Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, or any of the characters in this story. They are the property of Disney now; although, there might be characters in this story that will be mine.
Budding
Chapter IX / NiteGlider
The rangers kept running as fast as they could. The streets were empty, and they knew that they didn't have to look out for any cars coming their way, so they focused on what was in front of them as they continued to sprint.
Katherine was scared of tripping over Tommy's foot, which kept getting in her way so she let pulled her hand out of his grasp and moved towards her left, right next to Tanya.
Rocky's upper thighs for giving up. They began to burn intensely as he pushed himself more and more to keep up with everyone else. What he didn't know was that everyone else was feeling the same way.
Adam's feet kept running as fast as he could. His arms were helping him push himself forward as he felt himself wanting to slow down.
The rangers kept running for a great distance until they all somehow started slowing down. They had been sprinting for thirteen straight blocks before they didn't notice who was the one who slowed down, but the rest had followed.
They all looked around panting heavily as they all tried to catch their breaths.
"Does anyone…see anything?" Tommy said in between gasps of air.
"It looks…like we…ran…in the…wrong direction" Kat noted as she saw far out in the distance that there were a number of broken lights towards their left.
Everyone although not being seen, all rolled their eyes from running carelessly.
"Damn" Rocky noted as he looked down with his hands on his sides still panting.
"I can't…believe this" Tanya said looking up at nothing.
The team gave each other and themselves a rather long moment to regain strength and their breaths.
"Why don't we just take the Jet Cycles?" Adam said making the others look at him bewilderedly.
Nothing could be heard after that. Even the deep panting of the teens was no more. Everyone there was quiet as can be for not having thought of it before. None of them dared say anything for embarrassment of not saying anything of the Jet Cycles.
"Um" Tommy finally spoke up. He felt bad for being the leader and not finding every possible angle in the situation to defeat this monster. He couldn't even lead them to find him, much less destroy NiteGlider, "We should" was the only thing that came out of him. He didn't feel like saying anything else at that point.
The team agreed with Adam on calling for their bike. They all called on their Jet Cycles having them appear quickly for them. They began riding all around the nearby streets looking for NiteGlider.
The team drove around before Tommy spoke up loudly having the noise of the Jet Cycles drown his voice, "We should separate to take a better look at the city!"
The team heard him and did as they were told. Once they got to an intersection, the team broke up into three parts. Tanya followed Tommy as he took a sharp left turn. Rocky followed Katherine as she took a right turn. Adam decided to go his own way and kept heading straight. The rangers were sure to take extra precaution because neither of them was wearing their helmets. They knew that if one of them crashed the slightest bit, great damage would be done to them physically.
Tommy kept driving rapidly as he came upon either a right or left turn. He hesitated a bit before turning to his right. Tanya took a left turn and headed in her own direction thinking that it would be much quicker to find the culprit if they were to separate even more. Tommy noticed Tanya heading left as he turned right. He was going to take a U-turn, but held back when his mind told him to trust her judgement.
Rocky got in front of Katherine's Jet Cycle before heading to the left side of the street. She accelerated to catch up to him a bit and rode side by side with him straight ahead.
Adam kept going straight telling himself that it wouldn't be long now for them to find NiteGlider. They heard him a couple of minutes ago and knew that with the Jet Cycles, they were to find him now for sure.
Having no luck still in finding him, Tanya decided to stop the bike and take a good long listen for any noises that might sound suspicious. She turned of the Jet Cycle completely and closed her eyes. She first heard crickets as they rubbed their hind legs together making a high pitched sound. The next thing she heard was a barking dog. The owner silenced it before she continued to listen out attentively.
Katherine took a right turn upon the next intersect and drove for a good long distance before realizing that Rocky wasn't nearly by her. She groaned under her breath as she turned her head around to look for him while she slowed the cycle down. She turned back again guessing that he had taken another route and accelerated as she lowered her body down to get balance on the bike as she drove faster. She took a sharp right thinking that she saw a light going off in the far distance. Kat wasn't sure of what she saw, but had to check it out nonetheless.
