Power Rangers Shadow Force

by Layton13

Light in the Darkest Times -Part 2

Following the signs above the road, they managed to find their exit, and with the remaining large signs, probably meant to lure in tourists, they eventually managed to arrive at the Mt. Boreas site. Or at the very least, the parking lot. At first sight, everything looked more deserted than it should be. Only about twenty-five cars lined the, at least five-hundred parking lot. And just in time for them to see it, a young couple came rushing out of the entrance, past the empty ticket booth, before jumping into their car and flooring it, just barely past them. The Changelings were definitely already here.

Dashing up a long, winding pathway through a small forest, they passed the first signs of the ruins. Old, decaying stone structures that at one point, must have resembled buildings, until they reached a wide clearing. The ground was made up of a mixture of stone tiles, as well as simple grass and dirt. Massive stone pillars rose from the ground, several of them had toppled over already, in a sort of circle. At the same time, the remains of buildings were built on the inside of them, at the foot of where a pathway leat up towards the mountain top was a massive, if broken, templelike structure. And in the middle of all of this, a surprisingly intact circle, with a strange set of symbols around it.

But the most striking thing wasn’t all of this ancient architecture, which looked remarkably like old Fleece’n buildings. No, that were the bugs crawling all over the place. Drones, probably five dozen of the things, were walking around the ruins, turning over every stone they could find. Standing in front of the temple were both the Grasshopper Changeling as well as Pharynx.

“Ok, we’re here. What now?” Sunny asked, leaning over a conveniently placed rock near the end of the path upward.

“What do you mean? We’ll have to kick all their asses!” Lemon returned. “Not like we have many other options here, right?”

“We can at least think about a better way than run in and get our asses beat, like last time!” Sunny hissed back.

“Oh? And what is your genius plan? Get a cheap shot in with a finisher? News flash that never works! Ever! These things are enough to defeat an opponent when he’s injured, not at full strength!” She huffed, back, crossing her arms.

“Oh, thank you for your useful information, just a tiny problem,” Sour joined in, before hissing: “We know!”

“Still, we need a plan. We can hardly deal with the Grasshopper alone. We can’t take him with his footsoldiers. And especially not with big, bad, and brooding over there!” Sunny pointed at Pharynx, who was tapping his fingers on his chitin impatiently.

“But you got nothing, right? And the longer we talk in circles, the more time they have to find the Crystal Hearth! We have to do something! Anything!” Lemon returned, maybe a tiny bit too loud, as a Drone dashed around the corner and let out an ear-piercing screech. “Oh, crapbaskets!” She sighed before being the first to jump the Drone.

With a fist straight to its face, it was knocked off its feet and slammed against the stone floor, cracking it in the process. Its scream died in a gurgle, but the damage had already been done. The drones that had previously been busy with picking apart the ruins for any sign of the Crystal hearth now stormed at them, screaming just as loud.

“I told you, this would happen! No one was here when we arrived! We should have finished them off when we had the chance!” Stock growled at Pharynx, who simply glared back at him.

“And as I said, I wasn’t taking the risk! And, if you had no issue with them the first time, I’m sure the second one will be even easier. Now go! Deal with this before I get impatient!” He barked back before crossing his arms.

“As you wish, my Lord,” he grumbled before turning around and jumping towards the Rangers.

They were meanwhile taking care of the incoming Drones, quickly dispatching them without too much effort on their parts. Lemon was just about to kick another one when Stock Holder came crashing down, kicking up a good amount of dirt and stone as he landed. “Cease!” He bellowed, the footsoldiers immediately stopping, one even getting kicked across the field for that thanks to Lemon. “Retreat! I’ll take care of this,” he continued, waving his hand as he did so. With a positive-sounding chitter, the Drones backed off and left the battlefield to the Changeling.

“But seems one thing the idiot in charge wasn’t wrong about was regarding you. You don’t give up. Persistent nuisances. Not even when you are beaten soundly, you throw in the towel. Kind of admirable, but ultimately useless. But I’ll enjoy conquering you once more. Maybe, when I present your Shadow Coins to our Queen, she will listen to me about him. That he only cares for his own standing, not the greater good we Changelings strive for. But neither do you care about a better world. So, I’ll just have to let my feet speak,” he smirked, as he slowly walked closer, each Ranger’s body tensing, ready to snap into action at any point.

