Hey guys! I was really happy to see that no one had anything bad to say about the last chapter, which I hope means that you guys liked it! I hope you like this one too!
I should mention that all of the original team (Aiden, October, Ryder, and Luca) are wearing different clothes in this chapter. It was something I wanted to update since this is kind of a new start for them. The clothes described after the first part of this chapter are now their main clothes - Jackie's and any others will stay the same.
Also, the new cover photo and video (link in my bio) are up! Feel free to check those out!
A week had passed since Mari's untimely passing, and the other five rangers were all standing in the command center, preparing for a funeral of sorts. Since Mari's body was nowhere to be found, the team unfortunately had nothing to put to rest. Instead, they decided to have a small ceremony on the beach next to the command center.
The world knew about them now, also, adding even further to their pain every time any questions were asked about the yellow ranger's death. None of the rangers knew how to respond, and always ignored the questions.
Unfortunately, the press knew where the command center was now. They couldn't get in, or too close even, since Liela had upgraded the security system to not allow anyone who wasn't a ranger within a certain distance of their headquarters.
Everyone was supportive of them being rangers, the school even allowing all absences due to ranger duty as an excused absence, rather than a cut. That didn't speak for the press, however, who bombarded them with questions to the point where the school had to get extra security to keep them out.
They knew that the hype would die down eventually, and they probably wouldn't have minded it as much if the timing wasn't so horrible, but it was really grating the ranger's feelings, especially when questions were asked about Mari.
Jackie was the only ranger who wasn't extremely affected by the incident, as she didn't know Mari very well, but she still felt a sorrow since she never got to know her, and for the others, who were obviously hurting deeply about it. She refused to answer any questions as well, not wanting to do anything to make it worse than it already was.
Currently, the remaining rangers were getting ready to go outside and deal with the ceremony they had prepared for Mari.
October stood in front of a mirror, straightening out her black dress, and picking up a bouquet of yellow flowers. Her face was stoic as she looked herself over, staring at her face for a long moment, as if she had never seen her reflection before this moment.
Looking past her own reflection, she saw Ryder sitting behind her, wearing a black button up, black dress pants, and black loafers, similarly to the other male rangers. His expression was one of such anger and sadness that it seemed to having a numbing affect, to the point that he looked like he was have no emotional response to what happened.
In her own opinion, he looked broken. She knew how Ryder felt, given that Mari was not the first person they had ever lost. October felt such a similar pain to the one she had felt when their parents died, and, given that Ryder was a bit more explosive with his emotions, she could only imagine how difficult it was for him.
The exact feelings he was dealing with, however, were beyond her, as he refused to talk about it with her. Having known her brother for her whole life, she knew how he processed his emotions, and most of it was done behind the scenes. Ryder was one to hide his feelings as deeply as possible, allowing them to fester, though he wouldn't talk about it until he was about ready to rip someone's head off for looking at him wrong.
While October didn't approve of this method, and tried desperately to get him to talk, she could tell that he was extremely depressed and had completely numbed his emotions out to deal with it, which meant he definitely wasn't coming out of it anytime soon. She was afraid that she would lose her brother as the way he was, considering how much he had changed when their parents died, and wasn't sure of how to help him.
She then looked to Aiden, who was leaning against a nearby wall and looking up at the ceiling. He was obviously trying to stay strong for the others, possibly because of his position as the leader of the team, or perhaps because he wasn't comfortable with letting loose on his feelings, worried how others may react.
It was also a possibility that he was trying to stay strong for her. He knew how much what happened had affected her out of all of them, and October figured that he may be trying to do that since he wanted to comfort her.
Actually, his attitude about staying strong was worrying her more than anything, since he wasn't getting out the emotions he needed to. She wanted to go over to him and assure him it would be alright and that he didn't have to act like that. She liked it better when he was just honest and open about how he was feeling, since she knew it would make him feel better.
