Hey Ranger fans! I'm happy to get this chapter out, as it helps set the new status quo going forward.
I want to thank JTWAS1994 and GoldenMewtwo for their continued support and also want to thank Taiwo for his glowing review.
The Survey is going to stay up about a month longer. In case you missed it last chapter, I'm just asking who your favorite Ranger is. It has no bearing on the story. It's just for fun.
Anyway, here's Chapter 21!
Myth 21: Test Anxiety
"Man, you guys just pick the best places to visit," Nate commented sarcastically as he looked around at the rough rocks around him.
The five teens, Jay, Mera, Victor, Nate and Valerie, were on one of the hills Olympia Hills got its name from. However, it was more of a mountain than a hill. Rocks littered the landscape as the teens trekked along.
"I mean, really, first a forest a month ago, and now a field of rocks. You can really pick them, fearless leader," Nate continued.
"Are you going to do this the whole trip?" Jay said. "You know why we're here, so stop complaining."
As Nate grumbled as he hiked behind them, Jay thought back to what had brought them to this point. The events that had happened yesterday...
Flashback
"Oh god," Jay said, "what did Hades just do? Did we just...lose?"
No one answered as they looked at the destruction of Mt. Olympus, once proud home of their mentors, the Greek gods. Mera pressed a button and changed the screen back to a neutral gray screen.
"This is my fault," Jay said as he sat down on one of the steps and slumped forward. "I failed."
"This isn't your fault," Valerie said as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "If anyone's to blame, it's Hades. We did all we could."
"And it obviously wasn't enough," Jay said, his voice showing that his depression was very clearly taking hold.
"Where do we go from here?" Victor asked.
"I don't know," Jay said sadly. "There's no one here to help us anymore."
"That is not completely true," Mera said as she pressed another button on the mosaic computer, bringing up a video of Hermes on the screen. "Hermes told us to look for Chiron, and it looks like he left a video for us."
"Rangers," the video Hermes said. "If you're seeing this, then our worst fears have been realized, and Olympus has fallen. I know that I was not the best mentor, but I at least hope that I told you to find Chiron. Chiron hasn't been seen since training some of the great heroes like Achilles and Jason. If he wasn't the immortal centaur he is, the gods might very well have guessed he was dead. I tracked him to a mountain outside Olympia Hills. The rough coordinates are shown at the end of this video, to at least give you a place to start. Chances are that he isn't looking for visitors. Tell him what has happened, and he should agree to train you. I hope that he will prove a most helpful ally for you. Best of luck."
With that, a map appeared showing coordinates that were, just as Hermes said, outside of Olympia Hills on a mountain.
"See, Jay?" Valerie said. "There is hope."
"I guess," Jay said, a little braver now, as he stood up. "We need to find Chiron, and fast. We need him to train us to be ready to face Hades next time. So I say that Nate, Valerie, Mera, Victor and I go look for Chiron while Diana and Adrian stay here in case Hades tries to pull something. I figure that they're most used to working together out of all of us, being that they worked alone for a little while before joining. Dan, I assume that you can't stay?"
"Dan's still out," Nate pointed out as everyone looked at the unconscious Dan. "But I'm going to assume that the answer is 'no.'"
"I don't know how much help I'll be," Christina said as she stepped away from the Flame of the Gods in it's new place in a brazier in the corner. "But I'll do whatever I can."
"Then you stay here with Adrian and Diana and keep an eye on the city," Jay said. "The rest of us should get ready. We're going to have a long hike in front of us."
End Flashback
After that, the teens had packed for the hike and gotten a good night's sleep before heading out early the next morning. What Jay hadn't told the group was the nightmare he had had before the battle, and that he had, in fact, not gotten a good night's sleep. Instead, he had had a restless one full of nightmares of him failing the team over and over. He was still thinking about them when Mera tapped him.
"Are you alright?" she asked. "you seem to be deep in thought."
"I'm fine," Jay said as he brushed off her comment. He looked at the group as they stopped and looked at him, unsure about his last statement..
"What? I said I'm fine," Jay said firmly as he started hiking in front of the group again.
"What do you think is going on?" Victor asked in a poor whisper as the rest of the group continued behind him.
"Valerie, he converses with you the most, do you know what is troubling him?" Mera whispered.
"He seemed really weird after study hall yesterday," Valerie recalled, "but I didn't really think anything of it."
"Hey," Nate said. "He said he's fine, so let's just leave it."
"I am just concerned it may cause problems in battle," Mera said.
"He's probably just rattled from the battle. We all are," Nate said as he started to speed up to match Jay's pace.
The other three quickly ran to catch up, no longer in discussion.
It took about a half hour, all of it spent in silence, to reach the coordinates.
"Ok," Nate said. "There's nothing here."
"Hermes did say they were rough coordinates," Valerie pointed out. "We may need to look around a bit.
Jay looked lost in thought again before Nate cleared his throat. Jay looked up.
"What do you think, fearless leader?" Nate asked.
"I think Valerie is right," Jay said. "And stop calling me that. It obviously isn't true."
"I thought we had, like, a thing," Nate said. "I call you 'fearless leader' and you call me 'hotshot.'"
"Well, maybe we don't have a 'thing,'" Jay said. "Everyone spread out. See if you can find a cave or something that Chiron might live in. Remember that he's a centaur, so he needs a lot of space. Any questions?"
He looked around before seeing Nate raising his hand.
"Anyone with a serious question?" Jay asked, a little annoyed with Nate already.
Nate slowly put his hand down and, after a few seconds, no one else raised their hand.
"Good," Jay said. "Let's do it."
"Where is the Flame?" Hades demanded as he pulled blue fire from the brazier and snaked it around the minor god's neck.
"I...I don't know!" the minor god said as he started to panic. "Please don't hurt me!"
Hades looked at him for a moment before pulling the fire back into the brazier.
"Bring me one of the Olympians this time!" he commanded the armored Spartoi guards. They both nodded before they dragged out the minor god in chains.
