Chapter 4: Flow of Power
At the back of the temple, the sun was still rising, the rangers were sitting, meditating, with Xin in front of them,her hood covering her face. "To reach balance inside yourself, you first need to have your mind clean and ..." She was interrupted by a snoring from Ryan. She reached near him then cleaned her throat.
Ryan woke up "what?" He asked abruptly. The other rangers started to laugh at the situation.
"Guys! you need to focus on your training, I am trying to help you to be able to use your chi, but if you sleep, it won't work." Xin explained. Christine raised her hand. "What is your question Christine?"
"Why are I and Jessica here? We already used our chi." She asked.
"You two used in moments of extreme need and almost passed out afterward." Xin explained. "I want you to know how to use it without the extreme need, or the pass out part. Now, I need you to meditate and clean your minds." They did as she said, trying to clean their minds. Ryan's phone rang. He took it and got up.
"I and Flynn need to go, our shifts start in 15 minutes." He said. Xin sighed.
"I will stay here. Say to Mr. Mikata that I am sick." Flynn said with his voice low.
"Are you sure, Flynn? I know this is important but you have a job." Xin protested.
"I am sure." He closed his eyes and tried to meditate but he just remembered his last battle.
The boys were at the center of the city facing Pixiu and a group of yaoguais. "You two take care of the little ones, I take care of the Pixiu." Flynn said as Mark and Ryan fought the minions, opening the way to Flynn. He advanced toward Pixiu. He hit him in the chest with the nunchaku, making the yaoguai step back. Flynn kicked the yaoguai, Pixiu held his foot in middle air and threw him in the direction of a store. He passed through the showcase.
"Did you think you can win without help?" Pixiu advanced toward Flynn. As he started to get up he noted something behind the balcony of the store. He tried to check it, only to be pulled by the yaoguai, and threw to the other side of the store. The yaoguai noted the same thing Flynn had noted. A child behind the balcony. "Look what we have here, a child." He walked slowly toward the child. He now was in front of the child, the child was paralyzed by fear, Pixiu's mouth started to shine. "Let's see what happens when an ordinary human gets covered by magma."
He was ready to spit magma on the child when Flynn, who had got up, jumped pushing him away, which only made the magma fly all over the place starting a fire.
Flynn and Pixiu got up and started circuling each other. Pixiu prepared another blast of magma and fired it. Flynn dogged and tried to punch him, Pixiu held his hand. The yaoguai tried to fire another one just to spit some droplets of magma, a great part just flowed from his mouth like a very heat spittle, he now was without charge. Pixiu then punched the ranger with his free hand. Flynn stepped back by the power of the punch.
As the fight continued the fire was spreading quickly, mainly because it was a clothing store and all the goods were flammable. Pixiu ran toward the ranger and slammed him against the wall that was now covered by flames. He was ready to punch the ranger when he was hit on his back by a hammer and then by a staff. He stepped back and turned toward the green and red rangers and rushed toward them.
Flynn recovered from the hit. He saw that the building was already covered by flames and smoke. He knew that he had little time before the building collapsed. He looked to the outside where the two rangers were holding Pixiu. He used the opportunity and rushed toward the balcony. He saw the child, a girl around 4. She was fainted from all the smoke and had a burn on the left arm. He got her in his arms and rushed outside.
He was almost out when the roof collapsed. As they got buried by wreckage he tried to use his body as a shield to her, which worked against a great part of the big ones. when everything had fallen he removed the wreckage on top of him. When he tried to pull the girl he noted that her arm was under some wreckage, he removed it and analyzed the arm. He knew it was broken.
He looked around and saw Pixiu returning to the Diyu. He looked back at the girl, all the damage she had suffered. All because I wasn't strong enough to defeat Pixiu. He thought.
Back at the present the rangers were continuing the training. "Well, now I want you to try and focus on what is around you. Feel the wind, feel the chi flowing through all your body." Xin instructed. The three rangers tried to do it, Mark had left half hour after Ryan to go to his own job.
