//------------------------------// // The Big, Bad Wolf // Story: Equestria Rangers // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// "So. You're Captain Mar'Zek?" Sunset asked as she pointed the tip of her blade at him. "That was pretty fast." "Yeah. Now we can clean this mess up and call it a day." Rainbow Dash twirled her blasters at her sides. "We've got all that we need to totally crush you, wolfie." "Rangers. Do NOT underestimate Mar'Zek. He has torn entire galaxies to pieces just because they obstructed his path." Elaris spoke through their phones. "And every time he raided them, he always cherry picks the best technology and weapons to add to his own arsenal. He might not even show off everything he collected this battle." "Don't worry, Elaris. We know how to handle ourselves in a fight. This ain't our first rodeo, after all." Applejack tightened the grip on her hammer. "Plus, we've got our own magic. We can just use both of our powers in tandem, right?" "For Perfect Ones, you disappoint me." Mar'Zek snarled and clawed at the ground with his feet. "When you felled Preda'Tor, I thought that we would have a real fight on our hands. But then, I reconsidered; and remembered that he was one of the first Wolfpack wolves I had on the team. And he was on the verge of becoming defunct anyway." He pressed his front paws together, hearing bones crack as he did so. "Now, Ahn'Taier, that made me sad, because you exploited a weakness involving his gases. A real Perfect One fights without having to rely on cheap, underhanded tactics like that." "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're upset because we took down a couple of your wolves. You gonna cry about it?" Rainbow taunted. "If anything, the one who'll be shedding tears is YOU." He took up a sprinting posture and disappeared, only to reappear within touching distance of Rainbow Dash. He grabbed her and threw her to the ground. "As I see you bleeding from head to toe, armour shredded and visor cracked." The other Rangers charged in on Mar'Zek and tried to pull him off of Rainbow Dash, but he immediately leapt to the air and fired the black streams from his armoured claws again, coiling them around the girls and using them as whips to smash them both into each other and into the ground. "Alright. No more nice Rainbow Dash..." She tapped at her sigil on the neckpiece and started to move at superspeed. She dashed to Mar'Zek and readied the blasters, only for him to charge forward and grab her by the face. It was then that she let out the blaster shots, aiming directly for his eyes. "EAT IT, ya mangy mutt!" Mar'Zek took the shots, but merely staggered backwards as a silver visor of his own hastily reacted and shielded his eyes from being destroyed. Grunting, he shook it off and punched Rainbow Dash in the chest, leaving a tiny chip on her light-blue suit. "Confetti Bombardment!" Pinkie Pie announced, shooting a barrage of confetti out of her wrist-mounted air blasters. They coated the ground around Mar'Zek and detonated, shrouding him in a ring of rapid miniature explosions; cutting off his movement. "Pitiful, if anything." Mar'Zek burst out of the explosions, piercing through the rising clouds of smoke that rose from the detonations. Pouncing on top of Pinkie Pie, he held her down and slashed across her face twice, leaving massive scratch marks on her helmet. She fired back, but he merely snapped his head up before punching down hard on her chest, leaving another chip on it. "Pinkie! I'm coming!" Applejack sprinted towards Mar'Zek and swung her hammer horizontally. She gave it just enough force to swat him into the buildings across the road. "Terra Wall!" Lifting her hammer into the air, Applejack created a massive stone wall around her and Pinkie, before quickly turning to face and help her up. "Thanks, Applejack. I thought I was a goner." Pinkie grabbed onto Applejack's hand and held tight as she was pulled up by her. "Don't sweat it, Pinkie Pie. We're always gonna have your back, from now until the end of time." Applejack motioned to pat Pinkie's back, but flung into her own wall as Mar'Zek struck her on hers. A third chip had been distributed, and he kicked her straight through the hollow stone pillar she had created, bringing the whole structure down around them both. "You cannot stand against what I am." Mar'Zek grinned sadistically as he turned his attention to Fluttershy. Dashing to her like a real wolf, his sharpened claws tore through the grass. "Thousands of others have tried, and all have fallen before me. You will be no different, rangers." "Guess again!" Rarity darted to Mar'Zek, swinging her swords straight upwards onto his belly. The armoured wolf was flipped onto his side as she leapt forward graciously and performed a swift series of strikes with her swords. "Even the biggest of curs can be stopped. I should know. We've dealt with our fair share of monsters and beasts in our time." "I am no cur, child. I am Mar'Zek; the leader of the Wolfpack. And I am the most powerful pirate captain in existence!" He leaned back and kicked himself back onto his feet, knocking Rarity onto her back. He tumbled down over her and planted another chip on her chest with a punch as she tried to get back up. "And by the time I am finished with you and your pathetic excuse for a team, you will never be able to forget it." Fluttershy hid behind a tree as the other rangers continued their fight. Trembling, she clutched the flute in her hands, hesitant to play