Ultimate Power Rangers:
Reloaded
Power Rangers: Chapter
Sixteen 43
Enter
the United Four
The Gorma’s
palace hung in the air like an inverted pyramid. The structure was surrounded
by floating metal spheres, naked to the human eye.
Inside, the
Gorma Triumvirate stood on a high pedestal that rose next top the emperor’s
floating platform. They watched as the emperor rolled three dice, getting sixes
each time. “Things do not look good for you three,” the emperor said as he
threw dice into a bowl. “The dice say so.”
“Has he gone
crazy?” Zydos quietly asked Gara.
The Emperor
threw a dice into Zydos’s mouth. “Crazy maybe, but not deaf. I will be giving
you help…I sense a strange energy emerging. Gatai Shatenou!”
Four warriors
dressed like Japanese samurai ancients stepped out from the shadows onto a
floating pedestal. They clanked their
staffs against the pedestal surface.
The emperor
laughed and tossed his dice again.
________________________________________________________________________
Kameo sat in
his small, second-story apartment in Angel Grove Central. He drew various
sketches as his turtles sat by in tanks and on the ground. He heard a horn honk
outside and gasped happily.
Kameo gathered
turtles into his pockets and went outside. Kameo moved onto the parking lot to
where Billy was parked. The teen had his trunk open.
“Billy!” Kameo
said as he walked towards the teen.
“Hey,” Billy
said as he started to unload a package from his car. “This is all you should
need to get hooked up to the internet…”
“Ah…” Kameo
said. “Business is going well then?”
Billy shrugged.
“Our little INET company’s expanding a little further off campus every day.”
Only a high
school student, Billy had worked with Angel Grove University’s research and
technology departments to start a student organized and operated digital
company called INET.
“Ah,” Kameo
said as he nodded. He gasped as a turtle struggled within his pocket. “Water!
He needs water!”
“Hey,” Billy
said as Kameo grabbed dishes from Billy’s trunk.
Kameo moved
over to a nearby fountain and started scooping up water for his turtle.
Billy sighed
and shook his head. Kameo was by far Billy’s strangest customer.
Kameo tilted
his head when he noticed a large clear jewel in the water. “Huh?” he reached in
and wrapped his chubby hand around the jewel, pulling it out from the water.
“What’s this…cool!”
Explosions
suddenly rang around them as Kameo crashed onto his tailbone. Shadam stepped
forward from the distance.
“Gorma!” Billy
shouted. He stepped in front of Kameo and snapped into a fighting stance to
protect the older teenager.
Shadam snapped
his fingers, summoning a group of Capatros that charged forward to attack.
Billy twisted a
soldier’s arm and flipped the grunt to the ground. He slammed his forearm
against a soldier’s wrist to block a saber strike, and slammed punch against
the grunt’s chest.
A third
Capatros swung a sword down towards Billy’s head. Billy grabbed the grunt by
the wrist and twisted his arm downward. He looked over to Kameo. “Run!”
Kameo scrambled
to his feet and ran, his eyes wide with fear.
Billy jump
kicked a soldier in the chest and flipped a second grunt over his shoulder. The
soldiers kept coming as quickly as Billy disposed of them.
“The energy is
coming from him,” Shadam said as he pointed to Kameo. “Find out what he has!”
Billy continued
to fight and activated his communicator. “Sensei…I need help.”
________________________________________________________________________
Across the
streets, the four Gorma ancients chanted as they walked single file. Their
presence drew stares from the crowd. Some were mystified, others thought it was
a street production, while some hardly noticed. It was Angel Grove, after all.
They were used to such things.
The other four
teens and Kou stepped out of a movie theater on a nearby street corner. Tommy
had his arm around Kimberly’s shoulder. “Well that was…interesting,” Tommy
said.
“It sucked,”
Kou said.
“You’re a
subtle kid, you know that?” Rocky said as Kou grinned with pride.
