Power Rangers Shadow Force

by Layton13

Test of Strength

The evening had already fallen over the city, painting it in an ominous orange as he looked down at the streets below him. They looked just like they always did, filled with people, cars driving by and no sign of any sort of fear even if the city once again was under siege by monsters. From up here, everything looked so easy and simple, but deep down, he knew that it wasn’t.

Even though the sunset drenched his office in warm orange, he felt strange cold, like he was something foreign in this peaceful place. As if the desk, shelves, and even the floor and walls rejected him. Even though he had spent close to a month in this room, already it still didn’t really feel like his. A shadow loomed of the entire office, one he couldn’t escape.

But before he could well any further on these thoughts, the door was pushed open, someone stumbling into the room. As he looked back, he saw the short white woman in her lab coat catch herself and adjust her long blond hair. “Ah, Light Bulb, I was expecting you. So what do you have?” He asked the woman.

She looked back at the young man, dressed in a dark blue suit that still felt wrong to him. His short blue hair was well kept, and his white skin shimmered in the evening sun. “Ah, Director, I came as fast as I could. Well, as fast as it took to analyze the basics of the data. You wouldn’t believe what kind of data I found, it’s so fascinating!” Light Bulb gushed, her eyes sparkling from all the excitement.

“Director still feels weird,” Shining muttered to himself. After the former head of the MRG division had left the city she had appointed him the next Local Director of this part of the Magical researcher Division, or short MRG, a government organization that dealt with containing and researching magical artifacts. While he had managed until now quite well, that was all at a time without any major magic incidents, but now he had one on his hands, and he felt willfully underprepared. “So, tell me what you got,” he sighed, looking at the suitcase Light Bulb had carried with her.

She placed the thing down on the table and opened it, all while starting to say: “Well, it’s magical in nature, that much is clear. We caught two different magical signatures, one almost identical to the one we picked up in Mount Aris, probably closely related. The other one does contain similar wavelengths as well, but there is something different about it, also was the only one that remained after the monster was defeated. It is pretty likely that it is the energy of these ‘Power Rangers’. The first signature also is identical to one we picked up earlier today around the area of Crystal Prep,” she continued, entirely in her element.

“Crystal Prep? That thing was at my old school?” He asked, a cold shiver running down his spine. “A monster like that around so many students…”

“Yeah, without the shadow of a doubt, the monster was there. But the fact that it didn’t cause any sort of chaos means that it didn’t do much,” she returned only to nervously add: “I think.”

“You think? That is not good enough! I want some agents to go through the entire school and make sure that they look for everything otherworldly! I can’t risk that one of these things is anywhere near this place,” he returned, his worried expression only growing. “Especially with Twilight back at that place. Going back there alone is already something I’m not entirely happy with, but with monsters around? I just can’t let that happen…” He muttered, looking at a picture on his desk, showing a photo of his family and girlfriend. “And neither can I let Cadance get swept up in this.”

“Shining…” Light Bulb muttered, taking a step closer, the men clenching the picture for a few moments more before returning it back to the place it originally stood.

“I’m… I’m fine. Not like we haven’t had something like this before, just this time…” Shining once again tried to say only for him to stop mid-sentence.

“This time you have to do it on your own without Ocean and Phoenix?” She asked, looking at him with a worried expression.

“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I know she trusts me, but still…” He returned only for his expression suddenly to shift into a far more serious one. “No! I can’t let this get to my head. She would have never put me here if she didn’t know I would manage. And that I will!”

“That’s the spirit!” Light Bulb said, her own worries quickly fading. “So, what are your orders, Local Director?” She smirked almost jokingly, something Shining simply ignored.

“I want every agent on high alert. Any sign of magical activity should be furrow investigated and dealt with. By the slightest sign of any monster, Corrupted or otherwise, I want them to contact Monster or Gaia. I don’t want some stupid hero moments that end with anyone dead. Furthermore, I want them to have an eye on these Rangers. I’m not entirely sure what their goal is. If they wish to protect the city like Alchemy or if they have something more in mind. Until now, they have shown no sign of any other goal, but still, one can never be save enough. And you Light Bulb!” He turned to her once again. “You’ll do what you do best; research what we have on that new monster until now.”

“Got it Shining! I’ll be right on that! There are a few black stones our agents found, and I’m dying to look into them. No other Artifact though, so chances are high that it is the source of its power,” she eagerly chirped back, almost on the way out when Shining stopped her.

“And be careful. We don’t know what lies ahead of us and who we are up against. You know what happened last time. I don’t want history to repeat itself,” he added somberly.

“I’ll be careful. And you better be too because I don’t want to pick up your job. I want to do research!” She chuckled, getting a small one of him as well before she left the room.

