Author's Notes: This chapter needed a lot more to actually write it. I couldn't think of anything to actually put into it all throughout Saturday, and honestly, most of it wrote itself after I got started. An event in this chapter was planned for, but I had no idea how I was going to implement it until I had already written it. I hope you all enjoy this, as it was somewhat fun to write. Once again, and comments or criticisms should be left in the review box.
Disclaimer: Power Rangers is owned by Saban. Power Rangers Dino Thunder was owned by Disney at the time. I only own the words and the story. I suppose I own Cryz and whatever monsters I feel like making up, too. I never name the monster, though…
"Did they have to attack now? I haven't even had breakfast yet!" Conner shouted as he slashed at a few Tyrannodrones. The attack was a little unusual because it happened in the morning, which only happened a few times before with Mesogog. The three remaining active Rangers had gathered at the site of an ongoing random Tyrannodrone attack that morning, and they weren't the least bit happy about this.
Kira, who was happy to be back in the field after last Friday's incident, just looked at him as incredulously as she could behind her helmet and said, "Exactly when do you wake up?"
Conner turned his attention to another cluster of advancing 'drones before saying, "I plead the fifth on account that information might incriminate me."
Kira rolled her eyes and Ethan shouted, "How do you know what the fifth amendment states? You never paid attention in Government class!"
"Yeah, well," Conner grunted as he took a nasty slash across his chest, "Conner know a lot more than people think he know."
Kira shook her head and said, "Okay, we get it Conner. You're smarter than you look. Let's just take care of these guys now and we'll see about getting some breakfast, 'kay?"
They attacked the mass of 'drones with renewed vigor, which worked out well since despite the fact that these 'drone appear to work better in groups, they also appear to be of inferior quality compared to the ones they used to fight. They were down to the last few opponents when a pair of lightning bolts assailed them, colored blue and red.
Looking up from the ground where they were thrown to, they saw Cryz and a monster, her sword and a cannon on the monster's forearm raised up towards them. The Ranges stumbled back to their feet and raised their weapons in a defensive stance in case another round was headed their way. When no attack came, Conner shouted his orders. "Kira, Ethan, keep that monster busy, I'll handle Cryz."
They acknowledged him and charged their opponent while he advanced on the Elsa-lookalike. They squared off against each other, he with his Tyrannostaff and her with an odd looking blue sword. After circling each other in silence for awhile Cryz finally had had enough and leaped at the Red Ranger with a loud battle cry. Conner brought his staff up to block the attack, but she had other plans and aborted her attack in mid-jump, ducking into a roll to his side and coming up to slash at his right flank. The force of the blow sent him flying. He cried out on impact and rolled to a stop, slowing picking himself back up. She simply stood there with a smirk, saying, "This is what the Red Ranger is made of? Some leader you are. Your comrades are taking a beating, and you can't even protect innocent citizens…" She gestured over to a place not too far in the distance where the remaining Tyrannodrones that they ignored when the two new combatants entered the fray could be seen harassing a pair of teenagers.
Conner's eyes widened at the sight. It was actually less in shock that the two were being attacked, but from the fact that they appeared to be holding their own against the four remaining 'drones. Since they actually didn't appear to be in any particular danger, he turned his attention back to the monster that Kira and Ethan had engaged.
Now the Yellow and Blue Rangers weren't in complete immediate danger, but they certainly had their hands full with this one. The monster didn't have many distinctive features outside of its left arm, which appeared to have been taken from a howitzer. It was capable of firing many different things from the barrel of that gun, though it was seemingly at a disadvantage at close range. Still, the cannon arm was a good blunt object and could block attacks as well, so it was something of a stalemate. At least, it was until wheels appeared on the monster's feet and he reversed several meters away in order to take a clear shot at them with the cannon arm, this time mimicking a flamethrower. Ethan raised his Tricerashield and jumped in front of Kira in order to block as much of the fire as he could.
