Chapter 16: Ranger Down
"Oh nothing much," Aria said. Dustin had called and asked what was new in the magic realm "The others were sent to an alternate dimension, Chip almost got sucked into oblivion. You know the usual"
"Ah, those were the days" he laughed "Anything new on that necklace?"
She groaned in frustration "No, couldn't find anything it's like the spell doesn't exist"
"You're like the girl version Cam!" he exclaimed causing Aria to laugh "I am 100% sure you'll find whatever that spell is"
"Well I wouldn't consider myself anywhere near Cam's level of genius" she scoffed
"Well you're a lot prettier than Cam"
"Shut up" she rolled her eyes
"Dustin come on get off the phone! Eric got stuck in the ground again!" an unnamed voice sounded
"Dang it man!" Dustin complained "Got to go"
The couple said their goodbyes with Dustin yelling after Connor McKnight's brother.
Aria smiled to herself and exited her room to find Jenji standing in front of five bored looking rangers.
"There I stood face-to-face with the dreaded pirate Half Nose," he told
'Oh this again…' Aria thought as she stood with her arms crossed
"Despite having my paws tied and being made to walk the plank-"
"You free yourself and beat him with your sword!" Chip finished having heard this story many times before
Jenji shook his head "I had no sword. I was only armed with only my cunning, my bravery, and a little trick I picked up in Cat-Mandu. I like to call my Super Cat Attack!"
"Super Cat Attack?" Nick repeated
"How long did it take for you to come up with that one?" Aria teased causing Jenji to huff in annoyance.
Suddenly Claire burst in "He roared!" she exclaimed "Fire Heart just roared for the first time!" all the rangers sprung up from their chairs and raced to the blanket swaddled dragon. Aria was on her tip toes trying to look at the baby dragon. She turned to call Jenji over but he was already trudging out the door.
-Later-
The Crystal Ball signaled dark magic in the city; Aria, Daggeron, and Udonna surrounded the Ball and watched the rangers battle Necrolai and Screamer, a giant blue bird.
"Since when did the overgrown bat have magic?" Aria demanded when she spotted the magic wand in her hand. She instinctively grabbed onto hers as both wands had the same black colour, symbolizing the dark magic within them. Aria felt a twinge of guilt and envy for the others who had Light Magic at their command.
"Fire Heart? Fire Heart?!" Claire screamed running into the main room of Rootcore "Has anyone seen Fire Heart?"
The three surrounding the Ball looked at each other in confusion before Aria pulled out her morpher and called the rangers.
Nick, Chip, and Maddie soon walked in
"Have you seen Fire Heart?" Udonna asked the trio. They all shook their heads "He's gone missing. Claire is beside herself combing the forest. If he falls into the wrong hands before adulthood he could-"
Both Aria and Daggeron heard the whimpering of the genie as well as the light footsteps behind them "Jenji" they said together
"What have you done?" Daggeron asked
"Uh…"
-The Forest-
"Since dragons like Fire Heart grow into adults in an instant, I thought he'd be happier in the forest" Jenji explained as Nick, Chip, Maddie, and Aria followed
"We're not buying it Jenji" Maddie said disappointed. Aria wanted to be upset with the genie but she couldn't help but feel for him.
"Fine, don't believe me," he huffed "why do I care where that dumb, useless, attention-getting dragon lives?"
Three out of the four rangers were rolling their eyes when Jenji broke out into a run panicking.
"Hey that's my blanket" Nick exclaimed after seeing the old red blanket on the ground. He ran over and snatched it.
"Your blanket?" Maddie repeated "Isn't that a baby blanket?" Nick flushed with embarrassment "Aw you kept it since you were a baby?"
"This blanket is all I have from my birth parents" Nick admitted causing Maddie's face to fall
"Oh I didn't know that…" she stammered
"You were adopted too?" Aria asked
"Yeah, my adopted parents were great, it turned out fine. I just keep it…" he trailed off "I'm not really sure why I keep it"
"Well, I still have my baby blanket from my birth parents" Aria offered "I don't think I could ever get rid of it to be honest"
Nick gave her a small smile, grateful that someone understood him.
"Guys I need your help!" Jenji cried "Where is he?! I-I left him right here! Fire Heart is…gone!"
"Shit…" Aria mumbled to herself and ran a hand down her face.
-Later-
-Rootcore-
All the rangers stood around the Crystal Ball discussing their current dilemma
"No sign of Fire Heart" Aria sighed fiddling with the angel around her neck.
