Power Rangers: The First and Last Hope
Chapter 9: Weapons
"Congratulations, Power Rangers." Zordon said, clearly proud with his pupils. "You have successfully defeated your first monster."
"You're beaming, Zordon!" Michi said playfully.
"He's just trying to take all our credit." Ada scoffed.
"No no, Rangers, this wasn't my doing, this was yours." Zordon said, defending himself. "You were the ones who defeated Drilliago, a very strong Command Beast, despite being so new to your powers."
"Yeah, you guys, our parents would all be proud." Andrew said happily.
Ada made a slight snorting sound at Andrew's mention of their parents, which caused Andrew to shoot Michi a confused look Michi sighed and shrugged.
"Before ya throw a parade in our honor, big Z, you might wanna check this out." came Jerrelle's voice from behind them.
"Geez, Jerrelle, can't you ever be-" Tristan began, but suddenly stopped when he caught sight of what Jerrelle was looking at.
It was Drilliago, very much alive, and now giant-sized as well, and he was trashing Angel Grove. People ran for their lives as Drilliago blasted up the city.
"What the hell? He blew up! We all saw him blow to itty bitty little Drilliago pieces!" Michi complained.
"Monsters aren't always as dead as they seem." Andrew said. "My dad's told me stories like this many times before."
"Well, if your dad's so great at all this, why isn't he dealing with the stupid things?" Ada scoffed.
"Rangers, I feared that this day was approaching." Zordon said, ignoring Ada as usual.
"Oooh, oooh, do we get our Zords now!" Tristan asked excitedly, practically jumping up and down.
"Our WHAT!" Jerrelle asked.
"Dinozords, man, my dad used to tell me all about them!" Andrew said, earning a roll of the eyes from Ada.
Andrew's dad told him something! Ohmygod! What a shocking revelation! Ada thought.
"Oh yeah, I think my mom mentioned them too." Michi said. "They're these big mechanical things made to resemble each of our dinosaurs."
"That's right." Andrew nodded. "I always wanted one...of course, the one I always wanted isn't exactly the Triceratops."
"Oh come on, man, those things are cool!" Tristan said. "They've got those huge-ass horns!"
"Easy for the guy with the t-rex to say." Andrew replied.
"Oh yeah, wow, that's my Dinozord, isn't it!"
Jerrelle, Ada, and Andrew all rolled their eyes practically simultaneously.
"Rangers, indeed it is time for you to receive your Dinozords." Zordon boomed overhead, trying to regain some semblance of order. "Face the Viewing Globe."
Each of the Rangers turned to face the globe once more, and replacing the view of Drilliago was the saabertooth tiger zord.
"Michi, the Yellow Ranger, you are courageous and protective. The Sabertooth Tiger Zord is yours."
"Look at it go!" Michi said happily as she watched her new zord tear through a forest.
The zord was soon replaced by the Triceratops, making its way through the desert plain.
"Andrew, confident and brave, the Triceratops zord is under your command."
"Well, I guess it's kind of cool." Andrew admitted.
Then the Viewing Globe showed the Mastodon, spraying freezing water outward.
"Jerrelle, stubborn yet fierce, the Mastodon zord is now yours."
"That was kind of a back-handed compliment there, head-man." Jerrelle muttered.
The Pterodactyl was next, flying majestically out of an erupting volcano.
"Ada, agile and burning with the flame of life, the Pterodactyl will serve you well."
"That's it!" Ada remarked. "Everyone else gets these cool, gigantic things, and I get a stupid little bird!"
"Relax, sis, I thought you didn't care about all this stuff anyway?" Tristan mocked her. "Hey, ow!"
Ada smirked, fresh from jabbing her elbow into her little brother's ribs. Zordon, for his part, ignored them and continued as finally the image of the mighty t-rex appeared on the globe.
"And Tristan, honest and strong, the Tyrannosaurus zord will be yours."
"It's just as cool as I thought it'd be- no, cooler!" Tristan bragged, a wide smirk on his face.
"'It's just as cool as I thought it'd be- no, cooler!'" Ada mocked him in a nasally parody of his voice.
