Disclaimer: Still don't own Power Rangers.
A/N: Reviewers, you guys are
awesome. Special thanks goes out to PrettyDiva, Rodan427, and
Willowxxx for their constant support in this story. This is a chapter
I've been wanting to write since this whole story was just in my
head, and its a bit longer than usual. Hope you enjoy it.
The Red Dragon and Firebird Thunderzords descended from the clouds above the city of Angel Grove, in a direct flight path towards the Dragonzord. They flew high above the city, but were dropping altitude at a steady rate, getting closer and closer to the tops of the skyscrapers.
"Moving in on Dragonzord," Jason reported into the built in communication system the Zords had. Billy had rigged it up so they didn't have to press any buttons to talk, they could just speak out loud and it would go through. Very convenient for situations like this.
"Good," Zordon answered. "Remember the plan."
"You got it," Kimberly said as she steered the smaller of the two flying Thunderzords alongside the Red Dragon. Such a strange sight, really. Jason never kept the Red Dragon in it's flight mode. He always preferred getting as close as possible to his opponents when fighting. Today was different, though. She looked out the front of the cockpit at the Dragonzord as they approached it. David had to see them by now. This was it. This was the last stand. If they lost this battle...she didn't even want to think about it.
"Accelerate to attack speed, ready your missile launchers, charge lasers to full power. Keep a level altitude," Jason commanded over the radio while messing with his controls, and was silent for a few seconds before a small smile formed on his face. "Lock S-foils in attack position." he added on to the end, just to help relax some of the tension.
"Red Five, standing by," Kimberly's voice responded over the radio, causing Jason to let out a small laugh. They'd argue just who was the Luke Skywalker of this team later. They dropped the Zords in between the buildings now, right above the streets.
"Alright! Full throttle! Go!" Jason yelled, gunning the Red Dragon forwards, with the Firebird right behind him.
At the last second, Jason pulled his controls hard to the side, and the Red Dragon began spinning while still traveling in a straight line. He pulled all the triggers he had, firing it's shoulder lasers into the Dragonzord, but quickly stopped. The spinning Red Dragon flew straight past the Dragonzord, tearing into the Green Ranger's Zord with it's bladed backside. Kimberly had the Firebird right behind him, and opened fire where Jason's Zord had connected with the Dragonzord. The Dragonzord took all the hits quite hard, and went stumbling backwards.
"Status report!" Jason yelled as he and Kim piloted their Zords above the buildings. Jason turned left while Kimberly turned right, dodging some missile fire from the recovering Dragonzord.
"That...didn't do much," Billy said over the line. "Try again. Different angles. Just keep strafing him. We already know he has a hard time with the flying Zords, so just don't let up."
Kimberly frowned, hearing a consistent tapping from below her. "Guys, something's wrong with the Firebird. It's making weird noises."
"Jason, Kimberly! It's the military! They're shooting at you!" Alpha yelled through the radio.
"Shooting at us!? Billy! Can the Zords take it!?" Jason quickly asked, knowing they didn't need this right now. The Zords hadn't been put to the test again standard weaponry before. Sure, a few bullets weren't going to do a lot, but military forces could sure use a lot of them if they felt the need.
"Conventional arms are nothing to these Zords," Billy confidently announced. "You have nothing to worry about."
Jason blinked as a rocket propelled grenade hit a building near him, causing a pretty big explosion. "What about those!?"
"Uh..." Billy was shocked. He hadn't expected RPGs this soon. "Don't get hit by those."
Jason looked out the window to see several vehicles set up all over the place, with turrets stationed too. In the distance, he could see tanks moving in. Shit. "Have we located David yet?" he asked quickly.
"I found him! He's on top of a skyscraper two blocks down! The military is moving up towards him, however, so he's probably going to move," Alpha announced.
"Focus on the Dragonzord, Rangers," Zordon commanded them. "It's the one causing the most damage right now."
Jason nodded, reaching up and turning a nob to put a little more power in his shields, taking some away from his speed. After all, Dragonzord saw him coming this time. He and Kimberly were attacking from different sides this time, with him bringing the Red Dragon right infront of it while the Firebird was going to attack from the back.
Once again they closed in, but this time the Dragonzord was more than ready. It opened fire on Jason with all the missiles in it's hands, hitting the Red Dragon head on at first, but Jason managed to turn and escape, pulling up and breaking off the attack. Honestly, if the Dragonzord's lights hadn't served almost as a warning that it was about to fire, he didn't think he would have made it out of that one. Too close. Meanwhile, the Dragonzord took a swing at the Firebird with it's tail, forcing Kimberly to pull off without getting a single shot off. The Dragonzord then turned and opened fire on the military forces preparing to attack it.
Jason looked at his shields. They were almost entirely drained. Billy sure had done a good job on upgrading that thing. Missiles that strong, armor that tough...why couldn't the good guys ever have the better stuff for once?
