Chapter 3. A breakthrough at last
Somewhere in the vast eternity of space. When one achieves a state of pure leisure, the cruelty of the Universe submerges into a coma. Said ones can manage their time in order to appreciate the beauty, stillness, wonderfulness of their surroundings. Obviously, the longer this state lasts for them, the more sparkling their life becomes. At this moment, Crius was an example. The male rested in a type of furniture that resembled a bathing chair by a pool. Differently from it, his was ultra-plush, comfortable, unstrained. His lower body was horizontal, while his upper body – diagonal. The mentioned Demigod had his eyes aimed onto a board, which hanged above the entrance into his room.
Suddenly, a 'thunk' sound.
"Mmmmm."
Another 'thunk' sound.
"Hmmm."
A third one swiftly after. Crius smiled at the newly prominent object within his view.
"It appears that I can still nail the target accurately enough, even when I'm so entranced. A heartwarming recurrence I have to say."
From out of nowhere, someone knocked on his door.
"Yes. Who is disturbing me?"
"My apologies, Great One. It's Professor Eyelawn. I've got news for you."
His eyes widened.
"Seriously?"
"Of course."
"Alright. Lay it out."
The Professor took a deep breath before uttering:
"I'm confident that I've located the planet on which the Scroll of Genesis is held."
In a mere few seconds, Crius eyes sparkled with passion, unbending will & eagerness, his body drove out of his lucrative, welcoming comfort and was greeting the Professor.
"Now that's what I wanted to hear, Professor."
He swiftly eyes both guards.
"Guards!"
"Yes."
"Protect my room at all cost when I'm away." – he explained confidently, cryptically, but in a far more silent tone.
"We understand."
"Great. Than I shall leave you to it. Professor, come with me."
"Should I bring my assistants with me?"
Crius quickly reshuffled his plan. Satisfied with his predictions, showed a huge ambiguous smile.
"By all means. Though, we don't have time to waste."
He quickly marches down the corridor.
"Time is of the essence, gentlemen. We'll be soon collecting the Greatest Thing in the Universe. Cha! Cha! Cha!"
Both deeply afraid & curious, three Humans quickly followed the Demigod.
Barely 5 minutes later. Euphrosyne was sitting graciously, harmoniously by herself in a normal cafeteria. At least one table was empty between her and other people. Probably due to the lust for as much static motion as possible. Then two armored females came in right beside her.
"My Queen."
As soon as a piece of food entered her throat, she spoke with care in mind:
"My Esteem Bishops. Come and sit in front of me."
"Why of course." – both mentioned.
They did as she said and situated themselves on the opposite side of the table. Both females were masters in taking care of themselves. Anyone could notice that just gaging at them. Why? Well, Euphrosyne had a incredibly ruthless outlook on being 'prepared'. To her, being prepared meant constant effort in maintaining as great of a physical appearance as constantly nourishing the mind. So, although the duo wore armor, it did not cover their entire body. No to mention, the materials differed throughout the body. Back to gage, one could pinpoint their sight on their arms; toned, unquestionably so. Hair? Vibrant. Legs? Not riddled with fat. Both were still at their peak beauty years; one – with yellow hair, the other – brown. Several seconds later the former spoke.
"My Queen, we've urgent news for you."
"Is that so? Who is it regarding?"
"My Queen. I believe that information is too sensitive to say in such a public place."
Instantly, Euphrosyne's eyes glistered with excitement.
"You are assuming he is that high of a priority, Mekasta?"
"That is correct."
She staired into the brown haired female's eyes; goal – find weakness. Commendably, the female did not cave in and show a hint of fear.
"Good. I'll finish very soon and meet you at our Second Location. Understood?"
"Yes, My Queen!"
"Then let me finish in private."
They disappeared just as fast as they appeared.
Minutes passed. The female duo eagerly, anxiously craved Euphrosyne's arrival at a crossroad interjection. Their wishes came to fruition.
"Have you scoured the hallways around us?"
