Disclaimer: I own nothing except the OCs and the plot, so if one more team of rabid lawyers busts my door open, I'm gonna be pissed.
Chapter Four: Down Time
Dave sat in the middle of a clearing, clad only in a pair of black cargo shorts, staring into the depths of his campfire. This was all wrong. He had left, and by the gossip flying through the trees, Rita had joined forces with Koragg, and the two were wreaking havoc on the city, with the rangers barely hanging on. This was all his fualt; if he hadn't stolen the morpher he would be there with them, and they wouldn't hate him.
Back in Briarwood, the rangers were all gathered at the record store. "I still can't belive all of our combined powers are useless." Xander said as he bandaged his wrist. They had all been getting injured fequently, and were having to tell their parents they were getting into extreme sports. "Not entirely useless, just most of them." Ian said. "Yeah, well, I don't see how making their heads swell up to the size of a beach ball is going to help matters much." Ashlee retorted, applying a salve to an open wound on Madison's back.
In the woods, Dave had encountered the troblin Phineas, and was currently laying on his back, while the said troblin held a flaming log over his head uncertainly. "Are ye sure about this, lad?" he questioned. "Just do it, Phineas." Dave said. Phineas shrugged and swung the log down on Dave's stomach with all his strength, which thanks to his troll blood, was quite a bit. The log shattered on impact, making Dave grunt in pain. He had a long way to go before he could return to Briarwood, or start his own clan.
The mystic morpheres went off yet again, this time downtown. "Magical source, mystic force!" they yelled. "Guardian powers, activate!" the guardian rangers yelled. Both team appeared, and were greeted by Eyeguy and a host of putties and hidiacs. "Does this get any worse?" Vida growled as she used her wing attacks. Her response was getting blasted by a massive wave of energy. "You just had to ask, didn't you?" Xander panted as he got up from the ground. "I grow tired of this." Derak hissed as he sheathed his staff. "Time to show you what happens when you mess with a geomancer." he yelled as he unleashed a barage of elemental attacks, all but obliterating his foes.
Dave's eyes snapped open from his meditation. His friends were in trouble. He had to help them. As he fought his internal war on whether to help or not, he heard a voice saying something he had once heard a long, long time ago. "Man hath no greater love than to lay down his life for a friend. Follow the path you think is right." he stood, and raised his morpher to the skies. "Shadow Storm Dragon, Power UP!" he yelled. Calling his dragon cycle to him, he rode off in the direction of the battle. His revenge was going to have to wait.
The said battle had taken a turn for the worse as the creature that had emerged a few nights ago entered the battle. He swung his lantern slowly back and forth, sending molten metal flying everywhere. "What in the hells is that thing?" Ashlee yelled as she dodged some of the metal. "It's a Lossoth! It's a grave keeper!" Derak yelled back, while back flipping over one of Eyeguy's laser attacks, while firing his own attack, effectively destroying Eyeguy. "Madison, use your water magic on it!" he yelled as he flipped away from more molten fire. She nodded and flung a massive amount of magic at it, successfully turning the molten metal solid, freezing it in place. With a tormented yell, the lossoth drew a flaming machette from within its robes and charged.
"Are you sure this creature will defeat them, Rita?" Koragg asked as they watched the battle. "Of course. They can't destroy something that is already dead." she cackled as she conjured more. The bad thing was they could only send one at a time until they widened the crack in the gates. Once that happened, her evil would once agin be free to walk the earth. And then, she would destroy those damned rangers once andfor all, starting with the dragon ranger.
Dave shook his head. This was impossible. If there was a lossoth in Briarwood, then that meant she was only going to send more. And judging by how they couldn't even get close enough to attack it, this would be a fight they would lose indefinately. He just hoped he got there in time, or he'd be on his own.
Vida screamed in pain as the flaming weapon connected with leg, demorphing her. As the lossoth went in for the kill, Xander threw his axe in front of the weapon, making it turn on him instead. "Run, Vida!" he yelled as he dodged several slashes. But only just. As he attempted to dodge again, it quickly reversed its slash and hit him as well. It had even taken out the guardian rangers. The only one left standing, was Madison. As it slashed her powers away like it had every one else, it raised the weapon to strike her again, this time to kill her. As the blade rushed down, it was intercepted by a black blade. It was Dave. He was back.
