Power Rangers Mystic Knights, episode 7: The New Power

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For UCF police officer Greg Hollis, the events of the previous day were more like a nightmare than anything else. It was a slow day and those spandex-clad freaks called the Power Rangers just had to screw it up for him. Had they not shown up, he wouldn't have had to do any paperwork and just go home. Instead, here he was filling it out for past two hours. All the phone calls and in-person reports had filled the police office.

All the reports were the same; fake-looking creature, spandex-wearing superheroes, blah, blah, blah. How many of them actually saw this thing? How many of them were wannabe's who just wanted attention? How many of them were stoned out of their minds? How many of them are just playing along? It wasn't too hard to tell. The liars were pretty easy to spot.

Hollis had always loved comic books. He figured his favorites were Batman, Superman and Spider-Man. They always had good standing with law enforcement (Spider-Man might be an exception). Why couldn't these spandex-wearing freaks be the same?

"Hey Hollis," police Chief Bob Malone said, walking up to him. The middle-aged man gave the thirty-something officer a bit of a jump. "Why don't you leave? You've been filling out paperwork all night."

"Thanks chief," said Hollis.

The officer left the UCF police department just after the sun set. There was still a little bit of light on the western horizon. It was a fantastic effect that belied the chaos and excitement of the day. It was actually pretty calming for Officer Hollis.

The campus was still abuzz about the battle. It was inescapable for Officer Hollis. Hell, no one could go anywhere on campus without hearing about the battle. "Dude, I was right there! I saw their capes, man!"

"They didn't have capes!" the person's opponent replied. "You were obviously not there."

"No, man, I swear I was!"

"Liar."

He turned and heard someone else talking. "They came right out of nowhere! I was looking at this puppet near the Student Union, and those guys showed up! Next thing I know, that puppet started attacking everyone and chased after those guys!"

"Holy shit!"

"Yeah, and then I chased them to the Memory Mall. There was a whole buncha cops around and I could barely see anything!"

"Dude, that's insane!"

That young man was probably telling the truth. One of Hollis's colleagues mentioned the same thing. Hollis may be relatively new to the force but he wasn't some rookie. He'd heard a few things from theft victims. You have to know when someone's lying. Of course the force brought in body language experts for that.

He entered the Student Union where the crowd was thinning out. Oh, the media was there, too. He hated dealing with the media. "Excuse me, officer, can you—"

"I'm off-duty," Hollis said, rejecting the WESH reporter's question. He was hungry.

After a quick stop at Subway, Hollis found a table to sit down at. And it was right next to a very familiar face. "Richard Lewis," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm eating," Richard replied after swallowing his sandwich.

"I should have expected that," said Hollis. "By the way, do happen to know what happened today?"

"Some costumed weirdoes fought a monster?" Richard asked sarcastically. "It's all over the place."

"I need to stop asking stupid questions, don't I?" Hollis asked. The former UCF wide receiver with dark blond hair facepalmed at his own stupidity. "Were you anywhere near the scene?"

"Yeah," said Richard. A little honesty never hurt anyone. Hell, the Rangers weren't anywhere near a camera. If they were, Nimue would have taken care of it. "I just saw them show up."

"But I did see one witness saying you ducked behind the Student Union," said Hollis.

"That witness may have been unreliable," said Richard. "You as a cop should know you can't trust everything."

"Well, I can't say anything about that," said Hollis. "The force has to have its secrets."

"Right," said Richard.

"By the way, what's with those books?" Hollis asked. "You wanna be a writer?"

"Arthurian literature is my favorite," said Richard. "But I tend to avoid the junk like Mists of Avalon."

"Really?" Hollis asked.

"I have to go now," Richard said as he got up.

"Oh, by the way," said Hollis. "If you see those 'Power Rangers' again, tell them to come to UCF police. We want to talk to them."

"I'll see what I can do," said Richard. He walked away thinking about actually coming to UCF police as the Blue Ranger… NOT!

:-:-:-: Power Rangers Mystic Knights, GO! :-:-:-:

"Mother, I know it would be strange of me to ask but… what are you doing?"

"Why Mordred, it's very simple. I'm trying to come up with a new short-term plan!"

"Yes, but, this is… unorthodox."

"Nonsense Mordred, it's perfectly fine!"

"I'm not so sure," said Mordred.

