Kendall wasn't sure what the plan was from here on out. Prince Phillip seemed insistent on keeping the gold energem in his possession. While that wouldn't have been much of a problem if he had bonded with it, the fact that he hadn't meant he and the energem were both in danger. The Prince would have no way of defending it or himself if Fury or Sledge were to show up.
The ride to the airport was rather quiet. Prince Phillip didn't seem to be in the mood to talk, and Kendall was still trying to come up with a way to convince him to hand over the energem. But, eventually, the Prince did break the silence. He looked up from the energem, making eye contact with Kendall through the rear-view mirror.
"This... Power Ranger stuff," he started. "What exactly does it entail?"
Not screaming in terror when a monster demands one of the most precious gems in the universe.
"Defending the planet," Kendall answered. "Tracking down the remaining energems and the people they've chosen to bond with. Ensuring the energems stay out of the monster's hands."
"So, hero work?"
"I guess you can call it hero work," Kendall said. "Though we're just doing what needs to be done. Our energems chose us for a reason."
"So, you've got your own as well?"
Kendall shook her head with a little sigh, "No. I don't have one."
"So, you have no powers to speak of?"
"I create the Rangers' weapons," she explained. "I build the chargers, the armour..."
"So, there's no real bravery there?" the Prince chuckled. "You hide in that base of yours and let the others do the real work?"
"I feel the need to remind you that if I hadn't shown up..."
"You played a trick on the monster," the Prince interrupted her. "My jester could do that, and he knows nothing of these energems or whatever they're called."
"Your jester?" Kendall wanted to slam the breaks and smash the Prince's head into the seat before him, but resisted the temptation. Instead, she thought of Shelby's point about royalty when she had to play the part of the princess. It seemed she had been onto something with her comments.
"If the others already have their own energem, and you're just... well, I don't know what you do, then why should I give this energem to you? What makes you worthy of the Stone of Zandar?"
I think it says a lot about me that I'm not turning around to punch you in the face right now.
"I have the means to protect it. I may not have powers like the others, but..."
"I have great power. As Prince, I've got a fleet of guards, ready to do anything it takes to defend me and my kingdom. This energem belongs to that kingdom. It will be safer in my hands."
Prince Phillip turned to look out the window, confident with his decision to keep the energem. Once he returned home with his guards, he had no reason to believe any harm would come to him or the energem. It wasn't long before he was proven wrong, as the truck came to a sudden stop and the Prince found himself being thrown into the seat before him. The padding softened the blow, leaving him only slightly shaken, but when he looked to the front seat he could already see the danger hadn't passed. The car hadn't just crashed. Fury, the monster from before, had shown himself, stopping the vehicle and ripping Kendall from her seat.
"The energem you gave me was yellow!" Fury shouted, firing just a blast of energy Kendall's way. She rolled to the side, avoiding trouble, but the Prince got a good look at what would have happened to her when he saw the ground she had been laying on blow up. He felt the energem in his pocket and knew that was what the monster was looking for.
"Close enough, right?" Kendall asked, getting to her feet. "Yellow, gold, it's practically the same when it glows."
"Perhaps I'd forgive you if it truly was the yellow energem," Fury shouted, throwing another blast of energy her way. "But the energem's a fake! You've been fooling me this whole time! I warned you, scientist!"
The Prince watched the scene from the back seat of the truck. He thought about leaving while the monster was distracted with Kendall, but feared if he stepped outside, he would be the target. He did have the energem on his person, and he had every intention of keeping it.
Suddenly, the truck shook. The Prince jumped and looked out the window again only to find the monster had thrown Kendall into the truck and was preparing to blast her. Seeing he was in the line of fire, the Prince opened the door and rushed out.
"You," Fury growled, seeing the Prince taking off and felt the power of the energem go with him. But when he tried to run after the Prince, Kendall kicked him in the back.
"I have had enough of you!" Fury roared as he turned around, grabbing Kendall and wrapping his arm around her neck. Then he shot at the Prince, hitting the ground right at his feet, causing him to trip up. Fury created another ball of energy and held it up. "You!" he called to the Prince. "Hand over the energem now or I will kill your scientist!"
The Prince reached into his pocket. Kendall shook her head.
"Don't do it!"
"Silence!"
Prince Phillip examined the energem, then looked to Fury and Kendall.
"She's not my scientist," he said before getting to his feet to run the other way. Kendall's eyes widened. She didn't want to be traded for the energem, but she at least expected the Prince to struggle over the decision. He seemed not to care that her life was in danger, as long as he continued to hold onto the energem.
"I'll deal with him later," Fury threw Kendall to the ground and lifted his hand, preparing his attack. However, before he could finish her off, the blue Ranger jumped him, taking him to the ground with a powerful tackle.
"No hurt Kendall," he growled before angrily facing off against Fury. Kendall got to her feet and rushed to the other Rangers, glad to see they had made it in time, but worried over their injuries. She had only just finished tending to them and insisting they take time to rest. Now, they were up against Fury again.
"We'll be fine," Chase assured her, seeing the worried look in her eyes. "We've got our energems. You just get the gold one back from that Prince."
"We'll keep Fury busy," Tyler said.
"Stay safe," Kendall told them just before running off after the Prince.