The Return of the Blue Ranger

by ChristineDC

When Billy Returns to earth evil, only an old friend can save him.

1. Part One

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Next Generation

"The Return of the Blue Ranger" Part 1 By Christine Coulter

Angel Grove-1994

There was a young girl sitting on the sidewalk in front of her house, crying. She had her head between her knees, rocking back-and-forth, not caring who saw her, though she thought even if someone did, they wouldn't take notice to her. No one cared about her. She had grown up knowing that. What, with her parents' verbal abuse, and being treated as if she didn't exist by everyone else, how could she think anyone cared about her? Her parents had said she was too ugly for anyone to love, and even though she was only ten years old, she was starting to believe them.

Her name was Samantha Callaghan and she had just returned home after her first day at her new school, Angel Grove Elementary. She and her parents had moved to Angel Grove only a few days ago, and she already hated it there. From the moment her mother had dropped her off at school with a "thanks. Because of you, I'm going to be late for work," people had made fun of Samantha's red hair, which was more of a copper than red, her clothes, which were used and full of holes because her parents never bought her new ones, and simply because she was the new kid. It seemed things would get better when a girl who was sitting next to Samantha in class said hi, but when Samantha had been the first to raise her hand and answer all the questions the teacher asked correctly, the girl turned up her nose and started taunting Samantha with the others. It wasn't Samantha's fault she liked read, which had made it to where she had always been smarter than most of her classmates, but obviously her peers didn't care.

It had always been that way with Samantha. People made fun of her for being smart, as well as for being poor. It was because of her family being poor that they had moved to Angel Grove. Her father was always looking for a better job, and he had heard they were looking for employees at a factory there. Samantha hadn't minded moving, for it wasn't like she had any friends she had to leave behind, but she had hoped she would actually find a friend here, someone who wouldn't not like her just because she was smart, and because she couldn't wear "cool" clothes. But so far, it didn't seem like that was going to happen.

Samantha was crying so hard she hadn't noticed that someone had seen her, crawled up in her ball of sadness. It wasn't until the person spoke that Samantha lifted up her head in surprise.

"Are you okay?" asked the young man who had interrupted her tears.

Through blurry eyes, Samantha saw that he was a teenager, probably only fifteen. He had blond hair and wore glasses, behind which were the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen. She thought he was rather cute, and felt herself begin to blush out of this boy seeing her cry. She tried her best to dry her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt, and to make sure he did not see her staring into his eyes, she turned her now clearer gaze to his clothes. He was wearing almost all blue, from his overalls to his stripped blue t-shirt. He also had on a weird looking watch that looked to Samantha not to even show the time.

"Why are you crying?" he asked. "Are you hurt?"

A shy person by nature, especially around boys, it took Samantha a few seconds to answer. "Everyone hates me," she sniffed, trying not to start crying again.

"I'm sure that's not true," the teenager said, sitting down on the sidewalk next to her. "Someone must like you."

"No. Even my own parents hate me. They tell me so everyday."

"They do? How could anyone hate their own kid?"

"I don't know." Tears began welling up in her eyes again. "They blame me for everything. They say it's my fault they're so poor. They say they wish I'd never been born." Samantha couldn't help it. She started crying again, this time harder than before. The young man put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry. No one should have to endure that," he said, not caring his shirt was getting soaked with tears.

"And then the people at school make fun of me because of my hair and clothes, and for being smart, which isn't my fault, but they don't care. They say I'm ugly and throw stuff at me when no one's looking," Samantha said, pulling her face away from his chest.

The boy looked at her. "You're not ugly," he said.

"I'm not?" Samantha once again wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"Of course not. I think you're very pretty."

"You do?"

"Absolutely. You have really pretty green eyes, and I'm sure they'd be even prettier if you weren't crying," he said, giving her a kind smile.

"Well, you're the only one who thinks so. I, uh, I like your eyes, too." Samantha was glad her face was already red from crying so he wouldn't see her blushing.

"You know something else? People used to make fun of me all the time, also, for being smart, as well as for my glasses. In fact, some people still do make fun of me, just not as often anymore."

"Really? What did you do to make them stop?"

"Nothing. I just ignored them, which I admit was really hard at first, but then one day when people were being particularly mean, someone actually stood up for me. And now, he's one of my best friends, and because of him, I also have four other best friends."

"But no one has ever stood up for me. I don't think I'll ever find a friend."

"I'll be your friend."

With these words, Samantha felt her heart leap into her throat. "You will? But you don't even know me. I mean, we don't even know each other's names."

"You do have a point." When he said this, Samantha felt herself get sad again, feeling she had already lost the closest thing she'd had to a friend, but then he stood up and held out his

hand. "My name is Billy Cranston."

Samantha realized what he was doing and shook his hand. "My name's Samantha Callaghan."

As Billy helped her stand up he said, "Now that we know each other, can we be friends?"

"Absolutely. So does this mean I can hang out at your house and stuff?" She asked.

