"And then I said, 'ma'am, you literally walked up to the counter and ordered this. You can't tell me that we made it wrong'." Kendrix shakes her head, Maya crosses her arms. Damon frowns, which is rare, and Kai mutters something like "and I thought my job was hard".
"Have you considered re-applying for command?" Leo asks from where he's rummaging through our fridge, and I shrug. It's been a week since he reinstated me, and within that week, we've been in talks to set my brother as our third-in-command. We've even gone so far as to make a pros-and-cons list, one that I hide under my pillow, and the cons are very limited. The most troublesome one is that he'll somehow become even more overprotective of me, and I wouldn't doubt that.
"Nah. As much as being a barista can be irritating, it's also kinda fun. I get to see a lot of people, and I've made a lot of friends, what with the regulars that come in, as well as my co-workers."
"Not to mention, you get us discounts. You better not leave that place," Damon jokes, and I lunge at him playfully. He flinches back instinctively, and we burst into laughter. "Tell us about your regulars."
"Hm… well, there's one older lady who always orders green tea. She tells me to put exactly two and a half packets of sugar in it, and it's really weird, because whenever I accidentally put too much or too little, she can tell." Maya shudders. "Then there's you guys, obviously. And then this dude from the bookstore next door." Kendrix snaps her fingers.
"Is that the one who I see-" I don't even have to speak. Just a single wide-eyed look from me is enough to make her close her mouth, and she smiles innocently around at the others. "The one who I see… there a lot?" Ugh. The Pink Ranger is a terrible liar.
"Spill," Maya insists, leaning forward, and for a moment, I freeze. It's not just because of my older brother's stunned look (overprotective, see?), but also because I can tell we're all a bit uncomfortable. Ever since I came back to the team, and even before then, I've been aware that my friendship with Leo has slowly progressed to… something else. And for whatever reason, we've all been living in denial about it.
"Oh, it's just this guy. According to my co-workers, he only comes around when I work, since they don't see him on my days off. He also brings me free books-" Leo coughs all of a sudden, and Damon has to pat his back to make sure he doesn't choke on his water. "Whoa, didn't realize you were allergic to reading, L." My comment makes us all laugh, and makes his coughing worse, which makes our laughing intensify… yeah. We've all been there. Finally, Leo's able to catch his breath, but now it's just awkward. I've never been more grateful for a call from Alpha, and I raise my morpher up. "Hey, Al."
"Mike's run into some trouble with Chameliac! He needs you, Rangers!" Hm. The name is familiar, but I'm not sure what our new opponent's title reminds me of.
"On it," Leo replies. But when we get to the beach and surround Mike in a defensive formation, Chameliac doesn't appear to be anywhere. (Didn't think my eyesight was that bad, but here we are.) Behind me, the older Corbett stumbles, and my heart lurches as I help him up.
"Are you alright?" Leo asks worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm okay. But Villamax is up to something. And this disc might just tell us what it is."
"And then the next thing I knew, he had a blaster just like mine. He knew all my moves… It was like fighting myself. There was nothing I could do that he didn't know how to defend and counterattack." Chameliac. The more Mike speaks, the more oddly familiar the name sounds. There has to be something there.
"Alpha, any luck with that computer disc?"
"Not yet, Leo. It was badly damaged in the fight," Alpha replies, holding the small chip up for us to see. He's right. The thing is covered in scratches and bumps, and for a fragile CD, that's not a good thing.
"What could they be hauling into the forest dome?" Kai muses, and I frown.
"That's what we have to find out."
"I'll go with you." Ah, the Corbetts. Funny how Leo's been in a situation exactly like this one, refusing to admit defeat.
"Not so fast, M," I interject as he gets up, and Maya urges him to lay back down, "You're hurt. Besides, you've been working nonstop, might as well take this time to get some rest, huh?"
"Yeah, you're not going anywhere for a while," the brunette adds.
"Don't worry," Kendrix assures from where she stands at the foot of the medbay table, "We'll check it out."
Maybe Leo is allergic to reading, because as we run through the forest dome, I think he mutters something like, "Free books, huh?" under his breath.
