Dino Thunder: Return of the Eclipse: Chapter 21: A Star is Torn
Disclaimer: Saban owns all Power Ranger lines.
Copyright: All unrecognizable parts and characters are under December's Phoenix's copyright.
Summary: Kira isn't sure about her new image.

Kira felt unbelievably happy today.

Receiving some of the best news she could have ever heard in her entire life, Kira felt like she would burst if she didn't tell her best friend or one of her teammates as soon as possible. She practically skipped to Hayley's in search of a Ranger to tell. Her eyes landed on Trent, rushing out of the cafe, and her heart skipped a beat or two. Trent would be excited for her.

"Trent!" She called out, running up to him, her arms outstretched. Trent caught her, his hands hooking around her elbows as she spun them around, a fat grin on her face. She didn't miss the tingle in her elbow when his hands rested on her arms. "You're not going to believe this. You're going to freak!"

"Already freaking," Trent breathed, pulling his hands from hers and rubbing his forehead in either panic or frustration. "We're out of soy milk. Hayley's off today. I gotta hit the store." He turned around, his destination clear.

Kira stopped him a few steps from her, taking a step forward. "Wait, I gotta tell you something." She tried.

Trent turned back to her, a sigh dropping his shoulders a fraction. "Sorry, it's going to have to wait."

"Okay," Kira stated, a little more dejected. Her excitement dimmed. "Have you seen Ethan?"

"Not yet."

"Conner? Lucy? Crystal?"

"Not today," Trent answered again, then nodded to her, taking off and yelling over his shoulder. "Later!"

"Great, who am I going to tell?" Kira asked, all to herself, glancing around before she finally made her way into the cafe. Her eyes glazed over the crowd, not finding a familiar head or hearing a laugh she knew like the back of her hand. Her friends…they weren't there.

Unbeknown to her, tucked in the corner of the cafe, with a pair of headphones shoved in her ears as she worked, an unhealthy stack of textbooks around her, and a plethora of snacks tucked into her bag—a few with taped encouragement notes from her sister—was Lucy. The Silver Ranger didn't look up from the essay she wore, her hand cramping as she concentrated on writing her damned history paper.

—

On the other side of Reefside, in the basement of her teammates' science teacher's house, Crystal stood on the dais that held the computers where the resident genius of the Dino Thunder team sat. Her boyfriend, decked out in his sensei uniform, stood beside her, the broad-shouldered ninja dominating his girlfriend's smaller frame. The two leaned over—Hunter hunching even more—plans the three designed in the week since the Red Ranger's triumphant debut of his new powers.

The two ninjas, despite their evident love for each other, argued, fighting back and forth as they justified their opinion on the machine behind them, Hayley listening not-so-intently as she typed and Conner stood near the machine, his mind wrapped up in the awkward situation he currently had going on with her little sister.

"Conner, I love you, but I need to go to bed."

It rattled around his brain, pulling his thoughts from everything else. For more than a week, Conner's sole focus had been Lucy's sudden proclamation of love and her abrupt departure from the phone call, ending it before he could return it. To say something other than ask her to clarify what she told him, to make sure he heard her right before he went off spouting about his love for her.

Those three words came easily to her, so casually that Conner barely registered them. Of course, he always listened to his girlfriend, the stories and the jokes she told, her laughter when he goofed up, but hearing those words did something to his chest that made him long to confess everything to her.

In the weeks since the two began dating, Conner felt…different. Better different, he hoped. Kira and Ethan teased him relentlessly that he was wrapped around Lucy's finger, wanting to protect her from whatever threat the Rangers faced. But in reality, she knew what she was doing. A two-time Power Ranger veteran with the fighting skills of a ninja and the power of a god on her side.

"Sorry, Conner."

Conner's head shot up from where his chin sat against his chest, his brown eyes finding Crystal and Hunter staring at him, the Golden Guardian with a smirk that told him she knew what he was thinking about. "What?" He asked, shaking his head and shoving strands of hair away from his face.