"Sure. I live in that house right there," Billy said, pointing to the house only a couple of houses down from where Samantha lived. "Feel free to come over whenever you want. Now I won't always be home because I hang out with my friends at the Youth Center, but you can come down there with me if you want. And there are times that I have to leave for other things, but whenever I'm not busy, I'd be happy to associate...hang out with you."

After that, everything was fine for Samantha for the next couple of months. Billy kept his promise and let her hang out with him whenever he wasn't busy. Whenever her parents said something that upset her, she could always turn to Billy, who would be there with a hug, something Samantha hadn't experienced much of before meeting him. Billy took her to the Youth Center and introduced her to his other friends, Jason, the one who had stood up for Billy against the bullies, Kimberly, a cheerleader and talented gymnast, Zack, Trini, and Tommy. They were all very nice to Samantha and Kimberly even promised to teach her some gymnastics. And even though they all seemed to be so different from Billy, they clearly cared about him and each other very much.

Now that she had such a good friend in Billy, Samantha didn't hate Angel Grove so much anymore. And the longer she was there, the more she learned about what the city was famous for-the Power Rangers. She had heard a little about the Rangers before moving to Angel Grove, how they appeared whenever a monster attacked the city, saving many people's lives; but other than that, she was pretty much clueless about them. When she found out she'd be moving to the place where they supposedly lived, she began trying to find out as much about them as she could. The problem was, as famous as the Power Rangers were, no one knew anything about them. All she could find out was that they were thought to be teenagers, two girls and four guys, each wearing a different color-blue, pink, red, black, yellow, and white.

It wasn't until Samantha had been living in Angel Grove only a few months that she had a chance to see the Power Rangers up close. She was at the park watching Billy and his friends play football when their watches started beeping. Billy came over to her and said that he and his friends needed to talk about something in private, so he and the others went behind a tree where Samantha couldn't hear them. After a few moments, Billy came back over to her.

"I'm sorry, Sam," which is what Billy called her, "but my friends and I have to leave. I hope you don't mind going home by yourself."

"No, that's okay," Samantha answered. She didn't think much of it because they had done this a few times before. "I'll see you later."

"Okay." Billy hugged her and ran off with the others.

Samantha picked up the football Jason had dropped and started tossing it in the air. She didn't feel much like going home, even though her mom and dad weren't there-they were having lunch together at the factory her dad worked at-so she decided to stay in the park a little longer. But when her friends had only been gone a few minutes, something happened that made Samantha drop the ball in shock. About eight weird-looking gray guys-at least she thought they were guys-appeared in front of her out of nowhere. They were making this strange sound, almost like someone trying to talk underwater, and were dancing around her. Samantha didn't know what to do, she had never seen anything like them.

Suddenly, two of the gray things grabbed her and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. Then, with a feeling she couldn't even come close to describing, she and her captors teleported some place Samantha had never seen before. It looked like they were inside of a cave, with rock walls that glistened with moisture. The only light was coming from several torches in brackets on the cave walls. The things holding her forced her down into a chair, where straps magically appeared around her wrists and ankles, preventing her from moving.

The gray things disappeared, and out of the darkness stepped something that made the creatures that had kidnapped her look somewhat normal.

"You're probably wondering why you are here," the thing said, sitting down in a chair he conjured with a wave off his hand. "Well, allow me to iterate. My name is Lord Zedd, master of all that is evil, and the things that just captured you are called the Putty Patrol. They have brought you here out of my command. You see, I recently discovered that you might possess a great power. A power that can be used for good...or great evil."

Samantha didn't know what he meant. Power, she thought. What is he talking about? I don't have any powers.

"Ah, I see you don't know what I am referring to, but you will learn in time. I am willing to help you, if you agree to do what I say. If you refuse, I will see to it that you are killed."

"W-what do you want me to do?" Samantha said, unable to mask the fear in her voice.

"I want you to help me destroy the Power Rangers."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you want to live. So, what is it? Help me destroy the Rangers, or die?"

"I can't help you destroy the Rangers, and even if I could, I wouldn't. I know who you are now-You're that guy that is always sending down those monsters to destroy Angel Grove, aren't you? We'll, I'd rather die than help an evil scumbag like you!"

"Speaking of monsters, there's one attacking the city now. And guess where he's headed next."

One of the Putties came out, carrying what looked like a mirror, but instead of seeing her reflection, Samantha saw a giant rat-like creature knocking over buildings. She saw several people running away from it, screaming, and when she saw the next building the monster was about to smash into a thousand pieces, her eyes grew wide with horror.

"That's the factory my dad works at!" And sure enough, just as she said this, she saw her parents walk out of the building. When they looked up and saw the monster, they only had a second to scream before the giant-rat brought its foot down on top of them.

"No!" Samantha screamed, trying to pull herself free of her restraints.

"Yes! Now you see what I can easily do to you. So, have you changed your mind?"

Samantha was in shock by what she had just seen, but she knew she couldn't help Lord Zedd, couldn't help him destroy all those innocent people. She drew up what courage she had and looked Zedd right in the eye.

"Bite me," she said.

