Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. Only my OCs.
Chapter 9: Beneath the Surface
"Come on!" Ethan muttered as he typed viciously on his laptop. He sat at the table beside the other teens, who were trying to do their homework, playing video games, "Oh no you didn't! Eat laser, you intergalactic freak!" Conner, Kira and Andy exchanged irritated looks as he got louder and more annoying.
"Dude, do you mind?" Conner finally spoke up.
"Made it to level 12!" Ethan cheered, ignoring Conner.
Before the teens could do anything else, someone walked over to Ethan and turned off his laptop, "Hey! What are you doing?" He demanded, looking up.
"Hello." Zoey said, smiling.
"Um… hi." Ethan waved, nervous.
"You seem to be completely unconcerned of the people around you." She crossed her arms, "How about you be a little more considerate of the fact that your friends are trying to do their homework and quit being so rude."
"Yeah, dude, seriously. I can't even concentrate with you blowing up things in my ear." Conner told him, frustrated.
"But it took me three hours to get to that level." Ethan whined, starring at his black screen. Zoey just rolled her eyes and went back to the bar.
"Sorry, but I'm with them on this." Kira shrugged apologetically. "We've got a paper due tomorrow. And why aren't you working on yours?"
Ethan looked around at her, "Finished it last week. Trent and I jammed on them while you guys were being David Beckham and uh-"
"Oh don't even say it!"
He widened his eyes before turning back to his laptop, "Wasn't going to."
Kira glared at him before turning to Andy, "Aren't you working on the paper or did you finish it last week too?"
"Oh, no, I finished it two days ago." He shrugged, "I got a little behind, what with training my Bear and all. Otherwise, I would have finished it sooner."
"Then, what are you working on?" Conner asked, looking at paper.
"The History of Pai Zhuq." Andy leaned back and stretched, "Part of training is learning about it's history. In order for me to train with Jenna and Zoey and still go to high school, I have to complete these assigned papers and have them delivered by certain dates."
"What's the topic?" Zoey asked, handing him a smoothie.
"The Masters: Then and Now." He took a drink, "A comprehensive look at the difference in their styles, teachings and legacies."
"I like it." She smirked, "Can't wait to see how they compare it to mine from five years ago. It was a real page turner."
"Seriously?" He threw his hands up, "Just great."
"I know. Apparently Master Mao uses it as part of his mandatory curriculum now."
"Perfect." He muttered as his friends laughed.
"Hey, where's Trent?" Kira asked, looking around, "I thought he was working today."
"Hayley gave him the day off," Conner shrugged. "I think he's spending some quality time with his dad."
"As long as his dad stays the hell away from me." Zoey muttered, walking away.
Those others glanced at each other, knowing how true that was.
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Zoey looked up from her desk as Jenna walked in, "Hey. Shouldn't you be in Mrs. Carver's class?"
"She's sick this week. Has the flu." She took a seat next to her, "So, we're sharing classes all week. Principal Randall made it clear we're only TAs to Tommy and Mrs. Carver, so we can't sit in with the subs."
"Good thing you changed clothes. We're gonna get a little dirty today."
"It's good to always keep a spare set of clothes in case of emergencies."
"Alright guys!" Tommy stood in front of the class as the bell rang, "There's only so much you can learn in the classroom! Who's ready for some fieldwork?" He looked at the two girls as the class filed out, "You two go on, get a head count for me. I'll be right there." They nodded as he turned to his desk.
After making sure everyone was on the bus, the girls climbed on themselves and sat in the seat behind Conner and Ethan, and in front of Kira and Andy.
Conner started laughing, "Check this out!" They looked over to see Principal Randall getting on the bus and sitting next to a very uncomfortable Tommy, "What is she wearing?"
"Forget what she's wearing, what is she doing?" Andy asked, horrified.
"It looks like she's flirting with him." Ethan snickered died as Zoey slapped on the back of the head, "Ow!"
"It's not funny." She hissed, glaring at him, "It's disgusting."
"Ooh, Hayley is going to have a fit." Jenna muttered, earning a nod from Andy.
"Why?" Conner asked, looking back.
"Don't worry about why." Zoey said, looking concerned, "Worry about my brother. He does not look happy." She slouched in her seat.
"You've got that right." Andy nodded in agreement, "He looks like he's trying to be polite but distant at the same time. Is that even possible?"
"Can I tell Jason?" Despite the situation, Andy and Zoey laughed at Jenna's question.
