Chad approached Paradias's throne, where he sat with Maleficent and Nerissa on either side of the leader of the evil forces. From behind him stood Marcellus and Gregory, the eldest son of Gaston and the gray ranger. On opposite sides further on the bridge stood Reviveslime and the newest general of their army Jabberwock.
"Your powers are finally ready to be restored to you Chad." Paradias said. "And not a moment too soon, as you have proved your worth by assisting in the liberation of the warzord that the rangers had intended to use as their own."
Nerissa stood forward and held up an extremely sharp and wicked looking blade. "This sword is known as Maledict's blade." She announced. "Maledict himself is a powerful demon within the underworld that had launched several temporal attacks in the world." She didn't point out that each of those attacks had been thwarted by the power rangers or other groups that would undoubtfully be their allies. "Your dark shield has been modified for the difference in sword shape."
She handed the blade to him hilt first and he took it. "I can feel its dark power." Chad noted with glee. He couldn't wait to try this in combat. "I can feel its thirst for blood, and for life." He laughed a bit, sounding even more cruel if possible. "I have no problems giving it that life, or Audrey's blood." He didn't plan on killing her though, he had other plans for her that would at some point make her beg for death.
"Take it and prepare for battle." Paradias said. "Without any zords to work with we only have to make the last moves to end this game."
Lonnie sat just outside the school against one of the walls. She ran her hands through her hair as she tried to process all of the emotions running through her mind. Does Will really like me? Was that all just a game? What if we're still being played? She shot her head up so abruptly that the back of her head hit the wall a bit and she flinched and had to bite back a word that she knew her mother would disapprove of.
She looked out into the forest and let out a small sigh, though she wasn't sure what to call it. If it had come from anyone else she would have read it as a cross between desperation and sadness, maybe some fatigue mixed into it. "Life sure got harder since I took you up." She said to her iPhone with the pink energy gem.
"You'll get no argument from me." She heard and for a brief insane moment she swore her iPhone had talked back only to look up and see Ben standing at the entrance to the school. "Sorry to startle you." Ben said to her now. He stepped out and asked, "Mind if I sit down?"
"Go ahead." Lonnie said to him. As he slid down beside her she warned him, "But I'm not really in a mood for a conversation right now Ben." She looked down again at her iPhone.
"It's fine." Ben told her with a shrug. "You listen, I'll talk. As the king of Auradon I'm going to have to talk a lot, and it will get ignored anyway so I might as well get used to it." Both of them shared a small laugh at the self-deprecating joke. "I do know what you're going through though." He assured her.
Lonnie laughed shortly at that. "How could you possibly know what I'm feeling?" She asked him.
"Because I did go through the same thing with Mal." Ben answered her. He felt kind of guilty to even be saying it but he knew it had to be said. "They all came here with the intent to steal the magic wand ,we know that now. We also know now that she decided the best way to do that was to become my girlfriend and she used magic to make that happen."
"Yeah, we do know that already." Lonnie said a bit impatiently. "I also think it was my tear that allowed them to do that when I felt sad over their parents being so different from ours." She had caught them making cookies but had thought nothing of it at the time. "But honestly, even though Audrey is my friend, I have to say even if Mal and the others hadn't come to Auradon Prep, you two still wouldn't have made it as a couple."
"I'm not arguing that, and honestly she hasn't said it but I think Audrey has come to realize that too." Ben assured her. "It's not about the spell pressing the end of our romance though. It's about the fact that everything from that first cookie to the end of our first date occurred over a spell."
"Which washed away in the enchanted lake." Lonnie realized. She was starting to piece it together. "What were your thoughts when you realized she had placed you under a spell?"
Ben took a deep breath. "A bit of hurt, though at the time a lot of that was the fact she didn't trust that I would see the good in her despite everything. Some shock, I mean that's the kind of thing that would get us into trouble." He put one of his hands into the other. "And honestly as time went on I felt a bit of betrayal when I thought back on it and realized that it had to be a ploy for something else. Hadn't thought about the wand though."
