Hi, guys! I got a new job (again!)! So I've left my graphic design job, mostly because ya girl needs health insurance. Also they're gonna give me better pay, so I'm down. Haha. Also, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanza, and all the other holidays people may be celebrating this time of year! I myself celebrated Christmas, and it was awesome getting to see my little baby nephew again. (We were all safe, don't worry.)
So the approval for the last chapter seemed to be pretty high, so thank you so much to Ten Duel Commandments, Disneyfan10, brankel1, James Birdsong, DJ Scales, and FallenArcana for your lovely comments! It's nice to see how everyone felt about Jason's appearance, and I promise he, and the rest of the old team, will make more appearances as this, and the sequel, goes on. And hopefully my mind will make its mind up on the Hunter/Andi confession, all I know is that it'll be soon. Also, only 8 more comments to 100! So, here we go!
Jason only stuck around for a few days, spending time with his sister and, as Andi predicted, wiping the floor with both Shane and Hunter at the same time. Andi had thoroughly enjoyed having Jason around, although spending time with him meant that she couldn't work on her bike.
So, here she sat, cross-legged in front of her own bike at Storm Chargers, trying desperately to get a part out that needed to be replaced. It was the last thing she needed to replace before her bike would be rideable again, that attempted 1080 doing a lot more damage to her bike than she had thought.
With a sigh, Andi sat back, glaring at the stubborn part. It was a part of the front axle, and, from what she could tell, it was stuck, so much mud in there that it had dried and basically become cement. Mentally hitting herself for allowing this to even happen, Andi picked up a pick from her pile of tools and started trying to chip away at the caked on mud.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting dried mud off my front axle," Andi answered, not looking up as Hunter stared down at her, arms crossed.
"Wouldn't hosing it off work better?" the blonde asked, eyebrow raised.
"Probably, if I had known all this mud was in there when it was still wet," Andi answered. There was a sudden burst of pain. "Shit!"
Withdrawing her hand, Andi frowned down at the cut across her palm, curtesy of a particularly sharp part. It was the one she had only just put in, so at least the metal was still shiny and clean.
"Oh, shit! Here!" Hunter moved quickly, grabbing a clean rag and the first aid kit from behind the counter with one hand and Andi's hand in the other. Gently holding her hand, palm-up, Hunter knelt down in front of her and gently dabbed the bleeding cut with the rag. "I don't think it's very deep, probably won't need stitches or anything."
He turned from her, and opened the first aid kit. Pulling out a bandage pad, some gauze, and antiseptic, he turned back and took her hand again. He applied some antiseptic, and then held the bandage pad to it lightly with one hand while he unrolled the gauze with the other and quickly and efficiently wrapped up her hand.
"Thank you," Andi said.
"You're welcome," Hunter said, glancing up at her before turning back to her hand to secure the wrap.
"How'd you become so good at this?" Andi asked, taking her hand back once he was done.
Hunter shrugged. "Before we got adopted, I used to get into fights a lot; I watched the nurse at the orphanage do this enough times that I was able to help her by the end of our time there."
"That's sweet, that you would help the nurse take care of people," Andi said, "Ever think of going into healthcare, be a doctor?"
Hunter shrugged again. "After we got adopted, I thought about it, but then mom and dad died, and we started our ninja training; didn't have time to think about anything else. Haven't thought about it in years."
He fell silent, deep in thought, and Andi didn't know what to say. Luckily, Hunter shook himself out of it rather quickly.
"Hey, with your hand now all wrapped up, do you need some help?"
"Please!" Andi exclaimed, "There's so much mud caked in there that it's basically turned into cement. I just need to replace this one last part, but it's stuck in there."
Hunter chuckled. "I'll take a look at it. How'd it all get in there, in the first place?"
"I've been trying a new trick, landed really weirdly the other day, it's why I had to rebuild half the engine." Andi answered, crossing her arms. "A 360 variant."
"How do you change up a 360?" Hunter asked, glancing away from the bike to look at her.
"You turn it into a 1080."
Hunter quickly did the math in his head and fully turned to her.
"You're trying to turn a trick that involves completely turning your bike a full 360 degrees, into one where you do it three times?" His voice was incredulous. "Andi, I don't know if that's possible!"
"I'm already at 720, I'm just having issues getting that last rotation," Andi defended. "Besides, it was just a rough landing the other day that caused this, once I get it down, it'll never happen again. And, if I don't do it first, then someone else will, and I'm planning on using the 1080 at the X-Games."
