'TIL I COLLAPSE - PART TWELVE: NEW PROJECT OF DESTRUCTION (PG-13)
SEQUEL TO: ORDINARY WORLD
SUMMARY: Dates are interrupted when an attack takes place downtown. But is the new project ready to be activated when it is taken to the scaling heights of destruction?
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is not mine. I only own Mindshatter, Dinoshade and the cybots. So, beat that. Sorry, but that is not the point. The point is that it's about Power Rangers and you decided to pull up a seat to see what I can do. So, enjoy the trip and come back as soon as you can.
A/N: I don't really know what to say, but to just read on. I have lost my creative juices trying to catch up on all of this. I am really sorry about falling behind more than I needed to, but I've been either busy or really lazy to make it in front of the computer. I am gratefully sorry for the wait. I am trying. Really I am, and it's not easy when things change in a matter of days. But you know what to do. Read and say what needs to be said. C'mon, guys. I need some reviews.
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"I was hoping that it would not come down to this. I do not know if we are ready to move on to our next set of plans. They have not been tested and it could be far too risky if we do it now. But we really do not have a choice we could live with. We have to try something."-Eclyptyk Neo
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Deep in the dark shadows of the island fortress that once belonged to Mesogog, Mindshatter sat in the chair he now called his own, watching the monitor showing activity throughout Reefside.
He had his cybots working around the clock to get the place fixed and installed with his own hardware and experiments he found worth his time.
Dinoshade came in and bowed low toward his master. "I have assembled an army and await your order to destroy the city, master."
Mindshatter waved his hand through the air as the monitor went blank and the footage of the very first battle his henchman and cybots were in against his newest threat to dominate the world. He watched with amusement as he saw the Black Ranger wind up his staff in a circle collecting a line of energy and fired it at Dinoshade. He took it in collectively, absorbing it, as he roared and attacked the multi-colored warriors with his own weapons. And they hit the ground, demorphing. And that's all he needed to keep track of who was a ranger and who wasn't. "So, a bunch of teenagers and their science teacher is all that stands in my way for ruling this world? How pathetic is that? Mesogog couldn't beat a bunch of mortals with the only thing that could save them from truly dying are those shiny suits."
"My lord," Dinoshade began.
Mindshatter motioned him toward the door. "Let's play with them for awhile, Dinoshade. They won't know what will hit them in the end, will they?" He turned to the shadows of the room where another figure stood. A set of glowing yellow-brown eyes escaped from the shadows.
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Tommy and Kim were just walking out of a 7/11 hand and hand, each with a slurpee. They jumped into the jeep as Tommy sighed deeply.
Kim looked over at him with confusion as she laid a kiss on his cheek. "Hey, Handsome, you okay?"
He nodded slowly as he leaned over to lay a kiss on his wife's lips. "Yeah. Just slightly discouraged at the fact we haven't heard much from Mindshatter. I'm growing a little worried that he could be plotting something really big against us."
"Or maybe he just packed his bags and left," she said with a smile.
Tommy shook his head as he started up the engine. "Thanks for the cheer up, Beautiful, but we both know that's not true."
"Well, why don't we head on home? You look a little hungry. I'll cook you something," she stated.
He managed a smile as he pulled out of the gas station. But didn't get very far as an invisi-portal opened up and there standing a few feet in front of the jeep was Dinoshade and an army of cybots. Tommy hit the breaks hard, catching his breath.
"Do you really like to jinx a situation?" Kim looked over at her husband, slightly mad and frightened.
Civilians saw the threat and raced into their cars or indoors for safety.
Tommy stood up in the jeep glaring at Dinoshade and the army assembled behind him. In the back of his mind he grew confused. Did they just come out of an invisi-portal? "I was wondering when you would show up again."
"We meet again, Black Ranger," Dinoshade greeted as he pulled up his arm pointing it at the line of gas pumping stations. "Are you so eager to die?
Tommy looked back to see some people racing out to their cars at the stations and could conclude one thing as he looked back at Dinoshade. Dinoshade raised his arm toward the gas station pumps and fired.
