Chapter 22 – Dino Charge vs Megaforce (Part 3)
Hunston Valley Stadium
Like a rabid animal, Fury, Sorrow and Jodella led ZomVrak through the streets of Hunston Valley. The undead creature fired powerful blasts from his hands, turning smaller buildings into rubble. Anyone who got in the way of the vicious convoy was batted away without hesitation. The three Deboss generals took the opportunity to siphon off as much human emotion as they possibly could.
After leaving a trail of destruction down Main Street, they arrived at the stadium. The quartet was plotting their next move when they got a nasty surprise. Landing gracefully in front of the group were the Dino Charge rangers. General Fury looked at them quizzically, "That's not possible, even with the necklace in your possession you still should be powerless". The rangers said nothing instead they decided to let their weapons do the talking.
Entering Armour Mode, the black and green rangers faced off against Jodella. The first lady of the Deboss summoned her heart shaped axe but found her attack blocked by the Dino Blade of the green ranger. The black ranger used the distraction to land a kick in the mid section of Jodella. They followed this up by firing several rounds from the Para Shot. The attacks knocked the battle axe out of Jodella's hand. Seizing the opening the green ranger performed a double slash attack with his blade and Raptor Claw. The attack knocked Jodella across the parking lot and she writhed in pain on the tarmac
General Sorrow had his hands full with the blue and pink rangers and his sword was struggling to break the defences of the pair. Each attack was blocked by the blue ranger and his shield, giving the pink ranger an opportunity to jam her Tricera Drill into his armour. Roaring in anger Sorrow raked his blade across the suit of the pink ranger, knocking her away from the fight. The blue ranger tried to use the edge of his shield as a weapon but Sorrow blocked these attacks with blade. Charging up his sword, Sorrow sliced diagonally across the blue ranger's chest. The blue ranger flew into the air and skidded across the ground. The armour covered general stalked his prey menacingly but in his excitement, he had forgotten about the other ranger. The pink ranger flew in from behind Sorrow and kicked him in the back of the head. Sending pink energy through her drill, she jammed it into an exposed piece of Sorrow's body and sent him crashing to the ground.
"Tell me how you were able to restore your powers", Fury demanded as his sword clashed with the gold ranger's. The ranger said nothing in response and countered with a couple of vicious blows on the lion faced general's body. Next to him the red ranger was fighting against ZomVrak. He ducked under a punch from the undead creature and he countered by striking the monster in the ribs with his Tyranno Fang. The red ranger and ZomVrak traded blows until the creature was able to grab the red ranger by the neck.
Fury smiled as he was expecting the undead monster to drain the red ranger's power again but to his shock nothing happened. The gold ranger slashed ZomVrak in the side, leaving a huge gash in the creature. The monster roared in pain and released his grip on the red ranger. Giving each other a quick nod the two rangers charged up their respective weapons. The red ranger punched ZomVrak with his Tyranno Fang and the gold ranger unleashed a torrent of lightning at Fury. The creature flew into the air and landed in a heap next to their fallen comrades.
"What's happening Fury", Sorrow began, "I thought you and Chaos said that the rangers couldn't regain their powers".
"Yeah and since when has the black ranger been a girl?" Jodella asked.
Fury's head snapped toward his fellow general, "What did you say?"
"The black ranger's now a girl", she responded, "see look at the body shape and the skirt on the suit".
Fury punched the ground in frustration, how had he missed that but the airhead didn't. He could only think of one way this had been possible, "Gosei you meddling tiki head", he growled. His thought was confirmed a few seconds later when another set of Dino Charge rangers arrived at the stadium on their cycles. The newcomers walked over to the other Dino Charge rangers and shook their hands.
"Thanks for holding the fort", Tyler said to the other red ranger.
"Not a problem", Troy replied, "I see Gosei was able to restore your powers".
"And not a moment too soon", Koda called out, "I think we've made them angry".
Gia, still in her guise as the black Dino Charge ranger, glanced over to Chase. The other black ranger was looked at her strangely, "What?" she snapped.
"Oh nothing", he replied, "it's just weird seeing my suit on a chick", he paused and smiled under his helmet, "I kinda like it".
