I'm sorry I didn't update for so long, but High School is REALLY hard! Anyways, here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Operation Overdrive.
Ronny
"Okay; we probably still don't trust each other…as much, but if we're both going to escape, we'll have to work together. Are you too hurt to fight?" I asked; glancing at his bandaged wound. He chuffed.
"These creeps? Watch me." Tyzonn replied; looks like he did have fight spirit in him after all.
I watched, following shortly after him, as he easily knocked out many lava lizards with a simple kick or swing.
Ugh, those goons were always the annoying part of any battle; they're mindless fighters who are a constant nuisance when you're trying to keep some monster from blowing up the Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro or whatever other location they've decided to attack in, if you don't eliminate them they'll just keep coming back with more knowledge of your fighting skill, the list goes on and on.
One of the lizards bested Tyzonn with a swift kick to his abdomen and other surrounded him; knowing that Tyzonn couldn't do something like turn into a ghost and go through the solid wood of the tree behind him.
Tyzonn
My teacher had once told me that when faced with difficulty, remember the basics. I remembered my old training; particularly mastering my Mercurian powers. I heard the familiar blending of voices and the tingly feeling that I had often felt when I was molding, as one could put it. My vision was becoming more spread yet unclear and I suddenly felt colder; like my body was suffering tumultuously from severe chills. The next thing I know, I am facing the trees and Lava Lizards.
"Interesting. Good to know not everything has changed." I mused aloud; it's good to know that I've kept my Mercurian powers.
"I don't know what you did, but that was impressive." Ronny said from behind me.
A few seconds later, she was to my right and the lava lizards she had previously been preoccupied with were facedown and trying to get up, but failing miserably.
"I'm the one who should be impressed." I replied.
Ronny: Some time later
"So you can turn into silver?" I asked; amazed.
I wondered if Mister Hartford could genetically alter any of our team's DNA to the likes of his.
"Mercury." He corrected.
"Alright, so you're part of a reptilian race that can change to mercury at will." I inferred; thinking of the antagonist Hydroman from an old episode of Spiderman.
He turned to me; his eyes ablaze.
"I'm not a reptile!" he nearly shouted; gripping my arm.
"Sorry. Then I guess you're just making a fashion statement with all those scales and the bright blue eyes." I said sarcastically.
His eyes and grip softened; then he turned away from me with a sigh.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"Look, if you want me or anyone else of my team to trust you, I need to know your story. And just so you won't be afraid to tell me…" I switched off my tracker; leaning downwards to pocket it.
"I…don't even know where to start." Tyzonn replied.
As I was pressing my tracker down, I felt something hard chafing against my hand. Gripping the small object, I pulled it out and opened my hand.
I don't know how Mack did it, but he slipped in that fragment of crystal.
"Well, this is as good a place as ever." I complied; holding it up towards him.
It sparked something in him, considering that his eyes widened with awe upon seeing it again.
Mack: Hartford Mansion, Ground floor
"We've searched every inch of those woods. Ronny and Tyzonn are still out there." I said.
In the recesses of my mind, I wondered if he and Ronny had started talking to one another; that or, they probably would have been at each other's throats.
"And something might be wrong. She turned off her tracker." My father said.
So, maybe the 'At each other's throats' theory wasn't as farfetched as I originally thought…
Tyzonn
"This is the only thing I brought with me from my home planet." I told her.
"So, if you're not here for the jewels of the Corona Aurora, what are you here for?" Ronny asked; placing the final fragment in my hand.
At that moment, I looked at the four split fragments and remembered why I was truly on Earth.
Flashback: Tyzonn
I came here in search of something more important to me than any jewel, but my search was cut short. Upon trekking a desert one day, I met Moltor.
"Mercurian!" he exclaimed; immediately distinguishing me, but only for what kind of an alien I was and not for who I was or why I had come here.
"Your people's power is known throughout the galaxy. I could use a soldier like you in my army." He spoke only of malice and harm and chose to only choose me because of my people's ability; he judged me because of that aspect of myself.
"I am not here to be in any army. Now let me pass." I said firmly.
"You dare to refuse me? Moltor?" he demanded.
"That name means nothing to me. Now get out of my way." I said tersely; ready to resort to violence if necessary.
Unexpectedly, he blasted me. I dodged it, but the blow loosened my crystal.
As I tried to pull myself up, my crystal only feet away, Moltor came over to me.
"I'll show you who you're dealing with." He said spitefully and crushed my crystal.
As I picked up the four shards, I felt an anger pulse through me.
"You will regret that." I said; my voice a predatory growl.
"And you will regret coming to Earth." Moltor snapped.
A fervent battle ensued, and I don't know what happened next, but I saw and felt an ugly reptilian's skin and hands.
"Well, well, well." Moltor jeered.
"What have you done to me?" I demanded.
"You're going to join me one way or another!" he declared.
"You monster!" I shouted back. He only smirked.
"You think I'm a monster? Look at you!" he said cruelly.
I took the mirror he assembled and saw...the face that you see staring back.
"Do my bidding and I'll turn you back. Then you can do whatever it is that you came here for." Moltor demanded.
I had no choice; I knew that the beast I had become would be shunned on your planet.
Ronny
When he said that, I felt really sorry for him; he never came to Moltor's army willingly and the psychology of human vanity—when humans think that other creatures, or even other humans, who are different in any way than they defined as 'average' were either abominations or second-class citizens—cursed his appearance in such a way that he really would be shunned.
