The Beast Inside

Ch. 25: Grid Connection

It's been about a month since Devon and I have been together. It was hard hiding our relationship when we were at Grid Battleforce. I greatly appreciated our friends covering for us, as we did with Nate and Zoey, but this was something that annoyed me constantly. "I said it before and I'll say it again. Never in Ranger history was that a rule. Dr. Oliver and Kimberly Hart, Trent and Kira, Theo and Lily, Andros and Ashley, Jen and Wes..."

"Okay Kali, we get it," Ravi had laughed when I talked to them about it.

"I get how you feel, Zoey and I agree but there's nothing we can do about it," Nate mentioned.

"Yes there is! We can stand up for ourselves!" I protested but since then I haven't said anything to the Commander, simply to protect Nate and Zoey. I was ready to make my case heard though when the time came.

As for Drakkon, occasionally he still appeared in my dreams but nothing new. However, last night I had a dream different from my typical nightmares. I'd seen many Rangers in a huge battle...and they lost. Also unlike my other nightmares, this one bothered me to no end. I'd become numb to the others but for some reason I couldn't just brush this one off. I also vividly remember Devon getting hit by a meteor. "Were we involved?" Steel asked after I told my friends about it.

"I...don't know. I couldn't see it clearly enough to tell what teams were involved," I admitted. Devon was skeptical, but everyone else was convinced I'd had a vision. I wasn't as skeptical as Devon because of my previous experiences but I didn't know if I'd call it a vision. Nonetheless I couldn't shake the feeling something bad was coming. We continued to hang out and after a while, Devon had to rush off to a video game tournament.

The rest of us went back to Grid Battleforce and soon we received a transdimensional call from Ethan, the Blue Dino Thunder Ranger. "Grid Battleforce...under attack...after dino gems..." was all we were able to make out from the transmission but then a portal appeared.

"They need our help!" I said urgently before rushing into the portal, despite Nate calling out after me. As soon as I was through, I saw the chaos of the battle we had heard through the transmission. I immediately morphed and right after Nate, Ravi, Zoey and Steel appeared morphed and ready to fight too. After briefly discussing a plan, we jumped into battle. The Dino Thunder Rangers were struggling to hold off a bunch of Putties, Tyrannodrones, Goldar 2.0 and Mesogog.

Only a few moments after we got involved, I saw Mesogog knock Trent down. He demorphed, which allowed Mesogog to take his white dino gem. Goldar Maximus did the same thing to Connor as well. Ethan and Kira were next, and I tried to rush to their aid but the Puttie and Tyrannodrone hordes were relentless and Mesogog was able to take their dino gems too. In a matter of minutes, we were soon on the ground beaten and demorphed as well. "You guys okay?" Connor asked as he helped me up.

"Yeah, we've been through worse. What about you guys?" Ravi asked as Trent helped him up.

Devon's POV
As Cruise and I rode off to the tournament, excitement bubbled within me. The roar of the motorcycle beneath us, the wind whipping past, it all added to the thrill of the moment. But as we ventured further into unfamiliar territory, a sense of unease began to creep over me. We had taken a shortcut through a field area, hoping to shave off some time from our journey, but instead found ourselves surrounded by endless rows of tall grass, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

"Are you sure we're going the right way, Cruise?" I called out over the roar of the engine, my voice tinged with uncertainty as I scanned the horizon for any sign of civilization.

Cruise whirred in response, his digital display flickering with static. "Affirmative, Devon. According to the map, this should be the fastest route to the tournament."