Chapter 5: No Man's an Island

Malefor's Castle…

Ugh… I can't believe how quickly that turned around, I once again underestimated the Power Rangers, I got careless, and let their words get to me. Malefor and Rikor were still not back yet, meaning I had time for another attempt before they returned. My body ached from head to toe, I'd need healing magic before I dared to try again. The remaining followers all huddled around me, "Scorn? Are you alright?" one of them asked.

They helped me to a chair, "I'll be fine, the Power Rangers got the better of me, overwhelmed me, it won't happen again," I growled. "In the meantime, we need to think of a new strategy, these children are stronger than they appear," I added.

"Master Scorn, if I may,"

One follower stepped forward, her face was hidden by the hood of her robe but I knew who it was regardless, it was Bianca, a mage apprentice sent to me from her mentor, she was young but skilled, although a bit too soft hearted for my liking, "Perhaps I could try? I believe I'm skilled enough to defeat the Power Rangers," She suggested.

At first I wanted to lash out at her for daring to suggest she could do what I couldn't, the Power Rangers were my foe to dispatch, but yet, the strategist in me was telling me to accept her offer, whether I wished to admit it or not, the Power Rangers were beginning to learn my fighting strategy, my weaknesses, if I kept throwing myself at them they'd learn me inside and out.

However, they had never encountered Bianca before, and I personally have seen her combat skill first hand, she could in theory take on the Power Rangers, and I needed time to heal regardless. "Very well, you may try your hand at the Rangers, but do not take them lightly, I've made that mistake twice now. Make preparations, you leave for the Human Realms first thing tomorrow," I said.

Bianca bowed her head and left to do as I ordered, I wanted at least one of the Power Rangers dead before we began Malefor's attack on their city, if anything just to show I was still perfectly capable as the head of this order…

The Next Day…

Grey Park, New Harmony…

School had been canceled for the day due to all the damage done to the school when Scorn tried to off Jess at the Library, so with no school and nothing else to do, I decided to work on my cardio and get a jog in, since school was out, so was team practice, and I needed to keep my game up in spite of the cancellation. I also needed to keep myself in shape for my duties as a Power Ranger, being one of the last line of defenses against Malefor and his monsters, I needed to be at my absolute best, the world depended on me, I couldn't afford to slack off.

There isn't going to be any doubt that the Green Ranger can pick up the slack, I was going to put my all into it like everything else I did, my grades were good, I was a star on the football team, I couldn't afford to be anything less than the best. "Be careful Dean, you mustn't push yourself too hard, even the mightiest warriors need a rest every now and then," Terrador said.

I knew that man, I've made that mistake before and wound up costing the team a game because I was too exhausted to play, but I still wanted myself in top shape, I wasn't going to be outlasted by one of Malefor's goons, "I admire your dedication Dean, but don't forget you are part of a team, you don't have to carry the world on your shoulders alone," Terrador said.

I began to ascend a staircase, I could feel the cold sweat beginning to form, my muscles beginning to stiffen from the running, but I made it up the stairs regardless, that would do for now, I unscrewed the cap to my water bottle and took a nice big swig of water to cool myself down and hydrate myself.

How long had I been going for? I didn't care, I felt like I'd ran enough, so I sat on a park bench to take a little break. I still wanted to hit the gym later and work on my strength, make sure that when I hit, I hit hard.

However, suddenly I heard a scream from behind me, I turned to see people fleeing from someone in a dark robe, their hand glowing with some kind of energy, I got up from the bench, this had to be one of Malefor's stooges, the figure stopped right in front of me, "Well well, the Green Ranger, I've been looking for you," The figure said, the voice clearly female, but more worrying was she knew I was the Green Ranger, how? I had no clue, "Surprised I knew who you were? It wasn't hard after learning who the Yellow Ranger was, you four are practically glued to each other's side, that and I can see your morpher," She explained as if she had read my mind.

