Summary: Trent is at the mercy of Vertox! Can the rangers arrive in time to save their friend, or will his death befall him?
Author's Note: This Chapter concludes the "In Love" Series. The next chapter will begin the mini-series "Passing the Torch." Enjoy!
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Red and yellow streaks raced through the sky and touched down on the barren surface. Conner and Kira stood side by side, Triceramax Sabers at the ready. For a moment there was nothing but silence between the two as neither wanted to believe the destruction of the land.
"So this is what evil is capable of?" Conner growled, choking the saber. "This is how far evil is willing to go, just to see themselves win? Destroying countless millions of lives?"
Kira rested a hand on his shoulder and smiled lightly beneath her mask.
"Conner, we have work to do." She said, nodding off towards the flashes of light. "We can't let the anger divide us."
Conner nodded and sighed. "Yeah, you're right, sorry." He sighed and looked towards the lights. "Come on, we got to move!"
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Trey twisted and smashed against the sand and cried out, feeling the Golden Power Staff slam into his chest. Vertox drew it back and thrust his foot hard into the Gold Ranger's side. A painful cry pierced the air, and then another and another. Vertox leaned down and lifted Trey into the air, placing the staff against his mask.
"Foolish Power Ranger." Vertox hissed, summoning up the staves energy.
A blinding golden light exploded from the staff and bathed Trey in its light. Suddenly he cried out in pain as an energy wave ripped across his head. The light faded and the golden armour shattered into a thousand pieces. Trey collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Some people just never learn." Vertox breathed as Merios took his place beside the Evil One. "Come on, our mission is done. Trey has no choice but to accept the powers."
Suddenly a crimson gold energy beam slammed into Vertox, throwing him off his feet and slamming into the ground. A second beam slammed into the confused Merios and threw him head first into a nearby column.
"Not so fast, Vertox!" Conner hissed, weaving the Tyranno-staff in circles before snapping it to his side. "If you want leave, you're going to have to get past us first!"
Vertox stood slowly, glaring angrily at the Rangers. His knuckles cracked brutally as he squeezed his fists together. He raised the Golden Power Staff, aiming towards the two brave rangers.
"I'll give you one chance to back down, Power Rangers." He said, seething with anger; the staff burned a golden-yellow in his palm. "Back down Power Punks or be destroyed."
Kira twisted the Ptera grips through her fingers and snapped them to attention. "Forget Vertox, we'll never let you take Trey out of here!"
A golden blast of energy struck her chest and exploded. The force sent the two rangers racing away from each other and crashing into the ground. Kira felt her consciousness slip away and her powers crashed as well. Conner gathered himself up, balling his fists tightly.
"Arugh…you'll pay that!" Conner growled and thrust his knee into the staff. It split in two, becoming Tyranno-Sticks.
In a brilliant flash of light the two powers collided together in a flurry of blows. Conner advanced forward, smashing the sticks hard against the power staff; aiming high and low, making quick reverses and striking side to side. He quickly shifted, slipping to the left and mashed both sticks into Vertox's forearms and suddenly sent one cracking into his jaw.
Vertox spun away, putting distance between them and clutched his jaw. "Not bad, Power Punk." He complimented and raised himself. "You pesky humans are still surprising me after all this time. Just when I thought I had your race all figured out."
"Yeah, well, you'll find we're full of surprises!" Conner roared and charged forward.
The two powers met again, but a quick burst of energy unbalanced Conner and left him open. Vertox thrust the end of the staff hard into the Rangers stomach and sent a golden, triangular blast into his helmet, throwing him backwards. Conner moaned, feeling his back hit the tilted column but quickly blocked the next blow and mashed the second stick into Vertox's chest.
He moved away, catching the Evil One with a flurry of maddening blows; each one driving the demon further and further back. Conner suddenly lashed out with a voracious blow, catching the Vertox across the jaw and finished the turn with a roundhouse.
The Evil One twisted in the air several times before he slammed into the ground with a yelp. Conner threw his heel down, smashing into the sand as Vertox rolled away. The Evil One popped up and twist, slamming the staff hard into Conner's chest, staggering him slightly. A golden light burned in the black crystal and Vertox threw the staff out. Gold chains wrapped around the Red Dino Thunder Ranger and cackling white streams of lightning raced down the metal. Conner screamed painfully as the lightning ripped through his suit and deep into his skin. He felt his entire body convulse and jolt before Vertox aimlessly threw him away.
"You've lost…" Vertox growled, waving the staff in some pattern. He finished the movements with a ninja seal and the air lit up with a golden-red Kanji sign. "Infinite Blast!"
A Blue-white beam sphere gathered in Vertox's palm as the staff lit up with its respective hue. Suddenly the powers meshed together a beam of golden, blue-white light raced into the rising Rangers chest. A mighty blast explosion raced across the land, turning the sand into tiny shards of glass and turned the sky an array of colors.