Lord Zedd got an even move evil look on his face than what he already had. "So be it. Putties!" He called, and the gray things reappeared beside Samantha's chair. "Take this girl and kill her, but make sure to do it where the Rangers can see it." With that, Lord Zedd disappeared.

Samantha felt her restraints disappear and was once again taken hold of by the Putties. They teleported out of the cave and onto a cliff near the city. Samantha struggled to loosen the Putties' grip on her, but they were stronger than they looked.

"Let me go, you ugly pieces of..."

The putties were edging her closer to the edge of the cliff when suddenly 6 people materialized in front of them-the Power Rangers.

"Let her go!" The Blue Ranger demanded. Samantha saw the Putties shake their heads and moved her closer to the edge.

The Rangers started fighting the Putties, who disappeared one-by-one, but before they could reach the two holding Samantha, she was thrown over the cliff. She managed to grab onto a loose root that was sticking out, but her hands were slipping fast. Just as the root slipped free of her grip, someone reached down and grabbed her, pulling her to safety. It was the Blue Ranger.

"Are you all right?" He asked, his voice sounding very familiar, though Samantha couldn't place whom it belonged to.

"Yes, thanks to you," Samantha said, her heart pounding from her brush with death.

"Are you sure?" He said, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. But those people aren't," she said, pointing toward the city where she could see people scattering from the rat creature. "Go help them. They need it more than me."

"Okay. But let me take you home while the others deal with the monster."

Samantha bent her head down. "I can't go home. That thing killed my parents."

"What?!"

"Yeah. That guy Zedd showed me. I have no place to go."

"Look, how about I take you to your house and you can call someone to come and get you?"

"Okay."

"All right. Take my hand. We're going to teleport now, which I'm sure you already know what it feels like after having been caught by the Putties."

The Blue Ranger teleported Samantha to her empty house. He made sure she could get inside before he quickly rejoined the other Rangers to defeat the monster that had killed her parents.

Once inside, Samantha called her aunt and told her what had happened. Her aunt said she would come and get her as soon as possible, though she hadn't sounded happy about having to do so. When Samantha hung up the phone, the reality of the day's events kicked in, and she began to cry. She wasn't really sad about her parents death, for she had never been close enough to them to feel sad, but she was sad about having to leave Billy, the best friend she had ever had. Thinking of this made Samantha run out of her house where she went straight to Billy's.

"Billy," she yelled, pounding on the door. "Billy, are you there?" Billy's dad opened the door.

"I'm sorry, Samantha, but Billy isn't home."

"Oh. Okay," she said, feeling herself fill with disappointment along with her sadness. "I'll just go home than." But she didn't go home. When Mr. Cranston closed the door, Samantha slumped onto the doorstep, trying hard not to cry.

She sat on there for a really long time, but when Billy finally returned home, the cops had already came and taken Samantha to the police station to wait for her aunt. She and her aunt returned the next day to get Samantha's things, but it was a school day and during school hours so she hadn't gotten to see Billy then either. She never even got to say goodbye, for even though her aunt had promised to take Samantha back to Angel Grove to visit Billy, she never had. Samantha would have written to him, but she didn't have his address and it wasn't listed in the phonebook. She cried almost every night thinking she'd never get to see him again.

But although Samantha had lost her best friend, she had also gained a new goal. She still had no idea what powers Lord Zedd had been talking about, but she knew that if he was right, someone else would probably come for her eventually, so she made a decision that would change her life forever. Billy and his friends had taught her some martial arts and gymnastics, so she would take what she had learned and use it to train. Train to protect herself from anyone else that might try to attack her. Train to help others in need, as the Power Rangers had helped her. She would train to become a Power Ranger herself. She knew she had to find out who had saved her life, who was behind the Blue Rangers helmet, and knew that the only way she could do this was to become a Ranger, and she wouldn't stop until she saw it through, just as Billy had always taught her.

Angel Grove-Present Day

A young woman of 20 was in the woods outside of the city. She was performing several martial arts and gymnastic moves to some wooden dummies she had constructed. She has become rather good at both of these, having practiced everyday for the past ten years. Once a shy girl, she had now developed into a confident fighter. Her red hair was tied back in a ponytail to keep it from falling into her green eyes, which were set in a look of utmost concentration.

Samantha Callaghan did a flying leap over one of the dummies, landing perfectly on her feet before kicking off the dummy's arm. It was nice to have a place where she could come and train without being disrupted, except perhaps by her band mates, who would surely be coming out to get her for their afternoon gig at any time now.

Though it had been ten years since her last encounter with any evil beings, and she still had not yet discovered she possessed any type of power, Samantha had not given up on her mission to become a Power Ranger. She had been 18 when she was finally able to return to Angel Grove, but her heart had been broken when she discovered that her old friend Billy Cranston no longer lived there. She hadn't been able to find any of her other friends either. It seemed that every one of them had just disappeared. Not only had all her old friends left, but it seemed that the Power Rangers had gone too. No one had seen them in Angel Grove for many years. She did manage to discover that a group of Rangers were currently in the city of Reefside, but when she had gone to see them in action, she knew right away that they were not the ones that had saved her life. However, as she was about to return to Angel Grove, she had heard someone call out her name, and turning, she saw Tommy Oliver running to meet her. He had been one of her and Billy's friends.

