School's been a little crazy, so I have to maintain the once a month schedule again, unfortunately. Thanks for bearing with me!
I want to thank JTWAS1994, GoldenMewtwo and DaughterOfSBWG for their continued support. Without your reviews, I wouldn't know what people think of my story!
Anyway, this is a little more of a fun filler chapter that just messes with the characters a little. It was fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it!
Myth 24: Act Your Age!
"Meep meep meep," went Nate's alarm.
Nate woke up and looked over at the electronic currently interrupting his slumber. It was on a side table that had seen better days. In fact, most of Nate's room had seen better days. The paint was scuffed on most of the walls, and there was a hole in the ceiling with a pipe going across the hole.
Nate slammed his hand on the alarm button and the meeping died down, with Nate using the silence to go back to sleep. Five minutes later, it started again. Nate got up and switched off the alarm. He yawned as he stood up and prepared for another day. He heard the cries of the baby through the thin walls, as well as the sounds of the other children waking up from the baby's cries.
Nate walked from his room to the baby's room/ the play room and found his mother already comforting the child in a worn-down rocking chair. The baby's cries died down as it slowly went back to sleep.
"Looks like you didn't need me," Nate whispered as his mother got up from the chair and put the baby back in the crib.
"Not this time," Mrs. Seymor whispered as well, "but there's always next time. I never really know when I'll need your help, so it's nice that you come everytime to at least check."
"I've got to get ready for school," Nate said as the two slowly tiptoed out of the room. "Just call if you need me."
Nate turned the shower on and put his hand by the showerhead to feel the temperature. He was pleasantly surprised to find it lukewarm today.
"Lucky me!" he said to himself as he stepped into the shower and began to wash himself.
The water suddenly turned cold and Nate cried out as the frigid water struck his vulnerable body. He quickly finished washing and turned off the water.
"Man, that gave me flashbacks to when Janus stuck me in that tundra last week," Nate said as he dried himself off with a towel with a few holes in it
He headed downstairs and found his father reading the Olympia Hills Sun at the table. Nate reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bowl before going to another cupboard and pulling out some generic cereal. He went to the fridge and pulled out some milk. He felt it with the back of his hand and found it slightly warm.
"Good enough," he said to himself as he poured the cereal into his bowl before adding milk and pulling a spoon from the drawer. With that all done, he sat down at the table across from his father.
"S'up, dad?" Nate asked as he took a spoonful of cereal and ate it.
"Just looking at the Ranger article I wrote," Mr. Seymor said as he put the paper down and pointed to it. "Ever since I've joined the Ranger story, sales of papers have been going up. Guess I'm doing something right."
"That's great, dad," Nate said. "Now if only the paper would give you a pay raise…In fact, why don't you ask about it today at work?"
"Oh, I don't know, son," Mr. Seymor said. "I've found it's not good to ask for a pay raise unless you've got something incredible and really newsworthy."
"I'm sure you'll think of something," Nate said as he finished his cereal. "Anyway, I've got to go!"
"Have a good day," his father said as he went back to reading the paper.
Nate grabbed his backpack from the hall and opened the door before shutting it behind him.
"Ready for another day," he said to himself as he headed down the sidewalk towards school.
"'Betrayed by one of my own', huh?" Hades said as he walked down the hall of the prison. "I knew I had to keep an eye on Gryphon. He already flipped sides to work with his mother once. Plus he's been launching attacks on the Rangers without me telling him to. That two-faced knight better watch what he does next."
He continued past the jail cells, looking in on each one. Ares was doing pushups in the center of his cell, with Aphrodite watching from her cell across from his. She noticed Hades on his way past and grabbed the bars.
"Any chance you could let me out, sweetie?" she asked, turning up the charm.
"Nice try," Hades said as he snapped his fingers and blue fire flew from the bars, causing Aphrodite to let go and back away. "But your beauty and manipulation won't work on me."
He passed another few cells and found Dionysus and Pan dancing in their cells next to each other, with Pan playing his panpipes. Hades reached in and snatched the panpipes away before crushing it in his hand.
"Come on, man," Dionysus said. "Can't we *hic* just play a little *hic* music?"
"No," Hades said simply as he continued past more cells. He stopped when he reached one certain cell.
"Hello, brother," he said to the figure sitting in the dark corner of his cell.
The figure got up and walked into the light, revealing Zeus. He had seen better days, as his beard was now longer and his hair was messy.
"You're no brother of mine," Zeus said as he spit at Hades' feet.
"How the mighty have fallen," Hades replied. "A month ago, you were sitting on your fancy throne. Now the only throne you get is a toilet. How does it feel to have failed?"
"Not as bad as you'll feel when the Rangers beat you," Zeus said.
A few gods shouted in agreement with their leader.
"How can the Rangers beat me, when they'll be so busy fighting all of you?" Hades asked as he gestured to all of the cells. "I plan on playing the long game and all of you are going to help me, whether you like it or not."
He turned his back on Zeus and continued down the pathway.
"You lost last time!" Zeus shouted, "and you'll lose this time too!"
"Don't count on it," Hades said as he walked to another particular cell.
The woman sitting in there had a yellow dress on and had brown hair. She was sitting on her prison bed, looking off into space.
"Hebe, goddess of youth," Hades said. "Cupbearer to the gods. And now how do you spend your time? In a cell."
"Did you come to fling childish insults at me?" Hebe asked as she looked at him with her hazel eyes, "the irony is not lost on me."
"Irony? No," Hades said. "I just thought that maybe I could offer you a chance at escape from this prison."
"I have no interest in your plans for world domination," Hebe said as she turned her head away.