Crystal's smirk grew. "I said, the simulation isn't reporting back as we hoped for, so it's not properly outfitted yet, but Hunter," a pointed look in the taller ninja's direction, "wants to see if it will work."

Since acquiring the Triassic powers from the shield, Conner needed a way to try them out before testing the Megazord capabilities in battle in case something went wrong. So, the three devised a simulator for Conner to do just that. However, the new tech wasn't ready. Even with Hayley's tech expertise and Crystal and Hunter's ability to rebuild engines coming in handy, the machine wasn't perfect for Conner to try out.

The former Crimson Ranger shrugged. "Worth a shot."

Conner nodded. "Yeah, if we can get it started, why not?"

Hunter's hands shot forward; his head turned to smirk at his girlfriend. "See, he's on board."

The Gold Ranger reached over, flicking Hunter's nose while she huffed. "Fine, you wanna get fried, have at it."

"All right, you ready, Conner?" Hayley asked, turning around in her chair to face the Red Ranger.

Conner rubbed his hands together, stepping up to the simulation. "Ready."

Hayley nodded, turning around and typing on the keyboard. "Try the controls."

The Red Ranger held his hands to the controls, sighing and nodding. "Okay."

"Initiating controls."

Crystal and Hunter turned around to watch the simulator warm up. It hummed in response to the codes Hayley input. But a spark caused the ninjas to back up. Crystal could only stare at Conner while red electricity shot up his arms, spiking his hair in various directions. Hunter rose from his chair. "Hayley! Shut it off."

"Turn it off," Conner called. "Please."

Hayley turned around, seeing what Crystal and Hunter were seeing, and gasped. She turned around, typing on her keyboard for a few more seconds. "Shutting down."

The computer beeped, connecting to Kira's morpher. "Hey, Conner, you there?" She asked.

"Hey, Kira," Crystal called. "Unfortunately, he's a little…fried at the moment. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to tell him that—"

Hayley cut her off. "Can we call you back?" She asked. "We're working on the control program for the new assault vehicle."

"Oh, yeah, sure." Kira agreed. "What about Ethan? Is he around?"

"You tell her that unless she's getting attacked by something green and scaly, send me an email." Ethan practically snarked from his laptop in the corner. He missed the annoying look Crystal shot at his back while Hunter and Conner chuckled.

"Did you hear that?" Hayley asked.

"Yeah, I heard."

"And he's right. We should keep the communication frequency clear unless it's an emergency." Hayley told her.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I-I'll see you guys later." Kira cut the connection.

Crystal turned to Ethan, hands on her hips, while Hunter stood behind her with his arms over his chest. "What are you doing over there that's so important, oh mighty Blue?" She called, feeling Hunter wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"Searching for my soulmate," Ethan answered, not looking away from his computer.

"If you needed help with girls, you just needed to ask," Conner added from where he stood.

Ethan finally turned a fraction, looking over his shoulder at Conner. "I'm looking for something a little deeper than you're used to, bro. You know, before dating Lucy." He rolled his eyes. "And by the way, nice look."

Conner turned to the three at the computer. "What is he talking about?"

"Nothing," Crystal answered quickly. "Looks great."

"You look fine," Hayley added, returning to the computer. "Let's try that again."

—

Kira sighed. She had no one to tell. The boys, part of her usual cheer squad of sorts, were busy; Conner was doing important Ranger work while Ethan focused on his sad love life. Lucy happened to be absolutely nowhere while her sister focused on helping Conner, and Dr. Oliver wouldn't want to hear her happy news.

So instead, she sat at one of the last empty computers at Hayley's, aimlessly clicking on random websites she meant to look at throughout the weeks. But now, she didn't even want to glance over then. She sighed again, one of ten in the last minute, when a shadow fell on her.

"Oh, someone looks bummed out today," Cassidy said, making Kira turn to her. She looked preppy with her hair back and giant hoops in her ears. No shadow of her own behind her, a love-sick puppy kind of look in his eyes. "What's the matter? You find out you're not the next Hillary Duff?"

