DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POWER RANGERS
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"I look ridiculous", Xander commented as he surveyed his footwear.
"Only as ridiculous as the rest of us", Kira reasoned as she put on her own shoes.
"You know...i've never been bowling before", the Green Ranger added off-handedly as the slippery soles of the bright red bowling shoes nearly gave hi a one-way ticket to the floor.
"Then it's time to watch and learn", Adam rubbed his hands together gleefully as he confidently strode towards the ball rack. After carefully selecting a gleaming red sphere, the Black Ranger looked towards the end of the runway in front of him as the skittles automatically appeared. Standing a few feet back from the lane, the ball was already swinging by his side and Adam stepped forwards, releasing his grip, causing the ball to hurtle forwards...
Strike.
Adam turned smugly towards his team-mates; "And that's how it's done".
"Uh huh", Tori looked less than impressed with Adam's victory as she swung her own ball towards the new set of pins.
Strike.
"How about that?"
"Hmm...", the Black Ranger stared down the alley with an air of contempt; "Are you challenging me?"
"Maybe", Tori replied in the same unknowing tone.
"You're on".
Xander raised his eyebrows slightly as he watched the two battle for supremacy whilst Kira wondered where on earth the sensible sides of their brains had wandered off to.
"Shall we?" Xander grabbed a ball from the rack and waved it in Kira's face.
"Sure", Kira approached the next bowling lane, all the while trying to drown out the cheers and curses coming from her noisy teammates. "After you", she gestured from Xander towards the ten gleaming pins at the far end of the highly polished lane.
"Okay, here goes...", with the ball held tightly in both hands, the Green Ranger launched it forwards, initiating several loud thumps as it bounced along, before crashing straight into the pins, earning him a few stern glances from the employees.
Strike.
"Alright!" Xander's face gleamed with pride.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not exactly the right way of doing it..."
"Excuse me?", the look on Xander's face fell slightly as he gestured towards the ten toppled skittles.
"Okay, firstly; you hold the ball with one hand and second; those holes there aren't for decoration". She pointed out three neatly drilled points in the ball in her hand.
"No problemo!" Xander confidently selected another ball, and after five minutes of Kira sniggering helplessly as he figured out which three of his five fingers to put in the holes, he quickly strode up to the throw line...
"Whoa!"
CRASH!
Kira snorted with laughter once again as the hapless Green Ranger fell face first into the floor, causing the ball to fly out of his hands and straight into the nearest lane...
"Xander!" Adam's face flushed red with frustration as his ball was barged out of the way by Xander's rogue one. "That was gonna be a perfect strike!", he moaned as Tori grinned with delight in the fashion of a Cheshire cat.
"Sorry mate", he looked over apologetically and steadily regained his feet as the bowling alley workers continued to scowl at him.
"Hey, don't apologize", Tori clapped Xander on the back affectionately.
Taking what he thought was the wisest decision, the Green Ranger opted to sit an watch his three teammates as they formed a three-way battle. Smiling to himself, the scene sparked memories from not so long ago in Briarwood when the Mystic Force gang would've gone out and done the same things together.
Sighing, the thoughts triggered something else. Although Xander would never admit it directly; he missed the four people he left behind – they had gladly welcomed him into the group when he was in a place full of strangers and even though they all had their annoying points...he missed them badly.
However, Xander's musings and the rest of the game was swiftly brushed aside when the multi-tonal jingle of four morphers loudly interrupted them. The civilian Rangers looked between each other as a few curious stares came their way; tracing the noise.
Casually walking away, they waited until they were safely around the back of the building's car park before answering the call to duty.
"Hate to break it up guys, but we've got trouble", Hayley's apologetic tone rang through.
"No problemo, where's the fire?"
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"Give me the Power Rangers!" a rather threatening-looking creature that could have resembled an evil human hedgehog loomed over two absolutely terrified civilians as they cowered against a wall, holding each other tightly.
"Let them go!"