Upon talking with Tommy, Samantha had hoped she would find out the whereabouts of Billy. Unfortunately, Tommy had not heard from him in quite a long time and did not currently know where Billy resided, or at least he wasn't telling her. While she had been most upset hearing this, Samantha was glad to have at least one of her old friends back, and while they lived in different cities, they often talked on the phone and would sometimes meet. Samantha had told Tommy that she had become very good at martial arts, though, she pointed out, not nearly as good as he, and asked him to help her improve upon her skills. When he had asked her why she was practicing it so much, Samantha had merely stated that she was hoping to enter some competitions. She didn't want him to know about her dream of becoming a Ranger, fearing he wouldn't believe her if she gave him her explanation for wanting to do so.

Samantha did another perfect leap over a different dummy, kicking its head off. She was about to start on another when something in the sky caught her attention. A large object, about twice the size of an army tank, was quickly descending toward earth. She could tell almost instantly it was an alien craft, for she had never seen anything like it. It resembled the look of spaceships she had seen in movies, except this was more triangle-shaped than round, and she didn't see any lights on it. The closer it got to earth Samantha realized it was heading right for the very forest she was in.

She watched as the craft began to slow down, and soon it was hovering right above the trees only about a hundred yards away from her. Suddenly, the bottom of the ship opened up, and out came a blinding light that made Samantha quickly shield her eyes. When she removed her hand, she saw that the light had cleared away all the trees beneath it, and the ship sat down in the open space. Filled with overwhelming curiosity, Samantha ran in the direction of the ship to see if anything came out.

Samantha watched from behind a tree as a hatch in the ship lowered to the ground, and out stepped creatures that looked far more weird, and far more frightening, than the Putties that had attacked her when she was a child. There were about fifteen of them, and each looked like a giant wolf standing on hind legs. Their two-inch-long fangs protruded from the top of their drooling mouths, and eyes red as blood stood out against pure black fur. It was like something out of a nightmare. Samantha was so mesmerized by their appearance that she did not notice when five people materialized behind her.

Next out of the ship was something that looked almost human-a dead human. It was a man, and his long hair was blacker than the wolf-creatures' fur. His skin was whiter than chalk, and his eyes, set deep within his skull-like face, were even darker than his hair; even what would have been the whites of his eyes were black. Samantha felt a chill go through her as she looked at him. And then he began to speak, and the ice in his voice took the air from her lungs and froze her heart.

"So this is Angel Grove, the birthplace of the legendary Power Rangers," he said, his voice raspy and yet so clear you could understand every word. It was a voice that seemed to talk inside one's head, as if it could dig inside you and haunt you for the rest of your life. "Come, William. Welcome home!"

When the person this man had been referring to stepped out of the ship, Samantha's heart jumped into her throat, and she felt that if she had not been holding onto the tree she was hiding behind, she would have fainted.

"Billy?!" She whispered in shock, trying to be quite, not wanting these creatures to know of her presence. Billy Cranston, the best friend she'd ever had, had just emerged from the ship. He looked a little different, older, with his hair being longer, and he no longer wore glasses, but his eyes, the green eyes Samantha had lost her heart to the moment he had first looked at her, told her it was him right away. His face, however, no longer held the gentle, pure-hearted look she had always known him to have. Instead, it wore an expression of fury she had never once seen Billy use, and his eyes, while still the same color of green only Billy possessed, were no longer bright and caring. They now seemed empty except for a fire that seemed to blaze deep within them. The pale man continued to talk.

"So, how does it feel to be home at long last? Are you ready to fulfill your destiny, and destroy the people you once called friends, the people who stole your beloved Cestria from you-The Power Rangers?"

The Power Rangers? Samantha thought. Since when has Billy been friends with the Power Rangers?

"Yes, Master Alagor," Billy said, his eyes even more ablaze. "I will destroy every last one of the Rangers!"

Samantha could not believe what Billy was saying. He would never hurt anyone, but yet, here he was talking about destroying the Power Rangers.

"Good. I know you will do well. But first, to restore to you the costume you once wore and an even greater power that will allow you to annihilate the Power Rangers once and for all!"

Master Alagor took a long, slender piece of wood from his robe pocket-a wand. He pointed it at Billy, and after a quick flash of light, Billy was standing in the Blue Ranger's costume, the same costume the Ranger who had saved Samantha's life had been wearing. Seeing this, Samantha realized whom the voice she had heard coming from within the Blue Ranger's helmet had belonged to-It had been Billy all along! Billy had been the one who had kept her from falling to her death, the one who had saved her from the Putties. Billy was the Blue Ranger!

Master Alagor was pacing around the clearing, skeletal hands on his hips.

