Chapter 42 – Father & Son
Hunston Valley
The crunch of trainers on a rocky path was the only sound that could be heard in the deserted woodland on the outskirts of the city. Tyler was on his early morning run, something he tried to do at least three times a week. This one was especially important to him as he had slacked off over the festive period. With the New Year celebrations behind him, it seemed like a good time to recommence his work out regime.
The mystery of his reappearing necklace was still bothering him. No one remembered seeing anyone deliver the present nor had it arrived in the post one day. The red ranger had a fair idea who could have found his necklace but that just raised even more questions. Instead the rangers had focused on trying to find the find the last two guardian stones needed to activate the Titano Zord. They were confident that the dormant zord resided in a lake about 10 miles away from the city but without all the stones, that information was useless.
Tyler reached the top of the hill and stopped his run. He rested his hands on his knees and took a few moments to catch his breath. He was about to do a couple of stretches when he saw a familiar figure standing at the foot of the hill. The red ranger removed his headphones and stared at his Dad. In return the older Narravo gave his son a small nod and returned the stare.
Pulling out his Dinovolver from the waistband of his shorts, Tyler cautiously walked down the hill towards his father, "You wouldn't shoot an unarmed man would you son?" Bastian called out.
"Depends on the circumstances", Tyler replied as he got closer. His blaster was pointing towards the ground but his finger was resting on the trigger, just in case. "What do you want Dad, come to stab me in the back again?" Tyler added.
Bastian stiffened slightly but kept his gaze on his son, "I understand you're seeking the guardian stones", he opened his hand to reveal a giant piece of amber, "this is the stone that relates directly to the Titano Zord".
For a few moments Tyler didn't say a word. He tightened his grip on his weapon to reassure himself that it was still there, "How do you know all this? I'm not a kid anymore Dad, want a proper answer, not some made up bullshit".
"No you're certainly a grown man now", Bastian sighed, "Nine years ago I was contacted by a spirit known as Torin and I was tasked with finding the guardian stones. He told me that the stones would only reveal themselves to me if I made a great personal sacrifice". Bastian paused for a moment, "I chose to give up seeing my only son grow up for a chance to protect all of humanity".
Tyler snorted, "And you expect me to thank you, after you sold me out to the Deboss a few months ago".
"That was unfortunate, you weren't meant to be there", Bastian replied. "I've done many things that I'm not proud of to get those stones. Only the Deboss knew the location of this stone so I did what I had to do". He threw the piece of amber over to Tyler, "Shortly after I gave General Sorrow the bag of stones, Torin retrieved them at great risk to himself. Tyler you have to understand if I didn't make a deal with the Deboss, we wouldn't have the chance to revive the Titano Zord".
"You're forgetting one thing one thing Dad", Tyler began, "we're still missing a stone".
Bastian gave his son a small smile, "Did you get my Christmas present?" Tyler looked at his Dad incredulously before reaching under his vest and pulling out his amber necklace, "I didn't realise when I gave it to you as a small boy that this was one of the guardian stones". Silence descended again between father and son before the older Navarro said, "Come with me son, we can bring the Titano Zord back to life together, just the two of us".
The red ranger shook his head, "Oh no, I'm not falling for that again. If we do this then I want to bring my friends along for back up".
Bastian thought about this for a moment, "Alright but just a few, the Titano Zord is very violate. We don't want to alarm him more than necessary".
Tyler nodded in acknowledgement before pulling out his communicator, "Chase it's me", he said to the black ranger, "find Kiera and Shelby and meet me at my current location as soon as possible". He stared hard at his father, "I think we can summon the Titano Zord today".
Lake Excel
An hour later the four rangers together with Bastian Navarro gathered on the shoreline of Lake Excel. The lake in question was several miles in diameter and surrounded on all sides by a dense forest. The group had struggled to drive up to the edge of the lake so they had to complete the last part of the journey on foot.
"Doesn't look like the final resting place of a massive zord", Shelby commented as she looked out over the still water.
"Appearances can be deceptive young lady", Bastian replied with a polite tone. He had observed the closeness between this woman and his son during the journey. He didn't want to destroy the relationship with his son anymore by insulting his girlfriend.
Kiera pulled out her tablet and began scanning the lake. After a few moments the purple ranger had found something, "The Titano Zord is definitely down there", she said, "the signal's extremely weak though".
