The Gathering: Yellow Mystic
In a world very similar to our own yet different in some fundamental ways, a young warlock sat on the grass, looking up at the lush canopy above him, his eyes lost in deep thought. It was just six hours from midnight, when he would lose himself once more under the full moon.
Why had it been him?
The question repeated itself over and over in his head.
Chip Thorn sighed, folding up the sleeves of his sweater to reveal the bite marks, which were barely visible now. Four months ago, he was bitten by the werewolf Malachite under the full moon, turned to a werewolf against his will and under the thrall of his new Alpha, commanded to betray the mystics when they least expect it.
He had resisted and with the help of his friends, chosen the mystic rangers as his pack instead of Malachite, enabling him to break free of his control and managing a feat that had never been seen before in magical history.
However, he was still a werewolf.
He might be able to control his new powers but every full moon, he was going to turn into a wolf… a mindless beast ruled by instincts alone.
Sure, it was cool when he had seen it in comic books, movies and tv shows, but not as cool when it happened to him in real life.
Every time, he embraced the wolf side of him, he did so apprehensively, fearing he might lose control or hurt the ones he loved.
Every month, when he turned, he felt his bones snapping and muscles tearing, deviating from the normal human anatomy as it turned into that of a beast. The transformation back was painless, mostly because he was too tired from his time as a wolf struggling against iron shackles to remember any of it.
The scariest part of it was that he was now a danger to the ones he loved. It might be just one night in a month, but that one night, he could not be in his own home but chained by magical bindings in the terrace above Rootcore. It was still better than being chained in the dungeons. At least he could feel the embrace of open air and see the night sky. It made him feel less like a captive animal but in the end, for one night every month, that was all he was… a chained animal.
He had not asked for it.
The people of the woods and the knights of the realm looked at him with suspicion, argued that a werewolf should not be one of their protectors.
He tried not to take it to heart.
They were just scared… scared of him.
Throughout his life, he wanted to be a hero, someone who made people feel safe. Just when that dream became a reality, fate cruelly snatched it from him, turning him into something dark…a monster.
It did not stop him from fighting though.
The dark magic that flowed in his veins gave him power, even when he was unmorphed. All his senses were improved. He could see things more clearly, hear things from a mile away and even his smell was superhuman. He could track the scent of anyone like a hound.
It came in handy many times during their fight with the forces of evil but that fact did not take away the pain.
"I thought I might find you here." He turned to see Neville behind him. He had been one of the original mystics alongside Niella and Krista's long-lost father. He had been possessed by Malachite, the werewolf spirit who was responsible for turning Chip, before he broke free of the spell and when the spell broke, Malachite's spirit was vanquished, reverting Neville to a normal human, a fate he envied.
"What are you doing here?" Chip asked. He did not blame Neville for his condition. He was as much a victim like him, if not more so.
"Vida wanted me to check on you." He said, sitting beside him.
"I am okay." He groaned in frustration.
"We both know you are not." The older knight said sadly.
"Look, Neville. I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I do not blame you for what happened." He said sharply. "There is no cure for this. Nothing you can say or do is going to fix this."
"But you don't have to be alone-" Neville was cut off by an angry snarl.
"Of course, I am alone! I am the one transforming! I am the one who must be chained up to protect others! I am the one suffering! I am the one who has become a monster!" He shouted, before realizing that his nails had become claws and his canines had lengthened, jutting out of his jaw and his eyes became yellow orbs. He looked away, trying to regain control over his emotions.
"No one thinks of you as a monster, Chip." Neville sighed, placing a hand over his shoulder before getting up. He was just about to leave, when they both heard it.
A howl.
Chip looked up.
"Did you hear that?"
Neville nodded.
That was when they saw a portal opening in front of them and before they realized what was about to happen, it started acting like a vacuum, forcing the wind currents towards itself.
"Wha-" Neville felt the full brunt of the gale, the winds slammed against him, forcing him to lose his footing and get sucked into the portal.
"No!" Chip yelled. With his claws, he had dug deep into the earth and was forcing himself to stay grounded.
He saw the portal about to close and he made his decision. He let go and allowed himself to be swallowed by the portal.
Clare woke up to Udonna fussing over her while Xander and Neil were watching the crystal ball avidly. Darien was still unconscious.
"The spell…" She murmured, touching her head.
"Someone from a higher plane intervened and stopped you from casting it." Udonna told her.
"I know…" She nodded, getting up to a sitting position. "I met them, whoever they were. I was in the astral plane. They needed my help."