Cryz smiled to the Red Ranger and said, "I think that's enough for now." She summoned an Invisiportal and beckoned the monster to her. They disappeared into it soon after. Conner just kinda looked after them, trying to figure out the purpose for this attack, when his teammates appeared to either side of him.
"What was that all about?" Ethan asked.
Conner shrugged and said, "I have no idea… Oh, wait! There were civilians fighting off 'drones earlier. We should check on them and see if they're alright."
They nodded and followed Conner to where he saw them fighting earlier. When they arrived, they saw the pile of Tyrannodrones in front of two teenagers that appeared to be their age. One of them turned around and saw the Rangers just standing there. He said, "Oh, hey guys. When'd you get your powers back?"
They blinked for a moment before powering down. Right in front of them stood Cassidy Cornell and Devin Del Valle. The Rangers were speechless for a moment. Finally, Conner managed to say, "Um… where did you guys learn to fight like that?"
They both blushed for a moment before Devin answered. "I used to take martial arts a long time ago…"
"And I took a self defense class once. Every reporter needs to know how to defend themselves." Cassidy continued.
"Plus we learned some things by watching you guys fight, too." Devin finished.
Now it was the Rangers' turn to blush. Kira looked them both over for a moment before noticing a few nasty looking cuts and bruises on them. She said, "You guys are hurt. You should come back to Dr. Oliver's with us to get those looked at."
The two civilians looked to the other two Rangers who had nodded their approval of the plan. The five of them took off for the Dino Lab together.
Once they arrived through the hidden entrance, Angela set upon them immediately, looking over each of them to assess what injuries they might have had. Once the Rangers were checkout out, she moved on to Cassidy and Devin, tending to their wounds while Conner, Kira, and Ethan turned their attentions to Dr. Oliver, who was sitting at the computer looking over the battle video. Conner opened up the conversation. "They're getting smarter, attacking with both a General and a monster at the same time. We had to split up to take them on, since even going three-to-two would've given them the advantage."
Tommy nodded in understanding. He said, "Yeah, it's tough when they split you up, especially when there's so few of you to begin with. I just wish I knew of a way to help…"
The three turned to each other, unknowingly in a triangle formation. Ethan said, "We really need more help out there. This feels like only the beginning…"
Kira spoke next, "Yeah, but what can we do? It's just the three of us. Even if Doctor O. and Trent were still able to help, I wonder if it would be enough…"
Finally, Conner said, "That doesn't matter. We're all Reefside has to defend it. If that's what it takes, we'll go down fighting. We give our all until there's nothing left to give."
That statement seemed to be the trigger for what happened next. Twin beams of light shot out from the Dino Gem around Conner's neck, each one hitting the Gem Pendant on his teammates. From there, the light traveled between Kira and Ethan until they joined in a perfect equilateral triangle. Then from the midpoint of the lines between them, the energy seemed to split and travel back into their Gems, only to be cast out into the center of the triangle, where the three beams of light met with each other, building into a large ball of energy. As soon as the last of the light entered this ball, it almost seemed to explode, causing the three Ranger to fall backwards. A trail of energy shot away from them, striped in pink and green. They scrambled to their feet and followed the energy into the adjacent room, where Angela was still attending their two visitors. They arrived just in time to witness the energy enveloping them.
Once the light died away, the six attendees to the light show that just occurred stood and stared at one another. Finally, Conner noticed something about the two newcomers. He asked, "What's that you guys are holding?"
Cassidy and Devin looked to each other before looking down to their right hands, which they were holding up closed. They both slowly opened their palms to reveal a small Gem-like object in each; the one in Cassidy's hand was colored Pink, in Devin's was colored Green. The Gems suddenly flared to life and on their left wrists formed Morphers; Devin's was green and in the shape of a Parasaur head, Cassidy's was a dark pink and in the shape of a Stegosaur head.
Devin looked at the object on his wrist for a moment before asking, "What the heck just happened?"