"The X-Games are six months away," Hunter reminded her, finally getting the last of the mud cleared away.
"Yeah, which means I have five and a half months to get this trick down." With the mud gone, the White Ranger easily removed the offending part and replaced it with the new one. "Finally, it's done!"
"You've been working on this all morning," Hunter noted, checking his watch; it was early afternoon, so Andi had burned a good part of her day trying to get her bike fixed.
"Yes, and it's DONE!" Andi cheered. "Thank you, Hunter, seriously."
"You're welcome," he smiled, happy to see her so happy. She had a smile that could cheer up Lothor.
"Hey, this damage was why I had to bail on our ride the other day, want to go now?" Andi asked, her eyes lighting up at the idea.
"I would love to," Hunter said, a smile pulling his lips up.
Andi smiled, and the two left. They spent two hours just riding through the forest, ending at the tracks. Hunter never got too far ahead of her; he went just fast enough to push her to go faster, just barely staying in front of her. Andi didn't mind; he had a great butt. At one point, Hunter let her get in front of him, mostly because he could see a large hill coming up.
Based on how Andi sped up, she could see it too. Hunter watched as she attempted her 1080 trick, only getting to a 720 before quickly righting herself to land correctly. She did, and Hunter rode up to ride next to her. She glanced at him, and he sent a thumb's up. Based on how her head moved, Hunter guessed that she had laughed, and his heart soared.
When they finished their ride, they went back to Storm Chargers.
"Man, I can't believe you actually attempted that trick!" Hunter exclaimed as he held the door open for her, both of them changed and ready for their actual shifts. Andi had been at Storm Chargers earlier to work on her bike, and Hunter to look for Blake.
"I told you I've been working on it!" Andi answered, "I've about got the 720 down, it's just the 1080 I'm having trouble with."
"A ten eighty? What's a ten eighty?" Andi glanced over as Blake walked over, raising a fist to fist bump his brother.
"A 360 variant," Hunter answered. "Andi's trying to perfect it before the X-Games."
Like Hunter earlier in the day, Blake did the math in his head. "Three rotations? That's a little dangerous, don't you think?"
Andi raised an eyebrow at the Navy Ranger. "We're Power Rangers, you wanna talk dangerous?"
"Okay, yeah, good point," Blake nodded. "Just be careful, this one would be devastated if something happened to you," he hit Hunter's shoulder, smiling widely despite his brother's glair.
"Thank you, Blake, but I'll be fine," Andi promised with a grin. "If I can punch a Kelzak in the face, then I can pull off a 1080. Eventually."
"Fair enough," Blake said, walking away to get back to work. Andi, glancing up at Hunter, giggled, and then got to work herself. Hunter merely shook his head.
…
Humming along to the music Kelly played through the store, Andi raised a hand, swiping her hair off her forehead. She'd piled most of it on top of her head in a messy bun, but some strands had come loose, and gotten into her eyes.
"Hey Kel, that bike for Anderson, you have any idea what he did to it?" she asked, glancing up as her boss walked by. The handlebars were crushed and the front wheel looked like it had exploded.
"New rider," Kelly said. "Decided to try a backflip right off the bat."
Andi winced. "That is not the first trick you try…" she said.
"Yeah, you can give him the lecture when he picks it up," Kelly said. "Hey, Blake!" as the redhead ran off to talk to the Navy Ranger, Andi sighed, looked down at the bike, and quickly decided to go see what everyone else was doing before she got into that mess.
"What are those?" she heard Tori ask, so Andi headed over to where the Blue Ranger sat on a bike next to Hunter and Blake.
"Tickets, to the Martial Arts Film Festival," Hunter answered. "They're showing Fists of Fire 2."
"Hoping to pick up a few pointers?" Andi asked, putting her hands on her hips as she joined them. Tori chuckled at the joke, and pushed her bike away from the brothers.
"Yeah, ha ha!" Blake said, "Hey!"
He ran forward to join Tori, leaving Hunter and Andi standing alone.
"Fists of Fire 2, huh?" Andi teased, looking up at the blonde as she crossed her arms.
"Hey, it's a good movie!" Hunter laughed. "And aren't you supposed to be working on some bikes?"
"I am, but I'm on my last one for the day and it… makes me sad," she said.
"Do I want to know why?" Hunter asked, a hesitant tone to his voice.
"Idiot decided the first trick he wanted to try was a backflip."
