Adam backed up watching his life-sized reflection also
retreat in the huge blue eye in front of him. He could feel the wind
push and pull against him as the great creatures breath pulsated around him.
Even through his fear and shock he noted that the dragon's breath was almost
sweet- like the smell of the high mountain lake where he and Rocky liked
to slip off as often as possible for some fishing.
The dragon's scales gleamed a deep blue that slowly faded into almost white, their sheen reflecting the late day sunlight. Two great white horns protruded from the hardened ridge of bony plating along its brow, giving the impression of a creature capable of sustaining great amounts of damage. Huge teeth, half again the size of Adam, ran along the great mouth protecting the overly large tongue. The size of the creature was incredible- far greater than any laws of biology should allow to exist- making Adam feel small and insignificant.
As they were backing away, Adam noticed something peculiar in all their behavior. Without thought, the three men were gently jockeying for position- each trying to put themselves between the others and dragon. He smiled to watch the doctor too step into the role of protector. Suddenly a booming voice shot through their minds, //Greetings// the voice said. //May void-space always be a haven.//
Adam noticed the startled look on Rocky's face- he too had heard the voice. The doctor however didn't seem to notice, a grim look of determination, and resignation on his face as he pushed Adam and Rocky behind him, his arms strangely cocked to his side, his body twisted back to look at them. "What?" Adam and Rocky said simultaneously as the dragon's head retreated into the air, slightly.
//Can you not understand me?// the voice asked again. //I am Teelo Icewing. I have been following you for the past two planetary rotations.// Adam was shocked to see a very human look of confusion on the dragon's face.
The doctor, in the meantime was looking at the situation in confusion. "Is he going to attack?"
Rocky stepped forward and put a hand on Ben's shoulders, while giving him a strange look. "You didn't hear it?"
Ben gave Rocky a startled look, "Hear what?"
"That voice in our heads," Adam said.
"What voice?" Ben asked.
"His voice," Rocky pointed to the dragon and stepped forward. "Can you understand us?"
Again, the dragon looked confused. Again the voice boomed through their minds, //I can barely hear your squeaks, but not their meaning. Can you not use phyre-speak?//
"What's phyre-speak?" Rocky asked.
//Focus your thoughts through the phyre.// the voice said.
"Wait a minute," Adam said to Rocky. Then turning to the Doctor he said, "Didn't you and Billy call the radiation you used for the treatment, phyre?"
Ben nodded, "It was Bill's word. He discovered the effect so he got to name it."
Adam turned back to Rocky, "And knowing Billy, he already had an idea what it was called." Then he stepped between the doctor and the dragon, concentrated and tried to think his words at the dragon. //We're the Power Rangers.// He felt a strange peace come over him. His vision became blurry, as the dragon suddenly seemed to be outlined in flames. Looking, back he saw that Rocky too had a similar outline as did himself. Only the doctor was different, shining instead with a pulsing inner light that somehow felt far older than even this dragon.
//How is it that you have left your bodies for these fragile shells?//
"Gentlemen, would you mind telling me what's going on here?" Doctor Storm asked.
"It's the phyre treatments Doc," Rocky told him. They let us talk to the dragons.
"Mr. DeSantos, I think maybe you're a little over tired," The doctor looked at him incredulously.
"If that's the case, then so am I," Adam told the physician. "Because I just heard that thing speak in my head."
//My NAME is TEELO ICEWING// the dragon told them, //And I AM NOT a THING!//
"Uh oh, I think you made him mad," Rocky said with amusement in his voice.
//Who are you?// the dragon asked. //What are you? You are not of the people.//
Adam looked up at the confused countenance of the dragon, carefully concentrated his thoughts, and tried to will them through the phyre that was surrounding his body. //We're native to this planet. We are human.//
//How extraordinary!// the dragon said. //You are not of dragonkind, but you have phyre. We have encountered no other intelligent species in the galaxy, and now we find one on the Spawnworld .// The dragon's voice suddenly became excited, //I must tell the Elders of this!// The great creature reared back its head as if to fly off.
//"Wait!"// Adam called out with his mind and his voice.
Teelo stopped and looked down at him, //What?//
Adam forced his thoughts through the phyre field surrounding him, //Why are you here? Do you realize the damage you're causing? //
That seemed to stop the dragon. He turned and looked at the three men. Lowering his body until was lying flat on the ground, his head only inches above the rocky terrain, Teelo said,// What kind of damage?//
//Thousands have died. Two continents have been burnt back into the stone age.//
//Stone age? What is a stone age?//
//You have destroyed the cities. The infrastructure and technology that allows us to maintain a certain level of survival has been wiped out. Millions have died,// Adam told him.
//What is technology?// The dragon asked him.
