A/N: Thanks for all the views and reviews, my dear readers. I appreciate it more than you could possibly know. Hope you all enjoy this chapter as well.
"KI-YAH!"
Daok was relentless in his attacks. Blow after blow, he kept striking away at Rider with his Fang Knuckle. But the Green Ranger's Chelonia Defender proved itself more than capable of absorbing the hits. Daok was planning on breaking through his defense with brute force; Rider knew that. He knew that his team leader was trying to wear him down and then attack once he was finally open like a predator wanting to drain its prey of energy before going for the kill. Rider was smart, though. He had been timing the amount of time between Daok's punches. On average, it was took three seconds from wind-up to impact. It was small window, but it was still an opening. Now came the time to put his plan into action. Daok reeled his arm back once again…
One…
Two…
Rider smashed his shield right into Daok's stomach. The Red Ranger was stunned, but Rider wasn't about to let up on him. Daok threw another right hook with his cestus, but Rider leapt over his arm and used his own momentum against him, flipping the Atlantean onto his back. Daok was about to get up when Rider put the blade of his buckler to his neck. And with that, their sparring match was over.
The other Rangers got up from where they were sitting on the ground and ran over. Azurine offered Daok a hand, which he reluctantly accepted, and helped pick him up off the ground. Daok's pride was a bit bruised, but he was impressed. They'd been sparring for over half an hour, and Rider was the only one able to actually take him down.
"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" asked Indra as he high-fived his teammate for a job well done.
"I've been doing karate for two years now. Mom's orders. Thought it would teach me discipline."
Umiko hugged the boy around his neck. He blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before backing away slightly.
"You must have a pretty good Sensei to be that good in such a short amount of time."
"I'm just really talented. Be careful, Daok. Or I might become team leader when you're not looking."
The Atlantean scoffed and placed a hand on his young teammate's shoulder. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Sparring is one thing, but it takes a lot more than that to be a leader. You need to be vigilant; sharp; and above all—"
GROWL!
The Red Ranger's speech was interrupted by the deafening cry of five stomachs roaring in unison. Seems Ranger training was hungry business.
"—You need to stay well-nourished."
The five of them all powered down, their Ranger suits flowing off them like water, and clutched their talkative bellies.
"Anyone know where we can get some food?" groaned Indra. "Preferably something that won't clog all of my arteries after a single bite?"
A light bulb instantly lit up above Rider's head. "I think I know just the place."
When the others had decided to let Rider choose where they went for lunch, they didn't really know what to expect. Indra half-heartedly joked about them going to a Chuck E. Cheese which led to Azurine having to explain to Daok why human parents spend exorbitant amounts of money to have their kids spending time with a fake rodent. They pulled up in front of a trapezoidal brick building with several black-tinted windows decorated in video game stickers and lightning bolts. Above the entrance to the place was a huge red and blue, triangular neon sign that read Rock Out! Dojo and Juice Bar. The group hopped out of Indra's car and Rider eagerly led them inside.
Stepping inside was like opening up a time capsule. The entire room was decorated in loud, boisterous colors and zany pop graphic designs were splashed across the floors and walls. People were either hard at work on the various sets of exercise equipment available; weights, treadmills, balance beams, punching bags; or they were busy funneling coins into the wide plethora of arcade machines in the back; and others were simply relaxing at the eponymous juice bar and partaking in some food or drinks. The dojo Van Halen's Dreams was blaring over the loudspeakers. Rider had a grin a mile wide on his face as he introduced his awestruck teammates to his "world".
"Welcome to the best place in the whole city!" he exclaimed, gesturing with his arms for emphasis.
"Man, this place is right out of the 90s. Crazy," Azurine whispered breathlessly. "I just hope the food isn't as old as the decor."
"I definitely want to check out that arcade cabinet when we get a chance. Not to brag, but I'm pretty beast at Street Fighter."
Rider laughed. "You beating me in Street Fighter is like Daok beating me in sparring. Not gonna happen."
"You are so on, kid!"
Umiko blushed at the fact that her friend's yelling had drawn some stares from random people. "Indra, you're making a scene."
The three of them started heading for a table near the juice bar. Azurine was going to join them when she noticed Daok was lagging behind. Figuring he was just experiencing some culture shock, she grabbed his hand in order to pull him along. But that's when she saw a look on his face; one not of confusion, but concern. It was as if he was worried about something.
"Come on, silly. We need to get a table if we're going to… Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. It's just —"
"That you're not really fine?"
"Humans can read minds now?"
"Only the really cute ones. Now, seriously, what's got you so worried?"
Daok turned away. He didn't want to say it, for fear of sounding insecure. But he also didn't want to lie to someone he cared about.
"It's Rider."
"Rider? What about him?"
"I think he's letting that sparring match get to his head."
"Ah, come on. He's a kid. A lot of kids are sore winners."
"But not a lot of kids are Power Rangers. I can't have him questioning my authority on the battlefield."
"We're not on the battlefield right now, Daok. We're inside a retro-style juice bar getting some food with our friends. It's okay to relax, you know. Just… try and put the Abysall to the back of your mind for a few minutes? Please?"
Azurine looked right at Daok with big, pleading puppy dog eyes.
