Hey guys. I know it's a week late, but this has turned into one of my favorite chapters yet. I had fun researching this particular monster. I want to thank JTWAS1994 for his continued support, and DanielJenson for following me and the story. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy!

Myth 16: Riddle Me This!

Mera Cadwalader looked up from her book for a moment before hiding her face behind the pages again. It was English class, one of the few places she was allowed to read in peace and quiet. Normally, she read specifically non-fiction books, but right now she was reading a Mythology book.

Might as well prepare in case we encounter one of these monsters, she thought to herself.

She looked at the top of the page, where the word "Sphinx" was in bold letters. Her eyes jumped down the page from paragraph to paragraph when suddenly…

"Miss Cadwalader?" Mrs. Adamson said, "are you still with us?"

"Of course," Mera said as she put the book down for a moment. "You just need to capitalize the name and put the title in italics to show it is a title."

"I guess you are paying attention," Mrs. Adamson said as she went back to the lesson, and Mera went back to her book.


"What do you mean you read through English class?" Jay asked as he and Mera sat down at the lunch table.

"I am just...how do I say this? Bored," she replied.

"I'm bored in class too," Nate said, "but I wouldn't be caught dead reading a book."

"Now, I think there's a difference," Valerie. "Mera, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you're bored because you already know the material."

"Precisely," Mera said. "Nathaniel, you are bored because you do not care, I just already know what the teacher is going to say before the words come out of their mouth. I just would enjoy a challenge. A way to test my knowledge."

"That sounds totally...totally…" Nate said as he struggled to finish his sentence.

"Conceited?" Valerie offered.

"Yeah!" Nate said before leaning over to Victor and whispering. "What does conceited mean?"

"Beats me," Victor whispered back.

"Ah, Victor, good to see you joining the conversation," Adrian said as he sat down with Diana sitting across from him. "You honestly don't say a lot, do you?"

"I don't speak unless I have to," Victor said. "I just don't have a lot to say."

"Be like me," Nate said. "I don't think too hard about what I'm saying, I just say it."

"I don't really want to…" Victor said as he began to look uncomfortable.

"And you don't have to," Jay said as he quickly jumped to Victor's rescue. He turned his attention to Nate. "Don't force him, man."

"I'm just saying that speaking up a bit more wouldn't hurt," Nate said. "Nobody's forcing anything."

"Just don't make him feel uncomfortable, ok?" Jay said as he went back to his sandwich.


"So, the Yellow Ranger wants a challenge?" Hades said as he tapped his fingers on his throne. "I'll give her a challenge! Sphinx! I summon you!"

He reached into the brazier of blue flame and formed a fireball in it before hurling it at the wall, creating a portal. Out stepped a furry biped with large eagle-like wings. From the human head, it was assumed that the monster was female. The woman's head had jet-black hair that flowed over the wings a bit. Her furry body was a nice tan, matching the color of a lion. She had a 6-foot wingspan with her large wings and they maintained the tan color scheme of the body.

"Have I got a riddle for you!" she announced as she stepped out of the portal.

"Save it!" Hades said. "I don't have time for your games! I want you to challenge the Rangers to a battle of wits."

"What group has seven colors and are going to lose that challenge? The answer: The Rangers!" the Sphinx said.

"Just go! Before you give me a headache with your riddles!" Hades said as he threw another fireball to create a portal to Earth.

"What has…" the Sphinx started before Hades got up from his throne and pushed her through the portal.

"Can't stand her," Hades said as he sat back down. "She's so obsessed with riddles and questions."

"So you would force her onto the Rangers?" Persephone asked.

"What did I just say about questions?" Hades roared as the flames on his head turned red and flared up.

"My apologies, my lord," Persephone said as she bowed her head in submission.

I hope the Rangers can overcome this challenge, she thought.


Jay grunted as he fell onto the mat. Nate threw a few punches in the air.

"Man, I am on fire!" he boasted as Jay got up from the mat.

"Yeah, yeah," Jay said. "Let's see if you can beat this!"

Jay jumped forward at Nate and did a flying side kick right into Nate's ribs. Nate felt the air leave his lungs as he crumpled to the mat in pain.

"Apparently not," Jay commented as he stood over Nate. "Still, I think that's enough sparring between the two of us today."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Nate agreed as Jay helped him stand up. "Besides, I'll just pay you back tomorrow."

"Keep dreaming, hotshot," Jay said with a sigh as he and his teammate walked over to where Valerie, Adrian and Diana were practicing archery

Victor looked up from the anvil he was working at and then back down at his work. Mera had asked him to improve her Battle Spear, and Victor was willing to oblige.