//Tools, devices, that we use to do work and make our lives possible.// Rocky interjected.
//Tools? All you need is the phyre.// Teelo dismissed the concept.
//We are new to this power,// Adam told him. // Not all of us have it, yet.//
The dragon looked at him confused and said, //This is an interesting development. But, differences in our sizes make this difficult to study.// The dragon dropped its head and looked closely at Adam. He got the feeling that Teelo was studying him down to a cellular level. He then moved over to Ben, and finally Rocky. Finally, he raised his great head and seemed to study the sky. //I think I understand.//
Suddenly in a shimmer of energy the great dragon shrank down, its form slowly shifting: wings contracting, horns pulled in, forelimbs changed shape, scaled disappeared, until a human male was standing in front of the three men. He had ice blond hair and piercing blue eyes, with a Ranger's build. His skin was light complexioned- almost bordering on pale- smooth and unblemished. Adam could almost see his blood pulsing through his veins. He wasn't handsome- Jase was handsome- he wasn't rugged- that was Tommy or Rocky. The only word Adam could find to describe the man was beautiful. He was also totally nude, and for some reason Adam felt the heat rise in his face at the sight of him.
"That was some trick," Rocky said.
The man just smiled, and then spoke. The look on his face, reflecting his awe at the sound, "It just came to me." He held out his hands, turning them over and over and said, "What fragile forms these are." Then flexing the thumb he smiled, "and useful."
Rocky looked over the Doctor and said, "Doc, give him your lab coat."
The doctor seemed a little flustered, "Uh, what?" Then as if realizing what he'd been asked he added, "Oh sure." The older man removed his coat and handed over to the blond.
As Teelo pulled the coat on and buttoned it up, another voice came from behind them, "That's the best thing I've seen in several years that's not either gay or married, and you three yahoos go and cover it up!" Ms. Storm's voice came from behind them. "Ben, I'm going to get you for this."
Turning, the three men saw Tommy, Kat, Kimberly, and Aisha coming up behind them. All three had chagrinned looks on their faces. "We can't leave you guys alone for one minute without you going making first contact, can we?" Tommy joked at them.
Rocky looked around, "Well, since there's no sign of our fearless leader, we figured we had to do something to pass the time."
Teelo looked at them, and smiled, "There are more of you?" He seemed to stare at each one until he said, "All possess the phyre, but with most of you there is something else mixed in. I do not understand." He shook his head, "But you say that we've damaged your population?"
"Yes, you've burned down whole cities. Millions have died," Tommy said. Then remembering Asia, he said, "Actually billions, but we brought part of that on ourselves."
Teelo nodded, "you are the one's responsible for breaking hydrogen bonds over the western continent?"
Tommy shook his head, "Not us personally, but the political groups from those countries did."
"And you did this without the use of phyre? You did it with technology- tools?" The dragon seemed confused with the concept of tools. "How is it that you appeared as the people earlier?"
Adam looked at the others, who were trying to determine what he meant. For long moments they all stood there confused until Ms. Storm suddenly said, "The Zords. They thought the Dragonzords were real dragons."
"But they were only metal shells, and vehicles," Kat said. I mean, yeah they may look like a real dragon on VERY dark night and far away, but they still look like 'Zords."
Mic said, "Not if all you're reading the energy signatures of their pilots."
"You mean, the dragons thought we were one of them because of the phyre treatments?" Tommy asked.
"Right," Mic said. "They see the phyre not the technology. THEN they look at the form."
"Makes sense," Rocky said, "In a Billy sort of way."
"So everybody's phyre identifies them as one of them."
Teelo nodded, at the woman. "But we do see the form. Color is important. Size is important."
"How so?" Kim asked.
Teelo smiled, "Color indicates age and power. Size, indicates gender."
"So I take it from what we've seen, that males are smaller than females," Kat said.
Teelo nodded, "Sometimes when there's more than one male involved in a mating flight, the female's size protects her from the fights that break out among the males."
Tommy put his hands on his hips, "Okay, then why did the other dragons keep treating me like a child?"
Teelo smiled, "Because of your color. I take it you are the large white hatchling?"
Tommy nodded and added defensively, "I pilot the white Dragonzord."
"Yeah, he's the large hatchling," Rocky said trying unsuccessfully to suppress a giggle.
Teelo gave them a confused look, "I don't understand."
Mic smiled at him, "Come on, I'll show you." She reached out and put an arm through his. "You see, the Dragonzords are vehicles we use to get around and protect the Earth. Or at least the Rangers do." She smiled over at Kat and Kim, "Somebody had better go get Jase and Bill." She seemed to look away for a second and then quickly added, "They're both in Bill's quarters. Just knock, don't go in."
"Mic." Kim warned, "What are you up to?"
