Episode 3: Snakes, Trains and Automobiles

It was two days after the new ranger' first experience with the alien, and they were all in school, but Carmen was still avoiding them. Tim walked over to Joe and leaned against the locker next to him. "Talk to our little friend lately?" He asked.

"I visited him yesterday. He's gathering old machines from the garbage at night. I think he's making some sort of high-tech base in that cave or something." Joey shrugged and closed his locker, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. "Have you been able to talk to Carmen at all?"

Tim shook his head, "Nope… every time I walk up to her she walks away. It's like she's even more angsty than before." Joey chuckled at the comment. "Hopefully if Te—er, our little friend needs us, she'll be there." Joey agreed, and the two split up once they came to Joey's class.

After school ended, Joey and Tim met up again. "Hey, uh, Tim, wait up. I wanna talk to Carmen for a second," Joey told his fellow ranger. Tim nodded, and the white ranger ran over to her. "Carmen! Wait up." Grunting, the girl stopped and turned around. "You wanna meet up with me and Tim at the mall later? We need to talk about stuff."

"Fine…" she mumbled. "When?"

"Five." Carmen nodded, and then walked out the door. Tim walked over to Joey. "We're going to the mall at five," He told the green ranger. Tim blinked. "We need to talk about stuff, after all. See ya in a few, dude," Joey said, walking to Freshman hall. Tim ran to his bus, not wanting to miss it.

A few hours later, Tim stood at the mall food court, his bag hanging over his shoulder, feeling a bit uncomfortable. After a few minutes he saw Joey and ran over to him. "What's in the bag?" He asked.

"Just…stuff." Tim answered. "Where's Carmen?"

"Dunno," Joey replied, looking across the food court for Carmen. Tim tugged on his sleeve, and pointed. Carmen was walking toward them now. Once she walked over to them, the trio sat down. "Alright, now that we're all here…we need to discuss some things. Carmen…I know you've got that anti-social thing going on, but if we're going to be working together…you need to lighten up, ya know?"

Carmen rolled her eyes. "It's great you wanna be my friends and all, but it's not an act or some stupid thing I do for attention. I just…don't like people that much."

Tim sighed. "Well…maybe if you got to know some of them… ya know? I'm sure under all that gruff exterior, you're a sweet girl and—" Tim was stopped by Carmen slamming her hand on the table.

"Ya know…you being a "geek" and all, I thought you'd be different than most guys, but apparently, you're not. I'm out of here." Carmen stood up and stormed out.

Tim was overcome with an immense urge to smack Carmen, but kept himself in check. Joey leaned back on his seat and sighed.

"That didn't work out so well." Tim and Joey turned around and saw a security guard standing next to the table. They looked at each other, and back at him. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to be listening in, but I was standing here and…uhh.. Hey! Is that shirt paid for?!" he yelled, running toward an old lady walking by.

The two shook their heads and went to talking, until Temari's voice started in their heads. "Rangers, I must ask you to meet me. I have something to show you."

Joey got up, and ran out the door, Tim following behind. "Stick your bike in my car, Tim," Joey suggested, and the green ranger did just that. Once that was done, Tim jumped in Joey's car, and the two drove to the cave Temari was hiding out in.

-----

Dostamyre stepped into Grahl's workshop, where he had just designed a monster to defeat the rangers. It looked like a humanoid with a snake-like head, and green skin. He held a large black sword and shield. "This looks…promising. Do not fail, me Grahl."

The bumbling alien nodded and started putting the finishing touches on the monster. A few bits and bobs for his armor. Dostamyre watched Grahl go about his duty. The monster looked fierce, but would it be able to do the job? Grahl picked up the model and put it under a large pipe. A glass cylinder rose from the ground and closed in the space under the pipe. Light shined down, and smoke rose up. In a few seconds, the full sized monster was standing inside the glass. Grahl clapped his hands, but Dostamyre simply narrowed his eyes and folded his arms.

-------

Once the rangers stepped inside the cave they were surprised to see both Carmen and that the cave had computers and other things lying around.

"Ah, I'm glad you could make it. Using spare parts from my escape pods, and assorted junk, I managed to create this messy little base. And…these…" Temari extended small walkie-talkie looking devices with screens. "They're communicators. Simple to use, but I thought if you all needed to get in contact with each other, they'd be helpful."

Suddenly, an alarm went off inside the cave, and a screen lit up. The Rangers and Temari turned around and looked. "How'd you get to happen?" Tim asked, curiously.

" 'Tis a secret," Temari answered with a grin. "Now look. That snake creature is attacking a train full of innocent people. I wouldn't doubt it's Dostamyre's handiwork. You must save those people, rangers!"

"Right," Joey said, turning around and taking out his morpher, and thrusting it in front of himself. "Mythic Lightning, Strike!" the three called together. In seconds, they were all morphed, and teleporting to the scene. They landed atop the train, and the snake creature looked at them. "White Dragon!" Joey yelled, striking a pose.

"Green Gryphon!" Tim yelled, taking a different pose.

"Purple Phoenix!" Carmen yelled, doing the same.

"Mythic Lightning Rangers, strike!" They yelled, jumping down in front of it.

"Now, I'm sure you're a reasonable monster," Tim said, "So how about you leave these folks on the train a lone…and we won't kick your butt. Deal?" The snake creature responded with thrusting its sword at him. "Guess not!" Tim grabbed the snake's arm, and flipped him over, and then kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back.

Carmen took out her Lighting Pistol, and fired a few shots, before transforming it into sword mode and running at the snake. But before she reached it, it stood up and the two started dueling. "We gotta help 'er," Joey said.

