FINALLY; after all the holidays coming and going, AND my writer's block gone, I've finished the story. I'm not saying it's going to be close, but I do have plans for a sequel that deals with the Jungle Fury Rangers...so if you like this, and my character Tarona, be on the lookout. Going to get back to mine and Mala's series, so if you're following me as an author, be watching for those. if you want to start the BB series from the beginning, check my profile for the first series, then mala's for the second.
Chapter Ten
Mesagog's Island
"How could you incompetent fools run away like that." Mesagog said as he was punishing Elsa and Zeltrex.
"We're sorry….master; I thought that…Zeltrex could handle the Olivers." Elsa said as she was able to talk through the pain she was feeling.
Mesagog figured he would let them explain themselves. He cut off his psychic power and let the two get over the pain. "Well…..I'm waiting." Mesagog hissed.
"Elsa was supposed to keep everyone busy while I set the trap. How were we to know that the brat would call in other reinforcements?" Zeltrex said.
"Well YOU shouldn't have been there when Dr. Oliver powered down….it was her memories of him that broke the spell." Elsa stated as she slightly turned to Zeltrex.
"Whatever happened to her has to be more than just seeing her brother again." Zeltrex stated.
"For now, I want the two of you out of my sight….before you feel my FULL wrath." Mesagog said.
Elsa and Zeltrex quickly left the room and Mesagog was fuming; but he did nothing. The rangers had won for now, but if his next experimental liquid worked, he would NOT have to worry about weakness anymore.
PRDTPRDTPRDT
The Quarry
Tommy waited with his sister when suddenly he heard a swooshing sound. Suddenly four people were standing in front of him and all had a confused look on their faces.
"What happened?" The blonde male asked.
"Zeltrex….he had set a bomb, the others were trapped by the rubble, but I got it off of them with my Wind Strike attack." Tommy answered.
"Let's get them back to your base, looks like two of us will have to make two trips." The dark skinned male, with red on his ninja suit, stated.
"Wow….looks like you guys really blew the place up." The male with dark curly hair.
"Dustin….will you EVER change." The shortest of the four questioned.
"Hey! What does that mean?!" Dustin cried, but he got no reply.
"I'll make two trips." The first one to speak upon arrival said.
"Thank you Hunter." Tommy said.
"So will I." Dustin said and Tommy nodded.
"Is Tarona still evil?" The shortest asked, having been filled in on the situation.
"No, I think she snapped out of it, Blake." Tommy answered as he picked up his sister.
"We'll talk more about this at the base." The one with red stripes said.
"Right, Shane." Tommy said as he started walking, and that's when his ATV appeared. "Thanks Hayley." He whispered as he got his sister to the vehicle and gently laid her in his lap for the ride back.
Each of the four new comers grabbed a ranger but had to leave Trent and Conner behind….for now.
Thirty Minutes Later; Dino Thunder Base
The injured rangers were tended to after Dustin and Hunter made the second trip. Tarona was not injured, but Hayley was scanning her to see if she had any residual evil energy on her. The scan was slow going, but the injured rangers were getting fixed up by their friends.
"Okay, please tell me Tarona did NOT set up that explosion." Kira asked as Blake wrapped her bruised arm.
"The scan's almost done, Kira; but so far everything looks to be back to normal and there was no corruption of her dino gem." Hayley said. "I'm thinking Zeltrex did though, since he wasn't out in the open at the start of the fight.
"Wait, I know we haven't seen Tarona for a while, but how does she have a gem thingy." Dustin stated.
"Turns out her gem is the source of her fire power." Tommy said as he kept an eye on his sister.
"Oh….but?" Dustin was still confused.
"The gem was in microscopic pieces inside her bloodstream. She got hurt a while after she got to Reefside and there was enough blood flow for the entire gem to form." Tommy told the Earth ninja ranger.
"Ohhhh." Dustin said.
"Lucky for you guys Conner was able to use his speed to get you all into the right positions." Hayley said as the scanner finished on Tarona.
