Magi Ranger

by Tenstar12

Betrayed by the world he had given his all to save, Harry finds himself cast into the void. With some help Harry ends up in another dimension, but in classic Harry Potter fashion gets himself into trouble almost immediately. Can he make his way in this strange world he finds himself in where giant monster attacks are a daily occurrence and hardly anything is familiar? AU Harry, MOD

51. Chapter 51

Magi Ranger

By: Tenstar12

AN: Folks, if you're gonna review and ask a ton of questions and/or make a ton of suggestions and such, log in before doing so. You can ask any of my more prolific reviewers, if it's more than "Great chapter, update soon," or the like, I always send a reply. It may not be on the same day as the posting anymore because of real life, but I still get back to you. I have more than one person who review as a guest and always have some great comments and I would love to open a discussion on some of these ideas, but I can't because they're guest reviews. Help me out here. *sigh*

Also, make sure you check out the ending AN. There are a few announcements there that might be of interest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Power Rangers.

Chapter 51, or We Don't Need no Thunder Megazord!

High atop one of the many skyscrapers in Angel Grove, a fuming Magi Ranger appeared with a near-silent pop.

Harry was mad.

There really was no other way to put it. Jason had not only completely disregarded everything Harry had to say, he had put himself into harm's way and then rounded on Harry when he was nearly killed for it. And then he had the nerve to try and blame Harry for the problems the Rangers had had with Rita! Suggesting he had given Rita the Elder Wand in the first place!

Harry knew that most of this attitude of Jason's was being caused by whatever problem Zordon still refused to explain that the core Rangers were having, but he just couldn't help it. Still, he had a job to do, even if that job was given by Jason and had probably only been done so in an effort to prove Harry wasn't needed for whatever reason the Red Ranger had.

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He needed to stop with this cyclical thinking, it would only make him angrier, which wouldn't be good when he headed back into battle. Anger meant less focus, which meant his Power and magic wouldn't be as easily controlled as usual, which would be quite bad against an enemy as strong as Gotan.

With a mental command, the Magi Staff shrunk in his grip down to the size of a wand, much as it had when Harry fought Elder. Then, laying the wand flat on his palm, Harry intoned his spell. "Point me, Zack."

Rising up slightly under the influence of his spell, the wand sized staff spun full circle a few times before settling to point off to Harry's right, further toward the center of Angel Grove. With a firm nod, Harry grasped his focus tightly once again before apparating in the direction indicated, appearing once more atop another tall building and repeating the entire process.

A half dozen jumps later, Harry's focus spun to point back in the opposite direction he had come from, so Harry moved to the edge of the building and looked down. His current building was only a few stories tall, his wand having led him through the tallest portion of the city by the third jump, so Harry was easily able to hear the sounds of police sirens coming from all around. This was no doubt caused by Zedd's latest attack, and probably in no small part by the explosion Harry's attack had made amongst Gotan's storm clouds.

Yeah, he might consider trying to find someone to explain what all that was about sometime soon. Though if he did, it might be a good idea to leave out any mention of infighting amongst the Rangers. Such a thing could cause all sorts of havoc in the city if they thought their protectors were having problems…

Shaking his head to once more set his thoughts onto the right track, Harry scanned the area around him. The buildings were much shorter in the area he was in now, as previously stated, but as they were all fairly uniform in height, he couldn't see too much in the way of detail from any building other than the one right across the street from himself. So, with a shrug, the Magi Ranger leapt across the street to the next rooftop and performed his direction finder spell again.

A few buildings later, Harry could have smacked himself. The building that the spell indicated Zack was in was a movie theater, and Harry distinctly remembered Zack telling him that he and Angela were going on a date at the movies.

With a sigh at his own stupidity, Harry let the shrunken Magi Staff vanish back to wherever it went when he didn't have it himself and released his hold on his Power, allowing his morph to fade, the suit giving off a dull glow before slowly fading from his body. Almost immediately, he felt lethargy wash over him, most likely from the massive amounts of Power he had used in his skirmish with Gotan, not to mention the beating he had received beforehand. He hadn't really checked, but his suit had no doubt been covered in scorch marks…

With another sigh, Harry turned his mind back to the issue at hand: finding Zack. Glancing over the edge of the building again, Harry started looking for a place to apparate to that was closer to the theater building itself. After a moment of searching, Harry decided that the safest bet would be to pop into the alley next to the building and so, after a wandless notice-me-not charm, Harry put action to thoughts.

Upon reaching the alley, Harry's first instinct was to try and call Zack on his communicator. The problem there was that he had forgotten about the watch's mud encrusted state rendering it inoperable. And then, the sight of his mud covered arm brought his attention to the fact that he himself was still mostly covered in mud, both from Trini's efforts and his own rescue attempts of his fellow Rangers who had fallen into the mud themselves. His suit had actually worked to protect the filth covering him during his little dip in the lake earlier, and the entire battle and situation with the Red Ranger had led to Harry himself forgetting about it entirely.

If it had been an option, Harry might have just given up right there. Popped off to the Youth Center for a quick shower and then back to the Command Center to lock himself in his room until the day was over. Instead, the Magi Ranger drew on his magic once more and, steeling himself for the sensation, cast a cleaning charm.

