Power Rangers: Maximum Velocity

[ZeoFury]

Task One: Into the Darkness


July 12, 1990
12:32 AM



Dr. Samuel Michaels typed furiously away at his keyboard. He reached over to his left, wrapping his hands around the cold glass of water. Raising it to his lips, he realized that only a few drops remained. Angry with this discovery, Michaels tossed the glass aside, allowing it to crash against the wall, the shrapnel raining to the ground. Michaels pushed open the door of his lab and walked down the dark corridor.

A water machine, a soda machine, something. Chemicals from the outside had leaked into the ventilation system. It was drying his throat and he would do anything for a sip of liquid. Salvation proved to be at the end of the hall. Michaels smiled broadly as he saw the Deer Park water machine. Fumbling for his wallet, Michaels retrieved a single dollar bill, running to the vending machine.

He slipped the dollar into the slot of the machine, pushing a button. With a slight rumble, and the familiar crinkle of plastic, the water bottle tumbled down from the machine into the slot at the bottom. Michaels put the bottle against his lips and took one long sip. Within seconds, at least half of the bottle was emptied.

Michaels turned towards the window and peered outside through the stained glass. Several of those barbarians were in the parking lot outside of the mall right now. He didn’t know what they were. They had to be aliens. The cops had been alerted, but they failed to remove them from the premises. Now, here he was, waiting for SWAT to make their plan of attack. Stuck in a mall for the past 12 hours with nothing but a vending machine and a pistol. He was typing furiously, looking for any way to hack the systems and trigger an alarm. Maybe it would drive the aliens out, or provide enough of a distraction for escape.

They hadn’t found out how to get through the locks yet. Michaels was sure that there was at least one floor between him and the aliens. He was on the top floor, close to the rooftop. There were three levels below him, and the aliens didn’t seem to really know what they were doing in terms of opening and closing doors.

“I didn’t even want to be here today… I come here for a few minutes to get my blueprints, and what do I get?” Michaels spoke to himself as if he were planning on having an intelligent conversation. “I get a barricade of aliens, that’s what I get. The damned cops don’t even know what they’re doing. They leave me here alone. They act as if I’m some sort of---.”

His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly, a soft scratching comes from the door. As the seconds go by, the scratching becomes increasingly louder. Michaels reached into his pocket, pulling out the pistol that he’d retrieved from one of the drawers just a few hours ago. He clicked the safety off with his thumb and raised the pistol up in front of his face. His hands were shaking.

“I’m… I’m not afraid of y-you.” Michaels walked a bit closer to the door. “Come get me. I’m loaded!”

The scratches turned into furious swipes. The door began to shake and the knob twisted slowly. Michaels frowned and backed away a bit, steadying the gun. He tried to remember the way he’d seen cops hold these. Both hands kept the shots steady. A stray bullet was never fun, however, Michaels didn’t have to worry about that. He was the only civilized human being here. Everybody else had either fled, been taken hostage by these intergalactic criminals, or been murdered.

“Come and get me! I’m not afraid!”

With that, the door flew open. Two of the creatures lunged at Michaels. He pulled against the trigger and won bullet tore through the monster’s heart, however the second assailant jumped over his partner and drove a foot into the doctor’s chest. Dr. Michaels hit the ground and slid across the corridor. His back connected with the wall again and he fired his second bullet. The bullet sailed through the air and tore through the neck of the alien. With a sick hiss, it hunched over and fell to the ground.

Michaels took the valuable time to reach into his pocket, and pull out a small black recorder. He turned it on and looked into it, holding that in his left hand, and a firm grip on his pistol in other. “If anybody gets this message, that means that either I’ve been abducted… Or I’ve been… Eliminated. Listen to what I have to say.” Michaels grunted and reached up, firing three shots in the direction of the door, his target invisible from the perspective of whomever may pick up the recording. “And listen carefully.”





“Back up!” Darius Marks pushes his back up against Peter Tyson, one of his friends from the basketball courts and spins around him, tossing the ball through the air, and whistling as it lands perfectly through the net. “Haha, so this means Dars, eighteen, Peter… what, one?”

“Two,” Peter said with somewhat of a scowl. “Look, you know I’m no good at basketball, so why continue playing? We’re not getting anywhere. Shouldn’t you be like, studying or something, dude?”

“Study,” Dars repeated with a chuckle. “Peter, it’s the middle of July. What am I going to study for? How to stay up well past 4 AM every morning and get drunk out of my mind? If so, then yeah, I should be studying or something, ‘dude’.” Dars tosses the ball in Peter’s direction. Peter winces as the ball hits his hands and slams into his chest.

“Brush up on current events. Build a birdhouse.” Peter rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You can’t possibly get a kick out of beating me in basketball every single day of your life.”

“You’d be surprised.” Dars looked at his watch and his eyed widened, only before narrowing once again. “Oh, crap!”

“What?” Peter asked.

“I have to meet Dani at the theater in like, five minutes. You wanna give me a ride?”

“No, Dars, I really don’t.”

“Sure you do. Hurry up.”

“Wha--- aren’t you going to shower? Change your shirt? Pants? Socks? Anything!”





Cara Eubanks sighs, muttering under her breath as she walks back and forth around her room, holding a bundle of blankets in her arms. It’s been about four months, but she still can’t believe that, she, at sixteen, produced what was living and breathing between these blankets. Cara rocked the baby, whom she’d named Joey, in her arms when his features suggested that he was threatening to cry. She pressed her lips softly against his head and then sat down, reaching for the bottle.

She was a bit angered that her mother had been so against Cara keeping the baby. Cara had to fight so hard for her mother to agree not to put Joey up for adoption or something. She wasn’t given any assistance with raising the baby. She’d been called several things in her school. “Slut”, “whore”, “easy”, among other things. The truth was, Cara had given the school quite a reason to believe all of those things. She’d given the school a reason to call her those names. One of those reasons was resting in her arms right now.

“Please don’t cry…” Cara kissed Joey’s cheek again. “Please. Mommy needs some sleep too.”

Joey, as if understanding what his mother said, reached up and pulled the small reading glasses that she was wearing off of her face, placing the ends of them into his mouth, gnawing on them. Cara gave Joey a tired smile and lifted him up. Cara… Was ashamed to admit that she had no clue who the father was. Joey had been conceived during a college party Clara attended in the summer after her sophomore year. She claimed to be eighteen, and for the most part, they believed her. She came into the party, had a few shots, kissed a few guys, and… Obviously she did a bit more than kiss a few guys… And a scary seven, as opposed to nine, months later, she gave birth to a baby boy. She regretted the way that Joey was created, however Cara would never say that she regretted Joey..

After Joey was bored with sucking on the glasses, Cara took the opportunity to sneak the bottle into his mouth. Joey sucked on the bottle and once about half of the milk had left the body and was now sliding down his throat, into his tiny little stomach, Cara placed the reading glasses aside. Another few minutes passed and the bottle was near empty, though Joey was no longer instinctively sucking the milk from it. Cara lifted Joey up and placed him in the crib next to her bed.

The cell phone on her nightstand vibrated. Before it could make any significant amount of noise, Clara scooped the phone up off of the stand and placed it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Wassup, C?” Evan Harrison, one of Cara’s best--- and only--- friends asked. “You wanna hang out later?”

Cara smiled a bit. Though she and Evan never had any sort of romantic or intimate interest in each other, a lot of the school, and her mother believed that they did. “I don’t know. It’s already getting pretty dark and I have to watch Joey. My mom’s out of town for the week so I can’t really go anywhere.”

“Alright,” Evan said. After a pause and silent deliberation with himself, he spoke again. “How about I come over there? I’ll make you some dinner, we’ll watch a movie and you can stay with Joey as well.”

Cara smiled again. “I’d like that. I appreciate it.”

“Hey, I refuse to stay home by myself on a Friday night,” Evan said with a slight laugh. “Trust me. You letting me come over is a favor to me.”

Cara returned the laugh. “Alright. I’ll see you soon, Evan.”

”Peace.” Evan closed his cell phone and Cara closed hers as well, shoving it into the side pocket of her pajamas. She turned and looked down at Joey. Joey was sleeping peacefully on one of the several small pillows in his crib. Cara reached in and pulled a blue blanket over Joey’s body before closing the blinds on the window and closing the lights, aside from a small, pale yellow nightlight next to the crib, for Joey’s comfort. She walked out to the living room, leaving the bedroom door wide open, still paranoid that Joey would need her and she wouldn’t be able to be there… Her only fear.




“Hey, babe,” Dars said, smiling as he walked into the movie theater.

Dani gave Dars a sarcastic glare. “Ten minutes late. The movie’s starting. Come on.” Dani then saw Peter standing by the doors, looking at the movie times. As long as he was giving Dars a ride, he saw no reason that he shouldn’t see some sort of movie as well, even if It wasn’t with the two of them. “Hey… Peter, right?”

Peter nodded and gave Danni a small smile and a wave. “Hey. Don’t mind me. I’m just Dars’ chauffer for the evening.” It was sarcastic, however Dani laughed a bit anyway.

“Darius, why doesn’t your friend see the movie with us?” Dani suggested.

Dars blinked. “Uh…” Damnit. Dars was hoping to be alone with Dani. He turned and looked at Peter. If Peter was a true friend, he would politely decline and opt to see a different movie instead.

“No, that’s alright,” Peter said, to Dars’ relief. “I think I’ll see Transformers or something.”

”Excellent! That’s what Dars and I are going to see!” Dani said, her eyes lighting up as she tugged on Dars’ arm. “And we have an extra ticket anyway. Come on.”

Dars winced a bit. Peter just shrugged and mouthed “sorry” to Dars once Dani had her back turned. Dars started to say something to Peter, possibly to convince him to try one more time to see a different movie, however Dars was stopped as something red shot through the navy sky.

“Whoa, did you see that?” Dars asked, pointing. By the time Peter and Dani turned, however, the streak was gone and the sky simply turned a darker shade as the sun set behind the mountains.

“See what?” Peter asked.

Dars scratched his head. “…Nevermind. Maybe I’m seeing things. I don’t know. Let’s just go enjoy the movie, yeah?” Dars kept his eyes on the window, even as he walked through the double doors leading to the center of the theater.




Evan knocked on Cara’s door softly, noting that last time he rang the doorbell, Joey had started crying and it took them about half an hour to get him to stop. Cara pulled open the door and smiled, stepping out of the way. “Come on in.”

Evan walked into the house, kicking his shoes off immediately, also noting that Ms. Eubanks didn’t like shoes walking across her off-white carpet. “Hey.” He put one arm around Cara and she returned the hug.

“Thank you so much for coming,” Cara said, her hand still resting in Evan’s. “I was so bored.”

Evan looked down at Cara’s hand for a moment and slowly let his fingers fall from it. He held up his other hand. He had two bags. One was a grocery bag and the other was a Blockbuster bag. “Hope you like pasta.”

“Oooh, I love pasta,” Cara said, grinning as she locked the doors of the house and placed the chain on the door. “So are you planning on staying over tonight or are you heading back home?”

“Whatever you want,” Evan said, smiling up at her from the kitchen. He began to pull the ingredients out. “What can I say? I’m good company. And I look mad sexy in pink.” This was a reference to the two pink aprons that Cara had hanging on the pantry.

Cara blushed. “Heh… Yeah… Washing machine accident. Very--- very hard to explain.”

Evan slipped the apron over his head anyway. “Don’t worry about it. It takes a real man to wear pink anyway.” Evan placed water in a pot before placing it on the stove and bringing it to a boil. Cara watched from the kitchen table, her chin resting in her palm. Every move Evan made seemed to be so perfect. He was so perfect. A lot of guys were very attracted to Cara, both physically and personality-wise. No one ever suspected she was a mother until she dropped the bomb on them. Whether friend or something more, most guys were really turned off when Cara admitted that she had a baby. Usually they avoided her after that. Cara only had a handful of friends at Shady Grove High, but Evan always seemed to be that “special” guy.

The minutes passed and Cara didn’t move from her spot, looking at Evan until he turned, placing a lid on the pot. Cara snapped out of it and looked around, blushing. Luckily for her, Evan didn’t seem to catch her staring.

“It has to sit there for about fifteen minutes. Hope you like Die Hard,” Evan said with a wink.

Cara rolled her eyes. “You’re a real ladies’ man.”

”I know right.” Evan laughed again and placed the DVD into the player. Cara sat down next to him. She casually reached over Evan and pulled a blanket over the two of them, since she’d mentioned earlier how cold it got in the house.

The movie had just started to pick up pace when Evan gently moved the sheets off of him. He walked back over the stove and after a few more minutes, the pasta was poured into two bowls. Evan walked over to the couch again, placing his bowl on the coffee table in front of him and handing Cara her own.

Cara smiled up at him. “Aw, thanks, Evan. You really didn’t have to do all of this.”

“I wanted to,” Evan replied, looking into Cara’s eyes for a few seconds. Evan slowly moved his face closer to Cara’s. Cara looked into his eyes, as if studying him for a moment before bringing her face closer as well. Her parted lips were literally an inch away from his before the ground slightly shook and an explosion blared though the area like a rocket at blast-off. Cara, startled, placed her bowl on the table and ran to the window, the blanket falling to the ground.

“What the hell was that?!” Cara exclaimed. She saw nothing… No fire, no flames, no damage, until she saw a red gas in the distance. Cara ran into Joey’s bedroom and flicked on the lights. Joey was still sound asleep, hugging his covers around himself. He’d put his arm around one of his stuffed teddy bears.

“Wanna go check it out?” Evan asked, by this point, already in his sneakers and a fitted cap.

Cara looked at Evan for a second and then turned back to Joey. Joey didn’t seem to be able to hear anything. His chest moved up and down slowly as he slept, completely unaware of the soon-to-be chaos unfolding around him.

“Yeah, but just for a minute.” Cara slipped her shoes on as well and followed Evan out the door.




Dars, Dani, and Peter practically had to hug the walls of the movie theater’s exterior just to avoid being trampled. Explosions had now rocked the ground. Five minutes passed since the first one and now four more poured down as if they were huge raindrops. After the explosions, however, there was no sign of flames. There were, however, colored gases rising up from the sites of the explosions. Red, yellow, black, blue, and a pinkish color. Dars fell to the ground as more people ran out of the building.

“Is all the screaming necessary?!” Dars demanded. He was thankful as Peter pulled him out of the way of several hurried feet.

Seconds passed, and suddenly Dars realized that he was standing with Dani and Peter, nearly alone in the parking lot. Cars roared past them and away from the theater. Away from the carnage. However, what were they running from? The explosions had stopped. The colors swimming around in the sky had died and its black cover had been draped over the Earth.

“Yeah, question.” Peter stroked his chin and walked towards his car, which was one of the three left in the parking lot. “Why aren’t we running away like everybody else?”

“There’s nothing to run from,” Dars responded. “They’re running away from the theater because it’s not their comfort zone. But I wanna check it out.”

“Dars,” Dani muttered, crossing her arms. “You’re not serious, are you?”

“I am.” Dars began to walk across the pavement, heading towards the hills that were hit by the explosions.

“Yeah, ya’ll can go do that,” Peter said with narrowed eyes. “But I think I’m going to head home. Bye, guys. Good luck with the suicide mission.”

“Okay,” Dars said. “But I have your keys, so…”

Peter chuckled. “Pfft. You do not.” Peter moved his hands to his pants pockets. He rubbed his hands around before he realized the horrible truth. Dars truly did have his keys, and he was twirling them around his finger as he walked away, Dani timidly following. “DARS! OH, COME ON!”




Dars was the first of the group to approach one of the colored burning holes. He peered down and his eyes widened. He couldn't see down in the depths of the hole. The red smoke, those red wisps, had become really thin. It smelled of charcoal and there was nothing but pitch-black-darkness as far as Dars could see.

Dani looked down at the blue smoke while Peter moved to the black. Peter looked up at Dars. "Dude, what IS this stuff?"

"I don't know, but it has some funky colors," Dars said, his eyes rolling towards Peter and Dani. "What the hell?"

Dani turned and watched as two figures approached the site as well. Evan reached the top of the hill before spinning on his heel, extending a hand, and pulling Cara up onto the top of the hill. Cara gazed forward. Three people were at the scene already. Two of them, she didn't recognize, however the boy standing near the hole which seemed to be spewing red smoke, she knew as Darius Marks. Dars was somebody that Cara had been involved with in the past. It hadn't really gone anywhere; however the breakup seemed to have a lot more significance than the entire duration of their relationship.

"Do you guys know what that was?" Evan asked, his eyes widening from excitement. "Dude, it was like a meteor or something. It scared the living sh---."

"Ssshh," Dars held up a finger, looking at the other four. He was really tempted to turn the other way upon seeing Cara; however, he realized that the ground was shaking… Twitching… Moving…

Dani backed away from the hole. Pieces of the ground were crumbling, falling into the pitch black bottomless pit. "EARTHQUAKE!"

That was all the explanation the five of them needed. Tempted to run, Peter turned on his heel. Peter let out a huge yell as a black figure; easily twenty times his size erupted from the ground. It shot into the air and quickly came back down

Peter found himself teetering backwards. Dars gasped and lunged for his friend, hands outstretched. "PETE!"

Dars' fingers sailed over Pete's and Pete screamed as he tumbled down the dark hole below. Dars lied over the hole for a moment, his hand still shaking, held over the hole. His jaw began to tremble. He didn't--- he didn't know what to say or do. However, he didn't have very long to think of anything. One of the girls, Dars wasn't sure which one, yelled "Look out!" and a white blast of energy shot down from the eyes of the figure above him, which Dars was now convinced was a robot. The beam missed Dars by yards and an explosion sent him flying through the air, along with the other three.

Dars, Evan, Dani, and Cara all hit the grass, rolling to the bottom of the hill. Grass and dirt weren't exactly friendly on this unfortunate occasion and Dars groaned as a dry patch on the ground cut the skin on his forearm.

"We are so dead," Evan muttered.

"Not if we get the hell out of here," Dani protested, pulling herself up to her feet.

Cara screamed as another beam hit the hill. Dirt flew onto the four and the robot jumped through the air. Cara bit her lip and covered her eyes with her arm.

The robot had to be mere yards away from stomping the four before a metallic clank! was heard and the robot sailed over them, landing on the ground. The assailant didn't move, however a single spark flew from its head. Cara looked up. At the very top of the hill, a multi-colored smoke, a haze even, obscured their vision of whatever it was that had saved their lives.

