Chapter 10 – More Questions Than Answers
Two rangers had succeeded in their vision quest, the remaining three though would prove more difficult. Ron and Tori dropped into some long grass just as the sun was setting over the horizon. Ron immediately recognised the ramshackle building in front of him, "This is The Burrow", he gasped, "this is my house".
"Huh, what are the chances", Tori commented, "these visions quests really freak me out".
"Have you done these often then?" Ron asked.
"One or twice", Tori sighed, "one of the joys of being a ninja". The sun had almost completely set now, bathing the gardens in an orange hue, "Let's get going, the longer we're here the greater the danger".
Not feeling overly reassured, Ron nervously pushed on the door to his family home. The kitchen was deserted so he proceeded into the front room where he found a duplicate Ron Weasley sitting stiffly on the sofa, "Ok that's creepy", Tori commented, "very Hannibal Lecter".
Ron had no idea who that was so he didn't respond to his fellow blue ranger. Instead he focused on his duplicate, getting close enough to practically touch the image. Strangely though, the clone made no attempt to move, "Is there some word or phrase I need to use?" he asked but still the clone remained motionless. "Come on do something, hit me with your best shot".
Dream Ron finally moved, looking his counterpart over for a few moments before he said, "You're not good enough for her". Ron looked like he had been punched in the gut and took a step back, "That's all it took to repel the mighty blue ranger, you're pathetic".
"Ouch, low blow there dude", Tori hissed in reply
"See even now someone has to come to your defence", Dream Ron began, "you can't stay in the shadow of the Boy-Who-Lived forever", a vicious smiled formed on his face, "do you want to be the sidekick for the rest of your life?"
Ron straightened his back and took a couple of paces towards his duplicate, "I'm no one's sidekick",
"Then why don't you prove it", Dream Ron grinned evilly and pulled out his wand. Ron went to do the same only to find, to his horror, that it wasn't there, "Now then little Ronniekins, that would too easy", his duplicate fired off a string of spells. The blue ranger ducked and rolled away quickly, fortunately to avoid the damaging blast, "Is this the best the Mystic Squadron could offer?"
Ron paused, thinking about his next move. He had Tori backing him up but this duplicate was extremely powerful. Charging into battle head on could prove disastrous, instead he needed to use his head, "Over there", he directed Tori to a worn looking armchair, "Distract him, I'll attack from the other side".
"I don't think it's a good idea fighting yourself", Tori commented, "I tried that once, really didn't work".
"Yeah well this is me", Ron replied, "I never do things the easy way". Tori reluctantly followed Ron's direction, not that the clone was giving them much choice. Another powerful string of curses turned several items in the Weasley leaving room into splinters.
The blue rangers split up with Ron seemingly disappearing through a cloud of debris, "Running away Ronald", his duplicate taunted, "I never pegged you for a coward, maybe we should talk this through", he added sarcastically.
"Actions speak louder than words mate", Ron smiled, "now Tori", he cried. The blue Wind ranger obliged with a jet of water that slammed the copy through the window at the end of the room. Ron jumped through the gap, landing just in front of the recovering copy, "I'll show you what this blue ranger can do". Two swift haymakers nearly dropped the clone to its knees. Clearly wobbling, the duplicate aimed some sloppy attacks at the blue ranger which Ron easily dodged. A flick of his wrist propelled the clone up into the air where he seemingly transformed into a rolling vehicle with the head of a unicorn.
Ron breathed deeply, his hand resting on his knees, "Unorthodox", the mysterious voice from the sky called, "and certainly not the point of the exercise".
"It worked didn't it?" Ron countered, "our objective was to claim these Zord things which I've done".
"You might've claimed the Pegasus Zord Ronald Weasley but you have learned nothing", the voice added, "that might come back to haunt you and your team in the near future".
"Wow talk about creepy", Tori climbed through the window, glass crunching under her feet, "creepy but right, you really need to work on your inner self Ron".
"I'll add it to my to do list", he commented dryly. Tori rolled her eyes but said nothing to her protégé as they were transported back to the real world.
Back with the pink rangers, Cho and Karone were surprised to see they were transported back to the same ridge where the legendary Chi Warriors were fighting. The battle was long over, in fact before their eyes they watched several centuries of history play out, "This is incredible", Karone commented, "look how everything changed".
"Not necessarily for the best though", the current pink ranger replied, "after this battle the Rishi tribe scattered over the world. Only my ancestors remained in the area to protect the seal".
"The same seals this Voldemort person broke?" Karone asked, "weren't any of your family around to protect them?"
"Sadly not", Cho stated bitterly, "this area was invaded by the Japanese in the 1930's forcing my great grandparents to flee westwards. Eventually my grandparents settled in Britain but their ideological differences with the Chinese government means their ancestral home is lost forever".
The pair watched as most of what Cho explained happened in the valley below. The once isolated region of the country was overrun by invading forces, firstly the Japanese army then the rebel Chinese fighters. The damage caused was never fully repaired as time caught up with the pink rangers. The once thriving village crumbled to dust and ruins, completely abandoned by everyone, "Make you wonder why they bothered fighting in the first place", Cho shook her head.
"This could all change very quickly", Karone began, "my home planet looked like this not so long ago but with a bit of hard work it could all be restored". She didn't add that her Astronema persona had been the one to cause most of that damage. Cho knew though, Karone hadn't kept her past a secret from the Rangers.
"I appreciate the sentiment but you can't change the geo-political environment that easily", the current pink ranger sighed.
