SEQUEL TO: ORDINARY WORLD
SUMMARY: The battle has moved into the fortress and a lot of choices have to be made in order for others to survive.
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is not mine. Never will be, only the power of this fanfic and how it will end.
A/N: So, the battle rages. I was playing a lot with this part of the story and didn't know how to end it. Hope I don't shock you, too much. Read on if you want to see what happens next.
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"After all these months, and after everything I did, is there even a place for me in this world. I have made a lot of mistakes, screwed up numerous times. And I do not think I could ever get rid of these scars no matter what I do. I messed up big time, but I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for what I have done and what I am about to do."-Eclyptyk Neo
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Tommy didn't know what to think at that moment as he held his wife close to him. The memories of the last battle played in his head like a broken record. He just didn't want to believe that he had gone through that again. And when it had led up to that moment he had wanted to land the final blow on Jason, Kim had came in the way of it, putting her life on the line and showing him a new perspective on sacrifice.
It crushed his inner being, his animal spirit, as he watched himself drop the sword. His physical being could not be controlled. His thoughts were being scrambled and jumbled, but in the astral plains, in the depths of his soul, he knew what was going on. He was evil, yet again. A fear he had lived with from the very moment he was free from it years ago. And he had to live with it again. Scars that may never get healed as he shuddered, letting the tears fall from his eyes.
The plaza was disrupted by a line of echoing shouts and footsteps that only belonged to the four dino rangers and the rest of the Ninjetti team. The four teens froze when they saw the sight on the plaza, of husband and wife holding each other. They weren't sure what to believe as they got closer. A sign of relief fell over the older rangers.
All in their civilian forms, they came to a halt beside the original red ranger.
"Wait! Jason! I thought you were asleep with the rest of the world?" Conner questioned as he scratched his head in confusion.
"Well, thanks to Kim's quick thinking, she found me and revived me with the power of Tommy's dino gem. I took hold of the powers and battled him until I destroyed the Sword of Darkness."
"Now, doesn't that sound a little familiar?" Rocky chuckled as he got elbowed by Aisha for making a bad joke.
"But we're not out of this yet," Trent shook his head.
"And why did you have to be right about that?" Kira replied sarcastically as she pointed to the skies.
A darken storm covered the area and a huge invisi-portal opened up before the assembled ranger team. The four teens took a step toward it, all holding their own for what laid ahead before them inside it. Aisha, Rocky, Adam and Billy walked over to them letting their face show the evident of sadness and fear that laid in their hearts.
"This is as far as we can go," Billy replied.
"You're not coming with us?" Ethan felt his world come crashing down.
"We can't. These gems will be shut down once we step onto the fortress. It would do us no good if we went with you." Adam replied.
The four teens exchanged a look before turning to their mentor. Though, he was still shaken by what had happened earlier, the determination and courage filled him again. He held his wife close to his side. And it was clear she had not wanted him to go, let alone her young friends.
"We got a job to do," Tommy spoke quietly as he felt his strength returning. "This is the life of a ranger. We live up to many dangers. This is one of them, but we will learn from it. And it will be hard, but if you guys keep your heads up high, I know we will succeed."
Jason walked over to his best friend's side, holding up the brachio staff and dino morpher that belonged to the true black dino ranger. For a moment, he was almost sadden to give it up, but had kept it to himself. Slowly, Tommy had taken it from his friend before clasping his friend's hand and pulling him into a guy hug.
"Thanks, man," Tommy nodded slowly.
"I got your back, bro. And I wish you luck," Jason stated with a firm nod. He turned to look at the younger rangers, their faces were still lit with some fear. "I wish all of you luck. The powers will always protect you. Don't stop fighting until the very end."
The teens had exchanged their own hugs with the elder rangers as each had spoke of wisdom to their ears. Words of wisdom they were glad to hear to keep them going. To make sure that there was no way for them to turn back from here and keep going until they collapsed. Even if it was until their last breath. They would always keep fighting. They were, after all, rangers to the end, no matter what. And they had a long line of predecessors to thank for the legacy.
The teens buried the pink ninja ranger in a group hug as she embraced them with her own knowledge. It wasn't like they were leaving for good, but it almost felt like it.
As the words of wisdom died down and the elder rangers had taken a step back, they had given their own respect and salute toward the dino team's final battle. Conner looked over each shoulder to see his teammates take his/her place at his side. And as one, they had raised their morphers into place and initiated the morphing call they had grown accustomed to.
"Dino Thunder! Power Up!" the four original dino rangers announced.
"White Ranger! Dino Power!" Trent announced.
And as the light had cleared, the five dino rangers had been back in their respectable ranger suits. They stood their in silence for only a moment, peering over their shoulder at the invisi-portal awaiting their entrance. The ninja rangers had stepped forward, tossing them the gem that had powered up the megazord. Conner had caught the ruby, Ethan the blue sapphire, Kira the tiger's eye, Trent the black diamond, and Tommy had caught the rose quartz along with his own falcon morpher from his wife.
Conner looked down at the ruby he held in his hand, running a hand across his helmet. "I thought you guys said that this was no good in the island fortress?"
"For us it won't do any good. It'll be like we stepped into the very source of the morphing grid's disturbance, which we are, and it won't do us any good. Remember, we still got our limits. But it shouldn't be a problem for you guys," Billy instructed them. "You are the only ones who could actually morph, remember?"
The team looked down at the gems now in their position. Exchanging thoughts as they looked at each other, they nodded slowly, and held out their morphers, pushing the gem to it. It melted into the embrace as it glowed to life, letting a light cover each of them and died out just as quick. But with it, they could feel the guided strength and power of the ninja spirits within them. It was more evident now than it was when the power transfer had occurred weeks ago.
Adam had pulled out a small device, tossing it to Ethan as he looked at it with some confusion, asking the black ninja ranger what it was. "That's the very device that should guide you through the plans we have discussed. You're the only computer genius on the team who will be able to program it into the main drive on the fortress and hopefully destroy the entire network for good."
"We programmed the readouts of the fortress into each of the morphers, as well as enhanced your communications for private conversing within the comfort of your helmets. Unfortunately, what goes on there won't do any good for us. You will truly be on your own up there," Billy stated.
The four teens had exchanged another look as their determination was growing more and more on fear and worry. But they knew they had a job to do. After running one last check on the equipment, Billy had given the team the thumb's up as they turned and headed for the invisi-portal. But the elder rangers had fallen silent, having nothing more to say as they watched them disappear into it and it closed behind them. An eerie silence fell over the rangers left in the plaza.
"Good luck, rangers. May the powers always protect you," the team had said quietly in unison.
XXXXXXXXXX
When the dino rangers had passed through the portal and through to the other side, they found themselves in an empty hall in the island fortress. But as they made the move from portal to the fortress, each of them felt their knees lock and seeking out some oxygen to breath. It was as if the wind was knocked out of them, and they were in search of their breath and some strength.
Leaning against the wall, each of them shook away the daze and they tried to stand on their own two feet.
"What's going on?" Conner asked as he looked over at his teammates, seeing the weakened steps in their stances. He reached over and grabbed Ethan before he collapsed to the ground, leaning against the tall red ranger for support.
"Dr. Oliver, any thoughts on this?" Trent looked over at the man in the black dino suit.
For a moment, Tommy had grabbed his chest as he forced air back into his lungs. He had no idea what to think as he leaned against the wall. Searching in the depths of his mind, he tried to recall the battles he had faced in the past, seeing if there was any links to them. As he thought, the images of himself being drained of his green ranger powers played in his mind. He let out a breath as he shook his head. "We don't have much time. If I'm correct about this, there was some other vital information Mindshatter had collected from the Gamma-Tri System..."
"Which is?" Ethan asked as he winced under a sudden pain that shot up his arm.
"He's using a set of five candles to drain us of our dino gem powers. Since all of us have been on the fortress since he has arrived, we managed to leave behind some sorta fingerprint he has fused into each of the candles."
"And I assume that is not a good thing?" Kira asked as she felt her steps falter, her legs barely having the strength to hold her up. She nearly collapsed to the ground, but her mentor had caught her before she hit the ground. "How much time do you think we have?"
"It could be hours. It could only be minutes or even a few days. All I know is we have to destroy them and Mindshatter before he can get a hold of them," the black dino ranger stated as he watched the weak forms before him falter again. "I want Ethan and Trent to go to the mainframe room and run that program. No one knows this place better than you, Trent. Conner and Kira, you're with me. We'll have to take on Mindshatter until those two get that program loaded and running."
The teens wanted to argue with him, feeling that splitting up was a bad idea, but they had no time to argue. They had to face Mindshatter and soon, or they could very well say good-bye to their dino powers for good, if not their very existence. And that isn't what they wanted to do. The black dino ranger had wished the blue and white rangers the best of luck and that the powers will guide them as he, Conner and Kira turned and headed up the hall.
Trent and Ethan had exchanged a look before heading down the hall, the sinking feeling returning to their stomachs as they moved.
XXXXXXXXXX
The black dino ranger had moved quickly through the halls, as his young predecessors followed close behind him. They had no time to argue or make any comments as they tried to focus on the task at hand.
For a moment, Tommy had stopped around a corner, lowering to the ground as he listened with his ears to the distant activity, if that's what he was doing. Conner and Kira had lowered themselves to a crouched position beside him as he peered around the corner again.
"What are we waiting for, Dr. O?" Conner asked quietly. The nervousness was evident in his voice and how he was crouched down. If he could, he would have wished to be on of those people sleeping right now, and have someone else out to save the world. Not him. Or his friends.
The black dino ranger held up a hand, his thoughts and focus up the hall. He waited for only a moment as he heard the scurry of footsteps up the hall. He ducked behind it looking at the red and yellow dino rangers. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mindshatter even knows we're here and is waiting for us to move against him. I say we move fast, in and out, but we gotta give Ethan and Trent enough time to load up that program."
He peered around the corner again, only to push away when a line of fire came his way. The other rangers dove to the ground as the halls were peppered with laser fire from an adversary, if not a few. For a moment, they had pinned themselves to the floor, only to slowly get to their feet and peered around the corner again.
A line of smoke filled the hall where they stood, in a haze of red. Tommy held his breath, but as he looked over at his young teammates they had already hit the ground, falling victim to the fumes of the gas. And as he tried to hold on, the gas seemed to send a signal to his mind and it shut down. His knees locked and he hit the ground falling into a deep slumber beside his fellow rangers.
XXXXXXXXXX
Trent and Ethan had treaded down the hall quietly but swiftly in hopes not to trigger anything or send someone in their direction. With Trent as the lead, Ethan had constantly looked behind them fearing the eyes of someone watching them. If not from up the hall, possibly up in the ceiling in some surveillance work or something else.
It sent chills down his spine as he shuttered, but had run into the white dino ranger as he came to a halt around a bend in the hall. Apologizing quickly, Trent held up a hand lowering himself to the ground as Ethan did the same. "What is it?"
"I don't think we're alone," Trent replied as he raised his head to the darkened ceiling above them. "There is something here."
Then there was a crackle and a metal can hit the ground as a fume of red gas filled the hall. Trent got to his feet, pushing Ethan up the hall. And Ethan didn't have to protest as he quickened his run. The gas spreading like a wildfire through the hall. They rounded around a corner, only to get yanked into a hidden passageway and sealed after them, leaving the gas to its harm in the silent hall.
On the ground in confusion, the two rangers looked around in confusion to find themselves in a darken cramped hall. Looking around, they had no idea where they were or who/what might have pulled them in as Ethan began to feel around, feeling the helmet of his companion in front of him. Trent shrugged it off as he got to his feet, his eyes still affixed to the darken hall before them.
"I was only checking if you were here, sorry, man," Ethan apologized as he tried to adjust to the darken hall. "I think this is one of those hidden passages that Mindshatter doesn't know about."
"Good. So, now, he won't know where we are," Trent breathed as he looked around. "The only question is, where are we and how far are we from the main network room?"
"And who or what pulled us in there? What was that gas out there about?" Ethan asked.
