Chapter 6: Overwhelming Spirit
The amount of power he held was immense.
Bri swallowed hard and ducked down, a wave of heat and pressure buffeting the ute. Peeking over the hood, her eyes widened as she fully drank in the sight. Weihan, clad in Ranger armour, ducked and weaved against the energy blasts – because what else could they be – of the giant. Looking back on the battle, she wouldn't have described it as a David and Goliath fight. No, this was more akin to an elephant trying to swat at a mosquito; the massive thing didn't even seem to register the presence of the Ranger. The ground shook and cracked as, finally, Wei scored a powerful strike against its chest with an immense blue-hot fireball. Again, she had to duck down as the air crackled above her.
This was utterly insane, and she had read Bree's diaries. Somehow, the words written on paper didn't, couldn't, convey the sheer pants-wetting terror, concern, and amazement of an up-close Ranger battle. It even washed away the aches and pains still present in her body, though a lingering and primal need welled inside her. The speed that Weihan had moved, throwing his arms around her, and covering her body with his – it had sent a thrill down her spine, especially when she noticed the position they landed in. One hand under her head and one under her back and his hips…no, she had her husband and that was all she needed. Willing her hormones to cool down, poorly, she shook her head. With Valentine's Day three weeks away, those thoughts were not conducive to a healthy work environment; plus, all amorous fantasies involved Joshua…or so she had thought.
"Come on, Wei," she breathed, watching him land hard on the turf, "get up, you can beat this thing."
He couldn't beat the Ogre. No matter what he did, the creature just wouldn't give him its full attention. Flinging fireballs had been met with a dull groan, whipping energy crescents from his hands garnered no response, and energised punches and kicks had only tickled it. Wrenching his legs out of the ground, he whipped through the menus on his HUD to see what he could use – well, anything short of a Zord. Highlighting one of the options, he smiled under his helmet and snorted at the changed name. Of course it had changed, this was the real world and, like it or not, the name Raptor Blaster commanded more attention than the Raptor Laser. Drawing it out of its holster, and wondering why he needed to select the option in the first place, he gave it a cursory glance before doing a double-take to stare at it closer.
While he had mentally modelled the 'original' Raptor Laser off the Blade Blasters on Power Rangers, this one looked like a serious threat. Squat but chunky, there was a row of buttons on the barrel and grip, and it looked like the option to transform it into a laser blade was included. He would have to do some experimentation to see what was possible with this new weapon, but, as always, it would have to wait until after this creature was dealt with. On the other hand, he still had most of a full day of work ahead of him, including what would be a very awkward conversation with Bri about what he had said and done earlier.
Dodging another one of the Ogre's blasts, he grimaced at that thought. How was he really going to explain how little he had thought of himself? That, before the Orange Ultra Crystal had unlocked his memories, he thought of himself as nothing more than a burden on everyone around him; a thought that was magnified several hundred-fold times by AJ leaving him at the altar. Sure, he had made great strides in recovering his sense of self-worth, but there was always that annoying twinge in the back. As another Moreton Bay Fig tree exploded near him, he recalled the words he had said to the other Emma. Stop running and start living. Words that he had unknowingly written down into a readily-available story. Words that he had taken to heart.
"That's enough from you."
Ugh, was he going to continually quote his story at all the familiar monsters he faced? He hoped not – it would get old very quickly, on the other hand, no one would really know where he was pulling things from and a Google search for 'Orange Ultra Ranger' would only display fanfiction. Well, if it meant more views on his older works…he dismissed the thought with a shrug. Closing his eyes briefly, he began pushing power into the Raptor Blaster, feeling the small energy reservoir begin to fill up rapidly. Once he felt as though there was enough charge, he leapt back again and fired.
