Power Rangers Element Storm

[Alex Mercer]

This fanfic is based off of an RP of mine from Ranger-Power, which is based off of my original fanfic. I have rewritten it now and put members from Ranger-Power in the cast. I had to make up a few last names. lol I hope you like it, though! ^_^

Cast:

Rangers:
Daniel McCue/EarthGuardian as the Red Element Storm Ranger with the power of Fire
Peggy Ryan/Star Bright as the Blue Element Storm Ranger with the power of Water
Michael Tisdale/Yellow Stranger as the Yellow Element Storm Ranger with the power of Thunder
Bethany Blackmon/Abare Killer (me) as the Green Element Storm Ranger with the power of Earth
Sean Varsiano/Raging Thunder as the White Element Storm Ranger with the power of Wind

Allies:
William Jones/Adus (mentor) (owner of the Overclocked Cafe)

Villains:
The Chaos Three:
Stephen/BlueLightStar: The oldest, with the power of Dark Fire
Erica/ForeverKim&Tommy: The second oldest, with the power of Dark Water
Rufus/DarkAngel: The youngest (only a year apart from Erica) with the power of Dark Thunder

[Alex Mercer]

Episode 1: The Power of the Elements part 1

The classroom was silent and motionless. The eyes of both student and teacher alike were all focused on the same spot: the clock that hung on the wall above the white board. The seconds clicked by slowly, it seemed, as always happened before something exciting. Only one pair of eyes in the room was not looking at the clock. These eyes were staring at a watch on the wrist of the body they were attached to. Bethany Blackmon knew that her watch was accurate to the second with the school bell, which was more than anyone could say for the clock in the room. It was always a few second off, and Beth wanted to know the exact second the bell would ring.

At last, there were only ten seconds left before 2:38 and the end of school. Beth began to count down the seconds loudly.

“10, 9, 8…” By now, all eyes in the room were on her. A few other students joined her. “7, 6, 5…” At this point, every one in the room, including the teacher, was counting as well. “4, 3, 2, 1, brrrrrrinnnng.” Sure enough, the second after they had counted to one, the bell rang and the students began to flood out of the classroom. Beth was the last one out besides the teacher. As she made her way to the door, she turned to him and smiled.

“Have a good spring break, Mr. Thompson,” she said.

“I will,” he replied, smiling as well. “You too, Bethany.”

“Thank you,” Beth said politely as she skipped out of the classroom and down the halls to the exit. Once she got outside of the school, she began searching for her friends. They had agreed to meet in the quad area before they went to check out the new café that had just opened today. Overclocked, it was called. The very name was enough of a reason to check it out, besides the fact that it was a cybercafé and all of the other students in the school were going there today as well.

Sure enough, Beth soon found her four friends standing around waiting for her. She walked up to them and smiled.

“Finally, it’s Spring Break,” she said in mock exasperation.

“Yep,” said Daniel McCue, looking at his friend. He was wearing a red tank top shirt with a thin black jacket over it and a pair of blue jeans. He ran his fingers through his hair before continuing. “Spring Break: a time for rest, relaxation, and wild parties every night!” He grinned happily at his last few words, while the others just laughed at him. They knew he was serious, but the thought of it still made them laugh.

Michael Tisdale put his arms behind his head. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a long sleeved yellow shirt. Tiz was the only guy Beth had ever seen who wore yellow almost every day, but that was one of the things that made him so unique. “Me?” he said. “I’m going to spend some quality time with my video games during break. They’ve missed me so much while I’ve been in school…” His voice trailed off in pretend sadness as his friends laughed.

Margaret Ryan punched Tiz in the arm. “There’s more to life than video games, you know,” she said as he rubbed his arm in pain. Peg walked over to Dan and stood next to him. She wore a blue spaghetti strap shirt with a see-through white jacket over it, unbuttoned, and a pair of light blue jeans. “I think I’ll go party hopping with Dan this break,” she said, grinning playfully. Dan smiled down at her.

Beth chuckled. “I’m looking forward to being able to get back into my online role plays,” she said. “I’ve been kind of neglecting them lately, because school has been taking up way too much of my time. Stupid school…” she added, laughing a little. She was wearing a plain green T-shirt and black jeans.

“Well, school is always more important, right?” asked Sean Varisano, who stood next to her. He wore dark black jeans and a long sleeved white shirt. Anyone could tell by his smile that he was being sarcastic. No high school student really thought that school was always more important. Beth smiled back at him.

“So, what are your plans for break, Sean?” she asked with a hint of shyness in her voice.

“I don’t know,” Sean replied. “I haven’t really given it much thought. I guess I’ll just hang out with you guys.”

“Um, shouldn’t we get going?” Peg asked impatiently. “After all, we would like go get to the café before the crowds, right?” Everyone saw the logic in this and made their way to their respective cars. It didn’t take long to get to the café, which was right down the street from the school. When they arrived, they sat at a booth near the door and looked at the menus to decide what to order.


William Jones stood behind the counter of the Overclocked Café, making smoothies for his many customers. His suspicions had been correct. Opening the café on the first day of Spring Break was an excellent idea. The place was already full of teens who had just finished school for two weeks and who needed a place to hang out in all their extra free time. Plus, there was the intrigue that the advertisements for Overclocked must have put into the hearts of the high school students. Will had been advertising today’s opening for many weeks now, via flyers and newspaper ads. Obviously, his efforts had been rewarded, as the café was packed. Will was glad that he had already hired some help. He had hired a high school boy who seemed like he would be a good worker. Will could only hope that he would be.


Delvin walked up to the table where Beth and her friends were sitting. He recognized some of them from school, but he didn’t know them personally. He had seen a lot of his friends come in earlier, though. This place was packed even though it was the opening day, meaning that Del had a lot of work on his hands. It was his first day of work, and he already had so many customers to deal with. Oh well, he thought. At least this job pays well. He chuckled a little as he pulled out a notebook and turned to the people at the table.

“Hello,” he said, smiling. “What can I get for you guys?” He took out his pen and wrote down their orders as they said them. They handed him their menus and he walked away, promising them that their orders would be there shortly. Walking up to the counter, he told Will what the new comers had ordered. Will smiled at him and began to make them. He pointed to a tray on the counter.

“Those go to table three,” he said. Del groaned slightly. The tray was completely full of smoothies, and he knew that it would be difficult to carry. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the tray and headed over to table three. It was a rather shaky journey, and Del almost dropped the tray a few times, but he finally got to the table safely and handed the drinks out to the impatient teenagers. When all the drinks had been passed out, Del headed back to the counter and sat down on a stool, hoping to have a second to recover. But, no, there were already three more trays waiting to go out to their respective tables. Del sighed as he picked up another tray. This job was going to be harder than he thought.


It wasn’t long before their drinks were brought to them. This place has pretty fast service, Dan thought, sipping his smoothie happily. Good drinks, too, he added, smiling. The others seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. Dan looked around at the other people in the café. Most of the people there he recognized from school. He couldn’t believe how crowded this place was already. He was just about to comment on that when all at once, the sky outside grew dark. Great, black clouds had covered the sun. The café emptied as people went outside and stood in the street, watching the sky, wondering what could have caused this. Dan made his way outside with the others, and they looked up as well, staring at the vast darkness in the sky. Suddenly, an explosion was heard nearby, just across the street from Overclocked. A car had exploded, and a monster stood next to it, grinning. It was obvious that he was the one who had blown up the car.

People began to run away, fleeing in all directions. Only a few people stayed, five of those being Dan, Sean, Peg, Tiz, and Beth. They hesitated, feeling as if somehow they shouldn’t leave.


Tiz suddenly felt an urge to close his eyes. As soon as he did, he felt a strange sensation in his body. It started off as a slight tingling, then it progressed into a feeling of electricity surging in his body. He knew that he should be in pain right now, but somehow, it didn’t hurt at all. This must be a dream, he thought. Suddenly, he threw his eyes open and looked at his body. Sure enough, electricity was crackling all around him. Screaming, he thrust his hands forward, and the electricity shot towards the monster, striking it, causing it to surge with pain. Suddenly, Tiz felt extremely drained, and he collapsed to his knees, feeling shocked and exhausted. The others just stared at him in bewilderment. Peg walked over to him slowly.

“How did you do that?” she asked. He just shook his head at her.

“I have no idea…”


Peg was about to say something else when she got a strange feeling as well. Turning to face the monster, almost unwillingly, her eyes closed as well. She had a sensation of water rushing around in her body, flowing through her like a river. It didn’t hurt at all, as she thought it would. It was almost comforting, and it seemed so natural. It also seemed natural when she put her hands out in front of her and opened her eyes. Water flowed from her outstretched hands and an extremely high pressure, shooting straight into the monster, who was still twitching from the electric shock. The water caused the electricity to intensify, and the monster screamed in pain. Peg felt a sudden weakness, and she fell backwards, gently sitting on the ground, breathing heavily, feeling totally and utterly confused.


