The Deal
The dark laboratory was suddenly illuminated in a blinding green light as two figures stepped out of a surging flame. One of the two was Thorax, who was supporting a weak-looking woman with yellow skin and white, long hair. He guided her through the empty lab before letting her sit down on one of the chairs that had been pushed to the side. „Here you go,“ he muttered, stepping back a bit. „Here are we save Third Eye.“
The woman looked at him for a moment before lowering her head in shame. I’m… I’m so sorry, my lord… I failed you,” she weakly said. “I failed both you, the entire swarm and the queen.”
“Don’t take it too hard, this-“ He was about to say when he was interrupted by a rough voice.
“Yes! Yes, you did! And the pathetic worm is actually trying to talk her out of her realization? Pathetic,” Pharynx spat out, the double door to the lab sliding close behind him.
“Pharynx, I would appreciate it if you would stop attacking my subordinates,” Thorax calmly returned as he slowly turned around.
“Tsk,” he huffed, throwing a disgusted look first at Third Eye and then at his brother. “Oh, playing the caring boss now, are we? You don’t get it, do you? She lost, she’s worthless. She lacks the strength to have any part in our new world. She just belongs at the bottom with all the others that can’t live up to the ideal. That’s what she is, and that is what she will always be! A failure is eternal; he can’t be erased. This entire world is a colossal failure, a failure that has to be broken down to the core and rebuild from the ground up! We can’t use broken goods in that process!”
“But aren’t we trying to rebuild the world by still using all the people in it that have the potential to fix it? We might destroy parts of the blighted world, the parts that are broken, but at the core, it’s still the same world. Why not with her? She’s loyal, followed her orders to a T, and is perceptive. All these qualities are hard to find. Her weakness, arrogance, and other shortcomings are just parts we have to strip her off to rebuild her stronger than before. Isn’t that what we ultimately aim for, break down this world and rebuild it better?” He returned, sounding calm and collected, but his eyes told a different story. They were shimmering green, green with determination.
“Oh, so this is what you think? Pathetic! Until now, your methods haven’t bared fruit either. You just collected the trash from the ground, pathetically scrambling to somehow not get your head caught on the chopping block. But trash will always be trash, no matter how much you polish it,” Pharynx dismissively said.
“And I disagree. If trash would always remain trash, then we can’t save the world because building this new one atop the old one. If trash remained trash, recycling wouldn’t be a thing, using what would usually be discarded as junk to create new tools for the world. And the ‘trash’ I have been collecting has gotten us closer to our goal. We are still far away from the magical energy we need to go over into the next phase of our plan, but we are slowly getting there. And now, with the last of my field agents reporting back to me, I have finally what I have been waiting for. I know who the Rangers are,” he calmly stated.
“We already knew that! We could have attacked them anytime we wanted. If that is all your oh so glorious planning has accomplished, then you are an even bigger failure than I thought,” his brother smirked, a smug, superior look in his eyes.
“No, not what their names and addresses are, we know that. What kind of persons they are. Come, Third Eye, what can you tell me about the Blue Ranger?” He turned around, a warm smile on his lips.
“The… The Blue Ranger?” She stuttered after a few moments, realizing she had been reintegrated into the conversation.
“Yes, the Blue Ranger. You have information for me, right?” He said the last few words with an unnerving undertone, one that let her blood freeze inside her veins, no matter how friendly his smile semed.
“Yea… Yeah, I have. The Blue Ranger is someone who tends to hide her true feelings behind an aloof mask. She is afraid to tell others about them as much as possible, making it possible to isolate her. She is also afraid of fish form some Tartarus damn reason, but don’t ask me why. It’s not much, but…” she stammered, nervously looking back at Thorax. He had continued to smile at her through her entire report, his expression itself not changing, but she didn’t feel the dread anymore.
“Oh, it’s more than enough. I think I understand her now, it puts several things into perspective. I would still like you to tell me everything else in greater detail later, but for now, you’re dismissed. Return to your job and not speak about this to anyone.” She nodded in return before hastily stumbling towards the door, only to be stoped by Thoraxe’s voice once again. “Oh, and don’t forget to check by the infirmary as well. You’re in bad shape, but nothing a few bandages can’t fix.” Looking at him in confusion, she nodded again and walked out, Pharynx spitting after her.
“And how is that supposed to be useful? Are you gonna throw fish at her and hope she locks up?”
“No, I plan to talk to them.”
