In a park, on a nice, warm summer's day, Jake was walking along next to a young man with long, dark hair. He was bouncing a soccer ball casually with one hand as they approached a soccer pitch. The stranger just turned towards him as they reached one of the goals.
"OK, it'll be sunset soon." He stated, rolling the ball towards the other guy. He flicked it up, catching it.
"Thanks for what you did today." The stranger told him. Jake just smiled.
"Hey, we all make mistakes." He assured him. "Was yours a little more serious than some? Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can give up, Carlos."
"I almost killed Cassie." Carlos answered dejectedly.
"Yeah...try not to do that again." Adam replied with a smile. "Believe me, if I had a nickel for every time one of us nearly took another's head off I'd have more money than Justin's dad."
"So, how do you deal with it?" Carlos asked him. "I'm not sure I can...when I look at Cassie, all I can see is what I did."
"Like I said, mistakes are exactly that." Adam continued as Carlos dropped the ball and passed it to him. He stopped it and returned it, beginning their drill. "It's not like you meant to do it, and Cassie's alright."
"No thanks to me." Carlos replied. Adam just stopped the ball with his foot, before looking to him.
"That's the thing, what we do is dangerous. Mistakes are always going to be made, and when we do...unfortunately the consequences are going to be pretty harsh." Adam assured him. "It's like...it's like when you're playing soccer. You have to take chances, and sometimes they pay off, sometimes they bite you in the ass."
"At least when I made mistakes on the soccer pitch, I was the only one that paid the price." Carlos said as Adam passed the ball back. Adam just smiled.
"So...there weren't ten other guys on your team?" He asked. "You've never accidentally hurt one of them? You've never cost them a game?"
Carlos just nodded in understanding, before kicking the ball back.
"Like I said, in this game, we have to make gambles too, they're just...a little bigger." Adam said sagely. "I mean...only a few hours ago I used a broken morpher! Do you think I didn't know what a huge risk that was?"
"It was a pretty huge gamble." Carlos agreed. "So, how do you get over the ones that don't work out? How do you make it up to your team?"
"You don't." Adam replied. "The fact is, there isn't time or any room in what we do to wallow in doubt and self pity. If you can get back up, then your mistake hasn't finished you. If all else fails...just remind yourself that next time it'll probably be one of the others screwing up and you on the sharp end of the consequences."
"That really isn't that comforting, you know that?" Carlos asked.
"It wasn't meant to be." He stated flatly. "Just know one thing. I was a Ranger for four years before Dimitria decided to pass on our powers. Was I surprised? Sure, was I annoyed? Kinda...it's like someone said 'hey, you've been doing a good job and you've done nothing wrong, but we want some random new guy to take your place, there's the door."
Carlos stopped the ball, looking to Adam as he admitted this. Adam just took a deep breath.
"But I had a choice, I could go and sulk about it, or I could do what I could to make sure that my replacement was the best person for the job." Adam said, coming over and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Believe me, if I didn't think you were up to it, I'd never have chosen you."
"We did kind of lose to Divatox." Carlos reminded him. Adam just laughed.
"Yeah, try not to do that again." He teased him. "But she screwed up too, she didn't finish the job, so you can make sure that mistake comes back to bite her."
"So...you all made mistakes?" Carlos asked him. Adam just nodded.
"Don't even get me started on the number of times we screwed up." He told him. "I could fill an encyclopaedia with Tommy's screw ups alone."
"Tommy, the Ranger legend." Carlos said with a smile.
"What do you suppose he's up to now?" Adam asked. "I heard he was still digging around for dinosaurs."
"He took up a post-grad position with Anton Mercer the last time I heard from him." Carlos informed him. "Mr Stewart put in a word for him with Mercer industries and they offered him a post-graduate scholarship." Adam started laughing.
"Seriously, the guy that lost his communicator on a daily basis is going for a PhD?" Adam asked him. "Now...now I've heard everything! Seriously, what makes him think he'll pull that off?"
