Author's Note: This has been the hardest chapter to write. Read, and you'll see why. Please review. I'd love to know what people think of this. Also, in terms of combat, a cut is a stage combat term used to discribe any attack made by the edge of the blade of a sword, while a slash refers to a cut that follows through and does not stop.
Chapter Six
"Divide and Conquer"
Even though it was early in the morning, it had only taken Lord Zedd two minutes to round up everyone into the Chamber of Command and relay his findings to Jason. They stood between Zedd's throne and the balcony.
"I don't know for certain what form it takes, but I suspect it is energy," Zedd finished.
"I agree, and as of now she doesn't yet know how to control it," Jason commented. "You've done well, Lord Zedd. We can now move forward."
"Excellent!" Zedd rejoiced, squeezing his staff in mirth.
"Draw the rangers into battle," Jason commanded. "Trini will go back home to escape the confusion. I'll wait for her there."
Lord Zedd pivoted around, creeping up to his balcony. Even in his "more evil" humor, his euphoria threatened to overflow. "At last!" he sighed with raucous vibrato, blasting his supervision at specific points on Earth. "All of the rest of the rangers are in pairs, my Lord," he reported.
"Divide our forces accordingly," Jason ordered. "Split their attention. Sean should be the only one who interferes with me."
"As you command," Lord Zedd said.
"Be merciless with the others," Jason commanded, evaporating into flames.
"Scorpina, Goldar: pay a visit to dear Kimberly," Zedd ordered. "Drive Trini's friends away from her."
Both nodded. Gleaming with gleeful smiles, they vanished in orange flames.
Bringing his other hand to his staff, Zedd charged it with white lightning from his tubes. "Power Rangers, let me introduce you to the new Monarch of Evil's reign!" He announced, swinging his staff at the earth. Lightning scorched the lunar atmosphere as it raced to Earth while thunder reported throughout the Chamber.
North of Angel Grove, Billy rested along the outer wall of Tommy's house, taking in the scenery. He had just taken in a deep breath of the fresh air when Zedd's lightning struck the ground four feet from him. Warned by the heat grazing his skin, Billy jumped away into a fighting stance. In the lightning's wake stood Inciserator, a humanoid concoction of a giant termite and a misshaped human bodybuilder. Snarling through its enormous mouth, it aimed its dull silver wand at Billy.
"Greetings again, Ranger," it said, flourishing its other arm from underneath its cape.
"So the mayhem begins again," Billy said in sotto voce, recognizing the resurrected monster. Back when Katherine had stolen Kimberly's power coin, Zedd had conjured Inciserator to lure the rest of the rangers into battle so that Kimberly could be lured into a trap. Only this time Trini's the prize, Billy reminded himself. That's not going to happen today.
Back on the moon, Zedd laughed.
"Knowing our plans won't help you, Billy," Lord Zedd said, shifting his supervision back to Angel Grove. "Let's keep things interesting, shall we!" he added, looking at Rocky and Adam as they went over numbers in their office. Just then, Rocky rubbed his eyes and yawned. Like the rest of the other rangers (minus Sean) they had not gone back to sleep after their summit meeting. "Excellent," Zedd celebrated. Taking aim, he unleashed a surge of white lightning at the couple.
"So we have thirty students testing for Red belt, and sixteen trying out for their first Black Belt," Adam recited to Rocky, looking over the list on his clipboard. "Nice turnout."
"I agree," Rocky responded, checking his Excel spreadsheet. "Yep, that looks about right. Oh, we're missing a name with the black belts. Would you read out the ones you have?"
"Sure. Aaro—"
Before they felt anything, two white lightning bolts caught and engulfed them into nothing. The clipboard dropped to the floor, almost tap dancing before resting on its back.
"Now the fun begins," Zedd commented, almost laughing. "I'll set them down in the park for you, Rita." Pointing his staff, he fired lighting from it once more.
Beside him, Rita Repulsa grinned, peering through her telescope. "Fantastic," she purred, removing her eye from the eyepiece. Pointing her staff at the earth, she fired a red-orange beam at it. "They're gonna hate this!" she screamed with glee.
"Whoa!" Rocky yelled falling onto his bottom, and rolling onto his side.
"You okay," Adam asked.
"Yeah, just lost my footing—and apparently my chair," Rocky smirked.
The two got to their feet. Rocky looked around. They were standing on a small grass covered hill with a single tree at the top of it. Before them was a meadow. No one else was in sight. "The park?" he asked. "I don't like this. It's not even 8:00."
"Agreed. Look out!" Adam cried, pointing at Rita's beam fifteen feet in front of them.
