Hi, everyone! For those who don't know me, I'm StarWitch. For those who do, I'm sorry, I know I should work on my other stories. However, I'm still in fantasy writer's block. Sorry again. Inspiration appreciated! Love ya all!
Note: In this world, almost everyone has magic. As a result, some events are different. The warrior houses of the world still exist, for example, and are in call as assassins and guards. Basic laws exist to deal with magic too, but, as someone once said, rules were made to be broken. Rangers, seemingly outside the normal range of magic, are hated and feared. This is, in most people's minds, the beginning of the alien invasion wanting to channel the Earth's magic and resources. However, the Rangers keep on disappearing before anyone can trap them. Which means only the tabloids say they know the Rangers' identities…
Disclaimer: The concept of Power Rangers does not belong to me; it's Saban's. The idea of other universes doesn't belong to me, it belongs to every escapist. The people and this universe, however, are mine. Please ask before using!
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So It Began….
"Um, so I guess B equals 24," Alex Trent said, then glanced up at Mick. "That's right?"
The boy shrugged the worn-out material of his black leather jacket hissing as he moved. "Far as I can tell."
Alex groaned and shoved at her thick tangle of blond curls. Her delicate features rumpled as she winkled her nose at the pungent aroma of the nearby garbage bin encroaching on her studying space. "Today just won't go right, will it?" Alec commented with a wry smile. Mick nodded, returning a rueful, grin of his own. Their eyes met and the connection between them flowed for a moment.
Alex grinned at her best friend. The day had gone wrong for both of them, beginning with Alex oversleeping and coming in late to her first period bio test and continuing with a pile of gangers who slammed Mick against the lockers between second and third periods. Even now they had been shoved out of their usual study spot by a pile of popular people in a make-out session, leaving them, the two outcasts, by the garbage bin. Still, it was last period, they were outside, and the teacher was berating the kids in the make-out session.
The teacher finished scolding and the teens stalked away. As Alex watched, one muscle-bound jock shoved over a tall Hispanic kid. He went sprawling and didn't get up. The jock laughed and continued toward the parking lot, apparently headed for his car. Alex, ticked off at jocks anyway, shoved the math textbook off her lap and headed towards the fallen boy, ignoring Mick's hum of warning. She understood his hesitancy; to help one of the popular kids' victims was to get their attention and become a victim yourself. But still…
The kid on the ground was scrambling for something. Alex crouched near the boy and asked, "What are you looking for? Glasses?" The dark head lifted and glanced her way, giving Alex a clear view of strong features, a broad, friendly face, and milky-grey eyes that didn't focus on her at all. The boy was blind.
"Staff," the boy admitted quietly. Alex, grateful he didn't notice she was gaping, glanced about until her eyes lighted on a light-brown wooden quarterstaff tired at one end with a piece of green felt. Grabbing it, she tapped it lightly against one of his hands. He slipped a hand about the staff, then pushed himself to his feet as Alex got up. "Gracias, the boy whispered, then left. Alex watched the boy seek out his way as the final bell rang, swinging the staff out in front of him.
"Well, congrats," came a voice from behind Alex. She whirled into a defensive stance before realizing it was only Mick. Who had his arms crossed and one eyebrow cocked so high if half-disappeared into his brown bangs. Alex gave him a violet-eyed glare. Mick smirked. "You not only have been targeted by the populars as and gangers as a sentimental wuss," the teen commented, "but also saved one person who couldn't even put two words together. Some thanks, huh?"
"Mick, the guy needed some help, so just stuff it, will you?"
Mick sighed. "Alex," he murmured, "you can't always save these people. Sometime someone's going to pound you into the ground."
"Yeah, like that's going to hap-"
"Alex!"
"I'm not about to let myself get beat up." Alex said with a cocky smile.
Mick shook his head. "It doesn't work like that."
Alex smiled softly at the ex-ganger. "Thanks for the worry, Mick, but I'll be fine. Really!" she said as Mick started to protest. "Now, feel like some ice cram?"
Mick sighed again, clearly seeing his friend wouldn't agree with him. "Sure, why not? But you're paying!"
Alex laughed and began to drag Mick in the direction of Net Zone, the cyber-linked bakery-café favored by most of the school. Backpack slung over one shoulder, she glanced back to Mick and noticed an annoyed jock in red coming their way. "Um, Mick, is there a reason why Sean Paret is coming our way?"
Mick groaned, rolling his gray-green eyes. "Figures…"
"Did you do something to him?"
"No, I swear, I-!"