At this, Pharynx just stared at his brother in absolute shock. “You… You want to talk? Are you that afraid of them that the only way you see yourself winning this is by discussing with our enemies? You’re pathetic!”
“No, I just don’t think the Rangers are bad people. They have the same end-goal as we save this world. Until now, they only know half the picture. Now that I know what kind of persons they are, I’m sure I can convince them. They just need to see that what we are trying to do here is for the betterment of this world. I know what will appeal to them, what to say. I know I can do this and give them a chance to save the world with us,” he finished, a warm smile on his lips. “What do you think?”
“I think you are insane. Discussing with the Rangers is doomed to fail. Leave me out of this mad plan of yours and see how this will pan out,” he growled before stomping out of the room.
Thorax looked after him for a few more seconds before sighing: “I can’t believe it. Even when I show him a way without bloodshed and fighting, he still refuses to even acknowledge it. We can’t create a better world by only destroying, we also have to be able to build something new in its place. I hope the Rangers understand what we really want. They are good people, they are just misguided. I think they would make themselves wonderful in this new world.”
>-------<S>-------<
The next day the five girls had managed to score themselves one day off training, partially because Sugar still needed to recover a little bit, partly because Cadance had something to do at the school and allegedly because they deserved. Save to say, no one but Lemon believed it, but they weren’t gonna waste that present anyway. The finally had time to spend with their friends again, well more than just a little bit at least. They would sue this day to its fullest, no one could do anything to stop them.
They were a bit surprised that their friends seemed to all have time to just hang out the next day. Either they had nothing planned or were actively trying to make time for them, either or, it didn’t really matter to them. The only thing important was the fact that they would eat pizza with a group of friends.
School came and went like it was nothing, and within no time, the five girls had gathered in one of the most famous local pizzerias, the Magnum Opus, and somehow they had managed to get a table there on such short notice. Whatever they did, that was something quite impressive. The girls had told them that they would come back a bit later, they were meeting with someone who had just returned to Canterlot City, so there the five were, right in front of the sandstone building, with a large sign on it and a large double glass door.
A bit hesitantly, they opened the two glass doors and stepped inside. Immediately they were greeted by the smell of garlic, marinara-sauce, and dough. It was an overwhelming scent, but not unpleasant. The inside was quite rustic, garlic hanging from the ceiling, and a large flatscreen hung from the wall. Like outside, the restaurant was made out of sandstone. Twelve tables with four chairs each were scattered across the room, all wholly occupied. All in all, it was a lovely place to eat, if not a bit cramped.
“Hello, how can I help you?” A friendly voice asked them, turning around they were greeted by a dressed in a blue t-shirt and a brown apron with the ‘Magnum Opus’-logo on it. She had bright yellow skin while her electric blue hair was bound together in a ponytail. “You have any reservations? Because otherwise, I can’t really give you a table,” she continued.
“No, we not. But our friends said we should wait here for them. Did anyone like Sunset Shimmer order a table here?” Sugar said, taking the woman a bit aback by her matter-of-factly tone.
“Oh…” She returned, blinking a bit before continuing. “So you are the friends Sunset and the other Rainbooms have talked about. Sure I have something for you, come,” she smiled, gesturing them to follow her. “Oh, my name is Summer Breeze, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Summer,” Lemon returned with a bright smile. “So, you know Sunset and her friends, or what?”
She stopped in front of the door to the kitchen and turned around. “I think there is someone else who can explain this better. Brace yourself,” she chuckled before opening the door and screaming inside: “Thunder, part of your special guest are here!”
The girls looked at the door in confusion before a man clad in the same kind of apron as Summer, wearing a black shirt. His skin was a warm yellow while his hair was a short black. He was covered in a lot of flour and a bit of marinara sauce. “Ah, there you are! You must be the friends Sunset and the others talked about. Come, come, through the kitchen to the stairs. I’ll be right with you,” he said with a very energetic voice and one of the warmest smiles they had ever seen. Lemon and her friends just nodded a bit perplexed and started to step into the kitchen.
“Wait, though the kitchen? You have places to sit for customers through the kitchen? Isn’t that a bit… unsanitary?” Sunny asked, looking at the man with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, usually not. But I always have a seat open for friends and friends of friends. Technically this isn’t really allowed, but one can bend the rules a little bit, can’t one,” he smirked. “Now, hush, hush. I don’t need you all in my kitchen.”
