Summary: The Dino Gems choosing their owners, but what if the people who owned the Gems weren't who the Rangers were supposed to be?
Dedicated to Sarah with special thanks for being the only person with enough patience to put up with my ranting when it doesn't work.
"What are they?" hissed Mesogog, surveying his new charges. There were six white, six black, but they all grouped together without rhyme or reason. And they were all respectful of the lord of the lair.
"They are the Triptoids, your highness," said Elsa, lowering her head. "I believe they will make an excellent addition to your army, once I've dealt with them in the modification chamber." She raised her eyes just enough to fix her master with a smirk. "They already have a bias against your friend Tommy Oliver."
"Very well," said Mesogog. "Take them...do with them what you will. We will use them when the time comes."
"Yes, Master," she said, with a short, quick nod, leading the new grunts out of the room. The time for battle would be soon.
"Let me get this straight," said Hayley. She and Tommy were sitting in her office at the Cyberspace, and she'd put one of her employees in charge for the time being. "The museum is part of Anton Mercer Industries?"
"That's what the sign said," said Tommy, taking a long sip of coffee. The caffeine helped recharge his tired body, but only added to the frazzled state of his nerves.
"And the T-Rex was alive."
"Why is it when you say it, it sounds crazy?" he asked rhetorically.
"Maybe because it is crazy." She sighed. "So you really think it's time to break out the morphers?"
"I think two random, unprovoked attacks against me in one day is a sure sign that Mesogog survived the explosion." He frowned, glancing out the office's window, and felt her hand on his forearm. He glanced at his best friend, who was offering him a gentle smile.
"Doesn't seem fair, does it," she said quietly. "That that lizardy freak survived, and Anton didn't." Funny how she could read his mind sometimes.
He nodded in agreement, but couldn't help feeling patronized. He knew perfectly well that Hayley had never been fond of Anton Mercer. He told her as much.
She shrugged. "I didn't like your experiments with him. Seemed too much like the stuff you were trying to prevent with your experiments with me. And since Mesogog made all those 'improvements' on the Tyrannodrones..."
"Don't start, Hayley," he warned her. "Anyway, we need to get to work. We have to find candidates to accept the powers."
"Right."
Hayley drank her tea, and the two shared a long silence before Tommy said finally, "So, any ideas?"
"How about you?" she asked.
He laughed. "Me? Be a Ranger again? You're kidding, right?"
"Worth a shot. What exactly did you have in mind? More kids?"
"Unless you want to don the suit."
This time it was Hayley that laughed. "Oh, yeah, Tommy, sure. I'll be a Ranger." She rolled her eyes at him. "How about Marc?"
"Marc, the guy manning the bar as we speak?"
"Yeah, him. Why not? He has leadership capabilities."
"Okay. Mark him down as a 'maybe,'" said Tommy, as though they had an actual list.
"I met this kid today, I think his name was Derrick? He plays on the soccer team at your school."
"Could only be Derrick Cole," said Tommy. He'd only been there one day, but one day had been enough to learn about the hierarchy of the school, and the weird twist that made soccer the new football, and who it named as princes. "I don't know too much about him, though. Not in any of my classes, I don't think..."
"Huh. Well, he seemed like a good kid. Quiet, dark, big, brooding, but seemed like a nice enough guy."
"I don't know if 'nice enough guy' cuts it."
"Well, he's strong and fast. That should be enough."
"Fine, fine, put him on the list."
Rolling her eyes, Hayley jotted his and Marc's names down on a legal pad she'd pulled from her desk drawer, making a mental note to burn this thing once Rangers had been chosen. Wandering around with a list of high school students was case enough to get you arrested these days. Couldn't save the world from prison.
"Do you know a Krista?" said Hayley.
"Ecological rights activist? Yeah. Reminds me of the Rangers when I was her age. That's the sort of pro-active attitude I like to see."
"So she's on the list?"
"Yeah."
"Ethan James?" she suggested.
"He's in my first period class. He's smart, but he's a troublemaker."
"Fine...how about Devin Del Valle? You must know him. He's friends with Cassidy Cornell. She's—-"
"—-doing an expose on me, I know," he finished. Tommy laughed. "Cassidy's kind of crazy, but Devin seems like a good kid."
"Devin is one of the best kids I know," Hayley confided, quietly but firmly. "If you wanted my honest opinion...he's a Red Ranger, all the way."
"If he's got your backing, how can I say no?"
