DINO THUNDER: BATTLE AGAINST EXTINCTION
Chapter 1: Welcome to Reefside
Tommy Oliver cursed, drowning his sorrow in a bottle of beer. He wasn't an alcoholic by nature but he couldn't deny that it took his mind off things. He knew alcoholism led to a vicious cycle of self-destructive habits. He remembered his adopted father lash out against them while drunk. Tommy promised himself that he'd never become like him but he desperately needed to forget the pain and misery even if it was for a few hours.
Why was it always him?
He had no one he could turn to for help. He knew his old friends had their own lives and the last thing he wanted to do was drag them back to this insanity.
He always felt like an outsider in his circle of friends. Not that he didn't appreciate them, but while they were an effective team, they were not like the other ranger teams, who were like family.
Jason, Kim, Billy, Trini and Zack were friends long before he came to Angel Grove. It was the same with Aisha, Rocky and Adam. Kat and Tanya were adopted by the Stone Canyon Trio and maintained a close friendship with each other. And despite him trying his best to keep in touch with all his friends, his duties as the Guardian of Earth and Zordon's successor always got in the way. He had to deny invitations to reunions and parties and eventually they stopped coming.
It wasn't the same with the team he and Mercer put together. They were close, maybe even more so than his ranger teams. Maybe if he hadn't been involved, things wouldn't have gone awry. And now they were all dead except for him and Hayley.
Damn it!
Smitty, his partner had been on the the island with him when it exploded. Tommy bit his lips. He should have known it. Every relationship of his was doomed to fail! Kim, Kat, Jason and now Terrence. The explosion shattered his spinal cord and left him crippled from the waist down. And though Tommy promised to be with him every step of the way till his recovery, that wasn't enough. A fire burned down the hospital the night before the surgery and he was one of the casualties.
Tommy blamed himself. He was supposed to be there but Smitty had convinced him to go home and sleep properly instead of drowsing in the armchair beside his bed.
Why did this always happen to him? What had he done to deserve all the bad karma in the universe?
He swung his arm in a wide arc, sweeping the bottle off the table and watching with cathartic joy as the bottle smashed into pieces, shards of broken glass and liquor littering the ground.
He hated his life.
Why couldn't he just have a normal life? Every time he thought he finally had a chance of putting his past behind him and setting his roots somewhere, everything goes up in flames. He was damn sure the universe didn't want him to be happy!
Just then, a portal opened in the middle of his apartment in Amber Beach and two individuals stepped out, one of them a reptilian humanoid with brown scales, big lizard eyes and wearing a red cloak and the other a red headed woman in a checkered coat.
"Keeper!" His speech slurred as he glared at the entity who got him into this mess in the first place.
"I apologize, Thomas but the universe needs your help." The millennia old creature said gently.
"Fuck off." He snarled turning his back on the duo, only to lose his footing and falling down on the floor. He yelped as the broken glass seared through his hands.
"Shit! Get a hold of yourself Oliver!" The woman yelled, helping him up. "You are not the only one who was screwed over by Mesagog."
Tommy shrugged, trying to pull away from him. "Leave me alone, Hayley."
"I can't, not till we make Mesagog pay for everything he has done." She snarled.
"What?" Tommy stared at her incredulously. "Mesagog is dead."
"That's not true. I checked the surveillance cameras in the hospital. That wasn't a random fire, Tommy." Hayley grimaced, taking out a tablet from her pocket. She held it before him and a holographic screen flickered before them.
Tommy's eyes narrowed as he saw tyrannodrones breaking into the hospital and firing lasers, starting the horrific fire that claimed Smitty's life.
"Mesagog!" He snarled.
"He will be searching for the dino gems. They are the key to fulfilling his plans of resurrecting the primeval dinosaurs." The Keeper stated grimly. "You two must secure the dino gems. It's time for another team of rangers to protect the world."
"I am not going to give teenagers morphers. I won't let others go through what we experienced."
"That's not your call to make, Thomas. You must trust the Grid. The power chooses it's wielders, not the other way around."
"We'll see, Keeper." Tommy sighed. "But we need to make a command center in Reefside then to coordinate the search for the gems."
"Already done." Hayley smirked. "I bought us a house on the outskirts of the city, a cyber cafà to scout for teenagers with attitude and I may have offered your resume to Reefside High. You are going to be the new science teacher.."
"The perks of being the daughter of the CEO of a multimillion-dollar corporation."
Hayley stuck out her tongue at him.
"But why the hell do I need to be a high school teacher?" Tommy groaned. "Did you forget that I was always late to classes and barely passed my exams?"
