//------------------------------// // Superhero Time - Part 1 // Story: Power Rangers Shadow Force // by Layton13 //------------------------------// It had been three days since the events around Pharynx and Sunny. Changeling attacks had died down completely, leaving the Rangers a very welcome break to take a breath once more. The girls used the newfound and spare free time to take care of things that had sadly fallen to the wayside while fighting monsters. Sunny had continued her sewing lessons together with Rarity, slowly starting to get better and better at it. Sour simply relaxed a bit; after the last few weeks' stress, she really deserved it. Sugar jumped back into her studies while Sour was putting in extra hours training her martial arts. Meanwhile, Lemon had finally decided to get back into looking for a possible direction she could get into after school. Until now, it hadn't yielded more than jobs she was not interested in, but it was at least a start. Indigo had returned to her regular training with the track team, her rivalry with Lightning Dust flaming up like never before. And Cadance, as well as Shining Armour, were busy trying to look for other Abyss Coins, but until now, there hadn't been any progress made on that front. All in all, times like these were almost as if everything had returned to normal, and Canterlot City was the peaceful city it had been before all of this insanity started. All of this was absolutely not apparent if one looked at the events transpiring in front of the Canterlot Museum of History. The entire plaza in front of the building looked more like the sights of some ancient ruins at this point than anything resembling a place inside a city. The sculpture that had stood in its center was now wholly unrecognizable, utterly smashed to pieces, and the destruction still ragged on around it. The six Rangers were fighting tooth and nail against two new Changelings… Or, at least, they thought they were Changelings. Both were clad in strange armor, covering their entire bodies. It just didn't fit into the way Changelings usually looked. But what was even weirder was the device on their arms. It was deep black, with purple outlines and most disturbingly, almost looked like a carbon copy of their Morphers. The first one was clad in silver armor with fiery red plates covering about half of it—gold ornament decorated parts of its red bits. Two fire-like antennas decorated his helmet, which looked like it actually had a visor in the shape of an insect mouth. In his hands, he held two dark red scimitars shaped like pincers. His blades came down hard on the paving beneath him, cracks immediately forming where he had it, only to be covered in an eruption of flames; one, Lemon only barely managed to jump back, just out of reach of the fire. "Wow! Boy, this is hot! I can still feel the heat from back here!" She let out, looking back at the armored Changeling as he pulled his weapon back before dashing ahead once more, dragging a trail of embers behind him. Her entire body felt the force behind the sudden attack, her sword rising just mere seconds before his blade sliced into her. It was like one had tasked her with taking a bus straight on, or at least, that was how it felt, the ground below her not disagreeing in the slightest as it started to crack. Worst of all, the scimitar was still set ablaze, the unimaginable heat letting her sweat even more than the hottest summer day. [I-I-Ice!] Just as it felt like she was about to melt, a sudden burst of cold, fresh wind blew through, followed by the blade scrapping across the metal of her own sword, the monster swinging it in such a way to cut through the ice projectile shot at him. With one absolutely perfect swing, the blade cut through the ice, evaporating it in an instant. The monster's uncaring visor stared at Sugar, just enough time for Lemon to get out of dodge. Not to be outdone, the opponent swung his sword, letting the remaining water on it burst into mist before both weapons once more burst into flames. Two violent swings with them later, a burning x was rocketing towards the Blue Ranger, only growing in size as it came closer. Ice projectile after ice projectile vanished into the flaming x of death, never to be seen again as it came closer. "I might have miscalculated," she quietly muttered when she realized her efforts were in vain, but at this point, it had already been far too late to dodge, her hand starting to shake slightly as she readied herself for the inevitable pain. [Sp-Sp-Speed!] In the last few moments before impact, she couldn't other and slammed her eyes shut, trying to cover herself with her arms, but as the seconds went by, she didn't feel any sort of pain. Instead, she felt two arms below her as she was swooped off the ground and the air rushing past her. Once she dared to open her eyes once more, she looked straight into the helmet of Lemon. "Thought I return the favor from back in Griffonstone," she playfully returned. "The polite thing to do, right?" "Th… Thank you," she returned a bit awkwardly before regaining her composure. "This Changeling is different than the rest." While she was saying that, she was also standing back up from being carried around by Lemon. "We have to think of something to counteract his fire." "Yeah! We really do, or el-" she was about to say when the Changeling came up from behind them, ready to take their heads off, only for his weapons to clash into Cadance's shield. A few of the embers still spilled over, covering the three in a light coat of dust. "Less talking, more fighting girls!" The older Ranger, more or less, growled under her breath as she struggled to simultaneously hold him off and not get roasted. The three other Rangers weren't faring much better either, their opponent clad in similar armor; but instead of the striking red, he was instead equipped with a black variant. Silver lines adorned his equipment, with