Primal Protectors

Chapter 13: Larping in the Hills

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or the source material for this fic, Doubutsu Sentai Zyouhger or any other things referenced such as certain games.

The characters appearing were made by: AyatoHattori, Dash master 48, KidF1ash, bobmanv2.0, Thewhatzupwriter26 and Me. Gadget The Critic is the man behind the monsters.

"Come on you guys, we've got a treasure to find and monsters to kill!" The voice of a young woman called out from further up the hilly woodland trail as Darren and Demetri quickened their pace to catch up to them.

"Your friend is pretty um… hyperactive isn't she?" Demetri asked the yellow ranger who gave him a shrug.

"Jane's just excited I think. It's pretty rare that she can afford to come to LA, more rare she can do Larping with other people since outside of me, most of her friends aren't into geeky stuff. To be honest, she only got into that kind of stuff because I showed her it." Darren explained as he looked down to his outfit. Replacing his normal clothes was a costume, making him appear to be a paladin, a holy knight with the iconography of his chosen fantasy deity emblazoned on his armour. In his hands were a prop mace and shield.

Demetri smirked. "Sounds like you two are pretty close."

The yellow ranger rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "I guess so, she's always a ball of energy whenever I'm around her that's for sure."

"Hey, you guys, get a move on already!" She shouted back at the two, her green cloak flapping in the light breeze as she stuck her bow prop at the incline further ahead. "If we want the treasure, then we've got a whole lot more of this place to scale!" She said as the red and yellow rangers caught up with her.

"So Jane, you said there were traps ahead?" Darren asked, looking a little worried at his friend.

Jane nodded casually. "Yeah, there's a really good Larping organisation in LA that helps set up adventures like this, putting down traps and even hiring actors to play the bad guys."

"Alright sounds like fun." Darren said as he looked at the sun in the sky and to the heights at which they'd be climbing.

"Hey, Demetri right?" Jane asked as she looked to the red ranger and his attire. He was dressed to look like a rogue, his ragged cloth and faux leather armour giving away his role alongside the two daggers he had sheathed in their scabbards.

"Yeah, that's me." The red ranger nodded as he trekked alongside her.

"So, how's Darren been adjusting to LA? He hasn't been getting in trouble has he?"

Shaking his head, he decided to vaguely tell her how things have been since the rangers moved to LA. "Well, he's had a couple mishaps but I'm sure nobody will remember them in a few months." He said, thinking back to the incident when Darren helped his friend Tom reach an audition by riding his zord to the other end of the City in broad daylight.

"Oh, that's good to hear then. Darren can be a little over the top with his behaviour and well… It's lead to some bullying and even friction between him and his friends back home."

"Friction, what happened?" Demetri asked, curious about his friend in yellow and worried the potential repercussions if this were to happen between him and anyone else on the team.

"Well, Darren has this weird way of speaking for one, always going into the big RPG and other terms from gaming that people that don't play games or only do it casually, they find it weird. It kinda alienated him from his first friend group and made him a social outcast when he started speaking like that. I actually found his dorkiness to be pretty cute and funny and he's not a bad guy either so I started hanging out with him."

"Yeah I get how he might feel. Most of my friends back home are big into the same games I am so it didn't affect me. I know what it's like to have friends that aren't really your friends though." Demetri said, reflecting on his own experiences as he walked alongside Jane.

"I see. Well, he's had friends come and go since then. Sometimes I guess friendships don't work out and it'll be ended by a ridiculous argument. I guess Darren gets a little carried away sometimes and doesn't consider everyone's feelings before doing something. He tries but if he gets excited, he throws caution to the wind and other opinions don't matter."

As the two talked, while Darren walked ahead and just out of earshot, the yellow ranger spotted something further ahead and called back to his friend. "Hey Jane! I think I've found something!" He exclaimed as he jogged up to her and grabbed her hand, quickly yanking her forward and catching the young woman off-guard as he broke into a sprint, leaving Demetri in the dust.

All the red ranger could hear as Darren sped off ahead and dragged Jane helplessly along with her was the latter of the two trying to say something the the yellow ranger. "Hey wait a minute Darren, I was talking with your friend!" Her voice echoed through the trees as they disappeared over the next slope.

Demetri let out a small chuckle. "Guess she wasn't lying about him when he gets excited about something. Still, calling Jane a ball of energy when he's like that." Demetri paused to laugh again. "Guess he's something else." He added as he quickened his pace to try and catch up with them, all the while forgetting about the remaining members of his 'party' who had been trailing far behind them all this time.

Slowly dragging their already tired bodies up the steep slopes of the woodland trail, their backs hunched over and their faces betraying the feeling of agony in their legs, the remaining three rangers shared a common sense of regret at having agreed to come here.

Kyle wore a wizard outfit and was covered in sweat as he pulled up the draping robe of the costume so he could actually walk up the trail. "WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA…" He let out a long and wheezing groan.

Penelope was in a much lighter outfit, resembling that of the Monk class of an average tabletop RPG. Even if the outfit was far more practical then her companions and she loved fighting games, her experience with real world exercise was vastly limited to her ranger duties and already she wanted to give in. "HILLS… WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HILLS!?" She cried out, wishing for release from the torture she was experiencing known as walking.