The spell removed contaminates and the like from whatever the target was. In this case, Harry targeted everything on himself but his left wrist so as to prevent further damage to his communicator. Billy might have made the thing to be resistant enough to his magic to function around him normally, but Harry seriously doubted its ability to survive having spells cast on it directly and he really didn't want to mess it up any more than it already was. In any case, when the spell was cast on a living being, it tended to act like a very harsh scrub, irritated skin and all. That being said, it was the easiest way to get clean in his current circumstances.

With his skin reddened, his clothes magically clean if still somewhat rumpled looking, and his notice-me-not still holding strong, Harry made his way out of the alley and down the almost completely deserted sidewalk to the front entrance of the theater. Finding the doors unlocked and a few employees standing around the lobby area, mostly cleaning up dropped popcorn from what he could see, Harry slipped inside, trusting his spell to keep anyone from taking interest.

The lobby was actually somewhat small, only about thirty to forty feet from the front doors to the back wall and two or three times that lengthwise. The main counter/snack bar took up nearly half the available space and there were a pair of doors into what Harry could only assume were theaters on either side. From each end of the room, two hallways opened up, branching out in either direction after only ten feet or so, presumably leading to more theaters. Making his way across the lobby to an unoccupied corner, Harry drew his coin/wand and cast another point me. This time, his spell led him back across the lobby and down the side hallway to the left of where he had first entered and then to the right down that hall.

The theater he ultimately approached was numbered 1 and, based on what he could guess by the poster outside the door showing a young looking couple sharing an intense stare with what he assumed was supposed to be love in their eyes, was showing some kind of a romance movie. Looking around briefly and not spotting so much as a security camera nearby, Harry opened the door and slipped into the dark room, lit intermittently as the image on the screen shifted.

Making his way further into the room, Harry turned a corner and caught sight of the theater patrons with their eyes locked on the screen. The room seemed fairly large as theaters go, looking to seat at least a few hundred people at full capacity, and it was nearly half full, so it took Harry several moments to locate his wayward friend.

When he finally did, Harry couldn't help but smile. Angela was snuggled into Zack's side, tucked in under his right arm as she stared at the screen, totally enraptured by the movie. Zack had somehow managed to mix total contentment and utter boredom on his face at the same time. From what Harry could guess, Zack was completely fine with Angela's current position and the fact that they were on a date specifically, but would probably rather be seeing any movie other than the one they were in at the moment.

Must have been Angela's pick.

And then Harry thought about what he was here to do. Zack had come to him the day before in a near panic at the thought of this date and how he had nearly lost Angela, all because of something that only seemed to be affecting the core Power Rangers. It could then be said that his status as a Ranger was causing his relationship problems. And now, Harry was here on behalf of the other Rangers to pull Zack away from his date and all but ensure his relationship problems either got worse, or ceased altogether as said relationship ended entirely.

And now that he thought about it, Harry didn't think he could do that to Zack.

It was as he stood there agonizing over his choice that Harry felt a familiar upsurge in Power. From what he could tell, Gotan had indeed recreated his storm over the city. Whether this meant the other Rangers were in trouble or not he couldn't say, but it did mean he was running out of time.

This storm grew just as quickly as the last one, evidenced by the massive crack of thunder that echoed from outside, easily drowning out the sounds from the movie and making more than one of the patrons jump or cry out in surprise. Following the thunder, the lights dimmed drastically as the movie flickered off and on a few times. This brought still more noises from the moviegoers, this time ones of anger and confusion. When the lights returned to their previous level and the movie resumed without any apparent time lost, the sounds quieted, though Harry could see more than one person looking rather annoyed.

Then Zack's communicator went off.

The six tone beep was slightly muffled, but still quite distinctive in the otherwise relatively silent theater. It also seemed that it wasn't the first time it had gone off in the theater as many people in the room groaned while a few others made shushing sounds. Zack himself had a look of exasperation on his face, one mirrored by Angela. The couple had a short, whispered conversation before Zack stood up, pulling his communicator out from where he had been sitting on it, presumably in an attempt to muffle the sounds, and made his way down the stairs and toward the theater exit.

As the Black Ranger passed the still magically hidden Harry, the Magi Ranger made his decision. Seeing the look on Zack's face, one of resignation and regret as he fastened his communicator back onto his wrist, meant he could do nothing else.

Quickly following Zack back down the hall and out of the theater, Harry managed to slip out with him and dropped his spell just as the Black Ranger made to answer the beeping communicator. "Zack."

Zack jumped in surprise. "Harry!" he said, putting a hand on his chest. "You about scared the life outta me, man. What are you doing here?"

Harry sighed. "I came to find out why you weren't answering your communicator, but the answer is rather obvious in retrospect."

Zack gave a small grin, idly scratching at the back of his head as he did. "Yeah, well, I don't wanna mess this up, ya know? But I guess there's no helping it now."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, firming up his resolve as he did.

Zack sighed. "Well, when my communicator first went off, I told Angela that it was a fancy beeper that Billy made for all of us. I figured it was as good of an excuse as anything, and not necessarily a lie either. Well, she just told me to go ahead and call whoever it was back. To deal with the issue and then come back with some popcorn."

Harry nodded. "And you figured that dealing with the issue would require leaving and probably take longer than she would be expecting."

Zack nodded in return, frowning as he did so. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that any popcorn I bring back after whatever crisis is dealt with will end up dumped on my head."

Steeling himself further and knowing that beyond this point there was no going back, Harry spoke again. "What if you didn't have to go?"

