Homecoming (VI)
"Can you guys just drop it already?" Kyle asked, walking through the corridor of the Den leading to the main chamber, helmet held under his arm. "It sounded cool at the time, K?"
"Nononono, wait, I got another one!" Tyler continued, grinning like a maniac as he pointed his free hand at Kyle; the other carrying his helmet upside down. "Pair of Zords that form dagger arms, he'll call them 'Diablo Daggers'!" he claimed before breaking into a short laugh, earning a smirk from Tanya and a small tug of Natalie's lips. The two walked just behind the bickering pair in front of them, while Isaac led by the front. Eventually, they all came to a stop before the door leading into the chamber, the others hanging back and, in Kyle and Tyler's case, continue to argue back and forth as Isaac typed in the code.
"Can you two just shut up for longer than five seconds?" he called back, looking over his shoulder after a particularly sudden laugh made him mistype the passcode. Silence quickly followed, just as fast as the smirk faded from Tyler's face, when Isaac added a look over his shoulder to his words. "That fight gave all of us a headache, and you two bitching about some Zord name isn't helping matters!"
"K man, jeez," Tyler replied, folding his arms across his chest as he rested his shoulder against the nearest wall. Kyle remained silent, though seemed grateful that the verbal teasing had come to an end.
As Isaac turned back around to attempt the password again, Tanya stepped through the now existing gap between the previously arguing pair, and slipped up to Isaac's side; carefully, she slipped her free hand around his helmet-held under his arm-and managed to delicately pry it free of his grip. She offered a small smile when he looked across at her, now holding both helmets. "What say we find a way to…relieve that stress?" she asked, her voice hushed as her smirk taking a slight sultry look, adding a wink for emphasise. "You? Me?"
"So long as it's just us," Isaac replied, equally quietly, as he shot his own wink over to Tanya; she caught the slight smirk, and it only caused hers to grow that much more.
She brushed her shoulder against his own, taking a step closer to bump his hip with hers. "I think we can manage with that," she whispered with a grin.
Isaac gave another wink back as he finally typed the full code in correctly, the door sliding open. The five filed in, one after the other, tossing helmets aside or setting them down with a bit more care.
"Yo, Savage, we-!" Kyle begun, only to abruptly fall silent and grew still, just as the others began to spread out. They all looked back to Kyle, all with various forms of confused look, before turning to see what had caused the sudden silence. Immediately taking sharp intakes of breath and finding their bodies become suddenly stiff.
"So…you're the Wolves of Pax Valley?" Merrick questioned, slowly sliding off the edge of the table and standing, his shirt and jacket thrown over one of the nearby consoles to show the freshly applied bandages across his abdomen. A few cuts across his face were noticeable, freshly cleaned to leave the deeper nicks in the skin.
MUTT, having been previously washing the blood from his mechanical hands, turned around to find the teens in a standoff with the lone Merrick. Acting quickly as to avoid any fight breaking out, MUTT abruptly stepped between the two groups, gently pressing a hand to ease Merrick back to sitting down as he faced the group.
"There is no need to be alarmed," MUTT assured, his other hand raised to the teens. He then called, "Savage, the Warriors are back!" over his shoulder.
"Who the hell's this guy MUTT?" Isaac asked stiffly, his face remaining stiff as he slowly managed to force his body to relax enough to start moving around again; slowly pacing the perimeter of the chamber, his eyes never leaving the intruder.
"Savage brought him here, he needed medical attention," MUTT explained briefly, taking a small step towards the wide-spread group while gesturing to Merrick when he spoke directly about the veteran Ranger.
"And what the hell possessed Savage to bring him here?" Kyle questioned, taking note of Isaac's circling manner and was quick to mirror the Red Alpha's movement after he noticed Tyler's lack of such movement. "Savage isn't exactly the first one that comes to mind when talking about spontaneous hospitality."
"When it comes to allies of the Pack…"
All eyes turned to the voice of Savage, as he stepped out from one of the connecting chambers, still encased in his battered crimson armour. His arms folded behind his back, eyes sweeping over the spread out teens, then moving over to where Merrick stood.
"I will not hesitate to help them."
Natalie's eyes shifted back from Savage to Merrick, catching him mid-putting his jacket back on; she could have sworn that she recognised him from somewhere. Those few silver hairs at the front of his hairline looked very distinctive, she just…couldn't quiet place it. It was then that Savage's words sunk in, and she turned to look back to the Wolf.
"'Them'?" she asked.
