A/N: Here's chapter three. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. Of course if you haven't already, go read the first two chapters of this story and go read Kemonoranger.
(Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, it is owned by Hasbro. I only take ownership for my own characters and ideas.)
Chapter 3: Marionette
"What did you guys do!" Kai's voice boomed through the whole base.
"We just told you." Anthony said as he slumped in his chair.
"Are you guys crazy. You can't go revealing your identities to random people." Kai said as he paced back and forth.
"It was an emergency. We had no choice." Mikey said to him.
"Besides you didn't tell them. How could you not tell them." Red yelled at Kai.
"Don't you start!" Kai pointed his finger at him.
"They are amateurs and they are clueless." Red said. The others looked at him angrily.
"That's because you don't help them." Kai said.
"I don't care." Red said back to him.
"Well start teaching them." Kai said to him. "Oh and another thing, next time you let your K-Pop crush get out of hand, deal with it personally. Don't put other people's lives at risk." Kai yelled to him remembering about how he heard Mikey say that Red threw the Shark Saber straight at the monster while it was holding K-pop idol, Rosé.
"I saved her! Don't give me that bullshit. And I don't have a K-pop crush." Red yelled back at him.
"You have a K-pop crush?" Anthony felt brave as he tried to hold his laughter.
"What did you say." Red looked him.
"Nothing." Anthony shut himself up.
"Admit it, Red. You love those K-pop idols." Kai said as he smiled.
"Don't start." Red said as he got angrier.
"I won't unless you don't help them train. Now go train." Kai said and with that he disappeared in a ball of flames.
"So, K-pop huh?" Anthony tried to say causally.
"Shut up!" The girls said to him.
"Let's go!" Red commanded them. They all followed. They felt his anger and they didn't want to make him even more mad.
In the jungle, Mikey fought with Alicia and Cynthia. They used their training weapons which were provided to them by Kai. They look just liked their ranger weapons. Mikey used his sabers to take them on at the same time. It had only taken them two weeks to learn how to use their weapons and they felt like professionals already.
Unfortunately for Anthony, he got stuck training with Red. Red had decided to test each of their skills out personally and he chose Anthony because of the comment he made in the command center. Red used his Tiger Sword while Anthony used his Bull Axe, the real one.
They clashed and fought hard. Anthony has managed to keep missing. Red dodged and slashed. Anthony has been doing one thing right. He was blocking Red's attacks. Anthony thought he was doing good until Red did something unexpected. He was going to slash him but he faked it. Anthony thought it was real so he held up the Bull Axe. Red then turned and hit him on his side and sent him to the ground. The others noticed this and stopped fighting themselves. They ran over to Anthony and helped him get up.
"What the hell was that!" Anthony said to him.
"That was an attack. That's obvious, isn't it." Red said to him.
"Yea, I saw that, but why did you attack me so hard." Anthony said to him.
"You need to be ready." Red said.
"Don't you think that's a little too harsh." Mikey said.
"You heard Kai. If I'm going to train you clueless fools then I'm going to do it my way." Red said to them.
"Did you just call us 'clueless fools'?" Alicia was offended.
"Listen, I don't care about you. I'm just here to save the world and that's all. I didn't need your help and I still don't." Red said to them in a harsh tone.
"We helped you beat that monster at the festival." Cynthia pointed out.
"Yea and you also revealed your identities. Not really a smart bunch are you." Red said as he turned to walk towards the tree where the shade was the best.
"Hey! Just because you have some problem with us, doesn't mean you get to treat us as trash!" Mikey yelled out at him.
"It's probably because his K-pop crush almost died." Red stopped in his tracks as he heard what Anthony has said.
"Anthony." Cynthia whispered to him and gave him a glare.
"So which one do you actually like. I mean they are all hot. I wouldn't mind dating either of them. You must have a favorite. Cmon spit it out." Anthony kept calling Red out.
"Stop it Anthony." Mikey warned him.
"I mean who wouldn't want to have a go at them. The blonde one is cute. Oh and the one with the brownish hair, she's cute also. I mean they are all cute." Anthony continued despite the warnings.
"Shut up!" Alicia said to him.
"You know, I remember their names now. I read them in an article once. Let's see. You don't mind right. There's Jisoo, then there's Jennie, and then Lisa, and then Rosé." Anthony suddenly stopped after saying their names. His eyes widened and everyone else jumped back and fell. Anthony turned to the tree behind him where the Tiger Sword was. It was lodged deep into the tree.
Everyone looked at Red. He had his hand out. The sword took a lot of strength to throw but he did it. He scared them. He walked over to Anthony and picked him up by the collar.
"Say their names one last time." Red threatened.
"Sorry." Anthony spit out.
Red dropped him and went to take out his weapon from the tree. He walked off and went back to the base. The others were left behind to wonder. They thought about how ridiculous it was for something like these celebrities to make Red mad.
What they didn't know was that the names wasn't the only thing that bothered him. It was the fact of what had happened a year ago, when those same girls called out to him for help. Help from the wolf man.
*flashback*
Red stood mere inches away from the wolf man. Their weapons were ready. They stared eachother down.
"Why don't you just let me go." The wolf man asked Red.
"You can't take them." Red said to him.
"They are my mission. I have been assigned to capture them. Besides, if my client doesn't pay, they would make a good part of my collection." The wolf man continued.
"What are you talking about?" Red said sounding scared.
"Ah! Fear. That's a wonderful emotion isn't it." The wolf man said to him.
"What's your goal here." Red lifted up his weapon.
"You fear that I will take these girls and do something terrible to them, don't you. What I don't understand is, why? You don't even know them. They don't even know you. Why are they so important?" The wolf man began to stop forward.
"Just leave them alone." Red said.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Now why don't you answer my questions before I find out, the hard way." The wolf man said lifting up his own sword.
*flashback ends*
Saul threw his sword at the wall. He demorphed and was now in his room. Tears swelled up in his eyes. It wasn't the girls that made him do this. It was that creature. That wolf man haunted him. Yes he did care a little for the girls even though they don't know him, but when this creature showed up, he was never the same. Everytime he would see those girls or hear about them, it would bring back those nightmarish memories.
