"Don't you think it was rude?" Conner asked. "I mean, he didn't even say anything, he just walked away."
"Who are we talking about?" Anabel asked, adjusting the latch on her overhead bag.
"The new kid at school. I think he's an exchange student," said Kira.
Anabel pursed her lips in thought. "Oh, wait, you mean the European soccer star?" she asked. "Alexi Proporoff?"
Kira nodded. "Conner tried talking to him earlier at the Cybercafe and he blew him off, now he's pouting," she said.
"And he's jealous because Cassidy wanted to interview Alexi about soccer, and has never asked to interview him," said Ethan, nodding at Conner.
Conner rolled his eyes. "1) I'm not jealous," he said, nudging Ethan, "and 2) I'm not pouting," he added to Kira. "I'm simply curious why he keeps blowing everyone off. It's not a good way to make an impression."
"Cassidy never interviews you about Soccer because I usually do," said Anabel, "and Alexi is nervous about his English because he comes from Russia."
"How do you know this?" Conner asked.
"Uh, because I asked him?" Anabel asked.
"If he's nervous about his English, how could you ask him?" Ethan asked.
"Because I speak Russian."
Kira and Ethan stared, bug-eyed.
"You speak fluent Russian?" Kira asked.
"Not fluent," said Anabel, shaking her head. "But I can hold a conversation. For example, Ревность никому не подобает, Коннер. Дайте Алекси шанс, и он вернется."
Kira, Conner, and Ethan cocked their heads to the side, a look of confusion on their faces.
Anabel smiled lightly. "I said 'Jealousy isn't good for anyone, Conner. Give Alexi a chance and he'll come around.'"
"That's cool," said Ethan. "How did you come to learn so many languages?"
Anabel shrugged. "Mum moved around a lot when I was growing up," she answered. "Before we settled on Reefside, and she became Mayor. She was a diplomat for the US Embassy. I spent a lot of my childhood in places like Russia and France, you pick up a few things."
"Sounds like an interesting childhood," said Kira.
"Yeah. At least it was until I entered High School," said Kira. "She then stepped down as Diplomat and went in for the Mayorship. Made things a lot easier for me as missing a lot of school due to moving around made this difficult to catch up."
"What made you settle in Reefside?" Ethan asked.
Anabel shrugged. "Mum was born here," she said. "She wanted to come home. Plus, it was the furthest away from Dad she could think."
"And now he's here," said Kira, patting Anabel's shoulder.
Ethan took a deep breath. "I hate that this sounds insensitive, but if I would love to stay here and hash things out with you, Conner, but if I don't get the too library then I'm going to fail this assignment." He took a step away from the group but paused as three figures crossed their path.
"Then prepare to fail, Blue Ranger," a deep voice echoed.
The four Rangers stopped. Their eyes widening as they looked from one figure to the next, although it was the one on the very end that took their breathes away.
"Trent?" Anabel and Kira asked.
Ethan shook his head. "This can't be real!" he gasped.
"What are doing, Trent?!" Conner asked.
"I don't know a Trent!" the white ranger said. "I just know that you will soon be… destroyed."
Conner clenched his hand firmly into a fist. "I'm so not in the mood for this," he grumbled. He glanced to each side of him, and then lifted his arm, calling on his morpher. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"
Zeltrax threw out a hand, stopping the White Ranger and whatever creature they had created from attacking. "Allow me," he said, hefting his shield up and racing forward. He held the shield in front of his face as Conner opened fire. He then lowered it and blasted Conner with a beam from his fingers.
Conner cried out as he flew backwards.
"Fire!" Ethan and Kira called, crossing one another, and standing in front Conner. They blasted Zeltrax, but he deflected them, too.
Pulling his sword from above his shield, Zeltrax launched himself at the two and swung the blade around, catching them in the side and stomach.
Kira and Ethan fell away and Zeltrax raised his sword again, slashing it down toward Anabel as she rushed to meet him. She raised her Thundermax and blocked the blade and held it above her while she planted her foot into Zeltrax's stomach.
Zeltrax stumbled away as Anabel rushed him, swinging her sword up from the left. He blocked, shoved her hand aside, and smashed his shield into her chest.
Anabel coughed and stumbled back. She gasped as Zeltrax gripped her by the collar, lifted her into the air, and threw her over his head.
