Part Seven

Chapter Four

In the Command Centre, Zordon had found it impossible to watch the battle, with the viewing screen transmitting little more than static. He was just rerouting some auxiliary power to the device when Alpha interrupted.

"Forgive me Zordon," Alpha began, "but I was reviewing the beginning of today's attack, and I noticed something odd about the monster's trajectory."

Zordon turned his full attention to his robotic assistant. Was there something they'd missed? "Odd?" he repeated. "Alpha, what did you find?"

"The monster was on a course for downtown, see?" Alpha said. He tapped a button on the keyboard before him, and footage of the monster's teleport trail appeared on a nearby monitor. "But once he was within range of the city, he veered left towards the abandoned warehouse district." Onscreen, Zordon watched as the monster's trajectory altered dramatically mid-flight. Alpha was right. "If the monster was sent to attack the city, why would he suddenly change course?"

"Unless something caught his attention," Zordon realised. "I don't like this. Alpha, scan the entire area. Use everything we've got. There's something in play here that we haven't seen yet. And I doubt it's anything good."

Destroying the side of the building had been the perfect distraction. Even as the Rangers were diving for cover, Checkmate was already a block away. He'd felt it, as soon as he was within range of the city. By the Destroyer, he'd felt it, power that made the air taste foul and send a chill down his spine. How had they missed it? If anything, the battle had sharpened his senses and cleared his mind. When he shut his eyes, he could see it, now. Beckoning him to find it.

It was calling out to him. What had begun as a whisper was now a scream.

He soon found what he was looking for. The crumbling old building sat at the very edge of the suburb, the last sign of civilisation before the landscape gave way to scrub and empty bushland. The warehouse was deserted and seemed in danger of collapse, but Checkmate's lips curled into a triumphant grin as he approached.

Broken windows and gaps in the walls had allowed the others to crawl inside, but the monster was too bulky for that. Plus, he had no reason to hide. Reaching the front entrance, the padlock broke apart in his paw, and he stepped inside.

The building was cool and quiet. On the ground were wallets, trinkets and pieces of jewellery, the personal effects discarded by the previous trespassers as they shed their identities. Without realising it, Checkmate reached for the 'Z' symbol on his chestplate, carved it off with his claws, and threw it away.

"Others have come, haven't they?" Checkmate purred softly, as he made his way through the ruined building. "Criminals and sinners, consumed by their own greed and corruption. They heard your call and came to take you. But they were frail and broken, and you consumed and discarded them. Finally, I'm here."

In the far corner stood a small shrine around a featureless stone bust of a vaguely-human head. The shrine was surrounded by the dark words of an ancient language that had been scratched onto the walls, while the floor was littered with the bones of dead things. On the bust was a pointed crown, forged from a dark metal and set with four blood-red gems that glowed with an unearthly fire.

"The crown of shadows," Checkmate murmured. "There are stories that all of Zedd's monsters are imbued with, but I did not think for one minute I would find you."

The crown looked initially to be the right size for a human head, but as he approached, the crown grew larger until it almost slid off the sculpture, now the perfect size for Checkmate's skull. Only a few feet away, he could hear them, voices in the dark, strange whispers from somewhere far away but just out of sight. The monster couldn't stop himself now if he wanted to, reaching out his clawed hand for the crown.

"And you are mine," Checkmate said, as his fingers closed around the crown.

He screamed. Pain exploded through his arm. The monster tried to let go, tried to stop, but he couldn't.

"No!" he shouted, as he picked up the crown with a trembling arm. He tried to buck or turn or run, but couldn't move. "Please stop! No! No, I don't want…!"

He placed the crown on his head and fell silent. Everything became still. Then the beast's eyes faded to the darkest black. The surge of power that followed blew out the walls and lifted off the roof.

Ian, Brendan and I moved quickly through the row of empty warehouses, finding them all deserted. Still on the lookout for any signs of trouble, we crossed the street past several abandoned cars before checking the next block. Still with no sign of Checkmate, the three of us headed back to the intersection. As we approached, we saw Scott, Teresa and Sarah walking towards us. I glanced to Teresa and she shrugged. They must've had no luck either.

Between steps, the world shifted around us.

We were suddenly standing on an endless desert plain. The sky was hazy, the sand at our feet blood-red, and the sun above was old, glowing with a sickly red light. There were no signs of life or colour beyond the six of us, no people, animals or plants. It wasn't that nothing was growing here. It was more like nothing ever could, as if the land itself had been poisoned by some far-spreading toxin.

I glanced to my friends when the desert disappeared, vanishing in the space between heart-beats. The six of us were once again standing on the road.

Scott glanced to Ian. "That desert," he began. "Is that what you saw?"

"Pretty much," Ian replied.

"We've all jumped dimensions before, right?" Teresa asked. "That has to be what just happened."

"You're right," I said, and raised my wrist. "I'm starting to think we've got bigger problems here than just Checkmate. Zordon? Are you there?"

"Rangers!" Zordon's voice boomed through the communicator. He sounded overjoyed. "We're so relieved to hear from you! We didn't know what had happened. Tell us, where were you?"

We glanced around to each other. "Uh, Zordon, we were here in the city the whole time," Sarah replied. "The monster took off so we split up to look for him."

There was a long pause before Zordon spoke again. "Oh?" he said. "Rangers, the scanners lost you completely. It was like you vanished off the face of the Earth."

