(Disclaimer: Aria belongs to me...not PRMF)
(A/N: SO SORRY for the lte posts, but school has been a pain BUT school's out now so I'll be able to post on time. Maybe more than once a week!)
Chapter 4: Code Busters
-Woods-
Flight training…one of the ranger's lessons for today. Though she knew how to ride the Mystic Racers she much rather preferred her old Tsunami Cycle. The Racers were created by Udonna and her magic; the Cycles were made by hand (with the help of some 'borrowed' programming from Cam).
Aria stood with her arms crossed alongside Udonna as they waited for the rangers to arrive to the finish line.
Soon all five dismounted their racers mid-flight and landed gracefully on the ground. The Racers took a second to turn back to broomsticks before falling into the rangers' hands.
"Nice" Aria nodded
"Very good rangers" Udonna praised "That's enough Mystic Racer practice for today"
"Aww come on!" Chip whined "Just one more lap around the forest?"
"Yeah" Vida agreed "I'm just getting warmed up! I wanna see what this bad boy can really do!"
"Sorry dude" Aria shrugged
"It is time for Elementary Incantations" Udonna said as the new team let out a collective groan of annoyance
"Boring" Chip and Vida said at the same time
Maddie stepped forward "Hey, I think that sounds kinda interesting"
"Only you sis" Vida grumbled
Most of the other comments made went unnoticed by Aria as her mind wandered to back to her days at the Thunder Academy
-Flashback-
1997, only a few months since their parents' deaths, and now Hunter, Blake, and Aria were students at the Thunder Academy.
The three Bradley siblings focused on their weapons training; the basics of the Thunder Staff.
"Ahem" their Sensei alerted them.
The three stopped what they were doing and bowed to their teacher
"That's enough weapons training, time for Ninja History and then meditation."
Hunter and Blake silently groaned while Aria's posture straightened slightly. Aria actually was interested in Ninja History and meditation helped her calm down and relax for a little. It was a nice break from the constant fear.
"Come along" Sensei said before turning on his heel and walking off, closely followed by the three
-End Flashback-
"Vida's right" Chip said, bringing Aria out of her thoughts "We're official superheroes now, where's the rest of the vehicles, weapons, and gadgets we get?"
"The Xenotome" Udonna answered "It holds the spellcodes that can unlock powers beyond your imagination"
"So what are we waiting for?" Vida countered "Let's bust it open, load the codes, and get our booty!"
"Doesn't work like that" Aria spoke up from the back of the group "You gotta earn those codes. Grow as a ranger and all that jazz"
The group continued walking, but Aria couldn't get her brothers out of her head.
-Rootcore-
Maddie, Nick, Xander, Udonna, and Aria returned to Rootcore for their Incantations class. Aria had a blank look on her face while the blue, green, and red rangers sat at the table with thick, dusty spell books stacked high.
"Man…look at all these incantations" Xander complained "How is my brain supposed to hold this much information?!"
"Maybe this'll help" Maddie grinned as she pulled her Mystic Morpher out "Cranior Magnus"
Xander's head grew at least three sizes bigger, causing Nick and Maddie to burst into giggles.
"And I thought he had a big head before" Nick added as they erupted into more giggles.
"Very funny" Xander said dryly before turning to Aria "Help?"
Aria silently waved her own Mystic Morpher and returned Xander's head to its normal size.
She turned and walked over to her room.
-With Aria-
She laid on her small bed on her stomach and read over what she wrote
Hey guys I'm doing good, alive and well, missing you all
She didn't know how many letters she wrote with this exact phrase on it. But it had to be done; the Magic Realm had to remain secret. More memories continued to flood her brain
-Flashback-
Stuck it out this far together
Put our dreams through the shredder
Let's toast cause things got better
and everything could change like that
And all these years go by so fast
But nothing lasts forever
Here's to us
Here's to love
All the times
That we messed up
Here's to you
Fill the glass
Cause the last few nights
Have kicked my ass
If they give you hell
Tell em to go fuck themselves
Here's to us
Here's to us
-End Flashback-
Tears welled in her eyes, she missed her family. Now before you say that she's over reacting, you should know that when someone spends an entire year fighting evil alongside a team a bond forms that will never disappear. Add the fact that Aria had only felt fear and pain for 12 years of her life before meeting the other ninjas.
Looking down at the sorry excuse of a letter before she crumpled it up and tossed it aside.