Seconds passed and the smoke cleared. By now, all four of the teens were at their feet and a single robot was seen standing at the hill. It kneeled down and lowered one metallic palm. Inside of it was Pete, his hands over his eyes, knees hugged to his chest, trembling. Once the robotic fingers uncurled and Pete was resting on a flat surface, he looked up at the robot. Pete hopped off of its hand and back onto the ground.

As soon as the deed was done, the robot rose to its feet again. It cocked its head to the side, as if studying the four.

"Why isn't that thing attacking us like the other one did?" Cara asked.

"Do you really want to stick around and figure that out?" Dani demanded.

A whirring sound was heard and the eyes of the fallen assailant robot began to glow. It sat up and quickly got to its feet. The Black Robot jumped from the hill, attacking the assailant with some sort of tackle. Both robots hit the ground. Pete watched as the robot, the droid, that had saved him battled the robot that had knocked him into the hole in the first place. He looked as if he wanted to help the droid, however it didn't seem like it was in his best interest. As he turned, he saw that Dani, Cara, and Evan had already began to ascend the hill once again, eager to get away from both creatures.

"Come on, Pete. I know you're a little shaken up, but we have to move." Dars grabbed Peter by his sleeve and pulled him up the hill. Pete looked over his shoulder as the Black Droid and the robot began to square off. The Black Droid held up one hand and blocked the robot before it brought a hand which had transformed into a drill onto its head. The Black Droid tossed the robot into the hill and fired at it with a series of lasers. "COME ON, PETE!"

Pete nodded and turned, following Dars to the top of the hill.

Explosions went off at the bottom of the hill as the five teens ran. The colored gases were no longer being emitted from the holes, however the ground began to pull itself apart, bit by bit. Dars ran around the edge, the other four following suit.

"Where are we running to?!" Evan demanded, running alongside Dars, cringing as a huge explosion went off in the distance.

"I don't know," Dars admitted. "HOLY CRAP!"

Dars was nearly taken to the ground as a blade went right by his jaw. He staggered back. A large creature, resembling a male around six feet tall stood before them. His skin was a rust color and black wings were sprouting from his back. On either side of his head was a brown horn. The creature pointed a sword at Dars' chest and pushed him backwards. He then lifted an arm and pointed at Peter.

"You."

Peter looked as if he were about to keel over. The color drained from his face. "Me?"

The creature glared in Peter's direction. "YES! YOU! Give the Maxmorpher."

"The… What?" Pete looked as if he were on the verge of tears now. "Dude, I don't even know what the hell you're talking about. I don't have a Trans-warper or a Max… Whatever."

"GIVE IT TO ME!" The creature leapt into the air and swung the sword down towards Peter's head. Pete rolled out of the way and the sword went into the ground. The creature struggled to remove his sword from the dirt.

Pete took off, sprinting over the hills, the other four following suit. As tempted as Dars was to ask Pete what the creature was demanding, he didn't dare ask because Pete seemed just as confused as the rest of them. Dars searched desperately for cover. No trees. No rocks. There was nothing to hide behind, for they were now back on the street. Stores were locked and closed it was hard to tell where anything was anymore as most of the streetlights were dead.

"Dars, look," Dani said, grabbing Dars' arm and pointing towards the mall. The parking garage could be their salvation in this case.

"We can go get a car from here, run over that freaky sword dude, and get back home. I can finish eating my pasta; snuggle up with that comfy pink blanket that Cara has, and forget any of this ever happened," Evan said, moving ahead of the rest and towards the parking garage. The mall was huge and it was rarely open anymore. A few levels were open between noon and 9:00 PM and after that, security made sure everyone was out. At 9:00 , the sun was nowhere in sight. Whatever happened when it was pitch black outside, the cops didn't want any civilian discovering…

…Or so outlandish rumors suggested.

Dars, Dani, and Evan entered the parking garage at the same time. Pete was incredibly shaken up and exhausted from sprinting. Cara walked alongside Pete. She didn't want to be here. She was horrified because her son was at home all by himself. He could be crying for his mommy. He could be--- no, she refused to even think about it. She trusted Evan and she trusted Dars. She wanted to get home right now. She had no idea who Dani and Pete were, however, he was almost as stressed as she was right now. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Pete didn't look at Cara. Even though as they got farther up along in the parking garage it got darker, she could see him nodding.

"I'm fine," he responded, silently thankful that someone had decided to stay along with him and give him that reassuring hand. He didn't even feel right at this moment. He just wanted to go for a drive to the movie theaters. What happened? He had three near-death experiences in less than fifteen minutes. Strokes of luck saved him. And… And the Black Droid, his anonymous guardian angel.

"You have no idea what that guy was talking about, do you?" Cara asked, glancing over her shoulder once just to make sure they weren't being followed. Luckily, they were not and the creature had apparently failed to take notice of what direction they were heading. He was too preoccupied with the sword. "About the Maxmorpher?"

"I'm not sure," Pete muttered. "This is all too crazy. I mean, twenty minutes ago I was sitting in a movie and then there was this explosion and now? I got picked up by a droid while falling down a bottomless pit…. I almost got blown up in the middle of some sort of freaking robot fight… And then some dude with wings, horns, and a sword tries to put a hole through my skull. I wish I had an idea…"

"Are you hurt?" Cara questioned.

"Bruised my leg a little on that landing," Pete said with a slight laugh. "But I'm alright. Could be worse, I guess, I mean, I could be dead, right?"

"It could always be worse," Cara said, smiling. "Just remember that. I've learned to look on the brighter side of things. I've realized that no matter what, any situation can always get at least ten times as worse. So I just try to make the best of things."

"Hey, guys, get over here!" Evan called. "One of these vans is unlocked."




The five teens had all made their way into a red minivan that was parked on the third level of the parking lot. Evan sat in the backseat. Cara rested her head on his shoulder, tracing invisible lines along the knee of his jeans. She used her free hand to wipe a small tear from her eye. She wanted to be with Joey right now. She shouldn't have ever left. She should have stayed there with him. She just wanted to go check out the site of the explosion. She didn't think that she'd end up running from 130-foot robots and the damned anti-Christ.

"I'm sorry," Evan whispered down to Cara. "This is my fault. We should have stayed home."

Cara seemed shocked for a moment. It was almost as if Evan had read her thoughts. She looked up at him, searching his eyes before slowly shaking her head. "No. It could be worse. Joey's fine, I'm sure. We just… We just have to wait until this is safe."

"Come on…" Dars was trying desperately to hotwire the car. Dani, obviously the tomboy of the two girls, was in front of the van, looking under the hood of the engine, trying to do anything she could to assist Dars. Pete was simply sitting in one of the middle seats of the van with his hoodie tied tight around him. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his head leaning against the window.

"I guess they're not having much luck," Cara murmured. She closed her eyes, snuggling against Evan. The minivan was warm. That was the only thing Cara was grateful for right now, besides the fact that she wasn't here alone. She wanted to be reassured. She wanted to be comforted. She had that, at least.

"Alright, Dars, try to pull the red wire and push the gas," Dani said after attaching something to the engine. "And if this doesn't work, I think we might just have to wait for cops, because this is risky anyway."

Dars nodded and pulled a red wire in the ignition. He pushed on the gas and after a slight hum, the engine turned on. The headlights, although dim, turned on as well. Dani, proud of herself, slammed the hood shut and quickly ran into the passenger seat.

Dars let a little victory cheer escape his lips as he rolled up his window. "We're in business, baby." He pushed down on the gas and turned, driving towards the exit, however the car lurched a bit before the headlights dimmed down and the engine died as well. "No! Oh, come on, you've got to be kidding me."

"This car is a piece of junk. I could tell from looking under the hood," Dani muttered, shaking her head. "No wonder someone left it here. It probably died on them too. I'm sure all it's good for is housing homeless people and… Rats."

"Rats," Cara repeated with a disgusted face.

Dani smirked.

"We're just gonna have to wait for cops," Pete said, looking up, speaking for the first time since his conversation with Cara, which had been about a half hour ago. "Or we make a run for it, and I'm not too fond of the latter."

There was no discussion and no deliberation, because everybody in the minivan gasped as a fist came down on the side window. Cara was prepared to at least fight at this point, because now, there wasn't much more that could jump out and surprise her. However, whoever had hit the van had a flashlight in hand. They held it under their chin so the people in the car had a good look at his face. He was completely human. He looked just like them. He was a man with shoulder-length jet black hair in his mid-twenties. He had stubble and cold, piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a black leather coat with a black tee beneath it. Black khakis and brown boots accompanied his attire as well as a single brown leather glove on his left hand, which was holding the flashlight.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" the guy asked. He had a slight Italian accent.

Dars opened the car door. "We're trying to find a way out of here."

The man looked around, as if expecting something bad to happen. He only looked worried for a split second. "You guys, come with me. How much have you seen?"

Pete was the first to answer, looking up from the window once again, the black hoodie still pulled over his eyes. "Too much."

[ZeoFury]

Task Two: Into the Darkness II


July 28, 2007
9:39 PM



A steel door opens with a rusty creak and the man that had brought the five teens out of the vans walks into a room. It seems to be the only room in the whole mall that has lights. As soon as he gets in, he walks towards a computer and doesn't even bother to turn around. "Whoever the last one in is, close the door behind you and lock it. I don't want to take any chances."

Evan didn't like the sound of that. He turned and closed the door, locking it as instructed. "Dude, how'd you get this place? I didn't see this in the computer section."

The man began typing furiously away at a keyboard. "The name's Frankie. You guys have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into, I'll tell you that. Oh boy, you have no clue."

"Wait, you know what's going on out there?" Dars asked, walking towards Frankie. "I want to know everything you know."

"It'd be difficult to explain," Frankie muttered, typing at the keyboard again. "But I'll try my best." Frankie finally got an image to display on the monitor. Five colors were displayed; red, black, yellow, blue, and pink. Frankie turned around in his chair and looked at all of them with those cold blue eyes. "You see, there's a reason that those droids came down to the Earth."

"You mean droids as in, plural?" Pete asked, narrowing his eyes.

Frankie looked up at Peter and nodded. "You ran into one, I can take it."

"Yeah, a black one," Pete confirmed. "This big robot dude came and shot at me. I fell into the hole that the Droid has crashed into it. It caught me and then it got into a fight with it. We ran towards here and then this guy with wings and horns tried to kill me, talking about a Maxmorpher."

"Monarch," Frankie said, nodding before turning back to the keyboard. "I should not be surprised. Wherever there's a power source, Monarch is never far behind. He wants the power of the Droids. They're pretty much the only thing stopping him from wiping out California right now."

"I don't get it though," Dars said, cutting Frankie off. "What are the Droids, why are they here, and why do you know so much about them?"

"My step-father helped create them," Frankie said. "Samuel Michaels the Third helped create the Max-Droids. They're robots that are able to shape shift into automobiles and engage in manual combat. It was originally a request of the United States military, but they scratched their plans, fearing that they wouldn't be able to handle something like that. It was during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. In the early 70's, during the Vietnam War, this mall was created, and Sam was here working to create gear and work on the blueprints. No one would ever expect this stuff to be worked on in the top of the mall. Unfortunately for him, the U.S. scratched their plans when the cold war with the Soviets came to an end after the treaty in '87 and then the collapse of the Soviet Union. Sam was done though. The exact day that this was confirmed, was the day that he finished creating the droids. He had spent nearly two decades working on them. He didn't want to let them go.

"There were a few Soviet, or now Russian, spies that were in the States, however. They had enough of a clue as to what Sam was building to know that in the hands of the U.S.A. several plans could fail. Several things could be destroyed. The United States , or Samuel Michaels himself, could have the world at his mercy. So the Russian government had five little things called the Maxmorphers created. With the blueprints to the technology stolen by Soviet troops, they were able to create these things that not only allowed the people that physically bonded with the Maxmorphers to control the Max-Droids, but they could transform whose DNA bonded with the morphers into… Superheroes."

Dars laughed a bit. He'd listened to Frankie while leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. "Okay, I was with you up until the superheroes thing, dude. Let's get real. I think you need to pry yourself away from those online Marvel comics you've been reading and get some guns or something, so we can kill whatever's coming at us."

"Dars, hush." Dani put a hand in Dars' face and then looked down at Frankie. "So those things that crashed into the Earth were the Droids, right? If they were made here in Shady Grove, why were they in space?"

"They weren't," Frankie said. "They just got awakened. What came crashing down to Earth were Monarch's henchmen, the Silverbots."
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/Dimmy/Monsters/guyferd420L.jpg

"Are they aliens?" Evan asked, suddenly excited.

"No," Frankie answered. "They're clones. They multiply hourly. They were sent into orbit around the same time that Monarch was created. Monarch is a clone as well."

"A clone of…?" Dars was becoming impatient.

"A clone of a fallen Russian soldier is all," Frankie said. "We assume that he was no one special. At least not until the Russian scientists that stole those blueprints got their hands on him. They duplicated his cells and since what they created wasn't human, they altered it until perfection. They created Monarch. Sad for them, though, because Monarch has a mind of his own entirely. He took on the role as the leader of the Fallen Union. They're a group out for power and believe you me; a normal human does not want to get in their way."

"Wow," was the only thing that Cara could say at this point.

"My grandfather left a lot of voice diaries over the years," Frankie said, slowly shutting down his computer. "They proved helpful. You guys are lucky. You're the first people I've told about my discoveries. And I'm hoping that you use them wisely."

"What are you talking about?" Dars demanded.

Frankie opened a drawer on the desk of his computer. Inside were five cell phones. Each one was tinted a different color, however. He ripped the drawer right out of the desk and held it out to the five of them. Although hesitant, Dars reached into the drawer and pulled out the red cell phone. Dani reached in next, pulling out the pink. Evan grabbed the blue, Cara grabbed the yellow, and finally, Pete grabbed the black. Each of them shuddered a bit as a jolt went through their bodies.

"That was freaky," Evan said, arching an eyebrow.

"You'll have to move quickly," Jackie said, opening the door of the room.

"Go where?" Pete asked, suddenly very anxious. "What are we supposed to do? What do we look like, dude, superheroes? No, we're five teenagers. None of us is over the age of sixteen. We go out there like you seem to be implying, and we get murdered. I'm not looking forward to that."

"You could always sit in here and try to live off of a jug of water and two candy bars until the bad guys go away," Frankie said, sarcastically. "Then you'll die slowly."

"Pete, don't worry," Cara said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Remember? Everything can always be worse."

"Yeah, but in this case, the idea of 'worse' is misconstrued," Pete said, angrily. "We can go out there and get ripped limb from limb and never see daylight again. You're looking forward to that, I guess. You want to go out there and fight those sword dudes and those robotic clones? You want to fight a robot that looks like he just came out of an oversized Transformers collector's box? BE MY GUEST! I'm staying right here in this mall where it's safe."

"Pete, dude, don't be like this," Dars said, turning around in the doorway. "Either way, we're going to have to fight. We might as well go down there trying to escape than wait here for the inevitable."

Peter simply grunted.

"If he doesn't want to join you, I'll stay here with him," Frankie said, putting one gloved hand on Peter's shoulder. "I can't say I blame the kid. It's a scary world out there enough. It's worse when you have undead Russians trying to kill you when you don't even know why, right?"

Dars looked at the Maxmorpher in his hand and then looked at Pete again. "It's my fault for dragging you into this, I know, but I promise I'm gonna get you out. Can't you just trust me? If it kills me, I'm going to make sure you get home alive and safely. You know how badly I feel about this and I promise that nothing will happen to you."

"I don't expect you to be able to make promises like that," Peter said, sitting down on the couch.

Dars looked upset for a moment and then nodded. He turned to Frankie. "Take care of him, yeah?"

"Will do," Frankie said. "Be careful out there and remember what I told you. I don't expect you to be superheroes, but I expect you to be able to fulfill your duties…"

Dars, Evan, Cara, and Dani ran out of the room and down the corridors, back towards the parking garage.

"…As Power Rangers," Frankie whispered in a barely audible tone.




Monarch turned to one of his two servants, Warp. Warp had been completely deformed during World War II. His face was stitched together and hit beneath a helmet that Monarch had created for him. Warp had no true idea of his identity. He remembered nothing before his near-death experience in the war. He didn't know if he was a true human, miraculously kept alive by his suit, or if he was simply another one of Monarch's clones.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/Dimmy/Monsters/KR-3320L.jpg

"The Black Droid managed to defeat Draaken," Warp said, raising one clawed finger into the air. "However, I sense a great power. I wish I was able to tell you more, however…" Warp looked up into the air. "…I think it's time that we launch the missile."

Monarch simply nodded. "Let's rock this city."




An army of Silverbots marched towards the four teenagers. Dars looked over at Dani and then at Evan and Cara. He balled his hands into fists. "Guys, I know we don't all know each other that well, but my only goal is to get out of this alive. I'm glad that I'm not alone on this. I'm glad that the three of you at least chose to stand behind me."

Dani smiled. "We're not letting you go down alone, Darius."

"Behind you all the way," Cara said with a nod.

"Now let's go kick some Silverbot… AAAAHHH!" Evan expressed a battle cry and all four of them charged forward at the Silverbots. Evan jumped into the air and delivered a kick to the head of the nearest one. Evan landed on his knees on top of the Silverbot and spun around, driving his heel into the spine of a second one. He grabbed the arm of the Silverbot and twisted around, throwing him into two other Silverbots. All three of them hit the ground.

Dani pushed a Silverbot away from her and blocked a punch from another one. She twisted its arm behind it and turned her own back to it, locking it into almost a reverse full nelson. She ran toward the next two Silverbots and jumped onto both of their shoulders. She rolled to the side, twisting all of them and flipping them into their backs, while at the same time, landing on her own feet. She jumped into the air and drove both feet into the head of the next Silverbot to come her way.

Cara dropped to her knees when a Silverbot aimed a kick to her head. She jumped up and punched it in the midsection. She kicked another one as it approached behind her and flipped the dazed Silverbot onto its sternum. Cara ran forward and kicked two Silverbots, knocking them into each other before looking around, waiting for the next one to dare lay a hand on her. These things were the only things standing between Cara and her son right now and she did not appreciate it.

Dars ducked punches from two Silverbots before jumping back up and bashing their heads into each other. The two sparked and twitched, several wires poking out of their heads., Dars ripped the head off of one of the Silverbots and twisted around, grasping the wires, slamming the head into another Silverbots chest. One Silverbot remained. Dars launched the head through the air and it hit the remaining Silverbot in the face, sending it to the ground.

The four moved towards each other. Each of them looked at Dars. They subtly appointed him as the leader, apparently. He was the one who took charge so they felt safer going by his direction.