"We've not noticed anyone pass through for the past 5 minutes." – the yellow haired one answered.
"Hmmm. I can see you have done your reconnaissance, my Esteem Bishops."
She smiled mischievously; one could easily come to presume that the female Demigod valued sophistication. Why else would anyone use the word 'reconnaissance' in a casual conversation?
"So. What high priority content you wish to divulge to me?"
The peak form, desirable women glanced at each other. A message was conveyed through those second of eye latching. There was a definite rise in tension around them. Mekasta, the brown haired one, showed of soulful vibrancy through her eyes before stating:
"We are greatly confident that Crius has located the planet, where the Scroll lays."
For several seconds, Euphrosyne's mind took her conscious out of the intersection into depths of unknown nature. Safe to say – she wasn't expecting this. Her valuable, heavily invested allies raised their standard with each year. A perception aimed at her family's relatively subtle turmoil stood as a tall wall against reality. And with one move – completely demolished. The sum of tactics that this type of news changed for her accumulate to quite a high number. So, the time for passiveness had come to an end.
Consciousness returned to place. In an instant, Euphrosyne showed a chilling, vigorous smile.
"You're certain of this, Mekasta?"
She took a heavy step towards the brown haired female. Circumstantially, much to the latter's discomfort, barely half a meter (~1,5 feet) of air bridged them.
"This is groundbreaking knowledge. I really hope it is not a ruse to be higher in my favor."
Another more chilling grin appeared this time.
"I'd feel disheartened and could cause some…'mayhem' centered around your body for spreading misinformation."
Mekasta tried her upmost best at not revealing any indication of fear through her body language. She knew that her Queen was waiting to see an unraveling. Yet, a brave action was chosen.
"I'm all-in with my statement."
Euphrosyne's good mood did not diminish a tiny bit; she raised her right hand to Mekasta's neck & placed the palm on its side. The female duo stood completely silent throughout this movement.
"And your in agreeance?" – the female Demigod asked the blonde while turning her face just enough to see her.
"Yes, My Queen."
The eyes came back on Mekasta.
"Very well." – she said in a soft tone.
A rubbing of the neck was enacted before Euphrosyne quickly took her arm back.
"We must inform the other Bishops of this right now."
An elevation of urgency noticed in her voice.
"Walk with me."
She rushed down one of the corridors; the Bishops went after her.
"Your questioning of my motivation or reasons begins… Now!"
At this moment, they were walking in an arrow form. Naturally, the leader was at the peak of the arrow, with the followers – one the sides.
"My Queen, why is this so crucial to your life?" – she asked fairly quietly.
"Simple, Delanfa. This changes the whole landscape of the power hierarchy." – Euphrosyne answered similarly.
The reason for this shrewdness – the need to inform people of her intentions.
"How?"
"The Scroll of which you speak is a map that leads to an object… So unique and momentous that the public might probably be grateful to Crius for decades to come."
"Then there is precedence for your surge in activeness."
"Glad to know you're investigation skills are at work, Mekasta."
"So? You intend on beating Crius to it?"
"No, Mekasta. That would be intervening and almost instantly put me at odds with my brother."
"Then your next logical move is to aid him?"
"Precisely, Delanfa. If he is elevated above me & the others, he'll be the favorite to reach victory if a Civil War commences once again."
"That is why our alignment with him is crucial to surviving it."
"Yes, Mekasta. That's be enough explaining for now."
"Very well, My Queen."
"So where should I summon the other Bishops to?"
Euphrosyne whispered into her ear the location.
"Understood."
The trio of females continued their fast walk towards said location.
On Terra Venture.
"Well,… It seems that Scorpius has defeated the Rangers. This monster does not seem to be far more powerful than the first one they faced. And yet… He now possesses 4 of the 5 Quasar Sabers. Also, the Red Ranger. All of this, which I have recently witnessed, is information of the highest order to Polus & his siblings."
With that the being retreated to a more secluded location to perform his task. The high risk of exposing the Humans living here to the revelation that there are more enemies than Scorpius was no laughing matter. Polus had made to the scout clear that such a shortcoming will be severely punished.
