A/N: Here's the next chapter, guys. Sorry it took so long to get it up. I changed how I was going to write it about 10 times. lol Anyways, this is Peg's episode. Next will come Tiz's ep, then Beth's, then Sean's. This episode is a lot longer than my other eps. Enjoy!
Episode 4: Water Pressure
The Chaos Three each stood in different places in the main room in their tower, each doing different things. Stephen was gazing through the telescope as usual, watching every move the new Power Rangers were making. Rufus was off in a corner of the room, sitting up against the wall, reading something or other. When Erica had asked him what he was reading earlier, he had hid it behind his back, blushing profusely, refusing to let her see it. Normally, she would have forced him to let her see it, but this time, she had decided to just let it go. Now, she was in another part of the room, leaning against a wall, staring off into space. She let out a loud sigh.
"I'm bored," she said, surprised at how loud her voice sounded after the long silence. The others gave a start and looked at her for a second, one with anger, the other with pity. Stephen gave her an icy stare before turning back to the telescope.
"Then do something," he said in a toneless voice.
"But, there's nothing to do," she said, walking over to a window and looking out of it. "I wish I could go out there for a while." This time, Stephen gave her his full attention.
"What!" he cried. "And jeopardize our secrecy? Don't you even think about doing that."
"Wait," Erica said, holding her hands in front of her. "I have an idea. If I go out there, I could make friends with the Rangers and get them to trust me. If I do that, I can find out everything about them; their strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, pet peeves, fears, anything that could be useful to our plan. What do you say, Stephen?"
The oldest member of the Chaos Three looked at her thoughtfully.
"Hmm," he said. "You might have something there. Alright, you can go, but, whatever happens, don't let Will see you. The others won't recognize you, of course, but he did recognize me, and he will know you if he sees you as well." Erica smiled.
"No worries, Stephen," she said in a cheerful voice. "I'll be sure to stay away from him." She turned to the youngest of the Chaos Three, who was watching them with interest. "Rufus, a little help?" He nodded at her.
"Good luck, Erica," he said. The instant he said her name, Erica teleported away.
Peggy Ryan sat in the park, leaning against a tree. She had a notebook in her lap and a pen in her hand. The page the notebook was open too was almost filled with writing, and the pen was still scribbling along the lines as Peg continued to write. Writing fanfiction, as she was doing now, was one of her favorite pass times. Luckily, the park was quiet right then, so she could write in peace. Normally, there were kids running around, playing and screaming, interrupting her thoughts. She continued to come here to work, though, because she seemed to get her best inspirations in this park.
Suddenly, though, to her annoyance, a flock of kids appeared and began playing a noisy game of tag right behind her. Apparently, the tree she was sitting under was "safe". Sighing loudly, she knew that she would never get any peace now. Standing up, she closed her notebook and walked away, sticking her pen in her pocket. Now where could she go to write? Sighing deeply, Peg realized that the only other place she could go was home.
She was just about to start walking there when she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey, wait up!" Peg turned around to see a girl running up to her. Her long blonde hair was held up in a ponytail behind her head. She wore black pants and a plain blue shirt, along with tall black boots. Peg couldn't imagine anyone wearing boots this time of year, but she decided not to question it. The girl stopped when she was only a few feet away from the Blue Ranger, panting slightly.
"You walk fast," she said, smiling. Peg looked at her strangely.
"Um, who are you?" she said. "And why are you following me?"
"Oh, sorry. How rude of me!" The girl laughed and extended her hand to Peg. "My name is Erica. I just moved here, and I was wondering if you could show me around?"
Peg shook the girl's hand, still eyeing her cautiously. "I'm Peggy Ryan," she said. "But everyone calls me Peg."
"It's nice to meet you, Peg," Erica said, smiling brightly. Her handshake was very strong, the other girl noticed. "As I said, I just moved here, and I'd love to see more of this town. It seems so nice here."
"Yeah, Tempus is a nice town," Peg agreed. "Would you like me to give you the grand tour, Erica?" This girl seemed nice enough to the Blue Ranger, and she decided to help her out. She nodded excitedly and started walking away. Peg walked next to her, sighing softly. She was a bit disappointed with being interrupted in her writing, but she was happier that she was making a new friend.