it as she heard the girls cry and yell in agony as Mar'Zek continued his relentless assault. She could hear the gear humming to life and firing away, the sounds of lasers and energy filling the air, accompanied by even more explosions. She felt like she had been dropped straight into the middle of a war; even though there was only one bad guy to defeat. Eventually, she mustered up the courage and started to play some notes, only for her neck to be grabbed by Mar'Zek's metallic claws. She was about to scream, but his other claw held her mouth shut as he ripped her up from the ground and into the foliage above. He slammed his hand onto her chest, depositing the fifth chip. Then, he proceeded to throw her out of the tree and into the other girls. "This is an INSULT." Mar'Zek howled and shredded the tree into splinters, leaving nothing of it in his wake. "You cannot defeat two Wolfpack wolves with this display. So sloppy, so un co-ordinated, so WEAK!" "We're not weak!" Sunset's sword burned even brighter as she swung it towards him, sending fiery shockwaves in his direction. She saw that he destroyed one, so she ran towards him, swinging more and more his way. As the gap between her and him closed, she saw some of the flame strikes land on his body and knock him backwards. "And I'm not just gonna sit back and watch you bullying my team; my FRIENDS!" Her next strike landed, and it hit him square in the chest as she finally pressed her helmet to his. "Your friends are insignificant. And you yourself set a poor example as a leader." Mar'Zek reached out and grabbed Sunset's sword, throwing it into the fountain behind her. He then grabbed her by the legs and swung him over his body, stamping her into the ground and leaving holes with every impact. "The Perfect Ones are supposed to be invincible, fearless, fast on their feet, and capable of stopping even the most powerful of threats." He grabbed Sunset's helmet and tore it off of her head, revealing the human girl underneath. "And so far, all I'm seeing is a bunch of underage, under-experienced, and underwhelming INFANTS carrying the crystals. MY CRYSTALS!" "Go... to Tartarus!" Sunset spat in Mar'Zek's face as she tried punching and kicking his armour. "You first." He punched her back to the other rangers, the sixth and final chip placed on her suit. He bent his legs and held his claws out to the Rainbooms, gathering black electricity as the chips on their bodies began to glow. "Soul Decimator!" Mar'Zek threw his arms out to the side, firing black lightning down at the Rainbooms feet, knocking them into the air. As they hurtled and flailed their bodies, time slowed down to a crawl for Mar'Zek as the chips broke and transformed into spiky target markers. Jumping to the markers, Mar'Zek performed as many claw strikes and laser-based attacks on the rangers as he could, launching to the next one and repeating the same process. This went on and on until all six of the Rainbooms took significant amounts of damage. Finally, he landed on the ground and hurled a black device into the air over his shoulder. It broke into six pieces and poised itself over the Rainbooms, pointing down over their chests and smashing into them as time restarted again, deluging them in thick, black pillars of energy. He didn't even look back at the massive ball of flame that sprung up as the girls were drilled into the ground by the columns. The resulting attack was so destructive that the Rainbooms were forcibly de-morphed, their suits breaking like glass as their regular clothes returned to their bodies. All of them let out moans and groans as the pain covered every inch of their bodies. They were bruised, battered, and even bleeding in places. But all of them could not even find the strength to stand as Mar'Zek turned back to them. "Like I said. Pathetic." He stood over their limp and motionless bodies, leaning down to face Sunset as his suit disappeared, revealing the wolf underneath. "The only reason you're still alive from that attack is because you hold the crystals. If you were not in possession of them, I guarantee you that six graves would have been dug, and there would have been funerals in your honor; or lack thereof." "I'm not... giving you... the crystals!" Sunset screeched as she tried to push herself back up, only for Mar'Zek to stomp on her back and twist his foot into her body. He watched her writhing for dear life under his foot and sighed. "If I killed the six of you here, it would be an act of mercy. And mercy is something we Wolfpack warriors do not have," he said. "As much as I want to rip those crystals out of your bodies right here and now, your little demonstration has made me rethink exactly how valuable they really are. Are the Perfect Ones really just a fallacy to dissuade hunters like my crew from trying to take the gemstones that create them? Or are they just holding back for the real battle? "Either way, killing you here would disappoint me on both accounts. So, that is why I will let you live." He walked away, leaving the Rainbooms behind. "Consider yourselves VERY LUCKY, rangers. I never let people leave battles with me alive." "Nngh..." Sunset crawled forward, desperately trying to catch Mar'Zek as he walked away from her and the team. "No! Get back... here!" "You are not ready. And you never will be ready." Mar'Zek stared back at her as a portal opened up in front of him. "But, if on the odd case you do still want to try and fight against the odds, then keep those crystals