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

The sun was setting on one of the wealthier parts of Canterlot City, primarily over one of the smaller mansion, a large building with white walls, a black roof, and only two floors made it almost look tiny compared to the others around them. Still, even while a little small it certainly fit in with the general aesthetic of the neighborhood, especially with the tennis court in the garden filled with carefully grown flowers.

What however didn’t fit were the sounds of loud screaming followed by thuds that seemed to repeat ad nauseam.

When one would have looked over the hedge and fence that prevented any curious neighbor from catching a quick glance, one could see six-woman stumbling and falling over the tennis court. All of them were wearing some sort of tracksuits, most of them already covered in the red dust of the tennis court.

Once again, the scream of Lemon Zest echoed through the neighborhood as she charged towards her principal who was already eyeing her with a dangerous look in her eyes. Lemon barley managed to gasp in surprise as her fist flew past its target, Cadance simply duking under her far too wide swing and retaliated with a punch to the student's stomach, letting her stop dead in her tracks and take a few steps back.

“Sneak attack!” Came it from behind her and with a small chuckle and shake of her head, she just stepped to the side, letting Indigo zap rush past her and right into her friend, both of them landing on the ground with a following grown.

“You know, a sneak attack is supposed to be sneaky, so screaming that you are doing one isn’t really that beneficial,” she sighed, putting her hands on her hips and merely shaking her head.

“Thanks for the advice,” Sour’s voice called out from behind. “But you shouldn’t let your guard down either!” She barked afterward. Cadance zoomed around, seemingly in an instant and was faced with a foot that was rocketing towards her face. Sour had jumped in the air and was apparently putting all her strength into the attack. The girl definitely was trying, but that didn’t mean she would get off easy. Without even a second to think Cadance already stepped back, and while doing so, grabbed ahold of Sour’s foot and started pulling.

Together with her own strength and the momentum she and her opponent had it was easy throwing the student across the entire field and landed on the ground where she remained, groaning in pain. “You are quite right Sour, but like I said, never announce yourself to your opponent. Only if you want to distract him,” Cadance returned, looking around the court for the last two of her little trainees that were still standing.

The first one she saw was Sugarcoat. The girl was still more or less standing in the same position they had started this round, her arms in front of her in a typical fighting position, not bad she had to admit. Sunny Flair, on the other hand, took a few more moments to find. She was still looking terrified at her principal, not in any sort of fighting stance and trying to find a place out of her vision. She just sighed before starting her sprint towards the girl.

Sunny let out a loud yelp as the principal rushed towards her, her expression as cold as ice. Just in the last few moments before it would have been too late, she finally snapped out of her shock, screaming out in desperation and throwing her fist towards the woman, her eyes closed and just hoping that she would hit. Cadance saw this and silently cursed before ducking under the swing and delivered a devastating gut kick with her knee.

Sunny let out a pained gasp as she sunk to the ground. This was, however, not good enough for Cadance, she needed to drill this lesson into her head. “Never, ever look away from your opponent! Those who do this have already lost!” She almost barked at the poor girl before using her leg to swipe away Sunny’s own. The student fell on her back and simply stayed down, unable to continue fighting.

Cadence spun around, expecting Sugar to have used the opportunity to put her on the defensive, but to her surprise, the girl still was standing in the same place as before, not having moved an inch. She eyed her carefully before slowly edging closer, her fists ready for any sudden movement. Even when she ultimately stood face to face with her, Sugar didn’t move, her eyes locked on her like a hawk.

If she didn’t start, she would. With a swift kick, she aimed at her side, only for Sugar to sidestep her and try to grab her foot with her arm. In an instant, she pulled her leg closer to herself, just barely avoiding being caught in the teenagers grasp, but also not dealing any damage to her. Cadance, the moment she had regained a short time of standstill immediately thrust her leg forward, the student instinctively jumped back.

In the end, however, this was not fast enough, cadence managing to hit her in the stomach. While Sugar had managed to pull the end of her elbows down and somewhat soften the blow, she was still forced to the ground. And before she could in any way pull herself off the ground, Cadence had already pushed her on her side, pulled her arm back and held her in a joint lock. “Never let your opponent gain control of a fight. He will try and push you into a situation that is unfavorable for you.” With a defeated sigh, she was about signal her defeat when she suddenly felt Cadance letting go of her.

Cadence in the meantime had only just now realized that someone had sneaked up on her, the moment when the foot hit her arm. With a pained growl, she was forced off Sugar and to the side. Her assailant finally came into view. “So, you didn’t have quite enough, did you?” She asked, looking at a smirking Lemon Zest.

