Chapter 28 - Sledge's Plan
Anxiety weighed on Heckyl's chest and made his stomach churn the entire way back to the museum the next morning. It was still early, meaning few people were around, but the same unease from the previous day was still in the air, and Heckyl found there were even fewer people than normal.
Even the base was quiet as he finally reached the underground hideout where the Rangers gathered. The doors slid open, and he found most of the others already there. They all looked worn out, even after resting overnight, and while Ari had taken care of their worse wounds, all of them - like himself - were still sporting faint bruises.
"Heckyl!" Jeremy was the one to spot him, offering a smile as he approached the doors. "I'm shocked you weren't here first. Or overnight," he said, trying to lighten the mood of the base as Heckyl let his Energem fly over to the crystal bed.
"As if Ari would let me," he said, and raised a hand before Jeremy got too close. The Silver Ranger tilted his head, confused.
"What's wrong?" he asked, and Heckyl glanced over his shoulder. Jeremy's eyes went wide as Teddie walked into view. Her hands were shoved in her pockets and she had her head bowed with an annoyed look on her face. "Teddie?" Jeremy's gasp earned everyone's attention, and they whirled around to see her standing there.
"Ted?" Chase dropped what he was doing and moved towards her. He stopped when he saw her tense, losing the scowl on her face as she automatically moved to stand partially behind Heckyl. "What's going on?" Chase asked, tearing his gaze from his sister to Heckyl, trying to understand what was going on.
"Great question," Kendall said, arms folded as she watched with a questioning look on her face. Some of the others looked wary, unsure if what was happening was good, especially after yesterday's fiasco.
"My spell is still in place," Ari spoke up, managing to keep her voice straight even though her eyes were locked onto Teddie. "She couldn't have entered if the dark magic was still there," her words did soothe most of the team, but she didn't miss how Teddie winced at her words.
"I found her, attacked by Vivix. She agreed to come here," Heckyl explained as he glanced over his shoulder at Teddie. She took a breath, and moved out from behind him.
"I'll tell you what I know about Sledge's plan," she told them, her voice quiet.
"You know what he's planning?" Riley asked, and Teddie shrugged.
"I know part of what he's planning, and even if he doesn't use the Dark Energem, it's bad. I told you already," she glanced up at Heckyl as she spoke.
"Helpful," Shelby muttered. Teddie levelled a glare at the Pink Ranger, sensing her hostility instantly. It made her own instincts flare up in retaliation.
"What is he planning?" Chase asked, struggling to stay where he was. Olivia had walked up beside him, and her presence allowed him to take a breath. She was right there; his sister was finally there with him after so long, and he couldn't even approach her without Teddie looking like she was about to run away.
"Is it something to do with this egg?" Arianna asked gently, and Teddie looked over at the egg sitting on one the tables.
"Where'd you find that?" she asked, surprised.
"An electrician found it this morning and called us, thinking it was some sort of prehistoric egg," Kendall explained, having been studying it despite having barely slept. "I take it that you know more?" she asked, trying not to sound as wary as some of the others.
"It's a Greenzilla. That's Sledge's plan," Teddie said, and Kendall instantly turned back to the egg with a wary look.
"A Greenzilla, is that it?" Riley asked, and Teddie arched an eyebrow at him. "That's Sledge's plan? Send another Greenzilla after us?" he couldn't help but laugh at how weak the plan sounded, especially with the Dark Ranger on the prowl.
"I must agree with Sir Riley," Ivan nodded, looking marginally less worried now. "We fought one before and were victorious," he dismissed the threat.
"Would you prefer more?" Teddie sneered back at him. "Say, seven more?" the dismissive air vanished and everyone stood straighter. "Six, now, since you have that one. I'd destroy it if I were you. They tend to grow to full size immediately after hatching," she warned, and the full team turned to the Greenzilla egg.
"Where are the rest?" Tyler asked quickly, horrified at the idea of having to fight six Greenzilla at once. Fighting one had been tough enough for the team, and although they were far stronger than they had been at the time, fighting so many monsters would push them to limits he wasn't sure they could survive. Especially after they'd lost the Tupux Zord.
"I heard Sledge talking when he returned," Teddie lost her sneer as she turned to the Red Ranger. She remembered him from when they were younger. "He went all over the world with them. New Tech City, Ocean Bluff and Amber Beach in America. Then he went to England, New Zealand, Tokyo and Zandar," she listed. Philip, who had been watching silently, turned pale at the idea of a Greenzilla in his home. Ivan looked just as unwell.