"For me?"
He fell for them hook, line, and sinker.
"Fine."
Azurine wasted no time in dragging him over to the bar, eager to get some nachos to see how Daok would react to something spicy for a change.
Across town, a sea of trouble was getting ready to flood Stone Canyon's shores. Avalon and Hapaloct were standing on a set of cliffs overlooking the city. From the woods behind them, a loud metallic clattering made its way through the trees as a brand new Abysall warrior stepped out. He was tall and imposing with a warrior's physique; around his torso and legs was battle armor made from jagged pieces of black iron; he also sported a skull-themed mask and medieval battle skirt made of the same material. What flesh his armor didn't cover was a ruddy pinkish-red still decorated in specks of iron, and sprouting from his head were two fleshy antennae that vaguely resembled demonic horns.
"Took you long enough to catch up, Armallyon."
Armallyon grumbled. "I don't normally work on land, Avalon. I hope you didn't free me just to lecture me. I'm only here because you promised me a warrior's challenge."
"Oh, you'll get your challenge," mocked Hapaloct as he sharpened his blades while holding them via his tentacles. "Quite the chancer ya are to want to fight the Rangers. Gotta be either too brave or too stupid."
"I'm not afraid of anyone; not the Power Rangers; and not even you."
Hapaloct scoffed. Without so much as turning around to face him, he placed three of his swords mere inches away from Armallyon's neck. The iron-clad warrior didn't flinch one bit, refusing to even make a sound.
"Then I suggest ya learn some humility. Unless being a headless swordsman is something you're interested in."
"Will both of you knock it off!?" commanded Avalon. "I am tired of losing to these pathetic humans and their pet Atlantean. Armallyon, this city is filled with metals beyond your wildest dreams. Absorb them, and the Rangers won't be able to touch you. Then destroy them without a second thought. Hapaloct will provide you with back-up."
"And what's keeping you out of the fight?"
"I'm working on a surprise to help us turn the tide of this fight. It requires my undivided attention, but I'm sure that you two are more than capable of handling it yourselves?"
"More capable than the Rangers will be."
"Why would you eat this!?"
"I didn't know you'd react to spicy food like this!"
"That is not food! That is poison!"
One plate of nachos with extra jalapeños later, and the human members of the team were all laughing so hard their sides were hurting as Daok slammed back glass of water after glass of water. He was so unaccustomed to the heat of something as foreign as a spicy pepper that his face had almost turned as red as his helmet. After about five glasses, Daok finally managed to get rid of the fire in his mouth. Rider was laughing the hardest out of everyone, something that wasn't lost on Daok.
"Our mighty leader, almost taken out by a plate of nachos! Good thing they were only jalapeños! Habaneros would've been a guaranteed knock-out!"
"Ease up, Rider," suggested Umiko as she patted Daok on the back. "He's just not used to spicy food."
"Yeah, yeah. Oh, hey there's my sensei!"
Rider pointed across the room to a man walking into the door. Still coughing from the spiciness, Daok's eyes widened as he immediately recognized who it was: Rocky DeSantos. Rider called the man over to the bar. Rocky, as jovial as usual, approached the quintet with a smile. He introduced himself to them as if he had no idea that they were the Power Rangers.
"Rider! ¿Qué tal? So these must be the friends you were telling me about?"
Rider nodded. "Yep. This is Indra, Umiko, Azurine, and Daok. Guys, this is my sensei: Rocky DeSantos. He's a Stone Canyon native like yours truly."
The team amiably greeted Rocky and introduced themselves. Daok, not wanting to have things come off as awkward, gave Rocky a handshake (Azurine had told him it was the polite thing to do) and pretended as if he'd never seen him before.
"So what brings you guys to the juice bar aside from our awesome aesthetic and amazing food?"
"Rider showed us some karate moves earlier and we were pretty impressed, so we had to see exactly which superhero was his teacher," explained Indra. "If you're Batman in your spare time, your secret's safe with us."
"Ha. Something like that…"
"Yeah, Sensei. I even managed to beat Daok in sparring this morning," boasted Rider with a certain egotistical glint in his eye.
Daok chuckled to distract himself from Rider's ever-growing vanity. "He got lucky."
The conversation got cut short when suddenly the music playing overhead was replaced with the sound of a news broadcast. The group turned their attention to the large flat-screen mounted on the wall behind them. A frumpy looking reporter with a frantic look on his face was accompanied by live footage of Armallyon and Hapaloct wrecking up downtown Stone Canyon. They were destroying cars and trashing buildings; just making an utter mess of the city.
"Oh man," uttered Rocky with a sense of deep concern. "That looks like a job for the Power Rangers."
Indra agreed, trying to play it cool for when the team got up to leave. "Yeah. It sure does… Um, hey, guys. Maybe it'd be better if we got out of here. Rider's mom'll be worried sick if her kid's outside during a monster attack, right?"
Azurine vigorously nodded. "Indra's right. We should get him home. It was nice meeting you, Mr. DeSantos!"
The group then sprinted out the door like their feet were on fire. Rocky stood there chuckling to himself, calling out for them to be careful. He was reminded of similar situations in his own past. The multiple times he and his friends would have to feed their teachers or parents some BS excuse in order to go fight a giant evil ear of corn or whatever else Rita and Zedd felt like throwing at them during the week.
