Johnny is a unique ranger. He's a part of the team, but he's not really a team player. He tries to handle things on his own and doesn't really try to get close with the others. At the moment, he's training with a sword, but he needs to train being on a team.
"Hey, Johnny!" Lance called as the others came out. "We were all thinking of getting something to eat. You want to come?"
"No thanks. I need to work on my moves." Johnny said.
"So, how about we join you?" Hannah offered.
"I won't get better if I do." Johnny said. His little lone wolf attitude was starting to get in everyone's nerves.
"What's with him? Every time we try to be nice, he keeps pushing us away." Hannah said.
"Maybe he just wants to be left alone." Timmy said.
"Seems like he always wants that. Doesn't he know being a team also means we're friends?" Austin said. They just can't figure him out. Just then, they heard their little alarm for ghouls going off.
"Rangers! Another ghoul showed up!" Pro alerted.
"Time to saddle up!" Lance said as they all hurried to their horses.
...
Steel Grounds
it seemed rather peaceful. Even a musician was sharing his music for others to hear with him enjoying it.
"You want to be a musician?" He turned around and saw the ghoul. It was a cyclops-like ghoul with a large blue eye. "You'll never make it in music. You would have if you were actually good." When he said that, some sort of shockwave that smashed into the guy and knocked him over.
"I hope I didn't buy too much." A lady said as she carried tons of bags.
"Yeah, right." The ghoul said as he came to her. "You've got a spending problem." He claimed and she got hit by the same shockwave. He even attacked someone that just walked around. "And you wet the bed until you were ten? What a baby!" That innocent man got hit by the same shockwave. "Nothing like the truth."
"Hold it right there!" He looked and saw the rangers show up on their horses. They mounted off and were ready for a fight. "What do you think you're doing?!" Lance said.
"The names Trubreak. Care to guess why?"
"No. What we like is to take you down!" Hannah said as she was the first to try and attack him.
"Really? This coming from a fashion reject back in elementary school." Trubreak said. Hannah was surprised that he knows that. Suddenly, the invisible force hit her so hard that she smashed against a wall.
"Hannah!" Timmy called.
"What hit her?!" Austin said.
"Hey, Blue!" Trubreak called and got his attention. "You're just another dumb jock. You really think you can be a doctor?" That got to Austin and he got hit by the same thing.
"Austin!" Timmy called.
"Your turn!" Trubreak said as he went to him. "You're father will never be proud of you." Those words really got to Timmy that he went through a whole building.
"How is he doing that?" Johnny questioned.
"What's the trick?" Lance questioned.
"The truth hurts, don't it? My eye allows me to see the truth about people." Trubreak said. "It's not my fault they're sensitive."
"You're just a bad mouth, and I think it's time we shut it!" Lance said as he went in and tried to fight him off, but Trubreak stayed out of reach.
"Tough talk for someone that's scared of little harmless bugs!" Trubreak mocked. That got to Lance and he got hit by that strange force as well. "This is too easy. I guess that just leaves you, Black Ranger."
"Bring it on." Johnny said. He charged right in and hopefully he could attack before Trubreak uses his little trick.
"You antisocial outcast!" Trubreak said, but the strange thing was that nothing happened. Johnny was the one that attacked and nearly hit him. "What? What was that, you big baby!" Nothing happened except for Johnny landing an attack against him. "Did I not say it loud enough?" Johnny kept it going as he unleashed a power slash and managed to hit him again. "You're not as tough as you think, you wimp! You're a fraud because of a certain someone, and you're really just a crybaby." Still nothing, but Johnny could still fight back as he took his Knight Shooter and was able to blast him.
"That's weird. Why isn't Johnny affected?" Hannah said.
"You said it, sister. I'm out of here." Trubreak said as he had a portal opened up and he managed to escape.
"That fended him off, but he'll be back." Lance said as they've got a tough fight ahead.
...
Chalice
"How are we going to beat this guy?" Austin questioned. The rangers all regrouped back at Chalice and went over what they knew so that they could be ready for when he attacks again.
"This ghoul will be tricky. It seems that he uses his eye to see the truth about people and says some insulting things." Pro claimed. "Only he's able to take the emotional pain and transform it into physical pain."
"If that's the case, why was Johnny unaffected by it." Hannah said.
"I was never really one to care what others think of me." Johnny said.
"Johnny is unaffected by this ghoul, so he holds the best chance of defeating him. The rest of you must be able to block what this ghoul says so that his abilities don't work on you." Pro said, but it's easier said than done when words have a way of getting under your skin.
