The media called Zergain's mecha monster the Bopparoo. Polls showed that giving some of the monsters silly names made the people of Angel Grove feel less fearful. The Bopparoo resembled a robotic kangaroo with the face of a rat.

Bopparoo had a dial on its chest with several different symbols. The dial turned to the symbol of an earthquake, and Bopparoo punched the ground hard. The shockwave shook the city streets of Angel Grove West.

Simon walked close behind Hunter as they carried more bags to the pier. "You really don't want to work with us? We don't have to like each other to work well together."

"We're completely different people," Hunter said.

"So what?" Simon said. "We both want the same thing. Where's your determination to stop the Jakanja?"

"Determination?" Hunter tossed the bags onto the pile. He looked to Simon. "Are you kidding me? You guys became Rangers by chance. Without any work. What kind of determination is that?" Hunter walked away and nearly had to shove Simon backward. "Get out of my way."

"Wait," Simon said as he followed the older teen. "That may have been true at first. But we've fought against a lot of Jakanja creeps since then. We've beaten them time and again and prevented this city from getting destroyed."

"Out of luck." Hunter kept walking.

The ground suddenly shook and nearly tossed the two rangers off their feet. Hunter looked towards the distance. "Something's not right."

He ran off, and Simon followed.

The two rangers ran to the Pier Three commercial plaza near the docks. They spotted Bopparoo hopping across the development.

Simon activated his communicator. "Justin, Rachel."

Hunter lifted his communicator. "Blake."

Bopparoo spotted the two rangers and slammed his fist against the ground. The shockwave hurled the rangers off their feet. They crashed against the pavement and skid backward.

The monster laughed at the rangers. "New playmates...wonderful."

Simon rose to his feet. "Doesn't look like we can wait for the others to get here."

"All the better," Hunter said.

Simon and Hunter leapt through the air and shouted: "Ninjetti Change!" Energy twirled around them as they morphed into their Ranger forms.

Hurricane Red unsheathed his sword, and Crimson Thunder unsheathed his staff. The Rangers chopped their weapons across the monster with bursts of spark that knocked him backward.

Bopparoo tumbled across the pavement and rose to his feet. The wheel on the monster's chest turned to a symbol of fire. The villain thrust his fists forward and fired pulses of flame from his gauntlets.

The blasts exploded against the Rangers with bursts of spark that whipped their bodies backward. They rolled across the pavement and rose to their feet as Bopparoo stalked towards them.

"Gyro Blades!" Hurricane Red snapped a volley of Gyro Blades that exploded against  Bopparoo with bursts of spark that forced the monster several steps backward.

The dial on the monster's chest turned to the symbol of a bomb, and a massive explosion erupted around the Rangers and hurled them through the air. 

The Rangers crashed against the ground near the monster's feet. Crimson Thunder looked up and noticed the details of the monster's dial. "The Roulette Wheel. Of course…"

The Rangers rose to their feet as the monster's dial changed. Crimson Thunder noticed the dial selected a lightning symbol.

"Hawk Blaster!" Hurricane Red armed his weapon.

But Crimson Thunder grabbed Hurricane Red by the wrist and twisted so the Red Ranger dropped his weapon to the ground.

Hurricane Red pulled his hand away. "Hunter! What do-"

Bopparoo thrust his gauntlets and fired streams of lightning at the Rangers.

Crimson Thunder pushed Hurricane Red aside and snapped his Thunder Staff into its shield mode. The Crimson Thunder Ranger stayed behind his shield as he walked forward and pushed against the jagged energy beam. Crimson Thunder snapped his shield into staff mode and swung through the blast, which overloaded the monster's gauntlets with bursts of spark.

"Shadow Style! Thunder Strike Jutsu!" He poured his shadow energy into the staff, which crackled with bolts of electricity. He chopped the blade down diagonally and back up with a backhand swing.

The strikes sparked against the monster and knocked him off his feet. Secondary explosions sparked beneath the creature's armor.

Crimson Thunder turned his back to the monster and casually swung his staff over his shoulder.

Bopparoo stumbled back to its feet and hopped away in retreat.

