Copyright: Power Rangers, the names and characters are owned by Saban, Dairanger the name is owned by Toei/Bandai Japan.
***Rootcore***
Yuri was pacing back and forth around the former base of the Mystic Force rangers. He was patiently waiting for his Dairanger colleague to arrive, and his patience finally paid off. An eagle carrying a human body entered through the roof, laying the body at his feet. Upon landing Miranda regained her human form and took a deep breath. Yuri walked towards her and managed to catch her, for she almost collapsed after having to carry Kat's body all the way from Angel Grove. She managed to keep her composure and Yuri tapped her on the back for the job well done.
"I knew I could count on you, Miri!" He told her with a smile as he looked at Kat's helpless body lying on the ground. "I hope you didn't hurt her too much."
"She wouldn't have lost so much blood if…" she took a deep breath again. "…if she had just… stood still." Unable to stay up she took a seat at the nearby table. "Can you give me some water?"
"And you still managed to pull it off." Yuri applauded her and tossed her his water bottle, which he kept in his vest. "I never doubted you for one second!"
"So…" she drank a few drops of water and managed to regain her normal speaking tone to a degree. "…what are your orders now?"
Yuri looked around and pointed at one wall section that had a post. "Tie her up and put her against the wall. When she wakes up… we will inform the others of our demands. I hope you didn't forget the other thing?"
"Of course I didn't." said Miranda and handed Yuri Kat's cell-phone.
"Time to inform comrade Tommy, that we have his little Kitty." 'Hm, that rhymes.' He thought.
Chapter 3: Blue Fury
A/N: It should be noted that this was originally supposed to be two separate chapters, but for various reasons I condensed them into one. As a result some minor things had to be cut, but nothing significant.
***Tommy's apartment, Angel Grove***
Tommy kicked opened the door to his apartment and quickly rushed in.
"KAT!" he shouted once, but didn't receive an answer. "KAT!" he kept screaming, but no one responded.
"Tommy, calm down." Said Billy, who had followed him, since he was afraid that his friend might do something crazy along the way.
Tommy noticed Kat's purse lying on the floor. "KAT!"
"Tommy!" Billy tried to hold him back, before he had a complete mental breakdown. "She is not here!"
However, Tommy completely ignored him and kept unsuccessfully searching through the apartment. As he finally got tired he took a seat on the bed.
"Man…" he looked up at Billy. "If something happens to her…"
"Don't worry." Billy soothed him. "We will find her, you will see."
"I hope so…" Said Tommy, but yet was unsure if he believed his own words or not. "Why would these beasts, kidnap her and not kill her? What do they plan to gain from it? Unless they have already killed…"
"No, Tommy!" Billy shook him up. "Please don't go insane now! We have to remain positive."
Tommy agreed and then got up from the bed. Then he directed his attention to the western side of the apartment and noticed that the door to the bathroom was half-open and the lights were on. Tommy found this strange so he walked over to it. He was almost scared to look inside, afraid of what he may find in there. Tommy took sighed and slowly walked to the bathroom, pushing the door open. Afraid of what he might see, he closed his eyes as he entered.
"Is she here?" he asked Billy.
Billy entered the bathroom and looked around. "She is not." He then noticed the medicine cabinet open. "However it does appear that she was in a fight…" Billy took a closer look at it only to realize that he had stepped into something, at first he thought it was just water, but when he looked down he realized that that was blood, Kat's blood. "Tommy?"
Tommy opened his eyes and saw the blood on the ground. Fear quickly engulfed him and was visibly shaking. He clutched his fist and swiped and the cabinet, breaking part of it, and the fell to his knees on the ground. It was at that moment that his cell phone rang again, the display showed Kat's name. He hesitantly answered it.
"Kat?"
A cold voice on the other side answered. "No thanks, I prefer dogs."
"What did you do to her?"
"Nothing comrade…" Yuri said. "…not yet at least! I have a few things in mind, that I would like to do to her though!" He gave out his evil laugh and hanged up the phone once again to add insult to Tommy's suffering.
"Don't hang up! Damn it!" Unable to control his emotions, Tommy grabbed the phone that was already in his hand, and tossed it at the wall. After which he collapsed down on the bed as tears began flowing from his face. Billy came to his side to try and cheer him up, but knew that it would be a lost cause.
It was going to be a long night for Tommy Oliver.
***Reefside forest***
The three Dino Rangers ran deeper and deeper into the forest. They were doing everything they could to find the Dairangers. After searching for them for hours now, they all felt like they wanted to stop. The only thing that kept them going was the adrenaline and their ranger duty to take down those that killed two Ninja storm rangers and their sensei. However the task was too much for one of them. Connor was completely exhausted from the hunt so he sat down on a nearby rock to catch his breath. Kira noticed this and quickly walked up to him.
"Connor, come on!" Kira told him, while pulling at his arm. "We have a job to do! Remember?"
"Come on, this is ridiculous!" he responded and pulled his hand away. "We have been chasing those guys for hours. If we haven't found them by now, what makes you think we will now? This is just hopeless!"
"How can you just give up like this!" Kira said outraged.
"Very easy! Just watch!"
"What am I seeing!" she began to yell at him. "You are not only a Power ranger, but you are an athlete! If you can't keep this up, then what are you?"
"Like you would know!" he told her with a meaner tone than he intended. "This is pointless, they probably teleported away hours ago, using some star power or something, and we the dumbasses just run after them on foot!"
"These guys are dangerous!" she told him, continuing to raise her voice. "They have killed nine rangers already! What are you waiting for! For them to attack us?"
"No!"
"Just to get you on your toes, is that?" Kira told him to his face. "Would you be sitting and crying like this if they got Ethan or me?"
"Oh, shut up!" he dismissed her.
"What!" she was ready to punch him in the face after hearing his words.
"Hey, hey!" Ethan stepped in, to try and stop the growing tension between his two colleagues. "Come on, we don't have to argue amongst ourselves!" he turned to her. "Kira, he does have a point, we lost them, period."
"But, we can't just stop looking. What about Shane and Tori, how will they react when they found out that we just gave up?"
Ethan didn't have an answer to Kira's last statement and even though he knew that she was right, he also knew that it was pointless to continue a chase that can go on forever. "Look, all I know is that we have to go back, otherwise we risk getting completely exhausted and when they strike again we will be easy target."
Kira agreed, since she didn't think of that before and nodded at his last point.
"See? What did I tell ya?" Connor told her, determined to show her that he was right.
"And Connor, you are just a lazy bastard!" Ethan told him.
"Wait a minute!"
"…but I do agree with you. So how about you two just apologize to each other and get back to the academy?"
"OK, fine." Conner then looked at his female companion. "I'm sorry Kira." He said and offered her handshake.
"Yeah, me too." She agreed and shook his hand.
"See? Isn't that better?" Ethan said while putting his hands on both of his friend's shoulders. "Now, let's just call doctor O and check to see if there is any new info. OK? If he says to stop the search, we stop, if not then we continue." the rest nodded in agreement. Ethan dialed Tommy's number but didn't get any response. "That's weird."
"What is?
"It says that Doctor O is unavailable." He pointed out. "Huh, you would think that he would want to stay tuned with the latest information."
"Why would he turn off his cell phone in the middle of all this?" Kira asked. "Could something have happened to him?"