Kou felt a wave
of light-headedness overcome him. Then a whistle noise cut through the streets.
He looked to see Akomaru, who was supposed to be dead, riding his chariot
across the street. The Gorma boy waved Kou forward.
Kou’s mind
flashed back.
Akomaru
stepped from the chariot. “I have a present for you,” he said to Kou as he
stepped back to the second chariot. He pulled the black cloth away. Kou’s
mother was inside, bound and gagged. “Perhaps you know her.”
Kou’s eyes
opened wide as his breath caught in his throat. “Mother…” he whispered.
“Mother!”
“Kou!” she
called in a muffled voice.
Kou ran
towards the chariot.
“Back!”
Akomaru extended his hand and fired an invisible Kiryoku burst that slammed
against Kou and knocked the boy backward. Kou crashed onto his tailbone.
Akomaru
stalked towards the fallen boy. “I’ll give her back to you if you join me. The
two of us can kill Shadam and the emperor…Then we will rule.”
“Go to
hell!” Kou shouted as he sprang forward and pushed Akomaru aside.
Kou moved
towards the chariot and grabbed it, quickly turning it around and running
towards the distance. Capatros leapt towards Kou and grabbed him, lifting him
off his feet and tossing him back onto the ground.
“Be that
way,” Akomaru said. He extended his hand towards the chariot. An invisible
strand of energy lifted Kou’s mother and dragged her away through the air.
“No!” Kou
shouted as he ran after her. “Mother!”
Kou made it
to a clearing near the mountains, but he was too late. His mother was gone. Kou
turned and clenched his jaw when he heard Akomaru’s laughter come from behind.
“Bring her back!”
Akomaru
smirked.
Kou pounced
forward and grabbed Akomaru by the collar. “Bring her back!” Kou slammed a hook
punch across the Gorma’s face.
Kou narrowed
his eyes and ran after the boy.
“Kou!” Kimberly yelled as she followed. The
others followed too, moved around a street corner and into a less dense part of
the bustling city.
Adam lost track
of the others when a wave of light-headedness struck him.
“Adam!” a voice
called to him. Adam looked up to a higher level of the streets to see Kujaku
standing on a patch of grass.
His mind
flashed back.
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.
She stepped
back out of sight. “Kujaku!” Adam called as he ran after her.
Rocky was also
running alone nearby. “Man…where’d everyone go?”
A wave of light
headedness washed over him.
“Hey!” three
voices shouted.
Rocky turned to
see the three lesser-intelligent Gorma siblings staring down at him. They were
on a concrete entryway on the second story of a building.
“You guys!”
Rocky shouted. “I thought you three were mulch now?”
The siblings
had approached Rocky and told him they didn’t wish to fight anymore. Rocky had
trusted them, but they betrayed him.
Rocky ran after
them.
Tommy was
walking through a plaza when a wave of dizziness over came him. Jinn suddenly
leapt out of the air as if from nowhere and slammed a flying sidekick against
the teen.
Jinn parked
in an ocean-shore parking lot and stepped out from his car. Tommy stood by the
shore, his eyes glaring at the assassin. He was dressed in a black karate
uniform.
Jinn walked
towards his opponent. “How are you doing, Tommy?” Jinn asked.
Tommy rolled
his hands into fists. “I’m ready…face me again…”
Jinn shook
his head. “If I fight you again…I will have to kill you this time…even though I
respect your spirit…and pity you…”
“I’m not
asking for pity…” Tommy said.
Jinn
wrinkled his brow.
Tommy and
Jinn leapt towards each other. Their fists slammed together in midair, knuckled
against knuckle, as they spun forward and each slammed a kick against their
opponent.
They landed
back-to-back.
Jinn turned
and dashed towards Tommy. The assassin snapped a high and low roundkick combo
that Tommy blocked. The teen knocked Jinn’s leg away and spun forward with a
reverse sidekick that slammed against Jinn’s chest.