Next, it was Sean’s turn to feel weird. Walking up and facing the monster, his eyes shut. He felt a rush of wind around him, blowing his clothes about him. The wind was so strong, yet so natural. It didn’t seem as if it was coming from behind him, in front of him, or from the sides of him, though. It seemed as if the wind was coming from him. But that’s impossible, he thought. Then, he realized that a lot of impossible things were happening today. Opening his eyes, he threw his hands in front of him, causing the wind to intensify, flying straight at the creature. As the wind hit it, sparks came from its body, and it fell over in pain. It got up soon afterwards, but it was obvious that it was weakened. So was Sean, and he collapsed to the ground as well, sitting down, panting.


All of a sudden, Beth felt her body begin to shake as she closed her eyes. It felt like she was shaking inside intensely. It didn’t hurt, but she felt the pressure of the shaking was too strong. She felt as if she would explode if the shaking didn’t stop soon. Tears began forming in her still closed eyes as she tried to find a way to stop the shaking. Somehow, she felt that, if she focused, she could send the shaking out of her and somewhere else. Opening her eyes, she sent the shaking into the ground, and it began to feel like there was an earthquake all around them. Beth screamed and tried to stop it. Focusing all her thoughts towards the monster, she sent the shaking at him, and a large chunk of earth came up from under the pavement and crashed into him. He collapsed in pain, and so did Beth. She fell over and lay on the ground, unconscious.


Dan watched as his friend passed out. He began to go over to help her, but suddenly he was filled with a feeling similar to what the others had felt. Instead, though, it felt like his body temperature was rising quickly. His eyes closed on their own accord and he felt extreme heat all around him and inside him. It felt as if he was literally on fire, yet it didn’t hurt at all. The heat surged through his body and he cried out, not in pain but for reasons he couldn’t explain. Opening his eyes, which were now glowing with fire, he put his hands forward and a huge blast of fire flew out of them, hitting the monster, causing it to fall backwards and explode. Dan staggered backwards, but he remained standing, staring at the place where the monster had been. All that was left of him was a pile of ash, blowing away in the slight spring breeze.


Will watched as the teens attacked the monster. He was not surprised, shocked, or confused at all. He was only pleased.
“I finally found them,” he thought to himself, smiling. When the monster was destroyed, Will stood in front of the teens. “Follow me,” he said. After a quick glance at each other, the high school students got up slowly and began to comply. All except for Beth, who was still laying unconscious on the ground. The others started walking away, until Sean noticed that Beth hadn’t moved.

“Wait up, guys,” he said, going back and kneeling beside his friend. He shook her gently and called her name softly. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked at him. Her hands went immediately to her head.

“What happened?” she asked, still feeling exhausted. Sean smiled at her.

“I’m not sure,” he said gently, helping her stand up. “But I think we’re about to find out.”

The two followed the others into the café, walking silently side by side. Will lead them up to the counter. He hopped over it and pressed a button that was underneath it. Suddenly, much to the surprise of the young onlookers, the wall behind the counter twisted sideways, leaving large gaps on either side. Will smiled at them, then turned and walked through one side, motioning for the others to follow. After a quick glace at each other, they jumped over the counter as well and went in after him, hoping that they would soon learn what had happened to them that day.

[Alex Mercer]

Episode 2: The Power of the Elements part 2

In a seemingly abandoned tower just outside the town, three figures stood in random places in a large, circular room on the top floor. One was glancing through a telescope. He was about 24 years old, and he had short, jet black hair. His face was stern and cruel, and he had a small scar above his right eye. He wore long, crimson colored pants and a black shirt with flames going up the sides and on the short sleeves. His name was Stephen, and he was the eldest of the Chaos Three. He wielded the power of Dark Fire, and was the strongest amongst his companions.

A girl of about 20 stood in another part of the room, far away from Stephen. She had long, flowing blonde hair that was now in a ponytail behind her head. Her face wore an expression of indifference; she looked neither angry nor happy right now, only a bit bored. She wore light blue pants similar to Stephen’s, and a black shirt like his with blue bubbles in place of the fire. Her name was Erica, and she was the second oldest of the Chaos Three. She had the power of Dark Water, and although her power was great, she had to admit that she was the weakest in battle.

The last figure was a boy who was also 20. He had short brown hair and a face that was kinder than those of his companions. His pants were dark yellow, and his black shirt had thunderbolts up the sides and on the sleeves. He also wore a necklace with a locket on it, but it was tucked under the collar of his shirt. His name was Rufus, and he was the youngest of the Chaos Three, although only a few months younger than Erica. He had the power of Dark Thunder, and he was also extremely powerful, but he knew that his power could not compare to Stephen’s.

The room was silent as Stephen continued to watch through the telescope. At last, Erica felt that she had to break the silence.

“What do you see, Stephen?” she asked, walking over to him. “Has our monster destroyed them yet?” Stephen looked away from the telescope and glared at her.

“No,” he said simply, looking back through the telescope. “They destroyed him.”

“What?!” she cried, pushing him aside and glancing through the telescope herself. Sure enough, she saw, to her horror, that all that was left of the monster was a pile of ash. The teens were nowhere to be seen. “Where did they go?” she asked. Stephen growled at her and pushed his way back to the telescope.

“They went inside,” he said. “Will found them.” Rufus came over to the other two.

“Did they use their powers to defeat Ubetic?” he asked, using the name they had given to the monster before they sent it to fight. Stephen simply nodded, focusing the telescope so that he could see inside the café, where the five teens were sitting around a table in a dark room, waiting for Will to tell them what was going on. “Great,” Rufus said with a sigh. “Now, they’ll get their morphers and then we’ll have no hope. I knew attacking this planet was a bad idea. We should have just stayed on Trienith…” His voice stopped abruptly as Erica slapped him upside the head.

“And stayed in hiding?” she asked, glaring at him as he rubbed his head. “Or did you forget that we are wanted back home? At least on Earth no one knows who we are, and we’re safe for now.”

“And, we have a new planet to try and conquer,” Stephen added, looking up from the telescope and smirking evilly. “These humans are defenseless, while the people of Trienith were ready for our attack. These teens are new to their powers, and, chances are, we’ll still be able to defeat them. They are just kids, after all.” He chuckled a little and turned to Erica. “It’s time to conjure up another monster, Erica,” he said. “Can you come up with something?”

Erica smiled. “Of course I can,” she said. “Just give me a few minutes.” With that, she strode out of the room and to her bedroom, laying on her bed and trying to think up the strongest monster she could.


The five high school students sat at the rectangular table in the dark room behind the wall in the Overclocked Café. The only light came from an electric lamp in the middle of the table. It did little to pierce the blackness of the room. All one could see were the faces of those sitting around the table. Will stood at one end and looked at the teens. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before beginning.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering what just happened to you out there,” he said, his eyes moving from face to face as he spoke. “To explain that, I’ll have to go back a bit. There are five main elements in the world: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Thunder. These elements keep peace in the world. As long as they are in harmony, equilibrium, the world is safe from their terrible power. But, if something happens to disrupt that harmony, disaster will strike in the world in which this happens.

“To prevent this from happening, the five elements choose at birth people to give their powers to. The person is selected not because of their birth but because of the person they are destined to be. The people who are chosen will have the power and protection of the elements their whole lives. They grow up and live normally, not even knowing they were chosen, until they are needed, until something happens to disturb equilibrium. Then, the elements grant the people they chose the ability to control them in limited ways, enough to stop whatever is causing the disharmony and to repair equilibrium.

“For centuries, there has been no major disturbance of the elements. No one has known who was chosen, because the chosen people were not needed. Until now. The Chaos Three have come to earth.” Will paused, waiting for someone to ask who the Chaos Three were. He did not have to wait long.

“Who are the Chaos Three?” Tiz asked. Will couldn’t help but smile a little before continuing.

“The Chaos Three come from the planet Trienith. They have the powers of the Dark Elements, evil versions of the good elements that protect all planets. Although there are five good elements, there are only three Dark Elements: Fire, Water, and Thunder. In the Chaos Three, there’s Stephen, the oldest and most powerful, who has the power of Dark Fire, Erica, the second oldest and least powerful, who has the power of Dark Water, and Rufus, the youngest and second most powerful, who has the power of Dark Thunder.

These three tried to conquer their own planet, but they failed, and they had to live in harmony for many years. Now, they have come to earth to try and take over it, by using their Dark Elements to destroy the good ones. If they do that, the equilibrium between the elements will be broken, and the world will be under the power of the Dark Elements, and therefore under the power of the Chaos Three. When they sent that monster down, the elements knew that it was time to come forth, and to bring out the powers inside of their chosen people. Those people that they chose are you five.”

Silence filled the room as Will said this. The teens looked at each other, confused. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. For what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes, no one spoke. At last, Dan felt he had to say something.

“But, why us?” he asked. “Of all the people in the world, why did the elements choose us?”