That man came out of nowhere and attacked him. He talked about a collection. He talked about a lot of stuff. Saul had to be honest with himself. If he feared anything, it was this man. He began to calm down as he sat at his desk. His breathing calmed down and he was now sitting quietly.
"Why?" Saul said to himself. That was when his phone recieved a notification. It was a notification for a post. When he opened it, he saw the girls of the K-pop group, that he just got out of his head, wearing what seemed to be Power Ranger merchandise. He was a little confused. He knew that Power Ranger merchandise was created and became all the rage. He just didn't know why they had it on.
When he scrolled down, he read the caption, "Thank You, Power Rangers!" Saul sighed. He realized that it started once again. He can't escape these girls. As much as he wanted to keep them away so that they wouldn't get hurt, they always seemed to find their way back to him.
Saul turned off his phone and turned off the lights. As he got onto his bed, visions of the wolf man haunted him. He now lay on his bed, struggling to close his eyes. He eventually started crying. He was suffering. He wanted all the nightmares to go away. This wolf man, whoever he was, would get what's coming to him when Saul finds him.
-0-0-0-0-
"No! Please No!" A man said as he shielded his family.
"Puppets for my collection that's what you will be." A huge figure got closer.
"Please! Have mercy!" The man said as his son cried.
"Puppets don't talk. Unless I make them talk!" The figure said and it's eyes glowed through the darkness. In an instant, the man turned into a puppet.
"Honey!" The woman screamed.
"Puppets don't talk!" The figure said again and it's eyes glowed once again. This time the woman was turned into a puppet. The figure then showed itself in the light of the moon.
It was a big and tall monster. It was white all over with black openings that made him look like a skeleton and he had what looked to be wood sticking out of his back. Strings were attacked all over his body. His face looked like that of a melted puppet and a skull. It had red eyes and seemed like death itself.
"Mommy! Daddy!" The boy called out to his parents through tears.
"I'll choose this one. My puppets will love you." The monster spoke weirdly. It then proceeded to put the puppet tha was once a man, in his sack. He put the sack on his side and disappeared, leaving the child crying and without his parents.
-0-0-0-0-
Alicia walked in the park. She carried her college textbooks. She had her earbuds in. She wore her uniform. To everyone around her, it was just a cool jacket. She, of course knew better.
"Hey!" Alicia stopped. She heard someone call out to her name as the songs were changing.
"Oh, hey Marco!" Alicia calles out to him as she turned and got a view of him.
"I thought you would be here." Marco said.
"Are you trying to find me?" Alicia smiled as she asked the question.
"Well yea. You left this in the park the other day." Marco showed her a pen. It was just a regular pen. Alicia however had a surprised look on her face. It was the one that she decorated and used almost all the time.
"No way. I didn't even know that I left that behind. Thank you." She said to Marco as she took the pen from his hands.
"Yea, I just saw it there and I decided to pick it up. I thought it had some importance to you." Marco said to her. She looked at him with curiosity. He was speaking in a different way then he always did.
"Well, thank you again. Want to come and sit with me?" Alicia asked pointing to the bench.
"Sure." Marco said as he began following her.
They sat down on the bench. There was a great silence between them. They didn't speak to one another for a bit. Marco focused on his phone, looking at cars, and Alicia was looking for some papers in her backpack.
"Cool hoodie." Alicia looked up.
"Did you say anything?" Alicia asked Marco.
"No." Marco replied.
"That was me." Both of them turned around, shocked. They practically jumped out of their seats as they heard a voice behind them.
"When did you get here?" Marco asked Eduardo, who was bow standing behind them.
"Uhh," Eduardo looked for some sort of excuse, "I've been here for a while now."
"Then how come we didn't see you?" Alicia asked the question.
"I was hanging out in the tree." Eduardo pointed to the tree that was behind the bench.
"Yea, but we didn't even hear you drop down. I'm pretty sure that if you jumped down, we would have heard you." Marco stated.
"Look enough about how I got here or when I got here. I was just saying that you have a cool hoodie Alicia." Eduardo pointed it out. Marco looked at it too.
"Yea, it is cool. Where did you get it?" Marco asked.
"Uh, my cousin got it for me. She lives in Mexico. She thought that I would love it and sent it over right away." Alicia came up with the excuse off the top of her head.
"I've never seen those types of hoodies in Mexico. Then again, I need to visit Mexico again." Eduardo said, putting his finger to his chin.
"Well, enough about the hoodie, what have you guys been up to lately?" Alicia changed the subject.
"Just doing some car stuff. I go to car shows almost every night so, nothing really special. Except when a cool car actually appears at the shows." Marco explained.
"And you?" Alicia turned to Eduardo. His face had a surprised expression.
"You know just the casual Eddie stuff, you know." Eduardo tried to play it cool.
"Eddie stuff?" Alicia asked him, one eyebrow raised.
"Yea. That's it." Eduardo said, sweat coming down his face.
"That says a lot, doesn't it." Marco said.
"Of course it does. I'm Eddie. Everything says a lot when I say it." Eduardo puffed out his chest as he pointed at himself. Marco slapped his face while Alicia covered her face, giggling. "What. What's so funny." Eddie said, clueless.
-0-0-0-0-
"Ok, but what if I can get something out of him by doing that." Anthony talked to Mikey as they walked down the street. They were on there way to the ranger base.
"He almost cut your head off. There's clearly something that bothers him about these girls. Whether is be that he hates rich famous people or they bring back painful memories, I don't know." Mikey said to Anthony.
"Yea, but at the festival, this lady took the girls away and she swatted my hand away when I wanted to check if they were alright. That was when he yelled out at her that the label they are signed at, controls what they are allowed to do and all that stuff." Anthony said to him.
"So. What does that have to do with anything? That's how the world of fame works now." Mikey said to him with an annoyed expression.
