Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, chanters, events etc. Anything not covered by these rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.
Rating: T – May be some mild adult themes, violence and language.
Up on Sledge's ship, Sledge was waiting on his bridge with Poisandra, Curio and Wrench. Wrench was busy patching up Curio's popped stitches; while Poisandra was getting bandaged up by one if his Viviks. It wasn't as though they were seriously hurt; both of them had run shortly after it became clear how powerful Ivan was. Poisandra pouted as the Vivik wrapped some bandages around her head.
"Ow, you careless clod, can't you see I'm injured here?" She whined with a little pout Sledge hated to see his beloved suffering like this. He came across, holding her hand gently.
"Be careful with her, she is very precious to me." Sledge warned the creature. He looked to Poisandra. "Never mind my sweet; I know exactly what will make you feel better."
A moment later, the door opened and Fury was dragged in by four Spike Balls, being forced down onto his knees. He struggled against their grip, but he still hadn't recovered enough energy from when Ivan had broken free to fight back effectively. A hand on the back of his head shoved it down roughly, forcing him to bow to Sledge.
"I can explain...!" Fury started to protest, but Sledge wasn't interested in hearing it. He punched him hard across the face, knocking him senseless and rattling his teeth. He glared at Fury in disgust.
"Not only did you lose the Ptera Zord AND lose the Energem, but now there's a Sixth Ranger?" Sledge roared in anger.
"But..."
"You PROMISED me a powerful weapon to destroy the Rangers!" Sledge interrupted him. "Forgive me, but I fail to see how not only losing that weapon, but actually making the enemy forces STRONGER is in any way what you promised to deliver!"
"I knew he couldn't pull it off." Poisandra chirped cheerfully, seeing the position Fury was in. He had no way to defend himself; he was completely at Sledge's mercy. "The only question is what to do with you..."
"Put him in solitary!" Wrench suggested. "Let him spend a century or two alone with his failure!"
"Maximum security!" Curio chipped in, remembering the time Fury had taken his frustrations out on him, literally ripping him to pieces. It had taken Wrench hours to put him back together. "I think that thing with the tentacle would be a good cell mate for him!"
"Why bother with any of that?" Poisandra asked, looking Fury full in the eye. "Why not just blast him into atoms right now?"
"All fine suggestions, but why should we make his suffering so...banal?" Fury asked as he gestured to the door. It opened, and a hideous, skeleton-like creature walked in. "I believe you remember Bones, don't you Fury?"
"You?" Fury asked in astonishment. Bones was a dangerous prisoner, one that he himself had brought in millions of years ago. Bones smiled...or at least he would have if he had lips.
"I've been waiting for my chance!" Bones taunted him. "Indeed, when Sledge told me what he wanted me to do...I volunteered!"
"You...you wouldn't!" Fury stammered. He knew all too well about Bones' special power. He was a lowly thief, mostly specialising in bank heists and trading post robberies, but he had one special power that made the whole thing so simple. He could reach inside a victim and take their 'backbone'. It wasn't really their back bone, that would obviously kill or cripple his enemies, but it was a symbolic gesture, like taking their heart or taking their brain. While he was capable of taking any of those, he favoured the 'backbone', because when he took that, the victim became afraid of pretty much everything that crossed their path. It was a simple matter to rob a bank if the tellers and the security guards were too scared to refuse when he just asked them to open the vault. Ninety nine times out of a hundred, he didn't even need a weapon to clean a place out in minutes flat.
"You shouldn't have failed me!" Sledge told him, before looking to Bones, who was just relishing the opportunity to exact revenge on Fury for his imprisonment. "Take his courage!"
"But master, I am your bravest warrior!" Fury protested. Bones just laughed.
"Not for long!" He responded as he plunged a hand into Fury's back. He felt around, finding what he was looking for, and pulled out a large piece of bone, depositing it in a large pot he carried with him. The Spike Balls dropped Fury, at which he started to scramble away from them.
"Please, don't hurt me!" He screamed. Poisandra and the others just couldn't help laughing at his plight. Fury was going into a full-blown panic just seeing them around him.
