Volume IV – Nemeses

Chapter 30—Collegebound

Aaron

"Dude, that's awesome! I'm so proud of you!"

I easily lifted Patrick off the ground in a death-grip hug. My parents and Corey were laughing happily at our display of affection, but by now, this had become normal.

Only this wasn't normal.

I set my boyfriend down with an appraising look, overwhelmed with pride. In his right hand was a now slightly-crinkled yellow packet declaring that some school would soon take him far away from the reaches of Reefside.

Away from me.

"I think this is cause for a celebration," my blond haired Dyn said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "Do you guys wanna go out to eat? Or out somewhere?"

Patrick put on his thinking face, biting his lip ever-so-slightly. I tried to ignore it. Even though I knew this was his thinking face—I knew this—but it wasn't just his thinking face. I knew from experience.

I crossed my legs as I leaned against the staircase.

"What do you think, Aaron?" he asked, turning toward me as he continued to chew on his lip.

I shrugged.

Now, to an outsider looking in, I knew I looked like an asshole. I knew I looked selfish and spoiled, and that to most, I was confusing. Why would I be standoffish during one of my boyfriend's happiest moments? Why?

It was what Jay had said to me a few days ago. It still gave me chills.

"You might be staying to go to LCU, but I'm not, and neither is Patrick."

And he was right. So far, I was the only one going to Lower California University, though Amy had applied just in case. Patrick had applied, and they'd accepted him, but now I knew he was off to Chicago. LCU was just his backup-backup plan.

"Dinner sounds incredible right now," my little sister said for me, most likely knowing how I was feeling. She knew me better than anyone, really.

Patrick grinned. "Of course it sounds good to you—you're always hungry!"

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"Well, if we're gonna get dinner, we should all go get changed," said Dyn. "I'm not letting you guys go out like this."

My dad raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I think that's our queue to go get changed," Patrick chuckled as he took my hand and led me upstairs.

I tried to fake happiness, but I wasn't really good at faking anything.

"What's wrong?"

I looked up at my boyfriend of nearly a year with what I thought was a clueless face. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" he repeated.

"N-nothing! Why would something be wrong?"

"Cuz I know you better than that," he said as he shut the bedroom door behind us. "And you're not excited about eating. That right there is a major giveaway."

I pulled off my shirt and turned around to look at him. "Nothing's wrong, dude; I promise."

"You're worried about school, aren't you?"

Fuck.

I sighed and finished pulling my shirt off my forearms. "It's just…Chicago's really far away…"

Now he sighed as he stepped closer, putting his hands on my bare shoulders. "I'm gonna come visit as much as possible. And I'll still see you when we need to Ranger up."

"Yeah, but that's the thing—I'll only get to see you when we're trying to kick evil Ranger ass and protect civilians while you're running around in green spandex."

"Elesferi," he corrected subtly. "And I would think that'd be a good thing."

I fought the urge to grin, even though I was in a terrible mood.

It was the little stuff that I loved about Patrick. For example, he corrected me when I was wrong. Most of my friends, even Jay, never corrected me—even if they knew I was wrong. They just waited until someone else would tell me. Patrick never hesitated. It was this honesty that I felt with him that kept me grounded and secure with him. I didn't worry as much about what people thought of me, because Patrick's opinion was really the only one that mattered now. I mean, we still kept our relationship secret of course, but that was more so that he and I didn't have extra shit on our plates to deal with.

I couldn't help but worry that this new-found security would go away once he left, though. Especially because I knew he was much more independent than I was. As much as I tried to be, I felt like I was just falling back into my role of pretending to be something I wasn't. That was why I hadn't made any new friends. Patrick was always making new friends at his job as a waiter, always getting invited to do something. He was charismatic and outgoing. I was not.

"Seriously, though," I finally said as I looked away from his face, suddenly noticing how interesting the texture of the shirt in my hand was, "it's gonna be weird without you here. Sleeping along in some dorm room with a person I don't know, not being able to talk to you just about whenever I want…"

He frowned and kissed my collarbone. That was one of the little things he did that I liked. Kisses in random places, just to add a little emotion to the situation. "Just…try not to think about it for now, okay?" he said. "We've still got about four or five months together…why spend all that time worrying?"

