...abandon hope, all ye who enter here...
"Is man one of God's blunders or is God one of man's blunders?"
The steps continued descending, spiraling onward and downward, illuminated only by the flashlights clutched nervously in each of their hands. Cecil knew the staircase well and could have made this trip in a minute or two, but having the others along was slowing him down, forcing him to move slower. Twice they came to an intersection where the steps diverted and he led them down the correct way, if they had chosen the other set they would have ended up in empty rooms where traps lay in wait of any unwanted visitors. Of course, even getting to the staircase was difficult if you were anyone except the Executive Director of EON; first you needed a key to activate the ability for the main elevator to take you to the sub-basement level, second you needed to pass three highly trained and very trustworthy EON guard agents, third was the series of TGP panels—an Omnian invention that identified people by body temperature, genetic code, and fingerprints. Only then were you allowed access to the catacombs deep below Omega Complex where the most powerful power source in the world, probably the entire universe, waited to be awakened once again.
"Are we there yet?" Rebecca whined, not for the first time.
"We are very close," Cecil assured her, also not for the first time.
Rebecca was probably not complaining about the length of the trip, but because she was beginning to feel the immense explosion of hatred and vile corrupt sensations that he himself experienced whenever he held the box containing the Seal of Meridian-Omega. She was probably in a hurry to put the thing down anywhere just to rid herself of that filthy feeling. Just then he noticed Patrick's flashlight was dimming, about to die out, and without explaining what he was doing, he switched their lights to give him the brighter one. "Thanks," whispered Patrick in a genuinely relieved voice.
After another two minutes that probably seemed like a lifetime to his old friends, Cecil's group reached an arched doorframe sealed by a massive solid wall of black stone. "You remember what crystiglass is?" Cecil asked as he felt around the edge of the arch for the secret location of the needle that would prick his finger to draw blood and verify his identity once more. "A material from Omnis that is like our glass, only about a hundred times more sturdy and smooth. Well, this door is made from exodustone, the opposite of crystiglass, completely opaque but it retains all the strength and impenetrability of the original substance. EON refers to this door as the Forty-ninth Gate, most likely a reference to the fifty Gates of Intelligence. Forty-nine corresponds to the realm of the archangels, only one more gate shy of..."
"Just open it," moaned Amber, pounding her free fist on the gate. "While you tell us stories, that monster may be destroying the Research Center."
Cecil sighed, muttering, "Sorry," and finally located the needle. He stuck himself, felt a sharp charge of pain shoot up his left arm and knife straight into his heart, and basked in the glory of the opening door. It slid downward, disappearing into the floor, granting access for the six young men and women. Across the arch, a Latin phrase, "Pulvis et umbra sumus," appeared in glowing golden letters. We are dust and shadow, indeed, Cecil thought to himself.
The interior was, as always, breathtaking in its blend of simplicity and ceremony, an incomparable sight to the informed eye, but a scene that would be meaningless to the other six billion people dwelling about the world at this moment. All four walls of this room were made of exodustone and, when combined with the panels of bright white light embedded in the ceiling, created a luster of darkness, or a shadow of radiance. Against the back wall, seven tapestries hung prominently, colored green and yellow and black and white and red and pink and blue from left to right. "Welcome to Archetype," Cecil announced, motioning around the room. He dropped his dead flashlight haphazardly and took the box with the third Seal of Hell from Rebecca, again without asking.
Sewn onto each tapestry was a vivid, lifelike picture, depicting various mythological creatures looking ominous and powerful. On the green was a fierce scaly serpent with wings, on the yellow was an ancient Egyptian marvel, on the black was a dog with three heads that snarled and howled and stared, on the red was a human-like figure holding what appeared to be an entire planet on its back, on the pink was a horse with beautiful feathered wings, and on the blue was a handful of poisonous snake heads all attached to a single large body. The white tapestry was clean and undecorated.
Below each tapestry was a simple pedestal, and on six of those seven pedestals rested an all-too-familiar sight, the five OmniTech Ability Bands and one ShadowTech Ability Band. Under the seventh, white tapestry, Cecil set the covered box down extremely carefully.
