Retribution Part Two
Po and his crew bound their latest recruit to a dolly using unprocessed raw energy bars, ensuring she couldn't break free. Tigericia stood out from the rest of the creatures; she was utterly wild. Incapable of speech, she appeared to be in a state of delusion, exhibiting only wild behavior, emitting nothing but snarls and spits in the direction of Po, Sky, and Chasm. Her stature was imposing, cloaked in orange fur marked with ebony tiger stripes. Her eyes, a deep black and narrowed, glared fiercely, while her fangs protruded even when her jaws were clenched shut.
Chasm tried to calm the monster down but was almost bitten as he reached over to pet her.
He flinched. "How are we going to pull this off? Couldn't we try someone else?"
Po walked over and slapped his brother across the head. "We want Maya to be fully conscious and in control of her body while she is possessed."
"I don't get it," Chasm said, rubbing where his brother smacked him.
Po took a deep breath and fought the urge to blast his brother into another dimension. "Maya would have absolutely no morals if her heart if engulfed with Tigericia's wickedness. We need Maya's knowledge if we are going to beat the rangers."
"Not to mention that with the knowledge of her father being extremely unfaithful would fuel the envy and contempt inside her heart," Sky said, giggling.
Po sighed and glanced at his sister. "Ok, Skyler, your spell better work."
"It will brother," Sky reassured, scrolling through her book. She then squealed as she had finally reached the page that contained the spell code she needed. "Got it! If this spell works, then Tigericia's spirit and DNA were expel from her, and will engulf Maya's body, thus creating...Tigress Maya."
"Good," Po grinned, looking over at Tigericia, who was now whimpering in fear. "It's time to party!"
Ellie and her father transported themselves downtown, near the wreckage caused by the rangers' most recent battle. Firefighters had just finished extinguishing the flames from the destruction caused by Maya's Cheetah Zord. Ellie cursed under her breath, wondering how she would reconstruct the Zord now that it appeared completely decimated. Both Uni and Ellie navigated through alleyways between buildings and under some rubble to avoid being seen by the first responders. Uni followed close behind his daughter.
"Okay, we just need to get the gem and get out of here ASAP," Ellie said as they stopped between the wreckage of two commercial buildings, watching as the police and firefighters converged, engaging in conversation.
"Darling, what if there's a small possibility that Maya survived?" Uni pointed out.
Ellie shook her head, frowning sadly. "Dad, I doubt it. Her body may have been completely—"
"WE'VE GOT A LIVE ONE HERE!" Both Uni and Ellie snapped their attention back to the scene as a firefighter ran toward the crew, carrying a battered and bruised girl in his arms. Both father and daughter gasped. Even from that distance, despite the girl's burned-out hair and tattered face making her almost unrecognizable, they instantly knew who she was. It was Maya.
"She… she's alive," Ellie almost screamed. "Oh god! I have to call the others!"
"Wait," her father stopped her. "Hold on… something is off."
"Dad, she is right there!" Ellie exclaimed, waving her arm emphatically. "DJ and Max need to know this! The twins need to know this! Her mother needs to know this!"
"Hey, do you guys hear something?" one of the firefighters asked. Ellie cursed as she realized how loud and rambunctious she was being.
"Shit," she cursed. "Let's get out of here, Dad."
"Wait just a moment, I do not believe that was a reference to you… I feel a strong awakening coming." Ellie was puzzled but then heard what seemed like a 'whoosh' noise coming from above. Both father and daughter looked around the entire perimeter of the block, frantically trying to find out where that noise was coming from.
Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind swirled around the scene, causing debris to lift and spin in the air. Ellie and Uni shielded their eyes as the noise grew louder, transforming into an eerie, otherworldly howl. The firefighters and police officers froze, looking around in confusion and fear. From the sky, a shimmering, ethereal figure descended, its form shifting and undulating like smoke. It hovered above the firefighter holding Maya, its presence both mesmerizing and terrifying. The spirit's eyes glowed with an intense, otherworldly light as it focused on Maya's lifeless body.
"What's happening?" Ellie whispered, her voice trembling.
The spirit let out a deafening roar, and in an instant, it engulfed Maya in a blinding flash of light. The firefighter stumbled back, dropping Maya as he shielded his eyes. When the light faded, Maya's body began to twitch and convulse. Her eyes snapped open, now glowing with the same eerie light as the spirit. Then it happened. She began to mutate. Her tan skin sprouted dark orange fur with black stripes. She slowly grew to twice her size, and her four canine teeth dramatically enlarged. Her hair remained styled, but her face turned orange and black. Her pants tore as her legs expanded, now covered in striped fur. Her feet and hands transformed into webbed paws with black claws.
