BACK INTO ACTION
01. CHAPTER ONE
Adam Park was one of the few Rangers to have remained in Angel Grove. He'd watched the others leave one by one, until he was the last one left. Tommy had left for college up north, Katherine went to England to study ballet, Tanya headed back to Africa to visit her family, and Justin had eventually moved to Chicago with his father. Carlos and the other Astro Rangers had been in the city for a while, but had eventually relocated to KO-35 after the war with Astronema. He didn't blame them, for they were less likely to be mauled by rabid Power Ranger fans after they were forced to reveal their identities there than they were here on Earth. He received letters, e-mails, and phone calls from the lot of them for a while, but even eventually that stopped.
Things just weren't the same anymore.
It had been nearly ten years since Adam had donned the spandex suit and helmet of a Ranger, and while he did miss it at times, he found life without the burden of having to save the world from the forces of evil to be rather enjoyable. He'd opened up his own dojo - something he always thought Tommy would beat him to - here in Angel Grove and had been doing quite well with it. He brought in enough money to keep his bills paid and had the pleasure of watching several of his students enter contests and advance to nationals with the knowledge they'd learned from him. It was a sort of pride he couldn't quite describe, watching one of your students hold that trophy high into the air and smile at you in thanks and appreciation for helping them get there.
He watched as the last group of students for this particular day left, some of them waving to him as they passed through the door. Adam waved back with a smile, moving over to the locked box in a corner of the room to place a cheque he'd been given by a student's parent for this months tuition, placing the cheque within and locking the box back up. The bank was closed by now, so he'd have to stop by on his way back to the dojo in the morning to deposit it. So, he tossed the box into his duffel bag with his towel, slipped on his shoes, and headed for the door himself.
He'd been fiddling with his keys to find the right one to lock up with, when a bright light from behind made him drop both his keys and the duffel bag. Instincts drilled into him due to years of martial arts and his experience as a Ranger made him whirl around and drop into a fighting stance, arms up to protect his face, ready for whatever challenge this may be.
"Adam Park," a booming, yet airy, voice sounded as the light grew brighter, making Adam close his eyes tight and look away to avoid the vibrant glare. "You are needed once more."
"Needed for what?"
Adam raised his hands a bit higher so that his arms were blocking some of the light from hitting his eyes directly. Squinting, he was able to make out the armored form of what appeared to be a knight of some kind. Only, it didn't look like a medieval knight...more like a LEGO® knight, at least it looked that way to him.
When the figure didn't answer his first question, he asked another. "Who are you?"
"I am the Sentinel Knight, protector of the Corona Aurora."
Sentinel Knight? Coronoa Aurora? None of this made sense to Adam in the least bit. He was well aware that this was something Ranger-related, but why this Sentinel Knight was talking to him boggled his mind. He wasn't a Power Ranger anymore and hadn't been since before the turn of the 21st Century.
The light dimmed some and Adam lowered his arms a bit. "Look, I don't know what this is all about exactly, but you should know that I'm not--"
"A Power Ranger anymore," the Sentinel Knight finished for him with a knowing nod. "Yes, I know."
Adam relaxed a bit, but still kept his guard up. He wasn't sure if this guy was friend or foe yet.
"The Rangers of now are without their powers and the Coronoa Aurora is unprotected. As it's guardian, I must see to it's protection. If you are willing, I would like to make you one of the new protectors of the Crown of the Gods."
Whatever he had been expecting to happen today, it was not this. Was this guy asking him if he wanted to be a Power Ranger again? But, that wasn't possible...was it? Sure, he'd been able to use his now useless power coin to morph a few years back, but that had hardly lasted. The morph had destabilized rather quickly and had proved to be a bad idea in the end, but luckily Carlos had come to his senses in time.
"But that's--" Adam started, but the Sentinel Knight cut him off.
"Not possible? Oh, I think not."
Without giving him any sort of warning or explanation, the Sentinel Knight gave a simple wave of his hand and Adam suddenly found himself peering out the tinted visor area of what he knew to be a Ranger helmet. He hadn't gazed out one of these in years, but it was a sight he could recognize instantly. He stared down at his hands and taking note of the black diamonds that decorated the gauntlet part of his gloves, he knew which of his three Ranger forms he was.
The original Black Ranger.
For a moment, Adam just stood there, eyes locked upon his gloved hands, before raising them up to touch the familiar contours of the decorated helmet, then feeling for the Blade Blaster at his side. Lowering his hands to his side, he looked up to the Sentinel Knight. "How...?"
