STRANGER RANGER PART 2
"Oh, Master Vrak is going to be so pleased when he learns how we pummeled the Rangers!" Dragonflay said with glee, zipping about.
"Silence, you fool!" Creepox snapped. "What's important is that I meet with Vrak first. There are some important matters we must discuss." Gripped tight in Creepox's hands were two vials; one contained the remaining drippings of Vrak's poison, and the other was even more important; a single drop of Troy's blood.
With this in hand, both Creepox and Vrak will have the means to isolate and potentially replicate the powers of the equalizer. The warstar ship loomed close under its cloaking just within reach. Creepox froze all of a sudden when a flutter of movement caught his eye.
"Wait Dragonflay!" But the excited warstar was already leagues ahead. Creepox halted his blades at the ready.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Creepox, my friend, just where do you think you're going?"
The warstar growled as the cloaked figure came into view.
"You and I had a deal remember? I had asked you to assist me in capturing the equalizer, in exchange I opted to take care of a certain scientist you're not so fond of."
Creepox was at a loss for words, this was the one person he hoped not to encounter.
"So Creepox, I'm going to ask you once. Did you or did you not conspire against me and assist the person whom you despise, in an attempt to terminate my prize?"
Creepox paused attempting to derive a bluff, but his adversary saw right through it.
"I wouldn't bother lying," the cloaked figure said. "I've been keeping an eye on my target, and he wasn't looking so hot. I know you lack the power to overcome him on your own, so I knew you had no other choice but to turn to the chrome dome."
Creepox burned with anger, this pirate had him ultimately pegged and he could not afford to let Troy's blood fall out of his hands. Silently Creepox uncorked the vial containing the poison. The insectoid lunged at the edge of his claw coated with the last bit of lethal toxin. With a reaction speed even faster than Creepox could fathom his dosed claw was freed from his wrist the tip of the pirate's blade inches from his neck.
The ground around where Creepox's severed claw felt rotted and bubbled as the poison seeped into the earth.
"That's some pretty potent stuff, and you let your science pal convince you to inject that into the red ranger. You both better be lucky that he's strong enough to fend off this garbage, otherwise, I'll be coming after both of you." The pirate noticed a second vile nestled in Creepox's grip, "Now what do you have here?"
The pirate wrestled Creepox's other hand open extracting the vial of Troy's blood.
"Tell Vrak if he wants his sample, then he should face me himself. I'm sure he'd be glad to meet me."
Meanwhile, back at the Megaforce base, Jordan lay still unconscious as Noah and Tensou continued to analyze his body.
"Whatever Troy did really had a positive effect on him. His stats, a lot of his major muscle groups have been given a significant boom. His heart rate and breathing are almost at Olympic levels. So, if I were to guess, I think he might be connected to the morphin grid." Noah said.
"Oh boy! I almost can't believe it!" Tensou circled the room.
Gia and Jake looked on attempting to piece together the actions that transpired. Emma had already shared her perspective but the only ones who knew the truth were Troy and Jordan.
The red ranger had been silent ever since returning to the base and Emma couldn't help but feel that a lot of his reasoning stemmed her jumping to conclusions.
"You got anything to say?" Jake asked Troy who then pushed himself off the wall.
"I do in fact." Troy squeezes between Gia and Jake, making his way to Jordan without saying any other word.
"Is he going to be alright?" Troy asked.
"Oh, most certainly. Actually, better than alright." Tensou said.
Noah then spoke, "The poison may have had a role to play in this. I think it might have destabilized your connection to the grid just enough to where it had the possibility of being transferred."
"Why Troy? Why did you go alone?" Gosei asked but Troy remained silent. "I'm very disappointed in you, Troy. You disobeyed my request to not engage with this civilian. As the team leader should have known better. You were instructed to wait, Tensou and I were in the midst of developing a plan to retrieve the card and secure it. Your involvement nearly cost the life of an innocent as well as your own."
"They might have taken the card before we even got there." Troy exasperated. "We would have been in an even worse position, so I had to act. The others were just learning how to attack a high-speed enemy. If Dragonflay made a move, the only person that could have been able to handle him would have been me...I know I made a bad call, no one else left my power card at the scene. You chose me as the leader but how can you expect me not to my fix mistakes without anyone telling me?"
Gosei was speechless for a moment, "That's beyond the fact that your body is in a very fragile state. In all likelihood, the severity of your condition could have increased exponentially due to your heightened activity. As marvelous as you are Troy, your actions were very inexcusable. Now on account of that, it's best that you remain here for the time being. We don't want the afflictions of the poison to spur any more incidents."
Troy was not in the mindset to engage in further debate with the great sage, so rather he opted to heed the instructions on his own terms. Troy stepped out, hoping that the fresh sea air would help him cool down.
"Troy.." Emma softly called out his name, be she was left on deaf ears.
"Don't go too far, Troy," Gosei called out after.
"Uh sorry for interrupting but um there's more news you guys need to hear about our guest. The composition of his body is becoming more and more like that of the rest of you. I can't believe I'm saying it, but it looks like we potentially have a new ranger on the horizon." Tensou explained.
The Rangers all put their attention on Noah. It wasn't lost among any of them that he had been working on creating a new ranger with the help of Gosei and Tensou.
