Center of the Maze
Trojan's Simulation
June 16th, 2015
"Heath "Oz" Ostreicher"
"MARCUS!" we all screamed in absolute horror.
Trojan cackled and retracted his arm tendril, leaving Marcus to fall back to the floor.
Marcus took a minute to look down at the gaping wound on his chest. I ran over to him and scooped him up in my arms.
"It's alright, man," I said, "It's just a scratch, he barely even got you."
"You're a shitty liar, Oz." gasped Marcus, coughing up a little blood.
"Trojan! Where did that piece of shit run off to!?" roared Riley.
Marcus was fumbling with his Digitizer. He eventually managed to open the plastic case and remove his codec, which he then handed to me.
"I'm sorry I won't be able to help you guys take down Trojan." he said.
"Don't say things like that." weeped Rachel.
"I know you guys will kick his ass for me." said Marcus.
Marcus coughed and sputtered. His eyes glassed over and became vacant. While holding back tears, I closed his eyes before gently putting down his body.
"Trojan is going to pay for this," snarled Riley, "He's gone too far this time!"
"There's nothing we can do about that right now," said Sawyer, "We're still trapped in his simulation."
"Yes, you are," came Trojan's voice, echoing across the entire simulation, "Now that my quota for carnage has been sated, I think you're ready for Phase Two."
Marcus' body dissolved and faded away.
"No!" screamed Rachel, running towards it to try and stop it from fading away.
It was too late. Before she got very far, not only had Marcus' body vanished, but the world around us seemed to disintegrate away too. In its place, was a completely different looking simulation.
We now appeared to be inside of what looked like a roman coliseum. The last simulation looked like what Marcus described Cyberspace as looking like, but this one actually looked like the real world.
"Now what?" I asked.
What I imagine was another hologram of Trojan appeared before us.
"Welcome to Phase Two!" cackled Trojan, "This part will be a test of your battle prowess, and, to prove it to you, I've restored your ranger powers."
"You have no idea how badly we're going to kill you, Trojan." muttered Riley.
He was practically trembling with anger. I've never seen him like this before.
"I like the enthusiasm, but save it for the arena," said the hologram, "The only rule here is that you're only allowed to participate in battles when it's your turn."
"Just like an actual tournament." said Chloe, wiping another tear from the corner of her eye.
"Exactly," said Trojan, "And to make sure that none of you get any bright ideas..."
He snapped his fingers and some sort of collar attached itself around my neck. I looked around and saw that everyone else now had the same collar on too.
"I have the ability to detonate those collars at the press of a button," said Trojan warningly, "If you try to break the rules, or do anything else that I don't like, I can literally blow your heads off."
"So who are we fighting?" asked Sawyer, "Each other?"
"No, of course not," sneered Trojan, "That would be totally barbaric and pointless."
Oh you mean like how murdered one of my best friends just because you were bored watching us navigate through your stupid maze!?
"No, you five will be on the same team, facing off against some of the viruses you've defeated in the past," said Trojan, "I took the liberty of beefing them up a bit, you know just to make things more entertaining."
One by one, various viruses appeared behind Trojan. There were ten of them in total, but some were more familiar than others. I recognized all but one them, as I participated in or saw the battle at some point.
"The giant, totally historically accurate television up there will give you a constant, visual representation of the tournament bracket," said Trojan, "Now get out there and show me what you can do!"
I looked at the giant monitor and saw that I was up first against the Television Virus. That's the same virus that attacked me in the alley all those months ago which led to us becoming Power Rangers.
Riley, Rachel, Chloe and Sawyer all went to sit on the bleachers behind our side of the arena. They all had their heads down and were clearly not holding back any of their tears.
I wish I could be there with them, but Trojan wasn't going to let us get away with not participating in the tournament. There would be time to cry over Marcus later.
I stepped forward into the arena and the Television Virus entered as well.
"I've been chosen by Master Trojan to get a second chance at destroying you!" it shouted, excitedly.