"He could do pretty much anything he put his mind to." Carlos told him.
"Look, he's a nice guy and everything, but seriously, a rocket scientist...he ain't." Adam stated. "I'd bet a hundred bucks he'll get itchy feet and go back to digging before he gets his doctorate. He always was more of an outdoors type."
"OK, a hundred bucks then." Carlos answered, offering a handshake. Adam just took his hand and shook it, confirming the bet.
At the Alamo, Jordan started to pace around, back and forth before Vekar as the Prince stared at him. He looked to the army behind the prince and smiled.
"Are you really sure you wouldn't prefer to hide behind them?" Jordan asked him. He flicked his head in Argus' direction. "That one looks more my kind of size."
"Do you want to fight or not?" Prince Vekar asked him. Jordan just sighed and pulled out his pistol.
"Well...just remember that you asked for this." Jordan replied, pulling the trigger. The blast flew straight for Vekar, but in a move so fast none of them saw it, he swing his sword, deflecting the blast which went straight past him, smashing an X-borg behind him into oblivion. Jordan stood still, a little taken aback as he saw this. He eventually started making his way forward.
"So...you've picked up a couple of tricks?" He asked. Vekar just smiled as Jordan rushed him and swung his sword, clashing with Vekar's guard. Gia squinted as she noticed something as she and Emma watched the duel.
"Am...am I crazy, or does Vekar look bigger now?" She asked. Emma tried to get a good look, finding it difficult because the two were moving around so much. She remembered seeing Noah fighting him, and Vekar wasn't exactly a hugely imposing figure back then. Jordan was a fair bit bigger than Noah...but for some reason it seemed like the size difference between them wasn't exactly huge.
Jordan jumped into the air, both hands gripping the hilt of his sword, and swung a massive overhead strike, only for Vekar to block it. He felt the jolt all the way up his arms, feeling like he had connected with a brick wall. He could feel his hands stinging a little holding the sword. Vekar swiped the sword upwards, exposing Jordan's chest, and spun around, kicking him hard in the chest. Jordan tumbled away several feet, casting up dust as she did so, creating a cloud. He managed to slam a hand into the ground, springing himself back to his feet and looked to Vekar, who just had a smug grin on his face. Jordan smiled.
"You've been practicing huh?" Jordan asked.
"I trained under the finest swordsman in the galaxy." He responded, looking to Argus. Jordan just stood up straight.
"Well, let's just see what you've learned." He roared, rushing forward. Vekar dodged this way and that, parrying some of Jordan's strikes, before connecting with a hard elbow to the face. He slashed across his chest, powering up the blade as he did so, at which Jordan flew through the air, slamming into the side of the fort, the wall splintering a little under the impact.
"JORDAN!" Emma yelled as she and Gia were about to step in. Jordan just held up a hand.
"No! We gave Vekar our word!" Jordan reminded them. Gia looked to the fort, seeing some tourists still cowering inside...though some of them now seemed to be taking pictures and video. It always astounded her how people would sometimes take ridiculous risks for some pictures in the middle of a crisis situation. Jordan pulled himself back to his feet with the wall, struggling not to show how much the last blow had rattled him. He concentrated to get his breathing back to normal, and tried to shake off the cobwebs.
"OK, I'll give you that one...I didn't see that coming." Jordan told him. Vekar just smiled as he rested his sword over his shoulder.
"I get better!" He replied, beckoning Jordan with his fingers. Jordan pulled out his blaster, and broke into a run towards him.
He opened fire, hoping to keep Vrak pinned down and distracted with his blasts as he closed the distance. Vrak blocked them, and returned some power blasts of his own, some of which hit home, staggering Jordan as he ran. One of them sent him sprawling to the ground.
"Jordan, stop screwing around!" Gia yelled at him, realising that somehow, some way, Vekar had become a lot more dangerous than he had been before. Unfortunately, it looked like underestimating him was costing Jordan dearly.
