A/N: Here is the next chapter of my Megaforce rewrite, which I've dubbed "Starforce". I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce/Starforce or Tensou Sentai Goseiger in any way. I just own most of the plot and the characters and things you don't recognize from the original version.

Thank you, mpsullivan, for helping out with the plot of this one.

~PRM~REDO~PRM~REDO~PRM~REDO~PRM~REDO~PRM~REDO~

"After an explosive argument with the others, Jake finds himself fighting against a dangerously observant monster on his own."

Sanctuary

Power Rangers: Megaforce REDO – dubbed Starforce

Season 1, Episode 8: Black Out

The Land Below

October 2, 2015

"Photohermes?" Creepox asked. "Who's that?"

"Our next Field Commander," Malkor said. "His abilities may prove to be useful to us."

"He is a researcher," Vrak explained, "and has very high observation skills."

"Indeed," Malkor said. "He has already begun to show results." He turned to the other end of the room, where Photohermes typed away at a console that was analyzing the entire planet of Earth.

"I see," he muttered. "This is how life on Earth functions. All we need to do is take away this component here. But first, I must take care of those Rangers."

~S~A~N~C~T~U~A~R~Y~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~T~A~R~F~O~R~C~E~~~M~E~G~A~F~O~R~C~E~~R~E~D~O~

Harwood County High School, Harwood County, Oregon

It was the last class of the day, on a Friday, and Mr. Burley was passing out the graded tests from Monday. Jake was scared, because he didn't do very well.

He was prepared to sigh before hiding it from everybody else by placing it in his folder.

But he was surprised when his paper read an A+, a full 100/100 marks. He checked the name to make sure he didn't get someone else's by accident, but it was sincerely his, as it read 'Jake Holling' in Jake's own handwriting.

The classroom was far from quiet, as people were discussing their grades with each other.

Noah turned around to face Jake (who always sat behind him), asking, "What grade did you get?"

Jake showed him his test paper, and Noah immediately grabbed it in disbelief.

"What?! How did you get a perfect score and I didn't?" Noah asked, before going through both tests side by side.

"You, the smartest kid in Hardwood County, didn't get every question right?" Jake asked, amused.

"No, I missed one," Noah replied, before finding the question he got wrong, and compared it to the answer Jake listed. "Oh, so the simplest answer was the correct one. Occam's razor indeed..."

"Occam's what?" Jake asked, confused.

"Occam's razor," Noah explained, "It's a principal that, in explaining something, no more assumptions should be made than are necessary. In your language, it basically means to keep things simple."

Jake chuckled, "I'm glad I could help." He turned to Emma and Gia when he heard his step-sister say, "You didn't get a perfect score, Gia? You normally do."

"No, but it's still an A-," Gia replied. "My parents will be just fine with it. Besides, I have my reasons for slacking."

He got a higher score than both Noah and Gia?! Jake couldn't stop his smile from growing. "You know, Gia," he said, "if you ever need some tutoring, you can always come to me."

Gia raised her eyebrow in amusement, "Yeah right."

"Don't laugh," Jake told her, still smiling, before showing her and Emma his test paper.

Emma smiled, "Nice job, Jake. You don't normally get high grades."

"It's a perfect job," Jake corrected. "This is my lucky day!"

Troy rolled his eyes while smiling.

~S~A~N~C~T~U~A~R~Y~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~T~A~R~F~O~R~C~E~~~M~E~G~A~F~O~R~C~E~~R~E~D~O~

Misty Elderberry Forest, Harwood County, Oregon

After class was let out, Noah led the others to their training ground. They all took of their jackets in avoid getting them dirty.

"So what formation do you want us to practice, Noah?" Emma asked.

"It's an attack formation that will allow us to utilize our skills more effectively in battle," Noah explained.

"How does it work?" Troy asked.

"Jake and Gia head off to either side," Noah said, and the two Rangers went to the places he pointed out to them, Jake on one side and Gia on the other. "Out of sight, out of mind. I stay in the middle," He stood in between Jake and Gia, all of them facing the same direction, "while Troy and Emma stand in front of me." Troy and Emma took their position. "The three of us will keep our opponent's focus on us. When the signal is given, we all run to whichever enemy we're facing. I shoot first, then Emma fires, and Troy will follow up with a strike. Then, Jake and Gia will strike the enemy at the same time from opposite sides. Any questions?"

