Power Rangers: Beasts of Myth
Oh Brother
IRAQ
Corporal Paolo Bornfly trekked around in the sand, his M11 ready. His gray hair was plastering to his head, his olive skin a bit darker because of the sun and the dirt. He breathed heavily. He quickly checked his belt. No grenades. No knives. One can of rations. Two or three extra magazines. Cpl. Bornfly let out a sigh and holstered his firearm.
"So I have no men and few resources," the soldier said to himself as he collapsed on the sand.
For a few minutes, he sat there, collecting his thoughts. How was his little brother, Skyler, doing? Was Tio taking care of him well enough? The corporal laughed inwardly and remembered his uncle's stinginess. Then he thought back to last night. He remembered all too well: the black monkey type monsters with long fangs that killed off his company. Cpl. Bornfly shuddered.
"At least Skyler is safe," the soldier said to himself.
Suddenly, the sand underneath him began to shudder and five black blurs shot out. As they landed, Cpl. Bornfly drew his gun and opened fire. However, his shots did nothing. The soldier dropped his firearm and ran. But his enemies were faster. They caught him, seizing him by his arms and legs. The soldier could see their demonic monkey-like faces and vampire fangs. Their hot breath surrounded him. Slowly, one drew a short sword and brought it up. The soldier screamed. And then, the scream faded into an echo.
BORNFLY RESIDENCE
Skyler was checking the fridge when he heard a knock on the door. "Vou abrir a porta, tio!"
The green ranger heard a little bit of movement in the living room. "Multa."
Skyler walked to the door and saw two men in army uniforms, one African American and one Hispanic. They both wore serious, emotionless faces.
"Can I help you?" Skyler asked, concerned about his brother.
The soldiers exchanged a glance and the Hispanic one opened his mouth. "Are you Skyler Aleixo Bornfly, younger brother of Corporal Paolo Marco Bornfly?"
Skyler nodded, fear in his eyes.
"Your brother was pronounced KIA two days ago, 1400 hours," the Hispanic soldier continued. "We were unable to locate his body."
Skyler stood there a moment, then sat down on the floor, clutching his head.
"No," Skyler whispered, his eyes filling up with tears. "No no no no no no no no."
As the Portuguese boy continued to repeat "no" under his breath, the African American stepped forward and kneeled.
"Skyler? My name is Darius Grainger," he began. "I worked a mission with your brother. He was a good man."
Skyler stopped for a moment and looked at the man. A lone tear streamed down his face.
"When the search party found him, all they found was this," the soldier continued, taking something out of his pocket.
Skyler fixed his gaze on it and inhaled shakily. It was his brother's dog tags. The green ranger stretched his shaking hand out and took it.
"Tell your Uncle Tiago to come here," Grainger whispered to Skyler.
Skyler stood up and inhaled deeply. "Tio, venha aqui, por favor." His voice was loud, but it broke halfway through the sentence.
As Skyler's tio entered and the soldier began to talk him, Skyler went and balled up in the corner.
RIVER RIDGE GRAVEYARD
Everything was silent. The soldiers walked down the aisle, led by a military chaplain. Skyler sat left his tio, who stood in silence. On his right was Tobias, who had known Paolo before he was shipped off. Skyler straightened his green tie and stifled a sniffle. As the crowd watched the casket approach the hole dug for Cpl. Bornfly, a firing squadron of seven shouldered their weapons. The chaplain said a few words about Paolo, but Skyler was too distraught to heard any of them. Then, two soldier took the flag that covered the empty casket, folded it up, and presented it to the green ranger.
"Your brother was a good man," the soldier said with a serious face, "You should be proud."
Skyler accepted it, caressing it with his thumb. Suddenly, the firing squadron drew their weapons and honored their fallen friend with a three-volley salute. As each shot was fired, Skyler felt like he was being shot. His brother was gone. Forever. As Taps began to play, the green ranger simply sat down and cried. All of the soldiers saluted and they buried the casket. A few minutes later and only Skyler and Tobias sat there. Skyler was hugging the flag that he received and Tobias exhaled heavily.
"I can't believe he's really gone," Tobias finally said.
Gone. The word was yet another shot to Skyler's heart.
"Paolo," Skyler whispered.
There was a long pause. Tobias looked at his friend as he stood up and walked to the grave site.
Skyler inhaled and whispered a word softly. So soft that Tobias couldn't hear him and he walked off. Tobias looked at Skyler, then at the grave. Although the red ranger hadn't heard him, he already knew what he said. "Goodbye."
