All characters that are definitely known to actually be part of the "Power Rangers" Universe are actually the property of their owner or owners, where applicable. As are the settings of this particular story and any related stories I may write at any time. All other characters and/or settings that are non-native to the "Power Rangers" Universe are of my own creation, and are my property, unless otherwise stated. If they aren't of my own creation, they're actually the property and/or creation of their owner or owners, where applicable.
All poems and/or songs in, at least, this story or series of stories are copyright to and/or of their respective writers, performers, or authors, and/or their owners, wherever applicable, if I'm actually not their writer and/or owner as well. I claim nothing knowingly for my own, people, that isn't actually mine. Just like I'm doing for any other elements and characters that I mentioned in the previous paragraph here, I'm doing that for all of the said poems and/or stories, in fact, people. So the exact same disclaimer applies to them as it does for anything else related to this story and/or its series, at least, if not any other story or stories of mine. That's whenever possible, of course.
I hope that you all happen to enjoy this story quite considerably, and that you'll leave plenty of good reviews for it, while it's still in progress here, by the way. Much more of it will come later, if and whenever possible, in the future, people.
Now with no further ado, if we may, then, let's all get on with the story here, and see what happens next for the Rangers and anyone else they may or may not yet know in their lives, quite obviously enough! And away we go!
Chapter One: Hello, Yellow!
Trini Kwan was at the Youth Center in Angel Grove, California, in September 1990, one Wednesday after school. She had recently turned fifteen years old, and she was with two of her best friends, talking about whatever was then on their minds. At the current time, they were talking about their plans for the upcoming weekend, and about what they hoped to be later on in their lives, if at all possible. A plate with several remaining French fries and a mostly-eaten cheeseburger was in now front of Trini on a table there, as was a tall glass of green tea.
Trini's two best friends were Kimberley Deerfield and Dana Hoyle. At the present time, Trini was in a mostly yellow outfit, Kimberley was mostly in pink, and Dana was mostly in blue and black. Of the three girls, only Trini was Asian, for Kimberley and Dana were both Caucasians. Trini was three-quarters Asian, in fact.
Trini had known Kimberley for about a dozen years, and Dana for about two. Trini hadn't spent her whole life in the Angel Grove area, unlike Kim. For she'd moved there just before her fourth birthday with her parents and her only then-born sibling, while Dana moved there after her thirteenth birthday.
Trini said, "My Dad wants to go riding with me this weekend, if at all possible, K.T., so I don't think I'll be able to go to the beach with you then as we often do." K.T. stood for Kimberley Teresa Deerfield, and Trini was one of the rare few people who could call Kimberley that in her life, as was Dana. "I think we might have to wait on that sort of thing for another week, of course, if I am able to go riding with Dad this weekend. Dad and I aren't always able to get away from our usual commitments, and this is one way that we periodically try to reconnect with each other in our lives." Trini sipped a bit of the tea in front of her here.
"Well, hopefully we'll be able to do that sometime next weekend, then, Trini." Kimberley wasn't very happy to hear that here, of course. And when she did, she frowned briefly. With that done, she then speared a bit of rotisserie chicken with her fork here. "You and your Dad aren't usually often able to ride any horses at Spirit of the Mountains, right?"
"Yes, that's right, Kimberley. Either he's usually busy working on assorted work-related projects, or I'm usually busy with other things that he isn't quite as interested in. We don't often get to spend a lot of time with each other outside of school or work, in fact."
Dana asked, "If he spends most of his waking time working, and not much time with you, then who does he often spend more time with between you and your two brothers, Trini?" Trini took a sip of her remaining tea here as Dana asked her that now.
"He spends considerably more time with Walter and Calvin than he does with me. Walter is my nearer sibling, and he was born in 1978. Calvin was born in 1981." Trini set down her glass of tea by her plate of food again here. She glanced at a nearby clock on the nearest wall of the Youth Center. It was now just before 4:10 in the afternoon, in fact.
"Why is that?" asked K.T., even as she finished her salad here.
"Because by the time I usually get back home from many things that I often do in my life, he is either not home, or he's quite tired from working so much on a typical workday," answered Trini. She finished the rest of her fries, tea, and cheeseburger not long after answering K.T.'s question, in fact.