"They're so scattered…" Olivia breathed, feeling as if she was going to be sick.
"I warned you that there was more to Sledge's plan. This isn't just to crush you all. It's to destroy everything and everyone," Teddie said simply. They fell silent as they processed this.
"No," Chase was the one to break the silence. "Not happening," he growled. "We've come too far to let him come crawling back with some ridiculous plan," he looked at his team. "He's not winning this, no chance," he refused to accept it, and they nodded.
"He's right. We'll take these monsters down," Tyler agreed. Teddie tilted her head at their determination. Their fear had been obvious, but they'd brushed it aside to do what they always did. Fight evil and stop the monsters from destroying the world. She wondered if she'd ever have been able to do that.
"One problem," they turned to Shelby, whose fists were clenched at her sides. "We only have four Megazords, and there's six of them across the world," she pointed out.
"Even if Ryan hadn't stolen the Tupux Zord yesterday, we'd still be a Megazord down," Jeremy groaned. He was trying not to focus on Ryan, knowing that they had something else to worry about first. Teddie's eyes darted to him at the mention of Ryan, and he saw the concern on her face before her mask returned.
"I think I can help with that," Ari spoke up, pulling her phone from her pocket. She glanced at the egg on the table, which was pulsing a little faster now with an eerie light. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Call Spencer and his team too. I think they'll be more than a little interested to hear about the threat in their own city," she told Kendall, who nodded.
"Do you know where Sledge put eggs?" Koda asked Teddie, who seemed surprised to be addressed by him. She figured she'd just blend into the shadows now that they were getting a game plan together. She then shook her head.
"No. I just heard him talking to the others about where he'd gone," she told him. "I'd met him back when his ship crashed, and I saw him with the eggs, but past that…" Teddie shrugged.
"How long do we have until the eggs hatch?" Riley asked Kendall, who was still scanning the egg that they had found.
"I have no idea…" Kendall admitted. She'd never seen anything like it before. She was used to them being fossilised and extinct. Her systems couldn't even begin to determine how long the Greenzilla egg had left before it hatched.
"It won't be long," they turned to Teddie, who was watching the egg. "The pulsing is getting faster. Probably only a few hours," she answered them, and Chase saw her fists clenched at her sides as she spoke. He knew exactly how his sister was feeling; she hated knowing so much information about their enemy.
"Would have been nice to have gotten this information sooner," Shelby huffed, and Teddie's gaze dropped to the floor. Chase whirled around to the Pink Ranger.
"Hey, she didn't have to give us this information at all," he snapped at her, taking her by surprise. She then scowled back at him, growing defensive.
"I'm just saying that it would have been nice to have gotten all the information when she warned Heckyl in the first place. We're stuck reacting to the problem again," Shelby pointed out. Again, they were forced to scramble together to stop Sledge, and it meant dragging in Spencer's team to help them with their fight.
"Stop," as Chase went to argue back, Teddie's voice stopped him instantly. Both turned to her in surprise as she frowned. "You shouldn't be fighting each other, especially not because of me. You have a way bigger problem to deal with right now that you need to face as a team," Teddie pointed out, annoyed that they were snapping at each other instead.
"Well said," they turned to Ari as she flipped her phone in her hand. "She's right. Fight the enemy, not each other," she said. Before either could speak, the phone buzzed, and Ari answered immediately. "Glad I could catch you. You're in Ocean Bluff, yeah?" she asked whoever was on the other line as she walked out of earshot from the team.
"Sorry Shelbs," Chase apologised to the Pink Ranger.
"No, I'm sorry. To both of you," she looked away from Chase to turn her attention to Teddie. The young woman tilted her head again, and Shelby couldn't help but think of Ari. "I shouldn't have blamed you. Thanks, for telling us," she said, and Teddie shrugged.
"Thank Heckyl. He's the one who got me to come here," she looked up at Heckyl, who was still standing beside her. He just rolled his eyes in response.
"Just accept the gratitude," he told her, and Teddie huffed.
"Can I talk to you for a minute, mate?" Chase asked, and Heckyl realised he was talking to him. Instantly he grimaced, but nodded and followed him away.
"Oh boy," Olivia smirked, shaking her head.
