Episode One: Trouble In D.C. Part I

Chapter One: Welcome to Kennedy Heights

It was the 28th of August in the year 2004 as the press flooded the White House for the national address to be given by the current U.S. President running for his second term; President Westford McKenzie. The teeming of the crowd and all those present created a buzz in the atmosphere. "Coming live from the White House, President McKenzie is due to give his statement regarding a potential threat towards the United States' national security regarding the 9-30-67-2-89-176 terrorist attacks around the country." The newsachor said into the video camera as they video tapped her. "After remaining silent towards these political orchestrated propagandas, the President is finally bringing light to the confusion after the supposed ransacking of Governor Hammond's home in Nebraska, his state of governance."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" The Head of the President's chief staff, Hendrick Drewmore asked as he watched the President fix his tie in the mirror. After learning of the true nature of the 9-30-67-2-89-176 attacks, Drewmore found it best that they keep it under wraps because a lot was at stake.

"No, Drewmore." President McKenzie negated. "I am supposed to care for this country and I will not be bullied into compromising National Security."

There was a knock on the door. "President McKenzie, the press conference is about to begin."

"It's such a shame he didn't do our bidding, Aklestal." A woman in a black hooded coat said as she stood in the conference room of the white house at the back. There was a hiss in agreement from the carry on bag that she had at her feet. "Why are you so eager, my friend?" The woman smiled before looking down. "Patience... that fool of a leader should learn not to be a hero. Many of his allies were smart enough to work alongside me." She chuckled and soon the national anthem began to play.

One Week Later

"Welcome to Kennedy Heights," Announced a man as Wyatt Lennox walked through overly exaggerated security clearance of his new... school to put it in layman's terms. Well... not that every school has a metal detector, a police dog or a search area. Kennedy Heights was a juvenile detention center for the mentally disturbed...

A Reform School in other words.

"Mr. Lennox, please empty your pockets." A man said. Wyatt kept his eyes glued to the floor. Wyatt was tall, lanky and looked like the average nerd at six foot one, tall with light brown hair that was almost tawny blonde, big brown eyes, big, pointy nose, big, pointy ears, pointy chin...

Now that he thought about it, most of his features were big or pointy or both...

"Any day now, Mr. Lennox." The man said in a more stern, threatening tone and Wyatt reluctantly pulled all the content of his pockets out and placed them in a bowl. "Cell phone... Mr. Lennox?"

"Don't own one." Wyatt mumbled, staring at the floor.

"When you speak to your elders, you look them in the eye, Mr. Lennox." The man said and Wyatt paid no mind as he walked past the metal detector and it started to beep. "Please go through again, Mr. Lennox." Wyatt began to breathe unevenly as he walked back out and walked through again and the beeping sounded. "Step aside." The man said before reaching over to search Wyatt personally and he jerked away.

"Don't touch me!" Wyatt murmured.

"Mr. Lennox, there are doctors and nurses standing by who will sedate you if you do not comply." The man said. Wyatt's shifty eyes never touched the man as he searched his body and found what he had been hiding. "A pocket knife?"

"It... it was my dad's." Wyatt stuttered. "A family heirloom. He gave it to me before he died when I was ten."

The man looked amused. "Didn't he die a month ago?"

"Step-father!" Wyatt hissed in correction rather hatefully before reaching out to get it back but the man laughed before throwing it into a confiscation box. "Give it back."

"Nice try," The man handed him all his stuff before stamping something onto the back of his head. "Welcome to Kennedy Heights, Wyatt Lennox. Two of our nurses will escort you to the common area where you can mingle with other students while two others take your belongings to your new room." With that said, he called some nurses to escort him to the common winced as he felt around what the man stamped onto the back of his head. They weren't kidding about the locator chips. Wyatt thought almost amused until he reached the common area which was just a gray room with kids who were just seated and doing... nothing. Some just looked around, others played with their fingers while others had very awkward conversations with one another.

"I know... it's the life of this hell hole in a nutshell, sadly enough." Wyatt turned around to see a shorter girl standing behind him. "Of course, you are blocking the way to this drinking hole of sorrow."

Wyatt guffawed. "Oh... I... I'm sorry." He said before walking over to a free couch but the girl followed him and plomped down next to him. Wyatt never really spoke to people before... especially attractive girls. She was five foot three inches tall with long, luscious brown hair, piercing green eyes, a petite face and lips that were naturally pouty. The reason why a girl like her was in a hell hole like this...

Must be a real psycho.

"You're new." She said with a grin that sent a mischievous twinkle into her eyes.

"Yeah..." He nodded awkwardly.

She stared closely at him and laughed. "You're a huge weirdo. You've been avoiding my direct line of sight the entire time but since you're looking down at me, I can easily assume you're trying to look down my shirt." Wyatt immediately turned away which made her laugh even more. "I like you!" She grinned before looking at the doors, seeing a nurse posted by each one. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Huh?" Wyatt questioned.

