A/N: This is my first original chapter so if it's shit don't hate. Enjoy
Chapter 6: Reunited
-Rock Porium-
"Um…what?" Nick whispered as Maddie joined the group
Aria and Dustin broke apart, but Aria still didn't pay any attention to the others.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, slowly realizing that Udonna was not gonna be happy
"I've missed you…" he admitted
"I did too, but how-"
"Cam" he answered before she could even finished.
"Uh hello?" Vida interrupted "Introductions would be nice"
"Oh, Dustin this is Maddie, Nick, Vida, Chip, and Xander" she introduced "Guys this is Dustin"
Quick round of hellos Aria and Dustin walked out the store and stood under the tree in front of the Rock Porium "Ok seriously, how did you find where I was?"
Dustin sighed and looked to the ground
-Flashback-
The old Ninja Storm (minus Blake) rangers stood around Ops while Cam typed away. The other rangers felt a wave of nostalgia hit them. Tori walked over and looked over Cam's shoulder
"Anything?" she asked
Glancing back Cam answered "Not really, Dr. O got back to me and said that none of his old buddies have entered the grid for years. The only other person who would have any chance at entering the grid would be-"
Cam sat up as the realization hit him. He typed some more before pulling up multiple satellite feeds.
The others now made their way over "What are you looking for?" Shane questioned
"The rangers who own the zords we saw a few weeks ago"
Minutes later the master hacker got footage of five rangers, red, black, pink, green, and yellow, fighting a dragon looking monster. Another video appeared of the black ranger fighting a purple and black armored man.
The rangers watched both videos closely "What exactly are we looking for?" Hunter wondered
Cam sighed and rolled his eyes "Watch the black ranger"
He zoomed in on the video of the black ranger fighting on her own as the others leaned in closer
It didn't take long for them to recognize the fighting style, they all only knew of one person who was able to fight as well and precise as this new black ranger
"ARIA?!"
-End Flashback-
"So Cam was able to find where those fights took place" Dustin finished explaining
"Not that I love having you here now but, what the hell was Cam doing looking into the grid?"
Dustin laughed "He got bored"
Aria laughed as well, "He's gonna get arrested"
From across the street the others watched
"I think this is the first time I've actually seen her smile" Xander remarked
"Oh shut up Xander," Vida shot "Don't be jealous that she already had a boyfriend"
Xander grumbled something under his breath in response
At that moment their morphers binged, alerting another attack
"Wasn't there an attack a few hours ago?" Maddie complained as they rushed out the store
With Aria she checked her Mystic Morpher and saw her team rush out the store.
"Duty calls huh?" Dustin chuckled
Aria groaned "Not necessarily, I only fight with them if they need it. I'm just their backup…it sucks"
Dustin smiled down at the curly haired girl in his arms
-Later-
Aria and Dustin walked around Briarwood hand in hand when her morpher went off
"Yo"
"Aria!" Nick yelled through "We need your help" he breathed, clearly in pain and out of breath
"What happened?"
"This guy is beating the shit outta us, we need help"
"On my way"
"I'm guessing now they need help?" Dustin asked
"Yeah, I gotta go, I'll meet you later"
A kiss on the cheek and she was gone, running off towards downtown
"So that's what it feels like…" Dustin mumbled
-Downtown-
Aria appeared and saw the friends morphed and on the ground groaning in pain. A few feet away stood someone who had an eerily similar appearance to Marah and Kapri.
She had a slim figure and was clad in a dark grey suit much like Kapri's. She had two long katanas strapped to her back. Her skin was an ugly shade of green and her face was a mix of beauty and horror. Her eyes were entirely white, her nose was similar to a snake; her lips were black with fangs sticking out from her bottom lip. She had long black hair tied up in a sleek ponytail, pulling her face tight
'Talk about major under bite…' she thought
"You are you?" Aria demanded
"Mistress of combat, Bellator!" she boasted "Bow down, or suffer the same fate as your friends"
"I don't think so"
Aria charged forward, unmorphed, and attacked. The battle was intense the two relying on their hands and feet only. The other rangers watched in awe, they had never seen Aria fight like this before. Aria threw a roundhouse to Bellator's stomach; unfortunately she caught the girl's foot and threw her aside.
