Chapter Two

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Jason climbed out of bed, fastened his communicator around his wrist and reached over to the chair beside his desk for the shirt he'd draped there last night. Making his way downstairs, he stretched his arms out behind him as he entered the kitchen, finding his mother glancing through the morning newspaper.

Mrs Scott looked up as Jason slid into a chair across from her. "Morning sweety."

"Morning," Jason nodded, reaching for a jug of apple juice. "Man, I slept well last night."

Mrs Scott smiled. "Tell us about it," she said. "Your father's already left for the day. It's a good thing you don't have any classes first up, I don't think you'd make them."

Jason nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Normally the birds wake me up first thing," he said. "I didn't hear them this morning."

His mother glanced up from the paper, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Now that you mention it, we didn't hear them either actually," she said.

Jason looked up. The part of his mind that had switched on when he'd first received his Power Coin was suddenly wide awake, charging through the cobwebs with a sword raised high. Every morning he'd had to listen to what sounded like thousands of lorikeets having a rave party just outside his window. It was such a part of every morning that he hadn't given its absence a second thought. But it was odd that this morning they'd decided to leave the house alone - and odd just didn't sit well with him.

Standing up, Jason crossed to the kitchen window and stared out into the backyard. Aside from a lonely cricket enjoying newfound freedom, the yard was almost totally silent. The stone bird bath in the far corner was deserted, while the bird feeder hanging above was also empty, the food scraps there untouched.

"So, next question," Jason began softly, "where did they all go?"

For what felt like the hundredth time that morning, Chief Air-Traffic Controller of Caloundra Airport John Smith glanced over the glowing radar screen in front of him, rubbed his tired eyes and drank a cup of warm coffee from his thermos. For as long as the airport had stood, the early shift had been his, a lonely vigil that saw the sun rise every morning but little else, and this morning had been typically uneventful - two take-offs, one landing, and a couple of hot-air balloons just before dawn. The most exciting thing to happen was when he'd called the Bureau of Meteorology to report the wind blowing in exactly the opposite direction than usual for this time of year.

John smiled, and leaned back in his chair. The airspace above the city was just somewhere nobody wanted to be these days.

The door of the control tower opened behind him, and he glanced to his watch as Liam Young stepped into the room.

"You're early," said John. "It's not even ten o'clock yet."

Liam hung his coat by the door. "Figured you'd be lonely," the younger man replied with a smile. "Plus, I have the morning paper and - wait for it - fresh coffee."

John grinned. "Music to my ears."

Liam stepped over to the control panel. "Anything interesting happening?"

John shook his head, and glanced back down over the screen. "Nah, nothing..." he began, but stopped. There was something registering, a tiny blip in the northwest corner of the screen that hadn't been there a second ago. No, change that, a line of somethings, steadily moving down towards the centre of the screen.

Liam saw the expression dawning on John's face. "What's wrong?"

"Take a look at this," said John quickly, tapping the screen.

Liam glanced down over John's shoulder, and his eyes went wide. "What the hell is that?"

Even as they watched, the line continued to creep across the screen, a blanket of something on a direct course for the city.

John glanced up to the windows but the tower faced south - with increasing worry, he pushed his chair back, crossed the room and pulled the door open. Stepping outside onto the balcony, he looked west, straining his eyes to see through the morning haze - for a brief second the clouds parted and he saw it, a huge black mass stretched out against the blue sky. The mass was solid at first glance, but the longer he watched, the more it appeared to be disjointed and broken, made up of smaller figures all moving with a single mind.

Behind him, Liam shook his head in disbelief. "We gotta do something," he mumbled, "call somebody."

John sagged back against the wall. "Yeah," he replied, turning to the younger man. "But who?"

Even as the school bell signalling the fifteen minute morning tea break echoed across the school, everyone in our class was already heading for the door of the classroom.

"So," I began, as Brendan and I made it to our backpacks and began unloading food, "what do you want to do this recess?"

Brendan shrugged. "Oh, I don't know, something interesting maybe?"

I smiled as we stepped away from the bag-racks and began to walk down towards the oval. "I don't know if you missed the 'Welcome to Caloundra' brochure, but around here, 'interesting' is not always a good thing."

Brendan laughed, as we passed the music room and made it onto the oval, joining the large number of students already enjoying the break over the wide green field. But as we walked, Brendan came to a stop, and turning back to him, I saw him staring up at something in the sky.

"Peter," he said, pointing. "What's that?"