I remained silent.

"I, personally, would like to spend it doing other things."

I glanced down at him, noting the small smirk on his soft lips, and I craned my neck slightly to kiss them.

"C'mon, your highness; we need to shower."

I couldn't reject an offer like that. We'd grown so close in the aftermath of the Zeta crisis that I sometimes forgot what life was like before we were dating. And I felt like I was growing off him—like he was helping me become a better, stronger, smarter me. My SAT scores were incredible; a 2230. Patrick didn't let me do anything but study for a while, and I didn't start to appreciate it until I realized he wouldn't always be there. But with SAT scores like that, why was I going to LCU?

Well…part of it was because I was afraid to go anywhere else. I had lived my entire life in Reefside, and my Dyn scared the shit out of me with talk of going to Eltar to learn about the responsibilities that would await me after college. When I turned 30, I was expected to fill in for the role of the official Eyr ban Eltar—or the Prince of Eltar. Do you have any idea how terrifying that is? Imagine being responsible for your home planet if your parents were otherwise preoccupied.

Hell, the only thing that kept me from freaking the fuck out was Patrick. He was so calm about everything—he was like my constant peace of mind, and he always knew exactly what to say or do to make me feel better. You can imagine why hearing that the enemy Green Ranger flirted with him upset me just a little bit.

See, as much as Eltarians liked to think of themselves divine, elegant, and above primitive emotions like jealousy—they weren't. I knew from experience.

We were primal at times, and the fact that I was half-human really didn't help with that. I was almost possessive over Patrick, and it sometimes worried me. Dyn just shrugged it off as a Zayledyn thing, saying that anyone would be protective over someone whose soul became your own. But I felt like it was something else. And I was afraid of what would happen to me without him.

So as I stepped into the shower with him, and photographed every little bit of him in my mind, I couldn't help but feel disconnected from the world—sick to my stomach at the thought of him being so far away.

—30—

"Gauntlet Guards to full power!" Beth shouted over the hum of the five base Rangers' wrist-mounted lasers charging up. "Fire!"

A barrage of multi-colored blasts flew forward at the Mecha Squad, but Spiritos was all over it in the blink of an eye, a yellow force field deflecting the fire easily.

"Mecha Squad, return fire!" ordered Gabriel.

And return fire they did.

I felt the sparks fly out of my suit and sear my chest as I stumbled backward in pain.

"This does not seem like our day," I muttered to Beth, who was pulling herself off the ground.

"Should I go to GaiaTech?" she wondered.

That gave me an idea.

"Wait…what if we went to the Altar of Eltar and you went GaiaTech?"

I could practically see her eyes widening behind her white visor. "You think it would work?"

"It's worth a shot," Patrick chimed in as he blocked a blast with his Spiral Edge for us.

"Then let's go," I said to him. "Cyber Squad, fall back!"

Without hesitation, they followed my command.

Dyn always said that being Dyr ban Eltar, or King of Eltar, was a lot like commanding a Ranger Team. Everything was strategic but empathetic—never making a decision without considering the needs of your people. The thing that sucked for me was that I was terrible with reading people. Sure, Doc Ol tried to tell me otherwise, but I could not empathize with a person for the life of me.

But I could give orders. I saw patterns and strategy better than most; math, logic, and hardcore facts were my best friends. It was the abstract stuff that I could not grasp at all.

We reached the underground bunker faster than I'd anticipated. I remembered studying the Mecha Squad and noting that none of their Rangers had super speed except Solaris—and Gabriel was strong, but not strong enough to take us all on. And he knew we had memorized the bunker faster than him. This was our element.

"Alright everyone, elemental powers ready," I instructed the team.

"Aaron," Doc cut me off, "I know it hasn't been tested in the bunker, but I suggest using the PSD Warp technique."

My visor shot open as I looked at Grace and Amy. Their visors opened, and their eyes reflected the same nervousness I felt.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, dad?" Grace wondered.