"I don't know, let's try Billy, he may know something…"
***Tommy's apartment***
Tommy was still sitting on his bed with his face in his hands. For once in his life he truly had no idea what to do. He took his time in remembering their experiences together. How they were both under Rita's spell. How she was there for him, when Kimberly dumped him for someone else; who broke up with her only three weeks later. Their experience in trying to live ordinary lives after losing their powers and how even though sometimes they could not stand each other, the still loved one another at the end of the day. Billy stood beside him feeling helpless that he could not do anything for his friend. The moment was interrupted by the sound of Billy's cell-phone ringing.
"Ethan?" he answered it in a softer tone, so that not to bother Tommy.
"Billy, what happened?" Ethan asked. "We tried to contact Doctor O, but his cell-phone is turned off."
"More so it is busted."
"Come again?"
"Don't worry, he is here." He then looked at Tommy. "Though I am not sure if he is in a mood to talk."
"Who is it?" Tommy asked.
"It's Ethan…" Billy said, putting his hand on the phone's speaker. "He wants to talk to you."
"Give it here." He said and Billy handed the phone to him. "Ethan, what's going on?"
"You tell us!"
"Nothing." He hesitantly said. "How did the tracking went down?"
"Doctor O, we searched the entire forest, there is no sign of the Dairangers anywhere. We tried searching up and down…"
'Of course there is no sign of them in the forest! They were too busy ambushing Kat!' Tommy thought to himself. 'They probably staged that whole attack to draw our attention, and we walked right into their trap!'
"Doctor O? Are you there?" Ethan asked, unaware as to what had happened in the past hours. "You don't sound like you are paying much attention?"
"Ethan…" Billy took the cell phone from Tommy, as he was not in a very talkative mood. "…Rally the other rangers and we will all regroup at the academy tomorrow morning."
"OK, Billy! We will see you tomorrow morning."
After hanging up Tommy laid down on his bed to get some sleep.
"I have had enough of this fighting for today!"
***Early morning, Wind Ninja Academy***
The remaining rangers and students were gathered around at the academy courtyard. At the centre was big pedestal were the bodies of Cam, Dustin and the sensei laid. Shane, who was now the official head sensei of the academy, led the cremation ceremony. Before it began though, he got on an elevated platform and to address the ninja students.
"My friends." Shane began, doing his best to keep his composure. "We are gathered here today to say goodbye to three honorable people. Sensei Dustin, head of the Earth ninja students, he…"
While Shane was sending his mentor and friends on their last journey, Tori and the rest ninja rangers stood back and looked on. Blake comforted her, he and Hunter knew well what it was like to lose a loved one, so they knew how hard it was to coup with something like this. Soon they were joined by the three Dino rangers, who all said their condolences.
As the bodies were burning, everybody stood in attention with their heads down, as a sign of respect. About an hour later the ceremony was over and the student's were sent home until further notice. The rangers in attendance were discussing their next move when Tommy arrived in the academy with Billy. His eyes were wary, his clothes were the exact same he had yesterday and looked all round terrible.
"Doctor O, what is wrong?" Kira quickly rushed to him.
"Any news on the Dairangers?" Ethan asked.
"No." was all that he could say.
"Doctor O?" Kira asked. "Is there something you would like to share with us?"
He sighed and looked at them. "They took Kat."
"What? When? How?" The three Dino rangers were shocked to hear that.
"We don't know!" Billy said.
"So that is why we couldn't find them yesterday."
"See?" Connor interjected. "If you had listened to me, then we wouldn't been off on that wild goose chase in the forest!"
"CONNOR!" Kira almost slapped him, but didn't want to draw too many attention, especially around all of the student's who were saying goodbye to their masters. "Doctor O, we are so sorry."
"This is serious! This is the third attack they have done so far, and they are not fooling around." Said Tommy, who had spent the night convincing himself that should not lose his sanity. No matter how difficult it was, he had to keep his mind on how to stop them.
"OK, but we are going to need some more help!" said Ethan. "We need to compensate for those rangers that we lost." He then turned to Tori and Blake. "Sorry, guys!"
"Already on it!" Tommy took out his cell-phone, dialed a number up and it began to beep. "I had a lot of time to think about this." After a few moments a very familiar voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Jason, I need your help!"
***Briarwood***
Adam was sitting on a bench at the local bus station, waiting for Madison. Yesterday she called him, telling him that she planned to move to Angel Grove and start all over again. Maddie mentioned that she planned to submit some of her amateur movies to several producers in Angel Grove, something that she never felt compelled to do before, since she was very happy just living calmly in Briarwood with her friends. Adam asked to give her a ride, since she didn't knew the city too well and she happily agreed. However when he looked at his watch, he realized he had been sitting on that bench waiting for her for an hour already. 'She did say 10 o'clock in the morning. I wonder what is keeping her. Hope she is all right!' he though 'She probably had difficulties packing; some gentleman I am, I didn't even offered her my help, so I deserve to be kept waiting around.' he looked on his clock again and decided to call her and see what is holding her up. However she didn't answer, he probably would have dismissed it as her being too busy, but he had tried to call her ten times already, something wasn't right, he felt it. After a while he decided that he was done waiting around and was going to go to her place and see if there is any reason why she was delayed. At times he felt arrogant for rushing her and despite knowing what she was going through, times weren't easy and with the recent attacks and any missing ranger would be troublesome news. 'Yeah, keep trying to convince yourself THAT is the real reason' his inner voice told him.
His first stop was at the Rock-porium, where she used to work, but the store owner said he hadn't seen her in days. Adam looked around several other places where she might have been, but to no avail. She was either at home, or about to leave it. As he was walking to her apartment he noticed a car signaling him with its stop lights. It pulled over by him and the driver got out of the car. Adam looked at it and recognized the driver instantly.
"What's up, Adam?" the driver said.
"TJ? Man, I'm happy to see you." Adam said with a smile and shook his hand. "What brings you here?"
"Ranger duty!" he saluted. "Tommy called me to help with these punks that have been causing trouble lately."
"Yeah, we've been right in the eye of the storm lately."
"I noticed you were walking around. Need a lift?" TJ humbly asked.
"Not really. I am here to pickup, Madison."
"Oh, your girlfriend?" TJ asked with a grin and punched him gently on the shoulder. "You old smoothie!"
"No. I meant Madison, the blue Mystic ranger." Adam corrected him.
"Same thing." TJ smiled, while Adam didn't have a response, though he clearly liked the idea.
"Anyway…" Adam changed the subject. "…any idea why Tommy called you? Has there been another attack?"
"No idea, man. He just said it was urgent and need help."
"I don't have a good feeling about this…" Adam said. "I better call him and see what is happening."
Adam proceeded to call Tommy and he quickly explained to him about the attack on the ninja rangers. Adam immediately offered his help and Tommy accepted it. Then Tommy sighed…
"…also they… kidnapped Kat…" it was really difficult for him to talk about him, no matter how much he wanted to be cool. "…and we have no idea what they have done to her. Adam please come, we need all the help we can get."
"OK, I will be there as soon as possible."
Adam hanged up and told TJ what he had heard and both men went to their cars. However, on his way to his vehicle Adam suddenly had a though that forced him to rush out of the car.
"Adam, where are you going?" said TJ who went after him.
Adam went up to Madison's apartment and began knocking on the door.
"Madison? Are you there?" He hit the door as strong as he could, but there was no answer. "Madison, please say something if you can hear me!" There continued to be no answer. Finally Adam took a deep breath and with one swift kick knocked the door down. He entered the apartment and began looking for Madison, her stuff was already packed but she was nowhere to be found.
"Man, you do realize that you are going to get in trouble for this." Said TJ who walked in behind him. "We better get out of here before the police show up."
