Power Rangers Wolf Pack (Fan-Series)

[ComradeWolfie]

First off, disclaimer; this is a series I have been working on for some time, and after a bit of questioning, have been given permission by @legomaster1378 to put this on the message boards. You’ll see why in the next part.

##DISCLAIMER - THE FOLLOWING PIECE OF LITERATURE CONTAINS MILD SWEARING, VIOLENCE, DARK THEMES, AND ALL THAT OTHER FUN STUFF.

I understand that this may be taken down if too many people flag it.

First off, a bit of context

Set in 2016, a city of the name Pax Valley, has become faced with an ancient evil, locked within the Earth for many years. Demons are rising, sent forth by their Master to claim the Earth; ridding the world of the vermin known as Humans.

Their first attempt, thwarted by five Warriors.

This time…won’t seem too different.

(Context of Rangers/characters will be added if asked)

Welcome to the Wolf Pack.

PROLOGUE

Smoke flew over the empty battlefield; the grass had been upturned from explosions, leaving marks in the surface, like gashes. The soil bleeding out from the Earth, littering across the once peaceful land. The otherwise green grass stained with the blood of the fallen.

Bodies littered everywhere, thrown about like toys belonging to a short tempered child. Limbs missing, spat across the field. No severed limb was close to the original owner.

Yet these bodies were of strange creatures; humanoid, but covered in fur. Colors varied from creature to creature, but all sharing similar features.

Long muzzles in place of the mouth. Large, pointed ears. Builds far greater than that of most humans; some larger than others, making identification easy between genders.

But all dead.

Well…almost all…

From a large gash in the Earth, a hand slowly rose up and sunk into the ground beside the opening; four fingers and a thumb, but each topped with a sharpened talon-like claw, increasing the force they held onto the ground.

Gruff, growl-like sounds came from the creature, whose other hand came up from the gash, latching onto the same ground, pulling themselves up from the dirt.

His crimson armor sporting clumps of dirt, yet another substance stained the body armor. The colors may have been the same, but there was a slight distinction between the battle worn armor, and the patches of blood across the chest plating and cloth that made up his armoring.

Pulling himself free of the dirt, he let himself roll onto his back, head resting back; chest rising and falling slowly but deeply. His weapon, a curved blade, resting against his left arm, blood slowly trickled down the smooth edge, before dropping onto the grass blades. Further staining the surface with the fallen blood.

His hands shook slightly, as they slowly moved from the ground to rest on either side of his head; flicking open the clasps of his mask, removing it from the extended muzzle and throwing it to one side. His fur slightly damp from being compressed close to his body for an unknown period of time. A small cut, just below his right eye, seeped out blood; staining the charcoal black fur down the right side of his muzzle. Said muzzle was parted slightly, letting out the exhales of his labored breathing.

A defiant shake in his breathing, which simply refused to go away.

His eyes, comprised of a dark yellow sclera and black pupil, were both dilated and darted in all directions every few seconds. His ears pressed flush against his skull, almost burying in the fur across the back of his head.

The past hours had been torturous on his hearing, and he began to question if his hearing had gone completely until the sound of the wind caught his attention. A sigh of relief passed through him once he had his breathing under control.

Slowly turning his head to the left, the creature’s eyes finally managed to make out shapes in the bright field. The disembodied remains of his enemies…and…

“Brothers…” he said aloud, not expecting a response; his voice a hush whisper, finding it a struggle to say anything. It, frankly, amazed him he managed to get that word out. His throat felt parched; coughing shortly after speaking.

A strained groan escaped him as his body slowly rolled onto his left side, pressing his hands into the earth; pushing himself up, his claws slicing through the moist dirt as if it were air.

Finally positioning himself to his knees, he looked around the stained battlefield; seeing the scattered bodies, the blood stains and the gashed surface. A shaky, slow exhale escaped him, his hands coming to rest on his knees, clutching the cloth that went over his leg armor.

“It’s over…” he said to himself, his ears slowly lifting themselves up from the back of his skull; gaining a better hearing range. The sound of wings flapping made themselves known. Most likely vultures fighting over who got the best flesh of the dead.

His head slowly looked down, his yellow eyes closing slowly as he inhaled deeply.

“It’s over…”

One hand slowly uncurled from its grip on the cloth, and slowly moved to his side; patting along his waist, feeling the point where the waist cloth was attached to the armor of his torso. Eventually reaching a small pouch, almost directly behind his back. A quick shake created a light jingling sound; like metal coins, tempting a merchant to part with his valuables.

Finally gathering himself enough, the creature rose from his kneeling position; stumble slightly from the initial standing, but quickly righting himself.

He inhaled deeply, his ears standing up right, pointed to the sky, as his lupine muzzle turned to one direction, and his legs eventually got the message.

One job was finished, but another needed starting…

–

The sun slowly moved across the sky, the cycle almost half over and the moon was beginning to rise by the time he was finished. He stood before the line of creatures, all in the same position. Arms crossed over their chest, legs together, eyes gently closed if they weren’t already.

He walked pass their heads, one hand carrying the curved blade, resting the blunt edge against his armored shoulder, while the other hand held a thick branch. Embers flickered from the fire that burnt the other end, cloth wrapped firmly and doused with flammable liquid. The only source of light and warmth for miles around.

The long wall finally ended, the creature coming to a stop at the two wolves that ended the lineup. He looked down, slowly lowering the torch to illuminate their motionless faces. One female, one male; one muzzle more slender than the other, one pair of ears slightly curved, while one had a larger build and a scar across their forehead.

A tired sigh escaped the living creature, closing his eyes and tightening his grip around both the hole for the blade and the base of the torch. Despite his work, guilt still wretched through him like an illness; starting in the base of his stomach, and working to the rest of his body.

Three bodies were still unaccounted for…

“You all died with honor…you fought for our people…” he said aloud, opening his eyes again and walking back the way he came. The whoosh from the flame spiked with the sudden movement, before the faint crackling returned.

“Your deaths were not in vain…we completed our task. Horror…is no more; vanquished from this land, never to harm a creature on this planet again. He slaughtered our people; the humans feared him, let him consume them…turned them on each other.”

A hollow, low chuckle escaped him.

“He nearly did the same to us…But we stopped him. And for that…Zeta will reward you.”

He slowly knelt down at the middle point of the line, carefully holding the burning end of the torch to the line of bodies long enough for the fire to spread to the bodies.

“May Zeta guide you; may Zeta protect you.”

He rose to his feet once again, taking a step back as the fires started to spread, one body at a time. A line of fire soon consumed all of the bodies, the smell of burnt fur and flesh slowly filling the air around them.

He did stay long enough for the smell to stick to him; the torch was dumped on the bodies, he walked away, walking away. Humans would be arriving soon…they’ll see the light and come…

‘Their curiosity is their weakness…’, the creature thought to himself as he vanished from sight.

Tweaked the formatting a bit -legomaster

[ComradeWolfie]

Episode 1 - Awakening, Part 1

“Alright! Pax High; everybody off!”

The holler from the front of the bus caught Isaac’s attention; he’d been staring out of the window, watching the scenery pass by; apart from the occasional bump from going over a rock in the road, it had been smooth.

It would have been better if it weren’t for the other teenagers crammed into the school bus.

Isaac had grown up as an only child, so was used to the silence of a house with only three people in it. He relished in it whenever they came around, which became fewer and fewer the older he got.

And the fact that he was in the middle of other teenagers, who spent more time looking at the phone in their hands than what was in front of them, shouting loudly to be heard over everyone else shouting, made him appreciate it all the more.

With a low, calming exhale, Isaac reached between his legs and grabbed his rucksack, getting to his feet and filing off of the bus along with the other students. Bodies shoving against each other in the narrow confines of the walkway in the bus, as they shuffled towards the open door.

The students muttered small words of gratitude to the driver, some merely grunting from being too absorbed in the latest Tweet, before Isaac passed the driver, muttering a faint “Cheers,” before climbing off of the bus.

No point in hiding his accent, he figured shortly after arriving here. ‘They’d find out soon enough,’ he told himself.

He stepped off the bus, sit stepping to let the other students pass, all walking towards the high school that stood before him.

The walls were an off white in color; either by choice or from weathering, it really wasn’t a good color, in Isaac’s opinion. But, he didn’t really have a say in what passed for decent colors nowadays. Still, the design was alright; at least three stories high, with windows lining the height of some areas, void of classrooms but filled with stairs.

The name of the school, ‘PAX VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL’, was embedded into the sign above the front doors, as students filed through, heading to their hangouts before dragging themselves to their first period.

Exhaling again, Isaac slung the black rucksack over his shoulder, looking across all that was in front of him.

“Here we go…” he said to himself, before willing his feet to begin walking; driving himself towards the school.

Pushing his way through the double doors, he was met with a wall of students; blocking the entire width of the hallway, chatting in little clusters, their little friendship circles, barely leaving room for a single person to navigate their way through them.

Rolling dark brown eyes, Isaac began the process of maneuvering his way through the clusters; brushing past people, trying to find his class as quickly as possible.

“Class 13…Class 13…” he muttered to himself, looking from side to side, reaching a crossroads in the corridor. Thankfully, signs hung from the ceiling and helped Isaac find his class.

Heading left, he found this corridor was narrower, and thankfully, fewer people were filling the width. He headed past several doors, looking for their number.

Class 11….

Class 12…

“Bingo,” he muttered to himself, stopping and standing before Class 13.

He stepped forward, opening the door and heading into the classroom.

There were only a few students already in the classroom; the rest of them were taking their sweet ■■■ time dragging themselves from their lockers.

“Ah, you must be…Isaac, yes?”

Isaac turned to look at the source of the voice; it would appear to be the teacher of the class.

He had a wiry figure, which was half hidden behind the desk; arms crossed in front of his chest, crumpling his dark grey suit. This was paired with a white ■■■■■ and slim black tie.

A pair of thin wired glasses rested on his nose, which he pressed back slightly when Isaac entered the room. Short black hair was kept clean and trimmed, a professional look.

“That’s me sir,” Isaac replied with a faint nod.

The teacher picked up a piece of paper from his desk, muttering a little under his breath.

“You’re sitting at the back. Find a seat, the others should be in soon.”

Again, Isaac nodded, before walking around the desks and slinging his bag under the desk of his selected seat, dragging the seat out and taking a seat.

Now all he had to do was wait for the others…see who he was stuck with for the foreseeable future…

–

Kyle was REALLY regretting last night. He should have had all those drinks…just one more, he said.

It was for fun, he said.

Oh, how he wished he listened to his common sense.

He let out a low, slightly pain groan as he rubbed his temple with his palms, partially lifting the dark blue cap he wore as part of his uniform. His elbows resting on the table of the place’s breakroom. He’d try using some ice to soothe, but his manager would make him pay for it.

The ■■■…

A mild buzzing in his pocket brought him back from his pain, and he slipped one hand down to blindly grab for his phone. After unlocking it, he flicked the screen down to get the notification up.

‘Hey, u at work yet?’ It was Tanya.

Still rubbing his temple with the one hand, Kyle’s fingers glided over the screen, tapping out a reply.

'Yeah, still suffering ’

He tapped send.

He waited for a few seconds, seeing Tanya had seen the message.

‘Lightweight lol’

Kyle rolled his eyes slightly, a soft chuckle escaping him. Though it was replaced with a low groan of pain moments later.

‘Meet front of store?’

Kyle tapped his thumb over the screen. ‘Eh, sure. ■■■■■ doesn’t start for another 5.’

With that, he slowly stood up, slipping his phone back into his pocket and headed around the table. One hand still pressed against his temple, he headed for the front of the store.

–

The door of the classroom woke Isaac up from his light slumber, lifting his head up from being propped up on his elbow.

Several people had entered the room since Isaac last checked, shifting slightly in his seat to sit up straight.

“Finally woke up, did you?”

Isaac flicked slightly, glancing to his left. He really needed to improve his hearing…

It was a girl; wearing a dark grey jacket over a ■■■■■, complete with jeans. Her black hair was about shoulder length, give or take an inch.

“Yeah…” Isaac said slowly, shifting slightly in his seat again. When he spoke, something seemed to catch her attention; she tore her gaze from her phone to side glance at him.

“England, huh?” she asked.

“Uh…yeah…”

Well, someone figured it out faster than he expected them too…

“What’s a Brit like you doing in Pax Valley?” she asked.

Isaac shrugged slightly, shifting around to face the girl.

“Grandparents are from here; moved over to England. Dad divorced from my Mum, and she wanted to come to the place her parents were from. And well…here I am.”

The girl looked Isaac over for a few seconds, before she finally decided to introduce herself. “Natalie,” she said.

“Isaac,” he replied.

Natalie nodded slightly, before turning her attention back to her phone.

Isaac rolled his eyes slightly, turning his attention back to the front of the class; the teacher finally decided to start the first lesson.

–

“Wow…you look like ■■■■.”

“Thanks, Tanya,” Kyle replied, sarcasm so thick in his voice, he could’ve choked on it.

The girl rolled her eyes, leaning her elbows on one of the outside seating of the diner.

“You always were blunt,” Kyle muttered, rubbing his hands over his face repeatedly

“You didn’t think I’d change over the summer, did ya?” Tanya asked, leaning over to nudge Kyle’s shoulder. This caused his arm to slip out from supporting his face. He would’ve face planted the table if it weren’t for his other arm.

Kyle grunted quietly, bringing his arm back to rest on the table. “So, how goes the training?”

“It’s going alright, I guess; got a trail week at the kick boxing place other side of town next month,” she responded, leaning her elbows on the table, crossing her arms over each other.

“Well, good luck with that. Just promise not to use me as a punching bag,” Kyle said jokingly, though he felt a slight pang in his stomach when he stopped talking.

Tanya chuckled, flicking a bit of her short, brown hair behind her ear; Kyle remembered a time where Tanya had her hair to at least her shoulders. Now, it was cut rather short. She gave a light punch to his shoulder, yet he still winced at the rough contact.

“You should really stop giving me ideas,” she said.

“Yeah, yeah…” Kyle replied, rubbing his shoulder, yet had a smile on his face.

–

‘Car 59T, reports of a 415 on 53rd and 17th. Reports say in an alley.’

One of the officers grabbed the hand piece of the radio, raising it to his lips. “This is car 59T, 10-4. Moving to investigate.”

Setting the hand piece back into place, the driving officer took a right at the intersection and drove towards the predesignated streets.

A short drive later, the car pulled up to the curb and the engine was turned off.

“I got this,” the driver said to the passenger, a fellow officer, as he opened the door to step out of the vehicle.

“You sure you don’t want help?” asked the other officer, slightly younger than the other, leaning over slightly as the first officer stepped out of the cruiser completely.

