Chapter 22 - Catch

A blow to the chest sent Rei flying through the air and crashing into the ground. She coughed and tried to regain her breath. She fisted her hands and hit the ground beneath her. She shook it off and sprang to her feet only to immediately go into a defensive stance as her opponent launched another attack at her. It was all she could do to keep up with the barrage. Then she remembered something Zita learned. That little tidbit came creeping out of the murky recesses of memories of being joined with her sisters.

Instead of blocking, she turned slightly for better leverage, and drove her fists into her opponent’s wrist, elbow and shoulder. Turning with her momentum, she drove her elbow in between her opponent's shoulder blades. That's when it all went wrong. She let down her guard. Her opponent grunted in pain and went down. Just as quickly she twisted her body, and trapped Rei's ankle between her feet and jerked her down.

Rei yelped as she went down. "Can I tap out now?" she moaned. Her whole body felt like one big ache.

Lammy sat up, crossing her legs in front of her. "That last move wasn't one of mine. I was impressed," she said.

Rei slowly sat up as well. "I think it was one of Zita's," she said as frowned at a tear in her pants. There was a scrape on her knee. She grimaced.

"You also have one on your chin," Lammy said unhelpfully. Rei just glowered with a pout. Lammy got to her feet. She held her hand down to help Rei up. "You're improving at a good rate. Maybe next time you decide to take on Rio, you won't get stomped so thoroughly," she said.

"Your encouragement lights up the world," Rei declared drily. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. She knew, however, that it was actually high praise from Lammy.

"Isn't this why you asked for my help instead of Sora's or anyone else's?" Lammy asked. She waved her hand and seemed to grab at the air and pulled. The two of them popped out of the pocket dimension they'd created and landed in the middle of Lammy's apartment.

Rei stretched her sore muscles. "Yep. Anyone else would go too easy on me. Except Tai, but he scares me more than you do," she said. "Plus he's busy with Fox," she added.

Lammy raised a brow. After a moment of thought, she nodded. "Yeah, he'd give that look all the time, wouldn't he? The one that says he's an inch away from strangling you but won't because he's better than that."

"Yes! That's what that look is!"

"I wonder if he gave Mina the Queen of Evil that look while he was training her," Lammy mused.

"I don't think even she would have been spared that look," Rei said. "Oh, it's almost time for my shift. I'd better get back and get cleaned up," she said. "Thanks again!" she said and poofed out in a cloud of white smoke.

Lammy coughed and waved it away. "They never think about people left behind when they do that," she complained. "Get out here and tell me why you dropped in," she said, glancing at her sofa.

A large black scorpion scurried out from where he was hiding and changed into her brother. He was wearing his human disguise of biker boots, ripped jeans and a dark hoodie. "I need your help," he said.

"You still haven't found Finster? You? You tracked a Hypaxion through the endless moving sands of Qonsuqor. They don't have feet and the sand moved endlessly," she said.

"There's a reason we made such a good team. I know that he was taken by Bone Drones, but there's no trace of him anywhere," he said. "I wouldn't ask you, conflict of interest and all, but Mori is really worried. I hate not being able to tell her anything," he admitted.

"Aww, look at my little brother, all in love and cute," she said and pinched his cheeks.

He grimaced and knocked her hands her away. "I was born first," he grumbled.

"We probably should have cleared that up with Mom and Dad before they left," Lammy murmured. "All right, share everything with me. I'll see what I can do," she said and reached up again, this time putting her fingers on his temple and establishing a mental link with him to learn all she could about Finster's disappearance from what he knew.

-x-

Moon Palace

Moriko joined her sister on a terrace overlooking the Earth. Zita stood pensively, her arms crossed her chest, the fingers of one hand drumming on her opposite upper arm. "We need to figure out what they're looking for," she declared.

"Is that what your magic cherry trees told you?" Mori asked.

Zita pursed her lips and gave her sister a sideways glare. Mori just raised her eyebrows innocently. "No. It's what I realized myself. Neither dearest Aunt Riti nor Rio seem like the types to abide by the edicts of the Blood Rights," she said and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Well, you know what they say; 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Oh, and the good old 'Blood is thicker than water,' nugget," Mori said and eased away from her sister as she processed what she was getting at.

Zita whirled toward Mori. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" she demanded.
"I'm saying there are three of us and someone went so far as merging us into one being so there would no longer be three of us," Mori said calmly enough. It felt strange to be the voice of reason, but someone had to do it.
Zita scowled and turned away. She glared at the Earth. "Then we propose a temporary truce, but once we are rid of the Reviles, everything goes back to how it was," she declared bitterly.

Mori tipped her head. It was a start. "Very well," she said. "Where should we start?" she asked.

Zita drummed her fingers again as she stared at the Earth. "See if Rei, through her shiny suited friends, know anything about what Riti and Rio are after," she answered. "If not, we'll devise a plan for finding out through nefarious means," she said and her mouth stretched into an evil smile.