Unfortunately for the Red Ranger, he had come to the same conclusion, and wasn't holding back as much as he tried to let on. He was trying to bring his A-game, but Vekar was unrelenting. Any time he started to get his bearings, it seemed like the Prince had some other new trick up his sleeve. As he started to get back to his feet, he looked up just in time to see Vekar running towards him, bringing his sword upwards far too quickly for him to respond. The blow from his powered up blade sent Jordan rocketing high into the air. Vekar launched himself upwards after him.
The girls could only watch in horror as he hacked away at Jordan ten, twenty, thirty times in the air, before a huge double-handed downward slash send Jordan smashing into the ground, making a massive crater as he landed. His suit sparked as his power levels started to fail him. Vekar landed on his feet a little way off, and stood up, smirking.
"That was the best you can do?" Prince Vekar asked him in a derisive laugh. "Why...if I'd known you were this easily defeated, I'd have done it myself ages ago!"
"Alright, you've made your point!" Gia screamed at him. "Now let these people go and we'll give you a real fight!"
"Oh, I haven't begun to make my point yet." Vekar told her. He looked to Argus, and pointed his sword at him. "This is for you my teacher!"
He adopted a stance, and started to power up his attack. Argus saw the stance and recognised it, realising what he was about to do. He held up a hand.
"Your highness, no!" He called out. Prince Vekar didn't hear the warning though.
"Solar Flare!" He called out as energy flared up around him, channelling into his sword. He started to create the flaming X in the air, summoning up one of Argus' strongest attacks, a technique he had seen him use many times to destroy entire armies.
The sword started to shake as he created the x though, and he was forced to grip the handle in both hands, struggling as it started to shake violently. The power flared up higher, and he felt the heat intensifying.
"What's happening?" He asked. "Argus...?"
Without warning, the flames started to shoot up his arms, and the prince started to scream in panic.
"Argus!" He screamed once more as he was blasted to the ground and stopped moving, but the fireball kept growing. Argus leapt forward, sweeping it up into the air, and out of the atmosphere where it exploded harmlessly in orbit.
"Your Highness!" Lavira cried out as she ran to his side, cradling his limp body in her arms. She quickly checked, finding that he was still alive, though his face was badly burned, and he was greatly weakened. Her new armour had done its job and saved his life, she was certain the blast would have killed him otherwise. "Argus, what happened?"
"The Solar Flare is one of the most powerful techniques in existence; it takes incredible strength and discipline to wield its power effectively." He told her. "The Prince over-reached his training."
"We have to get him to medical!" She yelled. "Get us out of here! You, cover our escape!"
In a bright flash, they teleported, taking most of the army with them, but leaving a hundred or so X-borgs and Bruisers behind to keep the Rangers busy. Gia and Emma snatched up their weapons.
"We can't let them get inside!" Gia told Emma. She hit a command on her morpher, which launched a volley from the Red Galleon, thinning out the ranks a little as they ran into battle.
In his vision, Noah found himself in a space ship, sitting in a room with his feet crossed over on the table. He felt like this place was familiar...but a little different, like it was a copy of somewhere he had been before. Everything looked the same, all the controls looked and functioned the same, but it just felt different.
He looked up as someone came into the room, carrying a large book with him. He recognised him right away as Tommy...but here he was older, and his hair was very different. He hadn't just cut it, meaning he no longer had the huge mullet he had about ten years after it was in fashion, now his hair was heavily gelled into spikes. He sat opposite Noah, not looking up from his book.
"Interesting reading?" He asked. Tommy just lifted the book a little, showing him the title.
"It'll take us a while to get to the moon." He reminded him. "Some of us do still have to study TJ."
"Hey, you were the one that decided to go on to post grad." He reminded him. "How is that Mercer guy anyway? I heard he's a bit of a nut job."
"He's eccentric, but he's a genius in his field." Tommy told him, looking to TJ and taking off his reading glasses, something he had started wearing recently. "You can't believe everything you read in The National Enquirer."