Simon and Hunter powered down their armor. Simon glared at Hunter. "What was that about? Why'd you stop me?"

Hunter crossed his arms over his chest. He did not look at Simon. "So he wouldn't change his method of attack. I'm a Thunder Ranger. I can deal with lightning attacks."

"You could have said something. Is that all you care about is yourself?"

"I figured you could take a small hit like that."

Simon scoffed. "You're a real jerk, ya know."

Hunter looked to Simon. "Only a novice would react to what I'm saying. You're still acting like a baby. And you think you're good enough to actually fight against the Jakanja? Don't make me laugh."

Simon swung a punch that Hunter caught. Hunter kicked towards Simon's legs, but Simon hopped over the blow and smashed a punch across Hunter's face. Hunter slammed an uppercut against Simon's chest.

The other rangers suddenly ran to the scene.

Justin grabbed hold of Simon and pulled him off. "Simon!"

Blake casually walked towards his older brother.

Zergain finished making repairs to Bopparoo. The mechanical creature flexed its robotic muscles. "Thank you for making me stronger, Zergain. The Rangers will die thanks to these upgrades!"

Kapri and Marah stepped up from behind the monster. Kapri ran her hand along the creature's shoulder. "We should fight too."

"Yeah," Marah said with a smile. "Let's kill the Rangers before the new guy shows up."

Simon sat on a bench and glared at Hunter, who stood next to his brother on the other side of the concrete path.

Rachel used a small cloth to dab the blood from Simon's face. "What was that about...are you even listening?"

"Not really," Simon said.

Rachel scoffed and tossed the cloth against Simon's chest. "You infuriate me."

The rangers' communicators toned, and Tommy's voice came through. "Guys, that mecha creature is back. He's at the dock's warehouse area."

"We're on it," Simon said. He looked to his teammates. "Let's go."

The five rangers dashed back towards the docks and sprinted towards the cluster of warehouses. The area was vacant on account of the monster attack. Most of the workers had already made it to the nearest shelter.

The rangers skid to a halt when they spotted the Bopparoo.

Simon pointed at the villain. "We wiped the floor with you before and we'll do it again!"

Hunter arced an eyebrow. "We?"

Bopparoo bashed his fists together. "Try it, rangers...I'm a new-and-improved version."

The rangers armed their morphers.

"Senpu..."

"Gorai..."

"Ninjetti Change! Ha!" Energy twirled and lashed around them as they morphed into their Ranger forms. They snapped into fighting stances and squared off against the monster.

Bopparoo stepped back into a defensive stance. The wheel on the monster's chest turned to a symbol of fire. The villain thrust his fists forward and fired pulses of flame from his gauntlets.

The blasts exploded against the Rangers with a massive force that tossed them through the air. The Rangers slammed against the rooftops of nearby warehouses and tumbled towards the ground. They slammed hard against the pavement as steam danced across their armor. 

Hurricane Red rolled his hands into fists and climbed to his feet. "Combination weapons." The Power Rangers combined their weapons. "Storm Striker!"

The Thunder Rangers combined their weapons into a single blaster. "Thunder Cannon!"

"Fire/Thunder!" The Storm Striker fired a whirling pulse of energy, and the Thunder Cannon fired a bolt of shadow energy that crackled with navy lightning. The blasts combined into a single energy pulse that spun with power and streaked towards the monster.

Bopparoo braced himself for the finishing blow. But it never came. A rainbow barrier extended in front of him and deflected the blast back towards the Rangers.

The blast exploded against their armor with bursts of spark and flame that whipped them off their feet.

Crimson Thunder slowly climbed to his feet. "A barrier?" he said with disbelief.

"That would be me," a chipper voice said from behind the Rangers. They turned to see Marah standing along with Kapri and Zergain. "I call it my Elegant Barrier."

Kapri rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous, Marah."

Marah pouted. "I like it."

Zergain ignored them and unsheathed the swords from his shoulder armor. "We three Dark Spears are all here, Rangers. You will die today!"

The Dark Spears of the Jakanja charged forward to attack.

