Ultimate Power Rangers:
Reloaded
Power Rangers: Chapter
Thirteen 40
The
Heat of Passion
Adam sat on a
cliff looking out on the ocean. He had tried to meditate but could not focus.
His mind kept drifting towards Kujaku, the exotic warrior who’s mere presence
had captivated him.
Adam held one
of her feathers in hand. “Kujaku…where are you?”
________________________________________________________________________
Kujaku stood on
a skyscraper rooftop in the city. Her eyes were closed as she reached out with
her power and tried to sense the Gorma. One of her armored feathers suddenly
fell to the ground and turned gray.
Kujaku leaned
down and picked up the feather while running her fingers along its edges. “It’s
happening sooner than I expected…” she shook her head. “It’s too soon. I can’t
die until the Gorma are defeated.”
________________________________________________________________________
Gara snapped her
eyes open while on the other side of the city. She sensed her nemesis.
“Kujaku…”
________________________________________________________________________
A Gorma monster
rode on horseback through one of Angel Grove’s city parks. The villain appeared
to have an old furnace in his gut. The rest of his body was covered in red
robes with blue and white trimming. A white veil covered a face that looked
like living fire.
The Gorma used
its hand to pull back the veil and spit a massive torrent of flame. The flame
blast spread through the park and ignited trees and grass along its wake.
People screamed
and ran in panic as smoke clouded the air around them.
________________________________________________________________________
“He was known
as the fire demon,” Kaku said as he paced back and forth in front of the teens
in the lair. “If he’s not stopped, he’ll turn everything into ashes. You know
what to do.”
________________________________________________________________________
The fire Gorma
rode into the wilderness outside the city. Before he could ignite the brush,
the five rangers leapt to the scene. Tommy slammed a flying sidekick against
the Gorma, knocking the creature from its horse.
The Gorma
tumbled across the ground before slowly rising to its feet. The fire Gorma
armed a jagged sword. “You will burn beneath my blade.”
“I’ve heard
that line one too many times!” Tommy shouted as he and the others snapped into
fighting stances.
“Fire Blade!”
the monster shouted. He extended his sword and launched a pulse of fiery
energy.
The rangers
rolled away from the pulse as it exploded against the ground. The teens rolled
back onto their feet.
“That’s the one
hit you’re going to get,” Rocky said as he and the others readied their
morphers.
“Kiryoku
transform, aura power!” they shouted. They connected their morphers as energy
shimmered around them. The energy shells shattered as they morphed into their
Ranger forms.
The Rangers
energized and leapt towards the creature in streaks of light.
Phoenix Ranger
jumped forward and extended her hand. “Cyclone!” he shouted, summoning a pink
energy cyclone that whirled around the Gorma, exploding against the creature
and knocking him backward.
“Star Blades!”
Tenma Ranger shouted as he leapt forward to attack while holding a ring-shaped
blade in each hand.
The fire Gorma
extended his hand and shot a fire sphere that exploded against the Blue
Ranger’s chest with a burst of spark and knocked the Ranger from the air.
Tenma Ranger
crashed to the ground and rolled backward into a crouched position. “That was
uncalled for.”
The Rangers
regrouped as Tenma Ranger rose to his feet.
Gara stepped
onto a hill nearby and extended her hand. A violet energy blast streaked from
her palm and exploded against the Rangers’ armor.
“Gara!” Tenma Ranger shouted. He placed his palm
against his fist as the Pegasus eyes on his helmet flashed with blue light.
“Heaven Gravity Star! Gravity Inversing Destruction!”
The Blue Ranger
fired a jagged blue energy blast that wrapped around Gara. Tenma Ranger used
his power to lift her into the air. He lowered his arm to bash Gara against the
ground, then lifted her back up.
The Blue Ranger
armed his Thunder Sword. He was going to leap through the air and cut her down,
but never had the chance.
An unseen force
exploded around the Rangers with bursts of sparks, knocking them backward.
Tenma Ranger
lost his concentration and Gara collapsed to the ground. The fire Gorma ran to
his master’s side and helped her to her feet. “Gara…”
The Rangers regrouped and looked up to face their
attacker. It was Kujaku standing on a small hill of dirt.
“Kujaku!” Lion
Ranger shouted up to her.
“What do you
think you’re doing?!” Tenma Ranger shouted.