"I've got more bad news," Daggeron announced walking into the room "Jenji's gone too"
Aria's head snapped up to look at the Solaris Knight. "Maybe he went to go look for Fire Heart?" Nick suggested
"I don't think so he left a note. 'I'm not looking for Fire Heart; I'm running away, no one cares about me. Your ex-friend Jenji"
'Oh Jenj...' the black ranger thought
"This is our fault," she declared "We were spending so much time with Fire Heart that we forgot about Jenji"
"It's something he's familiar with," Daggeron revealed "You see, Jenji was banished from his homeland, cast away by the ones he loved most"
"I know what that's like…"
"Who would banish Jenji? He's great!" Chip asked
"Jenji was the strongest and most popular cat in the land. Rexigan, the very jealous King cat, had a witch cast a spell over the entire village convincing everyone that Jenji was evil. Everyone turned their backs on Jenji and he was banished. When I met Jenji he was a wondering Nomad…all alone" Daggeron then began the tale of how Jenji became the genie they all loved and how if he were to leave the lamp for too long he would turn to dust. "If Jenji doesn't return to the lamp within two hours, he'll be lost forever…"
But as always the villains had perfect timing as the Ball signaled Necrolai's return.
"You guys go, I'll stay and look for Jenji" Aria ordered. A quick nod from Nick and the Five were off the fight evil once again. "Where are you Jenj?"
-Later-
-Dump-
Ten minutes and a tracking spell later Aria was able to locate Jenji in a rundown part of town. "Jenji!" she called, ignoring the foul smell, "Jenji!" she exclaimed spotting the big, white, cat
"How'd you find me?"
"I'm a Mystic and a ninja; I have my ways"
"Better question, why'd you find me?'
Aria rolled her eyes playfully and gave a small smile "Cause your family Jenj" The cat scoffed and turned to sit down, Aria followed "You have to get back to your lamp Jenj, if you don't-"
"Oh like you guys care" he interrupted
"We do Jenji" she sighed "Look I know how you feel okay. The same thing happened to me a few years ago."
Once again he scoffed. Aria raised an eyebrow and told him of how she was arrested and almost banished from her Academy. "Despite proving that I was born with these powers, everyone believed I was some sort of monster. All of my teachers preferred my brothers over me, all except one at least." Jenji stared at the ground "We love you Jenji, yes we were paying a lot of attention to Fire Heart but we could never forget about you. We may have forgotten about your feelings but-"
"Yes you did"
"How many times do I have to say 'We're sorry'?" she laughed
"Six would be nice"
"Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Good enough for you? Listen next time you get your fur in a knot you can't just run off okay? Trust me, I tried that once and it did not turn out alright. You got to talk about. Bottling up your feelings and issues inside never did anything for anyone."
"You're right," Jenji agreed forlornly "I let you guys down. I deserve what's about to happen to me"
"Nothing is going to happen to you if you just-"
She was interrupted by her morpher, answering it Nick's voice came through "Ria, we need your help!"
"Nick? Where are you guys? Nick?" with no reply Aria closed her morpher and turned to speak to Jenji only to find him missing again "Aw shit…"
-Soon-
Aria knew she couldn't look for Jenji at the moment; she had to help her team. Aria had to get as soon as possible and Shadow Travelling was the quickest way for her; despite knowing that distance would drain her Aria had to get ASAP. She had soon reached the battle in a matter of seconds where she found Jenji getting tossed to the ground and five piles of brightly coloured feathers.
She leapt in the air, drew her MagiStaff Daggers. Firing her magic at the blue bird.
"Jenji are you okay?" she asked. He answered in painful moans as Aria advanced her attack. Aria sliced through the air but the bird was light on her feet. Even when she tried to swipe her feet from under her Aria was unsuccessful. Aria tried once again to use her daggers but was blocked and slashed by Screamer's claws. The hit took the breath from out of her, which Screamer used to her advantage. With a final blast Aria was knocked to her feet and demorphed.
Jenji finally regained his strength and stood to his feet. Upon standing he saw himself fading away causing him to panic. "I wish I had more time!" he cried. Suddenly he became whole again, he is a genie after all. "No more taking it easy on you Birdbrain!" he challenged
Aria sat up on her elbows and watched Jenji tackle the bird to the ground
"Ugh! I've had enough of you!" she screeched
"You haven't seen anything yet! Watch this!" he boasted before going on all fours and charged Screamer "SUPER CAT ATTACK!" he leapt from the ground and repeatedly kicked her in the chest. His final attack sliced her beak clean off.
