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Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. They belong to the current copyright owners. This is a fan work and no profit has been made from it.

Up to the Challenge

Angel Grove

With Gold Behemoth finally defeated, life for the Turbo Rangers had quietened down. The team had found themselves more concerned with school work and teenage life than defending the planet. Which was probably a good thing since they only had two active Rangers following their friends' injuries and were currently sharing a Megazord with the Rangers of Mariner Bay after Gold Behemoth had slaughtered three of their Zords and two that belonged to their allies.

It was a chance to relax and catch up on the work they had missed due to saving the world. It was a chance for Tasha, Franklin and Rosa to recover from their injuries although it was doubtful they would ever morph again. And it was an opportunity to wonder what had happened to Zordon and the senior Rangers? It had been months since they had left to assist the people of Aquitar and very little had been heard from them. Both the younger Rangers and their parents were starting to worry.

But there was something about spending the morning working on complex math problems that the Rangers appreciated after the recent upheaval. School was boring, tedious and in some cases difficult interspersed with the occasional funny moment, interesting teacher or opportunity to catch up with friends. As he sat trying to remember how to solve the problem in front of him, Fred was actually happy.


Bulk and Skull were extremely happy as they polished their badges. After completing their training as Turbo Riders, the two youths had taken up working for Lieutenant Stone. The private detective had been asked to review some old unsolved crimes and had asked for the duos' unique perspective. Both had readily agreed.

And working with Detective Stone, an adult who knew about their secret identities, also meant they were able to leave work when needed. Angel Grove had been extremely quiet recently though and the boys were enjoying what for them at least could be considered a normal life.


Mariner Bay

The Lightspeed Rangers were not happy. There had not been an attack since Gold Behemoth had been defeated, but unlike the Turbo Rangers, they couldn't just go back to their normal lives. Lightspeed was their life and that meant that when there were no attacks, they spent their time preparing for the next battle. Days spent training, lifting weights and enduring long lectures on procedure. Then there were the hours of helping repair the Zords damaged in their previous battle; it was still to early to decide if there were enough pieces of the damaged Rescue Zords to put them back together again.

But despite how difficult they found the work, they all agreed that it gave them a sense of belonging. As a team their bond was growing stronger and they had started including Nancy in their training sessions. One day she would become the sixth Ranger and training her had helped them improve their skills.

Garth had been training intensely to keep up with the others. He could never hold the powers of a Lightspeed Ranger; his questionable legal status disqualified him from the role and the modifications that had been made to his body were not compatible with those of a Lightspeed Ranger. Not that he minded since his role was to hunt and destroy demons, as opposed to the Rangers' primary function of saving lives while fighting Queen Bansheera's forces. Garth had a lot more freedom in his role even if it meant he would never completely fit in around the others.

In her workshop Miss Fairweather was supervising many of the projects that would increase Lightspeed's arsenal. They included the attempted repair of the Rescue Zords and the restoration of the Express Zord given to them following the Turbo Rangers' defeat of Divatox's evil Rangers. Then there were the enhancement units and the modifications to the Rescue Machines and smaller Rescue Vehicles to oversee. It was a busy and demanding schedule, but she left work each day knowing that her work would make the world a safer place.

In his office Captain Mitchell was dealing with the downside of all the effort: paperwork. Every parts request, training update, medical check and security report made its way across his desk. And then there were the requests for information from Lightspeed's shareholders and other interested parties. There were questions from accountants wanting to know the justification for some minor purchase and from the lawyers demanding an explanation of why Lightspeed did not own the rights to all the Zords inside the Aquabase. There were insurance claims for damaged buildings and more than a few compensation claims from those injured during monster attacks.

~It's a good thing Lightspeed has such a large budget,~ he thought as he saw the cost of the road repairs from where a Zord had landed. The organisation's budget had been established a long long time ago by their benefactor. It had grown through careful investment to the point where everything they had spent so far would be recovered within a few decades and had barely made a dent in their funds. ~It's also lucky that only certain people can access the accounts.~ That had been included as a safeguard to ensure that his family would always be a part of an organisation and that the funds could not be misused or redirected.