Leaning down to peer through the door, the older one looked blankly, saying, “I’ve got this, Seth. I’ll get you if needed.”

With that, the door closed, the officer walked around the front of the car and headed into the nearby alley; figuring he’d try them one by one until he got to the disturbance.

All was quiet in the police cruiser for the few minutes that followed; the officer known as ‘Seth’ trying to find something to keep himself occupied. He quickly checked his phone for any updates; just a few Facebook notifications and a new video posted.

And he was just in the middle of double-checking that he had everything he needed on his belt when a noise came from the alley the other officer had entered.

After a quick debate about whether to follow orders for his superior or see if things had gone south, Seth quickly exited the cruiser, shutting the door as he called, “Officer Charles?”

When he got no response, Seth slowly stepped forward, hand resting on the grip of his pistol as he neared the alley.

“Officer Charles?” he asked again, slower this time. Just as he reached the alley’s entrance, he froze.

He briefly saw a flash of light grey, and he was flung backwards. Flying through the air, coming crashing down on the bonnet of the police cruiser.

A sharp gasp of pain, followed by groans, came from Seth as he tried to come to terms with what had happened. He tried to move, his body thrown with such force that the bonnet was warped and dented with his imprint.

Standard proceeded began to flash before his eyes, trying to assess his injuries. He was only about to guess at how many bones were broken, however, before the flash of grey reappeared.

It jumped through the arm, a height impossible for a human, blocking out the sun from Seth’s vision momentarily. The officer barely had enough time to try moving before the grey blur came crashing down on the bonnet over Seth.

More dents appearing in the metal, the creature stood over Seth momentarily; its head at just the point where it couldn’t be seen because of the glint of sunlight.

He tried to speak; to shout, to scream. Anything. But nothing came out. Just…silence.

A low, raspy hiss came from the creature, its pale grey skin clashing with the white bonnet of the cruiser; not that the looming figure was in anyway subtle.

The same hand wrapped around Seth’s throat; clawed fingers latching onto the flesh of the human, constricting to restrict air flow. Seth gasped, trying to reach a hand up to pry the fingers from his neck. But his movement was met with immediate response.

The creature moved quickly, dragging the human body from the front of the cruiser and rushing towards the alley. A gargle cry was all that came from Seth, desperate to alert anyway. But the streets were empty.

All the evidence to suggest he was ever there was the ruined police cruiser, the bonnet completely dented in and decal designs for the Pax Valley Police Department cracking from the metal warping. And the blood trail that led from the bonnet, to the sideway, and leading to the alleyway.

–

“Are you sure it is them?” said one voice.

“Sir, I’ve played and replayed the footage several times over. The templates match; they are the real ones,” said another; this one sounding altered and metallic.

“How can this be possible? He was locked away; I saw it happen.”

Footsteps echoed through a dark corridor, the smooth walls reflecting any light that passed through the darkness. A single red line passed through the center of the corridor, though slightly to the left.

“We have to come to the possibility that-”

“Don’t say it; I know what you mean, I just don’t like hearing it aloud.”

“Might I suggest a course of action, sir?”

“Which would be?”

“Our systems have narrowed down the selection to the correct number; they have the highest concentration of the Bloodlines in them. They are the ones.”

“Absolutely not. I will not have humans take their powers.”

“Sir, will all due respect, they are the dominant species. Whether you like it or not, they are your hope to combat Horror.”

A short pause occurred between the two voices, and the corridor was filled with silence; they had stopped walking, standing in place.

“…I am against this entirely. I hope you realize this.”

“I predicted an eighty-nine percent chance of you disagreeing with my suggestion, sir.”

“Send out the Gatherers. They’ll bring them in.”

“At once, sir.”

With that, the sound of walking returned; though instead of a pair overlapping, it was a single set of foot, walking against the surface of the corridor.

The other stood still, seemingly watching the other walk off to wherever they were going.

“May Zeta have mercy on us…”

–

“Good God that was a drag.”

Isaac muttered quietly to just himself and Natalie as the two of them exited their latest class; the corridor was full of students piling out of their classrooms.

By sheer luck, Isaac and Natalie were in a couple of classes with each other; namely Mathematics and Biology. The latter of which they had just finished.

“Didn’t I warn you that Mrs. Winston was a hag?” Natalie asked Isaac knowingly as she caught up to walk alongside him. They barely had enough room for the two of them to walk side by side with all of the other students to the sides, front and behind them. So they ended up with Isaac walking slightly behind Natalie.

“You could have told my how bad she was,” Isaac muttered, fishing his hand into his pocket to gather some money. He had discovered during first break that he had left his lunch at him.

“Well…I kinda did,” Natalie said, smirking slightly.

Isaac was about to respond when he was forcefully pushed back; someone had been walking the other way, but Isaac hadn’t paid him any attention until their shoulders had collided.

“Watch it,” was the warning he had received, turning to look at the guy who had thrown the threat.

He seemed about his height, with short blonde hair that was spiked towards the front. One of his hands were wedged into his jacket pockets; the other was pulled out, most likely from the solid collision seconds earlier.

His dark blue eyes glared at Isaac’s brown ones, before turning around and continuing onwards.

Isaac glared at the back of his head for a second before he made to walk after the guy, but something stopped him.

“I wouldn’t,” Natalie warned, having grabbed his forearm before he could turn completely.

Isaac reluctantly turned around and shook his arm free from Natalie’s grip. “What’s his problem?” he asked, gesturing behind him.

“That ■■■■■■? That’s Matthew; the resident ■■■■■■■ of the school. Just…Make your life easier, and stay out of his way,” Natalie explained, rolling her eyes as she spoke. She seemed to make it clear that she was tired of that guy.

“I’ll try to avoid the arsehole,” Isaac muttered, his accent coming through as he looked at Natalie.

She blinked once at first, before a smirk broke across her face.

Isaac’s shoulders sagged slightly, an annoyed expression playing across his face. “Really? I thought you were mature.”

Natalie raised a hand in defense, yet the smirk remained. “Whatever you’re into, mate.” The put-on British accent playing to Natalie’s phrasing.

Isaac sighed heavily, before he said, “Hey, when you’re done laughing, I’ll meet you in the canteen; I’ve been holding in a piss since she started the presentation.”

Getting a dismissing hand wave, like Natalie didn’t want to know (Who wouldn’t?), Isaac headed down the corridor, slipping around the other students to head to the closest toilets.

–

“So much better…” Isaac sighed internally, doing the zip of his jeans as he stepped away from the urinal, and moved over to the sink.

The male’s toilets were unusually quiet, though Isaac figured it was because everyone was rushing to get something to eat. Or have a smoke.

Or both.

Rolling the sleeves of his jacket up, Isaac reached the sink and used his palm to twist the cold water tap. He didn’t want to know who had been touching what against those knobs.

Isaac shook his head, rubbing his hands together under the running water. The skin on his forearms formed in goosebumps quickly in reaction to the temperature, but he quickly pushed it aside as he cleaned his hands.

That was when it started.

The pair of long, thin lights fitted in the ceiling started to flicker slightly; flashing between full brightness and dimly lit, creating an annoying flashing effect.

“What the…?” Isaac asked to himself in a hushed tone, looking over one shoulder before turning to look over the other. Shaking his hands dry, rubbing the remaining water off on his trousers.

Yet he was still the only one in there.

All of a sudden, the lights went off entirely. Covering Isaac in darkness.

“Oh come on…” he groaned, before turning around slowly and called out. “Very funny! Flicking the lights on and off on the new kid? What are you, 12?”

No response came from outside.

Isaac rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket and fished out his phone. “Where’s that flashlight app…?” he asked himself, flicking his password in naturally, and began searching through the pile of apps he had to hand on his phone.

Selecting the flashlight app, a bright white light came flooding from the small bulb of his phone, illuminating the darkened toilets.

He looked around slowly, the light of the phone guiding his vision.

Though he didn’t expect what he saw…to see.

“The hell?!” he exclaimed, quickly stepping back and flinching his arms to his side; in doing so, he lost his grip on his phone and it fell to the ground. Bu some miracle, the phone landed so the back of the phone was facing upward. Shining the light evenly around the room.

Before him, looming like something from someone’s nightmares, stood a figure. It looked roughly eight feet tall; towering over the cubical next to him. Though because of his stance, hunched over slightly, it made it difficult to make out any minor details; the light only catching so much.

But one thing that stood out was a pair of burning eyes; dark red orbs staring down at Isaac with an intense stare. As if daring Isaac to look away. Look away, and discover the consequences.

Or stare back for too long and suffer the same consequences.

Honestly, this was being put to the back of Isaac’s mind for now.

Isaac’s currently mind set was;

‘Ohshitohshitohshit-I’m gonna die-ohshitohshitohshit-What the hell is that thing?!-ohshitohshitohSHIT!’

A deep, throaty growl broke the deafening silence; the vibrations passing through Isaac as if he was a glass window. It was at this point that Isaac’s discovered that he was still breathing; albeit extremely shakily.

Was this thing going to kill him?

His vision was then consumed by a blindingly bright red light; he’s eyes squinted and he raised his hands to try and save his vision. He figured enough was enough and tried to turn and rush towards the door of the bathroom.

That was when the burning sensation overcame him; he shouted out, feeling the rippling heat travel from his extremities first, working along his arms and legs, moving towards his torso. He crumpled to his hands and knees, trying to make it to the door.

He tried reaching for the handle, the burning feeling slowly overcoming him to the point that it was completely unbearable. He fell against the door, his body twisting so he was facing the looming figure; where the waves of heat and light were coming from.

His eyes slowly rolled back, and his body went limp; slumping against the door.

The blinding light was then replaced with a flash of bright white; rippling around the room, much like when a rock is thrown into a smooth pond surface.

The ripples suddenly froze, but the ripples started returning to the source; creating a metallic whooshing sound, and concentrated into a small ball. Before vanishing into thin air.

Except now, the bathroom was vacant; completely empty. All that occupied the room was a rucksack, slumped against the wall beside the sinks.

–

“You’re telling me that nobody saw this?”

Police tape surrounded the scene; surrounding the police cruiser with the dented bonnet, and the trail of blood leading from the cruiser to the nearby alley. The taped-off area also included the width of the street; to the farthest piece of shattered glass.

Officers were crawling over the scene; some wore surgical gloves, taking pictures of the numbered pieces of evidence for analysis. Others followed the photographers, carefully taking the evidence and placing them into zip-seal bags, to send to be cataloged.

Two officers stood outside the tape-off area, discussing the situation.

“Sir, we’re going to the apartments opposite the scene to see if they saw anything. We’ll find out soon.”

The other officer took off his hat, running his other hand through his short grey hair; this, combined with the few wrinkles that covered his face, signified his age.

“Anything from their radios?” the older officer asked, placing his hat back on his head; adjusting it with both hands to make sure it sat right.

“We haven’t been able to find them; their cruiser radio was damaged by…whatever caused this,” the younger officer said, gesturing to the ruined cruiser behind them.

“And the blood trail?” the older officer asked.

“It’s…well…you should come see it…” the younger officer said, a slightly unsure tone to his voice, before carefully lifting the police tape, and bending over to fit under.

The older officer followed suite, the tape being lowered afterwards. They walked around the crime scene, making sure to watch where they stood.

They walked along the sidewalk, turning the corner at the alley; walking into the alley, where a couple of officers had been sent to ensure no-one tampered with the evidence.

The two came to a stop, standing beside the blood trail; the older officer slowly crouching down, his eyes moving along the blood trail. From where it entered the alley, to the point that he crouched beside.

“What the hell…?” he asked himself, seeing the trail just…end. The end was clean; no evidence of it being washed away; the line that ended the trail was curved cleanly; like it was a side of a circle.

“The boys got anything for this…?” he asked, gesturing to the strange break in the blood while looking up to the other officer.

“They haven’t seen anything like it either, sir,” was the response.

A low exhale left the older officer, standing to his full height again.

“I don’t like this…if there’s something attack my officers, I want it taken care of; quickly.”

[ComradeWolfie]

Episode 1 - Awakening, Part 2

–

A sharp pain to the side of his neck brought him back to consciousness.

Isaac gasped loudly, his eyes shooting open; breathing deeply and loudly, the sheer brightness of wherever he was causing his eyes to squint shut again. He couldn’t make much out of his surroundings, other than a blurred shape hovering above him.

“Good; you have regained consciousness,” said a voice, altered to appear more robotic; the shadow over Isaac moved away, and his eyes eventually started to adjust to the brightness of the room.

He slowly raised his head, his brain throbbing like it was two sizes too big for his skull, and looked around.

The first thing he noticed was what he was sitting in; it appeared to be a metal chair, the back pushed back and his legs propped up. The next thing he noticed when he tried to move his arms.

He looked down, seeing his wrists, ankles and upper legs were held firmly in place by curved metal plates; he tried moving, but the plates held him in place.

“Where the hell am I?!” he shouted, straining to turn his head to keep the shadow in his line of sight. But the plates restricted the movement of his body.

“Please refrain from using such language. You are in no danger,” said the person, the sound of faint beeping coming from behind Isaac.

“No danger? No danger?! Then why the hell I’m I restrained?!” Isaac exclaimed, struggling roughly against his bounds.

"It was merely to ensure that you did not move while I tested your vitals. There are variables that make Gatherer teleportation potentially dangerous. They cannot make accurate measurements, adjusting for body proportion and size, and many others," came the voice, before the sound of footsteps grew loud.

Though there was something Isaac found off…whatever the surface was, it made the footsteps sound heavier than normal. Then there was that metal clink…maybe steel-toed shoes?

His theory was quickly shot down, when his adjusted eyes saw…whatever it was, for what it…was.

It appeared as a humanoid robot; the body was made of a mixture of dark grey and smooth steel colored panels, with bolt ends visible that held panels together. Small pistons attached from the front and back of his torso, connecting to the underside of its head. Acting as additional support for the neck.

Its hands appeared like dull-clawed hands; smooth grey metal, welded together for the small panels. Still, there were a few exposed wires and tubes that were made between where the different body parts connected.

The head…well, to put it bluntly, it appeared like a sleek, robotic version of a canine’s head. There were small protrusions near the back, looking similar to folded back ears. The same steel grey panels made up the panels of the head. The ‘mouth’ piece extended forward, looking like a sleek, lupine muzzle.

Where the eyes were was a blank rectangle, with a single red light in the middle of the black box. It reminded Isaac of those old digital alarm clocks.

The robot…thing then proceeded to undo the restrains holding Isaac in place; starting with the ones on his ankles, and finishing with the plate holding his right wrist in place.