"Madison is gone!" Adam said. "Tommy said that they kidnapped Kat!" He paused for a minute and gasped. "I think they may have kidnapped Madison too! We have to go, now!"
"Why would they…"
"They tried to kill her when they first attacked…" Adam interrupted him. "…the probably came back to finish the job!" Adam was pale and felt almost guilty that he left her alone. He began to search through the apartment, but she was nowhere in sight.
"Adam!" TJ told him, while grabbing his shoulder. "Maybe she just went out for a walk, that's all!"
"I hope you are right." Adam tried to calm down and he and TJ left the apartment, while not forgetting to pick up the door and put in the doorway.
"Man…" TJ noted. "When she tries to open the door, she is going to be in for one hell of a surprise."
Adam left behind a note telling her that he would not be able to pick her up, yet didn't say anything about the door. He stuck the note in the handle and turned to TJ. "If we are going to get answers then we have to talk to the others. Let's go!"
And both men got in their cars and headed for Reefside.
***Meanwhile at Rootcore***
Yuri sat calmly on the ground, meditating, while Miranda was cleaning up the wound on Kat's head. As she poured the water on her head, Katherine began to twitch. Yuri felt that she was waking up and stood up.
"Is the wound sealed?" he asked.
"Yes, though you have yet to tell me what are we going to do." Miranda said.
"Comrade Tommy is already angry at us for kidnapping her, but if we are to continue our mind games, then we will have to send them a visual message." He then looked around briefly and noticed a video camera on the floor. "Guess it is my lucky day!" he picked up the camera and handed it over to Miranda. "Take this; we are going to shoot a nice little video for Tommy and company." Miranda took it and pointed it at Kat, who wasn't awake yet. Yuri walked over to her. "Wake up honey." He whispered softly into her ear. "WAKE UP!" he then took a completely different tone and slapped her across the face.
Kat finally woke up and tried to move, but she quickly realized that her hands were tied up and that she could not move.
"Where am I?" she was still trying to focus her vision when she saw Yuri in front of her. "Who are you?"
He laughed at her inability to recognize him. "How rude of me, I am Yuri, also known as Red Prime,." He took a bow. "But you probably know me best as the leader of the Dairangers!"
"Dairangers!" she suddenly began trembling in her place.
"So you know about us?" he said with a grin and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't worry, you are not alone."
"You are murderers!" she said to his face.
"Aw, don't be mean kitty…" Yuri said calmly. "I just want to send my friend, Tommy a little message." He said while gently caressing her cheek with his hand.
Kat turned her face away, avoiding eye contact, but when she realized that she could not stop him, she spat in his face. "Don't touch me!"
Yuri cleaned the spit from his face and slapped her even more strongly than before. "How are you going to stop me?" He then looked in her eyes and was delighted to see how much she was actually afraid of him. "Don't be afraid." He then pulled her up to him and violently kissed her on the mouth. She was doing everything she could to fight him, but with her arms tied up above, there wasn't much that she could do. "You liked that didn't you kitty, I know you did." He rubbed his fingers through her hair.
"It was disgusting!" She said with great anger at him.
"I am sorry you feel that way!" he said while putting his hand on her throat to stop her from moving. "But I am going to enjoy you very much!" He slowly began to unbutton her shirt and looked on at her with a big grin. "Very nice! Comrade Tommy is a very lucky guy!" he smirked as he was now rubbing her bare belly.
"If you are going to kill me, then why don't you just do it?" Kat said, as Yuri pulled her even closer to him.
"Now, how could kill such a beautiful creature like yourself?" And he once again began to kiss her, first on the mouth, then going down to her neck, and then her breasts. "You are so beautiful!" he said with a great desire in his eyes. "When this is all over, I wouldn't mind keeping you around as my pet. My pussy Kat if you will." He then left out an evil laugh, while she was trying to hold her tears, as she was not determined to give him the pleasure of crying. "My very own private p*ssy." He pointed out with a smirk. "Do you mind if I call you a p*ssy?" she didn't respond, so he slapped her again. DO YOU?"
"Yes!" she said quietly, not being able to talk loud.
"What are you going to do about it?" Yuri mocked her as she was shaking at the thought of what this man was going to do to her. "Heh, I really like you kitty!" he continued to whisper, while slowly pulling her skirt up to her waist. "I really do!"
"Please, don't do this." She cried, not being able to hold her tears any longer.
"Don't worry p*ssy, I am sure you are going to enjoy it!" he continued to mock her as he began to finger her abdomen.
"Please."
"I like it when you beg me! Come on, p*ssy! Beg me some more!"
"No…" she was cut off by his laughter, after he ripped her panties and threw them aside. "Please!"
"I wonder what would your Tommy say, when he sees this."
"Um, Yuri?" Miranda said with a disturbed tone. "I think we have enough for the video." However Yuri continued to molest Kat, while she was desperately trying to make him stop. "Yuri, you are making me feel uncomfortable!" She said, but he continued to ignore her and even began to unbutton his pants while Katherine was crying uncontrollably. "YURI, ENOUGH!" Miranda finally pulled him away from Kat with force.
"What the hell are you doing?" Yuri said and lashed out with a punch, knocking Miranda to the ground.
At first he furious with her, but he did calm down and helped Miranda to her feet. She then told him. "That is enough, we got the message."
"OK, fine!" he took the camera and took the tape. "Take this and deliver it to them ASAP."
"No!"
"WHAT!" he looked her in a way that would suggest that he was in no mood for insubordination. "What did you just say?"
"I want to make sure that you don't take advantage of your position while I am away!" she said while looking straight in the eyes.
"Or else what?" he responded with a threatening voice.
Realizing she would not win the battle of the guts, she tried to talk to him. "Yuri please, do it for me." She looked at Kat's helpless body. "You don't have to stand so low. Just don't, please." Yuri knew that it was in Miranda's nature to talk more gently when she wants to get something to go her way. But this time there was something different in her eyes. He could tell that she honestly didn't want to see him rape this girl. In his gut he also got the feeling that he didn't want to disappoint her. Whether she stopped him from jealousy or something else was irrelevant, he didn't want to hurt her.
"OK, I won't touch her."
"Promise?"
He held her hand and looked her in the eye. "I promise!"
"What is going on, guys?"
It was at that time that Ivelise and Lyzander walked in.
"Nothing." Miranda said with a smile, she knew that as long as Ivelise was here, she wouldn't have to worry about anyone taking advantage of their position. She transformed into her eagle form and flew off with the tape.
***Wind Ninja Academy ***
Adam and TJ arrived at the academy just as Jason and Kimberly had arrived. They all greeted each other before Tommy came out to welcome them. He led them into one of the academy open-air meeting halls and told them about the vents of the past few days. Adam told him that Madison had also disappeared and that she could also be captured by the Dairangers. If not killed by them. They knew that another missing ranger was something they could not afford, so they called Ethan to the hall for help. He used his laptop to contact Cestro, who was handling satellite surveillance back in his house. After checking out every possible location in the nearby cities they still could not find any sign of Madison, nor Kat anywhere. This really worried Adam, with Kat at least they know that she was with the Dairangers and they were keeping her alive to play with Tommy's mind, but with Madison, they had no idea if she was even really missing.
Meanwhile Kira sat on a bench outside with her guitar and played a tune she rarely if ever played in public. She began whispering a relatively sad melody in honor of the fallen rangers. When she finished her song she noticed that Connor had sat next to her with a sad expression on his face.
"You have really improved your playing skills." He told her.
