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 Nine: the Challenge of Our Rival
Kira Ford wandered upstairs from the lab. The tests with the 'powers' of the new Dino-Gems were still going on. And she was fairly certain that Doctor O wanted Billy, Adam and Kimberly to master the powers before the night was over. Not seeing any reason for her continued presence, she had decided to come upstairs and see if there was a cup of tea or soda available. The living room was empty, but she could hear muffled male voices coming from the back porch. That was another reason to finish these tests. The three guys who had been staying in Tommy's living room probably wanted to get to bed when it was still a decent hour.
The light was on in the kitchen. She froze in the doorway. Ashley, Andros' wife and the one she was pretty sure had been the Yellow Space Ranger, was pouring hot water into a mug with a tea bag. Ashley looked up at her presence.
"I'm-I'm sorry," Kira stammered. "I didn't know anyone was in here."
"No, it's all right," Ashley replied with an easy smile. "Did you want something?"
"I was just looking for something to drink."
"Do you want some tea?"
Kira nodded, not saying anything. She felt guilty watching Ashley get another mug and pour hot water over the tea bag. That woman should not be allowed to do anything in her condition. She looked like she could have the baby on the spot. Ashley motioned for her to sit at the table and she sank into a chair. Ashley put the cups of tea on the table in front of them and sat down heavily.
"Now, you're Kira, aren't you?" Ashley asked.
She nodded again. "And you're Ashley, the Yellow Space Ranger."
Ashley smiled. "And Turbo Ranger." She paused. "That seems like such a long time ago."
"Why are you up? I mean shouldn't you be resting or something?"
The former Yellow Ranger laughed at the confusion written all over her face. "This happened to me when I had Brian. I couldn't sleep well about two days before he was born. I don't see any reason for this to be different."
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"I don't know. I didn't want to know." Ashley paused. "Although I think, somewhere deep down, I want it to be a girl. I mean I already have a boy."
Kira smiled. However, none of that was what she really wanted to know. Why had Ashley come along on a mission that could get potentially dangerous when she was about to have a baby? It didn't make any sense. Ashley obviously could see the question written all over Kira's face from her next words.
"I came here because I want Andros to be present when his child is born."
"But aren't you guys from Angel Grove? It's not that far to drive. I'm sure if he speeded on the freeway or something he'd have made it in plenty of time."
Ashley shook her head. "It's not that simple. He would do that if the mission was leisurely enough. However, for everyone here, being a ranger comes before everything else, including your wife having a baby." She paused. "I know how he feels because I was a ranger too. I came because if I'm present, he will be reminded that some things can be elevated to the level of being a ranger."
"Sounds like you have a rough marriage."
She laughed. "Normally not. There's normally not ranger missions involved in our marriage. It's normally much more boring that this." She paused. "But how many chances do you have to be involved in helping create new rangers?"
Kira smiled. "Obviously not many." It was her turn to pause. "I just wish that we had been consulted before Doctor O activated that distress signal."
Ashley shrugged. "Don't be angry with him about that. It was what he thought was best for the team. And he's also much older than you guys. He probably forgets what it's like to be in high school and still feel relatively powerless."
"It still wasn't cool of him."
"No, it wasn't," Ashley agreed. "But is it worth carrying a grudge over? Is it worth potentially tearing the team apart over?"
Kira shook her head. "No, it's not."
"Will it matter ten years from now?"
"It seems like it will."
"It does sometimes."
Kira picked up the mug. She could see what Ashley was saying and their anger really was pointless in the long run. She smiled at the former Yellow Ranger. "Thanks."
Ashley returned the smile. "Any time. Us Yellow Rangers need to stick together."
She grinned and headed back for the lab.
"Dino Thunder, power up!"
Tommy shielded his eyes with his hand as blasts of green, pink and orange light lit up the room and faded as quickly as they had come. Well, the morphers worked if nothing else. He glanced at his watch. It was nearing midnight. And he was beginning to feel the late hour. All the other red rangers (and Ashley) had turned in for the night or gone back to the hotel. He had called Hayley, Conner, Ethan, Kira and Trent to the lab so they could run the tests on the new rangers and basically be around for something that affected them directly.
