MERCENARIES, PART 2.
16:10
Kal decided that he didn't want to train with the sword in the virtual training room with his companions or with the commander. He also wasn't going to fight the mercenaries as long as he didn't have the Dark Sword. He did not want to endure any more frustrations at the hands of criminals, but especially not at the hands of his commander. He wanted to prove to the commander that if he fought with his dark sword, then he would win without blinking. Instead, he went to eat separately from his companions before going to his room to lay down for a while.
Meanwhile, Diana, Barry, Shayera and John ate something, but they were all concerned about Kal's attitude. Afterwards, they went to the shooting room and then to virtual training to polish their skills. However, unlike previous practices in the room, this one was more individual, each one focused on beating the mercenaries and making them pay.
In a way, they were frustrated and somewhat useless. They had lost for the second time against one, well two mercenaries, and despite the fact that the commander had warned and trained them for that, they did not react the same. The worst thing about that training was that the team still refused to talk to Diana, but this time it was because they wanted to defeat the mercenaries. The resentment towards Diana had disappeared, but they still had to talk about how everyone had reacted. That was of no consequence, at least not for now.
After training, John, Shayera, and Barry went to Kal's room, finding him sitting with nothing to do. This was concerning since he had stopped this kind of behavior after the commander had removed him from his position as Red Ranger for a few minutes because he wasn't taking his role as leader seriously.
"What are you doing, Kal? Why didn't you train with us?" Shayera asked.
"Simple, I'm sending a message to the commander that he has to give me his sword to defeat Deathstroke and Deadshot," Kal said without moving from his position.
"I'm surprised, Kal. I thought you stopped being serious a long time ago," John said.
"I take this very seriously, John, but I've had enough of being humiliated by the commander and all the criminals. The commander is able to do everything with his sword, but he does not want to give it to me because he knows that I would be invincible," said Kal getting up.
"I don't understand why you are paying attention to this. You've never liked Wayne, and you didn't like training with him, but this time you want his sword. I've never been worried about losing in many things as long as I'm the fastest in the world, Kal," Barry said, somewhat confused with Kal's attitude.
"Kal, I think it's just that you're not motivated. You are the one with the most power of all of us. This should not affect you," Shayera said.
"That's true, but it's sad to know that Wayne continues to beat me even with all my power," said Kal still spiteful.
"That power thing shouldn't matter to you, Kal. I focused a lot on my power, and I thought I was lost when the parasitic monster took them from me. Now, you have to do that," John said, remembering his great lesson.
"John, I am not giving up being a Ranger. I only ask that he give me his sword to prove that I would defeat him without blinking an eye," Kal said.
The alarm sounded, and the Rangers went to the conference room to find Commander Wayne waiting for them.
"This time Deathstroke is putting people in danger. Kal, you will have to stop him with your skills while the five of us go to the power plant," the commander ordered.
"And why me?" Kal asked. He didn't want more humiliation in front of a mercenary unless he could use the Dark Sword.
"Because you're always complaining that you can't beat anyone unless you have my sword, so this is the best way to pay attention to what really matters," Commander Wayne said. "Besides that Deadshot is probably going to steal another ion shell and surely Deathstroke is a distraction," he concluded. It was impossible to argue against that.
"Commander, I need your sword. I will not be able to defeat him without it," Kal said angrily.
"I told you that everything is in your head. You don't need my sword to defeat him," the commander said.
"Just let me use your sword this time and I'll prove it to you," Kal said defiantly.
The commander thought about the situation and knew that Kal would not surrender until he gave him his sword, so he relented.
"Justice League, actÃvate," said the commander who went back to being the Dark Ranger, giving his Dark Sword to Kal. "Take good care of my sword, cadet. Now, let's go back to headquarters. Deadshot won't take long to bypass all the newly installed security measures," the commander said, not wanting to show vulnerability to the Rangers.
"Justice League, activate" The other four Rangers said, transforming before going to confront Deathstroke.
