Return of an Old Evil
Disclaimer: Same as before.
A/N: I hope everyone likes this chapter and the whole story so far!
Chapter 17
Andros had just washed Zhane's dishes and put the tray away when alarms began to wail loudly all over the ship. He jumped a mile as the sudden noise scared the hell out of him, and then whirled around frantically looking for looking for a cause. Seeing nothing, he ran out of the galley. "DECA, what's going on?" He yelled as he ran down the corridor.
"Big trouble in Angel Grove," she replied in her usual monotone. "Four giant machines are ravaging the downtown area."
"What kind of machines?" He asked as he threw open the bridge door and rushed in.
"They appear to be a dragon, a hawk, a lion, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. I've brought up the visual on the viewing screen," the AI told him.
He hurried over and looked at it along with TJ, Cassie, Ashley, Carlos, Tommy, Kim, Zack, and Billy who were already there. "Oh shit! This is bad!" He exclaimed as he saw the four machines with his own eyes.
DECA was right. They were a dragon, hawk, Lion, and T-Rex. And they were all trashing downtown Angel Grove.
The dragon machine was breathing fire out of its mouth, setting everything on fire that it touched. The hawk and lion were tearing to shreds everything they could get their razor-sharp claws on. And the T-Rex was blasting everything in sight with the blasters on its fingers and its eye-lasers. It was a terrifying sight to behold.
"We have to stop them now!" Andros yelled. "We have to go know!"
"What the fuck is going on?" Rocky yelled as he entered the bridge followed by Adam and Tanya. Jason and Trini were right behind them.
Tommy spun around and looked at his friends. "Four giant machines are tearing up Angel Grove," he said gravely.
"Well then, we have to stop them!" Adam said without hesitation.
"Stop who?" Astronema asked, rushing in.
"Four giant, deadly machines," TJ answered.
"Come on, let's go!" Jason shouted.
"You too, Astronema," Adam said. "We need your help."
"Wait, what about Zhane?" She asked.
"He'll be fine. DECA and Alpha will keep an eye on him," Andros told her. "Come on, we have to go now!"
Within seconds the rangers had all morphed and they all were on Earth in Angel Grove, even Astronema.
"Those things are really hideous," Cassie commented.
"But where did they come from?" Zack asked. "And who built them?"
"From Ivan, no doubt," Tommy answered. "The first time we fought against him, he had two of them, Scorpitron and Hornitor."
"If they're his, then that's why he brainwashed and kidnapped all those people from KO-35," Andros said as the realization struck him.
Rocky nodded. "Exactly. He used them to construct the machines."
"We've got to find them and free them before any more machines can be built," TJ spoke up.
"We have to stop these four first," Jason told him.
"Let's get to it! We need Delta Megazord and Mega Voyager power, now!" Andros yelled.
"We need Super Zeo Zord and Zeo Zord power, now!" Tommy yelled.
Unfortunately, since the Dinozords had been destroyed, they couldn't be called; the same with the Thunderzords. That was a shame though, since they would have worked perfectly against these steel machines. That made Jason, Trini, Billy, Kimberly, and Zack spectators for right now.
The zords responded instantly and within seconds, the Delta Megaship had transformed into the Delta Megazord, the five Mega Vehicles had formed the Mega Voyager, the Zeo Zords had formed the Zeo Megazord, and the Super Zeo Zords had formed the Super Zeo Megazord.
Each of the four megazords targeted a different machine, attacking them savagely.
The Super Zeo Megazord attacked Dragonitor viciously with its twin sabers while the Mega Voyager took on Tyrannotron. The Delta Megazord engaged Lionator and the Zeo Megazord faced Hawkitron.
It didn't take long for the rangers to realize how difficult stopping these machines was going to be. Their attacks weren't having much success in getting through and what little did get through wasn't having much effect on them.
"Damn it!" Tommy swore after Dragonitor sent the Super Zeo Megazord crashing to the ground with its powerful tail. "These machines are tough as shit!"
"You can say that again!" Adam shouted. "Look out!" He yelled, seeing flames forming in Dragonitor open mouth. The SZM barely managed to dive out of the way an instant later as the flames shot from Dragonitor's mouth.
(A/N: Just so everyone knows: I'm abbreviating the names of the zords. It's much easier and quicker than writing the names out umpteen times. SZM is the Super Zeo Megazord, ZM is the Zeo Megazord, DM is the Delta Megazord, and MV is the Mega Voyager.)
"Damn, that was too close," Tommy muttered as the SZM staggered to its feet. Just then he saw the MV shoot its Mega V-3 Missile at Tyrannotron. Just as the missile was nearing it, Tyrannotron fired its eye-lasers and struck it dead on, causing it to explode instantly before it reached its intended target. However, the force of the explosion did send Tyrannotron tumbling to the ground; but still; it missed the full force of the missile and was able to get back to its feet seconds later. It fired its eye-lasers again, this time at the MV. It was knocked backwards into the DM, sending both to the ground.
"This isn't working!" Tommy heard Andros yell in frustration over the comm.
"Tell me something I didn't know!" Rocky's voice came back from the ZM.
