What Really Happened In Forever Red

Ten Reds. One mission. The real story that nobody was willing to say, where we see all the parts they tried to edit out.

Hints of CarterXDana, TaylorXEric, WesXEric, CarterXRyan, WesXAlcoholism, ColeXMonkeys, LeoXAuricoXMarriage (like, don't even ask about these... Most are mocks.)

DISCLAIMER: We do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter One

Briefing, Bonding and Boozing

Cole Evans stared at the giant man driving the Rover, feeling very uncomfortable with the silence but even more uncomfortable when the man attempted to conversate. When he had first met this 'Carter', he had been too distracted by his explanations of 'the fate of the world being at stake', but only after he'd sat in the odd vehicle and they had set off, had the doubts, fear and suspicions set in.

Unfortunately, at that point, Cole could not do very much about it and after his options had been narrowed in a rather Taylor-esque way (Alyssa would be proud of him for being so calm, and Taylor for his use of logic), he could do not much but be wary and wait out the ride till they reached they're destination. At the time of the approach, Cole had willed Taylor not to make any comments as he was intrigued to why the man had arrived for him; but now, sitting in the car and having the realisation kick in that he may have been kidnapped by a mad axe murderer (he'd wished Taylor had kicked up the biggest fuss she had ever done before).

Relief flooded through him as the Lightspeed Red announced they were 'here' and pulled into the NASADA Space Port on Earth. He didn't ask why they were here, as 'Carter' had already pointed out 'Whatever it was for, Tommy was keeping it close to himself,' meaning that he too was oblivious to the reasoning.

A car was parked opposite the Rover as they pulled in, two men climbing out in military uniform, one donning a red beret. Cole grinned at the men, ripping off his seatbelt and climbing from the car. "Eric, Wes!" He announced in a way that resembled a puppy when their owner returned from work. He threw his arms around the neck of the Red Beret man, pulling him closer to his face and hissing in his ear, "This guy has kidnapped me."

"Dude, it's okay, it's just Carter." Wes reassured, Eric smirking as Cole moved onto hugging him.

"He's harmless, honest." Eric added as the man in question joined the group beside Cole. "Any idea why we're here?"

"Well, Tommy's keeping it to himself." Across the warehouse a dark skinned man emerged from his red sports car, Cole being quite drawn by the bright colour but felt the need to stay near both Eric and Wes for safety and Carter as his height and build would definitely give adequate protection.

"TJ Johnson." Carter explained as the three others looked slightly confused, "Turbo Red. Theodore-Jay Jarwi- " the Ranger become tongue tied as TJ winced at his full name, "Theodore-Jay Jawis-" Seeing Carter growing flustered, Eric and Wes shared a smirk and both silently agreeing that this was incredible amusing to watch the giant's frustration at a simple name, "Theodore-"

"They don't need to know my full name man!"

"Theodore-Jay Jarvis Johnson- freakin' hell, did your parents hate you?!" Carter joked as he finally got the four words out correctly, his joke earning a scoff from Eric and a laugh from the other two red Rangers.

"You wouldn't be able to pronounce my full name." Another figure emerged from by the back wall, dressed in a space uniform of grey jacket and trousers with a red shirt underneath; his hair was something to marvel at, brunette and shoulder length with blond streaks- an earring stud in his ear that twinkled as it caught the light. "Andros. And we're here because I've been collecting evidence-"

"Andros please, it is my job to explain." The voice came from the doorway; surrounded in a pool of light, a spikey haired man dressed in a leather jacket and plaid shirt entered. Cole didn't have to ask to know that he had just met THE Tommy Oliver that everyone kept referencing. "I've gathered you here as I have reason to believe a group of cyborgs are attempting to resurrect Serpentera. This means barely anything to you newbies, but to Andros, TJ and I- it is a serious matter. If they resurrect Serpentera than it is only a matter of time before they can destroy the Earth."

"How do we stop them?" Carter spoke first as the others allowed this information to sink in. Eric and Wes had both heard from Trip that something was changing in the future; was it possible this was the reason why?

"We go to the moon, Serpentera's resting place, and destroy them before they have a chance."