I followed his gaze up into the sky, and immediately saw what he'd seen. It was impossible to miss - an enormous black cloud filled the sky, approaching from the west and steadily stretching across to the north and south. But as we stood watching, I realised two facts in rapid succession - the first, that it wasn't a cloud but a swarm of animals, screeching and whistling and thundering through the air. In the centre of the cloud, I could make out birds of every kind, pigeons, sparrows and seagulls, and lorikeets in flashes of green and yellow. The eastern part of the cloud seemed to be entirely buzzing insects, while the western part was nothing but screeching bats.

And the second thing I realised was that the flock of animals was flying on a direct course straight for the school.

"Something interesting," I replied. By now the dark mass looming over us had caught the attention of the students and teachers on the oval, and everyone had turned to look.

I glanced quickly from the animals to the oval full of students and back again. I couldn't even begin to imagine why they were all acting like that, or more likely what force was controlling them, but a wild guess was all I needed. And we were in trouble.

Brendan turned to me. "I take it this isn't a normal migration pattern for the coast?" he asked.

I shook my head. "We need to get into one of the underground shelters, as of five minutes ago."

Brendan nodded, and looked down towards the oval. "Fine by me, but what about them?"

I glanced across the oval, thinking quickly, and an idea suddenly took shape. There was only one thing that would get people in this city moving like nothing else, and cupping my hands around my mouth, I raised my voice. "Monster attack!" I cried. "Everyone, to the shelters!"

The cry spread across the oval like wildfire, and within seconds, everyone had turned and began running back up towards the school buildings. A crowd of people surged past Brendan and I, and caught by the crowd, we turned and ran, racing down a path that led to one of the underground shelters. Ducking into a garden and out of the mass of people, I stopped and looked back - the flock was closer and a lot louder, but I had to somehow make sure Brendan got to safety and then slip away from him to meet up with the others.

Suddenly, a sea of students surged between us, forcibly shoving Brendan backwards away from me. Trapped on all sides by the crowd, Brendan fought to turn back but couldn't - then, sunlight disappeared, and he was pushed backwards into the darkness of the shelter. All around, people were screaming and calling out to each other. Brendan desperately scanned the faces around him for mine, then, horror of horrors, the armoured door slammed shut with a clang.

"No!" cried Brendan, but his voice was lost in the chaos. "Peter's still out there! No!"

Tommy, Zac, Billy, Trini and Kimberly had just escaped from almost two hours of Pythagorus when their communicators chimed, the sound almost lost in the noise of everybody leaving class. The teens glanced around the bustling locker hallway, and Trini pointed to the empty chemistry lab a few metres away.

The Rangers quickly ducked into the empty room, and Kimberly pulled the door shut behind them.

Tommy raised his communicator and spoke. "Go ahead Zordon, we read you."

"Rangers," crackled Zordon's voice. "There is a situation developing to the north of the city."

"You mean that big cloud that passed by a few minutes ago?" asked Zac.

"The cloud was much more than that," replied Zordon. "In any event, the Junior Team needs your immediate assistance."

Zac glanced over to the lab windows. "Gotcha Zordon, we'll be there as soon as we..." He broke off suddenly, his eyes focussing on something in the distance. "Oh damn," he muttered. "Guys, check it out."

Something that could not have been human was making its way along the road that passed by the school. The beast was at least two metres tall - its strong muscular body was covered in reddish-brown hair, while it's long arms ended in unusually-large hands. Even as they stood watching, a car screeched to a halt in front of the beast, and the terrified driver fell out of the vehicle and ran for his life - the monster roared, a savage primeval sound, and smashing its fist down through the hood in a screech of twisting metal, it ripped the motor out and threw it away before continuing.

"Zordon, we're gonna be busy," said Trini. "Probably for a while."

"We see it as well," came the reply. "I'll contact the Junior Team and tell them. Be careful Rangers," and the communicator fell silent.

Tommy glanced around the group. "We gotta call Jason."

"He doesn't take Maths B, remember?" replied Kim. "He has these two lessons free. He doesn't usually get here on Thursdays until morning tea, but he should be on his way."

Tommy nodded, and tapped his communicator again. "Jason, where are you?"

Across the city, making his way through the crowded city plaza after watching the ominous black cloud descend to the north, Jason glanced around, ducked back into an alley between two shops and raised his communicator.

"I'm here," he replied. "The cloud, right?"

"Negative," Billy said. "There's a far more pressing problem currently passing the school."

"Understood," Jason replied. "On my way."