"I don't know. Maybe the gas was supposed to either knock us out, or it could have been poisonous," The white dino ranger shrugged as he pulled out his drago sword, lighting it up to get a better view of where they were. He jumped back at the surprise and shock of three tyranno-drones standing before him. But as if he thought they were gonna attack, they had fallen back in shock of the light. It almost seemed like they had been afraid of it.
One of the t-drones stepped forward as he grabbed the white ranger's wrist, pulling him along. But Trent had retaliated, thought it was a threat, and attacked him only to have the other two shake their heads in dismay, hands up in a surrender. It was clear that both Ethan, nor Trent had any clue how to really communicate to the three t-drones. But it was clear with their gestures that they wanted the two dino rangers to follow them up the hall. With some skepticism, the two rangers could only shrug as they followed the three t-drones up the darken hallway.
XXXXXXXXXX
Tommy had found himself strapped to a chair located in the master bedroom, which he shared with his wife, back in his civilian form, his attire was black from head to toe. He groaned and winced as he tried to break free, but it was clear that he was strapped down. His head was spinning, he had no idea what was going on. He couldn't even recall what had happened moments ago.
He could only remember being in the fortress and the next, falling asleep. "Hello! Is anyone there?" he called out as it echoed through the void.
But there was no answer as he fought to loosen the straps around his chest, arms and legs. But none of them seemed to budge and that was what was frustrating him. He looked down at his wrist only to realize his bracelet, nor dino gem was nowhere in sight. And all of a sudden, he had felt like he had no idea who he was. That as he tried to recall the memories of being a ranger, none of them made sense. It was all jumbled. Like it didn't exist and that he was merely a person who had admired the rangers, but was not one himself.
But something else inside of him, on the astral plains of his mind, he felt all of his anxiety and true self was. But somehow, his own physical motions and mental thoughts had been played with. And it was hard to recall what was reality and what wasn't. It hurt to think. It almost hurt to breathe. His head was spinning but he, himself, felt fine. Or that's what his body was telling him.
He called out again, until a figure had walked into the room from behind him. The echoing footsteps filled the room as if he was in a void as he tried to look behind him at who it was, but couldn't move. The light smell of vanilla filled his ears and as he watched a hand reach around pulling the straps away, the very image of his wife stood before him. She leaned over laying a warm, passionate kiss on his lips as he pulled her into his lap as she straddled him.
The kiss had went on for some time, but suddenly as if by some other means, Tommy had turned away catching his breath and shaking his head. "No. There's something not right about all of this."
The woman in his lap had looked at him with puppy-rich brown wet eyes. She leaned into him laying another kiss on his lips as she ran teasing fingers down his face. Kimberly shook her head as she brought his face, made his eyes meet her own. "What's wrong, Handsome? You okay?"
"Um...yeah, I think so." he asked as he shrugged off the pain in his shoulders. "Is there a reason I was strapped down?"
"I'm worried about you, baby. You're spending so much time in your research and teaching I feel like there is never enough time for us. It feels like we aren't married anymore. That all you care about is all this work you do with Dr. Mercer," she looked away trying to hide the fears of what seemed like a nightmare that was already coming true. That her husband no longer cared for her, but his work.
He shook his head as he pulled her close to him, laying a kiss on her forehead as a line of tears streaked her face. "No, baby. That's not true. And in case you're forgetting, my work with Dr. Mercer has nearly ceased to exist for the technology used by the dino rangers."
At the last set of words that escaped his mouth, his wife looked at him as if he had said something extremely wrong. That he was hiding behind a shield and lying about everything that escaped his mouth. "What are you talking about, Tommy? We've been married for almost four years now and you act like you don't even know me..."
"Wait...what!" he breathed as he heard her last statement. Now, he had his own chance of looking at her like she was insane and that she had said something wrong. He knew, for a fact, that they were not married for not even a year yet. And she is going off and saying they were married for almost four? What was going on?
"See, this is exactly what Adam told me about you. That you would be in denial and have no clue about us anymore. That our relationship was crumbling. We hooked up at Trini's funeral and got married by the time the end of the year came around. How could you forget?"
Tommy looked at Kimberly shaking his head. "What! No, that's crazy talk. It wasn't until last year when we started talking again. And you made the discovery about me being the black dino thunder ranger."
Kimberly laughed at his comment, slapping him in the chest as she continued to laugh. It made Tommy raise an eyebrow in confusion as she shook her head, clearly thinking he had gone off the deep end. "Black dino thunder ranger? Aren't we a little too old to be talking about being Power Rangers, Tommy? That was in the past. Now, it's just us. Having a normal life, being normal human beings."
Tommy tried to calculate all of this in his head, but it didn't seem to make any sense to him. As he tried to recollect any memories of him being the black dino thunder ranger, none of it made sense. "So, what happened to the Power Rangers, then?"
"Well, after the Space Rangers did away with Dark Spector and made the ultimate sacrifice to destroy Zordon to restore balance to the universe, there hasn't been a team since. Are you sure you're okay? All this stressing out must have gone straight to your head."
Tommy shook his head. But it almost seemed like what she was telling him was the truth. But in the back of his mind, he felt like it was all a lie. He got to his feet carrying his wife along laying her on the bed, but had paced the room in his own frustration. None of this was making any sense to him. How could there be no more power rangers? Why wasn't evil running amok? How could there have been no other ranger teams in nearly seven years. It just didn't make any sense to him. That would mean, he wasn't the mentor of the current team of rangers because there was no ranger team. "No. I don't know what's going on here, Kim, but whatever you're saying I can't believe."
Kim sat up and looked up him, giving him a more serious look. "Have you been taking drugs? Or doing some excessive drinking?"
"What about Serena?"
"Who's Serena!" Kim glared at him thinking immediately it was some ex-girlfriend from his past.
"Our daughter," he breathed as he looked at her, trying to keep his cool. But she was starting to not make any sense and tick him off more and more. Now, she was accusing him of doing some excessive drinking and drugs, but he wasn't like that at all. "Well, mine. From a past relationship but..."
"We have a kid?" she looked at him like he was insane.
"And I thought you were pregnant," he stated pointing to her flat stomach.
"I'm pregnant!" she breathed in confusion. "No one told me about this. And I think I would know if I was."
"Kim, this is crazy. Are you sure you're not the one who might be doing a little..." he imitated taking a puff or taking a shot as her mouth dropped.
Kim got off the bed, rushing over to him, and though she was small compared to him, shoved him into the wall, eyes heated with anger and rage. It was clear that he had said something wrong to tick her off, but he only wanted the truth from her. "How dare you think I would do any of that, Thomas! I wasn't like you who screwed up my life and went into depression..."
"For your information, if you didn't send me that letter in the first place, I wouldn't have been through all this shit in my life. And maybe, I wouldn't have been acting like such an ass right now," he retorted, not taking this anymore. It was clear that this was either some bad nightmare, or a reality that he had not wanted to face.
But it was clear that when he had said that, it had set her off just a little. For a moment, she had stepped back, giving him some room to breathe and he had fallen silent. He didn't mean to let it out like that, but there was just so much going on in his head. It was like a whirlwind of confusion, anger, and other mixed feelings he couldn't figure out.
He let out a breath as the anger left him slowly walking over to his wife, but as he did, it was like their magnetic poles were keeping them apart. As he approached her, she had backed away. "Baby, please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I just need to know a few things."
Kim had collapsed on the bed as the man approached her, but she had found nothing more to say. But as Tommy tried to grab her, she pulled away from his embrace. And as he tried to hold her again, she just shrugged or pushed him away, finally making contact with a fist to the face and a kick to his package. Tommy winced under the impact as he froze for only a moment, dropping to his knees and lowering his head to the ground. He didn't have to lie. It hurt and he didn't expect that at all. He groaned as the small petite woman peered down at him, tears streaking down her eyes.
"You brought this on yourself, Tommy. That's all we've been doing now; argue and argue. And it finally hit you harder than you would have liked," she said quietly beyond the tears.
Tommy nodded slowly, but internally, shook his head. There was still something wrong with this picture. As real as it was, it still didn't seem right to him at all. He closed his eyes, searching deep in his heart and in himself trying to find the truth. That's when he saw the events of the last battle going down. He knew, then and there, that he really was the black dino thunder ranger. And he had fought alongside his team, students at Reefside High where he taught, to destroy the psycho rangers and cybots. But it had led to him falling victim to his evil self, stripping off his powers of the brachio and the falcon and fighting them from his old evil ways in the green dragon ranger suit. And he called upon his dragon zord and almost destroyed them, but his brother, by all but blood, Jason had freed him. And then, phase three of the battle brought the dino thunder rangers to the island fortress in hope to face Mindshatter for the final time and be the victor in it. That was it. That was the truth.
This dream before him was just a lie. Of a distant future, or the possible thoughts and what if's in life. But it wasn't the truth. What he knew was that he had hooked up with Kimberly, his one and only real true love more than a year ago, got married and was expecting a child in August. He also knew that he really had a daughter from a love he thought could have replaced Kim, and that there was so much more he had left to do in the world. Not only as a Power Ranger, but as a teacher, mentor and human being.
Tommy had far too many fears, but one of them was losing the trust of his wife. Of hurting her and not believing that they could ever make it as a married couple. But in the back of his mind, his dreams had played out. What if things had changed a little? And they had been re-united all those years ago during Trini's funeral. Things would be so much different. But this different to play out like this present didn't even exist. That there was no ranger team to date, and he was actually living a normal life. It was too good to be true.
That was his sacrifice. He made many of them. He threw away a life of being normal to become a hero and role model to the world. And no one had a real clue what his status was as a ranger. He had to work in the shadows of being a regular Clark Kent/Superman image to those around him.
He looked up as he let out a painful breath shaking his head. "This isn't true. This is all a lie. I know what is the truth and have fought through your lies and deceit. I will not fall to you, Mindshatter."
Then the image of Kim had faded to reveal the very image of Mindshatter, a ghostly image as he reached out to grasp the black dino thunder ranger, take his soul as it felt, but Tommy had already blacked out.
"Ahh!" he screamed as he heard his voice echo out in his head and the hall. The black dino thunder ranger sat up looking around as he found himself in the hallway where he remembered dozing off in. He noticed the two thrashing figures beside him, having their own set of nightmares and lies bent into truth. "Guys, wake up! Conner. Kira. Snap out of it!"
XXXXXXXXXX
Conner found himself on the soccer field among teammates and the opposing team. It was a game. But not just any game as he looked at it. In the stance, on the field, on his uniform, and the many signs that showed sponsors from different areas of advertisement, he was in a very crucial game. The game to determine where the gold metal for the Olympics should go to; America or Japan...
The game was on the line. The score was tied, 2-2, and it was only two minutes left in the game.
"What the...?" he breathed for only a moment as he felt something tug at his foot.
As if in slow motion, teammates called out to him telling him to run with the ball, pass it or just keep it out of the Japanese hands, but for some reason he couldn't comply. He didn't seem to understand. And all of a sudden, his entire life long dream of being one of the best soccer stars in the world had shattered before him.
Someone from the Japanese team had swept the ball right under him as he tumbled to the ground. He felt something in his leg snap, and he was sure that fall must have taken out his knee or ankle. Or something. He couldn't tell, the pain wasn't really there, but the snapping of a bone did. His mind raced with mixed feelings, and he couldn't make sense of what was going on. All his skills as a soccer player were gone and it was like he didn't even understand the sport at all. His own teammates, faces that looked so familiar to him, but couldn't put a name to, cursed at him for losing it as they raced down the field to catch their aggressors.
For awhile, Conner didn't seem to move. He was too struck with fear to realize what was going on. And as he called out for help, no one came to his aide. He laid there watching as the team Japan raced down the field closer and closer to the US goal. The goal keeper danced about in fear as he prepared himself for the save. The goal keeper, who didn't seem to know soccer all too well, as it seemed, but was quick-witted had been dressed in the attire of the US team. He was an African-American boy, a teen, just like Conner.
And as Conner winced in his pain, the numb feeling running up his entire leg, the reality of it took him by surprise. The goal keeper was Ethan James, his best friend with more knowledge of computers and dancing over any sport. And as he looked into the stance, he saw more familiar faces. Upset and worry falling over them from friends, family and fellow students from school.
