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 Eighteen: Just A Dream Away

The sun was setting, lighting the sky with streaks of gold and pink. It looked so peaceful, so far away from the fear and violence that had begun to rule his world since last night. It was strange to think that tomorrow would make it a week since they had arrived at Tommy's house with the intent of helping him with the zords and gems and going home. There was so much left unanswered. The bad feelings that some of them had gotten, Leo's vision of the island…

Cole sighed. It was getting late and he was no longer sure where he was. He had dug around in Andros' glove compartment and found a small map of the United States. Sadly, it hadn't been detailed enough to tell him where he was. He just hoped that it was far away from Reefside. He had been driving for hours, pulling over only once to feed Karone and change her diaper. She had been unusually quiet, he thought. He hoped to God that she didn't have some kind of illness that he was unable to identify. Then again, didn't newborn babies sleep for something ridiculous like twenty hours a day? He didn't know.

They needed to find some place to stay for the night that was not the car. Although, he didn't imagine that either of them would find the car that uncomfortable, it seemed like a better idea to find a cheap motel somewhere. Then they could both at least bathe thoroughly and he could get a good inventory of what was in the car, maybe even do some wash. However, he was not sure how much money he had and Andros obviously was not one to leave money in his car. He could find one of those spiffy rest stops along the interstate and they could spend the night there for tonight and work on finding a motel tomorrow. That seemed like the best idea.

The sun was almost completely beyond the horizon as he finally found a rest stop and pulled the car in. He thought about what it would be like to keep driving into the horizon so that the sun would never go down. It could be done… but this was not a leisure trip that he was taking with his girlfriend or friends. He should have felt fear and he should have felt panic, but all he felt was a slow numbing feeling and pure exhaustion. The day had been an emotional ride to pits he didn't know existed.

"Garg," he said to himself as he shut off the engine and leaned his head heavily against the headrest. There were no coherent words to describe what he felt. And the scary thing was that Tyranno-drones could appear at any moment and apprehend both of them. He reached slowly to unbuckle his seatbelt and twisted around to see Karone. She was still sleeping. At least one of them was unaware as to what was going on.

He got out of the car and rounded it to Karone's door, opening it. He quickly changed her diaper and deposited all of the soiled diapers in a trash can outside. Deciding that was the most undesirable task associated with babies, he fed and burped her, wishing that Ashley had been able to at least give him a crash course in taking care of a baby. He was winging it on his limited experience and what he had gleaned from Dana in the time he spent with the Graysons. A smile floated over his lips as he remembered the birthday parties for Cory and Heather he had been invited to and the times he had been conned into babysitting—although that was mostly with Alyssa's help. But that did not make him an expert on babies… in fact, it had probably made him worse because he had grown to believe that children were born with the skills they had at about a year old.

When he had decided that Karone had burped up about all she was going to (and he was probably doing this longer than he needed), he settled her into the carrier (which looked more comfortable than the car seat to his mind). Just as he climbed back into the driver's seat and made sure all the doors were locked, his cell phone rang. Fumbling for a moment, he pulled it out of his pocket and pushed the correct buttons to answer the call.

"Hello?" he asked, forgetting to look at the caller ID to see who it was.

"Cole?" a familiar voice asked. Alyssa… he felt his heart soar. "Where are you?" she asked in a voice that clearly sounded frightened and panicked.

He glanced at a sign. "Somewhere off I-5 North," he said slowly.

"What?" she said, incredulous. "I thought you were in Reefside."

"Er-" he trailed off. "I was in Reefside. It's a long story." He paused, realizing that his slightly ridiculous situation was hard to explain. "Did you get my message?" he asked, changing the subject completely.

She was silent for a moment. "Yes," she said softly. "Taylor didn't think you meant it."

"What?"

"But I think I know you a little better than Taylor does…" Her voice was soft and tremulous, a voice he had come to love hearing over the phone or in person.

"And?" he prompted.

"I-"

His cell phone began to crackle and static came over the line. "Hello?" he said frantically. "Alyssa?" He took his phone away from his ear and looked at it. The battery had gone dead. He hadn't charged it since he'd been in Reefside, because he had left his charger at home in his haste to pack and be ready when Carter arrived. He bit his lip, fighting the urge to swear. Andros did not have the same kind of phone as he did, that he knew. There was no way he could call anyone now—he had just lost their hope of contacting the others. There were always pay phones…

Digging into his pocket, he came out with a handful of change. It would be enough for a few pay phone calls. He went to his back pocket to check his wallet to make sure that he didn't have a random calling card or something. However, when he pulled out his wallet, something else came with it. A credit card…

He stared at it intensely. The name on it was 'Wesley A. Collins.' Wes' credit card… What was he doing with Wes' credit card in his pocket? Then it dawned on him. Eric must have put it there when he was leaving the hospital with Karone and he had been in such a hurry that he hadn't noticed. He also vaguely remembered Eric saying that Wes had a credit card especially for red ranger emergencies and any of them could use it if they needed to… he wasn't sure if that were true, but it was worth a shot.