Savage gave Natalie a slight look, his ears suddenly twitching and perking up; he heard movement behind him, yet his face bore no concern; nor weariness.
Zen-Aku slowly stepped out from behind Savage and came up to the Crimson Warrior's side, arms slowly coming up to fold over his chest; watching the wave of reactions sweep across each of the teens face. Most notably the one clad in the black armour, who suddenly found himself far closer than he would have liked, and quickly stepped back to fall back into rank with the others. Though the one clad in red, however, remained apart from the others; standing roughly equal distance between the others and he and Savage.
"This is Merrick," Savage introduced, gesturing to the named human as Zen-Aku moved across the room to the retired Ranger, giving him the once over himself. "One of the Ancient Animarium Warriors, sworn Guardians of Animaria." He looked back over to the teens, "Or, as you might be more familiar with…the Wild Force Power Rangers."
"Wild Force?" Natalie asked, half looking across at Savage, though her main focus was on the now-pair of Merrick and Zen-Aku; finally, she could see place a face to the name. Though now she knew, it struck her as amazing that she didn't figure it out before; the number of times her cousin mentioned the 'Rangers of Turtle Cove' and the monsters they fought on an almost weekly basis, she would have thought some info had stuck.
Though her thoughts altered slightly when her eyes landed on the other Wolf, as he completed his own assessment of Merrick: whatever checks he did, he seemed satisfied with MUTT's work. A brief flick of her eyes left her lingering on the prominent horn jutting out of his forehead. Her hand slowly moved to her side, as if reaching for her Wolf Blade.
"That must make you…an Org."
Zen-Aku paused briefly at this comment, side-glancing at the teen just out of the corner of his eye. Slowly turning around to face her completely, sparing a moment to see if the others were reacting to this claim; the Red one still had that stiff look about him, though his arms had unfolded. The Black and Blue teens had grown much quieter since entering the chamber, and if anything, had grown paler at this news. The Yellow one seemed the most neutral of the lot, though she seemed more concerned with the Red one than anything else.
That very look stirred a memory, though only partially.
He briefly closed his eyes, clearing his mind, before returning the look at the teens. "A Duke-Org, I may be, but my loyalty lies with Merrick," he responded evenly, looking back to the Animarium Warrior when he mentioned his name. "We are both Wolves, searching for our paths."
"And your path has come full circle," Savage added, coming up to Zen-Aku's side, hand coming to grasp the Duke-Org's shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze. The look on his face seemed to have more of an effect on the teens than anything else previously; exchanging looks, ranging from confusion to borderline alarmed, all stemming from something none of them had seen before.
Savage looked…happy.
"You are home, brother."
Zen-Aku looked at the hand grasping his shoulder, extending the look over his shoulder to the owner of said hand. He caught Savage's look out of the corner of his eye, before turning back around to look over at Merrick. Merrick looked right back at him, as though trying to decipher that look growing in Zen-Aku's yellow gaze.
"More Wolves?" Isaac asked under his breath, catching movement out of the corner of his eye, though the predominant yellow presence quickly identified Tanya to him. He felt something brush against the back of his hand, before it was pressed between his fingers and thumb; prompting him to grab hold, finding it to be his helmet. He glanced across at Tanya, finding she had hers in hand as well, and returned the slight nod.
All eyes returned to Savage and Zen-Aku, just as Zen-Aku raised his other hand to place it over Savage's. He left it linger there for a few moments, the entire room falling into silence after Savage's proclamation.
He gave a careful squeeze to Savage's hand…but slowly pried it from his shoulder, turning around in the same motion to face Savage; the happy look had slowly slide from the Wolf's features, half being replaced with a mix of confusion, and fear.
"I am not the same Warrior I once was, Savage," Zen-Aku replied, letting Savage's hand go and drop back to his side, as his own hand did the same. "Nor am I the same Wolf; I recall enough to know this."
Savage look dropped further, sinking further into fear and desperation. He couldn't lose Naku…not again. "You are still my brother, Naku," he pressed, desperation beginning to seep into his words as he took a step closer to Zen-Aku. "We're all that's left…everyone else has been taken. Please…"
MUTT's head perked up briefly, trying to focus on Savage without making it obvious; his readings were going haywire, reaching far beyond what he usually expected to get from the Wolf. And, despite not facing them, he knew the teens weren't used to this either. He quickly tapped a key, feeding his voice directly, and only, to the Warriors.
