Two Evils Combined =Trouble for Two Ranger Teams
Disclaimer: Same as always.
A/N: Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it. Please keep it coming and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 12: Another Diabolical Scheme Implemented
I'm in heaven, was Camille's only thought as she felt Dai Shi's lips on hers, kissing her passionately. She returned the kiss, pulling him as close as she could. She never wanted it to end. But unfortunately it did as Dai Shi pulled back several moments later and just gazed at her.
"My, how sweet that was!" Goldar jeered and giggled.
Dai Shi whirled around. "I thought I told you to shut up, you idiot!" He snapped angrily at the golden-clad ape warrior.
"Wait, why are we leaving? We have the rangers on the run; we could destroy them!" Camille spoke up as she glanced at the viewscreen, before anyone could respond to Dai Shi's outburst.
"This was just a test run, to give the rangers, especially the new ones, a taste of what they're up against. It was never meant to destroy them outright," Zedd explained, glaring at Dai Shi under his visor for insulting Goldar.
"But why?" Scorpina wanted to know. "We should destroy them while we have the chance."
Camille, who had immediately understood what was happening as soon as Zedd had finished speaking, resisted the urge to laugh out loud. Scorpina was either too stupid for own good or too wrapped up in Goldar to see what was right in front of her. "Because we want them to suffer first," She replied, sounding like she was explaining something to a small child. "Giving them this small taste of Serpentera's power has no doubt struck fear into their hearts, especially the Jungle Fury ones, who have never seen Serpentera before."
Dai Shi nodded. "Camille's right. And we keep doing these hit and fade attacks to keep them on edge and running themselves and their zords ragged trying to fight us as well as to distract them while we secure our trump card," he added with an evil grin.
"What trump card?" Goldar asked, puzzled. He looked at Scorpina. "What are they talking about?"
She shrugged. "I don't have a clue," she replied. "But I'd sure like to know."
Dai Shi laid the piece of paper with Tommy and Kim's kids' pictures down for them to see. "This trump card, he announced gleefully. "And once we have them, it will be all over for the rangers!"
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Upon returning to the loft, RJ collapsed tiredly into his recliner as Casey and Dom lay down on the floor. The others all sat on the floor by them.
"Man, for a moment or two there, I didn't think we'd get out of the battle alive!" Dom remarked after a few moments.
Casey propped himself on his elbow and looked at the rhino ranger. "I hear you there, Dom," he replied. "I've never seen the power like that … whatever it's called, was unleashing."
"Serpentera," Jason supplied. "I felt the same way about it the first time we went up against it."
"So why did it just leave like that?" Theo asked. "It had us!"
"I don't know, but I'm not complaining," Lily replied. "Our zords wouldn't have been able to handle much more."
"What happened the first time you guys went up against it?" Casey asked Jason, his interest piqued.
"We'll tell you guys all about it and everything else we know about Serpentera," Tommy replied before Jason could answer.
Zack shook his head. "Man, that was one ugly fight," he remarked. "Serpentera destroyed the whole Deserted Planet."
Theo gasped. "What?! Are you serious?" He exclaimed.
RJ whistled. "That's some serious firepower!" He said, sounding awed.
"What's the Deserted Planet?" Casey wanted to know.
"How could it destroy a whole planet?" Dom asked at the same time.
"With its power," Kim answered.
Dom rolled his eyes. "That tells us a lot," he said sarcastically. Kim shot him a dirty look.
"Let's start at the beginning," Jason spoke up. "Hopefully by the time we finish, all of your questions will be answered." With that, he and the rest of the originals told the others everything they knew about Serpentera, including the first time they went up against it.
When they were done, Dom whistled. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed.
"We're sunk," Theo said with a groan. "How do we stop something that can destroy a whole planet?"
"Well, we don't actually know if it is capable of destroying Earth," Billy spoke up. "The Deserted Planet was much smaller, only a little over half the size of the Earth."
"What I don't get is why Zedd and Dai Shi are actually working together," Zack said. "Dai Shi wants to destroy all humans so animals can rule the planet and Zedd wants to rule it like it is."
"Just because we fought both Putties and Rinshi at that last battle doesn't mean they are actually working together," Jason pointed out.
"You may be right, but we have to assume they are," RJ said.
"RJ's right," Casey spoke up. "We have to be prepared for all possibilities, especially the worst ones."
"Which brings us back to my question of how do we stop Serpentera?" Theo wanted to know.
"Hey, what about that Tor zord you mentioned?" Dom asked Jason. "Can you guys still use it? If you can, it can drain Serpentera's power like it did in those past battles."
"Hey, yeah!" Lily exclaimed.
"That's a good idea!" RJ added.
Jason shook his head, though. "That's a good thought, and even though we can call on Tor, draining Serpentera's power would be no more than a delaying tactic. They would just recharge it and attack again, resulting in a drawn-out stalemate battle that would go on until Tor got destroyed. And it would sooner or later, probably sooner, despite its heavy armor," he answered.