That and, I misjudged him at first; I only saw that he was one of Moltor's monsters and didn't bother to look any deeper than that.
Impulsively, I reached out my hand to pat his shoulder like my father would always do when I was younger; that always made me feel better for some reason.
When my middle finger first came into contact with his reptilian scales, I felt a surge of pain shoot through me and immediately withdrew my hand; seeing droplets of blood form on the tip.
My god, it stung and burned like hell.
"What happened?" Tyzonn asked; concerned.
"Nothing." I said reflexively.
He seemed to see straight through that and inferred what had happened. He turned away; I knew that he felt ashamed and even more unwanted.
"No, wait!" I called out; reaching out to pull him back.
He knocked away my arms, but very carefully and only touching my cloth-clad flesh, before I touched him again.
"Let me see your hand." He suggested; holding out his rough, red palm.
I did so and let him examine the cut. He carefully pulled my finger back and little and lowered his head.
I might have swatted him away or could have delivered him a good kick to the groin—though that might not be a weak part, considering that Mercurians' bodies were probably different than humans'—but I let him clean up the wound like one would with a snakebite and gave a small eep of surprise when he bit down on it. When he pulled away, it looked as if there were no wound at all.
"Wow." I breathed in awe; wondering how he healed it so fast.
"Mercurians are known also for their healing abilities." Tyzonn told me.
"Well, thank you." I said; giving him a smile.
He tried to return it, but it was obvious that he couldn't, and chose to sigh with aggravation.
"But now that I've betrayed Moltor, I'm doomed to live in this body forever." He began to pace; god, what an angst muffin.
"Hey, Mister Hartford has state of the art technology and I'm sure that there's something he and the rangers could do to help." I suggested.
"Your friends don't trust me. Why should they?" He looked away desolately.
The person I was about an hour ago would have had a shock if she'd heard me say the words that came out of my mouth to answer his question.
"Because I do."
Normal POV: The Forest
After Tyzonn reluctantly agreed, a Lava Lizard ran from the spot he had been hiding in to Moltor.
"Excellent." Moltor said. "Now I know what their next move will be."
Bullox came forward. "And your squad of lavadactyls will be ready for them." He added; indicating to the area just beyond a row of trees where a pair of yellow eyes could be seen and a loud and high-pitched squawk could be heard.
Hartford Mansion
"Still no sign of her." Will commented.
"Well, if Ronny doesn't come back, can I get all of her stuff?" Dax asked.
"How come you get all that?" Rose asked with mock-indignation.
"Ronny is coming back and when she does, all of her things will still be there for her." Andrew resolved, then turned towards the doorway.
Speak of the devil.
"Hey." Ronny said with a smile.
"See? I told you she'd be coming back." Dax said quickly; coming over to her.
A few seconds after he'd arrived, another shadow loomed in the doorway.
"How'd he get in here?" Will asked incredulously; readying himself, Rose and Dax doing the same.
"I let him in. His name is Tyzonn. He's a friend." Ronny stated.
Tyzonn came forward; feeling a need to apologize and explain himself.
"I'm sorry for what happened before. Please, forgive me. I never meant to hurt anyone." He said truthfully.
At that moment, Spencer came down as Ronny was unraveling the whole parchment.
"He'll help us find the diamond." she offered; holding up the aged paper.
As Andrew was deliberating his choice, Spencer and Tyzonn turned towards each other.
"What are we waiting for? We've got the parchment back; let's get to work." Andrew said eagerly.
"And nobody thought to tell me we were expecting a visitor?" Spencer asked sardonically.
Mack came forward.
"This is Tyzonn." He introduced.
Spencer gave a fifteen degree bow. "Sir."
"He's cool." Will added.
They all gathered around the round table and put the map in the second.
"Okay, we think we've translated a couple of these symbols; mountain and diamond." Rose gave a brief overview.
"So we know we're looking for the Tohru diamond." Mack added.
"But we don't know what mountain; it could be anywhere on earth." Will said.
Spencer, bringing some lemonade to the table, began to serve it.
"Would you care for some lemonade, sir?" he asked Tyzonn; as it was always polite to serve the guest first.
"Lemonade?" Tyzonn asked inquisitively.
"It's made from lemons; a citrus fruit we grow on Earth." Rose elaborated.
"Citrus." Tyzonn said; taking a glass.
"I know of this organic acid." He said before spilling a glass onto the aged paper.
At once, screams disbelief rang out.
"What are you doing?"
"What the—?"
Rose quickly took the parchment in an attempt to salvage the message, but the ink had bubbled and stained the rest of the paper. As she was wiping off the ink, Mack noticed something.
"Wait, you guys, look." He said; pointing to the paper.
As if by magic, the letters and numbers 69.3 S and 175.6 E were uncovered by a quick squeegee of the ink.
"Numbers." Rose said.
"Of course; citric acid in the lemonade revealed the hidden information." Will said; then shot a look of approval at Tyzonn. "Nice."
"And this looks like longitude and latitude." Rose added; passing on the map.
"Maybe it's the location of the mountain we need to go to." Ronny added.
"It's got to be it." Dax exclaimed.
"Good going, Ty." She added with a smile.
"Alright, Rangers; the SHARK is fueled up and ready to go." Andrew announced; handing the map to Ronny.
As Mack was about to go, Tyzonn came over to him.
"Wait; take me with you. Maybe I could be of some use." He said.
"I think there's room for one more." Mack said encouragingly. "Come on."
Whoo! Another chapter done! Review, please.