Richard VO: "Last time on Power Rangers Mystic Knights!"
Hollis: "If you see those 'Power Rangers' again, tell them to come to UCF police. We want to talk to them."
Richard: "I'll see what I can do."
Morgan le Fay: "I'll need to throw something at them that will catch them by surprise until my long-term plans are achieved."
Nimue: "I won't break my academic honesty by using magic."
Mysterious voice: "Why did you betray me..."
Jen: "Something's bothering you, what is it?"
(Jen fights a monster and discovers she can use her powers without her Caliburn Sword. The other Rangers catch on quickly and defeat the monster)
Hollis: "Those guys are WAY too powerful."
Nimue: "You need to work on your form! You all were sloppy, save for Kazuma and Richard!"
Power Rangers Mystic Knights, episode 8: Taking Stock
:-:-:-: Stand and fight! We must unite! Power Rangers Mystic Knights, LET'S GO! :-:-:-:
The large number of books, scrolls, parchment and Nimue's face reminded the other Rangers of when they'd seen her studying. But it was a lot more focused than that. Usually whenever she studied, she'd start groaning and throwing a mini fit at how being sealed up for a millennium-and-a-half prevented her from really getting a grasp on modern civilization... even if she did appear to like it more than her own time period.
"What's taking her so long?" Javier asked. "It's just bending."
"Shut up," said Kaz.
"Come on, what's taking so long?" Javier said again, earning a punch to his arm.
"When your mother asked you to be patient, did you throw a tantrum?" Nimue asked while looking through a book. "I know there's something in here somewhere!"
"It's okay, Nimue," said Jen. "You're doing your best."
"Thank you very much, Jen," Nimue replied. Still, the same frustration was evident in her expression. "But for now, all I can say is that it seems I was wrong about your powers. I had assumed you could only use the powers with the Caliburn Swords, but I guess not. What did you refer to it as?"
"Bending," said Kaz. "It's from a show, called 'Avatar' where these people use martial arts to control elements like fire, water, earth and air."
"So that is it," said Nimue. "For now, we will have to forget about where this came from, and focus on perfecting it. I hate to repeat myself, but you all looked shite and uncreative!"
"You didn't have to be so rude," said Jen.
"You're right, I'm sorry," said Nimue. Everyone, including Jen, was surprised at Nimue's reaction. "But, that does not change the fact that you still have to perfect it."
"And what if we don't have time?" Kaz asked.
"Merlin taught me a spell that will allow you to perfect your techniques in less time than it usually does," Nimue said while looking through her study materials. "You will still be required to actually practice these techniques, but learning and mastering them will take far shorter. Merlin used them on some of Arthur's soldiers whenever it looked like they were having difficulty."
"Oh, so it's easy!" said Javier. "We'll just use that spell and we'll master our bending in no time!"
"Who said it was going to be easy?" Nimue asked, making Javier realize what he was in for.
:-:-:-: PRMK :-:-:-:
"I hope you're not lying, Hollis," said Chief Malone.
"Do I look like the kind of person who would lie?" Hollis asked. "They were doing that kung fu magic from that Airbender show!"
"You know I have no idea what you're talking about, right?" Malone asked, his head in his hand and giving Hollis a skeptical look.
"You know that show with the kid with the arrow tattoo?" Hollis asked, pointing at his forehead.
"Oh, now I remember, I think my daughter likes that show," said Chief Malone. "Now that you mention it, she likes that show with the eskimo girl."
"Yeah, yeah, so they were punching everything and spitting fire and air and water like they were in that show!" Hollis said. "And the Pink one looked like she was on Dragon Ball Z."
"What?"
"Japanimated show," said Hollis. "Look, forget where those powers came from. My point is, those kids are way too strong for us, and I don't think we can deal with them."
Chief Malone laughed, shook his head and tried to recompose himself, much to Hollis's annoyance. "You've gotta be kidding me," he said.
"Or at least let the OPD handle it!"
"Hollis, I'm the chief here," said Malone. "Let me make that decision, okay?"
"Okay," Hollis said in a warning sing-song. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
"If this were any other force, I'd fire you on the spot for that," said Malone. Hollis held his hands up and walked out of Malone's office, unwilling to argue any further. The chief would see the errors of his ways, and Hollis, not wanting to lose his job, would let him find out on his own.