An enormous humanoid Skunk, dressed in Marine combat attire appeared before them. "Care for a change in stench?" it asked in a high, jovial manner.
"This… stinks," Rocky spat out slowly, cursing the cliché and Rita's sick sense of humor.
"Though it's appropriate," Adam half-joked.
"I'm not in the mood for jokes," Rocky said, his face set with annoyance.
"Neither am I," Adam agreed.
In unison, they pulled out their morphers and cried: "It's Morphin' Time!" Red and black energy beams danced along their respective bodies.
"Frog Ninjetti Power!"
Ape Ninjetti Power!"
The Black and Red Rangers faced off against The Skunk.
Meanwhile Billy kept his composure, staring into Inciserator's enormous eyes. Neither had moved.
"I'll enjoy eating you!" Inciserator announced with glee.
"Not this time, Inciserator!" Billy retorted, slightly surprising himself by remembering the monster's name. Without pausing, he pushed out his hand, sending out a shove of telekinetic energy at Inciserator.
"Not today, ranger!" Inciserator cried out with a laugh, holding its wand in front of its face. A cylindrical cerulean force field flashed into visibility, refracting Billy's invisible energy. It vanished instantly as Inciserator lowered its wand. "Did you think you'd surprise me with that trick?!"
Billy smirked. "Not in the slightest," he said, clasping his morpher underneath his belt. "Just testing you. It's Morphin Time! Wolf Ninjetti power!" And he morphed.
"You don't scare me, ranger!" Inciserator barked.
"I'm not one for intimidation," Billy retorted calmly. "Power Lance!" he added, pulling out his lance from behind is belt. He swung at Inciserator's wand. Inciserator parried it back with a grunt and advanced.
Back in Angel Grove Park, Rocky and Adam still stood locked in a standoff against the Skunk, none of them making a move.
Fascinating, Adam thought to himself. Since when did Rita's monsters hold off on attacking?
To his right, however, irritation burned within Rocky. The sight of the monster had conjured the image of Trini's violated body, her mangled mind. Rocky drove his fingertips into his palms, trying to calm himself but to no avail. All he remembered was that justice (or was it vengeance?) needed to be sought after. But that could not happen. He was a protector, not a soldier. The impossibility of their situation had forbidden him to take such action, but with a monster in their mitts (especially from Jason's empire), Rocky felt the urge to unleash his frustration on it. However, he also battled to keep his wits. The last thing any of them needed was one of them going out on a vendetta. As a red ranger, he had a responsibility to his teammates first and then to his wishes. His friends came first—always did.
Unfortunately, the Skunk was not in a hurry. It stood in front of them, scratching its nose with its claws.
Out of the corner of their eyes, Rocky and Adam peered at each other, both wondering the same thing. Rocky looked back at it first.
"So what's your first move, you overgrown rodent!" Rocky challenged, a bit fiercer than he had intended.
In answer, The Skunk lifted its paws above its left shoulder with about five inches between them. At once, a projectile device solidified into existence out of greenish-yellow smoke.
"Wait; is that—" Rocky began.
"A bazooka?" Adam finished, his heartbeat quickening. "Move!"
The two ran in opposite directions. However, before they had taken their third step, The Skunk shot two yellow missile-shaped energy projectiles simultaneously. Crashing into Rocky and Adam's chests, they exploded in a blast of fire and smoke.
Rocky and Adam slammed into each other's backs, tumbling downhill toward the monster.
For a minute, Adam forgot he had legs. "Man, that hurt!" he squeezed out of his mouth, pressing his hand to his chest, feeling the rest of his body. A black char mark ringed with sparse flame now stained his suit. He patted the flames out. "Rocky… you alive?" he added.
"Unfortunately," Rocky grunted, rising to his knees.
Adam cracked a smile and then grimaced as he breathed in too deeply. Good, he thought, rolling onto his side. He dug his toes into the ground as he got to his knees. Man, that felt like Maligore slapped me! An image he did not want to see again. When he had been struck down by Maligore on Muiranthius, he had thought that Maligore was going to eat him.
Meanwhile the Skunk was hooting with laughter.
Rocky shook his head and glared at The Skunk. "Okay, this skunk's hand it!" he grunted, dropping to a knee.
"Can't even stand, can you!" the Skunk chuckled.
Rocky cracked a grin and uttered a shallow chuckle. "You wish," he said, standing. "Follow my lead," he whispered to Adam.
"You got it." Adam nodded. Pulling out his Power Sword, he charged at The Skunk.
Meanwhile Billy cut at Inciserator's head and then slashed at its middle. The monster parried both attacks and reposted.