I wasn't going to waste time with this fool, time to put my work out to the test, I quickly went for a right hook, however the hooded woman dodged the punch and threw one of her own, catching me in the chin with an uppercut. I staggered back, before doing a flip over the park bench to avoid an axe kick from her. I quickly did a vaulting kick over the bench, tagging her right in the dome, she fell over, but rolled herself right to her feet again, her hood falling down allowing me to see her face, and she was… a rabbit?

Yeah, she was a straight up bunny, she had a tuft of blonde hair that hung in her face, and her long ears were done up like a pony tail, I was seriously in a fight with a rabbit right now, I needed a moment to let that sink in.

However I may have taken too long as she did some kind of handspring kick knocking me over, I quickly got up, only to receive a roundhouse kick to the face, knocking me back down. I was seriously getting my ass kicked by a bunny, man is that embarrassing. "I don't see why Scorn had such trouble with you, your fighting skills are mediocre at best," the rabbit said.

I quickly rolled back and to my feet, "Then let's step it up a bit!" I said before going into my morphing pose, "Legendary Dragon! Power of Green Earth!" I said before morphing into the Green Ranger, I felt the surge of energy that usually came with morphing, "Now it's a party!" I said before jumping into the air, coming down with a dropkick.

However, oddly, she blocked it, causing me to fall over, I got up and threw a punch, blocked, a kick, deflected, another kick, caught, allowing her to throw me into a nearby tree. "Nice suit, too bad it doesn't make you a better fighter," She taunted me.

I couldn't believe this, she was straight up schooling me! Even morphed I couldn't take her! What am I doing wrong? I must not be trying hard enough! I threw a high kick, she ducked it and hit me with a spinning back elbow, man she was good, she fought with grace, effortlessly moving around my attacks and in the same motion, countering.

Time to start using my element, I tried to trap her legs in rock, but she leaped out of the way, right over my head, hitting me with some kind of magical blast right in the back. I dragged my leg through the ground, coming up with a rock covered roundhouse, but again she dodged, this time rolling out of the way and answering with another magical blast. I was on the ground again, my body starting to give out.

I tried my best to get back to my feet, my body was getting weaker from the abuse, man I can't believe I'm letting this overgrown bunny play me like this, "You're a stubborn one aren't you?" said the rabbit before knocking me right back over with a roundhouse kick, "But you're already starting to get weaker, it's only a matter of time before you stop being able to fight back at all," she added.

"A shame he's not alone!"

Suddenly the other rangers showed up, already morphed, Jess quickly helped me up, "Dean? You okay?" She asked me, my body felt like it just went ten rounds with Mike Tyson, I'd been hurt worse playing football, but that didn't make it any more pleasant.

Dylan and Kevin made sure to keep themselves between us and the rabbit, Kevin sort of tilted his head, "Wait… is that a rabbit?" He asked, "Dean got beat up by a bunny? Oh my god," Kevin said, fighting off giggles.

The rabbit rolled her eyes before springboard kicking both him and Dylan, knocking them both over, "Is it still funny human?" she asked, clearly not taking kindly to Kevin laughing at her expense.

Dylan was to retaliate, trying to get her with a sweep which she easily jumped over, coming down with a spinning kick to the Dylan's head. Kevin rushed in, throwing three punches, all blocked by the rabbit. She answered back with a monster uppercut, lifting Kevin off his feat from the force.

Jess tried to jump in, throwing a few punches of her own, which the rabbit also blocked before taking her to the ground with a judo flip. "Is this seriously the best you've got? How you four were able to best Scorn I'll never know," the rabbit said.

We all got up, standing together in a line, "You haven't won yet!" Dylan said defiantly, he then summoned his sword and began to swing, she effortlessly dodged each swing, she then held her hand out and chanted something I couldn't quite make out, before Dylan's sword came flying out of his hands, she then threw some kind of magical blast causing Dylan to erupt into a burst of sparks, knocking him to the ground.

The rabbit then knelt down next to the downed red ranger, "You wield that sword like a child, do you have any training? Or did the Purple Dragon just pluck you off the street and give you a morpher?" She asked him, Dylan only responded with a frustrated growl. Despite being evil, she had a point, Spyro never really did train us… like at all, no wonder we were getting flattened!