“Oh, Tartarus, no! This time I will surely beat you! I just need to punch you hard enough!” She returned, storming towards her, her fist pulled back and ready for a punch. A punch that never even connected as Cadance sidesteps it quickly and just returned the favor with a kick to her stomach. A kick that sent her right on Sugar, who let out a pained groan, leaving the two girls in a heap on the ground.

After a few seconds of nothing but groaning the silence was interrupted by clapping. “Ok, training is over for today. If we go any longer, it’s gonna get dark, and I’m sure your parents would wonder where you are,” she sighed. “Oh, and Lemon. What was that anyway? The first part was actually pretty good. Attacking me when I’m distracted and already thought I had won, but in the end, you just tried the most basic thing you could think of. Next time try to do something smarter,” she added, sounding rather disappointed.

“Eh, who cares? In Ranger form, nothing really can stand up to us. Have you seen what we did to this Changeling in the middle of the street? We are unstoppable, and if we want to make it any easier, we just use a few Ability Coins. And then we save the day,” she returned, with a wide grin as she pulled herself of Sugar. Cadance was almost impressed with her pain tolerance when she hissed and winked as she held her stomach.

“Yes, I saw what you did to her. While I’m impressed that you adapted to the powers so easily, that doesn’t mean you are save for the rest of your lives. That was only the lowest of the low the Changelings have to offer and if you continue to act like today and act without thinking about the consequences you are quickly going to realize that dying during all of this is a very real possibility!” She snapped back, glaring especially at Lemon. “The day will come that you will have to face an opponent you can’t beat with pure strength alone! You have to be smarter, not stronger!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lemon simply returned, rubbing the sore points all over her body.

“I think she has a point,” Sugar added from behind Lemon, much to her annoyance.

“Of course, you would say that. You always just agree with the lamest way possible. I would rather train with the Ability Coins or just in our Ranger form. I mean, that would help us so much more,” she groaned back, rolling her eyes.

“Without a solid foundation training you in Ranger form is a waste of time. You might become a bit better, but you won’t realize what you do wrong because I can’t really hurt you in your suits. Pain is one of the best teachers one could ask for. It shows you immediately when you did something wrong. And if you don’t realize that you are doing something wrong, you won’t improve and get rid of your weaknesses because you can ignore them. And if that happens, the enemy will exploit them. I will try my hardest to keep you all alive! I don’t want to have the blood of a few school kids on my hands, no matter if they agreed to this or not. And if I have to beat you green and blue for that,” Cadance returned, now standing right in front of her and glaring down at Lemon.

She, however, didn’t seem to care much. “Eh, things always worked out. That will happen this time as well,” she shrugged.

“Lemon! You can’t talk to the principal like this! This just isn’t right,” Sunny interrupted her.

“Yeah, I don’t think that is such a good idea,” Sour added before continuing in an annoyed tone: “But be my guest and make your life so much worse, idiot!”

“I think we should leave. Our parents are getting worried,” Sugar said, interrupting Cadence from going on another tirade.

“Yeah…” She ultimately sighed, finally calming down again. “Yeah, I think that is a good idea. I have the feeling that things are getting just a bit too heated here and before anyone says anything they are gonna regret we really should end our training for today.” She gave one last look at Lemon, still a bit of anger glimmering in her eyes before continuing. “Tomorrow right after school back here. Here, a spare key for the house,” she gave the key to Sugar before continuing. “Don’t make too much of a mess, ok?” She was about to wish them a good night before she returned to her usual smile and added: “Oh, and don’t forget about school. No matter how important saving the world is, school is also important. This is the year your future relies on, so don’t waste it. Work hard and make something out of yourself.”

A mumbled yes went through the group. None of them was all that interested in learning after the brutal training they had just gone through. If this was gonna, be a daily thing they had no idea how they were gonna cram learning into this as well. Being superheroes had sounded so easy, but now things were starting to get really exhausting.

“Goodnight, girls,” she waved them, with her innocent smile. But they knew now, under that smile was a monster and that monster had just started to torment them.

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

The Rangers weren’t the only ones who were currently training. Pharynx had thrown his suit jacket and his shirt underneath to the side and was currently pummeling a poor defenseless punching back. Every punch was accompanied by a loud scream, only getting louder and harder with everyone he threw. The bag was swinging back and forth, always thrown off balance, again and again, squeaking under the constant pressure. He was already going at it for at least two hours, and he showed no sign of stopping now, quite the contrary, he just put more and more into his exercise.