"This is it," Alexander said quietly as he approached the first pedestal. He dropped his flashlight on the floor so he could attach the Omni Morpher around his left forearm. Gathering enough courage, he slipped the Hypercoin off his necklace, brushing his hand against the emerald-emblazoned golden cross that Cecil, Brittany, and Rebecca had bought him ages ago, and loaded it into the device.
"I can't believe it's been years since we've seen these things last," remarked Brittany as she follow her friend's lead and got herself equipped and prepared. "I remember the first time I wore this, getting it from Seraide, feeling proud and excited to be a part of something incredible. And yet now..." Her voice trailed off as she stared gloomily at the reflective metal that comprised the Morpher.
Rebecca removed the Hypercoin from her necklace and inserted it into the Ability Band before strapping it around her forearm and closing her eyes. "It felt good to be rid of this thing. Everything was normal; everything was right. I wonder if Laurasia and the others felt the same way when they passed the powers on to us."
"I'm a bit scared," Patrick openly admitted, his hands trembling as he reconnected the blue Morpher with its power source. Unexpectedly, he dropped the device, then scrambled to pick it up and attach it above his wrist, his face red and flushed with embarrassment. He looked away, saying in a voice laced with shame, "Okay, I'm scared a lot."
Amber continuously looked at Cecil, studying him, searching for something, more likely than not aware that he knew she was doing so and doing it irregardless. She slipped the necklace holding two coins over her head, and sighed as she broken them free of their fasteners. The silver coin sparkled and glowed with a light of its own in stark contrast to the black coin that almost seethed with its ominous ability to absorb and nullify light. She appeared very formidable now, perhaps even suspicious, at the very worst she gave off an impression of anger.
She stood there, in front of Sharpened Senses, her hands rummaging through the purse hanging at her side looking for something she was unable to find. Her long hair, that all-too-familiar color of fresh dirt with a gentle tinge of blood, was braided down her back. A Florida State sweatshirt, yellow lettering on a dark red backdrop, and a faded pair of jeans gave little away about her identity. Three juniors from his high school, those kids who had become Rangers alongside his best friend and that suspicious new guy, surrounded her, all of them tensed. He slipped his sunglasses on to hide his eyes and glided toward them as coolly and smooth as possible.
"Hi Becky, Brittany, Alex," he acknowledge them all, then turned to the unknown girl and asked, "When did Craig have a sex change?"
He heard Rebecca laugh, saw Brittany cover her mouth with her hands to hide a stunned expression, and felt Alexander explode with a unique blend of embarrassment and rage. "Pardon?" the girl asked, insulted.
Cecil bowed, unable to stop from smirking with amusement at his own joke. "I apologize. Pleasure to meet you. Cecil Mercuric, at your service. You just surprised me for an instant because you look so much like..." He grabbed her hand, lifted it up, and kissed it softly and innocently.
A smile broke onto her face. "Amber Donaldson," she introduced herself.
Shaking off his memories of their first meeting, Cecil reached over to Amber, lifted her hand, and kissed its back just as he did years ago before they knew one another. As he drew his hand back, he took his old Hypercoin back with it, saying, "Thank you. For everything."
Quickly, he attached his Morpher and thrust his coin into the opening, powering up his Ability Band. There was a sharp pain that shot up his arm, like an electric current traveling from the device to his heart and then throughout the remainder of his body from there. It was a quick, painful, and yet refreshing jolt of energy.
"If you want to thank me so bad, then I want you to promise me," Amber began saying as she finally began reassembling ShadowTech, "that there will be no more secrets kept. From the very beginning, it has been secrets that cause us pain and failure. I can't believe that, even after all we've been through together, we can't be totally honest with each other."
Cecil thought for a few seconds before an answer came to him, one he hoped with satisfy her, at least long enough to get through the battle straight ahead. "I have so many secrets it would take days to go through them all. I promise that, whenever it is necessary to do so, I will be completely forthcoming and honest."
Not bothering to withhold her glare of disappointment, Amber muttered, "Nice try. You could have saved your breath by just saying 'No.' Just do your thing, and let's stop that giant monster before it reaches the building."
He had no idea where this animosity was coming from, and right now he was too anxious to jump into battle or else he would have taken the time to figure out the rhyme and reason behind Amber's recent soured attitude. Turning to Patrick, whose eyes were transfixed on the device around his arm, Cecil asked, "Are you ready?"
"Yes," Patrick answered in a whisper.
