A/N: The rescue mission draws to a close in this chapter.
A/N 2: I own nothing. Power Rangers once belonged to Saban, then they went to Disney, now they belong to Saban again. Some of Adrianna's warriors who will be introduced starting in this chapter have the names of certain characters in mythology. Qetesh is but one.
Chapter 19 – The Freedom Part III
Sept. 4, 2004
M-51 Galaxy
Beneath his helmet, inside the rebirthed Ninja Mega-Falconzord, Tommy grinned foolishly. Dulcea had not only quelled his slight worry about the Zords being suitable for space travel, but had revealed that the new Ninjazords had several new facets to them.
First of all, each of the new Ninjazords had weapons consoles to put their weapons in, and all three different Megazords had programs built inside of them where each of the Rangers weapons could be controlled by a Megazord. The original six Ninjetti had their old weapons but with new abilities, while the newer Ninjetti had different weapons.
Justin's was the Turquoise Dolphin Crossbow (which Kimberly had worked day and night with him on), Tanya possessed the Violet Elephant Tomahawks (two of them), Kat's was the Orange Jaguar Cannon (similar to the Power Cannon but lighter and specifically made for Kat), Trini possessed the Silver Dove Katana, Zack possessed a Beige Moose Drill and Jason possessed a very powerful Golden Eagle Saber that completed their arsenal.
Tommy had looked intensively through the rest of the things the Zords could do on the way, and his eyes lit brighter with each passing second, and in particular his eyes lit the brightest when he found one specific part about the Zords that he felt would make a huge difference. Kim couldn't see what he was thinking but there was no doubt he would have some surprises in store.
"We're getting close, I've got her weapons armory within range," Dulcea told Tommy through his communication device from the cockpit of the Dragon-Tiger Megazord (which also included the Hawk and Owl Zords). "I may be a mentor but this one's all you. What do you want us to do?"
Tommy gave Kim a look as if to convey his plan to her, and when she nodded her head, Tommy issued instructions to Dulcea, and then turned his attention back to piloting the massive Zord.
Adrianna Repulsa's Dungeon
As the alarms continued to blare throughout Adrianna Repulsa's palace because of the impending arrival of the Rangers in their Zords, Jen Scotts, from beneath her hood, disguised (for the moment) as one of Adrianna's soldiers, stopped briefly to just stare and admire what was right outside the window.
What none of the current Rangers knew about the Pink Time Force Ranger, or any of the other Rangers from the future for that matter, was that on the road to becoming Rangers, Jen and those of her ilk from the future had read and studied intensively about the first Rangers of Earth and how they had built one of the finest legacies the Earth had ever seen. It was part of her quest to get into the Academy in the first place.
To be quite blunt, the Rangers outside the window were her heroes growing up, and her biggest heroes were those who bore the Pink Crane and White Falcon animal spirits; they were at the heart of the Ninjetti.
Jen truly felt for Tommy and Kim the most, because they had gone through so much crap that was no fault of their own, and still had managed to climb back in the game...together. Their love, and their power, was the real deal.
In fact, Jen had modeled herself after Kimberly, in both personality and on the battlefield and thus had become one of the only female Rangers in history to ever lead a team, much less lead it to victory.
"You know, our Mistress could use some help, whoever you are," Princess Archerina said as she sauntered around the corner. "Those geeks are out there fighting her and you're standing around doing nothing!"
"If she's good enough, Arch, she can handle herself against a team of Rangers," Jen said softly, "so why don't you quit worrying?"
"Touché," Archerina said. "Don't worry, you can go help our Mistress, I'd love nothing better than to torture these guys some more. It's not like those geeks outside care about them anyways."
Archerina was so busy gloating that she hadn't noticed a glowing portal that opened near the cell, nor did she notice the cell door being opened. Before she knew it, the ground exploded beneath her feet and Dustin Brooks stood over her, foot on Archerina's chest with his Lion Hammer in his hand.
"Move and you're done, tin can," Dustin growled. Archerina threw Dustin off her and turned to the hooded figure, still not knowing who was behind that mask.
"Uh, a little help here," Archerina called.
"That would be nice, but I've got something a little different in mind," the hooded figure said as she casually took off her robe and smashed Archerina right in between the eyes with a powerful kick that stunned her briefly, but Archerina recovered and shot a confused glare at the human.
Jen Scotts breathed a deep sigh of relief as she ripped off her hood for the last time, revealing her civilian clothes.