Seeing her sister was in better spirits than she had seen in a while, Mori decided to leave her to scheme in peace. She walked back into the Palace. She'd pop in on Rei in a little while. She wanted to see what the Reviles were up to, but neither seemed to be in the Palace. That was strange. She poked her head into the Hatchery. There were as many eggs there as before, so they weren't currently attacking the Earth.
She harrumphed but disappeared to find her other and talk to her.
-x-
Billie, Billy and some of her friends stood along a running track in the middle of the desert, timing Manny's speed at various distances. She just crossed the finish line at 500kmat a much faster speed than she'd previously experienced. It was slightly unnerving. In fact, she hadn't exactly been able to stop as sharply as she'd hoped and had finally come to a standstill almost half again the distance. She looked around, confused and glanced over her shoulder. In the distance, Dr. Bill and Billie were flagging her down.
She carefully jogged back toward them. She'd actually requested the tests because she was becoming concerned about a few instances of accidentally speeding in school or around other people.

Billy was frowning. Billie was frowning too, but Billie was always frowning so that didn't tell Manny much. Billy, on the other hand, wasn't much of a frowner.

"That expression doesn't look good," Lani remarked.

"I don't think it was," Tai said. Even he could tell that Manny's speed has increased exponentially.

"If we wanted her to be faster, it'd be a good thing," Billie said unhelpfully and made a note on a clipboard she was carrying. She announced the time. "Which was even faster than the 100km run, so it seems the more you move the faster you get," she explained.

"The problem comes with the lack of control," Billy said. "We'll head back to the Medi-lab and run a few tests. I don't know if this is a natural bi-product of the Dino Coin or some outside influence. We'll also have to document anything unusual you may have been exposed to lately," he said.

Lani and Manny shared a quiet look.

"Even as socially inept as I am, I could read that atmosphere," Billie stated.

Tai raised an eyebrow at them. "Are we missing something?" he asked.

"Well, this might count," Manny said and held up her wrist. Wrapped around it was a slim powdery yellow spiraling bracelet with beautiful and intricate designs carved into it. "Uncle Carlos gave it to me for my birthday last week. He said he got it at a marketplace in the Rings of Akhaten. He said he had to trade his first GPD badge for it," she explained. She thought it was very beautiful but realized it was of alien origin.
"Yeah, that would probably count," Billie said drily.

Billy ignored his assistant's sarcasm. "Do you mind if I run a few tests on it?" he asked. He knew that just because it was alien, didn't immediately conclude that it was somehow affecting her genetic abilities. Then again, there was always the probability.
Manny shrugged and attempted to remove the bracelet. It wouldn't budge. It was loose around her wrist but it wouldn't come off. "Uh-oh. This can't be good," she said and tugged on it with greater strength.

"Let me try," Tai said with concern. Manny held her Arm out and braced herself. Applying steady pressure with his preternatural strength, he couldn't get the bracelet to come off either. "This is beyond not good," he declared.

"Looks like we'll have to do tests with the arm attached," Billy declared.

"We could always cut her hand off," Billie suggested.

Lani blinked. "Without Danny or Nathan around to give us cues, it's hard to know if she's joking," she said.

"We'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say she's joking," Tai declared. Billie scowled at them, disgruntled and didn't say more.

"Unfortunately, it's not beyond the realm of possibilities should this become dangerous. We should return the Command Center immediately," he suggested.

"Good idea. The sooner we figure this out the better. Preferably without me losing a hand," Manny said.

"Don't worry, we'll make you a new one. No one would ever know," Billie said and teleported before anyone would speculate on the intention of her words. The others followed suit.
-x-
Palace on the Moon
Riti and Rio showed back up on the moon in full force. They had the Bone Drones busy constructing something on the look-out for over a week. No matter how much Zita pestered them, they wouldn't reveal what they were so diligently looking for. They would only reveal that the device they were building would help their search and that when they were done, they'd be out of her hair for good.
Zita didn't trust them as far as she could throw them. She sought out her sister after a not so pleasant run-in with them. She found her with Griff. She actually hadn't seen him much the past week either. They were ensconced in the dining room where Griff was, unsurprisingly, stuffing meat in his face. She quickly threw up several anti-eavesdropping spells. Griff raised a brow at her. "It's been long enough. Have you spoken with Rei?" she asked.

"She doesn't know either. There have been many magical objects brought to Earth over the centuries. Any of them could be what they're looking for or none of them. But whatever it is, it's doubtlessly powerful for them to so diligently search for it," Moriko said.

"They're looking for a piece of something called a Soul Stone," Griff stated.

Zita narrowed her eyes at him. "How do you know that?" she demanded.

"And why didn't you tell us sooner?" Mori asked.

Griff shrugged. "Didn't realize it was something secret. They weren't quiet about discussing it. Of course I was a scorpion at the time trying to hear something about Finster," he said.

Zita stewed over that information. "How is that going?" she asked since she was also worried about Finster's sudden disappearance.

Griff was quiet a moment. "I have a lead. It's not going to be easy to follow up on," he said.

"Can you be any vaguer? I almost understood what you were talking about," Zita said sourly.

