Jan awoke with a scream. He had that dream again. The wolves surrounding him. He has to make something to get out of it, but he can't think. He can't do it. The pen doesn't work, the pieces won't go together. He rolled over to see the crystal next to his bed glowing... His father wanted to talk with him... But he can't talk to him, not yet. He slowly got dressed and walked over to his desk. It was absolutely covered with failed Zord designs. Most of them didn't even resemble a Zord. His latest one
Didn't even resemble a set of blueprints. He was losing his mind... He thumbed the
pendant around his neck "Animus, give me strength..." He groaned before looking at the crystal again. "And what do i say to him? Hi, it's 1 third of your son!" He sat down on the bed and simply existed for a minute, very few thoughts circulated in his head bar the obvious ones. What would he eat today, would he go to Ernie's? The crystal shined again. He shook his head and walked over to the fridge and looked inside. Grabbing a juice box he stood up and poked the plastic straw in, chugging the entire thing in one go. He then walked over to the mirror and stared at himself. No ingenuity to solve his problems, no passion to go out and find them... But he knew he had to. He couldn't just rely on heart forever. He slowly got dressed, before putting on his best brave face and walking out of the door to his apartment and slowly making his way down the stairs to the streets. He looked up to see the sun rays beginning to shine through the dark cloudy sky and he thumbed the necklace again before looking up and smiling "Thank you for another glorious day, and may the great Condor glow away the squalls that darken the sky." He whispered before kissing the pendant and moving on.
Walking through the streets, he passed a lot of nameless faces that he saw most days. Just as he got to the Juice Bar, he saw Cameron, a local member of the congregation handing out leaflets to passers by. Jan approached him and offered him a hand of friendship which was accepted and shaken. "How is the recruiting going?" He asked.
"About as well as you can expect." Cameron shook his head. "But you know how it is. People don't want to believe in something they can't see."
"Yeah, but how does that work, we see Megazords on the news all the time, you can pull up the news feeds from back in '03 of Animus RIGHT THERE." He sighed.
"Hey, it's not our job to question their ignorance. It's our job to tell them of the gospel of Animus and to bring them to his light. Some people don't want to be saved. But whether we worship him or not, he'll return when we need him the most."
"And lo', the skys shook and the earth parted. As if the rising of a second son, the mortals witnessed Animus as he bore his light into the world once again. And he spake "I am Animus, lord of the Wild Zords. Sing to appease them and i will help you in your darkest hour. All that is required is that you remember who you are." Shayla 4-14.
"Right on, brother." Cameron replied. A passer by stopped and looked at the pamphlet that was handed to him.
"I mean with all of the worlds other crazy religions, why not worship a giant robot?" The man asked
"Animus is more than just a giant robot. He gave the Wild Force Rangers the power to save humanity when nobody else would. He has watched over and protected us for over 3000 years." The passer by nodded and walked away, before shaking his head debunkingly. "So yeah, it's been going that well."
"Fair enough. I'm definitely going to be at service on Sunday, Animus knows i need it."
"Father Baliton will be happy to hear that. I'll say you send your best." Cameron replied. Jan wrapped his arms around Cameron and hugged him tightly. "Damn, man you ok?"
"Just... Bad times..." Jan replied. "I'll see you soon." He said, waving before heading to the juice bar.
"Each day as the sun rises, i hurry from my sleep. I can't wait to greet you with my song-" Little did Jan know that, as he entered the Juice Bar, he was being watched from the shadows by a mysterious pair of figures.
"We need to take him now. Oliver and Cranston are in the area" The figure in Purple armour laughed.
"Exactly why we can't strike now. We'd get bogged down in a pointless fight." The black clad one responded
"Pointless? We need to lure them in and slay them NOW before they can formulate their scheme. They will fall before my blade and i will go down in history as-"
""Yet another monster that was killed by Oliver." I know i'm the one with the brains, but you need to remember that those two may be old, but they are resourceful. If they learn about us and get away, it'll take no time for them to formulate a way to defeat us. Give Cranston a chance to study you and you're as good as dead. Besides... The master has a special plan for those two. We just need to get Heart and complete the ritual, then we will be unstoppable."