"Only because you were busy saving the world! Duh!" Hayley smirked. "There's no way you are getting out of this, Tommy."
"I trust you two to do what's needed to protect your world." The Keeper cut in. "I wish I could aid you more but I need to return to my own dimension."
The two nodded before the alien teleported away in a swirl of red smoke.
1 year later...
Nico was just about to open his locker as he heard it.
"Hey Cassidy! Look at this."
"What is it, Devin! Can't you see I'm busy?" Cassidy snapped before stopped to look at Devin's smartphone. "Mercer Industries buying majority shares of Reefside Corporations. What's the big deal? Why should I be interested in this?"
"Mercer as in Anton Mercer?"
"Who?"
"The rich guy who disappeared after his private island exploded and killed a lot of people?"
His eyes narrowed. While the incident got a lot of media coverage, nothing conclusive was found and all the scientists and staff employed by Mercer were presumed dead along with the industrialist himself.
His cousin, Regina had been on the island when it exploded. She was gone while Mercer Industries lived on. Her death and that of so many others were being trivialised as nothing more than news articles.
His hold on the handle of the locker tightened as he flung his arm, unknowingly ripping the locker door from the wall. It fell on the ground with a sharp metallic clang.
"What a creep!" Cassidy screeched as she and the other students scurried away from him.
"Oh. I'm sorry." He fumbled as he tried to fit the locker back in place.
"Leave it. Look at you poor thing, venting out your frustration and destroying school property on the first day." He turned around to see a woman in a grey suit, rimmed glasses and short hair looking at him with a predatory gleam in her eyes. It was the new principal, Miss Randall.
"Sorry. I don't know how it happened. It was an accident."
"It always is an accident with you, Mr. Russell, isn't it? I've seen your record. Throwing temper tantrums and vandalizing public property. Everyone has their trauma, darling but that doesn't turn them into delinquents."
"Excuse me?" Nico blinked.
"I know exactly what you need. One week of detention after class and you'll be set straight." She smiled before walking past him. "Come along now."
There was something familiar about Randall but he dismissed the notion. He'd definitely remember if he'd met someone as unpleasant as this woman before.
Great! First day of school and he already had detention.
Tommy grimaced as he walked into Reefside High, despite telling himself it was literally the worst idea. He and Hayley had tried to find the gems for a year only to fail. He didn't want to believe it but Keeper was right. The gems chose the wielders not the other way around. They had to wait till the gems chose the new rangers. Meanwhile, they had created morphers and ranger armour to go along with the gems, even though the biozords were still in Mesagog's clutches.
As he walked past the sea of students in the hallway, a woman swerved beside him, strutting in her high heels. "Doctor Oliver, I'm Principal Randall."
"Nice to meet you. It's your first day too, isn't it?" He held out his hand.
"I'm still trying to figure out why a doctor of palaeontology would come all the way to Reefside to teach science to teenagers." Randall ignored his outstretched hand and continued walking.
"I guess I am looking for some peace and quiet."
"So, you came to Reefside. That doesn't make a lot of sense, now does it Dr. Oliver?" She smirked. "Why waste your time on bunch of teenagers?"
"Well, I don't think shaping the minds of the future generation is a waste of time, Miss Randall."
Her smile dropped. "You'll find most of these morons don't have brains, Tommy. Anyway, we'll talk later. I have my first truant to find."
Tommy sighed. That had to be one of the weirdest chats of his life and he'd interacted with aliens and megalomaniac monsters, not to mention Bulk and Skull.
He shook his head as he entered the classroom, only to find an utter ruckus. God, they weren't that unruly back in high school, were they? He sure hoped not and he'd have to deal with this on a daily basis? Well, after this, his respect for Miss Appleby and Principal Caplan elevated quite a bit. Being a teacher wasn't as easy as it looked and he hadn't even started teaching yet!
"Hey! Everyone, settle down please!" He shouted over the chaos. He internally sighed in relief as the students stopped chatting and looked at him. "Hi, I'm Doctor Oliver and this is first period, science. Before we start, are there any questions?"
A blond girl raised her hand with a bright smile on her face. "Dr. Oliver, as you might know, I am Cassidy Cornell, the anchor and field reporter for the school TV station. Our viewers might be wondering aren't you a bit young to be a teacher?"
Well, that was straight forward. He could hardly imagine anyone from Angel Grove High asking a pointed question to their teachers. What exactly had he got himself into?
"I assure you Cassidy, I'm old enough to be a teacher." He said sternly as Cassidy snapped at a boy in green, who was carrying a video camera, for not recording this. "But enough about me, this class is about you guys and what you should expect yourself in this class because that's what is really important."
