Homecoming (V)

The blowback force had thrown Merrick and Zen-Aku backwards, the former landing against the base of the nearest tree and the Duke Org rolling a short distance further. He came to a stop with his face in the soil, but quickly shook the dirt from his fur and lifted his head; though the thick cloud of dust that had kicked up severely hampered his view. He couldn't see the numerous Wolkeins that previously surrounded them, nor the two Demons that he, Merrick and Savage had fought moments earlier.

Merrick. Savage.

"Savage?" Zen-Aku uttered, pushing himself off the ground, trying to find the fellow Wolf. But he couldn't see the distinctive outline in the dust cloud, nor could he hear the Warrior's words or his ever present snarl.

"Merrick!" he called, crawling towards the tree, the only object he could see within the consuming dust cloud, and felt his way around the base. Ever mindful that the Wolkeins, or worse the Demons, could make a reappearance at any moment. The scent of Demon was more potent than ever, forcing its way up the Duke-Org's nose, rendering it useless if he wanted to get the upper hand on anyone trying to sneak up on him. His ears sat erect as a response, twisting slightly to ensure he was getting the best possible range of hearing, and eyes followed the same pattern; sweeping over what he could see, which wasn't much compared to his hearing range.

He finally felt what might have been an exposed root of the tree, but the slightest of reflexive moment gave away its true identity.

"Zen!" Merrick hissed, quickly transitioning from alarm, to a mix of relief and the slightest edge of pain lingering on his words; that latest launch resulted in an awkward landing on that very ankle. Not a break, but definitely wasn't a passing thing.

"What did Savage do?"

Zen gave another look around, finding the dirt cloud hadn't thinned even in the slightest, his vision hindered just as much as it was minutes earlier. Though he thought he could faintly make out a faint red glow moving about the dirt cloud…but he couldn't say for sure.

He turned back to rely what little information he had to Merrick, but was abruptly, if effectively, cut off when a deafening shockwave rocked them, knocking Zen-Aku head over heels and pressed Merrick back against the tree. The tree itself shook from the force, straining and audibly groaning to maintain its roots, before the slight curve went back on itself to become straight again.

The force winded Merrick, sending him doubling over with an audible strained gasp. At the same time, he heard the sound of rushing wind follow shortly afterwards; he quickly snapped his eyes shut and kept his head ducked, feeling the dirt caught in the wind rush over and around him. His hair quickly grew frazzled and slicked with dirt and dust, with little rocks caught in the winds pelting his ace repeatedly. It may have lasted only seconds before the sudden wind died down, but Merrick waited another few seconds after the feeling of wind had faded; anticipating a follow up shockwave that never came.

By the time he raised his head again, Merrick found that the shockwave had cleared the thick soupy cloud of dust that surrounded them; though a quick look over himself told him he probably took the brunt of it being expelled from the area.

But that thought was quickly pushed aside when he spotted the cause of the shockwave; Savage was up on his feet again, sans mask, and appeared to literally be glowing red with his fury, duelling the hooded Demon-who itself had a faint glow of demented green-in hand-to-hand combat. Even at the distance they were fighting away from them, Merrick could clearly see the shockwaves from each and every landing impact to both fighters.

Though his eyes quickly picked up movement beyond that of the fighting pair; the Wolkeins were gathering themselves back, similarly suffering from the wave as he and Zen-Aku had. And, much like them, they would surely recover sooner or later, and try to go on the attack while Savage was distracted…

Merrick quickly pressed his palms against the rough bark and, with a strained grunt, tried pushing himself up from the tree. But before he could even get part way back onto his feet, a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, forcing him back down against the tree again with another low, pained groan.

"You are too injured to fight; stay here," Zen-Aku's low voice rumbled, adding a careful pat to Merrick's shoulder before rising to his feet.

Merrick caught the briefest of flashes of Zen-Aku's blade back in hand, as Zen-Aku stepped away from the tree as the Wolkeins started to enclose again. But as he moved off, Merrick looked around to the other side; initially trying to size up what sort of numbers they were dealing with, see if the Wolkeins' numbers had grown or decreased since the dirt cloud descended.

But he also saw Savage's blade, embedded in the dirt a short distance away; the Wolkein brute must had thrown it there after the initial beating the Crimson Wolf had suffered.

Looking back to see Zen-Aku was still approaching the fighting pair, Merrick looked back at the curved saber in the dirt. With a final look back to Zen-Aku, shortly followed by a low grunt of strenuous effort, Merrick pushed himself from the tree, and crawled across the ground towards the blade.

Zen-Aku bared down the fighting pair, sharp eyes ever mindful of the grunts' surrounding them. Though in truth, he was more concerned for the she-Demon, who appeared to have mysteriously vanished. Not knowing the full extent of her powers and capability, he figured his best bet was to proceed with caution. As he neared the fight, however, he picked up the growing activity in the air; the Wolkeins were growing restless, or they seemed to notice him drawing nearer.

With a low exhale, Zen-Aku picked up the pace, bringing his curved blade up onto his shoulder again to maintain balance and ready to be on the attack.

"Zen!"

Still keeping the same pace, Zen-Aku partially turned to look over his shoulder.

Merrick had managed to crawl away from the tree, and had wrenched Savage's crimson-tainted blade from the ground. He was on his feet, but only barely.

