Chapter 08: Not Even Close
Reality shattered, leaving shards of time and space in an endless void of chaos and madness. Within the void, the Ultimate Power Rangers gathered to learn the secrets of the End of All. Using Ranger Keys, they unlocked Time Shards to slowly unravel the history of existence’s downfall.
The Shards revealed this story.
The Moon
A teleportation beam flashed onto the surface of the moon. The light dissipated, revealing: the Mystic Rangers– Nick, Chip, Xander, Vida and Madison; Leo, Kamen Rider Beast; Kouishiro, former Kamen Rider Kuuga and now Kamen Rider Agito; and the Sailor Guardians, Heavenly Saints in human form. They stood within the ancient ruins of the Moon Kingdom.
“OK…” Leo said with relief as he touched his chest, gut, and head. “Everything’s still here. That wasn’t at all disconcerting.”
Chip’s face lit up. “We’re standing on the moon…in an ancient moon kingdom…on the moon!”
“You can geek out later, Chip,” Vida said. “We have a mission to finish…”
Serena nodded and looked into the distance, where the ruined Crystal Palace stabbed into space.
“Queen Beryl…” Serena said, speaking the name of the Forsaken that hid within the ruins.
Tommy had sent the group of champions to the moon to confront Beryl and free Maya, Kouishiro’s fiance. Beryl’s fellow Forsaken, Lanfear, had taken hold of Maya in her dreams, trapping her within her own subconscious. When Kamen Rider Wizard entered her subconscious to save her, he became trapped within the young woman’s mind as well.
Beryl took Maya and retreated to the Moon Kingdom, ruins encased in stone.
Xander knitted his brow as he looked out upon the stone landscape. “Uh, guys. How are we breathing?”
Ami answered. “There’s a pocket of atmosphere here. And gravity.”
“Right,” Xander said. “But…how?”
“Umm…” Ami hesitated, used to always having the answers…except for now. “Magic and stuff.”
They didn’t have any more time to ponder their surroundings. Shadows oozed from the ground and formed humanoid shapes, like mummies wrapped in hardened cloth over graying bodies.
Leo tilted his head. “Moon Mummies? I’m not calling them Moon Mummies.”
“They’re Lesser Youma,” Rei said. “Foot soldiers of Queen Beryl’s Dark Kingdom.”
Nick reached for his morpher. “Whatever they are, we’re taking them down.” He looked to his teammates. “Ready guys?”
“Ready!” they answered.
They flipped open their morphers.
“Heavenly Saints! Grant us the power of Magick! Magical Source, Mystic Force!”
Magick circles slid across their bodies as they morphed into their Ranger forms. They snapped their capes and shifted into fighting stances.
“Burning Flame Elemental! Magick of the Flame! Mystic Red!”
“Howling Earth Elemental! Magick of the Forest! Mystic Green!”
“Galloping Thunder Elemental! Magick of the Thunder! Mystic Yellow!”
“Rippling Water Elemental! Magick of the Water! Mystic Blue!”
“Blowing Wind Elemental! Magick of the Wind! Mystic Pink!”
“Askani Task Force!” Mystic Red shouted. Together, they called out: “Mystic Rangers!”
Serena smiled; she couldn’t help but be impressed. “OK, Guardians. It’s our turn! Transform!”
The five girls scattered and transformed.
“Moon Prism Power! Make-up!”
“Mercury Star Power! Make-up!”
“Mars Star Power! Make-up!”
“Jupiter Star Power! Make-up!”
“Venus Star Power! Make-up!”
Light washed across the moonscape. Energy flowed around the girls, forming weaves of material that wrapped around them like armor. Their suits looked like a mix of cloth and leather with metal trimming, almost like sailor school-girl outfits– but with an Amazonian Battle Maiden flare.
Leo’s eyes opened wide as he watched. “It’s sad how sexy I think that is. Really. Just…just sad.”
