Quick to the Trigger
3rd Trigger: Me and a Gun
"I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting."
-Che Guevara
April 25th, 2012
11:20 AM (Grace's Books – Speech Center)
"In the darkness is the light. Surrender, we'll win the fight. This girl's walked through fire and ice, but I come out on the other side of paradise!"
Kira's singing helped pass the time as everyone waited for the police force from Silver City to arrive. However, there were still as restless as ever. Kit was leaning against the wall, trying to contact Len and Kase on what was going on, Trent was doodling in his sketchbook, Ethan was playing some sort of online MMORPG on his laptop, Conner was pacing back and forth, looking like he was about to strike at the next stranger that entered the bookstore, Lacey was trying to keep her mind off of the situation by checking whether anything was stolen in her part of the store, and Maya was listening to Kira's song in delight.
"Where did you learn that song?" she asked the singer. "It's so...melancholic and inspiring."
"It's a cover from a solo artist named Molly Phillips," Kira answered, momentarily stopping her guitar playing to speak. "I went to one of her concerts when I was a little girl, and I also learned about her daughter, Fiona. She ran a rather interesting website about her experiences with the otherworldly."
"'So Weird?'" Maya looked in awe. "I heard of it! It was one of the first websites that let people share their experiences with the supernatural. I always wanted to express my interest with it, but Fiona stopped posting stuff online after a while. Poor girl…"
"Poor us," said Conner, momentarily stopping his pacing to speak. "No fanatic of the supernatural is going to be able to get us any closer to finding Dr. O's whereabouts. We don't even know why he was kidnapped!"
"Why don't we ask Haley for help?" asked Trent, looking up from his drawings. "Maybe she can pinpoint his whereabouts through her computers."
"But she still won't give us anything regarding the guy with green hair or the boy who jumps through mirrors," Ethan noted.
"Well, there has to be some sort of clue as to what we're dealing with!" said Maya. She picked up one of the fallen copies of Tommy's book and skimmed through it. "We can't just sit here and do nothing!"
"Excuse me," said a voice. "Did someone call for us?"
The group turned to see two figures approaching them, dressed in navy police gear and red berets. One of them pulled out a police badge to reinforce their stance as a police force.
"I'm Eric Myers," he said. "I'm captain of the Silver Guardians. The guy to my left is my partner, Wes Collins." Wes just waved hello while the others waved back. "What seems to be the trouble?"
"Well, how do we explain this?" Maya began. "A book signing involving one Dr. Thomas Oliver ended up with Dr. Oliver having a heart attack, a strange boy with silk clothing creating a huge cloud of mist while he teleported with his unconscious body and then some guy with green hair and a crystal on his forehead tried to get to Dr. Oliver and..."
"Wait, wait, wait," Wes interrupted, bringing a hand into the air. "Did you say that the person had 'green hair and a crystal on his forehead?'"
"Yeah, that's what Kit saw when he pinned the guy to the ground after I threw a book at him," Maya answered, nodding her head. "...Do you know him?"
"His name is Trip, a humanoid looking alien from Xybria in the year 3000," Wes explained. "He was part of Time Force; its green ranger in fact. He was also our partner when he and the other Time Force Rangers fought off a mutant attack in Silver City long ago...Yes, I do know him."
"Oh yeah!" said Ethan, standing up. "You two were in Dr. O's video files. Great to see another set of Power Rangers here...even if it's under very weird circumstances."
"But that still doesn't make any sense," said Eric, shaking his head. "Something's not adding up here."
"What do you mean?" asked Trent. "Didn't it just look like he was going to visit his good friends from the past?"
"If he was, then he'd probably like to explain that strange snake tattoo on the back of his neck," said Maya. "Did he have that when he was in Silver City long ago?"
"He definitely wasn't one for tattoos," Wes noted. "I think the green hair and crystal was already more than enough to scream 'I'm not normal.' In fact, I was the one who gave him his old hat in the first place, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Why was Trip here?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," said Maya. "He was looking around in horror, as if he was so paranoid for someone out to kill him. Wait a minute..."
"Hayato," Kit mumbled. "Maybe Trip was trying to prevent Dr. Oliver's death by that Hayato jerk!"
"Hayato?" Eric repeated. "Sounds like some sort of strange sword name."