"And what does he do, just to refresh our memories here, please?" asked Dana.
"Dad is an ecologist, who mainly specializes in certain things often quite related to animal populations, though not entirely. He often works at home in his home office, but has been known to work elsewhere in the area whenever necessary, Dana."
"And your mother is a geneticist, right?" asked Dana, as Trini gathered up her dirty dishes, silverware, and anything else she then needed to here.
"Yes, Mom is a geneticist. She works mainly in the field of Human Genetics, I believe. Though I'm not quite sure about that at the moment. She doesn't share a lot of information about her line of work, and what she does in it. Instead, she is often quite hush-hush about such things, Dana."
Trini left the table, but not before Kimberley asked her to put on some Classical Music through the Youth Center's jukebox. Trini agreed to do so, and started to head off toward a counter where she could deal with her dishes and other necessary things in appropriate enough manners here. She didn't make it there, unfortunately, due to someone rising from their chair elsewhere in the Youth Center, and standing in her way. Trini tried to sidestep them, but they still remained in front of wherever she wanted to go.
This particular someone was mostly in black and dark pink, with a black leather jacket, black jeans, and military-style boots. She was also wearing a chain-style belt. She asked Trini, "Where do you think you're going, little one?"
Trini said, "I was going to take these things where they belonged, ma'am. Please let me do so, without further delay."
"Oh, prim and proper, are we? I don't like people like that. Seems to me that they always have an ulterior motive behind their facade of politeness. How about I take them and you where they belong?" The girl began fingering her belt a bit, as if she was considering the idea of using it on someone or something in the very near future.
"And where's that?" asked Trini, not yet knowing what else the girl might do here, of course.
"In the trash, that's where. At least you, anyway." The girl sneered at Trini with a menacing look in her dark eyes.
"You haven't any reason to be mad at me. I just met you," Trini protested, as she tried to get past that girl again.
"So? I don't like people who think they're better than everyone else. And your politeness reeks of that sort of thing, it seems to me. So I don't like you." The girl blocked Trini's move somewhat easily, and faked a kick to Trini's left knee.
Trini then set the things she was carrying on the nearest available table or counter, while realizing that she might have to fight, due to the girl's obvious dislike for her here. Two seconds or so after that, the girl then suddenly tried to punch her in the stomach. Trini grabbed up an empty chair and blocked that girl's punch with it by using it as a shield to protect herself. Then she ran for a more open area of the Youth Center, with the girl hot on her heels, of course.
When Trini was in a sufficiently open area elsewhere in the Youth Center, she turned and faced her current opponent again. The girl took off her belt and began swinging it towards Trini as she then saw fit. Trini blocked most of those swings with her hands and feet, but still took some hits from the girl. Eventually, though, Trini was able to trap the girl's belt between her hands and keep her from using it against her again in the current fight. That done, even as she ducked a sweeping kick from the girl, she also slid the girl's belt toward the table where Kimberley and Dana had been eating with her. Dana picked it up and held it for the rest of the fight, even as Trini still gathered up all her strength and power for as long as she could in the fight before fighting back with sufficient enough force in the fight.
Eventually, Trini counter-attacked, when the unidentified girl least expected her to do that here. And the girl was soon afterward all the way down on the nearby floor, unable to fight back at the current time. "This fight wasn't necessary, ma'am. It really wasn't necessary," said Trini, eventually, after she refused to finish the girl off, but instead helped her up. And helped her up from where Trini had just rather unexpectedly put her on the floor to unquestionably end the current fight between them in the Youth Center.
"I'll get you back for this. You can be sure of that. I don't know how, when, and where, but I will, I assure you, Canary Girl." The girl called her that because Trini was mostly in yellow at the current time, in fact. Eventually, Dana gave her back her belt, and the girl put it back on where she'd had it earlier. That done, the girl soon left the Youth Center behind here. Not for the last time, though, as would be seen later. Or at least every so often, for that matter.
After the girl left, Trini said, "That was totally unnecessary of her to start a fight." Trini began massaging the parts of her that had taken the most injurious hits, wherever possible. Her legs and back had taken several considerably painful hits each, in fact. And all her fingers were also hurting to some degree here, for the obvious reasons. She would likely be feeling the pain of the hits that she'd taken for at least a little while, if not a long while.
