Author's Note: I finished writing chapter six last night. Hopefully I will have written up to chapter 10 by the time I update on Tuesday. There is a reason for why I am updating every two days, and that's because I have other stories in between this one.
Dedications: Thank you to: dream lighting and Las Nekos del Ying-Yang for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)
Rating: T for safety
I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation.
Title: A Dire Situation
Summary: When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.
"Keep going, pal, you're doing great!" Ernie said as he coached Jason on the bench press at the Gym. "988...989...990...991...993... Come on, Jase, you can do it! 1,010 and you break the record. By the way, what number are we on?"
Jason shot Ernie a pained look. He was there to count for him, so he didn't lose concentration. "995," Jason replied, exasperated.
"Oh, right," Ernie nodded, taking a bite out of his sandwich. "996...997...998...999..."
Over on the balance beam, Kim performed a back flip, and then jumped off. She pulled on her t-shirt and walked over to Ernie and her friend. "So, what number is he on?" she asked.
"..." Ernie mumbled though his food.
"Once more, please, without the sub," Kim said, disgusted.
Ernie swallowed and replied. "1,003."
"Yes, Jason, you're going to do it!" Kim encouraged.
"Come on. 1,004..." Ernie cheered. "Kid, you're almost there! 1,005."
"I am so nervous, he's going to break the record," Kim said, giddily.
"And Angel Grove High is going to have a new winner," Ernie said.
"Ernie, what number am I on?" Jason asked, his voice straining from all the weights.
"Thousand and..." Ernie trailed off. "Uh-oh. I've lost count... Can you start again?" he asked Jason.
Jason sighed and lowered the bar to his chest. He couldn't believe Ernie had lost count.
~*A Dire Situation*~
It had been a quiet morning, to say the least. Nuala sat cross-legged on her bed working through a few homework papers that Ms. Appleby had given her the previous day. They weren't as difficult as Nuala had expected them to be, but with a 12-month-year-old crawling around the place it was difficult to get any work done at all.
"Hey, can I borrow your coloured pencils?" Ciaran asked, sticking his head in through the door. "I'm working on a project for tomorrow, and I need to colour it in."
"Sure," Nuala said, pointing at her desk. "They should be in the top drawer - argh! Ceaser!" she cried as her Rottweiler jumped up onto her bed, trampling all of her work. "Lie down!"
The dog whined and walked behind its mistress, before lying down and allowing her to lean back against him.
"He still sleeping?" Ciaran asked, glancing into the cot at his nephew. "Man, he sleeps like a log."
"I've only just got him down," Nuala said. "Hey, where's Chaos?"
"Mum's taken him for a walk," Ciaran said. "You know how she can't handle the two of them at the same time."
"Well they are powerful dogs, and Mum's only dainty."
Ciaran laughed and held up the pencils. "Thanks for these," he said. "You can have them back when I'm done."
"Make sure that I do," Nuala said, as her brother closed her bedroom door behind him. She glanced at Ellis and smiled as he continued to sleep, and then turned her attention back to her homework. "Man, I need a break!" she said, standing up. "Come on, Ceaser, how about a snack?"
Ceaser jumped from the bed and scratched at the closed door. Nuala laughed and opened it, watching as her dog scampered off into the kitchen. "Hey, hot shot," she called, knocking her brother's door as she passed. "I'm making a snack. You want something?"
"Is there any Soda Bread here?" Ciaran asked.
"I dunno," Nuala shrugged, walking into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and peered inside. There were leftovers from last night's take-away, cookie dough, Shamrock cookies. "Nope, no Soda Bread - Ooh! Hang on," she added, opening a cupboard. "Hey, Ci, there's soda bread cookies here, do you want some?"
"Is there ice cream here?" Ciaran asked, entering the kitchen and hoping up onto a bar stool. He leaned forward and observed his sister as she wandered around the kitchen. Since it was different to their old one, it was taking a while to get used to where everything had been stowed.
"Chocolate?" Nuala asked, opening the freezer.
"That'll do."
