A/N: Sorry this episode took so long, guys. I was busy this week and weekend, so I didn't have much time to work on it. Plus, I was kind of uninspired for a while, so I had to find my inspiration again.
Anyways, without further ado, I give you the second part of our very second ever two part episode, Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 9. Enjoy!
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Episode 9: Light the Fire Again part 2
"Element, Light Fire!"
As Will said those words, his body was engulfed in bright red flame that covered him from head to toe. When the fire cleared, it was no longer just Will standing there but the Trienith Red Ranger. His suit was similar to Dan's, except that the symbol of fire on his chest was surrounded by a white, glittery glow, and there were black, spike-like protrusions on the sides of his arms right under his elbows and on the sides of his legs right under his knees.
Will looked himself up and down through the visor on his helmet, remembering for what seemed like the first time in ages what his suit looked like. He staggered back a bit, feeling overwhelmed from the rush of power and memories that flooded him as he morphed. He felt the power rushing through his veins; the power that had once been so familiar to him now felt so strange and alien. The memories filled his head; memories of morphing and battles past, memories of his friends and team mates, memories of Anaia…
He shook those thoughts away. He had to focus now on his current mission. The new team of Rangers was in trouble, and Will had to do what he could to save them. Turning back to the café, he saw Del staring out at him through the window, a look of awe on his face. The boy remained motionless for a second, seeming unsure somehow. Then, his expression changed to a reassuring smile and he waved to Will. The Trienith Red Ranger just nodded to him and started walking towards the café.
Del came running out to greet him. He gazed at Will's costume, giving the Ranger a once over. He didn't know what he had expected to see if and when Will morphed, but somehow, this wasn't it. He had half expected his suit to look identical to Dan's, but it seemed entirely different, which was a surprise to Del. After recovering from the initial shock of seeing his boss morph, he smiled at him.
"Wow," he breathed. "That was awesome! When your body caught on fire like that, I thought for sure you were a goner, and that the morpher wasn't going to work here, but obviously, I was wrong." He grinned and raised his eyebrows. "So, what does it feel like to be morphed again?"
Will paused for a moment, trying to find his voice. He felt almost as if he couldn't speak right now; he was so overwhelmed with the feeling of power. It still seemed so strange to him.
"It's…an amazing feeling," he said at last. He decided to say nothing more than that. It would be impossible to try to describe what it was like to be morphed. It was just something one had to experience for themselves, or they would never understand it. "But, there's no time to talk about that right now," he continued, his voice taking on a firm and serious tone. "We have to find out where the Chaos Three took the Rangers."
Del nodded. "How are we going to do that?"
Will held up his left hand where his morpher rested. "We can use this," he said. "Each of the morphers has a tracking device in it. It's something I added a while ago, before I ever found the Rangers. I figured it would come in handy sometime." He smiled grimly from under his helmet. "Come on." With that, he headed back into the café, Del following close behind him.
The two of them went into the back room of the café after Will closed and locked the front door. They left Marie sitting at the Ranger's usual table. She had stopped crying now, but worry still showed in her small eyes.
Once in the back room, Will went over to a computer and sat down at it. "With this, we can track the Rangers' location."
"Okay," Del said with a nod. The look of worry that he had worn on his face before had disappeared. He no longer worried about what would happen to the Rangers. Del had faith that Will would save them, no matter what.
Stephen gazed at his captives, a triumphant grin on his face. He had done it. Finally, he had done it. He had captured the Rangers, and he now held them at his mercy. They were lying before him in the main room of the tower, each one bound individually, each one still unconscious. Stephen could hardly believe the sight before him. Although he was not from Earth, he had heard much about past Rangers there. No villain had ever succeeded in defeating a team of Power Rangers, he knew. But, now, for the first time in history, a villain had, Stephen thought. And that villain was him. Well, technically, he thought, it was him, Erica, and Rufus, but still, to be included in the first team in history to defeat a Ranger team was an amazing honor.
And he had defeated them, right? Of course he had, he told himself. After all, they now lay only a few feet ahead of him, right within his grasp, totally helpless and unable to escape. Who could possibly save them now? No one. And of course, they were completely incapable of saving themselves at this point.
