“So…” Timber finally pushed out, his arms crossed in front of him as he leaned back against the edge of a roof not too far away from where the fight had taken place. “What… You’re the… How did you…” He continued to mutter, stoping each time, shaking his head, and starting anew.
“Yes, we are the Power Rangers. You deduced that right,” Sugar mercifully stepped in, leaning against the outer parts of a ventilation shaft. “And there is no need to speak around the topic. I doubt anyone will listen in on this conversation on top of a roof,” she flatly added.
He just sighed and nodded, taking a look across the empty roof they were sitting on. Sugar had suggested to jump up a sufficiently high and big one so they could have a private talk. Well, as soon as she had managed to somewhat calm down Lemon, who had immediately gone back to gushing over the Rider that the battle had ended.
“Right, right… It’s just… Not what I had expected, that’s all,” he continued with another loud sigh, letting his head sink lower.
“I understand. Finding out that the people who caused your girlfriend to turn into a monster are now superheroes is not what you normally expect,” Sugar once again finished for him.
“What? No, no, that’s not it. I know you girls learned your lesson, and really, the one responsible is that Cinch person and she is gone anyway. That whole thing is water under the bridge, at least for her and me anyway. No, it’s just… I thought you were regular highschool students. And honestly, I thought I could get a bit of a break from the whole insanity and monster fighting the world, and my life kinda mutated into… Not fight the next monster back home,” Timber finished, looking at the two somewhat exhausted.
“What do you mean, insanity? Isn’t it awesome that you get to be a superhero? Beat up monsters and help people?” Lemon burst in, sitting next to Sugar with her usual energetic smile on her lips. “I love it!”
“Oh, it’s not bad… Not at all. I’m glad I can do something to help others. It’s a nightmare when you just have to watch, it’s just… It can get a bit much at times. You just want some time for yourself and the people you care about, but then the next person screams for help, and you have to move. I thought I get a bit of time, but once again, the MRG calls for help.”
“Then why don’t you give that belt to someone else for a week. I’m sure people are lining up for that,” Lemon returned, only to add a quiet: “I sure as Tartarus would if I wasn’t a ranger already.”
“Yeah, even if I wanted to, not happening. My Driver…. My belt is made out of a magical artifact that was created by my own wishes. The MRG remodeled it into the belt, and the thing fused with my body. I can’t take it off, ever. I’m so to speak some kind of magical cyborg if you want to call it that. So, no shoving responsibility elsewhere,” he returned with a chuckle.
“Magical cyborg? Ohhhh! How cool… But also not… But still, magical cyborg!” Lemon was already once again lost in her own world, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
For a moment, Timber chuckled, a smug smile slipping across his lips as he returned: “Yeah… I guess I’m pretty damn cool. Right?” However, while Lemon nodded eagerly in her usual energetic way, Sugar just looked at him with a piercing glare, one that quickly pulled an imaginary string taught across his throat. Darting his eyes around like a cornered animal, he managed to stutter out: “Uhh… I mean… Anyway!”
“What anyway?” Sugar quickly said, leaving him no time to actually think any further. She still continued to stare at him in the same way as before. “You want to know how we became rangers, right?”
“R-Right…” Timber shook his head, took a deep breath, and started again: “Right. That. I don’t need a large explanation or anything like that. I just need the basics, that’s all. Just a simple how.”
“Oh, that’s easy! We fought a Changeling, the Shadow Coins,” she held up the Coin as she spoke, “Decided we should be worthy. Cadance gave us our Morphers, and ever since, we are fighting the buggies.”
“Oh, I see. I think I get the-“ Timber was about to go on when his tongue made a leap inside his mouth. “Wait, did you just say Cadance? She knows about this? Is that the reason you were at her place?”
In the span of a second, Lemon went from her usual energetic self to dear in the headlights mode only to awkwardly chuckle and rub her hand behind her head: “Wait, did I say that? No, no, she doesn’t know… At all! I just… Uh… said her name because… I just thought of her! Yes, that’s it!”
Timber just raised an eyebrow: “Wow, you’re bad at this.”
“Yes, she is,” Sugar added with a slight hint of annoyance.
“I’m not! My lie wasn’t all that bad! One could believe it!” She huffed back with a pout, all while Timber just sighed and his face in one hand, shaking his head.
“It was horrible. No one who thinks straight would ever fall for that lie,” Sugar flatly stated.
“They would! I just need to be more convincing!”
“Yeah… Let’s go with that. But you just admitted you tried to lie to me. So, Cadance knows,” he sighed, still shaking his head. “How does she fit into all of this? I just knew her from Twilight and mostly Shining. And they never mentioned anything about her knowing anything about magic. So, how does she fit into this mess.”
