Legacy Of Power: At World’s End

Part 4 – Training

Chapter 15 – Training By Color

Written By Pink-Green-White-4ever

Story Ideas By: Pink-Green-White-4ever and Marcus

 

Last Revised: January 26, 2008

Summary: To get ready for the big battles ahead, the mentors decide it’s time to train by color…

Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance

Rating: T for now

 

AN: Sorry it’s been a while, things have been hectic!  Enjoy! 

 

“A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.” – Ogden Nash --

 

“Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.” -- Vaclav Havel --

 

--

 

Mike couldn’t help but grin as he drove along the winding road into Briarwood.  Hannah had been utterly silent the entire trip.  The former member of the Lost Galaxy Rangers knew one thing for sure – Hannah was either going to hug the stuffing or kick the crap out of Kai when she got a hold of the Blue Ranger.  “You know, killing him isn’t going to be conducive to saving the universe,” he pointed out.

 

The young woman glared.  “I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem for them to be one Ranger less,” she muttered.

 

“Hannah…” Mike started.

 

“Look, I understand his reasons, but I have every right to be upset.”

 

“You know it was sudden,” he told her.  “They didn’t have a clue what was happening until they got here, and by then it was too important for them to come all the way back to Mirinoi to tell us.”

 

“He could have called!” she hissed.  The tears that slipped down her cheeks broke Mike’s heart.  “I know it was sudden, honestly.  I understand, but I just want him to be okay.”  Mike let out a hearty chuckle.  “What?”

 

“Hannah, Kai’s one of the most capable Rangers I’ve ever seen.  He’s going to be just fine, promise.”

 

--

 

Kat Manx sighed as she escorted Fowler Birdie into the Command Center of the Deltabase.  The Supreme Commander was in a highly irritated state and it was starting to rub off on her.  One of the many underlying reasons she’d come back to Earth when she’d been offered the position at SPD H.Q. was because she couldn’t STAND Birdie and his archaic ideas.  He was stuck so far in the past it was almost a hindrance to be around him on the best of days.  “This is inexcusable!” he roared as they passed through the doors.

 

Since his arrival a few days before, Kat had to admit she was never as happy as she was at that moment to see Alex bent over a console with Boom.  The Time Force officer, like Birdie, had his own ideas of how things should be run, and she had butted heads with him more than a few times, but she also knew he was genuinely worried about the Rangers, all of them.

 

“Officer Drake.”

 

Birdie bristled as Alex stood from his position and moved toward them, a curious look on his face.  “Kat?”

 

“Alex, allow me to introduce SPD’s Supreme Commander, Fowler Birdie.  Sir, Officer Alex Drake of Time Force,” Kat introduced.  Alex had all but insisted she just call him Officer, simply because in this time, his rank didn’t truly matter, unless he decided to pull it on anyone, and since the only two people he’d be working closely with were Kat and Boom, Kat had gone along with it.

 

The two men nodded to one another.  “Officer Drake, how long will it take to pull my Rangers back to this time?”

 

“A matter of hours,” Alex responded.

 

“Excellent.  Get on that, immediately.”

 

Alex gave him a look.  “With all due respect, Supreme Commander, I can’t.”

 

Birdie looked at him in shock.  “What do you mean can’t?  Or should I say won’t?”

 

The former Red Ranger narrowed his eyes at the large bird.  “My team is also in the past.  If I pull your Rangers, my team dies.  As it is, five of your team’s past enemies are back in time and no one else has the knowledge to deal with them.  When this is all over, I’ll bring them back, but not until then.  Am I understood?”

 

“This is insubordination!”

 

“No, this is being a Ranger.  There is a war raging in 2007, and our Rangers must be there.  Deal with it.”

 

Kat stood off to the side, smirking.  Very few people could put Birdie in his place, and Alex apparently was one of them, if the expression on Birdie’s face was anything to go by.

 

--

 

Mike and Hannah sat in their vehicle, staring at the store across the street from them that was closed down for the night.  “It’s late, they’re probably wherever they’re staying,” Hannah pointed out.

 

“That’s true.  Now that we’re on Earth, I can contact them.”  Holding up a small device, he pressed a button and prayed that one of the others recognized the signal.  “Kendrix?  Kai?”

 

“Mike?” the Pink Ranger’s startled voice came out of the device.

 

“How’s my favorite butt-kicking sister-in-law?”

 

“Ha ha,” Kendrix deadpanned.  “What’s wrong?”

 

Mike and Hannah shared a grin.  “I’m sitting here with Hannah outside of the Rock Porium.  Will one of you come and get us?”

 

“Of course!  We’ll be there as soon as we can!”

 

“Thanks.  Mike out.” 

 

Hanna sighed and leaned against the seat, tired and yet anxious.  “Now we wait?”

 

Mike nodded.  “Now we wait.”

 

--

 

“Holy cow!” Aisha grinned when Adam pushed the door open to the house he and Tanya were renting for the team for the remainder of their stay in Briarwood.  Wes and Jen had rented a house not five blocks from them, and were even now settling Wild Force and Time Force into it.

 

“This place is huge!” Zack laughed.

 

Tanya, Adam and Justin smiled.  “Justin found it.  Four bedrooms, a den, big kitchen, four or five baths, it works,” Adam cracked.

 

“Zack, Justin and I will take the den,” Billy informed the group.  The Green and Blue Zeo Rangers nodded in agreement, knowing they were the odd men out.

 

“Is Angela coming to visit?” Kim worriedly asked Zack, her mind still racing from the days events.