Stephen watched all of this through the telescope. He noticed that it did not take long for Erica to convince the Blue Ranger to trust her. He only wished that he could here what they were saying. Smirking, he realized that it would be pretty easy to figure out the kinds of things Erica would say in this situation. The girl was very predictable, as Stephen had always found.
He continued to watch her as she followed Peg around. It seemed to him that the two were becoming friends. Excellent, he thought. Erica might actually do something right for a change. As he watched them, he had an idea.
"Rufus," he said, turning to him and smirking. "What say we send down the Crodus?" The younger boy looked up from his book and smiled at Stephen.
"Sounds like a plan."
It wasn't until late that evening that Peg and Erica were finally ready to go home. Erica decided to walk Peg to her house. They had spent the entire day walking around the town, and the Blue Ranger had shown her new friend everything there was to see. Everything, that is, except the Overclocked Café. For some reason, Erica had not wanted to go there, even though Peg had told her what a great place it was. She thought that was kind of strange, but she decided not to question it.
The two were about a block away from Peg's house when suddenly a pack of strange, human-like figures appeared, seemingly from nowhere. They were completely black and were hard to see against the evening light. The two girls just stared in horror as the black things surrounded them. Peg could only guess that these were sent from the Chaos Three, meaning that they must be foot soldiers. She sighed as she looked at her companion. With her there, she definitely couldn't morph, so they were on their own. She couldn't just let the things attack them, though, and she decided she would have to fight.
One of the foot soldiers came straight at Peggy, and she kicked it hard in the chest. It flew backwards and took a few of the others with it. Then, they began to attack with full force, all coming at the girls at once. The Blue Ranger started to fight back. She kicked one on her left then turned to her right and punched one in the face, causing it to fall over. Suddenly one grabbed her from behind. She grabbed on to its arms and flipped it over her. It landed right in front of her, and she kicked it away. Erica stood near her, watching, her eyes wide open with fright and surprise.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" she asked in a soft voice. Peg's mind raced, trying to think of a good enough excuse as she continued to battle.
"Um, I took karate lessons when I was younger," she said, hoping that would be enough to satisfy her companion's curiosity. "Erica, go hide somewhere," she said in a firm tone. "I'll take care of these guys." Her friend nodded and ducked into the nearest alley. Peg looked to make sure she wasn't watching, and then she lifted her left wrist to her lips, using the morpher as a communicator as Will had shown them to do. She called Dan first.
"Uh, Dan, I'm in trouble here," she said, hoping that he wasn't asleep or something. He answered soon, though.
"Peg, where are you?" he asked in a worried tone. She gave him her location and continued to fight. "I'll be right there, and I'll bring the others with me."
Erica watched from her spot in the alley, laughing softly. Although she hated Stephen at times, she had to admit that he had exceptionally good timing. It was brilliant for him to send down the Crodus now, when Peg was the only Ranger around, and when she was still with Erica, meaning that she couldn't morph. After all, she didn't want to give up that she was a Power Ranger, did she? Of course not. Erica smirked. This would be great. Peg would have to fight these guys all by herself.
Although, as the second oldest member of the Chaos Three noticed, the Blue Ranger was holding her own against the foot soldiers. She watched in slight disgust as Peg thrashed Crodus left and right. She guessed that they were fortunate that Stephen had sent so many down. Even if Peg could beat some of them, she was bound to wear out soon enough. Then, it would be easy to take her down.
All of a sudden, much to the relief of the Blue Ranger, who was still fighting the Crodus, the other four Rangers appeared, running down the street to her. She sighed as they attacked the foot soldiers. Dan gave her a questioning look.
"Why didn't you morph, Peg?" he asked as he kicked a Crodu into one that was behind it.
"Shhh." Peg put her finger to her lips, hushing Dan. "I'm with a friend of mine," she whispered. "I couldn't let her know that I'm a Ranger. She's hiding over there." She pointed to the alley she had seen Erica go to.
"Then, you'd better go hide with her," Dan said in the same soft voice. Peg nodded, a look of disappointment on her face, as she went over to the alley and crouched next to Erica, who smiled at her.