"Funny, I don't recall giving you a choice," Hades said as he snapped his fingers. "Armored Spartoi! Take her to the throne room. I think it's time we continue this conversation in a new venue."
Two armored Spartoi walked up to the cell and unlocked the door before dragging Hebe behind Hades in chains as he walked to the throne room. When they reached the throne room, Hades sat down on his throne as Hebe was thrown to the floor, the chains on her limbs rattling.
Hades reached into the Flame and began to play with its blue sparks.
"I suppose you know what this is," he said.
"The Flame of the Gods," Hebe said. "Your perverted part of it, anyway. So what?"
"Did you know...that it could do this?" Hades said as he hurled a handful of it at Hebe.
The blue fire traveled all over her body, reaching her head and eyes last, making them glow blue. A shadowy aura appeared around her.
The chains were removed by the armored Spartoi as Hebe stood up.
"Now, what can you do?" Hades asked.
"I can make someone young," Hebe said.
"So?" Hades asked impatiently.
"As in young enough that they are unable to fight, either as a child or a baby," Hebe elaborated.
Hades grinned.
"Now that sounds useful," he said. "Let's get started."
"So, how has your week been?" Jay asked as he and Nate walked towards the lunch table.
"Fine," Nate replied quickly.
Jay decided not to push any further.
"Well, Valerie's been hinting for weeks that she wants me to do something special for Valentine's Day but, let's face it, I have no money. Can you help a brother out?" Jay asked.
"Don't look at me," Nate said. "You deal with it."
Besides, he added in his head, I probably have less money than you do.
"I'd ask my parents for a loan, but they're still out of town," Jay continued. "She liked the mirror I got her for Christmas, but I need more than that this time."
The two had reached the table with Victor already there and continued to talk.
"Your parents are still out of town?" Nate asked. "Jeez, where did they go, the Bahamas?"
"No, they're visiting Paul's parents," Jay explained. "I still wish someone would figure out what happened to him. His parents were devastated when he disappeared. They're too scared of losing anyone else, so my parents went to go comfort them. That was 2 weeks ago."
"At least they were around for Christmas," Victor said. "I spent the holidays mostly alone. At least you guys came to see me."
"You knew we would," Jay said as Valerie and Mera sat down.
"Of course," Valerie agreed. "As Nate said a few months ago, we're like family now."
"I forgot I said something so cheesy," Nate said. "At least this family is old enough to not have time out anymore."
As Adrian and Diana joined, the conversations shifted to a new topic.
"So, Victor," Adrian asked. "Any luck with finding more Olympian Gems or your mom?"
"No," Victor sighed, "I've been working with Mera and Chiron, but we've had no luck. The one thing we do know is that the Gems certainly aren't anywhere close to Olympia Hills."
"So not near the East Coast," Jay said, with Victor nodding in confirmation.
"What, are we talking about the west?" Nate asked. "I've always wanted to visit a California beach. Pick up a hot girl…"
Mera smacked Nate in the back of the head.
"What was that for?" Nate asked as he winced in pain.
"You were getting off topic," Mera said. "The point of the conversation was the Olympian Gems."
"Yeah, yeah," Nate said as he went back to his lunch, still grumbling about his daydream being interrupted.
"Well, you guys work on that," Jay said. "The rest of us have some training to do."
"I actually need to go do something, so count me out," Nate said.
"What?" Jay asked. "You've never had to miss training before. Care to elaborate?"
"Not really," Nate said.
No one decided to pry any more, and lunch passed quietly after that.
The final bell rang and all of the students went from the classrooms into the halls. Nate was one of them, holding his backpack straps and being very deep in thought.
I've got to help my family out more, but how? he thought as he exited the building through one of the side exits along with a few other students.
He walked aimlessly down the street, trying to come up with a solution to his dilemma. He stopped when he reached the library.
Never really liked this place, he thought. It reminds me too much of school. But maybe what I'm looking for could be here.
He walked in and past the information desk. He also passed the movie section and the cafe before reaching…
"There's a computer lab here?" Nate asked out loud as he looked at the sign on the wall outside the doors.
"That's right," a librarian walking past said as she noticed the young teen standing outside the lab, "it's a free way for library members to use the computers.
"How would I become a member, or say, have my dad become a member?" Nate asked.
"If you live in the city, it's free," the librarian said.
"No matter where in the city?" Nate asked.
"Well, you need a real address, but as long as you live in a house or apartment of some kind, it counts," the librarian explained. "Any other questions?"
"No, I'm good," Nate said as he turned around and walked away.
I think I just found a way to advance my dad's article-writing skills to the 21st century, Nate thought as he walked away from the computer lab and back outside, time to head home and find my dad!
"Hiyah!" Jay shouted as he tried to kick Mera in the stomach.
Mera instead dodged the strike and used Jay's momentum to knock him to the floor.
"It seems counterproductive to cry out when attacking," Mera said as she reached out a hand to help him up. "It tells me that you are, well, attacking."
"Works in those old movies," Jay commented as he took Mera's hand and was pulled up by the teen.
"Yeah, Jay, but life isn't a movie," Valerie said as she brought a bottle of water for each of them.
"Thanks," Jay said as he took the water bottle and opened it before taking a sip. "I guess you're right. Nate would probably say something really snarky right now. Anyone want to take over as the snarky one until he gets back?"
No one answered Jay, but an alarm did go off.
"Victor, did you break the mosaic computer?" Jay joked as the teens headed over to Victor, Christina and Chiron, with Adrian and Diana coming over from archery practice. "I know you said I could borrow Mera for a few minutes to spar, but I wouldn't have if I had known you would break it."
"I didn't break it," Victor said. "That was the normal alert for a Dark God attack."