"Thanks, it helps keep cool in situation's like this." She put her guitar away turned towards him. "All this with these attacks a week ago, and yesterday and now we have all this with misses O… it just makes me think…"
"If we are next?" he stopped her, realizing what she was going to say.
"Yes!" she then reached for her guitar. "And if we are dying tomorrow, then I want to at least be calm that I finished my song." She turned back and continued playing.
Connor really enjoyed her musical talent, even though he would never really admit it. At times he truly felt like she was reading his mind with her music. He always felt that despite their differences, they were more alike than they thought. "Hey, Kira…" he tried to get her attention.
"Yeah?" she paused again and looked at him.
"Look, I'm sorry for my behavior earlier on… I just…" he was mumbling much, mostly because he didn't apologize often. "I'm just sorry… for what I said."
Kira smiled at his attempts to show his feelings. "OK, I forgive you! No need to cry." She teased him.
"I wasn't crying!" he responded.
"Would you, if I said that I don't forgive you?" she really liked teasing him like this.
"Well, I certainly wouldn't want to make you cry…" he paused and took his time to look her in the eyes. "…you will ruin all those fifteen layers of make-up you always put on your face."
"Shut up!" she gently punched him and in no time they became friends again.
At the meeting room, the rangers were joined by Billy and the remaining Ninja Storm rangers. Ethan and Billy discussed if they can use the academy as a permanent base of operations while Jason talked to the ninjas to see if they can use the wind students in battle. The ninjas didn't agree since they thought that sending these untrained and inexperienced rookies into battle would be too dangerous and they cannot risk it, especially since they lost the Earth student's sensei. Adam then turned the discussion towards Madison and how they are going to proceed with her. After a long discussion, they came to an agreement that until they get proof that Madison has been captured they will not attempt anything, and until then, finding Kat is their top priority.
"But how are we going to find her? I doubt that the actual answer is just going to fall from the sky…" before Ethan could continue a video tape fell into his hands. The others looked up and noticed the eagle that dropped, before they could do anything however she flew away. Ethan looked at the tape in his hand. "What are the odds?"
The team rushed into Cam's former office and played the tape in the academy computers. As the tape ran they saw everything, the saw Yuri slapping and molesting Kat, they saw him openly mocking Tommy, who could barely keep his composure at the sight of Yuri groping and hurting his wife. The others looked on with great disgust and completely understood their friend's frustration. After the video ended Tommy was ready to kill somebody, a feeling he had never experienced before in his life. He was about ready to take his frustration on one of the computers when Kim interrupted him.
"Who was that girl that stopped him?" Kimberly asked.
"It doesn't matter!" Tommy dismissed her. "She is one of his f*cking Dairangers!"
"Why are you asking?" Jason asked her.
"It just felt weird that she helped Kat." Kim pointed out. "It didn't look they made it up for the video. She looked generally concerned."
"Probably because she wants to hump that bastard Yuri!" Tommy said with intense hatred.
"Her name is Miranda Almeida." Shane interjected. "She used to be a student in the academy."
"A student in this academy?"
"Not just a student…" Tori added. "…one of the best students! If not the best."
"Why would she turn against you then?" Adam asked.
"We're not quite sure." Shane began. "However we have heard enough stories about her to know what happened…" Shane took several paces around the room. "It is a tragic story, really." He the turned towards the rangers and began his story:
"A few years ago, Miranda was one of the most promising students in the Wind Ninja Academy. Her martial arts and sword fighting skills would rival those of any other ninja out there. It looked very much like she would be chosen to be the next head sensei. That is until the five Gorda brothers arrived in the academy.
They were siblings who were also unmatched martial artists and sword fighters, however they were also pretty jealous of others who were good like them. One day the oldest Gorda brother challenged Miranda to a fight in front of everyone. He obviously underestimated her and was pretty sure that he would defeat her. This, however, did not happen. She practically destroyed and humiliated him in front of the entire academy.
A true ninja would accept an honorable defeat like this. Unfortunately, these brothers did not have the ninja spirit, and were determined to humiliate her back. After she defeated the second oldest brother in a one-on-one fight they were truly angered. That night while she was taking a shower in her private quarters, the brothers sneaked in and we can only imagine what they did to her.
She was never the same person after that. She stopped talking to her friends and began to fall greatly behind the other students in training. The Gorda brothers had successful eliminated their competition. It is even possible that they continued to torment her, in a way to be certain that she was not going to get back into training. Soon enough she became so weak from their abuse that she was almost thrown out of the academy for multiple failures. It seemed that the Gorda brothers were going to get their wish and get rid of her for good. However it was not to be.
One day while in training, she managed to snuck in one of the non-training daggers in her blouse. She made it very clear that she was going to take a shower, knowing that at least one of the brothers will follow her. It would be his last mistake. She slit his throat with her dagger and rather than finishing him, she sat there and watched him as he was choking to death. When the rest of the brothers came in, she immediately jumped one of the, stabbing him multiple times in the stomach. The other brothers ran to get help, but she followed them and took them down one by one in the most violent way she could. It was one of the ugliest sights you would ever see in your life.
The five brothers were dead and she was relieved to be free again… But the academy rules were unmerciful, for the crime of murder; she should have received one-hundred whips from a staff. And for five murders… she pleaded them that she was in the right, but no one listened to her. The punishment was carried out and by the time it was over it was amazing that she was still alive. She had tremendous will power!
The academy did arrange an investigation as to what led to these murders, but that was when Lothor came and attacked the academy. The investigation never happened…
And that is pretty much it." Shane sighed.
"How tragic!" Kimberly said. "I can't imagine what she must have gone through all these years."
"It makes you wonder if any of the other Dairangers had experiences like that." Billy added. "Maybe they were just a group of people that were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Too bad that she didn't die in that day!" Tommy angrily said.
The room was filled with silence until Tommy noticed that his phone was ringing.
"It is time to get to the bottom of this." Said Tommy before answering.
"Did you get my video?" Yuri asked with an evil tone.
Tommy looked at his friends, and they immediately figured out who was calling. "Yes, I did."
"What do you think?"
"A lot of things, but I doubt you will take offense to any of them."
"Don't worry, comrade. It was a pleasure."
Tommy was doing everything he can not to lose his temper, but was having great difficulties. "I swear, if you hurt her again…"
"Oh, I will hurt her many times again, comrade!" Yuri interrupted him. "But only if you don't listen to us! Now if you would so kindly follow our instructions, then you will get to see your lovely kitty Kat again. Alive no less."
"What do you want?"
"I want the four remaining Ninja storm rangers to come alone at the only cave in Reefside forest. Standard exchange, you know the drill."
"And you will release her?"
"Maybe." Yuri smirked.
"What do you mean 'maybe'!"
"I hold the upper hand, comrade! The ninjas or your Kat! Think about it!" after which he abruptly hanged up.
"Damn it!"
Tommy quickly explained to the remaining Ninja rangers what the situation was about.
"Don't worry, Tommy! We will be all right!"
"No! I cannot make the four of you sacrifice yourselves!"
"We won't be sacrificing anything! Besides, if Miranda is there we will try to talk to her…" Tori said.
"Are you mad!"
"Easy, Tommy!" Jason calmed him down. "Do you guys really think that you can convince her to leave the Dairangers?"
"It is worth the try."
"And what if it doesn't?" Tommy asked.
"Do not get us wrong…" Blake and Hunter interjected. "They killed our friends, and now we are going out to get our revenge! If she doesn't wish to defect, then she will be an enemy like all of them!"
