Chapter 19: End Of The Line

The grin on the large Jack-O'-Lantern Head sitting atop the construct widened and pinkish-purple flames poured out. Wes and Jen threw themselves out of the way just in time, rolling across the scorched ground as the flames left trails of embers where they struck.

"It spits fire now?" Wes groaned, scrambling to his feet, only for the construct to retaliate by igniting its hands with the same iridescent flames. It lobbed flaming projectiles down at the Rangers, forcing them to scatter.

"Guess that answers your question," Jen quipped, dodging another wave of flames that seared the air around them.

Eric dove in, firing a relentless barrage of energy blasts at the construct, forcing it back. His shots hit their mark, cracks and dents appearing in the metal armor — but each wound only lasted a second before a pinkish-purple energy mended the breaks, closing them as if they had never been.

"This thing keeps fixing itself," Eric spat in frustration as he landed, watching the construct's wounds knit back together.

"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up," said Wes as he sank to the ground on one knee, using his sword to prop himself up.

"Guys… we need a plan," Ashley said, breathless, her hands still clutching her weapon as she joined the group.

High above, the head of the construct shimmered, and a spectral image of the imp's face reappeared, its malicious grin expanding as its red eyes glowed. "Your efforts are futile, foolish humans!" it cackled, its voice echoing with a haunting resonance. "You cannot stop us!"

As it spoke, flames sparked at the tips of the construct's fingers, sliding down its metallic fingers and swirling together in the palms. The imp laughed and spread its arms wide. As its laughter echoed around them, other voices joined in with snickers and giggles like a choir building to a crescendo. The construct slammed its palms together and the flames burst out like a swirling vortex heading straight for them.

"MOVE!" Eric shouted, powering up and swerving to dodge the vortex. He grabbed Ashley, pulling her out of its path, while Jen sprang to the side just as the flames passed by, licking at her heels.

Wes, however, was caught off-guard, struggling to lift his weapon to defend himself. His eyes widened, frozen as he saw the flames hurtling toward him — until a figure swooped down in front of him, intercepting the attack with a defiant slash that dispersed the flames.

"T… Taylor?" he managed, disbelief coloring his voice.

"Sitting on the job, Collins?" she shot back with a smirk, even as she steadied him to his feet.

Eric circled back, dodging another flaming projectile as he rejoined the group. "This thing won't go down," he growled. He opened fire as Ashley and Jen closed in on the two of them, firing at the construct, forcing it to stumble back. Eric aimed for the head, blasting through the spectral head but making no more than a dent in the pumpkin.

"You two okay?" Jen asked

Like the others, Taylor and Wes were both breathing heavily but nodded. "I may have a way to end this," Taylor said, just above a whisper, her eyes tracing Eric's movements.

"Let's hear it," said Ashely as she pulled back and lowered her weapon, giving it a moment to recharge.

"I need you guys to knock them out of that thing."

"What?!"

"In case you haven't noticed, we're not doing much to it," Jen pointed out.

"We don't need to destroy it, just force them or lure them out. Just long enough so I can see them. Trust me, I can end this."

"Well it's not like I'm getting my deposit back anyway," Wes grumbled as he gripped his sword with both hands and charged it up.

She looked at the two women and they nodded. Jen allowed her blasters to disappear and in their place summoned a larger, cannon-like weapon while Ashley summoned her Star Slinger and combined it with her blaster.

"We've got you."

Taylor shot into the air, wings stretched out. She passed by Eric as he reeled back and gently squeezed his shoulder as she flew by, curling around at level with the head of the construct as it steadied itself.

She summoned three darts in her hand and flung them right between the eyes of the pumpkin. "Alright you creeps, we've had enough. It's time for you to pack it up."

The head turned to her with a creak and a large arm pulled up toward her but she swerved and pulled out of the way, getting in closer. Energy crackled near the mouth and pinkish-purple flames shot out. She banked and dodged, tightening her grip on her sword as she felt the heat brush past her.

"What the hell is she doing?" Eric grumbled as he glided to the ground to join the others.

"You do like the crazy ones," Wes chuckled as he stepped past them holding out his sword which ignited. "Let's bring this thing to its knees."

He turned his sword in a circle then swung down, sending a powerful burst of flame toward the joint of the left leg. Ashley followed up with a barrage of energy beams The joint buckled under their combined assault, the leg collapsing with a screech of metal. The construct wobbled, its balance thrown, but the eerie pink energy in its joints began knitting the break back together almost immediately.

"Hit the other leg!" Jen yelled, summoning a cannon-like weapon. She and Eric zeroed in on the right leg, firing concentrated energy blasts that tore through metal and circuitry alike. The leg gave way, forcing the construct to crash down on one knee, its torso dipping forward.

"Gotcha," Taylor whispered as she watched the construct sink to the ground.

The torso section of the construct began to glow and spectral tendrils began to shoot out from the body. Two of them sank into the ground pushing the construct up as two more wrapped around the legs, mending the broken joints. Several others shot out in different directions, straight at the rangers.