 

“Only if I give her the go-ahead; I didn’t want her in the crossfire, and she agreed.  She wasn’t happy about it, but she understands that I just…I can’t have her here, not with knowing how things could go.”

 

The others nodded, all of them suddenly solemn.  “So, let’s get settled and get some sleep,” Jason suggested.

 

--

 

Anubis and Kanoi moved silently as they checked on the Rangers residing in Rootcore.  Dimitria had joined the Space and Lost Galaxy Rangers on the Megaship an hour before and Shayla had gone with the Time and Wild Force Rangers to the house Wes and Jen were renting for them, which wasn’t far from the house Tanya and Adam were renting for the Morphin and Zeo Rangers.  With the departures of the six teams, that left a lot more room for the Mystic, Dino Thunder, Lightspeed Rescue, Ninja Storm and SPD Rangers to spread out in the hallowed tree.

 

Ninjor had retreated to his new space in Daggeron and Jenji’s room, Udonna and Lianbow were down in the library with Daggeron, Itassis, Matumbo, Jenji and Leelee, discussing the day’s events, and all of the Rangers were supposedly fast asleep.  The two mentors had their doubts about that, which explained why neither had sought out their own beds.

 

“Do you think they adhered to their room assignments?” Kanoi asked, smiling.  The Ninja Master had a pretty good idea what the answer to that question already was but waited for the Sirian to answer.

 

“Our Rangers?” Anubis asked, watching Kanoi nod.  “Of course not,” he chuckled.  “They have more room now; my guess is they’ve spread out.”

 

Kanoi nodded.  They found Blake, Tori, Kira and Trent sharing one of the spare rooms while Carter, Dana, Chad and Kelsey shared another.  Dustin, Shane, Joel, Conner and Chip were all passed out in the Yellow Mystic Ranger’s room.  The pair chuckled when they realized most of the boys had fallen asleep still in their clothes.  In Xander’s room, they found him, Jack, Hunter, Cam, Ethan and Ryan all in their beds, most of them still in their clothes like their teammates.

 

In Vida and Madison’s room, Hayley and Vida were asleep on Vida’s bed while Bridge, Z, Sky and Syd were asleep on the air mattresses on the floor.  There was no sign of Madison, or Nick.

 

“They’re probably in Nick’s room,” Kanoi responded even as he tried to repress a chuckle.

 

“Has Daggeron mentioned the talk he and I had with you yet?”

 

Kanoi nodded.  “I agree.  It may be wise to remind them that those relationships must not interfere with their Ranger duties, but…”

 

“It’s not so much that, I know.  I just don’t want them distracted, and hormones are a distraction they can’t afford,” Anubis sighed, his eyes on his four Rangers.  The dynamics of their relationships had changed, and therefore had changed their team chemistry, but he had to admit, it hadn’t been that bad.  If anything, they were more attuned to each other, but there in lie the problem – if something happened to one of them, the others were going to feel it.

 

“Those hormones have been known to be the deciding factor in more than a few battles.”

 

Anubis smiled.  “True.  We’ll discuss it later; for now, we should get to sleep too.”

 

--

 

Kai sat on the bridge, staring at the console, lost in thought.  Maya and Kendrix had all but forbid him from going when they’d left a half hour before to go and get Mike and Hannah.  Part of him was grateful for the time to compose himself while part of him was truly worried about whether or not Hannah would forgive him for not telling her the truth.  He was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t hear her walk onto the bridge.

 

Hannah watched him and was torn by what she saw.  Determination was eclipsed by uncertainty, fear drown out the courage Mike said was part of Kai the Ranger.  That’s when it hit her; she wasn’t looking at Kai the Ranger, she was looking at Kai the scared fiancé.  Walking over, Hannah stood in front of him.  Reaching out quickly, she slapped him once, her hand connecting solidly with his cheek.

 

“I deserved that,” he uttered, staring up at her.

 

“You’re right, you did,” she told him, staring down at him before she reached down and grabbed his hand.  Before Kai had time to blink, she was hauling him up and into her arms for a hug.

 

The Blue Ranger let out a breath and wrapped his arms around her, his heart constricting when he felt her shudder.  “I’m sorry, Hannah, really sorry.  I should have told you,” he whispered into her hair.

 

“As mad as I am, or was, I do understand why you didn’t tell me.”

 

When they pulled back, Kai cupped her face.  “Thank you, for being so understanding.”

 

She just nodded and swallowed.  “So how bad is it?”

 

Kai’s face hardened, the veteran Ranger replacing her fiancé.  “Bad.”

 

Hannah sighed.  “I want to help, Kai, any way I can.  I’m an experienced officer.”

 

“I know you are,” he grinned at her.  “We’ll talk to the others about it in the morning.”

 

“Good.  Let’s go to bed,” Hannah yawned, letting him lead her to his quarters.

 

--

 

“So, what kind of training are we going to do?” Chip curiously asked as the group gathered just outside of Rootcore.

 

“Physical, hand to hand,” Daggeron grinned at him, the Solaris Knight’s face taking on an impish look that had the Mystics cringing.  They knew once he got something into his head, especially training, he didn’t go easy on them.  “We’re going to have you grouped by color to start.”

 

Snickers and groans echoed among the group.  “What about those of us who don’t technically have a color designation?” Ryan called out.

 

“We have it all worked out,” Shayla smiled, holding up several sheets of paper.  “Dimitria, Ninjor, Udonna, Daggeron, Lianbow and myself are going to transport all of us there.  Itassis and Leelee are going to stay behind and alert us to anything happening here and if we’re needed.”

