Disclaimer: Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble, on this evil night you'll find, me using creatures, from ol' Saban's mind.Author Note: Behold ye evil readers do, this story holds a scare or two, so those of you who have weak hearts, don't read this, there's nasty parts. A story occurring, on all hallows eve, shall be the set for my Rangers to grieve. When terrible demons, and those hell spawned, claim the souls of those for.
Time Scale: Boy, doesn't this ruin the atmosphere, well this takes place the day after 'A Fate Worse Than Death'.
Hell's Fury
By Matt
The Rangers slept soundly in their beds, unaware of what was happening, and what was about to happen. Power Force slept too in their own chambers, Divatox lay together, sleeping contentedly, even Alpha and Mondo were recharging peacefully. Zordon had put himself into a meditative state for the night. Everything was quiet and tranquil within HQ.
Down in New Angel Grove, the citizens also slept. Of course some remained awake, unable to sleep, staying up late watching a movie, or just having a good time with their friends. Some were finishing put up their decorations. Tomorrow was Halloween, and they intended to celebrate it. Not only did it give the children something fun to do, it also lightened the mood. There had been too much misery in the City and some happiness was called for. Either way, they were blissfully unaware of the cosmic events taking place in their world.
Armageddon remained in his throne, where he had stayed since his Dark Rangers were defeated. He was finally regaining most of his strength. It had taken a while, but he was powering back up. Even with his almighty magic and extraordinary telepathic powers he didn't detect anything unusual.
Within their chambers, Commander Goldar, Crush, Photon, Striker, Mecha-Zen and Porto all slept/recharged. None of their lives had ever been easy, going from one tyrant to another, serving them, obeying their commands, and one thing was for certain, their lives weren't about to get any easier.
Across the world, at six o'clock in the morning, minor earthquakes began. It may have been several hours before or after that time in certain parts of the world, but at one place it was the real time, the prime meridian. The line stretching from one pole to the other passing through Greenwich, England. It was on this meridian that the whole time scale on earth was based. It was midnight at this place when it began.
It started with minor earthquakes, getting larger as they continued. Soon cracks formed in the ground, cracks that formed into crevices. From each crevice around the world, an eerie red light started to filter out. For now, it stopped. The shaking of the ground and the cracking of the earth's crust ceased, and all was quiet again. But it was not over; this was only the beginning.
Michelle let out a terrifying scream and ran from her room. Seconds later, all the others had emerged from their quarters to see what the problem was. Michelle was screaming and panting heavily as the others surrounded her.
"Michelle, what's wrong?" her Mother asked quickly.
"There were. . . there were these. . . things in my room, standing next to my bed. They were hideous!" Michelle stuttered.
"Okay guys, let's go!" Kane ordered. Samurai Black, White, Silver and Red all morphed and headed for Michelle's quarters.
As the four Rangers burst in, they saw what Michelle had been talking about. Two of them, both quite short They wore black cloaks and hoods, and their faces looked horribly scarred and distorted. Kane brought out his Shadow Sabres and approached them. Holding one up to each of them he said, "Who are you and what do you want?"
"Hey calm down!" the tallest one said. Both of them pulled their hoods down and removed their masks.
"Mark!" Matt commented.
"Lewis!" Niko said at the same time.
"Happy Halloween!" they commented together, looking very sheepish.
The Rangers and the two boys were stood together in the rec room. Mark and Lewis were stood at the front together, with each of their older brothers to their side. Michelle and Kane stood directly in front of them.
"Now apologise for scaring Michelle!" Kane ordered them.
"We're sorry, we were just playing." Lewis said quietly.
"Yeah, sorry." Mark agreed with him.
"Just playing? We're Power Rangers, we have a duty to this world to protect it, so we don't need silly pranks like this getting in our way. What you did was really, really stupid. What if we hadn't checked who you were before we attacked? You two could be dead now. I never want to see either of you ever doing anything like this again!" Kane lectured them.
Mark had started crying while Kane spoke and Lewis wasn't far behind.
"Hey come on. They're just kids!" Niko said to his leader.
"That doesn't matter. What matters is that they did a really stupid thing, and we can't allow that to happen!" Kane said back sternly.
"We're sorry, we won't do it again!" Lewis sniffed.
