Author’s Notes: This is my twenty-ninth story in the Power Rangers Beyond series. It comes after “Sting of the Scorpion.” I’d like to once again extend a special thank you to Shaun Macleod for his suggestions for this story. And now on with the story!
“Seems like a peaceful night in the city, tonight,” Nick commented, as all six of the Power Rangers overlooked Angel Grove from the rooftop of a large skyscraper.
“Don’t speak too soon, Nick,” replied Chris, whose helmet had a built-in pair of binoculars. “Four thieves, dressed in togas and wearing strange Grecian masks, just kicked in the front door of Finer Jewels.”
The six Rangers dissolved into beams of light, and headed down to confront their newest foes.
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“Ares, break that glass case!” ordered a thief, who wore a metallic mask, similar to the one worn by Vega from Street Fighter.
A muscular man, wearing a bronze mask slammed his fist into the glass, shattering it on impact.
“Whoa! I guess you ate your Wheaties this morning,” quipped the Pink Ranger, as the six heroes entered the jewelry store.
“The Power Rangers!” exclaimed a female thief, with a half white-half yellow mask.
“I don’t know who you four are, but you picked the wrong town to make trouble in!” the Red Ranger stated.
“I’m Ares.”
“I’m Persephone.”
“I’m Apollo.”
“And I’m Midas,” stated the leader, as each thief took a fighting stance. “Though we are outnumbered, you won’t find it easy to defeat us, Rangers.”
“We’ll see about that,” Nick said, as he leaped at Midas.
Midas caught the Gold Ranger in mid-air, and then pitched him through a wall. “See ya, Ranger.”
The other Rangers were quick to attack, following this, but encountered the same problems.
Persephone grabbed Stephanie and chokeslammed the Yellow Ranger into the floor. She then turned her attention to Michelle. The Pink Ranger ducked and dodged the punches of the thief, and then delivered a superkick that knocked Persephone to the ground.
“Now you’re going to get it!” growled Persephone as she sprang to her feet. Before Michelle could react, she was grabbed and held firmly in a rib crunching bearhug.
Ares and Apollo, in the meantime, had given Tim and Joseph a major pounding.
“Give up, Red Ranger, my friends have already beaten your Ranger pals,” Midas hissed as he swung a large spear at Chris.
The Red Ranger ducked the swing, and grazed Midas’ arm with the Lionizer, drawing blood.
“Ahhh! You’re going to get it, Ranger!” Midas hauled back and sent the Red Ranger flying through a window with a kick to the stomach. “Grab the jewels, and let’s go.”
Before exiting the building, Ares turned to the beaten Rangers and said. “We represent the House of Adonis. Don’t ever forget it.”
Chris and Nick staggered back into the shop, as reporters and police officers began to gather outside. The six Rangers watched as the four villains tossed around a few officers and then disappeared down an alley.
“Is everyone okay?” Chris asked.
“Yeah, but those guys just kicked our tails,” Joseph replied.
“Hmmmm,” Chris thought, as he looked at the blood on his Lionizer. “Let’s get back to the Power Lair. I’ve got a hunch.”
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“Andros, I just don’t understand it. Those thieves were average size, but they just so strong,” Tim stated, as the Rangers, Andros, Ashley, and Cassie stood in the Power Lair.
There has to be some good explanation for this,” Andros replied.
“I think we just found it,” Cassie stated, as she, Stephanie, and Michelle stood by a table.
“That blood sample Chris got from Midas contained traces of a steroid. We just sent the data to Bruce Wayne in Gotham City. He says he’ll get back.....,” Stephanie was interrupted by an image of Bruce and Terry, that now appeared on the screen.
“Mr. Wayne, thanks for getting back to us so quickly,” Cassie said.
“This is definitely a matter of urgency,” Bruce replied. “That steroid is called venom. An old enemy of mine, and a recent foe of Terry’s had used this steroid to increase their strength in amazing proportions.”
“A few months ago, venom was introduced to the streets of Gotham. I thought that I had busted all of the dealers, but I guess I was wrong,” Terry stated.
“Those guys called themselves the House of Adonis and each of them had a Greek name. Are you guys familiar with them?” Chris asked.
“No, I’m afraid. They must be a group of upstarts. Terry will be coming there to help you guys. He’s on Spring Break, this week,” Bruce replied.
“What time can we expect you?” Ashley asked.
“I’ll be there sometime tomorrow morning. I’ve got to get things squared away with my mom,” Terry replied.
********************
The next morning, the Rangers met Terry at the ruins of the Power Chamber, and they devised a plan.
A new Fitness Club had recently opened in Angel Grove, called Divine Fitness. The club’s motto said something about making you as fit as a god, so naturally this caused a light to come on in the minds of Terry and the Rangers.
“May I help you?” asked a cute blonde, as Terry, Tim, and Stephanie entered the club.
‘Yes, we heard your advertisement on the radio, and decided to come in and give it a try,” Terry explained.
“Well let me go get Alec. He’ll give the three of you a guide tour. By the way, my name is Becky.” The girl then walked away.
