This is a three parter that concludes the RPM timeline in my Ari series! As I finally finished writing the first chapter of Super Ninja Steel, I decided to start posting it. It'll focus on different members of the team, and the first chapter has been an idea in my head probably since I started writing RPM in the first place.

I hope you like it!

Chapter 1: Reforging the Boundaries

Venjix was gone.

The world was free from any threat of the Virus or any of his followers. However, that didn't mean that everything was going to be fixed overnight.

Briarwood was an obvious example of this, Ziggy found, as they finally reached the city. It took them just over a day to get there in a camper van, but it seemed to take far longer than that. Nora was practically vibrating with nerves, keeping a hold of his hand for most of the trip and staying quiet. When they did get there, the hush seemed to grow heavier, as they saw the aftermath of the damage done in the attack, and following neglect.

"Hey, uh…" Teddie was the first to break the quiet, which so far had only been interrupted by quiet conversations between Ari and Xander. "How are we going to get back to the Magical Realm, exactly? It had to be closed from both sides so...wouldn't it need to be opened from both sides?" she asked a question that had been on her mind from the start.

"Thankfully, no," Ari shook her head, turning to look at them. "It's just gonna take some power," she smiled.

"And your mother has plenty of that," Xander murmured. Ari arched an eyebrow at him.

"What's with the tone?" she demanded.

"No tone. Just, good for us that you have that power," Xander gave her a sweet smile, and the two started bickering.

"Yes, it's always like that with them," Heckyl said as Ziggy blinked rapidly at the pair, who had constantly been doing so since the trip started. Teddie nodded, and Spencer pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why do you guys always get like this?" he asked, exasperated.

"Like what?" Both Ari and Xander chorused, and exchanged grins. Spencer sighed, and looked out the window, suddenly exhausted. Even so, the tense air had lessened, and even Nora was more relaxed as they finally slowed to a stop and emerged from the van.

"This seems...creepy," Ziggy summed up as he looked around. The forest was quiet, but not eerily so like previous trips had been. In fact, the forest seemed better off than most places.

"Of course. How else are you going to deter people from accidentally wandering into another dimension?" Xander asked as he stretched. Ari elbowed him. Teddie took a deep breath, feeling her earth magic settling after the trip.

"So now what?" Chase asked as he looked around.

"Now," Ari gave a small laugh, and her armour surrounded her. Ziggy jumped, having forgotten about her own Ranger status, and watched as she drew her sword. "I cut a hole through the dimensions," she told them, sounding a little uncertain.

"You...cut a hole…" Olivia repeated, blinking repeatedly. "Gee, you make it sound so easy," she complained, shaking her head as Chase laughed quietly.

"I don't know what I expect from this family anymore," Heckyl muttered. Ziggy had to agree.

"They're right. This is a little much, even for us," Spencer had his arms folded as he watched. "If it was that easy, there'd be portals everywhere. And why drag us all the way here if you could do that?" he pressed, not content to let his questions lie.

"I'm ignoring all your negative energy," Ari told them loftily as Xander snorted, leaning against a tree and watching. "For one thing, if we opened a portal in Corinth, who knows where it would have taken us. I don't know about you, but I've had to travel through the Cimmerian Forest too many times, and I'm not willing to risk going through there again," she replied, and Xander rolled his eyes.

"You almost get a girl killed once and she never lets you live it down," he complained.

"Twice," Ari corrected as she carved a spell seal into the ground. "I decided I'm counting both the Swamp Sand, and the giant Spider, as two separate events," she smiled sweetly at him.

"Yet you still agreed to go out with me after," he retorted. Spencer groaned as Teddie giggled.

"And it's such a wonder why I said I'd stay in the Garage," Nora shook her head, and Chase laughed.

"Anyway," Ari laughed. "Another reason we need to be here is because of the magic still lingering. It's why this forest is recovering faster than other places. That'll help with this," her sword began to glow, and she moved her feet, bracing herself.

"Have you ever done this before?" Ziggy was aware of the rising pitch in his voice, suddenly very nervous about the woman about to try and carve her way into another dimension.