"You can tell your Mistress she's been gamed on so many levels," Jen growled fiercely. "You made the mistake of allowing a Power Ranger, and a Pink at that, to infiltrate your ranks."
"You'll pay for that you little bitch!" Archerina growled, but before she could take another step forward, she was barely able to dodge a fatal water attack from Tori that surely would have ended her.
Archerina barely had time to glare at Tori before she was blown back by a fierce gust of wind as Shane Clarke stepped up beside his fellow Rangers. Angrily, she loaded an energy charged arrow and fired it at the three only to hear two shouts of "Thunder Shield!" as the arrow harmlessly deflected off the shields, falling harmlessly to the ground.
"I'll kill you all for this intrusion!" Archerina growled, only to get slashed in her side by Cam's Samurai Saber. She fell to the ground and did not move.
"Archerina my love!" Gasket cried as he ran onto the scene and looked at his fallen wife, the victim of an ambush.
"You're going to pay dearly with your lives, Rangers! Especially you, you traitor!" he growled as he pointed a finger at Jen Scotts.
"Nobody threatens to kill my beloved! Chrono Saber!" a voice shouted as Wes Collins suddenly hit Gasket with an energy slash from midair.
"Quantum Defender, Blade Mode!" came a voice seconds later as Eric Myers slashed at Gasket from the side, making him stumble into a wall and nearly crashing into his wife. As Gasket looked at his wife, Wes looked at Jen, took his helmet off and one could see his emotions raging and the tears threatening to flow right there.
"I can't believe you're here," Jen breathed out as she gazed at the one man she truly loved with all her heart, the very reason she'd risked her life in this hellpit.
"I would always come for you, no matter what," Wes said as he and Jen shared a fierce embrace. Wes noticed just how awful Jen looked by staying in this heaven forsaken place, and he already hated this place with every fiber of his being.
"This isn't the end of us, Jen. I just know it," Wes said. "Finally I have my dream in sight. Oh, and here's your Time Force badge."
Jen gratefully accepted the badge, and looked at Wes, then Gasket who was still tending to his wife.
"It's time to stop playing around," Jen said fiercely. "TIME FOR TIME FORCE!"
As Wes and Jen prepared to fight for their freedom, Eric suddenly glanced over to the side and saw the Dino Thunder Rangers had taken full advantage of the distraction and had the prisoners, heading for the portal.
"You two, go with them! Ninja Storm and I will keep them busy!" he said to Wes and Jen.
Jen and Wes looked at each other, and didn't ask questions as they headed for the portal. Gasket and Archerina tried to stop them, but the Ninja Storm Rangers and Eric rushed them and successfully kept them occupied as the Dino Thunder Rangers, the prisoners, Wes and Jen safely made it through the portal.
At Adrianna's Weapons Armory
"Let's fire at the base but don't hit her base, just scare her enough to come out," Tommy said. "Adam, can we get a Power Axe?"
"Activating Power Axe mode now," Adam said as he pressed a button next his Axe which was already in the console. Instantly, an enlarged version of the Power Axe appeared in the right hand of the massive Megazord. At the same time Kim instinctively pressed a button next to her console and an enlarged version of the Power Bow appeared in the Megazord's left hand.
"Kat can you get that cannon ready?" Tommy said through his headset.
"Got it, Tommy. Cannon Mode activated and ready," Kat said as a sleek orange cannon appeared in the hands of the Ninja Megazord.
"Selena, can we have a Thunderbolt ready to go please?" Tommy asked.
"One White Tiger Thunderbolt coming right up," Selena said as the Dragon-Tiger Megazord's mouth lit up, making Tommy smile and reminisce.
"As soon as we're in range, fire at the son of a bitch," Tommy said. "Don't hit it, but get it close enough to make her think we can do it now."
Before they could fire however, an orange space beam hurtled directly at the Megazords causing them to scatter. Moments later, three disgusting snakes came launching at the Megazords, but Kat easily incinerated them with a powerful blast from her enlarged Jaguar Cannon.
"So, the Power Brats finally decided to come out and play," Adrianna taunted from the cockpit of her war machine, which resembled a disgusting viper. "What's the matter, finally want to exact some revenge for me holding your friends prisoner?"
"You want nothing to do with them, you disgusting, ugly snake," Kimberly snapped as she launched an arrow which Cyclopsis easily deflected. "But since you asked, and since you saw fit to try to destroy something that I held dear, we came to show you that we can destroy something you treasure most too."
"Oh yeah?" Goldar taunted. "Let's see you handle this!"
