Disclaimer: I do not own Mighty Morphin Power Rangers or Turok. No profit is being made from this story.
"Let's get going then," said Tommy.
"How weird," said Kimberly. With one last look at the table where the cactus Tommy had just given her had been before it mysteriously vanished, she and the other Rangers walked over to the lockers at the Youth Centre. Rocky glanced around to make sure the coast was clear and they teleported away.
Except for Kimberly. Instead of disappearing into the familiar streak of pink light she stayed right where she was.
"What's going on?" she asked in confusion. She raised her communicator. "Tommy? Anybody?"
There was no answer. Before Kimberly could decide what to do next, a portal of rainbow-coloured light appeared behind her. With an alarmed yelp she was drawn into it.
A second later she was thrown face first on the ground. Thankfully it was soft. Kimberly spat out a mouthful of dirt and looked over her shoulder just in time to see the portal close behind her.
"Whoa. Oh my gosh, where am I?" she said as she looked around. She was now in a clearing in the middle of a dense jungle. All around her was a wall of thick green foliage through which she could see no more than a few metres ahead. The air was thick with the scent of exotic flowers and she could hear animals moving through the vegetation.
She got to her feet shakily and tried her communicator again. "Zordon? Tommy? Anybody?" he asked, her voice small and scared. Once again there was no reply.
As Kimberly was trying to figure out what to do, she heard a rustling of leaves that was too loud to be an animal. Three figures emerged from the undergrowth into the clearing.
They were humanoid, with grey-brown skin, large ears and pig-like snouts where a human's nose would be. Two large tusks poked up from their lower jaws. Each was dressed in military camouflage fatigues and armed with a large rifle.
"Uh, hi" she said unsurely.
Despite their hoggish snouts, the creature's features were close enough to human that they could show expressions. All three looked surprised at first but then their faces contorted into ugly leers.
"Look at this. We found ourselves an extra piece of loot" said one.
"Yes. We'll get a good price for her" a second pig man agreed.
Kimberly had heard enough. She whipped out her Power Morpher and held it out in front of her. "It's Morphing time! Pterodactyl!"
Nothing happened. The pig men sniggered unpleasantly and started to approach her. She spun around and sprinted for the tree-line. If she could make it to cover then she could lose them…
A whirring sound filled her ears as she ran but she didn't look back. Had she done so she would have seen two of the pig men spinning a pair of bolas above their heads. They hurled the weighted cords through the air towards her. One wrapped itself around her ankles while the other wound around her torso, pinning her arms to her sides. With a cry of dismay Kimberly fell to the ground. She struggled desperately as the pig men closed in on her, laughing nastily.
"Help!" Kimberly screamed.
Danielle Fireseed frowned darkly as she watched the three slavers approach the trapped girl. Their prey looked terrified. Given her situation that was hardly surprising, but judging by her attire she wasn't a native of the Lost Land and so wouldn't have any idea what was going on.
Poor kid, she must have fallen through a random portal.
She had been tracking the slavers without their knowledge for a while now, but she couldn't stand by and let an innocent suffer. It was time to do more than merely observe.
Danielle reached into the seemingly empty leather satchel hanging at her waist. Although it appeared perfectly innocuous the bag was in fact the Light Burden, an heirloom that had been passed down through her family for generations. Containing a fragment of energy from the Big Bang itself, the Light Burden was capable of storing a vast arsenal of weapons, tools and useful items. Only a Turok could use its power. And she was the current Turok.
As Danielle reached inside the Light Burden the scent of pine needles and leaves issued forth from the bag, accompanied by a faint jingling of bells. Fortunately, it was too low for her enemies to hear. She drew forth a simple wooden recurve bow and a quiver filled with white-fletched arrows. While she had no qualms with using the more advanced weapons when they were necessary, she had always prided herself on using her own skills without over-relying on hardware. Besides, this should be more than sufficient.
Danielle took careful aim and fired. Her arrow whizzed through the air and struck the lead slaver right in the throat. His evil leer was instantly replaced by shock and he gurgled helplessly for a few seconds before he toppled to the ground, dead.
