Daughter of a pterodactyl

Chapter 17

At the hospital Virginia and I were talking. "There were so many times that I just wanted to pull you all aside and tell you that I knew you were the power rangers and then all these terrible things that were happening were because of me. But every time I tried it was like this strange force came over me and stopped me from speaking." Virginia said. "Evil encoding of the dino gem." I said. "And worst of all I'm responsible for you being here and missing the gymnastics competition and everything." Virginia said. "Virginia, you know why a ranger never gives up?" I asked. Virginia shook her head. "No." Virginia said. Then John walked in. "They never give up because the world was in danger. The bad guys would have taken over if they didn't stop them." John said as he walked in followed by the others. "Yeah but look what happened, everything turned out alright." Joe said. "I just can't tell you how sorry I am for what I've done to you all, especially with the way you've welcomed me into your lives." Virginia said. "You had no control over it. Mesagog reconstructed its powers." I said "That's why we do what we do." George said. "And that's why the power rangers exist." John added. "Exactly." I said. Back at Mesagog's lab Mesagog was torturing Elsa with his mind. "What's going on here? Can't you do anything right? I sent you to do one simple task and what happens?" Mesagog said. "It was all their fault." Elsa said referring to the tyranodrones. "This dimwit hasn't done anything right since she got here." Zeltrax said. "Oh, yes I have, oh no, I haven't." Elsa said. "It's time to dispense with this simpleton." Zeltrax said before getting the evil clone of George. The evil clone of George made a new monster called Goldenrod. "I wait for your command my lord." Goldenrod said. Back at the hospital my friends were talking to me. "So, the doctor says you'll be out of here in a couple days." Ryan said. "Yeah, you can start practicing for the competition again." John said. "Um, guys, there's something you should know. I'm not gonna go back." I said. "What?" Joe asked. "Why?" George asked. "But Ariel, you have to." Virginia said. "No I don't. I don't want to take the risk. You guys need me and if something serious would have happened and like..." I said before getting cut off by George. "Brent said you could." George said. "Yeah but he also said that it was my choice, and I choose to quit. Please understand." I said. When they got outside they decided to talk about what we just talked about. "Ariel's been doing gymnastics for years. I'd never thought I'd see her quit." John said. "I know, I get the feeling there's more to it than what she's telling us." George said. "Yeah. I think I have an idea." Virginia said. "Really? What is it?" Ryan asked. A few days later I am sitting by the window of my hospital room looking out at everything that is going on outside when Virginia came to visit me. "Hi." Virginia said. I turned my head towards her. "Hey Virginia. I wanna go outside so bad. I hate being all cooped up in here." I said. "I know how you feel. You know, I never told you guys this but, I'm supposed to go to the Olympics myself." Virginia said. "As a gymnast?" I asked. "As a diver. My coach said I was the best she'd ever seen. I was supposed to bring USA home their first gold medal in years." Virginia said. "Seriously?" I asked. "Yeah. Take a look." Virginia said while giving me a scrapbook with pictures from when she was a diver in the scrapbook. "Oh my gosh. Look at you. Wow. So, what happened?" I asked. "I remember it like it was yesterday. It was my last dive of the competition. A dive I've done perfectly 100 times in practice. I was coming in first and had the trials locked up." Virginia said. "And..." I said. "I lost concentration. I don't know whether it was the excitement of knowing I'd won or whether I just got overconfident. For whatever reason, I misjudged and hit my head on the board." Virginia said. "I know how that feels." I said. "They took me to the hospital and when I woke up, they told me I'd lost the meet by one point." Virginia said. "Oh, wow. So, did you try again the next year?" I asked. "I was too scared. I never went near the water again. It still scares me." Virginia said. "And you think that I'm scared to get back on the balance beam, huh?" I said. "Aren't you? Look, I just want you to think about it. I've got some things I have to do. I'll come see you later, okay?" Virginia asked. "Okay, oh actually you know what, I'm getting out of here today. Thanks for coming by. It's really nice to have you to talk to." I said. "Okay, I'll see you later." Virginia said. "Bye." I said. "Bye." Virginia said before leaving. The next day I met with the others at Tommy's lab. "It is good to have you back with us Ariel. We missed you." Tommy said. "Thank you Tommy. I just wish it was under better circumstances." I said. "Really?" John asked. "Just kidding. The circumstances are actually good." I said. "It's great to have you back as the leader." John said. "Yeah. Speaking of me being back on the team as the leader I want to know who took over as the leader while I was in the hospital." I said. "I took over as the leader for you Ariel." Ryan said. "Thanks Ryan. That really helped me out." I said. The next day John and I went to the community pool. We were looking for Virginia. "Are you positive she said she'll meet you here?" John asked. "Yeah, I thought it was weird too, especially after she said she was afraid to go near the water." I said. Then John looked up and saw Virginia. "Didn't she tell you she was afraid to go near the water? Looks like she changed her mind." John said. Then I looked up and saw her. "Oh my gosh. I don't believe she's up there." I said. "Not for long." John said. She did the dive and John and I walked up to the pool. "Good job Virginia." John said. "Thanks." Virginia said. "Unbelievable, what made you change your mind?" I asked. "You did Ariel. I had to do something to show you can overcome your fears." Virginia said. "Yeah, but..." I said. "Now there's something you need to do." Virginia said. "I know." I said. The next day at the youth center I did my balance beam routine that I was going to do for the tournament. When I was done with it everyone clapped. When I was getting changed back into the clothes I was wearing before I changed into my leotard that I wore for gymnastics everyone was setting up a little congratulations party for me. After I got changed I started to walk to the snack bar in the youth center. Jason, another former ranger and new owner of the snack bar at the youth center saw me walking down the hallway towards him. "Everyone, she's on the way." Jason said. Everyone basically ignored him. "Hey you guys!" Jason shouted getting everyone's attention. "Everybody hide. She's on the way." Jason said. Everyone hid. I walked into the part of the youth center where the snack bar is and everyone surprised me. "Way to go Ariel." John said as he hugged me. "Thank you. Thank you guys so much." I said after hugging John.