There was a burst of light as the woman known as Raksha appeared in the streets of Silver Hills. She looked around and noticed that the being which had freed her was right; this world was not the same as that she had once ruled. For one thing, everyone seemed to wear more clothing, particularly females. She looked down at her own attire in reflection. A pearl covered halter top was all that covered her chest, and a leg slit dress was the only thing on her waist, with most of her skin exposed as much as possible without being nude. Various pieces of jewlery covered her body, true, but as someone who had the body and knew it, Raksha was much inclined to present her beauty in any way possible.

The woman was well aware of the stares she got walking down the roads, noting that quite of few of them were something resembling restrained disgust. That was something she'd make sure to change once she was in rule of the planet again. However, some of those eyes were wandering over her body, not needing much imagination to visualize what little her clothes covered. Good, at least somethings didn't change.

But that wasn't why she was here. If this world was to fear her very name again, Raksha would have to give them reason to fear her. With a wide grin, the woman allowed her skin to flush and become like scales while her body grew in size. Her hair hardened and spread like the hood of a cobra as she took on a reptilian appearence, and her teeth grew out to become fangs.

"Let this new world drown in blood," came the raspy words from her lips while venom dripped from her fangs. She flexed her razor sharp claws, and, flicking her hand out, quickly caught and impaled one of the bystanders who attempted to flee. "I have been gone for long enough."

Battle Fury
Part 2

There was a silence in the loft from Cassidy's explosive departure. Matt had finally returned, and was even now packing up his belongings to leave. The Rangers didn't even have to bother asking why, because they already knew his reasons. The future that they were fighting to save was, of all things, the very thing that Matt was fighting to stop.

"I wish things weren't the way they have to be."

He stopped, looked back at Yuuri, then shook his head before resuming. "They don't have to be the way your future dictates," he stated even as he finished packing one of his bags and zipping it up. "I would think by now that you'd realize the fact that history is not written in stone. We make what we want of our futures, not some blow-hard from a thousand years to be who really doesn't give a shit about the future at all, only controlling it." He sighed and placed a small device on the pile of bags, then tapped a switch to send the cluster teleporting away. Matt breathed with disappointment and moved to grab the last thing he needed before leaving.

"We're going to miss you."

There was a smile on Matt's face as he looked over to Syon and nodded. "For what it's worth, I wish you luck, but in preserving your future, it is not. I wish you luck in actually changing the autrocity that you say has to happen. Maybe then, I won't have to feel so bad about having to leave Earth forever."

With that, he picked up his last bag and teleported away in a flash of silver light. The beam streaked up into the sky, vanishing from sight and leaving the six Rangers to ponder what now was going to happen. Was Matt going to try and prevent the horrible events that they knew were necessary to their future? If so, there was really nothing they could now do about it. He had all the information he needed to change their history, but, despite the purpose of the Time Rangers, Yuuri and her fellow futurites found the idea of letting history repeat as it was far too hard to accept.

"So what now?" Eric asked. No one gave an answer to his question, because at that moment, no one had one. "The kid is right, we can't let those horrors happen."

"That's not our job," Yuuri finally said before glancing to Okibi. "Eric, our task is to preserve the timeline and-"

He shook his head. "Don't feed me that bullshit," the man snapped. "Yuuri, we have a chance to make history better, to head off an event that is going to lead to the reason you're here. From all that I've seen, time doesn't work like you've said, nor like you've been told." He gestured to the sky as if to indicate Matt. "According to Logan, Matt never came here in your timeline, and I was supposed to die months ago. The fact that there was something that they could have record of proves that your future does still exist, but we have to make our own." There was a pause as he breathed in, then sighed. "The future is determined by our choices, not by what people tell us has to happen."

There was no chance for the Rangers from the future to reply as the clock tower was rocked by a nearby explosion. The six ran to the window to see that something was tearing into the city, and even as the Silver Guardians raced to the scene, they knew that this threat was something that could not be easily handled.

