Son of War
Disclaimer: Anything you can google is not mine.
Chapter 7 – Eruption
"We have to get out of here!" Lori hissed, glancing sideways at the liger. She couldn't hear it respond over the quaking of the volcano, but then realized she was speaking to an animal who had no way to talking back to her. The Psychos and Maligore were communicating frantically, but Lori couldn't hear them either. She searched the room with her eyes, calculating how long it would be before the volcano would blow. She wondered if she would have time to morph and fly out of there, but she knew that as soon as she moved, the Psychos would be on her.
Time was running out. Lori could see—and hear—the lava bubbling below. She looked up at Maligore. He didn't seem the least bit worried. And why would he? He lived—lives in a volcano, he's made up of cooled lava. But the Psychos weren't as lucky. Though they were made with Dark Specter's energy, they themselves were not fireproof, which means that they needed to get out just as badly as Lori did.
"Time to go," she heard a voice say in her hear.
Lori gasped and whipped around. Psycho Red was less than a foot away from her. She tried to stumble back on the shaking floor but he held her fast on her uninjured arm. The liger snapped fearlessly at the Psycho leader.
"Call him off, Arry, it's me!" Psycho Red hissed.
Lori gasped again. There were only two people in the world that she knew of that would call her by that. Both were friends that she would trust her life with. At the same time she realized this Psycho Red took off his helmet and tossed it over the side. The boiling lava gobbled it up eagerly.
"Zhane!" Lori cried in relief. He smiled at her briefly. The liger's growl grew lower when he realized that the person was a friend, but the growl was still there.
"Imposter!" Lori heard Psycho Black shout, pointing to the back to Zhane, who's head was now exposed.
"Get them!" Maligore bellowed.
"Run Arry!" Zhane cried, twirling the little girl around and pushing her forward. Lori started running, but there was nowhere to run to. They were on a small platform in the middle of a volcano that was about to erupt.
"Galaxy Glider, hang ten!" Zhane summoned. He jumped, somersaulted in the air, morphing in a flash and landed on the surfboard-like vehicle, he and the Space Rangers use as transportation. "Super Silverizer!"
With Zhane's personal weapon blasting at the Psychos behind her over her head, the liger snatched Lori up by the back of her shirt in his tight jaws and leaped up, landing lightly on the back of Zhane's Galaxy Glider.
"Hang on!" he called as he leaned forward, urging his vehicle on as they accelerated up towards the hole of the volcano, racing the lava out. Both Zhane and Lori breathed a sigh of relief when they made it out to the open. But their danger wasn't over yet. As soon as they shot out of the volcano, so did the lava. Zhane dipped, heading down to Earth while the fire shot upwards towards the sky.
"How are we going to keep the lava from destroying the city?" Lori asked, shouting to be heard.
"You don't think we did this unprepared?" Zhane replied, calling over his shoulder.
"What do we do then?"
"Leave this to us. You've got your very own guardian keeping you outta Hell, let's not make his job any harder than it already is," he added. The Silver Ranger looked back at the white liger. "Take care of her, Cerberus." Zhane slowed down as they became about fifteen feet above ground. "This is your stop."
With a snarl (Lori couldn't tell whether it was friendly or not), Cerberus threw Lori onto his back and jumped off. The bulky feline was surprisingly agile, landing lightly on his feet. They both managed to look back up fast enough to see Zhane speed away.
Before anything could be said, Lori was surrounded by her friends, launching questions at the same time. Lori, who was still a little stunned, couldn't hear enough to answer of them. So they just stood there, at the base of the erupting volcano, watching. Lori had no idea when Zhane and the other "adult" Rangers had planned, but whatever it was, she hoped they hadn't underestimated it.
They stood there, the 17 of them, waiting, but the lava never came. Then all of a sudden, it hit Lori with the force of a meteor. She gasped.
"What?" the others demanded. "What is it?"
Lori ignored them, contacting the base at once through her communicator.
"This is Tommy, go ahead," came the voice.
"Tommy, the lava--"
"Don't worry," said a different voice—Daggeron's, Lori thought. "It blasted into space, never came back down. I don't think it ever will. Earth's safe."
"That's the whole point!" Lori yelled.
"What do you mean?" Tommy asked.
"Earth was never the target," Lori answered, rushing in panic.
"What are you talking about? Why would Maligore plan his base here then?" Andros asked.
