Ultimate Legacy: Chapter Sixteen

Escape the Shadow

Tyler and his teammates unlocked the Time Shard, unleashing waves of images. The visions looked back at a time before the Shattering, the time of the apocalypse, when evil seemed poised to win its ultimate victory.

(Ultimate Power Rangers New Generation: Year Six)

A Shadow Terminal enveloped the small town where Tommy hid his long-time fiancé Ashley and son Tyler. Lauren and Hunter went to investigate, but lost themselves to the darkness of the Shadow Town, a hub in the Dark Kingdom's Shadow Line.

They rescued Ashley after battling one of the Dark Kingdom's Archfiends, Nicchae. But the former ranger remained in a comma with something dark and mysterious growing inside her.

While in the Shadow Town, Hunter and Lauren encountered Sailor Venus, one of the Sailor Guardians from the Moon Kingdom before time and space. Like all Guardians, Venus was a Heavenly Saint in human form.

Through the blackened mist of the Shadow Town, Hunter, Lauren, and Venus crouched in a dark alley. At random, across the whole block, buildings turned to dust and blew into the silent wind.

Venus closed her eyes and held her hand on Ashley’s forehead. "I still can't tell what’s wrong with her. It's almost like she's been infected by this place. By the darkness."

"Then we have to get her out of here," Hunter said.

"We're still trapped," Lauren said. "We can't morph, and we can't reach the others."

"Maybe we can…" Hunter narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he looked at the shadows around them.

"What are you thinking?" Lauren asked.

"My shadow power didn't work against Dagra because of this darkness. They're too similar," Hunter said. "What if they're similar enough that one can amplify the other? Maybe I can use this darkness to send a flare."

"That sounds like a shot in the dark," Lauren said. "Pun intended."

"No," Venus said. "He might be right. The darkness might amplify your shadow burst. The question is, would anyone be looking for it?"

"Let's hope so," Hunter said.

The ranger looked upward and formed a crimson-tinted sphere of shadow between his palms. He poured on the power, intensifying the bolt of energy, which crackled and ebbed.

"Shadow Bolt!" He hurled the blast of power towards the skies.

It streaked like a comet and punctured through the mist of darkness. But nothing happened.

Lauren shook her head. "It didn't work."

"No " Hunter kept his eyes on the skies. "It didn't."

"Maybe your shadow power is too different from the darkness," Lauren said. "Or too similar? We're not even sure how this darkness works, or what it is, really."

Venus explained. "If the One Power is a river of energies, with different currents, your Shadow Power is like a current of dark water. But the Darkness is like oil that flows through the currents. Both are black. Shadow. But one is magick: Your power. And the other is a pollutant: The Darkness." 

"That still doesn't make sense," Lauren said.

"It doesn't matter," Hunter said. "The darkness is bad. Our powers aren't. They just both come from the same place, and one can corrupt the other."

"So what now?" Lauren asked.

Before anyone answered, Ashley's body convulsed, and darkness ebbed from her skin like black smog.

"Something's wrong," Hunter said as they leaned around her. "Hold her steady."

Lauren took Ashley by the head to keep her from injuring herself. She reached out with her Ki and tried to weave spells of healing, but nothing worked.

Without warning, Ashley's eyes snapped open, and she screamed.

The Time Shard's images shifted to the rebuilt Command Chamber, in the mountains east of Angel Grove. Tommy collapsed to his knees and groaned with pain.

"Ashley " he whispered through clenched teeth.

"Ay-yi-yi!" Alpha-5 walked towards him. "Tommy! What's happening?"

"It's Ashley," he said as he rubbed his forehead. "She's in trouble. I can sense it through The Power. Alpha, pull up an image of the safe-house."

"Right away, Tommy!"

Tommy climbed to his feet and walked towards the Viewing Globe, mounted in the front of the chamber where Zordon once kept a watchful eye over his team. Several times larger than its predecessor, the new Viewing Globe displayed an image of a small town in Alaska. Darkness covered the town completely.

Tommy narrowed his eyes. "How did we not notice this until now?" Worry gripped his throat like a vice. "Something must have happened to Hunter and Lauren, or they would have reported back. Alpha, patch me through to Teddy. We need to break through that Shadow Town."

The Time Shard's images shifted to the outskirts of the Shadow Town. Teddy and his boyfriend Ryan arrived, and met up with Anthony and Anna, and Bradin and Kirsten.

"Hey guys," Anthony said. "You notice we only get together when there's trouble?"

"It's hard to socialize when you're being hunted by INET while the whole world's ending," Bradin said.

Teddy explained their mission: Infiltrate the Shadow Town, meet-up with Hunter and Lauren, and free Ashley and Tyler.

Kirsten looked towards the darkness. "How are we supposed to morph in that stuff?"

Teddy flipped his morpher to brush mode. "After we morph, I can use a seal to protect us before we go into the Shadow Town. That should let us sustain our power."

"Should?" Bradin asked.

"Will," Teddy said. " hopefully."

Anthony armed his morpher. "Let's find out."

The rangers snapped open their morphers. "Samurai scribe! Ha!"

Energy flashed around them as they morphed into their Ranger forms.

Samurai Red used his morpher to write the kanji for "shield", which glowed in midair. He swiped his morpher through the kanji, which burst into light and splashed across the Rangers.

"There," the Red Ranger said. "That should hold. Now let's take care of business."

Ashley passed back into a coma, giving Hunter, Lauren, and Venus a chance to move deeper into the Shadow Town. They sought Dagra, an Archfiend they battled after first getting trapped.

Dagra seemed anchored to the town, so they hoped to escape by defeating him.

Hunter looked across the deserted, misty gray streets. "He was somewhere around here "

Venus nodded. "I can still sense him "

The smoke parted, and an old man floated through the air. He looked pale and wrinkled, with solid white eyes, black robes, and a long white beard that flowed down his chest.

His name: Dagra, servant of Queen Beryl, Infernal High Priest of the Archfiends, and ruler of the Youma.

"So " the villain said in a mocking tone. "You've come back "

"That's right," Hunter said with his usual calm. "Only this time we're not leaving until you're destroyed."

The villain laughed. "Your powers of shadow are useless against me. Iam shadow. Iam the darkness! You, boy, are nothing."

Venus spread her hands, summoning a chain of orange energy. "Can't say the same about me. My light burns. You've felt that yourself. Haven't you?"

Dagra grumbled. "You were lucky, little girl. I was not prepared to face the power of a Saint here. But now I am ready."

"Ready for us?!" a voice shouted from behind.

"What-"

Before he could turn, blades blurred with energy and slashed the Archfiend, hurling him through the air.

Samurai Red landed on the rooftop along with his five teammates: Samurai Gold, Samurai Blue, Samurai Green, Samurai Yellow, and Samurai Pink.

"Thought not," the Red Samurai Ranger said as he shifted into an offensive stance.

Sailor Venus lunged forward. "Venus Chain!"

She snapped her chain, which wrapped around Dagra and pinned his arms to his side.

The villain's eyes glowed red, and his body burst with dark energy that snapped the chain free.

Dagra shifted shape, twisted into a monstrosity, and burst from his robes. In his Youma form, four tentacles spread from his back like wings, and he carried two blades of bone. His beard turned red and flowed down his body. A skull mask with two horns covered the right side of his face, with an eyepiece that glowed red. Demonic black robes wrapped around his lower body, a black chest piece snapped over his pale chest, and dark fabric wrapped around his forearms.