Zack froze before raising an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you talking about, Harry? Of course I have to go. I wouldn't be getting called if there weren't a problem that needed the whole team."

Despite his apparent disbelief, Harry could almost see the hope in Zack's eyes and so soldiered on. "I mean that, while there is a monster to defeat, I more or less had it handled before… things happened…"

"'Things happened?'" Zack repeated slowly before his eyes widened and he groaned. "Oh man, what did Jason do?"

Harry blinked at Zack's quick acceptance, not to mention the fact that he jumped to the correct conclusion right off the bat. Seeing his confusion, Zack spoke again. "It's kind of obvious that this effect on us is hitting Jason differently than me or Kimberly. He's been even more irrational in regard to you than normal. He was doing so much better after we all called him out, but now… Well, you know better than the rest of us what he's been like, I'm sure."

Harry nodded, his response delayed by another massive crash of thunder followed by a brief flickering of the lights above them. "Yeah, he… he kinda tried to take over the battle, despite me being a few seconds away from destroying the monster. Ended up having to abort my attack or else risk catching him in the blast too. Then the monster got free and Jason said a few things before sending me off to find you. Said you might be in trouble since you weren't answering your communicator."

Zack sighed. "Dammit… I just don't know what's come over him lately, but I hope Zordon figures this whole thing out sooner rather than later." Harry couldn't help but agree with him, but Zack continued on before he could voice it. "So anyway, what do you mean about me not having to go?"

Taking another deep breath, Harry spoke again. "What I mean is that, like I said, I pretty much had Gotan, the monster, handled before Jason messed things up. I figure that I can manage the same again with a little help from the others, or at least those likely to work with me without making things worse again…" Harry paused for a moment, and another breath, before continuing. "The point is, Zack, this date, and Angela in particular, are important to you. You shouldn't have to give it all up when, honestly, you aren't completely vital to the effort. Not to say you aren't important to the team, but we can handle things without you this time, so you can do what you want to do and keep your life in order while the rest of us take care of business."

"And you had to come all the way here from wherever the battle was to tell me this?"

Harry smiled slightly. "I kinda only just decided what I was going to do after your communicator went off in there. Seeing you two together and all that… I just don't think it's fair that you have to give up so much that's important to you in order to fight a war that you really didn't choose to be involved with in the first place. You shouldn't have to give up the things you love and your dreams because of what others expect of you." The unspoken 'like I did' passed between them.

Zack met his eyes for a few moments, clearly thinking everything over. It couldn't be an easy choice, effectively amounting to the greater good versus his own personal desires, but what Harry had said was true, Gotan would have already been beaten if it weren't for Jason doing what he did.

Zack closed his eyes briefly and let out a deep sigh. "I… I think I'd rather stay here this time. I really don't want to lose Angela, ya know?" Zack appeared to be struggling with his words, but Harry was content to wait. After a few more moments, he continued. "Just… just call me again if things go bad, alright? If you think you can handle it, then I trust you, and I thank you for covering for me this time. I'll definitely owe you one no matter what. But if you guys really do need me, I'll come running."

Harry nodded, a smile stretching onto his face. "Can do. Here's hoping that it doesn't come to that though."

Zack smiled back, a hint of relief showing through on his face. "Yeah, no kidding… Well, I better get back in there…"

Harry nodded again before perking up slightly. "Wait a second. Why don't I just…" With a gesture, Harry cast a ward around Zack's communicator. It was a delicate piece of magic, really just a selective bubble to prevent any further sounds from disturbing the movie experience for anyone, while at the same time allowing Zack alone to hear any noise it made. This way he wouldn't get snapped at by the other patrons, while still being able to hear if he was called again. "Hopefully this way Angela won't get upset with you." Harry said after explaining what he'd done.

Zack nodded. "Thanks again."

This time, when Zack moved to return to the theater, Harry stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Didn't Angela ask you to get popcorn?"

Zack flinched at Harry's reminder before nodding again. "And thanks yet again, Harry. Man, you're really saving my backside today, aren't you?"

Harry chuckled. "What are friends for, mate?"

Shaking his head, Zack trotted off back up the hallway toward the lobby, intent on acquiring his girlfriend's salty snack food while Harry watched him go. Harry knew that the stress of the day wasn't over yet. Even after Gotan was defeated, which he was confident in his ability to do, Harry knew that the decision he had just made would put Jason on a warpath with Harry dead in his sights. But all the same, he knew it would be worth it.

With a nod in satisfaction, Harry apparated back to the rooftop across the street from the theater and drew his wand once more. Readying himself as best he could for the battle to come, Harry brought his wand up into a dueling stance and began flicking it in the practiced movements of his morphing sequence.

"MAGI RANGER, POWER UP!"

-MR-

When the Magi Ranger appeared in a morph-assisted teleport, he was back in Angel Grove Park. He had chosen to arrive somewhat near to where he had originally fought Gotan, but not so close as to end up slipping and falling on the ice he was sure was still there.

Probably not the most impressive entrance he could have made.

Instead, Harry arrived nearby the mud pit that the tug of war had been over and immediately spread his magical senses out, searching for any hint of the monster or the other Rangers. The rain from Gotan's second storm was coming down heavy, but that didn't really affect his senses in this case, though it did mess with his regular eyesight. In the back of his mind, he idly considered another blast of Power to, at least temporarily, disperse the storm, but his senses pinged off of a burst of Power before the idea was more than idle whimsy.

