-Zika-
Radster didn't make keeping him occupied easy for Zika, trying to move past him and head after the rangers Megazord as it began to split apart into its separate zords. He had almost made it past Zika before the warrior threw one of the blades into his legs, tripping the monster up as well as getting a set of sparks confirming it's damage as Radster tripped over. "Zika, can you hear me," came a voice in his helmet, making Zika sigh as Torozord charged past him, knocking the monster further from the group. "I just got confirmation that there's a swarm of Stingwingers that made it into here while I was starting to get ready to start watching the zoo. Any chance you can head over and assist?"
"Sadly I'm a bit busy at the moment, Nathan," Zika responded as he ran to his thrown weapon, picking it up as Radster finally was able to free himself from Torozord's charge, now back to having Zika and the zord standing in between him and the rangers. As the pause gave him a moment, he could hear the sound of slashes coming from the other side of the communicator. "However, Stingwingers aren't your only problem. Furio's over there too, and he's following Eric and one of the workers at the zoo who came over to the mountain. You'll be getting some other help though."
"You don't mean the rangers here, do you," came a response, making Zika sigh as he heard the fighting stop as Radster held up his gun, firing a blast of flames from it as Zika held up his blades to deflect it. "Why should I accept their help when they couldn't even save this planet in the previous timeline?"
"Because they could turn out like Ivan did when you got to know him," Zika responded before he started slowly walking forward towards Radster while holding his blades up, bracing himself as he felt the heat of the flames licking against his armor as he focused. "Now I need to focus on this fight, so just deal with the situation yourself."
With that he cut off the communication before he finally couldn't hold the flames back anymore, being knocked back by them as he rolled back, Torozord moving in front of him as he slowly got up. "Look, just keep yourself out of my way and things'll go smoothly," Radster spoke, only getting a chuckle from Zika as he stood up again, holding up his blades.
"Maybe if you decide to turn up the heat on that thing, I'll consider it," Zika responded as he took a stance. "This barely counts as a warmup."
-Nathan-
Nathan sighed as he sat atop a stone within one of the many tunnels of the mountain, a group of Stingwingers fallen around him as he rested his hand on his sword hilt, the tip of the blade resting slightly into the dirt. "Let's hope some of Marianne's luck is watching over us today," Nathan muttered as he picked himself up, pulling the blade out of the ground as he started walking deeper into the tunnels, his mind moving off of memory as he listened to the sounds of buzzing ahead of him. "And to make things hairier, I have to deal with the rangers coming here too…"
He soon sheathed his sword as he continued walking, the shape of the weapon soon shifting to its blaster mode before he aimed it ahead, firing into the area as he felt a sense of déjà vu, catching a few Stingwingers that had been hiding on the walls and revealing others that had been crouched in waiting as he chuckled. "Well then, seems Furio was expecting me to try to come in here anyway," Nathan continued as he cocked his blaster before resting it on his shoulder, the remaining Stingwingers rising from their spots and moving towards him. "Cutting and blasting through Stingwingers to save a few people in here. Feels rather reminiscent of when we first worked together, doesn't it Ivan…"
-Kendall-
'How far does this slide go down?' Kendall thought as she rolled from side to side through the tunnel, her gaze kept up at the top where Eric had pushed her down from. She still couldn't believe he just pushed her down, even when out of the two of them she had a better chance to deal with the Stingwingers alone. 'He doesn't know that I'm a Power Ranger though, so if anything it should be considered rather noble to focus on protecting me over himself, but still…'
Kendall's thoughts were then interrupted as the slide suddenly went into a wide area, causing her to roll as she lost her grip on the scanner, both rolling a few feet from the slide before coming to a stop. "At least the path ended," Kendall spoke to herself as she picked herself up, patting off the dust before she looked up at the area she ended up in, shining her phone light around. It was a fair deal wider than she expected, and with another set of tunnels that went either left or right. However, as she passed her light over the rest of the area it soon caught a glimpse of silver, making her point the light to view a similar symbol of a rhino that she saw in the area above. This time, however, it sat on an arch over a tunnel, with words under it seeming to be written out in a gold inlay as she looked at it confused. "What is this…"
As Kendall looked over the door, there was a set of writing that caught her attention, something Eric had shown her before when he had talked about his major in the past. 'There was an old site found just last week, and with writing that's said to be honoring a legendary knight from Zandar's time,' Eric had said as he showed her a piece of paper, a picture of a stone with the same writing on it as he pointed over the writing. 'It's in the writing style for Zandar's older periods, and it usually is kept for those who were considered knights or figures of prominent renown…'
"So it's a memorial," Kendall spoke as she looked over the second set of writing, pulling out her phone and taking a picture of it before she looked back to the tunnel she came in from, pulling out her morpher. As she morphed, she listened to the area around her, only hearing silence as the morph sequence finished. "It looks like Eric's plan worked though, no one seemed to follow me down here, but that also means he could be in trouble."
