| abstract | - Jason, Alex, Olivia and Zoe raced into the city where they saw the FlunkBots running around causing chaos as far as the eye could see, chasing people around. "Wow! They looked much less aggressive on the screen!" said Jason a little too loudly. His words turned the Flunk Bots' attention to the four teens, making them shudder. The FlunkBots looked like mutant zombies wearing metal helmets to hide what must've been hideous faces and the strangest looking armor the teens had ever seen, like old-fashioned rugby protection gear made of grey metal. "Do we really have to fight them?" Olivia squeaked as the FlunkBots began to growl viciously. "Yeah, cause they don't look too friendly," said Alex. Zoe stared at her teammates. 'Are they for real?' she thought to herself. "Of course we do! Dr. Sparks said that we're guardians of this energy power, or whatever it's called. He also said that this is our chance to show them what we're made of." Olivia, Alex and Jason nodded uncertainly. The FlunkBots all roared and charged at the four teens. Olivia cartwheeled out of the way, Alex dived to the right, Jason flipped onto a car and Zoe, who was the only one enthusiastic about fighting, kicked a FlunkBot in the stomach, sending it flying backwards into a car. She ducked to the ground and spun around with her leg outstretched, knocking over three more of the creatures. One FlunkBot tried to attack her from behind but Zoe was too speedy. She backflipped out of the way before punching the FlunkBot out of the way. Olivia found herself cornered between a wall and several FlunkBots, not sure what to do. Then she remembered that she still her bagpack with her from gymnastics class. She removed it from her shoulders and swung it around, letting it slam into most of the FlunkBots before cartwheeling out of the way. As she cartwheeled, her foot knocked into the face of one of the FlunkBots, knocking him over. Seeing this, Olivia performed a backflip with her feet whacking another FlunkBot in the stomach. Alex flipped his way through an army of Flunk Bots, avoiding strikes from above and underneath him. He then ran over to a wall and flipped off it, landing behind one of the FlunkBots. Not intimidated, he grabbed its arm and swung it into the same wall. He then pummelled a FlunkBot in the stomach with his foot, sending it flying into another one, knocking both of them over. Standing on top of the car, Jason caught sight of most of the FlunkBots heading his way, most of them scrambling to get on top of the car. Seeing how close they were to him, Jason leapt up and front flipped, bouncing off a FlunkBot's shoulders, knocking it onto the ground and Jason landed on the ground. He tore open the car door, kicked a FlunkBot in and slammed the door on it before elbowing the last few out of the way. "Wow . . ." Olivia gasped as she and the rest of the group gathered together in front of the group of knocked out FlunkBots in front of them. "Did we really just do all of that?" Alex nodded. "I think we did . . ." "That was . . . SO AWESOME!" laughed Jason. "Who would've thought that people like us would've been able to do all of that?! Great teamwork, huh?" Zoe dusted her hands off and smirked. "That was too easy." She spoke too soon. A loud bang filled the air and massive explosions surrounded the teens, sending them flying. Fire, sparks and smoke spewed everywhere, making the teens dizzy and they all crash-landed onto the ground, stunned. They looked up and saw an robot-like alien in front of them holding a stun gun. "What is that?!" cried Olivia. "I don't know but if it's an alien, it definitely doesn't come in peace!" said Jason. "SILENCE!" the alien demanded. "I am Alimpian, a warrior of Master Paine. I have come to retrieve your energy power. I highly recommend you hand it over now so no one gets hurt," he demanded. "Did he just say 'Master Paine?'