With that, Goldar ordered Cyclopsis to fire its cannons at the same time that Adrianna pressed a button and fire spewed from her warzord's mouth. The blasts hit the Megazords at the same time and the Rangers suffered heavy damage.
"Damn! We can't take another shot like that!" Jason called as the Ninja Megazord spewed with sparks, as he saw that Adrianna was closing in on the Megazords and preparing for another attack. "Bro, I hope you got something planned over there!"
"I do, bro, hold it just a moment," Tommy said as he swiveled his chair over and faced Kimberly, their eyes locking through their helmets. "Focus on your powers and grab my hand, Beautiful, with us together, there's nothing we can't accomplish."
Kimberly wondered where he was going with this, but as soon as she focused her mind and grabbed Tommy's hand, she and the rest of the Ninjetti Rangers felt a surge of power, just as Adrianna launched another attack, this time of poisonous venom. But just as the attack neared the Megazords, it slammed off an invisible shield and disintegrated immediately.
Goldar's mouth dropped open in shock and Adrianna cursed the Rangers in disbelief.
"What the hell just happened?" Jason said.
"A power up, guys. It's the Metallic Armor that I once told you about but this time the mode is permanent, we never have to come out of it and it makes the Megazords infinitely stronger. They can't beat us now," Tommy said. "The only reason it wasn't permanent before is because Kim wasn't on the team. And the scary thing is, that's only a taste of the new power we now possess. You and your mistress should be beyond scared, Goldilocks."
"Your shiny new suits won't save you Rangers!" Goldar taunted. "Cyclopsis Blades, activate!"
Goldar pressed a button, and two short blades appeared at the end of Cyclopsis' arms and the Zord rushed at Tommy's Zord only to get hammered with a lightning quick punch, which was followed by the Dragon-Tiger Megazord raking Cyclopsis across the chest with its Hawk wings from the blind side.
As Tommy doubled back and regrouped with the rest of the Zords, he suddenly brought his communicator to his lips.
"Yes Zordon?" he said.
"The mission was successful, Rangers. Everyone has returned. Report back to the Dino Thunder base at once," Zordon said.
"Gotcha, Zordon," Tommy said. "Rangers, retreat!"
With that command, all three of the Megazords disappeared, leaving Adrianna confused.
"This doesn't feel right, Goldar," Adrianna snapped. "Something is very, very wrong."
"I feel it too, Mistress," Goldar rasped. "That didn't...feel right. That felt like a setup."
Suddenly, her beeper sounded.
"What is it, General Qetesh?" Adrianna snapped. "You had better have some good news!"
"I'm afraid not, Mistress," a distinctly female, beautiful warrior in a crimson and white robe said. Only when one looked beyond her angelic face, into her eyes could they see a look of pure, malevolent evil. "That attack on your armory was indeed a setup. The real mission was carried out by the Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder geeks, who managed to rescue the captives you once had."
"What else?" Adrianna growled. She had been played and though she wanted to blame her warriors, deep inside she knew it was all her fault for underestimating how smart the Rangers were. They had played her for a fool and she knew it.
"I hate to admit it, but we made a mistake putting a certain person in charge of overseeing the prisoners," Qetesh said. Even before one of her most trusted warriors spoke again, Adrianna knew something was amiss. "That person who infiltrated our ranks from what Gasket told me is a Power Ranger from the future, Jennifer Scotts I believe is her name."
Adrianna groaned noticeably. As if the Ninjetti and Dino Thunder geeks weren't bad enough, the Pink Time Force Ranger had made it safely back and was a force to be reckoned with.
"To make matters worse, Gasket and Archerina were badly hurt during the ambush. I sent them to Klank and Orbus so they could repair them both, but it will be a while before they are back in action," Qetesh said.
Qetesh waited for Adrianna to lash out, but surprisingly, it was not forthcoming.
"Thank you, Qetesh, for the report and for not getting involved in the battle," Adrianna said. "As much as it hurts to not have my trump card anymore, I'd like them to not see what I can truly throw at them just yet. I will be back in two weeks after I see my family and we'll address the situation then. Let them have their win for now. Adrianna out."
Adrianna then waved Goldar back to her palace as she flew back off for more time with her family.
Truth be told, she was fuming but she had to give those multicolored Ranger bastards credit. They'd out thought and out fought her on this day.
There was still a lot of time and she had a lot of patience, and she still had ways to make the Rangers' life miserable, but she knew that at this point the Rangers were to be feared, for many reasons over.
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