CHAPTER SEVEN – IN TRANSITION
Reefside High School
It had been three days sense Kira found out the truth about Andrew, sense she found out that the guy she had been seeing was really two guys. All things considered she was holding up well; she really hadn't cried sense the break up, and with the exception of the awkwardness of seeing Andrew at school there had been no contact between the two.
"Can you believe that test we had yesterday Kira… Kira… are you still with us?" Conner said trying to get his friends mind out of the clouds.
"What," Kira said being pulled back down to Earth "Were you talking to me?"
"Apparently not," Conner said a little hurt that his friend hadn't been listening to a word that came out of his mouth. Though he was hurt, Kira not paying attention had become standard sense she found out about Andrew.
"Oh, I am sorry Conner I just…" Kira began to say before she stopped mid sentence, "I have to go to class guys; I will catch up with you later."
None of them had to look over to know who was walking down the hall. It had become a tradition, the guys talk, Kira ignores them, and any sign of Andrew she leaves. "I can't believe he still comes to school, what is he trying to prove?" Conner said still sour about his squabble with Andrew the other day.
"He is a rat; I think he is just here to keep an eye on us, if you ask me." Ethan said as Andrew got closer.
"Wouldn't bother anyone if he just left," Trent added saying loud enough for anyone in the area could here him. The group laughed at Trent's comment as Andrew finished walking by, not saying a word.
Outside Dr. Oliver's Classroom
"I don't think it would be a good idea for you to come to class today." Tommy said stopping Andrew from entering the room.
"And why is that?" Andrew added already angered from the actions of the other Dino Rangers.
"Conflict of interest,"
"Really conflict of interest, you are all hypocrites. But, you worst of all… I kept who I was a secret you do the same thing everyday," Andrew said being interrupted by Dr. O.
"That is different and you know it, what you did using Kira like that was…"
"Don't you stand there and think you know what I was doing," Andrew furiously interrupting Dr. O, "Fine; I was tired of playing school anyway, I am out of here."
Though Andrew all out quitting school was not Dr. O intentions, he wasn't going to complain either. Even though Tommy was a teacher, he was a ranger first and having Andrew in that school was dangerous.
"What does a ranger need school for anyway, right?" Andrew yelled down the hall as he pushed the doors open, leaving Reefside High School one last time. Dr. O looked around praying that no one heard this loose cannons proclamation.
Mesagog's Island Fortress
"You fool, your failure will not be tolerated Elsa." Mesagog said tightening his mental hold on Elsa.
"Master… let…" Elsa tried to speak feeling the throbbing in her head get greater, "If you let me explain… I…"
"Explain quickly… you will only be getting one chance." Mesagog said, threatening her existence.
"The weapon that the Dark Ranger is having us build, it is far more advanced than anything we have seen, and…" Elsa said fearing her master's reaction to this news, "We don't have anything that can power it."
Her master's fury was not being hidden well, oh god… he is going to destroy me Elsa thought. "Are you letting Mesagog down again with your excuses?" The Dark Ranger said mocking Elsa as he entered the throne room.
"Stay out of this; it is none of your concern." Elsa said her eyes not hiding the disgust she had for the Dark Ranger. Beyond the fact that she didn't know anything about him, she didn't trust him. She could tell that he was hiding something.
"None of my concern, what if I told you I knew how to power that weapon, would it be my concern then?" The Dark Ranger said moving closer to Elsa and Mesagog.
"That is impossible, I have been working on this machine sense you gave us the blue prints." Elsa said angered that the Dark Ranger had once again out smarted her.
"Did it ever occur to you Elsa that I figured that someone with your limited intellect would not be able to think out side the box to find a power supply for the machine," the Dark Ranger said revealing a paper he had been holding the whole time "and sense I did think you would fail, I came up with a back up plan."
Elsa quickly grabbed the paper from the Dark Ranger's hands "Is this what I think it is…"
"100," The Dark Ranger said arrogantly.
