I DON'T OWN POWER RANGERS! I don't know why I am obsessed with reminding people of this every chapter, but I am.
Hey Ranger fans! I'm back with chapter 7, and this chapter begins an arc that I have dubbed "The Dark Order Rises". The original idea came to me after JTWAS1994 suggesting an arc with Echidna and her children. I decided to scrap my original idea for chapter 7, as this was a much better idea for the next few "episodes'' and so this chapter was written.
I want to just thank JTWAS1994 for both his contribution and reviews, as well as chrisjeal8 and DragonEmperor999 for their reviews as well.
(Future Spidey again. While I'm not 100% happy with this still, I made a few edits to make it a little better, such as a certain explanation that appears later. Thanks for your understanding!)
That about wraps up my author notes so here we go!
Myth 7: Order and Chaos
Gryphon paced back and forth in his chambers. The black stones of Hades' throne room continued throughout his castle, preventing any light that managed to enter the Underworld from affecting the king. The large window in front of where Gryphon paced had a view of Cerberus, guard dog of the Underworld, and of the River Styx, the natural barrier to the world of the living.
"I need a way to defeat the Red Ranger…" Gryphon said as he continued to pace.
"Gryphon!" a feminine voice shouted.
Gryphon turned around to see an apparition of a green woman appear before him. She had on a steel-like bra and a snake tail for legs. Her sharp teeth showed through her half-opened mouth. Gryphon looked at the figure in shock.
"Mother?" he asked the figure.
"Indeed," the snake-woman said with a nod. "Tell Lord Hades that the rest of the Dark Order is coming to do what you could not."
"What I could… the Rangers are more powerful than I expected!" Gryphon said. "Even the Dark Order may not be enough to defeat them!"
Six figures in different colored armor appeared around the snake-woman. Each was based on a different beast. They were, in order, a Dragon, a two headed Dog, a Serpent, a Chimera, an Eagle and a Pig.
"We shall see if that is true soon enough," the woman said. "Just tell Hades we will be arriving shortly, and the Ranger problem will be dealt with once and for all."
Valerie knocked on the door. Jay had invited her over to his house, and she was very nervous. What she didn't know was that upstairs, Jay was just as nervous.
This is my first time visiting his house, she thought, I wonder why he asked me to come over now? Is he trying to make us more than friends? And what do I think of that? I don't really know...
I wonder how this will go, Jay thought, I wish I could be more confident about this. I put on a brave face, but inside I'm terrified. I'm worried about fighting the monsters, and what the others think of me as a leader, and as a person, especially Valerie.
It had been 2 weeks since the last attack from one of Hades' monsters, and the Rangers had found time to become closer to one another. One pair that had become especially close in that time had been Jay and Valerie, even with each worried about what the other might think about every single action they took.
Valerie was about to knock again before the door was opened by a younger teen, probably about 14 or 15 years old. He looked like Jay, but he was slightly taller and had longer hair reaching his shoulder. He turned around quickly and shouted up the stairs.
"Jay! Your girlfriend's here!" he shouted.
Jay quickly came down the stairs.
"She's not my girlfriend!" he said. "Why does everyone seem to assume that?"
"Probably because you spend so much time with her," the younger teen said, "I see you two spending a lot of time together at school, and you always go somewhere with her after school. Why wouldn't I assume she's your girlfriend?"
"Don't you have video games to go play or something?" Jay asked as he shooed the other boy away before turning to Valerie. "Don't mind my brother. He's just jealous I have friends who are girls."
"I am not!" Jay's brother shouted from the other room.
"Let's head upstairs before he drives us both crazy," Jay said as he gestured to the stairs. Valerie quickly went up the stairs with Jay right behind her.
"My parents aren't home right now," Jay said, "and my brother will be on the computer for hours, so we can talk about Ranger stuff if you want to. First, I wanted to show you this."
He opened the door in front of him to reveal a room with red walls covered in newspaper clippings. Valerie stopped in front of one to read it.
"'Power Rangers Defeat Pig with Spice,'" she read before moving on to another one. "'Interview with Carter Grayson, Lightspeed Red Ranger'. Wow, how many articles do you have?"
