I haven't asked Saban, not making anything from this, all their stuff belongs only to them.
Author note: Ranger HQ, Ultima, Kraegor and Crush, the Samurai Rangers and their Zords are all my own design. I apologise for any likenesses that may occur to anyone else's stories, but I promise they are all purely accidental. If for some bizarre reason, anyone wishes to use any of my characters or ideas, please contact me first. I won't refuse permission(not that I can actually stop anyone anyway) but new ideas for my plots are always appreciated. Thank You and May the Power Protect Us (from Ourselves!)
Time Scale: This all happens straight after the Samurai Ranger Saga – 'Call to Arms', 'The Gathering' and 'Day of the Zords.' It's advisable that you read them first so you know what's going on.
Turbo Mission
By Matt
Tommy was walking back from a workout in Ranger HQ's Gym. He'd just reached the living quarters when he decided to go and see Justin. He hadn't really had much time to speak to him yet. He still felt quite guilty for leaving. Justin had never been able to rely on much, but he thought Tommy was one thing he could count on.
It was quite late so he was just hoping Justin hadn't gone to bed already. He came to Justin's quarters and pressed the buzzer. There was no reply so he assumed he was asleep. Tommy opened the door just to look in on him, but there was no sign of him in the room. None of the lights were on and the bed hadn't been touched.
"Where the heck is he?" Tommy thought to himself. He went back along the passageway to the rec. room. TJ and Carlos were playing Pool, Tanya and Adam were doing a little light sparring and Kat and Kim were doing some Gymnastic moves. Some of the others were also in there doing different things.
"Have any of you guys seen Justin?" Tommy asked. They all looked round at him.
"Isn't he in his room?" Kat asked.
"No, I've just been there, he isn't there!" Tommy replied.
As Adam turned to talk to Tommy, Tanya knocked him down to the ground. "He passed me when I came out of the Simulation Room, that was about half an hour ago." Adam said, pushing Tanya off.
"Thanks, see you later!" Tommy said, leaving the room. They all went back to what they were doing. Tommy carried on down the passageway. Soon after he passed the Simualtion Room, he came to the Main Power Chamber. Billy was talking with the two Alpha's.
"Hey Billy, did Justin come this way?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah, he went outside, said he needed some fresh air." Billy replied before going back to his conversation.
Tommy went outside and looked round. A few feet away from the exit was Justin, sitting on the floor against the wall. "Hey man, what are you doing out here?" Tommy asked.
"Just thinking!" Justin replied. He seemed very vague and quiet. Tommy sat down beside him.
"Are you alright?" Tommy asked noticing his change in behavior.
"Not really!" Justin replied.
"What's up?" Tommy asked.
"I was just thinking about that Drone I killed." Justin said.
"What about it?" Tommy asked.
"Tommy, that was a person. I killed someone. It wasn't like it was a machine or some inhuman monster. It was a human!" Justin explained.
"Hey, you didn't know!" Tommy said.
"And that makes it alright? Not knowing makes it alright to kill someone does it?" Justin asked.
"No…." Tommy started.
"Then it's true, I'm a murderer!" Justin said. A tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm a murderer!"
Tommy put his arm around his little friend. "No, Justin, you're not. Them things aren't even human any more. They have no minds of their own and their body's been messed with so much…"
"But they're still people!" Justin said, some more tears rolling down his face.
"Don't think like that. You did what you had to. We all would have done the same thing!" Tommy said.
"That doesn't make it any easier!" Justin said quietly, holding on to Tommy.
"I don't like all this!" Adam said. He had finished sparring with Tanya and had gone to see his best friend, Rocky, in his room. "Ultima's more powerful than anyone we've ever faced before."
"I know what you mean!" Rocky said.
"I mean, did you see the size of that monster? Then I can't believe what they did to it. I saw the action their Zords recorded when they got back. It's scarey stuff. I'm just worried that if it happens again, we're gonna be stuck in the middle of it." Adam said. He had never been a man of many words, but with someone he knew well, and about something important, you couldn't shut him up!
"Yeah, I think we're in way over our heads with all this." Rocky replied.
"I'm kinda beat, I'm gonna hit the sack. I'll se you in the morning." Adam said, leaving the room.
"G'night!" Rocky said as his friend left.
"I hope the others are okay!" Lucy said.
"They should be, and we'll get them all out soon." Sean replied.
"Apparently, we got it easy!" Lucy added.
"What do you mean?" Sean asked.
"The other Rangers were telling me that out of the monsters Ultima brought here, Gasket and Archerina were the, how can I put this, least evil! All the others are meant to be a lot worse than they were. According to Alpha, Ultima worse than the lot of them put together. I really hope they're all okay!"
"I'd rather not think about what's happening to them!" Sean said.
In the Dungeon of Rita and Zedd's Canberra fortress, the two Rangers have just been taken back to their cells.
