The tremors that were rocking Venus Island were getting worse and more frequent. The wind ninjas plus Blake made it to the foot of the hill before they had to turn back. The waters had risen so much that only the hill was above the surface. Another tremor almost brought the summit of the hill crashing down on top of them. Kim was a little wary still but she was slowly warming up to Lauren. As for Charlie, she had barely left her side during their hike. To be fair to the yellow sentry, Lauren ensured that she was never too far away.
"We've been wondering around for half an hour", Eric groaned, "and there's barely any island left. Maybe we'll have to accept that Tennaya's gone".
The group continued in silence until they reached the summit of the hill which, much to their frustration, was back where they had started. Another earthquake hit the island and the sentries could feel the physical drop of the island. The water was now right behind them and only a small plateau of land was visible. That's when they saw the very person they had been search for, "Tennaya", Lauren called out.
They approached the tyranno sentry cautiously but she didn't move from her spot. As they got closer they could see a faraway look in her eyes, she was gripping the Corona Aurora tightly. "Do you like her new look", Drakon suddenly made his presence known and stepped out from behind Tennaya, "robo brunette wasn't known for her brain power so I decided to improve her".
"What did you do?" Lauren hissed.
"Only what the Corona would've done", Drakon chuckled, "I just gave things a helping hand".
The tyranno sentry slowly raised her hand and a jet of green light smashed into the ground in front of the sentries. They shielded their eyes to protect themselves from flying debris, "Tennaya stop", Lauren cried, "this isn't you".
Drakon laughed loudly, "Just goes to show how well you know her". The dark lord touched the Corona, "Once Tennaya here has burned herself out then I'll be in the perfect position to remove the Corona Aurora from her possession".
"Not going to happen", Kim stepped forward, "I might not be Tennaya's best friend but she's still a Ranger, she wouldn't want to be used this way".
"Please", Drakon scoffed, "who's going to stop us?"
"We are", Kim said defiantly and reached for her morpher, "It's morphin' time, Pteradactyl Power".
The Masterdon and Sabretooth sentry's looked at each other and dropped into a stance, "Ranger Storm, Masterdon Form, Sabretooth Form".
Lauren's eyes never moved from Tennaya as the other's morphed, "I'm sorry for this Tennaya", she sighed, "Ranger Storm, Tricera Form".
"Not as sorry as you will be", Tennaya spat, "Ranger Storm, Tyranno Form", she called.
As soon as Tennaya finished morphing, the Rebel Sentries immediately went on the attack. Since their first fight, all of their combat skills had improved greatly since then. Unfortunately Tennaya was under the influence of the Corona. Her attacks were much quicker and more powerful than anything they had dealt with before.
With their Weapons drawn, the Rebel sentries attacked simultaneously. Tennaya was ready for this and swept them aside with her Power Sword Staff. "Try this on for size", Eric called out. A repeated blast of laser fire from his Power Axe Rifle was directed towards the tyranno sentry. She jumped out the way of the first few before opening out her staff to deflect the shots back. The masterdon sentry froze for a moment as one of his own laser bolts hit him in the chest. He was thrown backwards in the air before crashing to the ground.
"Hey, looks like someone needs to cool off", Charlie said and aimed both her Power Dagger guns at the tyranno sentry. She quickly dodged out the way before turning towards the sabretooth sentry. She was about to attack with her staff but Kim quickly intercepted the attack. The ranger slayer kicked Tennaya hard in the chest but she refused to go down.
The tyranno sentry charged up her staff with dark red lightning. With a violent swing she aimed the attack towards the Rebel Sentries but her surprise, Lauren blocked the attack with her sniper rifle, "What are you doing?" Tennaya roared.
"The right thing", she shot back "This isn't going to end well for you", Tennaya stated and he charged up her staff again, "you're forgetting that I know your weaknesses too".
Lauren shook her head, "Shut up and fight". The tricera sentry leapt into action and the Power Sword Staff and the Tricera Sniper clashed together with a loud rumble of thunder. Fuelled by the Corona Aurora, Tennaya was the more powerful fighter but to Lauren, her attack pattern was predictable. Lauren blocking the power staff split her sniper into two gun, using the first gun to keep blocking, she opened fire with the second. A stream of lightning flew towards Tennaya and it exploded at her feet. The tyranno sentry was knocked off her feet and was slow to get back up.