"I WANNA GO HOME AND PLAY PACMAN!" Val also whined as the three dredged up the woodland trail, hoping that this torture would end soon, not even realising that they had barely even made it up the first incline yet. Unfortunately for this trio, there was much, much more to go.

Meanwhile, atop the peak of the hill, another Racer was about to put his plan into action. The Player stood on a rocky overlook, staring down at the suburbs of the City as he held a large oversized drill in his hands. This particular alien was covered in a red armoured suit as a gas mask covered its face. Pointed diamond spikes protruded from its shoulders while its had diamond head was exposed above the mask it wore. Pointing the drill to the ground, the Racer quickly planted the device, placing it in the ground right beside a strange axe shaped rock.

"This will do perfectly." He spoke in a serious tone as he took ahold of the winding mechanism on the drill and began to turn it. "Soon, I will harness the energy of the Earth itself and win in the name of team Hexagon!"

[Primal Protectors]

Inside the Racer command ship, Fuse held a small wine glass filled with motor oil as he scoped the room for his rival Team Leader.

"What's this, Hexagon isn't here? Surely that blockhead isn't going to miss his own Team's game?"

Meizong emerged from behind the drinks bar in the viewing room, a tray carrying a glass of Pivillinous' favourite drink resting on it as she walked over and passed her uncle the drink. "He's gone planetside to help his Player out. Oh and Uncle, next time get your own drink."

Fuse chuckled. "Of course that rock brained idiot would have to go help his good for nothing player."

"You're pretty good with the insults today Fusey, guess your best ones come out about him when Hexagon isn't around." Meizong giggled, seeing as they would never be used against the Cuboid.

Pivillinous chuckled from his seat as Fuse cursed the fact she was right. "The new Player is a Daimondo, such a rare find. It should be entertaining to see how Hexagon plans to win my prize today."

[Primal Protectors]

Darren continued running forward, tugging Jane along behind him until finally, the young woman planted her feet into the ground, stopping Darren in his tracks as he felt a sharp tug from behind. As the yellow ranger turned around, he was the look on Jane's face as she caught her breath, she was not happy.

"Uh, something wrong Jane?" He asked.

"You're damn right there is!" She exclaimed, causing Darren to almost jump out of his skin at her sudden outburst. "I know you get excited Darren but this wasn't just an adventure for just you and me, it was for all your friends too!"

The yellow ranger's shoulders dropped as he stated the obvious. "Yeah. You're right… Sorry. I got carried away again didn't I? Come on, let's just head back and find the others." He added as he turned toward the way they had come from and stepped forward, unknowingly setting off a trip wire as he pulled his foot up.

"Darren, wait!" Jane warned too late as the snares that had caught around their feet without them noticing zipped up into the air and took the two friends with them, pulling them upside down hanging from a tree.

"Woah, I know you said they'd set up traps, but this is impressive… Well it would be if we didn't just get caught by one." Darren sighed as he hung helplessly upside down.

Jane sighed. "At least I remembered to wear shorts with this outfit. Gotta hand it to them, they know how to make traps. Just wish we could get outta here!"

As she yelled her frustration, Demetri followed the young woman's voice to their location and smirked. "How's it hanging?"

"Dude, really? Just get us down!" Darren chastised the red ranger and his joke.

As Demetri shrugged, he drew the Pixelator he had concealed in his outfit and switched it to blade mode, cutting the two down effortlessly. As the two yelped and they crashed to the ground, Demetri quickly hid his Pixelator from view before Jane could regain her bearings and spot him holding the ranger weapon.

Meanwhile, the remaining three rangers were slowly slugging along the trail which had begun to even out. Kyle gave a sigh as he tried to fathom where the rest of their group had wandered off to.

"I expected this kind of behaviour from our hotshot leader but not from Darren. Jeez this is a pain, where the hell could they have gone?"

"Can't we just… you know… take this opportunity to skip out on this whole outdoors thing and return to the safety of the inside where there aren't and bugs and other things to terrorise us." Valerie suggested shivering at the thought.

Nel shook her head. "Sorry but unless you wanna walk back, the bus we took here doesn't come back for a few more hours."

At the mention of the word walk, the white ranger's attention snapped back to the trail ahead. "Okay, you've convinced me."

As they continued to walk, Kyle felt the ground beneath him become a bit more solid as he pressed his foot to the ground, only to be met seconds later by agonising pain as his eyes nearly popped from his head and he let out a cry. The rangers stopped in their tracks and noticed a large Bear trap had pincered the green ranger's leg. "What the hell!?" He cried out as he tried to shake his leg free. "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!"

As the girls hurried over to help Kyle, they failed to notice the thick rope raise just above their ankles, sending them tumbling into the green ranger, all three of them falling forward face first.

In the first group, Darren and Jane had finally regained their bearings when the latter received a text. As she opened the message and read it, a look of confusion quickly spread over her face. "Huh, what the?"

Gaining the attention of the two rangers as they converged at her sides, they too read the message. "Hi Jane, this is Mark from the Larp Actors, Resources and Props Association. Sorry that we're running late but we'll have those traps and actors out to your location asap and we hope that you have a lovely Larping day once we're all set up!" Darren read the text aloud.

