Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' (all incarnations) are property of 'Saban', who are in some strange way related to Disney, who run the show on ABC. No infringement is intended.
ROARING ON THE WIND
By Etcetera Kit
Chapter Seven: Trying Too Hard
Elsa looked at the readings. It was hard to surmise much from them, but she would normally have said that the sporadic flashes of concentrated energy were coming from Dino-Gems. Now, she could not be sure of anything. The readings were coming from the woods and it was quite possible that Oliver and his power brats already knew about the readings. Then again, it could be a mere computer malfunction that was confused. Lord Mesogog had not said anything about the existence of Dino-Gems outside the five that already existed and had owners… and were unfortunately under the control of Doctor Oliver.
Her other problem also pertained to the readings. She was picking up readings of ten people who had been Power Rangers, but were not currently using their powers. They did not use Dino-Gems for their powers at any rate. At least three of them still had their morphers with them and the others might, it was hard to say from the readings. That was just great. Somehow Oliver had expanded his numbers from five to fifteen in the span of twenty-four hours.
She sighed. Lord Mesogog was not going to be happy about any of this. He had already lost Zeltrax and Trent to Oliver. She was the best help he had left. The Tyranno-drones were no help in planning and strategy. They were good for brute force, but could not win a battle unless they severely outnumbered the opponent. She needed to find out what those strange readings really were. She also needed to find out how many of the former rangers still had the ability to morph so she could better prepare for upcoming battles.
"The gems are moving."
Startled at the low hiss, she turned around to see Mesogog coming into the room. "What, my Lord?" she asked, wishing she could avoid eye contact with him but knowing she would be punished for not meeting his gaze.
"The gems are moving," the reptile-man repeated, a slight edge of irritation creeping into his voice. She fought the urge to shudder. "There are other gems," he continued. "And they are moving."
"How-how can you be sure?" she stammered. This was incredible. Why had he not mentioned the other gems before?
"They have been in hiding," Mesogog replied. "Their owners are drawing nearer. We must find those gems before the owners do."
"But how? If they are still in hiding-"
"Silence," he replied in a menacing tone. "You will follow Oliver and his disciples. Stay away at a distance and do not let them know you are following them. They will lead you to those gems. Once they find the gems, bring them to me." He paused. "You may have to use your disguise."
Elsa smiled knowingly. Her alter ego as Principal Randall would throw those ex-rangers for a loop. They didn't know who to trust and who not to. Oliver had probably not told them about his boss from work. They wouldn't recognize her.
"Once we have those gems," Mesogog was saying. "We will have enough power to destroy the Power Rangers and my dream will reign on this earth!" He glanced at her. "Go!" he hissed. She turned and hurried from the room.
"Hand me a wrench, will you Andros?"
Andros looked down at the tools beside him and picked up one of the wrenches, passing it upward to TJ. The Turbo ranger was on the scaffolding right above him, working on one of the arms of the Tyranno-Zord. He was trying to rewire one of the sections of the zord that had taken a hit during the last battle. TJ was double-checking bolts and joints, making sure that they were loose enough for the limb to move effectively, but not so loose that the limb fell off. He glanced over to Carter and Eric, who were working on welding pieces of the Stego-Zord back on. The zord's back had taken a beating and some of fins had come loose and some had just fallen off completely.
In all his time as a Ranger, Andros had never seen zords take this kind of beating and still be able to function. He supposed that they were different from almost all the zords that had preceded them, with perhaps the exception of the Galacta-Beasts. The zords that the Galaxy Ranger had used were much more animal like and less like robots than all the previous zords. Tommy had said that these were even more different from that. These were technically called 'biozords' and the inventors had used dinosaur DNA for the neural functions. All the zords had been shut down for the repairs, but it seemed to Andros that they would have much more personality than the previous zords.
Billy and Hayley were at the control panel and Hayley did not look happy. Andros got the feeling that Billy was actually her superior when it came to the programs involved in a Power Grid, but she was never going to admit that. Right now, they were arguing about whether or not Hayley had gotten Billy's help with her undergraduate work.
"You were always asking me for help," Billy was muttering as he looked at technical schematics of the zords.
