SEQUEL TO: ORDINARY WORLD
SUMMARY: Weeks later. The Psycho Rangers were never destroyed, except for the Pink Psycho Ranger. They were only converted back to datacards. Now, Mindshatter has a hold of them and sends them out on Reefside to destroy the town.
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is not mine. I sit here and re-create the PR World into how I would see it. I have that power to end it like no other. So, beware. You have been warned.
A/N: Hey, I thought this would be interesting to put in. Didn't I mention I was gonna make some reference to the past? Yeah, I did. I know I did. So, what happens? Read on and find out.
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"There is more to Mindshatter than meets the eye. He is full of surprises that only we, as rangers, can see. He must use others to win his fight, and with that we may find the one weakness to end this for good." -Eclyptyk Neo
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Weeks later.
To many people, spring break meant getting away from school and hitting up some local club sports or a vacation spot in the Caribbean within the week. Unfortunately, not everyone gets a chance to relax and vast in the sun to relax. But that was the problem that worried the rangers the most.
It was quiet. Too quiet in Reefside. It had been like that for nearly a month and a half now, and no one knew exactly why it was that way. But it was bothersome. It freaked them out.
Many times they would surrender to sleepless nights. They were too worried that Mindshatter would attack when they were asleep, or not fully alert. And that's not what they wanted. It was the worse thing that could happen to them as a team.
They had learned to take shifts. It was obvious which shift was taken by who. The DT team was set in the morning and afternoon, though with their limits. They had school to attend to and had to worry about the obstacles with that. The two ninja rangers -- Aisha and Adam -- took the night shifts. Hayley would do what she could while maintaining the business at the cafe. Cam altered between the day and night shifts in the lab. But even they were in dire need of figuring out what was wrong. They all were.
On the eve to the start of spring break, the array of rangers were moving about in the lab. The DT team was the most anxious and worried about it. This was their fight. It always was. Not tha they liked the help, but it was their time. The legacy laid on their shoulders, not on the others who have come to pass. There was just those who had volunteered their time to help out.
Conner paced the room drawing out agitated breaths. "I am not liking this. I could be out enjoying myself over spring break and I'm stuck here monitoring any strange activity in the city. Nothing has happened for over a month and a half now..."
"Just because Mindshatter hasn't attacked in a long time doesn't mean he's given up," Ethan cut him off before he could say anymore.
"Ethan's got a point. This could only mean one thing," Cam said from his place at the main computer console. He had been glued there for nearly the entire month, but it wasn't like he had much else to do. The threat was no longer in Blue Bay Harbor. And the ninja school didn't need him too much. His father was glad to find him helping out the current rangers and had allowed him to go and share his expertise. Shane and the others had kept him informed, via email. Other communications from Ninja Ops had been shut down. And he could only conclude was coming from Mindshatter.
"Mindshatter is preparing for something big," Adam finished for him.
"I really wish that this was a guy we've already fought before. Then we'd know what we're up against," Aisha sighed from her place pouting about on the stone display of seats. "Not that we already do, it was just bad enough that he's one of our hardest challenges."
"Try telling that to the rest of us who's hardly been getting much sleep over all of this," Tommy groaned, his head swaying. He looked like he was drunk, but merely lacked sleep. He laid his head gently on his wife's shoulder, who appeared just as tired.
Even with Kim at his side to tell him what was best, she was beat. The stress levels were on different things, but enough to make it evident that they both lacked quite a bit of sleep over the past few weeks.
"What did I tell the two of you especially about getting some sleep?" Adam sighed as he shook his head. "It's not healthy, especially for the two of you. You need to rest. Go. Get some sleep."
"In case you haven't noticed, Adam," Kim began as she nudged her husband awake, "we've tried that, but it hasn't worked."
"Why do you think I gave you that herbal medicine? It's supposed to help you sleep. Now, go. Doctor's orders," Adam rose his tone, a tinge of seriousness falling over it. "Besides, you're not setting a good example for your daughter by doing this."
"We'll hold down the fort. If anything comes up, we'll let you know," Aisha reassured them as she pushed the man in black and his wife up the stairs.
Tommy looked back, but before he could say anymore, Kim had pushed him up the stairs. He nearly stumbled, but finally made it up the last few steps without falling back. Each of them were looking the worse, and the team knew it wasn't good for Kim's condition. That was the last thing she needed in any stage of her pregnancy.
Trent slowly walked over to the technical director. He was just as anxious and tired as any of them, but there was also a huge burden on his shoulders. He couldn't get the images of his father out of his head. For weeks now, he had suffered from nightmares of never freeing his father. Of seeing the truth that he may not become his normal self again. That the state of Mesogog was permanent. Or worse. The only way to end all this pain was death. And that's not what he didn't want in his head at all.
"So, have you guys gotten anything useful from the team based in Angel Grove?" Trent asked quietly as he yawned.
"Unfortunately, since Rocky, Tanya and Billy left to help them out, it's been rather slow around here," Cam replied as he looked up at the teen. "But to tell you the truth, I haven't gotten anything."
Adam looked over at him and sighed deeply. "Sleep is just hard to get these days with all this tension building up. I know that feeling."
"Why do you think Mindshatter hasn't striken yet? Do you think he really is gearing up for something big?" Kira asked as she moved away from the stone chairs.
"Well, unfortunately, we haven't gotten any new information at all. Andros and the others have been saying the same thing. They got nothing, too" Cam replied as he turned to the team in the lab. "And that's via email. Our normal communications through the system has been shut down. Nothing can't seem to get out of the area of Reefside. And I doubt they're having any luck in Angel Grove."
Weeks ago, Andros had showed up in Reefside to inform the team of new information regarding Mindshatter. He had lead a mission into the island fortress to rescue Kim from her captors due to the recent time hole fiasco. The DT team was stuck in the past while they had to fend off the future. The mission was a success. And they knew that the invisi-poral network system was shut down. For the most part, it had been down for awhile. They knew nothing more than that. But they wouldn't be surprised to find some remnants still functioning somehow.
