Audrey was in bed that night trying to sleep. She tried to turn on her right side and felt a stinging in her cheek, forcing her to turn onto her back again. She closed her eyes a moment only to see in her mind's eye Jay's look of uncertainty when she declined his date request.
That simple request; one she had kind of been waiting to hear for a couple of weeks now, should have made her so happy. She had returned to her room to jump in the shower to rid herself of the dirt and blood of the day, and she thought perhaps to cleanse herself of something else too but hadn't been able to figure out what.
Why did I do that? Why didn't I say yes? She asked herself. Then she remembered Chad's words again, that he could never love someone like her. And she knew why. She sat up and looked out the window. It was actually a pretty night, the skies clear of clouds. She could see a half moon glowing bright in the sky and could even make out a few stars through her curtains. It was the kind of night she had dreamed about spending time with someone she loved with. At one point that had been Ben but she knew now that even if Mal had not come into their lives there was a good chance that they wouldn't be together anyway.
She sighed as she laid back down again. It was going to be a long night. She closed her eyes again to try to sleep, only to find Jay and Chad haunted her mind, each for different reasons.
Meanwhile in the commons four people snuck downstairs and sat a table. It was a rare meeting for Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos. They had only done it twice before. The first night was just before the coronation where they had felt the need to go over their plans for stealing the magic wand. That had been kind of a cover because they had been uncertain about that plan at that point anyway, each for their own reasons. The second time was just after becoming power rangers with Audrey. The discussion about how well they could work with her had been tantamount in their minds, along with the question of whether they really should have agreed to it in the first place. Those two questions of doubt had obviously been laid to rest since then
Tonight was about Audrey too, but for different reasons. As they sat down Evie asked Jay gently, "Are you okay?"
Jay frowned a bit. "I guess." He answered. "I mean not the first time a girl has rejected me."
"I don't get it." Mal admitted as she folded her hands together. "Ben and I were talking about this, we were sure she liked you." She looked toward Evie. "We had this discussion too. We were both so sure of this."
"Maybe the two of you were wrong." Carlos suggested though he wasn't sure he believed that either.
"It's not that at all." Evie said with a small shake of her head. "It's Chad, it's the abuse he's been inflicting on her since he started down this path of evil of his." She shuddered just a bit. "The kind of things he done to her, the looks he's given her, the things he's said to her." Evie shuddered again, Mal thought perhaps knowingly. "It takes a toll on a person."
"Not Audrey." Jay tried to insist. "She's too stubborn, too willful." He wasn't sure if that was exactly a compliment but thought he was making his point. "She's too strong to let Chad break her."
"He hasn't broken her." Evie agreed. "But he has hurt her. I don't just mean physically either, he's said enough about her that she's starting to let herself think that he's right." She frowned a bit. "You here things for any amount of time and you start to think they're right, especially if they were someone they thought cared about them."
"Does Ben have this problem?" Carlos asked Mal.
The purple haired girl had to think about it for a minute. "Not in the same way as Audrey." She finally answered. "But I see it in him, sometimes. The fleeting thought in his eyes that Chad was his friend and that he wants some way to deal with him other than death."
"Is that even possible?" Carlos asked. He heard Jay give an emphatic no.
Mal took a deep breath. "I don't know Carlos." She confessed. "I mean if we could ever capture him he could be imprisoned or banished like our parents were or something. But he'll never be the Chad that Ben and Audrey grew up with."
"I don't even think Audrey could ever trust him again even if he were to want to come back tomorrow." Evie added. "It'd be hard not to remember his words, his violence toward her. A violence he doesn't unleash toward Ben."
"Maybe I should have killed him when I had the chance." Jay mused darkly.
Mal thought about the idea of Ben killing him. She shook her head. "I don't think so." She said to him. "I think about it sometimes, if Ben was able to kill Chad." She bit her lip a bit. "Killing takes someone to a whole new level, and not necessarily a good one." She reached over to take Jay's hand. "I don't want to lose you to that any more than I'd want to lose Ben."
"Mal, it's not like I'd go completely evil." Jay replied. "Ben wouldn't either."
"It's not about going evil." Evie now said with a sigh. "It's about…about losing a part of yourself. About losing a part of who you, of who we are. A part that would never come back, even if everything else is normal after that." She wasn't sure she or Mal were able to properly explain it.