"What about Leo, Aurico and Jason?"

"Leo and Aurico are meeting us there- Leo had a few problems and found himself teleported to Aquitar where he recruited Aurico. Jason i-"

"Jason didn't give me a definite answer." Tommy interrupted Andros, "We need to go now, with or without him." Tommy headed back inside, the Rangers taking this silent gesture to mean that they too should follow...

All stared in astonishment at the spaceship before them- bigger than their single Zord components- and modern in appearance. Written on the side in silver read 'Astro Megaship Mark II'. Tommy began up the ramp into the ship, reaching the mouth of it before a noise cut through the air. The only one who seemed to be able to decipher it was Cole as his eyes widened in realisation, and he ran back outside the warehouse. The others followed him in slight confusion but, as they stepped outside, they could see a motorcycle riding towards them in the distance.

The black vehicle came to a stop nearby and a man in a leather jacket and red t-shirt took off his helmet, revealing short chocolate hair and matching eyes, a smirk playing on his lips. "You didn't think you were gonna do this without me, did ya? I doubt this would be quite complete without the original Red."

"Well, I didn't get a very definitive answer from you-"

"That's because you hung up on me," the man said solemnly, in reply to Tommy.

"Umm.." Cole murmered, innocent confusion colouring his features.

"This is Jason, the Mighty Morphin' Red Ranger; the very first Red Ranger." Cole's eyes turned slightly awestruck as he looked at the man in a new light.

"I brought cards, and I assume you have the booze; now what's this about Serpentera?" Jason said as he put an arm around Tommy's shoulder and led the men back inside; of course, no one noticed when he discreetly slipped something out of the multicoloured rangers pocket and into his own.

Cole gazed after them for a moment; what was booze?

Cole learnt what 'booze' was as Tommy pulled a crate of brown bottles, that contained something labelled 'beer', from under the round metallic table inside the control room of the ship, passing a bottle to each of the Silver Guardian pair before continuing with TJ and Jason. He offered one to both Andros and Carter who politely declined with the added explanation of 'designated driver' from Carter and 'not after last time' from Andros.

A bottle was passed to Cole by Wes, staring down the neck of it to look at the brown coloured, bubbling liquid. He looked back up toward Andros, a quizzative expression on his face which caused the Space Red to exchange a smirk with Carter who was sat to his left.

"You drink it." Carter explained, "Have you never had it before?" Cole shook his head, placing the top of the bottle to his lips and tipping it back so only a small drop touched his tongue; that was more than enough to cause him to pull a face in disgust and gag, much to the amusement of the Rangers watching him. "And it looks like you won't have it again- don't worry, it takes some getting use to." Carter told the newbie before their attention returned to the man shuffling the cards.

"Are we playing for money this time or just for fun?" Andros asked, "'Cause my ship needs a few repairs-"

"Money, unless you're afraid." Jason smirked as he dealt out the cards, "Can someone explain the rules to the Rookie?"

Cole stared down at the bottle in his hands, unsure whether he should suffer through drinking the disgusting beverage or just leave it on the table and hope nobody noticed; Carter, of course, noticed the mans discomfort and decided to help him with his choice- he took the bottle from Cole, crossing over Eric to plant it infront of Wes, "There you go Eric, your girlfriend can have seconds."

As the card's were dealt and they began playing (after, of course, explaining the game to Cole) his eyebrows furrowed slightly as he caught onto what Andros had said not too long ago. "Wait, what happened last time?"

It took the rangers a moment to process Cole's question but, when they did, they all had matching smirks on their faces sans Andros, who seemed like he was remembering a scarring experience. "'Marry me because I want to date you.'" TJ quoted before he fell apart laughing, "If you ever need a chat up line, go to Andros."

"It wasn't quite like that." Andros spoke, lips pressed into a straight line with eyes narrowed at TJ, "And I still hate you three for that."

"For what?" Cole looked toward Jason who had ceased scoffing at the quote and had returned to 'folding' in the game. Jason leant over to Tommy, whispering something so that it was just audible to Cole, anticipation growing inside him.

"Do we tell him?"

