Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.

-The Pink Gem

Chapter Fourteen

Trent was sketching at his usual spot by the lake-he like it there-especially when he needed to relax. "I knew they wouldn't accept me…" he thought, "Just because some new Ranger showed up means I must had something to do with her! What do I have to do to prove otherwise? What if-" A familiar voice broke his concentration, "Hey, is there room on that bench for one more?" Trent turned around to face Kira, "Depends on what you want to talk about?" Kira sat down on the bench, "Ummm….." "I figured." "No…okay, first off, I think you're really on our team and not working with Mesogog." "Really now…" "WILL YOU LET ME FINISH! Second, Conner wants to believe you, but it's just too soon…" "Too soon?" "Like, you've been with us a few days and now this new Ranger shows up. How did Mesogog find and train a new Ranger in only a few days, it doesn't make any sense. How did Mesogog hide the fact that he was training a new Ranger behind your back; if you really didn't know anything?" Trent stopped sketching for a moment, "Honestly, I only paid attention to my work and that was it. Mesogog gave me my orders and I did my job and I did nothing else." "So if Mesogog was training a new Ranger…." "I don't think I would have cared to know; when I was under the influence of the White Gem I was only interested in fighting." Trent started sketching again, "If this is true, I must be the biggest dunce on this planet. How the hell did I miss Mesogog train a new Ranger?" Trent looked at Kira, "What makes you so sure to trust me without any doubt?" "Because…" Kira got up from the bench, "If you were on Mesogog side, you would've left me in that Ice Prison." Kira left Trent with his drawing; she took out her phone and called Dr.O. "Have you made your decision yet?" "I don't trust him 100%, but we need him as much as he needs us." "I figured you say that. Now that we beat Mesogog latest fighter, he'll be looking for payback and we'll need all the help we can get."

Elsa and Zeltrax were outside the lab, "How long do we need to stay out here?" asked Zeltrax. "Until Mercer leaves the lab." "I thought Lord Mesogog would be able to suppress him." "Not this time, we all saw Trent strike down his twin sister, I'm not surprised Mercer fighting Mesogog. It's pathetic really, Mercer the one who got her involved and now she's destroyed. Mercer will have her blood on his hands for the rest of his life." Elsa and Zeltrax heard the sound of the Invisi-portal, Elsa smirked, "Time to go in." Elsa and Zeltrax entered the lab and Zeltrax went towards a terminal, "Do you remember Copy That?" "Yeah, so?" "What if I told you that I was able to salvage some parts of it that were not destroyed?" "And what would you want those parts for?" "For example, I found its memory cortex, the part that stored all of its copied information, all of it." "All of them?" "Even the White One, I just need time to transfer the data I have, to transfer the data into the Geno Randomizer in which will create our own Rangers, but it will take some time." "Wait, you can make your own Rangers?" "Not full Rangers or else it could cause a glitch in the morphing grid, but something close."

A message was coming through on the com-link, "Come in, Lord Mesogog, It's the Pink Ranger." Elsa and Zeltrax stared at the com-link, "That's impossible…."said Zeltrax, "She was destroyed." Elsa went to the com-link and opened communications on her end, "Well look who's not destroyed." "Very funny, can you-" "Why would Lord Mesogog want to talk to a failure like you? We should probably send a few Tyrannodrones down and capture you; maybe a few hours in the Punishment Chamber will teach you a lesson about following orders." "…..If you didn't want to see my Zord you could've said as much." "YOU HAVE A ZORD!" screamed Zeltrax. "Oh, hi Zeltrax, yeah I just found her a few hours ago, we've been training together. I didn't want to show Lord Mesogog until we were done so I could impress him. I wanted to show Lord Mesogog that I have a basic control over my Zord." Elsa walked over to Zeltrax and whispered, "Well?" "Well what?" Elsa gave him a look. "Just go down there and see what the Pink Ranger has to show you, if you don't like it, put her in the Punishment Chamber." Elsa walked back over to the com-link, "Where?"