"I possess certain...abilities," the Knight answered matter-of-factly, as if that would explain everything. "Come, it is time to meet the others."
Adam was about to inquire about these 'others,' when he felt the familiar pull of teleportation upon his being, and in a flash of black-tinted light, found himself standing in a strange forest, the Sentinel Knight nowhere to be found. However, when he turned around to search further for the Knight, he caught side of a Yellow Ranger he didn't recognize without her helmet on.
"Uhh..."
At the slight sound of his mutter, the Yellow Ranger whirled around, the helmet held before her in both of her hands. The design reminded him of Kimberly's helmet. She looked surprised to see him and opened her mouth as if to question who he was, then shut it and let go of the helmet with one hand to point at him in an almost accusing manner.
"You're Adam!" She exclaimed, finally speaking. "I remember you from Dr. O's video!"
"Doctor Who?"
"Dr. O," she repeated. "As in Oliver. Tommy Oliver?"
Adam hesitated for a moment, then reached up and removed his own helmet. "You know Tommy?"
"Yeah, I was a student of his. I also kinda fought along side him in the y'know--" she gestured to her suited self "--Ranger sense."
His eyes widened in surprise. "Tommy was a Ranger again? I mean, after--"
"He gave up his powers as the Red Turbo Ranger? Yeah. He made a comeback about four years ago, only this time as the Black Dino Ranger."
"Black?" Adam gave a shake of his head. "That guy's been more colors and Rangers than half of us put together. How'd you know I wasn't Zack?"
"Simple," she said with a knowing smile, "in the video, it shows Zack passing his powers on to you and the powers dying with you. I figured, if that Sentinel Knight guy was going to bring back the original Black Ranger, it would be the one who last had the power. Besides, you wouldn't have responded to me calling you Adam if you were Zack."
Tommy had made a video of them? Adam didn't know whether to be flattered or worried. Though, he had to admit, whoever this girl was, she was pretty smart. "Well, you seem to know my name, but I haven't got a clue as to what your's is."
The girl lightly slapped one of her gloved hands against her forehead and muttered something about babbling and being ditzy, then offered, "I'm Kira. Kira Ford."
Adam wrinkled his brow in thought as her name struck a sense of familiarity. He'd never met this girl before now, yet her name sounded very familiar. Why was that?
Kira seemed to notice him struggling to figure out who she was, so she offered up, "That'd be me," with a humble shrug, "the pop star."
"You're that Kira Ford?"
She shrugged again and gave him a genuinely innocent look. "Guilty as charged."
Adam ran a gloved hand through his hair. "We really do come from all walks of life these days."
"I'd have to agree with that statement," sounded a new voice to their left. The accent that laced it sounded very similar to Katherine's, though it was male, Adam noted.
A Green Ranger, wearing perhaps the most unusual Ranger suit Adam had ever seen waved to them, seemingly not at all phased by seeing two unfamiliar Rangers without their helmets on.
Coming upon them, he followed suit and removed his own helmet, flashing a rather vibrant smile as he did so. He extended a hand towards Adam. "Hi, I'm Xander. Xander Bly. Green Mystic Ranger. Guess you two are in on this crown protecting gig as well, eh?"
Adam nodded, "That'd be the one," and took Xander's hand, giving a firm shake. "I'm Adam Park, and this here is Kira Ford."
Xander's eyes widened and he turned sharply to her, pointing with the hand that had just shook Adam's. "You're that--"
"Pop star? Yes, I'm her." Kira seemed to be a bit embarrassed by her more well-known personality.
"The Kira Ford is a Power Ranger? Madison is going to flip when I tell her!"
Kira looked momentarily alarmed. "W-who's Madison?"
Xander laughed and waved a hand at her, dismissing the notion that he was going to blab to the world that Kira Ford was a Power Ranger. "She's another Ranger from the team I was originally with. Big fan of your's. She's our Blue Ranger."
"Blue Ranger?" Adam shook his head once more. "Tommy's been back in action as a Black Ranger and there's a female Blue Ranger. Man, things sure have changed since I last did this."
"What's wrong with female Blue Rangers, hmm?"
The three Rangers whirled around to face yet another newcomer, standing upon a boulder with her hands upon her hips. Adam pointed to her and asked Xander if that was the Madison he was referring to, despite the fact that Xander and the new girl's suits looked nothing alike.
Xander shook his head and Kira laughed, informing Adam, "That's Tori Hanson, the Blue Wind Ranger."