The brief rest bite allowed Lauren to survey the other battle. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Drakon was holding off the Rebel sentries. Rather worryingly he didn't appear to be expending much energy either. Unfortunately for Lauren shad allowed herself to get distracted from her own battle. Tennaya had recovered and had the Corona Aurora ready to fire at Lauren. The Tricera sentry wasn't paying attention and she had a direct shot but at the last moment, she pulled her shot. The blast landed a few meters to Lauren's right, surprising the pair of them. Tenaya shook her head and took aim again, "That was just a warning shot".
With an animalistic roar, Lauren charged at Tennaya and brought her rifle crashing down viciously. Tennaya barely blocked the attack and to her horror, Lauren continued the assault.
Eventually Tennaya's defences were breached when Lauren blasted her hands. Tennaya dropped her staff but she still held onto the Corona. Lauren aimed another shot in her direction and instinctively, Tennaya raised the Corona to block the attack. The moment the crown and Lauren's blast touched, there was a powerful backlash that violently forced the sentries apart. Tennaya rolled to the ground and in a flash of light, she demorphed and the Corona fell out of her hands.
The tyranno sentry's ears were ringing, her head was fuzzy but it was slowly clearing. As she gazed up at the overcast sky, someone moved into her line of vision, "Dillion", she wheezed.
The man nodded, "I see nothing has changed".
Dillion slowly pulled Tennaya into a seated position just in time to see Drakon defeat the Rebel sentries. The three were thrown across the ground by a dark pulse of energy and all of them demorphed. She could also see Lauren writhing in pain nearby, "This is just the beginning of your path but you have a choice". He knelt down, "I know you'll make the right one".
Drakon walked amongst the fallen bodies of the rangers, giving Kim a little kick in the process, "Pathetic", he sighed. He then saw Tennaya slowly walking in his direction, "Ah my new apprentice, had a bit of trouble with your friend I see". Tennaya continued to walk silently in his direction, "Don't feel so bad, you're still new to this after all".
"This ends now Drakon", Tennaya began, "I know you killed my parents".
"Aww is the big bad tyranno sentry going to cry for her parents", Drakon chuckled. "Tell you what, I'll give you one free shot", he opened his arms up and invited Tennaya to attack.
The tyranno sentry looked down at the crown in her hand, "No", she stated firmly, "revenge is what led me here to begin with and look where it got me", she indicated to the fallen sentries at her feet. "Don't get me wrong, you will pay for your crimes".
Drakon's face twisted into a mask of rage, "Weak", he bellowed and aimed an energy attack at Tennaya. The tyranno sentry raised the Corona up to block the attack to her surprise, it was reflected back at Drakon. The dark lord barely had time to register this before he was hit by the attack. His body burst into flames and seconds later, he was reduced to a pile of ash.
"Dude, you totally nailed Drakon", Eric coughed out from the ground.
Water began pouring over the plateau, sweeping the sentries away. They fought against the current but it was too strong and they were sucked under. Moments later everything faded to black.
The sentries sat bolt upright and were relieved to find themselves back in the cave where they found the Corona. They looked around cautiously at each other, Tennaya sat up and held up the crown, the gems were gone, and power coin looked damaged.
"Well at least we know the Corona Aurora can't be used by Drakon", Lauren said. She glanced at Lauren who was staring at her power coin in disbelief, "You back with us now?" She asked.
"Yeah", Tennaya sighed, "I can't believe I got sucked in like that, at least I know that revenge isn't the answer".
"Apology accepted", Kim stated, "the offer still stands, help us take down Drakon"
Tennaya bit her lip and thought about the Ranger slayer's offer for a few moments. Suddenly she leapt to her feet and marched towards the exit, "I need some time to think about this", she stated and walked out the cave.
"I see some things never change", Eric sighed.
"Look it's been a difficult few weeks", Lauren began, "how about this, if you ever need any help just give us a call". She grabbed Charlie by the hand and touched a button on her morpher, "That's the frequency to our morphers, call us any time". She was almost out the cave when Charlie's voice stopped her, "Thank you again Lauren", she paused for a moment, "and don't be a stranger". Lauren flashed her best smile before she ran after her friend.
"I still don't trust them", Eric shook his head.
"Give them a chance man", Charlie pleaded their case, "they did come through for us eventually".
"Yeah that's the word I don't like, eventually", Eric replied, "what if they decide to follow their own agenda again".
"Maybe this'll be a discussion for when we get back to base" Kim stated, the sentries agreed and slowly exited the cave. The Coinless sentries maybe not be completely on their side but at least they weren't going to be fighting against them. At least that's what they hoped.