The young technician smiled back, "Me, I'm as innocent as a newborn babe." She giggled, "But let's just say our fearless leader and resident genius aren't quite as innocent as they were when the left."
The dragon's scales gleamed a deep blue that slowly faded into almost white, their sheen reflecting the late day sunlight. Two great white horns protruded from the hardened ridge of bony plating along its brow, giving the impression of a creature capable of sustaining great amounts of damage. Huge teeth, half again the size of Adam, ran along the great mouth protecting the overly large tongue. The size of the creature was incredible- far greater than any laws of biology should allow to exist- making Adam feel small and insignificant.
As they were backing away, Adam noticed something peculiar in all their behavior. Without thought, the three men were gently jockeying for position- each trying to put themselves between the others and dragon. He smiled to watch the doctor too step into the role of protector. Suddenly a booming voice shot through their minds, //Greetings// the voice said. //May void-space always be a haven.//
Adam noticed the startled look on Rocky's face- he too had heard the voice. The doctor however didn't seem to notice, a grim look of determination, and resignation on his face as he pushed Adam and Rocky behind him, his arms strangely cocked to his side, his body twisted back to look at them. "What?" Adam and Rocky said simultaneously as the dragon's head retreated into the air, slightly.
//Can you not understand me?// the voice asked again. //I am Teelo Icewing. I have been following you for the past two planetary rotations.// Adam was shocked to see a very human look of confusion on the dragon's face.
The doctor, in the meantime was looking at the situation in confusion. "Is he going to attack?"
Rocky stepped forward and put a hand on Ben's shoulders, while giving him a strange look. "You didn't hear it?"
Ben gave Rocky a startled look, "Hear what?"
"That voice in our heads," Adam said.
"What voice?" Ben asked.
"His voice," Rocky pointed to the dragon and stepped forward. "Can you understand us?"
Again, the dragon looked confused. Again the voice boomed through their minds, //I can barely hear your squeaks, but not their meaning. Can you not use phyre-speak?//
"What's phyre-speak?" Rocky asked.
//Focus your thoughts through the phyre.// the voice said.
"Wait a minute," Adam said to Rocky. Then turning to the Doctor he said, "Didn't you and Billy call the radiation you used for the treatment, phyre?"
Ben nodded, "It was Bill's word. He discovered the effect so he got to name it."
Adam turned back to Rocky, "And knowing Billy, he already had an idea what it was called." Then he stepped between the doctor and the dragon, concentrated and tried to think his words at the dragon. //We're the Power Rangers.// He felt a strange peace come over him. His vision became blurry, as the dragon suddenly seemed to be outlined in flames. Looking, back he saw that Rocky too had a similar outline as did himself. Only the doctor was different, shining instead with a pulsing inner light that somehow felt far older than even this dragon.
//How is it that you have left your bodies for these fragile shells?//
"Gentlemen, would you mind telling me what's going on here?" Doctor Storm asked.
"It's the phyre treatments Doc," Rocky told him. They let us talk to the dragons.
"Mr. DeSantos, I think maybe you're a little over tired," The doctor looked at him incredulously.
"If that's the case, then so am I," Adam told the physician. "Because I just heard that thing speak in my head."
//My NAME is TEELO ICEWING// the dragon told them, //And I AM NOT a THING!//
"Uh oh, I think you made him mad," Rocky said with amusement in his voice.
//Who are you?// the dragon asked. //What are you? You are not of the people.//
Adam looked up at the confused countenance of the dragon, carefully concentrated his thoughts, and tried to will them through the phyre that was surrounding his body. //We're native to this planet. We are human.//
//How extraordinary!// the dragon said. //You are not of dragonkind, but you have phyre. We have encountered no other intelligent species in the galaxy, and now we find one on the Spawnworld .// The dragon's voice suddenly became excited, //I must tell the Elders of this!// The great creature reared back its head as if to fly off.
//"Wait!"// Adam called out with his mind and his voice.
Teelo stopped and looked down at him, //What?//
Adam forced his thoughts through the phyre field surrounding him, //Why are you here? Do you realize the damage you're causing? //
That seemed to stop the dragon. He turned and looked at the three men. Lowering his body until was lying flat on the ground, his head only inches above the rocky terrain, Teelo said,// What kind of damage?//
//Thousands have died. Two continents have been burnt back into the stone age.//
//Stone age? What is a stone age?//
//You have destroyed the cities. The infrastructure and technology that allows us to maintain a certain level of survival has been wiped out. Millions have died,// Adam told him.
//What is technology?// The dragon asked him.
//Tools, devices, that we use to do work and make our lives possible.// Rocky interjected.
//Tools? All you need is the phyre.// Teelo dismissed the concept.
