Split the Difference
Summary- It hasn't been long since Kat joined the rangers and she still feels out of place. Especially with Avalon, who doesn't seem to want to make things easier for her; she thinks they're too different to get along. But they have to work together to save their friends when the Rangers get caught up in their paralyzing fears with Rita's and Zedd's recreated Crystal of Nightmares.
A/N: This "episode" would be directly between Rita's Pita and Another Brick In The Wall
It was a normal day at Angel Grove High in Ms. Appleby's social studies class. Tommy Oliver, Billy Cranston, Katherine Hillard, and Avalon Mitchell were listening intently with the rest of their classmates as Ms. Appleby paced back and forth, giving the tail end of her lesson plan before the bell rang. She could see her students wiggling in anticipation, occasionally glancing at the clock on the wall, the last few minutes keeping them from their weekend, but continued leisurely.
Ms. Appleby knew she at least had their attention until the bell went off; her students were nice enough not to pack up and make noise to cover the tail end of her lesson plan. But she continued, "The important thing about learning of other cultures is knowing that if we continue to understand those cultures, it makes it easier to tolerate and understand one another. And if we're able to do that, we won't make the same mistakes that we have in the past and can move forward." She clapped her hand together. "We've done that many times over the past couple of years through cultural food fairs and life swaps, but what I want to do is ensure that you as students can learn more about each other."
Tommy's eyebrows came together. He folded his arms over his stack of books, resting his chin on top. "What do you mean, Ms. Appleby?"
"Well, Tommy, I mean that one of the problems I see facing the youth these days is bullying," Ms. Appleby explained. She clasped her hands together. "And, fundamentally, bullying stems from not understanding one another, basing opinions off first impressions rather than in depth connections. So I thought for this segment that we would use it to have you better understand your classmates. I'm going to pair you up with other students you may not know as well. I want you to write a report on it and then report back to tell the class what you learned about your partner."
Avalon rolled her eyes. "Do you want us to make up a bloody song and dance, too?"
Ms. Appleby smiled among the small number of chuckles that went through the room. "Only if you want extra credit," she said, making the class laugh even louder. "Actually, I'm glad you spoke up, Avalon, because you're first on my list."
"Because my name starts with an 'A'?" She guessed.
"No, because you were the first one to speak up." Again, there was a smattering of laughter from the classroom that made Avalon roll her eyes, though she was smiling as she did so. Ms. Appleby leaned over the planner that lay open on her desk and ran her finger down the page, stopping when she found the orange ranger's name. "Avalon, you're going to be paired with our newcomer, Katherine."
Katherine sat up straight as soon as she heard her name, giving a small smile. She looked over her shoulder to her ranger teammate, turning her smile her way. Kat's smile faded when Avalon looked back at her then immediately looked away, shaking her head. The pink ranger sighed quietly, sinking in her seat.
"Great," Avalon grumbled. Her knee started to bob up and down. "Just what I didn't want."
"What?" Billy asked. He turned completely to face her turning completely around to face her. He rested his arm on her desk and looked at her curiously, blue eyes squinting just so. "What's wrong?" He lifted his chin and nodded to Ms. Appleby when he heard his name being called to team up with a classmate.
"I got paired up with Kat," Avalon replied, her voice dripping with disdain.
Billy tipped his head, looking at his girlfriend with an almost disapproving expression. "Kat's not so bad," he reminded her." Then, not being called the 'Main Brain' for nothing, figured out what her point of contention was. "She's still new, trying to figure things out."
"Sure, if you can get past her crippling fear of having any and attention on her," Avalon shot back, voice dripping with sarcasm. She stood as the bell rang and they gathered their things. The rest of the class did the same, nearly sprinting to get out the door and go to freedom. She and Billy blended in with the crowd, holding hands as they did so. "Oh, and her constant apologizing for being around. And let's not forget to mention that her means of defending herself from the Tengas that like to attack is by flailing her hand and screeching, 'get away from me'." She stopped at her locker, giving him a pointed look.