Him feeling better would definitely comfort her. October knew, though, that she couldn't rush his grieving and would accept however long it took. She tried to talk to him about it, but it was a rather short and uneventful conversation that didn't really make any progress on feelings.
October then shifted her eyes over to Luca, who was adjusting the tie he wore around his neck. His expression, unlike the other two male rangers, was not concealed and it was very evident to anyone who saw him that he was deeply rattled by what happened.
Though she never actually confirmed if this was true, she had always seen a certain closeness between Mari and Luca that no one else had. October wasn't really sure what it was that was going on between them, but she knew something was there.
Even with her knowledge of this, she never gave it much thought until now. Whatever it was between them, she knew that it was what was fueling his emotions now, even more so than it would be without it.
The pink ranger looked away from him and looked to Jackie, though she didn't have much thought in relation to her. October hardly knew Jackie, and Jackie hardly knew Mari when she passed.
She knew that Jackie must be feeling upset, or at least a certain weight on her, with all of the grief going around, and while October would never want someone to have to go through what they were going through, she wished Jackie could at least relate to the situation.
At the same time, she was kind of glad she couldn't, because it's a horrible feeling to go through loss, and October could never wish that on anyone.
Liela was nowhere to be seen, having to deal with issues relating to Mari's death, the press, the Gods, and Eliza. The intern was indirectly responsible for Mari's death in all of the ranger's eyes, no matter what had happened.
Although Eliza did try to stop her, it was the conversation they had that caused Mari to run to her death, and that much was clear to them.
October took in a deep breath and turned to the others, gesturing to the door. "Shall we?" She asked in a flat tone of voice. She tried to be strong, not only for others, but for herself.
In doing so, it seemed to her that her earlier judgement of Aiden may have been hypocritical, but, even so, she did have to admit that her coping was different from his. She wanted, so desperately, so talk about it to someone - anyone - but she couldn't, due to the fact that she could be hurting someone else's coping.
She also thought about almost every moment since it happened, having it constantly abusing her mind. October was guilty about what happened, and there was nothing she could do to change that.
Aiden let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding and nodded, his head down. "Yeah, let's go."
The group of five exited the command center, walking outside, only to be bombarded with camera flashes from afar. They shielded their eyes, trying to ignore the press overlapping each other with questions as they walked down to the beach, where a stone slab sat in the sand, representing a grave stone that Mari would never get to have, given that there was no body and no real grave.
On the stone was a beautiful painting of Mari with a light shining over her, and various candles, flowers, and other trinkets were at it's base, put there by civilians to pay their respects.
All five rangers stood around the stone, October pulling four roses out of the bouquet and handing them off to the others to put down in remembrance. "I figure we should say a few words." October said, looking to them as all five ignored the press, who were still behind them, but thankfully remained at a respectful distance. "Jackie, you didn't really know her, so you don't have to if you don't want to."
Jackie shook her head. "I may not have known Mari very well, but I do know that she was a great and smart person, from what I have gathered. I am deeply disappointed that I will never get the chance to find out who she was. She was loved by many, and she will be deeply missed." The white ranger put her yellow rose against the stone, allowing one of the others to speak up.
"That was very nice," Luca cleared his throat. "Mari was one of the first people I had ever met when I moved to this country. I literally bumped into her on her birthday, and I didn't know this at the time, but that was the day she was kicked out of her home by her parents. Afterwards, she left to clear her head, and the five of us all stopped a robber with powers we didn't even know that we had."
He took a deep breath, holding back tears. "Unfortunately for me, I didn't really know who she was until this year. I'll regret that for a long while, I believe. I wish I could've known her sooner, since she was an amazing person who cared so much about others. Once, she was just trying to help me, and I snapped at her. Mari forgave me instantly, even though I hurt her feelings. I hope she's at peace now, but I'll always miss her and wish she was with us." Luca kneeled down to put his rose down, taking a moment to look at the painting of Mari, before standing back up.
