"AaaaaGGHH!"
My armour literally bursts off me in a shower of sparks as the energy eats through my chest. Looks like the nerves inside my torso are working fine, good to know! I try catching my breath but-. Can't because there's my lungs, nice and exposed and-.
Boy, you never stop to
think about what finishers do to the bad guy. Some of them must really
sting.
The crystal-. It's.. gone, and-.
I realise that my right arm is translucent. All or nothing, then.
Though I doubt he'd let things go
that far. OL
always has a plan.
"Mistress! I had to fight-. Zords, on foot! I can still do this!"
Is it going to be enough? Is she going to give me the same chance she gives every monster of the week? I mean, I think so, but I also know that Red Ranger is getting closer for a coup de grâce. With my ring power being equivalent to nothing right now… It's a good job that I've gotten use to pain, because this-
Oh, yes...
Here we go, the moment we've all been waiting for...
"Magic wand!"
-is really painful.
And it looks like she took the bait.
"You'd probably have been better off shooting me."
"Make my monster..!"
Yeah, I get the feeling Red is feeling a bit of a heel now. Given that he's probably never actually used the Power Slash on a human-like entity before...
Monsters don't count, after all.
Now, there's no way that she actually throws it to Earth in the couple of seconds this usually takes arrive, so I'm assuming that she's using the same teleportation effect we've been using to jump around. The records the NSA had show that it definitely teleports back when the monster is defeated.
Matrix… Detected…
You just
know they'd have had people in fast-response positions ready to acquire the staff if they could, after all.
Feed me!
I don't know if I've got enough power to actually do this and I couldn't study the actual spell set-up she used for boosting her monsters to giant size, but with my life on the line I don't have time to hope.
And desperation makes the
desire all the stronger, after all.
I look down, and see that my legs have already gone.
Oh, that's why it's not hurting so much.
Bit hard to feel pain from something that's not there any more, after all.
"Grow!"
Red Ranger looks up, and I follow his gaze to spot the staff as it appears-.
He's probably thinking 'Oh hell, if he was
this tough before, how bad is he going to be giant-sized?'
One word for you, Rita:
Yoink!
I fly off the ground, my increasingly phantasmal body fading back into existence as I zoom towards the falling staff. It's not flying anymore, just falling, but it was relatively close to the ground already and terminal velocity for something that shape isn't exactly slow. I think I can-.
In the corner of my eye I see the Pterodactyl Dinozord swing around for another pass. Not now you don't! Sonic cannon construct, target the left wing! It charges its weapons-. But my shot hits the wing and knocks it off-course, causing the lightning cannons to miss. The staff-. Too low! Grapple construct!
Because you just
know it'll teleport home a few seconds after it hits the ground...
Compliance.
The rope shoots downwards, and-. Got it! I got it I got it!
Thank goodness for Enlightenment, because that would have killed his Ring otherwise.
"Hah hah!"
Feed me!
Compliance.
Now, let's see how
much of Rita's magic is soaked up into the staff...
"What's he doing? Squatt! What is he doing?"
"Uuh, I haven't gotten that far in the comic book yet, magnificent one!"
"Why are you even here!? Can you even read!?"
Hey, he can at least appreciate the art. Some comics really
do look damn good.
Ooh, that's better. I can feel a mild stinging as my tattoos light up, whatever strange reality/fiction interface that lets me exist here trying its best to properly represent what would happen if I focused my rings' draining ability on my tattoos in the presence of a source of magic power like this.
One last concern. Ring, message to Goldar.
Heh. One last step in the plan to
fire off?
Compliance.
An orange screen with Goldar on it appears in front of me.
...Or maybe a chance to taunt him as well.
"What?"
"Is the Blue Ranger dead?"
"He destroyed the crate and fled!"
Good to have that confirmed. Billy
is the smart one, after all.
"Well, never mind. My bomb's still active. Why don't you head back to base and let me handle it from here."
"If you fail to keep this world in good condition-."
Oh, I don't think
that's going to be an issue.
"There's nothing important in Angel Grove, and one little crater won't affect the value of this planet."
"Fine. Do not disappoint our Mistress."
Presumably the Command Centre can soak up the detonation anyway. Otherwise that bomb would take out the biggest threat to Rita.
"See you later!"
A giant buzz saw construct slices through the cable as the Triceratops Dinozord fires again, giant construct opera gloves grabbing the horn missiles and throwing them off course. The Dragonzord prepares a new volley of missiles but my heavy mining laser construct burns through them before they can launch. They erupt in its hands in a fiery blast, sending the zord staggering.
Do hope he intends to patch them up after as an apology.
Ring, is Goldar still on Earth?
Goldar has now left Earth.
...Oh look, all of Rita's goons in one handy place...
Anyone else on Earth?
No other member of Rita Repulsa's known associates is currently on Earth.
Well, this season is about to get cut
real short. Hopefully there's nothing
valuable in Rita's Palace.
I fly towards Red Ranger with the staff in hand-. As the other Rangers teleport in. I make a point of clapping.
"We're down to ten seconds. You got them all, I assume?"
Bet that's a confusing moment for them. 'Isn't he supposed to be growing larger? Turning into a monster?'
Four nods, then William looks at the others. "Yes, but-."
Red Ranger takes a step forwards. "Where is it?! Where did you move it?!"
Fight's over, bud. OL is not your enemy anymore...
"Look up."
And they all do, for goodness sake.
...It must be something about the Ranger suits that makes them so trusting. Or, y'know,
teenagers.
"One, zero."
For one point three seconds, nothing. Then a very small flash of light is visible on the moon's surface.
No danger of flash effects at
that distance.
"And that is how you kill a supervillain team!"
Pink looks at me, then back at the moon, then at William. "What just happened?"
An earth-shattering kaboom worthy of Marvin the Martian himself.
"The bombs on Earth were fake. He put the real ones in Rita's base."
"Yes I did."
Good catch. We all saw it coming, but
we know OL. Surprised Billy didn't realise the possibility.
Ring, where's the power in this staff coming from?
Scans show… The bulk of the staff looks like a focusing device. The power source is the appropriately orange orb attached to the crescent moon shape. I think I'll make a lantern-shaped protective case for it later.
Not as
efficient as a Lantern proper, with the cost of
Feeding, but it'll do nicely.
"That was your plan all along?" Red Ranger stares at me. "Then why did you fight me?"
"I needed Rita to use the staff. With it, I can power myself for long enough for Zordon to find someone who can make me fully real. And I needed access to their teleportation system to sneak the bombs in." I look up, thoughtfully. "We should probably check anyway. Up for a trip to the moon?"
Preferably with the suits on. Atmosphere or not, I doubt it's
hospitable without magic.
