Chapter 7 - Thana

Thana had been given one order, when she'd been sent to Amber Beach. Retrieve the Energems by any means. Nothing else mattered but that order.

So she'd crafted a plan, working with Mab in hopes that utilising her other half's strength would encourage her not to derail and do her own thing. She'd watched footage of the Power Rangers in action, defending themselves and Amber Beach from Sledge and his motley crew, and Thana knew that going in half-cocked was the fastest way to being destroyed.

Thana had no intention of dying in the attempt to take the Energems. She'd allowed Mab to face them in battle alongside Ice Age, so that her other half could see what the Rangers were capable of, and from what she could tell, Mab was impressed.

At first, Thana's plan was to watch the Rangers from afar. She hadn't even bothered to approach Sledge, and instead found the Rangers in town trying to find someone to bond with the Purple Energem. She'd watched them, wondering how she could convince them to simply hand it over to her.

Then she had felt a strange pull. Thana couldn't quite explain it, but her attention had moved from the main group disguised as builders, and instead went to the one who was watching nearby. Leaning against the wall with his arms folded, the one she knew carried the White Energem looked thoroughly unimpressed with what was taking place.

Then, as if he'd felt her attention on him, he'd looked up and locked gazes with her. That pull had grown, and for a moment Thana found herself very curious about him. But then her mind caught up, and she remembered the whole reason she was there.

It was almost perfect, when she spotted the White Ranger once more later that day, trying to convince a pretty young woman of something. He looked worried, but she looked determined, dismissing what he was saying. Thana lurked far enough away that she couldn't hear what was being said, but the moment she saw him walking towards the road without looking, she knew she had her chance. With a wave of her hand, the truck that had been coasting along suddenly sped up, hurtling straight for the White Ranger.

Thana had moved instantly, tackling him out of the way. The two had landed in a heap, with her straddling him, and she'd looked up, studying his face for just a moment.

"You okay?" she asked in as soft a voice as she could muster. He'd looked up instantly, his blue eyes wide as he stared up, clearly recognising her from before.

"You?" the White Ranger had breathed, and Thana had found herself smiling before she'd even realised it. It was then that she realised that she was still straddling his lap, and immediately jumped up.

"Oh, sorry!" she apologised quickly, offering her hand and ducking her head in a way to appear shy.

"Heckyl!" she tilted her head at the shout of his name, just as his much larger hand went around hers. "You okay?" the rest of the Rangers had approached, finally crossing the road as she pulled him to his feet.

'They're all here to see my heroics. Perfect,' Thana thought to herself, before looking up at the Rangers in an attempt to learn their faces. She stayed on the one she knew was the Black Ranger for a moment longer, finding him frowning back at her. Something unnerved her about him, as her instincts started to awaken, telling her to get away from him.

"I'm fine," Heckyl had answered, and when Thana looked up at him, she found his eyes on her. "She saved me," he pointed out.

"She did," the young woman who he'd been walking with was staring at Thana in awe. She muttered something under her breath that Thana didn't quite catch. "Excuse me," Thana turned to her and tilted her head, looking curious. "This may sound strange, but there's something I'd like you to hold for me," she requested.

This was it. Thana fought the smirk that wanted to pull at the corners of her mouth. She could feel Mab's eagerness as well, as for once she wasn't trying to subtly gain control.

"Uh…okay?" Thana had then shrugged, doing her best to look confused.

"Ms. Morgan," the one who had been frowning at her, spoke up, sounding wary.

"It's fine," Ms. Morgan had dismissed him too, not listening to what he had to say. Again, Thana had to resist a laugh, as he groaned in frustration.

"But-"

"Here," the young woman had pulled the Purple Energem from her bag, holding it out. Thana stared at it, feeling the power that it was emitting naturally.

"Wait," Heckyl finally spoke up as his own apprehension won out. "Perhaps-" just as Thana's fingertips brushed the Energem, the ground exploded from under them. Mab had woken fully at the attack, but when Heckyl's arms went around Thana in an attempt to protect her from the attack, allowing her to land on him, she hadn't forced her will to overcome.

"Yes! An Energem! My ticket out of here!" Thana bit back the curses as she saw a monster standing nearby, holding the Purple Energem in his claws.

"What…?" as she turned, her anger growing at being sabotaged, she felt herself being pushed away.