"I thought there was something funny going on." Tori remarked.
"Yea, it DID feel different than our ninja streak." Cam added.
"That's the sign of a true leader…..thinking on their feet." Tommy told the rangers.
Conner smiled as his mentor said that….even after all this time, he still felt like Tommy was the leader instead of him, but now he KNEW that Tommy looked to him for leadership.
They were quiet for a bit when Tarona started to stir. Tommy was right at her side, and the other rangers were worried as she opened her eyes.
"Tommy…"
"It's alright, you're at the base." Tommy said as a smile came to his face.
Tarona sat up and wasn't showing any signs of pain, but then as she saw all of her friends from the Dino Thunder AND Ninja Storm rangers in the base all the memories of what happened came flooding back. They all saw the sadness in her eyes; Conner and Cam looked at each other and walked over to their friend.
"If you want the truth, I'd rather face the wind rangers again than you while evil." Conner said with a laugh in his voice.
That didn't make Tarona feel any better, but Cam had an idea. "You know that my uncle's power was pretty strong; but you broke free from that power. That shows that you are powerful in your own way."
"Sis, listen to me…I felt the same way you are right now after Jason freed me from Rita's spell. No good soul can stay evil if they fight hard enough inside. Rita's spell was powerful, but Mesagog didn't count on your years of connection to the morphing grid. I've been thinking about it after you turned evil and that HAS to be the reason the change wasn't complete till we got back here after that blast hit you." Tommy explained.
"That's a good theory, Tommy; but Luthor's dark energy was stronger than that." Cam said.
"Cam's got a point." Blake said.
"Do you remember ANYTHING from being evil?" Hunter asked.
"I remember telling Cam to change places with Cyber Cam. Mesagog wanted me to capture him…that's it!" Tarona said as a memory returned.
The rangers and Hayley looked at Tarona and she knew she had to explain.
"Mesagog's psychic attack. He punished me with it after I got back from fighting Trent. That must have helped a bit, but seeing Tommy unconscious like that….it broke the energy's hold on me." Tarona told her friends.
"When you were fighting me and Tori…..you seemed to be yourself for a moment." Cam stated, remembering what Tarona told him in that fight.
"Yes, but when I was evil, it's like that part of the fight was blocked, I didn't remember again about that till I returned to normal just now."
"Well; you're back on our side, so we don't have to worry about another evil ranger." Dustin said.
Out of nowhere a fireball flew at Dustin, but his ninja skills helped him dodge it.
"Be LUCKY, I'm not evil, or I'd have to kick your butt from here to KO-35 and back." Tarona remarked as she stared down the Earth Ninja storm ranger.
Dustin had a dumbfounded look on his face.
"Oh right, you guys never met Andros and Zhane; let's just say you'd be lightyears away from the Wind Ninja Academy."
"Power Rangers?" Cam asked.
"Yes, and some of the best I've worked with."
"HEY." Conner, Ethan, Kira and Trent said.
"Well, I grew up thinking that Zhane was my brother…that is until Zordon told me the truth."
"No hard feeling, Tarona." Ethan said with a smile.
"Yea, we've dealt with evil rangers before, it's not all that easy…but you were the toughest." Trent said.
"You should talk, Trent." Kira said as she nudged him.
"We've all had our rough spots, and we've always overcome them." Tommy said.
"I'm just glad you're not under the influence of my uncle's dark power." Cam said to Tarona.
"What made him turn evil anyway?" Conner asked.
"He wanted power. Luthor and my father are twin brothers….although the family tie was severed when he was banished from the Academy and Earth. If Luthor had not gone down the path he did, he would have been an Earth ninja while my father was an Air ninja." Cam told the rangers.
"I remember you went back in time to get the samurai amulet…didn't you say that Luthor wanted it back then?" Tarona asked.
"It was a major source of power and would have enhanced his still growing dark powers. When I protected it from him, it activated and my mother told me that the amulet had found its rightful owner." Cam explained as the Dino Thunder rangers seemed interested in more of the story.
