Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. Only my OCs.
Chapter 16: Bully for Ethan
"No freaking way." Andy looked at Jenna in shock, laughing as they walked through the school grounds, "I can't believe it!"
"Which part? Raina coming to her rescue and wanting to be just like her? Or Zoey threatening the guys with secrets that could get them into enough trouble that their grandchildren will be paying the price?"
"No, actually, I can believe both of those." Jenna chuckled as he rolled his eyes, "I mean, Raina already has a big attitude and she's always looked up to the way Zoey is. Trust me, I know. She's my best friend." He shook his head, "And there's no surprise in Zoey blackmailing anyone. She's got more dirt on every Ranger team currently in existence. Trust me. I believe it."
"Then what?"
"That she finally got that personal time with Nick that our brothers and their friends have been determined to keep from happening." He smirked, "Do they love to interfere or what?"
"You've got that right. I've been getting all of my personal time with Hunter since they joined us in Blue Bay."
"That little house of theirs on the beach, right?"
"Yep. It's where Blake goes on his days off, with Tori, and where Hunter and I meet for quiet time. His students are loud, and Leanne gets on his ever-loving nerves. She's constantly hovering and giving him more and more work to do to keep him from leaving the Academy. Sensei Omino had to help last time and keep her distracted."
"Why is she doing that?"
"She hates my guts and she's not a fan of Tori's either." She paused, "Blake spilled the beans. Apparently, if you're not Thunder Ninjas, then you're not good enough for her little brothers."
"So, she's a snob."
"Yep."
"Head's up!" They look over to see a soccer ball fly over and hit Ethan's laptop.
"Oops." They exchanged looks and ran over to Conner, who was trying to keep the peace.
"First of all, my name is Ethan, not Geek." Andy winced as they got there, catching the Blue Ranger's words. This was not going to be good. "And out of this whole field, you had to kick the ball over there? You really do need practice!"
"Well, look, Ethan. This is my field." The jock smirked, "And I can kick the ball wherever I want to." Jenna just pinched her nose, smiling as Andy snickered.
"Obviously everywhere but the net." Ethan mocked, making Andy laugh more.
"That's it!" The jock went to swing a punch at their friend, but Conner block it.
"Enough!" Jenna stepped in between them, glaring at the guy that was being held back by Conner, "Party's over, Jock Boy. Get to stepping."
"Just who do you think you are?"
Her eyes narrowed as she stepped closer to him. "Somebody who's going to kick your ass if you don't listen and get the hell out of here."
"She's not playing, Derek." Conner pulled on the kid's arm, "You don't want to mess with her. She will take you out. Not to mention that she's not a student. She's a teacher's aide and has the ability to take you up to the office."
Derek hesitated, "You watch yourself, dweeb," He snarled, looking at Ethan.
"Derrick, chill," Conner pushed him back as Andy grabbed Ethan's arm. Conner shot him a warning look and followed the other jock off the field.
"Stupid, idiotic jock." Jenna muttered, pulling out her phone to contact Zoey for the 411 on the situation, "Save me from dumb ass boys."
1-2-3-4-5
The next day, Andy walked with Ethan down the hall, talking about their science homework, "I'm telling you." The Blue Ranger argued, "He's messing with us." They stopped at a set of stairs to see a group of jocks standing there, joking around, "Hey Conner, did you get the answer to number five on Mercer's homework?" He asked, seeing the Red Ranger, "It's gotta be a trick question!"
"Do you know this guy?" Derrick looked at Ethan with a raised eyebrow.
"Seriously?" Andy raised an eyebrow, "We're lab partners and lab assistants to Dr. Oliver. We've spent more time together than we have with our own families." He looked at Ethan, "I thought the whole school knew that. I mean, we're always together. Have been since the start of the school year."
"Definitely a bigger Jock-Head than Conner." They shared a chuckled, "What's it matter to you, anyway?" He asked the bigger boy.
"Look, geek boy, isn't there some kind of sci-fi convention that you need to go to?" Derrick scowled at him.
