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With the three walls he'd already crashed through, the Green Psycho Ranger's momentum was sufficiently reduced that he hit the floor in the last room, thus remaining within the building instead of plunging down to the street below.
Adam surged back to his feet with a roar, doing his best to shake off the aftereffects of the blow he'd taken. His dominant feeling after being downed in such a way was neither fear nor worry, but a seething, murderous rage! That Robot Ranger was going to be in pieces by the time he finished with it! Where was his Lance?!
A quick, frustrated glance around the small room showed no sign of the Green Psycho Ranger's signature weapon, neither on the floor nor under the shelf jutting out from three of the walls and holding what looked like computers. He must have lost his grip on it somewhere during his flight.
Then the door slid open and the Blue Turbo Ranger stomped in, his massive war-hammer clenched in his gloved hands. It was definitely a new weapon for him, and his armor had some different touches too. It looked like-
It looked like the armor bestowed by the Great Power!
The head of the hammer went up and came whistling down toward the Green Psycho Ranger's helmet, and though he caught the metal shaft of the weapon with both hands, he found the best he could do was to merely slow the weapon's descent. Its impact was jarring, sending his head ringing, and for the first time in almost two years, amid all of the bloodlust and driving fury which had become his natural state, Adam Parks felt a shiver of fear.
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"So long, Ranger!" Tanya spat out as she stood looming over the fallen white figure, her Energy Sling leveled at Delphine's head. As she pulled back on the Sling, however, her target moved, one leg lashing up to strike her wrist and deflect the shot, while the other blurred out in a kick which nearly broke Psycho Yellow's left knee.
She stumbled and fell as the prone Delphine seized her by the wrists, and caught her with a boot against her stomach. The next thing she knew she was being propelled up and over the Light Ranger, landing hard on her back. She flipped to her feet and whirled to face her foe, but the Aquitan had already drawn her laser pistol and put a bolt directly into the Yellow Psycho Ranger's weapon.
Dropping the now-sparking, useless piece of technology, Tanya charged forward, determined to pound the life from Delphine herself.
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"Withdraw!" Cassie shouted to the soldiers on the roof. They'd already played their part, serving as window dressing for this trap; now it was time for them to seek out enemies they could win against rather than trying to help take down the Pink Psycho Ranger. That was her job, and she finally felt able to do it!
Pink's first punch was deflected, as was her second and third. Cassie retaliated with a side kick to the stomach, followed by a roundhouse kick to the helmet. Her stunned adversary fell back and Cassie closed in.
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Though he hadn't voiced his doubts to anyone, Billy had worried a great deal about whether he would be able to pull his own weight in this battle. He had kept up with his martial arts skills under the tutelage of various Light Rangers (the only prudent choice, given that the entire galaxy was at war, and a surprisingly effective daily stress-reliever), but he hadn't been in a life or death fight for literally years and feared his rustiness might inadvertently doom himself and his friends. Yet the ranks of the Light Rangers had been tragically depleted; now that he was in possession of the Great Power again, how could he not participate in the attack and do his best?
Now, in the heat of battle, the tension and fear felt like old, familiar friends to him. Much as he had assured his former teammates, the Light Rangers, his wife, and even himself that he was content that his Rangering days were behind him, the truth was that some part of him had missed this, had longed for the ecstasy of feeling again the Power flowing through him and the pride of knowing he was once more on the front line against the forces of darkness.
He could acknowledge that truth to himself now. Deny them though he might, however, Billy had never been one to let his emotions to overwhelm his intellect, and so he had made sure that Aurico was tasked with taking on the Gold Psycho Ranger while T.J. fought Tommy. His heart demanded he be the one to take responsibility for the catastrophe he had caused, that he bear the awful burden of killing his old friend; his mind told him that to try would be nothing less than vain self-indulgence. Tommy had been a master of the martial arts while Billy was still a beginner, and he outstripped the Blue Ranger's amount of combat experience by more than two to one. Tommy would have defeated him.
Justin might as well, to be honest, but at least he felt he had a chance against the Blue Psycho Ranger. He certainly had the motivation, given he had inadvertently allowed the teenager return to evil. Oddly enough that made it easier for him to go all out against his opponent, secure in the knowledge that Justin would have wanted to be stopped by any means necessary.
Of course the fact that the Blue Psycho Ranger had nearly killed the woman he loved likewise lent strength and passion to his attacks.