Just as she looked back from the area she had slid down, her communicator went off, making Kendall pull it out to find Tyler on the other end. "Tyler, are you guys okay," Kendall asked, her gaze returning to the tunnel she had come out of as she kept her focus on any sounds around her.
"Yeah, we ended up being helped by a guy with a giant bull," Tyler responded as he looked over to the fight. "We're making our way to the mountain now while he's taking care of Radster. Where's Eric, and why are you morphed?"
"Eric pushed me down a hole in here so that he could distract the Stingwingers," Kendall responded, walking back to the hole as she did so. "He didn't even give me time to talk about it, but his plan worked and I have the scanner they're after down here. I'm going to leave it in this area so I can head back to help him, so get here fast. Follow the red rhino on the walls when you see it."
"Got it, be careful Kendall," Tyler responded before the feed cut off, Kendall putting the communicator back in place before she looked back
-Eric-
There were many things Eric had expected when he started running down the tunnel that was supposed to represent a spacious room, usually for supplies or the like when looking over Zandar's charts of the events. What he hadn't expected, however, was what seemed to be a large medieval-esque room with wooden swords all over the walls, and with what looked to be a training ring at the center of it. To top that all off, the entryway he was hoping to find in here seemed to be barred shut, and now he was sitting behind a pillar as the creatures were spread out looking for him. 'You know, I think this can count as my cardio for the week if I get out of this,' Eric thought to himself as he peaked a glance, seeing the group looking around. As he looked, however, his mind couldn't help but wander to a book he had read on the War of Steel and Fang, specifically a quoted document from a knight of the time.
'The creatures were terrifying, holding a dark green shell and seeming as if wasps or the like had taken on a human shape,' Eric remembered as he pulled out two cylinders from his pocket, both roughly half the size of his palms as he placed one in each hand. Then, in a small motion he went and removed his backpack from his shoulders, slowly placing it down as he noticed the creatures etching closer. 'Too many to fight at the moment, especially with only what I have around me. To add to it, the one other path which they aren't coming out of is blocked shut.'
Just as he thought that, he noticed a light seeming to come out of a wall a few feet away from him, making him look over it carefully. Sure enough, there seemed to be a crack in the wall in the shape of a door, too small to tell it was here but just large enough for him to see the faintest light come from it. 'So luck might still be on my side,' Eric thought as he slowly picked the bag back up, kneeling to prepare to sneak towards the door. However, he soon found one of the insect-like monsters starting to move towards the area, making him tense as he watched it, the creature's back to him as he thought over the decision of what to do. When you fight, make sure that it is worth the risk: the words of his teacher years back rang into his head as he put the cylinders back into his pocket, thinking over options. For the moment, the only person he would be putting in jeopardy now would be himself if he fought now, but he wouldn't be able to handle all of them with only the items he had here in the room. As he thought, his gaze turned to a seal at the center of the room, making his eyes widen momentarily and forget the peril he was in at the moment. 'Isn't that…'
Just as he was in his thoughts, the sounds of sparks seemed to come from the entryway of the room, making all the monsters turn to the noise. Eric then watched as the one which was between him and the secret doorway turn and head in that direction, the sounds of lasers and sparks getting louder as Eric looked between the doorway and the entrance. Then, with a mental note placed as he looked back at the seal on the floor, he turned and ran to the wall, pushing the secret door open and not caring if any of the creatures turned back to see him before in the next moment he pushed it shut, leaving him alone in a hallway. "Well, that was certainly closer than it should've been," Eric muttered as he closed his eyes, shaking his head as he leaned back on the wall, feeling a tension he didn't know he had finally relieve itself from his shoulders. As he opened his eyes again and looked around, however, he noted the good condition of the hallway in front of him, and even more the design of it. "This has Old Zandarian design mixed with it… Does that mean that the legend about the gateway has more merit to itself?"