The battle, it seemed, hadn't moved too far from its original location, perhaps just to the nearer side of the monster's ice field if Harry's sense of direction wasn't thrown off too badly by the poor visibility. Noting the approximate distance, Harry twisted in place, line-of-sight (such as it was) apparating a few dozen yards before reorienting himself on the battle's location and repeating the process. After three such jumps, he didn't need to sense out the location. The flashes of light from the Ranger's blade blasters and the occasional burst of sparks were more than enough to tell him where to go.

And now came the decision of how he wanted to do this. His first option, and honestly his least favorite, would be to charge in and join the melee. This was his weakest area and hadn't gone too well for him in his earlier battle with Gotan. The only difference this time would be that he had the other Rangers as backup which would hopefully prevent him re-experiencing life as a hockey puck.

The second choice would be to draw in a bunch of Power again and try to get his telekinetic hold back in place. Maybe this time the others would stop Jason from interfering, if he was of a mind to do so again, and he could finish Gotan off as he had originally intended.

Before an option could be settled on, Harry felt another familiar burst of Power as a tiny point of light broke through the heavy cloud cover and fell toward the monster. From where Harry stood, he could only watch as Gotan knocked Kimberly and Jason away from itself with a powerful swing of what looked like a log before discarding its impromptu weapon and catching the growth grenade, quickly setting it off and growing to gigantic proportions.

Running in closer to the others, Harry barely heard Jason's shout for the Thunder Zords over the falling rain, an action which was immediately followed by another burst of thunder as the Rangers put actions to words.

"Pterodactyl, Firebird Thunderzord Power!"

"Triceratops, Unicorn Thunderzord Power!"

"Saber-Tooth Tiger, Griffin Thunderzord Power!"

"Tyrannosaurus, Red Dragon Thunderzord Power!"

As the four flew in, roaring, screeching, and sort-of whinnying as they did, Harry decided to join the party. Throwing his right hand skyward, he shouted out his own summoning. "I call upon the Silver Owl Zord, HEDWIG!"

With a haunting cry, Harry felt Hedwig appear in the sky above the storm, the thick cloud cover masking all but the faintest of purple flashes as she did so. With a teleport assisted leap, Harry quickly found himself perched atop Hedwig's domed head. –What is the plan, Harry/wizard?-

"You know, Hedwig," Harry said after a moment. "I really don't know. But then again, I rarely have a plan when I run off to do something stupid, do I?"

Hedwig's head spun a full 360 beneath him, making Harry a bit dizzy before she responded. –No, and it is one of the traits that makes protecting you that much harder.- The owl seemed to sigh mentally before continuing. –However, I also cannot say you did wrong. Friend Zack does not deserve to lose his mate because of evil fighting and Bossy Red's desires. Big Head agrees, though seems distracted.-

Well, that was something, wasn't it? Not only was Hedwig on his side, but it seemed as though Zordon may be too. Feeling his confidence in his actions restored, Harry gathered up his Power. "Alright then, Hedwig. What do you say we take care of this guy before Zack has to get involved anyway?"

Hedwig gave out a fierce screech as Harry released his gathered Power into her and their fusion/transformation sequence began. –As you say, Harry/wizard. Let us teach this Many-Beast why one does not attack New-Home.-

The fusion and transformation into their combined Warrior Mode took only seconds and Harry, now much more experienced in this form, regained his sense of self almost immediately. As he floated above the storm, his cloak/wings extended outward and beating to keep him aloft, Harry extended his senses once more, this time amplified by Hedwig's own more mechanical sensors, Harry located Gotan along with the other Rangers' Zords. It seemed that Jason had taken his own Zord into its warrior mode and was engaging the monster head on while the other three danced on the fringes of battle, probably doing whatever they could to help. Without Zack, there would be no Thunder Megazord this time, but Harry was still confident that they wouldn't need it.

So long as Jason didn't make things difficult anyway…

Putting that rather troublesome thought aside, Harry waited for the best moment, gathering Power to his claw tipped hands as Hedwig's sensors superimposed a wire-frame representation of the battle over his eyesight. With this added benefit, Harry was able to watch as the Red Dragon Zord and Gotan grappled with each other briefly before the monster's superior size and strength overwhelmed the machine, allowing the monster to throw it to the ground. After some hand waving and what might have been mouth movement from one head or the other, it was hard to tell with only wire frames to go on, Gotan began moving toward the still prone Red Thunderzord.

So Harry decided it was time to act, and he already had his first target in mind…

Angling his wings, with no small amount of help from Hedwig's consciousness, Harry changed his hover into a steep dive, angling himself to come down in line with Gotan, if a bit of distance away. As his claws began glowing purple, Harry broke through the cloud line. It was only the wireframe image superimposed over his sight that let Harry stay on target and only Hedwig's flying expertise that kept them from being buffeted to one side by the wind and rain.

As Harry reached the appropriate height, his wings snapped open again, transferring his vertical speed into horizontal. "HEY GOTAN!" Harry shouted, making the monster pause a few steps from the struggling Red Dragon Warrior Mode. "DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME?!"

The monster recoiled a few steps, but it wasn't enough to escape Harry's attack as a spectral image of a crescent moon appeared behind him. Mere moments later, Harry was behind Gotan, sliding to a stop on ground that he was happy to notice didn't seem to be the park anymore and his claws no longer glowing. "Silver Owl, Moonlit Claw Slash!" Then Harry's attacks, several slashes that were left visible as bright purple lines on Gotan's body, exploded violently, knocking the monster off its feet once more.

