Part Nine
Chapter Five
The stone door slammed shut and blocked out all noise from the first chamber. Tommy glanced around uneasily. It was as silent as a tomb in here, and so cold that he was shivering through his suit. But at least there was some light. The portable light stands still flickered in the corners of the room. And hopefully the worst of the Shadow King's magic had been trapped inside when he'd sealed the door.
Wary of danger, Tommy made his way towards the centre of the room. The shadows were thicker here. He couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched. As he moved, he was suddenly aware of a dull ache in the side of his head, as if something was trying to get into his mind but could only scratch the surface. He smiled to himself. Zordon and Alpha had managed to reinforce the magic protecting their helmets. But their opponents hadn't figured that out yet.
"Saba," he said aloud, "a little light, if you can."
The sword immediately obliged. Saba's eyes lit up, casting a red glow through the space that didn't combat the cold, but at least let Tommy see a little better.
"So White Ranger," the sword began, "what are we looking for?"
On the ground lay an old sack, partially covering something solid. A bronze handle was peeking out from beneath the cloth. It was the only thing in the room beside himself and Saba. It had to be what he was looking for.
"I think we just found it," Tommy said.
"What good fortune," the ever-cheerful sword replied.
Tommy knelt by the cloth, reached for the handle and stood up, the sack falling to the ground. He gasped.
It was the torch.
It was heavy and solid, cast from an old metal. The handle was a foot long, and above that was the torch's circular base. Right around the base were symbols and pictures in a language Tommy couldn't identify. But one thing was sure. They looked old. Above that was the torch's flame, but it didn't look like any fire he'd ever seen. It was almost like he was looking at a photo-negative of an actual flame. The fire flickered in shades of green and grey and black. When he moved the torch closer to one of the stone columns, the stone grew darker, not lighter. His face fell. Something in the shadow was moving. A clawed hand, reaching out for him.
"These artefacts are supposed to be cursed," Tommy said softly. "But what if the torch isn't the problem here? What if it's the flame?"
Without wasting another second, he left Saba on the ground beside him. The cap protecting the top of the torch was bolted on, but with his Ranger strength, it was easy enough to remove. For a second, he stared at the black flame. It was a fire, hopefully like any other. Billy would've told him that it was a simple chemical reaction. And lacking any other options, he only had one way to extinguish it.
He reached into the torch and closed his gloved hand around the flame.
Pain shot up his arm and he winced. It was a burning cold, like he'd just reached into a bucket of ice water, but a thousand times worse. The shadows around him rolled and boiled, the whispers in his ear growing louder, and then it was over. He pulled his hand free and the flame was extinguished. He even noticed that the chamber felt a little warmer, the dark no longer overpowering.
Shaking his hand in pain, Tommy left the torch on the ground and picked up Saba.
"One problem down," he said. "But why did that feel too easy?"
Something moved in the shadows and he spun to face it. But there was nobody there. Tommy shook his head. Of course. It couldn't have been anyone else, could it?
The figure he'd glimpsed was wearing green.
Tommy laughed. "That's the best you've got?" he asked. "Man, this is amateur hour. I live with the worst part of myself every day. I face it every day. Every time there's trouble, every time I morph. So damn you for making me remember him today," and he raised Saba high. "Now step into the light and show yourself so I can start hurting you."
The air shimmered above the fallen torch, and Tommy looked back to the centre of the chamber as a figure took shape before him. The creature was easily as tall as him, with clawed hands and feet. The beast's face was wolf-like, with yellow canine eyes, a long snout and a gaping jaw. Its body was covered in tangled, black fur, while it wore silver armour connected with chains and straps. Once the wolf had taken solid form, he raised his head and howled, the sound sending a chill down Tommy's spine.
But the White Ranger held his ground. "Who are you?" he asked.
The creature lowered his gaze. "I am the beast who swallows the sun," he growled. "I am the thirdborn, the wolf king of the broken world."
"He Who Devours Hope," Tommy said. "We heard you were here somewhere."
"And you are one of the heroes who set yourselves against me?" the wolf replied. "This world is mine! How dare you take this away from me?"
"What do you want?" Tommy asked.
"Terror," the demigod replied. "Fear, delicious and unchained, loose upon the Earth. If I accomplish this, my father will grant me everything I've ever desired! All I need do is ask! You have no idea, do you? The chains…"
"… are breaking," Tommy interrupted. "We get it! You think you're so tough, but you're just one more monster. I don't care if you're half a god or one-sixteenth. We stopped your brothers and we'll stop you too."
The demigod sneered at the interruption. With a wave of his hand, he sent a blast of dark energy straight for the White Ranger. The whole temple shook as Tommy crashed to the ground and rolled to a stop. Every part of him was hurting. He reached for Saba and staggered to his feet as his ancient adversary closed in.
"Great work Thomas," he wheezed to himself. "You just picked a fight with a demigod. Can this day get any better?"
