Chapter 4: The Iceman Cometh

"Are you sure we can't tempt you to come this time, Patty?" Jason asked his friend as he finishing stowing his bags in the back of the sleek, metallic-green Ford Hornet hovercar that his parents had given him for the birthday two months before.

Patty sighed. "There are two things I hate more than anything – except Devos and his minions – being cold and being wet. Going up to Angel Grove Pines involves both. So I'm not interested. You and Diego have fun. I'll see you on Christmas Eve."

"Gill and Aki are coming this year too," Jason pointed out.

"The answer's still no," Patty repeated. "Now shoo. I want to go back to bed." She shivered. "It's cold out here."

"It's fifty degrees, Patty. That's not that cold." Jason told her.

"Maybe not for you," Patty said. "I've only got a sweater on."

"Okay, okay. I'm going," said Jason with a laugh. "Diego's taking his and Gill's stuff up. We'll have our communicators with us if we're needed."

"Things have been pretty quiet lately, so hopefully not."

"Agreed," Jason said, then slipped into the drivers seat and shut the door. "Have a good time at the Nichols' and don't do anything I wouldn't."

Patty snorted delicately. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Of course you wouldn't." said Jason and with a high-pitched whine that made his sharp-eared friend wince he drove off.

He met up with the other three in the main lounge at the lodge a few hours later. Gill was dressed fairly lightly due to his Aquitan heritage – he wore only heavy ski-pants and a dark-blue cable-knit sweater. Jason, Aki and Diego were all dressed in full ski-suits, Jason in white-edged, bottle green, Aki in salmon-pink and Diego in black and red. "Everyone unpacked?" asked Jason. The other three nodded.

"I wish Patty and Brian had come up," said Diego. "But Patty hates the cold – I think it's her cat genes – and Brian isn't keen on extreme sports."

"Shall we hit the slopes today? Or do you think we should say near the chalet?" Jason asked the others.

"I'm ready to go when you are, hermano."

"As am I," said Gill.

"Me too," agreed Aki.

"Let's go then," said Jason. "The ski-shop should have a pair of skis that you can rent, Gill. Aki, do you want to try Diana's skis out?"

"Yes please,"

"I'll get them from the car," Jason promised. "Meet me at the main entrance in a hour?"

The other three Rangers nodded and all four rose and left the room.

Two hours later they were out on the slopes. Gill's natural agility and excellent physical memory (a legacy of his time at the Aquitan Ranger Academy) allowed him to quickly get to grips with the new techniques and he was soon following the other three across the intermediate runs.

They stayed out on the slopes most of the day, only stopping when Diego complained of hunger pangs. They returned to the chalet and were just in time to catch the beginning of the second sitting of dinner. After dinner there was movie screening the main room, which Gill begged off but the other three decided to attend. Once the film was over, they decided to head up to bed. Jason wasn't surprised when Diego gave Aki a good night kiss, the two of them had been rather cosy during the film.

"You and Aki, eh?" Jason said once the door to the girl's dorm had closed behind the Pink Ranger. "Is it serious?"

"I don't know, hermano," Diego said with a shrug. "We went out on a date last week, but we're taking it slow. I've been burned before and I don't want to be like Gatito always dating, but never finding the right one."

"Patty found Peter," Jason pointed out. "Just take it slow. If it goes bad, then the whole team suffers. And if the team is off their game…."

"Then we are in big trouble," Diego concluded. Jason nodded. "We'll be careful, Jason."

"That's all I ask."

The next couple of days were full of the normal sort of fun that four young friends can have at a ski-resort. Most of the day was spent skiing or snowboarding on the slopes, and the evenings were spent cosily back in the chalet. It wasn't until the twenty-third that things went wrong.

The daily report from Weather Control was for the same clear skies as they had enjoyed for most of the last month. So it came as quite a surprise when a violent snowstorm kicked up at around midday.

"This snowfall is not within expected parameters," commented Gill, the wind was so loud he had to shout. "There is no snow scheduled in this sector for another ninety-three hours."

"There's no way a storm like this would be scheduled!" Jason told his friend. "This is more like a blizzard!"

"We need to get under cover!" yelled Diego. "I think the ski-lift is this way!" He said pointing through the billowing snow.

"I don't think that will help!" Aki told her red-suited boyfriend, but followed she followed him nonetheless. Jason and Gill brought up the rear.