Taylor swerved out of the way and flew around the head to dodge them but three of the tendrils whipped out at her simultaneously, one piercing through her arm. She cried out in pain as she felt the arm go limp and lost her balance hurtling to the ground.

"Taylor!"

Eric dodged and weaved through the tendrils, he used one of the blades to block one of the tendrils from attacking Jen and pulled her to the side before darting through the construct's legs. But there were too many for him to fight off and he couldn't get to her in time.

"Taylor!" he called as she crashed into the ground. He raised both blades and furiously fired shots at them, tearing through the tendrils to get to her.

Wes and Ashley tried to dodge the tendrils that rained down on them and while they were able to dodge a few and Wes parry some off with his sword there were too many. They slashed and whipped at them from all sides. Both rangers cried out and sank to the ground, Wes' armor flickering for a moment before it vanished.

"Wes! Ashley!" Jen cried.

Eric looked up, watching his friends fall as he crouched behind Taylor pulling her into his arms.

"Tay? Tay you with me?"

She coughed and groaned as she pushed herself up, reaching out to clutch her arm. "I… I really hate that thing."

"You and me both," he groused helping her sit up.

"I just need to get eyes on them," she said as she tried to get to her feet but almost fell again. He caught her and helped her sit down again.

As he looked back at the construct the tendrils had pulled back into the body and it rose once again to full height. His eyes fell on Jen as she made a mad dash to their fallen friends calling for Wes.

"You can't see them but maybe she can."

Taylor's eyes widened and she grabbed his hand. "Go!"

He nodded and squeezed her good shoulder before jetting off toward Jen who was trying to wake Wes up.

"Jen… Jen I need you to focus," he said as she grabbed her shoulder. "Can you see a weak spot? Or tell where the imps are in there?"

She looked up at him, her hand trembling where it rested on Wes' unmoving form. "How can I… Oh."

He grabbed her by the waist and skated away as a large hand made a grab for them, skirting over their two friends as their power suits faded away in a flash of light.

"Focus," he reminded her as he set her down and moved away, ducking in and out of the construct's legs as it tried repeatedly to grab him.

Jen looked over at Wes and Ashley, who lay unconscious on the ground and then to Taylor who was struggling to push herself up. Their eyes met and she nodded. She called to the gift she had been given, willing herself to see what was hidden. The familiar sensation pricked behind her eyes and the world around her began to blur. As she stared at the construct her vision pierced through the metal form and pinkish-purple veins running through the metal lit up, pulsing with energy. She followed the flow of energy which led, not to the core like she expected but back up to the head which was just an orb of pulsing energy. Inside it, seven dark silhouettes floated, their arms stretched out.

She gasped as her vision returned to normal and her eyes narrowed as she raised her V Cannon and aimed for the head, anger coursing through her as she fired blast after blast. Eric dodged one of the arms as the construct turned its attention to Jen. He followed her line of sight and smirked. Powering up his boots again he took to the sky, weaving around back as he brought the blades together, creating the large energy blade as he dove for the neck, slicing through it with one clean strike.

"Off with your head."

Energy crackled around the Jack-O'-Lantern head as the construct stopped moving. The head itself tipped forward and fell to the ground with a loud crash and rolled a couple of feet away from the rest of the body. The impact caused the surface of the head to ripple and seven imps were thrown out in different directions.

Eric glided to the ground and trained his weapons on them, ready to fire. Jen ran up to join them as the imps groaned and grunted. The leader's eyes flared with energy as he pushed himself to his feet, teeth bared as he snarled and grunted. The other six made similar feral sounds as they rose and began moving together, forming two lines behind their leader.

"This is not over," the purple imp growled, bringing his hands to his side as they flared with energy. The other imps lit up as did the Jack-O'-Lantern head at the rest of the construct.

"Yes, it is!"

They all looked over to see Taylor on one knee, holding her sabre in one hand with a card behind it. Jen's eyes widened but no one else made any movement. Taylor took a deep breath and her eyes focused on the crystal in the sabre for a moment, a familiar screech echoed through her mind. Without a second thought, she dropped the card to the ground, face up and slammed the sabre into it. The crystal lit up and yellow energy coursed through the blade and into the card which began to glow.

"What is this…." the imp began but was dumbstruck as ribbons of golden energy shot out of the card, flying through the air, twisting and curling as they honed in on the imps. When they realised what was happening the imps scattered, squealing and screeching as they tried to dodge the ribbons. But they weren't fast enough. The ribbons wrapped around them, binding their arms to their sides and pulling them back, screaming and struggling into the card.

As the last imp was pulled in the card flashed gold and then lay inert.

Breathing heavily Taylor watched as the light faded away and focused on the crystal. "Thank you," she whispered as she allowed herself to crumple to the ground, her sabre and her suit fading away.

Thanks for reading.

Till next time...