"Perhaps…you five should scout the perimeter of the city; make sure there are no lingering soldiers," he requested, earning looks from the five armour-clad teens at the sudden voice. Kyle and Tyler seemed all too eager for the opportunity to get out, though Isaac looked like he wanted to stay put; and by the look he currently wore, he was ready to argue for it. But Tanya, thankfully, managed to silently persuade him to leave with them, if only for a short while; a gentle tug of his arm, along with a sharp jerk of the head towards the door, was enough to get his attention.
Sliding his helmet back on, Isaac wordlessly left after Tanya, lingering at the door briefly to spare one last look at the downward spiral the scene they were leaving was becoming. Another prompt from Tanya finally got him to leave entirely, the door silently gliding shut behind him.
"This is not the end of my path, Savage," Zen-Aku explained, pacing a few steps back, putting a bit of space between himself and Savage; the other's expression growing more devastated as the realization started to settle in.
"This world has taken everything from me…my pack…my home…my family, my love…my sisters, and my brothers. Please don't let it take you from here…not again," Savage quietly begged, looking across at Merrick to find the human was trying to occupy himself with something other than the pair of Wolves. Even MUTT was focusing on the numerous monitors before him, more so than usual. They didn't want anything to do with this, leaving Savage to face Zen-Aku by himself. "I've lost too much…"
"And as I have come to learn, so have I…"
Zen-Aku turned and approached Merrick, who had gone over to see if he could understand anything MUTT was doing.
"This is certainly a far cry from the Animarium," he commented, arms folded as he tried to comprehend the speed MUTT was working, looking around the rest of the work station. The sacred viewing waters and open plains for the Wildzords seemed a lifetime ago.
But his thoughts were interrupted when Zen-Aku came into view.
"We're leaving," he said, or rather stated, gruffly before he moved on once again, heading towards the same door they had used to enter.
Merrick looked back to where Savage remained stood; the lack of a mask making it much easier to read his desperate expression of longing following Zen-Aku's ready-to-leave form. He hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, but Merrick could easily tell something had happened to make it deteriorate so rapidly. His look rapidly shifted between the two Wolves; one turning their back on another, the other so desperately wanting to follow. He couldn't just like this fall apart…
"You mentioned a sister," Merrick suddenly spoke up, quickly side-stepping, getting directly in Savage's line of sight; right between him and Zen-Aku. With Savage's eyes now on him, Merrick glanced over his shoulder to find, much to his relief that Zen-Aku had come to a stop but still had his back to them. 'But he's listening,' Merrick thought, and he clung to that, however slight it may be.
He turned back to Savage. "And you call him brother. Is that by blood, or by arms?"
Savage took a moment to answer, studying Merrick for a few seconds as if searching for the reason behind this sudden interest; before realizing Zen-Aku was still in the chambers. He still had a chance.
"By arms, but through marriage as well," Savage eventually explained, eyes rapidly shifting between Merrick and the back of Zen-Aku's head. He gestured to the other Wolf, "His blood-sister, and my blood-brother."
Merrick looked back at Zen-Aku again, finding he had yet to turn around; but neither had he left the chamber. Clinging to that, he gestured to Savage to keep going.
"The Unity of Yei, of the Broken Mountain, and Sage, of the Western Lunar Clan, brought an alliance between our two clans," Savage continued, his focus shifting back to Zen-Aku. "You were so proud of her; a fine warrior in her own right, but when she met my brother…" a breathy gasp, almost a laugh, escaped him. "As though two halves of a spirit, finding itself whole again in the mortal world."
"On their Day of Unity, you played her favourite tune; you spent weeks, entire cycles, learning that damn song on your flute," he continued to press, desperately so. "Every time I came to your territory with my brother, you were fine tuning or straight up practicing that song over and over again."
Zen-Aku's arms slowly folded across his chest, his back still to the pair. His eyes were closed, fists tightly clenched to the point of slightly shaking.
"She loved you, Naku. You were family, to all of us."
A long silence followed the end of Savage's talk, as both he and Merrick watched Zen-Aku closely; waiting for the Warrior to say something. To do something. After an agonizingly long wait, he finally turned around, equally slow. Savage's ears perked up, hope starting to build once again. But they quickly folded back down again when Zen-Aku spoke.
"Naku is dead," he firmly stated, looking Savage square in the eye as he continued, "He died with the rest of our kind, on our final day."
