Disclaimer: Saban = really rich person who owns everything to do with Power Rangers. Me = very poor person who only writes these things and owns nothing to do with Power Rangers.
Author Note: You know the usual stuff. You wanna use my characters, let me know. Here's a question for anyone who has read 'Misplaced Ranger or Misplaced Trust?' I have been considering starting a series to follow what happens to Michael, the Gold Ranger, after he leaves. If anyone else would be interested in seeing this, please, please, please let me know!!!!!
Additional Note: I know the pace in this series seems a little slow compared to the Samurai Saga, but stick with it, it's gonna get much faster REAL soon!!
Time Scale: This starts the morning of the second day after 'The White Insomniac.' I hope that makes sense!!
A Problem Shared. . . .
By Matt
Niko, Sara and Chad were sitting eating their breakfast when Matt walked in. He walked sleepily over to the Synthetron, his a few buttons and his breakfast appeared. He picked up the tray and went over to where his companions sat.
"Geez, you look awful, man!" Niko commented.
"You don't look too hot yourself!" Matt said back halfheartedly.
"Very funny. You know what I mean, you look like you've been stepped on by a Zord!" Niko said back.
"Yeah, I'm just not sleeping too well right now!" Matt answered.
They all carried on talking as they ate their breakfast and before long, they were all finished and ready to leave. Niko, Sara and Chad headed off to the rec room while Matt went to the med lab.
When he arrived there, he went straight over to Kane and Louise's bio-beds. Taking a seat he began to talk. "It's been three days now. You guys must be recovered soon." he said wishfully. "Things are really starting to get to me now."
He was about to continue when Divatox walked in and sat down beside Ultima, who had not woken yet, either. Samurai White didn't really like to talk with someone else there to hear him other than his leaders, so he got up and left. 'I need some advice about this! Who can I talk to? I don't want to bother the others with even more to worry about, if I tell Zordon he might think I can't handle the responsibility and talking to any of our old enemies just seems plain weird! Who else does that leave?' he thought to himself.
He walked slowly out of the med lab, through the Power Chamber and down the corridor. He passed the Simulation, looking to see if there were any programs running, just out of curiosity. When he reached the rec room, he stopped and thought about something. 'That's it!' he thought. He ran back to the Simulation Room and said, "Computer, access program Kane-beta-gamma-3." A second later the computer beeped and the door slid open. Matt stepped in and looked round in the rec room.
"Hi Kane!" a voice called out.
"Actually, it's Matt!" Matt called back to Tommy.
The holographic Ranger stopped what he was doing and welcomed the White Samurai in. "Matt, it's been a while. You okay?" Tommy asked as the two sat down on a sofa. "And where's Kane, he hasn't been in for days."
"Sorry, you must miss all the gossip in here. Kane and Louise were attacked a few days ago by Armageddon." Matt said.
"Are they…." Tommy asked, expecting the worst.
"No, they've just been severely weakened. They'll be fine soon." Matt reported.
"So, what's up?" Tommy asked. "Apart from the time you came in here with Kane, I've not really seen you in here. Wait, let me guess. Kane and Louise are injured, so if my memory serves correctly, that would leave you in charge. You must be here for some advice."
"Yeah, am I that obvious?" Matt said sheepishly.
"No, you're just a lot like Kane. I bet you hate being in charge, don't you?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah." Matt answered.
"You're not the only one." Tommy grinned. "Out of all the Ranger leaders I've known personally – Jason, me, TJ, Kane, you and Delphine, Delphine's been the only one who has liked the position. It must be something about us humans, leadership just doesn't appeal to us."
They both laughed.
"Well I may not like it, but I'm stuck with it!" Matt commented.
"Yeah, I guess. This isn't all that's wrong is it?" Tommy asked as he looked at the temporary leader of the Samurai Rangers.
"No." Matt said quietly.
"So what's up?" Tommy urged.
"Well the night before last, I heard a voice. It turned out to be some guy called Jaxir. He seemed to be able to talk to me directly without any kind of communicator. Well he called me out and attacked me. I defeated his monsters, but then he called me again. When I wouldn't go out, he somehow managed to appear here, so I went out again. I defeated his next lot of monsters, but then he did it again and again. All of that night I spent fighting off his monsters, then the same thing happened last night. I'm completely exhausted and I don't know what to do. I can't seem to stop Jaxir, but I don't want to worry the others with this. They'll think I can't manage being leader." Matt explained.
Tommy just looked at him, not saying anything.
"Don't look at me like that. I know what you're going to say and I can't do it. I just can't tell the others. They're gonna think I can't handle things." Matt insisted.