Cecil lifted his left arm, and the OmniTech Ability Band, as he exclaimed the words he had not spoken for four years and, in all honesty, had hoped when he relinquished this role he would never have to say again. "It's morphin' time!"
"Omni Dragon!" A fierce and terrible roar, like thunder, accompanied a brilliant streak of solid green light, changing shape into the armor of the Green Omni Ranger around Alexander Revell's body.
"Omni Pegasus!" Rebecca Spencer looked surprised as tiny bubbles of pink light surrounded her, then all coalesced around her clothes to create the uniform of the Pink Omni Ranger. For a split second, a pair of white wings with violet feathers appeared on her back, then vanished without a trace.
"Omni Hydra!" Hissing noises filled the room as blue-tinted energy slithered up from the ground around Patrick Manus, morphing him from a ordinary man into the Blue Omni Ranger for the very first time. A final burst of cold air signaled the end of the transformation.
"Omni Sphinx!" Sounds like a blowing desert wind swirled through the air. Light seemed to envelop Brittany Elliott like a cocoon, then burst apart, leaving the figure of the Yellow Omni Ranger in its wake.
"Omni Cerberus!" For about ten seconds following the call, nothing happened, and Amber Donaldson looked from side to side helplessly at all her friends who had successfully morphed before her. Then, just as she was about to speak, white beams of light began to travel from the five Omni Morphers to her Shadow Morpher, and suddenly she found herself wearing the armor of the Black Omni Ranger. She was already surrounded by a color-changing force field of energy, the Zenith Aura, ready to take on this new challenge.
"Omni Titan!" Cecil felt an enormous warmth fill his entire body, then it instantly and unpredictably turned freezing cold, followed by a painful shocking sensation, and a heavy pressure before cycling to warmth and starting over again. Finally the feelings stopped and yet he would have preferred them to what he now experienced, a empty void. When he at last had the strength to look up, he knew he was the Red Omni Ranger now, and the extra weight across his chest meant he was already wearing the golden Battle Shield.
Patrick rubbed his gloved hands together, saying, "I thought having this much power would be exciting, but it seems kind of...I don't know..."
"Do you remember Bane's training?" Alex asked him. "Can you teleport?"
"That does not matter," interrupted Cecil, grabbing Patrick's shoulder with one hand and Rebecca's shoulder with the other. "Everybody gather together. I am going to teleport us all to the OmniZord Holding Bay nearby."
Because her face was hidden by the helmet of the Black Ranger, the only suggestion of Amber's suspicion was present in her voice, but Cecil could still recognize it nonetheless. "The OmniZords are here?" she asked coldly.
"Yes," Cecil answered, "and the CrusaderZords are stationed back in Ivory Glade." Unwelcome to any other questions, he waited until all of his teammates were in contact with one another, then activated his teleportation power. That familiar sensation of breaking up into a billion tiny pieces, being bombarded with a field of pure light, then being unceremoniously dropped at another location had not changed in four years. The day he had been expecting was finally here. At last, the Omni Rangers were back, and this time, God help anyone or anything that stood in their way.
Inside the core of the Cerberus OmniZord, a piloting cockpit located in the middle head of the giant, mechanical, three-headed canine fighting machine, Amber was experiencing that old familiar feeling of being on edge and ready to react to whatever her opponent was preparing. The giant had reached land already. It was massive compared to monsters that the Rangers had fought previously; more than four or five times larger than the Cerberus Zord, it was eerily human-like with the single exception of its head. Instead of a man's head, it looked to be lion's, with empty sockets where the eyes would have been replete with tendrils of white smoke emerging from them.
Throwing its head back, the lion giant released a terrible roar, a sound that shook the soul itself, so primal and backed by the power of earth itself that it send a rush of cold dread through Amber's heart in a wave. The beast suddenly turned its head directly toward her and its expression...changed, somehow.
Its body was humanoid, sinewy and at the same time muscular, thick but simultaneously malleable. There were white cloths draped around its waist and over its shoulder, and there were broken chains attached to cuffs around each of its hands, as though it had just broken out from bondage somewhere. When it moved, Amber noticed a long lion-like tail swinging from its backside.
"Initiate Omni Megazord sequence," Cecil was instructing through the communication channels.