On the opposing side, they were horrid creatures. Monsters and creations made by the evil beings who wanted to take over the world, if not galaxy. And as he looked out on the field, this was more than just a sport, it was a down right battle. The other teammates, on his side, were his fellow rangers. And it was more than just a soccer game. There were more players on the field than need be.
The opposing team, the cybots he swore were destroyed. They were no longer the Japanese people he swore were just there. Though, not equipped with their guns, they still had the sharp deadly spike on the elbow and knees. They would ram into his teammates, the other rangers, show them no merely and leave gapping wounds on his teammates. But they kept fighting, either refusing to morph, or had no powers to protect them, it was hard to tell.
But then the assembly of cybots had formed like a stampede toward the lone goal keeper and Ethan appeared as if he had already shit his pants. Conner called out to him, screaming at the top of his lungs, but it didn't seem to do much good.
But where his scream seemed to have failed, another piercing cry sent several cybots to the ground as Conner turned in the direction of where it came. The yellow dino thunder ranger raced onto the field, racing over to the downed red dino ranger. "Always got your back. Don't forget that, Conner."
Conner nodded slowly as he watched the swift skills of Trent take the ball from the fallen cybots heading back up the field. With the amazing soccer skills of Carlos and Adam on each side of him, the trio and moved back up the field toward the other goal post. But there was one problem, the goal keeper was none other than Mindshatter. And it was clear he had sent laser fire their way trying to throw off their step or annihilate them as it appeared.
But they were going down, and finally no one had manned the soccer ball. No other teammates remained to have the strength to take the ball to the goal. And as Kira raced over to it, she had been taken out to. Conner heard himself scream again as he looked around, only to see the motionless bodies, the field littering with his teammates. And he never felt so alone on the battlefield.
The ghostly image that looked like Mindshatter bellowed out a laugh and taunted him. Conner winced under the pain as he slowly tried to get to his feet. As he began to calculate what weight he could put on his legs, he knew that it was his ankle that he had busted. But the soccer ball was so close, and so was the post. If he could just get to it...
Here was his fear. A test of his fears and his dreams. What did he want the most and where would he learn the most from? Following his dreams to become a world famous soccer star? Or throw it all away to understand the greater good of protecting the planet, helping mankind, and leaving his own mark in the legacy of a huge line of heroes? There were so many choices in life, and he had remembered not all of them were always gonna be what he liked, but it had to be done. For reasons. Some reasons that he would not understand. And the fear of being alone, that he had relied so much on everyone else, that now that it was his real time to shine, he wasn't quite sure if he was ready for it. Self-doubt, a virtue he had longed to get rid of, but still was working to understand. But he couldn't give up.
That was his sacrifice, to put his dreams of being a world-class soccer player on hold. His future on hold. And now, his future was full of more mystery and surprises he wasn't sure he was hoping to see. He thought he knew his life, but since he became a ranger, it was a whole other thing. A new type of light. A new set of responsibilities and friends.
He slowly hopped toward the soccer ball and scooped it up as he pushed it into the air and used what energy he had left to leap off the ground, strike the ball in mid-air to show off his creative back-flip kick. But he didn't have the strength to catch himself under just one foot as he stumbled to the ground, watching the ball fly across the air and toward the goal.
And it went in. Score. Game over. The game was won, and it was by the rangers.
The ghostly image of Mindshatter bellowed out an angered breath as he held out his fist toward the fallen red dino ranger. Conner could watch was his color...his life energy...was being stripped from him. But he looked deep within, concentrated on what heart and courage he had built up inside of him. He could feel his connection into the very universal dino energy that was his alone. The one power that he had specially signed to him as the Triassic Ranger. And his eyes fell shut and he watched as the glowing power of his dino gem and the ruby in his possession merged and mixed, the echoing cry of his tyranno zord echoed in his mind. And he had blanked out, the energy returning to him.
"Ahhhh!" he cried out as he sat up quickly, sweat was beading down his face. And as he tried to wipe his face, he had realized that his ranger helmet was still on his head. And as he looked around, he saw he was back in the hallway where he had collapsed under a strange fume.
The black dino thunder ranger quicky put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it for reassurance. Conner looked over at him, noticing that his mentor had suffered from his own weird nightmare. No words had to be said about it, he knew and sensed it in his stance. But then he had noticed the thrashing around of the yellow dino thunder ranger beside him, concluding that Kira was still trying to find her way out of the twisted nightmare.
"Kira, wake up!" Conner called out to her as she tried to shake her awake.
"C'mon, Kira. Wake up," The black dino ranger said quietly as if by prayer.
XXXXXXXXXX
Kira found herself in the hills just outside of Hollywood, CA on a ledge looking out over the sea. For awhile, she sat there thinking, guitar in hand as she strummed it trying to find something inspirational to write about it.
As she looked over herself, decked out in the punk-rock bling of money and fame, she couldn't seem to believe that her dream had finally come true. She had made a record, it set platinum and she was gonna tour the nation on a tour. It was a dream she had wished for for a long time. And here she was in the middle of it. It felt like only months down the road.
She continued to strum, only to hear the echoing voices of others beyond the threshold into the house. As she got up, frustrating settling in – she needed peace and quiet in order to write – only to be bombarded by lawyers, managers, producers and others in the musical entourage. Bellowing out questions, statements, and other comments her way, she couldn't grasp any of it as she tried to kick them out of her house. But as she made it out of the house, to drive them away, she was bombarded with screaming fans.
Kids of many ages, shapes and sizes, teens screaming and chanting her name, guys bare chested with the letters of her name painted onto them as they rocked out to one of her songs. It was a freakin' block party on her front step as she got the musical entourage out of the house. Though she could hear the noise from beyond the door, she was glad to have some time to herself.
She looked around the empty house, realizing that it was a whole lot of space for one person. It was quiet. Was she really the only other occupant in the house? But as if by heightened hearing or a sixth sense, she had heard the rap of music in the distance beyond the noise outside. Music to her ears, she followed it as it lead downstairs into the darken basement that almost didn't seem to be in much use.
It was dimmed, but she had moved toward the room where the music began to grow and become more familiar. Tracks and sounds she knew that Trent was laying out for his own career in music, if he thought he had it, if not some new flavor for her. She peered inside, to see the teen donned in a white flannel at his desk. It was clear that it was just a recording and that he had been listening to it over and over again as he was drawing out something on a piece of paper.
On the wall, it was decked out with the faces of comic covers he had designed, stories and comics that were published under his name. And it was clear that he had gotten his own wish in fulfilling his artistic dreams of drawing and comics.
"Hey," Kira greeted the other occupant in the room at work, but it was clear that he didn't hear her. She wasn't sure if he was too into his work to notice her, or just didn't care to see her there, but it was clear it added some frustration to him.
She walked over to him, placing a hand on his forearm. The teen stopped for a moment, dropping the pencil and looking at the hand on his arm. Either she had done something wrong, or he was glad to feel her presence. It was hard for her to tell as she slowly pulled it away. But Trent had grabbed it in his own, holding it tightly, but not in a threatening way, but a secure and caring way.
"I didn't think you'd get rid of all those music producers, managers and writers and have the time to notice I was down here," he spoke quietly as he pushed the chair back, pulling her to sit in his lap.
"Why?" she seemed confused by his words. He made it sound like he was no longer apart of her life, but that wasn't true. He was nearly everything she could ask for in her significant other. They shared such an innocence and purity that belonged to them alone.
"Well, you've been so busy with them. The fans and getting ready for this tour, we haven't had much time to ourselves like we did months ago," he said still feeling left out and ashamed for something.
Kira shook her head as she leaned into him laying a quick kiss on his lips and laying her head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. "Don't say that, Trent. I would never..."
"But you have. And I've been in and out of comic book products and producing new tracks for you that I don't think there was ever a real time we've had the chance to just sit and hold each other," He sighed as he looked away.
"What about now? I'm here, right?"
"Yeah, that's true," Trent could only shrug. But it was clear that something else was bothering him.
"What's wrong, baby?" Kira asked him gently, hoping to have him tell her what else was on his mind.
"I can't help but look at all this and feel like we threw away everything from our past for nothing. We gave up our powers to pursue our dreams. And it got us exactly what we wanted, except our friends. Since all this fame, it feels like they've defaced us and kicked us out of the group."
"What!" Kira breathed. That didn't make any sense to her. Did she hear him right? They were no longer power rangers, that they gave up their powers to pursue their dreams? And now, they have been betrayed by all of their friends because of their fame? It didn't make sense. They should be happy for them, not deface them and find the two of them nothing more to them. "Even Conner and Ethan? And Dr. O and Coach?"
"Especially them. I mean, your record deal came so fast. And as soon as I got out of high school, comic book companies were calling me left and right. I'm not sure how it happened, but it did."
Kira looked at him still not believing what he was saying. This couldn't be true. She kept telling herself that. They would be happy if she ever landed a record deal, they wouldn't deface her. And she had followed up on a dream. It was clear that their status as rangers had been put into retirement which gave them the time to explore the real world. She looked down at the ring on her finger, as she had noticed earlier, but said nothing about. Was it really an engagement ring? "What about this? How did this happen?"
Trent shrugged again. "It was sorta spur of the moment. You were sorta getting too caught up in the whole fame thing, our love and relationship was demolishing and I didn't want to leave you. Or you really leave me. So, I proposed and you accepted. It was sorta a shock to everyone, despite some happy people back home, but that was only a month ago."
But as she sat there in silence trying to grasp all that was being fed to her, she kept trying to recall all that had gone on in her life. She closed her eyes trying to look deep inside. Look beyond this. This couldn't be reality. Their friends would never turn on them. They would get all the support they could get, if not more. They were one big family, bonded together by the powers that gave them the strength to save the world. She searched and searched looking and feeling the warm presence of her dino gem fill her. Watched as the sharp shine of the tiger's eye gem had melted into the dino gem to create a bond only shared by her alone.
Her dreams and her fears mixed as one. For a long time, she had always wanted to pursue a musical career. Everyone she met, who could appreciate her work, had told her she had real talent. The only guy to tell her that outside of the ranger circle, at the time, was Trent. And he even thought of her as a hero on a different scale than being a ranger. For being brave and standing up for what she believed and could perform what she wrote. Some songs too personal for other ears, but she had real talent. But that was her fear. To reach her fame and star status, but have no one to share it with. But here she was, sharing it with her best friend...and now husband, but it just wasn't enough. She wanted her other friends to be there right with her. But they weren't. It was her and Trent against the world on their own.
Where this dream...or nightmare...seemed to start, she had looked back at the last two years of her life. She had seen more and faced more challenges than anyone her age. She was more than just an independent singer with a lot to say, she had been a hero to the world and galaxy. She protected it from harm. It held responsibility, power and great sacrifice. Her performance in school had changed, her dream and hobby of singing and playing guitar had to be put on hold. She was introduced to a whole new perspective of life. Met new people she could relate to and created friendships she would bring with her into college and beyond.
And when she opened her eyes, the very image of Trent had faded out to reveal the hauntingly image of Mindshatter. She quickly sprang from the lap as she backed away, the universal soldier turned to look at her, raising an arm to pull the life out of her. But she had held onto her life and her fears as a new lesson as she heard the cry of the ptera zord rang in her ears and she blanked out.
"Stop!" she cried out as she sat up quickly only to have a set of hands land on her shoulders for support and reassurance. She looked around to see she was in the hall where she had fallen victim to that strange red gas. The black and red dino rangers stood before her like guards and protectors as relief fell over her. The nightmare was over.
"You okay?" Conner asked her as she nodded rubbing her helmet trying to rid herself of the painful nightmare.
"I'll live." Kira replied as she let out a breath. "What was that all about?"
"Playing with our dreams and our fears," Tommy replied as he shook his head. "But since we managed to conquer them, it has made us that much less vulnerable to Mindshatter."
"How do you think Ethan and Trent are doing?" Conner asked.
"I just hope if they have fallen victim to our same fate, they find a way out of it. And if they didn't, hope they won't. That's one reality I don't want to live with," Tommy got to his feet as he helped to stable the yellow dino ranger as she stood against the red dino ranger for support.