 

The six mentors positioned themselves around the perimeter of the large group and began to chant the spell Udonna had written for them, each of them adding as much of their magic as they could while keeping a balance with the others.  It was clear within minutes that they were taxing themselves on such a large group.

 

Out of nowhere, the five Mystic Rangers and Clare carefully moved to stand with them.  Maddy moved between Udonna and Dimitria, Xander move between Dimitria and Daggeron, Vida was between Daggeron and Shayla, Chip moved between Shayla and Lianbow, Clare moved between Lianbow and Ninjor, and Nick took up the last spot between Ninjor and Udonna.  Quietly, the six added their powers to their mentors, causing the ring to light up with their color designations.  In a flash, the group was transported to another dimension.

 

--

 

“Listen up!” Daggeron directed after they’d all warmed up.

 

Shayla cleared her throat and read from the papers in her hands.  “Tommy, Trent, Alyssa, Merrick, Clare and Karone will be with Udonna.”  The White Rangers, Lunar Wolf, Gatekeeper and the former Pink Ranger moved to stand with Udonna off to the side.

 

“All of the Pink Rangers are to go with Dimitria.”  The eight Pinks moved to stand with the ethereal looking woman.

 

“Ninjor is taking all the Blue Rangers, and that includes you Blake.”  Again, the group of Rangers shifted, the Blues separating from the others and moving to stand behind Ninjor.

 

Smiling, Shayla turned.  “Lianbow is talking all the Red Rangers, Eric and Hunter included.”

 

“Daggeron is taking the Yellow Rangers and Commander Cruger is taking the Black Rangers and Ryan.”

 

“What about me?” Mike grinned.

 

Shayla smiled.  “Why don’t you join them, Mike,” she told him softly.

 

Mike nodded and moved to stand with Ryan, who was grinning like a fool.  “Once a Ranger, huh?” Ryan snickered.

 

“Oh yeah,” Mike responded.

 

“Last but not least, Sensei Watanabe is taking the Green Rangers.”  With that announcement, the groups broke off.  There were mats set up along with sparring dummies and practice weapons.  Shayla moved over to Hannah, who was standing in the center of the clearing where they were training, looking lost.  “Are you alright?”

 

“I feel useless,” Hannah admitted.

 

Shayla looked thoughtful.  “Can you fight?”

 

Hannah grinned.  “I’ve been trained to fight, yes.  I’m in a military job, we all got proper training.  Plus, I spar with Kai all the time.”

 

“Why don’t you join Udonna?  I’m sure Karone and Clare would be grateful to have another non Ranger with them.”

 

Nodding, Hannah headed off to join the group under Udonna’s supervision while Shayla surveyed the group as a whole.  Her heart warmed at seeing the mentors and the Rangers bonding as well as sparring, each showing off what they could and learning what they didn’t know.  ‘Your legacy has been preserved, Zordon.  We couldn’t have picked a finer group of men and women to be Rangers, or to fight what is coming.  I know it’s going to be a hard battle, and I know not all of us may come out of this, but we’re prepared, thanks to you’ she thought before she moved over to ask Udonna if she could do anything.

 

--

 

“Excuse me, but please explain again, why I have to face Mr. Legendary?” Clare whined to her aunt, using the nickname she’d heard Eric give Tommy just after they’d split into groups.

 

Udonna chuckled when she saw Tommy roll his eyes.  “Because, Clare.  You have the least amount of experience fighting, as Hannah has a military based career, and is therefore trained in martial arts.  Of all of us, Tommy has the most experience training students.  I’d prefer he worked with you.”

 

The Gate Keeper looked unconvinced.  “He’ll pummel me!” she pointed out indignantly.

 

Tommy chuckled.  “Clare, I promise, no pummeling.  I’m going to just help you learn to fight better.”

 

The blonde looked at him skeptically.  “Why does that not reassure me?”

 

“Clare, come on!” Alyssa called out even as she flipped Trent onto his back on the mat.  “See, it’s not so bad.”

 

“Speak for yourself,” Trent groaned from where he lay staring up at the sky.

 

“Those two look evenly matched,” Hannah nodded to where Merrick and Karone were sparring.  The pair looked like utter professionals as they traded blows, evenly matched in skill and intensity.

 

“You could say they understand each other,” Tommy commented, knowing exactly what was driving the two of them, since he’d been in their positions once before.  “Both were made Rangers after being in the fight against the Rangers.”

 

“Huh?” Clare asked even as she let Tommy correct her stance on a block he was showing her.

 

“Karone was Astronema, and then she joined Lost Galaxy when Psycho Pink kinda killed Kendrix,” Tommy started, wincing.  The subject of a Ranger dying, even if they had been brought back was a touchy one.  “Long story behind that, and with Merrick, he was cursed for 3000 years by a wolf mask before he was given the power to join Wild Force as the Lunar Wolf.  They understand each other, because they’ve both had that type of experience, looking for redemption.  Ready Clare?” Tommy asked.

 

“I suppose.”

 

--

 

“Why am I facing Taylor?” Dustin asked Daggeron.

 

The Solaris Knight chuckled.  “Because, Dustin, you’re the only Yellow Ranger who’s been actively training, whether as a Ranger or for work, other than Chip, Taylor and Katie, but if I put Taylor and Katie together, they would beat each other up because neither has qualms with sparring with the other.  Added to that, this is supposed to be a bonding experience,” Daggeron all but snickered.

 

“Right…..dude, you’re paying for my funeral, you know that right?”

 

Daggeron laughed and nodded before turning to face Kira, who looked slightly unsure of herself.  “I’m not above working hard, but I’ve only had the most basic training, so be nice to start,” she grinned.

