Chapter 21 – Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain
June 1 2003 – Blueridge Point
The group of Power Rangers looked over a small ridge and in the direction of their target. The rocky terrain surrounding Blueridge Point had made the climb a challenge but not exceptionally difficult. The dense trees offered some cover but the flat plateau at the summit offered no protection. If they were going to destroy the Org Egg then they were going to have to launch a full frontal assault.
The Egg itself was protected by several platoons of Putrids and Kelsaks and they formed a protective cordon around their target. Bolstering the defences today were Zurgane, Kapri and sadly for Dustin, Marah. The yellow ranger closed his eyes partially because he saw the woman that had abused his trust but there was something else, "Don't worry buddy, we'll get some revenge for you", Shane slapped his friend on the back.
"What?" Dustin was broken out of his slight trance, "oh you mean Marah. Thank you but that's not what's bothering me".
"Care to share with the class?" Hunter asked.
"I'm not sure what it is but I feel like there's something wrong with the earth", he began. The others looked at him like he had lost the plot but he wasn't going to be dissuaded, "Tori remember that time you felt really weak after coming out of the sea and it later turned out someone had dumped some industrial waste a few days previously".
"How can I forgot", Tori groaned, "I showered three times once I found out", she shuddered at the memory before adding, "I get what you're saying though Dustin".
"You do, that's a first", Dustin chuckled.
"You're picking up on subtle changes in your element", Cam offered an explanation, "the Org Egg must be damaging the ground somehow and that's what Dustin's picking up on".
"Like I said", Cole's voice called out as he finished his hike up the hill, "Orgs gain more power by polluting the Earth. The Org Egg must be pumping out some toxic chemicals to generating enough power to revive all those Putrids". Following closely behind the Red Wild Force Ranger was Max and Danny
"Here to start another argument?" Taylor frowned.
"I'm here to destroy the Orgs once and for all", Cole stated, "we can talk about our differences another time". He looked down and saw the large numbers of footsoldiers and what he assumed were enemies of the Ninja Storm Rangers. Cole then reached into his combats and pulled out a vial full of purple liquid, "This will neutralise the Org Egg once and for all", he handed it over to Shane, "this is your town so this is your call".
Alyssa frowned as the vial was passed between the red rangers, "How were you able to mix that up so quickly?" she asked.
"Once I knew Orgs were involved, I contacted Jindrax and Toxica and they mixed this up for me. They delivered it to me this morning and I came here as quickly as I could.", he replied, much to the shock of his team mates.
"When did you get the order from Hexagon?" Merrick asked.
"About an hour ago", Cole shrugged, "you're not the only ones who can use their intuitive you know".
"Looks like there's hope for you yet jungle boy", Taylor smirked in the direction of her team leader.
Shane carefully pocketed the vial, "Alright we'll split into two teams", he began, "Cole and you and your team take care of the grunts", his fellow red ranger nodded, "Cam go with them", he added. "The rest of us will focus on Zurgane and the bimbos".
"Marah's mine", Dustin said with conviction, he stood up and jumped out of their hiding spot.
The twelve rangers marched towards the enemy but for a few seconds no one had seen them approach. Hunter groaned and fired a small bolt of lightning over their heads, "Hey, pay attention to your mortal enemies". Everyone turned to face the approaching rangers, "Thank you, that wasn't too hard was it?"
"Was that really necessary?" Blake hissed but his older brother just shrugged.
"Rangers", Zurgane bellowed, "how did you find us?"
"Followed the stench of failure and disappointment", Taylor began, "seriously were you three not hugged enough as children".
"Hey, that's rude", Kapri snapped, "tell her Marah", her plead fell on deaf ears as her sister only had eyes for the yellow ranger. Kapri groaned and slapped her on the back of the head, "Hey bug brain back me up here".
Marah rubbed the back of her head, "Oh right, don't say that and whatever", she waived her hands in the direction of Taylor. She then turned back to the other yellow ranger, "Dustin", she began, "say something. Dustin's lips were pursed together tightly and he shook his head slowly, "Anything?" she added with a pleading tone.
"I'm not here to talk", Dustin said and prepared his morpher, much to the disappointment of Marah.
"Well said", Shane added, "everyone ready?" Nine heads nodded back in response, "Ninja Storm, Ranger Form".
"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form"
"Samurai Storm, Ranger Form"
"Wild Access"
The twelve rangers finished morphing and proceeded towards their pre-assigned targets, "We've got the big guy", Blake pointed at Zurgane, "you three take Pinky and the Brain".
"Yeah but which one's which", Hunter joked and pulled his Thunder Staff off his back.
"Enough joking around", Zurgane pulled out his blades and engaged the Thunder Rangers. The bladed weapons of the villain collided with the metallic staffs of the Bradley's, forcing the brothers to slide back a couple of inches. Hunter twisted away from the attack and swung his staff in an upward motion but the General anticipated the blow and parried it away.
Blake tried to use the opening but he too was thwarted by the solid defence of Zurgane, "He's tougher than his looks", the Navy Ranger stated as he blocked another attack.
"Never underestimate your opponent", Zurgane crossed his swords and unleashed a barrage of energy bolts against the brothers. The pair rolled out the way and opened out their staffs to form a shield. They deflected the attacks away, taking out a few of the footsoldiers in the process. Zurgane fumed, he own attacks were being used against him.
"Maybe you should follow your own advice", Hunter charged up his staff with crimson energy and fired a constant stream at the General. Once again Zurgane crossed his swords but this time in defence. The lightning impacted against his makeshift shield but the force of the attack was forcing him backwards.
Eventually Hunter ran out of energy and he had to use his own staff to support his body weight, "Spent already Thunder Ranger", Zurgane chuckled, "what was the point of that?"