Jinn was
visibly impressed by the ranger’s increased speed.
Tommy
removed the top of his uniform to reveal the set of tight springs.
“Fool!” Jinn
called. “You’ll kill yourself.”
Tommy
stretched his muscles until the wiring broke. The teen snapped into a fighting
stance and waved Jinn forward.
Jinn
narrowed his eyes. “Spider Fist!” Jinn shouted. The assassin launched forward
with a flurry of turbo-speed punches. Tommy blocked each blow, his arms and
fists a blur of motion as the sound of fist and arms slamming against each
other sounded almost as rapid as machine-gun fire.
Tommy caught
the last punch with his hand and lunged forward, slamming a cross punch against
Jinn’s face. Tommy spun a reverse heel kick that slammed across Jinn’s head,
forcing the assassin backward.
“How…” Jinn
said. “Is this your magic?”
“No,” Tommy
said. “It’s all me…”
________________________________________________________________________
Kameo ran as
fast as he could across an asphalt path that cut through a wooded park.
Capatros suddenly dropped to the ground and surrounded him. Zydos stepped
forward and grabbed Kameo by the face. “Are you afraid to die?”
Tears streamed
down his cheeks. “Don’t hurt me…please don’t hurt me…”
The crystal in
Kameo’s pocket pulsed with jade energy that flashed outward, exploding against
Zydos and the Capatros. Kameo fell backward.
Kirin Ranger
leapt onto the scene and helped Kameo to his feet. “Are you alright?”
Kameo nodded.
The Yellow Ranger led Kameo away as they ran through the park.
Zydos rose from
the ground and pointed in their direction. “After them!”
________________________________________________________________________
Billy and Kameo
sat as a plaza. Billy picked up the crystal from Kameo and looked over its
surface. “Where did this come from?”
“Give it back!”
Kameo said as he grabbed the crystal. “It helped me.” Kameo reached into his
pockets for his turtles. “Now…my friends must be antsy after all that
excitement…”
Kameo laid
nearly a dozen turtles down on the grass.
“Were all those
in your pockets?” Billy asked.
“Well yeah,”
Kameo said. “Where else would I put them?”
Billy sighed
and shook his head.
Kameo opened
his eyes wide with shock. “Oh no I’m missing one…he must have fallen…I have to
find him!” Kameo ran off.
“Wait!” Billy
shouted as he ran after his new friend.
________________________________________________________________________
The other four
teens and Kou appeared in a black pocket dimension with fog drifting across the
ground and a handful of twisted, dead trees scattered about.
“Guys!” Tommy
said as they regrouped.
“Hey,” Rocky
called as they joined together.
“What’s going
on?” Adam said.
“I don’t know,”
Tommy said. “Jinn attacked me and then…”
Kujaku, Jinn,
Akomaru, and the three-stupid Gorma appeared in the blink of an eye. They
started laughing at the gathered rangers. The teens snapped into fighting
stances. Kimberly stood protectively in front of Kou.
“They can’t be
real,” Tommy said. “Let’s go!”
The rangers
charged forward, but the illusions vanished just as the four ancients appeared
behind the teens. The rangers turned and assumed fighting stances.
Tommy narrowed
his eyes at the villains. “Gorma…what are you up to this time?”
The Gorma each
removed their hats. A ring of horns wrapped around
their bald heads. The Gorma third eye was on each of
their foreheads.
“I’m not
impressed,” Rocky said.
“Kou,” Kimberly
said. “Go hide.”
Kou ran off.
Tommy armed his
morphers. “Guys…it’s morphin time!”
“Kiryoku
transform, Aura Power!” they shouted as they connected their braces. Energy
shimmered around them as they morphed into their Ranger forms.
“Thunder
Swords!” they shouted as they unsheathed blades. They charged forward to
attack.
Nearby, Kou
leapt over a boulder and ducked for cover. “I have to help them,” Kou said as
Byakou peaked his head out.
