Sunrise Salvage
The Power Rangers drew their laser guns and fired at the Motorvators. All but one of the automotive heroes managed to avoid being hit. Snap was hit in the hubcap over his left shoulder.
"Arg!" he grunted in pain
"Are you alright?" asked Axle
"Yeah man," Snap replied "It's not bad. Just hurts."
Seeing that the laser cannons were no longer deployed(Orbus had stopped projecting right after the sniper-bots fired) the Rangers holstered their weapons and charged so they could fight in close quarters where the cannons would be all but useless if they were redeployed. The Power Rangers and Motorvators exchanged blows for a few seconds, neither able to gain the other hand. Seeing that if the fight were to continue, one or both sides could be injured, Axle made a decision.
"Go green guys!" he shouted
Upon hearing the order, Rev directed a high-pressure stream of water at the Rangers to distract them so she and the others could get away. While the Rangers were momentarily prone, the soles of the Motorvators' feet flipped up to allow the wheels at the bottom of their legs to rotate freely. The Motorvators then accelerated towards the front gate.
"Follow them!" Tommy ordered "We can't let them get away!" The Rangers ran after the Motorvators who couldn't use their full speed in the junkyard due to their need to maneuver around the everpresent piles of junk and the heaviness of their metallic bodies. The Motorvators made it to the gate first and slammed it open as they went through. They then turned onto the road and floored their accelerators, quickly surpassing the maximum speed that the Rangers could run. The Rangers ran out onto the road to see the rapidly dwindling forms of the Motorvators. "Looks like we're gonna need-" Tommy's declaration was cut short by the sound of five sets of squealing brakes behind him. Turning around, he saw five different colored vehicles. One in the color of each Turbo Ranger. "The vehicles." Tommy finished "Man, this psi-link stuff's gonna take some getting used to. Let's go!"
The Rangers jumped into their respective vehicles. Tommy into Lightning Cruiser, Justin into Storm Blaster, Kat into Wind Rider, Tanya into Ninja Star, and Adam into Road Thunder. Wendy jumped into Storm Blaster's passenger seat while Matt stood up in the back with his hands gripping the rollbar and his feet in clips to keep him in place. The five Turbo Rangers floored their accelerators and drove off in pursuit of the Motorvators.
"Man," began Nuke as the Motorvators speeded away from Sunrise Salvage "I can't believe we ran away from a fight."
"We had no choice, Nuke." said Axle "We couldn't fight the Power Rangers! Either them or us might've gotten hurt."
"Well, at least we got away from them." said Snap
<Don't be so sure amigos!> Van's voice came from the Motorvators' comm-links <Check your rear-view mirrors!>
"What's wrong Van?" asked Rev
<I'm up here at the Van-Scan and what I'm seeing is the Power Rangers gaining on you fast!> Axle glanced to the rear to discover that, as usual, Van was right.
"Floor it Motorvators!" Axle ordered but it soon became apparent that the Power Rangers' vehicles were easily able to keep pace with them. "OK, new plan: Start splitting up! We'll meet back at the Pitstop later. Make sure you're not followed."
When the Motorvators came to a 4-way intersection, Rev turned left and Nuke turned right. Another intersection soon came up and Snap went right while Axle continued on ahead.
"They're splitting up!" Tommy noted "Kat, go left. Adam, go right."
"You got it!"
"No problem!" While Lightning Cruiser, Storm Blaster, and Ninja Star kept going straight, Wind Rider turned left and Road Thunder turned right, each in pursuit of a Motorvator.
"Tanya," Tommy said when Snap and Axle split up "You go right. Justin, Wendy, Matt, and I will get the last one."
"OK," replied Tanya "Just leave some of it left for the rest of us." Ninja Star turned right while Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster continued straight.
Kat and Wind Rider chased Rev down the road towards the reservoir. Rev quickly noticed that the Pink Ranger was right behind her.
"OK, you've got a fast car, but let's see how well you chase me when I'm airborne." So saying, Rev pulled a lever on her right thigh and a set of metal wings unfolded from her back and she flew into the air. "Hasta la bye-bye!" Seeing Rev fly into the air, Kat pressed several buttons on Wind Rider's dashboard.
"Alright Wind Rider," she said "Let's show her it's not so easy to lose a Power Ranger. Hovercraft mode!"
Wind Rider's wheels flipped down so that the hubcaps were pointed towards the ground and 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. As Wind Rider reached the same altitude as Rev, Kat pressed another button on the dashboard and several sharp fan blades flew from Wind Rider's front bumper that whizzed just over Rev's head and sliced clean through a nearby lamppost.
"Whoa!" Rev exclaimed "Wasn't expecting that! Guess I should take a dive." So saying, Rev dived downward to splash into the reservoir.
Rev went underwater and stayed there. In Motorvator form, she and the others could survive underwater for a long time. Axle and Snap had stayed underwater for over 10 minutes when fighting to stop the giant tailpipe-snake from chowing down on an oil rig, had been able to talk as much as they liked while they were underwater, and had only surfaced because the monster had blown up thanks to Rev tossing a flare into the cauldron of fuel at the other end, triggering a chain reaction that blew it into a few thousand pieces, each a tailpipe off a car the muffler monster had sucked the gas from.
Kat brought Wind Rider down to hover over just above the surface of the water. She pressed a few buttons and a sonar display appeared on a screen. Keeping an eye on the screen, Kat carefully manipulated some dials as crosshairs appeared on the screen with Kat finally able to get a lock on the blip. She pressed a button, and fan blades launched from Wind Rider's wheels into the water.
"Yikes!" exclaimed Rev as the blades narrowly missed her. "So much for hiding underwater." She headed back to the surface at top speed.
Rev broke the surface just to one side of Wind Rider and grabbed the underside of the car as she did. She caught the Pink Ranger by surprise as she heaved Wind Rider's side upward in an attempt to flip it over. Rev flew skyward as Wind Rider spun in the air just above the reservoir.