Exiting her room she saw that Maddie, Xander, and Nick were gone and Vida and Chip were standing by the Xenotome speaking to Udonna
"Are you kidding?" Chip exclaimed "No one knows more than me!"
Udonna smiled past him towards Aria as if to hint that there was someone who REALLY knew about being a superhero
"I've spent a fortune on video games, dvds, graphic novels, trading cards-"
"Okay okay" Vida interrupted with a small laugh
His rambling kinda reminded Aria of a certain Earth Ninja; her hand reached up to her angel charm around her neck
Udonna's expression went from playful to worry as she caught sight of the crystal ball. Rushing past the three rangers she said "Something's wrong…"
The four looked inside to find a giant green glob of a monster
"The others are in trouble, you must stop it"
"Us?! Look at that thing it's massive! We'll get pummeled" Vida exclaimed
"You might, there's only two of you and you've hardly mastered your ranger powers."
Vida continued to stare into the crystal ball, fear clearly etched on her face.
"N-no, it's not that I'm-"
"I'm totally scared!" Chip announced "Look my goosebumps! They've got goosebumps!"
"Okay, I guess I'm a little freaked…"
"You should be…" Aria said bluntly, yeah her first zord battle was against the Winds but that didn't take away the fact that fighting a giant monster wasn't slightly terrifying in of itself. And if she was correct, the Mystic Force didn't have zords…
"She's right. That creature's size and strength are unlike anything you've encountered"
"Why not Aria? She's trained with you longer" Vida tried to argue
Aria sat on the edge of the round table "I'm not one of the Five, you need to do this on your own. I'll be there to guide you, but you guys have to do this"
"Maddie…" Vida barely whispered "And Nick"
"And even Xander" Chip added "They need us"
"We have to try and help them."
"Remember, real heroes are born in the face of real danger" Udonna reminded
Getting in position Vida led the morph
"Ready?"
"Ready"
"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"
"Calling Mysto Ranger!"
"MYSTIC POWER!"
Grabbing their broomsticks/Mystic Racers the two of them flew to a clearing where the green glob Mucor sat.
Udonna, Aria, and Claire watched the crystal ball intently as Chip and Vida made their way into the clearing. Aria leaned in closer as Vida flew circles around Mucor's head before using her Mystical Wings to make the green creature sneeze the other rangers out.
Maddie, Nick, Xander, and Vida all landed on the ground, leaving Chip up in the air. Mucor fired at the Yellow Mystic but missed every time due to his lightning speed (A/N: hehehe). Using the Crossbow mode on his MagiStaff Chip managed to get Mucor on his back while he joined his team on the ground.
Behind them the Xenotome flipped to a new page and revealed a new spell code for the rangers. Aria shared a smile with Udonna before flashing into the shadows.
-With the rangers-
Aria appeared before the rangers just as the new spell codes unlocked on their morphers.
"I see you've unlocked Titan mode" she smiled
"Titan mode?" Maddie asked curiously.
Aria revealed her signature smirk "Watch and learn rookies"
"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"
"Calling Mysto Ranger!"
Now morphed Aria punched in the code 1-0-7
"Gawlit Mysto Prifior!"
"IT'S TITAN TIME!" she called as a spell seal engulfed her in a glowing black light. Behind her helmet her eyes matched the colour of her suit
"Mystic Reaper!" she exclaimed as a giant black hooded figure emerged. It looked as though it was made of metal. Like on her helmet, Aria transformed into a giant, slim woman with a flowing black cloak wrapped around her. The hood was drawn up but it was clear that under that hood, the eyes of this titan were pitch black.
The rangers below watched in awe before following the apprentice
"Mystic Minotaur" Xander called
"Mystic Sprite!" Vida announced
"Mystic Mermaid" Maddie followed
"Mystic Garuda" Chip yelled
"Mystic Phoenix" Nick finished
The six of them stood together; Xander in the back with Vida perched on his shoulder. Nick stood in the middle, in front of Xander, flanked by Chip and Maddie while Aria hovered off to the side, making sure to stay out of the others' way. Her time as a full-time ranger was over, it was their turn now.
Mucor tried to fire at them but his attacks were futile as Chip and Nick easily ran past them and headed straight for the giant glob. Chip flew in the air and shot lightning out of his eyes while Nick followed up with a slash to the stomach. The other three took this as their cue, Vida turned into a ball, allowing Xander to swat her over to Maddie with his axe who knocked her to Chip who caught her before throwing it Nick who finally soccer kicked her to Mucor, destroying him once and for all.
