Power Rangers Megaforce
The return of evil.
"Noah! You're going to be late!"
Noah Carver stuck his head out of his room. Blue golf shirt tangled one shoe on and his jacket slung over his back pack, he almost fell as he called back down to his mother.
"Coming!"
Finally untangling himself from his shirt and finding his other shoe he shot down the stairs grabbed his breakfast and lunch and bolted for the door.
"Have a great day at school honey!" Mrs. Carver called as he raced for the bus. She sighed as she closed the door after him. First day of grade 12 was off to a great start.
Jake Holling devoured his toast as he bounced his ever present soccer ball on one foot. Spying Noah racing down the street he waived and in an impressive display of skill kicked his ball into his nearby open bag while finishing the last of his breakfast.
"Man, what kept you Noah?" He received a groan in response.
"I was working on a communications watch and lost track of time. One exploded, and another fried my work lamp when it got too close." Jake gave his best friend a sympathetic grin.
"At least you didn't miss the bus."
"Yea, but now I need to get a new lamp after school." Noah received an enthusiastic pat on the back knocking him slightly off balance.
"How about I keep you company. You look like you need it. Besides… those watches sound cool." Noah smiled at his slightly taller friend.
"Thanks Jake." Anything else he might have said got swallowed in the noisy arrival of the bus. The two teenagers sighed. On to another day of school.
Troy Burrows was just finishing his morning jog when Noah and Jake arrived at school.
"Dude, did you seriously run here?" Jake asked
"It's not that far Jake." Troy grins. "Besides, Emma bikes to school; I don't see you trying to tease her." Noah chuckles
"Gia would kill him. Then let Emma use him as fertilizer."
"Nope, he wouldn't make good fertilizer for Emma's plants." All three boys jump at the sound of Gia Moran's voice. Turning they see a surprising sight. Gia in a bright yellow button up blouse and a leather skirt. Green and black feather earrings hung down to brush her shoulders. She smiles at their incredulous expressions.
"Emma is on her way. Do close your mouths; you're going to catch flies." She flounced away in a wave of peach perfume and giggles leaving her stunned friends on the school steps.
"Was that?" Jake stuttered
"mhmm." Troy nods
"Yep" comes Noah's slightly delayed response.
"Wow…" Jake follows Gia into the school in a daze. Troy and Noah look at each other and smirk before following.
"Wow is right."
"He's doomed."
"Agreed."
If Gia in a skirt caused a stir, that was nothing compared to the sight of her best friend Emma Goodall on the first day of class. Troy exited the change room, pulling on his leather jacket as he went when a commotion near Gia's locker caught his attention. Noah and Jake where waiting for him nearby and met him half way there before they stopped in surprise.
Emma strutted into the school like she owned it. Despite being covered almost completely she still stood out from her peers. Black skinny jeans and a light pink vest top where set off nicely by the dark grey shirt she wore. Her hair was pinned up with a stunning wooden clip. But what caught Troy's eye most was the bright red pendant that hung around her neck. It didn't exactly match the rest of her outfit but it still seemed to fit right in with the eclectic vibe she had going.
"Ok, Jake might not be the only one who is doomed." Jake's hey was drowned out by Noah as he took in the two girls that made up the rest of the core Megaforce Rangers.
"I think she is trying to tell you something Troy." At this Jake took a good look at Emma and noticed the pendant. His chuckle was about as subtle as an elephant. Troy looked at his friends helplessly.
"Guys…"
"Noah's right Troy." Jake nodded "she is trying to get your attention. I mean anyone can see that she picked that because it is the same color as your shirt."
"If Jake noticed everyone else will too." This time Jake's response was drowned out by Emma as she bounced over to her friends.
"Hi guys!" she chirped "want to hang out after school today? It is going to be a short day after all."
"Well, I would love to but I need to stop by the tech shop for a new work lamp. Jake is coming with me but I think Troy is free, aren't you?" the bell ringing cut off any reply he might have made.
"Sorry, I have home EC first class. See you guys later!" she vanished into the sea of students, leaving stunned teenage boys and a soft trail of vanilla in her wake.
"Thanks a lot guys." Troy grumbled as they headed to first period English. His only response was the laughter of his friends.
Deep inside Gosei's vault in the invisible island a faint hum could be heard. The tiny robot Tensou was examining a small while cube. Similar in size and design to a rubix cube, it glowed with an eerie energy. Occasionally crackling with electricity it sparked now with more frequency and force then before. Suddenly a sharp shock sparks the air and a creature that looks like it is made of clay appears.