Shelby slapped Chase on the back of the head, "Quit messing around and focus".
By now the generals and ZomVrak were back on their feet, "I must have a concussion", Jodella began, "I'm seeing double".
"You can thank Gosei for that", Troy called out and pulled out the Red Dino Charge ranger key. His fellow Megaforce rangers did the same, "He crafted these rangers keys based on the new team's powers". After the Armada invasion, Gosei revealed that he had discovered a way to replicate the powers of any ranger team. This included any future teams or teams that resided in another universe. Clearly he could also do this for any new teams that emerged as well.
"Now let's show them what double Dino power can do", Tyler said to the all of the rangers. The rangers with a Dinovolver spun the barrels to charge them up. At the same time Ivan and Orion powered up their Thunder Blades. Twelve streams of colourful light flew towards the villains and slammed into their bodies. There was a bright flash that forced the rangers to shield their eyes. When the smoke cleared they could make out the fallen bodies of the villains in a pile on the other side of the car park.
The expense of energy forced the Megaforce rangers to power down into Super Mega Mode but at least it enabled them to tell each other apart. They were in the middle of celebrating when Jake noticed movement from the pile of fallen generals, "I don't believe it, how could they survive that?"
Fury, Jodella and Sorrow struggled to get to their feet, their bodies showing signs of damage after than powerful attack, "You haven't seen the last of us rangers", Fury bellowed.
"What about ZomVrak?" Jodella asked as she pointed over at the undead creature. The force of the explosion had taken one of his arms off but he was still determined to get the rangers.
"Leave him, we got what we needed from this city", Fury replied, "and stop calling him ZomVrak", he shouted. The three generals teleported away back to the safety of the Ice Palace.
"Eww he's got an arm off", Emma recoiled at the sight of ZomVrak.
"How do we fight a zombie anyway", Riley sighed.
Chase snapped his fingers, "Wait that's it", he grabbed Riley by the shoulders, "Riley you're a genius".
"Care to share with the class", Shelby stated.
"I'm more a man of action", the black ranger replied, "guys bring the Dino Lance together and give it to me". The Dino Rangers nodded and assembled the lance. Chase grabbed it out of the air and charged towards ZomVrak. Rather than strike him in the mid section, he brought the lance up in the direction of the creature's head. The Dino Lance cleaved through ZomVrak's head, showering Chase with a weird green substance. ZomVrak staggered for a moment before his headless body crumpled to the ground.
"Ok I could've gone through my entire life without having to see that", Jake made a few retching noise behind his mask.
"Zombie 101 guys", Chase began as he strutted back over to the others, "they can only be killed by removing the head or destroying the brain". He held his arms open, "Now who wants to give me a hug?"
"Keep away from us", Shelby shrieked.
"Aww Shel", Chase walked towards her and mimicked a zombie, "they're coming to get you Shelby".
"As entertaining as this is", Noah cut across the antics of the black Dino Ranger, "what are we going to do with the rest of ZomVrak over there?"
"My team will take care of the remains", Troy announced.
"We will?" Gia questioned.
Troy nodded, "At least we know that Vrak is definitely gone this time. I'm getting sick of having to fight him".
"We'll meet up at the Dino Mansion", Tyler said to the Megaforce ranger, "I promise that we'll make Chase shower before you get back". Everyone laughed as the two teams of rangers separated, the Megaforce rangers to dispose of ZomVrak's remains and the Dino Charge rangers to ride back to the Mansion.
Dino Mansion
A few hours later, and after the Dino Rangers had force Chase to have a shower, the two team met up in the back yard of the Mansion. Jason had organised a celebratory barbecue for everyone that Orion and Ivan had agreed to look after. Everyone else was either relaxing or trying to avoid Emma's attempts to take their picture. "Sorry I didn't tell you about where I came from", Orion said to Ivan, "I didn't want to freak you out by tell you I'm an alien".
"Doesn't sound as weird as telling something they were born over three hundred years ago", Ivan replied. He flipped the burgers on the grill, "You're pretty handy with a spear", he continued, "perhaps you could teach me a few moves sometime".
