Ariel's awesome kids (sequel to Jayden's awesome younger sister)

Chapter 17 Ariel's decision

The next day I had Mal and Ben compete against each other with different situations and I also had them compete in speed, agility, and guts that go with being the red ranger. Ben had more guts than Mal but Mal was faster and has more agility than Ben. The next day Lauren walked up to me while I was training. "Hey, did you make the decision about who the next red ranger is going to be?" Lauren said. "Not yet." I said. "Okay, the others and I are going to chow down on some pizza and figure out a strategy for these more powerful nighloks. Wanna join us?" Lauren asked. "How about you go ahead without me." I said. "Are you sure?" Lauren asked. "Yeah." I said. "Okay, no problem. It's your choice." Lauren said before she started to go back into the house. "My choice." I said to myself. That's when I got a flashback of Jayden telling me that we are all free to choose who we want to be. (Flashback: Ariel was training with Jayden one day when Jayden stopped in the middle of training.
Jayden: Ariel, there's something that I want to tell you.
Ariel: What is it?
Jayden: We are all free to choose who we want to be.
End of flashback)
"Hey Lauren, I changed my mind. I will join you." I said as I walked into the house after her. Later that night I decided who the next red ranger should be. I was working on the battle plan when John walked up to me. "Hey, so why did you want to see me?" John asked. "I made the decision about who should be the next red ranger. I had to give it some thought but I finally decided that Ben should be the next red ranger. I was thinking that Mal could be the black ranger." I said. I was afraid that Mal was going to be mad at me for my decision so I walked out into the yard to talk to Jayden. "Jayden?" I asked. "Yes Ariel, I'm here." Jayden said. "I made the decision about who should be the next red ranger but I am afraid that Mal will be mad that I didn't choose her over Ben." I said. "How about this. Make Mal promise you that she won't be mad before you tell them who the next red ranger is going to be." Jayden said. "Okay, I guess I can do that." I said. "And if she gets mad, let me know." Jayden said. "Okay, thanks Jayden." I said. Then I went to bed for the rest of the night. The next morning I went to go talk to Mal and Ben. "Hey guys, I have to tell you something." I said. "What is it mom?" Mal asked. "Mal, promise me that you won't get mad about what I am going to say." I said. "I promise." Mal said. "Okay, as you know, only one of you can be the next red ranger. Here's my decision. Ben, you're the next red ranger. Mal, are you okay with being the black ranger?" I said. "Yeah, I have been training to become the black ranger anyway." Mal said. I was actually very surprised about that. "Wait, you're okay with Ben being the red ranger?" I asked. "Yeah." Mal said. "Wow, I thought that you were going to be mad." I said. Then I walked out of their room. I thought about what is going to happen to our team when the new team steps up. I even wondered if Virginia's kids would follow in their parents footsteps. I know what it's like to follow in someone's footsteps, since I am following in my brother's footsteps. Meanwhile in the netherworld Goldar met with Master Xandred. Lord Zedd even came with him. "Hello Goldar. I'm glad that you and Lord Zedd considered my proposal. And you guys came alone, very smart." Master Xandred said. "We were not going to let the others know about this meeting." Lord Zedd said. "Yeah, even Rita Repulsa doesn't know that we're here." Goldar said. "Good. Now, I brought you here because of the power rangers. We want them destroyed, right?" Master Xandred said. "I wanted them destroyed ever since the 1990's." Lord Zedd and Goldar said. "All right. I was thinking, what if we team up. You know, nighloks teaming up with space aliens." Master Xandred said. "Sounds like a great idea. But we should also come up with battle plans." Lord Zedd said. Meanwhile at the shiba house, I am having the team train for the final battle. Little did we know that the nighloks and space aliens teamed up.

The next day I had a weird feeling. Something was definitely not right. Lauren noticed that I knew that something was very wrong. The others didn't know that I knew that something was wrong. Later that night I decided to go see if the nighloks teamed up with someone. I spied on Master Xandred for a while. That's when I finally found out why it felt like something was wrong. I found out that he got Goldar and Lord Zedd to have the space aliens team up with them. I didn't know how he got that message to them, unless Master Xandred sent one of his minions to deliver the message. I decided that I had to figure out how Master Xandred delivered the message to them. That's when I found out that he sent a mogger and an interpreter for the mogger to the place where the space aliens call home and told them what Master Xandred needed to tell them. I went back to the shiba house and told my teammates what I found out. "So that's why you were acting really weird." Virginia said. "Yeah, I just didn't know how to tell you guys about it." I said. "That's not good. How are we going to defeat them?" Mal asked. "I don't know. And for the record Mal, I want you and Ben to stay here where it's safe, away from the battle." I said. "Whoa, screw you mom, you know that one of these days Ben and our friends are going to fight to protect the world from the nighloks!" Mal said. "Look, I don't want to lose you guys. One day we won't be here, and we need you to carry on in our place. You are a part of the great circle of life." I said. "I know." Mal said. "You have to be careful, as the future black ranger" I began when Mal cut me off. "What if I don't want to be a power ranger? It's no fun." Mal said. "That's like saying that you don't want to protect the world, it's in your blood as I am. We are part of each other." I said. Then I sang we are one with Mal.

"As long as you live here, it's who you are." I said as I hugged her. Then I let go of her. "You'll understand someday." I said. Then I went back into the house.