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-Four: Is It All In Vain?
"This is awesome!"
Conner grinned at Kira's voice over the communication system. She swooped the Yellow Eagle down towards the grounded zords, swatting at them playfully with a large talon. He had to admit, these zords were really cool. Unlike the biozords, these zords almost responded to their thoughts rather than commands. All he had to do was think about what he wanted his Red Lion zord to do and it was done. It seemed like the days of memorizing commands and controls were over for them. He'd keep his Wild Zord if Princess Shayla would let him.
"You leave my shark alone!" Ethan retorted to Kira. The Blue Shark was hovering a few feet above the ground and wriggling back and forth like it was swimming. The only problem was that there was no water anywhere and it looked odd. However, Ethan seemed to have developed an attachment to it. Heck, they all had grown to love their new zords in the half hour that they had been entrusted to them.
The Dragon-Zord was lumbering down the street behind them. They would have two full fighting zords if they chose to form the Wild Force Megazord. But from what Conner had seen of their zords, these animals were capable of lots on their own and didn't necessarily have to be combined for full fighting power.
"My tiger can take your eagle any day!" Trent joshed over the open communication line, obviously in the direction of Kira.
"I don't think so," Kira replied.
"And I'm going to kill all of you if you don't focus," Doctor O added to the conversation and effectively ended it.
Conner laughed to himself as the Red Lion carried him bounding towards downtown Reefside where the horror that Mesogog had become awaited them. He always knew that it would come to this—a final showdown between them and Mesogog, but he had not anticipated it coming so soon. Well, they had been fighting Mesogog for the better part of a year, but didn't these battles still come later? With determination in his eyes, he urged the Red Lion to go faster as it sped up its long bounds heading for the city.
"I love these zords!" Ethan said into the communication line. "We need to throw a party for that Merrick guy when we get back."
"If he's still there," Kira replied.
"Yeah," Conner added. "He didn't seem too thrilled about sticking around."
Merrick struck Conner as a decided loner and there was nothing that was going to sway him from that path. The man seemed nice enough, but there was something settled underneath his air of civility that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Perhaps it was guilt. That seemed to be a recurring emotion in Power Rangers who had been the last to join a team. But what did someone like Merrick have to be guilty about? Conner had to admit that he had no way of knowing anything about the Wild Force Rangers beyond the fact that Cole seemed like a decent guy and Merrick seemed more at home by himself then around others.
"He probably will stick around though," Doctor O said.
"Why?" Trent asked.
"If I recall correctly from the archives, he was once Princess Shayla's protector and, if she sent him on this mission, he will see it out to the end."
"Were they lovers or something?" Kira questioned.
"I don't know. And I'd imagine that we don't need to know."
Conner understood that sentiment. There was a lot about some rangers' past that they didn't want to talk about and that no one else knew about. Not that he personally had anything he wanted to keep hidden (except for maybe the crush he'd had on Kira since he met her, but she and Trent were dating so it was a moot point.) He imagined that some things were better left unsaid in the long run. His mother had always told him that and he hadn't really understood what it truly meant until now.
"Target on visual," Ethan said flippantly.
Well, when he was right, he was right. Mesogog towered over the buildings much in the fashion of the monsters he had sent to destroy them. Conner got the feeling that Mesogog had finally snapped in regards to his underlings botching what were pretty simple jobs.
"Let's bring 'em together, guys," Doctor O said.
Apparently, the thought went straight to the Wild Zords because he felt his zord propelled upward along with the other zords. In what seemed like a mere moment, he was sitting in a main control room with Doctor O, Kira, Ethan and Trent.
"Can we keep these?" he asked Doctor O.
He imagined that Doctor O was rolling his eyes under his helmet. "It's not my decision," their teacher replied. "You'll have to take that up with Princess Shayla."
"Bummer," Ethan muttered.
"Rangers?" Mesogog's voice had gone from a low, sinister hiss to a booming roar that was enough to rattle the smallest of nerves and capillaries in one's body.
"That'd be us," Conner replied.
"I see you have found yourselves new zords—it is a small matter. You will be crushed anyways." Mesogog indulged in roaring evil laughter.
"When will they ever learn a new laugh?" Doctor O groaned.
The Wild Force Megazord landed into a defensive position as the Dragon-Zord lumbered up besides them, brandishing his drill tail and missile-fingers. There was a soft accompanying sound of the Dragon Dagger as Billy used it to control the zord.
"You dredge up ancient zords? You are truly fools!"
Mesogog threw his arm forward and issued a bolt of pink lightening. The shock rattled both the zords and threw them back a step or two.
"Now I'm mad!" Conner growled. "Sword and shield mode!" he commanded, almost instinctively knowing that that would bring about the weapons they needed. Immediately, a sword appeared in the right hand of the megazord and a shield in the left hand. The megazord swung the sword expertly and hit Mesogog. The reptile creature screeched.