“As I said, the elements choose people based on who they are destined to become. Dan,” Will said, looking at him, “because of your fiery personality and your strong leadership skills, you were chosen by the Element of Fire. Peg, because of your intense, independent personality, you were chosen by the Element of Water. Tiz, because of your strong, solemn personality, you were chosen by the Element of Thunder. Beth, because of your kind, gentle personality, you were chosen by the Element of Earth. Sean, because of your brave, powerful personality, you were chosen by the Element of Wind.” Will looked at each of them as he told them their elements. They didn’t know how he knew all their names, but they decided not to question it.

“So, now what?” Peg asked after a pause. “We can’t just keep attacking them the way we did today, can we?”

“Yeah,” Dan said. “That battle took a lot out of us.”

“That’s because the powers given to you by the elements are limited,” Will said. “You can use them all the time, but you can only do big attacks like the ones you did today if you focus all your energy on it. That’s why you felt so exhausted after the battle. After those attacks, you won’t be able to use your powers again for a while, at least not in such a powerful way.”

“Wait,” Tiz said. “What if they attack again before we can recharge, or whatever? We won’t be able to do anything, will we?” Will smiled and pulled something from under the table. It was a medium sized, metal box. He opened it to reveal five, multicolored wristwatches.

“That’s what these are for,” he said, as the others looked into the box.
“What are those?” Beth asked.


“These are your Power Ranger morphers,” Will said.

“Power Rangers?” Sean asked, confused. “We’re Power Rangers now?”

“Yes,” Will replied. “If you will accept it. These morphers draw their power from your elements, and they will only work for you. You are earth’s only hope now. Will you accept these morphers and the chance to save the world?” He gave each of them a serious look in turn, and the room was quiet as they thought over everything they had heard that day. At last, Dan reached forward and grabbed the Red wristwatch, strapping it on his left wrist.

“I’m in,” he said simply. The others looked at him for a second before following his example. Peg took the Blue morpher, Tiz took the Yellow one, Beth took the Green one, and Sean took the White one. When they had all strapped on their morphers, they looked at Will expectantly.

“Now what?” Sean asked.

“Now, we wait for them to attack again. I have a feeling that we won’t be waiting long.”


“I’ve got it!” Erica came out of her room, smiling proudly. She walked up to Stephen. “I have the perfect idea for a monster.” Rufus came over to where they were standing.

“So, let’s create this thing, shall we?” he said, grinning. Stephen just nodded, and the three got into a circle, putting their hands up within inches of each other. They closed their eyes and focused, Erica focusing the hardest. It wasn’t long before something started to happen. A figure appeared in the middle of the circle, fading in from seemingly nowhere. Each of the Chaos Three began to glow Red, Blue, and Yellow respectively. The light from each of them swirled around the figure that was appearing before them. It quickly came entirely into being. It was all black and it had strange markings all around it. A large, gold sword appeared in its hand. The Chaos Three put their hands at their sides, going back to normal positions. Stephen looked the new monster up and down.

“It looks strong, Erica,” he said, smiling approvingly. “You have done well. He should be able to defeat them, especially since they’ve just used up all of their power. Send him to Earth,” he added, turning to Rufus. He walked over to the telescope and gazed inside it. Rufus nodded, and looked at the creature.

“Your name shall be Kirax,” he said, smiling. With that, the monster teleported away, landing right in front of the café. Suddenly, Stephen cried out in anger.

“No!” he yelled. “Will has given them their morphers!”

“What?!” Erica cried. “How is that possible?” Stephen didn’t answer. He continued looking through the telescope angrily. “Now what hope do we have?” Erica sighed.

“There is still hope,” Rufus said, sounding as if he meant it. “Kirax still has a chance to beat them.” Erica turned and looked at him silently for a moment. She sighed again.

“I hope you’re right.”


The five teens rushed outside, Will following behind them. He had just finished telling them everything they needed to know about being Power Rangers when they heard an explosion outside. Sure enough, there was Kirax, slashing at cars with his sword. When he saw the teens, he turned to them and grinned. Dan stepped forward, a defiant look on his face. Looking back at his friends, he smiled.

“Let’s do this, guys!” he cried. “Element, Fire!”

“Element, Water!”

“Element, Wind!”

“Element, Earth!”

“Element, Thunder!”

Each of the new Rangers called out their respective elements. With that, five Power Rangers stood in place of the teenagers who had been standing there before. Each one had a suit that was their color, and they had on their chests a symbol showing their element. They wasted no time, and they rushed in and started fighting with Kirax.

Somehow, each of them found that they could suddenly use karate in ways they never knew they could before. They figured it must be the power of the elements that gave them that ability, so they didn’t question it and they continued to fight with the monster. He was strong, though, and his sword was a great advantage for him. Will saw this, and he knew that the Rangers needed help.

“Call on your weapons!” he cried. They nodded at him.

“Red Fire Sword!”

“Blue Water Trident!”

“White Wind Bow!”

“Green Earth Daggers!”

“Yellow Thunder Sai!”

With that, the weapon they called out appeared in their hands. They stared at their weapons in awe.

“These are so cool!” Beth said, grinning from under her helmet. She rushed forward and attacked the monster with her daggers. Sean began shooting arrows at Kirax, causing sparks to fly off of him. Peg stabbed the creature with her trident, and Tiz attacked with his sai. Although their weapons were very helpful, none of them were a match for Kirax’s sword.

“Let me try, guys!” Dan said, facing Kirax. The others just nodded to him and backed away. Dan walked up to Kirax and began fighting him with his Fire Sword. After a while, Dan threw Kirax’s sword from him. Kirax stepped back, scared. Without his sword, he was powerless, he knew. Dan looked around at his teammates.

“Let’s put them together, guys,” he said. They nodded. Dan held his sword out straight in front of him. Peg put her trident on top of it, the sharp end facing forwards. Sean then put his bow sideways towards the top of the trident. Beth put her daggers on the undersides of the bow, the blade facing backwards. To top it off, Tiz placed his sai on the top of the bow. Dan held the weapon by the hilt of his sword, and the others stood beside him.

“Ready, aim, fire!” they called, all at the same time. A large blast of energy shot out of the sword and from the daggers and hit Kirax right in the chest. The monster collapsed immediately and exploded, leaving no trace of it ever having been there. The Rangers cheered over their second victory of the day.


Stephen growled over their second defeat of the day. He couldn’t believe that the new Rangers had destroyed two monster of his so quickly. It wouldn’t happen again, though, he decided. Next time, the Rangers wouldn’t stand a chance. He would make sure of that. Stephen brushed past Erica, who was standing near him, and he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

[Alex Mercer]

Episode 3: Trial by Fire

Daniel McCue sat at a booth in the Overclocked Café waiting for his friends to show up. He was sipping a smoothie and looking around him at the other students who were there. Although this place had only been open for two days now, it had become a popular hang out spot amongst teens. Will had had to hire another worker, because the load had quickly become too much for Del to handle by himself. He hired Beth, but she wasn’t working until later that day.

Dan checked his watch, which was, of course, also his morpher. It read 2:47. The others were supposed to be here by 3:00, meaning that he still had a while to wait. His mind wandered back to the events of yesterday. In one day, he had learned so much, and he had changed so much as well. He felt that he was no longer a normal high school student; careless and carefree, and perfectly happy to be that way. Now, he had responsibility beyond what anyone else his age had, besides, of course, his friends and fellow Rangers. He was a super hero now, and it was his job to protect the Earth from the Chaos Three. It seemed almost too much to bear.

Of course, it wasn’t as if the responsibility was his alone. He still had his team mates to help him. He remembered, though, that Will had said that Dan, as the Red Ranger, was supposed to be the leader. He was the one who would make the important decisions; he was the one who the others would follow. That thought kind of scared him. It meant that most of the responsibility was still his, and that a lot of pressure would be put on him to make the right choices. He only hoped that he wouldn’t screw things up.

All of a sudden, Dan felt a tap on his shoulder. He jumped in surprise and turned around to see Tiz there laughing at him.

“You should have seen the look on your face, dude,” said the Yellow Ranger as he sat on the other side of the booth.

“Sorry,” Dan said, laughing as well. “I was just thinking.”

“Don’t hurt yourself now,” Tiz said, smiling. Dan just shook his head at him. “You thinking about what happened yesterday?”

“Of course,” the Red Ranger said. “What else would I be thinking about?” At that moment, Peg walked in. From where Dan was sitting, his back was facing her, but Tiz could see her perfectly. He gestured towards her, a playful smile on his face.

“I don’t know,” he said simply, grinning at his friend. “What else would you be thinking about?” Dan gave him a confused look as Peg came over and sat next to him.

“Hello, boys,” she said, smiling. “How are we today?” Her voice was bright and bouncy, signifying that she was in a good mood today.

“Well, considering what happened yesterday, I’m okay, I guess,” Tiz said, shrugging his shoulders. Beth walked up then and sat next to him, yawning.

“I didn’t get any sleep last night,” she said, her voice showing her tiredness. “I was up all night thinking about…you know what.” The others at the table nodded.