very similar antennas. The only thing that really stood out on him was what he was wielding on his other arm. It looked like a wrist-mounted triple-barrel riffle; the only difference was that it was held by a strange lever-like handle and a small hole on its top parts. All in all, the two reminded them of ants. [Sh-Sh-Shield!] Indigo was currently trying to get closer to the monster, rushing headfirst towards him. A barrage of bullets was raining down on her, so much so that even though they all crashed into her shield, she just couldn't move forward. The fore of the projectiles was just too strong, slowly pushing her back again, while every reflected bullet just shredded the area around them as they slammed into the ground, kicking up quite the dust cloud. And through it all, she just gritted her teeth and stood firm, no matter how much it felt like she was being rained on by a baseball machine. While the Changeling was occupied by Indigo, both Sunny and Sour had speed around him, pulling out their swords and were quickly running up to him. Their hearts were racing like crazy; every second they wasted gave him more time to realize what they were up to. They had almost reached him when their blood just froze in their veins. In one single moment, the Changeling had spun around before unloading on them. Caught completely off guard, the two Rangers were caught in the bullet hail as sparks erupted all over their bodies, throwing them off their feet. Their chests stung like Tartarus as if a particular vicious swarm of hornets had made it their missions to ruin their day. And Indigo wasn't spared either; her constant push forward had launched her into stumbled straight towards the Changeling. But instead of just shooting her as well, he just somersaulted over her before laying into the Yellow Ranger with his wrist-mounted rifle. With a loud scream, she was sent flying, rolling over the floor like a football. The Changeling was about to unload his gun once more, while the other one was striking down on Cadance behind her shield again and again when suddenly a strong wind picked up. But not just any wind; this one was accompanied by the sounds of something loud. With every passing second, the wind picked up, blasting down on them from above, almost extinguishing the Fireant Changelings scimitar in the process. Everyone, even the Changelings, looked up, watching as a strange mix between a helicopter and a jet slowly descended from above. Two massive propellors were attached to its two wings on either side, angled so that the vehicle could quickly descend and rise. As the VTOL lowered more and more, the back cargo bay began to open, just as it touched down. All eyes were on the bay, and the figures that were revealed, the air filled with a weird mixture of curiosity and nervousness. Lemon could feel herself holding her breath as two figures emerged, a man and a woman. He had an orange complexion with short red and light orange hair. Playfully jumping down from the cargo bay, one could see his black leather jacket over a red shirt with a feather on it, as well as the warm smirk across his face. The woman, meanwhile, had a light blue skin tone with long, flowing dark blue hair with a few neon blue streaks. She instead simply stepped out of the VTOL while wearing a black jacket with a dark blue shirt underneath. A strange red gemstone belt buckled on her purple belt. "Well, looks like we're just in time! Seems we didn't miss out on all of the fun this time," the man chuckled, stretching himself as he did so. "What do you say?" "I'd say you're way too excited about this again. Be honest, you just wanted out of the investigating and back to beating up some monsters. Otherwise, you wouldn't even have suggested joining them," she returned with a sigh and shaking her head. He awkwardly chuckled back, rubbing the back of his head: "Hey, only because I know it's part of the job doesn't mean I have to like it. And really, come on, being back here will be fun. I missed this city. Look, the welcoming committee is here already," he smirked cheekily and pointed at the two Changelings. The woman sighed again before smiling back: "You’re hopeless, you know that?” The only answer she got was a smirk. “But, yeah, you’re right. It’s good to be back. I missed this place.” “Excuse us if we are intruding, but who are you,” the Fireant growled, taking a step towards them, tightening his grip on the two swords. “Oh, right, sorry. My bad!” The man shouted back. “How rude of us. Crashing your party and all, Fire Butt.” “Fire Bu- What!?” The Changeling bellowed back, his voice shaking with anger, all while the Rangers just looked at what was transpiring in front of them with utter bafflement. Even Indigo, Sour, and Sunny pulled themselves up, watching on, in a mixture of curiosity and confusion. “Oh, you heard me, Fire Butt. But if you want to know who we are, I think this might help a bit,” he added with a smirk before pulling out a strange, oval-shaped silver belt buckle and slapped it on his waist. Out of nowhere, the buckled extended, looping around his waist and forming a complete belt, all while the woman next to him touched the gem on her own buckled, it starting to turn into a belt of her own; this one with a long red line across its lower half and what looked like the cylinder of a revolver on its side. “Wait… Are you…” Lemon suddenly stuttered, taking a few steps towards the two. Her hands moved towards her helmet, almost as if she was covering her mouth as she started to jump from leg to leg. In the meantime, the man had pulled out a strange, flame-shaped disc and inserted it into the belt, and the woman had slotted something into her cylinder. \ MAGIC DISC DETECTED! / \ SCANNING CHARGE! / “Ready?” He asked, smirking over to her, only receiving a simple nod. “Ok then!” With that, he spun the disc, while she spun the cylinder on the belt, both simultaneously shouting: “Henshin!” \ FLAME DISC ACTIVATED! / \ 50, 80, 100! THUNDER CHARGE! / Out of seemingly nowhere, his entire body was consumed in a tornado of flames while a blue orb of electricity formed around the woman. Within seconds, each dispersed, revealing armored figures. One, clad in red armor with gold lines ornamenting its design and two shoulder pads decorated with some sort of armored feathers. Two green bug eyes glared at them, a silver mouth guard covering the helmet and a pair of flame-shaped horns atop his head. On the other hand, she had been clad in an electric-blue suit, covered by silver armor plates with black outlines. Her armor was far more streamlined, practical, and modern. Several light blue tubes lined her arm and shin guards, while two piercing red bug-eyes looked straight ahead, almost completely distracting from the two antennas on her forehead. “So, if it still hasn’t clicked who we are, Fire Butt, I’m Kamen Rider Alchemy, and this here is Kamen Rider Charge. And we are here because we want to play exterminators. So, what do you say? Wanna be playmates, or do you want to surrender right now?” Alchemy asked, crossing his arms in front of him and tilting his head smugly. “Kamen… Rider?” The Fireant Changeling asked, looking confused at the two. “Wait… You’re serious?” He returned, audible confusion in his voice. “You don’t know who the Kamen Riders are!?” Sunny suddenly shouted out. “Do you live under a rock!? Kamen Riders are heroes! They kick monster butt and protect people! How can you not know that!?” She continued, stomping over to the Changeling and poking him in the chest, not to his amusement. “Well, at least we got one fan,” he chuckled. “Guess it's something, right?” Charge merely looked over to him and coldly returned: “You can give out autographs later, right now work calls. Isn’t that what you wanted anyway?” “You’re in such a bad mood today. Probably because we didn’t have anything good to eat for half a week. But, yeah, let’s. I’ll take Fire Butt, you take… Ugh…” He snapped his fingers a few times before continuing: “Ugh… Yeah, the other guy. I’ll come up with a name for him later. And after that, how about a pizza? I know you’ll love that!” “Sure you will,” Charge added with a chuckle. “Good luck!” “Good luck,” he returned before returning to the red one. “So, lucky you just won a round with me. I hope you’re ready!” As he spoke, he cheekily signaled the Changeling to come closer. “You damn arrogant clown!” It came back with an angry growl as the Changeling swung his scimitars around, almost hitting Lemon, who barely jumped out of the way in time, before dashing headfirst towards the Rider. \ Flame Disc Attack Mode! / \ Flame Saber! / Meanwhile, he had pulled the Disc once more from his belt, as it suddenly was consumed by a bright red glow. Once it had subsided, he held a sharp katana with an orange blade, and flame-like golden ornaments etched into it. The Disc had become its hilt. The Changeling, however, was less than impressed as he continued to rush straight ahead before swinging his own weapons wildly at him. Alchemy jumped into action just before he came into slashing distance. Out of nowhere, his playful stance vanished as he jumped forward, rolling into a dodge and just under the first fiery slash, the flames reflecting off his armor as he did so. Out of sight of his opponent, he came to a stop behind the monster, jumping back up. Stopping dead in its tracks, the Fireant Changeling looked around in utter confusion, only to let out a loud scream as the blade cut into his backside, sparks erupting everywhere. Stumbling forward, Alchemy quickly delivered a swift kick to his butt, throwing him to the ground. The rangers just looked at the fight transpiring in front of them, all while Lemon was jumping up and down like a little girl. “Ah, so that’s what you do. I honestly had expected a bit more from you, but oh well,” he chuckled as the Changeling stood back up again. “And since you spit a lot of fire, let’s see how you take it.” With that, he spun the Disc-handguard of his sword and pushed ahead. “Flaming Slash!” The Changeling hadn’t even been able to stand back up properly as the hero rushed at him once more. But this time, he wouldn’t be caught off guard like this. Letting out a loud scream, he pulled the two swords in front of him, ready to take the attack head-on. As expected, the orange blade slammed against his two. The strength of the single blow was immense, threatening to push the weapons out of his grip as the two different flames started fighting over dominance, singing his armor in the process. But, ultimately, the Chnagelling proved his strength by pressing back against the Rider. With an annoyed growl, he jumped back, turning his weapon back into a Disc. “Well, that is certainly a surprise. You’re stronger than you look, Fire Butt. Gotta give you credit there, but, thing is, well…” He chuckled, placing the Disc on the side of his belt, next to several other ones, all while taking one of them. “It’s not like this was my only trick. But before that,” he said, turning towards the three Rangers next to him. “You wanna join in as well? Don’t want to ruin your show, you know.” Without waiting for an answer, he spun the Disc he had placed on his belt. \ THUNDER DISC ACTIVATED! / Once again, a magical vortex covered the Rider, this time, however, lightning instead of fire. Once it had subsided, it revealed that the red of the armor had been replaced with light blue. The feathery shoulders had been replaced with far more lightning-themed ones, and his horns were shaped like bolts. The entire thing was rounded up by two piercing red bug-eyes. “Yes! Yes! One-thousand times yes! I know what that form can do! I know exactly what to do!” Lemon immediately shouted back and went for her Coin holder, frantically looking for the right one, while muttering to herself: “I can’t believe it! Alchemy! We’re working with