In case you're wondering, here's what's going on: Morgan le Fay, the woman who is trying to wipe Orlando off the map and take over the world, is doing a hand stand in her ritual space. Yes, it is weird. And Mordred knows it. He knew the woman was eccentric, but this is beyond eccentric. It's crazy!

"Nimue's little pets have thwarted my short-term plans," said Morgan. "I need to find a short-term plan to help my long-term goals. This is the best way I can find them!"

"Why can't you let Maleagant think of something?" Mordred asked.

"Nonsense, son!" Morgan asked. "This is our segment, where we focus on me!"

"Do you think this is a tome?" Mordred asked.

"Either way, I might as well be in a redundant rut," said Morgan. "I'll have to send out some creature to beat the Rangers and they will beat it time after time after time after time after time after time—"

"I understand mother," said Mordred. "No need to repeat yourself."

"My plans will repeat themselves!" said Morgan. "I need an asprin!"

"You're standing on your head mother."

"I BLOODY WELL KNOW THAT!" Morgan slid off the wall and jumped back up. "I need to throw some, what do these people say…? Curveballs! That's it! Some game I'm unfamiliar with has given me a good analogy. Either way, I'll need to throw something at them that will catch them by surprise until my long-term plans are achieved."

"Why can't you integrate your short-term and long-term plans?" Mordred asked.

"I've been thinking that over," said Morgan. "It's not as easy as it seems. Not only that, but some of our strongest warriors have not been revived yet. Once they are… Nimue's pets are in trouble."

"But what will you do for now, mother?" Mordred asked.

"Call Gwydion," said Morgan. "Until our first strongest warrior is revived, we'll have to attack the Rangers. Have him create a monster."

"Yes, mother," Mordred said with a bow. Morgan slumped in her chair as Mordred left the room. But she also thought it was time she saw how her 'friends' were doing…

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"Bloody hell!"

Nimue looked over the paper her History teacher just assigned her. It wasn't too long into the semester and she'd already gotten a paper!

"Sorry," Kaz said as he rubbed his head. "Richard told me that's how Prof. Gordon works."

"Do I look like I know much about the American Revolution?" Nimue asked. "[I've been sealed away for one-and-a-half-millennia]!"

"[Well, sorry!]" Kaz whispered back. "But I don't think that's going to be much of an excuse. And Prof. Gordon is from London of all places, I don't think he'd like it if he heard you saying that."

"A Londoner teaching American history," said Nimue. "That's an irony."

"I think he teaches European history," said Kaz. "That's just his specialty."

"Either way, I won't break my academic honesty by using magic," said Nimue. "I'll have to do my own research."

"You could start with the textbook," said Kaz.

"Start yes," said Nimue. "It's researching on the internet that will be the difficult part."

"You make it sound worse than it actually is," said Kaz.

"I suppose you may be right," she said. "By the way, I hope you have not been neglecting your training with the Order of Avalon."

"I've been practicing my karate," said Kaz. "The university's activities fair is in a few days and I'll be demonstrating some techniques."

"That's nice, but it's not good enough," said Nimue.

"Going to Medieval Times isn't very easy," said Kaz. "It's in Kissimmee, after all. It's not like I can go there every day."

"Damn," Nimue muttered. "And I thought your dad knew longsword fencing."

"Hey, geek-boy!" Kaz stopped in his tracks and groaned. A heavy-set man and a thinner one dressed like punks walked up to him and put their hands on his shoulders. Kaz looked more annoyed than frightened.

"Who are these two?" Nimue asked.

"Farkas Bulkmeier," he said "And Eugene Skullovitch."

"That's Bulk and Skull to you, geek-boy!"

"Yeah, geek-boy! HAHAHA!" Bulk silenced Skull with a dirty look.

"Why don't you guys leave me alone?" Kaz asked.

Bulk laughed. "HA! Oh, really? Well, now we're not going to leave you alone!"

"Yeah, we're—sorry." Skull didn't have a chance.

"Look, I'm really busy, okay?" Kaz asked as he walked away.

"Oh, who's your friend here?" Bulk asked. "She looks real pretty."

"Yeah! HAHAHA! Real pretty!" Kaz turned around and noticed Nimue didn't look very threatened; more annoyed, really.

"Kazuma, I can deal with these two," said Nimue. She had her hands behind her back. Kaz was interested.

"Oh, really! Let's show her some karate moves, Skull!" The two lunged at Nimue. She stepped out of the way and with a flick of her finger,

SPLAT!