The rabbit then grabbed Dylan by the throat and tossed him back to us, "As fun as this is, Master Scorn was very specific with what he wanted me to do, I detest killing, but you four are in the way, and must be dealt with," She said, she then began to charge a magical attack.

Man! Look at the size of that thing! No doubt that would wipe us all out if it hit, and we were too banged up to even dodge it! She was straight up going to kill us, man I never thought this was how my life was going to end, at the hands of a magical kung fu rabbit!

However, before she could connect, everything went white, and we suddenly found ourselves in the Dragon Temple again. All of us were confused, unsure what had just happened. We all slowly got to our feet, removing our helmets as we approached that pool thing in the center of the room.

We found Spyro there, his head hung low, eyes shut tightly, I could see he was breathing heavily, as if he had been really freaked out about something. "Spyro? You okay man?" I asked, he seemed startled by the sound of my voice, his purple eyes shooting open and yelping a bit.

He however, quickly regained his composure, "I… I'm fine Dean," He said shakily, "Just… came a little closer to losing you four than I'd like," He added. Wait… was he freaked out because he thought we died?

Kevin then stormed up to us, "The hell man?! We could have taken her! Why'd you pull us out of there like that?!" He yelled, dude she was kicking our asses! Spyro just saved our lives back there!

Spyro just glared at Kevin, I could hear a light growl emanating from his throat, "That spell would have obliterated you four, I just saved your lives Kevin," He growled.

Kevin just rolled his eyes and leaned against a pillar, Jess and Dylan came up to us, Jess supporting Dylan on her shoulder, I just noticed Dylan's suit had a nasty burn mark right on the chest, which he was clutching with his hand, "Spyro, who was that?" Jess asked.

Spyro paused, before he began to explain, "That, was Bianca, a mage apprentice under the command of Scorn and his order," He explained, "I didn't know he'd send her after you four like that, I should have prepared you better," He added.

Kevin once again rolled his eyes, "So we got our butts kicked by a magic nerd in training?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

Spyro shook his head, "She's one of The Sorceress' best students," He explained, of course, none of us knew what that meant exactly, so Spyro felt the need to explain, "The Sorceress was one of the most feared mages in the Dragon Realms, our paths crossed once, a few years before I had decided to seal myself away, she commands powerful magic, and she's both Bianca… and Scorn's master," He explained.

Spyro then began to walk around the pool thing, "I should have trained you four first, but everything had been happening so quickly I hadn't thought to do it," He said more to himself than us.

Dylan groaned, "That's not important right now," He strained, "We need to stop her before she-" He began before Spyro suddenly turned his head towards us, and man was he pissed! He looked like he was about to tear Dylan's head off!

"NO!" He roared, "I almost lost you four today! If you think I'm going to let you go after her again, especially in your condition? You're out of your mind!" He snapped. We all sort of froze, surprised by Spyro's sudden outburst over what seemed to be a pretty standard response. Spyro then stopped, taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, "I'm sorry, but in your condition you can't go after her, Dylan especially, I want you four to remain here for the day while you recover from your injuries, then we'll discuss stopping Bianca," He said.

None of us really knew how to respond, just sort of standing there, confused, "Jess, come with me, we need to tend of Dylan's injuries before they become infected," He said, Jess nodded, taking Dylan and following Spyro out of the room.

I then heard Kevin growl as he punched the pillar, "Can you believe that? We're under lock down now! How the hell am I going to explain this to my parents or my boss? 'Sorry sir! I can't come into work today because my overprotective dragon mentor got spooked by a rabbit and wants to keep me in his temple all night!' Unbelievable!" He complained before storming off to complain to himself some more.

I kinda got why Kevin was upset, but he was just looking out for us, I was more miffed at myself for letting her get the better of me like that. I was supposed to defend the whole world, but some rabbit got the better of me, completely schooling me like a chump! And now Dylan was hurt because I couldn't step up and take her down! None of this would be happening if I had been able to take her down!