Minutes later, safely in the Astro Megaship. Kai, the Blue Ranger, is the obvious candidate for the 'Most Disappointed' award. The male was lying on a bed, lost within his thoughts. Damon & Maya were having a chat in the ship's kitchen. That left Kendrix, the Pink Ranger, the only one unoccupied at that time. Realizing Kai's-Leo's relationship status, their recent encounter with Scorpius, the outcome of it, she rocketed towards Kai. Feeling responsible, guilty, Kai exclaimed several things that were entrenched with these emotions. At one moment, Kendrix, being kind, caring, stated:
"It's not your fault."
These words had a special effect on Kai – it completely transformed his outlook and approach on the crisis. In short, the passiveness became proactiveness. He launched of off the bed and headed out of the ship.
"Where are you going?" – Damon inquired.
"I'm goin' to find him." – he replied quickly.
A few seconds past and the remaining 3 Rangers stormed off as well.
Somewhere in space.
"An noteworthy move by Scorpius." – Atlas stated.
"One that has major consequences in stored, whether we're talking about the Rangers or Scorpius."
"Possibly, Polus."
Atlas latched onto the ceiling for a short time.
"We have no knowledge on what Scorpius's henchmen are going to do with those weapons."
"We'll soon have information about that from our scout. That is… If Scorpius is foolish enough to remain on the Human's Space Station with them."
"It might come down to whether or not he is control of his pawn."
Atlas eyes come down.
"I have a counter move against both of them."
"Though of just know, brother?"
"Of course." – he happily replied.
"So? What is it?"
The male just brushed the dust of his shoulders. A Not so subtle indication of a high confidence level.
"We can use this turn of events to acquire those legendary weapons."
"Their confrontation would shift their attention away from us due to their unknowing."
"Yes, but… Neither one of us could get there in time."
Atlas quickly anticipated the move that Polus was inclining.
"Alright, Polus. I believe it is worth the risk. Inform the scout to grab the Quasar sabers if he sees them."
"Oh yeah! We're going to cripple our enemies with one move!"
Polus shows a callous, victorious smile.
"Nice."
Within an area resembling a hangar. Hydraulicly controlled, multiple conjoined parts started to contract. Through the ever so widening space came Crius, accompanied to his left by the Professor & his two assistants, while on the right walked an armored figure. Said figures armor colors were of green & yellow, an intricate detail was the green star with a yellow outline on the edge. Behind said beings came a group of close to 30, all armored in the same colors as the being to Crius's right. All of a sudden, the definitive leader stopped; everyone else did the same. An obstacle stood in front of Crius's target.
"My, my, Crius,… What an entourage you're taking with you." – the obstacle spoke.
From the side, one could identify, who was obstructing the Demigod's path. Weirdly enough, it was another Demigod. This one being Rhea.
"My instincts voiced that this enough to achieve my goal."
"Understandably so, brother."
"My question to you is – why are you standing here?"
The actual inquiry was enhanced with disdain.
"Pretty simple really."
She took a step forward.
"I want to know where you're going."
Crius harbored no interest in telling such information.
"By our agreement, we do not have to discuss anything that does not cause direct harm to all of us at once. So…"
Now he took a step forward; his allies calmly, silently stood by. There mutual understanding was admirable.
"…If you don't mind sister, I best be going on my trip."
"Sorry to spoil your mood, Crius, but we have arrived at an impasse." – she softly, disappointedly remarked.
In a split seconds, she grabbed her weapon of her back and pointed the tip of it diagonally up, in a straight line to her brother's body. So straight it split his body into two exact halves. Remarkable precision by the female Demigod.
"I'm laying down a sparring challenge for that information."
"Are you sure about this?"
"I have no regrets about it."
Crius's narrowed his eyes; irked by this intrusion into his plan, a bit of hateful grinding of the teeth was enacted.
Just as he was about to grab his own weapon, a being dropped down to the side of them.