However, no one was alert. Conner was sleeping on the control panel. Ethan was supposed to be monitoring secondary systems with his laptop, but his head kept drooping and his eyes kept closing. Kira was sitting on the steps, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Trent was staring off into space at a point beyond the new rangers. Tommy couldn't really pick up on anyone's reactions to this because they were all asleep. He knew it was a bad idea to call them all here at ten o'clock on a school night.
He looked at the newly morphed Pink, Orange and Green Dino Thunder Rangers. Billy's outfit was like his, but green where his was black. Adam's resembled Conner and Ethan's suits only orange where theirs would have been red or blue. Kimberly was looking very similar to the ranger she had been back in the day—her outfit was like Kira's but pink rather than yellow.
They had tested the 'powers' earlier. Billy's original predictions over what powers the gems would have had been correct. However, it would be some time before the powers were honed into something usable in a battle. He shook his head to clear it. This was starting to become a bad episode of X-men. He remembered being forced to watch that show with Adam back in high school and he kept on thinking that the divisions between the X-men—the good guys!—were ridiculous. They all needed to learn to work together. However, that situation was quickly becoming a reality among the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. He hadn't imagined that things would become this complicated. And the bad thing was that there didn't seem to be any quibbling among Mesogog's ranks. Oh, to be an evil overlord that no one dares contradict…
Billy popped his helmet off. "You know, I just thought of something. There is no teleportation grid in this system."
"So?" Tommy asked, failing to see the point.
"Well, how do you guys get to a battle or a monster?"
"Walk," Conner yawned. "Or ride the Raptor-Riders or raptor-cycles."
"That is completely inefficient," Billy muttered. "I'll work on putting a teleportation grid into the system so that we can teleport directly to what's going on."
"That would require a coordinates system," Hayley replied.
"Don't you have one of those?" Billy asked. "I mean you can track the monsters and the raptor-cycles and zords, can't you?"
Hayley glared him.
"It would just take a bit of reprogramming, but it could be in place in as much as a few days."
Trust Billy to be the only one awake when everyone else was dead on their feet. Tommy would gladly have joined the slumbering people upstairs, but there were still a few more tests to run. He sighed. It was going to be a very long night.
The warning chimes beeped in the lab. Hayley swung into action, bringing up the various surveillance screens. A monster could be seen attacking downtown Reefside. The change in the room was instantaneous. Where previously everyone had been sleepy and lethargic, everyone was alert and energy was running through the room. But the monster wasn't all… Mesogog himself was watching the monster attack. Tommy wondered at this. Normally, Mesogog just let his minions do his dirty work. Maybe he got tired of them botching everything. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach… and then the leader in him kicked in.
"Conner, Ethan, Kira, Trent… stop the monster!"
The four teens nodded. "Dino Thunder power up! Ha!" They appeared morphed.
"We can take Conner and Ethan's raptor-cycles to the monster," Kira said quickly. "You guys can use mine and Trent's."
Trent started to protest, but Kira slapped his arm and he was silent. The four teens went over to the red and blue raptor-cycles with Kira riding behind Conner and Trent riding behind Ethan. It was the complicated way to do things, but Tommy supposed that it would work. They were completely forgetting that he had a raptor-cycle and a Raptor-Rider, but he supposed that it showed team work. Billy really needed to get started on that teleportation system.
Tommy turned to Kimberly, Adam and Billy. "You guys come with me to see what Mesogog wants this time."
They nodded. Once more, the room rang with the cry of "Dino Thunder power up!" And they all appeared fully morphed. Hayley sat down at the control panel and punched a few keys.
"Brachio is on his way with their zords," she told them.