Alchemy! This is so fucking awesome!” \ Thunder Disc Attack Mode! / \ Thunder Tonfa! / While she had been fidgeting with her Coins, Alchemy had removed his Disc from his belt once more, it turning into electro-blue tonfas with gold ornaments, the Disc mounted right above the handle of one of them. “Well, that’s good. Until then, I’m gonna go on ahead!” From one moment to the next, his body was just gone, only a few stray arcs of electricity left behind. And that just in time dodge the sudden wall of fire crashing down on where he had been standing mere moments before. With another growl, the Changeling swung his head around wildly, looking for any sign of the Rider. Just as he turned once more, he suddenly felt his head jerked in the direction he had moved it in. But, once he had swung it back, nothing was there anymore. And, just as he was about to let out another curse, he felt a sudden pain in his stomach. The air was pressed out of his lungs in one fell swoop, making him feel like a deflated balloon as he stumbled backward. At least, this time, he actually could see his assailant, Alchemy! The Rider pulled back the tonfa, tilting his head and looking at the Changeling again. “Gotta be honest, you’re quite the resilient type. You took a few good blows like they were nothing but a few punches. But, the thing is, I ain’t the only one you’re fighting against,” he said with a smirk beneath his helmet, and as if on cue, a red blur rushed past him, letting sparks explode all across his chest. “Oh! My! Goodness!” Lemon shouted out as she came to a stop right next to him. “That was so awesome! The way you just blitzed past him, like, zoooooom! And then, the gut-punch! Like, like, bam! And last but not least, that line! So badass! I can’t believe I’m working with you!” “Well, I mean, you provided the punchline for the last bit… Or is it more a slash line,” he returned, rubbing his chin as he did so. “What do you thi-“ His thoughts were cut short as he suddenly felt an enormous heat next to him, almost as if he was cooked alive. Spinning back around, the two could see both Sugar and Cadance havening jumped in the way of the Changeling’s attack, blocking it with their swords. “When… You’re done with this… We’re still in a fight!” Cadance hissed back over her shoulder, the two heroes sheepishly rubbing their heads in return. “Sorry,” Lemon awkwardly returned. “Yeah, same… Kinda got distracted… My bad!” He added, weakly chuckling in return. “Just fight already!” She screamed back, letting the two jumped back into action in an instant. In the meantime, Charge, as well as the three other Rangers, were locked in a battle with their own Changeling. He had tried to rain down suppressive fire on Charge, or at least, he had tried to. Instead, he was constantly trying to swing its weapon around fast enough to hit her, only for the only thing to be left to be a blue blur. “Grrr! Why can’t she stay still?” He muttered, his head spinning around in a desperate attempt to find out where she had gone. “You know what? Screw it! Spray and pray it is!” Gripping the gun on his arm, he readied himself to unleash a barrage of bullets everywhere before a sudden voice snapped him out of his own thoughts. “I wouldn’t call that appropriate force, especially in such a densely populated area.” Before he could even process what she had said, he could feel something smash into his helmet. It felt like he had just slammed into a roadsign on a bike as he stumbled backward. “You damn-“ The Changeling tried to hiss at her, only to stagger backward, several sparks erupting from multipile places on his chest. Tiny bolts of electricity ran over his body as he stumbled even further back. Charge, meanwhile, holstered her gun once more and added a second baton to the one in her left hand before pulling out another one of the small, battery-like devices. “You… I’ll show you! You can’t run foreve-“ He tried to say, only to be interrupted by her stern voice. “Maybe. But I don’t have to.” And perfectly on cue, his back exploded in a rain of sparks as his screams carried over the battlefield, only overshadowed by Charge shouting: “Charge up!” \ 50, 80, 100! EARTH CHARGE! / A bright red-orange consumed her, quickly revealing a new form. Her undersuit had been replaced with orange, and an orb had been attached to the center of her breastplate. “Oh! That was awesome!” Indigo shouted from behind the Changeling. In response, he spun around, immediately unleashing a barrage of bullets on the Rangers, who quickly jumped backward. “Big mistake,” Sugar said in return. “Huh? Why?” The Yellow Ranger returned with a confused tone in her voice. “Because he’s gonna get one from the Rider!” Sunny answered for her friend and just in time for an orange hand to grab onto the Changelings shoulder and spin him around. However, to the Ranger’s surprise, the monster's rifle fired almost immediately on that happening, hitting the Rider point-blank. Smoke and sparks burst from her armor, but she didn’t even flinch, the orb on her chest glowing ominously. “Nice try. But sorry to disappoint you. This doesn’t work so easily on this form,” the Rider returned before pulling back her baton and smacking him across the jaw. As he pulled back up, one could see tiny cracks forming on his visor. “This… I’m not done! I’m not beaten so easi-“ Right in the middle of his little tantrum, he suddenly stopped, stepping back a bit. The other Changeling quickly followed suit, falling quiet in a similar manner. And before anyone could say anything, a loud clap started to carry over the entire piazza. “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Truly impressive! The Paladins are just as stubborn as back in my time. And, then, there are these new faces fighting alongside them. Even if one of them seems familiar,” it echoed as Stone Cutter stepped out of the museum, a wide smile on his lips. Petri Dish right next to him. “And who are you, fancy