A moment of awkward silence followed before Mal said, "Jay, what's done is done." She said. "Let's focus on tomorrow. Jane wants to go look at that Cybertech body thing and see what makes that thing so different from the other monsters. Let's rest up for that." As they stood up she added, "And...I don't know what to do for Audrey right now. But something has to change before this consumes her."
The next morning the eleven warriors headed into the forest to go back to the cybernetic body that was left behind from the last fight. Audrey had to keep herself from looking at Jay. The one time she had his expression had been perfectly neutral. It didn't surprise her too much and she thought that was the least she could have expected. But somehow it still seemed wrong.
As expected they found the same body again. Carlos and Jane started again working on scanning it and sending it to the command center for Doug and Fairy Godmother to look over. The rest tried to help as best as they could but the truth was they were there in case the monster came back to life or Paradias had another trick up his sleeve.
"Hey Jane." Lonnie called out to her as she brushed some dirt off of her jeans after examining one of the necks. "Does your scans give you any idea why it was that Evie, Jordan, Aziz and Mal were able to take out his heads but none of could?"
"Doug and I were looking at that actually." Jane replied as she stood up to move to another section of the monster. It too had been bigger than a normal monster but not worth using a megazord for. Even Mal's zord had been almost wasteful but three rangers out of ten wasn't going to help defeat it. "Somehow Jordan and Aziz's weapons are actually stronger than our weapons. When Belle gave Mal the dragon's eye gem and Snow White gave Evie that compact to go with her mirror, it increased their weapons power."
"But Ally's cards kind of came at the same time as mine and Jordan's." Aziz pointed out.
"But there's a difference between your spear and Jordan's lamp cannon as opposed to cards, even if they're powerful like mine." Ally pointed out.
"Precisely." Jane confirmed. "The size of her cards, or the magic wand for that matter, affected the damage output of our weapons even though our power level is the same."
"So does Jay's new enhancement put him on that level?" Carlos asked. "And for that matter where are these things coming from?"
"To the former, yes." Jane answered. "That soul enhancement that he got was the same kind of upgrade." She looked to them all now. "I don't know where they're coming from though."
"Snow White made mine, with help from Doug's father and uncles." Evie reminded them.
"And where did they get the idea for it?" Jane countered. Evie had no answer to that one. "I asked Doug that too and they said it came from Snow White, she had it in one of the books in her castle. She thought it would be a great offer to start her relationship with Evie." That made the blue haired girl smile, feeling touched by her half-sister's thoughts again.
Mal laughed a little and patted her chosen sister's arm. "All fine and good." The purple haired girl agreed with a smile. "But where did these ideas come from?" She repeated.
Jay thought about his unique experience. While Mal had gotten hers from a woman who was almost a surrogate mother and Evie had gotten hers from her older half-sister, his hand come through a vision. Several rangers, other figures he didn't recognize, and the ethereal voice. He had a theory on the identity of the last one. "Zordon." He stated. They all looked at him. "Somehow Zordon, the same wizard that created our powers and helped Fairy Godmother to establish the command center, is helping us now, increasing our weapons power."
"That would certainly please mom to hear." Jane noted softly. "She still seems so upset over hearing about Zordon's death." She looked down at her iPhone to make sure of something. "Between her and from what I've seen from the Space Rangers, it seemed like Zordon was a great man."
"Must really have been if he's finding a way to help us from the great beyond." Aziz noted as he walked around the monster.
"Has any of this helped so far?" Audrey asked Jane. Only Evie had noticed the foundation on the brunette princesses cheek that was being used to cover up the mark Chad had left from last night, and only because applying foundation had been taught to her by her mother before she could count to ten.
"I don't know for sure." Jane answered. "But I think we've gotten about everything we can from here. There's no signs of life in this thing at all, assuming one can say that about a cybernetic creature." The group got together to start back toward Auradon Prep.
That was when the heads of the Cybertech Overhydra regenerated at once and let out a ferocious war. That made all of them jump slightly and turn to face it. "I knew it wasn't dead, I knew it." Jordan muttered. "Why didn't we see it sooner?"