"But you still kept it up." Lonnie said.
"I wasn't keeping up anything." Ben clarified for her. "I pushed past all of that to realize that despite all that I really felt like I loved her, and that hasn't changed since then. If anything it's gotten stronger." He laughed a little. "And she realized it too, she made a reversal to that spell, not realizing it had washed away. She still took my ring knowing what was expected of her."
"It's different." Lonnie tried to say. "She was doing it because she wanted to please her mother, something that I think we're all fated to try to do on some level." She took a deep breath. "Will meanwhile…"
"Did what he did to protect his family." Ben said to her. "A motive we should all be able to understand, even if we all think the method was left a lot to be desired." He looked over at her now. "But Mal got the wand, and she chose not to go through with it. She instead realized that she wanted to be good and to be with me." He still marveled a bit at the revelation all four of them had had at his coronation. How happy he had been. "She cared about me enough to turn her back on her mother, and Will cared about all of us, and you specifically, to risk Maleficent going after her family."
Lonnie sighed. She knew the young king was right of course. "You think we can trust him then?" She asked softly.
"I think we can trust him." Ben said and then laid a hand on hers. "I think you can love him."
Lonnie smiled a little and laid her head on his shoulder a moment. "You're like the brother I never had." She admitted softly.
"You're like the sister I never wanted." He said with a laugh and Lonnie elbowed him in the side gently for it. "Seriously, you're like the sister I never had either. You and Audrey both, maybe that's why it never seemed like we were working out."
"I'm surprised it wasn't noticed sooner." Lonnie said with a shrug. "You two grew up and were so close that it was just kind of wrong to see you guys that way."
"We both thought that was expected of us." Ben said. "And as you said, we're all fated to try to do what is expected of us to some degree."
"I guess I just thought I knew Will so well, and then we get this huge near betrayal bomb shell dropped on us." Lonnie said and he felt her shrug. "It was just so shocking I didn't know how to cope."
"I'd say you know him as well as anyone ever has." Ben countered softly. "I'd be willing to bet even Mrs. Darling and Whitney even know about this."
"No, I suppose not." Lonnie agreed. They sat like that for another few minutes before she nodded. "Alright, you should return to the command center. I need to find Will and set things right." She stated.
Ben shook his head. "We'll both head back to the command center." He told her. "If things go the way I'm hoping, he'll meet us there."
Will was sitting on a chair playing with his saxophone, playing a few random notes. He couldn't get his mind off of Lonnie's reaction when she found out what had happened. He was sure she'd never speak to him again and he couldn't blame her personally.
He glanced out the window and was startled when he heard a knock on the door. He jumped slightly and turned to see Mal standing there, leaning against the door frame. She was smirking just a little at his reaction. "Sorry to disturb your deep musings." She said with a small smile.
"I take it you brought a memory potion of some sort." Will said dryly.
"Is that what you want?" Mal inquired.
"It doesn't matter what I want." Will replied simply. "I've betrayed all of your trusts and Lonnie will probably never speak to me again."
"Kind of ironic." Mal said. "I thought the same thing about Ben." She gestured toward another chair and he nodded. "You never met me or my friend when we came to Auradon." She mused. "We came here for one simple reason; my mother wanted the magic wand that Jane uses to transform. I put Ben under a love spell because only his parents and his girlfriend could be close enough to the wand to be able to grab it."
"I know that didn't happen." Will said archly. "Or else you wouldn't be here."
"True enough." Mal agreed. "Because as we acclimated; Evie with her being so much smarter than any of us ever thought. Jay with his love of Tourney. Carlos with being a dog person and taking care of Dude. Me, with falling in love with Ben." She leaned back a little. "I had to take the love potion off of Ben…if my mother's plan had gone off having him be in love with me not by choice was just cruel…I couldn't do it."
"What's your point?" Will asked her.