A large hand fell on Mick's shoulder and dug fingers into sensitive nerves. "Hey Mick," Sean said. "Remember that chem project we were redoing today?"
Mick covered a wince and gave the larger boy a cold stare. "That was tomorrow, I thought," Mick commented. To Alex's surprise, her friend had shifted stance from casual to a ganger's ready pose. What the hell was going on that Mick was reacting like that?
The jock noticed the change too, his eyes narrowing. "No, it's now. Are you coming?" he asked, voice taking on an edge. His eyes darted toward Alex, narrowed, then snapped back to stare at Mick.
Alex decided to deal with this now. "Mick, it's cool, really," she told the boys loudly. "Projects gotta get done. See ya later, huh?"
"But we haven't been able to hang out since…" Mick trailed off, knowing how lonely his best and only friend had been.
"It's fine, Mick," Alex murmured, giving him a shove and a wan smile.
One corner of Mick's mouth quirked up. "You rule, you know that Allie-girl?"
"If you call me that one more time I swear your-"
Mick held his hands up in surrender. "Sure, Allie," he said, walking backwards as fast as he could with a broad grin on his face. Alex stuck out her tongue, then whirled and started out for home, the boys; laughter in her ears.
Swinging out into the parking lot, Alex sighed. Mick had a point; they hadn't done anything together out of school for almost three weeks now. He was always doing some project or at work after school, or some popular kid would swoop down on him. "Please don't let him be in trouble," Alex whispered to any god that would listen. It had only been a few months ago that Mick had left the gang he'd been in for years. As a result, not only had most gangers started hating him, but some people were blackmailing him in order to get favors. Some of those kids were now nursing bruises and black eyes from the skinny blond girl. Alex grinned at the memories. Mick had taught her some of those moves…
However she worried about her only friend, Mick seemed to be alright. Besides, he could handle himself. Glancing longingly at Net Zone as she walked by it, Alex continued on her way home.
~*~*~
Mick watched Alex as she walked off alone. "You know what?" he said over his shoulder to Sean. "This is crap."
Sean rolled his eyes at the ex-ganger. "Whatever, MC. You didn't have to accept the job, you know."
"First, my name is Mick. I don't go by MC anymore and you know it. Second, no one asked me if I wanted to be the damn Green Ranger!"
"Back down, Green. I'm the leader, remember-"
"I know, Red-"
"And I'm not listening to your crap. Central Chamber, now."
Sean teleported away in a streak of ruby light. Mick sighed, then tapped a button of the watch on his wrist, disappearing in a column of brilliant green.
~*~*~
"Hey idiot!" Alex screamed at the car blazing past her on the sidewalk. "That's what roads were made for!" Of course, the driver ignored her and the insults of the others in the neighborhood, at least until Lyle Maltho threw a fireball at one tire. As Alex watched, the car's tire popped and spun the car into the cement mailbox the Burrels seemed to have put up for just that purpose. The driver, a grungy man in a trenchcoat, jumped out and started a cursing spree like many Alex knew. The other neighborhood kids knew the drill too, and waited until pimply Tim Burrel walked out. The boy studied the screaming louse. Suddenly the man collapsed into his car, dead asleep. Tim pulled out a cell phone and made his usual call to the police as he stuck a hand into the sleeping man's trenchcoat and pulled out his wallet. Alex continued past the scene with a nod to Tim and continued to her house, just on the other side of the Malthos' peeling, puke-green house.
"Alex!" Lyle called. "So…?"
The girl glanced at the dark-haired teen. "Your aim was good on that one."
"Yeah, of course, but what about-"
"I'm not going to help you cheat on that test and I'm not dating you either!"
"Right, Alex, you-"
"Hey, you wanna try making me?" Alec shouted, shifting into a streetfighter's pose.
"Nah," Lyle commented. "Not worth it." Alex gave a rueful smile and entered her house.
Like every other house on the block, Alex's home was a dusty two-bedroom flat that had been nice thirty years before, although Alex debated whether it had ever counted as nice. Padding across the gray tiles of the front hall, Alex headed for the small door leading to the basement and her room. With luck she wouldn't see her dad or…
"Hello, Alexandra," a cool soprano voice wafted form a room down the hall. As Alex turned, another girl stepped out into the hall and stared at her. The girl was a near-mirror image of Alex, with the same curly gold hair, slim frame, and delicate features. The only differences between the two lay in the other girl's blue eyes, neat clothing, and lack of scratches.
"What do you want, Selena?" Alex asked her twin wearily. She remembered a time when 'Lena would play along with her, but that time was before she "grew up". Which translated in Alex's mind as "got stuck up".