"He isn't officially a member yet so-"

"A member of what?"

"You haven't completed the initiation into the 'Official Red Rangers' yet." Tommy pointed out, "You'll find out soon enough."

"Don't scare the kid on his first mission with us." Eric smirked into his beer bottle, "He can wait for his until after, don't want to permanently scar him like Andros."

"What are you doing here though Eric?" Carter asked with amusement clear in his tone, lips half curled into a smirk, "You're not a Red."

"I wear red-"

"Doesn't make you official; or are you here to babysit Wes?"

"Yeap, I'm here for that. Your girlfriend told me she was too busy to babysit 'cause she had girl scouts." Eric sarcastically replied as he turned back to Jason, "We can't leave him out of the loop."

"Very true." Now that TJ had managed to pull himself together, he locked eyes with Cole and began to explain, "We all had to do these tasks- Leo had it easiest I think-"

"What sort of tasks?" Cole asked slowly as each Red Ranger returned to smirking, Tommy leaning forward as he felt he should be the one to explain each task in detail as he and Jason were the only ones who had witnessed each task and were unbiased toward it.

"Shall we start with TJ's, seeing as he was the first? Skydiving..."

TJ stared, horrified, out the door of the plane, his hands locked in a death grip on the sides. "Oh who the hell am I kidding?! I'm gonna die!"

Tommy attempted to reassure his successor, "TJ, you are a Power Ranger. This is definitely not the scariest thing that's happened to you. Just, imagine yourself in your zord!" TJ seemed to calm a little.

"Yeah..yeah, al-alright, just-just like in a zord; pr-pretend I'm in a zord-you know what, I really don't-"

"Too late, time's up." Jason interrupted wryly and, with that, shoved TJ right out of the plane.

"Remember to deploy your parachute!" Tommy yelled after him.

"The drinking contest..."

A box of beer was placed on the table in front of Andros who just stared with confusion in his gaze. He looked up to meet the eyes of Tommy, Jason and TJ standing either side of the man with knowing grins on their face.

Andros removed a bottle of beer from the box, inspecting the label before he returned to looking up at Tommy, "I have to drink beer? That's a bit-"

"Not just drink beer. Its a drinking competition." Tommy further explained, the ends of his mouth curling into a similar grin to the other two red Rangers.

"Against one of you? That will be-"

"Not against us." Jason stated, "He's outside." Jason looked over his shoulder and shouted toward the door, "C'mon in Billy!"

"Billy?"

"Hello Andros, it is pleasant to be in your company again, though I would have preferred to have been in better and less forced circumstances. I wish to give my sincerest apologies in advance and inform you that I am merely participating in such juvenile activities purely to acquire volunteers for future experiments and due to their incessant pestering of my person and the communication lines." The original Blue Ranger explained after shaking the alien's hand whilst nudging his glasses up his nose and sending an annoyed glare at his former teammates, who gave sheepish smiles of their own in return.

Andros looked slightly confused between the two and shrugged, "Alright, I guess; shouldn't be too hard."

TWENTY MINUTES LATER

The three Rangers, who had sneaked a single beer each from the box couldn't contain their amusement. Billy, who had probably drank twice the amount that Andros had consumed, was content looking over sketches of a new prototype he had brought with him whereas Andros was struggling to sit still, swaying as if the breeze had picked up and was forcing him to move.

"Well, he's failed." Jason sighed, placing his own bottle on the table, "If I knew he was such a light weight I'd have put him against Kimberly- she couldn't handle one."

"He has to pass-"

"How about a forfeit?" TJ withdrew his phone from his pocket, "And I know the perfect one." Once the number was on the screen, he passed the phone to Andros, "Dude, it's Ashley."

"I can't-" Andros slurred slightly, "I think my drink was spiked- I don't feel so great."

"Ah come on man, you haven't spoken to her in a while." Convincing Andros to speak to the Yellow Space Ranger wouldn't be too difficult if he played on what he knew, "And she really misses you, she told me so. I mean, what harm is there in you just saying hi?"