He nodded and they climbed onto the yellow and white raptor-cycles to get to Mesogog. He should not have been surprised that Kimberly was riding behind him and Adam was behind Billy. It was just another signal that they had to have another talk very soon. He revved the yellow raptor-cycle's engine and they were off into the night. The cool night air whipped through their uniforms, creating a pleasant sensation. All too soon the ride was over and the four of them were standing in front of Mesogog. The half-human, half-reptile was standing with his back to them, hands loosely clasped at the small of his back.
"I wondered when you would arrive, Doctor Oliver." The reptile-man looked at a pocket watch. "I had expected you fifteen minutes sooner."
"Ew, gross," he heard Kimberly mutter. He grimaced inside his helmet. That had been her reaction to many a monster when they had been rangers in high school. He thought back to Cole's description of what she might be doing. It almost seemed apt.
"That's Mesogog?" Adam whispered, half as a question and half as an astounded statement.
Mesogog turned around slowly and appraised them. "So these are your new rangers?" He shook his head. "I would have expected better of you. At least the other brats are young. You let washed-up, former rangers become rangers once again. You must be becoming senile."
Tommy felt anger boil in his blood. Billy, Adam and Kimberly were just as capable of becoming rangers once more as he was, maybe even more so. "No, Mesogog," he said slowly and evenly. "They have experience."
"You are a fool. But I have an option for you. Give me the gem that you have not used for a ranger. I may spare your friends when I create my dream world."
"I don't have the other gem," he lied, knowing exactly what Mesogog was talking about. He wanted the purple gem and Tommy would be damned if he was going to give it to him.
"Oh, but you do. And you know who will hold it, even if that person is not a ranger."
Tommy's muscles tensed. This time he had no idea what Mesogog was talking about. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you?" Mesogog slowly walked towards them. Immediately, all four of them were in a defensive stance. The reptile-man laughed. "You four think you are a match for me? You are all fools." He looked directly at Tommy. "Your friends share your lack of intelligence. They are on the losing side of this war."
"At least we've chosen a side!" Adam replied with anger in his voice. Tommy felt surprise run through his body, but masked it and kept his gaze on Mesogog. He had not expected any of them to speak up on their first encounter with the 'bad guy.'
"Ah!" Mesogog said in a mocking tone. "The patriot to the end. You will soon find that your efforts are worthless." He paused and turned back to Tommy. "I will give you one last chance to give me that gem. If you don't, I have other means of getting it and whoever holds it—ranger or no—that person will pay… with their life!" He gave again and it chilled Tommy to his very bones. "Once I have that gem, your resistance will be meaningless." Tommy hated to tell him that no one owned the gem yet, but that seemed a little fruitless.
Tommy knew that Mesogog was bluffing in order to get them to give something away. He did know where that gem was. They had already found it. And even if they hadn't, on a deeper level all the Dino-Gems were connected and heated in the presence of each other. He didn't fear that Mesogog would get the gem out of the vault—he feared what Mesogog would do to Reefside before they gave in and gave him the gem.
Mesogog cracked a demonic smile. "I know what you are thinking—you have the gem and I cannot get it. And you are right. I am counting on you leading me to the person who will own it and I will destroy them!" He laughed that evil laughter of his. "And I know you will. You are a fool!"
The reptile-man pulled a sword out of his belt. Tommy turned his head slightly to Billy, Kimberly and Adam. "Call out your weapons! They're in your belts!" The belt buckles on the three of them glowed briefly and the weapons appeared. Adam had a quiver strapped onto his back full of arrows and a bow in his hands. Kimberly had an ax, but it had a smaller, more streamlined head for a more graceful and feminine look. And Billy had… a pair of Dragon Daggers? One dagger looked like Dragon Dagger Tommy had used as the original green ranger. The other was exactly the same, but not a flute… Billy was staring at it. Tommy pulled out his Brachio-Staff. There was no time to contemplate it.