"I say we go back the way we came and just hope for the best," Dars said, feeling around his pocket to make sure the Maxmorpher was still there.

"Back to that Monarch dude that Frankie told us about?" Dani inquired. "That doesn't seem like it's the safest thing."

"It's the only route," Evan chimed in. "We can't really go any other way, ya know. And we don't even know if he's there anymore."

"Then let's give it a try," Dars said.




"Monarch wants us to launch the missile." Warp's physical transmission came over a large monitor in the Fallen Union base. A Russian male that had to be around the age of sixty simply nodded and walked towards the back of the base. He looked up at the rocket that was chained against the launch pad. It didn't look like it was ready to be launched anytime soon, however that often threw people off.

"Launch the missile," the Russian male, Mikhail said without a second thought. The Silverbots nodded and began to slide the chains.

Mikhail walked out of the chamber and down the long, twisting corridor. It took at least ninety seconds before he reached the safe section of the base, which happened to be the control panel. He pushed a red button on the panel in and the base shook violently before the missile, which although was only about fifteen feet in length and four in width, was given a great boost to push it into the air.

"And now the games begin."




"You guys notice what I notice?" Dani asked, stopping short once they had reached the hill that they ascended earlier.

"What?" Evan asked, throwing his hands over his head, completely prepared for another earthquake or something of the sort. Dani rolled her eyes and slapped his hands as she walked past him.

"The holes in the ground are gone." Dani dropped down to one knee, running her finger along the cracked earth beneath the four. There wasn't even a hint that there had been any significant impact in the ground.

"Guys…" Evan whispered.

"This is impossible," Dars said with a sigh. "Like, an hour ago, we saw the Silverbots crash into the ground. And the Droids have to have gotten out by now. There's no way that the ground can just piece itself together like that."

Evan began to shake. "Guys…"

"Do you think we're in the wrong place?" Cara suggested. "We could have gone too far or not far enough."

"No way; this is the hill we came to," Dars said. "I mean, there aren't that many steep hills in Shady Grove and the movie theater and the highway are just a block or so away. This is the right hill."

"GUYS!" Evan snapped.

Dars turned around. "What?" Evan, however, pointed ahead of Dars. The four of them turned and watched as Monarch marched through the parking lot of the movie theater. As he passed under the streetlights, the bulbs flickered and died. Monarch reached into his sternum and pulled forth the same long sword that he'd attacked Peter with earlier.

"I am so over running," Dani said, putting a hand over her chest.

"Yeah, well, I haven't been sliced and diced before," Evan said, slowly backing away. "And you know what? I think I'm over that already."

"Give me the Maxmorphers and your city will sleep in peace for at least one more sunset," Monarch rasped, walking steadily towards the four, who were steadily moving backwards. "You have no idea what you're doing with those. The power that they possess is far too great for simple-minded humans." Monarch angled his head. "Should you refuse, I promise that anguish will be brought upon your city and very well, most of the state you call home."

"You don't scare anyone, dude," Dars said. "And you're not getting your hands on these…" Dars turned to Dani and whispered something to her, asking to confirm the name of the items. "…Maxmorphers!"

Monarch simply chuckled. "You're going to stop me?"

"We are," Cara said. She had run way too much today. Even from her home. Now it was time to fight. Either way, this guy would probably wreak havoc among the city. He wasn't an idiot. He knew that the Maxmorphers were in Shady Grove and there wasn't much of a chance to hide them from him.

"Very well, then. However, do yourself a favor and turn around. Look at those who said the exact same thing that you did, all on this very night."

The four timidly turned around as a hole began to form in the ground. It wasn't quite as deep and as dark as the others, however what was inside of them was. At least a dozen SWAT police officers were lying, a crumpled heap at the bottom of the hole, clearly did. Some of their necks were twisted in obscure angles; some of their faces were covered in blood… Some of them didn't even have faces.

"No," Cara whispered.

The four turned back to Monarch as the hole closed. Monarch laughed deeply, leaning on his sword as if it were a cane. "Are you ready to hand those over now?"

"Are you going to destroy the city anyway?" Dars demanded.

"Yes, however, I will give you four the opportunity to escape," Monarch responded. "…Of course, it will only be a matter of time before this whole godforsaken country is under my undivided control."

"Then no," Dars said with a glare. "These Maxmorphers are staying with us."

Monarch looked more annoyed than amused now. "Have it YOUR way!" Monarch charged forward and swung his sword at the four of them. Each of them rolled in different directions. Dars scrambled to his feet and moved out of the way before the sword swung his way again. The sword swung towards Cara now. Cara dove out of the way and hit the ground. Monarch thrust his sword into the air, preparing to bring it down, however Dars and Evan lunged at Monarch and grabbed his arm while Dani helped Cara to her feet. Monarch brought his arm forward, sending Dars and Evan flipping over his head and onto their backs, groaning in pain.

"He's too strong," Dani whispered to Cara.

"I know," Cara admitted, biting her lip, terrified at the thought that if Dars and Evan had been another second delayed, she would have met her death.

"Dars!" Dani called. "Throw me the keys!"

"Oh, lucky!" Evan groaned, pushing himself to his feet. "They get to make a run for it while we stay here taking a beating."

Dars was confused, but did as he was told. He tossed Pete's car keys through the air. Dani snatched it out of the air and ran towards Pete's car alongside Cara. Dars turned and "OOF!"ed out in pain as Monarch delivered a kick to his chest, sending him flying back a couple of feet. Evan jumped into the air and hit Monarch in the back of the neck with a roundhouse kick. Monarch stumbled forward, but didn't seem injured in the least.

"You are all fools." Monarch swung the sword violently at Evan's feet; however he backed away with each swipe. "You can't run forever. I am going to chop off your toes… Then your feet… Then your legs… And I will leave you here to suffer with a smile on my face."

Evan was nearing the edge of the hill now. He knew that this could very well be the end. Dars was still trying to recover from the kick that had knocked the wind out of him. "Well, I had a good run."

Monarch was cut off from a swipe that would have almost undoubtedly removed Evan's legs from the knees down, however a screech came from the pavement. Monarch turned and he cried out as Pete's car, a 2006 Acura, slammed into him and sent him flying down the hill, to the ground. Monarch rolled across the grass and the sword fell from his fingertips.

Evan didn't have to think twice. He hopped into the backseat on the passenger's side and Dars, though hurt, crawled into the backseat on the driver's side of the car. Dani floored the gas and drove onto the eerily deserted highway. "Where are we heading to?"

"Cara's house," Evan responded. "She has a garage."




Cara closed the garage door once Pete's car was safely inside of it.

"Do you think we killed Monarch?" Dani asked, looking at Evan.

"I'm pretty sure. I don't think anyone's going to survive a car slamming into them at 60 miles per hour and then a 25 foot fall added to that. He's human. He's a little bit screwed up, but he's human. The paramedics and the freaking army can have their way with him now." Evan gave her a nod.

Cara had already run into her house. Joey was crying, just as she feared. She ran into the bedroom and pulled Joey out of his crib, wrapping the blue blanket around his little body. "Oh, sweetie, it's okay. Mommy's here now, okay?" Cara kissed Joey's cheek and forehead, holding him close to her. Joey seemed to calm a bit, however the tears were still falling. "I'm so sorry, baby."

Evan, Dani, and Dars all sat in the living room. They'd taken the liberty of locking all of the windows, closing all the blinds, and locking every single door, even the basement. They were not taking a single chance.

Dani looked surprised when Cara walked out of the bedroom with Joey in her arms. She knew Dars had mentioned something about one of his ex-girlfriends being a mother, but she didn't know that it was Cara. She hadn't even met Cara before tonight, despite the fact that they'd heard each others' names a few times and went to the same school.

"What a cute baby," Dani commented, smiling up at Cara.

Cara laughed a bit. She never knew whether to agree or say "thank you", so she just remained silent and sat down in a recliner while the other three sat on the couch. Dars didn't say anything to Cara upon seeing the baby. He'd heard people poke fun about it and claim that the baby was his. Honestly, though? Dars wasn't convinced that the baby wasn't his. He never spoke to Cara about the baby and didn't even look at him, for fear that Joey would return his gaze with his eyes and his features.

"In the news story that has captivated the nation, Shady Grove , California was under attack tonight under lead from what government officials believe to be Russian scientists. Mikhail Vladimir Reich is a former military operative, a refugee from the then-Soviet Union. Several of his writings were found among the crash sight of a mysterious… well, get this… a mysterious robot earlier this evening, at approximately 8:45 PM. After five colored objects hit the ground and then exploded, several people that witnessed the crashes from a distance believed that they were groups of meteorites or physically corrupted fireworks. However, this theory proved to be false. The footage we have may shock you, but we promise, what you about to see has not been tampered with, it has not been altered, it is completely real. Take a look."

Draaken was shown on the television screen. The footage was shot from three different angles. One of them was from a spectator's cell phone camera, another one shot from Channel 7 news cameras, and a third shot from the chopper. Draaken swung violently at a Pink Droid, but its punch was deflected and the Pink Droid slashed its chest with a blade. It was similar to the one that had saved Pete. However, there were four Droids in total here. Red, blue, black, pink, and yellow. The red one grabbed Draaken and tossed it through the air. The Yellow and Blue ones fired a series of lasers at Draaken in the air. In mid-air, the creature exploded. Blood and chunks of flesh rained down on the droids--- and the news camera.

"Police are still investigating the situation---."




Darius reached a hand forward and turned the volume on the TV down a significant amount. He heard a knocking sound at the door. Cara instinctively pulled a calm Joey close to her and her eyes moved towards the door. She didn’t know who it could possibly be. It wasn’t her parents. They’d left messages on Cara’s cell phone, telling her that they would call the house as soon as they had arrived at Cara’s grandmother’s house in central Dallas, Texas. And since it wasn’t them, Cara wasn’t sure what to think.

Dars motioned for everybody to stay quiet. When the knocking became somewhat impatient, Dars got up and walked to the door. He lowered a face to the eyehole and for a moment there was silence, as if Dars was shocked.

“It’s Pete and Frankie,” Dars said. He sounded more relieved at this point. Dars pulled the door open. Pete quickly stepped into the house and Frankie followed a few steps behind.

“Sorry to drop by uninvited,” Frankie said as Dars closed and locked the door again. “All of your Maxmorphers have a tracking system on them. I could see from my computer where you guys were. Things were getting pretty hectic at the mall, so I grabbed Peter and we decided to come here.”

”How’d you get here?” Dani asked. “You walked?”

”You haven’t seen?” Frankie walked into the room and politely acknowledged Cara, for it was her house, and sat down on the leather loveseat adjacent to the recliner. “The streets are empty. I don’t know what you guys did, but the Fallen Union isn’t really doing much at the moment. They seem to have fled back to their base. You’re more competent than I gave you credit for.”

“That Monarch dude is taken care of,” Evan said. “Dani and Cara ran over him in Pete’s car.”

”My car,” Pete winced.

“It’s in the garage, don’t worry,” Cara said with a smile.

“Don’t count on Monarch being out of the equation,” Frankie muttered, shaking his head. “It’s going to take more than a car to stop him. He might be human, but he has an uncanny regenerating ability. In order to kill him, you’ll have to do something drastic.”

“You mean like, rip out his heart and cut it in half and then put something through his brain?” Evan asked, incredibly excited.

Dani and Dars simply laughed and Cara grimaced at the thought. “Ew.”

“Actually, it might come down to that,” Frankie admitted. “I don’t see any other way to kill him. He’s like a super-human. He’s mutated himself into something that’s designed to be above all others. He has a scientist and a mutant on his side. I think he’s more than prepared for a simple car collision, but I respect your efforts, and I appreciate it, because you may have slowed Monarch down for long enough for me to prepare you for whatever he’s going to throw your way. Trust me, he won’t leave you alone until he gets those Morphers. You have to eradicate him.”

“Wow,” Cara whispered, looking down at Joey, rocking him to sleep gently.

Pete was leaning against the wall. He was still very tired and shocked from the whole ordeal. He looked kind of distanced and as if he were about to throw up at any given moment.

“What do these Maxmorphers do?” Dars demanded, holding up his. “They look like cell phones. You said some whack garbage about superheroes, right? Yeah, that doesn’t seem very likely. It seems that the only thing they’re good for is helping you keep tabs on us.”

“It wasn’t garbage,” Frankie protested, kindly dismissing Dars’ comments. “I meant what I said. I’ll have to use you as a demonstration soon.”

“Wait, look at the TV,” Dani interrupted, turning the volume up again.

“Breaking news, ladies and gentlemen. We bring it to you first, let’s just hope we don’t bring it to you last. A missile… A missile is heading towards California at a dangerous speed. It’s believed that this is also a result of the efforts of the scientists aforementioned and it’s a horrifying possibility, but this could have the potential to destroy most of, if not all, of the state of California, as well as parts of surrounding regions. We need to pray for a miracle. I don’t know what to say, ladies and gentlemen. If this is what we believe it is, then… It’s been a pleasure---.”

The news reporter was interrupted as the screen flickered and then faded to static.

Frankie slowly turned to Dars, raising an eyebrow and smirking. “Remember what I was telling you about those garbage superhero powers?”

Dars just returned Frankie’s gaze. His jaw was hanging open and his hands were shaking.

“I think it’s time for you guys to Ranger Up,” Frankie said.

[ZeoFury]

In typical ~ZF~ fashion, the bios will be posted once the "beginning stages" are out of the way.

Excuse any sudden "jumps" in the story. It's still pretty raw since I've completed Parts 1-4 all in the past 48 hours and I need to revise, edit, and whatnot.

Anyway, hopefully I can get a logo made soon, get my plots organized, and stick to this story unlike the other ones, which I tend to abandon, I regretfully admit.

Either way, I'd appreciate feedback. I promise you, if I ever finish a story on this board, this will be the one I finish. I've wanted to take a risk and write a really dark Power Rangers saga, so that's what you guys will see.

Suggestions and constructful criticism is needed here. I need to know where to take this fic because the direction will be slightly influenced by what you kind people who are interested enough to read my stuff want to see. Not entirely, since of course, I have a strong idea of where I want to go, but I think this kind of series will be very "flexible".

;) You'll see what I mean when I post Part 3.

[Darky]

Just a question, what website did you use to get pictures of the monsters?

[ZeoFury]

Most of them come from this site that I can't remember. It was a Japanese site focusing on... forgive me if I butcher the word... tokusatsu? Haha, I have no idea how to say it.

And a lot of the ones from the future will be coming from Super Sentai Time Capsule. I'll make sure to credit them. ;)

[Darky]

Oh, I'm not looking to attack you about credits. I was needing some new pics for my other fics

[ZeoFury]

http://www.supersentai.com/

[ZeoFury]

Task 3: Into the Darkness III



“Why us?” Dars asked, pacing back and forth around the room. “I apologize for questioning a situation when we have like, twenty minutes before our impending doom, but WHY did you choose US to become… Become… Become…”

“The Maximum Velocity Rangers,” Frankie completed, his tone as calm and unfazed as could be.

“Why?” Dars demanded.

“It was simple,” Frankie said with a shrug. “You guys were in the wrong place at the right time and I had to give these Morphers to somebody before Monarch and the rest of the Fallen Union could get their hands on them. Your DNA has already bonded with the Maxmorphers. You own them. They… They could own you. It’s all a matter of perception.”

“You wanted to dump these off on us so Monarch wouldn’t rip YOU in half?!” Dars snapped.

Everybody else watched the two converse while sitting around. Cara was shaking, still rocking Joey, although Joey was asleep in her arms.

“No,” Frankie said, simply. “This isn’t about me. I’m willing to sacrifice myself for the wellbeing of others. I’m sorry if you’re not willing to do the same, but right now, you don’t really have too much of an option, do you? You either have to fight and risk death or you can sit here and complain to me and prolong the inevitable and watch those around you die before eventually, you die as well.”

Dars was annoyed at how cynical, yet calm, Frankie was being right now. “I’m… We’re teenagers, dude. All of us are sixteen years old. We don’t know how to fight mutants and clones. We’re not trained for that kind of stuff. Why didn’t you give these to troops?!”

“They were meant for the troops,” Frankie replied. “But I didn’t trust shipping these through the mail. My step-father guarded these with his life and it’s my duty to do the same. The troops that these Maxmorphers were intended for died trying to fight for what the Maximum Velocity Power Rangers should have been fighting for. All five of them went down in those helicopters that were destroyed by the Draaken. This isn’t about me and this isn’t just about the five of you. Don’t you get it, Darius?” Frankie’s features hardened. “They want a WAR!”

Silence fell upon the room. The lights had flickered and suddenly, the power in the house went out. The only light provided was cast upon the faces of Dars and Frankie, the moonlight leaking in through the closed blinds.

“Then we’ll give them a war,” Dani said, standing up beside Dars.

“Dani…” Dars turned and looked at her, almost pleadingly. He didn’t want them to all have to fight, but deep down, he knew there was no alternative aside from guaranteed death.

“No, Dars, Frankie’s right. There isn’t anything that we can do sitting here. I say that we Ranger up and we go out there and teach them a lesson.” Dani wiped a tear from her eye. “And if we die, damnit, we die knowing that we tried our best. We’re against all odds anyway. We don’t have anything else to lose except for the obvious.”

“No doubt,” Evan said, quietly getting to his feet.

Frankie smiled. “So you guys will fight? You guys will give them hell?”

“Under one condition,” Cara said, still seated in her recliner.

“Of course,” Frankie said, turning to her.

Cara got to her feet and walked towards Frankie. She took a deep breath and handed Joey to him. “Watch Joey. I don’t want him to be alone anymore. If this is really the end, then I don’t want to feel like I abandoned my son.”

Frankie showed rare emotion as he held the sleeping baby in his arms. He nodded and gave Cara a warm smile. “I promise that this isn’t the end, Cara. With the Power in the hands of you five, I feel that this isn’t the end. And I will protect your son as if he were my own. He and I will both be looking forward to seeing you smiling, running back up the driveway when this is over.”

Cara smiled back. “Thank you, Frankie.”

“Alright, so how do we ‘Ranger Up’ or whatever you call it?” Dars asked, pulling open the door and holding the Maxmorpher in his hand.

“When you feel that it’s time for you to transform, type the numbers 687 into the Maxmorpher phone. They are the numbers for ‘MVP’. Cry ‘Maximum Velocity Power’ into your phone and you will become the Power Rangers. Good luck.”

“Peter, are you coming with us?” Dars asked.

Peter had his arms crossed and he was seated on the floor, his knees hugged to his chest. His face was tear-streaked. “I… I… I can’t. I just can’t do it, Dars.”