"CYBER POWER, ACTIVATE!" I shouted.
My yellow ranger outfit materialized around me. I held out my hand and summoned my hammer by shouting the appropriate phrase:
"Download weapon!"
The virus ran straight at me, and I side stepped out of the way while swinging my hammer. It caught the virus in the ass region, but didn't slow it down.
It leapt high into the air and came crashing down right on top of me. It moved too fast for me to see where it went or predict where it was going to land.
It also hit a lot harder than I would've expected, although, Trojan did say he beefed them up a bit.
"Get off me!" I snarled, throwing it aside.
The virus stayed on the ground, stunned. I ran over to it and delivered a mighty whack with my hammer. And another and another and another. I kept hitting until long after the virus had already disintegrated away.
"Son of a bitch!" I snarled, still smashing my hammer against the ground.
I heard Trojan's voice come from my collar:
"Now, now, Heath, it's time to leave the arena, it's time to let someone else have a turn. You wouldn't want to lose your head over this would you?"
"No..." I muttered, getting to my feet and leaving the arena.
The giant television updated itself to show that Sawyer was up next, battling against the Weather Machine Virus.
I headed back over to the bleachers to sit with the others, while Sawyer got up and entered the arena to take part in his first battle.
Rachel put her hand on my shoulder consolingly.
"I know," she sniffled, "I miss him too."
"This is a slow and cruel form of torture," sobbed Chloe, "Marcus is dead and we can't even properly grieve for him because we're still stuck in this stupid simulation!"
"It could be that he planned this from the start," said Rachel, "I find it hard to believe that the only reason he killed Marcus was JUST because we made it through the maze unscathed."
"Me too," said Riley, who still had tears running down his face, "I bet he would've killed one of us even if someone had gotten seriously hurt."
I looked out into the arena. Sawyer was in his ranger form and back flipping away to dodge several lightning bolts.
"Remember when Riley got sick from the CPU Virus and Rachel kissed him when she thought he was dead? Marcus and I started singing the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song." I asked.
I couldn't stop another wave of tears from surfacing. I peered back into the arena and saw that Sawyer had just trisected the Weather Machine Virus with his scythe.
As Sawyer made his way back up to the bleachers, the giant monitor revealed that Chloe would be fighting next, and that her opponent would be the Microphone Virus. But luckily, I don't think it would be able to use its main ability of stealing voices because it had to be in its dormant state to do that
Chloe went down into the arena and transformed into her orange ranger outfit before engaging the Microphone Virus.
"I remember when Rachel and I first met Marcus," said Riley, "I had just gotten my first pair of glasses and walked right into a stop sign. Marcus called me out on it and then got both of us with a joy buzzer."
Rachel snorted with laughter, but then it turned into her crying again. I think I'm starting to understand now. Marcus may be dead, but if we keep thinking about all the good times, then it almost feels like he's still around.
I looked down into the arena. Chloe seemed to have hit the virus hard enough that the spiked ball at the end of her flail was now lodged in the virus' head.
She seemed to be taking great pleasure in swinging her flail to the left, and then slamming the virus into the ground before swinging it to the right. She kept doing it over and over again, until eventually the virus dissolved.
According to the monitor, it was Rachel's turn now and her opponent was going to be the Battery Virus. Now things were getting interesting. If I remember correctly, the Battery Virus had a think shell that protected it from most attacks.
Chloe's weapon ended up being quite effective against it, and could actually pierce the armour, but Rachel's weapons are tiny and probably won't be very effective. Although we're much more resourceful now than we were back then.
Chloe powered down and came back up to the bleachers as Rachel entered the arena and met up with the Battery Virus. She transformed into her blue ranger outfit and summoned her sais.
Meanwhile, in the bleachers, Chloe had put her head in Sawyer's lap. She was still crying, so Sawyer started running his fingers through her hair to try and comfort her.
"Trojan is going to pay for this," muttered Riley, "He didn't show Marcus any mercy, so now I don't have to show him any either."