Slash. Parry. Advance. Repost. Kick. Punch. Cut. Duck. Swing. Dodge. Slash. Parry. The battle went back and forth, neither gaining the upper hand.
This guy's better than last time, Billy admitted. He's got to have a weakness.
But just then, Inciserator rammed its fist into Billy's lance. Billy stammered backward, finding his balance.
"You couldn't defeat me last time," Inciserator growled, seizing the opportunity by swinging its mace-like wand into Billy's chest, sending him backward, "What makes you think you can this time?" He swung around, heaving its wand horizontally at Billy.
Acting on instinct, Billy dug his lance into the ground behind him with one hand, and caught Inciserator's wand with his other.
"Hope, you pathetic insect!"
Roaring, Inciserator unleashed five tight purple energy beams from its wand, two hitting Billy's biceps while the others drilled into his chest.
Groaning, Billy rolled backward but pulled Inciserator with him, snatching his blade blaster out of his holster, and ramming the blade into Inciserator's stomach.
Inciserator opened his mouth in a pained exhalation of breath and then clamped its jaws around Billy's right shoulder, missing his head.
Billy stiffened his scream. The teeth had not penetrated his suit, but nevertheless hurt. Grinding his own, he focused on his intent and teleported ten feet behind Inciserator.
Having lost its foundation, the monster crumpled to the ground but instead of exploding, it merely groaned.
"That's not good," Billy noted, glancing at his blade blaster.
"You're not winning this round that easily, Blue Ranger!" Zedd yelled, aiming his staff at Inciserator. "Arise with new strength, Inciserator!" he instructed while shooting lightning at it.
Back on Earth, Billy stammered to his feet, sucking in deep breaths. Just when he was raising his eyes at the monster, Zedd's lightning hit it. For a split instant, Billy thought that it was going to grow, but instead it merely rose to its feet, its wound healed.
I'm going to need a bigger blade, Billy thought, squeezing his weapons' handles. Meanwhile, the monster turned at him, glaring.
Roaring, Inciserator shot out four enormous purple eye blasts. The force of them hurled Billy backward in a shower of sparks. Despite the impact, Billy used the moment to springboard to his feet. Snarling, Inciserator charged at Billy with new rage and focus, swinging its wand and free fist in random intervals, using its cape to add confusion. Billy scampered backward, studying his opponent for an opening. In the confusion, Inciserator slapped its wand at Billy's blade blaster hand. At the last second, Billy moved to parried it, but Inciserator let go and sank his fists into Billy's hips. Billy flew backward several feet, slamming into Tommy's house, but not hard enough to pierce the wood.
His vision spinning from having the wind knocked out of him, Billy tapped Tommy's button on his communicator without looking at it. "Tommy, I need help—Ahh!"
Inciserator pelted him with a shower of purple energy bolts from its wand. "By the time he gets here, you'll be dead!" he snickered with a growl.
"Then I guess I'm early," Tommy's voice responded from the sidelines.
"Huh?" Inciserator spat, turning in the direction of the voice, halting his attack.
Tommy was at the front door, dressed in a light maroon suit with a briefcase in one hand, glaring at the monster. Anger steamed from his pores. "I thought I smelled something disgusting," he commented. "You alright, Billy?"
"I've been worse and better," Billy responded, getting to his feet with a few grunts.
Tommy tightened his glare at Inciserator. "You shouldn't have done that," he warned.
"Oh, I'm shaking. I came to fight!" the monster barked back.
"You'll regret those words," Tommy dictated, ice narrowing his glare. "It's morphin' time. Falcon Ninjetti Power!"
He morphed with Saba already in his right hand. "Ready for a fight, Saba?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of Inciserator.
"Always," replied the enchanted saber. "And might I say, it feels good to be active again."
"Feeling's mutual," Tommy replied.
"Blah! Blah! Blah!" Inciserator chanted mockingly, advancing toward Tommy.
However, Tommy was faster. Having already leapt into the air, he front flipped, and slashed Saba's blade across Inciserator's middle before it was ready to attack.
It staggered backward, groping at its chest. "Good… shot." It admitted.
"Not finished," Tommy said. Flicking his wrist over, Saba unleashed twin ruby eye beams at Inciserator's chest. Inciserator staggered backward under the force of it, yelling as sparks erupted from its core. Tommy advanced, spun on the spot, and slashed across Inciserator's middle again, white electricity crackling along its skin. "Told you."
Screaming, the monster disintegrated.
Tommy turned his back on the debris. "Thank you, Saba," he said, sheathing the saber.
"You're welcome," Saba replied.
