The Envy Side
A/N: I am so sorry it's been so long since the last update. Personal issues have gotten in the way. Thank you for your patience and I hope to be more consistent with updates. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated and please no flames.
XOXO~Cyber
The thumping bass of a rock-n-roll song echoed through the sound system in the booth overlooking the football field. The Angel Grove Dance Team performed in syndication, their movements matching the beat of the music. At the same time, the football team was practicing for their first home game of the season, which was right around the corner. Up in the booth, Tanya was watching both teams, focusing on her friends. Once the dance team finished up their routine, Tanya cut the music and ejected the disk.
Emma leaned against the railing of the bleachers, gulping down water from her sports bottle. "Looking good out there, cuz." Billy nudged her shoulder, smiling.
"Thanks." Emma replied, taking another gulp of water before setting her bottle down. "We've been working on it since before school started." she informed. "We'll be performing it at halftime."
Rocky joined the two, watching the football players run through various plays. "I so can't wait until the game Friday Night." he chuckled. "Hemery won't know what hit them."
Emma nodded in agreement, her crystal-blue eyes focusing on Tommy, who caught a pass from Shawn and ran it for a touchdown, a smile formed on her lips. "They're looking great out there." Tanya noted, joining the trio.
"Yeah." Emma agreed, her eyes not leaving the field.
"And the best part, we don't have school Friday." Rocky grinned. "Which means we can relax all day before the game."
"Uh Rocky, we'll be here a couple hours before the game." Emma reminded. "Practice remember?"
Rocky's shoulders sank and his smile faded, "Thanks for the reminder Em."
The blonde smiled and patted his shoulder, "No problem." she threw him a small smile.
After football practice, Adam and Tommy joined the others in the parking lot. "You guys were lookin great out there." Tanya complemented, leaning against the trunk of Emma's car.
"Thanks Tanya." Adam replied with a smile, wrapping his arm around Tanya's shoulders in a friendly hug.
"We're not the only ones looking great." Tommy added, glancing between Rocky and Emma. "Your routine's really comin together."
"Thanks to Tanya's genius DJ skills." Emma winked in the Yellow Ranger's direction.
Down on the field, Shawn was walking towards the parking lot with a couple other players, and suddenly stopped when he saw Adam's arm around Tanya and both sharing a smile then a laugh.
"Looks like Park's makin a move on your girl, Shawn." one of the guys noted. Shawn's fist tightened around the strap of his backpack and his eyes slightly narrowed.
Meanwhile up on the Machine Sky Base, Mondo and Machina were intrigued by what they were seeing on their monitor.
"Jealousy is such a glorious emotion." Machina said. "It causes so much chaos."
"Perhaps that is something we can use." Mondo noted. "Jealousy can be a powerful emotion in humans. Maybe we can create an equally powerful monster." The mechanical monarch turned to his son, "Why don't you take a shot at it son?"
"Oh boy!" Sprocket exclaimed, clapping his hands. "You can count on me, daddy!"
The next day...
Emma pulled her car into a parking spot, turning off the engine. "What's up Tanya?" she asked, turning to her friend in the passenger seat, "You've barely said anything since we left home. Something wrong?"
"It's Shawn." Tanya muttered, zipping up her book bag. "He seemed a little tense yesterday when we were studying at the Juice Bar." she looked up and met the blonde's eyes, "And I think he was glaring at Adam when I wasn't looking."
Emma quirked her brow, "You saying Shawn's jealous of Adam?" she questioned, to which Tanya nodded. "Come on. He knows you two are just friends."
Tanya shook her head, "I'm not so sure." she admitted.
Emma rubbed her shoulder, "Well, why don't you talk to him before classes?" She glanced up and saw Shawn walk into the school with the same guys from the previous day.
"I'll try." Tanya sighed, getting out of the car. Emma did the same, locking it with her key fob. "Thanks Em." The dark skinned girl wrapped her arm around the blonde.
"That's what best friends are for." she replied, returning the embrace. Both girls walked into Angel Grove High with their arms around eachother's shoulders.
Tanya managed to catch up with Shawn before their math class started, "Can I talk to you a minute?" she asked, gently taking her boyfriend's hand.
"What about?" he asked, somewhat sharply.
"About yesterday." Tanya elaborated.
Before Shawn could answer, the bell rang, signaling for students to get to classes. The male turned on his heels and walked into Calculus with a group of students, leaving Tanya in the hall alone. She shook her head and followed, taking her seat with a sigh.