"What the hell is going on out there?!" Lucas cried in shock. He looked to Syon, hoping that the Xybrian had some clue, but there was only an expression of dismay. "There's no more Mavericks, and Ransik isn't trying to destroy the past," he continued, now turning his gaze to Yuuri.

She had nothing to say, only action as she ran from the window and raced down the stairway. "Known to us or not," she called, "we still have our duties!" Yuuri paused to look back at her team. There was a look of confusion in the eyes of the Rangers now. "At the least, we must insure that this world has a future!"

The five slowly glanced at each other, then followed after Yuuri, knowing that she was right; they still had to fight to insure a future would exist for the world. With a cry, the five Time Rangers transformed while Eric called out into his V-Fire to unleash his own morph. As soon as they reached the hovercycles, the Rangers mounted up, tearing off down the road.

"FireEagle, engage systems and retrieve!" Eric cried out into the V-Fire, summoning from subspace his aerial vehicle. He popped open the canopy as it landed, then jumped it and took off to follow the others. As he shot through the sky, the scanners of the FireEagle alerted Eric to an odd energy signature, one that couldn't quite be identified. "The hell?" he exclaimed upon a clear image of the snake-woman Raksha. "Don't tell me it's another one of those demons!"

"I don't know what it is, but it's certainly not human. There's some really weird kind of energy reading from that thing."

On his cycle, Wes narrowed his eyes behind the red arrow visor. "It doesn't matter what it is, we have to stop it, and fast." He gunned the engine, racing ahead and arriving in time to get a good look at Raksha. This was not at all what he had expected to see. The snake-woman was almost ten feet tall, and venom dripped in acidic splatters onto the ground. "Holy shit..."

She turned to face him, laughing while flexing her claws. "Red jade armor," she hissed. "I suppose somethings don't change. The damn Gaeans are still this world's self-proclaimed defenders."

"Gaeans?" Wes whispered. The word was not a familiar one, but this creature seemed to have confused him for something else. "I don't know who you are, but we won't let you continue this rampage!"

Raksha again laughed, this time moving towards TimeRed. "We?" she taunted. "You stand alone, hero."

There was a shot, and she looked to see the other four Time Rangers arrive while Eric brought the FireEagle to a landing and jumped out to the ground. "She's even uglier in person!" he remarked while drawing the V-Defender. "What the hell kind'a thing is she?!"

For a moment, Raksha hesitated. Then, with a smile, she bent at the waist to bow with as much regal as her battle form could present. "I am the Lady Raksha, ruler of Lethos and the Queen of Fangs. I am a Gauro, Chosen of the Silver Lady. The only one left it seems, since the Gaeans saw fit to exterminate us." There was now a smile of realization at who these six armored beings were, and that they were not who she had presumed them to be. "You don't know who the Gaeans are, do you?" she asked, now greatly amused with the situation. "The heroes that destroyed my empire are no more."

There was a moment of nervous pause from the Time Rangers. The records of the future had no information on such a being, and her attitudes and claim made it clear that Raksha was from a time long before human history. The only thing they could do was ready their weapons, but even then, they did not make the first move. Experiance had taught them not to make such mistakes against unknown enemies.

"You are frightened to fight me," Raksha hissed, taking another step towards the Rangers. "Good, it seems that I still have my desired effect on people." Her fangs glistened, but then, she turned as she heard a sharp whistling noise, like something tearing through the air towards the battle field. "What in the Pit is-"

She suddenly flashed bright silver before fluidly moving out of the way. The oncoming object revealed itself as a large sword of dragonic design, blazing angrily with a red light. The blade continued on its path, but instead of turning about to head for Raksha, it made a beeline straight for Wes. The Ranger didn't even have time to react before it slammed through his armor and buried deep into his chest, sending him flying back several meters through the air. He came crashing down to the ground, yelling in pain as he grasped at the silver blade of the large weapon.

"Wes!" Yuuri screamed in horror. She dropped her Double Vector and ran over to where the man was struggling in pain. Her eyes was filled with terror that she was going to lose Wes now, and in desperation, she grabbed hold of the red hilt of the sword and pulled with all her might. It did no good, however. The blade remained buried in his chest.