The armored Spartoi guards came back a few minutes later, now with a woman with hair as yellow as corn and a green dress. They forced her to kneel in front of the throne.
"Ah, Demeter," Hades said. "I haven't seen you since I stole your daughter from you."
He gestured over to Persephone, who looked sadly at her captive mother.
"I still haven't forgiven you for that," Demeter said as she glared at her captor, "but this is a new low, even for you. Taking my daughter was bad enough, but capturing all of Olympus? Have you no shame?"
"Silence!" Hades demanded as he slammed a fist on his throne and the fire on his head grew in intensity for a minute. "I'll do the talking around here! Now, where is the Flame?"
"I'll never tell you!" Demeter said defiantly. "And you can threaten me and torture me all you want. I'm not talking."
"I could torture you…" Hades said, deep in thought, "or I could attack your daughter."
He pulled blue flames out of the brazier and created a ball in his hands. He aimed at Persephone.
"Wait! My lord!" Persephone shouted as she put up her hands in a defensive position. "You would really attack me!?"
"I'll talk!" Demeter said as the blue flames and her daughter's face reflected in her eyes. "The Rangers have the Flame! Zeus gave it to the Green Ranger, who took it back to their base! Just don't hurt my daughter!"
The flame ball in Hades' hands died down and finally went out.
"Now, was that so hard?" he asked before snapping his fingers. "I have what I want! Take Demeter away!"
The armored Spartoi guards nodded in understanding before forcing Demeter to stand and pulled her out of the room.
"Persephone!" Demeter shouted as she was dragged away.
Persephone looked at her husband in shock.
Does he really think so little of me? she thought, still in shock. I need to help the gods or the Rangers. But how?
"Gryphon!" Hades shouted.
Gryphon stepped out of the shadows and kneeled in front of the throne.
"My lord, I trust you want me to defeat the Rangers and find the Flame?" Gryphon asked.
"Well...yes," Hades said. "Bring some armored Spartoi with you. They have a better chance of destroying the Rangers than normal ones."
"Only a few hundred survived the battle," Gryphon pointed out. "Do you still want me to use them?"
"Don't question me and do as you are told," Hades snapped. "Get the location of the Rangers' base, then destroy them all!"
"It would be a privilege," Gryphon said before disappearing into his signature black smoke.
"I'm not finding anything in these caves," Valerie commented to Mera as the two of them exited another cave.
"Odd," Mera said. "I would have thought Hermes' coordinates to be at least close to accurate. He was not the type to make mistakes."
The two of them started down the rocky hill before noticing some armored Spartoi running up the hill towards them.
"Looks like this search needs to be postponed a little bit," Valerie commented as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Let's morph! Pink Olympian Power!"
"I agree," Mera said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Yellow Olympian Power!"
The two morphed in a flash of yellow and pink light before Valerie slowly and carefully went down the hill.
Valerie flipped into the air and kicked one armored Spartoi into a large rock. She wobbled a bit on the landing, unused to the rocky terrain. She summoned her Love Bow before pulling back the string and firing some pink energy arrows at the armored Spartoi, but her foot shifted on the rocks, causing her shot to go wide.
"This could be a problem…" she admitted before noticing Mera and how she was fighting.
Mera had run to the top of the hill and was using her Battle Spear to pry a large rock loose. She finally managed the feat and pushed the rock over the edge, where it quickly toppled down and knocked over a few armored Spartoi. Some more appeared behind her and pushed her down the hill. Mera cried out from the hit and rolled down the hill, her spear becoming separated from her as she fell.
"Mera!" Valerie shouted as she tried to run and grab her as Mera fell down the hill. Valerie tripped on a rock and fell down the hill too, her weapon also becoming separated from her.
When she reached the bottom of the hill, Valerie got up and brushed the dust off of her suit.
"You ok?" Valerie asked as she pulled the prone Mera up.
"I will be," Mera said. "However, we need to hurry and fight through these foes. The boys might be in trouble.
They heard Jay cry out and looked at each other before they both ignored the armored Spartoi and ran to find their leader.
They found the three boys on the ground demorphed with a small army of armored Spartoi, Gryphon leading them, in front of them.
"I thought that you might prove more of a challenge after we beat you on Olympus," Gryphon commented. "You know, gotten your second wind or something, but this is pathetic!"
He put his foot onto Jay's back, holding him down even as he tried to rise.
"I heard that Lord Hades told you that being alive to see you fail would be the best punishment," Gryphon monologed, "but, personally, I think that death is a pretty good punishment too."
He started to grind his armored foot into Jay's back, causing him to cry out in pain, before drawing his sword back.
Armored Spartoi held Nate and Victor down as they struggled to get up to help their leader.
Valerie and Mera resummoned their weapons and charged at Gryphon, knocking him off of Jay with their combined spear and arrow attacks.
"Looks like the girls still have some fight left in them!" Gryphon commented as his wings flapped, rightening himself, before hovering in front of the female Rangers.
"Think you can do better than Red, Blue and Black?" he taunted.
The two girls didn't answer, and instead put their weapons together so that Valerie was now drawing the Battle Spear back instead of an arrow.
"Battle Arrow...Fire!" they shouted together as Valerie released the Battle Spear and sent it flying at Gryphon.
Gryphon caught it with his left, non-sword holding hand before dropping it onto the ground.
"That's the best you can do?" he asked before letting out a villainous laugh. "Gryphon's Fire!"
He charged his sword with bronze energy before slashing an "X" into the air with his sword. The bronze energy hovered there in the "X" shape until Gryphon stabbed his sword through it. Bronze flames shot out of the tip of his sword, blasting the Yellow and Pink Rangers back.
Both girls tried to get up, but the attack had proved too powerful. There was a flash of pink and yellow light as the two female Rangers demorphed.