"Get out of here," Heckyl warned her. Thana wanted to argue. The Purple Energem was right there, unbonded. It was vulnerable, and if she got it, she'd already be more powerful.

But she needed Twelve, not one. So she did what she was told and took off, wanting to destroy Wishstar herself. The Rangers, of course, beat her to that, and the Purple Energem ended up in Sledge's control for just a short time before it bonded to Ms. Morgan.

So Thana had to rethink her plan. And it started with finding Sledge's destroyed ship.

It had taken about over a month to find it, still smoking in the middle of a forest. The cloaking system was still up and running, allowing it to hide from SPD and the Dino Charge Rangers, but not from Thana.

"My Sledgums! My wedding!" she heard the heartbroken words as she stepped through a hole in the side of the ship. The large pink monstrosity was sobbing as she clung to another monster that seemed to be made of pillows.

"What a tragic scene," they looked up quickly, and the cat-like monster that Thana remembered working with Wishstar had lifted his sword with a snarl.

"Wrong place, pathetic human," he had run at her, but Thana had raised a hand and swung it in front of her. The metal around them had ripped from the walls and slammed into the monster, pinning him to the wall.

"First of all, I'm not human," she told the monster as he thrashed. "Second of all, I know you idiots were trying to get the Energems. Well, just because your master is gone -" immediately the pink monstrosity began to wail again. Thana rolled her eyes. "Doesn't mean that you get a break," she snapped her fingers, and the metal flew back to where it had come from. The monster fell to his knees. "What's your name?" Thana asked as she lifted his sword.

"Fury," he growled, and was surprised when she held out the weapon to him.

"Well, Fury. I'm in charge now, so let's get this place at least liveable, and then we can work on getting those Energems, eh?" Thana smirked. Fury snatched the sword, muttering under his breath, and Thana turned around. "How many survivors are there, and will they be of any use?" she asked, addressing the robot who was cowering behind some wreckage.

"Um…" as he went to speak, Fury raised his blade with a snarl. Thana rolled her eyes, and the tattoo of a pair of fairy wings peeking out from under the collar of her dress began to glow. In a flash of black, she had transformed into a green monster, and Fury's sword clashed against another.

"Trying a backstab against someone who showed you mercy?" The monster cooed back as she shoved hard. Fury tripped over some rubble and crashed back against a wall as the pink monster screamed in fear. "You'll find Thana to be the more…diplomatic of us, but if you piss either of us off, well…" Fury froze when his sword impaled the wall beside his head. "You won't get to do so a second time," she warned.

"And who are you?" Fury was more docile now as he glared at her, all too aware that he was very much overpowered.

"You can call me Mab."


With the rest of the Rangers back, and Thana there to help, suddenly the Dino Bite Café wasn't quite as stressful to manage, and Heckyl, Ivan and Koda were no longer exhausted at the end of their shift. This was helpful, as monster attacks resumed in Amber Beach, not stopping after the revived Ice Age.

"Aren't you done for the day?" Heckyl looked up from the laptop he'd been working on as Thana slid into the seat opposite him. With a smile, she slid over a smoothie to him.

"Thanks," he took it, and jolted when his fingertips brushed hers. She quickly drew back, and took a drink of her own smoothie as Heckyl hid back behind the laptop screen. Thana consistently flustered him, and he felt he was constantly making a fool of himself in front of her, yet she didn't seem to mind too much.

"So why are you still here? Can't get enough of this place?" Thana asked him after a moment.

"I work better when I'm around people," Heckyl replied quietly. It was the truth. After years of being by himself, being alone put him on edge. Being around others at least helped keep thoughts he didn't want to have away. When Thana peered around, trying to see what he was working on, Heckyl quickly closed the laptop over, and laughed awkwardly when she tilted her head. For a moment, he worried that she was offended, but Thana then grinned.

"Secretive much?" she teased.

"I like to keep a little bit of mystery," Heckyl shot back, which made her giggle. Her giggle stopped quickly, however, as she seemed to shiver. She scratched at her collarbone, and he noticed the edge of a tattoo peeking out from her work shirt.

"Suit yourself," she got back to her feet, finishing her smoothie before walking off at a quick pace. As soon as she did, he sank back in his seat, putting a hand to his face as it burned.

"Heckyl funny when around Thana," he jumped, looking up at Koda. The Blue Ranger was grinning widely at him.

