Author's Note: Special thanks to Matthew Sicherman for coming up with Wind Rider's transformation sequence!
"Power Rangers Turbo/Techno Rangers"
Attack of the Turbo Vehicles, ACT 3
by Aaron Thall
Turbo Zord Garage...
As the lights begin to dim back to their normal levels, the Rangers watch the five cars stop mere feet from them.
"The Turbo Vehicles?" asks Tommy.
"Correct." says Matt. "Justin, meet Storm Blaster." The Blue Jeep rolls forward another two feet. It flashes it's headlights. Justin notices the large protrusion on the hood of Storm Blaster.
"Storm Blaster? What does it do?"
"Storm Blaster utilizes the finest armor we could provide, as well as a computer tracking system and a magnetic grapple." Matt signals for Storm Blaster to demonstrate. The Vehicle rolls forward, triggering a preprogrammed blaster to activate and open fire on the car. When the assault is complete, Storm Blaster remains unscathed. It then fires it's magnetic grapple out, snagging the blaster. A quick move in reverse pulls the blaster out of the wall.
"WOAH! COOL!" Justin runs over to Storm Blaster and begins looking it over.
"Next," begins Wendy, "is Ninja Star... your Vehicle, Tanya." The Yellow 4X4 rolls forward and flashes it's headlights.
"Nice wheels." says Tanya as she admires the Vehicle.
"Funny you should say that." says Wendy. "Ninja Star lives up to it's name. Ninja Star's wheels are spectacular offensive weapons. The wheels contain powerful blades that allow it to drive along any terrain, no matter how uneven the path or how unusual the choice. In a pinch, the front wheels launch, creating two gigantic ninja stars that can slice through nearly anything you can think of."
Ninja Star rolls forward to the testing track. As the track changes shape, blades appear on the wheels of the Turbo Vehicle, allowing it to keep it's grip on the road, even when the track turned upside down. As the track ended, the front of Ninja Star lifted up, held in place by built in stilt-like devices. The front wheels launch and slash through the series of blasters before it.
"I don't know how you guys did it, but I =LIKE= it!" Tanya goes over to Ninja Star for a better look at the tires.
Matt continues. "Next up is a little number we like to call Road Thunder." The green 4X4 rolls forward, flashing it's headlights as it does. "Adam, this is your Vehicle."
"It's incredible!" exclaims Adam as he notices something about the hood. "Why is the hood arched?"
"That, my friend, is because that arch is really..." The "arch" rises up, revealing a powerful looking blaster. "A sonic cannon, fully capable of demolishing all but the strongest of opponents by utilizing focused and amplified waves of sound."
Road Thunder races for the track and begins to fire it's sonic cannon. The waves of sound shatter the three blasters that had been aiming for the Vehicle.
"And as an added bonus," begins Matt, "the sonic cannon can be separated from Road Thunder to act as both a handheld weapon and a sky spy. It's perfect for checking out a situation while in the middle of a fight."
As if on cue, the Sonic cannon flies up and towards Adam, who gently plucks it from the air and looks it over. Impressed, he takes it back over to Road Thunder.
"Kat," begins Wendy, "we'd like you to meet Wind Rider." The white Ferrari rolls forward and flashes it's headlights. Kat sees two matching sets of pink stripes going along the body.
"It's beautiful..." begins Kat.
"We aim to please." says Wendy. "Wind Rider's main weapons are powerful metal
fans it launches from the front and back. These fans can slash through nearly anything."
Wind Rider rolls over to the test track as three robot drones come to life. Instantly, three spinning fan blades launch out from just above the Turbo Vehicle's bumper. The blades go right through the drones, leaving gaping holes in the attackers' chests. The drones explode into minute pieces of shrapnel.
"Wind Rider also possesses a secondary hover craft mode, but the space in the Turbo Zord garage prevents us from testing it out."
"Why not just test it outside?"
"And let Zedd and company in on the surprise? Thanks no." Wendy gives Kat a gentle shove towards Wind Rider. "Try her out."
As Kat takes Wendy's advice, Matt turns to Tommy, the only Ranger not looking over a Turbo Vehicle.
"We're saving the best for last, Tommy. Last, but far from least, is Lightning Cruiser." The red Camero rolls forward and flashes it's headlights.
Tommy looks it over appreciatively. "It looks like my racing car."
"We designed it to be similar. We figured that your recent race car driving would be a perfect compliment for this particular design. Lightning Cruiser has more firepower than all the other Vehicles put together."