"Okay, what else are you going to do?" Tommy asked.
"I'll just have to defeat Jaxir." Matt said.
"Oh come on. Jaxir is obviously aiming to take you out alone. By not telling the others you're falling into his trap. As it seems he's only attacking at night, he's obviously trying to wear you out so he can defeat you." Tommy said firmly.
"Fine, I'll tell the others, but I'll do it tomorrow. I'll give it one more night and see what happens." Matt said, reaching an agreement.
Tommy got up and walked away, before turning back to Matt. "One more night, that's….." he started, but stopped when he saw Matt had fallen asleep where he sat on the sofa. He laughed slightly. He didn't want to disturb him so he just went off to do something else.
But it didn't last long. Less than two minutes later, Matt's communicator beeped. He woke up with a start and said, "Matt here. What's up?"
"Matt, the scan is complete. We've located Sean!" Alpha Five reported through the communicator.
"That's great Alpha. I'm on my way." Matt said, getting up.
"Found Sean?" Tommy asked. "I didn't know you'd lost him!"
Matt laughed as he headed for the door. "It's a long story. I'll be back as soon as I can and I'll tell you everything but right now I have to go."
"Alright, I'll see ya later, and remember, think about telling the others. It could be a good idea!" Tommy called to him as he walked out. The White Ranger deactivated the program and ran the short distance toward the Power Chamber.
Crush walked toward Armageddon's chamber with the morning report ready to deliver, but this time she was not alone. Jaxir walked with her.
"I don't know how you've managed to stick around this long!" Jaxir said. "Armageddon's annoying me already. Does he actually do anything other than sit on that throne?"
"Of course he does. You know he was responsible for the deaths of nine Earth Rangers and two Aquitian Rangers and that was with virtually no effort. He also put two Samurai Rangers out of commission as if they were insects." Crush said. She suddenly realized how defensive she had gotten over her new boss. When had that happened? There had been a time when she was like that with Ultima, but that just seemed so long ago no. She had been with Armageddon less than two months now, but already she seemed like that was where she was meant to be.
"Well as soon as this job's over, I'm outta here. It's a basic mercenary rule that you don't take a job against the Rangers of Earth. I only took this job because Armageddon pays well, but I'm not sticking round any longer than I have to!" Jaxir said.
"I don't blame you. These Rangers have lasted longer than any other Rangers we've fought. There seems to be something unique about the human spirit, something about human Rangers that makes them just that little bit tougher than we can ever handle." Crush said.
"So you don't think Armageddon can defeat them?" Jaxir asked, suprised by her high opinion of humans.
"Oh I have no doubt that he can defeat them, but I'm just saying they seem resilient. Even in defeat they'll probably find victory!" Crush said.
They stopped at the large door to Armageddon's chamber and it creaked open. They stepped through and walked over towards the large throne.
"Report!" Armageddon boomed as they approached.
"I have nothing new to report, sir!" Crush said meekly.
"And you, Jaxir. How goes the fight against the White Ranger?" he asked impatiently.
"He is weakening. It will not be lone before he is crushed!" Jaxir said confidently.
"Why is he not defeated already?" Armageddon asked, ignoring the confidence in the mercenary's voice.
"Let me ask you something. In all the direct assaults the Rangers have faced, all the knockdown drag-out fights, how often have they been defeated?" Jaxir said almost resentfully.
"You know I could destroy you with the slightest thought, yet you still talk to me like that!" Armageddon commented.
"I have never doubted your power, but my point was that a direct assault will almost never defeat the Rangers unless it is of almost Godlike power. As I don't seem to have that Power, then my tactics are the best They may not be fast, but they are effective!" Jaxir said.
Armageddon was impressed. This insignificant being dared speak down to the most powerful being on that planet. He had the confidence in his own skills to act like that, and most of all, he was right. It was a philosophy he already knew himself, but to have a minion who thought it himself was definitely a refreshing change. If only all his minions could think that way, he would be just one step closer to victory.
"Very well, proceed!" Armageddon said, not wanting to show his satisfaction with the mercenary.
Neither Jaxir or Crush said anything else as they left. Armageddon was left alone in his throne room. "Soon, soon I shall be at full strength, and then, then this Universe will tremble at my feet. Everything shall proceed according to plan and I will control EVERYTHING!" he said, then burst into evil laughter.
Matt pushed the door gently and it swung open silently. He looked around as much as he could, but looking into the darkened room was difficult, especially as his eyes were used to the bright sunny conditions outside. He walked in and closed the door, hoping his eyes would soon adjust to the dim room. It took a few seconds, but he started to make out the shape of the room. There was no furniture, it was just a large square room. He squinted slightly and just made out the shape of a door on the opposite wall.
