DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POWER RANGERS
Chapter 15: Behind Bars
"What are you guys up to?" the four Rangers strode casually down into the Dino Lab to see both Tommy and Hayley hunched over one of many workbenches, this one in particular, currently held the Rangers' primary weapons, whilst Alpha stood nearby, apparently piecing the Sonic Fin back together.
"Trying to update the technology in your weaponry", Hayley replied nonchalantly as she threaded yet another wire into Adam's Blade Blaster.
"These things aren't computers y'know Hayley…they're powered by the energy from the Morphin' Grid". Xander looked slightly confused at her actions.
Tommy glanced over at Xander with the you'll-wish-you-never-said-anything look as the resident technical genius raised an eyebrow at the Green Ranger before beginning her explanation; "All weapons are technological to some extent so unless you're fighting with, say, rocks versus bigger rocks then your weapons will have some fatal flaw that will render them useless. Bullets and laser fire can be stopped by a simple Fullerene monomer shielding compound or an anti-kinetic inertial compression wave interference or even the inherent ability of exertion of will over an implanted biofeedback sensory simulator. More complex weapons have-…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I think I get the picture", Xander held up his hands in surrender as Hayley stopped her more than detailed analysis, although she looked quite happy to continue.
Kira smirked at her green counterpart and sat down on the bottom step of the stone staircase that led to the Lair; "I take it that you don't want to come out with us then?" she directed the question at Tommy and Hayley.
"Thanks for the offer, but we'd better get this done", Tommy smiled apologetically through the grease stain that had appeared on his right cheek as he held up the smallest screwdriver that Kira had ever seen.
"Suit yourselves", Adam stretched his arms out and turned to leave.
"Yeah, we're in need of some serious downtime", Tori agreed.
"Yeah, yeah, you know, you should be doing some training", Tommy advised, yet to little effect as the gang proceeded on their original path, throwing waves back as they disappeared up the stairs.
The Rangers laughed and joked around, relieved to get some time away from the harsh reality of their unique responsibilities. The group sat contentedly on a bench in the center of Reefside's small square, despite the freezing temperature, each of them with a steaming cup of some kind of warm beverage in their hands. They all felt the effects of the cold winter air and it wasn't long before Xander chickened out.
"Anyone fancy a look around the music store?"
"Getting cold?"
Xander rolled his eyes at Tori; "Yeah, just a little".
They all drew their jackets around themselves a little tighter as they stood and still did so upon entering the wonderfully heated store. Reacclimatizing, Adam browsed the shelves piled high with CD's from every artist under the sun. However, just as he selected one from a new band called 'Eyeshine', four guys stood at the back of the shop caught his eye.
The store obviously sold quite a large collection of video games as well as music and the guys were hovering around one of the games consoles on display, their hoods drawn up over their heads and warily watching the few members of staff that milled around.
Slowly turning back around and minding his own business, Adam replaced the CD on its shelf and prepared to leave the store; "Does anyone else fancy pizza?"
"Sure!" the rest of the team eagerly gathered and made to go outside, only to be greeted by the raindrops that were now thundering down from the heavens.
"Aw, damn", Adam halted and lifted the hood on his jacket, the others following suit and they stepped out into the downpour.
"Some great downtime this is turning out to be", Tori muttered as they traced the steps to the nearest pizza joint.
"I'll say", Adam wholeheartedly agreed with the statement and briefly wished that he'd stopped inside.
"HEY! STOP!" a frantic yell sounded behind the group and they turned to see the four guys that Adam had noticed in the store barreling their way outside and towards the Rangers, an expensive games console in hand.
As they approached, one of the store employees came bursting through the door and the boy carrying the stolen console forced the object on Adam before continuing the mad dash to get away with his friends.
"What the hell?" a bewildered Black Ranger stood in the middle of the street holding a stolen piece of hardware just as the man from the shop reached him.
Panting slightly, the man pointed at the object in Adam's hands; "How about you give that me back?"
"Sure", Adam readily obliged and off-loaded the machine
"Oh, just in time!", the man sneered at the four Rangers as the wail of police sirens drew close.
"Too late – those kids are long gone", Adam pointed down the street as two uniformed police officers approached them.
"What's the problem here?" A stern-looking guy in full uniform addressed the store worker.