 

“Dually noted; are you ready?”

 

Before Kira could respond, Taylor’s voice rang out.  “Hold still, damn you!” she shouted at Dustin, who danced around her, weaving past her, ducking her punches and blocking others.  Aisha and Z snickered from where they were sparring while Tanya, who was sitting up from where Katie had planted her on the mat, grinned along with the Time Force Ranger.  Ashley and Kelsey had stopped and were taking bets on whether or not Taylor would ever catch the fast moving Dustin.  The final pairing was Chip and Maya, the former having his arm wrapped around Maya’s neck from behind as they’d stopped in mid move to watch the Wild Force and Ninja Storm rangers.

 

“Come on Dustin!  She’s just a girl!” Chip cracked.

 

It took the Yellow Mystic approximately 1.5 seconds to realize he’d made a critical error in judgment by saying what he had.  Every female Ranger in the vicinity stood still, staring at him, or in Maya’s case, shaking her head.

 

“Maya!  Kick his ass on principle!” Vida called over, glaring at her teammate.

 

“Just a girl, huh?” Maya asked.  Chip grunted as the Yellow Galaxy Ranger elbowed him in the ribs before she grabbed his wrist, twisting it around so that she could use it as leverage to toss him over her shoulder.  He landed with a thud, causing the girls to applaud.  Maya bent down and glared at him, before she spoke in the calm, quiet voice she was best known for.  “Lesson number one, do not, ever call a female Ranger, no matter her color, ‘Just a girl’.  Am I understood?”

 

Chip blew out a breath and nodded.  “Got it.”

 

“You’re lucky it was Maya and not me,” Taylor hissed over at him.

 

“Either way I’d have ended up on my back,” Chip pointed out.

 

Taylor smirked. “Very true.  AHHH!”

 

Chip looked over and found Taylor laid out on the mat next to him thanks to Dustin.  “Never take your eyes off your opponent,” Dustin spoke in a tone of voice that Taylor instantly knew he used with his students.

 

The Yellow Eagle Ranger glared but then smiled.  “Yes Sensei.”

 

Dustin grinned and helped her up while Maya helped Chip to his feet.  Daggeron shook his head at them and kept his eyes on Kira.  The younger Ranger had been trained by Tommy, and despite her limited training, he still considered her a threat for simply knowing that the original White Ranger had trained her, not to mention he’d seen her fight before, she wasn’t as bad as she thought she was.

 

--

 

“Relax,” Adam murmured as Hayley stood in front of him, shaking like a leaf.

 

“Easy for you to say,” the newest Black Ranger grumbled.  “You’ve done this before.”

 

Adam shook his head at her.  “Hayley, the knowledge is there, all you have to do is access it.  Why do you think the rookie teams are generally so good?  The Morphin’ Grid provides the knowledge and the skills that all Rangers use; all you have to do is hone it a little.”

 

Hayley nodded and brushed her long braid over her shoulder.  “Okay, I’m ready.”

 

“I’m going to call out the moves I want you to make, in response to how I move.  Ready?”

 

“Let’s do it.”

 

Quietly, Adam moved, called a counter move, and waited for Hayley to follow through.  When she got the move wrong or hesitated, they repeated the move several times over until she was more in control.  It took them a good twenty minutes, but finally, Adam got Hayley to move at a decent speed with the repetition of the moves, not to mention that her body seemed to be digging into the morphin’ grid, pulling out the power she needed, allowing her muscles and her mind to start anticipating Adam’s moves.

 

Next to them, Carlos and Danny kept pace with each other.  The two had an easy rhythm going on, joking back and forth and discussing what they would be facing as a team while giving each other a work out.  “What do you think?” Danny finally asked.

 

Carlos looked resigned as he blocked one of Danny’s strikes.  “I don’t know; I honestly can’t fathom how much worse this could be than each of our individual team battles.”

 

Danny nodded.  He had an idea, but without evidence he wasn’t about to bring it up; all the personal demons, let alone the physical ones, were something each team was going to have to deal with, starting with acknowledging them.

 

On the other side of Adam and Hayley, Anubis was watching Ryan and Mike spar with a fierceness he had only ever seen in Sky.  The two didn’t talk or joke, they just fought; kicks, punches, blocks, swings, misses – they did it all in quiet, giving each other the workout Anubis hoped they could.  Knowing he could leave them be for the time being, his attention drifted to each of his Rangers, noting they were all working their hardest with the others of their colors.  Smiling, he moved over to help Adam with Hayley.

 

--

 

Not for the first time since he’d joined them, Ninjor was quiet while he watched the Rangers interact with one another.  Chad and Max had been paired together, the former helping the latter tighten his moves and stances.  Max was like a sponge, soaking up the Lightspeed Ranger’s martial arts knowledge and applying it to what they were doing.  Chad was a patient teacher, and even took Max getting the better of him with a grain of salt.  Next to them were Lucas and Ethan.  The Dino Thunder Ranger was, surprisingly enough, holding his own against the Time Force Officer, despite Lucas’ extensive training as a police officer.  Ethan’s training with Tommy during his Ranger days obviously had been somewhat retained in the years since, which Ninjor knew would be a plus for the younger Ranger.  Lucas, he could tell, while still being very serious, was also starting to let his sense of humor show through every now and then when he teased Ethan about his sloppy form.