Now, in Angel Grove, he had assembled the other Space Rangers to help out where they could. Rocky, Tanya, and Billy had joined them to help spread the word between the teams through the world. If Andros had it right, they may need to call forth a huge assembly of rangers to join in battle. It was a matter of seeing how many would volunteer to do it.
"But it wouldn't take this long to re-configure the invisi-portal system. I could probably crack the code into it if I really wanted to," Ethan shook his head. He had his own theory on the portal system. That after the damage that had occurred to the main network, only certain portals could open. But they could only hold on for so long before getting shut down. He also concluded that only one could open at a time and not two or three. He had ran several simulations on the computer in the lab and on his own laptop and it ended up the same. With those theories proven true. Unfortunately, it was only a theory that was still in check. "But it doesn't make sense..." he protested as he shook his head.
"Now what, Ethan?" Adam asked slightly annoyed by his theories, but open to his opinion and words.
"Dr. O knew about the portal system since they first came about. He was responsible for the primary function when this all began. Hayley was able to crack into the firewall and find one. They're invisible anyway. Isn't it possibly for us to re-create our own routes and use them against Mindshatter?"
"Can you spell suicide mission?" Conner patted his friend on the shoulder as eyes turned to him with confusion. "Besides, I think Mindshatter is smart enough to know if we're sneaking onto the fortress. It'll be impossible."
"Not if we create a diversion," Cam spoke form his place by the computer. "I've had Shane and the others operate Ninja Ops. They've been able to report that those invisi-portals have been located throughout the state of California. We create a diversion from many parts, it will give us a window to attack from another."
"A well conceived plan, but one with many risks," Adam shook his head. "If we do manage to do that, Mindshatter will still be on that fortress. He may send every single one of his cybot army down there to the diversion, but even without them he is powerful enough to take us out. And if Ethan's theory is right, we can only open one at a time."
"Thank you, Capt. Doubt and Worry," Aisha mocked. "We don't have time to just sit here and wait for him. Who knows what he is concocting in that fortress of his?"
XXXXXXXXXX
Island fortress.
Mindshatter had paced the room for far too long. He had been waiting for Dinoshade to return with the request he had made, and he was making it more like a chore with too many obstacles rather than a simple task.
"I ask that pathetic scrap heap to retrieve that precious box and he makes it look like a journey through time," Mindshatter growled to himself. "Time I do not want to deal with. I've waited to long too attack. I must do it now when they least expect it."
Meanwhile, deep in the corridors of the island fortress, Dinoshade had slowly treaded back onto familiar grounds. He had not realized that his master had hidden the box down in the confides of the fortress no one would dare tread into. The worse part, he wasn't quite sure where he was going. And he was hearing a strange howling wind that worried even his metallic body.
Mesogog had guided him down there, but he had refused to go any farther. He was still weak and dazed. Not that he could go down there. He knew every passage of the fortress like the back of his hand. It was merely to stall time, time that he would need to catch his breath. He didn't know how stupid Mindshatter was now, but he had "returned" to following the metallic mutant's orders. Or so he hoped Mindshatter would think. But it was clear that Mindshatter was hesitant to trust the dino mutant. He would hope it would be enough to help his friends out.
Dinoshade stopped as another howling wind erupted around him. He frantically looked behind him and in front of him, but found nothing. His best bet, hide in the shadows and return to normal grounds.
When he was back on normal grounds, grounds he knew within the fortress, he came from the shadows only to be met by the stern look of Mesogog. Dinoshade growled at him shoving him aside, but Mesogog grabbed him, despite his weakened state.
"Took you long enough. Mindshatter is not pleased," Mesogog narrowed his eyes looking at the beady red eyes of his companion.
"That's none of your business. You only showed me where to go. You didn't go down there yourself," Dinoshade shrugged over the talon-shaped hand.
"Scared of a little darkness, Dinoshade?" Mesogog hissed. "I thought that was your greatest ally in this war?"
Dinoshade's eyes lit with a fiery red, but he said nothing more. He pushed passed the mutant freak and headed toward the main lab with the box held tightly in his grasp.
Mesogog watched him go then turned and set open a hidden passageway in the door where several figures stood in the shadows. He looked at them with some satisfaction and nodded toward them. "Wait for my signal to attack. The time will be right soon enough. Stay down in the lower passages until I tell you otherwise."
The shadowed figures confirmed the orders with a low series of growls and disappeared into the depths of the shadows. Mesogog turned away and strode back up the hall, pulling out a small communicator-like device and pushed a button on it.
Mindshatter had pushed Dinoshade aside once he saw the box. He raced over to the console and opened it up to reveal four thick translucent cards with a hint of yellow-green to each of them. He looked at them like they were edible enough to eat, but dropped them into a slot on the console. He pushed a few buttons on the panel as the geno-randomizer came to life.
It hissed with an eerie howl as the chamber was filled with smoke. After a few moments, the chamber doors opened and four figures slowly emerged from inside it.
One of them had the markings of red on them, another was in blue, another in black and the last was in yellow. There was no facial expressions present due to the helmet that marked a hideous and sinister look to each of them. It looked like the design of a ghost that could haunt a little child in his/her dreams.
One by one they flexed their muscles and looked around the room trying to figure out what was going on. Then the red psycho ranger's eyes fell on the huge robotic figure standing before them.
"What's going on? Who are you?" the red psycho ranger demanded.
"I am your new master, Mindshatter," the huge robotic soldier bowed in respect. "I have a mission for you and your psycho ranger friends. I want you to go into the city of Reefside and draw out the DinoThunder Rangers. There will be five of them, see to it that you will not fail me."
The blue psycho ranger stepped forward. "We take orders from no one. The blue ranger is mine and he will be destroyed for placing me into that datacard."
"I want a taste of sweet victory when I destroy the yellow ranger," the yellow pyscho ranger growled.