"I'm not sure what you're doing here, but I can assure you it was a waste of time! Now die!" Gryphon shouted as he started to glow with bronze energy, the same that had been coming from his sword. He was about to stab his sword into the ground when an actual, physical arrow flew out of the air and struck Gryphon in the wrist, somehow piercing it. Gryphon dropped his sword and roared in pain as he looked up to see an odd figure on the top of the hill.
It was a sort of man-horse combo. The lower body was that of a white stallion, but the top was that of what looked like an older man. He had long white hair that matched his stallion half, and a long mustache and beard that looked like they hadn't been shaved in a very long time, as the beard reached his neck.
"Leave, evil doers!" the old man-horse said. "I have no interest in your kind leaving these humans as corpses on my land!"
"I was wondering if we would ever see you again, Chiron," Gryphon remarked as he slowly stood up and grabbed his sword with his left, non-dominant hand. "You have an interest in these humans?"
"Not particularly," Chiron said. "I couldn't care less who they are. I just don't need you to mess up my home!"
"We'll meet again soon, Chiron," Gryphon said as he backed away clutching his wrist. "Mark my words! You will pay dearly for this!"
Gryphon stepped into the blue-ringed portal that appeared behind him, the armored Spartoi quickly following before closed behind them.
Chiron turned to gallop away before Jay called out to him as he and the other Rangers stood up.
"Wait!" Jay shouted so his voice could reach up the hill. "You're Chiron? We've been looking for you!"
"Well, you can keep looking," Chiron said as he kept his back to them. "I don't want to be found."
"It's important!" Victor shouted uncharacteristically.
"I'm sure it is," Chiron said, his back still towards them. "The gods want me to train another group of heroes? I'm done with that life. Nothing you say can change my mind!"
"Olympus has fallen!" Valerie shouted, "Hades captured the gods!"
Chiron whirled around in shock.
"What?!" he shouted. "When?!"
"Yesterday!" Nate shouted.
"May we please find a place to talk?" Mera shouted.
"Fine," Chiron said. "Follow me."
The Rangers ran up the rocky hill and reached where the centaur had been, only to see him galloping away.
"C'mon," Jay said. "We better follow him."
And follow him they did. Chiron slowed down every once in a while to check that they were still following, but the Rangers kept up the pace. About five minutes later, the rocks had turned to grass, and there was even a little stream. Another five minutes passed, and Chiron galloped into a cave.
"See?" Nate said as the Rangers followed. "I knew he wouldn't live in a place with rocks!"
"Shut up," Mera said as they entered the cave. They found themselves in a large cavern that had multiple offshoots into different tunnels. Chiron turned around and looked at the Rangers.
"Tell me what happened, and don't leave out a single detail," he said.
The Rangers told him the story from the formation of the team to the fall of Olympus, and if he had any thoughts about it, he wasn't speaking them aloud. Jay finished the story, and it was quiet for about a minute.
"Your problem is that you weren't trained well enough," Chiron said. "All of your problems stem from a lack of training."
"We did a lot of training!" Nate said. "We ran, we sparred, we practiced with our weapons…"
"You did a lot of physical training, yes," Chiron agreed. "But did you train mentally? Learn your opponents before you have to face them? Grow as people and warriors?"
"Ok, not really," Jay admitted. "But I was hoping that maybe you could show us where we went wrong."
Chiron sighed.
"I've been denying the gods' requests for years to train new heroes," he said, "I thought that my time was done. I suppose I can train one more team. If you can prove yourselves worthy. Consider this a test on whether my training will benefit you or not."
"Of course we're worthy!" Nate said. "And we'll take on any test you give us!"
"I have had many potential heroes fail this test and, thus, my training," Chiron warned. "Do not think you are better than someone just because they failed one thing. Those same heroes who failed the test may not have been trained by me, but they still became famous heroes by their own merit. I had Perseus take the test, and he failed. He still slew Medusa in the end."
"Ok, point taken," Nate said as he backed off.
"Red Ranger," Chiron said. "Are you and your team ready to take the test? If you prove yourselves, I will train you."
"You can call me Jay," Jay said before looking at his team, who nodded. "And I think we're ready."
"Then follow me," Chiron said as he led the team into one of the offshoots of the main cavern. He led them down a gentle slope that continued for almost 10 minutes.
"Are we there yet?" Nate asked halfway through.
"Oh, don't you start," Valerie said.
Finally, the Rangers and Chiron reached the bottom of the incline and the teens found themselves in another cavern, but this one had cracks all over the walls and the floor that leaked out a green mist. There was a stone statue of a woman sitting down with her legs crossed.
"These mists are the same ones that gave the Oracle of Delphi her powers. The mists were created by the gods, and, in Delphi, granted the power of seeing the future. However, these mists allow you to view the past. The Oracle's spirit lives in that statue. I will use my spirit to give her life. She will give you the test. I need you to sit down in front of the statue."
The Rangers walked up towards the statue and sat in a horizontal line in front of it.
"Now close your eyes, and allow the mists to aid you," Chiron said, "I will be here, waiting for you."
The Rangers obeyed and the mists began to swirl around them, creating a vortex around them and the statue. The statue began to speak in a feminine yet powerful voice.
"I am the Oracle of Delphi," it said. "You will now begin the Hero Test. I will be your guide. Let us begin."
The mists swirled around even stronger and became smaller in diameter. Chiron covered his eyes as the maelstrom grew more powerful. Suddenly, the vortex died and Chiron uncovered his eyes. The Rangers were gone.
Jay cried out as he fell out of a green, misty vortex that dropped him a few feet off the ground. He got up and brushed himself off. He looked around.
"Nate? Valerie? Victor? Mera? Where are you guys?" he shouted.
"They are taking their own tests," the Oracle said as she appeared in green light. However, she was no longer stone, but a being of green mist.
"Ok, so what's my test?" Jay asked as he looked around. "And where am I anyway?"
"Your test will begin after this short journey," the Oracle said. "And we are in your past. So, you tell me."