"We are definitely staying in a hotel tomorrow night," he told Karone. "And I am getting a cell phone charger the first place we find." Then he could finish the conversation with Alyssa without the hassle of a pay phone.

Double-checking to make sure the doors were locked and that Karone was sleeping peacefully, he slumped down in the driver's seat and fell into an uneasy sleep interrupted by nightmarish dreams of Tyranno-drones.

It was dark outside. Carter could ascertain that much as he slowly sat up, his head throbbing painfully. The stone floor was cold and the entire cell stank of mildew, dampness and just plain misuse. Almost on instinct, he glanced down at his wrist to make sure his morpher was still in place. He shouldn't have been surprised that it was gone, but a jolt of panic hit him in the stomach anyways. Glancing around, he saw that he was in some kind of dungeon. Two large cells with thick iron bars were side by side, separated only by more of the bars. The other red rangers were in the cell with him—Jason, TJ, Andros, Leo, Wes and Eric. The male Dino Thunder rangers were in the cell next to them. The female Dino Thunder rangers were nowhere to be seen. He felt a brief spark of hope. Maybe Hayley and Kendrix and Ashley had not been captured…

"Morning," Leo said dryly as he painfully pushed himself into a sitting position. The floor was slick with slime and his head throbbed a faster beat as he moved.

"Oh God," Carter moaned, holding his head with one hand, trying to block out the pain. "What happened?" he asked.

"You've been out since we got here," Leo replied. "The Tyranno-drones teleported us here and then threw us in the cell, after taking our morphers. We've haven't seen hide nor hair them since they brought in Eric and Andros."

Leo was sitting against the wall. Carter scooted towards the wall and propped himself up against it. It was stone just like the floor and felt much the same—cold and slimy. If he didn't have his morpher, then he assumed that no one else did. But then again, Jason didn't need a morpher to morph anymore. He said as much to Leo.

"Tried it," Jason's mournful voice came from across the cell. "There's some kind of block around this place preventing me from connecting with my powers."

Carter's back suddenly felt warm and itchy when it shouldn't because of the cold, dirty stone wall. He painfully reached around and when he brought his fingers back, they were sticky with his own blood.

"He's bleeding again," Leo said to Andros who had been sitting cross-legged in front of them. Andros said nothing as he and Leo tore off what appeared to be more pieces of their flannel shirts and began mopping up the cut on his back. Carter could not tell how bad it was, only that it itched and was beginning to twinge with pain. Combined with his roaring headache, he felt like he was going to explode.

"It's almost deep enough to require stitches," Andros said absently as he tied two long strips of flannel together and tied it over one shoulder and under the other to try and stop the flow of blood.

"Great," Carter snapped.

Leo and Andros didn't say anything. They knew what he was feeling. They were trapped in the fortress of some crazed half-human, half-reptile with no idea what he was ultimately going to do to them. That was topped with the fact that their wives and children (including future children in Leo's case) were God only knows where. He knew that he was better off than Leo and Andros because his wife and children were far away. Still, he didn't want to think that a week ago was going to be the last time he ever saw them.

It was cold in the cell. Most anyone who would have had a jacket on them when they morphed had had it taken from them. Flimsy things that would not help against the cold, such as flannel shirts, had been left. It was then that he realized other things had been taken from them besides morphers and jackets—belts, shoelaces, jewelry (including watches and earrings), glasses (in Billy's case) and anything in those categories. It was like the Tyranno-drones had been trying to prevent any daring escapes or suicide attempts.

"Is there anyone left?" he asked softly, trying not to lose that small flame of hope.

Andros shook his head. "We don't know. No one has seen any of the girls including Kira and Kim."

"We don't know who's left except for Cole," Leo finished.

"So we're just waiting for Mesogog to do something to us?"

"For now," came Billy's voice from the next cell. "I assume that they want us alive in the morning, because they didn't take all of our shoelaces and belts and things until after you guys had been brought in. The question is what Mesogog has planned."