Eric looked over the path as he kept himself leaned back, soon looking further to see a split in it. More importantly, however, he saw a symbol of a green door on one of the entryways of the paths, while the other had the traditional golden sword. 'So a sealed area on the left, and an exit on the other,' Eric thought to himself as he pushed off of the wall, walking to the paths as his mind went over the designs with what he knew, looking between the two. Then, with a sigh he took a left, shaking his head to himself as he looked over the path with the green symbol. 'Well, given my luck with the exits, I might as well delve deeper…'
-Kendall-
Kendall ran through the area as she tried to keep an eye out for the symbols that Eric had shown her, also following the steps that were taken on the ground as she noticed the focus seeming to be to a black squared route. 'I hope he didn't put himself into too much trouble,' Kendall thought to herself before she heard the sounds of fighting, making her run turn into a dead sprint as the sounds of the fighting got louder, her gaze soon coming across what looked to be a door with the black square straight over it, the wood for it bashed in. Inside, however, she found herself looking at a black knight cutting down one final Stingwinger, his blade arcing downward as he looked over the area. "Magna Defender," Kendall said in surprise, making the knight look over to her surprised as he sheathed his blade.
"I suppose it would be the Purple Ranger who gets here first, given the rest," the knight replied with a sigh, looking up at her. Then, shaking his head, he walked to the large door in the room, placing his hand on it. "Also, it's better to simply call me Nathan. Your friend Ivan seemed to like using my name to tell me different from Zika and the actual Magna Defender, anyway."
"Nathan, then," Kendall spoke as she looked at him, watching as Nathan removed his hand from the door and walked around the area, staring at the floor. "Was there anyone else here?"
"If you're talking about Eric, it seems we both missed him," Nathan responded, pointing to the floor in front of a wall as Nathan walked towards it, picking up what Kendall recognized as a compass from the bag that she and Eric took into the caverns. "From the look of things, he took one of the tunnels I've built in here over the years. I never did manage to fix how this door shuts, though I guess that was to his luck here…"
"How do you know Eric," Kendall asked, making Nathan look over to her, his helmet tilting in confusion. "More importantly, where does the path even lead to? Will he run into any more Stingwingers."
"I knew someone related to him, but if you need to know then the path intersects and should be fine if he keeps following the trail of symbols like he had been," Nathan responded as he looked back to the wall, shaking his head as he removed his hand from it. As he did, Kendall's gaze soon found the symbol on the floor of the room which caught her attention: A seal with four symbols, three surrounding what looked to be a sword with a symbol of a dinosaur on it, a pterodactyl. What struck her more so were the three symbols surrounding it: a black bull to the left of the sword, a blue bird above and a rhino's head, similar to the one she saw before, to the right of the blade. Not noticing Kendall's gaze on the floor, Nathan continued. "With luck, he'll end up right beside the gateway. However, there's worse things here which take priority; Furio's possibly here."
"Furio," Kendall spoke, only getting a nod from Nathan as if answering a question as he walked to the door, looking out as Kendall remembered when the monsters arrived. "That red monster which arrived earlier, that's Furio?"
"One of Scorpius' generals that wasn't caught in the seal, and one who's been to Earth before," Nathan responded, shaking his head as he walked out. "If you're wanting answers, then talk to Ivan when he hits his forties. Right now we need to focus on getting the scanner then reaching Eric."
"You're okay with me helping," Kendall asked, making Nathan sigh as he shook his head.
"No, but right now there's not much choice," Nathan simply responded as they continued their path. "However, given the current circumstances I'll pull from my friendship with Ivan to bear with it…"
"Uh, sure," Kendall responded, confused more than anything. "From what could be guessed, they seem to be after the scanner brought into the area."
"I figured as much given you decided to stick your nose in and see what could be up with that gate, though it is a good thing you didn't leave it in your jeep," Nathan responded, making Kendall stop as he looked over to her through his helmet, Kendall swearing to hear a chuckle come from his helmet. "Come now, you and Eric both arrived here at the same time, it's not that hard to put two and two together on who the Purple Ranger is when you arrive here instead of with the other rangers."
"I see," Kendall spoke as they started taking the path onward. As they did, Kendall's gaze soon rested on one of the symbols along the path of a golden sword. "The sword symbol representing an escape from this place-"
"Ivan came up with that one," Nathan simply responded as he kept his gaze ahead while the two walked. "It was actually made the first time we met, neither knowing the other but having to work together regardless. We settled on the sword as a sign since he was a knight and decided he should be the bait, despite my gripes about it."
