Chapter 8
Amazon Part 3
Callum stared at the broken computer screen, absolutely devestated. What was he supposed to do now? Dr. Sparks and his friends were gone. And Master Paine was going to drain away his teammates' energy and use it to rule the world.
It was all too real.
Just like his nightmares.
He clenched his fists angrily and glared down at himself. He knew right from the start that he wasn't meant to be the Red Ranger. He could feel it in his bones. He just didn't have the strength or confidence to take such a high role.
Callum sighed. "What can I do? I'm useless," he murmured to himself.
"No you're not."
The red ranger jumped, not sure whether the voice was real or whether it was his imagination. Nevertheless he spoke up "How can I resue Dr. Sparks and the others? I have no energy power." He sighed again. "Even if I do try to rescue them, then I'll still loose to Ernestine and Master Paine. Just like in my nightmares."
"Yes, but they're just nightmares. That doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to loose to Master Paine."
"Who are you?" Callum called out.
"For now I'm not important. I only appear when you need me most. The thing that matters most that you find your teammates and retrieve their energy. Your energy. I know that you're not too confident about your mission. Therefore I'll give you a gift: a new energy power. Only use it when the time is right. You can only use it so many times. Your teammates will also gain new energy power as the journey goes on. Farewell . . . for now."
"But what is this new energy power? How can I use it?"
"When the time is right."
"But how do I know when the time is right?" Callum cried out.
No reply.
'Who was that anyway?' Callum thought to himself. 'Was it my imagination? That voice definetaly didn't sound like Dr. Sparks and how can my dad do that? He doesn't even know I'm doing this whole Power Ranger business.'
"I only appear when you need me most . . . when the time is right," the voice said in his mind.
Maybe the whole thing meant something? Well if it did then the thing it meant most was that he rescued Dr. Sparks and the others . . . Callum pulled out his Red Energy Morpher. "Hang on guys . . . I'm coming."
He took a deep breath before holding out the morpher and shouting "Sports Energy, Suit Up!"
Zoe stirred awake. How long had she been out for? She slowly heaved herself off the ground and took a moment to examine her surroundings. In front of her she could see Olivia, Alex and Jason who were demorphed and passed out. Looking down at herself, Zoe could see that she was demorphed too.
"Wake up!" she ordered, running up to her teammates and shaking them hard. "Guys, wake up! We're in some sort of dungeon."
Her teammates didn't stir. They were completely unconcious and unaware of their surroundings.
The blue ranger looked up and could see some sort of passageway ahead of her. It was very dark and there were two FlunkBots guarding it. That looked like the way out! Zoe jumped to her feet and ran towards the passageway but it only took her a few paces to realise that the cave entrance had an electrical shield blocking her off and it shocked her away.
"I should have known," Zoe muttered to herself, pouting a little.
A little while later, she became aware of the sound of footsteps and looked up to see a monsterous creature approaching her. Realising that he was after her energy, Zoe jumped to her feet and stood her ground. "Who are you?" she demanded.
"I am Master Paine," he growled.
"So you're the one who sent your little warrior girl to capture us!" exclaimed Zoe angrily. "Well guess what, mister! You're a real pain in the neck and I don't like that! You're going DOWN!" she added, charging at the creature. She was thinking: 'If Callum's to scared to save the world then someone else is going have to do the deed instead. And that someone's gonna be me!'
"COME ON!" she yelled, performing a front flip and standing on her hands, twisted around, throwing her strongest kicks at Master Paine who blocked them off with ease.
Zoe flipped back onto her feet and threw more combat kicks at Paine. Again, he calmly blocked them off with no problem at all. It was almost as if he knew what was coming. He grabbed Zoe's ankle and thew her backwards. She crashed into a wall and landed hard on the ground.
"Had enough?" Master Paine.
Zoe growled and climbed back onto her feet. "Now you've made me mad!" she shouted, pulling out her Blue Energy Morpher, which she was surprised and relieved to still have. "Trust me, you won't like me when I'm mad," she added, preparing to morph.
"Sports Energy, Suit Up!"
Silence.
Zoe looked down at herself, horrified to see that she hadn't changed at all. "Sports Energy, SUIT UP!"
