"Hold on to something!" Adam exclaimed as the tremors under the Megazord increased. For being fake, it sure felt like the real thing. A powerful one two. The Megazord shook and swayed with the earthquake, making our sensors go off like crazy. The sirens and lights flashed and wailed, warning us of the danger. Reaching up, I braced myself in my seat and Tommy held on to the back of Adam's chair as we endured the shaking. Ahead, the Dragonzord loomed closer, it's movements adding to the shaking of the earth. Over the loud speaker, we could here the sound of people screaming and buildings rumbling. Closing my eyes, I did my best to not picture what the worst could be right now. I had complete faith in Tommy's kids and knew they would do their best to save everyone they could.
"We're heading to you now!" Aisha's voice called over the system. Three beams of light streaked across the sky, landing on the ground in front of the Megazord. The Dragonzord came to a stop next to us as Aisha, Billy and Rocky climbed up into the cockpit with us.
"How did it go?" I asked, glancing towards them. Rocky nodded.
"Good! Connor and the rest of them are managing to get everyone over to the arena. I think this is going to work." He replied. Everyone took their seats as I turned to Tommy. Reaching over, he took my hand.
"I'll see you in a little while, beautiful." He said softly, stroking my hand. I nodded, thankful he couldn't see the worry on my face. He squeezed my hand gently before hopping from our Zord to his. The door slid shut, locking us safely into the compartment.
"Now what?" Adam asked, helping Billy switch the controls back to normal.
"We wait for Tommy's signal." Rocky's voice said. The five of us sat, holding our breaths as we waited for Tommy. The Dragonzord stood still, the setting sun casting dark shadows behind us. The sunlight reflected off the silver of it's chest plate, making it seem to glow. It was a huge Zord, one of the strongest pieces of our arsenal. I was glad Tommy was back on our side. I couldn't imagine fighting both Serpentera and the Dragonzord at the same time.
"There!" Aisha cried, pointing towards Tommy's zord. Its eyes flashed red and he shifted towards the hotel.
"Affirmative." Billy said, gripping his throttle. The Megazord moved forward, following after the Dragonzord. With the hotel set towards the edge of town, it was a matter of maneuvering between the other buildings to get close to it. Chunks of buildings, concrete and steel littered the ground. People ran in the streets and I caught sight of Ethan and Trent leading people away from the hotel. I didn't see Connor or Kira, but the line was people was beginning to thin as they all headed into the arena farther up the street. Tommy manned the Dragonzord, so it stood in front of the entrance of the hotel. We took the back, blocking any kind of exit that was there. Both Zords locked into place, an eerie silence falling over the area as dust floated around the hotel.
The hand of the Dragonzord pulled back and struck the front of the hotel. The roof and the sign seemed to explode in a cloud of dust and sparks. Aisha and I pulled on our levers, bringing the arms back and slammed them both into the back of the building. You could see the entire thing shift as we impacted, windows shattering throughout the place. I made sure to connect in the part of the building where I thought Rosita's throne was on the Seventh Floor. I wanted to know for sure that bitch wasn't going to get out of here. Tommy seemed to have the same thinking, firing his missiles into the building where the staircases was.
Soon, the building was nothing more than a pile of rubble in between the towering mechs. Tension filled the area as we searched through the ruins, looking for any sign of life. The five of us controlled our areas of the Megazord, helping it dig through the rubble. We needed to get to the basement where our target was. The Dragonzord helped, it's hands working like shovels to clear out more debris. The first sign of the basement appeared, the room where Zach had been attacked coming into view.
"RANGERS!" Alpha's voice cried into the communicators. "Be careful! There are powerful energy signatures coming from the chamber underneath the hotel."
"It must be Serpentera." Rocky murmured, peering down from the Megazord. "The sooner we blow this thing up, the better."
"Where are they?" I asked, scanning the area for any signs of life. How is it that we weren't picking up on anything that resembled Goldar, Rosita or Strasser? Not even a single putty to be found. Something wasn't right about this.
A flash of green light told me that Tommy had teleported from his Zord into the basement. We watched as he walked over to the control panel and pushed some buttons. The secret chamber opened, and he teleported back up to the Dragonzord. Fog and mist rolled out of the opening as the platform raised. The head of the giant zord raised from the ground, it's dragon face looking up towards the sky. Tommy's voice crackled over the intercom as he shifted the Dragonzord to face the opening of the chamber. "Aim everything we have that way." He called. New missiles loaded into the chest plate of his zord while our own artillery loaded into the chambers.
"Counter brace." Rocky said, glancing towards Billy and Adam. The two rangers nodded, locking the legs of the Megazord into place. Gripping the lever by my head, I shifted it up into the loaded position. Aisha did the same behind me, the entire cockpit on stand by while we waited for Tommy's signal.