"This", Blake had appeared behind the General and slashed him across the back with his staff, "the plan worked perfectly, bro".
Behind his visor Hunter smiled as Zurgane stumbled towards him. He replaced his staff with his Crimson Blaster and fired point blank into the General's body, "Maybe you shouldn't underestimate us Zurgane", he said coldly, "tell your boss that this is personal". Zurgane groaned, grabbed his personal teleporter and used it to get himself to safety.
The Wind Rangers had their hands full with Marah and Kapri. Despite their apparent stupidity, they were extremely competent fighters. They knew that Marah fought using a variant of the Forest Ninja style but they hadn't encountered Kapri in a proper battle yet. They soon discovered she used a style of another of the lost ninja academies. The trio slowly backed away as a ten foot serpent made out of ice slowly slithered in their direction, "Snakes", Shane groaned, "why did it have to be snakes?"
"And made of ice", Tori added, "none of our styles will have an effect on that thing".
Dustin pulled his Ninja Sword off his back, "Then we'll have to do this the old fashioned way".
"Good luck with that Rangers", Kapri chuckled, "that's based on the land snake of Virgo Three, most dangerous creature in the Galaxy". Satisfied that the Rangers would be kept occupied for a while, she turned her attention to her younger sister, "What's your problem, ever since you returned from Earth you've been more useless than normal?"
"Just taking me a while to get back in the swing of things", Marah chuckled nervously, all the while she snuck a few glances in the direction of the Wind Rangers.
"You're not still hung up on that puny yellow ranger are you?" Kapri sighed, "He's good, you're evil it'll never work between you so get over it".
"Is that an order sister?" Marah said and glared at her older sister.
A loud cough brought their attention back to the Wind Rangers, "Sorry to interrupt", Shane began, kicked a large chunk of the shattered ice snake away, "but you're going to have to try harder than that".
Kapri roared with anger and charged towards the Wind Rangers but Dustin stepped aside, he only had eyes for one opponent, "Just the two of us", he stated.
"Please, I don't want to fight", Marah replied as he slowly back away.
"Neither do I really", Dustin began, "but you betrayed me". He let out a loud sigh, "I guess this is the way things have to be".
"Yeah", Marah said sadly and a bow staff appeared in her hands. She held it up defensively as Dustin attacked with his sword. She parried away a few blows and returned fire with a strong kick to Dustin's thighs which pushed the yellow ranger away, "I never wanted any of this", she grunted and rested her staff on the ground.
"And I did", Dustin countered, "I really liked you Marah, I thought you had changed", he shook his head, "but I guess I was wrong". He went on the attack again, this time he put a little bit more into each blow. Marah was struggling to keep with the speed of the yellow ranger and found herself sliding back in the direction of the Org Egg. Her heart wasn't in the fight but she didn't want to get hurt either. She ducked under one of Dustin's swings, making him lose his balance. She then wrapped him around the shins with her staff, sending the yellow ranger tumbling face first to the ground.
Dustin rolled on to his back and them moving into a kneeling position. He was slightly confused as Marah wasn't pushing home her advantage. Instead she just stood there with her staff resting on the ground. For a couple of moments Dustin thought there was a remorseful look in her eyes but then he remembered her betrayal. He punched the ground and sent a shockwave through the earth that knocked Marah off her feet. With the brunette down, his path to the Org Egg was clear, "Shane, throw me the vial".
The red ranger complied and the purple tube of liquid arced through the air in the direction of the yellow ranger. He jumped into the air and caught it with this right hand, "Marah, stop him", Kapri called out.
The dark ninja nodded and placed her hand against the ground. Moments later several vines and trees root shot out of the ground but Dustin was able to avoid them. Just as he was approaching the Egg one of the roots wrapped around his leg and he stumbled, falling towards the ground. To his surprise another vine appeared to cushion his arm that was holding the vial and almost guided him towards his target. The second the purple liquid dripped onto the Egg, it began to bubble and sizzle. The Org Egg broke down into a harmless puddle of purple liquid until it was absorbed harmlessly into the dirt.
Dustin rolled away and briefly looked at Marah, wondering if she intended to help him. She was giving nothing away and moments later she disappeared in a sparkle of orange lights. With the Org Egg destroyed, there was nothing to support the Orgs and they too collapsed into a puddle of gooey liquid.
"Looks like you're all alone now", Shane said to Kapri. The female ninja laughed nervously before she too teleported away from the battle.
The rangers powered down but Dustin was still sitting on the ground in surprise, "Nice going dirt boy", Taylor smiled as she helped him to his feet, "looks like you finished off the Orgs for us".
"Yeah, don't mention it", Dustin muttered.
"You alight?" Blake asked, "you seem more vacant than usual".
"Hmm", he replied, "yeah just thinking about something".
"Don't think too hard dude, it's not your strongest feature", Tori patted him on the back, "I think this calls for a celebration".
"We've still got a couple of days left on our hotel reservation", Alyssa stated, "what about you three?" she asked in the direction of her fellow Wild Force Rangers.
Cole paused for a moment before answering, "Sure, it'll take me a couple of days to think about what to say to Spader anyway". The ten rangers slowly departed Blueridge Point, satisfied that the Org Egg had been destroyed. For everyone else this would be cause for celebration but Dustin was still conflicted. He knew that Marah had helped him destroy the Egg but he didn't know why. He wanted to believe that she did it for noble reasons but he had been burned once and that made him cautious. He took one last look at the spot where the Org Egg had stood but running to catch up with the others.
A/N - Not much action from the Wild Force Rangers I know. I sacrificed a few hundred words to them basically hacking through some grunts to advance the Marah/Dustin will they/won't they situation. One more chapter with the Wild Force team then we advance to the third and final part of the story.