Chapter 3 - That's a Raptor

Command Center

Rei eased into Red One where Tai was sitting at the round table, looking at something on a laptop. He glanced up at her to acknowledge that he knew she was there. She smiled nervously and sat down at one of the chairs. He glanced at her again when she was silent for too long. Finally, he closed his computer and gave her his full attention.

She let out a short sigh. "So...Zita's back," she declared.

"I know," he said and began to open his computer again.

She blinked. "You know? How do you know? I just found out," she said.

Tai rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Before she left, Grandpa apparently told her that if she ever needed a place to stay and sort things out, she was welcome at our place. So, she took him up on it," he said. He honestly still couldn't believe it. When someone knocked on his door at the crack of dawn that morning, the last person he expected to see was a downtrodden, bedraggled Zita Repulsa.

Rei was silent a moment. "Oh, dear. We were wondering why she didn't even contact Mori," she said. Then something occurred to her. "How did Lani take that?" she asked.

Tai sighed again. "However, you think she took it is pretty much how she took it. Then I reminded her that I was going to be sharing an apartment with Rex near campus."

Rei snickered but she sobered again and got to her feet. "We should go talk to her," she said more to herself than to him.

Tai got to his feet as well. "Leave her be. She'll reach out when she's ready. Pass that on to Moriko, please. One Repulsa crashing my home is more than enough," he said.

She nodded. "I'll do that. Sorry if I interrupted you," she said, glancing at his computer.

"You didn't," he said. He didn't elaborate that he was hiding out at the Command Center because of her sister. She nodded and scurried out. Whether to find Sora or her other sister, he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure if even wanted to know. He started to sit back down and play another round of solitaire when Beez asked him to go to the Medi-Lab.

The Medi-Lab wasn't large, and there were several people crowded into it. Mason Hart, one of their two newest members, was laying on one of the beds. Several screens were displaying medical images, charts, and information. "Do I even want to know how you people got my medical files?"

"Beez is a supercomputer. She hacks better than I do," Billie answered.

"What exactly are we looking at here?" Kimberly Hart asked. Kim was Mason's cousin, former Pink Ranger, owner of Think Pink, and currently in charge of Mason.

Kat Hilliard, who co-owned Think Pink, was also a former Pink Ranger, and having a nursing degree with some med-school under her belt, was the closest thing they had to an actual doctor since Billy Cranston had to return to Aquitar. "An unheard-of regeneration of bones, nerves, and muscles," she stated.

Beez smiled at Tai when he walked in. "What's going on?" he queried.

"Did you know Mace was in a serious car accident a few months ago?" Kim asked him testily, as if he should have. It was while Rex was still around, so she figured maybe he knew and let Tai know.

"No one else knew, Kim. Mom didn't tell anybody because she didn't want reporters bothering me," Mason said and sat up. His leg had been wrecked. It was the end of his career. It was a miracle, and months of intensive rehab, that he could even walk.

Kim pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. "I didn't know. I was preparing to have you put on a demonstration at the studio," she said with a grimace.

Tai was looking at all the medical charts. "If I'm understanding what I'm seeing, you might be able to after all," he said. "Billie?"

Billie nodded. "I compared his DNA to the rest of ours. He has the same genetic anomalies that the rest of us have. After Kat drew his blood, the puncture healed almost immediately," she said.

Kat nodded. "The extensive damage to his leg is taking longer to heal, but it is healing," she said.

"How are we going to explain that one? It may have been a well-guarded secret, but his mom, doctors, and nurses know about his injury," Billie said.

Tai sighed. He turned to look at Mace. He grimaced. "Lose his files. We'll make sure the hardcopies are lost as well," he said.

Billie nodded. "Beez and I can take care of the digital footprints," she said.

"So... I can...compete again?" Mason asked.

"No," Beta Z said before Tai could. "I am sorry, but you can never compete again. We can lose records, but we can't make people forget. No one can find out about your ability," she said.

Mace rubbed the back of his neck. "I was afraid of that," he said. He understood that, but he didn't have to like it. "Are we done here? Can I go now?" he asked.

Tai nodded. Mace stood up dejectedly and teleported out. Kim and Kat excused themselves as well. "Take care of the online records. I finally found something useful for Griff and Moriko to do," Tai told Billie. She nodded. He was about to leave but hesitated. "What about Kiki?" he asked.