School dragged on as per the usual. Tanya still tried to get Shawn alone to talk, but he was either with his pals on the football team or waited until last minute to enter class. Before she knew it, the Yellow Ranger was sitting in the bleachers watching the football team and dance team practices.
Shawn played a little rougher than usual this practice and had a series of 'accidental' run-ins with Adam. Taking a break, the Green Ranger sat on the bench rubbing his sore shoulder from his last run-in. Once practice let out, everyone headed to the locker room to shower and change. Adam tossed a towel into the bin, then reached for his green sweatshirt in his locker. As Shawn left the locker room, he bumped Adam's shoulder, which sent him into his locker.
"Dude, watch it." Adam scoffed.
"No, you need to watch it." Shawn retorted in a threatening tone before exiting the locker room.
"Man, what's his problem?" Tommy asked, leaning against his locker which was next to Adam's.
"I have no idea." Adam shook his head.
Up on the Machine Base, Sprocket was clamoring to get his parents' attention. "I've got a plan!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, dear Sprocket?" Machina asked.
"We'll send down Serpentback." Sprocket answered. "He'll get the drop on the Rangers and trap them. Once they're all out of the way, you;ll be free to take over the Earth."
"You're one evil little machine Sprocket." King Mondo praised. "I don't know how a father could be any prouder."
The Rangers all met up at the park after their respective practices. Rocky and Emma were going over one of their stunts while Adam was teaching Tanya some more martial arts moves, with Tommy supervising.
"I'm sorry that Shawn's acting rude towards you." Tanya apologized. "He's got nothing to be jealous of."
"Well you might want to tell him that before tomorrow's game." Rocky suggested, lifting Emma above his head.
"Rocky's right." Emma agreed, keeping herself perfectly still, her arms raised above her head as if she was holding a sign.
A few feet away from them, Serpentback was watching. He resembled a black metal snake on two legs, wearing a letterman's jacket with a big 'M' on the chest, and a football shape at the end of his tail. He watched as the Blue Ranger tossed the Pink one in the air and caught her. He also took note of the backpacks by the tree, one of which was open to reveal a Zeonizer.
King Mondo and Queen Machina noticed this as well and decided to send down some Cogs to steal the Blue Ranger's Zeonizer while the Ranger's were distracted fighting Serpentback.
"You know, today was a nice day." Emma noted, tightening her ponytail. "We should do this more often."
"A splendid idea pinky!" cackled Serpentback who jumped from his hiding place. The Rangers instantly got into a defensive stance. A group of Cogs appeared by the mechanical snake, "Now we can really get this game started."
The Cogs made the first move and the fight ensued. The Machine Monarchs' plan went accordingly, with the Rangers distracted, another team of Cogs were able to sneak in and headed towards the backpacks.
"More Cogs, six o'clock!" Adam called, taking on a pair of foot soldiers.
Rocky smashed one Cog into the ground and turned to take on more, realizing it was his Zeonizer they were after. "Hey! Get away from that!" He ran towards the bookbags, only for his path to be blocked by Serpentback.
"Not so fast Blue Ranger." The large serpent fired a green energy beam and Rocky suddenly disappeared.
"Oh no!" Emma gasped, "That snake just snatched Rocky."
"And they've got his Zeonizer!" Tanya added, the Cogs waving the morpher in the air.
"It's halftime Rangers." Serpentback announced, the Cogs flanking to his side. "See ya in the next half." And with that, he vanished through a portal created by the Cogs.
Tommy activated his wrist communicator, hailing the Power Chamber. "Zordon."
"It's Billy." the former Ranger answered. "What's goin on guys?"
"A new creature of Mondo's just attacked us." Emma answered. "And it took Rocky and his Zeonizer."
"Billy, can you somehow track him?" Tommy asked.
After a couple minutes of silence, Billy answered, "I'm getting a signal on the other side of the park. I bet that's where the monster is."
"Alright." Tommy ended the communication. The Rangers activated their own Zeonizers. "It's Morphin Time!"
"Zeo Ranger I, Pink!"
"Zeo Ranger II, Yellow!"
"Zeo Ranger IV, Green!"
"Zeo Ranger V, Red!"
The Rangers teleported to the other side of the park, near the paddle boat docks on the lake. They split up into pairs and searched the area, but came up empty.
"Man, I sure hope Rocky's alright." sighed Zeo Ranger II.
Seemingly out of nowhere, small footballs were launched at the Rangers from overhead that exploded on contact. "Welcome to our field Rangers!" greeted Serpentback, in company with Prince Sprocket, Klank, and Orbus. "Looks like second half is about to begin."
