Chapter 2: Rider of Justice
A/N: Heyyyyy everyone, it's TL Savage1113 here with another chapter of Power Rider Triassic. This chapter deals with a further introduction to this world and even has our first form change! This chapter is a long one, so I won't hold you up any longer.
Let's Begin.
"Kat?" Zach asked in disbelief.
At the sound of her name, Kat gave an awkward chuckle and shrugged sheepishly, "Surprise…" she said softly.
"What are you doing here?" Zach asked.
Henry spoke first, "To be fair, we were already here by the time you showed up."
Zach looked at the red-headed young man, "What's your name, man?"
"Henry." was his reply.
"Henry." Zach repeated, "Well, Henry, you and Kat should've left. Staying here was dangerous."
"Sure, but I just wanted evidence that the monsters existed. You said it yourself, I have a huge drive for getting information." Kat countered, "Besides, you're in more danger than anything. You're the one fighting those things."
Zach sighed, "Yes, but I have the power to fight them."
Kat nodded, "I can see that."
Henry then stepped forward, "What was all of that anyway?"
Zach didn't respond to the question and instead just looked at the two. He started drumming his fingers against the red motorcycle he was leaning on, not taking his eyes off of the two.
Just when the silence had entered awkward territory, Zach finally spoke.
"There's no way that I can convince you two to drop this, right?"
Henry shook his head, "Not Kat anyway. I'm usually dragged along." he explained.
Kat gave an annoyed look to her partner and stepped closer to Zach, "He's right you know. This is something I have to get information on."
Zach simply sighed as his eyes closed, only opening them again once the sigh was over.
"Fine." he said simply, getting on the t-rex motorcycle, "Follow me."
Kat gave him a grin as she immediately went to get her car, Henry in tow. Watching the two round a corner, Zach shook his head before putting on his motorcycle helmet. He then rode off, leading the two journalists in the direction of the Pride Industries building. Unknown to the three humans, two sets of eyes were watching them roll off into the distance from above.
"So that's the human who's given us so much trouble recently?" Iando asked.
Ouvo nodded, "So it seems. He was definitely impressive."
Iando crouched down and kept his eyes on Zach, "To be honest, I expected more. I expected him to be tall and muscular. He just looks like an average human. He can't be that much of an issue." he stated, his face portraying his disappointment.
"With all due respect, it doesn't matter what you think of the human. It's clear that our king sees him as a threat, so he is a threat. We should head back now." Ouvo replied, walking off. Iando kept his eyes on the shrinking vehicles for a bit longer before following his partner.
Minutes later, Zach entered the Pride Industries building alongside Kat and Henry. He noticed Cindy raising her eyebrow towards the two journalists, but he held up a hand to stop her from saying anything. The three then entered an elevator with Zach pressing the button for the top floor.
"So, how long have you been doing this?" Kat asked as the elevator began to move.
Zach looked to the elevator's ceiling in thought, "About seven months give or take? I haven't really kept up with the time passed." he stated.
"How'd you find yourself doing this?" Henry questioned.
Zach rubbed the back of his neck and gave a nervous chuckle before responding, "I kinda got nosy and took the Sauria Driver for a spin."
Kat smirked, "So in other words, you took something that wasn't yours?"
Zach's cheeks reddened slightly.
"Well," he began, "at least I helped out with the monster issue."
The elevator stopped and the doors opened to a hallway. Walking their way down the white carpet, the trio stopped at a black door. Looking at the nameplate next to it, Kat saw that this was Jen's office. Zach knocked on the door in a rhythm, which gained him a quick response.
"Come in."
Zach opened the door and the trio entered Jen's office. Kat and Henry immediately took notice of the floor to ceiling windows that lined the backwall of the room and gave Jen a good view of the city below. She had a simple wooden desk that had a silver name bar with blue highlights. A cup of pens sat off in the left hand corner and a small lamp sat on the opposite side. There was also a white desktop monitor that sat off-center and was tilted to the side. Jen herself stood next to her desk, looking at her brother expectantly. Upon noticing Kat and Henry, her eyebrows shifted in confusion.
"Kat, Henry, what's the matter?"
Zach ran his hand through his hair, "We've been caught Jen."
If that statement bothered her, Jen didn't show it.
"Caught with what?" she asked.
Kat stepped forward, "Nothing much. Just the whole part of your brother fighting monsters." she explained.
Again, Jen had no reaction, instead looking squarely at her brother.
"Really?"
Zach's eyes widened and he held his hands up, "Hey! I didn't know they were there. I thought everyone had run away by the time the fight started." he said.
Jen sighed before turning to the two journalists, "I assume you both have some questions?" she asked.
Henry spoke up, "Yes ma'am. This is all a bit strange."
Jen nodded and began walking towards the front door of her office, "Follow me."
With that, all four left the room.
Returning underground, Iando and Ouvo walked past many of their fellow Sauriens who were asking them questions about what happened on the surface. They eventually reached Kylan's throne, the Saurien king simply watching them approach in anticipation. The two generals bowed as they reached the foot of the throne, waiting for their king to speak first.
"So, has the threat finally been eradicated?" Kylan asked.
Ouvo spoke first, "Unfortunately not my lord. I regret to inform you that Cerix was defeated by the armored warrior."
"The Fearsaurs were destroyed as well sir." Iando added.
Kylan's jaw shifted in irritation, "I suppose we need to try again." he stated.
"We already got another willing fighter boss." announced a voice off to the side.