"They stole this from my store", he gestured to the games console tucked under his left arm.
"Who did?"
"They did!", the man pointed an accusing finger at the Rangers.
"What?!"
"I don't think so, dude!"
A flurry of denials rushed from the Rangers as they each stumbled to explain the situation at once.
"It wasn't us!"
"Yeah, four other guys did it-…"
"And threw it at me as they left!"
"So they could get out of here!"
"Uh huh…" the two officers did not look to be buying the story.
"Look, we'd never do anything like that", Kira attempted to reason.
"Yeah, you've got the wrong people", Adam backed her up.
"I saw you all in my store, not five minutes ago!", the manager accused once again.
"So?" Xander attempted to see where this was going.
"So, you were all walking around with your hoods up…don't think I wasn't watching you!"
"Whoa, hold on there…", Adam had figured the identity mistake as he glanced at his friends; each with their hoods firmly up and over their heads; "That wasn't us…there were four kids in there too, matching the same description. Don't you think that you've caught the wrong people?"
The man snorted his disgust; "I know thieves when I see them, I've been in this business twenty years!"
"That's enough…" the younger of the two police officers was getting impatient and he fully faced the four Rangers; "…I'm afraid you're all under arrest".
"This is just crazy!" Adam kicked the steel bars in front of him frustratedly, earning himself nothing but a dull pain in his toe.
"Hey!" Tori shouted out, attempting to catch the attention of a passing police officer, but he merely ignored her and carried on with his task.
Xander merely sighed, dejectedly as he glanced at his teammates, each in a separate cell to his own.
"Great…" Kira slumped back against the wall of her cell; "Now what?"
"Guys?"
Each Ranger; save Xander and Tori, slowly looked down at their morphers as Tommy's familiar voice sounded out. The nearby officers looked around in vague interest, but soon turned away again.
"Hey Tommy, listen, we're kinda in a sticky situation…"
"Why are you whispering?" Adam could just picture Tommy's brow, furrowed in confusion.
"Keep it down, alright", he eyed the officers again; "We've been arrested-…"
"Arrested?"
"Yeah, there was a bit of a mix-up in town".
"What kind of mix-up?"
"I'll explain later, but they've got nothing on us, they'll have to let us go, but listen-…"
A shrill siren pierced through the air at the police station as officers scrambled to retrieve their weapons from their holsters.
At the same moment, the alarms in the Dino Lab blared and Adam could hear Hayley's running commentary in the background; "The Hornets have learnt how to fly planes…well that's just perfect!"
"You guys need to get out of there…and fast".
Hornets had appeared in Reefside and had apparently 'stolen' several weapon-stocked planes from a nearby Air Force base and were now causing havoc from the skies.
"It's not looking good, Tommy", Adam no longer concentrated on keeping his voice down as he watched Tori attempt to persuade one of the less intelligent officers to set them free.
"Come on! We're not exactly going to rob a bank in the middle of a monster attack, are we?" the Blue Ranger refused to let the officer get away.
"Sorry, but rules are rules", the guy shrugged and walked away to join his colleagues as a definitive rumble swept through the ground.
Xander's hopeful eyes wandered over to a steel table that sat a few feet away from his cell and currently housed all the Rangers' possessions that were deemed 'unsuitable' for them to have on their person – including both the Green and Blue Rangers' morphers. Fortunately, Adam and Kira had passed their morphers off as 'bracelets' of some kind and were therefore still able to communicate with the Dino Lab if they needed to.
"Oh, that's not good!" it was Hayley's voice they heard this time and it definitely had an air of panic about it.
"What? What's happening?" both Adam and Kira put their ears to their wrists.
"These freaks have just figured out how to use the weapons attached to the planes..."
"Oh…"
"Yeah…you might want to work a little harder on getting yourselves out".
"Hey, you!" Adam's hand shot out from inbetween the bars and poked one of the officers in the side.
"What?" the less than happy man frowned at Adam.
"Are you going to let us out or what?"
"Hmm, let me think…no!"
"But we can help you!" he gestured towards what he could only presume was the –Monster alarm'.
"Oh yeah…how?"
"I-…" Adam sighed, knowing full well that he had lost this battle of words unless he sacrificed his identity; "…never mind".
