Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. Only my OCs.
Chapter 21: Brothers in Arms
Previously:
"Hey, uh, Cam, there won't be any… you know, aftereffects from being a guinea pig or anything, will there?" he asked as they all stared at Dustin, who was scratching his head like a dog.
"Highly improbable," Cam said slowly.
"How about a flea collar," Jenna grinned over at the Fire Ninja, who just smirked before rubbing her temples. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah. Just a headache." Zoey winced while pressing against her fingers against her head. "It'll pass. Don't worry about."
Then Dustin grabbed the bag of sunflower seeds and started shoveling handfuls into his mouth.
"Are you sure about that?" Jenna asked, looking amused and disgusted all at once.
"Mmm. Oh, man, this stuff is awesome!" he said, causing the others to laugh.
"What?"
Before the laughter died down, Zoey got a little dizzy and leaned on the mainframe table. Everything around started getting fuzzy. She saw Jenna, or she thought it was Jenna, waving her hands in front of her face. Hearing an echo, she looked around at the hands that grabbed her shoulder.
The last thing Zoey remember, was Hunter catching her before she fell and blacked out.
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Zoey sat in her bed, thinking. Trying to figure out what everything meant. The waking dreams were getting worse. After passing out, she was placed on her bed, with each Ranger volunteering to watch over her. When she woke up, Sensei requested that she refrain from battling Lothor's goon until she could get control of it. It's been a week. What was going on? The dreams, the Kitsune, the necklace… and her. The woman.
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Looking around, she noticed she was back on the battle field. But it was different. More serene. "Has time passed since I was here?" Running her fingers through her hair, Zoey started walking to the clearing she saw the babies.
Stopping, she saw a woman sitting on the ground picking flowers. She had dark hair tied back and wore a deep violet gown with flowing sleeves.
"Excuse me?" Zoey walked up behind her, "Hello?" The woman never turned.
"She can't hear you."
Turning around, Zoey stared at the women in front of her. She looked back and forth between the two, confusion on her face. "Wait. Is that… you?" She was stunning. A little taller than Zoey, she her long raven-black hair flowing down to her waist. With striking features and a set of deep blue eyes, Zoey knew she had seen her before. Every time she looked in the mirror. "Are you, me?"
Chuckling, the woman shook her head. "Oh, dear one. No. But isn't interesting to know what you'll look like when you get older?"
"Um…" Looking apprehensive, because she knew, Zoey asked, "Are you my mom?"
Looking into Zoey's eyes, the mysterious woman nodded.
"Ok. Then, is that you," she pointed to the woman still picking flowers, "or, a younger you?"
"Watch."
A horse came running up and stopped before the woman. "Phaedra, you must come with me. We just got word from your father. The darkness has taken over the Western Kingdom." He held out a hand. "Come, I'll take you to him."
"I don't think so." Her reply was so soft, you can barely hear her.
"What?"
"You think I don't know?" She held up a mirror, "I stay in contact with my father regularly. Even more so since the war started. The darkness hasn't even touched his borders yet." She stood up and shook her head back, defiantly. "I know what you want. I know what you've always wanted. What you couldn't have. And it will never be yours."
He glared at her, angry that she saw right through him. A screech broke through the silence. Looking around, they could see the war making its way toward them. "I have to go."
"No! No more!" He got off his horse and grabbed her by the arm, "If you won't come with me willingly," he grabbed her mirror, "Then I will take you by force."
Casting a spell on the mirror, he shined the light down at the woman. She screamed as she was crystalized and suck into the mirror. Getting back on his horse, the man pulled his hood back up, pocketed the mirror and took off.
"I don't understand." Zoey turned, "If that was you, how are you here?"
"I'm not." She smiled, "I am still trapped in the mirror." She reached out a hand and touched Zoey face. The young girl closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the woman's hand. Her mother's hand. "I have meditated in that mirror for a long time. Growing my power more and more each day. And I have been able to watch you grow up into a beautiful young woman. More than I could ever hope you could be."
Tears fell down Zoey cheeks, listening to the sadness in her mother's voice.
"Now, I have the power to come to you in your dreams. To talk to you."
Wiping her eyes, Zoey looked up. "I guess I can stop thinking I'm going crazy."
Laughing, the older woman stared at her. "I am Phaedra. And yes, I am your mother. And I want nothing more than to teach you about your family legacy."
Thinking for a moment, Zoey asked, "Um, is there a way you could do that during my sleep instead of having me fall flat on my face?"