Elsa walked out of an Invisi-portal, there she landed on the beach, with at least a dozen Tyrannodrones behind her, "She's still weak from that fight, she should be easy to capture." "Finally you came!" Elsa looked towards the ocean, the Pink Ranger was standing on the ocean; Elsa smirked, "I don't remember teaching you how to stand on the water…" "I'm not on the water," replied the Pink Ranger, "Chomper, rise!" The Pink Ranger starting rising, she was on a huge crocodilian-like zord which was at least 50ft long, and maybe 30ft tall, with a four feet on the ground. Its colors were dark pink with black stripes. When it opened it mouth it had thousands of sharp teeth at the ready, but Elsa remained calm, "Okay, so its big, is that it?" "No." The Pink Ranger preformed some martial arts from on the zord and shot out a 15ft. tidal wave. Elsa pulled out the scanner, "I can't believe Zeltrax was right about bringing this. "Since she has a Zord her energy level might have went up, bring the scanner to show how much stronger she's become." "Okay let's see how strong she really is…..150….I knew Zeltrax would give me a flawed scanner." "Well?" said the Pink Ranger. "So, all you got is a Dino-Zord and some waves, right?" "Great…Elsa not impressed, I'm probably going have to preform that move, are you ready?" "I am, are you?" "Alright Elsa I got one more trick! Croc-Zord Formation!" The Zord was able to transform into a working megazord within a matter of seconds, it was able to stand on two feet and its front legs turned into fist. It still had its big mouth with razor teeth. "Alright, alright, put that thing away before the Rangers get here, that thing as tall as a skyscraper!" "Chomper has a cloaking device attached to her, Rangers won't be able to see her if they wanted to." "Are you telling that all those people in Reefside are not seeing a 200ft megazord right now?" "Oh…yeah….the cloaking device only works on sensors….." "Now get your zord down to earth before the Rangers see it!" "Okay, okay, Croc-Zord Demorph!" The zord was surrounded in light for a few seconds, when the light subsided both the zord and the Pink Ranger were gone. "Great, where did they go?" The Croc-Zord rose its head up from the water and opened its jaw; the Pink Ranger walked out unharmed. "Chomper has a submarine inside her, so I can get back to the lair without using Invisi-portals. "Okay," said Elsa as she started walking away. "What do you mean okay!" "Elsa turned around to face the Pink Ranger, "I won't put you in the Punishment Chamber today, keep training with that Zord of yours for the next few hours and maybe I'll give a good report to Mesogog. Just because I won't put you in the Punishment Chamber doesn't mean Mesogog won't toss you in anyway. See ya." Elsa left through an Invisi-portal with the Tyrannodrones. The Pink Ranger collapsed on the sand and demorphed. "Alright Chomper, we did it." "Of course we would pass. Now let's get back to training just in case she decides to come back to watch." "Right."

Elsa returned to the lab, Zeltrax was still working on his assignment, "How'd it go with the Pink Ranger?" "She wasn't that bad, she had some new techniques to show off, I can see why she waited so long before contacting us. How you're end coming along?" "We need an energy source to power up the data. And not just any power blast-" "A dino gem one," finished Elsa. Zeltrax nodded, "It going to take a lot of energy, I don't know if the girl will survive and I can't even guarantee this experiment will be a success." "I'll get her anyway."

Erica and Chomper were training Erica's new water moves. Chomper would send huge waves towards Erica and she had to protect herself (or get away from the attack) under any means necessary. "Are you ready?" "I'm ready…" Chomper shot out a 50ft wave, Erica put herself in an Ice Barrier, the same one she put the Yellow Ranger in; except for the fact that she could breathe in the water. Erica's defenses held up for about two big waves but then Chomper launch at her and tail swiped Erica, shattering her defenses. The force of the attack pulled Erica down to the ocean, but she was able to resurface. Erica formed an ice patch and got on it. "That was a pretty cheap move, Chomper." "I don't think your enemies are going to be more merciful than me. They are going to use any trick in the book to beat you. You can't hold up and rely too heavily on your defenses because if it shatters you're as good as dead. Let's do this agai-. We will continue this tomorrow. Look who's behind you." Erica turned around and saw Elsa, "How long have you been watching." "Long enough. Get back to shore I need you for an assignment." "Sure. Chomper you can go back to your cove, I'll see you tomorrow." Chomper sank into the sea. Erica formed an ice strait between her and Elsa and walked towards shore, "What kind of assignment do you want me for?"

"You want me to do what again?" asked the Pink Ranger. She was staring at a table littered with metal…things which was all connected to a computer "Just unleash up your Dino Gem energy at this machine," said Zeltrax. "What's it gonna do to me?" "Nothing, you'll probably just demorph to your human form," said Elsa, "After this job you can go home, alright?" The Pink Ranger nodded. "I can do this." The Pink Ranger charged up her energy and shot out a Pink beam of energy at the machine, the machine then started glowing and making noises. "How long do I need to keep this going?" "Don't worry; you'll know," said Elsa. Just then the machine started sparking, "Is that normal?" "It just means it's activating…just a few more ticks…" The Pink Ranger kept up with her energy but she realized it was becoming harder to give the machine her energy, when she let down her defense she was hit with some of her energy. The Pink Ranger was thrown to the other side of the room, when she hit the wall she demorphed. As the Pink Ranger shook off the blow she saw Elsa and Zeltrax surrounded the computer terminal, "See I told you it would work!" said Zeltrax. "How much more work does this computer need before we get to see them?" Elsa asked. "When the bar reaches 100% all the data will transfer to the Geno Randomizer and then we'll be able to create our new weapon." "You're dismissed Pink Ranger," said Elsa, "We'll contact you tomorrow when we'll need you." "Roger," said Erica as she left the lab pressing her hand on the back of her head.

