Vega walked alone along the busy street. Luke would probably flip when he discovered she wasn't hiding in the dojo, but she could honestly care less. She didn't want to be cooped inside for the rest of her life. If the SPD found her she knew she could take them down. The Rangers of Aquitar had trained her well, bestowing a powerful Ninjetti known only on their home world.
She sighed, Vega wouldn't admit it, but she was worried about Luke. Rocky had tried his hardest to teach the boy the skills he needed to be a Ranger, but it just wasn't enough. He was too soft, too raw for the task at hand. He couldn't be a warrior.
There were bad men out there, very bad men. Vega felt her insides twist. Vexacus was out there. Vega felt embarrassed, she had let down her guard, assumed that his evil had been extinguished. Yet he lived again in a new body. A more powerful body. Vega knew she'd have to kill him herself. She'd make sure it was done right this time.
In the blink of an eye, everything was halted by a mass panic. Everyone around Vega began to scramble like a chicken with their heads cut off, civilians ran for cover as the enemy rushed in.
Vega drew her blade as the white monsters appeared. They were similar to what Cameron described when he arrived from his recent trip. From what he said, these monsters were very dangerous. Vega would need to play it smart.
"Ninjetti Power!" She screamed and transformed into her armor.
Ninjetti Blue slashed her blade into one of the white monsters, and as blood slapped against the ground Cameron's words echoed in her head. The more they bleed the more of them appear. Ninjetti Blue corrected her mistake by freezing a thin sheet of ice over the creature's wound.
Ninjetti Blue was so lost in the heat of the battle that the roaring motor fell dead on her ears. She continued the process of cutting and freezing, it was tiring, and the usage of the much Ninjetti was starting to weigh down on her, but the Blue Ranger kept trying. Stray limbs fell around her, but it didn't seem to be enough to stop them.
The motorcycle was in sight, Ninjetti Blue watched as it sped to the scene. It crashed into the white monsters, knocking them down as the figure dismounted and landed on his feet.
An attractive male with brown hair stood in front of Vega. Her turned to the Ranger but quickly dismissed her. "You're not an Armored Rider, are you?"
"No, just a Power Ranger."
"Power Ranger…" The boy seemed to be tasting the word on his tongue. "Anyway, let's take care of these punks." Much to Ninjetti Blue's surprise the boy drew an Advent Deck. "Ride the Dragon!" He yelled and morphed into an Armor similar to the Armored Riders.
Weapon Vent!
He armed a curved blade and charged at the monsters. He valiantly cut through them, sending stray limbs and gushes of blood. Ninjetti Blue tried her hardest to ice the monsters before they could bleed, but the warrior simply worked too fast.
"Stop!" NInjetti Blue yelled, but the armored warrior didn't seem to hear her.
The spilled blood was already beginning to form those foaming eggs Cameron had described. Ninjetti Blue armed her blade, but the warrior seemed to have things covered. He drew a card and slipped it into his gauntlets.
Attack Vent!
A rush of fire flew from the warrior's grip. It burned through with an incredible speed, reducing the enemy to dust.
"Are you an Armored Rider?" Ninjetti Blue asked the red-clad warrior.
The warrior shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint, I'm Power Rider Dragon Knight." The man powered down his armor and approached Ninjetti Blue. "I'm looking for somewhere known as Alphabet Soup. I was wondering if you could lead me in the right direction."
Vega thought back to the battle against the Machine remnants. That place had been the facility where Project Reverse was being run. It so happened that Project Reverse was run by members of Alphabet Soup.
Ninjetti Blue demorphed and looked at Dragon Knight. He seemed like someone she could trust, vaguely at least. "Yeah, I think I can help you out."
Devon stood with the rest of the Dark Ninja Legion, Beevil, Jabbar, and Shimazu. Vexacus stood in front of them, his metal body gleaming in the light. He looked over his small army, he seemed to be weighing his options. Devon didn't see why he was in charge. Vexacus was already chewing through his second life, he wasn't fit to be a leader. A true leader only needs one.
"Our Master grows tired of waiting…" Vexacus said in a dark voice. "With only one Shard left to collect we should have gotten it months ago."
"We were preoccupied." Beevil said, "There are too many Rangers, too many enemies for us."
Vexacus shot a blast of water that knocked Beevil from her feet. "The Rangers are weak!" He proclaimed in an angry voice, "We should have no problem crushing them to oblivion."
Devon was feeling agitated with the pile of scrap metal. He stood up and approached Vexacus. "What's your plan then? What does the big scary robot have in mind?"
Vexacus uttered a faint laugh. "Just you wait…"
A figure stepped in from behind the Legion. His cheesy grin seemed strange and childish, but his eyes were as black as coal. "I suppose this is where I make my grand entrance."
Devon flashed a grin. "Interesting…"
The ginger haired Dr.X darted his cold eyes towards the darkness. "You can stop hiding." He said in a flat voice.