The blue ranger glanced toward the ceiling then back down at the orange ranger with a lifted eyebrow. "Are you sure this sense of hostility toward her isn't just because you're holding onto hard feelings of Kim leaving?" Billy sighed as Avalon shrugged and looking away. Almost like a pouting child. "Look, we all miss Kim, but nothing was going to stop her from going to the Pan Globals. And Kim personally asked Kat to be the pink ranger, she wouldn't have done it if she didn't think Kat was a good replacement. Just give her a chance, you might that you have more in common than you think."
At that, Avalon snorted and gave a wry smile. "You mean other than sharing the same accent?"
Billy chuckled. "Yes, other than that." He looked up as the hallways started to peter out. "Look, I've got a science club meeting, but I'll see you later, alright?"
"Alright."
Billy leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. He dropped her hand and left, only stopping long enough to turn back and say, "Behave," to her before continuing.
Avalon rolled her eyes.
"It looks like there's fighting among the ranks," Rita snarled, removing her eye from her telescope. Her lips pulled back into a gleeful smile. "I love it! Avalon can't stand Katherine."
"Well, I can't stand her either," Rito remarked, moving to his sister's side. He patted her on the shoulder, rudely bumping her out of the way so that he could look through the telescope himself. "At least that last Pink Ranger was better to look at." He leaped backwards when Rita turned a glare his way, holding his hands up defensively. "What? I mean? Power Rangers!? Yuck!" He mimed sticking a finger down his throat.
Rita growled, passing by him. She walked over to Zedd, who sat in his throne, drumming his fingertips while he watched his wife and brother-in-law bicker. "Zeddy!" Rita screeched. "We need a plan! If the rangers are already falling apart, we need to nudge them until they fall over!"
"You think I haven't come up with something, my dear?" Zedd replied. He reached out and lovingly ran his fingers down her face until cupping her chin. "I've simply been biding my time until I knew it was right."
Rito tilted his head. "You sure it wasn't because you knew you couldn't win, Ed?"
Zedd surged to his feet stamping his staff on the floor. "It's Zedd you bag of bones!" He snapped. He moved to stand by his wife's side, pushing RIto out of his way. "With Goldar's help, I was able to ensure that I had the perfect plan to take down the rangers. A little reassurance, if you will." Goldar then appeared out of the shadows and walked to Zedd, holding onto a large, purple orb. "Does this look familiar to you, my dear?"
"It looks like a snot bubble that Barney would blow," Rito pointed out.
"I wasn't asking you!"
"Is that…?" Rita looked toward her husband; eyes wide in awe. "Is that the Crystal of Nightmares?"
"That's exactly what it is," Goldar replied.
Rita shook her head. "But the Crystal of Nightmares was destroyed! Jason broke it!" Her hand clenched into a trembling fist, remembering her downfall the last time she'd been the magical jewel.
"This isn't the normal Crystal of Nightmare," Zedd explained. "This is the new and improved version!" Almost as if waiting for the words for permission to reveal itself, the Crystal of Nightmares glowed a bright purple, flew out of Goldar's hands, and shot across the room to where it stood on two feet, looking very similar to an astronaut, the head of the flailing monster being the crystal. "The rangers won't know what hit them!"
"I don't know, Tommy," Kat said as she and Tommy walked into the Youth Center. They paused in the doorway, seeing Avalon sitting at a nearby table, smiling her thanks at Ernie when he brought her a smoothie. Then her dark eyes turned back to her textbook, staring at the pages. "Avalon didn't seem to be too excited that we were going to be working on this project together."
"She just needs to get to know you better," Tommy reminded her. He thought for a moment then added, "Ms. Appleby probably saw that and that's why she paired you up."
Kat nodded in agreement. She gave Tommy a smile of appreciation then looked toward her teammate once more. "But I can't help but think she hates me."
"Why would she hate you?"
