Power Rangers GPX, Episode 7: A Harsh Defeat

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"Oh, Rangers! Come out and plaaayyy-aaaayyyy!" The voice cut into the Rangers' helmets inside the Grand Prix Megazord.

"Who said that!?" Sean said in the Megazord cockpit. "Show yourself, now!"

"I think we can put him up on screen," said Maria. She pressed a few buttons and a picture of the guy calling them appeared on screen.

"Come out and plaaayyy-aaaayyyy!" The guy called again.

"Oh, so he wants to play, huh?" Sean said. It was obvious that he was itching for a fight now, even though the Rangers just destroyed the Kel monster. "Well then, let's grant his request!

"Do you think we can handle him?" Hitomi said, who was more than a little nervous about their new opponent, since the Rangers didn't know a thing about him. It's actually a smart statement, considering they've never seen this guy before. Not only that, they can't really see him that good on the monitor in front of them. But Kevin wasn't worried one bit.

"I think we can," Kevin replied. "Let's get him!"

"I'm right there with ya!" Sean replied. The two left their seats, followed by the other Rangers. Then all five of them leapt out of the Megazord, landing on the ground in front of their new opponent. The Rangers lined up side-by-side in this order: Kevin, Hitomi, Sean, Maria and Daisuke. In front of them was a guy with blonde hair wearing a military-style uniform. And it wasn't a US Army uniform at all. Well, Hitomi seemed to recognize him.

"Oh my, gosh," said Hitomi. "That's Jadeite!" Once again, the Rangers groaned at Hitomi's comments again, especially Sean.

"No, that is not Jadeite!" Sean said sharply. "Just because he looks like the character from Sailor Moon does not mean that he is the same guy!"

"But he looks exactly like him," said Hitomi, trying to justify her words. "Even down to the uniform!"

"Excuse me!" The Jadeite look-a-like said, grabbing the Rangers' attention. "But I believe I called you out."

"Alright then," said Sean. "Alright Blondie, who are you, and what do you want from us?" He said as he pointed at him.

"Simple," the blondie replied. "I'm here to fight you!"

"Okay, that's obvious," said Sean. "Then who are you!"

"My name?" He said. "My name is Elbeth, and I will be the one to defeat you!"

"Then change your uniform first, you look ridiculous!" Sean replied.

The other Rangers snickered, which drew the ire of Elbeth.

"Keep talking!" Elbeth replied, "It will only make it much more satisfying when I prove to you the superiority of the Elves!"

"Oh, so you are Elf," Sean replied. "That answers that question."

"Now I must ask you something," he said. "Could you please introduce yourselves?"

Under his helmet, Sean made an annoyed face. That roll call? He hated it. "No! No roll call!" He said. Elbeth made a face of mock sadness.

"Oh, that's too bad," he said sarcastically. That just made Sean even angrier. "Because I was really looking forward to—"

"ALRIGHT!" Sean shouted, not wanting Elbeth to keep going. "We'll do it one last time! GPX, Red!" He shouted.

"GPX, Blue!" Kevin shouted.

"GPX, Green!" Daisuke shouted.

"GPX, Yellow!" Maria shouted.

"GPX, Pink!" Hitomi shouted.

"Power Rangers! GPX!" And like before, the Rangers posed and some explosions highlighted the moment. Elbeth laughed, making Sean even angrier.

"What the hell's so funny, pretty boy?" He asked with venom on his tone.

"That was… interesting," Elbeth replied. "Although now it's time I test your skills in battle!"

"Gladly!" Sean said. "I suggest you pray to whatever god you worship now, because we're gonna kick your ass!"

"My, you're spirited," said Elbeth. "Very well, then. SUITROOPS!" Behind him, a platoon of Suitroops appeared which caught the Rangers off guard— at first. The grey-and-black robots, with skull-like faces, encircled the Rangers, preparing to attack. But the Rangers were unfazed.

"Oh, a warm-up, huh?" Sean said. "Very well, then. GRAND PRIX WEAPONS!" The Rangers pressed their belt buckles and their respective Grand Prix Weapons materialized in front of them. Sean with his GT Sword, Kevin his Touring Cannon, Daisuke his Mountain Staff, Maria her Haz Daggers, and Hitomi her Am Bow. "Let's get 'em!" Sean shouted.