"We need to try a different strategy," Adam said.
"I'm open to suggestions," Carlos chimed in as Lionator emitted its supersonic roar at the DM. "That roar is too much!"
"It's shaking us apart!" Ashley added, sounding a little frantic.
"Just hang on guys! Adam shouted. "Rocky, engage Zeo four Battle Helmet!"
"Gotcha!" Rocky shouted back. "Zeo Four Battle Helmet!" He commanded. Instantly, it appeared and replaced the Zeo Five Battle Helmet, which was normally there. A second later, the ZM rammed Lionator head first, sending it fly head over tail to crash some thirty feet away.
"Thanks, guys," Carlos said, the relief evident in his voice as the roar stopped instantly. "I'll never make fun of the 'silence is golden' phrase ever again.
"Yeah, you never really appreciate it until something like this happens," Ashley added.
Andros spoke up then. "The immediate threat is now gone, but the fact remains that we're still in deep shit here," he said gravely.
"Andros is right," Tommy said. "We have to think of some way to stop these machines, and fast!"
"Well maybe we could--- Tommy, look out behind you!" Andros's voice was frantic.
The SZM whirled around just in time to take a direct hit from Tyrannotron eye-lasers and finger lasers at the same time. The force of the combined blast overloaded the shields and the right stabilizer, which resulted in the SZM falling to the ground amid sparks and smoke. "This thing won't take another hit like that!" Adam announced, frantically trying to get the right stabilizer back online.
TJ's voice came over the comm from the DM. "We have to do something fast!"
"Yeah, but what?" Kat asked.
Before anyone could answer her, a purple blast hit Hawkitron on the wing, sending it tumbling out of control and crashing to the ground. Second blast immediately followed the first, this one hitting Dragonitor in the chest and making it stumble back a couple of steps. That was all it did however, as Dragonitor was bigger than Hawkitron, making it harder to damage.
"Is that Astronema?" Rocky asked.
"Well, it sure as hell ain't Ivan, and since she's the only other one with purple blasts that we know, it's got to be her!" Carlos responded.
"Unfortunately, her blasts aren't powerful enough to damage the machines though," Andros said sadly. They all knew he was right and a moment later it was proven true as one of her blasts hit Tyrannotron and nothing happened except that Tyrannotron fired back in the direction it came from.
"She's going to get killed, we have to do something!" Tanya yelled.
"Wait, I have an idea," Tommy said. "Combine Super Zeo Megazord sabers now!" The SZM held both sabers vertical and brought them together, a flash of light and a boom resounding as they joined together. The SZM raised the combined saber over its head, then, with an overhead stroke, brought it down to touch the ground. As it did, powerful energy shot from it in a straight line extending from the sword and hit Tyrannotron. Sparks and smoke issued from the giant machine as it toppled over and lay motionless on the ground.
"Wow!" TJ exclaimed in awe over what he had just seen.
"Amazing, but is it destroyed?" Andros asked. He was almost afraid to hope so.
"I don't think so," Tommy replied. "But it is damaged. How badly, though, we don't know."
Just then, Rocky noticed something. "Guys, look, the lion machine appears to be damaged as well!" He exclaimed.
"So is the hawk one," Adam added. Sure enough, sparks were coming from Lionator's face, and Hawkitron's wing, and it was struggling to fly straight.
"We've got to keep going. We have the upper hand now!" Tanya shouted.
"She's right!" Andros agreed, but before they could act, all four machines vanished in purple light.
"Damn, where'd they go?" Cassie asked.
"Probably back to Ivan's base, wherever that is," Tommy answered.
"Maybe they just disintegrated," said Rocky hopefully.
"I don't think it's going to be that easy. Rocky," Adam replied sadly.
"Adam's right," Andros spoke up. "Ivan probably teleported them somewhere to repairs could be made. But they'll be back, and most likely a lot sooner than we think."
"Andros is right," Tommy said. "I suggest we return to the Megaship and regroup."
"Yeah, I had DECA recording the whole battle so we can play it back and study it and maybe find a weakness in the machines that we can exploit," Andros added.
"So let's get going," Carlos said.
That's just what they did. They returned the zords to their hiding places and returned to the Megaship.
Dark Specter was absolutely livid over what he has just witnessed. His most trusted servant has turned traitor! He had seen her with his own eyes helping the rangers against Ivan's machines and then she returned to their ship with them! This was unacceptable!
He immediately opened communications with the Dark Fortress. "Ecliptor!" He thundered once he'd answered.
"Yes, My Lord?" He answered, bowing respectfully.
"Astronema has turned traitor! She is to be apprehended the minute she leaves the rangers' ship! I will tolerate no mistakes, or you will suffer the same punishment as her!"
Ecliptor bowed again. "Yes, My Lord. It shall be done," he said.
Dark Specter then ended the transmission. Enjoy your freedom now, Astronema, he thought. Because you won't have it for long! No one betrays me and lives!
A/N: I know this is short but I've ben so busy with Christmas and all and I hadn't updated in several days so I wanted to get something up. Please R&R! Suggestions and constructive criticism is welcome!