Part Seven
Chapter Three
The beach was crowded as the older Rangers found some space for their towels and unpacked the picnic baskets Trini had brought, while Jason and Tommy set up their beach umbrellas. Swim races were being held in the surf right now, while the paddle board events weren't due to start for another hour. But a lot of the lifesavers seemed on edge. There had been a few rips yesterday, and even now, they were peering out over the water for sharks and other dangers lurking just below the surface, impossible to see until it was too late.
Zac had just volunteered to go and get the rest of the food when their communicators chimed, although the sound was almost lost to the noise of the carnival around them. Everyone looked for somewhere to answer the summons, and Kim pointed to one of the empty surf life-saving tents.
They raced over and stepped into the shade, but froze when a blond surfer followed them inside. "Hey guys," he began, "I thought you were…"
"No," Zac said.
"But I need to…"
"No," Zac repeated, and pointed to the beach. The young man slunk outside.
Trini raised her wrist. "Zordon, what's the emergency?" she asked.
"A monster has just appeared in the city's western-most district," crackled Zordon's voice.
"We'll be there in a minute," Tommy said.
"No, I've sent the Junior Team to investigate," Zordon replied. "For the moment, I need you to stay where you are."
"So we can safeguard the sports carnival?" Billy asked.
"Exactly," Zordon said. "I will contact you if they need assistance, but for the moment, keep watch for any further attacks. We've been getting some odd readings in the Command Centre, and I feel as if something deeper is brewing today. Stay safe Rangers," and the communicator fell silent.
"We've been benched," Zac laughed.
"Zordon's right," Kimberly said. "If Zedd's making a play for the city, we need to stay here. It's totally Zedd's form to send a second monster just to mess with us."
Tommy turned to Jason. "You're okay with sitting this one out?" he asked.
"This is where Zordon wants us," Jason replied. "We should protect the beach. Besides, with everything we've been through the last couple of months? They can handle this. Have some faith."
"And let's be honest, it's one of Zedd's monsters," Zac added, as everyone headed back outside. "What's the worst that could happen?"
The six of us streaked through the sky before we shot down towards the abandoned warehouse district and materialised on an empty street. Everyone looked around to get their bearings, and Ian glanced down to the bitumen. But he was standing ankle-deep in sand. It was blood-red, a desert plain that stretched on forever under a dying sun, with no sign of life or civilisation. His face fell behind his visor, but just as suddenly, the mirage was gone. Ian jumped back and looked around in alarm, but saw only shadowy, derelict buildings.
"Ian," I began, noticing how freaked out he was. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah," the Grey Ranger replied shakily. "Sorry. I guess I'm still thinking about the beach."
Teresa swept her gaze around the area. "There's no sign of the monster," she said. "Although I doubt he'll be hard to find."
"Is it me, or does this place seem creepier than normal?" asked Scott.
"Bad neighbourhood," Brendan shrugged.
Staring at the horizon, Sarah tilted her head. "You guys see that?" she asked.
Ian turned to the Purple Ranger. "What can you see?" he asked.
"Ian?" came a voice. Everyone turned to see Ian's father, striding out of the nearest abandoned building, walkie-talkie in hand. "What are you doing here?" Mr Thompson asked.
Whenever he had his badge on, Mr Thompson had a way of asking questions that made you want to answer them immediately. I opened my mouth to reply, but Ian stepped forward.
"I'm sorry dad," the Grey Ranger began. "I know you don't like it when our lives crash into each other, but we're tracking a monster. What about you? Is this the case you were working on?"
"I had two more of Australia's most wanted brought into the coma ward at Caloundra hospital this morning," Mr Thompson replied. "Both of them were found wandering the streets in a daze before collapsing. I've got a few officers patrolling, right now. Do you think it has anything to do with your monster?"
I shook my head. "The monster only touched down about five minutes ago."
"Still, these fights usually get pretty big," Teresa began. "You need to find your officers and get back to the city. We'll buy you as much time as we can."
"Thank you for the suggestion," Mr Thompson replied, and Teresa shrank back at his tone. Raising his walkie-talkie, his expression fell. There was nothing but static. But standing in a circle around Mr Thompson, the six of us began to hear something. A faint voice, chanting in some ancient language, was coming out of the radio. Lacking our enhanced Ranger senses, Mr Thompson didn't seem to notice it.
"Well that's disconcerting," he said, letting the radio fall. "I'll go round up my troops." Mr Thompson stepped away, but paused. "Rangers? Keep my son safe, will you?" Without waiting for a response, he quickly left the area.
"You guys heard the chanting, right?" Scott asked, and we all nodded.
"Sarah, what did you see on the horizon?" Ian asked.
"A mountain that couldn't have been there," the Purple Ranger replied.
I glanced along the street to make sure we were alone, then gestured for the others to follow me. "That takes this from a coincidence to a pattern," I said. "Something strange is going on today, and it doesn't feel like it's all from the monster," and I glanced to Teresa and Ian, walking on either side of me. "I wish Jason and the others were here. Don't tell Tommy I said that."
Teresa smiled. "You're doing fine," she said.
