Aries: Teenagers with Attitude

Teenagers with Attitude is the third episode of the Aries arc and the series Power Rangers: Neo Zeo.

Synopsis
The teens' meeting at the Surf Spot is interrupted when they are teleported to a strange place and given an offer.

Plot
Lidian sat in a corner table of the Surf Spot, reading. He'd never come here before, and upon realizing that he didn't know anybody here, he'd found himself unsure what to do. Eventually he settled for a book, which was admittedly pretty engaging.

"This isn't a library, honey," a female voice startled him, and he looked up to see an African-American woman looking down at him.

"Sorry," Lidian said, putting the book away. "Um, have you seen the Wildmans?" They asked me to meet them here."

"Oh, them? They're not here yet; usually show up around three. I'm Adelle, I run this place."

"I'm Lidian." He leaned forward to shake her hand.

"Don't think I've seen you around here before. How'd you meet the girls?"

"I . . . kinda mistook Violet for a real mermaid a couple of weeks ago at Angel Grove Lake."

Adelle laughed, and Lidian flushed. "I don't blame you there; she's trying out to become a professional mermaid since she was thirteen."

"Really? Has she had any luck?" Lidian asked.

"Ask her yourself," Adelle replied, nodding towards the front door.

Sure enough, Violet and Casey had just walked in. Lidian sat up sharply, and Casey spotted him. Beaming, she hurried over, Violet following.

"Sorry, we would have been here sooner but Mom and Dad have gotten nervous about us going places alone, after what happened at the lake," Violet said, taking a seat at the table.

"I don't blame them," Lidian said. "Adelle was telling me about your mermaid stuff."

"Oh?" Violet perked up a little, cautiously, the way people do when they get the chance to talk about something they love but very few other people are interested in. "Yeah, I've been trying to get into an agency for a while."

"No luck, then?"

"Not yet." Violet shrugged. "A lot of them aren't interested in high schoolers anyway—don't want to worry about my education and legal hours, stuff like that. It'll pick up, though."

"Right. Speaking of, I got the photos from the lake developed," Lidian said, unzipping the bag hanging over the back of his chair. "I remember you saying you wanted to see them."

Violet scooted her chair around to look as Lidian pulled out an envelope. The first ten or so photos were just of the lake, but Casey—looking over Lidian's shoulder—grabbed them as he tried to put them aside.

"These are cool," she said. "You're good at this."

Lidian shrugged. "I was just there at the right time, there's not much to it."

"Maybe you could take photos of the Power Rangers when they fight monsters and sell them to the newspaper, like Spiderman," Casey went on.

"I really don't think I'll have the chance to take photos, if there's a monster around," Lidian said, though he had a slight smile. "These are the ones I took of you."

Violet took the photos, and started laying them out on the table. Some of them were blurry and in-motion, but most of the ones of her sitting on the rocks were clear and sharp. Her eyebrows rose.

"Casey's right—these are good."

"It's nothing special," Lidian said, starting to look embarrassed.

"Can I use these? I'm trying to put together a portfolio," Violet said.

"Do whatever you want with them, they're of you."

"Thanks." Violet started arranging the photos on the table. Casey leaned over her shoulder, only for Violet to reach up and push her back with two fingers to the forehead. "Wait your turn."

"Hey, I'm the one who caught him in the first place!"

"Wait. Your. Turn."

"Fine. I'm going to get a drink." Casey started towards the counter, reaching into her pocket, and stopped. "I'm going to get my wallet out of the car." Off she ran.

"I like this one—water flying everywhere, but it isn't blurry. What kind of camera are you using?" Violet asked Lidian.

Before he could reply, a yellow flash startled both of them. They looked up, but the Surf Spot didn't look any different. It took him a second to realize that the running footsteps had vanished.

". . . Casey?" Violet said slowly, looking around. Her sister was nowhere to be seen, or even heard.

Lidian got up, sweeping the photos into the bag and looking around for Casey. Violet was already getting out of her chair.

"Maybe she's already outside?"

"Maybe." Violet hurried to the door, Lidian right behind her.

No sooner had they passed through the doorway than Lidian found himself enveloped in green light. He felt that weird bottom-dropping-out sensation that happens when an elevator starts moving, and the floor changed beneath his feet. When the light faded, he was almost blinded by darkness.

"Lidian?" That was Violet.

Blinking the big blue dots out of his eyes, Lidian looked around. Most of the light came from what looked like an electrical generator in the middle of the room. The dirty, trashed-looking room with piles of dirt and rubble on the floor. Hearing footsteps, he looked up to see Violet coming towards him, her shoes crunching on the debris.

"You guys are here too?" Casey's voice rang out from the darkness.

"What happened?" Lidian asked.

"I have no idea. This place looks weird, though." Casey turned towards a nearby table-like object, and quickly realized that it was a console. Shoving away pieces of concrete and tangled wires, she ran a finger along the cracked screen, and pushed a couple of buttons. Nothing happened; the whole console was dead. "And cool."