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"Oh. My. Zordon." Zoey covered her eyes and turned away, "Tell me when it stops."
Jenna and Andy looked over to see Principal Randall trying to wipe something off of Tommy's face, while the Black Ranger is tactfully trying to dodge her hands.
"That's disturbing." Jenna squinted, trying to will the image away, "What has gotten into her. She's acting… girly."
"And it's creeping me out." Andy shuddered, "What's with this crush she seems to have for Tommy, all of a sudden?"
"No idea, but it needs to stop." Zoey climbed out of the hole she was in, "Now."
"Hey guys!" Ethan caught their attention. "Over here!"
"Good," Zoey rolled her shoulders, "A distraction."
They walked over to look at what he had found as Conner and Kira joined them, "Check it out, I think I found something," he brushed the dirt off of the object.
"Great, what is it?" Conner asked as they crouched beside him. They paused when they got a good look at it, "Is that..."
"A Dino Egg," Zoey looked up at them. "We need Tommy."
"I'll get him." Kira said, standing up.
"Try to shake off his attachment."
"Huh?" Zoey just shook her head as she waved her off. When she left, the rest of the team carefully dug the egg out of the ground.
"What have you got?" Tommy called as he and Kira reached them.
Ethan stood up and handed him their find, "I think it might be a Dino Zord egg." Tommy took it carefully, studying it curiously.
"Oh, a discovery, how exciting!" They looked around as Randall approached them from behind and moved closer to try and hide the egg from her.
"Uh, no, we're not sure what it is." Tommy told her, holding it in his arm and moving his body so she couldn't see it.
"It looks like a prehistoric egg." Randall spoke, rolling her eyes. She then held out her hand impatiently. "May I?" Tommy, as everyone looked concerned, hesitated, "Don't worry, I won't drop it."
With no legitimate excuse not to give it to her, he sighed he handed it over. Zoey had to cross her arms to keep herself from snatching it out of her hands. "I should really take that back to the school lab and examine it." After a moment, Tommy stepped forward and held out his hand.
"But of course." As she was handing it back, the screams of the other students rang out, startling the group. When they looked around, they saw a group of Tyrannodrones swarming the area. As students ran for the safety of the bus, Tommy nodded to Conner and Zoey, and the Rangers ran off to face the Lizards.
"Of course they're here!" Zoey yelled out sarcastically before leaping over a drone and punching down a hole, "They obviously want the egg!"
"Let's show these freaks up!" Andy kicked one back into another before jumping from a punch, "Time to show them that they can't always get what they want."
"You've got that right," Kira nodded, flipping one of the Tyrannodrones.
Zoey jumped on a plank with Conner that had been laid down across a trench while Drones came at them from both sides. They managed to find their balance as they thew punches and dodged attacks. Conner ducked as Zoey flipped over him to kick back a Drone flying at him. "Thanks." He said smiling.
"No problem." They simultaneously flipped backwards off the plank and landed in the trench to kick more of them off the sides. She jumped back out of the trench and ran for a group heading toward the bus, "No you don't!" She kicked one in the stomache before throwing two more back in the trenches. She did a gainer off a tree and, landing behind another Drone coming at her, kicked it into the tree. She then ducked under a punch before elbowing the creature in the chest. Cart-wheeling to the side, she kicked a Drone in the path of Jenna, who jumped kicked it into another, "Thanks."
"No problem." They looked over to see Tommy protecting Randall, while using her as a weapon, "Can you explain that?" Jenna asked as they blocked and punched more coming at them, "I mean, that's weird, right?"
Zoey rolled her eyes before, discretely, sending a small energy blast at the Drones, "Honestly, I think he's just being Tommy. She's in the way and he's trying to protect her without giving himself away. Trust me, no interest there, whatsoever." She shuddered at the image as they turned and ran over towards the others, "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine." Conner said as they regrouped.
"Good. Let's get to the bus before Randall can ask too many questions," Zoey told the the teens, who nodded.
Just as they started past the Principal, she held up a hand and blocked their path. "Do you mind explaining to me where you learned to fight like that?!"
"Not that it's any of your business," Zoey crossed her arms, "But Jenna, Andy and I have been training in martial arts since we were kids. My brother, who just saved your butt, was one of my teachers." Tommy turned his head to hide his smiled as Jenna admonished her friend with a nudge. They grabbed Andy's arm and dragged him towards the bus.
"Um, actually, we're in karate club," Conner spoke, stepping forward. The others nodded in agreement and ran off to join the rest of their team on the bus.