Kylan along with Iando and Ouvo looked towards the source of the voice to see Tyorv approaching with another Saurien in tow. Teron sat further back, casting a disappointing gaze onto his muscular counterpart. When they reached the throne, Tyorv shoved the random Saurien forward, who fell to his knees and kept his head down. Kylan looked from the Saurien to Tyorv, judging the latter.
"He does not look too willing to me, Tyorv." Kylan remarked.
"I assure you that he is, your majesty. The brute here was just too forceful in bringing him here." Teron explained, casting Tyorv a glare.
Tyorv turned to Teron in response, slowly approaching him.
"Watch your tone with me Teron." he said before turning back to Kylan, "I know how this may look, but Lophus here told us that he wanted to go to the surface as well."
Kylan kept his gaze on Tyorv for a few more seconds before looking down at Lophus, "Is this true?"
Lophus slowly raised his head, "Yes, my lord. I would like to fight for our people against the warrior." he said.
Kylan then looked to Teron, "Do you have another one of those black devices?"
Teron pulled out a device that was just like the one Cerix used to change.
"Right here your majesty." he said.
Kylan gave the general a nod and Teron extended the device to a still kneeling Lophus. Lophus went to grab it, but Teron spoke up.
"You do understand the risk of this, correct? There may be no return for you."
Lophus looked to the ground for a moment before responding, "If we do not defeat that human warrior, there will be no home for any of us."
Taking the device from Teron, Lophus pressed the gray tip against his chest. When he did this, the gray sections of the device along with the translucent section in the center turned purple. The device was then absorbed by Lophus' body as he grew in mass, turning green in the process and growing scales on his forearms and shins. Once this growth was complete, certain areas of his body became purple with more scales appearing and his face finally shifting. His mouth became duck-billed and a yellow crest grey from the top of his head as his nose shrunk into simple nostrils. Finally, his eyes became a light blue color.
Finally standing, Lophus let out a short roar that sounded similar to a horn and produced blue sound waves. These sound waves struck the roof and caused some rocks to fall. While the Saurien generals all moved away from the falling rocks, Kylan simply kept looking at Lophus. He then turned to Iando and Ouvo.
"Take Lophus to the surface." he ordered.
Iando and Ouvo bowed, "Yes, Lord Kylan."
After leaving Jen's office, the quartet entered the main elevator. Once inside, Jen pulled out a keycard and walked over to the floor selection panel. Kat watched as she inserted the keycard into a slot towards the bottom of the panel. The light above the elevator doors then lit up with the letter 'L' and downward arrows. Jen then removed the keycard and stood back as the elevator descended.
Henry spoke first, "Where are we going?"
Zach turned to him with a slight smirk, "Somewhere cool. You'll see."
Kat and Henry shared a look, but decided to remain quiet as the elevator moved. They eventually noticed that the elevator traveled beyond the lobby and was now underneath the building. When the metal cube finally stopped, it opened to a white and blue hallway. The siblings and journalists walked down the hall and approached a silver door with a flat panel next to it. Jen placed her hand on it and the panel scanned her palm. A disembodied voice then spoke.
"Identity confirmed. Welcome, President Leonard."
Jen opened the door in front of them and entered, followed by Zach and the journalists. The quartet then walked towards a nearby railing and leaned over it. Once they did, Kat and Henry's eyes widened at the sight. The area was used as a lab with multiple individuals in white robes walking across the area. There were multiple machines being worked on and tested as Jen turned to Kat and Henry.
"So, this is our secret lab here at Pride. This is where we work on the more…hushed projects if you would." she explained, "We made the Triassic Rider System here."
Kat raised an eyebrow, "Triassic Rider System?" she asked.
Zach stepped in, "My armor, my motorcycle, my sword," he described before holding up his right wrist, "even this watch."
"Before we answer any more questions, I'll take you two down to meet our brilliant researcher who helped make all of this stuff." Jen stated, walking down some steps nearby. The other three quickly followed.
As they walked through the work area, Kat was looking at the different machines being created. She took notice of some guns and armor being created, which looked more militarized than what Zach used. She also noticed some of the labels having the letters 'S.R.T.D.' on them. She was about to ask about them when the group slowed down near a desk. On the desk sat multiple monitors being looked over by a dark-skinned woman. She didn't seem to notice the four people now watching her, so Jen spoke up.
"Nadia, we have some visitors."
The woman, Nadia, turned suddenly, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose.
"I'm sorry Jen, I was just really caught up in Zach's last fight and -" she cut herself off as she noticed Kat and Henry standing there, "Who are they?"
Kat stepped forward and extended her hand with a smile, "Hi, my name's Kat and this is my partner Henry."
Henry gave a small smile and extended his hand as well. Nadia just looked between the two.
"It's nice to meet you both, but I don't know why you're down here. We usually don't let civilians in." she said.
Kat's smile waned and she slowly put her hand down, followed by Henry.
"Yeah, that's kinda my fault." Zach said, rubbing the back of his head, "Kat and Henry here caught me transforming, so Jen decided to bring them down here."
Nadia sighed, "This is why I told you to make sure everyone was gone before you started fighting."
"Yes, I know, but the Sauriens were right there, so I figured everyone was long gone by then." Zach explained, gensturing with his hands.
"You shouldn't just assume things Zach. You should always try to confirm your suspicions first." Nadia stated.
Zach held his hands up, "Alright, alright, I get it. I do know one thing you'll be happy about though." he said, pulling out the black and blue flash drive from his pocket with a smile.
Nadia scrunched her eyebrows, "What's this?"
"No idea, but it came from the Triceratops Saurien. I guess they started using their own drives." Zach said, handing the device over to Nadia.