Dr. Oliver, who had followed his Rangers into the room just behind them, said, "Looks like you just got some new teammates, courtesy of the Morphing Grid."
The five of them continued to stare for a few more minutes. Finally, Conner said, "Welcome to the team."
Dr. Oliver had set the two of them down in front of the computer and had them watch the Power Ranger documentary that he had created. He had been busy in the last two weeks, and had actually managed to include a full section on the Dino Thunder Rangers' actions over the school year, though he kept the ending scene of entrusting the future to the three of them. He made a mental note to include the two newest additions at some point.
Once they finished watching it, Devin couldn't seem to hide his excitement. He said, "I knew that Blake guy we saw that one day wasn't just a motocross rider! And I know one of the oldest and best veterans too… that is so cool."
"It's a lot to take in." Cassidy said. "It's a lot to live up to… but if Conner can do it, I know I can."
She heard a loud "Hey!" from the other room along with a round of laughing coming from Kira, Ethan, and Angela. The levity was cut short by an alarm, to which Tommy immediately set to work on pinpointing the source of the disturbance. He bought up an image of a location downtown not too far from the fight that morning; Cryz was back with the monster from earlier and a small army of Tyrannodrones. The original trio of Dino Thunder Rangers had appeared behind their new teammates and saw what was on the screen. Dr. Oliver turned to them and said, "This is it; time for your first battle as Rangers. Are you ready?"
They nodded and replied, "Ready." They took up positions behind the other three, but appearing to be between Conner and the Ranger on either side of him. They performed the usual motions as if they had always done it, and shouted in unison with the others, "Dino Thunder, Power Up, Hah!"
After the light had dimmed, the five of them stood in their uniforms. The Green Ranger appeared almost identical to the other male Rangers, only in an obviously green costume; his helmet had features similar in appearance to the Parasaurzord. Similarly, the new Pink Ranger's costume was just like Kira's, only pink. A distinct likeness to the Stegozord adorned her helmet. After admiring their new appearance for a moment, Dr. Oliver got their attention, saying, "The White and Black Dino ATV's were never actually destroyed, so you two can take those to get there. Now get going before they cause too much damage."
They arrived in a matter of minute but stayed on their vehicles at first. Conner suggested drawing Thundermax Sabers and cutting all the 'drones down first before dismounting to tackle the remaining two. It was agreed upon and so they did. The entire platoon of foot soldiers was down and out in seconds, allowing the five of them to concentrate on the more dangerous opponents. Once this was done, the five of them formed a line in front of Cryz and the monster. "She looks familiar." Cassidy observed.
Conner shook his head. "You've seen one leather-bound freak, you've seen them all. How do you want to do this, guys?"
A voice cut though the air. "Try your weapons. You can't plan a strategy if you don't know what you can attack with." Dr. Oliver could be heard coming from each of their morphers.
They nodded as one and summoned each of their weapons together. The three originals received their old familiar weapons as usual; the two new additions discovered exactly what kind of weapons they were getting.
"Huh, a Paralance." Devin commented. It reminded him of what the original Blue Ranger had for a weapon, in that it was a double ended weapon with very sharp three-pronged edges on either end. He could see the seam in the middle where they could split apart and form two weapons.
"Cool, I've got a Stega Bow." Cassidy said. It was another similarity to the originals, and secretly pleasing to the newest Pink Ranger, as several summers ago she had taken an archery course which she had thoroughly enjoyed.
With this newest knowledge, Conner started forming a plan of attack. "Ethan, Cassidy, take on the monster from a distance. Ethan should block with his shield and use his Thundermax Laser while Cassidy attacks with her bow. The rest of us will take on Cryz with a three-pronged attack, each one approaching from a different direction, engaging two at a time. The third of us will circle around and attack, letting one of us disengage and do the same. Keep her guessing who will attack and who won't. Everyone agreed?" They all nodded. "Then let's go!"
