Terra Force
"Coins"
Disclaimer: Power Rangers belong to Disney/Saban, Carri belongs to KJ with many thanks, the name Kaycea belongs to KSuzie with many thanks, everyone else is mine. The idea for a black metal ranger came to me from KJ's "Dark Inheritence".
A/N: I would like to thank hewhoreaps for helping me correct my speling mistakes throughout the chapters, so, thank you. And one name people may have trouble pronouncing, Ulquiorra. It's pronounced Ooo kee aura. It's from the Japanese anime Bleach.
As always reviews are appreciated.
Tommy tried to open his eyes, his eye lids felt so heavy. He could feel his head moving from side to side, but he didn't think he was doing it. What had happened? Everything was a blur to him, the last thing he remembered was driving to Angel Grove. As he finally opened his eyes and came to his senses he saw that he wasn't moving his head, he was was being slapped back and forth by Elieara. That's right, he had been attacked and his communicator and morpher had been lost. Damn, his first crack at using his new powers and this had to happen. How had she caught him so off guard? He didn't know, all he knew was that he needed to escape.
Elieara eyed her prisoner with murderous intent. She would love nothing more than to kill him, but first she needed information from him. She would try it the easy way one time, and if he refused, well, if he refused she would try it the fun way. If he still refused, then she would have fun dismembering him. "Where are they?" she asked bluntly.
Tommy knew what she meant, what she didn't know was that she had half of what she was looking for right here. He should have known that's what she was after, Zordon warned him when he took the power that it contained a secret that others would seek should they learn of its whereabouts. Sadly it looked as though that day had come. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He lied.
Elieara smirked, she was hoping he would say that. "Well then," she said sweetly, "let the fun begin."
Jason and the others paced through the Command Center impatiently, Noctis was off helping Billy set up a new, more powerful device that would allow them easy access to the Lunar Palace since the normal means of teleportation were impossible due to the force field that Rita and later Zedd had set up years ago. Billy's original device that he created as a teenager was now outdated, security around the palace had improved since Zedd and Rita's hey day. Jason wanted to hurry and get this over with, the sooner they rescued Tommy the better. There was no telling what that evil bitch was doing to him. If they didn't hurry they may not have a friend to bring home.
Carri sat on one of the consoles, tapping her foot rythmically. She couldn't help but wonder why Noctis had shown up here to help them. Did he know what she wanted with Tommy? If so, why hadn't he shared it? Sometimes he royally ticked her off. She wished she knew how she felt about him, how she really felt about him. She had felt uncomfortable with both him and Rocky in the same room. Especially after her dream the night before. Did that mean anything? She wasn't sure. She wished she knew.
Karone noticed the looks of panic across her teammates face, and she knew that they had every right to panic. Elieara was a monster, she took delight in harming anyone, anything, she could. Hopefully the others would be able to concentrate with their teammates life in immediate danger. She and Jason had never had this type of situaton happen before, at least not against Elieara. Times like this she wished Leon was there with her. She wondered if he really had been there in the desert that day, if so, why hadn't he stuck aorund to talk to her? It didn't make any sense to her.
A few minutes later Noctis and Billy returned. "Alright guys," Billy said "it's ready. Now remember, you don't want to morph unless you absolutely have to." He didn't know why he felt the need to remind them of that, perhaps it was because he was afraid that they wouldn't be thinking straight with Tommy held captive.
"Right, let's go guys." Jason said as he lead his team to the next room where they had the device set up.
As they made their way to the device, Kim found herself lost in thought. How could Tommy, the greatest Earth ranger, get captured so easily? Was Elieara really that strong? Kim had never faced her before, unless one were to count that brief meeting when Elieara first arrived on Earth. She hoped Tommy was alright, she had lied straight to his face and said she didn't love him anymore, that everything was in the past. She didn't know why, perhaps she was afraid she'd mess up again. She really didn't know. "You guys, I'll meet you there." She said, startling even herself. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it sooner, she could use her own teleportation power to sneak in. It didn't involve anything from the morphing grid, so she shouldn't set any alarms off. Before anyone could protest a red light seemed to appear from within her and in an instant she was gone.
"Well that was weird." Rocky commented, he didn't know of Kim's powers yet, or what she and Carri had been doing in space. Neither did Tommy. When Tommy had gone to talk to Kim it had been the last thing on his mind. As for Rocky, he just hadn't found the right moment to really approach Carri yet. He supposed he should, after all, he did want to get back with her. He just had to find a way to let his girlfriend down easy first...
One by one the Rangers stepped through the device that would take them to the Lunar Palace, they only hoped that they weren't too late. After the last person, Noctis, stepped through, a man with long blonde hair, a black jacket with a white fuzzy collar, and black pants entered the Command Center. "Damn it, I'm too late."
