Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.
-The Pink Gem
Chapter Twelve
On the other side of town while the Rangers were busy fighting Copy That, Erica decided that this was the day she was going to meet whatever it was that was in the ocean. She was on the edge of the beach, "Alright no time like the present." Erica took off her jeans where she wore shorts underneath and she pulled off her t-shirt to reveal a tank-top. Erica took out her Dino Gem and put it in her short's pocket. She took off her shoes and ran into the water. She swam for about 2km in the water but she couldn't see anything, "I don't get it? Where is the sound coming from?" Erica looked down into the ocean, "Maybe…." Erica dived into the water; she knew she only had about a minute of air. As she went deeper she started feeling funny, she stopped swimming but then she exhaled. She knew something was wrong, she wasn't flailing for oxygen; she was able to breathe the water. She saw her Dino Gem glowing and she pulled it out. "Is this rock been making me breathe underwater? This stupid rock…." Erica didn't know how long the rock was going to allow her to breathe underwater so she decided to go up to the surface. When she reached the shoreline Erica couldn't stop breathing heavily, "This didn't happen, I…didn't….breathe…underwater…." Erica closed her eyes and fell asleep.
On the South Side of town, the White Ranger took a rest on an abandoned construction site. The White Ranger was leaning against a crane machine pondering to himself, "Why would that monster want to flash at me, I can understand the Rangers but…." "Hold it right there traitor!" Zeltrax appeared with a least a dozen Tyrannodrones behind him. "Zeltrax…" said the White Ranger, "Care for a rematch? Unless you give me half the Tyrannodrones on your side, I don't want them in the match." "Heh, you thought you could get away with betraying us! I won't let you get away!" "What are you talking about? Why would I betray you guys?" "How should I know, one minute Mesogog and I were talking about finishing off the Rangers and then the next minute you come strolling in offering your resignation and then you tried to assassinate Mesogog and myself, but you screwed up and you will pay for that!" Zeltrax launched a lighting attack at the White Ranger which the White Ranger quickly dodged. "Zeltrax, you have to believe me, I never would betray you guys! I must've been framed." "We have you on camera White Ranger; it was you without a doubt!" "If I can get rid of the White Ranger I will be Mesogogs number two again, I can't fail this assignment!" "Tyrannodrones, attack!" The Tyrannodrones went after the White Ranger, as he was fighting the Tyrannodrones off one at a time, Zeltrax was able to sneak behind the White Ranger. "Perish!" Zeltrax launched another lighting attack, the White Ranger was able to dodge most of the attack but a significant part of the attack hit him on his morpher. The White Ranger de-morphed back into Trent. "Surrender White Ranger! You are powerless now." "You sure about that, you've obviously forgotten my Dino Gem power." Trent quickly became invisible. "No!" screamed Zeltrax. "I can't let him get away!" Elsa appeared from an Invisi-Portal a few feet away from Zeltrax. "Zeltrax, Mesogog calls off the search. We have a new assignment for you." Zeltrax turned around to Elsa, "Why? There's a chance-" "I doubt the White Ranger will interfere with us any longer, I'll show you the damaged you've caused to him later, as of right now….We need your Copy That for an assignment."
Back on the beach, Erica woke up. She sat on the beach looking into the horizon, the sun was setting into the water, "I didn't breathe underwater, I didn't breathe underwater, wait didn't Dad say that this Dino Gem would be giving me some kind of power. Hmmm, I guess this is the power he was talking about. I need to get home and tell him." As Erica put on her jeans and shirt she saw a figure out in the distance, which started running towards her. Erica got a closer look at the figure she recognized the figure as the Yellow Ranger. The Ranger was only a few feet from Erica when it stopped running. As they looked at each other, Erica smiled, "I thought you only came around when I was fighting a monster." The Yellow Ranger took out her Ptera Grips and formed a fighting stance. "You need to pay for all those people you've hurt!" screamed the Yellow Ranger. Erica was surprised by her accusation, "What are you talking about? I've never hurt anyone." The Yellow Ranger began to attack Erica but Erica was too quick, she dodged each of the Yellow Ranger attacks. "Liar!" she screamed, "How many people do you think got hurt in the cross fire when you went off attacking those monsters?" Erica blocked and countered the Yellow Rangers attack, "Are you kidding? First off those fights were in self-defense, second, how many people have you and your buddies hurt when you get into that megazord of your, huh? I can admit that some people may have gotten hurt, but my numbers have to be far lower than yours." The Yellow Ranger pulled out her Thundermax Saber and shot out a couple of blasts at Erica. She was pushed back a few feet from the blast. As Erica picked herself up the Yellow Ranger walked slowly towards her with her Thundermax Saber trained on her. They locked eyes for a second when suddenly the Yellow Ranger was consumed with a blast. Erica shielded her eyes from the blast, when the light subsided, the Yellow Ranger was gone.
