"McKnight on the breakaway…" Conner chanted to himself as he dribbled his miniature soccer ball around the base. He and the others had been spending more and more time at the lab since finding out the truth about the White Ranger but being cooped up inside wasn't always a good idea.
There had been fights, arguments, disagreements, mostly over Trent. Conner and Ethan couldn't seem to wrap their heads around why Kira and Anabel kept insisting that Trent was good and not evil, despite what he had done to Doctor Oliver. Hayley, while she didn't openly agree with the two teenage girls, was trying her best to remain as neutral as possible.
When a fight or disagreement did break out, Hayley was the one to intervene before things turned ugly. More often or not, she interrupted Conner and Anabel, and to get them to cool down, she would send them out to do something physical. Seeing as both of them were athletes, she made an educated guess that exercise was a relaxing technique that they both would use.
Either way, it always seemed to work.
Today, while Conner practised his dribbling skills, Anabel sat to the side of the mainframe, her laptop open to an article she was writing. A second tab had an article she was editing, while several folders, containing notes and information, littered the desk in and around her. Ethan and Kira, who were also present, were in their own words - Ethan playing a video game, while Kira absent-mindedly strummed her guitar.
"Hayley, one more level and I break my all-time record," Ethan said, excitedly. His eyes never leaving his computer screen. There was a weirdly strange long beep, and then Ethan cried, "Conner!"
"Sorry," Conner said, although his tone was lacking the sentiment.
"Now I have to start all over," Ethan whined.
"I was just wondering," said Conner, retrieving his ball and clapping Ethan on the shoulder. "There is this great new thing called the outdoors. I'm just curious if you know about it, or even plan on checking it out?"
Ethan rolled his eyes. "Tell you what," he countered. "I'll check the outdoors when I see you checking out the library."
Anabel snorted.
"You got about as much chance of seeing that, as seeing Kira at a fashion show," said Conner.
"Do you really want to go there?" Kira asked, scowling.
"Or," Conner added, "Anabel being a snobby bitch."
Raising her head, Anabel narrowed her eyes at her ex. "Don't temp me," she warned.
"Don't start," Hayley interrupted, quickly.
Turning her attention back to her laptop, Anabel took a deep breath, reigning in her flash of anger, and focusing back on her task at hand. She had more than enough work to keep her focus off of Conner and his stupid comments.
"Any luck de-fossilising Doctor O?" Ethan asked.
Anabel paused to listen.
"Not yet," Hayley replied. "I just can find an energy source that can safely break the molecular bonds of the amber."
"Isn't there something in the Mystic Realm that could help?" Anabel asked, turning in her seat. "Doctor Oliver seemed pretty close with that Rune Tessler the other day. Isn't there something she could do to help?"
"I have been in contact with them," said Hayley. "But what happened to Tommy was man-made, not magical. There may not be a magical solution."
"But they are looking into it?"
Hayley nodded.
Anabel released the breath she had been holding and turned back to her work. She had barely scrolled the page, looking for her next edit position, when the mainframe echoed, and she jumped in surprise.
"That's weird," said Hayley, a small frown on her face. "The satellites are picking up a strange reading in the forest." The computer beeped again. "The Mystic Force have been dispatched to check it out."
"We'll check it out, too," said Conner. "Can't let the Mystic Force have all the fun."
Anabel rolled her eyes. "Sure, because checking out strange energy readings in the forest is supposed to be fun," she mumbled.
"Be careful," Hayley warned. "If the Mystic Force are there, then the situation must be pretty serious."
~X~
Anabel looped her arm through Kira's as they followed behind Conner and Ethan. The old forest was eerie and quiet, the only sound was the crunching of leaves underfoot. Not even birdsong could be heard from the branches, which was really weird as it was the middle of spring. There should have at least been chicks chirping for food.
"Anyone else feel light-headed?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah," Kira agreed. "Like, all the oxygen has been sucked out of the sky all of a sudden."
"It's magic," said Anabel. "Doctor Oliver told me once, when the Mystic Force are dispatched to a scene, the magic they bring with them mixes with the magic already there and makes it stronger. We're not used to it, so we feel it all the more."
