A Shade of Orange
Curse of the Cobra
By Pink Lightspeed Ranger
I lay on my stomach on my bed, browsing my email. Hmm, something from Shammel.
Jane—Principal Delgavio is missing!
Shammel
My jaw dropped. Well, she'd never been one to waste words. I heard Dana and Kelsey arrive, and they cheerfully greeted me.
"Hey," I replied, not really looking at them.
"Jane, something wrong?" Kelsey asked, sitting down beside me.
"This email," I replied, hitting the "reply" key. Then our morphers went off.
"Rangers to Rescue Ops," My dad said. I sighed, and we all took off.
"They're back," Kelsey said, as we ran into Rescue Ops. There, with a rush of nerves, I recognized Demonite, Thunderon and Falkar attacking the city. They were in a burning plaza, which looked pretty badly trashed. People ran in every direction.
"Are you ready?" Captain Mitchell asked, turning to us.
"Absolutely," Ryan replied.
"All right. Let's show them what seven Rangers can do," Captain Mitchell said.
"Yes, sir," we said, saluting and heading for the Rescue Rover.
"Come on, Ryan. I want to show you how it's really done," Joel said, hopping in the back with him and Kelsey. Carter and Dana were up front, and I was in the middle with Chad as usual. We started down the tunnel.
Demonite, Thunderon, and Falkar were waiting for us. A lot of people were injured, and a few trapped underneath a pile of pipes. Chad, Dana and Kelsey began helping them.
"The Rangers, right on time," Falkar said. Ryan, Joel, Carter and I dropped into a fighting stance. The others joined us a second later, Chad doing a fancy flip.
"We meet again," Thunderon said. Carter stood up straight.
"I guess you didn't learn the first time," Carter said. "Ready?"
"Right. Lightspeed Rescue!" We shouted, and morphed.
"Titanium Power!" My brother cried.
"Alright, guys, let's do it," Carter said, as Ryan joined us and we struck a last pose.
"Get them!" Demonite cried, and we went to battle. Carter and Ryan after Demonite, Kelsey and Chad taking on Falkar, and I joined Dana and Joel's charge on Thunderon.
We girls kicked his fists away, but he landed a solid punch to Joel's gut. Dana backflipped away and I kicked him in the head and Dana backflipped. Joel and I followed Dana, drew our blasters and shot the demon. Panting, I glanced around at our teammates.
Kelsey and Chad were doing well, landing several hits, until Falkar grabbed Chad and threw him into a wall. Carter and my brother battled Demonite with swords. Carter tried to slash Demonite, bounced off and hit the ground. Ryan leaped onto tall building and shot at Demonite, but missed. Then Thunderon punched me in the back. Ow, remember to pay attention to your opponent.
I hit the pavement with a grunt, and rolled over to fire my Rescue Blaster into his face. He staggered back, and Dana and Joel dragged me up. We ran back to Carter and Ryan—who looked like he'd fallen off the building—as Chad and Kelsey did.
"Revenge is sweet," Demonite said, as Falkar and Thunderon joined him.
"You all right, Ryan?" Dana asked, putting a hand on his arm.
"Yeah," Ryan said, and we dropped back into our battle stances.
"I've got something to double our fun," Demonite said, drawing a mirror-faced card. He tossed it to the ground, and it glowed yellow, forming into—
"It's an exactly copy of Demonite," Carter exclaimed. No kidding, Red Ranger. Well, actually, the top of his helmet was blue, that was different.
"And everything I can do, he can do," Demonite said, as we backed up. "You'll have to work twice as hard now." He fired his laser at us, and we all ducked aside. "Finish them, now!" Demonite's clone, Falkar, and Thunderon charged.
Carter kicked the Demonite clone's sword away, and got a boot to the chest. Ryan tried to get in a shot, but the demon moved too fast. Joel got slashed by Falkar's staff, and Kelsey went down a second later. Attacking Thunderon, Dana and Chad got a few kicks in before being punched down. I glanced at them, and charged past to the real Demonite. He looked mildly surprised, and caught my baton mode Rescue Blaster on both swords.