"As for Zeo Ranger Three, he's inside the belly of the beast." Kalnk informed.
"And you'll soon join him Rangers." Sprocket taunted.
"We've got to get Rocky out of there." said Zeo Ranger V.
"Well you can't get to him without his Zeonizer and we have it." Sprocket bragged.
"What did you do with it Sprocket?" grunted Zeo Ranger IV.
At the tone of the Green Ranger's voice, Sprocket cowered behind Klank. "I don't have it. It was all Klank's idea."
"Uh, the Cogs have it." Klank quickly deterred the Rangers from coming after him.
In a fit of panic, one of the Cogs dropped the Zeonizer, and another quickly picked it up. The Green Ranger took off after it and tackled the Cog to the ground, "I'll take that." he stated, dodging the Cogs that were swarming him. When he was surrounded on all sides, he raised his arm, "Tanya, think fast!" he called, throwing the Zeonizer.
The Yellow Ranger caught the pass and slid past a couple of Cogs trying to block her. She ran for it, blocking as many attacks as she could. "Emma!" she called out, throwing the Zeonizer to the Pink Ranger, while knocking back two Cogs that had ganged up behind her.
Zeo Ranger I jumped over three Cogs and landed on the railing overlooking the lake, catching the Zeonizer, "Got it!" she informed Zeo Ranger II. She did a series of backflips, trying to put some distance between her and the Cogs. She jumped off the railing and threw a few of the foot soldiers over it. She looked around for an escape route, with no such luck. "Tommy! Go long!" She threw the Zeonizer to their Ranger leader, who caught it by jumping into the air.
"Got it." the Red Ranger gave a thumbs up to his teammates. "Now, to free Rocky." He ran right towards Serpentback, while the other three Rangers fended off the Cogs when they tried to intercept him. The monster succeeded in taking the bait and captured the Red Ranger as well.
Rocky helped the Red Ranger to his feet, "You alright Tommy?"
"Yeah." he replied, holding out the Zeonizer, "Here, brought you a present."
Rocky sighed in relief, "Thanks, good call." He strapped on his wrist morpher, "It's Morphin Time! Zeo Ranger III, Blue!"
"If we can just reverse these gears, I think we can get outta here." suggested Zeo Ranger V. "Help me turn them."
"Right." agreed Zeo Ranger III. "I think it's working."
Smoke started to come from the mechanical monster and the two Zeo Ranger were released, joining their teammates. "It's crunch time, Rangers." The Cogs stood defensively in front of Serpentback.
The Zeo Rangers brought out their Power Weapons and fought through the line, each Ranger taking on at least four Cogs, while Zeo Ranger V went in for Serpentback. Once all the Cogs were down, the other four Rangers backed up their leader. They all attacked at once with their Zeo Power Kicks and Serpentback was down for the count.
Klank and Orbus watched from afar and knew it was their turn to aid in the battle. Klank swung Orbus around and launched him towards the fallen monster. "The game's not over yet." the small robot chimed, enlarging the monster.
Serpentback grew to almost five times his normal size, his appearance more darker and menacing, now with spikes going down the length of his back as well as on his shoulders. "This game's just about over." he cackled.
"We need ZeoZord power, now!" The Rangers called for their Zords and once in their respective cockpits, initiated to form the ZeoMegazord.
"Zeo V Battle Helmet, activate." The Red Ranger took control of the Megazord and tried to hold off Serpentback. The large snake charged right at the Megazord, headbutting the center, which caused the cockpit to shake a bit.
"Zeo III Battle Helmet, activate." The Blue Ranger took control and fired the energy beam, knocking Serpentback to the ground. Control switched back to Zeo Ranger V.
"Let's run it back for a touchdown." Zeo Ranger V voted. "ZeoMegazord Saber, activate!" all five Rangers called in unison. The sword slashed across the large serpent as he charged for another tackle, only to be destroyed.
"Game over!" cheered the Zeo Rangers.
Friday night rolled around and Tanya managed to finally catch Shawn alone before he entered the locker room to change. "Listen Shawn, we need to talk." she stated, grabbing his sleeve.
"Fine." Shawn replied sharply. "Let's talk about you and Adam. Mind tellin me what's goin on there?"
"Adam and I are just friends." Tanya answered honestly. "Good friends."
"It appears more than that." Shawn scoffed. "And I don't like it."
"What?" Tanya muttered.
Shawn stood his ground, "I don't like the two of you hangin out." he stated.
