A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm glad you like it! This chapter is longer than the others, and I think it's much better. It shows more of the personalities of the characters. I'm going to do what SPD did and have introductory episodes for each of the characters that focus on them. This episode is Dan's episode. Enjoy!

Episode 3: Trial by Fire

Daniel McCue sat at a booth in the Overclocked Café waiting for his friends to show up. He was sipping a smoothie and looking around him at the other students who were there. Although this place had only been open for two days now, it had become a popular hang out spot amongst teens. Will had had to hire another worker, because the load had quickly become too much for Del to handle by himself. He hired Beth, but she wasn't working until later that day.

Dan checked his watch, which was, of course, also his morpher. It read 2:47. The others were supposed to be here by 3:00, meaning that he still had a while to wait. His mind wandered back to the events of yesterday. In one day, he had learned so much, and he had changed so much as well. He felt that he was no longer a normal high school student; careless and carefree, and perfectly happy to be that way. Now, he had responsibility beyond what anyone else his age had, besides, of course, his friends and fellow Rangers. He was a super hero now, and it was his job to protect the Earth from the Chaos Three. It seemed almost too much to bear.

Of course, it wasn't as if the responsibility was his alone. He still had his team mates to help him. He remembered, though, that Will had said that Dan, as the Red Ranger, was supposed to be the leader. He was the one who would make the important decisions; he was the one who the others would follow. That thought kind of scared him. It meant that most of the responsibility was still his, and that a lot of pressure would be put on him to make the right choices. He only hoped that he wouldn't screw things up.

All of a sudden, Dan felt a tap on his shoulder. He jumped in surprise and turned around to see Tiz there laughing at him.

"You should have seen the look on your face, dude," said the Yellow Ranger as he sat on the other side of the booth.

"Sorry," Dan said, laughing as well. "I was just thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself now," Tiz said, smiling. Dan just shook his head at him. "You thinking about what happened yesterday?"

"Of course," the Red Ranger said. "What else would I be thinking about?" At that moment, Peg walked in. From where Dan was sitting, his back was facing her, but Tiz could see her perfectly. He gestured towards her, a playful smile on his face.

"I don't know," he said simply, grinning at his friend. "What else would you be thinking about?" Dan gave him a confused look as Peg came over and sat next to him.

"Hello, boys," she said, smiling. "How are we today?" Her voice was bright and bouncy, signifying that she was in a good mood today.

"Well, considering what happened yesterday, I'm okay, I guess," Tiz said, shrugging his shoulders. Beth walked up then and sat next to him, yawning.

"I didn't get any sleep last night," she said, her voice showing her tiredness. "I was up all night thinking about…you know what." The others at the table nodded.

"It was the same with me," Peg said.

"Me too," said Dan. "But, I'm up all night anyways, so I'm not tired at all." He grinned, and the others laughed a little, knowing that it was true.

"Me three," Tiz agreed.

"Me four," came the voice of Sean as he walked up to the table. "So, what are we talking about?" He chuckled as he sat next to Peg. Beth felt a twinge of disappointment that he hadn't sat next to her, but she was careful not to show it.

"Nothing, Sean," Peg said with a chuckle. "Never mind."

"Okay." Sean just smiled. Silence filled the table as Del walked up.

"Hey, Beth," he said, looking at his coworker.

"Hi, Del," she answered, smiling a bit shyly.

"Can I get you guys anything?" Del took out his notebook and pen and prepared to take orders. After everyone had ordered, he walked away to the counter.

"Interesting day yesterday, wasn't it?" Sean asked after a pause.

"Yep," Tiz said simply.

Dan sighed. "I guess we can only hope that they won't attack again today."

On the other side of town, in the abandoned tower where the Chaos Three dwelt, Rufus also sighed. The defeats yesterday had been hard on all of them, but Stephen had taken them the worst. He was in one of his moods where you couldn't even talk to him without getting blasted with Dark Fire. Right now, he was in his room, mulling over a new plan he was trying to come up with. Erica was in her room as well, doing who knew what. Rufus was the only one in the main room, and he was bored.

Peering through the telescope, he saw the five new Rangers sitting at a table in Will's café, talking. He wished that he could hear what they were saying. At least that would be entertaining on this uneventful day. Sighing again, he left the telescope and wandered into his room. Lying on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling. He brought his hands out in front of him and pointed his fingers at each other, sending little lightning bolts across the gap. He smiled. It was always fun to use his powers, even in small amounts. Just then, Erica walked in and sat on the foot of Rufus' bed, giving him a strange look.

"Stephen said not to use our powers lightly," she said.

Rufus chuckled. "Stephen said a lot of things I don't care to listen to." Erica laughed as well, nodding in agreement.

