Troy was on the soccer fields practicing his martial arts a bit before Jake and Noah arrived. They had promised to meet up so Jake could teach Noah and Troy a little soccer. It had come up in their video gaming marathon that Troy didn't know how to play. Jake had stated that he couldn't be friends with anyone who didn't at least know the basic rules of soccer and so offered to teach Troy.

It meant a lot to the red Ranger. In his past, if his friends found out something about him that they didn't like, they usually shut him out – permanently. Troy lost a group of people who had almost become his friends because he didn't want to buy a Transformers lunch box because he didn't like the Transformers. He preferred the Ninja Turtles.

So Jake offering to teach him instead of just dump him was a change for him, and showed him that whatever friendship they had now was about more than just what they had in common – being a Power Ranger.

A soccer ball hitting him in the back of the head caught his attention, and he turned around to see Jake chuckling.

"Martial arts is a big no today," he said, "Today, we play soccer. Go get the ball."

"But you threw it at me," Troy rubbed the back of his head but he did as he was asked. He was closest to the ball. As soon as he reached down to pick it up with his hands, he heard a groan.

"No hands in soccer. If we used our hands, we would call it football… wait…"

"Wait for it," Noah chuckled as he and Troy could almost see the cogs in Jake's brain spinning overtime.

Jake just shook his head, dismissing his confusion, "Whatever, we'll save the history of sports for Noah later. Right now we play. Kick the ball back."

Noah walked over to join Troy's side of the field and then whispered, "I haven't explained to him what soccer's called overseas. It might break his heart."

Troy chuckled until he saw Jake was waiting impatiently for the ball. He looked to Noah who shrugged his shoulders and encouraged him to just kick, so he went for it. He put as much force into the kick as he could and lifted the ball from the ground and into the air. It soared right into Jake's chest and knocked him backwards on his ass. Noah was impressed.

"You've got to teach me that!"

Troy rushed over to Jake, helping him up, "Sorry… I guess we don't need to work on kicks…"

"Maybe aim," Jake coughed and clutched his ribs.

"Uh… sure…" Troy had been aiming for Jake, therefore he had hit his target, but he didn't want Jake to think that. He had no intention of hurting him.

"Alright," Jake coughed a couple more times before he picked up the ball with his hands, confusing Troy greatly. He walked to the center of the field and set the ball down. "Why don't we take shots on net? Noah…"

"No way," Noah backed off and held his hands in the air. Jake always asked him to be goalie and he always went home black and blue."

"C'mon," Jake pleaded, "You're the best goalie I… oh… crap."

"Off the field, Holling. We need to practice," the school soccer team came over with Mick in the lead. Jake, not wanting to be anywhere near them after what they had done to Gia grabbed his ball and gestured for Troy and Noah to follow him elsewhere.

"Maybe we'll practice soccer another time."

"You're teaching the sport?" Alex teased him. "Are you sure you're the best teacher? Do you even know which goal to score in?"

"Let's go," Jake ignored them and walked away with Noah and Troy. He could teach his friends elsewhere.

"Why don't you just quit the team?" Troy asked Jake once they were off the field. "It's obvious you're never going to like them again, and they might never stop teasing you…"

"Because that's what they want," Jake answered, "And after what they did to Gia, the last thing I'm going to do is let them have it. Coach still plays fair, and if I can cost the school a few more games and cost us the championship…"

"That's hardly what a team player would do," Troy said. He put his hands in his pockets and sighed, "Look, I get the irony of this coming from me, but those guys are your team and you should support them on the soccer field."

"After what they did…?"

"Troy's right, dude," Noah nodded his head, "You're post-secondary career depends on you getting a scholarship. If you play poorly this year, you'll never make the team next year. Then you'll actually have to study."

"I'm not saying you should be friends with them off the field," Troy said, "Hate them all you want, but you should play the game fairly. Be the bigger person."

"I'll think about it," Jake out the ball in Troy's hands, "Noah, how about we head back to your place? You've got a big enough backyard to play."

-Megaforce-

The hike through the woods wasn't easy, but Emma found it to be quite enjoyable, even with her cracked rib. Gia helped her out quite a bit and moved stones, branches, and even the occasional fallen log from the path so Emma would have an easier walk.

The closer they got to the flower, the more excited Emma became.

"You know, they say it's one of the most beautiful flowers in existence," Emma said, "And that's partially due to how rarely it blossoms. And how stubborn it can be," Emma looked over to Gia with a smile, "kind of like someone I know."

