THE RECKONING, PART 2.
16:10. Floating Island.
"Do you think I do it for myself? Do you think I do it because I want redemption from that night? Do you think I want to avenge the Rangers that you and Lady Shiva killed?" The Dark Ranger asked but received no answer from Ra's who only wanted to let him talk to show how pathetic he could be. "I've wanted to get revenge on you for a long time, but I won't because that's not justice, that's revenge. Instead, I do it for them, and I do it for my cadets who are here trying to stop you and save Zone C.
"I do it for my commander and I do it for my scientist. I do it for the people in Zone C who have lived in fear since that day that my actions caused there to be no more Power Rangers for a long time. That is why I will always keep trying to stop people like you or any threat. That is something you will never understand, Ra's," he concluded before continuing to fight against his greatest rival.
These words were heard by Barry, Shayera and John who were surprised with how honest he was being. He wanted to keep them safe as well as all of Zone C as he had promised. A few seconds later, though, the excitement and appreciation for him was replaced by uncertainty and some sadness. Those words hadn't made him fight harder or gain an advantage against Ra's, who kept parrying every attack he made.
"It's depressing to see how he's being beaten. It's never happened before, not even with us," Barry whispered.
"Yeah, just look at it. He looks like he's doing it just because he wants to," John whispered.
"He has always said that there may be something behind this. Perhaps he is doing this for another purpose," Shayera whispered.
"Looks like it's a distraction," John whispered.
Finally, the three of them realized the commander's intentions, but they still couldn't move. They had to wait for the right moment, but the hard part was knowing what was moving behind. It could be anything. There was nothing concrete about what could happen, but it would happen soon.
As his Rangers thought about the right time to act, the Dark Ranger's mind began to wander again, but this time to how he was fighting his nemesis alone without help. He had fought that fateful night against Ra's alone, and the result had been terrible. The worst thing was that he was in a similar situation with three of his Rangers between a rock and a hard place, but now, two more Rangers were in a fight to the death against very dangerous assassins. He would save them even if he died. Nothing mattered more to him than Zone C and his Rangers getting out alive.
In another part of the island, Kal continued his fight against Deathstroke. The mercenary's metal rod made him deliver quicker, more confusing attacks that Kal was failing to stop when the time was right. To top it off, the mercenary's most recent attack had left him a bit dazed, giving him enough time to pull out a rifle equipped with a grenade launcher to shoot it and make it explode. Kal fell backwards with many sparks, the attack hitting him hard. Deathstroke took advantage and took out another grenade and put it in the barrel, ready to repeat the attack, but Kal, fed up with Deathstroke using his weapons, shot at his rifle with heat vision. In the heat, the grenade exploded and the mercenary fell backwards, sparks flying.
After this, Kal remembered the commander's teachings. What really mattered were not the weapons or the power of the opponent. It only mattered the person who was using that power, and he was not going to allow anyone to have a sword. He would not lose this duel again.
"I've already allowed you to use your tricks for a long time, but now it's my turn," Kal said, getting up a little slowly. He was still sore, but it wasn't serious.
"It's amazing how you keep fighting, but I always have the upper hand, red," Deathstroke said before jumping back and unleashing another flash bomb to disorient Kal.
The Red Ranger backed away and tried to find Deathstroke. He caught sight of him in time when he was still in the air, using his metal rod to strike him. Once he hit the ground, Deathstroke began pummeling him incessantly, with Kal blocking each attack with his strong hands despite how much it.
It seemed like Deathstroke would do it forever, but he started to tire like any other person would. Kal grabbed the metal rod and used it to grab the mercenary and throw him onto the ground hard. Deathstroke got up, but Kal hit him in the head with the staff before destroying it as well as he had with the swords. Deathstroke was already at his mercy. He just needed to execute the final attack.
While this was happening on the other side of the room, Diana still couldn't find an advantage to beat Lady Shiva.