“Not here,”
Byakou said. “They can’t learn that you’re the Kiba Ranger!”
________________________________________________________________________
Kameo continued
to run and practically fell to the ground when he spotted his lost turtle.
“Oh…please be alive,” he said as he picked the lost turtle up.
Billy ran over
to Kameo. “Don’t just run off like that when the Gorma-”
“Kirin Ranger!”
Shadam shouted.
Billy stood in
front of Kameo and snapped into a fighting stance as the Gorma stalked forward.
Shadam extended his hand. “Hand him over,” Shadam said. “He has something we
need.”
“No!” Billy
shouted as he leapt through the air. “Kiryoku transform!” Energy shimmered
around him as he morphed into his Ranger form.
“Thunder
Sword!” Kirin ranger shouted as he unsheathed his blade.
Gara lifted her
hand and blasted Kirin Ranger out of the air with a violet-tinted energy pulse
that exploded against the Ranger’s armor with a burst of spark. The Yellow
Ranger crashed to the ground.
“Billy!” Kameo
shouted.
Zydos reached
down and lifted the Ranger by the throat. The Gorma slammed the back of his
fist across the Ranger’s helmet while tossing him aside.
Zydos walked
over to Kameo and lifted the older teen up by the shirt collar. Zydos searched
Kameo’s pockets, but found nothing. He could no longer sense the energy source
either. “It’s not here!”
________________________________________________________________________
Dragon Ranger rolled into a crouched position and
snapped into a fighting stance while holding his sword high.
An ancient spun
his staff and knocked the Red Ranger’s sword aside. The Gorma thrashed the
Ranger diagonally across the chest. The ancient dashed past the Red Ranger
while slashing him across the chest horizontally.
Dragon Ranger
spun around and swung his blade towards the ancient’s head. The Gorma used his
staff to block the sword.
Red Ranger
pulled back and swung upward towards the Gorma’s body. The ancient caught the
blade with his bare hands and opened his jaw wide.
Crimson energy
tentacles lashed out from the Gorma’s mouth and wrapped around Dragon Ranger.
The tentacles lifted him into the air and exploded against his armor with a
shower of sparks.
Nearby, Phoenix
Ranger swung her sword towards an ancient. The Gorma disappeared and reappeared
behind the Pink Ranger. Phoenix Ranger turned and swung her blade back towards
the Gorma. The villain disappeared and reappeared behind her again.
The villain
opened his jaw. The villain produced a torrent of energy wind that exploded
against Phoenix Ranger while blowing her off her feet.
Meanwhile Tenma
Ranger leapt towards an ancient.
“Tenma Screw
Kick!” Tenma Ranger slammed a screw kick against the Gorma’s chest, knocking
the villain backward.
The villain
extended his staff. The Blue Ranger’s kick slammed against the weapon, and the
Gorma pushed him away. Tenma Ranger crashed to the ground. The Gorma slammed
the end of his staff down, summoning pillars of flame that exploded against the
Blue Ranger and knocked him backward.
Another ancient grabbed Lion Ranger by the throat. The
Gorma slammed a series of roundkicks against the Ranger’s side.
The villain
released the Ranger and slammed a staff across Lion Ranger’s helmet.
Lion Ranger
tumbled across the ground and rose to his feet. The other Rangers regrouped
around him.
“We have to get
out of here,” Tenma Ranger said.
“How?” Phoenix
Ranger asked.
Dragon Ranger
noticed flashing gems around their necks. “Those gems…” Dragon ranger said as
he armed his weapon. “Thunder Blaster!”
Dragon Ranger
fired lances of red energy that exploded against the gems, causing the pocket
dimension to rupture as blinding white light filled the darkness.
________________________________________________________________________
“Thunder
Blaster!” Kirin Ranger shouted. He fired lances of yellow energy that exploded
against the Gorma Triumvirate and Capatros.