:-:-:-: Power Rangers Mystic Knights :-:-:-:
The next morning, Nimue left her class in a huff. Her teacher was a bloody git. He singled her out for questions on a subject she had little knowledge about, magic be damned, and every time she tried to answer, he interrupted her. He must be out to get her! Now, she was most certainly above cursing him for all eternity or doing something far, FAR worse with her magic, but a better way to get payback without causing incredibly massive repercussions was to make his coffee taste like the most disgusting thing she could imagine.
And with a little incantation and a flick of her index finger, she made it happen.
The next sip he took tasted so gross he not only spat the coffee out, he downed 15 Tic-Tacs just to get the taste out.
But of course, she was also muttering to herself about how Jen so callously lost her sword. She was still relieved that the Caliburn Swords came with the powers, which meant that she didn't have to worry about anyone finding the sword.
And as she saw Jen coming towards her, she sucked her breath in, huffed and cleared her throat as she walked past the dancer.
"Oh, hi Nimue," she said. Before she could walk past, she noticed the wizardess's irritated expression and she stopped in her tracks. "Um, this is about last night, isn't it?"
Nimue just motioned for her to come with her until they were away from the crowd. They stopped in the arboretum in the middle of campus, where Nimue used a little flick of her finger. "Everyone will think we're speaking old Brythonic now," she said before taking a deep breath and shouting, "HOW COULD YOU LOSE MY SWORD!?"
"You're still mad about that!?" Jen asked. "Okay then, I'm sorry for losing the sword last night. But it wasn't my fault, the bad guy knocked it away from me."
"You're lucky the sword comes with the power," Nimue said with her arms crossed. "The sword will be back with your suit next time you morph. But still! The Caliburn Sword comes with incredible power!"
"And if it fell in the wrong hands, bad things might happen?"
"That's the idea," said Nimue. "Even if you do not use the sword, PLEASE keep it safe! Arthur entrusted me with their powers! You know how I might feel if I let him down?"
"Well, I take it'd probably be kinda bad," said Jen.
"VERY bad," said Nimue, "Stand Your Ground-level bad."
"I hate that law," Jen muttered. "Welcome to Florida! Where murder is legal and a woman's right to choose is not!"
"Are you done?" Nimue asked. "PLEASE be careful with the sword next time, alright?"
"Alright," Jen said softly. Her next move took Nimue by surprise. She hugged her. The awkwardness increased when she saw how weirded out Nimue looked. "Sorry. I just... thought it would make you feel better."
"I wasn't expecting that," said Nimue.
"Are you uncomfortable?" Jen asked. "I-I mean, I don't want to do anything you don't want to do, so—"
"Jen, it's fine," Nimue replied. "Now please, I must be going. I have to speak with the Order of Avalon."
"Okay," Jen replied as Nimue walked away.
"Keep training!" Nimue called back.
:-:-:-: PRMK :-:-:-:
Kaz and Javier's roommates could only wonder why they'd pulled their Avatar DVDs out and started playing along. Taylor noticed it first, looking up from his book after hearing the famous "Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked" line in the opening. He raised his eyebrow when he saw Kaz imitating that... what's his name? The hot prince guy with the scar on his face, Zuto? He almost got in trouble with his boyfriend when he saw he was looking at him suspiciously.
"What are you two doing?" Taylor asked.
"Practicing!" Javier replied reflexively.
"For what?"
"Cosplay!" Kaz replied.
"Cosplay? You mean that stuff where you dress up like cartoon characters?"
"Yeah," said Kaz.
"I didn't know you two liked that."
"Well, we're..."
"... Hoping someone can ask us to model their cosplay!" Kaz finished.
Taylor didn't believe a word. Or at least, that's what they interpreted from the skeptical expression he wore. "OKAY!" Javier angrily sighed. "We've got nothing better to do than to play along with a cartoon, because we're forced to deal with the fact that we're getting older, and we're desperately holding onto our childhoods!"
"Okay," said Taylor.
"That was easier than I thought," Javier muttered.
"Nearly had me," Kaz also muttered. That was the last they talked about it, as they went back to watching Avatar and mimicking the movements. Kaz got the hang of the Dancing Dragon pretty quickly, but wondered if Bryke named it that just for fun. They probably did.
But this isn't the place for Avatar speculation, so let's move on.