BLOODWING'S CASTLE
A casket full of blood red liquid sat in front of Bloodwing's throne. The vampire king stood in front of it, tapping his toe impatiently. Suddenly, a head with black spiked hair appeared in the soup. Its face was concealed by a red masquerade mask with a blackbird theme. One of its eyes was concealed by the mask, but the right eye showed through. As the eye began to open, his head raised up, revealing the rest of the body, which was the color of the mask. Markings were carved into his skin, black spiral patterns that intertwined. As he climbed out of the casket, he pulled on a red and black silk robe. The humanoid monster kneeled before Bloodwing.
"Masqueraud, correct?" Bloodwing asked.
The creature inclined his head. "I believe that is the name this lifeform goes by."
"Right," Lillith replied, "So, we can steal life force and awaken ancient vampires who went into hibernation and never woke up?"
Bloodwing growled at Lillith. "Must I explain everything to you? The life force we reaped is now in control of this body. The nature of the body will overcome any good the person we harvested from might have had and erase it, as well as most of their memories. The life force will have access to the body's memories."
"And I thank you for melding my body with this one," Masqueraud interjected, lifting his head, "The transition was quite smooth."
"Too bad there are any other ancient vampires we know of," Lillith mused, "That would definitely put those power pukes in their place."
"Don't fret," Masqueraud replied, "I'll be more than enough for them."
"Even so, I want a Vampiric Beast to accompany you," Bloodwing told the new warrior. "Wyvor!"
The doors flung open and in walked a half-wyvern, half-vampire monster. "Heh heh. What's the deal-eo, boss?"
"I want you to help Masqueraud against the rangers," Bloodwing boomed, unamused by Wyvor's entrance.
Masqueraud nodded and said, "Fair enough. Just let me change into something more suited for a first appearance."
With a snap, the masked general's robe disappeared. He popped the collar of his red straight jacket-like shirt and walked out, the chains on his black leather pants jingling. Wyvor followed, his wings flapping a little as he walked.
CAVE OPS
Tobias walked into the cave and faced his friends. They wore solemn faces, having heard the news earlier. Clarice let out a deep sigh and Xue gave a sad smile.
Sean walked over to Tobias. "So, how's Skyler taking it?"
Tobias shook his head. "Not well. He won't even come out of his room to translate for his uncle."
Clarice and Sean exchanged a glance as Xue looked at Tobias longingly. The red ranger looked around, then at his friends.
"Say, where's Sasquatch?" the red ranger asked.
Sean shrugged as Clarice shook head.
"I think he went to go give Skyler something," Xue said. "He just had to make a stop first."
Tobias scratched his chin. "I wonder what it is."
BORNFLY RESIDENCE
Skyler sulked in the corner, trying to forget the recent tragedy. His radio was on, the volume on five. The station was coming in and out of focus, staticky one moment, playing a song Skyler couldn't quite recognize the next. The green ranger shoved his hand inside his jean pocket and pulled out his brother's dog tags.
"Paolo," he murmured to the item, "You were my only family."
Suddenly, Tobias entered the room. "What about your uncle?"
Skyler looked up, then back to the piece of metal. "Tu sabes o meu tio, Tobias."
Tobias raised his eyebrows in confusion. "I'm not Tobias."
Skyler perked up his head. "Then, who are you?"
The fake Tobias winked. "A friend."
The "red ranger" let out a feminine giggle and did a heel turn. A golden glow shimmer over the imposter's body and then dispersed, revealing Izumi. Skyler, in shock, pointed at her.
"Y-y-you're..." Skyler began.
"Suzuki Izumi," the Japanese girl replied with a cunning smile.
Skyler stuffed his brother's dog tag into his pants pocket and got into a fighting position.
"Why are you here?" the Portuguese boy yelled, trying to seem tough.
With a chuckle, Izumi reaching into the breast pocket of her gold colored shirt and pulled out a green charm that reminded Skyler of a gust of wind.
"I hear new powers lift your mood," she said, tossing it over to the green ranger.
He caught it, his expression now a bit interested.
Skyler sighed heavily as he fingered the charm. "Where'd you get this?"
"An old windmill in the Netherlands," Izumi replied, tinkering with Skyler's radio a little.
There was a pause, the radio tuning whining a bit.
"So?" Izumi said, not looking up from what she was doing.
Skyler put the charm around his neck, then fished out his brother's tags. As he put the necklace on, he looked down at the two items now around his neck.
"Thanks for the finding the..."