It was now just after 4:30 in the afternoon. Dana soon said, "True, Trini. You didn't do anything to deserve her poor treatment of you. I hope you feel better soon, of course. You're going to sting for a while, perhaps."
"Well, perhaps I can get myself taken care of well enough when I go back home, Dana." Trini winced briefly, as a bit of pain coursed through her left side from where she'd been unable to fully block a swing of the girl's chain-like belt.
Kimberley asked, "Are you going to tell your parents about the fight, or not?"
"No way. Mother would really blow a chromosome or two, at least, if she knew I was fighting, I think, K.T., so I can't tell her. At least not yet, anyway. I want to be able to come here many more times, and if she finds out that I was fighting here, then I might not be able to do that at all. She really doesn't want her children to be fighters, if it can be avoided at all."
"And your Dad?" asked Dana.
"He'd have to tell Mother, obviously enough, Dana."
"So you can't tell him either, I take it," said Dana, as she began handing Trini back her things from the table that they'd all been at earlier.
"Yes. And I'm sorry, but your requested music is going to have to wait for at least one more day, unfortunately, you two." Trini finished taking all her things, and left the Youth Center in very short order for her home. She put her things either on her back or in a basket on her bicycle, and then left the Youth Center's grounds just before 4:40 in the afternoon.
Trini arrived back at her family's residence by 5:05 pm. She went straight to her bedroom, just as soon as she got home, and rather quietly prepared herself for a short shower. Her father greeted her briefly, and she briefly responded to him, when she came in the door, before she could get there, however.. She told him in very short order that she was taking a short shower and that she didn't want to be disturbed until at least 6:15, if not even later than that. He agreed to pass the word along to the rest of their family, of course.
After a shower of about twenty minutes, more or less, she then quickly dressed in a mostly yellow outfit, as was quite often her habit, and went back to her bedroom. Until just before dinner, then, she quite diligently worked on her homework, whatever it was. She finished it all by 6:30 pm, at the very latest, in fact. After she did, she then set all her required books and papers aside on her desk, and prepared herself to have dinner with the rest of her family.
She began to have it with them by 6:45 pm. After a short period of prayer over their family's food led by her father Samuel, the five Kwans began consuming their rice and chicken dinner, among other things that they'd eat and drink during it.
After about the first five or so minutes of them all doing so, Trini's mother Sonora said, 'I hope you were able to learn many more Japanese words and things today in school, Trini." Sonora Kwan was wearing a mostly red and tan outfit now. Her outfit looked quite similar to a Japanese kimono, in fact. But not entirely like one, for there were pockets on the outside of it, for that matter. Her mother's current outfit also basically had a river and floral theme for its pattern's design. A tan-colored river with many flowers of assorted kinds now ran over it, if and wherever possible.
"I learned another hundred or so, I believe, today, Honored Mother," said Trini, in a somewhat deferential manner.
"I see. And did the rest of your classes go well today, as well, Dancer With Bamboo?" Trini quite often practiced her martial arts or dancing moves with bamboo staffs in her hands, whenever she was able to do that at all in her bedroom. Hence her mother often called her that whenever possible in her life, for she'd seen Trini do that many times before in it.
"They went just fine, Honored Mother. I learned much today, in many classes," answered Trini, as she speared a bit of rice with her chopsticks.
"That is good, Graceful Heart," commented her father, as he held some chicken just in front of his mouth briefly here, in between two more chopsticks of his own. "It is always good to learn much. But it is always good, as well, to be able to sufficiently understand what you have been taught."
"Yes, that is true, Precious Leader." Trini was the only child in the family to call him that, for she was the only one who could, at least among her parents' children. Her younger siblings normally called her father in situations like this, "Jade Emperor," because her father had jade-colored eyes and often wore various shades of green around the house, just like he was doing now, with his quite casual attire of the current time. Her father Samuel was dressed the most casually of everyone at the table now, in fact.
"Imperial Majesty, does not comprehension come with knowledge of facts?" asked her mother.
"River Flower, knowledge of certain facts does not necessarily bring understanding to a soul. It often takes time for great wisdom and understanding to spring forth like lava from an erupting volcano, or birds flushed from fields by assorted hunting dogs, for a soul." said her father to her mother.
