Author's notes -- thanks for reading :). During the past four stories, every member of the Junior Team has gotten a moment in the spotlight except for my own character, Peter, so I figured it was about time to give him something awesome. And given we're 5 stories into the series, I think it was a safe move, without swerving into Mary-Sue territory. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :).
Chapter Seven
Charging towards the Rangers, Rhinoblaster swung an enormous fist at Scott, the closest target - the Blue Ranger ducked around the blow, striking the monster in the ribs as he thundered past. Rhinoblaster grunted and spun back to face him, but while the monster was still off-balance, Scott leaped into the air, kicking forward and forcing the beast to retreat. Even as Rhinoblaster found his footing, Sarah leaped forward to attack, blocking a punch, batting away a second blow and landing a palm-strike to the monster's chest. Rhinoblaster stumbled back, panting and dazed, before turning back to Sarah to retaliate, but as he lunged for the Purple Ranger, Teresa wrapped the trailing end of her whip around the monster's legs, taking them out from under him and sending Rhinoblaster to the ground.
The three Rangers regrouped as the monster climbed to his feet.
"Let's finish this creep," said Scott.
Teresa nodded, and the three Rangers reached for their blasters and took aim at the approaching monster. "Okay, fire!"
The combined blast from the three weapons spiralled across the battlefield and slammed into the monster, instantly destroying Rhinoblaster in a massive explosion that lit up the beach, sent a bright fireball roaring skyward and left a wide smoking crater in the sand.
"Good job guys," said Sarah, as they reholstered their blasters.
"I'll say," came a voice, and they turned to see the all of the Senior Rangers minus Billy crossing the beach towards them. "We were gonna ask if you needed any help," continued Zac, as the Rangers all met up, "but, you know. Good work."
"Did you reach the light?" Scott asked.
Trini nodded. "We made it to the temple in time," she replied. "The light's safe in the Command Centre with Alpha and Zordon."
"Anything on Brendan?" asked Teresa, her voice hopeful.
Tommy shook his head. "Not yet."
Teresa began to reply when suddenly, everybody's communicators all chimed, and Jason raised his wrist to his mouth and spoke.
"Go Alpha," he said. "We're all here."
"Rangers," crackled Alpha's voice. "Peter just called, apparently he was able to get Ultramarine to tell him where Brendan's being held."
"All right," said Scott. "Go Pete."
"Alpha, what did Peter say?" asked Kim.
"He said that Ultramarine told him Brendan is in a cave with Aboriginal painting or rock carvings," Alpha replied. "And given Ultramarine's goal of stealing Brendan's powers, it's likely to be somewhere close."
"Well that's great," said Scott. "Alpha, have you got a list of possible caves? Like, say, everything on the Eastern Seaboard?"
"Affirmative," came the reply. "They're in random order. I'll read them out - Atlas Rock, a hundred kilometres west of Brisbane, Levi's Cave, north of the Sunshine Coast, the Sapphire Cave, down in the Blue Mountains, Mansfield's Plateau..."
"Wait, hold on a second," began Kim. "Alpha, what was that last one?"
"The Sapphire Cave."
The Rangers all looked to each other. "Ultramarine, sapphire, and blue," said Zac. "Would Ultramarine really be that obvious?"
"Yeah, you know, he totally would," Kim nodded. "Of course Ultramarine would pick somewhere like that, it'd remind him of how clever he is."
Jason nodded. "That's it Alpha, that has to be the place," he said. "We'll teleport there now. Billy, meet us there," and with that, the eight Rangers reached for their communicators and vanished from the scene.
Ultramarine punched the air with his armoured fists, and a silver beam of light shot air towards me. I leaped to safety with centimetres to spare, the beam smashing into where I'd been standing seconds ago and sending up an explosion of sparks and smoke. I kept moving, Ultramarine turning to follow after me and sending blast after blast spiralling towards me. I leaped up and over a car as it exploded beneath me, but I wasn't clear and the force of the explosion blasted me to the ground. With everything aching, I climbed to my feet, glancing around desperately for anything I could use but never once losing grip of my sword. Even as I turned back to Ultramarine, he sent two more blasts scorching towards me - I struck the first away with my sword, but the second one slammed me back off my feet.
The warrior laughed as I staggered to my feet, panting and dazed. "I thought you said you weren't afraid of me," he growled. "Are you afraid of me now?" and he sent another blast towards me.
