Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, except for the ones I have
created, etc. Oh, and anything relating to reality is purely coincidental
(If you call these circumstances coincidental).
Author's note: These characters have actually been evolving in my head for a number of years (yes, I did say years). So I think I've finally perfected them and their bios.
Power Rangers: Final Force
Gen sat in the beat up truck, next to her older brother and guardian, with all of their belongings in the back. They were moving home to Angel Grove, where maybe they could make sense of their lives. Leaving Brooklyn was hard, that was for sure. She was leaving her best and only friend behind. Billy, on the other hand, hadn't really made any friends in college, so all he was leaving was test tubes. She sighed. She hadn't cried in years, although she had wanted to. No need to make her any more of a target for school jerks. She was already a geek. She looked over at her brother, who was concentrating on the road and wearing a half grin. He had given up contacts for his glasses shortly after he left Angel Grove.
"What?" She asked, sensing that he was laughing at her inside.
"Tough as nails." He said.
"Excuse me?"
"I haven't seen you cry yet, and you've just uprooted your whole life."
"I don't cry, Billy. You know that." He frowned. They passed a sign that read, "Angel Grove city limits". He drove a little farther, and then turned into a trailer park. They drove up to the tiny trailer that would now be their home, and parked.
"We're here." Billy said flatly.
"Talk about stating the obvious." Gen muttered under her breath. They untied the tarp, and began unpacking their meager possessions. Gen dropped what turned out to be a box of books on her foot. "D-n" She muttered. Billy overheard this one.
"Genesis Taylor Cranston, what have I told you about your language?"
"Sorry." She grunted, dragging the box inside.
~~
After several hours of unpacking, there was a knock. Billy looked through the peek hole. He grinned. He opened the door, and greeted his old friends, Tommy and Kimberly, who had gotten married shortly after graduation. Their daughter was standing with them.
"Hey! You made it!" Tommy exclaimed.
"Have I ever not?" Billy replied with a joking air. "Come on in. We're just unpacking." They came in, and sat down. Gen peeked out at the girl from behind her bedroom door. She was tall with blond hair. She was about Gen's age, and wearing a jean skirt and tight pink top. She was rather pretty, and Gen found she was comparing herself to the girl. Gen wasn't really pretty. One girl in her old school called her an androgyne. She guessed that was right. She and Billy looked uncannily similar. Both had short, brown blond hair, green eyes, glasses, and round faces. Were it not for the age difference, they could have passed as twins. Gen shared Billy's love of science, and dressed the part. She was wearing worn jeans and a blue sweatshirt. She looked down at her old, battered sneakers. Then she did what she always did; thought analytically. Doing this always shut down her emotions. Emotions just got in the way most of the time.
"Gen, come on out." Billy called. "Why don't you come meet Maggie?" He was acting like a dad again. He was better as a brother. She shut out all emotions again as she entered what was supposed to pass for a living room in this dump, and watched as Billy's friends jumped. She almost smiled thinking that she could be her brother's younger clone.
"Hi." She said flatly.
"God, Billy, she even talks like you." Kimberly said, amazed. Gen caught herself in the same half smile her brother wore. Tommy shivered. This had to be the weirdest thing he'd ever seen. Well, he'd never been to New York. Their looks never fazed anyone there. But then again, most people in her class always asked what gender she was. Or called her a geek, or a nerd, or sometimes gay. That was the worst. Two guys had even taken to calling her John instead of Gen. They almost dragged her into the boys' bathroom to pull down her pants once, when she spun around and sent a reverse punch into one of the bullies' stomachs, and a back fist into the other's head. It worked, and she was able to get a restraining order.
"Hi, I'm Margaret, but you can call me Maggie." She said, and held out her hand. She had the high-pitched melodic voice of an obnoxious person. Best not make friends with her.
"Gen." Gen replied, and shook her hand.
"Short for Jennifer?"
"Short for Genesis."