The creature snarled and turned to see the fully-suited Black Ranger calmly stood behind him. "Finally...you've come out of hiding".
"You're gonna regret wanting to fight us", Kira warned.
"The orders from my Commander were to destroy you...and he doesn't like failure!" the monster sneered as it slowly unearthed a long whip-like weapon the seemed to twist around a black flame. "You first", he calmly gestured for the Rangers to attack as they each sized up his weapon and the spines that covered his body.
"You asked for it!" Adam, Tori and Kira all launched themselves at the creature in unison whilst keeping one more step back than was normal to avoid being pierced alive by the spines.
Still on a bit of a downer, Xander finally joined the fray, although his three teammates instantly picked up on his half-hearted attacking moves. However, they remained silent and continued in their attempt to pummel the monster.
Finally, their persistence paid off and when Tori landed a lightning-fast foot into the creature's knees, he shot helplessly to the ground, giving Adam and Kira the perfect opportunity to unleash their blasters – which they did with expert precision.
The weakened creature was now an easy target he regained his feet and Xander thankfully picked up on this as the axe mode of his Magistaff swung towards the monster...
"Too slow!", unbelievably, the creature had caught the blade before it had even had chance to hit him. However, the monster's attention was distracted and he didn't even see the Thundermax Saber flying towards him.
Xander wrenched his axe free as the creature fell and the Rangers surrounded him. "I will not be defeated!" the monster growled angrily.
"Well lucky for you, you won't have to tell that to Osirico".
"It wasn't my Lord who sent me", the creature retorted with a hint of smug satisfaction on his face.
"It doesn't matter, you're still finished".
"Not if I can help it!", and with that the monster staged a last attempt to charge the victorious Rangers.
"Wrap him up Xander" Adam said, almost lazily.
"Huh? Oh yeah...Magistaff!", he pointed the weapon at the creature and thick, green vines sprung out of the ground, wrapping themselves tightly around their target.
"He's all yours", Tori and Kira stepped back to allow Adam the final strike. The Black Ranger leapt high into the air, bringing the Power Axe hurtling down with him...
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The Rangers had barely stepped onto the first stair that led down to the Dino Lab before Adam turned to his green teammate and asked the burning question; "Okay, what's up with you?"
"What do you mean?", Xander faked the innocent look he gave back.
"You've been on a downer ever since we were called to sort out that monster", Kira pointed out.
"And you weren't exactly begging to defeat it either", Tori added as Tommy and Hayley both came into view.
Xander sighed defeatedly, it was obvious that every one of them had picked up on his subdued mood. "Yeah, I was kinda thinking about something else".
"Do you want to tell us, or do we have to wait to find out?", Adam replied half-jokingly.
"It sounds kinda silly..."
"We're good listeners".
"I miss my friends in Briarwood", Xander blurted out.
"Oh..." the other Rangers looked at each other uneasily; "I...err...I know we've not been a team for very long but-..."
"No, no it's not you", Xander was quick to correct; "You guys are great, honestly, I wouldn't have missed this for the world...".
"But you still miss your old friends", Tori finished the sentence for him.
"Yeah...it's just...they were my first proper friends", Xander explained; "When I first moved here, I was just the new kid with a stupid accent...until I met them. They were the first ones who were friends with me for who I was – not who they wanted me to be".
"Hey, we understand okay?" Adam put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"I just don't want you guys to think-..."
"It's fine!" Adam reiterated the point; "I'm sure they're missing you too...why don't you go see them, huh?"
"Saving the world kinda takes priority".
"It doesn't when you're fighting the way you were", Kira gave him an accusing stare.
"Sorry about that, I guess I didn't exactly have my mind on the battle".
"Don't worry about it...so go see your friends!" Adam stressed.
"We've got trouble", Hayley's voice interrupted the conversation.
"Duty calls", Xander virtually ran towards the surveillance screens; "Urgh, now that's a face for radio". He pulled a grimace towards the creature onscreen who seemed to have been designed using a large shovel and the back end of a cow.