With a heave of his leg servos and a flap of his wings, Harry leapt up from his crouch, back flipping up and over the monster and landing next to Jason's Zord before offering a hand to help it back up. "Need a bit of help, Jason? Guys?"

"Harry!" multiple voices came all at once from three of the four Rangers in question, their words coming to him across Hedwig's communications system. The general tone was one of surprise and relief.

And then there was Jason.

"Harry, what do you think you're doing? Where's Zack?"

Harry gave a mental roll of his eyes even as he heaved the downed Zord back to its feet. "Oh, hey, Harry. Good to see you, Harry. Thanks for saving my butt, Harry."

Jason let out a growl as he responded. "Harry, where is Zack?"

"Zack is busy."

"BUSY? Doing what!?"

"Busy having a life."

"We have a monster to fight!"

"So why don't we get to that, then?"

"Harry, we need Zack!"

"Less talking, more monster fighting!"

By this point, Gotan had regained its feet. It was difficult to make out in detail because of the rain, but the goat head looked rather scorched. It made sense since that was where the majority of Harry's slashes had hit, but he was more than expecting the monster to be unscathed much as Pirantishead had been.

"SO," the lion head spoke in its deep voice. "The Magi Ranger has returned. Did you not get enough of a beating when we last met, Ranger?"

"Oh, you know," Harry said with a drawl, idly reaching behind his back and drawing his twin sabers as he did. "You just can't keep a good Ranger down."

"We'll be talking about all this later, Harry. You better count on that." Jason murmured over a private line before the Zord manifested a long staff. "If you think you can beat us all, then you have another thing coming!" Jason's last shout was broadcast aloud from his Zord, but it merely caused Gotan to laugh.

"You? Beat me? HA!" the lion practically roared. "You were down for the count before this one came back and the other three are far too weak to hurt me! And you!" Gotan gestured toward Harry now. "I was knocking you around like a punching bag. And if you think I'm going to let you hit me with your magic like that again, then I must have knocked what litlte brains you have loose! Without that, you're nothing!"

Gotan's lion head was thrown back as it let out a loud guffaw. This laughter continued for several seconds before the monster paused. Harry smirked as his wire frame image of the monster showed it grabbing and poking at the goat's head on its chest.

"Something the matter?" Harry asked, gathering up power into the tips of his blades as he spoke.

Gotan's head shot up and it gave them what Harry could only presume was the mother of all glares. When it didn't respond, Harry continued. "It's kinda hard to see with all this rain, let's see if I can't do something about that."

Thrusting his twin blades into the air, Harry released two balls of Power. They flew up and over the three titans and the smaller Assault Team Thunderzords, spiraling around each other before, just before passing into the cloud cover, they smashed together and detonated. The resulting shockwave was much larger than expected, making both Gotan and Jason's Thunderzord recoil slightly. Harry was prepared for it because that was how he designed them. The balls wouldn't explode unless they hit each other and they did little more than release a massive shockwave. It was next to useless in a battle, unless one wanted to break a great deal of glass or something, but much like his aborted incomplete finisher from earlier, the shockwave was enough to break up the magically created storm clouds and cause them to disperse.

When the first beams of sunlight cut through the clouds, it became immediately clear what was wrong with Gotan. The goat head on its chest, right where Harry had aimed his surprise attacks, was hanging limply, eyes closed and mouth hanging open. Either unconscious or somehow dead, Harry didn't care, all that he was worried about was that the monster couldn't use its storm powers again.

"Heh," Harry chuckled, gesturing with one of his blades. "Looks like your little buddy is out of commission. Shame, that."

Gotan growled fiercely. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" With his words giving way to a roar, the monster charged blindly, its arms flailing before it with claws bared.

Narrowing his eyes, Harry waited until the monster was close and then deflected a slash with his left blade and sidestepping, letting the monster stumble past before landing a glancing blow across its back with his right blade.

"Jason, I'll set Gotan up, you take it out. Your Thunderzord is stronger than Hedwig and I, so you should be able to do it more easily and without all the setup I'd need."

The Red Ranger didn't respond immediately, which got Harry a bit worried, before the Red Dragon Warrior nodded and Jason's reluctant voice came across Hedwig's communicators. "Alright, Harry. Just get it done."

Harry nodded back as Jason's Zord stepped back and took a stance, holding the staff out before it. Shifting his attention back to the now turned around Gotan, Harry smirked internally. While before he was outclassed in both strength and speed, now that they were all giant sized and the monster couldn't do whatever it did to give itself the advantage on the ice, Harry felt they were much more easily matched. It was stronger, he was faster. And with the Power flowing through him making him more dramatic and much more skillful in his fighting, he was more than sure that he was the superior fighter.

Especially since the monster was still enraged.

Speaking of.

Harry deflected several more clumsy slashes with his blades as Gotan once more closed the distance between them. Occasionally, he would return with attacks of his own, lashing out with one saber while the other warded off Gotan's attacks. By the time the monster backed away again, it was covered in scorch marks.

"You… you think you've won?" Gotan panted, holding its left arm with its right hand where Harry had scored a particularly solid blow. "I still have more fight left in me! Just because you took out my second head doesn't mean you've won!" Releasing its wounded arm, Gotan reached behind its back and grabbed onto something. Moments later the hand came back around front again holding a length of rope and the tail that had hung looped behind it suddenly came to life, extending up and over Gotan's shoulder to strike at Harry more than double the monster's height away from it.