"OK…" Tommy sighed. "But remember, stay alive! We cannot afford to lose anyone else right now."
"Don't worry! Our sensei taught us well!"
"One way or another, we are going to end this!"
Adam was quietly watching all of this when he noticed that his cell phone began to vibrate. He picked it up and noticed that the call was from Madison.
"Maddie, what happened?" Adam was relieved to hear from after all this time. "I couldn't find you all morning?"
"Adam, I can't talk too loud right now."
"Why? Where are you?"
"I am at Rootcore…"
***Secret Chamber in Rootcore***
It was one of the five entrances that the Mystic Force rangers used to launch their broomsticks. However when the Dairangers entered the base and destroyed the Xenothome, which was the source of their powers, their abilities to use magic were gone for good.
"…yesterday I went to visit Rootcore on foot. I just couldn't leave without visiting it one last time you know?"
"Thank God."Adam face palmed himself in a sign of relief.
"What happened, man?" TJ asked. "Where was she?"
"The mystics base of operations." Adam was almost laughing at all his worrying earlier on that she had been captured. "What are you doing right now?"
"I am hiding from the Dairangers." She said with a trembling voice.
"WHAT?" Adam's raised voice caught the attention of the others.
"Adam, what is wrong?" Kimberly asked.
"Madison is hiding from the Dairangers!"
"The Dairangers?" Tommy quickly took the phone from Adam's hand. "Madison, its Tommy, where are the Dairangers?"
"They are here at Rootcore…" she explained. "They arrived yesterday afternoon and I have been hiding in a secret chamber ever since."
"Did you notice someone with them?"
"I can hear them talking." She paused for a bit to listen in. "I think they have a hostage with them… I think it is female."
"It is Kat!" Tommy told the others. "Kat is at Rootcore!"
Madison then lowered her tone and continued to listen in to their conversation. The five Dairangers were now all accounted for and were gathered around the destroyed Xenothome. Yuri was giving them their orders when Miranda flew in, in her eagle form. Upon landing she immediately transformed back into her human form. Khalil, Lyzander and Ivelise who had already arrived in Rootcore were all seated and listened to Yuri's orders, while Kat remained tied up against the wall.
"The message was sent, did you call them?" Miranda asked.
"Yes." Yuri responded. "Any complications along the way?"
"None to speak of."
"Good! All things considered, I would say that we are doing great."
"This has to work! If we don't get those ninjas we are done for!" Lyzander said.
"For you at least." Yuri pointed out. Lyz took offense and got up to his face, only to be restrained by Ivelise.
"Ok, cool down!" she told him, and he sat back on his chair. "No arguing; go on, Yuri."
"Thank you! The plan is very simple really: the cave where we the exchange will take place is very narrow, we will just wait until they deep enough, then we can ambush them without any difficulty!"
"That is what you said last time!" Lyzander said.
"Come on!" Khalil interjected. "Don't argue, my friends."
"Ok, I suggest you all get ready."
"What about her?" Miranda asked in regards to Kat.
"She could use the fresh air. Leave her here!" Yuri looked at his wrist, like he was looking at a watch. "Alright it is almost time for the exchange, everybody rest up and be prepared to move out in 30 minutes!"
"They said that they are going to ambush you, when you come." Madison whispered into her phone.
"Good to know!" said Tommy. "Thank you, Madison! Stay there and be quiet."
"Don't worry I…"
"Yuri!" Khalil shouted. "There is someone else in here!"
Upon hearing this, Madison was completely frozen in fear. Khalil walked up the chamber where she had been hiding and was about to open it.
"Khalil, get back here!" Yuri ordered him.
"But, my friend…"
"I gave you and order!"
"I think there is someone here!" Upon hearing Khalil's words, Maddie could feel her heart stop. His hand was on the chamber door and almost opened it.
"Do not argue with me!" Yuri said with authority. "Get back here!"
Khalil reluctantly agreed and sat back down.
Madison sighed and told the other silently. "They almost got me!"
"Just don't panic!" Tommy encouraged her. "We will be there as soon as possible."
"OK." She said hesitantly.
"Maddie…" Adam, took the phone and said softly.
"Yes, Adam?"
"Stay safe out there. Don't do anything risky."
"Thank you. I will!"
About half an hour later the five Dairangers left Rootcore and began their journey to the rendezvous point. Khalil noticed that Yuri had a big grin on his face.
"You knew that she was hiding in there all along, didn't you, my friend?" he asked.
"I just can't keep a secret from you, can I, Khalil?" Yuri responded. "That is the main reason why I wanted us to go to Rootcore."
"So you knew that she would be there…" Lyzander stopped him. "…and you wouldn't tell me!"
"The needs of the many, over the needs of the few, comrade!" Yuri said.
"But how did you know that she would be there?" Miranda asked.
"Someone told me that she was near the magic source…"
"Who?"
"Long story!" Yuri cooled them down. "I was a little disappointed that she didn't gather the courage to call them earlier!"
"So, what good does that do?" Ivelise said. "Now they know our plan!"
"That is why we are changing the plan…" Yuri looked at his wrist again. "…as of right now."
"Well don't keep us in the dark then."
"Khalil… does the name Ocean Bluff sound familiar to you?" Yuri asked and Khalil entered his trans-like state and saw visions of five rangers using animal spirit to defeat their enemies. "I figured out what our next task will be… so I decided we do that first, and then when the rangers come to help, we will finish them off."
"You better be right!"
***Back at the academy***
Everyone was gathered at the courtyard. Tommy stood in front of a monitor, which showed a map of the area, and began the briefing.
"OK everyone, this is the situation:
The Dairangers demand that Shane, Tori, Blake and Hunter come to the cave in Reefside forest, they probably chose to have the meeting take place in a location where they could keep an eye on us. The cave is very narrow, so there are many places inside where they could ambush us. Also the area surrounding the cave is rather clear, and they will probably have someone hiding in the tree line so if we make one wrong move they can kill Kat."
"So, what do you suggest we do?"
"We will outsmart them:
The ninja rangers will go to the cave as planned; however, Billy and Cestro will keep an eye on them through the satellite surveillance. If something happens, we will use the aquitian technology, which they were working on these last few days, to teleport Connor, Ethan and Kira to help them out."
"What about Misses O?" Kira asked.
"Me, Jason, Kimberly, TJ and Adam will infiltrate Rootcore, while the ninja rangers go to the cave distract the Dairangers. Once we free Kat, we can all join forces with the Ninja storm team and eradicate those beasts; or if things get complicated and either team is forced to retreat, we are ready to teleport them safely away with the new teleporter. Either way, we are all set to complete this mission without any sacrifices."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Jason said with a smile.
"Remember, we don't know where all these Dairangers are, so it is vital that we stick together!" Tommy reminded everyone.
"Man, who knew doctor O was such an expert in tactical warfare." Connor whispered to Kira.
"OK, if nobody has any questions then let's prepare and move out!"
***Two Hours Later***
Shane, Tori, Blake and Hunter were walking quietly in the forest. They were taking their time on the way to the cave, to make sure that they don't get ambushed along the way.
"There is the cave." Shane pointed out. "Let's do it guys!"
Shane & Tori: "Ninja Storm: Ranger Form!"
Blake & Hunter: "Thunder Storm: Ranger Form!"
The four Ninja rangers morphed just outside the cave and prepared to enter it. They walked in cautiously, preparing to draw their weapons at all times. They kept walking around the cave expecting to be ambushed but all seemed quiet.
"Hello?" Hunter yelled but received no answer.
