Part Three
Chapter Six
It might've been a few minutes or an hour, but Scott eventually heard footsteps on the stone tiles. He looked up to see all five Rangers rushing towards him. Making their way onto the courtyard, the Rangers surrounded him. Tommy and Billy held out their hands and lifted Scott to his feet.
"Excellent work," Billy nodded.
"How's the city?" Scott asked.
"Everyone's okay," Brendan replied.
"The fading people are all solid again," Teresa explained. "All the monsters turned back to normal."
"The French authorities are evacuating the city now," said Tommy.
"It was a demigod," Scott said, and everyone turned to each other in awe. "He called himself He Who Devours Truth, and he did all this for the city. I got him."
"Scott," Ian breathed, "that's incredible."
A shadow suddenly fell over the Rangers, and they turned to the cliff looking out to sea. "Pathetic," boomed He Who Devours Truth, rejuvenated and fifteen storeys tall. "I am the firstborn son of a god! You dare assume such an easy triumph over me?" He swiped his gigantic claws for them, his arm falling out of the sky like a vengeful meteorite. The Rangers leaped to safety, and once they'd found their footing, they raised their arms to the sky.
"We need dinozord power, now!"
"Thunder zords, power up!"
Lightning flashed around the medieval city. The sky shook. The ground trembled. And in a flash of light, the zords arrived on the scene. The Rangers looked out to see the white Velociraptor, the blue Brontozord, the aqua Dilophozord and the towering grey Iguanodon racing towards them along the tidal plain, soon joined by the blue Unicorn and the White Tigerzord. Without waiting another second, the Rangers tapped their communicators and shot towards the giant metal beasts, materialising in the cockpits a second later and taking the controls.
He Who Devours Truth spun after the six teleportation streaks, but froze at the sight of the fleet of giant robots rapidly approaching.
"What is this?" he asked, and followed after them, his booming footsteps shaking the city.
In the Velociraptor, Teresa hit the radio. "Guys?" she began. "This city has been here for a thousand years. Let's not break that streak today."
"Good call," Tommy replied. "The city's still being evacuated. We need to get this guy out over the tidal plains, as far from here as we can."
"Okay Bren, let's show him who he's dealing with," said Ian, and the Grey and Aqua Rangers pushed their zords forward.
The demigod hesitated as the Iguanodon powered towards him, when the zord swung a powerful blow for the creature's chest, forcing the demigod away from the city in a shower of sparks and smoke. The demigod found his footing, stunned, and wasn't fast enough to avoid the Dilophozord as it aimed a powerful kick. The blow lifted the demigod into the air, where he crashed to the ground hundreds of metres away from the walled city. The Rangers pushed their zords after him as the demigod climbed to his feet, dazed from the assault.
"They have weapons," he mused. "And they are maddeningly persistent. An unexpected obstacle, but hardly insurmountable."
Across the battlefield, Brendan had just armed the zord's long-range weapons when he heard them, the same dark whispers he'd heard back in the city, gnawing at the back of his mind. He reached for the radio but it was too late. Shadow wrapped around him and he was small and far away.
In the cockpit of the Brontozord, Scott looked on in horror as the Dilophozord fell still and its eyes grew dark. One-by-one, the other four zords followed, depowering and shutting down until the Brontozord was the only zord left. He glanced frantically to the other zords as their opponent closed in, and reached for the radio.
"Guys, what's wrong?" he asked. "Your zords are shut down, we need to…"
Then he heard Ian's voice through the radio. It was little more than a whisper. Without his enhanced Ranger senses, he wouldn't have even noticed. "This isn't right…" Ian was saying to nobody in particular. "I'm a fraud… shouldn't be here…"
Scott looked across the battleground to see He Who Devours Truth standing taller, his eyes glowing brighter. Realising what was happening, Scott hit the radio and opened the channel to all five zords.
"Guys! It's him!" he began. "Don't listen to him! For whatever reason, our helmets don't protect us against his magic. I know that because he did it to me back in the city. He got into my head, but I kicked him out! And I know you can too! You have to listen, okay?" He took a breath before continuing. "Tommy, you've been through so much, but you never let it keep you down. You're one of the strongest people I've ever met! Brendan, you keep us smiling at the scariest, worst moments of our lives. You give us hope and the strength to keep going, even when the whole Universe goes dark. Billy, there is nothing you can't figure out! Not only are you one of the smartest people in the world, you're one of the best friends! Ian, you're the most honest and optimistic person I know, and I love how every day, you remind us how amazing the world is! And Teresa, you are the best sister anyone could ask for. You believe in me, even when I don't believe in myself, and I know you're in my corner!"
The demigod gazed down at the Brontozord. "That's the weapon you've chosen to hurt me with? A pep talk?"
"No, I'm using the one thing you can't deal with," Scott replied. "The truth."
He Who Devours Truth scoffed. "The truth that you are all insignificant? Dust mites on a dead world?"
"You keep saying that," Scott replied. "But the thing is? We're the Power Rangers. And regardless of the lies you're buzzing into our ears, we're still strong enough to beat someone like you."
