Quick to the Trigger
2nd Trigger: Piece of Me
"There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle."
-Deepak Chopra
April 25th, 2012
9:45 AM (Grace's Books – Cash Register)
SplitxEnd: There couldn't have been a necromancer when there were only two witnesses with neither of them knowing the dark arts. It's not possible that the dead suddenly got up and walked off without anyone noticing...
"Then they have never seen anyone being pulled out of the Advent Void," Kit noted, pointing to the last five letters in the message.
Maya shushed him as she scrolled down, reading the second message presented to her on her laptop.
SplitxEnd: Swan, could you do me a big favor? I have to go to bed soon, but I need anything you know about the Western Zodiac and how it relates to Ophiuchus. I think I have a breakthrough, but I need a bit more evidence before I can press on with my theory. Thanks.
"The Western Zodiac?" asked Maya. "How would that relate to reviving someone? I don't recall any necromancer using the stars as a conduit for their magic."
"That's what we're supposed to find out," Kit answered. "But wait, who's this 'Ophiuchus' that this person's talking about?"
"Well, according to most astrologers, Ophiuchus is said to be the 13th member of the Zodiac, situated between Scorpio and Sagittarius." Maya pulled out a piece of paper and pencil from a drawer and began to draw a circle, dividing it into thirteen sections. "Ophiuchus is known as the 'Serpent-bearer' because there is a constellation known as Ophiuchus who wields a snake, known as 'Serpens', in his hands."
"Okay, I think I'm getting it," said Kit, seeing Maya draw thirteen different symbols in her circle. "But why has he only revealed himself until now? I mean, when I read the newspaper in the morning, I didn't see a horoscope for him."
"There's been lots of debate as to whether or not Ophiuchus is counted as a member of the Zodiac," Maya explained. "You see, the Zodiac is named after the twelve constellations crossing over the ecliptic—the path the sun takes around the Earth. The ecliptic is divided into 12 sections—one for each Zodiac Sign—and it's noted that Ophiuchus also passes through the path." She pointed to the symbol between Scorpio (a capital M with the last curve ending with an arrow) and Sagittarius (an arrow with a horizontal line through it). It was a capital U with a wavy line going through it.
"But that still doesn't answer my question on why Ophiuchus isn't in the daily horoscopes," Kit reminded his friend.
"It's used in other countries like in Japan," Maya replied. "Although how all of this relates to resurrection is beyond me."
"Doesn't he have a back-story?" asked Kit, picking up a copy of Dr. O's book into his hands. "Maybe there's a chapter named in his honor that explains more on the origin."
"Well that can probably...wait," Maya tugged on Kit's arm and pointed to a person wearing a tan trench coat and bucket hat. "Look at him..."
Kit looked up from the book and turned to the strange person walking through the store. The man was shuffling his feet about, looking back and forth as if he was afraid that he would get caught doing something wrong. He gripped onto his chest in pain, but otherwise seemed normal.
"I don't see anything wrong with him," Kit whispered. He turned to see Maya pulling out her cellphone and flicking the screen to enlarge something. "What are you doing?"
She pressed a button and heard a 'click'. The picture developed, showing a strange mark on the person's neck. It looked like the head of a serpent.
"Something's fishy about him," she whispered. "I have this feeling in my stomach that's telling me to look out for that one."
"He's dressed in a strange coat with a hat and has a tattoo of a snake," Kit surmised. "That doesn't mean anything special."
"I doubt it," said Maya, texting on her cellphone. "I'm going to run this by JTC and see what he can uncover for me."
"Are you sure you want to trust JTC with vital information? You know what happened the last time."
"JTC will never remember how he became a sociopath that vented other innocent people that got tangled up in General Xaviax's schemes," said Maya. "He doesn't even remember being complete jerks to us at all. I'd like it to keep it that way."
"Is it because you'll think you're cheating on Price if you start dating his Earth counterpart?" Kit teased.
Maya slightly whacked him with a book in response while muttering, "I'd never do that to him.".
0-0-0-0-0-0
April 25th, 2012
9:53 AM (Black Hole Café)
James Tradesmore, otherwise known on the internet as JTC, heard his cellphone vibrate as he was taking a bite out of a crepe. He took the phone into his hands and began to read the new message waiting for him.
"I sent you a picture of a person with the makings of a strange tattoo on him. Think you can analyze it? -Maya"
"Well..." James replied, seeing how his number one fan was asking him for a request. "Let's see what old JTC can uncover."
