Games Gods Play
The Eternal stood in the darkness a few moments longer, observing the events that took place before him, watching each image with the cold, lifeless stare of a fanatic scientist with the need to prove himself. Clutching his foldless,
black robes to his side, he walked to the side of the eerie pitch black room,
his grey mask standing out in the light from the globe. Once more his eyes glowed red as the anger swelled up within him, and filled his body with every emotion the Holy Bible damns. Crimson heat flowed through veins that carried ice-water. It is taking too long, he thought as he paced groves into the floor of his quarters, the red light deepening his cloak into total darkness,
even at this speed the HellTide should have arrived a hour ago.
Grabbing the obsenely long staff and axe from the blood-shaded wall, he carefully ran his hands over the sharp rune encrusted surfaces, seeking out individuals, and groups as he worked the evil spell he was crafting. Touching each rune, a song could be heard over the hellish maelstrom that was evident in the room.
The dark music faded form the room, and a brilliant white light shot forth from the runes that once sang, each light tore the crimson darkness that surrounded it from it’s foot hold on the room, and continued to shoot away from the clear and tan surfaces of the weapons that spawned them. Finally, the light began to move up the center of the staff, causing it to brighten uncontrollably. The incandesance reached the crystal, and shot forth,
evaporating the remaining red-hued light in it’s path. Finally, the beam exhausted, and the images come into view, one, a beautiful lake in the center of a large grove, with a Terran farm receding into the distance, the other, a ray of purest gold, flying from a back water world on the edge of the galaxy,
it’s three moons reflecing the metallic hued light, faster than anything in the universe.
The boy in the first image was well built, and most likly, rock-hard from years of weight-lifting, his shoulder-length dark brown hair tied to into a ponytail. His face, defined and well muscled, appeared weighed down by an unseen burden, as he walked by the lake. The light played off his jacket of dark green and gold mixed as the image assimilated the entire globe and the Eternal watched intently as the boy. The Eternal knew that now at this, a time of prophesy, this boy would be integral to “the plan” he had followed to the letter.
Seeing this, he was pleased. He knew each of the phoenomina would be instrumental in the prophesy that would soon come to pass. His masked face began to contort in the foulest, most maniacle grin ever to disgrace to face of a corporeal being. His entire plan rided on the being in these visions of the past and future in ways no ordianry being could comprehend, as his mind raced in the darkness that shrouded it, he knew the time ot move was now.
My old friend Mondo will be attacking his enemies again soon. His creations will help me to test those…transitional phase humans, the time has come to see just how they wield the Titan’s Bane. Jha’tok!.
Within seconds an area of the crimson hell he inhabited brightened and began to take on clarity, until it coallesed into the face of the demon.
“What is your wish, my lord?”
You are to prepare the seeds for delivery into Mondo’s Cogs at once. And ensure they can manifest their weapons at a moments notice. No failures demon,
or I shall ensure your family is the first to die. Am I understood?
“Y…yes, my lord, perfectly.” The demon said shakily.
With that, the staff reacted, sending a burning pulse of energy into the image of Jha’tok, destroying it and allowing the darkness to reclaim the space it had lost.
His anger reaching to the depth of his being, he quickly exited his private chamber, two guards carrying his weaponry, and made his way through the corridors of the HellTide. Navigating the penta-dimensional halls with the ease of a hummingbird flying through the air, he passed many of the Grond’Kren he had hired for the mission to earth.
The Grond’Kren were literally the dregs of the galaxy, very few acknowlegded their existance, and even fewer would, even fly near their ports. They were the worst possible scavengers, nothing they had, was not created by another race, not even their “vast” scientific knowledge. The only reason the Eternal had brought them on in the first place, was that they wereeasy to control. At first, the Grond had resisted him, in fact, when he came to the demons homeworld, they promptly ignored him. After studying them for a time, the Eternal soon learned how to control them, it was so simple, that for all his vaunted knowledge, he should have thought of it sooner. The only way to control the Grond, was through the “universal language” as he called it, the emotion of fear.
So, with incredible displays of power, the Eternal soon rose to the head of their Hirearchy, and quickly overthrew their king, a Grond who knew how to fear, and how to inspire it…the demon Jha’tok. All it took was the imprisonment of his family, the destruction of his lands, and his parents death. After that, the demon would follow him anywhere.