I dived to the side and the blast smashed harmlessly into the ground behind me, and I rolled to my feet limping and bruised.
"Just imagine," Ultramarine continued, "the boy had all this power and never bothered using it. I should thank him when I go back..."
"Don't even say his name," I growled, and raising my sword, charged towards him. The silver warrior sent a blast spiralling straight towards me, but I dived over the beam of light, rolling to my feet and immediately attacking, carving my sword across his chest, slashing again and again. Despite the frenzied attack, Ultramarine barely blinked, and as I swung again he reached out and caught the blade, before landing a solid punch to my stomach, letting go of the sword and sweeping me away with a right backhand.
I crashed to the ground but climbed to my feet, when the silver warrior raised his arms and sent out a blast in all directions. The wave smashed into me and launched me off my feet - my sword clattered to the ground, and I landed in a crumpled heap in the middle of the street.
Ultramarine grinned beneath his visor, and his two shining silver blades slid coolly into place.
"And now it ends," he said. "Rest assured boy, your courage won't have been in vain. I've really enjoyed myself," and raising his arms, the warrior stepped towards me.
Putties are not universally renowned for their intelligence. The clay creatures do have the capacity of independent, conscious thought, most just never quite get the hang of using it. However, for the putties left guarding Brendan inside the Sapphire Cave, the sudden sounds of combat that began to echo out of the cave entrance followed by a dozen of their own flying backwards out of the tunnel could pretty much only lead to one conclusion.
Raising their weapons, the nine Power Rangers charged out of the tunnel and into the cave, fanning out on either side of the Red and White Rangers in the middle.
"We were right," nodded Jason, as the grey warriors in the cave all turned to them. "Guys, hold 'em off, Teresa and I will get to Brendan. Go!"
With that the cavern came alive with the sounds of battle as the Rangers swept forward through the ranks of putties. Jason and Teresa sprinted across the cave, Teresa swapping her whip for her blaster and Jason swinging his sword at any opponent that came too close. Halfway across the cavern, the Red Ranger leaped up onto a small ridge and dived off, taking several putties to the ground before rolling to his feet and continuing forward, while a step behind him, two more warriors lunged for Teresa, but the White Ranger sent them both to the ground with a high spin kick.
Putties fell on all sides as the two Rangers reached the figure of Brendan slumped against the back of the cave. Glancing to the nearby rainbow prison, Jason carved his sword through the chains holding Brendan's arms to the wall, and as Brendan slumped forward, Teresa took aim with her blaster, severing the links binding the Silver Ranger's legs. Dropping his sword, Jason immediately picked up the younger Ranger and carried him away from the glowing prison, the beam of light connecting the two dissipating as Jason rested Brendan against a nearby stalagmite.
By now the battle was over, and the other Rangers all jogged over, reaching Jason and Teresa just as Brendan's suit flashed and he demorphed in a blaze of silver. The Rangers held their breath, but Brendan's eyes soon flickered open, and everyone let out of a sigh of relief.
"Brendan!" cried Teresa, kneeling down to hug the Silver Ranger. "We thought we'd lost you!"
"It's good to see you guys too," smiled Brendan, then glanced back to the White Ranger. "Uh, Teresa, oxygen's kinda becoming an issue..."
Teresa blushed and leaned back. "Sorry," she said, helping Brendan to his feet.
Brendan grinned, but suddenly aware of the rocky walls and unconscious putties around him, he turned to the rest of the group. "So, where am I? Why did Rita...?"
"Ultramarine was never after the light inside the prism," Teresa explained. "He was after you, and he used the prism to drain away your powers."
"Wait, Ultramarine actually stole my powers?" asked Brendan.
Everyone nodded, and Billy glanced back to the prison. "Finster must've opened the prison to remove the light originally, so in theory restoring your powers shouldn't be that difficult," he said, but suddenly his eyes grew wide. "But given the fact you just demorphed, I'd suggest the conversion was a success..."
There was a moment of silence, as everyone realised what Billy meant. "We saw Brendan wipe out an army with those powers," said Trini. "If Ultramarine really does have access to that kind of power, it's only a matter of time before he starts getting creative."
"Oh no," said Scott, looking around the group. "Peter..."
"Wait a sec," said Brendan. "Where is Peter?"
"In the city," replied Sarah. "He left to hold off Ultramarine. Guys, we have to go help him, like now.
Tommy shook his head. "We need to stop Ultramarine before we do anything," he said. "If we just teleport straight into the city, we don't stand a chance."