"Um yeah... I've been studying ranger biometrics for weeks. I was nowhere near propagating a physical host for the power. Heck, I still haven't found a suitable convergence source to filter the powers of the grid through. In short, my research has never come close to whatever Troy did to this guy." Noah exclaimed.
"So, this guy has a legitimate chance to actually become a ranger!?" Jake said.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Gosei interjected, "Upon selecting each of you, Tensou and I weighed the merits of every potential candidate and unfortunately the prospects he offered did not meet our standards."
"Sheez...Uh well is there a way to undo the process? Maybe we can somehow reverse it?" Gia asked.
"Right now, it's as if he's been blasted with a high dose of radiation. It's going to take a while for the morphin grid energy to completely leave his system, and even then, if he so much as comes in contact with a power card, any energy decrease might actually be restored," Gosei said.
"So, if we can't dry him off, do we then wipe his memory and send him back out?... We can do that right?" Jake wondered.
"If we do that, we'd potentially be giving our enemies access to a loaded weapon. What's to stop them from abducting this young man and subjecting him to a form of brainwashing? It has been done in the past and we shall not let happen again. Not only that but word can be made to the public which may potentially expose our operations. In truth, he is better kept in our care." Gosei said.
"So what are we going to do when he wakes up?" Emma wondered.
"The only thing we can do is inform him of the situation and present him the solution of steadily siphoning off the abilities of the grid. I am not entirely thrilled by the notion of permitting an outsider access to our base but we must take responsibility for the actions we've caused."
"With the rate his body is recovering, he should be waking up sometime soon," Noah explained.
"The revelation of this new enemy is unfortunate but not unexpected. We must double our efforts to identify and trace their actions. We also must not lose sight of the most recent warstar invader. Noah, Jake, Gia, Emma, as it currently stands our enemies are silent. You may return to your normal lives. I strongly advise you all to be ready should a new attack from Dragonflay come." Gosei said.
"If it's alright with you Gosei, I'd like to stay here and help if I can. Maybe he'll react better seeing a ranger face when he wakes up." Noah asked.
"Very well Noah, you may stay. The rest of you are dismissed." Gosei said.
Creepox boarded the ship still sulking over his encounter with the pirate. Upon entering the bridge Vrak was informed by Dragonflay.
"Everything went just as you planned master, those rangers had no clue what hit them. I was nothing more than a blur in their eyes. That punk red ranger got a lucky shot, but Creepox saw to that." Dragonflay was excited.
"Did you now, Creepox? I take it that solution I gave you lived up to its purpose." Vrak spoke taking note of the warrior mantis.
"..Y...Yes, I wounded the red ranger myself, with our fortune the likelihood of him appearing on the battlefield should be next to none," Creepox reported.
"Excellent, with their leader down the rest will topple in short succession. Now then Creepox, I take it you should have something for me. It should have been something easy for you to obtain."
Creepox froze for a moment weighing his thoughts.
"Don't be foolish now, you do have what I want right?" Vrak pressed.
"I DID have it. An enemy stole it." Creepox confessed.
"Enemy?! You don't mean..." A cruel fire blazed in Vrak's eyes. "Where is he?!"
Ernie was working double time to service his guests bringing out new rounds of smoothies and Ice creams. On more than one occasion he would have to tell a disappointed fan that he hadn't seen the Red Ranger recently. Through it all Ernie did his best to keep smiling and serving.
"Man, I can't believe the rangers never showed, we waited for like two hours!" A customer complained.
"Goes to show you can't trust your heroes," Another said.
Emma and her friends were watching as the shop owner worked his heart out. They wanted to help but they had their own concerns to worry about. The pink ranger especially was not in her usual chipper and upbeat mood. She picked helplessly her usual treat unable to fully enjoy it like she normally does.
"You're not going to eat your ice cream?" Gia asked her best friend.
"...I'm not hungry," Emma responded.
"Worried about Troy?" Jake asked.
"...yeah," Emma nodded slowly, leaning over the table.
"...You mind telling us what happened, Emma?" Jake asked.
Emma sat up, "...The only thing I saw was Troy running up to Jordan and then this big explosion happened. When I got there, Troy was leaning over Jordan, his hands touching his chest...I uh thought he was trying to hurt Jordan, but then it wasn't that. He was trying to save him."
"I can see why you called us so suddenly, it must have been a lot to take in," Gia said extending her hand towards her friend.
"Yeah...I just know he's really mad at me." Emma was sad.
"So Troy was shielding, Jordan. That could have caused the transfer problem due to the poison." Jake said.
"I just feel so bad...I-I judged him over something I hardly know much about," Emma said.
"If we all learned anything about him, it's that he hates being prejudged," Jake said.
Waves break against the rocky cliff face as the mysterious pirate waits patiently. Passing gingerly between his hands was the stolen vial of Troy's blood.
"You have something that belongs to me, pirate!" Vrak says announcing his presence.
"Ahhh if it isn't the second son of the Emperor. What was your name again, oh right, Vrack. I'm surprised you actually came to meet me. I guess that loser Creepox is actually good for something."
"When he came back empty handed you can bet, I was far from thrilled. I don't like it when my plans go awry." Vrak was angry.
"So, what are you willing to trade for this vial? It's just a small drop but I'm sure a mind like yours has many ideas. I'm willing to bet this sample is safer in my hands."
"Well then, how about I remove your hand!" Vrak lunges reaching for the vial.
In the confines of the base, Jordan's eyes bolted awake, he sat upright feeling his pulse race as he took in his strange surroundings.