After sometime of walking, the Eternal came to a door with a scarlet “S”
surrounded by burnished gold. Typing in a small sequence of commands, the door slid open. The smell eminating from the door was that of rotting flesh and motor oil, it assaulted his sences as he entered, causing a solitary tear to leave it’s salty trail on his grey mask.
All around the series of conveyor belts were the mounds of flesh and bone of a thousand different alien species, and the dried blood on the floor made a crunching as it met his boots with each step. A few Grond were gathered around a small control panel that stood in the center of the genocidic maddness, the series of knobs and levers had various portions of decaying organs clinging to it them, but the demons kept to their work, never minding the entrails that rubbed off on their hands.
Walking over to a near table, the Eternal picked up a golden chalice that would make a king’s ransom seem like bus fare. Taking it over to the panel he lowered it to the table gently, and removed the small top that covered the cup.
Are the corpses ready to have the seeds implanted? he asked one of the engineers.
“Y-y-yes, milord. They are,” she replied, the fear in her voice approaching near deafening tones.
Will the reinforcement work to increase their power levels?
This time the answer sounded like mouse’s squeak to the ears of a giraffe,
“Y-y-yes.”
How long will the process take?
No answer.
“How long? he asked once more, his anger becoming apparent.
Still, no answer.
HOW LONG YOU STUPID, INEPT, PIECE OF STAR TRASH! he yelled into her face with the force of a gale wind.
This time the engineer’s mate had had enough. He overcame the fear that lanced at his mind, and lunged at the Eternal with a spear, ready to impale him. The Eternal saw this from the corner of his eye, threw the female aside,
and closed his right fist. Spinning with a perverse speed and grace that any ballerina would appreciate, he brought his fist around and split the air with the velocity.
The Grond dd not feel his ribcage shatter into dust as the Eternal’s fist plunged through his chest, pulping his heart and lungs, and snapping his spine like dry wig. Nor did he register the wind rushing by him as his body was pupled as it hit the wall at several times the speed of sound. He failed to feel any pain as his organs and blood flowed in rivers from his body, onto the floor, where they stained the sterile floor and mixed with piles of bodies that littered the room. Now, little more than a stain on the wall and floor, he died without feeling any pain, a thought that made the Eternal crazy with anger. He grabbed the female again.
See that, Demon? I said, do you see that? he said as he shoved her to the floor, rubbing her face in the mess her mate had become. The next time you disobey me, that will happen to you!
Let this be a lesson to all of you! I will not tolerate defiance! If you wish you’re people to live, then you will commit your very souls to me from here on out. NOW, Begin the process!
The strange machinery jumped to life, picking up the lifeless bodies of strange bird-like creatures that had an air of a humanoid shape to them.
Various tools circled over the corpses, enforcing bones, restructuring organs,
and replacing the purple blood with a viscous black liquid that burned the veins, and cauterized the wounds they had suffered.
A small drill began boring directly into their heads, the sound of it grinding the skull and burning it’s flesh invigorated the Eternal, sending waves of pleasure that begged to be intensified. As the drill pierced the remainder of it’s brain, it withdrew, and made way for a small probe to enter the newly formed cranial oriffice, taking with it, a small foggy white marble.
As the openings were repaired, the bodies were dumped from the conveyor, onto the cold, hard floor. The Eternal held his staff and axe over his head and began to mumble. The area where the weapons were crossed began to glow in an eerie violet light, which was sent careening down an invisible thread to the corpses that lied on the floor. The beam entered the cavity where that the probe had dug into the bird-mens heads.
Let the evil energies fill these dark creations, with hate and malice, with the darkest urges and the most sadistic moods. Let them destroy my enemies,
and ensure me the power I deserve! For now is the time of the Eternal! he cried out, his maniacle laughter filling the compartment.
Command Center, 4 years ago
The doors to the Training Room opened slowly, catching Jason off guard. He eyed the opening suspiciously, waiting for the first sign of trouble. A shaply form appeared in the archway, and began to walk towards him, it’s hips swaying a from side to side a little. As it came into the light, Jason could see a touch of brown hair, and a faint pink mini-skirt, that matched the top of a workout outfit. Jason removed his helmet, breathing heavily the cold air that swirled in the fans around the room.