"Yeah, I would have to agree with you, Dr. O," Kira nodded as she shuddered over the painful nightmare she just witnessed.
After catching their breath for only a moment, the trio had moved up the hall toward their destination. The main laboratory in hopes to end it sooner than later.
XXXXXXXXXX
Ethan and Trent had followed in line with the trio of T-drones as they raced through the small compact darken hallway. It also smelt murky and sorta swampy with patches of water throughout the passageway. It was clear it was a passage not traveled by many, but at one time served a crucial purpose on the island during the experiments. Trent had to admit, he wasn't much for tight spaces, and Ethan wasn't doing any better. He didn't like that the lights would be flickering, playing with his eyes and teasing him. He felt like he was seeing things coming from the walls, but had to just stayed focused. It was probably just his imagination.
But suddenly, Trent's steps had faltered as he collapsed against the wall to keep himself straight. A rush of dizziness fell over him and he almost hit the ground, but Ethan was quick to catch him. But it was clear that Ethan had felt the rush of dizziness as he felt his own steps falter and shake under him. The trio of t-drones had continued up the hall as if they weren't gonna wait for the faltered steps of the two rangers.
"Hey, you okay?" Ethan asked as he let Trent lean against him as they continued up the hall, trying to catch up with the t-drones.
Trent nodded slowly as he swung his arm over Ethan's shoulder, feeling strength returning to his legs. "Yeah, I think so. I'm trying to figure out if this is as worse as having two white dino thunder rangers, or much more worse."
Ethan had to agree. Once they had stepped foot onto the island fortress they felt the rush of drain from not only their powers, but their lives, too. He wasn't sure what type of torment these candles their mentor had told them about, but they all knew that he didn't want to go through it again, nor did he want his students to suffer the same fate of losing their powers. And they had to agree.
Ethan felt the drain leave him as he began to retrieve some more strength. He caught up to the pace of Trent as they continued up the murky hallway. He had to admit, he didn't like the smell all too much and it was starting to driving him a little crazy. He had hoped that it wouldn't last any longer than it needed to. They needed to get to that mainframe room and fast. The rest of their teammates was depending on them.
For a moment, they had stopped when they had noticed the trio of t-drones had stopped. They seemed to be discussing something, but didn't seem too important to the two rangers. They could only wish they knew what the trio of t-drones were discussing, though. They weren't familiar with this 'dino' language, if that's what it was, and had to wonder if the only real person to understand them was Mesogog, if not Anton.
Catching their breaths, Ethan had thought about what their mentor had mentioned to them prior to the battle. About their fears and how well Mindshatter was known to manipulate one's mind from seeing one thing when it really meant another. It had bothered him for sometime as they moved through the cramped hallway, and he was in desperate need to get it out and in the open. He tapped on the white dino ranger's shoulder as he turned to look at him with some curiosity. Though, they couldn't read each other's faces, Trent knew that something was bothering the blue dino ranger.
"What's up, Ethan?" Trent asked to allow the blue dino ranger to continue.
Ethan shrugged as he rubbed the back of the lining on his neck. "I've been thinking about what Dr. O was telling us earlier. About how Mindshatter would be playing with our fears and making us believe things that probably weren't even there..."
"And?" Trent urged him on wondering what exactly was bringing about these thoughts in his friend.
"Well, I guess, out of curiosity, Trent, what are some of your fears?"
The moment those words had came out of his mouth, the white ranger almost seemed frozen in his tracks. He didn't know what to say. There were so many things he just didn't want to think about, but would haunt and scar him in ways he felt would never be healed. And that's what worried him the most. If he found no way to get rid of them, push away his past, he would feel like there was no way around it. After a good long silence, the white dino thunder ranger finally turned to look at his friend.
"My main fear is that I don't think I could ever totally get rid of my past and what it has become," Trent had to admit, but seemed to pierce his heart as he said it. "I also fear the fact of losing everything. I'm not talking more on the riches and money my father makes, but the things that make me who I am as a person, the friends I've made, and the lessons I've learned. But I mean, that's how we learn. To deal with our fears and overcome them. That's the basis of life, and if we come out of this alive, we will be that much more aware of what goes on around us and why."
Ethan had thought his friend's words. He had to admit that was some good words of wisdom, yet he had been bothered by his own question. "But what if we don't? I mean, what if we fail to succeed and truly fail? That is probably one of the biggest fears I got."
"I won't lie to you, Ethan. Failure and fear are like brothers. We all fear to be a failure in anything. It's what stops us from moving past it and prove that we can be the better man in this battle. And I don't speak for just this battle, but the battles we have faced and the battles that we have yet to face in life. And I'm not just talking about the superhero perspective, but life in general plays on whether we will succeed or not and how well we do it."
"How did you all of a sudden become some big wise monk?" Ethan had to ask on a lighter note, though he had to admit those words were hitting him like no other really could.
Trent shrugged, only to realize that the trio of t-drones had been moving along. He pulled Ethan along with him as they continued up the hall toward the way the trio had moved. "Well, I guess all those times I've hung around Dr. O and Coach, it sorta picks up on hearing such wise cracks."
"Well, they've been like your second family in more ways then one," Ethan nodded as he agreed, nor wasn't surprised to find that he'd hear such words like that from the most talked about married couple at Reefside High as well as ranger family.
"Don't try to think so much about what could happen to us, but more about what we need to focus on right now. I mean, we do got a job to do and it really is an important one." Trent had to remind his teammate.
The group had finally come to a dead-end. Both Trent and Ethan had feared that the trio had just taken them on some wild goose chase. That they weren't sure if they could trust following their word on it. They didn't have time for this minor setback, and what was worse was they had no clue where they were in the fortress. The layouts of the map weren't set out on the hidden secret passages, and even if it was, this was one corridor that wasn't mapped out at all.
Ethan had turned around feeling more frustration rush over him. He shook his head as he began to bellow out comments for how it would have been better off not to follow the drones, possibly take their chances out in that strange red gas, etc. But he was immediately shut up when Trent had smacked him on the head, which was the only thing that could have worked to make him stop.
The trio had slowly but quietly pushed against the wall, watching it shift and move out of place. And when it had been opened up, they had found themselves in the familiar light of the fortress. But that's not all they found. They were only a few feet away from the mainframe room. It was clear that the t-drones had led them in the right direction.
The two dino rangers only briefly exchanged a look as they raced down the hall toward the mainframe room. They had a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it.
XXXXXXXXXX
Tommy had continued to lead Conner and Kira up the hall as their pace grew much quicker. But it was clear that the anticipation and anxiety was rushing over them as they got closer to the main lab. But there was no turning back. There was no turning back from the moment they had stepped into the invisi-portal.
But suddenly, a rush of dizziness fell over Conner as he collapsed to the ground. He had no time to react. He just felt as if his legs just shut down on him and he hit the ground in a thud.
"Conner!" Kira nearly screamed as she stopped at his side, trying to scooping his tall form over her to lean on.
Tommy had heard the cry as he stopped to see the yellow dino ranger helping the red ranger to his feet as he let out a painful groan. He raced over to offer his own support, but as Conner had switched his weight over to the black brachio ranger, the yellow ptera ranger had felt her own rush of dizziness and weakness. The black brachio ranger swung an arm out to capture Kira before she fell. Having to support both his students to keep them from not giving in under the motionless state of their legs. "Come on, guys. Hang in there."
"I can't," Conner groaned as he felt the pain shoot to his head. He felt like his entire life was being pulled out of him. "It's too strong."
"I agree with, Conner, Dr. O. No offense," Kira nodded, wincing under the pain that shot up the side of her body.
Tommy moved to support the two rangers as he used the wall as an added support for the two of them. But it was clear that he himself was feeling a little on the down side. He felt the rush of dizziness and weakness fill his own body. But it was clear that there was something different about what he did. And had. His ninja powers were keeping him from falling completely victim to pain. But it was enough to notice he, too, was getting weak. "I know you guys are getting weak. I feel it, too. Meaning, we really don't have much time."
Conner forced out a breath as he tried to take the lead as his position. "You're right about that. And if we just sit here, what good will that do for us?"
Tommy had to admit, internally, he was proud to have trained a worthy candidate of being a leader. Sometimes, leaders are hard to find that others, but Conner has well earned his sport as a leader. He had nodded, pulling the two along. And though Conner had finally feel the strength return to him to have him move on his own, Kira wasn't doing very good. Conner had offered his hand as a support as Tommy had taken the lead, drawing his weapon quickly as they moved up the hall.
"What's up, Dr. O?" Conner asked.
"There's something not right about all of this..." he paused as they came withing only a few feet in front of the main lab.
The trio had stopped in front of the door, but the legendary ranger had told the two to step back a little. He examined the door, sealed shut. And it was clear there was no way anyone could penetrate it. It had to be opened mechanical through the panel beside it. It was clear that the setting of it had overwhelmed Tommy, but had no real surprise. "I am not gonna lie to you guys. I think Mindshatter knows exactly that we are here, and decided to be a coward and not face us or..." He walked up to the door as he slowly let his hands hover of it.
Then it glowed to a light red as if he had triggered something. For a moment, he watched the light go on, and then suddenly blink. Slowly at first, but soon faster and faster. And with quick reflexes, the legendary ranger had pulled away, pushing his students along with him as he tried to get out of the way. The blinking had increased in speed and finally stopped, leaving a loud beep. And moments later, it had erupted into a cloud of smoke, debris and power that send the three rangers to the ground hard.
And as Conner had hit the ground, he had used himself as a shield over Kira. And for his students, Tommy had used himself as a shield. But it wasn't enough. Upon impact, the trio had fallen victim to another fall. They were now unconscious once again. And this time, it wasn't that red fume that had done it. But an explosion.
Time passed.
A sudden rush to Tommy's mind, and the cry of the falcon had forced him to open his eyes. The only problem, he felt weak from head to toe. It hurt to move his body even an inch. Just thinking about moving hurt. He groaned as he slowly and painfully brought a gloved hand to his helmet. But what was worse was that he wanted to roll over to his back, but a movement like that seemed almost impossible at that moment.
He tried to recall what had happened, watching the explosion play off in his head. It was clear that close range had sent him, Conner, and Kira to the ground hard, forcing them to fall into an unconscious state. And he had to admit, he hated to not know where or what time he was at after something like that. He had seen if far too many times in his past.
But as he managed to put some movement into his head, craning it a little to look around and pushing himself to his back. He let out a painful breath as he finally rolled over to his back, staring straight up at the ceiling. But something was wrong. He knew that the hall way wasn't this big, nor was the ceiling of that design. An abyss of darkness that seemed to go on forever.
Then, he heard a thunderous clap in the shadows of the room.
He groaned and winced, feeling some strength return to his limps as he found himself sit up. He looked around in search of the clapping trying to figure out where it came from. And when the room finally made more sense to him, the images becoming more clear, he was in the main lab. Conner and Kira were on the far side of the room, chained back to back. He was in the center of the room; he seemed to be in the spotlight of it all. On the other side of the room were the five candles that were draining them of their powers. There was a little less than half left on each candle, but his seemed to be a little less along than his teenage counterparts. His eyes never left the candles as he hoped to just somehow knock them down or blow them out, or find a way to stop them from burning, but it hurt to think of anything.
"Don't bother. By the time you'll be receiving your strength back, it'll be too late," the dark booming voice of Mindshatter filled his ears.
Tommy cursed internally looking over at the shadowed figure in the chair of the room. And he knew the universal soldier was sitting there watching him. He didn't know for how long, but long enough to drive him crazy. He had had enough. He wanted this to end now. "It's not over until our powers are completely gone or until you're defeated."
The universal soldier laughed again as he finally got to his feet, revealing himself to the black dino ranger. "You're pathetic, black ranger! You've lost. There is no way you can defeat me now. My powers go well beyond yours. I have the power to control your mind," Mindshatter bellowed as he began to circle around the black dino ranger. "Make you think what I want you to think... Say what I want you to say... See what I want you to see..." At that last comment, as Tommy watched the soldier pace around him, his very image began to melt and morph into his friend, Anton Mercer.
