Part Seven

Chapter Six

We jumped back as the storm of lightning bolts struck down around us. The blast was more intense than usual, as if Zedd was pouring in as much power as possible. Arcs of lightning danced up and down the street, but even as we retreated, Ian noticed fingers of electricity being attracted to the fallen crown, as if the artefact was drawing the extra power into itself. A second later, there was a rush of wind and a great roar, and the city shook with gigantic footsteps as a rejuvenated Checkmate suddenly stood fifteen storeys taller.

Without warning, there was the sound of metal twisting and bending. With a second blast of air, the crown evolved, growing arms and legs from a body of twisted, spiked metal, and rising up beside Checkmate. The crown's new body was featureless but for a pair of glowing red eyes peering out from under a thorny headpiece.

"Two for the price of one," murmured Scott. We raised our arms to the sky.

"We need dinozord power, now!"

Far to the west of the city in an out-of-the-way place, the ground broke open. With a shower of sparks and a burst of flame, the mighty fleet of dinozords rose to the surface to greet the day. Leading the charge was the orange Stegosaurus, with the blue Brontosaurus and white Velociraptor right behind. With a triumphant screech, the purple Rhamphorynchus shot into the sky, while the aqua Dilophosaurus and grey Iguanodon brought up the rear. As the enormous beasts approached, we tapped our communicators and streaked into the air, materialising in the cockpits a second later.

I reached for the radio. "Switch to Megazord mode!"

"Right!"

Roaring towards the monsters, the Stegozord and Brontozord drew side-by-side, coming to a stop as their bodies folded back. Behind them, the Dilophozord lifted into the air, dropping down and combining with the orange and blue zords to form new legs. Meanwhile, the Velociraptor split in half and connected to the Dilophozord to give the Megazord arms. Finally, the Rhamphorynchus dropped out of the sky and wrapped itself around the Megazord's chest to form a new chestplate. The Megazord's eyes flashed yellow as the titan's face was revealed, and the five of us were teleported into the Megazord's control room.

"Megazord, online!"

Reaching the abandoned warehouse district, the Megazord lumbered towards the silver Iguanodon, joining Ian's zord as we stared out over the battleground towards our enemies.

Checkmate glared at us and raised his claws. "What did you do?" the lion rumbled. "I don't remember how, but my power is gone. It's your fault! I will destroy you for that! I will…"

His voice trailed off. Beside him, the crown monster's eyes had started glowing. With a flash of crimson, the abandoned warehouse district was surrounded by a ring of malevolent shadow that whispered and pulsated. Even as we watched, the ring began slowly closing in around us.

"That's a dimensional rift!" Scott realised. "The crown is still trying to collapse two dimensions together. With the power boost, it doesn't need anyone else."

"We have to shut that thing down!" said Sarah.

"I'll take the crown," Ian called into the radio. "You guys take Checkmate."

"You got it," I replied. "Let's go!" and we steered the zords for our two monstrous foes.

Shaking the ground with every gigantic step, the Megazord closed in on Checkmate. Holding his ground, the monster waited until the zord was in striking range before lashing out, raking his claws for the Megazord's head. The Megazord blocked the move, struck away the creature's arm and slammed its fist into Checkmate's shoulder. Checkmate staggered back, stunned, but recovered quickly and retaliated, carving his claws through the zord's chestplate in a shower of sparks and smoke. We held the zord steady, and when Checkmate slashed again, the zord stepped around the move, catching the lion while he was off-balance with a powerful punch and following after him as we continued trading blows.

Across the battlefield, the crown monster had lashed out wildly as the Iguanodon approached, landing a powerful blow to the zord's torso. The zord froze, but Ian manoeuvred the zord to safety when the crown swung again. Stepping around the blow, the Iguanodon blocked another wild swing and struck away a low kick before forcing the monster back with a blow to the chest. The crown crushed several ruined buildings as it staggered away. Finding its footing, the crown turned to face the Iguanodon and its eyes flashed a nightmare red. The battlefield lit up, but Ian pushed the Iguanodon through the blaze and launched the crown off its feet with a powerful kick.