Still nothing happened.
"What's going on?" snapped Zoe as Master Paine began to roar with laughter.
"Foolish Blue Ranger. I didn't capture you so I could keep you as pets! I captured you for your energy! I've already claimed the energy from your morphers. And now I'll drain all the energy away from your bodies!"
Not liking the sound of this at all, Zoe roared and charged Master Paine again, this time throwing her best combat punches at him which was pretty much pointless. It was almost like giving her wrists to Master Paine to grab. He grabbed hold of both her wrists and twisted them around. Zoe yelped and broke free of his grip and tried again. This time she threw a single punch at the creature.
Big mistake.
Master Paine grabbed her wrist, threw it out of the way before grabbing her by the neck. Zoe let out a scream as she felt her energy being sucked away from her, like water going down a drain, only Master Paine was stealing her energy. She found herself becoming too weak to stand or even attempt try to push Paine's huge hand away from her neck . . . she collapsed to her knees . . . her hands drooped down . . . and Zoe collapsed to the ground, unconcious.
"Pathetic," Master Paine snorted and stomped up to the others to do the same . . .
"Energy Cycle GO!" the Red Energy Ranger shouted, charging up his motorcycle. As the motorcycle drove out of the lab, Callum realised that he had no idea where he was going but he kept on driving anyway, into the forest . . .
It wasn't long until something blasted him off his motorcycle. Callum tumbled over and the motorcycle crashed into a tree. He looked up to see that fimiliar body stomping in his direction, ready to strike. He barrel-rolled out of her way before flipping to his feet.
"Sorry Ernestine, but when you kidnap my friends, it puts me in a bad mood!" the Red Energy Ranger shouted, pulling out his Lightning Saber.
"And let me tell you something, you so-called 'Energy' Ranger! I don't care!" the Amazon Ranger replied as he swiped his sword at her. "I'll simply capture you as well and have Master Paine steal your energy power, just like your friends."
That caught Callum's attention. As Ernestine grabbed his sword to defend herself, he pulled her in close to him. "What did you do to my friends?" he demanded.
"I did nothing to them whatsoever. It is Master Paine who does the evil deeds," hissed Ernestine, letting go of Callum's sword.
"Then why are you working for him?"
For a seccond there was silence before Ernestine yelled "This is none of your business!" and in a panic, made the jewel on her catsuit begin to glow along with her entire body, as if she were preparing to teleport somewhere. Seeing this Callum ran up to her and grabbed her, just as they both teleported out of the forest.
Dr. Sparks woke up and it took one glance to know where he was: one of Master Paine's dungeons. In front of him, the master himself was approaching the scientist with new power bubbling inside of him.
"I told you I would win, didn't I, Gavin? I always win! Look at you with no power in ya! All you have are pathetic little Power Rangers to protect you! Well they haven't done a very good power have they?" Master Paine spat. "The Sports Energy is all mine! And there's nothing you can do about it! Now you will watch me as I take over this world and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
"Not quite," said Dr. Sparks bravely. "You may have captured four out of the five Energy Rangers but that's not enough. There's still one more Ranger out there and I know- we all know that he and the others will get that energy back! You don't deserve to use such power, Paine. I can't believe what's come over you. After doing such good for the world, you let greed take over and now you've become a monster . . ."
"SILENCE!" boomed Master Paine. His voice was so loud, it shook the ground. "It matters not! I will simply find the last Ranger and drain away his energy, just like I did with the others!"
"That's not going to happen." The scientist's voice was stern.
"And how would you know that?" Master Paine snarled.
FLASH!
The Amazon and Red Energy Rangers appeared in a nearby cave. The Amazon Ranger broke free from the Red Energy Ranger's grip and made a run for it, her enemy not far behind. She only just made it through the electrical shield which blocked off the Red Energy Ranger.
Ernestine turned around, delighted to see that her little plan had worked. "So long, 'Red Energy' Ranger!" she laughed before running off to find her beloved master.
Callum turned around and only then did he see his fallen teammates. "Guys!" he cried out, bending down to them. "Wake up!" he shouted, shaking them. But they had no energy in them at all and didn't stir.