He still managed to bring Savage's weapon up, and with a shout of effort, threw the weapon through the air; much different to the spears he was used during his early days of training, but desperate times called for him to adjust what he knew.

As the weapon came hurtling towards him, Zen-Aku looked back around, seeing he was closing in on Savage and Death; the two were so engrossed in the fight, neither noticed the Duke Org's rapid approach. But he equally knew that their stalemate couldn't last forever; something had to give.

Though he equally knew that Merrick must have put more effort behind the throw than he realized; it was traveling too high for him to simply run across the ground and grab it, all before he reached the fight. He was also very aware, however, that simply watching the blade sailing through the air was a waste. And he needed to figure out how to make the most of this current predicament.

That was when he spotted a partially-buried boulder off to the side, partially out of the way towards Demon and Savage.

And an idea quickly came to him…

Zen-Aku growled as he suddenly shifted direction, taking a sharp turn and leaping the rest of the short distance. Putting every last bit of power he could muster in the moment, Zen-Aku leapt through the air; the angle of which he held his blade helping him with the intentional spinning mid-jump.

He could almost reach it…just needed to time it just…right…

Almost…

There!

Savage managed to land a blow on Death, though because he managed to raise his arms at the last second, the worst he managed to inflect on the Hand of Horror was sending him back a few steps. He snarled in fury, and almost blinded advanced on the Demon to continue the assault. But at the last second, he caught movement in the top corner of his eye and managed to hold himself back; if only for the moment.

Death recovered and was ready to go on the offensive, his fists aglow with a toxic green energy, before he heard a growl behind him. That other Wolf must have finally decided to try and intervene. Only…something sounded off by the sound of that growl.

He turned around to see what he was dealing with this time, thinking he was ready to block whatever this fool of a Warrior w-

The strikes came one after the other, a slash of black/purple followed up by one of crimson. He staggered back, clutching the fresh wounds that sliced through his cloak and struck him to the bones that lay beneath; light smoke smouldered from the edge of his now shredded cloth.

Zen-Aku quickly rose up from his kneeling position, the crimson blade held out horizontally in front of him, defensively, while his personal blade was brought up to rest against his shoulder pads. His scowl passed through his mask with an accompanying growl, fingers tightening around the handles on both weapons.

Savage quickly circled back around the recovering Demon, ever mindful that he could lash out in desperation at any given time, and quickly stood by Zen-Aku's side once again. The two briefly exchanged a silent look, Zen-Aku even offering Savage's blade back to him. And though his eyes did briefly rest on the presented weapon, one so dear to him, Savage declined with a quick shake of his head; raising his hand slowly, reforming the fist once again. The red glow of his markings grew in intensity once more, lighting up one half of him with renewed fury.

Zen-Aku readjusted his hold shortly after, turning back to face the Demon. "This time, we'll take him together," Zen-Aku stated, throwing a side look at Savage; the two exchanging a brief nod of understanding, before shifting back into a fighting stance. Savage's fists raised and Zen-Aku brought the second blade off of his shoulder, holding the weapons across each other.

Death looked between the pair slowly, slowly unclenching his fist from his latest injures, and let both hands drop to his side; the green glow never once leaving his hands.

"You will fall, regardless of your numbers," Death spat, green energy swirling around him as the Wolkeins closed in; forming a small circular barrier of grunts, some trying to lash out at the enclosed Wolves.

The pair looked all around them, each sweeping over the semi-circle of Wolkeins that flanked them on all sides. They must have been facing an Armies' worth of foot soldiers, all backing up one of the Hands of Horror. But it seemed as though the full attention of the Demons were on the pair of them; and thankfully, no on the injured Merrick.

"Where's the Witch?" Savage questioned, his voice low as he glanced out of the corner of his eye; Naku was barely reaching his peripheral vision, but he knew the fellow Warrior was still there.

"I don't know," Zen-Aku uttered in response, sharp eyes sweeping over the rows and rows of Wolkeins; vainly hopeful he would spot the unique outline the she-Demon possessed. Failing that, he was sure he could sense her dark aura in the air.

But nothing. She wasn't here.

"That's what concerns me."

\/\/\/

Batibat staggered forward, the final wisps of her subtle portal trailing after her like extensions of her shadow-cloak. Her breathing was ragged, her hair thoroughly frazzled as she came to a stop, leaning against the first thing she came across for support; a 'STOP' sign, as it turned out.

"Th..that's…i…impo…" Batibat said aloud, yet in a very hushed tone at the same time; as if speaking a fraction too loudly would draw unwanted attention. Though if the fear was being overheard by someone on the street, then it was a completely unnecessary fear. The street was completely abandoned, not a single sound to be heard. The humans were long gone since the Warriors established themselves fully. Not even the presence of urban animals-foxes, pigeons, even rats-was felt.

Batibat was, for the moment, alone. Nothing, but her and her thoughts.

'We underestimated the Survivor….'

Batibat blinked, her head jerking back in surprise at that thought entering her mind. It was a thought she never believed would ever her mind; let alone concerning that of the mongrels. But she had also seen, first hand, the power behind Death's sword and just how much punishment it could withstand. Though in those previous times, Death's sword had remained intact and struck down all who opposed their Master.

And yet, she had witnessed the blade shatter instantly; upon contact, with that Wolf's glowing fist.