The Yellow Ranger rose to meet Cassidy. "You know what? Even you aren't going to ruin my day, Cassidy." She paused. "Why not? If I have to tell someone, it might as well be you. I got a call from a huge music manager; he wants to sign me and record one of my songs, do a video, and every—"

Cassidy interrupted, her fingers twisting her hoop around. "And if you're done with the computer, I need to use it."

"Thanks for listening." Kira rolled her eyes.

"No problem, now, and you move? I have things to do that don't involve a wannabe Rockstar. Bye-bye." Cassidy shooed her along, shoving her out of the computer.

—

Another hour of tweaking the tech and working on the simulator brought the three to their current situation. They watched Conner fight the ramped White Megazord with the new assault vehicle in the simulation, cheering him on as he battled.

Hunter and Hayley took the chairs with Crystal standing behind them; if anything went wrong, she was the one to pull Conner out. Even without everything between the Red and Silver Rangers happening, Lucy would kill her if anything serious happened to Conner.

"Come on, Conner, take him down," Hayley told him, watching the Megazord swing for Conner. Seconds later, the monster struck a destroying blow, and the simulation ended. "Oops." She winced.

Conner yanked the gloves off and then ripped his goggles off his head. "Great. Game over…again." He dropped the goggles on the simulation, ruffling his hair with his hand in frustration.

Ethan sighed. "Welcome to my world, dude."

"At least it's only a simulation." Hunter tried, moving down to where Conner stood. "Nothing's happening."

"The best way to practice before you get out there," Crystal added from the stairs.

"Yeah, the hydraulics are doing the opposite of everything I tell them to do," Conner argued.

"Hey," Ethan called from his spot. "Would you guys say that I'm: A. A chiseled workout fiend, B. A beefy boy-toy, C. A walking toothpick, or D. just your average everyday dude?" He turned to the team.

Conner, Crystal, and Hunter exchanged puzzled looks. "I thought you were looking for something a little deeper," The Gold Ranger joked, laughing with Hayley and the boys. "What does that question have to do with any of it?"

"To get there, I have to answer these 500 questions," Ethan told them. "And I'm getting a hand cramp." He rubbed his wrist.

"Here's a chance to take a break." Haley turned around in her chair, seeing the four. "Conner, I need you and Ethan to pick up a titanium servo mechanism. I emailed the address to your organizer, Ethan. It'll be waiting for you."

"Do you think it's going to fix the problem?" Conner asked.

"I'm hoping," Hayley spoke up. "Let's just get home without Mesogog finding out what we're doing."

"Maybe Cam can help," Crystal suggested from where she and Hunter stood together on the stairs. "We'll see if we can coax him from the Wind Academy."

Hayley nodded. "The more help, the better."

—

Lucy finally looked up from her paper at the cafe, her brain swimming in history facts. She blinked, digging the butts of her palms into her eyes, knowing full well she would smear mascara everywhere, but at this point, who cared. Once the stars and spots disappeared from her vision, she spotted a glum-looking Yellow Ranger sitting a few tables away. "Kira!" She called, earning the attention of the girl.

Kira glanced up, turning around until her brown eyes caught sight of the Guardian at the table, stacks of books around her. She pushed to her feet, snagging her drink and walking over. "Hey, I didn't see you." She sat down opposite Lucy. "I thought you were at the lab with the boys, Crystal and Hunter."

Lucy waved her off, shutting a textbook while leaning back in her chair. She probably looked worse for wear in yoga pants, a t-shirt, tennis shoes, and one of Conner's athletic jackets slung around her shoulders. "A huge paper is coming up in my AP history class. Mrs. Durham's being a real stickler about how the paper's written." She unconsciously rubbed her wrist and the flesh of her palm. "Why? What's up?"

"Wait, then what's everyone up to?" Kira asked, scooting a textbook away from her.