"Wanna. Get. Out. Of. Here?" The girl laughed. "Although, it isn't a question."

"How do we get out?" Wyatt asked and the girl laughed, as if that wasn't the biggest problem.

She cleared her throat before leaning over to Wyatt giggling before whispering – or at least was supposed to – in his ear. The act alone made him shiver but was shocked at what she said. "I can't believe Amy called Harper a bitchy sex fiend!" She said loudly into his ear and the chatter stopped as the room fell silent.

"What?" A girl arose and went over to another girl. "What did you call me?" An argument began and a fight quickly broke out with a number of the students going around to watch. The nurse frantically left their stations to go and break the fight up. The girl took this chance and grabbed Wyatt's hand and began to run off with him towards the unoccupied doors.

Wyatt didn't know whether to be doing this on his first day here especially with this girl who looked like trouble was her middle name. She dragged him into a sprint as they ran down the secluded halls together until they reached a stairwell and began to climb up. "Hurry, slow poke!" The girl giggled as they ran and eventually, the stairwell ended and they found themselves on the roof. "Over there!" She dragged him to the other side and the found a room hidden behind the superstructures on the roof top. She pulled him in and sighed in relief. Wyatt was basically panting his lungs out, even reaching for his inhaler while the girl just hopped up a couch and sat on the open window's sil. She pulled off her jacket and threw it on the couch, basking in the sun. Once Wyatt calmed down, he finally took look around the room. It looked like a tiny cabin with a few necessary furniture and a small kitchenette. "What's your name?" The girl asked.

"W... Wyatt Lennox." He answered.

"Here's your pocket knife." She said, pulling the item out of her shirt... and Wyatt honestly didn't want to know where she hid it for the sake of his teenage hormones. "With these stupid uniforms, there isn't much space to hide stuff." She put it in his hands and the normally cold metal casing was warm.

Don't even think about that! Wyatt reprimanded himself. "Thanks but... why di..."

"It looked important to you." She said. "Considering that you almost bit that dude's head off and also that these dickheads don't really know the meaning of sentimental value in objects albeit its shape, size or use especially since mentally distubed youth are abandoned here by loved ones."

Well... that was rather profound! "You're not planning on stabbing anyone, right?" She continued to say.

"N..not initially." Wyatt shook his head.

"Bummer!" The girl said sadly. "I always look forward to seeing someone get shanked."

Wyatt rolled his eyes and laughed at the bad joke even though it was pretty funny. "Thank you. Wait... that security dude took it. How..."

"I have impulsive control disorder." The girl said.

"So you're a klepto?" Wyatt asked.

"Jesus, such vulgar language!" The girl teased. "Imagine if Headmistress Forman heard you say that... even though it is what it is. She'd probably say I should say you have... pervasive development disorder or Asperger Disorder instead of calling you an auto."

Wyatt looked baffled. "H...how?"

"The shifting eyes, stuttering and fumbling hands as if you're on drugs even though I can tell you've never had some a day in your life." She laughed.

"And who are you?" He asked.

"Natalia Turunen." She said. "Call me Nat... or preferably Thalia... or Lia... anything but the full thing. Makes me sound like an old Norweigen hag."

"Bad experience with Norwegian people?" He dared to ask.

"The bitch I call my mom." She sighed before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a cigarette out of her tights under her uniform skirt, flashing the teenage boy momentarily.

"Don't you have pockets?" Wyatt asked.

Thalia raised an eyebrow at him. "First, nope... the uniforms were designed to make sure we don't hide anything but I am an expert at it. Secondly, are you really staring at me?" Wyatt grumbled something before looking away. "Wow! For an auto, you are quite the perv!"

"Shut up!" Wyatt hissed.

Thalia smirked. "I wouldn't mind showing you my underwear if you're interested..."

"No thanks." He muttered.

Thalia laughed before staring off into the distance. She placed the cigarette between her lips and lighting it. "Do you have anything against tar and nicotine?"

"As long as you exhale that way." Wyatt gestured to outside the window before looking around the cabin, aligning random things. The two were silent as they brooded to themselves in deep thought.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Thalia asked but Wyatt ignored the question.

"How did you find this place?"

"Exploring." Thalia said before she let out a cloud of smoke. "There's not much to do down there except fight with retards, drink with retards when the nurses aren't watching, the occasional dirty sex under their noses with said retards but it gets boring after a short while. Only I know about this place and come here often to... reflect."

"I see." Wyatt nodded as he sat on the couch. "Then why did you show me this place?"

"I have three follow up questions for you... can you fight?"

"Not really."

"Have you ever drank alcohol?"

"Makes me sleepy."