Julie appeared from the dusk. Her eyes were awestruck and her knees shook. She fell at her master's feet. "I am here to serve you…"
"Good," Dr.X said in a flat tone. "We're going to have a lot of work ahead of us. I think it's time we took care of Dragon Knight and those Ninjetti Rangers."
Devon gazed at Dr.X for a few moment. He seemed different, there was something hidden within his eyes, a distant gleam. Devon knew that look well enough. Zoltar had touched this powerful boy. They were all his playthings now, toy soldiers spread around his game mat.
Devon was okay with that, as long as he won.
Kit followed the woman named Vega to a strange barbed wire chain-link fence. The entire perimeter of the compound was littered with warning signs, they claimed that death was certain for any that crossed the path towards the vague concrete compound. Kit supposed this was a good sign, but it still bothered him.
Kit watched as his new friend climbed nimbly over the chain-link fence. She moved with an agility Kit couldn't even begin to explain. She was like some kind of warrior princess or something. The simile caused a sudden flash inside of Kit's brain.
He watched himself playing pretend with one of his childhood friends, they were both kings from far away lands…
The image was gone and Kit was lifting himself over the fence.
The compound was a square building covered in a thick shell of concrete. Kit was struck with vague memories of this building. Nothing clear, just brief flashes as he escaped the sound of gunfire.
Kit looked to Vega. She really was a strange human, the evening sun reflected across her face, this seemed to highlight some foreign beauty inside of her. She kept looking from side to side, gazing at empty spots with a skeptical eye.
A figure approached from the building. He was an attractive man with short copper hair and an expensive suit. "Dragon Knight." The man said with a grin. "It looks like you've found a new friend."
Kit tightened his fist. "Who are you?"
The man flashed a devilish grin, "Me? I'm Richie Preston." The man drew an Advent Deck and slide it into his belt. His body flashed with golden light that transformed into his armor. The suit was mostly black with silver boots and gauntlets. The chest plate was golden and the helmet resembled a crab. "You can also call me Armored Rider Incisor."
Incisor stalked closer to the duo, but Vega didn't seem too concerned with him. She drew a thin Katana and whipped to the side. "Kit, move!" She said and jumped to the right. Her blade sparks against thin air as a humanoid figure materialized. It was a green Armored Rider with a chameleon-like appearance.
The chameleon Rider knocked the blade from Vega's grap and pushed her to the ground. He hung over her ready to strike her down. It was then that Vega did something that completely blew Kit's mind. She opened her empty palm, and her blade simply flew right into her hand. Vega then used the blade to cut into the green Rider and knock him to the ground. Vega regrouped next to Kit and the two of them armed their transformation devices.
"Ninjetti Power!"
"Ride the Dragon!"
Dragon Knight and Ninjetti Blue drew their blades as the two villains approached them. The two Armored Rider made it a few feet away from the two heroes then stopped. They then turned around to direct the heroes attention to the three new figures.
Kit felt like he starting right at the devil. The gingered haired boy riddled with ache would probably seem like a poor choice in casting, but Kit knew he fit the role to a tee. He could remember his smile, bloody and insane. Following behind Dr.X was none other than Wing Knight and Torque.
The four Armored Riders surrounded Ninjetti Blue and Dragon Knight. Dragon Knight knew this wasn't good. There was a slim chance he could defeat all four of them, but that was only if he fought with all of his strength.
"Vega!" Dr.X said in a pleased tone. "I'm glad you decided to join us. It would be a shame if the end of Dragon Knight had no witnesses."
"Four on two, way to stack the odds." Ninjetti Blue spat.
"Four?" Dr.X said with a devious grin. He quickly stepped aside, allowing someone else to become visible to Dragon Knight. The hero froze, his knees grew weak and unstable.
He stared into the cold, dead eyes of the brown haired woman and a single word slipped from his lips. "Maya…"
"That's right." Dr.X said, "We've taken your precious little Maya and turned her into a soldier."
Dragon Knight looked into Maya's once more, there was no light, no life. She was a dark husk of a human, a mere puppet. Everything had been hollowed out. Dragon Knight clenched his fists as he watched Maya reveal her own Advent Deck.
"Armored Rider." She said in a cold voice.
White armor formed around her, it was black along the legs and midsection, but contained a white chest plate and a white helmet with a metal grid the resembled curvy outstretched wings. A white cloak flowed behind her as she approached Dragon Knight. She armed her blade, but Dragon Knight couldn't move.
Reese knew something was wrong. He could feel it in the wind, a particularly icy air that seemed to drift around his frame. There was a darkness coming, and it was just across the horizon.
By the time Reese entered the Dojo everything was in disarray. Everyone was rushing around with a certain level of dread plastered on their faces. It was rather terrifying to see Rocky scared as he ran back and forth between monitors.
Jonathan approached Reese and led him through the chaos. Reese felt a little uncomfortable, normally Jonathan would have least hugged. Instead, he led the Red Ranger around with a stiff intelligence.
"What's going on, man?" Reese asked.
"Nothing good," Jonathan said with wide eyes. "Vexacus has been busy, we caught him setting explosives around the center of the city."
