Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Disney and the like, which I am not affliated with.
>
The laser fire had been aimed low, so it only hit Dr. O.'s leg, but while not fatal, it was certainly painful and effective. The Black Ranger crumpled, releasing his grasp on Hayley, as Ethan had intended. She shot Ethan a worried look, but it was brief, and she was over at the machinery, trying to gauge the damage on the device that had saved Dr. O. last time. The wounded professor knelt on one good leg, while Ethan continued to train his own weapon at him. "I'll do it again if I have to," he said with cold calculation.
"You're better at this than I ever gave you credit for," Trent said, looking a little impressed.
"Shut it," Ethan said sharply. "I'm not proud. It's duty."
A loud humming sound permeated the tense silence. "Did you get it?" called Ethan.
"Bring him over," Hayley said. "I've got it."
"Get up," Ethan commanded, waving the laser gun at his teacher. Dr. O. gazed at him for a long moment, his expression unreadable behind the helmet. Then he got to his feet, stumbling as he slowly stood. "You," Ethan said, nodding at Trent. "Help him."
"Why should I--"
"Listen, dude, I like Dr. O."
Trent stared, then went over to Dr. O., looping the professor's arm around his shoulders and helping him stand up. Ethan followed them, feeling kind of sick to his stomach about what he was doing. But he kept a collected demeanor, and an impassive game face. Hayley aimed the humming machine at Dr. O., glancing anxiously at Ethan before starting the device. The hum became a roar as there was a flash of light. Ethan abandoned his guarding of his fellow Rangers long enough to throw up his arms and shield himself from the light.
When he lowered his arm, Trent stood glowering in the corner, while Hayley's eyes widened, and Ethan got to see Dr. O.'s grin for the first time in a long time. "Hayley, you did it," Dr. O. said, touching his chest briefly as to make sure it was real. "I'm free." He glanced up at her with an expression of wonderment and joy. Hayley stared at him for a long moment, then broke into a relieved smile, crossing the room in a few short steps to throw her arms around his shoulders. "You're back," she whispered, squeezing him. A perplexed-looking Dr. O. hugged her back tentatively, before Hayley released him and grinned at Ethan. "He's back to his old self. You can see it in his eyes."
"Awesome," Ethan said with a relieved sigh, lowering the laser. He stepped cautiously towards his professor, gazing at the man for a long moment before he recognized the familiar, near-paternal flicker. He smiled, and handed Dr. O. the blaster. "Here ya go."
Dr. O. flipped it over in his hands. "This is mine."
"Yeah."
"Why do you have it?" he asked. "Why is Trent here?" he added, just noticing the boy in white still hovering. "And where are Kira and Conner? Last thing I remember, we got taken to Mesogog's fortress and got separated...what happened?"
Ethan opened his mouth to answer, but before the words could come out, his communicator beeped at him. "Ethan, trouble at the hospital NOW," came Kira's voice.
"Something's wrong with Conner," Ethan said worriedly, already backing towards the entrance. "Hayley, fill Dr. O. in. Dr. O., keep an eye on Trent. I've got to..." Worry gripped at him as he thought about the severity of Conner's condition.
"Go, go," Hayley said, waving her hands at him in a shooing motion. "We'll catch up."
"Are you sure you don't--"
"He'll be fine," she assured him with not as much conviction as he would've liked. "He can wait for us. Go."
Ethan took the stairs two at a time, heart pounding, scared sick for his best friend.
>
"Dino Thunder, power up!" Kira shouted without thinking. The three of them were alone in the room, and she felt better morphed. She clicked at her communicator. "Ethan, trouble at the hospital NOW." She glared at Elsa through her visor. "I thought you were dead."
"You can't get rid of me that easily," Elsa sneered.
"Huh. Had evidence to the contrary. How'd you get out? Hayley said there was only one portal used."
"Your precious Hayley isn't infallible. I was able to activate the emergency portal that Mesogog keeps for himself."
"So he got out, too?"
"No. I had to pry the control from his corpse." The lady in leather showed no remorse over the loss of her master. Loyalty only went so far, apparently. On the bright side, it was confirmation that two of their adversaries were dead.
Now, to dispose of the third.
Kira pulled her laser with quick reflexes and fired. But enough time had passed that Elsa was operating with quick reflexes again herself, lifting her sword to deflect Kira's fire with the flat of the blade. The golden beam angled sharply, returning back to Kira's side of the room, and she ducked out of instinct, though it wasn't aimed at her. It made its erratic mark somewhere north of Conner's bed, and cold panic seized at Kira as she realized how close it was to him.
They had to take this fight outside.
Kira charged at Elsa, landing a jump kick to her adversary's solar plexus, sending the woman stumbling back a few steps and thankfully, into the hall.
"What the hell?" she heard Ethan say, and she saw Ethan, Eric, and Mr. and Mrs. McKnight standing in the hallway. "When you said there was trouble, I assumed it was trouble with Conner."
"It's about to be trouble with Conner if we don't take her down fast!" Kira said. "Ethan, morph!"
"What are you talking about?" Ethan hedged, with a nervous look at the McKnights.
"They know," she said impatiently, dodging a kick from Elsa. "Morph, now!"
"Dino Thunder, power up!" Ethan commanded, and the Blue Ranger charged in to join the fight. Elsa whipped around her sword with the obvious intent of decapitating Ethan or the like, but he was quick with the Tricera Shield. "How is it possible you're tougher than ever?" he grunted, using the weight of the shield to push the sword off. Kira took advantage of this moment to strike Elsa's torso with her Ptera Grips.
Elsa stumbled away from the duo, her back to the wall, breathing heavily. She eyed them both with wild eyes, and they advanced on her slowly, Thundermax Sabers raised. Elsa let out a battle cry, suddenly plowing through them without intent to strike or block, merely to pass them. Stunned, there was nothing Kira or Ethan could do, and they realized almost too late that Elsa had retreated into Conner's room.
She had come to the hospital to finish what she'd started. Without Conner, the team was hardly a team. Kira's blood ran cold, and she exchanged a look with Ethan that was obscured by their helmets, but was nonetheless an expression of their true horror.
"Conner--!" Kira said, and the two Rangers darted into the room. Conner was still unconscious, oblivious to the demonic woman about to plunge her sword through him a second time. At this close range, she would not miss his vitals as much as before. Conner would not recover from this assault. He'd be dead almost instantaneously.
Kira clicked the release valves and removed her helmet. She let out a Ptera scream that bowled Elsa over, knocking into the IV feeding fluids into Conner's body. The tube came loose as the stand hit the ground, and liquid splashed all over the room. Kira pulled her laser. Elsa wouldn't be able to deflect the beam this time.
She fired.
The blast hit Elsa's battered leather armor with a sizzle, and the woman fell still, her eyes rolling back in her head as she slumped into a horizontal position on the floor. Kira remembered to breathe. Ethan was inspecting Conner. "No worse off than he was before," he reported, and Kira sighed, relieved.
Her relief was short-lived. The crash had been loud and the presence of Power Rangers fighting in the hallway had led people to be gathering at the doorway, so there was a slew of people standing there, witnessing Kira in standby mode, helmet tucked under one arm, face exposed.