Double Act

Chapter 12: Burning at Both Ends

A/N: So this one is gonna be kind of odd, since most of it's a copy and paste job from my previous stories. It's not that I don't want to write the parts, but it's just to get myself back to where I was with writing in this series. I had twenty chapters of this story done before my flash drive lost it all, so I'm just trying to catch up. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.

So confession time: I have nearly forgotten about this story and the other ones I've been writing. Between school and work, things are starting to become more hectic. I'm dealing with the fact that financially, I cannot attend my dream college and I'm more than likely going to my fifth choice school because they are the only one to offer me money. I get crappy work schedules and I work later. I'm dealing with a dying car battery. I have AP Exams and finals coming up, as well as senior week, graduation, prom, and scholarship acceptance dinners. I make no promises, but hopefully, by the second week of June, I will be back on track with writing. I also have to admit I've gotten caught up with writing a story I have yet to post.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter and I will post the next one as soon as I can!

Disclaimer: I only own things not originally in the show.

The only sound in the dino lab was Jason's laughter at the predicament his friend was in. Trini continued glaring at her husband, waiting for him to finish. Kim glared at Tommy, but decided to put her issues with him aside for now. The teens and Hayley stood there trying to figure out what was going on and why Tommy couldn't drop the morph. Tommy was beginning to think the gods of fate hated him. He tried powering down one more time to see if the third time would work, but he had no luck.

"Tommy, the suit looks good, but quit kidding around," Kim finally said. Jason began to calm his laughter.

"I wish I could, Kim," Tommy sighed. "When Trent froze me in that amber, my dino gem must have somehow remolecularized."

"In other words?" Conner frowned.

"He's stuck," Hayley concluded. She noticed something on the monitors. "And speaking of Trent…looks like he's up to no good again." It showed him and the orange ranger in their megazord.

"I am so over that poser," Conner huffed.

Tommy turned to the teens. "Go. We'll see what we can figure out here."

Trent and Kennedi, meanwhile, were rampaging through downtown Reefside in their megazord, hoping to draw out the rangers. Kennedi was trying to resist her gem's power even in morph, but nobody could tell that. The two were looking for a fight thanks to the gems telling them to do so. People who were on the ground ran away. "That's right," Trent spoke. "You better run."

"That's enough!" Conner shouted as he and his teammates rode in on the raptor riders.

"We're just getting started," Kennedi smirked. The rangers decided to form their megazord, attaching the Parasaur zord to help them out. The two megazords battled for a few minutes, attempting to strike the other down. However, each was able to hold their own. It took a minute for them to stop. "Make your move."

"Now what are they up to?" Ethan asked.

"I don't know," Kira shrugged. "But we have to stop them."

Trent had the answer. He drew his drago sword and swished it around, creating chains. "We hate to do this to you," he sent them flying at the others. It wrapped around the megazord. "Nothing personal."

"We need dinozord help here," Kira suggested. They called in the dimetrozord and the cephalozord.

"Perfect," Kennedi smirked as Trent drew two bubbles with his sword. He sent them to the zords. "Containment fields online." The two zords became encased in a barrel like containment field, rendering them useless.

"Our dinozords!" Ethan gaped.

"Let them go!" Conner demanded.

"Sorry," Trent rolled his eyes. "Not gonna happen."

"You need to stop this!" Kira pleaded. "You're both out of control!"

Instead of replying, the two ignored them and began walking away with the two zords in tow.

After figuring out there wasn't much they could do with their zords for the moment, the three rangers had headed home for the night. None of them had a good night's sleep, too worried about how they were going to deal with the evil rangers they were facing. By the time morning came around, Kira found herself walking into the school with Ethan, passing through the parking lot. They weren't really talking when Randall walked up to them. Conner had yet to be found, but they weren't too concerned. They knew he was sometimes late because he walked to school sometimes, and he was usually the last of the three to get there. As they walked toward the building, they were stopped.

"Hey, you two," Randall stopped them. "I got an email from that science teacher of yours. He's claiming to be too sick to work."

"Well, now that you mention it," Kira began. "He really didn't seem himself the last time I saw him." Ethan and Lily nodded in agreement.

"Well, I better not find out he's faking it," Randall warned. "Or he can kiss his job goodbye." She walked away, leaving the two alone.

Kira sighed. "A model of warmth sympathy." Ethan tapped the girl's shoulder and pointed to where Conner was calling for them

"What's up?" Kira asked as the two approached Conner at the bleachers. Something didn't seem right. Conner had called them over. On his way to school, he had run into Trent, who he discovered had the power of camouflage. In the fight, Zeltrax and a new monster, Insectolite, had interrupted them and shot Trent with something that the boy claimed to turn him back to normal.