“It’s… You know… I mean…” Lemon desperately tried to wind herself out of the situation, pleadingly looking over to Sugar. She simply looked back, not giving her any help or even a simple hint through her expression. “A little help here?”
“Help in what way? You already revealed all the fundamentals by panicking and stumbling over your words again and again. There is no way anyone could save this at this point,” she got in return.
“Please?” Lemon asked again, with her best puppy-eyed look.
Sugar took a deep breath before pushing herself off the ventilation shaft. “Cadance is a descended off a traitor faction of Changelings that rebelled against their queen nearly three-thousand years ago. Recently the Changelings have started to act again, and she managed to steal the Shadow Coins,” holding up her own as she said that. “She was tracked down to Crystal Prep and cornered. We decided to help her, and the coins decided we were worthy of using them. That is all you need to know,” she finished with a firm level of certainty, so much so that Timber simply nodded and need a few moments to take all of this in.
“Ok… I… I think I get it,” he nodded along. “Thanks for the explanation. Well, minus one thing. The other three… I assume they are your other friends, right? Just like the Rainbooms do all this magical stuff together, you do too. Right?”
“Wh- What! No! Totally not! Why would you th-“ Lemon once again started to desperately stammer, only to be interrupted again.
“You’re correct. Indigo Zapp, Sour Sweet, and Sunny Flare are the three other Rangers, respectively. You deduced that correctly, even if it wasn’t that hard,” her friend said, completely ignoring her pathetic attempts.
“I see… Through, why do I feel like you are making fun of me?”
“She- She is not… She is just to the point most of the time. Doesn’t mean she isn’t savage sometimes, but you generally notice that. She really has no filters when she does that,” Lemon once again jumped in, a lot more coherent this time, not stumbling over her words.
“I see… But thanks for being honest. Appreciated,” Timber looked between the two with a raised eyebrow.
“I’d like to ask you a favor, though,” his thought processes were interrupted when she spoke up again.
“Oh, what?”
“You seem to know Shining Armor, the local director of the MRG very well. Beyond just being his sister's boyfriend. Add to that that I have seen a few reports that talked about Kamen Rider Gaia across the country, it’s fair to assume that you work for the MRG, right?” Sugar asked, her cold glares letting a shiver run down his spine.
“Well… Work for them is a bit wrong… I’m a Public contractor? I guess you call it that? Or mercenary. I think that fits more. I’m not part of the MRG, I just work with them. But yes, I know him because of me being a Rider,” he nodded.
“I understand. So, are you going to tell him about our identities?” Sugar said without skipping a beat, all while Lemon’s and Timber’s eyes threatened to jump out of their heads.
“W- Wait! Are you thinking he is going to- You better not!” She quickly joined in, looking back and forth between the two. “Come on, say something!”
“I… I honestly didn’t think about that yet… I’d definitely would be in for a world of scolding if it came out later that I knew… But… I know how hard it is to keep your identity as a superhero secret, even if it’s just from the public. And Alchemy tried to keep his secret from the MRG as well… Granted, it worked out fine in the end with him doing that, but…” Timber stammered, shifting from side to side as he did so.
“Alchemy is Alchemy, we are not. We are still in Highschool. It would be preferable if we could keep this both from the public and your government friends. It’s highly likely that none of my friends would be excited to follow orders from such an organization, no matter if they knew the person,” she continued, her eyes firmly focused on him, piercing and unyielding.
“Yeah, that would be mega uncool! You’ve ever seen any of those movies? Super secret government organizations suck! They are mega shady!” Lemon interrupted them once more, nodding furiously along.
“I mean… The MRG is hardly secret and… They aren’t really that bad… Not completely… And…” He continued to stammer, tugging on his collar as a few drops of sweat were starting to appear on his forehead.
“She isn’t wrong.”
Another look over to Sugar, and he finally let out a defeated sigh: “I… Fine… You’re right. Consequences be damned, right now I can’t do this to you all. That would be cruel. I’d still say you should tell at least Shining. He has good connections to people higher on the food chain that could hide your identity from people you wouldn’t want them to know. As in, completely to the top. Because honestly, it’s only a matter of time till they find out about you… This way, you would at least make a good first impression and…” he stopped as he saw their expressions, letting out an even deeper sigh. “I see… Can’t force you after all…”
“You can’t,” Sugar bluntly stated.
“Yay! That’s great!” Lemon added in her own, energetic way.