The five basic OmniZords began to break up and re-configure themselves into different shapes before slamming and sealing into one another in perfect progression. Finally, they fit themselves just so around the form of the Titan Zord, connecting together and creating the all-too-familiar shape of the Omni Megazord, a powerful specter of the past, a haunting image not seen since it had crushed Alpha Complex in its entirety under its mighty foot. Behind that shaded visor, Amber's friends were sitting, working together to pilot the machine, once more in defense of the planet. And yet, it was still not comforting because their opponent was still twice as large as them.
A sword with a curved, black blade suddenly appeared in the Megazord's hands, and it lurched forward, swinging the Megasaber with ferocity. Not enough, apparently, because the giant merely grabbed the blade with one of its hands, and slammed the other hand into the Megazord's metal shoulder. "Damage to upper right joint," she heard Alexander report. "Our right arm is paralyzed."
"I don't get it," Brittany's voice sounded flabbergasted. "That was one hit, and it looked effortless to him, and already we've lost 20% of our functionality."
"Fall back." Amber had heard several tones in Cecil's voice before, everything from humor to disappointment to apology. It always twisted her heart when she heard what was in his voice now. A dark anger. "Ion Beam fire!"
A huge number of lasers suddenly burst forth from the Megazord's visor, striking the giant creature, and forcing it to stumble back a couple steps. Seizing the opportunity, Amber prepared to maneuver the Cerberus forward to fire a series of energy blasts of her own, but something stopped her from doing so. The lion head turned toward her once again and a deep, penetrating voice spoke into her mind, "Child of Typhon." It was not one voice, but many, in that it was a single booming tone accompanying by a choir of singing children. If Amber was not frightened to inaction before, she certainly was now.
"Hear me," the giant continued speaking, all the while blocking another wave of attacks from the Rangers in their Omni Megazord. "I am Mulac. Giant of the Sea, Colossus of the North, the White Titan, Honor of the Lion, the first of the Legendary Jotuns of the Four Corners."
The battle continued, but Amber, seating inside her OmniZord, remained off to the side, neither striking out against Mulac nor been attacked in return. She could hear Cecil trying to contact her through her communicator, but underneath the voice of the giant it was unintelligible. "Mulac," she said uncomfortably, "can you hear...me?"
"We were supposed to protect this beautiful planet," Mulac moaned in her head. "Protect this beautiful Earth. But we failed, and we were bound, and we were put asleep. Asleep for years and years, until awakened. Awakened by the one you call...the one named Mercuric."
Mulac's last word almost split her skull in two, as the giant seemed to twist the name into a foul connotation, and the voice of children could not pronounce the name at all, but merely screamed in agony at its mention. Suddenly, nothing made sense to her, but everything seemed to fall into place.
Her hand slammed against the button that disconnected her communications device, severing all contact with those inside the Megazord. "Did he want us to become Rangers again?" she wondered aloud. "Was this whole ordeal intentional? Does Cecil have some sort of endgame?"
"Please, child of Typhon," Mulac wailed to her, "call forth that ancient god. Bring Babel to me, and bring death to me. Only death will release my soul. I am afraid of going back to the eternal sleep."
Shaking her head, Amber cleared the last words from her mind, and was almost out of control in her actions as she lifted the Shadow Morpher and summoned, "Babel CarrierZord online." The battle between the Omni Megazord continued for another minute, with another powerful strike from Mulac crushing a vital part of the combined Zord's left leg. The Rangers switched from terrain movement to hovering using the jet engines embedded in their feet and struck back once more. The Megazord was fully charged, the blade now shining with a brilliant white light, but still failed to do any damage to the monster.
At last, Babel arrived. Turning her computer back on, Amber instructed the others, "Initiate Omni Ultrazord assembly." They complied and, as expected, the Megazord rearranged once again, this time merging with the Cerberus OmniZord and the other CarrierZord to create a new massive machine, one that eclipsed even the size of this self-proclaimed Legendary Jotun. Amber teleported into their piloting stage and took her place standing behind Cecil's chair.
"Are you feeling okay?" Cecil asked her.
Amber, ignoring his question, exclaimed, "Load the Ultimate Attack!"
"We haven't used the Ultrazord since destroying Neo Twilight City," Alexander observed, leaning toward Patrick as though explaining it to him, "so you might want to get ready for something disturbing, but incredible." He started the countdown, pressing down his switch with the word, "Five."