"AWAY WITH YOU!" he shouted as he went into what Derak called 'turbo mode', where he moved as fast as lightning. Judging by the amount of blood that was hitting the streets, he was owning the lossoth. "I'll dig you your own grave!" it hissed in a tortured voice. Dave exited turbo mode, and faced the creature. "Really? If I had a dime every time I heard that threat, I'd be richer than John D. Rockafeller was." he said scornfully as he lunged, slicing off the creature's arm. "Time to finish this!" he said as his sword transformed into the Sword of Ancient Kings once more, destroying the lossoth.
As the lossoth burned, Dave turned to go. "Where are you going now?" Ian asked as he managed to climb to his feet. "I don't know. I just know that I can't stay here." he said as he powered down and walked away. The other rangers also climbed to their feet. "Vida, can I borrow your jeep?" Madison asked. "What? Why?" Vida asked, highly panicked. "I have to talk to him." she said softly, so only her sister could hear her. Vida sighed and handed her the keys.
As Madison drove down the street she had seen Dave go down, she turned on the radio, letting the classic rock wash over her. As she pulled to a stop at a red light, she saw a preppy looking guy lean out his window. "Either turn that shit down, or get something decent on, like rap!" he yelled. Madison rolled her eyes and did what Vida would do: turn it up even more. As she sped off, she turned it down so her ears would stop pounding. She heard a familiar chuckle coming from the seat next to her. One look told her her searchg was over. "Hello, Madison." he said quietly as she parked.
"Why did you come back?" she asked. "Because if I hadn't you would all be dead at the moment. This is my stop." he said, nodding to a bus station. "So that's it? Your just gonna walk out on us when you saw how much trouble we had with just that one thing?" she asked disgustedly. "Not entirely. I'll be back, some time. Can't say when." he said as he hopped out of the jeep. He looked at Madison. "Just remember, magic is eighty percent beliving, and twenty percent execution." he told her as he boarded a bus bound for Reefside.
As he watched the station fade into the distance, Dave sighed. He didn't want to leave her again, but he really had no choice. One lossoth was bad, but if he knew Rita, which he did, she would be sending more powerful creatures than that. And he wasn't strong enough to defeat them, which was why he was going to see an old friend friend of his father's.
Madison pulled into her driveway, and wiped a small tear from her eye. He had said he would be back, but when was the question. As she opened the door, she found her team mates waiting for her. "Well, what did the asshole say?" Nick asked. Madison glared at him, then slapped him as hard as she could. "Don't you ever tak about him that way again. If it weren't for him, we'd all be dead right now." she hissed as she stormed upstairs. "Dude, that wasn't right." Chip said disapprovingly to Nick. "What? The guy steals my morpher, gives it back and I'm supposed to just forgive him and forget it ever happened?" Nick said exasperatedly. "Yeah, we get it, but still." Xander said.
In the guardian rangers's apartment, Ian sat deep in meditation, focused on Dave. He was wrong, there was always a choice. Dave just didn't see that very easily. He could tell that Dave liked Madison, and vice versa by the way they had interacted on Friday night. They both just didn't know how to tell the other. Sad. His musing were interrupted by a vision of what Rita planned to unleash next. No way...not here. She couldn't possibly unleash a doppleganger...
Dave got off the bus in the pouring rain. Typical..why did it always rain whenever he was in Reefside? "Dave?" He heard a female voice say. He turned and grinned. "Hey, Kira." He said as he flipped his hair backwards. It still seemed to defy gravity, despite being soaking wet. "What are you doing here?" she asked, knowing that whenever Dave showed up, trouble wasn't far behind. "I need to see Dr. O, Kira." he said with an edge of urgency in his voice. "He's not here." she said heavily. Dave paled. "Where is he?" he asked shakily. "I have no clue, other than on his honey moon." she said simply. Dave closed his eyes and focused. "He's at the airport." he said abrubtly. "Dave, he just got married!" she cried. "I gathered that when you said he was on his honey moon." Dave said dryly. This was gonna be tougher than he thought...
Ian and Xander were both engaged in an arm wrestling contest, with the muscles on their arms bulging beyond belief. "You..aren't..gonna..win.." Xander panted. "Oh..and..you..are..?" Ian shot back. Derak stood leaning against the counter, reading the latest issue of WWE. "Can you belive this shit? That fool Edge thinks he deserves the WWE title after all the shit he pulled." he said casually, ignoring the contest. "No, but I can say that Lita is a hoe." Ashlee said as she watched. "What are you guys talking about?" Vida asked. "Pro wrestling." Nick supplied as he flipped through a biker's magazine. For some odd reason, there hadn't been an attack in days, so the rangers were able to rest and recuperate. The only question weighing on everyone's mind was, when was Dave coming back?