After a third sigh, he simply shook his head and chuckled: “Well, seems this one wrapped up… Lucky you. Can escape all of this for a while longer and keep staying here…”
“You seem to have something on your mind. What is it?” Sugar cut through his own thoughts like a knife through butter, letting him suck in air only to end up coughing as he tried to regain his breath.
“W-What? I-I have n-no idea what y-you m-mean…” he muttered back, an awkward chuckle in his voice as his eyes darted across the roof like a ping-pong-ball.
“You seem dissatisfied with your current position in some way. Otherwise, you wouldn’t long for a break. Still, you like saving people. But something makes you hesitate,” she continued, not in the slightest bit deterred by his reaction.
“She is way too good at this…” he quietly muttered to Lemone.
“Tell me about it!” She smirked in return. “You can’t hide anything from her. Well, most things.”
“It’s… Ok, fine… As I chose that I would take up the mantel of a Rider, I didn’t think about how this would really affect my social life… I… I just wanted to help… The city was being overrun by monsters, and I just couldn’t stand there on the sidelines and do nothing when I could possibly help…” He sighed, shaking his head.
“So… You do regret this? Why?” Lemon asked curiously, tilting her head a little to the side.
“No… I’m… Not really… As I said, it’s good helping people. It feels like I’m doing something important. Something that can make the world a better place, but… I don’t know if I can keep doing this to Twilight… I’m supposed to be her boyfriend, and I’m never there for her… It just feels shitty of me, even if I know she understands.”
“Are you sure it’s because you can’t do this to her and not because you want to keep being a superhero and feel guilty for that?” Sugar coldly said. Timber meanwhile just looked at the ground, not saying a word. “If you think this is more important to help people than being with your girlfriend, that is not going to just disappear. You are just delaying the inevitable. Eventually, you have to make the definitive choice.”
“But… I don’t think that! It’s just…” Timber huffed back, holding his head a bit, desperately looking over to Lemon. “It’s complicated, ok? I want to be with her, but I have a duty to uphold! I’m one of the few who can do anything against these monsters! And if you looked at the TV in recent times, you’d notice they are just getting more and more! I can’t just stand on the sidelines and not do anything! Because if I would, it would be all my fault! I have to at least try!”
“Timber… Why?” Lemon quietly muttered, looking down a bit as thought raced through her head. He had to try? “But you don’t owe it to anyone, right? Why do you have to try?” Lemon asked more firmly, taking both Timber and even Sugar by surprise.
“Why I have to try?” He looked at her a bit confused. “Why do you ask me that?”
“Because I did! Now answer! I really need to know!” She returned with a determined undertone.
“O… Ok, sure…” He stammered back, looking with a questioning expression over to Sugar, who just shook her head. “Because… Well… That’s hard… Because if I wouldn’t do it… Well, who would? If I have the power to help and simply don’t do it, all of this falls on me. It’s not that I owe them something, I just want to help! And even if I fail, I at least know I tried. I know where I made a mistake, and I can hopefully learn from it and not do the same thing again. And even if I screw it up… I at least know I tried all I could do! I did at least try and not just fail by default!” Timber finished with a far more confident tone in his voice.
“You at least tried and not just failed by default?” Lemon returned with a somber look on her face.
“Yes! I gave it a shot, consequences b damned! I at least know that I couldn’t do it and where to go from here instead of the uncertainty if I just stood by. That is why I have to try! Not doing anything would eat me up inside…”
“I… I see,” she simply nodded. “But… Then why aren’t you making that decision?”
“D-Decision?” He stuttered back, awkwardly avoiding her look. “What decision?”
“You know what I mean! If you want to be with Twilight or if you want to help people! You just talked about how much it means to you to be able to do something like what we are doing! So, why can’t you decide! I know that Twilight would understand it,” Lemon asked, looking straight at him before quietly adding: “I think…”
“It’s not that easy… I mean…” Timbers bluster and confidence had disappeared the moment she had asked, and now he was once again reduced to the nervous wreck he was before. “Because I don’t want to let her go! I like her… I like her a lot! And I don’t want to loser her… Ok? I’m happy with her… And… I don’t want to give that up… But I also know she isn’t as happy as she can be with me away all the time…” He finally finished with a loud sigh. “You two got an idea what I should do?”
“I think you already know, just don’t want to accept it,” Sugar simply stated once again, her arms crossed in front of her and a judging look in her eyes.
“But I don’t want to break up with her!” He almost shouted back.
“I didn’t say you should break up with her. That was you who assumed I meant it,” she returned just as coldly.
Timber just stared at her, opening his mouth to say something in return only to close it once again and avoiding her looks. “Anyway…” He continued after a few unbearably quiet seconds dismissively. “What are you going to do about these two Changelings? I doubt they are just gonna go away.”