"I don't know, but I will find out." Anthony assured him.
"Just don't say anything if you want to stay alive." Mikey stated. That was when they stopped.
"What happened?" Anthony said as he crashed into Mikey.
"Police." Mikey pointed around the police cars and the police tape in their way. "Let's go around, maybe we can see what happened." Mikey began to walk around, Anthony following him. When they got to a perfect position, they could see CSI's at work.
"Nothing to see here." A police officer moved the boys from their position.
"What now?" Anthony asked. Without giving an answer, Mikey moved over to a nearby tree and began to climb it.
Anthony looked at him in shock and just decided to do the same thing. When they both were in the tree, they found the sturdy branches and stood on them. From up there, they saw a little boy sitting with a police woman. She was asking him questions. They could also see what the CSI's were studying. They were studying a puppet.
"What the." Mikey said as he looked at the puppet. Something seemed off about it. They then listened in on what the police were asking the boy.
"What happened here young man. We have been asking you the same question, can you please give us an answer." The woman asked him.
"My mommy and my daddy," the boy struggled but it looked like he was about to talk, and at the right time too, "they were turned into puppets."
"What caused this?" The woman played along even though she seemed like she didn't believe him.
"A big monster. He came after me and my mommy and daddy. He hurt my daddy and then he turned him into a puppet. And my mommy too." The boy said.
"Do you think that's true?" Anthony asked Mikey.
"I don't know but it does sound like something that a monster would do." Mikey said to him.
"He then took the puppet that was my daddy. And that's my mommy over there." The boy said to the police.
"See, was that hard?" The police woman asked the boy.
"I want my mommy and daddy." The boy began to cry. The police looked as if this wouldn't happen. They then tried to calm down the child.
"Let's go talk to Mick. Maybe he knows something or maybe he can find something." Mikey said to Anthony who nodded.
They both found ways off the tree and they began to run towards a teleporter location. Walking or running to the base was too much time. They ended up going into an alleyway and they pushed in a brick on one of the walls which opened up a secret door. There were teleporters that they got in and they were gone in an instant.
-0-0-0-0-
"Ha Ha! The plan worked like a charm!" Zaku celebrated.
"What are you talking about." Axis came walking in, carrying his suitcase.
"Oh! Master! I have come up with a new plan to capture humans for you, 'experiments'." Zaku used air quotes.
"How?" Axis asked, intrigued.
"With him." Zaku said as a monster showed up through the doors that led to the corridor that everyone else used other than Axis.
"Who is he?" Axis asked.
"His name is Stringling." Zaku said as he presented his monster.
"Kind of a weak name, don't you think?" Axis said.
"He may have a weak name but he makes up for it with his abilities." Zaku stated.
"Show me." Axis sat back in his throne.
"Ravagers!" Zaku yelled and called upon the footsoldiers to come to the room. They now stood in front of the monster. "Show him!" Zaku commanded.
Stringling did as he was told and his eyes glowed red. Out of nowhere, the Ravagers were turned into puppets. Zaku went to pick them up and then handed them over to Axis.
"Interesting." Axis admitted.
"Why thank you," Stringling began, "Don't worry about the humans. With my abilities, I will cause mayhem everywhere. I will have a huge collection of puppets."
"And with the sorrow of the humans, Byxis Can power up his new machine. He has set up tubes all over the city that collect sorrow and turn it into energy. Stringling here will be great help." Zaku said, happily.
"Well, great to have you on board, now go and do your thing." Axis commanded.
"Right away!" The monster spoke, "Time to get into character." Stringling walked out of the room.
"Our plan will be unstoppable." Zaku laughed maniacally.
"It better be." Zaku took note in Axis' tone.
"What's wrong master?" Zaku asked.
"One of my company's, as always. Apparently one of the rangers touched one of our girls and now their manager or whatever she is, is going crazy. She wants tornpress charges. I told her that you can't press charges for something that small." Axis said to his trusted soldier.
"And what's the problem with that?" Zaku seemed confused.
"As much as I despise the rangers, I can't have them clashing with my business. These are my companies and I will run them as I want. These girls didn't complain either way. Anyways, if you could please leave Zaku, I have business to attend to." Axis finished off.
"Of course!" Zaku bowed before leaving.
"This picture really bothers me." Axis out down a picture of a group of girls. They were in stage, performing a song by the looks of it. The only thing that seemed out of place was the eagle that flew by in the background. Axis had no idea why it was there.
-0-0-0-0-
Mikey and Anthony appeared in the command center. The first thing they saw was Mick at the computer, typing in something. They also saw Cynthia standing aside, looking at what Mick was doing.
"Hey guys, did you hear about the crime that happened on..." Mikey was cut off by Cynthia.
"Yea, we heard about it and we are investigating right now." Cynthia said.
"Yea, and this isn't just happening here, it's happening around the world." Mick said to them, getting a shocked reaction from the blue and black rangers.
"Around the world?" Mikey asked.
"Yea, it's been happening everywhere. Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, England, Spain, France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, China, Korea, Japan. You name the country, it's been happening there." Mick made sure they knew what he was saying.
"That's insane." Anthony said.
"Apparently, all the victims were turned into puppets. That just sounds confusing but not impossible. And trust me, I know impossible." Mick said to them as he looked at the screen.
"So, What do you think caused all of this?" Cynthia asked.
"I'm trying to find video footage somewhere. There has to be cameras at one of these crime scenes." Mick continued searching.
"So these people are just turning into puppets mysteriously. It sounds kind of scary." Cynthia said.
"I mean not really." Anthony said as he sat down and out his feet up on the middle table.
"Really? You want to be turned into a puppet?" Mikey teased Anthony.
"Of course not. I was just saying that it wouldn't be scary." Anthony tried to explain himself.
"Yea, well imagine being turned into an inanimate object that can only move because people make you move." Cynthia slammed her hands on the table.
"Ok, when you put it like that, it doesn't sound comfortable." Anthony slid down in his chair. Cynthia stared at him with a stare that could kill.