"We're not gonna get out of here alive, are we?" Michelle asked.
"Come on Michelle, we've gotta stay strong. You know Zordon would never leave us in here!" Niko replied. They were huddled together in a corner for warmth. The fortress may have been in the middle of Australia, but Zedd kept the dungeons at near sub-zero temperatures, just for dis-comfort!
They were both bruised and battered, Niko's nose was bleeding badly. they had just come back from another session of beatings with Zedd. He kept insisting they tell him the location of Ranger HQ. He thought he could get into Ultima's good books if he found it out, but they refused to tell him.
"Man, if we just had our morphers…." Niko started.
"Don't kid yourself, Niko. What are they gonna do, give them to us and say, 'You can have them, but promise you won't escape." Michelle said sarcastically.
"No, but we pass the room they're kept in every time we go to Zedd's torture chamber. We just need to get away from them for a few seconds!" Niko said.
"That's never gonna happen. We even try and they'll probably kill us. What's the point in that? At least alive there's a chance of a rescue!" Michelle said, "Even a very slim chance is better than nothing."
"I still think we should try!" Niko said.
Tommy was still sat outside with Justin. He let go of Justin and looked down at him.
"You alright now?" Tommy asked.
Justin nodded, wiping the tears off his face. He stood up and looked round at Tommy who got up at the same time. "Thanks!" he said.
"Hey, no problem. Just remember, you can't beat yourself up about this. It was a mistake, we all make mistakes!" Tommy replied. "Let's go back inside."
They walked back in. They passed through the Power Chamber where Billy was still engrossed in conversation with the two little mechanoids. They didn't bother going anywhere else, Tommy just took Justin straight back to his room.
"G'night Tommy!" Justin said, closing the door. He walked over to his bed and lay down. For a minute he just lay there thinking, then it all got too much again. He turned over, buried his head in his pillow and started crying.
Tommy went back along to the rec. room. Kat, Tanya and Kim were sat on a sofa talking. TJ and Carlos were still playing Pool and Jason was sparring with Zack. Kat called Tommy over when she saw him.
"Did you find Justin?" Kat asked.
"Yeah, he was outside." Tommy replied.
"What was he doing out there?" Kat asked.
"He was a bit upset about what happened today when he killed that Drone." Tommy said.
"Is he alright now?" Kat asked.
"I think so. He still feels guilty about it, but he seems okay. He'll probably have forgotten all about it by the morning!" Tommy replied. "I'm gonna turn in for the night!"
Tommy stood up to leave and the others all said goodnight. They went back to their conversation as soon as he was gone. It had been quite a day for Tommy. That morning, all he had to worry about was getting to work on time. Since then, he'd been given the responsibilty of leading an army of Rangers on a rescue mission to ultimately free an enslaved world. Even fighting Rita or Divatox or any of the others seemed to pale in significance compared to this fight. He wasn't really sure if he could do it. He thought he wouldn't be able to sleep through worrying, but it seemed the day's events had really worn him out. He was asleep within minutes of laying down.
The next morning, they all gathered in the Power Chamber ready for a briefing. The Aquitian Rangers were last to arrive, it seemed they needed more re-hydration than humans needed sleep. Zordon had even gone to the trouble of building a re-hydration chamber when he built the place.
"What's the plan today?" Tommy asked Zordon. "We taking out Mondo?"
"No Tommy. Your victory yesterday was easy compared to that which you will face with the others. Most of you will just be training today!" Zordon explained.
"Most of us?" Tommy asked. "What are the rest doing?"
"I need the Turbo Rangers to go on a mission for me!" Zordon said. The five Turbo Rangers stepped forward to the front of the group.
"Why don't we all go?" Tommy asked. "We stand more chance as a large group don't we?"
"No Tommy. This is a covert operation. The Turbo Rangers will be attacking a satellite launch pad. It's near Ultima's main fortress so we can not risk a direct confrontation." Alpha Five explained. The Turbo Zords are equipped with radar shielding that will hide them from scans. They're the only ones who can get close enough."
"Okay. Why there though? Why not just go straight for Ultima?" TJ asked.
"You have to stop the launch of Ultima's new satellite. It is equipped with a laser weapon that poses a great threat to us. One shot from it at quarter power would be equivalent to a 20 megaton nuclear warhead!" Alpha Five explained.
"Right, we're on our way already! SHIFT INTO TURBO!" TJ called.
"Desert Thunder Turbo Power!" Carlos shouted.
"Dune Star Turbo Power!" Ashley said next.
"Wind Chaser Turbo Power!" Cassie added.
"Red Lightning Turbo Power!" TJ called out.
The four of them changed, but Justin hadn't even got out his Turbo Key.
"Justin, come on. We've gotta go!" TJ said.
"I'm not coming!" Justin said. He took his morpher off his wrist and put it on one of the control panels with his Turbo Key.