The woman stroked her chin in thought, "Interesting. Maybe this could be of use later." she said before calling over another scientist. She handed the drive over to him and told him to analyse it.
Jen cleared her throat, "With that out of the way, maybe you want to introduce yourself to these two? They told you their names already."
Nadia looked from Jen to the two journalists, "Sorry for the cold response. My name is Nadia Brant and I am the head researcher and scientist for the Triassic Project as well as other secret stuff Jen wants created." she explained with a smile.
Kat nodded slowly, "Nice to meet you too. What is the Triassic Project exactly?"
"Well," Nadia began, adjusting her glasses, "The Triassic Project is, in its most basic form, a way to fight the Sauriens."
"The what?" Henry asked.
Zach stepped in, "The scary dinosaur things I fought. They're called Sauriens."
Nadia nodded, "Yep. They popped up about two years ago and started causing some issues around town. There wasn't much that could be done about them using traditional weaponry, so we here at Pride developed the Triassic System, or PRS-01 in boring terms."
"PRS?" Kat asked.
"The Power Rider System." Nadia stated.
Henry nodded and then raised another question, "How did you develop it?"
"Simple. We used some information we gathered from a captured Saurien and used it as a template for the system. From there, we created the Sauria Driver and Fossil Drives." Nadia explained.
Zach pulled out the red Fossil Drive from his pocket to show the two.
"This is a Fossil Drive. They hold information for armor and stuff. Don't ask me any specifics because I have no idea how this works." Zach stated, handing the Fossil Drive over to a chuckling Kat.
The young lady looked it over, "So, they're just flash drives?" she asked.
Nadia leaned her head to the side and looked off into the distance, "Kind of, yeah. Except these don't hold computer files. It holds the armor you saw Zach fighting in. The sword too."
Henry and Kat gave an understanding nod before looking at the Fossil Drive again. Kat eventually handed it back to Zach as Henry spoke again.
"What about the motorcycle? What does that do?" he asked.
Nadia and Jen rolled their eyes at the same time. Zach gave a nervous chuckle, causing the two journalists to raise their confused gazes towards him.
"The Machine Saurider. That was a me thing. I just thought a T-Rex motorcycle would look pretty cool. Plus, it fits the aesthetic." he explained, shrugging.
"More accurately, Zach's still on a high from getting his motorcycle liscense and wanted another one." Jen countered.
Zach opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it and shrugged. An alarm then rang throughout the area. Nadia ran towards the monitors and changed the screens to show the city. One of the monitors flashed in red and showed Lophus attacking a shopping center flanked by Fearsaurs.
"More Sauriens?" Zach asked, receiving a nod from Nadia in return.
Zach 's face turned into a serious expression as he ran off. Kat went to follow, but was stopped by Jen.
"I think you and Henry would be safer here. It's too risky for you two out there." she explained.
Kat looked like she wanted to argue, but nodded, "Right. We'll stay here."
Henry gave Kat a confused look, but didn't say anything as he started looking towards the monitors.
Lophus let out a pair of sound waves towards a group of running civilians as the Fearsaurs stalked forward. As he watched the humans run and scream in fear, he could almost laugh. Serves these beings right. After all, they are the ones who caused the grief and pain sustained by his people long ago. His thoughts were cut off as a man on a strange machine approached. On his end, Zach took off his helmet and casted his gaze over the Sauriens in front of him as well as the damage done to the surrounding area. He then nodded slowly, shifting his eyes back to the purple and green monster.
"Love what you've done with the place. I'm sure this place will get more visitors pretty soon here. Especially the emergency worker types." he quipped, dismounting the Saurider in the process. He then turned the bezel of his watch, summoning the Sauria Driver. He then placed the back of the belt against his waist.
"Sauria Driver!" the belt announced as its silver band wrapped around Zach. He then pulled out the Battling Rex Fossil Drive and inserted it into the driver.
"Rex!"
A looping electronic beat played as Zach held his left hand over his right cheek with curled fingers and grabbed the lever of the driver with his right.
"Triassic Armor, activate!" Zach announced, pushing the lever forward.
"Dinorise! Preparing! Roaring! Attacking! Battling Rex!" the Sauria Driver announced as the usual grey and black undersuit appeared as a red holographic T-Rex appeared behind him. The T-Rex eventually split apart and became additional armor for the suit.
"So," Zach began as he slammed his left fist into his right palm, "let's get wild!"
From her spot back in the underground lab, Kat finally got a good look at Zach's armor. The undersuit remained black with silver armor plates laying on top of his feet and on the back of his hands. The armor was mostly red with his bracers and greaves featuring silver lines running down the center of each. His wrists and ankles had silver rings around them while silver knee pads were attached to the top of the greaves. The shoulder pads were simply red with silver lines near the bottom, lining up with the silver lines running across the chest armor.
The aforementioned chest armor featured two silver pieces in the center that formed a t-like shape and was attached to silver parts running over his traps and ribs. The helmet matched the color set up that the armor had. It was mainly red, but had silver lines running down the face toward the green eyes as well as a silver antenna on either side of the green gem in the center of the forehead. The mouthplate was fully silver and had grooves that resembled a pair of nostrils and an open mouth with sharp teeth. The only spots of black on the helmet were small parts on the outside of the eyes.
"Cool…" the young woman stated.
"Isn't it?" Nadia replied as Zach rushed forward on screen.
The armored man connected with a flying side kick to a Fearsaur before blocking the claw swipe of another one with his forearm. He grabbed the creature by the arm and flipped it onto its back, giving it a punch to the gut as two more Fearsaurs ran towards him. Zach rolled between the two and connected with a roundhouse kick. Standing straight afterwards, Zach held out his hand, summoning his sword.