"Wood brought her by this morning. She has the same markers. We haven't quite pinpointed her ability yet, but she couldn't stay long. Family stuff I guess?" she said.

Tai nodded. "Keep me posted," he said and walked out. When he got back to Red One, he sent Lani a text inviting her for an outing when she was available. Within minutes he got an affirmative reply and he left to prepare.

--x--

Palace on the Moon

Widow found Roki pensively staring at the Earth from the overlook. He wasn't looking through the telescope. He wasn't looking at anything in particular. She knew what was on his find. She slipped her arms around one of his and rested her cheek against him. "You and Zita went through a lot together. I can't even imagine how hard her betrayal is on you, husband," she said.

"After we were sent away, it was only the two of us. Thrax was...well, he was a monster and we weren't. He never let us forget we were different from him. We looked out for each other. Uncle Rito isn't exactly a responsible guardian," he said.

He took a deep breath. "Besides, I don't think she betrayed me. Moriko, yes, but she was never fully with us. I always figured that. Zita only joined the other two stop our Aunt. I understand that she probably won't be back here, but I don't think she'll ever actively fight against us and with the Rangers," he said.

Widow nodded. "I hope you're right, my love. I really do. But, unfortunately, my siblings </i>are</i> Power Rangers. I will do everything in my power to destroy them," she said.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I'll help you, always," he assured her.

"Do quit sulking, husband. I must go find Finster," she said. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek and walked away. She'd been plotting a delightfully wicked scheme and wanted to put it into motion to cheer him up.

Not far away, Rio watched. She sneered. So, Zita was back. She clenched her fist. She'd avenge her mother and leave this place as ashes if it was the last thing she ever did.

--x--

Command Center

The Power Chamber was quiet. Not even Nyo or Danny were piddling around. Only A hologram of Beta Z was there to welcome Fox Oliver when he arrived in the Command Center. "Welcome home, Fox," she greeted with a smile.

"Beez. Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Do you need me to give you everyone's exact locations?" she asked.

He held up his hands. "Nah. Is anyone here?" He had his luggage with him, and he'd come straight from the airport without anyone knowing. He'd managed to catch an earlier flight. He was eager to find out what was happening while he was lost in a jungle with his parents.

"Billie is in the Blue Lab. I believe Nyo and Danny are in the Zord Lab," she answered.

It wasn't quite the welcome he was expecting, or hoping for, but it'd do. He was headed for the Zord Lab when alarms began going off. Several screens lit up showing Dark Putties in various places in the city. "What the deuce are those?" he asked.

"You've missed a lot," Billie declared sourly when she came out of the Lab. "And you aren't like all of it," she added.

"Why?" Fox asked warily.

Danny clapped Fox on the back. "You get to help Nyo quarterback for us," he said. Still confused, Fox returned Nyo's grin almost automatically when Danny and Billie teleported away. "Wha-wait! Where's my Morph--who the devil is that?" he demanded when a male Black Ranger showed up on one of the view screens.

"Billie did say you wouldn't like all it, friend," Nyo said apologetically. He wondered if the two Blues left him here to explain what happened on purpose.

"Yeah, I'm getting that," Fox said. He sighed. He'd been in this position before. He knew how to handle it.

--x--

When Tai stopped by his house to change for his outing with Lani, Zita ambushed him at the bottom of the stairs. She was a shell of former self. Her long dark hair was flat and lifeless, no longer done up in her big fluffy, curly pigtails. Her face was bare of her usual dark make-up, making her resemblance to Rei even more pronounced. She was engulfed in what looked like an old sweatshirt of his, with a pair of leggings, and fuzzy socks. Her Victorian-esque Gothic Lolita look was nowhere to be seen.

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned away from her slightly. She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to bite you," she said. "I'm here because Grandpa invited me," she reminded him.

He nodded. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it," he said.

"No one said you did," she retorted pulling a slight pout. She cleared her throat. She held out a hand and something appeared in it in a puff of smoke. "I found this while I was...away," she said without looking at him. She glanced when he didn't immediately take it. She scoffed. "Look, you know this symbol, right?" she asked, and waggled it magically.

The object in question appeared to be made of amber. It was slightly shaped like a flattened ball, and no larger than his hands. Emblazoned in the amber was a three clawed lizard footprint inside a circle. He took the object and looked at it in detail. He could faintly make out darker spots within the blob. "Where did you get this?" he asked.