"Where am I!?" Jordan was frightened.
"Welcome Human," Gosei announces, the fullness of his presence surprised Jordan even more.
"Huh? Who are you?" Panic crept into Jordan's voice. He rose to his feet taking note of the change in his body.
"What's wrong with me? What is this place? What did you do to me?" He felt strong and fast as if he trained rigorously every day of his life.
"You have been exposed to a cosmic force known as the morphin grid. It is the same energy that allows one to become a power ranger," Gosei explained.
"The Power Rangers?...Look I'm not a Power Ranger, I made it up. Just-just please let me go—"
"Oh Good, you're awake!" Tensou exclaimed, rushing to Jordan.
"How do you feel Any dizziness? Muscle Cramps? Does anything hurt?" Tensou inspected Jordan's body, adding more confusion and fear to the teen.
"Oooooh his heart rate is rising, should we be worried?" Tensou asked Gosei
"He's just scared Tensou, let's take things slowly," Gosei said.
"What is your name, Human? I am Gosei, protector of the earth." Gosei said.
"...Okay, um...I'm Jordan. What do you want with me?"
"No need to be afraid, you're in a safe place. This is the command center, the base of operations for the Megaforce Power Rangers."
Jordan was aghast, "Y-You're serious? This is where the Rangers are!...L-look, I'm sorry for pretending to be one of your Rangers. I just did it to gain clout. I'm actually a huge fan of the Rangers, I followed them everywhere they went."
"Have peace Jordan, our masquerade as a ranger is not why you were brought here. "
Flashes of the battle come back to Jordan as he remembers Troy.
"Wait a sec, there was someone else with me...I-it was this guy, around my age with this black leather jacket and red shirt! Please tell me he's safe." Jordan begged for an answer.
"Your concern for the well-being of others is admirable but worry not but the one you spoke of is safe. The reason you have been brought here is because your body has undergone a remarkable metamorphosis." Gosei said.
"..YYYeah, you mentioned I was exposed to this grid thing, it's the energy that gives the rangers their powers, right?" Jordan reasoned.
"That is correct. The Morphin grid is an intergalactic force of good that draws strength from all life. When harnessed it grants one incredible faculty, but if misused can bring about horrid destruction." Gosei explained.
"How did I get dosed with this stuff? Can we remove it?"
"I understand your fears and concerns, but worry not. There is no presence of danger here. Annulling your connection to the grid is not as simple. The power must be weaned off over time and not all at once, otherwise, your life may be at risk." Gosei said.
"So what are you going to do?" Jordan asked
"I can answer that," A voice said from the darkness. Emerging from the shadows was Noah in his blue ranger suit.
"Whoa...the blue ranger!" Jordan was shocked.
"We had received word that there was trouble in the woods, the other rangers and I were sent to investigate. Do you remember anything at all about what happened?"
Jordan shook his head.
"It all happened so fast. One minute I was there talking to this guy, and then the next thing I knew this guy in a hooded cloak attacked me. You guys know who that was?" Jordan confessed.
"You were attacked by one of our enemies who mistook you for one of the rangers. We were fortunate that you managed to avoid serious injury." Gosei said.
"Thankfully that other guy was there...is he uh...is he the red ranger?" Jordan asked.
Noah looks back to Gosei.
"That's a pretty hefty conclusion...what makes you think so?" Noah asked
"Well, when he approached me he seemed to know that I already had the power card. Not only that but he asked me a very tough question, and lastly when that freak attacked us he did his best to fight him off. I could just be grasping at straws here but if anyone is worthy of being a ranger it has to be him." Jordan said.
Noah again says nothing.
"I'm right aren't I?"
"Your deductive reasoning is quite impressive, but not entirely accurate," Gosei said.
"Come on, no. Then why am I here and he's not? W-where are the other rangers?" Jordan tried to stand but immediately felt the sting in his chest.
"Is this the grid thing you're talking about?" Jordan asked.
"Yes, the power of the grid courses through you just as it does the rangers. Since this is not the destiny you have chosen I would like to extend you the option of being de-powered." The mentor offered.
"And what if I decide that I want to keep these powers? I think it might be pretty cool to be a ranger and I think I could be a good one." Jordan suggested
"I'm afraid that is not an option, the powers of the grid are dangerous and unpredictable, not to mention our enemies will stop at nothing to get a hold of you," Gosei said.
"In other words, this isn't the life you want. If I were you I think I would choose to give up the powers," Noah urged.
Jordan thought for a moment. "Okay, if this is what's best then."
"Very well, Tensou modify the energy extractor reduce the pull to normal levels and have our guest here place his hands on it. It may take a few hours but by the end of today a majority of the grid energy should be removed from his system. Whatever energy remains will dissipate over time and before long he will be back to normal."
"Right away Gosei!" Tensou wheeled.
"This extractor thing isn't going to hurt right?" Jordan asked.
"I've seen it used before. You might feel a bit drained after but there's no pain whatsoever," Noah assured.
As waves crashed against the rocky shore, the sound of combat rang out at the top of the cliff face. Vrak lunged and stabbed with his spear hoping to catch his target off guard but each strike was parried and deflected by the edge of his opponent's blade.
"I must say, you have quite the degree of skill, far better than your compatriot!" The cloaked figure bellowed as he drew his energy pistol and fired.