"Seems like you remembered your powers well," Billy said, walking toward Tommy.
"Kinda hard to forget," Tommy responded. "And I was a bit angry."
"Really?" Billy joked. "I couldn't tell."
"We need to get moving. Kimberly just called me, saying that Trini, Zack, and Sean are doing some sort of Power ritual to reenergize themselves and that Zedd might take advantage of it."
"I have no doubt he already has if he sent Inciserator to keep us busy."
"She couldn't get hold of Rocky or Adam. They might be in trouble."
Billy nodded. "Agreed. You teleport to Kimberly's and I'll help Rocky and Adam."
"Be careful," Tommy said. He was just about to teleport when three lightning bolts slammed into both of them, ramming them into the ground.
"I guess Zedd doesn't want us to go," Billy moaned, massaging his chest. "It's a good thing you've got that shield."
Tommy uttered a chuckle. "I wish it could deflect sometimes," he coughed.
"You'll need more than that shield to deal with me, Tommy," Zedd snarled.
Billy and Tommy darted their eyes in front of them, Tommy's wide open in shock while Billy relaxed his. Lord Zedd was twelve yards away, marching with staff in hand.
"I didn't wait all these years to exact revenge just so you could weasel out of it!" Zedd growled.
"This could be a problem," Tommy said.
Meanwhile, back in Angel Grove, Rocky swung his sword at the Skunk. To his surprise, the Skunk blocked it again with its forearm, unscathed and kicked Rocky backward. Taking aim, it fired again at both of them.
Rocky rolled sideways out of the way of the energy missile. Adam jumped over his.
"Missed us!" Rocky gloated, charging forward while rising to his feet.
"Curse you!" the monster yelled.
"Curse this!" Rocky yelled, channeling his weight in an overhead sword cut, cracking The Skunk's bazooka in half.
"NO!!" The Skunk screamed in horror, hopping backward.
"That's that," Rocky commented, smirking.
"How DARE YOU!!!" the monster shrieked.
"No, Skunk," Adam said, holding his axe in cannon mode, aiming at the monster. (Hearing Adam behind him, Rocky moved to the side.) "How dare you and your master!" Channeling his outrage and frustration, he yelled and fired. The bright magenta energy beams from the cannon's mouth pierced the monster's fur, sparks exploding from its chest where its heart should be. It staggered backward two yards.
Smiling at the well placed shot, Rocky back flipped to Adam's side, and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Nice shot, Adam," he said.
"Hold on," Adam said, his quiet voice charged with worry. "Look." He pointed at the monster.
Rocky turned his gaze. "Huh?"
The monster was still standing. Snarling with irritation, and wreathed with the smoke from Adam's attack, it glared at both of them.
"Well, I've never used the cannon on my axe before," Adam confessed. "Looks like Rita made this monster specifically for us."
"That's right!" it snarled, creeping toward them, craws raised. "Now do you understand why your sword slashes have been useless, Red Ranger?!" Fury blazed from the monster. Without waiting for a comeback, it bent forward from the waist, spraying them with yellowish liquid from its tail.
Rocky and Adam bounced out of the way, but not before their weapons, gloves, and parts of their fronts were drenched. Immediately, their weapons and gloves began smoking, their skin sizzling underneath their gloves.
"Ahh!" Rocky yelled, dropping his sword and taking off both of his gloves. "That burns!"
The monster roared again, firing a yellow energy missile from each hand at the rangers. Distracted by the acid spray, the missiles exploded upon their chests, right where the spray had hit them. They screamed even louder than the last time they were hit.
"Adam, any ideas?" Rocky asked.
"Not right now," Adam said, spotting small holes in his suit. This is not good. He looked at the monster.
"And I'm just getting started!" it snarled.
"Blade blasters?" Adam suggested.
"You're on," Rocky answered, unsheathing his in blaster mode. Taking aim, he fired a few shots.
The Skunk blocked its face with its hands, snarling afterwards.
Picking up on the silent cue, Adam pulled out his blade blaster, switched it to blaster mode, and fired a continuous black beam at the monster. Rocky followed suit.
Three dilemmas and no time to think, analyzed the Blue Ranger.
Billy shoved himself to his feet, stepping in front of his friend.
"Tommy, get going," he ordered. "Leave Zedd to me."
Tommy regarded Billy. "Are you sure?" We should stay a team; we're spread too thin as it is, he thought in a heartbeat.
"I can deal with Zedd," Billy said, his voice soaked in seriousness.
Surprise and apprehension leapt into Tommy, griping him with uncertainty. Too much was at stake here.
"Tommy," Billy emphasized. "Jason isn't playing games today. He'll kill all of us to get to Trini."