Devastation struck Savage on a whole new level, physically knocking the wind out of him as he backed into one of the tables, using it for support. Merrick glared at Zen-Aku, his jaw tightened as he tried to silently convey to his Wolf companion that this wasn't what he had in mind.
But Zen-Aku simply raised a hand, somehow silencing Merrick's already wordless scowl, as he slowly approached and eventually passed Merrick, moving onward to the distressed Savage. As he passed Merrick, Zen-Aku shared a brief look with his human companion; a look that made Merrick's face ease off on the scowl, but it still had a weary look to it.
"However," Zen-Aku continued, coming to a stop beside Savage and carefully helped him back onto his feet. When Savage looked at him, his expression torn between dying hope and desperation, Zen-Aku gave a slight squeeze of the shoulder. "Naku, as you know him, may be gone…but I, Zen-Aku, live. I while this may not be my home-" he gestured at the chamber all around them, though his reach stretched between the walls "but, perhaps it once was. And who knows?"
He looked back to Savage, taking note of his newly growing look of hope. Another squeeze of the shoulder. "Perhaps, one day, I could come to call you…brother, again."
Savage's hand came up to rest over Zen-Aku's, giving it a slight squeeze in return. He searched the fellow Wolf's eyes, as if searching in vain for something that just…wasn't there. At least now. "You will always be my brother…Zen-Aku."
Zen-Aku gave a silent nod in return, his hand slowly coming away from Savage's shoulder and returning to his side. He looked across at Merrick, who had fallen silent to watch the pair of Wolves interact, and gave an equally silent nod. Merrick perked his head up and approached, arms unfolding as he stepped down from the raised platform.
"We may be leaving, but know this, Savage; should you or yourhome be in dire need of help, then we will not hesitate to help," Merrick promised, looking to Zen-Aku for confirmation as he spoke. The Duke-Org looked right back at Merrick at the Warrior's claim, but he never spoke up in protest. "But…I advise caution, with your Rangers."
Savage watched Merrick evenly, and immediately, any lingering doubts Merrick had over the two being of the same people were immediately extinguished; he had that same look in his eye, the same posture. He even folded his arms across his chest in the same way. "And why is that?" Savage asked coolly, his entire demeanour shifting as his attention shifted from Zen-Aku to the human.
Briefly glancing to the same door the teens had left through minutes earlier, Merrick turned his eyes back to Savage as he said, "There's something…off with them. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when I saw people talking about them in the newspapers. But now…" he gestured to the door. "Even just meeting them, they have this…aura around them. I've felt this same aura many times, but that was around Orgs."
"Your point?" Savage responded gruffly, earning a side glance from Zen-Aku; though it went away almost as quickly as it appeared, returning his look to Merrick.
Merrick just stared right back at Savage. "That's not the type of feeling Rangers should give off, at all! This country is up in arms against you-the world is watching you, and it's not liking what it's seeing. And you don't even realize how close you are to oblivion. You-!"
He paused briefly, feeling himself growing more and more frantic. But he managed to catch it before it got out of control, and instead took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. Focusing his attention solely on Savage again, Merrick's gaze hardened as he resumed. "You don't know about what's out there, what the world is thinking about your Rangers. We do," he gestured to both himself and Zen-Aku. "And now we know more about you, I'm worried about what's going to happen; I realize my advice might mean nothing to you, but if you're going to take anything away from this-from me-then take this."
"You have to change how you teach them; they are young, and highly impressionable. And with their powers, and what they can do with them, they may lose touch with reality. That is a very dangerous thought."
Savage continued to observe in silence as Merrick spoke, the shift in his gaze making it impossible to know if he was taking this information on board or just letting it go over his head. Only when Merrick fell quiet and waiting for an answer, did he respond.
"They are far more powerful than you give them credit for," came the blunt reply, before his arms unfolded back to his side and he walked directly between Zen-Aku and Merrick. He paused briefly just after stepping past the pair, looking over his shoulder. "They will win this war, regardless of how this world treats them. Because by the time this is all over, when the dust settles…" he approached the door, sliding open for him as he neared.
"They'll realize just how much they need us."
The ominous words still hanging heavy in the air, Savage vanished through the door, leaving the pair of Zen-Aku and Merrick in the main chamber with only MUTT for company; the latter giving the door Savage had just exited through a hardened look, accompanied by a sigh of disappointment.
The unholy sound of Death's pained shouts were brought to an abrupt end with a sickening crunch; the silence that followed was more disturbing to Batibat than the actual screams of agony. At least with screams and shouts, the she-Demon had grown accustomed to hearing throughout her service to the Master. But the silence, the complete and utter absence of any sort of noise, especially following a particularly loud noise was so…it was almost worse than any noise she knew of.
