Chapter 20 – Dino Charge vs Megaforce (Part 1)
Dino Cafe
Outside the diner formerly known as Finchey's, Koda positioned a ladder underneath the building's old sign. The owner of the cafe had decided a few days ago to capitalise on the popularity of the Dino Charge rangers and give his business a makeover. It was out with the retro 50's styling and in with model dinosaur skulls, bamboo and oversized plant leaves. The blue ranger had been at the cafe with his sister for the last hour but his assistant for the day hadn't shown up yet. He was about to give him a call when he caught sight of a black pickup truck rattling up the road. He shook his head and pointed at his wrist as the driver of the truck stepped out, "What time do you call this Chase?"
"Relax man, I'm not that late", Chase took off his leather jacket and threw it into the back of Koda's van. "I had to stop when I saw these babies in the window of the comic book store", he reached into a plastic bag and pulled out a couple of Dino Charge action figures.
"What the hell are these?" Koda asked, looking over the blue ranger action figure.
"I know, I think they made my backside look enormous", Chase sighed, "and I really don't think Shelby's going to be too happy when she's sees hers".
"That's not what I meant", Koda twisted the head of his action figure all the way around.
"So this is why you're late", Chloe called out from the cafe's entrance, "I must say I've never had one of my employees stop off to buy toys on the way to work". Chloe grabbed the black ranger action figure from Chase's hand, "They're much better quality than the ones you've got", she said to Koda.
Chase snorted, "Koda still has toys".
"Collectables actually", Koda snapped, "still got an original red ranger figure in its packaging". He pointed his action figure at his older sister, "I remember that you once had a wedding involving your red ranger action figure and one of your Barbie dolls".
Chloe blushed, "Shouldn't you two get back to work", she snatched the figure out of Koda's hand and the bag from Chase. The two men smiled and began to work on removing the old sign, all under Chloe's watchful eye.
About half an hour later, Tyler emerged from the cafe with a pitcher of water in his hand. He had a white chef's hat on his head and a dirty apron tied around his waist, "Hey guys thought you'd like a quick break", he called out.
"No breaks until that sign's been taken down", Chloe replied, drawing groans from the pair up the ladder. "So how's life in the house of trouser", she asked the red ranger.
"Pretty good", Tyler began, "Jason's making sure we do all of our chores and Ivan has gone an entire week without setting fire to anything which is a bonus".
"How did all of you end up living together?" Chloe asked, "I don't think Jason ever told me that story".
Tyler tried to think of a convincing story but he was saved by a tremor from the ground. The sign above the cafe came loose and swung inches away from Tyler and Chloe. The red ranger grabbed the woman and moved her out of harm's way. Chase tried to cling on to the ladder but he had to jump down before he fell. Koda though wasn't so lucky and slipped from about half way up his ladder. The black ranger quickly moved over to the falling ladder and caught Koda before he seriously injured himself. "What the hell was that?" Chloe asked.
The cafe's sign fell down just as Chase replied, "It felt too powerful for a normal earthquake".
"But at least we got the sign down", Koda shrugged.
Tyler though had seen something in the distance and it didn't look good. Coming into view were Fury, Sorrow, Lady Jodella and an unidentified monster, "Chloe evacuate the diner through the back door", he stated, "we've got trouble".
Chloe looked at the approaching monsters and nodded, "What about you guys?"
"We'll barricade the front so they can't follow", Koda replied. His sister didn't look convinced but fortunately she retreated into diner, allowing the rangers to focus on the incoming threat. The creature with the generals had mostly green skin with a blue tinge. He had a broken piece of golden armour covering his chest. The top of the monsters head was covered with a silver helmet with feathers sticking out from the sides. Around his neck was an oversized gold necklace. "I know that creature but it can't be him", Koda whispered.
"Ah rangers, right where I want you", Fury smirked.
"What do want Fury?" Chase snarled,
"Just you're powers", Fury replied, "and I'm going to use this creature to help me", he pointed at the blue/green skinned monster, "allow me to introduce-"
"Vrak", Koda interrupted the General, "but he was killed by the Megaforce rangers".
"Oh totally", Jodella began in her usual happy tone, "he still is dead, technically. We used some of the Master's cells to revive him. I'm going to call him ZomVrak".
"We're not calling him ZomVrak", Sorrow shook his metal head.
"Whatever he's called, we're still going to destroy him", Tyler and the others pulled out their Dinovolvers and inserted an Energem, "Dino Spirit, Dino Charge", they called and morphed in a flash of light.