Then, Skyler paused. How did she know about the Armor? Izumi giggled, stepping away from the radio.
"You're wondering how I know, aren't you?" she asked with a smile.
Izumi heel turned, transforming into Sasquatch, then heel turned again, becoming herself.
"I read your archives, Green Ranger," she answered with a mischievous wink, "But don't worry."
She held up the arm with her morpher on it. "Your secret is safe with me."
And, before Skyler could say or do anything, Izumi did another heel turn and she was gone. Skyler looked at the spot where she had disappeared and shook his head in dismay.
"That chick sure liked to do heel turns," Skyler said as he turn off his radio and walked out of his room.
BERMUDA BAY, FL
Masqueraud looked around as people ran away from Wyvor, who was smashing cars and light poles left and right. The masked general laughed a little before drawing his rapier.
"This'll be fun," he said with a dark chuckle as he plunged the sword into the ground, creating a circle of fire around him.
"That's enough, you freak!" a voice yelled.
Masqueraud looked up with a fiercely determined look as the rangers, minus Skyler, ran up.
"Teenagers?" the vampire asked himself.
The four exchanged a nod, then yelled, "Mythic Beasts, Awaken!"
Tobias is in a volcano. Suddenly, a Dragon flies up and forms a ball of fire around Tobias. His ranger suit is burned onto him. The Dragon's takes his head, which becomes a helmet, and presents it to Tobias. He puts the helmet, then breaks out of the fire and strikes a pose.
Sean is underwater. Suddenly, a Sea Serpent swims up and swallows him. Out of nowhere, the Sea Serpent starts glowing and its body becomes Sean's ranger armor. Sean grabs the Sea Serpent's head and shoves it onto his head, and it becomes the helmet. He swims to the surface, jumps out of the water, lands on the sea, and strikes a pose.
Clarice is in a desert. Suddenly, a snake with human arms slithers up. It is a Naga. Clarice is dragged under the sand and after a few seconds pass, comes back up in her ranger suit. The Naga pops out of the sand and falls on Clarice, but only the head hits her. The head becomes her helmet and she strikes a pose.
Xue is trudging through a snowy mountain in a blizzard. Suddenly, a Yeti walks up. Xue gets on the Yeti piggy-back style and the Yeti begins to run through the snow. The snow kicked up becomes Xue's ranger suit and the Yeti disappears, leaving only a helmet. Xue is pitched forward and her head hits the helmet and it comes on her head. She continues to fall down the mountain until she finds her footing, stomps her left foot, and strikes a pose.
Masqueraud smiled evilly. "Perfect. Wyvor, take them."
The Vampiric Beast growled and charged at the rangers.
"Sean, handle Masked Man over there, we've got Scaly here," Tobias ordered.
Sean nodded and held out his hands, the charm appeared there. "Water Element, Access!"
Sean, in his ranger uniform, is on a rocky island, surrounded by five sirens. One by one, they approach him, two bearing leg armor, two bearing arm guards, and one bearing a medieval breastplate. They proceed to place the armor on him, the armor transforming from a dull gray to a vibrant aquamarine, his belt showing a red, green, yellow and white circle in the middle. The snake head on Sean's helmet hissed and a blue gleam ran across the visor.
Sean pressed the green button on his belt. "Wind and Water elements, Unite!"
The blue ranger lashed out at Masqueraud, who slid out of the way and worked himself into a front flip. As lightning struck behind him, the masked general slashed with his rapier, slashing Sean on the shoulder. Sean clutched his shoulder and grunted in pain. Determined, the blue ranger decided to try a long-range attack, pressing the red button on his belt.
"Fire and Water elements, Unite!"
Sean swung his whip, releasing steaming hot water at Masqueraud. With a smirk, Masqueraud block the majority of the water, but a good portion got on his shoulders. The villain screamed in pain as Sean pressed the green button again.
"Wind and Water elements, Unite!"
Sean twirled his whip in the air and charged Masqueraud, who lifted his rapier and charged as well. The two rushed each other and lashed out, the inertia from their running causing them to skid. Sean ran his hand down the length of his whip and Masqueraud stuck the tip of the rapier in the ground. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning hit Masqueraud and an explosion of sparks come from Sean's chest. Sean demorphed from his armor and clutched his stomach, panting. Masqueraud panted as well, a smile coming across his face.
"Not bad, Blue Ranger," Masqueraud taunted with a chuckle, "But it's going to take more than that to take me down." The masked general smiled and charged again, which Sean mirrored.