Tommy looked away. He wasn't gonna listen to him. He wanted so badly not to. He tried to avoid it, but it seemed like the universal soldier really did have control of his mind. His thoughts were jumbled. His movements limited. But in the hidden spirit of the falcon, in the only place he knew he felt safe, he sent out a distress call to the two remaining dino rangers. "Ethan. Trent. Get those asses moving! We don't have much time."
XXXXXXXXXX
Ethan had bursted through the doors nearly losing his footing as he took a look around. He watched the lights–green, red, blue, yellow, etc.–race across the boards of the network. The livelihood of any computer programmers dream. To have such power on his fingertips to control and access anything at his disposal. For awhile, he was glad that his computer skills would be coming in handy. He just could hope that he didn't fail.
Though, Trent was just as anxious, he had slowed down, stopping at the threshold, watching as the t-drones had turned and headed up the way. They had not made any other comments to the two rangers which bothered him just a little. Either they had their own set of plans or problems to deal with that they didn't have the time to stick around and lay out their own expertise.
But he had noticed and heard the low growls of more t-drones. And it finally caught his eyes as two more emerged from up the hall, each of them fixing something to the wall. He thought only for a moment until it finally hit him. "They're gonna blow this place up!"
Ethan had looked up from his spot at the main laptop controlling all activity on the island fortress, if not more. Though, Trent couldn't see his face, he knew that there was some confusion and questioning in his stance. "How do you know? I mean, they don't expect to do it while we're still here?"
Trent watched them closely before rushing to join the ranger in blue. "How about we just get this thing running as quick as we can before they do decide to get any crazy ideas?"
Ethan didn't have to be told twice as he pulled out the device that Adam had gave him regarding the program he needed to load into the system. Concentrating greatly, watching the codes fly and making sense of them quickly, he had entered it into the network. Trent had watched from behind him with awe and amazement. He had to admit, he knew computers well enough to pull out some rather awesome graphics and sites, but the basic binary language was far more advance for him. It was literally the Matrix in a code only Ethan could understand.
A silence fell over the two, when suddenly, as if in the wind, Trent had heard a voice.
"...Ethan. Trent. Get those asses moving! We don't have much time..."
"Dr. Oliver?" Trent questioned as he looked around as if hoping to find his mentor there, but it was clear that it had come from within. A part of himself, where he had somehow bonded with the likes of his fellow dino rangers and the ninja rangers, especially. It was something he could never explain or understand, but trusted it well. Trent had tapped his friend in blue, questioning him about it. "Hey, did you hear that?"
"You mean a silent wind that sounded more like in my head of Dr. O flipping out and telling us to run our asses faster?" Ethan asked, but had not stopped his work on the computer.
"Yeah, that." Trent nodded. "Think they're in trouble?"
"How about we focus on the task at hand before we worry about them? Not that I don't care about their welfare. But we gotta job to do." Ethan stated.
And it sorta surprised Trent. For awhile, Trent had been the one with words of wisdom, keeping Ethan on track, but now he was in the panic and Ethan was the one consoling and advising.
Trent nodded firmly as he moved toward the panels against the wall, using the info locked in his morpher as a guide to locate certain parameters and manipulating them according to the instructions on his morpher.
And despite their weaken state, and the sudden spasms of drain, the two pushed on. They had to, if the others were gonna make it. And they didn't quite know what state their friends were in, but worried greatly about it. A rush of thoughts filling their minds, fears mostly, but tried to push it away as they focused on their set of tasks. They had to get it done. So many people depended on it, especially their fellow teammates.
XXXXXXXXXX
The universal soldier continued to pace around the black dino ranger. As he walked his image melted to each of his friends, his voice changing with each change; from Adam to Rocky to Aisha to Kat to Jason to Tanya to Justin... it didn't stop. And as Tommy tried to fight through the thoughts, he wasn't sure what to believe or what not to. None of this was making any sense to him. He swore for a moment, he would see Adam, but then it was Kat? He had no idea what was going on as he tried to fight it.
"What's wrong, Tommy?" a voice entered his head. It sounded like Jason, it looked like him, but somewhere inside Tommy, it kept telling him that it wasn't. "There's no point in trying to fight Mindshatter anymore. We can't win against him. He's just too strong."
"No. This can't be happening. It's not true," Tommy told himself quietly.
"You did all you could have done, but there's no way around it," another voice. This time it sounded much like Andros as Tommy sunk his head to his knees. He didn't want to believe any of this. "It's okay to admit defeat. It happens even to the best of us. I'm sorry, Tommy. If only we could have been there earlier, none of this would have happened."
The universal soldier had stopped pacing around the black dino ranger, returning to his chair and his normal form. Or at least, that's how it appeared. He still toyed his Tommy's mind, playing around with the voices of Tommy's friends, putting blame on him. Making him look like a failure. Made it sound like Mindshatter could not be defeated.
And that's what was crushing Tommy on the inside. His friends would never turn on him. He had heard time and time again, as tricks and mockery to the fears he had, but it wasn't true. He had to keep telling himself that, but for some strange reason he couldn't stop thinking that maybe these were his friends talking and he just couldn't fight the truth anymore. But that's not what he wanted. It wasn't true.
"This isn't true. It can't be true," Tommy told himself quietly. "Mindshatter will be defeated. He has to."
"Look, man," now he heard Zack's voice. "We lost. We did all we could, but if you don't give our powers, the rest of the world will suffer."
Then another voice. This time it was Billy. "Sometimes you just got to make a sacrifice for those that you love, even if you don't like the consequences."
Tommy groaned under the words, trying to fight away the meaning behind them. It sounded like the truth, that his friends were winning him over, but he kept telling himself that it was true. There was no other way around it. They were at a loss. They had been defeated. After all these years, the Power Rangers had finally found their match in this universal soldier created by their original mentor, Zordon.
But a spark of hope, courage, and strength filled his heart. He could hear the echoing cry, a unique bond that he could only share with the love of his life, the falcon speaking with the crane. Inside the depths of his soul, where only he could explore love on another level that he could only share with one, his wife and true love, Kimberly. In another part of his soul, where he shared a bond with his fellow ninja rangers, where they could escape to in the astral plains of their minds, mainly through meditation, he heard the call of the other animal spirits; the bear, the ape, the frog and the wolf.
Tommy felt some strength return to his legs as he sprang up, drawing his sword and racing toward the chair. But where he swore he saw Mindshatter, now sat... his wife? He froze in fear as his staff came within only a few inches of her head. Tears welt in the eyes of his lover and best friend as she rubbed the round belly before them. "Kim?"
"Would you do it, Handsome? Would you destroy me and your unborn son?" the woman asked as the tears finally fell.
In the back of his mind, Tommy heard the cry of the falcon urge him on. It told him that this being before him was not his wife, but a lie to shield him from the truth. To destroy his thoughts and think what this master of evil sorcery was already doing to him. But Tommy was frozen in place, the staff wavering over the head of the woman he loved with all of his heart. He didn't know what to do.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Conner had finally stirred with a moan as he raised his head, opening his eyes. The shade of the visor gave the room a more dimmed look then he was used to. He soon realized that he was no longer in the hallway, and he was chained back to back with someone else. His head was spinning and he almost forgot what happened, until he felt some movement from behind him. He peered over his shoulder to see the dazed, but still full suited up, yellow ranger locked to him by a chain.
He nudged her only to catch the attention of what was going on across the room. He saw the black dino thunder ranger frozen in place as his staff was only inches from Mindshatter's head. "Hey, Kira? Wake up! Do you see what I see?"
Kira winced as she finally opened up her eyes, feeling the tightened grip around her arms. She could feel the presence of the red dino ranger against her back as he nudged her to get her attention. She looked up and in the direction where the black dino ranger caught her eye. But frozen in place, she wasn't sure what to make of the gesture. What was he waiting for? He was so close to destroying Mindshatter, and he didn't move. Or was Mindshatter capable of freezing his enemies in place under telekinesis? "Yeah, I do. What's he waiting for?"
Conner thought for a moment trying to figure out what was going on. He looked closely at the universal soldier watching him rub his belly. And as he blinked, for a quick second, he had seen what it appeared their mentor was seeing. Tommy was frozen in fear of destroying his wife. "I don't think Dr. O knows it's really Mindshatter. I think he thinks it's Coach."
Kira thought about her friend's statement as she looked over at her frozen mentor. It was clear that he stood there in confusion and fear, his arms shaking slightly as he tried to control his action. But as she blinked, she, too, had seen what looked like Kim sitting in the chair, one second and flash back to the very image of Mindshatter. It was a trick, and she and Conner had to knock him out of it. She peered over her shoulder to look at the red dino ranger, nudging him. "I think you're right, Conner. We gotta do something. Warn him and tell him that's not Coach, but really Mindshatter."
Conner nodded in turn as he bellowed out, trying to call attention to his mentor/teammate. "Dr. O, it's me, Conner. That's not Kim. It's only Mindshatter messing with your mind."
"Snap out of it, Dr. O!" Kira called out, in turn trying to squirm out of the chains, but it was locked tight around her and her red teammate. "Mindshatter is playing you out. That's not real. She's not real!"
On the other side of the room, a small smile had slipped passed the image that looked like Kimberly Hart-Oliver. But Tommy was too frozen or clueless to notice the devious smile. He could hear the voices of his teammates, but they sounded so distant. In another part of his mind like a dream. He didn't know what to believe as he was debating about lowering the brachio staff, or put an end to this madness and destroy the very person that looked like his wife. For a long time, he told himself that it wasn't her, but for the longest time, he felt lost and confused in his own mind. He had no idea what was going on.
The woman reached up to grab one of the man's hand, pulling it down as he lowered the staff in his other hand. "Don't do this, Tommy. You don't want to hurt me."
Tommy shook his head. He couldn't do it. He couldn't harm this woman, the person sitting before him. It was his wife. It was his life and angel. His crane. Right? He groaned as he tried to make sense of what was going on. He continued to hear the distant voices of Conner and Kira echo in his mind, telling him that this was all a lie, but could he believe it. He looked around, searching but found that he was now in the presence of the bedroom he shared with his wife.
Conner and Kira continued to squirm as they tried to get out of the binding, but were getting nowhere. Their voices were hurting from the constant shouting, and already being in battle for much longer then they were used to in awhile, was taking a lot out of them. But not only that, so was the candles that seemed to drain them of their powers as well as their lives.
"C'mon, Kira. We have to get out of this and help, Dr. O," Conner groaned as he tried to twist his arm out of the chains.
"What do you think I have been doing for these past few minutes?" she winced as she felt her head rush with dizziness. She looked over at the other side of the room where the candles stood, watching them burn slowly, but to an end. They were running out of time and fast. She nudged Conner asking for his suggestion on her next move. "Ptera scream?"
"Go for it," Conner confirmed with a nod.
The yellow dino ranger closed her eyes for only a second trying to muster up enough energy to launch out her signature power. It was clear with the slow drain of power, it could take out more than she was hoping for, but they were running out of options fast, and it was a risk she had to take. She concentrated on her dino gem, feeling the surge of power rise up in her lungs as she let out a piercing ptera scream that shook the entire room.
At the sound of that cry, a link between the three dino gems in the room lit up in a haze of pink. And Tommy had shot back into reality as he saw the very image that he swore was his wife, was now Mindshatter. And as he quickly pulled up his brachio staff to attack, the universal soldier was faster and launched an invisible force that sent the black dino ranger across the room and into the bolted door with a loud thud.
"Dr. O!" Conner and Kira cried out as the scream loosened the binds, but not enough for them to slip away.
The duo was still locked in the chains as they looked from their dazed mentor and teammate to the universal soldier who was now making his way toward them. In a panic, they tried to squirm out of the chains, but could not budge. They were at a lost and stand still.
The universal soldier growled as he pulled the chains, yanking the two young rangers to their feet. "You will not ruin this for me, rangers!"
"It's not over until we collapse, Mindshatter," Conner spat back in sheer disgust and determination.
"We'll do whatever it takes," Kira said as she stood by her leader's words.
"Pathetic words from a bunch of powerless rangers," Mindshatter hissed as he pointed to the candles on the other side of the room. "Your time is almost up and your powers will belong to me!"