Elsa was on top of a cliff about twenty feet above the fight between the Yellow Ranger and Erica. "Sorry Copy That, but your job is done here" said Elsa holding a some sort of ray gun. "Okay Mesogog will be here soon so I better get the ball rolling." Elsa jumped down from the cliff and landed in front of Erica. She was breathing heavily from her fight. "Sorry about the surprise, I didn't think I had enough time to warn you to get out the way," said Elsa. Erica was shaking her head, "You didn't have to go that far….you didn't have to…." "Ohhh you think I destroyed her, huh? I guess it looked that bad from your view. See this ray gun; it's a type of teleportation gun. I just blasted her across the city. Why do you even care if she is alive or dead? It wasn't like she was going to let you go home or anything." "That didn't mean she couldn't have been talked out of it. Alright, she's still alive at least that what matters right now. Thanks for teleporting her or whatever you did." As Erica turned away from Elsa, "Wait, I actually wanted to talk to you. Since I just saved your life I'd figure you'd give me a second." Erica sighed, "Do I at least get a name?" "Elsa." "Erica. So what did you want to talk about, Elsa?"
Erica walked over towards the cliffs and sat down on a nearby rock. "My master has had an eye on you for some time…." "Why would your master be interested in me?" "An old partner contacted him some time ago about your situation." "My situation?" "Your Dino Gem situation." Erica stared at Elsa, "I take it then your master is Mesogog." "Yes." "So what does Mesogog want with me? Mind you, my dad didn't put him in a good light." "What if I told you that Mesogog could solve your Dino Gem problem?" "And what if I told you that my dad said 'if I put my trust with Mesogog I'm selling my soul'." Elsa clenched her fist, "I better try a different approach." "Well Erica what would you expect? Mesogog would be wasting a lot of his resources to save your life; I think giving your loyalty to Mesogog would nothing compared to what you're asking of him to do." "Saving my life? What…what are you talking about?" Elsa smiled, "Your father, Anton Mercer, didn't tell you? That Dino Gem is destroying you from the inside out. Have you ever felt pain from the Dino Gem…have you curled up in agony because of the rock? Well, that's the Dino Gem's power doing that to you." Erica turned pale, "No…my dad said…." "That the Dino Gem has some power right?" Erica looked up at Elsa. "Listen….the Dino Gem only has power, no….it can reach its maximum power in its purified form and currently your Dino Gem is in a Raw Stage, where its power is unpredictable." "So let's say I believe you, then why would my dad not tell me this?" "Probably he is trying to find the correct method to turn your Dino Gem pure, but this process isn't easy, especially since he has no samples to try the experiment out on. If…." "You're minute's up Elsa." Erica stood up and started walking away but a horrific voice froze her.
"I will only say this once this arrangement is a one-time deal, if you walk away from it, you will never be offered is chance again." Erica turned around to face Elsa but she was turned, facing a cave. "This must be Mesogog," thought Erica. "What kind of guarantee do I get for siding with you guys? How do I know you aren't going to take my gem and leave me?" "The gem chooses its user and it's you, we can't change that. Look, Mercer told you that you'd be selling your soul, but we only want you working for us when we need you, when we need your power. You can have a life, go to school, do what you want; all we are asking is that when we call to do an assignment we expect you to complete it." "What kind of power does this gem have, that you want me to use? I've only seen that I can breathe underwater." "That's one power, out of many that Gem has, we can unlock the rest for you. But we need you on our team first." "And if my dad really is working on an experiment to fix me?" The voice was definitely coming from the cave, "How long do you think it will take you complete a major experiment, drug research alone takes about ten years, what Anton Mercer is doing is on a completely other scale. You will be dead from the Raw power of the Gem before he will get a quarter of his experiment complete." Erica put her hand into her pocket and felt her Dino Gem, "Die or get better and all I have to do is do some work for these guys in return….Why was dad so worried about…..Probably his guy ego not wanting me to go to Mesogog."
"Have you made your choice?" said Elsa. "Just one question, I like to see what the hell I'm getting into, so why is Mesogog holed up in that cave?" A figure stepped out of the cave, even though there was little light shining on Mesogog, you can easily make out that he wasn't human. Erica focused her eyes to see Mesogog; he was some sort of reptilian human-hybrid thing. Erica took a step back, "That's…. that's…." "Lord Mesogog, yes," finished Elsa. Erica stared at her and then it…him. "If you're wondering, your father did this. That's what puzzled me about you trusting your father, if this is what he can do to a friend during one of his experiments, what kind of damage can he do to you, his own daughter?" Erica forced herself to stop shaking, "I want a guarantee right now: do you know how to turn my Dino Gem from Raw to Pure?" Mesogog nodded. "Then let's do this," said Erica.
Trent entered the house, battered form his fight from Zeltrax, but it wasn't the fight that caused him the most damage, it was his Dino Gem. Trent screamed out in pain with the White Dino Gem shining. "DAD? Where are you?" Trent collapsed in the hallway, "What did Zeltrax do to my Dino Gem? It's like its gone haywire or something…." "DAD!" Trent was breathing heavily, "He's not home….I can't believe it…I need him to fix this….and he's not…." Trent fainted on the hallway floor.
