Chapter 9: Taking it up a notch

"You're going to regret doing this." Sky stated calmly as he and Vida began to circle each other.

"Oh, really?" Vida shot back, not the least bit intimidated.

"Yeah, really. You see, where I'm from they don't give morphers to inexperienced, uncoordinated, teenage punks. You have to actually earn the right to be a ranger, through skill. Something you lack. I, on the other hand, have been training since I was five years old. My father was a power ranger and he taught me quite a bit. I just thought you might want to know what you're getting yourself into before we start this. It wouldn't be fair not to give you a chance to back out."

Vida scoffed, "Sorry buddy, but I don't back down from pig headed ego maniacs who insult my ability as a ranger. It's not really my style. So are we going to start this or are you just going to stand there and talk me to death?"

"Oh, I'm quite done talking. It's definitely time for some action."

"Famous last words,"

"You would know."

With that Vida charged at Sky beginning to rapidly spin. Sky was ready this time though. Seeing what she was about to do he ran right at her and flipped over her at the last second. The moment he landed he crouched down, lashing out with his leg and sending the spinning Vida crashing to the ground. Seeing a chance to take the offensive he lunged forward attempting to grab her leg but Vida had already begun to roll away. As Sky tried to grab her one foot he was nearly kicked in the face as she kicked out with her other. Letting go, both Sky and Vida scrambled to their feet. This time Vida was the one moving back though as Sky charged at her, forcing her back was series of round house kicks that she narrowly managed to avoid. Trying to take back her offensive, Vida swung wildly at Sky. With his one hand Sky caught Vida's punch and twisted her arm around into a painful hold. Vida then swung at Sky with her other arm, only to be caught in a similar, and was now trapped, face to face with Sky.

Both fighters paused for a moment meeting each others' gaze. Sky's cold piercing blue eyes were met with Vida's fiery hazel globes, and it was like fire and ice meeting for their final battle. Unfortunately, the moment was abruptly ended as Sky released Vida's arms only to slam his foot with full force into her stomach, sending her flying backwards, slamming into the nearest tree and knocking the air from her lungs.

Vida coughed violently as she attempted to regain her breath. Sky was not about to let up on her yet though. He rushed forward grabbing her arm, which she had mistakenly reached out in an attempt to push him back. Holding her wrist with a firm grip, he twisted her arm around and side stepped behind her, now pinning her arm behind her. Just as swiftly, he hooked his one leg around her right foot and forced her to stumble to her knees. Vida attempted to reach back with her arm but pushed out of reach as Sky pressed his knee into her back painfully forcing her down flat on her stomach.

Vida resisted the urge to cry out in pain as she attempted to struggle out of Sky's hold. Her struggles were to no avail though as Sky kept his knee painfully digging into her back to hold her down while still keeping her other arm twisted in his grip. She was pinned, and there was no way for her to break free.

"Tap out," Sky commanded, his voice remaining even all the while.

"What?" Vida replied incredulously.

"You've lost. There's no way for you to get out of this hold. So tap out."

"No way," Vida growled.

Sky increased the pressure he was applying to her twisted arm. Vida had to bite her tongue to keep from crying out in pain. "Tap out," he stated evenly.

"Bite me," she replied through clenched teeth.

Once again though, Sky twisted her arm even further, sending unbearable pain shooting down her arm. This time she actually did cry out. "Listen, you wanted to take this to the next level. So I did just that. Now I've got you pinned and there's no way you're going to get out of it so tap out."

"Come on V, you look pretty stuck. Just do it, it's not a big deal," Chip pleaded from the sidelines. He and Nick had been watching silently the whole time and were starting to get quite concerned by how seriously each fighter was taking this.

"No w- ahhh!" Vida screeched as Sky continued to twist her arm farther.

"Hey man, stop that," Nick demanded, getting ready to pull Sky off by force if he had to. "Just let her go. You're hurting her for real now."

"No actually, I'm not." Sky stated, not taking his eyes off Vida. "But she may end up hurting herself if she doesn't tap out. You see Vida; a person's arm can only bend so far and yours is about as a bent as it can go. So if I press any harder or you try to struggle out of my grip your arm could break. So you have two choices Vida: you tap out, or I break your arm."

"You even think about hurting her, and we'll turn you into a toad before you can even blink," Nick growled, taking a menacing step towards Sky. He stood by long enough during the fight and he wasn't about to let some jerk from the future threaten one of his team mates.

"Alright guys, come on," Chip pleaded, stepping in between Sky and Nick. Partly it was to hold off Nick, but it was also to come to the aid of Vida if the future ranger really was serious about hurting V. "Just let her up Sky, okay. She's not going to give up and neither are you. So let's just call it a draw, please."

"Sorry, but no," Sky replied coldly. "She has to learn sooner or later that there are consequences to her actions. You wanted to fight full on Vida, so we did just that. Now I've got you pinned and you have to admit defeat, plain and simple."

"Then you might as well break my arm now, because I will never admit to that."

Sky sighed with a shake of his head. "You see that is exactly why you lost, and why you'll never beat me," he replied softly as he got up, releasing her arm.

"What's that supposed to mean," Vida asked, as rolled over to a sitting position, nursing her tender arm.

"You don't learn anything from winning. You learn from making mistakes. Your refusal to accept defeat is the exact reason why you'll never beat me. Because if you were smart, you'd be asking me how I did it, so next time, that doesn't happen. Mind you, that would involve you admitting defeat, and because apparently you can't do that, you'll never know why you lost, and thus, you'll never win."

"Whatever, that was just one battle. If we were going full on ranger mode, I could have beaten you."

Sky rolled his eyes. "I hardly think that's something to brag about. I mean you're basically saying you can't win without your weapons. What kind of ranger does that make you?"

"Well what kind of ranger asks another ranger to give up because she's in difficult situation? I thought being a ranger was all about never giving up and fighting to the end."

"Well then you obviously have a lot to learn about being a ranger," Sky replied coolly turning his back on the other rangers. "You know what? I've had enough of this, and I've had more than enough training for today. I'll see you guys later." And with that Sky walked off, back towards Rootcore.

"What is his problem?" Vida asked to no one in particular as she watched him disappear into the forest.

"I get the feeling it has a lot less to do with you V, and a lot more to do with something else," Chip replied.

To be continued…