"Just what I wanted you to do", Fury smiled and charged towards the black ranger. Chase had to counter the general's blade with his own Dino Blade. He wasn't a fan of swords and he suspected that Fury knew that. The lion faced general lazily blocked Chase's swings with his multi-bladed weapon. He then unleashed his full anger at the black ranger, slashing him a couple of times across the chest. Chase tried to counter by using his Dinovolver to fire a couple of rounds towards the chest of Fury. The general blocked most of the shots but one clipped him under the arm. Fury roared and kicked Chase away before striking him across the upper body with his sword. The black ranger fell to the ground, breathing heavily, "Now Vrak", Fury bellowed.
The undead creature placed his hand on Chase's chest, causing the black ranger to roar in pain. His morph failed just a black orb appeared around Vrak's neck. Chase scrambled to across the ground to retrieve his Dinovolver but to his horror, it had been turned to stone, "That's not good", he muttered. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Vrak had taken hold of Tyler and Koda. They too had demorphed and the blasters in their hands had turned to stone.
"Yes this is all going exactly as I planned", Fury called out, "nothing can stop us now".
"Think again Simba", a voice called out and the general's came up heavy laser fire. Three colourful figures jumped in front of the fallen rangers. They were wearing suits similar to theirs, except they were stylised to look like pirate hats and coats.
"More rangers?" Tyler asked.
"The Megaforce rangers to be precise", Koda replied.
"Actually we're the Super Megaforce Ranger when in these suits", the blue ranger said as he knelt down in front of the Dino Charge rangers, "Damn it we were too late".
"Less science, more blasting please Noah", the yellow ranger called out. They noticed that these new rangers were largely ignoring the Deboss generals and going after ZomVrak.
"Let's try this mode", the red ranger called out and touched his belt buckle. A small ranger figure popped out and turned into a key. The other two rangers did the same and pulled out what they assumed was their morphers, "Ninja Storm, Ranger Form", they called. In a flash of light they had changed suits into the red, blue and yellow Ninja Storm Rangers. They pulled out the swords from their backs and moved at lightning speed towards Vrak, slashing him repeatedly.
"No they'll ruin everything", Fury cried, "retreat, we've still got three more powers to collect". In a flash of light the four creatures had disappeared, leaving behind the three mystery rangers and the three Dino Rangers.
"Damn it, they got away", the red ranger called out, "Power down guys". The mystery rangers demorphed revealing three teenagers, two males and a female. There was a dark skinned male with a curly black hair. He was wearing a blue polo shirt and beige trousers. The girl wore black jeans, a black leather jacket and a yellow top. Her blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders. Finally the red ranger had floppy brown hair, red top and a black leather jacket, "Here let me give you a hand", he took hold of Tyler and lifted him to his feet, "I'm Troy Burrows, this is Gia Moran and Noah Carver".
"Tyler Navarro", he shook Troy's hand, "Chase Randall and Koda Yamaguchi, thanks for saving us".
"Hello", Chase smiled at the yellow Megaforce ranger.
Gia sighed and shook her head, "Don't thank us yet", she began, "we still need to stop Vrak from taking the rest of your teams powers".
"Well two of them are at the mall", Tyler replied, "I have no idea where our gold ranger is".
"What's happened to our morphers", Chase held up his stone blaster.
"I'm not sure", Noah replied, "when we last fought Vrak he had some kind of power drainer, it would seem that your enemies have found a way to use that".
"Just when I thought Vrak could get any creepier, they go and make him a zombie", Gia shuddered.
Meanwhile Troy had been making a call using his morpher. He snapped it shut and addressed the group, "I've sent the rest of my team to the mall, hopefully they won't be too late".
Tyler nodded, "We'll take up back to our base, our tech expert will want to look at our frozen morphers". The others nodded and split into two groups, Troy and Tyler went with Chase in his pick-up whilst Gia and Noah went with Koda in his van. They sped away from the diner and quickly as they could.
Hunston Valley Mall
"Why have you dragged me to the mall Riley", Shelby groaned as they got off the bus near the mall.
"Well Shel, you're a girl right", Riley began.
"How very observant of you", Shelby deadpanned.
The green ranger sighed, "I need a girl's option for a birthday present for Marissa".
"You two have only been dating for a couple of weeks", Shelby began, "little early for presents don't you think".
"That's why I need your help", Riley replied, "I want a good present but not one that's too much".
