Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce or Dino Charge. This story is fan-made.
Gia was in her kitchen, preparing three different meals for dinner while also trying to keep an eye on the two kids, Tiger, and the TV. To say multitasking was necessary was a mother was to state the obvious.
It was her night to look after the kids. While Ciara was her responsibility full time, she and Jake had set up an arrangement with Jordan and Emma that would offer both couples two assured date nights a month, as well as quality time with the babies. Every Friday, one of the couples would look after Ciara and Joe, as well as Tiger, for the night so the other couple could get a well deserved rest.
This Friday, it was Gia and Jake's turn to look after the babies. But since the soccer season had started, Jake was on the road and currently out of state. It meant Gia was on her own taking care of the two kids and her cat. Not that she minded – but it did mean she had a lot more to juggle.
As she warmed up the milk for Ciara and Joe, she poured a handful of cereal each on their high chairs for them to snack on. It would keep them busy until their bottles were ready and allowed Gia to focus on cooking her own meal. As for Tiger, the big cat was going to have to wait a little longer to eat. Because she preferred her meat raw, and Gia worried about cross contamination with the kids, she always prepared their meals before getting started on Tiger's. She had made herself sick once trying to juggle all three meals at a single time. She couldn't imagine inflicting that pain on the babies.
Finally, though, the bottles were warmed. Gia poured some milk in a sippy cup for Joe. It was spill proof and he knew how to drink on his own. And if he choose to throw the cup around until Gia could get around to helping him, at least she wouldn't have a big mess to clean up. For Ciara, she poured the rest of the milk in a regular bottle, took the girl from her high chair, sat her on her lap, and fed Ciara while she ate her own meal.
Suddenly, Gia heard a growl, and glanced away from the TV to see what had cause Tiger to whine. She saw Joe's cup next to the big cat and sighed.
"Seriously?" she looked to her nephew. "Do you have to hit her every time?"
Gia put her fork down, held onto her daughter, and got up to grab the cup. As she handed it back to Joe, she looked him in the eyes, "No hurting the cat, got it?"
Joe laughed and dropped his cup on the floor. Gia sighed, shifted Ciara in her arm to hold her up and keep the bottle near her mouth, grabbed Joe's cup and stuck it in his mouth for him.
"There you go," she said when he started drinking. "See, that's how you use a cup."
While Gia wasn't looking, Tiger reached up and started eating off her plate. Once Ciara was finished drinking, and Joe got the message that he was supposed to drink from his cup, not throw it, Gia turned back to her meal, only to find it gone.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" she frowned at the cat. "I've got a steak in the fridge for you! All you had to do was wait until I was done!"
Tiger burped. Gia sighed. She finished feeding the kids, set them in their playpen in the living room and then started to clean up the kitchen. As she wiped down the high chairs, she heard the news come on TV. The story featured the Rangers, as it always did, and their latest battle to protect Amber Beach from aliens. Gia rolled her eyes.
She supported the new Rangers. She knew firsthand what it was like to have the weight of the world on her shoulders and so knew the job was a tough one. Not to mention, the appearance of the new team turned public opinion of the Rangers back into a favourable one. Now that the danger was back, and there was a threat to all of humanity, people who had once been against the Rangers were now praising the efforts. Gia recognized a lot of people who had threatened her after her identity had been revealed, and heard them now claiming the Rangers were the best thing to ever happen to humanity.
They weren't wrong, though Gia would admit to being a little bias. Yet, despite all the good that came from having a new team able to fend off evil, new Rangers meant new danger. It seemed the Armada wasn't the last threat to the Earth. It made Gia a little uneasy, which was why she still kept her Super Megaforce morpher handy. She had a new pocket on her belt designed specifically to fit it in. Amber Beach wasn't too far from Harwood County, so there was a possibility of the aliens stepping foot in her city, getting near her family and especially her daughter and nephew. Gia wanted to be prepared, just in case.