Mesogog charged at them with the sword. Tommy ducked the initial blow and managed to strike him between his shoulders. The reptile-man screeched in pain and succeeded in knocking Kimberly and Adam to the side. Adam pulled out an arrow and fitted it on the bow. The shot was low and got Mesogog in the leg. He screamed in rage and advanced on the only person in his line of sight—Kimberly.
She screamed and backed away. Billy had ducked off to the side during his first advance and Tommy met his gaze. The Black Ranger advanced on Mesogog with the Brachio-Staff, but found it was unnecessary. The Green Ranger was holding out his hand, having tucked one of the daggers in his belt. Mesogog's sword flew out of his hand and into Billy's. Tommy could have kicked himself for forgetting their powers—Billy was now telekinetic.
Mesogog roared in rage and then disappeared through an invisi-portal.
Billy had dropped the sword and pulled the dagger out of his belt, looking at the identical pair of daggers.
"The Dragon-Zord?" Tommy asked softly.
"I don't know," Billy replied.
"That is way too weird," Kimberly interjected.
"If it is, can we call him closer than Angel Grove?" Adam asked.
Tommy smiled inside his helmet. An explosion in the background indicated that the kids had defeated whatever the monster was. "We'll have to find out tomorrow." Whatever exhaustion he had felt before the encounter with Mesogog had come back, tenfold. It was past his bed time and he knew it. They climbed back onto the yellow and white raptor-cycles and soon enough were in his lab. Everyone said their goodnights and left, until Tommy was standing alone in the lab.
He suddenly felt some fatherly instinct to make sure that everyone in his house was all right and that no one had woken up to all the noise from the lab. He headed up the stairs and quietly looked into the living room. Cole was wrapped up entirely in his blankets on the air mattress, the only part of him visible was the top of his head. Eric was sprawled over his half of the sleeper sofa, his blankets awkwardly around his middle. TJ was the only one who looked comfortable, lying on his side with his blankets drawn to his chest.
He padded up the stairs and cracked the door to the guest room. Ashley was lying on her side with her back against Andros' chest, his arm over her stomach. Tommy felt a slight pang in his heart. How many times had he wished that he could have a situation similar to that? But he had no one.
Shutting the door, he went into his own room, amazed that none of them had woken up. He stripped and collapsed into bed, falling asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow.
Mesogog's wrath was immense. The monster had failed to suppress the rangers like Mesogog had hoped. In fact, he had expected all of the rangers—however many there were now—to battle the monster. Instead, half of them went to him and the other half went to the monster and they still defeated that monster with only half the rangers. Elsa shuddered. Obviously, this strategy was not working and they needed to come up with something else.
Their monsters were ineffective. They had to do something that would directly prevent the rangers from fighting. But what? Kidnap family members? Attack them in the middle of the night and steal their morphers? Sabotage the zords? She didn't know. All of those attempts seemed like they would prove fruitless in the long-run. They needed something that would prevent the rangers from defending themselves now. And it had to be something that the former rangers wouldn't foresee and be able to help with.
"How do you hunt a bear?"
Elsa swung around to see Mesogog standing in the doorway of the room. She stared at him, not understanding the implications of his question. He shook his head.
"Such a feeble mind. Tell me, how do you hunt a bear?"
She shook her head. "Go after it with a gun?" she suggested. What did a bear hunt have to do with destroying the Power Rangers? She thought they were attacking humans and not large game.
Mesogog nodded slowly. "In the summer. How would you hunt it in the winter?"
She stared at him. He growled.
"Bears hibernate in the winter."
Elsa felt more and more confused. If a bear slept all winter… "Go into its cave and attack it there?"
Mesogog hissed in approval. "Quite right." He stepped into the room and walked over to the controls near the Geno-Randomizer.
"Forgive me, my Lord, but what does that have to do with Doctor Oliver and his power pukes?"
The reptile-man turned to face her. "What indeed? Tell me Elsa, what do you think a bear hunt has to do with them?"