"Wait a minute, if those aren't the traps from these guys then…" Demetri came to a conclusion as his yellow comrade gave him a look. It could only be one group that was responsible.

"Hey Jane, you should head back down the bottom of the trail. Demetri and I can take care of ourselves so we're gonna get to the bottom of whoever's putting these traps here." He tried to reason with his friends.

Jane instantly glared at him. "No way! This just turned into a real adventure, I'm not sitting on the sidelines for this!" She exclaimed, a determined look in her eyes as she and Darren stared each other down, unmoving.

Before anything more could be said, Demetri spotted a swinging log out of the corner of his eye heading straight for them. "Guys, watch out!" He called to the two friends as he dove towards them, knocking them out of the way before the swinging log could hit them.

As the log swung by, missing their heads by a hair, the three crashed to the ground and the yellow ranger let out a big breath he had been holding during his intense staredown with Jane. Relieved that his head hadn't been pulverised, he stood up while helping Demetri and Jane to their feet.

"Whew, that was a close one!" He said, letting the sense of danger pass, unfortunately for him, he did so too early as Jane pointed further up the incline with wide eyes.

"We're not out of the woods yet!" She told them as the red and yellow rangers turned to see several boulders rolling towards him.

"Run for it!" Demetri told them as he broke out into a sprint, shortly thereafter followed by the two as they fled from the boulders heading their way. As Demetri ran, he could swear down someone was humming a familiar tune. "Darren?"

"Yeah?" His yellow comrade replied.

"Are you humming the Indiana Jones theme tune right now?" Demetri asked, a deadpan look running the span of his face as they ran.

Noticing his fellow ranger wasn't impressed, Darren abruptly stopped his humming. "No…"

"That's what I thought." Demetri added as he picked up his pace. "Now run for your life like you mean it!"

The second group wasn't faring well either. Each of them had tripped over face first into a pie dish filled to the brim with mud. As one by one, the three rangers lifted their mud covered faces from the pie dishes; they wiped their eyes clean, gazing upon the perpetrators as they saw clearly once more.

Hexagon stood atop a rock formation. "Long time no see rangers. Enjoy the little surprise we left for you?"

"Hexagon! So you're behind all these traps." Nel identified their foe as he laughed at them.

Guarding the Racer Team Leader along the rock formation was a group of Quarters, their heads twitching as they awaited the command to attack. "I was hoping to make you look ridiculous but it seems your ridiculous outfits have done that for me!" He chuckled as he looked at their costumes.

"What's your game this time Hexagon?" Kyle asked as he raised his guard.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough green ranger! All you need to know is that I've spread traps throughout these hiking trails, by the time you find out what we're up to, it'll be too late!"

"Then we'll take you down before you succeed you pixel abomination!" Val spat angrily at the Team Fight Leader.

"It's not me you should be worried about. By now, my Player should already be in place and when he succeeds, this pitiful Earth will be void of all life! Want to save your planet? Then stop Digger first!"

At the peak of the trail, the Racer cranked the drilling machine deep down into the Earth, slowly boring its way through to the core. "Soon enough I'll harvest this planet's energy and Team Fight will be victorious!"

"Guys, we can't let him win!" Nel resolved, taking the role as de facto team leader while Demetri was absent.

Alongside her, the green and white rangers drew their Rubik Primers and keyed in their individual animals. "Two, Shark! Four, Elephant! Five Tiger! Beasts Ready." Their morphers confirmed as the three rangers twisted their morphers into position.

"Primordial Powers, Awaken!" The three called out as they were immersed in a wash of multi-coloured pixels that quickly dispersed and left the rangers morphed and ready to fight, already wielding their blade mode Pixelators as they charged at the Racer grunts.

As Kyle sprinted toward the enemy, he neglected yet another Bear trap set up by the Racers, this one out in the open. As his foot hit the pressure plate, the trap closed in on his leg and the green ranger unleashed another agonising cry from his lungs.

Nel turned her head, hearing his pained cry for help. "Not again!" She said as she jogged over to try and help him, only to be caught off-guard as a rope net flew over the two of them, catching both rangers in the trap.

Nearby, Val was already fighting the Quarters and slipped under the guard of the nearest foe slashing the Quarter along its back as she looked at the trap her friends have been caught in. "Guys!" She called out. Sensing that she'd have to fight first and free her friends later, she turned back to the incoming wave of Quarters and blocked a Quarter's weapon, following up with her own slash to its midsection. "I'll help you guys out in a second!"

"Hahaha! You'll have to get through my guys before anything else. Quarters, deal with these weaklings!" Hexagon finished speaking as he hit his fists together and fled the scene.

In the first group, Demetri held out his Primer to his ear to listen to the white ranger's urgent communication. "Newbie, we've got a problem! The Racers have boobytrapped all the trails and there's a Player named Digger up to something sinister. I've got my hands full and Kyle and Nel are stuck swinging like Tarzan in this net so it's up to you and Darren to stop this one! He'll probably be somewhere near the peak of the hills if they've got this many traps to stall us with."

"Okay, leave it to us!" Demetri confirmed as he hung-up and looked to Darren, giving him a confirming nod.