"Oh, you really are cliché, aren't you?" Ethan rolled his eyes. "Your parents must be so proud." Even Conner couldn't help but snicker at Ethan's sarcastic words.
"What did you just call me?" Derrick demanded, looking furious. "What did he just call me?" He turned to Conner.
"Why are you asking him? Can't you figure it out for yourself?" Ethan taunted.
"Wow!" Andy chuckled, sharing an incredulous look with Conner.
The Jock snapped his pencil and threw it down on the ground, "Oh, you are in need of a serious lesson." He growled, approaching the two other boys.
"Oh! Fine. Bring it." Ethan pulled his backpack off.
"Ethan! Are you sure you wanna do this?" Conner stepped forwards quickly, with Andy by Ethan, ready to jump in.
"Look, stay out of this McKnight," Derrick snarled at him. "This is between me, and the geek." He smirked down at Ethan, before the bell rang suddenly.
"You know what? For the first time in my life, I actually wanna go to class!" Conner exclaimed loudly. "So come on guys!" He shoved Derrick along, but he stopped.
"You and me, after school. Your friends won't be there to protect you." Derrick told him with a smirk, before walking off.
"You know something, Tricera Boy," Andy patted him on the shoulder, "That mouth is going to get you into a lot of trouble one of these days."
"My mouth?" Before Ethan can question him further, they heard a noise coming from outside, "Oh... what now?" Ethan groaned, and they hurried down to the window to find it. As they peered outside, they spotted a monster creeping around the school grounds with Zeltrax. The pair groaned at the sight. "Great, like I don't have enough to think about." The Blue Ranger muttered sarcastically.
"We." Andy sighed, "We don't have enough to think about. Team, remember?" He shook his head as they chased after the pair. "Hey, you losers lost?" He called as they reached the courtyard, and Zeltrax and his new monster turned around.
"Yeah, the school for misguided machines is down the road." Ethan growled.
"Very funny," Zeltrax didn't sound very amused. "But it's this school we're after."
Ethan scoffed, "Get real Zeltrax!"
"This is very real!" The machine growled. "Termitetron can destroy whole cities in a matter of moments. Turn over Tommy, or I will release him on your fellow students," he warned the pair.
"Not if we can exterminate him first." Ethan commented, shrugging a little.
Andy sighed, "Where's Zoey when you need her?"
"We don't always have to rely on her, you know." Ethan snapped as he took a fighting stance, "We can handle this without her."
"I wasn't referring to the fight, genius." The Green Ranger rolled his eyes, "I was talking about her knocking you upside the head."
"What?!"
"Enough." Zeltrax sighed, "Save me from stubborn and irritating teenagers."
"Ready?" Ethan called as he and Andy called on their morphers.
"Ready!"
"DINO THUNDER-"
"Ethan! Andy!" They froze instantly and cursed under their breath as they heard Cassidy call out. They looked around to see a crowd of students, with Cassidy and Devin at the lead, watching.
"Perfect timing!" Zeltrax laughed.
"Now those are what I call bullies." Cassidy grinned. "Roll the camera Devin!" she barked to him.
"Are you insane? Stay back!" Andy yelled at them, and Termitetron blasted the ground in front of them, making the students cry out. They ran and hid behind the bushes to watch as Ethan and Andy dodged, unable to morph. "Still watching?"
"Yep." Ethan growled, irritated as he saw Devin filming the fight.
"Idiots." Andy nodded to him, and they rushed the monster. As Ethan was tossed aside, Andy dodged the attacks and leap up, slamming a kick into the monster's side. The monster stumbled back and glared as the two teens regrouped.
"Hey! Back off!" They looked up to see Kira and Jenna flip through the air, blasting the monster. "Are you two ok?" Kira asked as she landed in front of them, holding her blaster up as she watched Jenna take on Termitetron. "Hey, kids, why don't you step aside? Let us handle this." Kira asked, trying to get her point across.
"'Kids'?" Ethan asked in disgust, as Andy tugged on his sleeve.
"Move it, Blue Boy." He hissed, trying to get him up.