He grinned at the motionless forms of Dan, Peg, Sean, Beth, and Tiz and thought about how easy it had been. It almost seemed too easy, but Stephen refused to think of it that way. The fact was, he had come up with a plan that had enabled him to capture the Rangers, and nothing could spoil this moment now.
Turning to his companions, he saw them staring at the Rangers with the same expressions, mixed with triumphant and awe-struck looks. Erica, sensing Stephen's eyes on her, turned to glance at him. She smiled.
"We did it," she said, a tone of disbelief in her voice. "We actually did it. It seems almost too good to be true."
"No," Stephen said, glaring at her. "Don't say that. It's not too good to be true. It is true. We have done it. We've captured the Rangers. And now, nothing can stop us from destroying them. And once we've destroyed the ones the Elements chose, we will have destroyed the Elements themselves. Then, the Dark Elements will take over, and the Chaos Three will rule the world!" He gave an evil laugh and grinned again.
Rufus stared into the faces of the Rangers in turn. First, he saw Dan. He smiled at the thought that he had captured him once before. He was the leader of the team, but Rufus had once captured him so easily.
Next, he looked at Peg. He glared especially at her, a loathing still in his heart for what she had done to Erica. Even after they destroyed the Rangers, Rufus knew he would never be able to forgive her for that.
Then, he saw Sean and Beth. Having nothing particular against them except for the fact that they were Rangers, he passed over them quickly, only thinking one thought about them; the fact that they were in love. It made him smile, thinking it was rather cute, but also unimportant now.
Finally, his eyes rested on Tiz, and a resentment and anger overcame him. The Yellow Ranger was the only one strong enough and with the right power to defeat him once in battle, and he hated him more than any of the other Rangers. Rufus planned to ask Stephen if he could destroy Tiz personally when the time came.
Will looked up at the high, seemingly abandoned tower with a grim look on his face. He sighed. This was where he had tracked the Rangers to, so this must be where the Chaos Three were holding them. He wondered if this was their main hideout or if it was just some random place they chose, but he supposed that didn't matter right now. What was important now was getting in there and finding the Rangers.
He entered through a small, rickety door that stood towards the center of the eight storied building. Looking around the dark, musty room on the first floor, he realized that he wouldn't be able to see anything in this light. Holding his still morphed hand palm upwards in front of him, he formed a ball of fire that was bright enough to light up the area around him quite nicely. Grinning from under his helmet, he shone the light ahead of him, searching for the stairs that would lead him to a higher floor. Although he wasn't certain, he had a strong feeling that he would find the Chaos Three on the top floor of the building.
At last, he saw a staircase off to one corner of the room. It spiraled around, leading upwards into darkness. Will noticed that it was covered in dust and cobwebs and it appeared as if it hadn't been used in years. He didn't wonder why, knowing that the Chaos Three teleported almost everywhere they went. If this tower was indeed their hideout, they would teleport in and out of it rather than walking. For one thing, it was easier, but the main reason they probably did that was to keep people from seeing them enter and exit the building so that no one knew they were there. Will couldn't help thinking how clever that was of them, but he shook the thought away and started to climb the stairs, still shining the fire in his palm ahead of him.
It seemed to take forever to get to the top floor through the cold darkness of the staircase, but at last, he made it. There was a door in front of him a few feet after the top stair. It was closed, and it seemed ominous somehow. He wondered if it was locked. Not that it would matter if it was, he thought, tossing the fireball in his hand up and down. He would have other means of entering if that was the case. Walking forward slowly and silently, he twisted the knob of the door, which turned just fine, meaning it was unlocked. Will could tell by looking that the door opened outwards towards him, and he could see light inside the room it lead too, which meant that he didn't need his fireball anymore. Forming a fist in his left hand, the fire dissipated and went out.