It was nighttime by the time Trent came home, "Dad? Are you home? We need to talk." The house was quiet, "Maybe Dad's still at his other job." Trent went to his father's study, the lights were out but Trent could see a figure sitting down on a chair. "Dad…?" said Trent. He reached for a light switch. "Don't…." replied Anton. "Are you alright Dad?" "Yeah, I was just resting for a bit. What is it?" "Can I turn on the lights?" "Not yet." "Alright fine then." Trent walked into the study, the room being dark with just a bit of light coming from the hallway made Trent nervous. "Okay, ummm, I don't remember a Pink Ranger being around when I was working for Mesogog…." "Right…." "Erica…..I'm so sorry….." "…And now the other Rangers really don't trust me, and they didn't trust me fully before." "Right…" "Dad, are you even listening to me?" "Yeah…." Anton took a second to compose himself, "It seems that you're at a crossroads: What do you want to do now? Do you want to keep working with the other Rangers despite this "rough patch" you guys are facing or do you just want to quit?" "You really think it's only temporary?" "I think….it was some bad timing that Mesogog used to his advantage." "He knew the Rangers would be a little skeptical of me at first." "I can't think of a more perfect way to sow the seeds of doubt than by what just happened today. They will come around, Trent; it's just going to take longer than usual." The front door opened and closed and someone ran up the stairs. Anton got up from his desk, "Trent, are you expecting company?" "No, it was probably Erica." "Erica…." Anton left his study and ran up the stairs. "Dad?" said Trent. He followed his dad up to Erica's room but Anton shut the door in his face. "What's up dad?" it was definitely Erica's voice. "What happened today?" "Nothing." "DON'T TEL ME THAT! WHAT HAPPENED?" "Calm down these walls are paper thin remember?" "There was an accident at the lab today." 'Heard about it, I wasn't anywhere near there, so no worries." "Why didn't you contact me?" "'Cause my boss is a hard-ass." "Erica…." "Look I need to get to Stevens; we're working on a project, alright. I'll see you later." Erica left the room, "Ciao, Trent." Erica said as she went down the stairs. "I thought you were taking Japanese not Italian." "Alright then…Sayonara," she said as she left the house. Trent looked inside Erica's room, his dad was sitting on her bed looking down at the floor with his hands cupped, and Trent saw his eyes were red, "Was he crying?" Trent thought, "No wonder he didn't want the lights on…he didn't want me to see that he had been crying." Trent knocked on the door to bring his dad back to reality. "I didn't want to explain it to you; no….I didn't know how to explain to you." "Explain what?" Anton sighed deeply. "You remember I told you that I got your sister a part time job working at Mercer Industries?" "Yeah, she got a job assisting the scientists identifying dinosaur bones or something, right?" "Yes. I received a call today from one of her co-workers; apparently there was an accident at the lab today…an explosion of some kind. He didn't know where Erica was…." "And you thought the worst. Why didn't you go down there and see?" "I didn't want to interfere with the police work…I didn't want to find her there…" "Dad…." "I didn't want to tell you anything until I got the full story from the police. Erica could've been injured; she could've been miles away from the site. It was a small explosion, but…" "It's okay, Dad. Erica's safe. She came home…she seemed fine." "Yeah…" Anton sighed heavily again, "Have you made your decision yet?" "I don't know…" "Well no offense, if you keep fighting Mesogogs monster the same way you took out that Pink Ranger, they'll be begging for you to stay with the team." "Heh, I guess so. And yet…Who was she? Did she at least have a name?" Anton thought, "How do I begin to explain to you who she is…." But instead, Anton looked Trent in the eyes when he stated indifferently, "Mesogog is not one to ask for names, not even pawns."