"The black ranger won't stand a chance against me this time," the black psycho ranger announced.
Mindshatter bowed again. He had hoped that this was true. He had only heard rumors of what destruction they caused, but couldn't seem to put an end to it. But he knew about how their powers grew with every battle they faced against the rangers. It got harder to stop them, but somehow they managed to convert them into nothing more than datacards. Unfortunately, he knew that pyscho pink hadn't been so lucky. But that was now useless information to him now. He still had four of them to destroy the rangers. "This is not an easy task to accomplish. But with your heightened skills I know you will find their weakness. Now, go. And destroy."
The four psycho rangers bowed before him and turned and left the room. Dinoshade looked at them with some confusion, not sure what they were capable of and how well they could put an end to their ranger problems.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Angel Grove.
Due to the destruction of the command center on the hill, the rangers found a passageway into the hidden Power Chamber underground. It had been a surprise to them all, but it was enough to hid their research and their numbers. Unfortunately, without the knowledge from Zordon or Alpha to help them, they were still learning the tricks of the trade around the center. Even with Billy there it was hard to fully understand the basis of what still worked and what didn't.
Though many people of Angel Grove had found out the identity of the Space Rangers, they had not questioned them about their work. Even at times when they wore the uniform set around being the Space Rangers, they hardly used it since their time on Earth. They had been on Earth for enough years to say it was nearly time to hang up the morphers for good, but they had not. Not at all, just for the sake of the future. They were dressed more appropriate to the style of the year rather than their space uniforms. Each was still marked by their usual ranger color under the space team.
Yet, didn't seem to change too much in appearance. TJ, wearing the blue color, now, had looked just as athletic and strong as he did when he had first became a ranger. In his spare time, he had gone back to working more around his baseball career, but nothing too major that would jeopardize his status as a ranger. That always seemed to come first. Cassie was still in her usual pink array of clothes. Her appearance hadn't changed much either, but her skills as a fighter had improved greatly. No one would want to mess with her knowing they could get their butts kicked. Carlos, whose hair was now cut closer, much like a buzzcut, was still clad out in his black clothes. He, too, had improved a lot with his skills as a fighter, mostly as a student of Adam. He had even went back to playing soccer and even coaching for a little league team. Ashley had grown more into a beautiful young woman, no longer a teenager, clad out in yellow. Aside from the highlighted, layered hair atop of her head, she didn't seem to change much. Andros, whose long hair had been now cut short to an array of spikes, similar to Tommy's just a bit longer, was still clad in red. No longer in his usual space uniform had gotten used to the lifestyle on Earth. He knew with friends like the ones he had, he didn't have to worry so much about fitting in. Even Karone had joined up and stayed on Earth with the rest of the Space Rangers. KO-35 held far to many bad memories and she just wanted to start off new, nor could she really stay on Mirinoi after the tragic events. But, neither did she change much either.
"So, what do we got so far?" TJ asked as he stopped pacing the room to join the technical director at one of the consoles.
Billy sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, most of these controls I've never been introduced to. So, I don't quite know what I'm working with."
"So, you mean to tell me this blinking light doesn't mean anything?" Cassie asked from another consle.
"What light?" Billy asked as he raced over in confusion. He pushed a few buttons and saw the light on the monitor Cassie was talking about. The location was unclear, and the blinking wasn't quite understandable either. "I have no idea. I can't make a pinpoint on the location. It's not coming from Reefside, I can tell you that much. It could be anything."
Karone, Carlos and Rocky had been trying to re-wire the circuits in Alpha, but it was too hard to figure out what was what. Luckily, he had joined up with the Space Rangers back on Earth after what the Lost Galaxy Rangers thought was their last battle. Unfortunately, he had suffered more than he bargained for and wasn't quite himself. They had shut him down, but now hoped he could provide some answers. They didn't want to put anymore burden on Billy's shoulders since he was still trying to work the chamber to a worthy capacity.
"Well, we know it isn't a transmission from space of any kind. To everyone out there, we're just one normal planet without any problems," Andros sighed trying to think where it could be coming from.
"But that's hardly true," Ashley protested.
Despite the time off from crime-fighting, Ashley and Andros still managed to keep their relationship going. It was slow paced, but it was still there. Yet, the thoughts of taking it farther hadn't crossed their minds much. Andros, no matter what, had been all over the ranger thing since he's time had expired to serve protection of the planet.
"So try telling that to Mindshatter. He's been screwing up transmissions to space since he got here," Tanya sighed.
"Maybe it's a warning," Rocky called out from his place in the back. He tinkered with another set of wires that sent sparks everwhere.
"A warning?" TJ thought for a moment before looking over at the leader of the space rangers. "For what?"
"I have a bad feeling about this," Andros said mostly to himself.
XXXXXXXXXX
Reefside. The alarms within the underground lab went off, calling attention to the rangers assembled within it. They rushed over to the monitor as Cam began to pull up visuals of the entire city.
"What's going on?" Conner asked in a panic.
"I'm running a scan right now. But I don't see anything," Cam shook his head in confusion.
"It's late. You don't think Mindshatter decided to change his mind and hit it up during the night just 'cuz he knew our limits at night?" Kira asked.
Adam shruged as he shook his head. "You guys better get out there and see if you find anything. We'll keep you informed if we find anything here."
"What about Dr. Oliver?" Ethan asked.
"Let the man sleep," Aisha said as he patted the teen in blue on his shoulders. "Besides, it's probably nothing. With as weak as our transmissions have been, it could be just a bird or something disrupting it."
Conner pulled his team out of the door. And the four teens had moved out into the city to go investigate what was the disturbance.
The sun had finally settled well beyond the water's edge that night. Meaning the eerie silence of being alone in the dark could freak a person out. The teens treaded out into the plaza in downtown Reefside training their eyes on the shadows and the surrounding hiding places.
"Do you see anything?" Ethan looked around feeling a little freaked out about the silence.