"What's up, you guys wanna clue me in?" Jane asked, now resting on a nearby fallen log alongside the yellow ranger after their daring escape from the boulders.

"This place just got a whole lot more dangerous, that's what." Darren explained. "Remember those aliens that attacked E3? One of them is up to something here. That's why you need to go back down the trail now!" He said, his voice unusually authorative.

Jane sighed for a moment before giving a short nod. "Okay, but you guys need to come along too, let those Power Rangers that've been fighting them handle this."

"I'm afraid we can't." Darren said sternly. "If nobody gets the message out to the rangers, they won't know where to go to stop the bad guys." He lied, hoping Jane wouldn't catch on.

She shook her head. "Fine, it's stupid and you're putting yourself in danger… I mean you're not even considering how that'd make your friends feel. But I know you. You're not gonna back down from this. So just promise me that you'll be careful."

The yellow ranger laughed and pointed to himself with his thumb. "Careful is my middle name!"

She cracked a small smile and let out a short giggle. "No it's not.

"I'll make sure she gets back safe and I'll head back up to help you right after." Demetri said as he escorted Jane back down the trail.

"Alright." Darren said to himself once the two were out of sight as he turned to face the trail ahead and the dangers in front of him. "Gimme your best shot!" He roared out an impromptu war cry as he pounced up the trail with all the speed he could muster.

Tripping wires, dodging swinging logs and outmaneuvering boulders, the yellow ranger used all he had in him to break through the traps ahead and make it to the summit of the hills.

As Digger turned his drilling device methodically and calmly, he heard the strained voice of Darren as he pushed through the pain and leapt up the final hurdle. His clothes singed and slightly torn from the dangerous climb, Darren stood defiant against the Player that now threatened the life energy of the entire planet.

"You're not getting any farther racer… I'm taking you down!" He said under heavy breaths as he flipped open his Primer.

"Four, Lion! Beast Ready!" His Morpher confirmed as he folded the device shut and twisted it complete the icon of the animals.

"Primordial Powers, Awaken!" He called as yellow pixels formed around his body, breaking away to reveal his ranger form.

Stepping away from the drill, Digger pointed at the ranger. "At last, one of you has come to stop me. By my honour as a member of Team Fight and as a Racer, I will destroy you!"

As the Racer threw a roundhouse punch at the yellow ranger, Darren blocked it with both hands. Following his block, he battered away Digger's hand before hitting the Racer's chest with several open palm strikes. Though the first two hit their mark, Digger swiftly dodged the remaining attacks. As Darren turned his back in an effort for one more Strike, the Player gripped tightly around the ranger's wrist and squeezed it, causing Darren some pain. Following up, the Racer turned Darren back around and used his newfound advantageous position to punch the yellow ranger in the chest twice. He then pulled the ranger close and followed up with a knee to the gut and throwing him towards a nearby rock

"You're a strong one ranger, but you're pretty reckless, no wonder your friends are all in trouble. You didn't think about them once!" He taunted Darren as the ranger began to lose his strength.

Not willing to give up easily, Darren rolled toward Digger and tried to land a sweeping kick from his low position, only for the Racer to lift his leg up at the last second and completely dodge the attack. As the yellow ranger landed his leg, he quickly rose to meet his opponent on equal footing. Attempting a punch, he was surprised by how quickly Digger caught it. With little to react, he barely managed to stop a gut punch from the Racer. As the Player grappled with Darren, the latter could feel his strength draining from this strenuous fight. He was shortly thrown back against a tree by the living diamond in armour and had no time to react when the Racer rushed him, connecting his knee the the yellow ranger's stomach and quickly followed up with a punch to the same tender area.

"This is were you fall!" Digger declared as he tossed Darren back onto the dirt near the edge of the summit and the cliff that dropped down a short way into the hilly forest.

Revealing to the ranger his two pickaxe weapons, Digger's gasmask eyes flashed yellow as the Racer struck the ground with the weapon in his right hand and sent a shockwave of energy that threw Darren off of his feet and sent him hurtling off the cliff's edge.

"Goodbye yellow ranger!" Digger called out as the Yellow ranger fell from the height.

[Primal Protectors]

Now free of the traps that held her, the blue ranger rolled along the ground, making space between her and the Quarters she was fighting. Quickly getting up as a Quarter tried to strike her with its weapon, she battered the blade away from her as she advanced on more enemies in front of her.

As she jumped into the midst of the fighting, blocking and grappling with the weapons of the Quarters, Kyle had once again managed to get himself caught in a trap. This time, his leg was caught in a snare and he was strung upside down, swinging from side to side.

"It's official, I hate the outdoors!" He groaned as he swung.

As Nel unleashed a tornado kick, Val struck with her Pixelator at a Quarter, slashing it across the chest and knocking it behind her as she proceeded to attack the next one in front of her.

"I'm starting to get really mad! How many of these guys are there!?" Penelope groaned as she blocked another attack.

"Let's just hope Darren and Demetri can stop that Digger guy." Val said as they continued their fight against the unshrinking numbers of Quarters.

Now stripped of his ranger form, Darren rubbed his head and sat up, looking at his surroundings. He found himself on a small outcrop a mid height from the summit. His face had a few cuts and bruises were beginning to show on his body.