Then it all happened in a split second. Lemon was the first to move, punching her Coin into the Morpher, before disappearing into a red blur.

[Sp-Sp-Speed!]

Out of nowhere, she appeared behind the Changeling and slammed her fist down on him. And to everyone’s surprise, the attack actually connected, letting him stumble forward. As he spun around to strike back, she was already gone once more. Or, at least that was what he had thought before she dashed back and delivered an uppercut, forcing him back once more. Rubbing his chin, he eyed the Ranger as she zoomed around the place.

[St-St-Strength!]

It suddenly cried out behind him. As he spun around, Sour had already dashed up to him and pulled back her fist. He barely managed to pull his leg upward to block the attack, but the mixture of his surprise and the power of the Ability Coin was enough to knock him off his feet and roll across the ground. And to make matters worse, the Red Ranger added a swift kick to his stomach to this, throwing him against a wall.

[G-G-Gun!]

[I-I-Ice!]

As he tried to stand back up, the Blue Ranger had already activated her gun and inserted a Coin into it. Within seconds, his legs had been frozen to the ground, leaving him angrily pulling against it. While all of this was happening, Indigo was already pulling out two Coins.

[G-G-Gun!]

[Li-Li-Lightning!]

Once he saw that, he doubled his efforts, the ice bellow him, burning almost like fire at this point, but try as he might, he was unable to escape before his entire body was zapped with thousands and thousands of volt from the Ranger.

“I’ll make him ready for the finishing move!” Sunny said, already following Indigo’s example, all while Stock slumped down a bit.

[G-G-Gun!]

[Ch-Ch-Chain!]

Pulling the trigger, a stream of chains wrapped around him, trying his arms to his body as tightly and rigidly as possible.

“This is the end of the line for you! No Changeling can ever beat us!” Lemon shouted out with a cheerful victory cry, before pulling out her Ability Coin, together with Sour and replacing it with her gun, ready to finish him off.

[G-G-Gun!]

[G-G-Gun!]

[Fi-Fi-Final! Red!]

[Fi-Fi-Final! Blue!]

[Fi-Fi-Final! Yellow!]

[Fi-Fi-Final! Pink!]

[Fi-Fi-Final! Green!]

The dark clouds formed around the Changeling, while the Rangers took aim and unleashed their beam of energy at the monster. However, unlike usually, where an explosion would follow this, the beam suddenly shot upwards out of the cloud and exploded in the air. Before any of the Rangers could even ask what was going on, a big chunk of ice shot towards them from the darkness.

Barely able to avoid the attack, each one of them stared in disbelieve at the fading shadows, as loud clapping emerged from it. Stepping into view was the Grasshopper Changeling, a few bits of ice still on his legs. “Impressive. Truly impressive. I now understand why you’ve been such a thorn in our side for so long. You managed to truly get the drop on me with your little Coins. But I’m sorry to say, this is the end of the line for you all!”

“How!? You were supposed to be-“ Lemon screamed out, only to be cut short as her stomach was pressed inward by a suddenly appearing Changeling. She had one moment time to stare at the Grasshopper in disbelieve before she was thrown back into one of the ruins, collapsing on the floor. Her stomach felt like it had been used as a sandbag, all while uncontrollable coughing forced tears into her eyes.

The Changeling landed from his sudden jump, right in the middle of the Rangers. Eyes widened under helmets, guns were drawn, but none of them were fast enough to stop him from delivering a spin kick to Sugar, throwing her across the ground before jumping back into the air.

Far too late, did anyone realize what was happening. Sugar, who was pushing herself back up, noticed it first. Some kind of shadow was growing larger and larger around her. Once she looked up, all she could see was the bottom of a foot, before it came crashing down on her back.

Once the dust had settled, a crater, where their friend had laid before could be seen and in the middle of it, Sugar, demorphed and unconscious. The Grasshopper Changeling meanwhile stood atop his opponent, twisting his foot around a bit before turning towards the remaining Rangers and took a step forward.

“Sugar!” Indigo shouted, immediately dashing towards the Changeling.

[Li-Li-Lightning!]

“Stubborn, but predictable,” he chuckled before once more dashing forward—the Ranger managing to dodge the first strike and deliver a punch to his side. While the electricity flowed through him, it did nothing to stop the next kick. The moment he had set down the foot, he had spun further, pulling his other one up and smashed the base of the foot into her face.