"I will return to my ship 'Alagoris' and finish up the weapons. As soon as they are ready, I will send them straight to earth. You two," he said, pointing at two of the wolf creatures, "You will escort William as he searches for the Rangers, while the rest of you Wolvenians will cause as much destruction to the city as possible. Now go, William. Avenge your dear Cestria. I will be watching you through the Mirror of Sight and if anything goes wrong, I will dispatch the other Wolvenians to your side immediately."

"Yes, Master Alagor, I will not fail you."

Alagor entered the ship and the hatch closed. Billy looked at the Wolvenians.

"You heard what Master Alagor said. Now move!" Billy set off into the forest in one direction, tailed by the two Wolvenians, while the others set off in another. The ship that had brought them to earth was raising from the ground and in a split second, it was gone.

No! Samantha pleaded inside. Don't do this Billy! She wanted to run to him, try to convince him that this Alagor was evil, that he was brainwashing him, but before she could move, she felt someone grab her from behind.

Samantha whipped around, fearing it was one of the Wolvenians, but saw five ordinary people. There were two guys and three girls, each looking somewhat familiar, though she was sure she hadn't seen them before. Not knowing whether they were good or bad, Samantha prepared herself to fight.

"Who are you?" She demanded, fists raised.

"Shhh," said a woman with red hair who looked about 20. "My name is Elnia and we do not wish to harm you, but you must come with us. We will be in great danger if the Wolvenians learn of our presence."

"Go with you where?"

"Anywhere away from here. Take my hand." Elnia held out her hand. Samantha was still apprehensive of these strangers, but she didn't want to be found by one of the Wolvenians either, so she took Elnia's hand.

With the sensation she had felt when the Putties and Billy had teleported her when she was ten, Samantha soon found herself and the others inside of a cave. This cave was different from the one the Putties had taken her to. This one was much more cavernous and was flooded with a bright light. Samantha stared open-mouthed at what she saw. The cave was filled with all these weird-looking electronics, like those seen in a scifi movie.

"Okay, what is this place?" Samantha asked, wandering around to get a better look.

"This is the new Command Center for the Power Rangers," said Elnia. Samantha stopped looking at some type of control panel and stared at her.

"Whoa. Are you telling me you guys are Power Rangers?"

"Yes...and no. These four are here only temporarily, until we find a new, permanent team here on earth."

"Why are you here now, though? The Power Rangers haven't been in Angel Grove for several years. Wait!" Samantha said, realizing something. "This has something to do with Billy and that guy Alagor, doesn't it?"

"Unfortunately, yes. You see, Alagor is a terrible sorcerer. He had been destroying galaxies thousands of light years away for decades before Zordon came to earth. He would have come here sooner, but he only recently learned of Zordon's death."

"Zordon? Who's Zordon?"

"The one who started the Power Rangers, their original leader. Zordon had been waging battle against evil for thousands of years before coming here to start an elite group of heroes known as Power Rangers. The one time Alagor met up with Zordon in another galaxy, Alagor was nearly destroyed. When he heard of Zordon's death, he began to create an army of Wolvenians to help him on his plan of mass destruction. He never came to earth before, knowing that he could never be strong enough to defeat Zordon, but now that Zordon is gone, he decided it was time to do what he had always dreamed of-Taking over Earth."

"But what does Billy have to do with this? Why was he acting all evil?"

Elnia sighed. "As you probably now know, Billy was the Blue Ranger on the team of Rangers Zordon started when the evil sorceress Rita Repulsa became free again. Billy helped the Rangers many times buy building devises that help them defeat many of the monsters sent to destroy earth. Soon after Billy gave up his powers, he feel in love with a woman, an Aquitarian, named Cestria, whom he had met while on the planet of Aquitar, and he decided to stay on Aquitar with her.

"However, a few years ago, a group of Rangers on a nearby planet received a distress call from Billy. It turns out that the Aquitarians had really been working for Alagor and were using Billy to help them create a weapon to destroy earth. Luckily, Billy discovered their plan and set a self-destruct mode on the weapon to blow up the planet. Unfortunately, when Cestria learned that Billy had done this, she tried to kill him. That's when Billy sent out the distress call. The Rangers teleported to Aquitar just as Cestria was about to kill Billy, and the only way they could stop her was to kill her."

"So the Rangers really did kill this girl Cestria. But if they did it to save Billy, why does he want to destroy them?"

"You see, Billy was so weak after Cestria had tried to kill him that he became unconscious, and before the Rangers could teleport him off the planet, one of Alagor's minions appeared and took Billy to Alagor's ship. That's when Billy was brainwashed into thinking the Rangers had in fact been the evil ones, that they had destroyed Aquitar and Cestria out of cold blood."

"Wow," Samantha said, hardly believing what Elnia had told her. She had had no idea of any of this, but thinking about how Billy had been a Ranger, she had to ask, "Who where the other Rangers on the team with Billy?" Though she had a feeling she already knew.