Sugar looked at him with a raised eyebrow before answering his question: “You are right. Until we beat them, we will not escape them.”
“Well, I’m still here, so maybe I can help you with that. Hero’s got to stick together, right?” He returned with a weak smile.
>-------<S>-------<
“You really think this is a good idea?” Sunny hissed at Lemon, her arms crossed in front of her as they stood right next to the gazebo that had just today been reduced to rubble.
“You got a better idea?” It came back, to which Sunny just huffed, crossing her arms in front of her.
“Well, maybe if you involved us in the planning phase instead of pulling this stun without us?” It huffed back.
“So, you have nothing? Noted,” Sugar added drily.
“That is not! Ugh…” Sunny groaned as she turned away from her friend and returned her attention back to the park, and the plethora of people that had gathered outside of it.
“H-Hey, no need to get hostile, ok?” Timber awkwardly stepped between the two rangers with his hands raised.
“Oh, and you shut it! It’s bad enough these two idiots told you who we were! You better hold your word! Or else I’m going to give you a beating you’ll never forget!” Sunny turned around again only to push her finger right onto Timber’s breastplate and, as strange as it sounded, stared daggers at him.
“N-Noted…” He awkwardly took a step back, rubbing the back of his helmet nervously.
Before any of them could say anything more, an arm slipped around both their necks as they were pulled into a hug. “Oh, be nice, you two grumpy heads,” Lemon’s voice chastised them both with her usual upbeat tone. “We are supposed to fight the Changelings, not each other, you silly heads!”
Sunny was about to throw something back in her face, wrestling with Lemon’s arm as another voice cut through the air. “Oh? Are you now? I thought you were supposed to be crushed beneath my heels,” the Hercules-Bettle-Changeling chuckled before his focus moved on to Gaia. “Oh, you are here as well… All the better! Means I can crush you like the rest of them!” it growled from within him as his fingers formed into a fist.
“Like the rest of us?” Lemon shouted back, letting go of the two and stepping past them, arms confidently crossed in front of her. “News flash! You pretty much lost every time you went up against any of us! Why do you think you have a chance now when we all fight together?”
A low growl escaped the Titan-Bettle-Changelings throat as his companion slammed both of his fists together next to him, a few sparks flying off them. “Because this time, there won’t be any surprises! We’ll beat you black and blue together! Not even the Rider will save you from us!”
“Oh yeah? We’ll show you what we can do! Right, girls?” She burst out, taking a few steps towards the two monsters before suddenly stopping. Looking over her shoulder, she awkwardly added: “And boy… Sorry! Kinda forgot you…”
Timber just chuckled, a bit taken aback before adding a confidant: “Well, it seems I have to make sure you don’t forget me again then!”
“Gotcha! Girls! You know what to do!” She smirked back, and without another word, the four other Rangers stepped forward as well, just before Lemon started to shout and step into a pose: “The light that shines bright in the darkness, Shadow Red!”
Without skipping a beat, Sugar joined in, moving her hand up to her helmet: “The light that shines honest in the darkness, Shadow Blue!”
“The light that shines wild in the darkness, Shadow Yellow!” Indigo burst out next to them, taking a pose of her own.
“The light that shines glamorously in the darkness, Shadow Pink!”
“The light that shines courageous in the darkness, Shadow Green!” The last two team members joined in, taking their own poses, all while Timber looked at the five Rangers with a tilted head.
“We are the light born from the shadows! We are the Power Rangers Shadow Force!” Lemon finished off the roll-call with one last shout before a familiar colorful explosion consumed everything behind them, making Timber jump back a bit.
“Come on, Gaia! What are you waiting for?” She quite loudly hushed over to the Rider.
“W-Waiting for?” He stammered back, still somewhat perplexed by the whole situation.
“Your know! Your roll-call! Catchphrase! Whatever you call it!” She said, looking in his direction.
“Right…” He quietly muttered before slowly waving his arms around before settling in on a pose with one arm stretched out towards the monsters and one to the side. “Kamen Rider Gaia… Fighting for those that can’t!” He added with a somewhat shaky voice.
Both the monsters and most of the Rangers just stared at him. Well, most, minus Lemon, who couldn’t hold back her excitement: “That was awesome! Great catchphrase! Now! Let’s beat these monsters!”
While everyone else just stared at her, she was already in the process of dashing forward. The first to actually react to this was the Titan-Bettle-Changeling. With a low growl, he threw his fist forward, letting a ball of fire crash down right in front of her. Lemon dashed to the side, the sound of a familiar voice echoing through the park.
[Sw-Sw-Sword!]
