Once a ranger always a ranger

Chapter 15 the zeo zords & return of an old friend

Brent got his history homework out and put it to the side. "Yeah, I get it. You know, John has been getting picked on for being a tomgirl." Brent said. "What?" I asked. "He didn't tell you?" Brent asked. "Well, no. Why didn't he tell me?" I asked. "Either he didn't want you to know, or maybe he was on the fence about it." Brent said. "I thought that he could tell me anything." I said. "I think that he was going to tell you if you brought up something similar to that." Brent said. "Yeah, I guess you're right." I said. After school Zordon told us to come back to the command center immediately. "Alright, we're on our way." I said before we all teleported to the command center. The machine empire was launching another attack on earth and we have to activate the zords. "But they haven't been tested yet. It's not safe guys." Billy said. "Do we really have much of a choice?" I asked. "They could be our only hope." Tommy said. Then we morphed and got into our zords. We activated our zeo crystal parts and brought the zords together after we all got hit with an attack. After knocking him down the first time I didn't really expect anything else. "That's it? Seemed too easy." I said. Then he started to rebuild himself and that's when Tommy said we have to use more power. "Are you sure about this Tommy?" John asked. "Guys, we have to trust that he knows what he's doing!" I said. Then we used a more powerful hit. It destroyed him. The next day at school Brent came up to me. "Hey Ariel, I was just looking for you." Brent said. "Oh yeah? What's going on?" I asked. "Not much, it's just that I am caught up with everyone else now, all thanks to you." Brent said. "Hey, I wrote this last night for you." I said as I handed him a piece of paper that I folded up. He took it and unfolded it. Then he read it out loud. "When you read, take it slow. Walk through the words, don't gallop. Take the time you need, and don't worry about what others think or say." Brent said as he read it out loud slowly. "I just thought it would be good for you to have that, you know, just in case you need a reminder of how to go through the words." I said. "Hey, if you're not busy, I could use some help studying for the upcoming history test." Brent said. "I should be free during study hall." I said. "Cool. I'll see you later." Brent said. "Hey, we have study hall after lunch so we'll meet at lunch." I said. "Alright." Brent said. Then he walked away. After school I was walking home when I got attacked by some cogs. I got struck down by some of them. I was hurt and I couldn't move. Just then someone called my name and got in front of me to protect me. "Alright you cogs, if you want her you're gonna have to get through me!" Jason said. I couldn't believe that Jason came to save me. After he took down all of the cogs he turned to face me. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Yeah. Thanks." I said as he helped me up. We went to the youth center. "You know, I was beginning to miss this place." Jason said. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah. Anyway, there was something I wanted you to know. Leaving the team was a hard decision for me, but what made it cool was that I was leaving the rangers in good hands with Tommy as their leader. But I don't want him to think that I'm trying to put things back to the way they were before I left." Jason said. "Hey, the rangers are a team. No one's more or less important than anyone else. I think Tommy would say the same thing." I said. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Jason said. "Of course I'm right. But, I kinda missed hanging out with you." I said. "Same." Jason said. A few days later I walked up to him at lunch. "Hey Jason." I said. "Hey, what's up?" Jason asked. "Not much, I just have something to ask you." I said. "What is it?" Jason asked. "Well, my first one is thanks for saving me the other day. And the second thing is where the heck did you come from?" I asked. "I was on higher ground." Jason said. "Really? Because to me it looked like you came from out of nowhere." I said. "I came back to Angel Grove to become the gold ranger. Besides, I found this and it made me think of you. You said that purple was your second or third favorite color, right?" He asked as he pulled out a purple crystal. "Yeah, but how do you know that?" I asked. "Tommy told me." Jason said. I couldn't believe that Tommy told him this. "But then when I saw you getting attacked by some cogs, I couldn't let them kill you. I know how Tommy would feel if that happened. I don't like seeing my friends get hurt." Jason said. "Well, I don't like seeing my friends get hurt either. And on top of that, I'm just wondering how you were able to take down all of those cogs, without morphing." I said. "Hey, once you're a ranger, you're always a ranger, right?" He asked. "Yeah." I said. Then I turned away to go to my next class when someone bumped into me. "Hey, watch where you're going!" Dominic said. I looked up and saw Dominic standing in front of me. "You should have been watching where you're going Dominic!" I shouted. Jason got in between us. "Dominic, back off. It was just an accident." Jason said as calmly as he could. Dominic is my ex-boyfriend. I broke up with him in sixth grade before getting together with John. "Fine." Dominic said before walking away. "Really Jason? I could have handled that by myself." I said. "Hey, I just don't want him to do anything to you." Jason said. "You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of situations like that on my own." I said. "Okay, but I'll be standing by in case you need me next time." Jason said. "There's not going to be a next time." I said. "Alright, but if you ever need me, you know where to find me." Jason said. "Whatever, I've got to get to class." I said before walking out. I thought that Jason was protective over his friends. I mean, sure he's trying to make sure that I don't get hurt but I don't need him to be protective of me. I guess I'm the same way but I usually see if my friends can handle a situation like that by themselves before I step in, or until they come and get me. Anyway, after school I was walking over to the youth center when I got attacked by cogs again. This time when I got knocked down John came to save me. And let's just say that I was happy to see him. He morphed and fought off all of the cogs. After that he turned to face me. Then he demorphed. "Zeo ranger 7 power down." He said to demorph as I got back up. "Are you okay?" He asked after demorphing. "Yeah, thanks to you. But how did you know where I was?" I asked. "I was following you." John said. "What?" I asked. "I didn't want you to know that I was following you." John said. "So, why did you follow me? You stalking me or something?" I asked with a laugh. "Well, I kind of don't want you getting hurt." John said. "Just like Jason." I said. "Anyway, what I want to say is that wherever you are I will find you. I will always find you." John said. "You know that you just quoted from once upon a time, right?" I asked. "Yes I did, Snow White." John said. "Shut it Charming, you made me blush." I said. 🥰 "Okay. I'll shut it." John said. Then he got a text.