Slowly, her fingers uncurled from the death grip she had on the sign's pole, revealing the metal to be warped and permanently imprinted with the shape of her inner fist.

"This is not good…not good at all…" Batibat uttered to herself, one of her hands coming up the side of her face, lightly clawing at the a few strands of hair. The paleness of her skin making the angry red marks caused by her nails stand out all the more.

"The Master will have our heads for sure…"

That thought alone sent a small shiver down her spine, dreading the wrath He could bring upon his Hands. The threat he had made still rung heavy on her ears; and Batibat knew her Master would follow through with his words.

'I expect this matter to be dealt with, quickly. But failure will be met with, accordingly…'

There was that feeling again; that ball of extreme cold chilling her stomach and reaching out to the very tip of her fingers. The very same sensation that rocked her, as if she was staring at her Master after she had made a grave, terrible mistake.

Fear.

'Why must that traitor's name be so prevalent with this feeling?' Batibat spat mentally, trying to shake the unpleasant thought from her head.

But strangely, even after the train of thought had come to an end, she found the shaking continued and grew in intensity. One particularly severe shake nearly sent Batibat tumbling onto her hands and knees; though she was able to recover in time, she was still surprised by the severity.

"What in the name of Oktrix…?" Batibat uttered, looking around quickly, hands cautiously outstretched and fingers flexing.

That was when she noticed; in the distant, one of the few taller standing buildings crumbled out of view; quickly becoming engulfed by a cloud of dust. And was quickly followed up by a bellowing roar that shook the very earth beneath them; Batibat looked up, spotting the top of the few tall buildings standing swaying back and forth.

Determined to get a better look, Batibat quickly about turned and snapped her fingers, slipping through a portal that vanished as soon as it appeared.

Another portal materialized atop one of the few still standing buildings, and Batibat stepped onto the roof, gaze sweeping over the horizon from her new vantage point. And with the sight she was greeting with, her eyes widened a little, though a slight smirk tugged at one corner of her lips. "What have we here then?" she asked herself, slowly approaching the edge of the building.

The thoughts of the current battle as distant in her mind as it was to here, as she bore witness to the latest Demon, duking it out with the Warrior's Megazord.

\/\/\/

The latest blow to the head of the Megazord sent the teens inside staggering backwards, the only think keeping them from falling over completely being the controls. There were already a number of hanging wires and sparking cables hanging from the ceiling, and some whipping loosely across the ground mere feet away from where they stood. One of the Megazords' eyes were cracked, giving Tanya and Kyle a fractured look at the tusked-Demon.

"I thought this fucker was hard to put down when we were going mano a mano!" Kyle exclaimed, rolling his head from one shoulder to the other as he retook his fighting stance.

"Five on one is hardly man to man," Tanya remarked, her fists raised alongside the others, the Megazord mirroring its controllers' movements. The White Omega fists of the Megazord came into view of the cockpit glass, the metal severely scuffed and dented from the numerous punches that they had littered the Demon with, yet the Demon bore little to no evidence of the powerful attacks.

"And that's hardly a human, let alone a dude," Tyler threw in, giving a side look across at the comments from the pair.

"Guys," Isaac said sharply, looking over his shoulder at the others; a glare under his helmet not visible to the others, but he'd hope they knew the look from his tone alone. "Let's save the specifics for later; right now, this guy's getting ready for another attack!"

"Heads up!" Natalie exclaimed, initiating the Megazord's latest movement, raising her arms and crossing them above her head. The others turned their attention back around, and barely managed to copy Natalie's movement in time.

The Demon's fists came down on the raised forearms of the Megazord, warping the metal plates from the shocking impact. Some smaller panels even coming apart from the main build and showered the ground between the battling titans. The teens grit their teeth, feeling the initial impact briefly compressing their backs into a slight curve, but refused to give any further ground.

"Any plans? Anyone?" Tyler grunted, his fists clenching and unclenching rapidly as his feet shuffling for better purchase. "No rush, feel free to jump in any time you like!"

"Kyle!" Tanya snapped, twisting her head around to catch the straining Black Warrior out of the corner of her visor. "You still got that crystal MUTT gave you?"

Kyle looked down when Tanya spoke directly to him, before his shoulders visibly sagged and a small utterance of "Shit" came his wave.

"Get this guy off us and I'll break him out."

"Took your sweet-ass time," Isaac uttered through grit teeth, before quickly tensing up and began pressing up against the Demon's still-pressing attack.

The others started to follow suite, putting more power behind their escape. Slowly, despite the decorative metal plates' protests as they continued warp, more and more space started to appear between the Demon's lava-crusted fists and the Megazord's head. And even as the Demon realized this, bellowed in anger and tried bringing down even more force, the teens, and subsequently the Megazord, refused to give it back the ground.

Finally, the five gave a last push upward and managed to send the Demon staggering back a few steps; not a lot, but enough for them to work with.

Kyle reached back and produced the frosty crystal orb, looking it over briefly; as if somehow expecting it to change in the time between receiving the crystal and now. Giving a quick shake of the head, Kyle looked back at the Demon and saw it was quickly recovering. Their time was quickly running out.

"Alright MUTT, let's see what you've got," he uttered, rolling the crystal around his fingers before bringing them in to a fist, letting the orb come to rest in the centre of his palm. He quickly swung his arm around and brought the hand down onto the console before him, the fingers opening up at the last second to allow the crystal to slot into place.