"Well that's too bad then." Tanya sighed, "Because I won't stop hanging out with Adam. He's a good friend. And if you don't like it, then I don't think we should see eachother." she folded her arms over her chest.
"Well fine." Shawn shook his head and headed into the locker room.
Tanya looked down at her feet, then felt a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry." an all to familiar voice apologized. She turned to see Emma standing beside her, dressed in her dance team uniform; a dark purple long-sleeved top with 'Tigers' emblazoned across the chest in glittery gold letters, dark purple shorts with glittery gold lines down the sides, and purple sneakers with stripes on either side. Emma's hair was perfectly straightened and she had glittery purple eyeshadow on as well as a light coat of shimmering gold lip gloss. "That must've been hard for you."
Tanya nodded and laid her head on her friend's shoulder. "Yeah, it was." she admitted. "But, I didn't want to chose."
"If a guy told me to ditch all my guy friends to date him, I'd drown him." Emma noted, which made Tanya laugh. "Why don't you head to the field, Billy saved you a seat."
"Alright." Tanya agreed, "Hey, good luck." She hugged the blonde.
"Thanks." Emma returned the hug, patting Tanya's back.
Angel Grove High's football stadium was packed as the game clock counted down. The crowd was on their feet as the dance team performed in the center of the field, the AC/DC mix of 'Thunderstruck' and 'TNT' blasted through the speaker system. "Go Tigers!" they yelled, striking their final pose, which Rocky and Emma were in front standing back to back, their hands posed to look like claws.
Third quarter came and went, as did most of the fourth, and the Angel Grove Tigers were down by five. All they needed was a touchdown to win it. The team huddled together to plan the next play while the cheerleaders got the crowd motivated, and the dance team performed a shorter routine to add to the energy.
"Think they can get this touchdown?" Rocky asked, him and Emma watching as the players lined up.
"Yeah, of course." Emma answered, her eyes on Tommy. "With Tommy as the Quarterback, we've got this." She held out her fist, which Rocky bumped.
"All right, with the Tigers down by five, this is the play that decides it all." Ernie commentated from the booth. The ball was thrown from player to player, eventually getting back to Tommy, who threw to a wide-open Adam. "Adam Park catches the ball and makes a break for it, right into the end zone as the clock hits zero! Touchdown Tigers!"
"Yes!" Emma and Rocky cheered, hugging on another.
"Alright Adam!" Tanya yelled, standing between Lisa Gilbert and Billy.
The crowd cheered as the scoreboard flashed 'Tigers Win' across the screen in bold letters. The cheerleaders and dance team swarmed the field, high-fiving the football players. Rocky and Emma found Adam and Tommy and congratulated them on their victory.
"Awesome pass Tommy." Rocky praised, slapping the quarterback's shoulder.
"I knew you guys would win." Emma smiled, hugging Adam. "Great job you guys."
Billy and Tanya found them amongst the crowd and said their congratulations as well. As the six got away from the crowd, they were met with Emma's parents. "Okay kids, get together." Lisa told them, a digital camera in her hands.
"Really mum?" Emma questioned.
"You'll thank me for this in ten years Emma." Lisa replied. "Now, scoot together, come on now."
"Sorry guys." Emma whispered to her friends. The group scooted closer together, with Rocky on the far left, with his arm around Tanya's shoulders, next was Adam who had one arm around Tanya's back and the other hand resting on Billy's shoulder, Billy's arms were draped over Adam's shoulder and Tommy's, and Tommy had his arm around Emma's back and her right hand rested on his shoulder while her left was planted on her hip.
"Say 'Tigers'." Lisa smiled, holding the camera up.
"Tigers!" the six teens smiled as the camera snapped the picture of the smiling teens.
A/N: Again sorry this took so long to post, and I also apologize if it's sub-par. I promise I'll try to make future chapters better. Now to reply to some questions/comments.
jdkeller2000: For the idea of seeing Emma in any original chapters, I don't think I'll have any in this series. However, I try to give each chapter my own original spin. I do plan on writing a chapter that focuses on Emma's birthday and some surprises are in store there.
MakiSakura: I'm glad you liked the moments from the previous chapter. I promise there will be more in later chapters.
RHatch89: I did catch the 25th anniversary episode and I can tell you this, I have plans that involve Emma and Dino Thunder. You'll just have to wait and see.
DemonGirl123: Your support is greatly appreciated, without you this series wouldn't even exist. Thank you for being my sounding board when a new idea hits me. You truly are my greatest fan. Consider this chapter a belated Valentines-Day gift to you. Love you sissy.