"We were worse than you. You did what you did to protect the people you loved." Mal replied. "Not us though. But like us you realized that the greater good, and the people you became friends with, surpassed anything. And that with your friends you could get past anything."
"I don't think Lonnie would agree with you." Will said.
"I think she will." Mal said. "Once she sorts through her hurt feelings."
Will bit his lip a moment. "How'd you work past your guilty feelings?" He asked her simply.
Now it was Mal's turn to think about it a moment. "This." She said as she held up her iPhone. "Keeping up the good fight, defending the people of the world. And knowing that at the end of the day I have Ben to be there for me through thick and thin." She leaned forward a bit. "And to have my friends there to support me, both old and new."
"Must be nice." Will mused.
"It is." Mal agreed. "Head's up." He looked up and caught the green iPhone in his right hand. "You have friends to support you and you have a thing to help with that whole redemption thing." She stood up. "You aren't Gregory or Chad, you did what you did for love and you feel bad about the consequences of that. You deserve that. You deserve us. You deserve Lonnie, if she's willing."
Will looked down at his iPhone for a moment and then set his saxophone to the side of the bed and stood up. "I'll give it a shot." He agreed. "But I have to find Lonnie first. I have to try to talk to her."
"Come on, let's go to the command center." Mal said. "I think that Lonnie will be waiting for us." Together the two left his dorm room.
Lonnie and Ben had made it to the classroom that the four isle kids had taken Remedial Goodness 101 at not long after coming to Auradon Prep. They had hung around for a few minutes before Will and Mal showed up.
The purple haired girl walked over to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned up and kissed him on the lips softly. "Hey, Bennie boo." She said with a small smirk.
"Hey." He said with a smile. He stroked her hair softly and whispered, "Looks like mission complete."
"Not exactly but pretty close." Mal whispered back. "But the rest is solely up to them." Together the two of them headed downstairs to the command center, leaving Lonnie and Will alone.
Awkward silence followed a moment. Then Lonnie said, "What you did, protecting your family." She leaned against a table as she looked at him. "My mother did the same thing for my grandfather during the conflict with the Huns." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Being caught would have resulted in her death." She took a deep breath. "I can't say I like your method but I fully understand your reasoning."
Will sat on the table across from her. "I hated it, even before I knew all of you." He told her. He wanted to take her hands but wasn't sure that would be okay with her. "I just didn't see a way out at first. Then I found I wanted a way to protect them and you…you guys."
"I get it." Lonnie promised him. "But you shouldn't have. This is what we do. Being power rangers, fighting to protect the world, the people we love and the things we care for. We knew what we were getting into, and that involves helping those who are threatened."
"You're right." Will agreed. "I should have thought about that. I just was afraid to take that chance. I should have."
"Yeah, you should have." Lonnie said. "Especially when you got the same powers we did." She reached out and took his hand. "When that happened it became more than just protecting. It became a matter of friends, of family. And not just us, but our parents too and…and well your sister." She again had to reflect that it was odd that none of them had siblings, regardless of whether they were Auradon teens or isle teens.
The two stood and were about to descend the steps to the command center when Lonnie took his hands. "Please promise not to keep something like this a secret from me anymore." She requested. To Will it almost sounded like a plea instead, and it broke his heart a little to have done that to her.
He nodded. "I promise, Lonnie. Never again." He replied.
Lonnie smiled slightly. In the time she had known him he had been honest and truthful with his dealings with her, this one admittedly big understandable incident notwithstanding. She was willing to take him at his word now. "Good." She said in a whisper before she leaned up and gently brushed her lips against his. Then she pulled away and the two went to the command center.
It was clear Mal and Ben had explained what they did to everyone. Some of course seemed more sympathetic than others. Evie, Carlos, Jane and Ally seemed to be okay, they acted like the big revelation even happened; the blue haired girl and the blonde giving friendly waves while the other two were working on the consoles for the solution to the mess he had somewhat helped create.