"Justin, what's wrong?" Cassie asked.
"I'm giving up my power. I don't want to be a Ranger any more. Zordon, send me home!" Justin said.
"You can't do that!" Ashley said, removing her helmet to talk to Justin.
"Yes I can. I was never really meant to be a Ranger. I only got the power because I found out who the Rangers were!" Justin explained.
"Justin. Do you think it was a coincidence that Tommy, Kat, Tanya and Adam met your fellow Turbo Rangers? Do you think it was a coincidence that Rita chose Kat to steal Kimberly's Power Coin? You are all Rangers for a reason. It is your destiny, and your destiny is to fight as the Blue Ranger!" Zordon explained.
"But I might hurt someone else!" Justin said.
"Yo, Justin. You can't spend your whole life wondering about ifs and buts. You just have to get on with it!" Alpha six said to him.
"Now what do you say, Blue Ranger, are you with us?" Ashley asked, putting her helmet back on.
Justin looked round at all his friends for a minute, then grabbed his morpher and shouted, "SHIFT INTO TURBO – Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!" He transformed into the Blue Turbo Ranger and the five of them left to start their mission.
"Guess he wasn't quite over it!" Tommy said quietly to Kat.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine. We've all been in that position!" Kat replied.
"Tell me about it!" Tommy exclaimed. He called ot to the others, "Okay guys, let's get training. Zordon, will Ultima detect us if we train outside? We could do with some Zord practice."
"No Tommy. Our shielding will hide you from Ultima's scans within ten miles. Make sure you go no further than that." Zordon replied.
"Ready guys. IT'S MORPHIN TIME!" Tommy said.
The Turbo Rangers were driving through a desert in the Turbo Zords. Red Lightning was in the lead with the other four following close behind.
"So what do we do when we get there?" Carlos asked.
"We get as close as we can in the Zords, then go the rest of the way on foot. We stay hidden and plant an explosive device at the centre of the complex." TJ explained.
"What if we get found? We don't stand a chance against all of Ultima's forces!" Ashley said.
"If we do, it'll probably be too late for Ultima to get anyone there in time. Zordon said he's got most his forces protecting his main fortress in case we try to rescue the Samurai's. There shouldn't be too much resistance at the base!" TJ replied to Turbo Yellow.
"Then this should all go well!" Cassie said.
"You doing okay in there, Justin?" Ashley asked. He hadn't said anything since they left HQ.
"Yeah, fine!" Justin replied, half-heartedly.
"Are you sure, you don't sound it!" Ashley said in return.
"I said I'm fine!" Justin snapped.
"Hey, I was only asking." Ashley said defensively, cutting off the comm. link.
"How far is it to this base?" Cassie asked TJ.
"ETA forty-seven minutes. Relax, we've still got a while to go!" TJ replied.
The Zeo Megazord, pilotted by Rocky and Kim, walked over to the Red Battlezord. Tommy hardly even noticed them approach him.
"Hey Tommy, let's try a link-up!" Rocky suggested.
"I wanna see this, all these Zords are new to me!" Kim added.
"Yeah, okay!" Tommy replied.
The two Zords stood side by side. They lifted their arms and clashed wrists as they always did before joining up. They moved round back to back to begin the sequence, but instead, they were pushed apart by a small explosion and a shower of sparks.
"What happened?" Kim asked.
"Tommy can't join with us if he's not concentrating. He pilots the Red Battlezord through a direct telepathic link with it. If he's not got a clear mind, we can't do it." Rocky explained to Kim.
"Sorry guys, I got distracted. Let's try it again!" Tommy said, moving back into position.
"Okay, begin sequence!" Rocky commanded.
The two Zords tried to join once again, but the same thing happened.
"Sorry Rocky, we'll try again later!" Tommy said.
"Okay Tommy, we'll get back to practice." Rocky said.
"Carry on without me!" Kim said. "Thanks for the ride!"
"See ya later Kim!" Rocky said, as Kimberly teleported out of the cockpit and down onto the ground.
"Tommy, can you come down here a minute." Kim requested. The Red Battlezord walked over to Kim, then stopped moving. A flash of red came from the cockpit of the Zord down to Kim's side and Tommy materialised, his helmet under his arm.
"What's wrong?" Tommy asked.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing!" Kim said, removing her own helmet.
"What do you mean?" Tommy asked Kim, who was looking at him as if she were looking at some naughty child.
"You've obviously got something on your mind, that's why you couldn't join with the Megazord!" Kim said. "So come on, what is it?"
"I was just worried about Justin." Tommy said.
"What's there to worry about? He didn't want to go, they talked him into it, end of story, right?" Kim said, extremely simplifying the situation.
"It's not that easy." Tommy said. "I mean, Justin's been upset about things before, but I think he really was ready to quit this time. It's not like him."
"Look Tommy, I don't really know the kid, but that's exactly the problem, he's just a kid!" Kim said matter-of-factly.