"Mera, this should go about 30 meters further than it could before, and won't lose as much power when traveling through the air," Victor said as he handed the spear off to Mera.

"Let us test that," she said as she pulled back her arm and hurled the spear through a dummy. It passed right through and kept flying until it hit the wall, which it punctured.

"And Victor delivers on another upgrade!" Jay announced as he walked up to Victor and patted him on the back. "Good job, big guy!"

"It's no big deal," Victor said, "I just needed to calculate air resistance and…"

Jay nodded as Victor continued.

Yeah, I have no clue what he's talking about, he thought.

"...So now it functions much better than it did before," Victor finished.

"Yeah, great," Nate said. "Now how about upgrading my Ocean Trident next? I was thinking, and I thought we could add laser blades to it and…"

Jay walked away as Nate continued talking about his "improvements" to his weapon. He was about to grab his bag and walk out when the alarms went off.

"I've got a monster attacking downtown," Hermes said as he rapidly typed away on the mosaic computer. "Looks like it has some Spartoi for company too."

"Nothing we can't handle," Jay said as the Rangers lined up. "Ready?"

"Ready!" the other Rangers responded as they all crossed their morphers over their chest.

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of colored light, the Rangers were transformed. Jay led the charge out the Doors of Janus and into downtown Olympia Hills. They found a small number of Spartoi marching forward, towards a bunch of civilians. The Sphinx was hidden behind the Spartoi, protecting her from the Rangers' gaze and long range weapons.

"Alright, let's focus on getting civilians out of here, and then fighting the monster," Jay ordered.

"Right!" the other Rangers agreed as they spread out to help the bystanders get clear of the Spartoi marching down the street.

"Keep calm!" Valerie said as she helped guide some people away from the minions.

"Everything's going to be fine," Adrian reassured as he also directed people away from the monster.

Finally, the Rangers had managed to get the civilians far along down the street, away from Hades' forces.

"Alright, guys, let's break through their formation!" Jay ordered.

"Hunting Daggers!"

"Sun Bow!"

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

The Rangers summoned their weapons and set off to work.

Jay slashed through a Spartoi before stabbing his sword into the head of another one and hurling it into the air, where it was hit by a barrage of glowing pink and gold arrows from Valerie and Adrian.

Diana ran past multiple Spartoi while slashing with her daggers, leaving gashes in their bony structure that caused them to crumble to dust.

Victor brought his hammer around in a mighty swing to pulverize a Spartoi, leaving a pile of dust behind.

Nate drove his trident into a Spartoi's rib cage, but found he got it stuck. As he pulled and pulled, it didn't budge.

"Alright, you're part of my weapon now, capice?" he said before using his new Spartoi addition, struggling all the while to get free, to smash into other Spartoi.

Mera leapt over the remaining Spartoi to face the Sphinx alone.

"My riddle for you! What's yellow in name, but not in nature?" the Sphinx asked.

"Wait, what?" Mera said, very confused about what was going on.

"Wrong answer!" the Sphinx shouted as Mera was suddenly bombarded in sparks that blasted all over her and launched her away.

The remaining Rangers ran over to their fallen comrade after defeating all of the other Spartoi and, for Nate, removing one from his trident.

"What happened?" Jay asked as he offered his hand to Mera.

"It's a Sphinx," Mera answered as she took Jay's hand and stood up. "It asks riddles."

"And you didn't solve it immediately?" Nate ridiculed.

"I was not expecting it," Mera answered. "It also requires the correct answer on the first try. When I gave an incorrect answer, it blasted me away."

"What if I just clobber it before it can ask a riddle?" Nate shouted as he leaped into the air, trident ready to strike.

The Sphinx crossed it's wings over its body and deflected the strike before flapping them open again. Everytime Nate moved in to attack, the Sphinx deflected the attack with it's impervious wings.

"Tell me, what do you call an arrogant Ranger?" the Sphinx asked between strikes.

"Do you think I give a crap?" Nate asked as he moved in to attack again.

"The correct answer? You!" the Sphinx shouted as sparks suddenly blasted off of Nate's suit, sending him flying backwards next to the rest of the Rangers. Nate laid prone on the ground, groaning in pain.

"All together!" Jay ordered as he, Victor, Mera and Diana leapt at the Sphinx while Valerie and Adrian provided support with their arrows.

"I have three riddles for you!" the Sphinx said as it deflected the attacks with its wings again, "solve them all, and I admit defeat. Or you can try attacking me again. Who can do this all day? I can!"