Aiden nodded. "Well, I don't really know what to say. Mari is the first person I've ever lost, and it's been hard. I'm trying to stay strong and positive about the whole thing, but I can't see any positives. She's gone, and I miss her. We had a talk once about how she didn't feel confident, but I have no idea how she could've possibly felt that way. She was one of the best of us, and I don't think anyone will forget that." He laid his rose next to Luca and Jackie's, then moving to stand with them.
October looked to Ryder, who was staring at the ocean with his jaw clenched. "Ryder, do you wanna say a few words?"
Ryder, who hadn't spoken the whole time, stared at her, before speaking up, "Mari didn't deserve this. She was a good person who should've lived a long life. Everybody who doesn't deserve it, gets shit on. October's and my parents? They could've lived, but they were killed by monsters. That was the worst time of my life, and this comes just as close." He let his rose fall out of his hand, landing next to the others. "I wish she could be here. It's hard to believe that this even happened. I'll never forget her."
He fell silent, ignoring the silence that followed his statement.
"Thank you, Ryder," October put a hand on his shoulder, but it was shrugged off. "You're right, she didn't deserve this. No one ever does."
The green ranger looked down. "Can you just.. say what you need to say?"
She nodded, sighing. "Like Ryder said, Mari is not the only person we've lost. Our parents died during an attack as well, in a similar death. Mari died to save, not only me, but many other people who were trapped as well. Our parents died to protect us, running out of our apartment to make sure they didn't attack us. The last words my father ever spoke to me were, 'It'll all work out. I promise.' Similarly, the last words Mari ever said were, 'It'll be okay.'"
October let a tear fall down her face. "After what happened to our parents, I didn't believe that anything would work out, but my father was right. He promised me, and, even in death, he fulfilled his promise, leaving behind everything needed to survive, and leaving me and my brother safe. We made it, and I know that the five of us can get through this too. Mari would want it." She put her rose down. "She died to save us - me. I'm not gonna let her down."
"Damn right," Aiden rubbed her back. "You'd never do that. She'd be proud of you, and so would your parents."
The team stood in silence for a while, before moving back towards the command center, a piece of them missing as they did so.
- Cue Opening 2 -
*1 month later*
It was now late October in Sol Valley, and, as the rangers thought, the press had backed off slowly and hardly ever bombarded them like they had before. While there was still the occasional paparazzi, it was much better than before.
Aiden sat at the bleachers during lunch, waiting for October to join him. They weren't sitting at their usual table because the others were busy, and it seemed nice to have a change of scenery when it was just the two of them.
He smoothed a hand over his shirt as he waited. Aiden was wearing a red and white flannel top, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tucked into tan pants with a dark brown belt, and brown lace-up boots.
As he looked around, taking in a cool fall air, he heard footsteps on the bleachers, and turned to see October walking towards him. She was wearing a pink, silk tank top under an unzipped black hoodie, black leggings, and black and white converse. Her hair, having been dyed blonde a while back, was once again back to it's normal dark brown hue.
He smiled up at her and kissed her before she sat down next to him. She gave him a smile back as she looked around. "I know this isn't the most romantic place to be having lunch, but this weather and everything is so beautiful," October commented.
"I know, that's what I was thinking," Aiden nodded, looking at the empty football field. "I can't believe football season is over."
October took in a breath, "Yeah, it feels like the season just started yesterday."
Aiden rolled his eyes. "Don't even try to play me like that. You don't like football, you just like cheer." He nudged her playfully.
"And?" She chuckled. "Does that mean that I can't support you? And Ryder, for that matter?"
At the mention of the younger Adams sibling, the two sobered from their laughing. "So, how is he?"
She sighed. "I don't know. He won't talk to me about it. I don't blame him, though. We're all still having a rough time coping with this - I mean, Mari was one of our best friends. There's nothing wrong with us taking some time to grieve and get back to our normal life."
The red ranger shrugged. "Okay, but it's been worse for him than the rest of us. I'm not even close to feeling back to normal, but Ryder looks like he's having a really rough time."
