Author's Notes: It seems some of you out there already think you know more about my fic than I do. We shall see! I had plenty of fun with this one. I had started it yesterday, but wasn't able to get more than a little over a thousand words in. I took over writing it while compressing some video, since there wasn't much else I could do on my computer while doing that.
Anyways, this chapter started writing itself after a little while, and the ideas simply flowed. I quite surprise myself with this stuff, sometimes. I hope you all enjoy it. Any comments or complaints go in the review box, like usual.
Disclaimer: Power Rangers is owned by Saban. Power Rangers Dino Thunder was owned by Disney at the time. I only own the story and the words, and Cryz from time to time. Seriously, I beat her at Super Baseball 2020 the other day! I totally owned her!
They arrived to the cybercafé that afternoon and took the usual central table of the establishment. It was the first time that this particular group of six had ever sat together, not to mention that it was a slightly tighter squeeze than they were used to. Once they all had received their orders, a question that had nagged at Kira since they first happened upon the two of them was finally too much to not ask. "So what were you guys doing before you got attacked? Also, where've you been that you didn't already know we got our powers back?"
Devin and Cassidy looked to each other for a moment before Devin spoke first. "Both of our families like to take our Summer Family Vacations as soon as school lets out. We've both been out of the city for the last two weeks."
Cassidy picked up where Devin left off. "We were actually on our way here to tell each other about them. We turned a corner and the next thing we knew, we were being charged by those things. Normally we've always ran away from them, but we didn't see a monster with them, and there were only four of them, so we figured we'd just stop them right there. If anything else had happened, we'd have been out of there."
The door to the café opened and in walked Krista. She made her way to the counter, placed her order, then turned and saw the group sitting at the table. She narrowed her eyes and made a 'humph' sound, then took her order and strode out the door. The Ranger group noticed this and the two newcomers turned back to Conner with questions in their eyes. He said, "She's still mad at me, I guess. She broke up with me because I wouldn't tell her our secret. I say if she can't trust me enough to not suspect something being up, I have no reason to trust her with this."
They nodded in understanding. Just then, Hayley's new employee came in and popped up next to them, looking over the group inquisitively. She said, "Oh, you guys are new. I've not seen you two hanging around them before. I'm Jennifer, but you can call me Jen. Hayley hired me last week because her previous employee moved away… I think his name was… Trent? I don't remember. Anyways, I just thought I'd introduce myself since I'm still kind of new around here…" She was babbling at this point and seemed to have realized it since she just kind of looked embarrassed and stopped talking. The group introduced themselves, since not even the others had done so before. Some more customers had walked in so she excused herself and started working, since her shift apparently had just started.
Ethan looked to his companions before saying, "Well, that was weird… Hayley sure knows how to hire 'em, doesn't she?"
Angela poked him in the side and said, "Hey, since we're here, why don't you show me that game you've been drooling over recently." Ethan's eyes lit up at this, which caused the other four to roll their own eyes in return. They got up and headed for a vacant computer.
Conner too stood up, and said, "Headed to the bathroom. Be back in a moment."
He walked off with the others watching him. Once he was safely behind the door, Cassidy leaned forward and said, "What's up with Conner's car? Since when was it a deep orange color?"
Kira visibly blushed for a split second before willing it away. She answered, "Before I say anything, let me ask you something… You two like each other now, right? If so, it'll make explaining a little easier…" Cassidy and Devin looked away from each other, confirming Kira's thoughts; she continued, "That's what I thought. You've both only been Rangers for a few hours, but I'm sure you can already feel the color association impulses; Cassidy should be wanting to wear the color Pink and have it all around her, while Devin should be feeling similar about Green. Since you two actually like each other, though, there should be a secondary color impulse in the back of your minds in each others' colors. You're fortunate that Pink and Green don't blend well, unlike…" She trailed off at this point and let the two of them put the pieces together. Realization dawned on both of them and their eyes widened. Kira just smiled back at them weakly in response and said, "Yeah, Conner's car got trashed by 'drones before we got our powers back completely. He fixed it up this weekend; before he started working on it, he told me he was going to do it, and when I joked about him painting it a new color, he confirmed that's what he suddenly wanted to do… And it seems he actually did it…"
Devin got his voice back and asked, "Has he actually asked you yet?"