"Not if I can help it," a voice stated from behind the universal solider. He turned around briefly only to be introduced with a strike to his chest, his grip loosened on the chains holding the red and yellow rangers as they slumped to the ground. The black dino ranger had struck him, but only briefly when he felt himself being lifted off the ground and sent across the room again.
Tommy groaned as he struggled to find his footing as he used his staff as an extra support to get back to his feet. But Mindshatter had moved at a heightened speed to close the gap between him and the black dino ranger. He engaged in a close hand-to-hand combat with the black ranger, who had lost his staff in the process of the throw across the room. Tommy wasn't used to the quick attacks when he had been dazed by being thrown around the room like a rag doll. He could only block so many, but many more registered on a part of his body that had him stumble, and he found himself being tossed across the room, crashing beside the red and yellow dino rangers, who were too helpless to offer their assistance.
"Dr. O!" Conner breathed in fear as he watched the black dino ranger struggle to sit up, even on his knees.
"I'm okay, Conner," Tommy winced as he watched the universal soldier move against him again.
The black dino ranger rolled away as the universal soldier tried to charge him, but missed. But as Tommy tried to use his dino gem to hide himself, it was clear that it was out of commission. With the black candle working against him, his powers were too limited for him to do what he wanted to do. He was in trouble, and he needed the help of his teammates. The universal soldier grabbed him again as he pulled the black dino ranger to his feet and off the ground by the neck. Tommy struggled to get free, but couldn't find a way out of it.
"It's your end, Black Ranger," Mindshatter hissed.
Tommy shook his head. This wasn't his end. This wasn't the end of the dino rangers. And he would make sure of that. They all would. They weren't going out like this. Not like this. It wasn't their time to go. "It's not over until it's finally over."
With his time being occupied with the black dino ranger, Mindshatter failed to notice the wrecking train of the red and yellow rangers as they plowed into him, making him lose his grip on the black dino ranger. He turned to face them but they were already backing away as he turned his attention to them. But it gave Tommy the time to grab his staff and slide between the universal soldier and his teammates, cutting the chains and freeing his teammates in the process.
But Mindshatter didn't stop to wait for them as the plowed into them, taking with him the red ranger as he pushed him against the wall.
"Conner!" the black and yellow dino rangers called out as they raced over to him trying to draw the universal soldier's attention to one of them rather than their weakened leader.
Mindshatter shoved the red dino ranger into the wall attacking where he found an open and dropping off the red dino ranger. Conner groaned under the impact as he hit the ground; the universal soldier turned to face the two rangers coming at him. He threw out his hand, stopping them short by some sort of field as they felt their bodies getting tugged and move at his whim.
Confused, the yellow and black dino rangers couldn't break out of his control. He had turned them to face each other, controlling their moves, making Tommy lift his brachio staff.
"Dr. O, don't!" Kira called out.
Tommy groaned trying to pull the staff out of Kira's way. But he couldn't seem to get it to follow his command. "I can't control it, Kira. Mindshatter is."
"Noo!" Conner cried out as he tried to peel himself off the ground, but he was too weak to.
And with a flickof Mindshatter's hand, the brachio staff fell and struck the yellow dino ranger. Her knees buckled as she let out a painful cry, hitting the ground before her mentor. Tommy growled under the thought of hurting his teammate as he felt the control, the shift of his body as it turned to face Mindshatter. "You!"
"Me? You attacked your own teammate, and you weren't actually being controlled by an evil spell," Mindshatter bellowed with a laugh.
Tommy closed his eyes as he began to look deep inside himself, to a place only so few could go. To a place where he knew his other hidden powers were left to protect him and his team, the spirit of the falcon. He threw out his hands, breaking the hold of the control Mindshatter on him, and raced forward, his staff held out in front of him as he swung high and low, with all of his might, to throw down the universal soldier. The guide of the falcon ran through every nerve in his body.
Mindshatter fell back several steps taking in the attacks as they moved faster and faster for him to block. He hit the wall stumbling to one knee beside the red ranger. Conner jumped back in fear, hoping not to become some puppet for the universal soldier, but it was clear that he was down for now. Tommy reached out a hand for the red ranger as he pulled him to his feet, holing the staff between the universal soldier and himself and his teammates.
"It's not over until I say it is," Tommy said in a low voice, a peak of rage and anger filling his words. It was clear that that last attack to his own teammate had been uncalled for and let out a sign of anger deep within his heart. He was pissed off, and it was clear that he was sick and tired of the tricks that Mindshatter was putting on him and his team.
"Good," the universal soldier laughed. "Then you'll be glad to see what I have in store for you." Mindshatter waved a hand as another light in the room seemed to appear on spotlight over what looked like the Geno-Randomizer.
The trio of rangers had fallen into line beside each other, Kira being supported by the two guys as their eyes fell on the chamber with confusion. It was filled with smoke, but it was clear that a shadowed figure was hidden inside. Then the chamber doors opened and a dark figure emerged from inside. Fear fell over the trio of rangers as they felt their knees buckle in fear.
The figure in itself could only be explained as being full of darkness and evil. It looked like Mesogog in a robotic form, taking parts from Dinoshade's armor and making it his own. The armor was evident on the being's arms, legs and chest. The head in itself, appeared to take on a more robotic form, but still looked like Mesogog underneath all of it. Its eyes glowed in a hint of red, but still showed evidence of the menacing golden-brown eyes of Mesogog when they didn't glow with hate.
"Who the hell is that!" Conner winced under the thought he could get his powers handed to him on a silver platter by just looking at the menacing creature.
"More like what the hell is that!" Kira asked as she felt the pull from the two rangers supporting her. It was clear that they were in fear, and none of them were ready to face this new challenger without the rest of their team.
"Lemme guess, Mindshatter found a way to fuse Mesogog and Dinoshade into one menacing being?" Tommy could only conclude as he looked over the robotic menace before them.
"And all such thoughts of helping you are strictly gone. Their mind, fused into one, belongs to me. I would like to introduce to you, Shadow Mesogog," Mindshatter hissed as he moved from his place of the room to the side of the menacing beast.
The beast didn't take its eyes off the trio rangers. It was like it was mad hungry for them, and waiting for the command to attack and tear them apart. The three rangers tried to stand the ground, but it was clear more fear was evident in the younger rangers. Tommy quietly gave them encouraging words as they continued to back away. Slowly, Mindshatter and the beast approached them, closing the gap between them.
"I hope Trent and Ethan are on their way over here," Conner breathed.
"I would have to agree with you on that," Tommy said with a nod.
"Or we're gonna be in a whole new world of pain and torture," Kira added.
XXXXXXXXXX
Trent had been working fast than his mind could really understand, it couldn't seem to catch up to what his hands were doing as he re-configured wires sending them elsewhere in the fortress. His mind was spinning with the thoughts of what his fellow teammates were going through. They were in the heart of the battle while he and Ethan were stuck using their divine intellect to get the mainframe of the fortress to work to their advantage. But it was hard work. It required a lot of thinking and fast movement.
He knew they had to get this done and out of there as quickly as possible. The team didn't do well when they were divided, and this was one time where he wished they weren't separated, but no one else could have access to the mainframe but the duo with background knowledge in computer programming.
"What's going on over there, Ethan?" Trent asked as he was making the final preparation on his part of the deal.
Ethan had been to zoned in his work to notice what was going on around him. He was in his element when he had the chance to program a computer to do what he wanted it to do. It was his speciality, to control machines as he wanted to. His fingers flew over the keyboard at speeds that could almost match up to Conner and his super speed.
"Almost done, bro. Just got to make a few adjustments so when we get up to battle, I just need to push a few buttons on the panel and should get that chamber running colder than the temperatures on Pluto," Ethan replied.
Trent raced over to his friend's side as he felt the sudden rush of dizziness fall over him. He could only image that the trio of rangers were getting it far worse, being close to the source that was draining their powers, but he, himself, didn't like it either. And he knew that Ethan was getting just as frustrated with the rush of dizziness as it disturbed his work on the computer. He had to get it done and fast. They were all running out of time, and he knew that without being told by anyone else.
Yet, both of them couldn't notice in the process that their dino morphers were glowing in a hint of pink as if giving some connection to their fellow teammates in battle. They didn't know what was going on, but felt the power drained, only to have some of it get restored by the power of the pink dino gem.
Did it have a hidden power that could heal? Trent thought to himself as he looked down at his morpher, a spark of pink showing through.
Then Ethan pushed ENTER as the screen went blank and the lights in the mainframe room dimmed and flickered. He pushed the device into his hand, using the small LCD pen to run the controls as he watched on the screen come to life with the controls of what he was hoping to accomplish. Control the activity on the island. And it was a success. A wide smile fell over his face as he began to push icons on the device, controlling the brightness of the lights in the mainframe computer room and immediate hall.
"This is awesome," Ethan huffed with satisfaction.
Trent pulled him toward the door. "Well, all right, computer genius. You can celebrate on the way to the main lab. The others need us."
The blue dino ranger grew more serious as he locked the device on his belt and followed his teammate out into the hall. They raced passed the assembly of t-drones as they continued to fix fuses to the walls of the fortress almost like mindless zombies. They had no time to configure what was going on with the t-drones and their thoughts of assisting the rangers, but they didn't care. They needed to get to their teammates and fast.
XXXXXXXXXX
Before Conner could protest or lay an attack on the robotic menace before him, he found himself flying across the room. Kira and Tommy had already met their own companion in a distant wall as they laid on the ground groaning in pain. It was clear that they had underestimated the powers of Dinoshade and Mesogog, and combined was a new experience to each of them they didn't need. They didn't need this set back. All they needed to do, or hope to do on the fortress, was to destroy Mindshatter and the fortress and any remnant of it so there was no way for future use of it at all, but that wasn't the case.
They were all in pain and agony. They had already been in battle longer than they could have lasted, but that was how the big battle was with Mesogog and Zeltrax months ago. There was no time to stop and really take a break. They had a job to do, and it required saving the world by any means possible.
But how could they now, when they stood no chance against Shadow Mesogog, as Mindshatter had named his new creation.
Conner found himself getting pulled off the ground as the menacing beast lifted him several inches off the ground. He struggled to break free, but had no real strength in him to do it. He was growing weaker, and it became more evident as he looked at his own red candle burn on the other side of the room, guarded protectively by Mindshatter.
Kira and Tommy were slowly getting back to their feet, but they were too weak to stand upright. They could barely hold their own, but raced toward the menace as he threw the red dino ranger hard into the ground. Tommy jumped the robotic freak, riding him for so long before he lost control tumbling to the ground beside the red ranger. Kira tried her hand at some quick hand-to-hand combat, but found no strength to do it. Her attacks were countered as she found herself flying into the arms of the black dino ranger.
"How you doing, Kira?" Tommy asked as he pat her on the shoulders.
"Oh, besides being thrown around like a rag doll, I think I'm just fine," Kira replied sarcastically as she moved to slowly pull herself off the ground, but was held back by the red dino ranger.
"We don't stand a chance," Conner shook his head.
Tommy shook his head as he sprung to his feet, setting up a guard between the beast and his two younger teammates. "Don't give up yet, Conner." He turned to face the menacing beast, who did nothing but attack. No words escaped its mouth as its soul purpose was to destroy the rangers. For a long time, Tommy had stopped trying to fight the menace. He would follow the eyes of the menace as it looked at each of the rangers trying to figure out who to attack and who not to. His gaze never left the eyes of the menace as it glowed in a hint of red, but where he knew what answers he needed from the beast, it was all that he needed to end this battle, or so he hoped. The very soul of Anton fighting to break free. "And Zhane?" He questioned in confusion as he saw the faint image of the silver ranger dance in the eyes of the menace.
But before he had time to think through it, the robotic menace came charging at him. Tommy turned away, letting out a breath. "Super Dino Mode!" he bellowed, and despite the fact it gave him more power, it only made the process of his candle burn faster and faster. And it was at its turning point. If he calculated it right, it was a little under five minutes and counting. In his heightened state of powers, he had moved at a quicker pace, but was already getting tired of battling. He wouldn't last.