"It's Trent," Conner answered.

"Now I know you're crazy," Ethan remarked as Conner led them to where the boy was sitting.

"I know dude," Conner ignored that little bit. "But check it out. He's reformed."

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she looked at Trent. "Trent? Are you in there?"

"Hey," he stood, facing the three. "It's really me."

"One of Mesogog's monster attacks backfired," Conner explained.

"I think he released the dino gem's hold," Trent finished.

Ethan frowned. "That doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

"Guys, look," Trent pleaded. "I'm really sorry for everything I've done to you. You gotta believe it wasn't me. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you…"

"How about returning our zords for starters?" Ethan suggested.

"Meet me in the warehouse district this afternoon," Trent nodded. "I'll give you back your zords. And I might have a little peace offering as well."

"And what about your partner in crime?" Ethan prompted. "She gonna be there to help?"

Trent shrugged. "No idea. She just kinda shows up and disappears."

After school, the rangers were doing what they were told. Tommy tagged along as well, suspecting there was more to this than what was being told. Something seemed fishy, and they had to check it out. The rangers arrived in the warehouse morphed and on their raptor cycles, Tommy riding with Conner. When they arrived and stopped, they all got off and faced Trent, who was sitting on a couple crates.

"Hope you don't mind," Tommy greeted as they met in the middle. "I tagged along just in case."

"Dr. Oliver," Trent returned the greeting. "You're okay."

"More or less," the science teacher replied.

Ethan interrupted the moment. "I hate to get right to the point, but I don't see any zords around here."

"I thought we'd start with the piece offering I promised first," Trent stated. He walked back over to the crates he was sitting on when they first arrived. He removed the sheet that was covering something. What it revealed was an ATV styled similarly to the raptor cycles but in black. "I figured you guys could use the help against Mesogog. Who wants to try them out?"

"Make way," Ethan moved forward.

Tommy held him back. "Sorry Ethan. I think it's better if I try it first." Tommy walked over to it, examining it. "Nice," he commented, hopping on it. "Twelve stroke engine?" Depending on Trent's answer, it would either spell trouble or things would be how they should be if Trent was back to normal.

"Yeah, sure is," he nodded, not really paying attention. This got the black ranger's attention.

Tommy glared through her helmet. "They don't make twelve stroke engines, Trent." He turned to face the teacher with an evil smirk.

"And Mesogog doesn't make monsters that turn people nice either," he retorted. Before Tommy could do anything, Trent kicked the ATV, effectively starting it. Since he couldn't get off now that he was moving, he stayed on, trying to gain control.

"It's a trap!" Tommy yelled. The other four rangers dove out of the way as the ATV headed for them. The ranger disappeared outside as the three youngest ones regrouped and faced Trent, ready to fight.

"You'll pay for this!" Conner vowed. Trent whistled and a white ATV appeared, resembling his dino suit.

He smirked. "Later suckers." Jumping into the air, he morphed and landed on the ATV. He sped out of the warehouse, chasing Tommy. The three rangers moved to head after him, only to be stopped by Insectolite appearing and blocking the exit, a group of tyranodrones accompanying him.

Outside, Tommy continued to try and gain control of his new ATV. Trent was following him close behind, making it difficult for the black ranger to work. Trying to change the direction he was going in didn't seem to work. Trent attempted to fire at him from behind, hoping to catch the black ranger off guard. He was slightly wondering if the orange ranger would show up soon. Then again, as far as he knew, she wasn't working for Mesogog.

Tommy stabbed his brachio staff into the controls of the ATV. That seemed to do the trick as he managed to stop the vehicle and turn it to face Trent. The two charged each other, firing at one another. Both knew the other rangers were being held up by the monster in the warehouse. Tommy then managed to drive past Trent, trying to lead him away from the warehouse. The white ranger wasted no time in following him. When they stopped and faced each other once more, they got a new visitor.

"You wouldn't let me miss all the fun now, would you?"

Both looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice. It wasn't until shots were fired at both of them from above that they spotted the enemy.

"Didn't think I would find out about this, did you?" Kennedi huffed, sitting on her glider cycle in the air. "Now my only issue is to figure out which one of you to take down first."

Before either guy could do something, she began attacking again, first aiming for Trent and then Tommy. After doing so, she disappeared from sight.

This befuddled the two.

After the fight against Trent, the rangers regrouped in the dino lab, most of them sore. They had managed to trash the bikes in the fight against Insectolite, and the ATV was still, for the most part, uncontrollable. Hayley had instantly gone to work trying to fix the bikes at least. They were all trying to figure out what exactly was going on with Trent. The three teenage rangers were morphed with their helmets off.