He walked back into his office; a pretty cramped space, but he'd decorated it to his liking. On his desk next to the computer were a set of figurines: a red and gold Chinese dragon, a solid red gorilla, and a sparkly blue sphinx. Set in the corner of the room was a multicolored arcade cabinet covered in lightning bolts. It had six buttons: white, black, pink, blue, yellow, and red as well as a joystick. Rocky walked up to the machine and it instantly pulled up an input screen. His fingers danced across the buttons as he pressed them in that same order.
HIGH SCORE: 082893
The screen then turned itself off and the whole cabinet shifted to over to the left, revealing a hidden stairway. He walked down the metal steps into his hidden sanctum; The Rock of Power. Alpha 10 was already setting up the live feed of the Rangers as he walked in.
"Alright, guys. Let's see how you do."
The now morphed Rangers flipped onto the scene. The streets were covered in rubble and debris and there, sitting in the middle of all the carnage, was Armallyon munching down on some hubcaps. He was biting into them as easily as a person would an apple, and enjoying them in that same regard.
"This ends now, Abysall!" proclaimed Daok as he summoned his Fang Knuckle into his hand. "But how fast it ends is up to you."
"Name's Armallyon, Power Guppies! And I've been waiting for you…"
The iron-clad gladiator gulped down the last bit of hubcap. The jagged pieces of metal making up his armor flashed a brilliant shade of silver before returning to the natural jet black coloration. Using those same iron fragments, he constructed a spiky sword and ragged shield. He banged them together, taunting the Rangers, his blood practically boiling with anticipation.
"I do hope you live up to your reputation! Give me a challenge!"
Assessing the situation, Daok started to give out his orders. "Indra, you and I handle this guy. The rest of you go find Hapaloct. There's no telling what he might be up to."
Azurine and Umiko nodded and ran off, but Rider didn't go with them. Instead, he stepped out in front of Daok, Triton Saber in hand, and ready to fight.
"Rider, what do you think you're—"
"If this guy wants a challenge, then I'm just the Ranger to give it to him! ¡Sal de mi camino!"
Before either Daok or Indra could even think to stop him, Rider ran right into the fight. He tried to slash at Armallyon, only to have his blade clash against the warrior's shield. In an attempt to counterattack, he tried a sweep kick at the monster's legs. However, the armored fighter easily jumped over his attack, and then responded by hitting Rider with a drop kick. Rider was flung yards away into a random car, slamming into the windshield and hood like a green brick. Indra ran off to go help him, leaving Daok to deal with the enemy alone. Daok thrust his Fang Knuckle right towards Armallyon's face. It was blocked, but to Armallyon's surprise, his shield began to crack slightly as Daok charged up his weapon with more and more red energy before punching him over and over and over again until finally, the cestus crashed into his face and sent him tumbling across the asphalt.
Elsewhere, Azurine and Umiko had run back with Hapaloct hot on their trail. He was angrily swiping at them with his menagerie of blades, but the pair were dodging his tentacles as if they were playing a game of extremely intense double dutch. They flipped and flowed between the tentacles like water, slipping and sliding past every attempt the general made to hit them. When he suddenly found himself unable to move his tentacles, Hapaloct was horrified to find that the women's constant dodging wasn't just to avoid his swords; they had tricked him into tying his tentacles together into a massive knot.
"What's wrong? Got nothing to say, Hapaloct?" taunted Azurine.
"Maybe his tongue's all tied up too," giggled Umiko.
Meanwhile, Indra had just finished peeling Rider out of his Ranger-shaped crater. To his own shock, the teenager didn't feel too much pain except for an overall sense of bodily strain. Still, if he was able to stand he was able to fight. Indra barely had time to give the kid a once-over to make sure he didn't have brain damage before Rider ran back into the fight. Daok had just caught Armallyon's sword in the mouth of his Fang Knuckle when Rider jump kicked the monster right in his face, leaving his sword clutched in Daok's hand.
"How do you like it, ugly?"
Though staggered by the attack, Armallyon snapped back, "As much as you'll like this!"
The sword in Daok's hand erupted into a cloud of minute iron shards that flew around the two Rangers like a swarm of angry hornets. Despite their size, the particles cut and slashed across their bodies like thousands of sharpened daggers, and their victims were powerless to defend themselves from the onslaught. Hearing her friends' screams, Azurine turned her head away from Hapaloct for a moment. It was brief, but enough time for him to slip one tentacle free and ensnare the Blue Ranger by the ankle. Umiko was about to help her when Hapaloct used Azurine as a club and smacked her into her own teammate. Indra was torn on which set of teammates to help out.
Umiko was a close friend, but Daok was their leader and they needed him… God, why now of all moments did he have to be indecisive!? Eventually, he settled on firing some shots at Armallyon, distracting the monster enough for him to drop his control on his iron shards. The second he could actually think about something, Daok noticed Umiko and Azurine on the ground. He sprinted over to them. They were barely able to get themselves without his help.
"Are you two all right?"
"If by 'all right' you mean 'breathing' then I guess we're okay…" Azurine struggled to say as she regained her footing.