He opened the file attached to the message, seeing the strange person with the snake head tattoo on his neck. The first thing he needed to figure out was the type of tattoos that could be made with that type of image. The snake was shown to be biting something...itself, perhaps?
James pulled out his laptop from his bag and flipped it open. As he waited for it to load, he took a glance outside his window. In that instance, he saw a large black bull riding on a set of mid-air train tracks, blowing a whistle that sounded like a snorting bull. He quickly pulled out his cellphone to capture this weird encounter, but by the time he had that chance, the train was gone. He was silent for a moment or two, trying to understand what he saw.
"That wasn't real...wasn't it?" he said, trying to process everything. "I mean..." he shook his head. "I've seen and uncovered a lot of crazy things, but flying trains? That's...crazy..."
James chuckled to himself as he went back to his research on the strange snake tattoo. The sooner he got absorbed in his work, the better.
0-0-0-0-0-0-
April 25th, 2012
10:57 AM (Grace's Books – Speech Center)
Hundreds of people were waiting in anticipation for Dr. O's arrival, many of them holding onto either a brochure advertising the event or reading from his book. Kit, Maya and Lacey stood near the stage, anxiously waiting for their guest speaker to arrive from the bookstore's entrance and to be greeted by a round of applause.
"So," said Kit, placing a hand on Maya's shoulder. "Any word from JTC?"
"Not that I know of," Maya replied. "I'm worried about that person online, though.
"Calm down, Maya," Lacey exclaimed. "Stop worrying about your internet buddies and let's focus on Dr. O's grand entrance and the chance to get photos of us with his new book!" She held up a book in her hands, grinning like a loon. "I mean, what are the chances that he decides to use your aunt's store as part of his publicity stunt?"
"Whatever they are," Kit shrugged his shoulders as he looked at his watch. "It'll be worth it in 5...4...3...2..."
There was a round of applause as Dr. O entered the bookstore, followed by four other people dressed in red, blue, yellow and white. The four stood at the back as Dr. O made his way to the stage. Just as he was about to recite his speech, someone grabbed his wrist.
"Who is that?" asked Lacey, seeing the person's strange garbs. "I never seen clothes like that before. Are those
Maya turned to see a teenage boy in a blue and gold silk robe and black pants still grabbing onto Dr. O's wrist. She saw his eyes—they were filled with some sort of...hurt and anger inside them. Then, she noticed the person standing behind the teenager. It was the one with the bucket hat and trenchcoat.
"Kit," she hissed, tugging onto her friend's arm. "Look!"
Kit turned and saw the strange man raising an arm in desperation, but the teenage boy shoved him away as he helped Dr. O up the steps, shaking his hand. He then patted Dr. O on the shoulder twice before sitting down. The stranger grit his teeth and placed a hand over his heart once more, as if trying to combat a severe heart attack. The teenager turned around and said something—or it seemed that way by the way he nodded his head—and the teenager sat down, with his hand clutching his heart.
"I don't like the looks of this," Maya whispered. "Something's wrong."
"Don't tell me we're getting into another supernatural incident..." Lacey moaned. "I'm still reeling from having to leave town after the last one."
The audience didn't notice this at all, as Dr. O went to the podium and cleared his throat. The clapping died down as he began to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he began. "My name is Dr. Thomas Oliver and I...I...I..."
Dr. Oliver dropped to his knees, clutching his chest. He tried his hardest to breathe, but instead he sounded like he was choking on something. He grabbed onto the edge of the podium before he collapsed on the stage. Everyone gasped and wondered what was going on, one woman was on the verge of fainting, while Kit pointed to the stranger starting to leave through the commotion.
"Stop right there!" he said. "What's going on?"
The stranger turned around and saw Kit chasing after him. He began to push people out of the way in an attempt to escape. Maya looked around, trying to find something to trip the person up, until she saw the book in Lacey's hands. It would have to do.
"Sorry about this," she said, snatching the book. She bent her arm back and threw the book with all of her might. It hurled into the air, hitting the stranger at the back. His hat flew off as he dropped to his knees, placing a hand where the book hit him. Kit pinned him to the ground and rolled him onto his back.
"What's going on here?" he said. "Why were you...wait a minute..."
Kit took a better look at the person. He had short hair dyed a bright green color, and embedded on his forehead was a crystal. The stranger looked in horror at being pinned to the ground and tried his hardest to squirm his way out. Kit's grip was firm, and he pressed his knee onto the green-haired man's stomach in an attempt to make him confess.
On stage, Conner, Ethan, Kira and Trent were already by their old biology teacher's side, trying to figure out what was going on. Lacey scrambled toward the bookshelves and began calling 9-1-1 to explain the situation as most of the audience started to flee for their lives. Maya saw the strange man in the blue and gold robe standing near his seat and confronted him.