She shook her head. "It seems he thinks not enough time has passed since both Trent left and since his breakup."
Cassidy perked up at the mention of Trent and asked, "Yeah, where is he? I haven't seen him since before school let out…"
"He's upstate. He enrolled in a vocational school where he could focus on his art. He father moved him into an apartment up there, and Conner, Ethan, and Doctor O. helped him move his stuff last Friday."
"Oh." Was all they said. Conner returned from the bathroom at about this point and retook his seat next to Kira. He said, "So how was your vacations? I mean, I'm sure it was enjoyable simply getting out of the city after the way this last year was…"
They spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying each others' company and actually taking the opportunity to get to know each other more than they had in school before.
"Report!"
"It seems the Rangers have two new friends; a bumbling reporter and her cameraman are now in uniform beside them." Cryz now stood tall compared to when she was reporting earlier that day. Several hours had passed, as there were obligations she had to do before she could return. She continued, "They also appear to have an infatuation with each other. We may be able to use it against them."
He appeared pleased with the information. Despite feeling more confident, Cryz was still unnerved by the sound of her master's breathing, which he sometimes seemed to be emphasizing. He commanded, "Prepare yourself, for tomorrow you are taking a trip. I need you to find some objects which are still quite powerful, but have been abandoned for several years. We will need them for our new plans; should we acquire them, the Rangers will not be able to defend themselves!"
He begun laughing, which caused to Cryz to shiver. She asked, "Where will I be going, master?"
He stopped laughing, looked her in the eyes, and said, "Angel Grove."
The Ranger had caught a fortunate break the next day. Although they were ready for another attack, none came. About halfway through the day, it was agreed that they should simply be trying to relax when things like this happen, since it won't happen often. They went about their favorite activities and felt like they got back some of the energy they'd been expending recently.
Wednesday morning, however, changed everything. The Rangers had gathered in the Dino Lab for a briefing when a different kind of alarm started sounding. Some confused looks were being thrown around, so Tommy did his best to ease their fears and said, "This is the natural disaster alarm. It's mostly for detecting earthquakes and severe storms, though. Let me see what it detected…" He fiddled with the computer to bring up an image of what triggered the alarm. "Ah, here it is. Seems there was an explosion in the mountains Northeast of town." Again with the confused stares from the Rangers, so he continued, "I also keyed the alarm in to unexplainable explosions."
Now they understood. Conner turned to his teammates and said, "Kira and I will check out that explosion, you three stay on standby in case we need you or in case of an attack. Now would be the perfect time to distract us with a monster, and I'm sure whoever is sending them knows this."
Conner was about to get into his morphing stance when he noticed Kira not moving. He threw a look her way and she said, "Why am I going with you? Why not one of the others?"
Conner rolled his eyes and sighed. "For one thing, if we get separated during our investigation, I will definitely be able to hear your Ptera Scream. For another thing, I've heard from Devin and Cassidy that they had some technical things they needed to discuss with Ethan and Angela, and they can't do that if any of them are out with me."
"Oh." They got into their typical morphing stance and proceeded to transform. They decided on taking the Raptor Riders instead of the Cycles, since it was mountainous terrain they would be going through, so the ability to jump and more easily dodge obstacles would be a positive.
The Raptors certainly seemed to be enjoying the chance to get out. Not that they didn't mind stay in and guarding the Lab, it's just having a chance to be out with their humans was a thrill, not to mention the chance to go into battle. They knew this was a reconnaissance mission, but it didn't mean they weren't going into battle!
They arrived at the coordinates provided to them and found what looked like a chunk of cliff face having been blown off. They demorphed after dismounting, unsure of if the energy of their Ranger form was able to be tracked, and proceeded into the ruins. Bits of machinery were strewn about, but the disturbing find was the Tyrannodrone parts that also seemed to be littering the floor. Either whatever was here had something to do with the current evil, or the current evil sent the 'drones to destroy this place. The latter was looking less and less likely, especially since who would have a factory in the middle of nowhere in a cliff face?
