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 Fifteen: Worth Fighting For

The first thing Conner was aware of the next morning was the bright sunlight burning straight through his eyelids. He opened his eyes and blinked against the strong, early morning sun. His next thought was of how cold he was. If there was any way of avoiding it, he was not sleeping on the porch tonight. His teeth chattered as he slowly sat up. Doctor O was sitting at the picnic table with a thermos of coffee.

"Morning," Doctor O said with a grin. Conner slowly got out of his sleeping bag, trying to keep his muscles from cramping at the cold. As quickly as he could with his hands shaking, he stuffed his feet into his hiking boots, not bothering to tie them, and scrambled into his parka. He was so cold that his chest and back hurt from shaking so much.

Doctor O offered him the thermos and he took it gratefully, sipping the warm coffee. Some feeling came back into his fingers as he held the thermos. He glanced around the porch and saw that Ethan and Adam were no longer there. Immediately, he felt a slight sense of panic. Had he overslept and not made it to school?

"What time is it?" he asked.

Tommy glanced at his watch. "Just before seven," he replied.

Good. That meant he hadn't missed or been late for school. "Where's…" He trailed off, his teeth chattering too much to speak coherently.

"Ethan's in the shower," came the answer without the whole question. "As soon as he's done, you should do that too." Tommy paused. "And Adam is inside warming up."

Conner took a deep breath and drank some more coffee. "I don't get it," he said once he had his teeth chattering under control. "I was comfortable last night and this morning I'm freezing."

Tommy snorted and looked out over his lawn. Conner felt his heart sink. Who had he been curled up against? He was so used to going camping with his family where everyone could sleep close together for warmth that, when he was asleep, he had probably forgotten that no one on the front porch was related to him.

"Who was I curled up against?" he asked in a resigned voice.

Doctor O smiled slightly. "Me. But I got up before everyone else, so no one saw."

"I guess that's good," Conner replied. His upper body involuntarily shook. "Look's like nothing tried to attack us last night."

"That's not to say they will," Tommy countered.

Conner paused for a moment. "Doctor O, do you want us to go to school today? I mean wouldn't it be easier to get a hold of us if we're here."

The doctor shook his head. "No. I want you guys to try and keep up with normal life. Being a Power Ranger won't do you any good if you fail science."

"Dr. Cranston did not tell you I failed my quiz!"

Tommy just laughed. "He did tell me." He paused. "But when all this is over, I expect you to spend some more time studying."

He frowned. "I think I need tutoring in that class. It was tough enough when you were teaching it, but Dr. Cranston is ten times worse."

"Maybe it's because he's overworked."

"Overwhelmed."

Conner drained the rest of the coffee, as Tommy laughed. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and a flash of green lightening. Tyranno-drones… Conner immediately fell into a defensive stance as Adam burst out the front door, followed closely by Ethan.

"Not these idiots!" Ethan groaned.

"I'm afraid so," Doctor O said dryly.

In unison, the four of them flipped off the porch and began to battle the Tyrrano-drones away from the house. Conner jumped to the left and deflected the first reptile with a kick square to the creature's chest. However, just as he pushed one back, two more would come forward. One grabbed him from behind. He did a standing handspring out of it and jumped back. He glanced over to the others. They didn't appear to be having anymore luck than they were.

"There's too many of them!" Adam yelled.

"We need to morph!" Conner replied.

In unison, they called, "Dino thunder, power-" But no one got any further than that. The Tyranno-drones swarmed on them and no one had a chance to complete the call that would morph them and give them the power they needed to fight off these creatures.

An invisi-portal opened up out of nowhere, the green swirling light of it looking more menacing that it ever had before. Conner struggled against the Tyranno-drones that held him, but it was useless. The dumb reptiles had them outnumbered significantly.

"NO!" he yelled just as they all went through the invisi-portal, leaving far behind Doctor O's house and any help that might have come.

Wes snapped awake as he heard someone thunder out of the house and slam the front door behind them. No one down in the lab would have heard that. He scrambled to his feet and ran to the front window in enough time to see some Tyranno-drones materialize out of the front yard with Tommy, Adam, Ethan and Conner.