"Of course he is," October crossed her arms, feeling suddenly defensive. "In the last two years, he's lost both of his parents, and now one of his best friends. Besides that, there's way more to it than you know."
Aiden held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, there's no need to get angry. I wasn't trying to insult him, or you." He looked at her apprehensively. "Do you want to tell me more about it?"
"Well, he might not feel comfortable with me divulging into his personal life with others." October responded calmly. "You understand, right?"
"Definitely," Aiden nodded. "If you ever did need to talk, though, I'm here; you know that?"
October gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I know," She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
"So, while we're on the subject, how are you doing?" Aiden asked, making October raise her eyebrow. "I know you're the type to try and make sure everyone else is okay before yourself, but I really want to know how you are, honestly."
She ran a hand through her long hair. "It's hard. I can't help but feel responsible. She died saving me, when I should've been the one to do something to get out of there. Mari didn't have to do that - I would've taken her place in a heartbeat."
Aiden frowned, "Hey, don't say stuff like that. Mari saved you because she wanted you to live, not have you wishing you were the one instead of her."
October bit her lip. "I just don't understand why she thought my life was so much more important than hers. She deserved to live just as much as she thought that I do. I really don't get it."
"Well, keep in mind that Mari might have thought that you had more to lose than she did," Aiden pointed out. "You have Ryder, me, an apartment, etc. that need you around, and that could be why she did what she did."
The pink ranger looked down. "Yeah, I couldn't imagine not being here for Ryder." She shook her head, moving to change the subject. "So, how are you doing with this?"
"I miss her," Aiden admitted. "I'm feeling regretful that I didn't spend enough time with her, like Luca said, pretty much. It's kinda weird because you, me, Ryder, and Mari all grew up together but we didn't hardly know each other until this year. I guess that's one thing that I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around."
"You're right." October said, "I hung out around her, but I didn't know the real her until the beginning of this year. Before then, I always thought we probably wouldn't get along, but she turned out to be one of my closest friends." She sighed. "It's hard to go through the days lately and not feel like I'm missing something, you know?"
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to him. "Yeah, I feel that." Aiden said, rubbing her arm comfortingly.
- PRGG -
Liela sat in the command center living room nervously, waiting for the rangers to show up. It had been a little over a month since Mari's death, and she knew it was time to talk about the team and such, but she didn't know how they would react to this information.
Since the incident, four out of the five rangers, with Jackie being the fifth, became very distrustful of Eliza and even occasionally outright blamed her for, though unintentionally and indirectly, causing Mari to run into a fight that she knew she wouldn't make it out of.
This led the rangers to sometimes refuse to come to the command center because they knew the intern was there.
Eliza, however, now hadn't been seen for days. Liela had no idea where she was, but discovered her phone in her room, leaving her with no way to contact anyone and vise-versa.
The rangers were unaware of this so far, and, because the mentor had no idea how to tell them, she decided to hold off until she could figure it out for herself.
Liela was startled out of her thoughts when the door opened, letting Luca and Jackie in, being the first of the rangers to arrive, which was becoming a recurring theme around this time. The two were the most trusting rangers after what happened, and were always the ones who showed up and were polite to Eliza when asked, even if the other three were not.
"Hey, Liela," Luca greeted as he and Jackie sat down on the couch. Luca was wearing a blue, long sleeved T-shirt, black jeans, and black tennis shoes. "Waiting on Aiden, October, and Ryder?"
She nodded. "Yep," Liela looked him over. "How have you been?"
"Upset." He responded honestly. "It's been really difficult to handle, but I'm trying to be as positive as possible. Mari wouldn't have wanted us to dwell and blame ourselves for what happened."
"That's a really good thing to keep in mind. I'm sure she'd be proud of you," Liela told him with a sympathetic smile.
Truth be told, Liela had also struggled greatly with Mari's death. None of her own rangers had ever passed, and this felt like such a failure to keep them safe on her part, even though she was completely aware that there was nothing she could've done.