"Doesn't surprise me", Bastian began, "this was the sight of the final battle between the legendary dinosaurs and the Deboss 65 million years ago". He paused before continuing, "So many lives were lost that day".
"Alright so now we're here, how do we do this?" Chase asked impatiently.
Bastian glared over his shoulder at the impatient black ranger, "By reuniting the guardian stones with the Titano Zord's personal stone, he will regain the strength to rise again".
Tyler glanced over the pink ranger and she emptied the contents of a cloth bag on to the ground. The pieces of amber tumbled out and formed a neat pile in the dirt. Next Tyler unclipped his necklace and placed the small amber fragment amongst the others. Finally the largest stone was placed on top.
A few minutes had passed but there was no sign of the Titano Zord, "Maybe he's a heavy sleeper?" Kiera joked to the others.
"He has been dormant for a while", Shelby replied, "give him a chance".
"Wait, look", Chase pointed at the pile of amber, there was a faint glow emanating from the guardian stones.
"It's working", Bastian added with excitement, "finally after all my years of hard work".
Suddenly a pulse of lightning slammed into the ground next to the group. They threw themselves to the ground as dirt and rocks flew into the air. Everyone looked up to see General Fury strutting towards them with a monster next to him. The creature had a predominantly blue body with a couple of shark tails on his shoulders. On top of his head were a couple of horns and in his hand was a blue and gold trident, "Don't looked so shocked rangers", Fury chuckled.
"I knew this was a trap", Tyler snarled towards his Dad.
"Trust me son, I knew nothing about this", Bastian replied.
"He's telling the truth red ranger", Fury replied, "this back stabber stole those stones from my Master and I want them back".
"You're not going to get them Fury", Shelby called out and summoned an Energem into her hand. The other rangers did the same and quickly morphed, standing protectively in front of Bastian.
"Dad you'd better get somewhere safe", Tyler said and summoned a Dino Blade into his hand. The other Navarro did as he was asked and took cover behind a tree. The red ranger immediately focused on Fury and their two weapons clashed, creating a large rumble of thunder. "We're not going to let you have the Titano Zord", Tyler growled.
"We'll see", Fury replied and swung his sword towards the red ranger. Tyler dropped low to avoid the attack and used the opportunity to kick the general in the knees. Leaping to his feet, Tyler sliced Fury across the arms, drawing a cry of pain from the lion faced creature. Fury though was a tough warrior and charged up his sword with golden energy before directing his blade at the red ranger. Tyler raised his Dino Blade to try and deflect the blast but it still hit him in the middle of the chest, throwing him against a nearby tree.
At the same time, the other three rangers were struggling with Shark Tail. The creature seemed to be much stronger than any of the previous monsters the rangers had faced. Shark Tail rammed his trident into the ground, sending a strong seismic pulse through the area that knocked them off their feet. "We can't take too much more of this", Shelby said to the others.
"Have you tried to reach the others?" Chase asked the purple ranger.
"Our communicators aren't fully operational", Kiera replied, "something's interfering with the signal".
Chase nodded and slowly got to his knees, "Looks like it's just the three of us then". He rolled his Dinovolver down his arm to enter Armour Mode before pulled out the Dino Burrow Energem, "Let's hit him with everything we've got". The two girls nodded and summoned their special weapons. Unfortunately they couldn't be linked together to form a more powerful weapon but hopefully they could buy them enough time for emergency signal to reach the others.
Back with the red ranger, Tyler groaned as he struggled to get back to his feet. Suddenly a strong pair of arms lifted him up, "I've got you son", Bastian said, "now rest here for a moment". Bastian threw off his tatty duster and stepped towards Fury.
"Are you serious about challenging me old man", Fury roared with laughter. Bastian though didn't say anything in response, instead he jumped in the air and slammed his fist into the ground. To the surprise of everyone, the shockwave forced Fury off his feet. The general wasn't happy about this at all and responded by sending a strong blast of lightning at Bastian. The attack slammed to the man and he was thrown high into the air. He fell into the lake and disappeared below the surface of the water.
"Dad!" Tyler cried out in anguish as he watched his Dad hit the water. His head snapped towards Fury who was bellowing with laughter, "Alright I've had it with you Fury", he shouted and summoned the Supercharge Energem. In a flash of light he went into Supercharged Mode and charged towards the general. He poured all of his anger and frustration into every attack including one punch that catapulted Fury through a nearby tree, turning into tiny splinters.
