Author's notes – Hey everyone, thanks again for reading! Like I said earlier, I wanted to write this story so that the geeky Rangers would all get major moments of badassedness (is that a word? It is now). So Scott, Trini and Billy get to be completely awesome today. Also, the Rangers have actually met the Troll King twice before (in two stories I haven't written yet), but for this story, they're all visibly nervous about having to deal with this guy. Now that the Troll King's actually made an appearance, you'll see why. Anyway, second-last chapter, so I hope you enjoy! :)
Chapter Six
High above us, the Phoenix Zeo zord shot into the sky, following the course programmed by Alpha and Zordon. In the cockpit, Peter and Scott gazed through the windows as the atmosphere outside grew darker and darker, before falling away completely as they reached the empty vacuum of space. In the distance was the moon, with the long curve of the Milky Way behind, but hovering directly in front of them was an enormous cog-shaped spaceship. Although it normally would've been rotating around a central array of spikes and antenna, the ship seemed motionless, but they both saw the ominous arrangement of mirrors on the satellite's roof.
"A gearship!" Peter exclaimed.
"They must've scavenged one of the gearships we destroyed and repurposed it," Scott said.
"At least we know the weapons room is in the middle," Peter added, then glanced to a monitor on the console. "According to this, there's a forcefield around the ship. Teleporting's not an option."
"So I'll have to get onboard the old fashioned way?" Scott asked. "Damn."
As the zord soared towards the gearship, Peter aimed the zord's weapons for the side of the satellite and fired. Missiles roared forth from the Phoenix and slammed into the side of the gearship, rocking the satellite and tearing open a hole in the hull. Peter nodded, but his face fell behind his visor as a squadron of quadrafighters dipped into view and began firing. The Phoenix's fuselage erupted in sparks and Peter banked the zord sharply to avoid a second wave. Once clear, he returned fire and took out two of the opposing fighters.
"We don't have time for a dogfight," Peter said. "You get the jewel. I'll deal with the quadrafighters."
Scott unbuckled his seatbelt and stumbled over to the airlock as Peter continued steering the Phoenix around incoming fire.
"Get me as close as you can," Scott called.
"If you overshoot, teleport back and try again," Peter replied.
"That thing's about to fire!" Scott said. "We don't have time to try this twice!"
Taking the zord around on a wide approach to the satellite, Peter smiled beneath his helmet. "Aren't you glad Zordon made us do all that anti-gravity combat training a few years ago?" he asked.
Scott nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Glad is the emotion I'm feeling right now."
The Green Ranger hit a panel on the wall and the airlock sealed shut behind him. Crouching down, he wrapped his arm around the bar anchored to the wall and punched the button on the other side. The outer panel flew open. There was a rush of wind for half a second as the air raced outside, and then nothing. The gear-shaped satellite was hovering in the vacuum nearby. All around were explosions, debris and quadrafighters flashing past in a wild blur. It should've been noisy; it should've been deafening, but it wasn't. It was the one thing about space Scott never got used to.
The Phoenix was only a few hundred metres away from the gearship and closing in fast. Scott held on for dear life as the Phoenix weaved around incoming fire from the attacking quadrafighters. Banking right to destroy two more jets, Peter brought the Phoenix to a dead stop. The gearship was so close, it was the only thing Scott could see in front of him. The zord held still for a second longer, and with the same legs that could vault the sides of buildings, Scott leaped out of the zord into the vacuum, straight towards the gearship. Behind him, the Phoenix shot away, the outer hatch sealing shut. All around him were quadrafighters and debris from the dogfight, while far below was the crystal blue of the Earth's atmosphere.