"Right!" The Rangers charged the Suitroops, and the Suitroops charged them, as well. The two forces met in the middle and began fighting.

Sean slashed at a Suitroop, before slashing another one, grunting and letting out kiai after kiai. Another Suitroop brought its sword down on him, but he dodged it easily and kicked it in the back, sending it tumbling into another mass of Suitroop bodies. With a Matrix-type move, he dodged a Suitroop Sword before flipping it over. And with a quick spin, he took out another group of Suitroops. "Let's see what this baby can do!" he said referring to his GT Sword. "Colonel, any attacks?"

"GT Strike," said Col. Greene. "Give it a try, Red."

"Nice!" Sean said. "GT Strike, ready!" The sword's blade began to glow red, and the tires on his gloves and boots started spinning. Before long, the grooves began to glow red. "GT STRIKE!" Then, Sean sped forward, a screeching sound adding to it. The Suitroops recoiled, but Sean slashed with a two-handed back-hand, being right-handed. Then Sean stopped and posed in confident victory as the Suitroops behind him fell to the ground and exploded. "Fuck yeah!"

"Take this!" Kevin shouted as he fired his Touring Cannon. A swift kick to a Suitroop on his 9:00 told the Suitroops he wasn't distracted. He then pointed his good-sized, car-shaped, blue-colored cannon at a group of Suitroops. "Take this, you piles of junk! I'm gonna send you to Tír na nÓg!" Kevin fired his cannon at the group, blasting away until the Suitroops were mostly piles of circuitry. Then, he pointed it at another group, blasting them again. "Does this gun have any special attacks?" He asked Col. Greene.

"It's called 'Turbo Blast, Blue," Col. Greene replied.

"Sounds good!" Kevin replied. He pointed his cannon at another group of Suitroops. "Turbo Blast, ready!" The Suitroops recoiled, but there was no escape. "FIRE!" He pulled the trigger and a massive ball of energy was fired at the Suitroops. Much like Sean, Kevin posed in confident victory after the Suitroops themselves were destroyed.

Daisuke swung his green-colored, naginata-like staff at some Suitroops. Using the pole-like weapon as a hook, he tripped up a Suitroop before swinging it around and slashing at one, sending sparks flying. He blocked one attack from behind, then swung the Suitroop around and stabbed the rotroop in its chest. Swinging his staff above his head, he brought it down on the Suitroops, cutting several of them in the staff's path. "Any attacks?" He said to Col. Greene.

"Tornado Spin, Green," Col. Greene replied.

"Sounds redundant," Daisuke said. "But I'll give it a try." He held the weapon above his head and began to spin it around like a helicopter blade. Then he brought it down and began to spin himself. "Tornado Spin!" He called out before spinning around like the Tazmanian Devil and striking several Suitroops in his path. Then he stopped and propped his staff up and posed in confident as the Suitroops behind him exploded.

A quick block of a Suitroop sword with her Haz Daggers and then a quick stab was enough for Maria to take out an attacking Suitroop. With one dagger in her left hand she blocked another Suitroop and stabbed the same one in the gut, kicking a Suitroop that was behind her all the while. She tabbed two Suitroops on her 3 and 9 o' clock sides respectively, then once again kicking a third in front of her. "Damn rotroops," she to no one in particular. "Why can't they ever make them stronger? Colonel! Do I have any special abilities like Sean and Kevin?"

"The ability for the Haz Daggers is called 'Lightning Shot'," said Col. Greene. "Use it wisely, Yellow."

"¡Bueno!" She said in response. "¡Vamos, muchachos!" She said, gesturing for the Suitroops to come to her. The Suitroops took the bait and charged her. The blades on her yellow-colored daggers began to glow and sparkle with electricity. Then, she took one dagger by the blade, like a circus knife-thrower. "Lightning Shot!" She shouted as she threw the first one and then the second one. Each struck a Suitroop in the chest and continued to sparkle until the Suitroops exploded. "¡Mucho bueno!" She shouted as she too posed.