!" said Alex. Olivia looked at her brother. "I'm pretty sure that when Dr. Sparks gave us that message that he said we had to defeat this 'Master Paine' and his minions. That must be one of them!" she explained. "Who cares? Let's get him!" yelled Zoe, jumping to her feet and lashing out at Alimpian, ignoring the protests coming from her teammates. It didn't take her long to realize how strong, skillful and agile he was. She threw several punches at him but he grabbed her wrists and threw her across the street and Zoe landed hard on the ground. Seeing this, the others got up and tried their best to attack Alimpian but it was pointless. One by one, Olivia, Alex and Jason were sent flying across the street and crash-landing onto the ground just like Zoe had done. Frustrated, Zoe ran at him, ready for another shot but the Alimpian pretty much did the same thing and Zoe found herself lying on the ground again. "I warned you! Now you'll pay!" shouted Alimpian, pulling out his stun gun and blasting the teens with it, sending them flying across the street again. Alimpian roared with laughter at the sight of them in pain. "Okay . . . that hurt," Zoe coughed. "So what do we do now?" said Alex. "What about the morphers?" suggested Olivia. Jason nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, Dr. Sparks said that if we were in a really sticky situation then we could use them." They all climbed to their feet, preparing for the big moment. "Ohhhh! What's this?" sneered Alimpian. "I'll tell you what it is," said Zoe. "It's Morhpin' Time!" The four teens pulled out their Energy Morphers and Alimpian backed away, not sure whether to retreat or to stand his ground. "Ready?" Zoe asked her teammates. "Ready!" they replied. They stuck up their morphers and chanted in unison: "Sports Energy, Suit Up!" Their morphers glowed in colours of blue, pink, yellow and green, the crest especially glowing violently. The teens' bodies, except for their heads turned completely white and the crest symbol from their morphers appeared on their chests. The teens could feel the electricity tingling in the morphers and it was tingling so shockingly that they threw the morphers into the air and it stayed up there. They stuck out their arms and leapt into the air, rising upwards until they had caught up with the morphers. As soon as they had done so, they grabbed the morphers, thrust it into their chests and performed a backflip back onto the ground, revealing that they were now into their Ranger costumes. A helmet appeared and covered their heads completely. "Blue Energy Ranger!" Zoe leaned in backwards with one arm outstretched and the other bent behind her as if she were in a skating position. "Pink Energy Ranger!" Olivia stood up very straight with her arms in the air, the kind of pose a gymnast would strike after finishing a routine. "Yellow Energy Ranger!" Alex thrust up his arms and clenched his fists as if he were holding an invisible hockey stick. "Green Energy Ranger!" Jason twisted in position, his fists clenched the way somebody would hold a tennis racket. Alimpian growled. "Power Rangers? Master Paine never said anything about Power Rangers." "Well then he mustn't be a very good master," said Jason. He and the others then realized what had just happened and started admiring their new Ranger costumes. "Oh yeah baby, is this awesome or is this awesome?" "Cool, I'm in pink!" beamed Olivia. She turned to her brother. "And you're looking good in that yellow!" "Thanks!" grinned Alex. Zoe smiled at her outfit. "My costume's blue. Nice," she grinned. "And look!" said Jason. "We've even got numbers on our backs! Like on those sports jerseys you see in a match!" The teens, finding this interesting turned around to examine their numbers. Jason was number 5, Alex was number 4, Olivia was number 3 and Zoe was number 2. However the teens soon noticed something. "What about number 1?" said Olivia, confused. "Maybe they couldn't make it?" said Alex. Zoe froze. 'I bet it's Callum!' she thought to herself. 'Maybe he has the potential to- No he doesn't,' she decided quickly. 'I'll lead them here.' But deep down inside, she couldn't help wondering where Callum was . . . The four Rangers stuck out their hands and their energy gathered together to create a weapon each. "Ice Blade!" The Blue Energy Ranger ran up to Alimpian and slashed her new sword at the alien. Sparks came flying out of Alimpian's chest and he screamed in pain. "OW! OWWW!" "Energy Vault!" The Pink Energy Ranger used her metal pole to jump up about five metres into the air before landing behind Alimpian and smacking him with it, knocking him to the ground. "Hock Hammer!" The Yellow Ranger whacked the ground with his weapon. Every time he did so, Alimpian bounced off the ground like a ball. "STOP IIIIIIIIT!" he wailed in desperate pain. "Racket Blaster!" The Green Energy Ranger pulled the trigger and large round bullets shot into Alimpian, sending him flying into a car. Even more sparks flew out of Alimpian and an explosion of sparks blasted behind him. "All right!" smiled Zoe. "We did it!" beamed Olivia. "Way to go!" grinned Alex. "Oh yeah!" cheered Jason. Slowly but surely, Alimpian climbed to his feet, a silent growl in his