" They were his friends, as well as yours. The Red Ranger was Jason, the Black Ranger Zack, the Yellow Ranger was Trini, the Pink, Kimberly, and-"

"Wait, let me guess. The White Ranger was Tommy," Samantha said, thinking about how stupid she must have been not to have realized that her only friends, people that always hung out together, wore the same colors everyday, had these weird-looking watches, and who disappeared whenever a monster attacked the city, had been the Power Rangers.

"Yes. In fact, he is currently the Black Ranger on the team in Reefside."

"No way! Does he know about this Alagor dude? And the deal with Billy?"

"I contacted him before we came here. He said he would be willing to help us if and when we need it."

"So that means there are two bad guys trying to take over earth? I bet they don't like having competition."

"Actually, I learned that they might be working together, which causes even more of a threat."

"So what are you going to do about Billy?" Samantha asked. "You're not going to kill him, are you?"

"We very much hope it doesn't resort to that. We are hoping that we can un-brainwash him somehow, but we'll need your help."

"My help? How can I help? Your Power Rangers, after all, and I'm not."

"Actually, you can help us quite a bit," Elnia said. "You see, we believe that if Billy sees the people who he cares about that it may make him remember. You were his friend, and we will need as many of his friends as we can get, because the spell Alagor put on him is strong. It worked once for Tommy, and we hope it will again. And there is something else as well."

"What?"

"We believe that you may possess a great power within you, a power that can help us destroy Alagor once and for all."

"Not that power thing again!" Samantha said, frustrated. " That Zedd guy said the same thing when I was ten, and I haven't seen any sign of a power yet."

"That may be because you need something to bring it out of you. I don't know what it is, but if you do have this power and Alagor finds out, he'll stop at nothing to get his hands on you."

"Not only that," said one of the others, the first to speak since their arrival. "We heard you have invented weapons to help protect yourself if anyone came after you like the Putties. They might be of great use to us." Samantha saw Elnia blush. "Oh dear," she exclaimed. "Forgive me for not introducing the others who are with me. I was so caught up in explaining to you why we are here that I almost forgot about them. This," she gestured to the one who just talked, "is Angela Oliver, Tommy and Kimberly's daughter. The young lady in yellow is Trisha Smith, Trini's daughter. In black is Christopher Taylor, Zack's son; while in red is Jesse Scott, Jason's son." This came as even more of a shock to Samantha. "What? There is no way you can be their kids. They're not much older than me!" "Something else Elnia forgot to explain," Jesse said. "You see, we come from the future," said Angela. "When Zordon's brother Zeldon learned of Alagor's plans to take over earth and destroy the Power Rangers, he knew he needed to find someone who could act as a team until a new one was found here, so he set out to find the best fighters he could. It just so happens that he decided to use the children of the greatest team of Rangers in history," Christopher said, smiling smugly. "Then he sent us back in time." This made Samantha think of something else.

"But if you are the children of Rangers, than it's obvious that Alagor must not have succeeded in taking over the earth, because if he had, than you all couldn't have been born."

"You would ordinarily be correct, except that the reason it took so long for Alagor to learn of Zordon's death is because he had put himself in a cryogenic chamber. When he 'awakened', which was after we all had already been born, and heard that Zordon was dead, he went back in time to before Zordon's death to use the Aquitarians to get to Billy, for he knew that with Billy's intelligence, he could have him make weapons that could help him gain control on earth and everywhere else." "But how would a guy that had been frozen for all those years even know about Billy?"

"You want an explanation for everything, don't you?" Jesse said, smiling at her. "It's because at the time of Alagor's 'awakening', Billy was, or should I say, will be, known as the greatest Power Ranger in history, along with y... Along with his wife." "Cestria?" "No, not Cestria. It's..." "Well, we don't exactly have the time to sit around and chat, not when there are giant wolves about to attack the city," Elnia interrupted, sounding as though she was trying to change the subject. "Help me get the equipment online while we wait for Zeldon to get here with the morphers."

While Samantha helped with the viewing globe, Elnia filled her in on the history of the Power Rangers. Samantha was astounded by what she heard.

"Why do all these bad guys want to destroy earth so bad?" She asked, attaching some wires on the back. " Surely there must be some other planet out there more important than earth."

"They want to destroy it because it is where Zordon decided to take up residence. They believe that because Zordon did this, it meant that there must be something special about earth, something they would not be able to find until they could take over." Elnia turned on the viewing globe, which at the moment was blank.

"So are you going to stay on earth? Because you just said that Jesse and the others were here temporarily."

"Yes. I will be staying in the Command Center with Zeldon."

"Now this Zeldon, you said he is Zordon's brother, but Zordon was like thousands of years old when he died. How is it that Zeldon has lived so long? Does he live in a time warp like Zordon?"

"Actually, no. Zeldon is a fantastic scientist. He's the one who created the time machine that allowed us to travel to your time, but he is most famous for discovering the secret to becoming immortal without having to live in a time warp."

"How?"

"He hasn't said," Elnia laughed. "He says it's his little secret. Mind you, he put himself in great peril when he told people he was going to live forever, because others wanted to be immortal, too, especially those who were willing to take someone's life to get it. That's where this viewing globe came in handy. It would show him if someone with ill intentions was near. He is now going to use it here for the Rangers."

