(Disclaimer: I don't own PRMF. Only Aria and original plot lines)
Chapter 5: Rock Solid
-Rootcore-
Aria was just outside the dragon's mouth meditating, one of the many ways she was able to bury her other half. Her time as a ranger and Udonna's apprentice made her aware that she should not be afraid of her powers…just very, very cautious. She really didn't need another Portico Island situation.
That's another thing, Aria has gotten a lot more homesick then she already was before. Perhaps it was because she technically was a ranger again but memories of the old team kept coming back
-Flashback-
"I can't believe you guys said no!" Dustin said in disbelief "Factory Blue, that's nuts!"
"Well we have something more important to do" Aria said with the slightest smile on her face "We're in"
With cries of excitement and a bit of relief Cam and the Winds all exchanged hugs and high fives with the Thunders.
"You have made a difficult decision;" Sensei spoke from the table "I believe it is the right one"
"No lie!" Dustin agreed
"Finally have another girl on the team too!" Tori added
Shane finished with "You're one of us now" and with those words Aria's face brightened with a genuine smile; something she hadn't done in a very long time.
-End Flashback-
That seemed like a lifetime ago in Aria's eyes, so much has happened since joining the Winds back in 2003. 2005 and she's still involved in the 'ranger world'
Her eyes widened 'Holy shit…I'm becoming Dr. O'
Suddenly Aria heard the chime of the crystal ball, signaling danger. She leapt off the top of the dragon and rushed inside "What's up?"
Udonna was speaking into the ball; she was calling the rangers "I'm sensing dark magic energy just outside the perimeter of the forest"
"Could be that thing that's been turning people into stone statues" she heard Chip say from the ball "We gotta stop it"
"Where's Maddie?" Vida questioned
Nick gave a quick response Aria was unable to hear, "I'll fill in for Maddie" she offered
The rangers voiced their agreement and disconnected from Aria and Udonna.
"See ya later Udonna" she called, a little excited at the idea of fighting evil again
-Forest Border-
Aria appeared out of the shadows just as the other rangers fell from the sky.
"How'd you get here so fast?" Vida questioned
"Shadow travel" Aria shrugged
Chip rushed over to the black ranger "Whoa can you teach us how?!"
"Sorry, my magic is different from yours"
"Wait can't you control lightning?" Xander asked, Aria nodded, "Then how come you can use Chip's magic, but we can't learn to use yours?"
Before she could answer something caught her eye "Oh my god…look!"
"We're too late!" Nick cried "He's already been here"
"That's just stone cold" Vida shivered
"How do you like my rock garden?" an evil bat looking chick asked as she flew down from a tree and landed before the rangers "Soon everyone will be like they are"
"Never!" Nick countered
From behind them a creature roared. When they turned around they found a dragon looking creature
Sprinting into action Aria and Nick called for their MagiStaffs.
"MagiStaff Striker!"
"Magi Staff Daggers!"
The red and black rangers called; Nick rushed forwards first, attempting to slash the monster across his stomach and shoulder. But the creature's rock hard skin prevented any damage. He then grabbed Nick by the arms and tossed him aside.
Aria stepped forward and tried to throw her daggers into his skin, however, despite hitting her mark the daggers fell to the ground, leaving no mark on the creature as well
"What?!" she demanded
The other rangers ran forward to help their fallen leader up but the five were blasted to the ground.
"That did the trick" he mocked
"Now there's no one to stand in our way" Necrolai laughed
Aria stood up, hand lit with her black magic and eyes dark as night, and launched her ball of energy to the two. Unfortunately they disappeared in a spell symbol before Aria's attack could touch them.
Aria yelled in frustration and hurled another attack at a nearby tree before remembering what she was doing. Taking a few deep breaths she willed herself to go back to normal and help her new friends up from the ground.
"Come on, we have to follow them" she said
-City-
The five rangers followed them into Briarwood by the park where they found a rock statue of Maddie
"SIS!" Vida cried as she rushed to her frozen twin
A random guy came forward as well "Maddie!" he yelled before being told by Aria to run off.
"MADDIE!" Vida cried, her voice cracking slightly as she cradled Maddie's stone face in her hands "Oh no…"
"Hard luck" Necrolai taunted
"You bitch! You're gonna pay for that!" Vida pulled out her MagiStaff "MagiStaff Wind Power!"
Vida's giant, pink butterfly wings appeared and blew Necrolai and her monster on their backs
"Want more?!"
"Foolish girl" the bat-bitch sneered "Can't you see you can't stop us? Especially now that you're down a ranger"
Once again the two disappeared, leaving a distraught Vida trying not to cry over Maddie's frozen state
"We gotta get her back to Rootcore" Aria said gently as she tried to pry Vida's hands from Maddie's face.
