Episode 34
"Endangered Species"
Eggman's back in his antics and this time his plans involve...stealing animals? After rescuing several animals trapped in a cage, the rangers brought the rescued animals to Fluttershy's home, where she takes care of the poor creatures.
Everyone is confused about why Eggman needed a to steal a few animals. Something about this just doesn't add up. While everyone is pondering about why this is the case, a monster comes in and crashes the party.
As a pollution based monster, this thing spews out smoke so thick that its impossible to track down the monster's movement. With all of her friends trapped in a dirty fog, the pressure's on Fluttershy to defeat the monster. And to do that, she'll need the help of an old power.
[Beginning of Episode]
It seems like a nice day to tune into the radio. However, listeners were left with a surprise when a news article gets broadcasted into the air.
"We interrupt this program to bring you an important announcement," a reporter announces.
Footage captured from various zoos across Columbia have shown that several small animals have disappeared. In addition, emergency receivers were getting exhausted by the amount of calls they were receiving. It seems that there's a animal crisis in Columbia this week, and everyone is paranoid.
"Eggman is back and is now stealing animals from zoos, animal shelters, and homes," the reporter said. "This diabolical doctor is taking the creatures and stuffing them into cages. The people are angered by this, but are helpless to stop the mad doctor, as the only way to stop him is to fly up to him."
Up in the sky, people are seeing a cage dangling from the bottom of what seems to be a flying sphere.
"It's up to the ranger team Sonic Rainbooms to step in and stop this doctor from taking any more animals," the reporter said. "They were seen flying in the skies of Columbia chasing after Eggman for hours."
High in the sky, Sonic and Rainbow were riding on their combined bikes, which they named the Mach Nerve to reference their speed and their references to sensory inputs. They chase after Eggman as he carried a metal capsule, in which several animals are trapped inside.
Sonic maneuvers the Mach Nerve until he's right up to Eggman. "Drop the critters, Eggman!" he shouted.
Eggman turns to his side to find that Sonic and Rainbow have caught up to him. However, he has eyes on only Sonic. "Oh, it's Sonic," he said, groaning at their appearance. "Chasing me around as usual."
"We're telling you now!" Rainbow shouted. "Drop the critters!"
Eggman saw these kids as some sort of nuisance. They've caught up to him two times already before and have shouted the same thing to him in those times. These kids are starting to get under his nerve, considering how many times they show up in front of his face.
Orbot then pops from his place in the Egg Mobile. He and Eggman look at each other for a moment. "You think we should infuriate them?" Orbot asks.
Eggman leans over to Orbot. "Don't worry," he whispers. "I have something else in mind." He then sits up straight before pressing a button that releases the clamps on the capsule. He then proceeds to taunt Sonic and Rainbow. "If you insist," he said.
Sonic and Rainbow watched as the capsule containing the animals fell down toward the clouds. So now, instead of being captured by Eggman, the animals trapped were now falling to their doom. What a big mistake.
"Whoa!" Rainbow gasps. "That's harsh!"
Sonic looked at Rainbow and pointed towards the capsule. "Quickly!" he yells. "After that capsule!"
Sonic and Rainbow piloted their Mach Nerve down towards the falling capsule.
Eggman grins as he watch his enemies chase after the falling capsule. "Hahaha!" he laughs as he reaches for his laser gun. "I've got you on my sights now!" He opens his Egg Mobile and points his gun at them. Only to find that his targets were both far away from him and disappeared under the clouds. He lowers his weapon to reflect on this mistake. "Or not."
Orbot leered disapprovingly at his master. "You didn't think this through, did you?" he asks.
Eggman shrugs it off an closes up his Egg Mobile. "Whatever," he said, shaking the mistake off. "I'd better meet up with my allies. The critters I've collected will be more than enough to satisfy their needs. More than enough to fulfill their current plan."
Eggman then boosted his Egg Mobile into high speed, disappearing into the distance.
Before going on this mission, Tails and Twilight upgraded their bikes to include a crane at the bottom. This crane functions as both a grabbing tool and a rope tool. It can grab things and lift them up or the rope can be dropped to rescue someone.
"To help you in this case, we've attached cranes to your motorbikes," Twilight explains to them shortly before they left. "These will allow you to grapple onto things and pull them up."
Sonic and Rainbow continued to chase after the falling capsule, their altitude rapidly declining. It'll only be a few more seconds before that capsule smashes into the ground and flattens its cargo.