Meanwhile, the others were having a bit of trouble. Clarice slashed at Wyvor with her sickles, but the Vampiric Beast shielded himself with his wings, then side-kicked the yellow ranger in the ribs. Clarice hit the ground rolling, quickly stopping herself with a hand. Tobias and Xue exchanged a nod and launched themselves at the monster, their weapons ready to strike. Wyvor scoffed and swiped them away like they were nothing. The red and white rangers flew through the air and landed near Clarice, their weapons falling out of reach.
Tobias growled and yelled, "Sean, we need help!"
The red ranger drew his Dragon Dagger and charged Wyvor. Meanwhile, Sean was in a stalemate with Masqueraud, his whip around the general's rapier and the two in a tug-of-war of sorts.
"I'm a little bit busy here!" Sean shouted back as he gripped his weapon with two hands and slowly pulled it to his chest.
Masqueraud growled as he tried to free his rapier from his opponent's grip, but Sean wasn't giving up.
"Get back!" the two heard before a powerful wind knocked Masqueraud away, his rapier falling away.
Sean turned to see Skyler, fully morphed, run up. The green ranger positioned himself betwixt Sean and Masquerade.
"Sorry, I'd make a joke, but I'm not in the mood for it. So I guess I'll just fight you," Skyler said solemnly to Masqueraud.
The green ranger held up his green charm, the sun gleaming off on it. In that second, the charm shone every one of the rangers' colors and the rangers gaped underneath their helmets.
"How..." Tobias began.
"I'll explain later," Skyler answered before turning to Sean, "Can you take Wyvor?"
Sean panted a little and replied, "Yeah, but I'll need some help."
Tobias hoisted himself up. "We'll do what we can."
Clarice struggled a little as she found her footing. Xue quickly followed suit, having a little more difficult time. The two gave the Irish boy a quick nodd as Skyler stared down Masqueraud.
The blue ranger nodded and said as he leapt towards Wyvor, "I'll leave him to you."
The green ranger nodded back, but said nothing. Silently, Skyler lifted the charm into the air.
"Wind Element, Access!"
Skyler, in his ranger armor, is standing in the middle of a rocky terrain in the midst of five wind beings. Suddenly, the wind beings become a tornado that blow away five rocks, revealing two arm guards, two leg guards, and a chestplate. The tornado picks these five pieces of armor up in its winds and surrounds Skyler. The five pieces of armor attaches to the green ranger as the tornado vanishes and Skyler lands and poses as the armor changes from dull gray to viridian. His belt reveals a red, blue, yellow, and white button as a green gleam ran across Skyler's visor and what sounded like a cross between a red-tailed hawk screeching and an elephant trumpeting came from the tolroc's head.
Masqueraud smirked. "Just so you know, the blue one tried that already."
Skyler glared at the general underneath his helmet as he pressed the red button. "Fire and Wind elements, unite!"
The green ranger twirled his staff for a brief moment before lashing out at the air, the bo emitting a red-hot wind at Masqueraud. The general tried to dodge, but his energy was sapped from the fight with Sean. So, his shoulder was hit with a searing hot pain, a few sparks flying. Masqueraud clutched his chest as he called his rapier back to him, catching it in his right hand.
"Not bad, Green Ranger," Masqueraud said as he prepared to charge.
Skyler's hand hovered over the blue button on his belt."That's not all I can do."
Masqueraud smirked, which turned into an angry frown as he ran at Skyler. The green ranger pressed the button quickly and his hands tightened his staff.
"Water and Wind elements, unite!" he roared, barreling at Masqueraud as fast as he could go.
While this was going on, the fight with Wyvor was escalating as the Vampiric Beast was knocking back his opponents with his strong, leathery wings. Tobias hit the ground for the umpteenth time, along with Clarice, Xue, and Sean. Sean was the least damaged while the other three's uniforms were covered in dirt.
"This guy is tough," Sean said, getting up with a little pain in his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.
Tobias struggled to get up, clawing at the ground. "If only we could take his wings out of the equation."
The red ranger got to one knee, tried to stand, and fell straight back down. Clarice and Xue likewise tried to get up, but couldn't.
"Are you guys okay?" Sean asked as his teammates struggled to get up.
Tobias looked over to the blue ranger. "We can't handle his hits, but you can because of that armor. Try to hold him off until Skyler can finish that masked guy off."
Sean ran his hand down his whip. "Right!"