To his own surprise, however, she grabbed ahold of the arm and holding it in place. Once more, the electricity surged across his entire body, smoke coming from it. With a low growl, he jumped up and once more spun around his own axis, pulling the first foot back around and into her helmet. He could hear the cracking of the visor as clear as glass before the girl was thrown across the ruins.

After an extremely unpleasant tumble across the grass and stone of the place, Indigo came to a stop. With one last bit of her strength, she tried to pull herself back up, refusing to give up, before collapsing once more. Her suit fell apart in a black mist, leaving her on the ground, out cold.

The other two standing Rangers meanwhile stared in horror at the seemingly unstoppable monster that was plowing through their friends with ease. Tilting his head, a loud crack echoed through the ruins before he started to walk again, a twisted shimmer in his eyes.

This kicked both of them into gear, quickly putting away their guns and activating two other Coins.

[St-St-Strength!]

[Do-Do-Double!]

Both shared one last look before dashing forward. On the way there, Sunny split into two Rangers, virtually identical, before one of them overtook her and tried to strike first. The still slowly walking Changeling had no problem blocking the strike with his shin. Quickly after that, he struck forward with his leg, but the Ranger had already jumped over him, immediately replaced by the other one.

The two Pink Rangers threw punch after punch at him, but every time he somehow managed to block it, no matter how seemingly impossible it appeared to them. This continued until Sour dashed forward, and together with the two Sunnys, struck all at the same time. The Pink Rangers both tried to follow up with a kick to his chest, while Sour jumped, did a summersault, and tried to dropkick him straight into the face.

This time, it really looked like they would finally be able to land a strike, but instead, the Grasshopper jumped backward, landed on his hands before pushing himself off them once more and landing on his feet once more.

“Not bad. Not bad at all. Trying to overwhelm me is a solid strategy, but you don’t think I wouldn’t be prepared for that, would you?” He chuckled, the smugness in his voice almost oozing out of him in a puddle, almost. “But, you need to try more than your worthless friends over there.”

That was it. That was the moment Sunny finally was don with him. Balling her hands together into fists, she glared at him through two visors, before both Rangers shouted in unison: “Shut up! I’ve had enough of you! Talking about how much better than us you are! I’ll show you! I’ll show you what happens when you hurt my friends, you piece of shit!”

Without even waiting for one more moment, she dashed forward, both of them. Like a wild animal, the first of them lunged forward, trying to smash her fists into the face of the Grasshopper with a loud scream. The Changeling somehow managed to slip past her and straight towards the second Ranger, who tried to deliver a jump kick. Without much effort, he screeched to a halt and pulled his foot towards his body. Once the Ranger was in range, he snapped out his leg, both of them crashing against one another.

It wasn’t even a contest, Sunny being thrown backward, her leg at an angle no human leg shoulder ever be in, followed by a loud, pained scream. That was until the cry started to stutter and then grow spotty. Not soon after, it fell silent completely as the double disappeared, just in time for the real one to storm up to the Changeling, pull back her fist, and punch him into his face.

The punch echoed across the entire ruin. It was loud, clear, and painful, or at least, that was what it sounded like. The actual results were far different. The Changeling had barely flinched as the punch had landed, only pushing his head a bit to the side. It didn’t take long for him to start with a chuckle: “That would be a point if we were playing. But we aren’t, and this is a full-contact fight. And in that, there is only one way to win. A knockout!”

Sunny had barely enough time to understand the words he had uttered before he pulled his hip forward and with it, his leg. With an even louder crash, his leg slammed into the girl's side, throwing her across the ruin before she as well fell to the ground, demorphed and defeated.

“And that leaves you,” he simply said as he turned towards Sour, who was just staring at him. Her body was shaking, her fists barely holding together as her breathing became erratic. “Come on. Give it all you got. It won’t be enough, and you know that,” he added with an even louder laugh.

Her eyes were meanwhile darting around the area, from one friend to the next. Her brain was telling her to run, hide, and pray he wouldn’t find her. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t just leave her friends. Taking one last, deep breath, she dashed forward, ready put all her power into this one attack.

The Changeling meanwhile did the same, his wings starting to stand up before he jumped into the air and used them to propel himself forward.

Fist meat foot as the two clashed. At first, it looked like both combatants were equally matched, for a few seconds, neither of the two being able to push forward. That was until Sour started to scream. Summoning powers she didn’t even know she had, she slowly pushed back against her opponent, inch by bloody inch. But as it looked as if she could finally push through, he swung his wings. In an instant, all her progress was lost. Still, she tried again, once more forcing him back.