"Four," Rebecca continued.
"Three." Patrick's voice shook.
"Two," sighed Brittany, depressing her switch, sounding apprehensive about what was about to occur.
"One," Amber said without flinching. "Farewell, Mulac."
The Red Ranger turned around to look at her, but obviously he could not pick up any clues through her helmet or any body language. Sighing in frustration, he laid his hand over the launch panel and exclaimed, "Fire!"
From every equipped location all around the Omni Ultrazord, a massive bombardment of all different types and varieties of energy came, exploding in a jumbled mess of blinding light and deafening sound, everything rocketing toward Mulac. There was electricity, stone boulders, ice fragments, plasma beams, all types of natural and man-made energy devices unleashed in complete and utter fury against their opponent. The crushing, overpowering force consumed Mulac, and another terrifying roar was heard as his body burst aflame.
"The research center is safe," Cecil informed them, satisfied. "Thank you, everyone." He turned around again and looked directly at Amber. "You and I are going to talk now."
"You have no idea," answered Amber in disgust. She did not bother to wait for the others to regroup before teleporting back to Omega Complex alone.
To most men and women on Earth, this ground was spiritual. The vast majority, of course, felt it was spiritually evil, that it was forever corrupted by what had once stood both under and atop of it. Some, though, were of the mind that this area was holy, religious, the last bastion of a blessed truth stretching back six thousand years and beyond. Those that believed in this were those who called themselves Twilight Legionnaires. And, right now, they were rising again, literally.
The ground rumbled as the structure emerged from underneath. A magnificent silver tower, with a glowing force field of golden energy spiraling upward and diagonally around the entire thing, constantly moving and changing. The top floor was very narrow, with an antenna stretching up into the lowest clouds, while the bottom level was significantly large enough to hold hundreds of people. And it was. Inside, on the first floor as it finally surfaced above ground, more than a hundred men and women, all of them sworn to a trio of deities they called the Trinity of Darkness, had gathered together to make this miracle happen. It had taken five years to complete, but Digireign Spire was standing once again, the holiest of religious icons in their dark system of beliefs.
At the point where the point of the Spire touched the sky, a large black cloud began to emanate outward, spreading across the air at a slow and constant rate. Inside, the Legionnaires were preparing. Today was the day their lives would come full circle, and the purpose for their existence, the source of their faith, would be confirmed at last. The Resurrector was about to appear and, they believed, He would lead them in their quest to conquer the world. Their religion taught that those who were oppressed would one day rise to great power, that the lowest and most foul people on Earth would become kings and emperors when their third and final god revealed Himself to them. That "one day" was now.
And, as the Resurrector passed through the entrance to the new Digireign Spire, the entire Twilight Legion fell to their knees in worship and dedication. They had been expecting Him for years, but what they got was something they had never expected.
"Yes, the giant talked to me!" Amber was screaming, waving her fist in the air directly at Cecil. He stood, poleaxed, staring at her with a dopey frown on his ugly face and a downcast glare in his dark eyes. "He clearly told me that you were responsible for awakening him. Why don't you admit it, huh? There was some reason you summoned us here so quickly. Some secret reason for making us bring the Hypercoins and re-activate the Morphers. I should morph right now and kick your sorry ass from here to New Omnis. The fact you could be so manipulative and evil sickens me. I can't believe I ever considered you a friend, let alone a human being."
"Are you finished?" Cecil asked.
"Don't be coy, you son of a bitch," she continued growling. "God help you, Cecil Mercuric, for being such a bastard."
Sighing, Cecil leaned back in his chair and repeated, "I did not awaken the monster. How could I, when I was here talking with you the whole time?"
Amber sneered, turning away so she did not have to look directly at his dumb expression, as she thought of a way to counter his argument. She refused to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"And what's more, why do you believe what some monster says?" wondered Rebecca, who was sitting on one of the couches with an expression not unlike a little girl who was caught in the middle of two arguing parents. "I think we should try to find out what it was instead of wasting time here arguing."
"EON can handle the monster's remains," Cecil told her. "That is one of their responsibilities. I do not want to leave the situation like this. Amber, please listen..."
