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 Twenty-One: Battle Stations
Tommy was not sure what exactly had happened. One minute he had been sitting in his section of the battle royale island with Conner and Jason and the next minute he was sitting on the floor of the lab. Mary Anne had been sitting in one of the captain's chairs looking like someone waiting for the results of an important test. Susie was standing in the other captain's chair, holding Good Luck Bear under one arm with all of her fingers crossed, eyes closed.
"It worked!" Mary Anne crowed. "I was pretty sure I had the thing aligned correctly, but I couldn't know because you guys were all locked up…" She continued babbling on and on incoherently. Tommy was strongly reminded of Billy in his high school days. Back then, the genius had either talked incessantly or not at all when faced with a success.
"Daddy!" Susie screeched. Tommy looked around and realized that all of the Dino Thunder Rangers were standing, sitting or, in Billy's case, lying on the floor of the lab. Billy scrambled to his feet and had both his daughters in his arms in seconds.
"We got them, Jen!" Mary Anne was calling into the microphone on the desk.
"Good," a female voice over the line said. "Get the bracelets off them."
The next few moments had been a blur. Mary Anne had found a pair of wire cutters and had everyone cut off the bracelets (which Tommy discovered she had neutralized by hacking into Mesogog's computer system and deactivating them.) It also made Tommy wonder why Mesogog was so quiet about this. That alone was enough to put him on guard. They only had one functional zord and, at that time, no morphers.
"Welcome to the team, Jen," Billy was saying over the communication line.
"Thanks," came the reply. Mary Anne was rapidly explaining that Jen had come from the year 3000 to see Wes and that the purple gem had bonded with her. Kira was backing up the story. Tommy could not recall ever having met Jen, but he had heard about her from Wes. "I've just run into Andros," she was saying. "He says that with my power and his combined we can find the morphers and send them back to the owners."
"Andros' power?" Billy had asked.
"Claims he's telekinetic," Jen replied.
"How come he never told the rest of us?" Conner yelled.
"No one asked!" Andros said into Jen's communicator.
"If you get the morphers back, then we can start on realigning the teleportation system to include everyone. I'll need people to morph though," Billy told her.
"No problem," Jen affirmed. "How long?"
"At the very least…" Billy paused and expelled a breath. "A couple hours. More like overnight. We'll keep an open communication line with you should anything happen."
"And you should come back to get more supplies," Mary Anne suggested.
That had brought a flash of purple light into the lab and Jen appeared. Or at least, Tommy had no reason to believe that it wasn't Jen. She was wearing a pink blouse and jeans and had on a purple Care Bears' backpack that Tommy knew belonged to Susie. Billy and Mary Anne rounded up all of the supplies they figured she would need for everyone and stuffed it into the backpack and another duffel bag, while Jen got introduced to all of the Dino Thunder Rangers. She went back to the island with the supplies and a few minutes later they were informed that their morphers were on the front lawn because Andros couldn't send them through solid objects.
Right now, it was the next morning. Tommy had fallen asleep sometime in the middle of the night. Billy, on the other hand, hadn't slept. Between putting the teleportation feature onto their morphers and aligning the teleportation system to the other rangers, he was busy. He also had to figure out a way to get Hayley off the island. Someone made a pot of coffee upstairs and he got himself a cup, before heading back to the lab.
Billy was staring at some readings on the screens. He didn't look tired, so much as he looked frustrated. "I don't understand it," he was muttering to himself. "Why does it fall in sync when the power source is natural, but when it's man-made, it won't lock on?"
"Problems?" Tommy asked.
"I can't get the thing to align for the Lightspeed and Time Force morphers." He paused. "It almost didn't want to align for the Turbo and Astro-morphers."
"The others are aligned?"
"Not quite yet. There are so many different power sources." He paused. "They still don't know where Kendrix is. I should be picking up ten life signals—which I am—and nine of them should be showing that they have a power source and can morph. Excluding Jen," he amended.
"So who's showing they don't have a power source besides Hayley?"
"That's the trick—it changes. Mesogog has some kind of shield around the island that it scrambling my readings. I'm having trouble getting a clear lock on anyone."
"Elsa…" came Mesogog's low hiss. She shuddered involuntarily. Something was amiss and, at this point in time, she had no idea what it was. "Tell me why I'm… upset."
"Forgive me, my lord," she stammered. "I don't know."
"Really?" Mesogog folded his hands behind his back, his tone of voice incredulous. "Why don't you check the readings on that island and then come up with an answer?"
With shaking hands, Elsa went over to the computer and brought up the surveillance screens and readings on the island. "What?" she screeched. "How could eight of them have just gotten off that island? There was no one left!"
"Apparently you did not smoke out their layer well enough. Some of the rodents have escaped your purge."
"But the bracelets should have stopped them! Do they all have one arm now?"