"Well not really, he's a genius, the IQ of an advanced adult!" Tommy said, not seeing her point.
"Yeah, but the emotions of a boy! He may be tough enough to be a Ranger, he may have skipped some grades in school, but you can't forget the fact he's only twelve years old!" Kim explained.
"I suppose so. He's not used to all this, hell, are any of us? This isn't just a battle, this is a full scale war. I know it's not fair to put him in the middle of all this, but we need him here." Tommy said.
"Then there's really nothing you can do about it, he'll just have to deal with it!" Kim said.
"Maybe not!" Tommy said, a strange glint in his eyes. Kim recognised it. It was the look he got when he had a crazy idea.
"Tommy, what are you up to?" Kim asked.
"Oh nothing!" Tommy said, starting to walk away.
She just watched him walk away. As much as Tommy had changed since she left the Rangers, he was just as stubborn. She knew whatever he was planning, nothing could get in his way, not even common sense!
The alarms sounded inside the Power Chamber. Zordon had entered a regenerative cycle, the last few days had stretched him to his limits so he was taking this time regenerate. The two Alpha's were in the Simulation Room, trying out some new Zord upgrades before actually using them on the real things. Billy was alone in the Power Chamber and he immediately responded to the alarm. He ran to the scanner controls and started checking what the problem was. He soon saw.
"Tommy, this is Billy. Turn back, you're almost out of shield range. Ultima could detect you at any moment." Billy said through the communictor on his wrist.
"Don't worry Billy, I'll be back soon. Prepare the science lab for when I get back!" Tommy said.
"Zordon's not gonna like this!" Billy replied.
"Hopefully I'll be back before he even wakes up. See ya later, man!" Tommy said, cutting off the link.
"Why do these things always happen on my watch!" Billy said to himself.
The Red Battlezord flew along only a few feet above the ground to try and avoid detection. Tommy had the scanners on a rotating scan of the surrounding area, he didn't want to be caught by suprise.
"I sure hope this works!" Tommy whispered to himself. He didn't exactly know what he was doing, but he knew exactly why – Justin! Suddenly an alram bleeped and the control panel flashed – it had detected something!
"Whatever it is, it's big and it's coming from behind!" Tommy thought, preparing himself to fight.
Without even looking at the target, Tommy turned, targetted and fired a few shots straight at it. The Zeo Megazord only just moved out of the way in time to avoid the shots.
"Hey, mind who you're shooting at!" Kim said to Tommy through the communicators.
"Kim! What are you doing here?" Tommy asked.
"We could ask you the same thing!" Kat replied in Kim's place. The two Zords stopped and stood side by side.
"Kat, you too! Who else is there?" Tommy asked.
"Just us two little Pink Rangers!" Kim said. "Now if we're coming with you, one thing, where are we going?"
"You can't come with me. You'll be in danger!" Tommy said.
"What, and if you go alone you won't be?" Kim asked sarcastically.
"No, but…." Tommy started.
"Tommy, you can't talk us out of this. You know us better than that!" Kat said sharply.
"Okay then!" Tommy finally agreed.
"So come on leader man, where are we going?" Kim asked.
"Follow me, I'll tell you on the way. Oh, and Kim…" Tommy said.
"Yeah?" Kim replied.
"Please, stop calling me leader man!" Tommy exclaimed.
"Get ready. The launch site just a few miles up ahead!" TJ warned the others, he scanned the area. "Guys, head for that rock formation North-North West of here. We'll leave the Zords there for now!"
They all acknowledged and changed course as instructed. Within minutes, the five Turbo Zords were parked behind a large rocky outcrop. They got out of the cars and Carlos climbed the rocks to see the base. Ashley was carrying the explosive device.
"It looks like we came in on the right side. There's virtually no guards on this gate!" Carlos called down to the others. There's sensor beams scanning out in our direction, but they should be easy to avoid, there's plenty more Rocks to shield us on the way there." Carlos jumped back down to the others.
"Right Rangers, on my command, we run over to the next outcrop. We have to be quick to avoid the sensors." TJ instructed.
They all moved to the edge of the rocky hill. TJ stood looking round the edge. When the energy beam of the scanner passed by, he shouted, "NOW!" The five of them ran along and made it to the protection of the next rocks before the beam passed again.
"Just two more like that and we should be close enough to take them out!" TJ said. He moved to the edge again and got ready to tell the others to go.
Again, when instructed, they all ran over to the next one. They were all pretty on edge by then. "I don't think I can take much more of this!" Cassie said, her heart beating twice the normal rate.
"Don't worry, this is the last one!" TJ said. "Ready guys?"
"Yeah, let's get it over with!" Ashley replied.
"NOW!" TJ shouted once again. They started running. TJ, then Cassie, then Justin, then Ashley and Carlos at the back. About halfway across, Carlos slipped and fell to the floor. The others were already across before they even realised.