Christine and Jessica were doing well, Flynn on the other hand. He couldn't focus on anything except his failure during the last battle and what would have happened if Pixiu's charge hadn't been empty during it. That girl could have died, Mark and Ryan could have been defeated, all by my fault. By not being strong enough. Was all that he had in his head.
At the Diyu, Pixiu was in front of Siwang. "Why, don't you allow me to go and destroy the rangers, mistress?" He asked.
"While the blue and the pink rangers fought I thought about a new plan. A plan that will need you, but it need more time to confirm the theory that I have." She said as her hands shone as green strings appeared and started to wrap around Pixiu. He tried to fight the strings, but more and more strings appeared faster than he could destroy them. "But for now I think you should stay with Xiezhi. Don't worry I used more energy on you so your metamorphosis will be faster than his." As she finished saying, the strings covered all his body, it was like a shiny big green cocoon. "Now yaoguais bring him to together the other one." She ordered.
"Now you" She said as she pointed to a yaoguai that was hearing all the things. The yaoguai stepped forward, revealing himself. His body was humanoid, his head looked like the one of a lion but with the horn of a rhino on the top of his head, his arms were long and slender, all his body was covered by scales of fish except his hands and feet that were paws with fur of a bear, and a tail of ox. "Luduan, I want you to go and show the rangers all your strength."
"Of course dominus meus" He said as he curved to her. "They will taste my grym pur."
She rolled her eyes. "Thousands of years and you didn't stop mixing languages, I still don't know how you teached all the others how to speak English without they getting confused." She complained. He got it as a compliment.
"Is a talent of few." He boasted.
"Go! before I kill you again." She ordered, enraged by his servant's arrogance.
At the Thunder Cafe Ryan finished serving a table and was enjoying the low movement to relax a little. "Ryan, are you sure Flynn will be alright?" Mr. Mikata asked, breaking his peace.
"He is just sick." Ryan said and then turned to the old man. "He will be back tomorrow. Why the question?"
"Is just that I have felt him down, recently." Mr. Mikata said. Ryan's morphed rang on his pocket. They exchanged looks.
"Can I leave for a little?" Ryan asked.
"Is it an emergency?" Mr. Mikata said in a soft tone. Ryan nodded. "It's almost time to close and we don't have much movement today, so this time you can go."
Ryan left the cafe and entered an empty alley. He took his morpher and pressed a button. After some seconds a gray light appeared around him then Ryan and the light vanished.
Ryan appeared side by side with the other rangers at a construction site. They saw Luduan with a group of ordinary yaoguais searching people to terrorize. "Hey more humans to extract fear for my mistress." They had been spotted by Luduan.
"Sorry, but I think we are the one who will bring terror to you." Jessica threatened.
"It's morphing time!" When Mark said all rangers summoned their morphers and discs, opened the morpher, inserted the discs and spun them. The morphers spirits flew to the sky before turning back and collided with their ranger, shining in their respective color. When the light vanished the rangers stood there morphed.
"The moral of the boar, pink zodiac ranger!" Jessica said as she posed.
"The resistance of the bull, green zodiac ranger!" Ryan said as he posed.
"The loyalty of the wolf, blue zodiac ranger!" Chistine said as she posed.
"The agility of the tiger, yellow zodiac ranger!" Flynn said as he posed.
"The ability of the monkey, red zodiac ranger!" Mark said as he posed.
"Protecting the world from the yaoguais, Power Ranger Zodiac Fury." The five said in unison.
The rangers advanced toward the yaoguais. Mark went toward Luduan, while the others toward the ordinary yaoguais. While he rushed toward the special yaoguai, he summoned his morpher and a red disc, opened the morpher, inserted the disc and spun it. His staff appeared in his hands. He swung his staff to hit the yaoguai. Luduan used his hands to deflect the attack without problem, only a few sparks flew.
Luduan swung his horn to cut the red ranger. Mark blocked the way of the horn using his staff. The two were fighting for space, while Mark was struggling to keep the horn away, Luduan was taking it without problem. He forced his horn a little more, throwing the staff to the ground and then used his horn to stab the red ranger on the abdomen. the ranger stepped back with the power of the impact. Luduan used the curt distraction of his opponent and punched the ranger, throwing him some meters in the air.
