Sledge struggled against the combined might of all the Rangers. Tyler was still down and out, but due to the unforeseen complication of his blaster only being able to muster a single shot before it needed to cool down, combined with the fact his support was still a little way off, he was left facing them on his own.
Riley was kicked back hard, splintering through a massive oak tree as he grappled with Koda. The caveman was remarkably strong, and while not as strong as him, he was startled that now he seemed to be causing him issues with far more than just brute force. He had learned a lot from Jack and Carl, and as a result, rather than just pure brute strength, his grappling had a lot of technique behind it now, meaning he could easily circumvent Sledge's greater strength.
"Koda, give me a clear shot!" Phillipe yelled at him, powering up as he got back to his feet. He could feel blood welled up in his mouth from the shot that put him down, but he willed himself on, summoning up all the courage he could. Koda switched around, hooking Sledge into a chickenwing hold, immobilising him with his chest exposed. "Royal Ranger PUNCH!"
The wrecking ball flew out; glowing brightly as it went, slamming into Sledge's breast plate. There was an almighty clash as it hit, and he could feel it give. Koda used the momentum to carry Sledge overhead, dumping him straight on his head before regaining his feet.
"His breastplate! It's cracked!" Shelby yelled as she noticed a large crack running the length of it from his right shoulder to his left hip. "Riley, Koda, lend me your weapons!"
"Damn it, one more minute, that's all we needed, just one more minute!" Chase called out as he took aim with his Para Chopper and his Dino Blaster, taking down as many of the new arrivals as he could at range. Riley rushed to take on Fury with his Dino Sabre.
"Will you run away like you did all those months ago?" Fury taunted him as they locked blades.
"I've been waiting a long time for this!" Riley responded as they fell upon each other. Shelby recovered the triple spike while Phillipe and Koda fought to keep the monsters away from Tyler's fallen body.
"This is no time for a nap mate." Chase said to Tyler, earning himself only a groan in response. "We could use all the help we can get."
"Keep them occupied!" Sledge ordered his followers as he got his blaster back, checking on it. The temperature was falling, meaning that it wouldn't be long before he could fire another blast. He cursed as he started waving it around, hoping to use the air to speed up the process. While it was far from a clear victory, the Rangers were now occupied, and he had his back up. The Energems were now closer to his grasp than ever before, so close he could just about taste it.
Over in the Dino Bite cafe, Allison was standing by the counter, resting her elbow on the counter, while she rested her face on her hand. The morning coffee rush was just about over, but now that news had broken of a Ranger battle, the cafe, as it often did, quickly emptied. People were eager to go where they could get access to a television in order to see if the local news crews had managed to get some word on how it was going. She had suggested that the cafe could perhaps try setting up a large screen television in order to take advantage of that, but so far it was still "on the drawing board." It didn't help her right now, now she had no customers, and no way to check if her friends were alright, meaning that once all the chores were done, all she could do was wait and think about what could possibly be happening.
"Alright, the grease traps have been cleared out." Leanne answered, coming into the room with a cheerful skip in her step. She always seemed to have that about her, it was one of the reasons she was so popular with the customers. No one on shift with her minded, not least because it was reflected in the tips at the end of the shift. She seemed to find a way to make even the most unpleasant jobs seem like they were enjoyable. "So, how long ago was it since they were cleaned out?"
"I try not to think about it. The guys are meant to take turns cleaning them out, but more often than not, they end up having some kind of bet to see which one of them has to clean it up after it's been sitting so long it gets to the point of being a health hazard." She responded. "Last time Chase lost and he ended up smelling like onion rings for a week."
"Well, it's done now, so if it gets done regularly than no one will have to go through that." Leanne answered. Allison looked to her.
"How do you do that?" She asked her.
"Well...I had the time since the early rush died off." Leanne responded. "And it's not really that difficult, it's more the 'ick' factor and getting over that, once you start it's really not that..."
"I meant...how do you stay so calm?" Allison asked her. "You know as well as I do...better probably going through the Briarwood incident...what they're facing right now..."
"My Aunt and Uncle would say 'believe in magic', but I think I believe more in the people." Leanne assured her. "You know the guys, they've got this!"
"I wish I was as confident..." She started to say, before seeing something coming through the door. She responded quickly, shoving Leanne behind her. "Leanne, get back!"
"What the hell are THEY doing here?" Leanne asked, seeing a couple of Spikeballs and some viviks coming in.