At last, after only a moment's hesitation to gather himself, Will threw the door open and sprang into the room. What he saw made him start a bit with surprise, although he didn't know why. He should have expected to see the Rangers tied up in a row on the floor with the Chaos Three standing close by, and that was exactly the scene that lay before him. As soon as he entered, Stephen, Erica, and Rufus turned to him, looks of surprise and alarm in their faces. At first, no one spoke. Will was silent because he was waiting for his enemies to make the first move. The Chaos Three were silent because they were in shock. The Trienith Red Ranger now stood before them. How was this possible? How could Will use his powers here?
At last, Stephen stepped forward and glared at the Ranger before him. "So, Will, you decided to use your powers again, eh?" He smirked at him, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "It won't do you any good, though. Dark Fire will always be more powerful than Light Fire."
"We'll just see about that, Stephen." With that, Will shot a fireball at his opponent. His fire looked like normal fire except for a bright, white glow that surrounded it. Stephen dodged the blast and sent his own at Will. The Dark Fire was a deeper red and it had a black aura-like glow around it. Will flipped sideways out of the path of the blast and immediately shot another one of his own at Stephen. This one hit him head on, causing him to stumble backwards. He glared at Will and his eyes began to glow with a fire similar to his own. He ran forward and threw a punch at Will, connecting with his helmet. The Ranger clutched his cheek where Stephen's fist had hit for a moment before aiming a kick at him. Stephen blocked the kick with his hand, grabbing Will's foot and spinning him around. Will fell over backwards, but he immediately got up again.
Erica and Rufus stood to the side, watching the battle. They exchanged helpless glances, not knowing what to do. A part of them wanted to help Stephen, but the rest of them knew that he would want to be the one to destroy Will. So, they just continued to watch helplessly, saying nothing, internally rooting for their leader.
As Will got up, he called upon his sword, which was almost exactly the same as Dan's. The only difference was a white border around the edges of it. He slashed the sword at Stephen, getting him straight across the chest. Stephen howled in pain and keeled over, panting a little.
He recovered quickly, though, and he pulled out a sword of his own. It was a deep, crimson red color with jagged edges on the blade. Grinning at his opponent, he lunged forward, trying to hit Will with the sword. Will blocked the attack with his own, though, and the two swords met in between them. Both Will and Stephen used as much of their strength as they could, pushing forward, trying to make the other fall. At last, Will succeeded and he sent Stephen falling backwards.
Rufus gasped as he saw this. Was Stephen actually losing? How was this possible? He glared at Will, hatred bubbling in his heart. He had ruined their victory, and now it seemed that he was going to defeat their leader. Rufus gave Stephen a questioning look, as if silently asking if he could help. Stephen scowled and shook his head, though, as he forced himself to his feet. Glancing over at the window behind Will, the leader of the Chaos Three suddenly had an idea.
Smirking, he ran straight forward at Will, hitting him in the chest with his head and shoulders. He kept running until the two of them crashed through the window and began falling to the ground below. Rufus let out a cry and ran to the broken window, wondering what his leader could have been thinking. Stephen twisted in the air and looked up at him.
"Rufus! Now!" he cried. Understanding, Rufus nodded.
"Alright, Stephen!" he said loudly. As he said his name, Stephen teleported to the ground right at the foot of the tower. Will was still falling towards him, seemingly helplessly. But, the Trienith Red Ranger had an idea. He turned his body so that he was lying face first parallel to the ground. Thrusting his hands forward, he sent a powerful beam of fire towards the earth. As it hit, it caused Will to slow down in falling, slowing more and more as he neared the ground. At last, when he was only a few feet above the earth, he twisted into a standing position and landed gently on his feet, unharmed.
He grinned at Stephen from under his helmet. "Nice try, Pyric," he said. "But, you can't beat me that easily. In fact, you obviously can't beat me at all, if I remember correctly what happened on Trienith."
Stephen gazed at his enemy in awe. How had he done that? It was impossible, wasn't it? At hearing his Trienith name, Stephen's thoughts were interrupted. It had been so long since anyone had called him that. It had a strange effect on him, and he began to feel sick to his stomach. Trying to ignore that, he put a defiant look on his face and turned back to Will.