"Almost every one I could find. I have everything that is officially Power Ranger related, and some things that might be," Jay said as he pointed to an article on the wall that read "Strange Tears Rip Open Over Silver Hills".
"I remember hearing about that," Valerie said as she looked around the room at the other articles placed all over the wall. "NASADA thought it was a result of time travel, right?"
"Right. I thought that I could show you all this, and then this one strange one that came out last week," he said as he pointed to one last article before reading it aloud. "'Gold and Silver Ranger Protect Zoo.'"
"Gold and Silver Rangers?" Valerie asked, "I wonder why Hermes didn't inform us about them."
"We should probably ask him," Jay suggested before pulling out his morpher and speaking into it.
"Hermes," Jay said, "Valerie and I are going to need a Door."
Jay's closet began to glow with a blue light. Jay and Valerie stepped through into the Temple.
"How can I aid you?" Hermes said as he got up from the mosaic computer.
"What's up with these Gold and Silver Rangers?" Jay asked, "You never mentioned that the other Gems had a chance to bond to people."
"The Gold and Silver Olympian Gems went out of my possession a long time ago," Hermes said. "So I was just as surprised as you were to see the new Rangers. I promise I would tell you if I knew something."
The two teens turned to leave before Valerie turned around back to Hermes.
"Just tell us if you learn anything, ok?" she asked.
"Of course, Valerie..." Hermes said as the two teens stepped through the doors again back to Jay's room. "I would never hide a secret from you, Rangers." He turned to the mosaic computer screen once again.
"Time to contact Olympus," he said to himself. "Even a mentor needs some guidance every once in a while.."
As Jay walked back through, with Valerie right behind him, he thought about what he should say next and the potential ramifications of such statements.
What would she say if I asked her about being more than friends? he thought. I'm sure other Rangers in the past never had this problem.
"So, Valerie…" he began to say.
"Yes?" she asked as the two of them stepped close to one another
Jay stood there for a minute before changing his mind.
"Want to see if we can find a movie or something?" he asked.
Valerie gave a look of disappointment before quickly changing it to a more neutral look.
"I guess," she said simply.
Was that actually what he wanted to ask me? she thought. He seemed to be going somewhere with that. Is he scared of my response?
Why did I chicken out? he thought. Stupid, stupid!
The two headed down the stairs together, each lost in their own thoughts, unaware of the coming threat in the days ahead.
"WHAT?!" Hades shouted as he stood up from his throne.
"My family is coming to defeat the Rangers," Gryphon said as he kneeled on one knee. "My mother told me to warn you of their arrival."
"I suppose this will distract the Rangers long enough to set one of my major plans into motion," Hades said to himself before addressing his general. "Very well. I will grant them anything they need for their campaign."
"That won't be necessary," the same voice as before said, "I promise you that we are very well prepared."
Into Hades' throne room slithered the snake-woman that had spoken to Gryphon earlier. Behind her were the six knights from before. Gryphon stood up and joined the line of knights.
"Echidna, what a pleasant surprise" Hades said sarcastically, "I never expected you to slither out of the hole you dug yourself into after the Second Great War."
"After a few thousand years, you eventually decide to take matters into your own hands," Echidna retorted. "Not that you would know anything about that. How many monsters have you sent to destroy the Rangers? Some of those were my children! You had my darling Hydra slaughtered!"
"It isn't my fault it failed," Hades mocked, "I gave it all the tools to succeed, it just couldn't. Must have been something wrong with how it was raised."
Echidna gave a death stare.
"You're lucky I hate the Rangers right now for humiliating Gryphon more than I hate you for sending him into losing battles," she said. "You call those Spartoi you use warriors? These are warriors!"
She raised her hand and green-feathered women-like creatures swooped in from behind the knights,
"What your Spartoi could do, my Harpies can do better!" she boasted.
"I highly doubt that," Hades said. "They look like they could barely take a punch."
"If you're done insulting my children," Echidna said, "I would like to see where I will be directing my forces from."
"You can have one of my old throne rooms," Hades said as he gestured to a doorway. "You will find it quite accommodating. There's even somewhere for you to sit, if you can sit."