throat. "Now you've made me mad . . ." "What? No way!" cried Zoe in shock. "How is that possible?" Alimpian chuckled. "Power Rangers, you have not yet witnessed the full force of my power." "What the-" began Jason but was interrupted when Alimpian leapt into the air and performed a double backflip before smacking hard onto the ground. The force was so strong that it sent the Rangers flying backwards, very similar to the way that Alimpian had done just a few seconds ago but this force was much stronger and the Rangers smashed through a wall. "Is that it?" demanded Zoe. Alimpian chuckled more and clenched his fists which began to collect some sort of purple flame. Realizing that he was aiming for them, the Rangers tried to jump to their feet but were too sore to do so. Alimpian thrust his fists forwards and the purple flames shot out in the shape of a giant fist and this giant fist made of fire flew through each of the Rangers. Sparks shot out of them and they all yelled in pain. "Had enough?" Alimpian sneered. 'Okay,' Zoe thought to herself, struggling to get up, 'this whole Power Ranger business is going to be a lot tougher than I thought . . .' ____________________________________________________________________________________ "Are you okay?" asked Mr. Lancer, noticing how quiet his son was. Callum shrugged and turned a page of his comic. "Yeah, I'm fine. But . . . I just feel like I'm missing out on something I'm meant to be doing." Mr. Lancer looked at him. "Are you sure you still don't want to sign up for athletics? You could've done that while we were still in the arena." Callum just shrugged and put down his comic. "I dunno. I- I'm going out for a walk." And before Mr. Lancer could stop him, he was already out the door. No sooner had he gone a few paces, Callum couldn't help feeling that he was being watched. It was strange because when he looked around him, he couldn't see anyone. The street was quiet . . . too quiet. And before he could react, he found himself being swarmed by FlunkBots attacking him from every angle. Callum stayed cool but couldn't help wondering where these things came from and if they had attacked the others. He backflipped his way through an army of FlunkBots before kicking one out of his way and then grabbing a trashcan lid and throwing against the ground like a Frisbee in the sky. The trash can lid crashed into the FlunkBots' feet sending them toppling over. Callum turned around and saw more FlunkBots running in his direction so he sprinted over to the nearest building, ran up it, flipped over behind the FlunkBots and kicked them over. Panting hard, he looked around him, glad to see that there were no more of those crazy foot soldiers. "Impressive, Callum." "What the- Where did you come from?" Callum jumped when he saw Dr. Sparks standing next to him. The scientist laughed and held up a strange-looking machine. "Teleportation devices. They're useful to have around." "What do you want from me?" asked Callum suspiciously. "Your teammates are in trouble. Come with me," said Dr. Sparks. Callum stared at him. "Teammates? What are you talking about?" "There's no time to explain. Just come with me." Dr. Sparks took Callum's hand and used the teleportation device to transport them to a different part of the street where Callum could see all the chaos from a distance. He saw Alimpian laughing triumphantly to himself. He saw the Pink, Yellow and Green Energy Rangers lying helplessly before him, trying to get up but they were too sore. He watched as the Blue Energy Ranger tried to strike Alimpian with her Ice Blade but he walloped her in the stomach with a flaming fist. She landed hard on her back and tumbled backwards onto her stomach, making Callum cringe. He then felt Dr. Sparks placing something into his hand. He looked down and saw that it was the Red Energy Morpher. "Take it. It's yours," he smiled. "But-" "You don't have to be fearless to be strong," said the scientist wisely. Callum stared at him. That sounded like something his father would say. He looked back down at the morpher and suddenly felt a wave of confidence and bravery wash over him. A confident grin spread across his face. "Yeah . . ." he smiled. Alimpian pulled out his stun gun. "Power Rangers," he spat. "Please!" He got ready to pull the trigger. "Any last words?" The four Rangers tried to get up but the pain was just too much. "I thought not," Alimpian chuckled. Zoe, Olivia, Alex and Jason watched him weakly. Zoe especially felt extremely helpless. She thought that all this fighting was going to be so easy . . . Alimpian suddenly let out a grunt and dropped his stun gun. The four Rangers looked up and saw Callum twist around and land in front of them with no signs of fear. "Callum!" exclaimed Olivia happily. "Good to see you!" said Alex. "Perfect timing, bro!" grinned Jason. Zoe said nothing. Alimpian growled furiously. "You'll pay for taking away my stun gun from me, you you- HUMAN!" Callum smirked. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." And with that he pulled out the Red Energy Morpher, held it out and chanted "Sports Energy, Suit Up!" Alimpian cringed and Zoe, Olivia, Alex and Jason all gasped as the morpher glowed violently and in only a matter of seconds, Callum had morphed completely. "Red Energy Ranger!" He struck a pose, the type of position you'd see an athlete just before a race only it was much stronger and looked much more ready to fight. "Another Power Ranger! Ooooohhh, I'm scared!" snarled Alimpian sarcastically. "Yeah, you had better be!" said Callum bravely. Zoe looked up at him and then caught sight of his back- like all of them there was a large number on it: the number 1. 'I knew it!' she thought to herself admiringly but also jealously. "COME ON!" Alimpian roared, activating the purple flames onto his fists, ready to strike. The Blue, Pink, Yellow and Green Rangers shuddered, knowing what was coming next. He thrust his hands forwards, shooting that flaming fist hologram. But Callum just tumbled down, avoiding the strike as it struck a nearby wall instead. Next thing the Red Ranger sprinted up to Alimpian and gave him one hard power punch, knocking the alien onto his back. Callum looked down at himself, amazed at his own speed. He never knew he could run that fast! But his pleasant surprise only lasted for a few secconds because he saw Alimpian charging towards him. Callum ducked and stuck his leg out, tripping Alimpian over. Alimpian tumbled over then jumped back to his feet. "Now you've made me mad!" roared Alimpian, charging again, this time at a faster pace. "Hey!" yelled Jason. "Look out!" cried Olivia. But Callum just stuck out his hand and his Energy Weapon appeared. "Lightning Saber!" He slashed Alimpian with the electric sword, sending Alimpian flying backwards. "Come on! Let's finish him off!" Callum shouted at his teammates. "You got it!" Alex cheered as he and the other Rangers jumped to their feet and ran towards Alimpian with their weapons. Alimpian realised how helpless he was now and that he was surrounded . . . "Racket Blaster!" Jason pelted Alimpian with the bullets from his weapon. "Hock Hammer!" Alex slammed the alien with his. "Energy Vault!" Olivia whacked him with her weapon. "Ice Blade!" Zoe struck Alimpian with her sword. "Lightning Saber!" Callum finished off the monster, slashing Alimpian as hard as he could. Alimpian wailed in pain, sparks flying out of him. He staggered backwards, let a moan before finally collapsing and bursting into flames. He was defeated. "Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" grinned Callum as his teammates ran to join him. "That was amazing!" cheered Jason. "Yeah, you did awesome!" smiled Alex. "Way to go!" beamed Olivia. Callum nodded happily then glanced at Zoe who glared back through her visor. For a moment, there was a tense silence . . . "Yeah, well done," Zoe muttered when she finally managed it. She was just glad that her blue helmet was hiding the envious look on her face . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________ Later, all five Rangers walked into Dr. Spark's lab, carrying their helmets under their arms, grinning from ear to ear. Dr. Sparks walked up to them beaming. "You did it!" he exclaimed. "You actually defeated Alimpian!" "Yeah . . . well . . . we couldn't have done it without Callum," Zoe admitted. Sighing a little, she glanced at him, sighed slightly and added "He did well." Callum blushed as red as his Ranger costume. "Well I'm glad you worked well as a team," said Dr. Sparks sternly "because Alimpian won't be the only one of Master Paine's warriors out there to steal the Sports Energy power. It'll get tougher. Paine will send out more warriors to defeat you. And each will be stronger than the last You do know that, don't you?" The Rangers all nodded in unison. "So I'm hoping that it'll all go well for you. I hope that I chose the right people. And I'm sure I did," said Dr. Sparks. "Are you ready for an adventure of a lifetime?" "As ready as we'll ever be," said Callum. "Let's do it."
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