"So you both came up with the symbols," Kendall asked, only getting a nod from the armored man as she soon looked over to the tunnels ahead. "Why did you have to come up with them?"
"That's a tale for another day, and if you prove your worth on the matter," Nathan simply responded before he held up his left hand, drawing his blade with his right as the sound of wings flapping became apparent in the darkness ahead of them. "First we'll deal with this group, then you'll take me to the direction of the scanner."
-Eric-
Eric didn't know how long he had been traveling through the tunnel he found, still amazed by how well kept the area looked despite how old it should've been with it's designs. 'You could probably state it as a Zandarian design from the time of King Colin in terms of the structure's looks, but the age and erosion of the area seems younger by at least a few centuries… Was it made as a reproduction of that era?' Eric thought to himself before he noticed a black stone on the wall, making him subconsciously smile as he walked over to it. He then placed his hand on it before pushing it slightly, feeling it springing a bit before he pressed down on the stone, the wall itself seeming to slide away to reveal a new tunnel which seemed to turn in line with the doorway, making him peek his head out warily as he listened for any sounds. As he stepped out to inspect further, however, the door seemed to shut behind him almost instantly, sealing as he looked to it warily
"Well, guess I can't go back the way I came," Eric muttered to himself as he looked at the area that shut behind him, trying to find anything that could be considered similar to a handle or button. Then, with a sigh of defeat, he found himself soon looking back to the tunnel he was now in, soon noting the familiar red lighting along the path which wasn't part of the design, something he knew the zoo had for exploring the tunnel systems for the museum section. "So it's back to the start then… If I remember right, the left path is back to the jeep."
With that he began walking, slowly making his way towards the area before he noticed what looked like a large shadow in the distant light, pacing and not having noticed him as he crouched almost instinctively at noticing it. 'Oh come on, is it so hard to just ask for one break,' Eric thought to himself as he looked closer at the shape, noting an larger appearance for it to be Ms. Morgan, more than likely being the same creature as the rest. 'Did it stay behind in case anyone back tracked? Either way, looks like I won't be able to go out that way…'
He then slowly backed away, soon taking the turn deeper into the area before he started following the trail of lights like he originally had when coming here. As he continued, he noted the lack of anything in his way, making him ease up and hope that he'd find an escape from here. What he found, however, was a large gate which seemed to seal the entire tunnel ahead, leaving no area for him to sneak out by. "Well then, looks like I'm stuck here, but at least I seem to have found the thing Ms. Morgan wanted me to look at," Eric muttered to himself as he looked over the designs on the gateway, soon noting the writing as he looked it over. "It isn't old Zandarian, but the patterns seem similar to ones used in the legends written down…"
As he muttered the words he pulled out his phone, turning on it's light as he set it on a rock to let the light shine off of the gate as he pulled a notepad from the backpack, drawing down the symbols and noting familiar locations he had seen them in his research over history. 'Let's see… there's the set found in the old ruins of the city of Orothan along the edge of Zandar, a place prominent for the tales of Scarlet and Azure as well as the historical value of that city, and another set found in some ruins north of the old capital of Zandar believed to have been a treasure vault,' Eric thought as he wrote down each, looking over the designs as he thought over them. Even if he couldn't read them, he at least knew areas they previously resided and the history for them. 'Symbols from areas of major importance in Zandar's history, but not the only locations these were found when noting other locations such as the island of Kamohoali'i. However, the green gem set in the gate is a clear sign of the Ebony Knight, meaning that the areas were each significant in some form to him, be it by legend or action…'
As Eric continued looking around the gate, he soon noted a small patch of the wall, almost insignificant if it wasn't for the way the light reflected it towards him, making him notice a small sliver of writing that seemed almost illegible in the direction the light shined on it. Quickly, he moved back to his phone and picked it up, soon turning back to the wall as he started angling the light on the area of the patch in the wall. Then, at what felt like a stroke of luck over anything else, he finally hit the right angle in the lighting to make the area readable, as well as revealing a symbol of a feather surrounded by a blue flame under the writing. "Old Zandarian, but it looks jumbled like a code…" Eric muttered to himself, kneeling down towards it and touching the symbol as he looked over the writing. "Where blue flame and red earth still meet under stone, shall the trials of knights be taken alone…"
He then shook his head before putting his notepad up, remembering the situation he was in as he flipped his phone to photo mode before taking a picture of the writing as best as he could. Then, setting his phone in his pocket he heard the sounds of steps heading towards him, making him spin around as he remembered the silhouette he saw when entering the tunnel. There, much to his worries, he found himself staring at the creature turning the corner to find him there, making him take a defensive stance as it spotted him.