"Come, my Dark Order," Echidna said as she slithered through the door. She found on the other side a large throne room not unlike the one she had just been in.
Echidna gestured to the throne,
"Place the table there," she said, "I'm feeling a little medival today."
Two Harpies came in with a large round table that they placed in front of the throne. Each of the knights took a seat in the chairs around the table. The table rippled like water until it showed a split screen of each of the Rangers.
"With this enchanted round table," Echidna said, "we watch and wait…Then we strike!"
Hades looked into the room quickly before ducking his head back.
"Good," he cackled, "they will make a good distraction for the Rangers. And if they destroy the Rangers, then one part of my plan will be fulfilled without me lifting a finger. Come, Persephone!" He walked past the thrones into another room. Persephone followed meekly behind him.
Soon, she thought, I will be able to aid the Rangers soon.
A day had passed, and the teens were back in school. Jay was sitting in his English class when he finally decided to start tuning in again.
"...led by King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table fought Morgana and other threats to the kingdom with bravery and skill," the teacher, Mrs. Adamson, continued.
"Like the Power Rangers?" a student asked.
"Exactly like the Power Rangers," Mrs. Adamson replied. "Just as they fight for the innocent, so too did the Knights. But know that for every hero, there is usually a villain to counter them. Of course, that's just in literature, not real life. Now, who wants to read us the next passage..."
The teens met at the Athens Cafe on the roof for lunch at their usual table. Jay sat down next to Mera as Nate finished his story.
"And I said, 'that's no book, that's my discipline record!'" he said as he began to laugh.
"I do not understand how that is funny," Mera said, giving him a blank look. "Should you not want a small record, instead of a large one?"
"That's no fun!" Nate said. "Do you want to be that one person people remember or one in a crowd? I'd rather be in the first group."
"Changing subjects," Valerie interjected as she sat down. "There seems to be some new Power Rangers protecting Olympia Hills."
"You are, of course, speaking about the Gold and Silver Rangers?" Mera said. "I did indeed know about them already; I just had assumed you had been informed."
"What's strange is that Hermes gave us a generic answer," Jay said. "When it comes to mentors, he doesn't seem to be doing very well."
"No, he really hasn't," Valerie agreed. "I got advice from some woman I met at a party that was more helpful than what he could give me."
"That is indeed strange," Mera said. "Because I met a woman at the library who gave me advice as well."
"And a man talked to you about helping me," Victor said.
"There seems to be a pattern here," Nate said. "We have an issue that's personal, and some stranger comes to help us out. It's like some sort of TV show plot."
"I think we should talk to Hermes after school and see if he can explain who these people that keep helping us are, and see if we can learn more about these new Rangers," Jay said.
I wish I was as certain about this as I sound, he thought as his face became grim. I always pretend to have a plan, but am I really the best leader I could be?
"You ok, Jay?" Valerie asked. "You look worried."
"Yeah...I'm fine," Jay replied quickly.
"...OK" Valerie said, obviously not convinced.
They wouldn't understand, Jay thought. They wouldn't know what it feels like to worry about everything that happens to you.
I wonder what he's so worried about, Valerie thought. I hope he'll be ok when we really need him.
"I believe I have a plan, mother," the Dragon Knight said as he rose from the table. "The Red Ranger appears to be distant from his teammates at the moment. If we can get him alone and defeat him, the others will fall soon after!"
"Very good, my son," Echidna said. "Bring some Harpies with you and see that it is done."
The final bell rang, and teens began to flood the halls. Jay kept his head down and kept walking as other teens pushed around him.
Today just hasn't been a great day, Jay thought as he reached the library, I've been so worried about a possible monster attack that I'm basically on edge at all times.
He found that he had entered the Temple without realizing it. As soon as he stepped into it, the others were right behind him.
"Alright, Hermes," Jay said, "we need to talk-"
An alarm went off just as Jay was about to conclude his sentence.
"-Or I guess we'll talk later," he said before turning to the others. "Let's go!"