"We have to retreat. I'm able to break his armor, but it takes a lot of energy. And with him and Hapaloct working together, we'll be drained before we can land a killing blow. We need time to make a plan."
"But how are we going to get out of here?" Umiko asked. "I doubt they'll let us just run away."
Daok looked to the sky. He knew Rocky was watching and listening to the entire fight. Even if he couldn't see him, he knew he was there, and he knew he'd help them.
"I know you're there!" he screamed into the open air. "Get us out of here! We need a chance to regroup! Help us!"
Rocky was aghast as he stared at the screen. To see Daok beg for help like that, well, the man must've been in dire straits. And Rocky was never one to turn his back on someone in need. So, he gave Alpha the go-ahead to teleport the Rangers off the battlefield. A couple taps on a screen later, and five Rangers landed right in the middle of the Rock of Power. Almost immediately, Daok ripped off his helmet in frustration. The fact that he didn't have a reaction to being teleported wasn't lost on Azurine. The rest of the Rangers reluctantly removed their own helmets, marveling at the strange and alien room they were standing in.
Indra was in awe, doing an entire 360° turn just to try and take in the entirety of what he was seeing. "Where the hell are we?"
"This place is right out of Doctor Who," Azurine said breathlessly, mesmerized by all the advanced technology on display. "Daok, you don't seem all that surprised."
"That's… because I've been here before. This is where I came for help when Arbina turned you guys into pearls. I would have told you about it, but…"
Whereas the others were more so caught off guard, Azurine was genuinely angry at the prospect of Daok withholding information from he—Them. Right. She was mad about him withholding information from them as a team. No reason to take it so personally.
"But what?" she grilled him, getting up in his face to make it clear she meant business.
A surprisingly familiar voice gave her an answer: "But~ He was sworn to secrecy by me. Your leader's more upstanding than you're giving him credit for, Azurine."
Rocky made his presence known alongside Alpha 10, much to everyone's shock. There was a lot to go over between Daok's secrecy and Rocky's past as a Power Ranger. Rider could hardly believe it himself.
"Sensei, no way! You were a Power Ranger?"
Rocky nodded. "I also got turned into a plant once and have Santa Claus on speed dial. But that's not what's important right now. What is important is this."
Rocky motioned for Alpha to bring up a display of Armallyon on the large screens in front of them. It was a level by level breakdown of the monster; it went all the way from a simple surface scan to anatomical scan to a molecular scan. It was that final scan that was of the most significance according to Rocky.
"This guy is bad news. Like serious mala noticias. The more metal he eats and the better quality it is, the stronger that armor gets. He's already starting to resist your weapons as we speak. If you don't hurry—"
Rider cut in, "We won't be able to touch him. No biggie, guys. I got just the thing for this. All you need to do is follow my lead."
"No!" exclaimed Daok, so loudly it managed to reverberate for a solid ten seconds throughout the entire base. "If it wasn't for your ego, Rider, then our attack plan wouldn't have gotten so thrown off in the first place. We could have died out there if it weren't for Rocky!"
"You're overexaggerating! That punk just got lucky! Next time, I'll—"
"You'll what? Refuse to follow orders again? Rush into battle without a care for either your own life or those of your teammates? You'll get us all killed!?"
"Daok, stop it!" yelled Indra. "The kid's sorry!"
"You think him being sorry would change anything if any one of us weren't breathing right now?"
"And you berating him like a jackass would?"
"If he wants to be on this team, then he needs to take responsibility for his own actions! And if he's willing to let something as trivial as a sparring match cloud his judgement to the point he refuses orders, then I refuse to have him be a part of this team!"
Rider's heart was racing, about to beat out of his chest. He'd never seen Daok this livid before. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife and it was silent enough that you could hear a pin drop. Daok turned and faced Rider with a cold, stern expression on his face and
"Rider, I'm going to have to ask you to turn in your Atlantiriser. It seems you just aren't mature enough to handle the responsibility of being a Power Ranger."
"Daok!"
"What?!"
"No!"
Rider was barely holding it together. Those words broke his heart into a million pieces. He'd finally found some awesome friends, became a superhero beyond his wildest dreams, and he'd blown it; he'd failed. And as he searched the inner recesses of his mind, where normally a comeback or a joke would lie, he found nothing. In a flash of green, he demorphed and removed his morpher, slowly placing it into Daok's hand. He felt so numb that he didn't even notice the tears that flowed down his face like a roaring cataract off the edge of a mountain's precipice; it was until the tears hit the metal floor that he realized he was crying. He looked into the eyes of his human former teammates, all of them seemed to be either in shock or disheartened.
"Get me out of here!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. The tears just wouldn't stop flowing. "Now! J-Just let me leave!"
"Rider…" Azurine whispered softly. She wanted to run over and give the boy a hug, but she was too late as Alpha teleported him off. When she looked over at Daok, whose face was still as neutral as could be, she became enraged. Without a second thought, she walked over and slapped him as hard as she could. A crimson handprint was imprinted across Daok's right cheek. She likely would have hit him again had Indra and Umiko not held her back.
"He's just a kid! He made a mistake! What, have you never made a mistake in your entire life!?" she scolded him.