Nuala smiled and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, she scooped two spoonful's of chocolate ice-cream into it, and added two cookies either side, she then took one last cookie, crumpled it up and sprinkled it over the top. "Sauce?" she asked.
"Uh-huh," Ciaran nodded, licking his lips as he watched Nuala drizzle chocolate syrup over his snack.
"Enjoy," Nuala said, grabbing a spoon from the drawer and sliding the bowl towards Ciaran. "Now, how about you?" she asked, looking down at Ceaser. The dog was sitting on his hind-quarters eyeing Ciaran with a look of hunger. Kneeling down, Nuala grabbed Ceaser's bowl and filled it with dog treats, and added a two halves of a cookie to it.
"Mum's going to kill you if she finds out you're feeding them cookies," Ciaran said. "You know what she's like."
"Aw, come on," Nuala said, patting her dogs head. "He's eating them, isn't he?"
"Yes, but he's not allowed them."
Nuala shrugged and grabbed a shamrock cookie. "Mum's not going to know, is she?" she asked.
"What about Chaos?"
"What about him?"
"Are you going to sneak him one too?"
"I always do when it's my turn to feed them," Nuala said, "and that just happens to be tonight. Don't worry, little brother, your dog won't go without."
Ciaran rolled his eyes, grabbed his bowl and wandered back into his bedroom.
"Don't tip anything," Nuala called after him, as she passed his room and re-entered her own. Ellis continued to sleep soundly as Nuala and Ceaser climbed back onto the bed, and settled down. "Now, where was I?" she murmured, picking up her papers, but stopped again as her communicator beeped. "Oh, you're kidding me," she sighed.
"Nuala, Rita Repulsa is at it again. It is imperative that you teleport to the children's theatre in the park immediately."
"What's going on?" Nuala asked, raising her communicator to her lips.
"She has sent down a team of Putties and an unknown monster, in an attempt to gain control of the park. Be careful, and let the power protect you."
Nuala sighed and lowered her arm.
"Is there trouble?" Ciaran asked, sticking his head inside again. He had heard his sister talking from next door and come to investigate.
"Yeah, there's a new monster attacking at the park," Nuala said. "But Mum's not back yet."
"I can watch Ellis," Ciaran said.
"I know you can, buddy, but I don't know how long I am going to be," Nuala said.
"Mum's back soon," Ciaran said, "and besides, he's asleep. I'll bring my project in here to work on, and if he wakes up, I know what to do."
"What if you have to change him?"
"Hopefully Mum will be back by then."
"What if she's not?"
Ciaran smiled at his sister. "I can handle it, Nuala," he said. "Go, you're needed."
"I can't leave either of you, Ciaran," Nuala said. "The others are going to have to deal with the monster until I can get there. Zordon will just have to understand."
Ciaran nodded. "I'll call Mum," he said. "See where she is."
"OK."
Nuala sighed as her brother disappeared, and left her alone with her thoughts. She knew that the others needed her, but she was needed at home. She couldn't burden Zordon and Alpha with Ellis and Ciaran, and she couldn't afford to leave them home alone, what if something happened to them?
"Nuala, Mum says she'll be home in ten minute," Ciaran called from the hall. "She's just leaving the park now."
"OK," Nuala replied.
~*A Dire Situation*~
Meanwhile, across the road, Kim and Zack had made it to Billy's house where Trini was.
"Billy, Trini, Jason's in trouble!" Kim said, breathlessly.
"Why, what's up?" Billy asked.
"Rita has him. You guys, he may need his friends way more than he knows," said Kim.
Trini sighed and lifted her communicator to her lips. "Jason? Jason, can you read me?" she asked, but there was no response.
"Let's teleport to the command centre right now," said Kim.
"Wait, where's Nuala?" Zack asked, noticing they were a ranger down.
"She's at home," Billy said, pointing across to Nuala's house. "I saw her mother leave earlier with one of the dogs, but no one has come and gone since then."
"Well, we need her, now," said Kim. "Billy, you get her and meet us at the command centre."