It's not exactly easy to use a bow when in close-quarter combat; which is what Hitomi had to deal with. No matter, a little gymnastics and some quick thinking allowed her to use her Am Bow both as a long-range weapon and as a melee weapon. She flipped backwards to avoid a Suitroop sword, but landed in a crowd of them. No matter. She spun the wheels on the ends of her gauntlets and took out the Suitroops with them. With another quick flip, she took out a couple Suitroops with a good kick. "What can this bow do?" She asked. Col. Greene.

"Pink, your attack is called 'Energy Shot," he replied.

"Perfect!" She said as she notched an arrow into her bow. "Energy Shot, ready!" The arrow began to glow pink, alerting her Suitroop opponents to the danger of the attack. The Suitroops charged her, but she cried out, "Energy Shot!" And she fired at the Suitroops. The pink-colored arrow sped through the air and cut through the crowd of Suitroops. Much like the other Rangers, she turned around and posed in victory as the Suitroops exploded.

"Alright pretty boy, it's your turn!" Sean shouted. The Rangers had successfully dispatched Elbeth's Suitroops and now were ready to face him. The five of them lined up in front of Elbeth, ready to attack. Elbeth, however, was not worried in the least. And that made the Rangers slightly nervous.

"Well then," he said. "Give it your best shot! I await your attempts!"

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Kevin asked Sean. "We don't know what this guy's made of."

"I think we can take him," said Sean. "Easily."

"You sure?" Kevin asked.

"I'm positive!" Sean replied. "Now then, let's get 'im. LET'S GO!"

"Right!" They replied and following Sean's lead, charged Elbeth. Elbeth, meanwhile, stood his ground like Stonewall Jackson as the Rangers charged him, brandishing their weapons. His face showed a sinister smile. In his hand, a sword, much like Ragnar's, materialized and he saluted the Rangers with it before getting into a fighting stance.

"COME ON!" Sean shouted as he got there first. The blade of Sean's GT Sword began to glow, and the wheels at the ends of his gauntlets and the tops of his boots began to spin, glowing red. His attack had begun. "GT STRIKE!" He shouted as he swung his glowing sword at Elbeth. Elbeth took his sword and with one swift move—blocked Sean's attack. "What!" He shouted.

Elbeth just smiled in a sinister manner. Underneath his visor, Sean's eyes widened just when Elbeth knocked him backwards using an energy blast or something. Sean flew back about 10 feet, landing on his backside in front of the Rangers. "Sean!" Kevin shouted once he landed. "You okay?"

"I'm okay," he replied as he groaned and got up. Elbeth, meanwhile, laughed at the Rangers.

"What was that?" He taunted.

"Fuck you!" Sean replied. "You're gonna get it!" Sean charged Elbeth again, but his anger had gotten the best of him. Elbeth smiled, as his plan had worked. Sean charged him again, yelling like a mad man and swung his sword at Elbeth, but it was again blocked by the general. Elbeth then threw Sean back before the Red Ranger charged him again. It was then that Elbeth gave Sean a nasty back hand, striking him in the chest and sending sparks flying.

Underneath his helmet, Sean's face showed a look of agony as he screamed in pain before landing on the ground.

Back at the base, the staff began to panic at Sean's agonized screams and groans. "Run a medical check!" Col. Greene shouted. Although his face showed one of calm, his tone had a hint of worry on his voice. A doctor near him looked over a computer screen before shaking his head.

"No major injuries," he said. "But he is in pain."

Sean, meanwhile, changed his expression from agonized to angry. He was too damn stubborn to lose to this pretty boy. No fucking way! "Interesting," Elbeth said as Sean got up again. "Ragnar was right. You are stubborn." At that point, Elbeth raised his sword. "But also stupid."

"I'm not stupid," Sean said. "I just don't like losing." With the other Rangers watching, Sean charged Elbeth again, before swinging his sword at him. This time, Elbeth found it more difficult to land a strike on Sean, who would not go down with out a fight. Sean hacked and slashed at Elbeth, trying to keep the Elf general on his heels. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

Once again, Elbeth landed a strike on Sean. But unlike before, he made sure the Red Ranger would go down, slashing at Sean multiple times. The Red Ranger screamed in pain. It felt like no pain he had ever felt. In his helmet, he could hear the medical staff at the base frantically trying to diagnose him. His face underneath the helmet was one of just pure agony. Finally, Elbeth landed the finishing blow, sending Sean flying backwards among a shower of sparks. Sean then landed about three feet in front of the Rangers. His suit was heavily damaged, showing the circuitry and wires of the robotic exoskeleton underneath the super-fiber.