"It was a joke," Valerie explained. "Trust me, you're the last person we would expect to break the computer."
"Oh," Victor said. "My bad."
"Anyway, back on topic," Mera said. "Who is attacking, Chiron?"
"From my knowledge of minor gods, it appears to be Hebe, goddess of youth," Chiron said as he gestured to the mosaic computer screen that Victor had changed to show the Dark God.
"Goddess of youth?" Diana scoffed. "She should be a pushover."
"Don't be too cocky," Chiron warned. "There's no telling what abilities Hades has granted her as a Dark God."
"Alright, let's get out there," Jay said. "Christina, send the alert out to Nate. This is probably more important than whatever type of slacking off he's doing right now."
"You got it," Christina said as she took Victor's place at the computer.
The Doors of Janus flew open and Jay, Valerie, Mera, Victor, Adrian and Diana ran through.
"Dad?" Nate asked as he entered the house.
"In here, Nate!" his dad shouted from the kitchen.
Nate entered to see his father sitting at the table writing out another article with pencil and paper.
"Dad, I think I've found an easy way to access a computer," Nate said, "and best of all, it's free."
"You're pulling my leg," his father said as he looked up from his writing. "No one's giving out a computer for nothing."
"They are if you go to the library," Nate said, putting his bag on a chair as he spoke. "As long as you live in the city, there's no cost. I know you would earn a lot more money if you didn't have someone type your articles for you."
His father was about to answer when Nate's morpher went off.
"What in the world was that?" Mr Seymor asked as he looked around.
"Nothing!" Nate said quickly as he reached into his pockets and turned off his morphers. "Nothing at all. Come on, let's get you signed up at the library and start writing!"
Nate walked over to the door and opened it for his father as the two stepped out onto the street.
"C'mon," Nate said as he grabbed his father's arm.
Sorry guys, he thought as he led his father down the street. My family comes first. If my dad can start working on a library computer, maybe we can finally turn our lives around.
"Hold it, Hebe!" Jay shouted as the Rangers ran up and formed a line in front of her. "You're not going any farther!"
"Rangers," Hebe said as she looked at the teens. "You really think you can stop me?"
"We do!" Diana said as she stepped forward. "Let's kick her ass! Ready?"
"Wait a minute! I thought I was leading the morph!" Jay said before he was interrupted by the others.
"Ready!" the others responded as they strapped their morphers on.
"Ready…" Jay said, giving up on arguing with Diana before they could even start.
"Silver Olympian Power!"
"Gold Olympian Power!"
"Pink Olympian Power!"
"Yellow Olympian Power!"
"Black Olympian Power!"
"Red Olympian Power!"
In a flash of multi-colored light, the Rangers were morphed. They summoned their weapons in another flash of light.
"Alright, let's go!" Diana shouted as she leapt at Hebe, Hunting Daggers drawn.
"So childish," Hebe noted as she raised a hand. "Let's give you a body to match that impatience."
A yellow beam fired from her hand and struck Diana straight in the chest. Diana demorphed and fell to the ground. She sat up and looked around in confusion as everything seemed to get slightly farther away.
"What's going on?" she asked. She grabbed at her throat, as her voice sounded a little more high pitched and childish.
"What did you do to my sister?" Adrian asked as he aimed his bow at Hebe and fired a golden glowing arrow.
"I'm the goddess of youth. What do you think I did?" Hebe asked as she summoned a dagger and deflected the arrow.
"You made me a child!" Diana shouted as she got up and started throwing a temper tantrum.
The other Rangers looked at her for a second, stunned, before spreading out and going at Hebe as a group. She summoned a second dagger and blocked the attacks with them. The Rangers backed up slightly, but mostly held their position.
"Daggers could be considered young versions of swords," Mera said. "It certainly fits with her youth-based abilities."
"Let's try not to let anyone else get hit!" Jay ordered before speaking into his morpher. "And where is Nate? We could use him right now."
"He turned off his morpher," Christina said through Jay's morpher. "I can't reach him at all."
"Great…" Jay said before looking up just in time to see a yellow beam flying at him.
"Jay, look out!" Valerie shouted as she reached out to grab Jay. She was too slow, however, and Jay was too stunned to move. Jay cried out as the beam hit him and caused him to demorph. The beam's effect seemed to last longer this time, turning Jay from a teen into a baby.
Valerie sent her bow to the pocket dimension and ran over to Jay before picking him up.
"Jay, is that you?" she asked as she looked at the baby that was once Jay.
Baby Jay began to cry.
"Oh, don't cry," Valerie said as she tried to rock him. "Guys! Jay's out!"
"So if Jay is a baby and Nate isn't here, who's third-in-command?" Adrian asked.
"I would assume that I am," Mera said. "In which case, we should try to stop her from firing any more of those beams.
Adrian and Mera each grabbed an arm and held Hebe still as Victor winded up his hammer. A yellow burst appeared out of each of Hebe's hands and struck Mera and Adrian, causing them to demorph and turn into children.
"I suggest we run!" child Mera suggested as she and Adrian got up and ran towards the Door. Valerie ran after them, baby Jay still in her arms. Victor grabbed Diana's hand, with her still in the middle of her temper tantrum, and carried her towards the Door, with her resisting every step of the way.
"Wanna fight bad guy!" Diana protested as Victor dragged her away.
"Maybe next time, Diana," Victor grunted as he finally managed to drag Diana through the Door.
Hebe looked around and noticed everyone was gone.
"You may have escaped this time," she said, "but next time, you will all become children and I will slit your throats!"
"That's how you type, Dad," Nate said as he stood up from the computer. "How about you try and I'll be right back?"
