Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Disney and the like, which I am not affliated with.
"Dad?" the three free-willed Rangers chorused disbelievingly. Halfway between Ethan and Mesogog, the Black Ranger cocked his head slightly.
"I'd always had my suspicions, since I found the gem in your lair," Trent continued. "But it was Ethan who made the final connection for me. All of the invisoportals --in one of your warehouses, in the museum, in our house-- how could Anton Mercer not be Mesogog?"
"Anton," said Dr. Oliver so softly that no one heard him.
"And here's something I bet you three didn't know," the White Ranger said lazily. "Elsa is Randall."
"That actually...doesn't surprise me at all," Conner said, shaking his head.
"I'm flattered," Elsa said flatly.
"So you've figured it out," Mesogog said. "Congratulations, son. Now with this knowledge in mind, I am confident you will declare your allegiance to our side."
"We had a deal, Trent!" Ethan yelled. "You said you wanted to take down Mesogog."
"I did," Trent said. "I do."
"Surely you wouldn't kill your own father," Mesogog said calmly, as though he knew perfectly well what Trent was going to do, even if Trent seemed uncertain.
"You're not my father," he spat. "Not by birth, and definitely not while you're some mutant freak. I told the Rangers I'd help them destroy you, then I'm destroying them myself. Reefside will soon be under my control."
"You are really starting to piss me off, dude," Conner said finally. "Super Dino Mode!" As his more powerful form revved up, he charged at Trent, knocking the surprised White Ranger to the ground.
"Conner!" Kira called as Trent bashed Conner's helmet repeatedly into the hard floor. But Conner kicked out, catching Trent in the shin. Trent groaned and relented just enough that Conner was able to roll the White Ranger off of him. If not restricted by his helmet, the now-standing Conner would have flashed the Yellow Ranger a cocky smile. "I've had worse," he said, and naturally in his moment of arrogance, Trent opted to rise to his feet behind him, and kick Conner in the gut with an impressive roundhouse.
"Dude, that was brutal," a winded Conner complained, then recovered a second later and once lunged for Trent.
"I will not stand for this," Mesogog said, and performed his mind-scrambling move on the first person he came across, who happened to be Zeltrax. "I do not tolerate betrayal," the lizard hissed, and Zeltrax felt to his knees, screaming in the throes of agony as his master ordered, "Elsa! Doctor Oliver! Dispose of the extra Rangers."
"As you wish, my lord," said Elsa with a quick nod, and she charged at Kira.
"Whoa!" Kira said, jumping back just in time to avoid the swing of Elsa's sword. The one thing she missed about being in morph was that she couldn't use her ptera-scream. But she was so happy to be in the spandex again that it didn't matter much. She commanded her Ptera Grips, and she met Elsa, blow for blow.
Dr. O., meanwhile, was taking on Ethan. He was putting up a fierce fight, and Ethan was struggling to keep up with his mentor. Tommy Oliver was the Ranger longest in uniform and most often put in a leading position for good reason: he was an amazing fighter. Ethan had always been grateful to be under Dr. O.'s tutelage, but he had never realized how hard Zeltrax had it, fighting the Black Ranger every day. As he tried to hold off Dr. O. as best he could with his Tricera Shield, and attempting not to fight back against his teacher and friend, Ethan was trying to talk the Black Ranger down. "Dr. O., it's me, it's Ethan! I'm a Ranger, just like you! You don't want to be working for Mesogog, why would you want to work for someone that pits Ranger against Ranger?" he said, ducking just in time to avoid a spinning kick to the head that was apparently Dr. O.'s answer.
Conner was getting winded, and he was unable to maintain Super Dino Mode, so he resorted to his normal form with a slight renewed vigor. It did take a little extra work to maintain Super Dino, so now he had that spare energy to concentrate to other matters. Out of the corner of his eye, he observed Ethan trying to talk Dr. O. out of kicking his ass, Kira rapidly growing tired against Elsa's endless assault. Conner ducked one of Trent's flying fists and spun around the White Ranger, this time getting a view of Zeltrax on the ground, falling to his hands and his knees, panting for air, for release, as an orange glow haloed around him, penetrating the thick cyborg skull. Conner didn't envy his adversary any time, particularly now.
Conner pummeled Trent into the ground, and for the second time in only a few days, he held the advantage over the Ranger in white, who lost his morph. It was time to end this. Not just his struggle with Trent, but all of this nonsense. He was through.