"Shit!" he yelled to himself and then kicked Eric awake. "Eric! Come on!" He froze as he heard sounds of fighting coming from the back yard. Without a moment's hesitation, he ran through the living room and the kitchen and burst out the back door. More Tyranno-drones than he had ever thought possible to send were there. Billy, Kimberly, Kira and Trent were battling them, but there were too many of them. And they couldn't morph easily.

"Let's do this," Eric said with a menacing smile, cracking his knuckles.

"Time for Time Force!"

"Quantum Power!"

Wes felt the familiar spark that accompanied morphing and tended to put one's nerve endings on overdrive. He and Eric flipped off the back porch and assaulted the first Tyranno-drones they came to. Or more, battling the things away from the four Dino Thunder rangers in an effort to give them time to morph. What was wrong with these things? Normally brainless minions of an evil overlord attacked everyone. These things were only attacking the four who had been sleeping on the back porch. They were ignoring Wes and Eric, unless they attacked them first. What was going on?

He aimed a powerful kick square in the chest of one that had been assaulting Kira. The thing flew backwards. Three more surged in on them. Kira suddenly let out an eardrum-ripping scream that Wes supposed was her Ptera-Scream. He had only heard of that. The three who had run in, got knocked backwards. But for every one they drove back, at least two more came forward.

"It's morphin' time! Tyrannosaurus!"

"Go galactic!"

Wes turned around and saw Jason, Leo and Kendrix vaulting off the porch and into the action on the back lawn. Leo and Kendrix worked like a fluid team, deflecting the Tyranno-drones that had been attacking Kimberly. Wes smiled inside his helmet, swung around and hit an oncoming Tyranno-drone on the back of the neck. The thing crumbled to the ground.

"Dino thunder, power up! Ha!—White ranger, dino power!"

The Dino Thunder rangers managed to morph. But for all the Tyranno-drones that were defeated, more just came forward. It was like they were a computer virus, duplicating at rates that no one could predict or control.

"Where are they all coming from?" he heard Kendrix yell.

"I don't know!" Billy replied.

Kira did another Ptera-Scream, but it was to no avail. Nothing was working. The Tyranno-drones swarmed onto the Dino Thunder rangers like bees and in a flash of green light all of them were gone. Wes looked around, The dumb creatures had left himself, Eric, Jason, Leo and Kendrix, but had taken the other four.

"Power down," he said as the others did the same. "They've got Tommy, Adam, Ethan and Conner too," he said as they gathered together on the porch.

"Goddammit," Jason muttered. "How does someone like that just walk off with eight rangers that easily?"

"Maybe it was a change to those things programming," Leo suggested.

"Whatever it is, we need to make sure that Mesogog doesn't get a hold of that gem or anymore of us," Wes said empathically.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

They all turned to see a strange cyborg woman standing on the lawn. They had been so preoccupied that they hadn't seen her materialize. She had an unpleasant smile on her face along with an air that suggested she knew more than they did.

"You will soon join your friends."

"We'll see about that," Leo said hotly.

"Oh you can try to resist, but it will all be futile." She cackled in a menacing kind of way that made Wes shudder. With a crack of green lightening, she disappeared. They all looked at each other, wondering what it meant.

Finally, Leo spoke. "That's the woman who attacked me in the woods."

Leo sat in the lab, watching the tense faces all around. No one had ever believed it was possible for this to happen. All eight of the Dino Thunder rangers were gone and no solution was forthcoming. Hayley was typing away at the main control panel while Mary Anne was tinkering with the teleportation grid that was still incomplete. Carter had had enough presence of mind to call Andros and make sure that both he and Ashley had their astro-morphers with them at the hospital.

"Any luck yet?" Jason asked Hayley.

She shook her head. "I can't get a lock on an invisi-portal. If I could, I could send some of you through it to get them back. It's like Mesogog has done something to his firewall and it's preventing me from tapping into it." She paused and looked at Mary Anne. "If we can get the teleportation grid up and running, we could lock onto their gems or their DNA and get them out that way."