Mesogog sighed. "You really need to learn to check the readings more often. It would be most informative if you want our dream to reign."
She stared at the readings. The bracelets had been deactivated. How? Someone had to have been on the other side tapping into their computer system. It was impossible!
"There is another one in there. This one holds the power of the purple gem."
Elsa gaped at him. The gem they had been going to get once all of the rangers had started exterminating one another had bonded with someone. But how? There had been no one left. She made sure of it. The only one still running free was the one without a morpher and he was far away from Reefside with a dead cell phone. He could not have contacted anyone. She glanced down at the readings. The vault where they had stored all of the morphers had been breeched.
Snarling, she went to the vault and threw it open. All of the morphers were gone. Mesogog was going to kill her! Granted, the Dino-Gem powered morphers would have been no good to them since the gems did not give their power to anyone but their owners, but the other morphers would have been easy to tap into and take their power.
"Send the drones to the island," Mesogog said in a deadly soft voice. "Make sure that none of them escapes that island alive."
"What of the others and the one we're still looking for?"
"Keep the drones searching for the one without a morpher. He will be easy enough to find—he no longer has a car." Mesogog paused and stared at the shelves upon shelves containing specimens for the Geno-Randomizer. "Send a monster or two for the others to deal with. Without their zords, that will keep them quite busy. I don't imagine that ancient zord they dredged up will be much good. While they are busy with the monsters, take care of the ones on the island and see that there are no mistakes."
"How did they get off!" Elsa grumbled.
Mesogog gave her a bored look. "Obviously they had a trump card and we failed to recognize that—a mistake I do not intend for us to repeat when ten of their numbers are on our island in easy reach." He paused. "Go!"
Elsa nodded quickly and headed down the hallway to the drones. At least they still had one of the females in their fortress. She would do well for the dino-gene experiments that Mesogog needed a human baby or fetus for. At least that one would not escape unscathed.
The alarm chimes sounded in the lab. Conner jerked himself out of his stupor and ran over to the surveillance screens. Billy's fingers were already flying over the keyboard and bringing up the various readings.
"What is it?" Conner asked.
"Monsters," Billy replied. "Two of them… Downtown."
Tommy was there behind them in a moment along with the others. "We need to get down there and stop that monster," he said.
"What if Mesogog makes it grow?" Adam asked. "You might have noticed that we still have no zords, except for the Dragon-Zord and if he makes both them grow the Dragon-Zord is no match for it."
"What choice do we have?" Tommy retorted. Conner could see that the strain was getting to his former teacher and mentor.
"There's always a choice," Kimberly said quietly. The sound of her voice caused any further bickering to die before it could reach more than a thought in everyone's minds. "We have to take the chance that Mesogog could make the monster grow. There aren't enough of us to split us between repairs, the teleportation grid and the monster."
"Okay," Conner spoke up. "We all go to the monsters and Mary Anne can stay here, working on the teleportation grid." He exchanged a grin with the younger teen. She certainly deserved their recognition that she was as good as Hayley and her father in a pinch.
"The red ranger lives up to the legacy," Tommy said. There was approval on his face and it made Conner glow with pride. "Let's go," he said.
Conner almost started to go for the raptor-cycles, but stopped himself just in time. Billy and Mary Anne had put the teleportation grid into their morphers. All they had to do was push the star-shaped button on their bracelets and think about where they wanted to do. Then they would be teleported straight to that spot. Tommy nodded and the eight of them pushed the buttons, flying out of the lab in eight streaks of colored light.
He had never felt anything like this before. It was like every nerve ending in his entire body was on overdrive. The sensation was incredible and over too quickly. His feet landed on the pavement in front of where the two monsters were terrorizing the city. Scared civilians were moving all over the place. Conner exchanged a glance with Tommy.
"Let's do this!" Tommy cried.
In unison, everyone yelled, "Dino Thunder, power up!" and were followed by Trent's cry of "White ranger, dino power!"
The eight of them appeared morphed. Almost as if they were moving as one unit, they called out their weapons and moved in on the monsters. Conner approached the monster nearest to him. It looked like a card game gone wrong. He brandished his Tyranno-staff and swung at the monster. He missed and was kicked from behind, falling on his face.
"Conner!" someone yelled. The next moment, an arrow flew through the air and hit the monster in the shoulder. Conner scrambled to his feet in time to see Kim run towards the monster with her Stego-Ax and hit the thing between the shoulder blades. It screeched in its unnatural voice and swung at Kim. She expertly ducked the thing and came up behind it for another hit. Sparks flew. Another arrow soared through the air and hit the monster.
Conner didn't have time to contemplate where Adam was with the arrows. The thing was closing in on Kim. Billy jumped in with his daggers, succeeding in blowing it away. Somewhere to his right, Conner heard a cry of "Brachio-staff, full power!"