“We’re not going to force you,” Dani said.

“None of us could blame you bro,” Evan said.

“It’s crazy. We definitely don’t hold it against you,” Cara agreed.

“But if this is the end of the line, then remember, we love you,” Dars said, giving Peter a nod before backing out the door. “Now let’s go, guys.”

Frankie watched through the screen door as the four teens--- the four Rangers--- ran through the city, towards the source of the chaos, an army of Silverbots attacking the city. He then held Joey close to him in his right arm and used his other to close the door, locking it.




Dars took the initiative in the attacks and grabbed a Silverbot as it stood atop a taxi. Dars slammed it to the ground by its shoulders and jumped onto the taxi, kicking another one in the knee. The Silverbot hunched over and Dars drove his knee into its skull. The Silverbot stood straight up and fell to the ground, landing on top of its partner. Dars jumped from the taxi and pulled a Silverbot off of Dani. Dani was doing quite well for herself, however. She kicked a Silverbot away from her and grabbed its arm before swinging it into the brick wall of a shop.

“Holy crap, there has to be at least forty of them out here, dude,” Evan said. He ducked a kick from one of the Silverbots and tripped it to the ground. Evan saw another one charge at him. Wisely, he pulled open the door of a vacant sports car and jumped onto the roof. The Silverbot flipped over the car door and hit the ground. Evan jumped up and kicked another one in the back of the head. He was grabbed by either arm, however and thrown to the ground as well. “Ow!”

Cara swung at the nearest Silverbot. She wasn’t a skilled martial artist. She knew that Evan had done some kickboxing and Dars was on the wrestling team up until recently. She knew how to fight, however. Cara grabbed a Silverbot and slammed its head onto the hood of a car. She gasped as she was kicked hard in the side by another Silverbot. She too was grabbed and thrown to the ground, right next to Evan. Within seconds, Dani and Dars hit the ground next to them.

“Guys,” Dars said, pushing himself up on his palms. The dozens of Silverbots were closing in on them. “You think it’s time?”

“Oh yeah,” Evan said, picking himself up off the ground.

Dani and Cara got to their feet as well and each of them exchanged glances before reaching into their pockets and retrieving the Maxmorphers. Each of them flipped the Morpher open and entered 687 as instructed.

“Maximum Velocity Power!”

Each of them was thrown back as their Maxmorphers twitched, shuttered, and finally released a wave of colored energy. Dani hit the ground, Evan landed on the hood of a car while Cara landed on the hood, and Dars hit the wall. He pushed himself up, looking at the Maxmorpher as it sparked and glowed a vibrant red.

“What happened?” Dani asked, clutching her stomach.

“The Morphers are broken. THAT’S what happened.” Dars got to his feet, angrily. “I think Frankie was trying to set us up this whole time.” Dars ducked under a kick from another Silverbot and managed to deliver a kick to his chest that knocked him and a few others down. All of them took the opportunity to run through the small opening, past the outstretched arms of the Silverbots.

Dars ran towards a fire escape, jumping up and kneeing a Silverbot in his midsection, knocking him to the ground. Dani, Cara, and Evan followed, charging up the ladders of the fire escape until eventually, they reached the top of the small apartment complex. Dars walked to the edge, peering down to the streets below. A bus was being heaved by several of the Silverbots. At least fifteen of them were carrying it before they launched it through a small pawn shop. An explosion of sparks followed before the bus erupted in flames.

Dars looked at his Maxmorpher as it began to ring. The other three gathered around. Dars put the phone to his ear. “Frankie, what the hell’s up with your little Morphers dude?”

Frankie sighed on the other end. “I was afraid of this. Dars, the five of you need to all be together when you morph for the first time. If not, then not enough energy is produced, since you are just teenagers. During the initial transformation, all five Rangers must be present. You could come back to the house and morph with Peter, then go back but…”

“I don’t think that’s an option, dude!” Dars yelled as another explosion went off below them. “Oh no.”

”What? What’s happening?” Frankie asked.

“Monarch’s back,” Dars said, quietly. His hand began shaking. Monarch was hovering about a foot off the ground, using those horrid black wings. He slashed a vacant car out of his way before shooting a blast of energy at the fire hydrant. Water sent several cops flying backwards, through windows and into walls.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Frankie muttered, his calm demeanor fading. He finally sounded worried. “Stay calm. Just stay calm and I’ll see what I can do from here.”

“Dude, what if we get killed?!” Dars yelled into the phone.

“You’re going to have to trust me,” Frankie said before hanging up.

Dars looked at the others and sighed. “We’re screwed.”




Pete was walking around the house, bouncing Joey in his arms, looking down at the baby. He had overheard the whole conversation between Frankie and Dars. He didn’t like the fact that he was sitting here in the house while his friends could very well die out there because of his inability to go out there and fight. When he saw Monarch’s sword coming down towards his head, his heart had almost jumped right out of his chest. Frankie was currently rubbing his temples, trying to figure out a way to transfer enough energy to the other four Rangers since Pete didn’t look like he was about to go out there and fight anytime soon.

“Oh my God,” Frankie muttered after trying to type something in his laptop for about five minutes. “There’s no way I can get enough power to them.”

His words weren’t directed to Pete, however Pete really felt like he had been slapped in the face by this comment. They couldn’t expect him to just go out there and fight monsters could they? This wasn’t a comic book. This was a surreal event happening in a very real situation. People were panicking and they should have. If thousands of people could run for their lives, why couldn’t Pete just make one-thousand-and-one?

“You know, I didn’t make a mistake in choosing you,” Frankie said once Pete turned his back. “The five of you were brought to me for a reason. It was a sign. Each of you wearing a Ranger color, each of you experiencing a fight from the Fallen Union…” Frankie glanced up. “You were destined to be the Max Rangers.”

Pete never turned. He just kept bouncing Joey ever so gently in his arms. He sighed and looked down, his face shrouded in darkness.




“You’d have thought that the Rangers would have showed their faces by now,” Monarch said as he walked through the smoky streets of Shady Grove alongside Warp. A dozen Silverbots walked behind them, moving and swaying in a crazy manner. “But I guess this shows what kind of ‘heroes’ the residents of Shady Grove are looking up to, yes?”

“It sure does,” Warp said in that deep, inhuman tone. “They expect a hero. They expect an opposition to this one-sided war. And we see that it’s just not going to happen.”

”They had their chance to show up,” Monarch rasped, his lips curling into a menacing scowl. “And they blew it. So now… It’s time to blow this city away. The missile will be hitting in approximately ten minutes.” Monarch looked up. There was a faint twinkle in the sky. “So long, California.”

“That’s just not gonna happen.”

“Who said that?” Monarch spun around. As the smoke cleared, Dars stood atop a charred taxi cab, his fists pumped and his eyes locked on Monarch. The Silverbots were now surrounding the cab.

“Well then,” Monarch said with a chuckle. “I don’t want to hog all the fun, now do I? Get them, Warp.”

Warp nodded. “My pleasure. But there seems to be only one, sir.”

Monarch shrugged. “His friends ran with their tails tucked between their legs. Every good team needs a scapegoat.”

Warp charged towards Dars. Dars stood his ground, for before Warp could get close to the car, a pair of “HAH!”s were heard. Dani and Cara jumped from behind the car, Cara kicking Warp’s knees and Dani driving her foot into the back of his head, slamming Warp’s head against the hood of the car. Dars flipped over the hood, slamming his soles into Warp’s back. Dars jumped from Warp and threw his body onto about four Silverbots, all of them tumbling to the ground.

Evan grabbed a Silverbot from behind and tossed him into the wall before kicking it to the ground. Evan took the lid off of the nearest trash can, using this defense for the lack of anything better. He blocked a punch from a Silverbot and slammed the lid into its head. Evan kicked the Silverbot in the chest and flipped another one onto the trunk of the car.

“Where did they learn to fight like that?” Monarch muttered to himself. “This just gets better and better, eh?” Monarch turned and glanced up into the sky. “It makes no difference. They’ll all be gone in a few minutes…”

Evan punched two Silverbots away from him. He turned to Cara. “Need an assist?”

“I’d love it.” Cara winked and Evan dropped to his knees. Cara lunged forward and put her foot in Evan’s hands. Evan launched her over his head and Cara sailed through the air before coming down on five Silverbots, the impact knocking all of them through the window of a McDonalds. The people hiding inside the McDonalds screamed as glass rained down on them. Cara stood up and dusted herself off. “I’ll pay for that.” She charged back out the broken window.

Dani kicked a Silverbot in the back, knocking it directly into another. As she turned around, a slap was delivered to her jaw from one of the Silverbots. Dani rubbed her jaw for a moment before glaring. “Oh hell no.”

Dars just watched as a Silverbot flew over his head and collided with one that was holding onto his shirt, knocking the two of them into a damaged sewer hole. Dars looked up at Dani. “I’m impressed.”

Dani just shrugged. “Don’t need powers to get the job done, right?”

“ENOUGH!” Monarch shot a blast of crimson energy at the four Rangers. All of them hit the ground, groaning. Monarch walked towards them, swinging the sword a few inches over the ground. “I was going to wait until the missile hit before I destroyed the four of you, but you just had to go and ruin everything, didn’t you? You just HAD to make it difficult.”

Warp staggered back to Monarch, a hand on the back of his head. “Teenagers scare the living---.”

“---Not now, Warp.” Monarch pointed his sword at the four. “Watch and learn.”




Dani, Cara, and Evan closed their eyes, preparing for the inevitable, however Dars continued to glare ahead at Monarch. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know that he died the same way he’d lived in the past 24 hours. In fear.

Screeching rubber interrupted Monarch for the second time this evening. A car flew a few feet over the four Rangers as it came over the hill and connected with Monarch. Monarch flew down the hill, landing in Warp’s arms. The car door opened and Peter stepped out. Dani and Cara opened their eyes and gasped.

“So you showed up,” Dars said with a smirk.

“Am I dead yet?” Evan asked, his eyes still clenched shut. “Please tell me. I really don’t like surprises.”

“You guys sounded like you needed some help,” Peter said, smiling faintly. His plan was to allow the others to morph, help them through this one fight, hope for the best, and then hand in his Maxmorpher. “You ready to…”

“THERE YOU ARE!” Monarch groaned as Warp helped him to his feet. “GIVE ME THE MORPHERS! GIVE THEM TO ME NOW!”

The five Rangers already had their Maxmorphers in hand. Peter joined the other four and Dars looked at all of them before nodding. “Ready?”

“Ready,” the other four responded. All five of them entered ‘687’ into their Morphers before raising the phones to their ears and shouting “Maximum Velocity Power!”

Energy surged through the five of them and the Morphers faded into their hands as their bodies began to glow different colors, the objects above them flying around as if caught in a whirlwind and the glass from the bulbs shattering, sending glass and embers raining to the ground.
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“Oh dear.” Warp shook his head. “Sir, I think it’s best that we leave.”

”No,” Monarch said, shrugging Warp off. “I’ll leave. You stay here and get rid of these pests.”

“But sir---,” Warp began to protest.

Monarch turned and in a flash of violet energy, disappeared from view. Warp turned around, extending his claws as he looked at the five Rangers. Without hesitation, they charged at him. Warp slashed Dani and Cara across their chests, though didn’t seem to faze them too much. Evan and Dars each grabbed one of Warp’s arms and Pete reached into his holster, pulling out a red gun of sorts. He sank to one knee and pulled the trigger, shooting a spiraling beam of white energy at Warp, hitting his chest and sending sparks showering down. Dars and Evan tossed Warp aside.

Peter slid the laser back into its holster ran at Warp. He jumped up and drove his foot into the side of Warp’s head. Warp tumbled to the ground and Pete landed on one foot and one knee, shaking his head. “Hurts a bit, doesn’t it?”

“Someone has to go up there and stop that missile from hitting,” Dars said, putting a hand on Evan’s shoulders. “Think you and the girls can handle it?”

“I’ll try,” Evan said, giving Dars a thumbs-up. “Boss.”

Dars was confused for a moment as Evan labeled him as “boss”, but didn’t have the opportunity to question him, since he ran towards Cara, whom was sporting blue, and Dani, whom was sporting white to explain the plan. The three of them decided on something in a matter of seconds and cut through the buildings, running somewhere, though Dars was unsure where exactly.

“This guy has got to go,” Pete cried out as Warp blasted him back and sent him flying to the ground beside Dars.

Dars held his glove to the side of the helmet to make sure he was hearing correctly. The Maxmorphers had disappeared when they morphed and now the communication system was programmed in the helmet’s interior.

“Darius, it’s Frankie,” Frankie said on the other line. “I contacted Evan, Danielle, and Cara. They’re heading back to the crash site to awaken the Max Droids. The Droids are your only hope of deflecting or destroying that missile.”

“Alright. Dars out.” Dars looked up in time to see Warp drive his claws towards his throat. Dars caught Warp by the wrist and kicked his arm before jumping into the air, delivering a spinning kick to his chest. “Back off, freak!”

“Oh, the prejudice. It hurts me, really.” Warp held his claws up into the air before driving them forward, sending a jolt of electricity into Dars’ body as his claws connected with his chest. Sparks showered from Dars’ suit as he staggered backwards. Pete leapfrogged Darius and punched Warp dead in the face. Warp didn’t flinch, though his head snapped back a bit. “You’ll regret that.”

Peter, sporting black just shrugged and balled his hands into fists before assuming a fighting stance. “Somehow, I doubt it.”




Evan looked at the ground around the area of the crash earlier. Dani and Cara joined him next, looking around. Dani spoke first, taking a step towards the center of the field. “So what are we supposed to wait for?”

“I don’t know, but that missile is beginning to look awfully big,” Cara said, pointing up as the sparkle in the sky got a bit brighter. If she squinted, she could actually make out the silver rod and the flames as it came careening towards the planet. “I’d say we have four minutes or so before we’re history.”

“Alright, guys, don’t panic.” Evan began to breathe heavily.

“We’re not,” Cara and Dani responded in unison.

“WELL, I AM!” Evan put his hands on his helmet. “Oh God, I don’t know what to do! We’re all gonna die! We’re all going to blown into billions of itty bitty little pieces! WE’RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT OUT OF THIS ALIVE, YA KNOW!”

Dani slapped Evan. Evan turned around to Cara, but received another slap. Evan sighed and crossed his arms, gazing down.

“Anyway,” Dani said. “Sitting here and complaining about it isn’t going to help. So I say we try something. You know how ‘MVP’ represented the numbers that we put into our Maxmorphers to morph into the Rangers? Maybe ‘MVD’ will work for the Max Droids.”

“Worth a shot,” Cara agreed.

The three of them held their hands out and the phones appeared in their gloved hands with an unnecessary flourish of colors. The three of them typed ‘683’ into their phones and waited. Seconds passed… at least twenty before Dani sighed and sank to her knees, the phones disappearing as they came.

“There’s no hope,” Dani muttered.

Evan sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, the ground just began to shake a bit. Evan looked around. Marching from behind the hill stood the Pink, Yellow, and Blue Max Droids. Evan grinned beneath his helmet.

“Haha, hell yeah dudettes! Maximum Velocity is back in business!” Evan jumped into the air and ran towards the Yellow Droid. Cara and Dani exchanged glances and nodded before running to their respective Droids.




“Fighting me is no use,” Warp said after shoving Dars and Pete off of him and to the ground. “In about…” Warp sighed and shrugged. “…Two minutes or so, your plans and your city will go up in smoke.”

“Well, ya know, it’s good luck to root for the underdogs,” Peter said. He retrieved his laser again and aimed at Warp, however Warp sent a blast of energy of his own at Peter’s arm. The laser fell to the ground and Pete looked down at it. It was between him and Warp. Peter charged forward, however Warp lunged up and slashed at Peter’s stomach with the claws. Peter cried out in pain and fell to his knees. Dars jumped at Warp, however he was sent to the ground with a slash similar to the one Peter’s received. Warp twisted around and drove his claws into Peter’s back. Sparks flew from Peter’s suit and he fell onto his stomach, shaking.

“But rooting for the good guys shows how little common sense you have. Haha. Idiot teenagers.” Warp put his hand to his chest as Dars ran at him and Warp disappeared the same way Monarch had, with a flash of violet light.

“He got away,” Dars said, stumbling. He turned and kneeled down. “You alright, Peter?”

Peter rolled onto his back. “No. I can’t… I can’t breathe.” Peter coughed. Dars helped him up to his feet. “We need to walk it off.”

“No.” Peter pushed Dars away and powered down. He covered his eyes, backing away. “I came here, I helped you guys morph, and I’m done. I’m done with this. I’m not cut out for it.”

”That’s not true,” Dars said. “You were really giving it to Warp, dude.”

“I got a lucky shot in,” Peter said with a sigh. “I have to go. Good luck with the… Missile or whatever.”

“Pete, wait!” Dars reached out for Peter’s shoulder, but Pete sprinted to his car and hopped into the driver’s seat. He floored the gas and sped away from the charred and destroyed buildings surrounding him. Dars watched as Pete drove away and then sighed, shaking his head. Dars then jumped back as something came crashing down in front of him. When he looked up, he realized it was the Red Droid. It got to its knees and motioned for Dars to enter. Dars nodded and grinned. “Now that’s what I call a ride.”




Evan looked feared as the Yellow Droid flew through the air, completely under its own control, the pink and blue ones on either side of them. They were bursting through the crowds and now Evan was face to face with a missile. He closed his eyes.

“Guys, if this is it…” Evan leaned back, clutching the seatbelt.

“This isn’t it, okay?” Cara reassured. “We’re gonna make it through this. “Hold on tight.”

Dani bit her lip and the Pink Droid met the missile head on, grabbing it with its large metallic arms. The missile was slowed down just a bit, but still traveling at a dangerous speed. The blue one grabbed it next, from one side. The missile was still going at a quick speed. Lastly, Evan watched as the Yellow Droid wrapped its arms around the missile. By now, the missile was traveling downward, maybe 20% slower than it had been a moment ago, though it was not stopping.

“What were you saying, Cara?” Evan demanded.

“Don’t be such a pessimist,” Cara said with a sigh. “Oh God.” As they went back through the crowds and the city lights below were visible, reality struck Cara. They might not make it through this.




“Back already?” Frankie asked as Pete walked back into Cara’s house. Frankie had put Joey on the loveseat, his head resting on a pillow and a small blanket resting over him. Frankie was once again on his laptop, trying to figure out something about the Maxmorphers.

“Yeah. I helped them morph, we got Monarch and Warp to run away, and now it’s up to them. I did what I could.”