With that, he pushed the girls towards the stairs and up into a well-furnished living room decorated with a red couch, armchairs, a TV, and a small table, just big enough to possibly hold all of them. “Huh, so, does he let us just use his living room like this? That’s weird…” Sunny muttered before shrugging and claiming one of the armchairs for herself.
“Well, he seems to really trust the Rainbooms if he does. Either or, I don’t really care. This is nice,” Indigo returned with a shrug, taking a glance at one of the pictures depicting a pizza. “Really, the guy seems to love his job. Kinda envious really, even if it’s strange,” she chuckled.
“Oh, I think he is nice. I’m kinda surprised any of you aren’t freaking out about this, though,” Lemon said, curiously walking across the room, examining everything with a wild glee on her lips.
“Why?” Sour returned, somewhat confused. “Is he somehow connected to a famous historical figure or what? Or a pizza-themed supervillain? Because the later I would totally buy.”
Lemon just sighed: “Oh, come on, really? You don’t know who he is? Please, he is Alchemy’s brother. We are sitting right now in the former living room of a superhero! How awesome is that, please? I can firmly smell the justice emanating from the walls here!” Lemon’s entire face had morphed into the extremest smile any of them had ever seen, almost like she would just drop dead any second from now from pure excitement.
“Easy there, Lemon, you wouldn’t want to collapse here. That would be a tad bit awkward to explain,” Sunny chuckled as she shook her head. “And please don’t take a souvenir,” she added with a sigh.
“I would never!” She huffed back, crossing her arms in front of her. “And please, as if any of your fashionistas would invite you into their home, you would react the same way,” she continued with a devilish smirk.
That got Sunny to blush a bit: “That… I mean… Who wouldn’t… Ok, fine, you win!” She finally finished with a huff of her own, only to be followed by a laugh from Lemmon and soon the rest.
“Well, looks like you started the fun without us already?” A somewhat raspy voice called out from the stairs.
Before anyone else could say anything, Indigo screamed out in glee: “Rainbow! It’s been too long!” Like a speeding bullet, she jumped up from her chair and pulled the rainbow-haired girl into a tight hug.
“Hey! Hey, not so fast!” She got in return as Rainbow tried to free herself, without much success before Indigo stopped on her own. While brushing her clothes back into form, she continued: “Heard you’re track team is doing good?
“Yep! We finally got one of our best runners back! And my personal rival! There is just no one who can push me to my limits like Lightning Dust!” Indigo smirked in return. “Man, I missed her.”
“Lightning Dust, eh?” She got as an answer. “You’re sure about that? You know, with the whole monster business and all? I know you weren’t there, but she really went off the rails back then.”
“Lightning’s fine! That’s in the past! She’s really embarrassed about all of this now. Something like that shouldn’t define you as a person if you actually put in the effort to improve,” Indigo sighed.
“Sounds like a good idea; otherwise, I would still be trying to take over Equestria,” another voice said, this time from Sunset Shimmer, behind her Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight, only for two other persons to come up the stairs. The first one was Thunder, who just smiled at them, but the other one they didn’t know. He was a young man with light brown skin and green hair and stoped right next to Twilight.
“Seems you made yourself all comfortable already? What mine is yours,” Thunder chuckled only to add a nervous: “Just don’t actually steal something. I don’t mean it that way.”
“Don’t worry, they shouldn’t do that,” Sunset chuckled, shaking her head a bit.
“Well, if we stop from Lemon taking an Alchemy souvenir, that is,” Sunny added with a sly smirk.
“Oh, come on, you look a little, and everyone thinks you’re a thief now or what?”
“Oh? She’s a fan of my brother? Nothing new, can’t fault her, really. He saved the city after all,” Thunder smirked.
“Yeah, she’s a massive Super Hero geek. You should have seen her a few minutes ago,” Sunny continued, the smirk on her lips telling everyone what a great time she just had.
“And what? I just like people who stand up to the ones that want to hurt others, ok?” She returned with a frown on her lips.
“Oh, no. I get it. I understand why that idiot gets that,” Thunder smirked. “But, as much fun as it would be to tell you about how the guy really is, I have a restaurant to run. So, how about I get your orders and be on my way again.”
It didn’t take them long till everyone had ordered theirs, Pinkie taking one with candy corn of all things, but Thunder didn’t seem to mind and even added that it wasn’t the weirdest order he ever had. After he had returned to the kitchen or ‘his realm’ how he liked to call it, all of them were left on their own.