"Move aside!" came Domon's order as he ran over to help. As soon as Yuuri moved away, he grabbed the sword and pulled, but his great strength also had no effect. In fact, the blade of the sword was now crackling with red streaks of energy that resembled lightning. The bolts were starting to find their way down the blade and into Wes, which made his screams of pain only increase.

Eric took the chance at that moment to holster his weapon and run over to pick Wes up. The sudden surge of muscle power he gained surprised even Domon as he lifted TimeRed up with utter ease. "We've gott'a get him out of here!" he stated while looking back to his companions. He glanced to the three other men of the team, suddenly falling back into his instinct of taking charge. "Domon, Lucas, Syon! You three try and give us some cover if that thing attacks! Yuuri, get in the Eagle! We've gott'a get Wes medical attention, and secret identities be damned!"

The three men nodded while turning to face Raksha, while Yuuri could only follow Eric to the FireEagle. He gently set his friend inside, then nodded and helped Yuuri board before getting into the control seat and launching. He could still hear Wes cry out from the pain, but Eric knew that for right now, he had to push that out of his head and get his friend help. The trouble was, who could they go to? "Hold on," Eric stated, but it when he realized their only option that he frowned under his helmet. "This is gonn'a be a rough ride!"

The Bio-Synth research building was still in repair since the attack by Ares, but the main labs under the building had survived and were at full work. Jeremy Collins had taken the chance since his incredible recovery to go down and make sure things were returning to normal, and it was then that he looked up at the sound of a sonic boom to see the FireEagle racing to land there. "What in the world?" he whispered. "Eric?"

The craft quickly landed and popped open the canopy. With an air of utter urgency, the TimeFire climbed out, then reached back in to pulled out something that was what Collins had feared most; the dying form of his son. "Collins!"

"Dear god!" the man gasped in horror. He ran over just as several of the Guardians on grounds dropped what they were doing and moved to help their former commander. "Eric, what happened?!"

"Some freak thing is tearing up downtown," Okibi replied even as Yuuri moved to stay with Wes. "She was going on about having ruled the world, and then this sword came outt'a nowhere and impaled Wes." He glanced down to his friend, then finally noticed something very odd for the kind of wound he had; there was no blood. He shook it off and continued. "The rest of our team is down there right now holding her off. There's nowhere else we could go, your people are the only ones who have a chance of saving him!"

Collins turned to one of the lab doctors and nodded. "Get them inside, and get the best medical team we've got, now!"

"On it sir!"

There was fire in his eyes as he looked about at the Silver Guardians who were standing around. "What are you people waiting for?!" he shouted. "Get Commander Edwards and tell her that she needs to get down there and help the Time Rangers fight this thing! And someone get Raimi!"

Eric of all people was shocked the most about this amazing change in the man he once had call his employer. Granted, even the most single minded man had to have concern for his own son, but this much compassion now not just for Wes, but for the entire city? Maybe surviving death had changed Collins after all. He only hoped now then that this newfound drive would help them save Wes. "Where should I take him?"

"Follow me," Collins replied as he led the charge into the lab complex. Several of the Guardians ran off to find the TimeThunder, but at least a few remained with the group, staying with not just their supervisor, but with people they regarded with utter respect. "How come you haven't gotten this thing out of him yet?"

Yuuri shook her head. "We tried," she stated, but there was a tremble of fear in her voice. "It wouldn't come out, even when TimeYellow pulled. Something is keeping it in his chest."

As they turned a corner while heading deeper into the labs, Yuuri took the chance to unlock her helmet and pull it off. Eric was right, hiding identities was pointless here, and if Wes was going to die, then she was not going to hide behind her armor to shield away from the tears. This was hurting her far worse than when Alex had died at Hades Island. Wes was in prolonged suffering, whereas Alex had been in pain for only moments.

