A/N: Hey guys! Im so sorry I didn't update for awhile, but Im here now and I'll try to post more often. ENJOY!
Chapter 8: Legendary Catastros
-Rootcore-
Aria had just finished their physical training when Udonna called them inside. Standing around the table the Five waited for the sorceress to begin
"Gather round rangers," she called from the Xenotome "and hear the story of the beast stallion whose strength was known across the land-the legendary Catastros"
Opening her hands a glowing black stallion erupted from the pages and galloped around the Five and into the crystal ball. Aria watched from the side having heard this story before.
"Many have tried in vain to break the mightiest creature of them all. But Catastros was stronger than a hundred men, and no one was able to harness his fearsome power. Catastros fled into the forest during the Great Battle of Good and Evil. But before the seal was closed Evil reached up and dragged Catastros down to the lowest depths of the pit."
The crystal ball showed Catastros's story like a movie, replaying bits of the Great Battle when the glowing red eye made another appearance. Aria saw a flash of a blurry vision before returning to normal. Unbeknownst to her, Udonna saw her out of the corner of her eye and looked back down to the Xenotome.
"That was the scariest story I have ever heard" Chip announced "Tell it again!"
"Even I'm a little freaked out" Vida admitted causing everyone to stare a her "Just a little" she defended
"Well I'm not scared" Xander laughed nervously as thunder struck and the lights went out. When they came back on Xander was being carried in Vida's arms
"Not scared huh?" Aria commented
"Just making sure you're safe V" he tried
"I'm fine, thanks" she replied before dropping him
"You guys can't be possibly afraid of a silly horse" Nick said, sitting on the wooden table
"Make no mistake; Catastros is a force to be reckoned with Nick" Udonna warned
"But didn't Koragg tame him? He does have control over him" Aria asked
"Yes, for Catastros remains loyal to Koragg to this day"
Claire then came in with a smile on her face "Don't you just love a good rainstorm? Washes away the stress of the day"
Everyone took a double take when they saw her. The blond apprentice had a huge pile of whipped cream on her head and…steaming?
"Claire" Maddie began "You're steaming…"
"Oh yeah, I crossed a hot-cocoa spell with a spell of protection. Keeps me warm on these cold stormy nights"
The Five erupted into laughter while Aria snuck to the back of the group
"Your hair!" Vida laughed
Claire reached up on her head and yelped when she noticed the whipped cream "I forgot to omit the part about the toppings!" she realized "I'm allergic to whipped cream!"
Clare sneezed just as she turned to Udonna, flipping whipped cream on the older witch. She stormed away to clean up while Aria stepped forward.
"Ok, ok hold on Claire" she laughed "Finishio"
Claire breathed a sigh of relief "Thanks Aria"
The latter playfully rolled her eyes as the other rangers tried to hide their laughter.
"So I'm guessing we're done for the day?" Xander asked
"Yeah I guess; I'll see you guys later" Aria said as she turned on her heel
"You kicking us out?" Nick asked jokingly
She let out a laugh "No, I'm heading to Blue Bay for the night. I promised Dustin I'd visit soon"
Vida started making cooing noises and kissy faces prompting the others to laugh
"Haha very funny V" she rolled her eyes again "I'll see you guys later"
Again turning on her heel Aria headed for her room to grab a few things and walked out of Rootcore. She picked a tree nearby and visualized the Wind Academy. Within seconds she was home
-Wind Academy-
Stepping out of the tree she headed for the waterfall, her Mystic uniform was long gone and replaced with shorts, fishnets, converse, and a baggy black t-shirt. She walked straight through the waterfall and was greeted by the familiar view of the Wind Ninja Academy.
At the front she saw Cam overseeing the whole school. She snuck behind him and said in a fake voice "So is this were I can become a ninja?"
She was pretty sure Cam would have whiplash with how fast his neck turned but the look on his face was priceless. When he saw who it was his face broke in a grin and greeted her "Aria! What are you doing here?"
Cam and Aria hugged it out she answered his question. "Well I was going to grab something from the Thunder Academy but I think there's something else I need"
"Your necklace?" Cam asked
"Dustin tell you?"
"Yeah, I ran some tests on it but the computer didn't find anything."
Her face scrunched up, but she shook her head "I'm here on my day off I don't wanna think about it. Now lead me to our friends!"
Cam rolled his eyes and led me to Ninja Ops "Y'all still use this place?"
"I've tried kicking them out…they didn't listen"
Inside the three of them were gathered at the low table talking amongst themselves. I walked in as if nothing was different and sat down beside Dustin
After their initial shock and the long-time no sees we spent the day chilling together. When they had to go back to teaching I made my way over to the Thunder Academy.