"Nothing," Kira replied from a distance as she took the steps up to the top of the plaza.
Conner kept his eyes on the distant park hoping to find someone there, but found nothing. Trent was searching around a corner opposite Ethan.
Conner looked back at his teammates and shrugged. "I don't see anything."
"But how come I have the feeling that we're not alone?" Trent called out as he looked around a corner slowly.
Then out of nowhere, four streaks bounced into the plaza striking down the teens as they came. The teens were unable to stop them as they came crashing to the ground wincing in pain. The four streaks disappeared into the shadows and then came to a stop atop one of the rooftops. The teens raced to the center of the plaza, each holding an arm or leg, groaning. They looked up to see the shadowed figures, the color coordinated suits on them. They exchanged a look in confusion.
"Who are they?" Kira groaned as she rolled her arm out of pain.
"I don't know, but they don't look very friendly," Ethan shook his head.
The teens looked at the strange new aggressors standing atop the rooftop. They didn't move, but seemed to look out into another world. Almost controlled. Almost like robots. But they had one objective just as Conner took a step forward, the figure in the red markings dropped his head and looked at him.
"Uh... I don't think you were supposed to do that," Trent spoke quietly.
Conner held his breath as he took a step forward. He moved again, moving to the left and the red figure followed him. He looked back at his teammates, indicating his morpher as it changed. They nodded in return and followed suit.
"Dino thunder! Power up!" the three original DT rangers called out.
"White Ranger! Dino Power!" Trent called out.
And as the lights had cleared from where they once stood, there was an array of rangers standing in their presence. They fell into a defensive stance just as the four figures disappeared from the top of the rooftop.
"Hey! Where'd they go?" Conner looked around in a panic.
Then their morphers chimed off as Trent pulled his up to hear the news. The other rangers crowded around to hear in on it, too.
"I suggest you guys get out of there before things get worse. Those guys are bad news," Cam stated from the comm.
"Why is that?" Trent asked.
"Ever heard of the psycho rangers?" Adam chimed in.
The teens exchanged a look, but it was clear they weren't quite sure what they were up against. They slowly backed away from each other and trained their eyes on the plaza and the shadows. It was clear in Adam's tone that they were in for something bad. Real bad.
The streaks appeared again as Kira called out to her teammates. But before they had the time to see what was going on, they were all attacked by the streaks. And by no means, they had any chance to stop them. They hit the ground again groaning in pain.
Trent pulled out his draggo dagger and sent laser arrows throughout the plaza hoping to strike one of the psycho rangers. Luckily, he had stopped the blue and black rangers from attacking him and Ethan. Ethan didn't hesitate to get to his feet and launch a few attacks into his aggressors. Some went through, but didn't seem to do enough damage to his new enemy. Trent had no time to recover as the black psycho ranger disappeared into the shadows striking him down again.
Conner and Kira had their own problems trying to keep their aggressors at bay, even back to back and couldn't find any way to stop them. They were also on a losing streak with their new aggressors.
XXXXXXXXXX
Angel Grove.
Despite the closing late hour, the rangers assembled there were still hard at work trying to figure out what was going on. Cassie had found a strange blinking light and couldn't seem to figure out what it was trying to say. Billy was working frantically to make a communication to the rangers based out of Reefside, but hadn't gotten a signal to relay any messages to them or from them.
"I'll try to widen the frequency and center it on the dino morphers, but with this interference, I can only get so far," Billy stated as he looked at Andros.
"Anything would work out," the red space ranger nodded.
They took a look at the viewscreen, but got nothing. It was all static. Billy pushed a few more buttons and began to hear voices on the other end. It sounded like they were in pain, being attacked. But it was still running against the static.
"It doesn't sound good," Rocky stated.
Andros thought for a moment trying to train his hearing on the background. He heard the impact of attacks, the rangers hitting the ground in pain. Despite the static he heard, other voices were hidden in the background.
"You will be destroyed, red ranger," one voice said.
"Say good night forever, blue ranger," another voice hissed.
Andros looked over at TJ and Cassie and saw the concern on their faces. They could only make one conclusion as the space rangers headed for the door. And it was as if by second nature to get out there and help them.
"Hey!" Tanya called out in confusion. "Where are you going?"
"Billy, try to send a transmission to Reefside," Andros demanded. "Code it if you have to. Warn them that the psycho rangers are back and looking for more trouble."
Billy nodded as he turned to the two zeo rangers left in th room. For awhile they had to think about what that meant, and knew they would follow suit. They set up their zeonizers and morphed as Billy sent out a transmission and sent them out of there.
XXXXXXXXXX
Reefside, underground lab.
"So, those are the psycho rangers?" Aisha breathed as she watched the teens take another bad hit. She as well as the others in the lab watched helplessly as they tried to fight off their newest enemies.
"I think it's time for you guys to get out there," Cam instructed looking back at the ninja rangers.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Aisha turned and headed out the door into the woods. Adam appeared to follow, but turned and headed up the stairs. Aisha stopped and called out to him. "Adam! Where are you going?"
"Go! I'll meet you out there. I gotta go get Tommy. We're gonna need all the help we can get despite his lack of sleep," Adam called out as he raced up the stairs and out of the lab.
Aisha wanted to stop him, but knew he was right. She called out to Cam to keep her informed as she pulled away her normal clothes to reveal the hidden ninja suit underneath. She raced out of there to join the battle.
Meanwhile, Adam jumped the stairs to the top floor of the house. He nearly stumbled on the carpet at the top of the stairs as he rounded around the rail to the master bedroom. He peeked into the room as he noticed to two sleeping figures in the room. He crept over to the bed, tapping on the man on the bed.
"Psst! Tommy, wake up! There's a situation," Adam whispered as he tapped the man again.
Tommy groaned quietly as he turned over to face the shadow looming over him. He slowly opened his eyes squinting up at the shadow.
