[FangRX]

It was roughly a week after the last battle with Furyblaze and the Rangers had separated, going their separate ways. Alec Craven, the Blue Ranger, sighed as he looked out over the water. “Remembering my wife and daughter…something I haven’t done in a long time,” he said, sitting down at the edge of the water.

They didn’t know how it happened. The two sat at the water’s edge, his head in his female companion’s lap, looking up at her as she moved some brunette hair out of his face.

“Alec’ander, why do you not trim your hair? It’s getting unruly again,” she giggled, smiling down at him.

“I was under the impression you enjoyed my hair this long, my dear De’lia,” Alec chuckled, taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles, smiling as he did. “If you wish me to cut it before the ceremonies, I’m sure that my father would be happy to oblige.”

Shaking her head, De’lia leaned down and kissed Alec, smiling against his lips softly. “I like it,” she whispered. “I was just asking a question, my love. If you wish it to be cut, you can get it cut. I like your hair either way.”

“I’ll let it grow a bit more,” Alec said, smiling up at De’lia. “I still don’t know what you see in me, love.”

“I love you. Is that not enough?”

“It is,” Alec said, smiling softly.

“De’lia….I miss you so much,” Alec whispered, looking over the lake as he felt the Ceremony knot on his hand again, knowing it was a mirage.
________________________________________________

Filmas, the newest addition to the Battlesnare fleet hovering over Earth, stepped onto the bridge. “Lord Dimas!”

“Filmas. It is always a pleasure to see you in the fight. Tell me; what are you going to do this time? A pocket dimension?” Dimas asked, Dricos stepping up beside him.

“Oh, no. Something much worse,” Filmas said, holding up a picture of the Blue Ranger. “I plan on torturing this bastard for what he did to my friends during the battle on Onyx.” His hand clenched around the staff in his hand, the camera shutter on the top moving dangerously.

From beside Dimas, Dricos lowered his hood, revealing a mass of brunette hair. “Filmas. Come,” he said, holding his hand out. He pushed Filmas to his knees, wrapping his right hand around the newcomer’s neck, his left hand against the forehead. “I am imbuing you with some of my power. It will help you in your endeavor. Please do not take this lightly. My power will return to me when you have completed your task or if you are destroyed. Understood?”

Filmas felt a surge in his own power, nodding his head at the raven-clad leader in front of him. “I understand, Master Dricos,” he said. He stepped back, Dricos pulling the hood over his head again. “If it’s the will of the Lord, I will take my forces down to the surface to have my fun with the Blue Ranger.”

“May you succeed. I am starting to get annoyed at the losing streak we seem to have developed,” Dimas said, looking at Furyblaze, his face unreadable as usual.

“Don’t look at me. I killed the Rangers. They’re the ones that came back to life somehow,” Furyblaze said, holding his hands up. “Filmas. Take my subordinates with you. I have plenty to spare.”

“Thank you, Lord FuryBlaze!” Filmas said, bowing his head. “I will take my leave now.” He turned on his heel, walking out of the room hurriedly in order to begin his assaults.

Dimas looked at Dricos, knowing something was different about the face under the hood, but there was a time and place to ask, and this was neither. Not when there was a fight to be had.
______________________________________________

Alec had been lost in his own thoughts whenever he heard the initial screams. He stood up, looking around before seeing the cause of the disturbance. “Filmas,” he snarled, taking off at a run and making sure people got out of the area so they didn’t get killed. “Filmas! Ready for round two?”

Filmas laughed, his voice squeaking as he started to speak. “Right now, Blue Ranger, all I want is revenge for what you did on Onyx!”

“Hey, that wasn’t just me,” Alec chuckled. “Unleashed Engage!” As his morph took place, he rushed forward swinging his sword around, trying to destroy his enemy from so many years ago.

“How does it feel!? Being weaker than before when you took out an entire squad of my soldiers!?” Filmas asked, ducking a swing and knocking Alec backwards.

“COME ON!” Alec yelled, holding a sword out and slashing down Timbaks as he rushed forward, dropping backwards when he slashed one’s legs out, jumping over two more and cutting their heads off before aiming for Filmas. “Empire bastard!”

“Aww…..someone pissed off about what we did to his wittle pwanet?” Filmas laughed, driving his staff forward and hitting Alec hard in the chest. “Too bad, loser. It’s only one that we’ve conquered, and only one that’s going to be used as a factory for our soldiers!”

