Disclaimer: We don't own the Power Rangers series, just this plot, the characters and anything concerning this story (arsenal, monsters, etc.) :]
The last chapter of 'Facing Fears', enjoy!
"Reverie! Tell me your plan! Why didn't you destroy the rangers last night?" Kale demanded. "They were weak enough in your world!"
"Lord Kale," Reverie started, "I plan to take as much of their energy as possible through their nightmares before killing them."
"And if you get their energy they won't be strong enough to stop me." Kale nodded, understanding. "That is a good plan. Then, feel free to drain their energy until they fade away."
"So everyone gets their own rooms. I labeled them for your convenience. But, Eve, if you don't mind, you can sleep in my room. My bed can fit the two of us." The brunette gave them a sheepish smile.
"Awesome!" Sean exclaimed. "After ten years of rooming with you," he pointed at Finn, "I finally have my own room!"
"It's only been two years since Sherman moved to college." Aaron shrugged. "So having a room with my own name on it looks legit."
Finn smiled. "I've never had my own room before. When my parents were still alive my bed was still in their room."
"I'm glad I don't have my own room," Eve mumbled. "Who knows what's in the dark."
Demitri asked, "Why can't I stay in the one of these rooms? Why do I always stay in the garage?"
"Because the maids clean the guest rooms. They don't clean the garage you're in. It's safer for you to be there."
"And I appreciate that; I just have to go out of my room when I plan to work at night."
Everyone had already taken showers when dinner was served. It consisted of steak, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Their dessert was homemade cake.
"That is the best homemade dinner I have ever had!" Aaron announced after finishing his iced tea.
"Agreed! Is your cook a professional?" Finn asked jokingly.
"We're paying for her culinary school fees," Paige replied. "So, she's on her way to be one."
"Paige, marry me." Sean said.
Demitri looked up. "Is that a real marriage proposal?"
"Not really, no," Sean answered. "But if Paige agrees…"
"Who would say 'yes' to you?" Eve snorted.
"Um…a lot of people?" the rest of the team said in unison.
Sean smirked, the kind of smirk that only the smuggest of winners can convey.
Eve rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
"So are we all okay?" Aaron asked. "Can we do this?"
Everyone nodded hesitantly.
"Come on, guys," Finn started, his voice shaking, "we have to do this."
"Yeah, with nerves of steel, like you," Sean pointed out.
"Shut up," Finn snapped.
Demitri cleared his throat. "I'm sure Reverie will come to get us tonight. If we want to stop her, we have to do it tonight."
"Why not tomorrow?" Paige asked.
"Have you noticed that we became weaker today?"
"Sort of…yeah. We took a nap during lunch," Aaron responded. "I thought we were just…you know…tried."
"No, it is Reverie draining you energies from your nightmares. I know it's hard to morph in that world, especially now that you are a bit drained."
"So how do we morph in her world?"
"Will."
"What?" Eve asked.
"It might take up a lot of your energy, especially in a nightmare, but you can morph, you just have to have enough will power to do it. Think of your best dreams, it'll help you since Reverie doesn't get good dreams, and as everyone knows, 'the most positive spirits can lift up your spirits'!" He grinned.
"I have never heard of something that ridiculous in my life," Aaron said.
Paige nodded. "Me neither. Sounds kind of like something from Peter Pan, it'll never catch on."
Demitri frowned. "I should make it a popular line when I get home."
"It's bedtime," Paige announced. She checked her watch and nodded. "Come on, guys, the more time we sleep, the more time we have to defeat Reverie."
"Right…right…got it," Finn agreed.
Everyone nodded and went inside their respective rooms.
Before Sean went in, he called out to the pink ranger. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you tonight, for once."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. After last night, no way." Then went in after Paige and closed the door.
"You and Sean were together last night?" Paige asked, trying not to put a grin on her face. "That must have been tough."
Eve turned a little red. "It was okay…I guess. Better than our usual meetings."
"So that's why the two of you passed by early this morning for Demitri to heal you? Those looked like nasty burns."
"Yeah. Sean came over to my house first but I told him that I'm not sure if I could heal him or make it hurt even more. I said we'd go to Dem."
"Finn told me that Sean asked him to call early in the morning to check up on you." This time, Paige didn't try to hide her grin. "That's really sweet of him, you know."
"He must have caught something while in that nightmare. Maybe he had some brain damage." Eve retorted. "He would never have done that."