The Dragon-Zord stepped forward and hit Mesogog with its drill tail. The reptile screeched and aimed another bolt of lightening, this time at the Dragon-Zord. The megazord stepped in between them and deflected it with the shield. The energy burst reflected off the shied and back onto Mesogog. He staggered backwards.
"You will pay for that, rangers!" he said in a low voice, clutching his right shoulder. He charged towards them.
"Missiles!" Billy yelled from somewhere far off.
At the same time, Conner yelled, "Sword! Full power!"
The Dragon-Zord's missiles and the blow from the sword hit Mesogog square in the chest and his charge piddled out into a staggering walk, far from them. Sparks began to fly and Mesogog fell to his knees. Mesogog roared and aimed another blast at them. The Dragon-Zord took the full brunt of it and fell awkwardly to the side. The revitalizing music from the Dragon Dagger could be heard as the megazord stepped in front of the downed zord. This was something the Power Rangers believed in that the bad guys never had—they protected each other and left no man behind.
The megazord reached out and helped haul the Dragon-Zord back to its upright position. "Let's finish this," Doctor O said. The megazord charged up the sword and struck Mesogog across the back, between the shoulders. The Dragon-Zord took its cue and fired another round of missiles.
This time sparks really began to fly. An explosion seemed to come from Mesogog's very back as he screeched and fell to the ground. A fierce explosion followed, forcing the Dragon-Zord and the megazord to take a step backwards. Conner looked down to the ground. Mesogog had returned to his normal size and form. Whatever he had done to himself had been undone by their attack. Mesogog struggled to his feet and looked up at the towering Megazord and Dragon-Zord. He raised his hand and disappeared with a crack of green lightening.
"This isn't over," Doctor O said.
"Hey!" Conner replied. "At least we have zords that can't be destroyed by a virus since they aren't hooked up to our computer."
"The man's right," Ethan added.
"Can this thing fly?" Kira asked, changing the subject.
"I don't know," Conner and Doctor O said at the same time.
Kira nodded at them. "Let's find out." She held her communicator up to her mouth. "Hayley, what are the coordinates for that island?"
Hayley read them off. "Why?" she asked at the end.
"'Cause we're going to take out the shields and force fields around that sucker."
As if the megazord knew their intent, it floated up into the air and then sped off in the direction of the ocean and the battle royale island. Conner was amazed. How did the Wild Force Rangers get such cool zords when they got zords that had to be commanded for every move? These things were amazing. In no time at all, that dreaded island came into view.
"There's a generator," Trent said, pointing down to the island.
"Let's go for it," Conner replied.
The megazord landed next to the generator. Conner suddenly saw how that island had worked. All of the force fields that had made it so difficult for Billy and Mary Anne to get locks on people appeared to be powered from a single generator that was probably hooked up to a computer on Mesogog's island fortress. The megazord brandished the sword and took out the generator with a single blow. It sparked before exploding. A green crackle came over the whole island, excluding the generator and dissipated.
"Hayley," Doctor O said into his communicator. "I think it is safe to say that the battle royale island belongs to us. Send Adam and Kim with some others to start searching for Carter and Jen on that thing and keep close tabs on everyone."
"You got it," Hayley replied.
"Let's get back to the lab," Doctor O told them. "I have the feeling that Mesogog is just going to lick his wounds. He'll be back soon enough."
Wes tried to smile valiantly as he pulled the backpack full of gear that Hayley had given him in place on his back. He wanted to help with this. He wanted to find Jen. With everything that happened, it had been impossible to tell if she was hurt, if she just flat wasn't answering or if something got a hold of her morpher. He knew that Tommy had everyone's best interests in mind when he told everyone to stay put and not leave the lab until they knew more. He wanted to do this and he was terrified of it at the same time. He didn't want to find Jen dead or dying, not when they had been so close to being together after all this time.
Hayley turned to them from the control panel. She was sending himself, Adam, Kimberly (those two on Tommy's orders) and Jason. He and Jason had actually volunteered. "I'm still getting life signals on them," Hayley was saying. "If they need immediate medical assistance, I can get a Life Flight helicopter there in no time."
"That's comforting," Jason muttered.
"If you guys run into any trouble, I mean any trouble, contact me immediately." She paused. "Adam and Kim, you guys can teleport out from your morphers. I need to get Wes and Jason from the computer, so keep an open communication line."
"Will do," Adam replied.
"Good luck, guys," Hayley said softly. Adam and Kimberly pressed the buttons on their morphers and disappeared in two streaks of orange and pink light. Hayley tapped a few buttons on the keyboard and Wes felt himself lifted upward and land on that horrible island once more.
"Hayley," Adam said into his communicator. "Can you get us the coordinates of Jen?"