Kouishiro shook his head. “I don’t even know with you…”
The young man stepped into a transformation pose, placing one hand over his belt buckler, and raising the other across his body.
“Agito, Awaken!”
His buckler ignited with power, transforming Kouishiro into the gold-and-black armor of Kamen Rider Agito.
Leo pulled back his shirt and armed his belt buckler, which spoke: “DRIVER ON.”
He slid a lion ring onto the middle finger of his left hand. Stepping back, he snapped into his transformation pose. “Awaken!”
He thrust his ring against his driver and turned, snapping the buckler open. “OPEN — LION; AWAKEN.”
The buckler emitted a circular field of golden energy, with magical runes, that slid across Leo and activated his armor. He transformed into Kamen Rider Beast: The Primordial Mage.
Kamen Rider Beast and Kamen Rider Agito took point, leaping through the air with flying kicks. Their kicks slammed two grunts, with shock waves that knocked back several more.
Nearby, Mystic Yellow swung his staff, hacking and slashing through a group of grunts. He looked over his shoulder towards Sailor Jupiter.
“Power of thunder, right?”
To answer, she summoned a bolt of lightning that tore through several of the grunts.
“Sweet!” Mystic Yellow shouted. “A lightning team-up!”
The Yellow Ranger shifted stances and channeled his energy. Meanwhile, Sailor Jupiter crossed her arms over her chest; lightning crackled around her.
They called out:
“Yellow Thunder!”
“Supreme Thunder!”
Lightning tore across the moon, vaporizing grunts with bursts of spark and light.
Meanwhile, Sailor Mercury and Mystic Blue stood back-to-back.
“Blue Splash!”
“Mercury Aqua Mist!”
The Sailor Guardian’s mist covered the area. Mystic Blue turned the mist into explosive torrents of hydro energy, thrashing the grunts with bursts of spark.
The remaining grunts regrouped and surged towards the champions for another attack.
Mystic Red faced the wave of foes.
“Magi Staff!” He grabbed his Magi Staff and switched the weapon to blade mode. “Magi Sword!”
Sailor Mars stood near him. Their fire energy heated the atmosphere, steaming the stone beneath their feet.
They called out:
“Red Fire!”
“Fire Soul!”
Their fire attacks blazed across the landscape, sweeping up grunts with bursts of fire that ripped them apart.
From the stone surface of the ground, new mummy creatures rose from the ashes of fallen grunts– dozens upon dozens.
“More of them?!” Mystic Yellow shouted while chopping a mummy to the ground.
“You almost sound excited,” Mystic Pink said with an upward strike that whipped a grunt off its feet.
From within the ranks of grunts walked a lone figure, dressed in white: Rahvin, the Forsaken known as the White Mage.
Kamen Rider Beast sighed at the sight of the villain. “Not good. What’s he doing here?”
Sailor Jupiter fired a burst of lightning that tore through three grunts before they could attack the distracted Rider.
“Friend of yours?” she asked before firing another energy wave.
“Sparring partner,” Beast said. “Deranged, sociopathic sparring partner.”
The White Mage strode towards the champions with quiet confidence and strength. He slid a ring onto his hand and placed that hand over his belt buckler. The buckler spoke the command: “CHAIN; NOW”
Chains erupted from the ground, wrapped around the champions, and sprang upward, forming a web that ensnared the Rangers, Riders and Guardians.
The villain slid a different ring onto his hand, shifted his buckler, and placed a hand over his buckler: “EXPLOSION; NOW”
A white magick circle snapped open beneath the champions and exploded, blasting the heroes with bursts of spark and fire.
Kamen Rider Beat twisted just enough to lock his ring against his belt buckler.The connection sparked a charge that knocked him from the chains. He flipped through the air and landed as his Beast Driver energized: “HYPER; AWAKEN”
A golden circle of magical energy formed behind Beast. An astral projection of the Chimera surged through the circle and merged with the Rider with a shattering of golden light. He shifted into his powered-up, blue-and-gold armored Hyper Mode, and pounced to attack.
