Heart of Crimson
Summary: What if Hunter wasn't the first Ranger to wear Crimson. AU for MMPR Season 2. Dairanger powers, sorta. TommyKim, JasonOC slash.
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I intend/desire to make any money off the Power Rangers/Super Sentai concepts and characters presented in this story. They are fully the property of their respective owners and are used with loving respect. Furthermore, this story utilizes concepts borrowed/adapted from Chris Claremont's run on X-Men. Certain aspects of the story are also due to my current obsession: Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger.
Chapter 11: Broken Heart
Jason rushed to Brandon's side, "Love, what is it?"
Brandon gasped with pain, but seemed to draw strength from the contact with Jason, "So much Shadow. Sudden, massive increase." Brandon straightened and smiled weakly at Jason, "I'm okay now; it was just too much to handle all at once."
"Guys!" Everyone looked up as Billy spoke, "Brandon's right, EM field disruption worldwide has spiked. Weather patterns all over the globe have gone crazy." Billy brought up a view screen showing images of dark, sinister looking clouds, already sparking with lightening gathering over Angel Grove.
Before the Rangers could even react to the sight, the Command Center alarms went off. "Aiy, aiy, aiy, Rangers! Dreaveus has appeared in downtown Angel Grove!" Alpha announced, bringing up another view screen. It showed Dreaveus, Shadow energy seeming to flow out of his every pore, and dozens of strange, humanoid creatures.
"What are those?" Trini asked.
"That's what attacked me," Jason answered.
Zordon appeared, "Rangers, Dreaveus has begun his final gambit. My sense of Zedd's power has faded to almost nothing."
Jason stepped up into his leadership role, "Okay Rangers let's end this. Billy, you got the dimensional trap?"
Billy nodded, "Affirmative."
"In that case . . .It's Morphin' Time! Red Dragon!"
"Yellow Griffin!"
"Blue Unicorn!"
"Pink Firebird!"
"Black Lion!"
"White Tiger!"
"Phoenix Henshin!"
The Rangers teleported into the downtown area . . . which already looked like a battlefield; there were overturned cars, windows broken, buildings missing pieces, and small fires everywhere. And, overhead, the sky churned. Standing in the midst of the chaos and surrounded by the Shadow creatures, was Dreaveus. "Rangers," he greeted them in his oily cold voice, "how nice of you to join me. Come, your corpses will make and excellent cornerstone for my palace as I make this the capitol of the new empire of Shadows!"
The moment Dreaveus finished speaking the Shadow warriors attacked, and from that point forward, it was all out war. The fight was nastier than anything the Rangers had ever before experienced, even when Tommy was evil. Each of the Shadows was nearly as powerful as a monster, and yet there were dozens of them, and they quickly separated the Rangers.
Jason fought with everything he had, wielding his Power Sword with more viciousness than he ever had, remembering the previous battle against one of these creatures. He tried to stay close to the others, knowing that allowing the Shadows to separate the team put them all at risk, but the numbers were too overwhelming.
Kim kept up a running battle, knowing that she was too far outclassed hand-to-hand against this many enemies with the kind of strength the Shadows possessed. Instead, she used her agility and the debris to stay ahead of the Shadows, launching arrow after arrow from her Power Bow.
Billy had almost immediately split the Power Lance in half, the Shadows coming too fast, too many, and too close for him to use the weapon at its full length. Unfortunately, he found himself not full focused on the fight, as he had to protect the sub-dimensional portal actuator strapped to his back.
Trini was a yellow blur, moving at incredible speed, trying to stay on top of the seemingly endless stream of Shadows coming at her, slashing and stabbing with her Power Daggers. She fought as she always did, with everything she had . . . but deep in her heart, she feared it wasn't going to be enough.