"Wow, that was amazing fighting, Peggy!" she exclaimed, giving her friend an appraising look. The Blue Ranger chuckled.
"Thanks," she said. "But, it's a good thing that the Power Rangers came when they did." Erica nodded, and the two continued to watch the Rangers fight with the Crodus.
"Hiyah!" Beth cried as she jumped and kicked a Crodu in the chest. She grabbed a nearby one by the arm and flung it into another, causing both of them to tumble to the ground.
Sean ran at a Crodu and flipped over it, kicking backwards and hitting it in the back. It fell over flat on its face. The White Ranger laughed as he punched another enemy into the wall. He didn't notice when a Crodu came up from behind him. It wasn't until he was lying on the ground face first from getting kicked in the back that he knew the thing was there. It was just about to attack him again when Tiz came and kicked it in the side, sending it flying in the other direction. He smiled from under his helmet as he reached down and helped Sean up.
Dan pulled out his sword and started slashing at Crodus left and right. Sparks flew from their bodies as they were hit, causing them to collapse to the ground. The others were just about to call on their weapons as well when the Crodus suddenly disappeared. The Rangers looked around, confused.
"Where did they all go?" Beth asked.
"I don't know," Tiz said. "But at least they're gone for now."
"Those guys were tougher than they looked," Sean remarked. The other two nodded. Dan said nothing to them. He went over to the alley where Peg and Erica were hiding.
"Are you two okay?" he asked. They nodded at him as they stood up from their crouching positions. "Good. Hopefully those guys won't attack you again." He motioned to his team mates. "Come on, guys," he said. With that, the four Rangers ran off, disappearing into the now night time sky.
"Well, that was weird," Erica said. Peg nodded at her.
"We should get home," she responded.
"That might be a good idea." Erica laughed a little as the two resumed walking to Peg's house.
Stephen slammed his fist into the table next to the telescope. The plan had failed, all because the other Rangers had come in. If it hadn't been for that, he knew, the Crodus would have eventually destroyed the Blue Ranger. Oh, well, he thought. At least Erica might have learned some valuable information in the time she had spent with Peg.
It wasn't long before Erica appeared back at the tower. She smiled at Stephen.
"Nice touch sending down the Crodus when you did," she said. He just nodded and looked at her expectantly.
"So," he said casually. "Did we learn anything about our new 'friend' today?"
Erica grinned at him and raised her eyebrows. "Oh, yes," she said. "Lots." She laughed a little, then proceeded to share with Stephen and Rufus, who had come over and was looking at Erica eagerly, everything that she had learned that day about Peg…
The next morning, Peggy Ryan woke up sleepily, opening her eyes slowly. What she saw made her scream. A face was leaning over her. She cried out and ducked away. Then, the face started laughing. Peg looked closer at it as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight that filled her room. She sighed deeply as she saw who it was. It was only Angela. She took her pillow and threw it at her.
"How many times have I told you not to do that!" she cried, laughing as well. Angela threw the pillow back at her.
"I'm not sure," she said, her eyes still laughing. "I've lost count!" Peg rolled her eyes at her and yawned.
"What time is it?" she asked, sleepiness still apparent in her voice.
"10:00," Angela said simply.
"10:00! How in the world did I sleep in that late?" Angela just shrugged and left the room. Peg yawned again and got up. As she moved, she realized how she had slept that late. Soreness and stiffness flooded her body. That battle last night with the strange foot soldiers was beginning to tell on her, she knew.
As she got dressed, she thought about Angela. She loved her sister, but she could be really annoying sometimes. Angela wasn't technically her sister, but she had always thought of her that way. Her family had adopted Angela from Asia when she was less than a year old. Peg had been 1 year old at the time. Her father had gone all the way to Asia to pick up their adoptee. The girls didn't learn that Angela had been adopted until they Peg was 8 years old. It didn't bother them, though, nor did it change anything. They were sisters in spirit, whether by blood or not.