"I apologize. I am just now getting control of it. I could probably do that after a few more attempts. But I will work on in." She kissed Zoey on the forehead, "For now, I must recharge. Take care of yourself."
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Sitting on her bed, Zoey's thoughts were interrupted by noise coming from Ops. She decided to get up and investigate.
"This is the weirdest thing," Cam was sitting at his computer, typing away. "I've been running tests on Motodrone, and I've found traces of human DNA," he told them group as they all gathered around his computer curiously.
"No way, you mean that thing is human?" Shane demanded, unable to believe what Cam was saying.
"It looks like some sort of mutation," Jenna said, walking over and hugged Zoey when she walked in, "Question is, was it on purpose? Or just some freak accident?"
"What's a Motodrone?" Zoey asked.
"It's some new monster," Raina said as she and Tori gave the Pink Ranger a hug. "Not sure where he came from, though."
"Cause he's obviously not one of Lothor's goons," Andy quipped.
"No," Cam shook his head. "and I won't be able to find out who it is until the computer goes through the database."
"Until then, you must take care in dealing with this creature," Sensei warned them. "We don't know what he's capable of," and they all nodded.
"Well, since I'm temporarily grounded," Zoey said with a grin, "could you use some help?"
"I'd love some." the genius said, look at her, "How are you feeling?"
Everyone looked at her, "Better. Still processing, but I'm better." Knowing their concern for her, she had explained everything to her friends. "And you three can rest easy. I called and told Tommy. Took some convincing to keep him from coming up here." Sitting next to came, she pulled out her laptop, "And he promised not to tell our parents. He's gonna let me do it when I feel more comfortable."
"Well, I'm glad. It's something you need to process and get more information on before you share it with the people who raised you." Hunter said, patting Zoey on the shoulder.
"Thanks."
"Well, I'm glad you were able to keep Tommy from driving up. We really don't need him coming here and showing us up." Andy laughed and high-fived Raina.
"Oh, you mean taking on the monsters all by himself and winning?" Zoey asked. She look up at the Crimson Ranger. "Are you ok?" Zoey looked at Hunter, who nodded, his arms folded. "You look a little worn."
"Just a little sore. Got banged up pretty good." He told her, "But it's ok. My suit took most of the damage."
"That's what they're there for." She stood up and walked over to her bag by the bookshelf, "Here. It's a bruise balm. It uses the restorative water from the planet, Aquitar. The balm itself is made from special herbs from KO-35, Eltar, and Mirinoi. Add in the water, and it's perfect to deal with those pesky bruises."
"Seriously? How come you've never offered that to us before?" Shane asked, eyes wide.
"First of all, as Rangers who connect to the Morphing Grid on a daily basis, our bruises disappear after a few hours. Don't know if you've paid attention to that little detail."
"That's how our brother's and their friends got away with a lot of Ranger stuff in high school. The regular ones were gone before they got home from a fight." Jenna nodded, "And any bigger bruises, sprained muscles and concussions were easily hidden."
"Yeah, that really good at hiding those things." Zoey laughed, looking back, "Just don't ever bring up the ER. It's a very sore subject, and you will probably get hit for talking about it."
"I still blame my cousins. It's all their fault."
"Now, now. Be nice." Zoey looked back at Shane, "The second reason that I haven't shown it to you yet is because I just got it from my brother when we were in Reefside last week." She smiled sweetly at him, "If you want, I can give you a few bruises so you can test it out? Will that make you feel better?"
"Um, no. Thank you." He backed away, "I'll take your word for it." He turned and headed out, ignoring the laughter being thrown at him.
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Cam was typing away the mainframe when he noticed Zoey was no longer beside him. He saw that she had set her laptop on a little table beside his and set it up with some auto-search program. "Dad, did you see where Zoey went?" Everyone else had gone off to do whatever it was that they do.
"You looking for me?" She came out of the back with two bowls. "Here." Handing him a bowl, she took her seat next to him. "You're not allergic to anything, are you?"
"No."
"Good." She leaned over and placed a guinea pig-sized bowl in front of Sensei. "One peanut butter and banana smoothie bowl. I added some oats, fresh banana chunks, and some coconut shavings."
"I appreciate that, Zoey." Sensei sat down and started eating.
Cam looked down at his, "Is this the same thing?"
"Yes." She looked at him, "Is that a problem?"
"Nope. Just never had it before." He took a testing bit and grinned, "It's pretty good."