Turning to her, Adam raised an eyebrow. "Tommy's video again?"
"Partially. Also fought alongside her after she tried to kill us." At Adam's confused expression, Kira added: "Long story."
"It usually is," Adam acknowledged with a nod.
The group turned back to Tori, who had hopped off the boulder and was now walking towards them. She made no move to remove her helmet, but the visor and plate-like area that covered her mouth receded into the back of the helmet, revealing her face.
Adam held his own helmet in one hand, tapping the visor with one finger. "Too bad ours don't do that. Pretty convenient. Wonder why Zordon never built that feature into our helmets," he wondered aloud, prompting an answer from a fifth and final voice.
"You knew Zordon!?"
A Red Ranger stood behind them, helmet already off, and looking to Adam in the same manner as Xander had been gazing at Kira a few minutes earlier. "You really knew Zordon?" He repeated.
Adam nodded, a bit baffled by this newcomer's reaction to hearing Zordon's name. "Yeah, I did back in the day."
"Who's this Zordon fellow?" Xander questioned, clearly lost.
Kira opened her mouth to answer with yet another reference to Tommy's video, but the Red Ranger beat her to it. However, he didn't exactly give Xander an answer, merely questioned with an air of disbelief, "You don't know who Zordon of Eltar is?"
Kira rolled her eyes. "Not everyone is well-informed when it comes to Ranger History."
The Red Ranger smiled at Kira and made as if to say something to her, then closed his mouth and shook his head, muttering something about not remembering. Instead, he dropped the subject of Zordon and introduced himself. "I'm Bridge Carson, the Gr--Red SPD Ranger."
Adam was curious as to how Bridge knew about Zordon when the other Rangers - aside from Kira - didn't, but didn't get a chance to question, as the Sentinel Knight reappeared.
"I see you all have gotten aquatinted," the Knight proclaimed almost happily.
Bridge shrugged and wiggled one of his hands in a teeter-totter motion. "More or less."
"It is time for your mission," he declared with a nod.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Adam started, stepping forward before the other mix-matched Rangers. "Who said we agreed to do this mission? All we know is that we need to protect some Crown of the Gods. Now, I don't know about these guys, but I'd like to know a little more about what I'm getting into before I agree to do anything."
Compared to the other Rangers standing here, Adam felt almost ancient. He'd started doing the Ranger thing in the early 90s, when he was sure the other four were still in Elementary School. He owned a dojo, had a commitment to the students he taught, had bills that needed to be paid on time...Adam had grown up, and he needed to know if straying from his adult life to dive back into the saving-the-world days of his youth was really worth the risk.
"Very well," the Sentinel Knight said. "The Rangers of the present have had their connection to the Morphing Grid severed, making it impossible for them to morph. Their mission was to protect the Corona Aurora, but without the ability to morph into their Ranger forms, they are unable to see to that task. Several forces seek the crown and if they get their hands on it, the Earth will be in imaginable danger. It is of extreme importance that these forces are kept at bay and away from the crown."
Adam contemplated this for a moment and could not help but hear Zordon speaking to him in his head, urging him to do this. It told him that the Sentinel Knight had chosen him for a reason, that bad things would happen if he didn't agree, that somehow, he was meant to help protect this crown.
Once a Ranger, always a Ranger.
The Sentinel Knight suddenly snapped his head left, then right, looking distressed. "They are attacking. They are in danger." He didn't have time to explain. "Come, it is time."
Without giving the five Rangers any sort of warning, they were instantly teleported to what Adam recognized as Stonehenge. He'd gone from Angel Grove, to some dense forested place, to England in under an hour. That had to be some sort of record. The group found themselves standing quite a few feet away from the ancient monument, with their helmets back upon their heads.
A cry sounded and the Rangers turned to see two monstrous forms attacking people that weren't quite in their line of view yet. They instantly leapt into action, following their instincts as Rangers, and went to help whoever those people were.
Xander drew out his Magi Staff and ran ahead of the others in a direct b-line for the obvious bad guys.
TO BE CONTINUED...
"Power Rangers" is © Saban, Toei, MMPR Productions, Disney, etc.
A/N: After watching the muchly anticipated episode of Power Rangers Operation Overdrive entitled "Once A Ranger," I found myself highly disappointed over the sheer fact that the episode felt so...random. Nothing fit together and no proper explanations were given for anything. Thus, this fic is my attempt to make that two-parter flow together properly, while still following the rather rushed episode. Hopefully this does it some justice.
08/05/2007