Bopparoo leapt through the air and slammed a punch against Hurricane Red's chest that sparked on impact and knocked him backward.

The Red Ranger crashed against the ground, skid backward, and rolled back to his feet. He quickly lifted his guard as Bopparoo charged towards him. Hurricane Red snapped a roundkick that Bopparoo blocked. The monster smashed an uppercut against the Red Ranger's gut with a burst of spark, slammed an uppercut to his chest, and smashed a fist against the back of the neck to knock the Ranger to the ground.

Bopparoo lifted his foot to stomp on the Ranger, but Hurricane Red rolled away.

Nearby, Hurricane Blue and Hurricane Yellow surrounded Zergain.

Hurricane Blue chopped her Storm Saber towards the villain. Zergain parried the blow and slashed his blades across the Blue Ranger's chest with a series of blows that sparked across her armor.

Hurricane Yellow moved in from Zergain's side and chopped towards the general's head. But Zergain parried the blow and slashed Hurricane Yellow with a powerful backhand swing that whipped him off his feet.

The Yellow Ranger crashed against the ground and tumbled away. He rolled to his feet just as Zergain's saber swung towards his head. Hurricane Yellow blocked the blow, but Zergain slashed his other sword across the Yellow Ranger's chest.

Hurricane Yellow was forced backward step-by-step as Zergain continued his attack. The villain swung his sword through a flurry of strikes. The Yellow Ranger parried some. Others sparked against his armor. 

Hurricane Yellow stabbed his sword at Zergain. The general used one blade to catch the sword and another to stab towards Hurricane Yellow's throat. The Yellow Ranger caught the blade. In a lock, the opponents twisted against each other and slammed each other against nearby crates. Zergain twisted his sword free and slashed the Yellow Ranger with a burst of spark that whipped his body backward.

Nearby, Kapri slashed her sword across Crimson Thunder's chest with a burst of spark that whipped his body backward.

Kapri traced her nails along the edge of her blade and smiled at Crimson Thunder. "You betrayed us...and we don't like that."

Marah agreed. "You should never make a girl mad."

She opened her mouth and spat a tendril of pink energy that wrapped around Navy Thunder. The tendril lifted him into the air, slammed him against a walkway, and dropped him to the ground.

Crimson Thunder looked over his shoulder to see his brother fall.

Kapri took advantage of the distraction and shot her sword towards the Crimson Ranger like a spear. The sword stabbed against his armor and knocked him to the ground.

Crimson Thunder rolled back to his feet and armed his Thunder Staff. He snapped the staff to its x-shaped position. "Thunder Star formation!"

He swung the staff to fire a twirling blade of crimson energy that exploded around Kapri with bursts of spark. But she faded away from sight as the blast exploded around her.

Kapri's laughter came from all around the Crimson Ranger.

Her leg appeared as a giant leg and kicked towards Crimson Thunder. He rolled away just as a giant hand clawed at him. He evaded the hand, but Kapri's giant head appeared and blew a cloud of mist that exploded against his armor with bursts of sparks that hurled him through the air.

Nearby, Hurricane Red leapt at Bopparoo and chopped his blade towards the monster. But Bopparoo punched the sword aside and slammed an uppercut against Hurricane Red with a burst of spark.

Bopparoo smashed a hook punch across the Red Ranger's helmet, which knocked him backward and sent him crashing through a nearby car's windshield. The Red Ranger tumbled across the hood and crashed against the ground.

Crimson Thunder took notice of the battle from nearby while fighting with Kapri.

Hurricane Red rolled his hands into fists and climbed to his feet. "We may have gotten these powers by chance...but that doesn't matter...we're Power Rangers!"

The Red Ranger charged at Bopparoo and smashed a roundhouse kick across the villain's head. Hurricane Red turned to snap another kick, but the villain slammed a pair of uppercuts against the Red Ranger's chest that sparked on impact and knocked him off his feet.

Hurricane Red tumbled backward and rolled back to his feet. "We won't stop fighting!"

He charged in with a jumpkick upside the head and spinning heel kick across the head.

