In a section of the ship Paradias and Reviveslime walked toward the area where Nerissa was intending to perform the ritual for their latest monster. They entered to see a brightly glowing pentagram in the center where the bone fragment and the black scale lay. She was walking around the circle, lighting candles and chanting a language almost as ancient as the magic's that her master used.
"This monster will have the combined energies of both the recently destroyed Lightning Skull and the dragon of destruction that was destroyed not long ago when the rangers acquired that dragon zord the purple ranger uses." Paradias said conversationally. "Combined it should be able to stand up to even the combination of the Auradon Champion Megazord."
The two items merged and then Paradias sent it to the surface for the monster's hatching and subsequent attack. "Now let's move on to the next task, of reviving our friend." He stated.
Audrey was moving across campus. She saw Ben and was trying to get to him. She knew she had to speak to him about Chad and the fact he had hit her when she asked for his help back when Ben was being controlled by Paradias. She opened her mouth to call out to him when she was slammed into from the side. She looked up to see the object of that need to have conversation. "Watch where you're going." Audrey snapped at Chad, though she suspected it wasn't an accident.
"Sorry." Chad said sarcastically. She started reach for one of the books she had dropped and he set his foot on it. "In a rush?"
"Yes." Audrey said sternly. "Get off of my book, now."
Chad glared down at her and shoved her back down by pushing on her shoulder. "You're not one of those bad girls Audrey. You're barely anything." He spat at her.
Audrey glared up at him, but when she moved to stand and he balled his fist and raised his arm slightly she hesitated. Then they looked to see Ben had heard the noise and was coming over to them. "Hey, what's going on here?" Ben asked.
Chad looked at him and said, "Audrey ran into me."
She hesitated as she got her books up. "I'm pretty sure you rammed, not ran, rammed into me." She countered harshly. "Just like you…" He shook his head at her and she faltered for a moment before going ahead full steam, "Like when you hit me for asking for you to help Ben."
"You hit her?" Ben questioned, tensing up.
"It was one slap and she wouldn't stop nagging me before that." Chad said.
"That's not really a good reason." Ben said tersely. "You're lucky that she doesn't press charges on you."
Chad gave her a look that almost seemed to dare her to do so. She stood beside Ben and said, "You're getting out of control Chad. If you don't check yourself you're going to go down a path darker than Jay or any of the others."
Chad gave her a darker look. "When did it become 'Jay and the others'?" He snapped.
That took her aback. "What business is that of yours?" She questioned.
"What about Jay and the others?" Jay asked as he came with Mal and Lonnie.
"Nothing." Chad said simply and walked off. Jay had his doubts but let him go.
"What was that about?" Mal asked as she up to Ben and kissed him on the cheek. "What's his problem with us now?"
"It's not you guys, at least directly." Ben said. "He's pissed at me and Audrey because we're getting along with you." He looked toward the brunette princess as he started, "She was even saying Chad hi…"
"Hates me now." Audrey interrupted firmly. "He hates me now because we've gotten along so well. I was pointing out he might be worse than he ever thought Jay and the others were when you showed up." She gave Ben a look that implored him not to mention anything about Chad hitting her.
Ben repressed a sigh and said nothing about it for now. He was going to make sure that he talked to her about it later though before things got out of hand. "Yeah, what she said." He said.
Mal and Jay exchanged looks; they had already figured they were missing something. Mal mouthed 'was she going to say hit' and Jay shrugged. He was already hoping that was not the case or he was going to have a different kind of conversation with Chad.
The three helped Audrey get her books and Jay said, "I'll walk you to class Audrey."
"Okay, why not." She said and walked over to Jay.
"And I'll walk you to class Mal." Ben said with a bow.
Mal laughed. "Special treatment from the king." She took his hand and kissed his cheek again. "Might want to be careful about that or some students might start to think you have some kind of preference for me."
Jay rolled his eyes. "If they haven't figured that out by now…" He started.