Lucy grabbed it, stacking it on others before she placed them in an empty chair beside her. "Crystal, Hunter, and Hayley devised a machine to help Conner with the Triassic powers." She answered. "That's the extent of my knowledge."

"You're not hanging out with Conner?"

"Nope. Been… avoiding him." Lucy sheepishly admitted, scratching her head and letting a few of her hairs fly while she did it.

"Oh? Trouble in paradise?" Kira chuckled.

Lucy shot her an awkward smile, tugging a leg up to her chest while the other rested on the open chair. "I…uh, I might have told him I loved him a few days ago, and I've…been a chicken about it." She mumbled, placing her head in her hands and leaving quite heavily on the table. "A big, fat chicken."

Kira's eyebrows scrunched together as confusion began to cloud her features. "Why?"

"It slipped out, and I don't want to know his response."

"But isn't that the whole part of this?" Kira asked, taking one of Lucy's hands from her head and watching her head drop momentarily before she looked at the Yellow Ranger, a sad look in her eyes. "Look, just from how Conner acts around you, I know he likes you. Crystal, Ethan, and I tease him about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's always looking for you at school, literally glancing around until he finds you." Kira admitted. "There are times in fights when you get hurt that I think Conner will lose it and attack without thinking. So, what's the problem?"

Lucy licked her lips, grabbed her water bottle, and took a swig before sighing. "Two years ago, at the beginning of the junior year, I'd been dating Brian for…roughly a year. We met through mutual friends at school sophomore year. I never had a relationship before. I was an awkward teenager who happened to be sisters with the Crystal Brewer."

She closed her eyes momentarily, opening them and staring at Kira, dread drenching her irises.
"When school started, he asked me to meet on the soccer field. He told me he loved me. When I returned the sentiment, he started laughing."

Kira's face dropped as her brain caught up, anticipating what already happened. "Lucy…" She breathed.

The Silver Guardian pressed her lips together in a fine line, then sadly smiled. "I asked what was funny, and…he told me it was all a joke. A dare. Katy Wallace came out from behind a tree and filmed the whole thing." Tears began to well in her eyes. She blinked them back, tugging the sleeve of Conner's jacket to use the cuff to dab the tears away. "I was embarrassed and…ashamed that I hadn't picked up on it. That I fell for completely."

"Okay, now I really want to hit him."

Lucy chuckled. "Join the line, sister." She rolled her eyes. "So, to answer your question: I'm scared it will turn into that because I don't want it to. I love him, and…he's one of the only people not scared of my powers."

"Did you miss the part where he is head over heels for you?" Kira returned, a hand on Lucy's, squeezing it.

"I spent the better half of the last year thinking something was wrong with me. I don't think telling me he loves will scare that all away." Lucy laughed when Kira frowned. "Okay, enough about my sad love life and my boyfriend. Your turn. Why are you moping in Hayley's?"

Kira broke out into a grin, the sad conversation already forgotten between the best friends. "I got a call from a huge music manager. He wants to sign me, record one of my songs, and do a video and all this stuff."

Lucy's jaw dropped. "Kira! Oh, my Gods, that's so cool. When?"

"This week," Kira answered. "I'm supposed to head to his office today." She checked her watch. "Right now. Thank you for letting me tell you."

Lucy waved her off, smiling and laughing. "That's what I'm here for. Now, go!"

—

Crystal grunted, tossing a tool out of the way, reaching up and pressing the butts of her palms into her eyes. "I'm gonna cry if this thing doesn't work." She told the two ninjas and computer genius in the lab.

Cam snorted from where he sat across from her, elbow-deep in the side of the simulator. "You and Hunter got pretty far in piecing it together, but I think Hayley's right; that mechanism will help."

"That's what I'm hoping," Hayley spoke from where she moved to one of the rolling computers.

Dr. Oliver came down from his house, nodding to the former Rangers before moving to the computers to monitor. Everyone knew the constant morphed state took a toll on him. He tried to help the Guardians with research to see if the powers would help, but they found nothing more than stories of reversing effects. "We really don't know what'll happen." Lucy tried to argue. "I know you want out of the suit, but we will find a way. It's just going to take a little longer."