Beast energized the golden ribbons that extended from his gauntlets. He used them like whips, thrashing White Mage with bursts of spark that sent the villain staggering backward.
White Mage leapt aside to get clear. He shifted his belt Driver and placed a hand over his buckler. “LIGHTNING; NOW”
A burst of lightning shot from the skies and struck the Rider with massive bursts of spark.
Mystic Red tightened his fists and channeled his fiery power. The chains glowed from the heat and started to sizzle and pop. Finally, they snapped, and the Red Ranger flipped to the ground.
“Magi Staff!” He stabbed his staff into the ground with a burst of red light. “Release!”
The chains shattered, dropping the rest of the heroes.
They started to move towards Beast’s aide, but before they could, a wave of Moon Mummies blocked their path.
“This is getting ridiculous,” Mystic Red said. “They’re trying to keep us away from the palace.”
“And we’re letting them!” Sailor Moon shouted.
“Not on purpose,” Mystic Red said.
Sailor Venus looked to her princess. “We should go on ahead. The others can hold the line here.”
Sailor Moon looked to Mystic Red. “Nick?”
“Go ahead,” Mystic Red. “We’ll catch up as soon as we can.”
She smiled, kissed the side of his helmet, and ran off along with their teammates.
“Be careful!” she called out after him.
The Moon Mummies scattered, blocking Kamen Rider Agito’s path to the White Mage, who battled Kamen Rider Beast.
Agito knew he needed to end this fight, and quickly, to get to Maya. Nothing else mattered. His determination burned like fire. And he called on that fire to amplify his power.
The Rider placed a hand over his buckler. His armor overheated and molted, revealing a powered-up suit of armor that reflected the starlight. He stood in his Shining Form.
Agito rushed through the grunts, kicks and punches streaking with light. He bashed through the rear line of grunts, hopped towards White Mage, and landed with a punch that struck the villain’s faceplate.
He round-kicked Mage, and reverse side-kicked him, taking the evil Rider off guard and using that for a strong advantage.
Agito punched Mage’s helmet. He punched again. And again, forcing the White Mage back several steps.
“You won’t keep her from me…” he thought of Maya with each and every punch. “You won’t!”
He armed a pair of curved sabers; they energized with light and power.
“Shining Clash!”
He spun and slashed through streaks of power, striking with bursts of spark that sent Mage stumbling backward.
The Rider pushed forward with a flying side-kick.
“Shining Kick!”
His kick energied, and he shot towards Mage.
But Mage teleported away, reappeared behind Agito, and slashed him to the ground.
The Guardians leapt over stone-encased ruins and landed in the center of a stone courtyard. They expected another wave of Moon Mummies to meet them, but no attack came.
A single stone statue rested in the center of the courtyard. After closer inspection, they noticed the statue looked like an elderly woman, her face frozen in a scream.
“So sad…” Sailor Moon said as she traced her fingers along the outline of the statue’s face. “Who was she?”
Sailor Mars knitted her brow. “Be careful, Usagi…I sense something ominous. Something evil. It’s almost as if-”
“It’s right here!” The statue came to life and grabbed Sailor Moon’s arm.
She screamed and kicked, but the impact of bone-on-stone hurt her ankle. “Ow, ow, ow!”
The statue rippled and revealed its true form: Jadeite, one of the Dark Kingdom’s generals.
“Hello, pretty Saints.” He waved his other arm with a powerful TK burst, knocking the other four Saints away. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Sailor Moon narrowed her eyes. “Creep.” She looked to her teammates. “Get to Beryl’s temple, I’ll hold him off!”
“Are you sure?” Sailor Mercury asked.
“Uh…yeah? I think? Just go, I’ll be fine!” she called back.
“Will you?” Jadeite whispered as he leaned closer, his icy cold breath stinging Sailor Moon’s face. “Somehow I doubt that.”