"Yeah, but she'd just tell us to shove off," Tim replied, taking out his pistol anyway. Joey nodded, and both transformed their pistols into sword mode. They ran forward, but were stopped by Taka dropping in front of them.

"Keep going, Tim. I'll take care of this thing," Joey said, pushing the green ranger forward. He nodded, and ran to help Carmen. "So…you ready for another beating?" Joey asked.

"The outcome of our battle will be quite different this time!" he roared, swinging his broadsword at Joey. The white ranger back flipped just in time, and then spun to slash him. But, the evil knight blocked with his shield, and kicked Joey in the chest, sending him flipping in the air and then slamming into the train.

Tim jumped in front of the snake's sword as Carmen lay on the ground, stopping it from hitting her. He pushed the creature away, and then slashed it twice. It flew into the air, sparks flying, and then Tim ran over to his fellow ranger. "You okay?" He asked, holding out his hand to help her up.

Carmen slapped his hand away. "I told you, I don't need or want your help." She got to her feet, and pushed Tim out of the way. He stumbled backward, and because of this, was saved from a blast that sent Carmen flying. He looked over at her, and she was completely still.

"Omigod. Petrified…is that thing a basilisk?" Tim looked at it quickly, and a beam from its eyes went soaring toward him. The green ranger dropped to the ground just in time to avoid the blast. He rolled, and then shot a blast from his pistol at its feet. It fell onto its back, and Tim called over to his teammate, "Joey! Get over here! Carmen's petrified."

"Carmen, scared?" He said, pushing against Taka's broadsword.

"No! Petrified. It means…bah. Basically, she just can't move. Get over here and help me kill this thing!"

"I'd love to, dude, but I'm kinda—grrr—busy at the moment!" He yelled, pushing the sword away, and slashing Taka against the chest.

Tim sighed, and held out his hand. "Gryphon Dagger!" He yelled, and the small dagger appeared in his hand. He formed his pistol back into a sword, and then slashed both at the same time. Green energy flew out from the tips, and cut the monster into fourths. After an explosion, Carmen got to her feet groggily. "Don't bother thanking me. All I did was save you from a fate worse than death."

Taka slammed his foot into Joey's chest, and then looked over at the debris. "No!! Creature…return…and GROW!" The crimson knight shot a beam from his shield, and the monster reformed, taller than most buildings in the city. It screeched, and slammed its foot into the ground, knocking the train off its tracks, and sent the rangers onto their backsides.

"How do we fight that?!" Joey yelled, struggling back onto his feet, as the monster stepped over him and picked the train up. "No!! The train!!" The white ranger's belt beeped, and he took the communicator from the back of his belt. "Yeah, Temari?"

"Call upon the power of your Mythizords! They shall give you the strength you need to stop him!"

"Worth a shot, right?" Tim chimed. Joey nodded, and raised his hand into the air.

"Mythizords…arrise!" Joey called. Nothing happened. "Um…White Dragon Mythizord Power!" He yelled, and after a few seconds of silence, a metal dragon soared down from the sky, screeching.

"Green Gryphon Mythizord Power!" Tim yelled, and shortly, a large gryphon soared down from the sky.

"Purple Phoenix Mythizord Power!" Carmen yelled, and phoenix soared down from the sky. The three rangers jumped into their zords, and their suits guided them with what to do inside.

"Alright, Tim, Carmen, distract that thing, I'll try and grab the train!" Joey said, sending the Dragon flying forward. The gryphon barreled toward the snake, blasting shots of energy from the tips of its wings. The snake fumbled and lost is balance, and then after being attacked on the other side by the phoenix, began to fall. Before it did however, Joey's dragon grabbed the train, and set it down safely on the ground. "Let's finish this thing," Joey said, activating his dragon's fire breath. Flames shot from the dragon zord, but were stopped by the snake's eyebeams.

"Move your zord!" Tim yelled, sending his gryphon to push the dragon out of the way. The zords collided, and the blast just missed the dragon. The vegetation growing on the cliff wall behind them turned gray and dead.

All the while, Carmen was circling above the snake, waiting for a good opportunity to strike. The snake began getting ready to shoot its beams, but was stopped by two lasers hitting it. "Tim, Joey, go!" she yelled, and the two others shot their attacks. The gryphon's green lasers and the dragon's fire, and the phoenix's blasts combined destroyed the creature at last.

-----

"GRAHL!!" Dostamyre howled, his eyes shimmering yellow a few seconds before returning to normal. The bumbling creature hid behind his eyes as the intimidating man stormed toward him. Whimpering, the alien prepared for his punishment. When it did not come, he moved his hands away from his face slightly, only for it to be met with Dostamyre's powerful fist. "YOU FOOL! Your monster is useless!"

Grahl stood clutching his bleeding nose. "I'b sowwy masther. I'll twy harber nesht time. I primise!"

"You best. For your sake," Dostamyre said in his cool, yet chilling voice.

-----

"I wish I knew how those zords got on Earth," Joey said as he and Tim sat at the mall food court.

"We'll ask him later," Tim suggested. He saw Joey point behind him, and he turned around to see Carmen walking toward them. The green ranger looked at the white, and quickly turned around. "Hey, Carmen! What brings you here?"

"I'm hungry," She said calmly. "Don't think this means I like you guys or something, 'kay? I just happen to know you, and you just happen to be here," she said.

"Right." Joey and Tim said at the same time. Right afterwards, the security guard from earlier came running by, and slipped on some trash, slammed his hand into a table, which sent food flying into the air and all over his face, which prompted laughter from quite a few people, Carmen not included.