All five teens ran to the Doors as they flew open. The teens ran through the Doors and found themselves in an industrial area. On each side of the teens was the brick wall of a building. In front of the Rangers was the Dragon Knight. His armor gleaned gold in the sunlight as he put out his hand and summoned his halberd.
"Know, Rangers, that you face the mighty Colchian Dragon Knight of the Dark Order! Surrender now or prepare to be destroyed!" he announced as he pointed his halberd at Jay. "As for you, Red Ranger, I challenge you to one-on-one combat!"
"What is it with knights based on mythological creatures and one-on-one battles?" Jay joked. "I accept your challenge!"
I wish I was as confident as I sound, Jay thought. I just have to push my anxiety away for now and deal with the current task at hand.
"You guys ready?" Jay asked as he strapped on his morphers. "It's Morphing Time!"
"Pink Olympian Power!"
"Yellow Olympian Power!"
"Black Olympian Power!"
"Blue Olympian Power!"
"Red Olympian Power!"
With a flash of colored light, the Rangers morphed and summoned their personal weapons.
"Harpies!" the Colchian Dragon Knight said as he raised his halberd. "Attack!"
With a screech not unlike an eagle, several Harpies jumped down from the buildings above and swooped in to slash all of the Rangers except Jay with their claws. Jay charged past them and swung his sword at the Colchian Dragon Knight. The Knight blocked the strike with the handle of his halberd before swinging it around to slash Jay in the chest. Jay grunted through the pain as he did a combat roll around the Knight before attempting to stab the back of the knee. The sword bounced off, dealing little to no damage.
"This is the best you can do?" the Knight said as he slashed Jay across the helmet this time, causing sparks to fly. "You are a pathetic, insignificant excuse for a warrior!"
Jay got up and raised his sword to the sky. Red lightning struck the sword before Jay brought it down for a mighty slash. To Jay's surprise, the lightning just reflected off the armor as the sword bounced off again.
The Knight laughed as he pointed the point of his halberd at Jay.
"Taste some real power!" he shouted as golden flames spewed out of the halberd, "Golden Dragon Fire!"
Jay cried out in pain as he was thrown into the air from the force of the attack. He landed on the ground as the other Rangers were also thrown to the ground from the Harpies' clawed attacks.
"Say goodbye, Rangers," the Colchian Dragon said as he leveled his halberd at his prone foes. The Rangers struggled to stand as the golden flames began to swirl around the tip of the halberd again.
The Colchian Dragon was about to fire off his golden flames once again until a golden and a silver energy arrow came flying down. The gold arrow knocked the halberd out of the Knight's hand as the silver one struck him right in the chest plate, causing it to slightly crack.
The Rangers looked up to see both Gold and Silver Rangers on the rooftop. Their armor gleamed in the sunlight as they jumped down to the ground level. They landed and ran in between the other Rangers and the Dark Order member.
"Who in the world are you?" the Colchian Dragon roared. "And what are you doing interfering with this battle?"
"The shining sun, Apollo! Olympian Force Gold!" the Gold Ranger shouted as he posed.
"The mysterious moon, Artemis! Olympian Force Silver!" the Silver Ranger shouted as she posed next to him.
On each other the Ranger's chests was an epsilon stretched out vertically to form a bow in a bronze color. The two Rangers also had bronze wrist and ankle bands, as well as belts. The Silver Ranger also had a shimmering skirt. In their right hands were longbows in the Ranger's color.
"We'll take it from here, Rangers," the Silver Ranger said as she split it apart into two halves that became daggers.
"Just sit here and relax while we deal with the monster," the Gold Ranger said as he straightened the edges of his bow to form it into a bo staff.
The two Rangers leveled their weapons and charged. The Silver Ranger came in at a dive between the Knight's legs, slashing at the leg guards and cracking them before she rose up and kicked him in the back, sending him flying into the Gold Ranger's staff. The Gold Ranger swung his staff around to send the Knight flying into the nearest brick wall.
"I wonder where they came from," Victor asked.
"Who cares where they came from!" Nate said. "Look at them go! Can we have them join the team? Please? I need to learn how to fight like that!"
The two Rangers turned their weapons back to bow mode before standing next to each other and drawing back the string.
