Arrival of the Black Wolf

Briarwood

Billy felt the thrill of battle invigorate him, as he dodged a blow from a wolf monster, before retaliating with an uppercut that sent him reeling backwards. Not giving him a chance to retaliate, the blue ranger swung his lance, letting loose an arc of blue energies that collided against the monster, forcing him to explode.

Before he could catch a breath, Billy found himself surrounded by another, which made him cringe inwardly. Unlike the one he fought before, who was a lupine alien clad in silver armour, this monster resembled one of Finister's designs… in the center of his chest was a red wolf head baring its fangs, which was jutting out of another wolf head with blue fur and unsurprisingly, it was again coming out of another, this one with grey fur and pointy ears, which served as the actual head of the monster as well. Rest of the body was relatively normal with black skin and what looked to be a white exoskeleton… Oh and he had a tail too, but that was kind of expected.

The monster let out a guttural howl and Billy's grip instinctively tightened on his lance.

"I can smell your feet and your fear!" He snarled, and Billy shook his head. Things may have changed since the time he was an active ranger, but one thing sure remained the same… Monsters still had weird threats, that were more likely to make one snort rather than cower in fear.

"Sure…" He rolled his eyes as he charged at the monster, who let out a howl. Purple sonic waves blasted out of his mouth, forcing him back.

"I am a bad doggy." The monster snickered mischievously.

Billy shook his head. If Kim or Rocky were here instead, they would be laughing senseless at this. However, he didn't have time to mess around.

The monster let out another howl, of which he barely rolled out of the way and then before he could repeat the attack, Billy took out his blade blaster and fired on the monster, destroying it.

He saw black fumes rise out of the smoke and fly back to where Koragg was standing at a distance, watching the rangers struggle against the monster army. Near him, the fumes condensed to create another monster.

It was the same as it was with the wolfblades.

No matter how many monsters they took down, they would keep on coming and unlike the monsters, they would eventually tire themselves out.

They needed a way to stop this for good.

Billy blasted the wolf monsters who tried to creep up on him, and it dawned on him.

Though he wasn't well versed with the laws of magic, countless battles against space witches and demonic warlords had given him a basic idea of how it worked. Every spell had a tether, and to break it, the tether needed to be severed.

It was obvious what or rather who was keeping this spell active.

Koragg.

"Guys!" He yelled to his allies, even as two monsters leapt at him. "The monsters will keep on coming. The only way to stop them is to defeat Koragg!"

"And how do you suppose we do that with all these monsters coming at us?" Maya retorted, as she swung her quasar saber, letting loose a burst of yellow energies that took out the seven monsters that had encroached her.

That was a fair point.

Billy sighed as he blocked the monster's rapier with his lance before pushing him back.

If there was only a way to keep these monsters occupied. For a second, he had an idea of summoning his zords to stomp on the monsters and give his team the time to fight Koragg, when he remembered he did not have a zord, not anymore, and given that his allies had only got their powers back, it was reasonable to assume they didn't have access to their zords either.

However, if the Grid had got them this far and brought them all together, he must keep faith that a solution would present itself to them.

Faith, what a funny thought.

Maybe he was just deluding himself. Rangers were not infallible. Losing Cestria and the Aquitians had taught him that.

Maybe all they were meant to do was keep these villains at bay till the Mystic Force found a way to defeat them or reinforcements from other ranger teams arrived.

No matter what, he had to keep fighting.

He tried to go closer to the edge of the battlefield, where Koragg was, but the monsters kept blocking his way.

He dodged a punch only to be kicked in the back by another monster. He stumbled forwards, just in time to see the light glinting off the metallic claws of a different monster as he slashed them across his suit. Blue sparks flew across his suit as he was thrown back.

He fell on the pavement, gasping for breath when something hard chomped down on his wrist, forcing him to yell in pain and let go of his lance.

He looked up to see the monster, who looked mostly human in proportion and was clad in a wolf inspired feudal Japanese samurai armour. Just as the samurai let go of his hand, he struck Billy's helmet with the back of his sword.

Billy yelled, pain overwhelming senses. Before he could get up, another attack hit him. Monsters pounded on him, tearing at him with their claws and blades.

He was not the only one being pummeled.

A pack of wolfblades had surrounded Merrick and Zen Aku, the later protecting the former while he was catching a breath since like their opponents, Zen Aku wasn't restricted by mortal limitations.

RJ was being tossed around like a ragdoll, and his wolf spirit was howling behind him as several monsters were attacking it, and the black fog wrapped around his snout, forcing him shut.

Maya was the only one holding her own, even so barely.

They were losing this battle.

"I am the wolf… Silent and sure." Billy said in painful gasps, redirecting his morphin energies to his ninja form. His body disappeared in a puff of blue smoke, leaving behind a deflated power suit. The monsters looked at it bewildered, while he reappeared behind them in his Ninjetti robes, escaping their notice.

"Let's do it then." He stretched his arms, looking at where Koragg was observing the battle. He ninja-streaked towards the knight, becoming a blue blur that sent him skidding backwards.