After using it to throw off the first blow directed against him, Billy had almost immediately split his Power Lance into its secondary form of two trident sais, giving him a decided advantage against his foe's single Psycho Ax. The sais, created by the Great Power, stood up to the impact of the ax, allowing him to both parry and strike. Once, twice his sais scored against the Psycho Ranger armor, sending Justin back a step.
As the teenager summoned his Psycho Spin Billy jabbed both sais into the mentally-influenced Ranger's thighs, halting the maneuver. On the tip of his left sai beaded a single, tiny drop of crimson, to match the almost unnoticeable wound his opponent now sported.
A sudden, enormous impact from behind sent Billy down to his knees, but almost immediately he launched himself forward, head-butting Justin in the torso as he stabbed viciously with both blades.
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Something was wrong here.
Fred Kelman had sensed that within the first few seconds of the Light Rangers' counterattack, but it had taken him almost a full minute to realize exactly what was amiss.
The enemy Rangers just weren't going down as they had on Morrigan. The one he was facing was blocking the majority of his blows, and striking with far more force than last time! Fred was still considerably stronger, tougher and faster, of course (he was the GOLD Psycho Ranger!), but the gap separating them had greatly narrowed. On top of that the Red Light Ranger he was facing was proving to be an extremely and irritatingly skilled combatant.
A vicious kick to the Aquitan's torso gave him a bit of breathing room, and that's when he noticed the gold seal on his enemy's chest. He'd seen that form of Ranger armor before.
That was what the Rangers had been wearing when they'd destroyed Ivan Ooze.
Whatever form of the Power they'd employed then, they were using it again now and it was clearly far superior to their previous energy source.
Almost on the heels of that realization Fred shot a glance toward Justin, taking in his friend's situation. He blurred in that direction, halted with pinpoint precision right behind the dueling duo, and smashed his staff across the back of his friend's foe.
The Blue Light Ranger dropped, but then hurled himself forward into Justin and Fred was forced to turn and defend against a lighting quick strike from his own opponent.
Their enhancement wouldn't matter in the end. Easy or hard, either way the Light Rangers were going down.
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To his ever-increasing anger, Adam found himself continually stymied and decidedly on the defensive in this battle. He'd soon been forced to dive back through the last hole he'd made in the walls in order to search for his Lance.
Even regaining his weapon had proven insufficient to shift the momentum of the fight in his favor! He couldn't generate enough force to block that asteroid-impact hammer and he found himself forced to constantly dodge and give ground before its seemingly unstoppable swings.
The idea flitted across his mind of gradually wearing the Blue Light Ranger down, scoring hits of opportunity when possible and relying on their cumulative effect to secure victory. In his previous Rangering career he likely would done exactly that. Now, however, the mere prospect of having to resort to such a long, weak way of handling the situation only fueled his rage!
Twirling his Lance in his right hand for a moment, Adam unleashed a powerful energy blast from his left. The Blue Light Ranger staggered back a step, but then lashed out with his hammer, catching the shaft of the Lance and again sending it flying from the Green Psycho Ranger's grasp.
With a howl the Green Psycho Ranger unleashed his maximum energy output from both hands. The Blue Light Ranger was sent tumbling back, a smoking hole in the chest area of his costume.
Holding out his left hand, Adam called the Lance to it and strode forward, already raising it to impale his prone opponent.
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Delphine knocked aside the Yellow Psycho Ranger's one-two punch combo, riposting with a side kick to the stomach. Taking advantage of the momentary breather, she leveled her laser blaster and began firing bolt after bolt into Tanya's helmet.
In the past the weapon had barely made the Psycho Rangers flinch, but with the addition of the Great Power there actually seemed to be the beginnings of a hole in the helmet!
Falling into a crouch Tanya lunged forward in a tackle which carried them both back to the ground. Rearing up she wrapped her hands around the Aquitan's throat and began to throttle her.
The White Light Ranger coughed and choked, her own hands instantly going to break the grip, but she couldn't manage to undo the adamantine stranglehold around her neck. Black dots swam in her vision as the Yellow Psycho Ranger snarled in triumphant satisfaction. A lightheaded dizziness swept over the Aquitan; she feared was less than a minute from passing out.
Fumbling with an arm already feeling disconnected from her, she reached back and drew her sword from its scabbard.