Kat and Wind Rider barely avoided getting dunked in the drink but were able to stabilize wheels downward quickly. Kat floored the accelerator and the chase was on again, although this time, Rev had a larger head start and Kat was more determined than ever to catch her.
Meanwhile, Nuke had also taken to the skies but Adam and Road Thunder weren't able to follow directly as Kat and Wind Rider had. Instead, Road Thunder had launched it's floating cannon and was using that to track Nuke.
"Don't worry buddy," Adam said to his car "Just because you can't fly doesn't mean he can lose us by going airborne."
Road Thunder's lights flashed several times in response as Adam kept one eye on the road and the other on the screen displaying the cannon's position. It wasn't easy to follow an airborne monster via surface streets. In the air, Nuke flew above the tops of the buildings, occasionally dodging blasts of sonic energy from the floating cannon that dogged his every move.
<Yo! Nuke!> Van's voice came over Nuke's comm-link
"What is it Van?" Nuke Answered "I'm a little busy here!"
<You gotta make a 180, amigo! You're going behind the big buildings downtown and if you don't turn around soon, I might lose contact with ya!>
"OK, I just got an idea that could get that Ranger off my tail."
Nuke made a U-turn in midair and flew down towards street level a he dodged another blast from Road Thunder's floating cannon. He was flying directly towards Road Thunder which was driving towards him as well. Nuke pulled his hook out and tossed it to hook onto Road Thunder's front bumper. He let out a little more rope then locked his winch, bringing the rope taut. Road Thunder flipped into the air as the hook pulled the front end up and towards the rear. Nuke's hook came off and was retracted back into his winch and he flew back into the air while Road Thunder flipped over several times, finally settling back onto its wheels. The green pickup truck was relatively undamaged although it would probably need new shocks after this.
"Alright," muttered Adam "He's gonna pay for that!"
Road Thunder's lights flashed angrily as it turned around to chase after Nuke again and the cannon flew to keep up with him.
Elsewhere, Snap came to rest on top of a nine story building.
"Well," he said to himself "I should be safe up here. If I remember the news right, only two of the Rangers' vehicles can fly and they're chasing the others."
Suddenly, a yellow jeep soared up from behind the wall of the building and landed on the roof, bouncing on its shocks for a moment. The Yellow Ranger stood up in the driver's seat and pulled out her Autoblaster, leveling it at Snap.
"Surprise." said the Yellow Ranger
Snap leaped off the building, reactivating his flight gear, and dove, hugging the side of the building. The Yellow Ranger immediately got Ninja Star back into gear and drove off the side of the building, extending spikes from all four wheels as she did, and drove down the side of the building in pursuit.
"Man," Snap muttered to himself "I gotta remember to pay more attention to the news."
And the chase was on, Snap attempting to elude the Yellow Ranger and Ninja Star driving up and down the sides of buildings and jumping from rooftop to rooftop in pursuit.
In another part of the city, Axle was being chased by the Red Ranger in Lightning Cruiser, and the Blue, Purple, and Grey Rangers in Storm Blaster. The lead Motorvator was blazing down the road as the Rangers chased him. Up ahead was a sharp curve that Axle knew had water beneath it.
"I hate to do this to them, but the water's deep enough at the bottom of the cliff so they shouldn't get too banged up." Axle mused as he accelerated and prepared to activate his flight gear.
Axle pulled the lever to extend his wings moments before he would have slammed into the guardrail, leaped over the rail, and kept going straight, indifferent to the fact that there was a large amount of air between him and the water below.
"Put on the brakes guys," Tommy said "Me and Lightning Cruiser'll get him!" Tommy pressed a few buttons on Lighting Cruiser's dashboard "Lightning Cruiser: Jet mode!"
Rockets on the underside of the red sports car flared on, lifting it off the ground. The front wheels folded down, the center section of the hood shifted forward to create a semblance of a nosecone, the rear panels on either side folded down to create a set of wings, and the spoiler lifted up slightly to reveal a set of laser cannons. Lightning Cruiser soared into the air with a roar of jet turbines.
"Don't stop Justin." Wendy ordered "We can use the magnetic grappling hook to latch onto Lightning Cruiser and we won't have to break off the pursuit."
"Sounds good to me!" Justin responded "Feel up to it Storm Blaster?" The jeep's lights flashed in response. "Then let's do it!"
The magnetic grappling hook fired from Storm Blaster's front end and latched onto the rear of Lightning Cruiser. The winch locked and Storm Blaster was dragged up into the air, coming into position directly behind the flying sports car.
"What th-?" exclaimed Tommy as Lightning Cruiser put on extra thrust to compensate for Storm Blaster's mass. Looking towards the back, he was astonished to see the blue jeep right behind him. "Justin, what's going on?"
"We couldn't let you have all the fun." Justin responded
"And you can always use the extra firepower." added Matt
"Justin, Matt..." Tommy sighed "Just hold on tight, if I have to maneuver you'll get tossed around like the end of a whip."
Lightning Cruiser, with Storm Blaster in tow, chased Axle through the air over the city and, true to Tommy's prediction, when Lightning cruiser made a high speed maneuver to keep up with Axle, Storm Blaster got tossed around but the occupants managed to keep from being thrown out by the G-forces.
"Axle to Motorvators," Axle said into his commlink "You guys still there?"
<Rev here, still rockin & rollin!>
<This is Nuke, keepin on truckin!>
<Snap here, and I'm getting real TIRED of being chased around by the Yellow Ranger!>
A chorus of groans came over the commlink in response to Snap's pun.
<Yo! Motorvators!> came Van's voice <Ya gotta lose those Rangers before one of ya gets hurt!>
<Like we needed you to point that out!> came Snap's voice
<Don't be fresh Snap! Don't forget who's the mentor here. The guy that kept all of you from popping all your gaskets when you first got changed. If I hadn't talked you through it you mighta ended up like Tracula and his gang!>
"There's time for this later!" Axle broke in "Van, got any ideas?"