When they reached the ski-lift, Aki's prediction proved correct. The building was dark and none of the electronic controls – even the door release - would work. The four friends sheltered behind the building as much as they could.

"This is bad," Jason declared. "This shouldn't be happening!"

Gill, who had been fiddling with his communicator for the last minute or so, looked up. "Communications are down too. SKComm and the emergency frequencies. Even our private line to the Watchtower is blocked!"

"Do you think it's Devos!" suggested Diego.

"It must got to be!"

"Then there's only thing to do!" declared Jason. "It's Morphin' Time!"

"Dragonzord!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

The four Rangers grasped the Morphers on their belts, and then teleported away.

The four Rangers appeared in the Watchtower seconds later, Billy and Omega Seven were waiting for them. "I'm glad you're here, Rangers," said Billy. "As you probably guessed Devos has sent down another monster. Cryos, the Avatar of Cold."

"What's with the power outages?" asked Red Ranger.

"Cryos has the ability to draw in certain types of energy to power his freezing abilities. We are still trying to ascertain the limitations of this at the moment."

"Where are Brian and Patty?" asked Green Ranger.

"Cryos' jamming system is preventing us from contacting them or even locking down their location for teleportation." Billy admitted. "You'll have go down and find them."

"How are we going to do that in this weather?"

"Using the Space Cars," Billy told them.

"What are they?"

"Two cars that originally assisted the Turbo & Space Rangers back in the late 1990s. They disappeared after the Space Rangers retired and weren't seen again until they turned up during the Silver Hills Riots of 2223 and assisted the Silver Guardians. They were severely damaged during the riots and the Guardians handed them over to the Knights of Ryoku for repairs. Omega and I have been working on them ever since."

"What's so complex about them?"

"Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster are sentient," Billy explained. "Also, I wanted to create other vehicles to complement them. Unfortunately, this has proved more difficult than I anticipated and only one additional Car is complete. Diego, Lightning Cruiser is yours anyway and Gill, I'm pairing you up with Storm Blaster. Aki, I would suggest you join Diego in Lightning Cruiser but it's your choice."

"Okay."

"Jason, Sand Runner is keyed to Patty's ciaric signature, but you should be able to persuade it to co-operate. All three of you will need your Control Keys though." He nodded to Omega, who quickly handed them out.

"The internal comms systems in the cars should allow some short-range communication but you'll still be out of contact with the Watchtower."

"Understood," Green Ranger said, then turned to his teammates. "Let's do it guys! Back to action!"

The four Rangers teleported out of the Watchtower, leaving the Professor and Omega alone. "How is the other project going?"

"Construction is complete. All that remains is to input the transmorphic and tactical program codes and bring the power systems up to full status."

"Estimated time to completion?"

Omega walked over to one of the consoles and checked a series of readouts. "Two hours, nineteen minutes and forty-seven-point-three-two seconds."

"Speed it up if you can," Billy told him. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Acknowledged. Activating auxiliary data input nodes - uplink speed has increased by 32 per cent- Internal programming will complete thirty-three minutes and fifty-seven-point-two-eight seconds. All systems will be online in one hour, thirty-nine minutes and fifty-two seconds."

"Is there way to increase the charging rate?"

"All power systems are charging at maximum. However, if I isolate the auxiliary power system from the external feed I can increase the power flow to the main core by 13 per cent."

"That is inadvisable," Billy told him. "Proceed as before."

"Acknowledged."

"Okay, we're back," Green Ranger told the others. "Space Cars, descend!"

The three vehicles descended out of the sky seconds later. Green Ranger opened the door of the yellow Jeep-like car and got in.

"Non-designated driver present. Please identify yourself!" ordered the car.

"Jason David Oliver, Green Evo Ranger. Initiate temporary transfer of allegiance. Override code: Draco."

"Override recognised. All systems activated." Sand Runner confirmed.

"Diagnostic?"

"All drive systems are online. Primary sensor nodes are operating at 42 per cent efficiency. Communications are unreliable due to broad-spectrum electromagnetic interference from an unnatural source. Analysis suggests 92 probability that interference is due to a malevolent morphological being with energy absorption and disruption abilities."

"Can you open a channel to the Watchtower?"

"Negative. Insufficient signal strength."

"Open a channel to Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster."

"Channel open."

"Guys, is everything okay with you?"