Lightning Cruiser rolls onto the testing track as all the remaining simulated opponents charge towards it. It begins firing full power, all it's blasters demolishing the horde before it even comes close.
"And like Wind Rider, Lightning Cruiser has flight capability." In response to that, Tommy's eyes widen in surprise. He begins to head for the Vehicle when Wendy speaks up again.
"There's one more thing you all need to know... The Turbo Vehicles... are fully sentient."
"You mean that they're alive?" asks Justin.
"Yes, and even now, they are forming psychic bonds with each of you.
Whenever
you need them, they'll come instantly, ready to battle alongside you."
"Good," says Tommy, "because we're gonna need them."
"We'll go with Justin when the time comes. We're still trying to increase Storm Blaster's firepower." Storm Blaster flashes it's headlights at Matt, indicating it's
impatience.
"Why not just build two more Vehicles?" asks Adam.
"Cars aren't our style. Now it's time you got outta the pit stop." Wendy prepares herself for what she knows comes next.
="BACK TO ACTION!"=
="IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!"=
***
Angel Grove Rock Quarry, just outside the city limits...
The Street Rippers race towards the city. Ever since the Turbo Rangers had been teleported away, they had been scouring the outskirts of the city looking for them, but to no avail.
"When we reach the city," begins Red Ripper, "we demolish it! That'll bring the Turbo Twerps running in their zords!"
"And then we rip the Turbo Megazord apart!" adds Pink Ripper before laughing maniacally.
That was when seven bursts of laser energy lashed out, forcing the Street Rippers to turn and skid to avoid further damage to their vehicles.
"GUESS AGAIN!" says Tommy and the rest of the Rangers come up from out of nowhere on a gigantic mound of rock.
Red Ripper quickly recovers. "So you're back for more, eh? Fine by me!" Without warning, energy surges from Red Rippers eyes, striking the ground under the Rangers. In perfect synchronization, the Rangers leap off the gigantic mound and flip downwards, towards the Street Rippers.
"Remember guys and gals," says Matt, "they're too dangerous to take chances."
Green Ripper laughs as Matt says this. "Look who finally decided to join the party! The Techno Rangers! Now we can destroy you all at once!"
"Street Rippers," begins Red Ripper, "DESTROY THEM!!!!!"
The Rangers roll aside as the five Rippers race past in their first attempt to run them down. As the Rippers turn around to come again, the Rangers regroup.
"We need help." says Kat. "And soon."
"No argument there." says Justin.
"So what are we waiting for?" asks Tanya.
"It's time." adds Adam.
"THEN LET'S DO IT!" orders Tommy.
All at once, the five Turbo Rangers make the call.
"WE NEED TURBO VEHICLE POWER NOW!"
"STORM BLASTER NOW!"
"NINJA STAR NOW!"
"ROAD THUNDER NOW!"
"WIND RIDER NOW!"
"LIGHTNING CRUISER NOW!"
The Street Rippers swerve once more as explosions rock their vehicles. They all turn, fearfully, to their right and see something they wish they were only dreaming.
Atop the mound the Rangers had first appeared were the five Turbo Vehicles, flashing their headlights and revving their engines.
"ALL RIGHT!" says Tommy as he leaps up and into Lightning Cruiser's driver's seat.
"Ready?" asks Tanya to Adam.
"Let's go!" he responds before they leap into Ninja Star and Road Thunder.
"AWESOME!" yells Justin.
"Going up!" adds Kat before they leap into Storm Blaster and Wind Rider.
="TURBO VEHICLES ONLINE!"= yell the five Rangers as the Vehicles roll to life and down the mound.
As they reach the bottom of the mound and race for the Rippers, Matt and Wendy smile under their helmets and leap towards Storm Blaster. Matt grabs the back of Storm Blaster and flips himself up into the space in the back. Using the frame as a hand brace, he locked his feet into place.
Wendy was the lucky one. She's managed to grab hold of the frame when she'd landed, and had used that to flip into the passenger's side seat.
"Everyone split up and take out your double!" says Tommy before Lightning Cruiser races forward. A second later, the other Turbo Vehicles began moving in different directions.
Storm Blaster heads west, following the Blue Ripper as he tries to escape the Turbo Vehicle and it's Ranger cargo.
"Just try and stop me!" he yells before speeding forward.
"Gladly!" says Justin. "Storm Blaster, activate the magnetic grapple!" Storm Blaster flashes it's headlights and fires the grapple. The grapple rockets forward and attaches itself to the back end of Blue Ripper's vehicle.
Then Justin hits the brakes.
The sudden stop knocks Blue Ripper for a loop. As he quickly recovers, he looks behind him and sees the grapple.