"Darren!" A familiar voice called as Demetri emerged from the trees. "I saw you fall from the top. What happened up there?"

The yellow ranger scratched the back of his head. "I failed… That Racer, he's too strong. What he said was right. I'm too self centered and I get carried away. I even left everyone else to fend the Quarters off while I went for him… I'm stupid, I know."

"Hey, don't think that way… Sure you might act a little careless but that can be a good trait sometimes too."

"You're just saying that. I'm not smart like Kyle, I'm not as good a fighter as Nel, I'm nowhere near as fast as Val and I don't have the whole hero thing going for me like you do. I just set off all the traps and got myself so beat up that Digger threw me around like nothing. I'm pretty stupid, right?"

Before Demetri could answer, another voice spoke up, one that wasn't familiar to the red ranger. "Is that what you really think of yourself, yellow ranger?" The calm voice asked as from a tree, the Zoolander Darren had met during the conflict with Tophats landed from a nearby tree into the clearing.

"Harper? What are you doing here?" Darren asked.

"Looking for a high vantage point so I can search for the missing pieces of my ship. It seems I found a lot more than that." Harper explained.

"You're the Zoolander the others met. It's good to meet you, Harper." Demetri held out his hand.

Harper studied both the young man and his hand for a moment before dismissing the latter. "So you're the red ranger? I've heard you're a reckless one. But Darren, do you really believe you're stupid?" He returned his attention to the topic.

"Well… Maybe. I mean, look at the mess I got us into the day, I even got my non-ranger friend in the middle of it all because I was careless and didn't listen to her because I got excited to be out with all my friends like that. I got carried away and when push came to shove, I injured myself before I fought Digger and I paid for it."

"Tell me, does all that make you stupid or does it just make you a little reckless. It's good to hear you regret not being considerate to your friends. Their feelings matter as much as yours after all. But look to your red ranger here. What do you see?"

Darren looked Demetri up and down. He didn't seem to have an inch of damage on him. "He looks fine, unlike me."

"Do I have to spell out why that's the case or can your human brain figure it out from there?" Harper subtly insulted the teen.

"Because I went through all those traps and triggered them, he got here unscathed." Darren came to the conclusion as he finally understood what Harper was tring to say.

"That's right. Like I said before, my people honour courage. What you did, even if unknowingly was a courageous act that kept your friend safe from harm. In addition, you stalled that Racer from completing his task and kept him from draining the life energy of the Earth and in turn destroying all living things on this world. You might not think it but there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity and though you might be walking it like a tightrope, your heart is one of true bravery and courage. Now, get out there and save this planet.

Taking in Harper's words, Darren felt energised as he too had come to this realisation. "Thanks Harper. Now I feel like there's nothing that can stop me, come on Demetri, let's stop this Racer for good!"

"This one's all yours!" His teammate told him as the two embarked to the summit.

[Primal Protectors]

As Digger turned his drill, digging deeper and deeper into the Earth, he knew it wouldn't be long now until the energy he craved was his and Team Fight would be victorious.

"Now I will obtain the greatest mining prize in the Galaxy and realise my dream!" He declared as he continued to crank the drill.

He abruptly halted his turning of the machine as a roaring battlecry caught his attention. Turning to the source of the noise, he watched and the yellow ranger pounced up the rocky incline to the summit once more.

"You weren't defeated? A shame. I'll just have to finish what I started!" He exclaimed as he walked towards Darren.

"Your drilling days end here!" He declared as he charged at Digger and began clawing at his body, pushing past Diggers counterattacks.

As he landed a blow, the Player knocked Darren away and attempted to land a punch on the ranger now his back was facing away. As digger attacked, Darren took the split second in which the Racer unleashed his punch and dodged it with a cartwheel. As Digger moved to intercept, the yellow ranger span around the Player and almost reached the drill before his foe latched onto him in an effort to pull him back and prevent him from reaching the piece of machinery. But Darren wouldn't give up and fought against Digger's pull with all his might.

"I won't let you win ranger!" He said as the two wrestled to break the deadlock they had found themselves in.

Taking an opening, the Racer hit the yellow ranger on the back of his head, knocking him down to the ground. In an effort to move him away from the drill, Digger picked Darren up onto his feet before landing an uppercut and knocking him down onto a lower ledge of the summit.

In that moment, the racer had done exactly as planned and followed Darren to finish him off. Taking his opportunity while the Player was distracted fighting Darren, the red ranger swooped in using his wings, landing right next to the drill.

"Too late Digger, you're drill is going bye bye!" The yellow ranger said as he gave a nod to Demetri.

As Darren grappled to keep Digger away, Demetri, pulled with all his might to unearth the drill.

"So, you were the distraction? I'll destroy you later ranger!" Digger decided as he backhanded his opponent and attempted to climb to the red ranger.

"Not a change! You're not getting near my friend! I'll take the hits… So he can save the day! Go on Demetri!" He cheered on the red ranger as he kept Digger at bay, grabbing at his legs to keep him from advancing.