"That's the reason we called you," Ian started. "Zordon, we keep getting flashes of another world, some kind of endless desert. It keeps appearing and disappearing, and we can't figure out why."

"It's like the walls of reality are breaking down," Scott added. "And I don't think it's got anything to do with the monster."

"The walls of reality?" Zordon repeated, then paused. "Of course. Of course! That is exactly what's happening. Rangers, another dimension is trying to merge with this one, folding into space around the abandoned industrial precinct. But it's been hidden with some kind of mystical enchantments, rendering it invisible to our sensors. It's no wonder we couldn't find you. For a few minutes, Rangers, the six of you were standing in another Universe. That explains the odd readings we've been getting the last week."

"Dimensions folding together?" Ian repeated. "Someone would've noticed."

"Who?" Sarah asked, and pointed to the buildings behind us. "It's not like there's anyone around."

I glanced to Teresa, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The White Ranger gasped, and I knew she'd realised it too. "Zordon," I began. "You know what this means? If something has been going on that the Command Centre couldn't detect, it could've been happening for weeks. We'd be completely blind to it."

When Zordon spoke next, we could hear the dread in his voice. "Rangers? Forget the monster," he said quickly. "Your priority is finding whatever's causing these dimensional rifts and stopping it. If not, the results could be catastrophic! Alpha and I are working on a theory that the attack wasn't random, that the monster was searching for something. And if you…"

An almighty explosion a short distance away shook the street. Zordon's voice cut out and the communicator went dead as the blast rushed over us. Looking around, Ian was the first to spot a billowing cloud of smoke rising above the rooftops, several blocks to the west.

"I think we found our missing cat," the Grey Ranger said.

"I've lost Zordon," I said, tapping my wrist. "All I'm getting is static."

Scott tried his communicator. "And I can't reach the seniors either," he added. "Whatever that was, it knocked out our communicators."

"So we're on our own?" Brendan asked.

"Doesn't matter," Sarah said. "Let's find this thing and shut it down."

We raced way, straight through the crumbling old warehouses towards the source of the massive explosion. We soon reached the western-most street of the abandoned warehouse district. Crashing through the last row of empty buildings, we came to a sudden stop.

I stepped forward in shock. Beside me, Ian gasped with surprise.

The street looked like a warzone. Burning masonry and scorched rubble littered the road as far as we could see. The choking cloud of smoke and dust still hung in the air, making us all glad for our helmets. The trees that hadn't been ripped apart were nothing but broken, flaming stumps. Most of the buildings around us had been flattened, while the few still standing didn't look like they were going to stay that way for much longer.

"What happened here?" Teresa asked.

"This can't have been Checkmate," said Sarah. Even as she spoke, a building behind us collapsed. "There's no way he was throwing around this much power."

"For once, you are correct," boomed a sudden voice.

We spun to the source of the noise. Emerging from the worst-hit building was a dark figure, taking erratic, jerking steps towards us, as if he wasn't quite sure how his body worked. We instantly recognised the figure as Checkmate, except, it wasn't. His eyes were dark and the 'Z' symbol was gone from his chest armour. He was standing taller, holding himself differently, and on top of his head, he was wearing a dark crown set with red gemstones.

"What's with the crown?" I asked, as the beast came to a stop in front of us.

Checkmate's lips curled into a grin. "The crown of shadows brought us here today," he said. Ian shuddered at his tone. Even his voice was radiating new-found power. "What persistent thorns you've been," he continued, then held his arms wide. His eyes flashed with dark magic, and all the nearby pieces of wreckage lifted into the air. "No more."

As one, the six of us summoned our Power Weapons. They appeared in our hands in flashes of light. "Let's take this guy!" I called.

"Right!"

With a gesture, Checkmate sent the rubble hurtling towards us like a storm of vengeful meteorites. Brendan and Teresa took to the air, somersaulting out of harm's way, while Sarah smashed the incoming projectiles with her mace. Ian held his ground, reducing the boulders to dust with his blasters as they flew towards him, while Scott leaped out of the path of one missile, spun around and deflected another with his staff. Without slowing down, I sliced one piece of rubble in half with my sword, striking a second away and reducing a third to ash, making ground with every step.

Checkmate lowered his arms as his opponents disappeared in a cloud of debris, when I charged out of the cloud, thundering towards him and carving my Power Sword for his head. He grabbed the blade, halting my path forward, and slashed his claws across my chest. Even as I fell, Teresa wrapped her whip around his outstretched arm while Scott swung high with his staff. The beast easily caught the staff and threw Scott away, before using the whip to drag Teresa off her feet and launch her backwards. Behind them, Brendan threw one of his sai, but the blow barely stung the monster. As Sarah swung her mace, Checkmate caught her arm and threw her into Brendan, taking them both to the ground. Before the beast could attack, Ian raised his blasters and opened fire. Despite the barrage, the monster charged through the smoke cloud, casually struck Ian's weapons aside then grabbed for the Grey Ranger's throat. He lifted Ian into the air, as Ian coughed and tried to struggle free.

"You are afraid," Checkmate growled, in a voice dripping with contempt. "You reek of it. It falls off you like sweat! Your days are numbered, and there is nothing you can do to stop me," and the beast lowered his voice.

"Don't you understand? You've already lost. The chains are breaking."

To be continued.

Author's notes – poor Checkmate. He thought he was a king. It turns out, he was just the pawn. And when he reached the other side of the board, he was upgraded into something ... more.