The blonde lifted her head when she heard grunting coming from the stairs. Conner and Ethan slowly descended the two sets with a large wooden box with rope handles between them. When they reached the landing, a beeping—like a ringtone—started to play. "Do you hear that?" Conner breathed out. "What is that?"

"It's my phone," Ethan answered, glancing behind his shoulder to motion to his back pocket where the ringing was coming from.

"Dude, you gotta change that ring," Conner told him, sighing in relief.

The two set the box down on the landing for Ethan to pick up his phone. "What's the matter with it?" He breathed.

"You serious?"

Ethan pulled his phone out, answering it before holding it up to his ear. "Hello?" He pulled it away from his ear, looking at the screen, and then replaced it with his ear. "Hello?"

"Must've hung up." Conner tried. He shared a shrug with Ethan before the boy in blue pocketed his phone, and the two made their way down the second set of stairs.

This time, Conner's phone started ringing. "You've gotta be kidding me." Ethan groaned. "If you answer it and it's Lucy, I swear—."

"Hey!" Crystal called from where she sat. The ninjas glanced up, eyes on their former teammate as she pointed threateningly to the Blue Ranger, a swallow stuck in his throat. "Finish that sentence, James, and I will hand you your ass for the rest of the month."

"Yes, ma'am."

"The ringtone's better than yours." Conner snarked, patting the pockets of his jeans with one hand while keeping the other on the box. Everyone heard Ethan groaning, tucking his weight against the railings to keep the container from falling down the rest of the stairs. "Come on, let's just get this thing inside." He grabbed his side of the box to lift it to the bottom. "Besides, I think Lucy's avoiding me."

"Did you say something you weren't supposed to?" Ethan teased, grinning and out of breath.

Conner shook his head. "No, I think she did, and she hasn't been returning my calls."

Hunter chuckled. "She admit something and then completely backtracks and is currently not speaking to you?"

"How did you know?"

Hunter jabbed a thumb at the now-preoccupied Gold Ranger. "She did the same thing when she told me she loved me. Spiraled completely out of it as she tried to process her feelings." He climbed to his feet. "I had to be the one to admit feelings first before she took the longest time doing so."

"I did not!" Crystal called, a ferocious bit in her words as she clashed with her boyfriend.

"Yes, you stood there for ten minutes trying to comprehend what I said." Hunter fought back, grinning like an idiot. "Besides, they aren't very emotional people. It took me a solid few months to get Crystal to tell me what she's thinking, and it's rarely the whole truth."

Crystal grunted. "All I hear are lies, Hunter Bradley." She fought against breaking out into laughter, a scowl on her lips.

Cam snorted. "Every time we've had student conduct meetings, you or Lucy sit at the head of the table, silent, while we try and deal with the students, but they're too busy staring and trying not to cry. I've heard a few students are terrified of you two."

"Well, now that hurts my feelings." The Golden Guardian paused, turning back to Cam. "Damn straight they should be."

Conner chuckled. "So, what do I do about Lucy?"

"What I've learned is space and a little bit of time," Hunter answered. "She'll come around when she's done processing everything."

A third ringtone went off. This time, every boy looked up to see Crystal moving to the table to answer her phone. One quick check of her screen had her quietly cackling and answering it. "Larry's Communications, this is Larry." She spoke, laughing and earning weird looks from the boys. She laughed, putting her phone on speaker.

"Hi Larry, I was wondering if I could close my long-distance account. It still says that I live on Portico Island." Lucy's earnest voice flowed through the phone. "And I don't live there anymore. Not for months."

"Well, according to my extensive knowledge of the island, it's not a great place to live." Crystal returned, earning laughs from Cam and Hunter. "Plus, I heard they increased their shellfish population, and I know you don't like shellfish."

"Not one bit," Lucy stated. "They scare me."

"Portico Island?" Conner mouthed to Hunter and Cam.