"Do we have one of those?" Randall inquired, looking at Tommy.
"I don't know, I'm still new here." He shrugged before walking off as well.
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"Shouldn't we be in the lab with the others?" Andy asked as he put another board in place, "I mean, do we really need to be building on the Raptor Pen right now?"
"Nothing we can do but take up space." Zoey hammered in a few more nails before she looked up, "Besides, those three are just standing there staring at that egg while Tommy has it scanned and analyzed. We'd just be in the way."
"And Zoey's pretty sure she already knows what kind of Dino is in the egg anyways." Jenna brought over another board and helped Andy lay it in place, "She memorized all of Tommy's research, including the ones to help build our Raptors."
"Which, by the way, is almost done." They shared an excited smile, "But she's right. If the papers are correct, it's a Dimetrozord. It's developed from the dimetrodon and, technically, not a dinosaur. It was around about 60 million years before the first dinosaurs. Actually," she looked up, thinking, "that's about the same amount of time between the tyrannosaurus and the first humans."
"Well, it's no different than your two Zords, neither of which are dinosaurs." Andy shrugged, "Then again, neither is the Ptera."
"Right?" They laughed for a moment the morphers went off, "What's up?"
"I'm going back to the dig site," Tommy said, "I'm still getting a heat signature from there, so I'm gonna go check it out. Stay on stand-bye. I've got the others on monster watch and Ethan's scanning the egg."
"No problem, big bro." Zoey nodded to the others, "Be careful."
"Will do, little sister."
"What do you think is at the site?" Andy asked as they finished the wall on the last stall, "I mean, we have the egg. What else could be out there? T-Drones?"
"There's no telling." Jenna smirked, "And knowing Tommy's luck, whatever is there, he'll find it. It's his curse."
Zoey stood up and stretched her arms, "Unfortunately, I've inherited that same luck. Come on, let's go run the Tower. I need to get in touch with my inner Ninja. It's been awhile, and I feel like I'm getting rusty."
The other two just looked at each and smiled as they followed her out.
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"Is that really necessary, Zoey!" Andy yelled in frustration as he hung onto the side of the wall, "Come on, please? Call off Vixey! I'm barely hanging on here!"
"Expect the unexpected, Lightning Bug!" She laughed as swung up to the next level, "Come on, amateur. Fight fire with fire!"
"She's right!" Jenna agreed as her Wolf, Tala, shot out and lunged for Zoey. Before it could strike, Zoey sent out a blast light, shattering the spirit, "Hey!"
"Oh, relax. You know I didn't hurt her." She let out a yelp as a giant bear surged up and swiped at her, "Oh, that's good. Too bad it won't work." She flipped up onto a single ledge and and toss a pink fire ball down at the bear, making it disintegrate.
Andy just sighed, "I really need to work on strengthening him. That was just sad."
"Give him a name." Zoey called out as she rang the victory bell, "A name would give him an identity. Makes him stronger."
"I'll have to think about that one." Their morphers went off, making them all still.
"What's up?" Zoey asked, as the other finally made it to the top.
"Hey, you three," Conner's voice rang out, "There's a Zord with a giant rotating blade on it's back attacking Little Tokyo."
"Where did this Zord come from?"
"The egg in the lab was a fake. It had a hologram of Elsa in it."
"She must've switched it without us noticing it, somehow." She paused, "Alright, we'll meet you out there."
"You've got it."
Zoey looked at the others, "Ready?"
"Ready!" Their bracelets turned into their morphers as they held them up.
"DINO THUNDER, POWER UP, HA!"
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"There it is!" Ethan cried as they arrived beneath the towering Zord.
"Is that a saw blade on it's back?" Andy asked just before it ran past them, crashing through the trees, "I mean, is that supposed to be there?"
"Seriously, dude?" Jenna shook her head as the primary Dino Zords showed up to try and stop the rampaging Dimetrozord, "There's the cavalry."
The new Zord reached the Tricerazord first and head butted it, unaffected by the three large horns that were ramming into him. In retaliation, it chomped away, trying to bite at the Tricera's face, only managing to catch it's horns a few times. Rearing on it's hind legs, it roared and launched its body forward, spinning the saw on it's back as it crashed into Ethan's Zord, knocking it to the ground.
"Whoa! Brutal!" Ethan groaned, watching his Zord take a beating.