Bursting from the side of the smoke came the Ranger, screeching to a halt on the grass bellow her, leaving a visible line in it. With a loud scream, she sprinted forward again. Meanwhile, the rest of the group had already sprung to action as well. Sunny, Indigo, and Sour had dashed towards the Titan Changeling, having pulled out their blasters, ready to let rain down mayhem on to monster. Sugar and Timber had started to follow after Lemon.
[Sp-Sp-Speed!]
It screamed through the park, and within a split-second, a red blur raced past the white Changeling, only moments later a burst of sparks erupting from his chest. While he still groaned, another burst of sparks erupted from his back, and just as the Red Ranger was once again approaching, he threw his fist in the direction she was roughly coming from.
[I-I-Ice!]
For a few moments, it almost looked like Lemon would race directly into him when all of a sudden, his arm stopped. After the initial shock, he noticed how his entire arm had been encased in a stalagmite of ice. He had just enough time to see that before it burst into a shimmering rain of shards, and he felt another slash across his chest.
Emitting a low growl, he stumbled backward before catching himself and glaring directly at where the ice spike had come from. That just happened to be the direction where Gaia was moving towards him. He had just enough time to pull both of his arms up and in front of his face to stop the first hit. Still, he could feel the strength behind the punch, forcing him to slightly give ground already. With no time to even catch his breath, the second punch came towards him, even stronger than the first one, breaking his guard and letting him stumble back even more.
If he wouldn’t do something now, he was done for, but all he needed was one good hit, and he could turn this around. Every muscle in his body started to move on its own, tensioning and screaming out against the force it had subjected to. With a loud roar, he pushed against it, forward, swinging his arm in a wide arc, straight at Gaia.
However, the Rider dodged to the other side; his swing was coming from with efficiency and speed; he just couldn’t keep up. And before he could ponder about another counter-attack, he suddenly felt the air pushed out of his lungs, followed by an ungodly amount of pain as Gaia’s fists embedded itself right into his solar plexus.
The Rider didn’t even give him enough time to breathe in again; his foot already crashed into his face, rattling his brain pretty good and knocking him off his feet, landing with a loud groan on the ground.
“That! Was! Awesome!” Lemon burst out, all of this feeling like distant noise to the Changeling. “You gotta show me how you did this!”
“Candace has been trying to teach you martial arts. Maybe trying to listen during one of her lessons would help you,” Blue simply replied. The rest of their conversation was just too hard to make out.
Meanwhile, his comrade was not havening a better day as Indigo had started to move in close and switched out her gun with her sword and slotted in her Lightning Coin. Every time he tried to hit her with one of his fists, she managed to at least somewhat block the attack and deliver a mighty zap. And if he wanted to shoot her with a fireball, the attack was snipped out of the air by the two remaining Rangers who had taken position on each side of him.
“You damn brats! I’ll burn you to cinders until nothing beyond your bones are left! Don’t think you’ll avoid me forever!” He growled angrily at them, before receiving the next shock, Indigo having used the opportunity to deliver a slash across his back. Instead of just spasming out thanks to the new shock, his fist instead burst around, pushed forward by a stream of fire, and slammed right into her helmet.
A searing, hot pain burst through her as she was flung across the park, crashing into a nearby park bench, which quickly started to smoke. A giant ashen stench was visible on the side of her helmet as she hissed out in pain. “Ah! Ouch! Shit!” It echoed from her through the empty area, much to the Changelings delight. Flicking his wrist, a few sparks flew off his forearm before he chuckled and lunged towards the fallen Ranger.
[Sh-Sh-Shield!]
Out of seemingly nowhere, a bright light burst out from Indigo before forming into some sort of transparent, yellow shield. With a loud crash, the fist of the Changeling slammed into the translucent barrier. Within moments it, her and the entire surrounding area were covered in a blazing inferno. “Now!” It screamed through the raging fire, much to the annoyed grunts of the Changeling, who quickly increased the number of flames. The Changeling was almost ready to slam his other fist down as well as once again-
[Ch-Ch-Chain!]
His singing fist was caught mere centimeters before it could reach its destination, the chains having wrapped around it like a hungry snake. In the next few moments, more and more of them wrapped around him, slowly dragging away from their friend, but not without desperate attempts at defiance. “N-No! I-I refuse!” He croaked out in a furious growl.
[St-St-Strength!]
“Oh, is that true?” Sour asked in a sickly sweet voice; still, there was this unnerving undertone. Slowly stepping closer, she looked over to Sunny with a playful cock of her head. “I’ll be taking over from here, dear,” she continued, Sunny only nodding and handing her her gun over, the one that held all of the chains. She slightly pulled on them, wrapping them around her knuckles before turning back to the monster, this time with a far more vicious tone: “Because you have nothing to decide here!”