"I'm good, hermano"

"Storm Blaster's systems are operating within expected parameters," replied Gill. "There is no response from either Patty or Brian and their emergency transponders are defiantly offline. However, I believe we may be able to ascertain their location by using a focused resonance scan keyed to their Morpher frequencies."

"Sand Runner, can you scan for that?"

"I am capable of that type of scan. However, there is no record of the frequencies in my database."

"Tell him to search for his Default Command Frequency. 2860-2900 cycles." Blue Ranger interjected. "That should locate Patty. Then search for output in the 3100-3231 range."

"Did you get that?"

"Affirmative. Scanning now."

Storm Blaster located Brian before Sand Runner reported back. "DCF resonance located. Bearing 123.6, distance 3.24 kilometres."

"All right. Here's the plan," said Green Ranger. "Gill, you've got Brian's location locked down. Head over there and pick him up. Diego, Aki, see if you can lock down Cryos. And if you can't find him, go where you can't find anything."

"Because of the jamming."

"Right. I'll go and pick up Patty. Diego, hold on as long as you can. The rest of us will be with you as soon as possible."

"We'll try." Diego promised.

Thanks to the storm, it took him quite a while to reach Peter's house, where he and Patty were holed up. He got out and went up to the door. Predictably, it was jammed. "Sand Runner, can you release the door locks?"

"Negative."

"Okay, I'll have to blast it." He pulled the Dragon Sabre from its sheath at his belt and aimed it at the door mechanism. A narrow beam of white-tinged green light shot from the blade and destroyed the lock panel. He returned his sword to the sheath, then pulled the door open and slipped inside. "Patty? Peter? Are you there?"

"We're in the living room!" shouted Patty. "Help us!"

"I'm coming!"

Seconds later, he had freed his friends. "Couldn't you get out yourselves?"

Peter shook his head. "I couldn't get enough leverage."

"I didn't want to morph in case it was just a freak storm."

"It's not." Green Ranger confirmed. "Peter, can you hit the streets and do what you can to help?"

"Sure."

"Patty?"

His flaxen-haired friend nodded and pulled out her Morpher. "It's Morphin Time! Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"We've got to go and find the others." Jason told her. "You're driving."

"Driving?"

"I'll explain later."

When they returned to Sand Runner, Yellow Ranger slipped into the driver's seat.

"Rescind change of allegiance," ordered Green Ranger. "Restore default."

"Acknowledged."

"Can you locate the centre of the jamming signal?" Yellow Ranger asked.

"Affirmative." replied Sand Runner. "Centre of jamming field located at bearing 093.2, distance 1.7 kilometres."

"Let's go!"

They arrived just in time to see Red Ranger fall in a crackle of energy. "Diego!" Green Ranger yelled, jumping out of the car. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better!" Red Ranger admitted. "This guy's seriously tough."

"I bet it doesn't help that he can eat energy." Green Ranger suggested.

"It certainly doesn't," Red Ranger admitted. "Gill thinks it might be possible to overload his power."

Blue Ranger, who was crouched a few metres away holding his side nodded. "It is unlikely that his energy matrix is infinite in its capacity."

"Do it guys!" ordered Green Ranger.

"Power Axe!"

"Power Bow!"

"Power Lance!"

"Power Daggers!"

"Power Sword!"

The five Power Weapons locked together into their blaster-mode and flew down into Red Rangers hands. "Power Blaster… Full Power!"

The powerful beam of multi-coloured energy burst from the Blaster and hit the monster dead centre. It roared in pain, and shattered but, to the Rangers' disappointment, promptly coalesced in giant size.

"Okay. Not one of my most intelligent stratagems," Blue Ranger concluded.

"I agree," said Green Ranger. "It's Zord Time!" With that, he brought his own blade up to his lips and played a few haunting notes. "Dragonzord, arise and evolve!"

"It's time for a Zord evolution!" declared the other five Rangers.

"Mastodon-Rhino Evozord Power!"

"Pterodactyl-Heron Evozord Power!"

"Triceratops-Whale Evozord Power!"

"Sabre-toothed Tiger-Cougar Evozord Power!"

"Tyrannosaurus-Fox Evozord Power!"

Seconds later, the six Rangers were in cockpits of their respective Zords. "Let's bring it all together, guys." Green Ranger ordered. "Activate Evo Megadragonzord sequence!"

Less than a minute later, the six Rangers were at the controls of the gestalt Zord. "All systems online!" reported Blue Ranger. "However, it should be noted that solar relays are offline. The main energizers retain only a partial residual charge."