“Please, if you could come this way…” said the robot, as Isaac slowly sat up, rubbing his wrists slowly. He glanced up to the robot, slowly turning around to kick his legs off of the chair.

“And how do I know you aren’t taking me to be tortured or something?” Isaac asked slowly.

There was a brief pause before he got a response.

“You do not. You must trust me, Isaac Bryne.”

Isaac blinked slowly, lifting his head. “How the hell do you know my name?”

He didn’t get a response; instead, the robot turned and moved towards one of the walls. As he approached, a large panel slid up, leaving a doorway for the robot to walk through.

Isaac looked all around him slowly, searching for another exit. Not finding any apart from the recently revealed, he decided to try his luck. Maybe he’d find another exit shortly…

Getting to his feet, he slowly headed out of the room after the robot, following it down the dimly lit corridor.

The light seemed to follow them during their walk down the corridor; the dim lighting from the seam where the ceiling and the wall met moving with them, giving them some light.

“Where are we going?” Isaac asked wearily.

“I have not been given permission to say,” was the response he got.

“OK….Who…gives you permission?”

The answer he got wasn’t verbal; they had just reached the end of the corridor, and the robot side-stepped; allowing Isaac to see in front of him.

And what he saw was the last thing he expected.

“The hell are you doing here?” He asked Natalie.

“You think I know?” came the snap of a response.

Natalie was leaning against the far wall, arms folded across her front. But she wasn’t alone in the large room.

There were four others; one he recognized as that ■■■■■■■■■ Matthew, his hands moving about in his pockets as some sort of distraction, and the other two humans were two he didn’t recognize.

The fourth…

“Ah…” he said slowly, eyes wide.

Arms folded over his chest, the fourth figure was a behemoth of a creature; canine in appearance, standing on its hind legs. Thick black fur covered the entire of his visible body; his lower torso, thankfully, was covered by a pair of dark grey trousers. Though from the dirty and worn appearance, they were old.

His torso was mostly exposed, save for his arms and back, which were covered in a long, black trench-coat. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbow point.

A pair of dark yellow eyes stared intently at Isaac upon his entry into the room.

“Let’s get to business,” the creature grunted quietly, getting up from leaning against a desk and turning around.

“Are you finally going to explain where the hell we are?” asked one of the other people, the female, in an angered tone.

“I…wouldn’t piss him off, Tanya,” Kyle muttered, stepping forward to try and calm his friend; though quickly stepped back when she yank her arm from his grasp.

A loud, possibly exaggerated, sigh escaped the lungs of the wolf creature, as it tapped away at an unseen keyboard.

“In short…” he eventually said, tapping one last key and turning around. Just as a hologram, stretching from the ceiling to the floor of the central control port, glowing a faint blue.

“Your city is under siege from the pits of Hell itself, and you’re going to have to fight them back. I’m Savage, the robot is MUTT, and no, you-”

“Wow, wow, wow. Time out. L-Let’s just take, like, fifteen steps back first,” Tanya said, raising her hands as she stepped forward from the group. “Firstly, just so we-we’re all on the same page here. What the hell are you?! Where the hell are we, and what makes you think we’re capable of doing…whatever it is you expect us to do?!”

Savage just looked back at Tanya at her raising her voice at him; an expression playing across his face that only said ‘I really don’t have time for your crap’.

The remaining teens looked across at each other, Matthew pulling his hands from his pockets and folding his arms over his chest; Kyle shifted slightly from one foot to the other, while Natalie remained leaning against the wall.

Isaac slipped his hands into his trouser pockets, watching the central holographic column with a bit of interest.

Savage looked over the five human teens; his sharp yellow eyes watching the subtle movements of each of them as they stared back. Eventually, he let out a frustrated growl and folded his hands behind his back. Screwing one of his clawed hands into a tight fist, while the other firmly held the wrist of the other.

“MUTT,” Savage growled, flicking his head from the humanoid robot to one of the keyboards.

The lupine-headed robot nodded slightly, moving across the room to stand at the central command stand, tapping a few of the keys. He then grabbed a pair of hanging cables and plugged them into the ports in his forearm.

The blue holographic column flickered slightly, MUTT tapped a few of the keys on the keyboard, and activated a small screen on his forearm, sliding a few settings on the touch screen.

The blue hologram slowly narrowed, before flipping around so it was lying flat in midair; different areas rising up, giving the appearance of a city’s skyline.

After a few seconds, the hologram warped into an irregular shape, and eventually became a shape the humans recognized.

The borders of Pax Valley.

“As you can see, you are currently located five miles south of the human settlements’ border,” MUTT explained, highlighting a small red blip, towards the bottom end of the hologram.

"The threat that Savage, the Homo Lupus, mentioned is an entity that has been documented as Master Horror."

“Bit melodramatic,” Tanya muttered, having moved back to stand beside Kyle; since, frankly, he was the only one she knew, and didn’t want to get to know these other guys yet.

MUTT continued, as if he wasn’t interrupted. “Most humans don’t know him as such; he was from an early enough date that they wrote it off as a myth. Around 10,000 years ago, during what you humans know as the Mesolithic Period, Master Horror used fear and hatred to take control of the early human species. But another species, at the time, fought back.”

“The Homo Lupus,” MUTT side glanced at Savage, who had retreated to one of the walls of the room, leaning his back against it as the robot gave a debriefing to the humans.

“A species that remained hidden to keep themselves from the Humans; fearing they would be hunted for the fur. They were thought of a myth as well by the primitive humans.”

“Horror was sealed away by five warriors of the Homo Lupus, gifted with extraordinary abilities, but at the cost of their lives. But…recent activity and footage has come forward to suggest…Horror has escaped.”

“Wait…what activity?” Isaac asked when MUTT fell silent, causing looks to be drawn to him from the other teens; raised eyebrows, and hand gestures for ‘what are you doing?’

MUTT adjusted one of the settings on his forearm, before tapping a command into the keyboard. The map of Pax Valley, and was momentarily replaced with static. Though this was quickly replaced with the image of a street. It was completely bare, save for a police cruiser that was in view of the screen, and two figures.

One was standing over the other, both of which were on the bonnet of the cruiser, which appeared to be severely dented.

One looked human, while the other…had the vague shape and outline of a human. But…its skin was a sickly pale grey, with large spots of black covering, adding bulk to the upper torso, forearms and legs. No facial features could be made out, from the position and the distance away from the camera.

“What the hell is that thing?” Kyle asked, taking a step forward to get a better look; the others following his example.

“A Wolkein,” Savage’s voice finally returned, stepping off from the wall and walking towards the floating image. “A mindless soldier; blindly following his master’s orders.”

“And if Wolkeins are starting to appear in the Human World, then Horror and his Generals will soon follow.”

Tanya and Isaac stepped forward, leaning forward to get a better look at the creature; both side glancing at each other, before Tanya took a side-step from Isaac.

“So-and just so you know, I’m really looking forward to this answer-, how do you expect us to fight those things, exactly?” Matthew asked, gesturing with his hand to the image. Sarcasm heavy in his tone.

“The five of you were chosen because you have the highest concentration of the original Warriors blood; and the Howlers only work with the bloodline of the Warriors they bonded with.”

“Wait, wait, wait; time out,” Natalie said suddenly, making the ‘time-out’ gesture. “We’ve got the same blood as those warriors, who are like Wolfman over there?”

“That is correct, yes,” MUTT said, as Natalie received a growl from Savage.

“So…what you’re saying is…at some point…Humans and those…Wolf-People…” Natalie fell silent, letting the gesture she was making fill in for her.

“Let’s get back on track; what’s a Howler?” Isaac asked, seeing this conversation turning south very quickly.

“Dude, seriously; you could’ve picked a better time to ask that than now,” Kyle said.

“Well someone had to ask it eventually,” Isaac responded hotly.

“You could have waiting five minutes,” Tanya shot, looking at Isaac with a disapproving look.

“Pretty sure Wolfie over there would’ve been pissed off if we waited five minutes before we asked that question,” Matthew threw in his two-cent.

The five teens continued to argue among themselves for a few minutes, as MUTT looked over at Savage; his lip slowly curling up, revealing sharpened fangs, while a low growl steadily rose in his throat.

The arguing was cut short all of a sudden, as one of the small monitors was ripped from its place on the desk, and thrown at the teens.

Isaac and Tanya ducked by instinct, barely avoiding the flying tech; instead, it collided with the wall and shattered into several pieces.

“What the hell?!” Isaac exclaimed.

“You are wasting time arguing among yourselves; a Pack must work in harmony with each other in order to achieve victory,” Savage growled, before he crouched down and picked something up from an open panel from where he had thrown the monitor.

He stood up again, and turned around; revealing a medium-sized, wooden box in his hands. Gold plating covered the top panel, looking ceremonial. As if it was something meant for those of nobility.

“A Pack is made up of five members,” Savage started, his tone giving the hint that this was the start of one of those long speeches.

“A leader, brutes, strategist and diversion. A group kept to the bare minimum of numbers, yet using their abilities to ensure victory,” Savage started, before he unclasped the lock at the front of the box, and slowly placing his paw on the lid.

“These…” he slowly raised the lid, revealing the contents inside.

“…are your Howlers.”

In the box, lined with dark red velvet, were five devices. They were all thin, looking as though they would easily fit onto someone’s wrist. At the center of the devices, sat a circular gem; a different color for each device. The first was a dark red, followed by a navy-colored one, a yellow gem, a black gem, and finally, a clear, transparent gem.

Silver lines ran down the length of the devices, curving around the gem at the center. The rest of the device was black in color, making the silver and the gems stand out more so.

“Wow…” Kyle said softly, crouching down slightly to take a closer look at the Howlers.

Savage grabbed the first two in one hand, and handed the red-gem centered one to Isaac and the navy gem to Matthew. “Take these, and you will have powers beyond your imagination,” he said as the two humans took their Howlers, examining them closely.

“So…how do these work?” Isaac asked, looking over the Howler as Tanya, Kyle and Natalie cautiously took the remaining Howlers offered to them.

“Place them on your bare wrist,” Savage said, and the five teens looked at one another. Give or take a few seconds, they all placed the Howlers on their wrists.

So none of them had any forewarning from the others.

“Ow!” “Crap!”

A stabbing sensation sliced into the back of their wrist, and they instinctively tried to remove the Howlers from their wrist.

But before they could, thick leather bound extended from the base of the Howlers, wrapping around their wrists and seemingly fusing together when both ends met.

“The Howlers need to ensure that the right blood is using them,” Savage remarked offhandedly, closing the box and placing it to one side. “As for how to activate them, you say ‘United, we Howl’ and slide the crystal backwards.”

“Now, as for training…” Savage started, before a sudden alarm went off on one of the remaining monitors.

MUTT disconnected himself from the wires, and approached the blaring monitor. “Sir, Wolkeins had been sighted.”

“Where?” Savage said sharply, approaching the monitor and ended up shoving MUTT aside to look at the monitor directly.

“East District…” Savage muttered, before turning to look at the five teens; still trying to see how to remove the Howlers.

“Looks like the training will have to be postponed to a later date,” he said, moving to a control panel and tapping a few keys and turning a few dials. “I’m sending you five to the location; hopefully, it’ll just be Wolkeins.”

“And if it isn’t?” Natalie asked.

“May Zeta have mercy on your souls.”

“Wait!” Matthew exclaimed, “You son of a-!”

He was cut short by columns of light engulfing the five teens, filling the white-light filled room and eventually disappearing. Along with the light, the teens were absent as well.

“I would have advised giving them at least a brief talk about how they fight,” MUTT said once the lighting faded.

“I prefer the hands-on approach.”

–

Five columns of light shot down in an alley, the blue and white columns forming behind the red, yellow and black columns. Mixed voices of panic came warping through the lights, before bodies came flying from the light; landing roughly on the concrete floor.

The light vanished, revealing the group of teenagers crumpled on the floor; Matthew had landed against the wall, Tanya and Kyle had both landed on their backs, both groaning in pain. Natalie and landed on her front, a small cut forming on her forehead from the collision.

Isaac pushed himself to his feet, having landed on his front too, and wiped a bit of blood away from the corner of his mouth.

“-ouch…” Matthew said slowly, groaning as he pushed himself to his feet.

“That could have gone smoother…” Tanya muttered, pushing herself up and offering a hand to help Kyle up; he took up the offer, taking her hand and pulling himself to his feet.

Sudden screams from the alley brought their attention back to the reason why they had come here in the first place. “Come one,” Isaac muttered, before running to the alley entrance. The others tried to shake off the teleportation effects and headed after Isaac.

They were met with the swarm of people running the other way; they needed to side step and bump past people in order to keep moving forward. The shouts and screams from the people drowned out all other noises.

“Where are these things?!” Matthew shouted, as the crowd died down and they were almost by themselves.

“I don’t know…” Isaac said, walking forward yet turning around, making sure to walk the same direct.

“Guys! Over there!”

The others all looked over to where Kyle pointed, and their blood ran cold.

“Oh ■■■■…”

At the other end of the clear area in the middle of the tall buildings, a mass of the creatures Savage identified as Wolkeins were moving; they were all the same shade of sickly-pale grey, making it hard to make individual ones out. The only thing that helped seeing individuals was the black armor they wore.

Upper chest plates covered their chests and shoulders, going around their neck to cover the back. The same kind of armor covered their arms, from the elbow point to their wrists; something similar was going on with their shins.

“Those things look fugly,” Tanya said bluntly.

At hearing the teen speak, one of the Wolkeins turned its head sharply to the source of the sound; revealing no facial features dominating its face. Just scars digging into the ‘skin’ and deformities.

Gravelly grunts came from this Wolkein, alerting the others. They all turned to look at the five teens, who stepped back from instinct, as they began drawing nearer to the teens.

“Well…let’s see if Wolfie was telling the truth…” Natalie said, and they all looked to their Howlers.

“You guys ready?” Isaac asked, side glancing both ways.

“Ready.”

“Ready.”

“Ready.”

“Ready.”

They brought their Howler-wrist across their chest, the other hand coming to press against the crystal at the center. At the touch, the crystals began glowing.

“United, we Howl!”

[ComradeWolfie]

Episode 1 - Awakening, Part 3

–

The five press the crystal at the center of their respective Howlers’, the light from the crystals intensifying as they moved the crystal back the length of the device. The light grew brighter, differentiating themselves from each other by forming into the different colors of the teens, overcoming the teens and obscuring them from view.

~Morphing Sequence~

A stream of light shot out from the gems, extending out before the teens. Taking the outline of a wolf, the light shot into a curved stream, moving up into the sky. The motion the light wolves made it look as though they were moving through the air simulating running.