"Hey, how's Madison doing?" Derak asked Vida. "She's okay. I think she really liked him, though." she replied as she hunted through her stacks of records for something to play. "Where is she?" Ashlee asked as she turned away from the competition, which was still going strong. "She's at home. Every time I try to talk to her, she tunes me out and starts listening to AC/DC." Vida admitted. Derak looked at Ashlee. "Sounds like our little blue ranger has a little bug." he said casually. Ashlee nodded. "I'll go talk to her." she said with a sigh as she grabbed her helmet off the rack that Toby had installed. "What are you guys plotting now?" Ian asked as he finally managed to get Xander's wrist to touch the table, even though the sounds their wrists had made sounded a hell of a lot like bones breaking. "Not a dman thing. Just trying to Maddie to stop moping around." Derak said as he eyed the way Ian held his wrist. "Dude, you might wanna have a doctor look at that." he said. Ian looked at his wrist and swore.
As Ashlee pulled up in front of the Rocca house, she shook her head. How she always got roped into doing this was beyond her. 'Chalk it up to the girl talk theory.' Dave had told her once, only to get a lovely shiner on his left eye out of it. Knocking on the door, she was greeted by a gothically dressed Madison. "Girl, lose the goth look, it just ain't workin for you." she managed between laughs. "What do you want?" she asked tiredly as she pulled something out of her pocket. Ashlee stared. "Is that a cigarette?" she demanded. Madison nodded. "And your mom doesn't care?" she asked. Madison shook her head. Ashlee sighed. 'What did dad do when he caught Dave again? Oh yeah, I remeber.' "Come on, Maddie, we have something to do." she said evilly. A carton of cigarettes later, Madison was swearing she would never smoke again to an ever patient Ashlee, who only smiled serenely. Ah, the joys of being a bitch.
Dr. O sat on the plane next to his new wife, and long time love intrest, Kim Hart. Well, it was Oliver now. He smiled softly as he thought of how the dear john letter wasn't even sent by her. Turns out it was sent by some other guy who wanted her. To put it mildly, when they had both found out, the guy was eating through a straw for a few months. Hell hath no fury like a ranger scorned. His musings were interuptted by a tapping on his shoulder. Glancing behind him, he gawked. No way...why was Dave here? Kim looked back as well, and swore under her breath. "Hey, Dr. O, do you have any idea where I could find the ninja storm?" he asked quietly. Tommy nodded and wrote something on a napkin, and handed it back. "Much obliged. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go." he said as he stood. "We're over the middle of the ocean!" Kimberly hissed. Dave shrugged. "I always wanted to go sky diving." he said as he melted through the wall, which no one else saw but them. Tommy distinctly heard Dave shouting out the lyrics of the song 'Free Falling' as he descended. He shook his head. Dave had always been crazy, but this was a first.
Back in Briarwood, Madison was back to her normal self after Ashlle took her on a "Rebel's Binge" which involved smoking until she puked, then drinking until she passed out or puked, which ever came first, and finally, another smoke session. Brutal. After an hour long shower, Madison had sworn off both habits. As the pair re-entered the record store, they found Ian all but mummifying his right hand, with Xander doing the same. "Hey, you guys like pro wrestling, right?" Chip called from the other side of the store. "Yeah, why?" Derak hollered back. "It just said on the news that Briarwood'll be hosting the WWE this month!" he yelled back. Derak and Ian both looked at each other and grinned. Ashlee groaned and hung her head. She knew that look. It was the look they had worn when they were about to do something incredibly stupid.
Dave landed in the ocean with amassive splash, thankful he had all his powers back. If he hadn't, he would be boneless right now. As he swam toward the shore, his nose picked up a rather interesting scent. Weapon. He grinned cockily and dove beneath the surface, his eyes reacting like a gator's would. He grinned in spite of himself. He was right. There, floating aimlessly through the depths, was the Emerald WEAPON. Ian's powers must've called it from the game it was in. Now all he had to do tell his friends, once he got back. As he resurrfaced, he promptly wished he hadn't: the U.S. coastguard had been in the area, and had probably seen his little dive, and had come to investigate. Damn his luck.