"Is this the wrong cave?" Tori asked.
"There is no other cave in Reefside forest." Shane said. "This must be the place."
They continued to walk around the cave for a few minutes but all was quiet. Finally the silence was broken when Tommy called them via their communicators. He and the others were riding in two jeeps, which was the only alternative to walking on foot to Rootcore, since they were saving the teleporter for emergencies.
"Guys, report!"
"There is no sign of them!" Shane responded. "Yet!"
"Keep on your guard, we are almost at Rootcore!"
The ninjas reached the end of the cave and found no sign of the Dairangers.
"Where are they?" Tori asked. "Did they forget where the exchange was taking place?"
"I think they sent us on a wild goose chase!" Blake said.
"What would they gain from that?" Hunter said.
Meanwhile Tommy and his friends reached Rootcore. The all got out of their jeeps and approached the main gate.
"Looks deserted." Kimberly pointed out.
"The perfect cover for the bad guys!" Jason added.
"Let's go." Tommy signaled them to move in. As they were walking, the entrance to Rootcore began to open. "Guys, hide!"
They all took cover in the nearby bushes and observed the activity around Rootcore.
"Hey, look! Somebody is coming outside!" Adam said and the rangers quickly prepared themselves for battle, expecting the five Dairangers to walk out.
Rootcore's entrance opened and out walked Madison, carrying Kat's tired and tormented body.
"Madison?" Adam said, popping out of the bushes.
"Adam?" Madison said with relief.
"Kat!" Tommy quickly rushed to her side and embraced her as Maddie handed her over to him.
"Tommy?" Kat slowly opened her eyes and tried to speak.
"Don't worry, baby! I am here!"
"Tommy…"
"Shhhh!" he stopped her from talking by placing two fingers on her mouth. "Don't worry, love. It's over."
"Tommy…" She took refuge in his arms and began to cry.
"Thank you, Madison!" Tommy said, while holding her hand. "Thank you!"
"Any time!"
Meanwhile Adam walked up to Madison.
"Are YOU Ok?" he asked her.
"Compared to her? Yes." She answered.
"How about compared to yourself?"
"Well…" Madison looked at her figure, which hadn't eaten in almost a week. "If nothing else at least I got slimmer these past few days." She said with smile.
"Do you know what happened to the Dairangers?" Jason asked her.
"They left about an hour ago." Maddie explained. "I wanted to come out earlier, but was unsure if they were going to come back or not."
"You did the right thing!" Tommy told her. "Let's call Billy and Cestro and see if the ninjas found them…"
***Ethan's House***
Billy and Cestro were following the progress of their friends with the new scanner equipment. Once they rescued Kat, they were teleported to the Wind Ninja Academy, with the exception of Ethan, Jason and Kimberly who were teleported to the house for a debriefing. The ninja rangers also returned to the academy, yet remained stunned as to why the Dairangers didn't appear.
"So, they didn't appear and everything went clean." Billy asked.
"These evil-doers must have figured out our plan to draw them out in the open." Jason said.
"Talk about bad luck, I better check the scanners, maybe we can manually set the satellite to track them..." Ethan began looking at the various cables, to make sure that there would be no glitches. "Did all go well in Rootcore?"
"Way better than we expected." Jason said. "Just in case, Kat will have to visit a medical unit to ensure that she is all right."
"Well at least it all went good. It could have been much worse…" Ethan began.
"Hey, the TV…" Billy pointed out.
"Sorry, I will turn it off." Ethan proceeded to turn the TV off, when he saw something that caught his attention on the screen.
"Guys, look." Kimberly pointed out. "Aren't those Casey and Lilly, the Jungle Fury rangers?"
"Maybe!" Ethan quickly grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.
"We are here at the Pizza Parlor, where two bodies were discovered just a few minutes ago. Authorities have yet to determine their identities, but by all reports they used to be part of the group known as the Power Rangers."
"It was all a diversion!" Jason said. "They made us believe that they were going to attack us, yet their targets all along were the Jungle Fury rangers!"
"We have to get to Ocean Bluff!" Ethan suggested. "If any of the other Jungle Fury rangers are alive, then we must help them!"
"Unfortunately we can not use the teleporter." Cestro said.
"Why not?"
"It's power reserve is too low, we have no chance of teleporting more than one person at such a distance." Billy concurred. "If we use it to transport several people at a too long distance, we risk it having a meltdown and we will have to build one up from scratch again.
"Then we will drive there!" Ethan said and called his teammates to be ready.
***Ocean Bluff***
Unfortunately it was already too late for the rest of the Jungle Fury rangers. Dominic fell to the ground after being stabbed by Khalil's dagger, while Lyzander chased down Theo and stabbed him with his dagger. Lyz was overjoyed to take his first acquired ranger crystal and exchanged a high-five with Khalil. However when he turned around he noticed something bad at the nearby street.
"I am going to make you pay for what you did!" RJ managed to avoid Miranda's shot to his back and the two began to fight. After a while, when it seemed that RJ was getting the upper hand, Miri pulled out her dagger, that she kept tucked away in her boot, and tried to stab him with it. RJ saw this however and quickly reversed his attack, throwing her to the ground and taking his dagger.
"Jungle Beast: Spirit unleash!"
RJ used his spirit animal wolf to knock Miranda off her feet. She was shaken for a while and tripped down, hitting her head on the concrete. RJ stood above her, but the other Dairangers quickly ganged up on him and Yuri finished him off with his dagger. Once he was dead, Yuri stood above Miranda.
"Miri, are you OK?" he asked, by offering her his hand.
"Yeah, don't worry about me." She grabbed his arm and got up.
"You are bleeding!" Yuri noticed, pointing at her foot. "Do you think you can continue the mission?"
"Of course!" she said. "It's nothing. Just a scratch." She tried to get, but collapsed to ground again.
"It may be just a scratch…" Yuri interjected. "But it also means that you cannot continue our mission! Ivie, escort Miranda back to the temple; me, Khalil and Lyzander will finish off here!"
"Ok!" Ivelise nodded and helped her stay up.
"I can still fight!" Miranda said.
"No!" he screamed. "I cannot risk you getting hurt!"
"But…"
"That is an order!"
"Ok." Miranda nodded in agreement. "Good luck, guys!" she said before her and Ivelise were transformed into stars and disappeared in the sky.
Yuri watched all of this and after they were gone he turned to the remaining Dairangers.
"The rest of you, move out! We still have those ninjas to take down!"
"Any specific details on how we are going to do that?" Lyzander asked.
"We will ambush them on the highway!"
***Highway road to Ocean Bluff***
"How much longer?" Blake asked.
"About three miles." "Shane responded.
"Can't we go any faster?"
"I am doing the best we can! This isn't exactly one of your sports bikes!"
The Ninja rangers and the Dino Ranger entered several vehicles and drove off to ocean Bluff. Lucky for them, the road was very clear of cars, since it was Saturday. While the Ninja's were driving they discussed what they were going to do with Miranda.
"Do you still think we should talk to her?" Blake asked Shane.
"We have to try! If she is still loyal to the ninja ways, then she might be reluctant to agree."
"Hope you are right."
"Guys, look out!" Tori yelled as she saw a giant log flying towards them.
They hit their brakes but the log still managed to break the front window of the car. Shane looked in the distance and saw two familiar figures approaching them: Yuri and Lyzander. Realizing that they were being ambushed, they exited the vehicle. The Dino rangers pulled their jeep over a few clicks away from them and tried to morph when they were cut off by Khalil.
"Surprise!" Khalil told them confidently as he blocked their path.