"We'd better activate the cranes, Rainbow!" Sonic shouted.
"Dropping cranes now!" Rainbow announced as she pressed a button.
On the undercarriage of Sonic and Rainbow's bike, a panel opens to reveal a crane. It drops down towards the capsule below, unraveling itself on the spool of rope. Then, upon reaching the capsule, the cranes attach themselves to the capsule. The rope then straightens and tightens, confirming a strong grip.
"Got it!" Sonic cheers. "Now, decelerate!"
The wheels on the bikes spin faster to generate more lift to slow their decent. The time remaining before crashing to the ground gradually increases as the decent rate slowed. Terminal velocity, ninety present of terminal velocity, three-quarters, half. Every passing second, their decent rate gets closer and closer to safe landing limits.
Rainbow looks down at the ground, seeing the houses below appear bigger and bigger. She is sure that they have a few hundred meters remaining. She looks at Sonic. "How fast are we decelerating?" she yells.
Sonic looks at his speedometer, watching the vertical needle approach zero. "Slowing down at a rate of two meters per second!" he calculated.
Rainbow looks down again and this time her eyes widen. They probably have less than one hundred meters remaining. "Uh oh," she gasps. "We're nearing the ground!"
"Relax," Sonic assures, reminding his friend about the intense moments they survived. "We can make it."
At this point, vertical decent has slowed to a point where the capsule can safely touch the ground. They were close to landing over safe limits. The capsule hovered a few meters above the ground, it's vertical speed being zero.
Rainbow sighs in relief at the success of the mission. "Phew!" she said. "That was intense. I can feel my heart pounding from here."
Sonic breathed heavily as he relaxes his grip on his handlebars. "Me too," he replies. "Hey, let's take these to Fluttershy's place. She can see how well they feel after being stuck in a capsule hovering kilometers above the ground, swaying wildly as the capsule is being transported."
The Mach Nerve hovered up a little bit higher before boosting off to where Fluttershy's house is. They make sure to be a little bit careful when handling the capsule. They don't want to be like Eggman and carelessly let the capsule swing. These poor critters in there have probably seen enough.
Sonic and Rainbow transported the capsule they got in front of Fluttershy's house, where Fluttershy is waiting for them. They placed the capsule on the ground before letting go. Then, they move a little bit to the side and landed near the capsule. Shortly afterwards, Sonic and Rainbow got off their bikes, taking off their helmets.
"Well, we got one of them," Sonic told Fluttershy. "We've spent a lot of time hunting down this one capsule that Eggman is towing. Hope it was worth it."
Fluttershy then placed her ear on the walls of the capsule. She can hear the voices of animals in there. "Well, it seems like they are fine," she observes, "even after being suspended hundred of meters in the air for who knows how long." Then she listens for a little bit longer before starting to hear screams coming from the inside. There is some banging on the walls. "Oh my! These critters inside are demanding that they are freed."
Sonic then looks at the top of the capsule. There, he sees a yellow button. "Oh," he said. "Better open this thing up." He then jumps up and presses the button, opening up the capsule and freeing the critters trapped inside. The critters hopped off the capsule into the outside world. They seem pretty relived to be fine.
"Looks like these poor thing have not seen the sunlight in a while," Rainbow observes.
In Fluttershy's mind, she is hearing a lot of voices in her head. The voices of the animals clog up her mind. She hears things like, "Yeah, ground!" and "Finally!". After a moment, she snaps. "Okay! Okay, calm down everyone," she told the critters. The critters stop to listen to her. "I know that you've been through a lot lately. You're relieved that you have returned to the ground after some time in the air. However, I just need to check on you, so why don't you head inside. And don't worry. I'll keep you safe in my comfy home."
The critters then get guided by Fluttershy towards the animal center area of her house. Once the last of the critters entered inside, Fluttershy closed the door and turns towards her friends. "Thanks for rescuing these critters, guys," she said, bowing to them.
Rainbow smiles and bows down to Fluttershy. "No problem, my friend." she replies.
Sonic pondered for a moment about this whole critter capturing situation. "Come to think of it, why does Eggman need animals of all things?" he asks.
"Not sure," Rainbow responded. "But, judging by what we've seen him do, it might be for some cruel experiments that are deemed not acceptable by the scientific community. Or...whatever he wants with to do with them."
Sonic then turns to Fluttershy, who is just about to enter her home. "Hey Fluttershy," he calls, catching her attention. "Are you sure that you can take care of twenty animals at once?"