This time, he didn’t even let her get half the way before swinging the wings once more. With one last desperate cry, Sour tried again, but Stock Holder had enough. Instead of letting her push back once more, he swung his wings again. With each wing flap, he forced her back more and more, until…

Accompanied by pained screams, the girl sailed through the air before crashing through several trees on her way away from him. As he landed, she had already demorphed and was just as unconscious as her friends before. “And done!” He muttered, ready to order the Drones to pick up his spoils of war.

“Not yet!” It suddenly hissed out, as Lemon Zest pushed herself out of the ruin she had been laying inside of for a while now. In her hand, one last Coin.

“Oh? You want seconds. So damn stubborn,” he groaned, shaking his head.

“I’ll show you,” she growled. “This is my trump card!” With a loud scream, she slammed the Coin they had gained during their fight with the Rail Rider Rangers. This, for sure, would be enough to finish this monster! With a smirk under her helmet, she waited for the announcement.

But moments became seconds, and yet, still, there was nothing but the footsteps of the Changeling coming ever closer. She spun her arm, and with it, the Morpher around. No, the Coin was definitely in it. It should work. “Why aren’t you working!?” She screamed out, the terror in her voice completely audible.

“Oh? Problems Red?” it came back, smug, confident, and worst of all, so damn close.

“No. No! No! You can’t be still empty! You can’t do this to me! I need you right now! My friends need me! Please!” She desperately pleaded, shaking the Morpher in a futile attempt to somehow let it spring to life. She was only shaken out of her panic as a hand, no, a claw clasped tight around her shoulder.

“Seems your luck just ran out, Red,” it came back in that cruel, despicable voice.

Not even a second later, she felt the armored knee smashing into her stomach. All the air was pressed out of her lungs within moments; her legs simply stopped working, giving in under her weight as she sunk to her knees. The moment she sunk down, her transformation breaking apart as her fragile body underneath was revealed. Blood dripped down her cheeks, from out of her mouth, while tears ran down her face like a waterfall.

Like a piece of trash, no longer wanted, she felt the clawed hand throw her forward, landing on the ground with a barely audible groan. Her face was pressed into the dirt, her tears mixing with it into mud.

“You’ve taken too long! Seems they were a bigger problem than you anticipated,” it came from above, a deep and gravely voice said. Her vision was starting to fail her, while her body was throbbing in pain. And with every beat, she drifted further and further.

“They just got a few lucky hits in,” the other voice returned with a huff. At this point, she could hear the voices less and less, as if they were stepping away from her. It didn’t take long till they were basically incomprehensible.

Thoughts stormed through her head, only to be ashed away by pain as fast as they came. But she knew, she knew they all revolved around one thing and one thing only. She had failed. She had failed her friends, she had failed Cadance, and she had failed as a hero. Those were the last thoughts that went through her head before everything just became black.

>-------<S>-------<

Cadance and Gallus could hear the police sirens in the background. They must have slipped past them at the last possible moment. Cadance let out a quiet sigh of relief as they pulled into the empty parking lot.

“So, here we are. Now we just have to find your Rangers,” Gallus muttered, parking the bike right next to the entrance.

“Yes. They must be up there. I just hope they are ok,” she returned, before jumping off the bike and pressing ahead, up the path and towards the ruins.

Gallus looked after her before quietly saying to himself: “I’d not want to stay in her way.” With that, he quickly followed her. Wondering what would await them up there.

They slowly made their way up, careful not to be too loud. The way was ultimately uneventful, but there was something that made them extremely uneasy. There were no sounds. No crashing, no explosions, or anything of the sorts. Just quiet. And the further they went onward, the more unnerving it became.

As they finally reached the clearing the ruins lay in, they dared to take a quick peek. The Changeling drones were still rummaging through what was left of her ancestor's civilization. Her eyes widening, she frantically looked around the ruins, finding nothing but fresh battle damage, but none of her Rangers.

She almost let out a loud scream as Gallus nudged her, pointing up to the old temple where the two leaders were standing. Leaning against the decrepit walls were her students. From what she could see from here, beaten, bruised, and tied up.