of yours. My wolves will keep checking up on you until you can give me a good fight. Until then, you are not fit to be my opponent; nor are you fit to be the Perfect Ones chosen by fate." He started to walk through the portal. "Farewell, Power Rangers." And he walked through the vortex, leaving no trace of himself behind as the hole vanished. The Rainbooms all drooped their heads to the ground, feeling the stone and dirt pressing against them as they tried to move. The pain they felt from the fight was intense, and not a single limb was complying with them. They just laid there, limp, like ragdolls, or marionettes with their strings cut. Even Sunset succumbed to the pain, nearly on the verge of tears as she closed her eyes and accepted her defeat. "No..." Twilight saw everything on the monitor with Elaris at her side. "Girls! Get up! It can't end like this!" "Now you see, the power of Mar'Zek. The leader of the Wolfpack. The Killer of Suns, the Cleaver of Armies, the Bringer of Ragnarok." Elaris shuddered, pressing buttons on her console. "I'm bringing the rangers back to the ship, but it's going to cause all the systems to turn off." She fiddled with the buttons and switches, and light swirled around the room. It cascaded into center of the room and formed a small spiral of light, spitting the Rainbooms onto the ground before it and the rest of the bridge were enveloped in a thick veil of darkness. "Girls!" Twilight ran over and quickly flopped down to Sunset's side. "Please, tell me you'll be alright..." "Twi...light." Sunset moaned, struggling to keep hold of her consciousness. "Are we... dead?" "No. But from how badly he beat you and the others, it won't be long..." Twilight watched as the other Rainbooms were being tended to by Elaris. She was picking them up and carrying them off to another section of the ship. "Captain Mar'Zek has shown himself, and he's already proven himself to be really tough." She watched Rainbow and Pinkie mildly twitching as they were carried off. "And if we don't get stronger, he's going to run us over, and the rest of the planet as well..." Sunset tried her hardest to stay awake, but the heavy concussion and physical trauma she had accrued in the fight, coupled with all of the other damage she had taken were just too much. In the end, her eyelids drooped before closing, her breathing beginning to dwindle as she drifted off into a deep sleep. Not dead, but near it. Mar'Zek re-entered the bridge, immediately placing himself back on his throne. He was immediately met with Siel'Viz and Vi'Al's gazes, who both applauded as he laid his arms down on the seat. "A wonderful display, my captain. As we expect of you." Siel'Viz bowed before him. "Quite so. You put those rangers in their place for what they did to Preda'Tor and Ahn'Taier." Vi'Al rapped his claws together, the nails slipping through the cracks in his paws. "I'm sure they are both proud of you, my captain." "Yes. Though I am not proud of the prey I fought. It was much too easy for my liking." He groaned, slumping into the seat. "The Perfect Ones were not nearly as strong as I wanted them to be, and they fell to their knees fast as well. If anything, I feel like this is less of a hunt and more so a smash and grab." "Well, we only just arrived here, my captain, and we still have a lot to learn about these Power Rangers you fought." Vi'Al stepped forward and bowed before him. "I haven't even started the research yet and already they intrigue me. The Perfect Ones are supposed to be these supposed heroes, and while they can hold their own against your troops, they just fell like boulders in an avalanche as soon as you stepped in. All of those complex layers should keep me busy for a while." "And there he goes again..." Siel'Viz groaned. "No matter how easy or hard the battle is, it's just another one of your excuses to stay cooped up in that lab, instead of on the frontlines like a real Wolfpack wolf." "Siel'Viz, the Wolfpack wouldn't even BE HERE TODAY without my technological advancements. You should be more appreciating of the wolf who upgraded, repaired, and modified the fleet so that we had the power to make all those other hunts." He huffed and glared at her. "Still, there is no honor in fighting enemies by just crafting tools for the rest of the army, Vi'Al. If anything, you should die fighting, instead of being stuck in that little room of yours." She stomped in his face. "ENOUGH, you two." Mar'Zek grabbed both of them by the snouts and threw them to the ground. "Siel'Viz, train the rest of the crew on my ship. Vi'Al, you get back to the lab and do those experiments you love so much. For now, though, I want you both out of my sight while I reflect on the lackluster fight I just went through." "Yes, captain!" They both got to their feet and ran out of the bridge, the door opening and closing as they went through it. Mar'Zek stood back up and paced back and forth in front of the throne, thinking back to the fight he had with the Rainbooms. Every clash of metal, every explosion, and every scream and cry echoed in his ears and all he could do was sigh as he turned towards the windscreen at the end of the room. "Why? Why do you stay your hands, rangers?" He asked, staring down onto the planet's surface. "You have the crystals. Why do you not choose to unleash their full power? I deserve a fair fight. WE deserve a fair fight. And right now, all I'm seeing is a team that fluked their way through two of my wolves. Where is the fun in this?"