Tommy kept turning his head and picking up his body from the bike as he tried to see over the houses. No sign of weird activity could be made out. He sat back down on the bike and accelerated even more before slowing down again and taking a left turn as the next stop sign came up. He drove straight ahead again standing on the Cycle's sidesteps and searching from side to side for lights being turned off. Again he saw nothing and got back down and accelerated again.
Rocky drove off quickly before taking a left turn. Adam had been driving straight the whole time and almost got hit by Rocky. Rocky didn't see Adam at all, but just missed the bike because he was going to fast on it. Adam felt Rocky's wind as he passed right in back of him and took a deep breath before realizing that he could have been flying a couple hundred feet by now if Rocky had hit him on the side. As Rocky noticed what had happened, he slowed the bike down and turned around. He made his way toward Adam.
"Hey, I don't think we should be driving around like this, one of us could crash. Maybe we should stick together!" Rocky yelled out to Adam as he caught up to him.
"You're right, you almost took me out man!"
"Yeah I know! I'm sorry 'bout that!"
Tanya heard nothing that could remotely be the sound of any breaking lights, so she decided to start up her bike again and head left on the next turn.
Katherine turned right after slowing down a bit. She knew she was driving too fast. Not wearing a helmet and not being able to see in the night was something she knew all too well was dangerous. It was especially even more dangerous having NiteGlider break the lights where she was now driving off to.
Tanya accelerated a bit more before hearing someone else's bike heading her way. She looked around her but noticed nothing in the sharp darkness. She didn't keep accelerating but kept her slow speed going forward on the street.
Kat slowed down her fast speed and just passed by Tanya without acknowledging that she was there. Yet Tanya had not fully stopped her bike yet and as she was passing the non-seen stop sign, felt her bike tap something in front of her. It was Katherine.
Katherine instantly felt her bike start swerving from side to side as she was hit on the rear tire from the right. She turned the tire to go to the right and make a sudden stop, though she didn't see the parked car in front of her. She made a strong impact with the car making her scream as she went flying towards to top of the car in front of the one she hit. The alarm instantly went off as a pink suited girl laid on top of it.
"Kat!" Tanya yelled for her friend as soon as she had realized what had happened. She turned the bike to her right and drove a bit before quickly getting off letting it fall on the street.
"Ow!" Kat moaned as she began to sit up on the top of the car.
"Are you alright?" Tanya asked as she got up on the car not caring that the owners might get mad.
"What happened?" Kat asked as she rubbed her arm before holding it tightly with her hand feeling the throbbing pain get even stronger now.
"I hit your back tire I think" Tanya said before she lifted her left upper wrist to her mouth, "Guys come in…this is Tanya. Kat had a nasty fall. We're on River St."
"Where exactly are you guys Tanya?" Tommy asked through the communicator where it could be heard that he was more anxious than anything. His bike could be heard quickly turning off to listen in.
"We're in front of the Jones' place. You know, that guy with all the gnomes in his front lawn?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, like two houses down."
"Alright, don't move her. I'll be right there!"
Kat closed her eyes tightly as she didn't want to remove her hand from it's resting spot. She was too scared of letting go and realizing that her arm was broken.
They both heard the loud roaring a motorcycle coming their way. Tommy knew he was doing way over ninety, but that didn't stop him. He came to a quick stop before he looked around and saw a flashing car.
"Over here!" Tanya yelled at him knowing that either way they could be seen from the car's lights going on and off. The loud sound would of course have given them away as well.
Tommy got off his bike and ran toward them. "What's wrong? Is she okay? Is she breathing?"
"I'm fine" Katherine told him, her voice breaking.
"What hurts" he asked her going towards her and getting on the car as well.
"My arm. I landed on it," she said feeling the tears fill her eyes now.
"Oh man" he said touching her arm lightly, "we better get Billy take a look at this," he said before they heard the door open from the car owner's house.
"Hey!" he yelled hearing his alarm for a while now, "What's going on out there?"
The three looked in his direction and saw he had a flashlight in his hand.
"Oh man" Tommy whispered, before hearing the roar of two motorcycles heading their way.
Adam and Rocky appeared with the group having heard Tanya and Tommy's conversation through their communicators.
"What's going on?" Rocky asked them as they got off their bikes and headed toward the car.