“Ok, seriously, how do you know the guy, and who did you have to murder for getting a table here?” Sour blurted out after Thunder had left the room.
Sunset just chuckled before returning: “Well, we came here a lot before the place became this popular. Don’t get me wrong, it was a rather popular place even back then, but ever since the Alchemy thing everything is just always full, so that helped. And we sometimes helped Alchemy out a bit with our Geodes, and when the city was overrun with monsters, we did as well. He thinks he somehow owes us something, even though he really doesn’t.”
“Oh, right, totally forgot that you did. The fact that you pretty much managed to keep that a secret from most people doesn’t help much,” Sour continued. “But, I’m not complaining, this is great!”
“Yeah, it does have its good sides, doesn’t it?” Rainbow added, grinning from ear to ear.
“Oh, yes, it does! This is fucking awesome!” Indigo returned, in almost the same tone.
“There are two who found each other,” Sunny silently chuckled to Sour, who joined her without as much as a second thought.
“Oh, totally. These two are so much alike. I’m surprised they haven’t hit it off yet,” she returned with a sly grin.
But before Sour could say anything else, Sunny’s eyes wandered over to one person in particular. “So, Twilight…” She continued, her mischievous grin only growing in intensity as she talked further. “Who is the young man next to you?”
That did catch Twilights' attention who almost fell off the couch so flustered was she. Her cheeks were burning a bright red when she awkwardly returned: “Uhm, he? He’s my… You know…”
“Oh Darling, that isn’t the proper way to do this! You really should be ashamed of yourself, Sunny. And you should know best of all after all,” Rarity saved Twilight with a shake of her head. “And why don’t you ask him that yourself? He can talk just as well as Twilight,” she added with a huff.
With a light chuckle, the boy put his hand on Twilight’s shoulder and started to say: “Names Timber Spruce. I’m Twilight’s boyfriend, nice to meet you all. The girls seem to all like you quite a bit.”
“Then they haven’t told you the whole picture,” Sugar returned, staring at Timber with her usual look, getting a nervous chuckle out of him.
“Sugar Coat, I assume?” He encountered, a small sweatdrop forming on his forehead, only to let out a silent sigh of relive when she nodded. “Oh, trust me, they told me everything from the Friendship Games on. But that’s in the past, right? Not like you didn’t learn from your mistakes, now did you? At least that’s what a friend of mine tends to say.”
“Wait, they told you and still are positive about us? That’s so nice, girls!” Lemon intercepted, almost lunging at all of them and pulling them in a hug one after the other.
“So, how did you get that bookworm out of her library?” Sunny once again chuckled. “That was something she never even considered back at Chrystal Prep. Granted, part of the reason were we, but we can just forget about that for now. I want the details!”
Timber just rubbed the back of his head awkwardly before answering: “Well, if you ask how we meet, well, we met a bit over half a year ago in Camp Everfree. My sister and I run the camp there, and these seven kinda helped us out and saved my sister from herself, and it just kinda went from there. But if you think I get her out of her nerdiness, you are so wrong, I tell you. Not even I’m able to do that. Not as if that would be a problem, always interesting to learn something new.”
“Yeah, the day before we go everywhere so you can pretend to be smart and look like an idiot,” Twilight chuckled, letting Timber’s face take on a rather delightful shade of pink.
“I like to come prepared, ok?” He returned with crossed arms and a slight smile on his lips. “And as if you were anything to talk about stuff like this? I think I have seen teen different dating advice books in your bag at this point.”
“That’s different! That is study material!” Twilight returned defensively. “Those who go unprepared into something always fall short.”
“Didn’t she just agree with him?” Sour whispered to Sunny.
“Yep, yep, she totally did,” Sunny returned. “but that are couples for you.”
“So, why haven’t we seen Timber around more often? Did you’re brother scare him off or something since I never saw him pick you up at school or anything,” Sunny continued.
“Oh, no. While Shiny tried to be as threatening and intimidating as possible, that’s not why you haven't seen him around,” Twilight said with a small smirk. “He just isn’t in Canterlot most of the time, that’s all. Since two months ago he has been out of town a lot, that’s all,” she finished, the smirk had vanished from her lips.
“Huh, why does someone who runs a camp with his sister need to leave the city so often?” Indigo said, confused, rubbing her head at this.