“You did what you wanted,” Frankie corrected.

Pete glared at Frankie. “I don’t need this from you, dude.”

“Then don’t take it from me, Peter,” Frankie said, never looking away from his laptop. “But I think deep down, you want to be a Ranger.”

“What makes you think that?” Peter asked, shaking his head.

“You went out and saved people from inevitable destruction,” Frankie said. “A normal person wouldn’t go out there, save his friend and three people he hardly knows if he didn’t have what it takes to be a hero.”

“I just did what I could… For one time only. I don’t want to be a Power Ranger or whatever it’s called. I’m out. For good.” Pete walked past Frankie and out the door. Frankie continued to type.




As if salvation were coming in the form of a giant red metallic humanoid, Dars and the Red Droid flew up to the sky, grabbing the missile. “You guys couldn’t just do this without me.”

“Haha, no way, bro.” Evan smirked and slammed a fist on the dashboard. “Now let’s kick these babies into overdrive and send this thing right back where it belongs.”

All four of them pulled levers in the Droids. The Droids flipped, forcing the rocket to spin wildly before shooting upward. Dars held onto the missile until it was back past the clouds before breaking away and having the Droid hold open one fist. A red ball of energy formed before the Droid launched it at the missile. The missile was engulfed by the energy before exploding high above Dars’ head. The explosion sent Dars flying back towards the others, however the Droid stabilized itself in mid-air.

Dani, Cara, Evan, and Dars let out a huge cheer as the Droids sank back down to the ground.




Television cameras, reporters, and a cheering crowd greeted the four Rangers as they walked up the streets of Shady Grove. They were still morphed and anxious to get out of the suits, but all of them had subtly agreed to not reveal their identities to anybody. They didn’t know how long this Ranger thing would last and they really didn’t feel like being harassed by random people over the next few decades.

“You four! You’re Power Rangers, right?” a reporter asked, holding a microphone to Dars’ helmet.

Dars nodded. “That we are.”

“What do you call yourselves?”

Dars looked at the other three. Each of them shrugged and then Dars turned to the interviewer. “The Maximum Velocity Rangers. The MVR for short.”

“Why haven’t you guys come forth before?”

Dars just shrugged once again. “Well, we’re still pretty---.” He didn’t want to say that they were new. That would just send the crowd into a frenzy and the panic would start over again. “Let’s just say, we never thought something like this would happen. There were some minor difficulties, but at the end of the day, California is a safer place. We don’t have too much time to waste.”

“Wait! Wait!” Another reporter ran to the Rangers as they walked away. “Who are you guys?”

Each of them slowly looked over their shoulders, though they continued to walk forward. Dars turned forward again and chuckled slightly.




A day had passed. Evan, Cara, Dani, and Dars had all become very close. They had no alternative. All of them just happened to share that secret bond. Cara sipped a milkshake as she sat at her table. Joey was asleep in his crib and Dars had mentioned something about Peter. It was obvious that Peter wanted nothing to do with them now that they were the MVR. Peter hadn’t even attempted to contact Dars since the incident with Warp. Dars was hoping that Peter was okay.

Little did Dars know, little Peter was on his knees, leaning against the locked door of his room. He was looking at the dark rash that was around his arms. The deep inexplicable bruises and the small bumps along his back and his sides. Peter put a hand over his eyes and gasped out, falling against his bed.

It was taking over and it was a horrible feeling. Not being able to do anything about it… Not being able to resist this… darkness.

[ZeoFury]

Task List:

01. Enter the Darkness
02. Enter the Darkness II
03. Enter the Darkness III
04. Secrets of the First World
05. Baby Steps
06- 50.









The MVR
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Name: Darius "Dars" Marks
Age: 16
Cultural Background: Darius was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. His father is over the Arab descent and his mother moved to the United States from Jamaica when she was a toddler.
Ranger: Red (First in Command)
History: Darius was always the sports star of his family. He was an only child, and he didn't inherit any athletic genes from his parents. His father is a psychiatrist and his mother has worked as an accountant since she graduated college. Dars, much like the rest of his friends, is about to enter his junior year in high school. His best friends are Peter and Danielle. Dars is someone that you'd find playing every sport possible, however little people fail to realize how truly caring Dars is.

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Name: Evander "Evan" Harrison
Age: 16
Cultural Background: Evan's mother is an exporer from Shady Grove, California who moved to Egypt at the time of a baby. Evan's father was also an Egyptian explorer, though both of them are of the European descent.
Ranger: Yellow (Second in Command)
History: Evan is used to change. He was born in Cairo, Egypt, but moved to Shady Grove, California when he was only a baby, not much more than a year old. Evan moved once again, to Seattle Washington where he began kindergarten. By the end of the first grade, he had moved to New York. Evan was home-schooled as opposed to going to a conventional middle school when he moved back and forth between Spain and Italy with his mother and father. Evan attended his freshman year in El Paso, Texas, only to move back to Shady Grove shortly before his sophomore year began. He's not an A student, nor is he the star athlete, however he loves adventure and his comedic attitude has helped him out of several tight situations.

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Name: Peter "Pete" Tyson
Age: 16
Cultural Background: Pete was born to an American mother and an Irish father. Pete was born in Ireland, however moved to Shady Grove, California at the age of three and has lived there with his parents, ever since.
Ranger: Black
History: Pete knew that he was different ever since he began pre-school in Shady Grove. He found himself speaking to the shadows, hearing voices in his head, gaining inexplicable bursts of energy. He never thought much of it, however never told anyone. Not his friends, parents, or doctors. Pete was always the "Einstein" of his family. He also enjoyed reading, writing, and he did well in school. He was well-rounded however something always seemed to be pulling him back, and that was the lack of self-confidence Peter had in himself. Peter knows now that the darkness inside of him is some sort of gift in disguise. He just needs to use his intelligence to figure out what it is.

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Name: Carianne "Cara" Eubanks
Age: 16
Cultural Background: Cara's mother, Aria moved from Bengal, India to England when she was twenty years old, aiming to study at Oxford University. She fell in love with, and married an eighteen year old named Norman Eubanks. The two graduated and moved to Shady Grove in 1988 to tend to Norman's sick brother, whom had paid for the wedding. The two ended up residing there and giving birth to Carianne in 1990.
Ranger: Blue
History: Cara has lived in Shady Grove all her life. After several disagreements with her mother, Cara took it out on her by denying her Indian heritage, which was easy to do considering her appearance. As a result, Cara's mother showed less support for Cara's aspirations, offended that her daughter never saw eye-to-eye with her. In the summer of 2006, Cara discovered that she was six weeks into pregnancy. She had no idea who the father was and after a barely-seven-month pregnancy, she gave birth to a baby boy, Joey. Cara has taken full responsibility as a mother and has proved to both parents that she is incredibly strong, physically and emotionally.

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Name: Danielle "Dani" Parisa
Age: 16
Cultural Background: Dani was born to a Joseph, Canadian reporter who traveled to Spain and became romantically involved with Amanda, a Spaniard who spoke little English. Joseph brought Amanda back to Shady Grove, intended to just introduce her to his small group of friends since Joseph was on horrible terms with his family. Unfortunately, shortly after Amanda discovered she was pregnant, Joseph was murdered mysteriously outside of his job.
Ranger: White
History: Dani never knew her father and wasn't told much about him since Amanda didn't even know a lot about Dani's father. Amanda gave birth to two more children from another man, one year apart. Johnathon and Katharine are two and three years younger than Dani, respectively. Dani was never told who their father was and Amanda tends to remain secretive. Amanda doesn't speak much English and makes a living as a chef, and a surprisingly capable computer technician. Dani follows in her mothers footsteps. She may be considered the most technology-literate member of the MVR.



Allies:

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Name: Frankie
Age: 24
Role: Mentor
History: Frankie has known about his step-father's Droid program since he was a child, however he didn't act on the situation until he was about 18 after his step-father disappeared mysteriously. Frankie has dedicated his life to taking down the Fallen Union and uncovering the mysteries behind the Max Droids. He aids the Rangers and designs their equipment whenever necessary. Though they don't know if he's trustworthy or not, he's one of their only hopes. He seems to share a special bond with Peter... And that's not necessarily something to be proud of.

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Name: Drake Clarke
Age: 16
Role: Reporter
History: Drake was born and raised in Shady Grove, California. He's been getting the "scoop" ever since he was the editor for the school newspaper in middle school. He, and his partner Kina, never miss the opportunity for a good story. And the Power Rangers may as well be their ticket to the big time.

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Name: Kina Alcade
Age: 15
Role: Reporter
History: Kina's mother was a journalist and her father was an explorer. She was born in Pakistan and moved to San Diego, California at the age of twelve, already speaking English. When she moved to Shady Grove at the age of thirteen, she and Drake instantly became friends. Both of them are admittedly greedy and willing to do anything for that one great story.


Enemies

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Name: Monarch
Age: Undetermined
Representation: The Fallen Union
History: We know little about Monarch at this point. He was cloned as a Russian experiment during the cold war between the Soviets and the United States. He, however, had a mind and an agenda of his own. His goal is to awaken the "Gods of Light" using the power for the Maxmorphers. Though the Gods of Light bring ultimate power to those who are able to bring them forth, he wants something more and that is not quite clear.

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Name: Warp
Age: Undetermined
Representation: The Fallen Union
History: Not much is known about Warp. He is believed to be a resurrected Nazi, and in fact not a former general or soldier in the Soviet Union.

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Name: Mikhail
Age: 60
Representation: The Fallen Union
History: Mikhail is a scientist, originally from Russia, who moved to the United States during the Cold War. Mikhail worked alongside Samuel Michaels for several of his scientific studies and was responsible for exposing his blueprints to the public while attempting to steal them. Mikhail was captured, however he escaped imprisonment with the assist of Monarch and joined him in his Fallen Union.

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Name: Wanda Michaeli
Age: 19
Representation: The Fallen Union
History: Wanda is the estranged daughter of Samuel Michaels. Her real name (Wendy Michaels) was completely abandoned in favor of her alias, Wanda Michaeli. Wanda is quite simply a witch, obsessed with finding the orbs belonging the Seven Gods of Light. With them, she knows that she can resurrect her presumably deceased father and destroy Frankie, the step-brother that constantly foils her efforts. If she has to destroy the Power Rangers and team up with Monarch to accomplish her goals, then she'll do so.

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Name: The Dark Force
Age: Ageless
Representation: N/A
History: The Dark Force was placed inside of Peter due to something that happened in the past during Peter's birth. It aids Pete when he is in danger, though its only hunger is power and its only thirst is blood.

[ZeoFury]

Task Four: Secrets of the First World

Mikhail shook his head as Monarch paced back and forth around the underground laboratory, serving as the base and hideout of the Fallen Union. "I have no idea how those kids managed to destroy the missile. It only took four of the Droids and in a matter of seconds, every single plan we had went up in smoke."

"I will NOT stand for this," Monarch said, suddenly turning around, pointing a crooked finger in the face of Mikhail. "They want a war? Then we're going to give them what they want and then some. I want you to get me a monster that will blow those Rangers to pieces. We obviously can't get to the Maxmorphers easily anymore, so I'll have just as much fun eradicating each and every one of them."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Mikhail asked, looking up at Monarch. "The monster could run wild. I think Warp could get the job done."

"Did I ask for Warp?!" Monarch snapped. "No. I want a monster. And not just any monster." Monarch turned to the large display of clay creations behind a glass wall at the far end of the room. "I want Armorsnake."




Pete sits wide awake in his bed, lying atop the covers, warm enough from the hot summer heat. He had heard his father get home about five minutes ago. His mother walked downstairs and the two were speaking in raised voices. Pete's brother, Kobe and his sister, Rachel were asleep in their bedroom. They were seven-year-old twins and Pete envied them, because they'd never directly witnessed a fight between their parents.

Pete looked over at the clock. It was about 1:30 in the morning. He couldn't blame his mother for being angry. His father never called, he never seemed to want to be too much at the house anymore. On the day of their anniversary, Pete's father had went and got drunk with his buddies at a bar. He'd crashed on his way to the house and didn't notify his mother until losing his life in the hospital was a possibility.

Pete pulled his pillow around his ears as he heard his father scream something at his mother. The two had a screaming match for about 20 seconds before a loud slap echoed throughout the whole house. Pete had enough. He got off of his bed and took the pillow out of its case. He locked the door of his bedroom and slipped into a pair of Chuck Taylors and pulled a black tee over his head. He stuffed another shirt, a pair of socks, some undergarments, a hand-towel and a pair of khaki shorts into the case. He tied the pillowcase and slung it over his shoulder. He pushed open his bedroom window and tossed the pillow to the ground below. Pete put one leg over the windowsill before looking back at the Maxmorpher in his alarm clock. After a few seconds of silent deliberation, Pete walked forward and grabbed the Maxmorpher off of his desk. He slipped it into his pocket and walked back to the windowsill. He dropped down about a foot, grabbing onto the tree branch close to his bedroom window. He slid down the trunk of the tree and scooped his pillow case off of the ground.

Looking into the window, Pete saw that his father was rubbing his jaw, a scowl on his face. He was heating up some chicken soup in a tea cup and his mother was still pointing a finger at him, cursing quietly, aware that Kobe and Rachel were probably awakened by the yelling. Pete's father then got up and the arguing began again. Pete shook his head and walked onto the road. He'd go and spend the night with Dars or something. He couldn't deal with another night of this.

However, as Pete walked down the dark road, his vision seemed to go black for a second. A searing pain went through his head. Pete put a hand to the side of his head and groaned, hunching over as he walked.

"You can't fight me forever, Peter."

"Shut up!" Pete leaned against the light pole, his pillow case slipping from his fingers. He tightened his grip and tucked it to his side, continuing to walk down the street.

Everything seemed to become blurry... All of the objects were a lot more spaced out than before. Pete stumbled up the street. He didn't know what to say sometimes. This had been going on for at least a year. At the most random times of the night, a searing pain would rip through his head and this voice would continue to talk to him. Whisper to him.

Taunt him.

Pete had finally made it so far up the street that he couldn't even see his house over his shoulder anymore. He continued walking with his head turned, until he heard a strange noise ahead of him. Pete turned ahead and instinctively took a step back as in a purple flash, five Silverbots and a creature that he hadn't seen before appeared.

"Black Ranger," the creature said, pointing at Pete.
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Pete just took a fighting stance. He didn't want to fight--- ever, but he wasn't going to naïve. If he needed to fight his way out of a situation, then he would do it. "Name's Peter."

"I've direct orders from Monarch to destroy you as well as the other Rangers."

Pete looked at the Silverbots that were now closing in on him. He then glanced up at the creature. "Seems a little blunt. Maybe even a bit cliché, but hey, we're dealing with a mentally challenged Russian dude stuck in the 80's, so to each his own, right?"

The creature just grunted. "I'm Armorsnake. And I'll be ending your life this evening. Get him!"

Pete glanced to either side as Silverbots lunged at him. Pete tossed his pillow case to the side and delivered a sharp kick to the chest of the nearest Silverbot. It stumbled back and Peter jumped into the air, lunging out with a powerful "HAH!" as his foot connected with the head of another. Pete jumped over the fallen Silverbot and tackled the other to the ground, grabbing it by its shoulders and rolling it across the ground. Pete got up to his feet and watched as the five Silverbots regrouped, marching in front of him wildly, as if they were a pack of wolves.

Pete jumped over the head of one of the Silverbots and kicked at its head. Pete was grabbed by each of his legs, however and tossed to the ground. He rolled onto his back. A foot came down onto his chest. Pete groaned in pain and the Silverbots picked him up again, holding him in front of Armorsnake.

"Say goodbye." The mouth on Armorsnake's chest glowed a green color before shooting a stream of acid in Peter's direction.

From that point, everything seemed to go in slow motion.

"Peter, you're weak. Allow me to help."

Peter suddenly found the energy within himself to pull away from the Silverbots and shoulder-roll out of the way. The acid hit the chests of three Silverbots. Each of them twisted and jerked before falling to the ground. Peter looked at the final two Silverbots, finding an energy in him that he didn't recognize before. He... He didn't know where it came from, and he realized that it wasn't a feeling he should be accustomed to enjoying, but he liked the power this darkness had given him. Maybe it could be good for something.

Pete drove his elbow into the back of one Silverbot and grabbed the leg of another, wrenching it to the side and flipping it onto its back. The Silverbots writhed on the ground before disappearing in the blink of an eye. Pete glared at Armorsnake.

Armorsnake tilted his head a bit. "Monarch never mentioned this."

He barely had the time to observe. Pete ran forward and kicked Armorsnake in his stomach. Armorsnake reeled back and cried out in pain. Pete jumped into the air and drove both of his feet into Armorsnake's main head. Armorsnake fell backwards and rolled across the ground before getting to his feet.

"You know what, you'll regret this, Black Ranger. You and all of your friends."

"My name is Peter," Pete corrected, pointing at Armorsnake, before he, just like the Silverbots, disappeared in a flash of purple light. Pete sighed and walked back to his pillow case. He picked it up, hugged it to his side and began walking towards Dars again. Admittedly, Pete was a bit shaken up from the attack, but standing around wasn't going to help anything.

"What do you mean he got away?" Monarch demanded, pushing Armorsnake backwards in the base. "You couldn't defeat ONE of the Power Rangers with five Silverbots assisting you. How can I expect you to take out the whole bunch?!"

"I didn't expect it from him," Armorsnake said, quietly. "My lord, he had some sort of dark energy inside of him. I could sense it. It was as if I wasn't even fighting a Power Ranger, but as if I was fighting one of us."

Monarch had turned and was walking back towards one of the main rooms. "That'd ludicrous..." However, he stopped and pondered the thought for a moment. He slowly turned and looked at Armorsnake. "Describe the power you sensed just a bit more."

"He was being attacked by the Silverbots at first and then I felt a power coming from him that I can't sense from any ordinary human. It was almost as if the Great One was standing in front of me. However, it wasn't. It was just the Black Ranger." Armorsnake lowered his head.

Monarch raised an eyebrow. "The Great One? That's impossible. He hasn't been awakened since the beginning of the end. It's been two decades since the Great One has even..." Monarch suddenly looked confused. "You'll go back up there tomorrow, and we're going to get to the bottom of this. And if we can't, well, there's always Plan B."

"Plan B?" Armorsnake questioned.

Monarch nodded. "We take it to the big leagues."