"You're on", Orion began, "but don't forget that we need to rebuild my cabin first".
"Guys say cheese", Emma practically jumped out and took their picture.
"What is that device?" Ivan asked curiously.
"It's a camera, it lets me capture an image of whatever it was pointing at", she turned the camera around and showed him the picture she had just taken.
"That's amazing", Ivan gushed, "I remember having to sit still for hours whilst someone painted my portrait".
"Maybe the future isn't so bad after all", Gia placed a hand on his shoulder and Ivan smiled in response.
Over the other side of the yard, Chase grabbed a beer out of a cooler and snuck up behind Jake and Riley. "You're a lucky man Holling", he began and pointed his bottle at Gia.
"Yeah don't I know it", he sighed in response.
"I hope I didn't overstep the mark by flirting with her", Chase said, "it's my nature, I'm like that with everyone".
"Don't we know it", Riley shook his head.
"Hey I helped you win over Marissa didn't you", Chase protested.
"Frankly after seeing your failures with women and after hearing about Jake's attempts to woo Gia, I think I'll pass on any future advice", the Green Dino Ranger replied.
Jake was about to protest but sadly his fellow green ranger was right. Instead he turned to the black ranger, "Thanks for the apology but I'm used to it, I mean what man in their right mind wouldn't flirt with Gia. But remember you can look but don't touch". Chase laughed and held his hands up in surrender.
"So tell us about your soccer scholarship courtesy of Conner McKnight", Riley said to the Green Super Megaforce ranger.
"Conner McKnight the US national captain?" Jake nodded, "this story I've got to hear".
The remaining rangers along with Jason and Kiera were sitting on the paved area near the back door, "So what's next for you guys?" Tyler asked Troy and Noah.
"Back to college I guess", Troy replied, "I hope I haven't missed too much after being away for the last few days".
"Well I've already a few weeks ahead so that's not a problem for me", Noah added smugly.
"Yeah you can go back to touching your own equipment", Kiera snarked.
"Kiera play nice", Jason admonished his adopted daughter. "Well I'm glad you came and it's good to catch up with you guys again. We hardly got a chance after the Armada's invasion".
"A lot of other rangers wanted a piece of our time after that battle", Troy smiled, "oh and if you see that black ranger of yours, tell him he still owes me ten bucks".
Jason laughed, "Don't worry I'll Zack the next time he calls".
"Well I would like to propose a toast", Shelby placed her glass out in front of her, "to new friends and the end of an old enemy". The others smiled and clinked their glasses together, it had been a tough battle but thanks to their new friends, the Dino Charge rangers had come out on top.
Ice Palace
Alone in the dark, General Chaos looked at the three totems that represented gathered human emotion. The next move he was contemplating was risky but sometimes you just needed to take a chance. He heard the rattling of armour indicating that General Sorrow was approaching, "Chaos, I apologise but Vrak has been destroyed".
"That's no great loss", Chaos replied and gestured towards the totems, "Vrak was a symbol of the Armada and his reappearance stirred up the emotions of the humans. They were angry that he was back, as well as fearful and sad. Finally when the rangers defeated him, there was an overwhelming sense of happiness".
"You planned this all along?" Sorrow asked.
Chaos chuckled, "Of course I did, I thought it would be a good way to boost the emotion levels and I was right". The human emotion indicators were nearly at the top, "In fact I think we're close enough to revive the Master".
Sorrow took a step back in shock, "But we haven't gathered enough emotion".
"The ceremony will still work", Chaos protested, "it's a gamble I'll admit but it's one we need to take. The rangers are growing stronger and I fear that they are close to finding another Energem. We need to strike before that happens".
General Sorrow tilted his helmet to the ground, "Fine but if this fails I want the Master to know that you were responsible", with that he stomped away.
Laughing deeply, Chaos turned his attention back to the totems, "Don't worry Sorrow this won't fail and if it succeeds, the Master will reward me handsomely". Chaos walked away from the totems, he had a few days before the ceremony could begin and he would need all that time to prepare.
A/N – A couple of references to Night of the Living Dead and Shaun of the Dead in that chapter.