"Then let's take him down hard and fast!" order Green Ranger. "Power Sabre!"

The Megazord swung the sabre in a brutal arc towards the Avatar, but before it could contact the Avatar unleashed a focused blast of pure energy directly at the Zord. The Power Sabre's flames flickered and died.

"The Power Sabre's offline!" reported Pink Ranger.

"I'm getting feedback along the power conduits," reported Blue Ranger. Several consoles exploded. "We're losing power! Transmorphic circuits are offline!"

"Stabilisers are frozen!" reported Red Ranger. "Command systems not responding."

"Gill. I need helm control!" Green Ranger added.

"I'm trying."

Another wave hit seconds later and several more consoles exploded.

The Zord staggered and collapsed. The Rangers plummeted to ground, demorphing as they fell.

"What are we going to do now?" Patty asked.

But before anyone could answer, they were teleported away.

The six youths materialised back in the Watchtower. Billy and Omega were waiting for them. "Welcome back, Rangers." Billy said. "I am glad that we able to punch through the jamming."

"What are we going to do, Professor?" Jason asked. "Cryos took the best we had and shrugged it off like it was nothing."

"Fortunately, Omega and I have been preparing for this contingency. Behold the Viewing Globe."

The six turned and watched as five forms came into view on the screen. "Cool!" exclaimed Brian. "New Zords!"

"Indeed," Billy confirmed. "Unfortunately, we designed them intending for them to interface with the Dragonzord, but the Megazord alone should have sufficient power to overcome Cryos."

"Look's like you'll have to sit this one out, hermano," Diego said to Jason, his friend nodded in agreement. "Let's go it, guys!"

"It's Morphin' Time!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Alright, team," said Red Ranger. "Back to action!"

The five Rangers teleported out. Jason stood watching them wistfully. "It's hard isn't it?" Billy said, coming up beside him. Jason nodded again. "Omega, can you get us a visual?"

"Negative."

The five Rangers appeared back in Angel Grove almost at the exact point that had teleported out. The Evo Megadragonzord was still lying offline not far away. "All right. Let's try this again!" said Red Ranger. "Cosmo Zord Power!"

The five Zords appeared out of the skies and the Rangers quickly jumped on board. "Everyone report in."

"Unicorn Zord. Looking good."

"Phoenix Zord. Ready to fly."

"Kraken Zord. All systems online."

"Gryphon Zord. I hate heights."

"Well, the Yeti's good to go. So let's finish this!" declared Red Ranger. "Cosmo Megazord formation now!"

The five Zords rose into the air shifting and twisting before landing back on the ground in a cohesive whole.

"Cosmo Megazord online!" reported Blue Ranger.

"Full power to shields!" ordered Red Ranger.

It took Cryos only a moment to notice the Rangers' return. He quickly unleashed a wave of energy in their direction.

"Damage report!"

"Induction grid is holding!" reported Blue Ranger. "All systems nominal."

"Then let's take him down. Kraken Power Whip!"

The whip shot out of the end of the right arm, glowing with an eerie blue light. The Mega Zord cracked it a few times before snapping it at Cryos. The Avatar staggered, then unleashed another power blast.

"Induction grid is in the red," reported Blue Ranger. "We need to finish this!"

"Patty, standby!"

"Standing by!"

The whip sliced towards the Avatar again, but instead of cutting him, it curled around one of his upper limbs. "Patty, now!"

"Kraken Power Whip! Full power!"

A massive electrical surge flowed down the whip, jolting the Avatar.

"He's weakening!" reported Yellow Ranger. "The jamming and absorption fields are down."

"Let's finish this. Yeti Power Punch!"

The left arm – formed by the Red Rangers Zord – glowed as the Megazord drew back its arm then delivered a hard punch to the Avatar's mid section. It screamed, then shattered.

"All right!"

A few hours later, the six Rangers – plus Peter – were sitting around a warm fire in the chalet at Angel Grove Pines enjoying mugs of hot cocoa.

"I guess this place isn't all bad," Patty said, tilting her head back for a kiss for her boyfriend, which she is dully received. "But I'm not going skiing."

"That's up to you, Patty," Jason told her. "No-one here's going to make you do something you don't want to."

"I know that, and that's good."

"And so say all of us!" chorused the team.

A/N: The final line of this chapter is taken from Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Further updates are pending, though probably not before late July to early August.