"This won't be enough. Time for a lot more strength." Demetri said as he grabbed the mouthguard of his helmet. "Morphosis!" He called as he slid up the faceplate of his helmet and his ranger suit's chest image took that of a Gorilla and his form became overly muscular. "Let's go!" He hyped himself up as the transformation completed.

From his helmets nostrils, steam shot out as Demetri exercised his Gorilla powers' abilities and tugged with all his might. As he did so, Digger smashed one of his pickaxes against the yellow ranger's helmet in a futile attempt to break free of Darren's hold. With one final pull as his teammate shouted words of encouragement, the red ranger pulled the drill form the ground and flung it into the air, its coiling drillbit snapping as it emerged. As it tumbled back down from the sky, Demetri wound up his arm and punched the drill, shattering it to pieces as the object exploded in the direction of Darren and Digger.

The yellow ranger released Digger as the latter stood up and began to shake. "You've destroyed my drill and humiliated my team. All that effort for naught!"

Before he could go further, he was knocked by a surprise explosive punch from Darren, sending him off the summit and onto a flat plane nearby. As the two rangers followed, Demetri pulled the other ranger to his feet.

"Nice going back there."

"You too!" Darren returned the compliment as the two slapped a high-five.

"Guys, looks like you did it!" Nel called over as she, Val and Kyle ran to their teammates' side.

"I knew we could count on you guys!" Val agreed.

Darren gave a shrug. "Was there any doubt?"

"Weeell." Kyle drew out the phrase as the team turned their attention to Digger and formed up into their signature pose.

"You might've destroyed my Drill, but I'll destroy you all here and now in the name of my Team!" He said as he readied his remaining pickaxe.

"How about we show this guy who he's messing with." Darren suggested, his team nodding along.

"Lord of the Apes! Primal Protector Red!" Demetri began.

"Predator of the Deep! Primal Protector Blue!" Nel called out, following on.

"King of the Jungle! Primal Protector Yellow!" Darren exclaimed, letting out a roar.

"Behemoth of the Forest! Primal Protector Green!" Kyle announced while pumping his arm.

"Stalker of the Blizzard! Primal Protector White!" Valerie finished off.

"Virtual Players, Real Heroes! Power Rangers, Primal Protectors!" The rangers called out in unison.

Beating his chest like the animal his powers came from, Demetri released a breath from the helmet's nostrils. "Now you're messing with-"

"Larpers!" Darren cut off the red ranger with his own variation as he stood up, arms folded.

After a brief shrug, the rangers charged at Digger. As the Player flailed his arms, Darren leapt out of the way while the white and blue rangers attempted to restrain the powerful foe. As he broke free, he spun around with his pickaxe, barely missing the green ranger. Digger then followed up with an overhead strike that Kyle managed to maneuver around as he fell back to regroup and plan their next attack. With a leaping strike, Demetri aimed for the Racer's head, but his opponent blocked his attack with his pickaxe before it could connect.

Pushing the red ranger's fist to the side, Digger tried to retaliate with a blow of his own, however Demetri proved to fast and span out of the arcing attack's range before it could hit. From behind, Kyle attempted to punch the Racer, but his attack was swiftly intercepted by a block from Digger. However, Kyle anticipated this and followed up with a back fist, hitting hard against the Racer's gut. As Nel leapt in with a two footed kick and landed on one side of Digger, she provided cover for Val to slip under her and follow up with a vicious clawing attack. As sparks flew off Digger's armoured suit, Nel joined Val in her assault. As they did so however, Digger grabbed them both close and unleashed a wide arcing slash from his pickaxe, sending the two girls flying to the ground. Coming off strong from his attack as they tumbled away, the Racer unleashed a powerful arc of red energy directed at the yellow ranger.

As it came towards him, Darren stood strong, a plan in mind. "Primal Power up, Unleash!" He called as he summoned his lightning emitting claws to him and as the arc of energy hit, the yellow ranger caught the arc with his claws and knocked it behind whilst splitting the energy in two, causing an explosion at either side of him as the blast hit. "Now it's your turn!" He said as he unleashed a chain of yellow lighting that struck out from his claws and electrocuted Digger.

As the electrocutions battered the Racer, Demetri slotted his Eagle faceplate back into position and transformed back into his Eagle form with a spin. Each ranger drew their Pixelators in blaster mode and focused them on the Player. They then fired off blast after blast into the Racer, leaping and adjusting to accommodate for Digger as the Racer danced back and forth after he was struck with each blast.

"Primal Bonds, Beast Blast!" Darren called out as they supercharged their blasters and unleashed five powerful bursts of energy that struck Digger head on. "Still not enough! Let's give him some more!" Darren directed as he and his teammates switched the Pixelators to blade mode

"Primal Bonds, Beast Slash!" The five of them called out in unison as they leapt up into the air and transformed into a vibrant claw of energy each colour belonging to one ranger. As it bore down on Digger, each ranger returned to normal, slashing with their Pixelators into the ground as the Racer was hit with the fatal attack.

Knocked back by the final attack, Digger began to surge with energy as he stumbled and flailed his arms once more. "How was I bested by the likes of you!?" He asked the yellow ranger as his body surged with energy a final time before exploding into a brilliant fireball.

Darren jumped up into the air. "Take that!" He yelled as Val pumped her arms close in victory and Nel clapped her hands together. It had been a difficult and well earned victory over him here, but they knew it wasn't over yet.