Sailor Moon knocked his hand away and hopped backward.
Sailor Mercury moved in from the side.
“Mercury Aqua Mist!” She thrust her hand and channeled weaves of mist, surrounding Jadeite and the Sailors with fog.
Sailor Venus took advantage of the distraction to slip away, and Sailor Jupiter followed, not wanting her teammate to go ahead alone.
Jadeite laughed from within the mist. He lifted his hand and used his cryogenic energy to drop the mist’s temperature, turning the fog into swirls of snowflakes.
“Is that all you can do? Summon some fog?” He snapped towards Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury. “You can’t possibly compete with me!”
He thrust his hands and fired beams of icey energy from his palms. The beams slammed against the two Guardians, nearly hurling them backward, but they stood their ground, barely, arms crossed over their chests as the energy poured against them.
Sailor Mars pounced and grabbed the villain’s arm. Ice ebbed from his skin and started to coat the Guardian’s hand, traveling up her wrist, and then her forearm. But the Sailor pulsed with fiery energy that shattered the ice and sent Jadeite staggering aside.
Jadeite stumbled into a fighting stance and fired a twirling vortex of icey energy. Sailor Mars ignited her aura with fiery energy that swept the vortex aside, vaporizing it into smoke.
Sailor Moon stepped back and placed a hand over her tiara.
“Moon Tiara Action!”
She ignited her taira with holy energy and hurled it at Jadeite. The boomerang snapped around his arms, binding his wrists together.
Sailor Mars pulled a paper slip from her belt. The slip’s kanji symbols ignited with fiery energy.
“Evil Spirits, Begone!” She swung the slip through a circle, streaking with fiery energy, and threw it forward.
Her attack formed a wave of fiery power that splashed Jadeite, scorching his skin and sending him hurling backward.
Kamen Rider Beast pommeled White Mage with a flurry of punches. Agito moved in next to his comrade and launched a series of kicks. For whatever reason, White Mage stayed on the defensive. Was he toying with them?
A wave of Moon Mummies swarmed towards the two Riders from behind.
“Hyper Magnum!” Beast armed his blaster and grumbled under his breath. “Why’d I have to call them Moon Mummies, stupid, now that’s stuck in my head.”
He swung his gun, parrying their blows and firing bursts of golden energy. The blasts exploded through grunts and whipped them to the ground.
The Rider swung his blaster wide and triggered a volley of blasts that ripped through the grunts ahead. He turned and swung wide, blasting the villains that closed in from behind.
Nearby, the Mystic Rangers pushed past the remaining grunts and moved towards White Mage. Kamen Rider Agito and Kamen Rider Beast regrouped with them.
“Alright,” Mystic Red said. “Let’s go Legendary!”
They armed their morphers.
“Legendary Source! Mystic Force!”
Magick circles slid across the Rangers, morphing them into their Legend Warrior armor.
They armed their Mystic Lion Staffs and attacked.
“Rockslide!” The Green Ranger thrust his staff, firing a wave of stone and earth.
“Whirlwind!” Mystic Pink twirled her staff, firing a wave of wind energy.
“Tidal Wave!” The Blue Ranger thrust her staff with a torrent of hydro energy.
“Lightning bolt!” Mystic Yellow lifted his staff and fired a massive blast of lightning.
“Firestorm!” The Red Ranger thrust his staff with a wave of fiery energy.
Earth, water, wind, lightning, and fire smashed White Mage, thrashing his armor with bursts of spark, and sending him skidding backward. Flames and electricity scorched his armor, battered by chunks of debris and blasts of wind and water.
Kamen Rider Agito leapt through the air before Mage could recover.
“Shining Kick!”
His energized kick bashed White Mage with a burst of spark that sent him stumbling backward.
Kamen Rider Beast connected his ring to his blaster. “HYPER; MAGNUM STRIKE”
The weapon flashed with light, and a golden magic circle formed around the barrel. Beast triggered a wave of energy shaped like Chimera, which blasted towards White Mage. The blast punctured through the villain as secondary explosions tore across his armor.