He walked cautiously across the room and turned the door handle. Again, the door opened, revealing a much brighter room. The White Samurai Ranger flinched as the light flooded into his eyes. He was about to walk in when he was suddenly struck from behind. He fell to the floor, but was back on his feet in a defensive stance in a matter of seconds. He saw a figure standing before him in the dark room. Unable to make out who it was, he just rushed forward and struck him. The figure moved aside and struck Matt again. As he hit the floor, he retaliated with his usual leg sweep. Before he could follow through, the other person, who was now down on the floor too, said, "Matt, is that you?"
"Sean?" Matt asked, standing up. They both got up and walked into the lighter room. They soon realized who they had been fighting.
"Matt, what are you doing here?" Sean asked.
"I was about to ask the same thing!" Matt said back.
"Well where else am I going to go?" Sean asked.
"You could always come home." Matt suggested.
"You know I can't do that. We went through all that before I left." Sean replied.
"Why not? How can we make it up to you if you're not even there?" Matt snapped.
"Look, you guys obviously don't trust me, and I'm not gonna stick around where I'm not trusted." Sean commented.
"And what can you gain out of staying here?" Matt asked.
"I'm still fighting Armageddon, but I'm doing it my own way. It doesn't matter whether
I'm with you or on my own. Either way, I'll never give up the fight!" Sean answered. "Don't you think we're a little better equipped to fight Armageddon back at HQ?" Matt asked.
"I wouldn't say that!" Sean grinned, turning Matt round to look at the room they had just entered. As the White Samurai looked round, he saw quite an impressive display. It looked like a smaller version of the Power Chamber. There were view screens all over the walls and control panels everywhere.
"Where di all this come from?" Matt asked, astounded.
"I scavenged it from the bases we destroyed. I got loads from Gasket's old base, they hadn't even taken any serious damage so most of the modules were still intact." Sean said.
"Don't you think Armageddon will attack when he detects you!" Matt pointed out.
"No way. The first component I installed was a shield generator. He won't be able to detect me!" Sean answered.
"Don't count on it. We detected you!" Matt said sharply.
"Yeah, but I bet you were scanning for my biorhythms, not for my Powers or technology wasn't you!" Sean said back.
"Yeah, we were." Matt replied.
"Well Armageddon can't do that. He doesn't have a record of my biorhythms, so he can't detect me." Sean assured Samurai White.
They both paused for a moment. "So there's nothing I can say to make you come back?" Matt asked.
"Not really." Sean said back.
"Well if you ever want to come back, or if you ever need any help…." Matt started.
"Yeah, I know, thanks!" Sean said quietly.
Samurai White turned his back and started to leave, but Samurai Gold stopped him and asked, "Matt are you alright, you don't look too good?"
Matt smiled slightly and said, "Yeah, I'm fine!" He just walked out and teleported away, leaving the Gold Samurai Ranger, once again alone in his new base.
Matt walked into the Power Chamber and went over to Alpha. "Hey Alpha. Where's everybody else?" he asked, unable to find any of the other Rangers.
"Matt, they were all looking for you before. They've just gone outside to relax for a while. They told me to tell you to go out with them as soon as you got back." Alpha said to him.
"Thanks Alpha. I'll see you later." Matt said, rushing off outside to see the others. He stepped outside and headed straight for the area they all usually went to. When he got there, he saw Niko, Michelle, Louise, Chad, Lee and Sara all sat around.
"Hi everyone!" he said as he approached them.
"Hey, where have you been. We spent ages looking for you!" Michelle commented.
"Oh nowhere I just had to do something. Nothing important!" Matt answered. None of them asked any more. They knew that when Matt gave an answer like that, no amount of questioning would get any more answers out of him. "So what are we talking about then?" Matt asked, not wanting to stop the conversation.
"Oh, nothing important!" Michelle smirked back. Everyone else started laughing.
"Oh you're real funny, you know that!" Matt grinned.
"Actually, there is something I'd like to talk about." Chad said timidly.
"What is it?" Niko asked.
"I know most of you may not want to talk about this, but…." Chad started, then stopped for a moment.
"Go on." Sara urged him.
"Well it's something I was talking about with Louise and Michelle a few days ago." Chad said.
"Yeah, go on!" Sara said again.
"Well we were talking about what happened to our families!" Chad said. As expected, they all went silent.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it!" Chad said sheepishly.