Luduan charged toward Mark, who was on the ground. His way got blocked by Christine and Jessica with their weapons. The two were struggling to fight the power of the yaoguai. "Time to show you the power of a yaoguai." He raised his horn with the ranger's weapons and slashed the two with his horn. The two stepped back. A green aura appeared around Luduan's horn. He drew an arc of green energy in the air that went and hit the two girls. the two fell to the ground. Luduan stepped toward the three rangers on the ground, but Flynn and Ryan stepped in front of him, their weapons in hand.
The green aura expanded to all Luduan's body. In a flash he rushed toward the rangers. The two tried to hold him using their weapons. The yaoguai passed them like nothing, bringing them to the ground and desmorphing Ryan. The yaoguai just stopped when he collided with a building, it collapsed on him. From the dust Luduan, now without the green aura, stepped out, a little damaged, and wiped out some dust from him. "Now, you see the difference between us."
The yaoguai slowly walked toward the rangers. "I can't fail again." Flynn muttered to himself as he stood up. Luduan used the claws on his hand to slash him on the chest. He then held Flynn arm and threw him aside before the green aura cover Luduan's body as he rushed toward him. Again he looked like a flash as he rushed toward Flynn. The power threw Flynn in the air. As Flynn landed a yellow ligh covered his body then he desmorphed.
"this place will be your mogila yellow ranger." Luduan slowly walked to Flynn. The yaoguai prepared to finish the ranger, but a green energy covered his body, the light and the yaoguai vanished, the claw of his hand only inches away from Flynn face .
Flynn used all his strength to stand up, he looked down. "Again, I failed."
At the Diyu Luduan appeared, slashing the ground. "damn ei! What, did happen? Why am I here? I was with the rangers on my hands!" He complained before looking at his mistress.
"You used more energy than I used to send you to the human world." Siwang said. Luduan looked at her waiting for an explanation. She sighed. "To send you to the human world I used an amount of energy that allows the same amount of energy to pass to it, if you use more energy than that the Diyu will pull you back." She explained.
"So just take me back there so i can choríste mazí tous." Luduan demanded, Siwang's look changed, Luduan noted his mistake, but it was too late.
"Do you think I wanted you to stay here complainig about how you failed in kill the rangers with more than enough power!" Siwang got covered by a green aura as Luduan stepped back. "I need time to send you back, at least two day to restore the power I used." She calmed down
"Can I ask one question?" She nodded. "Why don't you wait more to send me with more power?" He questioned.
"My limit is the energy of the fear you, yaoguais, bring to me, so when I send you to the human world and you bring back more energy my limit gets higher and closer to my true power." She explained.
"So until you get your power back, I will be with the others yaoguais." He said as he left.
During the next day Flynn was at the cafe, he had been frustrated by his failures at dominating the chi and being defeated by Luduan. He was carrying a waiter with dirty plates, looking down lost in his thoughts. He bumped on a shelf, dropping the waiter and making a little statue of a beaver fall. He got the statue before it hit the ground, he wasn't so lucky about the waiter, that fell to the ground breaking almost all the plates.
Mr. Mikata, who was serving a table nearby heard all the thing and went to punish Flynn. When he reached near him he looked at the young man holding the beaver statue, he knew something was wrong with him.
During the end of Flynn's shift he was about to leave when. "Flynn, wait a minute." Mr. Mikata called him. "Tomorrow is your day off, isn't it?"
"yeah, I thought you knew my shifts."
"I just wanted to confirm and ask you one thing." He revealed
"What is it?" Flynn asked.
"I want to invite you to come to the park with me. not as your boss but as a friend. Is okay if you don't want to. But I see you have a lot on your head these days so a little fresh air might help." Mr. Mikata said.
"Well..." Flynn stopped to think for a moment, 'Is strange that he asked me to go to the park but Maybe some fresh air can help.' "I will go with you." he said reluctantly.
"I will meet you in front of your apartment at six." Mr. Mkata said as he walked away.
"I am already regretting this." Flynn muttered to himself.