Carter glanced into the next cell. Billy was sitting against the wall with the look of some kind of sage on his face. The resident genius also appeared to be in deep thought. Trent was curled up on the floor in front of him with a defeated look over his sleeping face. Ethan was next to Billy on the wall with his head slumped onto Billy's shoulder. That made Carter crack a small smile since he could see the similarities between the former Blue Ranger and the current Blue Ranger. Tommy was lying on the floor with Conner using his stomach as a pillow. Adam had fallen asleep sitting up next to them. In a way, it looked pathetic. In another way, it looked hopeful, showing that even in defeat they would stick together until the bitter end.

A grating sound came from the large door to the room that their cells were in. All heads turned to look at the sound and those that had been sleeping snapped quickly to attention. A group of Tyranno-drones came in followed by the female cyborg that had accosted all of them earlier. A drone lumbered over to the cell containing the Dino Thunder rangers and opened the door. Conner happened to be closest to the door and the thing grabbed at him. He lunged away, kicking at the drone in an effort to remain un-captured.

What happened next was a blur to Carter. With Conner's resistance, the other Dino Thunder rangers began fighting off the drones that were invading their cell until the dust cleared and the cyborg was standing over Conner. Conner was lying on his back. She had her foot on his chest and was holding a sword over his heart.

"By all means," she said in her menacing tone. "Continue to resist. He will be destroyed just like the rest of you."

The Dino Thunder rangers slowly dropped their guard. Carter was reminded of the Borg from Star Trek. 'Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.' That seemed to be this cyborg's motto concerning them. She motioned to the drones who immediately surged onto the now calm Dino Thunder rangers. Each one of them had a peculiar bracelet slapped onto their wrists where they would normally have had their morpher. The drones left the cell and locked it up.

Carter knew the next thing that was coming, but somehow his pain-fogged mind was not prepared for the drones to jerk him upward and slap a similar bracelet on his wrist. He feebly tugged at it, but it was to no avail. The things were not going to come off unless they had an exceptionally sharp object around.

"Now listen to me well," the cyborg female said. Her words dripped with venom. The drones closed and locked their cell. "Tomorrow morning you will be let out of this cell and put into specific areas of this island. Your bracelets are rigged to explode, so if you put one foot out of line you will lose your arm and probably something more. This practice is commonly known as a battle royale. You will all destroy each other. The winner gets to remain alive. However, if you refuse to fight, you will all find yourselves destroyed." She paused and smiled, letting the effect of her words sink in. "I will explain the other pertinent details tomorrow morning. Enjoy the rest of your night," she ended sarcastically.

Carter stared at Andros and Leo in horror. There was no way they were going to destroy each other, was there?

Their cell was little, almost too little for five women to stay in comfortably. And it was dreadfully cold. The stones were wet with a substance that Ashley did not even want to think about what it might be. When her and Kendrix and Hayley had been brought in, Kira and Kim had already been in the cell. Her and Kendrix had their morphers taken away and were immediately stripped of belts, shoelaces, jewelry and, in Kendrix's case, glasses. They had been here ever since without seeing any sign of Mesogog or his minions.

And they felt like they had exhausted all means of escape. There was nothing in the cell they could pick the huge padlock with. None of them, who normally could, could morph without their morphers. Ashley was cold, exhausted, in pain and more miserable than she had ever been in a long time. She didn't know where her husband or her baby was. They had not seen any of the male rangers since getting here. She shivered. The five of them were huddled together for as much warmth as could be had.

"Are you doing all right, Ashley?" Hayley asked.

"As well as can be expected," she replied, clenching her teeth together to keep them from chattering.

"I hate waiting," Kira grumbled.

"Don't we all?" Hayley countered. "I want to know what that mutant freak has in mind."

They fell silent, each with her own thoughts. There were a million ways Mesogog could dispose of them and a million reasons that he was keeping them in this cell. Ashley had realized a long time ago as a ranger that waiting was the worst thing that they were ever expected to do.

"Ew, gross," Kimberly groaned. "There's a slug in here."

That got a collective shudder. None of them would exactly describe their interests as bending towards nature and places where one might encounter slugs. Ashley understood the sentiment. They had already been through so much in the past twenty-four hours that something as little as a slug was enough to flip all of them out. She just hoped that no one crashed down into hysterics before the night was over.

There was a loud grating noise that rattled her very bones as the large door to the room holding their cell scraped open. The cyborg woman and the Tyranno-drones surged into the one. One drone opened their cell and, before anyone could move, they were held down by the large number of drones and had strange bracelets slapped on their wrists where their morphers would have been.