She looked around a moment. "My grandfather's treasure planet," she all but mumbled. He stared at her and she fidgeted. Then she put her hands on her hips and straightened her back, looking a little more like the Zita that had attempted to conquer Earth for nearly a year. "If Roki and Widow can go to M-51 Galaxy and get super powers, why can't I?" she demanded.

"Did you get any?" he asked.

She made a scoffing sound. "That's not the point. Point is, I found that. I can't use it, might as well give it to someone who can," she said, and gave him a smile that was about as far as gracious as possible.

"Someone you'll be mooching off of for the foreseeable future?"

She huffed. "There's that," she said. She turned and stretched. "I'm going to watch my shows," she declared and headed for the den.

Tai rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Instead of watching TV all day, go talk to your sisters," he called after her.

"Can't. I need to see if Romana has amnesia or if it's secretly Romana's twin brother, Reggie who had surgery to become Regina, and is pretending to be Romana because he's in love with Romana's fiancée Todd," she said.

Tai wiped a hand down his face. He just did not know how to deal with situation at all. He went upstairs to change. He studied the object in hands. He went to a window and held it up to the sunlight and there were definitely six distinct darker spots within it. He sent Lani a message to let her know that he may be a little late because he wanted to drop it off at the Command Center, but then his communicator sounded.

"Putties are appearing around Angel Grove," Beez informed him.

"How many?" he asked.

"At least four."

"Send the Pinks and Yellows. Blues and Blacks. Lani and I will meet up with Autumn and Win, and the Legends will be together," he instructed. "There's a thing on my bed. Teleport it to the Command Center for study," he added and tossed the amber on his bed. It disappeared in a flash and he teleported as well.

--x--

Kiki and Tori had been with their father and step-mother, and Dawn Feather for a quiet, awkward. There were so many things wrong with the situation neither of them knew how to start. For one, Tori never knew her father. The only father she ever knew was the Reaver her mother her mother was married to. He'd been from the Bahamas. The opposite was true for Kiki. She never she had a white mother. She also figured her eyes were recessive or something. Dawn Feather, Tori's foster mother, who'd raised Tori after the parents she knew died in action, was just as unsettled and disquieted by the entire situation.

She hadn't known Tori had a twin. Their mother had stayed on Earth, in New Zealand while she was pregnant, and when she came back to work, she'd divorced and only had the one child. As for their father, she hadn't known him well, but from what she knew, her friend's career as a Sol Reaver was the main reason for the split.

Finally, the awkward meal was concluded, and Kiki and Tori could leave and let the grown-ups chat amongst themselves. For her part, despite whatever circumstances surrounded it, Tori was thrilled to have a sister and wanted to show her everything and all at once. Kiki was a little more reserved.

"They can hash out the who's, why's and how's all they want. It's done, you're here and omigosh!" Tori said, practically bouncing. She wrapped an arm around Kiki's.

Kiki gave a short laugh. "Yeah. It's bit choice," she agreed. "So, what do in Angel Grove?" she asked.

"All sorts of things. You definitely need to check out the Youth Center first. Not only does it have some of the best shakes and smoothies in town, but you can do all sorts of things there. Lani, that's the cute one in red, leads a yoga class every Sunday morning with Holly. You can occasionally get Tai to do a kendo demonstration. Gymnasts sometimes practice there as well. Like I said, all sorts of things," she said excited. "Plus, Autumn and Winter are the best. Although I dunno what you're into, it always has cute guys and girls in and out," she said.

"Aren't you with Wood?" Kiki asked.

Tori giggled. "I was letting you know," she said.

Kiki giggled as well. "Well, thanks for that," she said. "And besides the Youth Center where all sorts of thing, happen?"

"The mall. Chloe and I are almost always at the mall. There's Pink, it's a gymnastics and dance studio. There's just always something happening, despite the frequent giant monster attacks. How do you feel about cheerleading?" she asked. "Since Manny left, we have a huge hole on the team that's going to be hard to fill," she said.

"I played a cheerleader once. Cheerleader Number Two," Kiki said. "I ain't thought much about it as a thing to do," she admitted.

"No pressure," Tori assured her. During their trek toward the Youth Center, their communicators went off.

"What's that?" Kiki asked, looking at her wrist.

"Trouble. Let's go," she said and teleported. Kiki teleported right behind her.