"Now, now, Lords. If you want to have a sparring challenge, one of you should lay down such a proposal to my lovely Nemesis. She would be more than likely to participate in it."
Both Rhea's & Crius's sight shifted to the eavesdropper. A quick examination led to the identification of who it was.
"If it isn't the smug Bonelia. Suffering from boredom inside the Combat Ring?" – he taunted with his expression of words.
"Rest assured, Lord Crius. That is definitely not the case."
"That might be so, Bonelia. Though, you do realize that interfering with our conflict is a punishable offence?"
The female turned to Rhea; not even a small indication that she was pushed back by such a question.
"I've got a better question, Rhea. Would you like me to inform the others of this altercation right now?"
This angered the Demigods. With good reason – neither one wanted a long discussion about their actions with the other Demigods. For Rhea, said debate would hardly get her the information she desires, waste her time, make her without a doubt a threat to the status quo of the group. For Crius, it was that it wasted time. That was all that he needed to analyze, since now he was in an unrelenting mindset. A debate was on none of the paths he considered.
"No."
"I agree with Rhea. There is no need for it."
Crius straightens hid body to be ideally healthy in correspondence to the ground below him.
"Once I come back from my journey, I will speak with Nemesis face to face."
"And you, Rhea?"
"I'll happily come back to this topic after my brother's return."
Suddenly, Bonelia loudly clapped her hands.
"Sadly, then it is settled. There will be no sparing challenge between Rhea & Crius today."
In about a couple of minutes, all 3 parties disappeared from the hangar. While Bonelia, Rhea went back into the structure, the male Demigod got onto a ship and launched it into space.
On board.
"Before we arrive on the planet which Professor Eyelawn will present to us shortly, I want you, High Commander, to enable the sound frequency blocker."
"Right away."
The High Commander presses a button on a remote in his hand.
"It is done. Good. Now I want to make one thing clear to everyone."
The whole 30+ crowd lifted their chin, confidently waited for Crius's next words.
"This mission is solely mine. That means…A-N-Y-O-N-E…And I mean, anyone… That informs my siblings anything about this mission without me allowing it…"
He showed off a chilling face.
"…Will be tortured and hanged at the nearest place, where it is possible. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir!" – everyone else shouted.
"Great. Then let the securing of the Scroll commence." – Crius said nonchalantly.
Meanwhile.
"Stop him!" – a male being shouted.
The voice was a familiar one to the addressed one. It should be, considering said person had thought him before. Throughout the entire disarray spread amongst Scorpius's forces, the Red Ranger manages to fend off the Stinwingers with his own blade while holding the remaining 4 rangers blade under his other arm. A remarkable effort by Leo.
It infuriated Furio, Scorpius's General, so much that he went to his ally, lifted him up and shouted:
"If we escapes with my sabers, I'll throw you into that pot!"
His ally in an obvious panic rushes after the Red Ranger.
"Go! Get him for me! Go!"
This was addressed to the Stingwingers.
Some minutes passed. Leo had successfully managed to get out of Scorpius's sight. He was vastly outnumbered, no mistaking that, yet his brain usage was on a completely different level to the Stingwingers. The male was plotting his next move carefully. At this moment, he was the only Ranger armed with a Quasar saber & the only one engaged with the enemy. Moreover, he knew that simply hiding would eventually lead to being found. Again, Scorpius's forces outnumbered him. He tried to remain as calm as possible in order to achieve victory once again. Luckily, for him the other Rangers were already close by.
"This is where the scanner said they were located." – Kendrix declared, while leading Kai, Damon, Maya along a narrow, seemingly unnecessary bridge.
Nearby, on higher ground, the Demigod's scout was overseeing the landscape beneath him.
"Polus voiced his intention unambiguously. The Quasar sabers must be retrieved."
It appears that all 3 parties are on the cusp of an unwanted convergence.
Suddenly. The Red Ranger's escape plan is put on halt by one of Scorpius's monsters.