"No, it's okay Chad." Niko commented. "Shall I go first?" When he got no answer, he just continued. "I had two sisters and a brother. My youngest sister, my brother and both my parents were killed in an attack, but me and my older sister survived. We managed to keep going for a few days, but eventually my sister was captured. That's when I became a Ranger. I still don't know what happened to her, but the last thing I saw was a group of Drones beating her to a pulp!"
"That's nasty!" Lucy said. "I never had a big family. It was always just me and Dad, but he was killed when a shelter we were hiding in was attacked. I didn't want to leave him, but another family took me and helped me for a while, but eventually they were all captured too. It was shortly after that when I got brought here to become a Ranger."
"Sounds just like me." Lee said. "I always just had my Mom, but she was captured too."
"Me and Kane used to live in New York City, so we were one of the first places to be attacked. Our Mom and Dad were captured, but we escaped the City. We survived on the run for months, all the time we saw others being killed or being captured, but we always escaped. I always wondered why we were always spared. Maybe the Power was protecting us before we even had it!" Sara commented, her eyes watering slightly.
"Yeah, my Mom and Dad were captured too, but I always escaped okay!" Michelle added.
Most of them had revealed what had happened to their families now, except for Matt. He had stayed completely silent throughout. They looked round at him and he didn't exactly look keen to tell.
"Come on then," Michelle urged him.
He looked at them all reluctantly, then said, "I never really knew my parents. They were both killed in an accident when I was five, just after my little brother was born. We moved around between foster families a lot, nothing ever seemed permanent except for us. He knew I would always be there for him and I knew he would always be there for me too. I was like a Dad, brother and best friend all in one to him. Luckily, it was a while after Ultima arrived that he attacked where we were, so we had a bit longer together. When they attacked, I tried to defend him, but I wasn't strong enough. He was taken because I failed him!"
"Come on. You can't blame yourself. None of us can. There's no way any of us could have done anything to help them. We were just ordinary kids, no Powers, no experience, fighting an entire empire!" Niko said, trying to get Matt, and in fact all of them, to feel better.
"Just makes you wonder if any of them are actually still alive though, doesn't it!" Michelle said. "Remember, they publish the City census in two days, maybe some of them are still alive down there!" She said, remembering what Louise had said the few days before when they spoke about it.
They all mumbled in agreement, slightly cheered with that thought, but wary of getting their hopes up too much.
"Hey enough of this. Who's up for a bit of practice?" Niko said.
They all agreed except for Matt who just said. "No it's okay. You guys just go on!"
"Hey come on Matt. We're already three Rangers down. Don't make it four!" Lee urged him.
Matt looked over at them and laughed slightly. "Why not!" he said, not wanting to make them think there was something wrong. They ran off to the large flat area at the top of one of the cliffs and stood ready. "Okay guys. LET'S SAMURIZE! SAMURAI WHITE!"
"SAMURAI PINK!" Michelle called out.
"SAMURAI YELLOW!" Lucy shouted.
"SAMURAI BLUE!" Chad said.
"SAMURAI PURPLE!" Sara commanded.
"SAMURAI GREEN!" Lee summoned.
"SAMURAI SILVER!" Niko called.
They changed into the Samurai Rangers, but within seconds of changing, Matt had doubled over in pain and let out an agonized moan. They all rushed round.
"What's wrong?" Niko asked quickly.
The pain started to go away, so Matt stood back up and thought quickly. "Sorry, it's nothing, I just haven't been feeling too well. It's nothing really." he commented. "You guys go on, I'll just go inside for a minute." They all watched as the White Samurai walked away, demorphing.
"Matt…" Niko called out, starting to follow him.
"Let him go." Michelle said, stopping him.
"But there's more to that than he's saying!" Niko insisted.
"Yeah, but you know Matt. He'll never talk about it until he really has to. Right now he's just best left alone." Michelle said.
"Then let's just get fighting I'm in the mood to beat some serious butt!" Niko said determinedly.
"I'm on Niko's team!" they all called together. They knew facing Niko when he was in the mood for fighting was slightly suicidal.
Later that afternoon, Matt had decided to go and check up on Kane and Louise again. Kane was actually awake when he got there. He was asking Divatox how Ultima was doing. The Dark lord had still showed no real sign of improvement, so there wasn't really much to tell.
"Hey Matt. You alright?" Kane asked as the White samurai Ranger sat down beside his leader.
"I've been better!" Matt mumbled.
"Sorry, what was that?" Kane asked, not quite hearing right.
"Nothing. I'm fine. It's good to see you awake again. How are you feeling?" Matt asked.
"I'm getting there. I've actually managed to stay awake for nearly an hour now. A couple more days and I'll be as good as new!" Kane grinned. "Anything been happening?"