Collins stopped as he saw her tearstained face, then nodded to Eric to keep going. "They'll show you the way," he whispered, then walked over to the leader of the Time Rangers and gave an apologetic sigh. "I thank you," he said to her. "For helping Wesley find the strength to make his own fate. I just wish I had realized how much I valued what you people have done before all this happened."

She only nodded. "None of us could have expected this," Yuuri choked out. She took a deep breath, still unable to believe that this had so suddenly happened. "I...I had best go and get back to the battle zone...it-"

Collins merely nodded. "Go. I'll send what help I can, and I promise that we will do what ever we possibly can to save him."

There was a sparkle of hope in Yuuri's eyes. She quickly locked her helmet back around her head and ran to join the Guardians in getting back to the fight. If Wes died now, she was not going to let that monster get away with it.

Raksha grinned all the while that the three remaining Time Rangers continued the face-off. At first, the arrival of that sword had frightened her, because she knew the blade all too well. But since it hadn't tried to avert its course towards TimeRed, her fear had been abated. "We seem to have a problem in your favor," she hissed, flexing her claws. "Your allies have left, and three humans against me, who has been empowered by the gods, can do nothing."

"Hey, freak-bitch!"

She snorted and spun to see the black-clad form of Jennifer Edwards walking from the rumble with a squad of Silver Guardians behind her. Oddly, it looked like the Guardians were wearing some kind of power armor. Evidentally, the weapons research at Bio-Synth had turned towards better defense as well. "More mortal fools to challenge a god?!" she screamed. Raksha let our a roar, and swelled her chest to look even more imposing.

Jennifer, however, was not impressed. "I don't know who you are," she quipped while raising her right arm towards her lips. "But you fucked with the wrong city." Quickly, before she gave Raksha a chance to figure out what she was doing, Jen brought the V-Thunder up. "TimeThunder!"

Lightning exploded about, racing along Jen's body and forming into her armor with each clap of thunder. She swung down her right arm and forced out a surging of energy that formed into her arm mounted weapon, then brought the blade up and chuckled. There was a look of surprise on Raksha's face after all. "Now that you know my secret," she whispered. "Let me introduce you to the Thunder Stinger."

Raksha, strangely, actually smiled at the prospect of a challenge. "Then let your weapon and I 'converse'," she said with a grin. "I very much look forward as well, to meeting your entrails!"

As the monster snake-woman lunge forward, Jen shot up into the air via the jets in her boots. With a twist and spin, she came down to face Raksha's back and swung hard into the scales. "Thunder Crash!" she cried, but even as the pulse shot through the blade of the Stinger, it had no effect on Raksha; her scales were as hard as diamonds! "Oh shit. Not good."

The screams continued even as every member of the Bio-Synth medical team tried everything they could think of to at least get the sword out of Wes' chest. By now, they had noticed the oddity of there being no blood from the wound, but it was hardly the main concern being that either bleeding or not, TimeRed was dying, and they had no way now of shutting off his armor for better access to his injuries.

"His pulse is fading," one of the men stated while keeping on eye on the scanners that were doing their best to moniter his heartbeat. "We're going to lose him!"

Even as those words escape to reach the ears of the med-team, there was a sudden cut off of both screams and motion from Wes. At the same time, the heart readings went dead, causing everyone to stare in horror; Wes had flatlined into cardiac arrest. There was no way to get his armor off, and if they couldn't get in to use the dephibulators, he was going to die.

"We're losing brain activity," someone stated, but it was pointless. Nothing now could be done, and they knew it. "There's nothing we can do..."

There was silence. They all looked to see that Jeremy Collins and Eric were standing in the doorway, eyes wide in horror. They had seen those final moments, and heard what hadn't need be said. "Wes," Collins whispered. He couldn't believe that he had failed to help his son live, failed to repay him for giving him the second chance he felt he didn't deserve. "Oh god, Wes...I'm sorry."

Something crackled along the blade of the sword. Eric was the only one to notice in time just before the bolts lashed out from the weapon and swarmed about the room. "Everyone get out!" he ordered, pulling Mr. Collins out just before almost every electronic device exploded in tandum. Red light was blazing from the blade, causing a massive shower of sparks everywhere.