The villain's dial turned to a symbol of flame. Bopparoo slammed a fiery punch against Hurricane Red's chest with a massive burst of spark that sent him flying off his feet and crashing against a warehouse wall.

The villain's dial turned to the symbol of lightning. "My last punch...a lightning fist to send you to Hell..."

The Red Ranger climbed to his feet. His sword toned from his holster. Hurricane Red unsheathed his blade and looked to his hilt. The sword had downloaded a new program.

Hurricane Red activated the program and stood in a fighting stance.

Bopparoo swung his fist and fired a bolt of lightning that streaked towards the Red Ranger.

Hurricane Red held his sword to block the blast, which danced across his blade.

"Ha!" Hurricane Red swung his arms wide to deflect the blast around him with bursts of spark. 

"Air Style! Thunder Strike Jutsu!" He poured his energy into the blade, which crackled with bolts of electricity. He chopped the blade down diagonally and back up with a backhand swing.

The strikes sparked against the monster and knocked him off his feet. Secondary explosions sparked beneath the creature's armor.

The five Rangers regrouped, and Hurricane Red armed his Hawk Blaster. "Combination weapons!" The Power Rangers combined their weapons. "Storm Striker!"

The Thunder Rangers combined their weapons into a single blaster. "Thunder Cannon!"

The Dark Spears regrouped around Bopparoo. Marah waved her hand and shouted. "Elegant Barrier!"

A rainbow-colored barrier appeared to protect the Jakanja from the Rangers' attacks.

Hurricane Blue shook her head. "Not again."

Hurricane Yellow looked to his leader. "It'll deflect our blasts right back at us!"

Crimson Thunder looked to the Power Rangers. "We'll combine all our weapons."

The Yellow Ranger tilted his head. "We can do that?"

Navy Thunder scoffed. "Just stop talking."

The five Rangers combined their weapon into a single cannon. The Power Rangers stood behind the cannon, and the Thunder Rangers kneeled while resting its barrel on their shoulders. "Thunderstorm Striker!" they shouted. "Fire!"

The cannon fired a crackling pulse of energy that shattered through the barrier and tore through Bopparoo. The explosion blasted the Dark Spears off their feet and sent them skidding across the pavement.

"It worked!" Hurricane Red shouted.

Zergain climbed to his feet. "Kapri, send the-"

Kapri gave him the hand. "I think I know by now." She pulled out her data pad. "Copy Giant, launch."

The Copy Giant launched from the Jakanja ship and landed at the docks. The giant robo scanned the debris of Bopparoo and downloaded its data. The robo changed shape to form a giant copy of the Bopparoo.

Hurricane Red activated his communicator. "Storm-zords mobilize!"

The Storm-zords passed through a trio of holographic entry portals and charged into battle. The Power Rangers leapt into their cockpits. 

"Storm-zords assemble!" Hurricane Red shouted. "Whirlwind fusion!" The three zords transformed and started to combine. The lion zord formed the chest, body, left arm, and legs. The dolphin formed the Megazord's right arm, and the hawk flew in and formed the head.

"StormMegazord!" the Power Rangers shouted. "Senpuujin!"

The Thunder Rangers lifted their morphers to their face plates. "Thunder-zords, mobilize!"

The Crimson Insectazord and Navy Beetlezord rolled into battle, and the Thunder Rangers leapt into their cockpits.

"Thunder-zords assemble!" Thunder Crimson shouted. "Thunder fusion!" The zords flashed with lighting and shot through the air while changing shape. The two zords combined into a giant robo. The stag claw formed a piece of chest armor, and the Insectazord's horn formed a helmet.

"ThunderMegazord!" the Thunder Rangers shouted. "Gouraijin!"

"Power Disc!" Crimson Thunder inserted the disc into his console. "Lock...and drop."

ThunderMegazord's chest plate flipped down and shot out Power Sphere No. 4. The sphere opened and released the Spin Blade, an axe that resembled a flower with razor-sharp petals that could spin like a saw.

"Spin Blade!" the Thunder Rangers shouted.

"Power Disc," Hurricane Red inserted a disc into his console. "Lock...and drop."