Jay looked around and saw the brick building of…
"My elementary school?" he asked as he stepped forward and looked around. "Why are we here?"
"Observe, and you will hopefully understand," the Oracle said as she raised a hand and pointed at the kids leaving the building for recess.
"Hey, this is first grade!" Jay said as he saw a younger version of himself, still dressed in red. Next to him was another little boy dressed in black.
"And that's Paul!" he said.
"Paul," Young Jay said as he offered out his hand to high five. "Let's be best friends forever, ok?"
"Ok," Paul said as he slapped Young Jay's hand.
"But we didn't stay best friends forever," Jay said as the scene dissolved into green mist and became a scene that showed a middle school aged Paul and Jay walking separate ways from their homes next to each other.
"He went to a different middle school than me and then a private high school. We didn't really see each other much. He had clubs after school and I had Mera to spend time with now. He became bitter that I had a new best friend, and no one at his new school wanted to be his friend. Then he disappeared one day, about a year before I became a Ranger. His parents moved away six months after he disappeared, devastated."
The scene shifted through the green mist to reveal the house next to Jay's completely abandoned.
Jay looked at the Oracle.
"Why are you showing me this? What does this have to do with my test?" he asked.
"In order to better understand ourselves, we must look at the events that shape us," the Oracle explained, "These events that shaped you will be important someday. Keep them in mind. As for your test…"
The scene dissolved into green mist again and became the Underworld, specifically Hades' throne room. Hades stood in front of Jay, cackling as he stepped over the other defeated Rangers. Jay looked down and noticed he was morphed and had the Lightning Sword in his hand.
"You must face him and win," the Oracle said.
"I can't," Jay said as his sword trembled in his hand. "The eight of us couldn't beat him last time, and that was just a fraction of his power. What good can I do?"
"Yes, what good can you do?" Hades agreed as blue fireballs appeared in his hands. He hurled them at Jay, who managed to roll out of the way. He looked at his fallen comrades.
"Guys, you've got to get up! I can't face him alone!" he shouted.
Hades stopped mid-throw as Chiron's voice filled the room.
"Red Ranger," Chiron's voice said. "You must find the courage in you to face a dire threat! You just have to believe in yourself!"
"That's easy for you to say," Jay said. "I doubt myself every day, and some days are a struggle to even get out of bed. I never should have been a Ranger in the first place!"
He dropped his sword and fell to his knees
"You have friends that care about you," Chiron's voice said. "You just need to fight for them and yourself!"
Transparent versions of his friends appeared around him.
"You can do it, fearless leader!" Nate's voice echoed from his transparent self.
"I believe in you!" Valerie's voice echoed from her transparent self.
"I am certain you can lead us to victory!" Mera's voice echoed from her transparent self.
"You can't give up!" Victor's voice echoed from his transparent self.
"Let's go, Jay!" Adrian's voice echoed from his transparent self.
"Give 'em hell!" Diana's voice echoed from her transparent self.
"You're right!" Jay shouted as he grabbed his sword and stood up. "I can't let all of the responsibility fall on my shoulders! We're a team, and we fight together! And every team needs a leader and that's me! So I need to do the best I can! For myself, my team and the world!"
Hades started moving again as Jay summoned red lightning with his sword and slashed Hades with the red-glowing blade.
"No!" Hades shouted as the blade slashed right through him and he disappeared in a wisp of black smoke.
Jay looked around at the transparent versions of his friends.
"Thanks guys," he said, "I needed the encouragement."
His friends smiled as they disappeared.
The Oracle floated over to Jay as the world became pure white.
"It may have taken Chiron's help, but you did complete the goal," she said. "You pass. Now accept the gift that I can bestow upon you."
Jay looked down as he gained new armor over his torso. It was the same gold as his belt, shin guards, morphers, trim around his visor and the omega symbol on his chest. It had a red omega symbol in the exact place that the old gold one had been. It also had shoulder pads that were long enough to completely cover his shoulders. He also received gold arm bands that weren't long enough to completely cover the red, and the color matched the new armor.
"Why am I getting this?" Jay asked as he looked himself over.
The Oracle smiled, "This proves that you are Chiron's disciple. You should find that this will aid you quite well in battle. This is your new Hero Armor"
"Very cool," Jay said. "But now what? What about the rest of my team?"
"They are in the middle of their tests," the Oracle said. "You will wait here until they have completed them."
"Good luck, guys," Jay said to himself as he looked into the void.
Nate landed on his feet as the green mist dropped him on the ground. He looked around to find that he was inside his own home in the kids' room. However, based on how new everything looked, it was from many years ago.
"Why the hell am I here?" Nate asked. "What does this have to do with my test?"
The Oracle appeared beside him, just as she had for Jay.
"I show every potential hero who takes this test a part of their past that may become important in the future," the Oracle explained. "For you, that leads us here."
Nate stepped back as the door opened and a young Nate, probably about 8 stepped into the room with his mother, who was obviously pregnant.
"And this is going to be your sibling's room!" she said as Young Nate looked around.
She looked at Young Nate as he explored the room and then at Nate's father as he entered the room as well. He didn't have gray on his temples yet, showing how long ago this was.
"Nate, come here for a moment," his father said as he kneeled down to be on the same level as him.
Young Nate came over, confused.
"What's going on, Daddy?" he asked.
"I just wanted to talk for a minute," his father said. "You're going to be a big brother soon, and I want you to know that your mother and I are going to need your help."
"Why do you need my help?" Young Nate asked.
"Because I know you can be responsible," his father said. "I'll be working a lot, so we need your help. Can you promise to be responsible?"
"Of course," Young Nate said as he nodded, "you can count on me!"
Nate looked over at the Oracle.
"Yeah, I remember this," he said, "so why are you showing me?"
"This is why," the Oracle said as she waved her hand and the room dissolved into green mist before the mist reformed into a montage of Nate doing stupid and reckless things. From flying into the air off of ramps with his bike to the stunt he had pulled the day the teens had become Rangers.