"Guess it is go time!" Connor stated.
"AURA MORPHER!" Khalil yelled out. "Green Ranger, the howling Illusion star, Green Prime!"
The Dino rangers slowly left their vehicle. "Not bad, check this out!" And they proceeded to morph.
"Dino Thunder: Power up!" The three Dino rangers charged at Khalil with their weapons.
Khalil: "Let's do this! Green Prime: Cerberus Staff!"
Khalil fought the three Dino rangers with help from his illusions and Cerberus staff. At times he would be one person, then two, then three, then one again. No matter how much the Dino rangers tried they could not strike him down. Meanwhile Shane and Hunter tried to help them but they didn't realize that Yuri was right behind them.
"Come on guys! Lets do...Arghhh!" Shane tried to order his friends to morph but was stabbed in the back by Yuri.
"Too late, rangers!" he laughed.
"No!" Hunter screamed, but was quickly knocked back by one of Yuri's fireballs.
Blake and Tori tried to help him, but were ambushed by Lyzander, who began fighting them with his Pegasus staff. Hunter tried to get up, but Yuri with one swift move managed to stab him with his dagger as well.
"Hunter!" Blake screamed in panic as he witnessed his half-brother die.
"Blake we have to retreat, now!" Tori urged him and they both ran.
"Get back here!" Lyzander yelled and went after them.
Blake and Tori were running towards the coast, while Lyzander was chasing them. Tori used her ability to walk on water to escape him, Blake tried to do the same, but Lyz tripped him with his Pegasus Staff. Blake tried to fight him, but Lyzander knocked him out. Tori, not ready to abandon her friend used her ability to manipulate the water and caused a minor wave that got Lyz's attention, it was not enough to hurt him, but it was enough to help Blake escape certain death. He quickly rushed into the forest, while Lyzander was uncertain as to whether he should go after him or Tori. While has thinking he saw Tori attempting to manipulate the water in such a way as to cause a tidal wave. She was successful, though the wave was not big enough to cause any collateral damage, but it was more than enough to knock Lyz on the ground. When he felt a tremendous pain in his body and the water dragged him all the way into the nearby trees where he hit his head.
***Ethan's apartment***
Billy and Cestro were desperately trying to contact the Ninja and Dino rangers, when they detected the tidal wave, realizing that they could not risk the lives of the rangers and that it was to late for the Jungle rangers, they attempted to teleport them back. They were successful and all of them were teleported safely back, safe for Hunter and Shane, who laid motionless. They tried to give them first aid, but there was no use, since they were already dead.
"Sixteen Rangers!" Billy said while trying to keep his composure. "How could they be so powerful!"
Suddenly a minor blast happened from the teleporter, too small to hurt anyone but made a painful sound.
"Hey…" Connor said while trying to get up. "I thought the teleporter wouldn't work in such a long distance."
Cestro looked at the teleporter, who had now been reduced to scrap thanks to the power surge. "It will not now!"
***Somewhere on the highway to Ocean Bluff***
The blast from the tidal wave cooled off, and the tide was returning to the sea. On the coast laid Lyzander, who had been knocked back by it. When he regained consciousness, a few minutes later, Blake and Tori were nowhere to be found. He got up and desperately looked for them but to no avail. Unable to coup with his failure he fell to his knees. The lord had demanded that he returned with two blue ranger crystals, yet he has only one. The punishment for failure was not something he was willing to endure.
"Lyzander?" Khalil yelled.
"Oi, blue boy!" Yuri screamed as well.
Khalil and Yuri were looking for their friend all over the place until they found him just sitting on the coast with his face buried deep in his hands and his ranger helmet on the ground. They walked slowly behind him and tried to get his attention.
"Lyz?" Khalil asked. "Are you OK, my friend?"
"I failed!" he murmured.
"No crystals?" Yuri asked, to which Lyzander didn't respond. "You are in big trouble! Khalil, let's go back to the temple, we need to report back!"
"What about our friend?" Khalil asked, referencing Lyzander.
"You go, I will be along in a few minutes." He told them.
Yuri and Khalil were transformed into stars and were propelled into the heavens, while Lyz walked around the coast for a few moments. He took his ranger helmet from the ground and threw it at a nearby tree. Collapsing under the humiliation that he could not complete his task.
'I cannot go back! I have to risk it! It is all or nothing!'
Realizing that this might be his only shot at pleasing his lord he picked up his weapon and ranger helmet and began to move south towards Angel Grove.
***Location Unknown***
After a long absence, the five Dairangers finally returned to their temple, where they were greeted by their lord Ismail and his general Koragg.
"En taro, Ismail!" They all bowed down.
"Welcome, my friends!" Ismail said with a loving tone. "I take it there is a reason for your delayed arrival."
"We ran into several road blocks along the way, but we managed to complete our task." Said Yuri.
"Far and beyond." Ivelise added with a smile, as they all handed their new crystals.
"The ninja crystals as well as the Jungle fury crystals? Very good, I see you have figured out our next step."
"Yes, master!"
"Excellent." Ismail then looked over at them and noticed something. "Four are here, yet five there were that left." The Dairangers looked around and realized that Lyzander was not with them.
"Didn't he teleport here?" they whispered to each other.
"He said he would be right behind us." Khalil whispered back. "I don't know what kept him up."
***Tommy's apartment***
Tommy carried Kat into their home, she was still shaking from fear, but felt much better once she was reunited with her friends. He held her close to him to let her know that she was safe. She took refuge in his arm.
"Don't worry, babe. It's OK, it is all over!" Tommy whispered into her ear.
"Thank you…" she wanted to tell him so much, but she couldn't muster the strength so she just fell asleep. Tommy, not wanting to disturb her, gave a gentle kiss on the forehead and let her rest.
Meanwhile on the outside TJ was checking his car, while Adam and Madison took a small walk around the neighborhood to give Kat and Tommy some alone time.
"Hey, Maddie…" said Adam. "…good work out there, you really came through."
"Thanks. It comes with being a ranger." She remarked.
"So true."
"There was an instant there… where I though that they had discovered me. I remember I was frozen stiff."
"Don't worry; all is well when it ends well. You should great compousure and great courage to get you through." She nodded and agreed. Adam then took on a different tone. "As long as we are here, do you want me to show you around town?"
"I would like that, yes."
"Hey, Adam!" TJ tried to get his attention, when Adam turned he saw his friend give him the thumbs up.
"Real smooth, TJ." He murmured to himself.
However as they were talking they heard an explosion and people crying for help in the distance.
"What is that?" TJ asked.
"I don't know, but we better go and find out!" said Adam and the three rushed to see who was causing all this.
They ran to find Lyzander attacking civilians and shouting.
"BLUE RANGER!" he screamed and used his staff to knock a parked car upside down. "BLUE RANGER!" he continued to call out. "BLUE…"
"You called?" TJ stepped up to him.
"I don't want you!" Lyzander said while pointing his staff at him. "I want…" he then saw Madison. "Blue Mystic ranger!" and made his way towards her, when Adam blocked his path.
"You want a fight?" Adam said. "Then fight me!"
Lyzander then pointed his staff at him. "Believe me, I would love nothing more than to kill the one whose fault it is that I was in this situation in the first place!"
Adam felt confused, but was not willing to listen to his rambling. "Then let's go!"
"Adam, wait!" Madison stopped him. "Why are you after us?"
"Because my lord orders it!" Lyzander took down his staff end explained. "I have nothing against you, personally!" he sighed "But it is either you, or me!"