The small digital alarm clock on Cara's nightstand struck 2:00 AM. Cara was lying on her bed. Joey was asleep in his crib again. Evan was lying next to Cara on the bed, though both of them were on top of the covers. He was running his finger over Cara's shoulder, smiling as he looked at her. He liked the scent of her hair. It was a fruity smell, product of the shampoo she had used. He liked the small, hardly noticeable imperfections of her body. The tiny scratches here and there from minor everyday accidents and obviously from the few fights they'd gotten in with the Fallen Union.

He liked the fact that she was different from other girls that he'd met. She didn't make him feel dumb or unintelligent. To some girls, he was just the funny guy that would always be the friend. Maybe the best friend. To Cara? He didn't know what she saw him as... She was sixteen years old, actually only a week or so older than him. She was strong. She was a mother and she didn't treat herself like crap because of it. She didn't let people get to her so easily.

Evan sighed as his phone rang in the pocket of his basketball shorts. He reached his hand into his pocket and put the phone to his ear, speaking quietly.

"Hello?"

Evan narrowed his eyes, listening as Dars spoke to him.

"Yeah, I'll come over there tomorrow. What's wrong with Peter? ...Are you serious? Yeah, dude. First thing in the morning. Yeah. Peace."

Evan put the phone back in his pocket but Cara stirred a bit. She turned and looked at Evan. She had to blink a few times, because she forgot that she'd invited him to spend the night. Cara turned so she was facing him, closing her eyes again, though snuggling just a bit closer.

"Who was that?" she asked, tiredly.

Evan couldn't help but smile, pleased by the fact that Cara was lying in his arms like this, without a question and without hesitation. "It was Dars. Peter ran into some Silverbots today. He went into Dars' house and he seemed really paranoid. I told Dars that I'd head over his house when I woke up and make sure that Monarch wasn't behind it."

"I'll come with you," Cara said slowly, before her breathing pattern changed and she sank back into the pillow a bit.

Evan would have told Cara that she didn't have to, but she dozed off to sleep before he got the chance to respond. Evan just closed his eyes and pulled the blanket over Cara and himself before he too drifted off into slumber.




"I don't get it," Dars said, closing the door of his bedroom. Cara, Dani, Evan, and Pete were all seated around his room. Pete was massaging his temples, sitting in a stool near the window, Dani was seated in Dars' computer chair, one knee hugged to her chest, and Evan and Cara were sitting on the bed. "They're not going to stop attacking, are they?"

"Doubtful," Dani said. "I mean, why would they go through all this trouble and then give up? Let's be honest with ourselves, here. They want the Maxmorphers and if they have to destroy the entire U.S. to get to us then... They'll do it." Dani shrugged and looked up at Dars. "And it's our job to make sure they don't."

"I know, but there's got to be something bigger and the thing that pisses me off about this Frankie dude is that he's hiding something from us," Dars muttered. "He doesn't want us to know something. I don't get it."

"I'm sure there's a good reason that he's not telling us," Cara said. "And when he needs us to know, then he'll tell us, I'm sure."

"He could be using us for his own agenda," Dars said, somewhat bitterly. "He could be waiting for us to take down his enemies and then turn on us and take all the power for himself. We're fighting and we only know half the reason."

Evan sighed. "Dude, don't be so cynical. Would you rather sit around, knowing that we're doomed or would you rather fight the main threat and at least try to do what's right? If Frankie turns on us in the end then... We'll be prepared. But you know what, we're just gonna need to trust him, alright?"

"Now Peter," Dars said, turning to the Black Ranger. "Do you have any idea why you got attacked?"

"No," Pete said, shrugging. “I was just walking here and they decided that it was a good time to jump me and try to get my Maxmorpher. I think we should try to get used to it.”

Dars frowned when suddenly, his phone began to vibrate. He put it to his ear, speaking quickly when he realized it was Frankie. “What’s up?”

“You guys, Armorsnake is attacking downtown Shady Grove,” Frankie said, sounding somewhat exhausting. “He’s heading towards the mall. He hasn’t attacked many civilians, but it’s almost as if he’s looking for something. Go look into it and then come back to the base.”

“Base?” Dars questioned. “Where’s the base?”

Frankie laughed on the other end. “Oh yeah. Well… Let’s just say, you’ll know where it is. Good luck.”

Dars closed the phone and looked at the others. “Alright. There’s a situation at the mall downtown. Frankie wants us to go investigate. He believes he’s looking for something, so let’s go check it out.” Everybody gets to their feet except Pete. Dars turns to him, curiously. “You coming with us, dude?”

Pete looked at Dars for a long moment before slowly nodding. “Yeah. I need to get to the bottom of this, myself.”




Kina Alcade stared into the lens of a camera as she looked up from her lunch. Her friend and partner in crime, Drake Clarke was adjusting his camera. The light glared off of the lens, shining in Kina’s eyes. Eventually, she would simply shield her eyes with a hand before reaching up and pushing Drake’s hands away. “Drake!”

“What? Oh, sorry. I was just trying to see how to focus this thing,” Drake said, placing the camera down. “I’m used to video cameras and digital cameras. Not too much used to this.”

“Well, get used to it,” Kina said smirking. “We finally landed a job, so let’s try not to mess this up. Our most important story… The Maximum Velocity Rangers.” Kina clapped her hands in excitement.

Drake simply raised an eyebrow, adjusting the beanie on his head. “I thought we were researching cattle reproduction.”

Kina rolled her eyes. “Drake, please. Fallwell may have said that our story focus had to be cattle reproduction, but you know deep down, he wanted us to find out the true identity of the mysterious Power Rangers and discover the secrets behind those monsters that seem so obsessed with terrorizing Shady Grove. It’s going to be the scoop of a lifetime and we are going to be bathing in pools of money when we get our hands on it.”

Drake scratched his head. “That seems mildly unsanitary. But whatever floats your boat, yeah?”

Kina turned and watched as several people, intimidated by something turned and ran towards the exits hastily. She jumped to her feet and grinned from ear to ear. “Oh my God, that means that they might be here!”

“Who?” Drake asked.

“…Who,” Kina repeated, slapping Drake in the back of the head. “The monsters that attacked Shady Grove! Who else?! And wherever they are, the Power Rangers are! Come on!”

Drake frowned. “But---.”

Kina didn’t give him much of a chance. She grabbed Drake by the elbow and pulled him to his feet, following the crowd, forcefully pushing through them.

Dozens of yards ahead of the two eager reporters, stood Armorsnake. He bellowed orders to Silverbots as they began to rip apart the cement sidewalk surrounding the mall. “Dig faster! The Sword of Chastity was buried in this exact location. The stupid humans built this wretched metropolis around this and they don’t even realize it.”

Cara listened to everything Armorsnake was saying, though in Ranger form. She had her back pressed to the wall around the corner, the laser held tightly up against her chest in the ready position. She nodded to Dani who was at the wall across from her. The two twisted out from behind the walls and walked towards the Silverbots.

“Freeze!” the girls cried in unison.

Armorsnake turned around. “What, you’re gonna give me some girl power?” He dismissively waved off the Silverbots. “Keep digging. I’ll take these two out all by myself.”

Armorsnake charged at Cara and Dani. Dani jumped over Armorsnake’s head and delivered a hard kick to his back. Armorsnake stumbled forward and Cara pulled the trigger, shooting two powerful laser blasts into the chest of Armorsnake. Armorsnake staggered backwards, only to receive the same treatment from Dani. Armorsnake twitched, groaning in pain. Cara flipped through the air and drove her foot into Armorsnake’s head, knocking him to the ground.

Flipping overhead were Dars, Pete, and Evan. The five Rangers surrounded Armorsnake, lasers drawn, closing in on him.

The crowd of people had died down. Most of them had fled, but two people that stayed, hidden behind a dumpster in the nearby alley, were Drake and Kina. Kina took out her video camera and Drake began snapping pictures on the camera Fallwell, their boss, had given them.

“Fine. Silverbots, attack!” Armorsnake bellowed, disliking the idea of being outnumbered.

The Silverbots discontinued digging, which hadn’t actually gotten very far. The Rangers regrouped and each holstered their weapons. Evan was able to grab a Silverbot once it came near and toss him onto one of the nearby trashcans. He jumped through the air, kicking the trash can and pulling up another empty one. He used the trash can to block a kick from a Silverbot, tripping its feet out from under it instead. He tossed the trash can into the face of a third Silverbot. Its ally caught it and Evan delivered a hard punch to the trash can, denting it, as well as the Silverbot’s face, knocking it to the ground.

“This is new,” Dani muttered sarcastically, rolling across the back of a Silverbot before delivering a powerful knee to its head. The Silverbot twitched and fell to the ground. Dani elbowed a Silverbot behind it and grabbed its by head, flipping it onto its back. Dani grabbed two more Silverbots, throwing them against the wall of the mall before finishing off the attack by slamming them back-first to the ground. She wiped her hands and backed up. “Hmm… Maybe not so much.”

Pete allowed five Silverbots to come close to him. He then jumped atop a closed dumpster, avoiding any swipes that came near his feet. “You… Guys… Don’t… Give…” Pete kicked off of the wall and jumped to the ground when three of the Silverbots jumped up and crashed into each other. “Up. Hah. See? Humans are smarter than robots.” Pete twisted and kicked one of the two remaining Silverbots in the head. It spun out of control. Peter lifted the other one up as it jumped to him, ramming it forcefully into the wall behind him.

Dars and Cara attacked Armorsnake as the others took care of the Silverbots. Armorsnake clashed Dars across the chest. Sparks flew from the material on his suit and he cried out as he hit the ground. Cara threw a punch towards Armorsnake, but she was blocked before she could land any significant strike. The mouth on Armorsnake’s chest opened and spat a black sludge on Cara’s helmet.

“I can’t see!” Cara complained, staggering back with one hand over her visor.

Armorsnake chuckled. “And soon, you won’t be able to breathe either.” Armorsnake delivered a sickening punch to Cara’s stomach and tossed her though the air.

Dars ran at Armorsnake, his laser raised, however he received the same treatment, his visor becoming smudged in the thick acid and his back hitting the cement.

“Better luck next time,” Armorsnake said, laughing again before vanishing.

“You guys alright?” Dani asked, helping Cara up as Pete assisted Dars.

“Yeah, fine.” Dars rubbed his neck. “I can’t see.”

“That… was AWESOME!” Kina exclaimed, running out from behind the dumpster, Drake following behind, applauding as the camera dangled from his neck. “Kina Alcade.” She reached out, taking Pete’s hand, the closest Ranger to her, and shook it. “And this is my partner, Drake Clarke. We are huge fans of the Rangers. We wanted to know if we can get an interview---.”

“Sorry to be rude,” Dani said, stepping in front of Pete and putting a hand on Kina’s shoulder. “But we have somewhat of an emergency right now. We’ve got to go.”

“But---.” Kina frowned as the Rangers turned, running in the other direction. She crossed her arms and turned to Drake. “How rude.”

Drake sighed. “We’ll get our story soon enough. Now how about we get back to our chili fries?”

Kina shot Drake a dirty look. Drake just shrugged and turned back to the mall.




The Rangers, now unmorphed, walked along the road. Dars was rubbing his head, looking at the red dot on his Maxmorpher screen. “So this dot is supposed to be the base that Frankie wanted us to come to, right?”

“Yeah,” Dani responded. She frowned, biting her lip. It looked like they were just standing in a large area behind an abandoned apartment complex. “I don’t know what kind of base this is, though. It’s just an open lot.”

Dani’s questions were answered when a metal trapdoor that was colored the exact color of the asphalt around it. Frankie looked up above the trapdoor and nodded to them with a smirk. “Don’t just sit around. Come on in here! Guys, I have some news for you. I’m not sure if you’re gonna enjoy it or not.”

Dars walked to the trapdoor and kneeled down. “As long as you tell us EVERYTHING we need to know, then we’ll come in. Until you’re willing to promise that, then we’re going nowhere.”

“For your own safety, I don’t know if that’s the best choice this early in the---,” Frankie started.

“No,” Dars interrupted. “Tell us or we’re out.”

Frankie sighed. “Fine.” He raised his hands up, as if he was being aimed at. “Fine, fine, I’ll tell you. Just come in.”

He dropped back down into the trap door. The Rangers hesitantly followed, Dars leading the way.




Monarch ran his fingers along the sword that he often used in combat. He turned towards a hooded woman that was standing near the entrance of the chamber to the Fallen Union base. Her mouth was visible. She was a very pale woman with scarred and chapped lips, though her actual face was nothing short of beautiful, if it was the way Monarch had remembered it.

“Wanda…” Monarch ran a hand through his own hair, walking forward and putting a hand to the soft cotton that shrouded her figure. He pulled the hood back and Wanda looked into his eyes. Her own were bloodshot, as if she’d been awake for days. “…What are you doing here?”

“I followed your little cheap-ass monster,” Wanda said, gesturing towards Armorsnake, whom was recovering from the previous attack. “I thought that if you were going to uncover the orbs and get the Sword of Chastity, then I might as well come along for the ride. Besides, no one knows more about my father’s projects than me.”

Monarch just smirked and turned away, giving a short laugh. “You? I can’t trust you much farther than I can throw you.” He turned towards Wanda, holding his sword up, allowing it to gleam in the overhead light, though not threatening to use it in any way. “I don’t care how much you know. I’m not letting you anywhere near the orbs, nor the swords, and you know this. However, it would be nice to have someone to---.”

“---Take down the Rangers for you?” Wanda said. “Please. I know all about them and their powers too. I’ve seen the blueprints, so of course I know of the finished copy. It’s not like your little monsters can get the job done anyway. They’re not able to reproduce like your Silverbots and they’re nowhere near as durable as their creators.”

“We can always hope,” Monarch said, sticking the sword into the ground. “Where have you been all this time?”

“Around,” Wanda said, casually as she removed her hood, letting the robe drop to the floor, leaving her in casual jeans and a black tank top. Wanda smirked and rubbed a hand over her face and down her chest to her abdomen. As she did this, her skin became just a bit more tan, and her chapped lips became a healthy shade of pink. “I can blend in with the rest easily. How else do you think I know so much about the Power Rangers?”

“Excellent,” Monarch said, pleased with Wanda’s powers. “I didn’t think you trusted the Fallen Union…”

“…Who said I did?” Wanda winked. “I’m in this for myself. Don’t forget that, sweetie.”

Monarch moved closer to Wanda. “Mmmm… Forgive me.” He leaned down towards Wanda, putting his hand on her chin. He moved his lips close to hers, but with a smirk, Wanda turned her face, offering nothing but her cheek to Monarch’s lips.

“When the Sword of Chastity belongs to us, then…” Wanda trailed off, leaving something to be desired. She rolled her eyes towards the door of the chamber and marched forward, walking out of the corridor. Monarch just tilted his chin upwards and smirked as Wanda left.




“The Seven Gods of Light are the only thing that can save the Earth from complete chaos,” Frankie explained to the Rangers.

They were busy checking out the base, looking around at the furniture. It was about fifteen feet underground, but there was electricity, satellite access, and a pipe system. Frankie was involved with the government, but all of them would be foolish to think any of this was legal. It was rather large… It was around the size of a gymnasium. The dirt walls, floors, and ceiling was forgivable, however. A larger chamber near the far end of the room was the Droid bay and a separate room to the side contained the weapons that the Rangers could summon.

“They are Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Forgiveness, Kindness, and Humility. If the orbs fall into the right hands, angels are brought to protect those who are good and willing to vanquish the dark forces. If they fall into the right hands, for example, those whom are admittedly using the near-infinite power for self-gain or possess the dark force within their soul, then demons are brought from the underworld. Asmodeus, Beezlebub, Mammon, Lucifer, Belphegor, Leviathan, and…”

“…Satan,” Cara completed, her arms crossed as she sat down on one of the several couches in the base.

The room fell silent and Frankie slowly closed his laptop. He looked up and locked eyes with Dars, whom seemed to be in near shock.

“So that’s the whole story,” Frankie said. “Our goal is to get those orbs before they do. If they do, we have no hope. We can’t compete with those forces.”

“That’s insane,” Evan said, quietly. “I couldn’t even beat the devil in my Lords of the Underworld video game. I was at level 68 too. I had the chainsaw gun and everything. It was wicked.”

Everyone slowly turned and looked at Evan, dumbfounded expressions on their face.

“Hey, look.” Peter pointed to the television that sat against the wall on the ground. He turned the volume up, listening to the report as Armorsnake returned to the same area he was, though he was alone this time, striking the ground with acid, digging closer and closer towards the Sword of Chastity. “So if this is true, then that means Asmodeus will come?”

“If they summon him,” Frankie said, quietly.

“Let’s go,” Dars said, getting to his feet. “We need to get it before he does. Frankie, have the Droids ready. If things get messy, then we’re gonna need some heavy metal backup.”

“On it,” Frankie said with a nod.




Armorsnake laughed as the five morphed Rangers ran towards him. “You’re too late, Rangers. The Sword of Chastity will soon belong to me!” Armorsnake threw a hand forward, a red ball of energy shooting at the Rangers. As if it had a mind of its own, it slammed into the chests of every Ranger, knocking them to the ground before exploding above each of them. They slid across the ground, however Dars hopped to his feet first.

“Alright, guys, let’s pull together. Hah!” Dars jumped into the air and swung at Armorsnake. Armorsnake grabbed Dars’ arm and threw him up into the air. Dars used his foot to push off of the brick wall of one building and land safely behind Armorsnake. He delivered a roundhouse to his chest. Armorsnake stumbled back. Pete and Dani each grabbed one of his arms. They turned Armorsnake around. Cara and Evan jumped through the air, firing their lasers at Armorsnake. Armorsnake cried out as he fell to the ground.

“Surrender now,” Evan said, walking towards Armorsnake, his laser pointed at him in the ready position.

Armorsnake simply pushed himself back on the ground. Little did the Rangers know, Wanda was seated above him, a jar in hand. She sighed. “Never leave a monster to do the job of a goddess.” She threw the jar through the air. It shattered and a single bee flew out of the jar. It stung Armorsnake, and Armorsnake got to his feet. He began to glow a white color before shooting into the air, standing at least 150 feet tall.

“Holy Jesus,” Evan muttered.

Dars yelled into the phone. “Frankie, we’re gonna need Droid power now.”

The Droids quickly rose into the air, all five of them, as if Frankie knew beforehand that they would be needing assistance. Each of the Rangers jumped into their respective Droids, turning towards Armorsnake.

Armorsnake stomped over the large field behind the mall and grabbed the Pink Droid by the shoulders before turning around and throwing it to the ground. Dani cried out as she was thrown up against her cockpit.