Still watching from the top floor of the tower, Erica and Rufus looked at each other silently and nodded.
"We should go down there, Erica," Rufus said. With that, the two of them disappeared and reappeared on the ground below, not too far from Will and Stephen. They didn't know what they would do there, but the prepared themselves for anything as they watched the two enemies face each other.
"Well, Adus," Stephen said, using his enemy's Trienith name. "I may not have defeated you, but I sure defeated your team easily enough." Although he could not see Will's expression, he knew that his words had hit home. He grinned before continuing. "They were weaklings, and they needed their leader to carry them. They needed you to save them. But, you didn't, did you, William? You let them be defeated. All of them. Feanaro, Alassea, Cirin…" He paused for effect before saying the last name. "And Anaia."
Will felt his heart skip a beat as Stephen said the last name. A single tear rolled down his cheek and he closed his eyes tightly. He was glad that he had his helmet on so Stephen could not see his expression, or that he was crying. Taking a deep breath, Will focused on turning his sadness into anger. He formed his hand into a fist and glared at Stephen from under his helmet.
"You'll pay for what you did to them, and to Anaia," he said between clenched teeth. He gripped his sword in his hand and rushed forward, preparing to strike Stephen.
Back up in the tower, Dan groaned and opened his eyes slowly. His head ached immensely, and his body felt sore all over. What in the world had happened to him? Looking around, he saw that he was lying on the floor in an entirely unfamiliar place. What was he doing here? How did he get here? Moving his hands, he realized that they were tied together in front of him. He started, and looked at his bound hands in confusion. He saw that his legs were tied as well. His mind began to race as he tried to remember what had happened…
And then, it hit him. The Chaos Three, they had attacked them all at once. The blast had been extremely powerful, and it had hit them head on when they were already exhausted from their battle. Dan shuddered at the memory of the searing pain he had felt as the blast had hit.
Turning to his side, he saw that Peg lay right next to him, tied up as well, still asleep. In her unconscious state, Dan noticed that she looked very peaceful and serene, and he couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was…
But, there was no time to think of that now. Dan didn't know where the Chaos Three were, but he had a feeling they were probably around somewhere, and he didn't especially want to be tied up when they came back from where ever they were. But, how was he going to get untied?
Then, it came to him. He lifted his hands up out in front of him and set them on fire, burning through the ropes. Once his hands were free, he struggled to sit up, then he shot a bit of fire at the ropes around his ankles, burning them enough so that he could pull them off. Next, he sat up on his knees and leaned over the Blue Ranger, gently shaking her.
"Peggy, wake up," he said in a soft voice. Soon, she groaned and opened her eyes as well, looking up into his. Her expression immediately changed from peaceful to confused as her eyes moved down to the ropes on her hands and ankles.
"Dan, what happened? Where are we?" Her voice sounded loud and harsh in the previously silent room.
Dan shushed her gently as he began to untie her hands. "It's okay," he said. "We were captured by the Chaos Three, but they don't seem to be around right now." He finished untying her arms and moved down to her legs. "We need to get out of here before they get back." Once Peg was completely untied, Dan moved over to Sean, who had been lying next to her. He shook the White Ranger and called to him.
"Sean! Wake up, man," he said. "Come on." At last, Sean awoke with a start. He looked at Dan, panting a little, his heart pounding in his chest.
"What happened?" he asked as Dan began to untie him.
The Red Ranger shook his head. "I'll tell you when we get the others up. I don't really want to explain it 3 more times." He laughed grimly as he finished with Sean and moved on to Beth. The White Ranger turned towards the unconscious form of Beth and a concerned look came over his face. He gently placed his hand on her forehead.
"Hey, wake up, Bethy," he said softly, sitting up and leaning over her as Dan untied her. Beth murmured something inaudible as she opened her eyes and looked at him. A smile formed on her lips as she saw him, but it soon faded as she remembered what had happened. By now, she was untied, so she sat up and looked around.
"I can't believe they had such power…" she breathed after a moment of thought
"I know," Sean agreed, standing up and helping Beth up as well. The memory of what had happened had come back to him now.