"NOW!" His voice bellowed. Slamming my palm down on the button, the entire zord shook as the torpedoes blasted from their cannons. The noise was almost deafening as ten projectile explosives hit their mark, a giant fire ball flying into the sky. The sound of screeching metal filled the air and I winced from it's high noise. Serpentera went up in flames, pieces of it shattering all over the place. Some bounced off the glass of the cockpit, scratching the window. All that remained were charred bits of the building and the gigantic zord. A feeling of relief came over me as I realized it was gone. Rosita's plan had been foiled. There was no way she would be able to use it to attack the citizens of Angel Grove. At last, we knew we had the final upper hand over her.
"Are there any signs of life down there?" Aisha asked, standing from her seat. She leaned over Rocky's shoulder, looking at the screen in front of him and Billy.
"Negative. It seems that Rosita and the rest of her army was able to escape." Billy replied, pulling the arm of the Zord up to get a better look. The dust was beginning to settle around us and people slowly emerged from the surrounding buildings.
"We might need to do a press release." Adam said. "The town is going to think the Power Rangers just attacked the hotel for the hell of it."
"Adam's right." Rocky's voice said as he shifted in his seat. As he stood, the entire Megazord began to shake under us. Both he and Aisha fell backwards, landing in a heap together as the rest of us shook in our seats. It felt like an actual earthquake happening underneath us.
"Tommy!" I called out, hoping to hear him.
"I'm here. It must be after shocks in the underground part of the chamber." His voice said in my ear. Billy and Adam worked to stabilize us quickly. Soon, the shocks stopped and the Zord stopped swaying.
"The explosion could have found underground gas pockets and set them off." Aisha groaned, pulling herself to her feet. She helped Rocky up, brushing herself off. "We are on a fault line after all."
"Affirmative." Billy unbuckled from his seat and pulled his communicator to his face. "Alpha, are the others working on helping the civilians?"
"Yes, Billy. They need your help. There are so many people." Alpha answered over our watches.
"Let's teleport down, guys." Rocky said. Grabbing our morphers, we teleported out of the cockpit down to the crowded arena. A flash of green light appeared next to our group, Tommy appearing from it. The building in front of us was the event center. It stood 13 stories high and was large enough to house up to 100,000 people. Everyone who had been in the hotel or in the buildings around the hotel was inside. At the front door, Connor and Kira were trying to convince a large group of people that it was not safe to be outside yet. Things were growing heated as more people came forward. Tommy stepped towards them, aiding his students.
"I understand everyone is scared but we can't have civilians on the streets until we know it's safe." Tommy spoke to the group. They all turned to face him, listening as he spoke. "We located a powerful enemy inside of the hotel and needed to take care of it before people were hurt. Checking the area for danger will be quick as long as everyone stays inside."
"My things were in there!" A woman cried, looking angerly at us. The man next to her nodded.
"I was supposed to be there for a week! Where will I go now?" Others joined their argument, asking what would happen now and how they could get their belongings back. I couldn't believe my ears. In all the years we spent as Power Rangers, I had never experienced the people of Angel Grove being so rude towards us. Before, they had always been grateful for us saving them. This felt like they were upset with us doing it. I wasn't looking for hero worship, but this was downright ridiculous.
"Let us out of here!" A voice cried as the group suddenly pushed forward. The people in the arena came barreling out, filing into the streets. We attempted to stop them but there were just too many people. We were at risk of hurting them if we tried using force. We stood, watching them walk out of the building. Kira, Conner, Trent and Ethan looked at us helplessly, no doubt looking for some guidance. Tommy sighed, hanging his head.
"The perks of the job aren't what they used to be." Adam muttered next to me. I nodded, wishing I could slap some sense into these people. There was no use though. At least they were safe now.
"What is that, mommy?" A small voice said to my left. Turning, I saw a blonde woman about my age holding a little boy who appeared to be around five. She didn't bother to look where her son was pointing, her attention on the chaos around her. His gaze was fixed on the sky, his arm pointed out right towards it. My eyes followed his arm until it landed on a large black mass covering the sun. A gasp emitted from my mouth as I backed up to get a better view of it from in between the buildings.
"Kim?" Tommy's voice asked. "What is it?" I didn't answer as I continued to move. Between the building, a long black shadow was beginning to form as an enormous mass came closer towards Angel Grove. It was long, sun reflecting off the metal scales on the back of the object. It moved like a snake and it's glowing red eyes seemed to beam right towards me as I froze in the middle of the street. The other rangers ran towards me, the kids bringing up the rear as I gazed up at the form of Serpentera as it loomed high above Angel Grove.