"Good, because if you do. . ." Kane started.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Matt snapped. "If you lay one finger on my brother, hell if you ever go near him again, your life won't be worth living!"
"Well he's your responsibility. If you were able to keep control of him, this wouldn't have happened." Kane said back to Matt. "The same with you!" he commented to Niko.
Samurai Silver glared at Kane then put his arm round his brother's back and led him away. "Come on Lew, we're outta here!" he said as they walked away.
Matt picked up his little brother and left too, without saying a word.
"Don't you think you were a little harsh?" Louise asked.
"No, they deserved that. I only gave them what they needed. Maybe now they'll think again before they act so childishly!" Kane answered.
"Well here's a thought. Maybe they acted childishly. . . because they are children!" Louise said back, showing no intention of backing down from this argument.
"Then maybe this is no place for children. We do some serious stuff here and we don't need them in our way or causing problems." Kane said to her as if she were a child herself.
"Are you saying you think they should have to leave?" Louise asked.
"Yeah, maybe I am." Kane said back.
"Well if you tell them to leave, you'll lose the White and Silver Rangers too, and I don't think we can handle that. After all, you've already lost Gold and Purple, why not just disband the whole team and let Armageddon win. With you as leader it's bound to happen eventually. We may as well just make it easier and quit now!" Louise shouted at him.
"You have no right to question my leadership. In case you didn't notice, that is exactly what I am; your leader!" Kane said back.
"Come on you two, don't talk like that." Lucy pleaded with them.
"You keep out of this. Kane's right, the kids should go, and you should all learn to follow orders!" Michelle agreed with the Black Samurai.
"Why don't you keep out of it, Pinky!" Lucy taunted the Pink Samurai.
"Why don't you make me, remember, I'm not the yellow one here!" Michelle replied, using Lucy's Ranger color as a double meaning.
"Come on then, let's sort this out right now!" Lucy snapped, leading the Pink Ranger towards the simulation room.
"You want it in there? Why, you scared I could whoop your ass for real?" Michelle taunted once again.
"You are getting on my last nerve girl. You'd better get ready to be taught some respect!" Lucy sneered at the other Ranger.
The Pink and Yellow Samurai's headed outside to settle their argument. Kane and Louise had watched them, now the Red Samurai turned to look at Kane.
"See, you can't even keep control of the others." Louise laughed.
"I'd like to see you do a better job. . . oh wait a minute, you can't, that's why Zordon put me in charge and not you!" Kane said antagonisingly, now actually trying to annoy her.
"Yeah, well as smart as Zordon may be, I think he made one big black mistake putting you in charge. Everyone knows the Red Ranger is meant to lead! I mean, Jason led the first team as Red Ranger, then Tommy led the next team as Zeo Red, then he led the Turbo team as Red ranger, even TJ took over as leader and Red Ranger. Hell, even when they got the Shinobi powers the Red Ranger led. The Black Ranger's always been a nobody, and that's exactly what you are, a nobody!" Louise sneered at him.
"You think you could lead? Ha! You're just a weak little girly!" Kane laughed.
"Oh so now you're playing the sexist card, smooth move you animal!" Louise nearly shouted back.
"Hey, if you can't take the heat, get out of the spandex!" Kane taunted.
All this time, Lee and Chad had been left watching, they didn't know what to do. To be honest, they were both scared of the two older kids fighting. Kane was two years older than them, and Louise only one, but that short time had made quite a difference, not only in their sizes, but also in their tempers.
"Let's get out of here!" Lee whispered to his Blue companion. Without even needing a word of agreement, the two Rangers slipped away.
"Man, what is with those guys?" Chad asked as the two of them walked down the passageway.
"I've got no idea, but their behavior didn't seem in line with their normal behavioral patterns. Maybe Armageddon has caused some kind of chemical imbalance within their minds or something, resulting in an alteration to their synaptic patterns. It could be the cause of their erratic moods." Lee commented, then looked round at his best friend. "In other words, Armageddon's messing with their heads!"
"I know that, I don't need you dumbing things down for me, I'm not stupid." Chad snapped back.
"Hey calm down, I didn't mean to cause any offence, it's just habit I guess." Lee said defensively. Chad closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "Are you alright?" Lee asked.