"Quick Carlos, get up!" TJ called out. Carlos stood up, but it was too late, the beam was closing in on him.
"Carlos, don't move! Stay exactly where you are!" Justin called out.
Carlos didn't even have time to think about what he had said, so by reflex, he just stopped dead. The sensor beam engulfed him, then just moved on without setting off the alarms.
"Now Carlos!" Justin shouted.
Carlos ran over to the others. "Justin, how did you know I wouldn't set it off?" Carlos asked.
"Well they're motion sensors. You don't move, they can't detect you!" Justin replied.
"I never would have thought of that!" TJ said, "Nice save Justin!"
"No problem, now come on, we've got a mission to complete!" Justin replied.
"Our target's just up ahead!" Tommy said to the two Pink Rangers. They saw a small town up ahead. Most of it was in ruins.
"You still haven't told us what we're doing here, Tommy!" Kat said.
"We're here to capture a drone!" Tommy answered at last.
"What? Why?" Kim asked, as confused as Kat was.
"Justin feels guilty because he thinks he killed a person. If we can capture a Drone, I can show him they're not really people once Ultima's done whatever he does to them." Tommy explained.
"All this for him!" Kim exclaimed.
"Come on, Kim. You know we'd do it for any of the Rangers!" Tommy said. "We're a team, and we need to look out for each other, especially here, there's nobody else!"
"I suppose so!" Kim said.
"So what's the plan Tommy. What's so special about this town?" Kat asked.
"This is the one we passed on the way to gasket's fortress. I remember seeing a load of Drones before, I'm hoping at least some of them are still here!" Tommy replied. "And they shouldn't be too well defended either, I mean I wouldn't think they're expecting much resistance in a deserted town.
"Let's do this then!" Kim said.
The Battlezord and Megazord landed on the outside of the town, and they all teleported down to where they had seen the drones the day before. There was nothing there when they arrived.
"Looks like we were too late!" Kat said.
"Maybe not!" Tommy said, "Let's look around."
They spread out and started looking for signs of any life. They couldn't find anything to begin with, but then Tommy spotted a couple of Drones walking round a corner and out of sight.
"Guys, I think I've got something!" Tommy said through his wrist communicator. Within seconds, two flashes of pink came along and Kim and Kat materialised.
"Okay, where are they?" Kim asked, impatient to get them. She hadn't really noticed how much she missed being a Ranger, but the big fight yesterday had really whet her appetite for it.
"They went round there!" Tommy said, pointing to the corner he had seen them at.
Kim started running towards it, calling back, "Come on, what are we waiting for?"
Kat and Tommy laughed. "I think some people are just born to be Rangers!" Kat said before running after her with Tommy.
"Fire!" TJ instructed. The five of them had their Turbo blasters out. Two of them aimed at the motion sensors, the other three at the guards outside the fence. If they destroyed all five things at once, none of them could alert the rest of the base. The five shots hit their targets, and all five were obliterated.
"That was easy enough. Let's go!" TJ instructed out. They ran over to the twenty foot chain-link fence. TJ fired his Turbo Blaster at it, but the beam just bounced off and hit the ground in an explosion of dust and dirt. "Well that's not gonna work. Come on!" TJ started to climb the fence, Justin and Carlos followe after him.
The three of them struggled up to the top of the fence, then dropped down to the other side. Ashley and Cassie were already there when they got down.
"Huh?!" TJ exclaimed. "How did…."
"You never heard of teleporters!" Ashley said in answer to his unspoken question. Ashley and Cassie satretd laughing at the other three while they began to look around.
They came across a few Drones which they managed to stop before they could sound the alarm. Things were going well, they were getting close to the centre of the base and the hadn't even caused an alarm yet. Hopefully, they could get out before anyone else even knew they were there and they could avoid any confrontation. TJ had got out his Turbo navigator and was checking how close they were to the sight Alph ahad told them to plant the explosive.
"It's about fifty feet…" TJ started, checking the hand-held computer once again, "That way!" He pointed almost straight ahead. It was right across a large open space. There seemed to be no way around it.
"Ashley, give me the detonator." TJ ordered. "Justin and I will go and set it in place, you three cover our backs."
TJ and Justin stepped forward into the space from their covered area. They looked around briefly, and seeing no drones, they ran. They managed to get to the target sight with no trouble.
"Man, this place's defenses are awful. Ultima must be over-confident." TJ commented. "Here you go Justin, set the explosive and we'll get out of here." He handed the device over to the blue ranger.
Justin set it down in place and started pressing the buttons to activate it. Just as he was finishing it, something shot at TJ and knocked hi to the floor. Justin rushed to help him. "TJ, are you okay?"
"Oh man, that was a hard shot!" TJ said, struggling back to his feet. "Where did it come from?"