-Thunder Academy-
Making my way into the academy I easily made my way to Hunter's office.
"Guess you?!" I called as I walked inside
"No way" Hunter smiled, standing from his desk and giving me a hug "What are you doing here Ri?"
"I just need to pick something up"
"What is it?"
"Remember that blanket mom and dad found me in?"
"Yeah…"
"It's really weird but last week I was seeing some visions or some shit and I saw a baby, wrapped in my blanket, with just a mass of black magic in front of it."
"Ok…"
"And I just want it ok"
After Hunter tried to stop his sniggering and a more detailed description of the whole 'voices in her head' scenario Hunter kinda understood her reason for wanting her blanket.
Walking into her old room she took a quick glance around, everything was exactly the same, walking to her closet she pulled the old purple blanket from the top shelf and rolled it into the small backpack she brought.
-Wind Academy-
After her visit to her brother she headed back to the Wind Academy. Her friends were now off work so Dustin and Aria decided to race for a little. They picked up their bikes from Storm Chargers and raced in the woods.
When they were done they went down to cliff Aria used to occupy. They sat on a boulder and talked about their lives nowadays. Dustin's life as a teacher and Aria's latest battles; this ultimately turned to the topic of Aria's necklace.
"So it was glowing like non-stop last week?" she asked
"Basically, it would stop for like an hour before lighting up again"
Aria's face scrunched up as she thought back to last week's vision
"Maybe you should take it with you. It could be magic" he shrugged
"You may have a point…"
Reaching into his pocket Dustin pulled the long silver chain out and handed it to her. The familiar weight in her hand was comforting "I just don't want Udonna to worry or whatever"
"I'm sure it'll be fine…"
Dustin and Aria looked at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter. Nothing in a ranger's life is 'just fine'.
Aria slept over that night, sleeping beside Dustin in his room at the academy. That night however she had a strange dream; it began with her walking on the shores of Blue Bay harbor before the usual white sand turned black and the clear blue sky became an eerie shade of purple. Looking around she saw nothing, however she heard the pounding hooves of a stallion. Slowly turning over her shoulder she came face to face with Catastros. He reared on his hind legs, knocking her down, she blocked her face in fear that he'd trample her but it never came. Instead she sat up from the bed, her forehead damp with sweat
"Shit…" she breathed
Looking around she realized that she was still with Dustin. The said ninja was knocked out cold, laying on his side and turned away from her. She ran a hand through her wild hair and rubbed her grey-green eyes. A couple deep breaths later she laid back down again, not noticing the eerie glow of the ring on her necklace.
-Next Day-
After a restless sleep Aria said goodbye to her friends and made her way back to Rootcore, blanket and necklace in her possession.
-Rootcore-
When she reached the tree she quietly made her way to her room, quickly muttering her greetings to the two women. Once inside her room she took her rolled up blanket and tucked it behind her pillow. With her necklace she placed it in the small drawer of her bedside table. She collapsed on her bed in hopes of catching up on some sleep but as soon as her head hit her pillow her morpher signaled an attack.
Udonna burst into her room "You must help the rangers, without their megazord powers they are vulnerable"
Aria gave a curt nod and raced out the door, leaping through trees and melting into shadows to help her friends.
When she arrived she and the others were greeted by a giant Koragg
"Let's ranger up" Nick commanded
"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"
"Galwit Mysto Ranger!"
As soon as they morphed Koragg and Catastros combined to become their own megazord.
"Get Back!" Aria said
"How are we gonna fight him without our megazord power?" Vida asked
"We don't have a choice" Aria said rather bluntly
"Come on guys we can do it!" Nick added
"Let's Titan up!"
"Galwit Mysto Prifior!"
Using their dragon formation Nick rode on the backs of the others while Aria spread her wings and flew alongside them.
The Five fired at Koragg with Aria providing extra power above them. Koragg's megazord started sparking allowing the rangers to land.
"Come on!" Koragg challenged
"You don't have all our powers Koragg!" Nick reminded
"That was nothing!" Koragg created a spell seal that caused the dragon formation to break apart and have the six rangers fall to the ground.
"Get up and fight!" he demanded
Aria looked up at Koragg just as his megazord tensed up as if something struck him.
The familiar voice of Necrolai was heard "That's what you get for lying to Morticon"
Koragg turned to face her "What? I will crush you hag"
"You'll have to catch me first" she mocked before flying off. Meanwhile Aria was slowly regaining her strength to stand back up
"My own allies are turning against me" Koragg said aloud to himself "I must deal with this" he created another spell seal "Basalichi Infrado!"
Apparently Nick was too, as he shot up in the air to try and grab Koragg "NOOOO!" he cried
"NICK!" Aria called as she reached for her friend below her she could see the spell seal wavering before it sucked the three of them into a portal of sorts.