"Does this look responsible to you?" the Oracle asked.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Nate argued. "You skipped everything I did for my siblings!"
The green mist reformed into Nate helping his siblings with their homework and feeding them when their mother couldn't.
"It's alright to be irresponsible every once in a while," the Oracle said. "But not every right action cancels out a wrong one."
"Just give me the test already!" Nate said impatiently.
"As you wish," the Oracle said as the scene changed again through the green mists. Now, they were standing in front of a Cyclops. Nate looked around the room and saw stone walls and a stone floor. However, about 50 yards away from the Cyclops were the four other Rangers taking the test, each trapped in a circle of fire.
"Your goal is to defeat the Cyclops and save your friends," the Oracle said, "begin."
Nate morphed in an instant and summoned his trident. He ran at the Cyclops and slid under it before coming around for a powerful stab to the back. The Cyclops roared as it whirled around and smashed its fist into Nate's helmet, knocking him closer to his trapped friends.
"Guys, can't you get out of there on your own?" he asked. "Just morph and jump through. Our suits are fire-resistant, after all."
"We would," Jay said as he showed his wrists, which were bare, "but the Cyclops kind of stole our morphers."
"Man, I have to do everything!" Nate said as he pointed his trident at the flames surrounding Jay and fired a jet of water out of the points. The fire sizzled out for a second before reigniting and maybe even becoming a little stronger.
"My hypothesis is that these are caused by a constant flow of gas!" Mera shouted at Nate. "You must find a way to shut off that gas!"
"Before we all burn would be nice!" Valerie said as the flame circle began to shrink for all four teens.
Nate was about to respond sarcastically when the Cyclops came over and grabbed him by the leg. He lifted him into the air and slammed him into the ground repeatedly. Finally, he let go and left Nate in a small crater that had been created.
"Ow," Nate said as he shook his head to get the stars to leave and stood up, using his trident to support his weight while rubbing his back. "That's going to hurt for a while."
"Less joking, more saving!" Jay shouted as he backed away from the flames, only to find them closing in behind him too.
"I'm working on it!" Nate shouted back as he ran at the Cyclops and flipped over him. He ran over to the flame circles and looked around.
"There's never a big red button," he said as he looked around. "One labeled 'stops fire' or something."
"Blue Ranger," Chiron's voice said, "Sometimes skill can beat strength. Fighting with pure power will not help you win!"
"There's no such thing as an unbeatable test!" Nate said. "I just need to fight harder!"
"No, you must fight smarter," the voice said. "Think things through!"
"Fine," Nate said as the wheels began to turn in his head. "If the Cyclops trapped them...then the Cyclops knows how to free them!"
Nate ran back to the Cyclops and quickly scanned him. He noticed that the Cyclops was hiding something on his belt.
"I bet that's my big red button," Nate said as he ran at the Cyclops and stabbed him in the stomach. He reached around and grabbed a remote on the Cyclops' belt.
"I'll take that, thank you," Nate said as he swiped it and pressed the button. The fires around his friends went out. The four other teens walked up and patted Nate on the back.
"We knew you could do it," Jay said as he slowly disappeared along with the others.
"Guys?" Nate asked.
"They were never really here," the Oracle said as the entire room faded to white. "You pass. Now accept these gifts."
Nate looked down as he gained the same chestplate that Jay had gotten, but with a blue omega symbol, and the same armbands.
"A Power-Up?" Nate asked. "Hell yeah! It's about time!"
"Now, the others are still taking their tests, so you must wait here," the Oracle said.
Nate sighed.
"More waiting…" he said sarcastically. "Yay."
Mera landed on her feet as the green mist dropped her inches from the ground. She glanced around and found she was…
"What am I doing back in Wales?" she asked herself as she looked around at the grassy hills around her. "You must be showing me past events that may affect the future."
"So, you figured it out on your own," the Oracle said. "You are correct. Now tell me, where are we?"
"This is where I grew up before moving to America in Elementary School," Mera answered. She looked over at the young children playing in the wet grass. One of them had the same red hair as her. The child turned around to reveal it was a younger Merrida. She was probably about 7.
"Merrida!" a man with short red hair and a beard shouted with a strong Welsh accent, "Where are you?"
"Right here, Daddy!" the Young Merrida called back in a similarly strong accent as she ran towards the man. He picked her up and spun her around.
"There's my little flower!" he said as he put her down.
"What's going on?" the younger Merrida asked.
"It's time to come home," her father said. "Your mother and I have something to tell you."
The scene dissolved into green mist and reformed into the kitchen in Mera's old house. It was a modern-looking house, just like one would find in most places.
"What do you mean we're moving?" the younger Merrida asked.
"Your mother and I got an offer to work overseas in America," her father said. "So we need to take you with us."
"I don't want to!" the younger Merrida said. "I like it here in Wales! Americans are so...weird!"
"I know, flower," her father said as he kneeled down to her level, "but I think this is the best thing for our family. Now, I need you to try your best to fit in. I even got you a book off the internet all about America."
He pulled the book off the table and gave it to Merrida.
"I don't really like books," the younger Merrida said. "The characters are always hard to relate to."
"This is called non-fiction," her father said, "it means that it's completely made of facts. The only 'characters' are real people. Can you just try? For me?"
"I guess…" the younger Merrida said as she looked at the book she held in her hands.
"After reading that book, I grew to love non-fiction and science and history," Mera explained. "I started out the school year in America the same as I had been in Wales. I found I did not really 'fit in.'"
The scene dissolved into green mist and showed when the two boys had taken Merrida's bag away, with Merrida protesting until Jay showed up and got it back.
"But after Jay befriended me, I began to read more and more. I stopped using contractions and started using bigger words. I decided to just be different in my own way," Mera said before looking to the Oracle. "I do want to ask something, however."
"Go ahead," the Oracle said.
