Chapter 7: Dante's Inferno
Lightning lit up the sky in Angel Grove last at night. Dante was lying in his bed sleeping as he began sweating. Dante then opened his eyes and began looking around in confusion.
"Where am I?" Dante said in confusion.
Dante looked over and saw a jeep parked in the snow. Dante then began hugging himself as he began shivering.
"It's so cold out here," Dante said to himself as he walked over to the jeep.
Dante then looked through the window of the backdoor and saw a drawing in the seat.
"No, not again," Dante said in horror as he backed away from the jeep.
"Dante slow down!" Someone shouted from the cave nearby.
A little boy then ran out of the cave laughing as he ran towards the jeep.
"That's me," Dante said to himself.
Dante then looked over and saw a woman walk out of the cave.
"Mom," Dante said as his mother walked by him.
"What's taking daddy so long mamma?" Dante asked his mother.
"He'll be out soon," Dante's mother said to him as she smiled.
A man was then heard screaming in the cave.
"Nico!" Dante's mother shouted as she began running towards the cave.
"Mamma, what's happening?" Dante said in confusion as he chased his mother into the cave.
"No, why does this keep happening?" Dante said in confusion as he fell to his knees holding his head.
A woman was then heard screaming in the cave.
"Mamma!" Dante shouted as he rose back to his feet.
Dante then saw his younger self come running out of the cave crying. A hooded being then walked out of the cave holding an axe in his hand.
"Hand over that gem boy," The mysterious being said to Dante with a nasally voice.
"No!" Dante shouted as he kept running. "This is my mammas!"
"Don't make me hurt you!" The person shouted as he threw his axe towards Dante.
The axe then stabbed into a tree near Dante as he ran by it.
"Leave me alone!" Dante shouted in horror as he continued running.
Dante then tumbled down a snowy hill and stopped next to a road as a car pulled up.
"Kid, are you okay?" A teenaged boy asked Dante.
"Help me!" Dante said in horror as he ran over to the car.
"What's going on?" A girl inside the car asked her boyfriend.
"What's wrong?" The boy asked Dante.
"Someone killed my parents," Dante said to the boy as his eyes began watering.
"Where?" The boy asked Dante.
"No, we can't go back there," Dante said to the boy. "Mamma told me to run,"
"Okay, we'll take you to the authorities," The boy told Dante.
Dante then quickly got into the car with the boy.
"What're you doing?" The girl asked her boyfriend.
"I can't leave a little kid out here in the snow," The boy said to his girlfriend.
Dante then looked up at the hill as the car drove off and saw the hooded being.
Dante then quickly opened his eyes and leaned up out of bed.
"Stop!" Dante shouted in anger as he grabbed his head.
"What's going on in here?" A woman said in confusion as she opened the door.
The woman then saw Dante huddled up in his bed frightened.
"It happened again Aunt Brooke," Dante said to his Aunt.
"This is the third time this month that you've had this nightmare," Aunt Brooke said to Dante.
Dante then looked over at his Energem lying on his dresser.
"Now get ready for school," Aunt Brooke said to Dante. "Today's the day they open back up,"
Dante pulled the cover off of himself and got out of bed. He then walked over to the mirror and looked at himself in it.
"Will this ever stop?" Dante asked himself.
Sledge and Wrench were walking through the prison block of the ship looking at the prisoners.
"Wrench, help me decide on who to send after the Rangers next," Sledge said to Wrench.
"Um, how about him," Wrench said to Sledge as he pointed at a monster in the cell.
"My name is Spellbinder," Spellbinder said to Sledge. "I can use my dark magic to take control over any one's mind,"
"By anyone, does that include a Ranger?" Sledge asked Spellbinder.
"Of course," Spellbinder said to Sledge as the cell opened.
Spellbinder then stepped out of the cell and followed Sledge and Wrench into another room.
"Spellbinder, the moment you see a Ranger, I want you to take control of them," Sledge said to Spellbinder. "I want those Rangers to tear each other apart,"
"I will do my best sir," Spellbinder said to Sledge as he stepped into a ship.
Sledge then hit a button on the wall and launched the ship.
"There he goes," Wrench said to Sledge as he watched the ship fall towards Earth.
"Hopefully he comes through, or else I'm not going to be in a good mood," Sledge said to Wrench as he walked away.
"You're never in a good mood," Wrench said to himself as he followed Sledge.
Dante was walking down the street by himself with his backpack slung over his shoulder. Dante then grabbed the gem hanging on his necklace and sighed in depression.
"This Energem was found by my father," Dante said to himself. "And he gave it to mom when they first met,"
Dante then stopped at a bus stop and sat down on the bench.