He read over the latest demand for the return of the damaged Hydrothermal Generator that Gold Behemoth had eaten along with an outlandish claim for compensation to replace it. He wrote a small figure on the page that lacked many of the zeros they had requested and dictated a letter for his secretary explaining the payment was for the scrap material they had recovered from the scene. He allowed himself some satisfaction as he imagined the look on their faces when he noted the cost of the damage caused by the generator and Lightspeed's fee for recovering it.

He put the letter to one side and moved on to the next report on unusual happenings in Mariner Bay. There was nothing of real interest aside from a break in at one of the scrap yards. The owner had sworn he had seen Batlings carrying off the remains of a crushed car. There had also been reports of more break ins and the disappearance of a prisoner serving time for causing death by reckless driving. On their own such events didn't merit his interest, but he put the reports in a folder and assigned them to one of his junior officers to review at their convenience. He had a hunch the events were not completely random.

As he finished reviewing some of his outgoing mail, he opened the top drawer of his desk to retrieve an envelope and paused for a moment to study the photograph he kept there. His eyes closed as he remembered the pain of loss before retrieving the envelope and carrying on, losing himself in his work. There were some wounds time just couldn't heal. He hastily wrote some instructions on a piece of paper and put it inside the envelope, which he then addressed to the Rangers. They had worked hard recently, so he had decided to give them a little time off before things got busy again.


Mariner Bay

31 March 1998

His name was Curszer and he was a demon. Alongside Jinxer, he was a servant to the Royal Court of Queen Bansheera. However his skills differed from his brother's abilities and normally that left him to play the role of nursemaid while his brother summoned beasts to aid Diabolico. However Curszer also specialised in necromancy and that made him the perfect choice for Diabolico's latest scheme. Before him a team of twenty Batlings were digging in the darkness. It had taken a while to find the correct grave, but after dispensing of a few human protections around the ground, they had started to extract the small casket within.

"Good," Curszer hissed as his helpers opened the casket and he was able to examine the remains. "The body is decayed but mostly intact. We can use it."

He briefly considered ordering the Batling to cover the grave again, hiding their tracks from those that might investigate. Instead he decided to leave it open and let the humans discover the desecration of their burial grounds. It would likely cause panic as they worried what the demons had in mind for the stolen carcass. It was doubtful anybody would realise what had been taken until it was too late anyway. But along with the other things he had stolen, he had all the ingredients he needed.


Chad had enjoyed his day off so far, playing with the fish in the bay and diving for treasure at the bottom of the sea. But duty called and it was time to return to the Aqua Base for breakfast. He removed scuba gear and travelled back to the Aqua Base along the access tunnel and made his way to the changing rooms where he could dry off properly. He checked his watch and found there was still time to get something to eat before the mess closed if he hurried.

"Kelsey!" he called as he knocked on her door. He was well aware that if he had not eaten there was a good chance the Yellow Ranger had also missed a meal. She had been up late the previous night and had probably not gotten to bed until a few hours ago. "Time to get up, we have a busy day ahead!"

He heard the sound of a half-asleep Kelsey groan in response and carried on his way, knowing that she would join him eventually. Half an hour or so later as Chad was finishing his breakfast, Kelsey finally made her appearance, clearly tired if the yawning was an indication. Fortunately Chad had already ordered her breakfast for her. After making fun of Chad's early morning swims, the two settled down to enjoy the rest of their meal.


Skull Cavern

Diabolico stood before the hell-mouth and lamented how Mariner Bay would be rubble now if it weren't for those Rangers. Mariner Bay was but the first step in the demons reclaiming the Earth, but until the wretched city was destroyed, the pocket of negative energy the demons fed upon was unusable. And with Queen Bansheera back in contact, he was aware that it was only a short time before she tired of his excuses.

"Do not worry Diabolico," Vypra assured the other demon, "I have a monster that will this city to smithereens." As she spoke she handed Jinxer a card and told him to get to work.

