Morphin' Fate
Face front, true believers!
Anywho, let's give Psyga 315 over at tvtropes a big hand for helping me out with this chapter by psuedo-beta-ing, and also a huge round of applause to IANCE - who has changed his ffnet username to Lord Mendasuit for the time being - for generally helping out with stuff.
As they rose to their feet, Archer, Lancer, and Assassin shared a brief look, before standing with Saber.
Getting his head back into the game, Saber said, "The entire world's at stake here. We'll need to join forces in order to defeat this guy."
Assassin clapped him on the shoulder. "Dude, you didn't need to say anything. We're Power Rangers. He's the most obvious supervillain since Lothor. What were we gonna do, not team up?"
Archer nodded, and Lancer gave Saber a thumbs-up.
"Thanks guys."
Then, without another word between them, the assembled Power Rangers turned to face Zedd and attacked.
Lancer and Assassin, relying on their superior speed, immediately charged in first, darting through Zedd's powerful blasts of electricity. Assassin drew his ninja sword, and tried to get in close to apply pressure on Zedd as Lancer attempted to strike the tyrant from behind with his Tyrannostaff.
Zedd ignored the ochre ninja darting around him for a moment and instead turned to grab Lancer by the helmet with one hand, before swinging the Red Dino Ranger around and tossing him like a trashed rag doll.
No sooner had Lancer left Zedd's grip, however, than a green energy burst slammed into the Emperor of Evil and knocked him back half a step.
Zedd waved his scepter at Saber with a growl, flinging several more electrical blasts at his archnemesis. "DIE, TOMMY OLIVER!"
Saber leapt back, however, and wiped out most of the blasts with a knife beam.
Once the Green Ranger landed on his feet, he used his momentum to lunge forward in a zig-zagging pattern, evading the other blasts aimed at him.
While Saber was closing in, Zedd finally got irritated enough with Assassin chipping away at his flesh to do something about it. With a split-second pause to predict Assassin's movement, Zedd swept his scepter along the ground and knocked the ninja on his back.
Zedd took a step forward and attempted to kill the Yellow Ninja Ranger by stomping through his helmet - and thereby his face - but Lancer caught the Emperor of Evil off guard with a flying tackle.
Zedd stumbled back for a few feet, but ultimately kept his footing and flung the Red Dino Ranger off of him and across the pier.
At that moment, he heard a calm voice from behind him. "Hey."
Snarling, Zedd whipped around just in time to see Archer standing before him. With a rocket launcher over one shoulder, and aimed directly at the center of Zedd's neck.
No matter what Zedd did, there was no way in hell that the Red Lightspeed Ranger could possibly miss.
Without saying another word or giving Zedd a chance to react, Archer pulled the trigger.
The rocket fired and, on impact with the Emperor of Evil's head, blossomed into a small fireball before blasting a gout of flame that completely enveloped Zedd's skinless form.
At the same time, Saber cut loose with another knife beam from the Dragon Dagger, striking Zedd directly in the center of his chest.
Kiritsugu had been unsettled from the moment Zedd arrived.
True, he'd seen (and killed) far more grotesque and nauseating monsters in his time, but Lord Zedd literally radiated malevolence in a way that no creature of human creation ever could.
Even more worrisome was the deduction that, in all likelihood, Zedd was a Caster-class Servant. After all, every other Servant save Rider had been confirmed - or, given Avenger, there may not have been a Rider, as far as Kiritsugu knew - leaving only that class.
Thing is, Casters were supposed to be physically unimpressive as far as Servants went, reliant on their magecraft and techniques.
And yet this 'Lord Zedd' had been effortlessly holding his own against four other Servants - including all three of the Knight classes (!) - primarily using his own physical power.
A Caster who seems a bigger threat with his fists than his magic, an Assassin in bright yellow spandex, a Saber without a proper sword... just what the hell kind of War is this?
As the smoke and dust from Archer and Saber's attack settled, the assembled Rangers were able to see that Lord Zedd was still standing.
The Emperor of Evil was lightly bleeding from a few places now, but other than that he seemed totally unaffected.