Billy nodded and hurried over to Nuala's, while the others teleported out. Knocking the door, Billy waited for an answer and was mostly relieved when Nuala finally did. "There's trouble," he told her.
"I know, Zordon already called," Nuala said. "But I had to wait for my mother to come back before I could leave."
"Is she back now?"
"Yeah, she just returned," Nuala said. "Why, what's going on?"
"Jason needs help."
"Where is he?"
Billy shrugged. "We don't know. Come on, the others are waiting for us at the command centre," he said.
"OK. Mum, I'll be back as soon as I can," Nuala called over her shoulder.
"Be careful!" Lana called back.
Nuala nodded, closed the front door and teleported away with Billy at her side.
~*A Dire Situation*~
"Alpha, adjust the morphing grid, and locate Jason on the viewing globe," Zordon was saying as Nuala and Billy arrived.
The moment she arrived, Nuala turned to Kim and Zack. "Guys, I am so sorry I wasn't there," she apologised. "My mum was out and I couldn't leave Ciaran alone with Ellis and Ceaser."
"Who?" Zack asked.
"My dog - at least, one of them."
Zack nodded but waved off Nuala's apology. "Hey, don't sweat it," he said. "We understand."
"I think I have a fix on Jason," said Alpha, tinkering around with the computer console. "Ah, there..." the viewing globe sparked to life and showed Jason diving aside as a giant Goldar tried to stand on him.
"Zordon, this seems hopeless," Trini sighed.
"Indeed it would, Trini," Zordon confirmed. "Where it not for your power crystals."
"Of course!" Alpha shrieked in excitement. "Put your hands together and bring forth the power crystals."
Nuala exchanged confused looks with others, but closed her hands together. When she opened them a silver crystal appeared. "Whoa, cool!" she grinned.
"The crystals contain the essence of your morphing powers," Zordon explained. "Use them to find each other in any peril, and with your zords to draw power from the very heart of the morphing grid. I am sending the crystal directly to Jason. Once in his possession you will be able to join him and stop King Sphinx and Goldar." Nuala nodded and placed her crystal in the satchel that Alpha was carrying. "Together, they are nearly unbeatable, so call your zords quickly, and let the power protect you. Alpha, tap into the grid and send the crystals through Jason's Zord. Hurry, he doesn't have much time."
The satchel disappeared, and Nuala turned to viewing globe. Jason was still cornered by Goldar and King Sphinx, but just before they could attack him his sword flashed and a bolt of energy hit the mountain face behind him, running forward Jason avoided Goldar's eye lasers, and dug out the satchel of crystals before King Sphinx blasted him from the rubble.
"Power Crystals! Way to go, Zordon!" Jason said, pulling the six crystals from the satchel. "Hey, Ugly, I want you to meet some of my friends."
"This is it, Rangers, prepare yourselves," Zordon told the remaining five rangers at the command centre.
The friends exchanged looks, and prepared to morph.
"It's morphin' time!"
"Mastodon!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Triceratops!"
"Dire Wolf!"
"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"
~*A Dire Situation*~
Throwing the crystals into the air, Jason allowed his friends to cross from their dimension into the one that he was now. "Now you're going to see what friends working together can do," he said, thrusting his own power crystal into the air and summoning the Zords. "Dino zord power!"
Kicking off from the ground, Nuala and the others landed in the cockpit of their respective Zords and logged into the system just as Jason's voice commanded them to do so over the comms link.
"Zack here, Let's rock and roll."
"Billy here, all systems go."
"Trini here, set and ready."
"Nuala here, fired up and ready!"
"Let's jinx this sphinx."
"All right, Rangers, it's time to power up."
"2, 1, Power up!"
Nuala jabbed her power crystal into the socket beside her controls. "Time for a little Megazord action," she said, as she felt the floor beneath her feet vibrating as her Zord combined with the others. She may not have had an actual space on the Megazord itself, but she provided excellent shield and weapon systems.
"Let's show them what we're made of," Jason said as his friends popped up all around him.
Goldar growled and blasted them with a shot from his sword.
"Fire up the cannons!" Jason said. They blasted back, knocking Sphinx off course. "Let's try the crystal power."