Hayley wrote down Devin's name, and put a big star by it. Somehow, she figured that when Tommy explained everything to the kids, Devin would assume the mantle of the Red Ranger without so much as a second thought. She wished they could be as lucky with the other Rangers. She had a feeling none of them would come quietly.
Conner pulled his shirt over his head, and tried to rearranged his mussed hair. Something was off. He couldn't place it, but he just had this nagging feeling that something was wrong. It wasn't even the fact that he'd gotten detention for the first time in his life. No, this feeling had started the moment he had walked out of detention. He tossed his shirt at his clothes hamper, where it promptly bounced off the edge, unraveled from its neat little ball, and landed in a heap on the floor. There was just something weirdly off about things, and it was bothering him.
Conner stared at his reflection in the mirror, for once not studying himself, but lost in thought as he tried to puzzle the feeling out. It didn't have anything to do with James or Ford, did it?
No. Of course not. He was just feeling weird because he'd missed practice. It wasn't anything more than that, and he was wasting his time even thinking about it.
Derrick Cole was, in fact, in Tommy's first period class. He sat in the back row, glaring at everyone. Tommy must have missed him during the excitement of teaching for the first time. In the moments before the bell, he had a chance to study Derrick. He did seem vaguely antisocial, despite the fact that a lot of kids waved at him, but they could work on that. After his meeting with Hayley the day before, Tommy had gone back to the school and acquired the tape of last year's soccer intramurals. Derrick was, as she'd suggested, strong and fast. The only one who beat him for speed was Conner McKnight—
—who was sneaking into the classroom just as the final bell rang.
"Conner, thanks for joining us," said Tommy dryly, greeting the soccer star for the first time.
Conner flashed the teacher a wide grin. "I was getting ready for our game against Blue Bay Harbor. Someone's gotta bring glory and honor to this school."
"How about we try bringing 'glory and honor' to your grade point average first, so you can at least stay on the team," said Tommy calmly. "And Conner...if you're late to class again, I'll make sure that Principal Randall throws an extra week of detention onto your sentence." The athlete's winning smile dropped, and Tommy continued, "Really, guys. This goes for all of you. I'm a morning person about as much as any of you are. So if I can make the effort to drag myself over here every morning and be on time, I think you guys owe me the same courtesy. I want you guys to learn as much as you can, and you can't learn anything if you aren't here. Now, let's get started."
As the class wore on, since Tommy knew the material cold, he was able to get distracted occasionally, and watch his two prospective Rangers. He trusted Hayley's judgment immensely, but he still wanted the chance to see them for himself. Derrick looked bored, but he was at least taking notes, when he thought no one was looking. Devin actually attempted to answer some of Tommy's questions, always the first hand in the air, even if he got them wrong. He would just let those failed attempts slide with a 'what can you do' grin and shrug. Tommy, on the whole, was pleased. When the bell rang, Tommy quickly sidled up to Devin, and asked if he could drop by the science room right before lunch. "I think you're one of my best students, and I'm hoping to recruit you for an extra project," he said quietly. Devin smiled, and gave his enthusiastic promise that he'd be there, right before Cassidy dragged him out of the room.
Derrick, being in the back, was fenced in by the other students taking their time leaving, and was one of the last ones out of the room. "Derrick, could you swing by here right before lunch?" asked Tommy.
"Why?" the soccer player said, glancing at his professor suspiciously.
"I was hoping you might be interested in helping with a project," said Tommy hastily. "I need some heavy lifting done, and you look like you're the strongest kid in the class." Off Derrick's hesitant look, he added, "It won't take long, I promise. And you'll get extra credit applied to wherever you want it."
"All right, fine. I'll be here."
"Great, thanks," said Tommy. Two down, one to go.
Third period rolled around, and Tommy found himself studying Krista Stewart. She would offer lots of questions about the ecology of the time period, and was quite insightful, not to mention passionate. When the bell rang, he added, "Krista, could you come here, please?"
This statement was met by a chorus of mocking 'ooooh's from a few exiting students, but Krista acted as though she hadn't heard them at all, approaching his desk with her books tucked under one arm. "Yes?"
"You were great in class today," he said. "And actually, I was hoping that you could drop by here before the lunch period, and help me with a project? I need your mind."
She looked pleased at the compliment. "What sort of project?" she asked.
"It's right up your alley," he promised. "It won't take long. I just want to get you and a few other students together, run through the details, see if you're interested, is all."
"Sure," she said. Offering him a smile, she hurried out the door to her next class.
Tommy glanced at the other students coming in the room. He couldn't help the feeling of dread that this was never going to work.