She could feel the blood freeze in her veins, her hair stand up straight, and her heart sink to her stomach. No… This couldn’t be right! Right? They were beaten…

The shock slowly but surely was replaced by the creeping feeling around her throat. The oh so familiar sense of guilt. Could she have done anything if she was here? Was she responsible for what had happened? Of course, she was… She had dragged these children into this fight. All because she was too weak… because she wasn’t able to do it herself.

“What now?” Gallus asked, shaking her out of her own thoughts.

She turned around, the look of absolute horror carved into her face. “I… I don’t know,” she stammered out, slumping back against the wall they were hiding behind. “What was I thinking?” She muttered, her voice having lost all energy. “It’s over… I can’t do anything at this point… I always needed others to protect me… In the end, that’s how it will always be…”

Gallus just stared at her, his eyes wide open. “What!? You came here and just want to give up?”

“What am I supposed to do!? The Rangers can’t beat him! How should I? I always needed someone to save me… Because I’m helpless! I thought… I thought, this time, I could actually do something! But no… I’ve failed once again,” she continued, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Where is the woman who would try everything she could? You haven't tried everything yet, right? And they are still looking! They haven't found what they are searching for. Maybe we can still turn this around?” He said, a shaky expression on his face.

Cadance looked up at him before drying her tears and nodding. “That means… We still have a chance. If we can get to it first. What was the damn inscription again? Right! Now I remember, I wrote it down on my phone! ‘On the foot of the Great Mountain, we buried one of our most extraordinary creations, the remains of the Crystal Hearth. May it rest until the day its power is needed once more and may that day never come again. But if it does, may the rising sun light up the world once more.’”

“We’re definitely right. We’re at the foot of the mountain. So… Now we need to find a setting sun?” Gallus asked, clearly puzzled.

“Finders said something about a sundial,” she muttered back, looking once more at the ruins.

>-------<S>-------<

“Still nothing?” Pharynx growled, glaring at Stock Holder.

“I can’t magic up the Crystal Hearth. If I could, I would have done so a while ago!” He hissed back. “And my Drones are working as fast as they can!”

Just as Pharynx was about to break out into another tirade, Lemon managed to open her eyes, looking around with a dazed expression before weakly saying: “Seems… Your lucks ran out as well!”

“Oh. We are close, Ranger. So close! And better shut your mouth! You’re lucky Lord Thorax wants you alive, or I would have taken care of you already,” Stock encountered. “Now, take defeat like an adult!”

“We… Ain’t beat just… Just yet,” she returned, her head trying to look up, only to slump back down again and again.

“You are! You’re beaten, tied up, and without your Shadow Coins! There is nothing you can do anymore! Your mistakes have finally caught up to you. It was about time, after all,” Pharynx growled, stepping closer towards the half-conscious Red Ranger.

“We… We’re only really beat… When we’re dead! Until then… We can fix it! A mistake… No matter how grave… Is never the end!” It came back, a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Mistakes are eternal. You can’t wash them away! You’ll carry them till the day you die! That’s just how it is. And your mistakes have caught up with you. I might start thinking about your words if you somehow found a way out of this. But that, that is impossible at this point,” Pharynx returned dismissively, lifting her head up a bit, before pushing her back a bit.

As he was just about to say something else, a loud screech from one of the Drones demanded his attention. Spinning around, he could just see how Cadance, together with Gallus, dashed across the ruins, kicking the Drone who had screamed out to the side and continuing to rush forward. “See? Not done yet,” Lemon added from the background.

The two continued their mad dash toward the sundial, each one manageíng to fend of the incoming Changelings. Both came to a screeching hold right atop the dial, right atop a small, circular plate symbolizing a sunrise. Both immediately kneed down, trying to get a grip on the stone and yank it out of its position.

Their efforts were cut short, however, as out of nowhere, Stock Holder came crashing down, right between them, knocking both to the ground. “Well, well. Seems you figured something out, isn’t that right?” He chuckled as he stepped off the cracked plate, before jamming his arm into the ground. “Let’s see if you were right,” mussed, before pulling something from the ground.

From a hidden compartment below the stone, he pulled something familiar, something round, something coin-shaped. Holding it towards the sun, the light shined through it, letting different colors dance across everything behind it. His eyes were fixated on the pristine, crystal Coin in his hands.

So much so that he didn’t even notice when Gallus pushed himself off the ground, grazes be damned, and dashed towards the Changeling. Cadance wasn’t any slower, pulling herself back up as well and starting a mad sprint towards him.

