Firestorm

Firestorm is the seventeenth episode of Power Rangers: Lost Ninjas.

Synopsis
The Earthlight ninjas collect their Zords, just in time for Zart to launch an attack on Palencia.

Last time we saw the Earthlight Rangers...
The teens tried to make contact with their Zord builders, but the message was intercepted by a street thief named Micky. Rescuing him from his abusive father, Jess struck a deal with him for the message, which told them to come to a particular address the next evening. Thanks to bugs planted in her earlier invasion of the house, Xumara learned the news as well, and decided to send Zart against the team.

February 8th, Tito Street, Palencia, 7:58 pm
Rat smelled a rat.

He looked the building up and down. 115 Tito Street was a dingy laundromat with boarded-up windows covered with illegible graffiti. Wyatt and Jess were already scouting around, just in case the space ninjas were lurking about. Rat had suggested there might be something inside to worry about, but they wouldn't listen. Nobody listened to him. Still, Rat wanted his Zord, and this looked like the only way to get ahold of it. He guessed his chances of survival were better if he had a giant robot.

Jess came around the building, and after a moment, Wyatt appeared on the other side. Frankly, Rat was surprised he hadn't gotten lost halfway. The two teenagers scurried back to Rat.

"Nothing suspicious," Jess said, and checked her watch. "Let's go."

"You first," Rat replied. When Jess glared, he rolled his eyes and added, "They'll recognize you first, o sister-of-the-Sensei."

Jess went, followed by Wyatt, and Rat brought up the rear. Reaching the door, Jess knocked briskly, and stepped back. They didn't have long to wait.

The door swung inward, and an elderly woman peered out of the dark at them. Taking them in, she nodded once and opened the door wider. The trio entered, Rat surreptitiously checking his morpher and amulet as they did. As he entered, the door slammed shut behind him, plunging them in darkness.

Before anyone could react, the lights switched on, yellowy and dim. In front of them stood a Hispanic man in a white lab coat, probably somewhere in his forties. Clasping his hands behind his back, he eyed them, his face stony. Jess and Rat had dropped into a fighting stance, but Jess now straightened. Wyatt just watched expectantly.

"Jess Walsh, Wyatt O'Hare, Mason Green," the man said, looking at each of them in turn.

"Present," Jess said, giving Rat a mild punch to the upper arm. Shooting her a glare, he abandoned his fighting stance, but remained tense.

"How do we know you're who you say you are?"

Not batting an eye, Jess replied, "Your name is Lorenzo Delgado, you attended the Earthlight Academy when you were younger, becoming good friends with Nardu—and on March 24th the two of you snuck fireworks into the girls' cabin in the Lifelight compound—"

"That will do," Delgado interrupted. The lighting was poor, but it looked like his ears had gone a bit pink. Wyatt giggled. Delgado turned a knob on one of the dryers. With a thrum and whoosh, it slid aside, revealing a trapdoor and a ladder, lit from beneath by white light. The man climbed down first, and Jess led the others after him. It was a short climb. The further down they went, the brighter the light from below grew.

At last, they came out of the passage, and Jess stopped up short. The others didn't even mind; Rat gaped, and Wyatt whistled. A massive hangar buzzed with activity all around them. The three Zords stood silently, hooked up to a web of tubes and wires, resting on a metal framework. Whirring, clanging and low thrumming chatter echoed around the hangar. Delgado reached the bottom of the ladder, and after a moment, the ninjas followed.

"We'd actually completed the Albatrosszord first, but the design's bugs hadn't been fully worked out by the time we got the news, so we used it to build the others," Delgado said, guiding the trio into the center of the hangar. "I think you can guess which of these is yours."

Rat ran straight to the Fireflyzord. It was a little smaller than the others, about the size of a one-pilot private airplane. The scientists had already started unplugging it, and he slid through the group. With a spring, he landed on one wing, and walked to the cockpit, which opened up for him. An Earthlight sigil gleamed on the back wall. Slipping into the pilot's seat, Rat looked over the controls. They looked real and functional. He wished he was more of a techie and could tell if they'd been sabotaged.

A boom made the hangar tremble. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look up. Dust trickled from the roof. As Rat craned his neck to see, a second boom made the hanging tubes and wires jiggle. A faint scream carried from above, along with an insane laugh. Rat realized what was happening, and his stomach clenched. Zart was back.