pants. Wait, no, that was already someone else. How about Charming? Yeah, I like that one! So, Charming, what’s your deal so we can kick your ass sooner!” Alchemy shouted at the man, who just shook his head with a smirk. “Oh, a jester. How amusing, even more so when he can actually fight. What weird times these are, I must say. But regardless, it seems that no matter the era, you meddling Paladins always chose to get in my way, even when I’m just trying to reclaim my property. Oh, my bad, I almost forgot that you go by ‘Power Rangers’ now. Was the old name getting too stale, Paladins?” He continued, taking a step down the stairs. “Excuse me? Jester! I’m a Kamen Rider! Kamen Rider Alchemy!” Alchemy shouted back at him, only to be ignored. “In the name of the MRG, I order you to surrender right now! You’ve broken into a museum and caused public distress! These are serious crimes! If you really are only here to regain your property, maybe we can talk this one out,” Charge quickly shouted, her voice stern and commanding. “Oh, I see. You’re a peacekeeper in this time. Interesting, but I can’t shake the feeling that you seem familiar. But be that as it may, I don’t think we will reach an amicable agreement. The Pal- No, the Rangers wouldn’t want that. And honestly, it would go against my pride to work with them after they took everything from me back then! No! I will take what is rightfully mine by the means I deem necessary. And I would suggest that you accept that, peacekeeper, because you should not separate an artist from his tools!” Stone Cutter returned, equally as firm, before raising his arm and snapping with his finger. “Until we meet again, Rangers and… Riders. I’m curious what the combatants of this age are capable of,” his voice continued as he and his underlings disappeared in green fire. “Hey! We weren’t done here! Why do they always run off?” Alchemy shouted back before kicking the ground with a huff. “Damn it!” He hadn’t even noticed Lemon jumping up and down next to him for a few seconds until the repeated tapping on the ground became too evident. “Uhh… Hey?” “Hey!” It almost screeched back as Lemon grabbed his hand and started shaking it wildly. He leaned over to Sugar, who had walked up to them and hushed under his breath: “That’s normal?” “More or less,” she simply said. “My… my name is… Sha- Shadow- Road! No! Red! Shadow Red! O- Or Le- Lemon Zest!” She continued to stutter out, her voice trying its best to subdue her excitement and failing miserably at it. “Hey Lemon, my names Ph-“ “Phoenix Feather! I know! I know everything!” Lemon burst back, still shaking his hand. “As amusing as this is, I think we should continue talking in a more… Private place,” Charge chuckled, patting the Rider on the shoulder. “Agreed. I have… a few questions to ask you two,” Cadance added as well. “Well, if this isn’t my chance to get back on top,” Pharynx muttered from around a corner, clenching his fist. His clothes were tattered and burned as if he hadn’t changed them since his defeat. >--------------< The heroes had retreated to a familiar place, even if some wouldn’t really call it a more private place, the pizzeria Magnum Opus. Property of Thunder Cloud, Phoenix’s brother. Thunder had welcomed them with open arms after he had released Phoenix from one of the longest hugs they had ever seen and told them to wait upstairs. After the pleasantries had been dealt with, things were finally time to get back to the pressing questions. “So, Phoenix Feather and Ocean Skies, right?” Cadance asked, both Riders nodding in return. “Why are you here? Any particular reason for that?” “Well, we were just in the area and thought a nice lit-“ Phoenix jokingly said before he got a quick slap on the back of his head, much to the shock of Lemon, who was hanging on his every word. “I think I should take care of filling in the Rangers. You… tend to paraphrase things a bit too much,” Ocean sighed. “You could have just told me,” he returned with a huff and crossing his arms. “Would you have listened?” She raised an eyebrow. “Probably not…” Phoenix sheepishly said. “See! But, as fun as teasing you is, we have people who wait for answers. We were sent to investigate a sudden massive spike in magic in the area of the mountains of Canterlot City. We were just returning from a previous mission-“ Ocean started, only to be interrupted by her partner. “Yeah. We fought a Pear monster trying to bury an entire town with… well, pears because his orchard was going out of business. You know, usual superhero stuff,” he shrugged, while the rest of the room just stared in absolute bafflement at him, minus Ocean, who just shook her head, Sugar, who was as nonplussed as ever, and Lemon, whose eyes were beginning to sparkle. “What? Not normal?” “No, not really,” Sugar returned. “Huh, lucky you,” he simply added as well. “As I was saying, we were just on the way back to Manehatten when we got reports of an explosion as well as the spiking magic readings. It seemed to be a wavelength we’ve never picked up before but bore a resemblance to both you,” she pointed at the Rangers, “as well as a Changelings. It turned out the explosion came from a Change Industries research station. And before we knew it, we were receiving similar readings from the city. Phoenix insisted we take a detour to investigate, but really, he wanted to see if these Changelings were really like in a battle.” “That, and I wanted to say hi to a few old friends. Not like you’re any better,” Phoenix returned with a smug grin. “Fighting the Changelings is no joke! I had expected you’d know that after you defended the city all this time,” Cadance coldly encountered, her arms crossed in front of her. “Cadance!” Lemon shouted out. “You can’t say that! He’s Alchemy!” “Now, now! No need to fall into twists! Especially when the food you asked me to prepare is done! Take delight in my creations, everyone!” Thunder’s voice echoed across