Hey Ranger fans! I was so excited to get the mid-season finale out that I worked throughout the last 15 days to get it to you!
I want to, as always, thank JTWAS1994 and GoldenMewtwo for reviewing, and I also want to thank Kurama Yin-Yang for following and favoriting me and the story. I couldn't do this without the support of my fellow Ranger fans!
This chapter also marks 100,000 words for the story! I consider this an accomplishment, as my brother told me he only reads fanfictions of at least 100k words. I took that as a challenge, and here we are 20 chapters later, hitting that goal.
One last thing: I decided to create a poll to find out which Ranger is the favorite of my readers. It doesn't have anything to do with future plans, I'm just curious!
Anyway, that's enough out of me, on with the story!
Myth 20: The Solstice Siege
"Man, the Winter Solstice is tomorrow, and we have no idea what Hades plans to do with his army," Jay said as he paced. The other Rangers were standing around the Temple in a sort of semi-circle.
"Let's review what we know," Valerie suggested. "Anyone?"
"We know Gryphon's back," Jay said, "and he's more powerful than ever. He beat me in our last battle."
"We know that Hades has a lot of Spartoi waiting to attack," Adrian said. "From the sound of it, we're talking at least thousands.".
"And we also are aware that he plans to attack on the Winter Solstice," Mera added.
"But what makes that date so specific?" Jay asked himself and the group.
"Perhaps I have an answer," Hermes said as he hovered over to the Rangers. "I believe he plans to attack Mt. Olympus tomorrow."
"What makes you think that?" Nate asked. "You just pick a place out of a hat or something?"
"Of course!" Mera said as she ran to the mosaic computer and started to type away on it. She pulled up a diagram with the gods' outlines on one side and Hades' on the other.
"I read about this in the database," she explained, "All of the gods, Hades included, share this special power. The Olympians have most of the power 361 days of the year…"
She pointed to the outline of the gods, which were 80% filled in with gold and Hades that was only 20% full of blue.
"But on the Solstices and Equinoxes, that power instead flows mostly to Hades instead, leaving the gods weakened on those days," she said as the golden coloring flowed from the gods to Hades and turned blue, now leaving Hades 80% full of blue coloring and the gods only 20% full of their original gold coloring. Mera turned around and looked at the team.
"That is why he wants to strike Olympus tomorrow," she finished.
"OK, so he's attacking Olympus," Jay said. "But what does he want? What does he really gain?"
"I think he's after the source of the gods' power," Hermes said as Mera moved and he began to type. Up on the screen appeared a golden flame in a silver brazier.
"That power that Mera speaks of comes from the Fire of the Gods," Hermes explained, "Hades has a portion of that power in the Underworld in a similar brazier. That's how he sends monsters to the mortal plane. However, I believe he wants to get the remaining 20% he normally can't have."
"And what, he'll throw a bunch of Spartoi at the gods and assume it'll work?" Nate ridiculed. "Seriously?"
Jay smacked him on the shoulder. "I think you're forgetting that we're talking about thousands of Spartoi! We've dealt with about 30 at a time at most! And that's not even mentioning Gryphon, who somehow survived our battle with him and Chimera. He's even more powerful than before!"
"We need to warn the gods," Victor quietly suggested.
"Good idea, Victor," Jay said. "Hermes, can you pull up a call with the gods again?"
"Certainly," Hermes said as he began to type away again. An image of the gods appeared on the screen, with Zeus in the center, as usual.
"Rangers," Zeus said. "If you are calling us now, I can only assume that Hermes has told you about the Solstice and how it weakens us."
"He has," Jay said.
"Then the day we have feared has arrived," Zeus said. "Rangers. Can we count on you to defend us in our time of need?"
Jay looked back at his team, who all nodded.
"Yes," Jay said as he looked back at the screen. "We're ready for when you need us. We have a half day at our school tomorrow because of the holiday. As long as Hades attacks after 12:15, we'll be there."
"So be it," Zeus replied. "Hermes will take you to Olympus after your… 'school'. We will see you soon, Rangers."
With that, the connection was ended, and the computer went back to the display of the god outlines Mera had used in her explanation.
"Well, I guess there's nothing to do now but train," Jay said. "And then everyone needs to get a good night's sleep. We have a big battle after school tomorrow."
"You mean you actually plan on showing up to school?" Nate said, laughing.
"Yeah...why?" Jay asked, confused about his teammate's question.
"Dude, 50% of the school doesn't show up on half days," Nate explained.
"So?" Mera asked. "We need to be exemplary students as well as good Rangers. Do you think past Rangers teams cut school?"
"Next you're going to tell me that they volunteered at a community center or something," Nate muttered.
"Anyway," Valerie said as she saw Mera begin to show signs of anger at being doubted. "Why don't we take this energy we have for arguing and put it towards training?"
