Power Rangers Sports Energy Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The Past of Paine

Dr. Sparks didn't seem too surprised when the Energy Rangers arrived at the lab with their new friend. In fact, he looked rather pleased.

Finian also looked unusually calm. He put away his golden ball (or Energy Morpher), stepped up to Dr. Sparks and politely shook the scientist's hand.

"Gavin."

"Finian. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Dr. Sparks smiled.

"Wait!" Zoe stared at the two men. "You know each other?!"

Dr. Sparks and Finian nodded happily before Finian answered.

"We've known each other for over fifteen years. I thought it would be a matter of time before we'd meet again. I always knew Gavin would recruit the right Rangers."

The five teens looked confused. For a moment the air was filled with silence, awkward for the teens, perfectly normal for Dr. Sparks and Finain. That silene was broken by Olivia.

"So Finian's been a Ranger for over ten years then?"

Finian nodded. "That's right."

"But if you're as powerful as you were back there . . ." Olivia paused to think for a second before finishing her question. "How did you end up in that chest?"

"Yeah, and if you were a Ranger for over fifteen years, why aren't Paine and his minions long gone?" asked Jason.

Finian raised his eyebrows in approval. "I just knew you'd ask that," he said plesantly. "Well . . . what would you do if I told you that Paine and I used to be teammates?"

The Energy Rangers gasped except for Zoe who lashed out immediately and Callum had to grab her arms and haul her back to prevent things from getting violent. Throughout this reaction, Finian just stood there calmly and didn't even flinch, even when Zoe tried to break Callum's grip and throw a punch at him.

"Come on Zoe- let him explain!"

Zoe growled but calmed down and relaxed her body. "You're lucky you're leader, Callum."

Callum ignored her and glanced at Finain. "What happened between you and Paine?"

"Well every villain must start out good and human, right?" said Finian. The five teens nodded at this, allowing him to continue. "Well that's exactly what Paine was once like- perfectly normal. And the nicest person you could ask for."

"Paine could do nice once?" Jason interrupted.

"Shh!" Olivia hissed, shutting the green ranger up immediately.

Finian didn't seem to mind this and went on with his story. "Well fifteen years ago, we were both protecters of the Sports Energy power. And we were very good at it too. But Paine always had the upper hand," he admitted honestly. "Now that I think of it, it was almost Paine who finished off every one of them."

"So what went wrong?" asked Callum.

"Well there's always that one element that motivates one to become evil," explained Finian. "And that element is greed. It seemed that the more power Paine recieved and protected, the greedier he became with it. Both Gavin and I noticed it and slowly we had to start getting cautious of Paine's behaviour."

"That's how Finian became the Olympian Warrior actually," Dr. Sparks added. "I knew if I gave such an role to Paine, he would clearly let the honour get to his head. The Olympian Warrior is one of the most powerful roles an Energy Ranger can take. It requires huge responsibility."

"And I'm guessing Paine wasn't very happy when Dr. Sparks gave you that role?" said Alex.

"He was furious," said Finian. "I never saw hm in such a state. In fact, he nearly destroyed everying in his path. That's when we sensed the dark power inside of him. And we had to do something."

"So what DID you do?" muttered Zoe, a little rudely.

"We tried to drain the bad energy power out of him," said Finian. "But it was nearly fatal. It only made things worse: The moment we lashed out, Paine just used his energy power to drain ours. And he used that power to trap me in that chest before racing off to see what he could do with his energy power. But I didn't lose hope. I used my remaining energy power to keep myself alive and watch over Paine and you and simply wait for when Dr. Sparks would eventually recruit you as the new Energy Rangers."

"But what about Ernestine? How did she become evil?" asked Alex.

Finian sighed. "I'll never be able to answer that question. Paine has his his ways."

"So . . . are you saying Paine is invincible? You simply said yourself that even you couldn't defeat him and you've got the most powerful role!" said Callum, completely awestruck.

"I never said Paine was invincible," said Finian, grinning a little. "But we will need more energy power if we can defeat him."

"More?" The teens' jaws all dropped.

"I believe so," said Finian. "Gavin, would you care to explain?"

Dr. Sparks chuckled. "I've been working on this since Day 1. This energy power is so strong, it could destroy an army of FlunkBots and one of Ernestine's monsters in one shot. It will make you almost unstoppable! If used correctly, we might even be able to get rid of Paine once and for all!"

"What is it?" asked Zoe, perking up with every word the scientist spoke.

"I like to call it Extreme Sports Mode!"