“The Gorma are
mine to defeat,” Kujaku said. “They stole my life from me…and now…I will end
theirs. Not even you can get in my way.”
“Why you..”
Tenma Ranger stared to run towards Kujaku, but Lion Ranger held him back.
“Don’t, Rocky,”
Lion Ranger said as he held the Blue Ranger back by the shoulder.
“Let me go,
Adam!” Tenma Ranger shouted.
Kujaku armed
her daggers and glared past the Rangers towards Gara. “Now Gara…where did we
leave off?”
Gara looked to
the fire Gorma. “Do it.”
“Fire Blade!”
the monster said as he slammed his sword into the ground. The Earth began to
shake as pillars of flame surrounded the Rangers. The Gorma and Kujaku were
gone when the flames cleared.
________________________________________________________________________
“I can’t
believe they got away,” Tommy said as he paced back and forth in the lair. “We
had them that time.”
“It’s all the
peacock wench’s fault,” Rocky said as he kicked a wall. “Feathers for brains.”
“Rocky,” Adam
said as he walked over to teammate. “Guys…we have to understand…Kujaku was
locked up for thousands of years. She doesn’t need us to turn against her.”
“It would seem
she turned against us,” Billy said.
Rocky nodded.
“If she really wanted to stop the Gorma, she’d be working with us. Not out on
some kind of personal vendetta.”
Rocky and the
other rangers walked off, leaving Adam alone with Kaku. Adam sighed and hung
his head low.
“Adam,” Kaku
said. “I believe that if there still is kindness in her heart, you will be able
to get through to her. You two have a bond I cannot deny.”
Adam nodded.
“Thanks Sensei…”
________________________________________________________________________
Kujaku and Gara
circled around each other in a grassy field. Gara held her fencing saber
forward while Kujaku clutched onto her twin daggers.
“Gara,” Kujaku
said. “I will end your evil here and now.”
“You made me
this way,” Gara said.
Kujaku knitted
her brow.
“Don’t you
remember?” Gara ran her finger along the scar on her face. The villain extended
her hand and fired a violet energy pulse from her palm that streaked towards
Kujaku.
Kujaku flipped
backward as the blast exploded on the ground in front of her.
Gara telescoped
forward. Kujaku swung her daggers to hack through the villain, but Gara
disappeared and reappeared behind Kujaku. Kujaku turned while swinging her
blades again, but Gara disappeared and reappeared. Kujaku turned and her
daggers clashed against Gara’s saber.
Kujaku used one
dagger to slap the saber away and swung her other dagger towards Gara’s
throat. Gara twisted her sword around
the block the blow and slammed a round kick against Kujaku’s side.
Kujaku rolled
across the ground and rose to her knees. Gara extended her hand and fired an
energy lasso that wrapped around the warrior. Gara sent an energy surge through
the lasso that exploded against Kujaku with a shower of sparks and knocked her
backward.
Kujaku slowly
climbed back to her feet as the fire Gorma appeared behind her.
“Fire Blade!“
The Gorma monster extended his sword into the ground. The blade ignited pillars
of flame that surrounded Kujaku and knocked her backward.
Gara watched in
amazement as one of Kujaku’s feathers fell and turned gray. “So Kujaku…your
time is coming to an end.”
Suddenly Lion
Ranger jumped through the air and slammed a flying sidekick against Gara. The
Green Ranger landed and ran to Kujaku’s side. He helped the warrior to her
feet.
“Adam…”
“Kujaku…are you
alright?”
The fire Gorma
opened the furnace in his stomach. The furnace emitted an energy vortex that
sucked Lion Ranger and Kujaku inside.
________________________________________________________________________
Adam and Kujaku
awoke in a pocket dimension of fire and brimstone within the Gorma monster.
Sweat dripped from their brows as the intense heat burned around them.
Adam slowly
moved to Kujaku and helped her up. “Kujaku…you’re going to be okay. Now let’s
find a way out of here.”
Kujaku shook
her head. “It’s pointless. Even if I’m freed, I’m dying anyway.”
Adam shook his
head and placed a hand on her shoulder. “No…don’t talk like that.”
“There’s
nothing you can do,” she said. “I’m over 6,000 years old and not as strong in
The Power as Kaku. Time is catching up with me.”
Adam breathed
heavily. “Still…even if that’s true…we can’t give up…not without a fight…”
She shook her
head. “It’s fate.”