A bright white light initially radiated from the orb as Kyle removed his hand, but a light blue pulse started beating rhythmically from one side of the orb to the other.

"Wolf Zord, arise!" Kyle commanded, hand resting over the glowing crystal.

A few seconds of silence followed Kyle's barking order, as the other teens waited in anticipation. Thankfully, before the silence grew too long and shifted to an awkward wait, they picked up a response.

Though it was distant and reverberated off any object that got in its way, the unmistakeable sound of a howl rang out across the open plains beyond the city.

"Another one?" Batibat questioned, looking in the direction of the howls' origin. Her glare hardened when she confirmed it wasn't just a specifically-accurate gust of wind. "Just how many more survived?"

\/\/\/

"Uh, sir?" a technician turned around in his chair, looking over to where E was being shown some minute upgrades the scientists were working on in the Silver suit; the relative downtime gave them ample time to fine tune some of the lingering issues. Fairweather had been helping, though when the techie turned to call for E, she was nowhere to be found.

"We've got something on the radar I think you should see."

E looked up, half-raising his hand to pause the current conversation. Seeing the techie trying to gain his attention, E abruptly cut off any attempt to continue the conversation as he approached the tech. The scientist he had been in the middle of talking to hastily resuming his work, going through the stack of papers in hand, entire block of writing only just broken up by diagrams and graphs.

"What've you got for me?" E asked with a low exhale, looking over the techie's shoulder, resting a hand on the back of the chair. His other hand came down on the desk, effectively cornering the techie to his chair on all sides.

The tech glanced at E at the corner of his eye, quickly regretting calling E over; the guy just radiated this…uncomforting feeling. The kind that would've made him squirm, had he not been directly beneath E's watchful glare.

Instead, he focused on the very reason he was in this unfortunate position, and gestured to the monitor sitting in front of him.

"Something entered the Pax Valley territories a short while ago," he explained, finger resting on the monitor, currently showing a map of Pax Valley and the surrounding areas. Specifically, his finger was tracking a small dot rapidly moving across the screen. "Sources seem to suggest that it's a Zord, though it's not one of our records of their known ones."

"So, they've got a new toy to play with…" E commented under his breath, briefly glancing up to the right-hand corner of the monitor, showing a series of satellite images slowly feeding through. Even at the speed they were circling around the Earth, the pictures of the supposed Zord resembled some abstract painting than the high quality picture he expected from such an expensive piece of hardware.

"Do we deploy?"

"And what are the grunts going to do against a Megazord?" E asked, gesturing to the monitor while throwing a glare down at the tech; he could feel the man's presence close in around him further, closing in if that were possible, as if to intimidate him for making such a suggestion.

"And don't even bring up the Zords in our arsenal," E started again, interrupting the techie before he even had a chance to speak; only partially managing to open his mouth and raise his hand partway. He swiftly lowered his hand and brought his mouth close again, as E continued, "We're still working on repairs, and I'm not even considering taking them out and damaging them further."

"…But what about the troops we already have in Pax?" the techie dared to ask after a few seconds, after E had stepped away, releasing the tight grasp he had around him. But he quickly held his breath when the latest words left him, mentally berating himself from bringing E back; he should have waited a while, let one of the newer techies make that mistake and incur E's anger.

He heard the razor-sharp inhale come from the man behind him, but thankfully, E didn't seem to want anything more to do with him; he never approached him again, but the techie knew he was still close by.

"Bring them back in; try to avoid giving them routes that get them too close to the fight," E ordered, speaking a bit louder to gain the attention of the surrounding technicians and scientists.

"The moment that they are back here, we'll be one step closer to bringing an end to these Power Rangers. Until then…make the preparations."

\/\/\/

The Demon threw another punch straight at the Megazord, sending shards of glass from the eye pieces flying and catching the sunlight as the Megazord staggered backwards. It bellowed out a roar of anger, not relenting on its attacks as it delivered another series of blows and strikes

The teens inside were rocked about, sparks showering over some while others narrowing avoided getting hit by falling debris. They made attempts to block the incoming blows, but only managed to dull them slightly; still feeling the full brunt of each blow across their entire bodies.

"Y'know, that Zord of yours would be appreciated any time now!" Tyler called out, as the five worked together to throw off the latest attack, giving them momentarily breathing room before the attacks inevitable continued.

"It's on the way, K?" Kyle snapped in response, bringing the Megazords' fists up defensively. Just int ime too, as another punch came barrelling in. They managed to block it in time, crossing the Megazord's arms across its chest, but the sheer force sent them staggering back further, stepping right through the remains of a pair of houses; the rubble collapsing beneath and around the Megazord's feet.

"It's just…taking its time."

"I'll say," Tanya remarked under her breath, managing to regain the Megazord's footing and firmly plant themselves.

The titans both took a breather, letting the battle hold for a moment as the Warriors gathered themselves; the Demon gathering itself from the relentless attacks, and the five Warriors taking the moment to gather themselves, planning their next move.

"You sure MUTT actually gave you a crystal linked to a Zord, and not a dud?" Isaac questioned, looking over his shoulder in the moment of peace; that would surely soon be shattered.

"You heard the howling? It's on the way," Kyle retorted sharply, almost coming across as a bark through the voice filter.

"Guys! Look out!"