"Do you have any idea who you beat up today?" Selena said. "That was Carlos, stupid. He has a gang at this command and now he hates our guts."
"He was being a-" Alex began.
"I don't care, Alex! I try so hard and now because of you and your lowlife ganger boyfriend-"
"Mick's not my boyfriend!"
"Like I care, but now Carlos is dragging my group to his side because you embarrassed him with your stupid heroics for your-"
"Mick is not my boyfriend, Selena!"
"Yeah, he's the only one who will have you."
"At least I would stick to only one guy, Lena."
Selena's blue eyes went steel hard. "You-"
Alex whirled and ran down to the basement, locking the door on the way down. Fights with Selena always ended the same way, with Alex leaving before their father could come and take Selena's side again. For whatever reason, he always took the older twin's side. Alex figured Selena reminded him of Mom, although she had no clue. All she had of her mother was a picture of her parents' wedding and a vague memory of warmth and movement. Marie Castan had died during the birth of her twin girls.
Running past the vibrating, growling boiler, Alex entered the small storage space she had claimed as her room after a final fight with Selena and Dad made her consider ways of avoiding them. Crammed behind a thin faux-wood door, the space was almost entirely taken up by a mattress with a puffy violet quilt and a pile of multicolored crates containing Alex's wardrobe and collection of fantasy books. Flipping the switch of the extension cord she had fed through a hole in a corner of the kitchen floor above, Alex smiled as her collection of small lights lit the room in shades of red, white, blue, and purple. Alex closed the door, slipping the bolt lock she had added closed. "Sanctuary," the girl whispered, then giggled at her relief. She bounced onto the mattress, sparing a glance to the photos perched precariously on the red juice crate nearest her bed. One showed a dark blond man with sharp gray eyes holding a beautiful gold-haired woman in a satiny white dress. She smiled at the man with a brilliant light in her blue eyes. I guess, Alex thought to the woman, you never knew how Dad would turn out, did you Mom?
The picture next to it seemed to multiply the tears that had somehow appeared while Alex looked at her mother. In it, a trio of kids mugged for the camera, two blond girls and a small boy with brown hair. The boy bore a wide daredevil grin and clutched a slingshot in one muddy hand. A typical pose for Dare, who had been Alex's best friend from when she was two to when she and Lena moved away at age seven. Muddy had never been an unusual state for Dare or for her, but that picture came from a time when Selena would play too. Only in that picture could one see Selena covered in mud with a broad smile on her face.
A soft chirrup came from something under the mattress. With a grin, Alex pulled out a small laptop. She had scavenged it and the parts to jury-rig from assorted stores, and now it was her favorite possession. It was by the laptop ( and a cord running from the computer to the mass phone lines via the kitchen door) that she got to talk to anyone she liked other than Mick. Not that she knew who those people were. The soft sound told her one of her friends was on. Alex logged on.
Angel13: Hey out there!
Zguy: Hi Angel. You just missed Noah.
Alex sighed. Noah was a cheerful, intensely smart individual who had helped Alex with homework more than once. He asked the strangest questions, about holidays and parks and school. Still, his presence always resulted in funny conversations.
Z, on the other hand, was quieter, with a wry sense of humor and a lot of insight. He usually had Alex rolling with his comments on popular people, bullies, and school. He also seemed not to mind gangers. There was only one issue: he always seemed tired and sad, often lonely. Sometimes Alex wondered what could make someone like Z so sad.
M-rat2: hiya angel! how are things? have u been outside? it's real pretty today J
Alex laughed. That was entirely like Mallrat! Alex had yet to see a single insult or sad thought from her. And Mallrat was most definitely female; she chattered about the dresses she bought, the boyfriends she had, and once about feminine issues that embarrassed Z almost to leaving. Still, she had stopped when she embarrassed them. She was just sweet, a little ditzy, and honestly caring. She was the one to soothe the hurt feelings of the group.
Zguy: Spy's here too.
Spywind011: Hello.
Spy was probably the most reserved of Alex's new friends. Spy could have been male or female and one couldn't know. He said little, but what advice he gave was always excellent. He also seemed to appreciate the banter between the others.
And so the conversation turned to the online self-defense course they all took. It was how they had met, discussing a difficult move that had caused all of them but Spy great pain and bruises. With Spy as their tutor, the other four had improved tremendously and all grown close.
"Alex!" a voice roared. The girl jammed the laptop shut and under her mattress. The door began to rattle as her father thumped a fist against it. Running to the door, Alex unbolted it and dodged as her father half-fell through the door he opened. Alex shifted back nervously into the hall, feeling the boiler's heat on her back.