At the same time, the armor of TimeRed fluxed in and out of existence. Something was happening to it even as it tried to stablize around Wes. The shape of the armor was warping into something else, gaining a golden shine in the chest and the arms. Suddenly, the sword lifted upwards while Wes' chest heaved and a gasp for air came from his lips. The swarm of red energy crackled about to engulf him while phasing over his armor, transforming and infusing him with a raw power that hadn't been seen on the planet for countless ages.

His hand reached to the sword, and almost without effort, he pulled up to draw it out of his chest. With another gasp, he drew air back into his lungs, and released the blade to let the weapon fall so that he could grab the hilt. Slowly, he sat up while the wild storm of light ended. His eyes slowly crackled with the same red energy that had infused itself into him. And there was something different now about him.

Wes quickly got up from the bio-bed and walked out of the room. Everyone stared in shock at his seemingly divine revival and recovery; it shouldn't have been possible. He paused for a moment, then glanced to TimeFire. "Eric," he said, "we have to hurry. The others don't have much time."

Even as Yuuri had returned with reinforcements, Raksha had begun her own vicious assualt against the Rangers. The energy pulse firearms of the Silver Guardians did little save bounce off her thick scales and lash out into the surrounding area, while the weapons of the Time Rangers had equally no effect. She was, by all means, invincible.

"Lieutenant!" Domon yelled after having avoiding being struck by the monsterous creature. "What the hell are we going to do?! Nothing we've got can hurt this thing!"

She wasn't sure how to answer, but one thing came to mind. "We have to give Eric time to get back," she replied. "It's a good bet that the TimeFire can hurt her!"

Just as she said that, one of the Guardians was flung into her and Domon, sending them all crashing to the ground. Jen took that chance to jump in and try hurting Raksha again, but the result was the same; her Stinger merely scraped off the scales and did nothing to damage the monster.

"Submit now," Raksha hissed. She flicked out her claws and impaled one of the power armored Guardians, then flung him aside before turning to face the Rangers and TimeThunder. "Bow to me now, and I shall make your deaths swift."

At that moment, the roar of the FireEagle was heard. Raksha looked up to see the craft racing by overhead, then raised her arms just as a spray of shots flared down and exploded around her. There was a growl from deep in her throat even as the FireEagle landed, but then, there was surprise to see that not only did the TimeFire exit, but so did TimeRed.

Moreso, in his hands was the sword that had impaled him, and should have killed him.

"Surprised to see us?" he asked, raising the blade up in one hand to point towards Raksha. Red energy was crackling along both the sword and his armor, as if readying to flux and explode out. "I know I would be, Raksha."

She hissed while assuming a battle ready stance. Something was greatly different about this human now. He smelled different, the tone in his voice was different. Somehow, it felt like he wasn't the same person anymore. "You have the scent of the Gaeans on you," came her low hissed reply. "You reak of their blood, but you didn't before. Who are you?"

The blade flashed. "You know who," was the answer Wes gave. "You know who it is that became one with me, that gave me the power I need to face what has yet to come."

Again, she hissed, but this time it was in fear. Now she recognized the scent that was on Wes. It was the scent of the very person who had put her into her sleep of death the first time, the person who had weilded that sword against her and those like her. And it was the same person she knew that had come back to give someone his spirit so that she would be stopped again.

"Draganta."

The red light continued to phase over Wes and his new weapon. "Yes, he gave me his power." There was a pause as the energy began to focus on his body, warping his armor. "More so, I died, and came back so that I could be ready for my own destiny." With a grunt, he spun the sword, gave it a light up-toss, and grabbed it by the blade with both hands. "BattleFury!" he cried, allowing the maddening storm of power to rage over him. "Release from within the fire that burns eternal!"