The fight had been too even for both parties. Shiva was quick and willing to kill her while Diana was not as quick, but she was more resistant. However, the reason why the Blue Ranger still hadn't managed to put her in check was because she was out of focus. Her mind was elsewhere, and that was Commander Wayne. He had come to the island in a very strange way, but he was here having his confrontation against Ra's.
She couldn't let him lose, not after how much he has shown that what matters most to him is saving Zone C, as well as them. This lack of concentration made Lady Shiva manage to deflect her attacks and land several thrusts on her.
"You are nobody important. Just a woman from an island of women who leave the planet to rot while we do everything to save it. The fact that you are a Ranger does not make you better," Lady Shiva said, pointing her sword at her and causing several swords to shoot at Diana.
Stunned by the previous attacks, she could not stop them. Sparks flew, and she fell to the ground. Diana remained on the ground for a few seconds, thinking that she had to do it quickly to help the commander, but, curiously, the voice of the commander himself spoke to her.
"Don't get distracted from this. As you did with Croc, you have to defeat her first. You did it in your first duel against her. You can't stop doing it now," he told her.
Diana opened her eyes and stood up which took a few seconds, something that Lady Shiva did not think she would do. Shiva tried to take advantage of this to attack her by aiming at her neck, but Diana jumped up, making Lady Shiva unable to execute the attack. Diana landed a thrust against her. Shiva tried to counter with two quick strikes, but Diana dodged them with a jump up and slashed her shoulder, momentarily distracting her.
Diana landed and gave other cuts to Lady Shiva's body, causing more sparks to fly from her, and causing her to fall. Lady Shiva stood up once more, enraged and more frustrated. It was time to deliver the killing blow. She leaped at Diana, hoping this was an attack she could neither predict nor defend.
It was the opposite.
Diana saw what she wanted to do, so she swung her sword at Lady Shiva's hand. That blow was so accurate that Shiva dropped her sword and took an upward hook from Diana before she could react. Shiva fell to the ground, but now, Diana had a chance to end this. She grabbed her forearm and threw her to Deathstroke's side.
"Let's get this over with, Diana," Kal said.
"Yes," Diana said without looking at him. She was fully focused on Lady Shiva.
"This is the end, Deathstroke," Kal said, grabbing his sword and making the move with his arms before making the attack.
"You will not escape this time, Shiva, never again," Diana said as she swung her sword.
"Red Ranger Court," Kal said.
"Blue court," Diana said.
The two ran towards their two enemies and landed the cut. Although Deathstroke and Lady Shiva tried to stop the Rangers' attacks, they were already too weak to do so. Upon receiving the cut, both criminals released red and blue lightning followed by sparks.
"It's not posible," Deathstroke said before falling to the ground, releasing a large amount of sparks and flames that were followed by another explosion. Obviously, he didn't kill him. He only knocked him out.
"How did this happen?" Lady Shiva asked skeptically before falling to the ground with another explosion which, just like with Deathstroke, didn't kill her but knocked her unconscious.
Diana took great satisfaction in seeing her out cold. For the first time, she had left her in that state. She was ridding Zone C of this dangerous person, or she would once she took her to a cell that she would not escape from. Although, this had also been a hard mental fight long ago with villains like Poison Ivy, it proved that women were bad too. Unfortunately, she had been much worse than she had imagined. Defeating her, she knew that this was another reason why she still considered that she should be here.
"Diana, we have to go help the others," Kal said, interrupting her thoughts.
"Let's go, Kal," she said, taking the Morpho out of her and taking out the arrest manacles to handcuff Lady Shiva. "Let's take them with us. We don't want them to run away," she added, lifting Lady Shiva and putting her on her back.
"I agree," Kal said going over to Deathstroke to do the same.
Taking advantage of the great strength they both had, they carried the unconscious mercenary and assassin to the source of the noise, but stopped before entering.
"John, Shayera and Barry are being held by three ninjas while Ra's is beating Wayne up," Kal said, using his super vision.
"Than what?" Diane asked.