"Run!" Tommy shouted as he dropped into the comfort of the driver's seat, flipped it to reverse and pushed the pedal to the metal.
Time seemed to slow around the area as the laser fire flew through the air toward its intended target. And civilians raced away from the pumping station toward safety as the entire area exploded. Cars in the adjacent street came to a halt, screeching and crashing into one another as they tried to avoid the blow.
Tommy nearly lost control of the jeep as it hit the sidewalk. He looked back for a second to see the flames from the explosion come his way. Kim was already out of the car as she raced into the alley. Tommy sprang from the jeep and into the alley behind her. The impact forced them to the ground as he shielded her and the flames slowly disappeared.
Tommy let out a frightened breath as he looked down at his wife. "Kim? You okay?"
Kim let out a breath opening her eyes as tears fell from them. "I'm okay, baby. What about you?"
Tommy groaned slightly as he noticed the burnt fabric on his right shoulder. It was bad, just a singe. "I'll be fine. C'mon."
Tommy helped her to her feet. They walked over to the end of the alleyway peering out into the mess left by Dinoshade. People raced down the streets toward safety as the army of cybots came charging their way, pistols firing.
"Kim, get to safety," Tommy said firmly in his serious voice. "I got something to take care of." He pulled up his communicator as it changed to his DT morpher.
Kim pushed his hand down, shaking her head. Their eyes met, hers filled with fear and his lit were determination and anger. "You're not going out there on your own."
Tommy sighed as he pushed a button on his morpher. It would call out the other rangers for help. "You're not coming with me out there, Kim. It's far too dangerous, especially in your condition..."
"I am not crippled, Tommy," she glared at him with a new line of anger. "I can still help."
"I won't risk it," he shook his head. He looked at her in a way a leader looked upon his team. And she knew he was only doing the right thing. "Get to safety. The other rangers and I will take care of this."
Kim looked away for a moment. She stood up on her tip-toes and laid a warm kiss on her husband's lips. "Be careful, Handsome. All of you."
"We will, Beautiful. Now, go," Tommy nodded firmly as he circled around the corner into the battle. He morphed on his way in, pulling his staff free from its holster and held out to protect him as he raced toward his aggressors.
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Ethan was sitting in the cyber cafe at one of the stations, bopping his head to the music in his headphones as he began to categorize the adventures of the DT Rangers.
Then the familiar chime of his dino morpher came to life. He threw his headphones on the desk covering his communicator. For a moment, he looked around the room to make sure no one had heard it. And it was clear no one did.
And he could only conclude one thing as he got to his feet and raced out of the door. An attack was going on somewhere in the city.
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Kira and Trent were sitting against a tree in the park. At first they could not believe that they were now dating, but that didn't seem to be a big deal. They just liked to hang out, be in each other's company.
Kira had taken her guitar back as Trent pulled out his small notepad to write down a few inspiration lines he had in his head. Kira strummed the guitar quietly noticing him write something down. "What are you writing down?"
"Just a few lines I might be able to create into a poem or song," he shrugged. He did have a hidden talent to create poetry or possibly a song, but it was a matter of finding a beat that could work out with them. "'In the beginning we became friends. Then something pulled us apart and it felt like things would never be the same. But that was it. It never was supposed to be that way. We've traveled a path only so few can see.' I don't know, not the best."
"Well, I think it sounds good..." Kira said with a smile.
But it was cut short when the familiar chime of their dino morphers came to life. They exchanged a quick look as they sprang to their feet and raced out of the park.
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Conner and Krista were hanging out in the cove. Conner was saying sweet nothings into Krista's ear as they laid there making-out on the beach.
It was a perfect moment as Conner loved to feel Krista's soft, warm lips against his. It made everything else feel like nothing compared to it.
And as their lips touched again for a quick moment, the dreadful call of the dino morpher came to life. Conner groaned internally as he sat up. He felt his stomach churn. He was mad at the interruption, but he knew they needed him.
Krista sat up beside him looking at him. She turned his face toward his as he looked into her sparkling eyes. "What is it?"