Tanya's shout interrupted any further squabbling, and brought all eyes forward to find that the Demon had spelt less time recovering than they had anticipated. And was currently charging them, the ground shaking with every thundering footstep. They wouldn't have enough time to block the incoming blow, nor were they sure how much more punishment the Megazord could take. They hadn't put it through a beating like this since their encounter with Fear.

But as the Demon brought its hand up and back to throw the latest punch, and the teens tried to bring up a defensive, a white streak shot between the Megazord and the Demon. Whatever the streak was, it seemed to grab a hold of the Demon's then outstretched forearm and brought it to the ground, interrupting it mid-roar.

As the Demon went down, the streak continued onward, revealing that one of the Demon's forearms was smouldering. But not from its internal body temperature; instead, the forearm and meaty fist were encased in a block of ice, doubling up as fusing it to the ground. Giving them precious seconds they otherwise wouldn't have had.

"Huh, better late than never," Tyler responded, turning the Megazord to face where the new arrival had finally come to rest.

Front paws perched atop a pair of low, crumbling buildings, stood a Wolf Zord; similar in size to the pair of Black Delta and Yellow Gamma Zords , placing it in the middle on the scale of the Zords. Predominantly a blindly-bright white, the colour scheme was broken up by the metallic joints at its elbows and ankles. Streaks of bright blue ran down either side of the Zord, as well as over the back, coming to a point over its forehead. Sharp blue eyes watched the Megazord intently, head the slightest bit tilted; as if waiting for something.

"We gonna bring him on board to take this guy on?" Isaac questioning, looking back at Kyle, "'Cause I don't think that ice is gonna hold that guy forever."

"Rightrightright," Kyle quickly said, one hand already working on the console the crystal had recently been plugged into.

As he worked on that, Isaac's point was proven correct; the Demon finally recovering and, with a bellow of rage, shattered the ice prison encasing his hand, sending large chunks hurtling through the air in all directions.

"Wolf Zord, combine!" Kyle called out, hand clenching into a fist over the crystal; the other hand raising up level with his visor, and similarly screwing up into a fist.

The Zord's eyes lit up in a chilly blaze, and threw its head back. A chilling howl came shortly afterwards, traveling for miles in all directions, before it leapt into the air.

~Megazord Transformation~

The Black Delta Zord's eyes flashed momentarily before disconnecting from the main Megazord, leaving the connecting point from the Red Alpha Zord exposed.

The new Wolf Zord ran towards the Megazord, its eyes flashing before the entire body went rigid. The white tail disconnected and flew up, its body rotating and folding upward at the same time; eventually resulting in what was the chest locking into place above the forehead, forming the shape of the leg and revealing the underside design. The bright blue being much more predominant underneath, spread out in jagged symmetrical pattern.

Its back legs folded up against the hips, while the front legs folding in on themselves, the claws coming to rest in line with the chin, acting as the foot, giving extra support. Slowly, it manoeuvred into position, taking the place of the Black Delta, locking into place with a faint hiss and a pulse of bright blue light from the connection point.

Finally, the tail came to a stop in front of the Megazord's head, folding inward to form a V-shaped, white visor as it slotted into place over the Megazord's eyes.

The completely Megazord looked aside, the sunlight catching the new visor just right and reflecting off. Raising the newly attached leg with a bend at the knee, it moved back into a fighting stance that led with the new Zord.

"Wolf Pack Megazord, Winter's Howl formation!"

~Megazord formation ends~

The Megazord's arms crossed over its chest, before slowly returning back down to either side.

"Really?" Tyler questioned, giving a side look across at Kyle.

Kyle saw the look, and after a quick double take to check that they did indeed have time to argue-the Demon seemed to still be recovering from the blinding white light the Megazord produced during its transformation-before replying. "What?!"

"'Winter's Howl'?" Tanya interjected, giving her own questioning look over the chosen name.

"Guys," Natalie called, stressing the call out to her friends. "Let's focus on the more pressing matter at hand; you know, the massive freaking Demon bearing down on us."

"Nat's right," Isaac agreed, bring the others facing forward and into position, fists raised once more. "We can bitch about the name of this combo later. Right now, we've got a Demon to take care of."

"That wasn't what I meant…" Natalie whispered to herself, but this went unheard by the others as they put the previous conversation behind them, and slipped into position.

The Demon had recovered from the blinding light, and was now back on the offensive; bellowing out an intimidating roar, banging its chest as it stared down the newly fitted Megazord. But if there was any hesitation to be had with any of the teens, neither they nor the Megazord let it show; this only serving to further fuel the rage boiling inside the Demon.

"Let's show him what this bad boy can do," Kyle remarked, as the Megazord suddenly charged forward in sync with the Demon's surge towards them, fists on both sides raised and ready to begin the second round.

\/\/\/

Punch. Punch.

Slice!

Punch. Punch-punch-punch!

Slice-slice!

Death backed up, the unrelenting onslaught of attacks from the two Wolves starting to overwhelm him, much to his fury. He couldn't even get a retaliating attack after an attack before being interrupted by a sword strike from the other. Even as the Wolkeins piled in to try and wear them down, the bodies started to pile up, all in various states of dismemberment. Whatever second wind had come to the Warriors, it had clearly given them an energy boost.

Though right now, another thought was at the forefront of Death's mind.

'Where is that witch?!'