Predictably, the other two panicked and began blasting away into the foliage with their rifles. The bullets smashed into tree trunks, spraying splinters of wood in all directions. Even if she had stayed in place none of them would have actually hit her. As it was, Danielle had already sprinted behind another tree. She fired another arrow, this one catching her target right in the chest and piercing his heart. The rifle fell from his limp fingers and he slumped to his knees before he keeled over.
The last remaining slaver howled in rage and fired wildly in the general direction the arrow had come from. This time rather than run to a new position, Danielle raised her left arm and fired a glowing blue line from the energy grapple worn on her wrist. The line attached itself to a sturdy branch, big enough to support her weight, and she zipped up to it. She looked down to see that her opponent had run out of bullets and was frantically reloading his rifle. Before he could finish, she put an arrow through his heart and he collapsed.
Danielle climbed back down to the ground and listened intently. Satisfied that there were no more enemies close by, she walked over to the girl.
"It's okay, I'm here to help you" she said gently. "Don't be afraid."
The girl's scared expression eased slightly. Danielle crouched down and unwound the bolas, then helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay" she replied a little shakily. "Thanks for saving me."
"My pleasure. I'm Danielle Fireseed."
"I'm Kimberly. Uh, where are we?"
Kimberly listened in awe as Danielle told her all about the Lost Land and the Fireseed family's legacy of protecting it as Turok. Even for a Power Ranger it was pretty amazing.
No wonder I couldn't through to Zordon she thought. She realized that had to be why her Power Morpher hadn't worked either. The Morphing Grid must not exist within the Lost Land.
"So uh, there is a way I can get home, right?"
Danielle nodded. "There's a portal back at Galyanna. I'd be happy to take you there but there's a problem."
"What problem?" she asked uneasily.
"Those creeps that attacked you were slavers, part of a large band that raided a small village and kidnapped the people. Those three were just a small hunting party. I was tracking them when they found you."
"Oh no, does that mean the rest will get away?"
Danielle shook her head. "No. I've found a trail that was too big to have been made by those three. I can follow that to the main group. But it's too far away to take you to Galyanna. I'm afraid you'll have to come with me."
"Sure, I can help," said Kimberly. Her face turned sheepish. "Uh, I know I didn't make a good first impression, but I really can."
"Okay. Let's get going."
Danielle and Kimberly set off through the jungle, following the trail left behind by the slavers. As they proceeded Danielle occasionally pointed out signs, such as broken branches or wheel tracks.
Kimberly swiped irritably at some insects that were buzzing around her head. Her guide had given her some insect-repellent which kept away most of them but a few still persisted. She started to ask how much further but then they came to another clearing and the words caught in her throat.
In front of them was the lifeless carcass of a triceratops. A pack of utahraptors, about a dozen in all, were gathered around it and feeding on the fallen herbivore.
Kimberly started to scream but Danielle instantly clamped a hand over her mouth. "Keep it down or the guys we're after will hear us" she hissed. Kimberly nodded and she let go.
"Kill them! Kill them!" Kimberly said frantically.
"Why? The raptors won't hurt us."
"But they're predators."
"Yes, and they're a vital part of this place's ecosystem. They're not evil, they just have to kill to survive. That triceratops will be a far better meal for them than two little humans."
Kimberly realized that she was right. These weren't like Zedd or Rita's monsters; they were living creatures acting on their instincts, no different to any other animal.
"I understand."
"I'm glad."
They moved on, leaving the raptor pack to enjoy their meal.
Soon afterwards they came upon a small camp consisting of a few dozen tents. Numerous pig men were lounging around the camp, most of them gathered around small fires where they were cooking food.
Behind the tents was a huge cage mounted on wheels. Inside it were a large crowd of people, all dressed in what looked vaguely like Medieval peasant attire. Kimberly's blood boiled as she saw that there were children there, many of whom were crying while the adults tried to comfort them.
"We have to help them," said Kimberly.