"Finally!" it cries "after looking for 300 years and not a single peep from anywhere in the galaxy, now I have found the infinity box. The prison for some of the most powerful magic users of all time! At last I will finish what my former masters Rita and Zedd could not. Foolish Goldar turned to dust but not I, I out lasted them all! And now I will start by destroying the nearest city, then the world!"
The creature turned to the little robot cowering behind one of the nearby consoles.
"You! Call for help if you dare, I have been watching this world for years. I know there are new Power Rangers. I know they stopped and invasion, but with the Monster-Matic and the people inside this cube I will be unstoppable!" with that he vanished, taking the infinity box with him. Gosei looked down at Tensou
"We must call the rangers in again. Harwood is the closest city, if that creature manages to unlock the infinity box and release anyone from inside, the world could be doomed." The little robot nodded its eye servos up at Gosei.
"This could be bad. Very, very bad."
Buying lunch at Harwood County High was a lot like trying to pet a live tiger. The food that was safe to eat vanished quickly and those that where late often chose to not eat rather than risk themselves with the dangers of the mystery slop. Troy was one such unlucky soul, having forgotten his lunch in the rush to leave for school he was left hoping for something nontoxic, unfortunately at the sight of the line he realized that was a rapidly diminishing hope.
"Hi Troy!" he jumped at the sound of Emma's voice in his ear.
"Gah!" her giggles made him smile despite his racing heart. As he looked down at his much smaller friend his eyes are once again drawn to the bright red pendant. Looking closer he realized it was shaped like a heart. He blushed faintly and wrenched his eyes back up.
"I brought extra today, would you like some?" relief filled the red ranger and he smiled down at his friend and team mate. They worked their way through the crowd to find the other three settled at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. Jake was doing his best not to stare at Gia and Noah was rapidly filling the air with technologic chatter as he went on about the possibility of communications watches.
"Just think, easier to hide then our morphers and faster to get in touch with each other."
"Sounds great Noah! How can we help?" Troy flops down at the end of the table Emma right beside him.
"Help with what?"
"The communication watches I'm designing. Jake is coming with me after school to help me pick up a few things."
"Wait a few things? I thought you just needed a light!" Troy listened as the conversation devolved into a playful argument. Gia smiled across the table at Emma as she fed Troy some vegetarian sushi and salad.
Troy's head suddenly popped up at a familiar tone coming from each of their backpacks. Five worried teenagers looked at each other before gathering the remains of their lunch and slipping out of the cafeteria.
"Go Gosei. We're all here."
"Rangers! There has been a break in, in the vault of Magic. We need you right away!"
"We're on our way! Let's go guys!" with a flick of a button five teenagers vanish in five different colored beams of light.
Deep in the heart of Rita's old moon base, rebuilt in the last several years, a lone individual sat cackling madly!
"Now! With the power of this cube, the green wax from the first green ranger, the gold dust from Goldar, and my clay I can recreate Goldar but even better! Look out Power Rangers, Finster is back!"
The Monster-Matic hummed to life for the first time in many years. Slowly sculpting and mixing and working until a perfect likeness of Goldar with his weapon and the green rangers dagger appeared.
Setting the figure in the Monster-Matic and starting the conveyer belt the figure vanished and with a rattle the machine started working. Off to the side sat the infinity cube, sparking furiously. With another rather insane cackle Finster began working the Cubes panels furiously.
"Soon. The world will be mine soon."
"So you have been keeping a cube full of powerful witches in a vault on your island for the last three hundred years." Troy started.
"Now it's been stolen." Noah continued
"And is in the hands of a villain that was apparently destroyed by the mighty morphing Power Rangers." Jake frowned.
"exactly." Tensou stated.
"Rangers, Finster has the power of 10 of the strongest evil witches in the world. Baba Yaga, Kikimora, Greenteeth, Bell, Hecate, Morai, Gillis, Circe, Moll Dyer, and Dame Agnes. These are powerful foes but they are not your only problem. Finster has also recreated the creatures known as putties. But they are now far stronger than they were before imbued with the powers of the witches he is freeing. Finally he is in the process of rebuilding Goldar, a dreaded foe of the original Power Rangers. With all of these beings at his disposal he must be stopped before it is too late.