The dino morpher chimed again as Conner looked away as he got to his feet. "I gotta go. You know how my dad can be at times."
"Is everything okay?" she asked as she got to her feet.
Conner sighed. "I hope so. But I'll call you later, okay?"
Krista nodded as she laid a quick kiss on his lips, wrapping his hands around her waist. They held each other for a moment. Conner forced himself out of her hold and raced back up the ridge.
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Tommy had made a path through the cybots toward his intended target, Dinoshade. He held his staff high as he brought it down in a vertical attack, but Dinoshade stopped it. And for a moment, Tommy couldn't get it free.
Through his visor, Tommy's eyes were on fire. "I know you have Anton Mercer. I want him back."
"That shouldn't be your concern," Dinoshade growled as he threw the staff up and over him as the ranger flew threw the air.
The black ranger hit the ground as he felt the huge foot of Dinoshade come crashing down on his chest. He groaned in pain as he tried to push it off, but the weight was nearly too much.
Then a line of blue lasers landed on Dinoshade as he stumbled back. Tommy slowly rolled away to catch his breath as he looked to see where it came from. The blue DT ranger was racing his way, Tricera Shield in hand, firing lasers and blocking the blows from his aggressors.
"Dr. O, you okay?" Ethan asked as he pulled his teammate to his feet.
The black ranger nodded, thanking the teen. "Now, let's put these guys back where they belong."
"Right behind you," the blue ranger nodded as he shielded them from laser fire from a few cybots.
Ethan pushed himself forward, using his shield to protect him as he raced through the army, laying a kick and punch where he figured the weak spots of the cyborgs.
Tommy had his hands full as he tried to force the cybots back to get to Dinoshade, who seemed to laugh at the fact the black ranger couldn't get to him.
Then Dinoshade launched another attack that made contact with the two rangers. They went flying to the ground in pain.
"Hey, metal brain," a voice called out as Dinoshade turned around.
"Back off," another said.
He was hit dead on by lasers from the yellow raptor cycle and the white ATV. He roared in pain as he stumbled back from the impact. The two young rangers raced over to the other side, shielding their friends as they turned their vehicles toward the robotic dinosaur.
"You guys okay?" Trent turned to look at the blue and black rangers.
"Yeah. Thanks, guys," Tommy nodded as he slowly got to his feet.
"I'm getting sick of these guys," Ethan growled with frustration. "Don't they ever know when to quit?"
"Hang in there, Ethan," Kira encouraged him. "It's not over until it's over."
Then a new line of lasers rained down on them. Kira and Trent revved up their engines and raced into battle, firing on the cybots. Tommy and Ethan rolled away and used their own weapons to lay out some damage.
For a long time, the team had moved against the cybots driving them back just to get some attacks into Dinoshade, but none of them seemed very effective. Dinoshade growled as he fired on the team again with another line of lasers. They all hit the ground, exhausted and weak. But they weren't out.
"You rangers are pathetic," Dinoshade hissed as he approached them slowly.
Tommy slowly got to his feet, using his staff to help himself up. He launched a wind attack toward the cyborg dinosaur using what energy he had left to push him back.
Then the flash of red became evident as he raced through the wind strike attack and gave it an added push to send the cyborg into the far wall of a building.
Tommy hit the ground in an exhausted heap as he let out a tired breath. The team raced over to him, pulling him to his feet. Conner raced their way coming to a halt in from of his team.
"You okay, Dr. O?" Conner asked as he patted the teacher's shoulder.
The black ranger nodded slowly. "Just a little drained, but I'll be fine. Conner, I think you should go Triassic. It's the only attack we haven't tried against them."
"I was thinking that too," Conner nodded as he turned around.
Dinoshade pushed his way through the debris growling loudly. Ethan and Kira raced to Conner's side as he pulled out the Shield of Triumph. And they fed their energy into the shield to bring life to the Triassic Ranger. Conner's suit glowed and changed into his Triassic suit.
"Battlyzer mode. Online," Conner announced as he launched himself into the air. A new line of light covered him and as he landed he stood there in the maximum power of his ranger status.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" Dinoshade chuckled.