He'd lost track of Batibat since the crimson-armoured Wolf had drawn the powers of his God. Death had only partially expected her to leave him to do the dirty work for the pair of them, and especially after the claim that it would be the pair of them that would take care of this matter…

Not that this was entirely out of her character, though.

Another particularly forceful slash of a sword struck his chest, sending the Demon staggering backwards. His hand came up to clutch his chest, his cloak in utter ruin and shredded; exposing the minimal armour plating and exposed bones that lay hidden beneath. The latter of which gave off the same menacing green glow as was around his fists. But Death could feel it, every blow and every strike, against his bones.

He snarled in anger as the last of the Wolkeins that had accompanied him and Batibat fall, its head sent sailing off a short distance away. This couldn't be happening!

"You cannot defeat a Hand of the Master!" he roared, drawing what power he had left for his attacks; his core draining of the green glow, while his fists started to shine that much more intensely.

Zen-Aku and Savage quickly stepped up, the former flicking off the Wolkein blood from his two blades as the latter brought his still-ablaze fist up.

The ground around them were ablaze with green fire as the Wolkeins descended through the ground; when the last body disappeared, and the last limb slipped beneath the blood-stained grass, the clearing was almost empty once more. Save for the Demon Hand, Wolves and singular human that had watched the whole destruction of the foot soldiers, having made his way to a safe spot.

"Your confidence is severely misplaced," Savage remarked dryly, flashing his fangs as his raised his fist up. The glow started to grow brighter, slowly building up in power. He turned to look across at Zen-Aku, the two Wolves sharing a quick look.

"We do this for those we lost."

"Agreed."

Zen-Aku drew both curved blades up, forearms crossing over his chest and the blades extending further up. The length meant they reached far past his Org horn, even after the two sections either end of both blades brought the actual length of the weapons down slightly. The sharp edges of both started to glow a power-laced yellow.

"Double Crescent Wave!"

Bringing both arms down simultaneously, the resulting slashes of swords formed a glowing yellow 'X' through the air, heading straight towards Death.

The Demon made attempts to block the incoming attacks, going so far as to bring both his fists together, attempting to form a shield that could withstand the powerful bombardment. But this didn't go unnoticed by either Wolf, and even as the duel energy wave was hurtling through the air, Savage stepped forward.

"This is for all those who suffered at your hand…" he snarled under his breath, his fists a blinding blaze of red light as he drew it back. The markings all the way up his arm started to shine brighter, rapidly building up and practically highlighting his entire arm as he twisted his fist.

He threw the punch, the built up energy finally releasing; sent hurtling through the air, torching the ground beneath its path. Its speed nearly allowed it to catch up with Zen-Aku's wave attack, lingering just behind as they bared down on Death; what almost sounded like a howl coming from the pair of attacks, Savage's in particular vaguely taking the shape of a Wolf's open jaw.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Death shouted, his last-minute shield already beginning to crack and splinter as the attacks reached him.

The Crescent Wave attacks struck first, utterly destroying what defences he could summon, and stunning him long enough for the follow up attack to strike when he was vulnerable. Death shouted out, defiant to the last second; even as the red-energy Wolf head opened up and snapped its jaw around the Demon.

An explosion rocked the earth, a shockwave blasting the surrounding area; making the cloth elements of Savage and Zen-Aku's armour billow and flutter. Even as they turned their backs on the fireball in the distance, their fur felt the powerful breeze and the intense heat of the fireball even at the distance they were from it.

"Huh…So that's what it looks like…" Merrick uttered under his breath, managing to gather himself enough to get back on his feet, albeit with a noticeable limp, and tried to approach the two Wolves.

Zen-Aku noticed Merrick trying to make his way over, and after handing back Savage's weapon, quickly made his own way towards his companion. "How are your wounds?" he asked, bringing Merrick's arm over his shoulder to take the weight off his feet.

"Nothing that won't heal," Merrick replied, flicking some hair out of his face, though found that some was stuck to his forehead from a small cut, only by a bit of blood. He lifted his eyes from inspecting the other superficial injuries as Savage approached, the one side of his body blazing red noticeably absent. "What was that? I haven't see something with that kind of power since Cole's Animarium Armor," he questioned.

"The Power of a God, that only a few could be allowed to possess," Savage answered, looking down at his hand, slowly flexing it in and out of the shape of a fist as the last lingering bits of energy left. "A gift from Zeta, much like how, if I were to guess, this…Animarium Armour was likely given by Animus."

Merrick looked over Savage as the Wolf examined his own hand, his own breathing rate finally starting to come under control; now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off, he could start to feel the throbbing pain across his body, focusing on the injures he could see and some where he didn't think he had injures. But now, there was an equally pressing matter on his mind.

"Animus never made any mention of this…Zeta…"

"Not surprising," Savage responded under his breath, briefly looking across at Zen-Aku before quickly averting his gaze, ears folding back.

"C'mon…" he eventually said, moving to Merrick's other side and putting the human's other arm around his shoulders. He gestured away from the battlefield. "MUTT will see to those injures."

"Who is this MUTT?" Zen-Aku questioned, even as he began to walk in time with Savage, helping Merrick limp along.

"You'll see…"

They soon left the scorched and scarred field, the ground still smouldering from the final attack by the pair of Warriors. That particular spot of earth was burnt to a crisp, ash landing in the large circle; so one wouldn't expect anything to survive being within that area, especially if they were present during the attack that led to the aftermath.

