Taurus: Enter the Labyrinth

Enter the Labyrinth is the second episode of the Taurus arc and fifth of Power Rangers: Neo Zeo.

Synopsis
The villains' real scheme is revealed, but just a little too late for a certain Yellow Ranger.

Plot
Ophiuchus had taken over a long table in the prison ship's cavernous mess hall. Charts, data cards and thick books lay scattered across the tabletop, and occasionally he would grab one to pore over it, pausing only to type something into the computer screen at hand. He was so absorbed in this work that he didn't hear Pitch slog into the room, or enter the adjoining galley, until he knocked over a pile of metal containers. The clatter made him jump.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

In answer, Pitch just groaned wearily. Marking his place, Ophiuchus rose and entered the galley to find Pitch sorting through sealed containers. They were all labeled in unfamiliar, jagged script.

"I'm hungry," the monster said, not looking up. "Guessing there's some food in here, since it's a kitchen and all."

"Don't you have supplies in your own ship?" Ophiuchus asked.

Pitch selected a likely-looking container and began trying to pry it open. He didn't even try to crack the lock. "Too little too far. Do you know how long I've been trying to get those Zodiac Emperors out of their coffins? Twelve. Hours. Straight. If I tried to ooze now I'd just melt into the floor."

Ophiuchus took the container from him, grasped either end, and twisted. It cracked open, and a little sweet-smelling syrup slopped out. He held it towards Pitch, who accepted it with a grunt of thanks. Putting the crack straight to his mouth, he started drinking the stuff.

"Did you finish? Are they all safe?" Ophiuchus asked.

"Dunno, probably, don't really care, they're not paying me either way. If you're so excited, why don't you go look for yourself?"

"They don't want me around." At Pitch's curious look, Ophiuchus clarified, "Taurus assigned me to 'do comparative research on past tactics and the state of the universe,' meaning read through thousands of files and take notes that I'm certain he'll never look at and will not be of any use to anyone. He's getting me out of the way, like an obnoxious child."

Pitch laughed a little. Lowering the box, he began prying it open further, revealing blue wedges of some kind of preserved fruit. He picked these out and started eating them.

"You're expecting too much. He's an Emperor; he's used to managing his own affairs. Plus he might resent you some. After all, you did something none of the Emperors could: release them. You're a reminder that he failed, hard."

Ophiuchus's anger faded, replaced with a look of mild surprise. ". . . I hadn't expected that kind of deduction from a Windjammer." Pitch gave him a look that said "really?", and he backtracked, "I mean, I'd have thought the smartest ones would rise to the top, and most of the leaders I've met are blockheads."

Pitch finished off the fruit, and sucked the remaining syrup off his oily fingers. "Nah. It's a lot safer to let the stupid people charge ahead. Take it from me; you don't want to be the one in charge. If something goes wrong, it's your fault."

oZo

Finally, the Viewing Globe was working steadily again—just in time to show Alpha exactly how much trouble the Rangers were in. He could barely see the Red Ranger underground, but he could hear the thuds and metallic booms as he struggled with Cark and Spinhead.

"Rangers, David needs help!" He said into the comms.

"Trying," Lidian said, though he sounded strained.

Alpha 5 switched to a topside view. There were only a few Jewel Golems left, but only the Green Ranger was still fighting them. Blue had dropped her weapons and was yelling at what looked like empty air.

"Casey, can you hear me? Casey!"

"Rangers," Alpha tried again, but nobody responded. The Blue Ranger lunged forward, but the Green Ranger quickly caught her by the waist and hauled her back.

"You'll just get sucked in too!"

Once again Alpha 5 looked at David's battle, just in time to see the Red Ranger slammed to the floor. He managed to force Cark's tentacle off, but he'd barely even sat up before Spinhead flattened him against a wall with his head. Alpha flinched at the audible thud and grunt from Zeo Red.

"Wait . . . if I can't bring the Rangers to them, I can still bring them to the Rangers!" Alpha 5 exclaimed. Quickly, he typed the commands into his console.

In a flash, all three—David, Cark and Spinhead—vanished out of the tiny cave. Alpha immediately switched back to the mountainside, and saw that the trio had landed in a heap. The Red Ranger was already extricating himself from the pile, and with a hand from the Green Ranger soon was free.