Reaching for his communicator, Jason quickly glanced around the plaza to make sure nobody was watching when he saw it. Something was taking shape in the air in the very centre of the mall, flickering in and out of existence but steadily growing more solid. Leaving the alleyway, he stepped closer to investigate, and realised there was not one but three distinct shapes taking form, like steadily-thickening smoke. By now, the people around the plaza had all noticed the commotion. Realising what was happening, many people froze in terror, while even more dropped their bags and ran for their lives. Jason glanced to his communicator but let it fall as he looked back to the three dark shapes.

He hated the idea of leaving the others - particularly the Junior Team - to fend for themselves, but what choice did he have? At least the teams were together, he was now up against three opponents on his own.

With a rumble like faraway thunder, the shapes suddenly became solid, and there were three ancient Australian Aboriginal warriors standing in the centre of the plaza. The Red Ranger recognised them instantly - wearing nothing but loincloths around their waists, bone jewellery adorned their necks and wrists and their dark-skinned bodies were streaked with red and white war-paint. The warrior in the centre was wielding two large long-handled throwing clubs, each with a bladed hook. The warrior to the left held a long spear in both hands, while the third was armed with two short stumps of wood with serrated edges - fighting daggers embedded with shark teeth, Jason recalled from a history lesson long ago.

Across the plaza, one of the shopsellers stepped back in fear and stumbled over a wooden bench, and the three warriors immediately turned to the noise. Jason glanced around for anything to draw their attention, and finding only a garbage can beside him, he sent it skittering across the stone tiles with a kick.

The bin rolled past the three warriors and they stopped, turning their full attention back to Jason.

"Guys," he said, raising his communicator, "I've got serious problems of my own. I'll be there when I can, but you're on your own for now." Letting his wrist fall, the Red Ranger turned back to the three warriors and raised his arms defensively.

As one, the warriors raised their weapons and stepped towards him.

With the school deserted, I raced away from the shelter, out through the buildings and back towards the oval. Rounding a corner, I saw Teresa and Scott waiting by the sixth grade classroom, while Aaron and Sarah were jogging through the garden towards us.

"You guys saw it?" I asked.

Aaron nodded. "Whatever it is, it ain't natural."

"First priority guys - there's still some people down on the oval," said Teresa. "We have to get them to safety."

I nodded. "C'mon," and stepping backwards into the abandoned classroom, we all reached for our back pockets. "It's morphin' time!"

"Parasaurolophus!"

"Rhamphorynchus!"

"Brontosaurus!"

"Velociraptor!"

"Stegosaurus!"

Morphing in five brilliant flashes of light, we turned and raced back down to the oval. Several kids who'd been on the other side of the field were only now reaching the hill.

Aaron turned to me. "At least we're invulnerable," he said, although I barely heard him over the noise of the approaching flock.

"But they aren't," I said, as students raced past us back into the school, and Sarah, Scott and Teresa ran down to usher the last few students to safety.

Aaron shook his head. "Sure beats monster of the day, huh?"

I shook my head. "Rita's never shown this kind of power before," I said, as the last few students passed us heading back into the school. I looked out over the oval to make sure we'd gotten everyone, and my gaze immediately fell onto a boy still down on the oval, standing between the carpark and the gravel path that led out of the grounds, struggling to free himself from something. I knew there was a stormdrain down there, and a closer look confirmed my suspicion - the boy's foot was wedged solidly between the bars of the grate.

"We get everyone?" asked Aaron, as the other three Rangers jogged back up towards us.

I shook my head. "There's still somebody down there," I said quickly. "I think his foot's stuck in the grate." Everybody immediately spun around, and I looked down to Sarah, the furthest away from us. "Sarah, go!" Before I'd even finished the sentence, the Purple Ranger was already sprinting back down the hill.

Sarah glanced to the sky as she raced past the bike-racks towards the carpark - the cloud was rapidly approaching, individual animals now visible amongst the dark and otherwise shapeless cloud. This would have to be quick - the suburbs overlooking the school were turning dark. Finally reaching the boy and seeing that he was frantic with worry and a second away from bursting into tears, Sarah saw I'd been right - his foot was trapped between two bars in the grate. Sarah glanced up to him, and recognised the face staring back.

"Daniel?" she asked. "Daniel Lawson?"

The boy's eyes went wide. "You... you know me?"

"I'm friends with your sister," she said. "Don't worry, I'm here to help." She looked back down to the grate, and shook her head. She hadn't thought to ask me for my sword, and burning through the bars with her blaster might end up hurting Daniel. There was one option.

"Here," she said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "hang on."