She was going from calm to anxious. She was worried about her companions. She already knew that they were being held hostage, but her surprise was that Ra's was easily beating Commander Wayne. She thought he could keep the fight even, but that he was getting beaten up was hard to believe.
"Quick, we have to help them," Diana said.
"Wait, we can't attack them like that. They could hurt them," Kal told him.
"Right," Diana said.
"I think I know what to do now," he said.
The Dark Ranger's fight against Ra's was nearing its end. The Dark Ranger was already getting tired. His attacks were already slowing down. He was already wondering if J'onn would take much longer to hack the system in time. If he didn't, then he would hold out to the end. However, he couldn't predict that Kal would jump in and slam him into the ground.
It was a slam that shook the ground, something that gave enough time for Barry to run up and hit a ninja, John creating a bubble around his body. Shayera kicked the sword at one of them and pinned him to the ground with a key. The most unpredictable thing came next, though. Diana was the one to hit Ra's with a kick in the air, one which sent him a few meters away from him.
"Prince, don't get involved in this," The Dark Ranger growled, annoyed.
"You need my help, commander. You can't beat him alone. I appreciate you letting me beat Lady Shiva, but it's because I could do it. Since you're in trouble, I'll help you. It doesn't matter if you tell me not to do it, I'll do it anyway. We are a team, right?" Diana asked, looking at him.
The Dark Ranger thought about this. Since J'onn had not yet confirmed that he had finished hacking the system, Diana helping him would be advantageous, at least in this case. He just nodded in agreement.
"No matter how much help you have, you can't defeat me, but first, keep them busy," Ra's said before unsheathing the Soul Stealing Sword, causing yet another group of ninjas to come out and start fighting Kal, Barry, John and Shayera.
"Come on, Cadet Prince," The Dark Ranger told her.
"Understood, commander," she replied.
Within seconds, the commander and Diana charged into the fight against Ra's. Because they already knew how they fought with each other, coordination wasn't much of an issue. The Dark Ranger threw a punch to the stomach, but he dodged it. Diana, however, was quicker and landed a roundhouse kick to his face. Ra's launched a kick that wouldn't stop moving, but the Dark Ranger landed a sliding kick to Ra's foot who jumped. He was unable to defend against Diana's great strength and her straight punch while he was in the air. It knocked him into the wall, causing him to fall to the ground, releasing The Soul Stealing Sword.
The Dark Ranger and Diana approached him, but not before moving the Soul Stealing Sword out of his reach so he could no longer use it. Ra's got up, more furious tan ever. He threw a punch at the Dark Ranger's chest, but Diana counterattacked, hitting him in the chest with the palm of her hand.
The fight went on with Ra's believing he could beat them, but Diana's enhanced strength, speed, and technique, along with the Dark Ranger's technique, were making their fight very difficult.
On the other hand, the other four Rangers didn't have much of a problem against the remaining ninjas. One factor that influenced the victory was that they were fed up with being interrupted by the ninjas over and over again. They weren't being soft with them anymore.
Kal would throw hard punches, knocking ninjas down instantly. Barry would hit them with his speed, sometimes so fast that several of his punches weren't even seen but felt by the ninjas. John threw beams and hammers at them while Shayera electrocuted them all. In a matter of a few minutes, they had won the fight.
Before the four Rangers could defeat all the remaining ninjas, Diana and the Dark Ranger had managed to overpower Ra's. At first, the terrorist thought it would only make the fight a little more difficult, but it turned out to be the opposite. With the leader of the League of Shadows nearly knocked out, the Dark Ranger stopped Diana from slamming her fist into his face. He was telling her that the match was already over.
"Congratulations, Wayne. For the second time you make me feel frustrated because a plan I've been working on for years ended up failing," he said with a stoic expression.
At that moment, the Dark Ranger knew that he had to say something.
"You know, you were right," he said, making all the Rangers surprised. He was telling his greatest enemy that he was right and he was wrong, but about what?
Though, in Diana's case, she wondered what he was going to do or say. It wasn't normal for him to do that. "I can't beat you. Not in the traditional way, but everyone has a weakness," the commander added.