"Although I wouldn't have put it quite that way, Griff, sweetie, can you be more specific?" Mori asked after giving her sister an admonishing glance.
Griff sighed. "I asked Lammy for help. She's the best trans-dimensional tracker in existence. She tracked," he stated.

Zita narrowed her eyes. "Your goody-two shoes Power Ranger sister helped you track down my evil monster making minion?" she asked, disbelieving.

"Family does," he said with a shrug.

Zita huffed. "Do what you must, just bring him home," she said. "I'm going to find out what I can about this Soul Stone," she declared.

"You'll share info, right? There's a truce for the moment, right? Right?" Mori reminded her pointedly. Just as pointedly. Zita ignored the question as she swept out of the dining room. Mori sighed. Griff shrugged and went back to eating. Despite what Zita thought of his eating habits, this was the first time all week he'd had the chance to sit and eat a full meal. Interdimensional tracking wasn't exactly easy, even with Lammy helping out.
Mori watched him for a moment. "What aren't you telling Zita?" she asked finally.

"It'd've just peeved her off more than usual," he answered. "They have their entire kingdom hidden in a pocket dimension on the dark side. Not only do they have a gigantic space castle, but also an entire fleet of attack ships. They have no intention of leaving Earth to her or Roki," he answered.

Mori nodded. "That would have ticked her off," she agreed. "Finster's in their stronghold?" she asked.

"Lammy and I are trying to formulate the best way to go about getting in and getting Finster out," he answered.

"If you need help, you know how to find me," she said with a wicked smirk.

Griff wiped his hands and mouth on a napkin. He was unusually quiet and serious for a moment. "No. I don't want you anywhere near that. Besides, I think you may have your hands full here pretty soon. The equipment they brought in came from a recently decimated society of scientists. They were technologically advanced, but peaceful. I think they'll find what they're looking for soon," he said.
She processed that quietly. She was torn between immediately going to talk with Rei or, she glanced at Griff, spending some quality time with him. As if thinking the same thing, he shot her a smile. That made up her mind quickly. She stood and held out a hand. With a smile, he stood and took her hand and they left the dining room together.
-x-

Meanwhile, Riti and Rio made the final connections on the device they were building. "I think your dear nieces are plotting something," Rio remarked as she plugged something into the eye-piece of the telescope that looked out over Earth.

"Let them. Once we have the Soul Shard, there will be no stopping us," Riti declared. She grinned wickedly. "Is the device ready?" she asked her daughter.

"Ready. Conquering the Emagineerians was a brilliant idea," she said. She picked up a device not unlike the remote activator of a camera. She pressed a button. The equipment whined loudly as it powered up. Suddenly a brilliant purple light flashed from the lens of the telescope. It lasted for several minutes before blinking out. After another few minutes, the equipment went quiet.

Anxiously, the Reviles rushed to the war room. Zita's map of Angel Grove was now superimposed with a purple image. Several bright spots lit up. Rio scowled. "I don't understand," she said. "That wasn't there before," she declared.

Riti suddenly smiled. "I understand. I want you to attack this spot," she said, and gestured to a mobile spot that was glowing a little brighter than several other bright spots.

Rio nodded "I'll get it done," she said. She held out her hand and her hat appeared. She put it on and disappeared.

Riti gazed at the map triumphantly. It wouldn't be long now.

-x-
Command Center
Danny came running into the Blue Lab and skid to a stop beside Billie. He shoved a clipboard in front of her face. "I know you tryin' to figure out if Manny's gonna run herself into a time vortex or somethin', but you gotta look at this," he said.

Billie jerked her eye back as her eyes crossed. "Blah, don't do that," she said blinking. She took the clipboard from him. "This is the results of the diagnostics from the Alphamax Cannon. Why are you showing it to me?" she asked.

"Because, it's based in part on Morph Tech, which means, when it travels through the Morphing Grid to appear where we need it, it gets power via these scoops," he explained, showing her a different page with a diagram of the Cannon. "That ain't the problem. The scoops are functioning properly. Read this and tell me what exactly that means," he said, flipping a few more pages and pointing at a particular section of the printout.

Billie sighed and read the passage. She blinked and read it again. Then she read it again. She looked at him.

"Does it mean what I'm thinkin' it means?" he asked. His face was pale. The fact that her face was equally as pale was not a good sign.

"This is bad. This is very bad. We need to talk to Dr. Bill. Right now," she said firmly. Just then, alarms went off. The two of them ran to the Power Chamber. "What now?" Billie demanded.

Beez was looking at a view screen. Angel Grove was washed in a purple light. "What the frell is that?" Danny demanded.

"Angel Grove is being bombarded with Gogglitz radiation. The origin of the beam appears to be the moon," Beez reported. "It is not harmful to living things, but I cannot fathom what the purpose of the radiation could be," she said musingly.

"Well, all this time, the crazy purple-headed panda chick has been looking for something. Does this Gogglitz radiation work anything like an X-Ray?" Billie asked.
"As a matter of fact, it does," Beez answered.

