Chapter 4 - Rise Rangers

"Get lit!" Brian yelled in the dance floor. He was moving to the beat, dancing while also adding in a few trick kicks from his practices at the dojo. He moved in a graceful way, almost mimicking a rose petal being blown in the gentle summer winds.

"That man is beyond too far gone." Aj said slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand. He noticed the absence of Donna, Arianna and Hez. Katrina was seated st a booth with NC and Neil, protecting Neil from the many women gawking at his appearance. By the time Aj looked back to the floor, Brian had a partner dancing along with him. A pretty Spanish girl. Black hair, thick thighs and pretty eyes. As Brian looked over to his friends he slowly glided his way in their direction extending a beer to Aj.

"Whys your hand empty bro? Drink up it's a party!" Brian said with a tipsy emphasis on the word party. Aj took the drink as he and Brian joined the others at the booth.

"Anyone know where our three missing kill joys are?" Brian asked.

"Donna went to go check on where Arianna was. She noticed she wasn't with us when we met Zordon." Katrina replied. " as for Hez, he's looked pretty pissed that he didn't get selected."

"I still don't get that part," Neil added, "why bring him just to tell him he wasn't good enough? He could've just been left behind like Arianna."

"Someone call him. He needs to be here enjoying himself not looking all dark and brooding." Brian suggested. He watched Aj dial his number but was only sent to voicemail.

"That's odd, he's never gone anywhere without his phone." Katrina looked worried but Aj grew a wicked grin.

"Oh so you be knowing where he goes with his phone huh?" He asked jokingly and Katrina shot him a squinted glare prompting him to drop to silence. Just then, Hez came into view over her shoulders. "Speak of the devil." The group ran up to him and he put on a half smile.

"Hey guys," he said lightly as he took the bottle from Aj and downed it. "Who's ready to party?" The group cheered in unison but Aj suspected something was up. They danced, drank and Hez even sang on stage in one of the most epic karaoke bar performances. Arianna and Donna joined them mid way through the night. The next morning was a blur. Neil woke up on a living room couch and notice NC on the floor. Aj was in a chair sleeping soundly. Donna and Arianna were spread out along the floor. What caught Neil's eye was Hez and Katrina sitting against the wall, her head leaning on his shoulder. He pulled out his phone to snap a quick photo for later teasing.

"Alright guys wake up!" He shouted causing everyone to stir. Brian came out the bathroom as if he was well rested. He stretched out and greeted his friends.

"Bro did you sleep in the bathroom?" NC asked getting only a smile in return. The group gathered themselves and agreed to hit the Bucks N Stars coffee shop to recover from last night's adventure. As they walked down an empty block they noticed three holes in the ground that were all too familiar. They all readied themselves.

"Not again." Donna said as she saw the grey bodies begin to emerge from the hole. A considerable amount of them continued to stream through.

"Why is there so many though?!" Aj yelled but he was passed by Hez. His anger pushing him forward to battle.

"Who cares? Let's send them back where the came from!" Hez yelled as he lunged forward Superman punching a putti. It's head exploded but as another went to punch him, he quickly parried the attack with his left hand, span his body towards his back and delivered a spinning hook kick that claimed a second head. His friends watched in awe before being urged into battle by Brian.

"I'm not letting Hez take all the credit, let's go!" He yelled and they charged in. Neil used his strength to deliver power blows in his combos. He caught a round kick and elbowed the leg which shattered the stone then he span delivering another elbow to the head. NC wasn't far behind his brother as he swept a putti then stomped on its face before using the force from the stomp to propel him into a jumping knee to another putti's face. Katrina was surrounded but kept her putti at bay with kick after kick. A front kick but as she turned and noticed movement behind her she span and delivered a crescent kick. She faked a front kick to pump her knee up and turn her hips delivering a brutal round kick. She was determined to win but noticed, the numbers never stopped growing.

Aj was backed against another wall but holding his own. He pulled a putti in, smashing its face on the wall the delivering a back elbow to finish it. The next had its knee kicked in, then was met with a knee to the face in a wide ark. Aj was slowly being overwhelmed. He took one hit to the face then another to the body. His chest was kicked but and as blood was drawn he felt the rush of adrenaline. He relished in the moment and scooped a putti up by its waist and shuffled forward before bending backwards to slam the putti in a German Suplex. As he scrambled to his feet more and more putti piled on. He fought wildly, punches and kicks to keep as many of them off him but there were too many. He was kicked in the knee and kneeled. His arms were hooked but that couldn't stop him from ripping off the head of an injured putti by twisting it till it snapped off.