Kaz's phone rang, forcing him to answer. His KnightPhone app opened up and he felt a chill run down his spine. "Crap," he said. But he ran into his room before he answered. "Hello?"
"Are you busy, Kaz?" Nimue asked.
"No, in fact, I've been lounging around ignoring my studies," he snarked.
"Very funny," she snarked back. "I still need to talk to you. The Order of Avalon wants to help with the 'bending' training. And before you ask, it is not just a group of men who go and play knight on the weekends."
"I never said that," said Kaz.
"Whatever," said Nimue. "What are you doing right now?"
"Watching Avatar and confusing the hell out of my non-Avatard, gay roommates," said Kaz. "I think it's working."
"What's working?" Nimue asked. "The training, the confusing or the spell?"
"Yes," he said.
:-:-:-: Power Rangers Mystic Knights :-:-:-:
Morgan le Fay sat in the storefront in downtown, but was downtrodden. Not downtrodden; concerned, angry, and cross. Her fingers rapped on the armrest of the very nice Victorian armchair she occupied, while her chin rested on her other fist.
Mordred frowned. "What is wrong, mother?"
"Our enemies have a new battle power," she said. "It seems we were surprised in all the wrong ways."
"What?"
"I had assumed we could take their weapons to rid them of their elemental powers," she said. "Instead, they do not need them. What is this power they were using?"
"I... it is..."
"It is called 'bending'," said Malegant. "It is a fictional form of combat based upon Oriental martial arts, originating in a modern 'television' story called 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'."
"This is what I get for not keeping up with popular culture for 1500 years," Morgan sighed, slouching in her seat. "I do not know how to combat this!"
"Admitting weakness is—"
"Oh, of course there is nothing wrong with it!" Morgan snapped. "But we are at a distinct disadvantage if they continue to improve their powers!"
"I admit I don't know how we are going to stop them," said Mordred.
"Neither do I!" Morgan hollered. "OOOOOH, THIS IS THE WORST!"
"Mother," Mordred said. "I know it will make you happier if we killed them before they had a chance, so shall we?"
"You know me so well," Morgan replied. "I raised you well. Have Gwydion create another monster."
"Yes, mother!"
:-:-:-: PRMK :-:-:-:
Bulk looked at the copy of the Orlando Sentinel he'd just purchased at the Student Union. Skull, who was looking over his shoulder, laughed at the photo gracing the front of the Metro section of Bulk getting faceplanted by Kaz. Bulk turned and glared at Skull, making his sidekick audibly gulp. "Something funny, numbskull?"
"Uh... no!" Bulk skeptically leered at him.
"So this geek-boy makes me look stupid," Bulk said, "And now everyone's gonna laugh at me!"
"I thought they already did."
"Not like that," Bulk smacked his chest. "We need to find a way to restore our AWESOME reputation!"
"How?"
"I'm THINKING about that!" Bulk put his fingers to his chin and Skull sighed, knowing he probably wasn't going to hear anything out of him. Another student walked past him, reading an Orlando Sentinel copy. The Power Rangers were on the front.
"Hey Bulk," he said. "Why don't we find out who the Power Rangers are?"
"I got it!" Bulk declared. "We'll find out who the Power Rangers are!"
"Haha, great idea, Bulk!" Skull momentarily cheered before realization visibly dawned on him. "Hey, that was my idea!"
"No, Numbskull," Bulk said like he was about to declare something great, "It was my idea! I'm a genius!" Skull momentarily raised his finger and opened his mouth, but nothing came out the first time. He did it again, but didn't get his question off as someone walked past the both of them. The only thing he could see were the person's ballet shoes and brown hair in a ponytail. Bulk shoved his newspaper over to Skull and chased the obviously-pretty girl. Skull followed. Both of them stopped in front of the bewildered girl and started pretending to freshen up. "How you doin', baby?" Bulk asked. "Wanna... meet a real man?"
"Yeah! A REAL man!?"
"Guys, out of my way," she said. "I've got to get to ballet class."
"Oh, we've got a Dance major," said Bulk. "You know, I happen to be a good dancer myself, right Skull?"
"Yeah!" Skull replied. "Wait, you are?"
The girl looked at them skeptically, then shook her head and moved on. Bulk scrambled out of the middle of the pose and ran after the girl. "Come oooon, could you at least tell us your name?"
"Jennifer Robben," she said. "Now fuck off."