"This is such a boring day," she said after a pause. "I wish Stephen would come up with some sort of plan. At least then we'd have something to do."

"Yeah," Rufus said, sighing again. He thought for a second before saying anything else. "Do you ever wish that we could have stayed on Trienith?" Erica looked at him coldly, beginning to feel angry. They had already gone over this a million times. But, when she saw how serious and sincere he looked, her anger melted.

"Yeah," she said with an effort. "I do. But, we both know why we had to leave."

"Of course," Rufus said. "But, I just wish that it was possible for us to have stayed. This planet is so different from home."

"I know," Erica agreed. "I…" At that moment, she was cut off by Stephen coming into the room. He motioned for them to follow him.

"I may have a plan that will help us defeat those teenagers," he said, his voice dull and emotionless. The two followed him out of the room, hoping that he was right.

When Dan awoke the next morning, he immediately knew that something was wrong. It didn't take long to figure out what it was as the strong smell of smoke floated towards him. His room was filled with the black smoke as he looked around, trying to see where it was coming from. Jumping out of bed, he rushed out of his room and found the fire extinguisher in the closet. Running back to his room, he now saw the flames coming from his carpet at the foot of his bed. He turned on the extinguisher and sprayed carbon dioxide all over until the fire was out. It didn't take very long, because he had caught it before it had a chance to spread.

Sitting on his bed, he heaved a sigh of relief and set the extinguisher on the ground next to him. As he waited for his heart to stop racing and his breathing to return to normal, Dan tried to think about what could have caused this. It didn't seem logical that a fire could start in such a random place in his room for no reason…

Then, it hit him. He looked at his hands oddly. Was there any way that he could have done it in his sleep with his new power? But, no, he thought. That was impossible. He had perfect control over his power, right? Of course he did. Then, how did the fire start? He decided not to think about that as he checked the clock. It was almost 8:00, which meant that he was the only person in the house. His father and his brother would be at work now, which was good for him. It meant that they wouldn't have to know about the fire.

Dan remembered that he was supposed to meet his friends at the Overclocked Café at 9:00 that morning. Although he still had an hour, he decided to go now. He really didn't want to be in the house anymore. He dressed quickly and headed out to his car.

If he had still been in his room, he would have heard the soft, dark laughter that was coming from the corner. He would also have noticed that there seemed to be nothing there causing the laughter. But, as the laughter grew louder and more menacing, a figure began to appear in the area where it was coming from. Soon, it was apparent who the figure was. It was Stephen, leaning up against the wall, an evil smirk on his face, tossing a fireball in his hand. As soon as he had fully materialized, he gave one last look at the room he was in, then he teleported out in a red light.

Stephen appeared in the large room in the tower. Rufus and Erica, who had been alternating watching through the telescope, walked over to him and smiled.

"The plan worked perfectly, Stephen," Erica said, smirking.

"Of course it did," he said, smiling as well. "But that was only phase one. Next time, it will be a lot bigger." With that, he walked off into his room and closed the door behind him. Rufus and Erica looked at each other, then they went to their respective rooms as well.

Dan walked into the café at 8:15. His brow was wrinkled with worry and deep thought. He sat at the same table they had sat at yesterday and stared at the top of it, his mind wandering. At this hour of the morning, the place was quiet, and there weren't many people here yet. Del was on the other side of the counter cleaning dishes, and Will was sitting on one of the stools, reading something or other. When he noticed Dan come in, though, he put down his book and walked across the café. He sat on the other side of the table from Dan and looked at him.

"You don't look so good today," he said, concern in his voice. "Is anything wrong?"

Dan hesitated before continuing. Did he really want to tell Will what had happened? Sighing, he decided that he could trust Will with this information, so he told him about the events of that morning. "Is there really any way that my powers could have gone out of control?" he asked when he was finished.

"Well," Will said slowly. "It's not unheard of. I do remember that some of the chosen people have had problems controlling their powers." Seeing the worried expression on Dan's face, he put his hand on his arm, which was resting on the table, and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, though," he said. "You'll get the hang of it eventually. At least no serious harm was caused."

"Yeah," Dan said half-heartedly. "At least that."

Will got up then and went back to the counter, realizing that the Red Ranger probably needed some time alone right now. It wasn't long, though, before Beth came in. She was supposed to work that day. She went up to the counter and smiled at Will.

"Some crowd this morning, eh?" she said, laughing. Will chuckled a little. "So, do you have anything for me to do right now?"

"Well," he said. "Del is about done with the dishes, and there's no one here yet, so, no, I really don't have anything for you to do. You can just hang out until people start coming, okay?"

"Okay!" Beth said in a cheerful voice. She went over to the table where Dan was sitting. Seeing the look on his face, she became worried. "Hey, Dan, is something wrong?" she asked. He looked up at her as she sat across from him.