"What a walking cliché," Jeremy snorted as he turned and approached Teddie instead. He was careful as he did, seeing her growing cautious. "I'm glad you're here, Ted," the Silver Ranger told her seriously. "With everything going on with Ryan, I don't think I could cope with worrying about both of you being out there," he said.
"You're fitting in well here," Teddie told him as she relaxed and managed a faint smile. "I'm glad you're okay too, JJ. I'm sorry about…"
"Forget about it. We both got some good hits in, yeah?" Jeremy's question made her snort before she could stop herself.
"Yeah," she agreed, and when he reached out with a closed fist, she bumped hers to his. It was then that he noticed the bandages wrapped around her lower arm. Seeing where his attention had gone, Teddie sobered and put a hand to it. While it was much better than before, she still covered it up so that it could keep clean and heal properly. "Singe is gone," Teddie said simply, and his eyes widened.
"You destroy Singe?" Koda asked in awe. Teddie just nodded.
"One less villain to worry about. You are truly formidable, Lady Teddie," Ivan told her, and Teddie shook her head.
"It was personal. That's all," she muttered as her gaze grew haunted. The team exchanged worried looks, as Jeremy knew exactly how she was feeling. After all, it hadn't been that long since he'd been in exactly the same position.
Chase didn't speak until he and Heckyl were alone in the corridor, and despite his stern look, he secretly enjoyed just how uncomfortable Heckyl looked at being dragged off alone. He knew exactly what Chase wanted to say; he'd been expecting it from the moment he'd brought Teddie back to the base. It was too obvious.
"So," Chase turned and folded his arms. "First of all, if I knew how easy it was to make you squirm, I'd have messed with you ages ago," he taunted, and Heckyl rolled his eyes. His ears were already turning pink as he refused to look at Chase.
"Can we get this over with?" he grumbled, and Chase laughed.
"No way, mate," he denied. Heckyl sighed. "She's my sister. I'm going to mess with you for it," Chase teased him, and watched as Heckyl blushed even more. "Don't get me wrong. I'm really glad you were able to get her to come back here. Thank you," the White Ranger was surprised by the gratitude, and finally met Chase's gaze. He then shook his head.
"All it took was getting Teddie back to have you show the tiniest amount of maturity," he fired, and Chase snorted.
"You wish. I'm normally far worse," he replied, and sobered. "We both know how it was for JJ, and it's even worse for Ted, I can see that. It's going to take a lot to help her recover from all of this. Are you sure you're able to handle that?" Chase asked him. Heckyl frowned at him.
"Of course I am," he said without hesitation. Chase nodded in approval.
"Good. I was worried since, you know, you went nuclear and punched Jeremy for me," he winked, and Heckyl blushed again.
"If I ever find out which one it was who told you, there'll be hell to pay," he promised. Chase just laughed, and Heckyl sighed. "So…you're okay with it?" he asked warily.
"Heckyl, mate," Chase raised an eyebrow. "I've known from the moment you looked at my sister that you liked her, even before we knew who she was," he said simply, walking past him to pat his shoulder. "You've been looking out for her all this time. How could I not be okay with it?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder as he walked away. Heckyl struggled to come up with a response, before groaning loudly.
"Your family is ridiculous," he declared as he followed Chase back.
"Now you're getting it," Chase replied cheerily.
Spencer looked as if he was getting a headache. At least, that's what it looked like to the Dino Charge team as not only did they have to explain what was going on and the threat currently in New Tech, but also why Teddie was suddenly there with them.
He was even more annoyed that he couldn't leave to see his sister, knowing that he had a duty to take care of the Greenzilla that was about to hatch.
"This is a lot, even for your family," the other SPD Rangers, however, didn't go easy on their Gold Ranger. He shot Z an irritated look for her comment.
"Don't blame us for these monsters," Chase spoke up, taking offence to her comment too.
"Well, the good news is that we just got the SWAT Flyers a nice tuneup," Kayden grinned as he moved past it quickly.
"The bad news is you're going to completely ruin all my hard work," Kat complained from where she stood, her arms folded across her chest as her cat ears flicked in irritation. The SPD Rangers knew that she wasn't serious; she was just worried about the threat that even their high-tech systems couldn't detect. Wherever Sledge had hidden the egg, it was out of their reach.
