A/N: New Author, with a very AU story...hope you like.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Power Rangers...at least, nothing that makes me cash...I own the movies...nevermind. I get no money from this story.
Jo bit her lip tightly as she glanced across the street, the signal flashed to walk and she grinned. Checking both ways quickly, she broke into a jog, eager to get across. Screeching tires overwhelmed her iPod and then she was filled with pain, and air born. She saw the ground coming up to hit her and she tried to brace herself before darkness engulfed her.
She stood in a forest, with a beautiful sun flickering through the leaves. Looking down, Jo saw that she was in the clothes she thought she remembered wearing: Black jeans, black boots, black leather jacket, green tank and her hat. "Who are you?" Someone demanded.
Jo spun, her hand dropping to her back pocket, "Who are you?" She snapped back before taking in the appearance of the people behind her. Five men, with brightly colored hair were staring at her suspiciously. She slipped her hand down to grab her pocket knife, but it was gone. "What the fudge is going on!" She demanded of them. Then froze, that had not been the word she'd planned to say. It had been her thought, but her mouth had not followed through.
"That's what I would like to know," one of them said, the one who had spoke before, he irritably shoved back some of his green hair, and a blue streak came free to hang in his eyes. Jo regarded him for a moment, and then decided that he was wearing a real uniform. Nobody who wore a costume that stupid could keep his face that straight.
"Peace." An old man in long robes appeared between them. Although Jo had first pegged the robes as black, when the old man lifted his arms, they shimmered through Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Black, Green, Silver, White, Gold and Purple. "Stand easy Rangers," he continued, addressing the men. "Are you well, Jo?" He asked, turning to Jo.
"Who are you?" She demanded, not at all happy with the way things were going, especially since she'd been censored, again. She put one hand on her hip and the other reached up to toss her hair from her face, "This is kidnapping, you know."
"My name is Zordon," he said, "I am a guardian of all that is good." Jo wondered how long he'd practiced saying that phrase, in that pose, to keep that look of serene calm on his features.
"Well, that excludes me," Jo muttered.
"Not true," Zordon corrected gently. "Are you well?"
"I'm just peachy," she snapped, crossing her arms.
"I am sorry to have disrupted your life," Zordon said, "but it was a thing that had to be done." Before Jo could make any sort of response, he turned to the men, "Andorran, Malachi, if I may have a word with you, in private."
Two of the men, in matching uniforms, nodded and followed Zordon away from them. "Hi, I'm Nikolai," said one of the others, who bore a startling resemblance to one of the two who had just left.
"Jo," Jo replied, "Jo O'Shae. Where are we?"
"In the Morphin' Grid, on a Power Quest," Nikolai replied.
"Uh," Jo said, "Not understanding a word of that."
"You are familiar with the Power Rangers, correct?"
"Isn't that, like, a TV show?" Jo asked, popping one hand on her hip and tilting her head at him.
"No," Zordon said, leading the two he'd singled out back to the group. "Jo, I would like to speak with you."
Jo followed him across the clearing, "Look, old man, I want to go back home."
"Let me show you something," Zordon replied, "I swear to you, on my honor as a Power Ranger Mentor and Guardian, that what you are about to see is true."
"Yes," Jo said, "Because I understand what that means, so it means something to me."
Zordon sighed, "I swear then, on my honor, that what you see is true."
"Fine," Jo snapped.
Zordon gestured and they stood on a street corner that Jo recognized. In fact, she could see herself standing across the way, "I took us back some, so that you could see what happened," Zordon told her.
The signal changed and 'Other' Jo trotted across the street, then a car spun around the corner and struck her, knocking her away from the crosswalk. The car stopped and the driver got out, running to the limp body. Jo stepped back into Zordon, and the old man's hands rested firmly on her shoulders. Moments later, cops and an ambulance arrived. After a few moments of trying to revive her, the ambulance covered her body with a sheet. "I'm dead," Jo whispered.
Suddenly, they were back in the clearing and Jo tore herself away, "I'm dead?" She repeated, demanding and questioning, trying to make sense in a world that had dropped out from under her.
