Chapter 14: The Missing Bone

As the bell rang, signalling the start of class, Connor, Kira, Ethan and Ari walked up together.

"You guys heard from Trent yet?" Connor asked as they moved around the crowds of students.

"No, I'm not sure I really want to," Kira told him with a frown.

"Not right now at least. I could do with a day where we don't get our asses handed to us by him," Ari yawned, still not sleeping right. She had a feeling she wouldn't be able to until they turned Trent good again.

"We gotta make sure he doesn't go off on some poor freshman cause the kid won't give him his lunch money," Ethan shook his head, looking worried.

"You know what? I think he's after a little more than a free grilled cheese," Connor rolled his eyes.

"And when we know what that is, maybe we can deal," Kira shrugged. "But till then, we keep an eye on him," she said to her friends, and Ari groaned as they walked into their classroom, unaware that Trent was listening to every word they said.

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As they waited for their substitute teacher to show up, the class of teenagers entertained themselves. While Ethan and Connor tossed paper balls into Devin's camera bag, Kira wrote down lyrics to a new song she was writing, and Ari dozed at the table. Trent was just rolling his eyes, sitting at the same table as the four.

"Hey, did you guys hear we're supposed to get a new teacher today?" Ethan asked as he tossed another ball into the bag.

"After Ari chased off that last substitute teacher, I am not surprised," Connor smirked, and Ari looked up, yawning widely.

"What did I do?" she asked.

"You know, when you slept through the entire class for the third time that week and when the teacher woke you, you corrected his work when he tried to ask you questions?" Connor smirked at her, and Ari giggled. She hadn't meant to, it had been a completely honest intention, but when she had interrupted his lecturing to tell him this and the entire class had burst out laughing, the teacher had walked out.

"Wonder who it could be," Ari mumbled as she closed her eyes again.

"Well I heard from a very reliable source, that it's this 80 year old woman who used to teach kindergarten in San Angeles," Cassidy spoke up as she stood at their table.

"Really?" Connor looked unconvinced by her words, and the door opened. They looked up as Principal Randall walked in, looking down her nose at them as always.

"Good morning class," she greeted as everyone quickly took their seats. "I would like you to meet your new teacher, Doctor Anton Mercer," all five of the Rangers sitting at the table looked up instantly, their eyes wide as the man walked in.

"Morning class," he greeted them with a pleasant smile.

"Wow, that's one good looking 80 year old woman," Ari commented with a wide yawn. Devin burst out laughing, and Cassidy slapped his arm, scowling at him.

"What? I thought it was funny!" he defended with wide eyes.

"Doctor Mercer has graciously agreed to take over until your teacher gets back on his feet, since the last substitute you had quit," Randall levelled a glare at Ari, who just looked innocent as Kira, Ethan and Connor sniggered. "I would like you to treat him with the same respect that you would treat Doctor Oliver," Randall told them.

"Thank you," Doctor Mercer smiled at her as she walked off.

"Well, let me start by saying how honoured I am to be here," he told them. "What I'm handing out to you now are permission slips. These are for your parents and guardians to sign," the teacher explained as he passed out pieces of paper. "We'll be going on a field trip tomorrow, to a museum," Doctor Mercer explained. "I trust you will all be able to make it."

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"Anton Mercer teaching other people's children?" Kira rolled her eyes as they walked away from school that afternoon. "He doesn't even like his own from what I can tell," she grumbled.

"At least not the Trent we liked," Ari sighed.

"Yeah, I wonder whose brilliant idea this whole thing was," Ethan frowned.

"Gotta be Randall's," Kira told him. She looked mildly disgusted. "Did you see them together? It's like they're old pals," she shivered at the thought.

"Hey, no matter how bad we've got it, there's always someone who's got it worse," Connor spoke up, gesturing over at where Trent and his father were arguing loudly. Trent stormed off, and Doctor Mercer yelled after him.

"Huh. What are you guys doing now?" Kira asked.

"Soccer."

"I'm heading to the skatepark, wanna get some practice in," Ari shrugged.

"Computer club. You?" Ethan asked the Yellow Ranger.

"I promised Doctor O that I'd help him inventory some stuff in the lab," she told them with a small smile. "Plus, he'd probably wanna know who's teaching his class," she pointed out.

"Yeah...I wonder what he'd have to say about that," Connor frowned, and with quick goodbyes, the four headed off in different directions.

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Focusing entirely on what she was doing and allowing herself a rare moment where she wasn't having to worry about the White Ranger or Mesogog, Ari flew into the air on her board, spinning several times before returning to earth. She rolled away from the ramp and over to where she had left her backpack, grabbing her water from it. As she downed half the contents, she heard someone approach her from behind, and turned around.

"Hey Ari," she froze, her eyes wide as Trent smirked at her.