"It should," Conner said. "Battle blast!"
Then the cannons on Conner's shoulders roared to life and a line of power, energy and lasers erupted from them toward the cyborg dinosaur. For awhile, Dinoshade stood there, roaring with satisfaction, but as the attack increased, the cry turned more into pain. And the entire area around him exploded in an array of fire and smoke.
Conner hit the ground catching his breath. The team raced to his side as they watched and waited for the smoke to clear.
"There's no way. Is there?" Kira shook her head.
"Out of all of our attacks we've used on him, that's the most powerful one we got," Tommy concluded.
"I don't think it was that easy," Ethan said as he took another step forward.
The cybots turned and left in a rush through an invisi-portal. The smoke cleared and there was no one there. The rangers looked at each other taking a step back.
But that's when the ground began to shake and the rangers were thrown off balance. They turned around to see Dinoshade walk their way, but he was now 30 stories tall.
"Uh...that's not a good thing," Ethan took several steps back.
"And did those cybots just disappear through an invisi-portal?" Trent asked.
Tommy pulled up his dino morpher to call on Hayley. "Hayley, we could use a little assistance right now."
"But we haven't been able to test it, Tommy. It's only experimental. There are still bugs in it," she replied.
"Well, in case you haven't noticed we got a 30 story robotic dinosaur who will destroy the town if we don't do anything," Conner said.
"Use your dino gem energy," she said sort of reluctantly. "It should call them out of hibernation."
One by one the team concentrated on their dino gems as their suit began to glow with a new line of power. And they heard a line of roars echo through their ears. And it was at that point, they felt a new connection within each other and their dinozord.
Then two objects flew through the skies, one was white and the other was yellow. And it was evident it was the drago and ptera zords, or a close facsimile. The ground shook as they turned to see a blue and red object race their way, the tricera and tyranno zords.
The white drago zord looked just like its original self, but it was smaller. It let out a cry as he landed on top of one of the building. Its sharp eyes centered on its owner. The yellow ptera zord was slightly altered from its original self. The wing span and movement was more fluid like the white drago zord. Its green eyes fell on its owner as it came to a landing on another building top. The tricera zord and tyranno zord rammed into the huge Dinoshade before coming to a halt beside their zord companions. The tyranno zord had been slightly modified, but not a lot to distinguish its true appearance. The tricera zord was the same way.
And if one could look over the zords, it was almost as if they were never destroyed. They were only brought back from the scrape heap and resurrected.
"That's awesome. They're like our old zords," Ethan said with happiness.
"There's only one problem," they heard Billy's voice escape from the Black Ranger's morpher. "We haven't been able to find a way to combine them to create a megazord."
"What about Dr. O?" Kira realized there was no brachio zord evident on the battle field.
"Tom," Billy spoke clearly. "We both know the brachio zord won't do much in battle except act as a shield for the other zords. It is the only zord we haven't been able to configure. But, I got another plan."
Tommy furrowed his eyebrows as he held out his hand and something appeared in it. It was his dragon dagger from his days as the Green Dragon Ranger. "No way. You can't be serious. I am not bringing him back into battle."
"It is the only zord we have that could suit you until we figure something out. We already relocated him to Reefside," the original blue ranger stated.
The ground shook again as Dinoshade opened fire on the rangers. They all fell to the ground groaning. Their zords roared with anger and turned to open fire on the cyborg. Dinoshade growled as he hit the ground.
Tommy pulled his teammates to their feet. "Go, guys. I'll meet you up there."
"Right," Conner said.
"We're on it," Kira said.
"Let's see what these zords can do," Ethan said.
"Let's hope this works," Trent nodded.
The teens turned and took the giant leap into the cockpit of their zords. They confirmed they were in place, the cockpit a comfort fit for just them alone. The four dino zords roared with life as they glowed to life and went after Dinoshade, driving him into the outskirts of town.
Tommy caught his breath as he raced to the end of the pier, looking down at the dagger in his hand. He sighed quietly, looking at the hint of green glow from his dino morpher. "Well, it's time to rise back up, buddy. Just like old times." He pulled the dagger up into position and blew into it. The hum of the fanfare that called out his old zord escaped from it.