Dozens of Drones flooded out of the area surrounding the empty space. They had been waiting for the Rangers.
"Guys, power up!" TJ called out to the other three. "Justin, finish setting the device!"
TJ ran out into the open and met the other three.
"Let's take these things!" Carlos shouted. "Turbo Thunder Cannon!"
"Turbo Star Chargers!" Ashley called.
"Turbo Wind Fire!" Cassie shouted.
"Turbo Lightning Sword!" TJ commanded.
The Turbo Weapons appeared in their hands. TJ charged ahead and swiped at a few of the Drones, taking them down. The rest of them stood further and fired their weapons, taking out a few more. They were getting closer and there were plenty more to deal with. They got rid of their weapons and went hand-to hand.
A quick punch to the stomach from Carlos followed by a round-house kick knocked one down. He pulled out his Turbo Blaster and fired at one of them, it fell to the ground. He ducked, sensing an attack coming from behind. An arm swung over his head narrowly missing it. In one fluid motion, he had rolled forward, turned and taken it down with a couple of good shots to the legs.
Cassie back-flipped away from a group of Drones. When she stopped, she turned back to them and jumped. She did a spinning mid-air kick, making contact with three of them. It wasn't enough to knock them down, but they were phased. A few more punches and kicks soon sorted them out.
"Guys, it's set!" Justin called out, standing up. Before he even knew what was going on, a monster had grabbed him from behind and pointed an energy weapon at his head.
"Power Rangers, stop where you are or your little Blue friend here's going to be no more than a little blue splat on the wall!" the monster called out. It was about seven foot tall. It's multi-horned head made it look a lot like a Triceratops, but when have you ever seen a Triceratops wearing black armour covered in what appeared to be the remains of something else!
"Hold it guys. He's serious!" TJ called out as a signal for the others to stop.
"Now tell me what you are doing here!" the monster demanded.
He didn't seem to know about the detonator so TJ decided to play dumb. "We were sent to spy on this base and find out what's going on here!" he replied.
"And what did you find?" the monster asked. This was strange, the monster actually seemed to know what it was doing – definitely not one of Divatox's. He seemed to be trying to avoid a direct confrontation. He probably knew that with the base's bad security, they didn't stand much chance of defeating the small group of Rangers.
"Nothing yet! We were about to start searching when you attacked us!" TJ answered. "Let our friend go!"
"He is my hostage now. Leave this base. When you get far enough away, I may think about releasing him. Try anything, and I promise, I will destroy him!" the monster ordered.
"We won't leave him!" TJ replied, edging closer to the monster.
"TJ, you have to get out of here while you can!" Justin called out. TJ knew he meant that the detonator was going to blow soon, but he didn't want to leave anyone behind. "Please, it's not worth it!"
The monster thought he was just doing a good job, but the Rangers knew otherwise. Soon there was going to be one hell of a bang, one that would destroy them all!
"Okay, we're going!" TJ said. "Come on guys!" The Rangers followed him, they knew better than to question their leader. They left the base and went back to their Zords. Justin could have cried at seeing the Rangers leave, but he knew in his heart that it was for the best – the good of the many over the good of the few, that sort of thing!
As Tommy, Kim and Kat ran round the corner, they saw the two Drones joining a group of about ten others. They were herding a group of people through a portal. They ran closer to the Drones and shouted over to them.
"Hey, stop right there!" Tommy called out. Most of them turned and looked at him, but made no advance at them. The rest continued to get the last people through the portal. They were now all giving Tommy their full attention. They charged at the Rangers.
"Get ready!" Tommy said, getting ready to fight.
Most of them ran to Tommy and attacked him. That was their first mistake. Kat and Kim only had a few to deal with each. They were so much more agile than the Drones that they made short work of them. That left them free to start taking out the ones attacking Tommy. He seemed to be doing fine anyway. He was a very strong guy as it was, but when he was morphed, his strength was phenomenal. They kept knocking them down, but the Drones kept coming.
The three of them seemed to be winning, until something attacked them from behind. They recognised the assailant immediately – Punch-a-bunch. The Drones fell back and joined the monster.
"Punch-a-bunch, I already destroyed you once. Are you really that desperate to be destroyed again?" Tommy asked. Punch-a-bunch was one of the first monsters Tommy had faced with the Red Battlezord. It had challenged him to a Boxing Match, and he eventually beat it.
"I've been rebuilt, deal with it. Are you ready for a re-match, Red Ranger?" Punch-a-bunch asked.
"Any time, any place!" Tommy replied.
"Okay, right here, right now!" Punch-a-bunch challenged. Without the aid of anything else, the monster grew to its bigger size, ready to face Tommy in his Zord. Tommy guessed it was a new feature they had included when re-building him.
"Tommy, you sort him out, we'll get one of these Drones!" Kat said.