"Then she gave it to me before she died," Dante said as his eyes began watering.
A school bus then pulled up in front of Dante.
"Maybe I can get this off my mind at school," Dante said as he got up and boarded the bus.
Dante sat down in a seat by himself and laid his head against the window.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked Dante as she leaned over the seat.
"Sit down!" Dante said to Sam in embarrassment.
"Sorry," Sam said as she sat back down. "You just don't seem like yourself today,"
"Everyone has a day where they act like that," Dante told Sam.
Sam then walked around the seat and sat down by Dante.
"Come on, what's the problem?" Sam asked Dante.
"That's none of your business," Dante said to Sam as he looked out the window as the bus began moving.
Sam then sighed.
"I know what's wrong with you," Sam said to Dante. "I've felt this way before,"
"You have?" Dante said in confusion.
"I hardly knew my mother," Sam told Dante. "She died when I was still a baby,"
"I'm sorry," Dante said to Sam as he saw that her eyes began watering.
"What happened to your mother?" Sam asked Dante.
"My parents were murdered on an expedition in Canada," Dante told Sam. "I was with them when it happened,"
"That's awful," Sam told Dante. "How did you get away?"
"This guy and his girlfriend luckily pulled up when I was running away from the murderer and they took me to the police," Dante told Sam as he placed his hand over the Energem.
"Well, you have me and the others by your side now," Sam said to Dante as she smiled.
"Yeah, I know that, but I can't handle the nightmares," Dante told Sam.
"Nightmares happen, but they're not real," Sam said to Dante.
"Ever since I met Alan and Keeper, I've thought about the one who killed my parents," Dante said to Sam as the bus pulled up at the school. "He was after my Energem,"
"So, you think that they worked for Sledge?" Sam asked Dante.
Dante then nodded as people began walking off the bus.
"I'm hoping school gets that nightmare off my mind," Dante said to Sam as he got up.
Sam and Dante walked off the bus and headed inside the school. Spellbinder poked his head out from behind the school sign and began snickering.
"Which Ranger should I choose?" Spellbinder wondered as he faded away.
Eli and Christa were standing at their lockers talking to each other as Dante walked up to his locker.
"How's it going?" Eli asked Dante.
"Fine I suppose," Dante told Eli as he opened his locker.
"Are you in a bad mood or something?" Christa asked Dante.
"Nope, I'm just not a morning person," Dante told Christa as he pulled a book out of his locker.
Dante then closed his locker and walked away.
"Odd, he's usually very flirty in the morning at school?" Christa said in confusion.
"I wish someone else was," Eli said to Christa as he walked away chuckling.
"Shut up!' Christa said in annoyance as she followed Eli.
A few hours later, Dante was outside jogging around the track that surrounded the football field. Spellbinder walked out into the stands and saw Dante on the track with other students.
"Here it goes," Spellbinder said as he held his hands out.
Spellbinder's hands then began glowing with a black aura. Spellbinder's eyes then flashed as he began quietly snickering.
"What's going on?" Dante said in confusion as his eyes flashed red.
Dante then began screaming in pain and tumbled to the ground holding his head.
"Dante!" Tracey said in concern as she ran up next to Dante. "What's going on?"
"Get away from me!" Dante shouted in anger as he shoved Tracey aside.
Dante then took off running away while holding his head in pain.
"What was that about?" Nathan asked Tracey as he helped her up.
"I don't know, but something is definitely wrong with him," Tracey said to Nathan.
Dante ran into an alley in the city and fell to the ground holding his head. Spellbinder then walked into the alley snickering.
"You will follow my orders now Black Ranger," Spellbind said to Dante.
Dante slowly rose to his feet and turned towards Spellbinder and revealed his glowing red eyes.
"Yes, I will," Dante said to Spellbinder as he smirked.
"Now, I want you to destroy the other four Rangers and take their Energems," Spellbinder said to Dante.
"As you wish," Dante said as he walked past Spellbinder.
"That's right," Spellbinder said as he backed into the shadows.
The bell at the school began ringing as students began walking out the door in joy. Sam then walked out the door and saw Dante standing near the school sign.
"Dante?" Sam said in confusion as she began walking towards him.
Sam walked up to Dante and went to tap on his shoulder. Dante then quickly turned around and grabbed Sam by the wrist.
"What're you doing?" Sam said in confusion as she tried to pull her arm away.
"Give me your Energem," Dante said to Sam.
"What?" Sam asked Dante.
"Dante stop!" Tracey shouted as she and Nathan ran up.
Dante then let go of Sam's arm and began backing away.
"I will do what my master ordered me to do," Dante said to the others as he began running away.