"Whatever you say," Paige giggled and got in bed. "Make yourself comfortable."
"What about you?" Eve asked as she flopped on the bed with a satisfied smile. "Who were you with last night? Demitri?"
She shook her head. "Nope. Aaron."
"Oh."
"Aaron's really cool when he's not asking for homework answers." She laughed. "Like a brother, actually. He seems like a sibling I would like. But who knows, it may change, depending on how we interact but so far I see him as a little brother…I think."
"Little? Are you older than him?"
"Yup. Finn is the eldest, then me, then Sean, then Aaron and then you, I think. We're only apart by months. Unless you count Demitri."
"How'd you know that? Our ages, I mean. We all know about Demitri."
"I've done my research," Paige told her brunette friend with a small smirk. "Let's just leave it at that."
Demitri sighed as he lay in bed, thinking about Kale and Reverie. When he was younger, Kale would call Reverie to help him take away nightmares and turn them into good dreams. During that time, those two were still their natural, good selves. He understood why Reverie turned evil and became a monster but he wondered about Kale. 'Was he always evil and I never knew? No, that can't be. Kale is—was—one of the best people out there.'
He closed his eyes and tried not to think of anything, just trying to relax his mind and get ready for the nightmare battle that he'll have to face once he drifts off.
'Oh, no. I won't be able to use my mask in this one.'
Finn fell on top of the cozy bed, mumbling how amazing it would be to live in such a place like this. He hugged the pillow close to him and smiled at how soft and clean it was. While he lay down, he couldn't help but think of one common thing he had with Paige: they never got to see their parents. From the way he sees it; Paige could see her parents from time to time but never feels the love while he could never see his parents but can feel the love.
'Poor, Paige. I hope she sees that we're family now.'
He yawned and snuggled closer to the pillow. "I love you, pillow."
The yellow ranger fell asleep in just a few seconds, hoping that he'd meet his friends soon enough.
The green ranger groaned as he lay on the bed. Usually, he'd be proud of himself for flirting with someone who usually doesn't like being flirted with because it usually does work. He knew that there was a bit of red on the pink ranger's cheek but never expected to flirt with her. It was all because of what she wore before. "Stupid outfit."
He turned from side to side, wanting to sleep but he kept thinking about his excitement of seeing her again. He hoped that she would change her clothes into something more revealing.
Aaron was still pacing back and forth in the room. He knew that he should get on the bed and start to sleep, he was the leader and he couldn't allow his teammates to go alone. He thought about his worst fear and came to a conclusion that his fear might actually be the easiest to overcome.
"I can do this, I can do this, I can do this," he chanted. He got on the bed and sighed. "Come on, Aaron! Don't let your team down now! You know you can do it. You've got everyone with you." He pulled the covers over him and closed his eyes. "Come on, you can do this. You can do this."
'Let's go, Aaron. You can do this. You can face you fears. You can do anything.'
"Aaron!" Paige called out. "Aaron!"
The red ranger turned around and waved at her. "Hey. Faced your fears yet?"
"Nope. But, I'm wearing shoes this time." She grinned.
Aaron looked down and chuckled. "Looks like you're prepared, heiress."
"Don't call me that."
He shrugged. "So we should find the others?"
"Definitely. Before Reverie comes again. We'll need teamwork for this."
Aaron nodded and the two began walking. "Paige, about your fear of heights…did you realize that it's not the height you're afraid of, it's actually you falling that you're afraid of."
"Yes, of course, Aaron, I noticed that."
"Oh."
"Did you ever notice that the reason why you have a fear of public speaking is because you're afraid to embarrass yourself?"
The red ranger blinked and paused to think about it. "Um…no, I didn't notice that. At least now I know."
"You're welcome."
Aaron chuckled a bit nervously. "Haha, thanks."
"Oh, hello there, Finn," Demitri greeted. "Nice to see you again."
Finn cocked his head to one side. "I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, especially since you're talking in kingdom-ways again."
"I'm not being sarcastic," the prince defended. "Have you faced your fears?"
"Not yet. Have you?"
"With my fear, I don't really know what to face."
"And you were the one who gave me that speech about facing my fears." Finn shook his head. "Your fear is that you can't help your knights, right?"
"That's right."
"Well…I think it's because you're afraid to hurt them."
"…come again?"
