Fandom Power Rangers Neon

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

"Nope, no killing the local Fauna under any circumstances. Strictly control and protect," Said Jason, chuckling at Mint's sympathies for the cold blooded predator prowling the forest. He lead his two comrades out of the building and started off to a run down the jungle path. He half turned his head to speak in response to Octavia where she was beside him. "You know as much as I do, Rook," said Jason, not condescendingly but more frustrated at the situation. He was grateful for the time to chat briefly now nevertheless. "Anyways, their radios are out. Our other two rangers can't summon their armor yet either, so we're heading in blind. Did you three see what destroyed the comms in the Ranger Station?"

Kassandra Ace Cream

 

[Kassandra]

Octavia Rook

It occurred to her that Red and Pink hadn't had to face any of Rita's footsoldiers, just the big goon. In the moment she hadn't asked how the older agent knew what to call them, but 'putties' seemed as good as anything. "The guy in your support team called them putties. Mentioned them being around during the wars and that they're Rita's drones. They've also got these nasty plasma claws, but they come apart real easily. That cute redhead took the one in the tower out with just her rifle, and I ripped one's head off. No challenge for us, but let's hope the park rangers haven't faced off with them." As soon as Octavia's speedwalking gait became too slow for Red's running, she started jogging to keep up. Before she realized it, the same dark aura that made her helmet started surrounding her feet, which were starting to ache from running practically barefoot. A pair of tanky black and white combat boots formed beneath the affect, saving her arches before the terrain got any worse.

 

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

Jason stumbled just a bit at the sound of the word ‘Putties,’ but immediately settled back into his running.

“Holy shit, did he really say that?” Jason continued stepping for a few more meters silently in thought before he decided to elaborate. “When Rita first made contact with super mechana, she staged an all out assault on the entire planet. At first it was only her inner circle. Maybe a dozen alien warriors of unimaginable power. All Ranger level threats. The SDF became a second military, and thank god for it. Not that they could do much more than ferret around civilians to one safe house or another. Then, as the bodies piled up from their attacks, they began disappearing from their coffins and funerals. Out of thin air. It happened to my father’s, in front of me. One second we were at his viewing and the next my mother was screaming because he was gone. Not long after, the putties started showing up like an infestation. It’s just a theory, but most agents believe thoroughly that the souls of those people power those things. Like some sort of voodoo. I’ve seen them before but I was just a kid. Faunt was an agent during that time. What he and some of the other seniors call ‘The War,’” Jason seemed to be speaking mostly from a third person perspective, although was very grave in making his point.

“They say it was pretty grim before the first Ranger Team got incarnated,”

Kassandra Ace Cream

 

[BFabulous]

Valencia​

Valencia's eyes narrowed as she stared at the older gentleman, "No....? That...was...a new," Her eyes would dart from person to person as she attempted to think of an excuse," Nano...technology!!" Joy danced on her face with her exit strategy found. The young woman switched her happy demeanor to a more serious one, "Now, this is....HIGHLY...classified information! Go back to the Ranger's Station and tell the others where we are...please...Bye!" With a double finger gun, she sprinted back towards Decker and the putties.

Once out of sight of the rangers Valencia hopped on Cometfall once more. As the putties came into view, she took noticed of the fact that they were somewhat circling Decker. What are they doing? With a few more feet she could see that they were being careful, but stopped a few yards away," So... these grunts...can think...and process things. They don't run in with reckless abandon and they a thought process for tactics..." Valencia observed them for a minute, taking a few mental notes, before she lunged at them prepared to take a few out. As she neared the group, she jumped off of Cometfall as her staff dematerialized and rematerialized in her hand, accompanied by a spin she extended the staff, knocking two off the putties into Decker's circle," I'm back! Holding up ok?"

Kobe Nathan Wade shadowstrikr25

 

[Kassandra]

Octavia Rook

They'd only just met, but Octavia had a coarse read on Red already. A joker. Playful with his methods, but not his responsibilities. So when that deadpan ring to his explanation about 'putties,' something Octavia apparently should've known more about, came out, she knew whatever followed was going to be serious. And so it was. Finding such a gap in her childhood memories odd, she thought back to the summer she and her brothers spent on the outskirts of the city with her grandparents. The Rooks were gunsmiths then, she remembered that much. The antique firearms with wood furniture and pearl grips sitting around like decor were like memorials to the original family business, though even then, metallic polymers were already the norm. Unanswered questions, times when they spent up to three days at a time in the basement playing 'soldier,' complete radio silence from their parents. It all added up to there being something she, nor any of the other children in her circle at that age, were told. Something they thought was too vile for their minds.

Didn't she have an uncle?

At a loss for comforting words, Octavia gave his armor's shoulder a heavy-handed punch. "Good thing we're here."

 

[Ace Cream]

Mint Blaun

Putties?

Mint listened silently as two of her companions exchanged some information about their advertaries. Putties was a rather cute name for something that was sounds like Rita's everyday grunts and this was the first time Mint ever heard about them. Mint wasn't born in Super Mechana so she didn't have any connection to The War but she remembered reading a few articles about Rita on the net and Professor Ender once said his career was skyrocketing after he was able to find a method to cure some of the victims of the war. She noticed that neither Jason or Octavia seemed to show any indication of knowing this Rita personally, maybe she should ask Mr. Faunt about this later... Mint kept walking in silence.