Then, almost as an afterthought, his visor cracked... and bright red light spilled out of said visor like a sign of the apocalypse.
With an incoherent roar worthy of the Berserker class, Zedd ripped through Archer's rocket launcher with his palm to grab the Servant by the throat and slammed him into the ground so hard it collapsed into the sewers, similar to the end of Berserker's fight with Avenger.
However, with Zedd's rage-fueled power - and given how much abuse the pavement had been forced to endure over the past half-hour - this final attack was too much, and the ground imploded along the sewage system for several dozen meters.
Seemingly unperturbed by the floor disappearing from beneath him, Zedd lifted Archer by his neck with one hand with a hateful snarl.
"I AM GOING TO RIP AND TEAR EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU POWER PUNKS APART IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"
With this oath, Zedd took Archer's helmet in his other hand and slowly began applying force as cracks spiderwebbed across it.
Before the Emperor of Evil could finish crushing Archer's head like an eggshell, however, a blade slashed across his other arm, drawing an arc of blood, forcing the spellslinger to release the Red Lightspeed Ranger on reflex.
Then, no sooner had Archer had fallen to the crumbled stone beneath, than Assassin appeared holding Zedd's discarded scepter and smashed him in the face with it, forcing the skinless Servant to stumble backward.
Before the Servant Caster could regain his balance, the Green Ranger lunged at him, did a front-flip in mid-air, and kicked Zedd in the throat, pinning him to the wreckage in the sewer.
Looking through the haze of rage, Zedd observed the other three Rangers standing over him.
Assassin, twirling Zedd's own scepter around like a baton.
Lancer, who had unleashed a Noble Phantasm and become the more powerful Triassic Ranger, holding the Shield of Triumph and ready to impale Zedd with the shield's attached sword at a moment's notice.
And Saber, holding Zedd down with his boot over the Emperor of Evil's throat, about to plunge the Dragon Dagger into his exposed brain.
Assassin faced Archer and asked, "Dude, you okay?"
The Red Lightspeed Ranger massaged his throat as he replied, "I'll live, but I need to retreat for now."
The Green Ranger nodded at Archer as he entered spirit form and left, before turning to the Caster beneath his boot. "It's over, Zedd."
Just before he could follow through on that, however, a synthesized voice echoed through the area.
"KAMEN RIDE: KUUGA!"
The Rangers were momentarily distracted as they turned to find the new threat, and Zedd capitalised on it by blasting the three Rangers standing over him with a powerful electric energy burst, sending them flying back out of the ditch.
Zedd then summoned his scepter back to his hand and stared down the warrior in red armor that had appeared before him: Kamen Rider Kuuga, in his Mighty form.
Without further preamble, Kuuga leapt down into the sewers and attempted to kick Zedd in the face.
In response, the Emperor of Evil promptly caught him by the ankle, swung the Kamen Rider by his inertia, and slammed him into the rubble behind him.
"WORTHLESS IMBECILE! Did you honestly think the same kind of attack would work on me twice?!"
His disembodied voice seeming to come from everywhere at once, the Servant Rider replied, "Not really, but it was a nice thought. Guess I shouldn't waste time with you, huh?"
"FORM RIDE: KUUGA ULTIMATE!"
With this announcement, Kuuga's armor turned black, and he threw a punch at Zedd's shoulder.
And on impact, gouts of blood burst from Zedd's body.
Kuuga followed through, relentless, pounding the Emperor of Evil with a few more strikes, each forcing gallons of blood to erupt from the evil Servant.
The attacks themselves didn't affect Zedd too severely, and against any other opponent of similar strength Zedd would have been putting up a much better fight. However, Kuuga's Ultimate Form had a 'curse' on him - whenever he struck another living being, they would bleed as if he'd burst a major artery. As a result, Zedd was more affected by the rapid blood loss than Kuuga's actual attacks.
Even so, the Emperor of Evil would not be defeated so easily. Zedd blocked a punch with his scepter - causing a massive blood spray to erupt from his shoulders and elbows - and with a tremendous show of power, forced Kuuga back several feet before blasting him with electricity.