Andros paused for a second to allow this idea to sink in- he was in control of what could be said and he did miss Ashley himself; no harm in a quick chat. He pressed dial and held the phone to his ear, waiting with baited breath for her to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Heeyyy."

"TJ, I already told you-"

"Na, no, no- it's not TJ. Its me!"

"Me who?" TJ hinted at Andros to put the phone on speaker; he was eager to hear the alien make a fool of himself and this would be a perfect opportunity. After doing so, he answered the yellow rangers question.

"Umm me Andros!" She gave a slight gasp in surprise that all, besides Andros, picked up.

"Andros! Why are you calling from TJ's cell phone?"

"Because I can't stand missing you." The other Red's all snickered whilst Billy only sent a mildly amused glance at the Space Ranger. Ashley blushed lightly on the other end of the line.

"Oh! I-uh-wha-what do you mean..?"

"Well I always kinda liked yellow, and you look really pretty in yellow-actually you look pretty all the time. In fact, I think you make yellow pretty. Yes, you are the reason I like yellow. Actually I suppose what I should say is-" a sudden realization hit a blushing Ashley.

"Andros, are you drunk?"

"-Marry me because I want to date you, yes that's quite-quite how my feelings towards you are-hello?" At that point, Andros and the others had heard the dial tone, signalling the end of the phone call.

Andros stared at the phone, confused, whilst the Red's couldn't hold their laughter in any longer and Billy could only shake his head in amusement and slight pity towards the alien, knowing that Ashley most likely returned his feelings but unsure of whether she believed in Andros' confession.

Meanwhile, Ashley sat slumped against the wall, her face, now bright red, held in her hands, and her heart beating erratically. She had stayed on the phone long enough to hear his confession towards her but hung up, unable to hold in the chaotic flurry of emotions it caused. She wasn't sure if it was all said in a drunken stupor or if he was spilling the metaphorical beans but one question hung in the air around her whilst his confession spun in her head and rung in her ears; Andros liked her?!

"The Quasar Saber..."

Jason and Tommy waited in the warehouse that they had agreed to meet the Lost Galaxy Red Ranger after he had completed his task; not only was he late, by twenty three minutes to be exact, it also seemed highly unlikely that he had successfully stolen his brothers Quasar Sabar as Mike was very attached to it.

"If he isn't here soon we're putting him down as a fail." Jason told his companion who nodded understandingly, "It'll be the first fail-" The door to the warehouse swung open, a man emerging swinging a sword like object.

"Sorry I'm late boys, I got a bit lost at the Astroturna Galaxy." The cockiness in Leo's walk along with the swinging of the sabar caused Tommy and Jason to exchange a look of approval. Leo looked slightly windswept but considering he'd ridden on his Jet Jammer Board to the warehouse, it was quite expected but other than that, he appeared confident with a slight jump in his step.

"So you got it?" Jason spoke, sinking into one of the two chairs behind the table.

"Did you have any doubts?" Leo placed the sabar down on the table for inspection, crossing his arms over his chest, "It was easy- the difficult part was finding my way here."

"Won't he kill you?" Tommy questioned, picking the sabar up and turning it in his hand to inspect the weight.

"Nope." Leo's lips curling into a smirk, "I blamed it on Damon."

"The mix tape..."

An hour drive there and back- that was all he had to sit through with the tape playing which contained things he didn't know. Carter hopped it wasn't full of his secrets- embarrassing secrets at that- seeing as the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers were coming with him on this mission and the Aqua Base could watch through the monitors.

When he'd been handed the mix tape by Jason with the vague term 'play it for the next long haul drive,' and Tommy had added, 'You can't turn it off no matter what,' he hadn't quite imagined feeling so queasy over it but at that point he didn't have a girlfriend who would be riding in the Rover- next to him in fact- with her brother in the back seat.

Carter settled into the drivers seat, passing the mix tape to Dana which she stared puzzled at (no arguments from Joel about the choice?! That was something new!) as she tugged on her belt.

"What's on it?"

How could he answer her question when he didn't know himself?! He shot her a soft smile before adding, "Wait and see." Good cover Carter, good cover.