Daok couldn't even look her in the eye as he placed the Green Atlantiriser in Rocky's hands and placed his helmet back on. "I have made so many mistakes. Mistakes that cost people their lives. That cost me my home and my people. Believe me, I know the price of a mistake. This is a war. It's no place for mistakes. And it's definitely no place for children."
The somber atmosphere in the room was only exacerbated when a series of red lights and alarms went off over the Rangers heads. The remaining team slipped their helmets back on as a real time digital map pinpointed the location of the disturbance.
"Ay-yai-yai-yai-yai! It appears the Abysall forces are attacking the steelworks just outside of Stone Canyon. If Armallyon gets access to that much refined metal, he'll be nearly unstoppable!"
"Then we don't have much time," declared Daok. "Rocky, I know it may seem sudden. But you have experience and expertise in the field. Will you be our new Green Ranger?"
Rocky was flabbergasted as he looked over the Atlantiriser in his hand. He immediately shook his head. "Sorry, Daok. But I'm out of practice and just don't think I can't handle being a fully active Ranger again. I've got connections, though. I can find the perfect person to fill in your team."
Daok nodded and Alpha proceeded to teleport the four Rangers away. Rocky let out a sigh; his heart was heavy. He'd just watched a boy he'd practically considered a surrogate son get admonished and stripped of his Ranger powers, and then got offered those same powers literally two minutes after! He glared at the morpher he was clutching and he knew what he had to do.
"Alpha, you've still got Rider's location, right?"
"Of course, Rocky. His unique cellular make-up is forever stored within the Morphin' Grid. Why do you ask?"
"Because I've found the perfect person to fill in Daok's team."
When the Rangers ran into the massive steelworks facility, they noticed it was oddly empty. The only sounds were of creaking metal and large vats of molten material being moved and poured over into even larger pieces of equipment. It was quite eerie as the shuffled around this abandoned factory for several minutes. It wasn't until they stood right in the middle of the factory floor that things took a turn for the worst. Without warning, a squad of Krilton leapt from the shadows and surrounded them. They ran circles around the four Rangers, and it didn't take long for the quartet to realize they were being chained up . The end of their involuntary capture, the only part of their bodies they could move was their neck. The snuggly chained Rangers were then hoisted onto a large hook and lifted off the group, which is when Hapaloct and Armallyon decided to reveal themselves.
"Ya look high, but not so mighty, Rangers!" Hapaloct insulted, but he soon realized a certain color was missing from the line-up of Power Rangers. "I see you're missin' a wee bit'o green in your roster? Did the Green Ranger turn into a yellow-belly?"
"You won't get away with this, Hapaloct!" threatened Umiko as she and the others tried to escape their binds, but to no avail.
"That's where you're wrong, lass. I already got away with it. Now I get to just sit back and enjoy! Plus I get the braggin' rights against that git Avalon."
The Rangers felt themselves being moved once again, the hook holding them positioning them right over a vat of red-hot molten slag that bubbled and sloshed around. Slowly, they began to lower down toward this vat of liquid doom, struggling and fighting to break free every moment along the way. Hapaloct and Armallyon maniacally laughed to themselves at the idea of finally ridding the world of the Power Rangers.
"I'm sure four Rangers will melt just as good as five! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Usually, skateboarding was a great tool Rider had used to get things off his mind. Bad grades? Skateboarding. Rejection from a girl? Skateboarding? Broken skateboard? He'd skateboard through it all, baby. But now? It seems that being tossed away from the coolest thing he'd ever done in his life like an unwanted cat was the one problem on Earth that flip tricks wouldn't be able to solve. Instead, he was sitting down in the skate park and looking through his notebook at the various sketches and notes he'd made since becoming a Ranger.
"Guess I won't be needing these anymore," he muttered under his breath as he moved to tear the page right out of the book.
But another hand miraculously grabbed his own just before he could make contact with the page. He turned around to find Rocky smiling at him. Rider didn't reciprocate the friendly gesture, but judging by the fact that he didn't tell Rocky to go away, the older man took that as a sign that he could sit down next to him. They shared a few moments of silence before Rider just cut to the chase.
"What are you doing here?" he said solemnly, not even bothering to look at Rocky as he laid his arm across his knee and stared off into the distance.
"I came to give you a choice," replied Rocky. "You know, when I first became a Ranger I had some pretty big shoes to fill."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I had become the Red Ranger. Sure, I wasn't the leader, another guy was in charge of that, but I still felt a ton of pressure on my shoulders. More than most kids could ever imagine they'd ever feel. And I wasn't perfect. I made a ton of mistakes and got my butt kicked all over Angel Grove. I even had to retire from being a Ranger for a while because I busted my back during a sparring match."
That was enough to get Rider to turn his head toward his mentor with a lock of total shock. "You?"
Rocky chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair a bit. "Me. Look kid, no one's perfect. Not even the Power Rangers, but life's not about the mistakes you make. It's about what you learn from them. And trust me, Rider, in this line of work there's a lot to learn."
"That's great advice and all, Sensei. But… I'm not a Ranger anymore."
"Not with that attitude, you're not. But this'll probably help too."