The Five cheered as Aria stood by, smiling a little at this new team
-Rootcore-
The rangers, minus Nick, stood in a circle around Udonna and Aria
"I'm proud of you all" Udonna praised "And you've only begun to tap into your potential of your Mystic Titans"
"Yeah but now Green Freak is gone right? So it's all good in the woods?" Maddie asked
"I-I hope so, but I don't think that was the same creature that attacked Claire" Xander reminded
"Huh?" Aria asked confused
"Remember? Earlier today Claire was talking bout how some creature was chasing her in the woods?"
"Oh…uh right"
Aria was so caught up in her funk that she didn't even realize that Claire was attacked
"Nick's investigating that" Udonna reassured
"Believe me, this is only the beginning" Aria warned before turning her heel to head to her room
"You sound like you speak from experience" Vida answered back with a quirked eyebrow
'You have no idea' Aria thought
-Flashback-
The rangers rolled up to the coordinates Cam left and waited in their individual zords. Shane, Tori, and Aria were hovering in the air while the others were on the ground. They were all a bit nervous for this battle; they knew it wasn't going to be easy but the added pressure of being in civilian form didn't help either.
"Alright guys without our powers," Shane reminded" We can't take any direct hits"
"Is that supposed to cheer us up?" Tori asked
"'Cause it ain't working" Aria finished, her hands were gripping on the controls so hard that her knuckles started to turn white.
"Just be careful" Shane said calmly
"How 'bout we just blow this guy away and go home?" Dustin suggested
He was the first to step forward, using his Lion Tornado Blast to distract it. Tori went up next and rammed the nose of her Dolphin Zord into its side. Blake and Hunter rolled up afterwards while Aria hovered above the two.
"Yo whaddup dogs? Meet the beetles!" he laughed
Hunter and Aria laughed lightly as well and pulled their scopes out in front of them (A/N: Are they scopes or visors?). All three zords fired at the dog simultaneously.
Shane flew overhead and fired at the Wolfblade as well before circling back around.
Next thing they knew the three faced freak was now blasting at them. Blake's Beetlezord rolled over multiple times, Hunter's Insectizord had explosions surrounding it, and Aria's Scarabzord was sparking up a storm, she ended up having to land it and only do ground assaults.
Then, the Wolfblade punched Dustin's Lionzord and batted Shane's Hawkzord away.
"Cyber Cam, any word from your twin bro yet?" Hunter asked
"Yeah, cause we're getting hammered out here!" Blake added
"Nothing yet!" he answered "Just hold those mutts off as long as you can"
"Easier said than done" Aria exclaimed as she watched Tori get tossed aside like a ragdoll.
They regrouped and prayed Cam would get there soon.
-End Flashback-
Aria chuckled at the memory; that was definitely one of their most memorable zord battles.
Aria was brought out of her thoughts as the other rangers' footsteps were heard running out the door.
By the time she reached the main part of the tree the other rangers were already gone. Looking into the crystal ball Ari saw the Five facing off a giant, multi-headed worm
"Okay…what the fuck?" she said
"Language Aria" Udonna reprimanded
"Sorry…"
The two watched as a new spell code unlocked, reaching for her own Mystic Morpher Aria called the others "Guys listen up, that new spell code will be able to unlock the Dragon Formation for your Titans. Maddie, Vida, Chip, and Xander, this one's all you"
"On it" they all responded before hanging up
"Oh my god...I'm turning into Cam"
Eyes glued on the ball they continued observing the rangers as they perfectly formed the Dragon. Nick leapt up into the air and landed on their back. Flying circles over the worm, the rangers dodged the attacks and blasted fire at the worm. As a final blow Nick soared into the air as the Dragon Formation blasted a ball of fire. As he had done before Nick soccer kicked the fireball into the center of the worm.
"Well done you guys…" Aria smiled
-Later-
Aria had been told to accompany Nick while he went to finish gathering ingredients for Udonna. The last two times one of them had gone into the woods alone they were attacked so Udonna had now made it a rule to not wonder the woods alone. A little much but…whatever.
Aria leaned on a nearby tree while Nick looked over the list again.