"What do you want?" she asked softly, watching as he walked around her.

"Just to talk," he spoke lightly, seeming to be enjoying her reaction. "That's an interesting keyring," Trent walked past and reached down to play with what was actually the symbol of a Sun Ninja, and was an emergency communication device to communicate with the other Ninja Rangers.

"It was a present," Ari kept her voice steady as she watched him flick it with his finger.

"So I hear you have powers that aren't connected to your Gem," Trent straightened up and faced the Gold Ranger, who didn't react. "You really are weird, aren't you?" he chuckled as he circled her again.

"So is that what you came here for? Because you should know, I don't have a clue about those powers. I can't control them," Ari told him warily, and he gave a small chuckle.

"No, that's not why I'm here," Trent noticed her visibly relax a little bit. "I'm here to see if I can convince you to give up your Zords," Ari's soft features finally scrunched up into a scowl.

"You're dreaming Trent," she growled at him.

"Such hostility," the White Ranger chuckled. "It's too bad. If you won't hand over the rest of your Zords, I'll just have to destroy you and take them by force!" he lunged at Ari, who let out a startled cry. Golden light slammed into Trent before he could grab her, and he was thrown backwards. "Now that is a fascinating power," the White Ranger chuckled as he pushed himself up, a hand on his chest as blood trickled down his face.

"Evil never wins Trent, you should just give up," Ari told him, sounding braver than she felt. Trent just laughed and leaned closer.

"There's a first time for everything," he told her quietly, before turning and walking off. "I'll see you at school tomorrow. Don't forget to get that permission slip signed for the museum trip," he laughed, and Ari sank to the ground, trying to stop her shaking.

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The next morning arrived and the class arrived at the museum, ready for their trip.

"Alright, come along now," Doctor Mercer called. "We don't want to keep our prehistoric friends waiting," he smiled as he led the way inside.

"Hey Ari? Are you ok?" Connor asked, noticing how exhausted the girl looked.

"Fine..." she mumbled, but it was clear she wasn't. Trent walked past, shooting her a smirk that only the Gold Ranger caught as the other three Rangers looked at her, and she shrugged. "I've just not been sleeping well lately. It's nothing," she insisted, pushing past the others to go inside. The three older Rangers exchanged worried looks, before following her inside.

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"And just ahead here is the triceratops, from the Cretaceous period," Doctor Mercer told the group as they walked along. "Strictly herbivores. Hunted by the Tyrannosaurus Rex," Connor smirked at Ethan.

"Gotta love the T-Rex," he laughed to his friend.

"Whatever bro," Ethan rolled his eyes.

"And here is the Plesiosaurus, a Mesozoic marine reptile. With its flippers and flat body, it was able to swim on the surface of large bodies of water," Ari looked up tiredly as Doctor Mercer talked about her Dino. "It is believed that they were warm-blooded creatures, who bore live young," he continued.

"Your Dino sounds more like a mammal," Ethan laughed to Ari, who had stopped to study the information about the Plesiosaurus.

"Warm-blooded huh?" she spoke softly as she looked up at the fossil. Hearing growls nearby, she turned and frowned, her eyes scanning around the exhibits. Ari followed the sounds curiously.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ari jumped when Cassidy caught up to her.

"The bathroom," Ari told her. "Not feeling too good," she shrugged.

"Oh, yeah, you don't look too great," Cassidy surveyed her, looking mildly disgusted. "Well I'm going too, 'cause my lip-gloss is totally wearing off," she told the 16 year old.

"Cassidy, just stay here or we'll both get in trouble," Ari groaned.

"Whatever, I'm going to the little girls room, and you can do whatever you want," the blonde rolled her eyes and walked off. Ari sighed, before ducking out of view as Doctor Mercer spotted Cassidy and pulled her away. The Gold Ranger continued to follow the strange noises, and opened the door of a storage room. She crept inside, shutting the door behind her, and continued to look around. As she walked around, something grabbed her from behind.

"Hey, lemme go!" she cried out, managing to escape the grasp of the attacking Tyrannodrone. She bombarded it with attacks and knocked it back, before more appeared. Reacting instantly, Ari grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled, revealing her ninja gear. Now able to fight more easily, she kicked and punched each of the reptile-like monsters that attacked her. However, there were too many for her, and they grabbed her, restraining her as they pulled her over to one of the shelves. "What are you doing? Stop!" Ari thrashed in their grip, but they were too strong. One of the skulls began to glow on the shelf, and she looked up.

"Ari..." a voice echoed in her head. "You must listen to me. You will do as I command," it ordered as her eyes turned gold.

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"Where is she?" having noticed that their friend was missing, Connor, Ethan and Kira had gone looking for Ari.

"There she is!" Connor spotted the Gold Ranger running down the corridor, back in her normal attire.

