I've come so far [Ranger Meeting Prelude]

They had been alone in the house for a few hours, so they found themself sitting on the roof, looking up at the sky. Their entire family had left a few days prior to visit their grandmother who was very ill, even their father left. But they couldn't, they knew it was important for them to stay there and assist the team the best they could. After all, Jack and Nagisa depended on their power more than anything. So now it was only Quinn and Jack in the house, and the occasional maid that would come in for a few hours to clean. Other than that, the house was empty, and no one coming in and out much. Since the ranger was always busy, he left them alone for hours on end without even calling to check up on them. They understood really, it just felt like he didn't really worry about them as much as they did when he played hero every night. Maybe he knew they had enough power to protect themself in case they found themself in a situation to do so.

"What the...?" Their train of thought was cut off by something moving throughout the sky, it was first a purple streak that shot across their line of vision, but then they noticed the entire sky was turning purple. The clouds, the atmosphere itself, everything was this eerie lavender color. Everything that lit up on the ground also had an amethyst type of color, which had started to hurt their eyes for a second. They stood up and rubbed their eyes, making sure they saw everything correctly, looking up at the sky from the roof. There was no doubt, this was actually happening, and it was some mark of an occasion. What it marked or what it meant was unknown to them, but they knew they had to react fast. Pulling out their cell phone, they scrolled to the contact under the name Jack, texting him and requesting that he came home.

After the text was sent, they went back to the contacts, going down to the N's, coming across Nagisa. They pressed down on her contact, which would start to call her. It rang, the first ring seemed to last forever, the waiting and patients they had to show. The second ring went off, and there was still no answer, but all hope wasn't lost yet. The third ring started but was cut off by the phone being picked up, which caused Quinn to jump a bit. "Nagisa? Are you alright? Have you seen the sky?" They would wait for a response before continuing. "Listen, I'm having Jack come home, I need you to come to my house as soon as possible, we need to devise a plan because it seems someone doesn't want us waiting any longer. I'll text you the address." After saying their goodbyes, they would hang up the phone, moving off the roof and down onto their porch. From there, they entered their room and moved downstairs to the study, sending Nagisa their address in the process. It was time to make a choice, and they could only make it together. Could they all really save the world before it was too late?

"I know I was out when that happened. Anyway I'll tell the driver to change direction. Waiting for your text and see you in a few." Nagisa replied and after she received the text she ordered her driver to change their destination. As her car traveled around Penecia Nagisa couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next. Was Azores going to endure it? Was the entire city going to panic? People's reactions can be catastrophic when they fear for their lives and even Nagisa could feel her pulse rising higher.
After several minutes she reached Quinn's house and once she dismissed her driver she went off ahead on her own, the poor man deserved to be with his family at that moment, perhaps Nagisa should also have a talk with hers. She made a mental memo to talk to her parents about her powers and knocked on Quinn's door. Apparently she had to focus on more urgent matters than explaining supernatural phenomenons to her family.

"So then! We're all agreed!" Jack said aloud to the group he had gathered... This meeting was important, more so then any other he could be attending at the moment, especially ones involving a change in the color of the sky or an event involving Thesis...surely!

"Indeed Red Ranger, I am happy with out decision." Megazord said nodding form within his mind.

"Jack-San! This is completely unacceptable! This leaves me with only half the house! I gatta have at least three more rooms for all my figure arts! My gloryous shrine to Aoi-Tan must be maintained! This is true love we're talking about!" AkibaRed's tantrum was beginning to give Jack a headache! Ever sense he got his prime persona, Megazord had begun complaining about things getting... cramped... inside Jack's head. Turns out, unbeknownst to him, Megazord had set up a swinging bachelor pad in Jack's psyche. Parently it was pretty nice two, a two story condo with a half finished basement. But now that AkibaRed had moved in... well... "And furthermore! Why in gods name will this hunk of Junk only respond to "Megazord" His name is Daizyuzin!"

"For the last time I am NOT my Japanese counterpart! I am the Megazord! Giant Robot of the Mighty Morphen Po-"

"ACH! Don't say it! It hurts to even hear! I've had enough of those stupid Powerful Rangers!"

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT IT ALREADY!?" Jack shouted as he burst from the closet he was sitting in... and crashed to the ground right in front of Quinn. He would look up at them blinking for a moment before waving and smiling from the ground. "Hey! What's up?"

They had set up the study to seat all the rangers on the couches that were in the center, though they hadn't even begun to invite the rest. The doorbell rang and they slowly walked towards the door before being stopped by Jack and his shenanigans. "We don't have time for this, look at the sky and understand what this is about. Call the rest of the rangers, I already have Nagisa here." They'd walk back towards the door, opening it as they took a look outside. "Welcome to Ayer's manor, sorry it's under such unfortunate circumstances." They allowed her to step in, noticing that snow began to fall from the sky. This was turning into one huge mess. Leading her to the study, they would sigh a bit as they passed Jack. "Let in the other rangers and lead them to the study, we're going to have a serious talk for once. Just don't forget to give them the address." Once in the study, they would continue to stand, offering a seat to Nagisa herself. "I can't believe this is happening now. the only good thing is that my family just left for England a few days ago. But we need to figure out how to stop this." It was all so frustrating, why did the forces of evil have to act so fast.