"Hey!" Cark shoved Spinhead aside and leaped up, only for red lasers to strike him in the chest. He fell back with a howl of pain. The Blue Ranger had drawn her Zeo Laser Pistol, and held it fixed on the monster. She advanced now, drawing her Zeo Laser blade and combining the two weapons into one. As Cark picked himself up, she started shooting again.

Spinhead moved to attack her, only to take a slash to the back from the Green Ranger's Zeo Power Hatchets. It stumbled and fell on its side, drill head whirling uselessly. Before it could get up, the blade of the Zeo Power Sword touched its neck.

"I wouldn't get up if I were you," the Red Ranger said.

The other two Rangers leaped into the air in unison, slamming their various axes into Cark's oncoming tentacles. One clawed end snapped clean off and fell, sparking, to the ground.

"AAAAGH! My claw!" Cark recoiled, clutching his tentacle stump in both hands. Blue coolant fluid ran over his fingers like thick blood.

Landing, the two Rangers struck fighting stances. Cark swung an upper tentacle at Lidian, who smacked it aside with a hatchet blow that gashed it open. Zeo Blue followed that up with a point-blank laser shot, shattering Cark's red, glassy left eye. Clamping one hand over his face, the monster screeched in anguish.

"Ready?" The Blue Ranger asked, looking to her teammates.

"Let's blow these guys away," Lidian replied.

"Hold your fire!" Zeo Red interrupted.

Zeo Green looked over at him. "What are you doing?"

Instead of responding, the Red Ranger reached down, grabbed Spinhead by the arm and hauled the creature to its feet. He shoved the monster towards Cark, and it stumbled into place.

"Back in the tunnel you two were talking about a distraction. What did you mean?" He demanded.

"Huh?" Spinhead asked.

"We're wasting time—let's get rid of these two and find Casey," the Blue Ranger said.

"Tell me what I want to know or I just might listen to the Blue Ranger," Zeo Red warned the pair.

"Might?" Zeo Blue demanded incredulously.

"Emperor Taurus sent us to keep you distracted," Cark managed at last.

The Green Ranger came closer to the pair. "Who?"

"He-he's in charge. Emperor Aries was last time, but apparently he needs his constellation to be near to have power, so now his turn is done a-and Taurus is in charge," Spinhead explained.

"Distract us from what?" The Red Ranger asked.

"The Labyrinth."

oZo

Casey landed flat on her face, bumping her nose against her visor. Sitting up, she looked around, but saw only blackness. She considered demorphing, since she'd taken to carrying matches and a few other useful things around with her, but decided not to. After all, there were probably monsters in here.

"That was weird," she said, and her voice echoed.

Instead, she started feeling around the floor. It was cold, lumpy and just a little slimy, like wet cobblestones. Casey got up, slowly, just in case the ceiling turned out to be really low or something. It wasn't. Arms outstretched, she felt for a wall, and soon bumped into one. It, too, was made of stone, but the slime was thicker. Keeping one hand on the wall, she started to walk.

And walk.

And skip a little, just to shake things up.

And walk some more.

Just as Casey was beginning to think the tunnel would go on forever, she heard a shriek somewhere ahead. It sounded like a woman. As if that had been a signal, a clamor of roars and shouts filled the air. Casey broke into a run, drawing her Zeo Laser Pistol.

"Hang on, I'm coming!" She yelled.

Unexpectedly, the wall drew away from her hand, and she skidded to a halt. A faint yellow light shone up ahead, just enough to illuminate shifting bodies, some gleaming like armor. Everyone was shouting at once.

"Hey!" Thinking fast, Casey fired a few warning shots straight up at the ceiling.

The red flashes lit up the scene like lightning; the creatures in the surprisingly wide cave before her were a bizarre variety of monsters. The yellow light was coming from a small, greasy fire in the middle of the room. At the sound of laser fire, the creatures scattered, fleeing out other tunnels Casey hadn't seen before. Casey ran inside, but they were all gone before she could stop them. Well, almost all of them.

Casey tripped over a prone body and went sprawling. Picking herself up quickly, she twisted around and saw that she'd fallen over a monster that looked like a giant owl. Its patchy feathers looked about ready to fall out, and what little armor it had was hanging by a few threads. It groaned.