Sensing the argument was going to escalate to an out-and-out shouting match, Brittany made the brave decision to cut into the conversation. "Cipher System found something," she informed them, tapping on the keyboard to the computer sitting on the desk. Her voice was intentionally upbeat and bubbly, a complete mismatch to the aura surrounding the rest of the young adults gathered in the office. "It traced the giant's point of origin to an underwater tomb below the Atlantic Ocean. What little research exists about this mysterious tomb seems to indicate it was dated around six thousand years old, a remnant of a civilization destroyed by some natural disaster. Apparently, it was like a pharaoh's tomb in Egypt, a symbol of respect and power, built with the expectation that the dead would rise to life again."
Inspired by Brittany's courage, Patrick decided to contribute to the calming conversation now, as well. "You said it was under the Atlantic Ocean? Maybe this monster came from Atlantis." Alexander, Brittany, and Rebecca all turned skeptical looks toward him. "What?" he asked, blushing. "It's possible..."
"Fine, Amber, I admit it," Cecil announced loudly, slamming his fist into his desk loud enough to accentuate his voice with a sharp crack of wood. There was a look of hurt and challenge on his face that clearly broadcast he was about to say something loaded. "I did call you guys here to take the Omni Morphers back, but not for the reason you think, whatever that is. For the last couple months, I have had this feeling of something dangerous and evil growing right underneath our noses. And it was just..." He trailed off, thought over his words before continuing. "I wanted the Morphers back in our possession, rather than in the hands of the EON committee, in case my gut feeling was right. This organization is run by incredibly shrewd people, and I do not trust them to the same degree I trust you. Or, at least, the degree I used to trust you."
Amber was instantly prepared to shoot something venomous back at him, but she never had the chance. Together, Victor Wilson and Gabriel Kaisa burst through the office door without so much as a knock or a courtesy peek. Their words started tripping over one another, but Gabriel quickly deferred the report to Wilson when he realized what he was doing.
"I came as soon as I heard, Director Mercuric," Wilson drawled, his eyes darting from one Ranger to another as he continued addressing Cecil. "An enormously tall tower has appeared approximately five to six miles due east of Ivory Glade, along the same latitude line as Alpha Complex used to stand. It appears to be a replica."
The others seemed to grasp what he meant relatively quickly, but Patrick still wore a puzzled look. "A replica of what?" he questioned Wilson.
"Digireign Spire," Wilson answered. "Some years back when Arcanza was first mounting his assault, he hid directly out in the open, in a city called Twilight City. There was a company called Digireign Industries that served as his base of operations. Eventually, he moved all of his belongings underground, and Digireign Spire became the focal point of Neo Twilight City, which became the site of the final battle against him."
"We destroyed it once," Amber said authoritatively, "we will destroy it again."
Cecil nodded his agreement. "The CrusaderZords are still hidden in the Rocky Mountain Zord Holding Bay. In fact, the Emerald Crusader has been rebuilt, and now replaces the Crimson Crusader in the Megazord configuration."
"Let's hurry," prompted Alexander. "I can't stand the thought of that thing."
As the others lifted their Omni Morphers, Cecil exclaimed, "It's morphin' time!"
In almost every way, the CrusaderZords were built to be a vast improvement over the original OmniZord design. In vehicle mode, each Zord had its own terrain it handled the best in and then, when the time to engage in conflict arrived, it could convert into warrior mode. Each Zord was only slightly smaller than the Omni Megazord but then, when the Emerald, Gold, Rose, Cerulean, and Dark Crusader combined into a single unit, the Crusader Megazord eclipsed all other formations in terms of beauty, power, and maneuverability. Brilliantly draped in a multitude of colors and shines, armed with a deadly sword and impenetrable shield, equipped with giant angel-like wings on its back, its appearance in every way mirrored what mankind imagined the holiest of God's servants looked like.
Yet, for all its might and advancement, the Crusader Megazord was being pushed back by an invisible force field, completely powerless to break through the unseen barrier, unable to get closer than a hundred yards around the vicinity of Digireign Spire. There was clearly some type of otherworldly force present, but nothing they tried, even energy-based attacks, was moving them forward. Nearby, Cecil, piloting his Crimson Crusader, was having a similar difficulty.
"We have a few options left," Amber observed, sitting in the middle seat with her four friends around her. Punching it a code on the console in front of her, she created a bright blaze of fire encircling the Megazord's sword, and piloted the machine to strike the force field with the new fiery blade. "Damn it," she swore, realizing it failed.