Once she finished cleaning in the kitchen, she heard a knock on the door. She had no idea who it could be. Jordan and Emma always just let themselves in. Even when the door was locked, which it often was, they both had a key. Jake often lost his key, but he was supposed to be out of State for another couple of weeks. Rebecca, usually let herself in with the key she shared with Troy, and when she didn't have it, her knock would be the beat of her latest favourite song. When Troy came by, he usually brought Ryan so she could play with the babies. If they needed to knock, Ryan's little pounding wouldn't stop until the door opened.
Noah always knocked four times and Orion would ring the bell twice. In a way, all the variations of specific knocks were another form of security. Gia would always know who was at the door, and if she couldn't tell, it was likely a stranger. She glanced to Tiger as she walked to the front of the house, and the cat set herself between the door and the babies – just in case.
Gia opened the door, ready to cautiously greet whoever it was, but found no one on her porch. She stepped out, glanced over to Jordan and Emma's side of the house, but still, no one was there.
Then she heard a noise from the back of the house.
"Tiger," she said. "Guard."
This was serious. Tiger instinctually protected the babies, but when Gia gave a command, it meant she sensed danger. Tiger could hear and smell something odd lurking around, but given they were living in a city under development, there were often weird sounds and strange smells.
Gia shut the front door and rushed to the back of the house. She looked through the glass door to see if there was anyone in the backyard. No one was there, but Tiger's ball wasn't where the cat left it. In fact, it was slowly rolling, as if it had just been pushed or nudged. Gia stepped away from the back door and moved to the living room. She scooped Joe and Ciara out from the playpen.
"We're going to play upstairs," she told them. She gathered Joe's bear and Ciara's blanket and walked to the stairs. "Tiger, get the gun."
Tiger cat obeyed, rushing to the front of the house where Gia had dumped her uniform. She grabbed the belt in her mouth and carried it up the stairs, where Gia had taken the kids into Ciara's room. She set the kids in the crib before taking her gun out of the holster.
"Don't bring it home," Gia rolled her eyes as she imitated Jordan's warning to her. "It should stay at work, locked up, so no one can use it against you."
She unlocked the safety and looked down at her cat, "Who's right now?"
Just then, Gia heard a noise from downstairs. Tiger heard it too and started to growl. She walked towards the door, but Gia shook her head.
"Stay here, watch the kids," she told the cat. "Don't leave their side, got it?"
Tiger didn't seem sure. She had a really bad feeling about whoever – or whatever – was downstairs. But Gia gave her a look.
"I'm serious," she said, then reached to her belt and grabbed her morpher. "Protect them, Tiger. Don't leave them for a second."
Tiger gave Gia a little nod then went to sit in front of the crib. Gia took in a deep breath before stepping out of the room. She closed the door behind her, hoping that if someone did get past her, the door would discourage entry. She knew it wasn't likely, but it was better than leaving the kids completely exposed.
Very quietly, she walked down the hall, back to the stairs. Tiger had taught her how to move without making much noise. It was one of the benefits of having a stealthy predator for a pet. When Gia reached the stairs, she heard an irritating shriek.
"Well, keep looking!" whoever was downstairs said. "I picked up on a strong energy here and we're going to find it!"
"Strong energy?" Gia frowned, then looked down at her morpher in her hand. "They couldn't be..."
She stepped down a couple stairs and glanced into the living room. There, she saw a... she wasn't sure what exactly. She had seen this alien on TV a couple of times, and had argued about her description with Jordan. He claimed she was a love-monster, due to her heart shaped features, as well as the massive heart sticking out from her chest. Gia claimed it was Emma in alien form; dangerous masked by a sweet, caring appearance.
"What's alien Emma doing here?" Gia whispered to herself. Gia was about to sneak down a little closer, hoping to see what was going on before she jumped in, when suddenly she heard Joe crying upstairs and suddenly, the alien turned to her.
"There!" she called out and Gia rushed down the stairs, dropping her gun in favour of her morpher. She was just about to morph when, from behind, someone grabbed her. She looked down and recognized the arms of the latest foot soldiers. The heart shaped alien had not come alone.