He hadn’t even noticed that time had flown by, he was long gone from reality one could say. No, he was far to busy glaring daggers at the bag and letting his anger burn dampened inside his head. Not once in his life had he ever been so humiliated. A small leap in judgment had brought him here. If he hadn’t jumped to action so soon, he would have been heralded as the hero of Change Industries, but no, he blew it! He had helped that damn thief to escape and if that wasn’t bad enough already that had spiraled out of control more than he could have ever thought it could.

These Power Rangers were precisely the last thing they could use right now. If he had just chosen another Worker instead of Filing Cabinet, this wouldn’t have happened. And the part that pissed him off the most, this was all his fault. From letting Cadance escape, letting this imbecile carry out the mission to giving her another shot.

With a loud scream, his arm was engulfed in green flames, quickly shifting back into its bug-form and with a loud screech of the metal holding the bag it was ripped off its hinges and slammed against the wall with a resounding crack. He didn’t even notice it, and neither did he the significant dent he had left behind or the sand pouring out of the bag. Pharynx just continued to punch the air, harder and harder.

His thoughts finally caught up to his brother. The one who had stolen any sort of dignity he had left after Filling cabinets defeat, Thorax. The moment that name echoed through his head, his anger only grew tenfold, everything before him becoming unimportant and he only saw red.

Thorax always had it easy. Public relations, that was all he was responsible for. Playing the good company, kissing a few puppies, building a few homeless shelters and all around just pretending to be nice. It was disgustingly simple, and even then, he continuously fucked it up. Getting mobs of angry internet users riled up against the company, some protesters in the street and all he did was say ‘he listened to their concerns’ change a few things and everything was forgotten. Well until the next controversy started. And he was actually praised for this. It made his blood boil that one man could fuck up so much and still be perceived as successful.

He once again let out a loud roar, completely overshadowing the knock on the door. The second time someone knocked on the door, it actually managed to somewhat pierce through his rage, but not enough that he actually realized what it was. The last one, however, was a different matter entirely; the knock being so loud someone on the floor above them could probably hear it. This snapped him out of his anger.

It was, however far too late to react when the door was pushed open as a muscular figure stepped inside. He was dressed in a black suit with a golden tie as well as a white shirt underneath. His skin was as white as wool, and his hair was a striking gold. “Excuse me sir, but it is already past the time for our daily security briefing and…” The firm voice of the man said before he actually took a look at his surroundings. “Uhm, everything ok sir?” He nervously added, staring at a heavy breathing Pharynx who looked like he wanted to murder someone.

“No, I’m fine. Just was reliving a bit of stress, that is all,” he grumbled in return as he walked over to his suit about to put it back on.

“If I may ask sir, what has you so riled up that this is still not enough to calm you back down?” He pointed at the wrecked punching bag in the corner of the room. “If you need something that can take a bit more, you know I’m always ready. Nothing has ever really hurt me after all. And if a normal fistfight is not enough there is always the chance to bring it to the next level,” the man chuckled, a green glow running through his eyes, changing the golden pupils into golden bug-eyes.

Pharynx was about to dismiss the man when an idea sparked into his head. “No, thank you, not in the mood right now. But there is something else you can help me with Bench Presser,” he returned with a sinister grin on his lips. “You are aware of what happened today?”

“Of course, sir, everyone knows. Filling Cabinet failed in retrieving the Shadow Coins and got defeated by these new heroes, these Power Rangers,” Bench returned.

“Good, that means I don’t have to explain that part to you. I need to get these coins back, and I need them fast. We don’t have time to waste on some stupid kids that think that they can be the next Alchemy. I need someone who can get them to me! Get me these coins and humiliate these Rangers for good measure! You got that?”

“Loud and clear sir. I’ll take care of our little nuisances, and I’ll make sure everyone can watch while I’m beating them into the ground for good measure,” Bench Presser returned with a sick grin on his lips. “For the Queen!”

“For the Queen,” Pharynx returned.

“We still have the meeting to attend to though sir,” he awkwardly added.

“Of course, I’ll be right there.” With that, his subordinate left the room. “Tomorrow you are in for a rude awakening Rangers,” he chuckled.

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

School had ended once again, and the five students were on their way back to Cadance’s mansion. They could already see the hill the house had been built from down here, but none of the girls was in any sort of rush to reach it. They looked horrified, all just dragging themselves forwards. All of them were clearly exhausted after the training yesterday. They had pretty much immediately fallen into their respective beds after coming back home and slept like rocks. They had all just sleepwalked through the conversations with their parents regarding where they had been all day long, but ultimately, everything had been resolved. The girls had found it rather hard to not fall asleep in class, but they had managed, somehow.

Suddenly, while they all were dragging themselves along Lemon burst back to life, pointing in a seemingly random direction. “Hey! Girls, why don’t we take a little detour there? I’m starving for a good donut, and really, it won't hurt if we eat a little bit. Cadence won’t be here for at least two hours,” she shouted out, looking at her friends with the most pitiful puppy eyes a girl could muster.