Jinxer took the card and studied it before chuckling. The three senior members of Queen Bansheera's court could make monsters of their own, but they needed Jinxer to focus the limited negative energy to bring them to life. Once Mariner Bay was destroyed he expected them to handle that part of things themselves. He tossed the card away and cast his spell.

"Hocus pocus, bullfrog croakus. Bring this monster into focus!"

The demonic energies surrounding the palace swirled about into lightning, striking the hell-mouth head to summon forth a red fireball from within. The fireball took shape in the mist-filled room, as the monster on the card rolled-up into ball-mode. Then he stood up, and announced with a laugh: "Smogger is here!"

"Excellent!" Vypra called, "the Rangers will be no match for Smogger's explosive firepower."

"You got that right, sister," Smogger replied as he set off toward Mariner Bay.


The day off continued as Kelsey and Chad took the time to practice with Nancy. As Lightspeed's newest Ranger recruit, the team had taken it upon themselves to bring her up to speed as quickly as possible. That meant taking time from their schedules to show her the tricks that made them so effective. Today Chad had decided to show her some new fighting moves and Kelsey had accompanied them because... In truth Kelsey was the only Ranger that had noticed how much Nancy was struggling to keep up with the additional training. She worked hard in the official training sessions and then was worked even harder by her future teammates in her spare time. Kelsey was worried that they were pushing her too hard.

"I don't know about this Chad," Kelsey said as he set his two students to work. Nancy seemed to grasp most of the moves but Kelsey was having difficulty. "Skateboarding is more my speed."

"Trust me on this, Tai Chi is the path to inner calm. Something you need more than anyone."

"Are you saying I'm not calm?" Kelsey demanded as Nancy tried to hide a snicker.

"Kelsey, I think you're awesome," Chad replied. "Adventurous..."

"And fearless..." Nancy added, which caused the Yellow Ranger to blush.

"Bu-u-t," and here Chad paused as he tried to find the right words. Giving up, he looked to Nancy for help.

"Sometimes she gets a little overexcited?" Nancy asked.

Chad nodded, very cautiously.

"Overexcited?" Kelsey demanded as she rushed over and attacked the Blue Ranger's chest. "I'll show you over excited."

At which point the training session turned into a three way tickle fight until they were disturbed by the sound of a motorcycle.

"Well well, if it isn't the Blue and Yellow Rangers. I thought you were supposed to be fighting monsters, not civilians."

The Rangers and their trainee turned toward the voice to find two punks watching them. The one who had spoken glanced at Nancy dismissively before deciding she was not worth his time.

"I bet they're nothing without their powers," the girl on the back of the bike commented.

"Hi, I'm Chad and this is Kelsey," Chad said, offering his hand, only to have his offer of friendship rejected.

"Yeah I bet you think you're really tough," the punk sneered. "Why don't we have a little fight and find out?"

Chad shook his head and gestured for his companions to join him as he picked up his things ready to leave.

"What's the matter, chicken?" the punk cooed. "Little Power Ranger chicken."

"He's not a chicken!" Kelsey snapped, only for Nancy and Chad to hold her back. "Come on Chad, you can take him."

"Maybe," Chad agreed, ignoring the punk's snort of disbelief, "but I don't need to."

As the threesome gathered their things, the punk seemed to realise that his chicken impressions were not having an effect. He looked at his girlfriend and when she gestured he decided that if Chad wasn't going to fight willingly, he would make him.

"Get him Brian," she urged.

Not needing much of a prompt, Brian marched over and stepped on Chad's blue towel, preventing him from picking it up.

"Excuse me," Chad said, but Brian pretended not to hear. With a sigh, Chad excused himself a second time and then yanked the towel free, knocking him over.

As Kelsey laughed and Nancy grinned, Chad cracked a small smile while wiping his hands off with his boot-stained towel.

"Don't let him get away with that!" Brian's girlfriend screamed.