"Well, let everyone know that the beam wasn't harmful, but we should be ready. I get the feelin' they'll be acting on whatever information they just gathered," Danny said.

"Then get Dr. Bill to the Blue Lab. We have another problem," Billie said and tromped back to the Blue Lab. Danny sighed and rubbed a hand over his hair. He went to the Zord lab to devise an alternate method of powering the Alphamax Cannon.

-x-
Tai was gassing up his car at a service station. As he propped against a shiny red fender, he somewhat zoned out. That was until a profusion of brightly colored silks and satins caught his attention. A soccer mom SUV had pulled in a few pumps down from him and its occupants exited. All the satin and silk was his girlfriend, her dad and brother dressed in traditional Korean hanbok. Lani's hair was pulled back away from her face and braided until it nearly hit the back of her knees. Her mouth dropped open when she spotted him. Noa ducked his head and tried to hide his face behind his tall black mesh hat from which a strand of beads hung. He quickly disappeared into the store to pick up a few snacks and pay for the gas his dad was pumping.

Tai couldn't stop staring at Lani in her traditional clothes. She colored and approached him. "I don't suppose I can convince you to pretend you aren't seeing what you're seeing?" she asked hopefully.

He shook his head. "You look amazing," he practically blurted. He cleared his throat and straightened. He took the nozzle out of his car and put it back on the pump. "So what's all this?" he asked.

Lani sighed and ran a hand over her purple satin skirt. "It's Heritage Day at the Koreatown Cultural Center," she answered. "My brothers and I will be performing on traditional instruments. Before I got my first drum set, I was made to learn to play the gayageum. Since we lived in Hawaii, Dad always thought it was important we also embrace our Korean heritage aside from martial arts," she explained and shrugged. She was really pleased that he thought she looked amazing.

Tai nodded. "You don't need to justify it to me," he said and smiled. "Can I come? I wasn't doing anything in particular. I was thinking about going and breathing down Billie's neck but that can wait," he said.

Lani snickered. Before she could answer, the air around them turned purple. "Oh, this can't be good," she said quietly.
After a few minutes the purple faded. Beez sent a message that assured them that the purple haze wasn't harmful, but they should be on their guard anyway.

Mr. Lyong cleared his throat to get Lani's attention. "Time to go. Pua and Keoni will already be there. She invited you, didn't she, Tai?" he asked proudly.

"I wouldn't miss it, sir," Tai assured him with a smile. Mr. Lyong nodded and bustled Lani back into the SUV and they drove away. Tai wasn't far behind them. He was unsurprised to find that Manny and Holly were waiting around for Lani. Manny kept tugging at the bracelet on her wrist and moving slowly with purpose.

A loud chorus of giggles from a surprisingly large group of young women drew their attention. They were all whispering and jostling each other and looking at Lani's brothers, Noa, having joined up with Pua and Keoni. Lani covered her face. "So embarrassing," she declared.

"That would be the curse of having three hot older brothers," Manny said with a weak grin.
Lani gagged. "You'd think things like that only happen in dramas but look. It's enough to make a person sick," she said. She smiled when Tai approached. He'd been finding a decent parking place for his car, then he helped her dad bring in her gayageum.

"This thing is almost as tall as I am," he said, wondering how she managed to lug it around when it was actually more accurately nearly as long as she was tall.

Before Lani could answer another burst of titters erupted from the girly group. They'd finally noticed Tai. Lani scowled at them.

"Hey, that's not fair, those are our fangirls," Noa complained good-naturedly. Keoni didn't comment, but Pua glared at Tai.

"You can have them. Tai doesn't need them. He has me," Lani declared. Manny and Holly dissolved into a fit of giggles while, Tai's ears turned red and he tried to look inconspicuous. Luckily he had to move aside for an elderly woman.  She eyed him disapprovingly.

"Why aren't you properly dressed, young man?" she demanded.

Tai smiled benignly. "Sorry, ma'am. I'm Irish," he said. Though, thanks to his grandfather he spoke fluent Japanese, he also had a passable understanding of most other major Asiatic languages. The old woman just harrumphed and stomped onward to find a place to sit in the fold-up chairs arranged around the hall.

"Oh, for a convenient monster attack," Lani grumbled when the director of the Center signaled her that it was time for them to set up. She took her gayageum from Tai and went to join her brothers on the make-shift stage. Tai and the two girls took seat near the back.

Halfway through the performance of the Lyong siblings, someone entered the center. She took an empty seat next to Manny. She wore pink and purple hanbok embroidered with bamboo leaves and panda bears. Manny noticed the sleeves first. She allowed her gaze to travel up. Hair pulled back in a long purple braid, red glasses perched on her nose Rio grinned. "Isn't the music lovely?" she chirped.

Before she could stop herself, Manny travelled from her seat to across the auditorium in a blink, so startled was she. Tai was up out of his chair an instant later. People around them shushed Rio. This did not make her happy. "Don't shush me! I was going to wait ‘til the performance was over, but never mind now!" she declared and flung out a hand. Chairs, with people in them, went sliding out of the way. "I'll take that bauble of yours," she said to Manny.