"Go on, go." Kira whispered, nodding in the other direction. They got to their feet and took off, leaving the girls alone.
"You're such a pain, Zeltrax." Jenna yelled, calling on her weapons, "Artic Claws!" She charged at the Zurgane wannabe, "Ice Blades!" As the icy crescent flew out, Zeltrax used his weapon to deflect most of them, crying out as there were too many to dodge, "Too cold?" She cocked her head to the side, "You definitely wouldn't have survived the Ice Age. You Lizard Freaks just aren't adaptable."
"I'm going to destroy you, you little brat!"
"Like you're the first person to say that to me." She rolled her eyes in time to see Andy and Ethan run back in, morphed, and help Kira. "Back up has arrived."
"You ok?" Andy asked as he ran over to the Purple Ranger.
"Perfect." She nodded, "Just taking Zeltrax here down a peg."
"Atta girl." He grinned, "Want some help?"
"Love some." They attacked the general as Ethan and Kira took on the bug monster. Dodging his sword's blows, the pair landed blows that barely seemed to faze him, but they didn't relent. Jenna used her claws as leverage as Andy blocked Zeltrax's sword with his axe, pushing it down. Jenna then jumped up and landed on the sword, allowing Andy kicked him from behind.
"Oh cool, a girlie Ranger!" Cassidy suddenly ran over to try and interview Jenna, giving Zeltrax a chance to recover.
"Is she serious?!" Andy asked as he pulled Devin away, "What's wrong with her?"
"Duck!" Jenna grabbed Cassidy and swung her out of the way, pushing her toward Devin and Andy intercepted Zeltrax's next attack that would have hit Devin with his axe.
"Both of you, get out of here! It's too dangerous!" Andy told the two as they continued to fight Zeltrax, and when he saw them start to get in Ethan's way, he rolled his eyes in frustration, "Idiots." Zeltrax let out a growl, kicking Jenna back before catching Andy with his sword, and blasted them to the ground.
"Guys!" Ethan and Kira ran over to help them up, and Termitetron ran to Zeltrax.
"I want you to get a message to the Black Ranger." Zeltrax told the four Rangers.
"You ever heard of email?" Ethan rolled his eyes.
"Not the time for taunting." Jenna growled, staring down the general.
"Tell him to surrender to me at the old warehouse before sunset, or I will turn Termitetron lose on the city." He warned, disappearing through an Invisiportal.
"Great..." Ethan sighed.
1-2-3-4-5
By the time they managed to get away to somewhere quiet and demorph, the four Rangers were already very late for class.
"Sorry we're late." Ethan apologized as they ran into the classroom, which was silent as Doctor Mercer wrote on the blackboard. "Did we miss anything?" He asked the teacher, who was frowning at them.
"Well, nothing you can't make up in detention. After school, today."
Jenna walked past him, "First of all, I'm a teacher's aide. I can't get detention. And secondly, before you oh, so kindly, write me up," she pulled out a sheet of paper, "I was doing a conference call with my college about one of my papers."
He looked at it and sighed, "Understood."
"Lucky." Andy smirked, wondering who had forged that for her.
"Why does this feel really familiar?" Kira sighed.
Derrick stuck out his food, tripping Ethan to the ground.
"My bad," Derrick smirked down at him as Andy and Kira helped the furious Blue Ranger up.
"Derrick. I believe there are rules in the student handbook about treating your fellow students with courtesy and respect." Doctor Mercer spoke lightly, not looking up. "Why don't you, uh, join us in detention today, to review them?" He asked, and Derrick's smirk dropped instantly. "Now, let's open our textbooks to chapter eight." He spoke as Ethan, Andy and Kira took their seats, and Derrick shot Ethan a warning look, mouthing 'after school' at him.
Jenna just shook her head, dreading what was sure to be a disaster.
1-2-3-4-5
The bell rang loudly, signaling the end of the school day, and the Rangers walked together as three of them made their way to detention.
"You're gonna tell Doctor O about Zeltrax, right?" Kira asked Conner and Jenna as they walked down the corridor.