Not wanting to look weak in front of his girlfriend, Brian jumped up and stomped towards Chad and the others. He attacked with a volley of clumsy but powerful kicks, which Chad easily deflected. With a small wink at the girls, Chad wrapped his towel around his arms while keeping them behind his back, infuriating the punk further. Eventually though Chad had enough and put an end to the fight. It appeared that Brian realised there was no way he could defeat Chad regardless of his powers.

"Come on Brian, you can beat him!" his girlfriend urged, however Chad and Kelsey had other things to worry about when their communicators beeped.

"Sorry Rangers, but your day off will have to wait," Captain Mitchell told them. "There's been an attack down town."

"We'd better get going," Kelsey said. "Head back to the Aqua Base, Nancy."

The three headed off, leaving Brian to protest that he could have won while his girlfriend mocked him for losing.


Smogger charged up his amphibian-like body, and mustered up two large white balls. He tossed them at a building, causing the whole place to be racked with a sudden explosion, and the remainder of it to sink into the ground a bit to the great concern of those under the building in the parking garage. Even as the Rescue Rover sped to the scene Carter and the others were working on a plan.

"Joel and Dana help the people outside the building. Chad, see what you can do about the fire."

The three Rangers saluted and jumped out of the vehicle, with Blue Ranger using his extinguisher rifle while Dana and Joel directed traffic. Meanwhile Red Ranger had used his helmet to scan the building and located three life signs in the parking garage.

"We need to get those people out," he said.

Yellow Ranger nodded, as Red Ranger spun the wheel and turned the Rescue Rover into the car park entrance. This was one of those times when they could have used some of the Rescue Vehicles that had been designed, but sadly while the machines were useful, they were slow to deploy until Miss Fairweather could find a new method.

"Closing up!" she said, flicking a switch on the central column. The windows and roof of the Rescue Humvee locked into place, shielding the occupants from the pungent smoke that filled remnants of a building. "Rockets away! That's how you break down a wall!"

"Next time use the claw!" Red Ranger complained as the Rescue Rover was pelted with debris.

The Rescue Rover had been refitted several times to include tools that could prove useful for small scale rescues. A small lifting claw and a winch were just two of the refinements Miss Fairweather had somehow managed to cram into the Rescue Rover's frame. Kelsey nodded and used the claw to shove some rubble out of the way as they reached the trapped civilians.


<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="rescue_riser.gif"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="rescue_riser.gif" alt="Rescue Riser. One of the Rescue Vehicles developed by Lightspeed to help protect Mariner Bay." class="size-full wp-image-5018" height="180" width="280" /></a>

Rescue Riser

Outside the building, Blue Ranger had managed to spray a steady stream of water onto the fiery building using one of the Rescue Vehicles The Rescue Riser was a larger than average, though certainly not Zord-sized vehicle capable of directing large jets of water. Unlike the other Rescue Vehicles, the machine operated better at long range, meaning it did not have to travel so far into the city before it was useful.

"The fire's under control," he reported, just as the Rescue Rover emerged from the building as Pink and Green Ranger reported that the area was clear of civilians.

They had just handed the three previously trapped innocents over to trained personnel when Smogger decided to appear.

"Playtime is over!" he announced.

"What are you doing here?" Red Ranger demanded.

"I'm having a ball," Smogger replied as a horde of Batlings appeared and swarmed the Rangers.

With that the monster turned into his ball-mode, curling up and rolling off down the street. The Rangers broke loose of the Batlings, but it was too late as Smogger moved away. Yellow and Blue Ranger chased after him leaving the others to deal with the Batlings.


In another part of the city, Brian had parked his motorcycle. The area was rundown, a sign that not all businesses took advantage of the generous tax incentives offered by Mariner Bay's council. Many stayed away from such places, fearing stray monster attacks or worse: punks like Brian who enjoyed the empty and almost lawless streets. His enjoyment of the old architecture was ruined by a loud rumbling as Smogger's ball-form raced down the road. He hid behind a pillar and watched as the Yellow and Blue Rangers chased the madball of a monster into the abandoned buildings. Smogger rolled down stairs and up them, through small narrow spaces and eventually in through a set of doors.