"You can have it if you can get it off," Manny said, and held up her wrist tauntingly.

Tai stood between them. He made a motion at Manny indicating her silence. Of all the times to be without his sword. "Get out of here. The Power Rangers should be here soon," he said loudly.

Rio threw her head back and laughed. "Yes. They should be here soon," she agreed. "But nobody is going anywhere right now." She waved her hand and all the doors of the Center slammed closed. She snapped her fingers and her appearance changed to her usual military style outfit. "Mother, send me a present," she said aloud. "This should be interesting. What, oh, what will the Power Rangers do if they can't get in the building where a monster is trapped with a lot of civilians?" she asked, staring Tai straight in the face challengingly.

-x-
Moon Palace
Riti grinned and swept toward the Hatchery. She sized up the remaining four eggs in their incubators. "This one," she directed the Bone Drones manning the Hatchery. They very carefully loaded the egg into the hatching machine. When they closed the door, she tapped a few instructions into the interface and pulled the lever. She laughed as the egg was sucked up into the pipe. It was then launched to Earth.
She rubbed her hands together. "Keep those Rangers occupied, my dear," she said. "Stand by," she said to the bone drones. A whirlwind of black energy made her disappear from the moon.
-x-

Command Center

Someone in the Cultural Center managed to activate their distress beacon. Billie's talk with Dr. Bill was interrupted by the alarms going off. They made haste to the Power Chamber and met up with Danny. "What seems to be the emergency, Beta Z?" Billy asked.

"Rio Revile has appeared at the Koreatown Cultural Center and has civilians, along with Tai, Lani, Manny and Holly trapped inside," Beez answered even as she was contacting the others to report to the Command Center.

"Wait, Tai and Lani are trapped inside? Who’s in charge now?" Billie asked.

"Are you tellin' me, my girlfriend is trapped somewhere with that maniacal bi--"

Billie cut Danny off by putting a hand on his arm. "She's with Tai, Lani and Manny," she reminded him.
Danny nodded. "So we gotta be smart about this," he said. "They can't morph or anything in front of those people. We gotta be quick," he said.

"I get the feeling it won't be as easy as busting down the doors and letting everyone out," Billy said thoughtfully.
"It certainly won't be. My guess would be magical barriers are in place," Rei declared. She and others were arriving at Beez's summons.

"So our main goal will be getting in and getting past whatever other obstacles are in our way," Taran said. "If it's magical, Lammy and Rei will be our best assets," he said, addressing the crowd.

"And you," Rei reminded him.

"Right," he agreed.

"Won't it be kind of weird if we all show up en masse without our Reds?" Fox asked.

"It's a risk we'll have to take. It might not matter if the others are forced to Morph," Lammy said. "I have to give it to Rio. She's diabolical," she said sourly. She fisted her hands. "Let's just do this," she declared and twisted her wrists.

"I'm with you," Danny agreed and twisted his wrists. "It's Morphin' Time!"

-x-
The egg sent from the moon crashed through the roof of the Cultural Center and landed, breaking apart to reveal a black skinned monster with a large red eye with a black center. "Oh, mistress, look at all the lovely young masters," he trilled and clasped his hands under his chin, sighing in appreciation even as the civilians around him reacted with fright. None of them could move from their seats, however. The only people mobile were the three Rangers, Holly and Lani's brothers.

Rio smiled. "I see them, Pangun. Which one is your favorite?" she asked.

Pangun pranced over to Keoni and grabbed his chin. "I like this one. He has pretty eyes," Pangun said breathily. Keoni tried to jerk his head away, but Pangun tightened his grip. "Now, now, now. Be nice or I'll scoop your eyeballs out and have them mounted," he warned, his voice turning gravelly and deep as he spoke. Lani dug her fingernails into her palm and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying or doing something until Tai gave her the okay.

Rio chuckled and looked at Tai again. "Oh, if only there were Power Rangers here to help that poor boy keep his eyeballs in his head," she said dramatically. She laughed again.

Pua tried to make a move to help his brother, using his own gayageum as a weapon he moved quickly and broke it over the creature's back. This had the benefit of Pangun releasing Keoni, but the draw back was the monster whipping around with a staff and knocking him across the room. "Pua!" Lani shouted, but Pangun held his staff in front of her in warning.

Rio sat down in a folding chair and crossed her legs daintily. She clicked her tongue. "My, those Power Rangers sure are failing, aren’t they? Isn't it their sworn duty to protect the innocent and all that crap?" she asked.

Tai gave her the faintest smile. She raised her brows. "Something to say, beanpole?" she asked. "Please, I won't punish you for speaking up. Villain’s honor," she promised, not meaning a word of it.

"It's just that you seem to implying that there might be Power Rangers in this very room. If that's true, then they're probably formulating a plan. After all, there are numerous weapons on display all around this room, and I would think that a Power Ranger, being you know, a Power Ranger, would have the ability to use them. Like those swords over there, or the daggers there," he said, gesturing vaguely around the room.