"Yea things are getting crazy out there. A few minutes ago was a nice warm day and now it feels like we're back at Winter. Apparently Thesis has finally made her move." Nagisa replied to the two of them. "Perhaps I should check out the network I set up with Hyde. Have I emailed you the address along with the member's invitation yet?" With all the fuss Jack's awakening caused the side had completely slipped her mind. Perhaps one member from Hyde's team had uploaded something regarding the weather. "Or maybe the Angel lady knows what's going on. I'm sure she has better understanding of Thesis as a being than we do. It's not like we can analyze her after all." She added.

''Out side?'' Jack asked from the ground... what was wrong with outside? Jack got up and marched to the window past Nagisa... wait... Nagisa!? What's she doing here?... Ah well, probably here for a tea party... OH I.. er... Jack hopes it's a tea party! With little doilies and crumpets and-er... RED MEAT! Yeah... And manly stuff... yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaah... Anyway, let's take a quick look outside where everything is surely the exact same as it has always beEEEEH! What the hell is that! What is up with the sky? Looks like the gates to the underworld itself opened up.

''What the hell?... This is bad.'' Jack's teeth groaned as he clenched his teeth. ''Countdown to destruction....'' Without a second's hesitation Jack pulled out his phone and began to send a mass text.


Jack sent the message after adding in Quinn's address... This was bad... He was just glad he got his prime before this whole mess started...

Laying on the floor in the middle of his apartment, Charles was enjoying a little rest. In the midst of all the occurences lately, it was nice to take a break once in a while, even if you were an android. Seriously though, first all the freaky things happening on various islands and now the sky was turning purple... People were already panicked enough before the sky turned the vivid hue. He glanced behind himself out the window. Small, white dots quivered faintly in the air, descending downwards.

...it was snowing in the middle of Summer. Honestly, he was surprised probably only for a split second after witnessing the weather, but then it struck him that this was probably the least odd thing that has happened in a while, and he found himself with a deadpan stare, looking out of the window with annoyance. He got up and approached the window, looking down at the streets. The world was really going to he-

*beep beep*

A noise interrupted Charles and he backed away from the window. What was this? He thought to himself. Something he hadn't heard yet, but something he was sure he knew what the source was, he just couldn't remember in that crucial moment.

*beep beep*

It sounded again, a bit louder than the first time, and Charles started glancing around the room suspiciously. What could i-

*beep beep*

Where was it coming from? What was this sound? A new Persona trick or something like that? Maybe something evil... though it sounded mechanic. And like it was an alert or something. Hmm...

*beep beep! ((notice me, you dork!!!))*

And then it dawned on him, in a moment of enlightenment. It was the phone-a mobile phone he bought just a couple of days earlier. And it was sounding from his jacket's pocket! Oh geez! Charles quickly pulled the phone out of his pocket, an old fashioned one you had to flick open, and opened it. On the screen, a message popped up. A message from Jack!

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Charles arrived at the gates to Quinn's house as soon as he could. On his way, he was constantly followed by the Winter weather. He reached out his hand and rang the doorbell. Hopefully, someone would answer asap.

Their phone buzzed on the table, causing them to move over and grab it, unlocking the screen to pull up the message. "Goddammit Jack you sent me that text as well." They laughed a bit, setting the phone back where they had grabbed it before taking a seat in the chair nearby. "Jack let in anyone who shows up in the next five minutes, whoever shows up late is out of luck, we don't have time to wait." Looking at Nagisa, they'd sigh a bit. "What network? You actually haven't told me about anything you've been up to for awhile. But I agree, one of us should talk to Angel and see what she knows, I have a feeling she knows more than she's letting on. But we also need to talk about Jack's awakening to his new power and what we're going to do for yours; Thesis just takes priority for now." Crossing one leg over the other, they'd look out the window, staring at each little flake that fell. "Jack could you also bring in some Tea? We're humble hosts after all." It's not like Quinn was trying to boss him around, there just wasn't any maids around and they had business to attend to.

Note:

"The persona network is a project of mine. It's a private site where persona users can write reports of their adventures in the alternative worlds so we could gather clues about how we should fight the primordials more easily. However it's still unfinished and still in beta mode, we might find something there but I wouldn't get my hopes up." Nagisa explained before she heard the doorbell ring. "Oh I didn't realize we were expecting more. We should probably wait till everyone is here but we should find a solution to this quickly, no doubt my brother and parents will ask me to return home as soon as possible."

"Charles! Come on in! We're having a tea party." Jack's smile grew as he grabbed Charles indoors.''Look who I found!'' Jack wasted no time dragging Charles into the meeting room. Despite the levity in his voice he knew they didn't have time to mess around. As much as he wanted to sit and shoot the breeze with his robotic bosom buddy, there just wasn't time. "I found this adorible little guy out side and I just had to bring him inside! Can we keep em? Can we can we can we? Oh please!" Jack chuckled as he walked Charles into the room.