“Well she was very nice,” Tim smiled.
Stephanie gave Tim a dirty look and then said, “Her voice also sounded like Persephone’s.”
“Oh, C’mon, Steph, you’ve not getting jealous are you?” Tim asked. Stephanie replied by mumbling something undecipherable under her breathe.
“Hello, I’m Alec Somers. Becky told me that the three of you are interested in joining Divine Fitness,” said a tall man, will long blonde hair that ran down his back, as he approached the three teens.
“Yes, that is correct,” Terry answered.
“Then I’ll get you a guided tour, and show you all of the facilities and programs that we have here. Follow me,” Alec ordered.
“This is the Aerobics Room. Becky is going to be teaching a class in here in about fifteen minutes,” Alec stated, as he guided his guests through a room, with a matted floor.
“And this is one of three weight rooms that we have here,” Alec stated, as they entered another room.
Stephanie’s attention fell on a muscular redheaded guy, who was doing benchpresses in the corner of the room.
“Hello.” The guy smiled at Stephanie.
“Um, hello,” Stephanie replied, as she almost tripped over a barbell that was lying on the floor.
“Whoops, watch your step,’ Alec stated. “That’s Brent Winston. He’s training for the Mr. Universe competition, this summer.”
“He’s dreamy,” Stephanie whispered.
“I heard that,” Tim grumbled.
“Will you two stop,” Terry said.
Alec showed Terry, Stephanie, and Tim the club’s basketball court, tennis court, and swimming pool. A few girls took a liking to Terry, but he had to quickly tell them that he was already attached.
“And finally, this is our Food Court. Here you will find nothing but the best tasting and nutritious food,” Alec stated.
Stephanie’s attention quickly focused on a guy who was sitting at a table.
“Steph, will you stop making goo-goo eyes at these guys,” Tim whispered.
“No, Tim look at his arm,” Stephanie replied quietly.
“He’s wearing a bandage. That’s got to be Midas,” Tim whispered.
“Well what do the three of you think? Do you want to join?” Alec asked.
“Wow! this place is really cool, but how did you manage to make it so great?” Terry asked.
“Well none of this would have been possible without some financial backing from Ray-Tech’s CEO, Mason Hodges.” Alec replied.
“Hodges,” Tim grumbled, under his breathe.
“Actually we’re looking at several fitness clubs today, but right now this one is sounding like the place of us,” Stephanie replied.
“Well, then I hope to see the three of you hear real soon,” Alec replied.
“Have a good day,” Becky said, as she headed into the Aerobics Room.
“You too,” Tim and Terry replied.
“She’s going to pay for slamming me through that floor,” Stephanie grumbled.
“Well that went well,” Tim said, as the three teens exited the building.
“We’ll come back, after they close, and check the rooms that Somers didn’t show us,” Stephanie stated.
“Yeah, there was a door labeled CHEMISTRY. Why would a fitness club have a chemistry room,” Terry explained.
********************
Stephanie was now sitting by her parents’ pool, reading travel brochures. The other Rangers had put her in charge of figuring out where they were going to go for Spring Break this year, so she was trying to get some ideas.
“Hmmm, maybe we should fly to Hawaii,” she said to herself.
“Put that gun down, Steve!” screamed Mrs. Channing, the Fairchild’s next door neighbors. Stephanie immediately, jumped out of her chair, and ran into the house.
Her parents and little brother had gone to a golf tournament, so she could freely morph without anyone seeing her. “Let’s Rocket!”
In the Channings’ backyard, Steve Channing was holding a gun on his parents and demanding money.
“Steve, put the gun down!” his father screamed.
As the teen was about to pull the trigger, the Yellow Ranger appeared in front of him and kicked the gun into the Cnannings’ pool.
“Stay away from me, Ranger!” screamed the boy, as he balled his fists up, ready to fight.
Stephanie could tell by his appearance that he was on some sort of drug, and it became even more obvious when she noticed a patch on his arm.
As she attempted to grab him, Stevie punched her in the stomach. The force of the punch sent the Ranger flying into the pool.
When the Yellow Ranger emerged from the water, Steve’s parents were trying to subdue their son. Stephanie quickly drew her Liberty Blaster, set it to Stun Mode, and then fired.
The rowdy teen fell to the ground.
“Don’t worry I only stunned him,” she told his parents. “How long has he been behaving like this?”
“We noticed a change in his behavior two weeks ago,” stated Mr. Channing. “At first we thought he had fell in with the wrong crowd, but then we saw the patch on his arm.”
“We tried to keep it a secret from our friends. Afterall, what would people like the Fairchilds say?” Mrs. Channing added
“Thank you for saving us. We’re going to get our son some help,” Mr. Channing said .
“You do that. The other Power Rangers and I are going to find out who is selling this poison,” the Yellow Ranger vowed, before teleporting away.
********************
As the moon, hung over Angel Grove, a groups of venom addicts met with Midas and Apollo in a dark alley.
“I hope you guys brought the money. Venom isn’t free ya know,” Apollo warned.
“Oh, we’ve got your money alright,” replied one of the youths, as he handed twenty bucks to Midas.