"I was not," Hayley replied through clenched teeth.
"Who was the one who called me when her computer died, hmmm?"
Hayley's cheeks turned pink. Above him, TJ laughed. "You would think they're married," he said in an undertone as he pulled a can of WD-40 out of his pocket to oil the joints.
Andros snorted. "I'm married. I don't think married people argue about stuff quite that ridiculous."
"Just because you and Ashley don't argue about stupid things doesn't make it a generalization for all married people," Carter called. He and Eric were surveying their handy work from the latest fin they had repaired.
"And what do you and Dana argue about?" TJ asked, handing the wrench back down to Andros and asking for a screwdriver.
Andros passed the screwdriver up. "Bread twist ties," Carter replied seriously.
Eric laughed. "Let me guess, you don't think they're necessary and she thinks that all bread will go bad if there isn't one there."
"She's not quite that dramatic, but that's the gist of it."
They all laughed and Carter and Eric went back to welding. TJ swung down from the scaffolding so that he was next to Andros. "I think Hayley just feels like someone is invading her turf, so she's trying to look good and failing."
"Do you blame her?" Andros replied as he finished the wiring and double-checked his work. He picked up the metal panel to screw back into place.
"Not really," TJ agreed. "I'd probably feel the same way if I was her." He held the panel in place while Andros was working on the screws.
"Although I do think Billy knows his way around a Power Grid slightly better."
"He was either a ranger or helping with the team all the way through the Zeo powers," TJ said. "If he didn't, then we might have a reason to worry about him."
Andros nodded. Billy had not been there for a lot of their initial repairs. He had to go to work and try to teach his classes something. He had shown up shortly after three. All of the former red rangers had either taken vacation from work or feigned extended illness. In Andros case, he had just used all the vacation days he had saved up. Some of them had their own businesses with partners or underlings who could handle the place until they got back. And some of them had jobs that let them design their own work schedule, so it was easy to just take off.
They were almost done with the repairs. If they worked through tonight, they would have all of it finished. Even if they stopped at dinner time, the rest of the repairs were superfluous and the zords would run well if they couldn't complete them. The rest of the repairs could be done in the morning with little to no trouble. There was some welding left to do and the rest of the joints had to be checked, but it was going well.
He finished screwing the panel back on. TJ folded all the tools they had up in the towel they had been lying on and scrambled down the scaffolding to the ground. Andros followed him and was surprised to find Ashley standing there looking up at the zords.
"Ash? What are you doing in here?"
She gave him a withering glance. "Watching you guys work." She sighed. "I feel so worthless. No one wants me to do anything."
He gently laid his hands on her shoulders. "Everyone wants you to take it easy. We're," he caught himself. "I'm worried about you."
"Andros, I was fine when I had Brian."
"And I worried then. Why should this be any different?"
She smiled. "You're an overprotective watchdog."
He returned the smile. "I know."
Tommy stared at the sign someone had taped on his front door. It read Cole's Bed and Breakfast. He rolled his eyes at it, wondering which smartass had put that on the door thinking they were funny. It was a jibe at the fact that Cole had been cooking breakfast every morning. In slight retaliation of the jabs he endured for it, Cole was letting the rest of them take turn cooking the rest of the meals. Tommy didn't blame him. He wouldn't want to be the official cook for this bunch of wild savages.
He was sitting in a lawn chair on his front porch. The chair had been positioned at the head of the picnic table. Conner, Ethan, Kira and Trent were sitting at the picnic table. Hayley was noticeably absent because she was down in the lab trying to prevent Billy from redoing all the systems she had spent so much time designing. He didn't want to get into the middle of that argument. Hayley could get vicious and Billy was good at ignoring her, which made her even angrier when she was itching for a fight.
The only person Tommy could think of who was guaranteed to give her a fight if she wanted one was Eric and last time he had checked, Eric was behind a torch. Not a good person to pick a fight with.
"So what's going on, Doctor O?" Kira asked, bringing him out of his reverie.
He shook his head to clear it. He had called them all here to talk about what was going on. "The zords are almost completely repaired."