Rio glanced around and nodded thoughtfully. "This is true, young man, but a Power Ranger would have to reveal such knowledge in front of all these civilians," she pointed out.

"That's true, but you've barricaded all the windows and doors with this really dark, murky looking energy. I bet it would be hard to see anything if the lights suddenly went out," he posited.

"That would be true, I suppose, if said Power Ranger could get to a light switch," Rio said conversationally. "Once again revealing his or her identity," she said.

"You got me there," he said.

"Why are you having a conversation with this beast?" Pua demanded on a snarl. His middle hurt like nobody's business but he was otherwise okay.

"Nothing better to do since we appear to be trapped here," Tai answered. He knew it didn't win him any points with Pua to answer like that but he'd basically given up on trying to win points with Pua.

"I like your attitude, beanpole. It's nice to see someone who can graciously accept defeat," Rio said. Pua made a disgusted noise.

Tai shook his head. "No, it's not that, I was just thinking. Doesn't one of the Rangers have super speed?" he asked. "I mean, from news footage on TV and stuff, it looks like she can run really, really fast. What if she was one of the Rangers you think is here?" he asked.

Rio shook her head. "Oh, no. Pangun here is quite the speedster himself. She'd never make it. Even if she made it to the lights or the weapons, she'd never be able to do both," she denied.

Pangun was eager to demonstrate and ran around, appearing beside all the guys present that he liked the look of and pinched their cheeks. "I like this one, and this one, and this one~!" he trilled.

Suddenly the building shook. Rio cocked her head. "Looks like the good guys have arrived. Don't worry though, my Bone Drones will keep them occupied while we continue our little chat. I think I can understand what she sees in you," she told Tai, flicking her eyes at Lani. She stood and walked toward him. She reached out to pat his cheek. "Wanna join the winning side?" she asked.

Tai jerked his head back. Lani fumed. She kicked out her foot and send her shoe flying into the back of Rio's head. "That'll be enough of that," she stated. Rio turned on Lani with a snarl and stomped toward her. Lani glared back at her. "Here's a hypothetical for you," she said. "Suppose that Ranger recently acquired an item that increased her speed ten-fold? Why I bet then, she could not only turn off the light, but get to the weapons and pass them out in a snap," she said and snapped her fingers for emphasis.

Just like that the lights went out and the Center was plunged into darkness. Rio gasped and turned, activating the night vision on her glasses. It was too late. A strong hand grabbed her and threw her at the door. She crashed through, not only taking out the door but her own magical barriers. She sprawled at the feet of a very surprised looking Rei, Gold and Electrum.

People flooded out of the Center, many of the younger people had weapons. Lani and Tai were not among them. Manny was rather proud of that little touch. The Green and Pink Rangers split off the Bone Drone battle to help get the civilians to safety. Though Lani was swept up with her family, Tai stepped out last. "Looks like one of the Rangers got a little peeved off at being held hostage and threatened with the revelation of his identity," he said thoughtfully to Rio, who had regained her feet.

Rio glared first at him, then at Manny. "The bracelet," she surmised grimly.

Manny held up her bracelet-ed arm. The stone was turning gray and disintegrating. It was dust within a matter of moments. She stared at where it used to be. Tai stared at where it used to be. Electrum and Rei also stared at where it used to be. Rei took in so much air when she gasped she could have filled a blimp. "She was never after the bracelet!"

Rio threw her head back and laughed. "Good-bye, Rangers," she said and twiddled her fingers at them. "Pangun! Finish this!" she shouted and disappeared.

"My sisters! I have to--"

"Go!" Electrum shouted at Rei, who also disappeared in a wisp of white smoke.

"I don't know what's going on and I don't like it, but we have to deal with that eye sore first," Tai said about the monster now joining the Bone Drones in the battle. His speed proving to be every bit as much of an advantage as it usually was to Manny. He twisted his wrists. "It's Morphin' Time! Tyrannosaurus-Rex!"

"Smilodon!" Manny morphed. "I might back be back to normal speed, but it should we enough to keep up with him," she said. "Power Grips!" she summoned her weapons and sped toward the monster. "How about some corrective eye surgery, sweetie?" she said and zoomed in with her Grips.

Pangun blocked with his staff. "I'm perfect the way I am, honey," he responded and swiped at her. She raised her Grips and caught hold of his staff with. He grunted as he tugged on it. This caused what was pretty much a standstill. Her partner took advantage of it. He ran forward and leapt, coming down with the Power Daggers with the full force of that jump. Sparks flew and Pangun shrieked and thrashed.

Electrum and Gold joined the three Silver Rangers after Rio disappeared. "Done with the magicky business?" one of them asked as he slashed a thin sword at a Bone Drone.

"Should I be worried about Rei?" asked the one with the CeratoSword.

"Yes, but this first," Electrum answered as she VelociRapier-ed a trio of Drones coming up behind her brother.

"Right," the Silver with the other thin sword agreed. "Watch yer back, mate. They seem to be after you today," he warned Gold.

Gold grunted when he swung his StegoMace. "I reckon so," he agreed, puzzled. He mentally shrugged it off and got back to it.