"He told us the very first day!" Lori yelled. "He was only here to destroy the Power Rangers, so they wouldn't get in his way. He's real target is Liaria. Maligore's after Lerigot!"
"Lori, are you sure about this?" Tommy asked. They were back at the Lab now, everyone gathered for the first time since Lori returned with the Mystics.
"Yes!" the little girl cried. "I can't believe it took me so long. He's said it several times. 'The little monkey'," she quoted.
"We have to save to Liaria!" Justin cried.
"Let's go then, we can't waste anymore time!" Lori said.
"Uh, guys, I think we have a problem," Hayley said.
Everyone gathered around her and the main computer to see the reason for the alarm.
"The Psychos!" TJ muttered. "They survived the eruption!"
"Barely," Ashley noted. "They're left in their Psycho Monster forms."
"They still pose enough of a threat," Carlos said.
Cassie agreed. "We can't leave the Earth unprotected with them still here."
"And don't forget, the Abyss of Evil is still gaping open," Cam added.
Lori glanced impatiently at her watch. "Maligore's already ahead of us. If we don't get moving, he'll have destroyed Liaria before we even get there!"
"She right," Justin nodded. "Remember how Lerigot got weak when he was here too long, because of the sun? Imagine a huge lump of coal crash landing on that planet fueled by lava!"
Tommy was thinking hard. He was the leader here and everyone was waiting for him to say something. Finally he sighed, making up his mind. He turned to Lori.
"Okay, this is going to be your ultimate test. You think you're ready?"
"What do I have to do?" Lori asked.
"You're going to lead your friends to Liaria where you will warn Lerigot of the danger and protect the planet."
"Us?" Connor asked. "Are you sure?"
Tommy looked up at him, and then around at all the other teens.
"You're all Power Rangers. You're more powerful than you think. If you weren't up for it, you never would've gotten those powers. Use them wisely."
"How are we going to get to Liaria?" Hunter asked.
"Take this," Andros said, tossing something to Lori.
"What is it?" Vida asked, looking over the little girl's shoulder at the small device she caught.
"It's the key to the Astro Megaship Mark II."
"The Astro Megaship?" Chip asked excitedly.
"Don't you need it to battle the Psychos?" Lori asked, looking at the five giant monsters on the main screen.
"No worries," Zhane said. "The Mega Winger's online and ready for battle."
"And I have my Solar Streak Megazord," Daggeron added.
"And Catastros," said Leanbow.
"And there are six Dinozords at my command," Tommy said, finishing the list. "You can take the Astro Megaship."
"You might even need the Megazord yourself when you reach Liaria," Ashley added.
"Right," Justin nodded.
"I'll send your Zords after you," Hayley told them before they could ask.
"Good luck Rangers," the mentors said, lining up in front of row of teenagers.
At this Justin had to grin. He exchanged looks with Lori. Her expression matched his.
"And may the Power protect you," they said together, quoting Zordon.
Tommy smiled back, and nodded.
The young Rangers nodded back and boarded the Astro Megaship. None of them had ever been in the first Astro Megaship with the Space Rangers, and had never even heard of the second one (except for Justin, who had been living with—or near—the Space Rangers since their return to Earth). Instinctively, Lori headed for the controls. The bridge looked the same as the one she had seen in the photos and videos of the old one and she began assigning jobs for the others, with the center stations and the wall consoles.
Justin, Cam, and Ethan were the brains on team; they began working the buttons and switches, preparing the ship for takeoff. Lori took the joysticks, which were nearly head height to her.
"Ready?" she asked her friends.
"Ready as we'll ever be," Nick replied.
Lori nodded. "Then let's go. DECA, set a course for Liaria."
"Affirmative!" answered a woman voice, the Megaship's artificial intelligence. The onboard computer has small black cameras with single red eyes mounted on walls all over the ship, there was probably one in every room and corridor. "Astro Megaship taking off in 3…2…1!"
Boom!
And they were off, blasting off into space.
"Everybody, hang on," Lori muttered, pulling the controls back. The thrusters fired, sending the Megaship-full of young Rangers into a planet and galaxy they've never seen before. Lori gripped the controls so tight, you could see her knuckles go white. Only one thing was on her mind: I hope we make it on time.
For those of you who didn't know, Cerberus is a giant three-headed-dog that guarded the underworld for Hades Greek mythology. He made sure that spirits never left the underworld and humans never entered.