I am sending you to get help from the two strongest witches know today Raina Lestat and Abigail Faye. Their protector is Lance Alperen Light walker. You must convince him to allow you to see his charges for I fear you will be hopelessly outmatched if you don't."
"We're on it Gosei. But first we have to find him. Gia go home and start on research. Noah, you and Jake finish those watches as fast as possible, I think we are going to need them. Emma you're with me. We need to figure out where Finster is hiding soon, before things get out of hand."
"Right" comes the simultaneous reply. Then in five swirls of light they vanish.
"Oh boy, oh boy, this is not good. Gosei why didn't you tell them where Lance and Finster are?"
"they need to do this on their own Tensou."
"but Finster is already working on the cube. With his intelligence he will open it soon, and if the rangers aren't ready then the world is doomed!"
"they are strong Tensou, they will be fine."
"it's not only them I'm worried about."
Jake and Noah stagger home from the electronic store with an arm load of boxes. Noah punches in the code and the garage door opens in front of them. Settling their purchases onto a nearby workbench, Jake bounds over to Noah's main work desk where he is setting up the new work lamp.
"I just realized something."
"what?" comes Noah's rather distracted response.
"Gia's earrings where green and black. Do you think it means something? She did kiss me before, and we have been spending a lot more time together. Could she be hinting that she wants something more?"
"Jake, if she didn't want more she would have kicked you in the gut a long time ago. You flirt with her all the time, you constantly follow her around, buy her fro-yo whenever she wants, and generally make it obvious that you are trying to impress her. A blind man could see that you like her. It is probably just her way of showing that she likes you too. You know, without being super obvious. Like the red pendant Emma was wearing, and the whole lunch sharing thing. The girls are starting to hint that they want a little more than friendship. Now pass me the mini tools on your left and let's get to work."
Emma's phone rang as she hunted through the forest looking for traces of Finster.
"hello?" she continued searching even as she spoke.
"Emma? It's Gia. Did he say anything?"
"no, but he definitely noticed. How about Jake?"
"Jake is the most oblivious guy on the planet. I guess we need to be more obvious."
"Gia, what if he doesn't feel the same?"
"trust me. After how jealous he got over the fake wedding kiss between you and Orion I know he likes you. Just trust me. And wear the button up we found at the mall with the cute black and pink shoes. That should get his attention. "
"sure thing. How is the research coming?" Emma looked back at the spot she last saw Troy.
"Slowly. I think I found this Lance guy. He runs a small MMA school on the edge of town. I found more on our witches. Turns out each one has a specific kind of magic they are known for. Shape shifting magic, fire magic, water magic, etc. I didn't even know they were real people let alone that they were locked away. Apparently even one of these ladies is bad news. I can't imagine all of them free at once. And the fact that the putties that Finster is making have the powers of these witches? It sounds very, very bad to me." Troy stumbled out from a bush off Emma's left side frowning.
"Gia, I gotta go. I will call you later, print off everything you find."
"will do. Talk to you later. Bye."
"Bye." Emma looked up at Troy. He grimaced even farther and shook his head.
"No luck. How is Gia doing?"
"better than we are. She thinks she found this Lance guy we need to meet. He is close by. Maybe tomorrow after school we can go look." Troy nods as his phone starts ringing. He looks down at the caller id and sighs.
"it's my mom. I need to head home. I will see you tomorrow at school and we can form a plan with the rest of the group. You gonna be ok getting home?" his phone rings again as Emma nods.
"Hi mom. Sorry I'm late, I went for a walk with a friend and we lost track of time." His voice trails off as he begins to walk towards home. Emma sighs. Maybe he really just thinks of me as a friend. But Gia wouldn't lie to me. Maybe he is just shy. I don't know. I just don't know. Perhaps I should wear the shirt I found. Maybe that with my new jeans and shoes will get his attention. But is this a good time? With new monsters to fight should I really be trying to start a relationship now? She sighs again and begins the long walk home.
The almost constant beeping sound jarred Orien out of his focus on rebuilding his ship. The rattle of falling tools and Andresian curses echoed in the metal cockpit as he lunged for his morpher.
"Orion! We've been trying to get a hold of you for hours! There is a big problem!"
"What is it Troy? I'm busy." The pause one the other end of the morpher was short.
"there is a new villain getting ready to attack Harwood. We are going to need your help to stop him."
"Troy, I would love to help, but I need to finish my ship. You guys new I was going to have to leave sooner or later. Look, I will call you back when I take a break. Talk to you then." Orion hung up his morpher and headed back towards the front of his crashed ship. More beeping interrupted him before he could even get going again.