"Sure," Hayley said and read off some figures. "You can also use the scanner to track her."
Adam pulled a small scanner out of his pocket and flipped it open. It came to life and began to beep. The Orange Ranger made a slight half turn and pointed into the trees. "This way," he said.
"Hayley," Kimberly asked. "Why don't you just teleport Jen out of here?"
Wes had been wondering the very same thing. "I don't want to risk it," Hayley replied. "She could be badly injured and the teleportation is not easy on the system. You guys don't feel anything because you're strong and healthy. If someone is seriously injured, teleportation could put enough strain on their system to kill them while they teleported someplace."
Wes felt his heart constrict with panic and bile rise in the back of his throat. These people were all Power Rangers or dedicated to helping rangers. He should have thought that certain things seemed to be neglected because something like that could happen. He said a small prayer of thanks as he followed Adam through the thick foliage. This island seemed so peaceful. It was hardly like the place of terror that it had been to them.
"We'll find her, man," Jason said from behind him.
Wes turned around and tried to smile, failing miserably. He felt like throwing up. He felt like he was in a nightmare and soon he would wake up and find out that everything had been merely a dream. This was just a dream… Perhaps Jen was safely back in the year 3000 and he was still dreaming of her. It seemed like a cruel twist of fate, to give him exactly what his heart had longed for and then snatch it away without a second thought.
Hot tears stung his eyes. He furiously wiped at them with the back of his hand. He was not going to lose it over this. They were going to find Jen and she was going to be fine. He tried to swallow the lump in back of his throat. This was his worst nightmare.
"You all right?" Jason asked him. Wes nodded quickly, not wanting everyone with him to suddenly be aware of the nightmarish possibilities running through his head. "Wes," Jason said softly. "Jen is a Power Ranger. She's strong. She'll come out of this."
"I hope so," he replied softly.
"Hey man," Jason said sharply, but in such a way that meant he was serious and attention needed to be paid. "We are Power Rangers and Power Rangers do not give up."
Wes nodded, realizing that what Jason said was true. He fixed his eyes on Adam's back and the forest in front of him. He hoped that Jason was right.
Tommy smiled as he walked out onto the back porch and saw Conner sitting on the lawn, looking up at the huge Red Lion zord. Everything in the house had settled down, especially once the team to look for Carter and Jen went out. Andros and Ashley had tried calling Cole's cell phone, but with the same results as before. The cell phone had to be dead and Cole probably didn't have a charger, otherwise he would have called. No one dared entertain any of the worse case scenarios concerning that.
Leo and Kendrix were upstairs in his guest room. Kendrix had calmed down after they initially teleported her back. What her and Leo were doing up in that guest room was left open to the imagination, but since the imaginations of these people tended towards the erotic, he could probably guess for himself what was running through the ranks.
The Red Lion roared. Conner turned around to see him, a wide grin spreading over his face. "These zords are cool, Doctor O!" he called.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and made his way out across the lawn. The Black Bison made a noise in his direction that could only be described as a 'moo.' He laughed and waved at the Wild Zord that seemed to claim him. It mooed again and went back to whatever it was that it was doing over by the trees. The Yellow Eagle swooped down and screeched at the pair of them.
"Lucky for us that Merrick showed up when he did," Conner commented.
"Can't argue with you there," Tommy replied.
"I just want to know how Princess Shayla knew," Conner continued. "I mean, the archives said that she went back to sleep after the orgs were defeated." Tommy smiled, forgetting how extensive the archives actually were and how often Conner and the others watched them for pure entertainment value.
"It's much like I already told you."
The pair of them turned to see Merrick coming out of the house and heading across the yard towards them. He looked a bit frazzled, probably from the sheer number of people running around his house.
"Did she wake up?" Conner asked, scrambling to his feet as Merrick joined them.
Merrick nodded. "She did. Sometimes when there are disturbances of a great kind, she awakens and sends help. She had been asleep for 3000 years before she woke up and gave the Wild Force powers to five people."
"Why didn't she wake up before that?"
Merrick shrugged. "I suppose because Zordon was still alive and powering the different groups of rangers. The ones that followed were powered by something and her intervention was not needed until the orgs surfaced."
"I don't get it." Tommy laughed as Merrick raised an eyebrow.
"It is safe to say that she realized your zords had been destroyed and she was the only with the power to give you new zords."
Conner nodded and glanced back to his Red Lion. It was obvious that, no matter how much they had enjoyed their biozords, these zords took a much more personal approach to being a zord and that the kids liked them a lot. "I just have one more question," Conner said.
Merrick looked like the prospect might be either amusing or terrifying. Tommy was inclined to agree with him. Most of the things Conner said were either amusing, dumb or, in his lucid moments, brilliant. Not that Conner wasn't smart, he was. His smartness just manifested itself in different ways from others. That was part of the reason that Tommy was inclined to believe in multiple kinds of intelligence.