"We were no match for them," Tiz said, yawning afterwards. Dan had just woken him up and was now untying him.
"That's because they attacked after 'softening us up' first," Dan said grimly. "First, they gave us a bunch of Crodus and a monster to fight. Then, they came after us themselves when we were weak and tired from our fight. It was a brilliant strategy." He sighed, wondering just how many other brilliant strategies his enemies would come up with. There was a moment's silence in the room.
"Uh, guys?" Peg sounded confused and worried at the same time as she looked down out of the broken window. She pointed. "You might want to see this."
The Rangers crowded over to her side and looked down as well. What they saw surprised and bewildered them to no end. Stephen was down there fighting with a Red Ranger. His suit was similar to Dan's but it had some differences. The Rangers watched silently for a moment, not sure what to do. At last, Tiz spoke.
"Who the heck is that?" he asked to no one in particular.
"I don't know," Dan said. "But he looks like he could use some help. Come on, guys!" He started running towards the open door to the staircase, motioning for the others to follow, which they did. The five of them headed down the stairs as quickly as they could, wondering who this mystery Ranger could be.
Stephen used his sword to block the attack from Will, overpowering him and pushing him backwards. Will stumbled a bit, but he soon recovered and slashed at Stephen again, hitting him across the arm.
Suddenly, as he waited for him to strike back, Will heard the familiar voices of the Rangers as they came outside. He turned to look at them and saw that they had confused expressions on their faces. He realized that they probably didn't know who he was, even though they knew he was a Ranger.
"Guys, it's me!" he called to them. They were silent for a moment, but at last Beth spoke.
"Will?" she asked. He nodded, but before he could say anything else, he was attacked by Stephen in his distraction.
Dan glanced at his team. "Come on guys!" he cried. "Will needs our help!" They nodded in agreement and prepared to morph.
"Element, Fire!"
"Element, Water!"
"Element, Wind!"
"Element, Earth!"
"Element, Thunder!"
The now morphed Rangers were about to rush in and help Will, but they were cut off by the menacing forms of Erica and Rufus stepping in between them.
"Let the boys have their fun," Erica said with a smirk. "Rufus and I are more than good enough for you!" With that, she pulled a long, dark blue staff seemingly out of nowhere and ran straight towards Peg, hitting her hard in the side. Peg cried out in pain and called upon her weapon.
"Blue Water Trident!"
Her trident appeared in her hands as she began battling with Erica. Beth stayed to help her while the boys went after Rufus. The other Rangers called on their weapons as well.
"Red Fire Sword!"
"Green Earth Daggers!"
"White Wind Bow!"
"Yellow Thunder Sai!"
Each Ranger acquired their respective weapons and began to fight. Beth and Peg ran in together and tried to slash Erica with their weapons, but she was able to block it easily with her staff and send her enemies flying backwards. She went over to Peg, who was now on the ground, and jabbed her in the stomach with her staff. The Blue Ranger clutched her stomach painfully, knowing that there would be a bruise there later. Erica prepared to shoot Dark Water at Peg, but Beth came up from behind her and kicked her, causing her fall over forwards onto the Blue Ranger, who quickly shoved her off. Beth helped Peg up and they waited for Erica to get up as well.
Rufus was having an easier time with the boys. Instead of using a weapon, he used his powers to fight, shooting them left and right with his electricity. Dan and Sean couldn't get near him because of the strong electrical currents he was letting out. Tiz moved in and thrust his sai at him, hitting him hard in the back. He howled in pain and turned around, shooting a thunder bolt at the Yellow Ranger, who dodged it easily and shot a bolt of his own. While his back was turned, Dan ran forward and slashed him with his sword in the same spot that Tiz had hit, knowing that it would be weaker now. Rufus winced and shuddered in pain, stumbling forward a bit. He turned towards Dan and shot a strong bolt of electricity at him, hitting him head on and making him fall over, grabbing his stomach where it hit.