"I'll have to get back to you on that." Jane told her and looked to Mal. "Let me guess." She started.
Mal nodded. "Time to get to work." She confirmed as the team pulled out their iPhones, inputting their numbers and transforming. Ben transformed with his sword and shield. Jane transformed with the magic wand into the white ranger.
The heads snapped the warriors and they all dodged out of the way. Jordan, Aziz, Ben, Mal, Evie and Jay had their new and improved weapons out and were already moving to engage the cybernetic creature.
Audrey looked to Jane. "What are we supposed to do now?" She asked. "We weren't able to scratch this thing."
"Maybe my mom and Doug found something." Jane said. "Someone should go and find out what."
"We should go." Carlos said as he looked to Audrey and Lonnie. "Find out if she found anything."
"Be quick about it guys." Jay called. Ally and Jane started over to help them fight.
The three rangers started back toward Auradon Prep but were summarily jumped by a group of soldiers and Reviveslime. "Going somewhere?" He asked. "Don't you want to stay and enjoy breaking the fast together?"
"What are you talking about?" Carlos demanded.
"Breaking…fast…he's talking about breakfast for some reason." Audrey said to Carlos. "It's kind of a long explanation but that's the point of it." She had to resist rolling her eyes as the meaning sunk into the yellow ranger. "We don't have time for games Reviveslime."
"Chad will be disappointed to hear that." The slime general said just to rub it in Audrey's face the problems she'd been having with the Auradon teen's former friend. "But I'm afraid you're going to have to make the time." With that he unleashed a blast of energy at the two girls and Carlos. Lonnie rolled to the right as Audrey rolled to the left. Carlos was struck straight on and went flying into the air.
Then something unexpected happened. As Ally was unleashing a stream of cards on the head she faced, which was causing some damage but not enough, the head launched out heedless of the assault and leapt at the yellow ranger, swallowing him whole.
"That's just not cool." Aziz noted. "Give us back our friend." In response the monster snapped at him, he now seemed stronger and faster.
"Stick around rangers. Feel free to join your little friend, at least a little bit sooner than you will be."
Lonnie looked to Audrey. "Make a run to Auradon Prep." She told her. "I've got Reviveslime and the soldiers covered." With that the pink ranger dived into action.
For a moment Audrey wasn't sure what tact to take. Then she realized that defeating the Overhydra was the most important thing and ran straight for the school. She was running so fast that she wasn't able to dodge as a shield came out from nowhere and rammed right into her face. She hit the ground hard to find Chad over her again.
"Going somewhere?" He asked her with false sweetness.
The red ranger shot her foot out and connected hard with his stomach. "Back off Chad." She said and got into a fighting stance. "I don't have time for you and you can't even morph since Jay broke your sword." She sounded rather proud of that moment though in truth she only assumed that to be the case based on how Ben transformed.
Chad on the other hand looked kind of pissed to be reminded about that recent event. "I can't morph because of your little crush, but I'm not powerless." He retorted and with that he threw the shield hard. Audrey prepared to block it but instead the shield caused a massive dark explosion that sent her flying off of her feet and hitting the ground hard.
Audrey was dismayed to feel her powers fade away again as she was forced to catch her breath. Then Chad was over her. He leaned down to slap her and Audrey tried to block it. He caught her wrist and twisted it hard, then leaned down toward her face. "You keep trying, you keep failing." He brought his knee down hard on her stomach. "I think it's time you see what happens to failures."
One of the Cybertech head's snapped forward hard and tried to take a bite out of Mal. "Watch it." She snapped at the monster for whatever that was worth.
Another let loose a stream of energy that shot Aziz in the air and forced Ally to the ground hard. Both heads that had been facing down the silver and crystal ranger lashed out before they could recover and seemed to swallow them whole as well.
"That's not helping us." Ben noted. "We're getting more heads to deal with and it's getting stronger each time it swallows one of us."
"Maybe we should try moving in closer together?" Jane suggested. "We'd be able to watch each other's backs."
"Seems to me like we'd be lining up its lunch." Jordan retorted as she rolled out of the way of another strike.