the room as he planted down a bunch of pizzas, most relatively normal, like ham, pepperoni, and the like. All, minus one huge one that was put down in front of Phoenix and Ocean. It was a mess of pears, pineapples, bananas, and peanut butter on pizza! Phoenix, however, just waved his hand: “Eh, I don’t care. She probably ain’t wrong. Not much different from Corrupted, Phantoms, or Agents of the Order. Really, I’m honestly impressed that a bunch of Highschoolers could do the job so well. Through, Twilight and her friends, as well as Timber, really should have taught me better.” “Yeah! We rock, don’t we?” Indigo joined in, raising her fist, only to physically recoil as she saw Ocean grab a piece of the… abomination she called a pizza, take a huge bite and let out a delightful sigh. Phoenix just chuckled as he saw the horrified expression on the girl's faces; even Sugar was grimacing at this point and quickly grabbed a piece of the pizza as well, taking one massive bite from it. “Want some?” He added with a wide grin. “That is disgusting,” Sugar simply returned, the rest of the girls quickly nodding. “Yeah, it is,” Thunder quickly whispered into her ear before continuing: “But you can’t convince these maniacs otherwise.” “Only because it’s unorthodox doesn’t mean it’s not good. And it’s something fresh!” Ocean returned with a light huff. “Aww, you’re cute when you’re grumpy. And, don’t worry, your combo's as good as ever!” Phoenix returned, nudging her shoulder. “As interesting as your tastes in… food is, don’t we have more pressing matters at hand?” Cadance sighed, eyeing the two Riders carefully. “Certainly, but right now, the only thing we know is that he is looking for something and didn’t find it at the museum. I already called Shining and asked him and his team to cross-reference any exhibits that are currently not at the location. Until then, we won’t know what he really is after. And the only thing we can do is wait. That’s just how this goes sometimes. But trust me, I would have preferred it if we could have dealt with at the spot as well,” Ocean encountered. “Yeah, that’s just how the chips fall sometimes. Can’t do anything about it besides being ready and using the time, right?” Phoenix shrugged, taking another bite. “Yeah! Or do you have a better idea, Cadance?” Lemon asked, her eyes having regained the sparkle once more. Narrowing her eyes, she ultimately sighed: “No, but it feels wrong to relax when our opponent is still out there and out to take back whatever he wants.” “You gotta take the chance to relax whenever you can. You learn that when you end up being a full-time superhero,” Phoenix returned after finishing his current slice. “Otherwise, you break down. If you don’t know when to take a short break, you’ll just end up beaten and bloodied on the ground.” “You know all about that, don’t you Phoenix,” Ocean smirked. “That was one time! How many times are you gonna bring this up?” He grumbled, crossing his arms. “As long as it’s funny. And, what was it you said? You’re cute when you’re grumpy.” “Haha, you’re so funny, you know that?” “Oh, yes. I do,” she said with a knowing grin. “Hey, do you think Cadance and Shining are like this when we ain’t around?” Sour whispered over to Sunny, who just smirked back. “You know I heard that,” Cadance added as well, arms crossed in front of her. “Heard what?” Both girls returned in unison. And before Cadance could say anything else, Ocean’s phone started to ring. Pulling a similar brick-like phone out of her pocket like Shining, she flipped it open. “Yes? Ocean Skies here?” She simply said, only for her brows to furrow instantly. “I understand! We’ll be on our way! Immediately!” The last word she said, staring directly at Phoenix, who had just grabbed another slice, only to let it fall down again like a wet blanket. “What’s going?” Lemon asked as Ocean and Phoenix simultaneously jumped up. “Break is over! We need to head to the MRG! Now! The Changelings are back!” >--------------< Ten minutes later, the eight heroes burst through the front entrance of the MRG-building and right into a royale mess. The two Changeling’s from before were wrapped up in a firefight with the MRG agents and security forces. Well, calling it a fight was honestly a bit exaggerated. In reality, the Changelings were just blocking and dodging the fire from the agents' futuristic guns, like it was nothing. Unconscious security forces were being dragged away by their colleges while desperately trying to avoid getting hit themselves. “Anyone still here! Get out as fast as possible! Don’t leave anyone behind! We’ll cover your back!” Ocean shouted across the hall, letting even the two Changeling stop right in their tracks. The red one had stopped just in the middle of his slash, raised his two pincer scimitars towards them, and growled: “You! I’ll skin you alive! You’ll regret crossing me! This time, I’m prepared!” Without another word, both his blades burst into flames, quickly followed by a flaming x rocketing towards them. \ EARTH DISC ACTIVATED! / Alchemy dashed past them, speeding out of a rock tornado, now clad in orange, earth-themed armor, and slammed his fist on the floor. Just moments before the attack hit him, the ground below him started to glow, revealing a rune where he had struck it. And in the last second, a large wall rocketed up, shielding the heroes from the attack. “Prepared, eh? Yeah, honestly doubt that. You’ll get your shit kicked in, no matter what,” he chuckled, as the barrier lowered once more, and he went for the Disc on his Driver. Before pulling it from it, he turned back once more and shouted: “Hey, Red, Blue, Yellow? Wanna double… No, quadruple team this guy? Ocean and the rest can take on the other one.” Before either Indigo or Sugar could say anything, they had already been grabbed by Lemon and dragged towards the Rider. All while she screamed: “Yes! Yes! Yes! Thousand times, yes!” \ Earth Disc