Blue and Yellow Ranger had managed to keep up and followed him through the door, not realising that Smogger was about to unleash his power. A blast of gas erupted from his fingertips, filling up the room with the noxious fumes. Yellow Ranger told her teammates to stand back as she prepared to blast him out with her Rescue Blaster. Blue Ranger cautioned her that such an act could be dangerous, but the Yellow Ranger had made up her mind and as Brian lurked around the side of tattered building, watching the Rangers in action, Yellow Ranger fired her Rescue Blaster at the door, blasting holes in it and hopefully the monster on the other side.

"I got him!" Yellow Ranger cried triumphantly as she rushed toward the door.

"Kelsey, wait!" Blue Ranger responded as he notice smog drifting through the holes.

She ignored him and burst through the doors, just in time to see the smog vacate the room through a stairwell in the back of the room. The sudden change in pressure sent a huge stream of fire back at them, which ripped through Yellow Ranger, and Blue Ranger, as it ignited and erupted through the building.

Brian watched from his safe hiding place as the two Rangers were thrown out into the open. He had to shield his face from the heat as they demorphed. He could see that the Blue Ranger was mostly unharmed, but the Yellow Ranger looked like she had taken the brunt of the fireball.

"Two Rangers down," Smogger gloated before leaving. "Just wait until I tell Vypra."


As Chad lifted an apologetic Kelsey into his arms and carried her to a safer location, Brian had reached a decision and followed Smogger to a nearby warehouse. There he witnessed Vypra commending her monster for a job well done.

"Now take your explosive gas and go and blow up the whole of Mariner Bay," she ordered.

"No problem, I haven't even used my strongest gas yet," Smogger promised.

Brian tried to move to a better location, but accidentally bumped into a barrel, alerting Vypra to his presence. Several Batlings rushed over and captured him, presenting the eavesdropper to the demonic princess on his knees.

"Destroy him!" she ordered.

"Wait, I'm not a spy!" Brian protested. "I want to join you!"

"Join me?" Despite herself Vypra was intriqued that a human would ask something like that. Her amusement was enough to keep him alive a little longer.

"Teach me," he urged, breaking free of the Batlings so that he could run toward her. "Teach me how to destroy the Blue Ranger."

Vypra pondered the idea. If nothing else she thought it would be amusing to see the humans fight amongst themselves. And even as Smogger ordered the human to lower his head before his new mistress, she blew on his head with her demonic breath, turning him into a human-demon hybrid for a short time.

"Well, let's get to work," she said, causing Brian to lift his head. His eyes had turned orange and his face had paled as the demonic vapours affected his body.

"Yes, my mistress," he replied in a voice that was no longer his own. A part of him protested but it was silenced by the part that pointed out that this was what he had wanted.


Mariner Bay Emergency Medical Center, Room 413

Kelsey had not been badly hurt, but the doctors had decided that rest and some fluid replenishment was needed before she could leave. At first she had protested, but those complaints were forgotten when she closed her eyes for a moment and fell asleep. Chad had been watching over her since her arrival, once the doctors had decided that he was fit and did not need any treatment following his exposure to Smogger's gas. Finally he departed to let her sleep, wracked with guilt over her current state despite knowing that it was not his fault.

"I should have stopped her," he told the others as he joined them in the waiting room.

"Yeah right," Joel snorted. "Nobody can stop that girl from doing anything once her mind is made up."

"The doctor says she'll be fine with a little rest," Dana pointed out.

Carter communicator chose that moment to beep.

"Rangers, we've managed to locate Smogger. He's in the Main Street tunnel!"

"We're on our way Sir," Carter replied before nodding at the others.

The four Ranger teens raced out of the hospital with Chad bringing up the rear. A shrill whistle caused the Blue Ranger to pause and as he looked around he spotted a lone Batling gesturing for him to approach.

"Wait," Carter ordered as Chad moved to do so. "We don't have time for this; it could be a trap."