"Rex Triassaber!" the weapon announced before Zach slashed one of the Fearsaurs that rose back to its feet. Hearing footsteps behind him, Zach turned his head to see three more Fearsaurs rushing towards him. Chuckling, Zach broke out into a run directly against the advancing monsters. Once he came close, Zach jumped into the air and delivered a dropkick to the Fearsaur on the far right. Before he could fully hit the ground, Zach kipped-up to his feet and gave the center Fearsaur a diagonal slash.
Just when Zach intended to fight the last Fearsaur, a sound wave knocked both him and the monster down. Rolling across the ground for a few seconds, he looked up to see the purple Saurien staring at him. Zach tried to get back to his feet, but stopped himself in order to roll out of the way of another sound wave. He then began running towards the creature at full speed and prepared himself to strike the beast with his weapon. Just when he got close enough, he was knocked back by yet another sound wave. Once he landed, the Fearsaurs that were still able to stand pinned him down, slashing him with their claws.
Sparks flew off of Zach's armor and he mentally congradulated the fact that he could barely feel the slashes and was instead left with brief moments of pain. Zach flipped the Fearsaur on top of him to the ground and gave it a punch before his arms were restrained by the other Fearsaurs. Looking forward, Zach noticed the purple Saurien readying itself for another sound wave and quickly found a way to use it to his advantage. Just as the sound waves were released, Zach used his arms to pull the Fearsaurs restraining him into its path. Once the waves connected, the Fearsaurs exploded, knocking Zach back a few feet before he rose into a crouched position.
Eyeing the smoke blocking his view of the Saurien, Zach figured that the creature couldn't see him either, so he decided to try surprising it with an attack. Gripping the lever on his belt, Zach pushed it forward.
"Battling Rex! Triassic Finish!" the belt announced as red energy pooled into Zach's lower right leg. He then ran up to the wall of smoke and jumped into the air, extending his right leg as he appeared from the cloud. The purple Saurien thought quickly however and released another set of soundwaves towards the armored hero. When Zach's foot connected with the rings of the wave, his momentum was stopped and he struggled against the force of the waves.
Seeing that its waves were not having the desired effect, the Saurien let out a continuous stream of sound that eventually overpowered Zach's charged kick and sent him flying back at high speed. His momentum was only stopped once he hit a nearby wall, leaving a noticeable crack on the surface. Zach fell to one knee as the interface within his helmet informed him that the energy in his suit had lowered significantly from the multiple sound waves. Moving his eyes forward again, Zach saw the purple Saurien running at him. Looking at his sword that had fallen beside him, Zach grabbed it and inserted the Battling Rex Fossil Drive into the back of the weapon. He then waited until the Saurien got closer, at which point he struck.
"Rex! Triassic Slash!" the weapon announced as Zach slashed the Saurien in the midsection horizontally. The Saurien roared in pain for a few moments before turning its head down towards Zach and unleashing a close range beam of sound waves. The armored hero was then slammed into the ground, leaving an indent as the Saurien held its stomach and limped away from him. Landing on the ground itself, the Saurien examined the large cut across its stomach, seeing light green blood beginning to flow from the wound. It let out another roar, this time a mix of pain and anger, and tried to rise to its feet just to fall once again as a surge of pain shot through its body.
On his end, Zach found himself struggling to get out of the indented ground alone. The wind had been knocked out of him and his body was in pain. It wasn't anything too severe due to his armor, but it was enough to prevent him from immediately moving. His ears were ringing slightly and every movement he made was met with a wince of pain. Finally getting his arm out of the human-shaped crater, Zach gingerly pulled himself out of the hole before flopping onto his stomach. After a moment, he raised his head to look at the Saurien nearby. It was attempting to put more distance between itself and the armored hero. Zach struggled to his feet to keep chase, but saw two figures approach the Saurien and hold each of its arms.
The male on the Saurien's left was wearing a green and black uniform while the darker skinned male to the Saurien's right wore a purple variation of the same uniform. Grunting, Zach used his sword to finally get to his feet before pointing his sword at the three.
"You two," he began, "What are you doing?"
The male in the green uniform smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know."
The man in the purple pulled out a strange blade and struck the ground with it. A large wall of smoke then appeared in front of the three, blocking Zach's view of them. The armored man jogged towards and through the smoke, finding that the three had vanished. He looked around the immediate area for them, but gave an annoyed groan as he cancelled his transformation. Zach then rolled his shoulder, noticing the discomfort the action gave him. Turning the bezel on his watch again to make his belt disappear, Zach boarded the Saurider and rode off.
On top of a nearby building, Iando and Ouvo watched Zach speed off. Lophus was kneeling nearby, watching his wound glow more vibrantly by the minute.
"See? I told you he couldn't be that much of an issue. He was already on the verge of defeat." Iando gloated, his arms crossed.
Ouvo didn't seem phased, "He wasn't fully defeated though, was he? We're looking to eliminate him, not battle to a standstill." Ouvo countered, casting a glance towards Lophus, who's wound was now casting the roof of the building in a bright green light.
Iando went to respond, but was cut off by a large green flash. Looking towards the obvious source of the light, Iando was surprised to see Lophus back in his normal state. Seconds later, the flash drive that transformed him fell out of his body.
Lophus looked over his body in confusion, "What happened?"
Ouvo simply looked on with a raised eyebrow while Iando shrugged.
"No idea. I didn't know it was possible to turn back. We should probably head back." Iando said, helping Lophus to his feet with the latter's arm around his shoulders. With that, the three Sauriens left the area.