Suddenly, with a shriek Bellator was swallowed by the ground. Looking behind her Dustin was in his fighting stance
"Hey get outta there!" Nick cried, still struggling to get up like the others
Dustin ignored him and yanked off his street clothes, revealing his Sensei Earth Ninja uniform. Aria got up and joined him; side by side they fell into their fighting stances.
Bellator managed to jumped out of the ground and land in front of the young couple
Bellator attacked again and Aria and Dustin did all they could. Dustin rushed forward only to drop to the ground and trip Bellator he tried to drop kick the fallen villainess but his leg was blocked and he was knocked to the ground.
"Dustin!"
Aria ran forward, eyes darkening, and tried to match the creature's speed and accuracy. However, even she was unable to catch up and was also tossed aside
"Ugh, next time you fools" she cackled before a spell seal appeared and she vanished
The others stumbled over to the fallen ninjas who were struggling to stand up.
"Are you guys ok?" Maddie asked
"We're fine Maddie" Aria responded
"What was that?" Chip asked Dustin in wonder.
The two glanced at each other before the entire group headed to the woods
-Woods-
"Okay, can someone explain how the ground just swallowed that Bellator chick?" Xander asked
Aria nodded her head at the former yellow ranger who walked a few feet away from the others and dove into the ground, later appearing right in front of the Five.
"Whoa how'd you do that?!" Chip asked excitedly "Are you a Mystic too?"
Aria glared at the red head who immediately shut his mouth
"Mystic?" he asked
"We'll do this order okay" Aria sighed, there was no avoiding it "Dustin and I are ninjas, we trained for years at secret ninja academies"
"I'm sorry what?" Nick said in disbelief
"Ninjas dude" Dustin grinned
"Do you guys remember hearing about those Ninja Storm power rangers? Down in Blue Bay Harbor?"
Chip was beaming again "Of course! I used to watch them on the news all the time!"
Aria and Dustin glanced at each other with a knowing look
"No way…" Xander breathed "So when you said you had seniority..."
"It was because this is my second round at being a ranger; it's also how I was able to make your morphers"
"No fuckin way" Vida exclaimed, only to get nudged by her twin for her language
"So what's a mystic exactly?" Dustin asked again
The black ranger turned to face him, "You know how we learn magic to help activate our elemental powers?" he nodded "Well, there's a whole other world that lives along-side us; a magical realm with mythical creatures, monsters, troblins, etc."
"Troblins?" Dustin questioned
"I'll tell you later. Anyway Dustin, a Mystic is someone who possess and controls magic. And we're all Mystics…" Aria admitted, gesturing to herself and the Five. "Nick is fire, Vida – wind, Xander – Forest, Maddie – Water, and Chip – Lightning"
"Haha, I thought lightning was your thing" Aria rolled her eyes at him
"Come on, we should head to Rootcore and tell Udonna. Maybe we could figure out how to beat this chick" Nick said after a few beats of silence.
"Agreed"
-Rootcore-
The second they entered Rootcore Udonna hurried over "Rangers are you alright? I saw the battle; this Bellator is a fearsome opponent"
"You got that right" Xander muttered, flinching at the memory
"If it wasn't for Aria and Dustin, we'd probably be even more black and blue than we are now" Chip agreed
"Dustin?" Udonna repeated
Dustin shyly stepped forward, raising a hand in a meek wave. Udonna gave Aria a stern look
"We will discuss this later. However, I must thank you for helping the rangers in their battle."
"Anytime…"
"She barely used any magic" Maddie said, thinking back to their battle.
"Well she was the 'Mistress of Combat'" Vida mocked
"She was hard to beat, I haven't met someone with that much combat training since our Ninja Storm days" Aria admitted "I think I'm getting a little rusty"
"Are you kidding?" Vida exclaimed "You two were the only ones able to take that thing on"
The two ninjas smiled at the compliment when Dustin came up with one of his rare good ideas. "Well, we do know some other people who fight like us, maybe they'd be able to help"
Aria's eyes lit up "Are you serious?!" looking to Udonna "Can we? This could be our best bet at beating this girl"
Udonna sighed and after a few minutes of thought she agreed "Perhaps your old friends finding out about this world would benefit our team."