Rocky reached into his pocket and pulled out Rider's Atlantiriser. Rider almost immediately went to reach for it, but he stopped and retracted his hand back after he remembered how furious Daok had been with him. After that, he just didn't feel worthy of the power anymore.
"Daok… He kicked me out. I-I can't—"
"Oh, so now you want to listen to Daok?" Rocky said with a smug smirk on his face. "Rider, you remember when you first showed up at my dojo? How you were so dead set on proving that you could master a flawless spinning kick in the first week of class, even after I warned you that it was too advanced for you?"
Rider looked back to those moments and cringed. "Yeah, I wouldn't let myself stop. Even after I almost busted my ankle a couple of times, I just couldn't give up."
"And now you've got a pretty good spinning kick. Normally this kind of wisdom only comes with age, but I'll be nice and give it to you early, kid. The way I see it, there's two sorts of times you'll deal with as a Ranger: there's a time to listen and there's a time to do the right thing, even if it's off-script..."
Rocky kept his hand with Rider's morpher extended out, using the device's presence to emphasize his point. Rider looked into his eyes; they gave off such a secure and comforting feeling. Rider realized he was at a crossroads, a turning point for which there would be no way back; and the choice to make was his and his alone. He reached out for his Atlantiriser once again; his fingers mere centimeters from it yet unable to move any further, as if being repelled by an unseen force.
"So you've got a choice to make, Rider. What time is it?"
Rider took a deep breath. He looked deep into his heart and there, amid the doubt and the apprehension, he finally saw a light. He knew his answer and gripped the morpher tightly in his hand. He placed it back onto his waist; it was almost as if it had never been gone.
"I think it's Morphin' Time!"
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Rocky brought his wrist up to his mouth and spoke into the small silver brace wrapped around it. "Alpha, get ready to teleport our 'new' Green Ranger to the others. I think he's ready."
Rider nodded as he ran off to find a safe place to morph and teleport. Rocky patted himself on the back for a job well done. Tommy had overhyped it! This mentoring thing wasn't that hard. He glanced down for a moment to find that Rider had left behind his notebook. Curious, he picked it up and when he saw what was on the page, his eyes lit up with intrigue.
"Alpha, you're also going to want to get some tools ready too. We've got a new project to work on. And believe me, the Rangers are in for a big surprise."
No matter what they did, the Rangers couldn't break themselves free. Even with their suits on, the heat was getting more and more unbearable with every passing second. It was beginning to look like it was going to be the end of the Power Rangers. That was until Hapaloct and Armallyon heard a distinct sound coming from outside; it was the sound of motion and plastic rolling along the ground; the sound of youthful rebellion. Suddenly, the source of said sound burst into the room: a morphed Rider on his skateboard and catching some mid-air. The two Abysall were so caught taken aback by this that Rider was able to easily skate across both their heads without any issue. He landed on the ground behind them, kicking his board up and striking a pose for emphasis.
"Rider!" cheered the four trapped Rangers.
"¡Aguanten, mis amigos!" he proclaimed. "It's Rider to the rescue! Now watch this!"
Rider skated toward Armallyon and Hapaloct, who prepared themselves to take the young Ranger head-on. What a surprise then, when he leapt over their heads with a kickflip, and started blasting them from above with his Alphe-Buster. Rider scanned the room for a panel or a console. After all, something had to be controlling the hook hoisting his friends above that vat.
Where?
Where?
Where?
There!
A set of levers in the left corner of the room being handled by a Krilton of all things. He landed back to Earth, then decided to try and mix his martial arts and kicking skills for once; he used his foot to send the board into the air and kicked it right at the controls. The Krilton manning them instinctively ducked, but it was never the target anyway. Rider's skateboard smacked right into the levers, causing the hook holding his teammates to swing them away from the molten metal and lower them back down to the ground. Rider wasted no time as he raced over to them and sliced up their chains with his Triton Saber. Azurine, Indra, and Umiko instantly greeted him with hugs and praise, but it wasn't them he wanted to talk to; it was Daok.
"Rider—"
"Look, I get if you're still mad because I didn't listen again. And I'm sorry for letting that stupid sparring match get to my head. But Rocky gave me some advice, and I decided that I'm not going to let some stupid mistakes ruin the best thing that's ever happened to me! I love being a Power Ranger. I love you guys. I can't just walk away from it."
Daok didn't say anything. Instead, he gave Rider a hug. A genuine one, full of all those heartfelt feelings like friendship and forgiveness. Though Rider did have to admit that it really took him aback; for a second, he wondered if Daok had been replaced by an alien or something.
"—And I'm glad you didn't. I shouldn't have blown up like that earlier. You're a good Ranger, Rider. Glad to have you back."
"Aye, I'm glad to see him too!" interjected Hapaloct. "Because it means we can just kill all five of ya right now. Krilton!"
The Rangers turned their attention to the gathering swarm of Krilton flooding the factory floor. It seemed like a million-to-one; they didn't mind, though. The odds were still in their favor. Each of them summoned their Power Weapons and lined up side by side as they prepared to do battle.
"A wise man told me something today, Hapaloct: there's a time to listen and a time to do what's right," said Rider.
Azurine added, "And we're done listening to you!"
