Gem of a Day
"...After we found Zurgane's sword, I located a satellite picture of the area," Cam explained, holding up a piece of Zurgane's sword as he showed the Rangers a clip of Vexacus defeating the general.
"Not that I'm going to miss Zurgane, but why would Vexacus do that?" Tori asked.
"It appears a power struggle is at play in Lothor's lair," Sensei explained.
"Isn't that a good thing? Maybe they'll just keep fighting each other until no one is left!" Dustin smiled.
"That is possible Dustin, but I suggest Lothor has an even more sinister plot in mind," Sensei said.
"So what do we do next?" Shane asked.
"We must face the enemy proactively. We must reinforce our ranks with all the captured Ninjas. We must find a way to get onto Lothor's ship," Sensei explained.
"That's not going to be easy," Blake sighed.
"Lothor's ship is protected by a powerful energy shield. Without some way to break through, we'll never get in," Cam said.
Dustin turned to his unusually quiet girlfriend. "Don't you wanna say something sarcastic or funny?" he asked her. The blonde shook her head. The sudden movement was too much for her and she nearly fell over. Dustin caught her and gently put her on the ground. Tori got her sister some water and made her drink it.
"What's wrong?" she asked her sister.
"I feel drained," Kaylee said in the loudest voice she could, which was a whisper.
"You guys take care of Kaylee, leave the energy shield to me," Hunter said, running out of ops. Kaylee closed her eyes for a few seconds and felt a little better as Hunter left. Dustin watched the Crimson Ranger leave and couldn't help but notice he was carried a little pouch.
-----Ninja-Storm-----
Hunter walked up to a rock in the clearing of the forest and pulled out the pouch from his pocket.
"This has to be why Kaylee feels sick," he said, opening it to reveal the gem of souls. His original intention was to run out here and pretend he found the gem, but Vexacus showed up and ruined the Ranger's idea.
"So, my readings are correct!" Vexacus smiled. A bird type monster flew beside the general and landed. "Meet Condortron. An ingenious creation, if I do say so myself."
"What are you doing here?" Hunter asked, holding the gem firmly in his hands.
"For the same reason you're here!" Vexacus said before blasting Hunter with his powers. Hunter jumped out of the way.
"I've got more important things to think about now!" he yelled.
"THUNDER STORM, RANGER FORM!"
Hunter was being beaten up badly as he faced the bird and was thankful when the six others showed up. The six Rangers drove up on their Tsunami cycles, Cam riding on the back of Shane's.
Suddenly Motodrone appeared with a bunch of Kalzaks and attacked the Rangers. Shane fought the Kalzaks while Tori and Blake dealt with Motodrone. The two blue Rangers flipped off their bikes to double team on the moto head.
Dustin fought the second set of Kalzaks with Hunter and Cam while Kaylee went one on one against Condortron. The bird flew in the air above her, diving down for his attacks. Kaylee could dodge them for a while until she felt sick again. She suddenly had no more energy and felt life-less as she fell to the ground. Condortron took this to his advantage and attacked Kaylee at full strength, taking no pity on the suffering teen.
Vexacus, who was flat out pissed at Motodrone, decided to reward himself with the defeat of a Ranger. He stopped the bird from attacking the Samurai and took matters into his own hands. He sent his powers at full force towards the girl. The explosion sent her flying back and the impact caused her to dimorph.
Motodrone decided it was enough and warned Vexacus about how he was watching him. This put some curiosity into the fish's mind and he stopped his attack on Kaylee to return to the base.
"Even without the gem I will defeat you!" he yelled before retreating. The Rangers lowered their visors and Tori turned to Hunter.
"What gem? What did he mean, Hunter?" she asked. Hunter demorphed and reached into his pocket. The others followed and watched as he pulled out a pouch.
"The gem of souls," he said.
"But I threw them into the ocean," Cam frowned. "They only came back after Kaylee summoned them under her power. She told me she put them back."
"Not all of them," Hunter said.
"You should have told me Hunter!" Blake yelled.
"You didn't know about this?" Tori asked.