The mad swarm of power erupted forth from both Wes and the sword, tearing about at the landscape and shattering his armor. As the fragments floated about, they reassembled on his body, reshaping into something else now. His shoulder guards enlarged and turned to gold, chest plate swelling and taking the same color. His gloves became like plates, as well becoming golden and shining in the light. His helmet gained a definite dragonic appearence, eyes forming while a golden head shaped around the visor to give it the look of bearing silver teeth.

Wings grew forth from the backpiece of his armor, golden spine giving forth to red metal feathers while silver blazed at the joint piece. The red arrow emblem on his chest was made silver on the golden chest plate, and as the transformation was complete, the sword floated to bring its hilt back into his hands. There was a loud roar in the air as he took ready stance, that of a great dragon.

And Raksha knew that now she faced a threat. "No!" she cried while charging forward. "You won't kill me again! This world will be mine!"

She raced forward, but a quick slash from Wes sent her flying through the air for over a dozen meters. Raksha came crashing down, causing a small crater in her wake while she struggled back to her feet. There was a flash over the blade in Wes' hands, signalling that this time, the spirit of its previous owner was not going to settle for merely putting her to sleep.

The sword raised again, crackling as Wes stepped towards his enemy. Even though he still was who he had always been, there was now another soul as a part of his own. The soul of the Gaean warrior Draganta, who even now was standing with Wes, his spirit holding the handle of his sword to guide it. Memories of the horrors that Raksha had cause filled Wes' mind, and though he saw the horrible things that Draganta had been forced to do to stop her, he knew that in the end, the greater evil had been stopped. Now, it was up to him to make sure that war did not repeat itself. "You're going back to oblivion," he stated. "The power that you hold must return to its creator, because the time of the Imbued ended long ago, Raksha!"

"My time will not end!" she screamed. Raksha rose and lunged at Wes, but the man quickly moved aside and slammed his sword down hard into her back. Blood sprayed out from the cut, staining the ground with scarlet while not a drop was on the Time Ranger. She gasped out in pain for the first time since her sleep, then spun about only to recieve another blow across the chest. She again was sent flying back, but now blood flowed out to the ground in her wake.

As Raksha struggled to stand again, Wes took the chance to run foward and impale the sword into her chest, causing the Gauro to scream out while there was a massive crash of thunder in the air. She was quick to swat him away, finally making her own attack land a blow, but the Time Ranger lithely landed on his feet and readied his weapon again. Fire burned now along the length of the blade, while red energy crackled about the armor Wes wore. "You're not coming back again," he stated. "You're going to the pit you belong in, and you're never coming back!"

The creature heaved to regain air, then roared out and ran towards Wes. Her claws grew even more while the venom on her fangs now glowed. Raksha raised her hand to strike, but screamed when the blade of Wes' sword flashed upward and severed away the limb. Another swing took off her other hand, and then, as he stepped back, the blade burst into flames. He reached back with the weapon, readying to strike one last time and send this demonic being into the oblivion of death. "Pyro...Smash!"

The flames exploded out as he began the down swing. The blade arced through Raksha while leaving a massive trail of fire behind it that exploded out with the impact. Raksha screamed at the massive pulse of elemental fury that tore her apart from the inside. Her body was ablaze as she stumbled about, wishing for the raging pain to end. She looked up at Wes, then, knew nothing else as he swung again and cut her in half, causing the snake-woman to explode.

The remains hit the ground with a meaty thump. Blood now splattered in pools, but the threat was over, and the last remains of a forgetten era were gone. All save one, which Wes held in his hands; the sword of Draganta.

His armor fluxed and returned to normal, while the strength that had fueled him departed to leave Wes barely able to stand. He nearly fell over, but Domon quickly caught him, helping the man stand. "Thanks," he whispered, then looked to see Draganta's sword transform into a blaze of flames that swarmed into his body and vanished. There was a sense of fullness now, and he knew that he was never going to be the same now. But it was something that had to be, because now, he and the other Rangers were being prepared for something even more terrorfying than the Queen of Fangs, something that he was sure none of them would expect.

And the part that worried him was, he knew that they hadn't even seen the worst of it all yet. The greatest threat of their mission had yet to come.

To Be Continued...