"Maybe you're saying that you can't do anything about it because you're afraid of hurting them. I mean, think about it. Sean and Eve were here for nearly an hour waiting for you to leave your room so you could heal them since Eve didn't know how to undo something that big. I bet you that you were praying inside your room."
Demitri's face began to become redder and redder with every sentence.
"You're afraid that you'd screw up. My parents always admitted to me about having trouble when treating a relative. They cared too much about them. They know that if something goes wrong, there will be complications. And of course, being as nervous as they are, all they could think about are the possible mistakes. Maybe that's you. You care too much about your knights, about us, that you're scared of what will happen if something goes wrong. You wouldn't be able to live with that. I guess at some point, you're scared that it'll be on you, too."
The prince thought about it for awhile. "You're right. I've always been scared about what would happen if I helped them but I always worried about what would happen if I made it worse. Like when Eve tried to heal me the first time, the wound just became bigger."
"But she was still able to heal you. And, Dem, you actually did face your fears."
"I did? When?"
"When you healed Sean and Eve this morning. Look at them now, they're hands are better than ever!"
Demitri nodded. "You're right. It must also be my selfishness; I don't want to be blamed."
"So we've got one teammate down. And as far as I know," he sighed then muttered, "five to go. Oh, and Demitri? I'm glad you finally chose to wear normal pajamas."
"Damn, I was so excited to see you tonight."
Eve turned around and glared. "Pervert."
"I call it 'guy eyes'. I mean, come on, with a body as hot as yours what guy wouldn't want to see you in a tank top and cotton shorts again?" Sean smirked.
"I dunno, ask my family." Eve shrugged. "And Paige's body is better, if you didn't notice."
"Oh, I noticed."
The pink ranger huffed and continued marching. "Anyways, let's find the others and get the hell outta here. I want to leave right now. Stupid, Reverie."
Sean kept up with her and they stayed silent. "Hey, Eve, why are you afraid of ghosts? Creepy crawlies, I guess I get it, but ghosts?"
Eve looked at him in disbelief. "And why should I tell you?"
The green ranger groaned. "Well, I could help you, you know."
"I doubt that."
"Listen," he started, "if you tell me why you're so afraid of ghosts then I'll tell you what I'm really afraid of, and why."
Eve took a moment before replying, "When I was younger, my brothers liked to play jokes on me. One time, they heard of this haunted house thing so they decided to check it out. They thought it was the perfect opportunity to prove to me that I am a fraidy cat…well, dog, since I like dogs. Anyways, they led me there and I obviously didn't get scared but then I saw something…something that really actually scared me but I didn't admit it. When I told them about it they swore that they didn't set it up."
"What did you see?"
"Honestly…I don't really remember." She shrugged. "My brothers said I couldn't speak for a few days. I don't want to remember what I saw. Probably a ghost though."
Sean nodded, understanding. "I guess it's my turn."
"Uh-huh."
"First I have to be honest. It's not cannibals I'm afraid of."
"It's not?"
"I mean I am afraid of them, who isn't? But…that's not my main fear."
"Oh."
"It's…ugh, this is hard!"
"Come on! I told you, out of all people, the reason why I'm scared of ghosts!"
Sean sighed. "I'm afraid of clowns."
Eve tried her best not to laugh. She took deep breaths and tried to calm herself. "Really?"
"When I went to this carnival years ago…these group of clowns scared me. Their jokes were really crude and they made weird faces and stuff…you know, morbid things. So…yeah…."
Eve rubbed his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile."Those are very traumatizing, Sean. It's not your fault you're scared. A fear of clowns is actually really common you know."
"How is it not my fault, Eve?" Sean asked mockingly. "I was the one who fell for the joke. I should've seen it coming."
"What they did wasn't nice, they should've known better. I bet they weren't even real clowns…I mean, they were but they're those mean people in real life who can't find good jobs. They played a very bad practical joke on you."
He shrugged. "I guess we're in the same shoes. Your brothers made a practical joke that turned ugly. Sometimes we just have to remember that these fears are…well, I dunno, made up, I guess?" He paused, and looked up at the blank sky above them, continuing "Fears are something that can't be taken light of. Still, maybe if we try to remember how we got them in the first place, it might make us realize that it's probably less scary than we make it out to be. The root of it all might just be a bad experience we want to put behind us."