Kat shrugged, turning her gaze to her feet. She hesitated, before saying it out loud. Practically whispered it when she finally found her voice. "Because of Kim?" She looked up at Tommy, waiting for the reaction of the mention of his girlfriend. Kimberly had only just left and Tommy was handling it, and a long distance relationship, better than anyone thought he would.
True to Tommy's form, he simply waved his hand. "Nah, Av's not like that." Then it was his turn to pause as he worked out the validity of his words. "She can be rough around the edges with new people she meets, but that's just because she's protective." Tommy licked his lips, lowering his voice to add, "She's lived a hard life and sometimes it's even harder for her to get past those things."
"That's what I mean," Kat insisted. She clutched her notebooks to her chest. "My life hasn't been hard. Well…I mean, there was that one thing, but otherwise, my life has been pretty perfect."
"Hey, no one's life is perfect." Tommy patted her on the shoulder. "Just give her a chance. The same one she should be giving you. Ms. Appleby paired you two together to get to know each other, see what you have in common."
"What could we possibly have in common?" Kat asked. She shook her head. "Other than where we're from. We're just to…different."
"You'll find something," Tommy reassured her. He patted her on the shoulder. "I've got to go, Rocky and Adam are going to help me with my martial arts class in the park and need to set up before everyone gets there."
"Alright, I'll see you later." Kat waved to Tommy. She took a deep breath, clutched her books together to her chest, and walked over to the table. "Hi," she greeted. Avalon looked back at her, leaning back in her seat. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized.
"No worries," Avalon replied sullenly. She tapped her pen against her notebook. "Let's just get this over with, yeah?"
"Okay."
Kat sat down, dropping her backpack to the ground and picked up her notebook and pen. She let out another sigh.
"So, the rangers are working on a class in the park," Rita said. "That's the perfect time to attack them! Use the Crystal of Nightmares to take their confidence away!"
"Not just their confidence, my dear! It's going to literally paralyze them with fear!" Zedd laughed to himself then turned to the Crystal of Nightmares. "Take the Tengas! Attack the rangers and put them in the prime position for their defeat!"
"They'll never know what hit them!" The Crystal of Nightmares, and a horde of Tengas teleported to the park.
"Okay, so we're going to make sure that you understand the offensive moves that will make sure you know how to defend yourself," Tommy said to his class, tightening the white belt he wore around his waist. "And the defensive moves to counter it. Now, as I say with every class, martial arts isn't something to learn to beat up a bully or to institute violence. It is a means to become one with your mind and body and to be used as self-defense as a very last resort." He motioned to Rocky and Adam. "We've been studying martial arts for a long time and it's something that we have to consistently remind ourselves."
"If you end up using what you learn here to pick a fight, then you're no better than any of the bullies you're trying to defend yourself from," Adam said.
"That's right," Rocky agreed. "The best thing to do is to walk away, or get a teacher if there's anything that you need help with. But, you also have to remember that there may be something that you don't understand about the person picking on you?"
Their class looked at each other in confusion before one of the boys up front wrinkled his nose and asked, "What do that mean?"
"It means everyone has a story," Tommy said. "And as different as we think we are, there's always something that we have in common. If there's someone bulling you, chances are, they're taking their anger and frustration out on you. And those things that anger and frustrate them could be the same things that you're dealing with; a bad grade, being grounded, regular insecurities."
"A new pimple," Rocky offered, making the class giggle.
"The point is, you never know what people are going through, and that you may have the same problems," Adam pointed out. "So, it's better to talk things out, see what you have in common, before having to resort to anything we teach you here."
"Alright, now are you guys ready?" Tommy asked. He grinned when he got a resounding 'yeah!' in response. "Alright, now, here's the first position." And for the next few minutes, Tommy, Rocky, and Adam worked the class through the maneuvers of their katas, until the black feathered monsters known as the Tengas appeared and started to attack.
"Really?" Rocky groaned. "We can't get a day away from these things?"
"Apparently not," Adam remarked.