"Nice moves," said Kaz. "Come on Nimue, let's get out of here."

"Are we going to see those two again?" Nimue asked as the two languished on the sidewalk.

"Most likely," said Kaz. Those two are going to be regular guest stars. Stay tuned, folks.

The two walked away from the bumbling duo discussing their training plans. Nimue acknowledged the problems with Medieval Times and said, "I suppose I was a little short-sighted. I do believe the Order of Avalon will be willing to help train you closer to campus, though."

"Sounds good," said Kaz. "What about Morgan le Fay?"

"I'll watch out for her," said Nimue. "All you need to worry about is fighting her. I was also worried about your swo—" she was about to say more when Kaz interrupted her. It seemed a police officer was headed their way.

Officer Hollis noticed Kaz try to silence Nimue. Of course, he didn't know who they were. All he saw was a person put his hand over the girl's mouth. "Don't want to say anything?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing, officer," Kaz replied.

"Do you two happen to know about the recent monster attack?" Hollis asked again.

"Oh, you mean that thing yesterday?" Kaz asked. "I saw that, it was crazy! Right, Nimue?"

"Yes, it was intense," said Nimue. "I had no idea a monster could attack."

"So that's all you know," Hollis stated.

"Yes," said Kaz.

"Yes," Nimue repeated.

"Very well," said Hollis. "Carry on." He walked away and once he out of sight, the two sighed in relief.

"I thought we were doomed!" said Nimue.

"Maybe we should wait to talk about these things," said Kaz. "I need to get back to my apartment. See you later!"

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"Nimue…" The wind blew through the knee-high grass, swirling around her. The sky above her was cloudless and no skyscrapers to block it. A very familiar ring of monoliths stood before her. She took a deep breath. The sound of the wind filled her ears. She remembered this place. "Nimue…"

That voice again. "Why did you betray me…" No… no…

"NO!"

"Nimue, are you alright?" Richard asked as she woke with a start. "You looked paler than you already are."

"Just a dream," she said. A whole lot of papers were strewn in front of them; study material.

"If you're falling asleep, maybe you should go home," said Richard.

"You're right," said Nimue. "I must be stressed, as you modern people say." She gathered up her things and left Richard's apartment.

"What is wrong with that girl?" he asked as he closed the door to his apartment. He picked up his Droid and dialed Kaz.

"Hai, moshi-moshi?" he asked. Why did he have to answer in Japanese?

"Nimue just left my apartment after she fell asleep," said Richard. "She looked paler than she usually does."

"That was weird," said Kaz. "Maybe we should keep an eye on her to see if she's okay."

"Sounds like a plan," Richard said as he hung up the phone.

:-:-:-: Power Rangers Mystic Knights :-:-:-:

"Mordred, what do you think of this location?" Morgan asked, referring to an old shop front a few blocks outside of downtown. "Is it good?"

"But will it work?" Mordred asked.

"Oh, my dear," said Morgan. "All we need is a little advertising and publicity—or are those the same thing—and my plan will be—"

"Complete, can we leave?"

"I hate it when you complete my sentences," said Morgan. "Get Gwydion to create a monster to make… friends with the Rangers."

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Nimue stumbled onto a park bench near the library. She had difficulty standing, and it was a great relief to sit down. Once she did, she rubbed her face in an attempt to calm down. "Oh, dear," she said to herself. "Not that blasted dream again."

"Excuse me? Are you alright?"

Nimue looked up from her lap to see Jen walking towards her. "Oh, Nimue," she said with a sigh. "I didn't know that was you."

"Hello Jen," said Nimue. "What are you doing here?"

"Just coming back from a dance practice," Jen replied as she sat down next to Nimue. "Are you alright? You look pretty pale."

"I'm fine," Nime replied, pulling her backpack onto her lap. Jen, however, didn't look like she believed her.

"Richard called, he said you looked pale," said Jen. "Are you alright? If the stress is getting to you, maybe you should try going to Disney World or a football game."

"Unfortunately, Disney World is expensive," said Nimue, "And I don't know a thing about football."

"That's not the football I meant," Jen laughed.

Nimue was about to respond. She paused, thinking. "Oh!" she said. "You mean a soccer match?"

"We have a men's and women's team," said Jen. "But come on. Something's bothering you, what is it?"

"It's nothing," Nimue lied. Jen sighed, grabbing her backpack and standing up.