"Why would you have showed him mercy in the first place?" asked Sawyer.
"You're right," said Riley, "I guess I mean that before this, it wasn't personal for me."
"And now it is?" I asked.
"Oh yeah," he said, "It was bad enough when Trojan took out Silver's eye, but killing my best friends is absolutely where I draw the line."
"Shit! I just remembered I had found Marcus a date for prom," I sniffled, "I think they would've really liked each other. And now we'll never know. Damn that Trojan!"
"Will we even be able to go?" asked Chloe, "I mean, I hope we do, because, you know, it's prom. We only get to do it once. I haven't even bought a dress yet."
"Me neither." I said, smirking.
"You know, Oz, lots of straight men enjoy dressing in women's clothes," said Chloe, "If you want, Rachel and I could totally help you find a pretty dress for prom."
"No power on this earth could make me wear a dress." I said.
"That's a shame," said Sawyer, "I bet people would pay good money to see that."
I looked down in the arena. Rachel had somehow managed to pry the Battery Virus' armour open, and now it was vulnerable to attacks from her sais. Rachel kicked it to the ground and drove her sais right into the virus' forehead.
Instead of venting some of her frustrations against the virus, Rachel calmly got up and left the arena. The television updated itself to show that it was Riley's turn next and that his opponent would be the Console Virus.
Riley made his way down to the arena and Rachel came to sit with us where Riley had been sitting. I watched as Riley transformed into his ranger costume once he entered the arena.
"Hey Rachel," said Chloe, "Oz says he wants to wear a dress to prom!"
"Don't make me come over there." I said, warningly.
Rachel snorted again, but this time she didn't start crying. She was actually laughing so hard, that no sound was coming out. That made me smile. It just proves that eventually, we'll move on and won't feel sad about Marcus all the time.
"If you were to wear a dress," asked Rachel, "Do you have a particular style in mind?"
"There's so many different kinds," said Chloe, "BodyCon, backless, cocktail, strapless, maxi, midi, formal, sun dress."
"I am so glad I'm not a chick..." I sighed.
Rachel and Chloe giggled like, well, girls. I really hope they know that I'm not kidding. They can tease me about wearing a dress all they want, but if they actually try to get me to wear one, then the joke's over.
I peered down at the arena again. Riley had just rammed his sword through the virus' chest. I think Trojan had to disable their special abilities in order to increase their physical strength, because some of the viruses that we've fought in this tournament were much more dangerous the first time around.
I wonder why Trojan didn't use his new powers to increase everything about the virus. It seems kind of silly that he wants to test us by pitting us against slightly stronger, viruses that don't have the special abilities that originally made them formidable foes. Maybe we were wrong about why Trojan sent us here.
"I don't think Trojan is testing us, guys," I said, "I think he trapped us in here to get us out of the way while does whatever he wants."
"He will let us out of here when we win this tournament, right?" asked Rachel.
"I don't know," I said, "I doubt Trojan would be satisfied by just trapping us in here for all eternity."
"I agree, Trojan has already shown us just how bloodthirsty he can be. Trapping us in a simulation seems very out character." said Sawyer.
The monitor changed again. It was now saying "Round 2" and had altered the bracket for the next round accordingly. Next up, it was Sawyer versus a monster called the Electric Fly Swatter Virus.
That was definitely one of the ones I didn't recognize. We've never fought a virus like that before, but Sawyer did as the Renegade Ranger. Here's hoping he can take it down again without any difficulties.
"David Sawyer"
I passed Riley as I made my way down to the arena for my next battle. The Electric Fly Swatter Virus was waiting for me there.
"So we meet again, Renegade Ranger!" it jeered.
"I'm not the Renegade anymore." I said.
"But you are the purple ranger?" it asked.
"I am."
"Then you will pay for your defiance against the great, Lord Trojan!" it howled.
"We'll see about that." I said, pumping the clutch on my Digitizer.
"RENEGADE, POWER UP!" I shouted.