His expression falling, Brendan glanced from the glowing glass cube back to the Rangers, and knew what he had to do. "Sarah, mace," he said. "Now."
"Brendan, wait," said Zac, as Sarah gave him the surprisingly-heavy Power Weapon. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
Brendan nodded, and stepped back towards the prison. "Positive," he said, then looked back to the team and raised the mace above his head. "We're the Power Rangers, right?" he asked. "We don't let the badguys win."
With that, he brought the mace straight down towards the prison, smashing the cube into thousands of tiny shards in an explosion of light and glass. Letting his arm fall, he stepped back towards the Rangers, falling into Zac's arms.
"Game over," he mumbled with a smile.
"Peter's still going to need our help," said Sarah.
"And he'll get it," Jason said, stepping away from the group and picking up his sword. "Take Brendan back to the Command Centre. I'll head into the city," and he reached for his communicator and vanished from the scene in a flash of red light.
I could hear Ultramarine approach, his every triumphant step thudding up through the concrete. I fought to get to my feet, to escape, to do anything, but my body was screaming in protest, and I collapsed helplessly back against the ground. It shouldn't be ending this way, it just shouldn't be.
"And once the Rangers are weak," Ultramarine continued conversationally, as if he was reading a shopping list, "I destroy them all, shatter this city and wipe the planet clean." His shadow fell over me, and he paused triumphantly. "And then..." But he broke off, suddenly aware that something far away felt dangerously wrong. His eyes flew wide as he realised the truth.
"No!"
Without warning, the feedback from the Rainbow Prison's destruction smashed into the warrior with the force of a small meteor, lifting him clean off his feet and slamming him back through a building. With a flash of light, his silver armour vanished, leaving him in the all too-familiar blue, and he fell to the ground as the store collapsed in around him.
Silence fell over the battlefield, save for the crackling of the fires around me.
I let out the breath I'd been holding, and rested my forehead against my arm. I couldn't see what had happened to Ultramarine, but knew that the other Rangers had come through.
It was then that I heard it.
"Get up."
Opening my eyes, I looked up and around, and my gaze settled on a pair of boots barely a metre away from me. White boots, with red diamonds.
"Get up. Please."
I smiled, and finding reserves of strength I didn't think I had, I put my hands on the pavement and forced myself up off the ground, only to suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder hauling me to my feet. And I looked up and around into the visor of the Red Power Ranger.
Jason smiled, relieved. "Scare a guy, why don't you?" he asked.
He carefully pulled his hand away, and I stayed standing. "Thanks," I said.
He nodded. "You say the word," he said, "and I will feed him his helmet."
I shook my head. "I told you I can do this," I said. "How's Brendan?"
"He's okay," Jason replied, although I heard the tone in his voice. "But by the time we reached him, the prison had drained all his power, and he had to shatter the thing to stop Ultramarine."
My expression behind my visor fell. "So...?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
I grit my teeth, and turned back to where Ultramarine was picking himself out of the wreckage of the ruined store. "Jason, just hang back a second, will you?" And taking slow, pained steps, I crossed the battleground back towards the blue warrior.
"Peter," he called, and as I turned back to him, he threw his sword towards me. The weapon spun through the air, and reaching out, I caught the handle with my left hand, turning back to Ultramarine as I reached my own fallen sword.
"So, Ultramarine," I said, bringing my foot down on the handle of my sword, and catching it as it spun up towards me. "You ready for round two?"
The warrior staggered out of the wreckage, staring dumbly at his armour. "My power," he said, his voice a mix of disbelief and growing rage. "What have you done?"
"Taken back something that was rightfully ours," I said. "And now I'm here to give you something so rightfully yours." Raising both swords, I charged towards him, the two of us meeting in the centre of the battlefield ready for the final showdown.
He slashed with his blades as I approached - I blocked his right blade with Jason's sword, struck away his left blade with my own and spun around, bringing both blades back across the warrior's chest. Ultramarine roared and attacked again, swinging high, but I stepped around the blade's arc, batting his other blade away and ramming the handle of Jason's sword into his facemask. Ultramarine shook his head and retaliated, swinging out blindly - I blocked one swing, struck away a second and holding both his blades in check before sending him stumbling with a kick to the chest.