"Well...what about all that stuff he's supposedly doing with dinosaur DNA?" TJ asked him. "I heard he's buying up all the fossils, amber, bones and artefacts he can lay his hands on...the way I heard it he's spent enough to bankrupt himself a couple of times over."
"Do you really want me to dignify that with an answer?" Tommy asked him. "He's bought up a lot of stuff for his research, but I can guarantee you, he is NOT trying to create a real life Jurassic Park. That's just something some hack journalist said that got out of control."
"So what is he doing with all that DNA then?" TJ asked. Tommy just groaned.
"Do you know everything your boss does?" He asked in response. TJ just shrugged.
"I'm an accountant. I really don't have anything to do with corporate decisions." TJ explained. "As long as I make all the numbers balance, that's all I know about the company. Of course, you ARE his protégé."
"He has lots of post grad..."
"How many of them does he take in his private jet on digs all over the world and to his own private island?" TJ asked. "You and he aren't...you know...not that there'd be anything wrong with that...but..."
"I'm not gay TJ!" Tommy said as he slammed his book down. "You're not going to let this drop are you? If I tell you, will you shut up?"
"Scout's honour." TJ replied, holding up a salute. Tommy stroked the bridge of his nose.
"I have real trouble believing you were ever a Boy Scout TJ." Tommy answered. "OK, we're doing some research into harvesting DNA from dinosaurs and other extinct species, with a view to splicing it into existing species."
"Wait...you want to make mutant dinosaurs?" TJ asked.
"Not exactly." Tommy muttered.
"Tommy, isn't that kind of..."
"Look, it's nothing like that; we just see some real potential benefits." Tommy told him. "Most of those species existed on Earth despite climate shifts and plague and famine for millions of years. By comparison some of the more 'advanced' species died out after a few hundred thousand! There's real strength in some of that DNA. Can you imagine the benefits of a tomato plant that could grow in the Sahara? Or in the Antarctic?"
"I...I guess." TJ answered. "It's just...as soon as people talk about DNA and genetics; I just get a shiver up my spine. It gives me the heebie jeebies."
"Well, some other people feel the same way, that's why Anton doesn't advertise what he's doing on that island." Tommy told him. "And that's why you aren't going to tell anyone either right?"
Just then, the door opened and Jason entered. He patted Tommy on the shoulder.
"We're coming up on the moon's outer atmosphere." He informed them. "Come on Fearless Leader, you're up."
On the Red Galleon, in the main room, Gia and Emma helped Jordan into the room. He was being his usual, stubborn self, and insisted on walking, but they insisted on at least helping him into the infirmary. Tensou landed nearby as they sat him down on the bench.
"What happened?" He asked. "You look like you..."
"I look like I got my ass handed to me because I did!" Jordan told him, wincing painfully as Gia started to look at him. "Hey, injured man here!"
"If you'd just let me look at you, it wouldn't hurt so much." She told him. "So just sit still and shut up!"
"We managed to save those hostages." Emma told Tensou. "But Vekar had a little surprise for us."
"It looks like he's gotten kind of an upgrade or something." Gia added as she checked out Jordan's ribcage. "Jordan, I need to see if they're broken, stop fidgeting!"
"Wait...Vekar did this?" Tensou asked. "Vekar? As in...the guy that ran away screaming when Noah hit him...THAT Vekar?"
"I don't know what he's been doing up there, but I can tell you one thing, he definitely hasn't been wasting time." Jordan answered as Gia finally ended her examination. "He didn't just beat me; he wiped the floor with me. The only reason he didn't finish me off is because he messed up one of his own attacks."
"We lucked out with that." Emma agreed. "But we can't rely on him making mistakes like that again. We're running out of time."
"So what can we do?" Jordan asked.
"What can we do?" Gia asked, looking to Orion's room. "Hope that they know what they're doing and hurry up. If he shows up again, we'll need to throw everything we've got at him.