"Jason! Alex! Olivia! ZOE!" he cried desperately, shaking them even harder. He kneeled down next to the blue ranger and shook her as hard as he could. A wave of relief washed over him as Zoe's eyes opened slightly.
"Callum . . . ?" she rasped weakly.
"Zoe!" he exclaimed, more relieved than ever to see that she and the others were alive. "Zoe, what happened?"
She groaned for a moment. Then she looked past Callum and lifted up her hand with an outstretched finger. It was like her hand weighed ten tonnes, she was that weak and she only just managed to gasp out "Paine" before passing out again.
"Zoe? ZOE!"
"Hello, Red Ranger. Enjoying the reunion?"
He whipped around to see Master Paine towering over him holding with Ernestine standing next to him beaming proudly.
"He's all your, Master," she chuckled.
"Thank you, Ernestine," Paine grinned and made a grab for Callum who backflipped over Zoe (careful not to land on any of his teammates) and pulled out his Lightning Saber. He charged at Master Paine but Paine struck him with a strange new energy power. It was almost like his teammates' power . . .
"You stole my friends' energy!" Callum exclaimed angrily.
"Yes I did," Master Paine chuckled. "And now I am going to steal yours."
"NEVER!" Callum hollered but Master Paine shot him with more energy, different types. Some energy felt hard, some of it burned, some of it made his blood curdle and some of it felt cold . . . The Red Energy Ranger screamed in pain as the different kinds of energy pummelled into him. Sparks shot out of his Ranger costume and he stumbled backwards.
"Had enough?" Paine demanded.
"Not yet," replied Callum, panting hard. He picked up his Lightning Saber and charged at Master Paine and Ernestine again. But Paine- Callum had no idea how he did it but he stuck out his arms and Dr. Sparks appeared in them. The creature was using the scientist as a shield! Callum skidded to a halt.
"Strike me and your little scientist goes too!" laughed Master Paine.
The Red Energy Ranger hesitated, not sure what to do. Before he could react, Ernestine struck him with the beam from the jewel in her catsuit. It blasted him into the wall. Callum looked up helplessly . . .
And he saw his nightmare.
His unconcious teammates . . .
Ernestine . . .
Master Paine holding Dr. Sparks . . .
It was all coming true!
"Ernestine, you may do the honour," laughed Master Paine. "Finally. I've been waiting for this all my life . . ."
The maiden stepped forwards with her outstretched hand . . . Callum looked down, feeling hopeless . . .
"THE TIME HAS COME!" he heard Master Paine roar.
That caught his attention. That voice was beginning to speak to him again . . .
"When the time is right."
"NO!" the Red Energy Ranger hollered and immediately jumped to his feet, a new power surging within him.
"RED ENERGY LASER BOOST!" He jumped up and pushed his feet against the walls- and nobody, not even Callum himself knew what exactly happened next. It all happened so quickly, faster than lightning. But whatever it was, it cracked the jewel in Ernestine's catsuit, it caused Master Paine to let go of Dr. Sparks (who ran over to safety after being freed) and it somehow managed to restore the energy of Zoe, Olivia, Alex and Jason.
"Callum!" Dr. Sparks exclaimed, running up to the red ranger. "I'm so glad you're alright! Thank you so much for finding us!"
"Ugh . . . what happened?" moaned Jason. "My head hurts."
"Where are we?" groaned Alex, looking around him.
"How did we get here?" asked Olivia, confused.
Zoe sat up and saw Callum looking down at them. Multiple emotions began to swirl inside her. She was relieved because the red ranger had saved them all but she was also feeling jealous at the fact that he had managed to do so. But most of all she was upset, annoyed and angry because she couldn't believe that somebody with such little confidence and no "special talents" had managed to step up as a leader and restore their energy. She'd been so confident that she'd be able to take on this Power Ranger business with no problem and now look at her.
"How did YOU get here?" Zoe muttered at Callum in a jealous tone.
"That's not important," he replied as caught Master Paine and Ernestine climbing to their feet. "Right now, we gotta find a way to get OUT of here!"
Jason, Alex and Olivia and stood up, meaning business. Zoe sighed but she got up too and the four of them all pulled out their Energy Morphers.