The Black Team was actually functioning as a team. They stood back to back. "So, I'm confused. Was the bracelet a Red Herring or a McGuffin?" male Black asked as he slashed at several Bone Drones with perfectly synchronized movements of his Power Blades. Under Tai's tutelage, the weapons felt merely like extensions of himself.
"Does it really matter? Aren't they basically the same thing?" femme Black answered and then put a hole through the center of Bone Drone's chest with her fist. Another's head went rolling with a slash of her Power Axe.

"I'm ashamed to call you my sister," male Blue said disparagingly, whipping his Power Lance around.

"It was a Red Herring. It was never powerful enough for Rio's interest and its effects temporary. We'd just found out when the alarms sounded," an invisible femme Blue explained as she took out a couple of Bone Drones trying to double-team her partner with her Power Sais. She reappeared. Two arrows took out the Bone Drones who'd immediately tried to jump her.

"Thanks for the clarification," male Pink said from his hovering position. He held his Power Bow at the ready

"Thanks for save," she responded.

Femme Pink's helmet popped open and she gave a deafening shriek at some of the Drones. "So cute," she declared and giggled. "Oh no, you don't," she denied and jumped forward, and used her momentum to spin herself around with her Power Fans, becoming a little whirlwind that took out quite a few Drones that were climbing on each other’s shoulders to get high enough to take out male Pink.
Femme Green swung her Power Staff, simply trying to keep the Drones off herself. "Doesn't there seem to be an awful lot of them?" she pondered aloud.

Stygian Armored, and wielding his Stygian Blade, Male Green cut down at least four Drones in rapid succession. "Yes," he agreed because he didn't have much time to say much else. The Bone Drones seemed to be especially bogging down their more powerful Rangers, like him, Gold, Electrum, Silver and Red.

"It’s part of whatever their real plan is," Red declared. "It's meant to keep us busy!" his words cut off sharply as suddenly a wave of Drones engulfed him and he went under. When the thrashing mass went limp, he summoned enough strength to push them off of him and he saw his partner standing over him with the Power Sword and Power Armor.

"I had to ditch my family at the service station, so stop fooling around, summon your Armor and deal with that," she instructed and pointed at the speedy battle between femme Yellow and Pangun, with male Yellow occasionally getting a lick or two in.

Red sprang to his feet. "Gladly," he said. "Power Armor!" he summoned even as he ran toward the monster. He didn't have super speed, but he'd learned when applying his strength just right, he could summon a burst of speed almost matching Manny's. He activated his shield and crashed into the monster's back. Pangun sparked and staggered. He swirled around wildly with his staff, but the TyrannoSword slashed forward and cut across him with all of the Red's strength behind it.

"Magnum Power Cannon!" femme Red summoned and stood behind the Cannon. When Pangun staggered about, sparking and slashed nearly to shreds, she pressed the trigger. The powerful beam smashed into the monster and he exploded, leaving behind a small egg. When the egg hatched, a giant Pangun grew from it.

"Now I'll have all the pretty young masters I want," he declared. "Catch me if you can, Rangers," he taunted. He began to run around at an incredible speed.

Male Red growled. "I don't want to do it, but I think I'll have to hold him with the Megazord while someone fires the Alphamax Cannon," he said.

"I'll have to man the Cannon," male Blue said. Only he knew enough about how it worked and the ways to get around it if there was a problem.

"I'll man the Megazord. Alone," Red declared.

"But, you can't," femme Red denied.

"You get back to your family," he said.

"You aren't going it alone. Taran and I will be with you," Electrum said firmly.

"That's right," Gold agreed.

"Well, how about we stop leisurely discussing it and get on with it. The monster is headed toward the soccer pitch," male Black informed them.

Female Red huffed. She made a go-ahead motion with her hand toward her partner and teleported so that she could meet up with her family before they missed her.

Male Red pressed the crystal on his gauntlet. "Magnum Alpha Megazord!"
From various place around the city, Zords began appearing and converged on their location. The Zords began assembling together. The SmiloZord and the MastoZord formed legs and feet. The TyrannoZord formed a torso while the PteroZord and TriceraZord formed arms. A helmeted head turned out of the TyrannoZord. The StygiZord broke apart to form gauntlets, a chest shield and a helmet. The StegoZord, CeratoZord and VelociZord configured themselves in a shoulder mounted dino head cannon system that attached to the back of the shield with a tail. Male Red, Gold and Electrum teleported aboard.

Male Blue activated something on his Morpher. "Alphamax Cannon!" he summoned. His cannon appeared and he teleported aboard. He began fiddling with the controls and made sure he had enough energy. He heaved a sigh when he saw the read-outs. He overrode the safety protocols he'd built in. "Tai, when you catch the weirdo, don't just hold him, push him toward the Cannon," he instructed as he worked.

"Easier said than done," Red declared as he chased the monster.

"We're too heavy," Electrum concluded finally.