For awhile he waited and watched as the sea began to move about and indicated that something lurked in the depths of the sea. And then the head of the Dragon Zord rise out of the sea, and then the entire body. It roared to life, swinging its tail about and moving its body to awake it from its long slumber.
Tommy played out the dagger again as the dragon zord roared again, and looked down at who was running the controls. "Whoa, buddy. Relax, it's me. I'm just wearing another suit."
The dragon zord roared again as it swung its tail, the drill on its tip roared to life. Tommy forced out a breath and launched himself up and into the cockpit of his old zord.
On the outskirts of the city, the ptera zord and drago zord zoomed through the sky against Dinoshade, causing him to spin back and forth between their attacks. He roared with frustration as he launched an attack toward the drago zord. It veered away, barely missing the attack. The tyranno zord charged toward the cyborg dinosaur, locking arms with him. But it was hard to get a lock when the arms of the tyranno zord could not compare to Dinoshade. The drill of the tyranno zord whirred on and the tricera zord rammed forward, launching a line of electrical strikes toward Dinoshade as the attacks locked with him.
Dinoshade hit the ground again, but was quick to his feet as he pulled up his arms and the hidden guns in his arms came out. A line of laser fire escaped from them toward the ground zords. The sparks flew as the tricera zord came crashing to the ground. The tyranno zord growled loudly as it came to a stop beside the tricera zord.
The ptera zord zoomed through the air, but Dinoshade was already on his feet and opened his mouth to reveal a flamethrower breath toward it. The ptera zord cried in pain as it hit the ground.
The drago zord saw the danger and zoomed passed the enemy, sending him to the ground.
"My systems are overheated," Ethan growled as he slammed the controls. "My zord can't move."
"Same here," Conner said as he tried pushing some buttons, but nothing was responding. "Kira, are you okay?"
Kira groaned from within the cockpit of her zord. "I'm fine. But that attack tweaked the wings of my zord. I'm a sitting duck."
"Hang on, guys. I got an idea," Trent said.
The drago zord let out a cry as it fired a line of laser toward Dinoshade as it zoomed in and out of range. Dinoshade growled as he fired his lasers toward the lone zord. But he had no clear shot. Trent knew how to maneuver his zord through the attacks. He had experience with it, unlike his ranger counterparts, who usually formed the megazord the second they had to deal with a huge mess. The drago zord attacked again, clipping Dinoshade as it zoomed passed him sending him to the ground.
Dinoshade growled as he rose to his feet. For a moment, he didn't move. His glaring red eyes focused on the white machine zooming through the sky. Then when he had a lock, he fired. A set of laser beams came from his eyes much like Cyclops from X-Men, and struck the drago zord. The drago zord lost control as it plummeted toward the earth.
"Trent!" the other rangers called out.
The drago zord cried in pain as it came closer to the earth, but out of nowhere the light spirit of the falcon swept the zord, leveling it as it hit the ground.
Dinoshade turned around, watching the falcon dance through the air and merged into his new challenger. "What is this?"
"Have you forgot about me, Dinoshade?" Tommy stated from the comfort of his Dragon Zord.
The Dragon Zord roared as it pulled up its hands and fired its line of rockets toward the cyborg. It exploded upon impact, sending Dinoshade back a few steps. Then, a line of laser beams escaped the eyes of the Dragon Zord toward Dinoshade. Dinoshade growled as he hit the ground again. The Dragon Zord moved toward Dinoshade swinging its sharp tail toward him, but Dinoshade launched another attack that sent the zord to the ground.
The other zords cried out in pain and worry. They were desperate to join the battle, but they didn't move. They were all in need of serious repair.
"This is your doom, rangers," Dinoshade hissed with satisfaction.
Tommy growled as he tried to work the control. But they were shut down, and he felt pain run up his body. He felt so weak as he watched his ranger suit fade in and out. "No. C'mon. I know you're weak, but pull it together." He could only conclude the reason he felt so weak was he harnessed his falcon spirit, trying to control his old zord with what little power he had of his dragon coin hiding in his dino morpher, and already taken a bad beating in the fight earlier.