"Anabel!" the others called. They crowded around as Anabel rolled back to her feet.
"You okay?" Kira asked.
"Yup," Anabel replied.
Zeltrax lowered his shield and blasted the four of them. He laughed as they hit the ground, their Thundermax blasters and sword landing on the ground between them.
"You're mine!" Zeltrax growled, running forward.
"Conner, catch!" Ethan called, swiping up his Thundermax blaster and tossing it at the Red Ranger.
Kira did the same, tossing hers at Anabel.
Without needing words, Anabel and Conner stood, kicked off from the ground, and flipped over mid-air. Once they had landed they both opened fire on Zeltrax and managed to knock him back onto the ground.
As Zeltrax landed the White Ranger and the latest monster landed between him and the Rangers. Already, without even fighting them, Anabel could tell they were going to be formidable opponents.
"You may have stopped Zeltrax," the White Ranger said. "But you won't stop my Terrorsaurus." He flaunted the monster at his right as if it were a display item.
Anabel caught Conner's arm as he stepped forward.
"What?" Conner asked, gasping for breath.
The Terrorsaurus laughed. "Are you afraid, Green Ranger?" he taunted, stepping forward. He was taking deliberate slow steps, his hands outstretched towards them. Razor sharp claws on each finger, indicated that damage he could cause with just one swipe. While a large horn shaped thorn stuck out of his chest.
"Anabel?" Conner asked.
"We need to be careful with him," said Anabel.
The Terrorsaurus laughed again. "Careful is an understatement, Green Ranger," he said. "Once you get a taste of my powers, you'll see that being careful isn't possible. You won't get a look-in, and I'll destroy you easily."
"Not on my watch!" Trent called as he raced towards the scene on his white ATV. He opened fire on the Terrorsaurus, knocking it away from his friends and team-mates. He swerved around in front of the others and dismounted, facing off against the trio of darkness.
Anabel's eyes widened as she looked from one White Ranger to the other.
"But who is who?" Ethan asked.
"Guys, it's me," said Trent.
Regrouping, the evil White Ranger pointed at the team. "Enjoy your reunion," he said. "It'll be your last. You'll never stop us!"
The three disappeared through an invisiportal and the Rangers sighed in relief. They demorphed and turned to one another.
"You guys okay?" Trent asked.
"Great. You got a twin brother you never told us about?" Conner asked.
Trent sighed heavily. He should've expected Mesogog to take revenge, but he never expected it to be like this.
~X~
With their plans for the library on hold, the Rangers returned to the Dino Base to fill Doctor Oliver in on the situation. To say he understood any better than they did would've been an understatement, and instead of offering an explanation - what could he say, anyway? - he set to work on trying to figure out what was going on instead.
"We barely get one White Ranger under control and then another one turns up," said Kira, pacing the lab. She paused and turned to Trent. "Any ideas on who it could be?"
"I don't actually think it is a person," said Anabel, rubbing the back of her neck. She hadn't yet figured out how to use or control the abilities her Dino Gem gave her, but she had managed to nullify the sharp stabbing pain that associated with them. Instead, now, whenever something evil popped up, or she was around a Dino Gem that was in flux, she ended up with a numbing sensation, like someone was pressing ice against the top of her neck.
Ethan cocked his head. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Something Doctor Oliver said about the Dino Gems when we first became Rangers," said Anabel, glancing at the Black Ranger. They hadn't seen one another much since Trent had become good, choosing to stay apart in fear of anyone else finding out about their budding relationship and using it against them. It was bad enough that Mesogog knew, and Zeltrax had already proven that he was willing to use the Mayor to get what he wanted out of both Anabel and Tommy.
"What did he say?" Conner asked, unable to remember that far back.
"About the Dino Gems choosing us not the other way around," said Anabel. "Wouldn't that mean they can't choose more than one person?" She looked to Doctor Oliver.
Doctor Oliver nodded. "You sure you're not just reading my screens?" he teased, causing Anabel to smile. "According to the sensors, what you saw today is some kind of cloned energy."
"He may not have been alive, but his kick sure felt real," said Conner.
"How would you know?" Anabel asked. "He didn't come anywhere near us."
"Only because you stopped me."
Anabel rolled her eyes.
"I never said he wasn't real," said Doctor Oliver. "He's a threat alright."