"Do not make me cut you off from the burger supply," he warned, but Koda's smile only widened, and he sank down lower in his seat.


The moment Thana stepped out the back door of the kitchen, she groaned and doubled over, unable to fight the pain in her chest. She gasped for breath as her tattoo began to glow, and in a flash, she transformed into Mab.

The monster groaned as she straightened up, having forced her will to overpower her other half. She then reached down and lifted the glowing pendant that swung from her waist. When she opened it, she saw Thana's face glaring up at her.

'What part of "patience" don't you understand? If I'd transformed in front of them, we-'

"I'm growing bored of waiting, Thana," Mab cut off the psychic berating with a growl of her own. "Instead of talking to that fool, you could have taken his Energem. Instead of talking about music with the Pink one, you could have taken hers. Instead of giving the Gold one food orders, you could have killed him and taken his!" Mab exclaimed. Thana groaned.

'We need all Twelve Energems. If we take one, it will go the same way as it did for Sledge. They'll bolster their ranks, and it will be impossible to take any others,' she explained in a slow voice.

"Then we claim them all at once," Mab vowed, vanishing in a flash of dark magic.


Too distracted, Heckyl decided to go for a walk to try and clear his head. He wanted to get the Ranger program working to expand past the city, but so far it hadn't been a success. He'd been able to swap it to only focus on signatures that came from those bonded to Energems, but even that hadn't helped much.

With a new enemy having announced themself, Heckyl's impatience had returned in full force. The Aqua Energem was bonded and whoever held it was doing a damn good job of hiding, while it seemed the Silver Energem remained unbonded and hidden somewhere that even Ari's impressive reach couldn't get to.

He stopped, lifting a hand to cover his eyes as he tilted his head back. This was exactly why he didn't like being alone. The frustrated, pitiful thoughts came back, as part of him wondered if Lord Arcanon would eventually turn his sights on Earth. After all, they'd defeated Sledge, and now others were crawling out of the woodwork in their attempts to claim the Energems for themselves.

Those thoughts were interrupted when something else caught his attention. Heckyl's hand dropped as he heard a melody carrying through the air. Someone was singing. Someone with a really nice voice. Turning, Heckyl looked around in an attempt to figure out where it was coming from, and his eyes widened.

Sitting on a tree branch with her back to the trunk and one leg swinging in the afternoon breeze, was Thana.

Thana wasn't too sure why she was singing. She never knew why she sang, really, but she did it a lot. The melodies were always soft, almost sad, and she could never figure out why something in her chest always seemed to hurt when she stopped. She'd tried to stop, angry at herself for it, but for some reason she just kept doing it.

"I don't know what's stranger," when she paused for breath, a voice spoke up, scaring her enough that she almost fell out of the tree. Thana looked down quickly, her brown eyes wide as she found Heckyl looking up at her with a grin. "The singing, or that you're so high up," he continued.

"Heckyl…" Thana breathed. So caught up in her singing, in her own thoughts, she hadn't sensed him approaching. That was bad. She looked around, before shifting, swinging her other leg over the branch before slipping off to jump down. She would have landed easily, but startled by the action, Heckyl instinctively reached out and caught her easily.

For a moment, Thana let him hold onto her, her eyes as wide as his as a blush began to burn at her cheeks. Then Heckyl cleared his throat, and set her down gently.

"You've got a nice voice," he told her before he'd realised it, and he let go to step backwards, aware of his own blush. Thana felt her blush grow as her stomach gave a strange jolt. She'd never been praised for her singing before. Usually she was just told to be quiet - that only made her sing more.

"Thanks," she murmured. Then she felt a bubbling under the surface. Mab was giving her a warning; to stay alert. Thana then pinched her arm, snapping herself back to attention. "So, you finally escaped your shackles and got away from the Dino Café, huh?" she teased, hands going behind her back as she grinned up at him. Heckyl shrugged in response. "Come on," with that, Thana turned and began walking.

"Where are we going?" Heckyl asked, but followed all the same. Thana glanced over her shoulder and grinned.

"To get ice cream," she said simply.

"Are…are you okay?" Heckyl's question made Thana slow and stop. She turned to him, surprised by the question. "You left rather quickly earlier," he pointed out as he caught up to her. Thana didn't speak, instead looking stunned. Again, something that nobody else had ever asked her.