Aria was close to tears, could this really be happening? Almost a year since she had seen her family and now she had the chance to go home
As if he read her mind Dustin grabbed hold of her hand, reaching in his uniform to pull out his communicator
"Cam, I'm heading back with a few friends, they need our help"
-Later-
"So how do we get to Blue Bay? Cause I'm not sitting in a car with Xander for the next couple hours" Vida complained
Rushing into her room Aria returned with an image of the rangers standing in front of the waterfall that led to the Wind Ninja Academy. It was taken the day they all graduated.
"Here" she said handing it to them "Picture this in your heads"
"How are you getting there?" Nick asked
Aria smirked "You'll see when we get there"
The Five shrugged and headed to the large tree outside of Rootcore. Dustin's eyes widened when they walked through the portal
"Dude!" he laughed
Aria playfully rolled her eyes before pulling him along, "Come on, it's been a while since I've ninja streaked"
"Ready?" he asked
Aria nodded and the two took off in streaks of black and yellow
-Waterfall-
Aria and Dustin arrived first as she predicted, what she did not expect was the face plant that occurred when they stopped. Dustin helped her up with a laugh "Yep, definitely rusty" Aria groaned
Soon they were joined by the Five, "Whoa how'd you get here so fast? Didn't we leave before you?"
"Ninja streaking, we'll show you another time" Aria explained "Now follow us. Cam knows we're coming right?"
Dustin nodded and the two made their way to the water fall. Behind them the new rangers were slowly making their way across, afraid that they'd fall into the water. Aria couldn't help but grin at the sight. When all seven were finally together in the center Aria and Dustin made the hand gestures that opened the hidden door to the Wind Academy.
-Wind Ninja Academy-
"Welcome to the Wind Ninja Academy" Dustin introduced
The Five looked around in awe, clearing sticking out with their Mystic Training uniforms. Aria grabbed her own Mystic uniform and ripped it off, revealing her old ninja suit underneath.
"Still fits" she grinned
They walked past some of the students, some of whom were Earth ninjas and bowed to Dustin, before making their way to Ninja Ops.
Walking down the narrow steps Dustin looked back "They should all be here by now"
And he was right, when the doors opened the entire team was there.
"ARIA!" they all greeted
One by one she hugged and greeted her family, adding a few extra seconds with Hunter and Blake.
"I've missed you guys so much" she smiled " Blake what are you doing here?"
"Cam called and said you were coming home. They let me the weekend off so I could see you guys again" he smiled
"Well good cause we need help"
That's when the questions came rolling in,
"Where were you?"
"What happened?"
"Who are they?"
Aria then had to repeat all she said to Dustin back to her friends; the Magical Realm, her return as black ranger, etc. and make the introductions between the two teams.
"Guys, this is my old team Shane, Tori, Cam, Blake and Hunter. And this is Maddie, Vida, Xander, Chip, and Nick"
A quick explanation later and now everyone was caught up to speed "So this, Bellator doesn't rely on magic like the other creeps you've faced?" Tori summarized
"Pretty much; and we need your help teaching these guys. None of us can rely on our magic too much, we need to defeat her in combat" Aria said
"Why though? Look at Aria, just throw one of those death ball things and she'll go poof." Shane tried
Maddie shook her head "When we tried using our magic to attack she kept dodging our attacks, we couldn't land a hit. We have to get up close and personal"
"They have basic combat training, but it wasn't enough. We thought it would be best to have them learn from the best fighters we know"
The Ninjas grinned at one another before Shane spoke up "We'd love to help"
"Perfect" she grinned
The two teams merged, each Sensei taking on their own Mystic. Tori and Maddie worked together, as they both controlled water. Vida was taught by Shane, Xander with Dustin, and Hunter and Blake took on Chip and Nick. They trained for hours and already Aria saw the improvement in her friends.
She told her friends everything, okay almost everything. She couldn't afford to admit what she truly was, a Child of Darkness. Both teams knew of her powers, but the Mystics didn't know just how powerful they were. And the Ninjas didn't know what she was. As her friends sparred in the open courtyard Aria stared down at her hands as they lit with the black magic she was born with.
"Aria!" Hunter called
Her magic disappeared and she stood "What do you want?!" she called back jokingly
The entire group was circled in the center of the courtyard "Your turn!"