And with that, she pulled hard on the chains, effortlessly lifting the Changeling off his feet and into the air. Like a child, playing with a ball on a string, she quickly started to swing her victim around, the fire that had surrounded him promptly snuffed out. After what had felt like an eternity to the Titan-Bettle-Changeling, he was finally released by her. She had pulled the trigger of the gun again, letting the chains disappear in a cloud of black smoke. Still, his torment wasn’t over just yet. The impact was still to come.
With a loud scream of pain, he slammed into his comrade, both thrown even further to the side, groaning, and retching on the grass. “Shall we end this, Gaia?” Lemon asked cheekily, giving the Rider a slight jab with her elbow.
“With pleasure,” he chuckled, cracking his knuckles. The six heroes gathering around the Changelings, who were weakly trying to get back on their feet. The Rangers simply nodded to each other before inserting their Coins into their Morphers.
[Fi-Fi-Final! Red!]
[Fi-Fi-Final! Blue!]
[Fi-Fi-Final! Yellow!]
[Fi-Fi-Final! Pink!]
[Fi-Fi-Final! Green!]
Like so many times before, the two Changelings were covered in thick, unpeaceable darkness. Following this were bright, colorful slashes across their chests, from blue to yellow, pink, green, and finally red, each one hurting more than the last. In the end, they were left completely spent, but still clinging onto their monster forms.
Meanwhile, Timber took a few steps back, somewhat nervously looked at the darkness his comrades one after the other disappeared into before, with a loud exhale, dashed forward. He pushed himself off the ground, made a frontflip, stretched out his leg, which had started to glow a fierce green. “Rider Kick!” He screamed out before plunging into the darkness, right at the faintest glimmer of light he had been able to make out. Fr a few moments, he felt utterly lost as he pushed inside, only to quickly hit something hard.
In the blink of an eye, two figures were thrown out of the smoke and crashed into a nearby rock, only to immediately after explode. The shadows cleared again and revealed all six of the heroes, no worse for wear.
But before anyone celebrations could get on the way, both Changelings grew once again in size. “Oh, come on! We already went through this!” Sunny huffed out in annoyance.
“We’ll take care of this! You watch on in awe!” Lemon jokingly added before the girls pulled out their Zord Coins.
[Fi-Fi-Final! Pink!]
[Fi-Fi-Final! Green!]
[He-He-Hellhound!]
[Le-Le-Leviathan!]
[Ro-Ro-Roc!]
[Wy-Wy-Wyvern!]
[Ma-Ma-Manticore!]
“Shadow Star Megazord!”
Once again, the mechanical colossus pulled its opponents into the dark world. Both Changelings had seen this often enough to dash forward almost instantly. The Hercules-Bettle was the first to act, stepping closer to the Rangers, crashing every building in its way. On the other end, the Megazord approached him as well, both grabbing after the other and trying to wrestle them to the ground. In their wake, they scraped up the streets, bellow them to an unrecognizable state.
While both of them seemed to not make an inch progress, the other Changeling made its move. As quietly as a giant colossus could sneak across a city, he moved around them. Thanks to their more intimate fight, they didn’t seem to take any note of him. As he finally reached their back, he threw another fireball at them.
That was when suddenly the Megazord shoot into the air, leaving the Hercules-Bettle to take the attack front and center. A loud scream came from him as he stumbled backward, his carapace chared and still glowing. Meanwhile, Sunny slammed a Coin into the console and, with a gleeful grin behind her helmet, readied herself for what was to come next.
[Ch-Ch-Chain!]
A storm of chains burst out from the Zord and quickly wrapped itself tightly around both Changelings, pulling them together in a cocoon of metal.
“Time to end this! And I know exactly how!” Lemon screamed out, raising her fist into the air. At the same time, the Megazord gained altitude as well, disappearing in the dark clouds above. “Ranger Megazord Kick!” She burst out, filling the entire cockpit with her screams before plunging the mech downwards.
Through the clouds burst a giant robot, its foot angled towards the two struggling monsters who were doubling, no tripling their efforts to break free. But in the end, they couldn’t break free of their restraints, and just like before by Gaia, the kick connected. The weight of hundreds of tones came crashing down on them, crushing their chitin like eggshells before everything went dark as the explosion claimed them.