"SEAN!" The Rangers shouted. Kevin, who was usually calm, had a face of pure rage underneath his helmet. Remember when it was said he was just as hot-blooded as Sean? Well, you're about to find out why.

"YOU BASTARD!" He shouted. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" At that point, he dropped his Touring cannon and drew his Octane blaster before changing it into his Grand Prix sword. At that point, he charged Elbeth, also screaming like a mad man. Elbeth smiled again. This should be easy.

The swords of Elbeth and the Blue Ranger clashed. Kevin swung his GP Sword at Elbeth, but missed each time, or were just blocked or parried by the Elf general's crystal sword. How is he able to use that? Kevin thought to himself. But he didn't get much of a chance as a blast from Elbeth sent the Irish Blue Ranger flying backwards like Sean.

"I expected better from you!" Elbeth said, taunting him. "Surely, you can handle me!"

"We'll see about that!" Kevin shouted as he got up and charged Elbeth again. Much like before, he aggressively attacked Elbeth, trying to catch the Elf off guard. When that didn't work, he decided to fight him with hand-to-hand combat. Looking for an opening, he reverse-roundhouse kicked Elbeth, but the general blocked the attack and flipped Kevin on his back.

"Come on!" He shouted. Kevin got up again and charged Elbeth, but it was no use. Just like Sean, Kevin found himself on the wrong end of Elbeth's attacks, as the general hacked and slashed at Kevin's suit before he sent the finishing blow, sending him back several feet amongst a shower of sparks. And much like Sean, he had a look of agony on his face and a heavily damaged suit.

"Let's get him!" Maria shouted as she and Hitomi charged him. Elbeth shook his head at the Yellow and Pink Rangers coming at him. He swung his sword again, striking trooph Maria and Hitomi at the same time.

"I must commend you Rangers," he said. "You fight well and you refuse to—" At that point, he blocked an attack by Maria, who had gotten up while he was talking. "Impressive," he said as his blade locked with Maria's dagger. Using this opportunity, Maria thrust her dagger at Elbeth. The dagger did strike him, but only struck his jacket. "Well. You managed to lay a blow on me," he said sarcastically. He then swept Maria's feet out from under her, and then swung his sword at Maria. "But you left yourself open for attack." Maria got up again, but like Sean and Kevin, was subject to the savage attack of Elbeth's sword, sending her backward, screaming in pain and her suit heavily damaged.

Hitomi didn't fair much better. With Elbeth distracted, she fired her bow at him, but the general dodged the attack before coming up to her. Underneath her helmet, her face showed a look of terror before Elbeth again subjected her to the same beat-down he had given her friends. Now there were four Power Rangers laying on the ground, writhing in agony and wearing damaged suits. All that was left was Daisuke. "Well, Green?" Elbeth said in a taunting voice. "Are you going to strike me?"

Daisuke raised his staff above his head and charged Elbeth. With the length of his staff, Daisuke was able to keep some distance between himself and the blonde-haired general. "Your teammates are all down," Elbeth said. "I would expect you to give up by now."

"I'm stubborn like the American," Daisuke replied.

"I see," Elbeth replied as he dodged some thrusts from Daisuke's naginata. He then swung his staff above his head and brought it down on Elbeth, but the general blocked the attack.

"Not bad," he said. He then thrust his sword at Daisuke, but the Japanese Green Ranger blocked his attacks. It seemed as if Daisuke would save the day.

But, that did not last. Elbeth managed to wrest Daisuke's weapon from his hands, then subjected Daisuke to the same beatdown he had given Sean, Kevin, Maria and Hitomi. And, much like them, Daisuke was sent backwards in a hail of sparks.

"This is pathetic!" Elbeth said. By now, the Rangers were all struggling to stand up; trying to handle the pain they had just received. What made matters worse was the heavily damaged suits. The helmets were fine; it was the suits that were the problem. There was exposed circuitry and wires all over. While there was no risk—at the moment—to the Rangers, the suit was still in bad shape.

Back at the base, Col. Greene was scrambling for a jet to get to the Rangers. "Get the Sonic Jet out there!" He shouted. "Hurry! Get them out of there, now!"