Cam adjusted his glasses. "Before Hunter and Blake joined the Ninja Rangers, the seven of them were sent to Portico Island—an island that only surfaces every two hundred years. Lothor planned to destroy them on that island. He almost had Hunter destroy them, too."

"When Cam finally contacted us, he and Crystal acted like they were a phone company as a running joke," Hunter added. "Now, the sisters make jokes about that experience."

Conner nodded. "Got it, so don't get your bad side." He pointed to Hunter.

The blond laughed, shaking his head. "No, don't get on Crystal's bad side. She's protective of her little sister, and anything that happens to Lucy, Crystal's there to fight someone."

"She almost took off one day when Lucy revealed the whole truth of her breakup with that Albright kid," Cam mentioned, fiddling with a piece of the simulator.

Lucy's laughter had all the boys returning to the two's conversation. "Anyways, Larry, have you heard from Kira?"

"She called earlier, but we were pretty busy with the simulator. Why?"

"She had some important news to share, and I think I was the only one to hear about it. Has she tried calling you guys?"

Crystal looked at Conner and Ethan, pursing her lips. "I think she tried the boys, but not me, Hunter, or Cam."

"She only has my number out of the four of us," Lucy said. She sighed. "Look, I'm on my way to the lab. I got tired of staring at my history textbook. But if Kira gets there, be happy for her."

"We always are," Crystal returned, hanging up. "I wonder what the news is." She motioned to the box. "Would you boys mind unboxing it for Hayley and me?"

"We carried the thing." Ethan held his hands up, moving away.

Cam nodded. "We got it." He patted Hunter's shoulder. The two rose to get it out of the box and set it on top. "That's a real beauty of a mechanism." He and Crystal began hooking the thing up before Crystal moved to help Hayley.

"Let me get this straight," Conner said, bending down before the mechanism. "So we just have to transfer the computer information from our testing to this…install it, and then we're ready?"

"The only problem is, it's not accepting the data dump." Hayley angrily hit the return button, groaning when the computer sent her the error code again. "I just don't understand it."

"Maybe I can help," Cam told her, joining her at the computer.

"Just keep trying, Hayley." Dr. Oliver stated that from where he sat at the computers.

"Hey, what do you guys think of this one," Ethan spoke, sitting on the stairs of the lab, his laptop in his lap. "She's single, attractive both inside and out, believes she was…Cleopatra in another life…and loves to paint portraits of snakes." He sounded less enthused the more he read.

"That makes perfect sense historically." Dr. Oliver nodded.

Conner laughed from where he was sitting with Hunter and Crystal. "Sounds like a perfect match to me."

The Solar ninja raised her hand. "Do we get to veto if you read them out loud? Because if so, I'm a hard veto on that girl."

"Hard veto on who?" Lucy asked, walking down the stairs. She stopped when she saw Cam and Hunter. She smiled at them, moving to hug Cam. "Hey, what's up?"

Conner rose off the ground. "Ethan's on a dating site."

"Oh?" Lucy asked, moving to lean on the table near her sister. "Anyone interesting?"

"Believed she was Cleopatra and paints snakes." Crystal summed up, leaning her weight against Hunter. The two sat on the ground near the mechanism.

Lucy scrunched her face in confusion. "Absolutely not. I'm with Crystal, hard veto."

Hayley checked her watch and sighed. "It's almost closing. I need to go check on Trent."

"Maybe we should try the simulation tomorrow," Crystal suggested. "We all probably need sleep, which might help the problem."

"Yeah, I say we hit it." Ethan nodded.

—

The following afternoon, after the three ninjas and Hayley finally figured out the mechanism, the Rangers—minus Kira—were in the lab. Crystal, Lucy, and Hunter were in the corner, working on documents for their respective academies. Ethan was sitting at a table, still on his laptop and still on that dating site. Conner was kicking his soccer ball around.

"Great, you're all here." Kira climbed down the stairs and past her teammates.

Ethan rose from his little desk. "Where have you been?"