The now all too familiar booming voice announcing "Extra Life!" And the holographic text in the sky to accompany it once again emerged as in a great explosion, Digger was revived as a giant.

"Now I can mine the Earth's energy by hand!" He growled, the frustration of his earlier defeat imposing on his mood.

"Alright guys, Megazord time." Demetri said as they drew their cube Zords and let them fly to the sky and enlarge to full Zord size.

As all the Zords entered the square shaped rings of fire, they began to configure into their Megazord combination. "Four! Three! Two! Five! One! Six! Primal Paladin, Engage! The rangers' morphers called out as their Zords all combined into the hulking Primal Paladin Megazord.

"Primal Paladin, Player Ready!" The five rangers announced together as they prepared to face off against Digger for the final time.

"Now that is a challenge I must conquer!" Digger decided as he marvelled at the size of the Megazord that dwarfed him.

"Come at us, see what happens!" The yellow ranger taunted from his cockpit.

Penelope gripped her control cube. "Let's show this Racer who the real pros are!"

From the summit of the mountain, Harper watched as the Megazord and Digger began their clash. Stood beside an unassuming rock shaped roughly like an axe, he nodded toward the Megazord. "I'm glad they've been able to achieve so much already with the powers of my homeworld. It seems I was right to tell the one in yellow what I did. His resolve and inner strength is admirable. I hope this serves them well when the time comes." He said as he opened his hand to reveal a small grey cube, similar to the one that had taken the form of the Giraffe Zord and held a brown tint to its crystal. Without saying anything more, he placed the cube against the rough axe shaped rock and it appeared to become absorbed into the larger stone. With one last look at the battle, he spread his wings and flew from the summit and away from the battle.

In the midst of battle, the rangers had found that the giant Digger was even more dangerous than before and their Megazord could barely keep up against him. As they slashed along his body with the basic Megazord blade, Digger used one of his pickaxes and struck the Megazord in the shoulder, causing it to stagger and spark. Any further blows, the Racer managed to block or dodge. In this case, the size of the Megazord was its hindrance.

"Damn it, he's too fast!" Val expressed her frustration with the Player.

In the next moment, Digger aimed his pickaxes at the Primal Paladin Megazord and unleashed laser focused beams of energy at the metal giant. The Megazord shuddered and sparked as it lost its grip on the longsword it held.

"Damnit, we've been disarmed!" Kyle growled as he tried to think of a new strategy on the fly.

As the Racer advanced, ready to deliver a devastating blow, Demetri thought he heard something call out to him as he noticed the axe shaped rock and something clicked.

"That's it!" He exclaimed in his eureka moment and span his control cube.

The Primal Paladin quickly turned and grabbed the handle of the axe shaped rock and pulled it from the hill, bringing it around to stop Digger's attack just in time as the Player's Pickaxe swung. As it clashed against the axe, Digger let out a short laugh.

"That rock can't stop me!" He declared.

As The Racer did so however, the axe began to glow golden, catching not only him but the rangers by surprised as they watched in awe. The golden glow increased in intensity as the rock broke away and left in its wake, a new Megazord weapon. An axe that roared from its handle, revealing it's animal form to be a brown Bear.

"The axe is a Bear? Makes sense." The white ranger shrugged her shoulders.

"How did this happen anyway, wasn't that just a normal rock?" Darren questioned.

"Let's just accept it and not think too hard… It's been too long a day for me to argue." Kyle dismissed the weirdness of it all, none of them having noticed Harper's intervention earlier in the fight.

"I don't care, I'm just excited to try out this new weapon!" Demetri enthused as he span his control cube again.

The Primal Paladin went to action immediately, knocking Digger's pickaxes away effortlessly and following up with and overhead attack that knocked the Racer backwards. Not letting up on its attacks, the Primal Paladin brought down a diagonal slash with the Bear axe, knocking Digger off of his feet.

"Alright, nice! Let's finish this guy off everyone!" The red ranger commanded as the rangers removed their Primers and began rotating them to the animal image, readying up for their final attack.

As they slotted their Rubik Primers into their control cubes, the Megazord readied the axe in it's hand to finish the job. "Gigabyte Bearing Cleave!" The rangers called as the Megazord swung diagonally downwards and the edge of the axe unleashed a stream of sparks as it chopped through Digger effortlessly.

As Digger collapsed to his knees, he let out his dying words. "I'm sorry Team Leader Hexagon, I wasn't good enough!" As he finished he erupted into an immense white and orange explosion.

[Primal Protectors]

A few days later, Darren stood walking with Jane on the streets of LA. After the hectic battle, things had wound down and the latter had enjoyed her brief vacation and hanging out with her friend once more.

"How cool was that Megazord fight in the hills a few days ago though? I mean, I got to see it from the foot of the trail and at first the rangers were losing but then they got this big rock axe from the big hill and it turned into a new weapon for it! It's great right?"

Darren laughed happily at his friend's enthusiasm. "Yeah, I bet it was quite a shock for them too." Darren said, letting a little too much information slip.

Jane narrowed her eyes and smirked. "Oh? And why's that?" She asked.