"Why DNA?" Wes asked idly.

Hayley gave him a bored look, clearly showing the strain on her face. "If Mesogog captured them, do you really think he would let them keep their morphers with them?"

"But don't the gems bond with their DNA?" Carter asked. "If we find one or the other, couldn't we find the missing one?"

"In theory," Hayley said. "We just need more time to get the teleportation grid up and running in a manner that won't endanger the people traveling by it."

"It needs more power," Mary Anne called from underneath the desk. "Is there any way we can get another power source?" She emerged from under the desk. Her brilliant blue eyes always seemed a strange contrast with her Vietnamese features.

"What kind of power?" Hayley asked her.

She shrugged. "Anything. Just a normal cord with a plug." She paused. "Of course, we'd probably cause a brown-out."

Leo found it amazing that the girl was so calm and composed while her father was missing and probably in mortal danger. Of course, Susie was having the opposite reaction to the situation. She was sitting on Cole's lap, sniffling and clutching her Good Luck Bear. Her eyes were fixed on her sister and there was a small flame of hope there. It was as if she was convinced that her big sister would fix everything and make it better.

"There's an extension cord in the zord bay," Hayley told her. "Will that work?"

Mary Anne nodded. "Perfect." The teen stood up and disappeared into the zord bay.

"So we're back to waiting?" Wes muttered.

"Looks like it," Eric said back.

"It'd almost be a good idea to send some more people to the hospital," Hayley said. "I mean that cyborg did say that she was going to get everyone. Ashley's still really weak and the more people there, the better."

"Doesn't she have her morpher?" Eric asked.

"Yes," Hayley responded. "But it won't help her strength for long."

Eric clasped Cole's shoulder. "Let's go, kid," he said and the pair of them were out of the lab moments later.

Tommy's head was pounding as he woke up. He blinked several times and tried to take in his surroundings. He was in some kind of cell—stone walls and iron bars like in so many medieval movies. From the light coming in the window, he would have said that it was still early morning. Out of instinct, he glanced at his wrist to make sure his morpher or at least the silver bracelet was in place. There was nothing. A jolt of fear and panic went straight to his stomach. He was morpher-less. He did a quick check. He had also been stripped of his watch, belt and shoelaces. It was like someone was trying to ensure that he didn't harm himself or someone else. He glanced over and saw that the others were in the cell with him. Well, not everyone, just all of the Dino Thunder males. The same things had been taken from them.

Billy was the only other one alert. He was sitting with his back against the stone wall, his glasses askew on his face.

"Where are we?" Tommy asked, his throat protesting against the speech.

"I would gather Mesogog's fortress," Billy replied.

Tommy dragged himself into a sitting position. "Any ideas?" he asked.

Billy shrugged, a mournful expression on his face. "I've tried to use my powers to get the morphers back, but something is blocking me. I can't get beyond anything in this cell."

He felt his heart sink. If Billy's telekinesis couldn't get them what they needed to get out here, then he seriously doubted that any of the other powers would help. He thought briefly of Jason, who could still tap into his powers although the Power Coins had been destroyed. He said as much to Billy.

"I've tried that too," he replied. "Our power source is much more concentrated and, in order to morph, we need the power source present." How Billy could be so composed and calm in the middle of what seemed like a crisis was beyond him.

"Great," Tommy said. "So we're stuck here until Mesogog decides to destroy us!"

Billy cracked a small smile. "The trick is not to let him destroy us."

"And how the hell do you propose we do that?" he replied sarcastically.

"Patience is a virtue," Billy said and then shushed him. "Let me think. You blathering on and being dramatic is interrupting my thoughts."

Tommy glared at him, but fell silent. Billy's words had not been harsh or accusatory, just factual as if stating something obvious. Billy closed his eyes and appeared to be deep in thought.

"Is Mesogog going to go after the others?" he asked quietly.

Billy's blue-gray eyes snapped open, his expression fearful. "I hadn't thought of that," the genius replied. "I guess the others would be a threat to him since they can morph." He paused. "If he gets rid of all of us then he can get at the gem."