Kobe Nathan Wade Kassandra

 

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

Jason Scott Lee

Jason pursed his lips and flinched a little at the solid connection of Octavia’s large fist. Looking at her straight on she looked like the child of a bodybuilder, sure, but her facial features were soft enough he could remember he was speaking to a woman. The lead pipe which just smacked him in the delt, however, reminded him of sparring with a training Android in the academy. Despite this he let no whimper escape his mouth, and smiled at her comment. He could tell she was trying to cheer him up, so he accepted the gesture.

“It is,” he said, finally spying a group of four humans coming down the road at them. He recognized them as the park rangers immediately. “Are you all alright?!” He yelled urgently.

“Yes!” Yelled the older man in turn, “crisis avoided on our end, but your agents are back there being attacked! We didn’t recognize them, it looked like a bunch of robots,” he finished as they drew near. The younger man looked at Jason’s armor, and Octavia’s helmet, and his eyes widened.

“Holy shit, you guys really are Power Rangers!” He exclaimed, nearly interrupting his superior.

“Damn straight kid,” said Jason, holding his fist out towards the slightly shorter young man. He smiled widely and fist bumped him excitedly, giggling like a schoolboy.

_____

Decker Grayson

“I’m fine, thanks,” Said Decker, ceasing to make wide circles with his Dagger after he cracked it like a whip at the two Putties Valencia sent his way. Huge slices went through them and they fell into pieces first, and then disintegrated into black powder. Decker then turned his back to Valencia to face half the crowd, reeling his dagger in and catching it in his right hand. As one of the foot soldiers of darkness advanced, he stepped forward to meet it. A strange otherworldly clang rang out when it’s plasma blade met his gauntlet, doing no damage. He then chopped off it’s arm just at the elbow, causing it’s weapon to drop off. It swung with the other side, and he dodged it with a lean backwards. He then chopped off that arm as well. Finally he swiped across it’s head to cause it to join it’s fallen comrades moments before.

Then, through the shifting and rocking circle of putties, he spied bright Cherry Red armor.

“Oh, don’t tell me you came to babysit me Red, can’t you see I’ve got it handled?!” He said, throwing a powerful side kick into the core of a rushing putty, without looking because of his ability to feel it coming.

Jason Scott Lee

“Yeah yeah, clearly” said Jason, sarcastically, “I was just getting bored. Mint and I already finished our op, so I thought we’d steal some of your kills,” he said Summoning his scythe and wielding it with both hands lazily holding it at his waste. About five of the putties took notice of the approach of the three other Rangers, and immediately began to pursue them. Jason thrust forward his scythe like a spear, coating it’s whole form in plasma from the blade first. It bisected the front putty down the middle in a very simple second. Two were on either side of it in line with Mint and Octavia. “Hm, they do go down pretty easy don’t they Rook?” He said, summoning his helmet and speaking both through the radio and through it’s external speaker so that Mint could hear.

BFabulous Kassandra Ace Cream
shadowstrikr25

 

[Kassandra]

Octavia Rook

The younger ranger's excitement was flattering. Octavia supposed this was going to be something she had to get used to, gaining something akin to celebrity after all that work in the shadows. It was stranger still that her helmet was going to be the thing people recognized, rather than her face. Oh, well. It wasn't like fame was something she was ever going to get to openly enjoy. Then it occurred to her that Pink, and who must've been Blue and Yellow, weren't in uniform. Not even partially, like her. Octavia's competitive spirit stroked her ego a little, like it meant something that she was a few pieces ahead of her fellow teammates. It also took particular note of the Ranger with a little friction between him and their leader. For some reason, it felt perfectly fine to get a big head about having parts of her armor down over him.

She watched as the diametrically opposed, yet amusingly similar Rangers dispatched more of the putties. That reverence for what might've been the trapped souls of soldiers seemed to have disappeared, but it stuck with Octavia. She also found herself hoping Pink, or as Red slipped, 'Mint,' would make sure to be more respectful about putting them down. Spectacle would be saved for the types of Ferro. "Hey, Pink. Let's be a little cleaner than the boys, hm?"

Wordlessly, she picked the two closest and approached them without her hammer ready. The one to her left, she gave a swift, devastating stomp to their 'knee,' bending it unnaturally inward. The one to her right, she gave the same treatment, but only succeeded in making them kneel forward. Octavia then put an arm around both their heads and started curling her biceps, crushing their heads in like tin cans. "Go home, men..."

As if she'd finally proved to herself she'd earned them, the segments of armor from her shoulders to her elbows formed themselves, but left her forearms and hands unprotected, like a strange set of football pads. "Yeah. Real easy, Red."

 

[shadowstrikr25]

Decker Grayson

With a quick flick of the elbow, Decker shot his dart out again to impale a Putty at center mass, quickly pulling the projectile back to decapitate another that decided he was an easy target. "Did ya double tap or just leave the big guy lyin' there?" His senses alerted him to another Putty attempting to rush him down. Instead of a hitting the earthen creation head on, he threw his dart over its shoulder and stepped around to the opposite side, avoiding the creature's manic slashes at where he was. With the setup complete, he reeled the dart back in just enough so he had a Putty shield that was unable to attack him, the cord for his rope dart around its neck. "9-volt, might wanna give 'em a shock!" Squirming shield in tow, Decker put it in the way of another Putty's flurry of stabs, causing its captured compatriot to turn to dust. Using that to his advantage, he once again swept the area with his dart, slashing through more Putties that thought it was a good idea to get closer. Reeling the dart back to his hand, he readied himself for the next group to try and attack him, keeping himself light on his feet and never coming to a full stop.