"Zordon...Zordon, this isn't working," Jason said, completely at a loss. He seriously had no idea what to do now.
"I know, Jason. I know," Zordon simply answered, clearly just as lost.
"We can't retreat! This is it! He's going to destroy Angel Grove if we don't stop him NOW!" Kim was frantic, but just as clueless about what to do.
Jason sighed, pulling a few levers and pushing some buttons all over the cabin. "I'm going in," he reported. "Kim, cover me. If you see a shot, take it. No matter what."
Kim gulped. "Alright. I'm right behind you." she answered, flying in a wide circle over the battlefield, watching as the Dragonzord decimated the military units, and the Red Dragon began it's transformation to battle mode.
"Trini!" Zack yelled as he ran up to the jail cell to see his friend. She looked like hell. It was obvious she had been poorly fed, if at all, in all this time.
Trini slowly opened her eyes, looking up to the Black Ranger from where she was sitting. "Zack..." she weakly mumbled.
"Hold on Trini!" Zack yelled, grabbing the jail door to see if it was unlocked, since he noticed her arms were chained to the wall. It was locked, but that didn't really matter for long. As soon as he touched it, the entire door turned completely to ice. Zack blinked and stared in disbelief for a few seconds, but quickly kicked it, shattering it into tiny, harmless pieces of ice. He then ran over to Trini, sliding to his knees while running, stopping right next to her.
"Zack..." she mumbled again. She was awake and mostly coherent, but it was obvious the fatigue was getting to her.
Zack grabbed the steel shackles that were holding her to the wall, looking them over for some kind on hinge he could pull on, or try to break. He didn't see one at all though, and realized that these shackles had been put here permanently. So they were going to starve her to death. Deciding to see if he could just rip them out of the wall, he braced himself to pull on them.
"Zack!" Trini suddenly screamed as loud as she could, and started frantically trying to free herself.
"It's me! It's me, don't worry I'm getting you out of here!" Zack tried to calm her down, wondering what was the matter suddenly.
"What are you doing!? It burns! It really burns!!!" Trini was still screaming, trying to get her hands free on her own.
Zack blinked, and looked at the shackles. Since he had touched them, they were glowing a bright red. Apparently some sort of heat potion was taking effect now. "Oh...shit!" he yelled, and pulled out his blade blaster, deciding he could have done that from the start. He quickly blasted the two shackles, freeing Trini.
Trini immediately curled forwards, gripping her wrists and rubbing them frantically. The pain was incredible, but there wasn't too much noticeable damage on her skin. Zack didn't even take the time to wonder why Finster had a potion like that, instead he put a comforting hand on Trini's back. That turned out to be another mistake, as it sent an electric shock straight through her, and she screamed out in pain again.
"Oh! Jeeze! Sorry!" Zack quickly apologized, and decided to just demorph. He did so, and then wrapped his arms around Trini, who wrapped hers around him as well. Zack quickly activated his communicator. "Zordon! Get us out of here!"
"Zack...thank you..." Trini mumbled before passing out in his arms, the pain had mostly gone away and the fatigue had taken back over. A second later they disappeared in two streaks of black and yellow light.
Jason usually switched to the battle mode while he was close to the ground, allowing the Red Dragon to stand right up with ease. Today, this wasn't an option. He transformed high above the city streets, and as his jet boosters switched off, he began a free fall towards the ground. He readied the Red Dragon's staff, and landed right behind the Dragonzord, swinging the staff downwards with as power as he could give it. The Dragonzord was thrown forwards with a good amount of force, slamming hard into the streets, scattering soldiers in every direction. Jason blinked. He would have to do that more often.
"David's coming in at three o'clock!" Kimberly suddenly yelled through the radio.
"David?" Jason asked, a little confused. He looked up, however, to see the Green Ranger leaping off a building, and landing in the Dragonzord. He narrowed his eyes, anger slowly appearing in his voice. "Good. Group 'em together for the easy kill."
"Alright! I'm going out wide for an attack on the right si-" Kimberly started as the Dragonzord was getting back to it's feet.
"Kim!" Billy screamed in panic, and Kim instantly stopped talking, eyes wide.
"I know you can hear me, David!" Jason yelled into the radio.
"Haha! You know now!" David taunted back through it. "You're wasting your time! Did you think a pitiful little air strike could stop my indestructible Zord?"
"Tommy's indestructible Zord," Jason corrected him. That seemed to hit a nerve, because as soon he said it, the Dragonzord lunged forwards, swinging at the Red Dragon. The Red Dragon blocked with it's staff, and tried a counter attack. The Dragonzord grabbed the staff and ripped it from the Red Dragon's hands, throwing it aside. The staff quickly disappeared in midair, however.
"Billy! Can you cut his communication!?" Kimberly asked, already tired of his voice.
"What's the matter? Don't want to talk to your superior?" David's mocking voice asked through the radio.
