Chapter Ten-A Ranger Once More
From my first day, I found teaching to be difficult but rewarding. My students liked me well enough and most of them absorbed the material I was teaching them. I even inspired a few to become scientist.
The first week I taught at Reefside High was difficult. The first day, I met three teenagers, Ethan James, Kira Ford, and Conner McKnight. They were three different people. Ethan was a gamer, a geek, Kira was a take no nonsense musician, and Conner was the jock. They were good kids but clashed. They bickered often, but they were forced to get to know one another and become friends when they became the three Dino Thunder Power Rangers.
They had found my Command Center after getting lost in the woods near my house. They each picked up a Dino Gem. The gems bonded with their individual DNA.
Conner became the Red Tyranno Ranger. He was the team's leader. His power was speed and his weapon the Tyranno Staff. His powers game from the Tyrannosaurus. He was a good team leader and friend. Determined, well meaning, and good hearted. He wasn't exactly the brightest Red Ranger but he made up for it with his heroic actions.
Ethan, the Blue Tricera Ranger. He, because of his years of playing video games, he was a good strategist. His weapons was the Tricera Shield. He was the one Conner and Kira turned to with their troubles. He was a good listener and a funny person. His powers game from the Triceratops and his ability was to harden his skin into armor.
Kira was the Yellow Ptera Ranger. Her powers did not come from the Pterodactyl like Kimberly's before her, but from the Pteranodon. Her powers was a scream, a sound wave that stunned and knocked back our enemies. Her weapons were the Ptera Grips. She was tough and did not like being treated as a dainty damsel. She was her own person and could hold her own.
At first, I was angry that they had found my gems, but they completely proved me wrong. They became a great team and for the most part, an unselfish team. I watched proudly as they destroyed monster after monster.
I did not envy them. I had my time and was happy to pass the torch.
It was after the Dino Thunder Rangers' first week, that I began to wonder what had happened to the two other Dino Gems that I help create. I secretly hoped that the Black and White Dino Gems were destroyed with the island. I was wrong.
Soon, after Kira, Ethan, and Conner became the new Power Rangers, I was kidnapped by Mesogog. He spent most of his time taunting me and a taunted him in return. I kept a close eye on the Black Dino Gem that had somehow became crystallized and when I got the opportunity, during my rescue, I took it. I used our enemies' fire to free the gem and placed it in my own Power Morpher, Hayley thought it would be a good idea for me to be prepared.
I became a Power Ranger again. This time I was Black Brachio Ranger. My powers came from the Brachiosaurus and I had the ability to become invisible. I spent most of my time off the field and in the Command Center. Like I said before, I had had my time as a Power Ranger.
A few weeks passed and we Dino Thunder Rangers fell into a routine. Mesogog, or his minion Elsa, would send down a monster and the Power Rangers would defeat him. It was like the old days back in Angel Grove and just like in Angel Grove a curve ball had to be sent and once again it was an evil Ranger.
As I had feared, Mesogog had the White Dino Gem and Trent Fernandez, another student I taught at Reefside High, found it. The gem bounded with his DNA and since Mesogog was able to corrupt the gem, Trent became evil. He was the White Drago Dino Thunder Ranger. His power was camouflage and speed. His weapon was a Drago Sword. He became a fierce opponent and was able to trap and defeat me.
The White Ranger had entrapped me in amber and for weeks, I could not hear or see anything. It was as if I were sleeping. Alive, not quite dead.
It was Hayley who released me from by amber prison with one of her inventions. But I was not completely free. True I had been freed from the amber, but I was unable to morph out of my Ranger suit. I was again trapped, but in my own home. I could not go to work. I had to use my sick days.
After a few more weeks as the Black Ranger and the Black Ranger alone, I became desperate and found a way to demorph, but the price I paid was my visibility. My gem had overloaded and I was still trapped. I was not even able to leave home to fight anymore.
Another couple of weeks went by and I became desperate enough to use my gem to make me visible again, but again my luck turned to the worse. I fell into a deep coma and while in my coma, I had to fight my past selves. I fought myself as the Red Zeo Power Ranger, the White Tiger Power Ranger, and the Green Power Ranger. I fought them separately as I traveled through my mind. Each battle proved to be a difficult fight, but I preserved and learned that it was all a test for me to awake and become the Black Dino Thunder Ranger again.
While I was trapped in my suit, Trent became good. He was able to split from his evil side and created a new enemy for the Dino Thunder Rangers, the White Drago Ranger Clone. It was just as fierce of a fighter as Trent had been. It took us a long time before we defeated him.
During my time as the Black Ranger, I learned what happened to my old friend Smitty. Mesogog had used his hatred toward me to turn him into one of his minion. He had become Zeltrax. I did not even know that Smitty could fight until I went one on one with him. His hatred even caused him to betray and abandon his master. He fought us on his own from time to time. He only had one thought in mind, destroy Tommy and in the end, his jealousies caused him his life. I mourned the loss of my friend. Despite all the trouble he caused me, I never blamed or hated him for the pain he caused. It saddened me to know that my determination and his envy destroyed.
Also during my time as a Dino Thunder Ranger, I learned that my mentor and friend, Dr. Anton Mercer, was alive and well. At first, it confused me that he never contacted me to see if I were alive or to let me know that he were alive too. It took Trent introducing us, for me to learn that Anton had survived the island. Trent turned out to be Anton's adopted son. I was shocked that I did not know this. It was not until much later for me and the other Dino Thunder Rangers did we discover that Mesogog and Anton were the same person.
By the time of the end of the Dino Thunder Rangers, so much had happened, from me becoming a Power Ranger again to Smitty's death to Trent becoming good to Elsa becoming good to Anton being separated from Mesogog. It all ended with Mesogog destroyed and with him our gems, we were no longer the Dino Thunder Power Rangers.
So, my time as a Power Ranger finally ended. Dino Thunder was my last Ranger power. I was at peace in my life. I was able to face my past demons and come out a stronger man because of my fights with Mesogog and Smitty.
Now, all that was missing was love.
END OF CH. 10