"And furthermore, I-wait..." Jack felt his phone vibrate from his pocket. With the quick hands of an experienced phone junky, he pulled his phone from his pocket to check his texts "Looks like Mae won't be making it... Looks like she's looking into a lead. And I feel like Kaz won't be joining us, call it a leader's intuition." Jack sighed and slipped his phone into his pocket and took his seat. "As for tea, I have some of my personal blend brewing as we speak, hope you all like ZyuGreenTea!" it wouldn't be ready quite yet... takes time ya know.

"Now then... The reason Quinn and I called you all here today is to discuss the obvious. The sky. Obviously this is an indication of Thesis or some other malevolent force making a move. So we have to answer in turn. Dose anyone have any pertinent information for the group on the issue? Personally I have a feeling that this might be the first stirrings of that 'Father of the world' or what ever Miss.Divine called him." If that were the case... they had to act now...

"Hi!" Charles waved and smiled at whoever opened his door. It seemed to be Jack, cool. He was sort of nervous one of Quinn's parents or someone would open the door to him, which would be just terrible. He was just about to greet Jack directly when the guy pulled him inside, cuting him off before he even opened his mouth to speak up. "H-hey!?" Charles muttered in distraught, but just went with it and let Jack pull him inside. At least he didn't have to worry about taking his shoes off this way. Jack led him through the house until they entered a room. Charles took a moment to scan the room before noticing both Quinn and Nagisa sitting there. He waved at them silently as Jack continued his silly banter.

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Soon enough, Charles found himself sitting in the room with the trio. Supposedly, Mae (the mere mention of her name was enough to painfully grip Charles's heart) and Kazuya weren't going to come, and Blaez quit, so they were the only ones. The android, rattled by the way he was rushed into this foreign house and feeling as if he was disturbing it somehow with his presence (Quinn was supposed to be rich, right? Whatever the case, it made him uncomfortable sitting there as a commoner.), still listened carefully to his leader's words. What Jack said made him feel really uncomfortable, but he spoke up. "S-so is this that end of the world thing everybody is talking about?" He asked.

"Well I've noticed that the rifts have been acting strangely, I thought it was cause we had been nearing the end of this event, but now I think I can predict what's going to happen. When I entered the rift, it was more painful than before, and I don't think it was just me. It was like I wasn't supposed to be there; what I'm thinking is the rifts are going to close up eventually, but I don't know if that will end this event." They sighed a bit, crossing their legs over each other as they looked towards Jack, then to the others. "I would like to talk about what we're going to do about this, and I think I have an idea on what we should be doing. Jack, you should head out to find leads on why the weather is different. As for me, I think me and Nagisa need to go unlock her next set of power, we'll need it if we expect to be able to fight. Plus we can both handle it alone, so there's no need to worry. Charles, I would like to ask you to remain on standby. If we are thrown into a fight and need your assistance, it will be easier if you're not preoccupied to join us and assist. Though if you would like to find leads as well, I encourage you to." They'd smile again, trying not to sound bossy when they spoke. "Unless anyone has a problem with all of that, then by all means, tell me if we should do something different."

"I believe your plan is solid, Quinn." Nagisa replied. "I will also try to gather more info once we take care of my shadow, in the meantime though I think we should arrange an expedition in the stadium. It was the first place of our world to fall under the primordial control, wasn't it? Perhaps there is something there that Thesis doesn't want us to find." She suggested, it was a risk since it could easily be a trap, still if the world was about to end they had to make everything in their power to stop it. "Of course in the end it's up to Jack to decided, you are our leader after all and I'm afraid that we are at the most critical time of our lives, no matter what we have to make sure that Azores is saved."

Charles was somewhat offput when Quinn told him to remain on standby. Was that supposed to mean they didn't deem him strong enough or something? "..." The android sank deeper into the chair. M-maybe it was best at this time... With all the things happening in his life, he needs to have enough time to take care of them all... He hadn't been doing much Persona stuff lately anyways because of it all. If they decided to count on him for something important, there'd always be a chance he'd be busy at the time.

That thought, meant to ease him a bit, only ended up making him feel even worse. He never really thought about it, but he had never been a powerful asset to the team anyways. Everyone had their specialities while he was just an android with a Persona, there to back them up with his measly strenght. And so Charles sank further as Quinn continued and then Nagisa agreed with her plan. He was just waiting for Jack to do them same and he felt like he would explode... He braced himself for the worst...

But then, when Jack spoke up... and said what he said... It was just, it was more than Charles could handle and he stood up. "Jack..." His eyes sparkled as he pulled himself up from the sinking chair and turned towards Jack. His expression was a mixture of surprise and primal happiness and it carried unshakable resolve. "Alright, I understand." He smiled at Jack, a genuine smile and stood up, holding his fist raised next to Jack's morpher as all his determination returned. He was gonna carry out what Jack wanted, no matter what! Anyhow... now then, what Jack was expecting them to shout... Charles remembered the phrase from that one time they watched Power Rangers together, before he even considered Jack a friend (that time seemed forever lost to Charles as he was now and it was better that way-he never wanted to be along again). Besides, he also knew the name of the device-the morpher, so it could only be that phrase. "Morphing time..?" He said with a smirk, looking in his friend's eyes.