Jess's Komodo Dragonzord's eyes lit up. It rose free of its supports and restraints, turning towards the far wall. It split open down the middle, revealing a set of massive doors. They swung open slowly, and the Dragonzord, followed by the Mongoosezord. Rat hesitated, but realized he was probably safer outside, where he could maneuver.

"Earthlight Storm, Ranger Form!"

Rat stands in anightstruck forest, surrounded by the glowing dots of fireflies and glowworms.As he throws his arms out, the insects alight onhim, until his entire body glows yellow-green. The light fades to reveal his Green Ranger suit. His face guard and visor close over his face, and he strikes an upright stance, right forearm before his face, left drawn back at chest height, palms flat.

"Power of Lifelight!"

Tito Street, Palencia, 8:15 pm
Zart stood in the middle of the burning laundromat, watching his Fiery Salamanders scamper through the abandoned machinery. They'd already torn a gaping hole in one wall, and several had slipped out to attack nearby buildings.

Over the roar of the flames, he heard mechanical noises, and grinned. Just as Xumara had predicted, the Rangers were coming to fight. Summoning a cluster of Fiery Salamanders with a gesture, Zart mashed them together. Swirling and roaring, the creatures molded together and grew, drawing more fire from the inferno around them until they smashed through the roof.

Stepping outside, Zart looked up as his creation staggered, smashing through one of the laundromat's remaining walls. Bits of flame dripped from the massive monster. Through the haze of smoke dropped Xumara's ship. Before Zart could react, a gun rose and fired blue lightning into the monster. It roared, and the flames faded, forming a black segmented shell of a body. Flames licked around the edges of each piece. Now essentially solid, the enormous lizard creature laughed, the noise booming through the air.

A second roar echoed it, and between the buildings rushed a pink-and-bronze Komodo Dragonzord. As the monster turned towards it, a red blur swooped from behind, and a massive mongoose struck at the monster's leg. Snarling, the fire monster turned and brought a clawed fist down on the Zord's head. It stumbled.

Zart pulled what looked like a radio out of his robes, and turned it on. In a burst of static, he heard the Pink Ranger's voice. It was ridiculously easy to tap into Zord radio; from what Zart had heard, sometimes ordinary stations picked it up.

"Wyatt!"

"I'm okay," the Scarlet Ranger replied, as the Zord picked itself up. The fire monster brought a foot down on his Zord's tail, and it fell down again. "Just give me a minute."

Lurching forward, the Komodo Dragonzord slammed bodily into the fire monster, bringing it down. Zart sprang aside just in the nick of time as the behemoth crashed. Its shell cracked, and flames dripped like blood out of its body. Snarling, it seized the Dragonzord in a crushing grip. The robot struggled, but couldn't free itself.

"I'm losing my shields!" Jess shouted. "Rat, do something!"

"My attacks aren't as good as yours!" The Green Ranger protested.

"Stop whining and help!"

"Alrightalready."

Out of the smoky sky swooped the green Fireflyzord, rear glowing. It buzzed the fire monster, which stupidly let go of the Komodo Dragonzord with one hand to swipe at it. As the Fireflyzord took off out of reach, the Mongoosezord attacked again. Its rapid, nipping lunges only seemed to annoy the fire monster, but it lost its grip on the Komodo Dragonzord. All three Zords backed up, gathering on the far side of the street.

"Let's bring them together!" Jess ordered.

"Fine by me," Rat replied.

Wyatt sounded confused. "Do what, now?"

"Just follow my lead," Jess replied.

"Yes," Zart hissed, grinning widely. "One against one."

The fire monster picked itself up, bleeding flames. It rumbled, and advanced on the Earthlight Zords.

The Komodo Dragonzord springs into the air. Its hind legs rise up its body, attaching to the other two and shifting to form arms. Its head drops down into its body. Below it, the Mongoosezord splits in half, folding up into a pair of red-and-bronze legs. The Komodo Dragonzord lands on it, and the two attach with clicks and whooshes. Performing a barrel roll, the Fireflyzord curls up its body and lands atop the forming Megazord. Its wings fold forward into the sides of a helmet. The front of the Fireflyzord's body rises, exposing a bronze face.

"Earthlight Megazord!" The Rangers shouted.

Smirking, Zart began to gather the rest of the fire into a massive ball. The fire monster charged, bellowing and trailing flames. Its fist slammed into the Megazord's chest, and it staggered back. Seizing the Megazord in a backwards hug, the fire monster held it in place.

"Get this guy off!" Rat yelled.

"What's he doing?" Wyatt wondered aloud.

