Part Eleven
Chapter Eight
The ten of us shot out of the sky in streaks of light and materialised on the grassy slope a second later. The Dilophozord and Iguanodon towered over us, standing silently at the top of the hill. We raced up towards them and scanned the valley on the other side. By now, the crashed ship was mostly obscured by wreckage and smoke. We couldn't see anybody, but could hear the sounds of frenzied combat somewhere below. Everyone stepped forward. But gazing around the landscape, Kim's eyes went wide. She grabbed Tommy's shoulder.
"Wait!" she called. "Don't you see where we are?"
"What's wrong?" asked Teresa.
"Remember the story Zordon and Alpha told us?" Kim began. "I thought it was weird that the ship crashed in the middle of Ethiopia, but look," and she pointed to the mountains facing us. "The three titans? And there was definitely a river flowing through the bottom of the valley at some point. This is where the final battle against the Shadow King took place!"
Everyone looked around. "It would explain why the valley is so lifeless," Trini added. "The land absorbed so much dark magic that it guaranteed nothing would ever grow here again."
"So the Shadow King has been trying to distract us all day?" I said. "Kim's right. That ship didn't crash here by accident. We're here for a reason."
Jason held out his arm and summoned his Power Sword. "We need to find Ian and Brendan," he said. "Right now."
The rest of us summoned our Power Weapons and charged down the hill.
In the clearing beside the crashed spaceship, Ian was doing his best to hold off the lizard creature, but the monster was faster and stronger than it appeared. He aimed a powerful punch for the beast's head, but the monster spun around the move and slashed for his chest with its claws. He barely avoided the blow, but was caught as the monster's tail struck him in the helmet and sent him reeling. The creature roared towards him, arms raised, when Scott swung his staff and blocked the monster's claws. Leaping down before Ian, Tommy slashed Saba for the beast's stomach and forced the monster back in a shower of sparks.
I offered my hand to Ian and helped him to his feet as the rest of the team formed a defensive line. "Good to see you," I said.
"Good to be seen," Ian nodded. "Power Blasters!" The twin weapons formed in silver flashes of light, and Ian turned back to the snarling monster. "Hey big guy?" he began. "Rules change," and he fired a barrage for the beast.
The entire area went up in sparks and smoke. The creature leaped to safety but was almost immediately under attack as Zac charged towards it, carving his Power Axe through the air. The beast dodged the blow and Zac swung again, slicing the blade through a piece of wreckage as the creature backed away. Keeping up the attack, Tommy swung Saba for the beast, stunning the creature long enough for Sarah to land a glancing blow with her mace. Dazed, the beast lashed out blindly. Even as the White and Purple Rangers fell back, Billy caught the monster's claws with his lance and Trini sliced forward with her daggers, sending the beast crashing.
Before the monster could recover, Kimberly took aim with her bow and peppered the wreckage with a barrage of arrows, throwing the beast into the ship's hull. It roared defiantly but had to protect its face as Teresa cracked her whip for the monster's head, before wrapping the whip around a charred piece of debris and flinging it for the beast. The monster struck the wreckage away but couldn't stop Scott from slamming his staff into the monster's jaw, rocking the creature sideways. Disoriented and wounded, the beast turned to see Jason and I standing side-by-side. Charging our blades with power, we held the swords above us until the blades crossed. Power exploded across the battlefield and slammed into the beast, destroying it in a massive fireball that lit up the crash site.
Catching our breath, we regrouped. "I knew you guys would get here," Ian said. "Do we know what's going on?"
"It's the Shadow King," Zac replied. "Everything happening today is because of him. We've got no clue why."
"This valley is the place where the Shadow King was defeated," Sarah added. "We think the ship didn't crash, so much as it was deliberately brought down."
Ian glanced around. "Brendan!" he said. "He went to help someone, he's on his own!"
"C'mon!" Teresa shouted. Following Ian, we dashed away.
Brendan backed away as the Shadow King's daughter closed in. Her forked tongue flicked against her teeth, and she moved with a hypnotic gracefulness, an ancient predator expecting little resistance from helpless prey. The pool of blood behind him seemed to be growing more animated by the second. Wary of stepping too close, he gave it a wide berth.
"Why did you crash the ship?" Brendan asked.
She Who Destroys Heroes tapped one of the pouches on her belt. "I needed the energy core from the Traxian vessel," she replied. "Just imagine. I waited for centuries, barely believing the day would ever come, until one day, the first chain broke. I had months to put my plan into motion and finally see my father again. It all went well, but I wasn't surprised."
"You put a lot of effort into getting me away from the other Rangers," Brendan continued. "What's this got to do with me?"