Because she was older, Peg had always felt extremely protective of her sister. Once, when she was in 5th grade and Angela was in 4th, a "big sixth grade" boy was picking on the younger girl during recess. Peg saw this, and she ran over from all the way on the other side of the playground and punched the guy in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to keel over. He was fine in a few minutes, of course, but he had learned his lesson. The whole school had, apparently, and they were careful not to do anything to make Peg mad ever again. For fighting in school, Peg was suspended for a day and grounded for a month, but it was worth it, she knew. She had protected her sister. That was all that mattered.
The two girls had their share of arguments, as all sisters did. The fact that they shared a room didn't make it any easier not to fight sometimes. There was always the question of who made this mess and who had to clean that and who needed to stay on who's side of the room, but these arguments were minor, and they were few and far between. For the most part, they got along just fine. They always knew that they could tell each other anything, and they trusted each other. Peg wished that she could tell Angela about being a Power Ranger, but she knew that wasn't possible. As Will had told them, their most precious possession were their secret identities. Those were never to be revealed, unless at the most dire of needs.
After getting dressed, Peg headed out to the kitchen to get breakfast. Angela was there, cooking something over the stove top.
"Morning, sleepyhead," she said, grinning at her sister. "I'm making you some pancakes. Mom made them this morning, but since you slept in, you missed out. So, now you have to deal with my pancakes instead." Peg chuckled as she sat down at the table. It wasn't long before Angela set a plate in front of her with two good sized pancakes on it. The syrup was already on the table, and Peg grabbed a fork.
"Thanks, sis," she said, smiling as she ate. Although her sister had no faith in her cooking, she was very good at it. The pancakes tasted wonderful, and Peg mentioned that out loud.
"Thanks," Angela said, beaming. A minute or two of silence passed between them as Peg ate. Finally, Angela spoke up again. "So, any plans for today?" she asked.
"Well," the older sister replied. "I'm kind of hoping that I'll see my new friend today." Angela leaned over the table and looked expectantly at Peg.
"New friend? Do tell!" Peg laughed and proceeded to explain what had happened yesterday, leaving out the part where the Crodus had attacked.
"That's awesome!" Angela cried. "I want to meet this new friend of yours."
"Well, I hope I'll see her today…" Suddenly, she was interrupted by a knock at the door. "I'll get it," she said, standing up and going to the door. She opened it to find Erica standing there, smiling. "Hey! I was hoping to see you today!"
"Well, you're wish has come true, I guess." Erica laughed at this, and Peg joined her. Angela walked from behind her sister. "Oh, who's this?" Erica asked, looking questioningly at Peg.
"This is my sister, Angela," she said. The two girls shook hands politely, but the younger girl looked at her sister's friend oddly. Something just didn't seem right about her, somehow. Erica either didn't notice or pretended not to notice the look that Angela was giving her. She turned back to her friend.
"So, what do you want to do today?" she asked as she followed her friend out of the house and closed the door.
Angela stood on the other side of the door and blinked. That was abrupt… she thought. They didn't even say goodbye…
Sighing a bit sadly, she went into the living room and sat on the couch. Something was wrong with that girl, she knew. She had seemed weird somehow, and Angela had felt a strange malice while she had been around. She shuddered a bit at the thought and tried to forget it.
What could she do today? She felt extremely bored right now with Peg gone. Standing up, she went over to the phone and decided to call her boyfriend. Maybe he could think of something fun to do today.
"I don't know," Peg replied, shrugging her shoulders. They were walking down the street when all of a sudden, Dan, Beth, Sean, and Tiz turned the corner on to Peg's street. She saw them and ran over to them, motioning for Erica to follow. The girl did not run like her friend had. Instead, she walked slowly, her face turning bright pink. She came up eventually, though, and Peg introduced her to Dan and the others. She said nothing in response, but she smiled shyly at them.
"So, we were just going to the Overclocked Café to see what Will is up to," Dan said, smiling at Peg. "You two ladies want to come?"
Peg was just about to say yes, but she noticed that Erica was shaking her head, giving her a pleading look. Her friend was confused, but she realized that Erica was saying that she didn't want to go with her friends. She couldn't think why, but she decided to oblige her new friend.
"Eh, sounds interesting, but I think I'll pass on this one," she said. She felt kind of bad to be ditching her friends, but she didn't want Erica to feel uncomfortable.