"Dean I told you before not to carry the world on your shoulders alone, you're a team," Terrador admonished me, "You simply found an opponent beyond your own skill, it has happened to me several times in my days as it does any warrior, the best thing you can do is learn from it and move on," he added. I sighed, this was going to be a long night.

Hours Later…

I had called my parents and told them I was spending the night with friends, not really a lie per say, but I still found it hard to be so vague with them, I wish I could just tell them I was a Power Ranger, maybe then Dad would actually be proud of me for once, but knowing him he'd probably tell me I was wasting my potential fighting evil or something. I happened upon Jess, telling her dad the same thing, "No dad it's alright, we're just hanging out for the night… no no it's nothing like that I swear," She said.

Jess' dad was a cop, and thus always tried to keep her and her older brother Ryan out of trouble. "No it's just a quiet hang out night nothing bad I swear… yeah I know it just sort of came up unexpectedly, I would have told you ahead of time if I'd known… okay… love you too Dad… bye," She said, she ended the call and let out an exasperated sigh.

I walked up to her, "How are you holding up Jess?" I asked, I'd known Jess since we were little, our dads were old college buddies, thus Jess and I basically grew up together, it wasn't hard for me to tell when something was bothering her, she wasn't exactly good at hiding it.

Jess leaned against the stone wall of the Dragon Temple, sitting herself down, I sat next to her, "It just… bothers me how easily that Bianca woman beat all of us, even Scorn couldn't keep up with all four of us morphed," said Jess.

She wasn't wrong, you'd think a fighter that badass would be calling the shots instead of Scorn, but then again, Scorn had an ego, and was easily thrown off his game because of it, Bianca was like if Scorn didn't have that weakness. "She fought like a machine, when we were going one on one, she moved so gracefully, I couldn't keep up, and she overwhelmed me," I said, I hated admitting that, I never liked admitting that someone outlasted me, it's happened to me in games before, some corner back or linebacker who managed to shut me down all game, I never liked it when someone got the better of me, I always felt like I hadn't done enough to keep up.

Jess shook her head, "Poor Dylan got the worst of it though, you should have seen his stomach, it looked like an overcooked steak," she said, and that was probably the worst part of it, I felt like it was my fault that happened to Dylan, he wouldn't have had to step in if I had just kept pace with Bianca.

I buried my face in my hands, "If only I had been able to keep pace with her, you guys wouldn't have had to step in and Dylan wouldn't have gotten hurt," I said more to myself than Jess.

Jess shook her head, "Dean, we all got beat by her, not just you," She said, "You're doing it again Dean, I've told you before, no man's an island, what happened to Dylan wasn't your fault," She said.

Jess and I have had this conversation before, a million times actually, but this was different, I almost got someone, no, all of us killed because I couldn't keep up the pace, because I fell short! "Jess we almost died today! All because I couldn't beat some bunny!" I said, slamming my fist into the wall behind me in anger.

Jess just put a hand on my shoulder, "Dean come on! You can't put that on yourself! We're a team remember! I win or lose together," She said.

I stood up, "She attacked me first Jess! If I could have just taken her down then no one else would have gotten involved! How is this not my fault?!" I yelled, I know she was just trying to help, but I just couldn't share the blame for this! This loss was on me, I needed to be a man and accept responsibility for my own mistakes.

Jess stood up, "I should go check on Dylan, try not to tear yourself apart while I'm gone okay?" She said before leaving, I knew that wasn't the reason she wanted to leave, she figured she needed to let me sort things out on my own. But my point did remain, I needed to be a man and accept when I screwed up, and I have.

I decided to walk around, in the few times I'd ever been here I've never actually explored the temple before. It was kinda dark and foreboding in a way, empty and almost lifeless, but it also seemed to go on forever, I eventually found a room with a giant dragon statue in the center, it seemed oddly large for the room, it was of a dragon I didn't recognize, I had a vague idea of what the guardians looked like from our helmet designs and zords, this dragon had three large horns, the two on the side curving upwards, and one on the base of his skull that just shot up. The statue had some kind of light at the center of it's chest, almost like it was wearing a pendent.