"Okay. Now that we've cleared that us," said Ethan. "Can we talk about that Terrorsaurus? Man, he was raggedy."
Doctor Oliver looked around at his student. "He's giving off the same energy readings as the other White Ranger," he explained. "It's almost like they're one in the same."
"One in the same?" Anabel repeated. "As in -?" She looked across at Trent.
"I knew it!" said Conner, aggravatedly. He pushed away from the main frame and stormed towards Trent. "He should never have been here in the first place."
Kira stood, putting herself between Conner and Trent.
"Knock it off, Conner," said Anabel, jumping up and hurrying forward. She latched onto Conner's and used it as leverage to wheel herself around, so she was standing alongside Kira.
"Yeah, it's not his fault," said Kira.
Conner scoffed; his eyes narrowed at Anabel. "Two months," he said, his voice low. "You haven't seen your mother in two months because of him, and you're defending him."
Anabel stared long and hard at her leader. "Knock it off," she repeated, her voice set and firm.
"That's enough," said Doctor Oliver, interrupting. He stood and wandered over along with Ethan. "Now is not the time to be fighting each other. We're going to need back up. Trent, come with me. The rest of you," he looked around at the others, "stay here."
Conner frowned. "What? Why him?" he asked. "Why not me or one of the others?"
Anabel shared an exasperated look with Kira. It seemed Conner was jealous of not only exchange student Alexi, but also of the attention Trent was getting from Doctor Oliver.
"You'll have your role to play in this, Conner, believe me," said Doctor Oliver, reassuringly. "But right now, I need Trent. Keep an eye on the city. Call us if that thing turns up again."
Conner sighed, his shoulders sagging.
Catching Doctor Oliver's head tilt, Anabel guessed he was glancing her way. She nodded and reached over, pulling Conner back towards the mainframe. He let her.
Doctor Oliver turned back to Trent, placed a hand on his shoulder, and headed towards the back of the base. "Let's go," he said.
Glancing over her shoulder, Anabel watched them leave before turning her attention to the mainframe where a search for the clone energy had already started.
~X~
"What other languages can you speak?" Ethan asked Anabel. They and Kira were lounging around the mainframe waiting for a hit on the clone White Ranger and his Terrorsaurus while Conner had left around 30 minutes ago, muttering something about heading to the pitch to clear his head.
Slouched in her seat, her feet perched up in the desk, Anabel swung quietly from side-to-side and glanced over at her friends. "French, fluently," she answered. "A little Russian. I used to speak it quite a lot, but it's like they say - if you don't use it, you lose it - and I also speak a little Spanish, although I learned that from school not because I lived in Spain."
"You were in my Spanish class last year," said Kira.
Anabel nodded. "So was Conner," she answered. "He used to struggle so bad with foreign languages, it was almost laughable. But he was insistent on taking the lesson with me."
"How come?"
"Dunno. I tried to ask him several times, but he just said he wanted to learn."
"Conner never struck me as the type to want to learn," said Ethan.
"He's not, normally," Anabel agreed. "He may not have told me why, but I have a suspicion now."
"Care to share?" Kira asked.
Anabel shrugged. "I don't want you to think badly of him," she said. "Plus, something tells me that what Doctor Oliver and Trent are off doing is going to require the team sticking together. Me telling you my suspicions could cause a divide between us."
"So, you'll tell us soon?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah, Ethan, I'll tell you soon," Anabel said, smiling.
"Good. Because, I haven't forgotten that you avoided my question a few months back," said Ethan. "Remember? The day Doctor O got taken by Tyrannodrones outside the Cybercafe?"
"I remember," said Anabel, nodding. "And I did ask if I could not answer. What did you expect to happen?"
Ethan shrugged.
Kira smiled and shook her head. "Is it true?" she asked, looking at Anabel.
"Is what true?" Anabel asked.
"What Trent said about you and Doctor Oliver?" Kira asked. "Is it true that you are… you know? Together?"
"No," said Anabel, shaking her head.
Ethan furrowed his brow. "But you guys were holding hands the other day," he said.
"So?"
"So, doesn't holding hands usually mean there is something going on?" Ethan inquired.