“It was the same with me,” Peg said.

“Me too,” said Dan. “But, I’m up all night anyways, so I’m not tired at all.” He grinned, and the others laughed a little, knowing that it was true.

“Me three,” Tiz agreed.

“Me four,” came the voice of Sean as he walked up to the table. “So, what are we talking about?” He chuckled as he sat next to Peg. Beth felt a twinge of disappointment that he hadn’t sat next to her, but she was careful not to show it.

“Nothing, Sean,” Peg said with a chuckle. “Never mind.”

“Okay.” Sean just smiled. Silence filled the table as Del walked up.

“Hey, Beth,” he said, looking at his coworker.

“Hi, Del,” she answered, smiling a bit shyly.

“Can I get you guys anything?” Del took out his notebook and pen and prepared to take orders. After everyone had ordered, he walked away to the counter.

“Interesting day yesterday, wasn’t it?” Sean asked after a pause.

“Yep,” Tiz said simply.

Dan sighed. “I guess we can only hope that they won’t attack again today.”


On the other side of town, in the abandoned tower where the Chaos Three dwelt, Rufus also sighed. The defeats yesterday had been hard on all of them, but Stephen had taken them the worst. He was in one of his moods where you couldn’t even talk to him without getting blasted with Dark Fire. Right now, he was in his room, mulling over a new plan he was trying to come up with. Erica was in her room as well, doing who knew what. Rufus was the only one in the main room, and he was bored.

Peering through the telescope, he saw the five new Rangers sitting at a table in Will’s café, talking. He wished that he could hear what they were saying. At least that would be entertaining on this uneventful day. Sighing again, he left the telescope and wandered into his room. Lying on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling. He brought his hands out in front of him and pointed his fingers at each other, sending little lightning bolts across the gap. He smiled. It was always fun to use his powers, even in small amounts. Just then, Erica walked in and sat on the foot of Rufus’ bed, giving him a strange look.

“Stephen said not to use our powers lightly,” she said.

Rufus chuckled. “Stephen said a lot of things I don’t care to listen to.” Erica laughed as well, nodding in agreement.

“This is such a boring day,” she said after a pause. “I wish Stephen would come up with some sort of plan. At least then we’d have something to do.”

“Yeah,” Rufus said, sighing again. He thought for a second before saying anything else. “Do you ever wish that we could have stayed on Trienith?” Erica looked at him coldly, beginning to feel angry. They had already gone over this a million times. But, when she saw how serious and sincere he looked, her anger melted.

“Yeah,” she said with an effort. “I do. But, we both know why we had to leave.”

“Of course,” Rufus said. “But, I just wish that it was possible for us to have stayed. This planet is so different from home.”

“I know,” Erica agreed. “I…” At that moment, she was cut off by Stephen coming into the room. He motioned for them to follow him.

“I may have a plan that will help us defeat those teenagers,” he said, his voice dull and emotionless. The two followed him out of the room, hoping that he was right.


When Dan awoke the next morning, he immediately knew that something was wrong. It didn’t take long to figure out what it was as the strong smell of smoke floated towards him. His room was filled with the black smoke as he looked around, trying to see where it was coming from. Jumping out of bed, he rushed out of his room and found the fire extinguisher in the closet. Running back to his room, he now saw the flames coming from his carpet at the foot of his bed. He turned on the extinguisher and sprayed carbon dioxide all over until the fire was out. It didn’t take very long, because he had caught it before it had a chance to spread.

Sitting on his bed, he heaved a sigh of relief and set the extinguisher on the ground next to him. As he waited for his heart to stop racing and his breathing to return to normal, Dan tried to think about what could have caused this. It didn’t seem logical that a fire could start in such a random place in his room for no reason…

Then, it hit him. He looked at his hands oddly. Was there any way that he could have done it in his sleep with his new power? But, no, he thought. That was impossible. He had perfect control over his power, right? Of course he did. Then, how did the fire start? He decided not to think about that as he checked the clock. It was almost 8:00, which meant that he was the only person in the house. His father and his brother would be at work now, which was good for him. It meant that they wouldn’t have to know about the fire.

Dan remembered that he was supposed to meet his friends at the Overclocked Café at 9:00 that morning. Although he still had an hour, he decided to go now. He really didn’t want to be in the house anymore. He dressed quickly and headed out to his car.

If he had still been in his room, he would have heard the soft, dark laughter that was coming from the corner. He would also have noticed that there seemed to be nothing there causing the laughter. But, as the laughter grew louder and more menacing, a figure began to appear in the area where it was coming from. Soon, it was apparent who the figure was. It was Stephen, leaning up against the wall, an evil smirk on his face, tossing a fireball in his hand. As soon as he had fully materialized, he gave one last look at the room he was in, then he teleported out in a red light.


Stephen appeared in the large room in the tower. Rufus and Erica, who had been alternating watching through the telescope, walked over to him and smiled.

“The plan worked perfectly, Stephen,” Erica said, smirking.

“Of course it did,” he said, smiling as well. “But that was only phase one. Next time, it will be a lot bigger.” With that, he walked off into his room and closed the door behind him. Rufus and Erica looked at each other, then they went to their respective rooms as well.


Dan walked into the café at 8:15. His brow was wrinkled with worry and deep thought. He sat at the same table they had sat at yesterday and stared at the top of it, his mind wandering. At this hour of the morning, the place was quiet, and there weren’t many people here yet. Del was on the other side of the counter cleaning dishes, and Will was sitting on one of the stools, reading something or other. When he noticed Dan come in, though, he put down his book and walked across the café. He sat on the other side of the table from Dan and looked at him.

“You don’t look so good today,” he said, concern in his voice. “Is anything wrong?”

Dan hesitated before continuing. Did he really want to tell Will what had happened? Sighing, he decided that he could trust Will with this information, so he told him about the events of that morning. “Is there really any way that my powers could have gone out of control?” he asked when he was finished.

“Well,” Will said slowly. “It’s not unheard of. I do remember that some of the chosen people have had problems controlling their powers.” Seeing the worried expression on Dan’s face, he put his hand on his arm, which was resting on the table, and gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, though,” he said. “You’ll get the hang of it eventually. At least no serious harm was caused.”

“Yeah,” Dan said half-heartedly. “At least that.”

Will got up then and went back to the counter, realizing that the Red Ranger probably needed some time alone right now. It wasn’t long, though, before Beth came in. She was supposed to work that day. She went up to the counter and smiled at Will.

“Some crowd this morning, eh?” she said, laughing. Will chuckled a little. “So, do you have anything for me to do right now?”

“Well,” he said. “Del is about done with the dishes, and there’s no one here yet, so, no, I really don’t have anything for you to do. You can just hang out until people start coming, okay?”

“Okay!” Beth said in a cheerful voice. She went over to the table where Dan was sitting. Seeing the look on his face, she became worried. “Hey, Dan, is something wrong?” she asked. He looked up at her as she sat across from him.

“Yes,” he said. “But, I’ll explain when the others come. I don’t really feel like telling it 5 times.” With that, he continued staring at the table. All was silent until the others came around 9:00. When they had all sat down at the table, Dan explained once more what had happened that morning.

Peg put her arm around Dan’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m sure it won’t happen again. You’ll get the hang of it.”

“Yeah,” Sean said. “These powers will just take some getting used to.” Dan smiled at them.

“Thanks, guys,” he said in a quiet voice. “I hope you’re right.”

“Me too,” Tiz said, grinning. “Or, at least I hope that if your power does go out of control again, I’m not around when it happens.” Everyone had to laugh at that, even Dan. Conversation continued as usual, and after a while more people began flocking into the café.

“I guess that’s my cue,” Beth said, standing up. “I’ll talk to you guys later!” She waved and they waved back at her as she began to work, taking orders from the people who had just come in.

Suddenly, Dan got the same feeling he had gotten that morning. The feeling that something wasn’t right. To his horror, the same smell that had greeted him that morning was coming back; the smell of smoke and fire. He looked around to see where it was coming from. It didn’t take long to find it. An empty table near them was engulfed in flame, and people were rushing out of the café.

“Oh, no,” Dan whispered as he and his friends stood up. They were about to leave the café as well when Peg spoke up.

“Wait,” she said. “I think I can put it out.” She walked up to the table, which was burning intensely, and put her hands out in front of her. A large gush of water began to flow from them, attacking the flames on the table. Soon, they were out completely, but so was Peg. She teetered for a few moments, then began to fall backwards. Luckily, Dan was close enough to catch her before she hit the ground.

Will came rushing up. “What happened?” he asked breathlessly. “How did that fire start?”

“I can only begin to imagine,” Dan said grimly as he laid Peg gently on the floor. Then, he stood up and walked out of the café, ignoring the voices of his friends behind him. He got into his car and started driving. He didn’t know where he was going. All he knew was that it was anywhere but here.