Beth looked at her strangely. She had never turned down a chance to hang out with them before. "Um, okay," she said slowly. "It won't be the same without you, Peggy." The Blue Ranger cringed a little bit, guilt creeping up on her. Recovering herself, she smiled at them and walked off, Erica following right behind her. Dan, Tiz, and Sean looked at each other, confused. Beth was the only one who was watching Peg and her new friend as they walked away, so she was the only one who saw the smirk on Erica's face as she glanced back at them. Weird… Beth thought. She shook it off, though, and turned to her friends.
"Well, that was weird," Tiz said. "It's not like Peg to do something like that…"
"I know," Sean agreed. Dan sighed.
"I guess we'll just have to go without her."
"Maybe we could see if Angela wants to come with us," Beth suggested. "After all, she's only a few houses away from us." The others nodded in agreement and they made their way to Peg's house.
Angela sighed. Her boyfriend wasn't home, according to his mother, which left her with nothing to do all day. Why had Peg just left her like that? she wondered. It wasn't like her at all…
Knock knock.
Angela's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She got up and opened it, seeing to her surprise and delight that Beth, Dan, Tiz, and Sean stood there, smiling at her.
"Hey, guys," she said, beaming. "What's up?"
"We were going to head over to the Overclocked Café," Dan said. "And we were wondering if you'd like to tag along." Angela grinned.
"Do you even have to ask?" She laughed and walked outside, closing and locking the door behind her. The five of them headed off to the café, talking and laughing.
Del set the empty tray on the counter and sighed. It was a pretty slow day at the café for some reason. He guessed that probably people had gone on vacation. It was Spring Break, after all. As much as he appreciated not having a million people to serve all at once, he had to admit that without the crowds, he was pretty bored.
Then, to his joy, Del heard the door to the café open. Turning towards the sound, he saw five teens enter. It was Dan, Tiz, Sean, Beth, and some girl he didn't recognize. It surprised him a little that Peg wasn't with them. Those five seemed joined at the hip ever since…
He smiled at them and walked up to them as they sat at a table. After taking their orders and exchanging a bit of small talk, he went back to the counter and told Will what drinks to make for them. Del knew that he would never be able to look at those guys the same way anymore. Now, he knew their secret. He had seen Peg put out that fire with her powers. After that, Will had realized that he might as well tell Del the entire story. Now, the young waiter at the Overclocked Café knew all about the Element Storm Power Rangers; their powers, their enemies, and their identities. He had been shocked, of course. But he had not hesitated to swear to secrecy on this. After all, he thought, who would believe him anyway?
Once Erica and Peg were out of earshot of Dan and the others, Peg looked at her new friend curiously.
"What was that about?" she asked. Erica bit her lower lip.
"Well, I get shy around people I don't know," she said. "And, anyways, your friends are weird."
Peg had to laugh at that. "Of course they are," she said. "So am I. That's why we get along so well." Erica stopped and looked her companion in the eyes.
"No, Peg," she said. "You're not like them. You're different. You don't need friends like that."
"What!" Peggy cried. "What are you talking about?" Erica lay a hand on her shoulder gently.
"Trust me," she said. "You're not like them. And you're not like your sister either. You shouldn't spend so much time around them." Peg just stared at her in disbelief. Suddenly, though, as Erica looked at her, she began to calm down, feeling as if, almost, somehow, she must be right. Yes, she thought. She must be right.
"You must be right," she said, with a sigh. It seemed almost a relief to say the words. Erica grinned at her.
"I am," she said simply, starting to walk again. Peg followed her, a blank look on her face for a second. She shook it off quickly though and smiled at her friend. Of course Erica was right, she thought. Why would Erica lie to her?
In the alley near where the two girls had been talking, a figure emerged suddenly from the shadows, laughing to himself. Perfect, Stephen thought. Erica is using her powers wisely. Soon, he knew, the Blue Ranger would drift farther and farther from her friends, thinking that they weren't really her friends, thinking that she should spend more time with her new friend, thinking that those thoughts were her own. Stephen had always admired and slightly envied Erica's ability to implant thoughts into other people's head. That was what she was doing now, he knew. He could tell by the blank stare on the Blue Ranger's face. It was the look the victims always got when Erica put thoughts into their heads.