"But I'm a nice guy!" Bulk complained.
"Ooooh, jeez, I just remembered I'm a raging lesbian and I prefer hot babes," she said. "Now please, fuck off pigs, or I'll call my fellow pink-haired legbeard friends to help me out against a stupid neckbeard."
Now Bulk is clean-shaved, and visibly and quite obviously NOT a neckbeard. "Hey, I'm not a neckbeard," he said. "I'm much better than those pitiful geeks!"
"Yeah! Pitiful! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Jen asked rhetorically. "Kiss a girl?" In fact, someone was coming her way right now. She had agreed to meet with Nimue for a study session around this particular spot in the Student Union. She saw Nimue right on cue. Once Nimue was about to walk past (she didn't notice them), Jen grabbed Nimue and gave her a big, wet lip kiss.
"Does that answer your question?" Jen asked the bewildered Bulk and Skull. And Nimue was bewildered too, but Jen wasn't addressing her.
"Fine!" said Bulk. "Then can we still show you our moves?"
"Let's see what you've got," said Jen.
Bulk and Skull posed, then did their best ballerina impression, until they slipped, crashed into each other and fell on the floor. Jen knowingly rolled her eyes, grabbed Nimue and led her away from the two clowns who'd tried to ruin her day.
"What the bloody hell was THAT!?" Nimue asked.
"Two morons who think they're hot shit," said Jen.
"Not those two!" Nimue replied. "Why did you kiss me!?"
"Eh, I pretended to be a lesbian so I could get those two to stop bugging me," Jen shrugged. "It kinda worked. Why, did you like it?"
"Yes, but don't think it means anything," said Nimue. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not into women that way."
"Darn," said Jen. "Although to be honest, I wasn't lying about being gay. I am gay."
"There is a term for that?" Nimue asked. "Then why did you go out with Javier—never mind! The Caliburn Sword! You have got to be more careful with it!"
Jen would have replied in a sarcastic manner if Nimue didn't genuinely look upset. Considering the incredible powers the swords held, it was no surprise that she would not only want its user to be careful, but also make sure it did not fall into the wrong hands. Jen took a deep breath, sighed and said, "Nimue, I'm really sorry for losing the sword. In my defense, it was knocked out of my hands, but I guess that's not going to cut it. I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best to take care of the sword!"
"Good," said Nimue. "In the meantime, the Order of Avalon wants to help train you in your... 'bending' powers. I assume you are training already?"
"Watching DBZ," Jen chuckled.
"Spectacular," Nimue deadpanned.
"I know," said Jen. "I'll do my best.
"Oh, and by the way... you're really cute. Especially when you're mad." Jen then playfully kissed the annoyed Nimue's cheek before ushering her over to a table so they could start their study session. Was she joking about that?
:-:-:-: Power Rangers Mystic Knights :-:-:-:
Kaz and Yumi took the LYNX light rail tram or whatever you call it into downtown for a night out. Kaz had some money; leftovers from working at Disney World for the summer, excluding that trip to Wales and a stipend left over from an Orlando Sentinel internship. His folks had to foot the $7,000-a-semester in-state Bill.
Yumi didn't have that much of a problem, and not just because she worked on-campus. She was part of a less-wealthy, yet lower-upper-middle class offshoot of the very wealthy and famous Miyazawa family, which are focused on in Power Rangers GPX. The difference is A) her folks were still unhappy with her tuition bill and B) owning a restaurant with the main branch family's name on it still only makes you part of the 99%.
Also, Kaz and Yumi had family who were sadly interned by the US Government during That War. However, members of Kaz's Irish side Proudly Served and as for Yumi, there is a little group known as the 442nd Infantry (a sticking point that irritates her distant Miyazawa relatives since they didn't have any visible regrets about supporting the Empire of the Rising Sun's war effort with gusto).
So, she adjusted her 442nd Infantry hat while scrolling through a friend's Facebook photos on her iPhone. Kaz adjusted his Orlando SolarBears hat, in this universe the AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Once again, just like in GPX, hockey is an influence on the writing.
"Who's Nimue?" Yumi asked, finally breaking the silence.
"Just a friend," he truthfully explained.
"Just a friend?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "What? You don't trust me?" He had legit reasons for asking. Even if marriage would be out of the question until at least after graduation, any good relationship must be built upon mutual trust.