--x--

Command Center

While the Rangers confronted the Putties, Nyo and Holly were studying the object Tai sent while Fox kept an eye on the action. He was still a bit confused about the two replacement Rangers, but he knew it wasn't the time to ask his questions.

Nyo and Holly were in the Blue Lab scanning the amber object. "Where on Earth did he even get this?" Nyo wondered aloud.

Holly shook her head. "There's machinery inside and this stuff isn't amber," she said, looking at the readouts on a screen. "If I'm reading this right...it's some sort of polymer that..." she squinted, scrunched her nose, and made a face. "Compressive compound," she concluded finally.

Nyo rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. "You mean, whatever's inside has been miniaturized?" he asked.

"Highly probable," Holly said. Still the thing was perplexing.

Holographic Beez appeared. "I've finished searching my father's memory banks. If he helped Zordon create whatever is encased in the compound, it was done after my creation," she said.

"Any idea how to get whatever is inside out?" Nyo asked.

"Only exposure to a massive blast of a certain type of energy," Beez answered.

"What kind of energy would that be?" Holly asked.

"Grid energy. The Rangers will have to combine their powers to open it," she answered. "But they're a bit busy at the moment.

As if on cue, Fox saw something strange on the monitors. "Guys, those Putties are acting weird. A bunch of them are appearing where Wood and Tori are," he said. "Bloody--since when can they do that?!" he exclaimed as the Putties began combing to create a Giant Putty.

"We told you, you missed a lot," Danny informed him.

"I was only gone like a month!"

--x--

"Danny, Mace, Win, head to the Giant Putty," Male Red instructed.

His partner nodded at him. "Autumn and I'll finish up here," she assured him.

He nodded. He and the male Green Ranger teleported to the scene where the Giant Putty was. "Megazord time! TyrannoZord!"

"TriceraZord!"

"MastoZord!"

"PteroZord!"

"SmiloZord!"

"StygiZord!"

"Alpha Megazord!"

The large mechas began appearing from digital matrixes. Each of the Zords was a dinosaur in a corresponding color as its pilots. The pilots teleported into the cockpit of each Zord. The six Zords came together to form a humanoid robot and began fighting the Giant Putty.

The Megazord swung the MegaSword at the Giant Putty. The Putty's arm morphed into a club and swung it at the Megazord. It was deflected by the shield, but the Megazord shuddered.

"These things are strong," Blue grunted.

"Let's finish it quickly," Yellow suggested.

"Whoa, what!" Pink exclaimed when another mass of Putties formed another Giant Putties.

"We need back-up," Red declared and the Megazord began defending itself from the two Giants.

--x--

"We're on our way," Gold said. "Sora, can you handle the rest?" he asked.

The Silver Ranger split into three and nodded. He was suddenly hit by a dark blast and his three selves were forced into one being again. "Augh!" he exclaimed and went to his knees.

"You're not going anywhere," Widow declared as more Putties surrounded them. "Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt?" she asked Silver without even pretending to be sincere. "Good," she added with a little smile. She was dressed for battle in a black on black combat suit.

"Widow," Electrum said.

"What are you up to?" Gold demanded.

Nonchalantly, Widow studied her fingernails. "Where would the fun be if I went around telling all my plans?" she asked. "Putties. Attack," she said. The Putties converged in the Rangers. Silver, recovered from the shock of being forcefully reunited, was able to hold his own against them, but it was impossible to get free enough for even one of them summon the Legend Megazord and help the other Rangers.

--x--

"Those guys are bogged down. So are everyone else. Those Putties just keep coming," Fox stated to the Megazord that was getting it from both sides.

"Then we'd better do something. Danny, can we also use the Silo?" Red asked.

Blue nodded. "Yeh."

Red nodded. "Sh--" he didn't even begin to summon the Sharp-tooth Bazooka when one of the Giant Putties attacked the other with a beam from its moon shaped forehead crest. The other Giant shuddered, gurgled, and suddenly liquified, falling over the Megazord in a wave of a tar-like substance.

"We can't move!" Green stated as he attempted to swing the Sword again. Even the attempt jarred the entire Megazord and the cockpit sparked and smoked. Unhealthy mechanical and electrical sounds shuddered the Megazord again. The remaining Giant began to hammer it with an arm that had been turned into a club. More sparking and smoking.