As the circle of whispering shadow continued to close in around us, Checkmate caught the Megazord's arm and threw it away, before slamming his fist into the Megazord's stomach. Sparks rained down on us in the cockpit, but we regained control and struck away the beast's arm, forcing him back with a powerful uppercut. The lion crashed into the crown monster and the whole city shook as they tumbled to the ground.

"You want to end this?" Ian asked.

"I think it's overdue," I said. "Power Sword, now!"

The giant gleaming Power Sword fell from the sky and embedded in the ground beside us. Reaching for the blade, the Megazord held the weapon high. Beside us, Ian turned the Iguanodon to face the twisted crown.

"Iguanodon essence blast, fire!"

The zord's eyes glowed red and it bellowed an almighty roar as power exploded from the zord's chest symbol, scorching across the battlefield, slamming into the crown of shadows and instantly tearing it apart. Beside it, lightning struck down from a cloudy sky to charge the Power Sword before the Megazord slashed the sword for Checkmate. Power exploded from the sword's arc, carving through the lion and destroying him in a massive fireball that lit up the city and sent a plume of smoke skyward. Caught in the pulse of the explosions, the encroaching darkness disappeared like fog, and reality settled back into place around us.

With the monsters destroyed, I slumped into my seat, as the Megazord triumphantly lowered its blade.

"Good work," I said.

Inside the Iguanodon, Ian gazed down over the battlefield when he spotted a familiar figure. He hit the radio. "Guys, hang on a second," he said. He reached for his communicator and disappeared in a flash of silver light.

On the deserted street, Zedd peered disdainfully at a piece of scorched rubble. He knelt down for a second to inspect the remains as Ian materialised on the road behind him, then stood up quickly and kicked the rubble away.

"What a waste of an afternoon," Zedd growled irritably. "Finster's back on rations for that one." But seeing the Grey Ranger before him, he raised his Z-staff. "What do you want?"

"The crown monster," Ian began. "He wasn't one of yours, was he?"

"Well spotted beige Ranger," Zedd snapped. "Of course he wasn't. You think I don't know where that thing came from?"

Ian's face fell. "You know what's coming, don't you?" he asked.

"Even with my gifted sight, I cannot see the future," Zedd replied. Ian was surprised to hear the honesty in Zedd's voice. "Even when I try, all I see is shadows." His voice trailed off as he met Ian's gaze. "There are stories. Whispers about the things in the dark, the mad old gods who used to rule. Zordon doesn't know everything, you realise. Not all of them are as dead as he wants them to be."

"Then help us fight," Ian said. "Whoever this is, he's your enemy too! You helped us back on Dhalia."

"I was enjoying watching you flounder without me!" Zedd barked. "Don't you dare tell me who my enemies are, Grey Ranger. You have no idea what's set against you, do you? No, I'm going to enjoy watching this play out. Goodbye, Grey Ranger." And tapping his staff on the gravel, Zedd vanished in a flash of flame.

"Good news!" Alpha began, standing at the console below Zordon's energy tube. "The city is back to normal! Once the crown was destroyed, the dimensional rifts all closed. Now we know what to look for, I've got the computers scanning the city. There's nothing out of the ordinary."

"Excellent work Alpha," Zordon replied, but his expression turned sombre. "It was a near thing today. I'm more convinced than ever that this crown of shadows was one of the artefacts connected to the broken chains investigation."

"Ayeyiyi Zordon!" Alpha said. "If only we could obtain one of these artefacts, we could study it and actually learn something."

"And there's the danger," Zordon said. "By the time these totems are activated, they need to be immediately destroyed, leaving us with nothing to examine. Whoever is sending these artefacts into the world knows exactly what they're doing. But honestly, I'm far more concerned about that extradimensional realm the Rangers encountered, the endless desert."

"But the rifts have all closed!"

Zordon lowered his voice. "The mystical enchantments protecting that realm were extraordinary," the sage said. "In a thousand years, I've never seen anything like it. Even our simplest analysis of the readings was like grasping at a piece of smoke. Were it not for the crown, that dimension would've remained undetected forever. What worries me, Alpha, is that someone very powerful went to a lot of trouble to hide that dimension and make sure nobody ever knew it was there. And I would very much like to know why."

To be continued.