Kobe Nathan Wade BFabulous Ace Cream Kassandra

 

[Ace Cream]

Mint Blaun

Mint watched curiously as her companions dispatched these putties. They really were easy to destroy, huh, but the fact that they vanished after being defeated piqued her interest and made her wonders whether they're really made of other person's soul. Not that really matter, they're still enemy.

"I don't intent to get my hands dirty." Mint replied to Octavia as she raised her hands and summoned four Stardust. She looks around for any putties that were still standing, seems like they're too occupied with the other rangers to notice her. Good. Mint took her time to memorize the position of the remaining putties and adjusted each Stardust to aim at different target. One, two, three, four. Four plasma beam blasted through the chest of four different putties, immediately turned them into dust.

 

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

Through the combined efforts of the Rangers, the main group of Rita's foot soldiers was dispatched with little effort. Luckily, the Evac crew had arrived at the same time, and the SDF was able to retrieve some samples of the black dust the putties left behind as well as Ferro's mutated carcass. In addition, the agency got some good video coverage of the end of the battle. The SDF used the footage, selectively handed out to the press, to cut down on much of the criticism the public was sending their way due to the fiasco that was their first mission. For the most part it worked, but of course now the existence of the team was no longer a surprise. It was a narrative, and the way that narrative had started set a precedent that would be hard to overcome. Still, the Rangers no longer found themselves on house arrest as they had been the week before. For the last month they've been allowed to come or go at will, and all chose to do so at one point or another. All except Octavia.

Immediately as they arrived back to SDF HQ, all Rangers in tow, Faunt inexplicably received a phone call to his personal cellphone. The person on the other line asked to speak to Octavia first, and then told Faunt something briefly before hanging up abruptly. Faunt seemed just as bewildered by the call, as Octavia was silent. She then refused to speak about it, and spent the rest of the month refusing to leave the HQ for any reason. This despite Jason's efforts to get the team to go out for quality time together in between training sessions.

The Red Ranger insisted that they train together at least three times a week, in group training sessions which were often rigorous and occasionally juvenile. For a while he ran them only through an eclectic mixed martial arts crash course, clearly devised by himself judging by the longwinded rants on Martial Arts philosophy. He lectured them on The Art of War, The Book of Five Rings, and Jeet Kun Do all while yelling out Boxing combos for them to do against their aligned heavy bags. Other times there were long meditation sessions, weight lifting, sparring, and simulated realistic combat scenarios using the Rumpus Room. Sometimes he trained them in modern Martial Arts like Jiu Jitsu or Kickboxing. Other times, Kung Fu forms and weapons training. Anytime the other Rangers ditched, or threatened to, he would track them down and drone on in a somewhat whining tone about how they were "training to save the universe," and "skirting off their duties to all mankind," which some felt were worse than all his Kung Fu training.

Jason Scott Lee

"LADIESSSSSSS AND GENTLEMENNNNNNNNN!!!" Yelled Jason's voice at Six A.M. Though the Rangers' bedrooms had rather sturdy and thick metal doors, his voice came in clearly from his enthusiastic volume. If the other team members weren't woken up immediately, they surely would be the moment he began coming around and drumming along to the music he was listening to on their respective apartment doors. The music, playing through the surround sound system connected to their livingroom's TV, being as follows:



"IT. IS. TRAINING TIME TEAM! LETS SEE SOME FIRE! GOT SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR YA TODAY KIDDOS,"

Kassandra BFabulous Ace Cream shadowstrikr25

 

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

Meanwhile, in a dark castle somewhere in the void of space, Goldar broods in the throne room of his Queen. He stands on a balcony of otherworldly stone, black and cold as the vacuum in which it hangs. The castle rises through a lonely meteor like a spearhead, the very bottom and top tips almost perfectly symmetrical. Many chambers, windows, ports and balconies can be seen along it's exposed towers, however they all seem silent and dead. In the darkness, who knows what manner of creeping things lay dormant.

"Goldar, why do you mourn a weakling so?" Asks Rita, her high and fawning tone ringing about the chamber. Goldar makes a reluctant half turn towards his mistress and bows his head slightly, his hands behind his back. His golden armored wings pulled in tightly behind him, like two great shields.

"I am sorry, my queen. Ferro was a dear friend, and I," Goldar caught himself, the faintest hint of sorrow gracing his last words.

"Oh? Go on, Goldar. What was it? Tell your Queen. I believe you were going to say you're going to miss Ferro, the lowly scum of a being who couldn't kill, a single, RANGER!!" Rita had started out docile, and patronizing, but her words gradually became wrathful and venomous. Goldar turned away and bowed his head. He said nothing more. Rita then reclined on her throne, seemingly made of a single uniform cast of black metal. Her silky green dress on which the souls of the damned danced stood out like an emerald in the hilt of an enchanted sword of a dark knight. She crossed her legs and staired hard at Goldar. "You're pitiful. Such sentiment. Such empathy. Friends? Comrades?! You have but one duty, and that is to me,"

"Of course mistress!" He says, turning towards her with feeling. "My only purpose is to serve you!"