"Yeah, ok, but what about you Ethan?" Conner looked to the Blue Ranger, more concerned about him.
"What about me?" Ethan frowned up at the tall jock.
"The fight." Conner rolled his eyes.
"The whole school knows about it." Kira pointed out. As he went to respond, Cassidy and Devin appeared, blocking their way.
"Oh Ethan, hello." They pushed Kira, Conner, Andy and Jenna out of the way to talk, missing the glare the Purple Ranger through at them, "Ok, good luck for today, and if you happen to fall over, fall towards the camera, that would be really good for me." Cassidy smiled, walking away.
"She reminds me more and more of Mara, every day." Jenna muttered, looking at Andy, "Think we can convince Raina to knock her out?"
"With that comparison, and the fact that she can't actually touch Mara anymore?" He smirked, "Hell, yeah." He turned back to the Blue Ranger, "Ethan, you're not really gonna go through with this, are you? That's just giving him what he wants."
"Yeah, so Derrick is a bully who can kick your butt. Who cares?" Kira shrugged as she looked at him, and Ethan scowled as he looked up. "Wait, you're not gonna use your Dino power on him, right?"
"No, I'm not gonna use my Dino power." Ethan rolled his eyes.
"Dude, no offence, but without it..." Conner trailed off, and Ethan scowled at him.
"There's other ways to deal with a bully!" He snapped, storming off.
"There's quite a few ways to handle a bully outside of physical violence." Jenna commented, looking at her team, "Remind me to tell you about some of the bullies our brothers had to deal with in Angel Grove, and what they did to handle them. They used their brains, every time. They never got physical with them. Have faith that Ethan will be able to do the same."
1-2-3-4-5
"You're going?" Conner asked, looking at his teacher incredulously, "Isn't that walking right into his hands?"
"Maybe." Tommy concurred, "But he's not going to stop pushing us around until someone stands up to him. Let's go see what Zeltrax is up to."
"And hopefully not fall for the aforementioned trap." Jenna giggled as Tommy poked her in the side, "My job is to keep you safe until Zoey gets back. Best friend or not, she'll kick my butt." She glanced at Conner, "Then she'll move on to him."
"That is so not fair." He shook his head as Tommy nudged him forward.
"Come on."
1-2-3-4-5
"Where is that hunk of junk?" Conner asked as they went into the empty warehouse.
"Stay focused." Tommy warned, "I've got a bad feeling about this."
"At least I'm not the only one." Jenna said, looking around. They turned as Termitetron stepped out from behind some boxes, "Freaking bug."
"You really are suckers for punishment." He cackled, walking toward them.
The three Rangers braced themselves, and, nodding at each other, charged the monster.
1-2-3-4-5
Andy, Ethan and Kira spent the detention time working on homework, knowing that it will probably be their only chance with Termitetron around. When it reached the last minute, the four all ended up staring at the clock, waiting.
"You may leave." Doctor Mercer spoke the when the clock stuck 4. He then left, and they sighed, grabbing their things.
Before they could get up, their morphers went off. Ethan looked down, and back up at Derrick. "We may have to reschedule."
Derrick just rolled his eyes, "I knew you'd try and get out of it."
"Believe me, I want this over with as much as you." Ethan told him, sighing. "But something just came up." He insisted, and Derrick scoffed.
"He's not lying. It's important." Kira spoke up and Andy nodded.
"As soon as I'm done, I'll be back," Ethan said, "I'll meet you on the soccer field."
"One hour," Derrick warned, leaning towards them. "And if you don't come back, I'm coming looking for you." He told Ethan as the Blue Ranger stood up. "And you won't like it when I find you."
"He'll be back in an hour." Andy sighed. "Stupid jock." He glared as he ushered his friends out, "Let's go."
1-2-3-4-5
Hearing that Tommy, Conner and Jenna had gone to face Zeltrax in the warehouse like the machine had requested, Kira, Ethan and Andy hurried to join them. When they found the place, they found their teammates on the ground, having been knocked down.
"Guys!" They hurried over and helped the pair up as Termitetron laughed.
"I thought you were supposed to meet Zeltrax." Kira frowned.