"I believed that I would be taking a test of some sort," Mera said. "When does that start?"
The scene dissolved into green mist once again and reformed into a marble room, not unlike the Temple.
"You must wait here," the Oracle said. "Your test will begin when the Black Ranger arrives."
"Victor?" Mera asked herself. "But why him?"
Victor grunted as he landed on his back, the mist dropping him sideways onto the floor. He got up and looked around. He was in his father's office. Based on the state of everything, Victor seemed to have appeared about 10 years or so ago. He looked forward and saw his parents arguing, meaning that this was around the time he was five.
"I'm telling you that Victor likes to build things!" Victor's mother shouted. "You would see the amazing things he's made if you came home every once in a while!"
"I don't care what he's making!" his father argued back. "I worked hard for so many years to ensure that my son doesn't have to get his hands dirty!"
"But he likes it!" his mother argued. "Just let him decide when he's older what he wants to do!"
"I will not!" Victor's father shouted back. "Victor is going to follow the path I have laid out for him! I plan that by 21, he'll be ready to manage one of the smaller companies inside Steel Works! Then he'll climb the ranks until I retire and he takes over the company!"
"But what about what Victor wants?" his mother asked.
"What Victor wants is unimportant," his father said. "What's important is his and this company's future!"
His mother started to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Victor's father asked. "Don't you turn your back on me!"
"I'm leaving," Victor's mother said. "I would take Victor with me, but we both know your lawyers would win you custody in the end. I refuse to watch my little boy suffer, so I'm going to go home and pack. Goodbye, Roger."
"Mary! Wait!" Mr. Steel shouted as he reached out while Victor's mother left the room.
"So that's what happened," Victor said. "My father never told me exactly what happened that day."
The scene dissolved into green mist and showed Victor leaving home with nothing but a backpack full of stuff. Rain poured down as he walked down the street, away from his father's mansion.
"I left when I was 16," Victor said. "I had had enough of my father, but I didn't have the courage to tell him."
The scene dissolved into green mist again and showed past Victor stepping into the elevator as his father shouted at him.
"You haven't heard the last of me!" his father screamed. "I will find a way to make you follow in my footsteps, whether you like it or not!"
"I never caught all of what he said," Victor said, "is this to warn me of something to come involving him?"
"Indeed," the Oracle said. "I am impressed you figured it out all on your own."
"Everyone thinks I'm slow, and I never correct them," Victor said, "but you need a fast mind to design something with moving parts."
"That does have something to do with your test," the Oracle said. "Let us begin it."
The scene dissolved into green mist again and reformed into the same Temple-like space Mera was waiting in.
"Both participants are here," the Oracle said, "so the test may begin."
Victor and Mera stepped forward as a large Automaton, even bigger than the one Hermes had used to train them, appeared out of the green mist. Its red eyes glowed as it stared at its new opponents.
"Your goal is to defeat this Automaton without destroying it," the Oracle said as she stepped back. "Begin."
Victor and Mera morphed in an instant and summoned their Battle Spear and Blacksmith Hammer respectively, as well as Mera summoning the Mirror Shield.
How can I defeat it without destroying it? Mera thought.
She leapt up at it and stuck her spear into its chest. Sparks flew as the spear pierced the metal. She pulled her spear out and landed in front of it before rolling out of the way of a backhand swing.
Victor wasn't so lucky. He was hit by the backhand and went flying into the wall, creating a Ranger-shaped indent in the wall. He fell from the indent and landed on the ground.
Mera blocked an overhead strike with the Mirror Shield and watched in wonder as it somehow reflected the force back at the Automaton.
"I must study this further when we get back to the Temple," Mera said. "It must be quite fascinating with how this functions."
Victor said nothing as the Rangers regrouped in front of the Automaton again. There was now a small hole in it's chest where the spear had pierced it, and both Rangers could now see some of the gears powering it.
"Victor, knock it onto its back with your hammer!" Mera ordered. "I'll try and disable it's inner functions."
Victor looked conflicted for a moment before nodding.
I might be better to do it, but I don't want to insult her, he thought as he nodded.
Mera ran up and distracted the Automaton as Victor ran to its side and swung his hammer into the back of it's knee, causing the knee to buckle. The Automaton fell onto its knees before Victor came up and hit it in the head, causing it to fall onto its back instead.
Mera leapt up and used her spear to cut a larger hole in its chest. She looked around at all of the gears.
I have no idea what I am looking at, she admitted to herself, but it's up to me to figure it out.
"Do not be afraid to ask for help," Chiron's voice said only to Mera. "You can't assume that you are going to know everything. Perhaps the Black Ranger knows what to do?"
Victor looked at Mera as she looked at the gears. She tilted her head to the side in confusion.
Maybe I should offer to help? Victor thought.
"Yes," Chiron's voice said only to Victor. "You must learn to speak up when necessary."
You're right, both Rangers thought at the same time.
"Victor," Mera said at the same time as Victor called her name, "maybe I need help."
"And maybe I know how to help," Victor said as he leapt up and looked at what he was working with. "Oh, I see."
He pulled out a glowing red core surrounded with gear teeth pointing all over the place. The Automaton's eyes stopped glowing and powered down.
"This core powers the whole thing by spinning all of the gears," Victor explained. "So without this, it's harmless."
The two Rangers leapt off the Automaton and Victor placed the core in front of the Oracle.
"Well done," the Oracle said with a smile. "You have passed. Here is your reward."
The two Rangers looked down as they received the same armor as Jay and Nate, but with a black and yellow omega symbol respectively.
"One more Ranger must take the test," the Oracle said. "The Pink Ranger may have the hardest lesson to learn…"
Valerie grunted as she landed on the ground. The green mist had dropped her a few feet off the ground. She looked around and found that she was at school. Based on the banner outside, it was from 2 years ago. The Oracle appeared beside her.