Anabel shook her head. "Look, I won't deny that I have feelings for him, but nothing can happen. He's my teacher. He could get in a boat load of trouble if someone were to find out. Plus, I need to consider the repercussions it'll have on me and my mother if anything were to happen. Zeltrax has already proven he is willing to use me to get to Doctor Oliver, and he's shown he'll go after my mother to get to me. I can't risk her life for a relationship, regardless of who it is with."
"Does he feel the same way about you?" Kira asked.
"I can't speak for him," said Anabel.
"But you're hoping he does?"
Anabel looked away and shrugged. "I don't know," she said, quietly. "Maybe."
"Hey, maybe after you graduate, you know when you're not his student, things can be different?" Kira offered. "Personally, I think you'd make a cute couple."
"Same," Ethan agreed.
Anabel smiled and rolled her head to look at the other two. "Thanks, guys," she murmured.
The moment was interrupted as the mainframe beeped, jolting the trio out of their slumped positions and into upright ones. They each leaned forward as the four split screens merged into one, showing the Terrorsaurus.
"Someone call Conner," said Anabel.
Kira pulled away to do so, leaving Ethan and Anabel to trace the signal.
When Conner arrived, he raced towards his friends. "What's going on?" he asked, hoping the steps, and stopping beside Kira.
"How problem just got a whole lot bigger," said Ethan.
"Where is he?" Conner asked.
"In the woods outside of town," Anabel replied.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"Our orders, remember?" Kira asked. "Doctor O told us to call if that thing showed up again."
"Yeah, but why?" Conner asked. "I mean, it's pretty obvious that they've got something important to do."
Kira hesitated and glanced at Anabel.
"We could leave a message with Hayley," Anabel suggested. "That way, if something does go wrong, she can contact Doctor Oliver and tell him where we are."
Kira relaxed while Ethan nodded.
Conner shrugged. "Fine. Whatever let's just get this over with," he said, turning his back on the other three.
Anabel fired off a quick message, complete with the Terrorsaurus' coordinates to Hayley, and then joined the others in the centre of the base.
"Ready?" Conner asked.
"Ready!"
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"
~X~
Calling on their Zords, the team of four arrived in the woods outside of the city but found that the Terrorsaurus was nowhere to be found.
"What's that?" Conner asked, noticing a fast-moving storm cloud heading their way. It blanketed the whole area, surrounding the megazord in a grey mist.
Out of the mist echoed a screech and a roar as the Cephalazord and the Dimetrozord appeared.
"Our Dinozords!" Anabel gasped.
"Something's wrong," said Ethan.
Two large clear bubbles appeared around the two Dinozords, lifting them into the air. They soared over the megazord and straight into the thorn on the Terrorsaurus' chest.
Laughing, the Terrorsaurus rushed forward, slamming into the Megazord from all sides. The cockpit sparked rapidly as a white light flashed on and off. Then, with a grand crash, the four Zords broke a part, ejecting the Rangers, and depositing them on the ground.
Anabel groaned as she rolled onto her stomach.
"Now you're mine!" the Terrorsaurus said, throwing out his hands at the Biozords. Four clear bubbles locked around the Tyranno, Compy, Tricera, and Ptera. They each roared or squeaked in distress as they were lifted into the air and sucked into the thorn.
"No!" Anabel yelled, punching the ground as she made it back to her knees.
"That's unbelievable!" Kira said, shaking her head.
Groaning, Conner ducked his head and pressed a hand to the side of his temple. "Urgh. I'm getting a weird feeling," he winced.
"Headache?" Anabel asked. "Wouldn't be surprised after what we just went through."
Conner shook his head. "No, it's like something is calling me," he said.
"Your head too big for your helmet?" the Terrorsaurus asked, appearing ahead of the team. He was regular size again and walking with deliberate intent.
Clenching his fists, Conner stepped forward. "What have you done with our Zords?" he demanded.
"You should be more worried about what I am going to do to you," said the Terrorsaurus. "But since you asked, your Zords belong to me now."
Several distressed cries echoed from the thorn on his chest.
"You can't just take our Zords!" Anabel yelled.
"I just did!" the Terrorsaurus laughed. "Now, it's time for your demise!" Wings - large, white, leathery wings with black spines - opened from his shoulders - and he flew at the team.
"In your dreams," said Conner. He reached for his Thundermax, the others following his lead, and each opened fire on the Terrorsaurus.
But it didn't matter. The Terrorsaurus didn't slow down or stop. It simply spread its arms, claws glinting in the sunlight, and hit the team of four dead one.