"Aww, did you miss us?" A Tenga squawked, flapping its wings like a spastic canary.
"Definitely not," Tommy replied, falling into a fighting stance. Rocky and Adam quickly moved to get the kids out of the way of the attack before moving back to Tommy's side to help him out. "As a matter of fact, let's make sure you get the message! Hiya!" He did a high jump kick and knocked the Tenga back out of the way before he was converged by the whole flock.
"Awe, that doesn't look fair, does it?" Rocky barreled over and grabbed a Tenga by the shoulder, pulling it away from his friend before sending it sprawling onto his butt with a kick to the chest. Only to be grabbed by the arms and flung to the ground by a Tenga behind him.
"Why don't you bird brains just fly away?" Adam swung around, doing a high-kick that struck a Tenga in the face and flipped him over, knocking it onto his back. He flipped over it, landing cleanly on his feet, and knocked another one to the ground with a solid punch. "How about we take these guys on a bit faster?"
"You read my mind," Tommy declared. He nodded to his friends and they moved up to his side. "Ninja Ranger Power, now!" They morphed into their ninja ranger forms and continued to take on the Tengas. All until the Crystal of Nightmares showed up.
"Whoa," Rocky cried upon seeing it. "That looks like an overgrown fishbowl!"
"You look like you've got a lot of confidence," The Crystal of Nightmares declared. "Let's see if you can do handle this!" He brought up his hands to the crystal ball that was his head, brought them down once more, allowing a purple beam of light to shoot out and strike Rocky directly in the chest. He cried out in surprise, immediately freezing in place, wrapped up in a purple mist that continued to encircle him.
"Rocky!" Adam cried.
"He's been hit," Tommy said.
"I…I can't move," Rocky groaned.
"Feeling a little scared?" Crystal of Nightmares taunted. "Let's see how you'll do when I take down the other two!" He turned to Tommy and Adam, ready to take them on as easily as he'd taken down the red ranger.
"We'll just see about that!" Tommy declared.
Avalon wondered what Kim was thinking when she decided to have Kat be her successor as a Power Ranger. Not just because of how meek and timid Kat seemed to be, but because she had been evil. And that was the part she couldn't quite get past. How was someone who had worked so closely with Rita and Zedd be able to turn around so easily and quickly? How did they know she wasn't just finding any and all openings to get close to the rangers and take them down one by one?
Even sitting next to Kat, Avalon kept an eye on her. Some may call it paranoia, but Avalon thought it wa smore that she was being prepare. Ready to strike anytime there was a chance that Kat would strike against her. How many times had she learned that lesson with Chase and the rest of the Vipers? Where she thought things were okay, and the next thing she knew, there was a knife in her face and blood dripping on the ground from a flay that had cut her cheek open?
That was one time specifically, but Chase had been really good at getting it through her head; keeps your friends close and your enemies closer.
As far as Avalon was concerned, she didn't know which category to put Kat in and that worried her. Still…Avalon worked to keep her wandering eye from settling in on the bright pink that Kat was slowly incorporating into her outfits. She hated her sitting there, pretty in pink.
"So," Kat cleared her throat. Shifted in her seat. Her ponytail swung between her shoulders as she did so. "What part of Australia are you from?"
"Canberra," Avalon replied shortly. Kat nodded and wrote in her notebook. Then dropped her hands to her lap, turning away. Just as she'd done every time they'd asked each other a question. Bloody hell, how can she stand it? Nevertheless, Avalon cleared her throat and asked, "You?"
"I'm from Sydney," Kat replied.
"Steak and Kidney," Avalon said.
Kat's nose wrinkled. "Do people really call it that?"
"We call it that," Avalon corrected her with a grin. She brushed her long hair behind her shoulders. "Mostly because it's the only place in Australia most people have heard of, yeah?" She rolled her eyes. "You know how many times I had people ask me if Canberra was a type of canned food?"