He scanned the room. Unlike Angel Grove High, the students here had no sense of decorum or discipline. He spotted a few backbenchers typing away on their phones. His gaze flickered towards an empty chair in front of Cassidy. "Is there someone missing?"
Conner McKnight leapt in the air as he kicked the soccer ball towards the goal. He landed back on his feet as the goalie yelped and dodged the ball.
"Dude, you're supposed to try and stop it!" He said exasperated.
"Are you sure it's okay to be here. It's already first period. The bell rang and everything. And it's the first day of school!"
'Dude, chillax. Stop acting like a nerd! If anyone asks, tell them Conner McKnight gave you permission to be here." Conner smirked. As captain of the soccer team, he had gotten away bending rules and silly pranks before.
"Yeah. But I heard the new principal is crazy, like she worked in a prison or something before she came here."
"Dude! Don't worry about Randall. She's a woman! And women are just grown-up girls." He chuckled smugly, not hearing the footsteps behind him nor noticing the cutting motions the goalie made until it was too late. "Need I say more?"
"I think you have said enough, Mr. McKnight."
Conner turned around to see the new principal glaring at him and a boy in a red shirt, jeans and a leather jacket behind her looking bemused.
"Principal Randall, I've heard so many wonderful things about you." He gave a charming smile at her. Flattery and charm always made it easy for him to persuade other people. No reason why it shouldn't work on this woman. After all, his smile can melt the coldest of hearts.
His grin faltered as Randall continue to glare at him. The other boy was trying to hold his laughter.
"Vicious rumors, I assure you." Randall snarled. "Detention! Come along now. I can't wait to hear what your parents think about your opinion of women."
"My parents?"
"I think they should be notified when their son verbally abuses the principal." Randall smirked cruelly.
"I didn't! I didn't even know you were here." Conner stuttered.
"So, you are too afraid to say what you think about girls to their faces?" She drawled. "What a man!"
"I'm really sorry."
"No, you're not. But I know how to make you reconsider your priorities in life." Her lips twisted into a sinister smile. "You're off the soccer team for the next two months, Mr. McKnight."
Everyone looked at her in shock.
"You can't!" Conner cried out. "I'm the best player on the field."
"I'm sure we can find someone else. Come along now." She started to walk before noticing the goalie still looking at them shocked.
"What are you looking at?" She snarled, running forward and kicking the ball at him with such ferocity that he smashed into the back of the net. "Now get back to class!"
Conner and Nico exchanged shocked stares before following Randall back towards the school building. Whoever this lady was, she wasn't to be messed with!
Just then, Randall broke into a grin as she found her next target- a girl sitting on one of the benches with a small crowd gathered around her as she sang while strumming on her guitar.
"Dude, you're staring." Conner whispered as Randall raced towards the girl, leaving them behind.
Nico turned towards him. "I wasn't staring."
Conner smirked. "Someone's got a crush. Well, luck is in your favor. It appears she's going to join us in ."
As soon as the girl finished the song, the crowd broke into cheers only to disperse as Randall stepped through. "Miss Kira Ford, was it? I am afraid you need a written permission to perform on school grounds. Let's go."
"Are you aware that students who play an instrument have a fifty percent higher chance of getting into college?" Kira shot back haughtily.
"Well," Randall peered through her glasses. "You're hardly college material, are you, Miss Ford? Now come on."
Kira's jaw hung open for a second before rolling her eyes and joining the other two students. "Whatever."
Without any warning, the sprinklers went off, spraying everyone in the ground with water. Kira yelped as she tried to shield her guitar with her sling bag while Randall fumed.
"What the heck!" Conner cursed, as he was completely drenched from head to toe.
"Worst first day ever!" Nico declared just as he saw a dark-skinned boy smirk while walking through the chaos under a blue umbrella. He wasn't the only one who saw him.
"Ethan James! I should have known!" She snarled as she walked towards the prankster and hauled him over to the group.
"Anyone else who wants detention!" She hollered, turning towards the onlooking mass of students.
Just then, she spotted an asian girl in green top and a black hoodie over it trying to discretely cross the school gates.
"Miss Steele, where do you think you're going?" Randall raced over to her.
The girl turned around, surprised. "Nowhere?" she managed a weak smile.
"DETENTION!" She barked. "Come along now. Haven't got all day!"
The girl rolled her eyes before joining the other four as Randall led them back inside the school. This wasn't how she wanted her first day to go.
"SIT!" Randall ordered, pointing at the bench outside her office.
"Miss Randall, I'd like to point out there's no hard evidence linking me to the unfortunate sprinkler incident."
"Save it for Judge Judy! Five of you have detention for a week!"
"What? I have computer cub!"