"Aw, Bones just made big, brave Fury into a widdle scaredy cat!" Poisandra taunted him. Fury hit the control on the door and ran away. Sledge held up a hand as Poisandra was about to pursue him.
"There is no need, he'll be punished enough as it is." Sledge told her. "He just ran into the cell blocks!"
With that, they all laughed, taking delight as they heard Fury's anguished screams. He had no courage left in his body, and in his panic to get away, he had inadvertently run into a cell block containing some of the most dangerous monsters ever captured. Sledge just looked to Bones.
"Now, let's see you do that to the Rangers!" Sledge told him. "If you take their courage and leave them helpless, I will take their Energems...and then we will happily return you to your home galaxy!"
"With pleasure!" Bones replied, happy to have struck this bargain with Sledge. He knew escape was impossible, but now he had a way out, all he had to do was take the courage from these Rangers, and Sledge would release him free and clear.
In Amber Beach Airport, a private jet touched down, and a blonde woman stepped out of it, looking out into the city. Margaret, the head of Prince Phillipe's security forces, and also his advisor had remained in Zandar when the Prince had come to Amber Beach to retrieve the treasures of Zandar. He had insisted that he would only be a short time, and that he would have no need of her services, but something had happened while he was out there. The first word she received that anything was amiss was when the Prince's security detail arrived back at the palace empty-handed, and without the Prince.
Phillipe's father, the current ruler of Zandar had demanded answers, but the only answers they could give were the ones Phillipe had instructed them to give. He had changed his mind about the museum and opted to let them keep the exhibit, once it became clear they only impersonated him to draw out a threat to the treasures in their care. He had opted to remain in America to explore and expand his knowledge, and all he asked was that Margaret come and find him. That was why she was here now.
She had no idea what the Prince could have been thinking. One of the bodyguards had since told her of Phillipe's words that he could not prove his worth shut up in a palace. While she was happy to think of him developing his knowledge beyond the confines of what he could learn in the palace, remaining halfway around the world without a security detail was a bit of a step too far for comfort as far as she was concerned.
She pulled out her cell phone, and activated the tracking app. The Prince, due to his station, had always been taught that he was at very real risk of abduction. He always carried a GPS with him, something he knew that Margaret would be able to track.
"Wow, you're really serious about getting away from it all aren't you?" She asked herself, seeing the signal. "This place is right out in the Styx."
"Your vehicle is here just as you requested." A man told her, directing her attention to a large, red van. "Though...I'd have thought you'd want something a little more...up-market?"
"It's the luggage space I need." She informed him as a couple of men started to wheel a crate on a flat-bed trolley out of the plane. The man looked to it in confusion.
"How long exactly are you staying?" He asked. Margaret just sighed as she signed the rental agreement. The rental was on the Prince's black credit card, there really was no concern about the vehicle.
"Hopefully not that long." She muttered. "This isn't mine, it's Phillipe's."
As they loaded up, the rental guy just shook his head.
"Wow, that's some gift." He said to himself. "Last time my girlfriend went on holiday I got a ball cap."
Koda finally arrived after his latest training session. He was a little bruised up, but he was much happier, especially now that he knew he had Kendall's blessing. He got into the lab, finding Shelby, Chase, Riley and Tyler watching as Kendall took Ivan around the lab, showing him the equipment.
"So, Koda, how was training?" Chase asked him.
"Training...lot of fun!" Koda told them. "Learn a lot of new moves, you want I show?"
"You know what? I think I'm good." Chase said as he held his hands up. Koda looked over to where Kendall was with Ivan, explaining some of the fundamentals of his equipment. With Koda, there was a lot more trial and error, she had never tried to explain complicated weapons technology to someone who had never operated basic technology like a computer before, but this time, she found it was a bit more familiar. Ivan didn't really need to know HOW the technology worked; he could learn that across time if it was something that really interested him. All he really needed to know was how to make it work in the battlefield.
"So, you already know how to morph with your Energem, but with this Dino Charger, you no longer need your Energem to morph." Kendall explained. Riley came over, picking up his Ptera Sabre, and opened it up, showing him the beds for the Dino Chargers. "The transmuter will power up your collection of Dino Chargers from the Gold Energem."