>-------<S>-------<
Cadance was sitting over some paperwork that needed to be done urgently, but every time she tried to really commit, she was distracted by something... No… Someone! Lemon…
She let out an audible sigh as the pen once again was placed next to her. No matter what she did, she just couldn’t shake that feeling… She knew she had screwed up. She shouldn’t have said what she had said… She definitely knew but at the same time… She wasn’t really wrong… Right?
Before she could delve any more on this particular thought, her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of the doorbell. She almost jumped out of her chair as she looked over to the door. It was already late noon, the sun was setting. Who could possibly need something from her right now?
“Yes?” She opened the door and sighed, not even looking who it was. She looked exhausted, her smile had been replaced with a frown, and her eyes were hanging barely open.
“Uh…” It came back, a slightly awkward, but still energetic voice said. “Hey?” Lemon nervously waved at her from beyond the doorframe.
“L-Lemon…” She barely managed to say, a plethora of new thoughts flooding into her head as she saw the girl outside her home. “C… Come in…” Lemon just nodded and followed her inside, the door falling shut behind her. She was strangely reminded of the last time she ended up here alone… Just less welcoming.
Both of them eventually sat down once again on Cadnaces couch, looking at each other, avoiding looks and just in general being really awkward. After what had felt like an eternity for them, they finally spoke up: “I’m sorry!” Both of them burst out at the same time. What followed was another unbearably long time of silence at each of them looked at the other in disbelieve.
Finally, Cadance broke the silence once again: “I’m… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have said any of that… I just tried to protect you… But I went too far… Especially with the last comment…” She looked down, her expression filled with shame and regret as she tightened the grip on her skirt.
“I…” Lemon began, only for the words to fail her as she tried to find new ones. “Thank you… I’m sorry for calling you stubborn… He didn’t want to listen… He was too dead set in his ways…” She continued, looking down at her knees, just like Cadence.
“I… I wanted to protect you… But that’s no excuse. I’m so sorry, sI should have never said any of these things. But you understand why I did it, right?” She looked up, a pleading expression across her face.
“I… I get it… But… I don’t believe that I made a mistake by trying,” it came back, a surprising amount of certainty in her voice.
“Y- You don’t,” Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow at that. “But… You admitted that he wouldn’t listen to you, so…”
“Because I had to try! Because that’s what it means to be a hero!” It came back, but to Cadance’s surprise, not with anger or dismissiveness, no, conviction. Pure and simple conviction. “We do this because we can’t look away when someone needs help. We have to try and fight. That’s how we got these powers in the first place. That extends to helping people when they need it badly! Changling, or not! People can change! We changed! They can as well! We are the light that was born from the shadows! We want to help others change, as well!”
“I… I see…” She weakly got in return, Candace looking up at her with worry. “But… You don’t owe them anything… Didn’t they already make this choice when they joined them? You can’t save everyone… I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I… I understand that…” Lemon encountered, her hands tightening into fists. “I know I don’t own them anything. I know they already made their choice. And I know that we can’t save everyone. But that is why we have to at least try! If we don’t try, we already lost! Even if there is a minuscule chance that we can turn them around, we have to at least try! Because I don’t want to give up on anyone! Because you didn’t give up on us! Never! That’s the hero I want to be!” She finished, having pushed herself off the couch and stared down at Cadance.
She could only look up at the girl and nod. Her thoughts had irreparably been knocked out of balance, and after a few seconds, she added. “I guess that’s why the Coins chose you…” Before Lemon could say anything in return, she was quickly pulled into a tight hug from her. “I… I understand… Just… Just be safe, ok?”
Lemon looked at her, confused for a few seconds, hands stretched out before she nodded, closing the hug on her end as well. “Will do! You ain’t getting rid of us so easily!”
That got a light chuckle out of the older woman. “I guess so,” she smirked, her eyes a bit watery.
>-------<S>-------<
Timber was tipping his foot repeatedly on the ground, checking his phone almost every thirty seconds. Still, it didn’t change anything. She had read his message. She’d be here any minute now… Why was this so much harder than fighting monsters?
He let out a loud sigh, once again stashing his phone as a familiar voice knocked him out of his thoughts. “Hey, Timber…”
In an instant, he jumped up, spun around, and stared directly at an equally nervous Twilight who was adjusting her glasses. “H-Hey… T-Twilight…” He stammered back, looking at her awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. “N-Nice to se-see you…”
“Yeah…” She weakly returned, looking down for a moment before continuing: “You… Wanted to talk?”
Timber looked up once again, the beautiful girl seemingly just as nervous as he was. But not in the usual, Twilight way, no… This was different… Did she catch on? How could she, right? These and many, many other thoughts raced through his head as they struggled for dominance over his vocabulary to press out anything.
“Y-Yes…” Was all he managed to press out, as his words continued to fail him.