The Rangers lined up in front of the Sphinx again.

"We don't really have a choice," Jay said. "We can't get past those wings."

"Go on!" Nate demanded. "The faster we solve these riddles, the faster we can defeat you!"

"Very well," the Sphinx said, "I have 4 feet in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 3 at night. What am I?"

"Man!" Mera shouted almost immediately. "The answer is man!"

"What!? So quickly!?" the Sphinx asked as she was blasted back by a cloud of sparks. She quickly stood up.

"That was the Sphinx's riddle in ancient times," Mera explained. "Man crawls as a baby, walks normally for most of its life and then uses a cane in old age. Hence the number of 'legs' the riddle calls for."

"Fine, now for a harder one!" the Sphinx said.

"Only one color, but not one size,

Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.

Present in sun, but not in rain,

Doing no harm and feeling no pain.

What am I?

You have 30 seconds to figure it out!"

"Only one color…" Jay repeated.

"Present in sun, but not in rain…" Valerie said. "Hmm, stumps me!"

"Don't look at me!" Nate said as he put his hands up. "I save the thinking for you guys."

"Give me but one moment…" Mera said.

"5...4...3...2…" the Sphinx counted down.

"A shadow!" Victor shouted. "The answer is a shadow!"

"What!?" the Sphinx shouted. "How did the Black Ranger of all Rangers figure it out?"

She was going to complain more when sparks flew from her and she kneeled on the ground, clutching her arm in pain. She quickly regained her composure and stood up.

"I don't get it," Nate said.

"I can explain," Victor said, "Take the line 'Only one color, but not one size' for instance. A shadow is one color, but it's shape can change."

"Oh, I get it!" Jay said. "'Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.' A shadow is at the bottom of your feet, but easily disappears."

"Ok, I think I got it!" Valerie said. "'Present in sun, but not in rain' means exactly what it sounds like, you can't find a shadow in the rain because there's no light!"

"And 'Doing no harm and feeling no pain.'" Mera said. "A shadow does not really accomplish anything, but it is there."

"One more riddle and we win!" Jay announced. "Ask it so we can defeat you!"

"Very well," the Sphinx growled. "I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?"

"Uh…" Victor said.

"Well…" Mera said.

"30 seconds are up. What is your answer?" the Sphinx asked.

"We don't know," Jay admitted.

"Too bad!" the Sphinx shouted as the Rangers were blasted and buffeted by the sparks that flew from their suits. The Rangers fell to the ground as they demorphed.

Jay looked up to see the Sphinx walking towards them.

"We might be in trouble…" Jay admitted as the Rangers stood up, groaning in pain. "Now calls for a tactical retreat!"

The Rangers turned and ran from the Sphinx.

"Hermes, a Door! Now!" Jay ordered as twin doors to one of the office buildings glowed blue before the Rangers ran through and the Doors shut behind them.

The teens were breathing hard after the last battle, and soot and ash covered parts of them that the sparks had hurt.

"We couldn't even touch her!" Nate said as he slammed his fist on one of the pillars.

"We lost, it was bound to happen eventually," Adrian said. "We just need to learn from it."

Jay slowly walked over to the Ranger suits on display. The suits were badly damaged. Valerie noticed Jay and walked over to him, putting her arm on his shoulder.

"Hey, you good?" she asked.

"Just wasn't ready for this powerful a monster," Jay said as he clutched his wrist, testing it to make sure it hadn't been broken in the battle. "I'm not sure we can do this." His confidence was wavering a bit to reveal the anxious teen inside.

"I know, but we need you," Valerie said. "If anyone can figure out a strategy to win, it's you."

"Not always," Jay said more confidently, "but I know someone who can."

He walked over to Mera.

"Mera, if anyone can figure out that riddle, it's you," Jay said before turning to Victor. "And if she can't, we need you to design something that can break through those wings."

"I might have something," Victor said. "I've been working on a new configuration for the Olympian Crossbow and I should be able to finish it in a few hours. I just need Diana and Adrian for a couple minutes."

"Diana, Adrian, you heard the man," Jay ordered. "If we want to defeat the Sphinx, we need to work together like never before."

Valerie just smiled as she watched Jay organize the team.

"There's the Jay I know," she whispered to herself before walking over to help.


"You failed!" Hades roared as he slammed his fist on his throne.

"When is failure not failure? When I have a plan to finally defeat the Rangers once and for all!" the Sphinx said. "No one can outthink me! I have the perfect strategy!"

"Do tell," Hades said as he leaned back in his throne, "I'm listening."

