The Silver Ranger

Chapter 53: Z-Force troubles

It was last night when I got the news that Max and Phoebe had reached the Z-Force finals which were being held today.  Yesterday I did already hear that the the Z-Force championship was being held. Phoebe and Max had reached the finale.  So, to say I'm nervous would be an understatement. And it turned out, I wasn't the only one who had noticed.

Right now, the Rangers, Kirsten and I were at the parts junkyard to train. All of us were in normal sports clothes, seeing we had planned to go into town for our running exercise. We couldn't risk getting seen in our Ninja warmups. Even though we weren't Rangers anymore, we all kept practising our moves and working out. Each one of us had a different reason why. Brody and Levi had been doing it since they could walk so it was a part of who they were, Sarah still found it fascinating and kept inventing new kinds of weapons - without our Ninja Steel tech, Calvin and Hayley still wanted to learn new tricks and Preston still did it just to hang out with us. I can't blame them for not giving up on being ninjas. I mean, for the last few years it had been the thing that we did in our past time. We had to save our world while being Power Rangers. But for me, it was really necessary I kept practising my fighting. I mean, I'm still a superhero after all. That's why Kirsten insisted on coming too. She wanted to improve her fighting and power control.

Today's training was a disaster. We started with a light jog around town for our warm-up, but during the twenty-minute run, I stumbled almost ten to fifteen times. I was either not paying attention to my surroundings or I tripped over my own feet. And don't get me even started on the fighting... While attempting different flips, I kept losing my balance, and the wooden sword I was holding kept slipping out of my grasp. It just wasn't going like I wanted and how I used to perform. And my friends picked up on that. When we decided to take a break, they started questioning me about it. Just as I took a sip out of my water bottle, Levi spoke up. "What's up with you today, love?" He questioned me. I closed the bottle as I looked over at him. He had one of the cold towels Mick had prepared for us around his neck while holding out an extra one for me to take.  "Your fighting seems to be... less effective." I sighed as I took the extra towel from him. I wrapped it around my shoulders and wiped the sweat from my face.

"The Z-Force finals are today." I told him. "Max and Phoebe are competing with the other participants for the open spot. And I'm so nervous for them. I mean, it's been Phoebe's dream since forever."

"So you're nervous about it." Hayley nodded her head as she realized what was happening.

"Beyond nervous." I nodded with widened eyes. "I'm so anxious that I could check my phone every minute."

"Wow, so it's even worse than when your secret got revealed in Hiddenville and your family had to move." Sarah said impressed. I nodded again as I remembered that day.

"Then what are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be with your family?" Brody asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Well, Mom and Dad are trying to catch the Bake Sale bandit, while Billy and Nora are trying to solve their first mission, which is the same one." I scratched the back of my neck as they looked at me confused. "Long story." I sighed as I shook my head. 

"I don't think I even want to know." Kirsten said as she shook her head.

"You should just go." Calvin said as he bumped his shoulder against mine.

"I don't know." I said slowly. I looked at them unsurely.

"He's right, Bells." Hayley said, agreeing with her boyfriend. "It will help ease your nerves. Knowing your mother, she stressing out about this even more than you are."

"That sounds like Barb." Kirsten nodded to herself. "But you have to go, Ella. Be there for your family." I sighed as I turned to look at her. "Just go!" She pushed me towards the bags.