Nate walked right outside the computer lab and turned on his morphers before strapping them on.
"Hey guys," he said into the morpher. "How did the battle go?"
He heard crying and screaming coming from the other end and he looked at his morpher in confusion.
"Is this thing on the right channel?" he asked as he fiddled with it. All he heard in response was more crying before Christina's voice came through.
"Nate, is that you? We've been trying to reach you for 30 minutes!" Christina said, exasperated. "The battle results are a bit...strange. It's better if you come see yourself."
"Give me a couple minutes," Nate said before he poked his head in the computer lab and saw his dad attempting to type.
"Dad, I've got to go," he said. "My friends need some help with something."
"Ok," his dad said as he backspaced through what he had just written. "Ah shoot!"
"Control-Z, Dad," Nate reminded before he started towards the library exit, speaking into his morpher as he went. "Open a Door. I'm on my way."
"What the hell happened?" Nate asked as he looked at the disarray around him.
Young Diana and young Adrian were running around touching everything with Victor trying to keep them away from anything sharp, which was hard given how many weapons and tools were around, and Valerie was rocking Jay, who had finally calmed down. Mera was talking to Chiron and Christina as they looked down at her.
"Hebe, goddess of youth, happened," Christina replied. "She turned half the team into children or, in Jay's case, a baby."
"The one battle I don't show up to, all the crazy stuff happens?" Nate asked.
"Basically," Valerie said as she looked over at Nate. "Where were you, anyway?"
"Family stuff," Nate replied simply. "So Jay's in his diaper years, and we've got toddler twins to deal with?"
Victor grabbed the twins by the backs of their shirts, which had somehow shrunk with them, and handed them to Nate.
"You deal with them!" he said. "I can't focus on a way to fix this if I'm playing safety police for them."
"Yes," young Mera, somewhere around the age of 10, agreed. "We must find a way to reverse this, and fast!"
"How come you're still acting like your normal self?" Nate asked as he put the twins down and convinced them to sit down for a little while.
"Not all children are alike, Nate," young Mera said as she rolled her eyes, "I seem to be around late elementary school age, while the Thomas twins are just past the terrible twos and Jay is perhaps six months old."
"Yeah, how is our fearless leader, pint-sized edition?" Nate asked as he looked over at baby Jay, still in Valerie's arms.
"He won't let anyone else hold him," Valerie answered, "and I can't put him down or…"
She put him on the floor for a second and Jay started to bawl before she picked him up and he stopped.
"I hypothesis that he prefers you over everyone else," young Mera replied. "Maybe he thinks you're his mother."
"He what?" Valerie shouted in surprise, which caused Jay to start crying before she started to rock him again and he calmed down.
"That's more animals than humans," Nate corrected. "Babies do it by smell and hearing as well. Most babies are born knowing what their mother sounds like."
"And how do you know so much about children?" Valerie asked.
Nate sighed before answering.
"Because I have to deal with six of them at home," he said. "I didn't want to share my personal life, but if this is what we're dealing with, you guys are going to need all the help you can get."
"You're the eldest of seven?" young Mera asked, "that would explain why you like receiving attention for your stunts…"
"Hey, save the psychoan-thingy for later," Nate said. "First, we need to get the twins under control."
He gestured to the twins currently running around the Temple again. Baby Jay began to cry again in the background.
"I've been trying to do that," Victor said, "but they're too fast."
"Who wants pizza?" Nate asked.
The twins stopped running around and looked at him.
"Pizza?" they asked together before they ran up to Nate. "Pizza! Pizza!"
"Is that wise?" Mera asked.
"I've got it," Nate reassured her before turning to the toddler twins. "Alright, it's pizza, then nap time."
"No nap time!" Diana argued, with Adrian nodding in agreement.
"Yes nap time or no pizza," Nate replied.
The twins thought about it for a second.
"Ok!" they said. "Pizza, pizza, pizza!"
"They seem to like repeating themselves," Victor noted as he started to mess around with some machines in his workshop. "Well, while you take them for pizza, Mera and I are going to work on fixing this mess."
Nate was going to reply when baby Jay started bawling louder.
"He won't stop!" Valerie said as she started to panic. "I don't know what to do! I haven't had 12th grade Health yet!"
"Trust me, that class probably doesn't teach you anything," Nate said. "As for baby Jay, he's probably either hungry or needs a diaper."
Baby Jay looked over at Valerie's chest.
"Don't even think about it!" Valerie shouted as she turned away. Baby Jay began to reach the peak of his crying ability, with everyone covering their ears.
"I'll go get some formula!" Nate shouted over the din. "My mom uses WIC checks at the grocery store, so the government pays for it, basically! We should have a little extra for him! Valerie, how about you take the twins to get pizza, and I'll go get the formula?"
"So who watches baby Jay?" Christina asked.
"Welp, guess you just volunteered," Valerie shouted as she passed the bawling Jay to Christina. "Good luck!"
"Wait! I-uh…" Christina shouted as Valerie led the twins out the Doors with Nate right behind them. "What just happened?"
"You just got left on baby duty!" Victor shouted. "Even I picked up on that, and I struggle with social interactions most of the time!"
Christina looked down at the crying baby.
"Why me?" she asked herself as she tried to calm him down.
"Alright, guys," Valerie said as she walked over to a pizza parlor. "Here's a pretty good place."
"Hooray!" the twins shouted as Valerie led them inside. She led them over to the counter.
"I'm just getting you guys a cheese pizza," she said as she looked up to see…
"Dan?" she asked as she looked at the cashier in surprise.
"Hey, Valerie," Dan said as he waved. "What's going on?"
"I had no idea you worked at a pizza place," Valerie said as she tried to keep an eye on the twins.