<Yeah, the Power Rangers are after four decidedly automative beings, right?>
<Yeah,> responded Nuke <So?>
<So,> continued Van <They probably won't give a second thought to four seemingly ordinary teenagers.>
<So we do what we did when we went to the STARR concert!> Rev deduced <You're brilliant Van!>
<Yeah, so I'm told.>
"OK guys," Axle began "Get outta sight of the Ranger following you and change back to normal. Then head back to the Pitstop. Hoof it, take a bus, or take a cab, but DON'T shapeshift or you'll risk them coming after you again."
The four Motorvators turned off their commlinks and then surveyed the urban terrain around them to find a good way to lose the Ranger following them.
Rev fired a stream of water at her pursuer's windshield and then dove towards the ground. She touched down as she went under an overpass and was momentarily surrounded by a ball of light as she changed back to human form. Moments later, Wind Rider blazed past. The Pink Ranger didn't give her a second glance as she went by.
At that same time, Nuke had gone back down to the ground and his wheels were spinning away as the green pickup truck that was Road Thunder blazed after him in pursuit. Up ahead was an unfinished section of road over a pretty high drop. Enough to ruin the shocks of a car that landed on its wheels and would probably cause some pretty ugly damage otherwise. A car with enough speed could jump it though. Nuke put on more speed and Road Thunder did so as well. Nuke hit the ramp and went airborne, as did Road Thunder. Then Nuke pulled a fast one, or more precisely, he pulled the lever on his flight gear.
Nuke's wings extended and he went straight up while Road Thunder passed underneath, to the surprise of the Green Ranger. Nuke did a flip and dove down to the ground below. Nuke touched down easily while Road Thunder had to take the long way down. By the time he got there, Adam could see no sign of the thing he had been chasing. All he saw was a teenage boy hanging out near the construction site. Adam didn't give him a second thought.
The Yellow Ranger and Ninja Star chased Snap across the rooftops, as well as up and down the walls of buildings. Snap knew he needed to lose his pursuer, for a few seconds at least, before he could shapeshift back to normal to completely lose her. Up ahead, he saw two buildings close together. The gap was too narrow for a car to go through so he headed straight for it.
Tanya slammed on the brakes and stopped one rooftop before reaching it while Snap kept going straight. At the last moment, he spun 90 degrees and went through on his side without touching either building. Tanya immediately started Ninja Star going again, engaging the wheel spikes to drive down the side of the building. By the time she had driven the long way around the buildings, she saw nothing moving except for a dark-skinned teen with dreadlocks.
Axle flew through the air, being chased by the Red Ranger in Lightning Cruiser and the Blue, Purple, and Grey Rangers in Storm Blaster. Up ahead, Axle saw a condemned building with a few holes in it. He flew towards it, hoping to lose the Rangers. Meanwhile, Tommy had a plan of his own.
"Justin, get ready." Tommy said "I'm going to kill thrust in a sec so Lightning Cruiser will drop and for a moment we'll both have clear lines of fire at that monster."
"All set." Justin replied "Let's do it!"
Lightning Cruiser's thrust reversed for a moment and the flying car dropped a few feet. Lightning Cruiser's laser cannons fired as Storm Blaster fired beams of energy from its headlights. Axle managed to avoid most of the blasts but one grazed him, leaving a blackened streak to mark the near-miss. Then Lightning Cruiser's engines came back up to full power and the cable connecting Lightning Cruiser to storm Blaster came taught once more. But the momentary cessation of thrust had given Axle just enough of an added lead to make it to the building.
Axle flew into one of the holes in the building and came to a stop. He ran down the hall until he was sure none of the Power Rangers could see him and reverted to normal. He then got down behind some rubble and lay still until he was absolutely sure the Rangers were gone.
"Tommy to Rangers." Tommy transmitted after Axle had disappeared "We lost ours, how about you guys?" The other Rangers quickly reported in that they had lost theirs as well. "Alright, make a sweep and if you still don't find them, head back to the Power Chamber.
Half an hour later, the Rangers were back in the Power Chamber.
"I just don't get it!" Adam fumed "How could they have gotten away from us?!"
"Mondo probably just teleported them out when it was obvious they couldn't get away from us." said Justin
"Yo, yo, yo!" began Alpha "I don't think he did. The sensors didn't pick up any teleport signatures while you were chasing them. One minute they're there, the next, they're gone."
"Maybe the sensors are malfunctioning?" theorized Wendy
"Could be. I'll take a look at 'em."
"We'll help." said Justin
"Oh no you won't." said Tommy "You guys need to get the Turbo Navigators put back together as soon as possible. Sorry Alpha, but you'll just have to settle for the rest of us."
"Yo, yo, yo!" said Alpha "OK, you guys'll be better than nothing."
Alpha and the Rangers began working. Justin, Matt, and Wendy working on rebuilding the Turbo Navigators and the others helping Alpha to check the sensors. They would be working for hours and would eventually determine that nothing was wrong with the sensors.
Meanwhile, the Motorvators returned to Sunrise Salvage in human form.
"Welcome back amigos!" Van exclaimed as they reached the Pitstop.
"Save it Van," Nuke said "This has been the worst night ever since the meteor hit."
"Park it man," Axle ordered "There's no need to take it out on Van."
"Quite alright amigos." Van said "Now, let's get you downstairs and through your carfins. Sun's coming up in a few hours ya know."
The teens went down the stairs to the hidden garage. Once inside, they changed into their Motorvator forms and then jumped into the hoods of their respective carfins. A flash of light from each and the teens appeared in their respective driver's seats. They then got out and checked their carfins for more damage.
"Hmmm, a few dents and dings," Rev observed "No big prob."
"Ditto here." said Nuke
"Well I got a torched hubcap from where one of the Power Rangers laser blasts hit me." groaned Snap
"That's nothing!" declared Axle "Check out this burn mark on my door. That's gonna take a while to fix."
"Don't be glum amigos!" said Van "You gotta look on the bright side. None of you got hurt bad and there aren't many who can say that after going fender-to-fender with the Power Rangers."
"Yeah," said Axle "You're right Van. Now, who's up for fixing up our carfins before Wendy comes back in the morning?"
"Why would she come back?" Rev asked "She found what she was looking for, didn't she?"