"Troy, I thought I said later."
"Orion this is Gosei. Come to the command center. I have a task for you."
"I'm on my way Gosei." A swirl of silver and all that was left was the pile of tools and some trash.
Finster's insane laughter echoed as the Monster-Matic finished Goldar. The first panel from the cube lay shattered on his work table. And standing beside him was a sickly green woman with sharp teeth.
"this is not my home. But you freed me from that wretched prison so I will help you. So long as I can go to earth to feed upon those that I drown with my magic I will be pleased to help destroy the world."
"good. Excellent. Soon you will go down and feed, just be sure to kill the Power Rangers when you do. For they are troublesome and will go out of their way to ruin everything."
"what is a Power Ranger?" Finster blinked. And then laughed some more.
"Finster…." Came a slow deep voice "I feel strange. I remember great light. And feeling as thought I was turning to dust. And now I am here. Where are Rita and Lord Zedd?"
"Gone my fine golden friend. But you are back and stronger than ever. Now we can destroy these new Power Rangers with their own power and take over the world. All will fall before us."
"you do not sound like your self Finster."
"It has been a long time. I have had years to plan this and now with the help I have, and your return, the world will tremble at our feet!"
"what is a Power Ranger?" Goldar turned to the witch beside Finster.
"A Power Ranger is a force for good and light. Though they have no magic they have other abilities that can stop many people from doing things they don't like. They can also fight very well."
Thin green lips pulled back exposing a sharp toothed smile.
"then I will eat them first."
"Gosei, what do you mean I can't leave earth. I don't belong here. I have my own planet to rebuild and my own people to find. There have to be more Andresians out there. I can't be the only one who survived." Gosei looked down at the young man pacing the floor. His eyes dimmed with sadness before glowing once more. Tensou peeked into the cave and gave an electronic sigh.
"I can help rebuild your ship." Orion looked down at the small robot
"Why didn't you say something until now! I could have used the help a long time ago!"
" Because you are still needed." Gosei Stated firmly "Now, you must seek out the first red ranger. Jason Lee Scott can help you find a way to defeat the putties that will be sent down. Start in Angel Grove. Tensou will work on your ship while you are away."
With a sigh and slumped shoulders Orion hit the teleport button on his morpher and in a swirl of silver disappeared.
"Silver Ranger doesn't want to help earth anymore. Oh boy, oh boy. I better get started on his ship. If he thinks we are forcing him to stay he might get even more angry. Gosei, why send Orion? Couldn't Troy or one of the others have gone?"
"No. they must not know yet."
"Know what Gosei?"
"That the power of the green ranger will be used against them."
"But if they don't know, how can they possibly be ready? The Zords aren't fixed yet, the power keys aren't fully charged, and their super mega mode has been used up completely."
"They need the magic of the two witches. Their power will give us the edge we need to overcome this new foe. The world must be saved. By any meant necessary. There will be more Power Ranger teams. There is only one earth."
"Gosei! How could you say that! These teenagers have given everything to saving the earth already! Other ranger teams, my tin butt! They are as much a part of the earth as the people they defend. And I'm going to tell them everything!"
"Tensou no!" but the little robot was already zipping out of the cave, and with a flash of white light he vanished. Leaving Gosei truly alone for the first time in years.
Day two of school began in a flurry of clothing for Emma. Unable to find her new shirt she settled for a white, empire waist, tea length dress covered in pink flowers. The red heart pendant hung down low and she slipped on some white spandex shorts under her skirt, just in case.
"Emma! I'm leaving, if you want a ride in you need to come down now!"
"Coming dad!" she called back. Grabbing her pink back pack and shoes she raced to the door; grabbing her lunch on the way. Her father smiled down at her.
"trying to impress some one?" he asked. Emma blushed and looked down.
"If he doesn't notice you like this, then he isn't worth your time."
"Dad! Maybe he is just shy!"
"Ahhh it's that Troy boy you were talking about. He seems nice."
"we are going to check out some self-defense classes after school today. I will be home in time for dinner. I hope." They hoped into the car and began the short ride to the school. Father and daughter chatted a bit more before he pulled up in front of the school.
Troy was waiting on the front steps for her along with a smug but very tired Noah. Both had on a new watch in their ranger color.
Emma hopped out of the car with a cheerful smile for her father.
"have a good day dad!"