"And I had no idea you and Jay got so busy," Dan said as he gestured to the twins. "Though having kids as a teenager? Really, Valerie…"
"It's not what you think!" Valerie shouted as she turned bright red.
"Relax, I'm joking," Dan said. "What actually happened?"
"These are the Thomas twins. They were turned into children by Hebe, goddess of youth," Valerie explained.
"What? Diana, is that you?" Dan asked as he looked over the counter and down at Diana.
"Hi!" Diana said as she waved.
"Their brains seem to have regressed too," Valerie said. "Which is making it hard to care for them."
"Well, I think I can help there," Dan said. "Looks like you're going to need a small cheese pizza for the two of them to split. Do you want anything? Otherwise that's going to be 6 bucks."
"No, I'm good," Valerie said as she pulled out a $50 bill. "Any chance you can split that?"
"You got it," Dan said as he took the bill and gave back the change. "Give me about 5 minutes, I've just gotta put another pizza in."
"Sure," Valerie said as she led the twins to a booth. "Come on, kids. Pizza's coming in a little bit."
She looked at the window and gazed at the little sky she could see between all of the buildings.
"I wonder how it's going on Nate's end," she said to herself.
"Did not!" Diana shouted as she shoved Adrian.
"Did too!" Adrian shouted as he shoved back.
"I hope Victor and Mera fix this fast," Valerie commented as she moved to break up the arguing.
"You're back," Hades said as a blue portal appeared and Hebe stepped out of it, "I assume that the Rangers are now all helpless children?"
"Not exactly…" Hebe said, "I managed to turn the Yellow Ranger into an adolescent, the Gold and Silver Rangers into toddlers and the Red Ranger into a baby. They all managed to get away from me."
Gryphon perked up in his hidden spot in the shadows when he heard of the Red Ranger's fate.
The Red Ranger is a...baby? he thought, I'd better keep listening.
"And you return?" Hades shouted as the flames on his head shot up. "You dare to return after such a failure?"
"Don't see it as a failure!" Hebe offered. "See it as...half my job being finished already. I just need to find the Blue, Black and Pink Rangers and the main team is all children!"
"Then go back and finish the job!" Hades shouted. "And don't let yourself be destroyed or this whole plan will be for nothing!"
"I know. If I'm destroyed, my power will no longer affect them," Hebe said as she backed up towards a new blue portal. "But it won't happen! I promise!"
"Don't make promises you can't keep," Hades warned as Hebe turned around and jumped back into the portal, which closed behind her. Hades was so distracted by her leaving that he didn't even notice when Gryphon disappeared into his black smoke in the shadows. Persephone did, however, catch a few wisps of smoke floating out of the shadows.
I wonder where Gryphon's going? she thought. No matter where it is, I doubt it's to help out Hades.
"I knew finding some formula would be easy!" Nate said to himself as he walked down the street, container in hand. "I just hope this can help out baby Jay."
"I know a way to help him further," a familiar voice said.
Nate looked around but didn't see anybody around.
"Look up," the voice said.
Nate did so, and saw Gryphon standing on the roof of a small building.
"Gryphon!" Nate said. "I don't have time for this!"
He strapped on his morphers and prepared to morph.
"Don't morph!" Gryphon shouted. "It'll attract Hades' attention. I know how to help your friends turn back into their teenage selves."
"And what's in it for you?" Nate asked.
"I want to fight the Red Ranger at full strength and beat him," Gryphon said. "He's no good to me as a baby. He won't suffer and struggle enough. Defeat Hebe, and the other Rangers will turn back to normal. Then the Red Ranger can give me the fight I desire."
"So I'm just supposed to believe you?" Nate asked. "What if that makes their condition permanent?"
"I suppose you're just going to have to trust me," Gryphon said and Nate could tell he was smiling under his helmet. "Good luck."
Gryphon disappeared into his signature black smoke, leaving Nate looking up at an empty rooftop and a lot to think about. He put his morpher up to his mouth and spoke into it.
"Christina, open a Door," he said. "I'm far enough away from my house to not make my family suspicious."
There was no reply for half a minute.
"Christina?" Nate asked. "Hello? Anyone home?"
A door finally began to glow blue in a building in front of Nate. Nate opened the Door and stepped through back into the Temple.
"Christina, what the hell was that about?" Nate said as he walked past Victor and young Mera working on a machine of some kind. He turned around the chair Christina was in and found…
"Man, you look like a mess," Nate said as he looked at Christina.
Her hair was all over the place and her clothes were all wrinkled. Baby Jay was on her lap, happy as could be.
"Gee, thanks," Christina said, "you sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself."
"Let's deal with Jay first," Nate said. "Then we can… actually, he looks fi…"
Baby Jay began to whimper and then started crying again.
"I take that back," Nate said. "Let's get this formula fixed up for him…"
A couple minutes later, Nate had a bottle full of formula to give to Jay. He picked up the baby and Jay reached for the bottle and, when he got it, began to suck from it vigorously.
"Now that that's all better," Nate said as he carried around Jay. "we can finally…"
Christina began to rapidly type as Valerie's voice came from the mosaic computer, asking Christina to open a Door for them. The Doors of Janus flew open and Valerie and the toddler twins stepped into the Temple.
"As I was saying, we can…" Nate tried again.
"I am officially never having kids," Valerie interrupted as she sat down on one of the steps. "Seriously. Never."
"That's great, what I was trying to say was…" Nate tried for a third time.
"Don't let them near the machine!" young Mera shouted as Victor tried to shoo the twins away at the same time that Jay noticed Valerie and began to reach for her, pushing the bottle out of Nate's hands. Nate handed Jay to Valerie, who reluctantly took him, and then the bottle that had fallen to the ground.