Anabel groaned as she felt a sharp sting in her right shoulder. Then, her feet left the floor, and she was on her back again. She rolled over and sat up, gasping, and ducking back just as the Terrorsaurus flew overhead.
"Heads up!" Conner called.
"Hey, let me go!" Ethan yelled, as the Terrorsaurus caught his shoulders and hauled him into the air. He landed with a splash in a dirty pool of water in the middle of the quarry.
"Ethan!" the others yelled, racing to help him.
The Terrorsaurus landed on the dry gravel, his form blocking out the sunlight. "You are powerless to stop me," he taunted.
"Let's try our sabres," said Conner.
The others nodded and drew their swords. As Conner and Anabel disappeared to the left, with Anabel trying to get in behind the Terrorsaurus. Kira headed for the left, leaving Ethan to attack from the front.
"Thundermax Sabres!" they each called, weaving the blade through the air as they ran forward,
The Terrorsaurus looked around, scoffed, and disappeared the second the teens got close. He laughed as they attacked one another, landing in a heap on the ground where he had once stood.
Anabel curled into a ball, her arms wrapped around her stomach as the Terrorsaurus attacked again, blasting them high into the air.
"Maybe we should've waited for Doctor O," said Conner.
"You think?" Ethan asked, sarcastically.
"Slightly," Kira agreed.
Despite her arms shaking under the pressure she was applying, Anabel managed to stagger to her feet. "We didn't wait," she said. "So, it doesn't matter. We can't give up now."
The others nodded and struggled up beside her.
"Fire!" the Terrorsaurus said. His eye glinted and the team were thrown backwards by a spark in their chests.
Anabel closed her eyes as she hit the water's surface. Then she was submerged. Green water filled her vision as she turned in the water, spotting Ethan and Kira nearby. Between them, they were tugging Conner back up.
The foursome broke the surface and Anabel swam the short distance to her friends. She wrapped Conner's arm around her shoulder, and tred water toward the shore.
Once safe on the bank, Conner flopped over onto his back, coughing, and gasping for breath.
"Relax, Conner, you didn't take any water in," said Anabel, rolling him on to his knees and rubbing his back.
"I hate being submerged," Conner spluttered.
"That was a great idea, Conner," said Kira, agitatedly. She sat on the bank and removed her boots, emptying out the water that had filled inside them.
Ethan nodded and glanced sideways. "Yeah. You got any more bril -" he broke off as Conner straightened and threw out his hand.
"Wait. I'm getting that strange feeling again," said Conner, touching a helmet to his head. "Something… Something isn't right."
"What do you mean?" Kira asked.
Conner shook his head. "I can't explain it," he answered. "But I just know that Trent and Doctor O need me." He took off before the others could stop him.
Anabel sighed and flopped onto her back. Ethan and Kira lay beside her.
"What do we do now?" Ethan asked.
"We take five," said Anabel. "Then we find the Terrorsaurus. Deal?"
Kira nodded. "Deal," she agreed.
~X~
The Terrorsaurus looked up at the six captured Zords hovering in their bubbles above the city. His plan was to draw out the Rangers, and it was working perfectly.
"Hey, freak!" Kira called, racing around the corner. Her Thundermax drawn. Ethan and Anabel followed her, each one pulling free their sabres.
The Terrorsaurus scoffed in amusement as he turned to face them. Once they got close enough he disappeared, whipping forward, and striking not once, not twice, but three times, and sending the trio crashing to the floor,
"Guys!" Conner called, racing over to his friends.
"You're back sooner than expected," said Anabel, rolling onto her knees. "Did you find whatever was calling to you?"
Conner nodded. "Doctor Oliver is working on it back at the lab," he said. "He'll get it to me when it's ready. Now come on you've got to pull it together."
The others nodded and stood. Facing off against the Terrorsaurus alongside their leader.
"Terrorsaurus lasers!"
Anabel gasped as a bolt of red lightning hit her in the chest. She felt the barrier of the roof at her back and flipped over it, hurtling towards the ground. She clenched her calf muscles and landed, her whole body vibrating before stumbling forward.
"Long way down!" breathed Ethan, landing beside her.
"Uh-uh," Anabel agreed. She looked up as the Terrorsaurus launched himself off the rooftop and landed a fair distance away.