Performing a loop in the air, the light wolves shot into the air behind their teen, eventually landing on the ground, a few meters behind their human. Once settled, they leapt forward, looking as though were going to collide with the human body. But before making contact, they flipped backward, so their underbelly made contact with the back of the teen.

Their limbs move to the same position of the humans, wrapping around their limbs and torso; covering them in a mixture of silver and their respective colors. Their head was raised, before lowering it through the human head. Their muzzles opened up in a low snarl, and the space between the jaws was filled with the black visor for the teens; the shapes vaguely different with each teen.

With this, the rest of the suits began forming; silver-furred paws wrapped around their arms, leaving silver gloves and sleeves covered in their respective color, ending at the shoulder, which was covered in a slim, silver shoulder pad. Something similar happened to their legs; silver boots, with a thick black line around the sides of the legs, with their respective colors filling in the rest.

The black line continued, passing over the sides of the torso, and ending at the armpit point; large gouges of black escaping into the core color on either side of the torso.

To finish things off, a stylized wolf head appeared over their hearts, embedding itself into the armor.

~Morphing Sequence Ends~

The Wolkeins pause in their advances, yet their bodies kept moving continuously, shifting their weight from one side to the other; like whatever was powering their bodies required them to keep moving.

They stood there, looking at the spot where the five teens had once been standing; now, in their place, stood five colored warriors; silver boots and gloves, shoulder and forearm armor added to their bodies, while the rest was covered in one of five colors; red, blue, yellow, black and white.

“Wow…this is weird…” said Kyle, breaking from the initial trance of morphing, and looking over his silver-and-black armored body.

“This is amazing!” Matthew exclaimed, rolling his shoulder once to see how the armor fitted with the spandex-like armor. His hands then flew to his throat and he said, “What the hell’s up with my voice?”

“Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that I made some…modifications to the Howlers when activated,” MUTT’s voice said, echoing between the helmets the teens wore.

“Distorted voices…could have been worse,” Isaac muttered to himself, before looking back towards the Wolkeins.

“You guys want to test run these things?” Tanya asked, cracking the knuckles of her silver-glove covered hands, stretching the sides of her neck.

“No time like the present,” Natalie agreed, taking a step forward; rolling her white-and-silver armored shoulders.

“Let’s do it,” Isaac replied, the five of them all taking a step forward so they were level with each other; trying an intimidation attempt.

The creatures didn’t seem fazed, however, as they suddenly advanced; the sound of a mass of heavy footsteps pounding against the ground. The teens quickly followed, running towards the group of pale skinned Wolkeins

The two groups collided, fist and daggers flying, trying to make contact with the other group. The pale Wolkein bodies getting knocked to the ground, some colliding with the sides of the close buildings.

Isaac throws a few wide punches to a couple of Wolkeins in front of him, before ducking when one tried to swipe at him from the side; returning the attack with a kick, colliding with the side of one of its knees, causing the creature to collapse to one knee.

It looked up to strike the red-armored warrior again, but was met with a solid knee to its ‘face’; sending it flying back, colliding with another pair of foot soldiers.

“Wow…” Isaac said; surprise evident in his voice, despite the artificial distortion.

“Stay focused!” called Tanya’s voice, as she grabbed a Wolkein’s shoulder, and using the newly gifted strength, throwing it behind her; flinging him into a group of three Wolkeins, sending them crashing to the ground. Only for the thrown one to get up again and the four joining the others again.

“These guys really don’t like staying down,” Kyle commented, dodging a flying fist coming towards him, but getting knocked to the ground from an attack from behind. He quickly rolled out of the way when one tried to stamp on his back.

“MUTT, got anything for us?” Isaac asked, dodging a series of incoming attacks, shifting around the group focused on him as he tried getting the robot up on the comms.

“Slide the crystal to the front-most position,” came MUTT’s voice, broadcasting to all five teens’ helmets.

“You guys get that?” Isaac called, grabbing a Wolkein by the throat and, using his other hand, choke-slammed the creature to the concrete. A shallow dent appearing once the creature slowly got up again.

“What do you think?!” Tanya shouted, in her hands a bow and arrow; clad in silver and yellow, yet without any elastic from the ends that is with the traditional bow.

Yet as Tanya pulled the invisible band back, a transparent yellow arrow forming in its space. Her hand went loose, releasing the energy arrow. It flew through the air silently; colliding with one of the Wolkeins’ head, slicing through the skin like it was nothing. This particular Wolkein fell to the ground, motionless; green goo oozing out of the entry point.

“News to me,” Natalie called, dodging a strike while moving the crystal to its front-most point; a burst of white light came from the Howler, moving to her hands. Grabbing the handles that formed, Natalie saw white blades form from the light.

“Daggers…nice…” the white-clad warrior said, before dodging and stabbing another attack from a Wolkein; digging the blade right into the torso of one of the creatures. It let out a screech-like wail, as Natalie pushed it off of the blade, and fell to the ground.

Matthew and Kyle seemed to have gotten the message by this point; Matthew had a spear in hand, matching blue and silver with his blue-and-silver armoring. Swinging around the blunt end of the spear, smacking the Wolkeins’ across the face, before stabbing the same ones with the sharpened point.

Kyle, meanwhile, had a pair of, what appeared to be, knuckle dusters; black and silver in color, and a bit larger than what you would expect. They were pretty much covering his entire hand, and were secured by locking into place with the armored forearms.

He threw a few punches to the chests of the Wolkeins, sending them flying back with screeches ringing out as they collided with the walls.

Isaac raised his Howler to move the crystal along, when he heard a sound that caught his attention; and judging from their reaction, it also caught several Wolkeins’ attention as well.

A siren.

‘Oh ■■■■…’ Isaac thought to himself when he saw a police cruiser screech to a halt on the nearby road. Two officers quickly jumped out, looking between each other as they saw the fight that’d been reported in.

Something about weird grey people fighting brightly-colored people.

Isaac was torn from the officers when the Wolkeins suddenly charged towards the officers, seeing them as weaker targets to take out.

“Crap!” Isaac said, quickly following after the stragglers, breaking apart from the rest of the group, heading towards the officers.

“Stand down!” shouted one of the officers, the pair of them pulling the standard issue pistol from their holsters, aiming them towards the charging crowd. Yet not one of them stopped.

“Stand still; this is your final warning!”

Still, the group kept running towards them.

Isaac ran behind him, trying to overtake them to get to the officers first. And then the bullets started firing.

The bullets sliced through the grey flesh of the Wolkeins, passing through one before hitting another behind. Despite this, they kept running; the bullet holes healing themselves up, mere moments after the bullets passed through them.

Isaac, by nature of, you know, not wanting to die, flinched and raised his hands; praying that none of the bullets made contact with him. Though he suddenly felt small contacts with his body; yet no searing pain.

He opened his eyes behind his visor again, and found that none of the bullets had penetrated the suit; not even any marks. Though he looked up when he noticed the group of Wolkeins again; baring down further on the outnumbered officers.

And that was when…something happened.

Isaac didn’t know how it happened, but one moment, everything was moving normally, but the next…everything seemed to slow down.

He saw the Wolkeins’ charging as if they were in slow motion; the officers’ pistols kicking back painfully slow with every shot fired.

‘What is this…?’ he asked himself, looking down at his hands; he moved them around, seeing that they were still moving at normal speed. Or at what he assumed was normal speed….

Adding this to the questions he’d asked MUTT later, he focused back on the officers; quickly moving towards them, sliding around the slow movement of the Wolkeins, and approaching the other side of the police cruiser.

Looking between the two officers, Isaac finally settled on grabbing the shoulder of both officers, and moving down the street.

When he got to the second-street over, everything seemed to catch up with him; the officers noticed someone had grabbed their shoulders and forced themselves free of Isaac’s grip, aiming their weapons at them.

“I wouldn’t point a gun at someone that saved your ■■■,” Isaac commented, taking a step away from officers regardless, hands raised slightly instinctively.

“Who are you?!” demanded one of the officers.

Beneath the helmet, Isaac bit back a comment, settling on, “You’ll find out soon. Now if you don’t mind, I gotta go help my friends.”

Without another word exchanged, Isaac turned and ran back the way he came; hoping the others had managed to finish off the last of the Wolkeins.

As he left, the two officers looked between each other, before the older officer holstered his pistol and grabbed his personal radio.

“Dispatch; that report on the fight in East Town? You’re not going to believe this…”

Isaac ran back through the alley he had ran through, seeing the other four together; Matthew finishing off one of the last Wolkeins with a spear through the head, as it writhed in pain for a few seconds, before falling still. Matthew removed the spear, and green ooze slowly started to escape the wound.

“That the last of them?” Isaac asked, looking around at the mass of dead bodies surrounding the area.

“Looks to be,” Tanya replied, setting one end of her bow against the ground; supporting her hand on the other end.

As the five met up again, thin grey mist slowly started to rise from the Wolkeins; seemingly coming from the open wounds the Rangers tore in their flesh.

However, as it started to growth denser, Natalie was the first to notice and point it out to the others. “Uh, guys…” she said, gesturing to the point she spotted.

The others turned, before noticing that the same thing was happening all around them; the Wolkeins’ bodies becoming blocked from view with dense green smoke. The bodies slowly lowered, as if the green smoke was letting them pass through the solid concrete.

By the time the green smoke dispersed, the bodies were no longer visible; yet there weren’t any holes in the surface where they had passed through.

“OK…that’s weird…” Kyle commented.

“MUTT, we’ve finished up here. Reckon we can get a transport from here?” Isaac said, unsure of what the best thing was to talk to MUTT; raising his hand to the side of his helmet, seeing that helped.

It seemed to get through, however, when the five of them were encased in their respective columns of light, and in an instant, they vanished.

Though they didn’t go unnoticed; the police cruiser that still remained from the officers called to the scene just so happened to face the teens…

–

“You know, I’d appreciate it…if you’d give us a heads up,” Kyle said, taking his helmet off mid-sentence, the result creating a faint hiss from the disconnection.

“I had orders to bring you back as soon as possible,” MUTT responded automatically, as the remaining Rangers removed their own helmets; faint hisses following their removal as well.

“We kicked ■■■!” Matthew said upon removing his helmet, carrying the helmet under his arm.

“That was pretty insane…” Natalie agreed, setting her helmet down on one of the counters beside her.

“But, amazing,” Kyle insisted, placing his helmet down on another counter, above an old keyboard.

“Do not sound so satisfied.”

The teens all turned to face Savage as the anthro wolf approached, arms clasped behind his back as the ever present scowl on his muzzle because visible.

“This is simply the first wave…Horror must be tested the waters, seeing the world has changed since he last tried to rule. He must have figured that it would be easy to conquer the humans. But, you five proved him wrong; that makes you five more of a target. Starting from tomorrow, I will be training the five of you to prepare you for what you’re about to face,” Savage said, walking across the five teens; much like the army commanders when faced with recruits.

“Way to bring the ■■■■ mood down,” Tanya commented dryly. “We did a good job, and you say that. Jeez, didn’t they teach you decency?”

Isaac’s eyes then widened, and he said, “Crap! Classes.”

“Crap…” Natalie said.

“New record I suppose…” was Matthew’s response.

–

“Interesting…” said a feminine voice.

“I thought the Warriors were destroyed with the Master’s sealing…”

“By the looks of it, Fear, you were incorrect,” the female voice hissed quietly.

“Try to refrain from being so petty, Batibat,” said a male voice.

The two creatures, humanoid in shape, stood before a small portal of dark green and black smoke; swirling around, like water when forming a whirlpool.

An image sat in the middle of the smoke whirlpool; showing the five, multi-colored warriors standing among the bodies of the fallen foot soldiers.

“We should inform the Master,” said the female voice, moving when the figure walked around the whirlpool; the faintest tint of red-tipped black hair visible, leading up to a pale face. Thin red lips, and one green eye visible.

“The Master most likely knows already; their powers are hardly subtle,” responded the male voice, the faint light from the projected image revealing some of his physical appearance. Light grey complexion, with dulled, bronze armor covering his forearms, and moving up the length of his arm. Not enough light being given off to get a better look.

“Who gave them the powers if all of the Warriors were destroyed, though?”

“We may know soon enough…Soon, we may know…”

[squeaverking]

I’m going to get around to reading the next three parts later, but that first part, was it a holy crusade by the Squeavers!? /s. I know, they were wolves, if the title was anything to go by. But your writing is pretty good, thus far I haven’t picked up on any grammar errors, so good job.

[ComradeWolfie]

Thanks. I still need to get around to posting the rest of the ‘episodes’ I’ve written.

[_el]

Power Rangers… I like this even though I stopped watching

[ComradeWolfie]

Episode 2 - The Rise of Steel, Part 1

Isaac took a seat at one of the few empty tables in the canteen. It was about half-way through lunch break, but he had only just been let out by his teacher. They didn’t seem to take so kindly to him skipping class the other day.

Nor did they like his excuse; forgetting what period he had wasn’t the most original.

Or convincing…

He grunted quietly to himself, hand going to press his side; compressing the large bruise that plastered the skin underneath the top he wore.

“■■■■ Wolkein…” he muttered to himself, holding the irritated skin for a few seconds before pulling back again, resting his forearms across the table.

“Still tender, hmm?”

Isaac was jerked from his thoughts at the voice, and the presence of two people near him. He looked across to see Matthew take the seat across from him, a sour look sporting his face, as Natalie took the seat beside him.

“Who shat in your cereal?” Isaac commented, gesturing to Matthew’s face.

Matthew raised an eyebrow slightly at the comment, resting his crossed forearms on the table as Natalie said, “I figured it’d be better for the three of us to hang out more; since, you know…”

She gestured to her covered wrist; Isaac glancing at his own, involuntarily tugging at his sleeve to make sure the Howler was covered. Despite the seemingly bulky nature of the device, it seemed rather easy to hide.

“And Kyle and Tanya? What about the two of them?”

“Got them on Facebook,” Natalie replied without hesitation, taking out her phone and opening the Facebook App.

“See?”

Isaac looked, and saw that, true to her word, Natalie had the other two of them in a Group Chat. He saw a few exchanges between the three of them, but didn’t notice anything important by the time Natalie took her phone away again.

Matthew eventually shifted a hand into his pocket and cleared his throat slightly to get the others’ attention; taking his phone out, and flicking through it as he spoke.

“I’m not sure if you two noticed yet, but…” he pressed his screen one last time and turned his phone around to face the others.

It showed a video, capturing the five colored warriors-them-, fighting the grey-and-black blurs that made up the Wolkeins. The quality wasn’t anything amazing, but you could make out the five of them.

“Who the hell took this?” Natalie whispered, guiding the phone closer to her to have a better look.