"Gemini Arrow!" they shouted as they drew back the string to the furthest they could. "Fire!"
They released their bowstrings and the arrows launched at the enemy. The two arrows merged into one large arrow just before striking the Knight head-on right in the chest. He cried out in pain as fires lit around him. Instead of exploding, however, he just fell to his knees in defeat.
"What!?" Jay shouted. "How is he not destroyed? That arrow hit him dead on!"
"I'll be back to take my vengeance upon all of you!" the Colchian Dragon said as he got up from his kneeling position. "You can count on it!"
The Knight disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. The original Rangers ran up to the new Rangers, who had turned to go.
"Wait!" Jay said right before the two were about to leave. "Who are you and where have you been?"
"We are the Gold and Silver Rangers," the Silver Ranger said, "and we've been fighting the battles you couldn't." She looked at the Gold Ranger for a minute before looking back at the other Rangers. "You may want to consider training more; your moves are sloppy and weak."
"Hold on a minute!" Nate said before Valerie and Mera held him back. "Let me at 'em! Let me at 'em!"
"You know," Victor said, "maybe the best way for us to train would be if you taught us how to fight like you."
"He's right," Jay said. "Join us. Together we can beat Hades, these Knights, and any other monster that gets in our way."
"That'll be a hard pass," the Gold Ranger said as he shoved Jay aside to leave. "You'd only slow us down. As you can see, we can handle these monsters pretty well ourselves. We don't need seven Rangers when two do just fine."
"Until next time, Rangers," the Silver Ranger said as the two of them leapt up to the rooftop they came from before leaping to the next one.
"Can you believe the nerve of them?" Nate said, still seething. "WE would slow THEM down?"
The Rangers had returned to the Temple still in uniform and had taken off their helmets to talk about what the next best move was.
"Just a minute," Mera said. "Consider it this way, imagine two lesser-skilled Rangers wanted to join us. Would you let them, knowing they would just get in the way?"
"When you put it that way…" Nate said as he put his head down.
Valerie walked away from the argument and past Victor to see Jay sitting on one of the steps in front of the door. He was looking at his helmet in his hands.
"Penny for your thoughts?" she said as she sat down next to him.
"Just wondering how much of what the Gold and Silver Rangers and the Knight said were true. How sloppy we were, and how pathetic a warrior I really am," Jay said as he continued to look at the helmet in his hands.
"You can't believe what they said," Valerie said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "You're not a pathetic warrior, or a bad Ranger. You're just like the rest of us: doing the best we can with what we've been given. That's how life works. We're not perfect, but we do what we can to improve what we can."
"I'm not like everyone else," Jay said as he put the helmet down next to him and looked at his teammate. "I struggle harder than you or anyone one else realizes. Due to my anxiety and depression, I can't sleep at night sometimes because I'm worried about how the next battle will go. I can't lose you, or anyone else on the team, and I'm worried what will happen if I do. I sound confident when I have a plan, but I just worry about all the ways it could fail."
He realized that tears were falling down his cheeks. He must have started crying somewhere in the middle of his speech.
"Hey, listen," Valerie said as she put her hand on top of his. "You think I'm not worried about our battles? I'm so afraid that sometimes I can't move, but you know what keeps me going? You. You inspire me, and all of the other Rangers, to believe that we have a plan, and that we can win."
"I knew you wouldn't understand!" Jay said as he moved his hand away from hers, "I can't take this pressure any longer! If there are two Rangers who are doing a better job than I am, that's great, because I quit!"
He demorphed and pulled off his morphers. He handed them to Valerie. She looked at him, shocked.
"Wait...Jay!" she shouted as he sprinted out of the temple and out of the Rangers' sights. "I never got to tell him…" she didn't finish as she started to cry as well, looking at the helmet that hadn't disappeared when Jay demorphed.
The helmet looked at her blankly and didn't give her any answers.
Well...That got dark. Just note that anxiety and depression don't have the same exact symptoms for everyone. I have anxiety and depression, and I can tell you that luckily mine is not that bad. I hope that everyone sticks around for a more upbeat resolution to this problem.
Until next time, may the power protect you!