The communication line was broadcasting Cecil's signal, so she could hear as he complimented, "Good try. None of our conventional techniques are breaking through. I will have to try something unconventional."
"Like what?" Amber asked, but he never answered, because she saw him teleport far down to the ground below. "What the hell is he going to do?" she wondered.
Lifting his hands, a gentle white glow began to surround the Red Ranger, completely encircling him much the same way Amber's Zenith Aura did to her. The light gradually changed to a dark red color, then suddenly it moved away from Cecil directly toward the force field. "That's Annihilation Surge!" gasped Rebecca. "He's trying to shatter that barrier!"
"It's too big," Amber growled angrily.
Indeed, she was right. Unable to surround the large barrier encircling Digireign Spire, the red glow instead doubled back and rocketed directly toward Cecil. It hit him at full speed, sending him flying backward several feet, and he collapsed, unconscious, at the left foot of his abandoned Crimson Crusader. He de-morphed, and it was clear that the blowback had knocked him out cold. "Cecil!" Rebecca screamed, at the same time Patrick gasped, "Oh no!"
Amber wasted no time. "Get these CrusaderZords back to the Holding Bay. They're useless. I'll teleport down there and get Cecil to safety at Omega Complex." Turning directly to Rebecca, she added firmly, "Stay here in Ivory Glade in case anything happened that requires us to be close by. We have to figure out what's happening."
"Okay," Alexander answered for the rest of them. "Man, I don't understand how things spiraled out of control so fast. This is crazy."
"Please wait for us," Amber told them again, and teleported to the ground below to rescue her injured teammate. "And Cecil, please be alive," she whispered to herself.
They sat together on the sidewalk outside Sharpened Senses, completely oblivious to the passers-by, both in automobiles and on foot, who stared at them with dumbstruck looks. Everyone knew they were the Power Rangers now, of course, and everyone was also expecting them to be handling the crisis and panic being caused by Digireign Spire's sudden and unexpected reappearance. Instead, however, the four Rangers were lounging outside a martial arts studio, chatting amongst themselves, waiting for news or instruction from their missing two other members.
"I never thought I'd say this," Brittany mumbled, tossing another rock from her handful of pebbles into the street gutter, "I wish Oriquin was here. He could be a bit of a hardass, but at least he always knew what to do. Kind of late to admit he was a good mentor for us."
"Actually," replied Rebecca, with a tiny amused smile, "the way Cecil and Amber were bickering back and forth with each other reminded me of how he and Oriquin used to go at it all the time. Must be history repeating."
Patrick stayed silent, aware of who they were talking about but completely ignorant of the minor details they were discussing. He was drinking what had to be his fourth or fifth Mountain Dew, and the nervous glint in his blue eyes was making Brittany think perhaps it was getting to be too much for him. Of course, instead of admitting it, he did the typical male bravado façade and acted like nothing was bothering him.
Nearby, executing an absolutely flawless roundhouse kick in the air, Alexander was passing the time by completing a series of martial art exercises. "Hey," he called to them finally, stopping for a moment to relax, out of breath. "Are you sure Bane said they would meet us here? It's been almost an hour, and I'm starting to think we've been completely forgotten about."
"We did not forget about you." On cue, Bane emerged from the shadows of the alley between Sharpened Senses and the building to the west. His hair was its natural ethereal blue color, not dyed like he typically did, and the glasses from his usual disguise were missing in action. He was wearing a solid blue shirt, tucked into a pair of black pants, with a black jacket displaying a single blue diamond on its breast pocket. Those ghostly crystalline eyes shimmered with purpose.
Standing next to him was a thick, muscular man, his black hair cut close to his head, wearing a similar outfit, but instead of blue he had chosen green as his signature color. Brittany recognized him from several years ago; he was Rade, an Omnian who had originally been a crewman aboard Galaxy Hunter when it crashed on Earth. He was also instrumental in the development of Alpha Complex and both fleets of Zords. She had not known where or what he had been doing since then.
Rebecca and Patrick were quick with their welcomes, but Bane seemed preoccupied, and produced a manila folder filled with photographs from under his jacket. "I am afraid Rade brought me so bad news. Apparently, the reason Digireign Spire has reappeared is because Twilight Legion has been reborn."