"Man, there better be some Parton on there." Joel stated as Dana finally put the tape in. Carter couldn't relax of course; he expected something like 'Carter Grayson's favourite movie is Grease not Indiana Jones like he pretends.' His hands gripping the steering wheel at the ten and two positions tightly, knuckles going white as they were lowered into the loading bay. The only thing he could do is pretend Joel made the tape and drive fast. An hour, he reminded himself silently, just a measly hour.

The tape started up and his stomach instantly dropped. He didn't know at first whether he was relieved or embarrassed when 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua started playing but judging by his teams faces in the rear view mirror and the pale face with bright red cheeks next to him- embarrassed had definitely won.

"Joel, did you switch the tapes again?" Kelsey, the first to overcome their mortification, hissed at the Green Ranger who instantaneously pleaded his innocence.

"No." Carter answered, "I just fancied this playlist."

"Why?!" Dana glared back at her brother over her shoulder before turning to look at the Red Ranger who adorned slowly flushing cheeks.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked cautiously, "'Cause if not, you can sit this one out and go rest at the base."

"Wh-we-well-why-why would I not be okay?" He stuttered unconvincingly, tongue tied over 'why'.

"Because this isn't your usual type of music. In fact you never listen to this." Her voice dropping a few decibels to a whisper which he doubted anyone could hear but him, "Sweetie, is this some kinda dare?"

"No. I just fancied this." He gave her an earnest smile but suspicion continued to dance through her azure eyes. What was more, Carter could actually hear Ryan mutter under his breath, 'Great choice in men Danny(!)' and Dana responding with 'Oh shush Ryan. He's nothing to me right now whilst listening to this.' but he attempted to ignore it, he knew she was kidding- the rest of the tracks couldn't be this bad and he doubted the Aqua Base was watching.

Of course, the universe is not that kind (and neither are Tommy and Jason), and our dear Mr Grayson was indeed being watched by the entirety of the Aqua Base (it started off with just Angela, but then she lured everyone in with popcorn and Red Ranger humiliation, including Captain Mitchell).

An hour (or so) later, when they finally arrived at their destination, Carter all but leaped out of the car, thanking whatever deity was up there for sweet, sweet liberation. The demon may have been distracting for now but there was still the ride back, as well as whatever may await at the Aqua Base; he knew better than to count his chickens.

Most of the time.

Well.

At least he passed his initiation test?

"The fight..."

"This is ridiculous; is there even any point in this?!" Eric sharply asked the two men who were watching with wide grins. They nodded, chucking a pool noodle at Eric which he barely managed to catch- arms only just sticking out like stubs from in the sumo suit,

"C'mon, it could be worse." Wes replied, missing the pool noodle which meant a second hard part to this task as he reached down in an attempt to retrieve the Red foam stick.

Eric was aware of the previous Red Ranger's scattered around the park (thankfully not Silver Hills local park as he was sure he'd never hear the end of it from the other Silver Guardians, but Turtle Cove's). Andros and Leo were by the drinking fountain after 'jogging', TJ, having kidnapped his niece, was playing catch with her but had his eyes fixed on the pair and Eric was sure he had seen Carter with his girlfriend Dana Mitchell, an ex-pink Ranger who, along with the rest of Lightspeed, had helped Time Force out recently with Vypra (living up to the Red/Pink Romance stereotypes man), by the water fountain just talking but now both were staring at Eric and Wes with amusement colouring their features.

"How could it be worse? Everyone is watching us!" Eric looked around to see this statement truly correct, "We've done stupid juvenile things before Wesley, but this bites the bullet!" Even a group of four on the other side of the park who had been training moments earlier (martial arts training if he wasn't mistaken) had stopped and were watching the two men in confusion. "I'm not doing this."

"Aw come on! It'll be fuun~!" Wes sang the last bit.

"No. And don't sing. Ever."

"You know you want to!"

"No. No I don't."

"Psh fine, but we all know you're just mad 'cause I got the beret~!" Wes taunted. Eric clenched his jaw and raised a brow,

"Bring it."

Cole blinked once. And then again. "But..why would you do that..?"

"Because it's fun."

"To prove your worth and dedication as a leader and a red ranger."