"Of course I can," Fluttershy answers. "I have up to fifty animals taking care of at one at my house, which doubles as an animal shelter." She then makes a cheerful giggle. "I know. It's large enough to house this many critters, and I consider my house to also be my workplace. I know. I work here a lot."
Sonic and Rainbow find it pretty strange that Fluttershy's house doubles as a workplace. But then again, their own ranger base is considered by its members to be both a home and a workplace. So they couldn't disagree with that.
"Look, I'd love to stay here but, there might be some other creatures that might need some rescuing," Rainbow said, pointing off in the distance.
Sonic then picks up his helmet and puts it on, then he gets on his bike. "We're going back to base once we're done patrolling, alright?" he told Fluttershy. "See you at the base."
Rainbow then gets on her bike and puts on her helmet. Then, Sonic starts up the engine and soon enough, they are hovering. After a moment, the Mach Nerve blasts off in the direction of their base, leaving Fluttershy to watch them leave.
"Bye," Fluttershy bids them. "Hope to see you soon!"
Sonic and Rainbow returned to the base to report what happened. The rest of the team, including Median, were there to hear what they have to say. However, several people other than Fluttershy is currently absent. Applejack and Rarity have pets in their house, so upon hearing that small animals were being taken away, they went back into their house to keep them safe for the duration of the event.
Still, there's three people absent today. Besides, they can be caught up by call them via their morphers.
"Well, at least you got one capsule," Median said after hearing Sonic and Rainbow's report.
Twilight walked around the table, pondering about the animal capturing plot Eggman is conjuring. "This all seems strange," she said. "Why would Eggman capture animals? What is he planning to do with them?"
The others thought about it for several moments.
"Maybe he wants to make our lives even harder?" Manic asks. "I mean, why wouldn't he? He's our enemy!"
"That could be the case, Manic," Tails replied. "But, I think that it's not just that. Eggman might have other plans with these animals. Plans that might be sinister."
"That rotten doctor," Silver grumbled. "What could he possibly be planning?"
Sonic pondered about the plan for a moment before seeing that the capturing animals plot seems a bit familiar. He tells the others this. "I remember a game I played in my childhood known as Speed Hedgehog," he said. "It features enemies that, when defeated, releases the critters that are trapped inside. Maybe Eggman took inspiration from that game and uses that as a basis for this new strategy."
"If that's the case, we might have to be a little more careful with the robots he's sending out," Tails replied. "Who knows if any of them contain the captured animals."
"Fluttershy would cringe at that idea," Rainbow shudders.
This reminds Twilight of something. She remembers that, before she left, Fluttershy told the others that the rescued animals will be sent to her home for her to take care and keep safe before being returned to their original locations. "Speaking of her, when is she coming back?" she asks. "I hope she finishes taking care of those animals we rescued earlier. I hope it's not a week."
Eggman is in the base belonging to Rita and Fuhrer, his allies in defeating the rangers. They are in a factory overseeing the production of several robots which will be used in the following mission against the rangers. The robots are more like mech suits as they have a hole inside them where its pilot will be inserted. The pilots in question are small animals captured by Eggman for this purpose.
"How many animals did you capture, Eggman?" Fuhrer asks as more and more robots get sent down the line.
"Just a few hundred in twenty cagefuls," Eggman answers.
"How many did you lose to those rangers?" Rita asks.
"Only one so far has been lost," Eggman answers. "That Sonic got a bit too pestering by the third time he caught up to me. That persistent boy. So, to satisfy his goals I decided to drop one, and then hopped that he would fail to catch them. Needless to say, I didn't catch him off guard."
Fuhrer looked at the production line and counted as each robot gets finished. "You sure that this is good enough to defeat the rangers?" he asks.
"I'm pretty sure," Eggman answers with confidence. "This should be more than enough to defeat the rangers for once."
Rita then looks to her monster chamber, eyeing on the monster inside. "And in conjunction with this latest monster, Pollution Titan, these rangers will surely fell to their knees as they try to fight this 'll spew out clouds of cursed blinding smoke, making it impossible to them to see and escape its wrath."
"That seems like a excellent plan to me," Eggman observes. "What's the catch?"
"You're trying to test if animals can be used as energy sources for this army of robots," Fuhrer pointed out. "I figure that I should do the same for this. I left in a cavity in its chest for an animal to be inserted in. Would you buy into that?"