Zach entered the lab underneath Pride Industries, still rubbing his injured shoulder. Walking deeper into the lab, he found his sister watching the video of his battle alongside Nadia and the two journalists. Kat noticed him first.
"Zach," she began, walking over, "you okay?"
Zach bobbed his head from side in thought, "Kinda? My shoulder's a bit off and I can still feel the ringing in my ears." he explained.
"Nothing else? You hiting the wall and being planted into the ground seemed like they hurt you more than anything else." Kat said.
"You'd think so, but my suit took most of the damage." Zach stated, "Still, I don't plan on taking anymore hits like that anytime soon."
Nadia suddenly walked up to Zach, "Let me worry about that part. I'll try to figure out a way to raise your durability." she said, walking away.
"Thanks, Nadia." Zach called out, the woman giving a small wave in response.
After a few moments, both Henry and Jen approached the duo.
"You sure you're okay?" Jen asked, her arms crossed.
"Yes, I'm all good. The shoulder and ear ringing thing will probably be gone by tomorrow anyway." Zach said.
Jen seemed a bit unconvinced, but Henry spoke before she could say anything.
"Any idea where the Saurien went? Seems a bit dangerous to just have it running around."
Zach shrugged, "No clue. All I know is that two guys came to help it escape and since there's no alarm going off, it can't be rampaging right now."
He then showed off his watch, "Regardless, I always have my watch on me, so I'll be ready to fight it again when it shows up." he explained.
Henry nodded as Zach turned his attention fully towards Kat once again.
"So, what are you doing after this?"
Kat stared at him blankly for a few seconds before responding, "Well, I wasn't really planning to do anything as it stands. Why?"
Zach stuck his hands in his pockets, "Well, we could go hang out like the old days. At least until the Saurien shows up again." he stated.
Kat didn't respond at first and instead looked at Henry first. He just shrugged at her.
"I don't have anything we can't talk about later."
Kat then looked at Jen, who waved her hands in front of her face.
"Don't look at me. I'm not your boss or anything. I'm just my brother's keeper." she said.
Looking back at Zach, Kat noticed him rolling his eyes at the comment.
"Well, can I please hang out with my friend, my dear keeper?" Zach mockingly asked.
Jen didn't show a reaction to his question, "Okay. Just make sure you're home before 8." she replied.
Zach rolled his eyes again, but gave his sister a smile.
"Will do." he said before looking at Kat, "Do you want to go now or later?"
Kat pointed to Henry, "Later. I'm Henry's ride."
Zach simply nodded, "Later it is then. You still have my number, right?"
Kat didn't respond verbally and instead took out her phone and found Zach's contact. She then texted 'Yes' to the number. A few seconds later, Zach's phone went off, confirming that his number was still the same.
"I'll text you later." Kat said before turning to Jen, "Is there a secret way out of here or do we take the elevator?"
Jen directed Kat and Henry to a hidden exit that leads to the parking garage and the two journalists left right after. When she was sure they were gone, Jen gave her brother a look.
"What?" he asked.
"That was bold." she replied.
Zach gave her a confused look, "Is it? I remember saying we should hang out sometime this morning. As I recall, she even agreed that we should. What's the harm?"
Jen chuckled to herself and shook her head, "There's no harm, just make sure you don't do anything stupid." she said before walking off.
Zach gave her another confused look before shrugging and following his sister.
Back underground, Lophus kneeled at Kylan's throne alongside Iando and Ouvo as Tyorv and Teron stood on either side of the Saurien king.
"I offer my dearest apologies for returning without victory, my lord." he stated, keeping his head down. When pure silence followed, Lophus looked up to see his leader looking at him blankly.
Lophus assumed Kylan was going to say something to him, but instead, he turned to Teron.
"How is this possible?" he asked.
"I am not sure what you're referring to, your majesty." Teron replied.
Kylan gestured to Lophus, "His ability to turn back to normal. As I recall, Cerix did not turn back after changing."
"We believe it was caused by the damage Lophus sustained while in his monstrous form." Ouvo suddenly explained, "The cut that he had across his stomach glowed before his change."
Kylan leaned back in his chair slightly, "So the change is not completely permanent." he stated.
"It seems so." Iando replied, looking up at Kylan himself, "What is next, my king?"
The king rubbed his chin in thought. Perhaps this was a sign to keep Lophus underground? After all, he never wanted to sacrifice anyone else from his subjects, especially not after-
"I will return to the surface world at your command, my lord."
Lophus' voice pulled Kylan's attention away from his thoughts. The man was now standing, a determined look etched onto his face.
Kylan took a moment before responding, "Are you sure Lophus? This may be a chance for you to just return to your normal life."
Lophus' expression did not falter, "As I said earlier, my lord: if we do not defeat that human, all of our normal lives will be over. The human would have been defeated if not for my injury and I believe I can do so if granted another opportunity." he explained.
Kylan hesitated for a moment, thinking about the potential outcomes of having Lophus fight the human warrior again. Yes, perhaps Lophus could defeat him with another battle, but what if the human had developed some kind of counterattack to Lophus' ability? His continued hesitation drew the attention of Tyorv.
"I think you should grant Lophus' wish, boss." the muscular Saurien stated, "I am sure that he understands the risk and he's still willing to fight."
Kylan still hesitated, but came to a decision.
"Lophus, make sure you finish off the human in this fight."
Lophus nodded and pulled out the black and purple flash drive that transformed him earlier before pressing it to his chest.
"So, how's life been?" Zach asked, placing his smoothie down on the table.