"Okay, behave yourself." Audrey mock chastised him. "If you want to walk me to class we better go now so you're not late yourself." She looked to Ben and Mal. "See you guys at lunch."
"Later." Mal said with a wave as she and Ben walked one way and Jay and Audrey walked another way. The purple haired girl looked to the young king. "So what did Jay and I miss?" She asked.
"Just a disagreement between former friends." Ben said enigmatically. Mal frowned and left it alone but she knew something was wrong now, because that was the first time her boyfriend had openly called Chad anything other than a friend.
Jordan had this thing where she didn't exactly care if she was a little late to class. Sometimes that even got her in trouble. So she was running late to her first class and she turned a corner to see Ally and Aziz coming toward her. She waved absently at them until Aziz stopped her. "Running late, make it quick." She said. Late and absent were two different things.
"Any idea what's going on with the isle kids, Audrey, Lonnie, Ben, Jane and Doug?" Aziz asked simply.
Jordan halted now, fully realizing what was being asked. They didn't know what was going on but they knew who was part of the ranger thing, except for her involvement…for now. "Shouldn't you two be in class?" The genie girl asked, evading the question for now.
"I have a free period this semester." Ally said. "And Aziz asked for time in the library for a project. He saw you and wanted to, well apparently interrogate you." She seemed a bit more reluctant to pursue the subject.
Jordan thought fast. "Yeah, I see." She said absently. "Seems a lot of special projects are going around right now, all of them are working on a…a long term special project for our esteemed headmistress Fairy Godmother." She tried to shrug nonchalantly. "You might want to ask her if you have any other questions, I've only just heard about it myself."
Aziz and Ally exchanged looks of uncertainty and Jordan took that chance. "So, got to go. Later." She dashed off as quickly as she could. As soon as she turned a corner she took out her iPhone and texted to the group Aziz is getting suspicious, has Ally with him, need to come up with a plan soon. –J
Lunch rolled around and the seven warriors, Jane and Doug elected to eat in the command center. They had all received Jordan's text and were wondering what to do about it.
"Can't we just like erase their memories or something?" Mal asked as she picked up a strawberry and then bit into it. She noticed that Jay was sitting near Audrey and wondered if he thought it was protecting her somehow.
"I suppose there's a spell or something you, Jordan or I could do." Jane said dubiously. "I…just don't even know if we should."
"But if they're figuring out who we are, what we do, shouldn't we make sure it doesn't cause a problem for us later on?" Carlos asked.
Now Lonnie chimed in. "It might be important at some point. I mean we weren't trying to bring Jordan into this but here she is…and if Aziz was getting suspicious already we wouldn't even know it if it weren't for Jordan." She voiced as she tore of a chunk of chocolate chip bread. "In fact, maybe we should just come clean with them too."
"Doesn't that pose a risk in itself?" Evie now asked. "The more people that know the more risk it is to those who can't protect themselves when Paradias finally decides to take that route." She had a small chicken salad in front of her. "Jordan has magic, you two practically run the command center and Fairy Godmother made all of this possible, but they don't really have anything to help."
"But they can learn." Jay said. "Guys, we are in a war rather anyone wants to acknowledge it or not, and we've always been on the lower end of those numbers. Anything we can do to narrow that, even by a bit, cannot be a bad thing."
"Except that only seven of us are actually prepared for this war." Audrey countered. "No one else is, even Fairy Godmother, Jane and Doug have to work on the side lines. Jordan is only barely qualified as far as we can tell."
Ben remembered that he had injured them both, as well as Fairy Godmother, when they had tried to have him as their knight make their final planned moves. "I'd hate to put any more innocents at risk than already occurs every time an attack happens." Ben admitted reluctantly. "I don't know that memory wipe is a good idea even if we could do it but telling them what's going on, I can't say I like that either." He looked to Mal. "What do you think? Is that what you want to do?"