"I'm going to finish my sentence now, so be quiet or I'll kick your ass!" Nate shouted to the room.
There was silence until Adrian and Diana began to repeat the word "ass" to everyone.
"We need to reverse this, and Gryphon told me the best way to do that is to destroy Hebe," Nate finally got out.
"I beg to differ!" young Mera said as she and Victor pulled the tarp from their machine, a pod-like device. "I present a different solution. This should, theoretically, reverse Hebe's effects by moving someone through the 4th dimension: time."
"I wouldn't recommend trying to solve a god problem with technology…" Valerie said, "I thought Hecate said that magic and technology don't mix very well together."
"This uses a magical power source," young Mera said. "We just need to push the pod through the Doors of Janus and then pull it back and we should be just fine."
"And who's going to test that?" Nate asked. "Because I think it's a terrible idea to use it on anybody."
"I'll test it, of course. I would only put myself at risk with such a risky plan," young Mera said as she looked over at Nate. "But I assume you trust me more than Gryphon?"
Nate looked conflicted for a moment before resigning.
"Go ahead, be my guest," Nate sighed.
"Are you sure about this, Mera?" Victor asked as he strapped Mera into the pod.
"Of course. My calculations were perfect," Mera said. "One second in the outside world will be a month for me. So put me in for a minute and 24 seconds. No more and no less. That should make me 17 again."
"If you say so," Victor said as he closed the pod and grabbed the rope attached.
"You're not going to stop this?" Valerie asked Chiron, who was watching nearby, "I thought magic and science didn't mix well."
"It's an interesting experiment and it may work," Chiron said, "I will pull the plug if something goes wrong, however."
"Oh trust me," Nate said as Victor called him over to help push the pod. "I've seen enough movies. Something's going to go wrong. At the same time, the hijinks of this plot have run pretty thin, so it may be time to fix it already."
No one seemed to notice the second half of Nate's statements as the pod, with young Mera in it, was pushed towards the Doors. Victor pulled out a giant stopwatch he had built out of small parts and he and Nate pushed the pod into the Doors of Janus before Victor looked at the stopwatch.
Mera cried out in the pod as time energy flowed through her. Her body began to glow yellow as the effects of Hebe's magic were reversed. The pod began to smoke and deteriorate. Exactly 1 minute and 24 seconds later, Victor and Nate pulled out the pod, only to find half of the pod remaining. Mera was still strapped into the half that remained and she was 17 again.
"It worked," she said. "Oh, thank god. I believed I was going to have to experience puberty twice."
Victor unstrapped Mera from the machine and looked her over.
"You look fine," he said before looking at the pod. "The pod, however, is damaged beyond repair and we used a bulk of our materials to make it. I think we need a different strategy for changing the others back."
"As much as I hate to admit it," Nate said. "I think we need to trust Gryphon and try destroying Hebe."
"At least we have one more Ranger now who can fight," Valerie said. "Four is better than three."
An alarm went off and baby Jay released his grip on the bottle and started to cry again.
"Turn it off!" Valerie said. "You're scaring him!"
Christina turned off the alarm and pulled up Hebe wandering the city on the mosaic computer as baby Jay calmed down again.
"All by herself again?" Nate said as he pounded his fist into his hand. "Alright!"
"Just in case there are Spartoi, we need a plan of attack," Mera said.
"Oh, I have a plan," Nate said. "Attack."
"What happened to fighting smarter instead of harder?" Valerie asked as she handed baby Jay off to Christina again, who looked none too thrilled to receive him again.
"Fine," Nate said. "If you really want a plan, here's mine…"
Hebe walked down the street, looking around for the Rangers and noting the armored Spartoi hiding in the shadows waiting for the Rangers as well.
She looked over a door to one of the buildings across the street as it glowed blue and flew open. The four Rangers ran out, with Nate in the lead.
"Rangers…" Hebe said. "I was hoping to see you again, I have a job to finish."
"Consider yourself retired!" Nate shouted as the Rangers prepared to morph. "It's Morphin-what?"
He and the other Rangers were surprised when armored Spartoi stepped out of the shadows behind them and grabbed them by the wrists, making them unable to cross their arms and morph. The Rangers grunted as they struggled against the armored Spartois' grip.
"Damn it!" Nate said as he pulled against the armored Spartoi's arms.
"Bring them to me," Hebe said as she gestured for the armored Spartoi to bring them forward. When they were a couple feet from her, her hands began to glow.
"I don't know how you reversed the effects of my power, Yellow Ranger," Hebe said, "but I'll make sure to make you young enough so you can't do it again! In fact, how about I make the rest of you too young to fight as well? All in one shot."
She charged up her energy as the Rangers continued to struggle. Suddenly, a shadowy figure zipped past the armored Spartoi. A second later, the hands holding the Rangers' wrists were sliced off by the armored Spartois' own wrists.
Hebe released her energy, firing multiple beams from both hands at the teens. The teens dodged and crossed their arms over their chests as they did.
"Pink Olympian Power!" Valerie shouted as she combat rolled under an energy beam, morphing in the Pink Olympian Ranger at the end of the roll.
"Yellow Olympian Power!" Mera shouted as she flipped over one beam, morphing in midair and becoming the Yellow Olympian Ranger when she reached the ground.
"Black Olympian Power!" Victor shouted as he slid under a beam, morphing into the Black Olympian Ranger mid-slide.
"Blue Olympian Power!" Nate shouted as he ran right at a beam. At the very last second, he morphed and summoned the Mirror Shield, reflecting the beam into the ground before sending the Mirror Shield back to its pocket dimension. Finally, the beams stopped and the Rangers regrouped in front of her.