"Fine," Mera and Nate said together as they turned their backs to each other.
"We don't have time for this," Jay muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm getting a headache already…"
He looked up to see all of the other teens staring at him.
"Well?" Diana said impatiently. "Are you going to tell us how to train today or not?"
"Let's start with some sparring," Jay suggested. "We need to be at peak fighting prowess tomorrow. Let's see...How about Valerie and Diana and…"
Jay yawned as he walked down the empty street. The sun had just risen, and not many people were out in the city yet.
"I don't get who thought it was a good idea for teenagers to wake up at around 6:30 for school," he said before yawning again.
Nate walked up beside him. He had a styrofoam coffee container in his hand and he casually took a sip of it as he tapped Jay on the shoulder.
"You good, dude?" he asked. "You look like you didn't sleep at all."
"Not really," Jay admitted. "I was up all night worrying about the battle today. Anxiety really sucks sometimes. I probably got about 2 hours of sleep."
"You should try coffee like me," Nate said before taking another sip. "It helps me wake up in the morning."
"Coffee isn't really good for us teenagers," Jay responded. "It's basically an addiction."
"Aw, what do you know?" Nate said as he brushed off Jay's comments.
The two walked in silence until they reached the hill outside the school building. Students were scattered along the grassy slope, talking to one another or being on their cell phones. Some were somehow doing both at the same time.
"Hey Nate," Valerie said before she looked at her exhausted boyfriend. "Whoa! I know you texted me last night that you couldn't sleep, but I thought you would fall asleep eventually!"
"I did," Jay said, "at 4:00 am."
"The average teenage male requires 8-10 hours of sleep to properly function," Mera said as she walked up to join the conversation. "Though studies have found that teens usually do not meet those requirements."
"Yeah, that's fascinating and all," Nate said, "but are we really going to stay here? I have places I would much rather be before a big battle. We could hit McDonalds, for example, or…"
"Oh, good grief," Jay said as he pinched the bridge of his nose for the second day in a row. "Didn't you go to Dunkin' to get that coffee? You really need food from another establishment?"
"I'm going to chalk up your crankiness to sleep-deprivation and move on," Nate said before the 5 minute bell rang. The four teens started walking into the building as they continued to talk.
"At least I have study hall third today," Jay said as he yawned again. "I mean, classes are 20 minutes, but still. That's 20 more minutes of sleep for me."
They stopped in front of Jay's classroom.
"We'll see you at lunch, ok?" Valerie said as she patted Jay on the shoulder before she led the rest of the group away.
"Don't fall asleep in math!" Nate said snarkily as he walked past.
Jay sighed, it was going to be a long, yet technically short, day.
The Rangers stood in a line, facing down multiple lines of Spartoi. Gryphon was hovering in the air above the Spartoi, his bronze armor clashing with the blue sky.
"Rangers!" he shouted. "You choose to defend the gods from Lord Hades?"
Jay looked around at his teammates, who nodded back at him.
"We do!" Jay said as he pointed his Lightning Sword at Gryphon. "And we're going to take you down!"
"We'll see about that!" Gryphon shouted as he pointed his sword at the Rangers, quite similar to how Jay had. " Spartoi, advance!"
The Spartoi advanced forward. Some swung their swords to attack, while others now had spears and bows to attack the Rangers with.
Quickly, Jay became separated from the other Rangers and became surrounded in rings of Spartoi.
Jay swung his sword in a circle around himself, forcing the Spartoi to back away.
"Guys?!" he shouted over the Spartoi. "Where are you?!"
He looked around at the Spartoi surrounding him.
"I need to find the others," he said to himself before shouting his next attack. "Lightning Refraction!"
He summoned a lightning bolt and pierced it with his sword, causing bolts of lightning to radiate from the sword and strike multiple foes.
"Jay!" Valerie's voice shouted.
"Valerie!" Jay shouted back. "hold on, I'm coming!"
He hacked his way through the Spartoi, towards the sound of Valerie's voice. Finally, he had broken through the lines and found Nate, Victor, Diana, Adrian and Mera lying on the ground. They were demorphed and appeared very weak, with vicious cuts and scrapes all over their bodies and their clothes were all torn and cut. All of them had what looked like soon-to-be fatal wounds.
Jay looked over to see Valerie using her bow as a staff to hold Gryphon's sword back.
"Jay, help me!" she shouted as she tried to force the sword back.
Jay started running towards them, but right as he was about to reach them, Valerie's bow snapped and the sword slashed along her body before Gryphon pulled the sword back and stabbed it through her stomach.
"No!" Jay shouted as he reached Valerie and Gryphon at last. Gryphon backed away, admiring his work.
Valerie demorphed. Jay held her in his arms as blood dripped from her wound.
"Why, Jay?" she asked. "Why couldn't you save me in time?"