Zack was usually a source of non-stop commentary during a fight, but not this fight. Today, he was silent, focused, a whirling dervish of Power Axe strikes and then sudden switches to cannon mode, and then back to Axe. Maybe it was the destruction all around him, maybe it was the angry sky above, maybe it was the overwhelming numbers, or maybe it was the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Despite all of his skill, Tommy seemed to be having the hardest time against the Shadows, with his attacks seeming almost completely ineffectual. Part of his mind considered Brandon's explanation of Shadow being a byproduct of Darkness and Light. According to Zordon, Tommy's powers were based on pure Light . . . could the Shadows be feeding on that, as they tried with Jason's powers? If they were, Tommy did not hold out much hope for this fight. However, Tommy didn't know how to give up and so, as he buried Saba into another Shadow, he refocused himself.
This battle was like nothing Brandon had ever experienced. These Shadows didn't just go down like Zedd's creations. I shot from the Phoenix Avenger or a slash from its sword wasn't enough to make them dissipate, each Shadow took real effort to defeat . . . and there were so many. Brandon focused on trying to get back to Billy, to get the device that would allow him to imprison Dreaveus, as his recurrent dream and his conversation with Zordon played over and over in the back of his mind. Deep down Brandon again feared that no matter what they did someone would die today.
Dreaveus watched the battle with glee. Everything was going as planned, even though, surprisingly, the Rangers had managed to fell a few of his Shadow warriors. It didn't matter; they could be replaced easily enough. However, for now Dreaveus refrained from bringing back too many, conscious of his need to conserve his energy for the next part of his plan. He was still operating on borrowed power, channeled from the collector through the gauntlet he wore.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of patient waiting, the Shadow warriors managed to separate the Crimson Ranger far enough from his friends that there was no way they could get to him in time. Normally, Dreaveus would not have cared, but this part of the plan was too delicate, too fraught with risk to allow even a chance of the other Rangers interfering. The Shadowmancer leapt into battle.
Brandon barely caught the glint of the blade out of the corner of his eye in enough time to block with his own sword. At this range the pure Shadow energy Dreaveus was giving off made Brandon's skin crawl, even though his armor. As he and the Shadowmancer squared off, he spared a glance around . . . the others he could see were too far away to help or to get the trap device to him. The Crimson Ranger steeled himself, accepting that, despite the other Rangers' attempts to help him avoid it, today he would likely kill. If he was able to take the upper hand and get to Billy, or Billy was able to get to him, he'd go with the imprisonment plan, but that nagging feeling in the back of his mind told him that was unlikely.
The two warriors stared at each other for a moment, and the Dreaveus attacked . . . and Brandon realized he had been played. Dreaveus was beyond an expert swordsman, and his skills must have been even further enhanced by the raw power coursing through him. Brandon cursed inwardly as he came to understand that their first encounter had been a test, and during their second that Dreaveus had still not been fighting to his full ability. As the realization came crashing down, Brandon felt his guard slip. Dreaveus slipped past his defenses, switched his sword to a left-handed grip, and slammed his hand into Brandon's shield.
The Crimson Ranger screamed.
Everything stopped as a terrible scream pierced through the sounds of battle. The Rangers stopped, even the Shadow warriors stopped as all eyes turned towards the source of the scream. Gasps escaped the lips of six Rangers at the sight before them: Dreaveus, his hand bathed in Shadow, was literally reaching through Brandon's armor. Crimson fire danced around the Shadowmancer and his face was contorted with pain. Brandon struggled against the encroaching fingers, but Dreaveus did not relent. Even time itself seemed to stop until there was a blinding flash of crimson fire and Shadow. When it cleared, Brandon lay on the ground unmorphed and apparently unconscious. Dreaveus stood looking at his right hand as a triumphant smile spread across his face.
Jason was the first to respond, yelling over the communicator, "Alpha! Teleport Brandon out!"
As the teleport effect took Brandon, Dreaveus thrust his hand to the sky and the Rangers were finally able to see what the Shadowmancer was holding . . . the Phoenix amulet. With an evil laugh Dreaveus yelled, "I've won!"
To Be Concluded