"Nope!" Ari said cheerfully. "Brace yourselves!" with the warning given, she swung up with the large sword, slicing through the air. A ringing sound echoed, and flickering lights shimmered where the tip of her sword had cut through the air. They grew brighter, before exploding out, throwing everyone off their feet with the force.

"When you said brace yourself, I didn't expect it to be 'you'll only stay standing if you're Morphed'," Ziggy complained from the ground.

"If she'd said that, then you would have panicked," Nora pointed out, offering him her hand.

"I wouldn't say panic, I just would have you know…" Ziggy shrugged, and took her hand, getting to his feet. "Thrown myself to the ground preemptively," he said honestly, and Nora laughed.

"Did it work?" Spencer asked as he lifted his fallen glasses and peered ahead. "It doesn't look any different," he commented.

"It feels different," Chase told him, approaching slowly.

"Did it look different before?" Ari asked, her armour shattering. Xander helped her up, supporting her as he saw how drained she was.

"She's right, it didn't look any different before," Nora remembered, her heart suddenly pounding. Her stomach started to churn as she stared ahead, and Ziggy squeezed her hand gently.

"Well…" Teddie took a few steps. "Let's go," she took another step, and shivered. "Oh yeah, it worked," she laughed, and the others followed. When they were all through, Ziggy glanced back, and found their surroundings had changed.

"What…" he murmured.

"Magic, mate. Get used to it," Chase laughed.

"I'm used to plants coming out of the ground and a lot of fire. That is an entirely different thing!" Ziggy complained as they started walking.

"Huh. We had it the opposite way around," Xander considered.

"Yeah, it took you a while to learn enough focus to make stuff grow," Ari smirked, and Xander rolled his eyes.

"You almost get a girl eaten by a giant once and she never lets you live it down," he muttered.

"How many times did you almost get her killed?" Ziggy questioned, baffled. Ari laughed and Xander frowned at him.

"I knew I liked this kid," she declared.

"In my defence, we were only there because-"

"Oh, do not put all the blame on my father. You were equally bull-headed in that scenario," the bickering started back up, and Spencer put a hand to his face again. Both Teddie and Chase were laughing.

"I'm really starting to understand why you're the way you are," Heckyl commented to Teddie, who only laughed more.

The group were walking for a while, with most of them seeming to know exactly where they were, and where they were going. Teddie was more excitable than ever, and Xander seemed more alert, both adjusting to flora that wasn't badly damaged or dead. Olivia was discussing with Chase and Spencer about what would happen now the portal was open again.

Nora, however, was quiet and barely contributed to the conversations going on, not even to stop Ziggy when he rambled, also suddenly very nervous.

"Wait...what?" Ziggy stopped when the massive tree came into view, complete with a dragon's head carved into the side as an entrance. "Right, I'm-I'm not complaining, but...but that is a dragon's head. In a tree," he said flatly, and Teddie giggled.

"It's Rootcore," she said, smiling softly. "It was the base of operations for the Mystic Force Rangers," she explained.

"Okay, now I'm complaining. We got a garage," Ziggy exclaimed. "Filled with all the noises you'd expect from a garage. How am I supposed to sleep when Dillon and Scott have their engines going all the time?" he demanded.

"Don't sleep in till midday, for starters," Spencer said dryly, and Ziggy rolled his eyes.

"Hey, we all have our own ways of processing being a Ranger. And mine was to sleep off the injuries I collected," he defended. Spencer just arched an eyebrow at him, almost impressed by Ziggy's defence.

"Come on," Ari laughed, approaching as the dragon's mouth opened and she stepped through.

"We're not about to get eaten by a dragon, are we?" Ziggy asked, uncertain.

"Only if you annoy Fireheart," Chase patted his shoulder and followed.

"Wouldn't Aloe Vera work just as well as Chamomile?" Joe asked as he flicked through the book in his hands. "We're low on both, but there's more Aloe Vera left," he considered.

"It's weaker, so we'd need more," Udonna replied as she checked their supplies. "And do not alter recipes simply because you are too lazy to gather the ingredients," she chided patiently. Claire laughed as she stopped stirring the cauldron.

"It's alright, I'll go," she volunteered. Joe grinned as Udonna shook her head. "I wanted to get some more Beetlesbane, so-" Claire gasped, dropping the basket she'd lifted.