The rest of her friends just stared at her for a few moments before letting out a loud sigh and merely nodding in agreement, not currently in able to deny her the request, not that they really wanted to either. Something to eat and a good coffee probably would go a good way of actually getting back a bit of energy.

So, after all of them getting what they had ordered and choosing a table, the girls slumped down and started to dig into their round treats and washing them down with coffee.

“I never knew Principal Cadance could be so cruel,” Lemon was the first to finish her first donut and groaned, letting her head fall down onto the plate of the table. “I mean, seriously. At this rate, she is gonna kill us sooner than the Changelings ever could!”

“Yeah, Cadance is really pushing us hard! I broke three nails yesterday! Three! That doesn’t happen in a bad month!” Sunny hissed before taking a sip from her coffee. The girl looked a bit better than the rest of them, but not even her makeup could hide how tired and exhausted she was.

“I’m all for a good workout, but this was brutal yesterday! I have done sports for my entire life, but this is up there with the most exhausting stuff I have done,” Indigo groaned, having rested her head on the end of the bench they were sitting at and just staring up at the ceiling.

“I don’t know what you all have, it wasn’t sooo bad,” Sour returned, gaining a surprised glance from everyone, even Sugar raised an eyebrow.

“Are you sure?” Sugar asked, not entirely sure what to think of her answer. Even her deadpan exterior had taken a few cracks, exhaustion and doubt clearly visible in her expression.

“It’s far worse! If we continue to do this, we won’t be able to fight the Changelings! We have to talk to her and tell her that this has to stop! Either train us in a way that helps us and not just powers us out!” Sour snapped back, almost growling as she stared at her donut with a look that could kill. A mumble of agreement echoed through the group before Sugar spoke up.

“I think you are wrong. While she might have overdone it a bit, she still has a point. If we can’t fight without our powers, what chance do we stand against opponents that know how to?” She asked with her usual serious tone. No one in the group dared to say anything, even if she could see that they really wanted to prove her wrong. “I’ve practiced martial arts for years, and she knows her stuff. If we can learn to fight from anyone, it's her.”

“I guess, but what is the point? If the previous Rangers beat the Changelings before why can’t we? I’m sure; if we just punch them hard enough they won’t stand a chance! And really, the best way to learn is through a real fight and not some dumb training,” Lemon groaned back, eyeing the second plain sugar donut with her eyes.

“You aren’t wrong,” Sunny returned, nervously looking between Sugar and Lemon before her skin turned a very pale blue and her eyes grew to the size of headlights.

“Uhm, Sunny? Is something?” Lemon was the first to ask, looking somewhat puzzled at her friend. While Lemon spoke, both Sour’s and Indigo’s expression started to mirror Sunny’s.

Before Lemon could ask again, Sugar had already turned around, and her expression shifted as well. With a panicked scream, she shouted: “Down! Now!”

This got everyone's attention, and without as much of a second thought, all five of them duck under the table while the rest of the room started to scream in terror and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Lemon wondered what it was that had even Sugar so spooked when she heard of breaking glass, followed by something weighty crashing into the counter. Then silence.

After a few seconds of silence, Lemon dared to take a look at where the sound had come from and to her utter bafflement, the remains of a car looked back at her. “Someone threw a car at us…” She helplessly stuttered as she looked back at her friends.

“Whoever that was, they have nothing good in mind! Girls, time to suit up!” Indigo growled back, slamming her bracelet and inserting her coin into it while the rest of her friends nodded and did the same.

“Light up!”

[Re-Re-Red!]

[Bl-Bl-Blue!]

[Ye-Ye-Yellow!]

[Pi-Pi-Pink!]

[Gre-Gre-Green!]

[Shine Bright! Red!]

[Shine Honest! Blue!]

[Shine Wild! Yellow!]

[Shine Glamourous! Pink!]

[Shine Courageous! Green!]

The moment the light faded, five figures jumped up from beneath the table, no one had noticed who they were during the entire chaos. All five of them landed in front of the donut shop, standing right before the new Changeling.

The monster was massive, nearly doubled as big as they were, well, if one counted the massive horn that grew from the back of his head. A second horn extended from his forehead, but it was only half as long as the other one. His body was quite bulky and muscular as well as coated in white with only his armored back and eyes colored in shimmering gold. What was also striking was the complete lack of a neck, the body merely going over into the bug face of the Changeling.

“He looks like a Hercules-beetle,” Sugar said nonchalantly without even looking over to her friends. “Be careful, these kinds of beetles can lift up to eight hundred fifty times its weight!”