"Why didn't you save any of us?" Victor asked as he gasped for breath.
"I said that I trusted you after all this time working together!" Diana weakly shouted, "and this is how you repay that trust?"
"I thought you could always lead us to victory," Mera said as she struggled to speak. "I never knew my calculations could be so wrong."
"You could have done more," Adrian said as he clutched his heart area. "We all knew it. We just never told you."
"Fearless leader?" Nate said. "More like failing leader!"
He spit at Jay.
"I knew this would happen eventually!" he shouted, "and you did too! You could have stopped this from happening!"
"You...could...have...saved...us," Valerie said before her head fell and her eyes lost focus.
"No! No!" Jay shouted. "I'm sorry!"
"You did this, Red Ranger," Gryphon said as he walked over to Jay, who turned to face him, "and now you can join them!"
Time seemed to slow down as Gryphon brought his sword down on Jay…
"NOOOOOOO!" Jay cried out as the sword sliced through him.
"Jay!" a voice called out, "Jay!"
Jay's head shot up. He was hyperventilating and was covered in sweat. He saw that he was in Study Hall and the room was empty except for Valerie, who had been standing next to him trying to wake him.
"Jay? Are you alright?" she asked before Jay got up and pulled her into a hug.
"Valerie! You're ok!" he said, very relieved.
"Uh...yeah," Valerie said, a little surprised by the gesture. "You must have been having a bad dream or something. You even missed the bell ringing. The group sent me to find you and tell you that you've missed the first 5 minutes of lunch already. I was also just worried about you. You're never late to anything."
Jay released Valerie from the hug and grabbed his backpack from the chair he had been sitting on before leaving the room, Valerie right beside him.
"I had the worst dream," he explained as the two teens started through the hall. "I dreamt that we failed, and all of us got killed."
He decided that the part of the others blaming him should be kept to himself.
"You know that's not going to happen, right?" Valerie said, "we may have lost, but never that badly."
"I know, but I can't help but worry about it. Anxiety, remember?" Jay said as they reached the stairs to the roof. As the two started up the stairs, they continued their conversation.
"Don't worry," Valerie said as she grabbed Jay's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We won't lose."
"We can't afford to," Jay agreed. "Thanks, Val. I guess I need to stop worrying."
"It's ok to worry," Valerie said. "It's just important to not let that worry consume you and control your actions."
They reached the table and found the other teens there, waiting for them.
"There's our fearless leader!" Nate said as Jay sat down and pulled his lunch out of his bag, "what, you're not going to eat the school food?"
"I would prefer something more comforting today," Jay said as he pulled out a sandwich.
"Ew, what the hell is that?" Nate asked.
"Ham, Mayo and Pickles, why?" Jay asked as he took a big bite. Bits of pickles fell out of the sandwich and onto the table.
"Forget I asked," Nate said as he gagged.
"I assume we're meeting in the Temple after school, right?" Adrian asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah," Jay said as he put the sandwich down for a moment, "it makes the most sense to me, right?"
Everyone nodded or verbally agreed.
"Might as well relax while we can," Nate said as he stretched. "Who knows how hairy the battle on Olympus is going to be?"
"One can only guess," Mera said. "I am certain we will find out soon."
"My lord," Gryphon said as he kneeled before Hades. "The Spartoi are in their legions now, ready for your command."
"One moment," Hades said, his eyes closed in concentration. "This forbidden use of the Flame of the Gods takes a lot of preparation."
"My lord, is it not forbidden for a reason?" Persephone asked, clearly concerned.
Hades did not respond as blue flames shot out of the brazier by his throne and covered Hades in blue fire. Hades cried out in pain as the fire took his shape before flying forward. The Hades-shaped flames hovered in front of the God of the Dead for a moment before becoming an almost exact replica of Hades. The real Hades slumped back in his throne as the copy opened its eyes.
"This replica contains a portion of my awesome might!" the replica Hades roared. "While the real me stays safe in the Underworld, this copy will travel with my army to Olympus!"
"My lord," Gryphon said as he stood up. "I thought that I was leading your army."
"You are," the replica Hades said. "I will lead half of the troops one way, and you will lead them the other. We will circle Olympus and conquer it together!"
"As you command," Gryphon said as he and the replica Hades walked out of the palace and into the Asphodel Meadows. There were gray wispy spirits hovering around the field, forever wandering, but there were also lines upon lines of armored Spartoi. Unlike before, these Spartoi had black armored chest plates and helmets as well as some possessing weapons outside the norm, like spears and bows.
"My undead army!" the duplicate Hades shouted. "For too long the gods have possessed all of the power and stopped my conquest of the world of the living! But they shall stop me no longer! With you, I will storm Olympus and steal the Flame of the Gods for myself! And no gods or Rangers will stop me!"