Shelby sighed, the things she did for the men on her team. They were at the edge of the car park when a round of laser fire flew over their heads and slammed into the side of the mall. Knowing this could only mean trouble from the Deboss, they turned around and pulled out their Dinovolvers. They could see Fury, Sorrow and Jodella along with ZomVrak.
"The green and pink rangers", Sorrow called out, "as promised General Fury".
"Let's not waste time, I'm sure those annoying Megaforce Rangers are coming to help", Fury replied. Riley and Shelby looked at each other at the mention of the Megaforce Rangers, "Get them Vrak", he bellowed.
Riley and Shelby quickly morphed and went straight into Armour Mode. Riley had his Raptor Claw and a Dino Blade in hand and quickly went on the attack, slashing ZomVrak across the chest with both weapons. The broken armour on the creature chest didn't look strong but it absorbed the blows surprising well. Despite his undead nature, ZomVrak was also extremely fast. He punched Riley in the head and followed that up with a roundhouse kick that caused him to drop his blade.
He was about to grab Riley when Shelby called out, "Oh no you don't". She drove her Tricera Drill into the abdomen of ZomVrak, causing the creature to roar out in pain. The pink ranger tried to hit ZomVrak with her own roundhouse kick but to her shock, he caught her leg mid-swing. Shelby cried out in pain, it felt like every fiber of her body was on fire. Suddenly she demorphed and collapsed to the ground, her morpher turned to stone.
"Jake we're too late", a female voice called out. Shelby groggily looked up from the ground and saw another pink ranger, the Pink Super Megaforce ranger to be precise. The new pink ranger shot Vrak on the run with her blaster and crouched down next to Shelby, "Come on let's get you to safety", she added.
"Thanks", Shelby groaned as she limped away from the battle.
"Emma I could use a hand", she heard the Green Super Megaforce, who Shelby guessed was called Jake, call out.
"Go, I'll be alright", Shelby said to Emma.
The pink Super Megaforce ranger nodded and tapped her belt buckle, "Jake, let's try some hand to hand combat", she pulled out a small white key. "Jungle Beasts, Spirits Unleashed", they called out, changing into the Violet Wolf and White Rhino Jungle Fury Rangers. Using some impressive kung-fu skills, the pair were holding ZomVrak at bay. Riley had recovered enough to join in with his Dino Blade. He slashed at the throat of Vrak, causing the undead creature to recoil and protect his golden necklace.
"No!" Fury roared and fired a blast of lightning at the three rangers. Jake and Emma rolled away and powered down back to Super Mega Mode. Riley collapsed to the ground and writhed in agony. This opening was all that ZomVrak needed and he grabbed the green Dino Charge ranger by the neck. Riley's suit pulsed before he powered down, his morpher was also now fossilised.
"Yay we've got them all", Jodella jumped up and down on the spot whilst clapping her hands.
"Not quite, I still need to track down my old friend Ivan", Fury replied, "let's go", and with that the four villains teleported away.
"Man I forget how much punch a bad guy can pack", Jake coughed as he and Emma powered down.
"I can't believe that he's taken our powers", Shelby sighed as she looked at her stony morpher.
"Nothing surprises me with Vrak", Emma replied, she was dressed in a pink pair of shorts, white top and a blue denim jacket, "Hi I'm Emma Goodall, shame we had to meet this way".
"Shelby Watkins", the pink Dino Charge stated.
"As in Tyrelle Watkins' kid", Jake said with awe, "man can I have his autograph, I'm a big fan". Emma slapped Jake on the chest when she saw Shelby drop her head.
"I'm sorry about Jake", Emma said.
"Its fine, I'm not on good terms with my Dad at the moment", Shelby sighed.
"I'm Riley by the way", the green ranger stated, whilst clutching his side, "if anyone's interested".
"Sorry bro, I got a little excited", Jake shook the hand of his fellow green ranger, "so do you guys have a base we can go to?"
Riley nodded, "Yeah we can head back to Jason's place, I'm sure he'll be interested to catch up with some more rangers".
"You're not talking about Jason Lee Scott are you?" Jake asked and the two Dino Charge rangers nodded, "man that guys doesn't like me".
"That's because you spilt soda on his freshly waxed truck", Emma rolled her eyes. The others laughed at Jake's past misfortune but it was a hollow laugh. ZomVrak had taken their powers and now they were after Ivan and they had no idea where he was. They had to hope that they could come up with a solution before ZomVrak and the Deboss completed the set.
A/N - Night of the Living Vrak...sort of