"Of course not," Jake bragged. "I got this. Haven't you heard? Today's my lucky day!"

The other four Rangers had decided, when still at school, to let Jake have his victory of getting a perfect score when nobody else did. After all, it wasn't often that he had wins like that.

But now, he was being annoying.

"Don't let it get to your head, Jake," Troy warned.

"Sorry, sorry," Jake waved off his apology just as their Morphers went off.

"Rangers, there is a monster at the plaza," Gosei told them.

"We're on our way, Gosei," Troy assured, before the five grabbed their jackets and took off.

~S~A~N~C~T~U~A~R~Y~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~T~A~R~F~O~R~C~E~~~M~E~G~A~F~O~R~C~E~~R~E~D~O~

Silver Cathedral Plaza, Harwood County, Oregon

The Rangers (fully morphed already) stopped a monster from attacking civilians. "Monster!" Troy called out. "Whatever your plan is, we're here to stop it!"

"Hello, Rangers!" Photohermes politely greeted them. "I've been expecting you. I am the Field Commander Photohermes. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too!" Jake said, stretching out one of his arms, before pulling out a Card. "Shine Down!"

"Summon Battle Gear!"

"Snake Axe!" Jake called, before turning to the others, who had also summoned their weapons. "New battle formation! Let's go!"

"Right!"

And the five charged, first taking the places that Noah had told them to.

Photohermes laughed, "You Rangers have no idea how much this will benefit my research!"

Troy went first, then Emma. Coming up on the rear, Noah jumped up and shot at the monster first, "Shark Bowgun!" and the hit successfully landed.

Troy and Emma both jumped up, and Emma blasted him, "Phoenix Shot!" Another successful hit.

"Dragon Sword!" Troy executed his strike perfectly.

Then, from across each other, Jake and Gia both struck at Photohermes.

"Snake Axe!"

"Tiger Claw!"

Both hits landed square on, and Jake turned around and struck him again. Photohermes went flying.

"Ha! Did you see how great I did?" Jake started bragging again. "Flawless!"

"Hey!" Emma suddenly shouted at him. "Don't take the credit all for yourself! We're a team!"

Jake was immediately irked off. Would they stop bugging him about this? "Excuse you?! Stop raining on my parade!"

"Cut it out!" Troy jumped in. "Focus on the enemy, not each other!"

"It's his/her fault!" Jake and Emma both said in unison, talking about each other other.

Meanwhile, Gia leaned in close to Noah, "Did that seem a little too easy to you?"

"Yeah," Noah replied, suspicious.

Photohermes surprised them all by quickly getting back to his feet, as if he was never hit, "Thank you, Rangers, for giving me more information that I could have possible hoped for. You just told me that you guys are weak, both physically and bond-wise. Goodbye!"

He then turned invisible, and Troy waited for a moment, but nothing happened. So he turned back to Jake and Emma, "Guys, what was that about?" He was calm, merely confused, but Jake blew up.

"You guys are always breaking me down! Every time something good happens to me, you guys always take it away somehow! I don't get anything, not even things I work hard for!" Jake yelled. "Troy's a better fighter, Noah's the smartest one, Emma's the best and reading actions, and Gia just beats me in everything! I've always been jealous of all of you, but not anymore!"

"Jake," Troy cut in. "Calm down."

"Yeah, we need to come up with a plan to beat that monster," Noah said.

"And we have to be smart about it," Gia added. "He said he was being willfully weak in order to gather more information."

"She's right," Noah said. "We need to be careful."

"Or maybe you guys can stay out of this," Jake shot back. "I bet I can handle him all by myself!"

"Jake, wait!" Emma cried. "That's crazy! You'll get killed!"

"No, I'll get killed only if I stay with you losers!" Jake said, before running off the battlefield, leaving a speechless team in his wake.

~S~A~N~C~T~U~A~R~Y~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~T~A~R~F~O~R~C~E~~~M~E~G~A~F~O~R~C~E~~R~E~D~O~

The Land Below

Photohermes processed the data he received while fighting the Rangers.

Malkor walked up from behind him, "Have you finished your research yet?"

"I have," Photohermes replied. "I now have enough data to take out the Rangers for good."