Vrak deflected the bolts with the shaft of his spear, "You will find that there are very few who can match me!" Vrak countered as he fired energy waves of his own.
The two sides were evenly matched. They charged once more, voices of their war cries and the clang of the weapons reverberated outward.
Troy was feeling exceptionally heated so much so that his hands had a faint hue to them. On top of that his side was killing him, the discomfort he felt made Troy want to drop to his knees and croak.
Gosei had provided answers that no one else could, not only that but he assisted Troy in learning how to better maintain and control his abilities.
Unlike Jake and Gia, Troy realized that it was his own fault, his own actions, that landed Jordan in the precarious situation that he was in. Troy knew that he needed to be the one to fix things no matter what pain he was in.
As Troy ventured away from the Megaforce beach he began to sense a subtle change in the wind. Somebody somewhere was in the midst of an intense fight. Troy pulled out his Morpher prepared to contact his friends but reasoned otherwise.
He pushed forward following the sensation he was feeling. At long last Troy was brought to the cliffside where Vrak was still engaged with the cloaked figure. Being so close to the heated conflict caused Troy's side to flare up even worse. Although he tried to hide it, his scream of pain drew the attention of the two adversaries.
"Why should I settle for a sample when the full prize is right here!" Vrak bellowed leaping after Troy with his spear raised.
"Like I'll let you get away with that!" The mysterious foe said firing his energy pistol.
Troy staggered to his feet just narrowly dodging the downward thrust of Vrak's spear. He was further thrown off by the laser blasts that came racing by him. Vrak turned and fired blue arcs of lightning trying to slow his enemy while Troy struggled to prepare his card and morpher.
"GO GO MEGAFORCE!" The vibrant energies of the grid wash over Troy transforming him into the red ranger. With his dragon sword in hand, Troy was in for the fight of his life as both of his enemies stood to either side of him.
"Not a smart move, my friend." The cloaked figure said raising his blade to Troy, "I see you haven't fully recovered from our last encounter, did you know that this is the mad genius behind your lousy condition?"
"Enough taunting, pirate!" Vrak shouted. "Although I came for the sample you stole, I will leave with the source of the prize itself!" Vrak threatened raising his spear toward the cloaked figure.
"I don't know what either of you are up to but I'm not going to let you get away with it!" Troy said keeping his blade at the ready.
"Enough talk!" Vrak yelled discharging a blast toward the pirate. In another split-second action, he charged at Troy with his spear in an arcing pattern. Troy raised his Dragon blade parrying the spear point. He darted forward in a roll gripping his holstered weapon and tagged Vrak twice in the back.
Vrak turned to drive his spear into the ground only to be met by the edge of the pirate's blade. With a circular motion, the spear was out of the way allowing Vrak to suffer a critical strike.
"My Armor is too thick for that!" Vrak said blasting the two away with lightning.
Noah watched as the equipment drained Jordan of his grid energy. The young man jerked and twitched as it felt like thousands of ants were running up and down his skin. When the machine finally stopped, Jordan almost instantly felt woozy, his muscles and limbs felt like spaghetti. Jordan didn't realize he almost fainted until Noah caught him.
"I got ya." The blue ranger said gently supporting Jordan as he sat against the wall.
"How are you feeling?" Noah asked.
"Okay, I guess, what is that thing?" Jourdan asked.
"This is a tool of my own design, created to siphon and control immense energy. I built it to manage my own energy levels and have recently put it to use managing the energies of another individual. We've calibrated it to safely reduce and eventually remove the power of the grid coursing through you. You should feel no pain, but you may experience symptoms of fatigue."
"How does a talking head even work on anything without any hands? Does he have telepathic powers or something?" Jordan said softly to the blue ranger.
"Uh..that's honestly a good question," Noah wondered.
"Well for the record Gosei is intimately connected with all matters of technology in and around the base. Not only that. but he has had help in the past allying himself with humans even if they didn't realize whom they were in contact with." Tensou said.
"Alright that is enough for today, I hope you learned your lesson young man and next time leave the evil fighting to the power rangers," Gosei ordered.
"Yes, I have," Jordan responded.
"Good, so from now on you will need to—"
Suddenly the alarms go off.
"Whoooooa." Tensou yelled.
"Jeez, that's loud." Jordan covered his ears.
"Tensou, what's the disturbance?"
"There's Trouble! Dragonflay is back and I'm picking up readings of...uh oh.."
"What is it Tensou?"
Tensou tried to whisper, "Um, you know who is there and you know what is back.".
"Hmm, blue ranger."
"Um yes, Gosei?" Noah responded quickly to his mentor.
"Take Jordan out of here, I'll inform the rangers," Gosei said as Noah nodded and led Jordan out the door.
"Gosei, what are we going to do about Nefarious?" Tensou whispered.
"Nefarious lives up to his name, he operates best in secret. Once he realizes we're on to him he'll be sure to disappear once more." Gosei said.
Teleporting Jordan to a quiet part of the town, the civilian nearly lost his footing upon landing but Noah was there to support him. With one last scan of the area, Noah deemed that the location was without any immediate threat.
"You'll be safe here," Noah nodded, ensuring Jordan's safety.
"Thanks...uh wait," Jordan called for the blue ranger who stopped before making his leave.
"What do I do if a monster comes after me again?" Jordan asked.
Noah looked around the area and then took out his pin from the back of his arsenal belt, handing it to Jordan.