"No," Rebecca whined, shaking her head in disgust. "No, no, no. We've killed them all. Twice. Why won't these people go away?"
Nodding his head, like he was agreeing with her point, Rade offered a look of comfort and empathy. "I know the feeling. But that is how this religion seems to operate, always spawning more and more under every new leader."
"So, Twilight Legion is congregating inside the Spire," Alex mused, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his pants, "and that barrier is up so we don't disturb them. Do you know what they might be doing that they don't want us to know?"
Bane nodded, quickly locating one picture and holding it up so all of them could see the image easily. It was a picture of a person, whose face was too blurry to identify, standing beside a man who they could identify, clearly being forced against his will through the entrance of the bottom floor of the Spire. The captive man was middle-aged, his head downcast, gagged with a simple handkerchief, and hands tied behind his back. He wore a torn sweater and golf pants, and a pair of spectacles about to fall off his face. "The prisoner is Ronald Cain, a geneticist who specializes in research involving, among other things, aging and cancer prevention."
"And cloning," added Brittany. "In fact, he was supposed to be at ADMRC this weekend presenting a conference detailing his success in cloning a fish using nothing but the original DNA sequence."
"Something fishy is definitely going on," Patrick remarked. Nobody laughed at his joke. Or, if they did, they laughed on the inside.
Twilight Legion had returned...again. Cecil could be out of commission, comatose, or dead for all they knew. There was something totally different about Amber's personality. Those damn Omni Morphers were around their arms once more, weighing even heavier than they used to. Digireign Spire was standing, apparently home to some new and dastardly experiments with an imprisoned genius. And lest she forget the unprovoked giant monster attack from a being buried below the sea for thousands of years.
No, Brittany thought, sighing aloud, this was definitely not a time for laughter.
Yes, Krista thought, smiling with delight, this was definitely a time to laugh.
She stood on the top floor of Digireign Spire, staring through the walls of glass, taking in the sight of the building of Ivory Glade far off in the distance to the west. The CrusaderZords, unable to break her invisible barrier, had retreated more than an hour ago, and the Rangers must have wised up and gave up any hopes for a second assault. She particular enjoyed seeing the sun disappearing below the mountaintops behind the city, happy to be in a place where twilight came so soon.
Thankfully, it had not taken much convincing, and a very minute amount of torture, to convince Dr. Cain to assist her in her little project. Project Hououza, her life's ambition, was begun at long last.
Someone was coming up, riding the elevator. Deciding it would be better to appear as a ruthless, tyrannical leader as opposed to the bouncy, excited little girl she felt like inside, Krista stopped grinning and adjusted her midnight-black dress in her reflection to make sure it appeared just right. Seeing her reflection definitely killed the grin. It was still difficult to comprehend that she was a god now. A god to everyone inside this Spire.
The elevator doors opened and a timid Legionwoman, probably slightly younger than Krista herself, with curly blond hair and sad empty white eyes, fell to her knees in worship. "You can rise," Krista told her coldly.
"Thank you, Lord Resurrector," the Legionwoman replied.
Outside, a sudden fork of lightning tore down from the heavens, slamming against the invisible barrier, creating a blinding flash of light and a terrible noise, a noise like a hamster would hear if you beat on its cage with your hands, a noise that could deafen the sharpest ears if they were exposed to it long enough. Mother Earth must be cranky this afternoon.
"Cain has reviewed everything you have provided him with," the woman continued speaking. The lightning had shaken her, but she knew if she fumbled in front of the Resurrector, the third being in the Trinity of Darkness, death would be merciful compared to what she would endure. "He anticipates completion within six months."
Krista nodded, hopefully it would create a question in the Legionnaire's mind as to whether she had already known that information. "Is that all you came to tell me?" she demanded.
"Yes, Lord Resurrector."
"You're dismissed." Krista turned around with nothing more to say and went back to staring through the glass. Beyond the barrier surrounding Digireign Spire, rain was beginning to break, another storm in a seemingly endless series of storms throughout her life. When she was certain the Twilight Legion woman was inside the elevator and the doors were closed, Krista Mercuric started smiling, confidently, once again. "Pulvis et umbra sumus."
Original Publication Date: 5 January 2005
