Part Ten

Chapter Three

He took a bit of convincing, but with reassurance from Kulak, Braun eventually agreed to lend us the records we needed. And that was only after Billy spent a long time explaining what a vacuum-sealed vault was. Teresa and Scott volunteered to help Braun and the other librarians load everything into a cart for transport, while Jason figured the rest of us should head back to the docks. If the Shadow King was likely to attack, he was probably going to come by sea. So we left the archive building and made our way down towards the Phoenix.

As we approached the wharves, Kim noticed Billy glancing back in the direction of the archive building. "Still thinking about all those books?" Kim asked.

"All that knowledge," the Blue Ranger replied. We could hear the yearning in his voice. "All that history. It's certainly tempting."

"You humans and your constant need for knowledge," Kulak said. "Why do none of you just settle for the direct approach? I'll never understand it."

"We're grateful for your help," Kim said. "Even if the day was uneventful."

"I don't know though," Brendan added. "I feel like that was way too easy."

Reaching the edge of the city, we stepped onto the grassy field when a commotion in the bay caught our attention. One of the dragons on a small fishing boat had slipped on the wooden deck and tumbled headfirst into the water. With the boat's crew giving him grief for being so clumsy, the dragon began an easy swim back to the boat, when a shark fin rose out of the water behind him. With our enhanced senses, it was unmistakable.

We reached for our blasters, and Kim summoned her Power Bow with a thought.

"Don't miss," Jason breathed.

"I don't plan to," Kim replied.

The dragon in the water glanced behind him and realised how much trouble he was in. As he reached out for his crewmates to lift him into the boat, Kim took aim and fired. But the fin swerved around the dragon, giving him a wide berth before continuing on a direct course towards the docks. The arrow splashed harmlessly into the water.

"What the hell?" I said. "Why would a shark do that?"

Ignoring the boats in the harbour, the shark soon reached a long wooden pier. A grey hand ending in black claws shot out of the water and reached up to grab onto the dock.

Billy's eyes went wide. "Because he's not here for the dragons," he said. "That's Sharkman!"

The creature climbing onto the docks was nothing more than a shark in human form. We could see it had gills on the side of its neck, a fin on its back, and a gaping mouth with rows of jagged white teeth under a pair of black eyes. But the creature also stood upright, with two arms and legs, and was carrying a golden trident in one hand. Curiously, he wasn't wearing any clothes but for a padded black vest around his neck. Gazing around the wharves, Sharkman's gaze fell onto the Rangers, and he took a menacing step towards us.

Kulak reached for his sword. "You know this creature?" he asked.

"Affirmative," Billy replied. "After defeating the Dragon Lord back in Springfield, I did some reading on our other terrestrial foes. Sharkman is a shark human hybrid. He believes that he's the destined ruler of the oceans."

"Why would he pick today to attack?" Kim asked.

"Why else?" Zac replied. "Look at his eyes. Billy, are they darker than they're supposed to be?"

"Affirmative."

"It's the Shadow King," Zac said. "He's controlling him. Maybe he absorbed his son's power after we destroyed him in Springfield."

"He knew we'd come here," Jason realised. "So he waited for us to get those records out into the open. He couldn't send someone by air or by the surface, because we'd see it coming. So he used someone who can travel underwater."

"I can't say I'm terribly impressed," Kulak began. "This Shadow King of yours sent only one opponent? Surely we can handle a solitary foe."

Sharkman took another step towards us, and struck the ground with the end of his trident. It made a deep echoing noise that reverberated through the harbour. With that, a dozen more creatures clambered out of the water to join Sharkman on the jetty. On one side of the shark was a kraken with snapping claws and tentacles falling from his shoulders, while on the other stood a nightmarish angler fish from the deepest ocean trench. We could see a grizzled white whale armed with a jagged harpoon, a hermit crab with an armoured shell and vicious claws, and a brightly-coloured sea serpent on two legs. Even as we watched, a school of half a dozen mutant piranhas climbed out of the water to join the other monsters. The workers on the docks who'd approached Sharkman pulled back in fear as the army of sea monsters advanced on them, hissing and growling.

Zac glanced to Kulak, who shrank back. "Can we stop tempting fate?" the Black Ranger asked. "For like one minute?"

"If we take out Sharkman, this ends," I said.

"But we can't kill him," said Kim. "He's under the Shadow King's control."