The armored Spartoi saluted as the duplicate Hades' hands became full of blue fire. He threw the fire into the air before shaping it with his will into a large ring in front of him. The center of the ring began to glow and became a portal, showing glorious white marble buildings on the other side.
"Now..." the copy of Hades shouted, "we march!"
The armored Spartoi began their march forward, their feet stomping in rhythm, with the copy of Hades and Gryphon at the forefront.
"Don't forget our secondary goal," the replica Hades reminded. "If we can't get the Flame, we turn to Plan B."
"You never mentioned a 'Plan B'" Gryphon said.
The duplicate Hades whispered something into where one would assume Gryphon's ear was.
"Oh," Gryphon said as the replica Hades pulled back. "That's a good Plan B."
"Let us hope that Plan A works perfectly," Hades said. "Let no Ranger or god stop you."
"Yes," Gryphon agreed. "Let us destroy the Rangers!"
The Rangers were still eating lunch when their morphers went off.
"This is Jay," Jay said as he spoke into his morpher. "What's up, Hermes?"
"It's begun," Hermes said simply.
"We're on our way," Jay said as he gestured for the other teens to follow him.
The teens quickly rushed to the library and entered room "O". The walls fell away to reveal the temple with Hermes and a few unexpected guests for every teen but Jay.
"Dan," Jay said as he walked over and shook Dan's hand. "I'm glad you could make it."
"What, and miss defending the literal gods?" Dan said as he reciprocated the gesture. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Christina?" Adrian asked as he looked at the Green Ranger in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Jay called us both last night and told us of the battle today," Christina explained. "I may not endorse fighting, but I figured I could still help defend the gods, right?"
"I may have called them in," Jay said. "I figured we need all the Rangers we can get. Considering we don't have anyone bonded to Aqua and Orange Olympian Gems and the White and Crimson Gems are still missing, these are all the Rangers we're going to get today."
"I agree with your judgment," Mera said. "The more power we have on our side, the better off we will be."
"We need to go. Now," Hermes said as the Doors of Janus flew open, revealing Mt, Olympus on the other side. He led the teens through the Doors. As they started walking through the area, they gawked at all of the white marble buildings they were surrounded by. In the center of the area was a tall hill with large steps coming in from North, South, East and West leading to a large building lined with marble pillars.
"Welcome to Olympus," Hermes said as he gestured around. "As much as I would like to show you around, we need to hurry."
He began to fly up the hill at a faster speed, with the Rangers running up the steps to catch up. Quickly, the Rangers had reached the top of the hill and entered the temple. Inside the temple was a large brazier with a golden flame and 12 thrones built in a circle around it. On each throne was a god or goddess, except for one. One could only assume it was Hermes's throne
"Rangers," Zeus said. "There is not much time. We have Spartoi coming in from the North."
"And I see Gryphon with them," Hermes said as he used his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. "Plus...no!"
"What?" Valerie asked, "what do you see?"
"Hades has done the forbidden Godly Cloning Technique!" Hermes exclaimed.
"Wait, so Hades has a clone of himself here, right now?" Jay asked, slightly panicked.
"It appears so," Hermes said before looking to the Red Ranger. "Jay, you're in charge here. What do we do? The gods are weakened, so we cannot fight well. We can try and defend the flame, but it's mostly up to you and your team now."
"No pressure," Nate said as he patted Jay on the back.
Jay looked to Valerie, who grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He took a deep breath before looking at his team.
"It's nine of us against an army," he said, "and I know this won't be easy, but we can't afford to lose today. So let's get out there and give Hades and his troops the crushing defeat they deserve! Who's with me?"
"Me!" all of the teens yelled as they followed Jay down the northern steps. They stopped at a landing right in front of Hades and Gryphon who were backed by their armored Spartoi army.
"Ah, Rangers," Hades announced. "I was waiting for you to arrive. Do you have any last words before my army and I annihilate you?"
"Yeah, I have a few," Jay responded. "It's Morphing Time!"
The Rangers crossed their arms over their chests as the Olympian Gems on their bracelets began to glow.
"Green Olympian Power!"
"Purple Olympian Power!"
"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 multi-colored light, the Rangers stepped forward and began their role call.
"Demeter, goddess of the harvest! Green Olympian Ranger!"
"Dionysus, god of the vine! Purple Olympian Ranger!"
"Artemis, goddess of the hunt! Silver Olympian Ranger!"
"Apollo, god of healing! Gold Olympian Ranger!"
"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"
"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"
"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"
"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"
"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"
"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"
Hades raised his arms and summoned a sword of blue fire. He pointed it at the Rangers.
"Attack!" he ordered.
The armored Spartoi began to charge, their swords and spears raised in aggression. Arrows rained down from the sky as the armored Spartoi further back aimed their bows into the air.