"Yeah, I just felt really weird. Sorry I snapped, but I just got so angry about that comment and I don't know why. It just seemed like something was trying to make me hate you!" Chad explained.
"Hey, I think this is serious. Let's go see Zordon." Lee said urgently. The two of them ran off towards the Power Chamber.
When they got there, it looked more like a bombsite. Several of the consoles looked damaged and there were obvious signs of a battle, but two things really sprung to their attention. Alpha Five lay flat on the floor, sparks showering from several of his circuits and Zordon's ion tube was clear, not just empty as it appeared when he went to his private chamber to meditate, but completely clear of everything.
"Alpha!" Lee called out as he ran over to his little mechanoid friend.
"Lee, is that you? My optic circuitry has been damaged, I can not see anything." Alpha said weakly.
"Alpha, who did this?" Lee asked, trying to do all he could to fix the superficial damage the little robot had sustained.
"It was. . . it was. . ." but then Alpha dropped deadly silent as his vital functions shut down. He wasn't dead, just too damaged to function at the moment. Lee knew he could repair him, but it would take time.
Just then, the four members of Power Force walked in, looking like they too had been in the fight. "Guys, what happened?" Chad called out, running up to them.
"We were attacked!" Rygog commented.
"By who?" Chad asked, hoping to actually get an answer this time.
"Him!" Kraegor called out, pointing at the fallen mechanoid, "He's the one that attacked us."
Lee and Chad were both astounded by the accusation. "That's absurd, Alpha would never attack you, unless. . ." Lee stopped right there.
"Go on, say it, unless we had done something to deserve it." Rygog finished the Ranger's sentence.
"Exactly. So come on, tell us what you did." Chad asked them accusingly.
Lee looked round at the empty ion tube, then back at Power Force. "You got rid of Zordon?"
"Green Ranger, I want you to stop right there. That is exactly what the robot thought. He accused us of it, then attacked us. He was a tough little fighter. He almost had us." Rygog explained.
"Is he. . ." Rito started, looking at Alpha.
"No, just damaged." Lee replied. "Now answer the question. Did you do this to Zordon?"
"No, we didn't, but we could sure do with his help right about now. There's something weird going on!" Rito said.
"You can say that again. I'm surprised you noticed. I didn't think you'd seen the others this morning." Lee commented.
"We're not talking about the other Rangers! We were down in New Angel Grove. It's like a war zone. There's definitely something up." Rygog said. "Have a look for yourself."
Lee went over to the view screen controls and set it to show the City. He was appalled by what he saw. Their wonderful new City was nearly in ruins. Fires raged out of control, windows were smashed, people were fighting with each other, and children were running riot, doing whatever they wanted to do.
"This is terrible!" Lee whispered. Suddenly, there was a sound behind him. He turned to see Alpha reactivating, but the first thing he did was charge at Power Force.
"Alpha, stop!" Lee called out. The mechanoid didn't listen, instead he hit the four warriors head on, all five of them collapsing to a heap on the ground.
"You got rid of Zordon, I'll make you pay for that!" Alpha screeched.
Rygog pushed him away and was about to fire when a force field appeared around the Alpha series droid. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Sorry Alpha, but I had to stop you. You're out of control." Lee explained.
"Let me out of here you little runt!" Alpha shouted. "I get it, you're working with them. You all helped get rid of Zordon and now you're going to get rid of me!"
"What's wrong with him?" Chad asked.
"I don't know. Maybe his programming was damaged in the fight!" Lee suggested.
"I don't think so, Ranger." Garrison commented as the four of them joined the two teens. "He was acting like that before we even fought."
"I think you should bring your friends here." Kraegor suggested.
"Good idea." Lee said, he brought up images of them all on the View screen. Michelle and Lucy were outside having a fight, no Powers, no weapons, just the two girls hand to hand. Kane and Louise were in a similar situation in the rec room. Matt and Niko were fighting too. Fortunately, so far their fight was only verbal. Not far from them, Mark and Lewis stood together, looking terrified. Lewis had his arm around the smaller boy as they watched their brothers arguing viciously. "Teleporting now." Lee said.
A second later, flashes of Yellow, Pink, Black, Red, White and Silver appeared. As each one materialised into a Ranger, a force field appeared around them.
"Hey, what's going on?" Kane snapped as he realized he was trapped.