The Pterazord rammed into the rogue Zord's side as the Spinozord used it's head to ram into their opponent. The Dimetrozord reared up and bit the Pterazord's tail and flinging it into the Spinozord, send both crash back into the Tricerazord.
The Tyrannozord, the last one still standing, moved forward, snapping it's jaws down on it's opponent's face. The latter jumped upwards and caught Conner's Zord in the bottom of the jaw with it's whirring blade.
"Come on, Tyrannozord!" Conner yelled to his Red Zord, trying to encourage him. It swung its tail around like a drill, but the other Zord dodged and with a powerful bite, sent the Tyrannozord to the ground as well.
Before the other Zords could get back up, the Dimetrozord dug into the ground and burrowed underneath, disappearing."He's gone!" Conner groaned.
"That was one fierce Zord." The ground started to shake, startling the teens, "Is he back already?"
"That's not him." Zoey said, making everyone look over.
Before they could question her, a new monster rose up and towered over them.
"Targets located!" they looked up to see a monster towering over them.
"Why do you always have to be right?" Andy grumbled as they backed away.
"Now what do we do?" Conner looked around, worried.
"Your Zords are too damaged." Zoey put her hand on his shoulder, "Let them rest for awhile. Jenna and I will take care of him."
"No." He shook his head, "We need to do this as a team." Before she could protest, he called into his morpher, "Dino Zords!" They four leapt into their Zord to create the Megazord, "Do it Kira!" he looked to the Yellow Ranger on his left.
"Pterarang!" She called, grabbing the wings from the front of their Megazord. They hurled it at the monster, but he deflected it each time it flew towards him. "Oh no!"
"Tricera Fist!" Ethan tried next, but before they could get close, the monster spun and knocked them back with his tail. He raked his blades across the front of the Megazord, making them all cry out as they were thrown about in the cockpit.
Andy shook his head, "This isn't working, guys!"
"I don't think the Thundersaurus is powerful enough," Tommy said, speaking through their morphers. After battling Zeltrax, he had returned to their base to find them fighting the monster, "You need something that can break through his armor."
"Like what?" Conner growled.
"Like a blade. Or a saw." Tommy pondered for a moment.
"Or both?" Zoey spoke up as she rolled her eyes.
"That's it! You gotta use the Dimetrozord!" He exclaimed, making the girls snicker.
"The what?" Conner frowned,
"Doe he never listen?" Andy muttered, scratching his forehead.
"The Dino Zord you were just fighting, Conner!" Zoey exclaimed.
"In case you guys didn't notice, he's not exactly playing well with others!" Conner yelled, clearly frustrated.
"Let me see if I can do something about that." Zoey said looking at Jenna, "Buy me some time." Her friend nodded before holding up her own morpher.
"I need Ninja Zord Power, now!" She jumped into Wolf Zord when it streaked onto the battlefield, "Warrior Mode!"
"Jenna will get you the time you need, Zoey." Tommy's voice rang out, "But you need to hurry. Elsa just called it back to action."
Zoey glanced over at the Dimetrozord curled up, ramming it's spinning blade into both Zords, "Reminds me of the Wild Force Armadillo Zord."
She looked down at her morpher, "Okay. I know I have no dinosaur connection, but that doesn't mean we can't work together." Remembering a spell her mom had taught her, she twirled her fingers over her wrist, causing a rainbow of light appear, and snapped them at her morpher. Next thing she knew, the Fox head turned into a Dimetro head, "Yes! Got him!" She push the button to activate him.
"The Dimetrozord is now out of Elsa's control, guys! He's on our side." Zoey called into the morpher and laughed when she heard the cheers. With a roar, the Zord leapt through the air and hit the monster twice, sending it to the ground in a shower of sparks and freeing the Megazords so they could get up.
"Way to go, Zoey!" Ethan laughed.
"That's our girl!" Jenna smirked as Andy smiled in agreement.
"He's all yours, guys!" Tommy said, happy for them, "And wait until you see what he can do!"
The arm that was made up of the Tyrannozord's tail detached, allowing the new Zord to transform and attached itself in it's place. As the saw began to spin, they ran at the monster when it had recovered. They broke through his blade easily as he attacked, making him cry out in horror.
"Oh yeah!" Conner cheered.
"I love it!" Kira laughed as they broke through his other sword.
"Now I'm really mad!" The monster yelled furiously.
"Oh, you want some more?" Ethan asked innocently, tilting his head. This time they hit the monster with their saw, and blasted him with fire.