Matt decided now wasn't really the time to tell the Samurai leader about the attacks he had fought off, instead he told him about something else. "I found where Sean's gone." he commented.
"Where is it? Is he safe?" Kane asked quickly, instantly concerned for the well-being of one of his Rangers.
"He's fine. He's actually set up his own base using technology from the abandoned bases. He seems to be doing okay, but I don't think he's gonna be coming back any time soon!" Matt reported.
"Well I suppose things could be worse." Kane said lightly.
"Tell me about it!" Matt said back.
Kane just looked at him. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry about me. You're not back in charge yet!" Matt grinned.
"No, but when I am, you'd better watch out, White Ranger." Kane joked.
"Oh I will." Matt said as Kane yawned. "You'd better get some more rest."
"I think you should too. You don't look like you've been sleeping well." Kane said, laying back down.
Matt sat there while the Black Samurai fell asleep, then walked off to find the others again. He hadn't seen any of them yet since the incident earlier, and he thought they'd be worried about him by now.
It didn't take him long to find them. After their practice, they had all gone back to the rec room. They were all sitting around on the sofas when he walked in and sat beside them, saying hi.
"You alright now?" Niko asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I told you, it was nothing!" Matt insisted.
"Glad to hear it." Niko grinned.
"So, what did you think of that move we did on you?" Michelle asked Chad and Lee.
"It was incredible." Lee commented. "
I've never seen anything like it!" Chad agreed. "You two must have been practicing a lot!"
"What move's this?" Matt asked, having missed the entire fight.
"Sara and Michelle did this really fantastic move. It's hard to explain, but next time we're morphed, you'll have to get them to show you it!" Lucy said.
"Yeah, just so long as they don't do it on me!" Chad grinned. "You know it still hurts now!"
"Sorry, little Ranger. We'll go gentle on you next time." Sara mocked him.
"Don't call me that!" Chad snapped.
"Why not, little Ranger?" Sara said, deliberately annoying him.
"You wanna settle this outside?" Chad asked, getting serious.
"I would, but I know you can't handle me, little Ranger!" Sara said back. The two stood up and stared at each other.
"Come on you two!" Matt said, stepping in between them. "No fighting!"
"Well she started it." Chad said moodily.
"Okay, Chad, just calm down, and Sara, stop calling him that." Matt ordered.
"Geez, sorry Dad!" Sara said indignantly. "I was only trying to have some fun."
"Fun is okay, just so long as it's not at someone else's expense!" Matt said sharply.
"Man, it's times like this when I really miss Kane!" Sara said sharply.
They all looked round at Matt, expecting some kind of reaction. Instead he just started walking away and said, "Yeah, you're not the only one!" He left the room and the others all turned to Sara.
"Man, he needs to lighten up!" Sara commented.
"Look, he's got enough to deal with right now, without you going on like that!" Niko said.
"Well if he can't take the heat!" Sara said.
"Look, Kane is our leader. We all know that, but he's unavailable right now. Matt's doing the best he can so just let up!" Niko snapped at the girl. He ran out to catch up with Matt.
"Erm, Chad, can you come and help we with something on the Zords!" Lee said, excusing the two of them.
"Oh, I forgot, I have to do something with Alpha!" Michelle said, running out after the others. That just left Lucy and Sara still in the room.
Lucy looked at Kane's sister without saying anything. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go off like that. I just want Kane to get better!" Sara commented.
"Hey, we all do. And Louise, but taking out on the others isn't going to make it happen any sooner, and it's not going to make it any easier." Lucy said.
"I know, but…. oh I don't know. I think it's being stuck in this place It's getting to me! I thought it was bad enough before when we were fighting off attacks day after day, but it's even worse just waiting." Sara said. "Should I go and apologize to Matt?"
"No, there'll be time for that later. I think Niko was going to go after him, so just leave them to it for a while!" Lucy said.
Niko caught up with Matt just outside his quarters. "Hey Matt, wait." he called out as he ran over to him.
"What?" Matt asked.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Why does everyone keep asking that?" Matt complained.
"Maybe because we're concerned for you." Niko said bluntly. "You're a part of the team, and we stick together."
"Okay, so what makes you think there's something wrong?" Matt asked.
"Well normally you would have stayed and had a go at Sara for going on like that. And then there was the thing where you morphed. You've been acting really worn out, and for the past few days you've looked worse than I've ever seen you look!" Niko said, recounting the whole list of things he had noticed.
Matt just stared at the Silver Ranger, then said, "You're pretty observant! I guess you're right, there is something wrong, but I don't wanna talk about it right now. I should be sorting it out pretty soon anyway, so don't worry about it!"