-Rootcore-
Nick and Chip carried Maddie's frozen form while Udonna attempted spell after spell in the hopes of reviving her to her normal form.
"This creature's magic is very strong" Udonna stated as they placed Maddie on the ground "Only by destroying him can the spell be broken"
"Oh I'll destroy him alright" Vida growled "With my bare hands" she marched up the small staircase and almost made it to the door had it not been for Xander and Aria
"Whoa slow down V!" Xander called "Cool it, cool V"
"Move it Xander!" she screamed
"Listen Vida, I know if my brothers were in Maddie's position I would do the same thing" Aria reasoned "But if you out there without a plan you'll end just like Maddie"
"Aria's right, that's how Maddie got in trouble in the first place" Nick spoke as he made his way over "She shouldn't have been out there alone"
"Okay, did not say that"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Vida asked, Nick was just begging to get his ass whopped
"She probably got in over her head V" Nick continued, burying himself deeper and deeper
"Man you don't know my sister, she may be shy on the outside but inside she's got the heart of a warrior"
"Right" Nick scoffed "That's why she's hiding behind that camera"
"Dude…" Aria whispered as she looked at Nick with sad eyes
"You are so clueless" the Pink Ranger growled as she grabbed Maddie's camera and cast a spell to make it play on the old monitor Aria used to make the morphers. "Here's why she's always behind the camera"
-Video-
Vida was at her turn tables as Maddie narrated "Introducing DJ Vida"
"Love you too sis!" a smiling Vida responded
"The BEST sister ever; way to go V!"
Next was Xander fixing his skateboard "Can't forget Xander; not only a great friend but he's sick on his board."
Chip then appeared with a bow and a quiver full of arrows in his hands "No man has ever attempted this without losing his life" he announced dramatically
"Chip Thorn; known him since grammar school."
Chip released the arrow and it hit the blue outer rim of the target. As he jumped around in celebration Maddie continued "There's nobody in this world quite like Chip"
In the same footage Aria appeared "Aria" Maddie began "The mysterious apprentice. We don't know much about her other than the fact that she can totally kick major butt"
Aria took the bow from Chip, notched an arrow and fired, easily making the center. "Maybe one day, we'll more about the mysterious Aria"
Nick was the last one, "Then there's Nick, the new guy in town" he was shown by his bike, tuning it up "We don't know too much about him yet either. But I can feel it" Maddie laughed "He's something special"
"So, those are my friends, old and new. I know I can count on them for anything."
-End Video-
"Everyone has a different way of expressing themselves Nick" Udonna said "Maybe Madison does it through her films"
"You're right" Nick sighed "I was clueless" he walked down to the statue of Maddie "I shouldn't have gone shooting my mouth off. I'm gonna get you outta this Maddie, I promise"
At those words the Xenotome opened and revealed a new spell code, just in time as the monster reappeared in the city
"He's back. You guys ready to do this for Maddie?"
The rangers voiced their agreement and prepared to morph, Nick in the lead
"Ready?"
"Ready"
"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE"
"Galwit Mysto Ranger!"
The five rangers, now morphed, grabbed their Mystic Racers and flew out Rootcore
"Galwit Mysto Areotan! "Firing engines!"
'Definitely prefer Tsunami Cycles' Aria thought to herself
Suddenly Aria and the others were attacked, looking down they saw Koragg and his goons firing blasts at them
"Go ahead and fight the monster, I'll deal with Koragg" Aria announced as she dove down.
"Be careful!" Nick called after her
"Get her Stickzoids!" she heard him command
Aria carefully stood on her racer and flipped off, landing a few feet away from Koragg. Aria easily dodged and flipped over the Stickzoids attacks.
Their attacks stopped as Koragg drew his sword "It ends here Black Ranger"
Aria took her MagiStaff in hand "That's what they all say; MagiStaff Dagger Mode!"
The two circled around each other before Koragg made the first move. He leapt into the air and attempted to slash her across the chest. Flipping away Aria lit a ball of lightning and fired at the Wolf Knight, just as she did in her Ninja Storm days. It hit him square in the chest, causing him to kneel down.
"Stop her!" he growled to the Stickzoids
Behind her helmet Aria smirked; they had no idea what was coming.
They raced towards her and fired; Aria leapt up and fire balls of black magic at her attackers. More tried to land a hit on her but she rolled out of the way and landed hard kicks to their stomachs before slashing them with her daggers. They now surrounded her from all sides thinking they had the upper hand. Aria jumped up into the air again and threw her daggers to the ground on either side of the horde of Stickzoids. Landing a few feet in front of them she snapped her fingers; black lightning and a bit of her black magic erupted from the daggers and destroyed the remaining Stickzoids.