"Am I always this dreary", a duplicate of Cho suddenly appeared in front of the pair, "I'm some heavy eyeliner and a Smith's album away from a cliché". The duplicate paused and sang slightly offkey, "Heavens knows I'm miserable now", there was a temporary pause before the copy added, "must be hard being Cho Chang, smart, beautiful, a talented seeker and yet you're so alone".
"I'm not alone", Cho spat back.
"And yet your thoughts tell me something different", Dream Cho began, "maybe if you dropped the snarky attitude and let people through your walls you wouldn't have to spend all your spare time training".
Cho rocked on her feet as she tried to think of a suitable comeback but her duplicate could only speak the truth. "You're right, it's time to let go of everything. We won't truly be a team until I do that".
Her duplicate smiled, "I knew there was a reason I was in Ravenclaw", Dream Cho held out her hands as a wave of pink energy moved towards the real pink ranger, "remember this moment", Dream Cho added before fading away to the cry of a phoenix.
Karone nodded in respect, "She was really mean, and I thought my quest was difficult".
"You've done a vision quest before?" Cho asked, "would've been nice to know that early.
"Mine was different, more a quest of atonement than a vision quest", the pink Galaxy ranger replied, "still ended up fighting myself though". The blonde placed a hand on Cho's shoulder, "That image was right though, it would be easy to shut yourself away. Your team are your strength, remember that in the future". The teen nodded in appreciation just as they were teleported away.
The two red rangers dropped into a surreal landscape, everything around them was stark white. There was no obvious floor beyond the solid structure they were standing on and no horizon in sight, "Typical, the red ranger gets the hardest test", Casey shook his head.
"Comes with the suit I guess", their bland environment was brighten by the appearance of another Harry Potter, "You're a difficult one to read Potter".
"Maybe those Occulmancy lessons with Snape did some good after all", Harry shrugged.
"See this is what I'm talking about", Dream Harry began, "you don't seem to taking all of this seriously".
"We're fighting monsters whilst wearing spandex, nothing about this is serious", Harry replied.
"You're on cruise control Harry", his duplicate began, "and you have been since entering the Wizarding World. You've been so reliant on other's showing you the way that you've forgotten how to think for yourself".
"That's not true", Harry said with a hint of hesitation.
"There are many times that you could've taken control of you own destiny but you've let them all slip by and look what it's cost you". Dream Harry turned his back as the real Harry thought about his words. Maybe there was some truth in his statement, even though he hated his fame he could've used it to his advantage. Maybe if he learned more about his heritage then he wouldn't be so reliant on others.
But one memory was stuck at the forefront of his mind, "Remember the last time I lead a team", Harry began, "that didn't turn out so well".
"You're talking about the Department of Mysteries", Dream Harry replied and the real Harry nodded. "It wasn't a total failure, six teens fought off a bunch of Death Eaters, destroyed the prophecy and forced Voldemort out into the open. Some would call that a victory".
"I don't think Sirius would", Harry countered, the death of his godfather still hurt him even a year later.
"I'm not going to lie to you Harry, there's going to be a time when you as the leader will have to make a difficult decision", his counterpart replied and placed an arm on his shoulder.
"Can you promise me that all my friends will be alright?" Harry asked.
Dream Harry shook his head, "No I can't". The pair fell into silence for a few moments before Dream Harry continued, "I can see that we're at an impasse so I'm going to give you this", he pressed a red glass orb into Harry's hand, "if you can demonstrate the skills required to the Red Dragon Zord then he's all yours".
"And if I can't?" Harry asked.
"Let's not think about that", Dream Harry replied ominously, "now it's time for you to wake up, your test drive is about to begin". Harry was about to question his counterpart but he suddenly felt like someone or something was shaking his body.
"Harry, Harry wake up", Ginny was shaking her boyfriend vigorously by the shoulders.
"You've got the bed side manner of a troll do you know that", Harry smiled as he slowly begun to wake up. Ginny slapped him on the warm before giving him a firm kiss.
"I don't want to break this up", Tommy called out and the young couple quickly broke apart, "but your team could use your help".
"What's going on", Harry quickly stood up and approached one of the new features in the training room. Cho and Hermione had been able to charm a map of the United Kingdom to show precisely where an attack was taking place. It would prevent them from teleporting to an unknown location and give them time to prepare for an attack.
"Voldemort's taking a more direct approach this time", Ginny placed her wand on the map and it began to zoom in on the location of the current attack.
"It's Hogwarts", Harry gasped, there was a small army of Cedals heading in the general direction of the school.
"The others are already on the scene", Tommy began, "you'd better get there now".
"Did you get the Red Dragon Zord?" Ginny asked the red ranger.
Harry hesitated for a moment as he felt the weight of the crystal orb in his pocket, "Yeah I did", he lied and quickly teleported to the scene of the battle. Harry had to hope that he could convince the Red Dragon he was worthy in the real world because he hadn't been too convincing in the dream world.
With the current red ranger gone, Ginny turned to Casey and asked, "He didn't get the zord did he?"
"No" Casey sighed, "looks like Harry's test will be in the field rather than in his head". The Jungle Fury ranger turned to the other veterans, "How did the others get on?"
"Mixed results", Tori answered for the group, "the quest identified their weakness, however, they won't be able to overcome them in just one day". She paused for a moment before adding, "I'm most concerned about Ron, I really don't think he understood the purpose of this quest".
"Sounds like my brother", Ginny sighed, "hopefully his pig headedness won't upset the team's balance". With the Red Dragon Zord reluctant to trust it's pilot and the other ranger's fumbling through their own insecurities, all everyone could do was hope.