Rangers 1, Megazord 0

Rangers 1, Megazord 0 is the eighth episode of Power Rangers: Lost Ninjas.

Last time we saw the Season Rangers...
Sienna and Tyler fled the Academy with the morphers they'd been entrusted with, fighting off the Spider Drones the Thinker sent after them.

Persephone Café, Scrimshaw, 9:20 pm
"Alice? Does it really take that long to get rid of the trash?" Monty asked, as his niece came in the side door. Alice brushed her hair back over her ears, then did it again, like she always did when she was distracted.

"Did you see the smoke?" She asked, coming back to the counter. "I heard someone mention a gym fire downtown, but it looks like it's still going."

"Clear table fourteen," Monty replied, as Alice washed her hands. The older man didn't seem particularly concerned. "Don't worry about it, the fire department will take care of it." Alice shrugged, drying her hands with a paper towel, and headed off to bus the table. She hoped nobody had gotten hurt in the fire.

As she cleared crumpled napkins and dirty dishes, Alice saw a police car go whizzing by, sirens wailing and lights flashing. Then another, and three more in a cluster. Now that she was paying attention, Alice could hear more sirens in the distance, getting louder. Glancing down, she happened to see a half-full glass of water ripple. She dismissed it as a wobbly table, and gave it a final wipedown.

Alice was just dumping the dishes in the sink when she noticed the booming noises. They started out faint, more felt than heard. A few more police cars and fire engines went by—going the other way. Seeing them, the customers began to murmur among themselves, and filtered out in ones and twos.

As Alice was taking one couple's order, a police car pulled up right in front of the Café. A tall policeman walked inside, a grim look on his face, and everyone quickly turned to him. He crossed the room and spoke in a low voice to Monty. Alice came closer, and caught the words "shelter" and "civilians." The booming noises were getting louder.

"I-I don't think I understand," Monty stammered. "Shouldn't we evacuate?" His voice was loud enough for a few nearer people to hear, and begin murmuring.

"There's the stockroom—it's in the basement," Alice interrupted. "It's big enough for everyone in here with room to spare."

"Right," Monty said, after a moment. The policeman nodded, and turned towards the patrons.

"Will everyone please gather their things and follow me downstairs, please?" He called. "I'll explain the situation there." With a flurry of activity and chatter, everyone collected their purses and bags and wallets. Now the wobbly chairs and tables were trembling with each boom. Monty got the door to the stairs, and the policeman ushered everyone down. Alice noticed an elderly man struggling with his cane and wallet. A younger woman with him, probably his daughter, tried to get him to come, but he snapped at her about money or something. Rolling her eyes, Alice went to help him.

The Thinker's Ship, New Zealand Airspace, 9:30 pm
The Thinker stood at the console, cane resting against it, watching three screens at once. One showed a satellite view of Scrimshaw; the Season Megazord's destruction looked like a cloud of black smoke. Another let him see through his monster's eyes, out the cockpit of the Megazord itself, and the last showed the news reports of the battle. The Thinker rolled his eyes.

"Humans," he said to the last screen, and the panicking text scrolling across it. "So easy to scare. Doesn't matter if it's a giant robot or one man with a gun." The Megazord hesitated. The Thinker spoke up. "Pilot, continue dismantling buildings until the Rangers arrive. Ignore the civilians unless they get in your way." They were too small for a Megazord to deal with effectively. A few idiots could live another day, assuming they could scrape together the brain cells to run away.

Pilot sent surges of energy through a few of the metallic tendrils linking it to the Megazord controls. The entire thing looked like a cross between a spiderweb and an octopus, with the robotic Pilot at the center. The robot had a blobby, shapeless body and a head like a manta ray, with two blue sensors for eyes. The Thinker hadn't bothered to equip it with intelligence: it didn't need more than orders. Maybe, he mused, if it defeated all of the Rangers, he'd upgrade it.

115 Mistview Drive, Scrimshaw, 9:40 pm
Sienna hopped into the living room, tying her shoe as she went. Sitting on the couch, Tyler hung up the phone. A couple of younger boys ran through the house, carrying toy blasters. Tyler didn't get more than a glimpse, but he thought they looked like something earlier Rangers had used—Lightspeed, maybe?

"How's the uncle?" Sienna asked, dropping onto an ottoman with a thump.

"Calmed down. He heard about the gym burning down on the news and got kinda freaked out," Tyler replied.

"Is that all they're saying?" One of the two boys ran back in again, skidding to a halt and ducking behind a sofa.

"He didn't say, but it makes sense. Even if they spotted any of the monsters, they wouldn't want to make a fuss about it and scare people," Tyler said. Jude's clothes were a little too big for him, and he had to roll up the hems of the pants.

"What about evacuating?"

"What are you guys talking about?" The boy asked, popping up from behind the sofa.