"Sorry guys, but it's for your own safety!" Lee commented.
"Let us out of here. That's an order!" Kane snapped.
"Oh yeah, he's really gonna let us out now!" Louise said sarcastically.
"Lee, let us out!" Kane shouted.
"Okay, that's exactly what I mean. You guys aren't exactly acting. . . normal!" Lee said as he started to walk around the six trapped Rangers and imprisoned mechanoid. "Something is going on here. I mean, first Zordon vanishes without trace, then Alpha goes berserk, then just look at the way you guys have been fighting. Look at the View Screen, have a look at what's going on in New Angel Grove. Does that look normal?"
"Okay then, genius. Why aren't you effected?" Niko asked snidely.
"I am being effected, Chad too, we're just managing to keep control better. I mean, I can think of nothing I'd rather do right now than beat one of you into a bloody pulp, but deep down inside. I know that's just not who I am. I don't do that sort of thing so I know it's not me making me want to do it." Lee explained.
"So let's find out what's going on. This may sound like an obvious suggestion, but do you think it's something to do with it being Halloween?" Chad asked.
"Yeah, I'd thought of that." Lee replied sharply, "But that's quick thinking for you!"
Chad glared at him. "Erm, Rangers!" Rygog said as he could see the obvious argument brewing.
"Sorry." Lee said quietly.
"No problem. You're probably right anyway!" Chad laughed. Lee joined in the laughter as he approached one of the working consoles. "Computer, bring up anything in the files relating to Halloween."
A few seconds later, a list of subjects came up. Lee scanned through them and Chad came over to join him. "Hey, go back a minute!" Chad called out. Lee scrolled the screen back up and Chad pointed to one subject, it said 'Prophecies of Eltar.'
"What's that doing in here? Surely they don't have Halloween on Eltar." Chad commented. Lee selected it and a few screens full of text came up.
"Nice one Chad, I think you've found it!" Lee said happily. He looked through it quickly then looked back over to the other Rangers who had all started bickering again. "Okay guys, shut up and listen to this."
Lee started reading. "Earth has always been a gateway to other galaxies, its natural magic will one day make it one of the most influential planets in the galaxy. However, with every advantage, come disadvantages. Earth is also the gateway to the Underworld, a dimension of creatures even the United Alliance of Evil fears. The magic of Earth, reinforced by a spell from the council is usually enough to keep the doorway locked, but on All Hallows Eve, a night when evil mystical energy gathers, the boundaries are weakest, and in time, the power of the council will not be enough to stop it. Some day, when their forces are strongest, they will be able to break forth, free to take the Earth, and then, the Galaxy. It will happen slowly, the effects of their evil spreading across the world, infecting the Souls of the pure and corrupting their very being. When the gateway has opened fully, this will seem insignificant. Nobody shall be spared. The Daemons of the Underworld care not about good or evil, they will destroy whatever gets in the way of their will. Be warned, when this day comes, only one thing can stop it. Not brute force, for it's Power exceeds anything yet known. Not cunning, it is older and wiser than time itself. The only thing that can stop it is the thing it has never had, and may never have!"
"Do you understand what this means? The way you're acting, the way we're all acting, it's the first sign. Unless we can do something, all is lost." Lee said, looking very pale.
Kane and the other Rangers had gone silent too. The seriousness of the situation had really hit home. Now, their petty squabbles seemed like nothing. Compared to what was at stake, they were nothing! Kane regained his composure and said, "Okay Lee, let us out of here. We've got to do something!"
Silently, Lee released the force fields, even Alpha had calmed down. "We still don't know what's happened to Zordon. The chances are it's something to do with all of this, but right now we have more important things to take care of. Lee, have the scanners been damaged?" Kane asked.
"Yes, but it doesn't look too serious, with Alpha's help I can have them fixed in an hour!" Lee replied.
"I want it done in thirty minutes. Everyone else, come with me. We've got to try and bring some order down in the City before they all kill each other, and remember, try and stay calm. If you let the anger take over. . . well you've seen the results!" Kane ordered.
Everyone agreed silently. Lee and the slowly repairing Alpha headed over to the scanner controls and began repairs. Alpha was grateful of the auto-repair circuitry Zordon had developed for him. Of course, proper repairs would do a much quicker job, but in situations like this, auto recovery was vital. Without it, he would still be unable to function and lying on the floor where Lee and Chad had found him.