Kat giggled quietly. She picked up her pen once more and asked with renewed gusto, "What's your family like? Other than Bailey, I mean." She smiled a little wider. "She's real great, I've seen the work she does in the Command Center."
"Bay's a pain in my ass, but she's the best person I know," Avalon said. She thought for a moment. "Actually, I have a half-sister, too, but that's a long story." She waved her hand, changed the subject. "What about you? Any brothers or sisters?"
"Nope, just me."
"Must be a drag."
"It can be pretty lonely. But I don't mind it. I've got my mom and dad. They were the ones who suggested that I apply to transfer to Angel Grove."
Avalon snorted. "They wanted you to apply to a city that gets attacked by monsters on a regular basis?"
Kat shrugged. "Cheap housing."
The side of Avalon's mouth turned up. "Probably the cheapest."
"Yeah. But it wasn't easy leaving my friends behind."
"Well, life's a bummer," Avalon remarked. She leaned back in her seat, waving a hand. "You wake up, you get a mum, the next day you're on your own." She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice but failed. She thought about what Kat had said, that her parents had come over with her and suddenly felt irritated. "Not that you'd know."
"Moving here hasn't been easy for me either," Kat insisted. "I mean, put yourself in my shoes." She shrugged. "I've just moved to a new country where I don't know anyone. I was taken over by a space witch, tried to kill the first person to become my friend here, tried to kill some other people I've gotten to know, when I was brainwashed by that space witch. I broke away, got some new powers, and am now being attacked every day of my life."
"Yeah, I don't think I want to be you."
"Neither do I," Kat agreed. She lowered her gaze. "The worst part is I'm part of a team where I replaced someone who was so well loved, and," she lifted her gaze once more. "I think they hate me for taking her place."
Avalon didn't respond. For once, she didn't have a snappy comeback or sarcastic comment to add to the conversation and to keep her own potential guilt from taking over. Instead, thankfully, she was cut off by the sound of her communicator going off. All at once, she stiffened, slapped her hand atop of her communicator, and exchanged a glance with Kat.
Getting to her feet, Kat looked around, covering Avalon's back while the two ran to a darkened corner of the Youth Center. "Come in, Zordon," Avalon said into her communicator. Kat leaned in to hear, keeping an eye out for anyone who may come too close to them.
"Rangers, you're needed in the park. The Crystal of Nightmares are attacking the others," Zordon's voice came out from the small communicator. "Tommy, Rocky, and Adam have already been paralyzed by the monster already. Proceed with caution."
"He's right, you guys," Bailey replied. "The Crystal of Nightmares has struck them in some kind of mist that they can't break out of. Their brain waves are still read, yeah, and they can talk, but they can't move."
"We're on our way," Avalon said. She looked to Kat and nodded. The pink ranger nodded back. "Ninja Ranger Power, now!"
Kat and Avalon teleported to the park just in time to see a morphed Billy and Aisha knocked onto their backs on the ground. "Billy, Aisha!" Kat quickly helped them to their feet. "Are you guys alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine," Aisha said. She brought a hand up to her forehead, swaying slightly when she was on her feet. Billy didn't fare much better, blinking rapidly behind the swath of fabric that covered his eyes. "This guy's a bit tougher than we thought. She nodded toward Tommy, Adam, and Rocky, who continued to stay frozen in place, a purple mist covering them.
"It's the Crystal of Nightmare," Billy explained. "We fought against it with Rita when we were first rangers." He clenched his hands into fists, watching as the Crystal of Nightmare seemed to wiggle with glee, seeing more rangers arrive. "It traps you in its mist and forces you to live out your greatest nightmare. It strips you of your confidence."
"I'm going to do more than that, Blue Boy!" The Crystal of Nightmares charged himself up for another attack.
"We're not going to let you do that!" Avalon declared. Using her ninja technique, she buried herself underground, raced toward the Crystal of Nightmare, appeared behind it, and sent a blast of orange energy into its back. The resulting attack made the Crystal of Nightmare stumble forward and his beam of energy go wild, aiming for Aisha.