Suddenly, an alarm started going off, making Samantha jump, and on the viewing globe appeared several Wolvenians surrounding four people in the woods.

"Oh no!" Samantha said, seeing whom it was the Wolvenians were about to attack. "Those people are my friends!"

"What?!" said Elnia.

"Yeah. We're in a band. I completely forgot they'd be coming to find me."

"What are we going to do?" Trisha said. "Zeldon's not here yet with our morphers."

"Well, we can't just do nothing," Angela said. "We have to help them."

"Samantha," Elnia said, putting her hands on Samantha's shoulders. "Wolvenians are extremely strong. Without being morphed, the five of us may not be able to defeat them on our own. Will you help us?"

Samantha didn't know what to say. Sure, she was okay at martial arts, but she had never actually fought anyone before, especially not some giant wolf aliens. She looked at the image on the globe of her friends frightened faces, then looked into Elnia's eyes. "Yeah. I'll help you."

Megan Williams, a short, brown-haired 21 year old, had pressed herself up against a tree, the others tight up against her.

"What are these things?" She asked.

"How are we supposed to know!" shouted Randy, his brown eyes wide.

The Wolvenians moved in closer, so close every one of Samantha's friends could smell their foul breath. Josh Greene, who was the tallest and most muscular, looked around them uncertainly, then said, "I think we can take them."

"What?!" said Jennifer in shock. "Look at them-They're huge!"

"So what? Are you just gonna stand around and let them eat you?" Josh asked. Everyone looked at each other, back at the Wolvenians, and raised their fists. "All right. Here goes nothing."

They began fighting the creatures, doing several elaborate moves.. It was obvious that they had all had training in both gymnastics and martial arts, though it wasn't doing much use against the wolves.

"They're too strong!" Megan said, kicking one in the head, which only made the Wolvenian blink.

Both humans and wolves stopped fighting as they saw five people appear out of thin air.

"Samantha!" Jennifer gasped, seeing her friend with five others she didn't know. "Where did you come from?" Samantha didn't have time to answer, because as soon as the Wolvenians saw who it was, they began fighting again.

Samantha and the others joined in the fight. Samantha couldn't believe how strong and fast the Wolvenians were. She took a couple of blows to the head, but she kept fighting. It didn't seem like the wolves were ever going to give up. There were only five wolves, while there was ten people, but each wolf was as strong as three humans put together. Tommy always told Samantha that if she was ever up against an opponent who was stronger than she to look for any signs of a weakness, but so far, she hadn't found any on these creatures.

Everyone but the wolves was quickly getting exhausted. Samantha now understood why the future Rangers hadn't wanted to fight without being morphed. Samantha saw Jennifer fall to the ground and, avoiding a kick from probably the biggest wolf in the pack, ran over to her.

"Jennifer, are you okay?" She said, kneeling over her friend.

"I can't fight anymore. They're too strong."

"Don't worry. We'll find away out of this," Samantha said, trying to convince herself as much as her friend, and as if something had heard her and was answering her call, a tall figure appeared in front of them.

"Oh, so you think you can pick on someone smaller than you, eh?" said the man. "Well, not on my time!" He pulled out a round object the size of a baseball and threw it into the center of the fighting group. "Here, put these in your ears!" The man tossed what looked like earplugs to Samantha and the others, who quickly did as he said. It was a good thing, too, because just as they all had them in their ears, a sound, so high pitched it probably would have shattered their eardrums, came out of the silver sphere.

The Wolvenians grabbed their ears in great pain, some falling to the ground, and ran off into the trees. The sound was so unbearable that even though everyone was wearing earplugs, they still had to press their hands against their heads. When the noise finally died, everyone was very relieved. Elnia, taking out her earplugs, ran up to the man who had saved them, as did the other future Rangers.

"Zeldon! Thank goodness you came when you did. The Wolvenians are far stronger than what we had anticipated."

"I can see that," said Zeldon. Even though he was thousands of years old, he looked no older than 45 in earth years. His hair was gray, but there were hardly any wrinkles in his face, except for a few around his eyes, which were a mixture of silver and blue, and although Samantha could see great kindness in them, there was also a strength, like that of one who has fought in many battles without having wanted to but had still won every time.

"So, I see you found Miss Callaghan." Zeldon said, looking at Samantha. He walked over to her and shook her hand. "I'm so sorry we couldn't have met under better circumstances."

"Yeah, me too. What was that thing you used on the wolves?" Samantha asked, helping Jennifer to stand up.

"That was a 'Screamer.' Appropriate name, if I do say so myself." He picked up the silver sphere and returned it to his pocket. "It's a little invention of mine."

Josh, Randy, Megan, and Jennifer were staring at Samantha and the old man, still not knowing what had just happened.

"Ah, Samantha?" Josh said. "Could you tell us what the heck is going on? Who are these people? And how did you all just appear out of nowhere?"