"Oh. Do you want to go talk somewhere or something?" she asked.
"Let's go to my room." Maggie got up and followed Gen.
Almost instantly, Maggie changed.
"Look, our parents might want us to be friends-"
"He's my brother, not my dad."
"I don't care, just stay away from me at school. I don't need your nerdiness to ruin my reputation. Got it?"
"Sure." Gen used her favorite tactic: Use few words that are small, and seem like you don't know much. It worked, usually. Thankfully, Maggie's parents called her out to leave. Gen politely saw her to the door.
~~
As soon as the family had left, Gen looked at Billy.
"Do I really have to start school tomorrow?"
"Yes, Gen. You do. Get some rest." He went to his own room. Gen went to hers, and almost immediately went to sleep, dreading her first day.
~~
"Class, please welcome our new student, Genesis Cranston." The teacher said. Gen had dressed in her nicest school clothes: baggy overalls, and a blue plaid t-shirt that went well with her eyes. She searched the crowd of the class for a friendly face. Nothing. She sighed, and took a seat. Maggie was sitting behind her. She passed Gen a note. Gen opened it.
Dear Gen,
Don't forget, stay away from me. If you don't, I'll ruin you're
reputation, and you haven't got one yet. Clear?
-Maggie
Gen took out her pen. Nothing fancy.
Dear Maggie,
Crystal clear. In fact, I can see right through.
-Gen
P.S. You used the contraction "you're" incorrectly. It should be
"your".
Didn't you ever study English?
Perfect. Let her sweat. She would be pretty dumb to not get that one. Gen passed her note back. Maggie poked her in the back with a sharpened pencil.
"What?" Gen asked. Maggie gave her a dirty look. Gen just shrugged and turned around to explore the exciting and already learned world of chemistry.
~~
Lunch came around quickly, and Gen sat by herself. Two boys approached her. One was gothic looking, and wearing black. The other was dressed in red.
"Hi. Gen, right? I'm Theo." The boy in red said. "Could we sit here?"
"Sure. I'm not saving any seats." Gen replied.
"He's Joel." The boy wearing black said. This was odd.
"Um, did he-?"
"Yeah, don't worry. Joel does that a lot." Theo replied. "Our parents actually told us to talk with you. Apparently our parents were friends in high school."
"Billy is not my parent. He's my brother." Gen explained.
"Joel doesn't care. He thinks it's all good." Gen shook her head. She would never get used to that. "Do you want me to stop with the third person bit?" Joel asked.
"Yes. Please. It's a little weird, and I know weird." Gen said, with a bit of a laugh.
"So your brother is Billy, huh. I saw pictures from the high school days. My dad is Adam." Theo explained.
"And my dad's Rocky." Joel said. Gen grinned. Maybe she would make friends here.
~~
After school went out, Theo and Joel showed her the Youth Center. There was a karate mat in the middle of the floor. A lightly chubby man stood behind the counter, making smoothies.
"Hey, Ernie." The boys said in unison.
"This is Gen. Gen, Ernie." Theo made introductions.
"Hi, Gen. Are you new?"
"Yeah, I just moved back, actually."
"Oh, so you've lived here before?"
"When I was younger." Gen said.
"Hey, Ernie, Joel wants to know, wasn't Billy one of your regulars?" Joel asked, speaking in the third person again.
"Um, yeah, actually. He went to college a while ago, though." Ernie asked, surprised.
"Billy's my brother." Gen said. Ernie was really shocked, this time. Gen was giving her half smile again. Ernie grinned.
"Well, then, tell him hi for me."
"Why don't you just tell me here." Billy said as he walked in. Both smiled.
"So, then, what'll it be?" Ernie asked, grinning incredibly.
~~
After the catching up was done, Gen caught sight of Maggie, coming up behind her brother. She shook her head in disgust, and walked up.
"Maybe you boy's should know, Gen doesn't date boys. She only dates girls." Gen quit allowing her emotions to get in the way. Unfortunately, Billy did.