"Christina, head back and guard the flame, I know you hate fighting, so stay away from the action," Jay ordered. "The rest of you, pick a direction and start destroying Spartoi in that direction! Aim for their exposed limbs!"
All of the Rangers except Christina let out a battle cry as they charged. Christina, instead, headed back up the steps to protect the gods.
Jay summoned the Lightning Sword and flipped into the armored Spartoi formation, slashing down the armored Spartoi directly under him. He raised his sword and summoned a red lightning bolt, which he pierced with his sword.
"Lightning Refraction!" he cried as the red lightning bolt split where the sword struck it and came raining down on armored Spartoi. The armor actually conducted the lightning pretty well, and the armored Spartoi convulsed before falling to the ground in defeat.
Nate summoned his Ocean Trident and hurled it at a group of armored Spartoi, hitting them in their exposed legs, before charging at the group. He punched an armored Spartoi in the exposed face before grabbing his trident from the body of a downed armored Spartoi and stabbing the middle point into the new armored Spartoi's face before removing it as the new one fell as well.
"Wave Blast!" he shouted as he charged his power into his Trident, causing the points to glow blue. He stabbed the points into the ground, causing a wave of water to expand around him and knock the armored Spartoi off their feet.
Victor summoned the Blacksmith Hammer and slammed his hammer into an armored Spartoi, completely shattering the armor on it's torso.
"Interesting design," he commented, "but it appears to have a serious flaw. Fire of the Forge!"
The head of his hammer got superheated. He swung it around himself horizontally and a ring of fire appeared around him. He slammed it vertically into the ring of flame and sparks blasted off and struck the armored Spartoi, causing their armor and even pieces of their bodies to melt.
Mera summoned her Battle Spear and stabbed the closest one in the exposed face before pulling it out and turning around to stab it through another's legs, knocking it to the ground.
"Critical Strike!" she shouted as her spearpoint started glowing yellow. She calculated the power required and the proper place to strike before stabbing through the armor of three armored Spartoi standing in a line, the spear piercing the armor like it wasn't even there.
Valerie summoned the Love Bow and leapt into the air, rapidly pulling back the bowstring and firing pink energy arrows. She landed in the middle of a group before using her bow as a melee weapon, smacking armored Spartoi upside the head with the sturdy body of her bow. She pointed her bow three inches from an armored Spartoi's face and pulled back the string before firing. The armored Spartoi's head exploded and the headless body collapsed to the ground.
"Arrow Rain!" she shouted as she aimed her bow into the air and fired a large pink energy arrow. The arrow reached the height of its arc before splitting into multiple smaller arrows that came raining down on armored Spartoi, knocking them to the ground.
Adrian summoned his Sun Staff and swung it around himself, forcing the armored Spartoi back. He stabbed with his staff in between an armored Spartoi's legs and swung up, bringing the armored Spartoi with it and causing it to fly through the air before falling into a group of them.
"Sun Orb!" he shouted as he raised his staff into the air and a golden orb appeared on the end, "fire!"
He swung the staff downwards. At the middle of his arc, the orb fired out and flew into a group of armored Spartoi. In a few seconds, the orb exploded in a mini "supernova" that blasted armored Spartoi away.
Diana summoned her Hunting Daggers and slashed through the neck of an armored Spartoi before flipping in the air and kicking the head into another armored Spartoi. Unlike previous battles, where it had knocked the armored Spartoi who had been hit down, the head just bounced off the armor.
"Huh," Diana said. "Guess that armor is good for something after all. No matter, Double Swipe Slash!"
Her daggers glowed silver as she dashed past, slashing through the armored Spartoi's necks as she flew past before u-turning and slashing at the armored Spartoi's exposed legs. When she finally stopped back where she had started, the armored Spartoi split where she had slashed them.
Dan blocked a sword swipe with the sturdy body of his Thyrsus before using it to summon a grapevine that ripped the armored Spartoi apart. He smashed another with the pinecone on the top of his weapon. It didn't appear to have much effect, as the armored Spartoi just looked at him blankly.
"Thyrsus Vine Power!" Dan shouted as he raised his Thyrsus in the air and the pinecone on top glowed a deep purple. The pavement cracked as great, powerful grape vines rose from the ground and smashed and wrapped around multiple armored Spartoi, destroying them easily.
Nate saw this and then looked at Jay, confused.
"Why do we keep him on the sidelines so often again?" he asked as he stabbed through an armored Spartoi's neck.
"Less talking…" Jay grunted as he slashed off an armored Spartoi's arm before kicking it away. "More fighting!"
Hades gestured to Gryphon to go around and attack the western entrance before summoning blue fire and throwing a ball of it at the Red Ranger.
