Disclaimer: I do not own the franchise, but I do own this team.
*Italic indicates thought
' ' indicates Zach using sign language
Episode VIII: Family Matters
Chapter Three: It's Still Complicated
A/N: hello guys! Here's the next chapter! Please please review!
"Ohana means family. Family mean no one gets lest behind, or forgotten." -Lilo and Stitch
Zach was trying to avoid going home. After he had left Kyle in the treehouse he'd started thinking of a plan to defeat the monster. He was going to have to fight, despite his injuries. They wouldn't be able to form the megazord without him. He walked through the streets, not really caring where he was going.
He looked around and saw Miley and Jack sitting outside the smoothie shop. The pink ranger laughed at something he said. Jack leaned over and gave her a small kiss. Zach scowled. What does she even see in him? he wondered. Ever since he showed up she's been around him more than us. He's not even right for her. This last thought surprised him.
He shook his head. Why do I even care? He walked through the park in the middle of the square. It was one of the busiest parts of town with shops, restaurants, and the dojo surrounding the grassy park. He kicked at a rock as he walked. It bounced along the sidewalk. The fight with his mom was still in his mind.
He hadn't meant the things he said. He'd jut been frustrated. Why did she have to keep prodding? She's never noticed when I'm hurt before. Never. Not when I broke my arm, not when I broke my collar bone, not when I broke my ankle, not when I came home beaten up in middle school. Never.
He sighed. I miss Kyla. She was always there for me. She'd never missed a soccer game or martial arts tournament, even when mom missed them all. She's always encouraged me to break the boundaries. He smiled remembering the day she'd signed him up for karate.
'Kyla, I want to do martial arts.'
"You do?" She asked him folding his blanket. "Why?"
8 year old Zach shrugged. 'I dunno. I just do. It seems like fun.'
"Well...I don't see why not."
'Really?!'
"Really, Zach. I think you'd be very good at learning to fight."
'How?'
She smiled and knelt down so they were eye level. "Because there's something very special about you, Zach. Your not like most people, and its not because you're deaf. You'll see someday. Someday you'll prove just how special you are."
Zach smiled at the memory. Kyla if you could only see me now. You were right. I am special. he threw a rock at a tree. Now if only my mom could see it.
Miley smiled at Jack. "So, I guess the rest of our day is going well."
"No kidding," he said. "I just hope the monsters manage to stay away for a while."
"You and me both."
He smiled and kissed her. "How about we go down to the beach?"
"How about yes," Miley said. "We could go climb on the rocks."
He made a face. "How about no. Sorry, babe, but those things are slippery and pointy. To dangerous. Especially for a beautiful girl such as yourself."
"Oh, ok," Miley said a little disappointed. "We can just walk along the shore."
"Sounds, boring, but safe. Lest go."
Zach sat on a tire-swing in the playground watching Miley and Jack leave. Wonder where they're going? he wondered. None of my business anyways. He swung himself in a fast circle, laughing at how fun it was. Guess you can never out grow some things. He felt his ring get hotter. Game time, he thought jumping off and running to the battle.
Miley was hand-in-hand with Jack when her ring alerted her to the attack. Oh no! She causally pulled her phone out of her pocket and acted like, she was checking a text. She rolled her eyes. "Jack, I have to go. My dad has some things he needs me to do.
"Are you sure?" he asked her. "I can go with you."
"No," she said, trying not to sound to desperate. "It'll be really boring. I'll text you later when I'm done."
"Ok," he said. He kissed her and let go of her hand.
Miley walked away until she was out of his sight and took off running for the battle.
Zach and Kyle got to the attack at the same time. They saw the Kampe scaring people off with her fire-breath. "Hey, Mushu!" Kyle shouted. The Kampe looked at them. "I think it's time we ended this."
She smiled. "I couldn't agree more." She took a deep breath and shot a column of flames at them. They dove to opposite sides and rolled to their feet.
"OLYMPIC FORCE, POWERS OF THE GODS UNLEASHED!"
"Power of Zeus, lord of the sky!"
"Power of Poseidon, lord of the sea!"
"Protectors of Olympus, saviors of the world!"
They attacked the Kmape. Kyle dove desperately to the side to avoid being bar-b-qued to death. Zach threw his spear at her chest, trying to pull the attention away from the red ranger. His plan worked a little to well and her found himself pinned beneath her claw. She smiled.
He squirmed and kicked uselessly to free himself. "You're finished blue ranger."
"I don't think so!" Miley said, she ran, morphed, at the Kampe. She threw her spear at the monster. It hit the Kampe in the face, just below her still working eye. The monster screamed in pain, and stumbled off of Zach. Miley ran over and pulled the blue ranger to his feet. He nodded to show her he was ok. Miley nodded back.