"Yes?" Merrick asked.
"Were you and Princess Shayla ever involved with each other?"
Tommy coughed loudly and falsely. Merrick just gave Conner his usual stoic look. Trust Conner to ask about what everyone else was thinking about. "Once," Merrick replied. "Over 3000 years ago."
"You're 3000 years old?"
Merrick shrugged. "I was trapped behind a mask for most of them."
"Dude!" Conner looked impressed. "Where do you live? Where do you work?"
The man seemed nonplussed by all the questions. "I traveled for a while, but I came back to Turtle Cove." He shrugged again. "I work at a bar."
That impressed Conner even more because his mouth was hanging wide open with a mixture of awe and admiration written all over his face. Tommy just laughed and Merrick cracked a smile. Some things were just too priceless.
"Are you the bartender?" Conner asked.
Merrick nodded. "What? Did you think I was the waitress?"
Conner frowned. "No, but you never can tell."
"So what do you do?" Merrick asked Conner.
"I play soccer." He paused. "And I'm still in high school."
"Are you teaching?" the Lunar Wolf asked Tommy.
But he never got a chance to answer or to tell him that Cole was missing and that what most of Cole had told him after that mission to the moon was probably now obsolete. There was a flash of green lightening. Tommy felt a slight pang of anxiety in his stomach as the three of them launched into defensive positions. Elsa was standing before them with one of her trademark unpleasant grins on her face.
"I bring a message from Mesogog," she said.
"Like that's good news," Conner muttered.
"Silence," she said savagely to Conner before turning her entire attention to Tommy. "My master wants to face you, alone."
"Really?" Tommy asked.
"Yes, really!" she snapped. "Meet him in front of the Museum of Natural History in one hour. No tricks. Just you and him." She disappeared with a crack of green lightening.To Be Continued...
Author's Note: More and more people just keep picking this up with each update-- it never fails to amaze me! (You know, I had originally thought that there would not be much audience for this story-- guess that's what I get for thinking when I'm not used to it.) At any rate, I'm going to do some reviewer responses for people who reviewed chapter 23:
Anonymous 11-4-2004- I can't see how someone would mistake Cole for Wes... oh wait, I can in some strange sense. (I do need to get a hobby.) But that was supposed to be humorous, so I'm glad you approve. I'm glad your liking the story. As to your other questions, I can't tell you that! It would spoil all the supense!
Anonymous 11-3-2004- Glad you like it! Updates will be coming regularly.
cmar- I probably did mean 'dematerialized' but my brain synapses disconnected and I wrote it incorrectly. I'll have to go back and fix that... But I am glad that you like where the story is going. (I had a huge debate about whether or not to bring Merrick in when I was originally doing the outline and, as you can see, the Merrick thing won.) Keep the great feedback coming!
Funky In Fishnet- Glad the intro of Merrick was believable. (The only Wild Force episode I've seen with him in it, he said precisely four words. Not exactly a great picture of his character.) So a lot of research went into him and I'm glad it paid off. :)
Giannola- We shall see what happens to all these people. :) I'm glad you like the story and keep the comments coming!
jenny- Believe it or not, I think Zordon actually might be 3000 years old. They say something about that in the first movie although I don't think it is specifically mentioned anywhere in the series. I'd have to watch the movie again! Thanks for the sweet review!
Manders1953- Merrick does have a gray streak going, but since it was a cursory glance of his looks, I didn't mention it. And the X-men things do seem to be abounding in this particular incarnation of Power Rangers, don't they? I'm glad you like the story!
Satori Blackthorn- I shall be keeping up with the regular updates. I know I hate it when I'm reading a story and really enjoying it, then the author doesn't update for months at a time or never finishes it. (Although I am guilty of the latter sometimes...) But I'm glad you like it!
sayinjinj7- Thanks! I'm updating on a regular basis now, so I hope I'm satisfying the demand!
Warstock-Leonhart- Welcome to the review board! Actually, Adam was the green Zeo and Turbo ranger (before he passed his Turbo powers on to Carlos.) I didn't want to make him green again. (And you know it ain't easy bein' green!) Originally, when my brother and I were coming up with the colors for the new gems and who would get each one (yes, that was a collective effort) we decided that Billy needed to be the green ranger. I'm not entirely sure what the reasoning behind it was, but the school colors with Adam worked well. And it stuck. As to Conner becoming part of the distress signal, I can't tell you that yet! :) But I am glad you reviewed and like the story!
white time ranger- Maybe... I don't know... I can't tell you that! Actually I can give you a definite maybe. Just keep in mind that the Time Force stuff revolving around Jen will have to be addressed at some point in time. Keep the good comments coming!