Falone Trent slowly got to his feet. Not the most impressive man in stature, he was still a vicious fighter due to more than forty years living in bad areas. And, as Alex knew too well, Dad was a mean drunk. Drunk was his usual state, too.
"What the hell's a lock doin' 'ere?!" the balding man roared at Alex. "You snorting stuff here, got stolen goods? That's it!" Falone screamed as the girl nervously shook her head. He shoved over one of the milkcrates and began shuffling through her clothes.
Alex violently regretted leaving her room. "Dad, stop!" she screamed, moving back toward her room. She stopped in the doorway just short of her father's flailing arms.
Falone whirled from where he had shuffled through a fourth crate, his arms swinging leadenly. Gray bloodshot eyes glared at the blond girl. With a sudden lunge, he grabbed Alex hard about the wrist and swung her onto the mattress. Alex hissed as a sharp corner of her laptop poked her through the mattress. Tromping towards her, Falone raised his fist and began to pound Alex.
Alex suppressed a whimper as she curled up to protect herself. Please, gods, help me! Falone yanked her hair, forcing Alex's face up toward him. The girl closed her eyes just before her father's fist hammered into her cheekbone. That's going to hurt like-
The fists stopped.
Opening one eye, Alex peered out from behind the safety of her arms. Falone stood stiffly, staring at the photo of him and his dead wife at their wedding. He glanced briefly at Alex, who despite herself shifted back into a guard position. With something resembling a sigh, Falone shuffled away out the door. As Alex listened, his slow, heavy steps made the steps creak, then moved on in the direction of his room.
Not about to lose the benefit of this break, Alex quickly changed into a long-sleeved purple shirt to cover her new bruises and quietly crept up the stairs and out the kitchen door. Jumping several fences and dodging unhappy neighbors, Alex hitched a ride on the back of the bus at stop 64, heading to Ryodin Park.
The Park was a combination of two reserves, one coastal and one wooded. Although some of the area had paved trails, much of it was left wild. As far as Alex knew, every kid at the high school had a favorite spot at the Park, but she was the only one to favor Kazi Cliff
Jameson Cliff had received the name of Kazi Cliff (short for Kamikaze Cliff) after a girl knocked herself and her cheating boyfriend off the cliff. Ever since, anyone hoping to make a point by suicide jumped off Kazi Cliff. Despite the reputation of the place, it was beautiful. Grass led almost to the edge of the sheer seacliff and a single ancient tree with branches spread far beyond the cliff's edge stood proudly as the highest point on the coast. Looking over the side of the cliff, the half-submerged rocks were lit by the crests of the waves. Only once had Alex met another person there; a boy had planned to jump off the cliff, but Alex had talked him out of it. No one else came to Kazi Cliff.
It was almost sunset when Alex came to the cliff, the clouds heavier than that afternoon. She settled, her back against the tree and her head resting on one hand. "How the hell should I deal with him," Alex whispered as her cheek gave a twinge. The sound of the waves drowned out her words as a breeze tangled her hair. The girl sighed, tilting her head up to the odd patterns of the branches.
Suddenly she froze. Was that a glint up there? "Weirdness," Alex comented. "No one comes up here. So how are you there?" The glint seemed trapped in the branches. Getting to her feet, Alex began shimmying up the tree trunk, thanking the gods again for the long limbs that made her tree-climbing habit so easy. She had climbed this tree so often…
At ten feet above the ground, she stopped and searched for the object that had caught her eye. To her surprise, it was still fairly high overhead. "Now how did you get that high?" Alex laughed and moved up another four branches. It was two branches higher, she saw. Alex stepped up to the next branch. It gave a little at her weight, making the girl grab the tree trunk. What… I'm not that heavy! Alex thought. Still, the glint was just down the branch…
Curiosity and stubbornness won. Alex grabbed the branch above her and shuffled out farther on the branch. It bowed further beneath her weight, but she was almost there. I'm not stopping here! Alex thought firmly. One foot farther. Her fingers wrapped around a metallic object, strangely warm. Alex laughed aloud as the warm feeling tingled down her arm. Somehow, the feeling made her think everything would be fine.
The branch dipped further as Alex laughed, then let loose with a sharp crack. Alex gasped in shock as she fell…
Past the edge of Kazi Cliff.
The rocks were coming to her very fast. Alex stared at them with detached interest. So this is how I die. She closed her eyes just before the world was enveloped in violet light.