"My beak! My beautiful beak!" she cried
Jenji landed heavily on the ground before collapsing to his knees. Aria managed to finally stand up and found the beloved genie fading away
"Jenji?" she asked worriedly "Why didn't you go back to Rootcore and save yourself?"
"You guys are my family…my only family" he replied calmly "Tell Fireheart I'm…sorry" those were his last words as he puffed into thin air
"Jenji!" Aria cried as she stared in shock
"Hyah!" she heard Daggeron call as he leapt from the sky, lamp in hand. He simply held it out before him and collected the smoke from Jenji's disappearance. Aria stood and walked over to the Solaris Knight "Tell him yourself" Daggeron joked
"Ah, home sweet home" he sighed causing Aria to laugh
Alas, like most heartfelt moments amongst rangers, it was ruined with Screamer claiming that she wasn't finished yet
"You guys seriously have bad timing. Is that just a thing with monsters like you?"
"Time to ranger up Aria" Daggeron advised
"Don't need to tell me twice, MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"
"Gawlit Mysto Ranger!"
Soon she was morphed and ready to go, "Let's get her Jenji!"
"Oh yeah!"
Jenji's lamp flew out of Daggeron's hands and into Aria's "Solaris Laser Lamp! Jenji Shining Attack! Fire!" she pulled the trigger and out flew Jenji leaving a trail of black rather than gold. That attack was the last of her and she collapsed to the ground "Bye-bye Birdie" Aria smirked and she heard the explosion behind her.
All around them the piles of feathers returned to their normal state and Aria's friends were back; looking around wondering what happened.
"Grow Screamer!" Necrolai screeched
"Ugh, this routine is getting too repetitive" Aria grumbled as her friends ran over.
"Thanks Ria" Nick said for the team
"Thank Jenji, now go!"
The Five and Daggeron wasted no time in forming their megazords to finally take care of the feathered demon. It only took them a matter of minutes to finally destroy her.
-Later-
-With Udonna-
Daggeron and Udonna were elated that Jenji was back to where he belonged, they were also amazed by how big the little Fireheart had grown. They had appointed Phineas as his babysitter when they were off protecting the human realm.
"He's a good boy" Phineas stated proudly "Thank you for letting me dragon-sit him."
"Anytime Phineas" Udonna replied with a smile
"I never got to see the other baby I left in the human world almost 20 years ago. Kinda makes me sad"
Both heads turned to the Troblin faster than you could say Mystic
"What baby?"
"Oops, huh, did I say 'baby'? No, no it must've just sounded like I said 'baby' what I actually said was 'lady', 'lady'" he rambled.
Udonna and Daggeron kept their gaze and proceeded to stalk towards Phineas
"What I meant was…oh…" he gulped "Her will is too strong...must tell the truth. Okay fine!" he gave "When Daggeron and Calindor were having their little dispute 20 years ago I found a baby. But with the great battle going on I knew I couldn't care for him myself so I took him to the human world. I left him somewhere safe." He admitted
"Bowen?" Udonna whispered "Bowen is alive? Daggeron I have to find him!"
"Udonna wait.."
"Baya! Oh Phineas, was there another?"
"Udonna…"
"Um, no just the one" Phineas said softly
"Udonna," Daggeron said sternly, gently grabbing her arms "If he is in the human world, then he is safe. We should focus on destroying evil before we put Bowen in harm's way. If they find out he's alive…" he trailed off
"You're right." He voice became hard and her face stern "We must keep this a secret…from everyone. Or Bowen will be in great danger.
He zipped his lip before tip-toeing away
"Daggeron…" she whispered to her friend "You said Calindor was with Baya…"
His silence and unshed tears were her confirmations
"I wish that she too found someone who took her away to safety, but…" he sighed "I've let them down"
"It was not your fault, as horrible it may seem, they are both at least safe from evil now" she thought with a sad smile
Daggeron blinked away his tears before entering Rootcore with his old friend.
A/N: I'm back from the dead! Okay, so I know I'm not the best at updating but tbf comp season started so I've had practice everyday, school has been insane, and I had so much work to catch up on. I've been so busy that I missed my own ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Holy crap I've been on this site for a YEAR (and a month lol)! I would like to thank all the readers that have been here since I first introduced Aria. Love you all! XOXOX