"So will I!" Zedd said, seething with murder as he charged his staff once more. Swinging it forward almost like a hammer, he shot forth another barrage of lightning bolts. They rammed into both rangers, knocking them to their knees. Flipping his staff to his other side, he charged it with shimmering ruby energy from his tubes and stabbed the Z forward, as if impaling the air before him. Streams of fire blasted Billy and Tommy, smashing them backward into the ground.
"Billy, you can't take this guy alone," Tommy said, getting to his knees again.
"Yes, I can! In the name of the Wolf, GO!" Billy yelled, pointing at Tommy without turning away from Zedd.
All of a sudden, blue electricity crackled around Tommy's torso and then spread over his entire body. "Billy, don't do this. We can't lose y—!" But he had teleported away as a white column before his sentence was complete.
We can't lose you either, Billy thought.
"Brave move, Ranger," Zedd chuckled. "You fared well against Inciserator. Shall we see what else you've learned from Sean these past nine years?
"Closer to eight and a half, actually," Billy said, raising his lance into a middle guard. "Just bring it, Zedd."
Lord Zedd regarded him for a handful of seconds, letting the silence engulf the area.
If this had been Billy's first year as a ranger, he would have been fighting with his decision, but he stood poised and clear-minded, trusting in his friends and himself. This was right. If he could keep Zedd focused on him, then the others would not be in as much danger. Unfortunately, Rita and Jason were still free, but that could not be helped. Swatting away any other worries or responsibilities, Billy opened himself to this moment, seeing the full picture of this universe. Everything else was irrelevant.
Zedd lifted a finger, pointing at Billy's heart.
Anticipating a second and a half before it was fully lifted, Billy sidestepped out of the way as a tiny lightning bolt sizzled past him, scathing a tree. Sean had used similar ones to test Billy's reaction time. Aiming with his finger, Billy shot two ninja ranger energy beams at Zedd. Zedd swapped them away like nats. In the split second opening, Billy spun his lance overhead and swung it down at Zedd's exposed brain. Zedd intersected it with his staff at the last second, pulling it towards him so that Billy could almost feel his breath.
"This isn't a game, Billy," he growled.
Prepared for this, Billy pulled Zedd's staff upward telekinetically (Zedd caught it after a few inches but it was all the time Billy needed.) While Zedd was distracted, Billy lodged the bar of his lance into Zedd's unguarded hip, ran forward and slammed Zedd into the side of Tommy's house. Upon hitting the wall, Zedd dug his feet into the ground and roared, unleashing a cannon blast of fire and lightning from his chest at Billy. Billy flew backward, landing in a crouch. He drew in a deep breath.
Those first attacks took more out of me than I thought, he commented. Or maybe it's the planet. He still had to remind himself that this was not Aquitar.
"Glad to see you have some fight left in you, Blue Ranger," Zedd said. "Come on!"
Billy tightened his fingers around his lance, studying Zedd's defenses. I don't see any openings now, but I'd better attack first before he does. He charged at Zedd, silent in his courage.
Meanwhile, across the state, Kimberly dodged Goldar's overhead sword cut and missed Scorpina's claw strike to her face by inches through chance on her part. Kimberly jumped backward a couple of yards, unsheathing her blade/blaster, keeping it in dagger form. Okay, I just have to keep between them and the house, Kimberly reminded herself, holding her blade/blaster up. She had always been better with her bow and arrow but since Goldar had knocked it out of her hands across the yard, she could not break her ground to retrieve it. But there's nothing stopping them from teleporting inside. Why haven't they? she added, curiosity sparking inside her.
"Where are your friends that have abandoned you, Pink Ranger?" Goldar snickered as Scorpina strolled to his side.
"You seriously underestimate your chances of defeating us on your own," Scorpina added, smirking as she caressed Goldar's chest with her armored arm.
"You two haven't been so tough," Kimberly bluffed.
Sneering, Scorpina unleashed a fire stream from her armored hand as Goldar sent a slew of fiery eye blasts at Kimberly. The attacks slammed into Kimberly's upper right chest and shoulder, knocking her to the ground. She gasped, her skin sizzling underneath her suit.
My shield didn't come up! How do I summon it?
She had been trying throughout the fight to conjure it but nothing had worked. She did not know the trigger that had caused it last night.
"You were saying?" Scorpina asked. To be honest, they had been taking it easy with Kimberly. The two of them had been sent there to draw Sean and Zack into battle but Kimberly had refused to call them.
Unfortunately, she was running out of options. If help did not arrive soon, she would have to call one of them. She knew that she could not defeat Scorpina and Goldar on her own.