Smoke rising from his form, Kuuga quickly rose and swung another punch at Zedd's face, only for the Emperor of Evil to catch the Kamen Rider's fist in his hand. Zedd then shoved his scepter through Kuuga's stomach, and then swung Kuuga around a few times before flinging him through the air.
While the summoned Rider was nearing the arc of his flight, Zedd called a powerful storm by raising a hand to the sky, before bringing his hand down.
On that signal, Kuuga was fried by several dozen lightning bolts striking him one after the other. Before he could be totally destroyed, Kuuga disappeared into a flurry of silhouettes.
Appearing on a distant building, Rider spoke up, his voice carrying across the entire area. "I'm impressed, Caster, I really am. Didn't think you'd be able to defeat Ultimate Kuuga at all. Still, you'd best retire for a while if you don't want those injuries to do you in."
As much as Zedd completely and utterly loathed to admit the barest possibility that someone other than himself could be right about something, the fact was that he would need some time to recover from his blood loss.
And, even as powerful as he was, Zedd knew that with the injuries Ultimate Kuuga had inflicted upon him, there was a very real chance of those thrice-damned Power Rangers actually defeating him. One-on-one, the Emperor of Evil could still wipe the floor with any of them even in his current state. Hell, he would normally overpower all three of the not-almost-dead-ones before him, even with his injuries.
However, Lancer's Noble Phantasm had given him a much more powerful form, and if he could sustain it long enough, in coordination with Saber and Assassin... Not to mention if Archer somehow recovered enough - and quickly enough - to rejoin the fight...
Ultimately, Zedd decided that it would be best not to play the odds right now, given his injuries. Besides, they had the devil's own luck. They'd probably pull some new weapon or other piece of equipment out of their ass that Zedd had no possible way of expecting.
Damned Rangers were doing bullshit like that all the time, as he recalled.
Actually, in hindsight, that kind of thing was exactly what Noble Phantasms were for. Zedd was the worst possible match-up for Saber - not only did he have complete knowledge of the Green Ranger powers, in life he had destroyed them.
Of course, even if it would be a poor decision to continue fighting the assembled Rangers head-on, Zedd had more than enough sorcerous power for a few parting gifts to keep the Rangers occupied long enough to sequester himself beyond their reach.
Besides, if Rider hadn't shown up the Rangers all would've been toast anyway, so Zedd was more than able to finish them off at his leisure.
"Don't you dare think this is over, Rangers," he spat. "When next we meet, I will stand over your completely broken corpses! Before this War draws to its close, I will strip every last shred of hope from your souls, and you will die for nothing!"
Before taking his leave, Zedd punched the sewer pipe beneath him and infused the concrete rubble with his mana, transforming the pieces into a legion of Putty Patrollers.
"PUTTIES! SCATTER,AND DESTROY EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!"
Then, as the low-level mooks began running off, the Emperor of Evil struck five of the nearby warehouses, forcefully transforming them into appropriately huge machines.
"DARK SHOGUNZORDS! BURN THIS CITY AND EVERYTHING IN IT TO ASHES!"
Now that the Rangers were sure to be kept busy for a while, it was time for Zedd to return to his lair and plot the Rangers' ultimate destruction. Time was on his side, after all.
As Zedd created his army of Putties and sent giant monsters on a rampage, Saber clenched his fist in anger.
Turning to his former science student, he asked, "Let me guess, you've got the Thundersaurus Megazord, right?"
Lancer's had demorphed back into his civilian state, and he was leaning against the remains of a building in order to catch his breath. "Yeah, but I don't have enough energy right now to even invoke it."
Archer and Assassin had both disappeared - Archer, having retreated in order to recover, and Assassin had probably been called back by his Master.
Saber grimaced beneath his helmet, but nodded. "All right then, Conner. You see what you can do about the Putties, while I go deal with the Zedd's Shogunzord knockoffs."
The Green Ranger turned to leave, but then stopped as he recalled that Lancer had typically not payed much attention in history class. "Zedd's Putties are stronger than Rita's were, but the giant 'Z' emblem on their chest is pretty much a one-hit kill, so aim for that and exploit your speed for everything it's worth. Here's hoping we both get out of this in one piece."