"I didn't expect a ranger to attack from the shadows!" Koragg scoffed derisively.

"And it's the first time I am seeing a general hiding behind an army instead of leading it to battle." Billy countered, summoning his lance. "And I am not just a ranger. I am a ninja as well."

He leaped at Koragg, who fired a purple bolt from his shield. Billy struck a jutsu, reappearing behind the knight, and striking him with his lance, sending him stumbling forwards.

"Stop this madness. This has gone on far enough." Billy said.

"It's not madness, its war, and it will only end once this city falls!" Koragg growled, unsheathing his sword, and charging at the blue Ninjetti.

Maya leaned back to avoid getting ensnared by the claws of the monster she was currently fighting. She placed her hands on the ground and using it as support, did a flip, her boots hitting the monster's jaw forcefully in the process and sending it flinging backwards, as she landed on the ground gracefully.

Not wasting a second, she barreled past the ranks of the monsters, channeling the agility of her galactabeast. Billy was right. They could not fight like this. To stop this relentless army, they needed to stop the dark knight first.

She spotted Billy fighting him alone in the distance, and while he didn't doubt the strength of the blue ranger, she knew he couldn't persevere much longer against the dark energies of the knight. He needed help.

Then she saw in the corner of her eyes, RJ being overpowered by a gang of monsters, and grimaced. She supposed Billy could hold on for a bit longer, but the wolf master needed her help more.

Before she could reach him though, a monster shot an energy blast at her from the side, knocking her to the ground. She stabbed her sword to the ground, using to get up, smokes coming from her ash covered ranger suit. Her path to RJ had been blocked by monsters once again.

She grunted, lifting her quasar saber, and charging at them, hoping RJ can hold on for a little longer.

Even as she fended off the monsters, she saw a bright flash of silver light near RJ.

Something or rather someone appeared in the sky and crashed in the ground before the purple ranger.

It was another ranger.

A black ranger, whose helmet also seemed to have a wolf motif.

"What the-" The newcomer shook his head, looking around. "Where the hell am I?"

Several of the monsters leapt at him, which he easily parried and retaliated with kicks and punches that sent them skidding. Then he saw RJ being held by the monsters.

"A purple ranger? K is not going to rest till she makes a Rainbow army…" He muttered, before taking out the red pistol from his hip holster, and fired at the monsters, letting them go of RJ. Simultaneously, the wolf spirit broke free of the muzzle of dark energies and returned to the purple ranger.

The wolf master let out a sigh of relief as he was helped up by the other ranger.

"Thanks." He said gratefully.

"No prob. Mind explaining what's going on in here? What's Venjix up to now? Last I remember, I was blasted by Silas, and now, there's an entire army of attackbots… How did they even get past the dome, and when did K make a new ranger?"

RJ looked at him in bewilderment.

"I am afraid I do not know of any Corinth or Venjix." RJ said. "But I assume you are a wolf ranger, and you are only here, because you are needed. I am RJ."

"Name's Dillon. K calls me Ranger Operator Series Black… but I do have a wolf zord, yeah." He nodded before shaking his head. "So, I am not in Corinth but with another ranger, fighting monsters."

"Not just me, there are other rangers here too." RJ said, and Dillon looked around, spotting the various rangers. "All of them are wolf rangers."

"Is this a themed party… Wolf rangers, Wolf monsters everywhere? Maybe Silas hit me too hard, and I am dreaming all of this." He muttered. "But I am always game to destroying attackbots."

Maya came over to them, having defeated the monsters in her way.

"I assure you this is not a dream." She told him. "I am from another planet. Maybe you are too. This is Earth, and this planet needs our aid to defeat a dark force."

"Lady, I am from Earth too." Dillon shook his head, as he took out his nitro blaster, and fired at a couple of shadowy monsters coming their way. He shook his head, seeing the monsters dissipate into wisps of purple smoke. "And where I come from, my team and I are the only rangers protecting the last city from evil robots… not whatever these things are."

"Shadow beasts." RJ supplied. "Wait… It is obvious, isn't it… You are from Earth, just not this one."

Maya came over to them, having defeated the monsters in her way.

"You are from an alternate dimension." RJ pointed out.

"Yeah…whatever." Dillon said nonchalantly. "I don't care as long as I get to take out these sorry Halloween rejects and find a way back home after this."

Maya and RJ looked at each other, while Dillon traipsed around the battlefield, firing at monsters.

"He is..." Maya paused, considering what to say next.

"Zen." RJ whistled. "His trust in the universe is absolute that he is not even worried about getting back to his own dimension."

"I was about to say, he is very violent." Maya deadpanned.

"A man can be many things." RJ said sagely, as he shoved a monster towards the yellow ranger, who promptly stabbed it with her saber. "He is in tune with the universe."

"Okay..." Maya nodded slowly. This man reminded her of Jera. While his tone was jubilant and carefree, the yellow ranger had no doubt that his words carried wisdom beyond comprehension. And regardless of her concern over the new ranger, she couldn't deny the fact that his arrival was more than welcome, given how shorthanded they were against the vast army of darkness.