Slowly, Casey got up. The monster didn't attack her, and now that she was looking more closely, Casey could see bloody patches in its feathers.

"Please don't hurt me, Power Ranger."

Casey jumped, belatedly realizing that the owl monster had spoken. She stood up, folded her arms, and made sure to speak in a commanding, Rangerly voice.

"I won't if you tell me what I need to know." The monster nodded, and Casey crouched down beside it. "Where are we?"

"Firepit Cave."

"Ah. Should I know what that is?"

The owl monster hesitated. "You don't know where we are?"

"Would I be asking if I did? One second I was outside, and the next," she made a vague gesture at the dark cave around them.

"We call it the Labyrinth. It's a maze created by Emperor Taurus. It used to be a prison, but nobody's been let out since . . . I don't remember."

Casey sat back on her haunches, and looked around the cave. She thought she could see tunnels. "What was going on?"

"Someone probably got fell into the Labyrinth. It happens sometimes, but there aren't many portals left. The Nightclaws took them."

"Right. Up," Casey said, standing and holding out a hand to the monster. "You can tell me more on the way."

The monster hesitated, so Casey reached down, grabbed its arm—surprisingly bony under the feathers—and hauled it upright. The owl recoiled.

"You want to follow the Nightclaws? Are you out of your mind?"

"Weren't you in a fight with them just now?"

"No, I just wanted to see what I could grab in the chaos. Nobody messes with the Nightclaws—they'll eat you alive!"

"Monsters are monsters. I can handle them," Casey said, although truthfully she wasn't sure she could.

"That wasn't exaggeration. We never got much food even before we were abandoned; now all we've got left is each other." The owl monster was backing away, out of the light.

Casey leveled her Zeo Laser Pistol at him, and he halted. She really wished the other Rangers were here. "I don't care if you wanna wimp out, but you're going to show me where these Nightclaw creeps are first."

The owl looked like it wanted to run, and Casey wished she could cock her gun, but she just settled for taking a step forward. At last, it stopped and its shoulders slumped.

"Good, let's go. Which way?"

oZo

"The other Windjammers have been opening up portals all over this city," Spinhead said. "That's probably where your Yellow friend went."

"Don't talk about her that way!" The Blue Ranger snapped, storming forward and grabbing Spinhead by the shoulders. "If anything's happened to her—"

"That's enough." The Red Ranger's voice cut in like a knife, getting Violet's attention. He jerked his head towards a nearby slope. "Over there. When you've gotten ahold of yourself you can come back."

Even through the visor, it was clear that Zeo Blue was giving him a death glare. He matched it. At last, she shoved Spinhead back against Cark and stormed away to the slope, where she began pacing, arms folded.

The Red Ranger turned his attention back to his prisoners. "What about getting in and out?"

Spinhead shrugged helplessly. "Without Taurus's control, I don't think anything can leave."

Violet kicked a loose rock at the duo, and it bounced off Cark's head, making him yelp.

"That's not helping," the Red Ranger said.

Violet wheeled on him. "You don't even have siblings, do you?"

"That's neither here nor there. You can't help anyone, especially, the Yellow Ranger, by acting like this."

Before the Blue Ranger could reply, the Green Ranger stepped between the two.

"Guys, calm down, we'll solve this, there's no reason to pick a fight," he said. Violet still looked like she wanted to argue, so he moved closer and spoke in a lower voice. "I know, he comes off gruff and kind of heartless, but he's trying to help. This is how he acts when he's stressed."

The Blue Ranger didn't say anything. Turning towards the Red Ranger, Lidian addressed him. "You're setting her off by acting this way, we need her calmed down."

"Understood. You do that and I'll finish the interrogation," Zeo Red replied curtly. With a sigh, the Green Ranger headed back to Violet. Turning back, the Red Ranger eyed Cark and Spinhead, who quavered.

"We know plenty more about the Zodiac Emperors' plans," Cark said quickly. "It'd take hours—no, days—to tell you everything."

"Right, me too," Spinhead added. "You should keep us around—we won't try to betray you, promise."