"I'll stop him," Nathan said to Tracey.
Nathan took off running after Dante as Tracey walked up next to Sam.
"What's wrong with him?" Sam asked Tracey.
"I don't know, he's been acting weird since PE earlier," Tracey told Sam.
"Should we go help Nathan?" Sam asked Tracey.
"Of course, we need to see what's wrong with Dante," Tracey said to Sam as she began walking away.
Tracey's Dinocom then began going off.
"Alan now's not the time," Tracey said to Alan.
"Oh, I was just going to inform you that alien signatures are showing up in the city," Alan told Tracey. "And there was a strong signal at your school earlier,"
"That must be why Dante is acting so strange," Sam said to Tracey.
"Alan, can you locate Dante?" Tracey asked Alan.
"Yeah of course," Alan said as he began typing.
Sam then pulled out her Dinocom as a map appeared on the screen.
"Got it, he's in a warehouse downtown," Sam told Tracey.
"Thanks Alan, we'll talk to you later," Tracey said as she went to put her Dinocom away.
"Hold on one second!" Alan said to Tracey.
"What is it?" Tracey asked Alan.
"I have a new Dino Charger ready for you guys," Alan said to Tracey.
"Contact Eli and get him to come get it, we need to stop whoever is controlling Dante," Tracey told Alan.
"Alright, good luck," Alan said to Tracey.
The screen then turned off. Tracey and Sam then took off running down the street and headed downtown.
Dante ran into a warehouse and hid behind a crate breathing heavily. Dante grabbed his head again and began screaming in pain.
"Dante!" Nathan shouted as he ran into the warehouse.
Dante pulled out his Dino Charge Morpher and quickly began firing it at Nathan.
"Stop!" Nathan shouted as he dove to the ground and dodged the blasts.
Dante rose to his feet and pulled out a Dino Charger.
"Your Energem will be mine," Dante said to Nathan as he walked out from behind the crate.
Dante hit the switch on his Dino Charge and activated it. He then inserted the Dino Charger into his morpher and fired it towards the ceiling. Dante quickly morphed and continued walking towards Nathan.
"Dante, this isn't you!" Nathan said to Dante as he rose to his feet.
"Shut up and fight me," Dante said to Nathan as he aimed his blaster at him.
"I'm not going to fight you!" Nathan shouted at Dante.
Dante then fired his Dino Charge Morpher at Nathan. Nathan's eyes widened as he screamed in horror.
"T-Rex Smasher!" Tracey shouted as she landed in front of Nathan and blocked the blast.
"Tracey!" Nathan said in astonishment.
"Dante, you need to stop doing this!" Tracey said to Dante. "Someone is controlling you,"
"I'm in control of myself," Dante said to Tracey as he activated his Dino Steel.
Vivix then ran up next to Dante.
"Attack!" Dante shouted as the Vivix took off running towards Tracey and Nathan.
Tracey began punching the Vivix with the T-Rex Smasher as they ran towards her.
"Nathan, hurry up and morph!" Tracey shouted to Nathan as she battled the Vivix.
Tracey then looked over at Nathan and saw him glowing with a black aura.
"What?" Tracey said in confusion.
Nathan then instantly morphed and pulled out his Dino Saber.
"No, not you too!" Tracey said in horror.
Nathan ran up to Tracey and quickly swung his saber at her. Tracey blocked the saber with the T-Rex Smasher and shoved Nathan away. Vivix then began hitting Tracey behind and knocked her to the ground.
"Ugh, where did Sam go?" Tracey said in confusion.
"Tricera Drill!" Sam shouted as she drilled through the horde of Vivix around Tracey.
"Sam!" Tracey said in relief.
"We can't handle this by ourselves," Sam told Tracey.
"Agreed, we're going to need Eli to help us," Tracey said to Sam as she got up.
"Get those Energems!" Dante shouted as Tracey and Sam began running away.
The Vivix began chasing after Tracey and Sam as they ran outside.
"Dino Cycles!" Tracey and Sam shouted as they tossed their Chargers into the air.
Two Dino Cycles then appeared in front of Tracey and Sam as the Vivix ran around the corner.
"Hurry!" Tracey shouted as she quickly jumped on her Dino Cycle.
Sam got on her Dino Cycle and quickly drove off with Tracey as the Vivix ran up screaming in anger. Tracey looked back at the Vivix and saw Dante and Nathan standing between them.
"We have to find who did this to them," Tracey said to Sam.
"Yeah, but we need to get to the lab and see if anyone else can help us out," Sam told Tracey as they drove off.
Eli walked into the lab and saw Alan working at a table.
"What did you want?" Eli asked Alan.