Before she knew it, several Ghoul Soldiers materialized around them, growling and pointing their swords at them. The two looked at each other nervously, before Jen nodded at Nimue. "I'll call the others. You run," she said.

"Gladly," Nimue replied. She grabbed Jen's backpack to be sure. Jen pulled out her iPhone and it transformed into a Knight Phone. She dialed 3-3-5 and cried, "Mystic Knights, Power Up!"

In a flash of pink, she transformed, allowing Nimue a chance to escape. The Ghoul Soldiers were temporarily blinded by Jen's morphing and did not see her coming right at them. The first one she met she delivered a swift tornado kick to the chin. She spun on her toes, kicking at the Ghoul Soldiers coming near her. When one tried to sneak up on her, she kicked it in the head.

With the Ghoul Soldiers dispersed enough, she grabbed her Knight Phone and dialed her friends. "Guys! I'm in front of the library! The Ghoul Soldiers are here!"

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Kaz had already left his apartment to go pick up Yumi when he got the call. Jen's warning immediately put him on alert and he didn't have to wait long for Javier to catch up to him. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready!"

"Mystic Knights, Power Up!" They morphed and ran off in the direction of the library.

Meanwhile, Officer Hollis was sitting in his patrol car eating out of a box of fried rice when he heard a report coming in over his shortwave. He stopped and waited. There was a Power Ranger in front of the library! He immediately put the box in the cup holder and radioed to the dispatcher that he was in the area and he was on his way.

:-:-:-: Power Rangers Mystic Knights :-:-:-:

Jen still had her hands full with the Ghoul Soldiers. There were more of them that she'd expected than usual. And they were coming in waves, too. They were fierce and unrelenting, barely giving her a chance to take a break. They would go down, and then get back up just moments later.

Finally, she managed to get to a safer spot near the reflection pond. She panted, tired from the assault/ She wasn't expecting them to let up and she was right.

The Ghoul Soldiers assault started up again in earnest. A soldier rushed forward, brandishing its sword at her. She thrust her palm into his nose, throwing his head back. A kick to the groin brought it down.

More Ghoul Soldiers rushed forward. She grabbed her sword and started fighting with that. Sure, she'd been fighting with it, but it was mostly waving the darn thing around like a flare, hoping it would hit something.

It worked so far!

That is, until the obvious monster showed up. The Ghoul Soldiers all stepped out of the way as a big, statue-like mass walked towards her. The monster took a deep breath and turned into an anthropomorphic, short-snouted alligator. She kept her sword pointed at the monster, but she was definitely getting scared.

And the alligator monster could smell it.

It sneered as only an alligator could do, brandishing its claws at her. It lunged at her, taking a big swipe. She stumbled backwards into the reflecting pool. But while she didn't fall in, she was still in a bad position. She blocked the monster's next attack, grabbing the tip of the blade (like Kaz usually did) to keep it steady.

It was through this she was able to push the monster off.

At the same time, Officer Hollis finally arrived, getting out of his car and running towards the library. There he saw the alligator monster fighting what looked like a Power Ranger.

He blinked a couple of times, rubbed his eyes and looked again. How? How is this—to say he couldn't believe his own eyes was an understatement—possible? For the moment, he forgot that he had to question the belief that he could actually bring the Ranger in. Even if she—he assumed that was a she—wasn't that good a fighter, from what he could see.

Jen was getting desperate. The Ghoul Soldiers had "Lynx's Spirit!" Jen called. The blade of her sword began to glow pink and she lifted it above her head.

But when she swung it down, the alligator monster knocked it and her away. She got back up, groaning and shouting, "You BASTARD!" She punched the alligator monster.

And a ball of pink energy erupted from her fist.

Jen and the monster (and Hollis) were flabbergasted. The Ghoul Soldiers had stopped their attacks for a moment as they tried to process what had just happened. Jen, however, had no time. But she had an idea. She brought her hands together, and like she was imitating Goku, shouted, "LINX'S SPIRT!"

A ball of energy erupted from her hands and took out a few of the Ghoul Soldiers.

"Yeah, um, you're never gonna believe this," Hollis said into his radio. "But I think that Power Ranger just went Dragon Ball Z in here."

Kaz and Javier were not far behind. And they stopped in their tracks when they saw Jen using her power without the sword. They both looked at each other. Though they could not see their faces under the helmet, there was a pretty good idea what was going on between them. Kaz looked at the battle scene and back to Javier. And well, they figured things out pretty quickly.