Mal bit her lip and took a moment to think. She knew as their leader it might make an impact, except for one thing. She didn't have a thought yet. "Let's see what happens." Mal finally brought up. "Suspicions are just that, suspicions. It's not a confrontation yet and it's certainly not proof."
The alarms sounded and they turned to the view screen. This wasn't some monster trying to subtly hide. They watched as a large black skeletal dragon appeared on the screen. With a ferocious roar the skies turned black again. It started to thunder but instead of lightning a small fiery meteor came from the sky and crashed into the forest.
"What is that?" Carlos asked, sounding kind of freaked out.
Jane was already up and looking at her sensors. She let out a small gasp of shock. "That…that monster has the combined power of that Lightning Skull monster and that dragon of destruction Gandor that we fought last week." She revealed shakily.
Thunder sounded hard enough to shake the school, and even send some plaster dust off the ceiling. "We have to stop that thing." Mal declared. It was so big they had no choice but to go for the megazords right off the plate.
Doug looked to Jane. "We need to find Ben's zord." He declared.
"Easier said than done." Jane mused. "We don't even know what we're looking for. We weren't even sure about Mal's, her zord found us."
"Do what you can." Mal told the two of them. She looked to Ben. "Stay here and cross your fingers we defeat this thing or they find your zord in a hurry. Both would be nice." He nodded reluctantly and then the purple haired girl looked to her friends. "Let's get to work." The six of them took out their iPhones, input their numbers and transformed.
The Auradon Megazord came out of its mountain hiding spot while Mal had to summon her zord from the skies. It would take a moment for it to get there and that made the purple ranger nervous. Meanwhile the five rangers boarded the Auradon Megazord, placing their iPhones in their slots on the consoles, followed quickly by Evie's shield as well as Lonnie's tessens and Jay's scimitar.
"We meet again Power Rangers." The monster said. They could indeed hear Lightning Skull's voice but it was much more guttural, almost like a growl. Audrey recalled that the dragon of destruction had not actually spoken. Paradias had done that while taunting Mal until her zord showed up. "I am the Skull Destructor Dragon and I will bring this place to its knees."
"You're going to have to get by us first." Jay declared. Evie and Carlos exchanged glances, worried that that wouldn't be as hard as they would have preferred.
"So be it." Skull Destructor Dragon replied and then shot a massive meteor blast the zords way. It struck hard despite the attempt to use the shield. Then it charged forward and rammed into the battle zord hard.
"How are we doing?" Audrey asked Carlos.
"Integrity is down twenty percent, power holding for the moment." The yellow ranger reported.
"Time to strike back." Audrey declared. "While we still can." They struck with their sword but it didn't seem to do too much damage to the monster. Two repeats swings had the same minimal effect.
Skull Destructor Dragon flew up and began to power up another attack when it was struck from the side, and the dragon zord flew up and around it. It then sent an energy ball at the monster, which retaliated with its own, cancelling each other out.
Mal got up to her dragon zord and it changed form from its standard to the Chinese dragon like one. She got inside and put her iPhone in. Then the dragon zord tried to smash the monster in the head with its tail but was caught and tossed aside hard.
Jordan appeared in the command center out of nowhere thanks to magic. She saw the screen. "Wow, what is that?" She asked.
"The offspring of Lightning Skull and some destruction dragon." Ben said morosely. "And I don't have a zord to help them out."
"We have another problem." Doug said. "That first meteor strike lit the forest on fire."
"Can they even put that out?" Jordan asked him. The look of uncertainty on both of their faces confirmed the genie's fears. "Even my magic can't do that so easily either."
"That monster has to come first anyway." Jane said. "Putting out one fire won't do any good as long as the pyromaniac is around to light more."
"Okay, so they need that Auradon Champion Megazord then." Jordan said. "They need to do that thing they do then."
Doug shook his head. "I can already tell that won't be enough to take that thing out." He looked to the girls and Ben. "We need Ben's zord right now…somehow."
