's. The skin felt icy cold and just plain wrong.
With rattlesnake speed, Cyna tightened her grip on Alyssa's hand, pushed her with a few strong steps, and pinned her against the tree with her right arm. Cyna got right into Alyssa's face, who could smell her breath, like tin.
"I should warn you, I've never actually done this spell before, so I would advise you to hold very, very, still." Cyna all but hissed. Alyssa began struggling before Cyna took her left hand back, placing it over Alyssa's chest where her heart was, like a claw. Cyna began to mutter in a strange language, almost like an older form of Latin. Alyssa began to feel something being pulled from her body, her heart began to race, then slowed as Cyna drew her hand back, struggling for every beat. The edges of her vision began to grow dark, and the sounds became sharper as they faded.
Cyna had fully drawn her hand back and was now holding a tiny crystal. It was the same size as an animal crystal, but pale green with a little red heart inside. As she stepped back, she unpinned Alyssa, who fell to her knees. She looked up, struggling to focus on Cyna as she turned the crystal this way and that, squinting through it to see what things looked like. Whimpering, Alyssa fell to the side, her vison finally going black. The last thing she heard was Cyna leaning down to whisper in her ear,
"Looks like you can be too nice for your own damn good. A pleasure doing business with you." Cyna pulled the Elephant crystal and put it in Alyssa's hand, closing her fingers gently over it. She stood back up, and began walking away, whistling a low, haunting tune.