The warrior staggered back, dazed, and I pressed forward, slashing with every step. Ultramarine raised his blades to defend himself, desperately fighting to keep up with me. I caught one blade, landed a blow to his chest, stepped around a wide swing and caught him as he spun back around. Panting and wounded, he dodged my sword and struck out with a low kick - I easily sidestepped the move, struck him back with a blow to the stomach and threw all my strength into a roundhouse punch. The blow was staggering, the warrior stumbling back.
"No!" he roared, in angry disbelief, "I will not be beaten by a child!" And with anger to match his desperation, he raised his right blade and swung it towards me.
"This is for Aaron!" I cried, and swung Jason's sword towards the descending blade. The sword sliced clean through the weapon, and the blade spun away from Ultramarine and clattered to the ground.
Ultramarine froze, stunned, but seeing his shattered blade, he roared and swung again with his left.
"This is for Brendan!"
My sword struck his blade in midair, the warrior's blade snapping neatly in two. The warrior staggered back, and I lowered Jason's sword and stabbed it into the earth beside me.
"And this one's for me."
Raising my own sword high into the air, lightning bolts struck down from a suddenly cloudy sky, instantly charging the sword with shimmering orange energy. Hesitating a second longer, I slashed the sword down through the air towards him, a massive blast of energy exploding from the sword's arc, surging across the battlefield and slamming into him. Ultramarine cried out in disbelief as a fireball suddenly consumed him, and he was torn apart in a massive explosion that lit up the area and echoed down the street.
A second of silence followed, and as the smoke cloud cleared, I saw what I needed to see - the warrior was finally gone. Behind me, Jason slowly stepped forward to join me, stopping to pick up his sword. Out of breath, I turned to him and leaned against his shoulder as he reached me. For a moment, neither of us spoke.
"I can't believe I just did that," I puffed.
"Neither can I," he said, and when I turned to him, Jason laughed.
I smiled, but suddenly remembered what he'd told me before. "Oh no," I said. "Brendan. C'mon," and we reached for our communicators and teleported away.
The bottle Rita had used to capture the light sat empty on the control panel nearest the viewing screen at the back of the room, the light itself hovering in the air a few metres above it. Like the far end of a spotlight without the torch attached, the light moved through the air of its own accord, occasionally drifting up to explore the shadows of the ceiling. It was fascinating, and any other day it would've been mesmerising.
Any other day.
"Zordon," began Brendan, standing between Teresa and me in the centre of the room, "is there any chance of getting my powers back into my Power Coin?"
Zordon shook his head. "By the time the Rangers reached you, the Prison had drawn all your power into it," he said. "Destroying the Rainbow Prison, well..." but his voice trailed off. "Our sensors can detect traces of your power still in the Sapphire Cave, but we have no way of infusing that power back into your coin. I'm sorry Brendan."
"Surely there's something we can do," said Teresa. "There has to be."
"I wish I had better news," Zordon replied softly. "There's just nothing we can do."
"This just can't be happening, not again," said Zac. "We beat him, we won. Doesn't that count for anything? I mean it shouldn't have cost us another Ranger."
"It's more than that though," said Sarah, glancing back to him. "With only four Rangers, we're only two-thirds of a full team."
I nodded. "There's no way around it, is there? The Junior Team is history."
Kimberly shook her head. "Don't say that, don't even think it," she said, but her voice was quiet.
We all lowered our gazes, and I looked to Brendan beside me. "Hey," I said, and he turned to me. "If I hadn't been getting stomped by Ultramarine, you wouldn't have had to destroy that stupid prison to save me. So for whatever it's worth, I'm sorry."
Brendan smiled. "Hey, I destroyed that thing to make killing Ultramarine a whole lot easier," he said. "I think we came out okay."
"But if I hadn't left to fight Ultramarine on my own..."
"Then you never would've found me at all, and Ultramarine would've become unstoppable," Brendan replied. "It's cool man. Things happened the way they had to."
I nodded. "First Aaron, and now this," I said, shaking my head. "I thought we'd come out better this time, not worse."
At the back of the room, Scott turned towards me, his brow lowered. "Aaron..." he said aloud, and then suddenly jumped to his feet. "Guys, I've got an idea," he said, as everyone turned to him. "Now tell me if this is crazy, but Aaron lost his power coin and his zord, right?" We all nodded, and Scott continued. "Well, Brendan still has his power coin and the Dilophozord, he just doesn't have any power." There was a brief second of silence as we all took in what he was saying, but once we'd caught up, everyone started laughing and cheering.
"Scott, that's brilliant!" cried Trini.
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, great thinking," she laughed.