She knelt down, grabbed the bars on either side of Daniel's foot and began to physically force them apart. After a second the bars began to creak and bend, and although it felt like forever, Daniel soon pulled his foot free.

"Awesome," nodded Sarah, and looked up. Shadow fell - the swarm filled the sky, everywhere she looked, a screeching, roaring juggernaut of animal fury, the leading animals only metres away and closing in. No time left.

Out of options, Sarah reached down and wrenched open the grate, revealing the dark crawlspace below. Pulling Daniel under her arm, she jumped in and hunched down over the terrified boy, slamming the grate shut above her just as the swarm hit and blacked out the sky.

Watching from the hill, we all saw Sarah dive down into the grate a second before the carpark was totally lost from view. The noise from the malevolent black cloud was almost deafening.

"Guys, move!" I shouted, and the four of us turned and ran back into the school, Scott and Teresa on one pathway and Aaron and I on the other, our hearts racing and our feet pounding the ground. Shadow fell - the sun was gone. Looking across, I saw Scott and Teresa dive into the seventh grade classroom, Teresa pulling the door shut behind them.

"The grade six classroom!" I called, and Aaron nodded, diving through the door as he passed. I felt something jabbing at my back - and then I leaped into the building, kicking the door shut behind me with such force the entire wall shook. Aaron cleared the room in one leap and slammed the windows shut on the other side, while I ran over and shut the door connecting our classroom to the next. Letting out a sigh of relief, I turned and jogged back over to Aaron.

The screeching flock had by now reached the school. Through the windows, we could see insects, bats and dozens of types of birds whipping past the building, the steadily-thickening cloud eventually the only thing visible.

"There's pelicans and sea eagles out there," I said, shouting over the noise. "They'd be doing some damage, they're bigger than most people."

"This is crazy," said Aaron. "What on Earth could be causing them to act like this?"

"I don't know," I replied, then turned to the window. "I hope Sarah's okay."

"I just hope Currimundi's okay," said Aaron. "These things must be laying waste to half the suburb. We have to do something."

"Even if they're being controlled by something else, they're still just animals, right?" I said. "Maybe we can, I don't know, scare them away."

"With what?" asked Aaron. "The only thing that'd scare away this many would have to be a flock of something..." He paused. "Bigger."

With the same idea taking shape in both our minds, the Aqua Ranger turned to me, and we raised our voices and lifted our arms to the sky.

"We need dinozord power, now!"

An uneasy silence fell over the plaza as Jason faced down the approaching warriors and counted his options. He didn't have many - the other Rangers all had their hands full, and there were too many civilians around to morph. His only choice - and one he sure didn't like - was to fight the three warriors unmorphed, or at least keep them at bay until help arrived.

The thought of losing didn't even cross his mind.

His mind made up, Jason stepped forward, analysing each of the three warriors. He ran his eyes over each, trying to remember anything he'd ever heard about the fighting styles of the Australian Aborigines. Aboriginal tribes clashed often, and while he drew a blank on combat skills, he did recall that the Aborigines were skilled hunters, deadly with long-range and throwing weapons. Okay. That was something. He just had to close the fight to hand-to-hand, and he stood a good chance of making it through this alive.

The three warriors stopped, facing him from a short distance, and the warrior with the two clubs stepped forward, raising the weapons and narrowing his eyes. Jason held his gaze, aware of nothing else but his opponent and his heart pounding in his chest.

Something shifted - a glance, muscles tensing, a prelude to motion - and Jason instinctively leaped to the side as his adversary sent the two weapons slicing through the air towards him. The two blades spun out of sight behind him and Jason spun to the ground, arms raised. Strangely enough, none had moved...

...and in that split-second he realized he was dead. Automatically taking to the air, he spun sideways as the weapons completed their arcs and returned, carving through the air where his head had been a half-second ago. The warrior reached out and plucked the weapons from the air, as Jason regained his footing and turned back to face them.

Okay. Focus. He'd only survived so far through luck - if he hadn't remembered that those throwing clubs were essentially boomerangs, his head would already be in about three separate pieces.

Unfazed by his miss, the centre warrior muttered something in a low voice, raised the two clubs and began marching determinedly towards the Red Ranger. Hesitating a second longer, Jason leaped forward to attack.

The warrior slashed with his weapons as Jason approached, carving the heavy blades through the air. Jason dodged to the right, stepped back around a second blow and ducked low under a horizontal slash. The warrior spun the blade back around - Jason blocked the blow and struck the warrior back with a palm strike to the chest, following him forward and aiming a high kick for the warrior's head. His opponent ducked the blow and struck back, carving the blades forward. Jason ducked under the weapons, stepped around a low kick and landed a blow to the warrior's stomach. His opponent grunted and swung low - Jason leaped up and back over the bladed clubs, and when the warrior swung for his chest, Jason caught the man's left wrist, and sent the warrior stumbling with a blow to the ribs.