"Don't even try to resist," the thing said sneeringly. "One of your fair-haired boys tried that and it almost got him killed."

The drones slammed the cell door shut and the padlock clicked shut. The cyborg strode over to them with an unpleasant smile on her face.

"Now listen to me," she said in a tone of a teacher handling delinquent students. "Tomorrow morning you will be released to a certain area on this island. The term I believe is battle royale. You and your lovely males will destroy each other and the winner will be allowed to keep his or her life. If you do anything you shouldn't, the bracelet will explode and you will lose your arm, maybe something more, I don't quite know. I'll explain the rest of the rules tomorrow morning. All of you will participate." She paused. "Except you," she ended pointing at Kendrix.

"What?" Kendrix cried as the drones opened their cell again and dragged her away. Soon the drones had relocked the cell and Kendrix was dragged away down the corridor and out of sight.

"Where are you taking her?" Hayley yelled.

"Leave her alone!" Kira screamed after the departing drones.

The cyborg stared at the musingly for a moment. "Well, since we cannot find your baby," she said with a sneer for Ashley, "we'll just have to use a replacement."

"Oh God," Hayley said faintly, slumping down against the bars and to the floor. The cyborg and the entourage of drones left them alone once more.

"What?" Ashley asked Hayley. "What's going on?" Her confusion was mirrored on the faces of Kimberly and Kira.

"Kendrix…" Hayley said softly. "I forgot that you three don't know this…"

"Hayley, what?" Kira demanded.

"Kendrix is pregnant."

Everything was going so well. Seventeen rangers and one little tech girl to go into the battle royale at sunrise… Lord Mesogog would be pleased, Elsa thought. She was even pleased with herself. They could start a serious search for the one without a morpher once all the others were securely released onto the island. There was no way that they could escape from that island alive unless she or Mesogog allowed it. Yes… everything was going so well.

"Elsa…" came Mesogog's familiar hiss.

"My Lord," she said with a smile. "Everything has been done to your specifications."

"Except for one thing." He folded his hands behind his back and slowly ambled into the control room, staring at the various specimens they used for the Geno-Randomizer.

"One thing?" she asked, swallowing hard. She already knew that he was not happy over the one without a morpher who they could not find.

"The one without a morpher… where is he?"

"My lord," Elsa started, forcing a smile onto her face. "It is but a matter of time before we track him down and he joins the others."

"Are the others yielding information about him?"

Elsa took a deep breath. "No," she said. The word was anticlimactic. Mesogog whirled around, his eyes blazing.

"And why not? Have you struck bargains with them? They are silly, trusting fools. If you offer freedom, they will talk. You do not have to ever grant it to them."

Elsa seriously doubted that that was going to work with this bunch. If it had just been the original four, well, five Dino Thunder rangers then she might have thought it would be successful. The stupid trusting jock would have believed enough to tell her. But he was now being influenced by many other, more experienced rangers who knew that bargaining with the enemy was not something to be trusted.

"I want him brought to me," Mesogog hissed. "It is unlikely that he is far from Reefside. I trust that it will not be a problem to bring him in."

"Of course not, my lord," Elsa said through clenched teeth and a false smile.

"Go," the reptile-man commanded.

Rolling her eyes, she stormed out into the hallway. She didn't have the faintest idea where to search for the renegade. Even the thought of the imminent battle royale didn't lift her spirits.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Wow! Everyone certainly has some interesting ideas about where certain subplots are going-- I've actually enjoyed reading them quite a bit and seeing how everyone else would take the story! Thanks for all the reviews! Below are a couple of notes on my use of certain terms (because there either were or I feel there will be questions.) --EK

A note on my use of the term 'cyborg': Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines a cyborg as a 'bionic human.' (Bionic is defined as 'having normal biological capability or performance enhanced by or as if by electronic or electromechanical devices.') And in White Thunder Part 1, Elsa calls Zeltrax a cyborg. By process of association, I have assumed that Elsa is also a cyborg, albeit a bit more human than Zeltrax. The term cyborg is also a general term that the others, who don't know her name is Elsa, use rather than constantly referring to her as the 'crazy woman who is not quite human who keeps attacking and threatening us.'

A note on my use of the term 'battle royale': Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines 'battle royale' as 'a fight participated in by more than two combatants; esp: one in which the last man in the ring or on his feet in declared the winner.' This is a loose definition. My definition comes from the Japanese movie 'Battle Royale' and the way in which the battle royale in the story is set up is similar to what happens in the movie. (Multiple summaries and reviews can be found on-line about the movie if someone is unfamiliar with it.)