Eggman calculated how much animals they needed, and how many they have currently. "Well, I have more than enough captured animals that I am perfectly willing to donate one to this mechanical beast," he concluded. "I'm sure that this will add more power to this plan than simply an army of these things."
Fuhrer and Rita agreed to this plan. "Alright, Eggman," Rita said. "Get one of the critters and insert it inside that cavity. Then, we're ready to put this plan into motion. Hopefully, we'll defeat the rangers this time."
Fluttershy is taking care of a rabbit that was found in the capsule Sonic and Rainbow took and brought to her house. She performs health inspections to see if the rabbit is okay after being suspended high in the air.
The rabbit freaks out after having one of its legs squeezed. "Just hang in there a little longer, buddy," Fluttershy assures the rabbit. "Soon, you'll be back in nature all healed up. Oh, and be careful of that mad doctor that just took you. I heard that he's dangerous."
The rabbit makes few squeaks as it calmed itself down. Fluttershy listens to the rabbit, hearing the voices coming from within.
"Oh, so you'll be more cautious next time?" Fluttershy asks. The rabbit nodded. "Whenever you see him?" The rabbit nodded again, having remembered Eggman and how he tried to capture it. Fluttershy then smiles and patted on the rabbit's head. "Okay. Take care in there."
The rabbit then bounced around the care room to join the others that was trapped in that capsule. Seeing that she went through all of the rescued animals, Fluttershy wiped the sweat off her head. Her job is done for now. It won't be long before she is back in the base, and it won't be long before she returns here. She does have to check on these animals every once in a while.
There was a knock on the door. "How was the animals, sweetie?" Fluttershy's mom asks.
Fluttershy took off her gloves and medical gear and set them aside. "They're fine," Fluttershy answers. "They were not seriously harmed from being trapped in that capsule."
Fluttershy's mom sighed in relief. "Phew," she said. "That's a relief." She then opens the door and lets Fluttershy inside, where her dad is waiting.
Fluttershy's dad thinks for a moment, considering what his daughter is doing right now. "You know, sweetheart, you might as well take being a veterinarian as a profession," he said. "Taking care of other's animals when they're sick and harmed. We trained you in this field since you were young, as we have an animal care room in our house. We're so glad that you're continuing on this path, even going so far as to help out your friends when they're hurt."
"Thanks," Fluttershy replies.
"Is it my turn to get inside the animal shelter?" Zephyr asks from his room in the upper floor.
The parents groaned. They knew that their son was not suited for the job. They should know. They tried in his childhood. It didn't work.
"You're not trained well enough in the field for me to trust you," Fluttershy's mom replied.
"Oh come on!" Zephyr whines, pounding on something in his room. "I want in!"
Fluttershy looked at her watch. She promised that she would be back in the base soon. "I'd better come back to the base," she told her parents. "My friends are waiting for me."
Fluttershy packs up her stuff and heads out the door. Before she could even reach the door, her mom stops her.
"Wait, sweetie," Fluttershy's mom said. Fluttershy stopped and turns towards her mother. She then approaches her. "Before you go, have this." Fluttershy's mom then, from her pocket, pulled out a gold phone with pink trims. "I found this in the animal capsule that your friends have recovered. I think this might be important at a later point."
Fluttershy took the phone and inspects it. She opens it up, only to find a single button near the hinge. She does not remember seeing this thing before. "What is it?" she asks.
"I don't know," Fluttershy's mom replies. "Maybe it's something from another world or..."
As Fluttershy took a closer look at the phone, she realizes that it's not some random phone that she's holding, but something from the past. "Well. I know exactly what this means," she said.
Shortly before leaving, Fluttershy took a picture of the phone and sent it to her friends at the base. Then she hopped on a train destined towards Transition Outpost Station, near where the base is.
The team looks at the picture and saw that they have something special in their hands.
"Another legacy power?" Silver asks.
"Yes," Median answers, confirming the other's suspicion. " The one in Fluttershy's possession is the morpher used by the Gaorangers, a team who is close to nature. An animal themed team."
Manic was scratching his head. "Huh," he said. "I kind of expected to see the Gingaman morpher falling in her hands."
"That team is part space themed and nature themed," Sonic said. "I mean, they have 'galaxy' in their name. Couldn't be more out there than that."
The team was in a bit of a stir over what legacy power Fluttershy should get.