"Let's power up!" Nate shouted.
"Hero Armor, Power Up!" the four Rangers shouted as the omega symbols on their chests glowed and expanded into golden armor. An omega symbol in the Ranger's color was on the chestplate where the old omega symbol had been, and they also received golden arm bands on the upper part of their arms.
The powered up Rangers stepped forward and began their updated 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!"
"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!" the Rangers shouted together as they posed.
"Alright guys, let's take her down!" Nate shouted as the Rangers summoned their weapons and charged.
Hebe looked around for more armored Spartoi to protect her, but they had disappeared. She sighed as she summoned twin daggers.
"Fine, I'll do it myself," she muttered as she ran up to meet the Rangers.
She dodged to the side around Nate's trident jab and then flipped over Mera's spear thrust, slashing the two as she went over them. She ducked under a vertical hammer swing from Victor, but was struck by pink energy arrows.
Hecate growled as she was pushed back by the energy arrows. She fired a yellow beam at Valerie, who reflected it back at her with the Mirror Shield. Hebe dodged before the beam could hit her, however.
"Man, I like this," Valerie said as she admired the shield. "Why does Jay get to have all the fun with this?"
"We can ask him later," Nate said as he stabbed at Hebe again with his trident. "You know, when he's restored and all."
He turned his attention to Hebe, who he stabbed at again.
"Would you stay still?" Nate shouted as he missed again.
What Hebe wasn't noticing was Mera and Victor flanking her from behind. As Hebe backed up, Victor swung his hammer horizontally again and struck her in the side, sending her flying into a wall.
"Oh, my head…" Hebe moaned as she sat up just in time to see the Rangers aiming their weapons at her a few inches from her face.
"We're all adults," Hebe said. "Any chance we can talk about this?"
The Rangers looked at each other before shaking their heads.
"After what you did to our friends, I don't think we can do that," Nate said as his trident's teeth began to glow.
"You got this?" Victor asked.
"I've got this, " Nate confirmed. "Ocean's Fury!
He summoned a wave of water with his trident as the teeth glowed blue. He then stabbed into Hebe as well as sending the wave of water crashing into her, causing her to explode from the pressure and intensity of the attack.
"Another Dark God bites the dust," Nate said as he and the other Rangers watched as two Hebes appeared on the ground. The one without the shadowy aura woke up first and looked at the Rangers.
"Thank you!" she said, "I was stuck in that monstrous version of myself, but now I'm free and I can help those I've affected."
The Hebe with the shadowy aura got up as blue flames from her eyes spread around her body, causing her to grow.
"This is quite a growth spurt!" Dark Hebe shouted as she finished her growth of several stories.
"Chances are the other Rangers will be disoriented for a few minutes," normal Hebe said, "so this may be a difficult task for you."
"We just need to hold her off until Jay arrives," Nate said before sighing. "Like usual…"
"Let's use the Hero Zords," Victor said. "They don't need a Megazord to be able to fight well."
"I concur," Mera agreed.
"Alrighty then," Nate said. "If you say so."
"Summon Hero Zords!" the four Rangers shouted. Their omega symbols glowed as an orb in their Ranger color flew out of it. The orbs flew into the air and formed into the Hero Zords.
The Rangers leapt up and a hole appeared in the Hero Zords' chests to allow them in.
"Poseidon Hero Zord!" Nate shouted as his Zord summoned its trident and stepped forward.
"Hephaestus Hero Zord!" Victor shouted as his Zord summoned its hammer and also stepped forward.
"Athena Hero Zord!" Mera shouted as her Zord summoned its spear and did the same.
"Aphrodite Hero Zord!" Valerie shouted as her Zord summoned its bow and joined the others in the line.
"Those toys won't stop me!" Dark Hebe shouted as she summoned her daggers and charged forward, slashing the Zords in an "x" slash across their bodies.
The Rangers cried out as the interior of their Zords sparked briefly.
The Zords fought through the damage and struck Hebe with their weapons, with Nate and Mera stabbing her, Victor smacking her with his hammer and Valerie shooting with her bow.
Dark Hebe backed up, wary of being attacked again.
"Hey guys!" Jay, who was morphed and in his cockpit, said as the Zeus Hero Zord marched up to the others. "Mind if I join?"
"I don't know," Nate said, "can your feet reach the pedals?"
"Very funny," Jay said. "The only thing different about me now is these weird hazy memories and a strange taste in my mouth. But we can worry about that later, let's bring them together!"
"Right!" the other Rangers agreed
"Hero Zords, combine!" Jay ordered.
The Aphrodite Hero Zord's arms folded into its body as its legs pivoted to the front before combining to form a foot. Its head also flipped into the body, leaving a connection point. The Athena Hero Zord did the same transformation, creating a second leg.
The Poseidon Hero Zord's arms also folded into its body as the head flipped into the body, but leaving no connection point. The legs rotated 180 degrees before folding onto the back of the Zord. A connection point on the back of the Zord flipped out. A fist slid down and out of the Zord's body. The Hephaestus Zord made the same transformation but facing the other way, creating a second arm.
The Zeus Hero Zord's legs folded before sliding into the body and being covered by a plate with two holes for the legs. It's arms folded into the body and revealed a hole on each side for the arms. The head flipped around to reveal a larger head that still had the same style helmet, but in gold with a red plume on top.
The Aphrodite Hero Zord and the Athena Hero Zord connected into place as the left and right leg respectively as the Poseidon Hero Zord and Hephaestus Hero Zord connected as the left and right arms respectively, with the Zeus Hero Zord bearing the points they connected to.