"Nope. All she found was a little glowing piece of rock. It's something, but it's nowhere near what she needs for her story."
Van rooted around in the corner and came out with some metal polish and paint.
"Alright amigos," he said "Let's get started!"
A few hours after sunrise, Wendy was walking up to the Pitstop. She hadn't slept a wink last night but luckily, the ninja training she and her brother had gone through had included learning to go without sleep for days on end. Her purpose here was now dual. At first she was just here for a newspaper story but, now she was also on Ranger business. What could those metal-heads have wanted from that pile of junk?
"Hi Wendy!" Rev called as she and the others came out of the Pitstop.
"Hi guys." Wendy replied
"So, what do you want to see first?" asked Nuke
"Well, I guess we could start with the junk piles." answered Wendy
"That sorta covers a lotta ground here." said Snap "I mean, this IS a junkyard."
"OK, let's try the south end first."
"Alright," said Axle "Let's head over there."
While five teens headed for the south end of the junkyard, trouble was brewing.
Machine Skybase, 8:57 AM
"Dear, where is Tracula?" asked Queen Machina
"Tracula is quite afraid of sunlight dear." answered King Mondo "I don't think he quite trusts in our ability to block out the sun up here while our orbit takes us onto the day side."
"Hey Dad," said Prince Sprocket "Why don't we see how these Motorvators handle a fight unmorphed?"
"An excellent idea son!" exclaimed Mondo "Klank! Send down a contingent of Cogs!"
"At once yuir highness!"
Sunrise Salvage
"So, what kind of junk do you guys get here?" Wendy asked as they reached the junkpiles "Any military salvage, maybe?"
"Nope." answered Axle "Van doesn't like the military, the authorities, or anything else government related. In case you didn't notice it yesterday, his mindset is still rooted in the 60's."
"Yeah," agreed Snap "He doesn't even believe in music videos!"
Further conversation was curtailed as a gear-shaped portal opened in the air and disgorged a dozen or so silvery robots with golden heads. Wendy knew she could be in trouble. Unmorphed, she couldn't take on a dozen Cogs alone. She hoped the others could handle a few between them.
"What the heck are these things!?" shouted Nuke
"I don't know," began Axle "But if they want a fight, we'll give it to them!"
The Cogs charged the 5 teens and the fight began. Meanwhile, Van was bringing his periscope into position to keep an eye on his friends and their guest. Greasespot was on the floor nearby.
"Well Greasespot, what do you say we have a look at how the guys are doing?" Greasespot barked in response. "We just have a looksee through the Van-Scan and... Hello. What are those things? They're sure not Vanpires. Not only is the sun still up, they don't look a thing like cars. More like metal men, or something." Through the Van-Scan, Van saw the Cogs attack the 5 teens and the teens fighting back. "That's it guys!" he shouted, knowing they couldn't hear him "Show em why you shouldn't pick a fight with the Motorvators!"
A Cog punched Snap in the stomach and the dark skinned-teen reeled from the blow. Nuke charged a pair of Cogs like a linebacker, knocking the two of them to the ground. Wendy spin-kicked a Cog then immediately spun around and punched another in the chest. Rev did a backflip, kicking a Cog in its metal face. Axle threw a series of punches into a Cog's chest, knocking it down.
Snap, recovered from getting the wind knocked out of him, led several Cogs on a merry chase around the junkpiles. Upon stopping near one, he held up his hand in a stop gesture and the feebleminded Cogs stopped for a moment to figure out what the human was up to. Snap then pulled a piece of metal out of the pile which then fell on the Cogs, burying them in junk.
"Boy, are those guys dumb." Snap remarked.
Suddenly finding themselves outnumbered, the three remaining Cogs escaped through a gear shaped portal that disappeared behind them.
"Yeah!" shouted Nuke "Go and run you rustbuckets!"
"Man, what was that all about?" wondered Rev
"I don't know," began Axle "But we better keep an eye out. They might be back."
"Well," Wendy said "Since they're gone, we might as well do what we came out here for. Whatever they were, they had to come here for a reason."
"Alright," Axle said hesitatingly "I guess getting jumped by some metal morons isn't enough of a reason to quit before we've started."
"So, where do we start?"
"How about we start with that junk I dropped on those bucketheads?" suggested Snap
"Might as well," said Rev "We're gonna have to clean it up anyway or Van'll have a fit."
The Machine Skybase
"Six Cogs disabled, three Cogs buried under a pile of Earth junk, three Cogs returned to the Skybase." Klank reported
"Well," began Queen Machina "At least now we know how those Motorvators handle themselves without transforming."
"Well enough to require the use of a monster." grumbled Mondo
"I have just the creature you need!" came Tracula's voice as his holographic image appeared in the throne room. "May I present, Dirk Demolition!"
Another Vanpire stepped into the hologram. This one was a cross between a rugged truck driver and a covered army truck with sticks of dynamite sticking out all over.
"Yo," it said "Ya want something blown up, I'm yer Vanpire. Dynamite, nitro, plastique. I know em all! You want me to blow those teenage fleshies into human spare parts, I'll do it for fun. No charge."
"Hmm," began Mondo "I like him. An excellent appetite for destruction, from the sound of him. You may send him out the moment the sun sets."
"Thank you your highness." said Tracula "Dirk here will attack Sunrise Salvage and-"
"Sunrise Salvage!? Are you sure he can handle it?"
"He will bomb the Motorvators' headquarters to pieces, including their carfins, before they can transform. With their carfins eliminated, they will be powerless and no longer a threat. Even if they do transform, I have several Vanpires ready to be a roadblock to keep them away from Dirk long enough for him to destroy the Motorvators' carfins. You could also provide a number of your Cogs to aid them, if you so wish it. With their carfins destroyed, the Motorvators shall either perish with the rising of the sun or join us!"
Tracula began to laugh maniacally and Mondo joined in. The thought of having their enemies helping them take over the world was most enjoyable. Plus, Mondo thought, if I can destroy the Rangers before Zedd and Divatox find out, the Machine Empire will be the sole owner of Earth.