A powerful blast temporarily threw off his balance, but he regained it quickly and called out to Ethan and Kira, "Z-Rex Blaster!"
The Yellow and Blue Rangers were beside him in a flash as they combined their weapons and fired on the monster that Conner had been fighting. It exploded into the typical bits of burned rubber. Conner hoped to God that Mesogog didn't make the normal rain storm come and bring the monsters back to life, only ten stories high. He waited, his heart frozen. The rain didn't come, but he still didn't know if he trusted it.
"Let's get back," Tommy was saying. "If those things grow, Billy can get here quickly enough and summon the Dragon-Zord."
Conner nodded and the eight of them teleported back to the lab.
There was a flash of green light. Wes scrambled to his feet. What was going on? Had Mesogog realized that they had help? Tryanno-drones appeared all over the area. Everyone scrambled to his or her feet. They had been sitting around the remains of their campfire from last night, morphing when Mary Anne asked them to and waiting.
"Shit," Jason muttered.
"Mary Anne, start getting people out of here!" Jen cried into her communicator.
"Not everyone is aligned yet!" Mary Anne said over the line, sounding desperate.
"Get who you can!" Jen yelled back.
There were several flashes of red and yellow light. Wes looked around to see who was left—himself, Carter, Jen and Hayley. But he didn't have much time to contemplate why he, Carter and Hayley were left. Drones were closing in one them from all sides.
"Spread out!" Wes called.
The four of them went in different directions. Wes turned and headed for the section that he, Kira and Carter had been in eventually. If he could get to the tree that he and Kira had been climbing, he could get up high enough to climb across trees and probably throw off the drones, assuming they didn't shoot off the branch he was on. He wasn't worried about any of the others—Jen could hold her own in a fight with no trouble. So could Carter, in spite of any injuries he had sustained. Hayley, if she had learned anything at all from the great Tommy Oliver, had probably learned to defend herself.
He found the tree quickly enough and hauled himself up onto the branches, climbing as fast as his tired and aching limbs would allow him. He glanced down and saw the drones looking up at the tree, obviously not sure what to do. A drone aimed its gun upwards at him. A jolt of panic ran through him as he turned and continued climbing. Survival was an instinct that let people perform great feats. A blast from a drone's gun was close—to close. He could feel the heat from the laser brush his ear.
It seemed like years before he reached the highest branches on the tree—where he had been before Carter ran into Jen. He looked down, not surprised that he couldn't see the ground from where he was. That was the point. If the drones couldn't see him, he had the advantage. He reached out for the nearest branch and began the slow work of crossing the trees.
The sun was shining up here and it was peaceful compared to the battle that had been raging on the ground. It was almost ironic that an island where they were supposed to have destroyed each other could be a place of peace.
A female shriek penetrated the air. That was loud—extraordinarily loud because he could hear it all the way up where he was. It didn't sound like Jen, so he assumed that it was Hayley. Maybe she couldn't defend herself after all. He lowered himself down the branches of the current tree and the scene came into sight. Two drones were holding Hayley while two more appeared to be arguing over who was going to destroy her.
Wes jumped out of the tree and landed on one of the drones holding Hayley. That gave her the opportunity she needed to twist away from the other.
"Time for Time Force!"
He morphed and pulled out his chrono-blaster, blasting the four drones in succession. "Thanks," Hayley said as he powered down.
"No problem," he replied.
At that moment, he felt himself picked up by some unknown force and dropped down into the lab at Tommy's house. Hayley landed next to him and they exchanged a glance. Mary Anne and Billy were at the control panel.
"I'm with Carter," Jen was saying. "I'll stay until you can get him out."
"All right," Mary Anne replied. "But I'll send reinforcements if the drones come again."
Wes felt his heart sink. Jen was still on that island, even though she didn't have to be and was risking her life. He knew, deep down, that she had to do it, but he wanted to be with her. Billy turned around in the captain's chair and gazed at Wes. He knew that look—it was understanding. The brief gesture went unnoticed by all not involved. Billy turned to Hayley.
"Good thing we had a sample of your DNA on file, otherwise we couldn't have gotten you off the island," he said.
Wes sank onto the floor as they continued talking. He was back to waiting.
Night had fallen. Tommy walked into the lab. He wasn't surprised to see that Billy was still working on the teleportation system. "How's it going?" he asked.
Billy raked a hand through his messy hair. "I haven't made any progress."
"Maybe you should get some sleep?"
"No…" the genius trailed off. "The Time Force power source aligned with the teleportation grid and it was man-made. I don't understand why the Lightspeed one won't do the same thing." He paused. "It has something to do with Mesogog. We are not going to be able to get Carter or Kendrix back until we take out whatever shields he has around that island and around his fortress."