"As perfect as my plan was, I needed one final jolt of power," she said, and pointed to the Dilophosaurus Power Coin at Brendan's belt. "That golden trinket you wear would be perfect. As for the rest of it? Centuries come and go, but champions remain delightfully predictable. All I had to do was use that connection to get inside your head and find the tiniest sliver of guilt, the smallest hint of fear, and well," and she smiled horribly. "Here you are. Just like I planned."
"And your pet, back at the crash site?" Brendan asked. "Distant relative? Nephew? Crazy uncle Dave who yells at clouds?"
The serpentine demigoddess chuckled and nodded to the pool in the centre of the room. "I think dark thoughts, and the pool provides," she hissed.
"It seems like you thought of everything," Brendan began, "but there's one critical part you overlooked."
"What part is that?"
Brendan summoned his Power Sai with a thought, the twin blades materialising in flashes of aqua light. "The part where I kick your teeth in," he said.
His adversary's expression faded. "Oh, you poor child," she sighed. "You almost hurt my feelings."
"Trust me," Brendan said. "In a few minutes, I'll be hurting more than that."
She Who Destroys Heroes sneered. "Fine," she growled, and held out her arms. Two short swords appeared in her hands. Forged from some kind of dark, alien metal, the blades seemed to hum. The noise made Brendan's teeth ache. "Let's see where this goes." And with that, the demigoddess raised her swords and sprang into the air.
As the warrior fell towards him, Brendan caught the blades with his sai, striking them away and slashing forward. She Who Destroys Heroes stepped around the move, batting aside one of the sai and slicing in a wide arc for Brendan's helmet. Brendan dodged the blow, parrying her other sword and carving the sai across his opponent's chest in a shower of sparks. The demigoddess yelped and recoiled as Brendan pressed forward, slicing high. His opponent recovered and struck back, the blades flashing through the air like a storm of metal, the clanging weapons echoing off the stone walls around them. The serpentine warrior slashed low, and Brendan jumped back over the blades as they passed harmlessly underneath. She stabbed forward as he landed, and he caught one blade but couldn't stop the other as she landed a glancing blow to his shoulder. He was stung but not fazed, and when she tried again, he caught both blades with his sai and twisted them out of her hands. Even as they clattered to the ground, he lunged forward and slammed one of the handles into the side of his opponent's head.
The demigoddess staggered back, dazed, but dived to safety as Brendan threw both sai, the weapons grazing past her with millimetres to spare. The warrior rolled to her feet by one of the stone columns as Brendan raced forward to continue the fight. She swung a punch and Brendan ducked, the blow carving out a piece of the column. She swung again and he blocked the move, striking her back with a powerful blow to the stomach. She spun around, raking her claws for his chest, but he batted away her arm, struck aside a low kick and sent her stumbling with a rapid jab to the jaw. Dazed from the assault, she grabbed a piece of fallen stone and flung it for her opponent. Brendan lightly took to the air, leaping over the projectile and slamming both boots into his opponent. He dropped to the ground only a metre short of the pool of blood, while the demigoddess slammed into the wall and tumbled to the ground.
Stunned from the fight, She Who Destroys Heroes looked around to see that she'd landed near her swords. She grabbed them and rolled to her feet.
"Well," she began, turning to face Brendan. "You've lost your weapons. I wonder what you'll do now." She raised the blades and thundered towards her opponent.
Even as she slashed her swords, Brendan summoned his Power Sai back to his hands with a thought, caught the descending blades and forced them down.
"I'll think of something," he said. He lunged forward and smashed his helmet into his opponent's face to send her reeling.
Finding her footing, the demigoddess looked back to the Aqua Ranger, pure hate in her eyes. Unfazed, Brendan held his sai at the ready.
"So let's talk about that getting me alone to steal my Power Coin thing," Brendan began. "How's that working out so far?"
"Do you ever cease this relentless babbling?"
"Not as a habit, no."
She Who Destroys Heroes sneered. "Maybe this will shut you up," she said, and struck her two blades together. The shockwave exploded back through the chamber with an unearthly roar, tearing pieces off the columns and shattering one outright. Brendan was launched off his feet into the pool of blood. There was no splash and he almost instantly disappeared, one gloved arm straining for the edge of the pool but soon sinking out of sight.
With the cave walls shaking ominously, she gazed around the empty chamber.
"Plan B it is then," she said, and made her way back to the corridor as the roof began caving in behind her. All around, the cave walls continued shaking, but she casually strolled down the stairs and crossed the entry hall, passing between the two great columns at the cave entrance. Turning back to the vast cavern, she struck her blades together again, the shockwave roaring through the cave and smashing the columns one-by-one. Even as she stepped out into the morning sun, the entire cave collapsed behind her with an almighty roar. She smiled with satisfaction as she walked across the valley floor, listening to the sounds of the mountain reclaiming the ancient watchtower, until she came to a sudden stop.
Eleven Power Rangers stood in a line before her.
To be continued.