Sunrise Salvage, 5 minutes before sunset
Wendy, Rev, Axle, Nuke, and Snap had spent the whole day going through the junkpiles and Wendy hadn't seen anything that Mondo could have wanted that he couldn't get at any number of other places. She also hadn't seen any sign of any other pieces of glowing rock like the one she'd found last night. Now they were approaching the Pitstop where Wendy hoped to ask Van about any unusual items he might have acquired.
"Amigos! Wendy!" exclaimed Van as he approached "Find anything unusual?"
"Not really Mr.-"
"Just call me Van, Wendy." Van interrupted "It's better than having my name mangled."
"Well," Wendy continued "Have you ever come into possession of any. . . unusual items?"
"Unusual items? Well, there was that double-fronted funny car a few years back. If you wanted to go in reverse, you had to get out and get behind the other 'front' wheel."
"Actually, I was thinking of something that you wouldn't see in your average junkyard."
"No, can't really think of anything here that you couldn't find elsewhere." Van lied "C'mon, I'll answer the rest of your questions inside, getting a bit dark out here, sun going down and all."
Wendy agreed and they all went inside the Pitstop as the sun went down and Vanpires came up out of the graveyard. Leading the way was the dynamite truck known as Dirk Demolition.
"Ok you guys," he said "When we get to the junkyard, Mondo's Cogs'll hook up with us and you'll all run interference for me while I blow the place to kingdom come. If the Motorvators show up, waste em." As the Vanpires crossed the fence into Sunrise Salvage, several gear-shaped portals appeared, disgorging a large number of Cogs. Mondo was taking no chances. "OK, time to blow this joint!" Dirk Demolition laughed as he ignited several sticks of dynamite and threw them at a nearby junkpile where they exploded.
Inside the Pitstop, Wendy was cut off in mid-question as the ground shook violently.
"What was that!?" Nuke asked as the ground shook again. "Is it those jets again?"
"I don't know," began Van "But the Van-Scan'll tell me." Van dashed to the periscope and looked through it to see the Vanpires bombing the junkyard. "Uh oh. We got trouble with a capital V!"
"A capital V?" wondered Wendy as the Motorvators whispered among themselves.
"What're we gonna do?" asked Snap "We can't change with her around."
"Well, I'm open to suggestions." said Rev "But whatever we do we better do it fast or the Pitstop'll be a crater!"
"Only one thing to do." said Axle "We have to trust her." Without waiting for an answer, Axle went over to Wendy. "Wendy," he said "You've got to promise me that you won't tell anyone about what we're about to show you!"
"What?" she puzzled "Umm, OK. I promise."
"Van, show her downstairs. It's Shapeshiftin time!"
The Motorvators dashed down the stairs to their Carfins as Van ushered Wendy down to the hidden garage where the Motorvators kept their carfins. Wendy saw them jump into the cars and tried to get a closer look but Van held her back.
"Not a good idea little lady." he warned "Last time I was up close and personal for this I got knocked halfway across the room."
The index finger of each teen turned into a bright silvery key which they inserted into the ignitions of their cars.
"MISSION: IGNITION!" they shouted and energy exploded around the cars. When it dissipated, the four teens were gone.
"Where'd they go?" asked Wendy, but before Van could answer, the hoods of each car were pushed open from the INSIDE and four meldings of man and car emerged. Wendy immediately recognized them as the four creatures she and the other Rangers had chased the night before.
"Watch yourselves out there guys." Van warned "There's a whole convoy of Vanpires out there!" He hit a panel on the wall and another wall opened up to reveal an exit directly out onto the outside.
"Don't worry Van," said Snap "We've beat em before and we'll beat em now!"
The Motorvators charged outside and went to engage the Vanpires while Van and Wendy went back upstairs.
"OK, I'll monitor from down below while you keep an eye out with the Van-Scan. Let me know if you see anything unusual. Er, besides what's already out there, that is."
As Van went down below, Wendy looked through the Van-Scan periscope. She saw Cogs moving towards the Pitstop. She was about to activate her communicator when she heard Van's voice from nowhere.
"Can you hear me Wendy?"
"Umm, yes." she answered
"Good. The guys can hear us too so if you see anything, just sing out."
There went her chance to contact the other Rangers. If she was on an open commlink to Van and the Motorvators, there was no way she could call the other Rangers without blowing her secret ID. Suddenly, another explosion rocked the Pitstop and the view through the periscope went dark. Rubble had fallen on top of the part that was topside. Wendy saw her chance.
"Van, the periscope's covered in rubble. I'm going topside to try to clear it off."
"What? No! Wendy, stay inside!" But Wendy was already out the door.
Explosions went off all around her but Wendy kept going until she ran into a platoon of Cogs. Only one thing to do with this many.
Wendy moved her right arm in a wide circle, grey energy trailing her hand. She brought her hands together and thrust them forward.
NINJA RANGER POWER NOW!"
In a flash, Wendy was gone, replaced by the Grey Ninja Ranger. She took them on two at a time and when they started to overwhelm her with sheer weight of numbers, the Cogs suddenly found themselves outnumbered as the Grey Ninja Ranger projected multiple images of herself. Several Cogs found themselves on the ground when they tried to tackle the insubstantial duplicates, a mistake which the Grey Ninja Ranger capitalized on. As the battle went on, she used every Ninja trick she knew but the Cogs just kept coming.
Wendy tried her communicator, but for the second time in as many days, she received only static. Once again, Mondo was jamming the Rangers' communications frequency. The faces of several Cogs flipped open and they fired energy blasts, knocking Wendy to the ground. Reeling from the blasts, Wendy was defenseless as the Cogs advanced on her. Suddenly, a high pressure stream of water slammed into a number of Cogs, knocking them over and short-circuiting their internal systems. Looking at where the water had come from, she saw Rev, in her Motorvator form, with her right arm extended, a drop of water dripping from the attached fire-hose.