"I thought so". The grumpy man turned back to help his colleagues.
"Erm…you guys had better hold onto something!"
"Oh great, what's happened now?" Kira replied to Hayley this time.
"There's a missile headed your way". She answered bluntly.
"WHAT?!"
"They're quick learners…" Hayley muttered; "Alpha, help me try and scramble this signal…hopefully we can change the flight path before it hits".
"Aye-ai-ai! I hope we're not too late!", the robot commented as he got to work.
However, Kira was now staring straight out of the window opposite her cell and her eyes were glued to a large object, flying extremely fast towards them; "I think you spoke too soon, Alpha".
"Hold on!"
The Ranger's all flung themselves to the floor as the missile hit…a deafening bang sounded and chunks of brick and plaster flew from the walls, the ceiling collapsing all around them. The four prisoners threw their hands instinctively over their heads to protect them from the raining debris. Nothing was visible through the rubble and clouds of dust that surrounded them and the shouts of frightened police officers were audible.
Finally daring to open his eyes, Adam slowly peered at his surroundings…the cell door had been blown clean off, which was a good thing, but he was buried under several large loads of concrete and had to struggle hard for several minutes to get himself free. Standing slowly, he brushed off the worst of the muck from his clothes and looked around at his teammates – all of whom where in similar situations as they coughed from the dust inhalation.
The officers didn't pay a blind bit of notice as the Rangers calmly collected their belongings from the floor and climbed over what was left of the police station, only two sections of wall remained standing and therefore, the roof was completely disintegrated.
Blinking up at the sky, the Hornets in their newly-acquired military transport were visible as they circled the city, occasionally releasing more missiles.
"We need to get up there", Xander eyed the planes.
The Rangers quickly found a place to morph before reemerging; "Hayley, the Zords?"
"They're on their way".
"Let's go!"
Xander flipped open his morpher; "It's Titan Time!",
"Galwit Mysto Prifior!"
"Retroforce Megazord, now!" the huge machines began their transformation and finally stood tall and proud as one. The Megazord spread its huge wings and took off into the skies to join the fight.
"Let's take these guys down…", Adam suggested as the Megazord moved closer to one of its targets; the Mystic Sword magically transforming itself into a large blaster and taking aim.
"Power Rangers, do not fire!"
"What the-…" the Rangers looked around for the source of the voice; it sure wasn't Tommy or Hayley calling them.
"I repeat, do not fire! Hold your positions".
The Ranger glanced out of the Megazord to see a fighter plane that was flying alongside them and the occupant was clearly human.
"Oh great, looks like they've decided to join in", Xander jerked a thumb at the pilot that had obviously locked onto their communication frequency and was currently signaling to them. The actual Air Force had obviously decided to get involved, but they seemed more bothered about getting their stolen planes back in one piece than stopping the Hornets dead in their tracks before they could do more damage.
"Are you insane?" Adam replied back down the radio link to the adjacent plane; "These things aren't gonna stop for you!"
"I'm only carrying out my orders, and the orders were to not engage in combat unless they make the first move".
"That's ridiculous, they have live missiles at their disposal and you're gonna let them destroy the city?" thankfully, the Hornets seemed to be relatively inactive whilst the argument progressed.
"Like I said, I'm only following orders from my Captain".
"Then I suggest that you need some new ones, Lieutenant". A new voice appeared in the conversation and it was one that Adam recognized from one of Tommy's Ranger video diaries.
"And who are you?" the cocky pilot stared at the two new planes that had flown up to join him and the Megazord.
"Colonel Earhardt, I've brought reinforcements from the Turtle Cove Base…and I suggest that next time, you use the proper form of address".
"Sorry, ma'am", the pilot replied hurriedly.
"Accepted, now, you will let the Power Rangers deal with this situation and provide them with the necessary backup and covering fire, is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am".
"Good. You are clear to join as the second wingman".
"Roger". The pilot maneuvered the plane to complete the tri-formation.
"Power Rangers, you are clear to go".
"Thanks, Yellow Eagle", Adam grinned and saluted the former Ranger.
"Finally!" Tori let out a breath; "Can we get rid of these things now?"
"You know it!" the Megazord pulled away, pursued by the Air Force squadron and before long, a pirated plane flew into view, heading straight towards them. "Gotcha!" the Megazord deflected the incoming fire with its shield in one hand and lifted the blaster with the other; "Fire!"