“Ha, you are smarter than you look puny Ranger! Indeed, I’m a Hercules-Beetle Changeling! And once again correct, just like my beetle counterpart I’m able to lift far more than I weight! I would suggest you surrender now since there is no chance that a few girls like you could beat me!” His laughter echoed through the streets, all while the girls just looked at each other and shook their heads. “However, I can’t do that. There is someone who wants to see you suffer, and I have to agree. You girls need to be taught a lesson!” He added with a far more sinister voice.

“Oh, come on Hercul, you sounded exactly like that Mantis yesterday. And trust me, you are gonna end up just like she did!” Lemon returned her arms on her hips as she stepped forward and pointed at the Changeling. “And you know why? Because we are the Power Rangers Shadow Force!”

“As mouthy as expected, but that won’t help you,” the Changeling dismissively chuckled before raising his hands and shouting: “Drones!” Immediately after he had said that several Drones teleported in, growling at the Rangers before storming forward.

“I’m taking the big guy; you can deal with the rest!” Lemon shouted back at her friends, having already dashed forward knocking one of the charging Drones in the face and kneeing another one in the stomach while passing them.

“Hey! Who died and made you the leader?” Sunny hissed after her, but the girl was already not too far gone to listen to her. “Damn it! What is it with her and not listening?” She growled before returning her attention to the threat at hand, dodging the first strike of the drone and delivering an uppercut that sent it flying.

While her friends were trading blows with the Drones, she was rushing straight ahead at the Changeling who looked like he was smirking as he took a stance that pretty much screamed: ‘Come at me!’

Not one to let the bug waiting she jumped towards it, reading her fist to give a solid punch to its face. She really hoped someone would record this because it would look so damn epic, she though just moments before her fist would connect.

And truth be told, the moment she hit the Changeling was indeed a moment to behold, a ripple going through the entire street as her fist collided with him, however, not his face, but his forearm. He simply stood there, his arm casually blocking her attack and what could only be described as a shit-eating grin decoration his mouth.

“Oh, surprised?” He asked, his voice perfectly mirroring his expression. Lemon meanwhile just looked at him in confuse from beneath her helmet before that changed into a look of anger, and with a silent growl, she jumped back only to dash forward again and try to kick him. That went just as well as the last time, the Changeling grabbing her foot easily and throwing her to the side and right into the side of a parking car. “I guess you had expected that this would be easy? That you would just come in here and save the day by kicking my butt to next Sunday? Yeah, think again missy, this is where things are gonna get real ugly!” The Hercules Changeling chuckled.

Lemon meanwhile pulled herself up again, gritting her teeth as she stared at the approaching Changeling. Mixed in with her anger small bits of fear bubbling up, but were quickly shoved to the side as she pulled out a coin and promptly shoved it into the Morpher.

[Sw-Sw-Sword!]

The weapon materialized in her hand, just mere moments later, she dashed forward with a loud scream. The Changeling even stopped advancing as she rushed towards him. The Hercules Changeling pulled back his arm and readied himself to strike, while Lemon tightened the grip on her weapon once more. He was the first to hit, the arm rocketing forward like a damn truck at high speed, but still, Lemon barely managed to dodge the incoming attack, but this was all she needed.

The Red Ranger’s sword slashed across the chest of the Changeling, sparks flying from where she had struck and left behind a black burn mark. Still, the only thing the changeling did was flinch a bit and hiss, but otherwise, he was unharmed, much to Lemon’s shock.

“See? It’s pointless to try and resist,” he returned as he turned around, Lemon just staring at him in disbelief. “Oh? Speechless? How cute!” With that, he delivered another punch to her stomach, sending the poor girl flying once again as she landed on the rough asphalt.

Using her sword as support she pulled herself back up, the Changeling casually strolling towards her. As much as she tried, she could feel the cold sweat running down her spine as well as she hears standing on edge more and more the closer he got. But if she gave up now, this would end badly for her. She had already partially injured him, if she just hit him hard enough, this would work. With that, she pushed in one last coin into the sword.

[Str-Str-Strength!]

She could feel how her power grew, maybe now she would be able to actually hurt that monster, she thought, and with newfound vigor, she jumped up and over the Changeling. He, however, didn’t just stand there and wait for the attack, no, he spun around, but could only watch as the blade slashed across his chest once again. This time the sparks were accompanied with a growl of the monster and him staggering back a step. But the moment she tried to capitalize on her success things turned sour once again, the Hercules-Beetle steadied himself and dashed forward, grabbing her arm and preventing her from actually following up her attack.