The red ranger then turned his attention to the other monster. The battle with the other rangers was evenly matched but his friends needed something to tip the balance in their favour. Aiming his blaster at the monster, he struck it in the chest and knocked it to the ground. He marched towards the pink and black rangers and held out his hand, "I need to borrow an Energem from you", he demanded. Without hesitation Chase and Shelby gave him one of their gems and soon a miniature version of the Para and Tricera Zords appeared on his arms. "Alright on my signal let's hit it with everything we've got", the red ranger added.
With a small nod, Shelby charged at the monster and slashed him with her Tricera Drill. Next Chase launched himself at Shark Tail using the blades on his hand and drove straight through the monster. Kiera aimed her Plesio Rocket at the monster and fired just as Tyler was preparing his final attack. He sent a pulse of red, black and pink energy at the monster that tore through his upper body. The creature stumbled for a moment before it fell to the ground and exploded.
Tyler immediately powered down out of Supercharged Mode and ran towards the lake. He took off his helmet and threw it to the ground, "Dad", he called out, "Dad where are you".
"We saw what happened", Chase said as he placed his hand on the red rangers shoulder, "I'm sorry we couldn't stop it".
"It's not your fault", Tyler replied, "he's got to be alright".
As the rangers looked out over the lake, the water began to bubble. A jet of water was thrown high into the air, soaking the rangers. When the spray had cleared they could see the silver head of a mechanical Brachiosaurus emerge from the water. To the surprise of the rangers standing on top of the zords head was a ranger, a silver ranger to precise.
The Titano Zord moved closer to the surface, revealing more of his body. The zord certainly lived up to its name as it was much bigger than all of their own zords. The rest of its body was silver with a few golden accents around its shoulders. The Titano Zord got as close to the surface as it could but it was still partial submerged in the water. It lowered its head slightly to allow the silver ranger to jump down to the ground. He walked past the rangers towards the fallen form of General Fury, "Tell your Master he's failed. The rangers have revived all ten Zords and their next target will be him personally".
"You know what this could mean for your planet?" Fury bellowed, "remember what happened to the dinosaurs".
"Things will be different this time", the silver ranger replied, "go now and deliver the message before my mercy runs out".
General Fury picked up his sword and slowly backed away, "This isn't over red ranger", he called out to Tyler, "the next time we meet in battle, it'll be a fight to the death".
"Don't make promises you can't fulfil Fury", Tyler spat. Fury said nothing in response and teleported away in a flash of lightning.
The silver ranger turned around and slowly walked back towards the Titano Zord, "Dad?" Tyler asked, "is that you?" The silver ranger nodded slowly and in response, Tyler threw his arms around him, "I thought you were dead".
"I've left you too many times during my life Tyler", Bastian replied, "I couldn't do it again". The Titano Zord suddenly reared away from the shore and it looked like it was in distress, "Titano calm yourself", Bastian called out but his zord didn't obey him. "I'm sorry everyone but I need to remain with the Titano Zord for a few days. It's still confused after a long period in hibernation".
"Dad you can't leave again, not now", Tyler cried.
"I'm sorry Tyler but this time I will be back", Bastian replied, "the final battle is nearly upon us". He held up his communicator, "if you wish to talk to me then us this". The Titano Zord cried out again so Bastian jumped onboard. The giant zord lumbered away through the woods, crushing a few trees in the process.
"Your Dad does have a flair for the dramatic", Shelby smiled as she wrapped an arm around Tyler's shoulders.
"The final battle", Kiera commented, "I don't like the sound of that".
"I know, we should go back and warn the others", Tyler began, "I don't think we've got much time". The red ranger grabbed his fallen helmet and replaced it before the rangers summoned the Dino Cycles to begin their ride back to the city. There were mixed feelings amongst the groups, they finally had all ten zords mostly under their control and their team was complete with the addition of the silver ranger. Tyler was especially happy because he had fixed his relationship with his father.
On the other hand Bastian and Fury had both mentioned the final battle. The previous battle with the Deboss 65 million years ago had led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. They needed to begin planning and training as soon as possible so humanity could avoid the same fate.