"Abandon Megazord!" Red shouted.

--x--

Widow smirked. "Aww. Looks like you're all a Megazord down," she said tauntingly.

Gold gritted his teeth and blew a breath through his nose. "Widow!" He suddenly crashed his StegoMace into the ground, causing a blast of concussive energy around him to blow the Putties off their feet. He ran toward Widow while. She held out a hand with dark energy gathering around it.

He was faster and thrust out a hand with a massive explosion of white energy. It crashed into her, then seemed to absorb into her middle, while knocking her off her feet, flying for several yards before landing with a crash.

"Get the Megazord!" Gold told Electrum and Silver. They didn't argue.

Widow staggered to her feet, holding her middle, Roki appeared in an angry crack of red lightning. "What did you think you were doing in your condition?" he demanded. He scooped her up despite her protests and they disappeared.

Gold froze. "Condition?" he wondered out loud even as the Legend Megazord destroyed the Giant Putty in the distance behind him.

--x--

Palace on the Moon

Widow tried to placate Roki. "I'm fine. It was Tarantules. He's so good," she spat the word, "that he'd never actually hurt his sister, not even me," she said soothingly. "I was the best distraction," she added.

Roki wasn't easily placated. "You can't know what kind of adverse effects his magic would have on the children," he said.

Widow pouted and rubbed her middle. "I didn't even think about that. What if his goody-goody magic made something weird happen?" she said. "Can you handle the monster? I think I'm going to lay down for a while," she said in an uncharacteristically quiet tone.

Roki kissed her forehead. "Of course. Rest well, my dear. We'll make sure everything is fine after you've rested," he assured her. She smiled at him and headed toward her room. Roki went to Finster's workshop to unleash a monster on the Rangers since they'd been dealt a critical blow.

--x--

Command Center

Holly abandoned Nyo to check on the damage to her Zords. Nyo briefed Tai and the others about how to get into the object. "Hopefully there's something inside that'll be helpful. We're a Megazord down and a seemingly endless supply of Putties that can combine into Giants," Tai said.

"Did you really get that from Zita?" Rei asked. She'd arrived when they left the battle. She'd wanted check on Sora. Luckily, from what she could tell, there were no lingering adverse effects. To make him permanently unable to triplicate would take a spell so much more complex.

"We decided to consider it rent. She said she found it on your grandfather's treasure planet in the M-51 galaxy," Tai answered.

"That's not surprising. He collects objects of power to keep others from using them," Rei said.

Meanwhile, Fox got to meet Mace. "Sorry for replacing you," Mace said a little unsurely when he realized that Fox was the Black Ranger before him.

Fox shook his head. "It was only temporary anyway. We both replaced Rex," he said. But he knew that wasn't exactly true. Rex had chosen him, but the coin had chosen Mace. Still, he chose to believe what he said. He'd never really expected to become a Power Ranger in the first place when he found out about everything.

Billie and Danny had their heads together figuring out how to use their power energy to open the compression compound.

Taran and Lammy had something else on their minds. "Roki actually said 'in your condition'?" Lammy asked her brother.

Taran nodded. "Since I know my magic and her magic are incompatible, I only sent a blast to knock her back, so I don't think I hurt her," he said rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Lammy rubbed her chin. "Maybe Finster knows something. I'll see if Moriko and Griff will investigate," she said. She was a little less sympathetic. If Widow was pregnant and still chose to combat Taran, then she deserved whatever happened. She was tactful enough not to say anything to him, however, because he seemed genuinely worried.

The alarms went off.

"A monster has appeared in downtown Angel Grove," Beta Z announced.

"They certainly aren't missing their opportunity," Lani declared.

"Did youse expect 'em to?" Chloe asked.

"As if that could happen," Nathan sighed.

"Let's go," Tai said. The Rangers teleported to where the monster was in downtown Angel Grove.

--x--

A fat cat on a peg-leg appeared in downtown Angel Grove. The Giant Puttie attack was still fresh, so there weren't that many people to attack, the ones who were about found themselves caught up int smoky prisons created by the oversized cigar the fat cat puffed on. He'd take a long drag and blow it out.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you smoking was bad for you?"

The monster whirled around toward the sound of the voice talking to him. He suddenly realized he was surrounded by Power Rangers. Very unhappy Power Rangers. He grinned and laughed in a deep guttural way. "Well, ain't that cute," he said. He took a drag on the cigar and then blew out a willow of toxic smelling smoke. "But you're wrong!" he laughed again.