Lemon was lifted off her feet and was now staring right into the eyes of the Changeling, dangling a few centimeters of the ground, all while furiously struggling against the hold of the monster. “You really did it! You actually made me mad! We can’t have that!” He growled, pulling back his arm to strike her. She could only watch in terror as he pulled back the arm and was about to let her feel it with all its force.

But before she could be hit again, the Changeling let out a loud roar and let go of her. As she dared to open her eyes again, she could see the Hercules Changeling clutching his chest and her friends standing between her and the monster. “You are the biggest idiot ever! You can’t just run in without a plan!” Sunny hissed at her, but right now she just didn’t care, she was just far to relived.

“Th… Thank you,” she managed to return, her voice shaky.

Sunny had been about to release another tirade at the girl but stopped before she actually got even a word in. Instead, she returned with a far softer tone: “You damn idiot.”

“We can discuss this later, right now we have something else to deal with,” Sugar interrupted.

Lemon simply nodded before pulling herself back up, the monster doing the same, staring daggers at them. That was the moment here; eyes darted across his chest, immediately locking onto it as an idea started to form. “Uhm, girls. I think I have an idea!”

“What are you talking about?” He growled, taking a step forward. “Eh, doesn’t matter. Nothing you could throw at me could beat me anyway!” His laughter echoed once again through the streets. But while he was busy laughing the Rangers had already pulled out a coin each and inserted it into their swords.

[Fi-Fi-Final! Red!]

[Fi-Fi-Final! Blue!]

[Fi-Fi-Final! Yellow!]

[Fi-Fi-Final! Pink!]

[Fi-Fi-Final! Green!]

In an instant, the Changeling was consumed by shadows, making it impossible for him to see. “Oh, you are trying this? By all means, be my guest, it won’t he-“ That was as far as he got as the first streak of blue light sliced across his chest. He almost staggered back but could stand firm in the end. This victory was however quickly dashed as both a green and pink light came down on him, letting him take a step back followed by another yellow slash, this time actually getting a pained yelp from him. At this point, his chest was starting to feel sore, but he had seen through the attack, all he had to do was block the last one and-

That was when he realized, he couldn’t move his arms, something was holding onto them and preventing him from pulling them forward. It didn’t take long for it to hit him, the Rangers were holding onto him, but for what? This answer was swiftly revealed when a bright red light appeared before him and with it, the Red Ranger. She came down on him and plunged her sword deep into his chest, right there where had been hit multiple times until now.

The chitin cracked under pressure, and constant strain as the blade dug deep into him. Everything slowed down for a moment, a burning fire igniting inside him only for the Ranger to pull the sword back out and push herself off him. The rest of the Rangers also abandoned him, and it didn’t take long for the dark shadows around him to be pushed aside by an explosion. But before his Dark Stone could fall out something hit him, pulling the stone back in and filling him with even more power.

The rangers expected the man to lay there when the dust cleared, but to their surprise, something else happened. The Changeling started to grow, first doubling in size, then overtaking the building around them until he had reached skyscraper height towering before them.

“What the fuck!?” Was all Lemon could scream out, staring at the monster before her. That was, however, all the time she had to dwell on this before the beast unleashed an unholy scream, pulling her back to reality.

This was also the moment when she noticed the glow from her Coin container around her waist. Without even thinking any longer about it, she removed the Sword Coin and replaced it with another one. Her friends were doing the same thing.

[He-He-Hellhound!]

[Le-Le-Leviathan!]

[Ro-Ro-Roc!]

[Wy-Wy-Wyvern!]

[Ma-Ma-Manticore!]

Five beams of light erupted from the Morphers, shooting straight at the monster, consuming it whole and letting it and the Rangers disappear into seemingly nothing.

For a few moments, it looked like things were over when suddenly the sly turned black around the city, a mirror copy of the city appearing above the city, drenched in the darkest of nights. Within stood the Changeling as well as five massive mechanical beasts. One looked like a giant red and black dog with spike color and glowing eyes. The next one was what could only be described as a black and blue dinosaur with four fins. Over them hovered a black and yellow bird, somewhat resembling an eagle. The pink and black monster resembled a dragon with its forelegs incorporated into its wings. And last was a black and green beast in the form of a lion with a scorpion tail and bat wings.

“Oh, my, goodness! This is fucking awesome!” Lemon shouted from what looked like a cockpit, just without any sort of way to actually move the thing, but somehow she knew instinctively how to pilot the thing.

The first of the beasts to move the Leviathan, but instead of actually moving forward it simply opened its moth, unleashing a stream of water, one that ripped apart concrete and buildings in the shadow world as it advanced towards the Changeling. The giant monster couldn’t do anything else besides screaming in pain as it was hit by the power of the water.