"So…how did you know how to turn into a Titan? I thought only Udonna would know"
"I've been training with her for the past year, I've known how to go Titan for months now. The only difference is that I learned with a wand, not spell codes." Aria shrugged
Looking over Nick found a bunch of Stickle Berries on the ground "Oh, so these are Stickle Berries"
"Uh I wouldn't dude" Aria warned as he began to put one of the bitter, rancid berries in his mouth. She was too late however as he took a bite and a look of utter disgust spread across his face.
Aria laughed for the first time in a while "I told ya"
Nick wiped his mouth off before turning to the bush behind him "Better pick some more…"
Suddenly a horrific looking thing popped up from the bush, startling the two Mystics. Aria immediately fell into her fighting stance
"You gotta stop doing that" Nick sighed
"You know this guy?" Aria asked cautiously
Nick simply nodded and Aria's stance relaxed a little
"I've been lookin everywhere for ya" the creature said with his arms out as if waiting for a hug "I wanted to thank you for saving me"
Nick continued picking Stickle Berries "To tell you the truth, I don't think I save you so much as a monster spit you out"
The thing looked almost disappointed "Rats, even that hideous beast rejected me. I don't belong anywhere. Not even in a worm's stomach" he sobbed "I'm Phineas" the creature greeted with his hand out; Nick slowly shook his hand
Soon the three of them were walking side by side through the woods in search of the other ingredients Udonna still needed.
"See, I'm a Troblin" Phineas explained "That is the unfortunate result of the union of a troll and a goblin. Both sides hate me, so I wander the forest on my own"
"Well, the reason we're out here is you helped a friend of ours" Aria told "And we wanted to thank you"
"Hope you like Stickle Berries" Nick offered
"Who doesn't?!" Phineas cried as he wolfed them down. Aria did her best not to gag at the sight
She and Nick shared a look before continuing on "Right…" they both said
"Oh, I must warn you though, young warriors, this forest is full of danger" Phineas warned
Aria scoffed "Tell me something I don't know"
"My friends and I are up against Necrolai and Koragg, can't get worse than that" Nick added
"Uh…yes, yes it can. Y-you still haven't faced…him"
"Who's him?" Nick asked, stepping closer to the Troblin
"The Supreme Master of the Underworld shhh"
'Well shit….' Aria thought
-Ninja Ops-
Cam typed away at the computer and waited for the others to join him
"Yo whaddup Cam?" Dustin called as he, Shane, Tori, and Hunter walked into Ops.
His eyes stared into the screen as the others walked up to him "Is something wrong?" Tori asked
"I'm not sure…I was doing some checks on the Morphing Grid when-"
"Uh, why were you in the Grid?" Hunter questioned with a quirked eyebrow
"I've got nothing better to do" Cam grumbled "Anyway, I was looking through it when I found a connection to an unknown source"
"Care to elaborate?" Shane wondered as he peered over Cam's shoulder
"Well there's nothing else to go off of, but I checking over satellite surveillances when I found this"
Typing a few more keys Cam pulled up a video of six metal humanoid zords battle a giant green glob…thing
"Are those-" Tori started
"They look like zords" Dustin stated
The five of them watched the battle, but something stood out to them.
"Why is that one zord just standing there?" Tori pointed out
Cam zoomed in and focused on the black hooded zord. "I don't know, it was the first to appear but takes absolutely no part in the battle they don't even combine to form a megazord"
"Try calling Doctor Oliver" Hunter suggested "He knows every single ranger out there"
"That's a good idea, maybe we'll be able to figure out who entered the Morphing Grid"
"Good luck dude" Shane said as he clapped a hand on his shoulder before turning to walk out the door
"I'll let Blake know what's happening" Tori reassured as she and Hunter exited after Shane
All that was left was Dustin staring at the screen, the zord was black, which meant a new black ranger.
"You okay Dustin?" Cam asked
"I just miss her dude" Dustin sighed "I just wanna know where she is"
"Knowing Aria, she'll be just fine"
For once, Dustin was silent and just reached into his Sensei uniform to pull out the silver necklace Aria had given him when he left.
-Rootcore-
Aria sat on top of the dragon's snout with her guitar, strumming to whatever tune would pop into her head. After a while she put her guitar beside her and laid back, staring up at the blue sky. Her hand somehow made its way to her neck and she played with the golden necklace Dustin had given her before she left.
(A/N: Okay it has been FAR TOO LONG since there's been a DustinxAria moment. i hope ya'll like it :) REVIEW AND FOLLOW PLEASE AND THANKS!)