Five minutes into the lunch period, and he was beginning to worry because they hadn't shown. Until the door swung open, and all three of them poured in at once. They must have just run into each other in the hall. "Great, you're all here," he said, trying to focus on the pinprick of relief that they hadn't stood him up. "Devin, could you shut the door, please?"
Devin nodded and did as he was asked. "So what's this project, exactly?" said Krista, as the three kids plunked themselves on stools.
"Complicated," was all he could think to say. "You three have been selected to receive a great power, and I'm hoping you'll accept."
"Power?" said Derrick, cocking one eyebrow at the oddness of the statement, but clearly trying to hide his interest.
"Please, hear me out," he said. "A few years back, I was doing research on combining dinosaur DNA with technology. My partner, a scientist named Anton Mercer—-"
"Oh, I know him. Rich guy who disappeared a couple of years ago," said Devin.
"AMI was sponsoring the butterfly garden and the greenhouse," offered Krista.
"Guys, please, let me finish. Shortly after Mercer disappeared, our lab was attacked, and all of our research was destroyed. Or at least, I thought it was."
"Who destroyed it?" asked Derrick, and the second Tommy's eyes landed on him, the soccer player's inquisitive look disappeared in favor of a glower. Tommy let it slide.
"He calls himself Mesogog," he continued. "And I think he's back."
"What does that mean, exactly?" said Devin.
"And what does it have to do with us?" said Derrick.
"I don't know what he wants. But I have a bad feeling that he's going to attack sometime soon," said Tommy. "And that's where you come in. When the time comes, I want you to stop him."
"What?" all three of the kids chorused, and continued to speak all at once.
"He's going to 'attack'?"
"Why do we have to stop him?"
"Why us?"
"I chose you three specifically because I knew that you could handle the job. Devin has the dedication that the team will need to inspire it. Krista has the passion for saving the world. Derrick has the fierceness and the refusal to back down. You guys are all amazing candidates for the power."
In their own private ways, they all looked pleased. Finally, Derrick spoke up, "What's this power all about, anyway?"
So this was the moment. Tommy reached under his desk, pulling out the black case, turning it towards them, and opening the locks. He lifted the lid, and the teens leaned forward on their stools to get better looks at the contents.
"They're rocks," observed Derrick.
"Well, he is a paleontologist..." said Devin helpfully.
"They aren't just rocks," Tommy explained. "They're dino gems, which will go into dino morphers."
Krista looked up at him sharply. "Morphers?"
"Yes. Morphers that will let you become Power Rangers."
Devin perked right up. "Really?"
"You're kidding, right," scoffed Derrick.
"We can't be Power Rangers," said Krista. "You need to have special powers or something."
"And you'll get them," promised Tommy.
"Dude, did you get hit with a couple falling rocks on your last dig or something?" said Derrick. He shook his head. "This is crap. I'm outta here."
"Derrick, wait," said Devin, and the athlete stopped halfway to the door. He glanced at Devin. "I think you should stay. Dr. Oliver seems to think we're right for the job, and who are we to say that we aren't?"
"Are you all stupid?" said Derrick. "They're rocks. They don't have powers. There's no such thing as 'Mesogog', and we're not going to become Power Rangers. He's making it up."
"Um, guys?" While Derrick and Devin had been arguing, and Tommy had been watching, Krista had taken it upon herself to pick up the yellow rock. It now sat in her hand, glowing slightly. She looked up at them with wide eyes, and met matching expressions on Derrick's and Devin's faces. Tommy was smiling. "It's already started bonding with your DNA," he offered.
"That is not normal," said Derrick.
"That is so cool," said Devin, and without a second thought, picked up the red rock. It too, glowed when it touched his hand, and he stared at it, mesmerized.
Derrick glared at them all for a moment, before he stalked slowly across the room, and picked up the last gem. There was a faint blue hue illuminating his hand, before sharply, all the lights from the gems were extinguished.
Mesogog glared at his army. The Triptoids were being modified, and knowing how bumbling Elsa was, that could take awhile. Fortunately, his current army was quite acceptable in battle, and would get the job done. "The gems have moved," he hissed, "I can feel them. Go." His serpentine tongue flicked involuntarily at what would have been his lower lip. "Bring them to me."
