DARK, PART 1.

Major Wayne was still fighting a monster, or probably a very well-armed alien. The commander had a titanium ring, as did all his soldiers and Rangers on the battlefield. What weighed on him most was that the entire Zone C was no longer a city, but a battlefield. No building was intact. This invasion had reduced them from the Justice League, to dust, literally. There was dust because many aliens had eliminated many soldiers by shooting them with a laser that literally made them dust.

Major Wayne was defeated by this deadly alien, now it was a matter of seconds before his life was over. When the alien raised his sword, Major Wayne saw the bodies of his soldiers, of his star scientist J'onn, and to his greatest horror, his own Power Rangers. His Rangers had died. The Power Rangers he had and Zone C was destroyed, had failed. This was his end.

The alien brandished his sword and finished with...

XXX

Major Wayne shouted and rose op, exhausted and frightened. He calmed down when he saw that he was in his bed, in his private room and with extreme security from the base of the Justice League of Zone C. He realized that that horrible and devastating scenario had been only a dream. Just a dream. But something had to be done. After the mission with Jervis Tetch, he began to fear that the team would break. He had been thinking about what to do for a few days, but he had not obtained any results; or all ideas were lousy or their Rangers would resign.

However, tonight was different. He knew that his Rangers needed something else, and maybe this was the only viable option. Maybe they think he's a real fiend, but it may produce a good result.

"I will have to show true authority," Bruce said to himself. This was not going to be easy.

XXX

The Rangers were keeping an eye on the Zona C in the conference room. They had been in the conference room for an hour, and they were bored. This time, all the Rangers were watching the Zone, including Barry and Shayera. As always, Kal hated surveillance work. He already wanted to leave.

"Do not fall asleep, Kal. We can not have you sleepwalking as the red Ranger. "Diana said.

"That is not necessary, Diana." Kal replied. "Wayne will come soon and we'll leave there, and go back in action."

"Yeah, but you know you're very lazy with surveillance," John added.

"I'm stronger than you," Kal said.

"Yeah, that AND lazy." Barry added. The latter made everyone, including John, and even Kal, laugh. This stoked the spirit of the Rangers. Finally they had some fun here.

"Laughter is forbidden in the conference room," said a deep, masculine voice very aggressively.

The Rangers stopped laughing and turned their eyes to see the imposing Commander Wayne, who was wearing a frown, in a strangely threatening way.

"Sorry, commander." Kal said in defense of himself and his team.

"Feeling it is not enough. You are Power Rangers, and you behave like children! "Major Wayne shouted this last. "Retreat, cadets. I'll call you when stop behaving like children."

"Are you feeling alright...?" Kal asked.

"Do not question my decision, cadet. Retreat now." Said the commander. "Now." The Rangers left but stopped in a corridor a few meters from the conference room.

"Great, now one of us made him mad," Barry said.

"I can still hear you!" Major Wayne shouted. "Complaints are not allowed near the conference room!"

The Rangers went to the entertainment room, and fortunately there was no one else there. That place was their refuge, so they felt safe and secure. At least Major Wayne would not hear them there. Now, all the Rangers wanted to know what was happening to Major Wayne, what it was that had turned him from a rigid commander to an aggressive and nagging commander.

"Now," said Kal. "I do not know what we did to make the commander look like this."

"I agree." Diana said that for the first time since she had arrived at the League she was stunned by the behavior of her commander. "He should not talk to us like that."

"Well, he was right about not laughing in the conference room ..." John said until his four companions looked at him. "... but yes, we did not deserve that."

"You deserve it, cadets." Major Wayne said over the loudspeakers. "And complaints are not allowed," he finished.

"Something must be bothering him," Diana said.

"I hope it's that," Shayera interjected. "I do not believe I can remain peaceful without wanting to hit him."

In the conference room, Major Wayne had just finished his announcement to his Rangers about the forbidden complaints. J'onn, like the other Rangers, was stunned by the sudden change in the commander's behavior. He had to be careful.

"Do you feel good, commander?" J'onn asked.

"That is a very unnecessary question. Do not you think? "He replied looking at him fixedly. "I feel good."

"I do not think you feel good, Major." J'onn said. "It's been a long time since I saw you like this. Something bothers you, and I can deduce what it is. "

"I do not know what you're talking about, J'onn, but I'm just saying that I've been very soft on the cadets, but now they need discipline to be able to progress. Obviously, like the others, you consider me an imbecile, but I'm doing the right thing. "

"Hit me," J'onn said, not smiling. "You do not trust the Rangers and you're afraid they'll end up dead."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, and better go back to your lab right now if you do not want me to drag you against your will." J'onn left without saying a word, but he was thinking that the time was coming.