He managed to lay a few hits into Shadow Mesogog as he stumbled back in a grumble of frustration.
"Don't just stand there and take the pain like wimp, destroy them, now!" Mindshatter bellowed.
Conner and Kira had exchanged their own set of looks. They knew their mentor couldn't hold his own, with every attack he made, it took more and more out of him. He was struggling to even stand up right, and they knew they couldn't just sit there and watch.
"Whatever it takes," Conner whispered, but he knew that Kira had heard him.
"This is the life we live," Kira added as she let the power of the dino gem take over, or what power was left in it, concentrating on it, calling forth the powers of her Super Dino Mode. And a light covered her filling her with a new line of power and strength.
Conner was doing the same thing, but not exactly what he was aiming for. It seemed as the battle raged on, the light of the pink dino gem that had resided in each of them, continued to glow brightly. He closed his eyes, concentrating, as he began to feel his connection with the dino powers and the universe around it. This was his domain. The universal dino energy where only he knew what it was all about and he felt it feed into him, his teammates giving him some of their energy to power him up and as he opened his eyes, he stood there in his Triassic Suit.
Kira looked over at him with some confusion, but breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe they still had some hope in this battle. She turned back to the battle as she saw the faltered steps of her mentor. He wasn't gonna last anymore punishment. She raced forward, only to watch as Shadow Mesogog had landed one final blow on the black dino ranger and he tumbled to the ground, losing control of his powers and demorphing in the process. She jumped over her mentor, creating a shield around him as the Triassic Ranger raced to her side, each in turn calling out to him as their hearts raced with more determination, courage and a tinge of rage.
Shadow Mesogog hissed in satisfaction as it looked at the nearly motionless body of the black dino ranger. One down, four more to go. Kira sprang off the ground into the air and over the beast as Conner attacked from the front end, as one the two moved against the beast.
And despite the sudden flicker of lights and the whining and hissing from the bolted door, the battle continued to rage between the two rangers and the menacing robot. Then as the doors finally unlocked, smoke escaping from it, two more figures emerged into the room, both already in Super Dino Mode as they ducked a blow from the far end of the room.
Ethan and Trent looked away from the battle at hand to see who had fired the blast, and it was no surprise to see it came from the universal soldier. And as they turned to see the battle rage between their comrades and this menacing freak of bolts, fear ran over them.
"What the hell is that!" Ethan breathed in confusion.
Trent pushed him aside, but felt the rush of dizziness make his knees lock under him. Another bolt came their way as Mindshatter sat in the throne in the main lab, his eyes never averted from the five candles beside him. "We have to get to those candles. We don't have much time."
Ethan had to agree as he saw the candle had appeared to been burning for far too long. It seemed like a little less than 1/5 remained of the candles. But in their heightened strength of super dino mode, it seemed to speed up the process.
Trent threw himself into battle as he caught Kira before she fell to the ground. "Hey, Kira. Looks like you guys can use a hand."
"Perfect timing," she said a smile spread wide across her face as she jumped from his embrace back into battle.
Ethan had scanned the room, looking briefly at the device in his hand, making mental calculations in his head of the remainder of the battle. They had to stay clear of this menacing robot and get Mindshatter into that chamber before time ran out. But the fallen black ranger had caught his eye as he raced over to the weaken science teacher. "Dr. O? Hey, wake up."
The man stirred in a groan as he finally opened his eyes, his head spinning like a tornado. It hurt to think, it was as if his mind was stripped from him. He never felt so weak. Even lifting his eyelids hurt.
"Talk to me, you okay?" Ethan urged him as he tried to snap him back into reality.
The man nodded slowly as he gestured for the teen to join his teammates in battle. His entire body was hurting and even as he tried to talk, it hurt to even think about it. His eyes fell shut as he fell limp.
"Dr. O!" Ethan breathed as he shook his head.
"Don't worry, Ethan," a voice entered his mind, but he knew it was his mentor. He could almost sense the spirit of the falcon dance in his mind. "My body took a major beating, but I will be fine. Go and battle. There is still one more shot to save both Anton and Zhane."
"Zhane!" but it wasn't just Ethan who had said that, but his other teammates as they heard the mental connection with their mentor through the bond of the pink dino gem and ninja powers.
"I'll explain later. But I need some time to recover. Double team. Drive Mindshatter into battle. We don't have any time for a second chance. One shot, that's all we got," their mentor instructed them.
Ethan shrugged as he laid the man back on the ground and raced into battle, using the strength of the tricera spirit to ram into the menace. The four teens worked around the menace, attacking from all sides, finding an opening and then attack. They could make no mistake this time and that was clear in each of their heads. If they screwed up, no one would be coming out of this thing alive.
The battle raged on, and despite their weakened state, it seemed like the rangers were finally getting the upper hand in the battle. But it seemed like as they battled Shadow Mesogog, his own attacks were being faltered. His thoughts unclear and where his objective now laid.
XXXXXXXXXX
In the depths, in the mind intertwined by two souls, another battle raged. In a place similar to the astral plains met only by the Ninjetti team, but different in many ways.
The man behind the mask of Mesogog, Anton Mercer, floated aimlessly in the plains as he tried to search for a way out. For a long time, he had wondered aimlessly. It felt like eternity. He had control of Mesogog for some time, it truly was him in that dino body, not the poisoned evil behind the soul purpose of his alter-ego. But a need to help his friends in any way possible. And here he was on those plains again unsure of what to make of the situation. He had no idea what was going on or where exactly he was in time and space.
Beside him, another body had floated through the plains. He seemed to be asleep for a long time, his eyes never opened. No words would escape his mouth. But he was decked out in what appeared to be a uniform one in space might use. His short hair was bleached to an icy platinum blonde. But he had not said nor opened his eyes, showing no real signs of life. And Anton had to question himself and figure out if this other person was really alive, or just some lost soul like himself, maybe never to wake up again. He had hoped that he wouldn't fall victim to the same fate. But now, he wasn't so sure. He had been fighting for so long, dreaming, and hoping that he felt like he could hold on no more.
Then the echoing cry of the falcon echoed through the plains as the golden-outlined spirit of a falcon flew through the plains. It soared around the two figures before landing a few feet from Anton. He looked at it with some confusion, recalling what he had been told by his friend about what the falcon meant.
"Tommy?" he breathed.
As if it knew, the spirit of the falcon nodded as it looked from the man to the unconscious being before him. And it began to speak, but not by word of mouth, but more in the booming voice that echoed through the plains. But it was clear that it had in fact, sounded like Tommy Oliver. "I can only help you get so far. You must do the rest for me, Anton."
"What's going on?" Anton asked.
"The final battle rages between the dino rangers and Mindshatter. And we are struggling with our lives."
"The candles," Anton stated more than questioned. He had remembered trying to get to the candles only days ago, or was it weeks, he wasn't sure. And had failed. He had actually, under the control of Mesogog, had the powers to 're-program' Dinoshade to his normal self. And the two had tried to stop the candles from ever lighting up, but they had failed, finding themselves getting locked in the Geno-Randomizer. And after all of that, everything just seemed out of place. He felt like he was dreaming, but of nothing special. Caught in a void.
The falcon nodded again. "I am sorry I cannot present myself in nothing more than my primitive animal form, but it is the only strength I really have left in this battle. The end is growing near for us, Anton. We won't last. Our powers can only hold out for long. Fight through the control Mindshatter has on you. We need you to help us."
Anton turned to the figure beside him, still unconscious but still not putting a finger to his appearance. "But what about him?"
"Zhane? The Silver Space Ranger. Unfortunately, he has little strength left. Until we free the two of you from this single bondage, he will remain like this. But we will help you, Anton. We will destroy Mesogog for good as well as Mindshatter. But we need your help. We can't do this alone."
Then the falcon spread its wings and flew through the plains leaving Anton alone. And before he could protest or say anymore, he was left alone with the Silver Ranger to fend off the information he had just heard from his friend.
XXXXXXXXXX
The battle continued to rage on the main lab. But its toll was finally taking on the rangers. They couldn't hold their own. Their movements were slow and where they thought they could lay a punch, it took so much energy out of them. It was like they were wimps and didn't even know how to punch. They just couldn't do any more damage. And with a swing of its hands, Shadow Mesogog struck all of the teens in one final blow as they hit the ground. And they couldn't hold their own. They had lost any real control over their ranger powers, each slowly demorphing out of their protective suits.
Mindshatter cackled in satisfaction. "Yes. Do it! Destroy them, Shadow Mesogog!"
Groaning in pain, numb bodies, the teens looked at each other feeling the fear of failure run through their bodies. It wasn't supposed to end like this. There was no way they could fall. They couldn't lose. They couldn't. Conner looked over at the motionless form of his mentor wondering what the condition was for the legendary ranger, and if they would meet his same fate.
They didn't want it to end here. It wasn't supposed to end here. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Their heads lowered, concentrating on any powers they felt was left in them. There had to be something left. Then they watched as the faint light of the pink dino gem came to life within their morphers. The outline of the very gemstones the Ninjetti team had handed over to each of them melted in line with the light of the pink dino gem. And each of them felt a buzz of warmth fill their fingertips as they pushed their hands to the morpher on their wrists.
And as by another force, they were lifted to their feet, floating a few inches off the ground before their feet were firmly planted to it. No words spoken, they exchanged a look as they felt the warm buzz fill their bodies and cover them in their certain color. Yellow for Kira, white with a tint of grayish-black for Trent, blue for Ethan and red for Conner. They watched as their own mentor was also lifted off the ground, the spirit of the falcon and crane danced around him and sweeping through out the room. A bright white light filled the room as the cry of the crane and the falcon echoed through the room and as it cleared, the five rangers were back in their ranger suits.
For a moment, the team had looked over themselves as if the suits they wore were something new to them. But there was something different about each of their suits. Where the three-pronged dino foot was engraved on their chest, was the gold encrusted coin of the Ninjetti spirit. Kira looked down at the bear encrusted on her chest, as her teammates had done the same. Conner had the ape, Ethan had the wolf. And though he had his shield, the frog had been engraved onto Trent's shield. In shock and confusion, they looked over at the newly revived black dino ranger, his entire suit modified to look somewhat like his original Ninjetti uniform but it still also looked like the brachio suit he was accustomed to. But unlike the other rangers, the gold encrusted coin on his chest had the falcon spreading its protective wings around the crane.
Mindshatter sprang to his feet as he let out a growl of frustration. "Shadow Mesogog, destroy them, now!"
But the beast had not moved. It stood there in confusion, looking at its own body. Creating a shield around the beast, the four teens turned to look at the universal soldier. The legendary ranger slowly strode over to take the lead for his team as he rubbed his hands together.
"I hate to break it to you, Mindshatter, but he's with us now. It seems you lost your own purpose of understanding what a true hero does. It doesn't take power, but heart, courage and true spirit to win a battle," the black dino ranger spoke.
"I will not stand for this!" Mindshatter growled as he got to his feet jumping from the throne landing only a few inches in front of the legendary ranger. But the brachio ranger didn't at all seemed threaten by him any more. He stood his ground with his teammates close by. The universal soldier threw his hand forward to lock a grip around the ranger's neck.
But Tommy was quick to react as he twisted out of the grip, throwing the universal soldier to the ground. The four other rangers moved in turn attacking from all sides, moving as one. And for the first time, if one could say, they were in complete sync with the other. Moving in and out of the battle at a speed and fluid movement, like it was a dance to them. They had created their own little kata. A form of grace and beauty in martial arts that they still had yet to master for themselves. Their mentor had told them the first few generations of rangers had their own to help them in battle. And not long after, the black ranger had joined in, never losing his own stride with his teammates as they sent the universal soldier around the circle like a ping pong ball.
And the final blow was made by Shadow Mesogog as he lifted the weaken universal soldier over its head and headed over to the Geno-Randomizer. Ethan had already moved to the main console in the lab, ready to fire it up, and hoped that the right program had been sent to the controls. But as if by quick recovery, Mindshatter had grabbed a hold of the beast pulling it into the chamber.
"Dad!" Trent cried out as he raced toward the chamber.