"Malefor,"

I turned to see Spyro had happened upon me, "That's who that statue is of, Malefor before he became corrupted," He clarified. Spyro sat himself next to me, even sitting down the purple dragon still towered over me.

I looked to the statue and back to Spyro, "Why is it here then? Seems kinda odd to have a statue of the bad guy in your temple," I asked, it just seemed a bit… silly to me, having a statue of the villain staring down at me in what was supposed to be our home base.

Spyro sort of chuckled to himself, "It was in the original Dragon Temple, I wanted the temple to be just like the one I trained in, every detail the same, I had expected to be in hibernation far longer than I was, and wanted to at least have one thing familiar to me when I woke up," He explained, it made a weird sort of sense, if I had been sealed away for years, I'd want something resembling home to be there too.

Spyro then turned to me, "Jess told me about your conversation earlier," He said, aw man here it comes, I should have known Jess would tell Spyro.

I shook my head, taking a few steps forward, "I don't need a lecture, I have to be a man and accept my mistakes," I said simply, hoping that would be enough for him.

However, Spyro simply sighed, "I used to think like that too, that every defeat was my fault and that I was supposed to be the great hero that could never fail, being the Purple Dragon, you can't help but feel that way in fairness, but every time I messed up I felt like I was letting the whole world down," Said Spyro.

I turned in his direction, "What changed?" I asked.

Spyro sighed, "I had a friend there to tell me different, that I would always have someone there to help me and that I wasn't alone, that I'd never be alone, that any burden I had would be shared with her and every other friend I had. So that's what I wanted to tell you, there's a reason I picked four of you and not one, the fate of the world is a heavy burden to carry by yourself Dean, trust me I know," He said, approaching me and putting his paw on my shoulder, "You're a good ranger Dean, but even the most powerful heroes need to remember that they aren't alone in the fight, you have three other rangers with you, ready to help you out whenever you need it," He explained.

I shook my head, "I just… I felt like I let everyone down, and Dylan, he only got hurt because I couldn't beat Bianca," I said, I could feel tears forming in my eyes, I knew what Spyro was saying was probably true, but I couldn't just pretend like I couldn't have prevented what happened.

Spyro shook his head, "You didn't let anyone down Dean, not me at least, you're all still new at this and if anything it's my fault for not training you guys properly, given the circumstances you four have done exceptionally well," He said, he sounded just like a parent trying to boost their kid's confidence, but something about the way he spoke also seemed quite genuine, he clearly meant what he was saying.

But it was hard for me to go against how I'd thought and felt my entire life, that I needed to push myself to be the very best I could be, and if I failed, it was because I didn't work hard enough. "My dad is part of why I'm like this, he always thought I was wasting my potential playing football instead of going into computer science like him," I began, I don't know why I suddenly felt the need to tell him this, but I guess I figured it would give him more context. "Nothing I've ever done was good enough for him, I guess that's why I'm so hard on myself… because I'm just so used to people thinking I'm not good enough..." I said.

Spyro shook his head again, "I don't think that Dean," He said, "Like I said, you're a fine Ranger, I wouldn't have chosen you if I'd thought different, never forget that okay?" he asked me.

Suddenly Kevin came running into the room, "Spyro! You might want to see that… pool thing you have… something's going down in the city!" He said, slightly panicked.

Spyro and I looked at each other, but followed Kevin into the main room, Jess and Dylan were both there already, Dylan still kinda messed up, Spyro approached the pool and studied it, it was then I saw an image form in the water, we saw Bianca terrorizing a shopping mall, blowing up stands with magic blasts.

Dylan stepped forward, still clutching his abdomen, "We have to get down there! She's going to hurt someone!" He said.

Spyro gave Dylan the same look he had the last time Dylan suggested going after her, "No! You're still injured, I'm not risking your lives!" He growled.

However, "Then the rest of us will go, we can't just stand here and let her kill innocent people!" I objected, the look on Spyro's face told me he wasn't going to comply, that he wasn't budging on this at all, "Please Spyro, I know I can do this…" I said.