"Claire, are you quite alright?" Udonna asked, concerned as they turned to her. Seeing she'd gone pale, they looked around, and Udonna put her hands to her mouth.

"I suppose this is when I have to assure you that we're not ghosts?" Ari tilted her head with a grin.

"You little brat!" Joe's voice was loud as he ran over and almost ran her over with a hug. "All this time, and you just show back up here? Like nothing's wrong?!" he demanded, voice breaking as Ari hugged him back tightly.

"I missed you too bro," she mumbled. Claire was over in a flash, hugging Xander as he laughed.

"I would hope you are not ghosts. They leave a terrible mess," Udonna smiled, tears in her eyes as she approached. Nora took a deep, shaking breath with tears already running down her face, and a moment later she threw herself into her grandmother's arms, crying hard as Udonna pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You see now why I love magic so much, my dear? It brought you all back to us," she laughed quietly, letting Nora cry herself hoarse.

"I can't get it. How do you understand this?" Ziggy asked Teddie as he stared hard at the massive book he'd been told was named the Xenotome.

"Well, how did you learn to read English?" Teddie asked him with a tilt of her head. "It's the same with any language. You have to learn from the start," she told him, and Ziggy nodded, still staring at it like he expected it to suddenly change to something he understood.

After the initial shock had faded, Udonna had contacted the rest of their family and friends to return to Rootcore, and was now fussing over them, seeing the cuts and bruises that still lined Teddie, Ziggy, Spencer and Nora.

"I'm fine, Grandma, honestly," Nora soothed as Udonna checked over her again. "It's all superficial," she insisted.

"You weren't even a Ranger...yet you got beat up just as much," Teddie muttered, and winced as Nora punched her arm. "Hey! I'm still delicate!" she protested, fleeing over to Heckyl.

"Then stop antagonising her," he said, and she pouted at him.

"You're supposed to be on my side," she complained, and he smirked at her, patting her head. Her pout only grew, and Nora glowered at her.

"Hey, we had a lot of Grinders to fight in the Garage when Scott left me in charge of keeping them safe," Ziggy defended, and Nora relaxed as he took her hand.

"Dr. K was right though. The last time I relied on you, we ended up in a cave," she teased, and he went red.

"I'm never living that down, huh?" he asked as Udonna watched them with a smile.

"Mum? What's so urgent that we had to get back here?" Nick called as he hurried inside, and went rigid as he saw the group. Nora stared back, tears returning to her eyes even though she'd been sure she'd cried herself out. "Maddie!" he shouted, staring at Nora like he'd seen a ghost.

"Nick? What's wrong?" Maddie rushed in, and inhaled sharply. "Nora!" she ran over and pulled her daughter into a hug. Nick joined them, hugging so tightly Nora couldn't help but groan.

"Dad...you're gonna crush me," she complained, voice strained. Nick let her go, and couldn't stop himself staring as Maddie checked her over.

"Are you okay? Where have you been? You're hurt! Have you been fighting?" Maddie bombarded her with questions as Ziggy nervously backed away, pale as Nick looked at him.

"I'm fine, it's a long story, it's superficial, and a little," Nora answered with a laugh.

"What is all the noise?" when Althea and Daggeron ran in, Nora laughed even more.

"This is going to take forever," she grinned.

Finally everyone had returned to Rootcore, all of them stunned to see the people they thought they might never see again. After all, the portal had been sealed during a huge battle that had not been going in their favour. And nobody had known where Nora had vanished to, leaving them to wonder if she'd even survived the initial attack.

"I can't believe you trashed your Morpher," Vida commented as Udonna and Althea looked over Xander's battered Morpher, seeing if there was any way to restore it. "Trust you," she grinned, and he rolled his eyes at her.

"I missed you too, V," he said dryly.

"Sounds like you've had quite an adventure," Leánbow considered after they finished telling the story, with Teddie and Spencer telling most of it. "It is good to see you all remained in one piece to return here," he added.

"Most of you. Where is Kendall?" Althea asked Spencer.