"According to you, what is my weakness?" Ra's asked, curious, but keeping his stoic face.
"The conviction that you are invincible," The Dark Ranger said before holding out his hand. "Cadets, pass me the sword."
"His sword?" Kal asked.
"No, the other one," hge replied with a colder voice.
"Are you sure?" Shayera asked, knowing which one he was referring to.
"It's an order," he replied.
Shayera grabbed it and flung it at his arm. Something told her not to do it, but she decided to obey. He made it clear that he would not take revenge on Ra's, although she was still unsure if she had done the right thing.
Ra's, seeing the Dark Ranger holding his sword, just laughed wickedly.
"The Soul Stealing Sword?" Ra's asked, amused.
"My scientist deciphered the chant to energize the sword," The Dark Ranger replied.
"Will you absorb his soul?" Barry asked.
"He said he wouldn't take revenge," Shayera pointed out.
In that time interval, Kal and John didn't know what to do. Should they stop the commander or let him do what he wanted since they didn't want any trouble. Nobody noticed that Diana wasn't going to do anything, or at least not until the Dark Ranger said what she was going to do.
"So it's not a threat. The League of Shadows is a legion. At some point, perhaps not with you, the sword will be retrieved, and I will be freed. So you lose," Ra's told him, this time showing an expression more bored than stoic. Unfortunately for him, she couldn't predict what the Dark Ranger was going to do next.
"And that's why my plan was to release the souls you said by reversing the chant. Like I said, I can't beat you in the traditional way, but with your enemies…" he paused "… it's a different story" he finished before raising his sword and beginning to reciting some difficult words.
From one second to the next, the sword lit up green, lighting up the room. The Dark Ranger continued to utter the chant. When he finished, a beam of green energy shot out to the ceiling of the room, destroying it, but at the same time, freeing all the souls that had been trapped. There were dozens, all floating from one side of the room to the other, even surrounding the Rangers, but they didn't hurt them. Seconds later, all the ghosts formed up and approached Ra's, surrounding him and grabbing him with their hands. The terrorist could only scream for a few seconds while that happened.
"Stop, release me!" Ra's ordered the ghosts, but to no avail. They carried him off the island, through the destroyed roof before taking him away to who knows where, but most likely terrible things would happen to him.
Seconds after that happened, the sword stopped firing the green lightning and the sword stopped lighting up. The Dark Ranger was tired. All the energy he had sustained was too much. He fell on his back, but he was stopped by Diana and John with the other three Rangers closing in on him.
"Wow, you sure did something crazy, Commander," Barry said.
"It wasn't crazy. I just did what was necessary to stop it," said the commander.
"How did you know that the sword would free the souls?" Shayera asked.
"I didn't know" he replied.
"Then why did he do it?" she asked.
"Because I didn't have a better idea, and I don't think you guys had a better one," he replied.
"Although you must admit that you should do push-ups as punishment for using a missile on an island that could have damaged us," Diana said, somewhat amused.
"I think that's what you should do for breaking up my fight," he replied.
He couldn't help but think about how she threw herself into the fight she was having with Ra's without thinking. It seemed that she was worried about him. Thank you, Princess, he thanked her in her mind. It was better that she didn't know that he was grateful to her for helping him in his fight. At the same time, he began to see that, for the first time in a long time, he wasn't alone. She and the other Rangers were there with him.
His thoughts were interrupted by three ghosts that landed in the hall. Two of them, judging by their silhouettes, were men and one was a woman. The Dark Ranger quickly got up and ran towards them. Although the other Rangers couldn't see him because his helmet covered his head, tears fell from his face. He knew that they were the three Rangers who had died that night.
The other Rangers knew this, so they didn't say anything. The three ghosts couldn't say anything, but they approached him and gave him a hug, it may have been thanks for freeing them, to apologize to him for not being strong enough with Ra's that night, or a sign of forgiveness. The hug lasted a whole minute. When they parted, the three ghosts flew off to who knows where.