"Alright!" Tommy said. "Red Battlezord, power up!" The large Zord flew inover the buildings and landed opposite Punch-a-bunch. Tommy teleported into the cockpit and took control. Punch-a-bunch made the first move. A lightning quick barrage of punches to the head and body of Red battlezord. Tommy staggered backwards, but returned with a few good blows of his own. They continued to exchange blows back and forth, neither of them ready to go down, not by a long shot!
Kim and kat were double-teaming the Drones again. They had never had a chance to fight along-side each other before, but they seemed to work well together. Maybe sharing the Pink power gave them some kind of link. A sweep in the bag of a Drone's legs from Kim at the same time as a kick to the chest from Kat knocked it down to the ground – hard. It stopped moving, knocked unconscious. Well they'd got their one to take back, now they just needed to sort out the others, as well as avoid being stepped on – Tommy and Punch-a-bunch were fighting dangerously close to the two Pink Rangers.
"Give it up Punch-a-bunch. I beat you before, so you know I can do it again!" Tommy shouted to the monster.
"Ha, you wish, Power Puke!" the monster replied.
Tommy decided to go for the move he used to finish him before. He jumped into the air and started spinning, then flew into Punch-a-bunch. The hit knocked him to the ground, but he wasn't destroyed.
"As you can, I've been re-built better than before!" Punch-a-bunch sneered. He got back to his feet and fired a shot at Tommy. Now it was his turn to go down, but there was no ten count. He got straight back up.
"Guys, I think I might need your help to finish him!" Tommy said to the others.
"Okay Tommy, just a few more Drones and we'll be with you!" Kat answered. Kim fired her blaster at a few more which seemed to put them out for the count. "Come on Kim, Tommy needs our help!"
Kim picked up the unconscious Drone while Kat signalled the Zeo Megazord. They got on board and tied up the Drone. They moved in to help Tommy.
"Okay, what can we do for you, leader ma… I mean, Tommy!" Kim said, stopping herself from saying it.
"Let's try for a link-up!" Tommy said.
"Erm, Tommy. I don't think we can risk another mistake. That monster's getting pretty close!" Kim said, referring to the earlier problem with the link-up.
"Don't worry, my mind's completely on the job. We're gonna blow this thing away!" Tommy exclaimed.
"Let's do it then." Kat said, initiating the sequence. They stood side by side and clashed wrists. The red Battlezord moved round to the back of the Megazord and the docking sequence began. It joined on and its arms rotated backwards and over the Megazord's shoulders. The wrist cannons moved down over the hands of the Battlezord to make even bigger guns for it. The Battlezord's head turned round and formed a new helmet for the Megazord.
"Zeo Mega Battlezord, Full Power!" The three of them commanded, now all in the same cockpit. "Fire!" The cannons started to move back and forth as the power built up.
"I don't think I like this!" Punch-a-bunch shouted, aware of what was coming.
The cannons fired their shots one after the other at the monster. After a few of them, the monster fell to the ground and exploded. "Rangers 2, Punch-a-bunch 0!" Kim shouted.
"Come on. Let's get this Drone back to HQ." Tommy said. With that, the Zord took off and headed back to their home base.
The Four turbo Rangers got back to their Zords and got in. None of them really knew what TJ was thinking, they knew he wouldn't just leave Justin in there. Even if the monster did let him go, it would be too late. The place was going to explode very soon, and they had to do something.
"Okay, you three head back to HQ and take Mountain Blaster with you. Hopefully they'll think it's the four of us going. I'll take Red Lightning and rescue justin." TJ explained.
"Right," the three of them said, leaving in their Zords. They had told Mountain Blaster to follow them.
"Okay, this is it then!" TJ thought to himself. "It's all down to me!" He waited until the others had got quite a distance away, then charged up his Zord and drove straight for the base. He burst through the fence and went for where the monster had been with Justin. He got out his Turbo Navigator. The detonator had been set on the same frequency as them, and they were keeping up with the devices' timer.
"Two minutes to go!" TJ said.
"Sensible friends you've got there!" The monster said to Justin.
He didn't say anything, he just couldn't believe they had really gone. He was so scared, but he knew he couldn't show it, that would just make the monster feel even better. He considered telling him about the detonator, but the chances were that they would escape and still leave him there. All he could do was wait.
Before the monster even knew he was there, TJ drove into him and knocked him flying. He managed to do it exactly so that he didn't hit Justin. the monster turned and shot Justin with a stun ray. he fell to the floor, unable to move. TJ got out of the vehicle and ran to him.
"Justin, are you alright?" TJ asked.
"Yeah, it was just a weak stun shot. I can already feel it wearing off." Justin replied. TJ lifted him up and put him in the car. Just as TJ was about to get in the other side, the monster came back and fired the energy weapon he had used to hold Justin hostage. It hit him in the back. There was a massive explosion and he collapsed, hitting his head hard on the ground.