"Not if someone locks down the lab."

The genius gave him an appraising look. "Then we had better hope that someone thinks to lock down the lab."

Andros smiled wearily at Ashley. Carter had called him that morning to say that some of Mesogog's goons had captured all eight of the Dino Thunder rangers. They didn't have a game plan at all or any leads that might help them. All Carter had said was to make sure that he and Ashley were wearing their morphers and to be ready for a fight. He looked at Ashley—she had just had a baby two days ago and there was no way she was going to be able to fight. They were fairly certain that Mesogog was going to come after them next.

He gently smoothed back Ashley's hair and went over to the crib that baby Karone was in. She was sleeping peacefully, unaware of what was going on around her. Her downy soft white-blonde hair was tousled from sleep and she sucked on her little thumb. It never ceased to fill him with amazement to watch his children. How could two people create something so pure and innocent? Homemade miracles… that had been how his mother referred to himself and Karone when they were little. Then Karone had been kidnapped. They were so young when that happened and his parents had been beside themselves with grief. He steeled his resolve. That was never going to happen to any of his children.

"Andros?"

He moved quickly to the bed to Ashley. "What's up?" he asked her gently, sitting on the edge of the bed and wrapping an arm around her.

"Have you heard from the others?"

He knew exactly what she was talking about—had heard anything from the other red rangers or from Tommy. "It doesn't look good," he said softly. "All of the current rangers have been captured."

Ashley looked stunned, as if such a possibility had never seemed reasonable. He knew how she felt. It almost was as if rangers just were not captured. Oh, there had been times when one or two of them were captured, but the others always figured out where they were soon enough and came to their rescue. "How?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," he replied. "All Carter said was that Mesogog was targeting all of us next. All of us who were helping Tommy."

She reached out towards the crib and Andros went over to the baby. He gently lifted the tiny girl out of the crib and settled her into Ashley's arms.

"Hopefully, Hayley can find an invisi-portal so that we can get the rangers out and won't have to worry about this anymore."

"I wouldn't be so sure about!"

They both turned so see a smartly dressed woman standing in the doorway of the room. Andros frowned. He had never seen her before in his life and she vaguely resembled some kind of professional. Who was she and what was she doing here?

"Who are you?" he asked her.

She gave an unpleasant smile and stepped into the room. There was slight glow of green light and the woman made the transformation from a Type A personality businesswoman to a menacing cyborg in seconds. He felt stunned. This woman had to be associated with Mesogog. He instinctively shielded Ashley and baby Karone, while making sure that his astro-morpher was in place. If he had to morph and destroy this woman to protect his family, he would.

"Don't be ridiculous," the cyborg said. "I'm not here to attack you." She paused and smiled her evil smile. "Not yet at any rate. I'm here to make a bargain with the two of you."

"What kind of bargain?" Andros asked warily.

The thing craned her neck to get a glimpse of Ashley and Karone. Her smile was really starting to unnerve him. "The baby," she said simply and then looked back to Andros. "The baby in exchange for your life and hers."

"What?" Numb disbelief coursed through his body. This woman wanted to take their child away from them. Flashes of Karone's initial disappearance danced before his eyes and he wanted to faint. She wanted their child to share the same fate as his sister. "No!" he said fiercely.

"Then you can join your friends," she shrugged. "And we will take the baby by force and get what we want anyways."

"Why do you want her?" Ashley asked, a quiet kind of desperation in her voice.

The woman gave her a bored look. "Experiments of course. My master needs a child to see if the dinosaur mutation will take in infancy." She paused. "Perhaps we can transform the humans rather than destroy them. Either way, it's likely that neither of you will be around to see it. I'll give you an hour to decide. And don't try to hide either. We can find both of you and the baby." With a crack of green lightening, the things disappeared from the room.

Andros and Ashley stared at each other in horror. Not only was Mesogog targeting them, now he wanted their child as well.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed recently-- I was relieved and flattered that most people liked the last chapter. It was time to catch a breath and allow some long silenced voices to speak (Jason... TJ...) As per usual, reviews from all are welcome. :) --EK