Footsteps on the floor echoed out from behind a stone column, and he looked up to see the evil Green Ranger step into view. The White Ranger froze as the Green Ranger closed in. But there was something wrong with him, as if Tommy was looking at his reflection in a warped mirror. The Green Ranger before him was taller and stronger than he should've been. The dragon design on the helmet was exaggerated and predatory. This wasn't the Green Ranger out of an old photo. He was straight out of Tommy's nightmares. Too late, Tommy realised that was exactly the point.
"So defiant," the demigod said, as the Green Ranger approached. "Humanity hasn't changed, even after all this time. But I wonder how on Earth you'll stop me when you're too busy fighting your own dark self?"
A metre away from Tommy, the Green Ranger reached for the Dragon Dagger at his side and slashed it for his enemy. But Tommy instinctively raised Saba, catching the descending blade in a shower of sparks and halting its downward path.
"No, this is not you," Tommy said angrily. He nodded to the golden dragon coin at his duplicate's belt. "That coin was created to do good! You're supposed to help people, to fight monsters and make the world a better place! What you did doesn't matter. This was never who you were supposed to be!"
The Dragon Dagger fell, and the Green Ranger stepped back, shaking his head in confusion. But it didn't last. A few seconds later, the Green Ranger looked back to Tommy and attacked again, his blade falling towards the White Ranger. This time, Tommy saw the move coming and didn't bother with Saba, stepping forward to catch the Green Ranger's wrist with his free hand.
"You're not getting it," Tommy said, then leaned in close and lowered his voice. "I'm not afraid of you anymore."
The Green Ranger's shoulders slumped forward and his arms fell. The Dragon Dagger clattered to the stone tiles. His helmet dropped. Tommy took a step back cautiously, but the Green Ranger made no attempt to follow after him.
Behind them, the demigod growled. "What are you waiting for?" he hissed, and Tommy could see the fur prickling at the back of his neck. "Kill him! I'm ordering you to do it now! Why aren't you obeying me? How dare you ignore me?"
Tommy glanced from the inert Green Ranger to the ranting demigod and back again, smiling beneath his helmet. "The thing is," he began, addressing the figure in green, "I know you. I know you better than anyone. Certainly better than him. All you ever wanted was to help people, right? I know that," and the Green Ranger looked up. "But him?" Tommy continued, pointing Saba towards He Who Devours Hope. "You're not going to get that from him. He's the son of a cruel old god, and the rotten apple didn't fall far from the tree. There are thousands of people in the city behind us, and he wants to hurt them. And he's gonna use you to do that. You remember what that feels like, don't you?"
"Hold your tongue this instant!" the Shadow King's son barked, but the Green Ranger turned to face the creature. Even as the demigod watched, the Green Ranger's features began to change, slowly resuming his normal appearance.
Tommy stood by the Green Ranger's side. It was the strangest out-of-body moment. "But if you really want to do the right thing?" Tommy asked. "If you really want to help those people? You know what to do."
"Sons of fools!" the demigod shouted, baring his fangs. "I always get what I want! Hope and light will be consumed by endless shadow!"
"Hey overbite?" Tommy asked. "When I first got that power coin, so many people were afraid of me. Afraid of us," and he nodded to the Green Ranger. "Would you like to see why?" Moving together, the Green and White Rangers attacked.
The demigod backed away as the two Rangers charged towards him. They took to the air with side-by-side kicks, the blows slamming him back into one of the columns. The beast found his footing but Tommy was already there, aiming a rapid blow for the demigod's neck. Blocking the move, the beast slashed his claws for the approaching Green Ranger, before raking them back for Tommy's helmet. The White Ranger ducked the blow then took to the air with a powerful spinning kick. The wolf dived to safety as Tommy's kick shattered the column. As his opponents closed in, the demigod roared in frustration and punched the air with his fist. Shadow exploded from his hand like a storm of knives, the darts scything through the air towards the two Rangers. But the Green Ranger raised the Dragon Dagger and played a familiar tune while Tommy spun behind him, the two back-to-back. With the Dragon Shield powered up, the barrage slammed into the Green Ranger's chest but bounced away harmlessly.
The demigod pulled back in alarm. As the Green Ranger held his arms wide, Tommy leaped over him, falling towards the demigod and slicing Saba as he landed. The beast retreated but Tommy followed after him, slashing Saba through the air like solid lightning. His adversary dodged left, stepped around a second blow then spun under a third, but Tommy pressed forward, carving Saba across the beast's chest armour in a shower of sparks. As his opponent howled, Tommy threw Saba into the air and landed a flurry of rapid punches to the beast's chest and head. He pulled back as Saba sliced past, further injuring the demigod, before continuing to land blow after blow as Saba scythed through the air around them. Unable to defend himself, He Who Devours Hope was helpless under the assault.
Finally, Tommy somersaulted back to join his green counterpart, snagging Saba out of the air as he landed. Before the demigod could retaliate, the Green Ranger charged the Dragon Dagger and sliced it towards the monster. The dagger's arc slammed the monster back. A second later, Tommy held Saba high. The sword blasted the monster into the wall with such force the temple shook. Leaving a crater in the wall, the demigod crashed to the ground and moved no further as the wall collapsed around him, burying him in the rubble.
"Good work," Tommy said. Beside him, the Green Ranger nodded.
To be continued.