Billy eyed the visitor, recognizing him from when he visited Aquitar once. He never thought he would see him again.
Kim silently ran through the palace. Elieara had not only got it up and running again, but she had also added on to it. The place was bigger than it had been before. It was going to make finding Tommy very difficult. She silent swore as she rounded a corner and came upon a couple of Kenpabots. She quickly took them out and continued on her way. This place was like a maze, a big, fog flled maze. If only she had known just where exactly Tommy was being held she could have teleported straight there. She thought of the throne room, but that was too obvious. Elieara would probably have him in a hidden room, or maybe even a dark dimension. this was going to take forever.
Jason looked around, he didn't see any of his team anywhere near him. Were they split up somehow while crossing through the device? That seemed to be the only logical explanation. First he would worry about finding Tommy, then he would look for the others. He knew they could handle themselves, but Tommy was probably on the verge of death knowing Elieara. Sticking to the shadows he made his way through the palace.
Rocky and Carri found themselves in one of the dungeons. Not exactly the best place to land. Rocky looked over at Carri, here they were, alone. It wouldn't get more perfect than this. But he didn't know where to begin. How should he start out? "Carri...we...we need to talk..." he figured that was as good a way as any. Now he had to wait for her response.
Carri looked up at the man beside her, she knew he was right and that they did need to talk. But this was neither the time nor the place. "I know. After we rescue Tommy we'll have a nice long talk. I promise." She wasn't exactly sure what prompted her to make that promise, she had an idea, but nothing concrete. She still loved Rocky, she knew that. But, there was also Noctis. She wasn't sure how she felt about him, or how he felt about her.
Rocky looked down at her, he supposed the talk would have to wait. He knew this wasn't the time for it anyway. "Okay." He said simply as they made their way out of the dungeon and through the palace.
Karone looked around, she appeared to be just outside the throne room. Not seeing anyone around she made her way for the door. Peaking in she saw Tommy, chained to the wall. In front of him stood Elieara, off in the corner stood Nexarox, and in the other corner was a figure she couldn't quite make out. It looked familiar, but she wasn't sure. Going in there alone would be a suicide mission. She supposed she should wait for the others for to arrive. If only her communicator would work in here. For the moment Tommy was alive, but if she heard anything about a finishing blow she wouldn't hesitate to jump in alone.
Tommy felt blood running down the side of his head where Elieara had scratched him earlier. He moved his head, despite the pain, to look at the rest of his body. He was covered in blood, all of it his. She hadn't let up on the torture. He would not tell her what she wanted to know. He couldn't. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and then felt something warm running up his face. He opened his eyes to see Elieara licking the blood off of his face. She looked at him, eyes glowing. She was enjoying this. He could tell.
Elieara licked the blood off of Tommy's face. She was getting impatient with the White ranger. Soon she would begin cutting body parts off. She took note of the hateful look he gave her, she loved that look. Especially when the person giving it to her could do nothing. She smiled evilly at him as she moved to stand directly in front of him again. "Tell me where it is, and I promise not to kill you. Instead I'll make you my faithful servent." Having a ranger serve her would certainly be interesting. That gave her an idea, even if he still said no, she would still get the information out of him.
"Go to Hell." Tommy said as he spat in her face. He would rather die than serve her. Serving Rita had been bad enough, Gasket had been even worse. He refused to serve her.
"Tsk tsk. You shouldn't have done that pretty boy." She said as she slowly backed up. "Nexarox, do we still have some of that potion left?"
Nexarox pushed off of the wall and stood straight up. "The one we used against the Zeta Rangers hundreds of years ago?" She nodded. "Yes. But it's so old that I doubt it stick, it will last for only a few minutes at best. If that."
"Good. Fetch it for me, and take him with you." She motioned to the man in the other corner. "A few minutes is all I need."
Karone heard everything that was going on, now was her time to strike. Before she could though, she felt someone deal her a powerful blow from behind. "Sorry kid, I can't have you ruining everything." The man said as he drug her to the shadows so that Nexarox wouldn't see her. He then followed the demon down the hall.
Jason ran throught the halls of the palace, he had been running for what felt like a couple of hours now. This was ridiculous, how much had she added on to the palace? If they didn't find Tommy soon he would die. he just hoped that none of them would try and save him on their own. Elieara would be more than a single ranger could handle, he knew that first hand. He felt a wave of relief wash over him as he saw Kim, Rocky, and Carri all grouped together. Good, there was most of his team. Now they needed to find Karone, she was probably toward the top of the palace. "Hey guys," he said as he caught up to them. "I'm glad you're all safe. Now come on, let's head for the top." The other nodded, they were all eager to get this mission over with.