The next day Flynn was waiting for Mr. Mikata to get him, he heard a honk and looked to his side, it was Mr. Mikata on a small old rusty blue car. He walked to the car and entered it. "don't you have any other car? I mean one that don't look like it will fall apart at any moment." He questioned and Mr. Mikata ginggled.
"I bought this car when my daughter was born, it carries so many good memories." He started to say with a smile but it faded as he said, he looked down a little before shaking his head. "Let's go." He accelerated the car.
"So, Mr. Mikata, where is this park we are going?"
"It is a park near the outside of the town"
"Why is so special about that park?" Flynn asked
"You will see."
After an hour with Flynn trying to make Mr. Mikata say something, Mr. Mikata parked the car and the two got out of it. "Now just two hours of walking through" Mr. Mikata said as Flynn sighed.
"Where is that polyglot chimera?" Siwang asked the shadow, impatient.
"Did you already restore your energy?" The shadow asked, surprised.
"Luduan!" She shouted. Luduan entered the chamber and kneeled down.
"I am here for DU, my mistress."
"I want you to go and finish what you started, I have a little more energy this time, so no excuses." Her hands glowed in a green light as a portal appeared.
"I won't fail you this time" He said as he entered the portal
Mr. Mikata and Flynn were walking through the forest. They reached a bush of golden flowers, near a river and Mr. Mikata stopped.
"Why did we stop?" Flynn asked.
"We reached our goal"
"All of this for just a bush of flowers?" He grumbled. Mr. Mikata shook his head and pointed to where the river went. Flynn followed Mr. Mikata's finger and saw a clearing with a lake in the middle, or so he thought that was a lake. "A lake?"
"This isn't a lake, look closer." They approached the lake and then Flynn saw some wood on one of the ends of the lake.
"A beaver dam? please explain this" Flynn said.
"Have you ever thought about how similar we are to beavers?" started before being cut.
"Of course, I love to think of how similar a human is to a big furry rat that gnaws wood." Flynn answered ironically
"Well, beavers are very sociable animals that build amazing structures with simple things." Mr. Mikata continued ignoring Flynns's comment.
"What does that have to do with me?" Flynn asked, already impatient.
"You have been with something on your mind, haven't you?" Flynn just nodded his head. "Well, think of your thoughts about your mistakes as water on a river, usually the thoughts would just follow the flow and leave, but our minds, the beavers, keep most of them from escape, like the dam that the beavers built, making our memories that we can use it to not make the same mistakes as before. But just like the beavers if all the water were to be restrain the dam would break, because of the pressure. Sometimes you just need to forget them and live your life."
"But what if this mistake could make someone get hurt or even kill someone?" Flynn asked and looked down trying to hide the tears forming in his eyes.
"Well, I said to let the thoughts about your mistakes go away." Mr. Mikata started saying as Flynn felt even more guilt about his failures. "But I never said to let the learning from that mistake go away too." Flynn raised his head in confusion and wiped some tears before the old man continued. "What I am saying is to not load your shoulders with the guilt, but instead let it go away, keeping the learning to not let it happen again."
Flynn wiped the remaining tears and looked at Mr. Mikata. "I never thought you could give me a so deep advice, where did it come from." He questioned.
"Well, when my daughter was young, she always put much pressure on herself for any mistake she made and she had a love for beavers so I joined the two things and made this to her." Mr. Mikata answered, then took a device from his pocket and threw it to Flynn. Flynn noted that it was his morpher.
"How did you get this?" Flynn asked.
"I took it from your pocket an hour ago. You should pay more attention to your surroundings." Mr. Mikata advised. Flynn's morpher started to ring. "I think you should go, it looks important."
Flynn ran through the trees, until he found a place far enough from Mr. Mikata, and then called Xin with his morpher. "Thank goodness, you answered." She said through the morpher. "The others are already fighting the yaoguai on the quarry and the situation isn't good."
"Send me there."
"I hope you can help them." Xin said as a gray light appeared around Flynn.
"I hope the same" He muttered to himself as he and the light vanished
Flynn appeared in the city quarry. The rangers were on the ground and Luduan was ready to strike them. "Hey, why don't you fight me." Flynn shouted and the yaoguai turned to look at him.