"I-" she stopped, remembering Mab's last warning. If she wasn't careful, Mab would force her will to overpower Thana's, and she couldn't risk it for just one Energem. Wouldn't risk it. Especially Heckyl's. Standing so close to him, she could sense his power just under the surface, making a shiver run down her spine. He was too powerful for her to risk challenging yet.

She was spared an answer, when she noticed a familiar figure nearby. Thana turned her head, and Heckyl followed her gaze when he noticed her distraction.

"Riley?" he murmured, seeing the Green Ranger standing with a young man almost double his height. He was glaring up at him, seeming to challenge him. The two then turned to the obstacle course that they were standing by, and braced themselves. The two then started to run towards it, with the taller one slightly faster. As he reached the wall and began climbing, Heckyl saw Riley's hand go to his shirt, and he jumped up. Both Heckyl and Thana stared as the Green Ranger seemed to fly up, disappearing into the treeline. However, he didn't come back down, and the young man he'd been racing landed on the other side. After taunting Riley, he ran off with the two who'd been cheering him on.

"Riley…" Heckyl muttered, irritated at what he'd seen. Without waiting for Thana, he strode over to the obstacle course, just in time to see Riley fall from the trees with a cry. He landed on his back, groaning as twigs and leaves clung to him. When he opened his eyes, he jumped as he found Heckyl standing over him, looking unimpressed.

"Heckyl…you saw that, didn't you?" he gulped. He'd known using the power of the Energem was wrong, but he'd been too riled up from Burt's mockery.

"We both did," Riley froze when Thana appeared in his view, leaning over him too. "You got some air," she commented as Heckyl offered his hand.

"Thanks," Riley got back to his feet, and couldn't help but glance at Burt and his friends.

"Who was that?" Heckyl asked. While he didn't like Riley using his Energem to try and beat someone at something so insignificant, there was an arrogance to the young man that Heckyl didn't like.

"Burt. We went to school together," Riley sighed. "I don't understand why he's always been such a jerk to me. I've never done anything to him," he complained, glaring at the young man who was still laughing. "Now he's mocking me over this marathon he's entering," he sighed.

"You seemed quite quick to rise to his bait," Heckyl's blunt words made Riley go red. He didn't reply, looking annoyed, but couldn't argue it.

"If he's entering the marathon, why don't you?" Thana's suggestion earned their attention. "Beat him in the marathon, and you'll prove to him that he's not better than you," she told Riley, who looked thoughtful.

"Wouldn't beating him at his own game just make him as bad as this guy?" Heckyl considered, but as Thana went to speak, something else caught her attention.

"Watch out!" she shoved both Heckyl and Riley, and the three stumbled to the side.

"What-" Riley started to ask, only for a dull thud to stop him. He looked around quickly, and found something familiar embedded in the wood of the wall they'd been standing by.

"What is that?" Thana demanded, before a laugh made them turn around. A monster was approaching them - one that Riley and Heckyl both recognised.

"Stingrage…" Riley hissed, remembering the monster who had stung the Ankylo Zord and sent it on a rampage.

"Stay here," Heckyl pushed Thana behind the wooden wall, and moved away as she tried to protest. "Let's go," he nodded to Riley, and the pair rushed Stingrage.

Like before, the monster was powerful, and the two were forced to dodge more than they could attack, as he made to fire his stingers at them.

"Do you try to be this weak or does it just come naturally?" the monster taunted as Heckyl stumbled backwards. His powers were right under his skin, practically begging to be unleashed, but he didn't want to risk it in front of Thana. It would pose too many questions that he didn't want to answer. Of all things, he didn't want to drag her into the Ranger world if he could avoid it. "Don't worry, you'll soon forget your pain, and everything else!" Stingrage shoved Heckyl backwards and took aim.

"No!" Before Heckyl could stop her, Thana was moving to stand in the way. She bit back a scream as the stinger bit into her skin, ripping through her shirt, and she crashed to the ground. The pain from the sharp tips that pierced her skin made Thana angry, and she could feel Mab just under the surface, begging to be let out.

'Damn you, Mab. This was your doing, wasn't it?' Thana realised, growing angrier by the second.

"Thana!" Heckyl knelt beside her as she grasped the stinger, wanting it out of her side. "Wait-" before he could stop her, Thana pulled out the stinger, and everything went hazy.


Thana is a fun character to write. Mab as well. Maybe I just like writing villains...who knows.

Hope you liked it!

Please review!