Moving quickly, Harry managed to block the sudden attack with his blades, though only barely, and got a good enough look to identify the end as a scorpion stinger. "Huh…" Harry mused aloud. "I guess this makes you a manticore. Talking lion with a scorpion tail and all that… Well, I guess it only works since I took that goat's head out of the picture, but the comparison still stands."

"GRAAAAAH!" Gotan roared again, its tail striking and retracting faster than Harry could easily react, striking a dozen or more times in a mere handful of seconds. More than a few times, the rapid assault allowed the tail to score a hit on Harry's mechanical body, leaving scorch marks in its wake, though thankfully nothing more than that. He had been more than a bit concerned that it might have some kind of poison to bring into play.

"Harry!" Trini cried out mere moments before a lance of yellow energy slammed into Gotan. The attack did little damage, but it was enough to make the monster hesitate, letting Harry discard his blades and grab ahold of the scorpion tail just below the stinger before it could be retracted, tucking it under his arm and trapping it there. Mere moments after Trini's attack, Kimberly's Firebird Thunderzord let out a screech of its own, followed by a hail of fireballs that impacted with Gotan's face, making it shield its eyes in reflex. Immediately following the fireballs, a trio of large stones flew through the air, presumably sent by the Unicorn Thunderzord, each larger than Gotan's head easily, that slammed into the monster and knocked it off balance and into a few stumbling steps backward.

"Alright, let's wrap this up." Harry said, releasing the scorpion tail, which caused it to snap back to Gotan and once more send the monster stumbling off balance, before tilting his head upwards. "PADFOOT!"

At first, and much like when Harry had first summoned the Grim Zord, nothing happened. Then, Gotan's stumbling was halted when its lower legs seemed to impact something solid. The sudden obstruction caused Gotan to tumble over backwards, roaring out in rage and defiance as it went.

The obstruction, as it turned out, was none other than an invisible Padfoot, who reappeared lying on its belly with a massive, tongue lolling, doggy grin on his robotic face. The canine Zord hopped back to his feet and trotted over to Harry's side where he sat, eyeing Gotan as the monster struggled to return to a vertical base.

Harry turned his head toward Jason. "I do believe that that was your cue, Jason."

Even without a verbal response, the change in lighting and influx of Power let Harry know Jason was up to something. That there was then a loud mechanical whine only solidified that knowledge.

Then, just as Gotan regained its feet, the Red Dragon Warrior Mode shot past Harry and Padfoot, its staff spinning around as the hand holding it rotated at the wrist. The Zord itself was sliding across the ground without moving its legs, probably facilitated by the aura of red Power dancing around it. In mere moments, it had crossed the distance to Gotan and then appeared behind the monster again in a flash, much like Harry had done earlier. Unlike Harry's attack though, this time Gotan stood frozen for a moment until, with a groan, it fell to the ground, flopping onto its front before it was engulfed in a massive explosion.

Once more, the day was saved.

-MR-

"-And what's more, what you were doing out there was irresponsible!" Jason ranted, pacing back and forth in front of Harry.

It had taken approximately three and a half seconds after the Rangers had returned to the Command Center for Jason to round on the Magi Ranger. Harry had more than expected the Mighty Morphin team leader to at least wait until after Zordon's recap session before unleashing his vitriol, but apparently he had overestimated Jason a fair bit.

"You nearly killed me when we first showed up to fight that monster, and on top of that you disobeyed orders not only once, but twice! At least! Who knows what else you did out there! Did you even go looking for Zack at all or just decide to cater to your own ego after moping around for twenty minutes!?"

Harry kept a carefully neutral look on his face as Jason's ranting continued. Thus far, in addition to the apparent threat to Jason's life when he got in the way of Harry's attack and the disobeying of the orders of a team leader that he was technically not beholden to, Jason had hit upon Harry's general recklessness, the inevitable damage to the park caused by the massive ice field that he was convinced Harry himself had created, and Harry's fighting technique.

It was almost like being back in Jason's Karate class, only a bit less public and a lot louder.

Kimberly, Billy, and Trini were standing off to one side of where Jason ripped into Harry verbally, standing by a computer console as they watched uneasily while Harry and Jason were more centrally located amongst the machines. Alpha was basically hiding, allegedly working on some circuitry in the back of one of the consoles.

Zordon had remained silent since they arrived.

"And then there's what you did at the tug-of-war!"

Harry's jaw nearly dropped. After nitpicking at all the things Harry had done "wrong" during the battle to save the city and ultimately the world from destruction, he was going to try and add on some alleged wrong from a high school field day competition?

"You deliberately sabotaged our chances at winning! I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you were the cause behind this whole 'effect' that you've been saying has been changing how we act! It wouldn't surprise me in the least if you put some kind of spell on all of us so you could have your own way more often! But your spells haven't worked on me, have they, Harry? I've seen through you from the beginning! I've-"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

Zordon's uncharacteristic yell made more than Harry and Jason jump. The other Rangers had started as well, Kimberly even letting out a squeak of fright while Alpha, from the sounds of his groans and "Ai-yai-yai's" had fallen over completely.