"Umm… Because it was so sudden and unexpected, I bet they didn't even guess that'd happen. Just a guess, really!" He lied quickly, hoping it would be enough to sate her curiosity.

Jane instantly burst out laughing at his response. "Relax Darren! I'm not accusing you of being a Power Ranger you know. You were pretty brave that day but I don't think you're ranger material." Se said as she looked ahead to the nearby bus stop and quickly read its schedule. "Oh, a bus that goes to LAX stops here in a few minutes. Better get waiting."

"Alright, it's been good seeing you again, come back soon!" He said as he waved her off.

"I might have to come back just to see another ranger battle so I might take you up on that! Seeya Darren!" She waved back as she headed towards the bus stop.

Silent dread crept inside Darren's mind at the moment, was she really that crazy as to get involved in another ranger conflict? His only answer was that… well… It was Jane.

[Primal Protectors]

On the Racer command ship, Hexagon had been hanging his head in shame since the defeat of one of the few competent Players in his team. Fuse on the other hand had left to plot his own next attempt at victory. Only Meizong and Pivillionus resided in the viewing room when the door to the ship's theatre opened and in stepped a strange new figure.

"Oh, what's this, an uninvited guest?" Pivillinous asked as the figure stepped out into the open of the viewing room.

The alien before the two villains was a strange being, well dressed, in black and gold finery. In his white gloved hand was a golden cane with an avian handle. Similarly, two bronze avian skulls hung from his shoulders and his bronze mask was also bird-like, two red slit eyes emerging from the mask he wore. Atop his head was a black and gold tophat with some strange alien Scorpion emblazoned onto the front of the hat.

"Are you Mr. Pivillinous Ceronic?" Asked the new arrival in a deep and unsettling, sinister voice.

Pivillinous studied the alien for a moment before nodding silently.

"Good, then I am where I should be. You may call me Baron Lanius." The well dressed alien introduced himself.

"Oh? And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Mr. Ceronic, surely you know who I work for? I am a Representative of the Galactic Games Association. I'm here to observe your contributions to the Association. Surely you've heard of the… ugh… Ill fated Galaxy Warriors and my good for nothing late Nephew, Cosmo Royale?" He asked, expressing his distaste for the show and it's host.

"Ah, yes… that show." Pivilinous said nonchalantly.

"Well Mr. Ceronic, the Galaxy is in need of a new violent pastime. I'll be discreet about my recording. I expect you to follow our maximum decimation protocols when it comes to you conducting your bloodsport on this world. But be warned. Earth has been the death of many like you."

"Ah, so the season is beginning again and it seems we're getting a promotion to the main attraction. Very well. I'll be sure that this planet entertains the Galaxy as much as it's entertained me thus far! Oh… One more thing Baron." Pivillinous stopped Lanius from leaving, holding a finger up to halt the other alien.

"There's no one quite like me." The Racer leader chuckled darkly as Baron Lanius skulked away to make his preparations.

|Primal Protectors|

That's chapter 13, it's back and it's bigger than ever. Kinda a mix of me wanting some pretty memorable story moments and adapting the source material. The Larping idea was basically dropped pretty quickly though and was a plot device for getting them there and I wanted at least one chapter where they had a costume morph and I think each ranger had a pretty appropriate costume to go with their personality. I generally liked this episode in Zyuohger and it was a pretty strong Leo episode so I kept the general story and just changed the themes to ones I thought suited Darren's character. Adapting the fights was a little tedious though and I cut some small bits just because there was so much material to work with anyway. I liked adding in Harper here as taking over the traditional mentor role for a chapter and providing some context for how that rock axe turned into a weapon zord since Zyuohger never explained it and this is roughly what I imagined Bud might've been up to on that mountain to being with. Final point I think I should make is that Baron Lanius is a direct adaptation of Baron Nero from ToQger without any of the silly changes they did to make him Cosmo Royale in Ninja Steel, hence him ridiculing Galaxy Warriors and calling Cosmo a disappointment. Also me taking what potshots I can at Ninja Steel. I wanted to give him some justice since his character design alone is just so sinister and creepy and Cosmo seems mediocre compared to him. So I added him in here to gauge the reaction from the readers. Do you want Baron Lanius back for more chapters? He'll be just adding to the dynamic of the villains in the command ship unless I have any ideas about how to use him in the future if any.

As for why the Baron's here, he marks the next stage of Primal Protectors and the next upcoming villains just for a teaser are two idiots who think they have what it takes to be Team Leaders, Meizong's boyfriend and of course the arrival of our sixth ranger, Primal Universe! I hope I can get more chapters out in future, especially since I'm very busy now in my personal life but I really enjoyed writing this one despite how long it took and I hope you all enjoyed reading it too, so thanks for reading and until the next chapter!

Next Chapter: Young Blood

Synopsis: As two new Players make themselves known as members of the former Team Pike and their aim to become the destroyed Team Leader's successor is made known to Pivillinous, the first of these two candidates sets out on the greatest thieving spree Earth has ever seen. But when He encounters the rangers, things soon turn sideways for him. Will he become the next Team Leader or will the rangers destroy his chances along with the rest of him? Find out next time on Power Rangers: Primal Protectors.