"It better not be no mangy teenagers out there!" the owner warned. The teens were quiet for a while and heard a click of a rifle being loaded.
Rocky gasped and looked at the rest of the team. "Uh…we're the power rangers!" he yelled out.
The rest turned to look at the man who was now heading their way. They quickly called on their helmets and put them on; Tommy having to put on Katherine's helmet before his.
The man came up to the group and saw five suited people around and on his car.
"What?" he asked with disbelief.
"He's right" Zeo Pink said in pain, "I'm sorry. I had an accident with my bike and I fell on your car."
"Wow" he said with enthusiasm. "I can't believe this."
"We're really sorry" Zeo Red said to him as he approached the man, "We'll pay for the damage she's done. It's a pretty bad dent."
"Oh no!" the man said surprising everyone, "That's gonna be my very own special dent. Wow…my car was dented by the pink power ranger" he stated with pride.
The rangers were silent for an instant before a sound of evil laughter could be heard.
The man gasped and picked up his rifle.
"NO!" the team said.
"We'll take care of this" Adam told him quickly.
"Yeah, just go inside, and don't come back out" Rocky ordered him as the man did what he said.
"Awww" an evil voice came toward the rangers, "I guess the pinky toe has to go wee wee wee, all the way home" he stated the nursery rhyme mockingly at Zeo Pink's expense.
The Zeo team looked around for the monster but nothing could be seen. The tinted helmets didn't allow them to see anything.
Zeo Red picked up his hands to his helmet and unlatched it. He removed it from his head and continued to look around wildly as the alarm was still on the car making his head spin even more than it already was.
Next was Green, then Yellow, then Blue.
"Kat, you better teleport to the Power Chamber, you could get hurt" noted Rocky.
Kat had removed her helmet with her left hand and removed it by now. She hopped off the car and declined the offer. "No…I can't do that. I can fight" she stated with confidence in her voice, yet inside screaming with fear from something she couldn't hear much less understand.
"Ooooh" NiteGlider said in his raspy voice, "A ranger with an attitude. I like that" he hissed.
"Show yourself…coward!" Tommy demanded before feeling the swift wind from NiteGlider pass through him.
"He's fast" Tanya whispered before hearing a whisper herself right next to her ear.
"Yes my dear, I am" he said getting just a centimeter away from her.
His again raspy voice made her get goosebumps as she cringed inside her skin.
A huge scratching sound could be heard in the sky. All of them looked up to see a huge bright line of light through the sheet of darkness.
"What!" NiteGlider yelled. "It can't be!"
He saw the brightness shine through even more as he stepped back a couple of steps. The city started to get its color back as NiteGlider disappeared before their very eyes. The team, knowing that it was daylight out, quickly put their helmets back on; this time Katherine getting help from Adam.
The teens remained looking up at the sky as the tearing continued.
As the sheet became more and more ripped, they could see a golden figure hovering above it. It became more visible as the shield was dissolving before their very eyes.
"What is that?" Tommy asked cautiously before the giant figure floated away without letting them get to see the whole thing.
- - -
"It just kept hovering over us" Adam told Billy as he aided Kat on her injury.
"I don't know what it is, but as soon as I get a reading on it…I'll let you guys know."
"It has to by an ally," Rocky said going over to the scanner and trying to find it in somewhere around the earth's atmosphere.
"How are you so sure?" Tanya asked him as she stood next to the medical scanning bed.
"Well because…" Rocky said before halting his words, "Umm…"
"Because it wouldn't done away with us then and there that's why…ugh" Kat said before wincing in pain.
"Yet, you forget, that our enemies don't wanna do away with us just like that. It has to be a game for the evil. If it's too easy getting rid of us, there will be no fun in that for them" Adam pointed out.
"Well, whatever it was…I'm just sure glad it showed up when it did" Tommy said gratefully as he looked around the Power Chamber.
"RANGERS, I MUST ADDRESS THAT THIS MIGHT NOT BE THE END OF NITEGLIDER. YOU HAVE YET TO DEFEAT THIS POWERFUL ENEMY" Zordon told them knowing that he was just adding to their problems.
The rangers all nodded at their mentor as they again looked at one another with worried faces.