"I found something." They all turned to Mick who had managed to find something.
"So, where's the monster, or whatever is causing this mess?" Cynthia asked.
"That's the bad part. This footage is only of the victim. We can't see what we are dealing with." Mick said to them, disappointed.
The footage showed a group of kids, who looked to be in high school, backed into a corner. Then, in a flash of red light, they were instantly turned into puppets. Then the camera went out.
"That was in Korea." Mick said to them.
"So whatever is doing this, decided to turn them into puppets and then destroy the camera before it appeared on it," Mikey began to think.
"That's what it looks like." Anthony said, returning to his normal posture.
"We need to investigate this. Considering that the cops were talking with the little boy today, the monster must near Beast City. Let's go!" Mikey said and Cynthia nodded as she followed.
"Do I have to go?" Anthony spun around in his chair.
"Yes!" Mikey exclaimed to him.
"Fine!" Anthony got up.
"Wait!" Mick called out to them. They stopped and turned around.
"Let me get the red ranger to help you." Mick said to them.
"Why we don't need him. Let's go!" With that, the rangers left. Mick felt nervous. He didn't like the idea of them going out alone. Would they even find anything? He decided to go and call the red ranger.
He walked up to Saul's door and knocked on it. The door just happened to be open and it moved as Mick knocked. Saul lay under his covers. He was hiding in the dark. When Mick got close, Saul woke up and pulled his Tiger Sword in Mick.
"Woah! I'm a friend!" Mick called out to him.
"Mick?" Saul calmed down, his eyes were red.
"Are you ok?" Mick asked him.
"Yea, I'm fine." Saul wiped his eyes.
"You sure?" Mick wanted to make sure.
"Yea. Just woke up anyway." Saul said as he got off the bed. He walked over to his closet and took out a black t-shirt. He put it on and put on his tiger hoodie. He sniffled a bit.
"Well, if you are ok, the rangers need help finding a monster." Mick reported to him.
"I said I don't need those guys." Saul stumbled forward.
"Please just help them." Mick pleaded.
"I'm going out." Saul said as he walked out of the room. He walked into the living room and was about to go through the doors into the command center but a headache prevented it. He almost fell back, but luckily he was caught by Mick.
"I don't think you are ok," Mick said, "Is it those girls and the, you know."
"No. They have nothing to do with it." Saul said as he pulled out his morpher and morphed into the red ranger. With that he left.
"He needs help. He can't handle those memories alone." Mick admitted.
-0-0-0-0-
Mikey, Anthony and Cynthia walked through the street where the last crime scene was. Red wasn't far behind. They walked on until they got to the exact spot where the police were a few hours ago.
"So what are we here to find?" Anthony asked.
"We want to see if there's any markings left behind this things abilities." Mikey said as he finally noticed something on the floor.
"What is it?" Cynthia took notice to.
"It looks like a string." Mikey said.
"Maybe there's something else?" Cynthia said looking around.
"Guys, can you hear me." Mick called through the communicator.
"Yea, what's up?" Mikey answered his call.
"I just saw a live news broadcast online. There's a monster terrorizing Beast Plaza." Mick reported.
"Got it!" Red yelled out and turned around and ran towards the plaza.
"We are on our me way!" Mikey said as he turned off the communicator and the rest of the Rangers followed Red.
-0-0-0-0-
"Puppets." Stringling walked towards a couple as they fell down.
"Leave us alone!" The man said to the giant monster.
"Puppets don't talk. Unless I make th..." Stringling was interrupted as he was blasted back.
"Hey ugly! Leave them alone!" Stringling looked up to see the yellow ranger who held her blaster in her hand.
"Why you little," Stringling got back up and looked at the yellow ranger who had jumped to where he stood before. The ranger was helping the couple get up so that they could escape.
"Now Let's take care of you." Yellow said as she pulled out her Strike Saber.
"You won't get a chance." Stringling said as he prepared to attack.
Yellow ran towards him and jumped on a chair. She flew in the air until she came down, slashing at the monster. She continued her attacks against the monster. She slashed him in the chest and the gut.
Stringling then punched back. He tried to get attacks in, but Yellow was too agile and too fast. He ebrually grew tired of her attacks and prepared one of his own.
"This is getting annoying," Stringling said as he opened his arms out and sent strings flying from his body. Yellow was going to attack again but was caught by the monsters string before she could start running.
"How?" Yellow said, shocked that she was caught so easily.
"Time for a new puppet in my collection!" The monster laughed as he made yellow look at him by force. His eyes glowed red. Yellow screamed as, in an instant, she was turned into a puppet.
"Perfect." Stringling said as he picked up the puppet.
"Hey! Put the puppet down!" Blue yelled as he blasted the monster. Stringling dropped the puppet and almost fell backwards.
Red and Black jumped into the air and kicked the monster back. They pulled out their Strike Sabers and began to fight the monster. Blue and Pink ran up to where the yellow puppet was.
"No! He turned her into a puppet." Pink said as she picked up the puppet.
"We were too late!" Mikey said angerily.
Red and Black were sent backwards and fell to the floor. Stringling stopped in place and looked at the Rangers with anger, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to fight them without them fighting back.
"I'll use this!" Stringling said as he pulled the wood out of his back. He then used the strings to take control of Red and Black. "Attack"
Immediately, Red and Black charged towards Blue and Pink. They pulled out their Strike Sabers and began to fight them. They fought back and it became an intense battle.
Red did a jump kick move on Blue while Black did a spin kick on Pink. They clashed three more times before Blue finally found a way to break the monsters control. He jumped behind red and cut the strings that were attacked to them. Red and Black both fell backwards.
"This is too much, I'm out!" Stringling said and with that he disappeared into a cloud of darkness.
"What happened?" Blue said as he helped Black stand up.
"We were fighting him, then I had the chance to hit him where it would hurt, but he got in my way!" Black pointed at Red who got up himself.
"You shouldn't have gotten in my way!" Red said right back to him.
"Get over your..." Blue hit him on the side of the head. Red took notice.