"Ready?" Zoe asked her teammates.
"Ready!" Olivia, Alex and Jason chanted.
And they all shouted together "Sports Energy, Suit Up!"
Dr. Sparks smiled and Master Paine and Ernestine watched on in horror as Zoe, Olivia, Alex and Jason morphed into the Blue, Pink, Yellow and Green Energy Rangers. As soon as the morphing progress was complete, the four Rangers shouted out "Sports Energy Unleashed!" before the five team memebers chanted out:
"1: Red Energy Ranger!"
"2: Blue Energy Ranger!"
"3: Pink Energy Ranger!"
"4: Yellow Energy Ranger!"
"5: Green Energy Ranger!"
"POWER RANGERS, SPORTS ENERGY!" they all shouted, striking poses.
Ernestine panicked and retreated from battle by disappearing into thin air. Everyone stared at her as she disappeared and Master Paine growled to himself "Traitor."
"It matters not!" he snapped. "I still have more power than you! I will still defeat you!"
"So you may have a lot of energy," Callum admitted. "But we have something that you don't have."
Everyone stared at him.
'What is he saying?' Zoe thought to herself.
Master Paine flashed him a warning look. "And what is that?"
"Teamwork!" announced Callum and Olivia, Alex and Jason nodded in agreement. Zoe blushed behind her blue helmet but couldn't help agreeing too.
"Now let's show him what we can do as a team!" cheered Callum.
And the five Rangers pulled out their weapons.
"Lightning Saber!"
"Ice Blade!"
"Energy Vault!"
"Hock Hammer!"
"Racket Blaster!"
"Go on then! Give me your best shot!" demanded Master Paine as the Rangers prepared to slash at him with their Sports Energy Striker.
"Alright! You asked for it!" shouted Zoe.
"STRIKE!" Callum yelled and the Rangers slashed the weapon at Master Paine, falling into his trap. He grabbed the weapon, yanked it out of the Rangers' hands and threw it into the cave ceiling.
"No way! Now what'll we do?" exclaimed Jason.
Master Paine laughed an evil laugh. "I told you I'd still defeat you! There is nobody out there who can-"
He was interrupted when a giant rumbling sound filled the lair and the cave ceiling began to collapse. Giant chunks of rock fell on top of Master Paine, crushing him completely.
"What's happening?" shrieked Olivia.
"I think the whole lair's coming down!" shouted Alex.
Zoe groaned loudly. "Well that's just great! What are we supposed to do now?"
Callum looked down at his feet. "I don't know . . ."
"When the time is right . . ."
There was still a chance for them to get out!
"Hold onto me!" Callum ordered and immediately Dr. Sparks and the Blue, Pink, Yellow and Green Energy Rangers grabbed onto his arms and legs. Callum took a deep breath before shouting out "RED ENERGY LASER BOOST!"
The Red Energy Ranger shot out of the cave with his friends just in time and this time they were able to see more clearly what this power was like. He shot through the street like a comet, dodging cars and buildings towards the lab which was where he was heading. In less that five seconds, he neatly skidded to a halt and the others let go of him.
"Power Down," the Rangers chanted, demorphing before Zoe, Olivia, Alex and Jason stared at Callum, panting hard.
"What . . . was that?" gasped Olivia.
Callum shook his head. "I have no idea. When you lot got kidnapped, I ran here . . . and then I heard this voice telling me that I had this new power and stuff like that . . ."
"I thought that might happen," said Dr. Sparks. "You see you only get powers like this when you must . . . when the time is right. And that timing couldn't have been more perfect."
The others nodded, Zoe grumbling at Callum slightly.
"This day has been eventful," the scientist added. "I'd suggest you get some rest. Tomorrow is another day."
"Yeah, I could really use a break," grinned Jason.
"Me too," said Alex. "And thanks for saving us," he added to Callum.
Olivia joined in. "Yeah, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be here."
Zoe sighed. "You're a good guy, Callum," she murmured before storming off in front of the others who headed out too, Callum blushing at the thanksgiving from his teammates.
As soon as they were gone, Dr. Sparks smiled and looked up. He checked to see that no one was looking and then whispered "Thank you, Finian."