"What did you do to Dr. Oliver?" she asked, grabbing onto his wrist. She looked down, but she found nothing that could've administered the poison from a simple touch. Still, she wasn't going to let something like that stop her from uncovering the truth. "Why did you kill him?"
"I did not kill him, I just temporarily stopped his heart," The teenager replied. "He will be fine once I administer the antidote."
"Then you better give it to him now!" Maya snarled. "Or else."
"Or else what?" The teenager leaned close, his dark blue eyes staring into Maya's brown. "What can you do to stop me? I'd like to see you take your best shot."
"You!" Conner stomped toward the same person, the bracelet on his left wrist glowing. "What do you want with Dr. O?"
"I need things of value," The teenage boy pulled off something dangling from Dr. Oliver's neck. It was an arrowhead inscribed with ancient writing looped through a piece of black thread. "This is one of them."
"An arrowhead?" asked Ethan. "There are plenty of those in the gift shop across the street. Why does it have to be the one from Dr. O?"
"It's because of what it contains," The teenage boy replied, placing the arrowhead around his neck. "I'm sure that its original owner would love to have it back." He took Dr. Oliver into his arms and chuckled. "I have to get going now. I can't keep my audience waiting."
"Can we at least get a name?" asked Kira, bringing her arms up to prepare herself to fight. "I mean, that way we know who's ass we're going to kick for harming our dear teacher."
"Call me Hayato...for now," The teen replied. He raised a hand into the air. "Don't blink."
Just as Conner was about to use his super speed to knock Hayato's lights out, the room was covered in a heavy mist. Maya waved the mist out of the way as she tried to figure out where Hayato disappeared to. It was for a few seconds, but she thought she saw a large mirror materializing from an orb of light. Hayato stepped inside it, the reflection showing an abandoned warehouse marked with the numbers 042212 above the entrance. Then the mirror vanished in a blink of an eye and the mist dissipated.
Kit found himself pinning nothing, and the strange green-haired man disappeared during the commotion. He snarled and slammed a fist onto the ground—how could he not see that coming?
"What was that?" asked Maya, trying to figure out what was going on. It happened so fast that she still had trouble comprehending who was involved in what and why. She needed to sit down...
"That's what we like to know," said Conner, folding his arms across his chest. "What does Hayato want with our old biology teacher?"
"And that arrowhead," said Trent. "It had an interesting design that looked different from most arrowheads you find in museums."
"Wait," said Maya, her eyes wide as an idea sparked in her mind. "Your name is..."
"Trent Mercer."
"Um, right." Maya lightly tapped her head as she began to brainstorm ideas. "Trent, can you recreate the symbols on the arrowhead from memory?"
"I've had to memorize the Periodic Table of Elements in less than three hours once," Trent shrugged his shoulders. "Why do you ask?"
"I have someone who could help figure out what's so symbolic about the arrowhead and why it belongs to Dr. Oliver," Maya answered before approaching Kit. "Kit, I know where Hayato and Dr. Oliver are heading!"
"Good," Kit replied, standing up. "I have some questions I want to ask him."
"You can't go at it alone. Can you contact Len and Kase for backup?"
"Consider it done, your highness." Kit pulled out his cellphone. He began to call a number as he added, "I just hope they're still not on their honeymoon in Ventara."
"Ventara?" Ethan repeated. "What type of strange world is that?"
"Long, long story," Kit sighed, shaking his head. "Wait," he looked around the abandoned bookstore. "Where's Lacey?"
"Over here," Lacey answered, emerging from the bookshelves. "I called for a special police force from Silver City. They'll be here in about twenty minutes."
"And in the meantime," Kira sighed and pulled out her cellphone. "I better call my manager and tell her that I'm not going to be on stage for a while."
"This is so confusing," said Conner, shaking his head. "Can anyone explain what's going on?"
"That's the trouble," Maya answered. "We can't."
0-0-0-0-0-0-
April 25th, 2012
11:05 AM (Skies above Los Angeles)
In the Zeronos Liner, Kotaro Nogami looked down upon the city below. It was bustling with life, in contrast to the hell that would come in a thousand years. He frowned as he recalled the prophecy that would come to pass on this day. It needed to be stopped.
"Kotaro," said a quiet voice, interrupting Kotaro's thoughts. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, grandpa," Kotaro answered, running a hand into his hair. He turned to his grandfather before looking through the window once more. "That Hayato better have been right about this. The city seems too...peaceful."