Tommy felt a knot of tension settle in his stomach. Rangers did not leave other rangers to suffer. They fought until the death for their own, but if what Billy was saying was true, they needed to get working on their zords. The zords looked past repair. The Dragon-Zord had told Billy that they could be repaired, but so much time had been lost since then. And to top all of this off, no one had any idea where Cole or baby Karone were. Various people had been calling Cole's cell phone all day and had gotten no answer, only his voicemail.
"Keep trying," Tommy said, aware of the quavering in his own voice.
"What do you think I've been doing?" Billy retorted.
"Why are you two still up?"
The pair of them turned to see Kimberly coming down the stairs to the lab, dressed in an oversized t-shirt and pajama pants.
"I'm trying to convince him to go to sleep," Tommy replied.
Kimberly just smiled. "Billy," she said in a cajoling tone. "You're not going to help anyone out if you don't sleep."
To Tommy's eternal shock and surprise, Billy gently took Kim's hand and the two of them headed upstairs together. He smiled. Who would have thought? Billy and Kim? Back in high school, they would have made the least-likely couple ever. But now, they seemed suited for one another in a strange sense. He decided to take the night shift, keeping in contact with Jen. Her and Carter seemed all right. At least they could talk to them. But Kendrix… Cole… who knew?
"This is disappointing, Elsa."
"I know, my lord. I cannot explain what happened on the island-"
"However," Mesogog interrupted and she froze. "You have failed in all tasks set before you today. The one without a morpher still runs free. Most of the ones on the island have escaped and the one still there will likely die from his injuries making no victory for us. The rangers defeated two of my monsters while all the rest of this is going on."
"My lord, I can-"
"I do not want your explanations, Elsa. The best-laid plans have gone to waste."
"Lord Mesogog-"
"SILENCE!" he roared. She fell silent. All her explanations and excuses were no good to anyone now. He was angry. "I have trusted you one too many times." Mesogog's voice was a low hiss, barely audible, but she caught every word. She had practically stopped breathing.
Mesogog folded his hands behind his back and began pacing. That was a bad sign. He never paced or had his hands behind his back unless something very ingenious or something very bad had just come up.
"I shall just have to take care of this myself and truly by myself, without any of your interference. This mess will be cleared up by tomorrow."To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Welcome to new reviewers-- I know this thing is quite a read from the beginning! And to everyone who has reviewed-- I thank you for sticking with me here. :) So things will continue in the windmills of my mind... and since I am comfortably ensconced in my room-- it is cold outside-- I shall do reviewer responses for those who reviewed chapter 20:
Anonymous- That is a good question-- whether or not Rocky is going to show up. He isn't included simply because he was not a part of Forever Red (even though he could have been in Forever Red instead of Eric. All they had to do was put him in the Ninjetti outfit.) But at any rate, I'm glad you thought to ask about Rocky. Poor man... he is so underrated and forgotten!
Charles RocketBoy- Of course Mesogog has something planned-- and if he doesn't, he's definitely going to retaliate. I mean what evil overlord can stand to be bested by their enemies? Glad you're liking it!
cmar- I always did wonder why the DT rangers never made the connection... go figure. And things be simple? Around this fic? Surely you jest! And as to the computer security-- that is rather frightening, isn't it? Thanks for the comments and I'm glad that I'm getting better with Eric's character.
Funky In Fishnet- You know, every time I see your pen-name, I think of Rocky Horror. I don't know if that is the intention or not. But at any rate, I'm glad you like Mary Anne. I had the idea early on (before this fic even) to see what a child of Billy and Trini would be like and there she is! :)
jim hawking jr- Thanks! Your short reviews always make me smile!
Giannola- Jen's vision is actually tied back to the first chapter-- the scene is when Wes, Jason and Tommy are talking about their girlfriends. And Cole certainly does have his work cut out for him. I'm glad you're liking it!
Ranger Lover- I have no problem with you repeating yourself! I appreciate that you review every chapter and let me know that you're still out there reading and enjoying it!
Satori Blackthorn- Wow! Thanks for the review and all your kind words! I know this is quickly becoming quite a read, especially from the beginning. :) I am especially flattered that you think my characterization is solid. (I'm not as familiar with some seasons as I am with others-- I started watching the original MMPR when I was eight and in third grade. So, unlike you, I have gaps in the middle.) And of course the twists and cliffhangers will keep coming! I am glad you like it-- keep the good feedback coming!
sayinjinj7- Thanks! I am continuing with the story-- partly as a personal commitment and partly in response to popular demand. But thanks for your kind words and praise. :)
the-power-of-love- Glad you like it! I can't tell you if Andros and Ashley will ever get Karone back! That would spoil the ending! Also leave me the domain for your e-mail and I can get back to you in more detail.
white time ranger- Thanks! I'm glad you approve of the end scene from the last chapter. I've only seen ahem three episodes of Time Force plus the Wild Force/Time Force team-up, so I've had a hard time deciding on Jen's character. Glad it passes inspection!