Walter said, "I think I understand what Father means, Elder Sister. He means that just like a drawing or a painting often takes at least a little time, if not a long time, to take shape fully, so it often is with great wisdom and understanding, I think." Walter normally wore a great deal of black and white, just as he was doing now, in a semi-casual style. Walter was quite good at drawing and painting. And he was most certainly considering a future professional career in animation or in some other similar enough field, if it'd ever be at all possible for him in his life someday, by the way.
"Correct, Soul Painter. That's exactly what I mean," said Samuel to Walter.
"I see. And what do you think of this, Secret Thoughts?" asked Walter of Calvin, who hadn't yet said very much at the table. And basically only when necessary, in fact.
Calvin thought over the question for a few moments, in between bites of some rice and sips of tea. He finally answered, "Elder Brother, the idea that the Jade Emperor has suggested has great merit, in my opinion. I think that it's quite correct, as well." Calvin was now mostly in a light blue and orange outfit similar to that of Walter's, but in a much more business-like style, for he was beginning to consider the idea of eventually going into either business or politics for a career, if not both.
Trini thought about Calvin's answer for a while, and then said, "I agree with Precious Leader, mostly. But Honored Mother does have some logical enough basis for her desire for us to spend much of our time studying and the like, as well, Secret Thoughts and Soul Painter. I have not yet been able to find the proper balance between understanding and knowledge. Perhaps I will find it one day, somehow, in my life."
The rest of the Kwan family's meal was spent mostly in relative silence as they consumed the rest of their food and drink for it. After they did, Trini helped her mother for a little while cleaning up as needed. The boys and their father soon retreated to the family room, as Trini and Sonora handled the cleaning-up process together with each other, to do whatever then crossed their respective minds to do.
After Trini finished helping her mother with the dishes as necessary, she soon asked, "May I go out and go bowling, Honored Mother? It was a rather difficult day for me today, and I'd like to be able to try to wind down before bed, if I can. May I go out, please?"
"One moment, Dancer With Bamboo. Let me confer with the Imperial Majesty."
"As you wish, Honored Mother." Two minutes later, then, her mother returned.
"You may leave. You are excused for the rest of the night. Good night, then. Please try not to stay up too late."
"Of course, Honored Mother. I shall return later, after I have tried to wind down enough tonight. Thank you for letting me go out tonight.
"It was the Imperial Majesty's opinion that you should be allowed to do so, though I felt that you should stay here for the rest of it. As he is the leader of this family, I must accede to his wishes, even if I disagree with him about certain things."
"May I ask Honored Mother why she feels that way?"
"Because I think you need your sleep so that you can function more effectively at school tomorrow, Dancer With Bamboo."
"I see. I promise I'll return here as soon as I possibly can, then, Honored Mother."
"See that you do, then, Trini. For you need your knowledge sleep, I think."
With no further delay, then, Trini briefly hugged her mother, and then scurried off to her bedroom to take care of the necessary things prior to her departure. She was out of her room and through the Kwans' front door, riding away from her family's home, by 8:15 at night.
She set off almost immediately after that for one of the nearby bowling establishments. Little did she yet know that she'd never make it there on the current night. For she rather unexpectedly would be called to duty, and find a Lion where she'd least expect it to on her way to a local bowling alley, while still riding her bicycle.
On the way there, a Lion on the side of a road still somewhat near her family's residence began to stir when she got within a two-mile-radius of it. About a mile or so away from it, more or less, she suddenly heard on her portable tape-player/radio a lion's growl. It somehow cut into whatever she was then listening to on it, and remained on all of its channels, no matter which one she tried changing to on it. After about two or three minutes or so of this, she then thought, "What is going on? Why am I not hearing music instead of a lion's growl now?" She began to ride around and search for the cause of things here, and by 8:30, she found it. It was a Lion that stood about twelve feet high at the shoulder with all four feet on the ground. The lion was about fourteen feet long from its nose to the point where a four-foot-long tail joined its body. She found it in a shed of sorts behind an automobile dealership that sold Ford-made vehicles, after parking her bicycle in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant. She bought a few things and paid for a parking spot there as needed, before leaving her bicycle to look for the Lion.
