Dissidia: Power Rangers
Episode 5: It's the Gem! The key to restoring the fallen angel lies in the hands of the prodigal son.
Trent had awoken within a dense forest. Beside him, Dominic had started a campfire.
"Oh, you woke up. I've been up for, like, an hour,"-said Dominic.
"Oh, man. Where are we? What are we doing here?"-asked Trent.
"Oh, see…there's these two Gods. At least, I think they're gods, they MAY just be spirits, or aliens, or something. The chick kidnapped, like, 15 Rangers or so, while the guy took, I think, about the same number of big bads,"-was Dominic's reply.
"Well, THAT much I already knew. The 'lady', by the way her name is Lumis and she may just be a goddess, told me that…in a dream…"-Trent himself had a bit of a hard time believing those words- "What I meant to say was, why are we HERE, in this forest?"
"Oh! See….The dude" - Dominic at this point is interrupted by Trent saying 'Umbra'- "Yeah, Umbra. He and Lumis decided to separate the 30 dudes, just to, you know, keep it interesting for them. Or was it to keep it fair?"
"So, we were all separated. Well then…we need to find the other Rangers,"-said Trent.
"Sure do! I already packed a few things. A little food, a little water, a little firewood. Figured we'd need it, you know? After all…it's gonna be a LONG hike!"-said Dominic, his eyes beaming with enthusiasm. Trent smiled. He couldn't help it. Dominic's enthusiasm was, to say the least, contagious.
Lothor and Zen-Aku were watching the two Rangers from the canopy. Lothor was planning a strategy, whilst Zen-Aku listened.
"Hrmmm, two White Rangers. Two of us, two of them. Seems like an easy fight. SEEMS. However, we need to fight them one on one, not two on two. Therefore, we wait for them to separate,"-said Lothor.
"I will defeat the Rhino kid,"-said Zen-Aku.
"How did you know his power was that of the Rhino?"-asked Lothor.
"We Orgs are demons born from the human spirit. We are the incarnation of all that is evil about mankind. Therefore, we can sense some things about them…including their animal spirit,"-said Zen-Aku.
"Wait! The heck is a spirit animal? Are Orgs Wicca?"-asked the space ninja.
"… An animal spirit is what connects a human to the flow of the earth. Someone who trains their spirit can gain strength from it. But, most humans never do. They simply ignore that side of themselves. It's why they are so weak, so deserving of destruction. Your spirit, by the way, is the Centipede. It suits you,"-replied Zen-Aku. He proceeded to observe Trent. His animal Spirit was the Falcon…but that Dino Gem held a long forgotten animal spirit. One who's powers could be called upon externally, without Pai Zhuq training. That made Trent the more dangerous one of the duo…
Trent and Dominic had been walking for nearly an hour. Dominic was feeling rather hungry. So, he placed some firewood on the ground, made a fire, and began to warm up some roots and mushrooms he had found.
"How do you know that stuff's edible?"-asked Trent.
"I used my Rhino Spirit to communicate with the plants,"-replied Dominic- "See, an animal spirit…uhh…that stuff's not easy to explain,"
Trent decided to relax a while. Bonfires always had that effect on him. He opted to glance at the Dino Gem on his wrist. It had been a week since the evil influence in the gem had been conquered.
"Wow!!! That gem, it houses an animal spirit!!"-said Dominic- "I think it's a pterodactyl!! Course, it looks a little different, like that pterodactyl from those mini dinosaur movies where the dinosaurs were named after pop stars."
"Don't even know what you're talking about. Neither the whole 'animal spirit' thing OR the dinosaur movies bit made much sense to me."-said Trent.
"I think I saw one of those movies on space cable once. It was really mediocre, and made no sense. Why did those dinosaurs even eat raisins in the first place???"-The question, courtesy of Lothor, was directed at Zen-Aku, who simply did a face palm- "Humph! Dinosaurs should serve to destroy! Not to entertain children! And they should eat MEAT!!!"
Trent heard a voice say 'meat'. He looked around. Dominic, who had also heard the voice, readied himself, forgetting that the food he had been preparing was going to burn soon if left unattended.
"You. Are. A. Moron,"-said Zen-Aku- "Next thing you'll do, you will scream out your attacks as you do them, allowing the enemy to know exactly what you are doing, where you are, and where you will attack. How can someone as foolish as you be a nin-" He stops. He senses something.
"We're leaving. I sense a great amount of darkness coming. I can sense it possesses great power,"-said Zen-Aku, whilst Lothor gave him a quizzical look. He made a hand sign, and focused. The chakra in his body began merging with the natural chakra of the forest. He saw that the forest was actually devoid of animals. With no trouble, he found what Zen-Aku sensed.
"Heh, I have an idea. Let's lure that thing to us,"-said Lothor. Zen-Aku's eyes widen (if such a thing were possible). Lothor concentrated his chakra into his index fingers, and unleashed a massive energy wave into the air. It grabbed the attention of not just the Rangers, but also of…
"FOOL!!!! You just threw away our cover! Damn it, there went our surprise attack!!!"-yelled Zen-Aku.
"No, here comes our trump card,"-Lothor replied ever so calmly.
"It's an ambush! Let's run!!!"-said Dominic. Trent followed. They ran for a while, southwards. Where, they knew not. Trent stopped, and looked at his surroundings. Realization kicked in.
"Dom…it wasn't an ambush. What kind of ambusher would be dumb enough to alert someone that they are going to be ambushed?"-said Trent. Dom thought for a minute, and slapped his own forehead.