"I've talked to Hunter about it and he says you should be fine—the bunker's technology only keeps you from accessing the Morphing Grid, not the elemental powers given to you by your Morphers."

I nodded. "Then PSD Warp it is."

The PSD Warp was something we had come up with shortly after our last escapade at the Altar. Back when the Mecha Squad made its first appearance. Essentially, it was teleporting. PSD stood for Psi-Sigma-Delta—the coding for Grace, Amy, and myself, who were the only ones capable of using this technique. It involved Grace focusing on her intangibility, Amy supplying a constant power source and keeping our atoms organized, and me providing the light speed we needed to move so quickly. In all honesty, it was pretty amazing. At least, in my opinion.

Granted, Grace, Amy, and I had only done this warp thing about 5 times—once to escape the Altar but never to enter it. Escaping was easy—all we had to do was envision an open street above ground. Entering was a different story. The underground bunker was nearly pitch black and hard to imagine in full detail.

"Let's do it," Grace said, her suit deteriorating and her eyes fluttering open.

Amy followed her lead immediately. "Ready when you are, boss man."

I, too, demorphed and visualized the altar. "Ready."

Grace, Amy, and I extended our arms so that our finger tips were nearly touching. In the center of the triangle we formed, the other four Rangers stood patiently—nervously. As the energy whirled around us in ribbons of light energy, embers of shadows, and crackles of force, I felt my atoms begin to accelerate. I kept my focus, despite the fact that I could hear Gabriel approaching with the Mecha Squad.

"Warp in 3," Grace said, pausing for Amy to continue the countdown.

"2," the Pink Ranger said.

I hardly hesitated as her eyes met mine. "1."

Gabriel came speeding around the corner, but he was too late. I saw the lights around us maximize in an aura of crazy colors, the sound of the Earth speeding past us as we traveled thousands of feet in less than 5 seconds.

When I opened my eyes, we were in front of the Altar.

"Alright, we don't have much time," Patrick was saying as we recovered from the strain on our bodies. "Everyone get your Morphers ready. Aaron, you got the security codes?"

"On it," I replied without breaking my concentration. I entered my Dyn's Eltarian birthday, a few other random factoids, and the slots for our morphers opened seamlessly.

"Insert your Morphers, guys," Beth said rapidly. "I'll do mine last. Hopefully Gaiatech can hold up down here."

It was done in seconds. Every Cyber Morpher was ready to donate power to Beth, who stood ready to receive. She took a deep breath, readied her body, and then Morphed faster than I'd ever seen possible. Moments later, the Gaiatech armor flashed on and the tunnel became a burning red color that slowly faded away.

And then the Gaiatech armor faded.

We stared silently at the enormous door in front of us, waiting for it to decide whether or not it would open.

"Power Source Insufficient."

"Bullshit!" Jay cursed. "This thing has got to be broken or something!"

Patrick was staring at me oddly, as if he'd suddenly had an idea.

"What?" I asked him quietly.

"You," he said simply. "You're the Power Source."

"What?" I repeated. "How?"

"When the Stones were sealed away, your Dyn put the seal on it. He was in his Eyr Orion form, wasn't he?"

The others looked confused in the flickering light that came from Jay's fireball.

"The 'ear' what?" Jay asked.

"The Eyr Orion," Patrick corrected him. "All royal Eltarians have a genetic defect that allows them to tap into a higher form of power than normal Eltarians. This state is thought to be a phase caught between Eltarian and Seraph, and thus proves that the user is a direct descendant of Zeta."

Grace raised an eyebrow. "Are you old enough to do it?"

"I…" I sighed. "I never finished my training. Dyn didn't think I would need it yet, and…as far as I know…I can't."

"Yes, you can," Patrick said firmly. "You're the Prince of Eltar. You're the only one who can use the Eyr Orion."

"Patrick…"

"Aaron, just try," he urged me. In the dark, where Jay's fireball didn't shine, Patrick slowly gripped my hand. "I know you can do this."