"I hope it isn't going to interfere if a fight breaks out," said Conner.
"We should be fine once we morph," said Anabel.
The sound of pounding echoed to their left, and the foursome turned just as branch was pulled aside. Five rangers burst through the foliage, each one morphed and adorning a cape at their shoulders, slid to a stop before they could collide with the teenagers.
"Who are you?" the Red ranger asked.
"Easy, Nick, they're the Dino Thunder Rangers that Rune was talking about," said the Blue Ranger. With a snap of her fingers, her helmet disappeared, and long black hair fell to the top of her back. She had a small face, kind eyes, and was smiling at them. "My name's Maddie."
Anabel stepped forward. "I'm Anabel," she said, before turning and pointing at her friends in turn. "Kira, Ethan, and Conner. You're the Mystic Force."
The rest of the Mystic Force lost their helmets.
"This is Nick," Maddie said, nodding at the red Ranger. "Xander," she pointed at the green Ranger, "Chip," the yellow Ranger waved, "and my sister, Vida," she turned to the pink Ranger at her side. "And yes, we're the Mystic Force."
"You're down a Ranger," Anabel said, her gaze flittering from one face to the next.
"Our black Ranger, Kali, is otherwise preoccupied," said Maddie. "What are you doing out here?"
"We got a strange reading on our monitors," said Ethan. "Like you, we've been sent to check it out."
Vida folded her arms. "The reading was highly dangerous at Root core, that's why we've been sent. You should head back to your base," she said. "We can handle this."
"Sorry, but we can't do that," said Anabel, shaking her head. "Whatever is giving off the signature landed in our city. It's our job to find out what it is and determine whether it is a threat to us and our people. Just think of us as backpack."
The Mystic Force shared a look. But they couldn't argue. Anabel had a point. If this strange reading had registered from Briarwood, then they could easily have sent the Dino team home, seeing as Briarwood was not the city they protected. But they had as much right to be there as the Mystic's did.
"Alright," said Nick, sighing reluctantly.
The Dino team relaxed. They had half been expecting the Mystics to argue and send them home.
"The signature is coming from over here," said Chip, nodding to their left. His helmet reappeared as he stepped away from the group, breaking through the foliage. The rest of his team followed, their own helmets reappearing.
Anabel shared a look with her friends, shrugged, and then followed after them.
~X~
Nick was the first to break through the trees into the clearing. He stopped when he noticed that there were three other kids already present, and a sigh escaped his lips just as the others burst through behind him. He stumbled as Chip crashed into him but caught his footing to keep from falling.
"Trent?"
"Cass?"
Trent, Cassidy, and Devin looked around.
"What are you guys doing here?" Trent asked, stepping away from the hole. Inside was a medium-size rock. It was still smoking, and the colour scheme looked to be silver and purple.
Anabel felt a tingle in her wrist and looked down. Her Dino gem blinked, and she stuffs her hand into her pocket to hide it from view.
"Could ask you the same thing," said Conner. "Haven't seen you around for a while."
"Yeah, we really need to catch up," agreed Ethan.
"Not now, guys," said Kira, throwing her arm across their chests.
Nick stepped forward, placing a hand on Conner's shoulder. "I don't know what you guys' problem is, and nor do I care, but save it for later," he said. "We have a job to do here, and you're not helping."
"He's right," said Anabel.
Conner hesitated and then nodded. "Fine. Let's check this thing out," he said, turning his attention back to the rock. He crouched down near the edge of the crater.
"Pardon me, but I don't think I'm supposed to let you do."
Anabel whipped around to find a monster and a load of Tyrannodrones at her back. Why was she surprised to find them there? This was definitely something that would be on Mesogog's radar.
"Whoa, what are those?" Chip asked.
"Tyrannodrones," Conner replied.
"At least they're not Hidiacs," said Maddie.
Vida and Xander nodded.
"Cassidy, Devin, get out of here!" Anabel called. Without needing to be told twice, Cassidy and Devin split through the trees.
"Whose side are you on today, Trent?" Conner asked.
Trent rolled his eyes. "You want my help or not?" he snapped.