Thankfully, the silence was swiftly broken by the impact of something striking the ground before her. Her head was ducked and facing the ground, not even daring to glance up at the Master after her and Death's latest failure. But she didn't need to move her head in the slightest to see what had been thrown to the ground, despite her having some suspicions already.
Her thoughts, and suspicions, were quickly confirmed when, rolling into view beneath her, came what remained of Death's head. Her eyes flickered over it, briefly taking in the fine details before they faded away with the rest of Death's 'life'; the thin grooves that criss-crossed over his blackened skull in intricate patterns, usually lined with the acidic green colour, faded and trickled onto the ground.
Batibat's eyes quickly snapped shut when a crack fractured down the centre of the skull and, almost instantaneously, shattered into pieces. By the time she forced herself to open her eyes again, all that remained of the skull was a pile of dust before her.
"I warned you…"
Horror's tone, unnervingly level, was like a frozen wave washing over her. A sharp exhale came from Batibat when she felt his eyes zero in on her bowed form, her hands clenching and unclenching involuntarily. Without even looking, she could feel him closing in on her; she was next, now that Death had been taken care of first. She tried to reason, "M…Master, w-"
But the chilling sensation tightened around her throat, forcing her head up and her eyes to widen. Her own hands went to her throat, the invisible force wrapped firmly around her neck and slowly forcing the life out of her. Her eyes looked around frantically, audible gasps straining to croak out of her as she looked up to the Master.
"The punishment for failure would be…dire," Horror continued, one hand slowly closing up as if physically tightening his grip around Batibat's throat. The burning red glare from under his hood shone dimly, vaguely taking the shape of a disapproving scowl. "And you have failed me many times…more than I should have allowed. But I will correct this…unfortunately, you won't be around to see it."
"P…Pl…ease, M..Mast…" Batibat gasped and heaved, one hand coming away from her throat to keep her from falling flat on her face in her attempts to extend her life; if only for a few seconds longer. But her efforts seemed all in vain, as she watched the ground steadily growing further away. She felt her body move in mid-air, though without her control, to have her facing the dreaded, hood-cloaked form of her Master.
But Horror simply raised his closed fist, directly in front of Batibat's levitating, frozen form and started to screw his hand up tighter…
"I…do hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Horror paused, his hand still partially forming a fist and holding Batibat firmly in his grasp, to slowly look to the source of the voice.
Slowly limping through the entrance into the throne chamber, Richter entered; the mechanical whirling of his cybernetic components echoing off the walls as he neared, which would have been his first give away had he not spoken. But advanced machinery wasn't the main reason Horror's gaze lingered on the outsider. Rather, he was more interested in the crystal-laced staff head grasped in the Admiral's hand; the crimson crystal at the head, held in place by a decorative snake jaws, catching the light just right in the dim chamber.
"I am in the middle of dealing with this matter, Admiral," Horror responded evenly, as the writhing body of Batibat continued to hand in mid-air, her desperate gasps of air filling the previous silence.
"As I can see," Richter dryly commented, coming to a stop before he stepped on the pile of ashes in his path; slowly side-stepping before he took the last few steps forward. He brought his gaze up to the struggling she-Demon, though he quickly looked to the hooded Master. "I take it their task was too much?"
"The latest in a line of failures; I am seeing that it does not occur again," Horror continued, tightening his fist a fraction; enough to reignite the struggle from Batibat, her gasps and subsequent hacking coughs starting anew. The she-Demon managed to twist her gaze to the Admiral that had taken the spot beside her; the usual look of distrust and suspicion she had given Richter ever since he arrived was replaced, with a terrified, wide-eyed stare at her impending death.
"And in many circumstances, I would be inclined to agree with your intentions," Richter stated, and looked as though he wanted to continue. But he was interrupted when Horror's fist tightened once again, Batibat's struggling briefly becoming more erratic and desperate; and it wasn't going unnoticed that she was growing weaker by the second.
"However!" Richter spoke up again, his free hand raised to get Horror's attention and took a step closer to emphasis this. "I may have a proposition; of which both of us-"
He was momentarily interrupted by another particular loud gasp from Batibat.