"Wait a second," Chase frowned as he looked at the Rangers on screen. "You're missing a Ranger. Where's Annie?" he asked, not seeing any sign of their Silver Ranger. All of the SPD Rangers turned to Bridge, expecting him to answer for them. He was spared an explanation when alarms started to blare both in their command base, and the Dino Charge Rangers' base.
"It's started. The one in New Tech just hatched," Kendall warned as she checked her sensors.
"We've got this," Spencer grinned, fixing his glasses. He found Teddie at the back of the group, his smile fading just a little, and he nodded before turning to the rest of his team.
"What about the last monster?" Sky asked as he joined the others, holding the prototype Omega Morpher in his hands. "We heard about the Tupux Zord; you're down to four Megazords," he pointed out, and the Dino Charge Rangers fell silent.
"The one in Ocean Bluff is under control," they all turned to Ari as she walked over. "The Jungle Fury Rangers are gathered there already for Theo's birthday, and they're all perfectly happy to dust off the old Morphers," she grinned, and they all relaxed just a little to know that Ocean Bluff was in good hands.
"Good luck out there, all of you," Sky told them. He led his team out the door, and Kat nodded to the team before ending the call. Kendall's computer beeped again loudly.
"Another Greenzilla just hatched in Tokyo," she warned gravely.
"And it seems like we're next!" Ivan's gasp had them all whirl around to look at the egg in their base. The pulsing light was flickering rapidly and unsteadily as the egg began to shudder. Chase called on his blaster at the same time that golden light lit up in Teddie's hand, and their combined attacks destroyed the egg.
"Gross…" Jeremy moaned, having been standing too close to it. He brushed the pieces of shell from his shirt, but there wasn't much he could do about the green goo staining it.
"That was too close," Heckyl sighed in relief, glad that they had at least taken care of the one egg they had found.
"No kidding," Teddie muttered. She turned as the computer beeped again, and Kendall closed her eyes.
"Zandar, New Zealand…Ocean Bluff…England. That's all the Greenzillas," she said quietly. It was just as Teddie had warned. Before she could panic, a hand landed on her shoulder and she looked up to see Ari smiling confidently at her.
"You've got this. All of you do," she turned and looked at the team. "It's gonna be tough, no doubt. But you've come a long way. I know you guys, and I know that not a single one of you is going to give up. So get out there and kick butt," Ari told them with a grin.
"That's exactly what we're going to do," Tyler nodded, filled with confidence. "We didn't come this far to give up now," he said.
"They may have six monsters, but thanks to our friends, we have six Megazords," Chase grinned. He looked just as determined as Tyler. Teddie watched from nearby, impressed by their courage and determination.
"We'll oversee the battles around the world from here," Kendall told them, knowing she was best suited to advising from the sidelines. If necessary, she would join them, but for now, she knew what was needed.
"Good luck out there, and be careful," Arianna told them, her gaze sweeping over the whole team to make sure they knew they were all being addressed. Philip reached out and took her hand to squeeze it gently, and she managed a smile back.
"Let's get out there," Tyler called. Most hurried to the door, ready to go. Philip pressed a kiss to Arianna's knuckles before following, and Chase hesitated as he looked at Teddie. She met his gaze, and for a moment, neither twin spoke. Then they were hugging tightly, and Chase took a deep breath. He'd missed her so much, and part of him was terrified that the moment he let her out of his sight, she'd vanish again.
"Be careful," Teddie whispered to her brother.
"Yeah," Chase nodded, finally letting her go. He managed a smile, and she gave one back before he turned and ran out.
"You too," Teddie caught Heckyl's sleeve as he went to follow. "Be careful," she said, embarrassed to show her concern. He smiled faintly, and flicked her nose. She jumped, looking up in surprise.
"I think you're finding that answer," he told her. Teddie stared at him.
"Oi, loverboy," Heckyl jumped at Jeremy's call. The Silver Ranger was leaning in the doorway, arms folded with a grin on his face. "You're with me. Let's go," he ordered. Heckyl rolled his eyes. He glanced at Teddie once more, smiling softly at her before turning and following Jeremy out the door.
"How do you do it?" Arianna looked up quickly, startled by Teddie's question. "Watch them all put themselves in danger like they do?" she asked, not fully understanding it. Arianna smiled warmly at her, reaching out to take her hand.
"I believe in them. They'll come home safe. They always do," she said, full of faith that the team would win once more.
I have officially finished writing this story! There's still plenty to come :)
Hope you liked it!
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