With my purple ranger costume enveloping me, I ran towards the monster. I have a vague memory that maybe, at some point, I've fought this virus before, but that can't be right, because the first virus I fought as a ranger was the Engine Virus.
The virus' tail resembled an electric fly swatter. I guess that's why it's called that. Yeah, this all feels very familiar, but I can't figure out why.
The virus shot forwards and turned in midair to try and attack me with that tail. I hopped over it and held out my hand.
"Download weapon!" I called.
I tried to take a swing at the tail, but the virus pulled the tail back in ran at me again. It jumped into the air a spun around to build up momentum, before bringing falling back down. It was trying to hit me that tail, so I stepped out of the way again.
Just before the virus landed, I sliced the nasty end of the tail right off. I wailed in pain and then crashed to the ground. That bizarre feeling of déjà vu was still bugging me.
This time I ran towards the virus, ready to finish it off with my scythe, like I feel I had done once before, just then the electrified end of the tail regenerated and scored a direct hit on my chest. It stunned me as I was lifted off the ground.
My arms still had enough mobility left for me to slice the tail off again. Now was my chance, before it could grow a third tail, I ran toward the virus and hurled my scythe right into the virus' chest. I went over to pull the scythe out as the virus disintegrated.
As I made my way back to the bleachers, I powered down and saw that Chloe was up next and that her opponent would be the Motorcycle Virus. We crossed by each other on her way to the arena. As I passed, she grabbed my ass!
"Chloe Baldwin"
There. If that doesn't clue Sawyer into the fact that I'm interested in him, then I don't know what will.
I single-handedly defeated the Motorcycle Virus when I first became a ranger. How hard could it be to do it again? Once I stepped inside the arena, the Motorcycle Virus started doing laps around me.
"CYBER POWER, ACTIVATE!" I shouted, freeing myself from the tornado by jumping.
Now I had my ranger suit on, the virus made its way back to its side of the arena.
"I hoped Master Trojan would honour me with a second chance at taking you down!" cackled the virus.
"Give it your best shot," I said, holding out my hand to summon my flail, "Download weapon!"
It started to rev up and burn rubber. I cartwheeled over to it and swung my flail at the virus, sending it flying. I ran after it and turned my flail back into a mace. I had no intention of letting that thing get away.
I think Silver had said something about how if it manages to build up enough speed, nothing can stop it. My best bet of stopping a virus like that would be to beat it before it has a chance of building speed.
Hopefully, by never leaving it alone, every time it tries to start moving, I'll be right on its heels to smack it with my weapon. It's not necessarily a very well thought out strategy, but it's the best one I can come up with on short notice.
I hit the virus again and again. One of my attacks must have it its head, because it was having a hard time getting up. I took advantage of the opportunity by extending my weapon back into flail mode and slamming it down as hard as I could on its head again.
The virus began to dissolve, so I powered down and headed back up to the bleachers. I turned to look at the television, and saw that my picture had just faded away. I guess that means I didn't have to fight anymore.
"Heath "Oz" Ostreicher"
The monitor was now showing that Riley would be battling against the Power Saw Virus next. He got up and headed down to the arena.
"If you refuse to wear a dress to prom, will you at least come with us when we get our nails done?" asked Chloe.
"Not a chance in hell." I snorted.
"You know, Oz," said Rachel, "The way that you get all defensive seems to indicate that you're not comfortable with your sexuality."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I'll give you an example," said Rachel, "Gay men that are out of the closet don't care what people think, because they're comfortable with being gay."
"So by not embracing things that you claim straight guys can still do, it makes me seem like I'm overcompensating?" I asked.
"Where did he learn that word?" asked Chloe.
"Rachel used it when she was explaining to us why she thought you might be gay."
"Well, she was half right." said Chloe.
"Alright fine," I sighed, "You convinced me. I'll get a manicure when you two go."
"And... a facial?" asked Chloe in a sing song voice.
"Those are quite relaxing actually," said Sawyer, "I've had a few in the past."