"Nice!" Tommy also gave it a disapproving look to accompany the sarcastic comment.
"So are you guys ready to kick his butt or what?" Xander waggled his morpher at the ready.
The other Rangers raised their eyebrows slightly at Xander's sudden change of mood, but nevertheless they produced their own morphers; "We're ready when you are".
"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"
"IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!"
"NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM!"
"DINO THUNDER, POWER UP!"
Tommy held up his hand to stop the Rangers before they raced away on their bikes; "Just be careful on this one...something doesn't quite add up here, it just doesn't seem right to me".
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As they arrived at their location, the Rangers were slightly surprised to see that their enemy was as calm as could be – simply stood in the middle of the street, it's less than attractive face not phased by their arrival.
"Welcome Power Rangers", he greeted in an almost friendly tone.
"I'm glad you could make it", a cold, metallic voice added as the group tensed slightly and Raptir appeared next to the monster.
"What do you want?", Xander questioned impatiently.
"Oh we want nothing, it is my master who you'll be dealing with", Raptir replied; "i'm sure you remember him – my Commander".
Four different heartbeats suddenly quickened sharply as realization hit the Rangers like a ton of bricks in their faces; "Uh oh..." none of the four dared to glance behind themselves to where Raptir was gesturing until they all suddenly wheeled around on the spot.
"Glad to see me?" an unfriendly voice hissed towards them; the creature's forked tongue flickering maliciously.
"Ammix", Adam stated in cold disbelief.
"I guess you didn't think our last conversation through".
Adam remembered it clearly, although only now did he take Ammix' words seriously - "'You have no idea what i'm capable of!'".
"You see, what you fail to understand is that I am immortal - every time you destroy me I will just regenerate...into a better, more powerful being - stronger every time, so I think it would be in your best interests to back off". The Rangers remained defiantly silent. "In that case, we will fight another day", the serpent continued; "But for now I leave you in the skilled hands of Damner here". He made way for the monster before disappearing with Raptir in a familiar flash of jet black lightning.
"Prepare to meet your end!", the creature stood ready before them.
"Prepare to meet yours!" Xander retorted sharply as he pressed a code into his morpher before a giant pair of red boxing gloves appeared on his hands; "Mystic Force Fighters! HA!" He delivered a blinding punch straight into the chest of the creature which was more than enough to send him hurtling to the ground with giant hole in his armor.
The temporary distraction made enough time for the other Rangers to jump on their bikes as Xander called back upon his Racer.
Galwit Mysto Aerotan!
"Going up!" with Xander quickly aboard, the sleek green machine wrestled Damner onto its nose before rocketing skywards where he was quickly batted away in a flurry of sparks.
"Ahhhhhh!" the creature fell rapidly towards the Earth as Xander hovered above.
"Our turn!", the rest of the team kicked their bikes into action before forcing them to leap through the air towards the plummeting Damner; "Lasers, fire!". A trio of separate explosions erupted simultaneously on his body as he thudded into a hard concrete sidewalk to cement his fate.
"Woo hoo!", Xander landed neatly beside his teammates.
"Now that's more like it buddy!", Adam clapped him on the back appreciatively.
"But we're doing it all over again", Tori sighed.
By the power of the demons, arise!
"Come and get me!", the giant creature roared.
"With pleasure!", Xander whipped out his morpher once more; "It's Titan time!"
Galwit Mysto Prifior!
"Ancient power, Mystic Minotaur!"
"Let's get up there...if you would Hayley".
"Of course, the Zords are on their way".
"Adam, care to join up?" Kira's voice drifted through the intercom.
"Would be my pleasure...Shogun Zord combine!"
"Ptera Zord combine!"
"Is that the best you can do?", the monster sneered; "This is going to be easier than I thought!" he ran towards the Zords, his footsteps thundering on the ground.
"I don't think so...Ninja water wall!" the Dolphin surged forwards, bringing with it a colossal wave. A gurgling noise escaped the monster's mouth as he was washed off his feet.