As soon as she touched it, and was sufficiently alone, a large hatch appeared on the outside of its right foreleg. When she touched that hatch, it slid to one side to reveal many blinking lights inside the Lion. Curiosity got the best of her, and she was drawn to investigate the inside of the Lion. So she stepped into the Lion, and when she was far enough into it, the hatch closed and disappeared from her view here. A minute or so later, a mostly yellow Ranger uniform rose from a yet-unknown slot in a computer console of some sort. It, of course, was in her exact size, and it bore on the center of its chest area a lion's head on a circle. Her helmet was also mostly yellow, except for a black visor and straps and buckles, for that matter. Her helmet was in the approximate shape of a lion's head, where it could be.
She went over to the place where her future uniform was, and examined it for a few brief moments before touching it. Trini then picked it up and examined it even closer still for a few more such moments. As she did so, she brushed her fingers over a device of some sort near the left wrist for the uniform. The device was detachable, as she soon learned. She took the device off the uniform's wrist, and examined it very closely to try to find out what kind of device it was. In fact, it was to be her morphing device, and it was in the approximate shape of a yellow lion's head. As she did that, she suddenly heard a voice coming from it, after she accidentally pressed a button on it.
"Hello, Trini Kwan. Welcome to your Thar of the future. You will be using it to fight evil in your life."
"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" asked Trini, obviously startled when she then heard those words. She looked around, in order to try to find out where they'd come from in the first place.
"I am Zothar. And your finding of this Lion was prophesied long ago, in ancient times. Sit down in the seat behind the front windshield and press the button that says 'Ranger Access' under it. Then you should see a computer screen appear in very short order. Do whatever it tells you to do, and your questions should be answered in very short order, hopefully."
Trini did as instructed, belting herself into her seat when needed here. And then the Lion began automatically moving towards a pre-programmed location elsewhere in the local area, cloaking as it did so. It was now just about 8:40 pm or so.
By 8:50 pm, after taking her somewhere else for about ten minutes, more or less, the Lion uncloaked, and revealed the main hatch to Trini again. By this time, she'd first donned her new Yellow Ranger uniform completely from the top of her helmet to her yellow, white, and black Ranger boots. Zothar had told her how to put on the uniform while the Lion was still moving, of course. No less than two minutes before the Lion stopped inside a vehicle bay of some sort, she was fully in her new Ranger uniform, in any case at all.
Trini left the Lion as soon as she could, and followed some blinking lights in the area as Zothar directed her to do that here. In time, then, the lights led her to what appeared to be a Command Center of some sort. When she got there, she saw a woman at a console. Or at least what appeared to be a woman. For they were actually a female-appearing android of some sort.
The woman-appearing android saw Trini looking at her and around the Command Center, and soon asked, "Who are you looking for, Yellow Ranger Trini Kwan?"
"Zothar. Are you them?"
"No, I'm not. I'm Chelara-Eight. Zothar is in his office at the moment. I'll get him, if you want," said the android, as Trini found a place to sit down at behind another computer console.
"Please do," said Trini, still wondering why she hadn't yet met up with Zothar. Chelara-Eight immediately pressed a few buttons at her current console, and then left the main part of the Command Center here. She left Trini alone there for a while. While Trini was alone, she examined the Command Center at some length, especially where Chelara-Eight had left her there.
Three minutes after Chelara-Eight had left Trini alone in the Command Center, at most, Chelara-Eight returned with a man in his early to middle thirties. This man had a black beard and full moustache to go along with his roughly shoulder-length wavy black hair. A small scar was just below his lower lip as well. He was wearing a mostly red and navy blue sweater and navy blue trousers over a pair of navy blue sneakers.
Chelara-Eight soon introduced Trini to Zothar. Trini soon asked, "Where am I?"
Zothar said, "You are in the Command Center, Trini. This will be the Power Rangers' Headquarters from now on, God willing."
"Why am I here? And not where I was planning to be?"
"Because evil has now escaped from just where it had been imprisoned long ago, Trini. Your assistance is now required to deal with it. Others will join you in the battle soon, when they find their Thars as well." It was now almost 9:15 pm local time.
"What might happen if I don't help?
"Expect much trouble for people in your world, Trini. For they will seek to avenge themselves on those who imprisoned them long ago, or their descendants, as the case might be."