"These Dino Charger will power your morpher, and also your weapons." Riley told him, opening up the Ptera Sabre. Ivan watched as he closed it, and jumped back a little in surprise as a loud, booming voice came from it.
"Dino Charger, Engage!"
"Truly magical!" Ivan exclaimed. He knew it wasn't strictly speaking magic, the others had started to explain bits and pieces of technology to him, but it was still early days. To him it was magic; he didn't understand how some metal and plastic could create devices of such power. He took the sword and inspected it.
"Come this way, I'll show you the crystal beds." Kendall told him. "Bring your Energem, we'll show you another way we use them."
As they went though, Tyler was busy writing in his diary. Shelby could see he was troubled, and as he scribbled in the diary, she could see the look in his eyes. She knew he had to be thinking about his dad, and the fact that now they knew Ivan had been the energy that had been trapped within Fury, that still left the questions about his father's whereabouts unanswered. Shelby came over to him, but he didn't react, being completely oblivious to her as he focused on his words.
"You mis-spelled 'surprised'." Shelby told him. Tyler snatched the diary away from her.
"Hey! That's not cool!" He protested. Shelby just looked a little sheepish. She knew better than to read someone's diary without permission, but she was worried about Tyler, and she needed to know what was going on in his mind.
"Well...you haven't really said a whole lot since the other night." Shelby reminded him. Tyler just looked to her, realising that she didn't mean any harm. She had already spoken to him about the fact he had hoped his search for his father was over, and his disappointment at the fact that he now, if anything, had more questions than answers.
"We know, you hoping for your father." Koda stated as he flipped through Tyler's diary. Tyler just snatched it away from him. He knew it didn't really matter much; Koda wasn't much of a reader. Under his current learning plan, Kendall had taught him some things, but his reading level was probably about kindergarten level. His favourite book so far was 'The Cat in the Hat'.
"Look, you saw what Ivan can do; he's going to make our team so much stronger." Shelby assured him.
"Find Energems faster!" Koda said, beaming brightly.
"And then, when we get our hands on Fury, and he has no more lackeys to hide behind, we'll make him tell us what happened to your dad." She said to him. Tyler couldn't deny his disappointment, and he found it hard to remain calm whenever he thought about the fact that Fury knew something about what happened to his father, but they just hadn't been able to force him to divulge that information. He saw Shelby looking hopeful, and gestured her in for a hug, holding her warmly.
"You're right." Tyler finally managed to say. "Thanks."
Koda decided he wanted in on this moment, and wrapped his arms around both of them, crushing them with his immense strength. Tyler could swear he heard something in his back cracking.
"Koda...I appreciate the sentiment..." Tyler wheezed. "But...air!"
Koda let them both go, much to both of their relief. They pitied anyone that would have to take a bear hug from him when he actually INTENDED to hurt them!
"Now, this is where your Dino Gem rests." Riley explained as he showed the crystal beds to Ivan. "When you're not carrying your Energem, it rests here, where it re-charges your Dino Chargers between battles."
"Incredible." Ivan gasped as he took the gem out, but as he released his grip on it, it shot straight back into the crystal bed. "Truly wizard's work!"
"Well, it's the first time anyone's called me that." Kendall responded. "But I suppose I can live with it."
Ivan took the Energem and put it away.
"Well, it was a thoroughly entertaining afternoon." He declared as he bowed respectfully to them. "I am certain our paths will cross again soon, until then I bid you good day."
"Whoa, wait...where are you going?" Riley asked. "You're part of our team now."
"I haven't joined your team." Ivan put down flatly.
"But you stayed at our place last night." Tyler reminded him.
"Yes, as I agreed I would when this fair maiden secured my release from the Marshalls." He reminded them. "I agreed I would stay that one night, and then listen to you today and now I have done that."
"I don't think you get it mate." Chase stated. "You're on our team..."
"No, I don't think YOU understand." Ivan declared. "I am a Knight of Zandar, bound by an oath of loyalty. Once I have pledged my allegiance, it is for life. If I pin my courage to the sticking post, I am bound to serve until the war is over or I am in my grave. It is not a decision I can make so hastily."