"Right now we got bigger problems. Alicia was turned into a puppet." Pink pointed out.
"It's her fault for fighting the monster alone." Red said as he crossed him arms.
"What did you say?!" Black said to him, making a fist.
"Look! She did the right thing. She protected the people. Isn't that what we are supposed to do?" Blue said. Red just turned and left as he shook his head.
"That's right! Go away!" Black yelled out.
"We need him to trust us." Blue and Black looked over at Pink who had said this.
"What do you mean. He doesn't even want to work with us." Black said.
"Because he doesn't trust us." Pink made sure he knew why. She got up and held the puppet in her hand.
"Let's go back to base. We can discuss this later." Blue said and the others nodded. They all ran off.
Red however had stayed behind without them noticing. He stood behind a tree. He felt a strange presence near the plaza. He looked around, making sure he didn't miss anything. There was nothing. He began to walk away.
Up on a rooftop, Red was in view through the scope of a sniper. The sniper moved as Red did. Red knew nothing of this.
"It would be easy to take you out right now." A mysterious low voice said. "You feel like you are nothing, and I can feel your pain. Unfortunately, only one of us is truly low. You will be my primary target, Red Ranger. I feel as if it's my destiny. As if we had fought at some point in time. I will finish you off. I will be the one to kill you." The voice continued.
At the trigger of the sniper, a finger began to make its way through. The finger curled around the trigger. Red continued walking, not knowing that he was being watched. Then, he went out of sight.
"Until we meet, Red Ranger." The voice said as the sniper was picked up.
-0-0-0-0-
"Why did you retreat!" Zaku's voice boomed.
"They would have out up a fight if I tried to attack them all at once. I need prey that is either easy to capture or doesn't fight back." Stringling said.
"I think those things are the same." Byxis said from behind his computer.
"Whatever. I make puppets from weaklings. These guys would have ruined my plans." Stringling said as he walked around.
"You are a big monster and you were afraid of tiny humans. Such a weakling." Zaku said to him.
"I'm no weakling!" Stringling talked back.
"Then why don't you go and prove it." Zaku said to him.
"I will!" Stringling said as he moved out of the room and left.
"You are a harsh one Zaku." Byxis admitted.
"If I wasn't harsh then we would have weak monsters. We are supposed to have the strongest monster. This is all for the sake of our master to have what he desires. He desires the world itself." Zaku said as he raised his hands.
"You said it Zaku." Byxis said happily.
"Now, make sure he goes through with what he said he would do. I don't want to come back and find out he siding do anything." Zaku said.
"Where are you going?" Byxis asked.
"I'm going to go and train myself." Zaku said as he walked out the door.
"That guy, always so mean." Byxis said as he continued working.
-0-0-0-0-
"Hmm, interesting." Mick said as he studied the puppet.
"Is there any way to reverse it?" Cynthia asked, concerned about her friend.
"Not that I know of." Mick stood up straight.
"Maybe the only way to return her to normal is to defeat the monster." Mikey spoke after thinking.
"Doesn't that seem to easy?" Anthony said as he spun around in a chair.
"It's a big strong monster. There will be nothing easy about this." Cynthia assured him.
"I'm just saying, their could be a different way of bringing her back." Anthony admitted what he was thinking.
"There could be. Mick can you look at the footage of the monster when we were fighting him and see if there is anyway to reverse what he did?" Mikey asked the question.
"With the drones that followed you guys around, I can see what the monster did to turn her into a puppet." Mick said as he ran to his computer.
"You have drones following us?" Anthony asked.
"Yes. It's for the cases like these when we can't access footage from regular street cameras." Mick said as he typed furiously.
"That's weird but cool." Anthony shiver his hands into his hoodie's pockets.
"Well while you do that, I say we go and find the monster." Mikey suggested.
"That sounds like a plan." Cynthia said as she began following Mikey out of the command center.
"Fine." Anthony rolled his eyes and got up to follow them.
As they left, Mick studied the footage. He seemed to understand what was happening. The footage clearly showed what the monster did. Mick pulled out and wrote down in his notepad.
Back in his room, Saul was sleeping. He hadn't had a good nights rest. He felt a presence. He hated the feeling. He began to dream. Unfortunately for him, these dreams weren't pleasant and his facial expressions showed it.
*dream*
"Red Ranger!" Rosé calles out to the ranger who was now on the floor.
He tried to get up but was hit again in the stomach. He kept getting kicked by someone. When Red looked up, he saw the wolf man.
"Red Ranger!" Lisa called out to him. Red stared at the two girls. He had some sort of attraction to both. That wasn't important though, because he had to deal with this wolf man.
He got up only to be punched right back down. Red struggled to pick himself up. He crawled, trying to get away from the wolfman.
"Red Ranger!" Red looked up to see Jennie and Jisoo calling out to him.
'What's happening!' Red screamed inside his head.
"Let's start with these two!" Tye wolf man moved over to pick up Rosé and Lisa. He grabbed them by their necks and held them high.
"No! No!" Red screamed.
Saul woke up screaming. He held his head. His headache got worse. He fell off the bed and made his way over to the box. He pulled out an envelope. He finally knew what this envelope was. He always wanted to know but he always stopped himself from opening it. When he did it, he was able to confirm a thought that had come across his mind. A letter from Lisa. He proceeded to pull out a letter from Rosé.
Why are they so important. This is ridiculous. He thought to himself. He took out his black box and out the paper in there. He put it away and quickly shut the drawer. Saul was now sitting on the floor, sweating and panting.
He pulled up his legs to his chest. He closed his eyes but refused to let himself sleep. He's been having the same nightmare for the past couple days. Who was the wolf man that terrorized him? Why did he attack a girl group? Why did Saul care about this girl group? What was happening to him?
All those questions and more ran through this mind. He tried to breathe calmly but he couldn't stop thinking. He let himself fall to the floor. That was when balls of light appeared in his room.
