Episode 11, Chapter 2 – April

April could feel Ewan's emotions, just as she could feel the rain around her, the water flooding the streets and saturating the ground, and the emotions of the other Rangers. She knew she was the only Ranger who had such power. It was beyond what they all felt from each other already; those were more like thoughts, fleeting and ever-changing. This was something deeper. April could sense those emotions which the other Rangers didn't even know they were feeling. If the old Blue Ranger could do the same, then it was no wonder she fell apart when Rita began turning her friends to the side of evil. But April could sense Ewan's deeper emotions, like someone calling you from the shore of a quiet lake, and she knew that he was hiding something from them.

I have to trust that he has changed, she thought. Perhaps he doesn't want us to worry about him.

Hey, thought Ewan, When I pass by wherever you all are, how about tagging in old Green to give me a hand?

I have some bad news, thought Will.

Good, thought Ewan. I was starting to feel a little too perky. What's up?

Will transmitted images of the rail lines: when he and Jess had used their magnets to stop the train in Southside, it had pretty much ripped the tracks to shreds. There was no way anyone could repair it before Ewan's lead car looped back around.

I'd say you have about five minutes to figure something out, thought Will.

Or the train flies off the tracks and blows away the entire city, thought Ewan.

Yep.

Why don't you just stop the car? asked Jess.

This thing's like fucking Speed, thought Ewan. You know, that 90s movie? I can't slow it down without touching the controls, and I can't touch the controls without shocking myself to hell. And yes, before you ask, I already tried my magnet. Just ripped the rope in half without slowing the train down an inch. You sure you can't repair the tracks?

Not in five minutes, said Jack. Even Rangers have their limits.

Yeah. Right, sorry for asking. Leave the world-saving to me.

Jess snorted, though whether that was from laughter or getting hit by a piece of flung debris was hard to tell. Great. We'll just go home then.

You know what I mean.

Zordon, thought Will, can you help us?

There was a long pause. The Rangers danced around dark tentacles with increasing frustration. Hmm? Zordon thought suddenly. Oh, Rangers. The machine, yes. It will be delicate work, Yellow Ranger. If you are to succeed, you will need to rid yourself of Baboo.

So that was what Ewan was hiding.

Baboo's there? asked Will.

Yes, sighed Ewan. He flashed them an image of a large blue baboon with a monocle. April couldn't shake the feeling that this monster was somehow familiar to her. Then it hit her.

That's the old Blue Ranger, she realized.

How did you know… thought Ewan.

I shouldn't have let you go alone, thought Will.

No! thought Ewan. I can do this! Just trust me.

That's only gotten us burned tonight, said Jess. But April felt her soften. The Red Ranger believed in Ewan, even if she didn't realize it yet.

Four minutes, reported Jack.

April and the others were getting nowhere with this Void Weed. It simply absorbed whatever they hit it with, and even when they managed to land a blaster shot on the monster while it phased into this world, it did little good but make the darn thing angry. Their only consolation was that it was not terribly fast; the four Rangers could leap backward and always remain clear of the sweeping tentacles. But the Rangers were beginning to get frustrated. No one knew what to do, and Zordon had just checked out in their most desperate hour.

April wasn't so sure she liked being able to know the others' feelings. She had first noticed it when she came out of the Dark Dimension with Ewan. Zordon had said that each of the Rangers had gone through trials that made them stronger. She supposed that this was just a new trick of hers, but it felt like cheating, to always know how the others felt. It was an invasion of their privacy. No one should have that kind of power, to be able to see inside a person's soul like this.

The frustration of the other Rangers continued to gather momentum. April felt herself sharing in the anger which she herself did not feel: anger at Rita, yes, and plenty of suppressed frustration at having never found any of their families, but mostly anger at Zordon for being of so little help. The others grew bold with desperation to end this monster. Jess launched volleys of flames which only served to outline its monstrous form. Will edged closer and closer, heedless of the danger. Jack tried to pin it in place with javelins of rock. And Ewan was trying everything under the sun with Baboo, but his was a losing battle. Baboo was fast, and she knew Ranger weaknesses.

Yet below the rage and the overwhelming sense of the injustice, April found, quite unexpectedly, the bedrocks of each Ranger's character. Ewan would never give up, no matter the odds. Jess would never back down, no matter the pain. Will would always think of others first, no matter the cost. Jack would never break, no matter the strain. These feelings each found their way into April along with the seething anger. They were overwhelming at first, but slowly April filtered the frustration away until there was only virtue remaining.

Then, hardly even knowing how, she pushed these thoughts right back into the other Rangers.

The change was immediate. Everyone took up the fight with renewed vigor. Their minds cleared of the fog Rita's power had lowered over their eyes. It wasn't an enchantment, of course – not the same kind that had taken Ewan away from the girls in the police station, anyway. This had been a very real sort of magic. April had found herself under its spell many times before when she faced her abusive father back in her old life. No spell was cast, but she knew the feeling all the same.

I am the holder of Harmony, she thought to herself. Enemy of Discord. Safekeeper of emotions. My friends will not lose themselves so long as I stand.

The Void Weed thrust a tentacle underground, which erupted a moment later not two inches from April's face. She leapt back and found that Will was staring at the broken train tracks above them.

I think I have an idea, he thought.