Kyle ran over to join them. "What are we going to do?" he asked. "She'll burn the city down!"
Zach looked over and felt his heart rate drop. He grabbed Miley's arm and pointed. "Kyle look!" Miley said.
The red ranger looked where they were pointing. Earlier, the Kampe had trapped people behind several cars that were now on fire. "Help! Help us!" they shouted.
Kyle pointed at Zach and then at the trapped people. Zach nodded and ran to help them. "Miley, we have to take care of this monster while Zach helps those people."
"Got it."
"Good, move!" He pushed her down as as column of flame shot at them.
Zach reached the people and climbed over the cars, his ranger suit providing a little protection form the heat. He found them all huddled together looking terrified.
"We're saved!" a little boy shouted.
Zach new he had to act fast. They wouldn't be able to escape with the fire going.
Kyle threw his sword at the Kampe's face. She dodged it and smacked him away with her tail. Miley ran at her next. The pink ranger dodged from left to right, trying to stay out of a direct line of fire. The Kampe swiped her claws in an attempt to grab Miley.
Miley jumped to avoid the claws and stabbed her word as hard as she could into the Kampe. It still merely bounced off her scales and shook Miley's arms. The Kampe smiled and knocked her away.
Zach didn't know what to do. He looked back at the terrified citizens. He felt his stomach plummet when he recognized one of the faces. Mom... he thought when he saw his mother in the small crowd.
"Please, do something!" a man said.
Zach could see a fountain a few yards away. If only I could use the water to extinguish the fire. He felt frustrated. My dad is the ruler of the freaking sea! It's full of water. He stared at the fountain, as if he would suddenly develop telekinesis. He felt something tighten in his gut.
Without thinking what he was doing he reached his hand out towards the fountain. He tensed the muscles in his arms. Yards away the water started splashing around.
Kyle knew they and to hit the Kampe in the face. Only problem was that she kept them at bay very well with her fire breath. He looked over at Miley. She was breathing hard from running around to avoid getting hurt. He looked over at the trapped people. He hoped Zach would be able to save them.
He dodged to the side to avoid another shot of fire, hitting his elbow hard off the ground as he did. He lay on his back for a minute, holding his arm in pain. "Kyle watch out!" Miley shouted. She ran to him and held her shield up as another blast of fire flew at them. She felt the metal getting hot. The fire stopped and Miley lowered her shield.
She quickly had to raise it up again though because the Kampe sent another blast at them. Miley's arms strained to keep her shield up. What are we going to do? she thought desperately as Kyle attempted to get to his feet, and remain behind her shield.
Zach raised his other arm up next to the first and took a stance, his muscles tensed and his outstretched arms shook. The water in fountain was now splashing in big waves, the heat of the fire making him sweat. He felt as if he had gripped something and swung his arms back, moving his feet as he did.
A huge wave of water erupted from the fountain and came at the fire. Zach swung his arms over in front of him and around to the right. The huge wave followed the movement. His left arm moved to hold the water above the flames. He slowly made fists with his hands and the water fell from the big suspending blob like rain.
It quickly extinguished the fire. He let his arms drop and shook his head. What...what...how...how... He turned back to the people. He motioned for them to climb to safety. They gave him confused looks. 'You all need to get out of here.'
More looks of confusion. Except one. "He says we need to get out of here," his mom said.
Zach nodded. 'Run away as fast as you can.'
"He says we need to run. As fast as we can."
"Don't need to tell me twice," a man said. He led the others over to where it would be easier to climb. Zach assisted with getting the small children to safety.
"Dank oo, miser bwu wangew," a little girl about two said when he lifted her over.
He smiled and patted her on the head, then jumped over and ran to help Kyle and Miley. He saw that they were crouched behind thief shields, trapped by the Kampe's fire breath. Zach stamped his foot. We're never going beat her if she keeps breathing fire at us. He smiled. I have an idea.
Miley and Kyle were getting tired. "Kyle, I don't know how much longer I can hold my shield up," Miley said in a strained voice.
"Keep holding on," he said, gritting his teeth. "We can't give up."
"She won't stop. How can we get close enough to defeat her?" Miley asked.
"I don't..." he was cut off by a sudden roar. Water droplets splashed against his helmet. They lowered their shields cautiously. The Kampe had turned her attention to Zach, who was holding a big blob of water suspended in midair.
"What...the...hell..." Kyle said.
"How is he doing that?" Miley asked.
Kyle shook his head. "I have not got the slightest idea."
Zach punched one of his fists forward, sending a blast of water straight into the Kampe's face. He pulled his hands back so they rested by his hips. The water came back and formed a ring around his waist. The Kampe shot a weak column of fire at him. He moved his hands up and then down, fingers open wide. The water formed a dome over him, extinguishing when the fire hit it. He smiled.