He rubbed a finger across his forehead and looked at it.
"I'm actually due for another one," he said, "Mind if I come along too?"
"The more the merrier." said Chloe.
"That is of course, if we even get to go to prom." said Rachel.
Suddenly the Power Saw Virus crashed into an invisible barrier. It seemed as though Riley bodily threw him into it.
"Looks like we've got this tournament in the bag." I said.
"I think you may have been on to something earlier, Oz," said Sawyer, "Trojan claimed that these viruses are stronger than before. But they're actually much weaker. They don't even seem to be able to use their special abilities."
"They also aren't very smart," said Rachel, "Which probably means that Phase Two is just Trojan's way of stalling for time."
Being thrown up against the barrier like that seemed to be all that was need to destroy the Power Saw Virus. Riley's picture disappeared from the monitor as he came back up to the bleachers.
According to the television, it was my turn again and I would be fighting against the Slot Machine Virus. Normally that would be awful, but since these viruses can't use their special abilities, it shouldn't be too hard.
I went down into the arena to fight against the virus. It was waiting for me.
"CYBER POWER, ACTIVATE!" I shouted, as I approached.
With my yellow ranger outfit on, I kept running towards the Slot Machine Virus.
"It's been a while, Yellow Ranger!" it said, "Maybe luck will be on my side this time! Tee hee!"
"Download weapon!" I called.
My hammer appeared in my hands and I kept running towards the virus. It pulled the level on its body and the slots lined up with three dollar signs.
The Slot Machine Virus' special ability was that it could make people have some of the worst luck imaginable. I know from experience. We know that it doesn't have that ability anymore, but it still has reel attacks. Depending on what the outcome is, the attack will change.
Three dollar signs caused it to spew out hundreds of coins and razor sharp bills, but my experience paid off and I ducked low to the ground to avoid the attack. If the virus still has its reel attacks, then that also means it still has its weakness. If the reels ever stop on three 7s, then the virus will be instantly destroyed.
After avoiding the onslaught of money, I got to my feet and swung my hammer at the virus. It giggled and scurried away before it made contact.
The virus pulled its lever again and the reels landed on three bombs. I remember this attack too. A bunch of bombs are gonna get shot out of its coin slot. I did the same thing as last time and hit the bombs right back at him.
I also remember that he can't be harmed by his own weapons, so although the bombs won't hurt him, with any luck, they'll slow him down long enough for me get at its reels.
It worked as well as I could've hoped. I swung my hammer at the virus' chest, right where the large reels were sitting behind a protective sheet of plastic. My blow cracked the plastic and sent the virus flying.
I ran after it and ripped open the protective case. The virus kicked and fought back, so I hit it with my hammer again to knock it back down. I jumped on top of it to pin it down and proceeded to manually turn the slots until all three of them were showing 7. The virus trembled momentarily before disintegrating.
I powered down and left the arena. I walked backwards up to the bleachers and sat back down with the others. The giant television updated itself yet again to display the final matchup. My head disappeared, since I won both of my battles.
Rachel was the only one left now. Her opponent was the Hydro Virus. Great, it figures that Trojan would make her battle a virus that was composed entirely of her biggest fear. That was a while ago though, maybe by now she'll be over it?
We watched as she made her way down to the arena for the last time. Rachel was about to morph when the Hydro Virus attacked. She wasn't even ready!
"Trojan! Call it off!" snarled Riley, "At least give her a chance to defend herself!"
No one answered. Either Trojan wasn't listening or he didn't care. The Hydro Virus eventually dropped Rachel, and she scrambled to her feet and shouted:
"CYBER POWER, ACT-"
She didn't manage to transform in time. The Hydro Virus attacked again, trapping her inside its body which consists purely of water. She was stuck and couldn't break free. Every now and then, the virus would make it so that her head would surface just long enough for her to breath.
Riley was furious, screaming curses and trash talk at Trojan, who probably wasn't even listening. His fists were balled and clenched tight.