I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes, trying to focus. My Dyn had told me about the Eyr Orion form a few times. According to my Dyn, reaching the Eyr Orion form got easier every time, and that there was no set age or time it would happen. He told me that it essentially was a defense mechanism, designed to allow the user to survive instances he normally would not. If pushed far enough, the Eyr Orion could potentially regenerate the user, depending on the level of experience.

But to trigger at will was what I never learned. Dyn always said that he did it by channeling his anger. He would imagine all he fought for—all the happiness and freedom he'd worked so hard to give to everyone else—going up in smoke. The anger he felt released the pure Eltarian energy in him, and he was able to ascend. Unlike my Dyn, though, I couldn't do abstract things like that. Thoughts to me were just that—thoughts. They weren't really inspiring, and they didn't really do much for me. I mean, sure, I got feelings from them, but I was never able to really understand them. My dad, Dustin the psychologist, said it was because of my autism.

As I tried to focus—tried to shut my mind up and quit all the voices bouncing around—I felt the room go still. I felt my body go numb, like no matter how hard I squeezed Patrick's hand—I couldn't feel it. I felt the fear in me well up, felt all my emotions go unchecked. My forehead throbbed, just like it did during my blackouts. I wanted to bring my hands up to head and pound the pain out. I heard drums in my head, escalating to a zenith, and I felt my vision fade away until I saw nothing.

And only then, when stripped of all my senses, did I realized what had happened.

In all my thinking, I had done two things.

One, I had tripped a paradox of sorts. I couldn't focus on focusing, but I could focus on…not knowing how to focus? Like I said, paradox.

Two, I had felt a fear like never before—a need to protect and conserve the one thing I was able to focus on. Patrick.

Then, everything exploded.

My head, my chest, my legs, my arms—everything was on fire. And nothing seemed to make sense anymore. I could feel Patrick's hand in my own, could feel him holding on worriedly. But I couldn't see him. Couldn't verify what was real and what wasn't. I felt myself being ripped to shreds by some unknown force, and in a panic, I made peace with death.

I figured that was what this must've been.

Until I realized I had control of my body again. Until I opened my eyes.

It was like seeing through my ranger visor times twenty. Everything was vibrant and sharp and crystal clear; and when I looked to my right, Patrick's worried face was the first thing I saw. And I saw him in so many different colors and ways. I felt like I could see through the fabric of time and space—like I could see him any way I chose.

And focusing? Focusing was so easy. I felt that if I focused too hard I could rip the time-space continuum. It was so overwhelming I almost lost it. Fear was my inspiration.

"Aaron? Aaron, are you there?" Patrick said.

I nodded. In the reflection of the steel-plated door in front of us, I could see myself. My eyes were glowing, literally, like someone had put light bulbs behind my eyeballs, and my hair—now completely and totally white—was fluttering around like I was flying through a wind tunnel. Only I was perfectly still.

And I was naked! Or at least, that's how I saw myself. But when I unfocused, I saw that my entire body was nearly unnoticeable beneath the radiance that seemed to be generated by my very skin; on the other hand, every muscle was clearly outlined to my eyesight, and I felt like I could blush at being naked in front of them. Instead, I ignored it. I knew I had a purpose. Somehow, I knew.

I deliberately stepped forward to the scanner and set my hand over the seven different slots. It felt like someone was taking all the life out of me, and as I stumbled back, the radiance vanished and my eyesight returned to normal. I faintly recalled there being a bright flash of light, but it was the last thing I saw before everything faded to black.

—30—

I heard the others whispering before I saw their worried faces. "Is he okay? What happened? Did it work?"

"He's fine," Patrick's voice overpowered them. "It just takes a lot of energy."

"Guys, look!" Matt gasped.

I opened my eyes slowly and glimpsed the door opening. Behind us, I could hear the approach of the Mecha Squad, but inside, I knew they were too late.

From what I could see beyond the bright lights inside the Altar of Eltar, there were seven large pillars of Eltarian design—sleek, classic, yet futuristic. Each one had a transparent casing that seemed to house pure energy of varying colors. But I knew the colors corresponded to the Ranger colors of the Fury Rangers.