"Here, you can have this. If you run into trouble with that being again, you can call us. Only use it in an emergency."
"I can't thank you, guys, enough, you really are Earth's greatest heroes," Jordan exclaimed.
Just then the voice of Gosei came through to Noah. "Blue ranger, there is another crisis I need you to see to, I'll dispatch the others to handle Dragonflay, get there immediately and I advise that you proceed with caution."
"Right Away Gosei," Noah replied before running off.
Troy was left gasping for breath on the account of his wound flaring up. Gosei was right, his recent strenuous activity has caused the poison to work its way even quicker through his body. Vrak himself was also quite winded, the armor he had spent weeks preparing was nothing more than hardened pieces of ribbon. When this was done, he would need to spend more time perfecting his design. The only one who seemingly was unaffected was the cloaked figure. Although he's been engaged in this drawn-out fight neither Troy nor Vrak were capable of inflicting any serious damage to him.
"What is it? Don't tell me you both have hit your limits!" The figure taunted. "You know Vrak, if you ask nicely, I may just give you the sample," the figure joked once more dangling the vial in front of him.
"So that's what you're after, what's so special about this sample?" Troy roared.
The figure laughed, "Oh how I love your ignorance, red ranger."
"Enough of this foolishness!" Vrak said as he snapped his fingers.
Answering his summons the sky became blackened as hundreds of zombats swarmed the field. The monoeye monstrosities flew crisscross patterns around both the cloaked figure and Troy, obscuring both of their vision.
"Like this will be enough to stop me!" The figure smirked firing his laser pistol randomly. For each of the zombats that were taken down several more flutter to fill the space. Troy could barely stand but the Zombats weren't after him.
Emerging from the cloud of batwings and eyeballs Vrak appeared over the cloaked figure with his spear raised. In a single downward strike, the cobalt prince struck a crucial blow to his enemy and took hold of the precious vial he so desperately wanted.
"Consider this checkmate," Vrak said turning his back on the figure and walking towards Troy. Sensing their master's wish, the zombat swarm slowly let up.
"With this sample and the source itself, there are limitless possibilities at my fingertips," Vrak muttered to himself.
"Not so fast! Shark Bowgun!" Noah announced leaping onto the scene. With his weapon in hand Noah discharged several energy arrows targeting Vrak and the ground around him.
Although he tried to retain his grip, the concussive force of the blasts freed the vial of Troy's blood from Vrak's grip. The sample tumbled onto the ground and shattered releasing the contents onto the earth. Upon touching the earth, from the droplets of blood sprouted a small cluster of flowers.
"NOOOOOO!" Vrak bellowed "I will make you pay for this blue ranger!" The general threatened before disappearing in a huff.
Seeing that the chance for fun ended, the cloaked figure whistled sharply calling his ship to him. A leather cord dropped down permitting the rouge access to his vessel. The figure was taken up and vanished from sight in an instant as his ship set out for space.
Noah turned to look at Troy, seeing that the coast was clear, the two of them demorphed. The red ranger wasn't looking so hot, Troy's body was in full panic mode. Great beads of sweat had gathered on his forehead, the veins on his neck were exceptionally notable, and it appeared as though parts of his body were unresponsive. Nonetheless, Troy still fought to remain conscious and rise to his feet.
"Don't worry bro, I got you," Noah said trying to loop Troy's arm around his shoulders.
"Those guys," Troy panted, " They were fighting over a vial of something. I couldn't see what it was."
"It probably wasn't important, but we need to get you back to base," Noah said.
"Not yet, something is wrong isnt it?...Dragonflay is back isn't he," Troy said feeling the change in the wind.
"The others and I can take care of him you need to rest," Noah urged
"I'll rest once this is all over, let's go," Troy said forcing himself to stand. Noah trudged on reluctantly behind Troy.
Destruction rained as the speed demon, Dragonflay, darted around the city. The quick-footed warstar was having a blast terrorizing the citizenry of Harwood County and no one could stop him. Citizens flee from the danger by escaping through an underpass.
"Oh man, I'm so full of energy. What else can I destroy?!" Dragonflay bellowed after toppling another building.
"Nothing, it's time we pump your breaks," Jake said boldly as he and the other rangers arrived on the scene.
"And who's gonna stop me?" Dragonflay laughed.
"Becoming one with the legacy!" Troy shouted. The rangers strike a dynamic pose with Emma, Troy, and Gia in the foreground while Jake and Noah standing behind.
"Power Rangers! Megaforce!" The sigil of the Mega Force flashes behind the rangers as their powers surge triumphantly.
"Try and stop me!" Dragonflay said revving up his speed.
The Megaforce rangers stand back to back, Troy with his dragon sword at the ready and the others with their side arms drawn. The five of them listened intently to their elements feeling where Dragonflay was and where he was headed. Troy snapped his eyes open and lunged with his sword striking with an aerial assault. For the briefest of moments, he sensed another presence attempting to move silently. The edge of the dragon blade was met by the regenerated claw-like sword of Creepox.
"But how!" The insectoid general said astonished. "By my calculations, you should be dead!"
"You should have never underestimated me, Creepox," Troy said using all of his strength to keep himself standing.
Seeing that the red ranger had foiled the surprise attack of Creepox, Dragonflay bolted straight for Troy! Not wanting to be left out the other four rangers turned and fired a volley of laser blasts. The rainbow beams struck Dragonflay before he could lay a single digit on Troy.