The firefighters scurried away, screaming in horror. The police, however, did not back down. They drew their weapons and ordered the now-mutated girl to back down.
"Pathetic. I make a huge comeback, and this is how I am rewarded," Maya, now mutated into the vicious Tigress Maya, growled.
"なんてこった," Uni cursed in his native language. Ellie wore the same horrified expression as she grabbed her dad by the arm.
"Let's get out of here!" she screamed, but her volume proved to be her downfall, as she caught the attention of the monster that had fused with Maya. Maya turned, her new smile showing off the wicked glee she was feeling.
Max wiped away his tears with a tissue, trying to clear his nasal passages. DJ sat in a chair next to Max's bed, both of them enveloped in a heavy silence after hours of sobbing and grieving over the supposed loss of their closest friend. The weight of uncertainty hung in the air; Max had no idea how the team would move forward without one of their own. He needed to call someone, to let everyone know where he was and what had happened. His parents? DJ's father? The twins? The twins… Suddenly, Max sat up on the bed, startling DJ.
"Max…" DJ muttered cautiously.
"Bonnie," Max said, his voice breaking with a hiccup after an hour of crying. "Donnie… I need to call them."
"I already called Donnie while I was in the hallway," DJ replied. "He hung up immediately. Knowing them, they might be on their way."
"But… Miss Garcia and…" Max's thoughts drifted to Maya's brother. "Pablo is okay, right?"
DJ nodded. "He's here in the building. He's fine. He's going to be okay."
"But what about…" Just before Max could finish his question, someone rushed into the room. Max looked up and was both surprised and relieved to see who had just entered, but then his emotions once again let loose, knowing this person had a reputation for comforting him ever since he was a boy.
"Dad…" he wept.
Bobby nearly fell apart seeing his son, all bruised up and in a hospital wing. He walked over and knelt to his son's level, pulling Max into a strong embrace. Max was tired of crying. He was just tired in general. He did not sob; he just held his father. Even at 17 years of age, Max still remained to be half his father's size, but he just felt secure being in his father's grasp. DJ, despite the flood of emotions he was experiencing, gave a small smile at the sight of both father and son. Growing up, he had always admired Bobby Cruz. He always thought his own father was a boring businessman, but Bobby was different. He was always on the frontlines, saving people's lives. Rest assured, DJ still adored his father, but Bobby would never fail to put all the other dads in the neighborhood to shame. He was the ideal man.
Bobby released his son from the hug, still holding onto the boy's arms. He looked over at DJ and nodded. "You okay?"
DJ could not lie, and neither could the redness of his eyes and the bags underneath them. He frowned and shook his head.
"I see…well you guys may cheer up once they find Maya."
Max nodded for a split second before realizing what his father just said. He grabbed his father by the collar and asked hysterically, "What do you mean when they find Maya?" His head turned toward DJ. "Dude, we were literally crying for a whole hour! I thought the silent answer you gave me after I asked if Maya was okay meant that Maya was dead!"
DJ had no idea what to say. He just rambled incomprehensibly. "I do not…I thought…the crash I-"
Max violently grabbed DJ by the shirt collar, outraged by the revelation. "You could have said 'I do not know' instead of keeping your mouth shut and crying like a bitch, you IDIOT!"
"Guys, calm down," Bobby beckoned. "Maya may still be alive. We just need to-"
He was then interrupted when his radio rang out. "Sheriff Cruz, come in! Sheriff Cruz!"
Bobby groaned before picking up his radio and answering it. "This is Sheriff Cruz."
"You got to get your ass back to the scene where the chaos took place the other day. We found the girl, but she's gone berserk!"
Both boys turned their attention as Bobby's face turned grave. He sprung up from his seat. "You boys stay here," he ordered.
"But Dad! What is up with Maya?" Max begged. He was relieved that Maya was okay, but what did the other deputy mean by Maya going 'berserk'?
"Max, I got to go," Bobby said.
"Dad!" Max called out as his father bolted out of the room, leaving DJ and Max shocked and dumbfounded.
"Oh my god…" DJ whispered before finally screaming out. "Maya is alive!"
"We've got to get out of here! We've got to get out of here!" Max repeated frantically, moving his head in a panic.
Just as Max and DJ were trying to figure out their next move, the door burst open again. This time, it was Bonnie and Donnie, their faces flushed from running.
"Max! DJ!" Bonnie exclaimed, still trying to catch her breath. She had just heard from the call from DJ about Max's "We came as soon as we heard."
"What's going on?" Donnie asked, looking between the two boys and the empty doorway where Bobby had just left. "Your dad just ran past us. He didn't even acknowledge us at all, but he was in a hurry.
"Maya's alive, but something's wrong," DJ explained quickly. "We need to get to her."