"It was launched two minutes ago!" A soldier shouted. "It should be there soon!"

"Then get it there faster!" He shouted. "Get the Rangers out of there!"

"And now, to finish this!" Elbeth shouted. He held his hand out and a ball of glowing energy began to manifest. Underneath their helmets, the Rangers' eyes all widened as Elbeth sent the ball of energy at them. There was a massive explosion, and the Rangers were sent flying again.

"Damn it!" Sean shouted in agony. Although he could hear that none of them were suffering major injuries, he was still in pain. And despite his stubborn streak, he knew they were beat. "We gotta get out of here," he said. The other Rangers looked at him as him he was crazy. "We need to retreat NOW!"

"Sean, what are you—" Maria was about to object, but the sound of a jet interrupted her. A red and black-colored jet swooped down and fired some rockets near Elbeth. Turns out they were smoke bombs and they created a smokescreen as it hovered above the Rangers and let down a rope ladder.

Elbeth, meanwhile, shielded himself from the smokescreen. In anger, he swung his sword and created a strong wind to blow the smoke away. Once the smoke was gone, his face changed to one of anger. They're gone! Suddenly, he could feel a strong wind on blowing on his and he looked up, noticing a blue-colored figure walk into a human jet, before the door closed and the jet sped away to the east, towards the city of Tokyo. Elbeth watched in disappointment as his opponents fled the scene. Oh, well. He could kill them some other day.

"Fuck!" Sean shouted as he sat down on the couch in the Rangers' townhouse. After Sean was seen spitting out blood, the Rangers had been rushed to the infirmary in the base—turns out he was fine. In fact, all the Rangers had escaped with no major injuries—save for Kevin, whose stitches on his left leg re-opened. So right now, after the Rangers had gone through some medical tests, they were back in their townhouse, still wearing their heavily-damaged Ranger suits—sans helmet—licking their proverbial wounds.

"Oy," said Kevin. "That was brutal." There was no need for an exclamation point. The statement was just fine on its own.

"I'm gonna be sore for a week," said Hitomi.

"I think he nearly killed us," Maria said. Those words were enough to make the mood even sourer. The fact that they had just barely escaped death is not a thought they wanted to have on their minds right now. It's not really a good thing to be thinking about unless you just lived through D-Day.

"Jeez," said Kevin. "And what's worse is the suits are damaged."

"They're so damaged that we can't even morph out of them for two hours!" Sean said. That was surprising.

"How is it that these things are so damaged that we can't morph out of them?" Maria asked.

"I'm not sure," said Kevin. "But I think Col. Greene hinted we might not be able to use these suits again."

"Goddamit," Sean said. "We just start fighting and now it looks like we're done fighting before we even get started!" The statement was not exactly unfounded. The suits were heavily damaged, as mentioned so many times previously. While it's strange for a Power Rangers team to suffer such heavy damage, it certainly happened here.

"I'm not sure if it's stupid or not," said Hitomi. "Super Sentai never changed their suits after a few battles."

"Neither did Power Rangers," said Sean.

"Well if we do," said Maria. "Good riddance to this design. It's ugly." Her attempt to lighten up the mood helped only a little—when Daisuke interjected.

"And it wouldn't have happened if I had been in command," he said as he stood up from his seat. The other Rangers all looked at him in complete surprise. Sean especially, and he got angry.

"What'd you say?" he asked in a hostile tone as he stood up.

"You heard me American," he said, not even bothering with Sean's name—either his first or last name. "You saw what happened against Elbeth. I was the one who did the best against him. I should be the leader!"

"And you deserve props for that," Sean said. "But that doesn't mean you can say such mutinous things about me!" He got up and got in Daisuke's face, clearly angry.

"We wouldn't have gotten beat had we not rushed into battle without knowing our enemy's capabilities!" Daisuke shouted.

"So I make a mistake, big, fat, hairy, fucking, deal!" Sean replied. "We all make mistakes, I admit. I should have thought about what I was doing before fighting Elbeth. But that does not mean that we would have fared better if you were in charge!"

"How so?" Daisuke asked.

"You know how!" Sean shouted back. "Our first fight against the Rhino guy, you panicked and I took command! You can't lead, Rich Boy! Had you been in charge we would have been killed!"