She couldn't swing it, there wasn't enough room, but if she could reverse it . . . she flipped it in her hand, using too much force. No! She felt the grip slip and fall away, and she managed to catch it near the base of the blade, holding so tightly to the hilt that the edge cut deeply into her fingers and palm. Ignoring the pain, ignoring the sensation of everything around her floating away, she used all of the strength she had left to bring her sword up and forward, thrusting it into the Yellow Psycho Ranger like an oversized dagger.
There was a shrill, piercing scream and the crushing pressure around her windpipe vanished. She gulped in air and felt the weight of her opponent's form leave her as well.
Her body insisted she needed to just lie back and breath, but she knew better. Rising with a stumble, Delphine saw her sword embedded at least an inch deep into the Yellow Psycho Ranger's chest, caught between two ribs and sticking straight outward like some bizarre magic trick. A thick trickle of blood ran downward from the wound, staining the yellow uniform.
The visor of the Yellow Psycho Ranger's helmet slowly craned upward from the sword to regard the panting White Light Ranger. Knowing what was coming, knowing she had no way of surviving the furious assault about to overwhelm her, Delphine took a step forward and executed a high snap kick, the sole of her boot striking the pommel of the sword and driving the blade in to the halfway point.
For an endless instant the two females stood stock still in a frozen tableau. Then the Yellow Psycho Ranger toppled face forward, the gore-stained lower end of the sword protruding from her the surface of her back like a tombstone.
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The fight ranged across the rooftop, with Cassie getting the better of the Pink Psycho Ranger. Now that their physical abilities were close to equal, Kat was being beaten down by the Pink Light Ranger's greater hand-to-hand skill.
Until she disappeared.
Cassie quickly lashed out to the right, but a powerful kick from the left informed her of her error. Again she hit out at nothing and was hit in return.
Frantically the Robot Ranger's optical sensors swept the area, searching for any sign of her attacker.
She saw none, but to her horror she did see that not all of the soldiers had fled at her command. One remained at the controls of the anti-aircraft laser cannon, his face tight with fear as he continued to do his duty.
She took a step toward him, about to tell him again to run-
-and an energy arrow exploded out of her midsection.
Her arrows weren't that powerful! Especially not with the Great Power's armor! The Pink Psycho Ranger had to have enhanced it somehow-
The damage she had suffered was too extensive. She was going to go offline again. Once more she was going to be defeated in her struggle to defend a planet from the United Alliance of Evil.
No. Not again. Never again.
Channeling the last of her fading energy reserves into the motors of her arms and legs, she whirled and lurched forward, arms outstretched, running into an invisible mass.
Grabbing the Pink Psycho Ranger in a bear-hug, she screamed one word, hoping the soldier would understand.
"SHOOT!"
She heard the servo motors directing the laser cannon whine as they lowered the barrel as far downward as it would go.
Kat broke free, Cassie unable to maintain her bearhug.
Then a tremendous beam of light bisected both Pink Rangers.
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Even as the frothing at the mouth Red Psycho Ranger, Tommy Oliver was still one hell of a swordsman.
T.J. struggled on against him, knowing his task to be the most important of all the Light Rangers. If he could defeat Tommy, the other Psycho Rangers would be freed!
This was a case of real life imitating chess, a pastime he enjoyed: put the king in checkmate and the game was won.
So T.J. fought sword to sword with the leader of the Psycho Rangers, balancing the fate of the galaxy on every clash of their weapons.
And as Tommy expertly parried and sliced at him, the Robot Ranger gradually came to a bleak realization: despite Great Power being on his side and his android advantages . . . he would not be able to overcome his opponent. The Red Psycho Ranger, literally the longest serving Ranger in the galaxy in one guise or another, was simply too good.
Billy had planned for that possibility, however, just as their genius mentor seemingly planned for everything. He had arranged a way for T.J. to cheat.
"Check!" T.J. shouted.
Neither Aurico nor Billy were in a position to help him, but the codeword hadn't been intended for them.
No, it was the Phantom Ranger who responded to his call, de-cloaking behind Tommy and blasting the Red Psycho Ranger repeatedly from behind. It had been his ship which had gotten the others here undetected and he had been nearby, waiting to act if the need arose. He was the final reserve of the Light Rangers.
Unlike his allies, however, the Phantom Ranger hadn't quested after and obtained the Great Power; his intelligence gathering role had been deemed too essential, not to mention the opportunity position had afforded him to abduct the Blue Psycho Ranger. Consequently, his laser pistol did almost no damage, the surprise merely rocking his target.