She looked to her left and saw a younger version of Jay walk towards the school, stopping on the hill. He took a deep breath and started down the hill, but stopped when he saw…
"Is that...me?" Valerie asked as she looked at where he was looking, which was at a younger version of herself. She didn't have the pink streaks in her hair yet but, besides that, she looked very similar to how she did now.
"Wow," Past Jay said as he looked at Past Valerie.
"It would be wise to talk to her if you wish to get to know her," a younger Mera said as she walked up to Past Jay's side.
"Maybe another day…" Jay said as he backed away.
"For goodness' sake! I will speak to her," Past Mera said as she started walking over to Past Valerie. The two girls introduced themselves to each other and began to chat.
"I remember that," Valerie said as she looked at the Oracle. "That's how Mera and I became friends. I didn't know Jay had anything to do with it. Just another way he brought the group together, I guess."
The area dissolved into green mist and reformed through multiple moments when Jay and Valerie had gotten closer. From when Jay had gotten the courage to ask her out to their date nights to when the Siren had tried to get Jay to kill Valerie.
"She's too strong," Past Jay said, "I can't hold her back for long. You need to get out of here before she makes me do something I'll regret."
"I'm not leaving you," Past Valerie said as she put her hand on Past Jay's cheek. "You wouldn't leave me."
Past Valerie slowly went in for a tender kiss, which Past Jay slowly reciprocated.
"I remember all this," Valerie said, "so why are you showing me this?"
"Heroes always have a weakness," the Oracle said. "It is time you admitted yours."
"I hardly consider a relationship a weakness," Valerie argued.
"We will see," the Oracle said as the scene shifted through the green mist into an arena.
Valerie stepped forward as Jay, morphed, appeared in front of her.
"Your goal is to defeat the Red Ranger," the Oracle said. "Begin."
Valerie stepped back as Jay summoned his weapon and started running at her. She morphed by instinct to defend herself and blocked Jay's overhead slash with her bow.
"Jay, I don't want to fight you!" she shouted. "You have to snap out of it!"
Jay didn't respond and just swung horizontally.
Valerie back flipped over the swipe before shooting an arrow at Jay's helmet, shattering the visor and revealing Jay's eyes.
"Please! I'm begging you!" Valerie pleaded as Jay came after her again and again, with her either blocking or dodging the attacks.
"Pink Ranger!" Chiron's voice said. "You must learn to defend yourself on your own. Do not let the opponent's form stop you from doing what must be done!"
"What do you mean?" Valerie asked as she ducked under a slash. "You want me to defeat Jay, even though he's my boyfriend?"
Chiron didn't answer her question, and Valerie was left in silence except for her exhausted breathing and Jay's battle cries.
Valerie looked up and looked into Jay's eyes. She didn't see Jay's spirit in those eyes.
"You're a fake!" Valerie shouted as she used her bow like a club, smashing it into Fake Jay's helmet, causing it to fall off.
Why didn't I see it sooner? she asked herself as she threw herself into her
attack.
She kicked the fake's sword away before aiming her bow inches from his exposed face.
"Good bye, you imposter!" Valerie shouted as she fired an arrow right through the fake Jay's head.
"Good riddance," she said as she turned around and walked away, the Fake Jay exploding behind her.
"Good work," the Oracle said. "Now accept the reward that success brings you."
Valerie looked down as she received the same armor and armbands that the other Rangers had gotten, but her armor had a pink omega symbol on it.
"Now, wake," the Oracle said as the green mist began to swirl into a giant maelstrom again.
Valerie cried out as she covered her eyes.
All five Rangers opened their eyes and saw that they were now morphed and in their Hero Armor. They stood up and removed their helmets before looking at Chiron.
"We passed," Nate said. "Just like I said that we would."
"What he's trying to say is that we're ready for you to train us more," Jay said.
"You may have passed your first lessons," Chiron said, "but don't get cocky. I won't always be there to give you the answer. When I am done, you will be able to solve those types of challenges on your own."
"Let's take you back to the base and start training," Valerie suggested.
Jay's morpher went off. All the other Rangers looked at him as he answered it.
"Yeah, Adrian?" he asked.
"We've got a major attack on the city," Adrian said. "There are armored Spartoi everywhere and Gryphon's kicking our butts."
"We're on our way," Jay said before looking around at the group, "and we've got a surprise waiting for him."
Diana and Adrian cried out as an explosion went off behind them, causing them to go flying and flipping through the air. They both grunted as they landed.
Gryphon stood over them, his shadow casting darkness over the Rangers.
"I thought the so-called "Sixth Rangers" would be a real challenge," Gryphon said. "Apparently not. Now, tell me where the Flame of the Gods is."
"You want a challenge?" a voice shouted as five figures ran forward.
Gryphon looked towards the voice and saw that the speaker had been Jay. He was flanked by the other four main Rangers.
"You got one!" Jay finished as the Rangers took a ready stance. "You guys ready?"
"Ready!" the other Rangers shouted.
"It's Morphing Time!" Jay announced as the Rangers crossed their arms over their chests.
"Pink Olympian Power!"
"Yellow Olympian Power!"
"Black Olympian Power!"
"Blue Olympian Power!"
"Red Olympian Power!"
In a flash of multi-colored light, the Rangers were morphed.
"Let's show him our new trick!" Nate suggested.
"Let's do it!" Jay agreed.
"Hero Armor, Power Up!" the Rangers announced as their omega symbols glowed and expanded into the Hero Armor.
The Rangers stepped forward and began a new roll call.
"Passion of Aphrodite! Armored Hero Pink Olympian Ranger!"
"Intelligence of Athena! Armored Hero Yellow Olympian Ranger!"
"Ingenuity of Hephestus! Armored Hero Black Olympian Ranger!"
"Fury of Poseidon! Armored Hero Blue Olympian Ranger!"
"Power of Zeus! Armored Hero Red Olympian Ranger!"
"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!" the Rangers shouted together.