Mal understood both of the girl's points. It'd be easier to keep each other safe but it also made it easier to get cornered and munched on by the monster. Then she noticed what seemed to be a flaw with it. It had struck at all of them except Lonnie. It had only gotten Carlos because of the direction he had been flown in; toward the battle. "Everyone, start backing away from this thing now." She ordered. They all started to follow her command but Reviveslime lashed out another wave of energy that sent them all to the ground hard.
Lonnie turned to see the Cybertech Overhydra lean down and envelope everyone but Ben and Mal, swallowing them whole. She moved to go and help her two remaining team mates when three soldiers grabbed her from behind, one around each arm and another around the waist. "Let go of me you putrid freaks." She ordered as she struggled.
"Yes, do." Reviveslime agreed with her simply. They launched her in the air and, similar to Carlos, one of the heads snapped her up and swallowed her too.
Mal and Ben were now surrounded.
Audrey's free hand came up to get him in the nose. When she pulled back a bit of blood was on her hands, she had broken Chad's nose. "See how you like bleeding." She couldn't help but say triumphantly even though she knew between the two of them he had the upper hand.
He didn't show any real reaction, save for the blaze of anger in his eyes. "You know I'll break you Audrey, if it's the last thing I ever do." He warned her and then leaned down roughly to kiss her on her lips roughly, hard. She tried to move away and her hand shot out to get him in the face hard, making him back away
"Anything you do to me, you will have to fight for tooth and nail." Audrey replied to him. "And when Jay, Ben, and all of my friends find out, then you'll have to pay for that too." She found it hard to continue speaking though as she felt some of his blood on her upper lip.
"Then I should take what I can." Chad said with a nasty gleam. Then they heard footsteps and a guard swung out at him. He dodged out of the way and packed up as another came into focus. Without another word Chad made a run for it and the two guards were after him.
For a second Audrey was confused about where they came from until she heard a voice, "Audrey." She turned to see her mother Aurora leaning before her. She gently wiped the blood from her lip as her mother looked into her eyes.
Aurora was glad to see the blood was not her daughters. She reached out and gently smoothed the hair from her face. "What was that about? Why was Chad trying to hurt you?" She asked. She knew of course about what had happened with him, a lot of the top people knew of course, and she felt awful for her parents and little sister. She didn't know about the dangerous obsession he seemed to have developed for her.
Audrey bit her lip. "He…doesn't like what I've become since working with Jay and the others…in school and all." She said, trying to find a way to hide the obvious.
Aurora solved that for her. "Since you became a power ranger." She filled in. When Audrey looked at her surprised she said, "Yes, your father and I know about that." She stroked her arm gently. "We couldn't be more proud of you for it." She never would have thought her daughter would take on such a roll. As much as she loved Audrey she had known that for a long time now what she could be like. She was sure her sudden change in behaviors had to do with being a power ranger with Mal, Jay, and the rest of her daughter's friends.
Audrey hadn't realized that she had started to cry since her mother had shown up. Aurora had noticed and brushed away some tears only to have her hand come back with some of the concealer on her cheek. She took a cloth and wiped it away only to see the last bruise on her cheek. "Audrey, what's going on? Where did this come from?" She asked worriedly.
Audrey flinched a bit, not wanting her mother to see it. "It…it came from Chad…from yesterday." She said softly. She held up the wrist that Chad had twisted hard and started to massage it. "I…I don't have time for this, my friends are in trouble…" She started.
Aurora put her hands gently on Audrey's shoulders. "You won't be any good to them if you aren't focused Audrey." She said. "Now, tell me what happened. When did all of this," She touched just above her daughter's cheek gently, "this abuse start."
She wanted to argue with her mother. Not for the first time since it started she found she didn't want to face it. It meant acknowledging something in her she didn't want to face, the fear and self-doubt that Chad had instilled in her since he had started walking the dark path. But she had only spoken of it, at the start of it, to Ben and Mal. She had never spoken to them about since and her mother's kind and concerned eyes were far different from the worry and protective looks she saw from her friends…like what Mal had seen from Belle at the castle.
So she told her mother everything as quickly as she could. Chad's first strike when she had asked him for help in freeing Ben. His beating her in order to 'earn' the powers of the dark knight. The times he had hit her, from being bound after being captured by Psycho Red up until now, where to Aurora's horror she revealed the unwanted kiss on the cheek the day before and the forced kiss on the lips now. Her voice had grown softer as she talked and by the end she was crying again. Her mother enveloped her in a hug.