Yet, a bony hand slowly reached up from the ashes, clawing into the untouched grass beyond the impact point. It strained and shook, pulling the rest of the body out into view. Death couldn't remember the last time he had taken such a deep breath, falling onto his back after he had pulled himself entirely free; his cloak in even worse state than before, barely held together by a few strings holding the whole thing together. His hood was still in good enough condition to still conceal his entire head; though even that wasn't saying much.

He was vaguely aware of the sound of a portal tearing open and sealing shut, and the next thing he knew, a figure was standing over him, looking at his bruised and beaten body.

"Well, this was a complete and utter disaster," Batibat commented, as she slowly crouched down beside Death's body, eventually coming to fall back into sitting not that far from her fellow Hand. She brushed a hand through her hair, pausing halfway to let a heavy breath leave her. "That was not the result we wanted…"

"Nor will it be…the result the Master wants…to hear," Death wheezed, the slightest movement of his smouldering bones indicating there was, at least, some 'life' left with the Demon. The skull in particular turning upwards, catching Batibat's eye as Death's voice rang out again, "But He will…know of your…absence…and see you will pay for this failure."

Batibat's eyes narrowed at this claim, knowing that Death would keep his word to rat her out to the Master; sure, she could have returned sooner rather than later, but the Warriors and the Demon were putting on such a good fight. She could hardly leave prior to seeing a few good exchanges.

"We shall see."

\/\/\/

The Megazord landed another blow across the Demon's face, a bright blue shockwave forming from the impact, and quickly drew back as the Demon stumbled a few steps opposite; bellowing out a roar in fury, several spots across its body, roughly in the shapes of the Megazord's fists, smouldering profusely.

"How much more than this guy take?!" Tyler exclaimed, pulling his fists back to his chest after the latest punch. The new visor made by the newest Megazord formation give them an improved view of the Demon they faced, almost like a thermal vision. The Demon was painted almost entirely in white, with only a few points even a slightest cooler red; all parts where the Megazord had punched at one point at another.

"I'm more concerned with how much more we can take!" Natalie called, pulling her fists close in a similar fashion, albeit a sluggishly. "How about we see what kind of damage this Zord can do?"

"As good a time as any to practice kicks," Kyle commented, quickly tensing up again, as he and the others felt the ground shaking beneath them. Their eyes turned back through the Megazord's visor, confirming that the Demon had picked up its second wind, and was charging right towards them again.

"Now!" Isaac shouted, the five quickly reacting and raised one of their legs forward, bodies twisting and bending slightly to compensate for the sudden angle of the kick. As one, they kicked forward.

The Megazord quickly mirrored their movements, the leg formed of the new Wolf Zord raising up and bending at the knee. The body turned slightly, allowing the leg to come up just enough to draw as much power for the resulting kick.

Amazingly, their timing was nearly perfect; the Demon was nearly on them when the Megazord finally delivered the kick, thrusting the Wolf head straight into the Demon's abdomen. The Demon's roar was abruptly cut off when the blow landed, globs of saliva being forced from its still-open jaw and spraying across Megazord's face. The momentum it carried from running was quickly reversed, sending it flying backwards onto its back, slamming into the ground with enough force to cause any nearby still-standing buildings to crumble.

Though the Megazord staggered back to recover from the kick, it remained upright; the teens landing heavy on their feet, knees almost giving out as they retook the fighting stance.

"Get him while he's down!" Kyle shouted, quickly running on the spot, the treadmill-like tracks running beneath all five of the Warriors control points working in overtime at the sudden movement. Especially after the others followed suite, a faint whirling forming in the background.

The Demon had barely recovered, only managing to get back up onto one knee, before the Megazord was on it again. It delivered a bone-shattering kick to the Demon's head, throwing it back to the ground a short distance away; creating a large crater in the ground. It landed on its back, revealing the damage dealt by the one kick alone; a large patch across the Demon's face was smouldering, any signs of unnatural heat extinguished. But when it came to the Demon's newly fuelled fury, all they seemed to do was stoke the blaze.

It lunged forward all of a sudden, tusked head forcing itself against the Megazord's torso, arms wrapping around in a bear hug. It bellowed out a roar of pure rage and anger, and with a combined effort of catching the Megazord off guard and its sudden speed, started pushing back ground.

The teens all doubled over at the sudden tackle, doubling over in the initial shock and attempted to gather themselves while trying to get a foothold against the Demon's shoving. Once they managed to get themselves together again, they quickly set to try and free themselves from the death grip. First, elbows repeatedly came down on the Demon's charred back, cracking the hardened shell and sending large chunks tumbling onto the ground either side of the short trail.

When that failed to do much damage, Isaac led the new tactic; digging one heel back, the others following suite and the Megazord copying shortly after. The other knee was quickly brought up, the teens giving out various grunts and shouts of effort as they drove the White Wolf knee into the Demon's gut. Over and over again, even as they were forced back by the Demon, the Megazord's knee was thrusted up, and each time, the Demon staggered that bit more only to get right back up again and continuing to press on.