"Margaret Oliver, I hope I didn't just hear that coming out of your mouth." Maggie jumped and gasped. "Do I need to have a talk with your parents?" She shook her head, and walked quickly away.
"I see you've met Maggie. Biggest bee with an itch in the school." Theo remarked. "The little groupie over there is Maggie's only real friend, Rose. Rose's okay. She would rather be nice than popular."
"Ahhh. So I take it you've had run ins with Maggie too?" Gen asked.
"Joel and Theo have both gotten on Maggie's bad side. Joel doesn't really like Maggie." Gen caught Billy raising an eyebrow.
"Does he-?"
"Yeah. You get used to it, apparently." Gen replied, then shrugged. Theo was watching some karate students practicing on the mats. Billy looked at his watch.
"Whoa! I'm late. Gen, be home by six, okay?"
"'Kay. Have a good time at whatever." Billy kissed her cheek and waved goodbye.
~~
Walking behind the Youth Center, Billy met up with his old friends; Tommy, Kimberly, Adam, Aisha, and Rocky.
"You all got called to, huh." Billy remarked. Tommy nodded, holding up his old communicator.
"I got beeped, and told to meet back here. Let's go." All stood and teleported. Just like old times, Billy thought.
~~
As the former rangers touched down in the old Command Center, they were all stunned by how familiar it looked. In fact, this was the original.
"Ay-yi-yi! Ranger's you made it!"
"Alpha!" All six exclaimed in unison. Sudden chatter erupted, asking questions, greeting, and general speculation about what was going on.
"RANGERS" That was definitely familiar. Tommy turned.
"Zordon? You're back? What's going on?" Tommy looked to the others, noting that all were grinning.
"I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOUR RETURN. BEHOLD THE VEIWING GLOBE." All turned.
"Ay-yi-yi! Zordon, Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd are back!"
"EXACTLY. RANGERS, YOU ARE NOW TO BE THE MENTORS OF THE NEWEST RANGERS." Billy raised one eyebrow.
"New Rangers? Somehow I have a feeling about this." He started smiling. Then he checked his watch. Six o'clock. Gen and the others would be home now. Five colored beams of light landed in the Command Center. Gen, Theo, Joel, Maggie, and Rose appeared. Gen's face suddenly lit up as she realized where she was.
"No way! There is no way in the periodic table of the elements that this could be happening!" She looked up. Zordon was smiling at her. "Hi." Billy's face began turning red with suppressed laughter. Then he started shaking. Aisha looked rather confused.
"What's so funny?"
"That's the same way she addresses everyone, but somehow I wasn't expecting that."
~~
The next day at school, Gen and the rest of the team were in wood shop. The teacher had left, leaving the school bully, Percy, in charge. Gen recognized his type almost immediately. He began harassing Maggie.
"Stop! Just stop! Let me work!" He grinned evilly, shoved her into the hutch she was making, and locked the door. Gen turned around.
"You'd better stop." She said. He looked at her. Then he laughed.
"What're you gonna do? Hit me with a pencil? Do some geekie nerdy girl thing on me?" Gen nodded to the rest of the team, who in turn, pulled out scrap wood. Gen landed a perfectly executed kick on the first board, slammed her foot into another, broke two with the heel of her hand, and smashed through another with a side kick. Then she stood squarely in front of Percy.
"That's what I'll do, but not to scrap wood next time." Percy's face paled, and he quickly left the room. Gen unlocked the hutch, and let Maggie out. Maggie looked at her.
"I don't get it. You could have gotten perfect revenge for those things I said to you, and yet, you scared the scum out of the school bully. Why?"
"Well first of all, you can't scare the scum out of scum. Secondly, I was going to leave you in there for a while, but then I remembered something a friend of mine back in Brooklyn told me when my worst enemy and I were paired for study buddies. He told me 'You may not like each other, but you are a team, and teams help each other out.' That's why I did it."