Median had enough of this and stopped the conversation. "Okay, cut it out you guys," he told them. "I see that you're in a bit of a fuss over what legacy power Fluttershy should get, but whatever the case, I'm sensing that she will be using that legacy power quite soon. In fact, I-"
Suddenly, alarms began to go off in the base, signaling an attack.
"What was that?" Pinkie asks.
The team then took a peek on their map. The signal is coming from right in their door steps.
"Another monster attack!" Tails gasps. "And this time it's right in our doorsteps! Or at least...right outside this building."
The team then looks towards the door. Beyond that door lays something that wants to destroy them.
Sunset pounded on the table in frustration. Attacks on their base seems so frequent nowadays. "It's frustrating," she said. "They know where we are stationed but we don't know where their base is? Come on!"
"That's what we get for having our base right next to a settlement," Twilight commented.
Tails zoomed in on the nearby down and discovered something. "Speaking of which," he said, "the settlement is...covered in a thick fog?" To his horror, something has happened to the nearby town. The fog was so thick that nothing could be make out in the activities down below. "Hey, where is the ground? I can't see it from here!"
The blaring of the alarms is starting to get under the team's nerve. They can't stand it anymore.
"That's it," Sonic declared as he pounded his fist on the table. "We're going to fight that thing and drive that our of our grounds!" He then sprints out the front door, followed by Rainbow.
Twilight reached out to the two speedsters. "Wait! Sonic! Rainbow!" she yelled. "Don't go out there!"
Sonic and Rainbow burst out of the doors and placed their fingers on their morpher. "Activating gem power, now!" they both yelled as they transformed into their ranger form.
The monster they're fighting seems invisible at first. They don't know where their target is. Then, out of nowhere, the carnage has begun. Bombs dropped from the air, exploding into a thick black fog that encompass all who were unlucky enough to be in its range.
"What? Hey!" Rainbow yells, coming to a stop. "What's with this thick black fog?"
"Ugg," Sonic cringes upon taking a whiff of the fog. "It reeks of...blech!"
Rainbow looked around, trying to find her friend. "Sonic?" she yelled, trying to look into the fog. "Where are you? You were right next to me!"
"Sonic covered his ears from the loud shouting that seems to come from right beside him. "I'm right here!" he answers.
Rainbow looks in the other direction, only to find nothing but the same thing as before. "Where?" she asks.
"Gah!" Sonic yells in frustration. "It's impossible to see in this fog! Where is that thing that attacked us?" Suddenly, Sonic got attacked by something. Soon enough, Rainbow was attacked from a seemingly random direction.
With the thick fog, not only could they see each other, but also where their attacker is. Without the knowledge of the location of their attacker, they can't help but be knocked around.
Twilight and the rest of the team ran out the doors of the command center, only to find a cloud of black fog just ahead of them. Coming from the fog, sounds of hits were coming out of it.
"Oh no!" Twilight gasps in horror. "They got themselves captured! This is what they get for charging head first into battle."
As Twilight got mad at Sonic and Rainbow for foolishly charging in, Tails looks in the direction of the town and saw that a rain of smoke bombs that was about to fall on them. Upon seeing this, his eyes widen. "Watch out!" he shouted, pointing to the sky and making everyone pay attention to that.
Before anyone can react, the rain of smoke bombs hit the ground and exploded, spewing out clouds of black smoke. Soon enough, nearly the entirety of the base is covered in thick black fog.
Twilight looks around, only to find nothing but a seemingly featureless wall of black. "Huh?" she said, looking around. "Where is everyone?"
"Ahh!" Pinkie shrieked. "I can't see my own feet!"
"Guys?" Sunset called. "Guys? GUYS? Guys, where are you?"
"Guhhh!" Shadow shuddered. "All this black...it's too much! Wh-where is everything?"
"Hahaha!" the team hears from far away. "You're fallen straight into my trap, rangers!"
The team knew whose voice that was and started to look for her among the fog that they're in.
"Rita!" Sonic spoke. "But...where are you? And where is your monster? I want to drive it away from here."
Rita laughed at the expense of the rangers. She has found amusement in seeing these rangers suffer as they try to fight with no way to see right in front of them. "Oh," she said, continuing to laugh. "You can thank Pollution Titan for putting you in this situation. Now that you are surrounded in thick fog, there is no way to find my monster and fight it. Go ahead. Try."