"Look who is back, the yellow ranger, I thought you ran away. But guess you are back to lose again." The yaoguai said.
"Let's see it then" He said as he opened his morpher, called his disc and inserted it. "Zodiac awaken!" He spun the disk.
morphing sequence
Flynn was standing inside an ancient chinese temple with her zodiac spirit. His zodiac spirit flew up before turning down and collided with him. A yellow light covered his body except his head. The head of his spirit, this time with the height of a human, appeared behind him with an open mouth, when the head reached him it closed its mouth with him inside, before it shone and vanished. Flynn now was with his suit except for the helmet. The same tiger mouth appeared again this time smaller, with the height of a head. It opened it's mouth before closing it in his head. It shone as it transformed into his helmet.
Flynn was standing in front of the yaoguai, now morphed. "Now I will finish what I began." Luduan rushed toward Flynn. Flynn quickly moved aside dodging from the attack. The yaoguai hit a boulder raising dust.
"Just like I thought. You have great power and speed but your agility is bad." Flynn muttered to himself. He drew his morpher and a yellow disc. He inserted the disc on his morpher and spun it. "Zodiac weapon: Tiger nunchaku." He said as his morpher vanished and his weapon appeared. From the dust Luduan emerged ready to fight.
Luduan and Flynn advanced toward each other. Luduan lowered his horn trying to stab the ranger, when he was near enough Flynn spun his body avoiding the attack and hitting the yaoguai back. Luduan stopped and turned back. Flynn used the opportunity to kick the yaoguai in the chest.
Luduan swung his horn. Flynn blocked the attack with the chain of his weapon, making the two fight for space. When the yaoguai used more strength, Flynn spun his body making the yaoguai hit the ground. As he finished the spin he hit the yaoguai in the face with his nunchaku sending the yaoguai in the air.
"I am getting tired of you" Luduan grumbled as a green aura formed around his body. Behind his helmet Flynn closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings, a yellow aura formed around his weapon. He started to feel everything around him slowing down.
Luduan lowered his horn and rushed in a flash. Flynn felt the movement, he spun his body. The aura around his weapon formed a yellow tiger paw on the edge of the nunchaku. "Zodiac final strike: Tiger Spin!" He said as the nunchaku edge hit Luduan on the chest. The yaoguai was sent into the air before falling back to the ground with sparks continualy leaving his body. Flynn turned his back to the yaoguai and posed as Luduan exploded. Flynn almost fell from exhaustion but he was holded by Ryan.
"How did you defeat him?" Ryan asked as the other rangers stood up.
"He was strong and fast but he didn't have the agility to change his direction." Flynn answered.
"I think it is too early to celebrate." Mark said. The others turned their looks to where Luduan had exploded, now a green mist was expanding until it glowed and faded away, leaving a giant Luduan in its place.
"Now I am big enough to smash your entire city with no effort." Luduan said as he giggled
"It's time to call the zords. "Mark said and the others nodded. Their spirits appeared in front of their owners, glowed and transformed their bodies into discs of their colors. Each ranger called their morpher, took their disc, inserted it on their morpher and spun it. From each morpher a light appeared and started to grow until the size of a zord then the lights vanished leaving the five zords.
The rangers opened their morphers and each one pressed their zord number, transforming them into lights of their colors. Each light went to its zord, entering them before vanishing, leaving each ranger in their cockpit.
"Pink Boar zord, ready."
"Green Ox zord, ready."
"Blue Wolf zord, ready."
"Yellow tiger zord, ready."
"Red Monkey zord, ready." The zords went toward Luduan. The yaoguai tried to slash the tiger zord with his horn, but the zord dogged it and then hit Luduan with his paw. The yaoguai stepped back, just to be meet with the blue wolf jumping on his back and biting his shoulder. He held and threw the wolf zord aside. The green aura returned around Luduan before, in a flash he passed through the wolf zord raising sparks from her body as the zord fell to the ground.