"No," Blake frowned. "And we're going to have a long talk why, aren't we bro?"
"I was going to tell you, but the more time that past, the harder it got. I'm sorry," he apologized.
"Those fragments must have been the source of the radiation I was tracking earlier, not Zurgane's swore!" Cam realised.
"They might also be why Kaylee hasn't been feeling well. She has no power over them, because she doesn't know they have returned, so they can collect her life force at will," Tori said. Her face suddenly dropped. "You had those with you in the fight, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, why?" Hunter turned to the blonde but as soon as he did she was halfway down the battle field. Hunter gave Cam the gems before the boys followed the blonde.
They found Tori trying to wake Kaylee up as the younger blonde was beaten and bruised. Kaylee's body didn't react to Tori's touch or voice. Dustin tried to wake her up but nothing happened. The only sign that she was alive was the slow rise and fall of her chest. Dustin grabbed her in his arms and the Rangers Ninja Streaked back to ops.
-----Ninja-Storm-----
Cam was in his Ranger uniform, with his helmet in his hands and Leanne took care of Kaylee on the other end of the room.
"With the gems I should be able to break through Lothor's energy field. Once I've done that, you guys should be able to teleport onto the ship. Hopefully it will take long enough for the gem to give Kaylee her life back due to the giant gap," the darker Samurai said.
"We'll be standing by," Shane smiled.
"If all this works, Kaylee should be able to rest up while you all handle Lothor. Even if the gem were to give up her life, she would still be too tired due to her injuries," Leanne sighed. Cam nodded and walked off.
Tori turned to her sister, who was still unconscious. Condortron had gone way too far. Dustin saw Tori look back and knew she felt the same way he did. He walked up to his girlfriend, who was lying on the cot, and took her hand in his.
"I swear Kaylee that bird is going down," he said, venom dripping from his words.
"Now's your chance, Big Bird is back," Blake said.
Shane noticed the bird was already in giant form and he asked Leanne to summon the Zords before the five teens headed for the door. Before leaving, Dustin noticed Kaylee's 'Zords' on the table. He glanced at the blonde before taking the Spinosaur with him into his Zord.
Leanne was torn between monitoring Cam, who was having a hard time getting onto Lothor's ship, the five other rangers, who would need help in battle, and Kaylee, who was fighting for her life. She decided Kaylee was in the worst situation and programmed an alarm on the computer. The alarm was set to beep if anyone of the Rangers needed her help. That way, the red head could care for Kaylee.
She heard Cam talking to her over the communication system, telling her he was about to enter the ship. Without leaving Kaylee's side, she told him to be careful.
She was lucky enough that Cam returned to Earth after failing at freeing the Ninjas. He used his Zord to help them defeat the giant bird, meaning she no longer had to worry about sending Power disks. It was a good thing too because with Cam back, the gems were closer to Kaylee and she was beginning to become weaker.
-----Ninja-Storm-----
Before Cam returned to the base, he made sure the gems were hidden far away from Kaylee. When he entered the base the blonde was sitting up, with support from Dustin, and smiling through all her pain.
"Hey, Kay," Dustin smiled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the Dino Toy. "You rocked in the Megazord fight today," he gave Kaylee the toy and she smiled.
"Did I kick bird butt?" she asked, her smile never fading from her face even with all the pain from the bruises and cuts.
"Hell yeah you did!" Dustin laughed. "That bird is toast!"
"See, I would be a much better pilot than any of you!" she beamed as she turned to her friends. "'Cause my toys are better than yours!"
Tori smiled at her sister's moment of innocence. It was amazing how Kaylee could be beaten so hard and nearly die, then come back with a smile on her face, ready to cheer her friends up.
"Well, after the way you beat the Wolfblades on your own while piloting the Megazord for the first time, and by yourself, I would defiantly agree," she smiled.
"That's because of my mad skills!" Kaylee turned to her sister and laughed. "But you have mad skills too!" she smiled.
"I hope so!" Dustin smirked, kissing the top of his girlfriend's head as she played with her little Zords.