“My guess is that police cruiser; all that ■■■■ around the screen, like that stuff you see on those ‘Police, Action and Crashes’ programs.”

“Everyone only watches it for the crashes,” Isaac commented, before leaning over to have a better look. He looked down, and found that the video’s views were already in the 100,000’s.

“Looks like we were kinda lucky; but let’s try and be more…subtle.”

Natalie gave Isaac a look. “‘Subtle’? Five, brightly colored guys and girls fighting faceless creatures? Oh yes, the very essence of subtly.”

Isaac rolled his eyes and Matthew muffled a light snicker as he turned his phone off, slipping it back into his pocket.

–

“Have you seen the video yet?” Kyle asked into his phone.

“I’m pretty sure most people in Pax Valley, and probably most of the country, have seen it. Myself included,” Tanya’s voice said over the phone.

“Well, it’s making the local news channels now,” Kyle replied, taking the controller of the break room’s television, flicking through the channels until he reached the local radio station, Pax News 15, aka, PN15.

“In other news, it seems like the newest team of Power Rangers have made themselves known. And right here in our town,” said the female news anchor.

“Huh, good timing; it’s on now,” Kyle said, setting the controller down. It being a Wednesday, they were the slow days, so only a few members of staff were needed, and Kyle was on his break.

“Though they haven’t been given a name yet, by either themselves or the public, this group was captured fighting strange creatures when a cruiser received a call of public disturbance.”

The image cut from the news anchor and was replaced with the footage that Kyle had seen so many times, he figured he could remember it move-for-move.

Probably because he was one of the ones fighting, but, whatever.

“They haven’t figured out our…you know, identities yet, have they?” Tanya asked. Kyle wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn he heard a tint of worry in Tanya’s voice. A very rare occasion.

“Not that they’re saying; but hey, we haven’t got police or anything knocking down our homes or places of work. So, I’m guessing we’re still good.”

There was a faint pause before Tanya spoke. “If I find out this actually happens, I’m going to kick your ■■■.”

A faint chuckle came from Kyle, switching the television off as he said, “I know you’ll do that regardless. Anyway, probably best to leave you be; newbies come in Wednesday afternoon, right?”

“Yep; making sure we don’t have to call an ambulance,” was the response, the usual bluntness in her voice.

“See ya,” Kyle said, before hanging out and slipping the phone back into his pocket.

–

“Any more progression?” Fear asked, stepping forward from the cave tunnel, stepping into a large, dimly lit cavern.

There was only one source of light in the entire area, and it was focused on a single podium; upon which, rested a single black gem stone in the center of a dark metal pendant. The design of the metal resembled a cage; thin bars wrapped intricately around the black gemstone. A faint glow emitted from the gem, as if struggling.

“The Master is conscious, but he is weak from his imprisonment,” Batibat replied, who had been leaning over the podium, hands gripping a part of the podium corner.

The light focused on the podium allowed for Batibat’s features to be revealed in their entirety; a pale face with long black hair, tipped red, flowing smoothly over the back and sides of her head. She wore what resembled a high-collar coat over a dress; the collar covering her pale neck, yet remained open to reveal the detailed design of the ‘dress’ she wore. Her fingernails, tipped a deep green, lightly tapped the stone podium.

Fear grew closer, hands clasped behind his back; the light reflecting off his bronze armor, the light allowing more of his appearance to be seen. The bronze armor from his forearms continued up his arms, connecting to the spiked shoulder armor he wore.

Small spikes, facing backwards, sported portions of his cheeks, the only visible ‘skin’ on his entirely armored body. This included the large, black torso armor he wore; battered and dented, from what must have been multiple battles.

“Then we must give the Master a…boost of energy,” Fear said, unraveling one of the hands from his back and gestured to the side.

Batibat raised her gaze from the podium, and followed Fear’s hand gesture. She side glanced towards Fear again, before slowly, almost reluctantly, moving to the side.

“Don’t think you can order my about, Fear…Master made us equal,” Batibat said, her back facing Fear as she drew nearer to what the other was gesturing to.

A large wall came into view, made up of large bricks; colored a mixture of dark grey and black, seemingly held together simply by the pressure of the bricks on top and around it.

On the individual bricks, designs were etched; depicting various creatures, all in different stances. Different designs.

All terrifying.

“The Warriors will face Ret-Kli…” Batibat said to herself, her hand hovering over one of the bricks; this one depicting a bulky figure, with a single hole where the head was, depicting an eye.

Her hand pressed against the brick, curling her fingers against the image slightly; pulling her hand back carefully. The image seemingly removing itself from the brick, like a sticker being peeled off from a surface.

With a flick of her wrist, Batibat sent the design flinging through the domain, coming to rest over a small black-and-green portal; not too dissimilar to the one they had observed the Warriors fight through.

Batibat walked from the wall to the portal, as the image slowly lowered down; disappearing in the swirling mist. Her hands moved over the portal, her movements’ smooth and slow, passing over each other multiple times. She chanted softly under her breath, her eyes closed gently; as the chants continued, the portal slowly started to grow.

Fear walked over as Batibat, seemingly finishing the ritual, brought her hands together and pushed them aside; the portal moving from the hand movement, angling sideways and moving further away.

The portal grew the further it moved, until it reached a size that would allow a human-sized creature to easily pass through it if it were a solid gap. As it moved further, a shape started to take form, coming from the portal.

Passing over the creature eventually, the portal disappeared altogether, leaving the produced creature standing there.

Said creature was humanoid in nature, but the entire body was clad in scales; thick, dark red mixed with a tint of grey. The grey becoming more prominent towards the limbs and face. The face of the creature was smooth, thin slits visible where the nose should be. Eyes with slit pupils sat on the face, dark gold surrounding a line of black.

Leather straps crossed his torso, holding light, additional armor to his body, covering up…areas.

“What is….my task…” the creature said in a slow, raspy voice; putting extra emphasis on each word.

“Ret-Kli,” Batibat said, approaching the scaled creature, Fear following beside her, “there is a task that is required of you. The Five Warriors of the Wolf have been awoken. We, the Warlords of the Master, give you the order of destroying the Warriors.”

At the mention of Warriors, Ret-Kli growled deeply, coming from the depths of his chest. One of his hands clenched, clawed fingers screwing into a tight fist. His pupils narrowed into thinner slits, almost disappearing into the gold surrounding them.

“I will crush…the Warriors under my feet…” Ret-Kli snarled, his scaled lips curling up slightly in a display of anger; revealing serrated fangs, lining his jaws.

“When you complete your task, you will harvest their powers and bring them back to us,” Fear added, stepping a step forward of Batibat. The she-demon set a glare to the male Demon, but said nothing.

“Understood…Sir…”

“You will be provided with a Pod of Wolkeins to assist you in your endeavor,” Batibat added, her hands slowly folding behind her back, pulling them back in front; producing what appeared to be a large, slightly rough stone.

“Yes…” Ret-Kli said, extending one of his clawed hands forward, taking the offered ‘stone’; placing it in a small pouch to his side.

“You have your orders…” Batibat snapped her fingers, and a swirling portal of black and green smoke opened up before the three demons.

“Now execute them.”

A wordless nod from the scaled demon was the response, as Ret-Kli turned and walked through the portal; fading through, before disappearing altogether.

–

“Well, I’d better get going to class; I’ve got Mr. Hyde,” Natalie said, knocking her hand against the table briefly before getting to her feet.

“Ouch,” Isaac commented dryly, looking up as Natalie stood. Matthew was flicking through his phone; too busy to look up.

“You?”

“I’ve got Andrew for Literature,” Isaac replied.

“Ooh…good luck with that,” Natalie said with a faint smirk, nudging Isaac’s shoulder lightly. Isaac rolled his eyes slightly, shaking his head as he stood up as well.

The two teens both looked to the last teen at the table. As if feeling the eyes on him, Matthew turned his head up to look at the others.

“What?”

“You got class?” Isaac asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Figured I would try and skip class,” Matthew said causally, slipping the phone back into his pocket and drumming his fingers against the table slowly.

“You don’t need any help with skipping class,” Natalie said, tapping one finger against her other wrist, trying to remain subtle with her gesturing.

A growl suddenly emitted from Natalie’s covered wrist. The two guys’ eyes snapped to the female’s wrist, who quickly clasped her hand around it, trying to suppress the growl. It did little to quieten it, but, luckily, the three of them were among the last of students to leave the canteen, but they still needed to be careful.

“What the hell did you press?” Isaac hissed, leaning over to whisper into Natalie’s ear.

“I didn’t,” Natalie snapped back, elbowing Isaac in the ribs to send him back. She grabbed the end of her jacket sleeve, revealing a glimpse of the silver-and-black Howler that lay beneath.

A low, metallic growl emitted continuously from the Howler, though not as loud as the initial growl. There was a faint glow of white from under the sleeve, but was it was mostly covered.

“What does that mean?” Matthew said, gesturing to the source of the growl.

“You think I know?” Natalie said, glaring.

“We can’t just stand around, trying to figure it out here,” Isaac said eventually, gesturing for Matthew to get up. Though his movements were sluggish, Matthew got to his feet.

Matthew slid his hands into the depths of his trousers, saying, “I think I know a place where we can go to figure it out.”

Isaac and Natalie both looked at Matthew, before sharing a glance between the two.

“Where did you have in mind?” Isaac eventually asked.

[ComradeWolfie]

Episode 2 - The Rise of Steel, Part 2

“Behind the school? Where the druggies hang out?” Isaac asked, raising his eyebrow as the three of them walked along the side of the school. They moved quickly, trying to avoid getting see through any windows they passed.

“Hey, if you’re going go somewhere where it’ll take time to be found,” Matthew said, leading the three of them. “Go where the crack-smokers go.”

They rounded the final corner of the building, and were met with the back of the school. Normally only the home to large dumpsters and storage, had now become a haven for smokers and drug-users to quench their addictions during lessons, without teachers finding them.

But it seemed they weren’t alone. A group of three teens, all males, were hanging around, smoke coming out of their little circle in small pillars.

“What the ■■■■ do we do with these guys?” Natalie asked in a hushed, harsh whisper.

“Let me try,” Isaac asked, patting Natalie’s shoulder before stepping forward, approaching the group of smoking teens.

“Hey guys, we need this area, so…” Isaac said when near the three, hands slipping out of his pockets and folding them over his chest, gesturing behind him with one thumb.

“■■■■ off,” was the only response he got from any of them.

After a few seconds of no movement, or other response, Matthew let a smirk cross his face; stepping forward, patting Isaac’s shoulder; pushing him back slightly.

“I got this,” Matthew said, flashing Isaac his smirk before approaching the three smoking teens. Isaac took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so, level with Natalie again.

“That…could have gone better,” Isaac muttered.

“You think?” Natalie said with an eye roll.

They were torn away from each other when the sound of a heavy strike, followed by a heavy mass falling to the floor. Matthew stood between two of the smokers, who had backed off to give Matthew space. The third teen was currently lying on the ground, hands covering his face; though the growing trickles of blood could be seen seeping through the gaps of his fingers.

“Like you said - ■■■■ off,” Matthew said, a sarcastic tone to his voice as he rubbed one of his hands, presumably the one he used to throw the punch, against his jacket.

The two still standing teens quickly nodded, scrambling off while they still standing. The third teen, blood trickles starting to escape through his fingers and onto the ground, scrambled unsteadily to his feet, rushing around the other corner.

“Bit more violent than my approach,” Isaac commented, as he and Natalie quickly approached Matthew.

“But it worked,” was Matthew’s response, turning around to look at the other two. A faint smear of blood was down the right side of his jacket’s front, but not enough to permanently stain.

“Now,” Natalie said. Once the coast was clear, she rolled her sleeve up fully and held her arm out, revealing the Howler in its entirety. The crystal glowing a bright white, briefly pulsing.

“What do we press?” Natalie asked.

“Try those little buttons,” Matthew suggested, gesturing to the six buttons, three either side of the main crystal, donning the Howler.

“Best chance we have,” Isaac added.

Natalie shrugged too, seeing little choice but to guess, and began pressing each of the buttons, starting with the buttons on the crystal’s right side, but to no avail. Upon trying the left side, she pressed the middle button, and finally, something happened.

“Natalie, are Isaac and Matthew with you?” came MUTT’s voice from the Howler.

“Yeah, they’re here. Maybe you should have told us how the hell to use these things!” Natalie snapped, a venom edge to her tone.

“My apologies. When the matter is dealt with, Savage and I will answer any questions you have about the Howlers,” was MUTT’s response, the robotic nature of his voice not creating any emotions.

“What’s the matter?” Isaac asked.

“A Demon has passed into this Realm, you must deal with this quickly,” MUTT said, adding, “Tanya and Kyle have already been contacted and sent to the location.”

“Alright, more Wolkeins. Shouldn’t be a problem,” Matthew reasoned, rolling one of his sleeves up slowly, before moving to the other.

“This is not just another pod of Wolkeins. This is one of Horror’s Demons, resurrected from the Demon’s War. I am still trying to identify the Demon from Savage’s records.”

Isaac, Matthew, and Natalie all looked between themselves silently before Isaac said, “Well, no point trying to put it off. MUTT, send us to the location.”

“At once,” MUTT replied, before the communications were cut off.

Dropping her arm to her side momentarily, Natalie looked to Isaac when he said, “Ready?”

“Ready,” Natalie responded, while Matthew’s response consisted of a mere nod.

The three stood together, crossing their Howler-donned wrist over their chests.

“United, we Howl!” The three said, in near unison, pressing the central crystal.

Mid-transformation, while being covered in their respective lights, columns of red, blue and white light came down from the sky, engulfing them completely. Mere seconds later, the three of them had vanished; leaving the area barren from human life.

–

Kyle shouted out as he was thrown across the concrete, tumbling across the street and eventually coming to a stop against the side of a building.

He groaned lowly after coming to rest, pushing himself to his elbows just in time to see Tanya getting thrown through the large window of the convenient store, sending shattered glass flying everywhere. Clattering came from the now destroyed window, but Kyle couldn’t make anything out in detail.

He pushed himself to his feet, the black-and-silver armor suit he wore a bit scuffed from the previous fighting, and turned to face the strange, scaled creature they’d been set to.

And he suddenly was face to face with the creature. Well, toe to toe. His head wasn’t the same level as the creatures - it was at least two heads taller than he was.

A clawed fist wrapped around his silver-armored neck, applying steadily growing force around his throat. He gagged loudly, his hands flying around the hand around his neck, trying to pry himself free. Unfortunately, it didn’t get him anywhere. It only caused a low hiss to steadily rise in the creature’s throat, and more pressure applied to his throat.