They heard footsteps coming down the command center and they turned to see Fairy Godmother with an old book in her hands. "I've been working on that dilemma right now my children." She said. She placed a book down. "It stood to reason that a knight would have no less than the traditional noble steed."
Jordan had to stop herself from giggling. "A horse. Ben's zord is a horse?" She asked.
"It's not unheard of." Fairy Godmother said to the genie girl in chastising manner. "One of the more legendary, though somewhat dangerous zords, was in fact a horse zord known as Catastros."
"If that is Ben's zord, then how do we find it mom?" Jane asked her.
"Like Mal's zord, it might be hidden somewhere in this world." Fairy Godmother replied. "And maybe it will show itself." She looked to Ben. "If you really feel it, and if it feels that in you."
Ben seemed to be in thought a moment and then nodded. "I'm going to that fight." He declared and left the command center.
"Are you okay M?" Evie called out to her chosen sister.
Mal moaned just a bit. "That wasn't the best landing I've ever experienced." She answered softly and moved to get her zord to rise. "Still, it could have been worse E." She took a deep breath. "Okay guys, it's time to bring them together."
Auradon Megazord was on the back of the dragon zord with the tail now around it for the extra defense. Room was made in the cockpit for Mal to join them. Auradon Champion Megazord was now levitating just slightly above the Skull Destructor Dragon.
"This time you can't expect you as a pathetic dragon fighter to beat me, a much stronger dragon." Skull Destructor Dragon gloated. Then it charged at the battle zord. The Auradon Champion Megazord tried to take to the skies but the monster simply followed after it and brought several meteor balls brought down on it. They fell to the ground hard and the monster landed with a thud.
"Everyone okay?" Mal asked them. She got nods from her five friends.
"You won't be for long." Skull Destructor Dragon stated and brought its claws down on it hard, followed by the tail, rocking the battle zord.
Ben showed up in enough time to see the last attacks. "Come on Mal, guys." He whispered. "You have to beat this thing." He looked around. "I wish I could help." He wasn't sure what was worse, the dragon monster beating down on his friends and girlfriend or the fire raging in the forest that would be half an hour away at most from reaching the school. "I feel so helpless."
The Auradon Champion Megazord started to rise again but Skull Destructor Dragon bit down hard on the battle zord, piercing its scales and pulling, very nearly tearing the Auradon Megazord off of the dragon zord. Then he tossed it hard resulting in an awkward landing. A final blast split the two zords, forcing the retreat of the dragon zord and Mal landing hard on the ground.
"Mal!" Ben exclaimed and ran over to his girlfriend. "Are you okay?"
"Fine." She said mournfully as she picked up her dragon zord, now in inert in a crystallized form. "But we're out of the fight anyway, and even then we weren't able to beat that thing."
"I'm sorry Mal." Ben said. "I wish I could help you and our friends. But without a zord I've got nothing to contribute to these kinds of fights."
"Ben." Mal started softly. She wasn't even sure what she could have said to make him feel better but it didn't matter at that point. There was a rumbling sound like hooves on the ground and they looked up. If the purple ranger had to guess she thought it might have come from very near the badlands. "Is that a horse?" She asked.
Ben smiled a bit. "It looks like it. Good call Fairy Godmother." He said.
"How are we doing now?" Audrey asked a bit fearfully.
"Integrity below fifteen percent. Power levels at forty percent and dropping." Carlos said softly. "We're in trouble unless something happens in the next minute."
"Look!" Lonnie called out as she noticed the silver horse coming toward them.
The horse zord raced by the monster and the Auradon Megazord toward the forest. "What is wrong with it?" Jay asked. Only then did the five rangers notice the fire burning.
The horse zord stopped just before the forest fire and then turned to the monster and then began to rear its paws back and forth, stirring up a huge storm of dirt that doused the fire. Ben laughed. "Looks like the horse zord is killing two birds with one stone." He stated. Then with a reassuring pat to Mal's shoulder he started toward his zord.