“No…” Alec whispered, standing up and holding his chest. “I won’t let you turn my home into a goddamn smog ball!”

Filmas laughed, rushing forward again and trying to cleave Alec’s head off, only to be met with a Ranger Saber, the wielder’s arm in red. “Unleashed Red!”

“I can do this myself!” Alec growled, shoving past the Red Ranger. “Filmas…I will kill you!”

“Maybe not today you won’t,” a female voice said, a woman in a black cloak stepping out of the bar across from where the fight was taking place. Her hair was that of snakes, her nails pointed and deadly looking. “I think today is going to be a day where nothing good happens to you, Alec’ander.”

“How do you know who I am?” Alec asked, stepping forward as he lowered his sword.

“All will be revealed in time, my dear. For now…enjoy the rest of your life,” the woman said, snapping her fingers and taking Filmas with her in a puff of black smoke.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Alec growled, turning on the Red Ranger as he shoved him out of the way. “I had it handled!”

“The way you were handling it was going to get your ass killed,” the Red Ranger said, dropping his morph. “My name’s Thomas. I can help you…”

Alec groaned, standing up weakly. “And now I plan on stopping you,” he growled, glaring at Filmas.

“Too bad! You won’t get that chance if I kill that woman,” Filmas laughed, firing several bombs from his staff’s upper camera.

Alec didn’t even think twice. He ran after the bombs, tackled the woman to the ground and watched as the bombs sail over his head, exploding harmlessly in the middle of the air.

“Curses!” Filmas whined, turning and vanishing.

“Hey! Get off me!” the woman under Alec cried, shoving the Blue Ranger off of her. “What’s your problem, man?!”

“Sorry,” Alec said. “I guess this is the thanks I get for saving someone else’s life.” He got up and turned to walk off, but he felt the woman’s hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry….I was playing my game, Malevolent Mallards, and I wasn’t paying attention,” she said, lowering her eyes. “Can I make up for my attitude to you somehow?”

“You can start by letting me have your name,” Alec said, a warm smile playing at his lips. The woman in front of him was tall, almost as tall as he was, striking black hair that seemed to glimmer in the sun. Her eyes, Alec noticed, were the most beautiful sapphire blue he could ever imagine.

“Demetria. But everyone usually calls me Demi. Demi Howell,” she said, holding her hand out.

“Alec. Alec Craven,” the Blue Ranger said, shaking her head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Demi, and I’m sorry about the tackle. Really I am.”

Shaking her head, Demi smiled. “It’s nothing. I’ve got three brothers. Getting tackled is nothing new to me,” she giggled.

“Three brothers? How did you not go nuts?” Alec laughed, shaking his head.

“Very carefully, my friend,” Demi giggled. “Come on. I’ll buy you a burger.” She took Alec’s hand, leading him down the road towards her oldest brother’s restaurant. “Well, come on, Alec. Don’t make me have to drag you in here.”

Alec smiled, having been lost in his thoughts before following Demi inside.
_____________________________

Filmas hit his back as Furyblaze knocked him down again. “Lord Furyblaze! Please! I retreated so I could rethink my strategy!” he begged, trying to run.

Dimas stood and held his sword out, blocking Furyblaze from killing Filmas. “Give him some space, Furyblaze. If he has a plan, I suggest we let him stick to it. If it fails, then we kill him,” Dimas said, stepping back. “Do not fail me again, or I will let Furyblaze kill you.”

“Yes, Master,” Filmas cowered, wiping the dust from his legs. “I’ll…I’ll go prepare. I have one last trick I want to try.”

“Then prepare. I do not want you to fail me again, Filmas. Your Trickery spells are some of the greatest in the Empire. I would hate to see you fail,” Dimas said.

“As would I, Filmas,” Dricos said, a Cheshire like grin under the hood. “I’d hate for you to prepare for a winning day and then end up on the shit end of the stick.”

Filmas nodded, turning and running out of the room, heading towards his own room in order to prepare. “I remember what we did to your planet, Alec. And I plan on making you relive that moment a thousand times!”
_________________________________________

Alec laughed as Demi kept talking. “And then I told him! I don’t know how the elephant got in my pajamas!” she laughed, the two almost spilling their sodas on each other as they laughed, earning a few glances from the other patrons. She wiped the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard, and she took a deep breath, watching the way Alec seemed to relax. “You’re serious that you haven’t been with anyone since your wife died?”