Across the other side of the street, three beams of light came shooting down from the sky, catching the attention of Ret-Kli and Kyle.

“Finally…” Kyle wheezed, but gagged again as more pressure was applied around his throat.

In place of the three beams of light, the other three armored Warriors were, standing in the classic ‘superhero landing’ pose, their visors facing the ground before, one by one, they raised their heads to face the strange creature.

That was, until Matthew and Isaac were thrown back when Kyle was thrown at them; the three male Warriors tumbling back, a mess of red, blue and black armor.

“What took you guys so long?” Kyle remarked, a sarcastic edge to his voice as he untangled himself from the other two. Isaac and Matthew both glared at Kyle through their visors, making small mutters under their breaths as they pushed the Black Warrior off of them.

“Where’s Tanya?” Natalie asked, looking aside as the three got to their feet, all standing together as the scaled Demon drew closer.

“You Warriors…may have…defeated…me once…but…I will have…this victory…” Ret-Kli said in his signature slow, raspy voice.

“He’s talking about those guys Savage mentioned,” Kyle commented.

“No ■■■■, Sherlock,” Isaac muttered, before adding, “You know where Tanya is; go and get her, we’ll hold this guy off.”

Under his visor, Kyle rolled his eyes before sidestepping as the other three took up the space he occupied, spreading themselves out more.

Ret-Kli’s slit pupils were focused solely on the new three, before reaching behind him; moving his hand out again, revealing the large stone Batibat gave him earlier. He threw it to the ground, the stone shattered into a million pieces.

From a handful of these pieces, they grew, the rock texture stretching and warping, covering small areas of the growing pieces. Taking humanoid force, the rock texture moved to only cover the face of the creature; black armor forming over the upper chest and shoulders, along with the forearms and shins.

“So that’s where they come from,” Natalie muttered, raising her closed fists in defense.

The odd growl and grunt came from the Wolkeins, some wielding short daggers, others just with their fists as they moved around Ret-Kli constantly. They never stopped for a moment.

“Attack!” Ret-Kli roared, pointing a clawed finger at the Warriors. At the command, the Wolkeins charged, rushing towards the three Warriors.

“Let’s do this,” Isaac said, before leading the three of them running towards the Wolkeins, meeting them in the middle of the street in a class of blades and fists.

Kneeing one Wolkein in the gut, Matthew quickly ducked to dodge one flying dagger, rolling over the bent over Wolkein, delivering an upper cut to the creature, and sending it on its back. He checked over his shoulder, and side stepped to avoid a strike from one of the many circling Wolkeins.

Natalie did a shoulder roll to create some space between herself and the Wolkeins, landing on her feet and turning to face the larger group of Wolkeins. She blocked one attack with her forearm, the blade sliding back until it locked with the grooves. Unfortunately, this distraction caused her to miss a punch to her gut.

She grunted and fell to one knee. She lifted her gaze up, seeing one Wolkein raise its dagger to strike a blow. Natalie quickly rolled back, causing the Wolkeins’ dagger in her forearm groove to stumble forward, right into the blade of the other Wolkein.

As green ooze came from this Wolkein, Isaac was facing off another three. He had his weapon drawn, a red-and-silver bladed sword, and was slicing through any Wolkein that dare lower their defenses. Green ooze pulsed out of open wounds, bodies falling to the ground.

He ducked to avoid one dagger, sending a backwards kick at a charging Wolkein. This sent it flying back, stumbling into another Wolkein.

“Where’s Tanya?” Isaac muttered under his breath, grabbing the handle of his sword with both hands, looking around slowly.

–

“Tanya!” Kyle shouted, pushing open the door to the convenient store; preferring not to go through the shattered window left behind by Tanya’s body.

He looked around the ruined shop; shelves were toppled over, produce was tossed all over the store, and most of it was scattered across the floor. Crushed cookies, fresh fruit reduced to mere thick stains on the floor.

It looked like a pigsty. For very lucky pigs, that is.

“Tanya?” He asked, his robotic tinted voice low, looking around slowly.

He heard movement behind him, and Kyle turned around sharply; only to have his shoulders sag slightly at the reveal that it was only the store manager.

“You didn’t happen to…see a yellow one of me fly through here?” Kyle asked, gesturing behind him with his thumbs, to the ruined store that sat behind him.

The owner, a middle aged man with thinning grey hair and a pair of glasses, shook his head rapidly; his entire body shaking slightly. Most likely from the traumatic event of his ruined store.

“Honestly, never thought I’d ever ask someone that,” Kyle muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he walked a few steps through the store.

The sound of metal clattering against the floor caught his attention; he looked to the ground to his side, seeing a mountain of dented cans and ruined packaging covering someone. And when they shifted, it revealed a bit of a yellow suit.

“Tanya!” Kyle exclaimed, rushing over and trying to remove as much of the products as possible from the body.

When he got a few cans and cookies removed, he managed to see some of Tanya’s head; and when he did, he tried to stifle a chuckle.

Tanya was lying in a pile of food, crumbs and spreads littered across her armor. And to top it all off, peanut butter was splattered across her visor; bits of glass mixed in with the spread, from the shattered jar.

“You know, I didn’t think you liked peanut butter,” Kyle commented, trying to remove some of the spread from the Yellow Warrior’s visor.

Tanya raised her own hand, and grabbed a glob of the peanut butter; swiping it from her visor.

“I ■■■■■■■ hate peanut butter,” Tanya growled, using both her hands to wipe the peanut butter from her visor as best she could.

“Come on, the others are dealing with that Demon,” Kyle said, grabbing Tanya’s forearm, Tanya’s hand gripping his, and he pulled Tanya to her feet. A sudden, pained shot of pain caught their attention; and in a tone that they recognized.

“Isaac,” Kyle said, rushing out through the door; Tanya rushing after him, the two a streak of black and yellow as they rushed out of the store.

When they came into sight of what caused the shout, they both froze. Matthew and Natalie had been thrown across either side of the street, not a sign of any Wolkeins remaining.

But Isaac was pinned down, by a large clawed foot, underneath the scaled Demon; pressing down on the Warrior’s torso, straining the rib bones. Despite his efforts, Isaac couldn’t remove the clawed foot from his torso, but that was the least of his worries.

A low hiss came from above him, and Isaac raised his head slowly, only to be met with a wave of unbearable heat and searing pain. He started shouting and yelling in pain as the fire from the Demon’s fang-filled mouth engulfed him. Only his lower body was visible outside the fire.

“ISAAC!”

The four other teens all rushed towards the scaled Demon and their fellow Warrior, closing in on the Demon.

Reaching the Demon first, Kyle and Tanya both kicked the Demon in the back. The fire suddenly stopped and Ret-Kli stumbled over Isaac, the fire still sticking to his armor, black soot covering most of his helmet and upper torso.

Hissing in anger, Ret-Kli turned to face the now four standing Rangers, standing before their fallen comrade, fists raised, fingers clenched together.

He attempted to stepped forward, but before he could get much closer, a black-and-green portal opened up, absorbing Ret-Kli into it, the Demon’s roar of anger fading into nothing.

Once they were sure the Demon was gone, though it was strange, they all turned their attention to Isaac. Natalie and Kyle lowered to their knees, trying to pick Isaac’s upper body up slowly into a sitting position.

“Is he breathing?” Tanya asked frantically, moving around to check Isaac from the front.

“We need to get him checked out,” Natalie said, trying to keep Isaac’s helmet and head level, the charred soot passing from his helmet to him.

“We’re bringing you five back,” Savage’s voice suddenly came over the intercoms. The five of them were enclosed in light, and in an instant, they vanished.

[ComradeWolfie]

Episode 2 - The Rise of Steel, Part 3

The light surrounding the five of them hadn’t fully dispersed when they started moving forward. MUTT and Savage approached the group.

“Give him to me,” Savage ordered, his tone gruff as he grabbed Isaac from Kyle and Natalie, supporting the Red Warrior’s body by throwing his arm over his shoulders, and helping him to the unfolding table in the middle of the room.

“MUTT, initiate the scan,” Savage said firmly, carefully lying Isaac’s charred, armored form on the table, an odd groan of pain escaping the unconscious human.

“Yes sir,” MUTT responded, corralling the others Warriors away as he moved back to a console at the table. He tapped a few keys and a circular scanner lowered from the ceiling, encircling the table Isaac was resting on.

“What’s happening?” Kyle asked, having taken his helmet off his head the second Isaac’s body had been removed from his hands, and currently carrying it under his arm.

“Initiating scan to assess damage,” MUTT answered, tapping another key moments later.

A light blue light lowered from the scanner, starting at Isaac’s still-armored head and slowly moving over his body. The light passing over his slowly rising and falling chest, his fingers twitching slightly as pain racked through his body at random points.

“Third degree burns to 37% of the body,” MUTT said once the scan was completed, tapping a few more keys. He moved over to the other side of the room, walking past the other Warriors and tapped a small screen on the wall.

A faint hiss escaped as a panel opened up, extending out into the room. Cold steam escaped the panel, and a faint blue glow escaped the small lights.

From the cryogenic fridge, MUTT grabbed a small vile from the middle shelf and pushed the panel closed again, walking off as it sealed shut again.

“Kyle, syringe,” MUTT said, gesturing with the free hand to the Black Warrior, then gesturing to the opposite side of the room.

“Yeah… Syringe,” Kyle muttered under his breath, quickly setting his helmet down on the side and rushed over to the area MUTT gestured to. Reaching the area, he began filtering through the many shelves behind the counter, desperately looking for the surgical equipment.

Tossing some appliances aside, Kyle ended up crouching down and throwing out several shelves before finally finding the syringe.

He got up and quickly rushed over to the robot and wolf-man as the other humans quickly drew nearer when they had the chance.

“Syringe,” Kyle said, breathing a little heavier from rushing around, and handed the syringe to MUTT.

The robot took the syringe, and after removing the shaft-cover, pulled the handle back, drawing air into the syringe. Stabbing into the vial and injecting the air, he flipped the two of them over and drew the liquid from the vial slowly.

MUTT turned to face Isaac, as Savage slowly unclasped the helmet and removed it from Isaac’s face. Revealing the true damage done to the skin beneath.

A leathery, brown color extended over half of Isaac’s face; moving over his chin and his neck, moving further down his non-visible body. The brown, inflamed skin appeared severely irritated, fusing with the ‘normal’ looking skin. Isaac’s right eye was forced shut, covered with the leathery burns covering that side of his face.

“Jesus Christ…” Tanya muttered, covering her mouth and quickly turning away, not wanting to see the result of Ret-Kli’s flames.

The others all averted their gaze, trying to keep their lunch down. It being the first time they had seen such injuries up close, and not images from the Internet.

“Inject it MUTT,” Savage ordered, quickly setting the soot-laden helmet aside and returning to stand over Isaac’s head. He carefully placed his large, furry hands on either side of Isaac’s head, turning to the left side slowly; letting the burnt side facing up.

MUTT moved to Isaac’s other side, tapping the needle a few times to remove any air bubbles within the liquid.

“■■■■■■■ hate needles,” Matthew said, turning around and settled on just pacing back and forth as the impromptu procedure went on.

Placing one of his ‘hands’ on the Isaac’s shoulder, MUTT carefully slide the needle into an area of Isaac’s skin, among the burnt area, and injected the medication into the bloodstream.

At the medication entering his system, Isaac’s body suddenly seized up, inhaling harshly. Savage’s grip on his body tightened as Isaac tried shifting, and MUTT increased his hold on Isaac’s shoulder.

“He’s going into shock,” MUTT said, quickly removing the needle and placing it to one side, as Savage turned Isaac’s head back slowly so it was facing upward again.

“I just need time,” Savage growled lowly, rolling the sleeves up on his trench coat and cracked his knuckles briefly before placing his first and middle finger on both hands on either of Isaac’s temples. At this point, Savage inhaled and exhaled deeply, closing his eyes slowly.

“What’s he doing?” Natalie asked quietly, the entire room suddenly growing much quieter when Savage’s eyes closed.

MUTT simply raised a hand up, not responding for the moment.

Savage inhaled deeply, and released the breath slowly a few seconds later, trying to remove the tension in his muscles, relaxing his face and letting his whole body loosen up.

That was when the teens noticed something.

Across Savage’s left arm, faint red glow started to become apparent, glowing underneath the fur, but becoming brighter and more well-defined as each second passed.

Curves and markings were among the red designs, glowing up his arm, to the point that his sleeve was rolled to, and then they noticed it continued up the left side of his neck.

Some parts resembled stripes, mostly along his arm, while others looked similar to old body paints the further it went up his neck. Despite the slight differences in the designs, they were all glowing the same red color.

As the glowing continued, Isaac’s movement and twitching slowly started to die down, and his breathing began to level out.

Now that the breathing and movement had been calmed, Savage slowly moved his middle finger up from the temple and placing them at another point just above the temple, and carefully pressed into the skin.

Isaac inhaled sharply again, but it was the only time it happened. His body remained relatively stationary and his breathing was, otherwise, steady.

Then, a faint glow of white started to appear at the points where Savage’s fingers were pressed against Isaac’s head.

The remaining teens watched in amazement, as the severe burns across Isaac’s face started to deflate, and the color of the burns started to return to the normal skin color and texture. His undamaged eye twitched slightly, as the other eye started to resemble it among the swelling and burns.

Minutes passed, and somehow, Isaac’s damaged skin seemed to be repaired, not a trace, on the surface anyway, that the burn marks had ever been on his face. His eyes were now fully visible, no swelling remaining.

Savage slowly removed his fingers from Isaac’s temples once the skin had been returned to normal; the moment his fingers were removed, the red markings across his left arm and neck, started to fade rapidly. Within seconds, they had vanished entirely, disappearing beneath the rugged fur.

“It will take him a few minutes to recover,” Savage said offhandedly, rolling his sleeves down again slowly, adjusting the sleeves to remove any creases. “You four, with me,” he added, gesturing for the other humans to follow him.

The four looked at each other before following after Savage, leading them to the other side of the room. MUTT remaining to keep a close eye on Isaac, monitoring his condition.

Reaching one of the screens, Savage tapped a few commands into one of the keyboards, and began, “The Demon you encountered goes by the name ‘Ret-Kli’.”

“How the hell can you tell?” Matthew asked, crossing his armored arms over his chest.

“Every flame is unique in feel. A Demon’s fire is no difference. His fire especially,” Savage said, before finally turning around and flicking his hand against the screen.

The image on the screen jumped to the hologram on the center of the command room, showing a scale image of Ret-Kli, standing motionless.

“You still didn’t explain how you could tell,” Tanya commented.

A faint growl escaping him, Savage quickly suppressed it and, as calmly as he could, said, “When I was healing Isaac, I also felt the pain inflicted on him from Ret-Kli.”