"All of us," Richter corrected, gesturing to the hanging Batibat beside him, "would benefit." He watched Horror closely, trying to decipher if his words had caught the Demon Master's attention; but the hood that cloaked his facial features made it much more difficult. That was, if he even had facial features. Though with the lack of significant choking sounds coming from the suspended she-Demon, Richter decided to press his sale.
"I've come across this…damaged artefact during my little nose around your domain," he began, raising the Nightbringer staff head up and gave it another once-over for anything that may have slipped under his scans the first few times. "And my readings show it to contain….essences, similar to that of the Decimator's. Which, through deductive reasoning, would mean that their source may have come from the Power Rangers you are currently pitted against."
Horror had now turned and was staring down at Richter from under his hood, his aura still making it difficult for the Admiral to distinguish whether he was actually paying attention to what he was saying, or if he was just growing bored and waiting for the right moment to snuff out the she-Demon's life. It got to the point that when Horror said, "Your point?" Richter glanced to see if Batibat was actually still alive; where he was mildly surprised that Horror had loosened his grip ever so slightly on her throat, perhaps if only to make her stop choking.
"Your forces are having a hard time dealing with these Rangers." It may have come across as more of a statement than Richter intended, but he pressed on before Horror had a chance to react. Gesturing to the pile of ashes that was once Death, as he pressed, "To the point where your frustrations-which are entirely expected, may I add-are being taken out on your Generals."
"Now…what if I were to provide you with soldiers…of equal calibre to that of the Power Rangers. What would you say to that?"
"What use you would have of this failure?" Horror countered, turning his hooded head back to Batibat; Richter could hear her breathing grow noticeably heavier with her Master's attention focused solely on her.
"And that is an excellent question," Richter commented, perhaps a bit too chipper given the current circumstances, but he persisted. "And to that, I say this; I may be a man of science and technology, and where I come from the lines between hard facts and faith are blurry, but even I can only estimate and guess correctly so many times."
He gestured to Batibat's idly struggling form, "I would need the help from a being of the Demon ways, and I would hate to take your precious time away from you. Plus, you'd be free of this failure of a pest. And I would squeeze what usefulness is left in her, and transfer it to help you out."
Horror's glare was still firmly set on Batibat, yet Richter felt like he was listening to him at the same time. Or at least he hoped that was the case. "And why would you be so eager to assist?" He turned his gaze back on Richter, the burning red glare igniting anew under his hood.
And even though it was completely out of place and might not have lent him any favours, but Richter couldn't help the small smirk form across what remained of his organic face. "I'll take any chance I can to…broaden my horizon of knowledge. At least this way, it's benefiting us both."
A long, silent pause followed. It went on for so long that the smirk slid off Richter's face, as he carefully tried to pry apart what was going on in whatever acted as Horror's mind; he couldn't tell if he could see the gears start to turn under that hood, or if he was mentally weighing out any foreseeable outcomes where Richter backstabbed him. 'Not that I would,' Richter told himself hastily, attempting to keep his expression as hard to read as Horror's aura, even with the Demon's advantage of being in his domain.
Finally, Horror's hand suddenly relaxed and flattened out. As though an invisible noose was removed from around her neck, Batibat dropped to the ground; gasping for breath, on her hand and knee as one hand rubbed against her irritated neck.
Despite this, she managed to look up to Horror as he waved a commanding hand, "Get her out of my sight."
Though it would go unnoticed by Horror, the smirk returned momentarily across Richter's face, only to vanish almost as quickly as it appeared. Ducking down, he grabbed Batibat from under her arm and hoisted her back onto her feet. Even with Batibat getting her feet beneath her again, she still required the cybernetic to fully stand and eventually walk. "C'mon, this way," Richter uttered to her, half-gesturing in the direction he planned on going, half-dragging Batibat across the ground regardless of her help. He saw Batibat looking at him out of the corner of his eye, but didn't bring any attention to it as the pair hobbled out of the chamber.
As they left, Horror slowly sat back down atop his throne, bony fingers tapping the end of the armrests. His back resting against the chair, a deep, almost animalistic grunt came from under the hood, as he uttered to himself, "The time of Humans is at an end…starting with your Wolves, Zeta."
"You think he'll take your advice on board?"
Merrick climbed the last little bit of the hill and paused at the top; giving himself a moment to think on Zen-Aku's words, as he waited for the Duke Org to join him. He took the opportunity to giving a sweeping glance across the Pax Valley territory. From the vantage point, he was sure he could see the majority of the land Savage and the Rangers called home. It was so…
Quiet. And empty.