Lightning was the next to act, letting her Roc fly towards the monster and as it was right above it unleash a devastating barrage of thunder and lightning that let sparks fly from the Changeling as it stumbled backward.

When the Roc let off from his victim, the giant Manticore had already flown towards it and used its massive claws to jump at it, cutting through the chitin and leave behind enormous claw marks only to turn around and jam its tail right into them.

While the Changeling was still stunned by the Manticore Sunny had flown her Wyvern over to it and just as her friend flew away used her beast to unleash a burst of pink flames, the screams of the monster echoing through the city. At this point, many citizens were looking up in awe at the display they were witnessing.

At last, it was Lemon’s time to shine. Her mechanical monster dashed forward, bursting into flames, but made no signs of slowing down. It speed up more and more, the buildings around it bursting into flames, thankfully only in the shadow world they were in. Ultimately the Hellhound burst through the Changeling, leaving it burning and smoldering before falling over and exploding, the shadow world fading and the Rangers returning to where they were before, but there was no sign of the defeated Changeling.

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

Lemon was sitting in a nice and comfortable red chair, arms crossed and awkwardly looking at the ground. “I’m… I’m sorry for my outburst yesterday,” she sighed. One could see plasters all over her face. “You were right; there are some enemies you can’t just beat with pure strength alone.”

Cadance poured her another hot chocolate into the cup in front of the girl. “Good that you realize that now, but I might have to apologize as well. I saw you today in school, and how exhausted you all were. I might have overdone it a bit,” she sheepishly admitted. “I just thought if I could cram enough material into as few lessons as possible, you would be prepared for everything and I was clearly wrong. I was just afraid for your safety, but I can’t continue like this. I’m gonna tone it down a bit, but that doesn’t mean you can slack off. Deal?” She weakly chuckled, getting a unanimous nod from the students.

“Uhm, by the way, what were these giant robot animals and that dark shadow world thingy?” Indigo asked, looking rather puzzled.

“Oh, of course. I’m actually surprised you figured that out on your own. In the old stories, the former Rangers fought giant Changelings with their Zords inside a shadow world designed to minimize damage. The coins were forged after a Changeling managed to grow one of his own and they needed something to fight back. But that is one of the parts I know the least about, I’m sorry,” she returned.

“Eh, who cares, we’ll figure it out,” Lemon returned after taking a sip from her chocolate.

“Yeah, I’m sure you will,” she smiled back. “But first, we have training to get to,” she added with a wicked smile, her students just gulping in return.

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

“I’m home,” Lemon shouted through the house, while still exhausted, it was not as bad as yesterday.

“Hey, Lemy! Your father and I are in the kitchen, why don’t you come here for a moment?” Sweet Orange shouted to her, Lemon just shrugging and dragging herself into the kitchen.

Inside she could see her mom sitting next to her dad, a man in a grey business suit, pink skin, and short orange hair. He was also trying to hide something behind his back. “Yo! What’s up?” She asked, trying her best to avoid staring at the thing he held behind his back.

“What happened to you, Lemy? You look like you got into a fight! Is everything ok?” Grapefruit immediately asked, staring at his daughter with open eyes and a worried look.

“Eh, I’m fine dad, just feel of my board, that is all,” she returned, trying to sound as convincing as possible. “How was your trip to Mount Aris?” She added with a wide grin.

“Oh? It was ok. Not much exciting stuff really just had to deal with one of our customers who had a bigger problem with one of our factoring machines. I had to accompany one of our engineers and make sure the situation wouldn’t look bad for Change Industries. I would have been back sooner if it were not for Mr. Thorax having to return back to Canterlot for some reasons. But all in all, everything turned out fine, and I even had time to get something special just for you,” Grapefruit smirked, triumphantly pulling out a small little box wrapped in wrapping paper

“Oh, my goodness!” She feigned ignorance and excitedly ripped the small box from his hands, tearing apart the paper in seconds and not much later she had disregarded the top of the box. Two black wireless headphones stared back at her, Lemon’s eyes as wide as headlights and a smile as wide as her entire head.

“I know you would love it!” Grapefruit chuckled and before he was almost thrown off balance by Lemon jumping at him and pulling him in a tight hug. Meanwhile Sweet Orange was looking at the scene with a somewhat worried look in her eyes, one that however quickly faded and she joined in on the hug.

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

Solid work once again. Pretty basic lesson for the new Rangers to learn, but then again they *are* starting out. XD

[Ellery Quinn]

The rangers expected the man to lay there when the dust cleared, but to their surprise, something else happened. The Changeling started to grow, first doubling in size, then overtaking the building around them until he had reached skyscraper height towering before them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUelB-OSneY