Timber seemed to get a bit flustered at this question before returning: “Oh, well, it’s just that I'm looking through other camps right now for a few ideas that we can incorporate into Camp Everfree, that’s all,” he finished off with an awkward chuckle.
“Right…” Sunny returned with a raised eyebrow. “Anyway, nice that you are here and back in the city. So, for how long are you gonna stay?”
With a sigh, he said: “Sadly, not that long. About three days only actually before I have to go again.”
“Huh, that sucks…” Lemon said, before continuing with a far more happier: “But he, look on the bright side, three days are enough to have a bit of fun. You know, maybe you even get to see something exciting.”
“Exciting? You mean like the Power Rangers?” he chuckled. “Yeah, no thanks, actually. The last thing right now is a monster attack. I came here to relax and spend time with my friends, I don’t need action.”
“Fair, I guess,” Lemon said. “Not my style, but hey, not my life, so what do I ca-“ She was about to finish when her phone suddenly beeped, apparently having received a message. “Eh, excuse me for a moment,” she said as she absentmindedly pulled out the phone only to suddenly turn pale as a ghost the moment she looked at the screen.
“I want to talk with you about something at White Tail Park around 5 P.M. I’m sure this will be something beneficial to both of us. Please, all five of you, come alone, don’t tell Cadance or anyone else. I trust that you will do the right thing, Shadow Red. Signed, a possible friend,” the message read, coming from an unknown number. In an instant, the happy, go-lucky feeling she had had for the entire time until now disappeared in an instant, instead replaced by a terrible dread. Her throat felt like it had been sewn shut.
“Oh, Darling, is something wrong? You don’t look so good,” Rarity knocked her out of her own thoughts, letting Lemon snap back up and stare at her.
“What?” She just managed to stammer, pushing her phone back into her pocket.
“I asked if you’re ok, you really don’t look good right now? Are you ill, or did someone just send you something nasty?” Rarity repeated, raising an eyebrow with a worried frown, her other friends joining her quickly.
“Oh… Oh, no, I’m fine, it’s just… I just got a message, that’s all,” she returned with an awkward chuckle.
“And what for a message? Oh, a party invitation? Someone asking you out on a date? A dubious individual who knows something about you they really shouldn’t know and now want to meet you in person?” Pinkie interrupted an innocent smile on her lips. Lemon instead just stared at her in complete disbelieve.
“Pinkie, didn’t we tell you not to scare others with this?” Sunset sighed, shaking her head.
“Oh, right, you totally did! Never gonna happen again! Never… Ever…” Pinkie said, while slowly disappearing behind the couch.
The Shadowbolts looked after her for a moment before they were knocked out of their stupor by Sunset. “I don’t want to pray, but is everything really ok?”
“Oh, yeah, totally. Nothing wrong at all,” she said in return, all shortly after sending her friends all a picture of the message. The moment Sunset had said this, all four of the phones went off at once, garnering similar reactions to how Lemon had reacted.
Before any of the Rainbooms could say anything, Lemon was jerked back by Sour, and the screen pressed against her face. “Explain! Now!” She quietly hissed, completely ignoring the confused looks on the faces of the others.
“I don’t! Not like I have more info. I just sent you the dumb screenshot, ok?” She returned back, a nervous wrinkle on her forehead.
“Oh, oh, I’m sorry,” Sour returned, a warm smile on her lips before hissing again: “But what should we do then? Run headfirst in there or just ignore it? Come talk to me!”
“I think we should look into this. I could be a trap, or it could be legit,” Indigo chirped in, looking just as worried as Lemon.
“I would say we look into this,” Sugar simply stated.
“You’re sure about that? That could just be another trick from the Changelings. Remember when the last one tried to imitate Sugar?” Sunny encountered.
Sugar just shivered a bit just thinking about it, but quickly found her usual expression again. “We still should do it. It might be risky, but even if it’s a Changeling, we can take a few precautions just in case.”
“I guess…” Lemon sighed, the other three also nodding, even if none of them looked remotely happy with the agreement.
“You know what they are discussing there?” Rainbow asked, looking at them with a raised eyebrow.
“Rainbow, Darling, you shouldn’t listen in to something like that. It’s just not right. If they want to tell us they will,” Rarity returned.
“Oh yeah? Who is the one here who's always headfirst into snooping' around in others business?” Applejack added with a smirk.
Rarity just scoffed at that, crossing her arms in front of her and pulling her head up “I’m not! Rumors are something completely different, and those who don’t stay up to date are doomed to fall victim to the swells of time.”