Jay cried out as the ball hit him in the chest and sent him flying back towards the steps the Rangers had started on. The other Rangers regrouped around him, with most of them deflecting armored Spartoi attacks with their weapons as Valerie helped Jay stand up.
"You good?" she asked as she pulled Jay to his feet.
"I'll live," Jay grunted as he held his arm where he had fallen on it, "but Hades seems just as powerful as I feared. There's also waaay too many armored Spartoi for us to deal with individually."
"Does anyone see Gryphon?" Adrian asked.
"One thing at a time," Jay said. "Let's deal with Hades first, then we can worry about Gryphon."
"Rangers," Hades said, "come and face me, if you dare."
The armored Spartoi backed off, creating a semi-circle behind the duplicate Hades, allowing the Rangers to face him directly.
"Oh, we dare," Nate said as he pointed his Trident at the evil god, "Mera, you with me?"
"Affirmative," Mera agreed as she and Nate pulled back their arms and hurled their weapons at the blue-flamed fiend.
Hades raised his hand as blue fire filled the air around him and flew out to wrap around the weapons flying at him. With a wave of his hand, the blue flames flipped around the weapons and sent them flying back at the Rangers at a greater speed.
"Mirror Shield!" Jay shouted as he summoned the shield and leapt into the air, using it to deflect the flying weapons to the ground. He flipped in the air and landed in front of Hades, Lightning Sword in one hand and Mirror Shield in the other.
The evil god summoned more blue fire and blasted a concentrated stream of it at the Red Ranger, who raised the Mirror Shield to deflect it. The Mirror Shield only deflected part of the large flame, the rest hitting Jay in the feet, helmet and any other exposed part of him. Jay cried out as he flew back again.
Victor and Diana charged at the blue-flamed fiend, while Nate and Mera grabbed their weapons off the ground and joined them. Adrian and Valerie pulled back their bowstrings and fired off a barrage of arrows at their foe. Dan summoned more vines to attack
Hades summoned more blue fire and shaped it with his will. He formed a flame screen to deflect the arrows into the ground and to stop the grapevines from reaching him and fired balls of blue fire at the charging Rangers, blasting them back.
The Rangers regrouped around their fallen leader, who slowly pulled himself up to a standing position again.
"Ok, I'm open to suggestions," Jay said as he looked around at his team.
"We have to try the Eight Ranger Omega Strike!" Nate suggested.
"It takes a lot of energy, but it's the best shot we have," Victor agreed. "The weapons aren't too damaged, so we can still do it."
"Let's do it!" Jay ordered. The Rangers nodded and threw their weapons into the air.
Nate's Ocean Trident bent 90 degrees as the "teeth" spread out and bent to form a handle. Victor's Blacksmith Hammer landed on the ground handle side up as Valerie's Love Bow clicked onto the former trident, which then clicked onto the hammer handle. Mera's Battle Spear was bent around the bowstring to make it thicker. Adrian's Sun Staff helped the hammer hold up the crossbow, and Diana's Hunting Daggers went on either side of Jay's Lightning Sword as both were loaded into the crossbow.
"Eight Ranger Omega Strike!" Jay shouted as the Rangers lined up diagonally on either side of Jay. Nate and Victor put their hands on Jay's shoulders, then Mera and Valerie put their hands on theirs respectively. Then Diana put her hand on Mera's shoulder and Adrian put his on Valerie's before Dan joined in, holding onto Adrian's shoulder.
The Sword and Daggers began to glow with a golden energy created by combining all of the Rangers' power as Jay put his finger on the trigger.
"Fire!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger. The Lightning Sword and Hunting Daggers flew at Hades.
Hades looked unconcerned and summoned more blue fire before creating a screen out of it that the Sword and Daggers slammed into. Hades began to struggle as the Sword and Daggers continued pushing against his flame screen.
"I refuse to be beaten so easily!" Hades said as he used the flames in his hands to propel him like a rocket over the weapons. He came to a stop, still floating in front of the Rangers. "What else would you like to try?"
Jay and Diana put out their hands and their weapons reappeared in them, while the other Rangers separated the Crossbow and gained their weapons back.
"I'm out of ideas," Nate said.
"We have used everything in our arsenal," Mera agreed, "I am unsure of what more we can do."
Hades grinned as he watched the Rangers struggle.
"I will tell you what you can do," Hades said. "Burn."
He summoned more blue fire and blasted a stream of it at the Rangers, blasting them off their feet and causing them all to demorph as they fell to the ground. They were covered in soot, and their clothes were torn in multiple places. Just like, Jay realized, they had been in his dream.
But this is so much worse! he thought. I never thought we would be facing Hades himself!
"You thought you could beat me?" Hades asked as he stepped forward, getting closer to the Rangers "You really thought you had the strength and skill?"
He kicked Jay over, who groaned as he was rolled over.