"That's good," Ethan said.
"And the search for the Dino-Gems is going on as we speak. I'm not sure if they'll find anything though."
"We could have looked for the gems," Conner muttered.
Tommy sighed. He should have expected this. He could see the betrayal written all over Conner's face. They would want to know why he had brought all these outside people in, when they could have done the repairs and searched for the gems themselves.
"I know you guys think that I shouldn't have brought all these people here."
"You can say that again," Kira said under her breath.
"But this would have taken us much longer had we not had the help."
"We should have done it that way then!" Conner said in an impassioned voice. "We don't need all this help! We don't know these people!"
"I know these people," Tommy countered. "What if Mesogog attacked and the zords were in the state they had been in yesterday? What if Mesogog finds out that the gems are trying to come out of hiding?"
"He's probably already looking for the gems if he has a brain," Ethan replied.
"He probably is. And if we have more people then we can find it faster than a bunch of dumb Tyranno-drones."
"I still don't understand," Trent said. Tommy noticed that he had been silent throughout the first part of the exchange, trying to absorb everything. "Are you hoping that the other gems will bond with some of these people?"
"I hadn't thought about that," he replied. "I cannot control who the gems choose. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it would be good if the gems bonded with one of them." He paused. "Look, I know you don't fully understand this. I've told you my reasoning. We needed the extra manpower. You can be angry with me for not consulting you about it. I'd understand that."
The look on their faces confirmed that that had been the toughest part for them—why had they not been informed before the former red rangers showed up? He and Hayley had discussed it and decided, but had left the rest of the team out. He had not even thought of that until recently.
"I apologize for not consulting you guys," he said softly. "We're all a part of the same team and it was wrong of me not to include you."
"It's hard to go from being a teacher to a part of a team?" Conner asked with a note of disgust in his voice.
Tommy nodded mutely.
Conner stood up. "We've go to go."
He watched as the four teens walked to Conner's car and drove off. God, he felt like such an idiot now. Why hadn't they lambasted him when they first saw all the people here? He supposed that it took some time to dawn on them what had really happened. He sincerely hoped that he had not just caused an irreparable rift in their team. Feeling worse and worse about what he had ultimately done to the team, he went back into the house.
The ranks who had been searching for the gems had come back empty-handed. Leo walked out onto the back porch and sat on the steps. Everything was so noisy in the house—there were too many people. He was used to being able to take a walk on the beach or just sit someplace in his house and be alone with his thoughts. That luxury was not afforded to anyone in this situation. He could recall many times when he would disappear into one of the forests on Terra Venture, just so he could think. Once he had shut the back door behind him and the noise of the house had disappeared behind it, he knew this is what he needed. The twilight air was cool and the crickets sang in the distance.
It was frustrating. The readings they had received from the gems were strong enough to follow them with a scanner, yet when they had supposedly been standing right on top of them, they couldn't find them. It made him nervous to think that something inanimate like a rock would have the kind of capability to hide from someone. And move… it made him glad that the Quasar Sabers had just been stuck in a rock… not rocks that moved around did weird things.
'All we want to do is find these rocks and protect them,' he thought. 'No one looking for them wants their powers to be rangers. We all had our share of that a long time ago.'
He sighed. There was still a sufficient amount of light if he wanted to take a walk or something. That would probably be the best thing for him—get away from all the madness that seemed to reign whenever the nine of them were in the same general place. He stood up, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket and taking off through the trees.
The forest was actually really beautiful this time of night. The last rays of sun glowed through the trees casting a golden glow on the foliage. He could see why Tommy liked living out here. It was much the same reason that he lived on the beach—falling in love with the scenery and serenity that it offered. He always felt better after a walk on the beach. Well, there was no beach here and the forest would just have to do.
He thought briefly of Kendrix. He needed to call her when he got back to the house and he would probably be staying on the back porch to do it. There was not much privacy here or anywhere. At the hotel, he and Carter shared a room while Jason and Wes were in the adjoining room. The door that connected the two rooms was always open. There were five people in addition to Tommy staying at the former Zeo Ranger's house. That didn't include the various drop-ins from Hayley, Billy or any of the Dino Thunder Rangers. The Dino Thunder Rangers… he got the distinct feeling from the limited interaction that he had had with them that they didn't appreciate the former red rangers' presence. In fact, they seemed to downright resent it. Hayley had been grumpy because Billy was rewiring and reprogramming her systems for greater efficiency. He shook his head. He hadn't imagined such a territory war would break out.