The Rangers coughed and stumbled away from toxic cloud. The male Pink Ranger floated above it. "Power Bow!" he summoned and began to fire arrows at the monster. Despite the wooden leg, he was surprisingly agile. The male Yellow Ranger braved the cloud and sprang forward with his Power Daggers, but the monster swung his leg like a baseball bat and knocked him away.

"Power Flail!" Through the cloud came the spiked ball and bashed the monster in the face, making him stagger back. "That ain't cute!" he spat. He held up the fake leg and it turned into a wicked looking laser gun, and he began firing it like a machine gun, hopping around in erratic circles. "They don't call me Machine Gun Willy for no reason!" he laughed again.

The Rangers took cover. "I got an idea," the male blue ranger said.

"We're listening," male Red declared.

He hands his Power Lance to his partner. "Get the Mega Power Cannon ready," he said.  If he was right, it would be enough. He wrapped a forcefield around himself and ran forward. "Teleport the object to me on my mark," he told the Command Center. He ran into the Cloud.

"You heard the man. Mega Power Cannon!" Red said. The Rangers began combing their weapons.

Machine Gun Willy was firing on the Blue Ranger as he approached even though the energy bullets bounced off. He grunted, stopped firing and put his leg down. "Well, you ain't cute at all," he declared.

"Mark," Blue said and lowered his force-field. The amber-esque object appeared his hands. "Hey, buddy, catch!" he said and tossed it at him. When, surprised, the monster caught the object, the Ranger dove out of the way.

The male Red Ranger aimed the Mega Power Cannon with the other Rangers behind him. "Fire!" his partner called out, and he fired. Six points of energy swirled at the monster, though the compression compound and into the monster. He staggered but didn't go down. As for the objects within the compression compound, six of them went flying, looking like some sort of tiny dinosaur figures.

"Pterodon! Petrie!"

"Percie!"

"PeeWee!"

Swooping in after digitizing, three small flying dinobots flew to the Gold, Electrum, and Silver Rangers. They transformed from dinosaur-shaped robots to handheld blasters. "PteroCannon!" The three Rangers assimilated as the PteroBlasters stuck together to create a long-barreled rifle cannon that Gold rested on his shoulder like a rocket launcher. "PteroBlast!" He fired the Cannon at the monster.

A powerful blast of energy ran through each of the R.A.Ds and gathered at the opening of the last one. Once enough energy had built up, it blasted into the monster and it exploded with arcs of electricity and toxic smoke.

Roki threw down his scepter. "Make my monster grow!"

Machine Gun Willy grew to an enormous size.

"StegoZord!"

"VelociZord!"

"CeratoZord!"

"Legend Megazord!"

While the trio battled the monster, the other Rangers retrieved the tiny mechanical dinosaur figures. They were tiny color-coded raptors. "Okay, what do we do with them?" male Pink wondered.

Female Blue took the blue one. "It looks like a Dakotaraptor. There's something written along the body," she said. She tapped her helmet, and a digital display flashed before her eyes. She magnified the writing. She quickly handed it to her partner. "RaptoZord 2," she said.

She quickly took the others. "RaptoZord 1," she tossed the red one that looked like a utahsaurus to the Red team. "RaptoZord 3," she tossed the even tinier microraptor to the black team. "RaptoZord 4," the pink ventosaurus to the pink team. "RaptoZord 5," a green hesperonychus for the yellow team. "And finally, RaptoZord 6," was a green dromaeosaurus for the green team.

"And to activate?" male Red asked.

"Just give it a shot?"

He nodded. "RaptoZord One! Activate!" he said and tossed it in the air. The small zord began to grow and grow until it was the size of a regular zord. He teleported into the Zord's cockpit.

"RaptoZord--Activate!" male Blue, female black, female Pink, male Yellow, and female Green activated their Zords and they grew to full size, some larger than others. Red's RaptoZord was the largest, Black's RaptoZord was the smallest. "Raptormax Megazord!"

The Red RaptoZord changed into a lithe humanoid figure base, its long tail becoming a sword. The Pink RaptoZord broke and formed leg armor. The somewhat winged Blue RaptoZord transformed into chest armor. The little Yellow RaptoZord became almost spiny gauntlets. The four-winged Black RaptoZord became a helmet with side flares. Finally, the Green RaptoZord transformed into a smaller sword.