Gallus was the first to reach his goal, throwing his entire weight against the Changeling, letting him tumble backward the tiniest bit. But that was enough, the Coin slipping out of his hand and falling to the ground, bouncing off the stone beneath it and right into Candace's hand, as she lunged forward towards it. Stock Holder managed to shove Gallus off him, before dashing at Cadance, ready to reclaim the Coin once more.

Mere moments before he reached her, however, something happened. Bright light erupted from her hand, so much so that everyone in the area was forced to close their eyes. Even then, the light was so bright, even with closed eyelids, everything became white. That was when the screaming started. Horrible, inhuman screams filled with pain and agony echoed across the ruins, but soon faded, one after the other.

It took over half a minute until anyone could even as much as open their eyes once more, and still, everything was hazy. But once their eyes started to adjust once more, every Drone had just disappeared, as if whipped from the earth. And the two higher Changelings hissed out, their bodies smoking. And in the midst of all this, was Cadance, a large, pink device on her left arm. It was similar in shape as the Ranger’s Morphers, but instead of two slots, it had three.

“I’ve had enough! I’m not going to just sit on the sidelines anymore! Let others fight my battles! I’ll refuse to stay weak! From this day onward, I will fight with my own power! And I’ll start with you!” She shouted out, loud and clear, before pointing at Stock, who was starting to regain his senses. With unmatched conviction, she slammed the Crystal Coin into her Morpher before bellowing: “Light up!”

[Cr-Cr-Crystal!]

[Shine Eternal! Crystal Heart!]

Cadance entire body was consumed in bright light, once more blinding everyone present. Once it faded, she was clad in a Ranger Suit, not too dissimilar to her students. The black had been replaced by silver, while the individual colors were now a pale pink. Two winged fins extended from the side of her helmet, while her chest was covered in a vaguely star-shaped chest plate with a heart-shaped gem in its middle. The last differences were the armored gloves and the trench coat that extended from the armor.

Slamming her fists against her chest plate, she shouted out: "The light that will burn away the darkness, Crystal Ranger!" The moment she did this, a pink and white explosion erupted from behind her.

“Told you so,” Lemon smirked, with that particular smug grin only someone who had been proven right could provide. Pharynx just growled, before turning around and walking closer to see the fight, only to hear Lemons screams from behind: “That was awesome! Kick their asses!”

Cadence didn’t need to be told this twice as she dashed forward, straight at the Grasshopper Changeling. He had finally recovered from the bright light and tried to stop her with another kick. To his dismay, Cadance easily jumped over him and kicked him in the back.

Stumbling forward, he spun around with an angry growl, before trying to kick her once more. This time, however, she didn’t dodge; instead, she slammed her own foot aginst the Changeling. Lemon could faintly feel the aftershock of the two feet clashing, but none of them seemed to have overpowered the other.

With a frustrated his, the Grasshopper tried to strike once more, but Cadance matched him again and again and again. Each time he tried to strike, she was already there, blocking his attack before it could even come close.

“How!” He finally shouted out, glaring daggers at her.

“You aren’t the only martial artists in this fight anymore, that is what is happening,” she simply returned before going for another kick. “And your footwork is sloppy!”

Reflexively He pulled his leg up to block the incoming attack. But instead of a strike against his shin, Cadance pulled her leg closer, only to let it strike out once more. In one fell swoop, she managed to push every bit of air out of his lungs before he stumbled backward, holding his stomach.

As he came to a stop again, the Crystal ranger had already pulled out an Ability Coin and quickly inserted it into her Morpher.

[Ea-Ea-Earth!]

With a simple punch to the ground, everything started to shake, and moments later, the land was ripped open, and jagged rock spires shot up straight at the Changeling. He barely managed to dodge the rocks by jumping upward, just out of reach of them. He, however, failed to notice Cadnace insert a second Coin into the third slot of her Morpher.

[Le-Le-Levitate!]

Out of seemingly nowhere, the rocks started to shake, before suddenly lunging upward and slamming into the Changeling. With a loud scream, he crashed to the ground, his body sparking all over.

“Like it? The Crystal Coin seems to allow for the usages of two Ability Coins at the same time. Which means I can mix and match them,” Cadance stated, before removing the two Coins from the Morpher again.