"So we'll just skip right to kicking your ass!" concluded Indra.
"Swirling fury of the sea! Tiger Shark Power! Tsunami Surge Red!"
"Hearty strength of the sea! Walrus Power! Tsunami Surge Blue!"
"Graceful beauty of the sea! Seahorse Power! Tsunami Surge Yellow!"
"Ancient wisdom of the sea! Turtle Power! Tsunami Surge Green!"
"Playful spirit of the sea! Dolphin Power! Tsunami Surge Pink!"
"SURGING WITH THE POWER OF THE OCEAN! POWER RANGERS… TSUNAMI SURGE!"
With that, the Rangers rushed into the fight. There were a ton of Krilton to fight, but thankfully there was a good amount of room to work with. And as such, they were able to pull off some rather interesting team maneuvers. Using sheer strength alone Daok managed to wrangle together about eight of the Abysall's grunts and push them back towards Umiko, who used her scythe to effortlessly slice them up. Azurine and Indra, meanwhile, used Rider's buckler as a platform to boost themselves into the air. Both of them began rapidly spinning in the air, transforming them into spirals of blue and pink energy that blasted their way through their enemies.
Armallyon was so ready to destroy the Rangers that he even took out some of his own foot soldiers just to get to Daok. Disgusted, but not surprised at his enemy's savagery, Daok braced himself as the armored opponent nearly steamrolled him. But the Red Ranger held his ground, digging his heels in and, deciding to take a page out from his teammate's playbook, used the iron juggernaut's speed against him and flipped him so hard he ended up crashing through the door. All the while, the other Rangers were now taking on Hapaloct; despite being perpetually intoxicated, the swordsman was no pushover. He spun around, his blades cutting across the chests of all four Rangers, and keeping them at a distance.
Rider was getting fed up. "Looks like he doesn't want us getting close."
"Then it's a good thing we don't have to," responded Umiko as she pulled out her Alphe-Buster.
The rest of the team followed suit. They aimed the shrimp-themed pistols right at Hapaloct, pulled back the triggers, charging the weapons up with energy. The respective color of each Ranger overtook the default cyan color of the energy flowing through the pistol.
"ALPHE-BUSTERS, SUPER SURGE SHOT!"
Four colored energy blasts shot out and struck Hapaloct in the chest. He was blasted backwards before a huge explosion went off. Satisfied that they'd handled him, they rushed out the back to finish off Armallyon.
Rushing to the back of the steelworks, the Rangers found Armallyon eagerly awaiting them. He had gotten back on his feet, and wasn't too happy with the move Daok pulled on him just moments before. It was time for some revenge! With so much delectable metal around, it was time for a feast.
"Sorry to tell you this, Rangers, but I'm feeling hungry! And I prefer my food hot!"
The team barely had time to move out of the way as a stream of molten metal flowed from the inside of the factory and onto Armallyon's body; his dull pink skin turned a metallic black accentuated with fiery orange veins; his horns became sharper and pointer, with the tips of them perpetually glowing red hot. His gladiator-style armor no longer was jagged, and instead of being made of tiny fragments of iron, was an elegant black suit composed of smooth metal with dull gold accents and big pauldrons in the shape of a snail shell.
The Rangers charged at the newly armored Armallyon. Daok took a swing at him, only for his attack to bounce off the armor completely with a CLANG! Armallyon responded by firing out a stream of iron spikes that stabbed at him and pushed him backwards. Azurine was the next to try attacking, going for his back with her short swords. This, too, was in vain as she was met with a shield construct that slammed right into her torso. After she collapsed onto the ground, the remaining Rangers decided to go for an all out assault, but this time Armallyon wanted to try something… different. His armor turned from black to glowing orange as he let out an intense burst of heat powerful enough to knock the Rangers back. His attack didn't stop there as he followed it up with a series of fireballs that surrounded the already battered Rangers in a ring of explosions. Utterly drained of energy, the Rangers struggled to get themselves up off the ground.
"Our weapons can't touch him…" Indra snarled through clenched teeth, hitting the ground with his fist.
"And this heat is… overwhelming…" Daok fought to say. He felt like a beached fish being dried out in the relentless summer sun. Regardless, he wasn't going to just lie down and die. "But we can't give up. We'll find a way to break through that armor. No matter what!"
Out of the blue, Rocky's voice spoke into their ears. "Consider your way found, my friends. Because you've got incoming!"
The surprise announcement was accompanied by Armallyon getting blasted repeatedly by bolts of cerulean plasma from an unknown source. And to the team's shock, he actually took damage! The Rangers looked up toward the sky as a minute glint made itself clearer and clearer as it started coming closer. Once it was close enough, the Rangers got an eyeful of their surprise "gift"; it was a large drone flying on two sets of spinning propellers; it was blue and silver, befitting colors given that the form of the drone was that of a blue sea dragon. A minigun-style multi-barrel cannon extended out from its "head". It slowly and softly landed in front of the Rangers, who looked it over in awe while Rocky continued to speak.
"Rangers, meet the Charybdis Cannon. You can thank Rider for the concept of this baby. A cannon that absorbs clouds and uses the Morphin' Grid to turn them into plasma. Alpha seriously enjoyed putting this baby together. Give her a shot!"