I kicked Demonite in the shin, somersaulting back and landing on one knee. He tried to blast me, but I shot him with my Rescue Blaster. Sparks showered from his side, and weirdly enough, from the side of his clone as well.
"How did that happen?" I said, glancing from one Demonite to the other.
"What?" Carter said, looking at the staggering clone.
"Carter, are you okay?" I asked, at the same time as Ryan asked if he was all right.
"I'm fine," he said. Ryan attacked the Demonite clone. The battle went on. Carter and I took on the real Demonite, and we all slowly worked our way out of the plaza. Ryan and the clone stayed behind, and in the glimpses I got, he didn't seem to be doing well.
"V-Lancer!" Carter ordered. He leaped into the air and sliced down at Demonite, but the demon caught it with one hand. I drew my V-Lancer and jumped in, slashing the demon across the stomach, and he fell back.
"Carter, are you alright?" I asked, backing a step towards him.
"Yeah, Jane," he said, standing, "Look out!" He stabbed past me at Demonite's stomach, and I caught a sword strike from the demon.
Everyone else had drawn their V-Lancers as well, but even so, we were losing. We gathered, and so did the demons.
"V-Lancers, lock on," Carter said. "Fire!" We pulled our triggers, and the lasers struck home. However, the light turned into a ball of golden lightning, which the demons threw right back at us. The burst of heat and deafening blast weren't any easier, even though I was expecting them. I jarred a shoulder hitting the pavement.
"You just don't learn, do you?" Thunderon asked. Slowly and painfully, we got back up.
"This isn't over yet," Carter said.
"We're going to bring you down," I added.
"It's time to defeat you," Demonite said.
"Haven't you learned that the Rangers will never be beaten?" Chad asked.
"Well, we see it differently." Demonite said. "And it's time we taught you a lesson you'll never forget." the three demons advanced.
"Wait, Ryan's in trouble." Dana said suddenly, putting a hand to her ear. "He needs our help!"
"Last time I saw him, he was fighting that Demonite clone," Joel said. We all went back into fighting stances.
"Wait a minute, I just realized something," Carter said. "Earlier, when Jane blasted Demonite, his clone was hit too. Maybe we can fight both of them at once—that gives me an idea! Come on, we have to hurry!"
We ran after him. I wondered what his plan was, and hoped it would be enough. These three—four now—were tireless.
"Now where they are going?" Falkar asked behind us. I couldn't hear Demonite's reply well enough to tell what he said, but they followed us down a narrow alley.
"They're right behind us," Dana said, glancing back.
"This way," Carter said, as we turned a corner. He pointed us to a ladder, and we began shimmying up to the rooftop. I took the moment's pause to rub my aching shoulder and catch my breath, before heading up after the others. Carter slipped away.
"You will never lose us, Rangers," Demonite taunted. Then, we heard them stop. "Huh? Where'd they go?"
"I'm getting sick of this silly game," Thunderon said, thwacking his fists together.
"They're here somewhere," Demonite said. We leaped over the gap between buildings as quietly as we could. Then he stopped.
Demonite whirled around and blasted us back with his eye lasers. We all cried out and fell headlong to the pavement. Falling together in a heap, we struggled to get back up as the three demons laughed at us.
"Hold on, where's Red?" Falkar asked. Then Carter kicked away a row of metal barrels, leaped out of an alley and blasted the demons with his V-Lancer.
"Freeze!" He shouted, shoving his V-Lancer and the Rescue Bird into Demonite's chest. The other two got out of the way. "Don't take another step, Demonite. And if you know what's good for you, call off your clone right now."
"Never!" Demonite retorted. "We're having too much fun!" The rest of us got back up, favoring our various new injuries.
"Don't force me, or I'll have no choice but to destroy both of you," Carter said.
"Go ahead," Falkar said, drawing Carter's gaze, "but I'm sure you're well aware that at that close distance, you will blow yourself up too," Falkar said. The two were on the other side of Carter and Demonite—we couldn't get past to reach them.