"AS IS EVERYONES' IN MY COURT," Rita's eyes glowed neon, and peered into Goldar's very being. Howls and cries of every horrible thing came thundering down the halls towards the throne room in response to her command. After a moment they subsided. "Now, go and collect someone bloodthirsty, and send them to that pathetic place they all sleep,"

"Yes my liege," replied her servant in a defeated tone. As he neared the main exit to the throne room, in it's shadows he spied something and halted.

"Are you just going to throw body after body at that planet again until you're out of troops and forced to retreat?" Came the sound of a young woman's voice. It was cheerful and mischievous. Mocking, even, to the Witch Queen, who sneered at the sound.

"Evangeline? How dare you spea-"

"Can it, shiny," snaps Evangeline back at him before he can finish, daring him to continue by the flash in her eyes. The look was venomous and cocky. He didn't continue.

"Step forward, Evangeline, face your queen if you have something to say," Said Rita in an almost bored tone.

"Humanity is a disease, just like the Power Rangers. They squirrel away, burrow, but no matter how many times you blow them up they'll rebuild. Reincarnate. And say you do wipe out Super Mechana and every human with it, the Ranger title will just pick some different races to fall onto, and they'll always fight evil, and the cycle will always continue. If you want to be Queen of the Universe so badly, you need to start thinking like it,"

"INSOLENT CHILD!" Yelled Goldar, raising his hand beside his face preparing to backhand Evangeline as she wandered forward into the light. She snapped her fingers towards him, and out of her hoodie sleeve a length of cable emerged. It wrapped around Goldar's arm and neck, tightening rapidly until it constricted it to his face. The end then wrapped around both of his wings, and then eventually his feet, tangling him up and causing him to topple over while screaming obscenities at Evangeline, who ignored him.

"You need to torture them. Starting with their beloved protectors. Break them down into worms, just like you always do poor Goldar here," She continued, crouching down and petting Goldar like a puppy on the head. "Let me help, mistress," Said Evangeline, switching over from a lecturing tone to a soft coo, "I'll make them regret felling even one of your loyal servants," Evangeline looked at Goldar as she said this, and he became somewhat appeased ceasing his thrashing. He looked at her with just a bit of camaraderie as Evangeline kept his gaze.

"Fine, go then, do what you will. But if you fail, then it's war." Said the Space Witch with a wave of her hand.

 

[Kassandra]

Octavia Rook

For some reason, part of Octavia expected to just forget all about what her family tried to do. Maybe even enough that they could come back together for next Christmas, where in Rook fashion, the issue would've been swept under the rug along with all the rest of their unresolved screaming matches and pent-up anger. That was the status quo, and upon reaching the SDF's headquarters, it was her best case scenario. Maybe Orson would even give the SDF some extra firepower as a 'thanks for taking in my sister' gift. That was all before the call. It came from Oliver, or 'Olivier' as he preferred, her younger brother, in Rook's Damage Retention department. It came off as nothing more than a courtesy call, as if he was just letting her know that there wasn't any milk left in the fridge, but he always was very cavalier about delivering bad news. Octavia had just never been on the receiving end of it.

The gist of it was, she was dead. Legally, at least, because Olivier didn't really do anything any other way. He explained that whatever the Power Rangers had given her had officially made making her disappear too much trouble that it'd be worth. Dad's orders. And seeing as she technically died sometime around the Supermax incident, there was nothing to argue with him about. Octavia Rook didn't exist anymore. Only the Black Ranger. Further action would be taken in a few weeks, something-something about NDAs, but she, whoever she was now, stopped listening. There was no point in moping or letting the others know. It wasn't like she had to be all buddy-buddy with these people, she just needed to pull her own weight.

Octavia took to her training sessions with Jason naturally. Though she didn't lend much value to anything that didn't require brute force, she felt as if she were forcefully confined to the SDF by her family's watchful eye, and was therefore willing to try anything he threw at her after some minimal resistance. But between her personal predicament, and the occasional dirty look she caught Decker giving her, Octavia really wasn't doing great.

So, waking up to what was probably the last entry in Jason's workout playlist, at a miserable six in the morning, Octavia felt absolutely raw. Equally on the verge of trashing her mostly-empty bunk and crying her eyes out. Nothing she'd let anyone else even get a whiff of. Turning her head from her pillow, her eyes landed on a half-finished energy drink sitting on her nightstand. Sweet, ulcer-mongering, elixir of life. Octavia downed it in one go and crushed the can flat, let out a sulfur burp, and stumbled out of bed to turn on the light. Hell looked back at her through the mirror. Her hair was a unkempt mess of knots and seemed like it'd been growing faster since joining up with her new, colorful outfit. Wearing her helmet all the time didn't help matters either. Suddenly granted a burst of focus, Octavia rifled through her pack of complimentary toiletries and pulled out some hair clippers. With only a little desk mirror, she shaved the sides of her head down to almost nothing and left just a wild poof of hair on the top. It didn't look half bad. The hair she left on the floor did.

SDF sweats, on. Cut, fresh. Bitter at Jason for waking her up, very. Raccoon eyes stared their leader down relentlessly once she arrived. "I'm getting real close to second-degree murder, Red. Make me believe this isn't an early-morning dance party."

 

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

Jason was just in the middle of drumming along to the first verse and singing rather flatly when the door he was on opened suddenly. While he was dancing, he stopped and met Octavia’s gaze. His foolish grin lowered into more of a sheepish smile, and his eyes drifted upwards from her scowl.