"Let's Samurize!" Kane said trying to stay calm. "Samurai Black!"
"Samurai White!" Matt said after him. A terrible feeling flashed through him and an awful thought entered his head. If they failed in what they would soon have to do, he would lose Mark all over again.
"Samurai Pink!" Michelle said next, her mind filled with fears of what they were going to run into in the City.
"Samurai Yellow!" Lucy commanded, fearing what would happen if they failed to stop whatever Daemons were trying to infiltrate their world.
"Samurai Blue!" Chad said quickly, not wanting to think about the whole situation.
"Samurai Red!" Louise ordered. She didn't consider any circumstances, or any consequences, all she knew was that she has a job to do and she intended to do it to the best of her skill.
"Samurai Silver!" Niko called. He was thinking a similar think to Samurai White. Family had always been important to him, and the thought of losing the only family he had left was truly terrifying to him.
In a rainbow of energy, they were gone, leaving just Lee and the slowly repairing Alpha Five.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Lee called out as he finished reattaching a series of wires. "Not everyone's here! Where's Mondo, Ultima and Divatox?"
"Probably plotting to destroy us all!" Alpha snapped. The little robot's tone almost scared the Green Samurai. He didn't like Alpha like this, and what he disliked even more were the urges he was feeling to just jump the little mechanoid and rip him into his components!
Inside their quarters, for they had now officially moved in together, Divatox and Ultima still lay sound asleep, blissfully unaware of what was happening, but not for long. They both woke suddenly at the same time. Sitting up in their bed, they looked round at each other, then both pushed the other away in disgust.
"Get away from me you disgusting creep!" Divatox snapped. She got out of the bed and waved an arm in front of herself. Her appearance reverted back to the attire and mask she had worn for so long, especially during her battles with the Turbo Rangers.
"Gladly." Ultima said as he moved away from her. He too changed his appearance, but with just a click of his fingers. He was dressed in the same armor he had worn when he destroyed Eltar, and first attacked the Earth. Over time, his appearance had become a lot less relaxed and more welcoming, especially during the period he had spent in the Power Chamber Not now though. Now he had reverted to the dark intimidating form the Samurai Rangers had soon learned to fear.
Both glared at each other, wanting to know what was going on. Suddenly everything went blurry and they both collapsed to the ground. They were only down for a few seconds. They got up, looking at themselves and each other.
"What just happened?" Ultima asked.
"I really don't know. I just came over all strange, I felt like. . . like I was turning back into. . . the old Divatox!" she stuttered. The thought scared her. She had never liked the way she had used to be. It had only been her mistaken thoughts that Power and possessions could make her happy that kept her that way. Since discovering true happiness with Ultima, she had realized the truth. Although she had yet to rectify all the things she had done wrong in her life, she was making a start just by helping the Samurai's.
"I know, I felt something like that too. I think there's something going on here!" Ultima agreed. He could see how scared she really was, in truth, he felt the same. Neither of them was truly evil, so the thought of turning that way scared them both equally. He walked over to her and embraced the young woman. They stood there holding onto each other until they were sure the feeling was gone.
Lee lifted his wrist and pressed the transmit button on his communicator. "Kane, this is Lee. The scanning systems are fully functional. How are things going down there?"
A quiet, disheartened voice came back in return. "Not good. We can't do anything. We can't stop their rage; things are just getting worse. Whenever we try and do anything they just get angry and attack us. To be honest, it's harder trying to keep from joining them than it is actually trying to stop them!"
"You'd better come back, I don't think you're going to achieve anything down there. Anyway, now the scanners are working again, we can start looking for the center of the disturbance and maybe try to stop it." Lee suggested.
"Okay guys, we're out of here!" Lee heard Kane say via the communicator. A second or two later, the other seven Rangers and four members of Power Force appeared back in the Power Chamber.
Everyone gathered round Lee as he started searching for the cause of their turmoil. As some of them bumped into each other trying to see, several arguments almost started, but their incredibly strong sense of duty and respect for each other helped them gain control. They all knew that this wouldn't be the case for long. They could all feel the influence of the Underworld taking away all their will to work together. Each of them was getting urges to just give up, or turn on the others. They had to do something quick or it would just be too late.