"So are you cracking?" Trench appeared in front of him. Saul looked up, his eyes red. He saw Delta sitting on his bed. Speed and Niji stood next to Trench. Kai stood among them as well.
"What do you want?" Saul said through his teeth.
"What's wrong with you?" Niji asked.
"Saul you need to tell us." Speed informed.
"Dude, you are losing it over a few girls. That's ridiculous." Delta said.
"It's not the girls. I feel something more sinister is coming. Something that appeared the night I officially fell in love. The night I saved those girls. This sinister monster is coming and I don't know if I can stop him this time. I don't even remember how I beat him the first time." Saul spoke in a low tone.
"This sinister force, do you feel like it will be a big threat?" Trench asked.
"I've faced him before and I was beaten." Saul said.
"That time that you showed up at the camp all beat up and bruised." Kai said, coming to a realization.
"Yea. I told you that I fell off a tree. It was lie. This monster attacked the Coachella Music Festival. He used Ravagers to attack, but he also had his own footsoldiers. He then specifically targeted a group and I took it upon myself to protect them." Saul spilled everything he had kept from Kai.
"You should have said something?" Kai said to him.
"I was afraid. I was able to do so much in a year only to be beaten by a wolf man who came out of nowhere. I protected those girls out of." Saul stopped himself. He was mentioning them to much.
"I think I understand. Every time you see them, you get that nightmare to reappear. That memory haunts you. Not because of the girls but because of the monster." Trench said studying Saul's movements.
"Right now, you need to get over it." Kai said as he kneeled down.
"You need to deal with the current situation." Trench added. Saul gave an angry look. He didn't like being ordered around, but he understood.
"Fine. I'll meet them at their location." Saul said getting up.
"Good." Kai said and with that, they all disappeared.
"Good." Saul copied what Kai had said and made a face. He picked up his hoodie and morphed into the red ranger. He then ran out of his room.
-0-0-0-0-
"How are we going to find him?" Cynthia asked as they all walked together through the park.
"I don't know." Anthony said as he put his hands on top of his head.
"Just focus guys. Even if he isn't here now, he'll have to comeback eventually." Mikey assured the others.
"We can't just sit around waiting for the monster to show up." Anthony sat on a bench.
"He's right, even if he is annoying." Red said as he walked up to them.
"Look if you are coming here to say a bunch of shit to us, don't." Mikey said to him, staring at him.
"I'm here looking for the monster." Saul said honestly. "And an excuse to stop having nightmares." Saul whispered to himself.
"See this is what we should be doing. Working as a team." Cynthia said as she came up to them.
"Whatever." They both said, turning away from eachother and crossing their arms.
"Guys, I see puppets." Anthony said and they all turned to look where Anthony pointed. They saw a children's birthday party.
All the children were watching a puppet play. The parents were also watching along with their kids. The rangers looked at the show. Something seemed off. The puppets movements gave Anthony chills. As the curtain closed, the children stood up and cheered.
"Wait a second." Red said as he pushed the others to the floor.
Suddenly a bright red light lit up. All the children and parents were taken by surprise as they began transforming. When the light was gone, the Rangers got up to see a bunch of puppets on the floor.
"Shit! He's got them!" Mikey said getting back up.
"Ah! Prey that don't fight back are the best. Now let's make you do things. I control the strings." Stringling appeared from behind the puppet stage.
"Hey you piece of shit! Return them to normal!" Red said as they all showed up.
"How about... No!" Stringling yelled as strings from his body detached and attacked the rangers. Red pulled out his Strike Saber and protected himself and the others. The others just stared at him surprised.
"Hurry and morph!" Red yelled as he stood back.
"You heard him!" Mikey said.
They all activated their morphers and inserted their Beast Batteries. A hologram of their suit appeared over their morpher. They input their codes.
#002
#003
#005
"Animal Strike! Spirit Unleashed!" They yelled one unison, launching out their animal spirits. The spirits did a full 360 degree circle around them before hitting down on them, forming their helmets and suits.
"Let's fight!" Black called as he took out his Strike Saber. Everyone else nodded and they ran towards the monster.
"Ravagers!" Stringling yelled out as a bunch of footsoldiers appeared out of the ground. They lived in their weird way, their arms looking like noddles. They then charged at the rangers.
They met in the middle and they began to fight. Red kicked the Ravager in front of him and then Slashe the one behind him. He continued his streak by slashing more monsters in the chest.
Pink did a flying spin kick on a Ravager and slashed another one. She then proceeded to backflip and landing behind a Ravager. She took no time and she slashed the Ravager.
Blue spun on the floor and knocked a few Ravagers down to the floor. He stabbed one on the floor and then he pulled his sword up to slash one that was charging at him. He continued slashing more Ravagers as they came out of the ground.
Black jumped off a bench and came down, slashing the monsters in the process. He charged like a bull towards a group of Ravagers that had huddled up together. He continued rush attacking the monsters. He only moved forward and from time to time, he would jump back and attack the monsters behind him.
"These guys are always so annoying!" Black said as he attacked more of the footsoldiers that came.
"That's the point!" Red said as he kicked one in the gut.
"Where did the monster go?" Blue said as he defeated one of the last footsoldiers.
"I don't know." Pink said as she ran up to him.
"Guys! What do you think of when you hear the word creepy?" Black asked as he pointed towards the puppet stage.
On the stage we're two very creepy looking puppets. One was a puppet that looked to be burned. The other looked like it was melting. They stared at the rangers in a creepy way. Red looked at them and felt goosebumps.
"That's just scary." Red said holding up his Strike Saber. The puppets began dancing around the stage while still looking at the rangers.
Before they knew it, they were grabbed from behind. They were tied in strings. When they saw what was causing this, they saw an army of puppets that stood by themselves.
"There are no strings on us." One of the puppets said creepily.
"What is this!" Red yelled out as the strings got tighter.
"Time to make more puppets." The rangers looked up to see the source of the voice. Stringling came closer, holding his hands up.