"Don't do it, man," I said, "Trojan warned us about fighting when it isn't our turn."
"I can't just sit here and do nothing," he growled, "She's terrified and can't defend herself. She needs help."
Riley stood up and jogged down towards the arena.
"RILEY, NO! STAY BACK!" we all shouted desperately.
He didn't listen.
"CYBER POWER, ACTIVATE!" he shouted.
He transformed and delivered a flying kick to the invisible barrier around the arena, but instead of hitting it, he kept going beyond it! So apparently, it isn't a two way barrier.
The second he touched down inside the arena, Trojan's voice boomed from wherever he seemed to be watching us from.
"Riley, I'm surprised with you!" he said, "I was very clear about the rules and consequences of interfering."
The Hydro Virus exploded into a torrent of water that quickly dissolved away. Rachel's unconscious form floated up and moved over to the bleacher area. With a snap sound effect, Riley de-morphed and appeared back where he had been sitting before he went to help Rachel.
"Speaking of consequences." said Trojan.
Another snapping sound was heard and Rachel's collar started beeping rapidly. Then it exploded, along Rachel's head!
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Riley.
We all gasped and then burst into tears. We didn't need to scream this time. Riley already did that for us. The shock was just too much for most of the others. They all burst out crying again. I mean, so did I, but it kind of felt like I hadn't really stopped crying about Marcus.
"RACHEL!" shrieked Riley.
The entire simulation faded away into white. We were all standing together in a little huddle. When we entered the first simulation, there was six of us. Now, there was only four of us.
Trojan floated down from above. He stood in front of us and beckoned Riley forward.
"Congratulations, you won the tournament." he said.
"But how?" sobbed Riley, "I thought we were disqualified?"
"Not all of you, just Rachel," said Trojan, "And well, the Hydro Virus too."
"You weren't the one that told it to attack like that?" I asked.
"No," said Trojan, "He defied me and went over my head, so I annihilated him."
Riley turned to the rest of us.
"I should've listened to you guys," he sobbed, "And now Rachel is dead too."
As he spoke these words, Marcus and Rachel, looking the way they had before they died appeared above Trojan. Rachel was floating above his right shoulder, while Marcus was floating above his left.
"As your prize for winning the tournament," cackled Trojan, "I will bring back ONE of your friends. Not both, just one."
"That's cruel!" snapped Chloe.
"Why do you think I'm doing it?" cackled Trojan again, "As much as I love to see you suffer, I still expect a good fight from you when I destroy you and take over Metro City."
"How are we supposed to choose between two of our best friends?" asked Sawyer.
"Rachel..." Riley sobbed, "I-I choose Rachel."
He walked closer to Trojan and positioned himself underneath where Marcus was floating. Riley took his hand and squeezed it.
"I'm so sorry, Marcus." he said.
We didn't even get to talk about it. Riley chose for us. It was an impossible choice to begin with. Either way we'd lose someone. But I guess the way Riley saw it, it was either lose a friend or lose the love of his life.
There was another snapping sound and Rachel floated over to Riley and then fell into his arms.
"What happened?" she asked, looking confused.
"Don't worry about it right now," he said, "I'll tell you later."
With one last snapping sound, the white faded away and finally, after what felt like years, we were transported back to headquarters. When we arrived, I looked down and saw that I was carrying Marcus' body now. Silver and Jenna took one look at us and burst into tears.
After we had all calmed down, Silver and Riley went to Marcus' house to deliver the horrible news to his mother. I'm so glad I didn't have to be a part of that. It had been hard enough telling Knox' parents about him.
Silver said he was going to tell Marcus' mother that he had been a Power Ranger. Since he's not one anymore, he figures it won't make any difference whether or not she knows. He also said he was going to pay for the entire thing.
I guess I just never stopped to consider how expensive funerals are. I didn't want to think about that. My friend is dead, and he isn't coming back. The only things I have to look forward to now is kicking Trojan's ass, and prom. But, like Rachel and Chloe already said, we might not even be able to go...