"That's far enough ranger! Give me those sabers."
"Never." – Leo confidently retorted.
The problem that he faced – handicap. He had to hold his saber in one hand, while keeping the other sabers under his other hand. The monster smartly used to this to his advantage and shot a yellow laser blast at the Red Ranger. Due to the movement restrictions, Scorpius's monster succeeded at forcing Leo to drop the 4 legendary weapons. They landed barely a meter (~ 3 feet) in front of the monster.
"I knew you'd eventually see things my way." – he expressed with a smirk.
Yet, on his way to collect the sabers was kicked to the side.
"Aaaagh!"
A chaotic tumble to the ground.
"What?!" – Leo exclaimed, confused at what he was seeing.
A completely mostly yellow, little red armored being came down and hit Scorpius's henchmen diagonally from the air. Adding more to the Ranger's surprise, the recently landed person did not show any indication of losing energy.
"Sorry to tell you, whelp,…"
He clenched his left fist, with sublime confidence lowered it down and grabbed the Quasar sabers for himself. All of this happened in seconds.
",…But the sabers are coming with me."
Still agonizing about the hit, the monster did not respond.
"He might be out, but I'm still standing."
The Demigod's scout's distaste for the situation rose up. A quick glance at the side, where the Red Ranger was created that. By now, he was standing up & holding his weapon diagonally in front of his upper body.
"You have no energy left to pose any threat to me, Human."
The scout was about to leave, when a female voiced:
"Maybe he doesn't,…"
The yellow armored one tried as fast as possible to fixate on the direction, from which the voice came from. Alas, he was too late. This resulted in him getting kicked several meters backwards by the Yellow Ranger. Sensing his chance, Scorpius's monster launched on him with intent of grabbing the Quasar sabers. The opportunity seem to be all too good to pass up.
In a split seconds, the scout not only saw him coming, but angled his left arm in such a direction, added substantial motion to lay a heavy blow at the monster's neck. He painfully fell to the ground next to the Quasar sabers. Maya landed just a mere 2 meters (~7 feet) away from the scout; Leo slowly approached her side.
"We're stopping you right here. Right now." – Maya said with urgency, strong conviction in her eyes.
"Foolish girl. You will be doing no such thing."
"I wouldn't be so sure."
That brazen comment came from Kai, who, along with Kendrix & Damon came to Maya's aid. There was no movement from both sides until Leo joined his group.
"Thanks guys for the help."
"You don't have to thank us." – Kai stated.
"Yeah, man. You managed to save our weapons from Scorpius." – Damon added.
"A save? It seems all of you are a bit pretentious."
Leo was barely managing to hold his laughter under his mask.
"Hah! That's what you think."
In a flash, the remaining 4 rangers grabbed their Quasar sabers from behind their back. The Demigod's scout did not anticipate such a turn of events. The Humans bet on that; Leo continued his train of thought.
"I switched out the real Quasar sabers with fake ones while I was hiding."
A straightening of the stance.
"Looks like your carefulness has become worthless."
"Better retreat." – Kendrix expressed.
The scout felt a surge of anger, but managed to quell it in time. This way he managed to revise his approach on the 'Achieving Goal' part.
"Alright, Humans."
He grabs a normal length sword off his back and, surprisingly, devastatingly, in a determined fashion, slams the edge through Scorpius's monster's neck.
"Ghhhhh!"
That was the last thing the monster would say. The scout rapidly pointed his weapon at the Rangers.
"Time to spill blood."
All 5 Power Rangers were appalled to some degree of the brutality they just witnessed. It took several seconds for them to realize that they have a new threat to defeat. Leo, being the not greatly received leader, stepped forward.
"We're not backing down from you."
"Leo is right."
Maya stepped to Leo's right.
"If you want a fight, you'll get one."
"Good."
The Demigod's scout dashed to the Ranger's spot and the battle commenced. While their battle had started, Furio's lack of patience went overboard; naturally, he lashed out on one of the Stinwingers.
"Hah! Where are they? Do you fools see anything?!"