Author's note: These characters have actually been evolving in my head for a number of years (yes, I did say years). So I think I've finally perfected them and their bios.
Power Rangers: Final Force
Gen sat in the beat up truck, next to her older brother and guardian, with all of their belongings in the back. They were moving home to Angel Grove, where maybe they could make sense of their lives. Leaving Brooklyn was hard, that was for sure. She was leaving her best and only friend behind. Billy, on the other hand, hadn't really made any friends in college, so all he was leaving was test tubes. She sighed. She hadn't cried in years, although she had wanted to. No need to make her any more of a target for school jerks. She was already a geek. She looked over at her brother, who was concentrating on the road and wearing a half grin. He had given up contacts for his glasses shortly after he left Angel Grove.
"What?" She asked, sensing that he was laughing at her inside.
"Tough as nails." He said.
"Excuse me?"
"I haven't seen you cry yet, and you've just uprooted your whole life."
"I don't cry, Billy. You know that." He frowned. They passed a sign that read, "Angel Grove city limits". He drove a little farther, and then turned into a trailer park. They drove up to the tiny trailer that would now be their home, and parked.
"We're here." Billy said flatly.
"Talk about stating the obvious." Gen muttered under her breath. They untied the tarp, and began unpacking their meager possessions. Gen dropped what turned out to be a box of books on her foot. "D-n" She muttered. Billy overheard this one.
"Genesis Taylor Cranston, what have I told you about your language?"
"Sorry." She grunted, dragging the box inside.
~~
After several hours of unpacking, there was a knock. Billy looked through the peek hole. He grinned. He opened the door, and greeted his old friends, Tommy and Kimberly, who had gotten married shortly after graduation. Their daughter was standing with them.
"Hey! You made it!" Tommy exclaimed.
"Have I ever not?" Billy replied with a joking air. "Come on in. We're just unpacking." They came in, and sat down. Gen peeked out at the girl from behind her bedroom door. She was tall with blond hair. She was about Gen's age, and wearing a jean skirt and tight pink top. She was rather pretty, and Gen found she was comparing herself to the girl. Gen wasn't really pretty. One girl in her old school called her an androgyne. She guessed that was right. She and Billy looked uncannily similar. Both had short, brown blond hair, green eyes, glasses, and round faces. Were it not for the age difference, they could have passed as twins. Gen shared Billy's love of science, and dressed the part. She was wearing worn jeans and a blue sweatshirt. She looked down at her old, battered sneakers. Then she did what she always did; thought analytically. Doing this always shut down her emotions. Emotions just got in the way most of the time.
"Gen, come on out." Billy called. "Why don't you come meet Maggie?" He was acting like a dad again. He was better as a brother. She shut out all emotions again as she entered what was supposed to pass for a living room in this dump, and watched as Billy's friends jumped. She almost smiled thinking that she could be her brother's younger clone.
"Hi." She said flatly.
"God, Billy, she even talks like you." Kimberly said, amazed. Gen caught herself in the same half smile her brother wore. Tommy shivered. This had to be the weirdest thing he'd ever seen. Well, he'd never been to New York. Their looks never fazed anyone there. But then again, most people in her class always asked what gender she was. Or called her a geek, or a nerd, or sometimes gay. That was the worst. Two guys had even taken to calling her John instead of Gen. They almost dragged her into the boys' bathroom to pull down her pants once, when she spun around and sent a reverse punch into one of the bullies' stomachs, and a back fist into the other's head. It worked, and she was able to get a restraining order.
"Hi, I'm Margaret, but you can call me Maggie." She said, and held out her hand. She had the high-pitched melodic voice of an obnoxious person. Best not make friends with her.
"Gen." Gen replied, and shook her hand.
"Short for Jennifer?"
"Short for Genesis."
"Oh. Do you want to go talk somewhere or something?" she asked.