Justin was still numb from the stun ray, but he managed to jump across to help TJ into the car – he was out cold. Justin was lightning quick. He had TJ and the car and started driving away before the monster could fire again. He drove straight for the outside of the base.
Red Lightning was just outside the boundaries of the base when the detonator blew. The tail end of the explosion just caught the back of the Zord and sped it up a few dozen miles an hour. Once they were clear of the explosion, Justin reached over and tried to wake TJ.
"Teej, TJ, wake up!" Justin said, shaking him. He didn't move.
"Guys, where are you?" Justin asked through his communicator.
"Justin, you're okay!" Ashley called out. "We're about twenty miles ahead of your position. We'll wait here for you."
"TJ's hurt. I can't wake him up." Justin said, panicking.
"Don't worry Justin. Just get here as quick as you can and we'll see what we can do!" Cassie replied.
"Right, I'm coming!" Justin said, trying to stay calm, but not doing a very good job. That was a nasty hit TJ took.
Later on at the Power Chamber, the Rangers were all waiting for Billy and the Alpha's to come out of the med. lab. They had taken TJ in there as soon as they'd got back. Tommy and the others had also gotten back not long before. The drone was being kept anaesthetised in the science lab where they had begun testing it.
Eventually, after what seemed the longest time they had waited, they emerged from the small doorway. TJ wasn't with them as they had hoped he would be.
"Is TJ alright?" Justin asked.
"He's a bit beat up, but he should be okay with a little rest." Billy said.
"Can we see him?" Justin asked.
"Yeah, go in, but don't be long!" Billy said before going back to the Science lab.
Justin and the rest of the Turbo Rangers went into the med. lab to see him. He was lying on a bed with his eyes closed. "TJ!" Justin said, walking up to his side.
"Hey there, how ya doing?" TJ said, opening his eyes and seeing Justin.
"Never mind me, how are you?" Justin asked.
"Don't worry, it takes more than that to stop me." TJ smiled.
"TJ, I'm really sorry, I…" Justin started.
"Hey man, don't!" TJ interrupted.
"But if I hadn't got myself caught…" Justin tried to carry on.
"Justin, it wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done!" TJ interrupted once again. He took hold of Justin's arm. "You can't blame yourself for everything!"
Justin nodded at him, he knew he was right, although he didn't like to admit it. He knew it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help feeling guilty.
"We'll let you get some rest now!" Cassie said, "We're glad you're alright!"
"Thanks guys." TJ said. "I'll see you later!"
"Thanks TJ!" Justin said, finally smiling. He felt so much better knowing his friend was okay.
They went back out to the Power Chamber and told all the others who were waiting that he was fine. They soon all dispersed and went back to training. Zordon had asked the Turbo Rangers to stay behind for a de-briefing.
"Congratulations Rangers, your mission was a success. The satellite was destroyed and the launch site is also out of action." Zordon said. "You may need to take some time to rest. Take the rest of the day to relax."
They all started to leave.
"Justin, before you go, Tommy and Billy have something to show you in the Science lab." Zordon said.
Justin nodded and went off to the science lab, while the others all headed back to their quarters. He walked in and saw Tommy and Billy standing next to an examination table. Laying on the table was someone Justin had never seen before.
"Who's that?" Justin asked, walking over to them.
"This was one of the drones!" Tommy said.
"What?!" Justin exclaimed.
"We brought it here to run some tests on it. We've run every test we know and we've reached one conclusion." Billy said.
"What's that?" Justin asked, slightly unnerved having one of them there.
"There is no trace of humanity left in these things. Whatever Ultima does to them, it completely erases their mind and their souls. Their bodies may be human, but the rest of them is as alien as Ultima." Billy said.
"You know what that means?" Tommy asked Justin. He just looked back at Tommy. "You don't need to feel guilty about killing one of them. It's just like destroying a Cog or a Piranhatron!"
"Oh alright!" Justin said, hardly enthusiastically.
"Hey, I thought that's what was bothering you!" Tommy said.
"Yeah, I guess it was." Justin said. "I guess it doesn't seem so bad now, but doesn't seeing this thing make you think! It may not be human, but it was. If Ultima's willing to do something like this to just an innocent human, what would he do if he ever got hold of one of us? What's he doing to the Samurai's?"
It really got Tommy thinking. Justin was right. What was Ultima doing to his prisoners?
Louise sat on the floor of her cell. Since Ultima had out her there, he hadn't done anything to her. She thought what was happening to her was even worse. Night after night, she'd had to lay there and listen to Kane's screams as Ultima did whatever he was doing to him. Kane had always been one of the strongest people she had know, but hearing him scream in excrutiating agony and then lay in his cell, sobbing from his never ending torture.
"AAAAAAAHH!" Lousie heard. Ultima was starting over again. She covered her face with her hands and tried not to let the screams get to her, but each one grated through her very soul. She just wanted to die, she couldn't take any more, but then, that was her torture.