He and Kat had decided to visit a smoothie shop that they frequented back in college. They slowly stopped going during their final year as their classwork became harder and more time consuming. Kat would be lying if she said that she didn't miss just going to this place without much to worry about.
"It's been okay." Kat replied, "Haven't had much success with being a journalist."
Zach furrowed his eyebrows, "Don't you have your website with Henry? That's something right?" he asked.
Kat took a sip of her drink before responding, "Sure, but it's not like we get much traffic to our pages. We're kind of just chasing the leads that no one else is too worried about. Besides, we don't have any big name connections to gain views and clicks."
Zach nodded slowly, "That kinda happens when my dad is the one handling the media attention the attacks have been getting." he stated.
Kat noticed him frown slightly, but decided not to press it.
"Again, I had no intention of bothering your dad that much. He was just the first person that came to mind when I was looking for leads." Kat explained.
A smirk appeared on Zach's face before he spoke, "Of course. He always had connections anyway, so he'd be the best person to ask. That said, now you have your info, so you can leave the story alone now."
Kat took a moment to register what she was told before responding.
"What?"
Zach sighed, "I said you can leave the story alone now. It's better that way." he said, picking up his drink from the table.
"People need to know what's going on though." Kat reasoned, "Isn't it more dangerous for people not to know?"
Zach took a sip of his smoothie, "Maybe, but it's also a risk exposing what's happening. It would just cause more chaos before anything actually positive came from it. Be honest Kat: if you suddenly learned dinosaur monsters started attacking the city seemingly at random, would you be calm," he explained, leaning forward, "or would you freak out?"
Kat looked her friend straight in the eyes as she replied, "Maybe I'd freak out, but I'd feel safer knowing someone is out there fighting those things. Plus, knowing about them would help me be safer."
Zach nodded, but Kat could tell he wasn't moved by her words.
"Fair enough, but what if other people tried to fight themselves? That would also do more harm than good." he stated.
Kat scowled slightly, "Not many people would try, Zach."
"But some would. I'd rather it just be me than regular people jumping into danger." Zach replied.
Kat let out a deep breath in annoyance as she continued, "Okay, but if something were to happen to you, what are people supposed to do? Just sit around and give up?"
Zach shook his head, "Of course not. I just think putting that information out there could cause a problem in the future."
Despite herself, Kat chuckled at her friend.
"I thought you weren't the type to be too concerned with the future?"
Zach smiled, "I'm not, but I kinda have to be in this case, don't I?" he said before letting out a sigh and leaning back in his seat.
"Look, I get what you're saying, but-"
A scream cut the young man off and both he and Kat looked to see a group of running civilians followed by the purple Saurien from earlier with another batch of Fearsaurs. Realizing that he had to act quickly, Zach turned back to Kat.
"We'll talk a bit later, alright? Right now, I need you to get the people to safety."
Kat nodded and rose out of her chair, "Guess a regular person is helping you out after all." she said as she rushed off.
Zach shook his head, but chuckled before he rushed towards the approaching Sauriens. Once he got closer, Lophus roared at him in anger.
"Nice to see you again too." Zach said as he summoned the Sauria Driver and placed it on his waist.
Lophus sent the Fearsaurs forward as Zach inserted the Battling Rex Fossil Drive into the driver.
"Rex!"
"Triassic Armor, activate!" Zach shouted as he pushed the handle of the driver forward and ran towards the Fearsaurs. His red armor immediately appeared on his body in a flash of red and Zach tackled the closest Fearsaur. Giving it a punch to the stomach, Zach turned his head to the right to see another one attempting to slash him, so he jumped away and got into a fight stance. Unfortunately, he forgot about the purple Saurien, who hit him square in the back with sound waves.
Zach was sent rolling across the ground and was immediately pounced apon by the other Fearsaurs. Getting slashed a few times, Zach grabbed one of his attackers and pulled them over himself. The downed Fearsaur was slashed across the back a few times before Zach threw it towards its fellow creatures, knocking them down. Zach tried to get back to his feet, but was quickly knocked down again by yet another sound wave. On his HUD, Zach realized that the suit had not fully recovered from the earlier fight and was almost down to one-third of its energy. Zach tried to get up again, but found his body in serious pain.
"Right, less energy in the armor means more pain for me." Zach said through gritted teeth as the Fearsaurs once again rushed forward. While some resumed their attack on Zach, a few ran past him and towards the escaping civilians.
Realizing that he had to get back to his feet quickly, Zach summoned the Triassaber and slashed at his attackers before forcing himself to his feet and running after the other Fearsaurs. He caught up with them before they could harm any of the civilians and kicked them back. Kat was now behind him along with a handful of others as Zach panted and watched the Sauriens closely.
"How's the 'getting people to safety' thing going?" he whispered to Kat.
"Well, most were already running, so I'd say it's gone pretty well." she replied, also whispering.
A Fearsaur suddenly shot forward, so Zach slashed it away before turning to the small crowd behind him.
"Get to safety! Now!"
The crowd started moving once again as Zach turned back to the fight, only to be hit by yet another sound wave. His sword was sent flying and Zach himself was winded as his armor's energy dropped further. Grunting, Zach shot up to his feet and threw wild punches and kicks at the approaching Fearsaurs. One Fearsaur that had been hit got back up and held Zach from behind as the other Fearsaurs stalked forward. Just when Zach's mind started rushing with ideas, he heard commotion behind him and suddenly felt the arms of the Fearsaur slip off of him.