When the light died away, Conner lay in human form amongst the glass. His suit had long since dissolved and blood oozed out from the multiple, deep wounds. His vision blurred in and out and the very thought of moving stung his whole body. He could feel his head grow lighter and lighter, his body becoming weaker and weaker.
As he watched the other Rangers race to his aid, one last thought passed him before unconsciousness over took him…Goodbye, Kira…
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Several Minutes Earlier…
Tommy peered at his empty plate and then up at Kimberly. She gazed back, smiling like she had eight years ago. But instead of feeling overjoyed and happy, he felt scared and anxious. He raised his hands and gazed down at them: they were shaking. His entire body was trembling from an unknown fear.
"Tommy?" He heard her say, but he paid her no mind. Something was wrong but…what? He heard her call again, but he kept staring at his hands. He felt a cold wave rush down his spine and he clutched his arms, shivering violently.
Kimberly's cry seemed more urgent now, but he couldn't shake himself of this fear. A sudden painful jab struck his heart and he leaned forward on one hand; the other clutching as his throbbing head. Sweat began to trickle down his face and into his eyes. Some dripped off his chin and spilled onto the table.
Suddenly, two hands shook him and he snapped out of the fear. He looked up, wide eyed, into Kimberly fearful ones. She asked some question, but it seemed so distant. So much so he didn't hear the jingle of his bracelet. He looked down at the table, almost dizzily and conjured up the only words he could comprehend at this point…
"Kimberly…I think…I think we are in for a helluva ride…
Billy sighed as he heard the fourth jingle echo through the lab. Finally, before he gave up hope, a beautiful, crystal clear voice echoed loud and clear through the receiver.
"Kimberly here. Go ahead, Billy."
"I'm sorry to interrupt your guy's dinner, but we've got serious trouble." He said and swiveled in his chair. He tapped in their coordinates and set up the teleportation device.
"Tommy's acting weird, Billy. I think something's wrong."
"Tommy acting weird?" Billy looked mildly amused. "Oh come now, since when has that been unusual?"
"Billy!" Kimberly scolded. He winced, wishing he hadn't said that. Ever since they'd gotten back together, both were more defensive of each other. "I'm serious! Tommy just suddenly broke out into a cold sweet and he's shaking pretty bad."
"I'm teleporting you guy's here, so get to a safe location." He said and slapped the enter key. "I'll fill you in when you get here."
"Right, Kimberly out."
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"Right, Kimberly out." She whispered into her bracelet and looked at Tommy. He seemed more relax now; more coherent. "Handsome, are you ok?"
He nodded his head, chugging down some of the water and wiped his wet lips. "Y-Yeah…w-what did Billy want?"
She sighed and pulled him up from the chair. She pulled him over into the corner of the room, away from all prying eyes. "Tommy, something's seriously wrong." She brought the bracelet to her lips again. "Billy, teleport us now."
"Right, teleporting."
Tommy squeezed Kim's hand reassuringly, but deep down he knew that something was horribly wrong. He had only felt this way once before and that was when Trini had died…he felt her death in his heart and mind. It had physically torn him to shreds and left him alone to piece it back together.
Their respective colors enveloped them and with a second they found themselves staring at the unfinished T-Rex model. Tommy whirled around and glanced at the Technical Advisor's, but his heart sunk when he seen their serious faces.
"Hit me." Tommy said, barring his teeth together.
Billy sighed and shook his head. "Vertox is on Trifforia and he's taken out Trey." He tapped a few keys, setting up the coordinates. "I sent Conner and Kira to hold him off while I contacted the rest of you. But…"
The Technical Genius seemed rather hesitant to finish his statement.
"But what, Billy?" Kimberly asked her loves unasked one.
"I'm afraid Conner didn't make it…"
For a moment, the PhD Holder felt blood trickle down from his gums. He broke out into a sweat and his fists curled together.
"What do you mean didn't make it?" He threatened. He hadn't meant for his voice to sound like that but it just…did.
Billy choked on his next statement but sighed. "His vitals are extremely low and their dropping pretty fast. We need to get him back here so I can stabilize him." Billy slapped in the last of the coordinates and glanced back at them. "If you guys don't make it in time…then Conner won't live."
Tommy and Kimberly gave each other a single glance and their eyes fell. The felt their morphers appear around their wrists and the energy sweep through the bodies. The last statements of the advisor's fell on deaf ears and their respective colors enveloped them again.
Now, it was a race against time…
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Oh no's! Conner is dieing, Trey and Kira are out, so does this mean Vertox has won? Find out on the next exciting ep-
smacks head Sorry guys, lost it there for a second. Yep, Conner is critically wounded and it's now up to Tommy and Kimberly to save their fellow rangers until Trent shows up. But will Vertox take Trey or will the Gold Ranger rise to the challenge once more?
Unfortunately, this is the beginning of the series where I may lose a great deal of reviewers. I beg of those who do review to please keep reading and keep reviewing. You guys/gals mean so much to me because you've made this story successful. Please hit me up with some feedback as I always welcome it…
May the Powers Protect You.