"You don't know that!" Daisuke shouted back. "Like I said, we would have—"

"You're essentially saying the same thing," Sean said, interrupting him. "You don't know if we would have done better if you were the Red Ranger! And where the hell is this coming from!"

"It's been there," Daisuke replied. "It just got worse just today."

"Oh, I get it," Sean said. "You're still sore about not getting the Red Ranger suit! Face it Rich Boy, I'm the Red Ranger, you're not, so GET THE FUCK OVER IT!"

"I WILL NOT GET OVER IT!" Daisuke shouted back. "I was supposed to be the Red Ranger, not some American like you!"

"Life isn't always fair, asshole!" Sean replied. "I'm the hockey captain here, not you! I've had experience as a leader. You don't! All you have is the backing of a rich family and that's it! And yes, I made a mistake this one time! It will not happen again!"

"An athletic captain doesn't count! And besides, it would never have happened if the Project had done what they promised to do and made me Red Ranger!"

"Oh. Here we go again!" Sean said in a mocking tone of voice. "Like I said, get the fuck over it! It's in the past, this is the present."

"Guys, please, stop this," said Maria, who had her hand on her forehead. "We have to stop focusing on the past and start focusing on what our next move is going to be."

"Maria's right," said Kevin. "Can you two please stop fighting?"

"If Rich Boy is willing to," said Sean. "If not, I'm going out to be alone."

"Then I hate to disappoint," said Daisuke. "Because I won't—"

"Alright, that's it!" Sean shouted. Apparently, he had forgotten about the pain he was feeling. "I'm going out to be alone!" He said as he pressed on a little thing tucked behind his ear. At that point, his Ranger helmet re-materialized on his head and he stormed out the door, much to the protests of his teammates, save for Daisuke. Obviously he didn't care one bit. And he expected Hitomi not to, either.

Except he was wrong. Instead, Hitomi didn't want Sean to leave the team. It was a fair worry, after all. But what was also happening was a strange fascination with Sean. Nothing serious, though. "You're following him aren't you?" Daisuke said.

"Maybe," she replied. "I never said I wasn't."

"If you want to follow him, go ahead," said Maria. "We'll wait up for you."

"I'm not sure if you should," said Daisuke. "You should be loyal to the family."

"Family loyalty doesn't have anything to do with this situation," said Hitomi. With that, she also pressed the device behind her ear and her Ranger helmet also materialized. "I'm just worried about a friend." Maria smiled at Hitomi, and Kevin just shrugged. Obviously Maria approved, and Kevin just didn't care. Daisuke, meanwhile, wasn't happy. But, that didn't matter to her, as she walked outside the door and bounded the rest of the way to find Sean.

"She seems to have an independent streak," said Maria. "I think that's good."

Finding a needle in a haystack is one thing, but try finding a guy wearing red spandex in Tokyo. That's even harder. Hitomi had to search a good deal of rooftops in Tokyo just to find Sean. Why rooftops? Probably because it was the only thing she could think of. And it's the best place to be alone when you're still in your Ranger gear and you don't want any unwanted attention drawn to yourself.

It did indeed take some time, but she managed to locate a red figure sitting on a rooftop somewhere in the Shinjuku ward, not too far from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. She shook her head, having found him and pressed the wheel-like feature on her helmet. That, in turn, made her helmet retract into the small device behind her ear. With her helmet now retracted, she walked over to where she thought Sean was sitting. Sure enough, she could see the battle-damaged spandex-like material that he was wearing. She got closer, and saw that he had his helmet off, too. She tried to stay silent, hoping he couldn't tell she was there. Well, she was wrong.

"I know you're there," he said suddenly said. His sudden words startled her, but only slightly. Just a little twitch, and that's it. She was about to leave, but he had other ideas. "You know, if you want to sit down, go ahead. I don't mind." So, she shrugged and sat down next to him. The wrapper of a candy bar was next to him, and he had his arms around his legs, as he didn't have much of a seat. "You know, it's kind of creepy to follow people around," he said.

"I just didn't want to see you make a fool of yourself," she replied. He snickered a little. The sun was setting, although it was behind them, as she could see her shadow. That must have been how he noticed her. She could also hear the sound of the late afternoon traffic, albeit somewhat quieter, mostly due to them being up pretty high.