In the meantime, Gallus had used the chaos of the situation and snuck past the fighting and up to where the Rangers were held. With Pharynx occupied with the battle beneath, he didn’t even notice that he garbed the Shadow Coins until it was already too late.

Gallus had managed to knock a little stone away, just as he was about to try and release the Rangers. In an instant, the Changeling spun around and glared immediately at the Coins he was holding in his hands. “You little rat! You’ll regret the day you were bor-“ About to launch into a tirade, he was stopped mid-way through, by a hand on his shoulder. Spinning around, he was ready to punch whoever dared to touch him straight in the face and only barely avoided attacking his brother.

“What do you want? You’re here to gloat?” He barked out, with so much vitriol, Gallus almost expected the second Changeling to melt away by all the acid Pharynx was spewing.

“No. I’m here on the direct order of mother! She has ordered us to retreat and regroup!” He stated, worried underlying every word he spoke.

“But-“ Pharynx tried to protest but was immediately cut short by his brother.

“Orders from the Queen! Do you dare question her authority? We are retreating! Now! We’ll come for him when this is over,” he encountered, stern, in a tone that left no room for arguing.

With a frustrated growl, he nodded, and both Changeling generals disappeared into the green flames.

Gallus just stared in a mixture of shock and bafflement at the now empty spot, but after a few seconds, he was called back to reality by Lemon’s cheering for the fight bellow. Wasting no time, he went to free the Rangers.

[Gl-Gl-Gladius!]

[Ae-Ae-Aegis!]

Cadance’s Morpher screamed out, a sword, similar in shape to that of the Other Rangers and a shield, formed like a six-pointed star appeared in her hands. And just in time for her to raise the star upward, blocking another kick from the Changeling.

He hadn’t even touched the ground again, so fast was Candace bringing down the sword once more. Sparks erupted like a firework show from him, quickly followed up by another slash across the chest, finished off by another kick.

“You… Why!?” He managed to croak out as he pushed himself back up, his chest moving up and down with every breath.

“Because I’m not letting you wreck this world! I’ll stop each and every one of you! For my students, for everyone who stands up to you and for myself! I refuse to ever be weak again! I’ll fight with everything I’ve got! And it seems, that’s more than you can handle!” She returned, pointing the blade at him.

With a loud scream, he dashed forward, using his wings once more to gain momentum, ready to slam his foot into her. But Cadance had already seen this coming, quickly inserting a Coin into her shield.

[Mi-Mi-Mirror!]

With his entire weight, the Grasshopper crashed into the raised up shield, but instead of throwing her to the side, he suddenly felt how he was thrown backward, with inhuman power. Accompanied by a loud grunt, he crashed to the ground once more, glaring in a mixture of anger and confusion at her. Slamming his fist on the ground, he heaved himself up from the ground and made a mad dash towards her. Cadance didn’t even look at him as she inserted a new Coin into the sword.

[Li-Li-Light!]

The blade of the weapon burst into an eye-melting white, but this did little to discourage the Changeling, who kept on pushing forward. The Crystal Ranger pulled the blade back, before beginning to swing it in the air repeatably.

The effect was instantaneous. A bright, glowing line carving itself into the Changelings chest, accompanied by an explosion of sparks. That line was soon followed by a second, third, and eventually by about a dozen more, forming the symbol of the Shadow Force Rangers. Slamming the blade into the ground, let each line exploded all at once, followed by the loud screams of pain and agony.

The Changeling had sunk to his knees, desperately gasping for air, his chest scorched beyond belive. Still, his eyes were locked onto her, filled with pure, unfiltered hatred.

“This was for my students! And this,” she said with an unnerving undertone. “This for me! This the end of the line for you!” While she spoke, she switched Coins in her sword once more.

[Fi-Fi-Final! Crystal Heart!]

Raising her sword into the air, light began to be drawn towards it, gathering in the blade, growing ever brighter with every passing moment. Once it had become blindingly bright, she brought it downward, the length of the sword growing massively, until a giant blade of pure light came down on the Changeling, letting him begin to spark, before ultimately exploding.

But this defeat, like most of them, didn’t last as the Changeling grew to gigantic size, letting out a loud roar that let the earth shake.

The new Ranger, at first, just stared upward, until her attention was drawn to the small coin box at her side, a bright glow coming from it. Immediately, she reached for it and pulled out another Coin. And if her expectations proved to be accurate, this was precisely what she needed right now! Slamming the Coin into her Morpher, she awaited the announcement.