XXX
16:20
Deathstroke kept shooting at people fleeing in terror inside the building. He knew that sooner or later the Justice League Rangers would come for him, but he was confident that he could defeat them without Deadshot's help. He also knew that only one group of the Rangers would go after him now that they were divided, but he was going to defeat them and perhaps eliminate them.
"Give it up, Deathstroke" Kal said, touching Deathstroke with the Dark Sword.
"Where are the other Rangers, redhead?" Deathstroke asked mockingly. He didn't think the Zone C commander would do something as stupid as sending the least combat-skilled Ranger to fight him alone.
"It's just me, and I can beat you without problem. This time the result will be very different," he assured, very confident in the sword in his hand.
At that time, Kal had underestimated the mercenary again as he activated his electrical device that lasted a few seconds. Despite the sword being electrocuted, its handle had material to isolate the electrical currents, but Kal had been scared and had backed down, so Deathstroke shot him several times with his pistol. Kal reacted to this by dodging and blocking some bullets before closing in and taking a quick hit at the pistol, destroying the barrel.
Deathstroke drew the other pistol and hit Kal's torso with a few shots, but Kal recovered by swinging the sword at Deathstroke's legs. Kal was so inspired by having the Commander's sword that he was thinking very creatively. Deathstroke managed to jump up and kick him in the neck before firing the grapple device at Kal. The grappling hook shot at a bomb Deathstroke had planted earlier to put the fight in his favor. Fortunately, Kal dropped the sword and used his vision to get a good look at the bomb. He grabbed it and threw it at Deathstroke who was able to dodge it, but did take some damage.
Deathstroke got fed up and fired his rifle at Kal, but again, Kal grabbed the sword and managed to block the bullets. Kal ran up to him and struck him twice, once on the leg and one on the arm, causing the mercenary to drop his rifle where the trigger was. Deathstroke grabbed the rifle with his other hand and hit Kal with a blow to the back of the head, but this was not enough, because he slashed the rifle with the Dark Sword and punched him from behind.
The mercenary knew it was time to use his sword. He had to beat him for him to ask for help. In fact, as he drew his sword, he wondered how Deadshot was doing and if he had already defeated the others.
XXX
Deadshot had managed to hack into the system for two minutes to gain access through the air ducts to remain undetected, grab a new crust, and exit undetected. Obviously this was easy to do, but as he exited the center, he saw five of the six Rangers standing there.
During the journey on the bikes and the squad car, the Rangers asked the commander if it was a good idea to leave Kal to fight alone. The commander obviously replied that it was the best idea, but in case he needed help, John and Shayera would go for him. This clearly annoyed everyone that he left Kal to his fate, but the commander only told them that Kal would figure it out alone, and not to question his decision.
Even though the commander Kal was going to have a tough fight, he was sure his Red Ranger could beat Deathstroke now that he had more motivation and the Dark Sword.
Upon arrival, Deadshot had already left. At first, he dropped his head because he had to face five Rangers by himself, but this was partly a distraction to shoot like he always did. He fired, but Barry was faster than he thought. He managed to remove one of the pistols that he was holding in one hand, but he was not fast enough to remove the one in the other hand and was shot. John created a machine gun and began shooting Deadshot, who went to hide inside the plant to hit John in the chest. Shayera jumped up and managed to land a kick and punch in the rib, but Deadshot counterattacked with a knife he had kept and then pulled out a miniature rifle that was made larger, which meant he had it in storage for emergency situations.
Diana went to help Shayera with her sword and managed to snatch the other pistol from his hand, but Deadshot turned around and fired the rifle at her repeatedly, hitting her in the legs. The Dark Ranger went to help by firing a smoke bomb and then some bombs that Deadshot set off with several accurate shots, but he was unprepared for two quick blows to the chest followed by a kick to the ribs before retreating.
Barry took advantage of this by hitting Deadshot three times. Then, Shayera electrocuted him for ten seconds. Diana ran after him and gave him three blows with her back and then the Dark Ranger gave another three blows and a knee to the fase. John finished it off with a giant shoe he had created. Surprisingly, Deadshot still stood up.