"If it's all the same, I'll just watch from over here," said the monster. He scurried away and hid behind a tree.
Anabel furrowed her brow at him but shook her head and raised her arm to block the attack of a nearby Tyrannodrone. She tightened her hand around the T-Drone's sword, while her other grasped his arm, at the base of his elbow, and hauled him over her shoulder.
She allowed his weight to pull her into a forward spin and then rolled back to her feet. The ground shook and vines burst out either side her; Anabel noticed that they curled around her, while the Tyrannodrones on the outside slashed fruitlessly.
Looking around, Anabel spotted the Green Mystic ranger - Xander, nearby. She nodded and smiled her thanks. Xander offered her a thumbs up and then disappeared back into the thick of fighters.
"Hey, I want a piece of the action!" the monster yelled. He raised his arms, smashed them together, and jumped into the fray. He swung his fists around, smashing them into Conner's chest and stomach, knocking him back.
"Conner!" Ethan called.
Anabel looked around, her eyes widening as she spotted Conner. He was hunched over, gasping for breath. Looking around, she noticed that the Mystic Rangers were holding the Tyrannodrones back, leaving her time to double back to her own team.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ethan asked.
The others nodded.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"
Noticing the second team of Rangers, the monster howled and charged. He swung his fists up and slammed them into the ground, missing the Green and Yellow Rangers by inches as they jumped aside. Jumping over the monster, Anabel whirled around and raised her leg, kneeing the monster in the side.
Outnumbered, the monster watched as his Tyrannodrones were knocked down and destroyed, before realising that the two teams were facing off against him. He growled, threw his hand into the air, and disappeared through an Invisiportal.
"Coward," Chip muttered.
Powering down, the two teams turned to one another.
"What are we gonna do about the rock?" Maddie asked.
Anabel glanced around to where the rock still lay. It was smoking and sparkling as it had done only a few minutes ago. But, if in all honesty, she had totally forgotten that they were out there for it.
"We'll take it back to Root core," said Nick. "We can analyse it and protect it there. You guys okay with that?" he asked the Dino Rangers.
They glanced at one another, and then nodded.
"Great. We'll call you if we learn anything," said Nick. He brushed past the teenagers and removed his wand from his pocket. With the rock secured inside a glass box, the teams split up, each returning to their home base.
~X~
Hayley sighed in relief as the team entered the base. She hadn't been able to witness the battle, but she had been able to track the teams movements and analyse the rock based on the little information it had given during its initial find.
"Are you guys okay?" Hayley asked.
"A little tired, but relatively fine," said Conner. "Did you find anything out about the rock? The Mystic team took it back to their base to analyse it."
"That's fine," said Hayley, waving him off. "I'll call later and get a report. I did manage to do a bit of research on the energy signature that we received. The rock is actually a meteorite fragment."
"Fascinating," Conner said, crossing one arm across his chest and resting his other elbow on his hand, tapping his fingers against his face. "It must have broken off during some sort of intergalactic collision."
Anabel snorted. "Nerd alert," she said, loud enough for Conner to hear.
Hayley frowned. "I'm just afraid that coming in such close proximity to it might have strange side effects," she said, looking between the foursome.
"Oh great," Anabel muttered, rolling her eyes. "There's two of them."
"Do you guys feel okay?" Hayley asked.
Ethan ignored her, starting to flex his arms.
"I, for one am going home," said Kira, looking at her fingers. "If I don't swab my cuticles in an aloe bath, my nails will never grow back."
"I have a home remedy that will help you grow them faster."
"Yeah?"
Anabel nodded and, looping her arm through Kira's walked her out of the lab.
~X~
When Anabel arrived at the base the next morning, Conner, Ethan, and Hayley were already there. She and Kira descended the stairs in the lab, each one carrying an armful of bags and Starbucks coffee in their hands.
"Silver said he hasn't seen anyone with flawless skin until he met you yesterday," said Anabel. "He wanted your contact details, I hope it's okay that I gave him them, because trust me, Kira, model makeup for Silver could be your big break. Everyone in the world would know what you look like."
Kira grinned and dropped her bags onto the base floor. "Sorry we're late," she said to the others. "There was a sale, and well, you understand."