"So much for waiting on a point to escape," Eric muttered as he slowly etched to his left, the creature following suit to keep him from trying to escape as it slowly approached him before he took off his backpack, setting it down in front of him as he looked at the monster in front of him, his other hand pulling out the cylinders in his pocket before he clapped his hands together almost nonchalantly, slipping one of the two cylinders into his other hand as he looked at the creature. "So then, I suppose it's not on the table to just let me leave here peacefully, right?"
-Nathan-
Nathan swung his sword into the Stingwingers quickly, his blade seeming to move like a torrent into them as he kept his gaze forward, moving onward. The Purple ranger seemed to be keeping up well with him, as well, firing shots from her blaster into any that seemed like they could swarm past his defense as he walked forward. 'A good tactic for this small space, keeps us from hitting each other,' Nathan thought to himself, spinning his blade to block one of the stingers of the creatures before he slashed down into it's chest, getting a resounding set of sparks as he kept moving ahead. 'So she is one of the main minds of your group like you said, Ivan…'
Before long they had ended up finishing off the last of the Stingwingers, in far quicker time than Nathan expected them to as he continued walking forward unphased. "So it seems that only the major monsters are stronger than I remember," Nathan spoke to himself, soon sighing as he sheathed his blade. Then, turning his head to the Purple Ranger, he nodded. "Good covering fire back there, it would've been harder if we both fought melee wise while in this tight of space, even if it was wide enough for it."
"Sure," Kendall responded, making Nathan smirk before he turned back to the path ahead. "You said they're not stronger like the main monsters?"
"Given you're as reliable as Isaac put you to be so far, I suppose I can indulge you on the meaning," Nathan responded as he continued leading Kendall down the path. "I fought Scorpius' minions back in the original timeline with the Magna Defender, though back then I only openly joined it midway through, seven years after he had begun his one-man crusade against Scorpius. During that fight, Furio's monsters such as Radster and a few others weren't as strong as they are now, and definitely weren't as tactical."
"I see… What caused that change then," Kendall asked, making Nathan sigh as he heard her.
"More than likely my actions, if I'd have to guess," Nathan responded, looking ahead. "Without Scorpius to lead them, their goal changed to freeing him from the Lost Galaxy. Because of that they invaded Earth eight hundred years ago when they finally found where I had arrived to, only to be beaten back by Ivan, myself and several others. If we had only managed to stop them then, we wouldn't have had to deal with them now."
As they continued down the path, Nathan soon stopped as they ended up in a crossroad with three different paths. Kendall recognized it as she looked to her right, seeing the area she had slid down to with the rhino symbol on the wall. "This is where I-" Kendall began before Nathan held up his left hand, drawing his sword again as he looked down to the scanner and nodding to it.
"Follow the path you got out of here by the first time, quickly," Nathan spoke as he walked towards one of the openings, his voice cold as he heard a heavy set of footsteps, albeit faint, walking towards the area. "Take the scanner with you and follow the trail back to where you came in by, I'll stall for time."
Kendall looked over to him confused before she started hearing the footsteps heading this way too, though the turn of the tunnel hid who was behind them. "It could be one of the others," Kendall spoke, all the while running over and grabbing the scanner from where she put it.
"The footsteps are too heavy to be any of you, unless your group got clunkier shoes since last week," Nathan simply replied with a calm intensity, resting his blade on his shoulder. "I don't know the strength of Furio right now compared to eight hundred years ago, and the last thing we need is for him to get that scanner."
Kendall just looked at Nathan's back for a moment, looking at the cape that seemed to stay still in this instance to match the tension in his voice. "I could just destroy it, that way he can't use it," Kendall spoke, making Nathan look at her stunned from the choice. "It's better than giving them an edge at freeing Scorpius."
"Destroy it," Nathan asked, almost shocked before he chuckled, making Kendall look at him confused as he turned his head back to the tunnel, the armor masking any features that could discern his expression. "Save that as a last option, it's better they focus on that one over finding one in another city before long. If it's any consolation, however, you just proved your group is like Ivan talked about by being willing to destroy something you have if it means stalling evil."