Alan then took his safety glasses off and rolled away from the table in his chair.
"I have a new Dino Charger for you and the others," Alan told Eli.
"Okay, is that all?" Eli asked Alan.
"Not really," Alan said to Eli. "Dante is being controlled by one of Sledge's monsters,"
"Alright, I'll go find who's controlling him," Eli said as he began walking away.
"No, not yet," Tracey said to Eli as she and Sam walked into the room.
"Where's Nathan?" Alan asked Tracey.
"He's been taken too," Tracey told Alan. "Sam and I could barely escape,"
"Vivx are even helping them," Sam said to Alan and Eli.
Keeper then walked into the room.
"Dante and Nathan were taken because of the troubles they're facing," Keeper told the Rangers.
"Troubles?" Tracey said in confusion.
"So that's why the monster took Dante," Sam said as she sat down.
"And why's that?" Eli asked Sam.
"Dante's been having trouble sleeping because of nightmares," Sam told Tracey and Eli.
"But, what kind of nightmares?" Tracey asked Sam.
"He keeps seeing an event that occurred when he was little," Sam told Tracey. "The day his parents died,"
"The day he obtained his Energem," Keeper said to the Rangers.
"That doesn't explain why Nathan was taken too," Eli said to the others.
"That was probably because he was worried about Dante and didn't want to fight him," Alan said to the Rangers as he picked up the new Dino Charger.
Alan then walked over to Tracey and handed her the Charger.
"That's the Dino Spike Charger, but to use it, you'll need all five of you," Alan told Tracey.
"Great, a Dino Charger that can't help us," Eli said as he sighed.
"But it can help us Eli," Sam told Eli. "Just not right now while Dante and Nathan are being controlled,"
An alarm then began going off. Alan walked over to his computer and hit a button on the keyboard.
"Alien signatures in the park," Alan said to the Rangers.
"That must be the one that did this to Dante and Nathan," Eli said to the girls.
"Okay, let's go take this guy down and get our friends back," Tracey said as she began walking away.
Eli and Sam followed Tracey out of the lab and headed off for the park.
Spellbinder was in the park laughing evilly with Dante and Nathan next to him. Spellbinder looked over towards the pond and saw a little boy sitting on the bench crying.
"Now's not the time for crying!" Spellbinder shouted as he fired a blast towards the little boy.
"Stego Shield!" Eli shouted as he hurled his shield towards the blast.
The blast hit the Stego Shield and bounced off of it.
"Run kid!" Eli shouted to the little boy.
The little boy then turned around and saw Spellbinder behind him. He then took off running as he screamed. Eli quickly picked up his Stego Shield as Tracey and Sam ran up beside him.
"So you're the one that did this to our friends!" Sam shouted at Spellbinder.
"That's right, and I'm going to take control of the rest of you too!" Spellbinder shouted as his eyes began glowing.
"Dino Charge Morphers!" Tracey shouted as she and the others pulled out their morphers.
The Rangers then began firing blasts at Spellbinder. The blasts hit Spellbinder and sent him crashing into a tree.
"What, why didn't my magic work on them?" Spellbinder said in confusion.
"Because we're here to help our friends with the problems they're having," Eli said to Spellbinder.
"Go after them you two!" Spellbinder shouted at Dante and Nathan.
Dante and Nathan then took off running towards the other Rangers.
"Come on Nathan, this isn't you!" Eli shouted at Nathan as he blocked the Dino Saber with his shield.
"I have a feeling talking to them won't do anything," Tracey said to Eli as she dodged Dante's kick. "We might have to attack the alien,"
"I think she's right!" Sam shouted as she grabbed Dante's arm.
"Dino Steel!" Tracey shouted as she took off running towards Spellbinder.
Tracey leapt into the air and went to punch Spellbinder with the T-Rex Smasher.
"Oh no, that's not happening!" Spellbinder shouted as he pulled his cape in front of him.
Tracey then punched the cape and fell to the ground.
"Whoa, that cape is rock solid!" Tracey said in astonishment.
"What's this?" Spellbinder said to himself as he looked down at Tracey. "Something is troubling you!"
"What?" Tracey said in confusion.
"You miss someone and want to know what happened to them," Spellbinder said as the pendant on his chest opened up.
"Tracey!" Eli shouted as he shoved Nathan away.
Eli then fired a blast from his Dino Charge Morpher and hit Spellbinder in the chest on his pendant.
"No!" Spellbinder shouted as he fell to the ground in pain.
"Thanks Eli!" Tracey shouted to Eli.
Dante and Nathan then began glowing with a black aura as they began screaming in pain. The black aura then faded away into the air.