"Let's go to my room." Maggie got up and followed Gen.
Almost instantly, Maggie changed.
"Look, our parents might want us to be friends-"
"He's my brother, not my dad."
"I don't care, just stay away from me at school. I don't need your nerdiness to ruin my reputation. Got it?"
"Sure." Gen used her favorite tactic: Use few words that are small, and seem like you don't know much. It worked, usually. Thankfully, Maggie's parents called her out to leave. Gen politely saw her to the door.
~~
As soon as the family had left, Gen looked at Billy.
"Do I really have to start school tomorrow?"
"Yes, Gen. You do. Get some rest." He went to his own room. Gen went to hers, and almost immediately went to sleep, dreading her first day.
~~
"Class, please welcome our new student, Genesis Cranston." The teacher said. Gen had dressed in her nicest school clothes: baggy overalls, and a blue plaid t-shirt that went well with her eyes. She searched the crowd of the class for a friendly face. Nothing. She sighed, and took a seat. Maggie was sitting behind her. She passed Gen a note. Gen opened it.
Dear Gen,
Don't forget, stay away from me. If you don't, I'll ruin you're
reputation, and you haven't got one yet. Clear?
-Maggie
Gen took out her pen. Nothing fancy.
Dear Maggie,
Crystal clear. In fact, I can see right through.
-Gen
P.S. You used the contraction "you're" incorrectly. It should be
"your".
Didn't you ever study English?
Perfect. Let her sweat. She would be pretty dumb to not get that one. Gen passed her note back. Maggie poked her in the back with a sharpened pencil.
"What?" Gen asked. Maggie gave her a dirty look. Gen just shrugged and turned around to explore the exciting and already learned world of chemistry.
~~
Lunch came around quickly, and Gen sat by herself. Two boys approached her. One was gothic looking, and wearing black. The other was dressed in red.
"Hi. Gen, right? I'm Theo." The boy in red said. "Could we sit here?"
"Sure. I'm not saving any seats." Gen replied.
"He's Joel." The boy wearing black said. This was odd.
"Um, did he-?"
"Yeah, don't worry. Joel does that a lot." Theo replied. "Our parents actually told us to talk with you. Apparently our parents were friends in high school."
"Billy is not my parent. He's my brother." Gen explained.
"Joel doesn't care. He thinks it's all good." Gen shook her head. She would never get used to that. "Do you want me to stop with the third person bit?" Joel asked.
"Yes. Please. It's a little weird, and I know weird." Gen said, with a bit of a laugh.
"So your brother is Billy, huh. I saw pictures from the high school days. My dad is Adam." Theo explained.
"And my dad's Rocky." Joel said. Gen grinned. Maybe she would make friends here.
~~
After school went out, Theo and Joel showed her the Youth Center. There was a karate mat in the middle of the floor. A lightly chubby man stood behind the counter, making smoothies.
"Hey, Ernie." The boys said in unison.
"This is Gen. Gen, Ernie." Theo made introductions.
"Hi, Gen. Are you new?"
"Yeah, I just moved back, actually."
"Oh, so you've lived here before?"
"When I was younger." Gen said.
"Hey, Ernie, Joel wants to know, wasn't Billy one of your regulars?" Joel asked, speaking in the third person again.
"Um, yeah, actually. He went to college a while ago, though." Ernie asked, surprised.
"Billy's my brother." Gen said. Ernie was really shocked, this time. Gen was giving her half smile again. Ernie grinned.
"Well, then, tell him hi for me."
"Why don't you just tell me here." Billy said as he walked in. Both smiled.
"So, then, what'll it be?" Ernie asked, grinning incredibly.
~~
After the catching up was done, Gen caught sight of Maggie, coming up behind her brother. She shook her head in disgust, and walked up.
"Maybe you boy's should know, Gen doesn't date boys. She only dates girls." Gen quit allowing her emotions to get in the way. Unfortunately, Billy did.