"I guess he was afraid to face me in person." Tommy shrugged.
"He'll be here," Termitetron told them. "I'm just the welcoming party."
"I guess we better change into our costumes then." Conner growled. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
"DINO THUNDER, POWER UP, HA!"
"DINO POWER!"
They morphed into their suites and leapt through the air, kicking Termitetron back.
"You posers are no match for me! Bug Bombs!" He attacked them with buzzing insects, which swarmed the Rangers and attacked them repeatedly. Managing to get away, Conner rolled to the side and called on his blaster, destroying the bugs quickly. "Hey! Those are my babies!" Termitetron cried out.
"Feel this baby!" Conner yelled as he ran at the monster with his Tyranno Staff. "Tyranno Staff!" he swung off it and kicked Termitetron repeatedly.
"I want a piece of that freak, too!" Andy yelled as they called on their weapons too.
Jenna held up her claws, "Especially since he called us posers. Get real."
"Let's put 'em together!" Conner nodded to his friends, and they combined their weapons.
"Z-Rex Blaster!" They aimed the cannon at the monster, who cried out in horror as he got to his feet.
"Ice Claws!"
"Time to bug out!"
"Arctic Blades!"
"Fire!" They blasted the monster and destroyed him.
"Good work." Tommy told his students. Within moments, the monster regenerated, and grew.
"I'm a big bad bug!" Termitetron laughed as he broke through the roof of the warehouse.
"You guys ready?" Tommy asked as they ran out of the Warehouse, looking up at the monster. Before they could respond, Zeltrax appeared through a portal.
"Look who waits until the last minute to show up." Andy rolled his eyes at the machine.
"Better late than never." Tommy growled at him.
"I'd say my timing is perfect. Give up, and I call him off. Or take your chances with me." Zeltrax told them as he pointed his sword at them.
"You know what I choose, guys?" Tommy looked to the other Rangers, who nodded. The main four ran off as he called on the Brachio Zord, bringing forth their Zords, while Jenna stayed behind with Tommy to take on Zeltrax. They combined to make the Thundersaurus Megazord, and faced off against Termitetron.
"Nice hardware." The monster commented. "I think I'll eat it!" He decided and flew towards them.
"We could use some bug spray!" Conner cried out as the monster slammed into them and held on.
"This annoying pest needs a good swat!" Kira nodded. They hurled Termitetron through the air, and he landed on his feet.
"My turn!" He declared, flying at them again.
1-2-3-4-5
"Brachio staff!" Tommy called out, bringing up his weapon as Zeltrax charged.
"Oh, you are so not doing this without me." Jenna held up her claws with a sigh as Tyrannodrones came out to keep her away from the other two, "Seriously?" She sighed, "Well, if I must, I must." After she cleared the field, she looked over to see that Tommy and Zeltrax had stopped fighting and just stared each other down.
"I'm getting pretty sick of meeting like this." Tommy glared, "I wish you'd just tell me what it is that you have against me."
"Does the name Terrance Smith ring a bell?" The machine growled.
"Smitty?" Tommy asked just as Zeltrax slashed him with his sword.
"Tommy!" Jenna ran forward and helped out with the fight, getting thrown back with Tommy against some barrels.
As they stood back up, the Ranger Legend looked over in disbelief, "Smitty? But you were lost in that accident."
"I was on a verge of a breakthrough, when it all went wrong. Mesogog found me and put me back together again. He's a genius with cybernetic reconstruction."
"Oh, man. Smitty."
Jenna stared in shock at the news, "This is unreal."
Zeltrax attacked in anger, fighting Tommy head on. "Genius or not, he's the enemy. You shouldn't be fighting for him!"
"He gave me life. Life you stole from me. And now, you will repay with yours."
They went at each other again, Tommy trying harder to push defense instead of offense. "Don't do this Smitty. Revenge is never the answer."
"IT IS ALL THAT HAS KEPT ME GOING!" One last shove threw Tommy back in a shower of sparks, "Revenge is mine!"