Reese felt a lump in his throat, "Why is he doing that?"
"I don't know," Rocky replied, he quickly turned to one of the mounted monitors and pointed towards it. "It looks like we're about to find out." The screen displayed Vexacus standing in the middle of Stone Canyon's main street. He smiled at the Rangers as if he knew they were watching him. It was a trap of sorts, anyone could figure out that. Now the Rangers had to decide how they were doing to play the hand.
"Alright." Rocky said, "I'm not going to assume where Vega went, but knowing her it was important." Rocky turned to Reese and Luke. "Both of you are going to come with me to see what Vexacus is planning." He looked to Jonathan and Cameron. "Both of you will make sure things stay safe here."
"Looks like we're the B team now," Jonathan said with a faint grin. "Is it because we aren't primary colors?"
Rocky's face didn't change, but his eyes flashed with amusement. "I have a really bad feeling about this, I'm not about to take any chances."
"Of course, you don't feel good, you're about to stroll right into a trap," Cameron said flatly.
Reese felt himself become overwhelmed with responsibility, it covered him like cold water, leaving him completely numb. "Let's go." He said in a cold tone.
"Yeah." Luke said, "Let's take Vexacus down for good."
Jonathan approached Reese before he could leave. The Navy Ranger had a strange look on his face. "Look." He managed to say. His eye were big and glossy. It took Reese a few minutes to actually realize Jonathan looked worried. "Don't die, okay?"
Reese nodded, "If you don't trust my skills, trust Rocky's."
The two kissed, it was soft and sweet, nothing worth a final goodbye if it came to that. Then the three heroes rush off, leaving Jonathan and Cameron to watch the three become smaller and smaller.
Dragon Knight was as still as a statue, he watched with wide,unsteady eyes as Maya stalked ever closer. He couldn't yet fathom the situation,it gripped his form with a powerful force,like a hand pressing into his throat, Dragon Knight couldn't breathe.
"Any plan on a counter action?"Ninjetti Blue asked she stood close by,holding her blade forward and trying to maintain her stance.
Dragon Knight didn't reply.
The white Armored Rider moved with a steady, almost mechanic pace. Ninjetti Blue sprang into action, she leaped at the Rider, firing a slew of water shuriken from her Morpher that impacted against the Rider. She seemed unaffected.
The white Rider swung her blade into Ninjetti Blue,causing her body to fly back as sparks flew from her armor.
"I programmed Armored Rider Siren with some of the most sophisticated technology at my disposal," Dr.X said with a grin.
Ninjetti Blue kept trying. When Siren swung the Blue Ranger melted into a wave of water, she then materialized behind the Rider, her golden blade ready to strike. Before the Ranger could even find time to strike Siren whipped around and attacked swiftly, knocking the Ranger back again.
Armored Rider Camo laughed, "Talk about a cat fight!"
Wing Knight was strangely silent. He watched the battle closely.
"Kit!"Ninjetti Blue yelled, "You need to help me!"Armored Rider Siren sent another wave of sparks from Blue's frame. "I don't know why you're doing this, but it's stupid! We can't win if we die!"
Dragon Knight watched as Siren continued to slam into Ninjetti Blue. He didn't know what to do, everything seemed to be falling apart at the seams. The entire universe was beginning to disintegrate under his feet.
DO SOMETHING! His body screamed with all of its force.
He knew that he needed to do something, he just didn't know what.
The three ninja approached Vexacus. The robotic warrior stood in a cocky stance, his hands folded over his chest. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Vexacus didn't seem to move a muscle, instead, he seemed to be waiting for them.
"I'm glad you decided to arrive," Vexacus said.
"What are you doing?" Rocky barked.
"Me?" Vexacus asked in a tone that parodied surprise, "I'm just following orders."
"Cut to the chase." Rocky replied, "What do you want?"
"Look around you," Vexacus said. The Rangers followed his orders, they were all shocked to discover the entire area was littered with high power explosives. They created a ring around the area, the circled continued to overlap one another as far as the Rangers could see. Only one spot remained untouched by the explosives, and Vexacus stood right outside the rim.
"These are are scattered all around us." Vexacus said, "They're triggered to detonate simultaneously the moment I step foot on the little pressure plate." He then pointed at the empty circle.
"Are you insane?" Luke asked, "That'll kill you too!"
Vexacus shrugged. "A little detail in the grand scheme of things."
"You aren't getting the Shard," Rocky said in a stern voice.
"You'll give it to me eventually." Vexacus said, "Not everyone was evacuated during Gasket's invasion. Innocent people will die."
"More people will die if you get the Shard," Rocky said in a calm voice.
Vexacus began to laugh, it was hearty and terrifying. The kind of laugh someone utters when they're in on a joke you've yet to figure out. With the showmanship of a hardened actor playing their final role, Armored Rider Abyss stepped into the circle. The bombs began to activate as the Rangers stared dumbly at the villain. "My goal wasn't to get the Shard from you, I just wanted to limit the amount of people that could stop the rest of my team."
In just a few moments everything around the Ranger's began to erupt.