"You guys go on and I'll deal with him," Chad replied. "We can't leave it alone this close to the hospital. I'll join you shortly."

Chad followed the Batling behind an ambulance where the Batling handed him a scroll. As he opened it the words lifted from the parchment and burnt into the air. It read: "Blue Ranger, Under the guidance of my new master Vypra, I now have the skills to defeat you. I challenge you to fight me again and this time I will be the victor. -Brian".


"Blowing up the city from underneath is the perfect plan," Smogger proclaimed as he led a group of Batlings through a drainage tunnel close to Main Street.

His scheming was interrupted when three morphed Rangers descended into his path using their ropes. He sendt the Batlings to fight them while he concentrated on his task. The Rangers responded by drawing their Rescue Batons and charging the enemy. The fight was on.


Vypra watched as Brian trained for battle. She was pleased with his progress. More so that the distraction meant there were only three Rangers available to stop Smogger. She was impressed when his demon-powered limbs shattered the wooden boards the Batlings had positioned for his use. Yes, he was ready and not a moment too soon as the Batling she had sent to summon the Blue Ranger arrived with the fool in tow.

"Let him go Vypra!" Chad yelled.

"You're just in time, Blue Ranger," Vypra replied, ignoring the demands. "I think you know my new warrior."

"Don't worry Brian, I'll get you out of this," Chad promised.

"I'm not going anywhere," Brian replied, "And neither are you!"

Chad held his hand s up as Brian circled him. "Come on Brian, you don't have to do this."

"Oh yes he does," Vypra interrupted. "Come on Brian, get him!"

That was all Brian needed to hear as he charged toward the Blue Range and attacked with a series of nasty kicks and punches. Chad tried to defend himself, but a few of the blows landed successfully. But while Brian was fuelled by rage and demon energy, his skills were inferior to Chad, who after ducking a punch, grabbed his rival's arm.

"Stop it Brian, I'm here to help you."

"I don't need your help," Brian snarled in response before launching a fresh assault.


"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

Kelsey winced, knowing that she had been caught. She had sneaked out of the hospital, found her way back to the Aquabase and recovered her uniform, but in her current state she had been careless and forgotten to make sure that the Weapons Lab was completely empty before entering. Fortunately it was Miss Fairweather that had caught her; whereas Captain Mitchell would have seen the necessity of her return to action, some of his subordinates would have had her forcibly returned to the hospital regardless of the danger her friends were in.

"Yeah, but the others need me!"

Miss Fairweather smiled. She knew there was a reason Kelsey ad been one of those chosen as a Lightspeed Ranger. Since she worked closely with the Rangers she also knew how stubborn the Yellow Ranger could be.

"I'm not going to try and talk you out of it," she said. "But at least wait a minute so I can give you something to help."

She pressed a button and one of the Lightspeed Cycles rose into the Transport Bay, along with a new gadget aside it.

"This is the Rescue Speeder," Fairweather stated. "I thought you might be able to use it."

Kelsey smiled and gave the scientist a hug.

"Lightspeed Rescue!"

She leapt onto the Lightspeed Cycle, and revved it up, speeding off with the Rescue Speeder attached.


Chad had had enough. He had tried to reason with Brian, to persuade him that they didn't need to fight. He had tried appealing to the punk to shake off Vypra's influence, but it was growing clear as Brian continued to punch and kick the Blue Ranger, that the demon's influence only enhanced his actions. It seemed that Brian was a jerk and that no amount of reasoning could change that.

"Fine," Chad announced, dodging a kick and removing his jacket. "We'll do this the hard way."

He tossed the jacket aside and adjusted his stance. The next time Brian tried to hit him, he found that his punch was easily blocked. After gauging Brian's strength, Chad had realised that he could hit the punk harder without worrying about hurting him, thanks to Vypra's enhancements. So he didn't hold back and Brian soon discovered that Chad was far more skilled than he let on.