"Impossible! How could you even see me?!" The being sputtered.
"You're fast, but not invisible. We were able to sense right where you'd be," Jake said smiling beneath his helmet.
"I'll take care of Creepox, you handle Dragonflay," Troy said as the other rangers ran past their leader.
Dragonflay stumbled to his feet, "You'll take care of me eh? Let's see how you handle my max speed!" Dragonflay vanished from sight.
"Same old routine, you must be a one-trick pony," Emma said as she and her teammates formed up again.
Troy remained locked with Creepox, the edges of their blades biting into one another. Seeing that his friends had taken up a defensive position he realized that Dragonflay must be buzzing around.
"Let's give them a little privacy!" Troy said driving Creepox away.
With a backhanded strike, Creepox managed to graze Troy just above his navel. Sparks flew from his brilliant red suit as the damage was absorbed. Troy found himself on the hood of a parked car, he quickly lunged only for his thrust to be parried by Creepox. The red ranger struck with an overhead strike but Creepox was ready, he blocked the attack with one of his blades and swept Troy's feet with the other.
Troy struggled to find his footing but he could feel his strength waning. With another swift upward chop Creepox sent Troy tumbling into a series of rusted oil drums. Troy attempted a comeback but was simply knocked down again. He tried to grapple one of Creepox's arms only to be tossed even harder onto the concrete ground. The mantis general sliced downward hoping to put an end to his rival, but Troy held strong with his Dragonblade. Although he was exerting his maximum strength the edge of Creepox's sickle had begun to bite into Troy's shoulder.
"You should just surrender while you can. Look at you I could tell that the poison has done its work," Creepox mocked.
"As long as I'm still breathing, I'm not going to quit," Troy responded and with his free hand he quickly reached for his holstered side arm and blasted Creepox away.
The General grumbled feeling the sting of the surprise attack. This gave Troy the opportunity to rise although still hindered.
"Tenacious to the end, if you weren't my enemy, I would consider you a worthy ally!" Creepox said.
Troy stormed forward with another fierce combo of thrusts and slashes but Creepox negated the rush with a strong kick sending Troy stumbling. Creepox wasn't finished he executed his own combo striking with his left blade, then his right, and finished with a scissor thrust.
Troy crashed through a concrete wall his stamina practically depleted. The poison in his system was really starting to take a toll on him. Although his body was doing its best to fight off the effects, Troy could feel that he was reaching his final limit.
"Had enough yet? This attack will finish you for sure!" Creepox bantered sharpening his blades once more.
The red ranger then supported himself with the tip of his sword, knowing what Creepox was about to do. In the same manner, their first duel ended, Creepox had hoped to conclude this one. Through his pain, Troy could not help but reflect on the wise words of Jason from earlier in the day.
"Listen for your opponent, think about what's needed for them to execute a move, and then target those areas to stop them from enacting it."
Troy steadied his breathing he was going to make this final attack count. As he concentrated Troy could feel his own internal temperature rising. New found strength coursed through his bones and joints it was as if his body had been kicked into overdrive. Creepox darted forward with his high-speed movement. Troy with all of his confidence and strength tossed his sword into the air. Acting solely on instinct Troy sprung for an overhead pipe using it like a gymnast bar to avoid Creepox's oncoming rush.
With a successful dismount, landing behind Creepox the Dragon Sword fell perfectly into Troy's hand and this was his time to strike. His sky power as well as his own strength raced along the edge of the blade and with a final X slash the battle was decided.
Creepox stumbled backward, and the silver breastplate he was wearing was now marked with a deep X. The initial wound he suffered at the hands of the red ranger has now been re-opened sending tendrils of pain pulsating through the insectoid's body.
"Even when weakened I cannot seem to best you! This isn't the end Red, I will have my revenge!" Creepox bellowed as he darted away in defeat.
At that moment Troy panted heavily and let his sword fall from his hand.
Even with their advanced training, Dragonflay was just too fast for the Rangers to keep up with. Although they have tagged him numerous times it wasn't enough to finish things.
"Missed again! I could just pick you off one by one!" Dragonflay mocked as he darted around.
"Argh, we have to pull it together guys, we need to strike where he's going to be, not where he was," Gia said.
"It seems as though his reflexes and perception have also increased. That's probably why we've only managed to graze him," Noah explained.
"Then we'll just need to anticipate faster. Everyone form up and let's concentrate. Remember everything we learned," Gia encouraged as the rangers once more stood back to back.
"Let's see you survive this one, MACH SPEED BULLET!" Dragonflay yelled as he charged at the four rangers moving faster than he ever had before.
Gia, Jake, Noah, and Emma were completely unfazed. Their eyes remained shut and their ears and senses remained attentive to the voice of the earth.
Emma was the first to feel movement in the winds around her, followed promptly by Noah who felt the rapid and sudden change of the water droplets in the air. Gia and Jake were the last to feel as the subtle trembling of the earth took time for them to feel it.
The four rangers aimed their megablasters in the direction of 11 o'clock and fired. Although they could not see anything initially their blasts perfectly targeted and struck Dragonflay, sending the speed demon careening into a pillar.
"Ahh! That was my top speed, you could barely hit me!" Dragonflay sputtered.
"That was true once, but not anymore," Jake said proudly.
"Let's finish this with the help of the sea brothers," Noah said loading the card into his Morpher.