"We are," Gold agreed. "I'll disengage the Legendary Zords," he said and activated something at the console. The shoulder mounted dino-head cannon of the Megazord broke apart. They picked up speed, but the monster still out paced them.

"Wait, I have the PteroZord," Red said finally. "Holly, can I access the rocket-propulsion system of the PteroZord?" he asked.

"Yes. I'll remotely access the coding. Give me a sec," came her answer. After a moment, the Megazord shuddered to a stop. Suddenly rocket boosters appeared out of its back and fired. It was a one-time deal and they burned out quickly, but it was enough to catch Pangun. The monster thrashed but the Megazord kept itself latched on, wrestling him back toward the Cannon.

"When I say, now, push the monster forward and get outta Dodge. And we only have one shot at this," male Blue warned them as he aimed the Cannon. "Now!" he said and pressed the firing mechanism.

The Megazord pushed the monster forward. The points of the Alphamax Cannon fired all at once in a blinding, deafening explosion that took out not only the monster, but the Cannon, several empty buildings (Blue chose the location because he knew the buildings were empty) and most of the core of the Megazord.

There was silence as the Power Rangers watched the explosion. Male Blue slumped and held his helmet in his gloved hands. Female Blue stood next to him, and male Pink patted him on the back comfortingly.

"What just happened?" male Red asked, stunned. The Megazord and pieces of the cannon disappeared as Holly collected them from the Command Center.

"There's something we need to discuss with everyone back at the Command Center," female Blue said quietly.

"There's no time for that," Electrum suddenly stated, urgency evident in her voice. "Rei and her sisters found out what the Reviles are up to. Tai, they're trying to break the barrier surrounding your land," she said.

Male Red jerked. "What? Grandpa's there by himself," he said and teleported without actually thinking about it.

"We should go, too," Electrum said, encompassing everyone in that statement. The team didn't argue and they all teleported to Tai's property.

-x-

Palace on the Moon
Rei hadn't returned to the Moon since she'd fled Zita and shadows chasing her the night she separated from her. Yet, when Rio disappeared from the battlefield, she knew it was time to return. There was no time for less direct methods of contacting her sisters. "Moriko! Zita!" she shouted, making her voice unnaturally loud, echoing throughout the entire palace. She stood in the entrance hall and waited.

Moriko and Griff appeared momentarily. Mori's eyes went wide seeing her sister actually there. A disgruntled Zita presently emerged from the library. "Oh, you came," she said only. "Good, saves time," she declared. "Follow me," she declared crisply.

Rei swallowed hard, but fell in step with Moriko and Griff as hey followed Zita to the war room. Zita stared at the purple map. "Of course," she said quietly.

"What is it?" Moriko asked. "Did you find out what the Soul Stone is?" she asked.

"I did. It was a powerful crystal used millions of years ago, but it was so powerful, it burnt out anyone trying to use it. It took an entire planet sharing the power to properly wield it. That's how massive its energy was. Of course that presented problems as well, because well, it connected their minds. Billions of minds all crowding into each other heads at all times; they were driven mad. So, it was broken into pieces and scattered across the endless expanses of the universe. Most shards are powerful, but in a lesser way than other powerful items.

"But, two large pieces appear to have been on a trajectory toward one small blue planet. As they traveled, they eventually gathered space debris, metals, rocks, whatever else is floating around out there. Eventually it formed a big enough chunk of meteorite to get drawn into Earth's orbit and crash into the planet, killing almost all life 65 million years ago. This meteorite shattered on impact. Part of this meteorite was found about 10,000 years ago, which drew our mother, but, as you can see, someone else beat her to it and made use of it," she gestured to the map. Fifteen small white dots were clustered around a particular point in Angel Grove, but also seemed to be moving around.

Rei's mouth dropped open. "The Power Coins were made from metals from the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs," she murmured.

"Hmm. But there was a larger piece still to be found, obviously," Zita said. Somewhat out of the way was a brightly glowing dot a little larger than the others.

"That's...that's Tai's Grandpa's land," Rei murmured.

"The Crystal Caves," Griff said, recognizing the location. "Pretty underground too. But Tai's land has that barrier thing," he said.

"It's weakening. Probably while he was living there under the influence of the Sword of Darkness," Zita said. "Still it should keep Riti and Rio out for a while. By the quiet of the Palace and maniacal laughter I heard a while ago, they're attacking the Rangers," she said.

"But that's why I'm here. Rio disappeared before the fight was over," Rei said.

Zita whirled on her. "What? Why didn't you say so sooner?" she demanded, clutching her arms and giving her a shake.

"You didn't find it strange that I was here?" Rei asked.

"That doesn't matter. We have to go. Now," Zita said and disappeared. Still feeling a little shaken, Rei followed.

"I'm filling in Lammy, go," Griff encouraged Moriko, his face a mask of concentration. Long distance telepathy was extremely difficult.

Moriko kissed his cheek. Awed and giddy that her sisters were working together, she disappeared from the Moon Palace as well. Trying times made strange bedfellows and she had a feeling, things were going to get a lot worse before they could get any better.

-xTo Be Continuedx-           

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