Elsewhere, the Rangers had defeated the Batlings and tracked Smogger down to an abandoned factory warehouse district. Smogger coughed up a set of green energy ropes from his mouth, which wrapped around the Green, Red and Pink Rangers. The ropes unleashed a surge of energy that made the Rangers cry out in pain. But Smogger was not done and pulled out two more large white smog balls to throw at them. The resulting blasts sent each of the three Rangers toppling over.

"Ouch," Green Ranger complained. That seemed to sum up what the others were feeling too.

As Smogger prepared another larger smog ball, he was distracted by the roar of a motorcycle. He unleashed the ball and looked for the source of the sound, realising too late that it was the Yellow Ranger riding down the streets of Mariner Bay to the rescue.

"Rescue Speeder!" Yellow Ranger cried as the Rescue Speeder launched from the bike. It flew through the air and intercepted the smog ball before it could strike the fallen Rangers, and ricocheted it right back into Smogger. While Smogger was blasted back and fell over, the sidecar returned to the bike. Yellow Ranger parked the bike, much to the surprise and delight of her teammates.

"What did you expect?" she asked as she cut the others free. "I couldn't let you have all the fun."


Chad and Brian continued fighting and it was clear that Chad had been holding back more than his opponent had suspected. Hours spent swimming had helped improve the power of his kicks. Brian had tried to keep up for a while, but was clearly outclassed and was starting to tire despite his demon-enhanced body. When he was knocked to the dirt for the fourth time in a minute it seemed that the beating had taken its toll. He could hardly stand.

"Pathetic," Vypra sneered as she watched her human fail. "I should have known!"

"This is over," Chad told his fallen opponent as Vypra dismissed her spell. "We should go."

For the first time Brian showed some common sense as he reached up to take the offered hand. However before Chad could help him, another set of Batlings popped up and grabbed the Blue Ranger, holding his arms and legs in place.

"Perhaps now you can finish the job," Vypra challenged.

"This isn't right," Brian protested. "This was supposed to be my battle."

"Insolent human!" Vypra snarled before punching Brian in the gut. "Either you destroy him or I'll destroy you."

Although she had released her possession of the punk, some of her influence remained as Brian obeyed, readying himself to inflict the killing blow. With a howl, he unleashed all his aggression, shifting the direction of his punch at the last moment to strike a Batling. What remained of the spell was broken, causing Brian's face to return to normal. He smiled at Chad before kicking the Batling holding the Ranger's leg. Chad replied with a smile of his own as he took out the Batling that had been preparing to strike Brian from behind.

Working together, they made short work of the Batlings as Vypra looked on in disbelief.

"Nobody is going to tell me what to do anymore," Brian promised.

"You'll pay for this!" Vypra swore before she decided to cut her losses.

After collecting his jacket and shaking hands with a thankful Brian, Chad left to find his friends.


Smogger flipped Red Ranger into the air and gloated as he landed next to the others. "One wounded Ranger, three left to take care of!"

His gloating was cut short be the Blue Ranger's swinging entrance. A flying jump kick was rapidly followed by a set of rapid kicks to the monster's chest. Smogger ended up in an alleyway and had just managed to pull himself back to his feet in time to witness the arrive of Red Ranger on the Lightspeed Cycle with Blue Ranger in the Rescue Speeder, wielding his Blaster. Red Ranger fired the Cycle's laser guns, while Blue Ranger sat up in the Speeder and fired his blaster. Both hit their target, bombarding Smogger with a nonstop set of bursts. Red Ranger gave a cry of triumph as they drove through the monster. Smogger fell and exploded as the Rangers came to a halt.

As the other joined them and reported that the mission was complete, Green decided that if that was what a day off was like they would have been better off at work. The others didn't really argue as Chad tried to convince Kelsey to go back to the hospital. It seemed though the Yellow Ranger had other idea as she dragged the Blue Ranger away, promising that she was going to have more fun by teaching him how to talk to girls.

End of Part

<post_date>2019-09-01 12:00:26</post_date><post_modified>2022-11-15 14:09:38</post_modified>