"Viviks," Gia muttered and remembered hearing the newest team calling them that on TV once. She tried to pull away from the one holding her, but another joined in and grabbed her arm. Suddenly, more started to pile on, grabbing an arm or a leg or whatever they could get a hold of in order to keep Gia still.
"Fuck," Gia muttered and glared at the heart-shaped alien. "Any chance we can talk this out?"
"Sure," she nodded, then snatched Gia's morpher from her hand. "I'll take this!"
"I said talk, not take!"
"You're one of those Rangers," the alien said. "The ones keeping my Sledgeums from getting all the energems."
"Uh, wrong team," Gia shook her head. "See, you're thinking about the dinosaurs. You know, the ones with the T-Rex or the raptor looking costumes. I'm a pirate."
"Is there a difference?" the alien asked.
"Let me morph, and I'll show you," Gia said.
"I don't need to see you morph," the alien said. "See, my Sledey-poo has been searching for millions and millions of years for ten energems. They come in different colours."
"Yeah, I guess, if they create Rangers, they'd have to," Gia shrugged.
"I've been waiting forever to get married to my beloved Sledgey-wedgie. This mission is taking way too long, so I thought, I'd help out."
"Okay, this Sledgey-wedgie-poo-ums guy, does he look anything like you? Because by the sounds of it, you're the scary one, and I'm not really all that scared of hearts?"
"Sledgey-kins is the most powerful bounty hunter in all the galaxies!" the alien cried out and stomped her feet. "And you're lucky to only be dealing with me! I might let you live!"
"I don't have or know what an energem is," Gia insisted. "Look, I'm a pirate. Sure, they're known to search for precious gems, but keys are more our things. Whatever you're looking for, you're in the wrong place. Give me back my morpher and I'll show you!"
"There's a high energy reading coming from this location!" the alien shouted. She held up Gia's morpher. "It's coming from this device! This energy registers as a new colour. One that the Rangers currently don't possess. If it's not an energem, what is it?"
"Give me my morpher and I'll show you!" Gia demanded. The alien looked down at the morpher, then over to Gia.
"Viviks, let her go," she commanded. Gia felt the Viviks release her arms and legs and then saw the alien holding out her morpher. She couldn't believe that had actually worked. She took her morpher back, morphed quickly, then charged the monster.
"Get out of my house!" she shouted and grabbed her blaster to fire at the alien. She struck her, in the heart, and sent her flying into the wall. As the alien took some time to get back to her feet, the Viviks once again surrounded Gia.
"I wish I had more keys," Gia muttered. She grabbed her sabre and struck down the Viviks in arm's reach, before shooting at the ones trying to get in closer. Just like X-Borgs, they feel quickly, but there were lots of them. Gia didn't let up. With her daughter, her nephew and her cub hiding out upstairs, she couldn't afford to lose this fight. But once the alien was back on her feet, Gia realized she was in trouble. The alien charged through the Viviks, taking them out as she made her way to Gia. The yellow Ranger tried firing at the monster, then slashing with her sabre, but nothing stopped her. Next thing Gia knew, she was sent flying through the front window and was out on her lawn. She looked up, shaking the cobwebs, and saw the alien coming for her again.
"Like Emma on steroids," she muttered and rolled out of the way as the alien kicked at her.
"I will get that energem, Ranger!" the alien shouted. Gia jumped up to her feet but was knocked backwards again by another blast. She was sent out to the street, where she landed on hers and Jordan's cruiser, where she was blasted again.
The cruiser blew up. Gia felt the heat and the force through the suit. It shot her high up in the air, where she powered down, before she started to fall. Gia braced herself for impact. She hit the ground hard.
"Poisandra always gets what she wants," the alien said cheerfully as she skipped over to Gia. She picked up the fallen morpher an investigated it again. "I guess I'll let Sledgey-pie decide if this is worth keeping or not."
Poisandra then looked down at Gia, "Hmm, as for you..."
Poisandra suddenly felt something hit her arm, and cried out painfully before she looked up. She saw the Dino Rangers rushing towards her and new her luck had run out.
"Later, losers!" she called out and disappeared before the Rangers could arrive.