Major Wayne sat in his chair to watch the city and Zone C. again. He knew he had to do this for the rangers to progress. It was the most viable or sane thing to do. This Zone needed Power Rangers, as well as a much better team, and he was very confident that it would work.

The alarm sounded. Commander Wayne saw on the monitor that it was a fire at a fire station, one of the three. The fire insurance system was not activated. After a little while, he saw that he was a true arsonist full of horrible scars all over his body. The Rangers arrived a minute later. Commander Wayne stood up and walked to the table.

"Rangers, fire at the Diamond District fire station." The commander began. "The fire is being carried out by Garfield Lynns, aka Firefly. Pyromaniac in series with burns on ninety percent of your body. His obsession with burning things will end him. Stop it at all costs and do not act like children. "

"Commander ..." He tried to say Kal only to be abruptly interrupted again by Major Wayne.

"Stop him now, or stay here to observe the mission while the others go to fulfill the mission, cadet." He threatened. Kal let out a frustrated sigh at the threatening attitude of Major Wayne.

"Come on," said Kal. "Ready?"

"Ready!" The other four responded.

"Justice League, activate" The four said in unison.

The four Rangers ran to the hangar and took their vehicles. The coordinates were set, so it would not be a problem to find it. They managed to get to the fire station, the male Rangers on their bikes and the female Rangers in their car for two. The Rangers came down to inspect the situation.

"John, create viewers to determine the situation," Kal ordered.

"The building does not have electricity. That's why the fire system is not activated. "Major Wayne said. "Use Shayera's power to activate the system. And fast."

"Commander, thanks for helping us with this, but we can do it," Diana said.

"You can not do it, alone and when they talk to me they just waste time. Move now!"

"Shayera, use your electricity in that wall's electricity box." Kal ordered.

"And be alert, Firefly will come out at any time," the commander warned.

"I'm going to the bike, commander." John said.

"Shayera, do it now!" Major Wayne shouted.

Shayera ran to the electricity box and used a large surge of electricity to power the fuse box. It was very low energy, so Shayera tried harder. The electricity box threw a few sparks, but it worked. The building's flames went out, but the wall blew up and a man with a self-propelled self-propelled bomber along with incendiary grenades flew out, but everyone was disgusted to see horrible burns all over his body.

"The Power Rangers are here," said Firefly. "They will not extinguish my flame..."

"Shoot him down NOW!" The commander shouted. The Rangers aimed, but Firefly's self-propelled was fast and dodged the shots.

"You will not be able to catch me." Firefly said before flying through the streets, followed by John.

The Rangers went to their vehicles, but Diana helped Shayera get into the car because she had worked hard to activate the alarm and fire system.

"We are the Power Rangers of the Justice League ..." Kal said.

"And you burned down a fire station ..." John added.

"And you will be imprisoned for ..." Said Shayera.

"A long time ..." Diana finished.

"Kal, do not use the heat vision. It's very slow." Major Wayne said. "Separate and surround it," the commander ordered everyone.

"Understood, commander." All the Rangers said with some anger. This man should do everything just to stop giving orders all the time.

"John, you and I are still chasing Firefly. Diana and Shayera, on the left, and Barry on the right."

"Yes sir."

This situation was frustrating. The commander was technically the leader or the one who gave orders while Kal executed them specifically. Kal and John continued to follow Firefly like a dog chasing the ball thrown away. Firefly sent a great burst of fire at the Rangers, but the Rangers dodged it. Firefly sent another burst towards Kal and John without success.

"Do not shoot yet," commanded the commander. "He will see it coming. Someone has to shoot the propeller without Firefly seeing it. " Diana was driving the vehicle while Shayera watched the course where Firefly was heading.

"Go left," said Shayera.

"Go to the right." Commander Wayne ordered. "There is a shortcut that will lead them faster to Firefly."

"Attention, all the Rangers," He was the commander again. "Be careful with Firefly. It has grenades that would probably destroy an entire building. "

Diana chose to obey Shayera, to show the rude and abrupt Commander Wayne that they could do it. Diana handled very well, and managed to take Firefly by surprise ... for at least a few seconds. Shayera fired but Firefly, had dodged the blow, and threw an incendiary grenade at the Rangers. Diana managed to skid and prevent the grenade from hitting them. But Firefly threw another grenade against the female rangers, this time on target. Diana and Shayera managed to get out of the car, but now they were outside.