"You too sweetie! Remember what I said." Emma blushed again
"Daad!" she whined. His laughter could be heard as he drove off towards another day at work.
"Emma!" Noah "what was he talking about? Nevermind. I finished them! Check this out!" in his hand was a bright pink watch.
"It's a funky watch…" Noah slumps slightly.
"It's a communication watch. It will save minutes on our cellphones, is more discrete then our morphers, and will look normal enough that people should over look them."
"OH! Cool! Good job Noah!" the pink watch was handed over. She fumbled with the clasp for a few moments before Toy stepped forward.
"Here, let me help." Emma smiled and extended her wrist to Troy. Calloused fingers brushed her skin as he clicked the clasp shut. He smiled down at her lingering with gentle touches. Noah cleared his throat and then chuckled as they jolted apart.
"time to try them out." He raised his watch and clicked the small green button. On its surface. "Jake? Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear Noah. Gia and I are in the computer lab. It's almost time for class. You guys coming or what?" Noah smiled at his to present friends.
"On our way Jake. See you soon!" he turned to find Emma half way up the stairs and another student holding the door for her. Troy was blocking the student from seeing anything, though with the way the guy watched Emma walk he wasn't noticing too much of anything.
Noah and Troy both frowned and storm up the steps.
"Eyes up dude." Noah grumbles as he goes by.
"You try to keep your eyes up when that goes by."
"Jason! There's some kid here to see you!" Jason Lee Scott sticks hid head out of the office door of his scuba shop.
"Coming Rocky!" hair wet and shirtless Jason heads to the counter. "Hey kid, if you're here for Scuba lessons I'm going to need your parents approval. If your here for martial arts the Dojang is upstairs, second door on the left. Rocky is getting ready to start classes soon so you have good timing." Orion looks around before stepping closer to the counter.
"I'm looking for a way to stop magically charged putties Red Ranger. I'm Orion, from the planet Andresia and I need your help. The power rangers need your help."
"I helped already. I helped stop the invasion." Jason shrugged and leaned in "Putties, any kind, have week points. Regular putties just have to be hit really hard and they fall apart. If you find the week point, you find a way to stop them. I don't know anything about magic though. Sorry I can't help more. I have a shop to run. Call this number if you need anything." A business card slides across the counter. Jason turns away then turns back. "some of us still have secret identities. Try to keep that in mind when you start looking for people." Orion looks down at the card then up at Jason.
"Thanks." With a shrug of silver leather he slips out of the small two story shop. Vanishing as suddenly as he appeared.
Greenteeth sat by the pond in Harwood Park. Her robes covering her so her skin wouldn't attract attention. Still people stared as they went by. Bushy brown hair seemed alive as the wind played through it. Still she sat; waiting for her prey to arrive. And arrive they did. Emma and Gia strolled through the park, waiting for the boys, chatting as they went.
"Troy seemed distracted today."
"it was probably the kid that was checking you out as you went inside."
"he was coming too close, if he saw what was going on all of Noah's hard work in making something that blends in would be wasted in his blabbering. I figured if I headed up and distracted him, he wouldn't notice Jakes voice coming out of thin air."
"still Emma, maybe you shouldn't have flirted with him."
"I didn't. I just smiled and said thank you."
Greenteeth scoffed softly. These young adults are so easily distracted by talk of their loved ones. They should be married already. That would solve all these relationship problems. However it makes them easy targets. With a swirl of her robe and a rush of water she began her plan to remove the problem of the power rangers. Starting with the females.
"help!" she cried as she rolled in the shallows of the ponds edge. "I have slipped and can't get up!" Emma and Gia raced over. Each reaching out a hand to help her up. Water splashed up at them. And then formed ropes that pulled them in too. Both girls wound up in water up to their chest bound in ropes that flowed all over their bodies. Surprised cries where pulled out of the yellow and pink rangers. With a cackle Greenteeth stood from the shallows towering over the now helpless girls.
"too easy." She laughed "you are older than my preferred meal but you will do for now. First, I will take you to Finster. Then with his permission, I will devour you. First your energy, and life force, then your empty husks. Ahahahaha!"
"stop witch!" Troy, Noah and Jake raced over.
"your too late boys. But try to find us. Please. It will be my pleasure to eat you too! Putties, give them something to think about!" the water swirled and in a flash of light, all three vanished. Now surrounded by putties and raging whips of water the three boys stood back to back.