Kendall just stared at him blankly before she heard the footsteps get louder as a form made it's appearance from the cavern, the same red monster with it's yellow head coming to view as he looked at the group. "So, you found your way to the scanner before me," the creature muttered, pointing his blade between Nathan and Kendall, the very air feeling thicker from the tension as he looked to Kendall. "The pattern on your shirt, I couldn't see it as well from the viewing screen. So that knight from eight hundred years ago was one of you rangers as well… Either way, my goal is solely against the Magna Defender, so I'll give you one chance to hand that scanner over."
"Go, Ranger," Nathan spoke as he took his sword off his shoulder, taking an attack stance as he looked at Furio, the monster looking at him now as it pointed it's sword over to him. Kendall just looked between the two as if contemplating the situation. "It's better I hold him here than you giving the chance for him to obtain it."
Kendal just looked at the two one more time before nodding, turning to the tunnel before running up it as Furio watched after her. "I can reach the scanner another time," Furio spoke, soon taking his own stance as he looked to Nathan. "It'll be much more satisfying to learn the location of the key from you, or to have you release the seal itself."
"Only because you don't have to worry about a certain knight," Nathan responded as the two began circle each other, a smirk hidden behind his helmet as he looked at Furio. "What, did you have to wait eight hundred years to be certain that he wouldn't come back, or did you need to make sure that there weren't any successors to those two who always went against you?"
"It doesn't matter," Furio simply responded as he looked to Nathan. "Any hope that could come from those two has long been set to stone."
Nathan said nothing, his smirk fading the moment Furio spoke his response as he took an attack stance. "Maybe, but stone can still break over time," Nathan spoke calmly, drawing his blade back before he jumped forward, slashing towards Furio only to have the blade blocked as Furio punched forward, Nathan moving the blade at the last second to block the blow before he felt himself being pushed back a few feet. Nathan didn't get a chance to register the hit before Furio swung a second strike, making Nathan parry it before their blades connected. Then, in the next moment their blades separated, a series of clangs and slashes resounding in the cavern system indicated their fight had begun.
-Kendall-
During the time she had gone back up and started back tracking to the entrance, Kendall had unmorphed so as to not surprise Eric when she saw him again. As she continued moving, as well, she saw other Stingwingers having been taken out or unconscious around the area as she ran further towards the entrance, making her wonder on the safety of Eric as she started to see a light at the entrance as she followed the trail of lights. 'I hope nothing happened to him,' Kendall thought as she ran along the path. As she ran along the path, however, she soon found herself looking over a trail of Stingwingers lying across the path to the entrance, making her look at the area surprised as she continued without stopping. Her first thought went to Nathan being the person who did this, but there weren't any slash marks on any of the creatures, and a few of them were still twitching. 'Was it Eric that fought them then?'
As she thought that, she soon found herself seeing the entrance, shaking her from her thoughts as she continued along the path. "…Alright, I'm heading back in," Kendall heard a voice say in a mutter as she made it out of the entrance, soon finding herself seeing Eric standing a few feet away with two batons in his hands, instantly turning around at the sound of her footsteps with a gaze that seemed far sharper than anything she usually saw him only having while cooking. As he saw it was her, however, he lowered his batons in a sigh. "Ms. Morgan, thank goodness you're okay."
"I should say the same about you," Kendall spoke as she looked him over, noting a few bruises on his arms and what looked to be a decent cut on his left cheek. "Did you fight those creatures in there?"
"Yeah, I was spotted by them when I made a turn that led to that gate we came here to see," Eric responded as he walked over to the backpack, a few cuts apparent on it as he pulled out the notebook and held it up. "I wrote down a few things that I figured would be important, but I don't think we should really discuss it while we're still in trouble."
Kendall just looked at him for a moment before looking back into the cavern, remembering the fact that Nathan was fighting Furio at the moment as she pondered on making her way back in. As she did, however, the two soon heard what sounded like a roar, making Eric look over towards one of the clear areas overlooking the region to see the T-Rex Zord running through the area towards them. "Is that a robotic Tyrannosaurus…" Eric spoke as he looked at it confused, Kendall soon getting a call from her communicator as Eric kept staring at the zord approaching the area.
"You're right Eric, we should definitely go," Kendall spoke as she looked over to him, making Eric look at her confused before nodding, Kendall walking over as he twisted some dials on the batons, causing them to retract into a small pair of cylinders that fit perfectly into one hand as she handed him the Scanner. "Pack everything up, I'll start the jeep."