Turning around, Zach found Kat holding the Triassaber with the Fearsaur in question down at her feet. Before he could say anything, Kat gave him the sword and turned him around in time to see the other Fearsaurs now running towards him. Thinking fast, Zach charged the blade with red energy and gave a horizontal slash to the air. A wave of red energy hit the Fearsaurs and they all exploded. Rings of sound then appeared from behind the wall of fire, so Zach rolled out of the way with Kat. The two then ran off as the purple Saurien roared.
Kat brought Zach over to the group of civilians who were now hiding within an alleyway. Looking at everyone's faces, he immediately noticed the fearful expression that lined each of their faces. Another roar rang out across the area and the crowd shifted nervously. Refusing to be distracted, Zach kneeled to the crowd and made sure to look as non-intimidating as possible.
"Is everyone okay?" he asked softly.
A handful of the civilians nodded shakily. Zach rubbed his hands together, mentally shaking his nerves.
"Don't worry." he stated, "I'll take care of this and all of you will end up getting home to your families."
This seemed to slightly relax some of them, but the majority were still cowering. Zach sighed and got to his feet, turning to Kat.
"Y'know, I was kinda hoping you'd get them further away." he whispered.
Kat kept her eyes on the area outside of the alley, "I panicked alright? I didn't know how close those things were and I couldn't just leave you out there."
Zach was silent for a moment before responding.
"These people come first. I would've been fine."
"Except you weren't." Kat replied bluntly, "You were struggling a bit and I couldn't just stand by and let you die."
"But-"
"No, listen to me." Kat stated, trying her best to keep her voice down, "I know you want to do this on your own, but I'm not for that personally."
Zach just looked at her for a bit, not sure how to respond. Eventually, he just let out a soft sigh.
"I'm not convincing you to just leave, am I?"
Kat thought to herself for a moment before responding, "Not unless you agree to an interview after this."
Zach chuckled softly before another roar was heard in the area.
"What's the plan?" Kat asked, her voice rising slightly.
Zach lowered his head slightly in thought, "Not sure. If I could get close, I could probably beat it in a straight up fight." he explained, "The problem is that I don't think I can take another one of those sound waves."
"Well, you better be thankful I'm here." a voice said from within Zach's helmet. In his HUD, Nadia suddenly appeared on screen.
"You can do that?!" Zach shouted, scaring the civilians slightly and earning a confused gaze from Kat. He chuckled awkwardly and held his hand up to relax the civilians.
"Nice. Oh, and I could always do this." the female researcher stated, "I'm only doing it now because I have a solution to the sound wave issue."
"All ears." Zach replied, checking to make sure the Saurien wasn't nearby.
"I was doing research on the Saurien Drive and-"
"The what?" Zach interrupted.
"The drive you gave me that you took from the Sauriens." Nadia explained flatly, "I did research on it and I was able to develop this."
Nadia pressed something offscreen and a new Fossil Drive faded into view in front of Zach. He took it in his hand and Kat looked it over. Both noticed that the drive was mostly colored blue with a yellow hook and center strip on it.
"Nice." Kat said, a smirk spreading across her face.
Zach gripped the new Fossil Drive tightly before speaking to Nadia again, "Thanks, Nadi… uh, researcher."
Kat held back a laugh as Nadia shook her head on the screen in Zach's HUD.
"Don't mention it. Now, go handle the Saurien." she said before cutting off her screen.
Zach nodded to himself before turning to the group of civilians behind him.
"Stay here. I'll come and get you when it's safe." he announced.
Some of the crowd gave him a small nod before Zach turned to Kat and gently hit her arm.
"No more hero acts, okay?"
Kat shrugged, "Don't struggle then."
The two shared a brief laugh before Zach finally ran out of the alley and towards the approaching Saurien. It roared again, but Zach didn't respond. Instead, he pulled out the Battling Rex Fossil Drive from his driver and replaced it with the blue one.
"Tricera!" The Sauria Driver announced, the center orb lighting up blue.
Zach gripped the lever on his driver before announcing, "Scale over!"
He pushed the lever forward and the red armor of his suit flew off, leaving Zach in the black and gray undersuit. He dropped his arms to his side as a blue hologram of a triceratops appeared behind him. The triceratops then split apart, the pieces hovering around Zach briefly before blue streams attached to his suit.
"Dinorise! Raising! Toughening! Blocking! Defending Tricera!" the Sauria Driver announced as the pieces of the triceratops turned into new armor on top of his suit.
Within his HUD, Zach scanned over his new form, which was mostly blue with silver highlights. He noticed that there was more silver on the armor in comparison to Battling Rex and the chest symbol was still a 'T', but it now seemed to be a lowercase version mixed with a Y. The helmet had the most change between the two forms. It was mostly blue and had three silver horns on it. Two sat on top of his head while the third was between his eyes, but was slightly above the center of the yellow lenses. Below the face horn was a silver mouth plate that was designed to represent a beak with two nostrils above it. A yellow gem also sat on the forehead. Looking at the energy bar, Zach noticed that it was full and glowing.
Focusing on the Saurien in front of him, Zach noticed that it was now hesitating with trying to attack him. Deciding to test something, Zach slowly walked forward. It backed up slightly from the advancing hero and let out another sound wave. The waves connected, but didn't stop Zach, who noticed that the energy bar within his HUD had not depleted at all. Smirking under his helmet, Zach picked up the pace of his steps. The Saurien tried in vain to knock Zach down with its sound waves, its retreating steps becoming quicker with each failed attempt. Reaching the beast, Zach connected with an uppercut that made the Saurien flip through the air before landing on its stomach.