Everyone else seemed a little hesitant to be giving Will this big of a chance after what happened. Lonnie could understand that from the Auradon kids, especially Audrey who had had a very brutal experience when Chad had betrayed them by beating her to receive his powers, and he hadn't stopped targeting her because of that. Somehow though Lonnie would have expected Jay to be a bit more sympathetic given his background. Whatever it was she felt certain Will would win back their trust.
Fairy Godmother looked over at Will. "We all understand what you did, even if we can't necessarily agree with it." She told him gently but sternly. "None the less we've all agreed you should have shot at redeeming yourself, just as a few others around here have had." With this she glanced at everyone else. "I strongly urge you all not to pursue this matter anymore, just let it die here, unless Will wishes to talk to any of you about it for some reason."
Lonnie silently agreed as she placed her hand on Will's arm, showing the same kind of protectiveness that she had seen Ben display for Mal.
"At any rate, we are left with larger problems than that." Fairy Godmother said. "We have a truly rogue ranger who commands the strongest zord we have ever encountered. I'm open to suggestions."
"Why can't I take it back?" Will asked. "I mean I know I can't do it on my own but maybe Jane and Aziz could give me a hand."
"I thought about that." Jane told him. "In theory the idea is sound but I have a horrible feeling that it'll be recoded to prevent any access from our iPhones." She sighed a little. "Normally I'd say it's impossible but I didn't think anyone would be able to isolate their iPhones from the command center either and he did."
"I don't get it." Ally said. "What's the significance of that?"
"The iPhones are all linked to the command center to a degree." Doug answered her. "Not only does it allow easy access to the monster sensors and to communications that need only be sent to the team, but the powers are linked as well." He lightly brushed the edge of the console. "In theory if we had to for whatever reason all the powers could be shut off here, through a command that Fairy Godmother alone can input." He looked to Jane. "That does include a small chip implanted at the bottom of the wand."
"That seems kind of wrong." Mal said with a smirk and a small wicked grin. The truth was she thought she understood the reasoning for it.
"It's a safeguard." Fairy Godmother assured them all. "One I hope never to implement. It's not a matter of not trusting those that become power rangers, for the most part." In truth she was referring to Gregory but Will still felt the barb of that comment and grimaced a little. "But the truth is there is no such thing as incorruptible powers. If that were to ever happen I'd have a way of making sure they weren't turned against Auradon."
"How did Gregory even know about that safety net?" Audrey asked.
"It would confirm the idea that someone in Auradon is working with Paradias, regardless of whether we're talking about a traitor or someone infiltrating." Jay added.
"Most likely true." Fairy Godmother agreed. "It's a matter that will be addressed with the council. But we may never know who is responsible for this."
"So we can't cut the gray ranger powers off." Jordan said with a small frown. "Can we take them from him?" The others looked at her confused, except for of course Jane and Fairy Godmother. She explained, "Sometimes powers are something that can easily be transferred, it happened about a half dozen times with Zordon's ranger teams, but other times the powers bond with the holder on specific levels, like a DNA level, such as the Dino Gems. Those aren't so easy to take back."
"The hard part would obviously be getting the iPhone back from Gregory." Fairy Godmother replied. "But if we could get it back then we could reassign the powers."
"But we'd have to find someone to hold the powers." Audrey pointed out.
"Doug can do it." Jay said as he looked to him. "We can help you train to become a better fighter and you can be a power ranger."
"I actually wanted to talk to you guys about training up." Doug admitted but then shrugged. "But as for being a power ranger, I don't think so. Fairy Godmother can't run this place alone and you need someone right here just in case, something Jane proved time and again before she became the white ranger."
"He does have a point." Audrey agreed. "And if it really comes down to it he can still take the powers, but we should at least try to consider other sources."
"True, but who?" Jordan wondered. "How do we find someone we can trust for this?" The truth was she knew it was a bit of a gamble with her, Ally and Aziz being power rangers though they had proven to be trustworthy beforehand. Of course Will had too before his secret had come to light, regardless of the reasons. It was something she had to grant Gregory did not have.