"Son, you better have a damn good story for this." the commander said as Dave was hualed aboard the cutter. Dave shook the water out of his hair and looked up. "Does being abducted by aliens count?" he said srcastically. "Son, you relize that you were in the middle of the freaking ocean, no boat, no life jacket, and we had just seen some one land. And I'm willing to bet my cutter it was you." the commander said. "Can you just take me to Blue Bay Harbor?" he inquiered. "Fine, so long as you never speak of this again." the commander said. Dave noded and settled in for the long trip to Blue Bay Harbor.
In Briarwood, outside the stadium, there was a huge line forming. At the head, were Derak and Ian, comrades in tow, mostly against their will. "Remind me again why we're here?" Nick said as he impatiently tapped his foot. "So we can get tickets to RAW this week, man, why else?" Derak said airily. "You just had to tell them, didn't you?" Vida grumbled to Chip. "If he hadn't they would've found out the day after they left, since they don't watch the news." Ashlee supplied. As they waited for their tickets, a limo pulled up, and out stepped Edge, the "Rated R Superstar", with his whore, Lita, on his arm. "Well fuck me..." Ian whispered. The crowds began to mob the pair for their autographs and the like, when a Hacksaw Jim Duggan-like shout of "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOE!" filled the air. Well, two actually. The crowd stopped and turned to see Ian and Derak grinning like the cheshire cat. Edge went about as red as his pants and stormed up to the pair.
"What did you call my girlfriend?" he said through gritted teeth. "We called her a hoe. Why, you got a problem with that, Mr. Transitional Champion?" Ian shot back. If at all possible, Edge went even redder. "Ya know, maybe we should ease up, I mean he's gonna get his ass kicked by Mick Foley at Wrestlemania anyway." Derak said. Lita had walked up by this time, and was sizing the two of them up. "You guys shouldn't pick fights with people who are better than you." she sneered. Ashlee snorted at this. "Please, you wouldn't know better than Edge if it bit you on the ass. Of course, you would probably enjoy that." she said. Lita was also going a lovely shade of red at this remark. "Well, we could settle this in the ring, if you want, transitional champion." Ian offered. "Normally, I'd tear you punks to pieces in the ring, but I already have a challenge by some unknown weakling, so I'll have to pass on that." he sneered at them. Ian shrugged. "No balls, huh? It figures. Oh well, we at least get to see the asshole lose tomorrow night." Ashlee remarked as the pair stalked inside.
Dave sat cross legged on the floor of a dojo, waiting patiently for the person to arrive. How he had managed to wiat this long was a mystery to him, seeing as he had such a short temper. He closed his eyes and began to meditate, something he'd been doing a lot of recently. As he inhaled, he stiffend slightly. There was some one else in this room, and that person was extremely well trained at erasing all sense of their presence. It was him. Sensei was finally here.
"So, Vida, what's goin on with you and Xander?" Madison asked her sister as the pair drove to work the next morning. She gripped the arm rest for dear life as Vida swerved across a mercifully empty lane. "What?" she yelled, her eyes bugging out beyond belief. "Oh come on, we've all seen the way you look at him when no one is watching. The only person who doesn't know you like him is Xander himself." Madison said exasperatedly. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Vida said unconvincingly.
As they pulled into the parking lot, they saw the guardians ranger's bikes already there. As they entered, they saw Ian and Derak seemed to be debating something. "And I say his whore'll interfere so he can win like she always does. You know that every time that ass has a match, she finds a way to interfere just so he can win the match." Ian insisted. They were obviously referring to Edge and Lita. "Yeah, I know. I just hope the damn ref bans her from ringside for once." Derak admitted. As the debate continued, the mystic force did their required chores, occaisonally taking part in the conversations.
Dave panted as he was slammed against the wall. Every attack he had thrown, sensei had found a way to reverse it. It was like fighting a ghost of himself. Witha flash of relization, he leaped to his feet again, this time luanching into a frenzy of attacks, waiting for the inevitable reverse. There! As sensei found the hole in his defense and exploited it, he was shocked when Dave dealt a devastating forearm smash. Had sensei not dodged, he would've been through the wall. He nodded approvingly. He was finally learning. If he attacked mindlessly like he had been, he would lose every battle. "You are ready." he said. Dave bowed, and left.
As he exited the dojo, he found his bike there already. Weird. A quick scan around him told him there was no danger. Climbing onto his bike, he spared one last look around. He was kinda gonna miss this place, it was really peaceful. As he rode off, he couldn't shake the feeling something bad was gonna happen. He shook his head. If there was any danger, he would've sensed it. For now he had to focus on how he was gonna get back in the mystic force's good books. That was gonna be no easy task.
well, what do you think? Reviews are welcome.