"I've got an idea", Xander began as he strode up to the 'mini-Megazord'.
"And what's that?", Adam asked, a slight hint of apprehension in his voice.
"Just trust me...", the Minotaur got closer to them before picking the small Megazord up straight off the ground. "Get ready!" As it dawned on Adam and Kira what Xander was about to do, they hastily brought the Ptera Rang out in front of them.
"And say goodbye!", Xander directed his words towards the creature as he flung the Megazord forwards with all his strength. The Zords rocketed forwards and together with the Ptera Rang blitzed straight through the center of his body before landing smartly on the other side. Needless to say, the monster spontaneously self-combusted to become a heap of body parts and junk metal.
The Minotaur punched the air in victory; "I'm back in business!"
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"You were right Doctor O", Kira sighed as the Rangers entered the Lab.
"As always", Adam admitted.
"Do you think he was telling the truth?", Xander questioned; "Can he really regenerate?"
"I think the answer to that question is evident", replied Tommy.
"I know...but he said he'd get 'stronger every time'...and that doesn't sound good".
"No, it doesn't", the Doctor acknowledged; "But i'm sure we'll find out soon enough, I-..." Tommy stopped mid-sentence as the clear noise of his front door opening and closing drafted down the stairs. Slightly nervous at the thought of intruders, he slowly made is way over to the bottom of the stairs and looked up...
"Surprise!" four unfamiliar voices yelled simultaneously.
"What the-..?" Tommy stood back as the four 'intruders' barreled past him.
"Xander!", a girl with bright pink streaks through her short hair grabbed the Green Ranger in a tight bear hug.
"Whoa!", Xander hugged her back; "What are you doing here V?" he looked to her three companions and grinned broadly at the sight of his friends.
"We thought we'd pay you a visit", Nick answered with a smile.
"Yeah, you can't go running off and not expecting us to call around", Madison added.
"This place is so cool!" Chip contributed, although completely off-topic.
"Can someone please tell me why I have most of the Mystic Force Rangers in my basement?" Tommy butted in.
Immediately, Adam, Tori and Kira each looked away and feigned interest; also denying all knowledge of the incident. Tommy raised an accusing eyebrow towards them all whilst Hayley defended her computers from Chip's eager hands.
"Okay!", Adam broke first; "We brought them here to cheer Xander up".
"Yeah, it's too weird not having him bouncing around like one of the happy little elves", said Tori.
"Oh come on Doctor O, it's only a one off thing", Kira pleaded.
"Yeah, well if Jason and company turn up at my door the next time i'm having an off day, then I know who to throttle first", he retorted, abruptly shutting Kira up.
"It's kinda like Rootcore but more high-tech", Nick observed as he casually poked his head into the vehicle storage bay... "Awesome!" he positively danced on the spot as his eyes fell on the three gleaming supercharged Ranger bikes. "Hey, can I take one of these out for a ride?".
"Okay Nick, calm down", Maddie joked as the door hissed shut; "We are here to see Xander".
"I think our little Xander was getting homesick!", Vida laughed as she ruffled the Green Ranger's hair mockingly.
Xander blushed slightly; "No, I just...err...missed you guys".
"Aww...who'd have thought he could be sentimental", Nick grinned.
"Anyway, you're welcome back home any day", Madison said.
"I've got a question", Chip raised his hand in the air like a kid at school.
"Sure mate".
"What is with the fashion sense?"
"Huh?", he followed Chip's finger down to the floor; "Ah...", he wiggled his feet which still bore the brightly colored bowling shoes. In their haste to combat the monster, the Rangers had obviously left the alley still wearing them.
"Looks like we're taking a trip back there anyway so how about it then?", Adam turned to the group; "Mystics versus Retros?"
"You're on!"
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Just in case anyone is interested, I have now added a chapter list to my first post in this thread, which has got all the future chapter titles on it and leaves you all free to speculate over upcoming storylines ;)