 

Off on another corner of the mat, Blake and Kai were putting their own training styles to good use, and seemed to be almost evenly matched.  The ancient ninja master could see that Blake’s training was edging out over Kai’s, but true to his title as sensei at the Thunder Academy, Blake would point what Kai was doing wrong out and then the Blue Galaxy Ranger would compensate and come at Blake.  It didn’t always mean his compensation was enough, as Blake was able to turn the tables on him, but Kai’s quick mind got sharper as the two sparred.  Beside them, T.J. and Tori were going back and forth, with Tori having the clear edge over T.J.  Even though the Blue Space Ranger had also been a Red, Tori was still actively teaching Ninja students, therefore her martial arts skills weren’t as rusty as T.J.’s, who was now a professional athlete, only in a different sport.  It took T.J. a few moments, but eventually he was able to make more than enough moves of his own to back Tori off a few times.

 

Turning, the Ninja Master’s attention shifted to where Billy and Sky were sparring.  The younger Blue Ranger was holding his own fairly well, but what surprised Ninjor was the intensity which his Blue protégé was fighting with.  Billy had never been the strongest fighter, by his own admission, but during the era of the Ninja Powers, he’d come into his own, as a Ranger and a martial artist.  Now, however, he could probably more than hold his own with Rocky, Zack, Adam, or even possibly Tommy or Jason.  Hearing commotion coming from the final pairing, Ninjor turned to see what was happening.

 

“I never thought I’d see the day when I’d see a female Blue Ranger,” Justin commented.  “I mean, Blues have always been guys, and have either been the jokesters or the quiet, serious brainiacs.”

 

“Excuse me?” Maddy piped up, her gaze narrowing at the taller Ranger.  Justin was only four years her senior, but she wasn’t about to be disrespected like that.  “I happen to be proud of being a female Blue Ranger!”

 

Ninjor winced, watching as Madison’s anger grew.  “Oh, that was so not smart,” he muttered to himself, resting his hands on his hips.  He wasn’t about to get in the middle of the argument, because, unfortunately, Justin had a lesson to learn, one that many of the younger male Rangers would probably learn before the war was over – never, ever, ever mess with a female Ranger, nor imply she shouldn’t be a Ranger.

 

“Maddy, come on, you got to admit, you’re more Pink than Blue.”

 

“I’LL SHOW YOU JUST HOW BLUE I AM!” Maddy’s voice rose, causing most everyone to stop what they were doing. 

 

Lianbow and Jason had to restrain Nick from heading over to the blue group.  “Kid, he asked for it, let her handle it,” Eric smirked from where he stood next to them.  “You’re girl won’t appreciate you going over there and stepping in, which means you’d be putting yourself in the line of fire.”

 

Nick looked toward Eric and saw most of the other Red Rangers nodding.  “Madison’s capable of handling Justin of all people, trust me,” Jason commented, his words ending in a hearty laugh.

 

“Maddy, you’re scaring me!” Justin yelped as the Mystic Blue Ranger began a complicated sequence of kicks, punches and loud ki-yah’s that had him back peddling.

 

“GOOD!”  Madison all but roared.  “NOT BLUE ENOUGH MY BUTT!” she cried out, spinning around and using a side kick to send Justin’s butt flying to the mat, where he landed directly at Tori’s feet.

 

“Since Madison’s already kicking your butt, I’ll spare you, but you may want to take back that comment about female Blue Rangers,” Tori advised, hands on her hips in a pose that was reminiscent of Tanya, Kat, Ashley and Cassie.

 

“Okay!  Damn!  I take it back!” Justin yelped.  “UNCLE!”

 

Madison stood glaring at him, her chest heaving, until she realized exactly what she’d done and looked mortified for having done it.  “Wow, and I thought Syd was scary when she was pissed,” Sky commented, coming up to stand behind Madison.  “Nice job.”

 

“Uh….” Maddy stuttered, causing Sky to grin.

 

“Trust me, none of you girls have anything on Kat, Aisha, Tanya, Kim, or even Trini when she was alive,” Billy commented, moving over to help Justin up.  “You’re lucky, she went easy on you.  You know what would have happened if it had been one of the others, or heaven help you, Ashley or Cassie.”

 

Justin nodded and swallowed.  “Okay, wow, Maddy, you gotta teach me how you did that.”

 

“That was mortifying,” she uttered.  “I have never lost control like that, holy cow.”

 

Sky just snickered and patted Madison on the back.  “Don’t worry about it, happens to the best of us.”

 

“Hey Maddy, that was almost as scary as when you went off on Nick in November!” Chip called out, causing everyone to chuckle, except Nick, who blushed so bad his ears went red.

 

“If you are all quite finished, let’s get back to training,” Udonna ordered, her voice making the groups gravitate back to their areas.

 

--

 

Once the awkwardness from Madison’s attack on Justin had simmered, Kanoi refocused the Green Rangers and got them back to work.  He smiled to himself as he saw Zack watching him, unsure of why he wasn’t fighting like the others.  “All in due time, Zachary, all in due time.”

 

“Why don’t I like the way that sounds, Sensei?” Zack cracked, smiling at him.

 

“I want to observe the others before I get to you; I hope you do not mind.”

 

“Not at all.”

 

The pair moved around and watched the other six spar.  Damon and Trip, the two shiest of the seven Greens, were actually animatedly talking to each other as they sparred.  Their law enforcement and military backgrounds seemed to even them out in the skills area, which immensely pleased Kanoi.  He knew he would like to see either of them go against Zack or Cam, who were the more intensely trained of the seven in the area of martial arts.

 

“Do you understand why I paired you with myself?” Kanoi asked quietly as they moved from Trip and Damon to Joel and Xander.

 

“Not entirely, but I’m sure you’ll tell me,” Zack joked.