"Kira, Ethan!" Conner barked from his position on the floor. "Lasers! Aim for anything --and anyone-- that looks large and in charge! We're taking this place to the ground!"
Ethan tilted his head questioningly, but he trusted the Red Ranger's judgment. Conner had gotten them into a few scrapes in their duration in duty, but he'd gotten them out of far more. In the beginning, he'd been utterly incompetent, but he'd proven to have a good head on his shoulders.
The Yellow and Blue Rangers drew their lasers and fired. Kira at Elsa, Ethan at the wall of DNA samples behind the various battles. Glass shattered, green goo flew about the room. Elsa went down like a sack of bricks from a direct hit at close range. Kira and Ethan continued their siege on the main chamber while Conner rose to his feet, Trent wheezing on the ground, battered but not broken. Conner began firing his own laser, taking potshots at Mesogog, and anything that looked science-y, deeming it dangerous to society.
The shelves of experiments were falling to the ground, there was general chaos as vials and test tubes smashed everywhere, as various villains moaned in pain, as things exploded from laser fire. Conner took aim at what he thought to be the main security system; it fizzled from the shot, smoke rising and electricity crackling before it burst into flame, and suddenly the room began to shake. Clearly, whatever apparatus Conner had destroyed was tied to the entire fortress.
"Time to move," he barked, hoping that the invisoportal was still triggered. "Ethan, grab Dr. O."
Without question, Ethan holstered his laser gun and grabbed a stunned Black Ranger, shoving him through the glowing green oval. "Kira! Go!" Conner yelled, firing randomly around the room. He had wanted complete demolition of the lair, and he intended to get it.
Kira moved towards the portal. Conner had been waiting for her to get through safely before he went through himself, but after he had finished blasting the hell out of the self-destructing main chamber, he looked at Trent, prone at his feet.
Trent, who wanted to obliterate the Rangers.
Who had claimed that Reefside would be under his control.
Whose dad was Mesogog.
Who had moments ago been beating the living crap out of Conner.
Who was a Ranger.
Who had once been a friend.
Although for selfish purposes, he had helped all three of his fellow Rangers throughout this ordeal. Conner hated his guts. But one thing he had learned about himself was that no matter how much he loathed the kid --and oh, how he detested Trent Fernandez-- Conner was incapable of killing him. And leaving him here would be as good as death.
Conner bent and lifted Trent into his arms, intending to perform the ultimate act of heroism, as was his Ranger duty, and help his fellow man. The walls were crumbling around the individuals still packed inside the chamber. Conner could vaguely make out the lumpy shapes of Mesogog and his goons, trapped somewhere within the evidence of their lost experiments. Kira was hovering near the portal. The place was moments from collapsing upon itself.
"Go, go, go!" he ordered at Kira. One might think that seeing the girl he loved clad in yellow spandex day after day might be something exciting, something sexy, but it had only ever sparked terror in Conner. Every time she was in the spandex, she was risking her life for the populace, under Conner's command to do something potentially life-threatening. Every time he saw the petite girl in the tight, uncomfortable outfit, he felt nothing but worry. He prayed after this, he'd never have to deal with that again. That he would be able to look at Kira with only fear that she might kick his butt for being an idiot, not fear that she might not live through the battle.
"Con--" she began urgently, and Conner fell forward, Trent weighing him down, as something stabbed him sharply in the back.
"Conner!" Kira shrieked desperately, as Conner fell to the ground and lost his morph. Heat was spreading through his back, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elsa standing over him triumphantly.
"I would never let you win," she declared, and he saw the glint of her sword in the flickering lights of the crumbling lair, saw the dark stain at the point. He pieced together this information very slowly, a certain blackness creeping into his brain, begging to cover up the pain like a thick, dark blanket.
"Kira, stop her," he said, his voice sounding foreign. "Don't let her through the portal."
He blinked furiously, trying to keep his eyes open, something in the back of his mind demanding that he keep conscious, that he not fall victim to the same sinister shroud that had claimed Trent. He heard from far away Kira's command for her weapon, he saw the blurry yellow shape rushing towards the blurry black shape, he heard a terrifying, final slice, he saw one of the shapes fall. He couldn't tell what was falling, however, because it was too late for him.
Conner wanted an escape from the overwhelming pain.
He succumbed to the dark.