"You, Red Ranger, have been the biggest thorn in my side during this campaign," Hades said as he used his flames to lift Jay into the air by wrapping it around his wrists. "So you will be the first to fall!"
"Come on," Nate said as he tried to get up again, only to find that he couldn't. "We have to help him!"
"No…" Victor said as he reached out.
"Jay!" Valerie shouted as she struggled to rise.
Adrian grunted as he rolled over. "Hold on, Jay!"
"You'll pay for this, you pale faced bastard!" Diana threatened as she too tried to get up and failed.
Dan just laid there, knocked out completely.
"Do your worst," Jay said as he floated in mid-air. He figured that acting confident was the best he could do. He wasn't going to let on how much pain he was in, but the fire touching his wrists was excruciatingly hot and seemed to be blistering his skin. "Nothing you can do can be worse than the pain of failing my team."
"How noble," Hades sneered, "and how foolish."
The flames started to travel down Jay's arms, creating burn marks and blisters wherever they touched him. Jay cried out as the flames continued down his arms.
"Jay!" the other Rangers cried out together as they once again tried to rise, only to fail again.
"I could have so much fun destroying each of you in a special way…" Hades said. "But I think the most fun will be leaving you alive with the knowledge that you failed."
He released the flames around Jay, causing him to grunt as he hit the ground.
"Goodbye, Rangers," Hades said. "You pose no threat to me now. It's the Flame I'm after."
He started up the steps, with the armored Spartoi right behind him. He reached the top of the stairs and found the gods and goddesses locked in battle with the armored Spartoi, with Zeus himself fighting Gryphon. He smashed his staff against Gryphon, cracking his helmet where his left eye would be and sending him falling to the ground.
"You thought you could outsmart us, brother?" Zeus said as he turned from Gryphon and raised his lightning bolt designed staff. "You really thought we weren't ready for your minions? You thought us so weakened that we couldn't fight at all?"
"I knew you would be ready for my minions and I knew you could fight," Hades said, "but I also knew you wouldn't be ready for me."
He raised his hands and blasted streams of blue fire out of them. Zeus transformed into a more regal-looking version of the Red Ranger. This version had a more reflective gold trim, as well as a cape with golden circular clasps on his shoulders and a golden chestplate over his normal suit with Medusa's head on it. The armor protected him from the blue flames.
"Ah, your famous Aegis," Hades commented. "It may protect you now, but it won't for long."
Hades increased the heat and ferocity of his flames, but Zeus raised his staff and twirled it in front of him, creating an air cushion in between him and the flames.
"I should have known you would keep enough power for yourself to be able to create a Ranger form," Hades said. "Did the other gods know? Or have you been keeping that hidden from them, just like you hid the details of our little game thousands of years ago that gave me control over a land of death and you control over a land of life?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Zeus said as he raised his staff and red lightning struck it.
"You cheated and I know it!" Hades roared as the flames on the top of his head turned red and blasted upwards, becoming a mini pillar of fire.
Zeus pointed his staff at him and blasted the red lightning right at him. Hades walked through it like it was nothing and punched Zeus in the helmet with a fist of red flame (matching Hades' head) causing the helmet to completely shatter. Hades blasted the stunned Zeus back with red fire and walked over to the brazier where the Flame of the Gods had been.
"And all this resistance was for nothing," Hades said. "I win!"
He looked down into the brazier and found it was…
"Empty?!" he shouted. He whirled around and marched over to the weakened Zeus, holding him up by the neck with red flames.
"Where is it?" he demanded.
Zeus just spat in his face and turned to look at Hermes.
"Hermes!" he shouted. "Tell the Rangers to leave now! It's too dangerous for them!"
Hermes flew away from his battle with the armored Spartoi, smacking armored Spartoi with his caduceus as he flew past.
"Yes, father!" he said as he flew down the steps and reached the Rangers, who were still on the ground.
"Rangers, you have to get up and go!" he shouted.
The Rangers finally stood up, with Victor carrying Dan over his shoulder.
"We can't just leave!" Jay protested as he held one of his arms, wincing in pain. "We may be weak, but we have to fight."
"Jay," Hermes said as he put his hand on Jay's shoulder. "This battle is lost. But the flame is safe. Find Christina back at the Temple. She knows where it is."
He looked back as explosions rocked the building in the center.
"The gods can't hold Hades much longer," he said. "I know I haven't been the best mentor, but I can leave you with one piece of advice. Find Chiron."
"Who?" Nate asked.
"There's no time," Hermes said. "Look it up on the mosaic computer, it should give you a clue where he is. Now go!"
The Rangers stumbled back to where the Doors had been before, and found them still open, leading to the Temple.
"Come on!" Jay said as he led the Rangers through the Doors. As soon as the last Ranger, Victor, who was still carrying Dan, ran through, they slammed shut. The Rangers panted as they caught their breath, which was hard to do, considering the damage that had been dealt to them. They looked up to find Christina standing in front of a familiar flame lit in a brazier in the corner.