Just then, Batman, the Blue Ranger, and the Gold Ranger jumped down from their perch on a rooftop.
The addicts turned and ran away, while the Dark Knight and the two Rangers fought with the two House of Adonis members.
Midas and Apollo pumped up their bodies to massive proportions.
“Be careful, Rangers. They can break your backs in that form,” Batman warned.
The Dark Knight went against Apollo, while the two Rangers fought with Midas.
‘You can’t win, punity Rangers. I will crush both of you,’ growled Midas.
“Yeah, right. You’re all talk and no show!” taunted Nick. Midas began to throw fierce punches at the two Rangers, but the previous battle had made the Rangers wise, and they used their agility to avoid the punches.
“Hey, Midas, you’re just a big, dumb lug,” taunted the Blue Ranger.
“Arrrgh! I’m going to tear you Rangers limb from limb!” the muscle man growled.
The two Rangers then turned and ran with Midas in hot pursuit. “I think its working,” Nick whispered as he and Joseph ran.
Sure enough, after running down several block, Midas began to tire, it was then that the two Rangers decided to make their stand.
They leaped into the air, and hit the strongman with a double dropkick that set the villain to the ground.
Nick then stunned the villain with his Liberty Blaster.
“I hope Terry is doing alright with Apollo,” Joseph said.
Meanwhile, Batman had severely worn down Apollo, and was now smacking the strongman around. The Dark Knight finished off Apollo by flipping the villain into the side of a wall.
moments later, a group of police officers arrived to pick up the villain.
“You’re a long way from Gotham, aren’t you, Batman?” asked an officer. Batman glanced at the officers and then flew away.
********************
The Red, Pink, Yellow, and White Rangers were now making their way through the dark fitness club.
“Everyone, stay alert,” Chris whispered. “Someone could still be here.”
“Well, well, well, it appears we have guess,” said Alec’s voice over an intercom. “Welcome, Power Rangers. My colleagues and I are most honored by your presence.”
“Show yourself, Adonis!” demanded the Red Ranger.
The lights immediately came on, and Persephone, Ares, and a man dressed in a toga and wearing a golden mask.
“Somers, you’re one major sicko. You’re using this fitness club as a front for your drug operation,” stated the White Ranger.
“That’s right. Too bad the four of you won’t be telling anyone what you know,” hissed Adonis.
The three villains pumped themselves up.
“We’re going to break the four of you into little pieces,” groaned Persephone.
“Bring it on,” the Yellow Ranger stated. Stephanie knocked Persephone’s mask revealing her to indeed be Becky.
The enraged strongwoman chased the two female Rangers into a weight room.
Stephanie and Michelle began to drop the circular weights at the woman. Becky swatted each one away, and then grabbed each Ranger girl by the neck, but this time, Stephanie activated Becky adrenaline device, causing an excessive amount of venom to run through Becky’s bloodstream.
“Ahhhhh! Its too much!” Becky screamed, as she released the girls, and grabbed her own head. Michelle picked up a bar, and nailed the strongwoman in the chest with it, sending her to the ground.
Meanwhile, the White Ranger and Ares had ended up in the swimming pool, and were now having an underwater battle. Unfortunately for Ares, his large size hindered his mobility, and the White Ranger was able to gain the upperhand. Tim triggered Ares’ adrenaline pumper, causing the villain to writhe in pain, and then float to the top of the pool.
Adonis proved to be the most formidable of the villains. He used several martial arts moves in addition to his brute force.
“So why did you send your pals to rob that jewelry store?” the Red Ranger asked, as he threw a punch.
“We were the finest jewel thieves in Europe, before moving here and getting into the venom business,” Adonis growled.
As Adonis threw a punch at Chris, the Ranger leader caught the villain in the face with a swing from his Lionizer.
“My face! You ruined my face!” screamed Adonis.
“So that’s your weakness. Your vain,” Chris said. Taking advantage of this, the Red Ranger kicked Adonis in the stomach. Angered, Adonis shoved Chris away.
Adonis then charged at Chris, but the Red Ranger grabbed a cup of blue liquid, that was lying on a nearby table, and hurled it into the strongman’s face.
Adonis screamed in pain and then fell to the ground.
“Chris, are you guys okay?” asked Joseph through the communications system in Chris’ helmet.
“Yeah, everything is fine,” the Red Ranger replied, out of breathe.
********************
The Dark Knight and the Rangers had now reassembled in the Power Lair.
“The big wheels in Europe were very happy to hear that the House of Adonis had been arrested,” stated Tim.
“Yeah, Somers and his friends won’t be dabbling with anymore venom, anytime soon,” added Stephanie.
“We still don’t know how Somers found out how to produce venom, in the first place?” Michelle asked.
“While you guys were at the fitness club, Joseph, Nick, and I did a little research. Bruce Wayne’s old enemy Bane and Somers’ father were good friends, which is probably how Alec found out how to make the drug,” Terry stated.
“Well thanks again for helping us out, Terry,” stated Tim.
“Hey like we said before, we superheroes have got to stick together,” Terry stated.