Then for some reason she found herself saying, "Jay asked me out yesterday."
"He's a good guy." Aurora said with a smile. Better than she would have thought from the son of Jafar. "And he cares for you a lot."
Audrey shook her head. Now was so not the time, and yet… "He doesn't. He can't. A guy like him could never like a girl like me." She said, echoing the doubt Chad had put into her heart.
"Nonsense." Aurora stated. "You're a very smart and beautiful young woman." She stroked her daughter's hair again. "And now you've become a confident warrior and a loyal friend." She did not add that that loyalty had not always been as strong then as it had now. "You've learned to open your heart and mind to see the good in others. You've become everything a true princess should be. And I know I'm not the only one who sees that. Your friends see that. Jay sees that too. That is truly what he finds himself attracted too."
Audrey hit the nail on the head without realizing it. "But Chad said he could never feel that way for some 'pretty pink princess', that he could only like someone more…" Aurora placed her finger on her daughter's lips to silence her.
"Chad isn't concerned about your best interest or your feelings." Aurora said to her. "And if he could treat you like this now despite everything than he never did. You have outgrown him, sweetie. Perhaps you and Ben had outgrown him a long time ago." She hugged her crying daughter tightly against her, wishing she could take the pain Audrey was feeling away from her and yet knew she could not. Her friends could not either. But with her support and her friend's support she could. With Jay's love she could as well, if only she had convinced her daughter to accept it.
Audrey pulled away a moment later. "Mom…not to be rude, but what are you doing here anyway?" She asked softly.
Aurora laughed at that. The truth was she was surprised Audrey hadn't voiced that sooner. "There are things that come in time, Audrey. And this is one of them." She reached down to pick up the small bag she had dropped earlier. Audrey hadn't noticed that in all of the rush of emotions. She took out a small curved object and placed it in Audrey's hands, followed by a silver choke that she affixed to her daughter's neck.
"You know I love jewelry mom." Audrey said. "But what is this?" She had to find out how she could help her friends.
"That choker is more than jewelry." Aurora said to her. "As long as you keep it on you, it's a link for your mind. To your weapon. Placed on your bow, it allows you to vary the type or amount of magical arrows you wish to use in combat." She kissed her daughter on the forehead. "This, I think is what will help you save your friends."
"Did Fairy Godmother ask you to come here?" Audrey asked as she took out her iPhone. "Or was it more than that?"
"More than that." Aurora said as she brushed Audrey's hair away from her face. "Now go. Your friends need you. I don't think Chad will come back after you today with our guards searching for him."
Audrey nodded. "I love you mom." She said with a small smile and then, knowing it didn't matter since she knew, she input her numbers and transformed. She started back quickly to her friends.
Audrey's conversation with her mother had happened while the battle was looking to be lost. It was a bit coincidental that the same thing had happened with Evie and Snow White as the team was trying to avoid being crushed.
Now Reviveslime moved in with the soldiers to corral Mal and Ben to the Overhydra. The two valiantly tried to fight the soldiers back but the numbers were a lot, and Reviveslime was not mere soldier and was not making that easier.
"Mal, Ben, I'm here." Audrey called out as she jumped over a fallen log.
"Isn't that comforting?" Reviveslime questioned mockingly. "Now she can be here to watch you two lose. She already missed the failure of her friends."
Mal wasn't quite sure what to have Audrey do. The odds seemed bad from where she was standing. Luckily Audrey had an idea of what to do first. "Mal, Ben, get away from the soldiers." She said.
"That would lead us straight to the Overhydra." Ben reminded Mal. "That'd be pretty dangerous." He had said all he needed too, now it was up to Mal to make the judgment call, and he trusted her judgement.
Mal hesitated only an instant. "Let's try to avoid those jaws." She said to her knight and then the two of them turned and, seemingly crazily enough, ran toward the monster.
"They must have lost their minds." Reviveslime said with glee. He turned to Audrey and noticed her pulling back the string on her silver bow. "And what is it you think one arrow will do?"