Kal fired his laser vision, but Firefly dodged it, and threw another grenade at John. Firefly threw three grenades at the Rangers, knocking them down. Barry fired his gun at Firefly, who saw it coming, and dodged the shot. Firefly fired bursts of fire at Barry, but he was fast, so he evaded every Firefly attack, but Firefly had thrown incendiary grenades around himself to keep them from getting close to him, and then back to the female Rangers.

Diana threw her sword before falling to the ground, and Firefly dodged her again, Kal used his heat vision and shot Firefly, who dodged him and John took the opportunity to hit Firefly with a hammer he created with his mind. Firefly smashed into the building, but the grenades fell from his belt and fell to the ground.

"Be careful!" Kal shouted.

The grenades exploded and demolished a wall. Firefly fell to the ground because the grenades shook the building. Kal ran to him and put the handcuffs on him.

"You're arrested," Kal said.

"Well done, Rangers, but you did not avoid causing terrible damage," Major Wayne said.

"This is not good," Barry said. Everyone knew that this was not good.

XXX

In the corridors of the base, the Rangers did not stop complaining to Commander Wayne. When arriving at the base, the commander was waiting for them in the hangar and he had told them that this performance in the mission was disastrous. But then the Rangers told him to stop giving them orders during the mission, since that made them nervous. Especially for being rude and hard with all of them without justification. The commander ignored all the complaints as he made his way back to the conference room.

"It would be better if they go to train. A Ranger must be alert to any situation, and you just want to scold me. "Major Wayne said. "If you do not learn that causing terrible damage to property is bad, then you will not leave the training room for the rest of the day."

"Commander, we could have done it without your help," Kal said. "No offense, but you're being too rude to us."

"You've told me that so many times that it does not matter, Cadet." Said the commander. "You were being easily defeated by Firefly, and that is why you should go train now. I have work to do."

Nobody wanted to talk to the commander now, they were also very angry. The training would help them to let off steam. Major Wayne went to the lab where a disappointed J'onn J'onnz was waiting for him.

"If you come to reproach me for doing the right thing, then I should go," said the commander.

"I'm not going to scold you for helping them, I'm scolding you for being bad and distrustful of your Rangers," J'onn said. "If you keep treating them that way, they'll leave soon."

"I do not think so. They are getting better with me by showing authority all the time. "Said the commander. "If I do not apply discipline here, the team will break, like Zone C without the Power Rangers."

"I know the team is in trouble, but this is bad for them." J'onn said turning around and heading to his desk.

"Do you think I did not think of other ways to improve the team?" Said Bruce, standing firm. "All other options are bad, and the others only guarantee that they leave the Zone or renounce the League. Obviously, you do not have to make decisions like that because you're my scientist. " J'onn did not say anything for a minute.

"I make those decisions with you since I've been at your service." J'onn said somewhat offended. At least Major Wayne did not do something offensive.

"Then I suggest you keep making those decisions, and do not interfere with mine." The alarm went off. Major Wayne ran, and J'onn went to his desk so he could write something. He needed this to happen.

J'onn went to Major Wayne, and they saw something that was totally strange. There was a kind of big gray with white hair and horrible eyes, who was planting a large stake in the outskirts of the city, on the shore of the beach.

"For the direction it takes, it goes to the north of the city. That part is populated." J'onn said.

"Rangers reporting, sir," the Rangers said, arriving at the conference room.

"Finally they are punctual," said the commander. "That man or thing is planting stakes outside the City. You must stop him so I can interrogate him. "

"To order, sir." Said the five Rangers.

"Ready?"

"Ready!" The other four responded.

"Justice League, activate" The four said in unison. "Justice League Rangers." They were happy to be able to fight another criminal. He freed them from the rigorous training imposed by the commander.

XXX

On the outskirts of the city, the monster or thing was planting the giant stake on the edge of the city. This was done by his master, the one who had found him and given him back his life. This thing would do everything to satisfy his savior. The Rangers arrived in their vehicles and jumped close to the thing.

"Can we help you?" Kal asked. The thing was still digging the stake.

"Are you deaf?" Barry asked.

The thing still did not respond. Diana ran to the thing or man and received a blow from the man's fist. The man was big, very big. He was almost twice as tall as Kal. Kal ran and hit the man. The big man felt pain but then hit Kal with more force than with Diana.