"I see. Do I actually have a choice, then, whether or not I fight against them in the future?"
Zothar said, "Of course you do. But if you don't, then other might not. For you've been chosen as the leader of the Power Rangers. You found the Lion first. If you had found another Thar first, you wouldn't be the chosen leader. But you found the Lion first. So you're meant to be the leader as long as you're a Ranger."
"Fine. I'll fight. But I don't like this sort of thing one bit, just so you know," said Trini, after considering her situation for several minutes.
"Noted, Trini." He conversed for a while with her about several Ranger-related things, before he learned from Chelara-Eight that a strange-looking monster had just appeared in a city park elsewhere in the area.
Two minutes or so later, then, after getting the necessary instructions from Zothar and Chelara-Eight, the Yellow Ranger was back in the Lion. And she was setting off for the park in question where that monster now was beginning to wreak havoc at least a bit. If not a lot of havoc there.
When she got to that park, she hid that Lion behind a sign there, before cloaking it by pressing another button on her morphing device. With that done, she soon exited the Lion, and showed herself to that alien monster. By that time, she had two swords crossed on her back in the approximate shape of lion's teeth. At least for the most part, anyway.
The alien monster soon spotted her, and began shooting at least several hundred, if not more, shards of ice her direction. Trini drew both swords, and began batting away them as best as she could, as she dodged and ducked others that she couldn't bat away well enough to the best of her current ability. Of course, she couldn't avoid being hit by a few of them, for all the obvious reasons. After she was hit by some of them to at least some degree, she then began playing dead, having just come up with the idea to try to trick her enemy at the current time.
The monster fell almost immediately for her gambit, and came to check her out, not knowing if she was beaten for sure yet or not. When the monster got within two inches of her head and abdomen, while bending down to examine her quite closely indeed, she suddenly moved slightly. And she began stabbing her opponent several times very quickly, before her male alien opponent could react fast enough. Each thrust she made with her swords hit something important for the monster. After about forty stabs or so, the monster keeled over and away from her at least a little bit, if not a lot. She scurried away, but before she could get entirely back to her Lion's hiding place, there was a sudden bright flash of light in the sky that struck her opponent, and re-animated him completely, enlarging him considerably as it did so. As soon as it did so well enough here, she heard Zothar say, "Yellow Ranger, you must use the Lion to defeat your enemy now."
"Understood." Trini hurried the rest of the way to her Lion, uncloaked it, and quickly followed whatever instructions Zothar then gave her. She did that for about ten or so minutes, before finally being totally able to destroy the just-regenerated monster of some sort. The enlarged and regenerated monster eventually exploded into mere atoms about twenty seconds after Trini applied the killing stroke to them there, as she began leaving the battle scene as needed, for the obvious reasons. Once its permanent demise was sufficiently confirmed, Zothar had Trini return to the Command Center for a little while, so that her injuries could be dealt with as needed before she left it again for the rest of the night. And so that he and Chelara-Eight could go over the battle with her a bit as well, for that matter.
Trini was back in the Command Center on foot by 10:15 pm local time. For the next fifteen minutes or so, as Chelara-Eight attended to her assorted injuries, Trini discussed the battle she'd fought just now with C-8 and Zothar here. Eventually, they both cleared her to leave the Command Center for the rest of the night. After they did, she soon went back to her Lion, and set off for where she'd found it in the first place. She cloaked it as soon as she was far enough away from the Command Center, and she kept it completely cloaked until it was safe enough for her to do otherwise again. That happened once it was entirely back where she'd found it earlier. When it was, she soon departed it, and did whatever she then needed to do to secure it well enough.
Then she returned to her bicycle, and returned to her home by 11:30 pm. By 11:45, she was in her room, and she'd changed into her usual sleepwear, which was often a mostly yellow nightgown and matching slippers. By midnight, she was lying down in her bed, and she was quite soundly asleep there at that, for that matter. So she stayed until nearly 6:45 in the morning, when she awoke up there as she'd often been known to do before.
So concludes the first chapter of Book One of this story series. If you like what you see of it so far well enough, then you know what to do. That is all. The Professor's office is now closed, but any and all constructive comments will still be welcomed, of course. Flames will be ignored, just so you know.