Attack Mode! / \ Boulder Shield! / A circular, orange and gold shield had appeared in his hand as he chuckled and returned: “Gotcha. Then let’s deliver a full course meal of pain to Fire Butt.” “Anyone ever told you to shut up!” It barked back at Alchemy and the three Rangers that had lined up next to him. “Oh, you wouldn’t believe how many people told me that. Surprisingly, it never really worked. Wanna see if you’re the first exception? But first, catch!” He shouted back before chucking the shield directly at him. The Changeling just dodged to the side, sneering back: “You think that would work? Really? You’re even dumber than you look!” Meanwhile, Alchemy had just crossed his arms and was quietly counting down: “Three, two, one!” Right on time, the shield crashed right into his side, having bounced off the elevator door and a few walls before that. Without as much as another word, the Changeling was sent flying right through the next wall. “Well, I might be an idiot, but you’re apparently a bigger one,” he chuckled as he caught the shield and dashed after him, the three Rangers right behind. “I’ll leave the rest to you, Ocean!” he shouted back one last time before disappearing into the hole in the wall. In the meantime, Ocean had already breached the distance between her and the Bullet-Ant Changeling, dodging and weaving between his shots and now brought down her baton onto him. The baton's metal crashed against his gun's outer casing before he jumped back and tried once more to hit her with a spray of bullets. Before he could even get one burst off, Sour and Sunny had suddenly jumped out from behind the Rider, letting their own salves of gunfire rain down on him. With pained grunts, sparks erupted from the armored opponent as he staggered backward, just enough time for Charge to change the Charger in her Driver. “Charge up!” \ 50, 80, 100! FIRE CHARGE! / Her undersuit had taken on a crimson color, and small, little jet engines covered her entire body that quickly started to glow a bright orange. A split second later, her elbow, propelled by several engines, rocketed towards the Bullet-Ant Changeling. With no way to react, all he could do was to watch as the flat end of the elbow crashed into his stomach. All the air was pressed out of his lungs in an instant, and to make matters even worse, he was flung across the lobby, crashing into one of the reception desks. While he was gasping for air and trying to crawl back up, Cadance had already rushed past the three others, sword and shield at the ready, and straight towards him. His vision was still blurry when she had actually reached the Changeling, but the light pink blur couldn’t be anything other than trouble. Putting together all of his strength, he managed to force himself back up and pull the trigger, unleashing an unholy avalanche of bullets. [Mi-Mi-Mirror!] It didn’t matter; it was already too late once he heard the announcement of Cadance’s gear. Within seconds, every single one of his bullets impacted back into him, erupting into a downpour of sparks. If he could have seen more clearly, he maybe would have noticed the Crystal ranger slotting in the Coin, but that just wasn’t the case. While he tumbled backward, both Sour and Sunny rushed past their mentor, delivering a double kick to his chest and just like Alchemy sending him through the next wall into what looked like a small employee room. >--------------< [I-I-Ice!] Sugar had managed to freeze the Changeling in place using her gun, Lemon already lining up next to her with her own gun. [Fi-Fi-Fire!] With no way to dodge, it wasn’t tough for the Red Ranger to hit him head-on, his screams filling the empty street as he was burned alive. The ice had almost fully melted when Indigo inserted her Coin into her weapon. [Li-Li-Lightning!] Before he could even utter another word, the lightning surged through his body, traveling along the water all over him until all off it had been reduced to smoke. With a loud, pained groan, he stumbled forward, completely unable to notice the fist that was heading straight for his face. Two seconds later, the monster landed with another pained grunt on the hard concrete. For him, everything was just a blur of colors at this point, besides the large, red thing a bit away from him. The more he focused, the more it became clearer to him. Alchemy, back in his fire form, casually cracking his knuckles while looking over his shoulder. “Well, didn’t seem like he saw this coming, did he?” The Rider chuckled with that far too familiar tone. That unbearably cocky tone. But that was all he needed. He just had to blitz him, and things would turn in his favor. That Rider was all bluster, no actual skill. In the blink of an eye, he had pulled himself back from the ground and shot at Alchemy like a missile, one of his scimitars in hand. “Watch out!” Indigo burst out, immediately jumping into action to try and push the Rider out of harm's way. But Alchemy just seemed to ignore her, instead of raising his hand lightly and flicking his fingers, a loud snap echoing through the street. In an instant, a strange symbol glowed upon the Changeling's face before immediately exploding just a moment later. He sailed through the air before crashing once more back onto the street behind him, the Rider turning, arms crossed in front of him. “I might be an idiot, sure, but I’m not stupid. I’m not making the same mistake twice, and you fell hook, line, and sinker for it. You were done for regardless if I was here or not. But, too bad, I am, so you get your shit kicked in even more. Girls?” The three Rangers looked at him for a moment in stunned silence before Lemon and Indigo shook their heads and shouted back in unison: “Yes! You’re going down, Fire Butt!” [Fi-Fi-Final! Red!] [Fi-Fi-Final! Blue!] [Fi-Fi-Final! Yellow!] All for once more acted in unison, slotting the Coins into their respective guns as the darkness gathered around the