“My, my, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve been though hell and back,” said Kimberly Hart, the Pink Ranger.
“No, hell looks better.” Jason replied, his breath coming short.
“Well, maybe. You feel up to a shake at the Juice Bar?”
“No, I think I’m gonna grab a shower and talk to Zordon for a while.”
“About?” she said, a questioning look on her tanned face.
“I’m trying to find out some stuff on the history of the Rangers, see if we can dig any new weaponry to use against Rita. So, where’s Billy, Trini, and Zack?”
“Billy is in the C&C with Alpha, doing, well… Billy stuff, Trini is at the Youth Center doing a Tai Chi kata, and Zack, well, he’s_.”
“Angela.” Jason said, cutting her off.
Kim touched the tip of her nose with her finger, “That girl is gonna kill him one of these days.”
“If she dosen’t marry him, first.”
“You sound like my Dad.”
“I do? Man, I that thing must have hit me harder than I thought. Can we get out of here, I’m starting to think that…thing is gonna try and kill me again.”
“Alright, I need to talk to Billy anyway.”
“What about?”
“He wants to do something to my car, make the Rad Bug Mark 2, I think. I need to try and talk him out of it.”
“Why?”
“Remember what happened last I was involved in one of his experiments?”
“Yeah, but wh_, Oh, yeah.”
“Let’s just say, I want to stay in my own body.” she said, a false smile creasing her lips.
“I agree, i’d rather stay in my own head too” Jason said, wishing he could swallow his words.
“Oh, the shield looked good with your costume. The gold really goes well with the red.”
“Yeah, I guess. Uh, let’s go. I need to grab a shower.”
As Jason finished his sentence, alarms began to blare all around them. They scared Kim much that she lunged forward into Jason’s arms. A small blush crossed Jason’s face as he released her.
“You ok?” he said
“Yeah, let’s get to the main room and find out what’s up,” she said.
“Lets go. Red Ranger: Retromorph!” Jason’s Red Ranger uniform vanished in flash of light, and he and Kim proceded out the door.
Power Chamber, Today
The grey sterile interior of the Power Chamber hummed with life as its various energy systems carried power to the vital systems. Zordon of Eltar stared emotionlessly out the blue hyperlock chamber that gave his five dimentional an interface to our universe, his heavy brow fighting not to portray a look of sadness and dread. His closed eyes allowed his vast telepathic powers to access the chambers systems, hoping that he was not right.
“Alpha,” he said, disguising his voice, “Run a scan, sector 14 by 12 by 32,
and report.”
“It’s as i’ve said before Zordon, there is nothing there. Just dead, empty space,” the tiny red and gold automoton, its LED display moving in time with the synthesized words, “should there be something there?”
“Yes, Alpha, a world only slightly younger than Eltar, the planet Vorshal.”
“Ay yi yi yi, Zordon, you don’t think…”
“Yes I do. The world has been destroyed.”
“Oh no, Zordon, what should we do?”
“Nothing now Alpha, moving prematurely would be disasterous. We will wait for the Order to decide.”
“The Order? As in the Order of Meledan? Something big must be happening if they are reunited.”
“Yes, you are right, Alpha. Something big is happening… the tides of destiny have caught up with us at last, and now, our hands are tied. Alpha,
contact Aquitar and Triforia, I have a feeling that we will need the help of the Alien Rangers and Trey, if what I suspect has happened, then the Rangers,
the planet, indeed the entire universe will be changed in a matter of hours,
and, Power forgive me, I can do nothing about it.”
“What is wrong, Zordon? Why can we do nothing?”
“Tis better you do not know, Alpha. Now,” he said in low loving tone, “do as I say, or darkness my yet claim us all. Contact Eltar as well. Our friend needs to cotacted. If things are going the way I suspect, then he already knows and is taking precautions as of now.”
“Yes, Zordon,” Alpha said, obvious heartbreak in his voice. He knew that the friend Zordon was speaking of, a man who these days was only a legend too many,
and even less well known to tose who knew him well. Alpha sensed that Zordon was talking of dark times to come, and now, he knew.
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