"She stayed behind to help get Corinth's computer networks going. Between being limited in what we could use with Venjix around, and the magnetic wave trashing most of the electronics in the city, it's a bit of a mess there," he replied. "I'm going to head back in a few days and help out with that, as well as helping contact the rest of SPD," he added.

"Busy as always," Daggeron commented, and Spencer shrugged.

"And Rangers again," Chip grinned, turning to Ari. "Like there was any doubt they took after you," he taunted, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I wasn't a Ranger again," Chase cleared his throat.

"Yeah, but we all knew you took after Xander more," Vida waved it away. "Only a Ranger once, but involved anyways," she grinned. Olivia laughed as Chase sighed, and Xander put a hand to his face.

"Remind me why it was a good idea to open the portal again?" he asked Ari.

"I'm not sure," her voice was as flat.

"Because you brought Nora back to us," Maddie said, hugging her daughter again. Nora blushed.

"Yeah, mostly in one piece," Nick smirked, and Ari shot him a glare.

"Can't you ever just say thanks and leave it at that?" she complained. Nick shrugged as the others groaned.

"I didn't miss this," Maddie smiled.

"And from what I understand," Ziggy jumped, rigid, as Leánbow put a hand on his shoulder. "This young man was also a help in getting your daughter to safety in the first place," he added. He went red as Nick watched him suspiciously.

"Well-well I can't take much credit, she saved my life a lot," he insisted quickly.

"What's up with you?" Nora tilted her head, seeing how nervous he was. Teddie giggled, and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"He's nervous about meeting the family. I would be too, considering how powerful they are. And speaking of...you gonna tell them about your…'protective trait'?" she asked, and Nora's face lit up red. The others watched as her anger exploded.

"That's it!" Teddie screamed and ran off as Nora gave chase. "Get back here, you brat! Dillon isn't gonna get a chance to beat you senseless!" she shouted as they disappeared out. Heckyl put his hand to his face.

"Now that is very familiar," Xander grinned as they couldn't help but laugh.

"Now Bowen, stop giving him that look," Udonna scolded her son, seeing him still glowering at Ziggy. "Be grateful that he helped bring Nora back to us," she said, as Spencer smirked.

"No, don't stop. Ziggy hasn't been this quiet...ever. It's great," he shook his head, and Ziggy lifted his head to glare at him.

"Maybe I'd have been better going with Dillon," he muttered to himself, and jumped when Maddie put a hand on his arm to get his attention.

"We do appreciate it. Thank you," she smiled, and Ziggy went red.

"H-hey, it's no trouble," he shrugged. "She helped me plenty, both out in the waste and in Corinth. A lot," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "And she helped me learn how to fight, I mean, I went from nothing to kicking Grinder butt!" he exclaimed.

"Yet you still swing that axe like it's the one controlling you," Spencer smirked, and Ziggy shot him another glare. "At least Nora's own armour helped...oh no," he put a hand to his mouth as he realised what he'd said.

"Nora's what?" Nick finally stopped glaring at Ziggy to turn to him. "Did you say armour?" he demanded.

"You're such a blabbermouth," Chase was laughing as Spencer kept his mouth shut. "First you blab about Annie, and now this!" he leaned forwards with laughter as Olivia giggled.

"Nora got armour?" Diana asked, confused.

"You don't mean like a Knight's Mystic Armour? Do you?" Apollo pressed as Spencer refused to elaborate, going bright red.

"Nora!" Nick got up and ran out to find his daughter.

"I think this'll be the longest she won't be mad at me," Ziggy considered.

"She already has her armour? That's so not fair! It took me way longer to get mine!" Chip complained as Leánbow looked delighted.

"I always knew that girl was good," he chuckled.

"Spencer!" Nora's furious yell echoed through Rootcore.

"How did she unlock it?" Udonna wondered aloud, and saw Spencer's eyes dart to Ziggy. "Oh," Udonna covered her mouth as she laughed. "Just like you, my dear," she said to Leánbow, who chuckled again.

"Good to see this place is as loud as ever," Ari grinned as Nora returned, face in her hands as Teddie followed, giggling.

"Thank goodness for that," Althea chuckled.

I have a lot of bias for Mystic Force, so of course I flung the focus here first.

Let me know what you think!