The rangers struggled to get free. All they could do was stare at the monster who came closer. Red then noticed that two puppets got close to his feet. Without hesitation, he kicked the two puppets and he instantly felt the strings loosen. He took out his Strike Blaster before the puppets could get their footing back and he blasted Stringling back. He then shot all the puppets on the floor destroying them and freeing the others. He then turned and shot the puppets on the stage.
"What the?! How did you get free from my strings?!" Stringling said as he got back up.
"Puppets have no brains." Red said as he knocked on his helmet with his hand.
"Impossible!" Stringling said.
"Now Let's get to destroying you." Pink said.
"Ok guys. There has to be something that returns the people back to normal. Try to find it!" Blue said as he prepared his own weapon.
"Let's get this over with!" Black said pulling up his saber.
They all then prepared to fight. Stringling awaited them and they all yelled as they began running towards eachother. Red jumped into the air and slashed the monster from behind. Blue and Black slid on the grass with their knees. They slashed him at his gut. Pink came in for the straight attack.
"Let's we what these wings can do!" She said as she jumped into the air and activated the wings on her back. They connected themselves to her arms and she was now flying towards the monster. She came in fast and slashed him in the chest.
Stringling flew backwards and crashed into a tree. He got back up only to see Red with a different sword running up to him. He jumped and did a spin move before hitting the monster. Stringling ended up back in the middle of the grass field. Black pulled up his axe and began to attack. Stringling dodged his attacks and Black kept getting the axe stuck in the ground.
"My chance!" Stringling yelled out as Black got his axe stuck again. Black was hit directly and was sent flying with his axe.
"Look behind you!" Blue came up to him and hit him with both of his sabers which were now lit up in a neon type of blue color. Blue dodged one of the monsters attacks and went for the monsters chest. He kept moving his sabers freely. He slashed and then threw them up into the air. He punched the monster before getting his sabers back and slashing the monster on its back.
Pink then pulled back the string of her bow. Two arrows appeared and Pink let go of the string. The arrows hit the monster in his feet and now he was stuck in place. Pink moved her bow to the side and pulled back the string again. Three arrows appeared. She aimed almost perfectly and managed to get all her arrows into the monster. One arrow ended up going through his body. The other two were stuck on his back.
"No! I won't be taken down so easily!" Stringling got back up and attacked the rangers with his strings. He pulled the arrow out of his chest and green blood came out. Blue then noticed something that wasn't on his chest before. A skull appeared from the hole that was left from the arrow.
Blue then put his sabers together. He put one behind the other one and created one saber on its own. He held the handle tightly and began to run towards the monster. He moved swiftly while the strings attacked him. He dodged every string. He eventually got close. Stringling looked at him, totally shocked that he was able to get close. Blue slashed the skull on the monsters chest. The skull was instantly cut off and fell to the ground.
"What did you do!" Stringling took a few steps back. He put his hand to the newly made big hole in the middle of his chest.
-0-0-0-0-
Mick looked at the battle on the computer screen. He saw the moment that Blue slashed the monsters chest and noticed that something fell onto the floor. He tried to examine it but he had no luck. Then, a burst of light appeared in the room. Mick looked back to see the puppet on the table glowing. It moved off of the table and, in an instant, the yellow ranger was in the command center. She touched herself to make sure that she was really back. She sighed of relief.
"I'm back!" She said with excitement.
"I guess Mikey figured out how to turn you back to normal. Speaking of Mikey, you need to go help the rangers." Mick said to her.
"Got it!" Yellow said as she began running towards the exit.
"Use the last teleporter. I can get you into the middle of the park in an instant." Mick yelled to her so that she could hear.
"Ok!" She yelled back as she ran to a teleporter that was closed. It opened once Mick pushed a button on his console. She stepped inside and was instantly teleported.
-0-0-0-0-
"What did you do!" Stringling said. The sack he had on his side began to glow.
Instantly, puppets flew out of the sack as they glowed. They were sent to all different direction. Some ended up under a few trees. The rangers looked at them and saw them turn back into humans. Black jumped up with joy while Pink held her hands together. Blue clenched his fist and nodded. Red crossed his arms and nodded.
"I'm not done with you!" The rangers all turned towards Stringling who was now enraged. He pulled out strings again from his back.
"Quick everyone! Get out of here!" Pink yelled at the pedestrians. They all nodded and began to run away.
"You aren't going anywhere!l Stringling prepared his strings to attack but suddenly he was hit from behind and sent tumbling forwards.
"That's for turning me into a puppet!" Yellow said as she crossed her arms.
"Alicia!" Pink ran up to her friend.
"Good to have you back." Blue said as all the rangers regrouped.
"Glad to be back." Yellow said as she held her fist up.
"Hate to break up your reunion, but we still have a monster to destroy!" Red said as he prepared a Beast Battery. He put it into hit morpher and inserted the codes necessary. He then put it into his weapon and let the rest work out on its own. In seconds, the Animal Strike Blaster was now in front of him. The rangers all took their positions and got ready to attack.
"Animal Strike Blaster! Final Destruction!" They all yelled as Red pulled the trigger. A laser bullet was sent flying out of the blaster. As it made its way towards the monster, it grew bigger and eventually became a tiger. The tiger hit the monster head on. The monster was sent backwards and he started sparking.
"I guess the curtain has closed!" Stringling yelled out as he fell backwards and blew up. The rangers all turned and posed as the explosion got bigger.
"A tiger? That's new." Pink said as she turned to Red who said nothing.
-0-0-0-0-
"Another failure. I would say that I hope this never happens again, but I know that's not true." Axis said as he sighed.
"Don't worry boss, the next one will be greater than this one." Zaku said as he bowed.
"Whatever?" Axis said as he pushed the button on his throne.
The giant steel tower appeared once again from the lake. Once it was high above the trees, the red ball lit up and sent a laser towards the city.
"I'll get to working on my secret project." Byxis said as he walked out of the room.
"Secret project?" Zaku asked, confused.
"Yes, I have given permission to Byxis to start working on his secret project. He will have it up and running soon, I hope. Anyway, I'm of once again." With that, Axis left.