"What do you mean?" Udonna looked at her sharply.
"They said they could not interfere more than they already had. They said they needed to channel my powers to get help from other dimensions to stop the dark wolves." She shook her head.
"Well, help is here." Neil said, smiling at her.
"Who?" Clare asked.
"The original blue ranger of Earth himself!" Xander exclaimed with excitement.
Billy did not have the slightest clue why he was teleported here or who teleported him to this place, but seeing the wolf creatures and the knight with armour modelled after a wolf made sense, given Ninjor's warning and the strange howl he heard.
This was the threat he was supposed to stop.
"A Ranger!" The knight gasped. "But you are no mystic!"
"I don't know what that means, but you are going down, metal head!" He yelled.
"You are but one, and I have an army at my command." He glowered. "Can you protect all of these fallen warriors?"
He snapped his fingers and the wolfblades descended on the mystics and Ryan.
Billy immediately took out his blade blaster and opened fire on the creatures who were about to attack Madison and Nick.
He looked at them.
"You guys need to get to safety." He told them, before firing at the creatures advancing towards Vida and the others.
"We can help." Nick insisted. "We are rangers, just like you."
"I got that but you can barely stand." He cut him off. "I can't protect all of you."
"He is right, Nick." Madison said. "We are more of a distraction than of any real help right now."
Nick grumbled reluctantly, limping towards the others.
Lena and Daggeron looked at each other, while Vida rolled up her fists.
"Whoever he is, I don't think he will be able to take them all down by himself." Daggeron said.
"He doesn't have to." Vida said.
"Vida, we don't have any powers left. We can't morph in this state." Lena said.
"You can't fight but I can." The pink ranger said coldly, her eyes turning pitch black and her skin chalky white. Her nails elongated to talons and she leapt at the wolfblades, slashing at them, diagonal slashes of dark energy cutting them down.
Billy turned towards her, disturbed but did not have the time to say anything as Koragg charged at him.
"Power Lance!" His trusted weapon appeared in his hands, which he quickly split into two blades, blue electricity cackling between them. He charged at him, ducking to avoid a blast of energy from the shield and executing a flip kick to force the knight back. He landed on his feet and pounced on the knight, slashing him repeatedly with his blades.
"ENOUGH!" Koragg yelled, pushing him back. He slammed his sword to the ground, creating seismic tremors that blasted Billy back. He turned his head at where Vida was using her vampire abilities to fend off any wolfblade that approached her friends. He snapped his fingers and tendrils of dark energies shot out from his armour and struck the lone warrior, pinning her down to the ground.
"Vida!" Madison yelled, running towards her, only for a wolfblade to block her path.
"Maddy!" Nick yelled on seeing the wolfblade raise his talons to strike. He lunged at them, flickers of fire escaping his eyes when a jagged blade made of obsidian spun out of nowhere and struck the creature, disintegrating it.
He looked up to see a wolf like humanoid in ebony armour, a man in silver robes and a woman in a yellow outfit appear and start fighting off the creatures.
They were joined by another.
A handsome man with a purple jacket jumped in front of Koragg, preventing him from attacking the blue morphin ranger, who was still knocked out.
He took a fighting stance and swiftly attacked the knight with well placed punches and kicks, which surprisingly pushed the knight back. It should not be possible. How could an ordinary man fight him off without channeling any magic?
The man let out a battle cry, and his attacks increased in frequency, not giving Koragg any chance to retaliate.
That's when he noticed the faint violet light starting to gather in the man's arms and legs, even as he attacked.
"Spirit of the Wolf!" The man yelled, the light congregating on his arms, as he thrusted it towards Koragg. The knight saw the beam of light twist into the form of a violet wolf, not unlike that of his 'Wolf Attack' and pounce on him. He felt the claws slashing his armour and the wolf biting him, before tossing him away like a ragdoll.
He grunted, getting up.
He looked sideways to see the other intruders fend off his army, the dark warrior having slayed them with his blade. He felt the shadows return to him.
Koragg fumed. He could continue the fight but these new warriors had the ability to combat him. He needed a new strategy before he could ensure a decisive victory.
"This isn't over!" He vowed, before extending his arm to the ground and summoning a dark spell circle, which engulfed him, returning him to the cold pits of the Underworld.
Hope you liked this short chapter and please review.
The alternate version of Chip and Neville is from my other ongoing story "Mystic Force: A Different Destiny", and while I haven't yet started writing writing the werewolf Chip arc yet, you can read that story and follow it if you are interested.