“It looks nice,” he said after a moment’s examination. He then took a few steps out of her way and went to the couch. Taking up the remote he turned it down from full blast to conversation level, confident everyone was roused. “Don’t worry, you’re gonna like it. Today starts day one of Ranger Powers training. Less hand to hand, more demigod shit, ya feel me?” He craned his neck over the back of the couch, if not only to make sure the Black Ranger wasn’t about to sink in a rear naked choke.

 

[BFabulous]

Valencia Silva​

Valencia was used to her small corner of the internet, but the added exposure of being a Power Ranger brought people to her pages by the millions. Her streams were flooded with people questioning her about being a Power Ranger As requested by the SDF, she avoided certain questions and was versed enough to redirect them towards certain outcomes, but she still got tripped up once in a while. By popular demand, Valencia forced the other Rangers to stream with her. Other than streaming she would spend time with her grandparents and started to bond with Piper over just about anything.

The training Jason put the team through was something familiar to Valencia. When she was younger her mother made a similar schedule to exercising and after her parent's passing her grandmother kept it up, so she begrudgingly went along with it. The martial arts training was her favorite and she really took to kickboxing. Valencia was the smallest out of all of the other rangers and even before being a ranger she would use her size to her advantage, but with the knowledge from her grandmother, former military, and Jason's training she was shaping up to be a deadly striker. The only part of the training Valencia hated was Jason's extended lectures. She could sit down and code for 12 hours straight, but Jason would sometimes make her have murderous day dreams.

With Jason's voice and choice of music flowing through the door, Valencia rolled her eyes as she pinned her hair into two buns. She was already up and dressed, crop top and leggings. Stepping out her room with a smile,"Goodmorning!," She walked passed Octavia and Jason into the kitchen and as she turned the coffee machine on she sent a small smile towards Octavia," If you need help hiding the body...I'm down!"

 

[shadowstrikr25]

Decker Grayson

As it had been many times before, Decker was forced to adapt. Becoming a Ranger, his identity being public knowledge, a team for a selfless mission, and now a new member that he despised. The second the new Black Ranger introduced herself on the ride back, Decker was holding himself back from going on the attack. Rook and its various security enterprises hadn't been kind to him or his crew over the years, and here was one of the heirs of the company who he could get some small measure of satisfaction from beating her until his knuckles were bloody and raw... but he couldn't. At the very least, he knew he'd only get a few good swings in before the rest of the Rangers moved to restrain him. The resentment for Rook PMC, and by extension her, would only rise.

Another thing he had to adapt to was the thrice a week training with everyone else at a minimum. In direct contrast to their newest Ranger, Decker took a certain pride in being able to ditch some of the sessions, usually whenever he felt Jason was going to drone on about philosophy, and take their leader's guilt tripping while serving back some snark of his own. "If a monster is weak to Descartes or Keirkegaard, I'll let ya know." was a personal favorite. Sparring was something he enjoyed, in part because it was practical, but mostly because he took no small amount of pride in being a pain in the ass to get a clean hit on. The idea that it got under Octavia's skin when they sparred only made it better. Meditation even had some benefit, as he used the time to start acclimating to his spatial awareness reaching out further without becoming a problem. Or took a nap while no one was listening, it was hard to tell on any given day.

Aside from the training and slight feud with the new Black Ranger, he did have time to get himself a hobby as well as get his old crew to do some work in the background. Real-time strategy games were a nice way for him to relax and get his brain to work in more low risk scenarios that didn't involve him putting actual lives on the line. Him being fairly good at these types of games certainly didn't hurt. His old crew, on the other hand, got word to be on the lookout for any weird rise in Rita's power and be on the lookout for the Putties. Orders also stated to keep track of where anything was attacked, what was there, etc. and above all, to not engage unless it was necessary. They may be Rita's mooks, but he wasn't going to send his crew on the warpath without reason.

Against all odds, public outings didn't turn the Blue Ranger into a pile of nervous mush. Sure, he wasn't a fan of so many eyes being on him at any one time, but at least this time those eyes didn't have knives hiding in their sleeves. Even the more vocally hostile didn't get him to lose his cool, as one person found out when they tried to get him to fight them in a bar. As it turns out, 'Ranger dodges sloppy attacks and leaves' isn't a super interesting headline. The team outings were filled with Decker's usual level of snarky comments and nicknames. His guest appearance on Valencia's stream triggered roasting of all kinds by both him and the chat as he got her to face him in an RTS. This was quickly determined to be a poor decision on Valencia's part with him, to put it lightly, absolutely annihilating her the first time around. The roasting did not stop on subsequent bouts.

Now, however, Decker was already up and scanning through maps of the planet with certain locations marked, including the casino, attempting to figure out exactly what he was playing against. The holographic interface and SDF database he had access to made the prospect immensely more approachable. Just before he took another sip of coffee, Jason's wake up call blasted old music through his speakers. Groaning in raw irritation from the prospect of not just a mandatory 'special training exercise' but one in the wee hours of the morning got Decker dressed in his usual clothes. The SDF had provided stuff for him, but they were never touched. Too much law enforcement branding. Upon entering the living room, spotting Jason, Valencia, and Octavia, he locked eyes with the leader. "No, you're gonna want my help. I actually know what to do. Real question is how you're gonna off the overgrown toaster." The statement was punctuated with a long, loud sip of his own coffee. "So what exactly does the Crimson Space Heater have for us?"