They continued their cautious search until they found what was likely the epicenter of the blast. The machine looked important enough, even if it had apparently blossomed out from the explosion. They examined the outside of it wordlessly, each going around the opposite side of it. When this turned up nothing, they looked to each other and finally turned to the ruined structure. Pieces of it were able to be moved away, so they did in order to get closer. There in the center was the glint of something golden. Kira, with her smaller size, was able to wiggle her way in to reach it. When she withdrew her hand, she turned the object over a few times as they examined it.
It was a small golden coin with a figure carved into it. Conner finally spoke, "It looks like a mammoth, or something similar to it."
Kira nodded, "Yeah, but what is it? I feel as though I've seen it before, but I can't place where exactly that was…"
"We should take it back to Dr. Oliver. Maybe he knows what it is, or has at least seen it before…"
He started to walk away with Kira following, when she suddenly stopped. Something had been bothering her and she had to say something…
"Conner? So are you planning to actually ask me out, or what? I mean, if you are, you might as well get it over with now…"
Conner stiffened at the accusation. Without turning, he answered, "Why? So you can get the rejection out of the way?"
Kira just rolled her eyes. Conner could be so negative sometimes. "No, idiot, so we can give it a chance and see if it's right. While I don't currently have feelings beyond you being my best friend, that doesn't mean it can't change. Trent tried with me, so I suppose I can try with you…"
He turned to face her and asked, "Are you sure about this? It's why I hadn't asked you, since I didn't want to chance it until I was sure you might've felt something in return…"
Suddenly she felt a little guilty for putting the ultimatum out there like that. She said, "Okay, I get why you wanted to wait, but it's a little late for that now. It'll be for the best to just try going out a few times. If it feels right, we keep going, otherwise, we agree that it was worth a shot and stay best friends, okay?"
Conner thought about it for a few moments before nodding. "Okay, so how about a movie on Saturday? You can even pick it out; doesn't matter to me what we watch."
Whatever answer Kira gave was drowned out by a cry from the Raptors. They looked up in time to dodge to either side of a lightning blast. They morphed and entered battle stances before even seeing who had attacked them.
Standing a dozen meters away was Cryz. She cried out, "Give back what you stole from my master!" She attacked with another lightning blast before charging them to try any slash with her sword. Kira wasn't able to get to the coin, since she had pocketed it before morphing, so it was temporarily sealed off from access.
Conner shouted, "We don't have time to mess with you!" He approximated a whistling sound, and soon the Raptors were bounding towards them, taking a moment to snap at Cryz before stopping in front of their partners. Conner and Kira patted them affectionately for a moment before mounting them and riding off at top speed. Whatever that coin was, it was super important, and it meant that they had to get it back to Doctor Oliver as soon as possible!
Shortly after the Red and Yellow Rangers had left, Ethan turned to his new teammates and asked them, "So what's this idea you had?"
Cassidy looked to Devin and he spoke first, "I remember from the footage of the original Rangers that they had an attack that combined their laser weapons into one big blast. I was wondering if we couldn't do something similar…"
Angela was nearby at the computer and punched up the footage Devin was mentioning. Three Rangers stood side by side, while two Rangers stood on their shoulders, each pointing their lasers towards the center of the group. The fired at once, and the energy gathered into some kind of symbol (Ethan noted how much it looked like the Triforce) and fired it off at the monster, which blew it up quite easily. Ethan nodded at the attack, and started to formulate how they could do something similar. It might take a modification to the lasers, but they should be able to make something like that happen.
The normal alarm that signified an attack of some sort went off. Still at the computer, Angela went about locating the disturbance and found a scattering of Tyrannodrones causing general mayhem. The three remaining Ranger looked to each other and nodded. They got into positions and morphed. Ethan walked up to his Raptor and said, "Keep watch here. I know you're by yourself for the moment, but I know you'll keep this place safe." It made a confirmatory screech, and Ethan made his way to his Raptor Cycle, Cassidy and Devin taking their newly repainted Dino ATVs. They sped off to repel the attack.
When they arrived, the area appeared to have taken more damage than usual, but they paid it no mind since it was far more important to stop them than to survey the vicinity. Tricerashield, Paralance, and Thundermax Saber were employed as they waded into the fray. The first thing that they noticed was that the 'drones appeared to be made of slightly stronger materials. Ethan noted to himself that they seemed to be as strong as the ones Mesogog had used against them. They still had the same heightened ability to work together with one another, which made them much more dangerous compared to before.