"And that how we do it down in Blue Bay"
"Now it's my turn" Koragg announced as he stepped forward.
The two stared each other down for a second before they both leapt into the air. Aria's dagger and Koragg's sword clashed and sparks erupted, landing on the ground the battle continued, Aria blasted him again with black magic, pushing him back a few feet.
"WOLF ATTACK" he called as his shield opened to reveal a glowing red eye
This did nothing however, only showed a flurry of images in Aria's head, as unclear as they were the last time.
"What?" Koragg whispered
Aria shook her head and attacked again, this time throwing her daggers with perfect accuracy and watched as Koragg was electrocuted with black lightning, this time knocking him on his ass.
"You r magic isn't strong enough to defeat me"
"Oh really? Cause I'm not the one lying on the ground" Aria answered back "Later fucker" she called before calling her Mystic Racer and flying to meet her friends.
"We will meet again" the Wolf Knight vowed as the black ranger flew off
-City-
By the time she got to the others, Chip, Vida, and Xander were on the ground while Nick sat on a new red bike.
'Oh come on! He gets the bike?!' she thought to herself
But she had to admit, that thing was sick! He raced towards Necrolai and her rock monster and fired lasers at the two; he circled back and met with the others.
"Enough is enough" Aria said, glancing at the two villains
"Agreed" Nick replied; you could almost hear the smirk in his voice.
The two faced the monster and drew their MagiStaffs
"This is too easy!" the creature mocked
"I'd like to see you try!" Nick teased
The creature prepared to fire as Aria cast the spell "Reflectus Torgo!"
A giant mirror erupted from the ground in front of Nick and Aria, causing the monster's attack to be reflected and hit him instead.
"Go for it Nick!" Aria cheered
He took a step forward "Power of the Phoenix!" his body was encased in a fiery red aura shaped like a phoenix. He flew through the frozen creature and blew him up into a million pieces.
All around them the frozen statues returned to normal and the rangers cheered in celebration. Which as per usual was short lived
Soon a spell symbol appeared below the pieces of their opponent. Within seconds the creature returned, this time 30 stories tall
"Why do they always grow?" Aria grumbled under her breath "Just stay dead!"
Out of nowhere Maddie returned
"Maddie! You're okay!" Vida said in relief
"Looks like I got here just in time" she smiled
Nick stepped forward, "Hey Madison, I was a jerk. I'm sorry I said you were too shy"
"Apology accepted, let's just forget about it". Maddie's morpher beeped, signaling a new spell code. "I guess we both learned something today"
"We sure did"
"Okay, hate to break this Hallmark moment" Aria interrupted "But, uh, giant dragon thing towering over us"
With a nod Maddie morphed
"Y'all have your team now; I'll meet you guys back at Rootcore"
The rangers nodded then transformed into their Titan modes while Aria raced back to Rootcore
-Rootcore-
Aria practically streaked to the crystal ball just in time to witness them use Maddie's new code.
"Galwit Mysto Unios!" they called before transforming into their megazord formation.
"Oh that's sick!" Aria cheered; Udonna chuckled at her apprentice's excitement
Not even five minutes in the monster was destroyed thanks to the team's combined powers
-Later-
-Rock Porium-
After meeting at Rootcore, the rangers had to go back to work. They had decided to drag Aria along, claiming she's been living in a tree for a year and should be exposed to the outside world once in a while. So here she was wandering around the shop as Maddie walked around filming her friends.
While filming Vida at her turn tables the guy from earlier appeared in front of her; the other rangers watched quietly as the guy asked her out
"So I guess Madison's really trying to come out of her shell" Nick stated
"Yeah," Vida responded "But if that guy messes with my sister, he's gonna have to deal with me"
"God, you sound like my brothers" Aria chuckled "Besides; she can take care of herself.
Chip then made his way over, "Hey, uh, Aria, some guy's looking for you. He's at the front"
"Um, I don't work here…"
"He said that he knew you"
Aria frowned, the only people who knew her was the Mystics and the people she had to leave behind in Blue Bay and Reefside.
She made her way to the front of the store and she could feel her friends behind her.
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the guy. His wavy brown hair and gray and yellow hoodie were easily recognizable.
"Dustin?"
He turned at the sound of her voice "Aria…"
"Uh…Aria, wanna fill us in?" Vida asked
She completely ignored the question and ran into his arms
Nick whispered to the others "Um…what?"
(A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this! Please leave a review and follow. Love y'all XOXO)