"Just leave it to me. I can handle this one alone." Johnny said and then left like it was the end of the discussion.
"There he goes again. Why can't Johnny work with us?" Hannah complained. "Also, what do you think that ghoul meant when he said those things about Johnny? Crybaby? Fraud?" That was rather odd. If that thing can see the truth about people, what did it see with Johnny?
...
The Underworld
"You're just a big suck-up!" Trubreak said as he tested his powers out on Gar and sent him flying. "And you're not so bad, Creepna."
"I wouldn't finish that if I were you." Creepna said as she held up her blade to him to get him to quit talking.
"Calm down. I'm just testing out my abilities to make sure they still work, and they do." Trubreak claimed.
"I can help your test." Gar said as he wanted a piece of Trubreak himself.
"Enough!" Prince Ghoular called as he stopped things from escalating. "Trubreak, your powers work just fine, and they're effective. Now make sure you use it to destroy the rangers."
"The rangers aren't a problem, but that black ranger might be a challenge." Trubreak claimed. "I don't know why my powers didn't work on him, but I am going to get him." Trubreak's the type that takes pride in his abilities, so Johnny getting the better of him like that really got to him. In truth, Trubreak is looking for some serious payback.
...
Chalice
Johnny was getting himself ready for when Trubreak comes back. As he was training, Hannah was hoping to get some answers.
"Johnny!" Hannah called. "It might be more effective if you train with someone."
"I'm fine." Johnny said as he just brushed her off. Hannah has just about had it with him.
"What is your problem? Whether you like it or not, you're part of a team." Hannah said as she was frustrated. "You have to work with us. Why are you always trying to be on your own?"
"It's none of your business. Why do you care?" Johnny said.
"Because I care about this team. We're talking about saving the world from evil. Is now really the time to be stubborn?" Hannah questioned. "That ghoul said some things about you, so I know there's more than what's on the surface. Now what's your deal?" Johnny still didn't seem to answer, and Hannah was ready to just give up on him.
"I wasn't always like this." Johnny said as he seemed to be finally opening up. "When I was a kid, I was picked on all the time. I was always crying, and my mother always tried to cheer me up." Johnny certainly was different back then. He remembers crying so much because he was always picked on. However, he had a loving and devoted mother that always took care of him. "My mother is a great person, and always put me first. However, she got sick one day." Johnny never forgot how the roles reversed. When his mother got sick, she had go to the hospital. It was now Johnny's turn to worry about his mother. "Even though she was sick, she still worried about me. However, she needed to rest and relax. She had to get better, but worrying about me would have made things worse. That's when I told myself "You can't cry. You have to take care of yourself so your mother can take care of herself." After that, I focused on getting stronger. She got better, but she still needs to take care of herself. Worrying about me doesn't help."
"So that's why you wanted the power when you first got here." Hannah said as she was finally beginning to understand him. "You want to get stronger and stronger so your mother has nothing to worry about. I get it now, but being tough doesn't mean you have to handle everything alone. You're part of a team now, and you have friends that are willing to help. I'm sure your mother would be glad to know you have friends like that." At least this gave an insight as to what Johnny is like.
"Guys!" Lance called as he hurried out. "He's back. Time to moveout." Now that Trubreak is back, they need to hurry and put a stop to him.
...
TruBreak
"Wannabe! Clumsy oaf! Failure!" Trubreak continued to insult people and attacked them with his ability. With that, he's spreading chaos through the whole city. "Feels good to be back on track."
"Hey!" Truback turned around and was faced with the team once again. "Anyone tell you that you've got one heck of a mouth." Austin said.
"It's the only thing bigger than that freaky eye of yours." Johnny said.
"Now who are the ones talking smack." Trubreak taunted.
"Call of the knights!" All of them morphed and readied themselves for whatever Trubreak might try, or say, this time.
"We're on to your little tricks this time. We won't fall for them again." Timmy claimed.
"Is that so? This coming from the insecure nutcase!" Trubreak said. Once he said that, Timmy got hit by that strange invisible force once again and was knocked over like a bowling pin.
"Timmy! Stay strong! Don't let him get to you!" Austin encouraged.
"This is going to be tougher than I thought." Lance said.
"Get lost. You don't have what it takes to beat me, but I've got business with Black Ranger." Trubreak claimed.
"Me? Fine. I'm not afraid of you." Johnny said.