She looked up when the door sounded again, seeing Aiden and October walk in, holding hands as they did so. The two sat down on the couch as well, Aiden sitting up on the arm of the couch to give October room to sit. "Hey," He greeted, looking at the other three. "What's going on?"
"We should wait for Ryder to arrive," Liela responded. "This is a group conversation." She turned to look at October. "Do you know where he is?"
October shrugged. "I've been trying to keep up but I really don't know. He's just been all over the place lately. Sorry,"
Liela shook her head. "Nothing to apologize for. We have time."
Aiden leaned back where he sat. "So, do you want to at least clue us in on what's going on before he gets here? It might take awhile."
"Well, I wanted to discuss..." She trailed off as the door opened and closed loudly, signaling the group to Ryder's arrival. The green ranger was wearing his usual black leather jacket on top of a gray hoodie, an army green t-shirt underneath, black jeans, and black boots. He was also carrying his motorcycle helmet in hand.
Ryder approached the group, an uninterested look on his face. "Why are we here?"
"I'm glad you're here, Ryder." Liela smiled up at him as he sat down, not returning the smile. "We have all been putting this off, but we really need to talk."
"About?" Ryder crossed his arms.
Liela sighed. "A new yellow ranger." She announced, causing all of the rangers to react - Aiden glared at her, October's face fell, Ryder shook his head in anger, Luca looked down, and Jackie sat awkwardly. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but it's very important that we find one. It could very well determine the fate of the world. Without a yellow ranger.. we may not win against Saturn."
"No way in hell." Ryder growled out, standing up. "We're not replacing Mari."
"I would never want to do that, but you have to understand that the world could be destroyed without someone in her place." Liela said gently. "We don't have a choice."
"Yes, we do. You just don't want to admit it!" Ryder exclaimed. "At this point, the only reason I even want to kill that son of a bitch is because of what he did to Mari. Besides that, hell fire could raise up on earth and I wouldn't give a flying fuck."
October stared at him, "Ryder." She said, almost in a scolding tone. "Don't say things like that."
He rolled his eyes. "Don't even give me a lecture, October. What's the point anymore? All good people get shit on! It's just how it is!" Ryder shook his head. "Every good person I've ever met has either died or will probably wish they were dead."
"What about me?" October crossed her arms, standing up to face him. "Am I dead? Do I wish I was dead? Do you wish I was dead?"
Ryder glared daggers at her. "Never say anything like that to me. If you died, I would have nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, to live for. The only reason I'm still around is because I know you feel the same, and I could never do that to you."
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" October asked, a tear running down her face. "You wanna die, Ryder? The only reason you're still alive is because I'm alive? Why would you say something like that?"
"Just leave me alone," Ryder looked down, not being able to meet her eyes, with the emotion he knew was shining in them. "I'm fine." He looked down at his free hand, noticing it shaking, and it seemed October did too.
"Why are your hands shaking like that, Ryder?" October frowned, know that wasn't normal.
Ryder pulled his hand out of her line of vision, "Why do you care? I'm fine. Maybe it's just doing that because you're stressing me out."
"Oh yeah, because that's what usually happens when you get upset," She said sarcastically, reaching out for his hand. Before she could do so, the alarm went off, causing them to jump slightly and look to Liela.
Liela looked on her tablet as Ryder put his helmet down with a sigh. "It's in town square. You're facing against a monster known as Arachne."
Aiden nodded. "We're on it. Let's go." He and the other rangers ran out of the command center, letting Liela sit down with a sigh.
- PRGG -
Bella sat in her living room at her house, flipping through the TV channels aimlessly, having nothing else to really do. After a while, she thought she had found a show she would like and stopped on it, only to have the channel immediately turn to the news with an emergency announcement.
"Seriously?" She sighed. "It's not like there was an earthquake or anything." Bella muttered to herself, but continued to watch it since there was nothing else to do.