Spyro thought it over, before reluctantly… "Fine, you, Jess, and Kevin go down there, Dylan you need to keep resting, you're not ready for combat yet," He said, Dylan of course wasn't too thrilled about being benched, but with that injury he was in no shape to fight.

The three of us stepped forward, morphers ready….

"Legendary Dragon! Power of Green Earth!"

"Legendary Dragon! Power of Blue Ice!"

"Legendary Dragon! Power of Yellow Electricity!"

We were all then teleported to the town mall for our rematch with Bianca, we appeared right behind her, she instantly noticed us, "I was wondering how many merchant stands I would have to knock down to get your attention Power Rangers," she said before noticing something, "You seem to be a ranger short, where's your leader?" she inquired.

I stepped forward, fist clenched, "We don't need him to take out a sorry excuse for a lacky like you!" I said, causing Bianca to simply laugh, before she quickly went on the offensive, throwing a kick right to my head, causing me to stumble right into the arms of Jess and Kevin.

Jess looked to me, "You really think we can take her without Dylan? I mean, she beat us pretty soundly even with Dylan!" She asked me.

At first, I thought she had a point, we were pretty hopeless here a man short, but then I began to recall what Spyro had told me before, that I was a part of a team, and how I needed to realize that. "Maybe, but if we work together, she can't take us," I said.

Kevin and Jess seemed to understand what I meant, as all three of us launched ourselves at her, I began to throw a few punches, she dodged them just like last time, but Kevin launched himself off my shoulders, coming down with an ax kick catching her right on the head, Jess then came in from behind with a spin kick of her own, knocking the rabbit to the ground.

Bianca then unleashed a magic burst that knocked all of us back, "You think ganging up on me is going to change anything? You can't win! Even if you beat me today, Scorn will win the war! It's inevitable!" She yelled.

I drew my Ax of Earth, "I don't think so," I said, "Every time Scorn and his goons throw themselves at our world, we Power Rangers will always be there to stop him! Together!" I declared as I began to do a circular motion with my ax, "Earth Ax! ROCK SLIDE!" I called, swinging my ax, striking the ground. A trail of rock raced towards Bianca, hitting her like a rock solid tidal wave, sending her to the ground. She struggled to get up, too beaten to even stand. "It's over Bianca, you've lost!" I said rather triumphantly.

Bianca growled, "This isn't over Power Rangers! Not by a long shot!" She said before creating a portal and escaping through it, Kevin tried to give chase but the portal closed before he could even reach it.

Kevin growled, "Dammit! She got away!" he cursed.

I knew she'd be back, but for now, we won. Spyro was right, I needed to start looking at this group as a team instead of just myself, four equal parts of the same machine, working in tandem to protect the world from destruction.

Meanwhile…

Malefor's Castle…

Bianca had failed, overwhelmed by those infernal Power Rangers! How can a group of mere man pups be so difficult to kill?! It seemed no matter what, they always managed to find a way to turn things around and win.

Bianca appeared from the portal she had escaped into, "Master Scorn! I'm sorry, I failed," She said, disappointment clear in her voice.

I went to admonish her for her failure, however, "It matters not rabbit," boomed a voice from the darkness, suddenly Lord Malefor appeared from the shadows, with a horde of elemental golems behind him, "Let the Power Rangers enjoy their final victory… before the end of everything they know and love," He said with a sinister smirk.

Malefor then walked over to the viewing globe, "Prepare the troops, by dawn tomorrow, New Harmony burns to cinder, and the Power Rangers breathe their last breaths," He growled… It was indeed time, for the Power Rangers to end once and for all!

A/N: Dun dun duuuh, it seems that Malefor's ready for a full scale assault on New Harmony! Will our plucky young heroes be able to save New Harmony? Or will Malefor destroy everything they've ever loved? Stay tuned!

I'm sorry this chapter took so long to put out, but I got busy playing Chroma Squad and time just sort of slipped away from me. Hopefully it won't happen again, knock on wood.