"Perfect," Malkor said. "Locate the Rangers' base tomorrow, and destory it. Then we'll talk more."

Vrak and Creepox eavesdropped from outside the room.

~S~A~N~C~T~U~A~R~Y~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~T~A~R~F~O~R~C~E~~~M~E~G~A~F~O~R~C~E~~R~E~D~O~

Holling-Goodall Household, Bunlin Acres, Hardwood County, Oregon

Jake stewed in anger that night, while sitting on his bed. How could his teammates just shoot him down like that? He was celebrating! They had no right!

A knock came to his door, and Jake didn't have to guess who it was. He already knew.

"Go away, Emma! I'm not in the mood."

She stayed anyways, "I'm not leaving. We need to talk."

"There's nothing for us to talk about."

Emma opened his door, her face holding an unamused expression, "Yes, there is."

Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Do you always barge into people's rooms uninvited?"

"Nope," she replied, before sitting down on his bed, in front of him. "I always wait, but you made me break that rule."

"Why? I'm no one special," he shot back, reminding her of their fight.

She stood her ground against his guilt-tripping, "Because we're saving the world, Jake. We can't do anything that will split us apart. Remember, we all need to fight."

Jake visibly deflated, and Emma sighed in relief when he told her, "Fine. What do you want?"

"To tell you that we are not your enemies," Emma calmly replied. "We understand that victories don't come to you very often."

"Then why did you guys tear me down?" Jake immediately asked.

"Because there's a difference between celebrating a victory and bragging about it," Emma's words made him stop and think. "Celebrating makes people want to celebrate with you, but bragging only makes people dislike you more. It's okay if you celebrate, Jake, but try not to let your ego get inflated. Be humble about it."

"I'm sorry," Jake replied. "Sincerely, this time. I have no excuse for acting like a jerk."

"It's okay," Emma smiled. "I forgive you. The others, I'm not sure about."

"I'll apologize to them tomorrow," he said. "We can come up with a plan to beat Photohermes then." He paused, allowing silence to overtake the two for a moment. "Hey, Em, did our parents ever tell you how they met?"

Emma shook her head, "Nope. We can ask tomorrow. I bet it was romantic."

"I hope not," Jake replied. "I don't want to become nauseous."

Emma giggled, and Jake started chuckling with her.

The laughing subsided, and Emma heard him said, "Emma? Thanks. For everything."

She shot him a smile, "No problem."

~S~A~N~C~T~U~A~R~Y~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~T~A~R~F~O~R~C~E~~~M~E~G~A~F~O~R~C~E~~R~E~D~O~

Misty Elderberry Forest, Harwood County, Oregon

October 3, 2015

Troy, Noah, and Gia turned to face Jake and Emma when they joined them at the training ground the next morning. They stood there, waiting for Jake to speak first.

And he started off with an apology, "Look guys, I'm sorry about my behavior yesterday. I was being a total jerk, and there's no excuse for it."

A pause, before Gia smiled, "It's okay, Jake. We forgive you."

"As long as you promise that you never do that again," Noah added.

"I won't," Jake immediately said. "I promise."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, though, Jake," Troy advised. "We're all flawed." Jake shot a small smile, before letting Troy continue, this time addressing all of them, "Now, we need a plan to fight Photohermes. Remember that he's dangerously observant, so don't be too predictable."

"He said he was being willfully weak," Noah warned. "There's no telling what he'll do now."

"Or how strong he'll be," Gia added.

Their Morphers went off in that moment, just as the forest next to them suddenly disappeared.

He was back.

~S~A~N~C~T~U~A~R~Y~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~T~A~R~F~O~R~C~E~~~M~E~G~A~F~O~R~C~E~~R~E~D~O~

The monster had somehow made an entire section of the forest disappear. There was nothing left but the dirt that the plants grew in.

"Photohermes!" Jake called.

The monster turned around, "Hello, Rangers. My apologizes, but I no longer need you. My research is complete."

"What did you do to the trees?" Emma asked.

"Oh, my research showed me that getting rid of a crucial source of oxygen will cause the human race to die out naturally," Photohermes explained. "I was about to destroy more plant life until I was rudely interrupted by you pests."

Jake's fists clenched. "You won't get away with this! It's Morphin' Time!"

The five pulled out their Morphers and respective Power Cards. They inserted the Power Cards into the Morphers and activated them. "Starforce, Shine Down!"