The newscaster stared straight at the camera. "This just in, there's an attack in progress in the town square of Sol Valley. Please evacuate the area and remain indoors where ever you are. The power rangers are on their way to the battle. This emergency broadcast system will return you to your regularly scheduled programming as soon as the attack is over. Be safe."
Then, the screen went to a bright blue one with a large message on it that said EMERGENCY in big, bold letters and explained the situation. Below that, there was live footage of the attack.
Bella sat forward and looked at the half of the screen that had the live footage, and watched the rangers run forward to attack against the large, spider-like monster. The monster, called Arachne by the reports, seemed to be beating them quickly, knocking them all down and entangling some of them in webs to prevent them from moving.
The rangers were managing to escape from the entanglements, but it was obviously taking some energy out of them every time it happened.
She watched worriedly, so engrossed in the emergency broadcast that she didn't even notice Ceres appearing next to her. Ceres looked at her, noting her interest in the situation.
Ceres cleared her throat, startling Bella out of her stupor. "You seem worried," She commented.
"Well, the rangers are getting pummeled out there," Bella responded, as if it was obvious. "They haven't been doing as well without Mari."
The Goddess nodded in agreement. "So, you believe they need a yellow ranger?"
Bella looked back at her. "Yeah, of course I do. They don't have a complete team right now, and it's hard to do the same job when you don't have everyone there to participate."
Ceres observed Bella. "Maybe someone should go out there and participate, then."
"Someone should," She nodded. "They may not like it, and I understand why they wouldn't, but they need help if they're gonna save the world."
"Maybe that someone should be you." Ceres responded, making Bella look down for a moment, before she stared back at her mother. "I think it should." She pulled a locket out of her dress - Mari's locket, and her power coin.
Bella stared in shock. "Where did you get that?"
"I discovered it in the field next to the opening of Tartarus. It must have come off of her body, given that a power of this caliber would never make it in there with the deceitful Saturn." Ceres told her. "I do wonder how it must have gotten there, however. I figured she would've been given a proper burial."
She frowned. "A proper burial? You and the other Gods took her body, didn't you?"
Ceres shook her head. "We do not take the bodies of deceased demigods - only the souls. Her soul, however, never made it to Mount Olympus."
"What?" Bella stood up, stunned by this information. "Do the rangers know?"
The Goddess shrugged. "I do not believe so."
Bella made a face. "Well, where the hell did her body go?"
Ceres sighed. "I am unaware. I cannot see her soul anywhere. It is possible that Saturn captured her soul and body to prevent the rangers from gaining access to it."
"That's horrible." Bella breathed out, running a hand through her hair.
"Yes, but there are more pressing matters at hand." Ceres urged her. "You even said that the rangers need assistance." She held out the locket to Bella. "Will you take this?"
"I..." Bella touched the locket lightly, and it shined yellow for a moment when she initially did so, a rush of power going through her veins. She looked at the power coin, before picking up her purse and pulling out her own coin, that look identical it the one on the locket. "That's what this is for, isn't it?"
Ceres nodded. "Yes. I gave that to you for when the time is right." She took Bella's hand and put the locket in it, holding it in her hand. "I trust you to make the right decision, my daughter."
Bella looked up, just in time to see Ceres disappear in front of her eyes, leaving the locket in her hand. She stared at it for a moment, before putting it around her neck, feeling a warm sensation coming from it for a moment. She then reached down and grabbed her purse, shoving her power coin in one of the pockets and exiting her house.
Running down the street in her heeled booties was a bit difficult, but Bella managed to get up to a road block right next to the fight. Just beyond the police car and officer, she could see the fight occurring.
Jackie fought hard to defend against an attack from Arachne, but she was struck down with enough force to demorph, being the first ranger of the battle to do so.
Bella felt a surge of power go through her once more, as she tried to walk through the small crowd of people and past the office, but she was promptly stopped. "This is a restricted and highly dangerous area." The officer told her. "Where do you think you're going?"
She stared at the officer, pulling her arm out of his grasp. "I'm the yellow ranger." Bella told him confidently. "The new one." Before he could respond, Bella walked forward powerfully, coming to a stop just before the monster.