Calling on his Tyranno-staff, Conner raced forward and leapt into the air. He swung the staff around, striking it down on the Terrorsaurus. But it did extraordinarily little damage. Gripping the tail tightly, he swiped it around and stabbed forward.
The Terrorsaurus caught the head of the staff, threw it to the side, and punched Conner in the chest. He rocketed backwards into a metal pipe.
"Tricera-argh!" Ethan cried as the Terrorsaurus turned, caught the front horn of his shield, and tossed him into a tree trunk.
"Are you finished?" the Terrorsaurus asked.
"Not even close!" Anabel and Kira called. They stood, side-by-side, with their Thundermax blasters drawn and trained on the Terrorsaurus. It laughed as they opened fire, and merely stalked forward, the laser blasts bouncing off his exterior.
"That tickles!" the Terrorsaurus said, wrapping his hands around the two teenagers wrists. He spun Anabel into him, wrapping his arm around her waist, as he spun Kira out and kicked her in the back.
"Kira!" Anabel called, struggling against the creature's hold.
As he and Ethan covered Kira, Conner clenched his hand into a fist. "Let her go!" he demanded.
"Okay," said the Terrorsaurus. He threw Anabel into Conner, knocking the pair to the floor.
Anabel quickly rolled off Conner and back got back to her feet.
"How about an encore?" the Terrorsaurus threw out his hands again, knocking the team down for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
Breathing ragged, the team slowly regained their footing.
"First I took your Zords," the Terrorsaurus said. "Now I will take your powers, and then your lives."
Anabel coughed, clutching her chest.
"We have to pull it together," said Ethan.
Conner nodded. "I'm not going to take it!" he growled. "I think it's time for -"
"Super Dino Mode!" the four teens echoed, each one crossing their arms and drawing them down over their chests and stopping at their hips.
The Terrorsaurus watched, fascinated. "It won't matter," he taunted.
"Don't bet on it!" Conner warned. "Attack!"
The four raced forward and leapt into the air. But they were knocked back down as the Terrorsaurus blasted them out of the sky.
"What's his deal?!" Conner growled.
"Power Rangers let me be the first to tell you, you are doomed!" the Terrorsaurus hissed. He threw out a hand, wrapping a beam of energy around Conner and drawing him in.
Anabel, Kira, and Ethan staggered forward.
"Let him go!" Ethan shouted.
"You got it!" said the Terrorsaurus. He lifted Conner into the air and tossed him aside.
The others rushed to cover him.
"You will learn respect, my little pets," the Terrorsaurus seethed, stalking forward again.
"Respect is earned!" Anabel said, tightening the hold on her Thundermax Sabre.
The Terrorsaurus stopped a mere foot away, his hands held up and his eyes trained on the Green Ranger. She had foolishly put herself in front of her friends, her sword held tightly in her hand. He smirked, sensing his next target.
Placing one foot deliberately forward, the Terrorsaurus grunted as dust and leaves blew up into his face, blinding him momentarily. He stumbled back and then looked around as the blast died down.
"Not so fast, vile reptile," Doctor Oliver called, running out in front of his students. He held a weirdly shaped shield, which seemed to be covered in solid ice.
The Terrorsaurus thrust his hands out in front of him, hurling two thin bolts of red lightning. Doctor Oliver raised the shield, blocking the attack.
"Not this time!" Doctor Oliver said, shoving the shield froward. The blast turned and hit the Terrorsaurus, knocking him backwards.
Anabel gasped and lurched forward as Doctor Oliver collapsed to his knees. "I got you," she said, nuzzling her way under his arm and pressing one hand to his chest as the other wrapped loosely around his waist.
"Conner," said Doctor Oliver, seeking out his student. "You know what to do." He handed him the shield.
Conner nodded and took it. He paused in front of the Terrorsaurus and then turned to his friends. "Kira, Ethan, Anabel, I need your total trust," he said. "I need your Dino power."
"Are we allowed to ask why?" Anabel asked.
"It's a long and complicated story," said Doctor Oliver. "I'll tell you about it later."
Anabel nodded and turned back to Conner.
"Do you trust me?" Conner asked.
Without missing a beat, Kira nodded. "I do!" she said.
"I always did," said Ethan.
Conner nodded at the pair and then turned to Anabel. He had lost her trust a long time ago and could only hope that he had managed to gain it back these last few months. "Anabel?" he asked, tentatively.