"Because they are immature idiots who have nothing better to do and enjoy thinking they can boss us around because of the fact that they feel like they have seniority."

The responses came simultaneously. The first was from Jason, who didn't see much of a point in masking their intentions, whilst Tommy made the second, obviously having the reservations Jason did not. The last response came from the ranger who it made most sense to come from; Eric. Of course, the aforementioned two levelled the Quantum Ranger with a glare, not that it affected him in any way.

Cole's response was "That sounds like something Taylor would say" to which Wes responded with a triumphant " AH HA! I knew they were perfect for each other! Match made in hell right there-!" He was cut off with a well placed Gibbs slap via Eric whose jaw was clenched; the only sign that he was agitated by the comment.

"Is that your super secret girlfriend then Eric?" Andros asked with a slight arrogant air to his tone. Eric glared over at the Space Red before returning to his hand and announcing his 'fold'.

"He likes that Yellow-" Again, Wes was stopped in his tracks, this time however he was left with a hand clamped over his mouth, Eric hissing into his ear 'Hush now.'

"So, a Yellow you say?" Carter leant back in his chair and exchanged a smirk with Andros before proceeding, "We can narrow that down to three-"

"It's Taylor isn't it?!" Cole asked rather like a puppy, his voice unheard as Carter had continued.

"Kelsey, Katie and- what's her name-"

"Taylor!"

"That's the one, thanks Cole. Well, its not Kelsey because, yeah. And Katie went back to the future so it can't be her..."

"It's Taylor!" Cole repeated with a squeal to his voice, Eric glaring down at the newbie before turning his glare to the firefighter.

"Will your girlfriend be happy with you drinking and gambling? Don't want to make the 'in-laws' pissed."

"She'll be happy when I come back two hundred bucks richer."

"I meant her brother."

"I don't know, is Taylor happy you're cheating on her with Wes?!" Before he'd finished the sentence, Eric had banged his fist on the table and risen from his seat at such speed an empty bottle tipped over and fell to the floor. Jason rolled his eyes, tugging Eric back into the chair.

"Okay, if you're going to behave like children and squabble like children- I'll treat you like children. Morphers in the middle; now."

"What good will that bring?" Cole so innocently asked with his brown eyes widened; was this what having 'brothers' was like?! Jason peered at the rookie like he'd asked where babies came from and placed his power coin in the middle of the table.

"We don't want any unplanned casualties or deaths from hot-headed attacking over bickering." Jason matter of factly stated, "You heard me, in the middle. You too Rookie."

"Who died and made you king?" TJ groaned, earning a cutting glare from Jason.

"Original Red." Two words. Two words that no one at that table could top and they all knew it so didn't bother to argue back.

As they all begrudgingly pulled out/took off their respective morphers, Wes looked into his bottle and tipped it over, revealing it to be empty. He pointed the bottle at Andros and demanded "We need more beer."

Andros stared at the blonde and narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion, "So..?"

Wes pouted and childishly replied "Get more beeer~!"

"But why would I-"

"More beer."

"Then why don't you-"

"More beer."

"Why do I-"

"More beer."

"I don't-"

"MORE BEER!"

"FINE!" Andros rose rapidly, grabbing onto Carter's shoulder and pulling him sharply up, "But he's coming with me-"

"Because that is completely fair?!" Carter argued but knowing it completely in vain agreed.

Tommy, having only just zoned into this command from Wes, threw his cards down and stated, "I better go too, as the leader I should watch the incapable members." Now, the irony in his words would come back to bite him as when he stood, he toppled over the table and barely managed to stop his face slamming against it.

"Yeah. Sure." Eric threw a card down, his sight fixed on the hand he held, "They're the incapable ones. Noticed you didn't put yours in the middle like the rest? Idiot." Being met with a snigger from all except Tommy (who apparently hadn't heard the comment on his way to the door) and Cole (who didn't want to draw anymore attention to himself than necessary at that moment in time).

"We're more than capable of finding where you keep the beer Tommy, you're very predictable." Andros placidly stated.