"If the Spartoi surround the Rangers, they can't escape!" the Sphinx explained. "Then I can ask my final riddle! You know that the harder the riddle is, the more powerful an attack I can turn it into, right?"

"Yes, I am quite aware how your powers work," Hades said. "Now why don't you go use them?"

Hades reached into the brazier and formed a blue fireball from the flames inside. He threw it at the wall, creating a new portal to Earth.

"Who always follows orders?" the Sphinx asked. "I do! I'll destroy the Rangers for you with the power of my riddles!"

With that, she leapt into the portal, which quickly closed behind her.

"Now to sit back and watch the Rangers fall," Hades said as he lounged on his throne.

A look of worry crossed Persephone's face, but as Hades looked over at her, it quickly disappeared.

Can the Rangers solve the Sphinx's riddle? she thought to herself. 'Or will they fall in the process?


The Rangers were all crowded around Victor's anvil when the alarm went off.

"The Sphinx is back," Hermes announced.

"Everybody knows the plan?" Jay asked.

All six other Rangers nodded.

"It's Morphing Time!" Jay announced.

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

With a flash of light, the Rangers were all transformed before they ran out the Doors of Janus to face the Sphinx.

As soon as the Rangers exited the doors, Spartoi stepped out of portals all around them, blocking them off from escape.

"Did you figure out my riddle?" the Sphinx asked. "Here it is again: I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?" '

"You are the letter e!" Mera announced immediately.

"Impossible!" the Sphinx shouted before her body was bombarded by sparks. "How could you have figured it out? You must have cheated!"

"I actually recommended Google," Nate admitted, "but Mera here was so stubborn that she wanted to figure it out herself."

"We didn't cheat, and a deal's a deal," Jay said. "Now you surrender!"

"Why would I surrender?" the Sphinx cackled. "You seven Rangers can't get past my wings!"

"How about eight?" a voice said from behind the Sphinx. Green vines smashed out of the ground and wrapped around the Sphinx, holding her wings by her sides.

"How does it feel to be outsmarted?" Mera asked as Dan, morphed as the Purple Ranger, stepped out from behind the tied-up Sphinx.

"We knew that you would fight no matter what you said, so we came up with a plan," Victor explained. "You may be invulnerable from the front, but not from behind!"

"And if we wrapped up your wings, there was no way to stop us from doing this!" Mera announced as the Rangers set up the Olympian Crossbow, with a few modifications. Adrian's Sun Staff was helping the crossbow stay steady and the Hunting Daggers were added to the wider bow, on either side of the Lightning Sword. As Jay pulled back the bowstring, Nate and Victor put their hands on Jay's shoulders, then Mera's and Valerie's on theirs and then Diana's and Adrian's hands on their shoulders, lending him their power for this one attack. Dan joined in, holding onto Adrian's shoulder.

"Eight Ranger Omega Strike!" Jay announced as he infused all of the Ranger's power into the attack. "Fire!"

The Lightning Sword and Hunting Daggers fired out of the Olympian Crossbow. The Sword flew straight into the Sphinx with the Daggers following before etching a half-circle and then out along the Sphinx's skin, creating a glowing Omega Symbol etched into the Sphinx's chest in glowing energy.

"Who just defeated me? The Rangers!" the Sphinx shouted as she exploded, with the Rangers posing in front of it.

"Thanks for coming so quickly," Jay said as he gave Dan a high five.

"Mera said it was urgent, so I called in a sick day," Dan responded as he reciprocated the high five. "Just don't let this become a habit, you hear?"

The Rangers laughed as they walked away, the Crossbow having disappeared into the pocket dimension. They didn't notice the remains of the Sphinx glowing blue and reforming.

"When is death not death?" the Sphinx asked as it grew to the size of a skyscraper.

"Looks like my sick day isn't over yet!" Dan said before speaking into his morpher, "Hermes, send the Zords!"

"On their way now!" Hermes said as he rapidly typed away at his computer. "Good to hear your voice again, Daniel."

With a screech, the Eagle Zord swooped down to claw at the Sphinx, slamming into it before retreating back into formation with the Owl and Raven, the Fish safe in its talons the whole time. The Bull, Horse, Deer and Leopard all ran in on the roadway to the Rangers' side.

"Oh yeah, you haven't seen this trick yet," Jay said as the Rangers leapt into their Zords. "Form Pantheon Megazord!"

"Roger!" the other six core Rangers shouted as they pressed the corresponding button.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart, and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as its head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the Bull Zord legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

Fifth was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went onto the Megazord's back. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

The Raven Zord's legs came off before the main body and head of the Raven Zord clipped onto the front of the Megazord's chestplate, forming a gentle u-shape with its wings. The legs attached to the Megazord's arms to form small wristbands/ gauntlets.

