'TIL I COLLAPSE - PART THREE: NEW PLANS (PG-13)
SEQUEL TO: ORDINARY WORLD
SUMMARY: There is a new threat in town, and the DT Rangers are forced back into suit to make sure nothing wrong will happen. But what will they be able to do if they are limited to the firepower they now have?
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is not mine and it will never be mine, but that's where the power of imagination comes in and stories like these are developed. So, enjoy while you can. I may not be able to keep up in the future.
A/N: Just read on. I don't want to give anything away. Just remember to leave behind a review or two. And, if possible, bring a friend along for the trip to see what I can do.
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"Okay. Just when we thought that things were gonna be easy, they aren't. We gotta set up a new set of plans before things get worse. Beware, it won't be easy." -Eclyptyk Neo
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After school.
The team didn't hesitate to meet in the underground lab they knew as the DT Command Center. It grew silent as all eyes fell on Tommy. He had been feeling lightheaded the entire day, and he could only say that it was just a headache, but it was more than that. He just refused to say anything about it. Kim had watched him the moment they had gotten home, hoping to get some answer to his condition. And she was not sure what to make of his reaction to their newest threat, but it was clear he really didn't like it.
Trent had gone to find his father, seeing if he could have some insight on their newest problem. His father hadn't answered his phone and it had him worried about where he could be.
The team had waited for the rocket scientist in hopes that she may have some information on it, too.
"So, what do we know about this situation?" Tommy asked as he let out a breath. He had been pacing the room as he finally found a place in a chair. He rubbed his forehead to rid his head of the ache.
"Well, we know this guy must like horns and spikes," Ethan nodded as he shuddered at the thought of being on the other end of an attack. "Did you see those things? They were massive!"
"And those guys with the guns? Oh man," Conner shook his head.
"What do you think, Dr. O?" Kira asked with a shudder.
Tommy sighed quietly. He shook his head. "I don't know, you guys. This guy seems like he means business. And he won't be easy to defeat. We just haven't figured out what type of strategies he may have, or what he knows of Earth, or even us."
"You don't think he could know anything about us, do you?" Conner asked. "I mean, he acted like he didn't."
Tommy shrugged as another wave of dizziness fell over him, making him fall forward. Kim had raced forward to catch him as they hit the floor. The teens rushed over in a panic, offering their assistance to the dazed science teacher.
"Tommy, what's up? What are you not telling us?" Kim asked as she and Conner helped him back on the chair. She put a hand to his face to see if he was sick, but he wasn't hot. Just dazed. "Something happened to you, Handsome. What happened?"
"Yeah, Trent mentioned how you were a little dazed when that horn-headed freak showed up," Kira said.
Tommy forced out a breath as he closed his eyes to calm down his senses. He knew that something was wrong, he just wasn't exactly sure what. He felt his mind being probed, being collected of information out of his will and was left mentally unstable. But it impaired him physically, too. He hadn't been able to walk a few steps without feeling a rush of dizziness swipe him.
"I don't know," the legendary ranger admitted. "This Mindshatter guy could be one of the hardest opponents a team of Rangers has ever faced. I could almost feel my mind being probed for information."
"Ya know, come to think of it," Ethan thought for a moment. "I felt a little weird when that horn-headed freak was speaking. And by the sound of his dialect, it does sound like something from another planet."
"What if we got a hold of Andros? Maybe he has some information on this," Kim suggested, recalling the red ranger from the Space Ranger team.
Tommy sighed and shook his head. "Until we get more information on this guy, I would prefer to keep things between this team."
"It could be risky if we were to tell the other Rangers. I mean, a name like Mindshatter sorta has a person wonder why he's named that," Kira said with a nod. "Besides, I don't think we want to put their lives in jeopardy."
"Nah, they miss the thrill of being in battle," Ethan shook his head. "The only question is if they're willing to risk their lives for this cause."
Conner nodded, agreeing with his teammates as he turned toward their mentor. "So, it's obvious we don't hang up the suit quite yet?" he asked.
"No," Tommy shook his head again. "Let's just hope this guy doesn't try to pull anything crazy."
Then the forest entrance creaked open as the team turned to see who had decided to enter. As much as the lab was hidden, a new security system had been put in to avoid unwanted visitors. It had been monitoring the activity in the room and around the corridors leading into it.
Hayley walked into the room greeting the team quietly as another figure emerged behind her. It was the original technical advisor, Billy.
Tommy and Kim exchanged a quick look before rushing over to greet their old friend.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were on your way back to Aquitar," Tommy protested.
"Actually, I was," Billy nodded. "If I could get out of the atmosphere. There have been several accounts of strange activity going on in the atmosphere."
"Meaning?" Kim asked.
The two geniuses moved toward the main computer as the rest of the team joined them. Billy had commented briefly on the work done to the current Command Center of the ranger team. Then he jumped into the hotseat as Hayley pulled a seat up beside him. He pulled out a disk marked with the DT symbol and stuck it into the main drive.
A series of pictures of Earth from outer space came onto the screen. One had pinpointed the location of all the satellites in the atmosphere. Another was running a diagnostic on the weather around the planet. Another ran with the ocean currents. Another ran with a grid over the state of California where much of the epic battles had been faced by rangers of the past and present.