"Look!" Jess had seen the growing fireball.

Hauling back, Zart hurled it at the Megazord. It struck, enveloping the robot in flames. It staggered, and the fire monster shoved it forward. Naturally, the flames hadn't bothered Zart's monster in the slightest. The Megazord fell with an echoing boom. Static almost drowned out the Rangers' shouting, and Zart cackled.

"Activating Scale Shield Power Sphere!" Jess shouted.

As the fire monster moved in for the kill, the Megazord rolled over. The Earthlight sigil on its chest popped open, and a Power Sphere flew out, transforming into a massive scale-patterned shield. Catching it, the Megazord blocked the fire monster's attack. The Rangers pushed back, forcing the fire monster away. The Megazord sprang to its feet, cracking the pavement, and charged, ramming the monster shield-first.

"What?" Zart cried. Immediately, he got to work on another fireball. However, as he threw it, the Megazord deflected it right back at him, and he had to duck. Grinding his teeth, Zart hurled a volley of flames at the robot, but it stood firm.

"Wyatt!" Jess yelled.

"Activating Shard Shuriken Power Sphere!"

The shield vanished. Quickly, Zart summoned more fire, but he'd already used most of the blaze. Out of the Earthlight sigil came yet another Power Sphere, opening up to reveal a set of jagged obsidian shuriken. Catching them, the Megazord backed up, away from the oncoming fire monster.

"Shard Volley!" The Rangers shouted, and threw the shuriken. They split and duplicated into a swarm of black, and slammed into the fire monster. The remnants of its shell shattered, and it howled as it collapsed. Its fiery innards collapsed with a boom, burning away in seconds.

"No!" Zart screamed. "It's not fair!"

He started for the Megazord, only to teleport away after three steps. Materializing inside Xumara's ship, Zart looked around in fury. Xumara stood there, expression impassive.

"You told me I could burn them! Why did you stop me?" Zart roared, advancing on her. Sparks crackled around his fingers.

"Fuel," Xumara replied curtly. Zart paused, confused. "Or didn't you notice how quickly your fires went out whenever you hit the Megazord? You're going to need something to keep it going long enough to cook the Rangers-or to make it powerful enough to burn through the hull. When we have that, I'll let you finish the job."

"Hurry," Zart snarled.

Earthlight Zord Hangar, Palencia, 8:44 pm
"I knew it was a trap," Rat said, as the Rangers exited their Zords, demorphing.

Jess punched him in the arm. "Shut up! It wasn't their fault!" She gestured to the crew now fussing over their Zords.

All of the Rangers were sweaty, and would have an array of bruises in the morning. Someone gestured to a corner of the hangar, and seeing a small door, they hurried over. It turned out to lead to a break room, set up with a row of lockers, a couple of bathrooms, a quasi-kitchen and a couple of chairs and couches. Combing her hair out of her face with her fingers, Jess flopped onto the closest sofa. Wyatt sat beside her, and Rat took a chair.

"How did Zart find out where the Zords were being kept? You said yourself that nobody could have followed us without being detected." Rat folded his arms, sitting back in the chair. "The only people who knew about this place were us, Kai, and everyone here. Do the math."

"He's got a point," Wyatt put in. "But if they were waiting for us, or even tracking us, why not attack before we got the Zords?"

Jess frowned thoughtfully. "Good question. I think they wanted us to bring out the Zords-you noticed how even when Zart was attacking, right above us, the hangar didn't budge. They probably couldn't get at them without us." Her face lit up. "Which means they couldn't have a man on the inside."

"Or they have one who isn't important enough to have his own key," Rat countered. "Be realistic. All Zart has to do is threaten to toast somebody's family, and bang, spy."

Nobody spoke for a few minutes. From the hangar, they could hear the sounds of their Zords being repaired. They hadn't been too badly damaged, just a little cooked.

"The monsters got into Kai's house before we even arrived," Jess replied. "The spy could just as well be over there. We have just as much reason to trust the people over there as here, so I say we just be careful until we find proof. We'll all keep our eyes and ears open. How's that?"

Mollified, Rat nodded, and Wyatt shrugged.

"Sounds fair," he said, and looked over at the refrigerator. "Do you think they have any sodas?"

Allies

 * Lorenzo Delgado

Villains

 * Xumara
 * Zart
 * Fiery Salamanders
 * Zart's Fire Monster

Trivia

 * This episode, and part of the next, was written during a Write-Until-You-Pass-Out challenge the day before its original upload date.