Adam got
frustrated and punched the ground.
Kujaku placed
her hand around Adam‘s fist. “Adam…let nature take its course…”
He shook his
head. “I don’t believe in fate. We have the power to shape our own destinies.
I’m not going to just sit here and let the Gorma beat us.”
Adam rose to
his feet and moved towards the wall. He narrowed his eyes. “Heaven Illusion
Star, Green!” He started slamming punches against the walls in a slow rhythm.
Each punch scraped his knuckles, but he kept pounding, battering away the wall
bit by bit.
________________________________________________________________________
The other four
rangers regrouped in the lair. Kaku was sitting in meditative pose with his
eyes closed.
“We can’t find
Adam anywhere,” Billy said.
“Damn,” Rocky
said as he struck the wall. “He probably ran out with bird lady.”
“No,” Kaku said
as he snapped his eyes open. “They are both being held by the fire demon.”
________________________________________________________________________
Gara walked up
besides the fire Gorma. She smiled at the monster with approval. “Well done.”
“Yes…” The fire
Gorma said. “They’re all locked up nice and tight.”
Gara drew her
sword. She could not risk Adam and Kujaku escaping. They had to be killed while
inside the Gorma. Gara prepared to strike the monster down.
Suddenly Dragon
Ranger leapt through the air ad extended his hand. “Fire stream!” He fired a
stream of flame that exploded against the two villains and knocked them
backward.
Dragon Ranger
landed and regrouped with the other three Rangers as Gara and the fire Gorma
rose back to their feet.
The Rangers charged
forward to attack. The fire Gorma returned the charge and swung his sword
towards the Pink Ranger’s head. Phoenix Ranger ducked and rolled underneath the
blow.
Dragon Ranger
leapt downward while swinging his Thunder Staff towards the villain’s head. The
monster parried the blow. Dragon Ranger landed and spun around, swinging his
staff towards the monster’s legs, but the Gorma jumped over the staff.
The fire Gorma
swung his sword horizontally towards Dragon Ranger’s head. Dragon Ranger held
his staff vertically to block the blow and twisted his wrists to move the sword
down. Dragon Ranger knocked the sword away and swung the end of his staff
towards the Gorma’s head.
The fire Gorma
caught the staff in his right hand and used his left hand to swing his sword
forward and thrash across Dragon Ranger’s chest, the sword sparking on impact.
The Gorma swung his sword back towards the Ranger’s head.
The Red Ranger
used his staff to block the blow and spun forward with a reverse sidekick against
the villain’s chest.
Tenma Ranger
and Kirin Ranger used their staffs to pole vault forward and slam kicks against
the fire Gorma. Phoenix Ranger armed her spear and crashed the tip of the
weapon against the Gorma, knocking him backward.
The four Rangers
regrouped as the fire Gorma limped over to Gara.
“Show them,”
Gara said to the fire Gorma.
The fire Gorma
emitted a projection of flame. Through the flame projection, the rangers saw
Adam and Kujaku inside the pocket dimension. Adam was still punching the wall
as Kujaku sat nearby.
“If you kill
him,” Gara said. “Kujaku and Lion Ranger will die as well.”
The Rangers
shifted stances. What were they supposed to do.
“Fire blade!”
the fire Gorma shouted. He extended his sword and launched a massive pulse of
flame that exploded against the Rangers’ armor with a massive burst of spark,
knocking them backward.
________________________________________________________________________
The pocket
dimension started to grow unstable and knocked Adam onto the ground. The
dimension was going to collapse, crushing its prisoners, Adam understood. He
had to break free.
“Kujaku, come
on,” Adam practically shouted to her. “My friends are out there!”
Kujaku said
nothing. Her gaze was fixed to the ground.
“What happened
to you…” Adam said more than asked.
Adam rose and
turned back towards the wall. He started punching, each punch causing a small
crack or knocking off small pieces of stone dust.
“Adam…” Kujaku
whispered when she saw the fierce determination in his eyes. Determination born
not from the fires of revenge, but from the need to protect his friends.
________________________________________________________________________
Pillars of fire
exploded from the ground and slammed against the Rangers with a shower of
sparks and flame. The team crashed against the ground as their armor demorphed.
The fire Gorma
charged forward to finish off the defenseless teens.