The battlefield erupted in fire and smoke, and He Who Devours Truth staggered back under the assault, raising his arms to protect his face. The Velociraptor zord leaped towards him, grabbing his shoulders and slashing at his stomach with its claws, carving through his armour in a shower of sparks. The demigod roared and threw the zord off him where it crashed to the ground and rolled to a stop, when the Iguanodon charged towards him, catching him high than slamming him back with a powerful blow to the chest. The demigod recovered quickly and swung for the zord's head. But Ian caught the blow, and the zord struck his arm away and forced him back, ducking as the Dilophozord spun around on the spot and slammed its tail into the beast's head.
"For the record Scotty," Brendan began. "That was an amazing pep talk."
"We've got him on the ropes guys," Tommy said, pushing the Tigerzord forward. "Let's keep him there!"
As the demigod recovered, the Unicorn rolled into place, unleashing its full arsenal of rockets and laserfire. The Brontozord soon joined, the entire plain erupting in sparks and smoke. In desperation, the demigod blasted them with crimson energy, forcing Scott and Billy to pull their zords back. But even as the Blue Rangers retreated, Tommy pushed the Tigerzord forward, powering past the demigod and spinning him off balance. The demigod turned to follow the Tigerzord just as the zord launched a volley of fireballs from its mouth. And before the beast could retaliate, Tommy activated the zord's sonic attack, the roar shaking the tidal plain and forcing the demigod back in pain. With that, the Velociraptor, Brontozord and Unicorn opened fire, before the Dilophozord joined them in roasting He Who Devours Truth with a blistering jet of flame from its mouth. The demigod howled in rage, driven back even further.
"Ian, take him out," Scott called.
"With pleasure," Ian replied.
The zords pulled back as the Iguanodon stepped forward and held its arms wide. The sky grew dark as the zord's golden chest symbol began glowing.
He Who Devours Truth gazed around in shocked disbelief. "No, you cannot beat me!" he shouted. "I cannot lose to mortals, this cannot be!"
"That's what they all say," Ian replied. "Iguanodon Essence Blast, fire!"
A powerful surge of energy blasted forth from the Iguanodon and slammed into the demigod as lightning struck down around them. The beast tumbled backwards, defeated. But for a fraction of a second, the Rangers saw his true form. None of them would ever agree on what they'd actually seen, but the one impression they all shared was that the creature just didn't seem to fit in the space around it. Then he was gone, destroyed by a massive fireball that lit up the battleground and sent a plume of smoke roaring skyward.
"Whoa," Teresa breathed. "Did everyone else see that?"
"Whatever he was, he's gone now," Scott replied. "The city's fine and everyone's okay. I think we can call this one in. We did it, guys."
Leaving France, the Rangers teleported back to the Command Centre and demorphed. There were a silent few minutes in the central chamber as everyone quietly mulled over their encounter with He Who Devours Truth.
"We're just getting word from the French authorities," Zordon's voice boomed, drawing everyone's attention. "There's no permanent structural damage to the city, and the majority of the people caught in today's plot barely remember their ordeal."
"That's good news, at least," Ian began. "He Who Devours Truth was seriously bad news. It wasn't ego, was it? He seemed like a big deal. I think we got lucky today."
"Or we're just that badass," Brendan smiled.
"He was certainly a formidable opponent," Billy said. "But at least we prevented his goal of establishing a base at Mont St Michel for any kind of future assault."
"I wish we knew more about him," Tommy said. "The kind of power he was throwing around was scary."
"And Zordon, how could he read our minds like that?" Ian asked. "I thought our helmets were supposed to protect us from that. It's like we weren't even morphed."
"Remember what Sarah said last month when she fought Ag'reth?" Teresa asked. "It was the same thing. Like he was scanning our minds for ways to hurt us."
"The things he was saying when he was in my head," Brendan added, his voice unusually quiet. "It's like he knew everything about me. I'd never felt so…"
"Worthless," Scott said suddenly. "Small. That was the scary part. I've never felt like that either."
Teresa stepped over to her brother. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Scott blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. "Yeah, me, no, I'm fine," he replied. "I just remembered something you told me, and everything He Who Devours Truth was saying seemed hollow. And then I kicked his teeth in." He paused as his friends laughed. Then the corners of his mouth curled into a smile. "Did I beat up a demigod today?"
"I'm sorry to say Rangers," Zordon began, "but Alpha and I are at just as much a loss as you are."
"So there's no data at all on our foes?" Billy asked.
"Ayeyiyi!" Alpha replied. "We've been scanning the archives all afternoon and we've got nothing, Rangers. There's no references to this He Who Devours Truth in any known mythological pantheon. We'll try looking at alien ones next, but we can't promise anything."
"Regardless Rangers, hundreds of people are safe because of you," Zordon said, "and one of the world's most beautiful landmarks is still standing. Alpha and I will keep looking for answers. But even if we don't find them, you did a good thing today Rangers. And yes, Scott," and the team's mentor allowed himself a smile. "You did defeat a demigod today. Well done."
To be continued.