"Guitar lessons!"
"Soccer practice!"
"Environment club!"
"I don't care!" She seethed, storming into her room. "Meet me here after classes. If anyone decides to run off, that's a month of detention!"
"Okay, somebody seriously needs a hug!" Kira grimaced.
"Dude, computer club? Environment club?" Conner turned towards Ethan and the new girl with a bemused expression.
While Ethan rolled his eyes and ignored him, the girl leveled a glare on him. "Hey hotshot, got any problem with it?"
"You guys actually go to these clubs?"
"Not everybody in this school is a dumb jock." She retorted coldly, as Conner shut up. Never had a girl talked back to him like this before today. First Randall and now her.
"Hey, we probably shouldn't shout and give the crazy principal more excuses to bury us with detentions." Nico said, clamping his hand over Conner's mouth before he could come up with a reply. "I am Nico Russell. Good to meet you."
The girl looked him over, her lips twisting into a faint smile. "Lorna Steele. Glad to see not everyone here is a jerk."
Nico was about to reply when Conner licked his fingers. "Eww!" He made a face as he instantly removed his hand from the soccer player's face and wiped it on his shirt as Lorna started giggling and Conner smirked. Ethan's lips twitched while Kira just gave an exasperated sigh.
"I'm sorry." Conner said to Lorna. "I'm sure that the environment club is very cool and so are the computers." He gave Ethan a small smile, to which the gamer just nodded.
"It's okay. Maybe you're not a dumb jock after all."
"Well, Randall just kicked me off the team for missing classes. So I guess not anymore." Conner sighed, before slumping backwards into the seat.
"That's pretty harsh. Sorry to hear that." Lorna said gently.
"Hey, where were you trying to go?"
"I was going to join a protest at Reefside Park. The mayor has authorised a petition to turn it into some kind of parking lot. That's unthinkable considering how much important the park is to the environment and so many birds and small animals are dependent on the trees."
"That sounds bad." Ethan cut in. "But what's one protest going to accomplish if it's already sanctioned?"
"Well, we have to do something. If we don't hold those with power accountable for their actions, we are enabling whatever wrong they're doing." She stated vehemently.
"Right." Conner nodded.
"Really, you understood all that?" Lorna raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously, just because I'm a pretty face doesn't mean I'm dumb!" Conner groaned as the other three snickered at his expense. Even Kira gave a small smile.
At the end of all his classes, Tommy huffed before packing everything in his suitcase and turning off the lights. While he was apprehensive in the beginning, the students weren't all inattentive. He was even impressed by some of their answers.
He felt at ease in the classroom and quickly remembered that it wasn't the first time he was teaching kids. Back in high school, he and the other rangers used to teach basic martial arts and self defence to kids and anyone else who were interested. Sure, teaching science was different from demonstrating katas but at the same time, it was similar. All he needed to do was make the students understand the practical importance and necessity what they were learning and he was sure he was successful in doing that.
As soon as he stepped in the hallway, Randall was by his side. God, was she a freaking ninja?
"How was your first day, Dr Oliver?" She asked curtly.
"The kids were great, no problem."
"Good. You're going to see more of them in detention."
"Detention? Mind telling me what I did?" The words were out of his mouth before he realized he wasn't a student anymore.
"No. You're in charge of it." She said bemused, a flicker of a smile gracing her lips.
"Ah." Tommy said sheepishly. "Actually, I can't. I was planning to head to this museum out of town and-"
"Perfect, bring the little monsters with you." She cut in as she led him down the stairs and around the corner where the five students were waiting for them. "That should be sufficient torture for them. You've all met, I presume."
She gave him a tight nod before walking away.
"So, you guys like museums?"
Zeltrax didn't remember much aside from one name… Tommy Oliver. With the help of his master, he slowly pieced together his missing memories. He was apparently a brilliant scientist before Oliver sabotaged his work and left him to die.
He stopped in front of a mirror and saw his reflection… nothing but a robot in grey and blue armour. He had vague memories of sensations but now he was incapable of feeling anything. Everything was cold and mechanical. He was alive but he felt dead. He had tried searching for his old identity… Terrence Smith. What Mesagog informed him was disheartening. He had no family to speak of or any home to go back to. Everything was gone. His parents were casualties of an alien attack led by the evil green ranger back in 1993. He had been taken in by the Promethea Foundation till he came of age.
The green ranger was none other than Tommy Oliver… the man who destroyed his life two times.
Zeltrax growled. He hated Oliver with his entire being. He longed for the day when he'd finally destroy him and exact his vengeance!
So I had some roadblocks with this story but I'm back! Hope you enjoyed and please review. :)