"Awww, stupid, STUPID!!! Should have known!!!"-Dom yelled to the forest- "Awww, shoot!!! We just ran the hell out of there without thinking!!!! Man, I'm usually smarter than this!!!"
"Dom, it's morphing time. This may be a trap,"-said Trent. The two morphed. Though the fact that they had the same color did not escape them, that trivial snippet was placed aside. Priority was ensuring that, whatever trap they had fallen into, they'd be ready. They were back to back, each one facing not one, but three directions. A pair of warriors at the ready, their defense was almost like an impenetrable circle.
"No one gets inside our circle,"-said Trent.
"Dude, kinda lame,"-said Dom.
A rustle. Footsteps hit the dirt, echoing throughout the desolate forest. Closer, ever closer, it approached the two Rangers with purpose. It finally arrives, or rather, HE finally arrives.
"Dai Shi!!!"-yells out Dom.
"Ha, look at this. A pair of worm monkeys pretending to be heroes,"-said Dai Shi- "My. Had it not been for that wave, I might not have managed to turn my senses to smell this." He shows them the food Dom had been preparing earlier.
"Trent…stand back. He's MINE!"-said Dominic. He raises his Rhino blade, leaps forward…and Dai Shi slaps him aside.
"Dom!!"-yells Trent as he lunges towards the villainous fighter. Suddenly, a dark beam of light sends him and Dai Shi to another place, a large Plateau in the middle of the forest. Dom had gotten up in time to see the beam, and saw that the Plateau was actually not too far off.
Trent did not allow the shock from the teleportation to distract him from the dangerous villain in front oh him. Dai Shi assumed the Eagle Stance.
"Let me show you a particular style of Martial Arts. This is a Chimera formation, the mix of two or more Animal Martial Arts. Allow mw to show you my specialty: Eagle Style mixed with Lion!"-Dai Shi lunged toward the Dino Thunder White Ranger, his hands mimicking an eagle's claws. Trent leaps back a bit, allows Dai Shi to hit the ground, and… gets hit by a surprise palm swipe.
"Ha ha ha!!! A taste of my skill! That was a Lion Style attack! This Chimera formation is commonly referred to as the Griffin Style. Like the mighty animal of myth, it mixes the best parts of a lion and an eagle. Now…how about a more advanced demonstration?"-Dai Shi runs towards Trent, his hands mimicking a Lion's paws. Trent, without thinking, leaps into the air. Dai Shi, having expected that move, also leaps, changing the Paw formation in his hands to a Claw form, striking Trent hard while he was defenseless. Trent falls to the ground, but soon gets up. He readies his Drago Dagger, and dashes towards…the barrier's edge.
Trent uses his dagger to accumulate some energy from the barrier. Now that his dagger was emitting a dark glow, he ran towards Dai Shi, dagger in hand. He stops short, and slashes the air just a few feet away from the villain. The resulting slash sends out a wave of residual energy, which Dai Shi dodged easily by jumping upwards. However, that was when Trent summoned a slew of Laser Arrows using his Dagger, and shot them at the still air borne Dai Shi. None of them missed their target, yet Dai Shi managed to repel more than half of them. However, a few still managed to hit their mark.
"Enough!! The gloves are coming off. RINZIN!!!"- A golden energy envelopes Dai Shi, as he is then decorated with a new type of Armor with a Griffin motif- "Behold! The Rinzin, a special technique that combines the body's own chi with that of not just the animal spirit, but also from the Spirit World. Now, let's see how you handle THIS!!"
Dai Shi summons a laser discus in his hand, and throws it at Trent. Using his Dagger, Trent slashes it away, leaving him unprepared for the slew of Chi blasts that Dai Shi was launching at him. He managed to block off a few, but not all. Still standing, Trent readied his dagger for yet another assault. He leaps towards Dai Shi, and does a slash.
'Help, me…'- Trent hears a voice inside his mind. The Dino Gem allows him to see a human soul trapped within darkness, surrounded by a horrifying twelve headed dragon. He sees the young man, stretching out his hand, his eyes begging for deliverance. Suddenly, he is snapped back to reality.
"Zocato!!!"-yells Dai Shi as an aura of black energy surrounds him, knocking Trent back. Dai Shi readies a ball of concentrated chi, and fires it at Trent. The force of the blast dimorphs him.
"Now… you can join the millions of fools who have opposed me…"-Dai Shi readies another ball of chi in his hands…
Dominic had finally managed to climb up the Plateau. As he finally reached the top, he saw Dai Shi proudly standing over an almost dead Trent. Another beam of energy teleports the villain away, leaving the two Rangers alone. Dom rushes towards Trent's nearly lifeless body.
"Dom…I couldn't do it…wasn't…enough…"-he says between gasps- "My…Dino Gem…take it…he's possessed, Dom…m Dino Gem…can help him" Dom hesitates to take the Dino Gem, but complies.
"Hey Trent… hang in there buddy… I can carry ya, get some help,"-Dom said. He was trying to convince himself that he was NOT going to lose Trent.
"Dom… what's my Animal Spirit?"-asks Trent
"I think it's…A Green Falcon, why?"-replies Dom.
"Take it… take my Animal Spirit too. The gem… told me all about it…"-Said Trent. Trent began to glow in a green light, as a Green Falcon arose from his body and entered Dominic's. After the fact…Trent died. Dom hung his head in mourning.
Suddenly, Dom senses company. He looks behind him, and spots Lothor and Zen-Aku.
"Well now, here are some odds I can live with. 2 on 1...nice"-Lothor prepared a battle stance, as did Zen-Aku. Dominic's eyes were full of rage. He takes his morphed, and…
To be continued, but not on the next chapter…