“Sure,” Aj said with a smirk on her lips.
Rarity was about to say something in return when they were interrupted by Lemon. “I’m so sorry, but we just got a message that something happened, and we have to go!”
“What, why? Is everything really ok?” Sunset asked one last time.
“Cadance asked us to help her out a bit, and she is really in a bind,” was the last they heard when the five girls stormed down the stairs and out of the backdoor, past a very confused Thunder.
“Ok, I never got anyone running away from my food yet,” he awkwardly said as he walked up the stairs with two large family pizzas in his hands. “Did something happen?”
“By Celestia, I don’t know,” Sunset simply returned with a shake of her head. “But whatever it was, it sure sounded urgent.”
>-------<S>-------<
White Tail Park was a small park right in the middle of Canterlot City, birch trees filling it to the brim, the leaves starting to show the first signs of fall. Children were playing, some students were hanging around near the pond, and older citizens were feeding birds. All in all, everything looked completely normal, unassuming, just perfect. And in the middle of it all was the white, wooden gazebo under which sat a mand with black skin and long bright green hair in a black business suit.
The five girls all looked at him, unsure of what to make of him. Then he looked over and just smiled. “Ok, now he’s creeping me out,” Indigo said, a little shiver running down her spine. “You really think this is a good idea?”
“I would say this is worth the risk. We can’t just always be on the defense, or we will eventually be overrun. If he is an ally, good if he’s a Changeling, we can still beat him or flee if things get too dangerous,” Sugar calmly returned.
“Ok, if you say so. Oh, Cadance is gonna kill us for this…” Lemon sighed before taking a step forward.
“Ah, so I see my message got to you? That’s good to see,” the man calmly returned.
“Who are you? How do you know about us? And what do you want from us,” Sugar immediately asked, staring him directly into the eyes.
“Well, as expected. Sugarcoat is not one for friendly platitudes after all,” he weakly chuckled before gesturing them to the other banks under the gazebo. “Take a seat, I just want to talk.”
The girls hesitantly sat down on the opposite side of the structure, a small wood table between them. “So, you still haven’t answered any of our questions,” Sour said with crossed arms. “And the fact that you know us so well doesn’t make you any trustworthy either.”
“Guess not,” he sighed. “But let’s start with who I am, shall we? I’m a possible friend.”
“You already said that in the message. Give us a straight answer or else,” Lemon hissed back.
“I understand. I’m a Changeling,” he stated calmly. One could practically see the color drain from the girls’ faces as he said that. “And actually one of the higher-ups in the hive at this point.”
“And that should let us trust you more? You have done nothing other than to sent monster after monster after us! We don’t even know your damn name!” Lemon barked back, an angry glare in her eyes. She almost jumped back when Sugar put her hand on her shoulder and pulled her back down before signaling her to stay quiet. “So… Sorry, still. We don’t even know your name. Not the best start for a friendship.”
“I’m sorry, but I won’t reveal my name to you. I’m very much aware that you are recording this entire conversation with your phones. I would have done the exact same thing, well in your shoes. But don’t worry, I have nothing to gain from recording you all. I’m just here to talk,” he returned with a warm, surprisingly genuine smile.
“Oh, and what do you want to talk about? I wouldn’t know what to talk about with a Changeling expect one thing, and the answer to that one is a big, fat no!” Lemon hissed back.
“I can’t really blame you, and I profusely apologize for the actions of my brother. He was the one responsible for attacking you. I’m here to talk about our vision for the future, our goal. I believe we can talk this out instead of fighting,” he continued, still just as pleasant and smooth as before.
“Talk? What is there to talk about? You want to rule the world, and that’s all we need to know to fight you,” Lemon once again said defiantly, one of her hands firmly pulled shut around the Shadow Coin in her pocket.
“Because I believe we have the same goal. To save this world. You’re good people, that much I know. I asked the Changelings that fought against you, let them tell me about how you act, and I watched your fights. Lemon is a bit impulsive but pulls through when push comes to shove. Indigo always sticks up for her friends. Sunny cares for them just as much, even though she tries to hide things from them. Sour might be afraid but can still stand up to those who stand in her way. And Sugar pulls up a mask, so her friends don’t think lower of her. You think you’re protecting the city from us, and in a way, you’re right. A lot of our Workes were excessively violent in the retrieval of the Shadow Coins, but all of them had good intentions at heart.”