"Those Rangers hang around here so much, Sledge wanted us to level this place!" One of the Spikeballs answered as he started to approach them. "We won't just destroy them; we'll destroy everything they care about!"
Allison grabbed a fire-extinguisher and sprayed it in the Spikeball's face, hoping to distract him while they got away, but in his blind stumbling, he hit her with his club. Hitting the wall and sliding down it, she started to fade out of consciousness. As she did, she could hear some screaming, but it didn't sound like Leanne, it sounded more...masculine. Her vision was blurry as she caught sight of someone fighting the monsters, and could swear that one of the Spikeballs was screaming in pain just as everything faded to black.
Back at the battle site, the Rangers were fighting for their lives as Sledge tried in vain to get his blaster working again. He let out a triumphant yell as the display finally showed it was ready to fire once more. He levelled it, beginning to take careful aim.
"Choices, choices, so many choices." He said as he tried to pick a Ranger to unleash it on. "Which one will it be?"
"How about NONE?" They heard Keeper call out as he somersaulted into the area, smacking the blaster aside with his staff, before knocking Sledge away.
"Keeper! You're here?" Chase called out.
"You may have an Energem, but you will NEVER have the heart of a Ranger!" Keeper told him.
"Keeper, stay back! He's too..." Riley started to say, before Keeper launched into the attack, leaping and twisting around in an impossible display. The Rangers had never seen Keeper fight, he always talked about conserving his power for when it was necessary, but they never knew HOW powerful he was. It occurred to him that he had said he had fought Fury millions of years ago, but they had presumed that his reluctance to fight was down to his power diminishing with age. "...dangerous?"
"He's amazing!" Shelby called out. "GO KEEPER!"
Keeper continued to out-pace Sledge, tagging him with harsh attacks that sparked off his armour. A particularly telling one struck home where Phillipe had split the breastplate. Sledge clutched at his ribs as he fell to a knee, before snatching up his blaster. Keeper managed to get his staff in the way, but the power of the blast still punted him off his feet. His staff fell to the ground out of his grip, and the alien fell to the ground, unmoving.
"KEEPER, NO!" Riley called out as he ran forward, but Fury cut him off, taking him to the ground. Sledge got slowly to his feet, still clutching at his side. There was already a thick, dark fluid coming through between his fingers, which the Rangers presumed was blood.
"Grab him!" Sledge screamed at some Spikeballs, indicating to Keeper. They quickly scooped up the lifeless form of the Rangers' mentor as the rest of them fired off shots to keep the Rangers at bay. He started to work with his blaster, which was protesting, but he started mashing buttons to over-ride the safety features. Who cared if his blaster exploded? If he managed to take out another Ranger, then it would be worth it!
"We can't let him go with Keeper!" Phillipe yelled as he rushed forward. Things seemed to slow down as Sledge aimed straight for him. He had inadvertently chosen Sledge's target for him. Sledge was about to pull the trigger when he was driven off his feet.
Ivan had arrived in his Ptera Zord, and unleashed its blasts, creating distance between the Rangers and their adversaries. He had hit Sledge almost directly, taking almost all the fight out of him. He needed a Spikeball to help him shakily back to his feet. He took one last look around and realised the situation. So far he had two Energems and Keeper in his grasp. If he waited any longer, he risked losing the advantages he already had.
"Fall back!" He called out to his forces. Fury seemed only too glad to break off from Riley, who was putting up a much tougher fight than he remembered from the first time he faced him. Sledge was quickly on his communicator. "Wrench! Cover our escape, send forth Greenzilla!"
Tyler started to stir and come to, at which Shelby was quickly by his side. He started rubbing his head.
"How are we doing?" She just pointed up at the sky as a massive green monster started to descend. "Oh...that well huh?"
They all looked up in time to see a huge, green monster descending. It seemed that Wrench had already used the Magna Beam on it. The huge creature was already starting to make its way towards the city.
"We need to get you..."
"I'll be fine Shelby." Tyler told her.
"But..."
"I said I'll be FINE!" Tyler said, pulling his arm out of her grip. "If that thing gets to the city, none of this is going to matter anyway!"
"Tyler, we've never tried to control the Zords unmorphed!" Chase reminded him.
"Then I guess there's a first time for everything." Tyler responded. "Someone mind giving me a hand?"
With that, Chase and Koda each grabbed one of his arms as the Rangers leapt into the Megazords, aiming to put a stop to Sledge's monster, leaving them to hope that Kendall's Get-bot would be able to retrieve the Energems in their stead.