Donnie nodded; his expression determined. "Then let's go. We can't just sit here."
"But how do we get out without anyone noticing?" Max asked as he slowly got off his bed, wincing at the pain as he reached over to get the clothes that DJ had laid out for him on the steel chair next to his.
Bonnie grinned, pulling out a set of keys. "I might have borrowed these from a nurse's station. Let's move."
DJ narrowed his eyes. "How the hell did you know we might need those keys?"
"I didn't, I just thought the spikey key chain was shiny and cool," Bonnie said, sticking said key chain out.
Max and DJ looked over at Donnie, who just shrugged his shoulders at his sister's weird and innocent nature.
Max shook his head and began to change. He slipped his pants on under the gown before removing it. DJ's eyes widened in shock at the sight of Max's scars, his expression quickly turning to one of devastation. Donnie winced at the scratches, turning his head away, while Bonnie covered her mouth, struggling to hold back tears at Max's condition. Despite her occasional carelessness, Bonnie was often overly emotional, especially when it came to her loved ones.
After putting on a red tank top, Max signaled to others to move out. They managed to slip out of the room, moving quickly and quietly through the hospital corridors. They managed to avoid the nurses and doctors, thanks to Max's knowledge of the hospitals exits and common areas of operations. He had been a common patient at that particular hospital, as being an amateur daredevil on his skateboard, he had sustained a few injuries to the point where every other doctor and nurse would recognize him easily.
As they spotted the exit, Max led the way, but then felt one of his ribs clenched. He winced and cried out in pain as he stumbled onto his knees.
DJ stopped and looked back, seeing his pal wincing in discomfort. He rushed over and lifted Max back onto his feet. Max gave him a pained smile before following DJ out, limping lightly on the way.
Finally, they reached the exit. Max took a deep breath, feeling a mix of fear and hope. "Let's find Maya," he said, his voice steady.
Together, they rushed out of the hospital, determined to reach Maya and help her, no matter what it took.
"Dad, keep running!" Ellie hurried as she was pulling his dad away from the scene. The two ran around the decimated buildings, trying not to trip on any of the debris littered the entire area.
As Ellie and Uni spun around to flee, Maya unleashed an ear-splitting roar before giving chase. Her claws shot out from her paws, detonating upon impact and sending shockwaves through the ground around Ellie and Uni. Miraculously, they remained unscathed. Maya's claws regenerated instantly, launching again in a relentless barrage, desperately aiming to strike the two.
Uni hovered over his daughter as they ran, trying to shield her in case any of the claws were to hurl directly at them.
They managed to get to a parking lot of government building, right near the wreckage caused by the Cheetah Zord's obliteration. Suddenlly, Ellie's foot was hit by an incoming claw. She screamed out before hurdling toward the concrete floor.
"Ellie!" Uni shouted in horror, rushing to his daughter. He ushered her to get right back onto her feet. "Come on, baby! We need to go!"
Ellie let out a pained squeal. Though the claw had only left a laceration on her left foot, it was still difficult for her to stand without stumbling. The strike was excruciatingly painful.
"Come on, Ellie! We don't have much time!" Uni urged, trying to lift his daughter to her feet. Ellie screamed in agony as the pressure on her injured leg caused her to collapse into her father's arms.
Uni looked up in horror as Maya emerged from the dust and chaos.
"Hello Sensei," Maya said wickedly, grinning from ear to ear. "And goodbye."
She lifted her left paw, claws ready to strike. Uni knew he had to act, even if it meant risking his life. He raised his cane and fired tiny electromagnetic wisps, hoping to deflect the attack.
Maya's claws slashed forward. Uni gasped as the claws cut through the wisps. He closed his eyes, hugging his daughter tightly, bracing for the impact. Suddenly, two figures jumped in front of them, deflecting the claws with their staffs.
The Green Ranger yelled with determination, "Leave our town, freak-a-zoid!"
The White Ranger chimed in, "Yeah, pounce back to wherever you came from"
DJ, having just morphed, rushed over to help Ellie up, realizing she was hurt. "Are you okay?"
Ellie gulped as the pain was still present before giving him a small smile. "I'll be fine," she said.
The Red Ranger then hopped in. "Sensei, what are you doing here?" He asked, he then looked over at Ellie. "Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine. I'll take care of her."
The Red Ranger then took notice of the tigress monster. His eyes widened in shock as he recognized her, as did the other rangers. The tip of DJ's blade hit the ground as he noticed what one of his best friends had become. This was unreal.
"Maya?" Max whispered, disbelief and sorrow mixing in his voice. "What happened to you?"
Maya's eyes glinted with malice as she stepped forward, her claws gleaming ominously. "Max..." she said, her voice dripping with venom.
To be continued...