Anabel hesitated and then nodded.
"You won't be sorry," said Conner. He turned back to the Terrorsaurus and raised the shield into the air. "Triassic Power!"
Kira, Ethan, and Anabel fell into line either side of him, each one accenting the Dino symbol on their chest with their hands.
"Engage!" Conner called. With a blast, the shield transformed into a deep red with intricate gold wedges around the side, and black accents down the middle.
Falling to her knees, Anabel demorphed as her energy disappeared. She looked up at Conner, as his ranger suit changed before her eyes. The white stripes on his arms and legs changed to gold and blue, while a golden mask appeared over his eyes.
"Wow," Kira gasped.
"He did it!" Doctor Oliver said, rushing forward to check on his other students. He helped them stand, then looped an arm around Anabel's waist and held her up.
Just like the Terrorsaurus had done, Conner took slow, deliberate steps forward, stopping only a short distance away. "You're in deep trouble now," he said.
"Big deal!" the Terrorsaurus said, defiantly. "Bring it!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Conner said. "Shield of Triumph! Activate!" he thrust the shield out, and with a crash, both he and the Terrorsaurus, disappeared.
Anabel furrowed her brow and looked up at Doctor Oliver. "Where did they go?" she asked.
"The Shield has the ability to transport its user and foe to an interdimensional world," said Doctor Oliver. "Don't worry. They'll come back."
No sooner had he spoken, did Conner reappear. The Terrorsaurus fell to his knees, his whole body rippling with energy before he exploded with a mournful cry.
~X~
Anabel breathed deeply as she fell into the empty seat before the mainframe. "My whole-body aches," she whined, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. "The last time I felt like this was after Cheer camp three years ago."
"I remember that" said Conner. "You slept the whole road trip home."
"It was a six-hour road trip," Anabel protested.
Conner chuckled and shook his head.
"Hang on," said Circe, frowning. "If you were in Cheer Camp, Anabel, what was Conner doing there?"
"Soccer Camp was across the lake," Anabel explained. "It was easier for us to go together than separate. That was the year I also realised that I can't be a passenger."
Conner groaned. "You're the worst kind of back seat driver," he agreed.
"You need to learn to drive better!"
"My driving is fine," defended Conner.
Anabel muttered under her breath as she rested her head against the back of her chair. "How was the Mystic Realm?" she asked Circe. "I missed you today."
"Yeah, sorry for being so MIA," said Circe. "Everything's fine on the home front. Just needed to check in and update Root core on how the situation is here. Blade told me to tell you that your mother is doing fine, by the way. She'll call you at the end of the week."
Anabel smiled.
Circe patted Anabel's hand and turned to Conner. "Heard you got a new weapon in the fight against Mesogog?" she asked.
"Yeah. The Shield of Triumph," Conner answered. "It rocks."
"I've read about that," said Circe. "It was mandatory reading during my training. Then, knowing every legend is usually mandatory reading when training to be a Mystic Defender. You never know when you're going to encounter something that was lost a long time ago."
Conner looked impressed. "That reminds me," he said, turning to his friends. "Thanks for trusting me with your powers, you guys. It means a lot."
"As long as you don't forget that it's only a loan," said Ethan, clapping Conner on the shoulder. "If it means we get our Zords back then it's a loan worth spent."
Anabel and Kira nodded in agreement.
"I just wish that you could've felt what it was like," said Conner. "The power is amazing."
"The Triassic power was always meant for you, Conner," said Doctor Oliver, wandering in from the tunnels along with Trent. "All you had to do was trust in yourself. Then it was easy for others to trust in you, too."
Conner pressed his lips together and nodded. He glanced over to the mainframe, catching Anabel's gaze as she looked up. "I was surprised when you said you trusted me," he admitted.
Anabel shrugged. "I trust you enough to lead this team," she admitted. "Beyond that? No."
Conner sighed and turned back to the others, catching the tail end of two very confused glances from Ethan and Kira. Just from their expressions, he could tell that Anabel still hadn't said a word to them about what had happened between him and her at the end of last year.
"Least there's a bright side to all this," said Kira, trying to lighten the mood. "You now know that you can talk to Alexi without screwing up."
Conner laughed. "Yeah. I guess you're right," he agreed.