“Time for some heavy artillery,” Pete said. The Black Droid rose its fist to the air and the fingers sank back into the hand before several bullets shot forward. Armorsnake twitched, sparks flying from his body. Angrily, the mouth on his chest shot the black stream of venom through the air. It soaked into the Black Droid’s armor and sparks showered down from its body. “Oh no!”

“Don’t worry, Pete, I got your back,” Dars said. The Red Droid grabbed Armorsnake form behind, pushing it away from Pete. “Oh no, the metal seems pretty damaged. We’ve got to put this guy away and fast. Cara, you got this for a sec?”

“Yes,” Cara answered. “Water jets, firing.” The arms on the Blue Droid seemed to turn to cannons before shooting powerful streams of water into Armorsnake’s chest. Armorsnake cried out, smoke flying up from the mouth on his chest. He was eventually thrown to the ground, rolling over a few trees.

The Yellow Droid lifted Armorsnake up and delivered a shot to his back with one of the blades that took the place of its hand. Armorsnake turned around and shot another stream of acid. It hit the Yellow Droid and even cried out. “Ah, crap! I’m hit too!”

Meanwhile on the ground, Wanda walked towards the large hole in the ground that Armorsnake had made. The monster growth created a huge distraction and now she was able to grab the sword for herself. Wanda jumped down into the hole and looked down at the sword at the bottom, covered in dirt, littered with ancient markings. A white orb was in the center of the base of the sword, glowing ominously. Wanda lifted the sword up and smiled. “It now belongs to us…”

Also on the ground were Drake and Kina, snapping pictures of both Wanda and the Droid fight. Drake turned to Kina.

“We are so getting promoted for this.”

Kina nodded, but bit her lip. “I don’t think that woman should have that sword though.”

Drake shrugged. “You want to go tell her that?”

Kina looked forward as Wanda jumped from the hole, gripping the sword firmly in her hand. She pressed her back to the dumpster and winced. “No, I’m good. Maybe we should get back to see Fallwell.”

“That would be wise.” Drake rolled his eyes and ran back towards the street, Kina close behind.

“Alright, let’s end this!” Dars exclaimed. The Red Droid took a step backwards and held up its hand. The hand began spinning before the metal twisted together around the wrist, sharpening itself.

“I dare you!” Armorsnake hissed in a dual tone, limping towards the Red Droid.

The drill began to spin faster before launching a red blast of energy that took the shape of the drill in mid-air. It tore straight through Armorsnake. The monster hissed again, the tone of the hiss changing as it slowly fell to the ground. Dars shielded his eyes as Armorsnake was blown to pieces, flesh and blood flying through the air as an explosion rocketed through the area.

“He’s gone!” Cara said, excitedly.

The Rangers cheered in their individual Droids, proud of their first monster defeat.

Wanda smirked as she looked up at the Rangers. “Yeah, celebrate now. But you’re lacking one… fine… gem…” Wanda turned and walked away before disappearing in a flash of purple light.




“So they have the Sword of Chastity?” Dani asked, somewhat glumly as she rubbed her neck, sore from being thrown around in the cockpit of the Pink Droid.

“Unfortunately,” Frankie answered. “They could possibly summon one of the demons. Getting that sword back is a priority, but as of right now, we need to focus on the other six. If we can capture them, then they won’t stand a chance. Things got out of hand today. I’m proud of you, though, Rangers. Greatness was thrust upon you. You took the reigns and you ran with it. If I were in your shoes, I don’t think I’d be able to act as responsibly as you did today.”

Evan, Dani, Cara, and Dars smiled.

Cara looked around. “Hey, where’s Pete?”

“Oh, he went home,” Dars replied. “Said he wasn’t feeling too good or something.”

“I hope everything’s alright with him,” Dani muttered.

“He’s fine,” Evan said, putting his arms around the shoulders of Dani and Cara. “But right now, I say we go out and we celebrate. Who knows how much time we’ll have to do that anymore?”

“I’m with you on that one, bro,” Dars said, giving Evan a nod. “We’ll see you later, Frankie. You know how to get us if you need anything.”

Frankie just nodded, smiling at the Rangers as they turned to exit the base.




“Peter.”

Pete leaned against the wall of his bedroom, his hand on his head. The shadows from the trees blowing in the hard wind outside of his window seemed to thicken, coming together, forming a face on his wall.

“What do you want?” Peter asked, covering in sweat.

“You know what I want, Peter. And this nonsense? It must stop before someone gets hurt. Before someone you love… Pays your toll.”

Peter fell to his knees and let one small grunt escape his mouth before he slowly climbed onto his bed, pulling the pillow around his head and curling up in a ball.

[ZeoFury]

Hmm... I'll be busy this week, but a new chapter/task should be up by Saturday night.

Any feedback guys? ;) Thumbs up? Thumbs down?

[ZeoFury]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/the_elder/MAXVELcopy.jpg

^ Max Velocity logo. Thanks Metal_Lion. :cool:

[ZeoFury]

Alright, guys. For anyone that cares, lol, this fanfic will continue (hopefully) tonight. The computer that I wrote my episodes on has been without internet for the past 2 weeks or so. So I'm hoping to get this stuff back online!

[ZeoFury]

Task Five: Baby Steps

Wanda simply admired the Sword of Chastity as it lied across a wooden table before her. She was proud that she was able to get it. She didn’t trust the Fallen Union. She knew that despite her efforts, they would use the power for themselves and destroy anyone who tried to interfere with that, even her. She wouldn’t even get a share of the earnings.

“You’ve done well,” Monarch said, walking beside Wanda. “I have to say. I doubted your motives and your abilities, but you really know what you’re doing around here. I’m impressed.” He lowered his lips towards her neck before dragging them along her cheek, whispering into her ear. “Very impressed.”

Wanda just gave Monarch that devious smile. “I’m almost offended that you doubted me.”

Monarch moved his eyes so that they were level with hers. “You’re not going to let that brother of yours turn you soft are you? You can’t let family get in the way of our studies.”

“I’m not,” Wanda said. “You know me better than that, I’d hope.”

Monarch narrowed his eyes, though he looked please. “I hope so too.” Monarch lifted his chin again before turning and walking back towards his lap, his sword resting across his left shoulder.

“And now…” Wanda pulled the hood off of her head, dropping it to the ground. She once again looked like a normal teenager. She appreciated her disguise. “Time to give those Rangers a treat.”




Dars walked through the front doors of Perry’s Pizza Parlor. He looked at the manager and cleared his throat. The manager was a man just under six feet tall with brown hair. He didn’t look like he was much older than possibly his late twenties. At the sound of Dars clearing his throat, the manager turned and raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry kid, we’re closed.”

Dars looked at his watch. “Dude, it’s just a few minutes past noon.”

The manager shrugged. “No one comes here much anymore anyway. When I say we’re closed, I mean we’re closed for good. It’s hard to find good help these days. Everybody who wants to work here simply isn’t qualified to and the people that are qualified don’t want to work. No point in keeping a shop open when no one can even work.” He had a thick Italian accent, much more pronounced than Frankie’s. Dars had to assume he was an Italian native.

“I was coming here for a job application,” Dars said, quietly.

The manager huffed. “Can you cook, kid?”

“I can,” Dars said.

“Can you cook well?” The manager turned to him.

Dars smirked. “Dude, you’re looking at a master chef, alright?”

The manager appreciated Dars’ light-hearted sense of humor. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Darius Marks,” Dars said, offering a hand. “Or just Dars.”

The manager took his hand, shaking it. “Anthony Romano, but most people just call me Romano. Show me how you cook a pizza, Dars.”

“What kind?” Dars asked, casually.

Over the next few minutes, Romano watched, completely impressed as Dars began to make a pepperoni pizza from scratch. It seemed to come naturally to him. Dars added a bit of “flash” to the event, throwing cheese on top of the pepperonis before sliding the pizza in the oven. Dars turned around, leaning against the wall next to the oven.

Once the pizza was done, Dars pushed a plate with a large slice in front of Romano. Romano looked down at the pizza in front of him and then slowly clapped. “You’re hired.”

“Really?” Dars asked. “That’s awesome.”

“Just bring me a work permit and you’ve got the job immediately,” Romano responded.

Dars slowly nodded. “How many positions do you need, exactly?”

Romano shrugged. “I don’t know… I guess as many people it takes to keep our business going.”

“How about four more?”




Kina jumped back a bit when Benjamin Fallwell, the head of the news team slammed a stack of folders on the desk in front of her and Drake. Drake shared the look of intimidation. Fallwell as a large man. He was pudgy and wide with several chins that spoke as he talked. He kept a pocket-watch at all time and his black eyes were always squinted behind thin, wide glasses. His pudgy fingers reached over the desk and pulled open the first folder, retrieving a piece of paper that had the pictures of discoveries from the two. All of the photos were black-and-white, taken from the battle that they’d witnessed yesterday.

“You’ll have to get me more than this,” Fallwell said, simply.

Kina opened her mouth, possibly to argue, but Drake put a finger on her lips to hush her. “In all due respect sir, no one else has been able to get these pictures. We were practically in the middle of the action, risking our lives to get these action shots.”

“Yeah, and no one has been able to get a picture of the Power Rangers’ faces either,” Fallwell responded, arching an eyebrow. “And you two haven’t been able to do that. And until you do, I will demand the best and nothing less. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir,” Drake said, quietly.

“Now, how about that story on cattle reproduction that I asked you two about?” Fallwell asked, simply sliding the pictures back into the folder.

Kina, remembering the task at hand tilted her head back and groaned. Drake shook his head and Fallwell simply sighed.




“Nice! We all have a job at Perry’s?” Evan asked. He and Dars were walking through the park, making their way to the basketball courts.

“Yeah,” Dars said with a nod. “I asked if he had room for five people to work and he said he did. It’s about time I got a job too.”

Evan laughed a bit. “Yeah, my parents have been complaining about me sitting around like a bum too.”

Dars put an arm in front of Evan, pushing him back as a purple light seemed to literally explode in front of them, Silverbots swarming towards them, inexplicably. Evan looked around, realizing that they were surrounded.

“What the…” Dars tossed his basketball to the side. “So much for a nice stroll through the park.”

Evan wasted no time. He charged forward and kicked a Silverbot hard in the chest. It fell onto its back and two more jumped over it, each punching Evan in the chest. Evan stumbled back before twisting around with a hard spin kick to the head of a Silverbot. Dars used Evan’s momentum to roll across his shoulders and kick a Silverbot hard in the back.

Evan jumped onto one of the play-slides in the park. Two Silverbots clumsily attempted to follow them, but Evan was able to grab them by their arms, flipping them from the slide to the ground. He leapt from the set and grabbed onto a swing, swinging forward and knocking a Silverbot through the air and straight into the grass.

Dars pulled himself up onto the monkey bars, two Silverbots running into each other below him. He dropped down behind another one and swung it into one of the swings. It got tangled up in the chain and inadvertently acted as a ram, slamming into another one at a sickening force. Both of them tumbled to the ground.

“Dars!” Evan cried out as he was pushed up against the metal pole of the swing set.

“I’m coming!” Dars ran towards his friend, but was tripped to the ground. Two Silverbots climbed on top of Dars. One of them held up its fingers, the two fingers acting as a pair of scissors. They snipped a lock of Dars’ hair. The Silverbots nodded to each other, and as quickly as they’d appeared, vanished.

Evan helped Dars to his feet, rubbing his own head. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Dars muttered, gasping. “What the hell was that all about?” He rubbed his head. “All they got was some of my hair.”

“Yeah, same here,” Evan responded in a low tone. “Weird.”

“Come on,” Dars said, picking his basketball up off the ground. “I think we should go tell Frankie about this. He might know what’s going on.”




“If Monarch is taking locks of Ranger hair, then that can’t be a good thing at all,” Frankie said when he heard out Dars and Evan once they returned to the base. “You need to make sure that they don’t get Peter’s, Dani’s, or Cara’s. Or God forbid they get a lock of Cara’s son’s hair.”

“What could they be doing though?” Dars asked, rubbing his head.

“I don’t know. Worst case scenario is that they can somehow counter your powers due to the opposition of the DNA,” Frankie said. “Do you know where Pete, Cara and Dani are?”

“Not sure,” Evan replied once he realized that Dars had no clue. “I think Cara said that she was going to visit her grandmother in San Francisco. She might be a safe distance away from the Silverbots in that case and Joey is as well. Dani, last time I checked, was going school shopping. And Pete…?”

“I don’t think any of us have talked to Pete since we fought that snake guy two days ago,” Dars said, crossing his arms. “I know he was having some problems at home so he stayed for a night, then went back home. I haven’t heard from him since then, but if anything important came up, I think he’d let me know.”

“Let’s hope so,” Frankie said. “As far as I’m concerned, we have four core Rangers. That was enough to send Monarch running before and that should be all that it takes now. He wants to get the other six orbs to control the Gods any way he can, guys, and I hate to say it, but if it means using your powers against you to do it, he won’t hesitate. You’re going to need to watch each other’s backs and be careful. Go find Pete and Dani.”

“Will do,” Dars reassured. He nodded to Evan and the two left the base while Frankie watched after them, a sigh escaping his lips.




Dani shoved her feet into her slippers and ran to the door as quickly as she possibly could when the doorbell woke her up from a nap she’d dozed off to while watching some action movie that she hadn’t exactly heard of before. “I’m coming!”

Dani pulled the door open. Cara was standing at the door, smiling. “Hey.”

“Oh, hey, Cara,” Dani said, returning the smile. “What are you doing here? I thought you were visiting your grandmother. Come on in.”

Cara stepped into the house, Dani closing the door behind her. “Yeah, I spent some time with her. I left Joey with her for the day. I’m going to get my parents to drive me back up there tomorrow morning so I can spend a weekend with her before school starts. I came back because I heard Dars and Evan had some issues with the Silverbots in the park today.”

“Really?” Dani asked, her eyes widening. “I didn’t hear anything about it.” Dani then glanced at her watch. “Oh, crap. That’s because I’ve been sleeping for the past three hours. I didn’t realize what time it was. I need to go pick up some supplies.” Dani searched for her car keys, remembering the several errands she promised she’d run, but Cara quickly put up a hand to stop her.

“No, Dani, we can’t go out there. Frankie said we should stay in the house until he figures out what exactly the Silverbots want. They took hair from Dars and Evan. We can’t afford them to get four out of five. Just tell your parents that something out of your hands came up. I promise I’ll help you shop tomorrow, but for right now, we need to lay low.” Cara put her hands on Dani’s shoulders.

Dani nodded. “Yeah… Alright. Thanks.”

Cara blinked when the Maxmorpher phone at her hip went off. She put it to her ear. “Yeah, Evan, what’s up?”

“There’s an attack downtown. Monarch sent a monster named Weaver down to attack us. I guess he wanted to weed you, Dani, and Peter out so he could do to you what he did to us. Dars and I will handle it. Just don’t give into it, no matter how bad things get. Stay at Dani’s house.” Evan then cried out and Cara heard an explosion on the other end.

“Evan, we can---,” Cara started.

“---No!” Evan interrupted, sounding a bit pained. “We’ll handle it. Just stay there. We don’t want them to be able to find out where you guys are.”

After a long, silent deliberation and a few disturbing noises from the other end, Cara nodded, as if Evan could tell that she was doing it through the phone. “Alright. Be careful.”

Evan hung up the phone shortly after. Cara and Dani exchanged worried glances.




Dars and Evan, in full Ranger form jumped through the air, aiming kicks at the chest of the Weaver, a large white monster that looked like a humanoid representation of Origami. However, with the swing of his wrists, white whips of energy slammed into the Red and Black Rangers, sending sparks showering from their suits and their bodies plummeting right back to the ground. Dars put a hand over his chest and got to his feet.

“What do you want?” Dars demanded, pointing a shaking finger at the monster.

“I knew that you Rangers would be too foolish to allow your partners to come forward and fight alongside you,” Weaver hissed, its voice part-robotic, and part-manly, almost as if it were speaking with a dual set of vocal cords. “Although you know that without them, you’ll be destroyed… And without their leader and his right-hand man, they’ll be destroyed too. It’s nothing but foolishness on your part and the only people that you’re hurting are yourselves and your friends. That’s why the Rangers don’t win! That is why the Union remains dominant! Because our only threats are kids in colored spandex that don’t have the brains to either surrender or throw their silly pride away and get the job done!”

Weaver shot another blast at the two. Dars and Evan cried out as they flew through the air again, only to hit the ground. The altercation was taking place in a construction site, just a few blocks away from the hidden Ranger base.

Evan helped Dars to his feet, talking quietly to him.

“He could be right, Dars. We could put him away if we got the others to lend a hand…”

Dars, almost in shock at Evan’s suggestion, shoved him away and turned to him, pointing a finger in his face. “That’s what he wants! You think Monarch will care at all if we destroy one of his monsters? He’ll get the DNA from the other Rangers and that’s all he cares about.”

“Well, it’s a lose-lose,” Evan grunted. “You know I don’t want to do it, but my main concern right now is to LIVE, Dars, because we don’t even know what Monarch wants with the DNA!”

Dars spun around in time to see Weaver charge at him, only to hit him with a hard kick to the chest. Dars stumbled back into Evan. Weaver aimed a third blast at the two, but Dars spun Evan away from him and the two avoided the collision by centimeters. Dars reached into his holster and pulled out the Max Laser. He fired three shots in succession. Weaver was sent reeling backwards. As Dars fired a fourth shot, Evan, with a powerful “HIYAH!” jumped onto, and off of, Dars’ shoulder and hit Weaver with a hard hook kick to the back of his head. Weaver fell onto his stomach, losing his balance for the first time.

“Let’s end this!” Dars said, a sudden fury in his voice.

Evan turned to him, sort of shocked at how aggressive the leader was but then nodded, clenching one fist. He opened it again and converted his laser into the sword at the same time as Dars. The two of them lunged forward, driving their swords down towards the torso of Weaver, however in a flash of light that was all too familiar, the monster was gone.

With a powerful CLANK the swords connected with nothing but asphalt. Evan stood up and looked around, but Dars held his sword in place, breathing heavily. He slowly rose to his feet and shook his head, turning to Evan.

“This is ridiculous,” Dars muttered.

“No. Monarch probably realized that his plans were about to be ruined. We overcame it, dude,” Evan said, rubbing his own sore neck. “Let’s get back to Frankie so we can figure out a new plan. If Monarch and the Fallen Union are going to have a new plan of attack, then we need to have an even better plan of defense.”

“You know it’s just going to get tougher,” Dars said through clenched teeth. “We’ve been Rangers for, what, a week? Monarch has been organizing a terrorist plot against America for… What… A decade? I don’t understand why we’re trying sometimes. We can’t even protect ourselves.”