Anabel sipped her coffee as she looked around at the others. Her gaze swept over Conner's attire and a grin broke out on her lips. "What, you get dressed in the dark this morning?" she asked.
Conner frowned down at his clothes. "What's wrong with what I am wearing?" he asked.
"What's right with what you're wearing?" Anabel sniggered. She hooked her phone out of her pocket and pressed it against her ear. "Hello, oh, yes, one second," she looked at Conner, a mean gleam in her eyes. "The 1980s are on the line. They want their coat back."
Conner scowled.
"Hey," Ethan interrupted, lifting a weight and pumping his muscle. "You guys think I am ready for the Iron man competition?"
Anabel smiled softly and sauntered over to Ethan, draping herself over his shoulder and pawing at his arm. "Baby, you could easily take first place," she purred.
Ethan grinned and flexed his muscles more.
"I think there were definitely side effects from that meteor," said Hayley, shaking her head. "We need to destroy that rock and get you guys back to normal."
Peeling herself from Ethan, Anabel turned to Hayley. "I thought the Mystic Force had the rock?" she asked.
"They do. I'll contact Rune and explain the situation. If left unchecked, these side effects could have some serious consequences for you all."
"Side effects?" Conner questioned. "I find that highly improbable."
"Yeah, I feel like I could kick Mesogog's butt all by myself now," said Ethan.
Anabel batted an eyelash at him. "Mhm. I want front row seats when you do," she said.
Conner scowled at them.
Beep. Beep, Beep.
Hayley sighed. "What you want to do is going to have to wait, unfortunately," she said, heading for the mainframe. "Look who's back."
Reluctantly, Anabel let go of Ethan and stepped back towards Kira.
"Ready?" Conner asked.
"Ready!"
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"
~X~
The monster laughed as he swung his arms around, destroying a flowerpot on someone's yard. He turned and thundered down the street, destroying more property as he went.
"Let's devise a strategy of attack," said Conner.
"I got a strategy," said Ethan, punching a fist into his hand. "We crush him."
Kira run her hands over her suit. "The lines on my suit are so completely wrong," she whined. "How come they don't make superhero costumes for petite?"
"Ooh! You need to meet my tailor," said Anabel. "She could make you an awesome super suit that fits your body perfectly."
"Sounds fabulous!" said Kira. "We should go later."
"Alright. I'll call her when we're done here."
"Colourful annoyances!" the monster roared. "Prepare to be destroyed." He smashed his fists together and then fired on the team.
Anabel and Kira screamed and ducked as Conner was hit directly in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
"That was totally uncalled for," Conner said, pounding the pavement and rolling onto his knees. He looked up at Anabel and extended a hand. "A little help?"
Anabel scoffed and turned away from him. "Help yourself, loser," she said.
"I just know I'm going to have the worst helmet hair after this," Kira whined. "Unless you know a great salon?" She turned to Anabel.
"Do you even need to ask?" Anabel asked.
Kira grinned.
The monster fired again, this time his attack slamming into all four rangers, knocking them off their feet.
"What the hell?!" Anabel yelled, rolling back to her knees and glaring through her visor. "Do you have any idea who I am?! Wait until my mother hears about this, you fool, she will not be happy or impressed."
The monster laughed. "None of you are a match for me," he said "Later, posers!"
He disappeared through an invisiportal.
"Wait!" Conner called, staggering to his feet and racing forward. But it was too late. He groaned and turned to his team.
Ethan shrugged. "What?" he asked.
"I told you, we should have thought this out," Conner yelled.
"In my business, you go big, or you go home," Ethan growled.
"Well, I say, we go to the Mall," said Kira. She turned to Anabel expectantly.
Anabel grinned and held out her arm, hooking it around so Kira could loop hers through. "The Mall sounds fab," she said. "Let's go."
"Have fun!" Conner growled, storming off in the opposite direction.
"Later," Ethan called, as he too, walked away.
~X~
Kira sipped her mocha cappuccino through her straw and followed Anabel into the Cybercafe. Once again they were both carrying three bags on each arm and talking rapidly about something they had encountered at the Mall.