Using their crystals, the Rangers were able to hit both Goldar and King Sphinx, unfortunately the two monsters walked through the attack without so much a scratch.
"Shift to battle mode and finish these dudes," Jason said, using the controls to shift to full Megazord form. "Megazord, armed and ready!"
"Uh-oh!" both monsters cried as they realized their only options were to back out, or go down fighting. Nothing had ever beaten the Megazord power before.
Deciding to try his luck, King Sphinx charged forward with his staff drawn. Goldar followed closely behind, but the Megazord was ready. Deflecting a blow from the sphinx, the Rangers punched Goldar in the chest, and double punched the sphinx through the air.
Both monsters growled and picked themselves up from the ground. Goldar struck the Megazord twice with his sword, and the rangers retaliated by punching him again in the stomach.
"Have I ever mentioned that I hate cats," Nuala asked. "This sphinx is starting to get on my nerves. The whole nine lives thing is ridiculous."
"I agree, Nuala," said Jason. "We're getting nowhere with these guys. Let's turn up the heat. We need the mega power sword now!" A brightly lit white sword fell from the sky, striking the ground near the Megazord. Switching from the Dire Sabre to the Mega sword, the Rangers, slicing the sphinx in half and causing him to shrink and explode.
"Drat! We'll meet again, Power Rangers," Goldar growled, crossing his arms and disappearing.
~*A Dire Situation*~
After the battle, Jason had asked Trini to keep track of the number of bench presses he had done while the others watched him, sure that he was going to beat the original bench press record this time.
"1,004...1,005..."
"Come on, Jason, tough it out, man!" Zack encouraged from the sidelines.
"1,006..."
"All right, you're going to do it!" Kim cheered.
"1,007..."
"Three more, just three more, Jase," Nuala said, bouncing Ellis on her hip.
"1,008...1,009..."
"One more, come on."
"Just one more, Jase, come on."
"1,010! Yes!"
The whole juice bar burst into applause as Jason completed his record in victory.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new record," Trini shouted to those that had come to witness Jason's triumph.
"And he comes through," Zack said, praising his friend.
"We knew you could do it, Jason!" Kim said, as Trini grabbed his hand.
"I couldn't have done it with you guys," Jason said, thankful that his friends were there to encourage him.
"Hey, your outstanding performance will have a long lasting legacy," Billy said, as he and the others helped Jason to sit up.
"What?" Jason asked, confused.
"You're record is going to last a long time," Nuala explained, patting her friend on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, pardon me," Ernie called, pushing through a tray with a cake upon it. "Don't touch the cake. Now, I'm asking you," he said to the group of six friends. "Is this a cake, or is this a cake?"
Leaning over to get a better look, Nuala laughed and shook her head. "Great cake, Ernie," she said. "But I think you got the inscription wrong."
"Well, what do you expect for the last minute?" Ernie asked. "It was the only cake they had left."
"Thanks for being there, guys," Jason said. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Zack smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder, just as Bulk and Skull arrived behind the friends.
"Hey, muscle brains," Bulk called, addressing Jason. "I'm going to get my record back."
"Yeah, muscle brains," Skull piped up, laughing hysterically after.
Suddenly Bulk caught him by the chest, and pulled him close. "Skull, shut up! I can do my own talking."
"You guys, get a life," Kim called to them as they stalked away.
"Yeah, don't you guys ever give up?" Trini asked.
"Why don't you just have a piece of cake and chill?" Zack asked.
"Cake?" Bulk repeated. "Yeah, alright, I'll have some cake, but I get first piece."
He trudged forward, tripping over a weight on the floor and falling face first into the cake, causing the others, including Skull to laugh at him.
Copyrighted ©
I know. It's short. Hopefully they will get longer as I continue writing, and including my own ideas. At the moment I'm just trying to establish a base of operations for Nuala, and build on the friendships between her and the other Rangers, considering she is still the new girl and everything.
See you all Tuesday for a new update.
Happy reading.
Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Chapter updated Sunday, May 25, 2014 at 4:50pm