Frustrated, the Saurien got back to its feet and threw a punch towards Zach's head. Zach hurriedly put his arm up to block the punch, but was shocked to see a blue holographic shield appear. The Saurien's fist connected with the shield and its arm was knocked back, the beast clutching it afterwards. Not missing a moment, Zach hit the monster with the shield, sending it flying. The shield then disappeared and Zach stared at his forearms.
"Huh. Thank you Nadia!" he said to himself before running forward. He immediately noticed that he was slower, but paid no mind to it as he pressed on.
The Saurien let off another group of sound waves, so Zach simply raised both of his forearms over his chest, summoning a shield on each. The waves connected with the shields and were reflected back to their sender. Being hit by its own waves, the Saurien was knocked to its knees before Zach followed up with another hit from his shields. The Saurien was launched away once again and Zach's shields vanished.
"Let's wrap this up!" Zach announced, pushing the handle on his driver forward once again.
"Defending Tricera! Triassic Finish!" the Sauria Driver announced as Zach's right forearm lit up in a bright blue. He waited until the Saurien rose to its feet before rushing forward.
Another sound wave came his way, but a large blue shield appeared in front of Zach, sending the waves back. Hit by another one of its own waves, the Saurien was unable to stop the punch Zach threw towards it. The punch connected with the back of the shield and sent it rocketing into the chest of the Saurien.
"You're extinct!" Zach shouted as the punch connected.
A bright blue indent of the shield was left on its chest as it was sent flying back briefly before exploding. Zach watched the fire burn out, waiting to see if the Saurien was still there. Instead, Zach saw another Saurien Drive sitting in the flames. Running over, Zach picked it up, seeing that it had purple highlights rather than blue.
"So theirs change too." he said to himself before turning back to go check on the civilians and Kat.
Arriving at the alley, Zach looked in to see the crowd still sitting there. Everyone watched him carefully as Kat walked up to him.
"Is it over?" she asked.
Zach didn't respond at first, simply looking at the young woman. Secretly, he was enjoying her confused and slightly scared expression. Deciding that he held off long enough, Zach simply held up a thumb.
"It's over." he replied.
The crowd collectively let out a relieved sigh before offering their thanks to Zach, who bowed to them.
"Who are you?" a child asked.
Zach looked up and rubbed the back of his helmet.
"Oh, nobody…" he said with a chuckle.
Kat rolled her eyes and stepped forward, "This is Power Rider Triassic. Just 'Triassic' is fine." she stated.
Zach turned to say something, but was cut off by children in the crowd running up to him and grabbing his arms, jumping up and down for joy. Zach couldn't help but smile under his helmet and start giving high-fives to the children. Without his knowledge, Iando and Ouvo watched on from a nearby roof, clearly unamused.
"Damn!" Iando shouted, kicking the edge of the roof, "Where'd he get that new form from?!"
Ouvo didn't respond at first, but placed his hand on Iando's shoulder.
"This 'Triassic' is more of a problem than we realized. Let's retreat." he stated, walking off.
Iando sent Zach one last angry glare before following.
As the sun finally set, Zach and Kat waved goodbye to the last of the civilians before being left on their own. Both let out a heavy sigh as Zach went to cancel his transformation.
"Wait!" Kat yelled.
Zach jerked his head in her direction, caught off guard by her outburst.
"What? Is there another monster or something?"
Kat shook her head, "No, I just really think you should announce yourself officially." she explained.
Zach let out another sigh, "This again? I already told you Kat, knowing what's going on will only freak people out."
"Maybe, but you're going to be revealed now anyway. Some of those people took pictures of you." Kat stated.
Zach's eyes widened, "Really?"
Kat nodded, "Multiple."
Zach let out a groan, placing his hands on his hips.
"With that being the case," Kat began, "wouldn't it be better to get ahead of all that and explain what you're here for?"
Zach had to admit there wasn't much wrong with her proposal. If his armored persona was only a click away from being unveiled, there was no real point to being standoffish towards the idea any longer.
Zach turned to Kat fully, "Fine, but me and everyone else will get a say on what gets posted. Deal?" he asked, extending his hand.
Kat smiled and shook his hand, "Deal."
She then pulled out her phone and started recording herself.
"Hey there KH Mediacs! It's Kat here with a special interview and some breaking news! Now, if you've been keeping up with our recent reports, you know that there have been some strange things going on in the city and that Henry and I have tried to crack the case. Well dear viewers, I have a first-hand lead right here with me."
Kat then turned the camera to Zach before continuing, "Please say hello to this city's big hero, Power Rider Triassic!"
Zach gave a wave, resting his hands on the straps of the Sauria Driver. He had to look cool, after all. Mostly because he was terrified and nervous.
A/N: And so ends the second chapter of Power Rider Triassic. Admittedly, this was done quicker than expected. Knowing myself, I figured typing this chapter would take me a while, but it only really took me two weeks to complete, so I'll give myself a pat on the back. This is also longer than I expected it to be. I was thinking this would be around the same length as the first chapter, but it has passed in by somewhere around 3,000 words. I guess the words fly when you're invested. Since it is a long chapter, I'm not going to keep you much longer, but I will say that I appreciate the support this story is receiving and if you've read this far, thanks for sticking with it. Anyways, that's it for me! Next time I update, I'll be updating two stories, so watch out for that!
If you liked this story, don't forget to review, follow, and maybe even favorite this story. Even if you didn't like it, try leaving me some constructive criticism to tell me how I can make the story better (this extends to the people who may like this story as well).
Till Next Time, Happy Reading Everyone and Stay safe in these trying times ~ TL Savage1113 ;-)