-Unknown-
Aria and Nick screamed as they fell through the air before landing on a familiar black beach. As soon as they hit the sand their ranger suits disappeared from their bodies.
"What happened? Where are we?" Nick asked
"Talk about lost…" Aria grumbled
The two looked around at their surroundings before Nick tried to use his morpher to call the others "Guys? Can you hear me?" he started to look around him
Aria grabbed him by his shoulders "Nick calm down, we'll get through this okay?"
"How are we gonna get the other?" he asked
Aria looked to the sky "First thing about alternate dimensions and realms, morphers and communicators don't really work?"
"You've been here before?" he asked with wide eyes
"Only in a dream, but I've had my fair share of alternate dimensions"
"This is crazy" Nick breathed
The two continued circling themselves when they heard a horse's neighs.
"I hope that's just an over-sized pelican"
Any other time Aria would've started laughing, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't getting freaked out. They both turned around to see the legendary Catastros standing before them. Nick and Aria both took several steps back to try and get away from it. Soon they broke out into a run, Catastros chasing after them. The chase left the beach and continued into a forest of grey and purple trees. Nick tripped and ended up face-down on the ground. Aria paused to help him up as Catastros leapt over them and faced the two. Turning on their heels they ran down another path, this one much darker than the woods. Aria tripped over a branch and Nick bent down to help her up. But when the pounding hooves sounded again Nick fell down beside her and stared into the trees to try and find the stallion.
When they finally got up Catastros was right behind them charging after the two. The stallion bumped into Nick causing him to knock not just himself but Aria as well down a hill. When they finally stopped the two helped each other up and scanned the area "The fuck is going on?" Aria asked
"I don't know, let's just get outta here" Nick replied in a panic filled voice. With that the two stumbled off into the woods to try and figure out how to get outta here. The two collapsed on the roots of a tree, both exhausted from their battle and freakin marathon that they just ran. "Where are we?" Nick asked again
"I saw this in a dream last night…it was on the beach…" Aria remembered
Nick shakily stood up and shook his head a few times. Aria pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut when they suddenly heard Catastros's heavy breathing. Slowly looking up at the horse Catastros reared up on his hind legs, causing Nick to fall back down again. Aria dragged him closer to the tree to try and get him away from the stallion's mighty hooves. But the wild beast slowly lowered his hooves, shook his giant head a couple times before collapsing to the ground. On his back leg was a giant gash, glowing a mix of white and purple. Catastros whimpered in pain
Aria and Nick both stood
"Whoa, easy boy" Aria said when Catastros neighed "Are you hurt?"
It looked as though he nodded yes, Nick started to take off running but Aria stayed and slowly approached it. Nick turned to see his friend try and reach for the killer horse
"Aria what are you doing?" he demanded
"He needs help, he's hurt come on!" she fired back
Nick sighed, thought about it for a little and reluctantly joined Aria in helping Catastros. Nick took multiple deep breaths "Ok…we can do this…okay"
As Nick came closer Catastros lowered his head so that he was lying on his side. Aria sat down beside his head while Nick circled around to his injury and saw the gash. Beside the horse was the arrow Necrolai fired, its arrowhead also glowing that white and purple combination. "Maybe we can't do this…"
Aria looked over her shoulder and up at the red ranger, we have to try. You have a magic wand…use it"
Aria turned her attention to the horse; hesitantly she reached her hand out for the horse's muzzle. At first it jerked its head away and Aria drew her hand back. She tried one more time and Catastros didn't move, so Aria comfortingly rubbed the stallion's muzzle while Nick tried to think of a spell
"Try Finishio" Aria suggested, not taking her eyes off the horse
"Finishio! Catastros, Finishio!" Nick tried, but nothing happened "What's wrong?" he demanded, clearly getting frustrated "Finishio, Catastros, Finishio! Why isn't this thing working?!"
The horse's breathing became heavier and Aria bent down lower, "We're gonna help you…" she whispered and she continued to stroke his muzzle.
Nick tried again and again and again but nothing was working. Catastros's breathing became more and more shallow and his big eyes were starting the droop. "Finishio!" Nick tried again but nothing happened. He kneeled down beside Aria "I'm sorry…"
Aria sat flat on her butt and placed Catastros's heavy head on her lap, stroking neck to try and comfort him. "I can't help you" Nick continued "But I'm not afraid of you anymore"
Nick reached over and helped Aria in comforting the injure stallion, petting Catastros's masked face. At that moment both morphers rung and glowed in their respective colours; with a bit of finessing on Aria's part the two were able to pull their wands out and after sharing a knowing look Nick pointed his wand at his wound and said "Finishio" the gash disappeared and Catastros shot up to its legs, knocking Aria down into the dirt. She hastily stood up and joined Nick, backing away from the horse. But to their surprise the horse didn't try to attack but instead pushed its head into their hands. The two smiled and petted the wild stallion
"You did it" Aria smiled "You healed him"
Catastros pushed its head towards them "What?" Nick asked "You want us to get on?"