"I'm not a flower."

"It's just us out here, Gia."

"Fine, but don't go spreading that around," Gia shook her head and then looked curiously to Emma, "Wait... why am I like this flower?"

Emma chuckled and then stopped in her tracks. Gia turned away from her best friend to see whatever it was that had caught Emma's attention. There, she spotted the rare flower they had been searching for… at least, Gia thought it was.

"Is that…"

"Magnus Bloomus Annulus," Emma nodded her head, "And it's in full bloom!"

"Fortunately," Gia smirked. "Or we'd have to make this trip again tomorrow."

"You have my camera, right?"

Gia set the bag down on the ground and began to search through it for Emma's camera while the pink Ranger admired the flower she had waited so long to find. Not many people got this opportunity. Some were usually just a day late, and when they returned the following year, something had happened to kill the flower, meaning it would never bloom again. Man's work to destroy forests for land to build meant these flowers were harder and hard to find, and given they looked like nothing more than tall weeds when they weren't in bloom, they were hard to protect. No one knew what they were destroying until after it was gone.

Gia found the camera and passed it to Emma so she could get a few pictures of the flower on its own. Then Gia held her hand out to take the camera back.

"So you can prove you found it."

"We found it," Emma pulled her friend closer to the flower and held the camera out to take a picture of the two of them with the flower. "I never would have made it out here without you. We both deserve credit."

"Yeah, but no pictures of me in the newspaper," Gia shook her head. "I don't want to give guys something else to drool on."

Emma simply smiled as she snapped a few pictures and then went over them to make sure they were good. She showed them to Gia.

"These look really nice. We should get them printed."

"Just for us," Gia nodded her head and took the camera back to place it in the bag. That was when she heard a beep. She dug out her morpher as Emma came to her side. "What is it, Gosei?"

"There's a new alien in the forest just outside of town."

Emma looked up at Gia, "Of course…"

"We'll take care of it," Gia assured Gosei. She grabbed the bag and was about to leave when she looked at Emma. No longer distracted by the rare flower, Emma had gone back to clutching her ribs. She was still in a lot of pain. "Are you sure you can…?"

"I'll be fine," Emma promised her. Gia grabbed her arm.

"You're already hurt."

"But I'm not letting you go into battle on your own. This isn't just Loogies; Gosei said there was an alien…"

"Alright… but… let me do the heavy lifting. Just watch my back."

-Megaforce-

Troy had gotten his soccer kicks under control and was now enjoying a fun game of soccer with his friends in Noah's backyard. The game wasn't too complicated as long as Troy remembered to keep his hands away from the ball. He and Noah had teamed up against Jake and were trying to score against him in a goal between the fence and the spot on the ground where Jake had set his sweater.

And just as Troy was about to score, he heard a beep. He, Noah, and Jake turned to Noah's family's patio set where they had set down their bags and their morphers. By the time they reached it, Gia had already answered, but they knew where the latest alien had turned up.

"Guess that's the game," Noah said. He and the boys grabbed their morphers, left everything else behind and raced across town to the woods. It was a far way to go and they could only hope they wouldn't be late.

When they did get there, they were surprised by what they saw. Gia and Emma were already engaged in a battle with the Loogies and were so close to victory the boys just kind of sat there to watch. More impressive than that, the girls were in perfect sync.

"You go girls!" Jake cried, pumping his fist in the air in encouragement as he and Troy watched. Noah, instead, looked further down into the forest where the big bad was watching the battle as well. Almost immediately Noah noticed something strange about this alien, and it had to do with the fact that unlike most of the other aliens the Rangers had already fought, this one didn't look like an insect.

"He's different," Noah's words fell on deaf ears. The alien disappeared, the girls finished their battle with the Loogies, and Jake and Troy immediately walked off to congratulate them on a job well done. Noah rolled his eyes and followed. He would look into it later.

"That was impressive, girls," Troy complimented them, "I don't think I've seen two people so connected in battle before."

Emma turned her attention to Gia and smiled happily at her best friend. She wrapped her arms around her and then winced slightly from the pain. "We've always got each other's backs."

Gia nodded her head before she pulled away and picked up the backpack. She had put it behind a tree for safe keeping during the battle.

"We'd love to stay and chat," she said as she looked to Emma, "But we've got some photos to print."