“If a mere human had been in Isaac’s position at the time, they would have been reduced to a pile of ash. But because of the armor he wore, it protected him from death, but because of the heat, it managed to pass through the armor and still burnt him.”

“You seem to know a lot about how this guy works,” Matthew commented, raising an eyebrow slightly as he spoke.

A scowl crossed Savage’s face, his gaze focused on Matthew. “My clan fought Demons throughout our lives, Ret-Kli included. Ret-Kli was among of the first Demons the Ancient Warriors faced when they were given the honor of their titles.”

“You could learn something from the Ancient Warrior’s time fighting Ret-Kli,” Savage added, flicking the hologram back onto the screen and removing it again.

“What?” Natalie asked, joining Matthew in glaring back at Savage defiantly.

“You need to ignore the human instinct you have been programmed to follow. You humans; you scatter from danger, standing alone, leaving others to fend for themselves,” Savage replied, before continuing.

“If my people did that, our Clan would have been wiped out, long before I was conceived. We unite against danger, fighting as one. That’s how the Ancient Warriors trained; that is how my people train. And that is how you are going to need to train.”

“We can’t exactly ‘train’,” Kyle said, making air quotations when he said ‘train’, before folding his arms over his chest as he continued, “We’re not like you, Savage. We have…school, jobs. And we can’t exactly say, ‘Oh, where were we? Just training to save the world from Demons, being taught everything by a giant wolf-man wearing a trench coat. Oh yeah, and we turn into super-powered, armored, multi-colored beings. What’s for dinner?’”

“First off…” Savage started, but he was interrupted by the sound of a loud gasp.

They all turned to look back, seeing MUTT leaning over the table, trying to keep Isaac’s upper body down.

“You must try to relax, Isaac,” MUTT tried to order, placing either hand on Isaac’s shoulder, and pressing down.

“What happened? Where are the others?” Isaac’s voice asked frantically, trying to unclasp MUTT’s hands from his charred shoulder.

Natalie and Matthew quickly rushed over, followed by Kyle, Tanya and Savage at a slightly slower pace.

“It’s alright, Isaac,” Natalie quickly said, gently pushing MUTT aside and placing a hand on Isaac’s shoulder, turning his head with her free hand to face her.

“You’re good, man,” Matthew said, approaching on Isaac’s other side and clasping a hand over Isaac’s other shoulder.

“What happened?” Isaac asked frantically, reaching his hand up and grasping a handful of the fabric armor on Matthew’s arm; tugging it, trying to pull himself up, while at the same time, dragging Matthew closer. “What happened? I…I-I remember…being pinned…t-t-then I-I-I…I blacked out…”

“What happened?” He asked again, his voice dropped down a pitch, yet he was starting to shake slightly.

“You suffered third-degree burns to 37% of your body,” Savage said bluntly, looming over the rest of the team to look at Isaac.

“But you’re fine now!” Kyle added quickly, as Tanya glared at Savage, mouthing ‘what the hell?’ at the wolf-man.

Isaac let the information sink in, slowly unclasping his hand from the grip on Matthew’s arm, the hand visibly shaking slightly as he pulled it back to his face. He gently touched his face, running down his right cheek slowly, feeling the now normal skin.

“How?” Isaac asked softly, looking between the four humans, MUTT and Savage.

“Savage did some weird… voodoo spirit-thing to heal your burns. I’m still trying to figure it out myself,” Natalie said, side glancing at the humanoid wolf.

Still a little shaky, and his breathing not yet leveling out, Isaac gently pushed Matthew a few steps back, carefully swinging his legs around the table, sitting himself up.

“W… What happened to that… that Demon?” Isaac asked softly, looking up slightly, before resting his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes slowly.

“Honestly, we don’t have a clue. It just… vanished. Poof. Gone,” Matthew said, gesturing with his hands the ‘poofing’ movement.

A confused look came over Isaac’s face. “Why the hell would it do that?”

–

“How….dare you!” Ret-Kli snarled, smoke billowing from the corners of his mouth, his eyes narrowed to nearly vanishing in the angry gold pools.

Batibat and Fear stood next to each other, both facing the scaled Demon. Batibat had her arms folded over her chest, while Fear was settled on crossing his hands behind his back.

“I prefer to draw out the torment, something a simple minded creature like yourself may struggle to grasp,” Batibat said, her fingers drumming over her arm, irritation emitting from her every fiber.

“I will return you to the Realm when the Warriors have made themselves known again. Now that you’ve removed the leader of the Warriors, they’ll be much easier to take down.”

Snorting lowly, causing pillars of smoke to escape his nostril slits, Ret-Kli glared hard at the two Warlords, baring his serrated teeth.

“I will deal with them myself,” Ret-Kli snarled slowly, before turning around and walking off, approaching the still-open portal and walked through it without a second glance behind him.

“You really think that Ret-Kli’s flames were able pierce that Red Warrior’s armor?” Fear asked, once Ret-Kli had vanished through the portal. Surprisingly, neither of them had stopped the scaled Demon from leaving.

A faint smirk crossing her thin lips, Batibat replied, “There were not many beings would were able to recover from Ret-Kli’s flames. And those that could, have died a long, long time ago…”

[ComradeWolfie]

Episode 2 - The Rise of Steel, Part 4

“Ret-Kli has returned,” MUTT suddenly said, facing a monitor and tapping a few keys.

“Where?” Savage asked, approaching the robot, looking at the monitor for any answers. The others followed quietly, apart from Isaac, who followed a far bit slower.

“South of the City,” MUTT answered, enlarging one of the images on the monitor, so that it fully covered the screen. True to his word, Ret-Kli was on screen, fire engulfed all around him. In the distance of what the screen showed, civilians were trying to get away from the Demon.

“You need to get out there and finish him off,” Savage instructed, gesturing to four of the five Rangers. “Except you, Isaac.”

“What? Look, I’m fine now. I… I’m good,” Isaac said defensively, pushing aside Matthew to face Savage directly.

“You are not to be in combat against Ret-Kli; he believes you dead, and for now, we must make him think he’s right. Besides, I have something I need you to do for me,” Savage said, an edge to his tone when he spoke.

Isaac stared back at Savage - the two sharing an intense stare-off - but eventually Isaac backed off, turning his gaze aside.

“That’s what I thought,” Savage grunted, before turning to face the others. “Get going.”

The teens glanced at the wolf-man, and each other, before Natalie said, “You just gave us a lecture about how we need to stay together to ensure victory, and now you’re telling us that we need to split? I don’t know about you, but I’m smelling bull.”

Savage looked at Natalie, glaring intensely as he growled, “True, I did say that, but this is the only exception. I require him. If I am finished and you are still fighting, I will send him to you at once.”

Natalie didn’t seem too convinced, but Tanya responded, “Fine, but we’ll be holding you to your word.”

Isaac sighed, rubbing his hands through his hair slowly, before pulling his hands back and said, “I guess I’ll be joining you guys later then.”

“Don’t worry about it, Isaac,” Kyle said, walking over and grabbed his helmet, carrying it under his arm as he added, “I’m sure we’ll get that Demon down before you turn up anyway.”

“Screw you,” Isaac muttered, electing a chuckle from Kyle as he put his helmet on again.

The others followed suite, and after Savage and Isaac had stepped back, MUTT tapped in a command and, with a flash of light, the four had vanished.

“So, go on. What’s so important that you won’t let me join the others?” Isaac asked, an angry tone to his voice as he turned to face Savage.

Savage turned to face Isaac, looking down slightly, because of the height difference. “If you’d like to come with me,” Savage said, gesturing to follow him, as he turned to walk down one of the corridors connecting another room to the main command center.

Isaac looked at MUTT, who looked back blankly, gesturing for Isaac to walk after Savage. The red warrior rolled his shoulders slightly, following after the wolf-man into the dimly lit corridor.

–

“Warriors…” Ret-Kli hissed, turning around slowly, the flash of light caught the corner of his eye, a light he had seen before.

And just as he expected, the four remaining Warriors stood before him in a line; the Yellow first, then Blue, followed by Black and White.

“I see you are one down…” the scaled Demon hissed, smoke pouring out of the corner of his mouth, hands curling into tight fists; flashing his claws as he did so.

“Shut the hell up,” Tanya snapped, curling her gloved hand into a fist. “Matthew, with you. Natalie, Kyle; make sure the civilians are out of the way.”

The Black and White Warriors nodded, before quickly moving off; Matthew and Tanya spreading themselves across the space the others occupied.

“You think just two can beat me? A Beta and a Gamma…” Ret-Kli hissed lowly.

“I told you,” Tanya said, a venom-edge to her voice, “Shut. The hell. Up.”

With that final insult, Tanya rushed forward, running at the Demon as fast as she could, becoming a yellow blur and colliding with the Demon in mere milliseconds.

Ret-Kli staggered back, growling lowly under his breath as he cupped the part of his torso that received the punch as he stared at Tanya. The Yellow Warrior didn’t let up, rushing up to Ret-Kli again, aiming a jump-kick at the Demon.

However, Ret-Kli grabbed the incoming foot as it was thrown, stopping Tanya mid-kick. He gripped her ankle tighter and flung her around. Sending her flying into one of the buildings opposite them.

As Tanya collided with the concrete, sending cracks throughout, Matthew quickly took her place, sending punches and kicks flying at the Demon; trying to avoid the claws.

Ret-Kli hissed loudly, grabbing one of the flying wrists in one hand; Matthew looked to his restricted wrist, trying to break it free. When that failed, he brought his other fist into a large swing. But this too was grabbed in an iron hold.

Grunting, Matthew faced the Demon, both of his hands now restricted. Seeing no other option, he stared down the Demon.

For a second, anyway.

Ret-Kli snarled in pain when the helmet collided with Ret-Kli’s jaw, his head recoiling from the impact.

“That’s for Isaac,” Matthew spat, but his actions didn’t seem to do him any good.

Judging from the look that dominated Ret-Kli’s eye, Matthew felt a little uneasy.

Before anything could happen, however, Ret-Kli was sent stumbling forward, releasing Matthew from his hold, as he stumbled aside.

Rubbing his arms, which he was sure were bleeding form the claws digging into the suit, Matthew looked up to see Tanya standing defensively where Ret-Kli had been standing. Behind her, Natalie and Kyle were quickly running towards them. Civilians had been cleared of the area, so they had returned to the action.

The four Warriors, now united again, started circling around the Demon, cornering him on all sides. Ret-Kli’s gaze when from Warrior to Warrior, never staying on one in particular for too long before it switched to the next.

“Now!” Tanya and Matthew shouted at the same time, the Blue and Yellow Warrior rushing forward - the Black and White Warriors - opposite their position, running towards Ret-Kli.

The Demon snarled, dodging and ducking the multiple attacks and, despite his large bulk, he managed to avoid most of the strikes. The few that landed on him, namely across his legs and torso, were absorbed by the tough scales.

“This guy-” Natalie grunted, ducking when Ret-Kli tried to swing a claw at her, before returning a punch to the scaled torso. “-has to have some weak spot.”

“This isn’t a movie,” Tanya grunted, stepping back slightly when a strike connected with her helmet, disorientating her momentarily. Shaking her head quickly, she brought her fists up defensively and moved in again, throwing punches at Ret-Kli.

Suddenly, Ret-Kli struck out rapidly; striking each of the Warriors in turn, sending them all flying back. Kyle collided with a building wall, sending cracks through the concrete as he fell to the ground again.

Matthew and Natalie were sent rolling across the ground, eventually coming to a stop either side of the street.

Tanya, too, was sent rolling across the ground, but she eventually righted herself on her feet. The momentum continued carrying her back, until she came to a stop. Panting slightly, she quickly tried to get to her feet, holding her hands up defensively.

“Do you wish to die, Warrior?” Ret-Kli growled lowly, slowly drawing closer to the standing Yellow Warrior, more smoke starting to pour out more frequently than before.

He opened his mouth slowly, and Tanya saw the makings of a fireball forming in Ret-Kli’s mouth. Yet she remained where she was, still in her defensive stance.

“Tanya!” shouted Kyle, quickly getting to his feet and rushing towards the Demon and Yellow Warrior. Matthew quickly got to his feet, while Natalie was finding it hard to get up quickly.

Then, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the area, causing Ret-Kli to growl in confusion, and a small smirk to form under Tanya’s helmet.

“Miss me, ugly?” Isaac asked, standing in front Ret-Kli before turning the sword in his hand and striking forward, but slightly upward; aiming the strike right through the middle of Ret-Kli’s fireball.

Screeches of pain escaped Ret-Kli as the sword pierced through the soft inner flesh, normally protected by the scales across the rest of his body. It also pierced through the spell cast around the fireball to keep it in shape.

The fire escaped, returning to the uncontrollable force of nature that fire was, backfiring down Ret-Kli’s throat and into the belly of the beast. Black smoke billowed out of the corners of his mouth, as he staggered back slightly.

“Nice,” Tanya commented, walking up to where Isaac stood; folding her arms over her chest upon reaching that point. They were soon joined by the other three Warriors, all looking at the scaled Ret-Kli, who had been reduced to his knees, the fire consuming his internals and burning them to a cinder.

“Savage finished with you just in time,” Kyle commented, nudging Isaac in the ribs gently.

“Yep, and I think you guys will like what it is,” Isaac said, smirking under the helmet slightly.

–

“That was an embarrassment,” Fear commented aloud, stroking his chin slightly as he watched the remains of Ret-Kli burn in front of the Rangers.

“Only if you didn’t intend for it to happen,” Batibat commented, flicking a strand of her hair behind her ear, as she turned and walked off from the portal.

Fear looked aside as Batibat walked away, asking, “You intended for this to happen?”

“Ret-Kli was always going to lose in a fight - he’s over confident in his abilities. But he did help provide some useful insight into these new Warriors,” Batibat replied, approaching one side of the cavern, cracking her fingers and knuckles slowly.

“Now, he’s going to provide a little more,” She added, rubbing her hands together; black-and-green smoke sticking to her fingers.

Exhaling slowly, Batibat closed her eyes, her hands moving smoothly and slowly, passing over one of the other, summoning the smoke that attached to her fingers, drawing it to the point where both hands passed around.

Fear watched as the smoke started to form into a small, black-and-green ball - resembling a small gas ball - seeing her lips move silently, muttering a spell under her breath.

Slowly exhaling, Batibat breathed on the small gas ball, disturbing the green smoke trails from passing across the ball.

Batibat raised her gaze, looking to Fear, flicking her gaze across, gesturing for the other Demon Warlord to move. Fear moved slightly, leaving a straight, clear line between the viewing portal and where Batibat stood. With a flick of her wrist, the ball went floating through the air, vanishing through the portal.