Eve looked at him, a bit wide-eyed. "Wow, who knew you're actually really good with giving people advice."
"Hey, it's where I get my charms," he answered with a wink.
"No! That can't be!" Reverie screamed. "No!"
"What is it, Reverie?" Aruki asked with fake sweetness.
"The rangers have been telling each other about how to deal with their worst fears! It's giving them dream energies! I need nightmare energy!"
Aruki smiled slyly. "And what are you planning to do?"
"I have to get in there now before I lose more power! Nightmares!" she called out for her stallions. "Let's go!"
"Oh, look, we're all here," Finn announced.
His companion looked up and smiled. "Kni—rangers."
"Oh, hey," Aaron greeted with a big grin.
"Hi, guys." Paige smiled.
"Oh, thank, God," Eve said with a sigh. "I don't have to be alone with you anymore."
"Just stop denying that you enjoyed it," Sean retorted.
"Are you guys okay?" their leader asked.
Paige wondered, "Have you guys faced your fears?"
They all shook their heads.
"Except Demitri," Finn added.
"Demitri? Really?" Eve tilted her head. "How?"
"It was when I healed you and Sean, Eve. I was able to do something about my fear of never being able to help my knights—my friends. I was able to heal the two of you. Sure, I doubted but I was still able to do it, and now, I feel great! I will never turn away from helping a friend!" the prince exclaimed.
"That's only one down."
The rangers and Demitri all looked at the one who spoke.
"Reverie," Aaron said.
"And her Nightmares," Demitri added.
"Ugh, not them again," Finn groaned.
"Have you faced your fears, rangers?" Reverie taunted. "Then have another nightmare!" She raised her arms above her and everything turned black.
Aaron was trying to run away from all the paparazzi that was chasing him around. He knew he wanted paparazzi but not now. When he was older, when he was already a popular athlete, when he had faced his fears. "Can you all just leave me alone!?"
"Mr. Ashdown! Mr. Ashdown! Mr. Ashdown!"
"Face your fears, face your fears," he chanted. "If Demitri could do it, I could do it, too!"
He turned around and inhaled as he watched the millions of people crowd around him. "I'll answer anything you want!"
The people stopped and murmured amongst themselves. Flashes stopped by the lights were still on.
"Well? I'm waiting!"
"Mr. Ashdown…Mr. Ashdown…Mr. Ashdown…"
"What was that?" the red ranger mocked and crouched down, placing his hand behind his ear. "I can't hear you! Do you mind speaking up?"
"Mr. Ash…down…Mis…sh…do…n…"
Everything began to die down and Aaron grinned. He looked around him; the blackness around him began to brighten and turn white. "I hope this means everything's okay."
Paige didn't even dare to look down at the ground below her. It was dark all around her but she knew that what was beneath her was ground unknown feet below. She cursed. She couldn't hear her parents call for her so she assumed that it was her alone.
"Paige! Paige!"
"Aaron? Aaron! Where are you?"
"I'm behind you now."
She turned around and sighed in relief. "Thank God I'm not alone."
"Um…you pretty much are. I can't really help you this time."
"You've faced your fears, haven't you?"
Aaron nodded. "Don't worry, just think about what you need to do, like I thought about the team needing me. I'm sure you have something, too, right?"
"It's nothing like yours! Do you think my parents will care?"
"Of course they will! You're their only child! Don't you wanna see your parents again?"
Paige hesitated to look down. "Okay…I can do this. I know I can."
"Go, Paige!" The new voice was unmistakably Demitri's. "Have you faced your fears yet, Aaron?" she heard him ask.
"Yes," Aaron answered.
'If Demitri and Aaron could do this, I can, too.' She looked down and nearly screamed. "Oh my God…" she muttered. Her mind began to get dizzy and her eyes blurred. She took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay, got it." She inched towards the edge and soon enough, she found herself falling. The funny thing was, she expected the dark place to go on forever, instead she began to float and her surroundings became white. "Oh!"
"Good job, Paige!" Demitri cheered.
"Yeah! You're in our group now!" Aaron joked.
Paige landed safely on the ground then ran quickly to her teammates, putting them in a group hug. "I did it! I did! I faced my fears!" she squealed. "This is the best feeling ever!"
"One of," Aaron agreed.
Demitri patted her back. "I'm very proud of you."
"Let's go get the others!"
The water was rising fast. Finn was standing in the middle of the dark, foggy dream with water rising up to his height.