“So… What do you want?” He stared back at her, hearing her words almost as if she was saying them a mile away. They felt so distant, but at the same time felt like a punch to the gut.
“I… It’s… I’m sor-“ He stammered, again trying to get out what he wanted to say.
“I… Think I know what you want…” Twilight finally sighed, sitting down on the bench he had sat on before.
“Y-You do?” He returned, staring at her with wide-open eyes. “B-But how would-“
“I… I might not be the best in social situations, but… I notice when my boyfriend doesn’t feel normal. You want to break up… Don’t you?” The girl asked, a somber tone in her voice, all while she avoided his look.
“How… Yes…” Timber simply stated, taking a seat next to her. “I’m… I’m sorry… But… I feel like I’m torn apart right now… On one hand… I don’t want to end this, but… Whenever I’m here, something always gets in the way, and I feel like I’m letting you down…” He let sink down his head and let out a sigh of relief.
“I… I get it… Your job doesn’t really have off days. And I don’t want you to give up on helping people. I still remember your eagerness that night… You were so happy that you could do more. I can’t take this from you… I… I might not know as much about friendship as my friends, but I do know that if you really care for someone that you should let them do what makes them happy… Even if that means that you gonna feel bad for a while…” She sighed as well, hanging her head a bit with a slightly pained smile. “And you are happy when you help people.”
“I… Thank you, but… I don’t want you to feel bad ei-“ He once again tried to say when he was interrupted.
“I won't feel bad! Well… Maybe a little bit… But I have my friends. I won’t be alone. And if I know you are happy, I can push through… And it’s not like it’s goodbye forever!” She returned with a slightly more confidant smile. “I wanted to tell you something as well. Honestly… I kinda wanted to break up with you today as well… But… You were faster, it seems…” She chuckled weakly.
“Yo-You wanted too?”
She simply nodded. “Yeah… And I wanted to tell you about what I wanted to do after this.”
“After this?” He returned, sounding a bit confused.
“Yes… You are a Rider… And you are going to continue being one. You have a goal, something to strive towards… Ever since I came to Canterlot High, I didn’t really have one… I just wanted to get my life back together… Lived into the day… And I wouldn’t trade that time for anything in the world. I made so many friends… Learned about magic and meat you… It was a wonderful time, but… Ever since I saw you that night. That drive… I… I felt lacking…” Twilight continued, rubbing one of her arms with a quiet sigh.
“I once had a goal… Something to strive for… Something that ruled my life… I don’t want to be that person ever again, but… I know I’m missing a part of me. I want to study magic! I need to know! I need this! And for that… I can’t stay here forever… School is ending so soon… And many of my friends will stay here… I… Didn’t want to admit that,” she bit her lower lip as she said that. “But can’t run away from the future forever. If I want to fulfill my dream… I have to join the MRG! They are the place that has the most significant grasp of magic. And that means… I can’t stay in Canterlot anymore… I have to part with my friends… But I won’t lose them! And when I join the MRG... I’m going to make sure we see each other again… Maybe things will be different by then,” she finished with a smile on her lips. “That is a promise!”
“You… You would do this for me? But… That is so long… Are you sure about this?” He looked at her, unsure of what exactly to feel. He felt sad, relieved, and so much more at the same time.
She shook her head. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for both me and you. None of us is happy right now and before this breaks away… Better to try later again… But until then,” she said before pulling him into a tight hug. “Good luck!” Timber simply nodded, the relive at least slightly overtaking the other emotions.
“Thank you…” He returned solemnly before Twilight let go again and stood up. It felt like an eternity as she walked away. Still, it felt like a rock had fallen from his chest as he sat there. He felt bad and good at the same time.
“Ouf, that was rough!” It suddenly came from beside him. He almost fell off the bench, Lemon leaning over the other side of it as she looked after Twilight.
“W-What are you… Why are… Since when are you here?” He stammered back, taking a few deep breaths.
“Oh? Just saw you here and kinda sorta violated your privacy. That’s ok, right?” She awkwardly chuckled. Timber just sighed. “Good!”
“Yeah… It is, but… I kinda feel like I made the right call,” he returned after a few seconds, his voice somber, yet calm.
“Yeah… Sorry man. But want to hear my opinion? I think this will work out in the long run!” She chuckled, giving him a light jab in the shoulder. “And if you ever need help, be it with work, or in the personal department, we’ll always be there. Heroes need to stick together,” she smirked, holding out her fist towards him.
“Yeah… They do! Same from me. If anything ever comes up, I’ll try my hardest to help out! Promise!” He said, a somewhat weak smile on his lips and returned her fistbump.