"Can we go over this again?" Conner asked, still trying to wrap his brain around what was happening. "Trent made a deal with Mesogog, pretending to let Insectolite turn him back into himself, as a way of tricking us into taking the rigged ATV?"

"I can't believe he made a deal with Mesogog," Kira sighed. "That is a new low."

"And risky," Ethan pointed out. "Trent was supposed to beat us. Mesogog's not gonna be happy."

"Lighting the candle at both ends," Tommy spoke up. "The white ranger's bound to get burned."

Hayley walked over to them. "And I think I know how to get the fire going. The ray used by Insectolite destroyed your energy shields. I bet if you could get that creep to aim his energy buster at the zords…"

"We could break through Trent's shield around them," Kira finished for the red head.

"Small problem," Ethan realized. "How's Trent gonna feel about all this?"

Hayley wiped her hands on a rag. "Every trap needs its bait."

"Trent!" Kira called. A plan had been formed and the rangers were putting it to action. All four of them were morphed and walking down an alleyway, calling for Trent and looking for a fight. "Where are you?" So far, nothing about the white ranger had shown up. They were hoping Hayley's idea combined with their plan would work.

"We gotta talk bro," Conner added.

"Trent!" Ethan yelled.

Tommy finished up the yelling. "You made a deal with Mesogog. Now it's time you made one with us." When their backs were turned, Trent appeared morphed as well. Without a word, he charged, speeding by the rangers. After doing this, he and Conner became locked in a fight, both trying to get the upper hand.

"You wanted to see me?" Trent wondered.

"We wanted to make a little deal of our own," Conner answered.

"I don't make deals with posers," Trent snapped. This made Conner angry as he briefly gained the upper hand in the fight.

"Take that back!" he growled. Trent stepped on his shoulder and flipped onto the ledge of a nearby building.

He stared down at the rangers. "You just won't learn, will you?"

"Learn what?" Kira demanded as they regrouped.

"The white ranger always wins," Trent waved his sword before disappearing. Their morphers went off and Tommy answered.

"Go."

Hayley gave them the report. "It's working. The monster is back on the other side of the warehouse."

"Got it," Tommy nodded.

The rangers made their way to the other side of the warehouse in no time. So far, everything was going as planned. "There he is!" Conner pointed as they ran on the scene. Insectolite was standing straight across from them, looking ready to fight as well.

"Out of my way!" he ordered. "I've been sent to get the white one!" The four rangers fell defensive before charging Insectolite, getting the fight on. If they could just get him to fire at the containment fields, then they would have their zords back. All four stood back and drew their sabers. Insectolite fired, knocking them down before they could attack again.

"Brachio staff, energy orb," Tommy made his attack as he got back up. "You're going down!" he fired, hitting Insectolite dead on.

"Let's help him out guys," Conner suggested. "Tyranno staff!"

"Tricera shield!"

"Ptera grips!"

Kira decided to go in first, using her weapon to assault Insectolite. Conner followed, sticking his staff on the ground before swinging around it and repeatedly hitting the monster. Ethan picked him up with the tip of his shield and threw him in the air after spinning him a bit. The rangers regrouped as Insectolite slammed against a wall, landing on the ground.

"That got him," Ethan grinned.

"Help me load him up," Tommy ordered.

When they finally finished fighting, the rangers were in worse shape than before. The three youngest ones were resting on top of the black ATV. Hayley was finishing repairing the raptor cycles, hoping to make their next fight a bit easier. As usual, they ended up having a zord fight, but they failed to get their own zords back. The main problem at getting them back now was the fact that the two captured zords switched sides.

"Trent has got some nerve," Kira groaned.

"Why can't he just give up?" Ethan whined.

"Good thing I never give up," Hayley wiped her hands on a rag. "Your bikes are fixed. Just don't do it again, okay? And as an added bonus, I reprogrammed the ATVs. They should come in handy."

"We're going to need all the help we can get," Tommy turned to face the group. "If Trent and Mesogog team up for good, we're gonna have a real battle on our hands."

"What about the orange ranger?" Conner asked. "We haven't seen her in a while."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Let's hope it stays that way. Having one teamed up with Mesogog is bad enough."

"From the looks of it," Tommy spoke, gaining their attention. "She doesn't work for Mesogog and doesn't want to. She was fighting against Trent earlier when he gave us the rigged ATV."

"So what does that mean?" Conner frowned.

Kira caught on first. "It means we still have a chance to get one of them on our side."

A/N: What'll happen next? Just to clarify some things: Kennedi will not work for Mesogog at all, so she won't know about him being Anton. She now works alone, but she doesn't show up for most fights as she refuses to let the gem take control of her. She also won't turn good until after Trent does. Anyway, what'll happen next?

Thank you for being patient/reading/reviewing!