[Al-Al-Alicorn!]

A bright beam of light caught the Changeling and brought him into the parallels dimension. But something was different. Instead of a starless night, they were now in a dimension with a sun in its zenith and now clouds anywhere.

For a few moments, the monster just looked around, no enemy in sight. That was until a loud neighing echoed through the valley. Turning his head, he could see a silver and pink mecha horse soaring down from the sky. It had large wings and one sharp horn on its head. And it was racing directly towards him, with a speed that ripped away pieces of the terrain when it came to close.

On instinct, he tried to kick it out of the air, but the Zord managed to gracefully dodge the attack, before slashing across his chest with its horn. In the time it took him to turn back to the alicorn, it had already turned around and was racing towards him once more.

Spreading his own wings, he catapulted himself far into the air, just in time for the mech to barely miss him. The Zord, however, didn’t seem to slow down. Instead, it quickly changed direction, pulling upward and rocketing towards him once more.

He was just about to sue his wings to shoot himself back down when he felt it. Something sharp scraped across his body, letting sparks rain down as it did so, and cleanly separate one of his wings from his body. Like a concrete duck, he plummeted towards the ground, all while screeching out in a terror and pain, landing with a loud crash.

Stock Holder was barely able to crawl out of the crater, sparks erupting all over his body as he dared to look back up. To his relief, the Zord didn’t seem to sore down towards him again, just slowly descending downward. Eventually, the Zord came to a stop, roughly a few hundred meters above him.

Stock was still unable to stand up, and every passing second was unberable for him. This only grew worse when the horn started to glow. At first, only lightly, before a bright, pink glow came from it.

Lunding its head forward, the mechanical alicorn unleashed a beam of rainbow-colored light that shot directly at him. Within seconds, the entire area was consumed by the bright light, the dimension above everyone's head closing again.

The Changeling was the first to appear, falling down in front of the Rangers, who had just been finished getting freed by Gallus. His transformation broke away, revealing the man in his grey business suit. But before anyone could even attempt to get to him, two Drones appeared and retrieved the beaten Changeling, just in time for Cadance to land as well.

“That! Was! Awesome!” Lemon was the first to shout, being supported by Sugar and almost knocking them both over with her frantic movements.

Canceling her transformation, the principal looked at her and chuckled. “Thank you, but I’m just glad you are all mostly unharmed.”

“Eh, don’t sell yourself short! You kicked that monster’s ass! Royale!” Gallus jumped in, smiling over both ears. “Oh, and before I forget it,” he continued before pulling out the five original Shadow Coins and gave them back to the Rangers.

“I… I wouldn’t be here without you all. You made all of this possible. You fought my fights for me, all this time. But now! Now I can actually fight them myself. Thank you all so much for this,” she returned, a warm smile on her lips. “And that includes you, Gallus. I’m… Sorry for what I said back there. You’ve really proven me wrong. I’m sure, one day you will get your chance to be a hero as well.”

“Eh, nah, I really didn’t. You did the bulk of the work. I just tackled a monster. And really… You weren’t wrong… At least at the time. I just wanted recognition and the fame that came with being a hero. Not like you… You just wanted to protect them. And… I think I get it now. When I actually could help… It felt good. I put a smile on my face. How much of that was because I got to dick over some monsters, I don’t know. But I feel proud. So proud even, that I went for your Coins as well. It just felt right,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

“No. I think you’ve proven me wrong. You just needed the right push. If you want, I’ll leave a good word with my cousin. Maybe he’ll let you in on his more… Changeling orientated research,” she said, her smirk as wide as could be.

“You really would do that!?” Gallus immediately shouted out.

“Well, if archeology interests you, that is.”

“If there is similarly cool stuff like this in the past, I’m in! I can sit through a bit of bussy work for all that awesome shit!” He exclaimed, balling his hand into a fist. It didn’t take long till the ruin was filled with laughter.

Author's Note:

And with that, we got our sixth Ranger! This was an incredibly fun chapter to write! Hope you all had as much as I had while reading it.

And as a bonus, I've got something nice:

This drawing was made by Malunis

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

Wow. That was an intense chapter! The whole beatdown of the Rangers was honestly really brutal, and then it slammed back into awesome territory with the arrival of the newest Power Ranger in this story

Excellent work, really impressive stuff!

[raven618]

Well, I've been proven wrong.