“Dude, what’s the matter with you?” Evan asked, stepping in front of Dars before he could walk away. “You were all gung-ho about this a few days ago.”

“We’re in over our heads,” Dars said. “I’ve seen a lot of great people fall because they kept going along with something that was impossible. This isn’t a comic book, Evan. This isn’t a movie, or a TV show, or some fan fiction on a superhero website.”

Evan blinked. “I---.”

“This is real,” Dars said, quietly and solemnly. “Pete’s been M.I.A. since we got ‘picked’ to do this. Now, all of a sudden, I don’t blame him. Like I said… I’ve seen a lot of great people fall because they didn’t quite know when to give up. So how about we realize what’s going down before this goes too far.”

Evan didn’t get a chance to say anything else. Dars turned and walked away, demorphing as he did so. Evan watched as Dars’ Maxmorpher clattered to the ground. Evan was speechless. He didn’t know what to say. It all happened so fast… And he didn’t know exactly what to do. Evan took a few steps forward, demorphing as well. He sank to his knees and picked Dars’ Morpher off the ground. He stood up again and watched as Dars disappeared around the corner.




“I can’t believe we’re doing a report on cattle reproduction,” Kina said quietly as she turned to Drake. Drake just shrugged and put the camera back to his face as a plump man in a plaid shirt walked out of the farm.

He was a jolly man. He obviously didn’t get a lot of company, nor did a whole lot of people question his life. He had short gray hair, a straw hat, and a huge white smile. Drake questioned the authenticity of his teeth.

“Well, it’s a miracle when someone gives birth,” the farmer said in a very western accent. “Be it a human, a cow, or the Virgin Mary herself.” A chuckle escaped his lips. Drake smiled, but Kina looked completely disinterested… Until the camera was pointed in her direction. She smiled up at the man.

“So how many times have you actually helped deliver a baby?” Kina inquired.

“From a cow? Well, I’d have to say I lost count! It’s been my life for the past forty-five years, ever since I was your age, I’d reckon. It’s not like a lot of my other animals, such as the chickens, where you just count the eggs, or the horses and the cats where they just give birth without any human assistance. Nope! From a cow, you gotta help them along the way and give the cattle just as much encouragement as you do a woman. But ya know how ya tell if the cow’s pregnant?”

Drake and Kina both shook their heads.

“Ya look at the quality of their milk! If it’s thin, or simply semi-thick and an off-white color, then ya know that you’re gonna be gettin’ some good milk for a little while! Now if it’s really thick and it’s a yellowish color, that’s how ya know that ya gonna have to throw some of that milk right out in the grass and you gonna have a nice new herd of cattle in the fall!”

Kina tried desperately to remain pretty and give the farmer a nice interview. “So what’s your favorite part about being a farmer?”

“The babies! The baby sheep… Or lamb, rather. The cows, the cats, the horses, even the bulls--- If I don’t sell ‘em, I treat ‘em like they were my own children! But the pigs, sheep, and lamb? Oh boy! Do ya’ll like pork chops and lamb chops?!”

“Oh God,” Drake and Kina muttered in unison, putting hands over their mouths, thunder suddenly rolling through the sky after a quick flash of lightning.




Cara looked out the window as lightning pierced the sky and rain began pounding on the window of Dani’s home. Dani was seated on the couch and Evan was as well, looking at a sports program on the television. Dani seemed to be a bit more of a tomboy and Cara always respected that, but both of them reacted the same way when Evan told them the news about Dars.

“I don’t know why Dars is so defensive about this Ranger thing,” Dani said quietly. Her parents were two levels above them in the house, but at the same time, she didn’t want to even risk the chance of her parents figuring out that she was a Power Ranger. If she flat-out told them, they wouldn’t believe it, but if they overheard her talking with her friends about it, they’d freak out and probably force her to ship out somewhere, away from the craziness… Maybe try to bring her to Spain or something.

“He got really emotional when he brought up protection,” Evan said, trying to recall the events piece-by-piece. “He complained that he wasn’t able to protect himself. From then, he just kind of trailed off, walked away, and dropped his Morpher on the ground.”

“So now we’ve lost Peter and Dars. We’ve lost our go-to guy and our leader,” Cara whispered, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t understand. We need them.”

“If I know Dars, he’ll come around,” Dani reassured. “He’s just under a lot of stress. I mean, look at it from his perspective.” Dani lowered her voice again. “What if you were basically assigned to lead a group of teenagers in a fight to save the world? I mean, damn, it’s not like it’s being appointed captain of the basketball team. This isn’t a win or lose and try again kind of thing. This is… Hit or miss. And if we miss…”

“Then we’re all done. For good. And there is no returning season,” Cara continued.

“Bummer,” Evan muttered.

“Definitely,” Cara said, smiling at Evan, appreciating the fact that he was at least trying to lighten their moods. Evan was serious sometimes, but he dedicated most of his time to trying to make the team… If one could call it that anymore… Feel a little bit better. She walked around the couch and sat next to Evan.

Dani was still trying to figure out what to do. With the lack of a Red Ranger, Dani really seemed to be the closest thing to a leader. She probably wasn’t as fast or as strong as Evan, but she knew she was capable of making quick decisions for the better.

“What happens if Monarch saw Dars up and leave us?” Dani asked. “What happens if he sends Weaver back down to attack us, back down to get some DNA?”

“Then I’ll go out there and hold him off,” Evan said. “You have to assume that the military has been waiting for the perfect opportunity to take down the Union. Maybe time will be on my side and I can get some good ol’ U.S. firepower.”

“But if they don’t,” Dani said, “Then you can’t expect us to sit around and let you take---!”

“If all else fails,” Evan interrupted. “Then I won’t stop you guys from doing what you want to do. I told Dars that staying alive was my top priority. We don’t know what exactly Monarch is planning, but I’m sure that it won’t require too much thought if one of us is dead.” Evan shakes his head. “Ya know, unless he can turn me into a zombie or something… Which I think would actually be pretty cool. I always wanted to be a pirate, but I can settle for a zombie any---.”

“Shush.” Dani rolled her eyes. “You agree to let us help you if things get bad?”

”And you know they will,” Cara added.

Evan looked at the two of them and nodded. He put Dars’ Morpher down on the coffee table. “Like I said, I won’t stop you from doing what you want. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t run out there into battle, but I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t help.” Evan smiled.

Cara leaned over and softly kissed Evan’s cheek. “It might just be the three of us. That’s all the team we’re gonna need.”

Evan blushed a bit. “Hell yeah! This is going to be one sexy team. I can get used to this.” Evan put one arm around Cara’s shoulders and one around Dani’s.

Dani rolled her eyes. “Focus, Evan. If we let Monarch get the best of us, no one’s going to care how sexy the Power Rangers looked the day before, alright?”

Evan laughed. “It can’t hurt.”




“I see you still can’t seem to get your act together. You and your horrible monsters. Your horrible schemes. Your horrible plans,” Wanda said, looking up at Monarch. “But I do have to admit, it was a pretty wise move, giving the Rangers to either stop you from obtaining their DNA, or allow them all to get destroyed one by one. Too bad in the end, all it turned out to be was a bad plan.”

“I don’t need to take this from you,” Monarch said, turning and walking through the base. “I already have the Sword of Chastity, and---.”

“---We,” Wanda corrected. “We have the Sword of Chastity and without me, you would have nothing, and the MVR would have the edge. “You can pretend that you don’t need me, but once again, I see that without me, your whole plan is in shambles.”

Monarch smirked. “You know what it does to me when you get worked up like that.”

Wanda gave a small laugh, blowing a kiss in his face. “And you know how much it disgusts me when you talk to me like that. How disgusting.”

Monarch’s smirk never vanished. He turned from Wanda again and looked at Weaver. “My orders for you are just as simple as before. Don’t fail me again. I won’t be saving your skin in the heat of the battle next time, do I make myself clear?”

Weaver nodded. “Yes, my lord.”

Monarch gave one final snort. He turned and walked into the lab where Mikhail was observing something on a monitor.

“Your son?” Monarch asked, looking at Mikhail.

“Yes,” Mikhail said. The black-and-white monitor displayed a figure lying motionless on a hospital bed, several wires attached to him. His face was covered in shadows, though long black hair was visible. “The filthy humans above ground don’t know how to treat him. But soon enough, he will be on our side, Monarch. Soon enough, he will be one of us. He’ll be alongside us in the Union.”

Monarch grinned. “And how long will it take? Tell me, Mikhail! Entertain me.”

“Within seven days, he will be removed from that filthy hospital. I guarantee it.” Mikhail and Monarch exchanged a demonically happy look.




Dars cleaned the last of the tables in Perry’s Pizza Parlor. Romano looked at him, very impressed with his work.

“You know, Dars, you didn’t need to come in here today. You didn’t need to start work until tomorrow… But I appreciate it. Did you get to talk to those friends of yours about the job? I could use the help, and judging by how little jobs are available around here nowadays, I assume that they could use the work.” Romano wiped his hands clean with a white towel.

Dars sank down into one of the seats and slowly shook his head. “I had a little falling out with a few of my friends. I’ll try to talk to them about the job, but I don’t think that they’ll want to work with me…”

Romano looked down at Dars for a moment and then sat in the seat across from him. “I know I’ve only known you for a day or so, but please, allow me to offer a few words of wisdom.”

Dars smiled. “Whatever you can offer me, dude.”

“I’m just going to assume that your friends are a bit mad at you because of something that blew up recently. You let them down because you were supposed to come through with something, but you didn’t feel it in yourself… Am I getting warm?”

“Surprisingly.”

“Your friends needed you and you simply let them down, because of things that you’ve seen happen in the past. Am I hot yet?”

“…Yeah.”

“And when they just needed your help one more time, you gave up. You had everything you wanted at the tip of your fingers, but you were so afraid of failure, that you just dropped the ball and you turned, walking out on them. There was nothing left for you to do, you felt… You hate the feeling of failure, and you can’t stand the pressure. Now your friends resent you and you’re looking for a simpler life by working at a pizza parlor and avoiding going outside as much as possible.”

”You hit the nail on the head. You’re not a stalker are you?” Dars demanded.

Romano chuckled. “Kid, everyone that’s worked for me has had the same story. You’re all perfectionists! Lucky guess on my part, but as far as you go, just lower the expectations of yourself. You only let your friends down when you let yourself down, kid. Don’t give them a reason to resent you… Because when you look back on this situation, you’re going to feel a lot worse about yourself than they ever felt about you.” There was a long pause and then Romano stood up. “Well, thanks for helping me clean up.”

Drake and Kina suddenly ran into the shop.

“Sorry to come in here right before closing, but we’re starving,” Kina said, looking at Romano. “If the two of us could just have a medium Perry’s Pepperjack Pepperoni Perfectly Prepared Pan Pizza with extra peppers, we’d appreciate it so much.”

“Ooooh, the 7P,” Romano said, pulling his apron on. “You guys came in here just in time. Coming right up.”

“Hey, Dars, I didn’t know you worked here,” Drake said. “What’s up?”

Dars looked at Drake for a moment. “First of all, you two smell like horse crap. Second of all, I just made a huge mistake, and I gotta go.” Dars pulled his apron off and ran out the door, sprinting down the alley.

Drake and Kina looked at each other in confusion. Kina defensively sniffed her shirt to see if she indeed still reeked of farm animal. Romano just smiled as he placed a pizza in the oven.




Weaver stomped through the ground, roaring as it searched for the Power Rangers. Kids that had been looking to party around a bonfire ran as the monster moved towards them, its origami-shaped head rearing towards anyone who so much as hesitated, refusing to run away. Luckily, everyone had the wherewithal to get themselves to safety.

“Hey!”

Weaver just smirked as he turned around and looked up. Evan was standing atop the fire-escape, glaring down at him.

“Yellow Ranger, you’ve returned.”

“Yeah,” Evan muttered. He put one foot on the rail. “You should have learned your lesson the first time.”

Evan held his phone to his ear, thrusting a hand out ahead of himself. “Maximum Velocity Power!”
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/Dimmy/Power%20Rangers/jet_man_yellow.jpg

Evan leapt from the fire-escape. He came down towards Weaver, shifting the Max Laser into a sword as he did so. He brought the blade down across Weaver’s chest, but Weaver managed to catch it with his hands and use the momentum to flip Evan onto his back. Evan got to his feet and swung his sword again. It connected with the midsection of Weaver this time, but even as sparks flew, Weaver just laughed and didn’t seem to be too hurt. He delivered a shot to Evan that knocked the Yellow Ranger to the ground.

“I thought you would have learned your lesson last time,” Weaver said. “But foolish Ranger… I don’t even care anymore. I’ll end it now, like I should have done when I had the chance.”

Evan watched as Weaver’s foot closed down towards his throat, but suddenly, a stream of red energy connected with Weaver. The monster stumbled back and with a hiss, turned to his new assailant.

The Red Max-Velocity Ranger charged through the alleyway with his sword already gripped in hi right hand. Dars jumped through the air and delivered a slash to the chest of Weaver. Weaver cried out and pushed Dars away from him. Dars flipped backwards over his shoulder and landed on one knee an done foot beside Evan, putting an arm on his shoulder. “You okay?”

Evan just looked at Dars for a long moment before slowly nodding. “I’m alright.”

“You ready to put this guy away once and for all?” Dars asked, hopping to his feet again. “Like we’re supposed to do?”

Evan joined Dars in a fighting stance, gripping his sword as well. “Let’s take this sucker down.”

Weaver groaned, throwing his head up into the air. “YOU DON’T GET IT!”

“No!” Evan yelled, pointing his sword at Weaver. “You don’t get it. You’re convinced that you’re gonna take us down and for some reason you believe that you have to, but you’re not gonna do that. You’re brainwashed by Monarch into thinking that you have to be some sort of… Killing machine.”

Dars and Evan both took steps forward. Dars cocked his head a bit. “But what he didn’t count on was for the good guys to fight back.”

Weaver would have snarled if he had lips. He cried out and charged at Dars and Evan. Dars and Evan let out battle cries of their own and charged back. Dars twisted on his right foot and drove his sword into Weaver’s front while Evan slid backwards across the ground and drove his sword into Weaver’s back. Weaver cried out and threw his hands up into the air.

Evan dropped to one knee and held his sword up. “And when the good guys become the killing machines, you know your plan’s all kinds of screwed up.”

Weaver just opened one of his eyes wide, watching as Evan drove his sword into the ground. Yellow sparks flew through the cement before they engulfed Weaver’s body. Weaver closed both of his eyes and slowly teetered backwards before his body was obliterated in an explosion of flames and blood. Evan used his sword to push himself back up to his feet. He turned to Dars and looked at him for a long moment.

“Glad… Glad that’s over,” Dars said, quietly.

Evan just continued to watch Dars as the Red Ranger turned, his suit disappearing in a flash of red light. Evan looked down at the ground for a moment before looking at Dars once again. “How’d you get your Morpher back?”

Dars stopped in mid-stride and smirked a bit. He turned and looked at Evan over his shoulder. “I got a little bit of help… From your little girlfriend.”

Dars laughed and walked back through the dark alley. Evan stood where he was for a moment before his own suit disappeared in a flash of yellow. He watched Dars emotionlessly for a moment before he smiled and ran along beside him.

“Yo, wait up! You have a lot to tell me!”




“So wait… While I was getting my ass beat you were here apologizing to Dani and Cara?” Evan asked, crossing his arms and shaking his head at Dars. “Ya couldn’t have waited like--- another five minutes? I almost got choked out!”

“Point is, I learned my lesson,” Dars said. They were now at Dani’s house once again. Dars was lying across the couch, his hands behind his head as he told his story to Evan and the girls.

“You left his Morpher here. He stopped by and picked it up. I guess he knew just as well as you did what Weaver and Monarch were up to,” Dani said. Her expression turned from one of silent satisfaction to one of semi-sorrow. “So I guess no one’s heard from Pete still?”

“Not a word,” Dars muttered.

Dani just nodded. “I guess we’ll be on the look out for him tomorrow.”

“I guess so,” Evan said, quietly. He looked up at Dani and Dars. Cara had fallen asleep on the couch a while ago. Evan was currently sharing a blanket with her… His feet resting gently against hers. His head turned back to Cara’s peaceful face before he closed his own eyes.

“Your parents are cool with all of us kickin it here for the night?” Dars asked.

Dani just nodded. “For now I really, really want us to stick together as much as possible. I don’t know what could have happened to Pete but right now we need to worry about ourselves. Let’s stick close, yeah?”

Dars nodded. He was already dozing off under a blanket on the couch. He closed his eyes and pulled the blanket around him. “Yeah…”




“You’re not mad, boss?” Warp asked as he stood behind Monarch, whom was simply drumming his fingers along the desk as he looked over what appeared to be sketches of a large, bulky individual.

“Mad?” Monarch scoffed. “There’s no room for anger here, Warp. There is only room for improvement. Three times now the MVR has foiled any sort of plans and halted any sort of momentum we’ve had.” He turned to Warp. “And we’ve got half of what we hoped to accomplish done already. Baby steps. That's all. Just make sure you don’t fail me again, Warp.”

Warp took a step back. “Me---?!”

Monarch just raised a hand and walked away down the corridor, his body eventually disappearing into the shadows. Warp sighed and turned, looking over his shoulders as the sketches of the large man on the desk. He looked like he was horrified and he looked as if he were in excruciating pain. Warp, a bit disgusted with what he saw slowly turned and walked away in the opposite direction of Monarch.

[FlashmanX]

ah good fics can come back

hope we get a more consistant chapter release

i'll have to give this a reread from the start

[Angelfox]

great to see ya back ZF

[RedSpeedRanger]

OK...this is a fanfiction about stopping motherfucking communism man! Really, communism?!?! Haha, great fanfic. Way to add people's pictures to the profiles, really realistic. Try to have someone make those art thingys in that thread with suits and shit...yeah...nigga...

[ZeoFury]

Once again, my internet is being screwy, but the next chapter is expected to be up within the next 3 days. Thank you all for reading and leaving comments. :) Trust me, I'm very dedicated to this story and the last thing I'll do is disappoint readers.

And RedSpeed, yes, this fanfiction is based around government issues such as monopoly, communism, and terrorism. :D

[FlashmanX]

Trust me, I'm very dedicated to this story and the last thing I'll do is disappoint readers.


seems like you have:(

I am going through my ds readmore homebrew and deleting fics i was interested in but ended up dead

this one is one I still have hope for will it be continued?