I tried to stand. I knew what needed to be done now.

"Dude, are you okay?" Jay asked.

"I'm naked," I groaned.

Patrick removed his jacket and handed it to me. "You might wanna keep in mind that your clothes get incinerate when you do that."

"Dyn never mentioned that fun little detail," I said, trying to add some humor to my voice.

"You did it, though," Amy noted, pointing to the Altar.

"Not yet," I said, "but I will."

With Patrick's help, I stood to my full height and stared directly into the Altar. I knew it wouldn't be this easy. I knew I would need to prove myself.

So I opened my mouth and let my instincts take over.

Eltarian flowed from my lips as I spoke to the Altar, declaring myself.

I am Prince Aaron of Eltar—descendant of Zeta. I am a child of your forger. I hereby summon you.

I felt the eyes of the other Rangers on me, staring at me in either shock or disbelief. None of them had ever seen this side of me. None of them fully realized what I meant when I said I was an alien. It was like they thought it just made me famous or something, since I was a prince. They didn't realize the magnitude of my responsibilities. They didn't understand the power I had.

As their eyes stared in the flickering of Jay's fireball and the fading light of the Altar, I waited to see if my instincts had been right. I waited to see if I was finally living up to my potential—that I wasn't a fuckup. That my autism didn't hinder me.

The room went dark, even the lights on the sides of the door seemed to disappear. And Jay's fireball was the only light, casting a warm yellow glow around the room.

"Uh…" Matt mumbled, "what happened?"

"Yeah, did it work?" Jay asked quickly, glancing at me.

"Just wait," I panted.

I didn't realize how exhausted I was.

"Yes," someone said mockingly, "just wait."

Jay immediately threw his fireball in the direction of the sound, but it hit the side of the cave and went out.

Another fireball appeared immediately in Jay's palm.

"It's Gabriel," I said, my voice worn and barely above a whisper.

"Our Morphers are still inside the Altar!" Grace whispered heatedly, scanning the shadows. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Die."

Patrick spun around faster than I could ever have expected, his arm locked firmly around my chest and under my arms. We shot up into the air, and Patrick's eyes glowed green before they fired beams of lightning from them.

Gabriel howled in pain.

"Get to the surface!" Patrick barked, his voice vibrating through his chest and into my back.

"No," I managed to groan out. "No…wait."

"Aaron, we can't wait!" Jay shouted. "It's not gonna work!"

"If Aaron says we wait, we wait!" Patrick yelled back.

"For what?" Amy burst in. "The whole Mecha Squad to come blasting their way through here? I don't think so!"

Light.

Light exploded in the room, pouring out from the general area of the Altar—my eyes couldn't even see the frame of the door. Rays and beams and particles and swirls of pure energy ripped through the air in humming bolts. It bounced off the walls, ricocheting into every tunnel of the underground bunker.

I could somehow feel the light changing colors, like it was mutating into every color imaginable. Small pockets of energy formed in the center of the altar and I was able to make out 7 different areas where the colors seemed to still. Black. Pink. Blue. Yellow. Red. White. Green.

In the center of these spheres of light, I could see shapes forming. Two shapes in each one. Rectangular in nature—except one that was triangular, and another that was far smaller and key-shaped.

Our Morphers.

As the light began to dim, reality began to sink back in. Gabriel was in shocked silence, his face visible from where Patrick and I were floating.

And then, of course, reality had some help sinking in. You know, when the Mecha Squad came running in, their shoes scraping the ground and their breath heavy.

"What's going on?" Sanders wondered, dumbstruck.

Gabriel's wild eyes shifted to Sanders psychotically. "STOP THEM!"

But it was too late.

Our Morphers seemed to have sensed our distress—like they were living beings that had truly bonded with us. In the blink of an eye, they flew throughout the room perfectly, latching onto our wrists (and necks, for Patrick) without the slightest sense of hesitation.