Suddenly, Rufus felt a burst of energy hit him. He turned to see Sean holding his bow, another arrow on the string. He let the arrow fly at his enemy, then he shot others at him as well. Sparks flew off of Rufus' body as he was hit numerous times with Sean's arrows. At last, he collapsed to the ground and lay still.
Meanwhile, Will and Stephen were continuing to fight. After a while, Stephen held out a hand, signaling Will to stop. The Trienith Red Ranger paused, but he didn't let his guard down for a moment.
"Let's settle this," Stephen said. "We'll see which is stronger: Light Fire or Dark Fire. Demorph and we'll fight using only our Elements. That way, we'll know forever who is the strongest. Deal?"
Will thought for a moment and nodded, demorphing. "Alright," he said. "We'll do what Peg and Erica did. On three, we each shoot out our strongest blast of our Element and we'll see which one is stronger, agreed?"
"Agreed." Stephen smirked confidently at his enemy, feeling certain that he would win. As they prepared to face off, the other Rangers and members of the Chaos Three stopped their battles and gathered around to watch. The Rangers demorphed as well, looking worried, hoping that Will would be able to defeat Stephen.
"Ready?" Will asked. Without waiting for a response, he began to count down. "1…2…3!" When he said three, the two of them each sent out a huge burst of fire. Will's fire was a normal red color but it had a distinct white glow around it, shining in the sunlight. Stephen's fire was a deeper, crimson color and it had a deep black aura around it, making it look dark and menacing. Their blasts hit in the center between them, forcing on each other for a moment. Then, the Light Fire burst forward, shooting through the Dark Fire and hitting Stephen directly. The leader of the Chaos Three flew backwards in a flurry of fire and sparks, hitting up against a nearby tree. He stood there for a second, a look of pain and defeat in his face, then his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell forward, unconscious.
About half an hour later, the Rangers were back in the café, sitting around their table, all eyes on Will, who sat on a chair at one end. Marie was in her brother's lap, and he had an arm around her. She had been so happy to see him when he walked in that she had started crying again. She was calmer now, and there was a solemn silence in the room. At last, Tiz spoke.
"That was absolutely amazing, Will," he said. "I can't believe the power you have."
"I know," Beth agreed. "It was so awesome."
Will nodded. "Thanks. It feels great to have my powers again."
Dan gave him a serious look. "I guess we have a new leader for our team, right?"
Will looked at him and sighed. "I guess so," he said. "That is, if you guys will have me as your leader."
"Of course we will," Peg said, grinning at him. "Right guys?" The other Rangers each said their agreements and nodded.
Will smiled. It was great to be a leader again. He vowed at that moment that he would not allow his new team to suffer the same fate his other team had.
Erica and Rufus exchanged worried glances as they leaned over the unconscious form of Stephen. They had teleported inside with him and had lain him in his bed. That blast from Will had been extremely powerful, and they didn't know if Stephen could handle it.
"I hope he wakes up soon," Erica whispered, her voice thick with worry. "We need him. We can't do this without him."
"I know," Rufus agreed with a sigh. "I'm sure he'll be fine, though. He made it last time, and he can do it again. We just have to wait and be patient."
"But, I'm not patient," Erica said, chuckling nervously.
"Neither am I, but we're going to have to be now." Getting up, he motioned for Erica to follow him. "Come on," he said. "We should leave him to rest."
The girl nodded, and the two of them left the room, closing the door quietly behind them.
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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!
Sexi Silver: Don't worry! I could never kill Will! The person on Ranger-Power he's based on would never forgive me! lol I hope this episode will fullfill your "dose" lol
Wearer of the Black Hat: I purposely don't have Zords because I hate writing Zord battles and I think they're kind of boring to read. That's just me, though. So, they'll never get Zords. As for evil Rangers, you'll just have to wait and see. I have plans... And who is Becca? I never had a character with that name in this fic that I remember... Also, as you can see in this episode, yes, they can use their powers when they're morphed. That's just how I did it. No particular reason. I'm glad you like it, though!
lil Cwick: Isn't action great? Glad you like it!
juzblue: Isn't Will awesome? And, you'll see about the thing with Angela and Jorge. I have plans...