Once morphed, Troy began the rollcall, "Fury of the Dragon, Starforce Red!"

"Flames of the Phoenix, Starforce Pink!" Emma called.

"Venom of the Snake, Starforce Black!" Jake called.

"Claw of the Tiger, Starforce Yellow!" Gia called.

"Bite of the Shark, Starforce Blue!" Noah called.

"Earth's Defenders, Never Surrender!" Jake began. "Power Rangers-"

"Starforce!" they all finished, with Jake in the middle, Gia and Emma on either side of him, and Noah and Troy on the ends.

Stick together, Jake told himself. Work as a team. That way, you can't lose.

Photohermes brought out his weapon, and so did the Rangers.

"Shine Down!"

"Summon Battle Gear!"

"Let's go!" Jake led the formation.

The five took their places, but this time, when Noah jumped to shoot his Bowgun, Photohermes jumped up with him and easily blocked the shot. "First I take down Blue, the lynchpin of the formation."

Troy and Emma both watched in horror as the monster easily struck Noah down.

The monster then turned to them and charged. "Then I take down Red and Pink, the shield."

He struck down Emma before Troy met the same fate.

Jake and Gia charged at him, "And finally, I take down Black and Yellow, the insurance."

The two Land Rangers swung, but missed since the monster jumped up to avoid it. He then landed before easily taking them down as well.

Lying on the ground, Jake muttered, "Noah and Gia were right. He is much stronger than he let on."

The Rangers regrouped, as Photohermes laughed, "Because I've learned everything I need to know about you!" He then threw bolts of energy at them, and they all hit the Rangers dead on, as he commented, "You no longer pose any threat to the Land Below." The Rangers landed on the ground, hearing the monster continue to laugh at them, "And now that your interference is no longer foreseen, I can continue my operation. Goodbye!"

He took off, just as Jake managed to stumble to his feet, "Oh no, you don't! Snake Headder: Shine Down!"

"Summon Snake Headder!"

Jake attached it to his Blaster and aimed it directly at Photohermes, who was flying away while laughing gleefully. Jake let the fin, the target scanner, lock on the target before he fired.

"Snake Star: Full Blast!"

And the shot hit him directly, causing the monster to fall to the ground, and Jake immediately chased after him.

To be honest, he wasn't thinking logically. His instincts had instead taken over.

~S~A~N~C~T~U~A~R~Y~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~T~A~R~F~O~R~C~E~~~M~E~G~A~F~O~R~C~E~~R~E~D~O~

Gemstone Park, Harwood County, Oregon

Photohermes fell to the ground, and Jake arrived at the scene not longer after, his Axe in hand and in a defensive position.

"Black Ranger!" the monster growled. "I told you that you are no match for me!"

"Don't bet everything on your research!" Jake said, before rushing at him.

Jake grabbed Photohermes by the face and ran, while holding the face, a ways, before using the momentum to throw the monster against nearby boulders. He then performed a heel kick, before kicking the monster in the stomach.

"Snake Axe!" Jake performed a backflip, before striking Photohermes with his Axe.

The other four Rangers managed to catch up just in time to see Photohermes explode.

"Wow, Jake!" Emma said.

"That was pretty epic," Gia added.

"It wasn't anything special," Jake honestly admitted. "I didn't really have a plan. I just used my instincts."

"Impulsiveness," Noah realized before sighing. "Occam's razor. Again. The simplest solution is usually the correct one."

Jake chuckled, "Don't be so down, Noah. That's why we're a team."

Just then, the Zombats came flying in and revived Photohermes to giant size, "My research is always flawless!"

"Let's go!" Jake said.

"Mechazords, Shine Down!"

"Summon Zords!"

The monster analyzed their Zords after they hopped in, "I see. The Snake Zord forms the legs. So if I focus all my attacks there, they won't be able to form their Megazord!" He then energy bolts at the Snake Zord.

"Jake, watch out!" Jake heard the others tell him over the comm.

He immediately turned Snake around, only for Photohermes to slam his foot down on top of it, preventing it from moving.

"Say goodbye, Black Ranger!" the monster said as he started to stomp on Snake repeatedly.

"Again, don't rely on your research so much!" Jake said, before pulling out another Card. "Land Brothers, Shine Down!"

"Summon Zords!"