"But what's to say that they even have the capability and energy to keep recharging it?" Lily asked.
"We don't, but we have to assume they do," Tommy put in.
"Tommy's right," Billy said. "They wouldn't have expended all the power they did today if they couldn't."
"Good point, Billy," RJ told him. "We should still drain its power; even if it only stalls them because that will give us extra time to come up with a way to destroy it."
"True," Trini said. "But the more battles we fight greatly increases the risk of us and our zords getting hurt, killed damaged or destroyed. And it also greatly increases the risk of civilian injuries and deaths, as well as more and more damage to buildings and other structures."
"And we can't chance that," Jason said firmly.
Dom was getting frustrated. "We can't just sit here on our asses and do nothing!" He cried.
"We don't intend to," Tommy told him.
Dom looked at him skeptically. "So I take it the great leader here has some kind of plan to destroy this monster zord before it destroys us," he said sarcastically.
Tommy fired back a retort and the two of them started to bicker then. Casey tuned out and started to think. He knew there had to be a way to destroy Serpentera. But try as he might, he couldn't think of that way. He groaned in frustration.
Just then, a memory came unwittingly to him. It was the day his great-uncle had been diagnosed with terminal advanced stage four colon cancer. He had been seventeen then. When his mom had told him, he had broken down and cried for over a half hour. They had been very close and Casey, who had refused to accept the dire prognosis, kept trying for days afterward to come up with a way to help him so he wouldn't die. He had gotten so frustrated and angry with himself for not being able to think of anything that he had started to snap at anything and anyone. Finally, his mom had sat him down and told him that there was nothing anyone could do. The cancer couldn't be stopped. It had spread all over his abdomen and was starting to go into his chest. In short, it was destroying him from the inside out.
It was very hard for Casey to hear that, but over the next couple of days, he did come to terms with it and vowed to be there for him until the end. That end turned out to be real soon as he had passed away seven weeks later. That was one of the saddest days, if not the saddest day of his life. It still choked him up to think about it.
It had happened two years ago but the memory was still so vivid, especially the part when his mom had told him the cancer was destroying him from the inside out. It had to be so painful and debilitating for him to have to go through that.
Suddenly he sat up straight. He knew exactly how to destroy Serpentera! "Guys, I've got it!" He exclaimed.
Heads turned toward him. "Huh?" Jason asked.
"You got what, Case?" RJ wanted to know.
Casey grinned. "The way to destroy Serpentera!" he cried.
"Really? How?" Theo asked eagerly.
"Tell us, please!" Lily said.
Tommy shook his head. This guy has only been a ranger for around five months and he thinks he knows how to destroy Serpentera; something he's never even heard of or seen until today? He found that a little hard to believe. "Okay, what's your plan?" He asked doubtfully.
Casey grinned again. "Just this," he began, and proceeded to tell them his idea.
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"According to this, they live in a town called Reefside. It's a couple of hours away from Ocean Bluff," Camille remarked to Dai Shi, studying the copies.
"We need the exact location," Dai Shi told her. "Is there an address?"
Camille looked, and then grinned wickedly. "It's right here." She pointed it out to Dai Shi.
"Excellent," Dai Shi said. "Take Goldar and Scorpina and go there and bring the children back to the temple."
"What if they're not there?" Goldar wanted to know.
"We'll deal with that if it happens," Dai Shi told him.
Zedd nodded. "He's right. Just go there and get them. If they are not there, contact me immediately," he said.
All three warriors bowed. "It shall be done, Dai Shi," Camille told him, gazing at him adoringly.
Scorpina shook her head as they teleported. Camille was the most pathetic woman she had ever met!
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Meanwhile in Reefside, Hayley had just gotten the kids to bed and gotten settled on the couch with her laptop when the doorbell rang.
It figures, she thought irritably as she got up to answer it. But when she opened it, she gasped in horror at the three figures standing on the doorstep. Two she recognized as Goldar and Scorpina from Tommy's video about the original rangers, but the third, who was completely covered in bright green body armor, she did not.
"Hello, red," the one in green armor said mockingly.
"You have something we want, and we're here to get it!" Goldar sneered.
"No, stop!" Hayley shouted in terror as all three pushed past her and into the house. They immediately spilt up to find what they were after. Hayley dashed upstairs to protect the children, not knowing that it was them who they were after.
A/N: So what do you think? 10 Brownie points to whoever can guess Casey's plan!(the hint's in the memory) Will his plan work? Will Camille and the others get the children? What will happen if they do? Will Hayley be okay or will they get her too? Stay tuned to find out and please don't forget to review!
A/N 2: I have no idea if the distance between Reefside and Ocean Bluff is two hours. I just took a guess! Please don't be mad at me if I'm wrong!