"Jason, I have listened to you unfairly berate Harry since you all returned from battle, a battle in which you were victorious largely because of Harry's contributions. But I will not just sit by and let you attempt to lay further blame on Harry for him being rightfully cautious and for things that are completely out of his control."

"But, Zordon," Jason started, only for the aged sage to cut him off.

"No, Jason. You have said your piece, and you will listen to me now. All of you."

Silence overtook the Command Center at that point, broken only by the occasional beeping of one of the computers and the scuffing sounds of Alpha climbing back to his feet.

Finally, Zordon let out a deep sigh and began speaking again. "While I cannot necessarily condone all the actions Harry took today, I also cannot say that I fully disagree with any of them. Yes, Harry cautioned you all about your excess Power at a rather inopportune time, but the warning was more than valid. Yes, Harry's attack nearly hit you, Jason, but you had placed yourself in the line of fire in the first place by catering to your own ego and desire to prove your superiority. You disregarded all Harry had already accomplished and how he was about to defeat the monster on his own and in doing so nearly placed the entire world into jeopardy had Harry not returned to aid you in defeating Gotan. Not to mention the absolutely ridiculous notion that Harry willingly handed the Elder Wand over to Rita… And while Harry's ultimate decision regarding Zack may not have been the best one overall, it was not made without careful consideration of the facts.

"What you don't know is this. Yesterday, Zack came to Harry to apologize and seek his help in a matter of great personal importance to himself. Today, when you tried to contact Zack, he did not respond because he was tending to this personal matter. When Harry found Zack and spoke to him, he made the decision to allow Zack to remain where he was while he braved your wrath to finish the job he had started in the battle against Lord Zedd's latest creation.

"Then, upon Harry's return, he disabled the monster's greatest weapon, its storm control, and set things up for you to finish the monster yourself when he was quite capable of doing so himself if he had cared to take the time to gather the necessary Power to do so."

Here Zordon paused for a moment, closing his eyes briefly, before continuing. "Now, I will not claim that Harry is blameless in this situation. Some of the decisions he made were made with the idea of scorning you, Jason. He was just as bitter as you were, but the difference is that Harry was able to keep the ultimate goal of protecting the Earth in mind the whole time, while you only thought of your own desires."

Now, Zordon's face took on a look of pain and regret. "But, that is not your fault either…"

When Zordon didn't immediately respond, Harry stepped up next to Jason, who stood stunned as he stared up at Zordon's glowing head. On Harry's other side, Trini laid a hand on his arm while Billy and Kimberly stepped up as well while Harry spoke. "What… what do you mean, Zordon? Have you discovered what has caused the effect on the Rangers?"

Jason scoffed almost immediately, but Zordon silenced him again with a look. "I… I have Harry. And Jason, there is indeed a magical effect lingering over yourself and the rest of the original Rangers I recruited, and Harry has nothing to do with it other than being the one to first identify its effects. I have spent many days researching and sensing the flow of the Power around you all, and I have finally discovered the source of this effect. I just wish that the truth were not as it is. For you see, Rangers, the source of this effect that nearly cost Kimberly and Zackary their relationships with those outside the team. The effect that made you all so insular amongst each other that you have nearly cut out every other friend you have. The effect that has amplified Jason's anger and frustrations toward Harry… it is my fault."

There was a heartbeat where all five of the Rangers currently in the Command Center were frozen solid. Zordon? The one behind this strange effect on the core Rangers? That was absurd! How? Why would he even do such a thing?

Before any of them could offer more than a few words in shouted objection, Zordon spoke again. "Please, let me explain. You all remember how we had been planning on attacking Rita on the moon before Lord Zedd's arrival. Because of this, I gathered up an immense amount of Power that was later used to change your Dinozords into the Thunderzords and increase the Power you had so that you could more effectively battle against the forces of evil. I warned you that there would be an excess of Power in each of you that would have a physical effect on things, making you faster and stronger than a normal human if you weren't careful. The same effect Harry reminded you of earlier today.

"What I hadn't taken into account is that there was even more of an effect on you than that. The Power used to transform the Zords was more than sufficient for the job, leaving the Zords supercharged with excess Power as well. Each time you used them to battle against one of Lord Zedd's monsters, more and more of that excess Power leeched into each of you. This increase in the excess Power inside you had a more mental effect on you than a physical one. In this case, from what I have gathered and observed, it focused on one of the three rules that I enforced within the Mighty Morphin Power: to protect your identity as the Power Rangers at all costs."

"Then…" Kimberly said slowly, processing this information even as she spoke. "Then that's why we didn't stick around our clubs longer than we had to. Because the Power was making us avoid others?"

Zordon nodded. "Yes, specifically it was encouraging you to avoid all others not currently connected to the Morphing Grid that you were able to avoid. This is why you were forgetting about Tommy so much, Kimberly, the Power was acting to prevent you from associating with him as he is not currently a Power Ranger. His former status as the Green Ranger was not enough and so the Power acted to try and keep you away. This effect was rather subtle, however, which is why you were able to work around it as you did."

"That does make a certain amount of sense…" Billy said slowly. "None of us avoided our families, but then we couldn't do so without raising suspicion, which could have resulted in the exposure of our identities or our inability to continue with Power Ranger activities because of our families trying to find out what was wrong with us."

"But how does all of this explain Jason's behavior?" Harry asked, shooting a glance at the Red Ranger. Jason looked shocked, as if the very foundation of his life had begun collapsing from under him and he didn't quite know how to cope with it.