"This secret project better work. For all our sakes." Zaku said as he walked over to the bar.
-0-0-0-0-
"So, we still got problems?" Blue asked Red, who was going to answer until the earth began to shake.
"Aww Man." Black said as he almost fell over.
The remains of the monster began to rise as they were engulfed in a red energy. They began to grow and get back together. Soon, the monster revived and was now as tall as the buildings.
"Time for an encore!" The monster yelled as it came back to life.
"Great." Red said as he called upon his zord. The others did the same.
The zords appeared and began to attack immediately. The rangers jumped into their zord cockpits. They prepared everything and let the zords attack.
"Let's go!" Red called out as he made the zord move. The others followed.
"I don't think so!" Stringling said as he used his strings to grab a hold of the Shark and Bull Zords. He pulled out the wood on his back and began to control the zords as if they were puppets.
"What the!" Black called out as he lost control of the zord.
"I didn't get to show you this ability. It comes in oretty handy!" The monster said and then he laughed evilly.
The Shark Zord then attacked the Tiger Zord. The Bull Zord attacked the Cheetah Zord. The Shark Zord managed to attach itself on one of the Tiger Zords legs. The Bull Zord attacked the Cheetah Zord with its horns.
"Stop that!" Blue said trying to regain control of the zord. Stringling just laughed as he enjoyed himself.
"Stop it!" Pink said as she made the Phoenix Zord fly straight towards the monster. She hit the monster directly and ripped the strings apart. The zords were now free.
"Thanks Cynthia!" Black said as he sat back.
"No problem guys." Pink said as she flew by.
"Ok! Activate Megazord!" Red said as he put in the Megazord Beast Battery in his morpher. The zords all came together and formed the Megazord.
"Animal Strike Megazord! Ready!" They all yelled in unison.
"That won't help you!" Stringling said as he rushed towards them. As he came close, the Megazord lifted its hand and stopped the monster. It then clenched it's fist and punched the monster in the face. Stringling walked a few paces back.
"Let's finish him already!" Black yelled out. The Megazord continued punching the monster all over its body. Red pulled out a Beast Battery and inserted it into the console.
"Final Animal Fury Fire Strike!" They all yelled in unison as the robot lifted up its sword and brought it down. The five animal spirits were sent to attack. They hit the monster head on. He lit up on fire as he fell to he began falling backwards.
"There are no strings on me!" Stringling fell backwards and blew up. The Megazord turned around and posed.
"Finally!" Black said as he slid down in his chair.
"Let's go home." Blue said to everyone else.
"I agree. Let's go." Yellow said.
Then, all of a sudden, something was shot at the Megazord. The Megazords electronics began going crazy and everything began sparking. The rangers held onto the wheel of the zords. Unfortunately, the Megazord combination undid itself and the zords were now lying in the ground. The rangers all fell to the ground.
"What the hell was that?!" Black said as he held his arm.
"I don't know!" Blue answered him.
"We need to get out of here!" Red said as he got up.
"We meet again, Red Ranger." Red stopped in his tracks. Under his helmet, his eyes widened. He turned slowly towards the voice that called him. The others also turned to look as they demorphed. They fell to the ground again holding their arms.
"You!" Red said as he finally caught sight of what had called him. He felt anger fill him to the top.
His face was that of a wolf. He had black fur and what looked to he ancient markings in purple. He had an eyepatch over his left eye. He had a scar that went through his right eye. His eyes were red. The rest of his body was full of fur and had a humanoid look to it. He wore a black coat that had many pockets. He had a sniper strapped to his back and a sword held in a holster on his right side. He also had what looked to be a pistol in his left holster. He had grenades strapped on his belt. He also had what looked like a machine gun also strapped to his back.
"I see you remember me." The wolf man said.
"How could I forget a face like yours." Red said angrily.
"The last time I saw you, you stopped my quest for some girls. Isn't that right." The mans voice sounded cold.
"What do you want!" Red yelled at him.
"I want to let you know, that I am going to be the one who kills you. Just know that we will battle and I will win. I will then take those girls by force and then maybe I'll do some other things. I still haven't figured it out yet." The man said, clearly pleased.
"I won't let you!" Red said as he charged towards the man. The man easily moved to the side and tripped Red. He grabbed his arm and twisted it before sending him flying backwards.
"We won't battle yet. We will fight when the time is right." The wolf man said as he began to walk away.
"What's your name!" Mikey said as he stood up. Red looked up as well.
The man looked at them and hesitated before finally saying, "Caste." He then disappeared into the darkness of the trees. The others looked at him as he left and then over at Red. Red got up and held his arm. He then screamed into the air.
-0-0-0-0-
"You guys are back!" Cynthia said as they all caught a glimpse of their masters in the command center. Cynthia and Alicia hugged their masters while Mikey and Anthony gave theirs a handshake.
"Oh! I got a new magic trick!" Delta said as he tried to shuffle his deck before he failed and the cards all fell down to the floor.
"Next time." Trench said as he patted Delta on the back.
"Where's red?" Kai asked.
"He said he was going to his house." Mikey said.
"Well anyways, let's catch up." Speed said happily.
Back in his room, Saul put on medical tape all over his upper arm. He gritted his teeth as he rolled it over where it hurt the most. He put the tape down when he was finished and he spun in his chair. He then opened his drawer and pulled out his black box.
He opened it and was instantly filled with horrible memories. He closed the box and began panting. He put the box away and closed the drawer. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He moved to his bed and turned off the light. He put on his blankets and tried to sleep.
After a while of sleeping, he finally had a good dream. He slept soundly, but somewhere deep in his mind, was the evil memory waiting to visit him again. The next few days were not going to be easy.
——————————————————————————
A/N: There's chapter 3. What do you guys think about Saul's mental state right now? This is really getting interesting and I can't wait to post the next chapter. This is just getting started. Look out for Chapter 3 of Kemonoranger.
Thanks to all of you guys who support the story and I hope I can post the next chapter soon. See you guys next time!