"I'm glad you got to see your mother…I remember how sad you'd get when you looked at that family photo." Tarona said.
"She was happy to know that her family's heirloom found its rightful home, and to have met me. She figured it out in the end." Cam said.
"Miko was indeed wise beyond her years, but what Cam has said is right. Luthor and I may have been born brothers, but after he tried to destroy Cam…..and steal Miko's necklace, our laws said that family ties were to be severed and he was stripped of his family name." A voice said.
"Sensei." The wind rangers cried out.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Cam asked.
"Tarona was a valued ally and a member of our family for some time; I wished to check on her in person." Sensei said.
"Hello Sensei; I'm better now, thanks to Cam and Tori's help….and my bond with my brother." Tarona told her previous mentor.
"I am glad to hear that, child." Sensei said with a smile.
Tarona looked at the Ninja Storm Rangers and they were all smiling. She then realized that Sensei and Cam seemed to be thinking about Miko (Cam's mother).
"Cam, Sensei; I know I didn't meet Miko, but I agree with what you both said the day Cam became the Samurai Ranger. She was brave, kind and wise; a ranger can tell these things by the way a person talks about another….especially when they spent their first ten years of life on an alien planet. I'm sure you did your mother proud Cam, and if she was as wise as Sensei made her out to be…then she figured it out about you before you left. The amulet was your destiny, as the dino gems were all of ours." Tarona said.
None of the rangers has ever heard such a wonderful speech, and Sensei smiled and bowed to the wisdom Tarona had shown. Cam couldn't help the tear that fell from his eyes and he walked over to her.
"Thank you, Tarona." Cam said, and that's when everyone was surprised. He walked over to her and KISSED her on the cheek. "I only talked to her for a short time, but I do feel that I made her proud."
"Never tell yourself anything different." Tarona said as she smiled at her former teammate.
"You guys better take care of Tarona…" Cam said as he turned to the teenage Dino Thunder Rangers.
"We will; besides, if anything like this happens to her again, I think Dr. O would have dibs on kicking our butts." Conner said.
Tarona had the strength to stand now; and when she did, she stood before Sensei and bowed. "Thank you for everything you and the rangers in your academies have done for me…they even came to help me when I was evil." Tarona said as she thought back to when Tommy was evil as the green Ranger. "It's not easy fighting family, but if you start out good and get turned evil, then you know deep down that your family will be there to help you out of the situation.
"We will always be there when you or your brother need us." Sensei said.
"Well, our students aren't going to wait forever." Shane said as he stood up.
"Thank you for returning." Tommy said as he walked up to the Red Wind Ranger.
"Hey, all of us but Cam knows what it's like to be on the wrong path." Tori said as she stood next to Shane.
"Dudes; you know where to find us if you need us again." Dustin said.
Hunter and Blake just nodded their approval.
"Farewell, Tarona Oliver….oh what was that phrase you used when you left us?" Sensei asked.
"May the power protect you all." Tarona said with a smile.
"May the power protect you as well…all of you." Sensei responded.
Tommy was hit with a way of memories as he remembered that Zordon would say that to the team, and now Tarona was carrying on as she knew how powerful the morphing grid was.
With that said, the Ninja Storm Rangers ninja streaked away as soon enough, Sensei vanished as well.
"What was that from Cam…you said you had a crush on him?" Conner asked.
"I still do, but he likes Tori." Tarona answered.
"Well, why don't you take the guest bedroom, I'm sure you need the rest." Tommy said.
"Alright, but if you guys need me, you know where to find me." Tarona said.
As Tarona headed up to the house, the rangers were happy to have their newest ranger back on the right side…but just then things were returning to normal the alert sounded. As if it were a ninja streak, Tarona was back in the room and ready to fight.
Tommy and Tarona shared a look. "Back to action." They both said.
The teens didn't question it, and so they morphed and headed back out to fulfill their destinies.