"Nothing," Sienna said, not even looking. "None of your business anyway, Nate." Before the kid could ask anything else, the other burst in, guns blazing, and they got back to their battle.

"They might be, I dunno." Tyler shrugged.

"Let's check." Springing to her feet, Sienna ran to the TV, and started digging through the books and toys piled on it. With an "aha!" she pulled out the remote, turned the TV on, and began flipping channels as she backed her way towards her seat. Soon she found the news, just as she dropped back onto the ottoman.

The two were immediately greeted by the sight of a Megazord smashing through the downtown area. They didn't get a good look, since the cameraman was running for his life, but they saw enough. Screams and sirens wailed from the TV.

"Hey, those are our Zords!" Sienna protested. Tyler was already out of his chair and heading for the door. Turning off the TV, Sienna bolted after him. "Wait for me!"

The two Rangers ran down the alley, skidding to a halt. The Megazord rampaged on past them, smashing buildings as it went.

"What do we do?" Sienna asked, looking to Tyler.

"Morph," he said without delay. Grinning, Sienna grasped her Season Morpher.

"Autumn Storm, Ranger Form!"

Tyler stands in a wide field covered in yellowing grass, in ninja uniform. A storm rages above him. His uniform transforms into leaves, swirling around him as his Ranger suit is revealed. His helmet forms and snaps shut around his head, and he strikes a pose.

"Summer Storm, Ranger Form!"

Sienna stands in a grassy, green meadow, a storm raging above her head. Rain pelts her, melting her ninja uniform away to reveal her Yellow Ranger garb. Her helmet materializes as her long hair shortens to fit inside it, and the visor snaps shut.

Sienna turned expectantly to Tyler. "Okay, now what do we do?"

"Um..." the Megazord took out a building. Sienna hopped from one foot to the other impatiently, waiting for a response. Tyler heard a shriek, and dove forward. Grabbing a woman, he somersaulted out of the way, as the Megazord's foot came down where she'd been standing.

"Okay," Sienna said, shrugging. She charged as well, and shoved a running policeman out of the way of falling concrete. The man was already up and running before Sienna could even recover.

"Hey, Tyler!" She yelled. "I got an idea!"

"Great—what?" Tyler swerved to avoid more debris.

"Come here—I don't want to yell it at you, someone might hear."

Tyler ran over. "Climb up, camouflage yourself, take out the pilot."

"Okay."

"Can you camouflage me too?"

"I'm not that good yet," Tyler admitted. They jumped apart as a huge chunk of stone hit the ground, cracking the pavement.

"Okay, I'll just keep helping people down here." Sienna ran off to help extricate a few panicking civilians from a half-buried car. Tyler took a deep breath, turned, and raised his hands. He rippled, and after a few seconds, vanished. A distortion ran towards the Megazord, caught its leg, and began climbing up.

The Megazord moved smoothly and steadily. Tyler didn't have trouble clinging to it: the Zords were covered in lumps and protrusions. However, as he reached the waist, it stopped. The head cranked down, its massive, glowing eyes looking right at him. Tyler froze.

One huge hand swung around and swatted at him. Tyler jumped sideways, only just catching a chunk of metal at the last second. He knew his shield wouldn't hold up moving that fast, but he had bigger problems. The Megazord started slapping and swatting at him, each blow bringing a metallic clang. Once he missed and dropped several meters, only just hooking a leg around a protruding metal bar.

Dangling upside-down, Tyler saw a hatch, and quickly scrambled over. It opened, and he squeezed inside, pulling the door shut just as the hand came down. It boomed against the door. Its thick fingers couldn't manage the little hatch. Crushed against spare cords and machinery, Tyler waited, panting. The Megazord kept smacking and clawing at the door. It almost hooked it open with a finger, but Tyler quickly grabbed it and held it back. The thing was stronger, but it didn't have as good a grip. Still it felt like Tyler's arms were being dragged out of their sockets. He planed both feet on either side of the door and pulled as hard as he could. Finally, the Megazord left him alone. He started to open the door, only to glimpse black shooting towards him. Quickly, Tyler slammed the door, just for the fingers to scrape off it. Great, it was waiting for him.

"Sienna?"

"Yeah?" Her voice echoed in his helmet.

"I'm kind of stuck, can you make this thing stop pestering me so I can get higher up?" He asked.

"Stuck how?"

"I'm in a safety panel or something." The thick cables dug into his back, and he squirmed, trying to get more comfortable. "The Megazord won't let me out without trying to grab me and probably squash me."

"Okay, hang on." Was it getting more cramped in here? It felt like something was moving. Then Tyler felt a cord snake around his chest, and looked down. The wires were moving. As he started to pull away, they snapped tight around his chest, and hurled him against the door. It opened and he shot out, right into the Megazord's waiting hand. It clenched, ready to crush him.