"So, what do you guys say?" asked Dr. Oliver
Devin wanted to say yes immediately. He wasn't sure if he was cut out to be a Power Ranger, or why Dr. Oliver thought he'd make a good one, but the idea was tempting, to say the least. He wanted to give it a shot. On the other hand, he couldn't do it alone. And a quick glance at the other two, who were both frowning down at their gems, gave him the sinking feeling that they were going to say no. "Can you give us some time to think about it?" he said, hoping that maybe he could try to sway their opinions.
"Okay," said Dr. Oliver. "But try to get back to me soon. I have a feeling we don't have much time."
Devin nodded, and ushered the others out into the hallway. It was abandoned, everyone already crammed into the cafeteria. "This is ridiculous," said Derrick.
"Do you suppose he's telling the truth?" asked Krista.
"Why wouldn't he be?" said Devin. "That's not the sort of thing you just make up."
"Listen, the dude is clearly out of his mind," Derrick began. "Maybe it's from all that dust he's inhaled over the years, but he has no idea what he's talking about—-"
All three of them stopped dead when a crowd of giant lizards, standing on their hind feet, with knife-like hands, approached from the end of the hall. "Um..." said Krista.
"Run!" said Devin, turning around and darting down the hallway, the others thundering on either side of him. A cursory glance over his shoulder told the cameraman that whatever-they-were were hot on their heels. "In here!" he said, leading them back into Dr. Oliver's classroom. "Dr. Oliver, we've got a problem!" he hollered, but the room was empty.
The door slammed open, and the lizard things flooded the room, blocking the only exit. Two of them immediately lunged for Derrick, but he jumped back quickly, throwing up one of his legs in an effort to kick them off. His untrained attempt landed in the gut of one of the beasts, who stumbled back. Derrick glanced over his shoulder, and Devin nodded almost imperceptibly at the soccer player, understanding. They were going to have to fight their way out.
One of the things charged at Devin, and he threw up his arm to block the onslaught, finishing it off with a punch to the unprotected solar plexus. He winced immediately as a stinging pain course through his fist; the things were remarkably solid. He stumbled back from the force, and if the thing could smile, it would have, Devin was certain. It advanced, two more behind him.
"Little help here?" came a desperate, choked cry, and Devin glanced over to see Krista, backed into the corner, against a bookcase, with a good five creatures in front of her. "Krista!" Devin yelled, but there was nothing he could do, since he had three in front of him. "Derrick, do something!"
Derrick crashed to the ground a few feet away from Devin, having been thrown by one of them. Devin's creatures were distracted by the sudden new presence, and Devin took the opportunity to throw a sharp kick to the lead creature, knocking it just hard enough that it bowled into the other two. They stumbled back, and Devin ducked out of the way, clamping a hand around Derrick's forearm to help pull the boy to his feet.
"These things are harsh," said Derrick, panting slightly, but still attempting to look tough.
"Help!" squeaked Krista, and Devin started to run for her, catching just a flash of her hair before the beasts descended on her, obscuring her from view. He could hear her scream.
They suddenly fell back, five of them, colliding with each other and the ground, as a cowering Krista was revealed, a series of three sharp spikes protruding from each of her forearms, braced protectively across her face.
She lowered her arms, staring at the yellow-colored spikes with wide eyes, and tossing Devin a panicked look. "What did you do?" asked Devin.
"I don't know!" she said.
"What kind of freak are you?" demanded Derrick.
"Krista, your pocket," said Devin, pointing, and they all looked as the pocket of her jacket glowed slightly. She reached in, and pulled out the yellow dino gem. It flashed brightly, then dulled, and Krista stared at them. There was something different in her eyes now, and when one of the beasts raced for her, she fended it off with one of her spiked arms, before lifting her leg and giving it a firm kick that sent it sprawling. It was the first time any one of them had done any real damage against the things.
"Aw, hell, if she can do it..." Derrick charged at one of them with an impressive grunt. He collided, and as he did so, the creature not only fell back, but was quite literally thrown against the opposite wall.
"Forget soccer, you should've gone out for football," remarked Devin, seconds before getting blindsided by another of them. He fought back as best he could, but they were strong and heavy.
Derrick suddenly disappeared from Devin's view, as three of the creatures tackled him to the floor. Devin panicked, wondering how to get away from his own opponent to save Derrick, but suddenly the three things flew back, as Derrick stood, grinning widely. He nodded at Devin, holding up his glowing blue gem. It flashed, then died, and Derrick knocked down two things with just one fist.
Krista was doing okay on her own, managing to fend off her attackers with well-placed blocks, or striking them with her spikes. She didn't notice the two rapidly coming up behind her, however. "Krista, look out!" Devin yelled, but she wasn't turning fast enough.