Ryotaro Nogami nodded his head as he also searched the city. It was difficult in the fact that he wasn't allowed to use the Imagins on this journey, but he faced tougher foes in the past. He could do this.
The train suddenly shook and he fell on his bottom. A bowl of cereal landed on his head and milk fell down his face. Okay, so there was some things that he wasn't able to brush off yet.
"What was that?" asked Kotaro, looking around. "What did we hit?"
"Bad news," said Yuto, entering the cart. He placed a hand on his heart, panting for breath. "Giant serpent coming in at 9:00."
"Giant serpent?" Kotaro repeated. "But there's no way a Serpent followed us all the way here! We made sure of it!"
"Then what's that?!" asked Yuto, pointing outside.
Ryotaro and Kotaro looked outside, seeing a humongous gold serpent with two heads ramming the Zeronos Liner. The train began to shake again as it swerved off course.
"How is that thing alive?!" Kotaro screamed, grabbing onto the table for dear life. "He should be dead for five millennia at his point! He should be nothing but bones!"
"I don't know," said Yuto, grabbing onto the counter. "But we better find a place to land before we join him in the afterlife!"
The Zeronos Liner began to shake, sparks flying everywhere as it blew a low whistle. Seeing its chance, the twin-headed serpent opened its mouth and released a gout of black flames to incinerate the train.
"We have to land now!" Ryotaro screamed. "Hurry!"
The Zeronos Liner took a swerve to the right as it fled toward the battle. The Serpent began to follow its prey, ready to squeeze the life out of the Liner and to fulfill its duties.
0-0-0-0-0-0-
April 25th, 2012
11:15 AM (Abandoned Warehouse)
The first thing Tommy Oliver did when he finally woke up was to check whether or not his arms and legs were free. Sure enough, they weren't. He was tied to a chair, his arms and legs constricted by two large pythons.
"What the?" he exclaimed, struggling to escape his predicament. No matter how many times he was captured, none of the things that bound him were actually living. The pythons, noticing their prey trying to break free, tightened their grip, making Tommy's arms and legs lose blood circulation. When he stopped struggling, that was when the pythons stopped trying to make him lose feeling in his limbs. Tommy snarled, trying to figure out how many times he had been kidnapped prior to this moment.
"You're awake," said a voice. "Good. This makes things much easier."
Tommy turned to see Hayato approach him, fiddling with the arrowhead on his neck. Tommy looked down, noticing that his sacred arrowhead was missing, before glaring back at Hayato. Hayato didn't reply with a smirk or a smile, rather, he just started to speak.
"I suppose you have a lot of questions on your mind," he began. "Do not worry. They will all be answered...eventually."
"Eventually?" said Tommy. "Oh sure, after I somehow got knocked unconscious, kidnapped and being strapped to a chair by giant pythons! What are you playing at?"
"Calm down, Dr. Oliver," Hayato sighed. "Let's start from the beginning. Do you know the powers contained in the arrowhead?"
"Of course I do," Tommy answered. "They helped me bring peace into my mind back when I was the Red Zeo Ranger."
"True, but that was its significance to you. You don't know of its true power—the power that will bring hope to this world."
"If you wanted it so much, why was I dragged into this mess?"
"Simple. To use this, I need its original vessels," Hayato paced back and forth. "You're the second one."
"Second one? Wait..." Dread appeared on Tommy's face as he started to understand what Hayato was saying. "You don't mean..."
A second figure emerged from the darkness, his eyes glowing a shade of dark blue. Tommy felt his throat dry up as he stared into a face that he thought he'd never see again.
"No," He gasped, shaking his head in disbelief. "You...you can't be..." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "You can't be my brother! David Trueheart..."
"Died?" Hayato finished, tilting his head. He raised a hand in the air, signaling the second man to stop walking. "Yes, he did die. I resurrected him—somewhat. Don't look at me at that, Tommy. I'm doing you a favor. I'm sure you'll be glad that your brother's back from the dead. It wasn't easy, let me tell you that.
"And with that taken care of," Hayato went into a lotus position, levitating off the ground. "I think it's time we have a little chat as to what's going on. Don't you agree?"
Tommy looked back and forth from the strange boy to the being that was his own brother. This was all nothing but a dream...he was dreaming...that was all.
Unfortunately, he was having a hard time convincing himself that.
0-0-0-0-0-0
The dead have been brought back to life when it was not possible.
The appearance of strange people who must kill others has brought in new questions
And at the same time, they have also presented new problems.
3rd Trigger: "Me and a Gun"