Mesagog quickly took one picture in the article, "Elsa, send Tyrannodrones down to the museum, NOW!"
Elsa waited no time in sending a squad of Tyrannodrones to retrieve there new power source for Mesagog. I will find out the truth about you, if it is the last thing I do, Elsa thought as she finished sending the order.
The Rangers Training Ground
"Guys that last round was horrible, we need to bring it up a notch…" Conner started sounding more like Dr. O than himself.
"Ok," Ethan said out of breath from there last three rounds of training drills "Who replaced you with a drill sergeant?"
"Yeah Conner, we are trying are hardest, what is your problem?" Trent added in.
"Power down," Conner said as he approached the other rangers "We have fought both the Black Knight and Dark Ranger, and every time we fight them we get our butts handed to us, now do you want to get beat down like chumps every time we see them?"
The other rangers could tell that Conner was serious. In fact they had never seen Conner so focused, not even when it came to soccer. "I would like you guys to get better, I got bored last time kicking your butts."
They didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Conner's eyes widened with fear; they were tired from the training, Dr. O wasn't around, and there opponent had the element of surprise… things couldn't get much worse for the young rangers. "Well how about you want-to-bee's, up for a little extreme training?" The Dark Ranger said, knowing full well the Dino Rangers were going to be easy prey.
Conner powered up as the others came to his side preparing for whatever the Dark Ranger was going to throw at them this time.
"Time to deliver a message," The Dark Ranger whispered as he charged the rangers.
Outside the Museum
Tommy looked at his watch, it was nearly six o'clock and he was just now getting out of school. Living the double life was hard enough when he was in high school, but now having two full time jobs he always felt like one career or another got neglected in the scramble to do both. Then in the shadows he saw about 6 Tyrannodrones moving quietly out of the museum. What these knuckleheads want with a museum, Tommy thought to himself.
"DinoThunder, power up, ha!" Tommy yelled as he charged the Tyrannodrones.
Being a veteran at dealing with foot soldiers Tommy used his Brachio Staff to make quick work of the Tyrannodrones guarding the one holding the package. "So what does Mesagog want from the museum?" Tommy said as he delivered a kick sending the package flying into the grass, and sending the Tyrannodrone down.
"Ah, where did it go," Tommy said scrambling to find the package with the shadows of the night cloaking it, "Come on, you have to be around here somewhere."
BLAST!!
BLAST!!
Tommy quickly turned around to see two Tyrannodrones fall to the ground. "You looked like you could use some help." The Black Knight, otherwise known as Andrew said.
"I could have handled it… I didn't need your help." Tommy arrogantly replied.
"Dude," Andrew began to say as he powered down "What is your problem, I see that you are about to get jumped and I help you out and you still won't give me any ground?"
"Power down," Tommy yelled moving closer to Andrew, "My problem is that you used the mask of being a ranger to use people and there is the little matter of you fighting us. What were you expecting from us a ticker tat parade!"
"You think I used Kira," Andrew said getting right in the face of Tommy waiting for a reply "I said do you think I used Kira?"
"Yea, I do."
"Then if I used Kira, then you sure as hell used Kimberly."
"Don't go there," Tommy said grabbing Andrew by the collar of his shirt "You don't ever talk about her I love her."
"You hid behind her you…"
Before even finishing Andrew was hit with a right hook that sent him to the ground. Feeling his lip he felt Tommy come up next to him. "Don't ever mention Kim to me; don't ever think that you know anything about her and me." Tommy said as he started to walk towards his house.
"You might be interested to know, that package those Tyrannodrones had; it was empty. So whatever Mesagog wanted he got." Andrew said picking himself off the ground.
Tommy said not a word but just kept walking away, "Sooner or later you guys are going to have to forgive me," Andrew said knowing full well that Tommy wasn't paying attention "Damn." He concluded in a whisper.
Tommy's Basement
"Come on guys help me get him on a flat surface, Kira clear off that table." Conner said as Trent and he carried Ethan to the cleared off table.