"It's morphing time!" Troy called. The other two nodded and pulled out their morphers.
"Go, Go Megaforce!" the putties hesitated for a moment. And then there stood three power rangers. Weapons in hand they began systematically pounding the putties. But whenever they got close to landing a good hit, they were wacked back by strong whips of water. Finally Troy got in a lucky strike, taking the head clean off a nearby putty with his sword. Queasy with the sight of the pile of clay now laying at his feet he called out to the others.
"If we hit them hard enough, they revert back to clay! Let's get them guys!" Noah and Jake both signal an affirmative and begin to fight in earnest. Troy spent one moment longer looking down and gets hit across the back of the head for his troubles. The putty behind him reached out and water formed a sword in its hand. It was then that Troy realized that this was going to be easier said than done.
Up in the old moon base, Greenteeth watched the scrying bowl with interest. Emma and Gia knelt on the cold stone floor behind her bound wrist to ankle, shivering. Unlike the witch both girls where still wet. And with ropes of water covering them, that wasn't going to change anytime soon.
"Where are we?" Gia snarls at Greenteeth. "Who are you? Why do you want us so badly?"
"Shut up girl! This is interesting. These boys appear to be holding their own against my putty sect. perhaps they will be more useful than I thought…"
"Leave them alone!"
"Hush pink. I wonder if they would trade themselves for you two. Then I can keep them as my slaves. Draining their powers and life force, and torturing them whenever I get bored." The girls looked at each other, horrified at the potential fate of their friends.
"You will never get away with this!"
"Never is a long time blondie. I have been locked away in the infinity box for a long time. Now that I am free do you really think I will willingly give this up?" Finster chose that moment to walk in with the much larger Golder.
"Ahh. Greenteeth, I see you have had some success. Good work. Please allow Goldar to play with them for a little while before you torture and eat them. He will insure they are nice and tender for you."
"Oh please." Gia scoffed. "That shiny feathered turkey doesn't scare us."
"Gia, he has the Green Ranger's dagger… and those are not the wings he is supposed to have..."
"Clever pink ranger, but it will not save you. Greenteeth, release them!"
"Here gold one. Do not presume to give me orders. My allegiance is to Finster. Not to you." The ropes fell away and the two rangers shot to their feet. Only to stumble as the cold and wet seeped into their skin even more.
"Ha! Weak in the knees already? Or are you giving up already? You cannot defeat me! I am 100 times more powerful than before! Come at me little rangers and know your end."
"Give us back our morphers and I will show you who's weak."
"Come get them, if you dare." Putties jumped in and grabbed Emma. Keeping her form helping her friend. With that, Gia struck and the fight was on.
An hour had passed and Troy was getting more and more worried.
"Guys, the girls are gone. We are going to need help looking for them."
"I have an idea." Troy and Jake looked at Noah "we call the cops."
"Whoa! What kind of idea is that?"
"Think about it. If we say we got mugged and that the girls got dragged off, it will explain all our injuries, any injuries Emma and Gia get, and, when you think about it, isn't that far from the truth."
"And what will the girls say when they find out that we told the police?" questions Jake
"They will probably go along with it to keep their parents from getting suspicious. Besides we look beat up enough that it is rather believable. "
Troy and Jake paused and then nodded in agreement.
"Make the call Noah. And make it good." Noah nodded and pulled out his cellphone.
"Hello? I need the police! My friends and I got attacked in the park! And now we can't find two of them! Please, we need help."
Troy and Jake watched as Noah expertly dealt with the police. Less than 10 minutes later they were describing Emma and Gia to a large group of people, all who had gathered to help them search the park and surrounding forest for their missing friends. All three refused medical treatment until their friends had been found. With pictures at the ready each team heads to their assigned area and the search begins.
Up on the moon Gia was losing her fight. Badly. And she was definitely regretting calling Goldar a turkey. At this point several hours later, Goldar didn't even need his weapons to rain his punishment down on her. Every strike she landed felt like hitting a brick wall. And each hit he caught her with sent her several feet back. Emma was forced to watch, Horrified as Goldar used his own brand of torture on her best friend.
"How is that yellow ranger, at least your predecessors showed some respect."
Then Emma saw them. Their morphers where handing from his belt. With a sudden and rather vicious attack Emma managed to free herself from the putties holding her prisoner and she lunged in between Gia and Goldar. Her movement came not a moment too soon as she blocked a blow that would have done serious damage to Gia's shoulder. Her wrists protested and the downward force sent her to her knees.