They split according to the plan. Ethan stood a distance away from the monster with his shield raised at the ready to deflect any of its shots, while he held his laser to the side. Cassidy took a position just to the side on Ethan's shield side, her bow string held back. An arrow had appeared there when she did that; somehow she knew it would. The monster grunted and shot at the duo, opting for solid shells this time. The Blue Ranger batted them away, giving Cassidy a chance to take a shot. The arrow sailed through the air and exploded on impact with the monster, appearing to drive him backwards a little. Ethan chanced taking a shot with his laser and scored a direct hit, which also stumbled the monster. It recovered and started firing again, this time choosing some type of energy ball. They continued this exchange for quite some time, each one with a different type of projectile being emitted from the monster's cannon. Neither seemed to be able to get any kind of an advantage, though.
Meanwhile, Conner, Kira, and Devin had charged Cryz, who held her weapon at the ready. She didn't seem to actually be surprised that there were more Rangers than before, like it was to be expected for some reason. As they ran, Devin appeared to break off to attack the monster instead, and Conner and Kira engaged the General. Despite being attacked by two opponents, Cryz held her own quite well, getting a few cuts and slashes in while blocking all of their attacks. She was absorbed in this combat, however, and didn't notice that the Green Ranger had approached from behind and slashed at her back, causing her to divert her attention. Conner jumped over her and joined Devin in his attack; he had spilt his weapon into two short lances for the sustained attack. Kira had also come around, but appeared to have run to join her other comrades, such that Cryz was once again absorbed with her two combatants. A thought occurred to Kira that this strategy could be modified slightly, so she promptly pulled her laser out when she was at a distance and began firing at her back and sides.
Several burn marks were left all over Cryz's leather armor, and she appeared to have been staggered by the attack. Conner and Devin got a couple of good swings in on her while she was disoriented, which was enough to drive her away. Wordlessly, she summoned an Invisiportal and left the battle. The Rangers didn't celebrate their victory just yet, as they noticed that once again the fight with the monster was a stalemate. Devin said, "That's not working; he's too well armored. We need that blaster thing."
Conner nodded and said, "But first we need to stop him from firing at us long enough to form it. Suggestions?"
"Blast it constantly with our lasers? Get it far off balance long enough to combine and strike?" Kira submitted.
"I like it." Devin said.
"Me too," Conner added. "Let's do it. Lasers!" The three of them drew their Thundermax Lasers and aimed them at the monster. "Fire!" They started firing in unison, striking different parts of the monster and causing it to stumble around. It finally fell over, and due to its heavy body, it was having trouble standing back up.
Taking this as their cue, Conner shouted, "Form the blaster, everybody!" Although Cassidy and Devin didn't actually know how their weapons combined into it, they managed on instinct: the Stega Bow connected under the front of the Tricerashield, and the twin pieces of the Paralance attached to the top of the bow to either side of the shield. Completed, they got into positions around the weapon and shouted, "Z-Rex Megablaster!" Devin shouted, "Ready?" followed by Cassidy's, "Aim," and then Conner's, 'Fire!" A massive ball of energy was ejected from the blaster and knifed through the monster as if it had no armor at all. It fell to the ground and promptly exploded. The Rangers whooped and shouted in victory before seeing a flash of light and hearing a bang sound coming from above them. A brief rain shower preceded the appearance of the monster in super-sized form standing over them. Conner lifted his morpher to his helmet and said, "We need Brachio, Dr. Oliver."
"On his way." Came the reply. Soon, a rumbling sound could be heard, and an oversized black Brachiozord came into view. It opened several panels around itself and the Tyranno, Tricera, and Ptrera Zords all came bounding out.
Devin and Cassidy looked upon this in wonder. Devin said, "What about us? Should we go back to the Lab?"
Before Conner could answer, a voice sounded from Cassidy's wrist. "Hey, what about us? We want to play, too." The Stego morpher shifted and changed to the Drego head before continuing, "Yes, we would like to fight, too. Don't start without us."