"Sibling rivalries can wait, children." Zordon said. "You must take these five Dinozords and combine them in order to defeat Drilliago."
"Wait, what, combine them?" Jerrelle asked Zordon.
"Don't you know ANYTHING!" Andrew asked him in disbelief. "The whole point of these things is to bring them together and create the Megazord!"
"Yes, Andrew is right." Zordon said, as the Viewing Globe showed the Megazord, first in tank mode, then the Megazord we all know and love. "When all five of you bring your Dinozords together, they will form the incredible fighting machine known as the Megazord. Strong enough to bring Drilliago down."
"So wait, then what the hell is the point of the five individual zords, anyway?" Ada asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, if we're only ever gonna bother with the Megazord, why not just make it like that to start?" Jerrelle wondered, raising his eyebrows.
"Uhh...we're low on time, Rangers!" Zordon said. "Go now and stop Drilliago!"
"Come on guys, we can debate this later." Michi said.
"Yeah, it's time to go kill Drilliago- well, for real this time." Tristan added. "It's morphin' time!"
"Mastadon!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Triceratops!"
"Sabertooth tiger!"
"Tyrannosaurus!"
Mia watched as the seven Minions circled around her in an attack formation, like wolves ready to strike their pray. She took note of the faceless, emotionless servants' moves, and smiled to herself.
"No matter how strong you are, you renaissance fair rejects, you're not a match for me." she said confidently.
One of the Minions suddenly rushed forward and hit her hard with a punch square on the jaw. Mia held her jaw in pain, but the smirk quickly returned to her face.
"Come on, you little cloaked weirdo, is that all you've got!" Mia taunted him. "Keep them coming!"
The Minion fired off another punch, but this time Mia caught his fist and then flipped the smaller man over her shoulder, sending him to the ground. She quickly landed a fist to his chest before he could react, then simply stepped on his neck as hard as she could with her high heel. He struggled, but soon stopped moving.
"Is that really all you've- OOMPH!"
Mia's taunting was interrupted by another one of the Minions leaping forward with a flying kick to her jaw, knocking her backward. Another Minion picked her up where she landed and held her there as a third Minion began to rock her sternum with hard punches, followed by a knee to the gut that knocked the wind out of the abnormally tall young woman. The Minion holding her released his grip on her and pushed her forward as she gasped for breath, her vision becoming blurry as the six remaining Minions started circling her again.
No...no...this can't be. Mia thought. You told me...you said that I was the strongest...how can I lose here? How can I lose to such pathetic creatures?
You can't. came the silent voice again. You won't. You have the power within you to defeat them. Find it. Show these pathetic creatures all of your power! Make them all feel it, make them taste it, make them choke on it!
"YES!" Mia screamed, suddenly raising her head upwards to the sky. The Minions watched, confused, as she suddenly began breathing in long, exaggerated gasps, as if she was taking in as much oxygen as humanly possible. Her body began shaking and almost vibrating as she stood there, head pointed at the heavens and arms stretched out to each side, and she soon began glowing with green energy. She let out a euphoric scream as she felt the power wash over her, awakening inside of her, and finally morphed into the legendary Green Ranger.
She was still glowing with pure power after her morph completed, quickly scanning the area around her. With a smirk beneath her helmet, she suddenly leaped into the air, hitting a flying kick of her own into the Minion that had embarrassed her earlier. He went flying much farther than Mia had earlier, crashing into a nearby tree, where he remained slumped over in a seated position.
Another Minion tried to attack her from behind, but she easily blocked his punch and flipped him over her shoulder into a seated position. Just as another Minion ran at her from the opposite side, she turned and kicked him upside the head in mid-air, before bringing her other boot into the side of the seated Minion's head, collapsing him to the floor.
The three remaining Minions looked at each other, as if they had no idea what to do next. They suddenly decided to just rush at her all at once, but that only made Mia laugh loudly.
"Easy targets to test out my power." Mia laughed.