"Are you a virgin?"

"Ask for the jury's verdict."

"Then you wouldn't last three minutes down there." She concluded. "Think of me as your hero."

"Charming." He rolled his eyes before standing up and walking over to the dusty radio that stood on a dust side table. "Does this radio work?"

"Do I look like a damn mechanic?" Thalia laughed. Wyatt ignored her once more and looked at the contraption, hitting several buttons repeatedly but nothing happening. "Leave the poor radio alone, Wyatt. It's dead and resting."

"It's just not working." Wyatt said as he continued the pattern.

"How would you feel if someone said that to your grave with a shovel in hand while you're in heaven?" She challenged.

"Whoever said I'm going to heaven?" He said before pulling out his pocket knife.

"I'm more of the devil's apprentice than you at first glance." Thalia said. "Besides, why do you want the radio so bad?"

Wyatt opened the back and started tinkering with it. "It relaxes me." After a few tweaks there and changes here, the radio played after it was turned on and Wyatt closed the back panel.

"Look at you, all MacGyver like." She said before stubbing her used cigarette in the ground. Wyatt began to turn the knob to search for a channel without static. "You look like my isä right now."

Wyatt scoffed. "Is Isä your cat or something?"

"Yeah... cause cats have posable thumbs that can MacGuyver radios." Thalia fired back the sarcasm. "Isä means father in Finnish, he's a handyman."

"Where is he, Finland?" He asked.

"Yeah. Mama is half Dutch-half Norwegian, my dad's Finnish but I've lived here most my life and pretty much all around Europe at some point of my childhood. They're divorced now. I used to go see my dad during summer up until I was convicted."

"Petty theft, Klepto?" Wyatt joked. He felt rather at ease around her than normal with other people. It almost... scared him. Almost.

"Yeah... let's go with that, Auto." Thalia nodded in agreement. "You might wanna move the antenna until you get sound without static."

"Suddenly you're an expert?" Wyatt asked.

"Your words, MacGuyver." Thalia laughed before hopping down from her window seat and bounding over to Wyatt, kneeling behind him and reaching out, adjusting the antenna.

Wyatt began to inwardly panic at the lack of space. "Um... m...my personal bubble has been invaded."

"Oh hush up!" Thalia rolled her eyes. "If I wanted to rape you, I would've done it by now."

"So you're a rapist too?"

"Paedophilia mostly." She countered as the static stopped and the sound was clear. "Yes!" She hopped up to her feet happily. "Now crank up the tunes, Capitol FM please."

"Yeah right!" He scoffed. "Right after I listen to the news."

Thalia pouted before plummeting onto the couch. "Now you sound like isä."

"Shhh!" He hushed her and Thalia poked her tongue out at him.

It has been one week, three days, two hours and forty two minutes in counting since President McKenzie mysteriously vanished his press release last week relating to the 9-30-67-2-89-176 terrorist attacks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation are working tirelessly to find the cause of this albeit the issue of national security is also something that should not be ignored. Until then, Vice President Jerry Coulson is acting in President McKemzie's place while the hunt for both the president and 9-30-67-2-89-176 is under...

"What a bombastically and stupidly long name for a terrorist group." Thalia said.

"They probably don't want to be traced easily." Wyatt shrugged. "Numbers could mean practically anything; telephone numbers, computer codes, barcode numbers..."

"A terrorist group that doesn't want to be traced sounds like a porn star that doesn't want to be in a porno." She laughed.

"Why do you have to be so vulgar?" Wyatt questioned.

"I'm serious!" Thalia said. "Terrorist are exhibitionists... performers almost. They want to be noticed and they have their reasons why."

"Yeah but why couldn't you have said something like a... hyena that doesn't want to laugh?"

"Can we please leave the topic of the endless list of metaphors and paraboles that could've been used?" Thalia reprimanded him. "Those terrorists used those numbers for a reason... and it's not a complex equation for sure so put your pen away."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "And why is that?"

"Too obvious!" Thalia laughed before standing up. "Why are you listening to the news any way?"

"Doesn't make me feel trapped." He said.

"You've only been here two hours." She said.

"Force of habit I'd rather not delve into." Wyatt elaborated.

"Don't worry." Thalia said. "I'm not into hard hitting exposés." Wyatt laughed as they continued listening to the news, unbeknownst to them that someone was watching the two teenagers.

Author's Note: Here is my new Power Ranger's story that I will write alongside Hunters of Divinity. As I have a lot of plans for the Project Metamorphosis series, I decided that after every four episodes of each series, I will swap over to the next until both are done and I can move onto the next two.

This follows a more political side of Power Ranger involvement as you could see from the missing President so expect a lot of conspiracy theories. Also note that this is a little bit more vulgar and intense than my other story so take caution.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feedback is always appreciated.

BlazeWinger