"Dimetro Blade!" Conner yelled as the monster fell backwards. "Full power!" Yhe saw spun as they swung in several directions, and destroyed the monster easily.
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"How does it feel to have actual control over a Dino Zord?" Jenna whispered, sitting next to Zoey at their shared desk, "I mean, you can't actually get in it, but he's all yours now."
"It's really weird. I mean, to have control over a Zord and not actually be in the cockpit is definitely a different experience. Tommy had that with the DragonZord." The Pink Ranger leaned over, "There were plenty of Zords that we had last year that we didn't get into the cockpits of, but we didn't have any control over those. That was all Cam."
Laughing, they looked up as the TV on the shelf came on, "This is Cassidy Cornell with a special report." The blonde paused for effect and smiled, "I have discovered that we have a superhero working right here at Reefside High." The Rangers all froze as they stared at the TV. Tommy sighed heavily, fearing the worst, "Yes, our very own Principal Randall fended off several prehistoric creatures in an act of selfless bravery."
"Bravery?" Zoey exchanged a look with Jenna, "Tommy used her like that freaking shinai in that Team Ninja Competition with Jason."
"Yeah, he flung her around like a rag-doll." They had to cover their mouths to keep from laughing, as they tried to avoid the glare Tommy threw at them.
"I was on the scene to bring you the exclusive footage," Cassidy continued as everyone watched the TV. "Let's roll tape," she announced, and a video appeared on screen, but not of the fight. Instead, it was a loop of Cassidy pulling a flower from the ground and ripping its petals off. The other students burst out laughing as Cassidy appeared again, looking alarmed. "Uh, we seem to be having technical difficulties, please stand by." The screen went black as the classroom laughed.
Tommy looked over at his sister and sighed in relief.
"That was a very close call." Jenna muttered, laying her head on the table.
"Table me about it." She put her arms over her head to stretch and smirked in Andy's direction as he talked to the other three, "Wanna do some Bear Training this afternoon? Might help take the edge off."
"Sounds like a great idea." The Ice Ninja closed her eyes for a moment before looking back at her friend, "By the way, Master Mao has been on me about agreeing upon a Master's name. Wants me to decide."
"What's the hurry? RJ has had his stripes a lot longer than you and I don't hear anybody making a fuss about his Master name."
"It's Master Mao."
"Enough said."
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After the bell, the Rangers were walking down the hallway toward their next class, "I just find it unfair, that's all." Andy complained as he dodge Zoey's arm.
"We're TAs, Andy." Jenna sighed, "Teacher's Assistants. We only have two classes a day. It gives us a chance to work at the cafe or do some of our own class work."
"You know, the college classes that we take online?" Zoey said, sarcastically.
"Stop." Conner held up a hand to block everyone as they came to the top of the stairs, "Look." They saw Tommy talking with Principal Randal, who seemed surprised and dazed for a moment as the bell rang.
"That's the bell, Doctor Oliver," she snapped at him suddenly. "Your next class isn't going to teach itself." She told him coldly as he frowned. He looked confused as she stormed off down the stairs.
"Yeah… I mean, no."
"Man, that woman is cold blooded." Ethan laughed as they walked down the stairs, making Tommy look around at them. He rolled his eyes as he saw their smirks.
"Yeah, but remember, Doctor O's got a thing for dinosaurs." Conner laughed, flipping his ball in his hands as they all walked down the stairs.
"Don't even start with me Conner." Tommy warned, making him laugh.
"I think it's a perfect match." Kira spoke up, smiling innocently.
"Don't make me gag." Zoey stuck her finger in her mouth, "Besides," she smirked as she looked over at her brother, "I have a feeling I'll be getting that sister-in-law soon." Andy and Jenna laughed at the glare Tommy threw at them, "Maybe in the next year or so. What do you think, big brother?"
He sighed, "Aren't you guys late for your next class?"
"Zoey and I don't have anything until last period." Jenna grabbed her friend's arm, "We're headed to the cafe for a few hours to get some class work done."
"Well, we were kinda hoping you could write us a note or something?" Conner grinned, trying to be cute.
"Dream on!" He told them, as they continued down the corridor.
Andy laughed, "You've got a better chance of that happening than you do of Randall granting us permanent hall passes for the rest of the year."
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As Zoey slept, with Kit curled next to her, a glowing figure stood over her bed, watching. Waiting. "My Little Star… you will be the Spark that powers the Light. You will help save us all. We're waiting for you… find us."
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