His eyes were burning. He was hot with the desire to help, and all the heat seemed to be concentrated to his eyes...
A sudden blast of red light emerged, shooting across the room in an impossibly short time span, hitting one of the creatures, which knocked over the other. Krista heard the thump, and it was the first time that she noticed them, as they lay on the ground behind her. She looked over at Devin, and her eyes widened. Devin could only imagine how he looked, knowing what he'd just done. In his pocket, his fingers curled around the gem, and he pulled it out, to watch it flash red.
The tides had turned, and suddenly the three of them were fighting like they knew what they were doing. The creatures took note of this, that they were no longer winning, and just as Devin was applying his newfound power to one of them, a giant green swirl of a thing opened up in the sky above them, and the lizards were gone.
"What was that?" demanded Krista, breathing hard.
"I don't know," said Devin.
"What's going on in here?" said Dr. Oliver, bursting into the room. He looked around, saw toppled chairs and the three students huddled together in front of his desk. "What happened?" he asked. "I was down the hall, heard some commotion..."
"We were attacked!" said Krista.
Dr. Oliver frowned. "By weird-looking white things?"
"No, weird-looking dinosaur things," said Devin.
Dr. Oliver went slightly pale. "The drones," he muttered to himself.
"Say what now?" said Derrick.
"They're called Tyrannodrones," the teacher continued. "I helped create them, but Mesogog took them, made some modifications. I guess I was right when I said he was back. And now he knows that the gems' powers have been activated."
"You mean those rock things gave us, like, superpowers?" said Derrick.
Krista rolled her eyes. "No, of course not, Derrick. Devin's always been able to shoot lasers out of his eyes."
"Have you had time to think about it?" asked Dr. Oliver quietly.
Devin hadn't needed time before, but he nodded. "I'm in. I don't like the idea of those things attacking people," he said. "Without our powers, we were getting trounced."
"Speak for yourself," said Derrick.
"You were on the floor, as I recall..." said Krista, and the soccer player glared at her. Krista looked at Dr. Oliver. "I'm in," she said. "I think we could do some real good as Rangers."
"That was the best workout I've had in months," said Derrick. "Count me in."
Dr. Oliver stared at them for a long moment, and Devin didn't know him well enough to be able to read his expression. But eventually the teacher smiled. "Great," he said, taking their gems from them. "I'll have your morphers ready for you after school, then. Welcome to the team."
After school, Conner strolled late into Mr. Reed's classroom.
"Aren't you ever on time for anything?" asked Kira irritably.
Ethan rolled his eyes. "Big bad soccer star thinks the party doesn't start until he gets there."
"You're right," said Conner calmly, sitting down on the opposite side of the room as them. "It doesn't."
"Just when I think his ego couldn't get any bigger..." said Kira.
Conner ignored the under-her-breath remark. He just wasn't going to bother with these two losers today, no matter how much he may or may not have enjoyed cutting into Ethan yesterday. Today, he was just going to sit here quietly, and suffer out his sentence. Maybe Reed would let him off for good behavior.
No such luck. Reed was completely oblvivious to the studeents, and Conner found that he was having to make his own amusement. He mumbled to himself as he stared out of the window. "Charlene, keep on driving. Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah."
Kira, on the opposite side of the room, gave the most elaborate sigh ever heard by man. "Those aren't the lyrics."
"For the millionth time," he groused, "I don't care what you think. Let me enjoy the song my own way."
"'For the millionth time?'" she echoed, raising an eyebrow. "Right."
Conner looked up sharply. He could've sworn that they'd had this conversation before, but then he realized it was impossible. So why did it feel so familiar? He couldn't be having déjà vu for something that had never happened.
"Anyway," he covered weakly, "if you're so smart, what are the real lyrics?"
She opened her mouth to reply, but this time it was Ethan who sighed. "Could you both just shut up? I'm trying to study."
"Sure thing," said Conner. "Wouldn't want to interrupt the geek process."
"Listen," Kira hissed to Conner, not quite done. "I don't know what little malfunction your brain is stuck on, but get this through your thick skull. Prior to this, we haven't spoken. And after this, I'm sincerely hoping that we never speak again."
Conner shrugged. "Fine by me."
"And me," muttered Ethan.
"I wasn't talking to you," Conner and Kira both snapped.
Conner lay his head down on his desk, tuning out the clacking of Ethan's fingers on his keyboard, and Kira's humming (what, it was okay when she did it, now?). He was so through with this. The sooner this death sentence was over, the better.