Changeling, as he clawed himself back up once more. “Oh, that is cool!” Alchemy exclaimed, looking expectedly at them. He didn’t need to wait that much longer anyway, as the three energy blasts shot straight through the darkness and with it, through the monster. Sparks and bolts of electricity ran through him, his body glowed where the Rangers had hit him, accompanied by pained groans and screams, but he was still standing. He spun the Disc on his Driver, dashing forward and jumping into the air without another word. \ Flame Disc Maximum Power! / In the air, he spun around until his foot was aimed directly at the Changeling. As he rocketed back down towards him, his entire body started to spin, quickly consumed in a fiery tornado. “Flaming Whirlwind Kick!” The monster could do nothing but watch as the Rider crashed into him with full force, right where the others had shot through him. With one last loud scream, it was finally done, as he burst through and coming to a screeching hold on the street behind him. The girls, however, only saw a massive explosion, consuming the Changeling in its entirety. >--------------< “Charge up!” \ 50, 80, 100! WATER CHARGE! / That was all he had heard before the entire room was filled with thick smoke, making it almost impossible to actually see anything beyond your own hand. As the Changeling stumbled forward, his free arm on his gun arm, he could feel the presence of them out there. The room was small; he knew they had to be close. In a split second, he spun around at the first sound, unloading his gun and ripping a massive hole into one of the nearby walls, but besides the sound of falling debris, he couldn’t make out anything else. No body hitting the floor, no drops of blood or pained grunts. He must have mis- Sharp pain in his back scattered any thought he might have had, quickly followed by another strike to the side of his head. He just hadn’t been fast enough to turn around in time. The throbbing pain was quickly added to with a punch to his cheek, forcing him back against what felt like a table. “You dam-“ he burst out, only for a hand t clamp over his helmet, almost cracking it in the process. Without any chance to react, the mist burst into his lungs, filling them to a painful degree. The only thing he could do was wince for air and cough, all while every breath just burned. He didn’t even notice Charge’s voice, as she continued matter off factly: “Charge up!” \ 50, 80, 100! THUNDER CHARGE! / \ Maximum Charge! / After the blinding light, to hands dug into his armored shoulders like claws before he suddenly felt her entire weight on him. It hit him, then again and again and again! She was slamming her feet into him, repeatedly for what felt like an eternity. His entire air had almost been pressed out of him, only for her foot to come down one more time, really dig into his chest and push herself off him, taking the little that was left of it with her. He was gasping for air, the smoke still burning inside him, as he heard the sounds once more. Sounds he already knew from long ago. [Fi-Fi-Final! Pink!] [Fi-Fi-Final! Green!] [Fi-Fi-Final! Crystal Heart!] He could steady himself just enough to see the pink glowing sword rush past and ultimately through him. Sparks illuminated the room, cutting through the slowly retreating mist. But they were not eager to give him any sort of reprieve as Sunny ran through him with her weapon, both blades crossing where Charge had focused her kicks at. His body was almost at its limit, breaking apart with every spark erupting from him, and he knew they weren’t finished just yet. Glaring forward, he watched as the last Ranger came down with her pink attack, cutting right through him, letting all his remaining power burst out in one big explosion. “That takes care of this, though I’m not sure this was all,” Charge muttered, stepping out of the room, an unconscious man in a lab coat over her shoulders, while Cadance was carrying the transformation device of his. “Yeah, we still gotta deal with that other guy, right?” Sunny added, stretching herself a bit as they reentered the lobby. “You think the rest are done as well?” “You can bet on it!” Lemon shouted back at them, jumping up from behind Alchemy as he was carrying a second scientist on his shoulder, just as out cold as the first, all while Sugarcoat was holding their transformation device. “We beat him up good! You should have seen it!” “Not the least enjoyable fight I’ve been in,” Phoenix chuckled. “So, where is Charming? If these clowns were here, he can’t be far either!” As if to answer his question, the elevator let out a loud ding and opened, revealing… Nothing! “I get the feeling somethings off here…” Phoenix muttered, crossing his arms. “Nothing can ever be easy, can it?” >--------------< Meanwhile, in the alley next to the building, three figures emerged from very familiar green flames, Pharynx behind the two newcomers, both his hands on their shoulder. With an exhausted sigh, he let go of them, slumping back against the wall. “My, my, the royal family has gotten far more uncomplicated than I remember. Usually, it takes them fifteen minutes of grandstanding to get to the point,” Stone Cutter chuckled, a sly grin on his lips. “I’m not in the mood for your jokes! I’m here to demand your servitude,” Pharynx growled. Petri Dish took a step forward, clenching his fist in the process, as Stone Cutter’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. “But still as demanding. But I’m a loyal servant to the royal family. So I’ll gladly step once more into their services. However, I do require my tools for this job. And this is where I require your assistance as well. If that is acceptable, my lord?” He bowed a warm smile on his lips. “It will be beneficial to all of Changeling kind, I assure you, my lord!” Pharynx eyed him for a moment, hearing the sounds of sirens in the background before nodding: “Fine! We have a deal!”