 

Kanoi nodded.  “Of all of them, you have the most experience, having served for a year and a half, but it’s more than that.  You have the balance I wish to teach each of them.  Take Joel and Xander for instance.  If what I have overheard from his teammates is true, Joel has become a serious, no non-sense person while Xander is young, impulsive, prone to acting before thinking.”

 

“WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND FIGHT ALREADY!” Joel yelled at Xander, who was attempting to initiate showing Joel how to use ‘Plan Xander’.

 

Zack brought a hand up to cover the snickering that Joel’s comment and Xander’s sudden pouting were bringing on.  “And then take Damon and Trip.  Damon is quiet and does not often speak his mind, yet, paired with Trip, he reverts to being a youth again.  Granted, that is not bad, but they do need balance.”

 

Moving along, the pair stopped to watch Cam and Bridge.  Surprisingly enough, Bridge was holding his own against Cam, who was pulling out every ninja technique he could think up and still coming up somewhat evenly matched by the future Green Ranger.  “How are you doing that?” Cam huffed when they broke apart.

 

Bridge grinned.  “Probably has something to do with the training I’ve done with the demo teams from the Wind Ninja Academy,” he supplied with a shrug.

 

Cam’s mouth dropped open in shock.  “Are you serious?”  The SPD Green Ranger nodded.

 

“Cam also must learn to not be so serious,” Kanoi pointed out.  “And Bridge must learn to be more serious.  It is all about balance.  You, who did not want to come back to this life, you know how to walk that thin line between the two far better than each of them.”

 

The Green Zeo Ranger still didn’t quite see what Kanoi was talking about but he humored the Ninja Master none the less.  Once Kanoi’s review of the others was finished, he and Zack found a less crowded section of the mats and Kanoi set down his staff.  “It has been a while since I did this, so you must forgive me if I go slowly.”

 

Zack swallowed when he realized Kanoi was going to spar with him.  “Sensei, are you sure this is a good idea?  I mean, I really am out of practice myself, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

 

“I do not think you will, or I would not be doing this,” Kanoi smiled as the two bowed to each other and then dropped back into their stances.  “Conner mentioned that you have your own style of martial arts, a Hip-Hop Kido?”

 

“Uh, yeah.  Hip hop dancing and Hop Kido moves,” Zack supplied.

 

“Show me,” Sensei told him as Zack began to move in a rhythm unlike any Kanoi had seen before.  Just a few minutes in and the others stopped and watched the two spar.  Each of the spectators likened Kanoi and Zack’s sparring to an elegant dance, albeit two different styles of that dance, that seemed to be perfect compliments to each other.

 

When they were done, they stopped where each was blocking the other, their chests heaving and smiles breaking out onto their faces.  “Dad, I had no idea you could still fight that well,” Cam uttered in shock.

 

Kanoi’s serene expression made the Green Samurai a little uneasy.  “There are a good many things about me that you do not know, Cam.  Yes, I may be old, and I may be out of shape, but the training is still ingrained, it only took someone of considerable skill to remind me of it.”  With that, Kanoi stepped back and bowed to Zack, who followed.  “Thank you, Zachary.”

 

“No, thank you, Sensei.”

 

--

 

Dimitria floated serenely around the area that had been unofficially cordoned off for the eight Pink Rangers.  The girls had certainly gaped at her when she’d told them who their sparring partners were going to be, particularly Vida and Sydney, the youngest of the eight.  Behind her veil, Dimitria couldn’t help but smile.  The two younger women were about to learn that age had nothing to do with being a Ranger; passion, skill, heart, and most of all experience were key, particularly in the area of those who wore Pink.

 

The first pairing her eyes landed on were Dana and Kat.  Dana had the added advantage of being a member of Lightspeed’s military operations as well has having trained with her husband on a daily basis, so strength wise she had Katherine.  However, the Pink Zeo Ranger was not without her own advantage, and being a dancer as well as having been trained by Tommy, Rocky, Adam and Jason was benefiting her more than Dana had probably anticipated.  Not to mention, Katherine’s own natural ability to size up the situation was quickly asserting itself.  Dimitria merely grinned when Dana let out a surprised shout and found herself flat on her back on the mats, with Katherine towering over her.

 

“You okay?” Kat asked, leaning down to help Dana up.

 

“Yeah…how’d you do that last move?” Dana asked standing and stretching.  “That was…I never saw it coming.”

 

Kat grinned.  “The years of living and training with a bunch of guys whose sole focus, sports wise, always seemed to center back into Martial Arts.  If I haven’t picked up a few things from them, there’d be something wrong.”

 

“Show me?” Dana asked, causing Kat to nod.  When they started on the move, Dimitria floated on to the next pairing, which were Jen and Cassie.

 

Dimitria’s eyes widened as she stopped to watch the two.  Cassie was quite literally letting Jen pound her into the ground.  The Pink Space Ranger barely blocked any of her Time Force counterpart’s attacks, let alone made any of her own.  Finally having had enough, Jen stepped back, brought her hands to her hips and glared at Cassie.  “Cassie, I know you can fight, why the hell aren’t you blocking any of my attacks?”

 

The Asian beauty shrugged and wiped what little sweat was on her forehead on her sleeve.  “I don’t know.”

 

“That’s bullshit, and we both know it.  Tell me why you aren’t fighting?  Do you seriously have a death wish?” Jen snapped at her.

 

Cassie’s eyes filled with tears, which caused Jen’s eyes to widen in shock.  The Pink Space Ranger began to shake all over, and Jen could only watch as she sank down on the mats.  The other six pinks stopped what they were doing and turned toward the two.  When Kendrix saw something was wrong, she immediately rushed over and knelt next to Cassie, who was rocking back and forth on the mat.