Laughing again, Stephen crept back into the darkness of the alley, disappearing completely. Once he was fully invisible, he walked after the two girls as they went down the street, watching their every move.
"Something is wrong." Everyone at the table in the Overclocked Café looked at Dan as he said this. "Something is wrong with Peg. It's been five days now, and she hasn't even spoken to us."
"I know," Tiz said, a worried expression on his face. "And as Angela says she's been acting strange at home as well." The girl who's name was just mentioned nodded sadly.
"She has hardly spoken to me," she said. "This must have something to do with that new friend of hers, Erica or whatever."
"Of course it does," Sean said. "She was acting perfectly normal until she met that girl."
"Yep," Beth agreed. "Now, the question is, how to we get her back to normal?"
"We have to convince her that this girl is bad news," Dan said, sighing. "It won't be easy, though." The others nodded in agreement.
"So, who's going to talk to her?" Tiz asked. Silence filled the table as the question was asked. At last, Angela sighed.
"I'll do it," she said. "She is my sister, after all." With that, she stood up and left the café, heading home, walking slowly, knowing that this was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done.
It didn't take Angela long to get home. She trudged up the stairs and went inside. Luckily, Peg was home. She was in their room, lying on her bed, listening to music. Angela approached her sister, motioning for her to pause her music. Peg complied and sat up in her bed, looking at Angela.
"What is it?" she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Her sister sat down on the bed next to her.
"You're not going to want to hear this," she said. "But, I don't trust your new friend." There, she thought. I just came right out and said it.
Peg stared at her. "What!" she cried. "What are you talking about?"
Angela cringed. This was going to be harder than she thought.
"I don't know how to explain it," she said slowly. "But, something just seems wrong about her. And, you've been spending all your time with her lately…" Peg interrupted her.
"Oh, is that what this is about?" she asked, a look of pure annoyance on her face now. "Just because I'm hanging out with her a lot doesn't mean there's something wrong with her."
"Yeah, but it's been five days since you've seen Dan, Beth, Tiz, and Sean. It's not like you to just ignore them like that. But, that's not even the main thing I'm worried about. I met this girl, and something just felt off about her. I got a strange feeling when she was around. It almost felt, well, evil."
Peg laughed at that, a strange, cruel quality in her laugh that Angela had never heard before from her sister. "Evil!" she cried. "That's ridiculous. You're just jealous because I haven't been hanging out with you. Well, guess what, Angela, I have other friends then those losers I usually hang out with." Her sister was taken aback. Losers? Had she just called her friends losers? She was almost speechless. This wasn't like her sister at all.
"They aren't losers…" was all Angela could bring herself to say.
Peg shook her head at her. "I never thought you'd be the one to be jealous of my friend." With that, she stormed out of the room and out of the house, slamming the door behind her.
Angela continued to sit on the bed, staring at the ground. Closing her eyes, she buried her head in her hands.
Peg ran down the street, fuming with anger. How could her sister say something like that? How could she think that Erica was evil? It was crazy. Absolutely crazy. There was nothing wrong with…
As if just thinking of her had caused her to appear, Peg saw Erica walking down the street towards her. She stopped running and waited for her friend to come up to her. It didn't take her very long.
"Hey, Peggy," she said in her usual bright way. Peg forced a smile. She was just about to say something when she heard a voice behind her. Turning to look, she saw that it was Will.
"Peg, get away from her," he said in a serious voice. There was a hint of worry and anger in his tone as well.
"Why?" the Blue Ranger asked, confused. She was still looking at him, so she didn't see the pale, worried expression on her friend's face.
"Because," Will said. "That's Erica, the second oldest member of the Chaos Three, wielder of the Dark Water."
"What!" Peg turned to Erica and saw that her face had changed. She smirked at her and gave an evil laugh as she backed away from her.
"It's true," she said. "I came here to sucker one of the Rangers into being my friend so that I could find out their secrets. You fell for my trick so easily…" She laughed again. Peg looked away, trying to fight back tears. How could she have let herself get tricked like this? More importantly, how could Erica have done this to her? Anger replaced the sadness in her heart, and she turned and glared at Erica.