The supercharged bolt sliced through the air and slammed home into the right head, engulfing it within a mini-mushroom cloud. An unholy shriek of pain, anger, and – finally – fear rent the air. Without really thinking about it, Weihan fired bolt after bolt at the same head, the screeches of pain echoing louder. Between shots, the Ranger spared a quick glance behind him, praying that Bri was still all right. The good news was that he could still see the ute. The better news was that he could still see his team leader, huddling behind the engine block. By some divine miracle, none of the ground around her had been touched by errant blasts; something he was determined to keep.
The bad news was the cloud of news helicopters and drones coming from Ultimo. Even from the distance the battle was at, he was able to see thick smoke belching from one of the choppers. Great, just great. He estimated he would have at least 10 minutes before things became dicey. Hell, finding a quiet place to morph in the future would be difficult as well; he hadn't quite understood all the sweeping changes that had come in after The Crossing, but he knew he had to brush up on the surveillance side ASAP, let alone all of the cheap camera phones on the market. Well, as he always said, he would cross that bridge when it came.
"You!" The voice rumbled and crashed through the air like a landslide. "You did this to me!"
As the smoke around its head cleared, the Orange Ranger swallowed hard as he saw the blackened and charred flesh the creature's head was. Three of its eyes had popped, vitreous fluid staining one untouched cheek. Its forehead was even burnt so badly, the skin and muscle had peeled back to expose the off-white sheen of its skull. Holstering the Blaster, he raised his hands to fire off twin streams of blue plasma at the monster. Good news, the monster's attention was focussed solely on him. Bad news…the monster's attention was solely focussed on him. He sighed and rolled his eyes as the words of the monster sunk into his brain. No, he wouldn't fall into the cliché of thinking everything had to go the same way. After all, Apollonia had been the first monster sent – not the second – and had 'scored' no real kills.
Orange Ranger, use your Sabre and defeat this beast!
Great, as if he wasn't going to do that already. Mentally jotting down 'talk to Shining Light to see WTF is happening here' on his to-do list, he flipped away from the injured giant and summoned the iconic sword.
"Raptor Sabre!"
In a flash of fire, the blade materialised in his right hand and he took a few moments to compare it to his 'mind's eye' version. As he had written, the blade was two feet in length (the information popup on his HUD informing him to the micron) with a six-inch width and two fullers running parallel to the central ridge. If he magnified his vision enough, he could even see the segmentation that would allow the Sabre to transform into its firebrand and laser whip modes. The blade extended from an emblem that, interestingly enough, wasn't another blown-up representation of his Power Coin. Instead, it was a mashup of all three Main Power Animals: the snarling head of the Utahraptor, the wise and menacing heads of the Hydra, and, amusingly, just the eyes and nostrils of the Saltwater Crocodile. The only decoration around said emblem were two shorter spikes that seemed to meld into the bottom of the blade. Lightly running a finger down the grip, he felt the multitude of hidden buttons and smiled, before a nervous shudder made him pause. If this didn't work…
Well, there was no sense worrying about that. Not having the benefit of a cliff-top to work with, Weihan flash-teleported to the ute and pushed power into his legs. Calling on the spirit of the Utahraptor to help him, he slowly picked up speed and power until he hit his mark. Bending his knees ever so slightly, he leapt up at the monster, raising his weapon above his head and prayed that he had enough height. As the wrecked face of the creature filled his vision, he made a small sound in triumph before initiating the finisher.
"Raptor Crash!"
Bri's mouth dropped open in amazement as the blade Weihan pulled out began to glow and extend, seemingly at the same time as the Ranger swung his arms out in front of him. The amount of power in the air simultaneously frightened and excited her, and, in the back of her mind, she wondered if she could pull off the same feat. On the other hand, that would mean taking up the Power and sacrificing the notion of a family with the man she loved. Not wanting to look as her offsider cleaved the monster in half, God knew the amount of replays the news would show tonight, she shook her head and ran a hand through her hair and attempted to come up with excuses as to what they had been doing during the attack. One thing was sure to her, though.
Weihan's world had changed yet again and she was right in the thick of it.