"Great…" he mumbled as the water now reached his thighs.
"Finn!"
The yellow ranger looked up and saw his teammates. "Join the pool party, guys."
"Finn, remember what I told you, okay?" Demitri said. "You need to help yourself! Forget about swimming as something useless! Look at yourself, you could save yourself by swimming but you can't because you never tried it!"
"Demitri, I am in no need of your life lessons right now."
"Yes you are!" Paige protested. "Finn, take swimming lessons once we're out!"
"Gee, like that's going to help now." Finn rolled his eyes.
"Ronald Finn Webb, listen to me right now!" Aaron demanded. "You better face your fears right now or you will shame your parents!"
Paige looked at the red ranger. "What are you doing? Blackmail?"
"What is blackmail?" Demitri asked.
"Because you're my house-mate, no way am I telling you," Paige replied.
Aaron looked back at Finn. "Come on, Finn. I know you can do it! Think of your parents wanting you to take swimming lessons because they don't want you to join them so soon because you…went away the same way they did!"
Finn nodded, the water already up to his chest. "You're right. My parents wouldn't want me to die yet. I'm not ready to join them just yet. I'm needed as a ranger!"
"You can do it, Finn!" Paige cheered. "Go!"
The yellow ranger braced himself for the impact of the water. When the water reached his neck, he took in a long breath of air and ducked his head down low. He didn't know how he was going to get out but he had to try. He looked around him and tried to remember what the people on television did. He knew he had to kick but what did they do about the arms again?
Finn tried his best to move his arms around the water. Without so much success but with determination, Finn was able to move at least five feet away from his initial place. When he finally felt more confident about his strides he noticed the change in atmosphere. The water became less heavy and the darkness began to dissipate. He opened his eyes and grinned; the water around him began to go down and his feet finally reached the ground.
"Yeah, go, Finn!" Aaron yelled.
"I knew you could do it!" Paige shouted.
"I'm very proud of you, yellow knight!" Demitri exclaimed.
The dark skinned ranger walked over to them and gave them high-fives. "I'm really proud of myself."
Demitri agreed, "You should be."
"It's funny how my name could be associated with a fish and I am—was afraid of water," Finn said with a chuckle. "Let's go look for Sean and Eve."
Clowns were everywhere. In every corner Sean looked, there was a menacing clown that looked ready to jump on him. He swore and tried to control himself from shouting. He couldn't live with knowing that he was screaming like a girl, or worse, if the pink ranger heard him; he'd be insulted for the rest of his life. "Darn her for being a teammate."
"Sean, are you here?" he heard Paige call. "Aaron, Finn, Demitri and I are here!"
"Finn! Just Finn! I only need to talk to Finn!"
He heard his brother talk to the others and seconds later, Finn came around behind one of the clowns. "Hey, little bro."
"Don't do that," Sean snapped. "Anyway, help me with this!"
"No can do. You have to do this like I did. I'll just be here, coaxing you to help yourself but you have to really help yourself."
Sean rolled his eyes. "You're becoming a counselor."
"Everyone is. Well, maybe except Eve because she's the only one missing."
"Maybe we should keep her missing."
Finn glared at him. "Anyway, think of something positive. What do you have to live for?"
"Right now, nothing. Well, except maybe the dates I'll be missing, Mr. Life Coach."
"That'll work." Finn shrugged.
"Okay…" Sean sighed. He looked around him and saw the clowns approaching him even faster. "Okay, clowns, let's have a battle, shall we?" He stood up straight, his arms up in case the clowns literally took the battle idea literally. As the clowns closed in around him, one by one, they disappeared and turned into a shining bright light. "What the…?"
"You're doing it, Sean! You're doing it!"
"I don't even know what I'm doing!"
"You're facing your fears! Keep it up!"
Sean took another deep breath and stepped forward, trying to get close to the clowns. "I'm sure that you guys wouldn't eat me…it was all just a joke…it was all your fault!"
"Okay, Sean, they're gone. No need to get too dramatic."
The green ranger looked around him and grinned. The dark place was now bright and he could see Aaron, Paige and Demitri standing a few feet away from him, waving, clapping and cheering.
Finn gave him a brotherly hug and congratulated him. "Looks like we can finally go to carnivals again."
"Yeah, I missed their cotton candies," Sean said.