"If he's anything like what you can be sometimes, then I doubt it," Merrick answered, giving a side look to Zen-Aku; while he couldn't see the expression hidden beneath the Org's mask, he definitely could hear the low growl vibrate the air surrounding him. With a low sigh, Merrick looked back over the grounds before him, continuing, "I just hope he does; for the Rangers' sake."
"You show much compassion for people you've spoken less than a dozen words to," Zen-Aku commented, giving the deserted city a half-hearted glance over before he turned on the spot and began walking towards the forests that surrounded the area.
He knew his words earned him another look from Merrick-one more disheartened than the previous-but pressed on, only coming to a stop when Merrick's response prompted him to.
"And your little talk with Savage was probably the most compassionate I've ever seen you."
Zen-Aku heaved a heavy sigh, hearing Merrick come up beside him.
"Maybe we should stay here for a short while; see if we can learn anything about this place. About your…past self."
"Whoever I was before…before…" Zen-Aku didn't meet Merrick's eye as he spoke, instead looking over the Animarian's shoulder. He gestured to his Org horn. "this, that person is dead. The best I can do now is learn for myself, who I was," he reasoned, walking towards the forest once more. "And that cannot be done, wallowing in this abandoned relic."
And before Merrick could get another word in, Zen-Aku took off; a blur of black and deep purple, tearing around the trees and bushes that got in the way of his path. Another heavy sigh came from Merrick, the aftermath of Zen-Aku's rush sending a slight gust of wind his way. He knew he would have to follow suite soon, though; Zen-Aku had an uncanny ability of covering his tracks when he really wanted to, and he didn't want to be tracking him across who knows how many states, for who knows how long.
He looked over his shoulder, giving one last look at Pax Valley; no idea if he would ever return-
'Oh, you'll be back.'
Merrick turned around sharply, hands almost shifting into a fighting hold; but they quickly fell slack when he realized no-one was standing behind him. Or anywhere near him, for that matter. But the voice…it was practically said directly into his ear. So where did it come from…?
'Over here!'
He turned back around, teeth visibly grit as he drew his fist up; but again, the voice was said right into his ear without a body to come from. His initial alarmed response quickly deteriorated, to an annoyed glare that swept around the space surrounding him. "Show yourself," he called out, half-expecting silence to be his answer; if the way it was toying with him was any indication. After the longest minute of silence Merrick had been in-outside of being around Zen-Aku, anyway-and not another word uttered by the seemingly bodiless voice, he gave his surroundings another once over. With nothing visibly gaining his attention either, he turned around completely to follow after his wolf companion. And giving one last look over his shoulder, Merrick took off after Zen-Aku; disturbing leafs across his path, leaving only a few descending leafs as an indicator of his presence.
As he vanished into the distance, a white-clad figure appeared, standing in the very spot Merrick had been occupying. From this position, he looked directly down the path Merrick had taken.
"When they need you…you will return," Zeta commented, hands coming out to fold behind his back, head tilting ever so slightly.
"And it may be sooner than any of you think."
And just like that, he faded out of sight.
Epilogue
"...India and Sierra Teams, you're going to be entering from the north side; we've selected an entry point that our reports say isn't often checked by the Rangers, but just keep your wits about you. They've got some kind of sensors around the city, so be cautious."
E gestured to the very top of the projected map of Pax Valley, the red dot circling around the highlighted point. He stood before a large number of armoured D-13 soldiers, divided into squads of twelve soldiers headed by a Squad Leader. E's voice echoed around the large hangar where the meeting was taking place; to the far end, the dimly-lit lights of the ceiling highlighted the Silver Wolf Zords' outline. Technicians worked up and down the metal titan, scaffolding built up all around with sparks showering down from various welding torches.
"Now, Bravo and Mike Teams…" E began, but his voice trail off when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking across, he found Clint stepping into what little light was currently available. He came to a stop a short distance from E and the projector, hands folding behind his back as he stood easy. But even with his semi-relaxed stance, E picked up on the urgent look twitching across his face.
With a sharp breath, E looked back to the soldiers still hanging on his words, and waved a hand dismissively. "Five minute break; make sure you've got your equipment prepped and ready."
He stepped down from the raised platform without another word to his men, who quickly stood at attention before breaking off into their own squads, as he approached Clint. "Whatever you have for me better be damn good," E uttered, coming to a stop directly in line with Clint, throwing a look across at the man.