"I've been running a few tests and it appears that for some time, our satellite systems had been acting as a communication unit for an outside source," Hayley said.
Billy pushed a few keys on the board to pull up another screen. It showed a set of wavelength records. "This is a record for one of the satellites circling the planet. If you look at it, it's all normal. But apparently, if you speed up the signals, you'll begin to hear something there and notice the erraticated length of the wavelengths."
He pushed another button and a moderate humming came on. He pushed several other buttons and the humming increased to a series of static.
"It's nothing but static," Conner protested, scratching his head.
"That's where you're wrong," Billy shook his head as he pushed another set of buttons. The static began to become garbled, and a line of small distorted dialect could be heard. And it sounded similar to the dialect used by Mindshatter. "It seems the electromagnetic impulses within the satellites have been tapped. But no one is able to pinpoint it because it's working at a much faster wavelength, that technology on Earth can't compare to."
"And since satellites are used to power and send information around the world, it could also send it to outer space. And it seems these guys from space were capable of snagging our information. Would it be connected to the SETI system used to try and communicate to other sources in space?" Ethan seemed fascinated by the discovery.
"That's where I've been able to pinpoint the primary source to this interference," Billy said.
"So, does this give a new definition to the internet, too?" Ethan asked slightly worried.
Hayley turned to the teen and nodded. "It seems the internet has hit a bigger audience outside of our atmosphere."
"But that still doesn't give an answer for why you're still here, Billy," Tommy shook his head.
Billy turned to his former leader. "This Mindshatter guy must have turned the satellite system against us because there seems to be a protective shield covering the planet. Nothing can come in and nothing can come out."
"Does that include communications, too?" Kira asked.
"As far as I could tell, yes," Billy turned to look at the teen. "And now that the shield is up there can't seem to be any way to contact an outside source. For all we know, we could appear to have no strange activity to the people of Aquitar."
"So, you're stuck here?" Conner asked.
Billy shrugged and nodded. "I guess so."
"What about those strange weather patterns?" Kim asked. "Any connection?"
"We still haven't gotten anywhere with that," Hayley admitted shaking her head. "It seems those are just mother nature at work."
Tommy turned away thinking for a moment, trying to re-collect all the information with any previous information he had stored in his head. The team turned to look at him, wondering what he was thinking, and what he had to say about this situation. He took a breath and looked up to meet the eyes of the team. "It's clear that we got another threat to deal with. But, if he soon discovers who we are and he decides to take it to scaling-high proportions, we could have some major problems. ayley, I know I told you you gotta take a break, but I'm asking or a big favor..."
"I'm on it, Tommy. Now, that Billy's here, he could spread his expertise," Hayley nodded. "New zords?"
Tommy smiled lightly and nodded back. "You got it. Or something that could help us in that field."
"That's what you get for trashing your dino zords," Billy sighed in a mock smile.
"Don't start with me, Billy," Tommy huffed. "I had every right to do that. Just get to work."
"Yes, oh fearless leader," Billy laughed as his former leader glared at him with disgust.
The two rocket scientists exchanged a look and got down to business running a few designs across the other. The rest of the team moved over to the other side of the room.
"So, what do you think, Dr. O?" Conner asked. "Think we can beat this guy?"
"It'll be hard," Tommy admitted. "But I have never met a team of rangers who failed to bring down an evil being. Whatever it was. Stick with it, guys. I know it's your final semester of high school, but we're gonna need to focus on this matter as much as possible."
The teens nodded slowly, knowing he was right. They may be seniors, and just wanting to get out of high school, but they were still rangers who needed to protect the planet from evil and destruction.
"So, I guess this is kinda like deja vu all over again?" Ethan asked.
"I really thought we would go this year without any serious problems like this," Kim sighed as she pulled her husband's hand over to her lap and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Expect the unexpected," Tommy let out a deep breath as he saw the sadden look on his students' faces. "Hang in there, guys. I know it's hard, but you're strong. You can handle it. And until this guy strikes we can't make any real judgment about what he really wants with Earth."
"Or where to find himin this case," Conner shook his head. "I just can't get those guys out of my head."
Ethan nodded as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "No kidding. Those spikes looked crazy. It gives a new name to being elbowed in the face."
"But they looked like robots. And if all robots are the same, they are at a disadvantage. They are weighed down by their armor and they don't move as quick or as agile as a human would," Kira said.
"How'd you know that?" Ethan looked at her, eyebrows raised.
"It's called watching TV and movies," she said with a shrug.
"That may be true, but we can't underestimate them either," Tommy instructed.
Then the forest entrance opened up and a tired and exhausted Trent rushed into the room.
Everyone got to their feet in a flash and raced over to him to see what was up.
"What's up, Trent?" Conner patted his friend on the back.
Trent huffed catching his breath as he raised his head to look at the occupants of the room. "He's gone! My dad is gone!"
to be continued...
A/N: I know what you're thinking. 'What the hell...?' First off, as much as a little relationship is escalating between Elsa and Anton, that will be put on hold for some time. For certain reasons. I hope you understand why in the upcoming chapters. I will be compensating for a lot of characters throughout this story and it will be quite difficult to keep up with all of them. So, for now, just read what I got down. And what has happened to Anton Mercer? Read on to find out. May the Powers Always Protect You.