________________________________________________________________________
Spatters of
blood lined the wall where Adam continued to punch. He ignored the pain and
poured all his strength out with every strike. Finally he managed to knock a
large chunk out from the wall and red light bled through.
________________________________________________________________________
The fire Gorma
stopped in his tracks and gasped in pain as he placed his hand over the urn in
his gut. The rangers slowly rose to their feet and realized what was happening.
“Adam…” Tommy
said.
Billy nodded.
“He must be attacking the monster from the inside.”
________________________________________________________________________
Adam collapsed
with fatigue. The heat was making it too hard to breath. He felt dehydrated. He
could not will his aching muscles to move.
Kujaku moved
over to him and placed her hand across the side of his face. “Adam…” she
whispered. “Feel my strength…” Kujaku closed her eyes and summoned her power.
Rainbow-tinted energy flowed from her body and into Adam’s.
She slowly ran
her finger across his cheek. Adam reached up and placed his hand over hers as
her energy flowed over him in an intimate way. He tilted his head and kissed
her palm.
Energy surged
through Adam as he slowly rose to his feet and turned back towards the wall. He
launched a flurry of punches that bashed away at the opening he had already
created. Each blow demolished part of the wall upon impact.
________________________________________________________________________
Explosions
sparked across the urn, nearly knocking the Gorma from his feet.
“They’re
escaping!” Gara said as she leapt through the air with her sword. She landed
while spearing the weapon through the urn, causing a massive explosion that
tore half of the Gorma’s body apart.
But she was too
late. Two streaks of energy escaped from the monster at the last second and
materialized on the ground. It was Adam and Kujaku.
“Adam!” the
teens regrouped around their friend and helped him and Kujaku up to their feet.
The fire Gorma
pulled an enlarging bomb and tossed the sphere to the ground. The bomb exploded
with a massive burst of fiery energy. The monster absorbed the explosion’s
energy and used it to grow giant.
“Guys…” Tommy
said as he and the others armed their wrist braces. “It’s morphin time!”
“Kiryoku
transform, Aura Power!” They connected their braces as energy shimmered around
them and they morphed into their Ranger armor.
The Rangers
unsheathed their Thunder Swords and readied their Thunder Gems. “Thunderzords
arise!”
The five
Thunderzords appeared, charging over the landscape after appearing from the
sky. Red Dragon and Phoenix flew through the air as the Kirin, Tenma, and Lion
charged forward from the ground.
The Rangers
used their Thunder Blasters like grappling guns and reeled themselves into
their zords’ cockpits.
Dragon Ranger
placed his hand over the crystal control sphere in front of him. “Red Dragon,
rise up!”
Tendrils of
crimson energy danced across the zord’s armor as the Red Dragon changed shape.
The massive zord reconfigured into its warrior mode and landed on the ground to
face off with the Gorma.
Dragon Ranger’s
Thunder Gem began to glow with deep red power. The Red Ranger called upon that
power as he called out. “Thunder Star Fusion!”
Lightning
struck each of the zords as they radiated with energy. The zords started to
change shape and reconfigure as they merged with Red Dragon. Tenma and Kirin
formed armor around the Dragon’s waist as the Phoenix wrapped around its chest.
The Lion formed a chest plate and wrapped around the zord’s upper arms as a
gold and black helmet slid into place.
The Ranger’s
joined in the central cockpit. “MegaThunderzord!” they shouted together.
“Dairenou!”
“MegaThunderzord,”
Lion Ranger called. “Mist concealment attack!”
The zord fired
a cloud of mist that surrounded the monster. The zord projected an illusion of
a rushing train that charged through the Gorma with a massive explosion.
“MegaThunderzord
Saber,” The Rangers shouted. “Lightning Slash!”
Dairenou’s
blade energized and chopped through the fire Gorma. The villain’s broken body
fell backward, his energy overloading and exploding as his remains were
consumed by flame.
________________________________________________________________________
The teens
regrouped with Kujaku on a grassy field below. Adam took a step forward towards
her. She smiled up at him.
“Thank you
Adam,” she said. “You’ve made me care again…”
The others
blushed for Adam, and Rocky slugged him in the shoulder playfully.
Kujaku flashed
with energy and turned towards the skies. She flew off towards the distance
with a streak of light.
“Kujaku…” Adam
whispered.
“Adam,” Rocky
said as he placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Something tells me you’ll
see her again.”
To be continued…Chapter 14