The blue ranger lashed out with his whip, lightning racing through the sky to meet it. Wyvor held his wings over his head, blocking the blow and the lightning, then Spartan-kicked Sean in the gut. Sean dropped to one knee with grunt, panting a little.
"Ready to giving up?" Wyvor asked, his beak forming what looked like a smirk.
Sean cracked his whip and smiled underneath his helmet. "Not quite yet."
With a growl from both parties, the two charged. Meanwhile, Masqueraud and Skyler were locked in combat, the green ranger's bo in a horizontal position blocking the masked vampire's rapier.
"Give up, Green Ranger. I am unmatched in power," the general said, a cocky grin on his face.
Skyler's expression softened a little underneath his helmet, but he kept up the pressure. Where had he heard that before? Skyler forced Masqueraud's rapier up and struck out at Masqueraud's side, a bolt of lightning helping the hit. The general grunted in pain as he skidded back.
"Until next time, Green Ranger," the masked vampire said with a miffed growl.
There was a puff of crimson smoke as Masqueraud disappeared and it trailed off, moving away in a serpentine fashion. Skyler stared after the smoke, his stomach feeling strange. He had heard the phrasing before. Was it something from the past?
With a loud "hey", the green ranger snapped out of his trance and looked over to Sean, who was taking strike after strike from Wyvor's wings.
"On my way," Skyler yelled, pressing the yellow button on his belt. "Earth and Wind elements, unite!"
The Portugeuse boy hit the ground with his staff, kicking up dust around him as he zoomed over to Wyvor. The Vampiric Beast looking around in confusion as dust began to circle around him. Suddenly, Skyler appeared from the dust behind him, lashing out with his staff. Wyvor turned around and blocked the blow with his wings. With a growl, Skyler brought his staff back and struck the ground again, this time with the end of the staff. Suddenly, a jet of dusty air blew from underneath Wvyor, sending him flying into the air. Quickly, Skyler pressed the white button on his belt.
"Ice and Wind elements, unite!" the green ranger yelled.
Skyler twirled his staff, the ends glowing white as the green ranger jumped into the air. The Portuguese boy swung the weapons at Wyvor's wings, freezing them both. The Vampiric Beast looked at his frozen appendages, terrified as he began to fall out of the sky. With a grunt of grim satisfaction, Skyler lashed out again, releasing a wave of cold air that froze the rest of Wyvor and caused the monster to descend even more quickly. As Wyvor's icy body crashed to the ground, Skyler landed a few feet away as the monster exploded.
BLOODWING'S CASTLE
Bloodwing rose hastily as Masqueraud stumbled into the throne room, obviously weakened by his fight with the rangers.
"Masqueraud!" the vampire king roared in anger. "I thought you were going to take care of them!"
The vampire general chuckled weakly, falling to his knees. "Obviously, all of those years of hibernation have left me 'rusty' as the humans would say. Allow me to rest and train, and then I'll take care of your ranger problem."
Bloodwing banged his fist on his throne, leaving a dent in the gold. "No! I am tired of failure! Either destroy the rangers yourself or get me someone who can!"
The vampire king got up and strode out of the room, Masqueraud falling on the floor. Lillith looked at the new general and let out a "huh" of amusement as she too left the room.
CAVE OPS
Skyler put his earbuds in and played an Underoath song, being unusually silent. The other four looked at him strangely, gathering a little bit away from the green ranger.
"You think he'll be okay?" Sean asked Tobias, scratching his head.
"Give him a few weeks," Tobias replied, "He's lost an important person in his life. He won't be the same goofy Skyler we know, but he'll at least talk to us."
The four watched as Skyler nodded in time with his music, not paying attention to anything in the world.
MURAL CITY
"I'm glad you agreed to meet me here," Sasquatch said though his raised hood, his voice lowered as the waiter put a plate of pizza on the table.
Izumi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. So, what's the deal?"
Sasquatch scarfed down a slice and replied, "Well, I already know you're a Mythic Beast. So, maybe you know something about what the cameras caught the other day."
He dug in his robe pocket and pulled out a blurry picture. The object in the picture was gold and looked like a fox.
Izumi looked uninterested. "Never seen it before."
Sasquatch looked at the girl menacingly. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Izumi replied, not affected at all.
Sasquatch nodded and said, "Right. Sorry to have bothered you. Y'know what? The pizza's on me."
Izumi smirked. "Really? Thanks."
With chuckle, the Japanese girl looked on as the bigfoot asked the waiter for a box. This is easier than I thought.
Trivia: This chapter was inspired by the Carrie Underwood song "Just a Dream".