"One down, two to go!" Kira hi-fived her green teammate as the Megazord pulled up, not wanting to be caught in the rather large explosion as the plane and its weapons disintegrated before them.
"Ha!" Xander grinned back, briefly musing at how bizarre the flying Megazord must have looked from the ground.
The two remaining Hornets had now witnessed the destruction of their comrade, along with god-knows-how-many-millions-of-dollars worth of Air Force Fighter Plane and had now started a revenge mission as the two sleek jets directed themselves towards the Megazord.
"They've got missile lock!" the update came courtesy of the central plane that accompanied the Megazord. "Detach formation, now!" On command, the two Wingmen broke the tri-formation, just as the remaining plane's nose pointed straight upwards and barreled into the skies. The Hornet released the high-powered rocket and it dutifully followed its target like a bad smell.
"Let's get this over with", Adam's eyes turned back to the two enemies.
"What about-…" Xander pointed after the missile.
"She can handle it", the Black Ranger replied firmly.
"If you say so", Xander didn't argue as the Megazord's blaster transformed back into the Mystic Sword.
"Dual Blade Mode!" the sword replicated itself and the diamond-shaped shield attached itself to the back of the Megazord, out of the way.
"Two in one?" Kira questioned, stating the obvious.
"You got it…"
"Thrusters, ignite!" the Megazord shot forwards towards the Hornets from the huge dose of extra power as flames shot out from the feet of the machine; "Slash Attack!" the Megazord raised the two identical swords and swiped them both in perfect timing as it rushed past the two planes.
Killing the thrusters, the mighty Megazord turned to survey the carnage as the two metal birds plummeted towards the ground, engulfed in violent flames.
"Nice", Xander observed helpfully, cocking his head at the two fireballs.
"Err, Power Rangers to Air Force…" Adam was unsure of the correct military terminology; "Is everyone OK?"
"All accounted for, thankyou", Colonel Earhardt's plane reappeared after an apparently successful mission against the locked-on missile.
"Great, well, it was nice to work with you…Taylor", Adam saluted with a grin as the pilot came into view, knowing full well that the armed forces didn't address each other on first-name term.
"You too…Adam", came the reply and Taylor glanced wistfully down at the yellow crystal on the chain that hung from one of the instruments, briefly wishing, as she often did, that she could return to her Ranger life.
The Colonel quickly addressed her Wingmen; "OK Lieutenants, good work, return to Base for debriefing".
"Yes Ma'am", both planes detached from formation and headed back down towards the ground.
"Good luck Rangers", Taylor gave a strong salute, which they all returned and with one last glance, the plane tipped its nose and dived away and out of sight.
"Let's get out of here too, huh?" Xander suggested.
"We're not finished, look", Tori pointed downwards, towards a much larger than life figure that was currently stomping through Reefside, much to Xander's dismay.
"I think it's time to bring out one of these new upgrades", Adam hinted suggestively.
"I hear that!"
The Rangers each focused their full attention on the podiums that stood before each of them in the cockpit, their hands firmly gripping the telepathically-operated spheres that sat on top.
"Energy Sphere, now!"
The giant Megazord waved its hands methodically and a huge, crackling ball of electric charge appeared in its palms. The Retroforce was now within firing distance of the large creature, but shortly, that wouldn't matter.
"Strike!" the Megazord tossed the sphere in its hands before launching it towards the monster and the dumb creature didn't even get a chance to speak before the energy sphere enclosed its body and exploded noisily with a spectacular flash of blue light.
High above sea level in his mountainous lair, Osirico was not a happy evil Warlord and the dutiful Commander of his army could tell.
"My Lord, I-…"
"Save your apologies", Osirico swiftly interrupted Ammix; "This conquering of planets takes time…effort…patience. We have to stay positive about the situation – if one of my warriors gets destroyed in the process, then so be it". He crossed his scaly arms behind his back, the silvery armor clinking slightly as he paced the Throne Room of the lair before turning his jet-black eyes back towards Ammix; "I believe these humans have a saying…"
"'No pain…no gain'"
There goes another chapter…hope you're still enjoying the series, there's plenty more left to come
Thanks to all who have reviewed!