"And healthy. It's made from frozen banana slices, peanut butter, cacao powder, hazelnut protein powder, and almond milk." She took a bit, "The peanut butter is all natural. No additives. Topping it with the granola, banana, and coconut adds extra textures and flavors." Looking at the genius, she smiled, "I eat them all the time."
"Hmm." Savoring a bit, he grinned back at her, "you got anymore recipes like this you'd like to share? I could us something like this in my regular diet."
"Yeah. I don't mind giving them to you. I introduced them to Emily after they bought the Youth Center. " Yawning, she struggled to keep her eyes awake.
"Are you alright, Zoey?" Sensei asked.
"I'm just tired. It's been a week, and I still feel extremely drained."
"Perhaps you should go lay down. Cam is watching the computer, so it should be fine for you to get some rest."
"It's not like you can do anything anyways," the genius said, "you're still on a temporary grounding. No morphing for you."
"Like I didn't know that." She grinned chunking a piece of banana at him. As she got up to go back to her room, she stopped and turned back to her friend. "Don't let me sleep too long, ok. I know I need rest, but I don't need to sleep myself into a coma."
Cam and Sensei laughed as she walked back to her room.
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"We can't much more." Blake groaned, trying to push himself to his feet.
"Let me handle this!" Hunter, the only one still able to stand, pushed himself to his feet, and Motodrone laughed.
"Give it up, Thunder Ranger!" he mocked, but Hunter still ran at him. Motodrone blasted him with an orange energy, and Hunter disappeared.
"Hunter!" Blake and Jenna yelled, staring in disbelief.
"Bye, bye!" Motodrone laughed and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Blake! Jenna! Are you ok?" The Wind and Lightning Rangers ran over, looking around. Tori and Dustin helped Blake up, and Raina and Andy helped Jenna.
"What happened?" Shane asked, looking around.
"Hunter! He's gone," Blake told them, his visor coming open.
"Motodrone did something to him." Jenna said, walking over to Blake. "He took him."
Jerking awake, Zoey looked around in a panic. "What the hell?" Rubbing a hand against her face, she noticed that lights were shinning around her fingers. "Seriously?"
"You must calm your breathing, or you'll never get control."
Looking up, she saw a translucent Phaedra standing at the end of her bed.
"How did you get here?" She asked, looking at her mother curiously.
"My energy built up enough that I can appear for a brief moment. This isn't like in your dreams. Your panic called out to me." She gestured to Zoey's hands, "The Dino Gem that altered your DNA connected to you on a genetic level."
"That's confusing. It altered my DNA. That is a genetic level."
"That is not what I meant. The power that you inherited from your father and me was that of a celestial matter. You control the power of the Stars. The gems connected to that power and allows you to manipulate all light."
"But I can't control it." Zoey shook her head in frustration, "I just learned about this magic you say I have, and I don't know how to control it." Standing up, she grabbled her hoodie off the end of her bed. "Now your telling me that the freaking light in my hands, that I just got control of by-the-way, is now out of control because you've waken up my magic."
"That is correct."
Zoey glared as she put on her hoodie, "I don't have time for this. My friend was just taken."
"And how do you know this?" Phaedra asked, stopping her daughter in her tracks, "You saw this in your dreams, correct?" When Zoey nodded, she stepped toward her, "That is a manifestation of my powers. Seers run in my family. On my Elven side. And a moon witch, trained properly, can dream walk. Your powers are developing faster than I thought. We must begin your training."
Zoey though for a moment, "In my dreams. That's the only way possible. I will train with you. I will do whatever it takes to get control and keep from hurting anyone." Looking determined, she continued, "But I have work to do. I have a life with family and friends. I have a whole planet counting on me. I need to be able to focus and fight like everyone else without worrying about losing control. But right now, I have a friend to find."
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"Come on man, where is he?" Zoey walked in to see Blake standing over Cam's shoulder and Jenna pacing beside him. The others were standing behind them.
"Hold on. I've nearly got a lock on Motodrone's identity." The Green Ranger said, holding up his hand.
"Anything?" Everyone looked around at Zoey's question.
"What are you doing up?" Jenna and Raina walked over to their friend a hug.
"I can't always sleep you guys. Now did you find him?"
"How did you know he missing?" Shane asked, curiously.
"Never mind that. What's with your hands?" Andy said, causing everyone to look down. The light still hadn't gone out.
"Don't worry about that." She stuck her hands in her hoodie pocket, "Let's just focus on finding Hunter. Blake, step back. It won't go any fast with you hounding him. Let him work." She sat down in her chair next to Cam just as the computer beeped.