Our bodies were lit up with auras of our Ranger colors, and symbols burned brightly on our Morphers. And then we realized the changes in them. Because physically, they looked almost exactly the same. The one difference was on the Digital Morpher of the set—the one with our lower-case Greek letter imprinted in it and was shaped like a 6-pointed-star.

In the center of it, where the lower-case letters should have been, were new symbols. And I knew these symbols. They were Eltarian. Before I could try to process all of this—before I could acknowledge that I had just awoken a power that had been dormant for over 15 years—I felt a new presence in my body. The presence of energy.

Everyone in the room was perfectly still.

And then I spoke.

"Topside."

No yelling. No screaming. No dramatic theatrics. Just a word.

And every one of my teammates seemed to disappear. I flew off at light speed, a barrier of light energy surrounding me like a form-fitting-outfit. Even Patrick's jacket around my waist was outlined in energy.

I guessed this was a good thing. I didn't necessarily need another piece of clothing to get burnt off my body.

I was on the surface in 15 seconds. Jay and Patrick arrived just after me in a trail of fire and a bolt of lightning, respectively. I saw the ground literally open for Beth, who stepped towards us quietly. Seconds later, Matt seemed to appear in the air—almost out of nowhere. Amy materialized right next to him in a swirl of pink energy.

I looked at each of them and realized we were missing Grace.

Just as I opened my mouth to ask, I saw her beginning to float through the ground. First her blonde hair, then her bright green eyes. Slowly but surely, she phased completely through the ground and re-solidified on the surface.

We were all silent for about 2 seconds before everyone started talking at once.

"GUYS!" I finally yelled, quieting them down. "One at a time, please."

Patrick cracked a grin. "I knew you could do it, dude."

Jay rubbed the back of his head stupidly. "Yeah…sorry for doubting you."

I broke out in a grin. "It's all good, man. I honestly doubted myself—but I'm glad this guy was here to push me." I nudged Patrick playfully.

"Can we just appreciate the awesomeness of our powers, though?" Matt said, exploding with excitement. "Dude, I have never flown that fast before! Hell, I usually just float!"

"Yeah," Jay agreed, "I ran so fast that my feet lit the ground on fire." He paused as we all looked at him somewhat worriedly. "Oh, don't worry—a huge gust of wind followed right after. Y'know. Cuz I'm just that fast."

We rolled our eyes in laughter.

"That gust of wind was probably me," Matt joked back.

"Well while you guys think you're fast, I'm pretty sure I got here first," I bragged dramatically, brushing off my shoulders.

"Only cuz I let you," Patrick suddenly said smugly, patting my shoulders where I'd brushed them off. "But don't let me rain on your parade," he added cheekily.

Before I could respond, the ground erupted with energy. Solar energy.

Gabriel burst forth in his full Ranger suit. His Mecha Squad was right behind him, Spiritos transporting Naturos, Tundrus, and Technos in a bubble of energy, and Kevin (or Lunarus) floating by her side. They all touched down silently.

"Gimme the rocks, Aaron," Gabriel ordered, his voice like poison.

"Sorry," I replied nonchalantly, "no can do. I can give you something else though." I slammed my fist into my open palm a few times. "Like the ass-kickin you deserve."

He laughed, his body shaking. "Says the guy wearing a jacket like a dress. While I'm sure Patrick might like whatever kind of 'ass-kickin' you're selling, I'm not buying."

The Mecha Squad joined in on his laughter, their body language mocking us. My eyes shifted to glance at the others, who were silent with determination.

"Was that a gay joke?" Matt wondered, returning their careless attitude.

"Kinda sounded like one," Patrick replied calmly.

"That's okay," I said, "Gabriel's the one chasing us for our 'rocks.' Why don't we give 'em to him?"

The Mecha Squad was quiet now, their scanners no doubt picking up on the increase in our power output. While they'd been running their mouths, our merging process with the Super Stones was completing. And now it was about to be done.

We just had to take care of one more thing.

"Ready guys?" I called.

"Ready!"

I didn't even have to look at them to know they were in perfect sync.

"CYBER DIGITIZE—ENERGIZE!"