"No one wants to talk to you, David," Jason replied as calmly as he could.
"You..." David started to yell something, but was cut off. His actions spoke for him though, as once again the Dragonzord charged forwards, swinging at the Red Dragon in a blindly mad rush. Jason simply had the Red Dragon swing it's fist, hitting the Dragonzord square in the chest and knocking it backwards.
"Communication severed," Billy announced.
The Red Dragon moved forwards this time, taking a right handed swing at the Dragonzord. The Dragonzord countered easily, however, knocking the blow to the side and taking a free shot at the Red Dragon's chest. The Red Dragon stumbled back, with Jason struggling to maintain control. David piloted the Dragonzord forwards, ramming Jason's Zord and knocking it back even further. Just for good measure, he opened fire with all his missiles, and the Red Dragon was thrown off it's feet.
It was then that Kimberly saw it. The Dragonzord's back was completely exposed for a free shot. The armor on the back was much weaker, and usually defended by the tail, which was considerably lower, allowing this gap. She had to take it. Charging up the laser cannons, she steered the Firebird downwards, making a dive at the Dragonzord.
David began preparing the missiles for another strike. He had Jason right where he wanted him. He watched as the Red Dragon got up, cursing the missiles for not loading faster. Suddenly, though, he looked at the rear camera, and saw the Firebird coming straight at him. His eyes widened as he saw the tips of it's laser guns beginning to glow. No way. He wasn't through yet. He reached down to a small joystick next to his right leg, and shifted it straight forwards while pressing the button on top of it.
Jason finally stabilized the Red Dragon, and looked forward to see why David hadn't attacked while he was recovering. His eyes widened at the sight. The Firebird was in it's dive mode, with no way out other than straight through the Dragonzord. However, that tail shot up out of no where, with the drill spinning, slamming hard into the Pink Ranger's Zord. The Firebird was thrown backwards, slamming hard into the side of a building. It bounced straight off the building while spinning through the air in all kinds of directions, and hit the ground head first with a bit of a slide.
"Kimberly!!!" Jason yelled as loud as could, panic overpowering him. "Kimberly, are you alright!?"
"Jason! We're not picking up any life signs!" Billy yelled through the radio, clearly in as much of a panic.
That was all Jason needed to hear. This fight was over. David was officially an afterthought. Dragonzord was an obstacle, just like the military forces. All that mattered was getting to the Firebird. Getting to Kim.
"Done! We're done!" Jason yelled, flipping a bunch of switches. " Zordon, the Red Dragon's in retreat!"
Jason didn't wait for an answer. He leaped from the cockpit as the Dragonzord opened fire again, and the Red Dragon switched to it's flight mode. Jason's Zord took a few hits as it retreated into the sky, but the Red Ranger didn't even notice. Jason landed in the streets, right infront of the Dragonzord's feet. Behind the Dragonzord were a barricade of police, SWAT, and military vehicles. Jason drew his blade blaster, switching it to pistol mode. He wouldn't kill them...but if they found themselves in the hospital they didn't have anyone to blame but themselves.
Jason charged underneath the Dragonzord's legs as the gunfire commenced. He took a shot at a random empty police car and it burst into flames, forming a wall of smoke to give him a few seconds of cover. He quickly charged through the smoke, leaping straight into the middle of their ranks. As he ran through them, he blocked the occasional swing, but no one was shooting at him. They didn't want to hurt their teammates. Jason wasted no time getting to the Firebird Thunderzord, and noticed the people climbing all over it. Not soldiers, either, just citizens who wanted to see the Pink Ranger up close.
"Move! Move!!!" Jason was yelled as he pushed his way through the crowd, climbing up on the Zord. "Get off the Zord! Get off the Zord!!!"
He pulled some random guy out of the cockpit and shoved him aside, he didn't have time for some crazy idiot hunting for the Power Rangers' identities. He dropped in, closing the hatch above him, locking it. It had obviously been knocked open on the crash landing. He slid in underneath the unconscious Kimberly, at least he hoped that was all it was. There wasn't a lot of room in the cockpit though, but it didn't bother him at all right now. He hit some controls, and the damaged Firebird slowly lifted off. He steered it down another street so David couldn't shoot them down. Satisfied that mess was over with, he turned his attention to his real concern. He quickly pulled off Kimberly's helmet, checking her pulse. She was alive. Thank God.
"Billy! Billy do you read me?" Jason called into the radio, but received no response. Looking it over he realized he had been all but destroyed on impact, and the life support system must have been as well. That would explain why they couldn't pick up any life signs.
Jason looked the unconscious Pink Ranger over once again. Her face was cut up all over, and it was obvious that the crash would have been lethal if she wasn't morphed. Jason gripped his unconscious friend tightly. They'd almost lost her too, and David was still on the loose. When would this end?
A/N: The numbers keep dropping...what's going to happen? Find out next time!