"I think it's time we show this ranger we mean business," Scorpina suggested.
Great, Kimberly sighed disapprovingly.
"I've waited too long for revenge," Goldar said, his blade igniting with white fire, "Either your friends come now, or you die." And he hurled the flames at her.
Snarling underneath her helmet, Kimberly executed a perfect backwards shoulder roll on her left shoulder, and stood.
"Try again, goldilocks!" she challenged, determination blazing in her eyes, though her foes could not see it. With or without her Special power, she was not a pushover.
Goldar growled in approval. "I'd rather kill you in battle anyway!" he growled, advancing at her.
Just then, Tommy materialized on Kimberly's left-hand side.
Goldar halted, leering at Tommy. The years of hatred and frustration at Tommy boiled into a glare of silent deadly rage. Though he had once vowed to destroy Jason years ago, his continued defeats at Tommy had kindled deeper resentment at the white ranger than he had ever thought possible. When Jason had resurrected him, they had spent hours of training, learning to harness their anger into focused adrenaline. It was only with that focus that Goldar did not seize Tommy's head and tear it off.
"Tommy, thank goodness you're here," Kimberly gasped. "Things were just about to get nasty over here."
Tommy looked around. "Hey, Kim," he gasped, "We gotta make this quick. Billy's fighting Zedd by himself. We need to get back there and help him."
"Alone?!" Kimberly screamed.
Scorpina and Goldar cocked their eyebrows up in interest. So Zedd never had a backup monster, Scorpina thought. Impressive.
"Yeah. Which means Rocky and Adam are still on their own with whatever's attacking them."
"Enough chatter!" shrieked Scorpina. "You're business is with us."
"Like we could forget that," Tommy said sarcastically.
"Scorpina, leave the White Ranger to me!" growled Goldar, glaring into the White Ranger's visor.
"No problem," Scorpina answered, aware of her husband's feelings. She leered at Kimberly. "Let's see you block this," she added, sliding her other hand over her sword, white energy covering the blade.
Goldar approached Tommy, sword raised. "We have a score to settle, don't we?" he invited.
"We do," Tommy accepted, unsheathing Saba again.
Feet away from him, Kimberly neither gulped nor gaped but stared into Scorpina's eyes. Fear no longer gripped her. Perhaps it was Tommy's appearance or the knowledge that all of her friends were in danger. Either way, she could not be weak and timid anymore. She was going to protect her friends no matter what. It was the same now as it had been last night. I can do this, she chanted, strength flowing through her once more.
"Get out of my way!" Scorpina yelled, throwing her boomerang sword at Kimberly.
Kimberly raised her unarmed arm and swatted Scorpina's sword away as a minute, translucent, pink energy shield sprouting from the back of her forearm, protecting it further. "NO!" Kimberly yelled in defiance.
Instead of going back to Scorpina, the sword sailed into Goldar's feet, tripping him right before he was about to strike. He caught himself at his knees.
"Scorpina, what happened?" he growled, glancing at his feet but already knew what had happed.
"It was her!" Scorpina exclaimed, catching her sword.
"Hey, Scorpina," Kimberly called from the side.
Scorpina whirled around to see Kimberly aiming an arrow at Scorpina's neck. She was no more than ten feet away.
"I think you better leave before things get worse here!" she demanded. She had found the trigger to her power: her devotion to protect her friends. Perseverance poured into Kimberly's hope, grounding her resolve. I may have failed last night, but I won't today! "If you think you can come back into our lives after these years and wreck them, think again!" she screamed.
"Take your shot!" Scorpina retorted with a smirk, raising her sword to a high guard.
To Kimberly, Scorpina looked more like a scorpion poised to strike then she had seen before. She slapped her fear away, gripping her perseverance. Stay strong, Kim, she thought. Stay strong.
Meanwhile, Tommy closed in on Goldar, his sword arm already cocked to knock Goldar out with Saba's hilt.
However, the golden warrior parried and frosmaed Saba with his own sword, rising to his feet. "This battle's not over," he declared.
"So it seems," Tommy agreed.
They clashed swords, Goldar attacking with a fusion of saber style fencing and broadsword attacks while Tommy used a single sword kendo style, neither relinquishing ground. Goldar attacked with rage behind each of his attacks but guided each one with diligence and patience, resulting in devastatingly powerful blows. At more than once, Tommy resorted to using both hands to steady Saba.
Whoa! Tommy thought, surprised. He had forgotten how strong Goldar's attacks were. Had he been human, Goldar would have made a terrific Viking. This isn't going to be easy.