The Red Ranger watched them in silence for a long minute. They tried to look innocent and trustworthy, not an easy feat considering their stiff, unappealing features. Then David's communicator watch went off.

"Yes?"

Alpha 5 spoke up, clearly excited. "I think I can help. I've dealt with hidden dimensions before, and some of the old equipment is still working!"

The Red Ranger looked around; his teammates had both gotten the message, and were watching him for orders. He faced the two monsters again. "I can't trust you enough to leave you alone, and I have nowhere to put you, so . . ."

He put a hand on the hilt of his Zeo Laser Sword, and they shrank back.

"You have my word as a robot—"

"Betray you? Never, not in a million years!"

"I have a better idea," Violet interrupted, coming forward. The monsters stared hopefully up at her. "Throw them in the Labyrinth. They can't hurt us there."

"What?" Cark exclaimed.

"Now, there's no need for that, let's not be too hasty here," Spinhead protested, but the Red Ranger nodded to his teammates, and they surrounded the pair.

"Look on the bright side," the Green Ranger said, grabbing one of Spinhead's arms as he tried to run. "Now you have a fighting chance."

"You call that a bright side?" Cark snapped.

"Trust me, I've had to accept worse."

oZo

Casey crouched behind a heap of fallen stone which had once been part of a wall. The owl monster was a few feet behind her, though he seemed very jumpy and eager to flee. Up ahead, smoky, faint torchlight illuminated a cavernous room, making its makeshift tents and lean-tos a jumble of angular, ragged silhouettes. Voices, both monstrous and human, carried from the middle of the room.

"How did you get in here?" One of the monsters demanded. "Are there more where you came from?"

"I don't know." The other speaker sounded like a teenaged guy. A very nervous teenaged guy.

Casey started creeping into the ramshackle village. Even through her helmet, it stank enough to make her gag. Something crunched underfoot; she made the mistake of looking down, and realized she'd stepped on a ribcage. Grossed out, she hurried on, this time keeping her eyes front.

A few monsters were in the lean-tos and tents around her, but most of them seemed to be asleep or wounded; the rest of the Nightclaws were in the middle of the room, with their prisoners. Casey was halfway in before she realized that she didn't actually have a plan. For a moment, she hesitated. Then she shrugged and went on. She'd come up with something once she'd made sure nobody was about to be eaten.

Now most of the Nightclaws stood only a few feet away. They all wore armor which looked like it had been cobbled together from several different places, and probably in the dark. In their midst sat a dozen or so civilians, tied up. Casey recognized them from news reports—they were the people who'd been kidnapped by Windjammers. The monsters had dragged one man out of the group and were all yelling at him.

"Has Taurus opened the prison?"

"What planet are you from?"

"Can't we just eat them?"

Casey decided enough was enough, and lowering her gun, took aim at the back of the hungry creep. Before he could say anything else, she pulled the trigger. Lasers spewed across the village, and she saw several monsters drop—hit or ducking for cover, she couldn't tell. One of the nearby tents caught fire, which only added to the chaos.

However, before Casey could go after the prisoners, something slammed bodily into her from behind, knocking her down. Feathery wings enveloped her as she struggled to get up, and her kicks and struggles only met armor.

"I've got her! I've got her!" Her captor yelled. "Someone get her gun!"

"You RAT!" Casey yelled, realizing who'd attacked her.

A boot came down on her wrist, grinding her hand into the floor. She lost her grip on her Zeo Laser Pistol, and someone else snatched it up. Multiple monster hands caught her by the shoulders and arms and dragged her upright. She kicked the owl in the shins before someone else grabbed her legs.

"A Power Ranger," the monster holding her gun said. The only thing that distinguished him from his motley fellows was his helmet; it had horns, but one had broken off near its base. "Good job, Bladebeak. Haven't seen one of you in hundreds of years," he added to the Yellow Ranger.

"Well, then, take a good look, because you won't get get another chance," Casey retorted. "Also that gun won't work on me since it's mine." In answer, the horned monster simply pointed the gun at the prisoners. Casey drooped. "Jerk."

"Tie her up."

Allies

 * Alpha 5

Villains

 * Ophiuchus
 * Pitch
 * Cark
 * Spinhead
 * Bladebeak
 * Herne the Hunter