"I think you'll find this interesting," Clint evenly replied, before gesturing for E to follow as he turned and began back the way he came. E followed closely behind, exiting the hangar shortly after. He found themselves walking down corridor after corridor, walking deeper into the facility until Clint lead them down one final corridor and came to a stop before a door.
"Been working through the Lightspeed files Fairweather brought us, like you said," Clint explained, typing in his security code into the pad beside the handle; when the light flash green, he stepped in. E followed after, taking note of the semi-organized piles scattered across the long table at the centre of the room, as well as spilling over onto a large portion of the floor. "And after I saw the footage you got from what happened in Japan, I remembered something I came across in the files."
Clint approached the table, brushing aside a few loose papers detailing blueprints of a Megazord-which E noticed resembled that of the Omega Megazord, with some enhancements that clearly weren't of Lightspeeds' design-to grab a tablet. "Had to have one of the tech guy's work on slowing the footage down enough to see it clearly, but…" he slowly dragged his finger across the screen, suddenly stopping and offering it for E.
"They found this around the time you passed out."
With a raised eyebrow, E took the tablet and flipped it around. When he was greeted with what was on the screen, E's eyes narrowed, his head giving a slight tilt.
The majority of screen was a blinding white, even after E guessed the tech guy's attempt to dull it down. But even with the sheer brightness nearly consuming the entire screen, he could make out a vague outline of a figure. A human figure; itt was stood at the desk where E had laid the scroll out on, with one of its hands raised over the desk; he was fairly confident it was over said scroll, but the light made it hard to confirm.
"We have any ID on this guy?" he questioned, looking up at Clint again to find the man had walked off and was now looking through a small stack of papers. Judging by how neatly it was stacked, E guessed that was the pile he was working on most recently.
"Whatever it is…" Clint turned around and returned to E, slapping a number of the papers down on the desk. "Fairweather's encountered it before."
E set the tablet down and picked up the papers, flicking through them slowly; screenshots of camera feeds, some better quality than others. "The Lightspeed labs?" he asked, glancing up to Clint.
"And according to the time stamps-around the turn of the millennium-it was around the time Fairweather was working on the Titanium Morpher."
E focused back on the papers he had in hand, slowly shifting through the pictures; shots of the technicians, Fairweather in her younger days included, running tests and making developments. In one picture in particular, he could faintly make out plans and prototype attempts of the Titanium Morpher. Flicking through to the next picture-the same day, but a different angle-showed a similar prototype on the central table of the labs. Only this feed's brightness was…he was surprised the tech guy who tried to dull the bright contrast was able to clarify everything they did.
The faintest figure was visible at the centre of the brightness, going unnoticed by the number of scientists that filled the rest of the labs. It loomed over the Morpher, but the black-and-white print didn't do anything to help with the finer details.
"They got a name for this?" E asked.
"Apparently," Clint started, grabbing a notepad from his back pocket and flipping through a few pages. "From what I've scraped together, they refer to it as…"
"The Ghost of the Morphing Grid."
E set the papers down again, briefly lingering on the image still brightly shining on the tablet's screen. "Good work," E complimented, looking back to Clint. "See what else you can find on this…Ghost, and see if he's made any appearances with other Ranger groups."
"I'll get to work right away," Clint confirmed, giving a nod as E headed towards the door. "May need to get some extra man power to go through everything else."
"You'll get help, but when the time comes, I'm going to need every available personnel with me when Operation Spectre is put into action."
Clint looked up, nearly dropping his notebook in the process. "We're going through with Operation Spectre? I thought we had to wait for approval from the President."
"If we don't initiate it, Division 13's going to lose all of its funding, and some schmuck going to be given charge of this. And I'm not going to let that be the case; better to ask for forgiveness after you've sinned than wait for permission," E pressed, gesturing to all the papers stacked around them. "All of this, our progress, our developments. Even the Silver Ranger suit will be confiscated, and they'll try and force us to help them control it."
"When we have those Rangers in our custody, and we start our research and development with a full source, they'll give us all the funding we need. Besides…not like we need to treat these terrorists we care."
E left shortly after, slamming the doors open as he went through and down the corridor, heading back towards the hangar.
In doing so, he completely missed Fairweather hanging around the room Clint and E had been in; appearing to eavesdrop on the growing voices from within, and quickly backing up when E charged out. She watched him down the corridor with a narrow glare, quietly walking down the opposite direction. Her hand slipped into her pocket beneath her lab coat, pulling out a phone and dialling in a number. She raised it to her ear, taking a calming breath.
"Carter? I'm going to need your help."