Kobe Nathan Wade BFabulous Kassandra

 

[Ace Cream]

Mint Blaun

Mint didn't like the new attention she got as a power ranger. She was usually confident about how she could ignore most people's thought despite her occasionally got a glimpse of their mind, but that's mainly vecause their thought very rarely involves. Now whenever she go out she would notice on how many people were staring or took a glance at her and what was their first impression of her. At first she tried to resist but it would soon become overwhelming and Mint decided to just shut herself inside the HQ and not going out unless it's absolutely necessary. The only good things these attention gave her was the skyrocketing sales of her games, which was amazing but still wouldnt's beat the negatives.

Maybe because of her lack of human interaction lately she was surprisingly enjoying the time when Valencia invited her to the stream. Though she didn't want to show her face and rigged a Live2D of an animated cat as her online avatar instead but she was more cheerful on the stream than in the real world. Throwing sassy comments and jokes around, and playing with her avatar. Unless it's an FPS, Mint didn't take the games seriously and repeatedly made her in-game characters as ugly as possible.

She was fine with Jason's martial training, but the fact that it took a lot of her time in front of her computer irritated her. She wasn't the most enthusiasthic, actually, she might be the least enthusiast about training session but she usually didn't object and could recite all of Jason's words on martial philosophy down to the letters. Some martial arts piqued her interest, especially things like krav maga and jeet kune do, 'it's biomechanically more effective' she commented. She's also more hyped for weapon training and eagerly tried various weapons like sword, spear and scythe, but at the end of the day she would still pick a firearm rather than any other weapons.

Then there's the weird dream about Zordon. She thought that was the first and last time she would dream about it but no, the dream keep coming once very few days and Mint was so fed up with these weird figures she developed the ability to manifest her ranger weapons inside her dream and blasted them away. Only for the dream to come back several days later. The setting of the dream becoming more conscise however, the first few had very surreal setting with upside down platform, planets that blaze around the vicinity like comets and various other things that made the dream very confusing but slowly things started to settle down and made more sense. Mint would find herself on the top of a spaceship, staring at a particular solar system that had stopped moving like crazy with all the pink figures sitting calmly behind her. Still a surreal scene but at least this time she had an opportunity to observe the stars.

It was a multicolored solar system with four planets orbitting a red star. Mint glanced around to see any clue to where this star was located but found nothing. She also noticed another new, weird things. The outermost ring of the orbit was highlighted and there's an exclamation mark on top of it. Almost like... an indicator for an NPC with quest! Mint looked back at the figures behind her, she still wasn't sure who they were but they sure have learned how to communicate with her, huh. The figures seemed to sense that Mint finally understand their message and nodded in confirmation before the whole dream started to fade out... and Mint found herself floating right below the ceiling of her room again. Thankfully this time she wasn't lifting her furnitures up and her cats were safe.

She was wondering what she should do with the information when a loud music started to be blasted from the living room. Mint wanted some time to think so she tried to ignore it but then Jason started drumming on her door while yelling something about training. Mint jumped onto her bed and cuddle her cats. She didn't want to train right now so she planned to stall for a bit by pretending to be asleep but her mind caught the snippet of Jason and Decker's conversation. A real, power training? Could she blast another Ferro?? Mint rushed out of her room and stared at the gathered rangers.

"I'm ready let's go." Mint was still in her pajamas but she got the spirit.

 

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

Jason leaned left, then right as his team mates slowly filled the room. Despite so many death threats, he maintained a happy smile seeing them all filed in. He spent just a moment listening to the track he had chosen, allowing Valencia to finish pouring her coffee before hopping back up off the couch and walking to the door. He looked at Decker as he opened it, and motioned towards the opening.

“We’re gonna play a game,” he said simply in response to Decker, “now come on, to the RRRUMPUS RRROOM” he rolled his R’s with the last two words, sounding a bit like a ring leader for a carnival. For a moment he contemplated suggesting Mint put some exercise gear on, but mentally shrugged and decided it was inconsequential. He himself was dressed in a black SDF hoodie and basketball shorts, looking like he was on his way to the company rec league tournament. After only a few steps, he was at the door of the simulator swiping his key for them all to enter.

“Computer, load building forty eight, custom settings: Jason. I spent all night designing this scenario,” Jason began to stretch as around the team the walls of the simulator expanded until they were no longer visible. The Rangers then stood in a white expanse with seemingly no end or beginning, only a center point. At this center in front of them, was an office building who’s top they could also not see. It’s top floor must have been in the thousands, equivalent only to those in District 1. The windows seemed incredibly thick on every side, and it’s outside was a sheer plane with no indentations of any kind. Perfectly constructed, as only a computer simulation can.

Jason then turned to the rest of the crew, very proud of himself.