"Aisha! Move!" Billy raced toward her, but didn't make it in time to push her out of the way, the two getting caught in the beam that paralyzed them before they hit the ground.
"Oh no!" Avalon gasped.
"Billy! Aisha!" Kat cried, stretching out her hand toward them in vain.
"Thanks for the help, Orange Peel!" The Crystal of Nightmare declared before laughing gleefully, clasping his hands to his stomach. "I should've let you do the work for me ages ago!"
Kat brought her hand to her side, clenching her shaking hand into a fist. "Oh no, you guys." She looked up, noticing the Crystal of Nightmares coming toward her. "Oh no, get away from me!"
"Don't just stand there!" Avalon used the ninja ranger ability of superspeed to face toward the Crystal of Nightmare and rain a thunderous blow of punches and kicks onto it. It fell back to the ground, arms and legs flailing. "Your being afraid is just what this guy wants."
"Aww, how'd you guess?" The Crystal of Nightmares taunted, scrambling to get back to its feet. "One less ranger is one less headache for me!" Avalon launched herself at the Crystal of Nightmares once more, sending another flurry of punches and kicks on to it. She held him off long enough, but soon slowed down with her energy exertion and was thrown away.
Kat quickly came to her side, helping her to her feet. "Are you okay?"
"Not as okay as I'll be!" The Crystal of Nightmares sent a purple beam of energy onto them that they couldn't get out of the way fast enough, ensnared by the beam of light. Their bodies remained frozen, but their consciousness got stuck in the mist that overpowered them.
"Gosh, it's really cold in here," Kat remarked. She brought up her hands to blow on them, letting gout a surprise sound when she noticed her hands sinking into each other. As if she were a ghost. "What's going on?"
"It's a projection." Kat turned at the sound of Avalon's voice, surprised to find her standing beside her, looking around the darkness. They were still dressed in their ninja ranger uniforms, but with their masks pulled down. "Our bodies are still out there, but our minds have bene projected."
"What happened to the others?" Kat turned every which way but found nothing but darkness still encompassing them.
"They weren't touching when they were blasted, I guess that's why we came here together." Avalon ran a hand over her hair, blowing out a long breath. She continued to look around, turning in a slow circle. Frowned. "How are we going to get out of here?"
"Maybe we don't," Kat said quietly. Her voice was tiny, almost a whisper. Then she heard something, something that started off as a tiny rumbling before it got louder. Before it became something that made her blood freeze.
"Up next to dive, number 25, Katherine Hillard. Ms. Hillard is a newcomer to the Pan Globals from Sydney. But she's already made a splash in local and regional comps. Let's give her a warm welcome."
A bright blue light shimmered before the two girls, slowly coming into focus. Finally, Kat could only stare in dismay as she watched footage of her accident play back to her. How she had moved to the edge of the platform, arms by her side, where she looked down at the water, steadied herself, got ready to dive. Kat could only watch as she footage played out where she jumped, started to rotate, hit her head on a diving board that made a resounding crack and the crowd reacted simultaneously, letting out a low 'ooh'.
Then screams when she hit the water like a rag doll, bobbing to the surface, the water turning red as she bled. And then the picture started all over again. Rewinding then pausing as it got to the correct place, then started all over again.
"Up next to dive, number 25, Katherine Hillard. Ms. Hillard—"
Kat closed her eyes, turning away from the image in front of her. She didn't look to Avalon, who watched the image play over and over again, hardly reacting each time Kat's head hit the diving board. "This was what Kim was talking about," she murmured. "Your accident."
"Yeah…"
"I thought you got over that."
"I got over the diving part," Kat admitted. "Kim helped e with that." She turned back to the video once more. "It's not the diving part that scares me. It's not the heights. It's the…" She took in a deep breath. "It's…when I was in the water, I could still float, I could still breathe, but I felt—"
"—Hopeless," Avalon murmured.