Adam gestured him toward the door without saying another word. Tommy shook the sleepiness out of his head as he noticed the eagerness in his friend. He slowly pulled the covers off and followed him out of the room. Despite the sleep, he was dressed for any action that came his way.
They crept toward the door, but stopped when the other figure on the bed stirred.
"Tommy?" Kim asked sleepily.
Tommy groaned as he pushed Adam out the door. He raced over to his wife and crawled onto the bed, laying a kiss on her head. "Hey, Beautiful. Go back to bed. I gotta go take care of something in the lab. I'll be back."
Kim turned away pulling the blankets close around her. "Be careful, Tommy." She replied quietly.
He leaned over and laid another kiss on her head. He tucked the blanket around her and kissed her again before getting off the bed. "Love you, baby. I'll send Serena in to keep you company."
"Okay, Handsome," she mumbled. "Love you, too."
Adam waited outside the door for him, apologizing for the disturbance. They slowly walked away as Tommy closed the door behind him.
"No, it's okay. What's the situation?" Tommy asked in a serious tone. It was like he was full of enough energy to do anything.
"Bad news. I don't know how. But we're dealing with the psycho rangers here," Adam said without any hesitation.
Tommy stopped for a moment to grasp what his friend was saying. He noticed the looming figure hidden behind the cracked door to his daughter's room. He walked over to it and peered in to see Serena standing there looking up at him with much curiosity.
"You leaving, daddy?" she asked quietly, sorta sleepily.
"I'll be back, okay? Go keep your mother company while I go take care of this situation," he said as he scooped her up in his arms laying a kiss on her cheek.
"Bad situation?" she asked with curiosity.
"For the most part, I hope it isn't. Don't worry. I'll make sure not to be out too long. Love you," he said as she pulled him into a hug.
"Love you, daddy. Be careful," she said.
He laid another kiss on her head and placed her on the ground. She scurried away and into the master bedroom just as he followed out to see Adam waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. He raced down them and followed his teammate out of the door, as they passed, they were suited up and ready for action.
XXXXXXXXX
Reefside plaza.
Conner managed to stop his aggressor to take a better look at him. But it seemed every time he tried to attack, his enemy knew where he would attack and stop him every time. He was thrown through the air and came crashing on the ground beside the blue DT ranger.
"Man, these guys are tough," Ethan groaned as he helped his friend to his feet.
"Yeah, I know. Where's the help when you need it?" Conner winced as he tried to find his footing again.
A surprise attack pulled them away from each other for support as the blue and red psycho rangers attacked again. They were caught in another fight with what seemed like their alter ego, and they stood no chance against them. They looked over to Trent and Kira and noticed their weakened stance. They were getting just as tired and weak quick, too.
Trent deflected a few attacks from the yellow and black rangers and sent his laser arrows their way. It faltered their steps and forced them to re-group for a moment. Trent helped his teammate to her feet as she leaned against him for some more support.
"You okay?" Trent asked as he held out his drago sword pushing away more shots coming their way.
"A little tired and weak, but I'll deal. I think," Kira replied as she felt her step weaken.
"Save your strength, Kira," he pulled her back onto her feet. "Hopefully, Dr. O will be here soon."
Ethan and Conner raced over to offer their support, but they were just as tired and weak. They formed a protective shield around the white and yellow DT rangers just as the psycho rangers re-grouped in front of them.
"They're weak. We should destroy them now," the yellow psycho ranger replied.
"They were hardly a challenge," the blue psycho ranger said.
"Then maybe you should deal with us," a voice replied from behind them.
The psycho rangers turned to where the voices came from just as the DT teens felt their knees lock again. One by one, hidden in the shadows, the space rangers popped out. Followed by the blue and yellow zeo rangers.
"You!" the red psycho ranger hissed as his eyes centered on the red space ranger.
"I'm back. psycho red. And this time, I'll make sure you're gone for good." Andros replied coolly.
"Now, you can't forget about me," the yellow ninja ranger leaped down from her place on a rooftop.
"She's mine," psycho yellow replied as she clenched her fists. "The yellow rangers must be destroyed."
"Or us," the black DT ranger emerged from the shadows with the green zeo ranger at his side. He walked over to his teammates just as the rest of the rangers followed, shielding the teens behind them. "Now, compared to these odds, I don't think you really want to mess with any of us."
The five DT rangers, the five space rangers, the three zeo rangers, and a ranger with the skills of the ancient ninja made up the array of rangers. Each of them trained their eyes on the given color of their aggressors. For those that didn't quite have a match, trained in on psycho black.
But the psycho rangers didn't seem to flinch or mind the numbers. They seemed to feel the adrenaline and thrill of going up against the fourteen rangers assembled before them. It was as if it didn't seem like a problem to them.
"It only gives us a better chance to destroy you all," psycho black replied.
Andros took a step forward, stopping the array of rangers from moving another step forward. He pulled them close, whispering quietly to each of them. "Be careful. These guys are tricky. They could learn your moves quickly and use them against you in a matter of seconds. It's not that easy to defeat them."
"Well, with these odds I highly doubt it," Ethan spoke up.
The blue space ranger looked over at him and shook his head. "If that were true, Ethan they'd already be destroyed. They've gotten stronger every time we had to fight them. This makes no difference."
"Keep to the one that matches your suit. Everyone else, you're after the black one. We have to destroy them now before they can do anymore damage to the town," Andros instructed. "Trent and Cassie, you're with me and Conner. The rest of you, fall out. Keep your eyes peeled for anymore surprises."
"Are you done conversing over there? Or do we have to go in there and break it up?" psycho red bellowed.
Andros took a step back as he looked back at the red psycho ranger. He quickly drew out his blaster and fired toward him. The red psycho ranger hit the ground groaning, flying several feet away from his teammates. That gave the cue for the other rangers to fall into line and battle the other psycho rangers.
Ashley, Tanya, Aisha and Kira took down the yellow psycho ranger. TJ, Rocky, and Ethan took down the blue psycho ranger. Carlos, Adam, and Tommy took down the black psycho ranger. While Andros, Cassie, Conner and Trent took down the red psycho ranger.