"SUMMON PRIME SILENCERS!" The voice of Gosei boomed.
Emerging from the card, the manta, saw shark, and hammerhead zord heads appeared and dispersed themselves accordingly to Emma, Jake, and Gia.
"Wait, I'm allergic to fish!" Dragonflay cried.
"Dynamic Victory: Sea Blast!" The rangers shouted as they discharged their mega blasters infused with the power of the ocean.
In the bridge of the warstar ship, Vrak watches angrily as his latest monster has once again been toppled.
"No dead pirate! The Rangers are still alive. I shall have Dragonflay flatten the entirety of this planet."
Vrak snapped his fingers sharply dispatching his zombats to the earth. "ZOMBATS!"
"Guys!" Troy stumbled from his battle stage feeling absolutely wiped out. His body felt extremely heavy and he barely had any fumes to run on.
"Troy!" Emma cried seeing her partner so badly injured.
"You okay?" Gia was also concerned.
"Yeah, but Creepox got away. I'm sorry." Troy apologized.
The squeak of the Zombats fills the air as a quintet descends on the remains of Dragonflay. Locking eyes the growth formula initiated rejuvenating the scattered chunks and enlarging Dragonflay to monstrous heights.
"Back again for my final race, this time I'll flatten your whole city!" Dragonflay said as he began to race around.
"Not while we can stop it, c'mon guys!" Troy was heaving and wheezing yet he still pushed himself to keep going. The other rangers could not help but feel subtly encouraged seeing their leader pushing himself so hard. Troy's hand was trembling as he loaded his zord card into his morpher.
"SUMMON MECHAZORDS," Gosei boomed as the five mechanized beasts arrived on the scene.
"Gosei Great Megazord: Activate!" The Rangers call triggering the combination sequence.
The tail of the snake conjoined with the back of the tiger forming the legs. The dragon rested atop the platform becoming the torso and lastly, the phoenix and shark zords attached to the sides becoming the arms. The head of the Megazord arose from within the dragon's body completing the transformation.
"Gosei Great Megazord, Ready!" The rangers called as they positioned their mechanical titan for battle.
"Try and sense me if you can rangers! I feel supercharged!" Dragonflay taunted as he began his rampage. He darted past striking the ranger's back and then their side, each time vanishing before the rangers could target him.
"Man we can sense where he's coming but we can't seem to hit him," Jake complained.
"It's my fault, I can't seem to focus..." Troy slumped over in his seat having exhausted all of his energy. The poison finally managed to take its full effect. "You guys need to take over."
"Oh No," Emma panicked.
"Troy!" Jake and Gia stood up as Noah extended his hand to hold up his leader.
The Megazord has rocked again as Dragonflay raced past. "What's wrong Rangers, don't tell me I tired you out already!" Dragonflay mocked.
"...We got this Troy," Gia said sternly. The yellow ranger looked over to her best friend, "Emma, do you think you could pilot both the phoenix and dragon zords?"
"I could try," the pink ranger said assuredly.
"Jake, I'm diverting more power to the legs, keep the pedals to the floor we need to keep up with this guy."
"Roger that," Jake said preparing himself.
"And Noah...hold on tight. This may get bumpy."
Gia and Jake floored their pedals and the Megazord took off pursuing Dragonflay. Emma groaned as she struggled to keep the Megazord steady. It was as if her controller fought her at every turn. The ranger succeeded in closing the gap but the war star was still just out of reach.
"Jake, slow him down," Gia called.
"You got it. Snake Zord, launch!" Jake called as the head of his zord shot forward biting down on one of Dragonflay's legs.
"That old trick? Think again!" Dragonflay said kicking the snake's head away.
"Gia, were almost tapped for our energy output. If we keep going like this, the Megazord will seize up." Noah mentioned with his screens flashing red.
"We're so close, we just need a little extra speed...and I know just where to get it." From her belt, Gia pulled the Land Brothers card.
"I like where you're going with this," Jake said summoning his copy of the card.
"Land Gosei Great, Activate!"
From the earth, the dino, beetle, and rhino zord heads emerged. The rhino and dino combined taking the place of the snake and tiger heads. The beetle zord mounted on the top of the megazord becoming the new head.
With the new attachments, the megazord's speed was shifted into turbo. In a matter of seconds, the rangers were practically on top of Dragonflay.
"Beetle headbutt!" Jake called as the Megazord lunged forward striking with the beetle pincers.
"Dino kick!" Gia called directing the dino's head to bite.
Dragonflay struggled to stand, the attacks of the rangers were unrelenting.
"Time for the big one," Gia said and she and Jake prepared the dynamic Victory card. The drill of the rhino spun rapidly as the Megazord bounded into the sky. Cascading downward with the drill nose leading the ranger tore through Dragonflay eliminating him once and for all.
"Mega rangers that's a mega win!" Jake exclaimed.
"You're never gonna let that go," Gia sighed.
With the battle now decided Emma wasted no time tending to Troy. She shook the red ranger trying to rouse him but he remained unresponsive. Back in the base Troy woke to see his friends standing around him. His body no longer hurt and he could feel his strength returning to him rapidly.
"Wha-What happened?" Troy said sitting up.
"We totally kicked Dragonflay's butt!" Jake said with a smile
"How are you feeling?" Noah asked.
"Better," Troy said.