“I give you all, the first level for our soon-to-be annual Manhunt Game. The rules will be as follows: one of us will start on the top floor, the rest start outside here on the ground. If the Prey at the top floor makes it to the ground outside of the building, they win. If they are caught and restrained by the other four, the Hunters win. They MUST be taken alive, or else the hunters lose. Similarly, if the Prey simply kills themselves, they lose. Now, any volunteers? Oh, and for those of you who aren’t familiar, we’re in a simulation right now. No matter what happens, you can’t actually die. See, watch. Computer! Nine Millimeter handgun please,” a small black firearm forms in the air next to Jason and hovers for a moment. He plucks it from where it rotates, turns it on his head, and pulls the trigger. Rather than the splatter of brains, however, his body blinks out of existence momentarily. After a second the simulation forms his body again, and he holds his arms to the sides “Ta-da! Pain is very real, though, so if you need to bail out say ‘Computer, Exit.’” Jason’s body, once again in a flash of light, disappeared. There was silence, and then he reappeared the same as before.

“Oops, sorry, alright. So let’s get the party started,”

 

[shadowstrikr25]

Decker Grayson

Decker did nothing to attempt to hide the groan escaping his lips, aimed at Jason's new ringmaster routine. 6 in the AM was, objectively, too early for that much bullshit. "Wow, real descriptive. If we're usin' that tech to play a children's card game, but with real monsters, I'm gonna be pissed. And the same thing goes if motorbikes get involved!" The Blue Ranger then proceeded to shotgun the rest of his coffee, making sure to put the empty mug in the sink, before following his chromatic compatriots to the Rumpus Room. 'This had better be good, Red.'

Though there was initial relief that this was not, in fact, a children's card game gone mad, the game that was proposed brought a smirk to Decker's face. It seemed almost tailor made for him to exercise his particular set of skills while also testing the rest of the team's ability to counteract said skills. "So what I'm hearin' is that you need one person to be chased around a thousand story skyscraper, easy, and try to make it out without bein' grabbed by the other four?" With a crack of his knuckles to punctuate the rhetorical question, the smirk transitioned to a full-blown cocky grin. "I don't know about you guys, but I say we make this an actual challenge. I'll be the prey." It didn't take a telepath to know that he was pretty confident in his ability to outsmart the rest of the assembled team. "Unless, of course, you'd rather play on easy mode?"

 

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

James smiled a wry, knowing grin at Decker’s response. He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t expect this outcome. In fact, he’d been hoping for it. Jason didn’t have anything against the Blue Ranger, in fact he quite liked him. He was probably the best conversationalist amongst the team, but the opportunity to see just how dangerous Decker really was behind that confident exterior hadn’t presented itself to the leader yet. So, he decided to manipulate the probability just a tad, and designed the manhunt game. That way, the other three could get some experience in apprehending criminals, and Jason could test Decker’s limits for real. All under the guise of training.

“Computer, send Decker to the Top Floor,” without another word, Decker was transferred cybernetically to floor 1232. Despite the rather abrupt decision making, Jason smiled at the three ladies who would serve as his squad. “Follow me,” he tossed his head to the sliding glass doors. On the far side of the well-rendered lobby were three separate elevator doors. Beside the one on the far right, was an intercom speaker and corresponding button. Jason pressed it,

“You read me Grayson? Give us five minutes, and then go wild,” when he took his finger off the button, he turned back to Valencia, Mint, and Octavia. His armor formed around him, but he left his helmet off. In his grip materialized his scythe. “Alright, let’s make the questions quick. I’ve got orders lined up in my head,” The lobby had a nice avant-garde design upon it’s tiles, a sizable customer service desk, but was otherwise barren except for a few chairs in the waiting area.

When Decker rematerialized, he would find himself in an executive office. Rather simple, every wall a window including the one that looked out into the worker’s space. Rows and rows of cubicles and swivel chairs stared back at him. Out the window behind the mahogany desk Decker could not see the ground. The glass was also even thicker looking up close. On the desk, was a computer, a bowl of mints, and a conference phone, which played Jason’s question into the room for the Blue Ranger to hear.

 

[Ace Cream]

Mint Blaun

"Assymetrical multiplayer game I see." Mint nodded at the rule explanation. It was rather funny for her because most game usually had 1 hunter and 4 survivors so this was a total reverse. She was interested to see how this would go.

When Decker mentioned something about using the place to play a children's card game, on motorcycle, Mint's eyes lit up as she got an idea. She tapped Valencia's shoulder and whispered enthusiastly.

"Cuddle Monster, let's play it here later. I will give you one of my deck."

Finally things was set up. Decker becoming the prey and the rest would be the hunter. Mint looked at the ceiling and thought of a way she could try catching Decker, without killing him.

"The top. I want to fly up there and chase him down." Mint didn't have any questions seemingly and just want to start the game.

 

[BFabulous]

Valencia Silva​

Valencia had placed her coffee in the freezer for a quick a chill. She wasn't really into the whole idea of burning her tongue. By the time the others had finished filing out of their bedrooms her coffee was the perfect temperature. Listening intently, Valencia slurped her coffee with contentment as Jason mentioned them playing a game, then Decker's snarky comment piqued her interest more," Mmm!"

As they were lead out of the room Mint's whispers brought a look of pure joy to Valencia's face, followed by a sharp, quiet, and over exaggerated gasp," I'm offended that you think I don't have my own! Just be prepared for my deck...CHAOS COURT!" Giggles escaped her as she followed behind the others. At the first sight of the innards of the Rumpus Room Valencia's eye gleamed with glee as she assumed that the room was a sort of holographic training room. She had similar ideas of smaller simulation projects but never had the capital or equipment, but this was like an engineering dream to her. The young woman waited with anticipation for what Jason would say next.

