"No, we're not going to give it to you," Ben stated to the Wind rangers, surprising Blair and Johnny. Ben even surprised himself by what he had said to the veteran rangers. He knew that his friends in the Power Ranger Fan Club would be so disappointed in him for doing so but this had nothing to do with being a fan. Although they are veteran rangers and Ben should look up to them, they had practically dissed his friends and he's not going to take it sitting down.
"What did you say to us?" Shane questioned him.
"I said you can't have your powers back," Ben repeated himself.
"And why not?" Dustin asked him.
"You don't deserve it back. You said so yourself, you don't trust us pirates. Well us pirates can't trust you enough to give your powers back," Ben replied back. "When Zaine of Eltar gathered all your powers, he trusted Troy to keep it safe and so it is his responsibility to keep the ranger keys away from unwanted people. Normally, I would be more than happy to return you your powers back but with your type of attitude, I don't think Troy or any of us will be willing to give you back your powers."
The air filled with silence after Ben made his speech. Both Johnny and Blair knew it would take Ben a lot to stand up to his idols. However, there was no other choice. Both of them knew that they don't stand a chance with Shimazu Jr. and the Wind rangers had come all the way to offer their help. Johnny slowly tapped Ben's shoulder and gave him an assuring look.
"It's ok Ben. They can have their powers back. But only temporarily," Johnny said to him.
"But-"
"They're the only ones that can help Troy, Dylan and Lexi. I'm sure Troy will understand. Besides, Shane, Tori and Dustin are right. If Troy, Dylan and Lexi can't take Shimazu Jr. themselves, then we don't stand a chance against them as well. It's ok," Blair explained it to Ben.
Ben still didn't understand it, "It seems like you guys are giving up very easily. Why don't you think we can take him?"
"It doesn't take a pirate to fight a smart space ninja. It takes a ninja to defeat a ninja," Johnny responded with humor in his tone. "Besides, it's only temporary. After we get the keys back, we'll get the grand power. Troy would love the outcome to that."
"You don't think you're strong enough to fight Shimazu Jr.?" Ben questioned them innocently.
"It's not about who is strong Ben. I don't think that's part of being a Power Ranger. If so, Troy would pick someone else to take our place. Yes we think that we're not as a good of a fighter as them but we're not going to let that drag us down. Our first priority is to save the Earth and we need to do it as a team. Not just us," Blair replied back and turned to the Wind rangers after taking out their three ranger keys. "If we want the Wind rangers to trust us, we have to show that we trust them. Therefore, please help us bring our friends back safe and sound."
"Be careful though. Troy, Dylan and Lexi aren't as easygoing as we are so don't be surprised if they don't like you at first," Johnny informed them.
"Are you sure about this?" Tori asked them politely. Johnny and Blair nodded politely.
"Ben, why don't you follow the Wind rangers and help them out," Johnny suggested.
"Really?" Ben inquired.
"Of course. You've always wanted to fight alongside some veteran rangers right? This could be your only chance. You should go with them," Johnny replied.
Even though Ben was still angry with the Wind rangers, he was still fond of the idea of fighting with the legendary ninja rangers, "What about you guys?" he asked.
"We'll stay here in case the Zangyack decides to create any trouble. Protecting the Earth is our top priority," Blair replied.
"We should get going now," Shane said to them.
Ben exchanged one last look with the green and pink pirate before the Wind rangers out of the place so they would be somewhere in open space. Ben morphed into his ranger form while the ranger keys of the Wind rangers glowed and they morphed into their ranger suits. The Wind rangers then opened a portal to find where Shimazu Jr. would be found. After tracking him, they dragged Ben into the portal and the four of them disappeared.
"Do you think the Wind rangers would be ok with Ben following them?" Blair asked Johnny.
"Who knows," Johnny replied.
"You two!" someone shouted at them from the back. It was Barizorg and Insarn along with some Goumins and Sugomins.
"It looks like your team is separated now. That must be terrible," Insarn said with a fake sad voice.
"It's that all you got?" Blair spatted back.
"You shall pay with what you did to Vexacus Jr. I'm afraid for you, our Emperor isn't a lenient person and he has gave us orders to take revenge on the both of you," Barizorg said.
"Blair, I'm a little scared," Johnny whispered to Blair admittedly.
"Don't worry Johnny, we can take them," Blair replied while taking out her pink ranger key and mobirate. Johnny followed her move and took out his green ranger key and mobirate.
"IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!" they called out.
After morphing, the both of them started to fight with the Goumins and Sugomins themselves. While fighting the group of foot soldiers, Johnny and Blair morphed into the green and pink Time Force rangers and used the V3 and V5 Vector Weapons to fire at the Sugomins. They then morphed into the gold and silver RPM rangers and used the Cloud Hatchets. They first flipped the switches two and three of the Cloud Hatchets and lasers were shot at Insarn and Barizorg along with the Goumins. They then flipped all of the switches and started to fly and attack all of the Zangyack member troops altogether.
However, when trying the attack Insarn and Barizorg again, Barizorg made an energy shield out of his sword and blasted it at Johnny and Blair, causing them to fall onto the ground until it cracked. The ranger suits demorphed and the both of them laid on the ground in pain.