"Ethan are you ok?" Kira asked worried about her friend who had taken a brutal beating compliment of the Dark Ranger.
"I told you guys, I am ok… he just knocked the wind out of me that is all." Ethan said relieving his team mates a great deal.
"Oh my god, what happened to you guys?" Hailey said as she walked into the basement.
"The Dark Ranger that is what happened to us." Trent said as Hailey pulled out the first aid supplies.
"He isn't pulling any punches out there is he, why didn't you guys call for back up, why did you guys even fight him after all of your training today?" Hailey said looking at Ethan to make sure no ribs were broken.
"There was no where to run to," Conner said regretting his leadership decision "It was my fault."
"Conner you made the same call any of us would have made, this isn't your fault." Kira said bandaging her arm.
It was then that Kira looked down on her arm and saw it, a tear drop. Given how badly Ethan was hurt she had gotten off easy; she was in no pain, then so why was she crying. She kept telling herself that she needed to hold it together, that there was no reason for tears to be falling. Her little pep talk did little to inspire; realizing that the tears were not going to stop, she quickly turned away from the others.
The team was not blind; whether Kira realized it or not over the last few days she had broken out into many crying fits. Most of the time she acted as if she wasn't even crying; carrying on conversations, taking notes in class, and even eating dinner. Everyone felt bad; watching there friend in so much pain but knowing that there was nothing that they could do, there was no cure for a broken heart.
Outside of Tommy's House
Calm yourself down Tommy this was just a punk teenager who tried to get under your skin. You have so much going on in your life right now; with the rangers, your students, and Mesagog you don't have time to worry about your personal life, Tommy thought standing, staring at his house from the outside. Why Kim, why after all this time do you still haunt my dreams, do you still plague my thoughts? Sometimes I wish you would just go away but you never do. Andrew why did you have to bring up Kim, why?
Andrew's House
Debating the fact that Andrew didn't technically exist in this world he had happened upon a nice house whose owners were away on a 3 month safari. A three bedroom colonial was more than enough for him, however tonight the emptiness of the house seemed to almost haunt him. All he could think about was how badly he had let things get screwed up, in his mind it seemed like he was always letting people down and screwing up.
Flashback
"Any way you want to put it; you lied to us Andrew." An Asian man yelled angered at Andrews with holding of information from the others.
"Dave I didn't lie to you guys." Andrew began trying to defend his actions.
"Then what do you call it Andrew?" A scruffier looking man wearing red said.
"Mat, I was trying to protect you guys, and I made a mistake," Andrew replied regretting his decision more and more with each passing minute, "Mat, Dave, Megan, Eddie, Crystal I am sorry."
"I still can't believe you lied to us." Mat said as he and the others walked out of the bomb shelter that they had been hiding in.
End Flashback
"Some people just never learn," Andrew said to himself as he pulled a box out of his backpack, "Lets see what was so important to Mesagog and the Dark Ranger."
"Well that is interesting." Andrew said as he opened the iron box.
Mesagog's Island Fortress
"The Dino Rangers are on the run, and without Andrew to help them, we can easily pick them off soon." The Dark Ranger said as he and Mesagog walked slowly into the throne room.
"Elsa's failure was in getting the last part cannot be tolerated." Mesagog angrily said.
"Don't worry about that, we will find a way to power the machine, it will just take some ingenuity." The Dark Ranger said trying to put some confidence in Mesagog.
"There is still the issue of your friend, Andrew," Mesagog said as they started to head towards the lab where the machine was being built. "He is too powerful to leave wandering out there."
"Don't worry about him… we have nothing to worry about him." The Dark Ranger said as he and Mesagog left to view the final phase of construction of there newest weapon against the rangers.
Once the throne room was emptied Elsa made her way from the shadows, "I will find out what you are hiding Dark Ranger… I survived the rangers, I will certainly survive you." Elsa said with an evil grin on her face.
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