 

“Cassie,” Kendrix murmured, reaching out to brush her Pink teammate’s unruly bangs from her face.  “Come on Cassie, talk to me.”

 

“I shouldn’t be here!” Cassie cried, shrugging away from Kendrix’s hands.  “I don’t deserve to be here!”

 

Kendrix was confused by the comment until the meaning behind it sunk in.  “Cassie, don’t say that.  You more than deserve to be here.”

 

“NO I DON’T!” she cried out, her head snapping up.  “I got you killed!  Don’t you get it, Kendrix, I’m the reason you died!”

 

“Cass, I’m right here,” Kendrix tried to tell her, but the Pink Space Ranger was having none of it.  “Oh Cassie, can’t you see?  I did what I did against Psycho Pink because she’d have killed all of us.  You weren’t responsible for it, I made the choice.”

 

The Pink Galaxy Ranger could tell she wasn’t getting through to her friend.  Options were beginning to run thin until Kat and Kim knelt down next to Cassie.  “Cassie, look at me,” Katherine spoke, her voice filled with the soft lilting of her native country.

 

Almond colored eyes meet crystal blue ones as the Pink Space Ranger looked up at the woman who had chosen her once upon a time to be the Pink Turbo Ranger, to be her own replacement.  “Kat…”

 

“I’m only going to say this once, so you’d better listen to me,” Katherine’s sternness surprised them all, except for Kimberly, who looked just as her successor did.  “You would not have been asked to come back, if you did not deserve to be here.  Trini would not have come to you, if you weren’t meant to be here.  All of us have things from our past, whether it’s from our normal lives or our days as Rangers, that we all wish we could forget.  You aren’t the only person who almost got a teammate killed.  Both Tommy and I did too.”

 

“I vowed I’d never come back to this, and yet, here I am,” Cassie whispered brokenly.

 

“A lot of us said the same thing,” Kim finally spoke up.  “Cassie, you know what I’ve gone through, you know how opposed I was to doing this again, but as Maddy so eloquently pointed out to me, if we don’t fight, we lose everything.  The guilt inside of you, you aren’t the only one who has that.  We all do, but I’m telling you this right now, that’s one of those things we all have to work past.  We all have something, especially Ranger related, that we still haven’t come to terms with.  I honestly think, until we all do, we won’t be ready to face this last battle.”

 

Jen knelt next to her and reached out, gasping her shoulder tightly.  “Inner demons are hard to face,” she whispered, her face scrunched up as she searched for the right words.  “But the one thing you have to remember is is that you’re not in this alone.  We’ve all been there; we’ve all got things we need to face.  Don’t bottle this up inside.”

 

“You have no reason to feel guilty,” Kendrix told her, reaching out to cup her face.  “I’m alive, I’m breathing, just ask Leo,” she joked, causing Cassie to laugh and cry at the same time.  “I was never dead, Cassie, just trapped in the Morphin’ Grid, weaker than a baby.  You helped the other Galaxy Rangers stay alive long enough to find Karone, so that I could pass the saber on to her.  In a roundabout way, by you helping Andros rescue her, you ensured my own life.  If she hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have been able to come back.”

 

“I just….”

 

“I know, but you’re hurting my feelings,” Kendrix told her.  “You’re saying our friendship was a sham, and it wasn’t.  By turning your back on being a Ranger, you’re denying all the bad, but also all the good things, that come with being a Ranger.”

 

Cassie sat there and looked around at the other seven women who wore the same color she did.  In each of their faces, she saw all the things she’d been lacking the last few years – determination, faith, hope, understanding, conviction that what they were doing was right.  “You’re right,” she whispered, leaning against Kendrix’s shoulder for a moment.  “Can’t let the bad guys say a pink ever chickened out from the hard stuff, right?  I mean, we do have a reputation to keep.”

 

That got the girls smirking and laughing all at once.  “Cassie!” they laughed, all of them falling forward for a semi-awkward group hug.

 

“Do you not think you should return to your training?” Dimitria finally asked, causing the girls to sigh.

 

“I always hated it when she was right,” Cassie muttered.

 

“Amen to that,” Kat laughed as they all stood up and got back to what they’d been doing.

 

Dimitria was drawn to watching Vida and Kendrix begin to spar again.  The Pink Mystic was quite arguably the most aggressive of the eight, while Kendrix appeared the most docile.  She watched as Vida attacked relentlessly but started getting frustrated because Kendrix managed to block and deflect every strike.  “How the hell are you doing this?” Vida huffed.

 

“What do you mean?” Kendrix asked, trying to hide her smirk.

 

“Kendrix, you have to be the epitome of frail Pink Rangers,” Vida started.  “While I like to think I’m the model of aggressive, and yet, you’ve blocked every one of my moves.”

 

The Pink Galaxy Ranger looked insulted as she jumped back from Vida’s latest leg sweep.  “Well excuse me, LITTLE girl.  Being brawny and aggressive is not everything it’s cracked up to be.  You’ve got to learn to use your brain sometime too!” Kendrix cracked, spinning around with a roundhouse kicked that connected with Vida’s shoulder and sent the younger woman sprawling across the mat.

 

Vida lifted her head up, her eyes on Kendrix.  The Pink Mystic’s face was a mask of shock that she’d been taken down by someone she’d perceived as weaker than herself.  “How the hell…”

 

“See, that’s why the bad guys get their butts kicked by us Pinks, they under estimate us.  Could explain why most of the guys around here are scared of us, because they’ve been on the receiving end of stuff like that for upsetting us.”