"Stop right there!" She yelled, seeing Arachne move towards the downed red ranger, and attracted the attention of everyone.
October was on the ground, moving to get closer to Ryder, when she looked over. "Bella?"
"What are you doing here?" Luca called to her. "You'll get killed!"
"I won't." Bella smirked, shaking her head. She pulled the power coin out of her purse and threw her purse to the side. "Trust me." The small coin glowed yellow in the sun, and she shoved it quickly into the locket around her neck.
The rangers and Arachne watched in shock as yellow vines surrounded Bella's body, forming a suit. "Guardians, Rise Up!" She called out. "Yellow Guardian!"
Bella stood in front of them, flexing her fingers as she got used to her new suit. It looked exactly like Mari's, down to every last detail. The other rangers stared at their new yellow in surprise, as did Arachne.
Arachne soon scoffed, however. "So what? You think that you can bring out a new ranger and all of a sudden, you'll win?" She shook her head. "Never."
"We'll see about that." Bella pulled out her sword.
The monster nodded. "Yeah, I guess we will." She immediately shot a web at Bella, who put her arms up in front of her. Instead of the web hitting her, a large wall of vines grew out of the ground and caught the web before it could do so.
Bella moved out from behind the vines, shooting at the monster with her blaster, knocking Arachne back slightly.
She then put her blaster and sword back in their holsters and put her palms facing towards the ground. Suddenly, more large vines erupted from the concrete and pillared towards Arachne. The vines latched onto the monster and held her up in the air, squeezing her tightly.
"That was easy." Bella commented, smirking up at Arachne. "You still think you can win?"
Arachne glared down at her. "You'll pay for this," She rasped out.
The other rangers were managing to get up at this point, Luca immediately going over to pick up Jackie, who was only half-conscious from the hit she had taken. Aiden, October, and Ryder, however, joined Bella.
"I figure that my blaster and vines aren't strong enough to destroy her," Bella commented. "So, what do you want to do with her?"
"Well..." October trailed off, staring at her. She had no idea how Bella got her hands on the yellow morpher, and was even more shocked to see her in action. "We can all attack her at once."
Luca held Jackie in his arms. "She's not gonna be able to," He said, nodding to Jackie.
"Yeah," Aiden nodded, taking in a deep breath. "The thre.. four of us can do it."
Bella looked at the other three. "Alright, let's do this."
They all took out their swords, Bella lowering Arachne to the ground so they could strike. Ryder and October ran through first, using their respective abilities to injure Arachne, then Aiden did the same thing. Bella, who had watched them, copied what they did, using her power to grow a thorny branch up her sword, using it to further damage the monster.
The four stood behind Arachne, watching as she exploded. Bella stared in shock, never having been this close to a battle before, until she noticed the other rangers staring at her instead of the monster. "What?"
"Where did you get that morpher?" Aiden demanded to know. "Mari's body was gone, and so was her morpher. Did Liela give it you?"
Bella frowned. "I don't know who Liela is. My mother gave this to me."
Ryder crossed his arms, glaring at her. "And who in the fucking world is your mother?"
She glared back. "Ceres, the Goddess of agriculture. What the hell is your problem?"
Luca walked over to the others, overhearing their conversation. "Hey, guys, maybe we can take this back to the Command Center." He looked down at Jackie. "She needs medical attention."
"I agree." October butt in. "Liela can fill us in on what she knows."
Aiden and Ryder didn't look too happy about it, and neither did Luca for that matter, but the six rangers made their way past the crowd and walked towards the command center.
- PRGG -
The rangers got back, and Jackie was resting in the infirmary, leaving Liela to join the others in the living room. When she did, she felt the tension immediately, so thick in the air that you could cut it with a knife. Aiden and Ryder were outright glaring at Bella, while Luca was trying to keep his feelings to himself.
October seemed to be the only one who wasn't angry. A bit upset, yes, but not angry.