"What happened?" Dante said in confusion.
"Hey, I think that snapped them out of the alien's control!" Sam said to Eli.
"Go after that thing on his chest!" Eli shouted to Tracey.
"Alright!" Tracey shouted as she prepared to punch Spellbinder with the T-Rex smasher.
Spellbinder then slowly leaned up and saw Tracey coming at him.
"T-Rex Smasher!" Tracey shouted as she punched Spellbinder in his pendant.
Spellbinder crashed into another tree behind him and fell to the ground as the other Rangers ran up beside Tracey.
"Activate your Dino Steel," Tracey said to the others.
"Dino Steel!" Nathan, Dante and Sam shouted as they gained armor on their left arms.
Tracey then pulled out the Dino Spike Charger as Spellbinder slowly rose to his feet. Tracey then threw the Charger into the air. The Rangers five weapons then quickly combined and came back to Tracey.
"Whoa, this thing looks powerful!" Eli said in amazement.
"Let's see what it can do," Tracey said as she stepped back from the others.
The other four Rangers quickly crashed their arms as Tracey came running towards them. Tracey then jumped onto the Ranger's arms and leapt into the air.
"What?" Spellbinder said in confusion as he looked up into the air.
"Dino Spike, Final Strike!" Tracey shouted as she hurled the Dino Spike at Spellbinder.
The Dino Spike then stabbed through Spellbinder's chest and destroyed him. Tracey then landed on the ground as the Dino Spike came back to her.
"Whew, he's finally gone," Dante said in relief.
A blast then shot down from the sky and hit the remains of Spellbinder's body. Spellbinder then grew into a giant monster as he began laughing evilly.
"Great, it's time for round two," Eli said to the others.
Tracey quickly pulled out a Dino Charger and hit the switch.
"Dante, Nathan, let's finish this guy off," Tracey said to them as she hurled her Charger into the air. "Summon T-Rex!"
The T-Rex Zord then ran up in front of the Rangers and swallowed the Charger.
"Summon Para Zord!" Dante shouted as he threw his Charger into the air.
"Summon Raptor Zord!" Nathan shouted as he threw his Charger into the air.
The Para and Raptor Zords then appeared and swallowed their Chargers.
"Now it's time for the Megazord!" Tracey shouted as Vivix ran up to the Rangers. "Summon Dino Charge Megazord Para-Raptor Formation!"
The Zords quickly transformed as Eli and Sam began fighting the Vivix. The Para and Raptor Zords then attached to the T-Rex as arms as Tracey, Nathan and Dante appeared in the cockpit.
"Let's make this one quick," Dante said to the others as he plugged his morpher into his console.
"Agreed," Nathan said as he nodded.
The Megazord then began walking towards Spellbinder.
"Stay back you metal maniac!" Spellbinder shouted as he began firing blasts at the Megazord.
"You're going down bird boy!" Dante shouted as the Megazord began firing blasts from the Para Zord.
Spellbinder blocked the blasts using his cape as he began snickering.
"Let's see you handle this!" Spellbinder shouted as the feathers on his arms began glowing. "Feather Throwing Knife!"
Spellbinder then began firing a barrage of razor sharp feathers at the Megazord.
"Watch out for those things!" Nathan shouted as the Megazord dove behind a building.
The Megazord then dove out from behind the building and began firing at Spellbinder again. Spellbinder was hit by the blasts and became dazed.
"Let's finish this!" Tracey shouted as the Raptor arm swung its blades and created a green fireball.
The Para arm then aimed right against the fireball.
"Fireball Finish!" The Rangers shouted as the Megazord began firing and sent the fireball flying towards Spellbinder.
"This can't be real!" Spellbinder shouted as he was destroyed.
The pendant from Spellbinder fell to the ground next to a tree as Eli and Sam quickly finished off the Vivix on the ground. Tracey, Dante and Nathan then landed on the ground next to the others and demorphed.
"You guys did it!' Sam said in amazement.
Wrench walked out from behind a tree and began sneaking towards the pendant.
"Hey, someone's over there!" Nathan said to the others as he noticed Wrench.
Dante turned around and saw Wrench grab the pendant. Dante then looked over at Wrench's other hand and saw that he was holding an axe.
"Wait a second," Dante said in disbelief.
"Uh oh!" Wrench shouted as he took off running.
"Get back here!" Dante shouted in anger as he watched Wrench run away.
"Dante, let him go for now," Tracey said to Dante.
"Okay, we'll get that guy another day," Dante said to the others as they began walking away.
Dante then looked back towards where Wrench was.
"Was he the one that killed my parents?" Dante asked himself.
Dante then walked away as the sun began going down.