"I have a plan," said Danielle. She reached into the Light Burden and took out a small phial of colourless liquid. "I'll lure them away. You get to the cage, use this acid to melt the lock and then lead the people back the way we came."
"Okay" Kimberly replied.
"One more thing." She reached into the satchel again and produced a handgun. "Do you know how to use one of these?"
"I can use it" Kimberly replied. It can't be too different from a Blade Blaster she thought.
"Good luck."
"Same to you."
Danielle hurried away until she was on the other side of the camp. I should be far enough away here. Okay, now to get their attention.
Not for the first time, she marvelled at the storage capacity of the Light Burden as she removed a full-sized grenade launcher. She took aim and fired, launching a series of grenades into the camp.
BUH-WHOOM!
The explosions rocked the entire camp. The remaining slavers came pouring out of their tents and charging towards the trees where she hid.
"It must be the Turok! Get her!"
Danielle replaced the grenade launcher with an assault rifle and began firing even as she gave ground, ducking behind the trees as they returned fire with their own rifles. I just hope Kimberly can handle her job she thought.
Kimberly heard the explosions and saw huge clouds of fiery smoke rising into the air. She watched as the pig men began yelling angrily and running off in the direction of the blasts. She waited until they were all gone and then ran over to the cage. Some of the children stopped crying, their eyes lighting up as they saw a hope of rescue.
"Hold on, I'll get you all out of here" she said. As Danielle had told her she removed the stopper from the phial and poured its contents over the lock. There was a sharp hissing sound as the acid ate into the metal. Just as she was about to open the door a little girl cried, "Watch out!"
She spun around to see two pig men charging her. Kimberly pointed her gun at the nearest one and pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, this was not like shooting a Blade Blaster. The recoil almost threw her off her feet and her shot went way wide. Encouraged by this, the pig men ran faster.
Kimberly dropped the gun and unleashed a volley of punches and kicks that battered the pig men. Not expecting such resistance, they stumbled back as they tried futilely to defend themselves. Kimberly leaped into the air and delivered a powerful spinning hook kick to their jaws that knocked both of them out.
"Yes!" she exclaimed. She hurriedly freed the villagers, all of whom were staring at her in awe.
"Thank you so much for saving us" one woman exclaimed.
"It's okay. Come on we have to get out of here."
Meanwhile Danielle had once again used her energy grapple to take to the trees. She was like a ghost flitting through the branches as she rained down explosive tek-arrows on her enemies. The slavers were completely out matched.
"Retreat!" one of them screamed. As one they turned and fled in a blind panic.
Danielle watched them run away with a glare of contempt. Hopefully this will make them reconsider their career options she thought.
She used the telescopic sight on her Tek Bow to zoom in on the camp. To her relief Kimberly had gotten them all out.
Danielle descended from the trees to the ground and set off to meet up with her new friend. It took only a few moments for her to catch up with them. Not wanting to startle anyone she called, "Kimberly, are you okay?"
"I'm fine" she called back.
Danielle stepped out from the trees. "Is anyone hurt? I have medical supplies."
The villagers reassured her that physically they were unharmed. Danielle told them that Galyanna would send troops to protect them and workers to help repair their village. They all cheered and thanked both of their rescuers profusely.
"Well done, Kimberly," said Danielle. "You did an amazing job saving these people."
"Thanks" she said with a smile. As a Power Ranger Kimberly knew that saving people was its own reward, but she had to admit it was nice to be appreciated.
Before she could say more, a rainbow-coloured portal identical to the one that had brought her to the Lost Land appeared behind her. The villagers gasped in shock and backed away but she only grinned eagerly.
"My friends must have found a way to get me back. Goodbye Danielle and thanks for everything."
She stepped right into the portal and found herself in the Command Centre. The other Rangers were there, all of them smiling in relief as they saw her. Tommy immediately ran over and hugged her
"I knew you guys would rescue me" she said.
"All right" said Rocky.
Once everyone had settled down Billy asked, "so where were you, Kimberly? We couldn't find anywhere on the Viewing Globe."
"That's a long story and I'll tell you all later" she replied. "Right now, I'm just glad to be back."