//We are new to this power,// Adam told him. // Not all of us have it, yet.//
The dragon looked at him confused and said, //This is an interesting development. But, differences in our sizes make this difficult to study.// The dragon dropped its head and looked closely at Adam. He got the feeling that Teelo was studying him down to a cellular level. He then moved over to Ben, and finally Rocky. Finally, he raised his great head and seemed to study the sky. //I think I understand.//
Suddenly in a shimmer of energy the great dragon shrank down, its form slowly shifting: wings contracting, horns pulled in, forelimbs changed shape, scaled disappeared, until a human male was standing in front of the three men. He had ice blond hair and piercing blue eyes, with a Ranger's build. His skin was light complexioned- almost bordering on pale- smooth and unblemished. Adam could almost see his blood pulsing through his veins. He wasn't handsome- Jase was handsome- he wasn't rugged- that was Tommy or Rocky. The only word Adam could find to describe the man was beautiful. He was also totally nude, and for some reason Adam felt the heat rise in his face at the sight of him.
"That was some trick," Rocky said.
The man just smiled, and then spoke. The look on his face, reflecting his awe at the sound, "It just came to me." He held out his hands, turning them over and over and said, "What fragile forms these are." Then flexing the thumb he smiled, "and useful."
Rocky looked over the Doctor and said, "Doc, give him your lab coat."
The doctor seemed a little flustered, "Uh, what?" Then as if realizing what he'd been asked he added, "Oh sure." The older man removed his coat and handed over to the blond.
As Teelo pulled the coat on and buttoned it up, another voice came from behind them, "That's the best thing I've seen in several years that's not either gay or married, and you three yahoos go and cover it up!" Ms. Storm's voice came from behind them. "Ben, I'm going to get you for this."
Turning, the three men saw Tommy, Kat, Kimberly, and Aisha coming up behind them. All three had chagrinned looks on their faces. "We can't leave you guys alone for one minute without you going making first contact, can we?" Tommy joked at them.
Rocky looked around, "Well, since there's no sign of our fearless leader, we figured we had to do something to pass the time."
Teelo looked at them, and smiled, "There are more of you?" He seemed to stare at each one until he said, "All possess the phyre, but with most of you there is something else mixed in. I do not understand." He shook his head, "But you say that we've damaged your population?"
"Yes, you've burned down whole cities. Millions have died," Tommy said. Then remembering Asia, he said, "Actually billions, but we brought part of that on ourselves."
Teelo nodded, "you are the one's responsible for breaking hydrogen bonds over the western continent?"
Tommy shook his head, "Not us personally, but the political groups from those countries did."
"And you did this without the use of phyre? You did it with technology- tools?" The dragon seemed confused with the concept of tools. "How is it that you appeared as the people earlier?"
Adam looked at the others, who were trying to determine what he meant. For long moments they all stood there confused until Ms. Storm suddenly said, "The Zords. They thought the Dragonzords were real dragons."
"But they were only metal shells, and vehicles," Kat said. I mean, yeah they may look like a real dragon on VERY dark night and far away, but they still look like 'Zords."
Mic said, "Not if all you're reading the energy signatures of their pilots."
"You mean, the dragons thought we were one of them because of the phyre treatments?" Tommy asked.
"Right," Mic said. "They see the phyre not the technology. THEN they look at the form."
"Makes sense," Rocky said, "In a Billy sort of way."
"So everybody's phyre identifies them as one of them."
Teelo nodded, at the woman. "But we do see the form. Color is important. Size is important."
"How so?" Kim asked.
Teelo smiled, "Color indicates age and power. Size, indicates gender."
"So I take it from what we've seen, that males are smaller than females," Kat said.
Teelo nodded, "Sometimes when there's more than one male involved in a mating flight, the female's size protects her from the fights that break out among the males."
Tommy put his hands on his hips, "Okay, then why did the other dragons keep treating me like a child?"
Teelo smiled, "Because of your color. I take it you are the large white hatchling?"
Tommy nodded and added defensively, "I pilot the white Dragonzord."
"Yeah, he's the large hatchling," Rocky said trying unsuccessfully to suppress a giggle.
Teelo gave them a confused look, "I don't understand."
Mic smiled at him, "Come on, I'll show you." She reached out and put an arm through his. "You see, the Dragonzords are vehicles we use to get around and protect the Earth. Or at least the Rangers do." She smiled over at Kat and Kim, "Somebody had better go get Jase and Bill." She seemed to look away for a second and then quickly added, "They're both in Bill's quarters. Just knock, don't go in."
"Mic." Kim warned, "What are you up to?"
The young technician smiled back, "Me, I'm as innocent as a newborn babe." She giggled, "But let's just say our fearless leader and resident genius aren't quite as innocent as they were when the left."