"Congratulations, Sean!" Demitri grinned. "You faced your clown fear!"
"Clowns?" Aaron wondered, raising an eyebrow. "You're afraid of clowns?"
Sean groaned. "Thanks, Demitri, thanks."
Paige chuckled. "Let's go find Eve, I wouldn't want her to die of fright."
Eve was running around the whole place, trying to get away from all the insects and ghosts that were chasing her around. They never stopped running after her and she tried her best not to stop to at least catch her breath. "Get away from me! What have I ever done to you!? Go away!" she screamed. "Go away! Go away! Go away!" She looked behind her and ran faster when she saw that they were catching up with her. Once she turned around, she bumped into something. "Go away! Go away! Go away!"
"Open your eyes, Eve," the person told her.
She did and saw Demitri. "Oh, hi."
He turned her around and she struggled in his grasp to get away when the insects and ghosts were all coming to her. "Face it, Eve. You can do it."
"Will you look at all those? They're…they're…they're them! Look at them! Oh my God." She shut her eyes and tried to squirm away from the prince's grip. "Let go of me, Demitri! Let go, let go, let go!"
"Eve, you're the only one who hasn't faced your fear yet," Sean said.
"Don't go all superior on me, Sean Allen!" she snapped. "Just because you've faced your fears and I haven't."
Paige put a hand on the pink ranger's shoulder. "Come on, Eve, I know you can do it. Just believe in yourself."
"We'll be here, we promise," Finn added.
Aaron nodded. "If things get out of hand, we promise we won't let them get to you."
Demitri let go of his pink knight slowly. She stepped forward and waited for the impact of the things she hated. "Creepy crawlies are more afraid of you, ghosts only exist when…well, they exist but if they're not bothering you then don't look for them!" She opened her eyes and walked towards them. When an insect was already by her feet, it disappeared. The ones behind it disappeared, too, and on and on until the end. "Oh."
As the insects and ghosts disappeared, everything became white and dogs appeared everywhere.
"What are dogs doing in here?" she heard Sean ask.
"It makes her happy," Demitri answered.
She turned around with a huge grin. "I did it!"
Paige ran to her and gave her a squeeze. "Yeah, you did! I'm so proud of you! Maybe next time I can give you your own room when you sleep over."
"Darn, I really like your bed," she joked.
The girls giggled and returned back to the others.
"Time to stop Reverie," the blue ranger said.
"Let's cut to the chase," Thresh said as he watched the rangers through the crystal ball. "Scriptans, bring this to the dream world and make Reverie grow."
"This better work, Thresh," Kale said. "You know how I get when our plans crumble to pieces, just when it seems that we may have succeeded."
"Rangers!"
They all turned around and backed away.
"I can't believe she grew already!" Finn exclaimed. "I was so ready to fight her!"
"Well, whatever her reason is, and I just hope it works," Aaron started, "are you guys ready?"
"Ready!"
"SPIRIT OF THE KNIGHT!"
Demitri watched as the teenagers morphed into their ranger suits. He sighed in relief. "Okay, knights, call for your zords!" Then he murmured, "I just hope that they can come in here. Wait! What am I saying? I created them using magic! Of course they can get in here! I trust my knights' abilities"
"Phoenix zord, arise!"
"Selkie zord, arise!"
"Centaur zord, arise!"
"Dragon zord, arise!"
"Nymph zord, arise!"
"Knight Megazord!"
"A robotic toy won't hurt me, rangers!" Reverie taunted. "I am a monster of dreams!"
"We'll see about that!" Aaron shouted. "All right, guys, it's time for revenge for all those sleepless nights we had this whole week!"
"I like that!" Sean exclaimed.
Reverie charged towards the rangers but Aaron immediately blocked it. "Your nightmares have given me the most energy! I need your nightmares!"
The two giants fought equally, no one stronger or weaker than the other. Reverie was still getting energy from those with nightmares around the world.
"I've had enough of this!" Paige yelled.
"Rumble Punch!" The selkie and nymph zord took their turns hitting the monster, as the speed increased, Reverie backed away.
"Our turn," Finn said.
"Drag Kick!" The Knight Megazord ran full speed before jumping and kicking Reverie with their full force energy.
The rangers did their best to keep the nightmare monster occupied with their Knight Megazord. Finally, Aaron announced that it was time for the finishing touch.
"Let's do it, team!"