"Try and stop my joyride, will ya? Bad move, little boy blue!" Blue Ripper tries to move his vehicle forward, but Storm Blaster holds fast and begins going in reverse. "LET GO!" Blue Ripper fires a powerful energy barrage, but Storm Blaster's armor easily takes the punishment.
Storm Blaster continues pulling in reverse, reaching the mound in seconds. It then begins firing with it's headlight lasers.
"Pull a little more." says Wendy. "So he's under the mound."
"RIGHT!" says Justin.
"We're going to need more firepower." says Matt. "Storm Blaster, deploy rear storage module." The back of Storm Blaster extends, forming a platform. Taking one second to detach himself from the foot braces, Matt flips backwards and onto the platform.
="TURBINE LASER ONLINE!"= No sooner does Matt make the call, then the Turbine Laser teleports in with a blinding flash. Fitted on an elevated chassis, it fits perfectly where Matt had been only seconds prior.
"He's under the mound!" says Justin.
"FIRE!" The Turbine Laser, Storm Blaster's lasers, and Wendy's Blade Blaster let loose, but at the mound itself. As the blasts strike, large chunks of rock break loose and rain down on Blue Ripper and his vehicle.
"NOOOOO!!!" cries Blue Ripper as he abandons his vehicle, mere instants before the rocks crush his vehicle into scrap metal.
"One down!" says Justin.
***
Tanya turned the steering wheel of Ninja Star sharply, avoiding chunks of debris caused by Matt's plan to stop Blue Ripper.
Turning back onto her original path, she again chased after Yellow Ripper. As Yellow Ripper turned onto a rough area filled with rocks and mountains of gravel, she was ready for the challenge.
"Ninja Star, all terrain mode now!" Ninja Star flashes it's headlights. The cab moves upwards as large spikes come out of the wheels. The ride is still rough, but Ninja Star doesn't slow down at all.
Up ahead, Yellow Ripper enters a tunnel. Almost immediately afterwards, lasers and blades begin flying at Ninja Star. It swerves at the last second, avoiding the barrage and then following Yellow Ripper into the tunnel.
Activating the headlights, Tanya sees her counterpart up ahead.
Then she saw a second barrage.
In this limited area, there was no room to maneuver... unless...
"HIT THE WALL!" says Tanya to Ninja Star. In response, the Turbo Vehicle speeds up and, impossibly, clings to the wall by using the spikes. The barrage launched by Yellow Ripper passes by, completely useless.
"FASTER!" yells Yellow Ripper to her vehicle. She began pulling away from Ninja Star, still clinging to the wall and racing faster than before.
"I've had enough of this! Attack mode! FIRE!" In response to the command, Ninja Star stops and locks it's braces in place. The front of the cab raises up even more. The two front wheels launch forward, spinning their blades like the Turbo Megazord used it's sabre. And as fast as Yellow Ripper was, the wheels of Ninja Star were faster, and sliced cleanly through the vehicle. As Yellow Ripper ejected, her vehicle exploded into shrapnel.
"Two down!" says Tanya before ramming into Yellow Ripper, throwing her from the tunnel.
***
Adam's swerved as Green Ripper fired a laser blast directly at Road Thunder. The blast missed by mere inches. Unfortunately, during the split second Adam's eyes weren't locked on Green Ripper, his enemy vanished.
"Blast!"
Adam scanned the area for the Green Ripper, but to no avail. Somehow, his counterpart had managed to shield himself from his Turbo Navigator's tracking systems. And in this Quarry, there were many places to hide.
"Road Thunder, activate Sky Spy!" Road Thunder flashes it's headlights. A second later, the arch on it's hood rises up, revealing the sonic blaster. It quickly detaches and flies upwards. Through his Turbo Navigator, Adam sees what the Sky Spy does. He sees that both the Yellow and Blue Rippers are out of the fight, but also that the others were still too far away to help.
An alarm sounds as the familiar racer of Green Ripper appears on his Turbo Navigator.
"Now I've got you. Sky Spy return!" The Sonic Blaster flies back down and into Adam's hands. "I'd say a little double team is in order." Road Thunder flashes it's headlights in an affirmative. It waits only long enough for Adam to get out before rolling towards and then behind a large mound.
Sparks fly as Green Ripper's vehicle is struck head on by Road Thunder's laser beams.
"You're gonna regret that!" curses the Ripper as he races back into plain view.
