Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; they belong to Saban.
Author's Note: This has to be one of the hardest finales ever to rewrite, guys, and I rewrote "Legendary Legacy." This one is harder. I hope it works out!
CHAPTER 29:
Philip tried to pull away but Heckyl kept him in an iron grip.
"Get away from him!" Shelby barked.
"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Heckyl said, shoving Philip back toward his friends. He stumbled awkwardly into James. "It's Snide that's after you, not me."
"Two halves of the whole," James shot back.
"Not anymore," Heckyl countered. He shrugged. "Snide and I had….a parting of the ways."
"That's why you helped us?" Shelby asked him. "And…what did you mean when you said, 'I know what it's like to lose an entire world'?"
Heckyl moved back from the group to sit near the smoldering fire. "I can tell you're not going away any time soon." He looked up at them, gestured to the fire. "Are you sitting or not?"
The three rangers exchanged looks. Then, they made their way over to Heckyl, joining him on the ground. The villain said nothing for a few moments. "I wasn't saving you," he assured them. "I was trying to destroy Badussa. That thing has destroyed galaxies. And I know a little something of that."
"You mentioned that," Philip muttered, rubbing his arm.
Heckyl eyed him. "My whole planet was destroyed by Lord Arcanon. I believe you know him," he said, nodding to Shelby. "And he did it just so he could possess the Dark Energem."
Keeper leaned forward. "You survived the destruction of Sentai-6?" he asked.
Heckyl nodded. "And everything I've done since then was to try to restore my planet."
"That's a roundabout way to do it," James pointed out.
Shelby saw Heckyl's hands glowing blue, a sign his patience with them was waning, and jumped in, "How would you do it?"
Heckyl opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a harsh voice. "It doesn't matter, because it's never going to happen!" The Rangers stood up as Badussa came striding forward. Heckyl was on his feet, hands raised, but before he could attack, Shelby, eyes closed, was taking off at a run toward the monster. She executed a perfect jump kick, sending Badussa whirling. The momentum caused his amulet to go flying, tumbling into the dirt.
Keeper took aim with his staff, shattering the amulet. "Nooooo!" Badussa howled. The monster turned furiously to Shelby, eyes ablaze
"Shelby!" Philip called. He grabbed James by the hood and pulled the Aqua Ranger forward, standing protectively in front of their teammate, who got to her feet behind them. "Let's see how tough you are now," Shelby said. "It's morphin' time!" The yellow pistol appeared in their hands and they fired, their suits appearing in an instant. The Graphite, Aqua, and Pink Rangers charged forward. Philip went low as his teammates went high, staggering him backwards. "Shelby!" Keeper called. "Destroy the amulet!"
Philip and James held Badussa back as Shelby darted to the side where the amulet had fallen. Philip plowed a foot into Badussa and whipped around to see an explosion of pink and bright blue energy. Heckyl. "Yes!" he cheered. Hopefully, that was enough to bring our friends back-Something hit him hard in the midsection and he went sprawling sideways, the momentum of the hit rolling him into a tree trunk. His back crashed against it hard.
"If you think I'm Badussa now," Badussa snarled, "Wait 'til you see this!" He spread his arms and began to grow.
Philip pushed himself up on his elbow. "How do we fight that without a MegaZord?" he gaped.
"Somehow, Philip, I don't think you'll have to," Keeper said with a grin, the tip of his staff glowing yellow.
The ground rumbled. Philip staggered to his feet as the ground moved beneath him. He looked over at Shelby and James, and the three of them gasped as a massive, navy blue dinosaur came crashing through the trees, straight for Badussa. The three Rangers and Keeper dove out of the way as the Spinozord came spinning past them, driving its large, bony sail into Badussa. "Great job, Shelby," James tossed her a thumbs up. "All right, let's form a MegaZord!" He pulled out his Charger, Philip following suit. "Summon Zords!"
The Ankylosaurus and the Pachysaur came rumbling into the clearing. Philip marveled at the sight of the lead-colored dinosaur that belonged to him. That never gets old. He turned to Shelby. "You're in charge," he said, then noticed she was staring back in the direction Heckyl had been camping. "Shelby? Are you with us?"
She started, looked back at the two men. "I-sorry. Activate Spino Charge Megazord, Ankylo-Pacha Formation!" Shelby commanded. Then, she was running, making for the MegaZord. The boys followed, finding themselves inside the cockpit. "Here he comes!" James yelled.
"I can slow him down. Pachy Wrecking Ball!" Philip intoned, remembering how this had gone against the Greenzilla, and making sure to control the hit this time. Badussa went flying off the end of the ball.
"My turn," James said, determination in his tone. "Ankylo Hammer!" The aqua hammer pounded Badussa, sparks flying.
"Gonna finish him off. Spino Boomerang Attack!" Shelby yelled. She looked at Keeper. "Would you like to do the honors?" she asked him. The alien nodded, and thrust his staff forward in a downward strike. The navy blue weapon flew forward, sending Badussa spinning and exploding in a shower of sparks and smoke. Badussa shrank back down to size, a charred mess eighty stories below them.