"He's right, Ranger. Go ahead," Demonite taunted. Carter put a finger on the trigger. "Come on, Red. Pull the trigger." The other two demons laughed.
"You're pushing me too far," Carter warned.
"Do it!" Demonite said, though Falkar and Thunderon looked suddenly nervous.
"Carter!" Dana cried.
"I'm warning you," Carter said.
"Give it to me!" Demonite shouted. "Do it!" Then Carter lowered the weapons.
"No! This isn't the right way," he said. "I'm going to help Ryan." He turned, and I had just a second to breathe in relief.
"Then I'll give it to you!" Demonite said, raising his sword, and charged.
"Look out!" Dana cried, and Carter ducked. The Red Ranger whirled, shoving the V-Lancer and Rescue Bird into Demonite's stomach, and pulled both triggers.
Demonite roared as yellow energy and blue lightning surrounded him. Then the entire alleyway exploded. Whatever was in those enormous metal crates was flammable—it went off with a series of bangs. I was deaf and blind for a good minute, but I heard my sister scream "No!"
Slowly, we all picked ourselves up. The smoke cleared a little, and we saw the remnants of Demonite rain to the pavement. There were a few blackened metal barrels still in the alley, but nothing else.
"Carter…" Dana trailed off, sinking to her knees.
"It can't be," I protested, shaking my head. Dana dropped onto her hands, lowering her head. This wasn't possible. It just—no. No, no, no.
"Carter? Carter, are you there?" Ryan asked into his morpher. "Dana, Jane answer me."
"He can't be gone," Dana said.
"Dana, he isn't—look!" Joel exclaimed. Dana looked up, just as he kicked two of the barrels away and began pushing himself up. His suit was covered with scorch marks, and he could barely keep his balance, but he was alive. I nearly fell down, I was so relieved.
"Carter!" Dana cried. We ran to Carter, who staggered towards us. Dana seized Carter in a hug, and he patted her back and nearly collapsed. We all pulled him back up. "Carter, you scared us!"
"Yeah, I scared myself pretty good too," Carter said, and laughed shakily.
"He did it. He destroyed Demonite," I heard Falkar's voice from above. Looking up, I saw the other two demons.
"Don't worry, we have Diabolico on our side," Thunderon replied.
"Oh, because that's worked so well in the past," I called up to them.
I saw the card fly past us and onto Demonite's remains. He grew giant-sized in seconds.
"Rescue Zords, mobilize!" Carter called. We all leaped into the Zords as they arrived, and started the Megazord formation without even being told to.
"That is an impressive Megazord," Falkar said.
"Demonite will turn it into scrap metal," Thunderon rumbled.
We both charged, swords at the ready. Demonite slash us in the stomach, and parried our own attack. His other sword struck home, and there was a shower of sparks.
"He's tough!" Joel said.
"Come on, hang in there, Joel," Carter said. Demonite slashed at us again, and we staggered back. "We're going to get one crack at this, guys, so keep him busy. I got an idea." I hoped this idea would be less scary than the last one, but said nothing.
"You got it," Chad replied. Demonite slashed us, and sparks showered to the ground. Then the Super Train arrived, transforming into the Super Train Megazord. It fired its missles, and Demonite tumbled to the ground.
"Wow!" My sister exclaimed.
"The Super Train Megazord. Good one," Joel added.
"Okay guys, let's give it all we've got," Carter said.
"Right," we said, and went to work.
"Turbines, Super Charge. Fire!" Carter ordered. "Lightspeed Megazord Saber, ignite!" The turbine and Saber hit Demonite, and he exploded.
"That was a tough one." Carter said.
"Great job, guys. That was amazing," Ryan said.
"Hello?" Shammel asked over the phone. I was lying on my back on the bed, cellphone at my ear. Nobody else was in the girls' quarters.
"Shammel, it's Jane," I said. "When did Delgavio go missing?"
"Just a week ago," Shammel siad. "Come down to the park and we'll give you the details."
"Alright," I replied, and turned off my cellphone. I grabbed my jacket and darted out the door.
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