"Margaret Oliver, I hope I didn't just hear that coming out of your mouth." Maggie jumped and gasped. "Do I need to have a talk with your parents?" She shook her head, and walked quickly away.
"I see you've met Maggie. Biggest bee with an itch in the school." Theo remarked. "The little groupie over there is Maggie's only real friend, Rose. Rose's okay. She would rather be nice than popular."
"Ahhh. So I take it you've had run ins with Maggie too?" Gen asked.
"Joel and Theo have both gotten on Maggie's bad side. Joel doesn't really like Maggie." Gen caught Billy raising an eyebrow.
"Does he-?"
"Yeah. You get used to it, apparently." Gen replied, then shrugged. Theo was watching some karate students practicing on the mats. Billy looked at his watch.
"Whoa! I'm late. Gen, be home by six, okay?"
"'Kay. Have a good time at whatever." Billy kissed her cheek and waved goodbye.
~~
Walking behind the Youth Center, Billy met up with his old friends; Tommy, Kimberly, Adam, Aisha, and Rocky.
"You all got called to, huh." Billy remarked. Tommy nodded, holding up his old communicator.
"I got beeped, and told to meet back here. Let's go." All stood and teleported. Just like old times, Billy thought.
~~
As the former rangers touched down in the old Command Center, they were all stunned by how familiar it looked. In fact, this was the original.
"Ay-yi-yi! Ranger's you made it!"
"Alpha!" All six exclaimed in unison. Sudden chatter erupted, asking questions, greeting, and general speculation about what was going on.
"RANGERS" That was definitely familiar. Tommy turned.
"Zordon? You're back? What's going on?" Tommy looked to the others, noting that all were grinning.
"I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOUR RETURN. BEHOLD THE VEIWING GLOBE." All turned.
"Ay-yi-yi! Zordon, Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd are back!"
"EXACTLY. RANGERS, YOU ARE NOW TO BE THE MENTORS OF THE NEWEST RANGERS." Billy raised one eyebrow.
"New Rangers? Somehow I have a feeling about this." He started smiling. Then he checked his watch. Six o'clock. Gen and the others would be home now. Five colored beams of light landed in the Command Center. Gen, Theo, Joel, Maggie, and Rose appeared. Gen's face suddenly lit up as she realized where she was.
"No way! There is no way in the periodic table of the elements that this could be happening!" She looked up. Zordon was smiling at her. "Hi." Billy's face began turning red with suppressed laughter. Then he started shaking. Aisha looked rather confused.
"What's so funny?"
"That's the same way she addresses everyone, but somehow I wasn't expecting that."
~~
The next day at school, Gen and the rest of the team were in wood shop. The teacher had left, leaving the school bully, Percy, in charge. Gen recognized his type almost immediately. He began harassing Maggie.
"Stop! Just stop! Let me work!" He grinned evilly, shoved her into the hutch she was making, and locked the door. Gen turned around.
"You'd better stop." She said. He looked at her. Then he laughed.
"What're you gonna do? Hit me with a pencil? Do some geekie nerdy girl thing on me?" Gen nodded to the rest of the team, who in turn, pulled out scrap wood. Gen landed a perfectly executed kick on the first board, slammed her foot into another, broke two with the heel of her hand, and smashed through another with a side kick. Then she stood squarely in front of Percy.
"That's what I'll do, but not to scrap wood next time." Percy's face paled, and he quickly left the room. Gen unlocked the hutch, and let Maggie out. Maggie looked at her.
"I don't get it. You could have gotten perfect revenge for those things I said to you, and yet, you scared the scum out of the school bully. Why?"
"Well first of all, you can't scare the scum out of scum. Secondly, I was going to leave you in there for a while, but then I remembered something a friend of mine back in Brooklyn told me when my worst enemy and I were paired for study buddies. He told me 'You may not like each other, but you are a team, and teams help each other out.' That's why I did it."