"Are you sure?" Niko asked, not quite believing that he would sort it out himself.
"Yeah I'm sure, now thanks for the concern, but I've got things to do." Matt said as he opened the door to his quarters and walked in.
Niko was left standing there alone in the hall, so he just decided to go back to the rec room.
That night, it wasn't too late before Matt decided to go to bed. He knew what he expected to happen, but he felt it was best to get it out of the way sooner rather than later. No sooner had he started to drift off to sleep when it happened again.
"Wake up White Ranger!" Jaxir said loudly.
He opened his eyes and said tiredly, "Usual place?"
"Of course!" Jaxir said, "And hurry up."
"SAMURAI WHITE!" he called out as he got up. Instead of teleporting straight away as he usually did. He waited for a moment. Once again, as soon as he was morphed he felt an incredible pain rush through his entire body and he started to feel sick. A few moments later, he started to feel better, so he teleported away.
Reappearing in the usual area, he looked round to see what monsters Jaxir had brought with him this time. He had a large birdlike humanoid monster at one side of him and a mechanoid that looked a lot like the Terminator to the other.
"Let's get it over with!" Matt said. "Who's first?"
"That would be me!" the birdlike creature said. It jumped into the air and swung an arm in the White Samurai's direction. A barrage of feathers shot from his arm, several striking directly, the rest exploding the area around him. It followed through with another dozen or so of them. As the second flurry of feathers approached, the White Ranger pulled out the Surfer Blade and struck them from the air.
"Nice try, bird brain!" Matt called out. "But you'll have to do better than that!"
"Better? Oh I can do better!" the bird called back. From its position, hovering in the air, it swept down and attacked Matt, then flew back into the air. It was back down again, attacking and back into the air before Matt had even stopped reeling from the first. Matt tried to strike the creature with his weapon as it came for a third pass, but it was much too fast for him.
'Can't match him for speed, maybe what I need is Power!' Matt thought to himself.
"SAMURAI ARMOR, ARTILLERY MODE!" he called out, going straight for the armor's strongest mode. "FIRE!" he shouted, then fired at the flying creature. It had flown round him and attacked him in the back before the shot could even reach him.
"FIRE!" Matt called again as he turned to face the creature.
Once again, it was behind the Ranger as he fired. Matt started to concoct a plan. He looked round at Jaxir and the robot warrior, then at the bird creature. He turned his back to the robot warrior. "FIRE!" he shouted, then turned to face the mechanoid. as expected, the bird flew down to attack him, but accidentally flew right into Matt's trap. As the White Samurai fired, the powerful shots obliterated the bird and carried straight on to hit the robot. Both monsters were instantly destroyed.
"Hey," Matt grinned. "Two birds with one stone!"
"Very clever, White Ranger." Jaxir said. He watched the White Ranger, who now just stood there, waiting. "What are you waiting for?"
"I'm waiting for your next monsters." Matt said. "Not much point in me going home, just to be called back here two minutes later, is there!"
"Nice try, Ranger!" Jaxir grinned at the White Ranger's ingenuity. He teleported away.
"Guess I win." Matt said. "I hope that's it!" He hit the teleporter control and disappeared in a flash of white energy.
As he got back to his quarters, he waited ten minutes before trying to sleep again. If Jaxir was going to continue, he'd do it straight away. When no further invitations to fight came, he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.
He was awoken a few minutes later. He was about to morph and teleport away when he realized it wasn't Jaxir that had awoken him, it was the door. He walked over and opened it. Sara stood there, waiting to come in.
"Hey Sara, what can I do for you?" Matt asked, putting as much energy into the greeting as he could manage, but between the battles, lack of sleep and events of the past few days, that was very little!
"I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted this afternoon." Sara said meekly.
Matt stepped aside and said, "Come in." She walked inside and sat down on a seat. "I can understand why you acted like you did. Kane's all you have left of your life from before all this started. I know if it was my brother lying there, injured, I'd probably be acting the same." Matt said.
"Now you're just making excuses for me. I had no excuse to act like that. We're meant to be a team. I should remember that!" Sara said.
"Really. It's okay. We're all…." Matt started, but halfway through he was cut off by Jaxir shouting, "COME OUT WHITE RANGER!"
"Matt are you alright?" Sara asked.
"Yeah. Sorry, I was just saying, we're all under pressure here. Anyway, I don't blame you for what happened. It's late now I think you should get some sleep." Matt said trying to get rid of her so he could go and meet Jaxir.
"No, I'm fine." Sara said, not taking the hint.
"I'M WAITING WHITE RANGER!" Jaxir shouted, starting to get impatient.