"My advice for you..." Tommy got back up, nodded at his old friend, "find another hobby." He looked over as Jenna started to rejoin, "Stay back, J. This is my fight."
"He's all yours." She stood back, smirking, "This oughta be good."
After a few more attacks or kick from both, Zeltrax was thrown back himself, Tommy still standing, "Give it up, Zeltrax."
"Never."
"I hate to do this, Smitty." He pulled his staff out, "Dino Energy Orb!" A purple and yellow light shown from the staff as he whirled in around in a circle, creating an electrical storm in the middle, "Fire!" he sent the blast out, encasing Zeltrax in the Orb, electrocuting him and causing him to fall to the ground. "Had enough?"
Zeltrax got back up, groaning, "I'll be back. I promise you that." He disappeared in the green light of an Invisiportal.
"I'll be back." Jenna mocked, making Tommy laugh, "What is he? The Terminator?"
"Well, he was a human turned machine."
"That's just scary."
1-2-3-4-5
The rest of the Rangers continued their fight with Termitetron, tossing him through the air. They ran at him this time before he could recover, shoving him back.
"Let's dynamite this termite!" Conner called as they released the monster, who stumbled back several giant steps. "Dino Drill!" They launched into the air, and shot at Termitetron, destroying him with one final blow.
1-2-3-4-5
"Are you sure you wanna do this? I mean, the guy's a jerk." Conner was still attempting to talk Ethan out of facing Derrick as they, returned to the school. Kira, Andy and Jenna stood with the rest of the crowd on the field, watching.
"Would you just trust me, for once?" Ethan rolled his eyes at the Red Ranger, and they walked up to Derrick. Conner stood in front of him frowning at the bully.
"Out of my way, McKnight. This is between me, and the geek here." Derek said as he gestured to Ethan. Conner glanced at his friend, who nodded, and walked over to stand beside the other three.
"Ok, here's the deal. I could fight you, but what would that prove?" Ethan asked as Derrick glared at him. "Instead, I'd like to make you a proposition." He offered, and Derrick laughed at him.
"You're bailing?" He asked in disbelief.
"I think I can improve your game." Ethan told him, and the bully just folded his arms. "If I do, you promise to back off me and my friends." When Derrick didn't respond, he glanced to one of the others from his computer club. "My LT, please."
"What the hell is an LT?" Jenna asked, looking to the side at Kira and the boys.
"Laptop." Andy chuckled.
"Why doesn't he just say that?"
"He's a geek who as to abbreviate everything."
"Oh, yeah."
"This is a computer image of you kicking." Ethan held it up for Derrick to see. "I superimposed it against an image of a pro player from Manchester."
Derrick leaned closer and frowned, "How'd you do that?"
"I'm a computer geek, remember?" Ethan smirked.
Derrick laughed, "Oh yeah."
"Look. See where you're blowing it? It's just that one little hitch in your kick." Ethan told him, and Derrick thought about it.
A few moments later, everyone cleared away from the goal, and Derrick faced off against a nervous looking goalie. He kicked the ball, and it flew around the diving goalkeeper, and into the net. He laughed a little, stepping back.
"I can't believe it worked." He admitted.
"I told ya." Ethan shrugged.
"Where'd you learn how to do that?" Derrick asked, looking a little sheepish now.
"The Net. Well, the Internet, that is." Ethan corrected himself with a grin.
"That's pretty cool." Derrick admitted. "And I'm sorry about before. I just thought a guy like you, you know, so smart and all, wouldn't wanna talk to a guy like me. Guess I was wrong."
"It's a brave new world out there, my friend." Ethan chuckled.
"Oh, yeah!" Conner exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder, "Let's go."
"I gotta call Zoey." Jenna said, nudging Andy, "She's gonna get a kick out of this."
"Any idea on how her progress is going?"
"Slowly. She may come back before she's 100%. If she does, she's gonna stay in the lab and help monitor while trying to find ways to get Tommy unstuck."
"You know the guys are going to rib him good at the Reunion this summer."
"Eh, what are friends for?"
Thanks for reading!
Catch you on the flip side!