"Now's our chance!" Kyle said. He grabbed his sword from the ground and threw it as hard as he could at the Kampe. Years of playing football really payed off. He watched it hit her in the face, the blade sinking up to its hilt. "Miley, give me your sword. Quick!"
The Kampe turns her attention to them, smoking coming from her nostrils. She took a deep breath, but Zach sent the water at his friends, creating a wall, and stopped the flames. Kyle grinned tauntingly. Miley tossed him her sword. He threw it as hard as he could. It hit the Kampe in the head, dropping to earth as the monster disintegrated.
Miley and Kyle retrieved their swords and sheathed them. Zach was able to get most of the water back to the fountain from where he was standing. Most of it. Miley and Kyle ran over to him. "Zach, that was..."
The Kampe grew back gigantic. "Zords, animal mode!" Once in the cockpit of his zord, Kyle combined them. "Olympic Force Megazord!" The Kampe blew a column of fire at them. The megazord jumped to the side to avoid the attack. "I can see a very similar problem here," Kyle said.
"You think Zach can do that water thing again?"
"From up here? Probably not."
"I was afraid of that." The megazord made another dodge. "We need a shield."
"Talk to our expert in sign language here."
Kyle tapped Zach's shoulder. The blue ranger looked at him. Kyle drew a circle in the air, then lifted his arm like he was holding up a shield. Zach nodded in understanding. He drew the command and a shield materialized in the megazord's hand.
"Now what?" Miley asked.
"Sword," Kyle said. He tapped his sword and Zach nodded. He drew the command for sword and one materialized in the megazord's hand. The megazord swung its sword at the Kampe. It dodge its head to the side, avoiding the blow and blew a breath of fire at them. The megazord raised its shield in defense.
The megazord swung its sword again, aiming for the Kampe's face. She dodged to the side, but not fast enough. The sword caught her face and left a long burn. She growled in pain and defiance. She shot another column of fire at them.
"umm...Kyle," Miley said. "What do we do?"
"How about we fight fire with fire?"
She smiled. "Oh yes." She took out the Hepheateus coin. She put it on her grid. "Power of Hepheasteus, god of the forge and fire!" The megazord's sword light up with fire that covered the blade. She smiled. The megazord swung its flaming sword at the Kampe. The monster dodged the first swing, then the next, and the next.
"I think we need better aim," Kyle said. The megazord swung tis sword four more times in rapid succession. They caught the Kampe in the neck, decapitating and disintegrated her.
"Finally," Miley said.
'We win!' Zach signed.
"Nike be praised," Kyle said, suddenly feeling very tired.
The rangers returned to the dojo briefly to have their injuries checked out. "Zach," Kyle said while Sensei checked his elbow. "That thing you did with the water was amazing."
"It was," Miley said. "But how did you do it?"
'I don't know,' he signed. 'I just...it was like I was in a trance and something else was moving my arms.' He looked at Sensei. 'Do you know how it happened?'
"I do," he said. He sat down so the four of them were in a circle. "Zach was simply using his demigod powers."
"Wait, he has demigod powers?" Miley asked.
"You all do. You can't simply be the children of immortal gods and not have so sort of super-human ability."
'Then how come I've never been able to do it before?'
"Because your powers aren't developed. You haven't known they exist for years, so you had no way to practice them. You became, detached from your parents in a way. When you became power rangers, and started using some of your power you became connected to the gods again."
"So, Kyle and I will develop powers too?"
"Yes. What your powers will be will vary, but we need to start giving you basic training so you don't run into a situation like Zach."
"Wait," Kyle said. "If Zach didn't know about his powers, how did he use them?"
"Like I said, these powers are connected to your being demigods. The more you train the more powerful they become. I'm guessing Zach would've probably destroyed the city with a tsunami because he doesn't know how to use his powers, but Poseidon must've given him a helping hand."
'If I destroyed the city that would be bad.'
"Yes. Which is why we're going to start training you guys to use your powers."
"This is so cool," Kyle said. It's like we're superheroes.
Zach walked through the front door and went into the kitchen. He picked up a note. Zach, I'm working late. There's food in the fridge. He frowned when he saw a brown box. There was nothing in the note about it. He opened it and pulled out another note. Zach, all is forgiven. Zach smiled. There was an iPod touch in the box. He sighed. I really don't need one, he thought, thinking about the two he already had. I'll offer it to Kyle or Miley. Or maybe Sensei. He smiled at the thought.
He went to the freezer and pulled out a frozen pizza to have for dinner.
Next time on Power Rangers Olympic Force: the rangers meet Apollo who asks them for help.