"Are you going to say anything about Rich Boy?" He asked.

"Well, I wish you would not yell like that," she said.

"Is that all?" Sean asked.

"No," she replied. "I also wish you would not get so close to him like that. And that you would be less bossy."

"Have I really been that bossy?" Sean asked. "Or are you just making that up?"

"You have been kind of a control freak," she said.

"Oh yeah?" He asked. "Name one time."

"During the simulators," she said. "You like to grab the glory for yourself."

"I do not!" He replied. "Okay, maybe a little. Oh, speaking of which, what were you and Maria talking about before the Zord battle?"

"Well," she said, prolonging her word out as if she was thinking about what to say. "I kind of had some fears before. I was afraid I would not drive very well."

"Where the hell did that come from?" Sean asked. His face showed a look of confusion, as if this was never brought up before. Oh, wait. "You never mentioned you have confidence issues."

"Well, since our Red Ranger is so confident," she said. "It would seem kind of silly for a Ranger to have confidence issues."

"Still," he said. "You kind of caught me off guard with that."

"Your personality and my brother's really contrast," she said suddenly. Sean placed his face in his hand at the suddenness of the statement.

"Where the hell did that come from?" He asked. "That was probably the most random thing I've ever heard!"

"Sorry," she said. "But it is true. I mean, he is usually aloof, you are… not. He is usually stiff, you are… passionate."

"I think 'hot-blooded' is the term," Sean said. "I'm hot-blooded. It means I tend to get excited and angered pretty easily."

"You certainly have an anger problem," she said.

"I guess so," he said. There really wasn't much to argue about there; especially after Elbeth got him so angry. "I guess I need to work on my anger problems."

"So are you always like that?" She asked. "Are you, as Maria puts it, an 'asshole'?" Sean snickered again, at the randomness of the question.

"I don't know why she said that," he said. "Yes, I can be an asshole sometimes, but I'm really not that bad."

"Telling me you are not that bad and showing it are different things," she replied.

"Ah, jeez," he said. "Well, you saw the thing with the kid, didn't you?"

"Um, yeah," she said. "But that is only one time."

"Well, the reason I don't like him is because as you saw, he questioned my position as Red Ranger."

"Technically, that means you are admitting you have a bossy streak," she said.

"Whatever," said Sean, "My point is, he acts as though only he deserves to be Red Ranger, even though I have more credentials, even though it was being captain of three different hockey teams and not the military? Has he served in the JSDF?"

"No," she said. "Only our grandfather served in the Imperial Japanese Army. No one else since him has served in the military."

"So your brother hasn't?" She shook her head, 'no'. "Okay, then. And I'm not sure who made that deal that he be Red Ranger."

"So you were play hockey?" She asked. "And you're captain?"

"Yep," he said. "Team's name is the Chicago Steel. It's a junior hockey team and I've been playing on the team through college. Except now I can't, and I spent the last year playing for the UIC club team."

"Is that why you do not like my brother?" She asked.

"Well, that, and my family was not the wealthiest in the world," he replied. "Sure, we could afford stuff and my dad lives in Beverly, which is a well-off neighborhood in Chicago, but we're not—how rich is your family?"

"We own a chain of department stores," she said. "We even own stock in several international department stores like Harrod's and Macy's." As soon as he heard that, Sean's eyes widened in complete shock. He stammered, trying to figure out just what to say.

"That is rich," he said. "We're not even close! My mom lives in Lincoln Park, but I don't think that's rich!"

"So what else do you think of my brother?" She asked.

"I think he's a spoiled brat," he replied, taking a bite out his candy bar.

"You know, some might say you feel something else about him," she said as she opened one of his candy bars.

"I don't know, I—oh, you're sick, you know that?" He quickly figured out just what she meant by 'something else'. She laughed, as she clearly got a reaction out of him. He just shook his head and muttered something under his breath.

"So do you hate me?" She asked. Not a bad question, really.

"No," he replied. "I kinda like you. Not romantically, but it's more like you're a nice girl; a lot nicer than him."

"I get that reaction, I guess," she said as she took a bite out her candy bar. "My brother also thinks you're stupid."