She closed her eyes beneath her helmet and concentrated, and felt the power flowing through her, into her very hands. A ball of green-and-black energy soon appeared there, and as she realized what she was holding, she smiled. She send the ball of crackling energy flying for the three Minions, and it exploded upon impact with the three remaining Minions, throwing them to the ground in a smoking heap. Soon, all seven Minions disappeared in flashes of dark energy, leaving Mia standing there. The morph suddenly ended, leaving her to collapse onto her knees, her very legs buckling at the will of the incredible power she had just experienced. She gasped for breath, barely able to breathe, and yet on her face was a smile.
She looked up at the sky, black and gray with storm clouds approaching.
"Now all of you know!" Mia screamed up into a hole in the sky. "Now all of you have seen my power! You will all shudder at the sight of me, the earth will crumble at my feet, and all of you will acknowledge that I am the strongest creature this world has ever seen!"
And she laughed hysterically, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Meanwhile, the five Dinozords launched towards Angel Grove, and each of the five Rangers leaped up into their cockpits.
"Rangers, log on!" Tristan yelled as he entered the cockpit of his Tyrannosaurus zord.
"Uh, whatever." Jerrelle said as he entered the Mastodon's cockpit. "Mastodon's looking alright, I guess."
"Andrew here, Triceratops is cooler than I thought."
"Michi here, Sabertooth Tiger looking good."
"If you make me 'log on' and sound like I'm on a Star Trek show, bro, I'll beat you up later." Ada snorted as she entered Pterodactyl's cockpit.
"Alright, we're all good then." Tristan said. "Don't forget what Zordon told us, guys, grab your morphers and turn them into power crystals. Repeat after me, or else it won't work."
I still can't believe we actually have to say this... Ada thought as she rolled her eyes. I personally think we don't have to yell any of this crap for it to work, Zordon just likes to watch us make idiots of ourselves back at the Command Center.
"Alright Rangers, power up!" Tristan said as he turned his morpher into a red power crystal and jammed it into the dashboard.
"2, 1, power up!" the other four yelled- or muttered, in Ada's case- as they did the same.
I hope you had a good laugh, Zordon. Ada thought to herself.
"Bring it together!" Tristan yelled.
The zords came together to form the tank, rolling towards Angel Grove.
"This is cool and all, guys, but can we really beat Drilliago in our first fight with this thing?" Jerrelle asked the others as they all converged in the Megazord's cockpit.
"We have to!" Andrew said. "Otherwise Angel Grove is history!"
"God knows I care about some town in the middle of California." Ada remarked.
"Ada, please, there's innocent people at harm's way here." Michi scolded her.
"Yeah, yeah..." Ada said, rolling her eyes beneath her helmet.
"Come on guys, Andrew's right, we gotta do this!" Tristan said. "Let's go!"
Meanwhile, the Scarlet Ranger watched Mia gasping for breath through one of the windows-turned-screens in the mothership's hallway. Araken saw her as he was walking by, and snorted.
"What's this, Scarlet, taking a sudden interest in a Power Ranger?" Araken asked her. "You do realize there's a battle about to begin between Drilliago and the other five, right? Isn't that a bit more important?"
The Scarlet Ranger simply began laughing, clearly in a mocking fashion.
"What? Why are you laughing, Scarlet!" Araken demanded.
"The fact that you honestly think that battle between two enlarged scrap piles means more than the Green Ranger's awakening shows just what your problem is, Araken." the Scarlet Ranger remarked matter-of-factly.
"Oh, really?" Araken asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And what would that be, Scarlet?"
"You can't see the valley from the trees, Araken." the Scarlet Ranger replied. "You're missing the big picture, as usual. The Green Ranger will be the greatest weapon we have to use against the Power Rangers."
"She's just a human girl, Scarlet, not a weapon." Araken said, pointing at the still gasping for breath Mia. "We don't control her."
"That's precisely why she's our greatest weapon, Araken." the Scarlet Ranger replied. "Look at the Megazord the Rangers are bringing into battle. That's one of their weapons. It's predictable. It's easily controlled. The Green Ranger, on the other hand, is a weapon we can use to defeat them, but it's not a weapon we can control. But it's not a weapon they can control, either. She's an enigma, Araken, and while we can use her...we can't control her."