Now, Hunter didn't do Freestyle, and there was a reason for it. He was fast on a bike, he knew he could get a sponsor pretty easily if he really wanted to without all the fancy tricks. But even he knew that backflips were not the first trick you tried to do. Blake had tried to do one, once; he'd broken his arm and couldn't race for three months.
So, the blonde did what Andi had done earlier; he winced.
"Even I know to not try a backflip as your first trick," he said.
"Exactly," Andi said, pointing to him. "Handlebars are crushed and the front tire looks… exploded. I'd be surprised if the guy wasn't injured in some way."
"Yeah, Blake broke his arm a few years ago attempting that," Hunter said, "I told him not to do it."
"Yeah, well, little siblings don't always like listening to the older sibling," Andi said with a grin. "Take it from a younger sister." She winked at him, and Hunter chuckled. "I gotta go fix that bike, no matter how much it hurts my soul."
"You'll be fine," Hunter said, "How's your hand, by the way?"
Andi shrugged and glanced down at it. The outer layer of gauze was darker, now, covered in dirt and oil, but the cut didn't hurt at all. "Honestly I forgot it was there," she said. "You did a really great job wrapping it up."
"Yeah, well, one of the things I'm good at," Hunter stammered, a blush turning his cheeks red.
Andi grinned at him, and went to work on the bike.
…
Half an hour later, Hunter entered the backroom where she was changing the tire of the bike. She was just finishing it, deciding to change the tire before she started on the handlebars.
"Hey Andi, can I ask you something?" Hunter asked, coming over to her.
"Yeah, sure," Andi said, glancing at him over her shoulder before returning to the bolts she was tightening. Getting the last one as tight as it could go, she stood up straight, her knees popping as she did. "What's up?"
"Well, that Martial Arts Festival, tomorrow?" Hunter began. "Blake invited Tori to go, and I was wondering if you wanted to go, too. You know, with me."
"Like a date?" Andi asked, picking up the exploded tire where she'd leaned it against the back tire of the bike.
"Um, it doesn't have to be," Hunter said. "You know, it can just be four friends, going to see a movie."
Andi chuckled and turned to face him fully. "I would love to go with you, tomorrow, as a date." Hunter released a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. "What time do I need to meet you guys?"
"Uh, 3, at the movie theater," Hunter said.
Andi smiled. "It's a date."
"It's a date," Hunter repeated, a stupid grin pulling his lips up.
Andi laughed, kissed his cheek, and then returned to the bike.
…
When 3 rolled around the next day, Andi walked into the Blue Bay Harbor Movie Theater, wearing a white and purple plaid shirt and jeans, half of her hair pulled back with a clip.
"Hey, guys," she said, smiling as Blake and Hunter came into view.
"Hey, Andi," Blake said with a smile, "Glad you could join us."
"Yeah, thanks for the invite," she said that straight at Hunter, who smiled with a blush coloring his cheeks. "Where's Tori?"
"She should be here, soon," Blake said, glancing over his shoulder as Hunter stepped up next to her and draped an arm around her shoulders.
"Hi, guys!" Tori exclaimed as she appeared, sounding almost a little out of breath.
"Hey, you made it!" Bake exclaimed. "I was starting to get worried, there! I thought it was some kind of Kelzak thing, or something."
"Refreshments, anyone?!" a man in a chicken costume ran in front of them as they headed to the popcorn stand, where a girl with pink streaks through her hair stood.
"Can I help you?"
"Uh, popcorn?" Hunter asked.
"You guys got the tickets, this is my treat," Tori said.
"I'll split it with you, Tor," Andi offered.
The two girls walked up the counter, the boys behind them, and the girl behind the counter shoved a large popcorn container into Tori's arms, the top of the bucket adorned with a cardboard UFO.
"They're left over from last week's sci-fi convention," the girl said in way of explanation.
"Oh, cool," Andi said with a shrug, getting her wallet from her pocket.
"No," the girl said when Tori and Andi both offered her money, shaking her head to deny the payment.
"You sure?" Adi asked, eyebrows furrowed. What kind of movie theater didn't charge for popcorn?
The girl nodded, so the Blue and White Rangers shared a look and a shrug.
"Thank you," the two chorused.
"Uh, save me a seat, I'll be right back!" Suddenly, Tori took off, shoving her popcorn into Blake's arms.
"Be in the front…" Blake trailed off, confused.
"I hope she's alright," Andi said, staring after her friend in equal confusion.