From the land, out came the Tyranno, Beetle, and Rhino Zords, ready for battle.

"What?!" Photohermes exclaimed in surprise. "My research didn't include them!"

"Land Brothers: Attack!" Jake ordered.

Beetle shot first, before headbutting the monster. Rhino attacked him with its drill. Finally, Tyranno shot torpedos from its mouth, knocking the monster back and setting Snake free.

"Nice job, Jake!" Gia said.

"Thanks! Let's do this!"

"Activate Land Star Megazord!"

"Summon Megazord!"

The three Zords attached themselves to the Megazord, creating the said Megazord right off the bat. This was the Megazord that Photohermes stood up only to find himself facing.

"Fine, let's fight brute force with brute force," the monster said, before charging.

However, the Megazord was far better at it, blocking his attacks and kicking him to catch him off-guard.

"It's over," Jake said, as he held up the Victory Charge Power Card.

"Victory Charge: Shine Down! On behalf of The Land Beyond, your sentence is destruction! Land Strike!"

"Victory Charge!"

Photohermes was finally destroyed for the last time, and the Rangers cheered.

~S~A~N~C~T~U~A~R~Y~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~T~A~R~F~O~R~C~E~~~M~E~G~A~F~O~R~C~E~~R~E~D~O~

Holling-Goodall Household, Bunlin Acres, Hardwood County, Oregon

"You want to know how we met?" Emma's father, Jonathon, asked as the four ate dinner that night. "Where'd this come from?"

"Yeah, you two have never shown an interest in that story before this," Jake's mother, Daisy, added.

Jake and Emma shared a brief look with each other, before Jake admitted, "We were wrong."

"We were," Emma jumped in. "So, how did you guys meet? Was it romantic? Love at first sight?"

"Or was it funny?" Jake asked. "Something unexpected."

The two adults shared a glance, before smiling. Daisy began, "Well, I was at a bar with one of my friends, and she convinced me to go to a speed dating program at the local college. I don't know how she managed to convince me, or why I listened to her," Jake smiled, "but I'm glad I did. To be honest, I wasn't have a good time at first. The first few men I met weren't my type and only managed to annoy me, including a man who only ever repeated anything I said."

"Oh God," Emma muttered.

Daisy giggled, "Yeah, that was my reaction too. Fortunately, the man right after him was Jonathon."

Jonathon took over the story, "When I first met her, she accused me of copying her like the last man, but we quickly became good friends, and it was obvious that she felt comfortable being her true self around me, especially since my friend also convinced me somehow to come." Emma smiled. "We got to talking, and before we knew it, it was time to switch. But we didn't want to, so the two of us quickly agreed to leave together. So we did. We went to the local diner and continued our conversation over some pie."

"Key lime," Daisy cut in with a smile.

"Both of our favorites," Jonathon added. "The conversation eventually turned to you two, specifically how we both have children of the opposite genders as us, and how they needed a role model in their life that they could look up to, and how both of our spouses were both lost to death."

"So, we decided to stay friends in the very least," Daisy took over. "Eventually, it turned into love, then marraige, and finally, us becoming one family."

Emma was smiling so hard, her cheeks were starting to hurt, "That's so sweet."

"So, you guys...bonded over us?" Jake asked.

"Sort of," his mother replied. "We bonded over how similar we were."

"Yeah," Jonathon gave one last word of advice. "Just remember that the best relationships can come from the most unlikeliest of people."

Jake and Emma shared one last glance before smiling, both obviously being reminded of not only themselves, but also Troy, Noah, and Gia.

They were all from different cliques, but they had gotten close.

Who knows where things would go from here?

~PRM~REDO~PRM~REDO~PRM~REDO~PRM~REDO~PRM~REDO~

Original Goseiger Episode: Epic 7

Original PRM Episode: N/A

Note: The story of how Jake's mom and Emma's dad met was inspired by Reba's "Switch".

Also, sorry about the awkward ending, but I couldn't think of any other way to end.

A/N: Review, please. Tell me what you think. If you guys have any ideas you want me to consider adding, or any questions about the story, please PM me. A preview for the next chapter:

Season 1, Episode 9: "Grass is Always Greener"

"An ancient enemy returns on the anniversary of the death of one of Land Beyond's greatest friends. But why was Noah getting these memories?"