Taylor's black Jeep screeched into Aaronsdale High's parking lot, followed moments later by a red Dodge Challenger, "Sweet ride," Ricky whistled as Mark extracted himself from the Dodge, "these are amazing to drive."
"Your record doesn't mention a driving license," Taylor frowned.
The yellow ranger looked sheepish, "No, I failed once or twice," he paused before adding, "maybe five or six times but Challengers are amazing in Assetto Corsa."
Rachel snorted with laughter, "Aren't you just the cutest," she stated sarcastically, "maybe someday you'll make it to puberty." Mark meanwhile just looked confused at the new arrival, "I'm Rachel by the way," she waived at the red ranger.
"Did you have any lucky with your lead?" Taylor asked the red ranger, hoping to cut off further arguments amongst her fledgling team.
"Yes and no," Mark sighed, "I've found our black ranger but he's not joining us."
"Why not?" Stevie asked, "did you do something to upset him already?"
"Trust me, we're better off without him," Mark replied, ignoring the jib from the blue ranger, "what's going on here, Jazz wasn't very specific when I spoke to her."
"Vyglass presence detected, nothing more substantial than that," Taylor stated, "maybe we'll check out the sports field first, if needed we'll check out the school room by room."
Mark nodded and led his team onto the sports field, almost immediately Stevie noticed something, "That's not right," she pointed towards a set of bleachers, "those were fine during training yesterday."
"They could've been damaged in the fight," Mark began, "but let's check it out just to be sure." After the group arrived at the wooden structure, the red ranger knelt down to a hole near the bottom, "These look like teeth marks," he commented, "bit big to be from a rat."
"I hope not, that would be one big rat," Ricky bent down, only to be knocked onto his backside by something flying out the gap, "Get it off me," he cried, swiping his hands frantically in front of his face.
Rachel duly came to his rescue by kicking the offending creature across the field where it impacted with a goal post, "You're welcome," the white ranger said to Ricky, crossing her arms to make it clear that she wasn't helping him up.
"The hell was it," Stevie inched carefully towards the fallen beast, "it's another Vampire Bug, only really tiny."
"There must be a nest," Mark grabbed his phone, turning on the torch and shining it between the bleachers. "Holy crap," he commented, nearly dropping his phone, "there must be hundreds of eggs," he added.
"I always knew this school was infested with pests, guess that confirms it," Stevie added whilst looking through the gap, "shine your light over there a second," the blue ranger added. Mark did as instructed, "See that, it looks like a nest."
"If that's a nest where's its owner?" A loud screech immediately grabbed Ricky's attention, "I had to ask didn't I?"
The Rangers jumped back just as a bigger Vampire Bug burst through the bleachers. They shielded themselves from splintering wood and this distraction allowed the creature to knock them to the ground, "This must be Mummy Bug," Stevie groaned as she struggled to get up, "and she looks pissed that we killed her mate."
"Better not tell her you punted her baby then," Ricky whispered to Rachel who merely rolled her eyes in response. Just then, the Rangers heard ominous cracking from the bleacher, "I don't like the sound of that," the yellow ranger added.
"They must be hatching," Taylor summarised, "they might be tiny right now but they won't stay that way for long, the city could be overrun in a matter of hours."
"Now don't that sound like a terrible way to spend a day," a voice called from behind the Rangers, Mark immediately recognised the approaching figure as Harley. In his hand was a glass bottle of clear liquid, "I can see why you needed my help," Harley added with a small smirk.
"Everyone this is James Harley, the black ranger," Mark called out, "thought you didn't like being ordered about?"
"Never back down from fight me," Harley grinned, "sounds like you have a pest problem, I'll show you how we take care of creepy crawlies where I come from." He pulled a cloth from his back pocket and poured some liquid over the rag before producing his lighter, "Fire in the hole," he called with manic glee.
For a split second, the other Rangers thought the improvised Molotov cocktail was aimed in their direction. To their relief it sailed over their head and through the broken bleachers, exploding on impact. The resulting fire fuelled by the wooden structure almost immediately took care of the eggs, the sound of crackling wood and a strained cry from the Vampire Bug filled the air, "I'm not sure whether to be impressed or horrified," Stevie said numbly as the fire engulfed the bleachers.
"That was reckless," Mark rounded on Harley, "what if that had hit us?"
"Well it didn't" Harley shrugged, before his gaze landed on Rachel, "I always take extra care when there's a beautiful lady around," he added with a half smile.
"Thanks but I'm far too young for you," Stevie shrugged, either not realising or not caring that the comment wasn't aimed towards her, "I'm not into old men."
Harley gaped, allowing Mark a quick laugh at his expense, "Shot down by a high schooler, that'll should leave a bruise on your ego."
"Do you want my help or not?" Harley snapped, "I've got other things to do today."
Mark sighed and tossed Harley his morpher, "Just do what we do," he said towards Harley and then Rachel. Stepping forward he called, "Jet Force, Take Flight," as the full team morphed for the first time. Harley's suit was similar to the other males on the team except for the black colour and condor design on the helmet. Rachel's suit was like Stevie's expect her leggings here pink to counter the predominant white colour. Her helmet was also styled to look like a swan, "Let's show this bug what five Power Rangers can do," Mark added.
Before the red ranger could take point and lead the attack, Harley jumped in front, "Let me show you how this is done," the black ranger said, lunging forward with a one-two jab to the abdomen of the monster, "never liked bugs," he huffed, following up with a kick to its gut.
The Vampire Bug wasn't going down without a fight, backhanding the black ranger across his helmet, "Step back old man," Stevie leapt into the fray, "Jet Sword," she called, attacking with a series of wild, yet effective attacks. Sparks flew from the beast and it roared in pain, "Maybe I should join the fencing team," she cheered but her joy was short lived. The Bug caught her sword, leaving her open to a swift kick in the gut. The blue ranger groaned in pain, rolling on the ground in discomfort.