"Autumn Blasters!" Tyler yelled, and two orange guns materialized in his hands. He fired, orange lasers burning through the synthetic black hands. The smell of burning rubber filled the air, filtering through his helmet, but the hand stopped. Shoving one gun into his belt, Tyler clambered up out of the glove and onto the Zord's arm. It was green and lizardy. He clung there as the Megazord took another swing at him.

A yell rang out, and Tyler looked down to see Sienna bashing at the Megazord's leg with a tewhatewha—although instead of being essentially a long-handled wooden axe, it was made of metal. It drew sparks with each blow, and Sienna danced around the Megazord as it tried to stomp on her.

"Hah! Missed me again, slowpoke!" She yelled, twirling it over her head like a baton. "What's the matter, afraid to hit a girl?"

Tyler started climbing again, as fast as he could. His hands were slick with sweat under his gloves, and his hair already clung to his forehead. He reached the elbow, then the shoulder. The Megazord spun in a full circle, almost throwing him off, but he clung to it. Halfway up the arm...shoulder...there was the head, and a hatch to get inside to the cockpit. Tyler paused, catching his breath.

"What are you, a snail? Come on, you're not even trying!" Sienna yelled, smashing at the Megazord's other leg for a change. It tried to stomp on her, but she backflipped away. As the Megazord ducked to grab at her, she stabbed it in the hand, the tewhatewha going right through it with a burst of sparks. She held on as it stood up, whooping as she was swung into the air. Tyler shook his head, torn between disbelief and weird admiration: she was nuts.

Then he caught the hatch door, swung it open, and flipped inside. He hit a web of thick cables, which immediately turned and began trying to snare him. Drawing his Autumn Blasters again, Tyler opened fire, shooting every which way. Maybe he'd have to repair the cockpit later, but right now he needed to get rid of the monster. Through the storm of wires and cubes and lasers, he glimpsed a lumpy robot body in the main cockpit, and began forcing his way towards it.

The tubes circled his neck and limbs, twisting him back and dragging him away. He fought, but then he lost his grip on one gun. It clattered to the floor, where it was picked up by a tentacle and turned on him. Tyler tried to twist away from the shots, but he still took a few blasts to the side and the thigh. It didn't burn through his suit, but it drew sparks and felt like being punched with an iron boxing glove.

As the thing managed to force his other Autumn Blaster out of his grip, he heard a shout.

"Hang in there, Ty, I'm coming!" With a yell, the Yellow Ranger lunged into the mess, hacking at the tubes with a pair of yellow-and-silver daggers. The tubes separated with blue sparks, and the robot let out a whistling shriek. They loosened their grip, and Tyler managed to twist an arm free.

"Season Tewhatwehwa!" He yelled, and the weapon appeared in his hand. With one swing, he sliced through all of the tubes holding one leg, and then the other. Dropping to the floor, he looked to Sienna. She let out an evil, breathless laugh. They both charged the robot in the middle. Their weapons slammed into it from both sides, crushing its hull inward with pops and fizzles. It exploded, sending them staggering back. The Megazord halted where it stood, and all of the tubes went limp. The lights went out as the Megazord's power faded with a whine.

Tyler panted, slumping against the console. Sienna was laughing: she sounded giddy.

"That was fun," she wheezed. Then she cocked her head to one side. "Can you hear cheering, or is that just me?"

Tyler turned and clambered back out the hatch. Sure enough, as he stepped onto the shoulder, he saw people trickling out of their hiding places, whooping and cheering. He stood there, feeling suddenly awkward. Sienna poked her head out of the hatch, saw the crowd, and climbed out. Bouncing up and down a little, she waved to the crowd.

"Wait, you called me Ty?" Tyler asked.

"Oh hush, you."

Persephone Cafe, Scrimshaw, 10:11 pm
Alice heard the cheering, and looked out the door. She froze. Eyes wide, she gaped. Then she charged outside, leaving the sheltering civilians to mumble in confusion.

The three big, plate glass windows that formed the front of the cafe had been shattered. Glass glittered like diamonds in the evening light, and crunched underfoot as Alice ran. She looked around in horror, a breeze tugging at her hair. Sirens still wailed outside. A few tables had been overturned, and some debris lay inside, but the only real damage was the windows.

Stepping up to the doorway, Alice looked up at the Megazord. She squinted at it. The two Rangers were just going back into its head. Slowly, ponderously, the Megazord turned and began to stump away.

"Great," she said, straightening and looking around. She put her hands on her hips. "Just great. This had better not become a regular thing."

Allies

 * Alice Harod

Villains

 * The Thinker
 * Pilot

Trivia

 * Since the only unused Season Ranger was Spring-based, Alice gets a spring reference: Persephone was the daughter of nature goddess Demeter. According to some legends, the reason the seasons exist is because Persephone gets to come back and visit her mom at that point in the year, making her happy and causing spring (winter is when she has to go back and stay with her husband Hades).