Back at the café, Del walked up to the Rangers as they stood near the ruins of the table and the unconscious Peg on the floor. His eyes and mouth were open wide with shock.

“How in the world…?” he breathed, staring at them in confusion. Will put his hands on his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.

“Del,” he said. “Promise me that you won’t tell anyone what you just saw, okay?”

“But, how could I?” the boy responded. “I’m not even entirely sure what I just saw…” His voice trailed off in confusion. Will smiled at him and shook his head.


Stephen teleported back to the tower for the second time that day. Erica and Rufus greeted him, smiling.

“That was awesome!” Erica exclaimed. “The Red Ranger really thinks his powers are going out of control!”

“Yep,” Rufus said, nodding enthusiastically.

“It’s only a matter of time before he becomes afraid of his power,” Stephen said, grinning evilly. “The best way to take down a team is to take out their leader. Without him, the others will be powerless to stop us. We just have to convince him that he has no control over his power, and then, he will never use it again. I think maybe one or two ‘accidents’ might push him over the edge.” He made a fireball in his hand as he said this, his eyes glowing with red flame. He gave his evil laugh again. “Send me to where he is, Rufus,” he said, looking at the younger boy.

“Okay, Stephen,” Rufus said. As soon as he said his name, the oldest member of the Chaos Three teleported away in a flash of red light.


He reappeared near a small bar that was located right outside of town. It was a rather secluded area, and there were few other buildings around it. Just as Stephen teleported, Dan drove up in his car and parked. The bar was rather crowded that day, and Dan had to park kind of far away, which normally would have annoyed him. Today, though, he felt too depressed to be annoyed. He was too deep in his thoughts to notice that as he walked through the door of the bar, a deep laughter echoed next to him.

He sat at a table near the door, staring at the wall. It was the only table where no one was sitting. Everywhere else in the bar was crowded, and the place was noisy. Dan didn’t care, though. He did some of his best thinking in loud places like this. As a waitress came up to ask for his order, the feeling of something being wrong came back. A sense of dread flooded over Dan as he smelled smoke for the third time that day. Turning around, he saw that the fire was at the bar behind the counter, and it was spreading fast. Most of the things in this bar were made of wood, so they would burn quickly.

Smoke hung thickly in the air as people began scrambling for the door. It wasn’t long before everyone was out of the bar and standing in the parking lot, watching as the flames took over the small building. Tears of shame, guilt, and frustration fell from Dan’s eyes as he walked off to his car. Starting the engine, he drove home quickly. When he got there, he ran into his room and grabbed a suitcase from his closet. Throwing it on the bed, he began to pack clothes and other important things in it. When he was finished, he closed the suitcase and picked it up, heading back out to his car.

Dan drove straight to the café. When he got there, he found that the others were still there, cleaning up the mess from where the table had burned. Dan wiped the tears from his eyes and went inside. When they saw him enter, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and ran over to him.

“Dan!” Peg cried. “Where did you go? We were worried about you.” The Red Ranger looked at them solemnly.

“Guys,” he said. “I’m leaving. My powers are too out of control, and I have to go somewhere where no one can be hurt by them.” He turned and faced Will. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to find someone else to be the Red Ranger.” Will shook his head.

“There is no one else, Dan,” he said. “The Element of Fire chose you, and, to quote Lord of the Rings, ‘if you do not find a way, no one will.’”

“Then I guess no one will.” With that Dan turned around and was about to leave when Peg ran over to him and grabbed his arm.

“Dan,” she said softly. “You can’t leave…” He turned and looked at her.

“I have to,” he said. “It’s too dangerous. I…I don’t want to hurt anyone…”

Sean walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

“You won’t,” he said. “Please don’t go, Dan. We need you here…” His voice was cut off by a soft, evil laughter coming from a corner of the room.

“What the heck is that?” Beth asked as everyone turned to face the corner.

“I don’t know,” Tiz said. “But I know one way to find out.” He put a hand forward and shot an electric bolt towards the sound. The laughing was cut off by a loud scream of pain, and a figure materialized in the corner. It was a man, crouched on his hands and knees, clutching his chest in pain, glaring at them in anger.

“Who are you?” Peg asked, giving him the same glare he was giving them.

“It’s Stephen,” Will answered in an emotionless tone. “The leader of the Chaos Three and the wielder of the Dark Fire.” The others looked at Will, then back at Stephen, who had now stood up.

“It’s good to know you still remember me, Will,” he said, grinning evilly at him. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” He made a fire ball in his hand and began to toss it up and down, catching it each time.

“It was you who started those fires, wasn’t it?” Will asked. It was obvious by his tone that he knew he was right.

“Very good, William,” Stephen said, sarcasm evident in his voice. “You’re just as smart as I remember you. You’ve discovered my plan. It was simple enough. Make the Red Ranger think his powers were going out of control so that he would leave, rendering his team helpless. It was a good plan. I’m only sorry that I got caught up in the moment and ruined it.” He smirked at them. “Oh, well,” he said. “At least it was entertaining while it lasted.”

Dan clenched his fists and glared at Stephen. If looks could kill, the leader of the Chaos Three would have died instantly. Dan growled in anger and ran forward, his fist ready to punch Stephen. Unfortunately, the instant that Dan would have touched him, he teleported away in a red glow, his laughter echoing throughout the room.



Stephen appeared back in the tower and looked at his companions.

“Well, the plan has failed,” he sighed. “We might as well give them a little battle to end the day, right? Erica, got any ideas?” The girl nodded.

“Yep,” she said. “I’ve been working on this one all day.”

“Good,” Stephen said. “Let’s do this, shall we?” The other two nodded as they formed a circle again. The monster materialized in the middle of them. It looked strong enough, Stephen decided. “All right, Rufus. Send him out there.”

Rufus smiled. “Let’s see,” he said, pondering. “You’re name shall be Taxonith.” As soon as the name was given, the monster teleported away in a deep purple light.


Much to the annoyance of the Rangers still at the café, a monster appeared outside. Sighing, they went out after it.

“Ready, guys?” Dan asked, anger simmering in his voice. They nodded.

“Element, Fire!”

“Element, Water!”

“Element, Wind!”

“Element, Earth!”

“Element, Thunder!”

The five teens morphed into the Element Storm Power Rangers and began to fight the monster. They called out their weapons and began to attack all at once. The monster was just as strong as he looked, though, and the battle was tough. Dan slashed at Taxonith with his sword, but the monster kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Beth jumped in and kicked the monster, stabbing it with her daggers. She too was kicked back, though. Peg and Tiz flipped in and used their weapons together, fighting side by side. Sean came up from behind and shot an arrow at Taxonith’s head. The monster cried out in pain and threw Peg and Tiz out of his way.

“I think it’s time to put them together, guys,” Beth suggested. They nodded, and they put their weapons together.

“Ready, aim, fire!” they cried in unison, and Dan fired the weapon at Taxonith’s chest. The monster exploded instantly, leaving only a pile of ash where he had once been.


Stephen growled in anger. How could they have defeated Taxonith so quickly? He glared at Erica.

“Next time, come up with something better,” he said. With that, he stormed off to his room. The other two members of the Chaos Three just looked at each other. They laughed nervously, then went off to their rooms as well.

[Alex Mercer]

Episode 4: Water Pressure

The Chaos Three each stood in different places in the main room in their tower, each doing different things. Stephen was gazing through the telescope as usual, watching every move the new Power Rangers were making. Rufus was off in a corner of the room, sitting up against the wall, reading something or other. When Erica had asked him what he was reading earlier, he had hid it behind his back, blushing profusely, refusing to let her see it. Normally, she would have forced him to let her see it, but this time, she had decided to just let it go. Now, she was in another part of the room, leaning against a wall, staring off into space. She let out a loud sigh.

“I’m bored,” she said, surprised at how loud her voice sounded after the long silence. The others gave a start and looked at her for a second, one with anger, the other with pity. Stephen gave her an icy stare before turning back to the telescope.

“Then do something,” he said in a toneless voice.

“But, there’s nothing to do,” she said, walking over to a window and looking out of it. “I wish I could go out there for a while.” This time, Stephen gave her his full attention.

“What?!” he cried. “And jeopardize our secrecy? Don’t you even think about doing that.”

“Wait,” Erica said, holding her hands in front of her. “I have an idea. If I go out there, I could make friends with the Rangers and get them to trust me. If I do that, I can find out everything about them; their strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, pet peeves, fears, anything that could be useful to our plan. What do you say, Stephen?”

The oldest member of the Chaos Three looked at her thoughtfully.

“Hmm,” he said. “You might have something there. Alright, you can go, but, whatever happens, don’t let Will see you. The others won’t recognize you, of course, but he did recognize me, and he will know you if he sees you as well.” Erica smiled.

“No worries, Stephen,” she said in a cheerful voice. “I’ll be sure to stay away from him.” She turned to the youngest of the Chaos Three, who was watching them with interest. “Rufus, a little help?” He nodded at her.

"Good luck, Erica,” he said. The instant he said her name, Erica teleported away.