One of the Stingwingers in close vicinity walked up to him and whispered something to his ear. Immediately, Furio shook his body.
"What?! Someone killed him & is fighting the Rangers?! Show me!"
A couple of minutes later. Blades clash and sparkle. On one side, you have Leo & Maya; on the other, the yellow armored being.
"You, whelps, are determined not to concede."
"We'll take that as a compliment!" – Leo shouted.
Quickly, he had to brake the deadlock in order to block a piercing move at his waste from the side. Success. However, it was short lived, since Kai's attack was synchronized with a similar one from the other side by Kendrix.
"Ahhh!"
He knocked her back and took 4 steps back. She had managed to pierce through his armor and hurt him. The five rangers quickly regrouped.
"Finally. We caught him." – Damon expressed with a hint of joy.
"Now we've got to finish it." – Maya courageously proclaimed.
The confidence that Maya was extruding today was making Leo fonder over her with every minute. She looked to be growing as a person right in front of his. Of course, there might be some crude subconscious instincts at play.
"You've got an idea?"
"Yeah."
"The let's hear it." – Kendrix stated.
Reading the situation miraculously well, the scout screamed:
"Enough!"
Strengthened his hold on his blade and launched at them; Maya managed to see his starting motion. This, more than likely, meant that the plan was understood by all Rangers. Such a fast sequence commenced: Damon angled his sword to block the scout's attack, they deadlocked again, Maya used her acrobatic ability to use Damon's shoulders as a construction to plunge herself over the scout, land precisely at her chosen spot and blaze the Quasar saber along most of his back.
"Ah!"
That's not all. Leo came from around Damon's left, slammed the weapon with both hands through the chest with Kai & Kendrix piercing both of his sides. Out of all 4 successful hits, the least effective one had been produced by Kai. Not a great loss – the other 3 were more than sufficient at eliminating their enemy.
"Chi! Chi! Chi!"
He took in his last breath before starting to fall backward towards the ground. They rapidly took out their sabers from his body and reassembled nearby.
"Hah! That's deeply worrying!" – Furio mentioned way back in the background.
One of the Stingwingers suggested something to him.
"No! Those Sabers are fake & the Rangers look to be lucky today."
He looked at several close Stingwingers.
"We must return to base."
Red lightning appeared & Scorpius's forces disappeared from Terra Venture.
Moments past.
"We defeated him." – Damon stated.
"Yeah, but I do get the feeling that there is something different about this monster."
"We'll worry about that later, Kendrix."
"Leo's right. Now we should go eat something amazing." – Maya expressed.
"Sounds fun. I'm up for it."
Damon, Kendrix & Kai start their walk away from the corpse.
"Don't count me out."
"Wait, Leo."
The Red Ranger stopped moving, shifter his face that it be directly in a line with Maya's.
"Something's the matter, Maya?"
"Nothing bad, Leo."
She closed the distance between them to such a degree that you might as well consider it non-existing.
"I just wanted to congratulate you on your effort of rescuing the Quasar sabers from that beast."
"Well,…"
He put his right hand behind his head, brushed his hair a bit.
",…It worked out as best as it could."
Maya's glistered even more after Leo's modest reaction.
"I would you like to accept a gift from me."
"What kind?" – he inquired while giggling.
The Yellow Ranger just barely elevated herself and slowly put her lips on Leo's left cheek. The sequence caught him completely off guard. Unsurprisingly, that was the plan.
"This kind."
She smiled; then added:
"I would appreciate if you returned a stronger sensation in the coming two days."
Those two words were said with deep care, sympathy intermixed.
At least a half an hour later.
"Still no news?" – Atlas asked.
"No. The line is still cold." – Polus answered.
"Hmmm. It does pose some questions."
Atlas had his suspicions on what type of outcome befell their scout. If everything went according to their plan, the Quasar sabers acquisition would already have been verified. Clearly, that was not the current reality. The male Demigod analyzed the ever so changing landscape – whether it was at home or far away.