The female Red Ranger sighed. "I guess we owe Zita one."

--x--

The monster was even more free with his machine gun leg at giant size. He was also freer with his smoke. He drew a large puff of smoke and blew it at the Legend Megazord. He was obscured in a cloud of noxious smoke. "Where did he go?" Gold demanded.

The Megazord rocked when he began firing at them. They threw up the CeratoSword to block the shots.

The Raptormax appeared behind the monster while it was distracted by the Legend Megazord. It slashed him with the Raptormax Sword and the reverse slashed with the Dromaeomax Sword. Willy cried out and whipped around, firing as he went. The chest shield threw up a crackling forcefield of its own and deflected the blasts.

"That was fabulously awesome," Pink declared.

Willy tried once again to throw up an obscuring cloud, but the wings of the helmet expanded and flapped, blowing the cloud, dissipating it harmlessly.

"Now to finished," Red said and the Megazord hooked the swords behind it's back. "Sharp-tooth Bazooka!"

"Spike-tail Silo!"

The two large cannons digitized into existence and were aimed at the monster. ."Fire!" Six-multicolored projectiles hit the monster in a circular pattern, exploding through him from the Bazooka. "Fire!" Three balls of metallic light where launched from the Silo in quick succession. The monster exploded into a dark dust cloud that blew away in the breeze.

"A bit overkill but satisfying," Black stated.

"Extremely so," Yellow agreed.

--x--

Palace on the Moon

Against her own best interest, Rio couldn't help pointing out the obvious in front of Roki. "Well, that was a lot of trouble for only the Rangers to get new toys."

Roki didn't even look at her. He just held up a hand and flicked it, tossing her into one of the thrones. He whirled around and stalked past her to check on Widow. He was very worried about her.

Rio sulked as he walked past her. She clenched her fist again. She had to find a way to surpass them and get her vengeance for her mother.

--x--

Command Center

Tai, Lani, Billie, Danny, Nyo, and Holly sat in Red One. Holly was briefing everyone on the status of the Alpha Zords. "Out of commission until we can figure out how to remove the gunk. It's everywhere in the machinery. We haven't even been able to disassemble the Megazord," she explained.

"It certainly was convenient that we had back up Zords," Danny said.

"I'm not convinced that Zita would have given them to us if she knew what they were," Lani said.

"Only she knows. I doubt she'd say one way or another," Tai said. He sat back with a sigh. "Okay. Don't drive yourself crazy over it. Danny, take her out," he said.

Danny grinned. "No prob," he said. "C'mon, babe. Let's get some fresh air," he said and helped her out of her chair. She nodded. They left Red One.

Billie stood up. "I'm going to go, too," she said.

"Not to the Lab," Tai said. She made a disgruntled face and tromped out. Tai snickered and shook his head. He leaned toward Lani. "Weren't we going to do a thing before all this happened?" he asked her.

She smiled. "Mm. It's kind of late for the plans we had," she said.

"Then let's skip the end. Pizza and soda at the new apartment?" he asked.

"Through in some frozen yogurt and you got yourself a date," she agreed.

"Deal."

She grinned and hopped up. She gave him a quick kiss before he stood up, so she didn't have to find a way get tall enough. He chuckled as he stood. He pulled her close and kissed her again. "Let's go," he said. She nodded, and they left the Command Center.

--x--

Somewhere in Outer Space

A small craft traveled through space, heading toward Earth. They were still awhile away. A blond man and a younger man with dark hair manned the craft. The craft was pretty well on auto pilot, so they sat around a tiny recreational area just behind the cockpit playing a card game. Something on the main console began to beep.

Zhane Rahl stood and went to check it. "What is it?" Rex Hart asked him.

Zhane frowned, scratching the back of his blonde head. "I'm not sure. There's a phantom ion trail that seems to be following us," he said.

Rex got up and looked at the read out. "How far away?" he asked.

"A few parsecs, but it seems to be taking our exact path. I'll try randomizing our energy output energy, see if that helps lose it," he said.

Rex nodded. "We'll keep an eye on it," he said. He went back to his hand. Zhane followed. They settled in to their cards again as they hurtled through space faster than light toward Earth.

And, it seemed, something was following them.

-xEnd 03x-

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