Cassidy cried out as she got swarmed by three at once. Devin shouted as he plunged to her rescue, driving two of them away in order to give her the time to dispatch the third one. She said, "This isn't working. I need my bow!"
Ethan heard her and yelled to them, "Clear a space and get her out of the melee, then cover her while she's picking them off!" Devin grunted in response and swept his lance around, giving the Pink Ranger the space to get far enough away to draw her Stega Bow. The Green Ranger then took a defensive position with his Paralance and stayed at the ready in case any 'drones tried to charge her. Ethan stayed in the middle of the combat in order to try to keep as many of them from breaking off as possible, and Cassidy started picking the opposition off one by one. Each arrow appeared to have the power to disable one of them, and in a few short minutes, the crowd was visibly thinned.
The Blue Ranger had taken a defensive position next to Devin with his Thundermax Saber drawn, giving him a classic sword-and-shield look. No 'drone was able to get past them, and it seemed victory was all but assured, when they were rocked by what appeared to be white lightning. Looking beyond the remaining drones stood Cryz and a new monster; this one looked like a very strange amalgam of creatures, with a body like an anthropomorphic tiger, the faceplate and horns of a triceratops, extremely dangerous looking teeth, and large, leathery wings that were folded in, apparently because they were not currently needed. Cryz cackled at them and said, "Let's see if you can handle this!" She promptly lifted her hand and summoned an Invisiportal, taking herself and the 'drones away, leaving the three Rangers to battle the new monster.
"I don't like the look of this." Devin said. The other agreed and took up defensive stances. The monster screeched and bent low, then proceeded to run at them at a high speed.
It was all they could do to dive out of the way before getting gored on its horns. Ethan shouted, "Spread out! Keep it from getting to all of us at once. If you aren't targeted, blast it with lasers!"
They put several meters of distance between each other and stood in a rough triangle. In the center, the monster faced each of them in turn before settling on the Pink Ranger. It repeated its previous actions and charged Cassidy, who jumped over it at the last second. Ethan and Devin tried to hit it with their Thundermax Lasers, but it extended its wings and absorbed the attacks, seemingly without injury. Cassidy ran past the others to take a triangulated position again, this time drawing her bow and preparing in case it targeted one of the others. It did and tried to attack the Green Ranger this time. An arrow was loosed, and it sunk deep into the softer skin in the monster's side. It snorted in protest and stumbled, stopping its rampage temporarily. Gripping the protruding arrow, it yanked it out forcefully and threw it towards Ethan, who barely blocked the missile with his shield.
The Rangers regrouped now, since the monster appeared to have stopped attacking and was instead simply watching them. Ethan whispered to the others, "This isn't good. We need Conner and Kira…"
While the Blue, Pink, and Green rangers were battling the 'drones, the Yellow and Red Rangers were just getting back from their excursion to the blast site. They demorphed and looked around the Lab, not seeing Dr. Oliver anywhere. Kira turned to where Angela was on the computer and asked, "Where's Doctor O.?"
Without turning, Angela said, "He's upstairs."
Conner started to go up when Kira placed her hand on his arm and said, "I'll get him." She ran up the stairs and could hear Conner asking where the others went when she emerged into the house. She found him lounging in the living room with a newspaper. "Doctor O.? We just got back from the site of the explosion…"
He looked up to her and said, "What did you find?"
She put her hands in her pockets and started, "It was a complete mess; machinery and 'drone parts all over the place." She withdrew her hands and kept one of her palms closed. "At the epicenter we found a big machine; it had this in the center." She held out her hand and dropped the coin into his open palm. He took it and examined the markings on it; he froze almost instantly when he recognized the symbol.
Kira was about to say something when she heard a shout from downstairs. "Ethan and the others are in trouble! We've got to get down there to help them!" She exploded into movement to get back downstairs, morphing along the way, and found Conner already transformed and making his way to the Cycles. She nodded to him and climbed onto the Yellow Cycle; she followed him out of the lair to wherever the attack was actually happening at.
It had only stopped for about two minutes before beginning its attack anew. This time, it extended the wings and began beating them mightily, which first caused winds which buffeted the Rangers enough to throw them off balance. Then it took to the air and flew up high before going into a dive; clawed hands at the end of muscled arms held in front of it as part of the attack.