As soon as the fire was out he charged toward the monster. As if timing it together Ben jumped up and landed on the horse's head. "Let's go." Ben said. "Let's make that monster pay." The horse turned around as approaching rammed its hind legs into the monster hard.
He landed roughly. "You can't stop me with that robo pony." Skull Destructor Dragon growled and fired another round of meteors from the mouth at Ben and the horse zord again. The horse zord did its best to dodge but wasn't able to do so completely. It landed hard and Ben barely managed to hold on.
"We have to help him." Audrey said.
Jay nodded in agreement. "His back is turned, let's try to get him again." The Auradon Megazord moved in and brought their sword down on the monster but again he barely reacted.
"Foolish rangers." He slashed the battle zord with both claws and sent it falling down again. "We don't have the power on our own to do this again." Carlos said.
Then Jane's voice came over both Ben's helmet com and the five rangers. "Good news guys, I found something that should help us with this fight. Bring the Auradon Megazord together with the Defender zord and form the Auradon Defender Megazord. It should have the raw speed and power to stand up to that thing."
"Let's do it." Ben said. "Hear, hear." Audrey agreed. The horse zord ran again toward the monster but as he tried to bring his claws down on the zord Ben pulled lightly on a small portion of its mane and jumped right over the monster to land beside the Auradon Megazord.
The Auradon Megazord again leapt onto the back of the horse zord. Room was made for Ben in the cockpit of the zord, in this case in between Audrey and Carlos, the place where Mal would be standing if she were there as the megazord interlocked with the horse zord. The sword grew larger and transformed into a lance but the shield stayed where it was. "Auradon Defender Megazord ready to go." The six warriors called out.
Skull Destructor Dragon launched another meteor at the battle zord and they raised the shield to block the attack, when it struck it didn't do enough appreciable damage to it. "We have to finish this off quickly." Carlos stated. "Our power is up to seventy five percent but it could fall from all the damage."
"Then let's do it." Audrey said. She looked at Ben for a moment. As king he should technically be the leader but no real command structure had been decided since he had joined the team. Ben only nodded and Audrey looked to the other rangers. "Time to give this dragon the knight strike."
The battle zord picked up incredible speed as it charged toward Skull Destructor Dragon. Its arms were brought out and together around the horse's neck. The lance and shield were connected together and then they shot forward like a rocket and slammed into the monster hard, and by the time it slowed down the monster had been destroyed.
"We did it." Lonnie stated with a smile in her voice. She saw Ben and Audrey high five in victory and below they saw Mal jumping up and waving at them happily. The six warriors left their zords and joined the purple ranger on the ground again. The Auradon Megazord again returned to its place in the mountains. The horse zord did not.
"So is it yours now?" Jay asked Ben. Before the knight could answer the shield glowed and formed a small light blue line around it.
Ben looked at them all. "I guess so." He looked to the zord. "So does it go into the woods now or something?"
"It could." Mal said simply as she came to stand next to her boyfriend. "But maybe it can go about things in a different way…"
When the seven warriors returned almost an hour later it was with a small crystallized horse that was galloping with them. "Now it will have to be let loose to roam, it is still a wild animal…er, zord…whatever." Mal was telling Ben. "And you've seen that it will become inert when damaged."
"Luckily it also seems to have the same regenerative abilities as the dragon zord or the Auradon Megazord." Jane said as she looked up from the console. Fairy Godmother was with now as was Jordan.
"Jane told me what was going on after I sent the text." Jordan said. "Sounds like we don't have a concrete idea on what to do about Aziz and Ally."
"What do you think mom?" Jane asked her.
"I don't think taking away their memories is a good idea." Fairy Godmother answered simply. "Ignoring the moral side of it, there is always the chance that something could happen and those suspicions would simply rise again."
"Whatever we decide to do we better figure it out before their investigation gets them, and possibly us, into trouble." Mal said.