"Well, what good if your plan to cover all of us in this fog, if we can just get away from it?" Rainbow asks, chillaxing the idea. "There was to be an end to this, right?" She then runs off for a moment close to her max speed, before stopping. All she did was make herself even more lost in the fog. She looks around only to see that nothing has changed. "Aww man, I was hoping to escape that heavy fog! I swear that this is a different place. It has to be."
"Hahaha!" Rita laughed, seeing how foolish these rangers are. "And don't think you can escape the trap by running away. You see, this fog is special. It's cursed. I cursed this fog so that no matter what direction you travel in, you cannot escape the fog! Oh, and there are some things in there."
Suddenly, Tails got hit by something hiding in the fog. Then Twilight. Then Knuckles. And then everyone else. The team has now found themselves being hit by seemingly nothing. Or at least, something which they were unable to see coming.
Rita laughed as the rangers continued to get hit. "Hahaha!" she manically laughed at sight of the ranger's misery. "I'd like to enjoy your suffering forever, but I've got business to do back in my base. Enjoy your friend, rangers!" And then she teleports back into her base.
The rest of the team find it hard to fight without sight. To give them a little more time, they transforms into their ranger mode. However, even with some protection, the fight is just as hard as they still couldn't tell where there target is.
"Where is that thing?" Shadow asks.
"It's got to be around here somewhere," Silver replies.
A smack is heard in the fog. "Ow!" Pinkie shrieked. "What hit me?"
Meanwhile, Sonic searches through the fog, trying to find the monster. "Come out, monster," he said as he looks around and walks. "Don't you dare play mind games on me."
Sonic reaches out into the fog, looking for something suspicious, He grabs the air many times. After a while, he has touched something in the fog. Confident that the monster is in his reach, he pulls out his sword and begins swinging. "I've got you!" he shouts as he slashes his sword.
"Ahh!" Someone shrieked.
To his horror, Sonic has committed friendly fire. "What?" he gasps. "That wasn't it?"
Turns out that the "monster" is really Rainbow Dash. She gets up and starts to yell. "Sonic! That was me!" she yells.
The fog clears up a little, revealing Rainbow clutching her injured shoulder. Sonic was shocked by what he has done. "Rainbow?" he asks.
"Look at what you've done!" Rainbow berates.
"Sorry!" Sonic apologizes. "I thought that I've got our target."
"You've could've knocked me out you fool!" Rainbow continues to yell.
Sonic wonders how long Rainbow will rant at him for accidentally attacking her. She might be one of his best friends, but Rainbow can get a little bit harsh sometimes. Even he is guilty of doing just that. However, as he is being distracted by Rainbow's ranting, Sonic gets attacked in the back and is flung forward into Rainbow's arms.
"What?" Rainbow gasps. "What's attacking you?"
"I have no clue!" Sonic cries.
Meanwhile. Manic looks around, searching for his targets. He decides that searching won't do and decides to shoot everywhere with his pistols.
"Hey!" Knuckles yelled in the distance. "What almost hit me?"
"Whoops," Manic said, realizing his mistake Then he gets smacked in the back by his own bullet, knocking him into the ground.
From the outside view, it still looks like a cloud of smoke hovering just above the around. Going in and out of the fog are multiple robots. Animal shaped robots. Inside each of them is an animal who is being used as a power source. Among them is the master of thee robots, Pollution Titan.
Below the fog, the grass seems to wilt. The fog is both blinding and toxic, blocking nearly all light while simotaniously breaking down cells. It would only be a matter of time before hte rangers have a huge patch of dead grass on their lawn.
Just then, Fluttershy has arrived. And to her horror, the base is covered in black fog that is encompassing the main courtyard. She gasp in reaction to this. "Oh my goodness!" she said. "I thought that the town had it bad enough! Now it's affecting my friends."
For some odd reason, Median is unable to talk to the rangers. He is unable to track down their locations, so he cannot connect with them. Seeing Fluttershy there, he turns his attention to her.
"Fluttershy. Your friends are in danger," Median said. "You need to help them out right now."
Fluttershy nodded. "Got it," she said. Then she approached the fog. "Hang on, everyone! I'm coming for you."
Everyone's ears perked when they hear Fluttershy's voice.
"Is that Fluttershy?" Rainbow asks.
"Oh, good," Tails said in relief. "She's back."
"I thought that it'll take longer," Twilight added.
Staring into the fog, Fluttershy could only see a wall of black. She is unable to see where everything is. "Guys? Where are you?" she asks. No responce. They couldn't figure out where they are. This worries Fluttershy. "I...I can't find you! Guys? Anyone there?"