The White Mage leaned back and extended his arms; his armor shattered, revealing his Phantom form, Wiseman. The villain flexed his muscles, ripping with power.
“My magick is older than time,” Wiseman said. “Yours is nothing but a collection of parlor tricks.”
He lifted his hand with an invisible pulse of energy, bashing the Rangers and Riders and draining their power. The Mystics reverted back to their standard Ranger forms. Beast and Agito reverted back to their standard Rider forms.
The Forsaken lifted his other hand with an invisible wave of power; the blast smashed the Rangers and Riders with a shower of sparks that knocked them off their feet.
“I understand The Power in ways no one ever has, or ever will,” Wiseman said as he stalked towards his fallen opponents.
Beast groaned as he climbed to his feet. “Why are you so chatty all of a sudden?”
Wiseman blasted the Rider to the ground.
Suddenly, a burst of golden light ignited, hurling the Forsaken off his feet. He crashed and skid across the stone ground, as secondary explosions tore across his skin. When he rolled to a stop and looked up, he saw Daggeron step from the light.
Mystic Blue opened her eyes wide beneath her helmet. “Daggeron!”
“Hello, Rangers,” said Daggeron, the Heavenly Saint of the Sun in human form. “I thought you could use some help.”
Wiseman climbed to his feet. “Another Heavenly Saint? I thought N’Ma burnt Heaven into a scorching husk.”
“Don’t concern yourself with Heaven,” Daggeron said. “You’ll never see its light again.”
The villain tilted his head. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
Daggeron armed his morpher. “Magical Source! Mystic Force!”
Golden light enveloped him; armor snapped around his body as he morphed into the Gold Mystic Ranger. He snapped out his arms, his cape flowing in artificial wind.
“Shining Solar Elemental! Magick of the Sun! Mystic Gold!”
Wiseman lifted his hand. “Your magic is like a child’s drawing compared to the tapestry of my power.” He tightened his fist. “Explode.”
An explosion slammed Mystic Gold, sending him skidding backward as he stayed on his feet.
The other champions charged to help, but Mystic Gold lifted his arm to single them to stay back. “I’ll handle the Forsaken,” he said. “Go help the Sailor Guardians. Find Maya, and free Wizard. We need his power.”
“But Daggeron-” Mystic Red started to say. But Agito placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Come on,” Agito said. “He’s a Heavenly Saint, he’ll be OK. Maya needs us.”
Reluctantly Mystic Red nodded. The Rangers and Riders ran off, leaving Mystic Gold to handle Wiseman.
Sailor Venus dashed closer to the palace in the center of the ruins. As she crossed the stone-covered landscape, she sensed a familiar presence. Kunzite.
She spotted him hovering in a green-and-black energy orb, standing calmly with his eyes closed.
“Kunzite, I’m here!” Venus shouted.
He opened his eyes, smiling. “Sailor Venus. Funny…I thought we had already killed you.”
Venus didn’t feel like bantering.
“Crescent Beam!” She thrust her hand with two fingers pointed and fired a beam of orange energy.
Kunzite lifted his hand. With a pulse of green light, he reflected the blast with a burst of energy. He thrust his other hand and fired a beam of jade power.
Venus crossed her arms over her chest. The blast slammed against her, skidding her backward.
Kunzite hovered closer to her. “Look at you. So helpless. You couldn’t protect Silver Millennium then. And you cannot protect this Earth now.”
He lifted his hand, charging a sphere of black and green energy.
“Kunzite!” a voice shouted.
He looked to see the other four Guardians leap to the scene.
Sailor Moon stepped forward, leading her team. “I won’t let you steal this world’s light.” She shifted into a fighting stance. “In the name of the Moon…I’ll punish you!”
“Kinky,” Kunzite said. “But no.”