Tommy showed his disagreement whilst slurring out a reply which could possibly be translated as 'This is a job for the Original Green and Legendary Ranger!' It was difficult to distinguish after all. Tommy stumbled through the automatic doors, which hissed open loud enough to make the man jump back from fright before shouting back, "Come. Now."

"Wh-tch." Eric accompanied the sound with a whipping gesture using his spare hand, peering over his cards long enough to see Carter glare in his direction before following Andros from the room. A minute couldn't have passed since they left the room and beeping could be heard from the centre of the table.

The remaining men slowly turned their gazes up from the card's in their hands and took a glance at each other.

Jason was expectant. TJ looked anxious with excitement. Wes was still a bit drunk. Eric didn't give a shit. And Cole looked antsy.

This was short lived as Cole quickly took the beeping morpher and examined the various buttons on it before his curiosity could not be restrained any further and he began pressing them. Five seconds later a voice burst through and Cole scrambled with the morpher before he let it clatter on to the table.

"Carter, are you almost finished with the Rover? I tried the Rover's intercom but you didn't answer." The voice was relatively soft, definitely a females and clearly someone from Carter's team but the owner of it remaining unknown to Cole, who continued to stare at the wrist device in awe. "Joel's getting really agit- What Ryan?!" A male voice murmured in the background, the words merging into each other rather than being heard individually, "No! I am not going to ask him to steal the beret. Grow up!"

Before anyone could respond, Wes had whipped the morpher from in front of Cole, holding it ridiculously close to his mouth, "Heeeeey Dana!"

A moment of silence from the other end of the morpher before her voice piped up again, "Wes?" She trailed the name with lack of assurance in her tone before adding, "What are you doing with Carter's morph- better yet, where is he?"

"Getting beer-"

"Did you just say beer?"

"Yeah! For the poker game!"

"Wes!" Eric covered the mans mouth and snatched the morpher from him, "Enough, the guy might be annoying but he doesn't need his balls busted."

"For what-? Eric? Is that you?!"

"Well yes but not just me." Eric responded, hearing the woman huff down the morpher whilst relaying the story to whoever was with her at that point (probably Ryan from her yelling at him moments earlier), "Its all the other Red's, besides Tommy, Andros, Aurico and Leo."

"Just names Eric." She sounded pissed, very pissed to say the least. Across the table, Jason bit back a smirk whilst Eric, besides feeling slightly sympathetic toward the woman, conveyed arrogance- Carter had been caught lying to his girlfriend; a girlfriend with a parent in high power. "And he's getting beer and gambling?"

Eric recognised something in her tone and he raised a brow, "What are you planning Girl Scout?" Dana promptly ignored the remark.

"Well, I was thinking..." and Dana and Eric began plotting.

Whilst this went on, Jason took something out of his pocket and slipped it onto the table. Not that anyone noticed, just like when TJ took something off the table and put something else down in its place. Yups. No one was paying attention to that.

Carter walked back in the room, after Eric and Dana finished plotting, with a six pack of beer in tow, along with Andros and Tommy. "Alright, last round. We do need to get going at some point." Jason announced and Andros hummed lightly in agreement. "Leo and Aurico are probably already there."

MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE IN ANOTHER GALAXY

"I told you we should've stopped and asked for directions!" Leo shouted back over his Red Morph suited shoulder to the Red Alien Ranger, Aurico. Aurico half shrugged, leaning to one side to make his Jet Jammer Board dodge a piece of space rock coming toward him.

"Those Gallastian's didn't speak English and I don't speak Gallasianese. Do you Leo(?)" The sarcasm lacing the aliens tone flared Leo's temper to the point that the normally level-headed red turned around and saluted Aurico with a single finger, narrowly missing space debris knocking him off the board, "I thought not. Look, will you just chill? I know where I'm going!"

"Then by all means, lead the freakin' way." Leo slowed his speed, allowing the other Ranger to over take. Aurico knew this route like the back of his hand; how many times had he travelled to Earth?! Of course, usually he had his navigation device working, but it couldn't be that hard to find planets and galaxies that he recognised!

After a couple of minutes of flying in silence, the roar of the jets being the only audible noise within light years of the two Rangers, Leo finally spoke; "How much longer do we have?"