As he walked away, heading into the elevator, the others just looked more than a little stunned.
"Wait, decision?" Shelby asked. "He doesn't have a choice; he is THE Gold Ranger now!"
Before anyone else could say anything, an alarm sounded. Kendall and the others all rushed over to one of her consoles to see what the warning was.
"Alien bio-signs at the boat-docks." Kendall told them. "You'll have to worry about Ivan later."
"Can I just point out that the last time we let him wander around on his own he got arrested?" Chase asked. Kendall just sighed.
"Somehow I doubt a man walking around in chain mail and carrying a sword is going to be too hard to track." Kendall told him. "Now, if you wouldn't mind dealing with the matter at hand?"
"Right, we're on it." Tyler answered as they all ran out of the Dino Lab.
Meanwhile, outside of the city, Margaret was having a hell of a time trying to track down the Prince. It wasn't hard to find his signal, that was working fine, but she was finding that out here, the concept of "roads" was a little looser than she was used to. It had been over an hour since she had last seen asphalt, and she was struggling to make any sense of the dirt tracks.
"Phillipe, when you go off the grid, you REALLY go off the grid." She grumbled. She eventually found a path that seemed to head straight for the Prince's GPS signal. She eventually pulled up to the front of an old, wooden farmhouse, with a barn around by the side. The land looked like it had been some time since anyone had tended it as a working farm. She pulled up as close as she could to the house.
She got out of the van, and approached the house, knocking loudly on the door. She could see the GPS signal was coming from inside. She didn't get an answer though. She tried the door handle, only to find that the door was open. She made her way inside.
When she got there, she found the Prince's GPS tracker sitting on the coffee table, but no sign of him. She pulled out her berretta, beginning to look around.
"Your Highness?" She asked. She didn't get a response though. As she started to make her way from room to room, looking for him, she started to get a worrying thought. Why didn't he have his GPS on him? Why was the door unlocked? Had something happened to him? She heard a sound behind her and spun around, finding herself pointing the gun straight at Phillipe. He was wearing a charcoal grey t-shirt, and sweat pants that were matted to him by sweat.
"Jesus, don't do that!" Margaret responded.
"I think I have more cause to be concerned, you are the one pointing a gun." Phillipe reminded her. Margaret put the gun away. "I see you've made it at last."
"Phillipe, where the hell were you?" She asked. "I found your GPS..."
"I was working out in the barn; it's a good space for it." He told her. "I rented out this farmhouse from a realtor, do you like it?"
"Your Highness..."
"Please, I'm trying to fit in here." He told her. "Call me Phillipe."
"Fine, Phillipe." She sighed. "Why was the door unlocked?"
"Oh, no one around here locks their doors." Phillipe told her in an off-hand way. "It's so...nicely old-fashioned, don't you find that quaint?"
"I guess." Margaret responded. "So, can I ask why we're at the ass-end of nowhere?"
"Because I have seen true greatness, and I will never attain it in a palace." He told her. "Which is why I have stripped myself of as many luxuries as I can in order to train."
"Train?" She asked. "Train for what?"
"I am going to become a Power Ranger!" He told her proudly. "Six Energems have already been found*, and I know the other four we're looking for. Fortunately a great many Pachycephalosaurus fossils discovered within our borders, and so I have dig teams searching for the one that has an Energem."
"You...want to be a Power Ranger?" She asked. Phillipe just looked to her and smiled.
"The last President of this country was a Ranger." He told her. "I can think of no better person to lead a nation."
"Then...perhaps I can help a little." Margaret told him. She gestured him to follow her outside. As he got there, he saw her opening the back of the van, and saw the large crate there.
"And this is...?"
"This is the latest and greatest in physical training technology." She told him. She grabbed a pry bar and wrenched open the top of the crate. Phillipe looked down on it and smiled. "I take it you're pleased?"
"Margaret, I can safely say you have truly outdone yourself." He complimented her. "Now...how does it work?"
A/N: The Prince's comment, marked * before anyone comments, the RANGERS told him six Energems had been found (everyone forgets about Aqua!) As a result, I thought it only reasonable that he still believes there are four to find when there are in fact only three. Hope that clears it up.