"It's time to end this, cadets," the Dark Ranger said. "The final blow must be struck."
Diana gave him another blow with the sword, Shayera shot him five times, John used a machine gun he created and Barry took him into the air like he did with Claire and Milo Match, giving him the final punch. Thus, the Dark Ranger approached him and put the arrest handcuffs on him.
"Floyd Lawton, on behalf of the Justice League, you are under arrest," said the Dark Ranger, handcuffing Deadshot.
"It does not matter. You defeated me, but the client who hired us is going to come for you," said Deadshot. This was concerning. The commander was right that they had been hired for a much larger purpose.
"Who was it that hired you, Lawton?" the Dark Ranger asked.
"I can't tell you that," Deadshot replied and looked at Diana and Shayera. Although he did not see their faces under their helmets, he was enchanted by their figures that were visible thanks to the tight suits. "Maybe if the two girls do me a favor," Deadshot said, looking at them and speaking aloud.
Obviously, this aroused the fury of the two female Rangers. They would have beaten him if it hadn't been for the Dark Ranger raising his hand as a sign not to attack.
"I'll take care of this," said the Dark Ranger, taking Deadshot further away.
"It doesn't matter what you tell me. I'm not going to talk," Deadshot said in a mocking tone.
The Dark Ranger grabbed him by the neck.
"Just let me give you this advice," the Dark Ranger said. Exactly what he had said was not heard, not even his Rangers could hear him.
"It's ok, you win. I'll talk," Deadshot said scared.
"What did he say, John?" Diana asked.
John thought for a momento, trying to decide whether to tell her or not since he hadn't heard that either. He also still didn't fully trust her. He was beginning to trust her again, but not entirely since he was trying hard in every fight. Although he had not said it, he had something similar happen when he and his wife Mari had to hide their pregnancy from the rest of his comrades. He thought that perhaps at another time he would have to speak with his companions to resolve this situation.
"I don't know, Diana, but I'm sure it scared him," John said in the tone he used when they first met. This surprised Diana, but at the same time, she was pleased that someone other than the commander and J'onn were speaking to her again.
Even though the commander knew that the mercenaries worked for someone stronger, he was unprepared when he heard the name of the one who had hired them. He did not react for more than a minute.
"Commander, are you okay?" Barry asked. This snapped the Dark Ranger out of his trance before striking Deadshot unconscious.
"Call for help," the Dark Ranger ordered, very distracted.
XXX
Deathstroke still had a few tricks in his arsenal after Kal destroyed quite a few of his weapons with the Dark Sword. However, he knew he had to eliminate it in order to charge the boss an extra fee. Deathstroke took out five bombs and placed them around Kal, but he managed to jump very high before shooting him with his heat vision, causing damage to Deathstroke's suit.
Deathstroke drew his great sword and ran towards Kal.
"I've had enough. I'm going to eliminate you for an additional fee, and my boss will be happy with the ion shell," Deathstroke said.
"You can't do anything to me as long as I have this sword," Kal said.
"You'll see that it does," Deathstroke said.
Thus, the two engaged in a sword fight. Deathstroke delivered quick blows, but Kal was very strong and tough in this match. His attacks had little effect. In the end, Kal delivered quick, hard blows that knocked Deathstroke down. The mercenary got up once more and this time he wanted to land a single killing blow at Kal, so he grabbed a blinding grenade and threw it at Kal. When he regained his sight, he saw that Deathstroke was in the air, ready to finish him off with his sword, but Kal leaped at him, ready to end the fight.
The two of them brandished the sword and landed, but no one moved for a few seconds ... until Deathstroke fell and his sword broke from Kal's blow. Kal went to him and pointed the Dark Sword at him.
"On behalf of the Justice League, you are under arrest, Deathstroke," Kal said very confident, but he was overconfident and did not see that Deathstroke had an escape plan.