“I’m telling you the honest to Grotz truth,” Alec said. “When De’lia died, I thought my world had ended. I couldn’t see myself with anyone else. My daughter died the same time, and…I felt disconnected. I knew I wanted revenge on the people that killed my family, so a simple councilman with no history of violence took up his father’s dagger from when he was a kid and started going to war…”

“Alec…” Demi said, reaching over and placing her hand on his. “Please don’t feel bad. I know it’s hard losing people you love, but they’re never truly gone. They’re always with you. Right here.” She moved to sit beside him, turning where she could see him face to face. She put her hand over his heart, feeling how rapidly it started to pound against his chest. She blushed a bit, feeling his hand on her free one. “Alright?”

Alec smiled softly, nodding. “I know, Demi,” he said, sighing softly. “It’s been almost ten years, and I still miss them.”

“I know, but think about something. If you died with them, you wouldn’t be sitting here with me having a good lunch and laughing. And it looks like laughing is something that you haven’t done in a long time,” Demi said, putting her hand on Alec’s cheek, smiling softly as he blushed.

“I haven’t,” he admitted. He couldn’t help but enjoy the warmth of her skin against his. He wondered if all of her was that warm… ”Snap out of it, Alec…you’ve got a job to do on Earth. You can’t afford to get attached…” he thought to himself, lightly pulling away. “Demi…”

“Alec, what’s wrong?”

He opened his mouth to say something, but he spotted the Empire’s forces marching down the street causing trouble. “Stay here,” he said, standing up and tossing his napkin down on the table. He felt her hand against his, the feel of her hand wanting to make him stay. “Demi, please…I need to go right now, or there won’t be a tomorrow. You have to trust me.”

“Make me trust you,” Demi whispered.

Alec pulled his hand out of Demi’s lightly, taking his Mobirate and Key in hand. “Unleashed…Engage…” he mumbled, turning the Key and transforming into his Blue Ranger persona.

“No….freaking…way!” she exclaimed, standing up. “Promise me…that you’ll come back to me.” She looked into his eyes, praying he’d be alright.

“I promise, Demi. I can’t leave my newest and so far only friend alone, can I?” he asked, giving her hand a final squeeze before running out, having a renewed reason to fight.

Jumping over the Timbaks that were blocking the road, Alec kicked Filmas hard in the back, knocking him forward. “Ah!” Filmas laughed, standing up. “Ready for round two?”

“Round three, Filmas. The final curtain is being drawn right now,” Alec growled, his sword in hand. “And I’ll make sure that you can’t come back this time.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Filmas taunted, stamping his staff on the ground. “Filmography Rewind!” A black cloud leached out of the staff, small bolts of lightning snaking their way through before ensnaring Alec, the Blue Ranger hitting his knees and yelling out, feeling his mind being separated from his body. The last thing he heard was Filmas laughing at him.

Alec awoke back on Ryzan, looking around the room that used to be his Council chamber. “What?” he muttered, looking around as he stood from his desk. He reached for his Caller, but found that it was missing. He ran out of the room, knocking a few people over. “Me’gan! Con’nor! I’m sorry, guys.”

“It’s alright, Alec’ander. What are you running towards in such a hurry?” Me’gan asked, standing up with her friends help.

“I…don’t know,” Alec admitted. He looked at his robes, seeing how he was clad. “Goddamn.”

“Your wife was here earlier,” Con’nor said, looking at the Blue Ranger. “She said she wanted to see you at the house.”

“Thank you,” Alec said, heading towards the front entrance for the Council building. “Something isn’t right…this is all too familiar.”

As he made his way down the road, he looked around, taking in the ornate decorations on the various buildings. The entire village knew everyone, always looking out for each other. Alec couldn’t help but smile as he watched the children playing Konlin with a ball in the field in the center of the square, mothers with their babies sleeping while they conversed with friends. He heard a giggle that he recognized, and he turned around, catching a glimpse of his daughters auburn hair. He felt a pang in his chest, continuing on his way as he tried to ignore it.

“Papa!” Cam’ron cried, her voice cracking with tears. “Papa, why you no wanna play?”

Alec lowered his head, tears in his eyes. “I can’t, Cam’ron…none of this can be real…it can’t be,” he whispered.