"I'm sure she's fine," Hunter said, placing his free hand on the small of her back. "Woah!" he exclaimed suddenly, surprised to see the guy in the chicken costume right behind him. "Excuse me…"
When the trio walked into the viewing room, they quickly found seats in the front row, With Hunter and Blake sitting next to each other and Andi sitting on Hunter's other side.
The movie started soon, with Tori never reappearing.
"I don't know where Tori is," Blake said with a frown.
"Fresh popcorn!" the guy in the chicken outfit from earlier called.
"Do you want me to go check on her?" Andi offered, concern shining in her green eyes.
"Nah, don't do that," Hunter answered. "Dude, are you going to eat the whole thing yourself?" he asked, glancing at the bucket they were all supposed to be sharing. He'd eaten half of it already.
"Thinking about it," Blake answered.
As he reached in for more, Hunter and Andi doing the same, a bright light suddenly filled the theater, and then the three Rangers were gone.
"What the hell?!" Andi exclaimed, landing on her back.
"What happened?" Hunter asked, looking around.
"I… I think we got pulled into the popcorn bucket," Blake said.
"Alright, well, I'm never eating movie theater popcorn again," Andi said as she slowly stood up.
"Blake? Hunter? Andi? Where are you?" looking up at the voice, the three Rangers quickly realized that Tori had come back.
"Tori! Down here!" Blake yelled. "Don't eat the popcorn!"
"Blake? Hunter, Andi?" Tori asked, looking down into the bucket. The chicken shushed her, and she turned to it. "Oh, I'm sorry! My friends are in the popcorn and I have to save them!"
"Save them?" the chicken asked, "You're going to JOIN THEM!" the chicken costume was suddenly thrown off, revealing a pig, one of Lothor's monsters. And the other people in the theater, turned into Kelzaks.
Carefully picking up the popcorn container with her friends inside, she began to fight, unknowingly throwing Hunter, Blake, and Andi around, covering the three in artificial butter.
Finally, a Kelzak stole the container, and returned to the pig monster.
"Intermission! She ain't in the next act!"
With that, the pig and the Kelzaks disappeared, taking the popcorn container with them.
"What is this stuff?" Blake asked, flinging some of the yellow goop they were all covered in off his hand.
"I don't know, but let's get out of it!" Hunter exclaimed. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Thunder Storm!"
"Winter Storm!"
"Ranger Form!"
However, the normal rush of power didn't appear, and the three quickly realized that morphing wasn't possible.
"That's not good," Blake said, eyes wide.
"Okay," Andi said, "We're stuck in a popcorn container, we're covered in artificial butter flavoring, and we can't morph. What are we gonna do?"
"I have no idea," Hunter answered, looking just as dejected as Andi and Blake both felt.
…
They didn't know how long they'd been in the bucket, but time seemed to drag on. Finally, though, Hunter and Blake got the bright idea to try climb out. So, Hunter boosted Blake up.
"Almost there!" Blake exclaimed.
"Reach, Blake!" Andi called, "You're so close!"
"Almost!" Blake clawed for the top of the container, to no avail; he was so covered in the slippery butter that his hands just slid right off, and he lost his balance, falling to the ground and splashing into the butter.
"Ah, it's no use!" Hunter exclaimed.
"You know what the worst part of it is?" Blake asked. "It's not even butter. We're going to be destroyed by artificial flavoring!" Angrily, Blake kicked a piece of popcorn, tripped, and then splashed back into the artificial flavoring again.
When he stood back up, however, he held an un-popped kernel in his hand. "Wait a minute."
"Is that what I think it is?" Hunter asked, picking one up as well.
"Un-popped kernels?" Andi asked, surprised. You didn't usually find un-popped kernels at movie theaters.
"Maybe we can pop ourselves out of here!" Blake exclaimed.
"If the blast doesn't bake us, first!" Hunter exclaimed. "Besides, Andi won't even be able to help, she has ice powers, not lightening like us. We could seriously hurt her!"
"You got another suggestion?" Blake exclaimed.
"We could try throwing Andi out," Hunter suggested.
"Oh for Zordon's sake, just do it!" Andi exclaimed, causing the two boys to look at her in surprise. "If it gets too hot for me to handle in here, I'll cool us off, so don't worry about me, and do it!"
The two boys looked at her in surprise, but nodded. And so the two stood, brought their hands up, and concentrated. The artificial flavoring began to bubble around them, and Andi stayed close to Hunter; her feet were starting to burn a little, and she feared having to tell someone she had burns on her feet… due to artificial butter flavoring.