"Bella?" Liela asked, seeing the girl tilt her head up at the sound of her name. "I'm Liela, your mentor." She shook Bella's hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"Speak for yourself," Ryder growled out. "We said we didn't want a replacement, and you immediately go and get one."
"I already told you that I didn't get my morpher from her." Bella interjected, obviously not thrown by Ryder's anger. "Ceres gave it to me."
Liela nodded. "She's right. I've never met her before now, so she has to be telling the truth."
Ryder scoffed. "This is so stupid." He stood up, blinking a few times as he did so. "I'll be right back. I'm going to the bathroom." He walked past everyone and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.
He looked at himself in the mirror, gripping the counter with white-knuckled hands. His arms were shaking slightly, as were his hands, evident when he pulled one off of the counter and rubbed it down his face.
Reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a small plastic container of sorts. The outside of his small container had the name LEXAPRO scrawled across it on a white sticker, and when he opened it, there were a few small white pills in the container. He pulled one out and popped it in his mouth, running some water into his cupped hand and drinking the water.
"It's okay," He whispered to himself. "It's fine."
In reality, he knew it wasn't alright, considering he was only supposed to take one of those a day, and that was the second - or was it the third? He thought to himself -that he had taken that day.
He looked back at himself in the mirror, and nodded, closing the small container and shoving it back into his pocket.
When Ryder came out of the bathroom, he walked down the hall and was startled to see a hologram-of-sorts showing a man and two women holding Eliza in front of them, her being in handcuffs.
"Who are these guys?" Ryder asked, raising an eyebrow in disinterest.
Liela cleared her throat. "This is Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, some of the Gods."
"You are correct, Liela." One of the Goddess's, Minerva, spoke. "We request the ranger's presence in the hall of Mount Olympus tomorrow for the trial of Eliza James."
The mentor stared in shock. "What? Why is there a trial?"
"Eliza has broken our word, in speaking to Marissa Williams about her demise before it occurred. She could have caused a catastrophe, and will be punished as such, if she is found guilty." Juno, the other Goddess, responded. "We request the presence of the rangers to determine the ruling. Their words will hold ground on her punishment."
"Okay," Liela nodded, clearly rattled. "The rangers will be here in the morning for transport."
"As expected," Jupiter said, looking down on them. "Failure to arrive will result in the immediate punishment of death to Eliza. We will see tomorrow about her fate."
The hologram message disappeared, leaving the rangers stunned, staring at each other in disbelief.
Next time on Power Rangers Guardians of the Galaxy: The rangers are brought to Mount Olympus to testify for Eliza's fate, and have to decide whether or not she deserves to be free of punishment.
Next Chapter Title: The Trial
A lot is going on in this chapter. I know that fight scene wasn't very long or anything, but since I spent a lot on the funeral scene, I didn't want to overwhelm you guys with the amount of words in this chapter (even though it is rather long, I didn't want to make it even longer).
I also know that I focused a lot on Ryder's emotions, as opposed to the others, but that's because this is going to be a big character arc for him, and I need time to set everything up, especially since he's one of the more complex character in this story. Yes, he is abusing his prescription, and if you're wondering what it is he's taking, they're anti-depressants. I'll get more into that later in his upcoming character focus chapter.
The other characters will get their time to shine with their feelings and everything in the next chapter when they have to decide how they feel about letting Eliza off the hook. They'll have time to talk about it, and you'll also see how they're feeling behind their words, since some may say differently than they feel.
Here are the upcoming five chapters!
Ep 16: Love Animals - Luca focused chapter.
Ep 17: Collision Part I - Ryder focused chapter.
Ep 18: Collision Part II - Ryder focused chapter - possibly have a part III.
Ep 19: No Place Like Home - Aiden focused chapter.
Ep 20: Goddess Of War - October focused chapter.
I hope you guys liked this chapter, and I'll be back with the next one soon!
© Copyrighted by Charlotte 'Charlie' Hartley