"Battas! Get out here and take care of the other rangers!" Trubreak called with a bunch of battas appearing. Once they came out, they charged right at the rangers and fended them off, leaving Johnny alone so that Trubreak can handle him. Trubreak might have been a problem for the other rangers, but the battas are a different matter. These guys they can handle.
"It's too bad for you that you guys fall more easily." Lance said as he slashed his way through each batta that came at him.
"Come on up." Austin said as he climbed up a car. A couple battas followed him, but he easily knocked them over. After that, he jumped into the air and slashed down on some more.
"I know I'm strong enough to take care of these freaks." Timmy said as he was able to fight each one off. "In fact, I can take out a lot of you at once." He said as he spun around and slashed through some of them.
"These guys got nothing over us." Hannah said. She flipped through the battas. Then, she kept spinning around and used her blade to strike them down. That left Johnny as he charged right at Trubreak.
"You're mine!" Johnny called.
"Crybaby!" Trubreak tried using his powers, but nothing. Johnny kept trying to attack him, but Trubreak tried to stay out of his reach. "Fake! Poser! Wimp!" He kept trying to insult Johnny to do some damage, but nothing was working.
"Just shut it already!" Johnny called as he managed to land a strike against him and knocked him off his feet. "It's not going to work because I don't care what you think of me. Why should I? You're all bark and no bite."
"Really? You'll never be the kind of man your mother wants. She's always going to worry, and that could be bad for her." Trubreak said. "You'll let her down." Those words might have gotten to Johnny. "Sounds like I got something."
"Not quite!" Trubreak looked and was surprised as Hannah aimed right at him with her cannon. She fired a blast and hit Trubreak rather hard. "I got your back, Johnny!"
"Right." Johnny said. He almost fell for it this time, but Hannah seems to have saved him. When Trubreak got back up, Johnny got a hold of him from behind and tried to keep his mouth shut. "I've got him, Hannah! Take the shot and finish this!"
"With pleasure." Hannah said as she took aim. She powered her cannon to full power and fired. Johnny was able to throw Trubreak in the way and he ended up taking the full force of the attack. Once he got hit by that, a large explosion went off. "Yeah! See what happens when you got friends to help you out."
"Maybe..." Johnny said as it sounded like he was coming around. Just then, Trubreak came back and grew into a giant.
"Now I've got an even bigger mouth, small fries." Trubreak mocked.
"Guys!" Lance called as the rangers regrouped. "Johnny, are you ready to go?"
"I am. Let's shut that giant mouth once and for all." Johnny said. All of them called for their zords, including the Tiger-Zord, and formed the Tiger Armor Megazord.
"That's just a giant robot. I can handle that. My eye blasts all!" Trubreak said as he fired energy blasts from his eyes and blasted against the megazord. "I give new definition to looker!" He fired a bolt of lightning from his eyes and he thought that got them, but the smoke cleared away and showed he was still standing. "No fair!"
"I've just about had it with this guy." Johnny said.
"So what do you say we show him what happens from running his mouth so much." Lance said.
"Gladly." Johnny said. They fought back as they unleashed blasts of fire and blasted Trubreak with it.
"Tiger Flame Slash!" They gathered fire around their sword and unleashed it in one powerful slash.
"Now I just got burned." Trubreak complained before he dropped to the ground and was destroyed. That's what happens to mouths like that. You dish out the burns, but someone is going to burn you back.
...
Chalice
Another victory has been made by the rangers, but his little talk with Hannah has Johnny doing some thinking. As he stood near the lake and threw rocks in the water, he began to wonder if his mother would really want him to try and be, not just a tough person to prevent her from worrying so much, but a kinder person as well.
"Is is okay if I talk this time?" Hannah asked as she stood with him.
"What now?" Johnny said.
"I just want to say that I noticed what you did. Rather than finishing him yourself, you let me help you without complaining." Hannah said.
"Save it." Johnny said as he threw rocks in the water. "Maybe... Maybe you were right. That is something my mother would want for me. I just don't really know how to work with a team."
"You'll learn. None of us really knew how to be rangers when this started, but we're learning." Hannah said. "You're one of us, Johnny. You just don't need to handle things alone. We're here for you."
"Why do you seem to care so much about what I do?" Johnny said.
"Maybe you're just so irritating that it's hard to ignore you." Hannah teased. Seems like Johnny is now learning that being part of a team means you've got friends that can help you out when you need it. Johnny might be tough on the outside, but has a good heart on the inside. Good qualities when you're a knight and a ranger.