Neil and NC were completely surrounded and closed in on. Viciously the putti beat them with flurries of punches and kicks then stomped them the lower they fell to the ground. Hez noticed his friends were in trough as he saw Donna crash against the wall from a putti's side kick. "No!" He yelled as he charged the putti, spearing his body through it. He stood firm in front of Donna. He tightened his guard but it was no use. The attacks came too close and too many. His body started to crumble as he saw Arianna grabbed by her shirt and flipped over a car, landing hard on her back. Katrina was tackled into a car and slowly eased down the side of it groaning in pain. Brian was holding his own until he turned around and was met with a foot and a fist sending him flying. The group crawled to each other to regroup. As they stood all heard a voice besides Arianna and Hez.

"Here me rangers, call upon your power and defeat this threat. Use the powers I have given you to save your world! Call out to it and fight, fight for your homes!" The voice yelled into their minds. They recognized it as Zordon. Brian stood in the middle with Aj to his right and Neil to his left. Next to Neil was NC and next to him was Katrina. Next to Aj stood Donna and Arianna. Brian pulled the morpher from his pocket as the others did and on instinct, they thrushes the morphers forward with both hands yelling in unison.

"It's morphin time!" Their battle cry echoed as an explosion behind them went off sending Hez and Arianna flying sideways. As the smoke cleared Hez couldn't believe his eyes as they widened. Brian stood in the middle in a green suit. The helmet had three horns that was slick backwards on the helmet. The mouth was silver and it had a wide black visor. Around the visor was decorated in teeth with. The eyes at the sides of the horns. His chest had a goat plate that covered shoulder to shoulder and leading down his chest in a diamond shape. His white gloves had one free elongated diamond running from the wrist to the end of the of the gauntlet. Same with his boots. The lines in his suit glowed with comic energy as it absorbed it within the suit. He noticed a dagger attached to his belt.

Aj stood to Brian's right in a red suit that exactly mimicked Brian's but where the gold plate covered on Brian's chest was a white diamond on Aj as well as the others. Aj's helmet was red without horns but the same wide visor decorated with teeth around it. His holster on his belt held the same gun the other five did. Neil was to Brian's left in a black suit completely identical to Aj's. Only difference was his helmet had tusks instead of teeth coming down the sides of his helmet. NC was to Neil's right in a blue suit but his helmet had three silver horns that almost looked like the head of a triceratops. Katrina was next to NC in a pink suit. Her helmet was a mixture of white and pink with a deep widow's peek part in her visor. Finally was Donna in a yellow suit. Her helmet mimicked a saber tooth tiger with silver fangs running down the sides of her visor.

They stood there in a standoff with the putti. No one made a move until Brian drew his dagger. As he did he tilted his head to show the horned on the helmet go from the matching green of the helmet to silver. "Alright Power Rangers, let's show them Angel Grove belongs to us!" He yelled as Aj pulled out a red hated sword. They charged into battle. Arianna was still down but Hez watched them. They moved faster, almost too fast for his eyes to keep up with. The putti were no match at all, crumbling all around the rangers. Slashed and stabs from Aj and Brian while the others opted to use their hands. Hez cut his eyes to Neil as he noticed a hammer in his hands being swung and crashing through putti.

"Amazing isn't it." Hez heard a metallic voice say besides him. His heart raced as he looked up to see an orange colored suit of armor. The head resembled that of a beetle including the black barbe the sprouted from the forehead. Hez stood to his feet in a guard and prepared to attack but was blocked and subdued with ease as he struggled he felt a large pinch in his neck. He slowly drifted to sleep but before he did he heard the words, "when you ride, you shall destroy them all, my Chalice."

The rangers finished the putti. They raised their arms to their chests in the form of an ex then slowly brought their fists to their sides saying, "power down," in unison.

"Holy shit that was cool!" Aj yelled jumping up and down in excitement before he noticed Hez unconscious. "Oh shit Hez, Arianna!" He yelled as the group split in half. Aj Neil and Katrina went to check on Hez while Brian, NC and Donna checked on Arianna.

"Couldn't resist checking on your man huh? He's fine just knocked out." Aj joked but Katrina's glare silently told him to shut up.

"Same with Arianna," yelled Donna. They scooped up the two but were engulfed in the white glow and transported yet again.