"Sure," Eric spoke, nodding as he took the scanner over to the backpack, Kendall taking the chance to pull out the communicator as she walked to the car. As she opened it, she found herself looking at Shelby in her ranger form.
"Kendall, you're unmorphed and outside," Shelby spoke, surprised as more sounds of Zords were becoming apparent. "Did you make it out?"
"With Eric and the scanner, but the Magna Defender is still in there fighting a monster," Kendall responded as she got into the jeep, turning it on as she looked over to Eric, seeing him put the scanner in carefully while also occasionally looking up at the area he saw the Zord. "Tell Keeper to scan the mountain for anything that could be energy spikes, it could indicate where they're fighting. I'll head back to the zoo with Eric since I can't leave him over here alone."
"Sure, be careful Kendall," Shelby responded before the communicator shut off, Kendall putting it back in it's slot as Eric ran up with the bag now packed. Then, with a sigh and confirmation that she did what she could in the situation, she started the car.
-Zika-
Zika blocked Radster's blasts with one of his swords as he slowly moved forward, Torozord moving around the fight before it slammed into the monster, knocking the giant lobster towards Zika as he swung his free blade into him. "Is this really all you have," Zika spoke as he knocked Radster backwards into the ground, lowering his weapons as he walked forward towards the monster. "Nathan was talking about how you lot had gotten stronger, but this doesn't seem anywhere near the strength to be worried over."
"Don't go and think I'm cracked while I'm still groovin'," Radster spoke as he picked himself up, pulling out his spear before he fired his blaster at Zika again, this time attacking with the weapon and getting a clean hit on the defender as Torozord moved in again. Zika staggered back, soon lifting one of his swords to block a second attack before he swung his free weapon, a wave of black lightning shooting out of it and slamming Radster back again as he composed himself.
"Right, I did say I wanted to see how you cracked, didn't I," Zika responded as he shook his head to get out of his momentary daze, soon holding one of his blades to his chest. "Defender Torozord formation!"
Radster slowly picked himself up as the megazord began to form, shaking his head as he staggered. "This ain't cool, Furio's expectin' me to keep those rangers occupied," Radster spoke, soon picking up his blaster before he aimed it at Zika again. As he did so, however, he soon found himself looking face to face with a much larger megazord, a double-bladed lance in the megazord's hand as it spun towards him, black lightning arcing around it as it smashed through the monster. As it continued it's arc, Radster hobbled forward before he fell, his body exploding as Zika landed with his weapon.
"I guess you do crack as easily as the lobsters here," Zika spoke matter-of-factly, soon looking over to the mountain he knew Nathan was at, seeing the rangers now having almost made it to the area. "Nathan's probably not going to be happy about me telling them to head over, all things considered… Well, it's not like he hasn't needed someone to push him out of his seclusion before..."
-Nathan-
Slashes and sparks echoed through the cavern system as Nathan and Furio fought, Nathan's focus on the monster harsh as he matched each strike and blow. The two had been fighting through the area, following the tunnels for who knows how long, but now he saw a starting to shine behind him as he ducked under Furio's slash. 'We're nearing the valley entrance,' Nathan thought to himself as he jumped back further to the entryway of the tunnel, now finally reaching the light as Furio chased after him. As he landed a bit away, Furio took the chance and unleashed a blast of lightning to Nathan, knocking him cleanly out of the tunnel and into a now blinding light to his sight as he rolled back into the forest, stopping himself in a kneeling position as he held up his blade, flinging the small dagger from under his gauntlet which Furio was hit by in his shoulder, the sparks from the throw halting the monsters advance.
"There's one thing that's been confusing me," Nathan spoke as he looked at Furio, feeling exhausted as he watched the monster pull the dagger out of his shoulder. Furio was far stronger than he expected, but there was one thing that kept itching in the back of his mind. "Starcog, he isn't part of your entourage that Scorpius. Why isn't he with Treacheron?"
"Treacheron is busy with his own plans and allowed him to aid me in mine," Furio simply responded, resting his blade on his shoulder. "We aren't underestimating this planet like eight hundred years ago, and I wanted to make sure of it by using a monster with the best technological knowledge for this planet."