"Uh," began Zac, "can someone on the clue train come back and pick me up?"
Jason smiled. "What Scott was saying," he explained, "is that Brendan might've lost his power, but Aaron's aqua power is still roaming through the Grid." He looked up to Zordon. "Will a power transfer work?"
Zordon nodded. "I see no reason why it wouldn't. Alpha, can you make the necessary preparations?" he asked, before turning back to the now-joyful group. "Excellent Rangers, turning a defeat into another triumph. And while Alpha begins the process," and the sage glanced across the room to the light hovering above us, "I'd like to have a few words with our guest..."
It only took Alpha a few minutes to scan the Morphin' Grid and track down the restless aqua power, while Billy followed Alpha's instructions and called up a picture of the Dilophozord on the viewing screen behind us. Finally, Alpha turned back to the group and beckoned Brendan over to stand in the centre of the room.
"We're all ready," he said, as Brendan stepped over. "If you could hold your Power Coin in front of you?"
Brendan nodded, reaching for his back pocket. "If you say so Alpha," he replied, then looked up to Zordon. "Will this hurt?"
Zordon smiled. "You'll be fine," he said. "Alpha, please begin the transfer."
Alpha nodded, flicking a switch on the control panel - the lights in the room flickered as the two huge electrodes on either side of the room began to crackle with power. All of a sudden, an aqua-coloured arc of electricity shot down from either side into Brendan's coin, and aqua energy began flooding down Brendan's arms and through his body. Beside me on the viewing screen, I noticed the same thing happening to the Dilophozord, aqua energy racing along the zord's exterior.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and the energy flow ended, the lights in the ceiling flickering back to life. Standing before us, with a Dilophosaurus Power Coin and with two aqua sai, was an Aqua Ranger. Reaching down to his morpher, Brendan demorphed, and glancing around the room, he grinned the familiar million-watt smile.
"Aqua, the new silver," he said, and everybody laughed. "Man, thanks guys, this is just awesome."
"My Rangers," boomed Zordon, and we all turned up to him. "If only you could know how proud I am to finally see the team as it should be, with a strong Aqua Ranger among its ranks." The sage paused, and smiled. "Welcome back Brendan. We missed you."
Everyone smiled, and Zordon continued. "I have no doubt Ultramarine will never threaten us again, and with luck, the other members of the Brotherhood were all paying very close attention. As for the Temple of Lothos, we will seal the entrance and place a solar-powered forcefield around the mountain to keep people out. If anyone ever approaches the temple again, we'll know about it."
"What about the collector?" asked Teresa.
"Once we've accessed the island's databanks, we can return all of the collector's items to their rightful owners," Zordon replied. "Although I suspect that many museums will end up receiving anonymous donations, and the more powerful items will have to be kept safe here. As for the collector himself, for his faults he did help us, and I believe a simple grave on the island's slopes will be a good final resting place."
Kimberly stepped forward. "And the light?"
"Ah," Zordon nodded. "While Alpha was tracking down the aqua power, the light and I managed to communicate. Not with words, but with an exchange of ideas, pictures and emotions, it's actually quite difficult to explain. The light thanks us for our help today, but has made one request."
Jason nodded. "We'd like to help it, but do we have what it wants?"
Zordon smiled, and glanced down to Brendan. "As a matter of fact Rangers," he began, "I believe this is one wish that we can grant..."
In three bright flashes of light, Kimberly, Billy and Trini materialised outside the entrance to the Sapphire Cave a few feet away from the rest of us, Grind and Tanith arriving beside them seconds later.
"Seriously," grunted the skateboarder, clutching his head in pain, "I'll take the long way home."
Tanith laughed. "I thought that was fun," she smiled.
Kimberly grinned and turned to us. "Guys, I'd like you all to meet Grind and Tanith, the two heroes we were telling you about. Grind and Tanith, these are the Rangers."
Tanith fairly beamed. "It's an honour to meet you all," she said.
Jason stepped forward, and Grind shook the Red Ranger's outstretched hand. "Thank you for all your help today," Jason said. "Without you guys we never would've stopped Ultramarine or Rita."
Grind nodded. "Not a problem, but why the vacation all the way out here?"
"Because there's something you guys will want to see," said Trini. "Come inside."
The eleven of us led the two heroes back into the tunnel entrance, and passing the dancing figures on the cave walls, we soon stepped out into the enormous cavern. The torches had long since gone out, but the interior of the cave remained brightly lit - the light was hovering high above the centre of the cavern, and seeing us arrive, it shot down towards Grind and Tanith, bathing everyone in a warm glow.