"I can't believe you got half of these things for free!" Kira exclaimed. "How well do you have to know a person for that to happen?"
Anabel smiled and dropped her bags onto the floor near the sofas. "It's one of the perks of being rich, and having the mayor as your mother," she said. "People want to please her, make her feel generous about choosing their projects and stores for benefits, and stuff, so being nice to me makes me put in a good word for them."
"So, it's all politics, then?" Kira asked.
"I guess, yeah," said Anabel.
Kira sighed contently as she sipped her coffee. The music that played throughout the cafe was coming from the stage, and she glanced over to see what was going on. She nudged Anabel, and pointed out Devin, dancing under the disco ball.
"You're into that sort of thing?" Anabel asked, scrunching up her nose.
Kira shrugged. "You're not?" she asked.
"Nah. I prefer my jocks," said Anabel, her gaze soughing out Ethan. He was doing press-ups on the floor near the bar. "I'll be right back," she added, sliding from her seat and making her way over to him.
Conner intercepted her along the way. "H-hi," he stammered.
Anabel rolled her eyes at him. "What do you want, dork?" she asked.
"I just wanted to know if we could, you know, talk?" Conner asked, his voice trembling, and he couldn't even meet her gaze. "About us?"
Anabel laughed. "Us? There is no us, dweeb," she said. "What makes you think that a girl like me would be interested in a guy like you?"
"You were, once," said Conner.
"Occupational hazard," Anabel replied, bluntly. "I needed something, you were able to provide it for me, that was the extent of our relationship. Maybe, if you hadn't have done what you did, things could've been different."
Conner's face fell. "Oh," he murmured. "So, a second chance is off the table?"
"There was never a second chance on the table," Anabel said. "Listen here, dork, and listen good; I am so out of your league. Now get out of my face, I have more important things to be dealing with."
Conner sighed and as he watched her walk toward Ethan. He should've guessed a girl like her would be drawn to the beefy boy toys, and not the intellectuals, like himself.
"Hey, Ethan," Anabel started, before her morpher beeping interrupted her. She bit back a growl, turned on her heels, and made her way back to Kira. "This had better be important!"
"No lie," said Kira, following Anabel from the cafe. Ethan and Conner trailing behind.
~X~
Hayley sat with her back to them as they entered the base from the tunnels. "Hey, guys," she called, cheerfully.
"What now?" Ethan asked. "I was having a super intense workout."
"And I was fight in the middle of a very compelling biography," said Conner.
"I was just about to see if Ethan could bench press me," said Anabel, winking at the blue ranger.
"Is this going to involve dirt?" Kira asked. "If it does, I'm going to have to say uh-uh."
Spinning around in her chair, Hayley glared from one teen to the next. "Sorry for interrupting your busy day," she snapped. "I just thought you might like to know that I may have found a way to unfossilise Doctor Oliver."
Anabel felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked from Hayley to the hunk of amber nearby that held her science teacher.
"Really, how?" Conner asked.
"The meteor fragment," Hayley answered. "My theory is that it frees your inner self. That's why you guys are acting so weird."
"Of course!" Conner exclaimed. "If you could harness its power, you could free Doctor Oliver from the inside out. Although, I do take offence at being called weird."
Anabel furrowed her brow at him.
"Sorry, you're not being weird," said Hayley, interrupting quickly. "It's just the rock is allowing you to show a side of yourself that you don't usually show."
"A recessive personality trait," said Conner, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"You could say that," said Hayley, inclining her head. "Like, Conner, there's a part of you that's intelligent, studious. Ethan, there's a part of you that's athletic, even competitive. Kira, a part of you that loves fashion and shopping, and Anabel, there is a part of you that's mean and privileged."
Anabel frowned.
"Wait a minute, that's why Trent helped us. There's a part of him that's still good!" Kira beamed and latched, rather tightly, onto Anabel's arm. "You were right! He can be saved."
"Ow. You're really strong," said Anabel, prying Kira's hands from her arm.
"I still don't understand any of this," said Ethan, shrugging.
"You don't have to," said Hayley. "For now, just pull it together as a team. Trust me."