The Rangers hadn't had the chance to recover from being blown over, so were sitting ducks before the hunter when it swooped down and slashed at them. The attack blasted them every which direction, and they rolled away, crying out in pain. It arced back upward and started flying in circles around the Rangers, constantly moving to both stay in the air, and keep them guessing. It was preparing to attack again when laser fire drilled into its front side, causing it to fly backwards and attempt to keep its altitude.
"Thought you could use a hand." Kira stated as she aimed her laser again. She and Conner fired again, and soon the monster was forced back to the ground. It wasn't without defenses, however, and it folded its wing in front of it to start shielding its body from the lasers.
Cassidy saw this move and said, "I don't think so." She raised her bow and fired twice in rapid succession. Each arrow pierced one of the wings and buried into the flesh of the beast, pinning the wings in place and preventing the monster from withdrawing them or moving its arms. She fired several more times in order to ensure that the monster wouldn't simply break its imprisonment immediately.
Conner inclined his helmet in her direction, saying, "Good thinking, Cassidy. Seems those wings block simple lasers. Options?"
"The Megablaster?" Ethan suggested.
"Ooh, can we try that idea I had?" Devin questioned.
Ethan shook his head and said, "We don't even know if it'll work. I haven't had time to inspect the power sources for the lasers…"
"I've been giving it some thought, though…" Devin argued, "Since we're now powered completely by the Morphing Grid like the originals, our weapons may now be configured like theirs. It might just work!"
Conner looked back and forth between them before asking, "How do we do this attack?"
Devin's face lit up behind his mask. He said, "You stand in the middle between Ethan and I, while Cassidy and Kira jump up and balance on our shoulders. We then aim our lasers into the center of the triangle and fire, which should create an energy blast that will be aimed in the direction we face."
Conner nodded as he considered the words. Finally, he said, "Let's try it. If it doesn't work, be ready to form the Megablaster, though."
The three boys lined up facing the still struggling monster. It had managed to dislodge a couple of the arrows, but some of them were being stubborn. Kira and Cassidy performed synchronized backflips and landed on the shoulders of the other three Rangers. They drew their Thundermax Lasers and pointed them into the middle of the triangle-like formation. At Conner's signal, they fired at once; the lasers converged, and almost immediately a blast shot out towards the monster. The symbol, Ethan noted, was the five-pointed Dino Thunder symbol that adorned the chest of the Triassic Ranger. The energy slammed into the front of the creature and seemed to disappear. Electricity seemed to play across the surface of it and without pretense it exploded.
The girls hopped of their shoulders and whooped in victory, though they stayed wary in case a further battle of larger proportions was imminent. Fortunately, there didn't actually appear to be any remains after the smoke cleared. Where it stood, though, something appeared to be glimmering. Devin pointed and asked, "What's that?"
The Red and Yellow Rangers looked up and froze momentarily, feeling a wave of déjà vu. Ethan saw that they weren't moving, so went he to check out what seemed to be left behind. Lying on the ground where normally there would be monster remains was three gilt coins with shapes on them. He picked them up and studied them in turn; the figures each looked like a triceratops, a saber-toothed tiger, and some form of Pteranodon. Something nagged at the back of his mind that these seemed familiar, but he dismissed it.
When he made it back to the group, Conner said, "Golden coins with a figure of an ancient animal of some sort carved into them."
Ethan looked to his leader in bewilderment. How did he know that? "Yeah, precisely what they are. We should get these back for analysis. Whatever they are, they were powerful enough to fuel that monster…"
The others agreed and together they sped back to the lab.
Cryz screamed in pain as her mind was invaded again and again. Through her agony, she could hear the harsh voice of her master saying, "You have failed me again. You lost me four of the original Power Coins, leaving me with little to fuel my revenge." He stopped his mental attack and his servant crashed to the ground unconscious. He opened his palm to regard the object in his hand. "Fortunately we still have the most powerful one. How shall I use this… Ah, I know…" He strode over to a computer console and brought up a long forgotten image. "They say you should let sleeping dogs lie… but what about sleeping dragons?" Ominous laughter filled the room as he reveled in his new scheme.