"No, I really think you need to get some rest now!" Matt urged.
"Look, I'm not a kid, I know when I need sleep!" Sara insisted.
"OKAY, LOOKS LIKE I'M COMING IN!" Jaxir said. A second later, Jaxir appeared in front of the White and Purple Rangers.
"Who are you?" Sara screamed.
"He's Jaxir. Get out of here Sara. I'll deal with him." Matt shouted.
"No way. It's you who said we're a team, now practice what you preach!" Sara snapped. "LET'S SAMURIZE! SAMURAI PURPLE!"
"SAMURAI WHITE!" Matt shouted. The two of the transformed, and again, Matt felt the pain. It was much worse this time. He collapsed to the floor, holding his stomach and head where the pain seemed worst.
"Matt, what's wrong?" Sara called, kneeling down by him.
"Oh this is too easy!" Jaxir grinned. He stepped forward and sliced at Sara's back with his sword. She screamed, but turned round, bringing out her Searcher Staff. She swiped it at Jaxir, but it just passed straight through him. Jaxir stepped forward again, striking at both the Rangers. Matt, who was still down from the pain of Morphing, just took even more damage. Sara collapsed beside him as she took the strong hit.
"Next time, White Ranger, you will come when I call, otherwise your little purple friend here won't be around much longer." Jaxir said. He walked over and picked up Sara, then teleported away.
"SARA!" Matt shouted as the others all rushed in, having heard the commotion.
"Matt, what's going on?" Lucy asked. Matt stood up and demorphed.
"Jaxir took Sara." Matt said quickly.
"What? Who's Jaxir?" Niko asked.
"No time to explain. We have to get to the Power Chamber." Matt said pushing his way to the door. They all followed as he ran along. "ALPHA, ZORDON, WE NEED YOU!" Matt called out.
Zordon instantly appeared in his ion tube and alpha rushed out of his recharging alcove. "What's wrong, Rangers?" Zordon asked urgently.
"Sara's been taken by Jaxir!" Matt said.
"When did this happen?" Zordon asked, alarmed by the news.
"About a minute ago. He appeared and attacked us, but I couldn't help her. He beat us and he took her!" Matt reported.
"From the way you're talking, it sounds like you already knew Jaxir!" Lee commented. What's going on Matt? You'd better tell us everything!" Lucy said to him.
Matt stood and explained everything that had gone on, from Vartri's first attack, right through to the events that had just taken place, although he still didn't mention the pain from when he morphed.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Niko asked.
"I don't know. I guess I wanted to prove myself, show I could handle things as leader." Matt said, ashamed.
"Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness!" Niko commented.
"Yeah, I know." Matt replied.
"So, how are we going to rescue Sara. Do we even know where she is?" Michelle asked.
"I think I know where she is, but I can't go there until Jaxir calls me. I just concentrate on him and I can teleport there." Matt said.
"So we just have to wait for him to contact you?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah. Once I teleport, I need you to keep a lock on me and you can all follow. It shouldn't be long now, he doesn't usually give much time to rest between attacks." Matt commented. "I think we should morph now."
"Okay, LET'S SAMURIZE!" Lucy called out.
"SAMURAI PINK!"
"SAMURAI YELLOW!"
"SAMURAI BLUE!"
"SAMURAI GREEN!"
"SAMURAI SILVER!"
Matt hesitated for a moment, then held out his morpher and called, "SAMURAI WHITE!" He braced himself for what he knew was coming. He tried to hide it, but the intense pain was too much for him. "Aaaargh!" he called out as he fell to his knees. The others rushed to his side and steadied him. This time the pain didn't subside. It just stayed, eating away at him.
"Rangers, quickly, get Matt onto the bio-bed." Zordon ordered. They lifted him up and laid him down on the medical bed. Zordon immediately initiated several scans. "Hmmm!" he mumbled.
"What is it, Zordon?" Niko asked.
"He is suffering from Power poisoning!" Zordon commented.
"What's that?" Chad asked.
"It happens when the Powers are used continually without allowing the body to rest. I suspect it was Jaxir's plan all along. He needs to rest before he exerts himself any more." Zordon reported.
"I'M WAITING FOR YOU, WHITE RANGER!" Jaxir called, interrupting.
Matt sat up and said, "We have to go. Jaxir is waiting for me!"
"By going, you put your own life at risk!" Zordon commented.
"By not going I put Sara's life at risk!" Matt said back. Zordon said nothing in return. Matt stood up and teleported away, with Alpha keeping a constant lock on him. As soon as the location was set, the others all followed.
Matt appeared in the dark area once again and looked round for Jaxir and Sara. He was there, stood facing him. To his side, demorphed and tied up, was the Purple Ranger.