"Horray! I'm glad! We also synthesized an antidote. Although I must say your body's immune system helped out a lot. There was no way I would have developed one in time if it wasn't for you fighting back," Tensou said happily.
Troy looked to his side where he was initially cut. All that remained was a jagged scar from where Creepox had struck him.
"Troy. Given your trial I hope you learned a valuable lesson. You're still driven by your soloist nature. In the fight we find ourselves in there is no room for individualistic endeavors. We all must find ways to work with one another and grow together." Gosei spoke.
"Yeah man, we got your back. You can count on us." Jake said smiling.
"..And I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I promise to have more faith in you." Emma swallowed hard fearful for how Troy would react. Just by looking, Troy could tell that what Emma had to say was challenging for her. The pink ranger took a deep breath and let out her truth.
Emma was relieved to see that Troy was back to normal. It was a real burden off of her shoulders to no longer have to carry the guilt of betraying Troy's trust. All that was left to do was formally mend the broken bond.
"Stupid Red Ranger! The day will come when you will finally fall and it will be by my blade!" In the ship of the warstar, the general, Creepox, was once more tending to his injuries.
The door to Creepox's quarters opened as the admiral marched in.
"CREEPOX!"
The admiral pressed Creepox against a wall with the blade of his axe near Creepox's throat.
"What's this I hear about you consulting pirates!" Admiral Malkor slashes Creepox with his weapon, dropping the general to the floor.
"Sir, I don't know what you have heard, but I would never interact with such a vile lowlife-"
"He's lying to you Admiral, just like I told you," Vrak said walking casually into the room. "You see, I've had my suspicions about Creepox's comings and goings, and today I had an encounter with his swashbuckling ally." Vrak presented a series of videos depicting his fight against the cloaked enemy.
"Vrak, you traitor!" Creepox called.
"I don't know what they were planning, but I assure you it probably wasn't good. The two of them have been conspiring in secret. I'm willing to bet they were planning on betraying us and selling us out to my father for a bounty." Vrak explained.
"T-That's not true admiral, that pirate, h he conned me and-"
"SILENCE!" The admiral barked, "I will not tolerate disrespect or conspiracy aboard my ship. I ought to destroy you Creepox for even considering turning me over to the emperor, but Vrak has asked that I show mercy. I hear by banish you from my army, get off my ship. Should our paths cross again then I will personally terminate you."
After much deliberation and weighing of his options, Jordan entered the juice bar to the surprising sound of applause. Dozens of people welcomed him like a hero with pats on the back and offered to buy him a smoothie. While the fanfare and approval were nice, that was not what Jordan was there for. He raised his hands calling for quiet from the crowd
"Uh, everybody, this is really hard for me but..I am not actually a power ranger." Jordan confessed. The crowd of people laughed, not buying Jordan's lies.
"No seriously, the powers Rangers are the true heroes and they are great people too. I mean they were super nice to me even after I lied...Guess I just wanted the attention."
Jordan could feel the glares. "Anyways I am very sorry, really sorry and I hope that you could forgive me?"
There were murmurs amongst the crowd as some began to doubt the validity of Jordan's statement. Others just outright vacated the premises giving Jordan dangerous and malicious looks.
"Hey there, Mister. Power Ranger." Ernie smiled once he saw Jordan.
"Oh uh, no I'm not a power ranger. Just a regular guy named, Jordan." Jordan said with a frown.
"Oh, is that why my customers left?" Ernie wondered.
"Uh I'm sorry, I didn't mean," Jordan said.
"Not to worry, Jordan. I'm glad you're here, it took a lot of courage to do that. You know what after such an exciting day, I think you need a little cheering up." Ernie said.
"Heh, I could use the cheering up, mind if I could get a vanilla soft serve?" Jordan asked.
"Right away!" Ernie said.
Jordan slumped against the counter feeling defeated, he fiddled with his hands while he reflected on the challenges of the day. Ernie glanced over his shoulder as he prepared the frozen treat. The shopkeeper couldn't help but feel compassion towards the young teen.
"You know Jordan, I once wanted to be someone I admired. There's no harm in that. Even if you weren't destined to be a ranger, you were destined for many more things." Ernie said.
"Thanks, that means a lot. Today made me a new kind of guy because I learned a big lesson about myself. Thanks to the Rangers. Especially the red ranger." Jordan said.
"The Red Ranger is a great example, he is destined to save the world but he can't save everyone. He and the rangers would always find ways to make their marks. We all have different purposes." Ernie then turned around to hand Jordan his soft serve.
"Now here you go." Ernie trips as Jordan catches the ice cream, easily.
"Ooooh, nice catch! Where did you learn that?" Ernie asked.
"Oh, just...a friend," Jordan said as Ernie smiled, heading out to the back. As Jordan went to get his first scoop of ice cream he felt an unusual warmth in his pocket followed by a mysterious glow. In his possession was a partially activated power card and through the fragment hologram Jordan could make out the visage of a ranger. The thing that caught his eye was that this ranger was different than the others, his eyes could be deceiving him but he could have sworn there was a tinge of green.
"Oh...boy..."
(WOW, 10,000 went by so fast XD Apologies for that! Hopefully, the next one won't be too much of a delay! We have ideas brewing and can't wait to show them off to you all! What are you enjoying most about our revamp? What are you hoping to see next? Who's your favorite ranger this far? Also, what's going to happen to Jordan?)