The computer beeped and Lee commented, "Well that didn't take long!" He seemed happy to get a result so soon, but when he checked it, his eyes widened in shock and horror. "This can't be!"
There was a chorus of curious and scared questions about what he meant.
"The scans show that there are already thousands of breaks in the gateway to the Underworld. There are Daemons everywhere." Lee explained.
"So we're too late?" Lucy asked, close to tears at the thought of it.
"No, we might not be. These are only minor breaks. The main opening hasn't yet shown itself. If we can seal the others and stop any more evil leaking out, we might stop it." Lee said.
"Okay guys, this is serious!" Kane said.
"What is?" a voice called out from behind them. They all turned to see Ultima and Divatox standing there.
"Have you heard about the Eltarian Prophecy relating to the day of All Hallows Eve?" Lee asked, more of a comment really.
"It's happening now?" Ultima asked, his face showing the fear they all felt inside.
"Yeah, so we've got no time to waste! Lee, how do we seal the rifts?" Kane asked.
"I'm not too sure! I think a blast of energy from our weapons should be enough. The smaller rifts aren't particularly powerful so they should be easy to close The difficult thing will be getting to it. There are already plenty of Daemons guarding each one!" Lee commented, checking the scanners again.
"Okay, here's the plan. We're gonna have to split up but we're taking all the power we can. Lee, stay here and help Alpha search for the main gateway. I think it's time to go for the big guns again!" Kane said. He went over to a large safe on the wall. Louise knew what he meant and followed. To each side was a small panel of light. Kane and Louise each put one of their hands onto a panel and their prints were scanned. When the computer confirmed their identities, the safe opened. Inside were the ten Shinobi Gems.
"Each of us is going to take our Samurai Zord and Shinobi Zord. Niko, take Shinobi Star Fighter, Matt, Shinobi Ice Scourge, Michelle, Shinobi Wind Shredder, Lucy, you'll have Shinobi Sun Striker, Shinobi Water Weaver for you Chad I'll be taking Shinobi Thunder Crusher and Louise. . . think you can handle Shinobi Destruction?" Kane asked his second in command.
"No problem." Louise smiled.
"I'm not going to get Sean in on this. He may not be showing it, but he's still angry at all of us, but enhanced by the strength of the Underworld, his anger could be a liability, so instead, Garrison, think you can control Samurai Senturion and Shinobi Fire Knight?" Kane requested of the robot.
"I'll give it a go." Garrison replied.
"Kraegor, I want you to take Samurai Searcher and Shinobi Lightning Racer." Kane ordered. He just nodded in reply.
"Hey, do you think someone else could take my Zords?" Matt requested.
"Okay, why?" Kane asked.
"Well I think I've got something slightly more powerful!" Matt commented, grinning. They all knew he intended to try out his Ultra Samurai power again.
"Okay, Rito, you take Matt's Zords. Ultima, Divatox, think you two can manage without Zords?" Kane asked the two ex-villains.
"Sure, we've never had them before, we'll manage." Ultima replied, smiling as he looked round at Divatox.
"What about me?" Rygog asked.
"Okay, Rygog, the only Zord left is the UniZord. Think you can work it on your own?" Kane asked. "It's an extremely powerful weapon, if you accept, you must be careful. It can be dangerous if used incorrectly."
Rygog thought for a moment, then said, "You can trust me!"
"Okay, I think that's all set. Lee, send each of us to a different rip. Let's Samurize! Samurai Black!" Kane commanded. The rest of them followed his lead.
Once they were all morphed Matt called out, "WHITE ULTRA SAMURA POWERI!" As the bright light once again filled the space around him, just as it had the first time he accessed these powers, the others looked away. When the light had faded enough for them to look again, they saw Matt dressed in the White cloth uniform and mask he had worn before.
"Let's go!" he commanded. In a flash of light, he was gone, not even using the teleporter. They were all shocked when he disappeared that way.
"You heard the Ultra dude, let's go!" Chad said. They all teleported away.
Lee turned to his robotic companion. "Come on Alpha, the main rip's gonna open and soon, and we've gotta find it before that happens. If we don't. . . I don't even want to imagine!"