The Rangers got in position; Rider and Indra supporting the front, Umiko and Azurine supporting the back, and Daok on the trigger. The second one of the Rangers made contact with the cannon, their color would be added to the weapon's surface and swirled around as if it were condescending their Morphin' Energy into a gas or liquid. Daok aimed the Charybdis Cannon squarely at Armallyon and readied his finger over the trigger.
"Charybdis Cannon! Ready! Aim! WIPEOUT!"
Daok pulled the trigger and unleashed a deluge of rainbow colored energy. The stream of power tore right through Armallyon's armor, leaving behind a sizable hole in the center of his torso. He fell to his knees before dying in an explosion of mostly black smoke with very little flame, although the air soon reeked of metal.
"And another one bites dust," quipped Indra.
Hapaloct had witnessed Armallyon's destruction, but he wasn't eager to be on the receiving end of the Rangers' latest weapon, so he opted to slink away silently instead. Avalon was not going to be happy about this, but he'd rather take hearing a rant over filling a grave.
"Three cheers for Rider! Hip, Hip!"
"HOORAY!"
Rock Out! was officially closed, but unofficially the Rangers were celebrating their latest victory. Rider was the center of attention and he didn't really know how to feel about it. Usually, he'd love to bask in the limelight and soak up as much of it as he could, but if the day's events had taught him anything it was that doing that could cause some serious problems. So instead, he sat there in his chair and sipped on his mint chocolate milkshake while having that same awkward look people have when restaurant employees sing them "Happy Birthday".
"What's wrong, Rider?" prodded Umiko as she put her bottle of apple juice down on the table. "You don't seem very happy."
Indra was also a tad confused as to where the teen's energy was. "Yeah, where's all the excitement? The hype? You saved the day!"
"Well, I learned a lot today. And I'm starting to think that maybe I should give my ego a break. We saved the day. As a team."
Daok shook his head and put his hand on Rider's shoulder. "No, Rider. If it wasn't for you, none of us would be here right now and that Abysall monster would've been practically invincible. I owe you an apology. I'm grateful to have you as a part of the team, but I'm truly privileged to call you my friend. I'm sorry."
Rider started to tear up, quickly looking down at the floor to keep anyone from seeing his eyes. "I'm getting really tired of you guys almost making me cry all the time."
"Spandex making you sentimental?" Rocky joked as he walked into the room, carrying a metal briefcase in his hands. He placed it on the counter and opened it to reveal five futuristic high-tech watches, each of them having a bezel and watch bands that matched the color of a Ranger. They each pulled out their appropriately colored watch and put them on; they fit perfectly. "I had Alpha make you guys these communicators. They've got some pretty neat features; you'll be able to talk to one another no matter how far away you are, you've got full access to the Rock of Power's teleportation network—"
Rider's eyes lit up.
"—But that doesn't mean you can just use them to go on free vacations."
And...nevermind.
"Only I get to do that. There's also a tracker and a universal translator in there because you just never know when aliens might show up. Thought I'd end things off with a present before I make myself scarce and let you guys celebrate. Keep up the good work."
As Rocky vanished back into the kitchen, Azurine grabbed hold of her blueberry smoothie and raised it aloft, proposing a toast. Indra joined in with his strawberry lemonade, Daok with his red cup of water, and lastly Umiko and Rider with their drinks.
"To being Rangers," she said.
"And to being friends," declared Daok.
Rider had one last statement of his own to add. "And to being really freaking awesome!"
With a clink of their glasses, the bonds that tied them all together were strengthened even further. A freshly birthed sense of determination shined in all of their eyes; a desire to protect their unity as strongly as they did their city. Perhaps the true source of their power wasn't their morphers or their weapons. Maybe, and it was a big maybe, their true power was their faith in each other.
When Hapaloct finally managed to drag his scorched and battered body into the Coralium Maximus, he had long since braced himself for Avalon to go into another rage-filled tirade. However, instead of finding him already on the warpath, he found his fellow general in a shockingly composed state. He was standing in the middle of the room with his hands behind his back. As a matter of fact, Avalon almost seemed… happy? Far too happy, to be honest. Maybe it had something to do with whatever he'd be working on all day?
"Armallyon's dead," Hapaloct proclaimed matter-of-factly. "Rangers put a hole through him with some newfangled weapon. Hate to say it, but they're getting stronger."
Avalon only let out a calm, confident laugh in response. His refusal to fly off the handle was seriously beginning to weird Hapaloct out. He pulled one of his hands out from behind his back, revealing something gently clutched in his palm. It was small, no bigger than four inches at most, and even more astonishingly it seemed to be alive! The minute creature in Avalon's palm was similar to a crustacean or insect with a segmented body, multiple little legs along its underbelly, and two miniscule silver dots for eyes. Its entire body, aside from the aforementioned eyes, was violet and gelatinous, not unlike Xini's slime. Avalon used one of his fingers to gently pet the strange animal, cooing at it as it were a baby.
"Xini and I have found new potential between her slime and a few shavings off my armor; a beautiful culmination of our powers. For there is truly nothing stronger than the power of new life. Because it isthrough this life that we shall bring about the Rangers' deaths."
THE END