A golden gladius and a round gold shield appeared in the Megazord's hands. Magically misty versions appeared in the Ranger's hands as they joined together in a single cockpit to show them how they were using the weapons.
"Hero Megazord, ready!" the Rangers shouted.
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Dark Hebe asked. "Especially when I can do this?"
She fired a yellow beam at the Hero Megazord, but it blocked it with the shield while stepping forward to get closer.
"Uh oh," Hebe said as the gladius came down on her daggers. She pushed against the attack, but eventually her arms gave out and fell to her sides as the Megazord's gladius struck her in the midsection.
Hebe grabbed the hilt of the gladius and pulled it from the Megazord's hand before tossing it onto the ground.
"Good thing we have other weapons," Nate said, "Hero Trident!"
The Hero Gladius disappeared from the ground and was replaced by the golden Hero Trident. In the Ranger's cockpit, a misty trident appeared in each Rangers' hand.
"Hero Trident Throw!" the Rangers announced as the Megazord raised its trident into the air, causing walls of water to surround Dark Hebe on all but one side: the side facing the Hero Megazord. The Hero Megazord drew back its trident arm as the tips glowed blue before it hurled the trident straight through Hebe, with it barely even slowing down going through her.
"I guess playtime is over..." Hebe said before she exploded, with the Megazord posing in front of her and the water walls receding.
"What took you so long, fearless leader?" Nate asked in the cockpit. "Had some growing up to do?"
"Oh, laugh it up while you can," Jay said. "I'm sure something will happen to you eventually like this."
"Nah, I'm just kidding," Nate said. "Besides, do you know who figured out you were hungry?"
"Uh...Valerie?" Jay asked. "I legit don't remember."
"Nope, it was Nate," Valerie said, "I just did what he told me to do."
"Shall we talk about this more at the Temple?" Mera asked as they looked at the sunset. "I believe the 5:30 traffic rush should be soon, and the Megazord would be impeding their path."
"Sure," Jay said, "let's go."
"So you're the oldest of seven?" Jay asked as the teens stepped back into the Temple from the Doors of Janus. "I knew you had siblings, but I didn't know you had that many."
"Where were the twins during the Megazord battle?" Victor asked, "Jay showed up, but they didn't?"
"They were...busy," Jay said as he pointed towards a place on the floor. Lying there was Diana and Adrian, fast asleep. "I assume they were asleep when they were young and just never woke up when they were restored."
"Which is strange," Mera said. "It was very painful for me to return to my real age, but for you it seems like it was very quick and painless."
"You pushed forcefully through time," Hebe said as she revealed herself from behind the Rangers, having followed them through the Doors. "Even when I was in the Dark God version of myself I could feel it. The human body is not supposed to be pushed through time like that. Meanwhile, the others affected were accelerated in a gentler way. Let this be a lesson to think before experimenting on yourself, as there may be unforeseen consequences."
"I see," Chiron said as he galloped forward. "What would you have suggested, then?"
"Using one gods power to counter another's is not a bad idea," Hebe said. "It is just experimenting on yourself that was the problem."
"It all worked out in the end, though," Jay said as he noticed the twins begin to stir before realizing they were just turning over. "The four of us affected are back to normal." He turned to Nate. "But how did you know that destroying Dark Hebe would reverse her powers?"
"Gryphon," Nate said. "He told me that he wants to make you suffer, but wants you to be at full strength."
"And I'll be ready for him," Jay said. "One day, I'm going to figure out why he desires that fight so much."
"The only way we won was through someone attacking the armored Spartoi," Valerie said. "But who was that? It wasn't any of the Rangers we know about, and the other Gems are somewhere far away from Olympia Hills."
"Maybe we'll never know for certain," Jay said. "However, I have a feeling that those two questions we asked might be connected more than we think."
"You don't mean…" Victor said.
"I do," Jay said with a nod. "I think that the one who helped us was Gryphon. In his own warped point of view, it was the right thing to do to ensure we fight again, someday soon."
Hades will not be pleased, Gryphon thought to himself as he strolled down the prison hallway, but it had to be done to ensure my duel with the Red Ranger.
As gods major and minor looked at him as he went past, he continued to think and talk to himself.
Rip him apart next time you see him, one voice in his head said, this one matching the gravely part of his voice and seemed more beast-like.
No, we need to make him suffer, a younger, more angry and human voice argued. He needs to suffer for what he did to me.
You won't be able to hold back the animal inside forever, the beast voice said. I allow you to channel my power in the agreement. But your time is running out. A little more than two months remain. Then your body is mine!
I know, the human voice said. I made the deal, but I won't allow you to cheat me out of this chance at revenge!
Gryphon stopped in front of a certain cell.
"Zeus," he said simply as he looked at the old sky god.
"What do you want?" Zeus asked.
"I want to know where to find the Cyclopes," Gryphon said. "The same ones who forged your thunderbolts."
"Ask your lord, Hades," Zeus said. "I know not where they have gone, I assume that he would have an eye on them, in case the Rangers ever found them."
Zeus looked closer at the helmet of who he was speaking to.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Gryphon," Gryphon said, "you should know that by now, what with you helping the Rangers and all."
"No, I meant who are you?" Zeus said. "I can feel the two spirits in that body. Who is trapped in there?"
"Nobody's trapped," Gryphon said as he started to walk away, "just being harnessed."
"The Rangers can help you!" Zeus said. "You just need to let them!"
"The best way they can help me," Gryphon said as he turned his head to look at Zeus one last time, "is to give me a clear path to Jay Parker."
And with that, he walked away, leaving Zeus to his empty cell.
Dun dun dun! Time to keep pushing ahead! See you guys within the next month with the next chapter!