"The light!" Grind exclaimed, then caught himself. "Uh, I mean, cool."
Tanith laughed. "This is wonderful," she said, and glanced across to the rest of us. "Thank you, from both of us. Did you bring the light here to keep it safe?"
Billy shook his head. "While we did rescue the light," he said, "it actually made the
request to be brought here."
"How come?" asked Grind.
"Like you said, the light's basically just like the rest of us," Jason explained. "Our Silver Ranger's power is still in this cave, and our best guess is that the light wanted to come here simply because it just didn't want to be alone."
Everyone continued to admire the light, and Billy stepped over to where Trini and Kimberly were standing.
"So, Kimberly," he began, turning to the Pink Ranger beside him. "It's approximately three o'clock, shouldn't you be at your cheerleader practice now?"
Kim smiled beneath her visor. "Yeah, I should be," she replied, then looked back to the skateboarding hero across the cave standing beside the Martian fairy princess. "But something Grind said was totally right. Why play the game by somebody else's rules? I don't need anybody else telling me what should be important," and the Pink Ranger glanced around the cave and turned back to Trini and Billy. "I already know that."
Trini smiled. "And you're not worried about Veronica?"
Kim shook her head. "Nah," she replied. "Even if worse comes to worse and she does drop me from the team, I'm pretty sure the rest of the squad will be able to change her mind," and the Pink Ranger grinned. "Particularly once they discover that without me, they'll have to rely on Veronica, who for all her many skills can't keep a beat to save her life. So no, I'm not too worried at all."
Across the cavern, watching as the light drifted up to explore the cave's shadowy roof, Teresa crossed the cave to join Brendan.
"Hey," she called, and the Aqua Ranger turned to her. "Listen, Brendan," she said. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about before, about what I said back in front of the temple on Friday. I didn't mean..." but her voice trailed off. "I'm sorry."
"That's totally cool," Brendan replied. "No hard feelings."
Teresa nodded. "You know," she said, with a hint of a smile, "I kind of like your one-liners. Besides, I guess that's just how you play this game, and I know we'd all be worse off without you."
"Thanks," Brendan smiled, and glanced down to his new aqua suit. "Look, I know I'm not gonna be as good as the last guy who wore this suit, but..."
"Hey," Teresa interrupted. "Remember that first morning in the Command Centre?" Brendan nodded, and she continued. "I meant everything I said then, and I still do. You'll make a great Aqua Ranger, just as awesome as Aaron, I know it."
Brendan nodded, and satisfied they'd said all that needed to be said, both the White and Aqua Rangers turned back to the light. "Did the world get a lot bigger today, or what?" Brendan asked, then grinned. "Very enlightening."
Teresa laughed. "Okay, you get one bad pun for free, but the next one's gonna cost you."
"You're just jealous of my sparkling wit... ow, c'mon, that was way better!"
A few metres away, I glanced from Grind and Tanith to the light, then around the cave back to Jason beside me. "All's well that ends well, I guess," I said.
Jason nodded. "What a day, huh?"
I looked back to the other Rangers. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Well, I know I killed Ultramarine," I began, "but if anything, today proved me right. If you hadn't showed up or if Brendan hadn't taken out the Rainbow Prison, I would've been done for." I paused, and looked to Jason. "So what I've been wanting to know for weeks now, is why? Even with all the training and all the weapons, I'm still terrible at this. I mean, why do you want me to be on this team and to have this Power Coin so much?"
Beneath his helmet, the Red Ranger smiled. "This afternoon," he said, "why did you leave to go fight Ultramarine? Like you said, he could've killed you."
I shrugged. "Somebody had to, right?"
Jason grinned. "Yeah Pete," he replied. "That's why."
I turned back to him, puzzled, as Teresa jogged over to the two of us.
"Hey, Zac just challenged Grind to a skateboarding duel," she said, nodding to everyone else back across the cave.
We all turned and began walking back towards them. "But if Zac's morphed, won't that be a bit unfair?" Jason asked.
Teresa nodded. "That's what Tanith said, but Grind volunteered to wear a blindfold, so that Zac might stand more of a chance."
I laughed. "Okay, this I have to see..."
And watched by a light that felt alone no longer, the three of us met up with the rest of the group, and we all wandered back out into the afternoon sunshine.
The End.