"I'm not stupid!" He replied. "I got a 3.25 GPA in high school. I got accepted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison—not sure what'll happen with that—and I can come up with some pretty good plans."

"Really?" She said. "What?"

"Well," Sean said. "Considering Elbeth most likely used that monster as a way to lure us to Mt Fuji, maybe we could set a trap for him."

"Do you have any plans now?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, no," he replied.

"I guess that is a way of looking at things," she said. As the sun continued to set, the two continued their little talk. As the conversation went on, Hitomi gained a new understanding of Sean—even though she gained one earlier—and she started to gain a strange attraction to him. Whether it was friendship or something else, she didn't know. But, it didn't feel bad, anyway.

"What is she doing that is taking so long?" Daisuke asked with some irritation on his voice. Maria and Kevin, however, didn't really seem to care.

"Don't worry about it," said Kevin. "As long as she's with Sean, she'll be fine."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Daisuke replied.

"Just relax," said Maria. "She had her reasons, and I'm sure they make sense to her at least."

"I don't want him doing anything to her, though," Daisuke said.

"You make him sound like a rapist," Kevin said. "He's not even close to that. He's got morals, you know."

"He'd better," said Daisuke. "Otherwise, I won't forgive him."

:-:-:-: PRGPX :-:-:

Back in Alfheim, Elbeth stepped into Ragnar's office. The Commander was looking over documents and sipping some wine. "General Elbeth reporting," he said with a salute.

"This had better be good," Ragnar replied. He took a sip of his Elf wine.

"I nearly succeeded in killing the Power Rangers," he said. Ragnar did a spit-take, surprised at this sudden revelation.

"You what?" He said, still coughing.

"I nearly succeeded in killing the Power Rangers myself," he repeated.

"Why did you not finish the job?" Ragnar replied, thinking he had failed.

"Because they managed to escape," he replied. "They escaped aboard a high-speed human aircraft before I could give chase. Had the aircraft not arrived, I would have finished them off."

"Really," said Ragnar. "Then why was the Kel monster defeated so easily?"

"That really didn't matter to me," Elbeth said with a smile on his face. Ragnar thought about Elbeth's words until he came to realize something.

He smiled, and then began to laugh lightly. Elbeth's smile grew, as he knew his Commander had figured out his strategy. "So you lured them out with a relatively weak monster and then you nearly killed them?" Ragnar asked. "I must admit Elbeth, it seems I have underestimated you, as well."

"It seems you have," Elbeth replied. But Ragnar was not done.

"Still, that does not mean you do not have a 'longer leash' as these humans say," he said with a very stern look on his face. "If you fail me more, I will not be so easy on you. Is that clear?"

"As clear as you can be," Elbeth said as he bowed. With that, he pivoted around and walked out of the throne room, leaving Commander Ragnar behind. The Commander took another look at his wine glass, lost in his thoughts. But he had just one more question.

"Elbeth!" He called. The general stopped in his tracks—he had not left the throne room just yet, actually—and turned around. "How is it that you were able to defeat them yet we could not?"

"It is simple," he said. "I did not underestimate them." And with that, hew walked out of the throne room, this time leaving Ragnar behind. The blond Elf Commander shook his head and took another sip of his wine.

:-:-:-: PRGPX :-:-:-:

"There's no other way around it," said Dr. Wilhelm Morris. Morris was with Col. Alan Green at the UN base under Tokyo. He was an older man, close to 50 years old, despite being one of the scientific leaders of Project Ranger. "We'll need to change to suit."

"I was afraid of this," Col. Greene replied. "I know we're keeping the material, it's the fact we have to change the suit design that I'm not pleased about."

"The damage is too great," Dr. Morris replied. "There's no way they can handle the enemy in their state. They have to be replaced."

"I see," said Col. Greene. "I guess we have no other choice. We'll have to bring the Rangers here to see the new suits."

"I guess so," said Dr. Morris. "I just hope these can handle the enemy."

"We used a backup suit the last time," Col. Greene said. "These new ones shouldn't be too bad."

"I hope so," said Dr. Morris. "We can only hope."

:-:-:-: PRGPX :-:-:-:

End chapter

Just out of habit I decided to keep Elbeth resembling Jadeite. I thought it was funny, anyways. Other than that, there aren't a whole lot of changes that needed to be made with this chapter.