For awhile, it seemed like the battle didn't seem like a problem to the array of rangers. But as it got further, the psycho rangers were beginning to use their same moves against them. The impact seemed more deep and hard to break from then with the rangers trying to attack their enemies with. Even with weapons, drawn it was starting to make no difference.
The array of yellow rangers tried to push the yellow psycho ranger against a wall to slow her attacks down, but it didn't seem to work. She managed to pull away, and would use Kira as a shield forcing the other rangers to pull back many times. Even with trying to use her ptera scream, it didn't seem to have an effect on their enemy.
"So, it damages our ears, but it doesn't do anything to our enemy?" Tanya groaned trying to get the hearing back to normal in her ears.
"She's gotten tougher since the last time I fought her," Ashley admitted as they re-grouped to catch their breath. "And that's when I thought they would be gone for good."
"And how long ago was that?" Aisha asked with some dread in her voice.
"When the Lost Galaxy Rangers were active years ago," the yellow space ranger had to admit. "And it's been awhile since I've even been in this suit."
The three older rangers caught their successor as she lost her footing trying to make another approach on the psycho ranger. Each questioned and asked her to see if she was all right.
"I don't know how much more I can take. Even under Super Dino Mode, I don't think it will do anything," Kira sighed with some discouragement.
"Hang in there, Kira," Ashley patted her on the shoulder. "These guys have a weakness, but it seems to not be the same thing as last time."
"So what is it?" Tanya asked as she moved away from a flying kick by their aggressor.
"Um...I will let you know when I figure it out," Ashley called out before dodging an attack from her darkest enemy.
"I will not be that easily defeated," psycho yellow announced.
On the other side of the plaza the array of blue rangers tried to keep the blue psycho ranger from doing anymore damage to the teen. It was clear his new target was in the younger one of the three. Rocky was still hesitant to make attacks, let alone still getting used to the suit of his zeo powers. It almost seemed like TJ had never been out of the suit for more than a few days, but even his attacks weren't doing enough to stop the blue psycho ranger from sending out several attacks toward them.
Ethan shielded his predecessors behind his tricera shield as a line of fire came there way. The impact threw him off balance as the other two tried to keep him stable and on his feet, firmly. "I am sick of this guy! I thought you've fought him before, TJ."
The blue space ranger shook his head. He took a step back as the blue psycho ranger was coming their way. "I have, Ethan. But this guy just seemed to rise from the dead like nothing ever happened. It's almost like he's gotten stronger. I can't find anything to lower his defense."
"And that's a bad thing," Rocky stated as he pushed back an attack from their aggressors.
"You can't stop me this time," the blue psycho ranger protested as he counterattacked the block from the blue zeo ranger. Rocky flipped into the ground taking the impact hard. The blue psycho ranger quickly moved against the other standing blue rangers and sent them to meet him on the ground. "I will destroy you all. And will take those powers for my own."
Ethan slowly pulled himself to his feet. As much as he was never seen to be competitive, but anyone who managed to push his buttons threw him over the edge. He never liked to back down unless he knew he couldn't win, and this was one battle he refused to lose. He launched his new line of strength, SDM, and charged forward. TJ and Rocky were quickly on his heel, never wanting to let the teen out there on his own. They had to work as a team in order to get out of this alive.
In the lower regions of the plaza where the shadows played a numerous amount of hiding places for the rangers, stood the team against the black psycho ranger. Though geared up in his green zeo suit, Adam was always a black ranger by heart. And his ninja powers were giving him an added boost to use the shadows as well. Carlos had come to learn what his predecessors where doing to confuse the black psycho ranger, and it was slowly working.
But there was a problem. They were well beyond their limit as rangers by age, and psycho black seemed to fight with the spirit of a young fighter that was slowly leaving each of them. Though, with two skilled martial artists, psycho black was still getting the upper hand. And Carlos had to get used to what the black DT ranger was trying to do, using his invisible powers, against psycho black. As Tommy swung with his brachio staff, it missed and hit air just as the black psycho ranger finally made contact with him.
Tommy hit the ground losing control of his invisible field. Adam and Carlos quickly shielded him pulling out their blasters and firing into the shadows, but psycho black had mastered their tricks and disappeared into the shadows. Adam pulled his friend to his feet as he looked around for their enemy.
"We don't need this right now," Tommy said in a low voice. It was clear he was losing his control of keeping his anger under wraps. He hated loss as much as any ranger, and this was one time where it was hurting the most. He was still fatigue and weak from lack of sleep.
"Carlos," Adam called out to his successor. as the black space ranger looked at him. "What do we know so far about them?"
"They were converted back into datacards after our last battle with them. But now, they seemed to have more power than the other times we've battled them," Carlos said quickly as he kept his eyes on the shadows.
"They've analyzed our attacks faster than we could keep up. They've also gotten stronger," Tommy made his own observations.
"After every battle, they got stronger. It got harder to defeat them," Carlos confirmed with a nod. "When one of them gets destroyed, the others only get stronger..."
"Heads up!" Adam called out as he moved away, a shadow breaking them up.
Adam dove left, Carlos dove right and Tommy braced himself for the impact planting his staff in the path of the black psycho ranger. For a moment, their visors locked as if to see into the soul of the other. Tommy was struggling to keep his weight under the impact as his teammates raced to his aid. Tommy forced out his hand to give some distance between him and his aggressor, and it was enough to let Carlos swing with his lunar lance as their enemy. Their enemy losing his balance for a moment.
The black psycho ranger bellowed out a threat before disappearing into the shadows again. The black team looked around keeping their eyes open for any surprise attacks.
At the top of the plaza the ranger team assembled by Andros tried to keep psycho red at bay. And the DT rangers were both showing some signs of fatigue after the long battle. Conner used his super speed to land a few attacks, but nothing was enough to stop the red psycho ranger, only slow him down. Even Cassie and Andros couldn't seem to target his weakness anymore.