"Did you two really think you can defeat us?" Barizorg questioned them while pointing his sword at them.
"I have to say, you put up a great fight for the weak links of the team," Insarn added.
"Johnny, are you ok?" Blair asked him after the big fall.
"I'm good…for the most parts," Johnny replied as he slowly gets up to his feet. "I hate to say it but I wished we weren't alone for this one."
"I hear you but there's no one else left to help us," Blair responded back. "Let's morph again."
Blair and Johnny took out their ranger keys and mobirates and were about to morph when Insarn shot the mobirate away from their hands.
"Looks like we're going to fight without ranger powers then," Johnny said as he took out his Pirate Saber and Gun Blaster.
Blair did the same and the both of them start fighting the new set of Goumins that were summoned by Insarn and Barizorg. Soon, the two were starting to get outnumbered despite their effort to get rid of the Goumins. Suddenly something started moving in the speed of light and started attacking the Goumins surrounding Blair and Johnny. Whoever it was that helped them managed to kill off some of the Goumins. When they finally stopped moving, Johnny and Blair finally got a good look of them and saw that there were two of them. One of them was Asian and had short black hair while the other one was white and had medium blonde hair.
"Mind if we cut in?" the blonde haired one asked playfully to Barizorg and Insarn. He then turned to Johnny and Blair who were still in shock. "Don't worry. We're on the good side," he said while returning the mobirates back to the two pirates.
"That's good to know but who are you?" Blair asked them.
"I'm Blake, this is my brother Hunter," the Asian one answered.
"Blake and Hunter; you're the Thunder rangers of the Ninja Storm team," Johnny concluded.
Before anyone else could respond, Insarn shot some lasers at the four but Johnny and Blair managed to dodge it using their Pirate Saber to push the shot out of the way.
"We can formally introduce ourselves later. For now, let's get rid of these guys," Blake said.
Somewhere else on Earth, Troy, Dylan and Lexi were teleported to somewhere unfamiliar and found themselves tied up in chains. Troy looked around the room and saw that it was nothing more than a dark room. He felt the chain moving as Lexi tried her best to loosen the grip of the chains around her body.
"It's no use trying to break free," Dylan pointed out to her.
"I know that! I just don't want to be tied up to you two this close!" Lexi responded.
"Where are we?" Troy asked them.
"SURPRISE!" Shimazu Jr. shouted as the lights went on. The three of them suddenly find themselves in a room full of Kelzaks. In a blink of an eye, they also found themselves sitting on a chair behind a podium each and the room suddenly look more like a stage for a game show.
"What is this? The Price is Right?" Lexi asked sarcastically.
"Wrong you are little cutie. I would call you pretty but the pink ranger beat you to it," Shimazu Jr. responded.
"Hey, leave her out of this!" Troy exclaimed at him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize she was your girlfriend," Shimazu Jr. mocked him.
"He wishes," Dylan mumbled loud enough for Troy to hear and give him a dagger.
"Moving on, we're going to play a game," Shimazu Jr. announced.
"What game?" Lexi asked.
"We're going to play the Power Ranger Trivia Game! All you have to do is answer just one question correctly and you will be free," Shimazu Jr. continued.
"I hope you're joking about this," Dylan couldn't help but say.
"We'll be fine. After all, he did say answer the question correctly. How hard could it be?" Troy replied back to him.
"First question: Who is this ranger and which ranger team is he from?" Shimazu Jr. asked as he showed a picture of a red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger.
"That's easy; it's the red Tyranosauras ranger from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers," Troy answered confidently.
"WRONG!" Shimazu Jr. responded.
"What? That's obvious the red ranger from Mighty Morphin," Lexi debated.
"You haven't let me played the video," Shimazu replied.
"You didn't say it was a video!" Troy fought back.
Shimazu Jr. ignored them and started to play the video of the red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger while narrating it. "This ranger is ME, and I don't belong to any ranger team!"
"We just got tricked," Dylan said.
"No shit, Sherlock," Lexi replied.
"As for your punishment…" Shimazu Jr. started to say and then three buckets full of water were thrown on them. A bucket landed right on Lexi's head, much to her dismay.
"I don't like this game!" Lexi said through the bucket.
"You're not alone," both Troy and Dylan replied in unison.
"Now, let's move on!" Shimazu Jr. said before he teleports himself and the three pirates off to some location in the middle of the desert. "Now it's time for the lightning round!"
"Did he say lightning?" Lexi inquired while looking around her surroundings.
"Now, the rules are the same, answer one question and you will be free. However, I have to let you know that when you answer the question correctly, fireworks will go out in KABOOM! But if you get it right, I will say 'unleashed' and you will be free from the chains. Also, if any of you try to resist answering a question, you and the bag full of chestnuts will go KABOOM!" Shimazu Jr. instructed and directed their attention to the bag of giant chestnuts that he turned people into below a set of fireworks.
"This is just another trick," Dylan said to his friends.
"If we answer the question, we'll be free yet those people will die permanently," Troy said.
"Looks like we have no other choice," Lexi added.