Kim had run into Carri and Rocky about halfway up. They had all started out in the dungeons, it was where Kim thought Tommy might be. But she was quickly proven wrong. Now they were all near the top, about two floors below the throne room. It would be easier just to go through the ceiling, but they needed to stay incognito. They didn't want to alert Elieara to their presence.
A few minutes later both Nexarox and the man returned, after handing Elieara the potion both went back to their corners. "Excellent. Now you will be my slave, for only a few minutes anyway." She said to Tommy, eyeing him.
The White ranger looked at his captor, he would not allow her to do this to him. he couldn't. "You won't get away with this!" He shouted. He soon found that to be a mistake, as soon as he opened his mouth she sprayed the remainder of the potion into his mouth. Tommy could feel himself slipping, he was losing control of himself. No, he couldn't, he wouldn't. He had to hang on, he had to.
Elieara's eyes lit up as she saw the potion taking effect. This was just too perfect. She couldn't believe it. "Now, tell me where it is." She said sweetly, "And I'll give you a reward."
Tommy knew what was happening, but he was no longer in control of his body. Try as he might, he couldn't stop the words from falling off of his tongue. "It's in my back pocket."
Elieara's eyes grew wide, she didn't think he'd be stupid enough to carry it on him, that's why she hadn't checked him before. Quickly, she reached for his back pocket and pulled out a small gold coin with a dragon footprint on it.
Tommy eyed the Dragon coin. he had found it once again on one of his digs, not long after he found the Dino Gems. It was because of Zordon that he was able to find both the Dragon coin and the Dino Gems. Zordon had explained to him about the true power the Dragon coin held, about the key it contained. Long ago Zordon and his first team of rangers had sealed away a terrible evil known as Ulquiorra. Two special keys were used to lock him in a pocket dimension, one was made into the Dragon coin, where as the other was hidden around the Command Center for thousands of years, until it became necessary to utilize it into a coin as well.
Tommy had hoped that by sending the Dragon coin back in time with his clone that it would stay hidden forever, but Zordon had informed him differently. It was part of his special message to Tommy when the Zordon Wave was released, when it passed through him he heard the location of both the coin, and the gems. Luckily, now not even he knew the whereabouts of the Tiger coin. After he learned of its connection to Ulquiorra's prison he eventually passed it on to Hayley Ziktor and had her hide somewhere.
He could only watch as she held the Dragon coin with excitement. He couldn't believe this, she had done it. She had got her hands on one of the keys.
Elieara was felt like a child as she smiled at the ancient coin in her hand. It was almost unbelievable, she had one of them. Hopefully this idiot knew where the other was at, though she doubted she'd get that lucky. "Oh right, your reward." She smiled evilly at him as she turned back to face him. "How does a quick and painless death sound? Or how about being my servent forever?" Before Tommy could reply he saw a black blur jump out and hit Elieara full force. He could feel the effects of the potion wearing off. Slowly he turned his head and saw the other rangers attacking Nexarox. He felt helpless, there was nothing he could do so long as he remained tied up here.
Elieara saw Jason standing across from her and she smiled wider than she had when got her hands on the Dragon coin. "Jasey, so nice of you to come visit."
"Shut up. I came here to get my friend, and I'm not leaving with out him."
"You're not leaving at all."
"How many times have I heard that?" he asked with a sigh. he stole a glance over at the others fight, they were wearing Nexarox down. That was good. They had found Karone passed out in the hallway, she didn't remember what had happened, only that Tommy was indeed in the throne room. After they found her and made sure she was okay they all morphed and charged in.
As the ranger battled Nexarox, Noctis stepped out from the shadows. With a snap of his fingers Nexarox backed off. Carri looked at him, he looked different somehow, and it wasn't just his clothes either. He was now dressed in a white unzipped jacket with blue trim along the bottom and the zipper, a blue collar, and a blue inside, which stopped just above his waist and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, no shirt, white hakama pants, and black boots. Across his chest were multiple scars. "What's going on?" Carri asked. Was he betraying them, or what? Why would he help her out all this time, only to turn traitor?
"Isn't it obvious? Noctis asked. "I'm against you, I have been since the very beginning." He ran his fingers through his hair, slicking it back in a semi spiked style. "You're truely pathetic."
Elieara liked this guy, he had informed her of the keys, and of the location of one. She didn't know much about him, and that made her a bit wary, but so far he had been a big help.
Seeing Elieara was distracted Jason took the opportunity to cut Tommy's chains with his sword and he quickly ordered the other evacuate, all running for Kim who teleported them out.
Noctis looked over at Elieara, she didn't look pleased at all. Not that he cared, he had his own worries, and she wasn't one of them. Her plans meant little to him in the end.