"Strange name or not, he's our only clue to this mystery," said Maya. "I'd contact JTC if I could, but I don't think even he would have any insight as to who he was."
Suddenly, the sound of a loud, snorting bull caught everyone's attention. Everyone poked their heads out as a large portal appeared in the sky. A humongous train in the shape of a black bull emerged, travelling toward the entrance of Grace's Books in a set of train tracks assembling on its own. It slowed down and with a hiss, the door opened. No one spoke as a strange figure in a black hooded cloak and gold mask emerged, with a basket of lollipops in its hands.
"Is this your back up?" asked Lacey, pointing to the stranger waving at them.
"Not that we know of," Eric answered.
"Hello!" said the stranger, bowing toward them. "My name is Deneb, and I'm here to bring good cheer for you today. Here!" he handed a lollipop to Kira and bowed to her. "For you, miss."
"Um, thank you," Kira replied, taking the lollipop in to her hands. "They look…very good."
"I know," Deneb replied. "I made them myself! It's always nice to share things with your friends. Don't you agree? In fact, I'm sure Yuto would—"
"DENEB!"
Someone tackled Deneb onto the ground and proceeded to give him a chokehold with Deneb's hand slapping against the ground as if he was tapping out of a submission hold.
"Y…Yuto!" Deneb sputtered. "Please…get off of me!"
"We are not here to make friends!" Yuto exclaimed. "We need to stop Hayato from going insane!"
"Wait, you know Hayato?" asked Conner, stomping toward Yuto and grabbing him by his collar. "What's going on? Where's Dr. O?"
"Dr. O?" Yuto repeated. "Well, if I'm not mistaken at this time, he should have been dead and news reporters should've been announcing his death, but Hayato altered the timeline so…"
"Stop right there," said Ethan. "What do you mean by 'should have been dead?' That doesn't make any sense."
"Excuse me for a moment," Everyone turned to the entrance of the strange bull locomotive, seeing some sort of dark blue horned demon dressed in black armor with silver rivets. He bowed politely at them.
"Greetngs," he began. "I am the Imagin known as Neotaros, but I guess you may call me 'Teddy' for short. Please forgive our friends for being so…exuberant. We have much to discuss…"
"And about five seconds before I punch someone's face in!" Conner snarled, cracking his knuckles.
"Just a moment," Deneb muttered, slowly standing up. "We truly must hurry if we are going to make it. We have traveled for so long and have done our best that we do not cause more trauma to the timeline."
"Wait, you can travel through time?" asked Wes. "So do you know anything about Trip and why he's here in the present?"
"We are also on the search for why an interloper from a millennium into the future would also come here," Teddy explained. "But with Hayato's plans in order to make sure she can be revived, we have to make sure Hayato didn't leave anything else that could creep up unexpectedly."
"But what does he want with Dr. O?" asked Kira. "That's what you haven't told us."
"We have to get going!" said a fourth voice, this one belonging to a teen with short blond hair, black leather jacket and a pair of ripped black pants. "Everyone, get in now!"
A loud roar caught everyone's attention. Yuto shook his head as he saw a streak of gold in the sky.
"Oh crap," he muttered, nearly grabbing his hair in frustration. "We need to go."
"What is going on?!" Maya and Kit exclaimed.
"Hell," Yuto whispered. "We're all about to enter into the bowels of Hell."
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April 25, 2012
11:27 AM (Abandoned Warehouse)
Tommy Oliver faced so much throughout his life when he became a Power Ranger. Ranging from being brainwashed for no other reason than to have him be a pawn to the bad guys, fighting giant monsters on a regular basis, seeing his friends leave for important business regarding said monster attacks, nearly having himself die countless times…the list went on and on. Seeing his own brother in front of him, where he should've been dead for the past six years, made him speechless.
"I suppose you have many questions as to why he's alive, do you not?" asked Hayato, cracking an eye open from his meditation. "Like I said, the ritual to revive him wasn't easy, so you should be lucky that you can actually see him face to face rather than seeing a psychic for that matter."
"What would you be gaining by doing this?" Tommy snarled, forcing himself to gaze at the necromancer. "Why my brother? And why me?"
"Your arrowheads are critical for what is to come," Hayato answered, descending to the ground, his feet not even making a sound when he landed. "They were not just made out of a stone, but rather from the fang of an ancient Serpent who offered protection against all evil."