 

“I will definitely NOT make that mistake again.  Damn,” Vida uttered as Kendrix grinned and helped her up.

 

“Good.”

 

Seeing that Vida had been put in her place, Dimitria floated over to the final pairing, which was the youngest in the legacy, Sydney, and the oldest, Kimberly.  “Come on Syd, I know you can hit harder than that,” Kimberly teased as the two circled each other, Dimitria watching from a safe distance.

 

Syd pushed her bangs out of her face and brought her hands back in front of her. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” she responded, looking regretful.

 

Kim rolled her eyes.  “You can’t hurt me, trust me.  I’ve taken some harder hits than you’re capable of.”

 

“That’s just it, I probably could hurt you.  Besides, I wouldn’t want to hurt the original Pink Ranger, that’d be like beating up my grandma.”

 

Dimitria’s eyebrows shot up even as Kim’s screech of protest echoed out, drawing the attention of all the others. “Syd’s done it now,” Tommy muttered from a distance away.

 

“GRANDMA!” Kim asked.  “Exactly how old do you think I am?”

 

Syd grinned cheekily.  “Older than I am.”

 

“Not by much!  I’ll have you know Kendrix and Jen are both older than I am, age wise.”

 

The SPD Pink Ranger rolled her eyes. “Yes, but…”

 

“No buts!  FIGHT!” Kim snapped, unleashing a deadly combo of flips, kicks, and punches that had Syd all but shrieking in an attempt to block them.  She’d never had anyone, not even Gruumm’s goons, come at her with such deadly accuracy.

 

The blonde haired Pink Ranger managed to grab hold of her Morphin counterpart’s arm and attempted to flip the brunette over her shoulder onto the mats.  Unfortunately for Syd, Kim used her gymnastics ability to keep herself from slamming into the mats before she used Syd’s grip and momentum to get the younger Pink Ranger on her back.

 

“Damn!” Syd uttered, staring up at Kim who looked down at her with a sparkle of mischief in her eyes.

 

“Don’t underestimate your opponent, whoever they may be, and don’t ever insult an older Ranger.”

 

Syd laughed and let Kim help her to her feet. “Think you can show me hot to use that move on Sky, for when he’s being a pain in my ass?” the blonde chirped.

 

Kim let out a twinkling of laughter and slung her arm around Syd’s shoulders. “You bet.”

 

--

 

Even as Lianbow sparred with Wes, his attention was also divided and centered on the other matches between the Red Rangers.  Leo and Cole weren’t taking their match too seriously, the pair opting instead to challenge each other, not kill each other.  Beside them were Carter and Hunter.  While they were trained differently, they seemed to each soak in the other’s moves.  When Hunter didn’t understand a move Carter made, the Lightspeed Ranger would explain and if Carter liked a move Hunter made, the Thunder Ninja would show him how it was done.  Off to one side of them were Andros and Conner.  Lianbow smiled as Conner absorbed Andros’ fighting techniques and turned them around on the Red Space Ranger.  Andros seemed impressed with the Dino Ranger’s ability to reuse the moves.

 

“STOP DOING THAT!” Eric bellowed as he fought Jack.  Lianbow’s attention shifted to them, as did Wes’.

 

“Those two are going to kill each other,” Wes muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head in disbelief.

 

Lianbow chuckled. “Not unless Eric can catch Jack.” The pair watched as Eric moved to round house kick Jack, only to have the SPD Ranger phase right through him using his genetic powers.

 

“Now see, Eric, if you’d started off fighting fair, I wouldn’t be using my powers,” Jack snickered as yet again Eric stumbled forward because he swung with all his might and went through his younger counterpart.

 

Wes grinned while Lianbow looked confused. “Eric was snippy with him when Jen first brought them to Silver Hills.”

 

“Ah,” Lianbow responded, watching Jack phase yet again.  “Mr. Landors, maybe you’d humor me and actually fight Mr. Meyers. You’re defeating the purpose of this training exercise.”

 

Lianbow’s tone stopped Jack cold, which gave Eric the opportunity he needed to go at him.  However, Jack reacted instinctively with all the skills he’d honed during his time as a Ranger and on the street and while Eric managed to flip Jack over his shoulder, the younger Ranger rebounded quickly and was facing him.  “Damn kid, I’ll give you credit - you’re fast.”

 

“Thanks, you’re not so bad for an old man,” Jack grinned, making Eric growl and lunge at him, wrapping his arms around Jack’s head in a head lock.  “OW!”

 

“Allow me to show you want an ‘OLD’ man can do,” Eric laughed, the sound coming out pure evil.

 

As Jack struggled to get out of his hold, Lianbow and Wes turned their attention to the other side of the mats.  Their eyes landed on Rocky and Shane.  Lianbow noted with satisfaction that the two weren’t pulling any punches in their sparring.  Both were well trained ninjas, having both spent time as sensei’s and as ninja Rangers. They were also adept at joking around with each other while they sparred, the sweat beading on their foreheads as well as wetting their clothes telling Lianbow that they were getting quite the work out.

 

The final pairing was Nick and Jason.  Lianbow had done that particular pairing for a reason.  The first Red Ranger and the newest Red Ranger both had lessons to learn.  Jason needed to realize that the Mystic Force Rangers were capable of fighting without magic, while Nick needed to learn that the original Rangers had sacrificed so much more than any of the teams after them, had been through more than any other team, and had still survived.  They were the veterans of this war, and they were the ones who had to leave their normal lives to come back to this.  Most of all, they needed to learn to respect each other.