"This is bad," Violet said. "We're looking for a way out, now."

"This is high-tech stuff," Casey said, not really hearing her. "I mean, it's broken, but other than that—"

"NOW."

"First we have to figure out where we are," Casey said. With a grunt, she shoved a particularly large hunk of twisted metal off the end of the console. It clanged on the floor, making the other two teenagers jump. As Casey started examining the newly-uncovered panels, metallic footsteps clattered in the shadows.

"Is someone there?" Violet called, trying to sound stern.

Out of the darkness walked a robot—red and gold, shorter than Casey herself, with a flashing lightning bolt on his chest.

"An Alpha unit?!" Lidian exclaimed, startled.

"What was that?" Violet asked.

"Nothing."

"I am Alpha 5," the robot said. "This is the Power Chamber—or what's left of it, I'm afraid."

At this point, Casey interrupted Alpha with a loud squeal. Before he could react, she'd bounded around the console and was looking him up and down eagerly.

"A fully functional automaton! He is so CUTE! Look at his little hands!"

"Um, please don't do that," Alpha 5 said, as Casey tried to touch the lightning bolt on his chest.

"Casey, stop, you're making the robot uncomfortable," Violet put in.

"I am?" Casey paused, and looked again at the robot. Looking sheepish, she backed up a few steps. "Sorry. I just get really excited when I see cool advanced tech like you."

"Oh. I see, it's all right," Alpha said, still a little confused. "But I've brought all of you here for something very important."

"Why us? And why here?" Violet asked. "This place looks like a ruin."

"Someone else is coming," Lidian said quietly, and sure enough, Casey looked up to see a human-shaped figure walk out of the deepest shadows.

Into the light stepped the Red Zeo Ranger. All three teenagers went dead silent. Reaching up, the Ranger removed his helmet. Brown hair fell down his shoulders as he tucked the helmet under one arm. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. Out of context, it took Lidian a minute to figure out why he recognized him.

" . . . David?" Lidian managed at last.

The Red Ranger gave a single nod in acknowledgment. "We're in the base the previous Power Rangers used before Divatox destroyed it. Right now, it's the best we can do. As to why you're here, you may have noticed that there aren't any other Rangers working with me just now."

"Wait . . ." Violet said, apparently guessing where this was going.

"You're recruiting us?" Casey interrupted. She bounced on her heels with excitement. "Are we going to be Power Rangers too?"

"If you accept my offer. As you can see, we aren't exactly prepared for a battle, and we won't even be fighting with a full team—the Pink Ranger powers are damaged," David replied.

"Who were those monsters who tried to kidnap everybody yesterday?" Lidian asked.

Alpha took over. "As far as we can tell, they work for beings known as the Zodiac Emperors. They were intergalactic tyrants thousands of years ago, and now they're trying to raise an army to conquer their old empires."

Casey stopped bouncing. Biting her lip, she looked back at Violet and Lidian. Her sister had that intent expression she always got before an important competition.

"Why us?" Lidian asked at last. "We're kids."

"Because you 'kids' were the only ones who fought back—and succeeded. I know this is asking a lot, and if you don't think you can handle it, I'll send you home, but I need people I can count on to never give up, with or without Ranger powers."

Nobody said anything for a minute. Something like a rat or a large insect skittered across the floor nearby. Alpha looked from David to the three teenagers and back.

"I'm in," Lidian said at last.

"Somebody has to do it," Violet added.

Casey grinned and looked around at the Power Chamber. "Give me a week and five hundred dollars, I'll get this place back into working order or my name isn't Casey Magnolia Wildman."

David finally smiled, and Alpha let out a sigh of relief. Lidian gave Casey a funny look, mouthing the word "magnolia," but Violet saw and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Good." Alpha moved behind one of the consoles, and came up holding a case, which he opened to reveal four sets of wrist-mounted morphers. One of them had been burned; the gold parts were discolored and cracked. Casey grabbed one of the other sets, which turned out to have black wrist straps on them. She strapped them on, and Lidian and Violet followed suit. They fell into a line.

As they did this, David stepped out of sight, but was quickly lit up from behind by a new, much brighter source of light. Turning, he revealed the Zeo Crystal glowing in his hands. He nodded once to Alpha, who hit a sequence of buttons. The Zeo Crystal floated into the air, and three of its segments separated, changing color as they hovered over Casey, Violet and Lidian.

"I don't feel right being the one to say this," Alpha 5 mumbled, but went on anyway. "Casey, your creativity and refusal to give up qualify you to become Zeo Ranger Two, Yellow. Violet, because of your quick thinking and ability to lead in a time of crisis, you have earned the powers of Zeo Ranger Three, Blue. Lidian, selfless and compassionate, you will be Zeo Ranger Four, Green."