"The Shadow King may have pulled the same trick twice, but so can we," Jason said. "All we need to do is block whatever frequency is controlling Sharkman. Alpha and Zordon probably remember what frequency to use." He raised his communicator, then froze. "Except we can't reach them. Damn it."

The sea monsters grew closer. "Plan B?" asked Kim.

Jason looked to the Blue Ranger. "Billy, can you rig up something from spare parts on the Phoenix?" he asked.

"Affirmative," Billy replied, then added, "I think."

"Good enough for me," Jason nodded. "Go!" Billy dashed across the field towards the zord. As he ran, Jason turned to Kulak. "Empty the docks and evacuate the city," he continued. "Get everyone to safety."

Kulak's face fell. "I don't know what civilian sheep you're used to dealing with," he grunted, "but we dragons are fierce warriors, raised from hatching to never flee from battle!"

Jason leaned in close. "I don't care," he said. "Nobody dies today."

Kulak knew enough to realise this wasn't a fight he was going to win. "Fine," he growled. "But I will return to assist you. Don't even think about telling me otherwise. When I get back, I'll…"

"Protect Billy," Jason said.

Kulak growled in irritation. "I'd hoped for a more vital role."

"Protecting Billy right now is the most important job," Kim cut in.

We could see Kulak didn't quite understand, but he dashed away regardless, racing up to the city to sound the alarm. The five of us stood together, shoulder-to-shoulder, facing down the army of monsters as they closed in.

"Let's break!" Jason shouted.

"Right!"

And the army attacked.

The angler fish rushed towards me, and I took to the air with a high kick. The creature stepped around the move, and as I followed after him, the bulb on the monster's head suddenly flashed. The light was blinding, and I raised my hand to protect my face when the monster charged forward, slashing with his clawed fins. The blow forced me back, but I recovered quickly, summoned my Power Sword and raced forward to continue the fight. A few metres away, the white whale had charged at Jason, swinging its harpoon for his chest. Jason dodged the weapon and leaped to safety when the monster swung again. As he landed, the whale launched the spear straight for him, and he crashed backwards in a shower of sparks. He barely had time to recover as the monster attacked, but he grabbed for the harpoon and wrenched it out of the beast's grasp, snapping it in half before striking the monster back with the pieces.

In the field behind us, Brendan was trading blows with the walking sea snake. The monster slashed its claws for him but he rolled to safety in the shadow of the old fishing boat. Turning after him, the snake lunged after the Aqua Ranger with its jaws wide, but Brendan ducked to the side and the snake's fangs dug into the side of the boat, the venom immediately dissolving the timber. Grabbing a piece of the boat, Brendan smashed the plank into the sea snake's head and threw the creature back, before a powerful punch sent the snake to the ground. Over towards the city, Zac was fending off blows from a barracuda monster armed with a bladed anchor weapon. Blocking the weapon with his Power Axe, he struck it away, slammed the barrel of the axe into the monster's stomach then spun around with a high kick. The blow launched the barracuda off its feet, where it sailed over the docks and splashed into the water.

As the city buildings emptied, more and more of the sea monsters were making it past us and converging on the cobblestone streets. The school of piranha monsters swarmed around Zac and rushed down a wide avenue, when a barrage of pink arrows thudded into them, throwing the creatures back in a blaze of sparks and smoke. Perched on a rooftop overlooking the street, Kim shot another two arrows at an approaching lobster monster, before a third arrow collapsed an awning onto the head of an angry swordfish. She leaped to the ground as the lobster creature recovered. Batting away the monster's claws with her bow, Kim struck him back with a blow to the face, then sent him crashing with a high kick.

Further into the city, the kraken monster closed in on a temple where dragon families had retreated to take shelter. Hearing the alarm, Teresa and Scott rushed down towards the city from the archive building. Side-by-side, the twins leaped into the air, slamming their boots into the kraken monster's head. The creature staggered away in a daze as Teresa chased after him. Scott was about to follow when a hammerhead shark roared out of the shadows towards him. His Power Staff appeared in a flash of blue light, and he caught the monster's clawed hand with his staff, struck it away then aimed a blow for the monster's face. Before the beast could recover, he spun his staff around him and swept the monster's legs out from under it, kicking the creature away as it fell.

To be continued.

Author's notes – Sharkman, like the Dragon Lord in part six, is another of my original villains. Also, yes, Jason just beat up Moby Dick. Because I had the chance to write Jason fighting Moby Dick, so of course, that was going to happen. C'mon.