Shayera fired at the man repeatedly. This did cause him pain. The man stopped planting the stake and turned around, revealing his horrible features that he probably copied from the characters in a horror movie.

"Rosa hurt Grundy," the man said. "Grundy will kill Rosa dead," he said before running towards them.

John hit the so-called Grundy, in the face, but was hit hard by Grundy. Barry pulled out a sword using his Morpho and began making cuts in Grundy. Grundy stomped on the ground, causing Barry to float in the air a few moments before Grundy hit him in the air sending him away. Shayera wanted to go help Barry, but she had to take care of the monster first.

"Be careful when attacking him," Major Wayne warned. "He has skills that we may not understand."

"Why did not you give us information about him?" Shayera asked.

"We've never seen him around here," Wayne said. "Now stop it."

Shayera ran to Grundy and grabbed him by one hand and electrocuted him. Grundy shouted a few seconds, but threw Shayera into the water.

"Grundy will kill those who use bright colors," he said. "Starting with pink." Grundy went to Shayera but was hit in the back by Kal's heat blast. Kal ran and hit Grundy in the face before Grundy hit him in the face again. Kal fell to the ground, but fired again his heat vision against Grundy. Grundy started to back away and Shayera jumped on his head and electrocuted him again. The blows would not work.

"Shayera, stop electrocuting him," Commander Wayne ordered.

"Sorry, commander, but we can without your help." Said Shayera.

"Yes." Diana said standing up to help her fellow Rangers in battle. "We can do it. Do not interfere. "

"Exactly." John said. "We can do it without your help."

Barry ran towards Grundy, but Grundy was finally at full capacity and threw Shayera away. John caught Shayera with a baseball glove he created with his mind. Barry ran towards Grundy when he saw that Shayera was fine, but Grundy hit him and fell to the ground. Kal hit Grundy with Diana attacking Grundy's legs.

Shots sounded. Kal and Diana were hit by bullets that came from the guns of men wearing masks that had peaks like noses. Barry stood up and beat the armed criminals. Shayera helped Barry by drawing a sword from his Morpho. John helped Kal and Diana with their objects created by his mind. Grundy managed to get rid of Kal and Diana. He even grabbed Diana's back and hit Diana with that sword. Grundy grabbed Kal and Diana by the head and threw them to John who managed to catch them with another baseball glove that he created with his mind.

But, Grundy ran to him and pulled a knife from his back and hit John, as well as the other Rangers before finishing them off with a heavy blow. Kal, Diana and John fell, they still had energy left, but they could not get up. Grundy held Barry and Shayera by their heads and held them up to be shot by armed criminals.

"Drop them," said one man. Grundy released the Rangers. "Time to throw the last blow." He spoke again. He was a short man, dressed in a black and purple suit and had purple pants, with a top hat on his head and a monocle on his face. The man held a black umbrella in his hand and smoked an expensive cigar. "They gave a great fight, but the Penguin is the best. But we can not stand the heat. The Penguin threw a large grenade that exploded behind the Rangers. When they fell, the costumes disappeared, they had spent all their energy with Grundy.

"Now," the Penguin continued. "Go away. I have plans with the City, and you will not interfere. Let's go. "The Penguin left and left the Rangers lying on the shore of the sea.

Kal touched his comlink and used it to call the commander or J'onn. Nobody answered.

"Cool. Now the commander is angry with us. "

XXX

In the conference room, Major Wayne and J'onn watched the fight. After the Rangers had made it clear they did not want his help, the commander tried to contact them, but was interrupted by a soldier who entered the room.

"Commander," the soldier said.

"It's not a good time, cadet." They did not say anything for an entire minute, and Wayne and J'onn were still focused on how they were being massacred by Grundy.

"I know," said the soldier.

Major Wayne and J'onn felt that something was wrapped around them. They tried to fight, but the soldier prevented him from grabbing his grenades or whatever the commander had on the couch. J'onn also tried to prevent it, but they did not achieve anything. The two fell unconscious, while the mud fell from their bodies. Major Wayne tried to pull something out of his belt, but Clayface hit him against the wall and knocked him out.

"The Penguin wants to see you." Clayface said. He left the base taking them in a metal box making believe that he was carrying important weapons. Major Wayne and J'onn would be taken to the Penguin and with Clayface having infiltrated taking the identity of one of their soldiers. Curious, since the base did not have systems to detect Clayface, but plants or animals.

NEXT: DARK, PART 2.