Shadam extended
his hand and fired a pulse of blue energy from his palm that exploded against
the Yellow Ranger and knocked him off his feet. Kirin Ranger crashed to the
ground.
A bright light
suddenly flashed as the other four Rangers, Kou, and the four ancients fell to
the ground.
“Billy?” Dragon Ranger said when he noticed his
friend. The Ranger regrouped.
“You guys came
at a good time,” Kirin Ranger said
The four
ancients stood in front of the Triumvirate and faced the Rangers.
“Stop them!” Gara
shouted.
The four
ancients slammed the ends of their staffs against the ground, sparking energy
within their weapons and their bodies. The villains stood with their backs
towards each other. Energy flashed around them as they merged into one Gorma
monster.
The monster was
a tall creature with four identical heads, each looking in a different compass
direction. The monster’s skin was pale and his eyes beady red. The villain’s
name was Shatenou.
The villain
lifted an enlarging bomb and dropped it. The bomb exploded, and Shatenou
absorbed the energy and grew giant.
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.
On the ground,
Kou ducked behind a tree. Byakou peaked his head out from Kou’s jacket. “Kou…”
Byakou said. “Now would be a good time.”
Kou nodded and
armed his morphers. “Kiryoku transform, Kiba power!” he inserted his key into
his brace. Energy flashed around him as he matured and morphed into his Ranger
armor.
Kiba Ranger
lifted his saber and held his Thunder Gem. “Thunderzord arise! White Tiger!”
The White Tiger
Thunderzord stomped forward as Kiba Ranger leapt into his zord’s cockpit.
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.
“White Tiger!
Rise up!” he shouted, inserting his saber into his console. The White Tiger
crackled with energy and started to change shape. The zord transformed into a
humanoid-shaped warrior, the head of the tiger was on the zord’s chest and the
golden tail formed a curved blade.
The White
Ranger thrust his hands forward. “Kiba! fusion!”
The Lion,
Tenma, Kirin, and Phoenix crackled with energy and shot towards the White
Tiger. The lion formed shoulder armor while wrapping around the zord’s back.
The Tenma and Kirin formed the Megazord’s legs as the Phoenix became an
arm-mounted weapon.
Lion Ranger,
Phoenix Ranger, Tenma Ranger, and Kirin Ranger joined Kiba Ranger in the zord’s
cockpit. “MegaTigerzord… Kiba Daiou!”
The Red Dragon
and White Tiger surrounded the monster. Red Dragon moved in to attack.
Red Dragon
swung his staff towards the Gorma. The monster used its staff to parry the blow
and thrashed the zord across the chest, explosions sparking on impact.
MegaTigerzord moved
in and swung his arm-mounted Phoenix blade towards the Gorma. The villain
parried the blow and speared his staff against the zord. Shatenou extended his
staff and fired tendrils of blue energy that exploded against the two zords
with a massive burst of spark and flame.
Red Dragon
slammed a roundkick against the villain’s side and swung his staff towards the
villain’s head. The Gorma used his staff to parry the blow and strike the zord
across the chest.
The red-armored
zord maneuvered behind the Gorma and used his staff to hold the monster steady.
“Do it, guys,”
Dragon Ranger said.
“MegaTigerzord!”
the Rangers shouted. “Grand-Phoenix Crash!”
The Phoenix
extended its wings and shot towards the monster. Fiery energy twisted around
the Phoenix as it streaked through the monster, piercing through his body.
Explosions tore apart the Gorma as he collapsed to the ground, his own energy
overloading and exploding.
________________________________________________________________________
Kameo and Billy
walked back towards the apartment district. Billy kept trying to walk faster.
“Come on!”
Kameo yelled. “Tell me all about it!”
“No,” Billy
said.
“Come on…how
long have you been a Ranger?”
Billy sighed
and rolled his eyes as he continued walking.
________________________________________________________________________
On the streets
of Angel Grove, the four ancients reappeared in their human forms.
To be continued…Chapter 17