Shelby grinned at Keeper, who was standing next to her. "You're a natural!" she laughed. The alien gave her a short bow. She laughed, and then gasped. "Look!" She pointed out the cockpit window. Philip leaned forward to see seven familiar faces down below. They're here!
Shelby leapt from the MegaZord, James hot on her heels. The two of them made a beeline for Tyler as Philip landed on the ground, immediately enveloped by Koda and Ivan. "Are you all right, Sire?" Ivan asked him. He pointed at the MegaZord. "That is quite the sight!" he said appreciatively.
"Indeed," Philip agreed. "Shelby has quite the eye for detail," he grinned. "It's good to see you both," he added, giving Koda a side armed hug. Koda gripped him in a tight bear hug, lifting him off his feet.
"No time to celebrate," Tyler's voice broke through the celebrating. His dark eyes flashed as he pointed forward.
Badussa was on his feet. "You can't get rid of me that easily, Rangers!" He spread his arms as a contingent of Vivix appeared behind him. "Celebrate this!"
Philip stepped up beside Ivan and Koda, in a defensive stance to protect the others as they morphed. James and Shelby also stood in front of the line. Philip looked back at Tyler, who led the call.
"Dino Chargers, ready!" He shoved the Red Dino Charger into his pistol and fired. Philip and the rest of the team followed suit. "Unleash the Power!" Philip felt the surge of residual energy burn off behind them as the Vivix advanced, and they ran to meet them. He could see bursts of fire, of purple energy off to his left as Chase used his pistol, the hotshot of the team like always. He watched Koda take down three Vivix at once by throwing one into another pair with his caveman strength, only amplified by his suit. Riley swung his sabre in a wide arc, sending several of the green-haired lackeys flying. Shelby gracefully leapt over a pack of them and drove her boots into them from behind, toppling them like bowling pins. Ivan used the wings on his suit to blast through another group, sending them sprawling off the edges. His feet moved without thinking, and Philip looked over to see James driving his fists into the ground, a surge of energy cracking the dirt and rock and knocking several Vivix off balance. Philip grinned and sprinted forward, knocking the off-kilter Vivix off their feet and to the ground. Behind him, he turned to see Kendall on the shoulders of one of the Vivix, using his momentum as he tried to throw her off to fire at his cohorts circled around them. Not to be outdone, Zenowing was using his swordsmanship, cleaving the rest in two.
Tyler solo'd on Badussa, using his enhanced power mode on the half-defeated alien. Shelby tossed him the Spino Dino Charger, and Koda added the Stegosaurus. Philip knocked a Vivix away and stomped on its' chest, watching their team leader, now with an elongated blade and the bony plates of a Stegosaurus as a shield. The enhancements made it a simple defeat. Philip cheered along with the rest of the team, finally able to celebrate uninterrupted.
That is, until the ground started to shake below them, and a dark shadow rose out of the trees. Philip braced himself against a rock, looking up into the sky. Behind his visor, his eyes widened. "It's-"
"Sledge's ship!" Tyler announced. "It can still fly?"
"Maybe he used the energy from the dark Energem?" Kendall offered.
"Are we…too late?" Koda asked.
Nobody had an answer for him. The whole reason for their sneak attack…70% of the team getting turned to stone, Shelby having to create a new Zord to fight back and rescue them…it was all for nothing.
Philip watched the ship disappear into the clouds. Sledge has the Dark Energem. We've failed.
The team reconvened back at the museum, in a much more sober mood. Philip leaned against the wall by the charging station, watching the Graphite Energem sparkle in the artificial light. He looked around at his team.. Nobody was talking much. Everyone's minds were on the Dark Energem, and the destruction it could wreak in Sledge's hands.
"This is no time to give up," Keeper tried to rally the group. "Now, more than ever, you must stick together."
Still, no one said anything. Philip toed the concrete floor with his foot. He thought of Thomas and Nick, thought of Marg-
"Sledge has been trying to get the Energems for 65 million years," Kendall broke the silence, interrupting Philip's thoughts at exactly the right moment. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked around, motioning for the team to gather around the computer consoles. "Where's he going with the Dark Energem?"
"And what's he been doing since his ship crashed?" Philip wondered.
"Heckyl warned me," Shelby spoke up quietly. The group turned to her. "Back in the forest. Before the Spinosaurus came. He said…" She paused. Tyler squeezed her hand reassuringly, and she swallowed and continued. "He said we should get off the planet."
"Okay, but just because he helped us once doesn't mean we should trust everything he says," Chase countered.
"Perhaps," Ivan agreed. "But he may know something that we don't." The knight of Zandar leaned forward, resting his hands on the console. "What if Sledge's plan is so devastating, so huge…that the only safe place is-" He pointed at the ceiling.
Philip's eyes unconsciously lifted skyward. Oh, no.