"Well, I wish I had that during my stint as a high school super-hero."
"You do not understand the big picture," Hayato sighed and shook his head. "Then let me use something that you should understand. Trueheart, I would like your arrowhead."
"Don't you dare—" Tommy snarled, jumping toward Hayato. Unfortunately, the pythons sensed the hostility and tightened their grip again. Still, Tommy wouldn't give in as he wrested against the large snakes. He watched as he saw his brother remove the arrowhead around his neck, handing into Hayato's empty palm. Hayato took both arrowheads halves and placed them together, the markings that were etched on them glowing.
"Yes," he said, lifting the completed arrowhead pendant into the air. "This is the key. She shall save us from his wrath. Don't you agree, Master Vasuki?"
Tommy heard laughter echo in the empty warehouse as a large serpent grew from Hayato's back, covered in white scales. Its stern blue eyes stared into Tommy's own; deciding on what would be the right way to address him.
"V…Vasuki?" Tommy choked out. "But, you're not real…you're just…"
A myth? Vasuki finished, smirking when he saw the paleontologist's eyes widen in horror. No, I am as real as you and your brother. Isn't there an old idiom that states 'Seeing is Believing', Shun?
"It's 'Hayato', Master," Hayato insisted. "I gave up that name after the third millennium or so under your care."
"W…wait," Tommy felt like he was going to faint right there. "How old are you?"
"If you mean 'How long I have walked this Earth', then I have been doing so for the past 1.5 millennia," Hayato answered. "But if you're asking how long I was alive prior to my resurrection, I was only nineteen-years-old. In fact, I shall be dead in around…three or four days' time, depending on the time zone since I used to live in Japan and—"
"You're not making any sense," Tommy grit his teeth. "What is going on?!"
"I suppose we must give ourselves introductions," Hayato sighed. "Long, long ago, I was given the name of Shun Daimonji, but an incident occurred where my best friend was killed by the one-inch punch."
"Are you sure you're not confusing this with a Bruce Lee movie?"
"SILENCE!" Hayato roared. "Even to this day, I still recall Gentaro's death. How he smiled while accepting Ryusei's wish for him to die and how the world went to Hell because of that! And now…"
You are letting your emotions override your common sense, Vasuki hissed. Control yourself, Serpent-bearer.
"You are right, as always," Hayato replied, nodding his head. He cleared his throat and lowered the collar of his cloak, revealing a large jagged scar around his neck. "I shall be obtaining this wound in a few days' time, with my throat slit by the same man who caused this madness, all to save my beloved Miu from trouble. And do you know what's happened to her now?" Tears fell down Hayato's face. "There is nothing but a kilogram of ashes in an urn, somewhere in a destroyed cemetery that I can never come back to! She's dead!"
"Well technically she's still alive at this time…" Tommy began, but then silenced himself as he saw Hayato's eyes glowing with rage. "But that's getting off topic. So, how were you…revived?"
I stepped in to bring his soul back to the living world, Vasuki answered, leaning in close to the fallen paleontologist. His payment to me was to bring about the end of the world under Lord Shiva's instructions. Unfortunately, it seems as if the world is nearing its end sooner than expected.
"Gentaro, my former friend, was resurrected by a dark Serpent known as Ophiuchus," Hayato continued. "And somehow he has awoken after the climactic battle that should've made him pass onto the afterlife. Somewhere along the line, someone summoned him. Whether it was by accident or it was intentional, that is what we're going to find out."
"And let me ask you again, where do I fit into this?" asked Tommy.
"You were the first casualty of the entire thing," Hayato answered. "You were supposed to die by another interloper from the time stream, but I, along with that girl with the book, stopped your early death."
"Oh, I'm so flattered…" Tommy replied with a roll of his eyes.
You should, Vasuki chuckled, interested with the human's sense of humor. "You would've been the main general of the Armed Forces of Ouroboros."
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April 25, 2012
11:31 AM (Zeronos Liner)
The Zeronos Liner left the front of Grace's Books and began to travel through a strange dimension of sand. The sky was decorated with an Aurora Borealis that seemed to stretch on forever. However, there was no time to take photos at the beauty; there was things that needed to be explained.