The quadrafighters zipping past him suddenly noticed the lone Green Ranger and turned after him in pursuit. He felt the slight tug of the Earth's gravity, but as he got closer to the gearship, he knew he'd judged the jump perfectly. Reaching the satellite, he grabbed the hull and swung himself inside through the damaged panel. Bouncing off a wall, he adjusted his aim and dived through a doorway into the next room. Catching the door, he slammed his hand against the panel he knew would be there to trigger the gearship's safety protocols. The robots were immune to the effects of a hard vacuum but their allies often weren't, and Scott let out a sigh of relief when the door sealed shut behind him and the artificial gravity switched back on.
He dropped to the ground as another door swung open and a troop of cogs ran into the room to surround him.
"Sorry boys," Scott said, "but I really don't have time for a fight."
The robotic soldiers ignored him and immediately attacked. Scott blocked a kick from the right and shattered the cog's body with a powerful punch. Striking away a second enemy, he dodged a sharp jab and threw away a third, moving forward with every step. While still trading blows, he saw the interior of the gearship had been stripped clean, letting him see all the way through to the wide chamber in the ship's centre. The roof was covered by an array of silver mirrors, angling sunlight to the console beneath where a red jewel the size of a soccer ball was plugged into the computer.
"Bingo," he said.
Clearing a path through the cogs, he charged towards the centre of the gearship. Reaching the control room, he raced over to the central console as the cogs around him turned to each other in surprise.
"Sorry guys, but this is not yours!" Scott said. He shattered the console with a punch and instantly freed the diamond.
Metallic voices echoed out behind him as alarms began to sound. "No! Stop the Green Zeo Ranger!"
Scott ignored the growing commotion and grabbed the jewel. It was a lot heavier than it looked. The mirrors above his head were glowing too brightly to look at, and he knew he had to get out of there. Turning to the cogs behind him, he gave them a mock salute.
"Later boys," he said.
Even as they fired, he was already racing back towards the hull. As the satellite's interior went up in sparks behind him, he reached for his pistol and punched a hole in the outer panel of the gearship. With one arm still clutching the diamond, he grit his teeth and took to the air, leaping back out into the vacuum just as the targeting mirrors fired. Without the diamond to focus the beam, the blast punched down through the bottom of the ship, obliterating the command room and tearing the gearship apart.
As the satellite blasted itself to pieces, Scott hurtled through the void, hoping like hell Peter had guessed his escape plan. But a giant shadow suddenly fell over him, and the Phoenix zord swooped low with the hatch on its stomach open, catching the Green Ranger before pulling up. Scott bounced against the walls as the hatch slammed shut behind him. A second later, the airlock opened above his head. He heaved the diamond up onto the floor and clambered into the zord proper, to see the Orange Ranger still in the cockpit.
"Dude, sorry!" Peter called, steering the zord through the wreckage of the gearship. "That may have been a rough pick-up, but I had to fly through the exploding spaceship. You were faster than I thought you'd be!"
Scott laughed and put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "That was awesome!" he said. "What about the quadrafighters?"
"Nuts and bolts," Peter said. "Please tell me you have the jewel?"
Scott glanced to the floor. "I just kicked my big toe against it."
"Great job," Peter replied. "Then we need to get it to Bill and Trini, fast!"
In the cockpit of my Super Zeo zord, I looked to Trini's zord. "You take care of the last titan," I said. "I'll handle the Troll King."
"But Billy…" Trini began.
"I know," I said. "But until the boys get back, we don't have many options."
"That's not what I was going to tell you."
"Well what were you going to say?"
"I love you too Billy."
I allowed myself a slight smile, then reached for my communicator and teleported down to the street, materialising on the road a second later. The four leading trolls gazed down over me with contempt, their angry sneers revealing jagged, yellow teeth. I couldn't help but notice on all sides, the lower-ranking goblins and ogres were giving us a wide-berth. Even they were reacting with fear to the appearance of their king and his elite guard. That couldn't have been a good sign.
I stood my ground and raised my fists, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
"Stand down," I said. "We are not your enemy! We can work together to fight the true threat…"
"You dare dictate a course of action to our king?!" the closest troll bellowed. The banner he was holding was trembling with his rage. "You will pay for your disrespect!"