As he spoke, an energy wave rippled down each crystal. A helmet materialized and lowered onto the Rangers' heads one by one, soon joined by a full suit. Casey spun around, trying to get a good look at herself, and let out an excited squeal. Lidian and Violet were less excitable, but equally awestruck, looking themselves and each other over as if they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Where do we start?" Violet asked, looking to David once more.

"I wasn't able to save everyone during the last attack, but we've traced the ship's energy signal to the far side of the Moon. We're going to need the Zords to face the Windjammers," David replied.

"Zords? We're going straight to Zords?" Casey asked, barely able to contain her excitement.

"As soon as you've been train—"

"The alarm is going off!" Alpha 5 interrupted, and everyone noticed the silent, flashing light. Hurrying over to one of the surviving consoles, Alpha pushed buttons for a few long seconds, before an image appeared on the viewscreen. For a minute, Lidian didn't know what he was seeing. It looked like empty sky—no, wait; something was falling, glowing like a meteorite. Now he made out more of the things, all zooming down towards the planet.

"They're heading for the NASADA base," Alpha 5 reported.

"We're dealing with this first, right?" Lidian asked.

"Let's go," was David's reply. "Back into action!"

oZo

When the Rangers teleported into the NASADA base, everything was in chaos. The falling things were making craters all around, and several fires already burned. As Violet looked around, one of the "meteorites" stood up and climbed out of the crater. It was seven feet tall, with a vaguely human shape, but made of rough-cut chunks of some kind of reddish gemstone. Instead of joints they had spaces of empty air, somehow holding their bodies together. Each step cracked the ground beneath them.

"What are those things?" Violet asked.

Alpha 5's voice came through her helmet. "Jewel Golems—non-living creatures created by the Emperors. There should be a weak spot somewhere on their bodies, it'll look like a flaw in the gem. Hit that and you'll destroy them."

Most of the scientists had sought shelter or fled—except for the ones who'd been grabbed by the monsters. The soldiers had given up shooting since their bullets only bounced off the attackers and hurt the humans.

"Zeo Laser Pistols!" David ordered, and the other three drew theirs.

One of the Jewel Golems, which had been menacing a scientist hiding behind the NASADA sign, stopped and turned towards them. All four Rangers opened fire; their lasers scorched the creature's jewel-like skin, drawing puffs of smoke and making it stagger. Catching itself on the sign with a clang, it faced them fully and began to march towards them.

"I don't think these are working fast enough," Lidian said, looking at his Zeo Laser Pistol.

"Go for your personal weapons," David replied. "Red Power Sword!"

With the weapon in hand, he charged the Jewel Golem. It swung an arm at him, but he caught it on the blade with a clang and burst of sparks.

"Good idea. Green Power Hatchets!" Swinging the two hatchets, Lidian charged for another Jewel Golem, which was attacking a couple of battered security officers.

"Blue Power Axes!" The weapons materialized in Violet's hands, and instantly she knew how to use them.

"Yellow Power Double Clubs!" Casey was about to follow the others, but halted as she looked at the weapons in her hands. "Hey, these aren't clubs, they're nunchuks."

"So?" Violet hurled an axe at one of the other monsters, striking it squarely in the back.

"Why are they called clubs? That's wrong."

"Behind you!" Lidian shouted at the girls, as he caught the Jewel Golem's arm in a hold.

Casey didn't even turn around, just swung a club up and back, striking the monster as it reached for her. Violet's quickly-thrown axe caught it in the head, and it staggered back.

"I mean, is there something wrong with nunchuks? They're just two sticks tied together with some string. Why not just call them what they are?"

"CONCENTRATE!" Violet yelled, charging past her to retrieve her Power Axe from the downed Jewel Golem.

"Oh, yeah, right—but I'm talking to Alpha about this," Casey said, turning to join her attack.

Swinging his sword back over his head, David brought it down on the Jewel Golem, slicing into it vertically. At the blow, the creature shattered into fragments, which fell like a shower of gemstones into the grass. That done, David ran to help Lidian, who'd just managed to take off his own opponent's forearm. Lidian saw him coming and moved aside, giving the Red Ranger room to jump and plant a solid kick in the monster's chest. It went down, and two solid blows from both Rangers made sure it stayed there.

Violet and Casey had just managed to take down a Jewel Golem of their own. With twin shouts, they struck at the monster from both sides, shattering it. They ran for the building and the sounds of struggle inside. The male Rangers followed hot on their heels.

Unseen by anyone, something barely visible, more like a distortion in the air than an actual object, moved nearby. Plants rustled as it hurried away from the battlefield, soon reaching a Windjammer ship. The cockpit opened, and once it had closed again, the distortion solidified and became visible as a monster.

"Sir? I have bad news about that Red Power Ranger . . ."

Allies

 * Alpha 5
 * Adelle

Villains

 * Aries Jewel Golems
 * Mirrorage