Seeing an opening, Goldar kicked Tommy to his knees, stepped forward, and swung his sword in a two-handed, overhead cut. Tommy dropped to one knee, digging into the ground with his foot and shin, and intercepted Goldar's attack with Saba, reinforcing be enchanted saber with both hands. Grunting, he pushed back, stepping forward and up with his back leg, pushing his face into Goldar's. Their crossed blades gnashed each other inches beside their heads.
Goldar growled, pressing his sword into Saba. Tommy did not yield.
On the other side of the yard, Kimberly shot at Scorpina. With strictest accuracy, Scorpina smacked it away a foot from her body, stepped forward, and slashed at Kimberly's middle. Kimberly brought in her bow closer to her chest, braced the bottom with her free hand, and parried Scorpina's sword with the top of her bow.
"You're not getting in there," Kimberly said.
"So what?" Scorpina asked, cutting again and again.
Kimberly parried each attack with accuracy. She then tilted her hands and drove the top end of her bow toward Scorpina's middle.
The half armored warrior jumped out of the way, swatting it with the edge of her sword.
"Perhaps you're not as rusted as I thought," Scorpina thought.
Kimberly spun around, and drove the bottom of her bow at Scorpina, and then, flicking her bottom wrist, slashed with the top end at Scorpina's side.
Scorpina dodged it, growling.
I'm sick of this dance! she thought. Screaming, she slashed with the talon on the back of her armored hand at Kimberly, following through with a punch from her other hand, and then shoving her knee into Kimberly's stomach. Spinning around, she slammed her sword-wielding fist into Kimberly's temple with all of her might.
Kimberly tumbled onto the ground with a grunt.
Up on the moon, Rita peered through her telescope at each battle. The Skunk was doing well against Rocky and Adam, but Goldar and Scorpina were not making much headway with Tommy and Kimberly. To her dissatisfaction Billy was holding his own against Zedd; though she wasn't surprised since Billy had received eight years of training from Sean, something that many fighters in the universe would beg for.
Rita withdrew from her telescope. As it stood, each battle was at a stalemate. She had to do something to draw out Sean and Zack so that Trini would be alone.
Just then, an idea leapt into her mind, but she hesitated. She could make any of Jason's forces grow with her wand which would force the rangers into a Zord battle. Without Trini, the rangers could not form the Ninja MegaFalconzord or the Shogan Megazord! If she just made Goldar, Scorpina, and The Skunk grow, then perhaps Zedd could provide enough leverage for Trini to leave.
However, she had had enough time to reflect that whenever she altered plans to gain an upper hand, they usually failed. Her warriors would be outnumbered six or seven zords to three.
Suddenly, an epiphany sparked in her mind.
"Finster!" she shouted. "I need a batch of Tengas, pronto!" She'll hold off on a zord battle until later.
Back on Earth, Zedd double parried the twin side cuts from Billy's lance with his staff, and then slammed the bar of his staff down onto Billy's right shoulder.
Billy groaned, sinking into the ground, but then dug his heals and toes into the earth, and pushed up, using the momentum to fuel his next chain of attacks. In a blue blur, he smacked Zedd's staff upward with his lance, twisted his wrists, and slammed the end of his lance into Zedd's exposed left underarm; stepped back, and swung the other end of his lance forward, slashing at Zedd's now exposed chest before Zedd brought his staff down for a vertical parry. The so-called Lord-over-all-he-saw fell backward onto his back. Stepping forward, Billy kicked Zedd's staff out of his hand and out of reach.
"Had enough, Zedd?" Billy asked, after whirling his lance around and shoving one of the trident-like edges into Zedd's neck, without piercing the skin, and holding it there.
"Not in the slightest," Zedd declared.
That's a shame for you, Billy thought.
Back at Kimberly's place, Kimberly rolled through her fall and spun up to her feet. Glaring back into Scorpina's evil eyes, she held her ground, her bow lifted like a staff before her.
"You're not getting her, Scorpina," Kimberly said. "Besides, even if you do get past me, you've got three other rangers between you and her. Not good odds, I'd say."
"We'll see." Scorpina uttered, her jaw twitching with agitation. Pests!
She was just about to attack Kimberly when ten purple and black energy streams surrounded by a flock of black feathers drifted to the ground, materializing into Tengas.
Even after all of these years, Kimberly had not forgotten how the Tengas teleported. She backed up, changing her ready stance, gazing around her.
"Well, well," Scorpina said smirking, "What are you going to do now?"
Tommy shoved Goldar away, noticing the tengas' arrival. Great, he thought, ramming his fists together. This is not what we need now! Anger began boiling within him again.