Zordon's reply came after only a moment's wait, showing that he had considered this as well. "Jason, while friendly and outgoing, was already rather insular, only having a few close friends, all of whom were among the Rangers currently, with the exception of Tommy. In his case, I believe the Power focused in on his belief that Harry's actions aren't what's best for the team and have only enhanced this belief in him. His feelings of anger from when he first met you, Harry, seem to have been further enhanced as well as the Power continues to direct him toward protecting his team and their identities from any and all threats, even those he perceives from within…"

Silence once more reigned as the Rangers mulled over the information.

This time, it was Jason who broke the silence. "What… what do we do…? How can we fix this then… I… How?"

Zordon sighed again. "That I do not have an immediate answer for. It is an unfortunate truth that, while this excess Power is not exactly good for your normal lives, it is completely necessary for the battles against Lord Zedd. Without this Power, none of you would be able to defeat Zedd's monsters, and though Harry's Power is not the same as your own, nor is it affecting him the same way, alone he would be overwhelmed without the rest of you able to fight at the same, or greater, level."

"So we can't do anything?" Trini asked, the fear in her voice prompting Harry to free his arm from her grip only to wrap it around her shoulders.

Thankfully, Zordon shook his head. "I did not say that. I have a few plans in mind to help alleviate the problem, but they will take time to implement. While I work on finalizing them, I would like you all to be mindful of your actions and how you treat others. I'm sure Harry will be willing to help as much as he can." At Harry's firm nod, Zordon continued. "As for you, Jason, I offer you the opportunity to learn some mental discipline from me. With enough practice, you will be able to compartmentalize your anger, dissect your feelings and why you feel and act the way you do. With the proper technique, you will be able to discern what reactions are truly yours and what are inspired by the excess Power within you. It will not be easy, but-"

"I'll do it." Jason said firmly before turning to look at Harry. The Red Ranger's eyes seemed to flicker for a moment, the rage from before returning for a fraction of a second before being overcome by regret again. "I didn't like how I acted before, when you were in my Karate class, Harry. And I don't like how I've been acting today. It's almost like, when I see you, and specifically when you do magic or anything that I don't agree with, I just lose myself… I… I've been realizing this the last few days, but it's almost like I can't control myself when you're around… I just…"

Harry smiled and raised a hand to silence the Red Ranger. "I get it, Jason. You aren't the only one who's had an outside force manipulating his temper before. No hard feelings. Just put your all into learning what Zordon has to teach and we'll call it even, alright?"

Jason nodded before turning back to Zordon. "When can we begin?"

Zordon nodded himself before replying. "I shall call you here tomorrow afternoon for your first lesson. In the meantime, I suggest you all rest and recover after a battle well fought. We shall delay our typical debriefing until tomorrow as well."

With that said, a heavy mood fell upon the group. They all had a lot to process, not the least of which being the hard fought battle they had just won. Then, a louder than normal beep issued from one of the computers.

"Incoming teleportation," Alpha reported dutifully mere moments before a column of black light materialized, fading away to reveal Zack.

The Black Ranger had a smile on his face and was dancing every step as he moved to stand with the rest of the group. Lost in his own world, most likely because of what Harry assumed was a successful date, Zack executed a spin as he finally reached the other Rangers before looking around and taking in the somber group before him.

"OK..." Zack said slowly. "What did I miss?"

-MR-

AN: So that was the chapter. Yep.

Still haven't gotten to play Fallout 76 yet, BETA or otherwise… between power outages and preparation for hosting our first extended family Thanksgiving in at least 3 years (to which a bit more than half of my family showed up totaling to around 30 people), then the actual cooking of my first Thanksgiving turkey (which turned out amazing by the way, turkeys are deceptively easy to cook… or I'm just stupid lucky), and the fact that I want more than a few hours to play for my first session in the game, I just haven't found the opportune moment.

That little bit about the movie theater. Yeah, I worked in one for 7 years, so I know a bit about them. I actually described the one in here based off of the one I worked in. Good times… kept me in gas money and Taco Bell while I was in college. Lol

And now we know what has been screwing with the Rangers! Yay big reveals! Seriously though, how many people saw this coming? The big problem being because Zordon didn't take everything into account I mean? : )

So, on to important announcements. I was walking through the break room at work a number of months ago when I caught sight of one of my many coworkers doing some rather impressive looking artwork on a tablet. We exchanged a few words and I went on with my business. More recently, I came to the conclusion that, at long last, Magi Ranger needs its own cover art. My profile pic, a picture drawn by my brother of my Naruto OC from my first two fics, just isn't cutting it, not that it ever really did, but I digress. With my brother having no desire to do more pictures for me, my thoughts turned to that coworker. Problem is, we rarely share break times, but ultimately, a few weeks ago, I was able to speak with him and commission a piece for the cover art of Magi Ranger. At present, we are tweaking a few smaller details and the like, so hopefully, by the time I post chapter 52, there shall be a nice new cover art image to go with it. : )

Now the bad news, with how busy I was for this chapter, leading to the delay in its posting, I'm gonna go ahead and make a call. I don't think I'll have a chapter ready for December. The holidays are always busy for my family and I, so I'm just gonna remove one of my potential distractions so I can focus on family this holiday season. Now, I could be wrong and end up with a ton of time, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for another new chapter before 2019. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review and if I'm not back in December, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year to you all,

Tenstar12