StormMegazord's chest plate opened, and Power Sphere No. 1 hovered out. The Sphere opened and released the Megazord's saber.

"Serpent Sword!" the Power Rangers shouted.

The Megazords swung their blades at the monster. But Bopparoo used its gauntlets to block the blows. The villain swung a double punch against both Megazords with bursts of spark upon impact. The Megazords stumbled backward several steps.

The wheel on the monster's chest turned to a symbol of fire. The villain thrust his fists forward and fired pulses of flame from his gauntlets. The blasts exploded against the Megazords with a shower of sparks.

"Guys," Ashley spoke through their communicators. "You need to combine."

"Power Disc!" Hurricane Red inserted the disc into his console. "Lock...and drop."

"Power Disc!" Crimson Thunder inserted the disc into his console. "Lock...and drop."

The Megazords' chest plates opened and shot our Power Sphere No. 7 and Power Sphere No. 8. The spheres opened and revealed two components, which combined to form a Minizord.

The zord placed its left hand against its right fist and spoke a programmed message. "I am Minizord" The zord uploaded streams of data and programming into the two Megazords. "StormMegazord...ThunderMegazord...combine!"

"Megazords assemble!" the Rangers shouted. "Thunderstorm fusion!"

The lion and dolphin arms of the StormMegazord snapped off. The lion head formed the chest of the Megazord. ThunderMegazord split into four segments that formed new arms and feet with wheels. The dolphin split in two and formed a pair of cannons on the Megazord's shoulders. Minizord formed a pair of gauntlets and helmet with a bladed crescent moon.

"Thunderstorm Megazord!" the Rangers shouted. "GouraiSenpuujin!"

Hurricane Red grasped his controls. "Thunder Hurricane!"

The lion mane spun and fired a beam of twirling energy, and the shoulder cannons fired pulses of energy that combined with the twirling wave. The energy blast punctured through Bopparoo with a massive explosion that tore his body apart with a burst of flame. 

Centhrax's cocoon cracked open within the Jakanja ship. A humanoid figure slid from the top of the cocoon while arching his back to pull free.

The slimy figure landed on the floor and took deep breaths that echoed throughout the chamber. Ooze dripped from the creature's rusty-brown exoskeleton and splattered on the floor.

The figure took its first steps.

The five rangers regrouped on the plaza and started walking away. The Thunders stayed quite a few steps behind Simon, Justin, and Rachel.

Justin sighed with relief. "That was a close one. I thought we were finished for sure."

"Yeah," Simon activated his communicator. "Thanks for that new program, Ashley. I didn't know we had a Thunder Slash too."

"Huh?" she answered. "Simon...I didn't send you a new program."

Simon stopped in his tracks, as did Justin and Rachel. They were just as curious as he was. "Then who did?"

The Thunders walked past Simon and the others and kept moving. Blake waited until they were out of earshot before looking to his brother. "Why did you pass him that move?"

Hunter kept his eyes ahead. "Maybe they have the right to have it easy."

Blake wrinkled his brow. "Huh?"

Zergain, Marah, and Kapri returned to the bridge of the Jakanja ship with their heads hung low in defeat.

Marah sighed and shrugged. "I suppose it could have gone worse."

Kapri scoffed. "Really? Really, Marah? I mean, really?"

Footsteps slowly approached from the shadows. The Dark Spears turned to see a figure dressed in a brown cloak and hood that covered his face. The stranger had an aura of power about him unlike any the villains had felt before.

Marah opened her eyes wide. "Are you Spear Six?"

"No," the villain said with a deep voice. He dropped his cloak. His slim, muscular body was covered with a rusty-brown exoskeleton like an insect. His narrow eyes were yellow with small black pupils. Mandibles protruded from the sides of his mouth. Tints of dark blue ran from his brow across his head. "I am Centhrax, Third Spear of the Seven Spears of Darkness."

"Centhrax?" Marah asked. "That's really you?"

"Well what about Spear Six?" Kapri asked.

"He is on his way," Centhrax said. "He will arrive...soon."

To be continued...Chapter 13