“Oh, sure, and throwing a car into a diner is such a nice thing to do and totally something good guys do,” Sour added with disgust.
The man sighed, letting his head sink low. “I sincerely apologize for that, as well. My brother believes in an ends justify the means mentality, and he sees no greater good than for us to gain the Shadow Coins. As much as we clash, that is one thing we both believe in, our goal. This world is broke, fundamentally. Our mother tried to help it, but it refused her, corrupted her gestures of generosity, and turned them against us. The powerful collect more wealth while the weak are gonna starve on the bottom. People are rejected, and no one sees their individual strengths. The same thing will happen with magic. A new, powerful group of wealthy will rise, this time one fulled by magic and they will take this world by force. It’s all because this world is designed, so everyone is only out for themselves or be stabbed in the back otherwise. Such a world is one our mother fundamentally rejects,” he finished with a tone that was unsettlingly convincing.
“And how does your mother plan to fix this? If it is so ingrained into this world, then how can you change that? And why do you need the Shadow Coins for this?” Sugar was the only one to dare say anything at this point, still as cold as ever, but Lemon couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t really so calm.
“Well, sometimes you have to break something down to fix it. We will use the Shadow Coins to conquer the world, break down society as a whole, and rebuild it stronger and better. We’ll create a world where everyone can be themselves, can bring themselves in without being rejected, without being grinded up in a machine that was solely designed to crush them. We might have to be a bit forcefull while we do that, but in the end, this will make sure that humanity can keep moving forward towards a bright future. A better world,” he smiled. “That’s why I want to ask you, will you creat this world with us?”
Silence permeated the air, none of the Shadowbolts daring to even speak one word as they stared at the disguised Changeling with open mouth. Even Sugar just stared at him, the Changeling unable to make out what was going on in her head.
“You don’t have to decide right now, I know this is a tough choice. I just wanted to talk to you, that is all. Talk it out with your principal, see her side of the story. But, just know that I’m one-hundred percent sincere about this. If you made a decision come to this place again in your Ranger forms, and we can talk,” he said before beginning to stand up. He was just about to leave when he was suddenly pushed back, the bank he had been sitting on wholly obliterated, and he crashed into the table between them.
“This was a trap!” Lemon shouted before leaping over her own bank and towards the bushes, followed by her friends.
Meanwhile, the Changeling opened his eyes again, seeing the remains of the now burning gazebo before him, screams in the background, and something walking towards him. It was tall, slim, marone Changeling. Definitely, one based on a beetle of some sort since his back resembled that of other Beetle-Changelings, just thinner. His face had two extremely sharp mandibles attached to his side and two long antennae hanging from his back. From what he knew, it had to be a Titan-Beetle-Changeling.
“What do you think you are doing here? I never ordered this!” He barked at the Changeling, green flames starting to envelop him as he took steps towards the monster. His frame started to shift, from that of a normal man to that of a monster. Like his brother, his skin changed into chitin, just in a bright green instead of his brother purple. His body was encased in dark green armor. Two purple bug eyes stared at the Changeling in front of him, all while two orange horns reset atop his head, and two purple wings hung from his back. Raising the purple sword in his hand, clenching his fist tightly around the small dagger in the other, he bellowed: “Explain yourself!”
“My… Mylord…” he stammered, stopping dead in his tracks and taking a step back.
“What are you doing? I ordered you to kill the Power Rangers! Or do I have to repeat myself?” Another voice growled, stepping next to the Changeling, Pharynx.
The Titan-Beetle looked one last time at Pharynx before dashing toward the bushes the Rangers had jumped into. “Hey! I’m talking to yo-“ Thorax was about to say when he suddenly saw his brother lunged towards him with his double-bladed spear, just about to swing the weapon at him.
But before the blade could cut through his chitin, the Changeling started to disappear into black smoke, Pharynx cutting right through it. The smoke quickly began to move behind him, reforming into the Changeling, who was just about to stab his brother with his dagger.
“So, the traitor is talking with the Rangers. The thought alone to ally yourself with them is a fundamental betrayal of our legacy! A Changeling is no friend of a Ranger!” Pharynx growl overshadowed the cold clinging of the two weapons crashing into each other.
“You’re out of your mind! I’m loyal to mother through thick and thin, but that doesn’t mean I will just sit ideally by when I see a way to end this before any more bloodshed can be caused! If you don’t get that, then you really are a lost cause!” He hissed back, once again turning into the strange smoke, swarming around his brother.