Lancer took a deep breath to steady himself from the exhaustion of his earlier battles, before his expression became a proud smirk. "Race you to the Grail, Dr. O!"
With that, Lancer proceeded to run at the horde of Putties and set about tearing them apart, as Irisviel got into a battle stance as well.
Shaking his head at his former student's antics, the Green Ranger leapt from the street to the rooftop corner of a tall building in a single bound.
As Saber got into a stance and brought the Dragon Dagger to the mouthpiece on his helmet, he mentally declared, Try to stop me and you'll have a fight on your hands, Kerry.
'You're trying to protect lives, right? Why would I stop you?'
At that time, a fragmentation grenade exploded from within the midst of the Putties, causing several of them to disintegrate as their Z emblems were pierced with shrapnel. None of the pieces hit Lancer, to Kiritsugu's misfortune.
'It is true that I'd normally hesitate to authorize using your Noble Phantasm under such circumstances, but it seems that every Servant in the War already knows each other on sight, making such secrecy rather pointless. We're going to have words about this later.'
Ignoring Kiritsugu's irritation, Saber resumed what he was doing and brought the Dragon Dagger to the mouth on his helmet, and played a series of six notes, before repeating the string twice more.
Upon doing this, the sea boiled, and from the depths emerged a giant machine.
As displaced water fell from the titan, it unleashed a mighty roar that sent a chill down Kiritsugu and Irisviel's spines.
Dragonzord.
Oh, hey, another cliffhanger. Originally, this had a bit more stuff in it, but I found that just cutting it out to save a few paragraphs was easier than keeping it and having to add another ten pages or so. Also, I promise this is the last cliffhanger for a while. The next few chapters shouldn't need one.
Gonna be honest here, I'd like some reviews. Namely because this is the first fic for which I've really tried my hand at fight scenes, and I'd like to know how I'm doing. So please, if you've got any constructive criticism for the fights in this chapter - or from last chapter, for that matter, or just any constructive criticism at all - it'd be great.
Next time, on Morphin' Fate! Saber's Dragonzord vs the WM Shogunzord! Lancer, Irisviel, and Kiritsugu vs the Putty Patrollers! Rider's insidious plot!
Servant Assassin:
Real Name: Dustin Brooks (Power Rangers Ninja Storm)
Yellow Ranger
Theme tune: Power Rangers Ninja Storm opening theme
Alignment: Neutral Good
Strength: C
Endurance: C
Agility: A+
Mana: C
Luck: B
SKILLS
Bravery: B: The ability to shrug off mental interference from external sources.
Presence Concealment: D (C+): This rank is normally at D. However, it increases to C+ while Morphed as the Yellow Ninja Ranger. The irony of being stealthier in bright yellow spandex is noted.
Earth Manipulation: B: Allows Assassin to move through solid earth as if it's air, and can split into two fighters for a brief period of time.
Ninja Streak: A+: Allows Assassin to move at speeds beyond the ability of his opponent(s) to observe, regardless of how advanced/accurate/powerful their senses are; instead, they are only able to interpret Assassin's movements as a yellow blur, and thus cannot make an accurate assessment of his movements. Cannot be maintained for more than a two-second period of time, but can be used an infinite number of times per battle as long as there is sufficient mana. Assassin's own reaction time and cognitive abilities are also enhanced in order to control the sudden increase to his Agility.
NOBLE PHANTASMS
Ninjastorm Megazord: A++ Anti-Fortress: By invoking the powers of Air, Earth, and Water, Assassin can summon the Ninjastorm Megazord. As expected of a ninja, this Megazord has access to several internal weapons that it can summon and equip. In addition, it can temporarily transform into Lightning Mode for improved speed and agility, at the cost of losing armor and attack power.
Power of Earth: A+ Anti-Unit: This one-use Noble Phantasm allows Assassin to unleash a concentrated stream of Earth Ninja energy at a single opponent, and destroy them. However, using this NP would also sacrifice Assassin's ability to Morph, greatly restricting his powers and ability to fight.