–

“Uh, guys?” Natalie said, gesturing to the sky. The others turned their gazes up to the sky, and saw what Natalie had pointed out.

Though it was brief, there was a flash of black streaking across the sky, resembling a comet streaking through the air.

Except this ‘comet’ turned in a way that was completely unnatural for a comet, and was headed straight towards where the Warriors were standing.

They all flinched to move back, but it turned out that the ‘comet’ struck the ground a distance away from where they stood; it landed where the burnt remains of Ret-Kli rested.

The burnt scales were engulfed in black-and-green smoke, swirling around what remained of the body. Gathering speed, and quickly growing in mass.

“That can’t be good,” Matthew said, taking a small step back slowly, as the smoke grew higher and higher; surpassing the height of some of the tallest skyscrapers surrounding the area.

A great roar came from the smoke, shaking the glass of the surrounding buildings, shattering it in some cases, as the smoke finally dispersed. Revealing the creature inside.

Ret-Kli stood in place as the smoke disappeared, the difference being that he had now grown to a colossal size, surpassing the height of the buildings. His teeth alone looked about the size of buses.

“Oh…” Natalie started.

“Crap,” Matthew added.

“Uh… what was that thing Savage wanted you for again?” Kyle asked, turning to look at Isaac directly.

Isaac quickly pressed one of the smaller buttons on his Howler, saying, “Savage, we need 'em. Ugly here got big.”

“On the way,” Savage said over the communications.

The second the intercoms went quiet, five distinctive howls rang out through the city, catching the teens’ attention in an instant.

“You are kidding me…” Matthew softly said in disbelief.

“Is that what I think it is?” Tanya asked.

In the distance, five large masses rushed through the forests surrounding Pax Valley, quickly making their way into the city. Kicking up large chunks of road as they ran, and catching their black tails on the corners of buildings as they made turns.

Finally, they came into sight of the Warriors.

Five large, metal Wolves came to a stop, large, metallic claws digging into the roads, looking so narrow due to the size of the Metal Wolves. One stood in the middle, the largest one, with two on either side of the central one; three were relatively the same size, while the fourth was significantly smaller than the others.

The central Wolf, with silver and black streaks across its red body, released metallic snarls, snapping its large fangs at the giant Demon.

The two to its right, with yellow and blue as their base color, with silver and black streaks crossing their backs and sides, snapped their jaws, their long, black, blade-like tails flicking behind them.

The two to its left, with the smaller white based Metal Wolf, and the medium-sized black based Metal Wolf, snarled; metallic teeth flashing, and catching the sun to reflect.

“Are those… Zords?” Matthew asked, looking to Isaac.

“Savage said he needed an Alpha power source to activate the Red Alpha Wolf; he could activate the others easier, but the Alpha needed a direct power source,” Isaac replied, before rubbing his hands together.

“Shall we?” he asked, gesturing to the Zords.

“Ladies first!” Tanya quickly said, tapping the central crystal on her Howler; vanishing in a flash of yellow light. Natalie followed quickly, disappearing in a flash of white.

The males quickly followed suite, flashing in burst of their respective colors, and they found themselves standing in a black room, void of color, save for their uniforms.

"What is this place?" Natalie said, looking around the black area. She then looked in front of her, and found that she was facing Ret-Kli; the view was blurred at the edges, but she could clearly see the scaled Demon among the buildings.

“The Zords are mentally linked to their respective Warriors; imagine what you want them to do, and they’ll do it. Just so long as it’s physically possible,” MUTT’s voice said into their intercoms.

“That’s not so useful,” Matthew muttered, shaking his head as he tried it out, moving his head around slightly, seeing that the Wolf’s head followed his owns movement. “I could get used to this,” He said, flexing his fingers as tried to focus.

“So the Warriors have new weapons…” Ret-Kli said slowly, his mouth curling into a sadistic smirk. He slowly drew closer, stepping onto cars with every slow step forward he took.

“Let’s see what these things can do,” Isaac said, cracking his knuckles slowly as he closed his eyes, focusing on how to act.

The Red Wolf jumped forward, causing Isaac to falter slightly at the sudden leap, and again when the Wolf collided with Ret-Kli, latching the metal fangs onto the scales.

A loud, angered shout came from the scaled creature, and he tried to remove the mass of sharp metal latched onto its arm, the teeth eventually sliding off of the scales, sending the wolf flying through the air.

“Wow!” Isaac exclaimed, stumbling through the black void, trying to right himself as the Wolf landed.

Its massive claws dug into the concrete, creating large grooves in the road from where the momentum carried it; cars getting flipped and shredded, and buildings cracked when contact was made.

“That could have gone better,” Isaac said, shaking his head to clear any dizziness from the fall.

The others quickly rushed forward; Natalie guiding her small, nimble White Wolf Zord onto the building’s roof, sending small crumbs off of the roofs, hoping to get a height advantage over Ret-Kli while he was distracted by the others.

Matthew and Tanya maneuvered their Blue and Yellow Zords around on the ground, buildings getting knocked into from the wide shoulders of the Zords.

Using one of the lower buildings as leverage, Kyle willed his Black Zord to jump off, leaping at the giant, scaled Demon, but Ret-Kli saw this coming. Swiping across, the clawed fingers collided with the side of Kyle’s Zords, sending it flying aside, rolling across a small clearing before coming to a stop, when it collided with the side of a skyscraper.

“Ow…” Kyle said, righting both himself and the Black Zord to its feet, shaking itself of any damage done to it.

“I don’t think this is working,” Natalie said, her Zord perched up on the skyscraper, seeing the battle take place in front of her.

“Agreed,” Isaac said, working his way around the battle, to regroup with the others. Matthew’s Zord quickly joined, the Zord flashing its metal fangs at the Demon.

Kyle and Natalie soon joined the group, Natalie’s Zord using the building she had propped it up on as a way to slowly decent; claws grinding through the building, only releasing when she had reached the ground.

“Come on guys, we can put them together,” Isaac said, his Zord moving in front of the others, taking the lead. “Press into the crystals and turn to the right,” He instructed, holding the Howler-wrist up and pressing into the crystal and turning to the right quickly.

In their own Zords, all of the other Warriors did the same, turning the crystal to the right. In turn, all of the Zord’s eyes, previously their respective Warrior’s color, started to glow a bright white, Isaac’s Zord jumping up, followed by the others in rapid succession.

[ComradeWolfie]

Episode 2 - The Rise of Steel, Part 5

-Megazord Sequence-

The Red Wolf Zord jumped into the air, its back legs straightening out, while the front legs folded back into the shoulders. Its eyes flashed red briefly, before it straightened up, looking forward.

The Yellow and Black Wolf Zords both jumped up next, one on their side of the Red Wolf Zord, their heads folding back; ears folding against their skulls. Their back legs folded in on themselves, while the front legs rested against the sides of the head.

The back legs of the Red Wolf Zord connected with the base of the Black and Yellow Zords, creating a body complete with legs.

The Blue Wolf Zord jumped up next, splitting across the middle, leaving the front end and the back end, with segments coming out from either half, at the point where they disconnected.

One half moving to either side, the main segments connected to the sides of the Red Wolf Zord’s shoulders, creating arms for the creation.

Finally, the smaller White Wolf Zord came into view, splitting into three segments: the head, and both sets of legs. The legs folded in, creating fists for the creation. These connected with the ends of the arms, the fingers flexing, testing the connection between the arms and the hands.

Leaving the remaining head, which moved above the top of the Zord combination, a panel slowly slid down, revealing a black-and-silver face, the mouth and nose molds covered with a black mask. When it connected to the top of the Red Wolf Zord, the eyes of the face flashed into life, settling into a dark yellow color.

With the Red Wolf Zord’s head as the chest cover, the completed creation landed on the ground, fully formed.

-Megazord Sequence-

Standing before Ret-Kli, the combination of the five Wolf Zords stood strong, its white, silver and black fists clenched into tight fists, as its yellow eyes were focused on the Demon before it.

Inside the head of the Megazord, stood the five teens; Isaac at the center, with Matthew to his left and Tanya to his right. Kyle and Natalie stood behind them, in the gaps between the front three.

“Oh, this is ■■■■■■■ cool!” Matthew said, looking around to see the other four standing in the black void.

“This is pretty sweet,” Kyle agreed, rolling his shoulders slightly, one before the other.

“Let’s finish this guy off once and for all,” Isaac said, glaring intently at the Demon, through both his visor and the visor of the Wolf Megazord.

“I will finish you off personally, Red Warrior…” Ret-Kli snarled, before he rushed forward, creating small quakes throughout the city with every step he took, approaching the Megazord.

“Let’s meet him full on,” Tanya said, and together, the five of them willed the Megazord forward; walking, creating more quakes to go with Ret-Kli’s.

The two behemoths clashed in the middle of the city, their punches slow due to their size, meaning that they struggled to avoid incoming punches.

Spares flew when Ret-Kli’s fists collided with the Megazord’s front, sending the Warriors inside stumbling as their Megazord was sent a few paces back.

“You know, guys, instead of just punching him - which we proved already doesn’t work,” Kyle began, looking aside at the others. “Why don’t we just did what we know works? Get a sword, and spear that son of a ■■■■■!”

“Good idea, Kyle,” Isaac said, his tone muffled slightly, embarrassment evident in his voice. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that before?

“Savage? We get a sword with thing?” Tanya asked, hoping the intercoms still worked in the complete Megazord.

“You do, summon the Wolf Tail Blade,” Savage said.

“‘Wolf Tail Blade’? Think he’s got that name trademarked?” Kyle asked, raising his eyebrow under the helmet, smirking.

“And, we’re back to normal,” Matthew remarked, to which Kyle just shrugged.

From the back of the Megazord, the five wolf tails that had been slotted into place when the Megazord had been completed, shot out from the slots, firing into the air.

Four of the tails formed the curved blade of the sword, the bottom one acting as the handle for the sword. Meanwhile, the fifth one acted as a hand guard; the blade lowered slowly, until the Megazord grabbed onto the handle.

In the helmet of the Megazord, five, miniature versions of the Wolf Tail Blade lowered in front of the Warriors, all looking at each other, before, one by one, they grabbed onto the sword and tested them out.

“Let’s finish this guy,” Isaac said, grabbing the sword with both hands. The others followed suite, and on the exterior, the Megazord did the same, the blade facing upward, both hands firmly grasping the handle of the sword.

Ret-Kli charged forward, seeing the Megazord go still, making this as an opportunity to strike the Warriors.

“Wait,” Isaac said slowly, making sure no-one acted out of reflex. The others all looked at Isaac slowly, unsure of his choice, but trusting him for now.

Ret-Kli moved closer, running one of his fists straight through the middle floors of a building, sparking explosions and concrete to rain down on those below.

“Not yet…”

“Isaac, he’s nearly on top of us!” Tanya exclaimed.

“Trust me!” Isaac exclaimed.

Ret-Kli just passed the second to last intersection to where the Megazord stood. At his size, that was about four steps away from reaching the Warriors.

“Isaac…”

Three steps…

“Isaac!”

Two steps…

“ISAAC!”

“Now!”

Together, the Warriors turned the blade to face forward, just at the point where Ret-Kli was about to bear down on them. With a grunt, they thrusted the sword forward, driving the blade of the sword through the teeth-filled mouth.

Ret-Kli gargled, gagging as the blade pierced the internals, slicing through the organs and soft flesh until the blade pressed against the underside of the scales on the back of his neck.

“And DOWN!”

Releasing one hand from the handle, and placing them on the back of the blade portion that wasn’t slicing through the body, the Warriors, with as much force as they could muster, pressed their blades downward.

In the full scale fight, the blade, thanks to finding a weak spot in the scales, managed to crack through the scales. Little by little, the blade sliced through the front of the Demon, black and green smoke escaping the wound, like cutting into a plastic bottle full of water.

By the time the blade was cutting through the lower torso, the smoke was billowing out at a rapid pace, and that was when they felt the resistance just… vanish. Ret-Kli was reduced to nothing more than smoke, wisps of smoke escaping from the movement of the blade, now that the resistance suddenly vanished.

“What the… where the hell did he go?” Matthew asked, looking around, turning the Megazord’s head around slowly, seeing if this was some kind of trick.

“So… are we counting that as a win?” Kyle asked, after concluding that Ret-Kli had vanished.

“I’m counting it,” Natalie said, resting the back of the sword’s blade against her shoulder.

“Just… where the hell did he go?”

–

“Didn’t I tell you that he was overconfident?” Batibat asked, arms crossed over her chest, as she walked away from the viewing portal once again, looking around slowly.

“I assume you’ve learnt what you wanted to learn?” Fear asked, promptly ignoring the remark from the she-Demon, turning away to look at her.

“Oh, I have. All I wanted,” Batibat confirmed, before she looked up at one particular spot, and stood still. This caused Fear to turn his gaze up as well, seeing what Batibat had her eyes locked on.

A small black orb came floating down through the air, and continued to descend. Batibat unfolded one of her arms, and held out one of her hands, palm facing upward.

Gently taking the orb into her hand, she ran her other hand’s fingers over the orb, looking it over slowly.

“Ret-Kli…?” Fear asked, gesturing to the small black orb.

“What’s left of him, anyway,” Batibat muttered, walking away slowly, approaching the podium where the black gem sat. She held the orb over the gem, before slowly letting go. Surprisingly, the orb remained in place.

Slowly, the orb started to decrease in size, and filtered down into the gem below, where the energy of the orb entered the gem. A slight, bright white glow emitted from the gem, through the metal cage that surrounded it.

“Hmm… interesting…” Fear muttered under his breath, before walking off once the entire orb had vanished entirely.

Batibat remained for a few seconds longer, watching the gem intently, desperately even, for any sort of reaction of the energy orb.

But nothing came. The gem just sat there, motionless.

Batibat sighed slightly, before she approached the wall, looking over the many choices she had. However, with her back to the gem, a faint red glow emitted from the entirely black gem. Like a red pupil, looking through a black eye.

[Bioman]

power rangers but furries

I really like this! It’s a very good and original story, while still feeling recognizable as Power Rangers. The characters feel very developed, and I am impressed by how well-written this is. Your writing style is good, I enjoy reading it and it allows me to clearly imagine/visualize all the characters and action in my mind.
As it is, this is probably too dark to be an actual installment in the PR series, but as its own standalone series, this could be very good and I’d definitely watch it!

I don’t think you’ll see my response (you don’t seem to be active anymore) but I have to say: it’s obvious that you put a lot of thought, effort, and passion into this project - and I really appreciate that. It was very nice to read and I’d be there for more!