Conner turned around, stopping the soccer ball. "Yeah, you should check in every once in a while."

"I tried." Kira defended, then breathed. "Never mind, I need your opinion on something, and I need you all to be honest." She handed a yellow colored disk case to Hayley. "Can you play this?"

"Sure."

Kira appeared on the screen in what looked like a new dimension, with different animations swirling around her. She had silver and black makeup around her eyes, and her hair was in a fake Mohawk. She was all black, and the outfit didn't look comfortable to Lucy. The music was a little too techno for her liking too.

Everyone shared unsure looks. When the music died down, Kira bit her lip. "All right, tell me the truth." She told them. For a solid minute, the team stumbled over their words, trying to come up with something. "It's what? Is someone going to tell me what they think?"

Conner glanced around. "I will."

"Conner!" Everyone but the sisters returned, looking at the Red Ranger.

"No, let him talk." Kira snapped.

"I just think…it's not you," Conner told her.

Kira shook her head. "I knew it. What was I thinking?"

Crystal placed her hands on her shoulders. "That you were going go big with him." She spoke. "Look, sometimes, dreams take a lot longer than you think. Don't be discouraged; it means you figured out what you don't like."

Lucy patted her other shoulder. "Don't let others dictate who you are supposed to be. Trust me. I had enough people try to say what I can do."

The computer beeped. "Never thought I'd be glad to hear that sound." Ethan sighed, turning to see a ship in the middle of the air, sending a snake-like bot to the ground.

"Either something escaped from the airshow, or we're in trouble." Conner joked.

"Is anyone else thinking Zeltrax?" Lucy asked from where she stood between Ethan and Conner.

Dr. Oliver turned to the Rangers. "You guys handle it. I'm gonna help Hayley get our new weapon powered up."

Conner nodded. "Okay. Ready?"

"Ready."

Dino Thunder, Power Up!

Eclipse Ranger, Dino Power!

Dino Power!

Guardian of the Sun!

Guardian of the Moon!

—

Minutes later, the Megazord was towering over the city. The bot smashed into the Thundersaurus, sending it flying. "Look out!" Conner called. The vehicle rose, firing lasers at the Megazord and knocking them to the ground. It then screamed again and dove underground.

"Where the hell is that thing headed?" Crystal asked from the comms.

"Everyone, this thing is still in the area. We have to intercept it before it comes into the city." Dr. Oliver told the team.

"Wish we knew where it was going," Lucy muttered.

The Rangers landed on the ground, meeting Dr. Oliver and the Guardians where they were standing. "What do we do, Dr. O?" Conner asked.

"You'll have to fight with the best you can." He lifted his morpher. "Brachiozord!"

The snake flew out of the ground, attacking the Brachiozord. The brachio roared out, avoiding blasts. The vehicle broke apart again to swing around and attack. The Rangers narrowly avoided explosions but were knocked to the ground. Lucy lifted her helmeted head to see Dr. Oliver take off and push off the ground to disappear into the large ship. "Great, we have a rogue Dr. Oliver." She sighed.

Crystal pointed to the downed Brachiozord, who was roaring but needed time to get up. "He's not doing well either."

"We gotta do something," Conner argued.

"Might be time to go Triassic, Conner," Kira suggested.

The Rangers turned just in time to see the vehicle piece itself together above the downed zord. "I think you might be right." Conner pulled his shield out. Kira and Ethan powered it up. "Triassic Ranger, Engaged," Conner spoke, the Triassic details appearing on his suit seconds later.

Kira and Ethan were forced to relinquish their morphs; their energy levels lowered. Lucy and Crystal remained morphed, standing over them. "You two okay?" Crystal turned her helmeted head to the demorphed Rangers. They nodded.

"I'm coming up there," Conner announced, pushing himself off the ground to face the monster. He was sent back, landing right on his feet. "Okay, new plan." He pulled his blaster out, firing shots that only seemed to anger the vehicle. It fired back, and Conner used the shield as protection.