“What you means not real?” she asked, climbing up her father’s back and resting her head against his, her big green eyes quizzical.

Alec sighed softly, looking at his daughter. “I say that, Cammy, because…because Papa’s in a fight to save his new home, and…Papa lost you a few years ago, sweetheart.”

“Papa, no say that,” Cam’ron whimpered, curling up in her father’s arms. “Come on! We go find Mama and has Tikini Fishy for lunch!”

Alec bit his tongue to keep from hurting her again with his words, and he nodded. “Alright,” he whispered, heading down the road again towards his house, stepping through the door. “De’lia?”

“Alec’ander!” his wife called from the kitchen, coming out and wiping her hands off on a towel attached to her apron.

After kissing his wife, he was told to sit at the table with his daughter beside him, his wife serving up the fish with an assortment of native vegetables.

Alec ate in silence, hoping he could figure out what was wrong. “Oh, shit,” he said, his eyes widening. “Filmas…”

“Who?” De’lia asked, getting up and wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck. “Who’s Filmas, dear?”

“An old enemy,” Alec said, lowering his eyes. “One that I have to destroy.”

“Papa, I never seen you fight before. You must be awesome fighter!” Cam’ron giggled, biting a piece of her fish before nibbling on a carnok, a carrot-like vegetable.

“I’m fair,” Alec said, smiling. He heard a voice, one that he wasn’t sure he knew on his planet.

”Alec! Alec, come on! Snap out of it!” Demi’s voice called out, urgency in her voice. “Alec! Come on!”

“Demi…” Alec said, his mind racing. “That bastard. He separated my mind and body and sent me back to Ryzan.” He looked back, seeing De’lia holding a knife and coming right for him. He blocked with one arm, wrenching the knife out of her hand with the other. “I knew you were behind this!”

“Of course I was,” Filmas’ voice laughed from De’lia’s lips. “I separated your mind and body, and now you’re at my mercy. And don’t worry. We’ll take good care of your little crush.”

“Leave her alone,” Alec growled.

Demi’s voice was faint, but he could still hear her begging for him to wake up. “You have to wake up, you idiot…please,” she whispered, shaking his shoulder.

Alec felt something against him, realizing the warmth he was feeling was Demi, even though he didn’t have his physical body. “That woman is full of surprises,” he chuckled. He lashed out, knocking his wife’s apparition backwards, the scene vanishing as his eyes snapped open…

Alec growled, trying to fight against the restraints that he was tied up in, seeing Demi hanging beside him. “Demi!”

“I’m alright,” she whispered, groaning a bit as she lifted her head up. “He attacked me…knocked me out and tied me up beside you.”

“I’m sorry I got you mixed up in this, Demi. I’m sorry,” Alec said, turning his head.

Shaking her own head, Demi smiled despite the pain in her side and left leg. “Don’t be. I’ve never done anything worth really being called “Fun”, but I’ll admit, being kidnapped by someone as ugly as him is kind of fun,” she chuckled.

“You’ve got a weird sense of fun,” Alec admitted, yelling when a sharp pain seared up his side. “Bastard.”

“Thank you,” Filmas giggled, jumping around a bit before slamming his staff against Alec’s stomach, making him convulse. “And to start, I’m going to kill your little girlfriend!”

“I am not his girlfriend!” Demi yelled.

“She is not my girlfriend!” Alec yelled at the same time, both overlapping each other. “Damn it, I wish Thomas was here to get my ass out of this mess.”

As if an answer to a prayer, a red tinged blast sailed through the air, undoing Alec’s restraints as well as Demi’s. Alec hit the ground, helping Demi down. “Are you alright?” he asked, looking into the blue eyes he couldn’t tear away from.

“I am now,” she whispered, hugging him tightly and shaking softly. “I am now that you’re alright…”

“I need you to hide. I’ll find you soon. I promise,” Alec said, returning the hug. He closed his eyes softly, feeling her lips against his cheek. “Demi…I will find you. I won’t let what happened to my wife and my daughter happen to you.”

“It won’t,” Demi said. She put her hand on his cheek, kissing him softly. “Be safe, and come back to me.” She turned and ran off, smiling softly to herself as she did.

“I will,” Alec said. He watched as Thomas ran out, standing beside his captain. “About time, Captain. What do you say we finish these bastards off?”