"I do," she replied, her old-country accent just barely detectable. "I just don't want you keeping secrets from me."
"I'm not," he replied with only a half-truth. "And if you're wondering about Jen and Simone, don't worry, either."
Yumi sighed, knowing that while he was sincere about those other girls—any man is allowed to have lady-friends, and women are allowed to have gentleman-friends—but he was still hiding something from her. He still hadn't told her much about that Wales incident. "What happened in Wales, anyway? I heard your resort was attacked by monsters."
He struggled to answer and he knew he was struggling. "Something... Happened. It was scary."
"I know," she said. "I couldn't wait to get off my shift to call you. And now there's monsters here... what's going on, Kaz?"
Kaz momentarily remained silent, finally putting his left arm around her shoulders to offer silent comfort, even if he couldn't say anything.
They got off at downtown's Central LYNX Station. Yumi's family's restaurant was a couple blocks away. If you wanted affordable, upscale Japanese that didn't focus on sushi too much (which is not to say their sushi is bad; it's actually good), you'll love Kobayashi. If it actually existed in the real world, of course.
"I wonder how Uncle Kyo's doing," she said to herself. "I heard he had an accident."
"Didn't hear about that," said Kaz. "Hope he's okay."
The restaurant wasn't very busy. Just a few customers spattered and spread out. Our lovely couple didn't have to look hard for a solitary table in one of the corners right underneath a ukiyo-e of a samurai in action. He looked like he'd just chopped an opponent's head off. It would look right at home in a Kurosawa movie.
Yumi also had a view of the door looking outside.
"What is that?" she asked.
"A storefront," said Kaz.
"I know that, baka," she said. "Morgan's? I've never seen that place before."
Kaz didn't have much reason to doubt her. She came here more often than he did. "What do you think it is?"
"It looks like a store," she said. "But I can't see inside it at the moment. Looks like it's closed."
Kaz hummed. "So it seems," he said. The named and sudden opening was to suspicious. While Yumi gazed at her menu, he took his phone out and texted a message to Nimue, warning her about the new store.
It only took a minute for her to respond. Her reply only read "Ok", but he could already tell that she was thinking about something else.
"I think I'll have the shrimp tempura," Yumi said to catch his attention.
"Sounds good," he replied. "I think I'll have the chicken teriyaki."
"An excellent choice," said Yumi.
:-:-:-: PRMK :-:-:-:
Morgan's monster was ready. Its wooden effigy sat on a pedestal in the middle of an array in the middle of the room. Mordred cautiously stepped away and Gwydion took his place. Morgan stepped forward, holding out her arms while chanting in post-Roman Brythonic. As she chanted, leaves and dust began to rise from the ground, swirling around the wooden effigy, rising into a column that met the ceiling within seconds. On cue, Gwydion joined his mistress in the chant, and the column began to widen. They could see the silhouette of the creature growing, taking shape inside the column of leaves and dust, illuminated by their magic.
Then the column dissipated, revealing a growling, bipedal canid monster, eyes glowing, then fading. The monster knelt in front of Morgan. "You summoned me, Mistress?" he asked.
"Cu Chulain," she declared, "I have some pests for you to exterminate."
Cu Chulain, a corrupted recreation of the famous Irish Ulster hero, snarled with anticipation. "Yesssss, mmmyyyyy Mistressssss," he growled.
"Hmmm, voice is too snakey," Morgan muttered. "No matter. I'm sick of obvious monsters. Let's see how they react to this!"
The canid form in front of her began to shift, shrinking. The nose, muzzle, ears and eyes shrank, losing their dog forms, becoming more human. As he stood, his legs also changed, and his paws became feet. Cu Chulain stood up straight, stretching himself out, rolling his head and neck until he was back in human form for the first time in centuries. Morgan clapped, and the dark-haired warrior bowed his head in deference.
"Magnificent!" she declared. "Should be easy to get onto that campus looking like that. Now, run along. Mama's got a store to run!"
:-:-:-: Power Rangers Mystic Knights :-:-:-:
Javier: "Next time, on Power Rangers Mystic Knights!"
Morgan: "Welcome to Morgan's!"
Kaz: "Who are you?"
Cu Chulain: "FIGHT ME!"
Nimue: "What do you mean?"
Jen: "NIMUE!"
Javier: "That's next time on Power Rangers Mystic Knights!"