"Finally! We're done with this stupid project," said Steven reeling back on the floor. Erica and Steven were in his room finishing up the project. Erica was putting some designs on the poster board, "Was it just me or was designing the board easier than this entire project?" "Definitely. What time do you need to be home?" "Ugh…not anytime soon. I had some issues at work today and my dad was flipping." "What kind of issues?" "Some small explosion; nothing serious." "No offense to you, but I'd be flipping out along with your dad if I found out that you were involved in something like that." "I wasn't anywhere near it." "I was getting my ass kicked by that Psycho White guy." "Okay then, since you got nothing planned, T.V. time." Steven reached for the remote and turned on the T.V. As Steven flipped through the channels, Erica thought she saw a familiar face. "Hold it! Go back two channels." "Why?" "I thought…I saw Cassidy on T.V." "Two channels back…that would be the news. Why would Cassidy be on the 11 o'clock news?" "I don't know….just put it back." "Alright." Steven flipped back two channels and sure enough there was Cassidy on T.V, "Now of course, following any reporter's instinct, I followed the Pink Ranger to get as much information as possible…." "No no no no," said Steven as he ran into his closet. "What is she talking about, what Pink Ranger?" Steven was digging through his closet looking for something, "After you left, Cass called and said Devin didn't have his camera and asked to borrow mine." "Okay." "Well, we found this Pink Ranger, and some mutant that was with her. She claimed she was sent to submerge this city." "That's….just….great?" "Was I really that convincing?" "Anyhow, the Rangers came and destroyed her." "Naturally." "I felt bad for her, so I told Cassidy and Devin not to publish the tape. I even took my camera back." Steven pulled out his camcorder and opened the VCR tape holder. It was empty. "Steven, didn't you think after the last time we took their tape they would be a bit more careful around us with video tapes?" "I didn't want that video to be published…." "Why not?" "….Now thanks to our cameraman, Steven, we were able to get once in a lifetime footage of the Pink Ranger," continued Cassidy. The video was being played with the Pink Ranger and the mutant. The Pink Ranger stated in front of Steven, "I have enough energy to flood this city!" "There was more to that conversation…" thought Erica. "And Cassidy cut it all out." Then the video shows Pink Ranger jumping in front of the cameraman with the Rangers setting up they're beam attack, "I dare you to hit me with that thing! Who knows, you might actually hit one of these innocent bystanders!" "Okay, I admit that one. I can't believe I almost got Steven killed. What the hell was I thinking?" Then the Pink Ranger took some water and nearly froze the Yellow Ranger in a ball of ice, "What does it look like, I'm freezing the water" said the Pink Ranger, coldly. "She gonna freeze!" said the Red Ranger. "Oh, no; she'll probably drown before she freezes," replied the Pink Ranger. Erica was shaking, "What the hell is wrong with me? I actually almost killed her! Why would I…" Then for the finale, the video show that White Ranger slashes the Pink Ranger with his weapon and both of them falling into the water. Erica gripped her stomach, "That battle is a few hours and I'm still feeling the attack. And that's what I looked like. Jeez, no wonder why everyone thinks I'm dead: Elsa, Seven, my dad… I should be dead after everything I did. " "Erica, are you okay?" Erica rubbed her eyes, "Yeah, just seeing the White Ranger again…brought back memories….So is he working for the good guys now?" "I guess so." "Why didn't you want Cassidy to publish this tape again?" "She cut out that part." "What part?" But Erica knew what Steven was talking about. "The Pink Ranger told me 'Yes, I have to follow his instructions, or else…. Now get out of here, this place is gonna-' I didn't think she was doing this willingly, I think she was forced into that job." "Whose orders?" "I have no idea…." "No offense Steven…she didn't have to jump in front of you guys when the Rangers were preparing an attack for her, she didn't have to almost drown the Yellow Ranger in that…Ice…Thing…If her boss just told her to flood the city and that's all she did, I would totally side with you. But this Ranger no…this monster deserved nothing short of destruction." "Erica…" "She could've killed you!" Erica started crying. "I could've-I almost-killed you." Steven held her, "I'm sorry…but what would you have done if the Pink Ranger did kill me?" "I'd curse you out while giving your Eulogy for being so stupid." "That sounds…just like you."

Sometime later….

"Steven…?" said his mom as she knocked on the door. "It's getting late. Does Erica need a ride home?" His mom opened the door and saw Steven and Erica on the floor, sleeping. "Oh…boy," she said, "Alright….how do you get two exhausted teenagers up at this hour?" Steven's mom leaned against the door for a second when she saw something near Erica glowing. She went over and picked it up; it was a phone but not Stevens'. "Probably Erica's," she murmured. She looked at the Caller ID, "Dad" she said. She took the phone outside the room and answered, "Hello?" "Erica?" "No, this is Steven's mom. Erica is sleeping now." "Are you serious?" "Yeah. I could bring the phone up to her but she's not snoring unlike my son, Ha." "Funny." Erica's father sighed. "Alright, is it possible for me to pick her up at dawn?" "Yeah that's fine, is 0500 hrs. okay by you?" "Yes, that's acceptable. Goodbye." "Bye." Steven's mom hung up the phone and placed the phone back next to Erica. Steven's mom looked at the kids sleeping for a second when she had an idea, "This is an opportune moment for Christmas pictures. Now where did I put my camera…..."