Erica was unconscious on a Life Force Extractor Chair while Elsa and Mesogog were working on the Pink Dino Gem. Zeltrax entered the lab, "Did you have to destroy Copy That? It was probably the best monster I have ever created!" "Well then, you made one good one; make another," said Elsa. Zeltrax turned around and saw Erica sleeping, "Why is she here?" "She just volunteered to join our side, I needed to destroy Copy That to lower her guard," said Elsa. "How do you plan to stop her from betraying us? The White Ranger had no trouble." "Simple," said Mesogog turning around to face Zeltrax. "With this bangle I am able to control the Pink Dino Gem energy level at my whim." "How were you able to do that?" "I don't even know how it happened, a piece just broke off, but it was small enough to not cause significant damage to the whole Gem," said Elsa, "Alright I think we're done," she said as she held up a morpher. "Took long enough, Mercer been fighting me for some time."
A few hours later after Trent fainted; Anton came through the Invisi-Portal with Erica in his arms. He put Erica on the couch and felt her forehead, "I better get you an ice-pack, I don't know how long you'll last being this quiet." Anton left his study, when he closed the door behind him, he saw Trent lying down on the floor, "Trent!" Anton ran over to him and shook him awake, 'Trent what happened?" Trent's eyes were opened but he was a bit out of it, "Hey dad, took your time, huh? I've been waiting…." Anton put one of Trent's arms over his shoulder and he helped walk Trent up the stairs into his room. Anton laid Trent down on Trent's bed. Trent was breathing heavily, "Zeltrax did something to my morpher, my Dino Gem been acting up, I've been morphing in and out of the White Ranger, I can't control it anymore." Anton took a look at the morpher, "The damage is settled, Dino Gem is still active through." "Great, whose team am I on now? I apparently double cross you, so that's out of the question." "Let's discuss that later, Trent. Right now I need to sleep, alright? I think you need to take a step back and calm down. I'll be up to check on you later." "Yeah, see-ya," said Trent as he rolled over. Anton went downstairs and back into his study. Erica wasn't on the couch anymore; she wasn't even in the room. "Where could she have gone in her state?"
About a mile away, Steven's mom was answering the door. When she opened the door she saw a petit girl at her door, she might've been around her son's age. "Let me guess…are you Erica?" "Yeah, is Steven home?" "Yeah…" "Can I talk to him?" "Sweetie it's three in the morning…." "Yeah and I could've broken into Steven room to talk to him instead of asking for your permission…." "Touché…give me a minute." The front door was closed but she could hear the conversation: 'Stevie someone wants to see you….' 'Mom its 3 o' clock who the hell wants to see me?' 'Your ex-girlfriend who else?' 'Erica's here! Damn….' 'Do you want me to send her away…..' 'No I'll talk to her.' Steven opened up the door he was wearing Naruto boxers, "What do you want?" "I like your boxers." "You came to wake me up at three in the morning to talk about my boxers?" "No…ummm" Erica bowed before Steven. "You came to show me an Ojigi?" "You were right. I'm sorry for everything." "What happened?" "It way too complicated to explain right now. I just want you know that you were right and I was wrong. See ya." Erica turned to leave. "Does this mean we're together again?" "Erica turned around, "I don't know, are you still waiting?" Steven closed the front door; his mother was leaning against the hallway wall, "Well?" "She came to apologies, she said I was right and she was wrong." "She must be running a fever poor dear. So does this mean you're back together?" "I don't know…." "Baby if a woman came to admit she's wrong, she's special. It's one thing to tell yourself that your wrong, but it's another thing completely to show that to someone else, got it?"
Erica walked into the house, when she closed the door, Anton came to the top of the stairs, "Where were you?" "Out." "Out where?" "Just out, I needed to clear my head." Erica walked into the kitchen with Anton following her. "We need to talk." "Another one?" Erica poured herself a glass of water and sat down on a chair. "Erica…how much of what Mesogog said to you did you believe?" "Some of it….I mean, I knew they were intentionally being vague on my job and everything and…..wait a minute, how the hell did I get back home?" "I took you home." "How did you know where I was?" "You don't think Mesogog would've called to brag about my failure as a dad and as a scientist." "He what?" "Yeah, he called to tell me how much I failed as a father that I couldn't protect you from this Dino Gem business and I'm a failure as a scientist because I couldn't save you, he had to." "How true was Mesogog experiment?" "That was me, yes…But I learned since then, I'm not going to repeat that mistake again." "What does this mean, now that I joined Mesogogs team?" "That is what we are going to talk about right now."
End of Chapter 12
Author Note: Sorry for the delay, Spring Break Fever. I will try to update another chapter ASAP. Also for all you non-Japanese speakers…..
"Ojigi (bowing) is an essential part of Japanese daily life. People bow when saying hello, thanking someone, apologizing, saying good-bye and introducing themselves. Although shaking hands (akushu) has become accepted as a form of greeting, many Japanese still are not used to it." .
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