The Deer Zord split in half vertically before both halves slid out and the center rose out from between them, revealing a gladius hidden in there. The Deer Zord reattached at the waist, forming the bottom of an armored tunic resembling the one a Roman soldier would wear. The gladius went into the Megazord's left hand.

The Rangers met up in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front row in the center with Nate and Victor on his left and right respectively. Diana, Mera, Valerie and Adrian were sitting in that order in the back row.

"Pantheon Megazord, ready!" all seven Rangers announced.

"Whoa!" Dan shouted from his zord, "you guys got room for one more?"

"Adding Leopard Power to this combination?" Nate asked, "you know it!"

The left arm (the one with the shield) came off and the Leopard formed into its arm configuration and attached on.

"Pantheon Megazord with Leopard Power!" the now eight Rangers announced. Dan was now next to Adrian as a fifth member of the back row.

The Megazord banged its fists together before charging into battle. The Sphinx unfurled her wings and took off into the sky.

"Like that'll stop us!" Nate scoffed.

The Megazord unfurled its own wing and took off after it. It lashed out with its leopard tail, trying to wrap up the Sphinx again, but the Sphinx was too fast.

"I've got an idea!" Victor announced.

"Great, because I am really open to suggestions right now," Jay said, "what do you got, big guy?"

"Let me just show you!" Victor said. "Firing Emblem Blast!"

Light shone down on the Raven-Emblem on the Megazord that was reflected at the Sphinx. With a button press, the light was focused into a laser beam in the shape of the emblem that then blasted at the Sphinx.

The Sphinx roared in pain before landing back in the city to examine the damage.

The Leopard arm lashed out and wrapped up the Sphinx, wings and all. To the surprise of the Sphinx, the tail wrapping her up detached from the Leopard, leaving both arms free to heft up the gladius.

The sun's rays reflected off of the Raven Emblem/Armor and struck the gladius that began to glow with the same light energy.

"Light of the Olympians!" the Rangers announced as the Pantheon Megazord came down in a strong two-handed slash with the sword.

I just wanted to ask my riddles!" the Sphinx shouted with its final breath before exploding, with the Megazord posing in front of it.

"That's one less riddler these heroes have to face," Jay quipped as the Megazord powered down.


"So, you got your challenge," Valerie said as the Rangers walked through the Doors of Janus back into the Temple. "What did you think?"

"Definitely NOT what I yearned for," Mera admitted, "but it was nice to outsmart a monster for once instead of simply overpowering it."

"Yeah, good thing we had Dan," Jay admitted. "We needed a secret weapon, and you proved to be exactly what we needed."

"Of course," Dan said. "It's not like you had many options, right?"

"It was between you and a Green Ranger who's a pacifist," Adrian explained.

"Oh, I need to hear this story," Dan said before Adrian began to tell the story. The teens all sat down besides Jay and Valerie. They walked over to the suits.

"We did a good job today," Jay said as he admired the suits.

"Yeah, because of you," Valerie said as she put a reaffirming hand on his shoulder.

There was a laugh from over where the other Rangers were and the two turned towards it.

"Want to hear how Nate turns himself into the hero of the story?" Valerie asked as she gestured towards the group and offered her hand.

"Oh, definitely," Jay said as he took her hand and the two walked over.

"So there I was, just me and Adrian against 50, no...60 Spartoi and Midas!" Nate said.

"Uh, Victor and I were there too, and it was just Midas, no Spartoi," Mera corrected as they all laughed.

"So where does the Green Ranger come in?" Dan asked.

There's one riddle I need to solve, Jay thought to himself as he looked away from the others. What is Hades planning?


"I would give it another four weeks," Gryphon said as he bowed before his master's throne.

"Make it three," Hades ordered. "There's only so many monsters I can throw at the Rangers before they begin to question my true plan, and the Winter Solstice approaches. That's when I'll unleash my true plan!"

"What is your true plan, my lord?" Gryphon questioned.

"We're going to watch a mountain burn," Hades said as he played the blue fire in his hand, "and a civilization fall," He snuffed the flame out with his hand.

So, we're creeping up on the Mid-Season Finale, which does NOT mean a hiatus. Things should keep coming out at about the same speed, hopefully faster, and I don't plan on skipping a month like I did with Chapter 11 and 14. Look for each chapter to come out about the middle of the month (I aim for the 15th of the given month). And if you like what you're reading, follow the story and leave a review.