"Stop please. She has had enough!" Goldar grabbed Emma around the neck and tossed her aside.
"You don't get to decide that pink ranger. I will stop when I have had enough!"
Emma rolled to her feet. This time she moved for the morphers. Goldar had shifted his focus back to Gia and her fingers just brushed one when the putties launched themselves at her. Goldar turned back to Emma once more. This time his massive clawed hand struck her twice. Once right across the face and again in the chest. But it was all the distraction Gia needed. Grabbing the Green Ranger dagger she lunged at Goldars' unprotected back. Catching his arm with the blade she dragged it straight down opening a long gash. The bloody dagger fell to the floor as Greenteeth moved to retake her prizes. The water ropes extended once more, but this time Gia actually managed to grab her morpher and roll away. Emma lunged for her and they teleported away in a swirl of light. Greenteeth scoffed at Goldar.
"Some leader you are, gold one. Injured by two weak little girls."
"Your interference cost me my vengeance witch."
"Your foolishness cost me my lunch monkey. Now I must return to earth to retake what is mine. I will take this with me. With this, they will come to me. Had you simply allowed me to eat them, none of this would have happened!" Greenteeth snatched Emma's morpher from Goldar and with some fast motions, vanished.
Over burdened by transporting two people instead of one the teleporter dumped both girls back into the pond. The sun was setting and a quick glance at the funky communication watch that Noah had made told the girls that it was almost 9 at night. They had been gone for more than 5 hours. Voices, calling their names could be heard echoing through the park. Three in particular sounded very familiar.
"Troy! Jake! Noah!" a pile of lights whipped in the direction of the pond and running feet could be heard. The three boys broke the tree line first. Followed closely by two police officers. Troy was in the water before anyone could stop him, easily lifting first Emma then Gia out to Noah and Jake. Jake, after seeing the stated of the girls, was out of his hoodie and offering it to Gia. Troy's jacket was already around Emma's shoulders. It was Noah who spoke, quickly and quietly, of the plan to cover their absence. The Officers held back a bit to give them some semblance of privacy as well as calling the search teams came out of the forest.
"We called the cops. We had to. The story from our end was that we got to the park late and saw you two being swarmed. We were attacked trying to help you. You were dragged off into the forest. That is all we saw. You two will have to explain the rest." Emma spoke up loud enough for the Police to hear.
"It wasn't your fault. You guys did all you could. I don't blame you and I'm sure Gia feels the same." Jake easily slid into the conversation.
"It wasn't enough. We should have been on time. Should have been faster. Seeing you girls get dragged off was the worst moment of my life." His voice rang with honesty.
Gia wrapped her arms around him.
"It's over now Jake. We are safe." She murmured in his ear "Thank you. For coming to find us." The taller of the two officers stepped into the conversation then
"Now that we have found you how about we move this to some place warmer. Let's get you checked out. All five of you." Gia and Emma both looked more closely at the boys, realizing that even in the waning light they were obviously more than a little worse for wear.
"Let's go boys. March. If you look this bad in low light it must be at least twice as bad."
The officers snorted softly.
"Try three times as bad. These boys have been through the ringer trying to help you. And they refused medical treatment until we found you two." Gia and Emma looked shocked
"Why would they do that?"
"I had to know you were safe. Being that helpless, I had to try to find you as soon as possible." Troy looked down at the tiny brunet in his arms. Gia softened her looks towards Jake and Noah. Before anything else could be said three parents burst from the trees. Pulling Emma from Troy's arms and Gia from Jake's, their parents where suddenly there and where talking over one another trying to find out what happened.
"Mom! Mom pleases." Gia Cried. "That hurts!" all three parents jumped back as though shocked. Looking over the two girls, even wrapped up as they were, it was obvious that they had been hurt quite badly.
"Let's get you checked out." Ms. Moran bustled the two into a nearby squad car. "These nice officers can ask you questions when you are dry and looked after." Emma looked over her leather draped shoulder at Troy.
"See you at the hospital." She called over her shoulder. The officers looked and chuckled slightly at the now blushing red ranger.
"Let's go, if we hurry we can probably get you into a room close by. Before we go, I will say this; those girls did not deserve what happened to them. If I find out you planed this so you could be heroes, I will arrest the three of you so fast your heads will spin." They looked at each other and nodded.
"We understand."