"LIGHT STRIKE!" The respective zords shot out their respective energy, meeting in the middle and shooting straight towards the dream monster. However, instead of disappearing like many of the other monsters do when they had grown gigantic, Reverie survived.
Reverie screamed in pain before being sent flying back and shrank back to her normal size. "Ugh, stupid rangers," she muttered. She stood up and saw that the team of clad in spandex teenagers had separated their zords again and now stood a few feet away from her, their respective weapons held out, aiming at her and their zords standing right behind them. "Nightmares!" she called. Her black, fiery stallions appeared behind her.
"Not them again," Eve whined.
"You have to defeat them before going to me!"
"No problem!" Aaron said. He handed his Dragon Sword to Demitri and took out his blaster. "We'll defeat them. I'm sure the others have wanted to for quite some time."
"Oh, I definitely have," Finn agreed. "Nobody injures my brother."
The Phoenix screeched. Aaron turned around and asked, "Really?" His partner screeched again.
"What did he say, Selkie?" Paige asked.
The selkie bent down and replied, "We will handle the nightmares, and the rest of you handle Reverie."
"Oh, okay, thanks, Selkie. Thank you."
Demitri grinned. "You heard them, rangers. Let's get Reverie!"
As the rangers battled Reverie, the zords fought the black stallions with much force. For Aaron and Eve, whenever Reverie was at a far range for the others to hit, they easily shot her with his blaster and her arrows. The Nightmares made pained noises and the others knew that the zords were able to defeat them. Reverie was on the ground minutes later.
"Had enough, Reverie?" Aaron asked.
"Not…yet…" she groaned.
"MYSTICAL KNIGHT CANNON!"
Demitri stepped back with the zords and watched his knights about to defeat Reverie. "You'll be destroyed, Reverie. You won't be able to get other people's dreams, nightmares or otherwise, anymore."
"But, Demitri! What about those in your time?" the dream monster pleaded. "I never wanted this, you know that! Help me!"
The rangers turned to look at the medieval prince before firing.
"Demitri?"
The prince sighed. "I don't know how to get you back. And I'm sorry, Reverie, I don't trust you anymore. Your sister, Bubble, is the new dream master."
When he mentioned her name, Reverie looked up. "How is Bubble? My dear sister…"
"She's doing good, as far as I know," he replied. "She's becoming as skilled as you once were."
Reverie nodded. "That's good." Although the monsters face appeared to remain in despair, a weary smile graced her features as she looked back to the prince "I think I'm ready to let go, my lord."
Demitri frowned then nodded to the rangers. "Okay."
"CANNON STRIKE!" Beams of energy appeared and hit the dream monster, turning her into burning pieces of paper.
They all woke up at once and rushed out the door.
"Is everyone okay?" Demitri asked.
Paige and Eve were giving each other sisterly hugs and nodded while giggling. "We're good," Eve answered.
"Yeah, same here," Aaron said.
"I feel great," Finn announced.
Sean yawned. "It's only been two hours since we went to sleep. Wow…let's go back to sleep. We have school in a few hours."
The girls continued to chuckle.
"What happened?" Demitri wondered.
"We're just really happy," Paige replied.
"That's really normal nowadays, Dem," Aaron replied. "I think the two are just becoming really good friends now."
"Oh."
"Can we please go back to sleep and be glad that we can sleep peacefully?" Sean complained. "I'm not in the mood to wake up on the wrong side of the bed."
"Are we going to have breakfast like those rich people in sitcoms do later? Because I want to be prepared for that." Finn said, still clutching the wonderfully soft pillow. "See you in the morning."
"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Thresh?" Kale asked.
"No, Kale," the fire wielder answered. "Just that I'm sorry."
Aruki was standing a few feet away, already thinking of a new plan. Thresh had failed one time too many for Master Kale; it was her time to strike.
Hi, Rosie here. I am so sorry about how late this chapter came out! Once again, Rish, fantastic writer that she is had already completed the chapter ages ago, but due to unforeseen circumstances in which my internet continuously died on me, I was unable to upload for AGES! I'm so sorry about that!
So, that's the end of the 'facing fears' arc…is feels so nice to be able to call it an 'arc'…the next one's coming along nicely, so with luck it shouldn't be too long (*cough* not 2 months anyway *cough*) until it's finished!
Stick around for the next story arc, and of course, reviews make us happy!