"They know all of our old moves. None of them will work against him," Cassie protested as she pulled her leader back for a moment.
Trent and Conner slowly gathered at their side, and it was clear they couldn't hang on. They were growing weak and tired more quickly than the others. The red psycho ranger was focusing his attack on the younger rangers over his former challengers.
Andros thought for a moment as he looked at his dark enemy dust of his suit like nothing fell on it but dirt. "They were datacards. How could Mindshatter have gotten them? I thought we locked those away in the Astro Megaship."
"We did, but somehow, someone must have gotten in," Cassie nodded.
"But even we can't gain access after all these years, no matter what NASADA said. After the battle with Serpentena that ship has been grounded and under heightened security even since it was docked. No one could have gotten access at all," Andros shook his head. "We gotta be missing something here."
"Can't we just combine all of our weapons and destroy them one by one?" Conner suggested as he winced under the pain he had already taken during the battle.
"It's not that simple. These guys are tough. Real tough," Cassie stated.
"Our best bet is to get them on the run so we have some time to analyze what we're missing. It's the only way we can even catch our breath," Andros stated.
"Hey, whatever works. I don't know how much more I could handle," Trent breathed as he looked over his shoulder.
The red psycho ranger was charging their way. They broke formation and quickly moved to attack their aggressor. But they were all getting tired and weak, and it was hard to see how far they could last. But they had to hold on. Their teammates had depended on them just as they were depending on them. Let along, they had a world to protect.
The battle raged on for each of the teams, and it was getting harder to hold their ground. The array of rangers were growing more and more tired with every attack that they made and the psycho rangers were taking a great advantage of it. They only grew tired bit by bit while the rangers we're getting the worse end of it.
The black psycho ranger was starting to show some signs of fatigue against the strength and skills of the two martial artist and the black space ranger. They refused to make any mistake. Even taking out one of them would be beneficial. Where one ranger slipped, another was there to pick up where he left off. Each used their given weapon, and even Tommy stood in SDM for added power. They had grown tired of their aggressors and wanted to put an end to him for good.
Adam and Carlos launched their own set of attacks as Tommy sent a shaking ground shattering attack toward the black psycho ranger. Psycho Black lost his footing and slipped into the crevasse formed by Tommy's staff and caught.
"I will not be defeated, black ranger," the black psycho ranger hissed.
"Don't bet on it," Tommy replied. He thrusted his staff into the crack. "Brachio staff. Fire strike. Full power, now!"
The crack was engulfed in a line of fire striking the black psycho ranger. Adam and Carlos combined their own powers with the strike of fire as a bright light filled the area blinding them and those that caught eye of the destruction. And when the light cleared, Psycho Black ranger was nowhere in sight. Nor, could Adam or Tommy detect him with their ninja skills. And they knew he was gone. But the effort had forced them all to their knees weaken and tired.
Despite, the fallen comrade, the other psycho rangers disappeared into streaks to deliver the final blows as the array of rangers hit the ground in pain catching their breaths. None of them seemed to move as they hung on to what control they had left within their ranger powers. They laid on the ground with pain running over their entire bodies as they looked over at their teammates. It seemed like no one was able to get up and do anything more.
When the final blows were landed the psycho rangers had stopped in the middle of the plaza to see the damage they had done to the rangers. It was clear they had won this battle, but to finish them off completely came for another day.
None of them could have imagined with the number of rangers going up against their darkest enemy could have lost. But they did. Many of them lowered their heads as failure and guilt ran over their bodies. They tried and they had failed. The psycho rangers had gotten the best of them and placed them on a silver platter to rot in their loss. After all of that, only one psycho ranger was defeated.
But why they didn't seem to land the killer blows left them confused. They would have thought they would destroy them, but the psycho rangers had stopped the battle. An invisi-portal opened up and a line of cybots emerged from it.
The rangers had no strength to get up as they tried to move away from the army of foot soldiers. But the cybots seemed to have their own strategy as they split into three different groups, two heading for the ones who tried to destroy the red psycho ranger and one toward the rangers going up against the black psycho ranger, who was only a memory now.
Three cybots had collected the weakened white drago ranger, Conner tried to grab him before they walked away with their new captive, but they just kicked him aside. The same for Andros as Cassie tried to grab him, but failed. Adam and Carlos were on their knees, too weak to stand up, trying to force the cybots back, but the cybots pushed them aside collecting the black brachio ranger into their arms.
The three captive rangers tried to break free from the grasp of their aggressors, but found no strength left in their bodies to push them away. They were trapped. And their teammates could only watch as the cybots and psycho rangers disappeared through the invisi-portal with Andros, Tommy and Trent.
Slowly, but regaining some strength, the remaining rangers raced to the center of the plaza, catching their breaths looking up into the night sky. And as they did, the control over their ranger suits had been lost and they all dropped into their normal clothes. Both Ashley and Kira nearly collapsed to the ground as their boyfriends were among the captive.
Conner winced under the pain in his body. "I'm sorry, Kira. I tried to stop them..."
Kira shook her head, stopping her teammate from saying anymore. "You did what you could, Conner. You were weak. We all are."
Cassie had embraced her best friend in a hug as she realized that Ashley was trying not to cry. She had made her own apologies for failing to stop Andros from getting captured, but Ashley stopped her disagreeing.
"We'll get them back. We have to," TJ spoke as any strong leader would say.
"But what about the psycho rangers? They'll be back. I mean, at least psycho black is gone. But they know all of our moves," Ethan said in a slight panic.
"That's true," Carlos spoke up. "The psychos have gotten stronger and will continue until they're destroyed or we are."
"Great. That's all we need. Let alone, how do you expect to defeat them? Even with fourteen rangers we couldn't," Rocky stated as he forced out a breath. "One of them. But only one."
"We're gonna have to call in some more reinforcements," Adam spoke. "Besides, I think the best thing we can do is report back to the lab and find out if there is anything we could use there."