Suddenly, the robots that are attacking stopped going into the fog and stare at Fluttershy. They could move in and attack her, but for some reason, they don't.
Fluttershy felt a sudden pain in her head. Something has clouded her thoughts. "And what's with all these voices in my head?" she asks. "Something is screaming in my ears."
The rangers got so injured from these mysterious attacks that most of them give up and sit out for the remainder of the battle. At this point, being hit doesn't bother them since they do not have a chance of attacking whatever is attacking them
"This is just bad," Rainbow said. "Fluttershy is our only hope in stopping this, but how?"
"There must be a way for her to help us," Sonic said.
Suddenly, it came to Fluttershy. She realized why she's been hearing voices in her head. "Wait a minute," she began, her thoughts coming into her head. "I hear animals, the voices of them. Could it be that the things that are attacking you were really animals? Or at least, animals trapped in these mechanical suits?"
"What? There's animals in them?" Sonic exclaims. "So...this is why Eggman is capturing animals. He's using them to power these fighting machines. Probably as part of a deal he made with his allies."
"Not only that, but our enemies covered us in this fog so that we are unable to see where these attacks are coming from," Rainbow added. "Now that's just adding insult to injury."
Fluttershy suddenly got a headache. The voices in her head were just too much for her. "Oh," she groans as she went down to her knees. "This is getting too much. These voices, it's overwhelming!"
That's when Median stepped in. "Fluttershy!' he yells. "Use the morpher now!"
"Which one?" Fluttershy asks. "I can't think straight anymore..."
"The phone!" Median answers. "Activate it right now! The team associated with his has ties to nature. Do it! It's the only way to defeat this monster."
Fluttershy soon got up, still with an aching feeling in her head. She takes out the phone morpher, the one associated with the Gaorangers. They're an animal themed team, and she happens to be close to animals. Looking into the fog, she grew an angry look. "Okay," she said to herself. "Here it goes."
Fluttershy flipped the phone open and pressed it to her ear, pressing on the button below the hinge. This turns on the phone, making its display glow. Once this happens, Fluttershy then thrusted her hand forward while moving the phone to her other ear.
Suddenly, Fluttershy is in a nearly full pink suit, aside from a gold belt and a gold band that spans across her chest from her left shoulder to her right waist. There is no helmet included.
"I've done it," Fluttershy said. "I have a legacy power in my hands."
"A legacy power?" Silver asks, being perked up from hearing the news. "Nice! What does she look like?"
Sunset provides the answer. "You can find her right...over...uhh..." she tries to say, but quickly realized that that's not going to work since they've lost their since of direction.
In this legacy suit, the headaches seemingly went away, as if hearing the cries of animals was taking less of a toll on her brainpower.
"How did you feel now, Fluttershy?" Median asks.
"I feel fine now," Fluttershy answers. "I can hear all of their voices. Hold on, let me try this." She then closed her eyes and put her hand out towards the fog. "Come here, animals. I'm here to save you."
They didn't notice before, but now they notice it. The frequency of them being attacked has lowered to nothing.
"Is it just me, or are these foot soldiers or whatever attacking us less frequently?" Manic asks.
"Hey, where did they go?" Pinkie asks.
"I think...they're heading towards Fluttershy!" Rainbow answers.
"What?" nearly everyone yelled in reaction to hearing this.
"But she-" Twilight tried to speak up.
"Hold on," Sonic said, stopping everyone else. "They're not attacking her."
Twilight gasps in response. "Could it mean-?" she said, but was unable to continue. She could not find the words for it.
Fluttershy is now surrounded in all sides by these robots with animals inside them. In front of her is the master behind this, Pollution Titan. They could attack her at this point, but her tone says otherwise.
"Listen to me," Fluttershy told the robots. Or rather, the animals stuffed inside them. "You're trapped in this suit of armor that's been taking a toll on your bodies. Seems awesome at first, until you're realized that you're trapped in here for the rest of your life. But don't worry. I will free you guys from this cage."
The robots take a moment to look at each other. Or rather, the animals inside is taking control of the robots they're in.
Fluttershy then looks directly at Pollution Titan. "You must be the one who caused all of this," she said. "Trapping the town and my friends in a fog where they can't see things in front of their eyes. You're a jerk, but you're influenced by that doctor to act this way to satisfy his agenda."