Meanwhile, Billy stared into Lord Zedd's visor. Though his face was masked, Billy could tell Zedd was not joking when he had said he was not through. On the contrary, his tone worried Billy. Zedd had proven to be devious in the past and it would be foolish of Billy to think that he had won. Zedd was too relaxed.
"You know," Zedd commented as if he was having tea with Billy instead seconds away from death. "I've actually enjoyed our little battle. It's a shame you think you're going to win." He vanished with sweeping imploding lightning from his hands and feet to his head. Zedd's staff vanished also.
Not missing a beat, Billy swung his lance around into a high guard and shifted his front stance into a back stance already darting his head around to catch a glimpse of Zedd. However within half a second of vanishing, Zedd materialized almost instantly with expanding lightning four feet in front of Billy, aiming his staff at the blue ranger. Without hesitating, he fired two short lightning bursts at Billy. Almost without thinking, Billy stuck his lance vertically in the ground and crouched behind it. The lance absorbed and dispersed the lightning throughout the ground, not harming Billy at all.
Not wasting a second, Billy telekinetically swept Zedd up into the air and hurled him backward. Unleashing an earth quaking roar, Zedd threw his arms and legs out, stopping himself in midair.
Billy narrowed his eyes at this. Though he had anticipated this, the awe tingling down his spine was unexpected. This battle had been one of his toughest yet.
I have to admit, he observed, Zedd is giving his all with this battle, and he's fighting honorably. However, I'm going to need at least the Power Cannon to neutralize this guy, he added, the reality of the situation crawling back to him. He embraced it and washed doubt from his mind. I must continue.
"I'm more powerful than you realized, Ranger," he said, lowering himself to where he was when Billy had levitated him. "There's a reason my power is unmatched by many in the Universe."
"So I see," Billy responded, keeping his voice cool. "But words don't win battles."
Not waiting for a response, Billy stepped around the lance and aimed a kick at Zedd's side. Zedd pushed it away with his staff. Billy got into Zedd's face and began punching him, flowing into different hand to hand attacks. Zedd dropped his staff, seized Billy by the shoulders, and hurled him into a pair of nearby trees. Before Billy had landed after slamming into the trees, Zedd was already firing electrical bursts from his hands at him.
Billy groaned as they hit various pressure points.
Without pausing, Zedd charged his hands with five waves of shimmering ruby energy. Before Billy could get his bearings, Zedd unleashed four-inch-wide lightning streams from his palms at Billy, tentacles of lightning slithering up and down the Blue Ranger's body. Sparks, steam, and smoke erupted across his suit.
His discipline snapped, Billy screamed.
Zedd kept pouring ruby energy into his hands, continuing the lightning barrage. After half a minute he stopped.
Billy's ranger outfit shattered. However, Billy did not even register it. Fog enraptured Billy's mind, stunning it beyond confusion. Billy could do nothing. Thought was impossible. He could not even remember what he was doing. Plus, almost all of his muscles were numb from the overflow of energy shot throughout his body.
"I grow weary of this affair," Zedd said, picking up his staff. He walked over to Billy, kicking the ranger onto his back.
Billy barely felt it, hardly aware that Lord Zedd was standing over him.
"The best way to get you out of our way is to kill you now!" Lord Zedd added. Lifting his staff, he aimed the blade on the bottom of it at Billy's heart. "Good-bye, Blue Ranger."
Blue Ranger…? What? Billy thought, his head weighing both a ton and an ounce at the same time. The Wolf howled from a distance within Billy's mind. Billy barely heard it. Wait… Me. Zedd! No! Feeling returned into his neck and face. Mustering his will, he focused it.
Zedd stabbed downward and missed, his hands sliding in an arch. The blade pierced the ground at Billy's side!
"What!" Zedd shouted, glowing red. "How dare you!?"
Sean… help…, Billy whispered in his thoughts, his eyes drifting shut as he sank toward unconsciousness. Gotta… survive…
"You'll regret that in the afterlife!" Zedd shouted, lifting his staff again, this time, aiming for Billy's neck.
Got to … focus, Billy chanted, pushing upward against Zedd's staff. Need—Sean, Ninjetti… guide me…
He teleported away as a column of blue energy just as Zedd was about to strike, his mind barely conscious.
Zedd seethed in disappointment. "Strong willed, that ranger is," he said. "Fate always seems to be on their side. He won't get far! My Lord, Billy has been neutralized for now."
"Excellent work," Jason responded. "Now make the monsters grow. Force the rest of the rangers into battle."
"It will be done," Zedd answered, bowing his head. He vanished immediately.