That was enough, however, for T.J. to strike the Psycho Sword from Tommy's hand with a blow from his sword. On his backswing he swung his weapon in an arc intended to literally decapitate the Psycho Rangers' leadership.
At the last instant, however, Tommy bent his knees, dropping his neck and causing T.J.'s blade to hit his helmet instead. The force was such that the Lightning sword bit into the tremendously hard metal of the Red Psycho Ranger's helmet—but not far enough for the edge to reach Tommy's skin.
Tommy went into almost a frenzy, sending T.J. sprawling with a hammer punch, seized the Lightning sword, and brought it around in a slashing blow going from the Phantom Ranger's shoulder down to his hip.
With his left hand he reached down and tore the great ruby from the Phantom Ranger's chest, ripping away the source of his power, only to be blasted from behind by T.J.'s inbuilt plasma projectors.
It was at that moment that Fred, frustrated by his infuriatingly resilient opponent, loosed a concussive blast of golden energy in all directions.
Every other figure on that area of the battlefield was smashed by the wave of power, like small sailing craft caught in a hurricane. They were flung against the buildings on either side of the street, and the fronts of those structures crumbled and broke under the impact of the Gold Psycho Ranger's all-encompassing attack.
Stepping imperiously forth from the sunken, cracked ground beneath his boots, the Gold Psycho Ranger's helmet first swung in Justin's direction. To his relief his friend had been knocked roughly a dozen feet from the opposing Blue Ranger and was moving, trying feebly to get up. The guilt he felt for not having warned Justin ahead of time was Fred's sole negative feeling at that moment; the rest of him was caught up in pure pride and exhilaration at his own might!
Turning back to his red-garbed enemy, the Gold Psycho Ranger blurred forward like a battering ram, crushing his pitiful foe between the stone the fool rested against and the even more unyielding Psycho armor.
The Phantom Ranger crawled to and regained his fallen ruby, moving to replace it in the chest cavity in his armor. Behind him the Red Psycho Ranger staggered upright, too slow to stop the Phantom Ranger.
But the Gold Psycho Ranger was not.
The head of his staff went through the Phantom Ranger's back and emerged, coated with gore, from the opening where the ruby would be placed.
Ignoring the aching and soreness flaring through him, ignoring Justin rising to his left like a dark thundercloud, Billy sprinted painfully toward the Gold and Red Psycho Rangers as T.J. let loose a concentrated blast of plasma.
His impulse had been to hit the Gold Psycho Ranger with everything he had, to take down that murdering monster once and for all. He nearly did exactly that, strategy be damned!
Yet killing the Gold Psycho Ranger wouldn't end this. You didn't waste your time taking the Queen, when you could take the King instead.
Sent once again to the ground by the blazing burst of plasma, Tommy sat up and stopped, his body suspended in place by the two lightning-flickering sais which had been driven into the left and right sides of his neck.
Crying without even realizing it, Billy twisted his sais, sawing at the spine, until his old friend's head fell free of its body.
No one moved then; no one even seemed to breath. All were still and silent as they bore witness to the end of Tommy Oliver, the Green Morphin Ranger, the White Zeo Ranger, the Red Turbo Ranger, and the Red Psycho Ranger.
Then a column of white light brought Delphine to the scene. Only a moment later another column of blue light arced down and formed itself into the Blue Robot Ranger.
Billy looked between the Gold and Blue Psycho Rangers, waiting for them to return to normal, perhaps to collapse in an agony of remorse.
Instead they themselves morphed into pillars of light and shot away into the sky.
Billy stared after them, unable to believe what he was seeing. Tommy's death was supposed to break the spell! It was supposed to return the Psycho Rangers to normal! How could it not have worked?!
Dropping his own head in despair, Billy saw something which horrified him.
Tommy's body had also been teleported away, but the teleporter locking onto the morpher signal had resulted in his former friend's severed head being left behind. That alone wasn't what had struck William Cranston with such terrible shock and horror, however.
With the activated morpher gone, the helmet it had created had also vanished. Beneath Tommy's dark hair, his unexpectedly pale face had same skin-surface implant cybernetic mindnet which marred the otherwise beautiful features of Astronema, Princess of Evil.
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Notes: My sincere and heartfelt apologies! I swear I have learned my lesson! Never, NEVER again will I start posting online a fanfic which I have not yet finished writing! I will do everything possible to make sure the wait for the next chapter is far shorter than the wait you had to endure for this chapter . . . assuming anyone is still reading .