"Not long I think-"

"I thought you knew the way."

"Well I lied, get over it." Aurico hissed, "Not long by what I remember."

"That's it, we're stopping for directions at the next planet-"

"We don't need directions-"

"We're lost Aurico." Leo bluntly stated, "We'll be the laughing stock of the Reds."

"We're not lost, we're just taking the scenic route." 'A scenic route that could lead them in the wrong direction- but a scenic route nonetheless,' Aurico silently noted, getting slightly distracted by the Andromeda Galaxy. He stopped mid flight, Leo swerving to avoid crashing into him and also stopped to the side of the alien ranger. They had to turn someway here... But which direction was it again? Left or Right...

"I think it's left." Leo stated through gritted teeth, as if he could hear Aurico's exact thoughts at that moment which did temporarily paralyse him and cause him slight paranoia in thinking that perhaps during their long ride there, Leo had developed some kind of mind-reading powers. Incredible and unlikely.

"I'm not sure... Right looks familiar."

"I'm pretty sure its lef-"

"Whose the one who makes this journey most often?" Even with the helmet covering Leo's face, it didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that he was glaring at Aurico; the thought caused the alien ranger's lips to curl into a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest, "Exactly, so I'd appreciate it if you-"

"Fine. I'll go left, you go right. Earth should be about ten minutes away at top speed so the first one there bleep the other and they can back track until the right place. Deal?"

"Prepare to look like an idiot then."

"Good advice to yourself." Leo darted off to the left whilst Aurico went to the right.

After Aurico began to cut through meteorite showers, skillfully dodging the hurling rocks and swooping under other bits of debris, a few minutes later he remembered something that he had always done in the past; he always forgot to turn left at the Andromeda Galaxy. Tail between his legs, he back tracked to the area where Leo was waiting, his stance reflecting the arrogance of being right yet again...

SAM: Hey everyone! New story is here AND we have someone we'd like to introduce to you~!

GREG: She's actually shown up today after being... 'Absent' for some time. *Tuts* Why must she be like this... Anyway, everyone say hello to-

CHUCK- I AM CHUCK. HEAR ME ROAARRR: meow.

GREG: She typed everything wrong in that sentence; so much for being a good beta reader Chuck!

SAM: Mm but she's the only one we have... But anyway, what did you think of our Red Ranger initiations? I think my favourites were between Andros', Eric and Wes' and Carter's..

GREG: I think for me it's Leo, Carter or Eric and Wes... Arrogant Leo contrasts with Fluffy Leo from 'What Really Happened When Carter Came To Get Cole'.. Oh, btw, this story takes place straight after the Carter/Cole one... It's kinda short (3 chapters) then there is two one shots before our main story. Make sure to look out for little hints in our stories that relate to our main story!

So, Chuck kinda handles our suggestions we get; ultimately, we decide if we're going to do them but they go to Chuck first.

CHUCK - THAT'S RIGHT. I RUN SHIZ.

SAM: Yes Chuck, yes you do. Oh, also, Dash master 48, I don't know if you'll see this but Imma put it out there anyway, we thank you for the extra ideas and we are pleased to tell you that we have picked and decided to write two of your suggestions meshed into one story. It will be part of the SOAverse and don't bother asking us for details- it's a surprise so just keep an eye out ;3

GREG: We were really happy with the suggestions you gave this time and it was literally a long debate about which to do... So we decided to merge two together xD MERGING! If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to inbox us them or review with them in. Chuck looks at them then passes them onto us.

CHUCK - THAT'S RIGHT. I IS THE BOSS. *takes medication* Ah. That's better. Any who, all suggestions will be taken into deep consideration by both authors after I have analysed them thoroughly. Feel the love, peeps.

GREG: We can't explain her... We found her in an art room and you can't be too picky... Anyway, thanks for reading! Please do review/fave/follow :P It makes us very happy! Anyway, it's a bye from me!

SAM: I don't know, I guess she kinda fits with us.. But yeah, hope you enjoyed this- PEACE OUT.!

CHUCK - *Medication wears off* SAYONARA PEEPS.