A few hours later…..

Steven's mom banged on her son's door, "Alright sleepyheads time to get up!" Steven and Erica opened their eyes slowly and got up from the floor. "Hey…" said Steven as he yawned. "Yo…" said Erica, "I thought I went home last night…." "That silly, how else could you be here if you went home?" "Good point." Erica got and stretched. Steven's mom opened the door, "Erica sweetie, your dad is gonna pick you up in about a half hour so collect your things and get to the kitchen, do you want coffee and breakfast?" "Yes please, Mrs. Roberts, What time is it anyway?" "Sweetie called me Angela, and it's…. 0430hrs." "Okay Angela, be down in a bit." Erica and Steven came down to the kitchen, on the kitchen table there was a yellow envelope. "Erica, I left a cup on the table there is milk and sugar on table also unless you want cream." "Milk's fine." Erica whispered to Steven, "Is you mom always this nice to guests?" "You're the first girl to sleep over, for my mom, this is a special occasion." "Mom, what's in the envelope?" "It's a project I'm working on. I want you two to go through some pictures and tell me which ones you like best." Erica went to pick up her coffee. "Don't Erica! The coffee is a bribe! My mom always pulls this stunt on me when she wants me to do something for her!" Erica looked at the envelope and looked at Steven, "If all I have to do is look at some pictures for a free breakfast and coffee, I'm taking it." Steven opened the envelope and poured out the photo, Erica took one sip of her coffee and spit it out. "What are these pictures!" "They're Christmas photos." Steven's mom took at seat across from Erica and Steven. "They're photo of us sleeping!" said Steven. "No, they are photo of your sleeping heads, there a difference." "I see what you mean now about the bribe." Erica took another sip of the coffee this time swallowing it. "I want you two to pick the best photo and I'm going to put it on a Christmas card saying 'We can't wait to see you this season!'" Steven stared at his mom, "Are you kidding?" "No, why would I joke about a thing like this?" Erica went through some of the photo and tossed one at Steven's mom, "That's my favorite." "Thank you, your waffle coming out of the toaster, syrup and butter?" "Yes please." "I can't believe you're encouraging her." "Watch it Steven, or else I will change my mind and give your mom this one. This photo Erica was referring to was with Steven yawning in his sleep. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. "Erica it's probably your dad," said Angela as she went towards the door. When she opened the door she froze for a second as did Erica's father. He looked at her for a second when he stated, "Roberts." It was only fair she replied back just as coldly, "Mercer." He smiled, "Aren't you the scientist that almost annihilated several South American indigenous tribes?" "Aren't you the scientist that was given billions of dollars for dinosaur research that mysteriously disappeared when the island you were working on "sank"?" Erica and Steven walked in the hallway and saw those two staring at each other, "Mexican standoff," murmured Steven. "I'm too tired for this." Erica walked over to Angela and put her hand on her shoulder. Angela turned around, "You're leaving us?" "Yea, since my dad's here and all." "Okay sweetie, see you soon and thank you." Steven's mom hugged Erica, "How the hell did you end up with a father like Mercer?" As soon as Erica closed the door, Angela clenched her fist. "How the hell-" "Mom, are you alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine sweetie."

"So, dad, what was that about?" "I'll tell you later. Right now, can we talk about what happened yesterday?" "Like what?" "Mesogog gave a message yesterday, how… you were never coming home again." "I see…" "What happened?" "I underestimated my enemy, that's all." "Details. Now." "Why? Why don't you ask Mesogog what happened. Since you two are best buddies and all. " "That's not funny." "You're not gonna let me out of the car, are you?" "Not until I'm satisfied with your explanation." "Okay... I got struck down by the White Ranger… I found my Zord….and Elsa and Zeltrax put me through the works, I trained for a few hours and then I assisted Zeltrax with some sort of project. I had to give some machine my Dino Gem energy to activate something….a weapon, maybe." "Is that it?" "I got hit with recoil, but yeah, that's it." "You found your zord, huh?" "Yup. A reaallly big croc, I named her Chomper." "Any idea what Zeltrax's project is?" "Nope." "Alright, let's get you home."

End of Chapter 14

Sorry this chapter took so long. I got hit with writers block. I'll try to upload another chapter the next week or two. See ya then