"Ari?" Kira frowned as the ran over to the girl as she put a hand to her head. "Are you ok? Where'd you go off to?" she asked her.

"I was looking for the bathroom. Got lost," Ari mumbled, shrugging.

"Lost?" Connor frowned at her.

"You know, when you don't know where you are?" Ari rolled her eyes as all three were taken aback by her snap. "I'm fine. Just splashed some water on my face. Is it time to go yet?" she demanded.

"Yeah, the trip's over," Ethan spoke quickly, alarmed.

"Finally. Let's go," Ari rolled her eyes and walked off.

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Sitting in Hayley's Cyberspace, Ari read a book that had been assigned by Doctor Mercer at the bar, occasionally drinking the water sitting beside her.

"Hey Ari, you feeling any better?" Hayley smiled as she walked over.

"Fine. Just didn't get enough sleep," Ari's short response made Hayley's smile fade.

"Why aren't you sitting with your friends?" she asked, glancing over to the other three Rangers, who shrugged at her. Ari just huffed, turning the page as she rested her chin in her hand.

"Do I always have to sit with them?" she asked.

"Well no," Hayley managed a small laugh. "But you usually do, don't you?" she asked, watching the Gold Ranger carefully.

"Used to. I'd prefer just to be alone so I can read this with no distractions. It's the only way I can get this done for Doctor Mercer's class," Ari told her, and Hayley gave a small laugh.

"'I'll never get used to the sound of that. 'Doctor Mercer's class'?" she repeated.

"Hey, he's a great teacher!" Ari looked up sharply, frowning at Hayley. "That trip was really interesting, and his classes have been great. Way better than that sub we've had lately," she rolled her eyes.

"Ok...whatever you say Ari," Hayley backed away from the angry looking girl.

"Hey, you wanna go to a movie tonight?" Connor asked as he, Ethan and Kira approached her.

"No," was all Ari said as she turned the page of her book.

"You know, when someone doesn't wanna hang out with people, they usually come up with some sort of excuse," Connor frowned at the younger girl, who huffed again.

"I'm washing my hair. That good enough for you?" she rolled her eyes.

"Uh, no, not really," Kira spoke softly, a little hurt at Ari's cold attitude.

"Look, I just don't want to hang out with you guys any more than I have to," Ari rolled her eyes. "I mean let's face it, if it wasn't for a certain thing, none of us would be friends. So what's the big deal?" she then shoved her book into her bag. "Looks like I'm not going to get any work done here, so I'm off. Laters," with a wave over her shoulder, she walked off, leaving the three very confused as to what was going on.

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Ari streaked through the forest, bouncing along until she reached the hidden entrance to Doctor Oliver's lab. Moving out of sight, she then activated the communication device on her morpher.

"Doctor O? It's Ari," she contacted their teacher.

"Yeah? What's up Ari?" Doctor Oliver responded quickly.

"I was out for a run, and I'm pretty sure I saw a dino egg," Ari told him. "I didn't wanna touch it just in case I set it off or damaged it, so I figured I'd contact you, and I gotta get back to Kira's to finish my homework," she told him innocently. "By the edge of the old forest by the lake, near the academy," she said.

"I'm on my way," Doctor Oliver told her.

"Thanks Doctor O," she smiled, and ducked behind the tree. Within moments, the entrance to the lab opened, and Doctor Oliver rode off on the ATV. Smirking, Ari ran inside before the doors closed again.

"Now, finish the task," Ari's eyes glowed golden again as she walked into the lab, hearing the voice order her. She spotted a case balanced on top of the machines, and her hand lit up as she called on her powers. She tossed the energy ball in her hand at the case, and it exploded on contact, breaking the padlock. With another smirk, she walked over and lifted the padlock off. "Excellent, soon I will be complete," the voice laughed as Ari opened the case and lifted the bone inside. "Then I will rise again."

"Ari, it's me," Doctor Oliver contacted her again. "I couldn't find anything out here. Are you sure you saw something?" he asked.

"I could have sworn I did Doctor O. Guess I must have been mistaken, I am pretty tired. Thanks for checking it out anyway," she replied quickly.

"No problem," he ended the communication, and with a laugh, Ari left the lab.

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Returning to the museum, Ari made her way unnoticed by the security guards, back to the storage room where the skull had been. She opened the door, and walked in with a smirk, back in her ninja gear.

"I have returned, just as you commanded," she spoke softly as she approached the skull.

"Good girl," the voice praised her happily. "Did you bring it?" it asked, and she placed the bone on the shelf.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Excellent," lights began to fly around the shelf where the bones were gathered. And after a moment they disappeared, and reappeared, combined into a monster. "You have served your purpose!" Fossilador then blasted Ari, and she cried out, thrown through the air. She slammed into the wall, and fell to the ground with a groan.