Our respective suits materialized from the Morphing Grid, and I could almost taste the apprehension in the air looming over the Mecha Squad.

"That's it?" Gabriel mocked. "Looks like you got shorted on your upgrade. Same look. Same outcome."

"What an amateur," Beth finally spoke up. "For someone who seems to transform as much as he changes underwear, you sure are impatient."

I could hear Gabriel growling under his breath.

As if we were one body, we all stepped forward with our left legs and performed the same action. Our right arms extended forward and a simple cross—almost like a Hail Mary—in the air in front of us.

"DIGITAL ORYMEKA—ENGAGE!"

The cry was a chorus of our voices, as were the lights that seemed to ascend from our very bodies and stretch to the unknown beyond. I could feel data streams from around the world merging into an electromagnetic wave that struck my body.

And I could feel my suit transform.

I was streamlined.

The Elesferi—or spendex-y-stuff—of my suit was now GeoElesferi—the same stuff that had been the hard padding on my suit before. Black lined the white along my chest, and on my pectorals were metallic alloy breastplates. And they had merged with the hexagon of Elesfite that usually covered my chest. It was one large chest piece that was not literally attached to my suit. Even my neck was protected by a raised, armored collar. And on my shoulders, the plates that once attached to my deltoids like a weird bracer-shoulder-pad hybrid now stuck at a 45-degree angle like little wings. My belt had now divided into two, and from the center of my belt was what looked like an external sport cup. Or something. But protection was protection.

My legs were covered by nearly hip-high boots that were armored yet flexible. The old stripe motifs on my previous suit were now black stripes of armor on these new leg-boots, and my knees and shins were all plated by armor. So were my calves. And feet. My arms were similar—covered by long sleeves of armor that mimicked the same shape of our old gauntlets.

My helmet seemed to transform the most, though. It was more armored and teched-out than it had ever been, and when I realized I could essentially see myself, I knew these powers had transformed me in more than just a physical way.

As the process came to an end, I turned my head to looked at the others. They looked just like me—just slightly different. The five base rangers had less armor on their chest, but still had breast plates and shoulder pads. Which was a good look for them. The rest of their suits were like mine, except their helmets. Everyone's helmet was different, of course. And Patrick looked more like me than he ever had before.

Grace struck her fighting pose in a fluid motion that seemed to be just one movement instead of many. As she did, I realized the shadows rippling from around her and a galaxy of its own seemed to form around her in the darkness that possessed shining lights as small as grains of sands. "Cyon Black—Cosmic Digital Orymeka!"

"Sygmatoz Pink—Soul Digital Orymeka!" Amy announced as her angular movements into a fighting posed ceased, the pink glow around her seemingly speckled with a form of matter unknown to man.

Matt's sharp, focused posing came to a halt, but the very atoms around him were bubbling with raw power and the ferocity of super-charged air. "Kavvys Blue—Whirlwind Digital Orymeka!"

Jay and his strong, vicious strikes settled into a threatening stance, and the flames that licked at his body seemed to do so out of encouragement and fealty, as if ordered by the sun that burned brightly on his yellow suit. "Umykron Yellow—Wildfire Digital Orymeka!"

"Alfur Red—Chthonic Digital Orymeka!" cried Beth. Her red and strong suit had transformed like ours, and her movement was solid, determined, and intimidating. Even when she was still. The ground buckled under and cracked with intensity, droplets of water in the air seeming to respond to the earth.

"Deltazyn White—Divine Digital Orymeka!" I felt the heavens open up and grace my body with their celestial light, and all at once, it seemed anything was possible. When I flexed my muscles and crouched into a fighting stance, I heard the steady hum of energy circulating around me.

Patrick followed me immediately. The strangest thing about weather was that it possessed almost every arcane element—I'd just never thought of it until I saw Patrick display almost all of them in the blink of an eye: rain droplets whirling around in a tornado of energy that then froze into spikes of ice and snow crystals. In the center of his storm of power, a barrier of lightning encased my battle-ready Green Ranger. "Zetazyn Green—Elemental Digital Orymeka!"