Aria leapt down and faced off her older brother. They circled each other but before they could start the Mystics' morphers went off
"Ah the good ol' days" Shane joked lightly
"She's back" Aria stated "We gotta get back"
"We can't fight her!" Chip panicked
"We haven't even been training that long!" Maddie added
"Imma tell you something" Aria said "Shane, Tori, and Dustin were NOT the best in their class. If my memory serves me right our Sensei said they were late to almost every class and had little control over their elements. But look at them now. They saved the world and graduated from the academy early."
"She's right" Tori said "You guys got this. And you won't be alone, we'll come with you"
"No guys, you have to stay at the academy"
"Dude, we live at the academy, we need a change of scenery" Shane laughed
"Okay, well let's go then" she smiled before the two team headed to Briarwood
-Briarwood-
By the time they reached the city Bellator was there wreaking havoc. The eleven rangers stood in a line and prepared to face her.
"Hey Bellator!" Aria called as stepped forward "Remember us?"
"You fools" she sneered "You can't possibly believe you can face me"
"Try us, Ready guys?"
"Ready!"
"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"
"Gawlit Mysto Ranger!"
"Strong as a Tree – Green Mystic Ranger!"
"Ever changing as the Wind – Pink Mystic Ranger!"
"Fluid as the Sea – Blue Mystic Ranger!"
"Fast as Lightning – Yellow Mystic Ranger!"
"Forceful as Fire – Red Mystic Ranger!"
"Mysterious as the Shadows – Black Mystic Ranger!"
"MYSTIC FORCE!"
"Nice suit dude" Dustin grinned
"How sweet" Bellator sneered "Now let's fight!"
The rangers attacked, Aria and Nick were paired up and the others were in the same groups as before. Maddie and Tori used fluid and quick movements, Shane and Vida's style was fast and sharp. The dirt boys, Xander and Dustin, had strong hits and used the environment around them to fight her off. Cam used his Samurai Ninja training to try and overpower her. The remaining five all had the same style, precise strikes and fast movements.
First the Mystics had their turn at trying to weaken the warrior, but were unsuccessful. The Ninjas tried next but suffered the same outcome.
"You fools, there's no way you mere mortals could defeat me! Surrender now and I may end your life quickly"
"Forget it" Aria growled
"Very well" she smirked as she drew one of her katanas and prepared to strike. But to everyone's surprise, when Bellator swung her blade down, she was blocked by Aria. The black ranger had her arms crossed in front of her face, glowing with her black magic. Aria pushed her away, causing Bellator to fall on her back.
Aria, with her eyes black and glowing, towered over her. "No one threatens my family" she growled. Bellator hissed as she jumped back onto her feet. The two circled each other until Bellator made the first move. With the added strength from her magic Aria was able to land more hits and block most of her attacks. Soon, one by one, the others joined her. Cam fought her hand to hand in order to distract her. Allowing Maddie and Tori to rush by, Maddie slashing her with her MagiStaff and Tori using a jet of water to attack. Vida also used her MagiStaff and Shane used his power over air to blow her over to Dustin and Xander. Dustin sunk her into the ground And Xander followed up with his Axe Mode. Next was Blake who distracted her long enough for Chip to fire his crossbow. Hunter fought her hand to hand before holding her still for Nick to use his sword to cut across her stomach. She knelt to the ground in pain and looked up at Aria
"How?" she asked
"I told you" Aria said as she drew her daggers "No one threatens my family"
Crossing them to form an 'X' Aria formed a ball of lightning at the center and hurled it at Bellator.
She let out a shriek as she finally collapsed in a heap. Explosions erupted around her.
The rangers celebrated their victory which unfortunately was short lived as Bellator returned as a giant.
"They still grow after every battle?" Blake complained "You'd think they'd just give up"
"Come one guys we got this" Nick reassured as the Five transformed into their Titan forms.
"Wait, so they become the zords?" Cam asked in disbelief
"The power of magic Cam" Aria joked
Bellator was clearly weakened as her attacks were slow and sloppy. After transforming into their megazord the Five were easily able to destroy her once and for all within a few minutes.
When they returned to the ground they de-morphed and celebrated their victory.
-Later-
-Rootcore-
Both teams stood in the center of the room, it was the Ninjas turn to stare and look around in awe.
"Well done rangers, I am very proud of your teamwork and your improvement in your combat skills. I trust Aria will continue your training here" Udonna praised
"You got it" the black ranger answered
"Awe why can't we go back to the Academy?" Chip whined "It was a real NINJA school!"