Yes, free books. Two words that are the key to my heart. I'd said it as a joke, I really did. But maybe I've somehow lost my ability to read a damn room since I've been away from this team. You jealous, Red?
No. Not jealous. Silence, except for the pattering of our footsteps against the ground. Then, Does he really go to see you everyday? I don't even do that. He flinches next to me, and the red in my cheeks has nothing to do with overexertion.
You don't need to. Besides, I didn't get to mention that the guy's kind of a nuisance. Unlike you. I mean, you are a nuisance sometimes. Just not as much as-
"That's far enough." I'm seriously sick of monsters that look like they're from medieval times. "I knew you'd show up, but I didn't think you'd take so long."
"What are you doing out here?" Leo demands.
"That is for me to know, and for you to not find out. Stingwingers!" I roll my shoulders, feeling my hip crack as I stretch. Maybe I should have warmed up before we started running. Oh, well.
"Go, Galactic!" The first two Stingers I encounter are taken down with simple telekinetic pushes in both directions, but the next two require physical combat. I flip away from their attacks, and when I land, I use my momentum to leap up and kick them both down. For a moment, I think we can win, just get this over with and head home. I've had a long day, and I'd really like to nap. But no such luck, because before my eyes, each of my teammates is beaten down with weapons that look exactly like their own.
Mike really wasn't exaggerating. Not that he exaggerates normally, but this… this is just weird.
"Hey, Chameliac!" It mutters something under its breath before it actually replies with, "Give it your best shot, Aqua Ranger. I know your every move!"
"Think again." I've had time to think up a new technique this past week, and I hope that the reps I've done of it will pay off. Placing my arms in front of me, I channel all my telekinetic abilities into my hands, and when it's at its limit, I pull them apart. A shimmering blue forcefield emerges, like always, but this is where the similarities end. With a shout, I shove the forcefield towards Chameliac and watch as it makes contact, pushing him back, away from us. I'm not sure if it's hurting him, per se, but at least it's creating some distance between us and him. "Everyone okay?"
"I will be, once we take this guy down. He knows all our moves!" Kai replies, "the only reason why yours worked is because you hadn't used it before, Kara."
"Think you got another one of those up your sleeve?" Damon mutters as Kendrix helps him up, and I shake my head.
"That's all I've got." Chameliac breaks through my forcefield, shattering the barrier and sending sparks through the air. (At least the sparks are blue, the best color.)
"You see, anything you can do, I can do better," he informs with a dramatic wave of his arms, and I so desperately want to just curse him out. Ugh.
"We gotta put this guy away," Damon orders, "and we gotta do it now."
"Then let's do it," Leo agrees. "Lights of Orion, activate!" There's no way Chameliac will be able to copy-
"Chameliac Lights of Orion!" Holy fucking shit.
"Power-Up Mode!" The feeling of being pure energy is cool. It's like I drank way too much coffee and I'm zipping around Terra Venture like the freaking Energizer Bunny. So when we're kicked to the ground, I basically get whiplash from how fast we change directions.
"He kicked us away like an old soccer ball," Kendrix observes.
"Chameliac Power-Up Mode!" Add getting hit by a car to the whiplash. No, a bullet train. I don't really believe in karma, but if it truly exists, this is what it must feel like: a taste of our own medicine. I hate it. We demorph as we roll down the hill, and a bunch of leaves fly into my mouth as I hit the bottom. I spit them out, wrinkling my nose, and that's when the pain hits me. Every square inch of my body burns like I'd gotten a terrible sunburn, but even worse. I'm pretty sure my ankle is sprained or broken, I pray it's the former, but it hurts like a bitch.
"He knew my moves," Kai murmurs.
"He knew all of our moves, idiot," I retort as Leo helps me up, and I loop my arm around his shoulders, supporting him as well.
"He even had a Transdagger like mine," Damon replies.
"It was almost like… like he knew what I was thinking," Maya adds.
"He even reproduced the Lights of Orion," Kendrix comments what I know we were all shocked at, and I shake my head.
"We've gotta try again. Who knows what they could be building out there-"
"No, no listen," Kai interjects, always the voice of reason. "Without a strategy, we don't stand a chance."