"My turn," Mark joined the attack with his Jet Sword, his attacks were more elegant than Stevie's but were doing minimal damage, "this isn't working," the red ranger groaned. Recalling the fight with the other Bug yesterday, he reached for his Jet Blaster. The delay was the opening the monster needed though. Using it's powerful tongue, it swatted away Mark hand from his blaster, "It must've been watching yesterday," he mused.
Unfortunately for Mark, his next attack was intercepted by the creature by wrapping it's tongue around his wrist, "Get off me," he cried. The monster squeezed so hard that he lost grip on his Jet Sword. With a twist of its tongue, it wrapped tightly around Mark's body and pulled him close, using him as a shield against the other Rangers.
Stevie was about to jump in but Ricky stopped her, "You can't risk hitting Mark," the yellow ranger said, "who knows what damage we could do."
"Don't worry about me," Mark called out with a strangled cry, "if someone has a shot, take it."
With a shrug, Harley immediately pulled out his Jet Blaster, "Woah, what are you doing?" Ricky cried, "did you hear what I just said?"
"Also heard what the red guy said," Harley replied whilst taking careful aim, "if I have a shot, I'm going to take it."
"What if you hit him?" Rachel began, "what then?"
Harley shrugged, "He's a big guy, looks like he can take a hit," he paused for a moment before pulling the trigger. The bolt flashed inches away from Mark's helmet but struck the Vampire Bug underneath its chin.
The blast was enough to loosen it's grip on the red ranger, allowing Mark to shrug off the giant tongue, "See, all worked out for the best," Harley said whilst cockily dropping the blaster to his side. What he didn't see was the Vampire Bug recovering enough to flick its tongue in its direction. He could see the slimy pink appendage flashing toward him when it was struck with a volley of laser bolt. He looked over and spotted the white ranger, blaster in hand, "Pretty quick draw you got there," he smiled.
"I have many talents," Rachel replied simply.
"Urgh, enough with the flirting, can we finish this thing off," Stevie groaned.
"Combine your swords with your blasters," Mark said to the other rangers once he recovered, "like this," he demonstrated to everyone. The Rangers quickly complied, although it took Ricky a couple of attempts to link his weapons together, "Jet Cannon, fire," Mark called once everyone was ready. Five powerful blasts impacted the Vampire Bug before it fell to the ground, thoroughly defeated.
"Not bad for your first team outing," Taylor said as the Rangers demorphed, "nice of you to join us James," she added towards the black ranger.
"Harley," he responded shortly, "you the one in charge then? Let me guess, you have an air of an officer about you, I'd say Colonel at least."
"Major actually," Taylor replied sharply.
"Really?" Harley shrugged, "project like this with only a Major in charge, no offence intended."
As Taylor seethed, Mark said, "What would you know about the Air Force?"
"Enough," Harley replied simply, "and like I said, I ain't joining your little spandex wearing troupe." He turned and began to walk away, "Thanks for this by the way, might come in useful," he added whilst waiving his morpher.
Mark went to follow the black ranger but Taylor held him back, "No, let him go," she began, "I know his type, forcing him back won't work."
"What a douche," Stevie snorted, "we don't need him anyway."
"Unfortunately we do," Taylor sighed, "look, it's been a busy few days. Why don't you all head home, we'll meet up for training at the base at 0900 hours tomorrow." The Rangers did as ordered, slowly meandering towards the parking lot. The former yellow ranger groaned at the sight of the burning bleacher, thinking of a way to explain the damage to General Harkness.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing, checking the caller ID she answered, "Hello Jazz, were you watching?"
"Tapped into the security cameras," the Scotswoman began, "that black ranger is a right shite isn't he? Pretty bad arse though and resourceful, using a bottle of vodka like that."
"How did you know it was vodka?" Taylor asked.
"Saw the label, pretty cheap stuff so doubt it'll be missed," Jazz replied, "I've started running a background check on him, I'll let you know what I find."
"Thanks Jazz," Taylor said, "why don't you call it a day too, meet at the base at 0900 tomorrow."
"Sure thing boss, see you tomorrow," with that, Jazz ended the call.
Taylor looked at her phone for a moment before searching through her contacts. When she found the right one she hit the call button. It rang a few times before someone answered, "Hey it's me, been a while hasn't it. I really need your help with something, how quickly can you get to Aaronsdale, Arizona?" she asked.
On board the Vyglass ship, Kane slammed his fist in anger as the Rangers destroyed the last Vampire Bug and it's spawn, "Never mind my friend," Count Trivium began with relish, "it was a good plan but better luck next time." The robot didn't respond, instead he stormed off past the Count without saying a word.
"You shouldn't antagonise him," Prince Reise scolded, "it has been a long time since he tasted defeat." The youngster watched the footage of the fight again, "Perhaps we underestimated these humans," he mused.
"We have defeated several Earths and enslaved billions of humans across several dimensions, this one will be no different," Count Trivium replied smoothly.
"Nevertheless, I shall lead the next attack and gauge their powers for myself," the Prince stated, "I will be in my quarters if you need me."
"Not likely," the Count muttered under his breath, "I have plans of my own to complete," Something moved in the shadows and a feminine figure dressed in a black and white bodysuit appeared in a half lit corner of the ship, "Yes, this will be my finest work, won't it my sweet," he gently caressed her pale skin before offering her an elaborate curved headdress. The figure looked at the offering before carefully placing it on her head as Count Trivium cackled manically.
A/N - That's the first two episodes covered, didn't think it would take nine chapters but there we go. Next up, Taylor kicks butt and a familiar face makes a guest appearance.