It was also something he didn't understand. When the Space Rangers had come without an invitation to help them out, he had been relieved and grateful. He didn't understand why they were so hostile. Tommy said it was because they hadn't been consulted. If that held true, then he should have been angry with Alpha when she sent out the distress signal to the Space Rangers, because she hadn't consulted them. Of course, he had been older when becoming a ranger. He wasn't still in high school. He supposed that if he were still in high school, he might feel that way, however unlikely.
He stopped. This was the place that the scanner had said the gems were, but they hadn't found anything. There was something different here. It was like a warm, pulsing energy was running through the place. The wind picked up in a sudden gust and howled… no. It wasn't howling. It was roaring, roaring with rage, with indignation, with pain… He shivered. He had better get back. The atmosphere was getting creepy out here.
A blast of light from the ground nearly threw him backwards. There was a glowing from the ground—a mix of orange, pink, purple and green light. His heart began to race. They had searched all afternoon for the gems. These couldn't be the gems now. Hands and legs shaking, he went over to the light and cleared away the top layer of leaves.
Nestled just underneath the leaves were four rocks—orange, pink, purple and green. They matched the description Tommy had given them of the gems. He picked them up and put them in his pocket. He had to get back to the house now.
Turning around, he was blinded by a bright green light.
He blinked and saw a woman standing there. She had short black hair and was dressed like some sort of office professional. Her garb completely clashed with someone who he would normally expect to find in the middle of the woods.
"Where did you come from?" It was a dumb question, but the first that came to mind.
The woman ignored his question. "I am Elsa Randall from the Reefside Geologic Society. Are you aware that you are violating county laws if you remove those stones from their natural setting?"
Leo stared at her. That sounded like a bunch of nonsense to him. "Then write me a ticket," he snapped and tried to walk past her. She grabbed his upper arm with an iron grip that made him wince and stop.
"I'm afraid the consequences are much more severe than a fine. I am afraid that I would have to arrest you if you go any further with those stones."
"Lady, you're not a cop. You can't arrest me."
He twisted his arm out of her grip and started to walk back towards the house. He didn't make it very far, because he received a kick right between the shoulder blades and fell flat on his face, along with having the wind knocked out of him. His thigh landed painfully on the gems and he winced. He was going to feel that tomorrow morning. Leo rolled over and pushed himself back up.
"Look, lady, I don't know what you're problem is."
"Oh, I've already stated my problem." She looked menacing. She aimed a punch at his chest, but he deflected it. Not knowing what else to do, he turned and ran as fast as he could. If he could get back to Tommy's house, he would be all right. He didn't stop to see if the crazy lady was following him or not, he just ran.
It was seconds, it was years before he saw Tommy's back porch with Cole and Tommy sitting on the back steps.
"Leo!" Cole called. "We had wondered where you got off to."
Tommy stared at him. "What happened to you?"
Leo, drawing in deep breaths, turned around and didn't see the slightest sign of the woman. Just like those fanatic environmentalist types, they couldn't complete a fight. "Some insane woman from some geologic society was chasing me," he said simply. "Because I picked up some rocks." He pulled the gems out of his pocket and handed them to Tommy. The man stared at them and then a smile broke out over his face.
"What are they?" Cole asked.
"I think they're the missing Dino-Gems," Leo replied.
Tommy nodded slowly. "They are."To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews guys! I know this fic is getting really full of characters-- let me know if you think someone is getting shoved in the background. However, it should be obvious really soon who is really important to the story and who isn't. Keep all the constructive criticism coming! I also have one humble request-- you guys are welcome to recommend fics to me. I'll do my best to read them and review. lol But once more, thanks! -Etcy (Sorry, no reviewer responses, History of Science test and Poly Sci paper on Thursday!)