"Christina?" Adrian asked. "Why is the Flame of the Gods here?"
"It's a long story," Christina said. "It started back when the battle started…"
Flashback
"I went back up the steps like you ordered, Jay," Christina narrated as the past version of her, still morphed, ran up the steps.
"I was unsure exactly how to help, especially with an army that large, combined with the fact that I hate to fight," Christina continued, "I reached the gods and they had a plan."
Christina stepped into the room. The gods were sitting in their thrones again, Hermes included. They appeared to have been in deep conversation. Christina hid behind the wall by the doorway.
"And I say that we trust the Rangers with the Flame!" Hermes argued.
"Aw, you just have a soft spot for them because you've spent so much time with them," Ares, a large burly man with an ax strapped to his back, argued back. "Besides, I still think we can take this army of Hades' minions."
"Enough!" Zeus shouted as he stood up. "This is getting us nowhere. Let us put it to a vote, all in favor of giving it to the Rangers?"
All of the gods except Ares put up their hands.
"It's decided, then," Zeus said as he turned towards where Christina was standing. "You can come out now, Green Ranger."
"You...you knew I was there?" Christina asked.
"There isn't much that goes on on this mountain that I don't know about," Zeus said. "Just as I saw you, I also see Gryphon leading more armored Spartoi to one of the unguarded entrances to this building. There is not much time. Come over here, towards the Flame."
"But surely one of the other Rangers would be better qualified…" Christina protested, "I've only been a Ranger a short while and…"
"Come here, Green Ranger," Zeus commanded.
"Yes sir," Christina squeaked as she walked over.
Zeus put out his hand and summoned a torch. He drew all of the fire out of the brazier and contained it on the torch.
"Just as there is a torchbearer in the Olympics, there will be one in the Olympian Rangers," Zeus said. "You are that torchbearer. You must take this torch and leave Olympus immediately in order to keep the remainder of the Flame out of Hades' hands."
Christina nodded as she accepted the torch.
"Christina," Hermes said as he snapped his fingers, "there is now a brazier identical to this one in the Temple. You must take it there. Now go!"
Christina turned towards the steps she came from (the northern steps) before correcting herself and walking down the eastern steps instead, the opposite direction to the one Gryphon was coming from.
End Flashback
"So I took the torch and used the Doors to get back to the Temple," Christina finished. "You guys don't look too good, though. What happened?"
"Hades happened," Nate commented as he clutched his side, "he clobbered us."
"We'll heal," Jay said. "It's Olympus and the gods I'm worried about. Were they able to win?"
Mera limped over to the mosaic computer and pulled up a live display of Olympus. The Rangers gasped as they looked at the remnants of blue fire and the destruction Hades and his armored Spartoi had left in their wake.
Valerie clapped her hands over her mouth in shock while Diana growled and Victor looked away, wincing. The rest of the Rangers were stuck in place, just staring at the screen in shock.
"Oh god," Jay said, "what did Hades just do? Did we just...lose?"
The real Hades opened his eyes on his throne.
"It is done," he said simply as a portal opened in front of him. Gryphon stepped out, still very damaged from the battle. His helmet had a crack in it over the left eye, and Persephone thought she saw a human eye in there, but he was too far in the shadows to tell for sure.
"My lord," he said as he kneeled in the shadows near Hades. "Your duplicate was devastating against Olympus. All of the gods fell to you or your army."
"Yes, I am aware," Hades said, "I was in control of my duplicate the whole time. That duplicate had but a fraction of my power, and it still defeated the Rangers soundly."
"But the Flame was missing?" Persephone asked, "I don't see it with you."
"The gods tricked me," Hades admitted, "and I'll find out soon enough where they hid it."
He snapped his fingers and the armored Spartoi led Zeus, locked in chains, out of the portal and forced him to kneel in front of Hades.
"Brother," Hades said. "I am giving you one chance. Tell me where the rest of the Flame is."
"It's safe and out of your hands," Zeus said as he looked at the floor. "That's all that matters."
"I'll make you or one of the other gods talk," Hades said. "I captured all of them anyway. I even caught your so-called "minor gods." One of them will tell me eventually. And when I find out, whoever has it will face my wrath! Take him to the dungeons with the others!"
Fight well, Rangers... Zeus thought as he kept his head down while he passed the cells now full of his fellow gods.
The armored Spartoi leading him along pushed him into the cell and slammed the door shut.
...find Chiron, and fare better than we did, he finished as he looked at the line of cells alongside his.
I know it was a lot for one chapter, but this is actually slightly shorter than my first chapter. Anyway, you know the drill. See you (hopefully) on the 15th. May the power protect you.