Pollution Titan then grew a sad face at Fluttershy. It grew puppy dog eyes as it stared at her.
"Now, animals, may I command you," Fluttershy said, closing her eyes to focus. Then, she snaps open her eyes. "Free yourselves from these prisons!"
The robots and Pollution Titan stared at Fluttershy for a while, before they collapse into a pile of metal and other parts. The animals inside were freed. Many of them either ran away or fly away.
At the same time as Pollution Titan was defeated by a speech, the black fog disappears, revealing the rest of the team standing around the field.
"What?" Tails said, looking around at his friends. "It's over?"
Rainbow had her eyes on her friend. "My goodness," she said. "Did she really did all that on her own?"
"Well, somebody did not account for this," Sonic remarks. "Who knew that the ability to talk to animals can be useful?"
Fluttershy ran up to her friends, checking on them. "Are you guys okay?" she asks.
"We require immediate medical attention!" Manic hollered.
The others stare at Manic for a while, tempted to giggle.
"Don't worry, guys," Fluttershy reassures the others. "I will put you back into shape real soon. As for this mission...I can't believe this, but I saved the day all by myself." She then takes out the phone she used to gain access to a legacy power. "And it's all thanks to this. A legacy power."
News broke out about Fluttershy's victory against the monster of the day, as well as celebration of the ending of the fog crisis. Now, everyone can see again.
Meanwhile, in the ranger base, the team is building a collection of every single legacy power they have gotten so far. As of this moment, Legacy Power #24, the Crono Changer of the Timerangers, has been received.
"Legacy Power #25 has been collected," Tails said as he placed the Growl Phone in its slot. "The second of our friends has received a legacy power to help them on their mission."
Tails and Twilight took a break from this project. They then head off towards their friends.
Over at the dining and kitchen room, the others were discussing the fog and its functions because it behaves rather weirdly.
"I wonder what that fog that covered us really is," Amy said, revealing her thoughts.
"It's kind of hard to explain since we didn't take samples of it," Tails answers. "But from our observations, it blinds anyone caught with it with a featureless black wall. However, it seems to be based on the heart of the user. If the user of this fog has a good heart, nothing would happen. However, an evil user would result in the blinding fog. I think that's why the fog disappeared when the animal powering the big monster got a change of heart."
"Okay, this just got real strange," Sonic comments. "First, we caught Eggman capturing animals, then got covered in blinding fog only for it to disappear when Fluttershy came and reformed the monster that's attacking us. Are we going crazy or..."
"No," Twilight answers. "We're not going crazy from the constant attacks. Trust me. I checked."
"Well, lets hope our next mission doesn't get as confusing as the last one," Rainbow remarks, which pulled a laugh out of almost everyone.
Almost everyone.
[End of Episode]
From the Author:
The last quarter of the episode changed a lot during production. It originally intended for Fluttershy to smash open the robots to free the animals inside, but I changed my mnd and turned it into a more passifist approch. Hey, I never said that this is an all action series. Not every monster has to be defeated by attacking it until it explodes.
Also, yes. Eggman in this universe is taking cues from the canonical Eggman and decides that capturing animals is the future. How fun.
Off the Rails
"Capsule Mayhem"
Over the next several missions, the rangers would continue to find animal capsules just sitting out there in the open. Naturally, they all opened them up, freeing the critters inside.
Taking note of this, Eggman decides to troll the rangers by making the next several capsules traps. This is his results.
Sonic reached the end of Green Hill Park, where he found an animal capsule. "Hehehe," he chuckles. "I've found you, animal capsule." He then walks up to it. "What a stupid place to put it. It's like he's asking us to open them up." He then jumps on it and opens the capsule, thinking that he has freed the animals. "Well. This job is easier than I thought."
Turns out, the capsule was rigged and there was no animals to be found inside of it. It then sudden;y explodes, spewing ash all over Sonic's clothes and body.
"Okay," Sonic said weakly into the ground. "Maybe it was too easy."
This is only the beginning of Eggman's diabolical actions.
Rainbow opened a capsule, only for the button to turn into spring, sending her off a cliff. Tails apparently encountered a dud, Knuckles activates a trap where he is bounced off before being tied up by the ankle, Twilight freed a monster, and Applejack alerted a stampede of bulls towards her location.
They're not happy once they returned to the base.
Written by TheAPPStore
Sonic the Hedgehog characters property of Sega
Series inspired by Super Sentai by Toei Company