We all arrange ourselves into patrol cars, 2 people per car and we all align ourselves and prepare to go. Jen and Spider went together, as we loaded the equipment that we was handed into the trunk. It's a decent drive, and I stare at Cliff who is sitting next to me who was driving. He had earnt that name after banging his head on a doorframe. I was going to sit in silence until Cliff broke the silence himself.
"So, this Great Villain attack... will we actually have to do anything? I mean when it comes to the supernatural, our firearms and tactics wont do much."
"That's true, however the rangers have fought villains of this level before so we will likely be safe."
"So then, after this why don't we all eat somewhere together? I know it's weird to invite your boss out but I wouldn't mind the group activity."
I hesitated to speak for a moment, typically my days revolved around coming in early, working the shift and coming straight home. I cant even remember the last time I went out to eat.
"That feels like it came out of nowhere."
"Busted." he says laughingly "It was Jen that asked me to ask you to come to at least one event, honestly I wouldn't mind if you said no."
I can't believe this guy, I appreciate the honesty but that still hurts. Before I could issue out my response the car suddenly stopped. I turned to look at Cliff who stopped driving.
"We still have about a quarter mile to go before we reach our location, why'd you stop?"
"In the briefing, you said that Great Villains had 'unique abilities' right?"
"Yes but-"
Before I can even finish asking the question I see it. Hovering in the sky was an andromorphic being, however the size made it impossible to classify as human. A mask that resembled that of a clown's however it was distorted to the point where the idea of "joy" must be foreign to such a creature. It looked like a mockery of what one 'should be' rather than actually is one. The rest of the outfit carried on the circus aesthetic, the vibrant colours contrasting with its white mask. Long red hair flowed down almost down to the feet. It almost felt like it was looking in our direction, staring straight at us.
A flash of red light gained the creature's attention however as something collided with its head. That must be ranger red's Blaster. The creature began to fly towards the source of the light and a massive boom can be heard. The radio began to sound.
"Sergeant! Hello? Come in! This is coming from patrol car 3, we just got news from our on site data analysis, the predictions was wrong and it emerged about 2 hours sooner than expected! They've been trying to get to your mobile but it appears there is something blocking the signal so we was able to receive the call. We do not know your exact location but we are going to set up the parameter still albeit further back. The Great Villain's unique ability has not been uncovered yet so bear with this setup for now, we have been informed to wait here to relay information until further notice."
The prediction being wrong isn't something that happened before. I begin to get out of the car and pull out some equipment from the trunk.
"All of the people should have been evacuated from since yesterday, we still have to set up the parameter as that's the protocol."
"Yes sir" Cliff responded.
We began to lay down metallic poles that look mostly featureless that have one or two blinking lights on it. Upon placement they extent to being at least 1.5m meters tall. We space these poles 20 meters apart and place 3 of them. They begin to make a weird mechanical sound that is borderline inexplicable and then proceeded to emit a strong green light. A massive light branched out into the sky and we waited for a moment, then three more lights to emerge each from a different corner of the planned area and they all joined up with each other making a cube shape. The Barrier was up. Another message was due to come in to confirm the creation of The Barrier.
"Come in it's the captain speaking, come in trying to contact Sergeant can I get a confirmation?"
"I'm here, Barrier is up."
"Good, this is a Great villain attack, we have a protocol to follow in these events. Last time 13 years ago we managed to keep most of the damage contained however the deaths and injuries was too much for the current green ranger to bear. So he dedicated his time into making the Barrier you see before you, it should be able to keep most of the damage contained, it completely repels C.O.D.E. based entities and constructs as long as it has power."
A thunderous sound echoed from the epicentre of the battlefield. Must have been ranger green's blaster.
"Just report if you see anything wrong with the barrier, we have the green ranger support division - 'Green Team' here with us to help with the tech support."
There was silence for a moment until we saw 3 buildings completely collapse. The concrete came falling apart as rebar stuck out, there was some movement in the rubble and it turned out to be the villain from earlier. The villain tried to rise but got hit again by yellow's Blaster, crashing into another building. The villain jumped at Ranger Yellow's location but got put into the ground by another shot from green's blaster. Blue provided more rapid fire shots from his own Blaster. The villain seemingly injured tried to run away. Jumping across the rubble it moved at impossible speeds, however Red managed to keep up shooting it down.
"You think they really got it covered?" Cliff asked me.
"Well, from what I can tell they are destroying it easily, but there is something seriously wrong."
"Something... Wrong?"
"Whenever a Great Villain attacks, there is usually tons of regular villains but we haven't seen any at all."
"Couldn't they have just taken them out? I mean, their firepower is insane."
"That's true, however the the lack of any other locations of battle may very well show there just hasn't been any."
Cliff and I stand solemnly, if what I am theorising is even somewhat true then there is something seriously wrong with this invasion.
"Well, its not like-" Cliff started
Before he can even get the full sentence out, a massive distortion of space appeared within the barrier in 4 different locations. Each one is above each corner of the pillars that we used to set up the barriers. And out of nowhere massive amounts of villains began to pour out from above. Their human-like bodies fell to the ground. We got a closer look, their colours and appearance resembled that of the Greater villain even donning a similar looking clown mask. Cliff and I was frozen in surprise as the villains began to attack the Barrier. We instinctively jumped backwards but that proved to be a needless action as the barrier fended off against the attack. Soon enough I hear the radio.
"Sergeant! It's urgent! We aren't entirely sure what happened but what we are witnessing is most likely a result of the villains ability - please hold still at the moment! All pillars are being attacked at the same time and the supporters sent here are now spread thin trying to go to each location, ETA to your location is 5 minutes!"
Things was already going so horribly wrong, even though we had prepared more, even more unpredictable things had happened this time compared to previous times.
"I'm not sure if we even have 5 minutes!" Cliff yelled at the radio.
We got no response "Shit!"
We both aimed our firearms in the direction of the villains knowing full well they wont do anything. The Barrier was simply only a prototype, to rely on such technology was illogical. No, that's not it, Green put good effort into making this device. It was simply wasn't created to take the stress of this many villains all at once, and the warping of the Barrier instead of its reflection is telling of that fact. We were beginning to brace ourselves for the possible impact when all of a sudden their numbers started reducing. More thunderous booms followed with more subsequent shots. Ranger Green must have been firing at the villains, and soon enough he manged to kill all of them. He jumped down from the building he was stationed at, and a giant mechanical construction of indescribable complexity followed suit.
"Are you who's in charge here?" He asked
"Y-yes!" I responded. "I'm sergeant Kyle Road!"
"Structural integrity of the Barrier has reached as low as 50%, it seems this type of attack is happening at all locations. The supporter should come with the backup batteries soon. Please evacuate the area, this is no longer suitable for regular police officers."
Just like that? When a real danger, a real threat was finally here I am told to leave?
"But sir-" I begin
" I understand your willingness to help, I really do. But we have no idea what ability this Great villain even has. Blue, Pink, Yellow and myself have been sent to deal with these whilst Red holds off the Great Villain until further notice."
"Yes... sir." I reluctantly agree. "Cliff! We're getting out of here!"
"Yes sir!" Cliff audibly cries out.
Just as we turn to run we hear a massive thunderous sound again, did Green take another shot? We both turn around to see Green in fact did take another shot and he shot directly at the Great Villain which was now in possession of his head. The ranger's headless body fell to the ground and the Great Villain began to manically laugh.
"Keehehehehe! head GONE! NO MORE BRAINS!" It laughed mockingly.
When? How? Where was Red? Why on Earth is it here?
Those questions was beginning to not matter as the Barrier began to fall apart.