Finally, after further damage was done to both sides and their surroundings, the Megazord's hands grabbed the Demon's side, fingers sinking into the crusty skin, before driving a particularly forceful knee to the gut. The Demon finally lost the built up momentum, dropping to one knee in exhaustion. This gave the Megazord the opportunity the teens had hoped for; spinning on the spot, the Demon firmly locked by their grip. Their grunts and shouts growing as the spinning started to grow faster, the momentum lifting the Demon off the ground entirely; knocking down any remaining buildings that had yet to fall that got in the Demon's way.

Finally, Isaac shouted, "NOW!"

At once, the teens all released their grip, the Megazord copying moments later. The built up momentum from the spinning sent the Demon sailing through the air as a result, traveling to the opposite end of the battlefield they'd inadvertently carved out. As the Demon came crashing down, sending severe shockwaves through the ground, the teens took the brief opportunity to catch their breath.

"We gotta end this soon; can't let this continue much longer," Natalie panted, relying on the cable supports to keep her upright as she noticeably started to sway side to side. A shake of her head helped slightly, but she could still feel the daze fogging the edge of her vison.

The others all picked up on this as they all looked around to hear her words; Tyler in particular watching Natalie for a few seconds longer than the rest, before he similarly turned forward again. Suddenly, an idea sparked in his head.

"Follow my lead!" he called, drawing his fists in close to his chest while adjusting his footing; there was nothing wrong with a bit of showing off, while getting the job done. He was sure some of the others-he definitely knew Kyle was one-but push those thoughts to the back of his mind as they fell into similar stances. A silence fell over the cockpit momentarily as the echoes of metal groaning shook all the way up and down the Megazord: the brutality of this fight wasn't just taking its toll on the Warriors.

But Tyler persisted, going through with his move when he noticed the Demon getting back to its feet; surely even meathead Demons like this one knew when to quit.

'Doesn't seem that way,' Tyler thought as the Demon finally stood up, shaking the daze from its thick skull. But this time, they were going to be the ones catching the Demon off-guard. With a grunt, he and the others turned on the spot, bringing one leg up and kicking out; twisting their bodies with the kick, giving them a much wider sweep.

The Megazord was quick to copy their combined movement, raising the White Wolf leg up and giving a powerful, swinging kick. A growl came from the foot piece, its eyes flashing as power surged throughout the leg. A wave of bright white stemmed from the sole, shooting through the air and growing wider as it bared down on the Demon. To the teens, they saw a sweeping curve of shockingly deep blue on the thermal visor, thundering towards the bright-white outline of the Demon.

"How did you know it could do that?" Kyle asked.

"I didn't," Tyler remarked, as the two opposing forces of temperature collided, forming a jumbled mess on their readings.

The Demon had been preparing itself for its signature attack, just about shifting its legs and chest in position when the chilling wave struck him. The roar that came forth when the sudden chill enveloped him was an odd one; halfway between a rage-filled bellow, only to be cut off and shrivel into a gargling screech as the cold spread out and encased it. Its eyes were wide as the steam swarmed around, consuming both it and the close surroundings. The crusted-over skin cracked and fractured further at the sudden drop in temperature, sinking in through the gaps and electing more forceful bursts of steam as it made direct contact with the higher temperatures.

"He ain't going stay like that forever," Isaac commented, witnessing the wave of ice nearly fully consume the Demon, its feet firmly locked in place with a fusion between the growing ice outer shell and the upturned ground. He shifted into a final fighting stance, the others falling into place shortly afterwards. "Let's bring this bastard down."

"'Bout time."

"Hell yeah."

As one, the five brought their hand up and drew the mock-sword out; the Megazord mimicking their movements, only drawing the full-sized Wolf Tail Blade out and holding it up, as though it were examining the sharpened edge of the blade. The teens picked up the noticeable blue tint to the previously black blade…But they brushed that aside as they focused the blade on the Demon, the sharpened tip pointed directly at its half-frozen form.

"Call it Kyle."

Kyle smirked beneath his helmet, glancing to the back of Isaac's helmet before swiftly bringing his eyes back to focus on the Demon. He was definitely taking advantage of this rare opportunity.

"Wolf Pack…" he started, slowly drawing a large circle in front of him with the sword, the others quickly picking up and copying the movement. The Megazord mirrored the Warriors, though a physical circle was formed by the very tip of the weapon; briefly flashing white upon completion.

"Winter's Fury!" Kyle was sure he was beginning to hear a few audible eye rolls as he twisted his blade, everyone else following his movements.

"Blizzard Strike!" Together, the five slashed the sword diagonally down, cutting right through the circle 'drawn' in front of them.

The Megazord similarly struck downwards, the Blade cutting directly through the physical circle in front of it, drawing an additional diagonal line and sending the attack surging towards the frozen Demon, even as it tried to free itself. It only managed to let out the starts of a final roar before the attack landed and the ice, along with the Demon itself, shattered and were thrown into every direction at once. It showered across what remained standing of Pax Valley, some chunks dealing yet more damage.

"Hell yeah! Woo!" Kyle shouted, breaking free for a moment to throw his hand up in victory. Though when he looked at the others, he quickly brought it back down when he realized they were all looking his way. "What?"

"'Blizzard Strike'?" Tanya asked.

"What's next? We get a cannon and you call it 'Widowmaker One-Shot?" Tyler added.

"Man, screw you guys."

TO BE CONTINUED

Alright, next chapter's the last part of this 'episode', I swear.

-Nf991 signing out.