Dinoshade pulled the Dragon Zord to its feet looking into the eyes, the cockpit of it, seeing the black DT ranger inside. "You will be the first to go."
"No!" the other rangers called out.
Then they all heard the cry of a bird. The only bird that could cry that way was the crane. They all watched as the spirit of the crane race through the air and strike Dinoshade.
"Kim, no," Tommy breathed in fright as he averted his eyes to the ground below searching for where his wife could be hiding.
Dinoshade growled in frustration as he launched an attack toward the crane. The crane zoomed passed the attacks, making one another attack toward the cyborg. But Dinoshade had a dead shot as he launched another laser beam from his eyes toward the spirited bird. Then it cried out and disappeared, blinding everyone.
"No!" Tommy called out from the cockpit of his zord. He felt a chunk of his own being leave him as his stomach sunk. He continued to search the grounds for the pink ninja ranger, but found her nowhere. But she knew she had to be there.
Then from each of their cockpits, the teen rangers began to see their morphers glow to life. The colors of their respective suit filled their cockpits and formed an energy unlike any. A white, yellow, red, and blue light struck Dinoshade. He growled in pain as he dropped the Dragon Zord taking a step back. The energy was draining him as he hit the ground.
The zords slowly got to their feet, surrounding their aggressor. The energy continued to drive him down as a black and gold light joined in. Dinoshade growled in pain as his knees locked with the ground.
"Whoa! What's going on?" Ethan asked from his cockpit as he saw the controls roar to life.
"I don't know. But this energy is amazing," Kira said.
"I feel it inside me," Trent said.
"It's unlike anything I've felt. This goes beyond Triassic Power and the Battlyzer," Conner stated.
Dinoshade growled in pain. "I'll be back, Rangers!" Then his form melted into the darkness of night as he dropped into a shadow and disappeared.
The energy surge faded out and another victory was added to the rangers' record books.
Tommy jumped from his zord, running through the woods trying to find the source of where the spirit of the crane was. He found a small pink form leaning against a tree, dazed and weak. "Power down!" he called out as he raced over to the small petite woman catching her as she almost hit the ground. Tears streaked down his face as he caressed her face. "Kim, talk to me."
The small petite woman's face was pale. Sweat ran down it as her eyes slowly fluttered open. "Tommy. I'm okay."
At that moment, all the fear and worry left Tommy as he pulled her into a collective hug. He didn't let her go as her weak arms pulled him close to her. He laid a kiss on her lips as he heard footsteps in the distance.
The teens, in their normal clothes, were coming their way. They came to a halt a few feet in front of the couple, letting out relaxed breaths. But it was evident in the way they stood, they were scared for their friend in pink.
The black DT ranger helped his wife to her feet, but it was clear she took a brutal beating from the last battle as her knees locked. Tommy pulled her up, wrapping her arms around her waist and shoulders, sweeping her into his arms. Her eyes fluttering shut as she found a comfortable place for her head on his shoulder. He walked out of there toward the lab.
The teens followed behind them, but couldn't say anything. They were far too worried about their mentors and the strain it too out on the two of them. They could see the unstable walk in the black DT ranger as they made their way back to the lab.
to be continued...
A/N: Yeah, I know what you're thinking. How can Tommy harness the Dragon Zord without his green power coin? That's why it is fanfiction. He still has some of the power, if you remember with that run in with Mesogog trying to save Kim way back in "The Reason." But I will reveal some of the answers to some of those questions that are stuck in your head in the next few chapters. And that's what was bothering methat Conner, Kira and Ethan always rushed to form the megazord. You never really got to see them in their individual cockpit like the old days. I'll hint at this, we could see the resurrection of a few more old zords in the past. Maybe the Zeo zords, or the Astro Megaship and crew. Hint. To stay tuned for later chapter. The battle has just begun. Anyway, before I ramble on too much, I'm out. See you next chapter. May the Powers Always Protect You.