With Shane, Tori, Dustin and Ben, they have just arrived at where they had located Troy, Dylan and Lexi. They were keeping themselves hidden from anyone, including the three pirates so they could jump in for a surprise attack.
"Looks like Junior tied the three Pirates up," Dustin said.
"But what are they doing?" Ben asked them.
"SHHH, we're trying to listen?" Shane said to him while trying to eavesdrop what was going on with the three pirates and Shimazu Jr.
On the outside, Ben got serious but deep down inside, he is fan boy-ing over the fact that he is now on a mission with the Ninja Storm rangers. He wished he could tell the guys in the Power Ranger fan club. They would be estatic to hear about it.
"Alright, next question. Lexi, this one's for you. Which ranger team had 2 red rangers?" Shimazu Jr. quizzed her.
Lexi looked down as if she's really thinking about it and then she opened her mouth, "I don't know," she answered.
"I went through that just now during the meeting. I knew she wasn't paying attention! The answer is Time Force!" Ben said angrily from where they are hiding.
"SHHH!"
"Wrong answer, your punishment is…" Shimazu announced while he signals the Kelzaks to throw something from a bucket and pour it all over Lexi. That 'something' is a bucket full of mud.
Ben noticed one thing though. Lexi would never let anyone, not even a Zangyack, treat her like that. Why didn't she do anything? Why didn't any of them do anything to stop Shimazu from humiliating them?
After dancing in victory, Shimazu got serious and asked another question, "Dylan, when Kendrix, the first pink Galaxy ranger died temporarily, who replaced her?"
"Who cares?" Dylan asked him back.
"Oh, wrong answer again!" Shimazu responded and the Kelzaks started to throw water balloons at him.
"How can he not know that? He went to Mirinoi to meet the Galaxy rangers. He should've known this in the first place. It's basic Power Ranger information!" Ben said frustratingly.
"It is strange how they can't answer the simplest of questions. I mean, I get that you guys are new but even we can answer those questions," Shane said.
"Something is definitely up. But what is his angle?" Tori wondered.
"I have a plan but it's drastic," Shane told them.
"Lay it on us. We can handle it," Dustin assured him and Shane started to discuss the plans together with Ben.
Few minutes later, it was Troy's turn to be asked a question from Shimazu Jr. and he was prepared for anything up to this point. But he remembered their strategy and went along with it.
"Troy, are you ready to answer this next question?" Shimazu Jr. asked him.
"Whatever," Troy responded.
"Oooh, someone is getting impatient," Shimazu Jr. replied sarcastically. "Alright then, Troy, in the year 2002, ten rangers went to the moon to fight the last members of the machine empire. The mission was titled, Forever Red. What color are all those rangers?" Shimazu Jr. quizzed him.
Troy knew the answer was obviously red but he was going to go with their strategy, "I don't know, pink?" he guessed.
"WRONG!" Shimazu Jr. exclaimed. Just when the Kelzaks were about to throw something at Troy, three people in the Ninja Storm ranger suits sped through their area and started attacking the Kelzaks there. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Looks like we just crashed your party," Shane said.
"Well you should know that I hate party crashers!" Shimazu Jr. said as he released an energy ball at the Wind rangers and soon they found themselves demorphed and tied up in chains like the three pirates. "Now pirates, be a dear and tell your new friends to sit with you behind the podium."
Lexi rolled her eyes and motioned the three ninjas to come to them.
"Now, I will be right back. Don't you go anywhere if you know what's good for you," Shimazu Jr. said before he disappeared.
"What were the three of you trying to do?" Dylan questioned the Wind rangers rudely.
"Well, we're trying to save you," Tori replied back.
"You didn't have to. You're only making things worst for us," Lexi responded back.
"Oh like you're not doing that all by yourself," Dustin replied back sarcastically.
"You don't know the whole story," Troy said.
"Then enlighten us," Shane said. "By the way, we're the Wind rangers of the Ninja Storm team. Try to get that question right when he asked you the question."
"We know who are and we know all the answers to the question that he just asked us," Troy replied.
"The answers to all those questions that he just asked us are Time Force, Karone and red," Dylan added.
"Then why didn't you answer those questions correctly?" Tori asked them.
"See those bags of chestnuts there? Shimazu Jr. and Vexacus Jr. turned people into those chestnuts. If we answer those questions correctly, we'll be free but those fireworks above the bag will explode causing all those people to die permanently. Besides, we learnt that he likes to have trick questions so it doesn't matter if we answer the questions right or not," Lexi answered.
"So you were only trying to protect the people in that bag?" Dustin inquired.
"Does it matter? We don't have any other choice," Troy said.
"Sorry to break it to you but if you continue to answer the questions wrongly, he's going to do more than tarnish your reputation. He's going to kill you as well," Tori pointed out.
"Of course we won't. Our friends will find a way to find us," Dylan told her.
"How are you so sure they will successfully find you?" Shane asked them.
"Because we know. We believe in them just like how they believe in us," Troy replied.
To be continued...
Sorry to keep you hanging but this is as long as I can write for now. I will post the next chapter as soon as I can so don't fret!
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