Pharynx, however, didn’t seem to be all that impressed, and with a loud roar, he brought his spear down on the mist. It took just moments for Thoirax to emerge from it and swing the sword at his brother.
Meanwhile, the Titan-Beetle Changeling had reached the area of the park the Rangers had disappeared into. At first glance, he couldn’t see the Rangers anywhere, but that wasn’t really a problem. He just had to scorch the whole place, and they would show up.
“Light up!”
[Re-Re-Red!]
[Shine Bright! Red!]
[Bl-Bl-Blue!]
[Shine Honest! Blue!]
[Ye-Ye-Yellow!]
[Shine Wild! Yellow!]
[Pi-Pi-Pink!]
[Shine Glamourous! Pink!]
[Gre-Gre-Green!]
[Shine Courageous! Green!]
[G-G-Gun!]
[G-G-Gun!]
[G-G-Gun!]
[G-G-Gun!]
[G-G-Gun!]
In the blink of an eye, all five Rangers jumped out from the bushes and laid down a barrage of blasts on the Changeling, who was unable to really do anything besides raising his arms in front of him. It didn’t take them long till to force the monster back with a loud groan, still unloading everything they had.
“Enough!” The Changeling screamed out, slamming his fists on the ground, fire exploding outward, and knocking all of them back and scorching the grass around him.
While the Rangers were busy with the Worker, both Pharynx were still going at each other, their weapons once again clashing and both taking a step back. “You’ve got far more fight left in you than I thought. Maybe should have used that instead of scheming around and trying to betray what the Changelings stand for!” Pharynx growled, spinning his weapon around to unleash a wave of energy towards his brother.
Without any form of effort, Thorax once again dematerialized and appeared right before his brother, the two weapons clashing once again. “I’m done discussing this with you! Everything I say is just gonna be more fodder for your mind to turn into baseless conspiracy theories. You, I really tried. I really tried to show you a way without all of this, but you wouldn’t listen. This new world doesn’t need an attack-dog without a leash!”
“Good! I’m so tired of listening to you coward anyway,” he chuckled back before raising his free arm, the same mist that had enveloped Thorax gathering around it into what looked like a giant claw. With surprising speed, the shadowy claw came down, smalling into the ground bellow and leaving a sizable imprint behind.
Thorax had just barely managed to jump out of the way of the attack in the last second. But before he could take even a single breath, the other Changeling was already once again throwing himself at him, spear ready. His own weapons had already started to glow a fierce purple as well, and he was just about to lunge a counter-attack when he suddenly felt it, a pressure. No, pain, unimaginable pain surging through his head, his weapons falling to the ground right next to him.
Pharynx wasn’t fairing any better, he had also dropped to his knees, holding his head like it was about to burst, and a quick glance over to the Worker revealed the same fate, the Rangers standing dumbfounded around him. As much as it hurt, a thought was beginning to form in his head. He had to come back… back to the queen… He just had to…
One after the other, the Changelings disappeared in green fire, leaving the five Rangers behind in the abandoned park. “Ok, what just happened? And I mean all of this?” Lemon asked, scratching her helmet in confusion.
“I have no idea,” Sugar simply returned.
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Solid work, I must say! I really like the way you've characterized Thorax throughout all of this. And it was a real treat to see him meet with the Shadowbolts about some kind of truce or alliance, that was nice to see. XD
I did catch a few big typos here and there. Namely, Lemon feeling like her "thowt" (throat?) was stitched shut.
And also, this sentence--
I think it's supposed to be "Easy there, Lemon,"
9946752
Yeah, that chapter was a lot of fun to write, especially since I could show a bit more of Thorax's and Pharynx's powers. And thank you.
Yeah, both fixed. The Lemon one was a bit embarrassing really...
Can I ask you something? Was the stuff related to Alchemy in this chapter too much and not understandable for someone who hasn't read that story? I try to keep it more in the background for the most part, but since this takes only a few months later and in the same city that sometimes is a bit hard. So, too much or not distracting?
9946769
Eh... tbh I really didn't think it was a real problem. I didn't know all of what was going on with the Rainbooms and Alchemy but it wasn't like it took me completely out of the story or broke my engagement.
9946773
Good to hear. That gives me hope about this. I always tried to explain the basics when it comes to stuff like this anyway so no one is completely lost. Thanks for your answer.