Grabbing his black mane Nick hauled himself up onto Catastros's back then helped Aria get on. Latching onto Nick's jacket Catastros took off like a bullet, leaving the woods and riding on the beach. O the beach in front of them appeared a spell seal, similar to the one that swallowed them into this dimension
"THERE!" Aria called as Nick urged Catastros to run faster
-Briarwood-
After leaping through the seal Catastros, Nick, and Aria all returned to Briarwood in their Titan forms, still on the back of the stallion.
"Go Catastros!" Nick called
"Look its Nick and Aria!" Vida cheered
"I can't believe it worked!" Chip awed
"Hey guys! Need a little help?" Aria asked "Do it Nick!"
"Centaurus Phoenix Megazord!" Aria leapt off the back as Nick and Catastros went through with their formation.
"Whoa! He combined with Catastros!" Xander gasped
"This is how it's done! Re Ranger style!" the staff he used glowed a fiery red on the ends as he spun it around
"I'm not afraid of you!" the boulder monster yelled as he charged for him Nick used his fire power to create a tail of sorts and whip it around, hitting the giant rock dead on. He was still standing however
"Aria! Finish it!" Nick said as he and Catastros broke apart.
"All right!" she cheered as she engaged in the megazord formation "Centaurus Reaper Megazord!"
More cheers came from the others "Aria too?!" she heard Maddie comment
She could hear Koragg's voice as well "That's not possible"
Using the staff that came with the megazord Aria powered it with her dark magic. She blocked his boulder blasts and used the staff to channel her powers at the boulder monster, effectively destroying him once and for all.
The Centaurus megazord deactivated and Aria stood next to Catastros, stroking his neck as the Five regained their megazord powers
The Five cheered as Aria said "Thank you Catastros" however, Catastros reared up on his hind legs, pushing Aria's hand off of him and took off for Koragg who leapt through a spell seal and grew in size.
"Samba Gunitos Equestras!" Aria and Nick watched in horror as who they thought was a new friend join Koragg once again. "Catastros rides with me" Koragg announced
"No!" Aria cried, reaching out for the stallion
"But I thought he changed!" Nick added
"I don't know how you were able to combine with my mighty Catastros" Koragg sneered "but I promise you I will find out. something about you two is troubling"
"I don't understand" Nick said
"What are you going on about?" Aria demanded
"We will meet again, red and black rangers…"
"I don't understand…" the two whispered at the same time
-Later-
After the battle Udonna asked to speak with Aria and Nick "Not many can say they have ridden the mighty Catastros, that's quite impressive" Udonna praised as the three walked into Rootcore
"It was pretty amazing" Nick said
"Even though he probably only let us ride him because we helped him" Aria added
"Yes" Udonna answered "Unfortunately, the next time you meet Catastros, you will be enemies again. But you conquered your fear and you were rewarded. I'm proud of you both"
"Thanks" the two smiled
"Hey don't forget about the others" Nick reminded "They really came through for us when it counted"
"Apparently they had a little help from a Troblin friend of yours" Udonna laughed
"Phineas?" Aria giggled
Nick laughed himself "Man, if you had told me I'd be hanging out with magical sorceress and a half-troll half-goblin, I'd have never believed it."
"Amen to that dude. Even though I was a ranger before…I probably still wouldn't believe any of that"
"Your journeys have just begun. There are many adventures ahead-for all of us." Udonna replied
"That I can believe" Aria smiled. Nick walked into Rootcore but Aria held Udonna back
"Is something troubling you?" Udonna asked
Aria looked to the ground "I've been wanting to do some personal research about enchanted objects."
"Any reason why?" Udonna questioned
"I was reading something the other day and I found a bit of info about enchanted objects. It caught my interest" she shrugged
"Of course Aria, you're welcome to any of the books we have."
Aria smiled and began to make her way to the entrance "Aria," Udonna called. The young Mystic turned "Have you considered telling your friends?"
Aria knew exactly what she was talking about "I don't know Udonna; I don't want them to think I'm some monster or something…"
Udonna gave a small smile "I understand, however I do believe that they should know"
"Maybe one day…" Aria sighed as she walked inside
"Not yet…" Udonna said to herself as she watched the young girl walk inside "Not yet"
A/N: So that's it! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please REVIEW/FOLLOW! XOXO. Please check out my other story 'Lady Red' on my profile