Wendy gave Rev a thumbs-up and the Motorvator turned to rejoin her comrades in fighting the Vanpires flying cover for Dirk Demolition. In addition to fighting the Vanpires, the Motorvators also had to deal with the Cogs and their energy blasts. As the Motorvators and Wendy fought, Dirk Demolition's explosives came closer and closer to causing the sun to forever set on Sunrise Salvage.
The Power Chamber, a few minutes earlier
Matt sealed up the casing on the last of the Turbo Navigators and placed it with the others.
"Finished at last." he said
"Finally." said Tommy "Now, let's get over to-" Suddenly the alarm began to sound.
"Yo, yo yo!" Alpha began "We got trouble in the same place twice in as many nights!"
"You mean that junkyard?" asked Adam
"You got it. Only this time we've got Cog teleport signatures and something else the computer can't identify."
"Can't identify?" asked Tanya "You mean it can't get a reading on what the monster can do?"
"No, I mean it can't identify what they might be. They're not robots and they're not human, but that's as far as the computer can get before it starts spouting gibberish."
"Wendy's there too!" Matt exclaimed "She's in Ninja mode and kicking butt but there's enough Cogs there to storm the Pentagon!"
"Then let's give her some help!" Tommy said "SHIFT INTO TURBO!"
"MOUNTAIN BLASTER, TURBO POWER!" yelled Justin as energy crackled between his hands. A Turbo Ranger gun belt appeared on his waist, then his clothes were replaced by his blue Turbo Ranger uniform. His helmet locked into place around his head, the opaque visor closing once the helmet was complete. Finally, his belt buckle lit up and he grew to adult size.
"DUNE STAR TURBO POWER!" yelled Tanya as energy crackled between her hands. A Turbo Ranger gun belt appeared on her waist, then her clothes were replaced by her yellow Turbo Ranger uniform. Her helmet locked into place around her head, the opaque visor closing once the helmet was complete.
"WIND CHASER TURBO POWER!" yelled Kat as energy crackled between her hands. A Turbo Ranger gun belt appeared on her waist, then her clothes were replaced by her pink Turbo Ranger uniform. Her helmet locked into place around her head, the opaque visor closing once the helmet was complete.
"DESERT THUNDER TURBO POWER!" yelled Adam as energy crackled between his hands. A Turbo Ranger gun belt appeared on his waist, then his clothes were replaced by his green Turbo Ranger uniform. His helmet locked into place around his head, the opaque visor closing once the helmet was complete.
"RED LIGHTNING TURBO POWER!" yelled Tommy as energy crackled between his hands. A Turbo Ranger gun belt appeared on his waist, then his clothes were replaced by his red Turbo Ranger uniform. His helmet locked into place around his head, the opaque visor closing once the helmet was complete.
Matt moved his right arm in a wide circle, purple energy trailing his hand. He brought his hands together and thrust them forward.
NINJA RANGER POWER NOW!"
In a flash, Matt was replaced by the Purple Ninja Ranger. In streaks of light, all the Rangers teleported to Sunrise Salvage. In a flash, they arrived on the scene, catching several Cogs by surprise as they kicked them to the ground as they emerged from the teleport. Matt helped up Wendy, who had been knocked down just before the other Rangers arrived.
"Thanks bro," she said "I think Mondo sent down every Cog on his Skybase."
"Wow!" exclaimed Justin "Matt wasn't kidding when he said there were enough Cogs here to storm the Pentagon!"
They were not exaggerating. The Rangers were outnumbered at least 10 to 1, maybe even 20 or 30 to 1. Tommy realized that they would never be able to beat this many Cogs using conventional means. Therefore, prudence demanded a small amount of escalation.
"Turbo RAM, Rev Up!" ordered Tommy and the Robotic Arsenal Mobilizer, appearing at first to be an ordinary kid's remote controlled car, rolled into view. It was the work of moments for the Rangers to reconfigure it into cannon mode. "Justin, set it for wide dispersal."
"You got it." replied the blue-clad hero as he adjusted the settings on the cannon. The Turbo Rangers then got in position to fire it at the assemblage of Cogs.
"TURBO RAM CANNON MODE! FIRE!" they shouted and a wave of energy blasted every Cog in sight to pieces.
"There's more Cogs where they came from and probably a monster too. Definitely something dropping bombs all over the place. IT'S MORPHIN TIME!" Wendy shouted. Matt and Wendy joined hands above their heads and in a flash of light they were holding the Techno Morpher.
"TECHNO MORPHER ONLINE!" they shouted in unison
The Techno Morpher split down the middle and each took a half as the two halves reconfigured into two complete morphers and the two power coin halves in each came together to form a complete power coin in each. Matt and Wendy held their morphers out in front of them as the original Rangers had.
"TECHNO RANGER ONE!"
"TECHNO RANGER TWO!"
The morphers left their hands and attached to their belts which became Power Ranger gunbelts complete with bladeblasters. Next, their clothes became Ranger uniforms. Matt's was purple while Wendy's was grey but both were variants of the original Power Ranger uniforms.
Finally, their helmets locked into place with the opaque visors closing once the helmets were complete. The design on Matt's helmet resembled the head of a stegosaurus while the one on Wendy's helmet resembled the head of a brachiosaurus.
"TECHNO RANGERS! KI-YAH!"
Suddenly, a nightmarish melding of man and car swooped in on the Rangers, knocking them backwards. Its metal eyes looked squinty and its body type looked Japanese in origin. It had a razor sharp fender that it held like a quarterstaff.
"So, you are the Power Rangers," it said in a bad Japanese accent of the sort found only in bad kung-fu movies "At last we meet. I shall take pleasure in destroying you for my Master Tracula and, in so doing, assure myself of high rank when Master Tracula governs this world!"
"It's not going to be that easy to beat us, whoever you are." Tommy answered
"I am the Shogun of Mitsubishi, soon to be known as the destroyer of the Power Rangers! Banzai!"
The Vanpire charged, swinging its fender-quarterstaff, striking several of the Rangers, causing sparks to fly with each hit.