She was silent. Going into Doctor Oliver's lab could be potentially dangerous. There was no telling what kind of security would be there or who they would run into for that matter. However, if they succeeded in getting into the lab and neutralizing all the security, they could easily get the purple gem or sabotage the zords or something…
"So what do they use to defeat our monster ultimately?" Mesogog asked.
"The biozords."
"So, if we hit them where it would hurt the most, that would be…?"
"The biozords?" She paused. "But we can't just go into the lab and put a virus on the zords. Who knows what will be down there? It could hurt our plan even more!"
"Beautifully spoken, Elsa," Mesogog said.
"But my Lord, the lab…"
Mesogog turned to her. "Then we had better wait for the opportune time!"To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Wow! I was absolutely staggered by the number of reviews for the last chapter! Thank you so much for all your kind words and support! It means a lot to me. Also, because so many of you answered my questions, I'll thank everyone collectively! (There's only so much I can glean from episode summaries and whatnot.) THANK YOU! Now onto my favorite part of the show- reviewer responses:
Charles RocketBoy- I'm kind of tired of the predictable pairing of Kim with Tommy myself. Thought it was time for a change on that front. And I see your point about the cheap coincidence. My thought was that the gems feel their owners draw near and, in a sense, call them to them. Does that make any sense? But what you're saying does make sense. Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad someone notices the little details!
cmar- Red rangers getting drunk together... I'm with Wes, that is a frightening prospect. They all may get drunk later on-- I haven't decided yet. Wes' issues with Jen come in later, but that was my main reasoning for his reaction. He also is pretty close to Tommy and understands the situation a bit better than even Kim or Tommy may. But thanks for your kind words and for informing me of Rovang's Writer's Database. That thing is amazing. Everything I ever wanted to know and more. Thank you so much!
Felicia Angel- Yes, Billy is back as a ranger. (He's one of my favorite characters!) I'm definitely going to continue so no worries there!
Funky In Fishnet- Kim's intro was one of those things I thought of at, well, Starbucks (the bane of my existence. We can all see where Wes gets it from.) I'm glad you liked it. Chance meetings at coffee houses are always fun. I'm glad you like the story!
jim hawking jr- Thanks for answering my question! It's so hard to keep up with who's teamed up with who... shakes head But thanks for your review!
kakwat- Thanks for your insight! I'm not entirely sure what it means either... one of those little things that eludes you! lol Thanks for you review!
KimberFlames- I'm glad you're intrigued with the twist in Kim's personality. I'm trying to spice up the Tommy-Kim aspect of things with stuff that isn't predictable. Clones aren't going to come into this, but it is an interesting thought. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
PhantomZeo- Although it would be nice to see one of the former red rangers get the purple gem, I'm not entirely sure any of them would be thrilled with the idea of a purple uniform. (It might impugn on their masculinity.) lol But thank you for your kind words! I actually am kind of glad that there was no WF/NS team up-- would make it hard to avoid more characters I am not familiar with. But once more, thank you for reviewing!
Pinkie- I'm glad you appreciate the twist in Kim's character. I am trying to be different on that front. (I'm not entirely sure if I'm succeeding, but I'm trying. lol) Thanks for your review and kind words!
rembrandt- I'm glad you like the story. It is kind of fun to see all the 'old favorites' so to speak, come back! :)
sayinjinj7- Thanks for your kind words! I'm trying to write as quickly as I can!
Sean- The story hasn't ended! Why would you think that? I'm definitely writing more, so stay tuned.
SilverRider- Give Jason a gem? The bum who sits on the beach and crushes beer cans on his forehead? Surely you jest! lol Jason isn't going to get a gem, mostly because he still can use his powers (unlike Adam, Billy and Kimberly who aren't aware that they can still tap into their Mighty Morphin' powers.) It's not that I don't like Jason. :) But thanks for you kind words!
the-power-of-love- Thanks for your kind words! I'm glad you like the story!
white time ranger- shakes head How many times have I said that patience is a virtue? lol Thanks for your kind words. And I'm really glad that the suspense is actually working. lol Keep on reviewing!