"Yes," he said. "But, I'll explain when the others come. I don't really feel like telling it 5 times." With that, he continued staring at the table. All was silent until the others came around 9:00. When they had all sat down at the table, Dan explained once more what had happened that morning.

Peg put her arm around Dan's shoulder. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm sure it won't happen again. You'll get the hang of it."

"Yeah," Sean said. "These powers will just take some getting used to." Dan smiled at them.

"Thanks, guys," he said in a quiet voice. "I hope you're right."

"Me too," Tiz said, grinning. "Or, at least I hope that if your power does go out of control again, I'm not around when it happens." Everyone had to laugh at that, even Dan. Conversation continued as usual, and after a while more people began flocking into the café.

"I guess that's my cue," Beth said, standing up. "I'll talk to you guys later!" She waved and they waved back at her as she began to work, taking orders from the people who had just come in.

Suddenly, Dan got the same feeling he had gotten that morning. The feeling that something wasn't right. To his horror, the same smell that had greeted him that morning was coming back; the smell of smoke and fire. He looked around to see where it was coming from. It didn't take long to find it. An empty table near them was engulfed in flame, and people were rushing out of the café.

"Oh, no," Dan whispered as he and his friends stood up. They were about to leave the café as well when Peg spoke up.

"Wait," she said. "I think I can put it out." She walked up to the table, which was burning intensely, and put her hands out in front of her. A large gush of water began to flow from them, attacking the flames on the table. Soon, they were out completely, but so was Peg. She teetered for a few moments, then began to fall backwards. Luckily, Dan was close enough to catch her before she hit the ground.

Will came rushing up. "What happened?" he asked breathlessly. "How did that fire start?"

"I can only begin to imagine," Dan said grimly as he laid Peg gently on the floor. Then, he stood up and walked out of the café, ignoring the voices of his friends behind him. He got into his car and started driving. He didn't know where he was going. All he knew was that it was anywhere but here.

Back at the café, Del walked up to the Rangers as they stood near the ruins of the table and the unconscious Peg on the floor. His eyes and mouth were open wide with shock.

"How in the world…?" he breathed, staring at them in confusion. Will put his hands on his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Del," he said. "Promise me that you won't tell anyone what you just saw, okay?"

"But, how could I?" the boy responded. "I'm not even entirely sure what I just saw…" His voice trailed off in confusion. Will smiled at him and shook his head.

Stephen teleported back to the tower for the second time that day. Erica and Rufus greeted him, smiling.

"That was awesome!" Erica exclaimed. "The Red Ranger really thinks his powers are going out of control!"

"Yep," Rufus said, nodding enthusiastically.

"It's only a matter of time before he becomes afraid of his power," Stephen said, grinning evilly. "The best way to take down a team is to take out their leader. Without him, the others will be powerless to stop us. We just have to convince him that he has no control over his power, and then, he will never use it again. I think maybe one or two 'accidents' might push him over the edge." He made a fireball in his hand as he said this, his eyes glowing with red flame. He gave his evil laugh again. "Send me to where he is, Rufus," he said, looking at the younger boy.

"Okay, Stephen," Rufus said. As soon as he said his name, the oldest member of the Chaos Three teleported away in a flash of red light.

He reappeared near a small bar that was located right outside of town. It was a rather secluded area, and there were few other buildings around it. Just as Stephen teleported, Dan drove up in his car and parked. The bar was rather crowded that day, and Dan had to park kind of far away, which normally would have annoyed him. Today, though, he felt too depressed to be annoyed. He was too deep in his thoughts to notice that as he walked through the door of the bar, a deep laughter echoed next to him.

He sat at a table near the door, staring at the wall. It was the only table where no one was sitting. Everywhere else in the bar was crowded, and the place was noisy. Dan didn't care, though. He did some of his best thinking in loud places like this. As a waitress came up to ask for his order, the feeling of something being wrong came back. A sense of dread flooded over Dan as he smelled smoke for the third time that day. Turning around, he saw that the fire was at the bar behind the counter, and it was spreading fast. Most of the things in this bar were made of wood, so they would burn quickly.

Smoke hung thickly in the air as people began scrambling for the door. It wasn't long before everyone was out of the bar and standing in the parking lot, watching as the flames took over the small building. Tears of shame, guilt, and frustration fell from Dan's eyes as he walked off to his car. Starting the engine, he drove home quickly. When he got there, he ran into his room and grabbed a suitcase from his closet. Throwing it on the bed, he began to pack clothes and other important things in it. When he was finished, he closed the suitcase and picked it up, heading back out to his car.

