The next few weeks were a constant string of newness.
The students, his hoard, were shy at first, unsure of everything, but slowly they grew more and more confident, more and more relaxed. They made messes and broke things and figured out at one point (Tommy blamed Hayley) that Tommy liked rock candy, so they tried to make some and ended up giving Tommy a sugar-ant infestation. They were loud and brash and half the time tripping over their new abilities. They were the most precious parts of Tommy's life.
One afternoon they were playing with the Raptor Riders, Tommy in his true form and lazing in the sun, tired from taking all three on rides on dragonback. Hayley was writing out something on a laptop, enjoying the weekend with them.
Tommy settled down into meditation, expecting to fall fully into the sense of home and right…
…missing.
Something was…off. Like something that should be there, but wasn't yet. Tommy cranked open an eye and checked the surrounding area. Not a threat. Not…no, it wasn't a threat at all. Just a sense that there was something, someone, missing.
Trent.
It clicked slowly, because there was no Dino Gem. Well, there was—the Black Dino Gem—but Tommy hadn't been able to find it yet. But Trent had somehow fallen into the same category as the others, and Tommy barely knew him. He just fit in place, like a puzzle piece slotting between others.
Tommy suppressed a growl. The Power was trying to risk another child.
Well, good luck with that. Tommy had learned from his mistakes last time. There would be no more child Rangers. Not if he had anything to say about it.
He got the distinct feeling of something laughing at him as he decided that. But he ignored it.
Apparently, Mercer hadn't told Mesegog about Tommy's dragon form. That made Tommy's life much easier. When the Tyrannodrones hauled him through the invisiportal, he landed, shapeshifted, and took a minute to have a snack.
He changed his mind after the first bite and just squished them under his feet instead. Tyrannodrones tasted nasty. Note to self: Go hunt a deer or something to get the taste out of mouth.
Squish squish squish went the Tyrannodrones, and when a wave came out, Tommy breathed a mighty wall of fire. He wasn't a particularly big dragon, still small enough to fit indoors if he really tried and worked a little magic besides, but he could breathe fire with the best of them. The Tyrannodrones—at least, the ones who weren't fried to a crisp—turned tail and ran.
…There was something inside that complex, Tommy realized suddenly. Something pulling and calling, glowing with magic. Tommy took another, more careful look.
The Black Dino Gem. Nearly ready to find Trent.
Tommy growled.
He shapeshifted down to human. Getting into the compound was easy; it had, at one point, been the laboratories where Tommy and Anton headed teams of research scientists. And once Tommy felt like getting out, he could just shapeshift back…well, on second thought, maybe better not to try shapeshifting through the steel beams that were part of most buildings now. But he could get out fairly easily in human form, or at least he assumed so.
He ducked and cast a spell of invisibility when he saw Elsa. She walked right past him, although a few Tyrannodrones paused.
Tommy let out a low growl, too low to hear with human ears. The Tyrannodrones turned and left.
Tommy grinned and moved forward.
He gave in to the temptation to play 'who's knocking on your helmet' with Zeltrax, but after a few minutes the pull of the Black Dino Gem reminded him of what he was doing there. He left the cyborg wildly scanning his surroundings, and headed deeper into the complex.
Mesegog and the Black Dino Gem were in the same room.
Tommy grinned and let go of the spell. "Hey Mesegog. Miss me?"
Mesegog roared and sent out a psi-beam. Tommy shapeshifted and breathed fire. Mesegog dodged, and Tommy reached out to the Black Dino Gem's casing, hefted it in his jaws, and bit down. The casing cracked with a noise that made Mesegog wince.
Tommy spat the pieces out and dropped down to human form, grabbing the Dino Gem with a bare hand. No more child soldiers. No more children doing what a dragon should be.
And, miracle of miracles, it bonded.
Tommy let out a joyful roar, then slapped the gemstone into the morpher he'd been wearing (what, it was an effective mode of transportation) and morphed. The suit was confining, it always was, and there was no room to shapeshift…but on the other hand, he currently had access to a magical suit, and the Big Bad of the day was standing in front of him.
"Thissss willnot…sssave you." Mesegog hissed.
Tommy grinned, then attacked.
Around the second major hit, he realized this was actually not his best idea. He needed to demorph and go dragon again, but Elsa and Zeltrax had showed up and the teens were on the viewscreen. Well, he might as well give the teens a good show. He jumped for an invisiportal and ended up in the hallway outside of the main lab.
…What, exactly, was the point of that invisiportal…never mind. Tommy started running. He hit another invisiportal and jumped. This time, he landed on rock and felt wind on his face.
Tommy let out a cackle, then shapeshifted.
He felt the teens' shock and surprise, but then he glanced down and groaned. The Dino Gem was replacing one scale in his wrist, and all of his scales had turned black. Tommy could feel the Power treating his shapeshifting like just another morph, and he was going to kill the Power, really he was.
Enemy!
Tommy lashed out with his spiked tail. Zeltrax went flying, and Tommy chuckled. Okay. Playtime, Rangers. Who wants to have some fun?
The teens cheered in a way normally associated with large unruly mobs. Tommy grinned and attacked, diving headfirst into a batch of Tyrannodrones. He batted at them with his head, tossing them from side to side; when that got boring, he let out a burst of flame. Zeltrax, Elsa, and some random monster were fighting the teens; they, encouraged by their mentor's exuberance, were doing perfectly well.
Tommy still leaned over Zeltrax and snorted, just to watch him jump straight into Kira's blaster shot. If Zeltrax wanted a rivalry, Tommy wasn't complaining. More fun for him.
Kira burst out laughing, then let out a PteraScream to knock Zeltrax down again.
When the monster got blown up, Zeltrax and Elsa retreated, with a parting shot that they 'were not afraid of your science teacher!'. Tommy gave them a little wave with a claw. They ran like the scared little rabbits they were.
Then three Rangers were glomping their newest teammate, and Tommy laughed, curling his wing over them.
They were safe.
Tommy watched as the teens, plus Trent, played soccer after school. Technically, he was supervising. Less technically, it was soccer-tag, and he'd gotten kicked out of the game after it became clear he could get any one of the teens.
Randall came up beside Tommy and snorted. "They kick you out, Dr. Oliver?"
Tommy glanced up. "Yeah." He admitted sheepishly. "Apparently I 'puppy-guard'."
Randall snorted. "Kids. Little terrors, the lot of them." She hesitated, then glanced at Trent. For a second, it looked as if she were about to say something—like that moment in the hallway, after the dig, Tommy remembered—and then she shook her head. "Enjoy yourself." She snapped out, stalking away.
Tommy glanced suspiciously at her, through the eyes of a dragon.
She radiated corrupt energy.
Tommy blinked and almost jumped out of his seat. What the hell? Corruption was something innate to a few people, but at that level? That was what Tommy would expect of a general or low-level villain—
Oh. Crap.
Tommy eyed the teens again. Why was Elsa about to say something wildly out of character when looking at them?
Something wasn't quite right here, and Tommy had no idea what.