Peggy Ryan sat in the park, leaning against a tree. She had a notebook in her lap and a pen in her hand. The page the notebook was open too was almost filled with writing, and the pen was still scribbling along the lines as Peg continued to write. Writing fanfiction, as she was doing now, was one of her favorite pass times. Luckily, the park was quiet right then, so she could write in peace. Normally, there were kids running around, playing and screaming, interrupting her thoughts. She continued to come here to work, though, because she seemed to get her best inspirations in this park.

Suddenly, though, to her annoyance, a flock of kids appeared and began playing a noisy game of tag right behind her. Apparently, the tree she was sitting under was “safe”. Sighing loudly, she knew that she would never get any peace now. Standing up, she closed her notebook and walked away, sticking her pen in her pocket. Now where could she go to write? Sighing deeply, Peg realized that the only other place she could go was home.

She was just about to start walking there when she heard a voice behind her.

“Hey, wait up!” Peg turned around to see a girl running up to her. Her long blonde hair was held up in a ponytail behind her head. She wore black pants and a plain blue shirt, along with tall black boots. Peg couldn’t imagine anyone wearing boots this time of year, but she decided not to question it. The girl stopped when she was only a few feet away from the Blue Ranger, panting slightly.

“You walk fast,” she said, smiling. Peg looked at her strangely.

“Um, who are you?” she said. “And why are you following me?”

“Oh, sorry. How rude of me!” The girl laughed and extended her hand to Peg. “My name is Erica. I just moved here, and I was wondering if you could show me around?”

Peg shook the girl’s hand, still eyeing her cautiously. “I’m Peggy Ryan,” she said. “But everyone calls me Peg.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Peg,” Erica said, smiling brightly. Her handshake was very strong, the other girl noticed. “As I said, I just moved here, and I’d love to see more of this town. It seems so nice here.”

“Yeah, Tempus is a nice town,” Peg agreed. “Would you like me to give you the grand tour, Erica?” This girl seemed nice enough to the Blue Ranger, and she decided to help her out. She nodded excitedly and started walking away. Peg walked next to her, sighing softly. She was a bit disappointed with being interrupted in her writing, but she was happier that she was making a new friend.


Stephen watched all of this through the telescope. He noticed that it did not take long for Erica to convince the Blue Ranger to trust her. He only wished that he could here what they were saying. Smirking, he realized that it would be pretty easy to figure out the kinds of things Erica would say in this situation. The girl was very predictable, as Stephen had always found.

He continued to watch her as she followed Peg around. It seemed to him that the two were becoming friends. Excellent, he thought. Erica might actually do something right for a change. As he watched them, he had an idea.

“Rufus,” he said, turning to him and smirking. “What say we send down the Crodus?” The younger boy looked up from his book and smiled at Stephen.

“Sounds like a plan.”


It wasn’t until late that evening that Peg and Erica were finally ready to go home. Erica decided to walk Peg to her house. They had spent the entire day walking around the town, and the Blue Ranger had shown her new friend everything there was to see. Everything, that is, except the Overclocked Café. For some reason, Erica had not wanted to go there, even though Peg had told her what a great place it was. She thought that was kind of strange, but she decided not to question it.

The two were about a block away from Peg’s house when suddenly a pack of strange, human-like figures appeared, seemingly from nowhere. They were completely black and were hard to see against the evening light. The two girls just stared in horror as the black things surrounded them. Peg could only guess that these were sent from the Chaos Three, meaning that they must be foot soldiers. She sighed as she looked at her companion. With her there, she definitely couldn’t morph, so they were on their own. She couldn’t just let the things attack them, though, and she decided she would have to fight.

One of the foot soldiers came straight at Peggy, and she kicked it hard in the chest. It flew backwards and took a few of the others with it. Then, they began to attack with full force, all coming at the girls at once. The Blue Ranger started to fight back. She kicked one on her left then turned to her right and punched one in the face, causing it to fall over. Suddenly one grabbed her from behind. She grabbed on to its arms and flipped it over her. It landed right in front of her, and she kicked it away. Erica stood near her, watching, her eyes wide open with fright and surprise.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” she asked in a soft voice. Peg’s mind raced, trying to think of a good enough excuse as she continued to battle.

“Um, I took karate lessons when I was younger,” she said, hoping that would be enough to satisfy her companion’s curiosity. “Erica, go hide somewhere,” she said in a firm tone. “I’ll take care of these guys.” Her friend nodded and ducked into the nearest alley. Peg looked to make sure she wasn’t watching, and then she lifted her left wrist to her lips, using the morpher as a communicator as Will had shown them to do. She called Dan first.

“Uh, Dan, I’m in trouble here,” she said, hoping that he wasn’t asleep or something. He answered soon, though.

“Peg, where are you?” he asked in a worried tone. She gave him her location and continued to fight. “I’ll be right there, and I’ll bring the others with me.”


Erica watched from her spot in the alley, laughing softly. Although she hated Stephen at times, she had to admit that he had exceptionally good timing. It was brilliant for him to send down the Crodus now, when Peg was the only Ranger around, and when she was still with Erica, meaning that she couldn’t morph. After all, she didn’t want to give up that she was a Power Ranger, did she? Of course not. Erica smirked. This would be great. Peg would have to fight these guys all by herself.

Although, as the second oldest member of the Chaos Three noticed, the Blue Ranger was holding her own against the foot soldiers. She watched in slight disgust as Peg thrashed Crodus left and right. She guessed that they were fortunate that Stephen had sent so many down. Even if Peg could beat some of them, she was bound to wear out soon enough. Then, it would be easy to take her down.


All of a sudden, much to the relief of the Blue Ranger, who was still fighting the Crodus, the other four Rangers appeared, running down the street to her. She sighed as they attacked the foot soldiers. Dan gave her a questioning look.

“Why didn’t you morph, Peg?” he asked as he kicked a Crodu into one that was behind it.

“Shhh.” Peg put her finger to her lips, hushing Dan. “I’m with a friend of mine,” she whispered. “I couldn’t let her know that I’m a Ranger. She’s hiding over there.” She pointed to the alley she had seen Erica go to.

“Then, you’d better go hide with her,” Dan said in the same soft voice. Peg nodded, a look of disappointment on her face, as she went over to the alley and crouched next to Erica, who smiled at her.

“Wow, that was amazing fighting, Peggy!” she exclaimed, giving her friend an appraising look. The Blue Ranger chuckled.

“Thanks,” she said. “But, it’s a good thing that the Power Rangers came when they did.” Erica nodded, and the two continued to watch the Rangers fight with the Crodus.

“Hiyah!” Beth cried as she jumped and kicked a Crodu in the chest. She grabbed a nearby one by the arm and flung it into another, causing both of them to tumble to the ground.

Sean ran at a Crodu and flipped over it, kicking backwards and hitting it in the back. It fell over flat on its face. The White Ranger laughed as he punched another enemy into the wall. He didn’t notice when a Crodu came up from behind him. It wasn’t until he was lying on the ground face first from getting kicked in the back that he knew the thing was there. It was just about to attack him again when Tiz came and kicked it in the side, sending it flying in the other direction. He smiled from under his helmet as he reached down and helped Sean up.

Dan pulled out his sword and started slashing at Crodus left and right. Sparks flew from their bodies as they were hit, causing them to collapse to the ground. The others were just about to call on their weapons as well when the Crodus suddenly disappeared. The Rangers looked around, confused.

“Where did they all go?” Beth asked.

“I don’t know,” Tiz said. “But at least they’re gone for now.”

“Those guys were tougher than they looked,” Sean remarked. The other two nodded. Dan said nothing to them. He went over to the alley where Peg and Erica were hiding.

“Are you two okay?” he asked. They nodded at him as they stood up from their crouching positions. “Good. Hopefully those guys won’t attack you again.” He motioned to his team mates. “Come on, guys,” he said. With that, the four Rangers ran off, disappearing into the now night time sky.

“Well, that was weird,” Erica said. Peg nodded at her.

“We should get home,” she responded.

“That might be a good idea.” Erica laughed a little as the two resumed walking to Peg’s house.


Stephen slammed his fist into the table next to the telescope. The plan had failed, all because the other Rangers had come in. If it hadn’t been for that, he knew, the Crodus would have eventually destroyed the Blue Ranger. Oh, well, he thought. At least Erica might have learned some valuable information in the time she had spent with Peg.

It wasn’t long before Erica appeared back at the tower. She smiled at Stephen.

“Nice touch sending down the Crodus when you did,” she said. He just nodded and looked at her expectantly.

“So,” he said casually. “Did we learn anything about our new ‘friend’ today?”

Erica grinned at him and raised her eyebrows. “Oh, yes,” she said. “Lots.” She laughed a little, then proceeded to share with Stephen and Rufus, who had come over and was looking at Erica eagerly, everything that she had learned that day about Peg…


The next morning, Peggy Ryan woke up sleepily, opening her eyes slowly. What she saw made her scream. A face was leaning over her. She cried out and ducked away. Then, the face started laughing. Peg looked closer at it as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight that filled her room. She sighed deeply as she saw who it was. It was only Angela. She took her pillow and threw it at her.