They weren't going to listen to reason.
It's such a shame. They never do.
"Power Lance!" I called, and my lance appeared in my hands in a flash of blue light. The trolls roared defiantly and thundered towards me.
The closest troll swung his banner straight for me. I caught the spear with my lance and batted it away before carving the blade across the creature's chest, sending the troll crashing in a shower of sparks. While I was still off-balance, the second troll lunged, and I narrowly dodged an enormous fist before kicking high, slamming my boot into the creature's head and throwing him away. As I dropped to the ground, the third troll attacked, and I ducked one blow, stepped around a second and dodged a third, before a spinning back kick launched the creature through a nearby shopfront. The ground shook beneath me as the fourth and largest troll closed in, and I ducked instinctively as a punch whistled over my head. He swung again and I blocked his arm with my lance, catching him with a powerful uppercut that sent him head-over-heels to the ground.
The trolls climbed to their feet, dazed and stunned. Shadow fell, and I spun around to see the Troll King himself towering over me. I'd never been this close to him before, but the Rangers who had once told me that he was a terrifying opponent.
They had not been incorrect.
I tightened my grip on my Power Lance as the Troll King gazed down over me. He reached for his belt and unsheathed an enormous bronze sword. The blade was chipped and scarred from previous battles. I could tell instantly there was no magic in the weapon. This was a sword forged to be used, and the danger lay in the strength of the warrior wielding it.
"Please listen to me!" I urged. "This is all a misunderstanding! We didn't steal your diamond. The Machine Empire did. It's not even here on Earth. My friends are retrieving it, right now, and if you can just be patient for a minute longer, we can resolve this without the need for further violence." I swept my arms around the ruined street. "Hasn't there been enough already?"
"Enough!" roared the Troll King. "I will not listen to this a second longer! You offer me excuses? I don't care!"
Without wasting another second, the Troll King carved his blade towards me. I leaped to safety with a centimetre to spare as the blade sliced through a car that'd been behind me. I found my footing and the Troll King swung his arm, catching me with the flat of the blade and slamming me through the front of a building. With a roar of battle, the king charged after me. I took a second to clear my head before leaping out of the debris as the Troll King followed after me, swinging his sword with every step. I spun around and kicked high, but he batted away my boot and slashed his blade as I landed. I struck the weapon away with my lance and landed a rapid blow to the Troll King's stomach, but he barely noticed and lashed out with a powerful punch. I spun out of range, avoiding the blow by a second. A large piece of rubble lay on the road by his foot, and he kicked the rock straight for me. I shattered it in midair with my lance then held my ground, waiting for the follow-up blow that didn't come.
We circled each other on the street with the Troll King's army watching on. As I caught my breath, I wondered why the Troll King wasn't attacking, when I noticed the beads of sweat on his forehead. I smiled under my helmet. He was incredibly strong, certainly. But the Troll King wasn't used to fighting under the midday sun, and it was taking more out of him than he thought.
He was tiring out fast.
And I suddenly realised I stood a chance of surviving this.
Hesitating a second longer, I took to the air, leaping back towards him with a high kick. He backed away quickly as I came down, retaliating with a wide arc from his sword. I stepped around the blade, dodging a second blow then ducking a third. He carved the sword towards me and I somersaulted sideways over the blade. He roared and followed after me, raising his sword high. I held my position a fraction of a second longer than I should've, giving him an obvious target to aim for and leaping out of danger as he swung again. The move was clumsy, slow and laboured. He was losing half a second with every swing, and I continued dodging his attacks, staying a step ahead of him and letting him tire himself out. He swung high but I batted the blade away and pressed forward. Finally, he swung the blade in a wide overhead arc, but I raised my lance, braced my legs and caught the sword in a shower of sparks. With a twist of my arm, I wrenched the weapon out of his grasp and it clattered to the ground behind me. Before he could recover, I spun the lance over my head, and the Troll King found the bladed prongs a centimetre away from his throat.