"DRAGON'S FIRE!"

"GRIFFIN'S WIND!"

Both Rangers jumped forward and punched at the Ghoul Monsters. A burst of flame erupted from Kaz's fist and Javier's punch literally blew some of the Ghoul Soldiers away. Kaz ran up to them, kicking and punching the flames out of his hands and feet while Javier kept up with the air-punching.

"Actually, forget DBZ, I think this is that Avatar show or something," said Hollis.

Richard and Simone arrived from the west and stopped in surprise when they saw what was going on. "GUYS!" Javier called out. "WE CAN BEND!" Kaz smacked him upside the head.

But the message was clear. Simone raised her fist and punched the ground, shouting "BEAR'S EARTH!" A fissure sprung from her fist that traveled to the Ghoul Soldiers and knocked them down.

Richard had to run to the reflection pool and wade in. "LION'S WATER!" As he punched, a torrent of water washed the Ghoul Soldiers away.

Now it was just the Rangers and the alligator monster. The Rangers got up and surrounded it. "Give up!" Kaz warned.

The alligator instead swung its massive tail at them. The quintet dove out of the way. Simone grabbed a piece of earth, buried her hand into ground and threw some of it at the monster. The dirt had hardened into rock and hit the alligator in the head. It roared, stumbling about in pain.

Richard, who was still standing in the reflecting pool, punched and kicked at the monster. The water splashed all over the monster, moving it backwards. Javier punched at the monster. The wind blew all over the monster, nearly freezing it. And then Kaz punched and kicked at the monster.

It was easy to tell who the martial artists were here. Kaz and Richard were doing a good deal of the work. Although Jen ran up, jumped and kicked the monster with her own foot.

The Rangers did not let up. It was the adrenaline that made this happen. The monster was buffeted by elemental attacks, unable to launch a counter attack. It tried to fight back, but it was no use. The Rangers were far too good for it to counter.

It fell to the ground, groaning in agony. The Rangers went up to it and surrounded it. "Look," said Kaz. "I don't want to have to kill you. But you leave us no choice!"

"I will never surrender to Camelot scum like you!" the monster growled. "You'll have to KILL ME!"

It lunged at the Rangers. They all unleashed their attacks on the poor monster. Jen's energy blast was the final nail. The monster faltered and fell to the ground before exploding.

Officer Hollis had seen enough. He removed his hand from his mouth, turned away and contacted the dispatcher. "I don't think we'll be bringing the Power Rangers in anytime soon," he said. "Those guys are WAY too powerful."

The Rangers left the scene so they could de-morph. Nimue was not too far behind, and she was just as confused as they were. "What the bloody deuce was THAT!?"

"Bending?" Javier asked.

"What?"

"It's a long story," said Kaz.

"I had my sword knocked out, and—"

"YOUR SWORD WAS KNOCKED FROM YOUR HAND!?" Nimue screamed at Jen.

"I didn't want it to be knocked out!" Jen replied. "But I had to defend myself and it just… happened!"

"Well, I can understand it being knocked out of your hand," said Nimue. "But… I must admit, I never saw this coming."

"So what now?" Richard asked.

"What now!?" Nimue asked as if he was crazy. "You need to work on your form! You all were sloppy, save for Kazuma and Richard!"

"Looks like we're going to have to watch Avatar," said Javier.

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Kaz VO: "Next time, on Power Rangers Mystic Knights!"

Nimue: "It seems I was wrong about your powers."

Chief Malone: "I hope you're not lying, Hollis."

Jen: "Sorry for losing the sword."

Nimue: "The Order of Avalon wants to help."

Morgan le Fay: "It seems we were surprised."

Kaz: "HOLD IT!"

Kaz VO: "That's next time, on Power Rangers Mystic Knights!"

WOW. I have not updated this thing in FOUR YEARS. I kinda lost interest in it while working on a few other things, like college, GPX and other fics, a few of which are dead.

Lately I've been on an Avatar and Legend of Korra bender (bad um, tsh!) and I wanted to figure out some way to incorporate martial arts magic into my stories when I got the idea to use it with this one. If it was a way to dig it up and get things going again, I thought it would be a good idea.

GPX is still going on, but I wanted to work on this, and an original-fiction version with the GPX characters called "The Squadron". I'm just taking a short break after all the chapters I did in about a month.

So please, tell me what you think! The review button is right down there!