He thrust his hand with a stream of green light. The Guardians scattered, and the blast exploded where they had stood.
Sailor Mercury leapt into the air. “Mercury Aqua Mist!”
She wove streams of aqua mist that combined into a pillar of hydro power. The stream splashed over Kunzite’s protective sphere.
Sailor Jupiter hovered nearby, crackling with lightning. “Supreme Thunder!”
Sailor Mars floated in the air as she wove streams of fire. “Evil Spirits, Begone!”
Sailor Venus snapped another energy blast. “Crescent Beam!”
Fire and lightning splashed against Kunzite’s shield. And Venus’s beam of power ricocheted off the barrier.
He barely seemed phased. “That level of attack won’t work against me…”
Sailor Moon leapt into the air behind him. She raised her scepter high.
“Moon! Healing! Escalation!”
The scepter flared with holy light. She aimed and fired a beam of radiance, casting holy energy across the moonscape.
Kunzite dashed aside and flash-stepped behind Sailor Moon.
“I told you. That level of attack won’t work against me…”
He thrust his hand with a burst of green-black energy, swatting Sailor Moon from the sky. Kunzite fired another burst that shot towards Sailor Venus. Sailor Mars grabbed her, and they leap aside as the blast exploded.
Sailor Moon flailed downward. But before she crashed, Mystic Red leapt through the air and caught her. The Red Ranger landed and lowered her gently to the surface.
“Hey…” he said sheepishly.
She blushed. “Hey…” He felt so warm and strong, and she never wanted to let him go. At the same time, she knew her heart belonged to another. Her soulmate, Endymion. “I, uh…suppose you should let me go now.”
“Oh,” Mystic Red stammered. “Right…”
The Red Ranger helped Sailor Moon to her feet.
From behind, Kunzite dropped a globe of darkness. The globe expanded, creating a sphere of dark that covered the battle.
“Wha-, Nick?!” Sailor Moon shouted. “What’s happening?!”
“It’s OK,” Mystic Red said. “It’s just-”
Crystal daggers blasted the Red Ranger with bursts of spark, whipping him to the ground. Slowly, he climbed to his feet. But the globe of darkness crackled with lightning that thrashed the Red Mystic Ranger’s armor.
“Well, well…” a voice said from behind. The voice belonged to Zoisite. Shards of diamonds floated around him like pedals. “I’d heard about you Rangers but didn’t think you’d be this…ridiculous. Are you seriously wearing a cape?”
“Tough talk coming from a guy who picks on girls in sailor outfits,” Mystic Red said through a clenched jaw, as he pushed himself to stand.
Suddenly, bolts of light blasted the Red Ranger back to the ground. He rolled to his side and looked up to see his attacker. Nephrite.
The villain lifted his hand. Small spheres of light circled his wrist.
“Stand aside, Zoisite,” he said. “This one is mine.”
Kamen Rider Agito led Kamen Rider Beast into a dark tunnel hidden within the base of the Moon palace. They found the passage easily.Too easily.
Agito suspected a trap. But he didn’t let that slow him down. He didn’t hesitate in the slightest.
“Maya, I’m coming,” he whispered.
INTERLUDE
Ken didn’t care much for Tommy Oliver. Still, the Rider agreed to Tommy’s request to track down the Forsaken named Aginor. Unlike most Forsaken, Aginor possessed little power of his own. But he practiced horrible experiments that created frightening creatures.
Ken, as Kamen Rider Blade, battled these creatures month ago: The Neo-Undead. The villain also had an army of White Jokers, modeled after the Joker Undead, as well as monstrosities known as Vorlocs. Worst of all, Aginor controlled the undead body of the first Forsaken killed by the Samurai Rangers, Serrator.
Tommy wanted to stop the villain’s army from growing, and so did Ken.
Ken traveled along with his companions Ben, Kamen Rider Garren; Nick, Kamen Rider Leangle and Zayden, Kamen Rider Chalice. Hikaru, Kamen Rider Black RX, accompanied them at Tommy’s request.