"Your lord?" Maddie asked. "Who is he?"
"It does not concern you!"
"You are right, it doesn't!" Adam said. "But if you want to fight, then let's get it on!"
"No! I need the blue rangers!"
"Here I am!" TJ said while pushing Lyz to the side. "Let's go!"
"Not you! I want that Mystic ranger and the two Ninja rangers!"
"Really?" Adam said with his arms crossed. "And why is that?"
"I want the three of them to meet me at Angel's Valley, tomorrow morning!"
"Or else what?" Madison asked.
"Or else I am going to fill this city of corpses." He said and in a demonstration of power used his shield ability to knock back several vehicles at once. "Remember, tomorrow sunset!" And he ran off.
"Wait!" they tried to stop him, but he was too fast.
"We better call the others…"
***The next morning, Angel's Valley***
Morning came quickly. Sun shined over the ruins of the old Power rangers Command Centre. Lyzander passed back and forth awaiting his adversaries. Madison, Tori and Blake appeared before Lyzander.
"So, you decided to show up after all!" Lyzander said. "I am happy you did! As a reward I shall grant you a quick and painless death. AURA MORPHER!" Lyzander morphed and took out his Pegasus staff. "I admit you are very brave coming here alone!" He tried to talk more, but was cut off by Billy.
"Don't be so quick to assume that they are alone!"
"I know you!" Lyz pointed out. "You are the mighty morphing Blue ranger!"
"Guilty as charged." Billy responded.
"I have no beef with you, Ranger! Stay out of this!" Lyzander told him.
"I guess there is one thing you haven't learned about the Power Rangers: that we always stick together! Right guys?" as soon as he said those words, there on the hill appeared the other blue rangers that were ready to fight as one.
"Right!" they all shouted together.
"No!" Lyzander said while shaking. "I can't fight all of these rangers alone! I want these three!"
"If you attack one of us…"
"…then you will have to fight all of us!"
"It is time we taught you that." Billy said confidently. "And now… IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
Billy: "Triceratops… Blue Mighty Morphing Power Ranger!"
Cestro: "Blue Aquitar Ranger power… Blue Alien Ranger!"
Rocky: "Zeo Ranger three, blue… Blue Zeo Ranger!"
Justin: "Shift into Turbo… Blue Turbo Ranger!"
TJ: "Let's rocket… Blue Space Ranger!"
Kai: "Go galactic… Galaxy Blue!"
Chad Lee: "Lightspeed Rescue… Blue Lightspeed Ranger!"
Max: "Wild Access… Surfing Shark, Blue Wild force Ranger!"
Tori: "Ninja Storm: Ranger form… Power of Water!"
Blake: "Thunder Storm: Ranger form… Navy Thunder!"
Ethan: "Dino Thunder: Power up… Blue Dino Ranger!"
Madison: "Magical Source: Mystic Force… Blue Mystic ranger!"
Dax: "Overdrive: Accelerate… Kick it to Overdrive, Blue ranger!"
Kevin: "Go go samurai… Blue Samurai ranger, ready!"
All of them jumped down from the cliff and razed their hands, chanting: "Ranger Power!" as blue fireworks began exploding behind them.
***Location Unknown***
Ismail had gathered the Dairangers around a glowing crystal ball that showed them Lyzander struggling against his multiple adversaries.
"This is suicide!" Miranda said. "We should go help him!"
"No! He has chosen an honorable death." Koragg said. "We cannot take it from him!"
"Indeed!" Ismail agreed.
"Dad, please!" Ivelise begged. "We can't just leave him!"
"He failed his task! He knew the punishment for failure, and must now suffer because of his incompetence!"
"NO!" Ivelise screamed. "Dad, I beg you!"
"I sense there is more than friendship between you and Blue prime." Ismail said while looking at his daughter.
"Dad… I love him!" she got on her knees. "Please…"
"It is not for me to decide!" Ismail turned to the Dairangers. "Yuri, you have led your team through victory and defeat; would you say that Blue prime deserves a place in this Dairanger team?"
"He may be an incompetent fool…" Yuri began, much to Ivelise's disapproval of insulting Lyzander. "…but someone with the courage that he has may be worth keeping around."
"Really?" Ismail asked.
"However I do question whether he is the best choice as a blue Dairanger." Yuri added.
"You read my mind Yuri! Khalil, Ivie go with Yuri and bring back Lyzander!"
"Yes, master!"
***Angel Valley***
Lyzander was lying helplessly on the ground as the other rangers surrounded him. Tori, Blake and Madison approached Lyzander and were prepared to kill him, ranger protocols be dammed.
"Come on!" Lyzander shouted as he used his aure shield to knock the three back, and get himself back on his feet. "Fight with honor, you cowards!"
The rangers would have none of that and assaulted him, once again knocking him to the ground. "Where was your honor when you killed our friends?" Blake asked as he stood above him.
"Let's finish this a-hole and be done with him!" TJ said.
All of a sudden a huge bolt of fir landed near them as they were prepared to deliver the final blow. The rangers looked up towards one of the hills.
"Hello, Power Rangers!" Said Yuri, who was accompanied by Khalil and Ivelise.
"Yuri?" Lyzander said, surprised to see them here.
"Power Rangers! I carry a message for you…" Yuri began.
"And we have a message for you!" All of sudden Yuri turned around and was tackled to the ground by Jason, Khalil by Adam and Ivelise by Kimberly. "We defeated you at your own game!"
Yuri laughed. "You think?" he then directed his attention to the sky. He took out his Lamiya staff and began chanting. "Mogashty sazdaniya zapovyadvam vi da se biete!" The sky darkened and a magic portal appeared, from which several winged creatures began flying out of.
"What is that?" Kimberly asked.
"Imps!" Billy yelled. "Battle stations guys!"
Yuri used this momentary distraction to break free from Jason's hold. He helped his friends get up. "It is all over, rangers! We won! The fall of this world will begin very soon." He then used the imps to take the heat off Lyzander and helped him get up. "And you, the lord wants to see you!"
"Let me go!" Lyz demanded.
"Oh, shut up you cry baby!" He took Lyzander and carried him off to a safe spot on the cliffs, where he was joined by his other Dairanger friends. Yuri snapped his fingers, signaling the imp to stop fighting. "Can I have your attention, please?"
The rangers looked at him. "You are very brave, when you have an army of demons by your side!" Jason taunted him.
"We don't have to fight rangers!" Yuri began again. "Just because we are on the verge of conquering your world doesn't mean that you will have to fall as well! We reach out to every Power ranger who wishes to join us, to surrender their morphers to us and follow his High-Lord Ismail!"
"What!" The rangers were stunned by his bold guts.
"Is this guy insane?"
"We will never join you!"
"Don't be so sure rangers!" Yuri said. "You have 60 days to consider our proposal! After that, everyone who does not join us will cease to exist!"
The Dairangers were then covered in aura as they disappeared into the heavens along with the imps.
"Sixty days until what?" the rangers began to wonder what did they mean by that.
Billy walked towards the place were until a few moments ago laid Lyzander. He though he saw something shining on the ground so he picked it up and took off his ranger helmet to get a better look at it.
"This is Trini's power coin!" Billy noticed.
"What?" Kimberly and Jason ran over to him to see it for their own eyes. "Are you sure?"
"I am positive! It fell from that blue Dairanger's pocket."
"Don't tell me that guy killed Trini all those months ago!"
"I don't know guys." Billy remarked. He made it pretty clear that he wanted blue rangers only… we better check this out…"
To be continued…