"That sounds logical," Conner nodded
"Alright, here's what I need you to do," Hayley started. She cut off as the mainframe beeped, interrupting her next set of instructions, and sighed, turning to see the monster attacking down town. "Again?" She turned back to the team. "First things first."
The foursome nodded and fell into formation.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"
~X~
"Being bad feels really good," the monster laughed. He was stood in the middle of down town, civilians running screaming around him.
"Hey, mutant!" Conner yelled.
The monster whirled around. "Not your again," he groaned.
"Thunder Max Sabre!" Conner called. He rushed forward and leapt into the air, raised his sword above his head and slashed downwards. He grinned as the monster stumbled away from him.
"I got something for you, too," said Ethan, dashing forward.
"Wow, leave something for me," Kira laughed. She clapped her hands together and bounced forward.
Anabel rolled her eyes and runs after her friends, swinging her sword up and striking it down on the monster's arm along with Kira and Ethan.
The monster howled as he stumbled back, his arms flailing and writhing with pain.
"Altogether now," said Kira, drawing her blaster.
Anabel locked her own blaster onto the monster and opened fire at Conner's command.
Shielding himself, the monster drew back and fired his own lasers at the Rangers.
"This creature leaves us no other choice," said Conner, recovering first. "Super Dino Mode!"
The others followed his lead.
Leaping forward, Anabel pushed off from the ground and rolled across the monster's shoulder, she landed beside him as Ethan landed opposite her and they both caught the monsters arms, holding them apart and allowing Conner and Kira to kick him in the chest and stomach.
The monster stumbled back.
"Tricera Shield!"
"Tyranno Staff!"
"Ptera Grips!"
"Compy Claws! Let's put 'em together!"
Anabel hooked her claws over one another, and then fused them to the bottom of Conner's Tyranno staff, while Kira added hers on either side as handles, and Ethan's made up the base.
"Z-Rex Blaster! Fire!"
The ball of energy hit the monster, causing him to implode.
"Oh yeah!" Ethan grinned.
"We rock!"
"So fabulous!"
"Great work, team," said Conner.
Anabel tensed as she felt the familiar tingle at the bottom her skull, and her gaze turned skyward as a black cloud appeared overhead. "It's not over yet," she said.
"It's Zord time!" Conner called.
The ground rumbled as the Brachiozord ambled into the city. It's back opened it, displaying all four Zords in their compartments. With a screech, the green Compy started its run down the neck of the Brachiozord, launching itself off the head and barrelling towards the monster, as the others followed.
With a smile, Anabel run forward and leapt into the air, landing in her cockpit. "Compy Zord, online!" she said, linking her Dino Gem to the heart of her zord.
"Thundersaurus Megazord!" the foursome called, linking up their energies together.
"We're going to need some help with this one," said Anabel. "Ankylozord!"
The back of the Brachio opened again, depositing the Ankylozord into the city.
"Take this," the monster roared, firing a blast.
"Return to sender!" said the rangers, blocking the attack with their Ankylo-shield.
The monster shook off the attack, glared at the Rangers. "I'm out of here!" he said, turning to leave. He paused as he found his path blocked by a second Megazord.
"Going somewhere?" Trent asked from his Drago-Stego Megazord.
Kira gasped. "It's Trent!" she breathed.
"Another Megazord?" the monster grumbled. "What can you possibly do?"
"This," said Trent. "Drago Stinger!" he stepped backwards, away from the assault weapon, and pushed an energy orb into the base. The Drago Stinger surged forward, collided with the monster, and cut straight through his side.
The monster doubled over and then exploded.
With the monster gone, the two Megazord's stood opposite one another.
"Thank you, Trent," said Anabel.
"I'm out of here!" Trent replied, turning and striding away.
Kira sighed and Anabel squeezed her shoulder.
~X~
Returning to the Dino base, Anabel was surprised to find it full of people. She recognised most of them, actually, as her gaze swept around those present, she found that she recognised all of them, including Black Mystic Ranger, Kali Briar.
"What's going on?" Conner asked.
"Oh, you're back," said Hayley, smiling. "How are you feeling?"
The team shared a confused look.