The heroes charged their motorcycles into Aginor’s lab, a wide, open room with steps that led to higher and lower levels. The lab existed in different points in space at the same time, including Demon City, Azmodai’s mansion, Corinith, and even the moon.
Aginor kept his back to the champions. He tinkered with a few bottles on a lab table, covered with tubes and glass containers.
“It’s amazing how this Wheel of Time works,” Aginor said, as if he had been talking to them for hours. “Even within an Age, time seems to repeat itself. Here you are, again, barging into one of my labs to try to stop me. And here I am, again, prepared to fight you, by throwing by most beautiful creations into the fray.”
“Yeah, it’s real poetic,” Ken said.
“Hmph.” Aginor lifted his hand. Five figures dropped from the shadows.
“Behold the leaders of my army, the army I will present to the Dark One…now that all the Seals to his prison have been broken.”
Ken narrowed his eyes. “What…?”
“Oh, yes, you’re too late, I fear,” Aginor said. “The Dark One will appear upon the mortal plane at any moment. And I will present him with these…”
Dozens of monsters dropped from the shadows, circling the chamber, surrounding the heroes. White Jokers.
Zayden’s body tightened at the sight of them, creatures created from his Undead cells.
“Don’t worry,” Aginor said. “After they kill you, I will turn your corpses into warriors skilled enough to slaughter the universe.”
END INTERLUDE
Kamen Rider Agito and Kamen Rider Beast found Maya in a dark chamber lit by eerie green fog. Unmoving, on a pedestal of stone, she looked still and fragile.
Agito walked towards her and ran his fingers through her hair. “I can’t stand seeing her like this…”
“We’ll get her back,” Beast said, no quips or jokes this time.
He slid one of his magick rings onto her hand. The ring flared with a magick circle, which would allow the Riders to enter the world of her mind. Her Underworld.
They leapt through the circle.
Mist peeled back, revealing Kamen Rider Beast and Kamen Rider Agito, standing in the darkness of Maya’s mindscape. They each appeared in their standard armor, no power-ups.
Slowly, a city came into focus. They recognized their surroundings as Angel Grove North before its destruction. They saw a younger version of Maya and her little brother Simon, caught in the middle of the Power Rangers’ first battle with one of Bandora’s monsters, way back in 2001.
“Maya…” Agito whispered. “We’re here. We’re in her mind.”
Beast nodded. “Yep. And now…yeah, I’m not even sure where to start. Go kill Lanfear, I guess? Should be simple enough…I would think…maybe…”
The landscape snapped back into pitch-black darkness.
Lanfear appeared hovering in the air, covered by a cloak of midnight and hood that hid her face, all expect for her pale lips and narrow chin.
She extended her arms; she multiplied into dozens of copies that surrounded the Riders. Each Lanfear fired beams of electricity that thrashed the heroes with massive bursts of spark, driving them to their knees.
“Hell of a way to say hi,” Beast grumbled. He looked over his shoulder. “Chimera!”
He summoned his Phantom Beast, which could exist in the realm of the mind. The chimera flew through the darkness, and Beast leapt onto its back.
Lanfear extended her hand. The darkness grabbed the Chimera, nearly strangling it, hurling Kamen Rider Beast from its back. The Rider flailed through the blackness as secondary explosions sparked across his armor.
Agito leapt towards the Forsaken while flipping through the air.
“Rider Kick!”
Before he could strike, an invisible burst of energy knocked him aside. Lanfear hadn’t even moved.
The villain lifted her hand; her palm pulsed with midnight energy.
Suddenly, flames surged through the mindscape, washing up Lanfear and forcing her backward.
Agito and Beast looked back and saw the attacker. Kamen Rider Wizard stood tall on his dragon, flames still rising from its nostrils.
“Hey guys,” he said. “Did I miss showtime?”
—to be continued…Chapter 09