"Let her go. This is between you and me!" Matt called out.
"Oh I wouldn't say that!" Jaxir grinned as several monsters appeared. "Looks like it's six on one!"
"Oh I wouldn't say that!" Matt said back, mocking Jaxir's words as the Pink, Yellow, Blue, Green and Silver Rangers appeared. "Six on six. Seems fair to me!"
Jaxir sniggered. "We'll see!"
The Rangers didn't hesitate for even a second. They rushed forwards, bringing out their weapons. Each one attacked one of the monsters, Matt taking on Jaxir himself. It didn't take long for the Rangers to realize why Jaxir had been so confident. their weapons passed straight through the monsters, having no effect at all.
Now came the monsters' turn. They struck at the Rangers and had no trouble at all in attacking them. The Rangers fell about as they were hit by the powerful monsters. Again they tried to attack, but had no success.
Matt hadn't even seen what was happening to the others. He was too busy fighting with Jaxir. He was actually able to hit him, but he wasn't doing too well. The pain from the Power poisoning was slowing him down greatly.
White Ranger was knocked aside as the Silver Ranger was thrown into him. They both struggled back to their feet and went over to join the others who had regrouped.
"Okay everyone. Laser pistols!" Matt ordered. They all brought out the weapons and aimed at Jaxir. "FIRE!"
They all shot, but it was only Matt that managed to make contact The shots from the other five lasers just passed straight through him.
"What's going on?" Niko asked. "Matt, why are you the only one who can hit them?"
"I don't know. You guys get out of here. It's up to me!" Matt said.
"No way. We're in this together." Lucy insisted.
"Yeah, but if you can't even hit them, what good can you do?" Matt asked.
"We can still rescue Sara." Michelle commented.
"Okay. I'll try and keep them busy. You guys get to Sara and get her out of here." Matt said. Before anyone could argue, he had charged at the group of monsters, Surfer Blade held high. He swiped through the first two monsters, who fell at his feet, defeated. The next ones weren't quite so easy. They all struck at him at once and stopped him dead in his tracks. A punch from one and two simultaneous kicks from the others was more than enough to knock him down. A leg sweep had them all knocked down beside him before he even hit the ground.
Meanwhile, the other five were slowly working their way around to where Sara lay. For the moment, they were unchallenged, but as soon as Jaxir saw them, he left the other three to sort out Matt and went to deal with them personally.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked them.
"Get out of our way!" Niko snapped.
"Make me!" Jaxir said back. "Oh, I forgot. You can't, can you!" He laughed and fired a shot at them. They were all knocked down in an explosion of energy.
"Michelle, go!" Lucy ordered as they all got back to their feet. Niko, Chad, Lee and Lucy all charged at Jaxir. They knew they couldn't actually harm him, but they just wanted to keep him busy so Michelle could get to Sara.
She circled round slowly, watching the other four hacking uselessly at Jaxir, and Matt fighting off the other three monsters. None of them seemed to be doing particularly well, so she sped up, knowing she had little time to spare. She was only a few meters away from Sara when she heard a loud bang. She turned and saw the Yellow, Silver, Green and Blue Rangers all lying on the ground in front of Jaxir, a large weapon smoking in his hands.
"ALPHA, GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE NOW!" Michelle shouted into her communicator.
"Ay-yi-yi, Michelle. I can't. Something is blocking the signal." Alpha chirped back urgently. "You all have to get out of the area."
"We can't." Michelle said, running over to Sara and untying her. "Niko, Chad, Lucy and Lee are all out, Matt can't get away from those monsters, and Sara's out cold too. It's just me left!"
There was a massive explosion and as she collapsed on the ground beside the unconscious Purple Ranger, she shouted, "MATT!"
Jaxir just smiled as he stood over her limp body, the large weapon smoking from the second shot.
With a quick roundhouse kick, Samurai White sent the three monsters flying. He looked round to where he'd heard the shout and saw all his fallen companions. "NO!" he called out as he ran in their direction.
Jaxir smiled as he saw the White Ranger coming at him. By the time Matt realized what Jaxir was smiling at, it was too late. The three monsters had fired at him. He felt a sharp pain in his back and another in his legs. He fell and passed out for a moment, when he woke, only about a minute later, he was lying on his back. He opened his eyes and saw the three monsters and Jaxir standing over him. He was too weak to even move, and the pain from the Power poisoning became almost unbearable.
"No, it can't end like this!" he mumbled.
"Oh but it can." Jaxir said cruelly, reveling in his own victory.
Matt blacked out again. His fate was now out of his hands.