"Let me put it to you this way," said Kali, walking over to Conner. "Want to check out the library?"
Conner scoffed. "I'd hardly call the library a good date," he flirted.
Nick narrowed his eyes at the younger teen.
Kali grinned and turned to Ethan. "How about you? I bet I could beat you in an arm wrestle," she said, arching an eyebrow.
"Probably could," said Ethan. "Don't Hellhounds have super-enhanced abilities? You know, like strength and speed?"
Kali turned to Kira and Anabel. "I hate shopping at the best of times, but -" she cut off as Kira cringed and Anabel cocked her head to the side.
"Please don't mention the Mall," said Kira, shuddering. "I swear, if I spend one more second there, I'm going to scream."
Kali met Anabel's gaze. "It's been a long time, kid," she said, smiling.
"You hate shopping," said Anabel. "Yet can afford to shop at high-end boutiques."
"Only when the occasion calls for it," said Kali, shrugging.
"How did the dinner with your parents go after?" Anabel asked. "Did the dress work?"
Kali nodded. "It did, thanks," she said. "It distracted them enough from what they really wanted to talk to me about, and I got to explain what I had been doing since getting out of Juvie."
Anabel grinned. "You're welcome," she said.
Kali turned to Hayley. "It would seem the spell worked," she said.
"Spell?" Conner asked.
"I put a negating spell on the meteorite," Kali answered, turning to the teen. "It cancelled any and all alterations that the rock may have made in the last twenty-four hours. Your… recessive personalities?" she glanced at Hayley to find her nodding, "were a result of it."
Anabel nodded. She was smart enough to follow along, but it was Ethan who understood more than anyone. He turned to Hayley, staring at the chunk of rock in the storage container on the desk.
"Does this mean we can free Doctor O?" Ethan asked.
"Yes," said Hayley. "We were just discussing everything when you walked in."
Anabel watched as Kali returned to her teams side, her arm looping through Nick's, their fingers linking together tightly. She smiled. "You're dating your Red Ranger," she pointed out.
"You were dating yours," Kali shot back.
Glancing at Conner, Anabel lowered her gaze, her smile sliding from her face as the last few hours played over in her mind. Now that she was out from under the rock's hold, she could think clearly, and realised just how mean she had been.
"Shall we see if this rocks?" Kali asked Hayley.
Hayley nodded and inserted the storage container into the machine beside her. She locked it in place and then flipped a switch on the side, as both the Mystic's and the Dino Ranger's stood back.
"Hey, I have question," said Kira, as Hayley reached over to start the machine. "If the meteorite turned Trent to good, couldn't we use it to fight the effects of the Dino Gem?"
"It's a plausible idea," said Anabel.
"Let's try this first," said Hayley, flipping the machine on. There was a whir of power, one that caused Anabel to frown, but as she turned to question Hayley on it, a blast of purple energy spiralled towards the chunk of amber, searing a hole into the centre.
As the amber melted away, the machine sparked and exploded, causing everyone to pull back, and Kali to throw up a shield between them and the sparks. Reaching around the shield, Kali switched off the machine and turned quickly to Hayley.
"I don't think it was meant to do that," said Kali.
Hayley shook her head.
"The rock!" Kira gasped, unlocking the storage container and lifting it up. The large rock that had once inside was reduced to nothing but a smoking mass of powder. "It's fried!"
"Yeah, but look," said Anabel, her gaze locked on the mass of amber. It had melted away enough for Doctor Oliver to be able to move about. He groaned as his body ached, and he stumbled into Anabel as she darted forward to catch him.
Lifting his head, Doctor Oliver stared at Anabel through is visor. He smiled as she propped him up, her hand lingering against his chest. "Anabel," he breathed.
"You're okay," Anabel said, smiling.
Tearing his gaze away, Doctor Oliver looked around at the others. "Good job, guys," he said. He stepped away from his student and, crossing his arms over one another, called, "Power Down!"
Nothing happened.
"I said, power down!" Doctor Oliver stated, again.
Still, nothing happened.
"I think we may have a problem," said Doctor Oliver, looking up.
I had fun with this. Writing Anabel as a snob was hard, but entertaining.