"I'm afraid not Chip, I'm sure the students at the Academy would wonder why you five suddenly started training at their school." Udonna said "Which reminds me," she turned to the Ninjas "Thank you for helping them with their training and I must apologize for making Aria keep this a secret. And now I must ask you the same; please do not let anyone know this world exists. The people and creatures of this realm live in fear of not just the dark magic that lurks around but the human world as well. It is key that you never tell anyone of what you've seen in these woods."
"Of course Udonna, we will respect your wishes." Cam said
"And hey, feel free to come over anytime, you're a part of our crazy ranger family now" Tori smiled
"Oh and if you guys ever wanna hang, I can get you guys passes to some of my races" Blake offered, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders
"Races?" Maddie questioned
"Our dear brother rides moto for Factory Blue; he's been touring the country for the past year and a half" Aria explained
"No way! Factory Blue?!" Xander exclaimed "I've seen some of your races online!"
"Wait he's your brother?" Nick questioned with a confused look on his face
Hunter, Blake, and Aria all said "Adopted" at the same time
"We keep learning more and more stuff about you today huh?" Vida teased, causing Aria to roll her eyes.
A bit more idle chatter and then Dustin said "Hey, before we go," he turned to Aria "How about a song?"
"And add another thing to the list of things we learned about you" Vida joked
"Ignoring that, and it's been a while"
"Oh come on Ri, we haven't heard you play in forever" Hunter begged
"Yeah Ri, for old time's sake" Blake added
Aria sighed and finally agreed. Running to her room to grab her guitar she began to play a song she had come up with a while back.
I think I've had enough
I might get a little drunk
I say what's on my mind
I might do a little time
Cause all of my kindness
Is taken for weakness
Now I'm FourFiveSeconds from wildin'
And we got three more days 'til Friday
I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'
I swear I wish somebody would dare me
Ooh, that's all I want
Woke up an optimist
Sun was shinin', I'm positive
Then I heard you was talkin' trash
Hold me back, I'm 'bout to spaz
Yeah, 'bout FourFiveSeconds from wildin'
And we got three more days 'til Friday
I'm tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'
I swear I wish somebody would try me
Ooh, that's all I want
And I know that you're up tonight
Thinkin', "How could I be so selfish?"
But you called 'bout a thousand times
Wondering where I've been
Now I know that you're up tonight
Thinkin' "How could I be so reckless?"
But I just can't apologize
I hope you can understand
If I go to jail tonight
Promise you'll pay my bail
See they want to buy my pride
But that just ain't up for sale
See all of my kindness
Is taken for weakness
Now I'm FourFiveSeconds from wildin'
And we got three more days 'til Friday
I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Ooh, that's all I want
FourFiveSeconds from wildin'
And we got three more days 'til Friday
I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Cause that's all I want
The rangers applauded and soon it was time for the Ninjas to return to Blue Bay. Once again they all stood in a line as Aria hugged each one of them, this time was different though. It wasn't goodbye, it was 'see you later'. Aria was given permission to head to Blue Bay whenever she pleased no that they knew why and where she left. Sadly, Lila, Desi, and Nami still couldn't know as they were normal people.
Anyway the Ninjas all took off, streaking back to Blue Bay, leaving Aria and Dustin to themselves.
"Here, I should probably give this back" Dustin said before taking out Aria's silver necklace.
"You kept it!"
"Never took it off"
Aria played with the ring a little bit before handing it back to him. "No, I gave it to you. You have this and I have this" she said as she took out the gold necklace he had given her "You return that necklace when I come home and all of this blows over"
Pocketing it again Dustin wrapped his arms around Aria one last time, pressing his lips to the side of her head.
"I'll see you soon ok?" Dustin said
Aria smiled "Try and stop me" she looked up and pressed her lips onto his. Seconds later they broke apart and with one last goodbye he streaked off back to Blue Bay.
She played with the little gold angel and began walking back to Rootcore, relieved that she didn't have to hide from her family. Well, not hide as much…
A/N: So I know it's really early for a team up but I couldn't help myself. I wanted Aria to be with her family again. Also, I won't be posting next week cause I'm going on vacay. Anyway REVIEW AND FOLLOW! xoxox
Song: FourFiveSeconds (cover by Astrid S)