Down the street, a warehouse suddenly collapsed in an explosion of rubble and dust as a huge figure charged through it and out onto the street. The six of us raised our arms defensively, ready for battle. The monster was taller than me and resembled a lion, with glowing yellow eyes above a snarling snout, a long mane of dark hair and a powerful feline body covered in glistening black fur. The creature's armour was covered with black and white squares. He had a large 'Z' design on his chestplate, but we could see other symbols and almost immediately recognised them. On his belt buckle was a stylised bishop insignia, while either gauntlet had pictures of a knight and a rook. Smaller tokens were strapped to his belt.
"A lion who plays chess," Brendan said. "Sure. Why not?"
The beast turned towards us. His expression fell for a second, then he growled and began stalking towards us, the claws on his feet leaving angry scars in the road.
"Rangers," the monster growled as he closed in. "Care for a game?"
"Not with you," I shot back. "Who are you?"
"Checkmate is the name of your opponent," the beast replied. "And you have met your match today, you worthless pawns!" With that, the monster charged.
"Let's put this creep in check," Sarah said.
"Right!" And we leaped into battle.
Thundering towards us, Checkmate lashed out with his claws at Teresa and Scott. Scott leaped to safety and Teresa spun around the move, catching the beast with a high kick. The monster turned to face her, moving faster than he looked, but Scott was already back beside his sister, catching the beast's wrist and landing a powerful palm-strike to his stomach. While he was off balance, Teresa aimed a rapid blow to Checkmate's throat, forcing the monster back. Before he could recover, Brendan and I charged past the twins, Brendan kicking low while I aimed a punch for the monster's chest. Checkmate dug his claws into the street and refused to back down, batting away Brendan's boot and striking away my attack. Brendan attacked again, but the beast grabbed his arm and easily threw him away where the Aqua Ranger crashed to the ground, dazed and hurt.
"Just think," Brendan murmured, as I raced over to him. "Five minutes ago, 'The Lion King' was my favourite movie."
He took my hand and I hauled him to his feet. "I was always more of a 'Beauty and the Beast' kind of guy," I said, and we leaped towards the monster.
I slammed my foot into the beast's shoulder, stunning him. Dropping to the ground, I pressed forward with a high punch while Brendan dived around me with a kick to Checkmate's stomach. Before the monster could retaliate, Sarah and Ian dropped down in front of him. Checkmate raked his claws for the Purple Ranger, but Sarah blocked his arm and then slammed her fist into his jaw. As he staggered away, Ian spun around, landing a high kick that sent the beast reeling. Gazing around as the six of us closed in, Checkmate reached for the tokens strapped to his belt. As he pulled one of them free, it expanded into a bishop piece, and he struck me away with it before launching it at Teresa and Scott. Pulling two knights from his belt, he threw them for Sarah and Ian, the tokens turning sharply left in mid-air. Sarah summoned her Power Mace and struck one of them away where it exploded, while Ian's Power Blasters appeared in his hands and he blasted the other piece out of the air. The street erupted with sparks and smoke, and the six of us retreated out of danger.
Checkmate hung back as we recovered, but Ian noticed him glancing to the empty buildings on either side of the street. We were the only people around. What was distracting him?
"There's no time for this," the monster murmured. "It calls to me!"
"Had enough yet?" Sarah called.
Checkmate turned to her. "As a matter of fact, I have," he shot back, and grabbed a handful of pawns from his belt.
"Get down!" shouted Teresa. The six of us dived to safety as Checkmate flung the tokens for the side of the closest building. The wall was blasted out onto the road with a deafening explosion that shook the street, as charred pieces of rubble rained down over us. It was a long time before the smoke cloud dissipated, but when it did, we could see Checkmate had vanished. Aside from the rubble, we were alone.
"Everyone okay?" I asked.
"Damn it," Sarah swore. "Why didn't he stick around?"
"He wanted something," Ian replied. "Fighting us was a side-event, it was a distraction. Look at how fast he took off. He wanted to be somewhere else."
"Ian's right," I said. "But we have to find him."
"He can't have gone far," Scott began. He raised his wrist, but hesitated. "Alpha won't be able to track him. The sensors aren't working."
"Then we split up," Teresa said. "Sarah, Scott and I will check this block," and she pointed to the row of buildings behind us.
I glanced to Brendan and Ian beside me. "We'll take the next block over," I said. "If you find him? Call everyone. This cat is tricky. And there's too much going on today that we haven't figured out yet."
"Got it," Scott said. "Be careful," and the six of us dashed away.
To be continued.
Author's notes – the battle scene here was originally a lot longer, in the first draft. Checkmate used an entire chess board's worth of minions to attack the Rangers. There was a jumping mechanical knight, as well as a giant tower that was the rook for the Rangers to destroy. But part 7 is already running four separate subplots. I had to be really careful that it didn't get away from me completely. One of the first lessons in story-telling? Sometimes, less is more. As much as I liked Checkmate (and I do think he's a lovely idea. Watch for the lion, chess and royalty motifs to pay off, in the next chapter), I had to pull back, a little bit. There's always time for more chess-themed monsters in the future.