"It doesn't matter that you beat me today. We will meet again one day, and on that day, I will take revenge on you," Deathstroke screamed, taking out a bomb that blinded Kal for a few seconds.
When Kal regained his sight, he could no longer see Deathstroke. Even with his vision he couldn't see it. This guy was good, and now he had escaped from him.
XXX
17:00
"Rangers, you have done a good job stopping the mercenaries. Deadshot is incarcerated in such a way that he cannot be hired again. However, the cadet Kal let Deathstroke escape and he for sure returned to the guy who paid him and will fight us again," Commander Wayne said, angry with his Ranger Red.
Deathstroke was a very skilled person and Kal could have him imprisoned if he had not been overconfident. They still needed to learn more, but with the threat looming, they needed to finish off all possible enemies.
"Sorry, Commander," Kal apologized.
"Asking for forgiveness does not repair the mistake, cadet," the aggressive commander told him. "There is a greater threat that we do not know that is about to attack zone C, and a mistake like this is better not to be repeated. You always have to verify that the enemy is truly defeated before saying victory."
"It's okay. I will not do it again, Commander," Kal said.
"You can go," said the commander.
This time, Diana thought she might ask him what Deadshot said to him. She knew that the moment he told her he would have to talk about his past was getting closer, so she left.
Meanwhile, John thought about talking with his classmates about Diana and how they had reacted very badly to what she had said, but could not find the moment. Everyone wanted to relax, even him. He also knew that his classmates would not listen to him, so he hoped they could talk some other time. Fortunately, something was close to solving the problem with Diana.
XXX
The next day
Back at the training ground, Kal and the commander were about to train as they always did. As on other days, all the other Rangers had already trained with the commander, so it was the last training. However, Kal felt very good now he had the Dark Sword in his hands and he was sure that he would be able to defeat him.
"I told him that if he gave me his sword I would defeat him without blinking, and I succeeded, Commande," Kal said quite cheerfully.
"By the way, cadet, that's not the Dark Sword," said the commander, pulling out the Dark Sword from behind him. "This is it."
"What?" Kal asked. He looked at the sword in his hands and changed its form from the Dark Sword to a sword like any other that they can grab in the armory. "What is this?" Kal asked annoyed.
"It is the sword I had in my closet," the commander answered very calmly.
"You sent me to fight the best mercenary on the planet with any sword?" Kal asked screaming.
"And you won, for your information, cadet" said the commander very calm.
"I could have died," Kal said trying to reply.
"But you didn't, cadet. You have not noticed, but the sword, the power or the skill do not matter. What really matters is the person who uses them," the commander confidently said.
This made Kal think. He thought that he had been chosen for being the physically strongest of all the Rangers, but now he considered that he had something more. Unfortunately, he did not know what. He would have to find out in due time.
"Now that you say that, I'm going to sweep the floor with you," Kal said transforming into the Red Ranger.
"We'll see about that, cadet," the commander said, transforming into the Dark Ranger. This training was going to be interesting.
XXX
Location unknown
"How do you explain this failure, Wilson?" a female voice asked.
"Simple, they used a plan that I didn't see coming, but I won't be wrong again. I'm going to eliminate the Red Ranger for half the Price," Deathstroke said, wanting revenge. "However, not everything was loss. I scanned the bark and saw its components. We should get them now. "
"That's something, but since you made your name known in Zone C, you'll have to stay in the shadows for a while. You cannot act with us until we tell you to. It that understood?" asked the woman.
"Got it," Deathstroke replied.
"Does the Dark Ranger exist, Wilson?" a deep male voice asked.
"Yes, he does. I fought him a bit, but Deadshot is now locked up," Deathstroke replied.
"Does not matter. After this failure, it is not necessary to get the ion shell. The important thing now is to eliminate the Rangers. Obviously, Wayne will not be happy when all of them die as happened to the previous ones," said the man.
A great threat was about to attack.
NEXT: THE BLUE RANGER DUEL, PART 1.