"And who are these nice-looking people?" Zeldon asked, referring to Samantha's friends. "Wait, let me guess. This young man is Joshua Greene, winner of the 1999 Angel Grove Martial Arts Competition, and lead guitarist in Power Team. And you must be his and Samantha's friends, Randall Jacobs, drummer, Megan Williams on bass guitar, and Jennifer Stevens on keyboard. Am I right?"

"Dude, first off, it's Randy, not Randall-Only my mom can call me that-and second off, how did you know who we are?"

"Ah yes. I knew you were one who liked to ask questions. Don't worry, I think that's a good thing. You never learn if you don't ask questions."

"Okay, fine," Josh said, sounding mad. "How about this-Who are you people?!"

"Should I tell them, or do you want to?" Samantha asked, looking at Elnia.

"No way! You're telling us that all you guys came from the future to stop this guy named Alagor? Yeah, right!" Randy exclaimed.

"Okay, don't believe us. But how would you explain those giant wolves you were attacked by?" Samantha shot back.

Elnia, with the help of Samantha and Zeldon had explained the situation to Josh, Megan, Jennifer, and Randy, who were staring, dumbfounded, at them. Samantha had to admit that if she were in their position, she wouldn't have believed it either.

"So you guys are Power Rangers from the future?" Josh said, seeming to except the story better than the others did.

"Not only that, their parents are the same people that saved Samantha's life," said Megan, also having begun to believed what they had been told. "That's amazing. Did you know it was your old friends that were the Power Rangers?"

"No," Samantha said truthfully. "I was around them almost everyday, especially Billy, and it never once crossed my mind that they had been Rangers."

"And now your friend Billy is going to try and kill the Power Rangers, because he thinks it was them who killed his girlfriend?" Jennifer said. She had sprung her ankle in the fight with the Wolvenians, but thanks to a device at the Command Center that had healed her instantly, she was now good as new and walking around checking out the computer equipment.

"It was the Power Rangers that killed her, remember?" Randy said.

"Yes, but they only did it to save him."

Zeldon was opening a wooden box that sat on a table. He pulled out five watches, or communicators, which Samantha recognized as the same ones as Billy and his friends had worn. Next out of the box came five round coins, and what must have been the morphers Elnia had talked about.

"Well, enough chitchat," he said, handing each on of the future Rangers a communicator, coin, and morpher. "We have a world to save and an ex-Ranger to unbrainwash." Samantha had thought he was going to give the last communicator, coin, and morpher, to Elnia, but he passed her by and walked straight for Samantha. "I hope you will except these and join our team. We need someone with your brain and skills as a Ranger. You may be our only hope against Alagor."

Samantha stared at the objects he was holding. "Me, a Power Ranger?" It was what she had trained for the past ten years, but as she was actually getting offered a place on the team, she just didn't think she deserved it. "No, I can't. You need someone else. I'm just a girl who knows some martial arts, that's it. I'm nothing special."

"But you are," Zeldon said, still holding out the items for her.

"Look, if this is about that secret power you think I have, well, I think it's obvious that I don't. If I did, I would have been able to pulverize those wolves, and I couldn't even knock them off their feet."

"The power within you may have nothing to do with strength, but you will never know if you don't try to find it. I will not force you to become a Ranger, but we really could use you on the team."

Samantha once again looked at what she was being offered. She wanted to help Billy; she wanted to help save the world. But did she have what it takes? Samantha looked at the other Rangers, who were looking at her, then at Elnia, who nodded her head. Her friends were looking at her in disbelief, but then they finally said, "Do it. We know you can."

Before she could answer, the alarm went off again. This time, the viewing globe showed people running in the streets screaming. They were being chased by Wolvenians, who were throwing bombs at cars and buildings, causing giant explosions when they went off. And coaching the wolves on was none other than Billy, still in his blue costume.

"Come out Power Rangers, wherever you are. If you don't, I will see to it that this entire city, including every last one of its citizens, is destroyed!"

Samantha gasped in horror when Billy threw a bomb at one of the buildings, which blew up almost instantly, leaving nothing behind but rubble. She grabbed the communicator and put it on her left wrist.

"Let's do it!"

"That's our girl!" Randy exclaimed excitedly, thumping Samantha on the back.

"But first, how exactly do you do this?"

"Just watch us," Christopher said.

He and the others put their right fists behind the small of their backs and said, "It's Morphin' Time!"

Each one called out the name of their Zord-

Christopher- "Mastodon!"

Angela-"Pterodactyl!"

Trisha-"Sabertooth Tiger!"

Jesse-"Tyrannosaurus!"

In a flash, they were now standing in the costumes Samantha had seen her friends in when they had rescued her. She looked down at the symbol on her morpher and called out her own-

"Stegosaurus!"

When she had morphed, she saw that she was the only one with a costume not worn by one of her friends. She was the Purple Ranger. "Awesome," she said, her voice clear despite the helmet. "All right. Let's kick some Wolvenian butt!" And she and the other Rangers teleported to the city.

TO BE CONTINUED....