Only it glowed like it was an eclipse. A blinding pale light scattered across the quarry, forcing the Rangers to cover their eyes. When they turned back to the mountaintop, they heard distant roaring. Standing at the top of a mountain before an eclipse was the new assault vehicle—a red, black, gold, and silver triceratops with a matching cart—stomped at the top before running down the side. "Whoa, Hayley did it." Conner smiled under his helmet

"And just in time, from the look of things," Hayley spoke up. "Do it just like we practice, Conner."

"You got it." Conner nodded, disappearing into the Rover. "Shield of Triumph, full power." The Rover took off, charging through the rocks in its way. It took on the vehicle. The snake broke apart, firing at the Rover, who avoided all blasts. The car landed back in, just in time for the Rover to come up beside it and smash its tires into the car, effectively sending it to the side and crashing in flames.

—

"Where's Dr. Oliver?" Conner asked, racing back to the Rangers.

The four looked uneasy. "You wanna tell him?" Kira asked Crystal.

The Guardian looked at her, then at Conner, wincing. She pointed to the ship. "Still up there."

After a few minutes, the ship sparked, sending the Rangers back. They attached in horror. Another few seconds and the entire boat shattered in a large explosion. "No! He can't be gone!" Kira yelled at the sky.

"It's okay, Rangers!" Dr. Oliver called from behind the five. They turned around, sighing in relief. They saw their teacher and mentor mainly unharmed.

They raced to him. "Dr. O, you're okay!" Kira told him.

"But what about Zeltrax?" Ethan asked.

Dr. Oliver lowered his helmeted head. "Zeltrax is gone."

—

A few days later, the Rangers were walking from where they had parked to the location Kira had chosen for her music video. Kira walked in the middle with her guitar in her hands. Ethan walked on one side and Conner on the other. "Well, everything is all set." Trent smiled, jogging between Kira and Ethan. The Rangers walked to the shoot location. "Camera's all ready. The payback's good. All you gotta do is sing."

"Thank you, guys," Kira glanced at her teammates, beaming up at them. "From now on, no more letting someone tell me who I should be."

"Especially since who you are is already pretty cool," Conner added. He looked over everyone to see Ethan nervously glancing around. "You forget something?"

"No, I'm supposed to meet my cyber hottie today." Ethan grinned, rubbing his hands together.

"What? Here?" Trent asked him, smiling and nudging him.

"I figured you can't get much better in the first date department than a music video shoot," Ethan explained.

"How are you gonna know who she is?" Conner asked.

"She's wearing a pink hat and a matching jacket." Ethan practically squealed. He spotted her. "Oh, there she is now." He took off running to her.

The Rangers stopped, seeing Ethan approach a blonde girl in a light pink hat and a hot pink leather jacket. "Excuse me." He spoke. "Are you DreamGirl23?"

The girl lifted her head. "Yes, I am." She returned, standing up and turning around.

The Rangers found Cassidy Cornell standing on the other side of Ethan. The Rangers all exchanged, laughing and glancing, not believing the situation. "I don't believe it." Trent breathed out.

—

Thirty minutes later, the Rangers were dancing along to Kira's song. Lucy stood with Crystal, the two chaperoning Ethan's date with Cassidy. Not that they wanted to, but Ethan had nearly pleaded with the Guardians about it. "But only if it looks like it's going bad." He had told her.

Lucy laughed when Crystal grabbed her hand, twirling her around, laughing. Hunter joined in on the fun, stealing Crystal back. Lucy laughed, avoiding bumping into Devin with his camera. While the crowd danced to Kira and her band, he and Trent worked cameras. Lucy laughed when a weight jumped onto her back, blonde hair landing in her face. Crystal laughed, holding onto her younger sister's shoulders, her legs supported by Lucy. "This is fun." Crystal laughed into her sister's ear.

Lucy turned her head up. "Yeah." She smiled. "Now, we're ready."

Crystal fist-bumped her. "100 percent."

Next Episode: A Ranger Exclusive