Greenteeth heard people tromping around outside the cave she called her new home. Slowly creeping forward, she reached the edge of her cave. A hiker wandered in close, and, far too hungry to care, Greenteeth struck. She dragged him away from the nearby hiking trail and subdued him with her water ropes. Placing one hand over his nose and mouth so he couldn't breathe properly she then bit his neck. Feeling him panic as she began to suck out his life energy. His thundering heart beat and obvious fear brought her joy as she slowly ate his energy. Soon his struggles subsided and she finished her meal in peace.
"Humph" she huffed out loud. "Too old but still tasty." Dragging his lifeless body to the river she dumped him in and watched in satisfaction as it floated away.
Greeenteeth returned to her cave and finished the covering for the entrance. So distracted by this she almost forgot about Emma's morpher. Then it beeped causing her to jump, and spin around trying to find the sound. Shrugging she picked it up and began to plot her next move. The remainder of her puttie sect stood in the back of the cave, out of sight. Thinking of them caused her to remember the boys, fighting to protect their friends. Perhaps the putties would make good bait. Draw these little defenders of earth out into the open. And once they are present? Then the fun can begin. Greenteeth smiled evilly, as she began to plan her next move. Stronger magic was going to be required, and that takes time.
All five teenagers needed to spend the night in the hospital. None of them where happy about that fact. But once they had been checked up on, cleaned up, stitched up, and bandaged they all snuck into Gia and Emma's room and settled in to talk about what had actually happened. After talking about what had happened in the park Troy turned to Gia.
"Gia, you fought Goldar?"
"I did. That is not an experience I would like to repeat any time soon. It's like fighting something made of bricks and metal. If Emma hadn't broken free when she did, I probably wouldn't be here right now. And we lost Emma's morpher. Goldar still has it. Unless Greenteeth took it."
"I took three hit from him and got two sprained wrists, a cracked rib and a lot of scratches and bruises." Troy nodded seriously, the bruises on her neck weighed heavily on him.
"Has anyone heard from Orion yet? I tried to call him earlier and he just got annoyed at me for interrupting his ship fixing time. Not only that but will all of us here he is alone and rather vulnerable right now." Everyone shook their heads. The morphers picked that moment to beep.
"Guys, its Orion. The putties are vulnerable to strong physical attacks. At least that's what the first red ranger says."
"Yea, we guessed." Jake snarled
"How did you know? I got back from Angel Grove a few hours ago. I've been working on my ship for the past couple hours before I remembered to call and tell you."
"We were attacked in the park several hours ago. We got a crash course in puttie fighting." Troy told Orion through the morpher. Silence was his answer for a few moments.
"Is everyone ok?"
"Not really. We should be up and about soon though." The pause was even longer this time.
"I'm sorry, Gosei never called me about an attack. If I had known I would have been there." The rangers all frowned at the news.
"Call Tensou, he will know what's up."
"He is here at my ship; I will talk with him and get back to you." With that Orion signed off and silence reigned in the small hospital room. Finally Noah broke the silence
"Gosei didn't call him?"
"I don't get it either. But there has to be a reason" at Troy's words all five settled down into their own thoughts. Slowly sleep came over them, and piled together on the two hospital beds they finally slept. That was how a rather frantic nurse found them at 6 the next morning.
Emma's father was waiting for her with a bag of comfortable clothing and a smile.
"Emma, what's this I hear about you sleeping with a boy?" he asked as she went to get changed.
"Dad!" Emma yelled from the bathroom. He laughed.
"So, after having a five person sleep over with you best friends what is there to report?"
Emma Chuckled as she followed him to the car.
"Well Gia still snores. So does Troy as it turns out. Noah likes to snuggle in his sleep and Jake takes up more room then all of us combined. Other than that? Nothing happened. I was warm and safe with the boys surrounding Gia and I. Oh! And Gia and I made plans to go sign up for self-defense classes. I think the guys are coming too. There is this really cool place nearby that offers a variety of martial arts and self-defense classes."
"Well you have my blessing, and the use of the car to get there."
"Thanks dad, but Gia is driving. Her mom got her a car as a surprise gift for her 18th birthday. She is getting it early because apparently the award for most panicked parent goes to Gia's mom and self-defense classes are now a must."
"Well I don't know about that but I do know I'm glad you won't be biking around for a while. And you promise to take someone with you when you go back into the forest?"
"Yes dad."
"Good, because someone else went missing yesterday. Their body was found in the river this morning." Emma went very pale.