"One arrow, nothing." Audrey admitted as she then shot the arrow up high and thought about what she wanted to happen. One of the magic arrows split into seemingly a thousand, no different than the knife trick Red Magi had pulled out. They all fell and started to take out the soldiers and some even hit Reviveslime though with his regenerative abilities it didn't take him out. "Now a shower of arrows on the other hand, might do a lot."
As Mal and Ben dodged heads and looked behind them Ben remarked, "Wow, when could Audrey do that?"
"Not until now." Mal answered with a smile. "Something tells me that she's been visited by a gift giver." She looked to Ben. "Let's head back toward Audrey and see if her gift is as multi-functional as mine and Evie's are." He nodded at her and the two headed back, the Cybertech Overhydra roaring behind them.
"Where are the others?" Audrey yelled out to them.
"That cybernetic lizard swallowed them up." Mal answered as they ran closer to the red ranger. In truth Mal was aware that it was technically supposed to be dragon, but that was beside the point right now.
Audrey raised her bow again. "Alright, let's see if mom's gift really does read my intentions." She said to herself. Eleven heads and eight missing team mates meant a few heads were 'homeless' but she didn't see that she had a choice here. She shot the magic arrow and it multiplied into elven arrows that the heads seemed to have no problems ingesting.
"What did that do?" Ben asked his friend.
"If they did what I wanted, you'll know in a minute." Audrey answered. Sure enough a moment later each of the eight rangers seemed to come out of nowhere, though they landed on the ground hard. They ran over to check on their friends, though Audrey was glad that the teleportation arrows seemed to have worked.
"If we weren't morphed, those arrows would have hurt." Carlos said as he pulled it out of his arm.
"I had no problems on my end." Jane teased sweetly as she took the arrow out of her left wing. She controlled them but they had no nerves or anything to connect to her body.
"Mal, I know why we didn't defeat this thing the first time." Evie said as she stood up, the arrow falling off of her mirror shield. "It's the insides that are vulnerable, not the heads or the shell of the body."
Mal nodded and then looked to Audrey. "You hear that? Think you can capitalize on that weakness?"
Audrey nodded. "No problem, not if they decided to ingest the arrows again." She replied and then raised her silver bow. She thought of explosive arrows and aimed for one of their mouths. It was going to rely on luck for the others to decide to go after the arrows.
"How can she guarantee this will work?" Jay asked.
"There is one way I can think of." Carlos answered his friend. "If these things are going by heat signatures or movement, they should focus in on those arrows like a moth to a flame."
Audrey released her magic arrow and it split into the eleven she needed and they could each just make out what seemed to be incendiary tips on the arrows. The Overhydra's heads indeed lashed out to get ahold of the arrows, swallowing them easily. At first nothing happened and the team got ready to try to fight again, Audrey even prepared another shot of arrows but then the Cybertech Overhydra stopped as explosions resounded from inside the body. The end result sent them all flying backwards a bit but at the end when the smoke cleared there was no trace of its existence.
Evie looked to Audrey. "Where'd you get your toy?" She wondered.
"My mom." Audrey answered with a smile.
The group powered down and started back toward Auradon Prep. This time it was Audrey who reached out and grabbed Jay's hand. "Jay I…I'm really sorry for what happened yesterday." She said softly. "I let Chad get into my head, again. I guess it's something he's been really good at lately." She looked down, feeling kind of ashamed that she let him play her like that. Then she looked up at him again. "I…I would love to go on a date with you, if you're still interested."
Jay pursed his lips together. "I think I'm going to have to think about it, honestly." He said and then turned around. He could imagine the look on her pretty face as he turned around and took two steps away before turning around again and coming up to her. "Okay, I thought about it and I'm in." He said.
Both of them laughed a little. They didn't notice the amusement from Mal, Ben and Evie too. "I guess talking with her mother did more for Audrey than just give her a new weapon." Ben noted quietly.
"Looks like it." Mal agreed softly. "But all the emotional feelings Chad has evoked in her hasn't been resolved just yet. It's barely been scratched." The purple haired girl just hoped that Jay had what it took to deal with it if it really was as bad as she feared.
"So where do you want to go?" Jay asked her.
"I'll let you know." Audrey said as she took his hand in hers. "Ben isn't the only one with secret date spots in Auradon."