"You'll pay for tricking me!"
She tried to punch Erica but the girl dodged it and kicked Peg in the stomach. Will watched what was happening from his position across the street. He knew that there was going to be a battle between these two, and he had to call the other Rangers for back up. Lifting his left wrist to his lips, he used a device that looked exactly like one of the Rangers' morphers to contact the others.
Peg keeled over as she was kicked, but she recovered quickly and kicked at Erica. The girl blocked it and tried to punch Peg, but she blocked it was well. Peg tried once more to kick Erica, and she succeeded in getting her right in the gut, causing her to fall over backwards. The Chaos Three member got up again quickly, though.
"Why don't we settle this right now?" she said. "We'll see which is stronger; Water or Dark Water." With that, she started backing away down the street. Peg nodded and backed away as well. Once they were far enough apart, they put their hands forward in preparation.
"On three," Peg said. "1…2…3!" As soon as she said the last number, both girls let out a stream of water at the other. Erica's water was a dark, deep blue, and it had an almost black glow around it. Peg's water was a lighter blue, and it glowed white along the edges. The two streams of water hit each other in the middle. Each girl focused all of their energy on the water, trying to make their water hit the other person. At first, Peg's water forced it's way closer and closer to Erica, and it seemed that she would definitely win. Suddenly, though, as the other four Rangers ran up, Erica's water started to push more against Peg's. Dan, Beth, Tiz, Sean, and Will watched in horror as it neared Peg, almost touching her.
"Come on, Peggy!" Dan cried. "You can do it! Focus!" The Blue Ranger glanced over at her friends for a split second. They were all smiling at her, and she saw looks of confidence in their faces. Turning back at Erica, Peg doubled her focus on what she was doing. With a last burst of energy, Peg let out a cry and forced her stream of water as hard as she could. It went straight through Erica's water and hit her with full force, sending her flying backwards. She screamed as she hit the pavement, then she passed out.
The Rangers cheered and ran over to Peg.
"I knew you could do it!" Dan cried, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"That was awesome, Peggy," Beth said, beaming at her. Peg smiled at them, then looked back at the unconscious form of Erica. Will had a solemn expression on his face as he walked slowly up to the Chaos Three member. Suddenly, he was pushed back by something unseen and he fell on his side. The figure of Stephen appeared, glaring at Will.
"You may have won for today," he said, leaning down and picking Erica up. "But the Chaos Three will triumph in the end. You can count on that!" With that, he teleported away in a flash of red light.
Later that day, the Rangers sat around a table in the Overclocked Café. Angela was with them, and all eyes were fastened on Peg.
She closed her eyes and put her head down sadly. "Guys, I'm sorry for all of this," she said. "I let that girl trick me, and I completely ignored you guys. Especially you, Angela." She looked at her sister. "I said some horrible things to you. I'm sorry…" She hung her head again. Angela reached across the table and grabbed her sister's hand.
"She tricked you, Peg," she said. "There was nothing you could do about it." She smiled at her and Peg smiled back. "Well," Angela continued. "It's a good thing that the Power Rangers came when they did, or you would have been in big trouble." Everyone at the table laughed.
Stephen appeared in the tower carrying the motionless form of Erica. He went into her room and lay her down on her bed, followed by Rufus, who had been watching in the telescope.
"Is she going to be okay, Stephen?" the younger boy asked, sounding as worried as he looked.
"She'll be fine." The oldest member of the Chaos Three walked out into the main room, leaving Rufus to watch over Erica. Rufus sat on the edge of the bed and lay his hand on Erica's.
"I sure hope so…" he said softly.
A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!
lil Cwick: Thanks! I'm glad I could make your day!
juzblue: Thanks. I'm glad I could teach you something new (about the sai) lol
TehTiz: It's great to get a review from one of our characters! lol Anyways, thanks so much for your review, Tiz! It means a lot to me. I was worried that I wasn't getting the personalities of the characters very well. And I know I suck at describing battles, which is weird because I'm so good at role playing. lol I hope I did a bit better in this chapter, and I'll try to do better with that in the future. Thanks again, Tiz!