"Now, you do realize if we do go back there and we don't quite have the guy who lives there with us, Kim is gonna kill us?" Aisha stated as she stopped her friend from making another move.
"She'll have to take a hint. We're all tired. We did the best we could and we need to analyze the situation before we can more on. And only hope that Mindshatter doesn't try to do something really crazy to Trent, Tommy and Andros," Adam said quickly as he moved out of the plaza.
The rest of the rangers followed him out one by one, knowing they needed to find some answers soon or they would all be sitting ducks. But as they left the plaza, they had failed to notice the figure looming in the shadows.
Dinoshade emerged from the comfort of the shadows as he pulled out a device, running a scan over the rangers. He hissed as he watched the charts of the energy he had absorbed from each of them during and after the battle. And it was clear none of them would notice since they were already too weak to do a whole lot.
"Beware, rangers. You'll be in for a much greater battle than you're prepared for. This will be your doom," he growled in a low voice. He turned and disappeared back into the comfort of the shadows leaving the plaza in an eerie silence.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Underground lab.
The array of rangers had slowly, but finally, made it back to the lab, many had found a place to crash. It was clear they were all weak and in need of catching their breaths.
Cam was still sitting at the computer console shaking his head. It was clear he was getting frustrated with his work and hadn't gotten very far with it.
Adam had walked over with TJ at his side. "So, Cam? What do we got so far? Did you get anything from that battle? Or possibly made any communications to Billy and Karone in Angel Grove?"
Cam shook his head as he looked up at the two rangers looming over him. "Well, I'm glad to see you guys back in one piece. Despite, we now have three captive rangers, I haven't gotten anything. I may be a genius, but it seems that electrical surge Mindshatter is using has shut us down. I've tried to change the frequency and the channel of the communication, but gotten nowhere. Mindshatter must have cut it off."
"So, we've heard nothing from them in Angel Grove?" TJ asked as Cam shook his head.
"Nothing that would indicate a connection to them at the Power Chamber. Even if both vacinities are underground there is still interference despite what protection we have from Mindshatter," Cam replied as he shook his head again.
"So, is Kim still upstairs sleeping?" Adam asked.
"As far as I could tell. I haven't heard anything from up there. She must be a deep sleeper. But if you don't want to deal withher wrath, I suggest you find a way to get Andros, Trent and Tommy back here before she realizes what has happened."
"Only one problem, Cam," Ethan stated as he got up to see what was going on at the main computer console. "Those psycho rangers will get in our ways. They almost finished us out there."
"Well, you're lucky they didn't," Cam said. "And that it's now down to three psychos instead of four. Or even five."
"But that doesn't mean the next time they attack us, we could be making it back," Cassie stated as she continued to comfort her friend. "They get stronger, not weaker."
"But they got to have a weakness of some kind," Tanya stated as she sat in the comfort of her boyfriend's presence.
"They do. We have to fight their power and strength with our own," TJ stated.
"But even fourteen rangers couldn't seem to defeat them, TJ," Carlos shook his head. "We thought we destroyed them when we teamed-up with the Lost Galaxy Rangers."
"But they were only converted back to datacards," Cassie shook her head. "How? I mean, I know psycho pink was gone, but I really thought they were, too."
"That's what I can't figure out," Cam nodded.
"Reinforcements. Couldn't we call in some other rangers to help out?" Conner had to reiterate on their previous conversationout in the plaza.
"But the only remaining rangers who still actually have their powers are the Lightspeed Rangers and Wes and Eric from Time Force. Right?" Ethan said. He tapped Cam on the shoulder. "Even you guys lost them when you fought with us months ago."
"As far as I could tell, that's all I know," Cam nodded in agreement. "Our powers were only temporary. They're forever lost in the Abyss of Evil."
"But even that should give us some added boost. We call them up, get Tommy, Andros and Trent back and end this war with the psycho rangers before it gets worse," Aisha said as she had comforted the youngest yellow ranger.
Something must have went off in Ethan's head as he raced across the room to his laptop. He raced over to Cam and began to enter a line of code and information into his database. "I got an idea. What if we found a way to convert the psycho rangers back into datacards? If we destroy the datacards, then we destroy them."
"And how do you expect we do that? We don't have the equipment here to do that," Carlos stated.
"It gives us a reason to go back to the island fortress. And if we're lucky, we can also weaken the defense around the fortress. It will open up some communications to Angel Grove and see what they got there so far," Ethan stated.
TJ and Adam exchanged a look before giving up to it. It wasn't like they had any other ideas on their minds right now. What mattered most was getting their teammates out of harm's way and back on their side of the battle.
The other rangers agreed. They knew if they didn't dispose of the psycho rangers soon they would have far more to deal with than they needed. The psycho rangers had to be destroyed and fast. After that last battle, they weren't sure how much more they could take.
XXXXXXXXXX
Island fortress.
The cybots had left the darken room having strapped their captives onto three separate chairs. Each had a weird contraption strapped to their head, cutting off their thoughts and wiping them clean of their memories.
Another device was locked against their morphers as each of them were struggling to break free from the mind probe. Mindshatter slowly walked into the room with the psycho rangers on his heel.
"We should have destroyed them when we had the chance. But you had stopped us," psycho red hissed at the universal solider.
Mindshatter shook his head as he observed the three rangers groaning and moaning under the drain. "Be patient, my friend. Soon. You will get your chance soon. But you'll have some help. This time the rangers won't be able to stop me." The last statement sounded more like a note for himself.
to be continued...
A/N: Now, I told you that I was gonna bring up past references. Now, I'm not so sure about this huge array of ranger reunion thing or whatever, but it may need to get done. So, what about Andros, Tommy and Trent? What does Mindshatter have in store for them. Keep reading and find out. The end is near, but the beginning is only so far away. See you when I do. If you got any suggestions or ideas drop them down and I'll see what I can do. Until another time, later days. May the Powers Always Protect You.