Back at the Dino Bite Cafe, Allison started to come around, finding Leanne kneeling over her, holding a damp towel to her head. She tried to sit up.
"Don't move too quickly. You took a hell of a bump to the head." Leanne told her.
"Leanne, what are you doing here?" Allison asked her.
"I work here." Leanne responded.
"Yeah, but...why aren't you about fifty miles from here by now?" Allison asked her in response. "You could have been..."
"I'm fine." Leanne assured her. "I couldn't very well leave you behind."
"Wait...what the hell happened here?" Allison asked, looking around at the restaurant. It was a mess, but it was far from the demolition job she was expecting. The Spikeball had told her that they were meant to bring the whole place down. There were weapons discarded around the place, almost like the monsters left in a hurry. Leanne looked around and saw this.
"Ah...well..."
"What happened Leanne? Who did this?" Allison asked her.
"It was...a Ranger!" She told her.
"A Ranger?" Allison asked. Leanne just nodded. "But...all our friends are out...wait...was it one we've seen before?"
"I...don't think so." She answered.
"Leanne, which one was it? The Aqua Ranger? The Silver Ranger?" She asked. Leanne paused for a moment.
"Um...the first one." Leanne answered. "Yeah, it was the Aqua Ranger! His suit was this kind of uh...light blue colour!"
"Then where did he go?" Allison asked.
"I...guess he must have left after the monsters did. Maybe he chased them away." Leanne told her. "I was a little concerned making sure you were alright."
Just then, some wreckage shifted, and a vivik pulled itself out. It looked over to where Allison and Leanne were sitting, before letting out a hellish scream and running away. It ran so quickly and in such a blind panic, that it struck a wall and splattered into green goop. Allison just blinked, unable to believe what she had just seen.
"What...what was that about?" She asked.
"Maybe that's a question you should ask after we find out if you have a concussion." Leanne suggested, helping Allison up and positioning herself under her arm. "Come on, I'll get you to a hospital."
Back in the forest, Kendall was waiting for Sledge and his crew to return and head for the ship. She heard the commotion and was pleased to hear that they seemed to sound harassed and harried, like their battle hadn't gone well. She had to restrain herself from yelling out loud and jumping for joy as she saw Sledge being helped back to a pod by one of his Spikeballs, dark fluid running through his fingers from a wound in his side. However, her joy was short-lived as she saw him signalling to some others. She saw them dragging the unmistakable form of an unconscious Keeper.
"Bring him to one of the pods! Put him in that one!" Sledge instructed them. "He's cost me enough problems! Now thanks to him I only have TWO of the Energems! I want to see him burn for all he's done!"
"Keeper, what the hell were you even doing here?" Kendall asked herself. One of the Spikeballs looked around and noted a problem.
"Sir, if you take one of the pods, and Keeper does...there aren't enough pods for all of us." It informed him. Sledge just glared at him.
"Fury, deal with that problem would you?" He asked. Fury swung around, destroying a few of the viviks that were fortunate enough to get away from the battle. He looked to the others.
"Is there enough room now?" Fury asked. They all nodded in agreement, starting to climb into transport pods, squeezing in as many as they could. Kendall could only watch as Sledge and his cronies started to take off.
"They have Keeper and two Energems?" She asked herself. She stopped to try and think of what to do. When she couldn't come up with anything, she found her thoughts straying as they always did, to her idol. Whenever she didn't know what to do, she always tried to imagine what her Aunt would have done in the same situation. Steeling herself as she saw the last two viviks heading for the final transport pod, she found herself breaking cover.
She was quickly on top of them, hitting them with everything she had. With a hard kick, she sent one of them into a tree, where it turned into a green goo, while the other was thrown to the ground. Driving her heel down into its head, this one too turned into a green goo as it disintegrated. She ran, climbing into the transport pod and pulled the doors shut, setting the computer.
"Return to ship." The computer said as she figured out how to activate it. Kendall felt the ship lurching and beginning to move, before being pressed back into it by the acceleration as its thrusters kicked into life. She held on tightly.
"Alright Kendall, you had no choice." She told herself. "They have two Energems and they have Keeper. You needed someone...to go to the ship...completely unarmed...and with no powers whatsoever..."
She placed her hands over her face as she realised what she had just done.
"Oh Kendall...you so haven't thought this through." She muttered to herself, thinking that somehow she doubted her Aunt would have done this...at least without a much better plan!