"No monster calls itself a shogun while I'm around!" snarled Matt "Bladeblasters up!" Matt and Wendy drew their bladeblasters, aimed, and fired at the Shogun of Mitsubishi. It moved its fender-quarterstaff to reflect the beams back at the Techno Rangers. Sparks flew as they were blasted backward. The Turbo Rangers drew their Turbo Blades and charged. Swords and staff clashed as the Vanpire parried the Rangers' blows and scored a few hits of its own.
"Your anger distracts you, humans." it said "Soon you shall fall by my fender and Mondo shall make Lord Tracula ruler of this world!"
"That's the second time you've mentioned that name." said Justin "Who is this Tracula?"
"Tracula is the Lord of the Vanpires! He was the first Vanpire! All Vanpires swear allegiance to him and soon, all humans as well!"
"In your pipedreams, you gas sucker!" came a voice from the side, followed by a pair of hubcaps thrown like frisbees. One was deflected by the monster's fender but the other scored a hit along its arm. The Rangers looked to where the voice and hubcaps had come from and saw a strange merging of man and car whose body type was a red hot rod with a yellow flame design. "I don't know who this Mondo guy is, but no Vanpire is ever going to give ANY human orders!"
"Give up Motorvator! Soon your carfins will be destroyed and your life in the sun with them. Surrender now. Help me destroy these humans and you may have the honor of serving directly under me."
"Yeah, right. As if I'd help you. And you might want to look behind you."
"Ha! That is the oldest trick in the book!"
"But effective." came Wendy's voice as a whip made of grey energy yanked the fender from its hands.
"Very effective." said Matt as he fired his hook launcher at the monstrous Vanpire
It caught the hook in its hands but that didn't matter. Matt brought his hand down hard on the end of his hook launcher and a wave of purple energy traveled down the cable and into the body of the Shogun of Mitsubishi. The Vanpire was rocked by numerous explosions before it blew apart in the biggest explosion of all. Vanpire parts went everywhere.
"Wow!" exclaimed Tanya "Nothing like a monster blowing up to make you feel great."
"Now for him." Tommy said as he drew his Autoblaster and aimed it at Axle
"No!" Wendy shouted as she stepped between Tommy and Axle "He's on our side. The other 3 we chased last night too."
"How do you know?" asked Tommy
"Um, well. One of them helped me with some Cogs before and that one didn't seem to be on the same side as that Shogun character."
"I'm not." Axle said "I don't know who shot at you last night or how they made you think it was us, but we don't even have laser blasters. If we did, it'd be a lot easier to trash Vanpires. The name's Axle, by the way."
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Adam asked when, suddenly, a series of explosions were heard from the direction of the Pitstop.
<<Yo Motorvators!>> came Van's voice from Axle's comlink <<Where are ya!? Those explosions are getting too close for comfort, man! And even worse, Wendy's out there somewhere!>>
<<Wendy!?>> came Nuke's voice <<What in the world would make her go outside in this?>>
<<The Van-Scan got covered by some junk and she went out to clear it off before I couldn't stop her. Amigos, I haven't seen or heard from her since!>>
"This Wendy, girl with brown hair in a grey shirt?" asked Kat "We already got her clear."
"You hear that Van?" Axle asked into his comlink
<<I heard it amigo, good to know she's safe. Now get yourself in gear and get down here before the Pitstop gets turned into a crater!>>
"On the way Van!"
The soles of Axle's feet flipped up to allow his wheels to roll freely and he blazed back towards the Pitstop, the Rangers following him. As they neared the structure, they saw a dynamite truck Vanpire setting charges all around and on top of the mountain of junked cars that formed part of the outer walls.
"Yo, you metalheads get clear. One more charge and I'll be ready to BLOW this joint." Dirk Demolition laughed at his own pun as some Cogs backed away from the blast zone.
"I don't think so." Axle and Tommy said together
"Whoa. You guys must be the Power Rangers. I thought you and the Motorvators were supposed to blow each other up. Oh well, if I get to do it, it'll probably get me in good with this Mondo guy."
So saying, the Vanpire threw several sticks of dynamite at the heroes. The explosions disoriented them for a moment but caused no damage while a number of Cogs advanced on the Rangers and Axle. Their faces flipped open and bolts of energy flew from their eyes. The explosions knocked the heroes to the ground. The follow-up was stillborn as the robots were short-circuited by a stream of water. Rev flew in from one direction and Snap from another, both being chased by a Vanpire.
"Rev!" shouted Snap "Doublecross!"
"Right!" Rev answered
The two Motorvators made sharp turns to avoid each other but the Vanpires weren't that lucky. Both collided head-on and literally went to pieces. Snap and Rev landed by Axle as he and the Rangers got to their feet.
"Glad you guys could come." Axle said "Where's Nuke?" Axle's question was answered by the sound of ice cream bells coming closer. "Wait, let me guess."
"Come back here you sucker!" came Nuke's voice as the green Motorvator blazed into view in pursuit of a Vanpire with an ice cream truck body and a clown's face.
"Ha! Automaniac don't get caught by anyone! Hope ya had fun!" A laser blast suddenly blew out one of Automaniac's tires and the Vanpire slammed into the ground. "Hey! That wasn't very fun!"
The blast had come from Tanya's autoblaster. Surveying the remaining opposition, the heroes saw a number of Cogs, Automaniac, Dirk Demolition, and another Vanpire.
"You guys keep them busy a minute while I set this last charge!" ordered Dirk Demolition
"Did somebody say charge?" asked Rev
"CHARGE!!" yelled the Motorvators as they charged the Vanpires but they were impeded by the Cogs in the way as well as Automaniac and the third Vanpire which was using what appeared to be a set of nunchucks.
"Rangers, let's give them some help!" Tommy suggested and the seven Rangers waded into the mass of Cogs to clear a path to the Vanpire bomber before he detonated the charges and destroyed the Pitstop, and Van with it.
The Rangers and Motorvators delivered kicks and punches to the Cogs as they made their way towards Dirk Demolition who was almost done setting his last charge. Nuke tied several together with his tow rope and swung them around to smash more Cogs with. Tanya and Adam took on the nunchuck-wielding Vanpire while Justin, Kat, Rev, Snap, and Axle took on the remaining Cogs. This left Tommy to take on Automaniac alone.