I held the Troll King in place as the crowd of ogres and goblins froze in disbelief, their jeers and shouts fading away in a second.
"I understand that you're angry," I said slowly, my voice growing louder with every word. "But king or not, you will not take it out on the people of this city. Not today and not ever. Do you understand that?"
A block away on Elizabeth Street, Trini pushed her Super Zeo zord after the last remaining titan. The beast aimed high, but the zord struck away the creature's fist and landed a powerful blow to the chest, cracking the titan's rocky exterior. The beast roared and retaliated. The zord blocked the move, slamming its right fist into the beast's stomach before forcing the titan back with a powerful backhand. The creature staggered away and the zord followed after it, landing blow after blow with every step. Reaching the treasury casino, a powerful punch cracked the titan's body even further, before one final blow shattered the creature to rubble that rained down over the Brisbane River, sending waves surging up against the museum on the southern bank.
Trini turned to the street where I'd confronted the Troll King when a shadow fell over the city. She looked up to see the Zeo Phoenix soaring down out of the sky.
She reached for the radio. "Do you have the jewel?" she asked.
"I'm holding it in my hands right now," Scott's voice came through. "The ship was destroyed too, so they can't try again any time soon. Where's Bill?"
"He's down fighting the Troll King," Trini replied. "He needs you! Hurry!"
"On it," came Peter's voice. Trini watched as the Phoenix dropped between the city's buildings and touched down lightly in Post Office Square. Reaching for her wrist, she teleported out of her zord and materialised on the street as a hatch opened in the side of the Phoenix. The Orange and Green Rangers ran outside, and she saw that Scott was holding the second largest diamond she'd ever seen. The three Rangers gazed around quickly, when they saw the Troll King and I locked in a tense stand-off.
"Troll King!" Scott shouted. "We've got it! We've got the jewel!"
The three Rangers ran to my side as the Troll King looked past me. I saw his eyes widen as he glanced from the jewel to me and then back again. It felt like forever, but finally, he relaxed and stepped back. I lowered my lance and backed away.
"My diamond," he growled. The Troll King brushed past me and snatched it out of Scott's hands, stopping to retrieve his sword where it had fallen.
"Guard it carefully," I said. "The machines know you have it. They may very well try again."
Silence fell as the Troll King stepped toward his troops, and we held our breaths nervously. Finally he looked back to us, then raised his hand. "Fall back," he called. "We have what we wanted. Fall back to the quiet depths."
Without a single murmur of dissent, the Troll King's troops obeyed their leader, marching back down into the cavern they'd emerged from earlier that day. The Troll King sent one final glare our way, then shook his head.
"You're welcome," Peter called.
The Troll King sneered. "You expect gratitude?" he rumbled. "For returning to me something that was one of my possessions in the first place? That would never have been taken were it not for your conflict with these alien machines? Your ineptness staggers me! I should…"
Shadow fell as the blue and yellow Super Zeo zords took two enormous strides towards the Troll King and his remaining troops. The ground shook with their titanic steps. Towering over us, the zords crossed their arms and gazed down over the crowd. I glanced from the zords behind us to the Troll King, and watched as his expression faded.
"Whatever course of action you decide upon, good fortune with that," I said, smiling under my helmet.
"Fine," the Troll King growled, and he began making his way back towards the grotto. "Next time we meet, we'll be enemies, you surface-crawling, sunburned simpletons." Following the last of his troops, the Troll King stormed away and disappeared into the shadows as we stood watching. The city once again fell silent.
"He's a monarch for the people, really, isn't he?" Scott said, and we laughed.
"Still, the Machine Empire threat was neutralised and the subterranean invasion was halted in its tracks," I said, and gazed around my team-mates. "Excellent work friends. We did it!"
To be concluded.