"Well, that is concerning," Nathan spoke as he picked himself up, taking a stance as he focused on calming his breathing. "I guess Randalph spooked you far more than I thought if you're not even pulling your old tricks…"
Furio stiffened at that statement, confirming Nathan's thoughts as a smirk returned under his helmet. 'So even after eight hundred years, Randalph is still remembered by someone…' Nathan then began to take another stance before he and Furio felt the ground shake, staggering them as the sound of large steps began to head their way. Furio then looked up past the mountain, seeing the Zords arriving before he grunted, looking back to Nathan with annoyance.
"Looks like Radster couldn't even keep them occupied long enough," Furio spoke before he swung his blade at Nathan, releasing a bolt of red lightning that Nathan caught with his sword and stabbed into the ground, sending it around him as Furio continued. "Another time, Defender."
Nathan could only watch as the monster teleported away, making him sigh as he sheathed his blade and collected himself, feeling the tension from fighting through the tunnels setting in. "I'm still a bit sluggish from having to wait this long, it seems," Nathan muttered with an exhausted chuckle before he looked up, seeing four of the rangers having jumped down being the same four he saw back at the park with the purple ranger. "Well, at least I know which rangers are here consistently…"
"Magna Defender," Chase spoke as he watched Nathan turn back to the cavern, pacing his breathing as the black ranger walked up to him. "Are you okay?"
"I treated you lot like I did at the park, berating your previous actions, and that's the first thing you ask," Nathan simply responded in wonder, shaking his head as he picked himself up, sheathing his blade. "At least outside of what I saw, you lot are more like how Ivan described you… More importantly, you should head into the caverns. The purple ranger currently has the scanner last I saw and there's no telling how many Stingwingers could be after her."
"She made it out along with Eric," Riley responded, looking over the Magna Defender as he sighed in relief, shaking his head as he turned to leave. "You're already leaving?"
"There's no point in sitting here talking," Nathan responded as he looked to them, pointing up to the sky. "Furio's still up there, and more than likely he's plotting his next move at the moment."
"That's even more of a reason that you should discuss it with us," came a female voice, making Nathan turn to see the pink ranger there as he chuckled, shaking his head. "If we work together, then there's a better chance to stop him from his plans."
"You sound like Ivan with that attitude," Nathan responded, making them look at each other before he shook his head. "But you misunderstand my statement. If they have a ship like the Scorpion Stinger up there in space, then there's a chance they may be listening to us now. If we want to work together, then we need a place they can't watch."
"Then we should meet at the Dino Lab," Tyler spoke, walking over to Nathan next as the defender looked over to him. "Sledge wasn't able to find it when he was hunting for the Energems, so it should be safe from Furio seeing it as well."
"I suppose that could work as well, though we can't exactly talk about it in the open," Nathan responded before he sighed, shaking his head as he turned back to the forest as he lowered his head in thought. "However, we still can't immediately go there right now, especially with the chance that Furio could be listening in…. Do you know the small fountain south of the business section of town?"
"Yeah, there's a skate park near there," Chase responded, making Nathan turn to him.
"That there is," Nathan responded with a chuckle as he turned back to the forest, waving his hand as he started to walk off. "Just hang out over there and I'll meet with you then, if I decide to tell you anything."
"You still don't trust us," Tyler asked, making Nathan stop and look over to him. "I thought you said that we misunderstood your statement."
"I referred to the fact that Furio could listen into our conversation," Nathan responded as he looked to Tyler. "Whether or not you lot can obtain my trust relies entirely on you. Fortunately for you, however, the Purple Ranger has made a good head start by acting as Ivan told me she would on the situation."
With that said, and before they could question him any further, he turned and jumped off, feeling as the trees sped past him as he felt like his legs were wanting to cramp up. 'Just hold out a little longer,' Nathan thought to himself as he landed a good distance away from the group, stumbling as he leaned into a tree and sat back into a sitting position. 'Furio's strikes were on a completely different level now, he's focused on increasing his power over his technique to a point where it's reminiscent of Randalph's… Who knew that the Scarlet Knight would freak him out so bad.'
As he looked up at the tree line, finally unmorphing as he felt the wind blowing around him, he chuckled to himself as he remembered the seal that was in the area he met the Purple Ranger at in the tunnels. "I made that place to honor you three, but I couldn't even keep it from getting damaged by those things," Nathan muttered to himself, closing his eyes as he seemed to feel himself drifting back into the past, the shade of the trees keeping his face shaded as he smiled. "I wonder if Ivan knew he'd meet me when we first met…"