"What...?" she mumbled, looking up, before she passed out.

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"Ari!" the Gold Ranger groaned as she was dragged back to the land of the conscious, and opened her eyes weakly. Hayley was crouched beside her. "Are you alright? Can you hear me?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Ari groaned. "What happened?" she asked, before it all came flooding back. "Oh no, I set that thing-"

"Are you ok to get up?" Hayley interrupted her before she could say anything.

"I think so," Ari pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing a little.

"Should I call a doctor?" the security guard asked as he stood beside Hayley.

"Oh, no, I'll be fine," Ari told him quickly, smiling at him. "I just forgot to eat this morning and passed out," she told him, and ran off before he could stop her.

"How did she even get in? Nobody saw anything!" she heard the security guard say as Hayley caught up to her.

"You definitely live up to the reputation of a ninja," Hayley commented, but Ari didn't reply.

"I can't believe I was responsible for bringing that thing to life!" she groaned, running a hand through her hair.

"It wasn't your fault," Hayley told her gently. "In your civilian form, you couldn't stop him from controlling your mind. Luckily the others' Ranger powers will protect them," she explained to Ari.

"But this other power...it should have helped. It's protected me against loads of other stuff!" Ari exclaimed, upset at herself for being so helpless.

"Well, you haven't been sleeping well," Hayley pointed out, and Ari looked over at her. "It's probably weakened you and made you more susceptible to things like this," she considered, and the Gold Ranger looked down, clenching her fists.

"I'm going to help the others," she decided.

"You sure?" Hayley asked her as they walked up the steps.

"That thing messed me about and made me say horrible things to you and the others. It's going to pay," Ari growled, taking off.

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The three Rangers currently battling were thrown about in their Megazord as they attempted to fight Fossilador, and as they staggered back, a melodic whine filled the air.

"Hey, what's that?" Connor asked as he heard it. They looked up to see the Plesio Zord flying through the air, dodging attacks.

"Need some help?" Ari called from its head.

"Ari!" Kira smiled up at their friend.

"DINO THUNDER, POWER UP, HA!" she morphed into her Golden suit, and combined her Plesio Zord with the rest of the Megazord.

"Megazord, online!" the Rangers faced off against Fossilador.

"Good timing Ari," Ethan grinned at her.

"Yeah, we could use the help," Connor nodded.

"Music to my ears," Ari giggled. "Now, let's take down this freak!" she cheered. They blasted the monster, but nothing they did would damage it in any way.

"Huh? No way!" Connor cried out, and they were blasted by a fog like jet shot from Fossilador's mouth. "That was just plain nasty!" the Red Ranger cried as they recovered.

"Guy's got some prehistoric breath!" Ethan nodded.

"I'm just getting started!" Fossilador declared as he ran at them. He attacked them, tossing them about.

"How do we beat this guy if we can't even damage him?" Kira cried out as they were thrown about the cockpit. Fossilador continued to laugh as he held onto the Megazord, continuing to damage it.

"Ari, you gotta aim for the spot where you put the missing bone!" Doctor Oliver called up to them. "That's where he's most vulnerable!" he told them.

"On it!" Ari nodded. "Lock on! Tyranno Drill!" they leapt into the air and slammed the spinning drill into Fossilador's weak spot. He cried out, and crashed to the ground, exploding.

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"So glad you're back to normal Ari," Ethan grinned as they walked down into Doctor Oliver's lab. "You were really scary," he admitted. Ari managed a small smile.

"I'm really sorry for what I said to you guys. It was super harsh," she looked around at them, and they smiled back.

"Don't worry about it, seriously," Ethan insisted.

"Yeah, we know you'd never normally say that stuff," Kira nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, you're normally too busy laughing when the others say mean stuff," Connor grinned, and Ari looked down.

"You see? That would be one of those things you say from time to time," Ethan told the Red Ranger, who's grin faded.

"Oh right..." he nodded, and offered an apologetic smile to the Gold Ranger. "Sorry," he told her, and she smiled back at him.

"Don't worry about it. Now we're even," she told her friend. "There is one thing that's bugging me though," Ari commented as her smile fell.

"What's that?" Doctor Oliver asked as he glanced around at her.

"The museum where that thing was stored in, it's Doctor Mercer's isn't it?" she asked, and they all fell quiet, realising that she was right. "Why would he have kept it there? And how did the Tyrannodrones know? They ambushed me to allow it to control me," she pointed out. None of them knew how to respond, all of them now wondering exactly that.

To the reviewer who asked about the NS/DT team up, yes, it will be there, as will the SPD team up, both of which I had a lot of fun writing!

I hope you liked this as well! I always dislike writing Trent as evil, I'm pretty attached to him!

Please review!