"This way," said Deneb, beckoning the new passengers onto the dining cart of the Zeronos Liner. "Please sit down."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Lacey. "I mean…what if news reporters come in, or maybe robbers? What about—"
"They're gonna be small potatoes compared to that giant twin-headed son of a bitch," Yuto interrupted. He waited until everyone sat down before speaking again, "Now, I suppose you all want introductions. Well,"
"Yuto!" cried a meek voice. A man in his mid-20's rushed toward him. "They did it, they WAH!"
The man tripped on his own shoelaces and landed face first in front of Maya, Dr. Oliver's book in his hand. He had shaggy black hair and was dressed in an orange long-sleeve shirt and a red knitted scarf around his neck.
"Ryotaro," Yuto sighed, helping his friend up. "What did you find?"
"Um, weren't introductions the first thing on our list?" asked Ethan.
"S…sorry," said Ryotaro, bowing toward the passengers. "Um, my name is Ryotaro Nogami, and I think you met my friend Yuto Sakurai,"
"Yo," said Yuto, raising a hand in the air.
"And my grandson," Ryotaro pointed to the teenage boy with blond hair. "Kotaro Nogami."
"G…grandson?" Kit repeated, looking at both Ryotaro and Kotaro. "How is that possible?"
"The train that we're on can travel through time," said Kotaro, hands clasped and his chin resting above them. I came here from around 60 years in the future in order to help stop a disaster from happening in about 1000 years."
"Which is where Trip is from," said Eric, nodding his head. "But why was Trip there?"
"He was sent to assassinate one Dr. Thomas 'Tommy' Oliver," said Teddy, reading through his notes. "However, we intervened with our friend Hayato…"
"Your FRIEND?!" Trent interrupted. "Your friend just kidnapped our teacher and you think that it's better than assassination?"
"Hayato just gave him a small amount of poison that temporarily stops the heart," Kotaro elaborated. "At least it wasn't as bad as that necromancy scheme he did in front of us,"
"It was necessary, wasn't it?" asked Deneb.
"But it wasn't necessary to show us what he had to do!" Yuto exclaimed. "Ugh, I was close to swearing to eat nothing but shitake mushrooms for the rest of my life…"
"Um," said Ryotaro, raising a hand. "What I found actually is related to that necromancy scheme. Look!"
He showed the book to a specifically marked page—a golden bracelet of a twin-headed snake engraved with hieroglyphics. Underneath the photo were a few sentences describing the item.
"Found within the deserts of the Sahara, this bracelet was likely decorated in honor of the Serpent god Nehebkhau. Its twin heads represented how he represented the Ka and Ba of a human's soul."
"So?" asked Kira, tilting her head. "It's just a piece of jewelry."
"It's not just a piece of jewelry," said Wes. "That's one of the artifacts in that new exhibit! But, I don't remember seeing those hieroglyphics before."
"That's because they weren't there to begin with," said Ryotaro. "Also, there's a special message written there."
"What kind of message?" asked Maya.
"It says 'Trueheart',"
"So?" asked Conner. "The Ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the most important part of the human body that contained their soul or personality. Now if it was the brain, then—"
"Wait!" said Maya, flipping out her own copy of the book. There's an epitaph right before the prologue. She stopped at a page and pointed to the words. "It says, 'In memory of my brother, David Trueheart.'"
"Dr. Oliver had a brother?" asked Ethan.
"Guess there's still stuff that we don't know about him," Kira shrugged.
"It's a sign of good news," said Ryotaro. "It means our partners were able to successfully able to go back to the past and tell us that everything went smoothly."
"Wait, there are time-travelers in Ancient Egypt right while we're speaking?" Eric inquired. "That can't be right! How are they able to do that?"
"That's part of a longer story that we can't get into right at this point," Teddy answered, setting his notepad onto the table. "Right now, we need to get you all up to speed to what is going on."
"But what about Dr. Oliver?" asked Kit. "And what about that green-haired guy? He's probably going to get more reinforcements since his assassination attempt failed."
"And if Trip was sent to kill then that means…" Wes shook his head in disbelief as everything started to come together. "Jen…"
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In the deserts of Ancient Egypt, three people have come to make sure things come to light
They appear as gods, but are truly immortals
And this makes their mission somewhat harder.
4th Trigger: "A Gun & a Ring"