Cassidy looked bewildered at her morpher. Kira just chuckled and said, "Looks like you get control of the Dino Stegozord."
Conner nodded and said, "Hey Devin, how would you like your own megazord, too?" He lifted his morpher to his helmet again and said, "Mezodon Rover!" The massive zord came bounding out from wherever it's been hiding. Conner pulled out the Shield of Triumph and handed it to Devin, saying, "Here you go. You just put the shield into the console and it should transform into the Mezodon Megazord. Have fun!"
The Dregozord and Stegozord arrived shortly thereafter, and each of them leapt into their zords, forming each of the Thundersaurus Megazord, Dino Stegozord, and Mezodon Megazord. The three squared off against the monster, which started blasting them with explosive rounds almost immediately.
All three megazords were rocked by the attack. Ethan got an idea and said, "Cassidy, call on the Ankylozord to shield from the blasts. We'll take the Cephelozord and smash that cannon's barrel. Devin, keep him busy at close range so we can approach and neutralize his threat."
"Got it." Came their voices. They proceeded with the plan, the Ankylozord and Cephelozord coming out of Brachio and adjoining the megazords they were called from. Devin began a fierce melee attack against the monster, while the Dino Stegozord stood at a distance with the Ankylozord shielding the blasts from the cannon. The Thundersaurus Megazord approached unseen from the side. Once they were close enough, the pilots of the megazord shouted, "Cephelo Power Punch!" The attack bent the cannon arm every which way; the monster was still firing at the time, so the next shot that tried to go through the barrel blew the monster's cannon arm up. The blast caused a huge crack to appear in its armor. They noticed this and pressed their attacks, engaging both the Tyranno Drill and the Ankylo Drill at the same time. In a huge blast, the monster was no more.
The battle over, the Rangers stumbled back into the Dino Lab under Dr. Oliver's house. Cassidy and Devin collapsed onto the couch that was situated along the wall, leaning against each other with their eyes closed. The other three stood nearby, and Tommy addressed them all. "You've done well for your first battle as a team of five. I'm impressed with your command of the Dino Stegozord, Cassidy, and good idea, Conner, giving Devin the Mezodon Rover."
Conner beamed at the praise, then turned to Kira, saying, "You changed the plan."
She glared at him and replied, "Hey, it worked, didn't it? I mean, I know your plan was a good one, but I saw a means to improve it…"
Conner grabbed her shoulder and interrupted her. "I didn't say it was a bad change. I'm impressed in your forethought. You probably saved us a ton of time in taking Cryz out of the fight. Good work."
Kira shut her mouth and just stood there, blushing at his words. Cassidy suppressed a giggle at the exchange and said, "That was something else, though. It's such a rush, I almost want to go back out there, just to get that feeling back." She thought on the fight for a moment before asking, "You guys have never needed that much planning before, have you?"
"Not that kind of planning." Dr. Oliver answered her. "The original Ranger teams had to come up with some special things in the past, and a couple of times we formed a real plan against Mesogog, but for the most part, we just charged into battle and removed the enemy before they could cause devastation."
Conner stretched and said, "I don't know about you guys, but I could use a smoothie. Who's with me?" The others shouted in agreement and they filed out to Conner's car. He had to raise the arm rest to fit all six of them, but it wasn't uncomfortable.
"It's as you expected, Master." Cryz drawled. Her head was bowed and she looked apprehensive, as if this news was going to illicit a punishment. "There are two new Rangers; a pink and a green one. We were beaten due to these reinforcements."
A wheezing breath sound could be heard in response. After a moment of tension, it replied, "Did I not say I sensed more Gems? You were careless and didn't anticipate their power and strategy. Go and watch them. Report back with everything you know about these other Rangers." Cryz exhaled in relief and left the room. The remaining individual regarded the schematics on the screen off to the side and said, "Soon, Rangers, I will have my revenge. It is only a matter of time…"