“How many times have I told you not to do that?!” she cried, laughing as well. Angela threw the pillow back at her.

“I’m not sure,” she said, her eyes still laughing. “I’ve lost count!” Peg rolled her eyes at her and yawned.

“What time is it?” she asked, sleepiness still apparent in her voice.

“10:00,” Angela said simply.

“10:00?! How in the world did I sleep in that late?” Angela just shrugged and left the room. Peg yawned again and got up. As she moved, she realized how she had slept that late. Soreness and stiffness flooded her body. That battle last night with the strange foot soldiers was beginning to tell on her, she knew.

As she got dressed, she thought about Angela. She loved her sister, but she could be really annoying sometimes. Angela wasn’t technically her sister, but she had always thought of her that way. Her family had adopted Angela from Asia when she was less than a year old. Peg had been 1 year old at the time. Her father had gone all the way to Asia to pick up their adoptee. The girls didn’t learn that Angela had been adopted until they Peg was 8 years old. It didn’t bother them, though, nor did it change anything. They were sisters in spirit, whether by blood or not.

Because she was older, Peg had always felt extremely protective of her sister. Once, when she was in 5th grade and Angela was in 4th, a “big sixth grade” boy was picking on the younger girl during recess. Peg saw this, and she ran over from all the way on the other side of the playground and punched the guy in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to keel over. He was fine in a few minutes, of course, but he had learned his lesson. The whole school had, apparently, and they were careful not to do anything to make Peg mad ever again. For fighting in school, Peg was suspended for a day and grounded for a month, but it was worth it, she knew. She had protected her sister. That was all that mattered.

The two girls had their share of arguments, as all sisters did. The fact that they shared a room didn’t make it any easier not to fight sometimes. There was always the question of who made this mess and who had to clean that and who needed to stay on who’s side of the room, but these arguments were minor, and they were few and far between. For the most part, they got along just fine. They always knew that they could tell each other anything, and they trusted each other. Peg wished that she could tell Angela about being a Power Ranger, but she knew that wasn’t possible. As Will had told them, their most precious possession were their secret identities. Those were never to be revealed, unless at the most dire of needs.

After getting dressed, Peg headed out to the kitchen to get breakfast. Angela was there, cooking something over the stove top.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” she said, grinning at her sister. “I’m making you some pancakes. Mom made them this morning, but since you slept in, you missed out. So, now you have to deal with my pancakes instead.” Peg chuckled as she sat down at the table. It wasn’t long before Angela set a plate in front of her with two good sized pancakes on it. The syrup was already on the table, and Peg grabbed a fork.

“Thanks, sis,” she said, smiling as she ate. Although her sister had no faith in her cooking, she was very good at it. The pancakes tasted wonderful, and Peg mentioned that out loud.

“Thanks,” Angela said, beaming. A minute or two of silence passed between them as Peg ate. Finally, Angela spoke up again. “So, any plans for today?” she asked.

“Well,” the older sister replied. “I’m kind of hoping that I’ll see my new friend today.” Angela leaned over the table and looked expectantly at Peg.

“New friend? Do tell!” Peg laughed and proceeded to explain what had happened yesterday, leaving out the part where the Crodus had attacked.

“That’s awesome!” Angela cried. “I want to meet this new friend of yours.”

“Well, I hope I’ll see her today…” Suddenly, she was interrupted by a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” she said, standing up and going to the door. She opened it to find Erica standing there, smiling. “Hey! I was hoping to see you today!”

“Well, you’re wish has come true, I guess.” Erica laughed at this, and Peg joined her. Angela walked from behind her sister. “Oh, who’s this?” Erica asked, looking questioningly at Peg.

“This is my sister, Angela,” she said. The two girls shook hands politely, but the younger girl looked at her sister’s friend oddly. Something just didn’t seem right about her, somehow. Erica either didn’t notice or pretended not to notice the look that Angela was giving her. She turned back to her friend.

“So, what do you want to do today?” she asked as she followed her friend out of the house and closed the door.


Angela stood on the other side of the door and blinked. That was abrupt… she thought. They didn’t even say goodbye…

Sighing a bit sadly, she went into the living room and sat on the couch. Something was wrong with that girl, she knew. She had seemed weird somehow, and Angela had felt a strange malice while she had been around. She shuddered a bit at the thought and tried to forget it.

What could she do today? She felt extremely bored right now with Peg gone. Standing up, she went over to the phone and decided to call her boyfriend. Maybe he could think of something fun to do today.


“I don’t know,” Peg replied, shrugging her shoulders. They were walking down the street when all of a sudden, Dan, Beth, Sean, and Tiz turned the corner on to Peg’s street. She saw them and ran over to them, motioning for Erica to follow. The girl did not run like her friend had. Instead, she walked slowly, her face turning bright pink. She came up eventually, though, and Peg introduced her to Dan and the others. She said nothing in response, but she smiled shyly at them.

“So, we were just going to the Overclocked Café to see what Will is up to,” Dan said, smiling at Peg. “You two ladies want to come?”

Peg was just about to say yes, but she noticed that Erica was shaking her head, giving her a pleading look. Her friend was confused, but she realized that Erica was saying that she didn’t want to go with her friends. She couldn’t think why, but she decided to oblige her new friend.

“Eh, sounds interesting, but I think I’ll pass on this one,” she said. She felt kind of bad to be ditching her friends, but she didn’t want Erica to feel uncomfortable.

Beth looked at her strangely. She had never turned down a chance to hang out with them before. “Um, okay,” she said slowly. “It won’t be the same without you, Peggy.” The Blue Ranger cringed a little bit, guilt creeping up on her. Recovering herself, she smiled at them and walked off, Erica following right behind her. Dan, Tiz, and Sean looked at each other, confused. Beth was the only one who was watching Peg and her new friend as they walked away, so she was the only one who saw the smirk on Erica’s face as she glanced back at them. Weird… Beth thought. She shook it off, though, and turned to her friends.

“Well, that was weird,” Tiz said. “It’s not like Peg to do something like that…”

“I know,” Sean agreed. Dan sighed.

“I guess we’ll just have to go without her.”

“Maybe we could see if Angela wants to come with us,” Beth suggested. “After all, she’s only a few houses away from us.” The others nodded in agreement and they made their way to Peg’s house.


Angela sighed. Her boyfriend wasn’t home, according to his mother, which left her with nothing to do all day. Why had Peg just left her like that? she wondered. It wasn’t like her at all…

Knock knock.

Angela’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She got up and opened it, seeing to her surprise and delight that Beth, Dan, Tiz, and Sean stood there, smiling at her.

“Hey, guys,” she said, beaming. “What’s up?”

“We were going to head over to the Overclocked Café,” Dan said. “And we were wondering if you’d like to tag along.” Angela grinned.

“Do you even have to ask?” She laughed and walked outside, closing and locking the door behind her. The five of them headed off to the café, talking and laughing.


Del set the empty tray on the counter and sighed. It was a pretty slow day at the café for some reason. He guessed that probably people had gone on vacation. It was Spring Break, after all. As much as he appreciated not having a million people to serve all at once, he had to admit that without the crowds, he was pretty bored.

Then, to his joy, Del heard the door to the café open. Turning towards the sound, he saw five teens enter. It was Dan, Tiz, Sean, Beth, and some girl he didn’t recognize. It surprised him a little that Peg wasn’t with them. Those five seemed joined at the hip ever since…

He smiled at them and walked up to them as they sat at a table. After taking their orders and exchanging a bit of small talk, he went back to the counter and told Will what drinks to make for them. Del knew that he would never be able to look at those guys the same way anymore. Now, he knew their secret. He had seen Peg put out that fire with her powers. After that, Will had realized that he might as well tell Del the entire story. Now, the young waiter at the Overclocked Café knew all about the Element Storm Power Rangers; their powers, their enemies, and their identities. He had been shocked, of course. But he had not hesitated to swear to secrecy on this. After all, he thought, who would believe him anyway?


Once Erica and Peg were out of earshot of Dan and the others, Peg looked at her new friend curiously.

“What was that about?” she asked. Erica bit her lower lip.

“Well, I get shy around people I don’t know,” she said. “And, anyways, your friends are weird.”

Peg had to laugh at that. “Of course they are,” she said. “So am I. That’s why we get along so well.” Erica stopped and looked her companion in the eyes.

“No, Peg,” she said. “You’re not like them. You’re different. You don’t need friends like that.”

“What?!” Peggy cried. “What are you talking about?” Erica lay a hand on her shoulder gently.

“Trust me,” she said. “You’re not like them. And you’re not like your sister either. You shouldn’t spend so much time around them.” Peg just stared at her in disbelief. Suddenly, though, as Erica looked at her, she began to calm down, feeling as if, almost, somehow, she must be right. Yes, she thought. She must be right.