"Tim, Jason, Barbara, they are free at last," the Dark Ranger said in his mind. Finally, he had paid off his debt to them.
To everyone's surprise, the calm was broken when an alarm went off, and simultaneously, his Morphos sounded.
"Commander, I managed to hack the system, but when it detected me, it activated the self-destruct protocol. Ra's probably left it there to make sure he destroyed the city if the fast-growing plants he fired weren't enough. Evacuate quickly and use the jets to take the island to the sea. There it will explode without harming the humans or the city," J'onn explained to them.
"Understood," daid the Dark Ranger, quickly analyzing the situation.
Considering that Deathstroke and Lady Shiva were still unconscious, he knew that they couldn't let them die, but they couldn't let you go free either. "Cadet Stewart, take me, Lady Shiva and Deathstroke with a booster that you create with your mind while the others call their jets to move the island," he ordered.
"Understood," the five said, although they took a while to respond due to how fast they had thought.
Quickly, John created a booster and harnesses for the Dark Ranger and the two unconscious criminals. Within seconds, he flew away to take them to the base, while the other four Rangers called their jets.
When the jets arrived, the four of them jumped out and entered them. Once this was done, they went to the side of the island and pressed the cable button, causing cables with a harpoon to shoot towards the island, passing through the walls of it.
With everything ready, the four began to move the floating island towards the outskirts of the city towards the sea. They thought they could do something else, but, it was only a matter of seconds before it exploded. Fortunately for them, John was in his jet to help them make it faster.
The reason the explosion was on a timer was to alert the other ninjas that were still inside the island so they could escape, even if Lady Shiva was still there. Fortunately, the five Rangers managed to get the island out of the city just before it exploded and its remains fell into the sea.
"We did it," Kal said.
"Yes!" Barry said.
"Well done," Shayera said.
As they said that, Diana and John celebrated by raising their hands while she, in her mind, said "the gods were merciful to us".
XXX
17:00. Zone C Base.
"Cadets, you have done an excellent job. Thanks to you, Lady Shiva and Slade Wilson have been arrested and sent to a maximum security prison from which they will not escape for a long time. Ra's and his organization have been hit hard. If the ghosts get bored with him, he won't be able to make another attack for a long time," Commander Wayne explained to them.
"J'onn, you will also be grateful for this," he told them. "The reason why I told them to move the island away and put it in the sea was because the natural components of the island have improved the marine life of the sea in the city, so they did something Good," He explained which took some weight off the Rangers who still thought they had done something wrong.
"That's it?" Barry asked. He still wanted to be given more than a congratulations.
"No," The commander replied. "I need them to follow me in their cars and motorcycles. Let's go to someplace."
The five Rangers didn't move. They didn't know what he was going to do. Where would they go?
"Now," he ordered them, snapping them out of their trance.
The five of them went to the hangar, and the commander to his car with J'onn. Kal, John and Barry got on their bikes, while Diana and Shayera got in the squad car. The seven went, to the surprise of the Rangers, to the outskirts of the city. It wasn't to a lake or to a forest, but to the large mansion that Kal had gone to a long time ago.
The seven entered after Wayne removed the lock on both the security fence and the gate to the mansion.
The Rangers, except for Kal and Diana, were amazed to see that they were in a mansión. They had never been in one before. In Diana's case, she had lived in a palace all her life, but she still appreciated great organization and attention to detail.
"This is your house, right?" John asked.
"Sure, cadet," Commander Wayne replied.
"Wow, I think this would be our entertainment venue, not just the base," Barry said.
"I wouldn't do something as foolish as letting you guys destroy my family's heritage," he replied.
"Why is your family not here?" Shayera asked.
"They're busy in other parts of the world," he replied, stiffening momentarily. "But you're missing the point of why I brought you here."
They entered a dining room to find a table that was still covered with a white blanket to prevent dust from falling on the wood. He removed the blanket to reveal a table that was brown, but there was nothing on it.
"Wait here," he said before going to another room.