Once we're in the clear… I nod, glancing up at Leo. He has a smudge of dirt on his cheek, and I reach up, cleaning it away with the sleeve of my sweater.
He's definitely becoming third-in-command. We'll be a killer trio, I'm sure of it. There's no response, and that's because Leo's expression is stunned, his eyes locked onto mine and cheeks red with a blush. Oh. No, yeah. I really need to learn how to read the room.
"But Kai-"
"Don't you see?" My brother's argument snaps me out of my daze, "He knows exactly what we're gonna do before we do it. He's like a computer. Zero. Error."
"But computers can make mistakes," Leo murmurs, and I don't need to read his thoughts to be able to know what he's going to say, "if you give them the wrong information. Follow me."
Great. Just. Freaking. Great. First we get beat to a pulp, and now, standing before us like a giant eyesore (nah, it is a giant eyesore), is a laser gun.
"What would they shoot at out here?" Kai mutters.
"I don't know," Leo replies, "but it looks like they're almost ready."
"They are." We spin to face Chameliac, and when we do, Stingwingers surround us. In our weakened state, they easily surround us, and I glare up at the nasty creatures. "You Rangers are so predictable."
"Ready guys? Go, Galactic!" There's also something else I've been looking into, but this leans more towards the physical side of combat. As the Stingers encircle me, I draw my leg behind me in a circle, taking a deep breath in, and when I steady myself, it's almost like I can feel the energy exuding out of me. It's a lot weaker than I'd hoped, but I think it worked. The only way to tell is- One of the insects leaps at me, and I spin, arms out in front of me, hands open instead of fisted. Dodging has never been easier, and when I step, my energy sends a gust of wind tossing the Stinger away.
"Holy shit!" Leo exclaims, and I glance up at him. I can't see his expression, but I hope he's impressed. (What the fuck? Since when did I care about impressing him? Well. That's a dumb question.) "Since when could you do that, Kar?"
"Since I've been training!" I shout back, ducking smoothly under a punch and jabbing the heel of my fist into the Stingwinger's arm. It's launched back into the air, and I stand, shaking out my limbs. Dang. In the corner of my peripheral vision, I spot Leo relaxing his stance, holding his arms out in front of him. Preparing to use telekinesis, aka my technique. Here we go.
He lets out a shout, and as he does, a blast of power radiates from him, stronger than any I've used, and Chameliac is thrown to the ground. "Learned that one from the best teacher I could've had." (I'm so, so, so fucked. Extremely fucked.)
"That would be me."
"Chameliac Aqua!" As if.
"Cosma Claw!" I rush forward, striking first vertical, then horizontal, then as Chameliac throws his own punch, I block it, tossing him into the air. "Borrowed some skill from my brother for that one."
"Those were Blue's moves," Chameliac snarls, and I watch as Damon takes his turn, moving more agile than I'd ever seen him thanks to using Kendrix's fighting style. Kai's up next, knocking our opponent to the ground with one of Maya's moves. Speaking of which… Maya flies through the air, getting in a few attacks before she even hits the ground. And taking up the rear is Kendrix, who sends blazing strikes into Chameliac with Leo's abilities. I'd thought we were badass before, but damn. This tops everything I've seen from this team thus far. "This is impossible!"
"Eh, I wouldn't say that if I were you," Leo replies, and we form up behind him. "'Cause now I'm gonna give you something one hundred percent Red. Red Astro Cycle! Red Capsular Cycle, fireball mode! Galactabeasts, arise!"
As our Beasts charge to meet us, I spot Mike morphed into the Magna Defender, and I nearly stomp my foot in a tantrum. Why can't the Corbett brothers just know when they're beat- oops. Based on the way he fights, I guess he's not beat after all. The laser cannon stops its energy gathering, and I watch from the cockpit of my Snake Zord as Mike destroys the machine.
"Galaxy Megazord!"
"How can this be? The Galactabeasts are still here!"
"They're still here, but you won't be!" Despite Chameliac's giant size, he's still freakishly fast, and I frown. Looks like we need more power.
Go for it.
"Stratoforce Megazord!" I command, and with the help of the majestic Zord, we finish the job.