Blake frowned, but stepped back. They watched as the image flickered from a human's back to Motodrone.
"Perry. I know where Hunter is." Blake realized.
"Isn't that the moto guy that you were telling me about, Dustin?" Zoey asked, looking over at the Yellow Ranger.
"Yeah."
"Let's go!" As they turned to run out, Sensei called out to them first, stopping them.
"Blake, I know your brother is in danger, but remember, so is Perry," the Guinea Pig told the Navy Ranger. "If you don't destroy the Motodrone technology soon, it will absorb Perry, and he will be gone forever," Sensei warned them.
"Don't worry," Blake nodded, and they hurried out of Ninja Ops.
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Zoey mediated on the floor, listening to the other fight Motodrone, trying to regain control of the light in her hands.
"Remember Zoey, you are the only one who can take control. Take everything you have learned as a Ninja and contain the power for you to use. No one else."
She nearly fell asleep listening to Sensei's soothing words.
"Ninja Glider Bike! Flight Mode!" Hearing Hunter's voice, Zoey looked at the monitor as the bike got from Motodrone switched forms. "He looks like a freaking Transformer." Shaking her head, she watch as Hunter flew through the air, catching Blake by the hand. Setting his brother down with the others, he flew back up to fight Motodrone. After the monster was defeated, they demorphed and ran up to find Perry.
Hitting a button on the keyboard, causing the screen to turn black, Sensei turned back to the Fire Ninja. "When's the last time you called forth your Fox?"
"I've been so focused on everything else; I haven't even thought about it."
"With your powers scattered and unfocused, I believe re-establishing your control over your powers one at a time is best." Sensei closed his eyes, thinking. "Maybe if start with your Dino Powers and go backwards, you could get back in balance."
"It's worth a shot." Standing up, she typed a few keys on the mainframe to activate the hologram room. "Could you make sure I'm not disturbed?"
"Of course."
Walking in the room, she felt transported to Angel Grove. 1993. Why? Because she was currently surrounded by putties. Taking a deep breath, she assumed a defensive stance, waiting for the first attack.
After ten minutes, Zoey's breathing became erratic. The putties kept coming, She tried using her powers, but nothing was working.
"You must calm yourself, Zoey. Block out the distractions. Focus on the problem at hand. Yes, you're a Ninja. Yes, you now have genetic abilities. But don't let that define you. Take control. Focus. Breathe in, breathe out. Center yourself."
Zoey could hear Sensei trying to get through to her over the intercom. But she was having trouble focusing as she was being over whelmed by the clay brains. "This is ridiculous. I've never been like this before." Ducking under an arm, she grabbed the putty by the leg and flipped him before jumping into a tree. Trying to center herself, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Zoey, are you ok? Your vitals are all over the place."
Hearing Cam over the intercom meant the team had returned. "I'll be fine." Yelling back, she sat back in the tree as more putties surrounded the trunk. Looking down with tears in her eyes, she hit her head against the tree. "This is ridiculous." Closing her eyes, she took another deep breath.
"I am Zoey Paige Oliver, the adopted sister of Power Ranger Legend Tommy Oliver. I am a graduated Fire Ninja and the Pink Ninja Ranger. I am a student of the Order of the Claw. I control the Fox. I control the Spark. Me!" Her Fox shot out and stood on the branch, staring at her. Zoey closed her eyes and started to meditate. Feeling the energy, she let it flow through her and her Fox. Once the energy spikes leveled out, she focused on her breathing.
After she got her breathing under control, Zoey raised her head and opened her eyes. Pink flames sparking in the depths. "I possess the Pink Dino Gem. It chose me. I now control the light. But I am so much more than that."
Vixey glowed bright, turning translucent. "I'm tired of fighting it. I must accept what I am. Who I am." A rainbow of light shot around her. "I am the daughter of the Moon and the Sun." Standing on the branch, Zoey and Vixey jumped down and attacked the putties. Watching her Fox destroy half of them, she walked further into the fight. Her clothes changed to black boots, black cargo pants and corset with a flowing white top. There was a silver and purple Kitsune etched into the material. "I've had enough pretending. I will no longer hold back."
Holding her hands out, her Ninja Fire combined with her Light and destroyed the rest of the putties. "I know who I am, now. I am a Star Witch."
Calling her Fox back into her, she looked up, "No." She shook her head.
"I am the Star Mystic."
This was exhausting. I have re-written this chapter 6 times. And I still don't like how it came out. Don't forget to vote. And I'm always open to suggestions.