"What do you think he's going to do?" Barry asked.
"I think he'll tell us we can leave Zone C," Kal said.
"I don't think so, Kal. And don't say that. We just saved this area from Ra's Al Ghul and you want to leave. Don't be mean," John told him.
"You better not fight right now," J'onn said, stopping any fight that might happen at that moment.
Commander Wayne returned with a bottle of wine, and seven crystal glasses. He put all the glasses and the bottle on the table. He opened the bottle with a bottle opener that he had put in his pocket to later pour the wine into each of the glasses.
"This is a sincere thank you, cadets," Commander Wayne said. "Cadet Allen said that he wanted more than just congratulations, so that's what I'm going to give them, not every time, but this time."
He gave each of them a glass, including J'onn. "Thanks everyone. Finally, I have defeated Ra's. He will surely return to settle the score, but not yet. I know this would not have been possible without you, so, thank you very much," he finished.
Hearing the words, the five Rangers had a totally different view of him. Yes, he might still look like a workaholic, but he had a side that he rarely let out, but at least this side showed that he cared, not just about the mission, but about them. He would give anything for their safety. Kal saw that what Lois had told him was true. He did care about them, but he didn't show it very often.
John saw that he was someone better than he had imagined, even if they sometimes clashed over ideological issues. Barry saw him as someone not so angry, although seeing him being nice was making him uneasy too. Shayera saw that he was someone who had a pure heart that gave for the good of all, although he was still rigid and arrogant.
But Diana saw much more than just gratitude from his look. She saw that he was hiding another bigger secret, perhaps something that she should ask another time. For the moment, she had not met someone who, even without chances of winning against someone superior in every way, he would risk everything to achieve it in order to keep those he cared about safe. She wanted to know that side of him even more, but she would need more time for that.
"Thank you for your consideration, Commander," Barry said, raising his glass. "Cheers!"
"Cheers!" the other four Rangers and J'onn said, raising their glasses before them.
The major didn't say anything, but he did raise his glass. Once this was done, the seven drank the wine… only to spit it out seconds later, except for Commander Wayne. The other six had disgusted faces.
"Sorry, Commander, but this wine tastes horrible," Barry said.
"You must have kept it aged too long," Kal said, wiping his mouth with his forearm.
"Better buy us candy next time. I don't trust you with wine," Shayera said.
"I don't understand what they are complaining about. This tastes Good," Commander Wayne said before drinking what was left of the wine in his glass.
At the end of the day, everyone returned to the base feeling good that they had ruined Ra's Al Ghul's great plan, thus, the great threat had been eliminated. However, there were still things to be resolved. To make matters worse, in Commander Wayne's mind, a thought began to seed.
That thought told him that he would have to allow the Rangers to go to another area at some point. He had listened to Kal and his still underlying intention to leave Zone C, but, when a great threat is eliminated, other come. They can be much worse ones. It was best to have them for a while longer. At least his team was more united, and they would last as long as they had to last.
Unfortunately, the next big threat to come would be something that had never been seen before. The preparation they had had all this time was not going to be enough. The only thing they could do, before his arrival, was to enjoy this day and the duration of this period of calm.
With great pride I announce that I have reached the middle of the series. Yes, I know it has taken me too long to do this, TOO LONG. And no, I am not happy with all the time I have taken to deliver this content to you. However, I am very grateful to the readers who have not left me and who have continued reading this fic that will continue for much longer. As I made clear in the previous chapter and in this one, the protagonists, and other characters, still need development, so it is necessary to continue with the show, also it would not be complete without the villain that will appear in the next chapter, that and Bruce and Diana have not yet consolidated their relationship.
Thanks to DCosloff, for his honest opinions and suggestions about the right direction for the story and the characters.
A final thank you to Lotslover, my beta, for continuing to edit my chapters and for their honest feedback on my work to keep changing chapter content for the better. You're excellent, Lotsy.
Well, without further ado, I say goodbye for now. Until the next chapter.
NEXT: WAR, PART 1.