Kat's eyebrows furrowed together. "Yeah," she said softly. "How'd you know?"
As if answering Kat's question, the image suddenly changed. The water in the pool rippled and waved until the image completely changed to that of the ocean waves. Building and building and building. And there was someone surfing on the waves, someone who wasn't able to bail out before getting hit by the top of the wave. The person was thrown aside like a rag doll before the wave crushed them.
Kat didn't have to ask if it was Avalon she was watching on screen. Just continued to watch the waves roll. "Where are you?" She whispered.
"Somewhere under there," Avalon replied. She sucked in a sharp breath when the swirling waves slowly turned black, blacker than black, then gray. Twisted and turned until it was a darkened alleyway, where grunts of exertion, the sounds of landing punches barely, covered the sounds of loud, frenzied screams of pain from each blow. "Stop!" Avalon turned her back to the image as it faded away. She took in a deep breath, clenching her hands into fists. "We have to find a way out of here."
"How do you do that?" Kat asked.
"Do what?" Avalon asked, slightly impatient, without much feeling. Almost as if nothing had just happened.
"How do you keep moving forward like that?" She asked. "As if nothing's going on."
"Because if I don't, I'll get stuck in that hopeless feeling," Avalon admitted. "There's been enough that's gone on in my life that if I lived there, I'd be bloody miserable. And I can't live a life like that. My friends helped get me through that and…" she looked to Kat. "I can help you, too. Besides, it's like what they say." She chuckled to herself. "Misery loves company."
"I guess we're not so different after all," Kat said. She sucked in a deep breath and nodded. "We'll just have to work through our differences to take this guy on." She held out her hand.
"You got it!" Avalon replied, clasping her hand into Kat's.
All at once, a bright light covered them and, suddenly, they were back to being able to move their bodies. Kat brought her hands up to run over her body, as if she couldn't believe it. "Alright, I'm back!" she declared.
"Now to take on this bloke," Avalon declared, the two sinking into fighting stances.
"Uh-oh!" he Crystal of Nightmares waved his hands. "You weren't supposed to break free like that!"
Avalon wiggled her finger, tauntingly in the monster's face. "That's what happens when you work as a team," she said.
"And come to understand each other," Kat added.
"And one thing we can agree on is that we're not going to let you boss us around."
"Or pray on our fears!"
"Orange Ranger Power!"
"Pink Ranger Power!"
"Aiya!"
Avalon and Kat leapt forward and, with a double kick, knocked the Crystal of Nightmares in the chest. It fell back to the ground but continued to get thrashed by the Orange and Pink Rangers with their arsenal of attacks on the monster.
"Let's show this guy what we're made of," Kat said. Avalon nodded. At the same time, they pulled out their blasters and shot the Crystal of Nightmares in the face. A loud cracking sound filled the air, a split appearing on the face of the crystal.
"Hey! What'd you do to me?" The Crystal of Nightmares demanded.
"What we're going to do with the rest of you," Avalon said. She waved her arm to the side. "But only with the help of our friends." With that, Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Billy, and Aisha all started to move, with the latter crashing to the ground form where they'd been hit, but quickly got back to their feet.
"We're back," Adam said.
"And just in time," Rocky added.
"Looks like we got back just in time for the best pat!" Tommy said. He looked to the others, who moved into formation behind him. "White Ranger Power!"
"Black Ranger Power!"
"Blue Ranger Power!"
"Yellow Ranger Power!"
"Red Ranger Power!"
"Just because all of you have morphed doesn't mean I can't take you all down!" The Crystal of Nightmares started to charge toward the rangers.
"I think it's the perfect time to call for the Power Canon," Kat said.
"Exactly what I was thinking," Avalon agreed.
"Everyone get ready to receive the Power Canon," Tommy agreed. He thrust his hands into the air, the others doing the same. "Brace!" In a flash of white light, a superpowered canon landed on their hands and shoulders. "Lock and load!" In their free hands, large orbs of energy in their colors appeared in their hands.