"It's getting hot in here…" Blake noted.
"Keep going, it's working!" Hunter exclaimed.
"You can do it!" Andi encouraged, placing a hand on Hunter's shoulder.
Andi backed off as lightening began to ripple over the two brothers, sweat beginning to mingle with the artificial flavoring covering her.
"Keep going! I think she's almost ready to blow!" Blake exclaimed.
They kept at it, and just as Andi was thinking she'd need to cool everybody down, the kernels finally exploded, throwing the three artificial flavoring- covered Rangers to the ground in front of the other three, morphed Rangers. Popcorn landed all around them as well.
Just when they thought it was over, artificial flavoring shot out and covered them one last time.
"Aw, nasty!" Dustin exclaimed. He, Shane, and Tori were all morphed, but they had their visors open.
"Are you guys alright?" Tori asked as the three stood, legs a little shaky from their experience.
"I am never eating popcorn again," Andi said, trying her best to get the flavoring and popcorn off her.
"We're fine," Hunter said.
"You kinda reek, though," Dustin said. It was true, the three smelled overwhelmingly like butter, a smell that would take multiple showers to make go away.
"Artificial butter flavoring," Hunter said.
"Andi, it's all in your hair," Tori said, reaching over to pick some popcorn from her friend's, now tangled, hair.
Before she could, though, something behind them caused the three morphed Rangers to turn around. It was the pig monster from earlier.
"You didn't think you could destroy me in my own dimension, did you?" he asked, growing to enormous size.
"Well, we were kinda hoping," Dustin answered.
"Hope you like your pig extra big!" Kapri's voice shouted, and the Rangers turned to find her, Marah, and some Kelzaks.
"Shane, you go for the Zords, we'll keep these wannabes busy," Hunter said, taking charge easily.
"You got it," Shane said, and the three morphed Rangers ran off to fight the pig.
Meanwhile, Hunter, Blake, and Andi rushed forward to meet the Kelzaks. As they fought, however, they quickly realized that the artificial flavoring covering them, could serve as weapon.
Hunter rolled forward on the ground to avoid an attack, leaving a huge buttery mark on the ground. A Kelzak that tried to go after him slipped in it.
Some of the flavoring that had slipped down Blake's arm had accidentally ended up on a Kelzak's face, blinding it.
As for Andy, she found that she could freeze it, and then essentially throw it at the Kelzaks like a projectile. It worked pretty well, she thought.
With the Kelzaks defeated and covered in artificial butter flavoring, the three Rangers quickly rounded on Marah and Kapri, angry and in need of a shower.
"Oh, we gotta go!" Marah exclaimed upon seeing their faces.
"Yeah, uh, late for a barbecue?" Kapri tried, and then the two disappeared, taking the Kelzaks with them.
Shane, Dustin, and Tori defeated the pig monster pretty quickly after that, combing the Ram Hammer and the Turtle Mace to create a new weapon. One hit, and the monster was finally defeated.
"Alright, well, if you guys will excuse me, I'm going to go and take a shower," Andi said. "A long one."
…
Hours later, Andi landed, still only at a 720. One day, she'd hit that 1080, but apparently today was not that day. Still, she finished the track and rode back around to her trailer, mostly to check her phone and see what time it was.
"Hey!"
"Hunter, hey," Andi said, looking up as the Crimson Ranger walked up to her, his own gear on and pushing his bike with him. Both of them still smelled, ever so slightly, of butter. "What's up?"
"Well, I was thinking, since our date kinda got interrupted, if you wanted to go riding again," he said.
Andi smiled. "It was a great date, Hunter," she said. "Up until we got pulled into the bucket, I thought it was going pretty well."
"Really?" Hunter asked, sounded hopeful.
"Really," she nodded. Hunter seemed to relax in front of her, and she smiled a little wider. "Hey, how about instead of going riding, I teach you a trick?"
"Not a backflip, right?" Hunter asked, eyebrows raised.
Andi laughed. "Oh, hell no," she said. "Nah, you know how to do a wheelie, right?" Hunter nodded and she grinned. "Ever heard of a Stoppie?"
Hunter gulped.
Where a wheelie is when a rider goes up on their back wheel with the front wheel in the air, a stoppie is when the rider goes onto their front wheel with the back wheel in the air. According to google, these are the two tricks most freestylers learn first.