"Looks like it's you and me Ranger." said the insane ice cream truck "How about if ya just give up and go cone?"
"Don't you mean 'Go home?'" wondered Tommy
"I know what I mean!" Automaniac laughed as a belly panel opened, spitting out a storm of razor sharp ice cream cones. Sparks exploded around Tommy as the reactive armor of his suit triggered violently to keep the cones from perforating him.
"TOMMY!" Kat shouted, forgetting for a moment that there were those present who didn't know their secret identities. She knocked a Cog away with a roundhouse kick and leaped into the air towards Automaniac. "TURBO WINDFIRE!" Kat called her personal weapon and fired several bolts of energy at the clown-faced Vanpire. Automaniac was knocked back by the blasts and then a flying kick from Kat separated his head from his body. While Kat helped Tommy to his feet, Automaniac's body went searching for its head.
"Thanks," Tommy said "Now, let's show that demolition van it's nice to blow things up."
"You're too late! The fuse is lit!" Dirk Demolition announced. And indeed, a fuse was quickly burning its way towards the first of the explosives. Once that one detonated, it would be impossible to stop the chain reaction that would destroy the Pitstop and the Motorvators' carfins with it.
Dirk Demolition lit and threw two sticks of dynamite at Tommy and Kat, the explosions knocking them to the ground. They were too far away to stop the charges from going off and none of the Motorvators or the other Rangers were close enough either. All seemed lost when a metal foot stepped on the lit portion of the fuse, snuffing it out.
"Detonating explosives while any sentient being is within 50 feet of the blast zone is a violation of the munitions code." Quoted the Blue Senturion, citation pad in hand. "Destruction of private property and several counts of improper use of a motor vehicle. Quite serious as well." he noted
TURBO THUNDER CANNON!" came Adam's shout as he fired his weapon at the Vanpire that had been using nunchucks moments before Tanya had disarmed it with her Star Chargers. This one exploded much as the Shogun of Mitsubishi had. The last of the Cogs had also been dispatched by now and all the Rangers and Motorvators, plus the Blue Senturion, now converged on Dirk Demolition.
"Uh oh." was all the Vanpire had to say
"Hey Nuke," began Rev "What do you think would happen if his dynamite were to ACCIDENTALLY be lit?"
"I don't know," responded Nuke "What?"
"Let's find out!"
Rev pulled out a flare, ignited it, and lofted it through the air as Nuke did the same. The flares made contact with a few of the sticks of dynamite, igniting them. The look on Dirk Demolition's face was priceless. The dynamite went off, triggering a chain reaction of explosions as all his explosives went off in sequence.
The Machine Skybase
Klank and Orbus were having a whispered discussion in the Throne room as the royal family and Tracula's cadre, minus Automaniac, watched the battle on the viewscreen.
"Are ye sure Orbus?" Klank asked
"Indubitably." answered Orbus "I've run the analysis and calculations twice. The incompatibility simply cannot be compensated for."
"Oh dear. When his highness finds out, he won't be very happy." Just then, the viewscreen showed the explosions as Dirk Demolition's cargo of bombs detonated.
"KLANK, ORBUS!" bellowed Mondo "Get down there and enlarge Dirk Demolition!"
"Umm, yuir highness, there's something I think-"
"NOW!!!"
"Yes yuir highness!" Klank and Orbus immediately teleported down to Earth and appeared on a nearby junkpile. You don't suppose there's a chance ye were wrong Orbus?"
"About 1.24 percent." responded Orbus
"Here's hopin for luck then." Orbus reconfigured himself to look somewhat like a throwing hammer and Klank whirled him around.
"Around and around and away ye go!" Orbus landed right on Dirk Demolition, who was just barely standing and not at all aware of what was going on, and injected some green energy into him.
"Here goes!" Orbus said as he floated up and projected a field of energy around Dirk Demolition. His superstructure lit up and then flickered out. Orbus stopped projecting the field and quickly floated back to Klank as Dirk Demolition fell and exploded. The two robots quickly teleported out before the Rangers could react.
"What was all that about?" asked Axle
"I'm not sure." answered Tommy "Usually when Klank and Orbus do that, the monster grows to giant size and we have to call out the Zords to fight it. Why didn't it work this time?"
"Could've been a malfunction." began Justin "Even Machine Empire tech can't be 100% infallible."
"I'll bet that won't be much of a comfort for Klank and Orbus when Mondo blames them for their latest failure." Tanya smiled beneath her helmet
<<Hello!? Anybody still there?>> came Van's voice from the Motorvators' comlinks <Don't forget we've still got a ton of bombs all over the place here.>>
"We're still here Van." responded Snap
"You better stay down a while longer Van." cautioned Axle "No telling what booby traps the fang-gang or those robots set up before we trashed them."
<<I hear you amigo, just let me know as soon as you've gotten rid of all the bombs.>>
"Roger that Van. Talk to you later." Axle turned to the Rangers "Umm, bomb disposal's a little out of our league. You guys have dealt with a bunch of bombs though, right?"
"Yes, we have." answered Tommy "We'll help you find and get rid of all the bombs around here."
"Judging by the fuse it used," began Wendy "I'd think that the bombs will be easy to disarm since it looked like that, what did you call it? That Vanpire was doing all the work."
"There's a lot of them though." Justin said, glancing at an active Turbo Navigator "Could take hours to get them all."
"Red Ranger," began Kat "Weren't you planning on doing a scan of a certain location tonight?"
"Man," exclaimed Tommy "With all the excitement, I forgot all about it. Blue Ranger, Pink Ranger, let's go. The rest of you stay here and help the Motorvators disarm the explosives. Purple Ranger, you're off the hook this time since you and Grey Ranger need to stay together."
The red, blue, and pink Rangers teleported away while the remaining Rangers got to work along with the Motorvators digging out and neutralizing the explosives planted by Dirk Demolition.
End of Act 3