"Pink Charge!"
"Yellow Charge!"
"White Charge!"
"Red Charge!"
"Black Charge!"
"Orange Charge!"
The canon slowly became encompassed in the colors of the charges they put inside. "Prepare to fire!" Tommy said. He waited for the Crystal of Nightmares to come closer before giving the signal. "Fire!"
With a pump of energy that nearly knocked all the rangers over, the Power Canon shot out a beam of energy that struck the Crystal of Nightmares directly in the face. The split in its facing cracked even further before it imploded in its entirely, sending an array of pieces of purple glitter fluttering through the air, only punctuating the power rangers' cheers of another job well done.
Zedd growled, throwing his head back with an almighty clang against the back of his throne, seeing another monster defeated. This time, having been a monster that had his own spin on it, it should've worked.
Rito rocked back and forth on his heels and said, "Uh, I hate to point out the obvious, but, uh, that didn't seem to work this time, Ed." He pointed a finger in the air. "Not as well as it did last time."
"For the last time, dunderhead, it's Zedd!"
"Oh, I'm getting a headache," Rita moaned, pressing her face in her hands.
Class was back in session at Angel Grove High School, finding Avalon and Kat standing at the front of Ms. Appleby's class, giving the final portions of their report.
"You guys," Kat said with a bright smile pointed toward her class. "I'm deeply—"
"—Disturbed?" Avalon broke into laughter, prompting the class to do the same.
"No!" Kat giggled. "Honored—"
"—Why, thank you!" Avalon placed a hand to her chest, feigning humble surprise, making the class break into laughter once more.
"I'm really excited to have been able to work with Avalon because, as much as we have in common—"
"—Being from the same country, being in the similar sports, having a similar story in how we came over here," Avalon trailed off.
"We found that we have a lot of differences as well," Kat explained. "Like our favorite colors."
"And whether or not we like Vegemite!" Avalon gestured towards the cups lined across the front of Ms. Appleby's desk that they'd set up at the beginning of the class, filled with sample sizes of the breakfast spread. Her eyes flashed in mischief as she glanced toward Kat. "It's not my favorite, yeah? But I'll have it when there's no jam."
"But it's something I love," Kat agreed.
"And a staple of an Aussie brekkie," Avalon said. She motioned to Kat, who stood and handed out the samples to their classmates. "So we thought we'd share it with you guys to try out." She stood back and folded her arms, trying not to burst out laughing.
Tommy took a cup and sniffed it gently. "Huh, smells like meat"
"That's because it's made from vegetable, spice, and yeast extracts and is made similarly to a beef bouillon," Billy explained after examining his own sampling.
"Well," Kat said, spreading her hands. "Why don't you try it and let us know what you think?" She winked toward Avalon, who smiled wider. At the same time, their classmates stuck their fingers into the brown goo at the bottom of their sampler cups—of which should've been a small amount spread on a buttered bread and not eaten by itself—and gave it a taste…only to start retching seconds later. "I guess we're not so different after all," Kat replied, trying and failing to keep her laughter at bay.
But she lost it once she saw the way Ms. Appleby's face screwed up the second, she got a tiny taste on the tip of her tongue of the breakfast spread.
"You're right," Avalon agreed. She threw her arm around Kat's shoulders, prompting the pink ranger to do the same. "Because we're probably the only people in the world who actually knows how to actually eat Vegemite."
"And use it as a prank," Kat agreed.
The two laughed and high-fived.
THE END
A/N: I really wanted to try my hand at something new and do a quick ficlet/one-shot that was very reminiscent to an actual episode of Power Rangers; MMPR to be exact (though still holding onto some of the things I have within the Avalon series). Is it obvious I'm re-watching the series?
Also, I'm sorry it took so long for me to get something else up since posting the first chapter to Hexagon, I've been trying to balance writing and working form home and it isn't as easy as I thought it'd be.
So, what do you think?
~Av