"And how exactly does that make her our strongest weapon?" Araken asked, still not convinced.
"If you ask me that question, you know nothing about human nature, Araken." the Scarlet Ranger replied. "Wait and see. Watch me start using her. And then maybe you'll begin to understand."
The Scarlet Ranger disappeared in a flash of energy, leaving only Araken and the screen behind.
"You say they can't control her, Scarlet...but maybe they can use her too, against US." Araken said. "We'll just have to wait and see who uses the weapon better, won't we?"
Drilliago stomped through Angel Grove, blasting anything in sight with electricity out of his dual cannons.
"Hahahaha, this puny city crumbles so easily, thanks to my newfound power!" Drilliago said in his machinelike voice.
Suddenly, Drilliago saw something in the distance. It appeared to be...some kind of huge, rolling machine?
"What is that!" Drilliago roared off in the distance.
"Now Rangers, fire!" Tristan yelled inside the cockpit.
The tank fired off two blasts of energy from its dual cannons, blasting Drilliago to the ground. The Command Beast of electricity pulled himself up, enraged.
"Power Rangers, that's you isn't it!" Drilliago demanded. "Take this!"
He fired back with blasts of his own, sparks flying around the tank as it sped towards Drilliago.
"Tristan, I think it's time we gave this thing a little boost!" Andrew said.
"...Huh?" Tristan remarked.
"He means complete the Megazord transformation, you dolt." Ada said, rolling her eyes beneath her helmet for the fifteenth thousandth time.
"Oh, right." Tristan said. "Megazord sequence activate!"
Tristan pressed a button on his dashboard's panel of all five of the dinosaurs they drew their powers from, and the button began to glow brightly. Soon, the Megazord was on its way up, completing its transformation as it expanded upwards. The Triceratops and Sabertooth Tiger zords transformed into legs for the Megazord, fists appeared from each arm, a head came up out of the chest as the t-rex head went downwards, and finally the Pterodactyl came in for a landing, becoming the chest of the complete Megazord.
"Wait, if the Pterodactyl's just coming in now, how the hell did I get in here!" said a very confused Ada.
"Don't ask." Tristan replied.
"I hear it involves magical monkeys." Michi whispered to her.
"Alright Rangers, the Megazord is complete, let's get Drilliago!"
The fully transformed Megazord began walking towards Drilliago, and quickly grabbed him with both of its hands. Drilliago escaped its grasp, however, and swiped across the Megazord's chest with one of his drills, sending sparks flying. He tried to swipe with his other drill, but the Megazord blocked that, and then connected with a solid punch to Drilliago's sternum, sparks flying from him as well.
"You'll pay for that!" Drilliago roared, and then sent out more blasts of electricity from his rapidly rotating drills, causing sparks to fly all over the Megazords. The Rangers let out a few yells of discomfort from inside the Megazord's cockpit.
"Well this is going well." Ada muttered.
"Yo, Tristan, I think we need that sword thing now." Jerrelle said.
"Oh yeah, the Power Sword!" Michi said. "Call for it Tristan!"
"Alright." Tristan agreed. "Power Sword, descend!"
The gigantic white sword flew down from the sky, landing into the ground in front of the Megazord. The Megazord reached down and pulled it out with its right hand, then marched forward back towards Drilliago. Drilliago slashed at the Megazord with one of his drills again, but the Megazord blocked the slash with the Power Sword, then kicked Drilliago backwards. The metallic Command Beast nearly fell over as he stumbled back.
"Now's your chance, Tristan!" Andrew said. "Energize the Power Sword and finish him off!"
"Let's do it!" Tristan agreed. "Power Sword, energize!"
The Power Sword began to glow with energy, and just as Drilliago stood up straight again, the Megazord brought the glowing sword down across his chest in a clean swipe. Sparks flew as the energy tore through Drilliago, and he turned around before falling to the ground, exploding as he hit it.
"Alright, I think we got him for real that time!" Michi yelled.