Conner, Kira and Tommy raced after him, fighting to pull the beast free from the chamber. But he couldn't budge. Mindshatter had a good hold on him and it seemed like he was draining its life. The beast roared in pain. Then Shadow Mesogog pushed out his hand, shoving the rangers to the ground.
His head whipped around to reveal the very image of Zhane and Anton in each of its eyes. And a sinking feeling fell over the rangers. A fear, of thoughts they hoped would never happen, filled their heads. They didn't know what to do when the chamber doors shut on them.
"Noo!" the rangers cried out.
Trent raced over to Ethan. "What the hell are you doing! That's my father in there!"
Ethan held up his hands, shaking his head. "I didn't touch them. I swear."
Tommy quickly got to his feet as the chamber began to smoke up covering the contents inside. But before he could say anything, he had turned to the throne where the candles continued to burn. Each of the flames were dying out slowly. They had run out of time. He raced over pulling off his morpher and placing it on top of the black candle. "Guys! Your morphers!"
The four rangers turned to the voice of their mentor, watching him gesture to their wrists. One by one, they had pulled off their morphers and tossed them to the black dino ranger as he placed them on the respective candle. He pulled out his falcon morpher and pulled out the gemstones hidden inside. And slowly, he concentrated, calling forth the power of the gemstones, concentrating on the powers of his dino gem, feeling them intertwine and create a new line of power inside. He could feel the other mix of powers, the ones obtained from the other rangers from the past run through him.
And it fell silent. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a white void along side his dino ranger counterparts. Still suited up, the five rangers felt the surge of power fill them. And the void dropped to a universal setting, a grid laid below their feet. And them an invisible force seemed to throw them off their feet and they found themselves back in the fortress.
It all happened in a matter of a few seconds, but so slow to each of them. The candles were now restored to their normal height and their dino morphers and gems were also restored. The other powers slowly leaving them, from their friends, but a new power still linked them together. The shattered pink dino gem. It seemed as if the morphing grid was finally back to normal, and the powers were returning to their respective morpher.
But with no time to celebrate, the room shook violently as the team was tossed about; a distant explosion heard in the distance.
"What's going on?" Conner asked as he retrieved the tyranno morpher, tossing Trent and Kira theirs.
Tommy had handed over Ethan's as he looked around the room. It was clear there was an explosion somewhere on the island, if not fortress itself.
"Well, we ran into a few tyrannodrones. They were fixing fuses onto the fortress walls and..." Trent explained as he looked over at the black dino ranger. "...well, you get the picture."
Ethan had been trying to make sense of the chamber, watching the status inside of it. The temperature within it dropping extremely fast. If he opened it too soon, the entire room would become frozen in an instant, and so would they. But there was no status on the occupants in the chamber.
"Well, that's just great," Kira said sarcastically as another explosion rocked the lab.
The five rangers held onto a wall to keep themselves balance.
"How long do you think we have?" Conner asked as he looked over at his mentor.
"Five minutes tops. Ethan, what's the status?" the black ranger called out to the computer genius.
"As far as I could tell, they should have been frozen, but it's hard to tell. It's kicked into high-drive."
Trent felt his knees buckle as he threw himself into the chamber, fists in a fury to open the door. The red and yellow rangers grabbed him, knowing exactly what was going on. Either, Anton or Zhane had not survived that and gave up the ultimate sacrifice for the team. Or they might have survived, but they had no clue what condition they would be in. But he was hurting. He didn't want to think this was the end of his father, or even the Silver Space Ranger, if he truly was still alive.
But it was clear that their battle with Mindshatter was finally over. Ethan had told them that. No machine could handle temperatures well under -100 degrees F. It would expand and crack into a million pieces once shattered.
Another explosion shook the lab, the smoke entering through the opened door. Tommy raced over to the console, slamming the doors shut. "Looks like we're not going out that way. Our only hope is the invisi-portals, can you find a portal, Ethan?"
Ethan nodded slowly. "I've been working on that."
"And?" Tommy felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"I need more time to find one that hasn't completely shut down or could cause us any problems."
Trent tried to get to the chamber doors again, but Conner and Kira kept him back. They knew he was hurting; they all were. They didn't expect for this to happen. For the longest time, they were trying to free Anton from his imprisonment. For the longest time, they had no idea that Zhane was still alive. This was all new to them. And it was all happening so fast. And now, they all swore that they were both dead.
"Bro, c'mon, there's nothing else you could have done," Conner tried to console his friend in white.
"He did this because he cared about you. About us. They sacrificed their lives over ours," Kira said as she pulled him into a hug.
Trent's mental strain sent the two to their knees as Kira locked her arms around her boyfriend. At that point, Conner was uncertain about where he lied within their friendship, but as the yellow dino ranger looked up at him, he knew she was asking for his own consoling. He pulled the duo into a hug, trying to sound reassuring to both of them.
Though, wanting to offer their own consoling, the black and blue dino rangers worked frantically to get an invisi-portal open. They weren't sure what the status was on the chamber, but they knew if they didn't find a way out of there now, they would also be handing their own lives over. And they just didn't want it to be like that.
Then the chamber doors hissed open, and a silence fell over the room. Everyone stopped all activity, turning to look at the chamber doors as the smoke escaped into the room. A trail of ice moved toward the trio on the floor, but stopped short. And the icy frozen figure of Mindshatter emerged from the chamber, but due to the weight, came crashing to the ground, shattering into a million pieces.
Each of the teens gave out a yelp as the shattered pieces shattered throughout the room, the very remains of Mindshatter was only a memory. And it was almost as if a long line of burden was lifted off of Tommy's shoulders as he stood up a little straighter.
"This is to you, Zordon. I'm sorry your project failed. But you will never be forgotten for what you did for me and your Power Rangers," Tommy whispered mostly to himself, but the blue dino ranger had heard it as he placed a reassuring hand on his mentor's shoulder.
Then the robotic beast that had combined the powers of Mesogog and Dinoshade, but the souls of Anton Mercer and Zhane, emerged from the chamber. The trio of rangers was now back on their feet, but still holding the white dino ranger back. They were unsure what to make of the moments they watched the robotic menace sway and slowly fall toward the ground.
But Trent had raced forward, hoping to some how catch it before it hit the ground and shattered. Conner and Kira followed only a step after, and Trent could only let his gloves slip passed the icy surface and the being hit the ground. But as it hit the ground and smashed, a bright light forced the rangers to shield their eyes.
And when it cleared, the very bodies of Zhane and Anton Mercer laid on the ground. The very being, Shadow Mesogog, was shattered all over the floor like Mindshatter. Frozen with confusion and fear, the rangers didn't know what to think. Zhane in his usual space uniform confide to the Space Rangers, and Anton Mercer in the very attire that was of Mesogog. There they were, laying on the ground before them.
Trent didn't wait any longer as he raced over to his father, pulling him up to his lap. "Dad! Dad, wake up. Please."
Conner and Kira slowly approached the other ranger, who they only knew to be the Silver Space Ranger. They had known so little about him, and thought, and swore, that he had fallen victim to the hands of Mindshatter. But there he was. Or was it a trick? But as they reached down, a slight moan escaped the skilled silver ranger.
"Zhane?" Conner spoke up as he pulled an arm around his shoulder, as he knelt beside the space ranger.
Kira had looked over the man, still not believing it. She had only seen pictures of him, images of him in battle, but never had she seen him in real life. But as she placed Zhane's other arm around her shoulder, it had to be true. He wasn't dead. He was here with them right now. "You're okay. It's all over."
For a brief moment, the silver space ranger stirred, could hear the voices, but found them to be distant. His weight almost took down the younger rangers as he fell back to unconsciousness.
Ethan had stood from his place at the console in confusion. He rubbed his helmet looking at his mentor for answers. "I don't understand..."
"I can only take a guess and think that Dinoshade had somehow allowed Zhane to fuse up with him as a way to save him," Tommy stated as he developed a theory around the very sight of seeing the Silver Space Ranger alive.
"But what about the other rangers?"
"Maybe he'll answer that for us once we get out of here." Tommy slammed a fist into the console as an invisi-portal finally opened up.
Another set of explosions shook the lab throwing the team off balance as they struggled to keep their footing. It was clear the explosions were growing closer and closer, and it was only a matter of time before the entire lab was full of flame and smoke. The black brachio ranger pushed Ethan to help Trent with his father as he ran some last minutes checks on the portal network.
This would be their only way out of there. And the portal in itself was already crackling in a sign that it looked unstable and safe. But they had no time to argue. They had to get out of here.
"Rangers, go!" Tommy ordered as he began to push a few buttons on the console, trying to keep the portal open. Skepticism fell over their faces as the four teens rushed over with the Silver Ranger and the famous scientist to the opening. They didn't know if they were supposed to go, or if it was safe. And as they started to protest, their mentor cut them short. "No time to argue. Go, now. I can't keep it stable for long."
It was clear that Trent didn't want to take anymore chances and wait, so he had already entered the portal with Ethan at his side assisting to get his father out of there safely. And soon, Conner and Kira followed as a beam from the ceiling dropped down from where they were only a few moments ago.
Tommy dodged another beam that came crashing down on the console, sending sparks everywhere. He groaned as he picked himself slowly off the ground. "Shit! Not good."
For a moment, he felt trapped as more beams hit the ground blocking his way to the portal. It was still open, but he wasn't sure what it might do to him, or if it was targeted for the plaza like he had set it up for his teammates. But he had to take his chances. The door had exploded, sending chucks throughout the room as he moved to dodge the flying debris. He let out a breath as he jumped from two beams, dodged another and jumped into the portal as it closed after him.
XXXXXXXXXX
The dino rangers found themselves in the plaza where they had been fighting only hours ago. Sitting on the pavement, the Ninjetti rangers and original red ranger were meditating, if that's what it was, nearly jumped at the sound of the crackle of the invisi-portal and a line of rangers. But the portal itself exploded behind them sending them to the ground, stirring the older rangers from their meditation.
Slowly peeling themselves off the ground, they watched the portal close behind them. Their echoing cry rang through the plaza as the older rangers raced over, but were frozen with confusion.
"Zhane!" Adam looked at the other figure among the teens.
"Anton?" Rocky asked as he rubbed his head with confusion.
"And where's Tommy?" Kim nearly screamed as she noticed the missing black dino ranger.
The teens were in a frantic and panic state as they shook their heads. They were filing out explanations at a hundred words a second, all at once, that the older rangers couldn't comprehend. Jason called order as everyone stopped to look at him. Adam was working to check the vitals on the two unconscious figures, trying to make sense of what happened on the island fortress, but it was clear he had no clue. No one did.
Then a crackle shook the sky as another invisi-portal opened up and the black dino ranger came crashing to the ground only a few feet from the rest of the team. For a moment, he didn't move for the fear of never getting out of there alive, but he was back on familiar grounds in Reefside. The former pink dino ranger / Ninjetti ranger raced over to him, crushing him into her with a tight hug as he finally let air back into his lungs.
"Well, it's good to see you too, Beautiful," Tommy replied quietly as he was trying to make sense of all that had happened. His head was spinning with all the action that had happened in that entire day, and it was clear he had no real idea what had happened. It all happened way too fast.
But as the crackling of the invisi-portal caught their eyes, every set of conscious bodies turned their eyes to the sky watching as a faint outline of a grid ran across the sky. The invisi-portal crackled and imploded on itself, blinding them briefly. And when it cleared, the grid turned from red, back to green and slowly dissolved. A light hum filled their ears and as if life was slowly being restored, traffic lights began to come back on. And life in Reefside was returning to normal.
Tommy slowly pulled himself off the ground, his wife never wanting to let go as he approached his teammates. No words were spoken, but it was clear that it was their cue to get out of the public eye and back to the lab to discuss the recent events.
And as one, the assembly of rangers, with the freed scientist, moved out of the plaza and to the safe side of the underground lab.
To be continued...
A/N: Whoo! That was long. That was hard to create and really downright a shock to me, too. Did you guys expect that? For Zhane to be alive? And for Anton to survive? Yeah, I know. A lot did happen. But I'm not stopping here. See you next chapter and it'll explain a little more about what exactly happened in that last battle. May the Powers Always Protect You.