Dan drove straight to the café. When he got there, he found that the others were still there, cleaning up the mess from where the table had burned. Dan wiped the tears from his eyes and went inside. When they saw him enter, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and ran over to him.

"Dan!" Peg cried. "Where did you go? We were worried about you." The Red Ranger looked at them solemnly.

"Guys," he said. "I'm leaving. My powers are too out of control, and I have to go somewhere where no one can be hurt by them." He turned and faced Will. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to find someone else to be the Red Ranger." Will shook his head.

"There is no one else, Dan," he said. "The Element of Fire chose you, and, to quote Lord of the Rings, 'if you do not find a way, no one will.'"

"Then I guess no one will." With that Dan turned around and was about to leave when Peg ran over to him and grabbed his arm.

"Dan," she said softly. "You can't leave…" He turned and looked at her.

"I have to," he said. "It's too dangerous. I…I don't want to hurt anyone…"

Sean walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"You won't," he said. "Please don't go, Dan. We need you here…" His voice was cut off by a soft, evil laughter coming from a corner of the room.

"What the heck is that?" Beth asked as everyone turned to face the corner.

"I don't know," Tiz said. "But I know one way to find out." He put a hand forward and shot an electric bolt towards the sound. The laughing was cut off by a loud scream of pain, and a figure materialized in the corner. It was a man, crouched on his hands and knees, clutching his chest in pain, glaring at them in anger.

"Who are you?" Peg asked, giving him the same glare he was giving them.

"It's Stephen," Will answered in an emotionless tone. "The leader of the Chaos Three and the wielder of the Dark Fire." The others looked at Will, then back at Stephen, who had now stood up.

"It's good to know you still remember me, Will," he said, grinning evilly at him. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" He made a fire ball in his hand and began to toss it up and down, catching it each time.

"It was you who started those fires, wasn't it?" Will asked. It was obvious by his tone that he knew he was right.

"Very good, William," Stephen said, sarcasm evident in his voice. "You're just as smart as I remember you. You've discovered my plan. It was simple enough. Make the Red Ranger think his powers were going out of control so that he would leave, rendering his team helpless. It was a good plan. I'm only sorry that I got caught up in the moment and ruined it." He smirked at them. "Oh, well," he said. "At least it was entertaining while it lasted."

Dan clenched his fists and glared at Stephen. If looks could kill, the leader of the Chaos Three would have died instantly. Dan growled in anger and ran forward, his fist ready to punch Stephen. Unfortunately, the instant that Dan would have touched him, he teleported away in a red glow, his laughter echoing throughout the room.

Stephen appeared back in the tower and looked at his companions.

"Well, the plan has failed," he sighed. "We might as well give them a little battle to end the day, right? Erica, got any ideas?" The girl nodded.

"Yep," she said. "I've been working on this one all day."

"Good," Stephen said. "Let's do this, shall we?" The other two nodded as they formed a circle again. The monster materialized in the middle of them. It looked strong enough, Stephen decided. "All right, Rufus. Send him out there."

Rufus smiled. "Let's see," he said, pondering. "You're name shall be Taxonith." As soon as the name was given, the monster teleported away in a deep purple light.

Much to the annoyance of the Rangers still at the café, a monster appeared outside. Sighing, they went out after it.

"Ready, guys?" Dan asked, anger simmering in his voice. They nodded.

"Element, Fire!"

"Element, Water!"

"Element, Wind!"

"Element, Earth!"

"Element, Thunder!"

The five teens morphed into the Element Storm Power Rangers and began to fight the monster. They called out their weapons and began to attack all at once. The monster was just as strong as he looked, though, and the battle was tough. Dan slashed at Taxonith with his sword, but the monster kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Beth jumped in and kicked the monster, stabbing it with her daggers. She too was kicked back, though. Peg and Tiz flipped in and used their weapons together, fighting side by side. Sean came up from behind and shot an arrow at Taxonith's head. The monster cried out in pain and threw Peg and Tiz out of his way.

"I think it's time to put them together, guys," Beth suggested. They nodded, and they put their weapons together.

"Ready, aim, fire!" they cried in unison, and Dan fired the weapon at Taxonith's chest. The monster exploded instantly, leaving only a pile of ash where he had once been.

Stephen growled in anger. How could they have defeated Taxonith so quickly? He glared at Erica.

"Next time, come up with something better," he said. With that, he stormed off to his room. The other two members of the Chaos Three just looked at each other. They laughed nervously, then went off to their rooms as well.

A/N:

lil Cwick: I'm glad you like Tiz's name. His friends actually do call him that!

juzblue: Actually, the sai was chosen by the Yellow Ranger in my RP on Ranger-Power. I looked up a picture of it, and it's pretty much a dagger-type sword, I think. It's a bit longer than most daggers.