“Sounds like a fun idea,” Thomas said.

"Unleashed Change!" As the flashes of light died down, the two Rangers stood ready to fight, Alec cracking his neck.

“Let’s make it wild,” the Blue Ranger said, rushing forward and starting to slash down Timbaks before firing several. “Thomas, I’ll take Filmas!”

“Go for it!” Thomas yelled, slashing down quite a few Timbaks that came towards him.

Alec ran through the Timbaks, knocking them out of the way as he went straight for Filmas. He jumped up and kicked him in the back, knocking Filmas over. “You want to end this? Then let’s end this,” he growled, holding his sword up. “Because I’m sick of you taunting me.”

“Then let’s make this a hell of a show,” Filmas laughed, bouncing around and hitting Alec in the chest with his staff, knocking the Blue Ranger over. “Thought you were supposed to be a fighter?!”

Alec growled, standing up and firing several blasts, each one missing by a wide margin. “Looks like I have to change it up,” he said, hitting his belt and taking a Key from the Belt. “Unleashed Change!”

[COLOR=“#FF0000”]Magical Source, Mystic Force![/COLOR] As his suit changed, Alec took the Mystic Staff from his side and changed it into its sword mode, slashing Filmas’ staff before attacking him directly, knocking him backwards.

“Why are you trying to kill me? I thought you’d be happy to see your family again!” Filmas laughed, trying to scramble away and get his staff.

“I did want to see them again, but I learned something else. Family is important, but learning when to let go and move on. I found that out today, and it’s something I knew I needed to do,” Alec said. Thomas ran up beside him, the Blue Ranger nodding to his Red Ranger leader. “Thomas. Even though you were a part of them, it isn’t something we should hate. It’s something to be accepted and worked past. And what do you say to teaming up to kill this son of a bitch?”

“Works for me,” Thomas said.

Taking two Keys from their belts, the two Rangers flipped open their Callers, and slotted the Keys. RPM! GET IN GEAR! the phone-like devices called out.

As the two men ran forward, they called on their Cloud Hatchets before slashing at Filmas. “Let’s do a couple combos,” Alec said, standing solid in a male version of the RPM Silver Ranger suit, Thomas in Gold beside him. “Level Five! Laser Strike!” He flipped up the switches labeled “#2 and #3”, the Cloud Hatchet announcing the attack before he slashed down, several rounds of laser fire lashing out and striking Filmas hard in the chest.

“Level Four! Energy Slash!” Thomas yelled out, hitting Switches One and Three. He watched his Hatchet charge with energy, and he swung his arm to the right, one arc of energy unleashing before slashing down and making a second arc that connected, sailing forward and embedding into Filmas again.

“Ah!” Filmas yelled, hitting his back and flipping around, standing up shakily. “Is that the best you can do?!”

“Actually, I think we can do one better,” Thomas said, his RPM suit falling away and revealing his Red Unleashed Suit again. “Give me your blaster.”

Alec handed his blaster over, taking Thomas’ sword in hand. Grabbing the Blue Unleashed Key and the Blue Mighty Morphin’ Key, he flipped them up and put them in the swords, closing the hilts. The Swords glowed with Blue energy, Thomas repeating the process on his guns, his Red Unleashed and Mighty Morphin’ Key in the barrels instead.

"Unleashed Double Strike!" they called out, Thomas firing both blasters and unleashing Red energy rounds. Alec slashed down with his swords, the energy bands connecting and hitting the bullets, all the bits of energy connecting with Filmas.

“NO!” Filmas yelled. “Lord Dimas! Master Dricos! I’m sorry!” He fell back and exploded, a raging fire standing where Filmas had moments before.

Thomas and Alec both let their morphs go, shaking hands. “You gave me a second chance back on Onyx, Thomas, and when you trusted us enough to tell us the truth, I walked. Forgive me. My mind was…clouded at the time,” Alec said, smiling.

“All is forgiven, and all will always be forgiven, my friend,” Thomas said. “Though that girl you found is cute.”

“Stay away from her,” Alec laughed. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat.”
_________________________________________________________

Dricos growled as he felt his power return to him, standing up and leaving the deck of the ship before returning to his quarters, slamming his hand against the wall. “Goddamn Rangers. I will kill you yet,” he growled, a serpent’s hiss being heard from under the cloaks hood…