“You must be right,” she said, with a sigh. It seemed almost a relief to say the words. Erica grinned at her.

“I am,” she said simply, starting to walk again. Peg followed her, a blank look on her face for a second. She shook it off quickly though and smiled at her friend. Of course Erica was right, she thought. Why would Erica lie to her?


In the alley near where the two girls had been talking, a figure emerged suddenly from the shadows, laughing to himself. Perfect, Stephen thought. Erica is using her powers wisely. Soon, he knew, the Blue Ranger would drift farther and farther from her friends, thinking that they weren’t really her friends, thinking that she should spend more time with her new friend, thinking that those thoughts were her own. Stephen had always admired and slightly envied Erica’s ability to implant thoughts into other people’s head. That was what she was doing now, he knew. He could tell by the blank stare on the Blue Ranger’s face. It was the look the victims always got when Erica put thoughts into their heads.

Laughing again, Stephen crept back into the darkness of the alley, disappearing completely. Once he was fully invisible, he walked after the two girls as they went down the street, watching their every move.


“Something is wrong.” Everyone at the table in the Overclocked Café looked at Dan as he said this. “Something is wrong with Peg. It’s been five days now, and she hasn’t even spoken to us.”

“I know,” Tiz said, a worried expression on his face. “And as Angela says she’s been acting strange at home as well.” The girl who’s name was just mentioned nodded sadly.

“She has hardly spoken to me,” she said. “This must have something to do with that new friend of hers, Erica or whatever.”

“Of course it does,” Sean said. “She was acting perfectly normal until she met that girl.”

“Yep,” Beth agreed. “Now, the question is, how to we get her back to normal?”

“We have to convince her that this girl is bad news,” Dan said, sighing. “It won’t be easy, though.” The others nodded in agreement.

“So, who’s going to talk to her?” Tiz asked. Silence filled the table as the question was asked. At last, Angela sighed.

“I’ll do it,” she said. “She is my sister, after all.” With that, she stood up and left the café, heading home, walking slowly, knowing that this was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done.


It didn’t take Angela long to get home. She trudged up the stairs and went inside. Luckily, Peg was home. She was in their room, lying on her bed, listening to music. Angela approached her sister, motioning for her to pause her music. Peg complied and sat up in her bed, looking at Angela.

“What is it?” she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Her sister sat down on the bed next to her.

“You’re not going to want to hear this,” she said. “But, I don’t trust your new friend.” There, she thought. I just came right out and said it.

Peg stared at her. “What?!” she cried. “What are you talking about?”

Angela cringed. This was going to be harder than she thought.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” she said slowly. “But, something just seems wrong about her. And, you’ve been spending all your time with her lately…” Peg interrupted her.

“Oh, is that what this is about?” she asked, a look of pure annoyance on her face now. “Just because I’m hanging out with her a lot doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with her.”

“Yeah, but it’s been five days since you’ve seen Dan, Beth, Tiz, and Sean. It’s not like you to just ignore them like that. But, that’s not even the main thing I’m worried about. I met this girl, and something just felt off about her. I got a strange feeling when she was around. It almost felt, well, evil.”

Peg laughed at that, a strange, cruel quality in her laugh that Angela had never heard before from her sister. “Evil?!” she cried. “That’s ridiculous. You’re just jealous because I haven’t been hanging out with you. Well, guess what, Angela, I have other friends then those losers I usually hang out with.” Her sister was taken aback. Losers? Had she just called her friends losers? She was almost speechless. This wasn’t like her sister at all.

“They aren’t losers…” was all Angela could bring herself to say.

Peg shook her head at her. “I never thought you’d be the one to be jealous of my friend.” With that, she stormed out of the room and out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Angela continued to sit on the bed, staring at the ground. Closing her eyes, she buried her head in her hands.


Peg ran down the street, fuming with anger. How could her sister say something like that? How could she think that Erica was evil? It was crazy. Absolutely crazy. There was nothing wrong with…

As if just thinking of her had caused her to appear, Peg saw Erica walking down the street towards her. She stopped running and waited for her friend to come up to her. It didn’t take her very long.

“Hey, Peggy,” she said in her usual bright way. Peg forced a smile. She was just about to say something when she heard a voice behind her. Turning to look, she saw that it was Will.

“Peg, get away from her,” he said in a serious voice. There was a hint of worry and anger in his tone as well.

“Why?” the Blue Ranger asked, confused. She was still looking at him, so she didn’t see the pale, worried expression on her friend’s face.

“Because,” Will said. “That’s Erica, the second oldest member of the Chaos Three, wielder of the Dark Water.”

“What?!” Peg turned to Erica and saw that her face had changed. She smirked at her and gave an evil laugh as she backed away from her.

“It’s true,” she said. “I came here to sucker one of the Rangers into being my friend so that I could find out their secrets. You fell for my trick so easily…” She laughed again. Peg looked away, trying to fight back tears. How could she have let herself get tricked like this? More importantly, how could Erica have done this to her? Anger replaced the sadness in her heart, and she turned and glared at Erica.

“You’ll pay for tricking me!”

She tried to punch Erica but the girl dodged it and kicked Peg in the stomach. Will watched what was happening from his position across the street. He knew that there was going to be a battle between these two, and he had to call the other Rangers for back up. Lifting his left wrist to his lips, he used a device that looked exactly like one of the Rangers’ morphers to contact the others.

Peg keeled over as she was kicked, but she recovered quickly and kicked at Erica. The girl blocked it and tried to punch Peg, but she blocked it was well. Peg tried once more to kick Erica, and she succeeded in getting her right in the gut, causing her to fall over backwards. The Chaos Three member got up again quickly, though.

“Why don’t we settle this right now?” she said. “We’ll see which is stronger; Water or Dark Water.” With that, she started backing away down the street. Peg nodded and backed away as well. Once they were far enough apart, they put their hands forward in preparation.

“On three,” Peg said. “1…2…3!” As soon as she said the last number, both girls let out a stream of water at the other. Erica’s water was a dark, deep blue, and it had an almost black glow around it. Peg’s water was a lighter blue, and it glowed white along the edges. The two streams of water hit each other in the middle. Each girl focused all of their energy on the water, trying to make their water hit the other person. At first, Peg’s water forced it’s way closer and closer to Erica, and it seemed that she would definitely win. Suddenly, though, as the other four Rangers ran up, Erica’s water started to push more against Peg’s. Dan, Beth, Tiz, Sean, and Will watched in horror as it neared Peg, almost touching her.

“Come on, Peggy!” Dan cried. “You can do it! Focus!” The Blue Ranger glanced over at her friends for a split second. They were all smiling at her, and she saw looks of confidence in their faces. Turning back at Erica, Peg doubled her focus on what she was doing. With a last burst of energy, Peg let out a cry and forced her stream of water as hard as she could. It went straight through Erica’s water and hit her with full force, sending her flying backwards. She screamed as she hit the pavement, then she passed out.

The Rangers cheered and ran over to Peg.

“I knew you could do it!” Dan cried, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“That was awesome, Peggy,” Beth said, beaming at her. Peg smiled at them, then looked back at the unconscious form of Erica. Will had a solemn expression on his face as he walked slowly up to the Chaos Three member. Suddenly, he was pushed back by something unseen and he fell on his side. The figure of Stephen appeared, glaring at Will.

“You may have won for today,” he said, leaning down and picking Erica up. “But the Chaos Three will triumph in the end. You can count on that!” With that, he teleported away in a flash of red light.


Later that day, the Rangers sat around a table in the Overclocked Café. Angela was with them, and all eyes were fastened on Peg.

She closed her eyes and put her head down sadly. “Guys, I’m sorry for all of this,” she said. “I let that girl trick me, and I completely ignored you guys. Especially you, Angela.” She looked at her sister. “I said some horrible things to you. I’m sorry…” She hung her head again. Angela reached across the table and grabbed her sister’s hand.

“She tricked you, Peg,” she said. “There was nothing you could do about it.” She smiled at her and Peg smiled back. “Well,” Angela continued. “It’s a good thing that the Power Rangers came when they did, or you would have been in big trouble.” Everyone at the table laughed.


Stephen appeared in the tower carrying the motionless form of Erica. He went into her room and lay her down on her bed, followed by Rufus, who had been watching in the telescope.

“Is she going to be okay, Stephen?” the younger boy asked, sounding as worried as he looked.

“She’ll be fine.” The oldest member of the Chaos Three walked out into the main room, leaving Rufus to watch over Erica. Rufus sat on the edge of the bed and lay his hand on Erica’s.

“I sure hope so…” he said softly.

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A/N: That's all I've got so far. I hope you like it, guys! Leave a review, please! ^_^

[Red_Ranger2003]

Wait you're Abare Killer in RP?

[Alex Mercer]

Wait you're Abare Killer in RP?

Yes. Yes I am ^_^ And you're Red_Maniac, right?