"It is something we will have to consider." Fairy Godmother agreed. "But that is secondary compared to actually getting the gray ranger powers back. That won't be easy because Gregory knows we will try to get it back from him."
"It's not just that that should concern us." Will replied. "The warzord is also on their side and you've all lost your zords. It'll be days before they're back up. If they decide to launch that warzord now, we'd have a huge problem."
"I've been looking for any energy signatures that could lead to a new zord or zords but so far I have nothing to show for it." Jane said. "Wherever that warzord was hiding before today, it wasn't showing up at all."
"Neither did our other zords." Mal replied thoughtfully. "Why is that do you think?"
"An energy dampener maybe." Evie suggested. "To prevent anyone from finding it until we're meant to find it. The zords are powerful but as Gregory proved dangerous in the wrong hands."
"Well we need some of these things to stop working about now." Carlos mused.
"What about expediting the zord repairs?" Jay asked now.
Carlos snickered a little bit. "Expediting, that's a big word for you Jay." He said jokingly. Audrey gave a him a bit of glare, the same reaction any couple would give when their significant other had seemed to be insulted, but the comment got some laughter from Mal, Evie and Will. The others let it pass. "No, seriously. Doug's father and uncles are taking the time to help out with repairs and that'll shave off a few hours but we could still be running against the clock."
"What about a spell?" Ally asked. "Could we locate new zords?"
"I thought about that." Jordan told her. "Theoretically it's possible but despite their sizes a locator spell to find a zord would be pretty hard to work. We also can't ignore that anyone who would place an energy dampener on them would also think to place a magic jammer on them too." She shrugged a bit. "I mean think about if Paradias had found this warzord when it was just six rangers." There was no denying what would have happened then.
"Alright then, here's a thought." Mal said as she looked to Fairy Godmother and then all of her friends. "What about a new ranger?"
"Wait, what?" Aziz asked.
"How would we pull that one off?" Audrey asked her with some skepticism. Mal had to grant it was a fair question.
"Can't we either find or create a new power source?" Mal asked, getting a bit more excited about it. "Every new ranger seems to increase our zord options. It's like Zordon or some higher power saw this kind of thing coming? So why not hasten the process a little?"
"Jane?" Ben asked. She seemed to have had a hand in in, as was evidence by her completion of the pink ranger powers Lonnie was using.
Jane seemed to think a moment. "The basics are there." She allowed. "It'd be a simple matter of adjusting the parameters to create the individual power."
"Getting the gem would be easy enough. We've identified the type of gem used for it and Snow White could easily bring us one from my father and uncle's mines." Doug supplied.
"What would it even be?" Jay asked.
"Pick your choice." Jane said with a dismissive wave. "As long as it's not here already we have our choices. Orange, brown, turquoise, aqua, whatever color of the rainbow we needed."
"But we come to same problem we have with the gray ranger powers." Jordan said now. "We would need someone to hold those powers. Someone we know we can trust."
"That's running a bit short around here." Mal noted. She looked to Will. "Not being mean here, just stating the truth. You're the last one here at Auradon Prep we would have trusted with this. Finding someone to fill that role is pretty hard to do."
"Jane, get to work on the new potential power." Fairy Godmother instructed her daughter. She looked to Evie. She looked to Doug. "Text your father or one of your uncles and ask them about. We can send a few of us to retrieve from them, then help Carlos will our next idea of trying to find some idea of where to get new zords from." She looked to Jordan. "See if there is any way we can try to use magic to find something new if this doesn't work." They could tell she still wasn't keen on magic use and made them all wonder what had happened in Auradon to make that happen.
Evie still had the thoughts she was sure everyone else had. If Jane creates a new ranger power, would do we give it to? And if we can take the gray ranger powers from Gregory, who do we give those powers too?