With the formation of the tower and Jason's explanation, Valencia was jumping with joy as her speculations were affirmed and she started mentally coding different scenarios in her mind that would be fun for their down time. She even had the idea of implementing a sort of AI that would learn and grow with time. Her plans were interrupted by Jason blowing his own head off. Although Valencia had heard everything he said she was still uncomfortable with what he did. As Decker chose himself as the prey, the situation was sorted glazed over with Jason asking for questions," I-I-I have o-one," She walked over to him and cupped his cheek in her hand," A-a-are you OK? Like...Mentally? Because there are tons of different ways you could have shown us an example....And you chose to shoot yourself...." Valencia's eyes shown only genuine concern as she spoke.

 

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

“Hell yeah Blaun! That’s what I’m f*ckin talkin about,” Said Jason, letting go of his scythe allowing it to float in the air as if his hand was still on it. He cracked his knuckles on one hand, and then the other, in a popping drum roll. “Exactly what I had in mind, you get bonus points!” He pointed at her enthusiastically. As if Jason hadn’t already started at a ten that morning his energy seemed to only be rising in anticipation of their training exercise. His excited smile faded just a tad when Valencia approached him with a concerned look on her face.

“What’s wrong, Silva,” he asked as she put her hand to his face. He flinched as if it were a slap coming his way, and when he felt how soft her hands were his face turned a shade very close to the flak jacket that came with his Ranger Armor. As she explained her feelings on his little show, his ears got hot and he couldn’t meet her eye any longer. He stared out the transparent wall of the lobby at the white nothingness as if there were something very interesting there he had to watch instead.

“Th- the simulator doesn’t pull you out unless you’re killed, so shooting myself anywhere else would have just been painful,” clearly he had completely missed her point, or was avoiding it all together. As he thought about it, just now was the first time he’d hesitated in years. Be that speaking a sentence, or pulling a trigger. “that’s all I was thinking, don’t make it a big deal,” while he had started off with the tone of an embarrassed schoolboy he became a bit defensive at the end.

 

[Kassandra]

Octavia Rook

Hearing Jason excitedly pitch his concept for a team exercise did little to lighten Octavia's mood, and hearing Mint and Val whisper about their video games in relation to it undid all his work. She never played them as a kid, none of the Rook children did. So, when the guards at Supermax invited her to a tournament around some 'FBS,' she performed miserably. Then she broke the console. Then they stopped inviting her to things. Whatever the specifics, likening their job to was what essentially a game didn't sit right with her for multiple reasons. That is, until his little demonstration that Valencia pause.

"I don't know, Jace. I mean, if it were me, I'd think twice about that sort of thing. Sure, maybe you think it's perfectly safe," Octavia began, pairing with lecture-esque hand gestures," but it says something about your mental health that there wasn't any hesitation. What if somehow, you brought a real gun in with you? And you offed yourself right in front of Yellow here, all smiley and shit? That would've screwed her up for the rest of her life. Or sure, maybe you know you won't die, but what if there's a bug with the neural link? What if you turned off a tenth of your brain cells out of placebo?"

Octavia let that last thought hang as she approached the elevator to the far right, next to Jason. "Alright, game time. What am I doing?"

 

[Kobe Nathan Wade]

Jason's mouth opened and closed like a fish while Octavia spoke. This definitely was not the energy he was expecting this morning, and had no idea how to answer all the scenarios he was just faced with by the Black Ranger. In fact he didn't answer her, and stopped holding his breath when she finally allowed him an out.

"Computer, start a timer for thirty seconds and show it to Decker," Said Jason as he lightly grabbed Valencia's wrist and pushed it away from his face. He didn't seem to be able to turn and look at her, and left the matter behind him quite literally. A light blue clock materialized in the air above them, and an identical one appeared in front of Decker's face, despite the fact that it hadn't been five minutes since Jason's last warning.

"Blaun, fly up top and give him hell like you do, I know I don't have to tell you how to shoot by now," He pointed, winked at her, and clicked with his mouth to make it clear that was all he had for her. He then grabbed his scythe once more from where it hung in the air. Without warning, he buried it into the wall, and walked casually across the length of all three elevators. He left behind him a glowing red scar with molten metal dripping off of it. The team downstairs could hear as the Plasma Blade seared through each cable holding up the trams in the corresponding shafts. Immediately after, the sound of the elevators screeching and falling downwards could be heard, no longer being held up by anything. "First we need to make sure he doesn't have an easy way down," The sound grew gradually closer, and thus more urgent, "But he doesn't have a technopath with magnetism powers. Silva, you're going to float Octavia and yourself up towards Decker too when these elevators land. Your duty this game is tracking. At every opportunity, use the tech in the building to find out where he is. Use the office computer webcams, track his floor if he gets on the intercom, you get it," Jason finally looked at the Yellow Ranger again while he gave orders, his smile back on his face as he thought about strategy. "Hopefully Blaun has him pinned down by the time you get there, but stop a floor or two short of the top just in case he's already making his descent. Split up if you two feel it's necessary, but try to avoid it," Jason tried to make it clear this last part was imperative with his tone. "And Rook, Knock his ass out,"

As if to accentuate his point, three loud crashes rang out from the closed doors of the elevator shafts. It happened to correspond with the last second on the thirty second timer he had started.

"Let's go, Power Rangers,"

Kassandra Ace Cream BFabulous shadowstrikr25