"Wrong." says Adam as he steps out in front of the oncoming Ripper. "You're about to regret that you ever messed with the Power Rangers!" Adam pulls the trigger of the Sonic Blaster. A powerful ray of solidified sound bursts forward, demolishing the front of Green Ripper's racer. As Green Ripper runs away from Adam, Road Thunder drives itself back to Adam's side.
"Three down!"
***
Explosions rocked the back of Wind Rider. Kat quickly turned around to see the Pink Ripper blasting away at her.
"Wind Rider, can you do anything to stop her?"
In response to Kat's question, two incredibly sharp fan blades launch from the back of the Turbo Vehicle. The blades strike Pink Ripper's vehicle and dig deep into it's armor, but fail to even slow the doppelganger down.
"We need to kick it into high gear! Hover mode now!" Wind Rider's wheels flipped down so that the hubcaps were pointed towards the ground. They began putting out a cushion of air that kept the car above the ground. At the same time, a panel opened up in the back to reveal a pair of fans to provide forward thrust. Kat pulled back on the steering wheel and Wind Rider soared into the air, propelled up by the fans in the back, and kept up by the fans in the wheels.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" exclaimed Pink Ripper as Wind Rider took to the air.
"Payback time!" says Kat as Wind Rider does a midair loop, ending up behind Pink Ripper. "FIRE!" Dozens of spinning fan blades launch from Wind Rider, piercing the Pink Ripper's vehicle continuously, and each blade cutting deeper than the one before it. As Pink Ripper teleports out, her vehicle explodes.
"Four down!"
***
Lord Zedd's palace...
"This isn't going well, Zedd." says King Mondo as he watches four of the Street Rippers lose their vehicles in quick succession. "You told me that the Street Rippers could destroy the Rangers!
"All I see is-"
"SHUT UP, YOU POOR EXCUSE FOR A TOASTER!" Zedd glowed red as he shouted the words, the first two shaking the palace itself. "This has to be the work of those blasted Techno Rangers! They obviously came up with those Turbo Vehicles to counter the Rippers!"
Mondo scoffs. "And they're doing quite well, Zedd."
"The battle isn't over yet, Mondo."
***
Red Ripper fired once more at Tommy and the Lightning Cruiser, just a few yards ahead of him, but the way the Cruiser swerved, it was next to impossible to hit either of them.
"I think it's time we finished this, Lightning Cruiser! LET'S RIP SOME VELOCITY!" Tommy hits the gas and flames erupt from Lightning Cruiser's engines. In response, the Turbo Vehicle speeds up as jets of air push it upwards. In response, the back of Lightning Cruiser folds down to form wings. The front wheels fold down as well. Smaller wings unfold from under the Vehicle and the front of Lightning Cruiser extends out, forming a nose. The blaster in back rises upwards.
"Uh oh..." says Red Ripper as Lightning Cruiser turns around and races towards him.
"HIT HIM HARD!" Dozens of lasers erupt from Lightning Cruiser, causing countless explosions to rock Red Ripper and his vehicle. Red Rippers barely ejects in time to save himself.
Red Ripper retreats, quickly rejoining the rest of the Street Rippers. As soon as that happens, the five Turbo Vehicles surround them, leaving only the space in front of them open. The Turbo Rangers leap from their Vehicles and land in front of the Rippers.
"You're going down!" says Tommy.
"Not while I have =THIS=!" says Red Ripper as he pulls out Tommy's trophy.
"I don't need it to know I'm a winner. TURBO R.A.M.! REV UP!" The Robotic Arsenal Mobilizer quickly rolls onto the scene. The Rangers each take their component weapon. "TURBO R.A.M. CANNON MODE!" The Turbo Weapons reform, but this time, into a gigantic blaster configuration.
"KE-YAH!" Wendy leaps in from out of nowhere and strikes the Rippers with her Whip, allowing Matt the distraction he needs to quickly teleport in and grab the trophy.
"GOT IT!"
"FIRE!" says all the Turbo Rangers as the Turbo R.A.M. releases a powerful barrage of energy that blasts the Street Rippers. The doppelgangers explode into their component atoms as they hit the ground. Matt hands the trophy to Tommy.
"Now =WE'RE= in first place!" he exclaims as he holds the trophy up high.
***
Lord Zedd's palace...
"RRRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" screams Zedd as he watches his plan fall apart. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" He slams his fist onto the balcony railing, shattering it and releasing bolts of lightning.
"Next time we meet, Rangers, I WILL BE VICTORIOUS!!!"
"NOT A CHANCE!" says King Mondo as he exits Zedd's throne room, prompting Zedd to shatter part of the floor.
End of Act 3