The warrior staggered back and Jason followed after him, kicking forward. The warrior spun to the side as Jason landed, and aimed the clubs for Jason's neck - the Red Ranger ducked under the blow and struck back with a roundhouse kick. The warrior struck away his foot and slashed low, but Jason kicked his wrist away and brought his heel back towards the warrior's jaw. The warrior stumbled back but recovered quickly and slashed both bladed clubs for Jason's chest - Jason reached up and caught both blades, holding them in place, before somersaulting backwards and catching the warrior with a kick to the chin.

Enraged, the warrior raised one of his clubs and launched the weapon towards his adversary. Jason watched as the weapon sliced through the air towards him - reaching out, his fingers closed around the handle and he pulled the weapon out of its arc. Without slowing down, the Red Ranger spun around and sent the weapon curving straight back towards the surprised warrior. The club's handle smashed into the warrior's chest with a loud crack and vanished in a puff of smoke. Eyes wide, the warrior looked down slowly to his chest, before falling backwards and hitting the ground, his body dissipating like smoke. Jason smiled, pausing to catch his breath. One down...

The two remaining warriors glared at the Red Ranger, looks of dark fury crossing their faces.

"Yeah," said Jason, wiping sweat from his brow. "Well boys, you're relying on those weapons a little too much, and I just figured out why. Whoever you are, whatever you want - game over." He stepped towards them. "Whenever you're ready."

The warrior with the spear grunted, and almost faster than he could follow, the weapon flashed towards him. He stepped aside as the blade passed - the warrior drew the weapon back and slashed it again. Jason ducked back out of danger, dodging again to the side before somersaulting over as the blade swept under him. Finding his footing, Jason immediately ducked as the blade flashed above, dropping low and kicking another thrust away.

But as he rolled to his feet, the third warrior attacked from the side, raking his two daggers through the air. The warrior continued slashing after him, but backing away, Jason managed to put the third warrior between the spear-wielder and himself - Jason blocked a right jab, batted away a low slice and dodged a thrust to the ribs, only to come under attack from the spear again. He stepped around one slice and blocked another, and when the spear-wielder tried again, he grabbed the weapon as it flashed by. The warrior froze, and Jason brought the weapon forward and forced the warrior back with a high jump kick - the warrior stumbled back away, and the spear was now his.

Recalling every time he'd charged into battle alongside Billy, Jason stabbed the weapon down beside him, snapping the blade off before spinning it back to his side. Catching their breath for a second, the two warriors attacked again - using the spear, Jason blocked a lunge from a serrated dagger and used the other end to bat the spear's former owner aside. The knife-wielder slashed both blades - Jason blocked them both, spun the staff around and struck the warrior back. Spinning back around, he blocked a lunge from the second warrior, planted the staff into the ground and leaped high, taking the warrior off his feet with a scissor-kick. The warrior crashed to the ground with a strangled cry and instantly vanished into dust.

The third warrior let out an angry cry of battle and raced to avenge his fallen team-mate. With a triumphant smile, Jason spun to face him - the warrior was attacking out of anger and fear. The man slashed out at Jason, but the moves were slow, clumsy and increasingly out of sheer desperation. The Red Ranger blocked a high swipe, dodged around a blow to the ribs before turning and catching the warrior's wrist. Spinning him aside, Jason sent him crashing with a high spin kick. The warrior staggered back clutching his chest, before finally falling forward, his body nothing but smoke by the time it hit the ground.

Silence fell as Jason turned away and caught his breath. He couldn't help but notice everybody there watching him, and that probably wasn't a good thing.

"Well done sir," came a sudden voice, and Jason knew from the speaker's voice she was smiling. "But in the future, I think you should leave the badguys to the professionals."

Jason turned to see the Pink Ranger standing by the entrance to the alley. Wary of the witnesses in the area, Kimberly continued. "Now if you'd like to come with me, we can get you checked out by a doctor." Jason nodded, and walked towards her. Lowering her voice, Kim continued. "I came to get you, the others need us. I can't believe you just did all that."

Jason smiled. "Neither can I," he said. "At least everybody's okay."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm a little puffed," he replied, "but I think I'll be fine." Kimberly nodded, and stepping into the shadows of the alley, the two reached for their communicators and vanished from the scene.