The yaoguai approached the zord and raised his foot. "You will meet your ends now blue ranger." He said as he continually stepped on the zord. He stopped and raised his horn to slash the zord. The boar zord hit him with his horns Making Luduan fall. The wolf zord got up and then quickly bit the yaoguai's leg. The yaoguai threw the zord, who landed on her feets without much damage.
"Mark, I think it is time to use full power." Flynn said from inside his zord.
"I think you read my mind. Zords combine" Mark said as he and the others pressed '201' on their morphers.
All the zord went side by side. The monkey zord jumped, its legs bent, its knees facing the ground, its arms folded on its shoulders. The ox zord and tiger zord's legs bent and their bodies flipped upright. The tiger zord's tail detached from its body. The back from the zord attached to the monkey zord's knees, forming the right and left leg, ox and tiger respectively.
The hind and front legs from the wolf zord and the tiger zord connected. The wolf zord tail detached. They connected to the monkey zord forming the right and left arm. The monkey zord's mouth opened revealing a humanoid face.
The monkey and tiger zord's tail attached one to another forming a handle then the wolf zord's tail attached to the end of the tiger zord's tail forming a spear. The megazord was holding the spear with its right hand.
"Zodiac megazord ready!" The five said in unison, now in the same cockpit.
"So you think your gattai will be able to defeat me." Luduan charged toward the megazord. As he was near it he tried to slash the chest of the megazord. The megazord held his horn with the handle of its spear. Luduan slowly forced the megazord to step back and slowly lower it spear
"Not, this time." Mark said as the megazord moved to the side making the yaoguai hit the air. The megazord stabbed the yaoguai mutiple times before slashing Luduan's horn, cutting it.
"My horn!" He said as he moved his hands to his head , unbeliving.
"Now, is our chance." Mark said as he turned to Flynn. "Flynn, would you like to do the honors?" Flynn nodded.
The megazord charged, holding the spear with its two hands at the distracted yaoguai. The end of its spear shone in a yellow light. A yellow traslucent tiger head appeared at the end of the spear. When the megazord was near he jumped at the yaoguai. "Zodiac Final Strike: Tiger's Stab!" Flynn said as the megazord stabbed the yaoguai and the tiger head bit the air.
Sparks flew from all the yaoguai's body. The megazord turned it back to the yaoguai as he fell to the ground and exploded. "This was a zodiac victory." Mark said.
Later that day the rangers were at the Fury cafe, Ryan was serving the table where the others were. Mr. Mikata walked near them when Flynn called him. "Mr. Mikata, earlier you said you had a daughter, and said she had used to like beavers, in the past. did something happen or she just noted that there are many other animals cooler than beavers." he said as he took a sip from his coffee.
"She liked beavers so much that they inspired her to be a biologist. The thing is that she moved to Japan when she got married." He said then looked at Flynn's coffee. "By the way, are you liking your coffee with vanilla."
"Oh, yeah I don't know what you put on that special vanilla to make it have this unique taste, the smell is the same as any other but the taste is diferent." Flynn said as Mr. Mikata started to walk away before stopping and turning back to him.
"About beavers, did you know that they have a special gland that secrete a substance that have a similar scent with vanilla?" He said as he walked away. Flynn's eyes went to his coffee and then to Mr. Mikata.
"Don't you think he..." Christine started.
"No, he isn't that crazy." Flynn replied. Ryan nodded at Flynn. "He is. Mr. Mikata please say you don't use that thing." He started to shout as he rushed trying to reach Mr. Mikata. The others laughed at the scene.
In a distant place a guy wearing a silver jacket parked his motorcycle near a park. He was wearing a black t-shirt, a black sweatpants and a silver jacket, his face was covered by his helmet.
The man took a flier from his pocket. "Madam Mirai, the future in your hands." He read the flier and then looked at a circus tent in the park. "I have a feeling she knows something about those dreams, right buddy?" He said looking at a silver disc.
A/N: here is the end of this chapter. who is this men with the silver disc and what are these dream?
Now serius. I know I didn't post in a time but I just want to ask you who is reading to please leave a coment so I know that someone care for this, cause until now I feel like i was writing to me, and I wanted to make a story people would like but for this I need a feedback from you. I will try tonrelease the next chapter this month