"New armor?" Gryphon said, unimpressed. "Big deal! Armored Spartoi! Take them down!"
The armored Spartoi ran forward, hoping to overwhelm the Rangers with pure numbers and their enhanced defensive capabilities.
The five Rangers summoned their weapons and charged at the armored Spartoi.
Jay slashed at an armored Spartoi and was surprised as red lightning crackled along his blade without him summoning it. As he swung the blade, red lightning jumped from it and shocked other armored Spartoi.
Nate stabbed through an armored Spartoi's helmet and jabbed it where it's eyes would be before a wave of water appeared from his trident and blasted the armored Spartoi he stabbed and a few others away from him. He grinned under his helmet as he spun his trident around him, creating a vortex of water around him. When he finally stopped spinning, the vortex expanded and blasted the Spartoi back.
Victor slammed his hammer into an armored Spartoi and watched as the helmet and armor exploded into superheated chunks of metal that flew from the one armored Spartoi into others, causing their armor to melt and explode, causing a chain reaction.
Mera pointed her spear at an enemy and watched as multiple spears flew from it and pierced the armored Spartoi's armor, causing them to fall to the ground.
"This Hero Armor appears to enhance our powers," she commented. "Fascinating."
Valerie aimed her bow at an armored Spartoi and shot it in the face, causing it to fall onto the ground. Pink hearts went flying from the arrow and exploded around the armored Spartoi, causing them to go flying through the air and break into pieces when they landed on their backs and stomachs.
Jay flipped over the armored Spartoi trying to surround him and summoned the Mirror Shield as he charged at Gryphon.
"Ah, Red Ranger," Gryphon said. "Time to see which one of us is stronger now that you have your fancy Power-Up."
Jay leapt at Gryphon and slashed vertically with his sword, but Gryphon flapped his wings and skidded away. A red lightning bolt came down where Gryphon had once stood. Gryphon flew back in and slashed at the Red Ranger's chest, only for his blade to bounce off the Hero Armor.
"That armor is as tough as it looks," Gryphon said. "No matter."
Gryphon swung his sword again, this time aiming for Jay's head. Jay leaned back and the sword swung over him before he sprung back up and leapt into the air. He came down with a powerful slash.
Gryphon cried out as sparks flew from where the sword had hit him. He growled as he swung his sword weakly at the Red Ranger, but found it quickly blocked by the Mirror Shield. Gryphon stumbled backwards as the shield reflected the momentum of his attack back into his arm. He slowly began to back away as Jay stepped forward, trying to keep up the offensive.
"Next time, Red Ranger," he growled as he disappeared into his black smoke.
Jay charged through the smoke and looked around, but found that Gryphon was gone.
"Damn it," he said when he realized that Gryphon had escaped. He ran up to Adrian and helped pull him up, the other Rangers coming up close to him. They had defeated all of the armored Spartoi, and luckily no new ones had appeared.
"Want to tell me where this new armor came from?" Adrian asked.
"It's a long story," Jay said as he walked over and helped Diana up, "it's probably easier to show you who gave it to us. C'mon. Let's get back to base."
Chiron trotted up as the Rangers walked through the Doors of Janus.
"Rangers, good job out there," he said. "Now, I trust these are the other Rangers?"
"Yeah," Jay said as they demorphed. "This is Adrian and Diana. They're our Gold and Silver Rangers."
"I guess you found him," Adrian said, "and he gave you some kind of Power-Up."
"Any chance we're able to get a bit of that power?" Diana asked.
"Unfortunately not," Chiron said. "There was only enough power in the Oracle to give the test to one more group. Now, we are on our own when it comes to improving ourselves."
"What a ripoff," Diana muttered as she walked away.
"She's going to be an interesting one to train," Chiron said. "Even though only some of you have the Hero Armor, all eight of you are my pupils now."
"Oh, no," Christina said. "I'm not really a fighter. I'm just here to make sure the Flame doesn't fall into the wrong hands."
"Speaking of the Flame," Adrian said. "That's what Gryphon wanted. Somehow, Hades knows that we have the Flame."
Chiron was about to respond when the mosaic computer flashed to life.
"Rangers!" a female voice said as the mosaic screen changed to reveal the Underworld and the person sending the call was…
"Persephone," Chiron said. "I was wondering if Hades still had you captured."
"It's not just me," Persephone said. "Listen, I don't have much time. Hades doesn't plan on sending monsters using pure power anymore. He's going to use the captive gods' powers to his advantage. He's going to send the gods to attack now."
"We'll just defeat them like we did his other monsters," Nate said as he pounded his fist into his hand.
"It's not that simple," Persephone said. "While the gods will be weakened away from Olympus, they still have powers that are unlike anything you have faced before."
"Please, tell us more," Mera pleaded. "Any information would be useful."
Persephone looked to her right as Hades' voice came from that direction.
"Persephone!" he shouted from afar. "Where have you run off to?"
"Be careful, Rangers," Persephone said. "And remember that you will always have me as your ally."
The screen changed back to the blank screen it had been before.
"Who the heck is Persephone?" Nate asked.
"That was Hades' wife and daughter of Demeter," Chiron explained. It appears that she is still on the side of life, thankfully."
"I'm just worried about what she warned us about," Valerie said. "There's no telling how powerful the gods will be. Even the minor ones may be trouble."
"If I know Hades, he'll be saving the major gods for a power play," Chiron said. "The minor ones are the ones we should expect. So we should begin our first real lesson: knowing your enemy."
"Not more school!" Nate whined as the other Ranger sat down in front of Chiron. "I thought being a Ranger meant less learning, not more!"
The other Rangers laughed as Chiron began his lesson. It may not have been a total victory over Hades' forces but with a new mentor and a new power, the Rangers were definitely getting closer to it.
That's it for today! Now, school is coming up for me, so I might not put them out at this faster pace, but you should still expect the once-a-month deal there was before. Anyway, please review! I enjoy reading them!
Until next time, may the power protect you.