"That was pretty cool." Jerrelle admitted.
"Hey, guys, don't wanna break up the party, but look at that." Ada pointed out.
From the firey crater left behind after Drilliago's destruction, a ball of pure black energy floated upwards, before it began to become smaller and smaller, until it disappeared completely.
"What the heck WAS that!" Andrew wondered.
"It's okay, Andrew, you can say 'hell', we don't give timeouts here." Ada said dryly.
"I don't know what that was." Tristan admitted. "Maybe we should stick around here for a little bit, make sure whatever that was doesn't bring Drilliago back."
The other four Rangers each nodded in agreement with their leader, silently wondering to themselves just what they had seen.
Meanwhile, Mia was still on her knees, although she had managed to start breathing a bit more normally by now. She simply remained there, as if she was so engrossed by her own power that she was simply taking it all in.
"Incredible, isn't it?" came a voice from behind her. "The raw power...you can feel it flowing inside of you. Bottled up for so long, you finally let the flood gates open, and now you wonder why it had to be bottled up for so long."
Mia turned her head to face the one talking to her- she was a Ranger, much like the one she herself had morphed into earlier, but she appeared to be more robotic. And her color was a dark red rather than a green. She didn't say anything, simply staring at the person before her.
"But you've always had that power in you, Mia." the Scarlet Ranger continued. "The girl born with so much incredible power inside of her that her very physical form could barely contain it. After all, look how tall you are. Six-foot-one. That's not normal, is it? Some people have called you a freak...and you are one."
That comment didn't sit well with Mia. She suddenly stood up to her full height, suddenly realizing how short the Scarlet Ranger was, and glared down at her.
"Who are you?" Mia asked in a most annoyed tone.
"Oh, I certainly apologize if I've offended you, Mia." the Scarlet Ranger remarked sarcastically. "I hear you've been called that little f-word a lot throughout your life, and you seem to have a bit of a, well, a complex about it. But hey, I didn't mean it as an insult. Look at tiny little me- I'd love to have your height. To look down at everyone...to KNOW you're superior to them...you can do that, Mia. I envy it."
"Alright, stop it." Mia said before the Scarlet Ranger could start off. "You seem to know so much about me, and I don't even know your name. So you can start by telling me that, before I get unpleasant."
"A name is what you want, Mia?" the Scarlet Ranger asked her. "I've gone by so many of them throughout my life. But I guess you mine as well call me what everyone else does right now. I'm the Scarlet Ranger."
"Are you now?" Mia said, looking down at her. "You seem like you're strong..."
"I am." the Scarlet Ranger inserted.
"...and you seem like you'd make a much more worthy opponent to test my powers on than those cloaked losers." Mia finished.
"Oh, I would be." the Scarlet Ranger agreed. "But you don't even know how to morph back into the Green Ranger, Mia. Demorphed, I'd destroy you before you could even bat an eyebrow."
"You know so much, you tell me." Mia snorted.
"Okay." the Scarlet Ranger agreed.
"Wait...you're really gonna tell me?" Mia asked her in disbelief.
"Sure."
"But why? Why do you want me to have access to that kind of power?"
"Simple. Because I want to see what you'll do with it, Mia." the Scarlet Ranger replied.
"How do you know I won't just turn around and attack you?" Mia asked her with a laugh.
"Because I know you, Mia, even if you don't. You want to be the strongest, right? Above all else, you want to prove to yourself, and to the entire world, that you're the strongest?"
Mia nodded.
"Then to do that, the key isn't beating me." the Scarlet Ranger said. "I'm nothing compared to the five who lay before you."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Mia asked her, quickly growing impatient.
"Simple." the Scarlet Ranger replied. "To prove that you're the strongest, you have to do what your father couldn't do."
"My father...couldn't do?"
"Yes."
"And what exactly would that be?" Mia asked her.
"Destroy the Power Rangers."
Mia's eyes grew wide, and then a confident smirk appeared across her face.
"Tell me how to morph, and I'll do it." Mia said. "I'll destroy the Power Rangers."