"Yes," Zordon said, "in that world, you have died. However, should you chose to accept the Power you are offered, you will have a new life here. It will not be easy here, but you will one day find love and happiness."
Jo shuddered as she considered it, then she lifted her eyes to focus on Zordon, "I'll do it," she said. "I may not know much about Rangers, but I remember that movie. They do good, and maybe I'm not as good a person as those characters seemed to be, but I'm willing to try."
The man in uniform who had spoken to her first stepped forward, "Lady Jo, there is a final thing you must know." He said, "You will not be living on Earth if you join our team as Zordon intends. Marè Creesto is a planet of strict laws. Women are not permitted to be Rangers, should a woman take up a morpher; the least punishment would be a severe beating and exile. Should she use that morpher in battle, she would be killed. Further more, Marè Creesto are self-reliant, it is even written in our law that off-world Rangers are forbidden to come to Marè Creesto, much less for us to fight with them. Malachi and I served off-planet during our time in the military, we do not hold with these laws, although there is no following for change. I cannot predict what will happen should your identity be revealed."
Jo put her hands on her hips, "Well, I'm not exactly on the right side of the law back home either. I'm a street kid; I break laws every time I breathe."
"We will work with you on hiding who you are," he replied said, "So that people do not suspect you."
"I'll, try my best not to get into trouble," Jo replied.
The five men stacked their hands, like they had done in the movie and TV show, and they looked at Jo expectantly. She sighed and laid her hand on top, her whole attitude reading how stupid this was. Zordon's hands fell on her shoulders. "Andorran, you have always been a strong warrior and leader. You will be the Red Ranger." Zordon said. "Nikolai, you are a bright mind and gifted inventor. Your honor will be as the Blue Ranger. Emali, child of peace and hope, you will join as the Yellow Ranger. Kendor, man of vision and art, you will bring strength to the team as the Black Ranger. Malachi, born of war and spirit, you will be the White Ranger. Jo O'Shae, child of Earth, you will become the Green Ranger, strength in battle, and in life."
The new Rangers began to glow in their new colors and then they lifted their hands upwards, "Power Rangers," Jo murmured with a grin.
Sparkles exploded from their hands and the five men called out, "Marè Creesto!" Jo followed a breath behind, stumbling on the words. It worked, because they were soon in morph. As Jo looked down at her chest, and saw the emblem she grinned, it was clearly a stylized dragon.
"This is so cool," she exclaimed, and started as a man's voice reached her ears. "What?"
"To ensure that the Marè Creesto believes you to be a shy man," Zordon said, "your suit has modifications."
"All right," Jo said, looking at the others.
"Your Quest has ended, Marè Creesto Rangers. Go home, to your new command chamber, and find peace." Zordon said.
"Wait," Jo said, she looked at the others, "First things first," She turned to them, "So, I've got to play the part of a guy, right? That won't be too hard, I faked a boy when I first went on the streets, and I can do it again. This is only going to work if you don't think of me as a girl. I know some tricks that will help, but I'm going to need some things that I can't just walk into a store and buy." She leaned carefully on a consol and crossed her arms. "However, we'll start with basics, my name is Drake, a kid who didn't mean to end up on the Quest, but did. I'm painfully shy, so I don't go out in public much, and since I was an orphan with no family, there's nobody to miss me. I'm sixteen."
"We're all moving out to Command since we've passed," Andorran said, "so that won't be a problem. We all said we weren't going to hide that we're Rangers, but we aren't going to flaunt it. It's happened that Rangers change their names when they become Rangers, nobody will think twice about it."
As the others nodded, Jo relaxed slightly. "All right then, let's do this." Bright light surrounded them and they reappeared in a room filled with more technology than Jo had ever seen.
"Power Down," Andorran said.
The other four followed suit, but Jo did not.
Nikolai yawned. "I'm tired. Computer, what time is it?"
"Three bells past the quarter hour," a female, computerized voice responded.
"Wow," Malachi said.
"How late is that?" Jo asked.
"Very late," Andorran said. "Come on, let's get you settled. Computer, lock all observations of Green Ranger under Ranger lock, no one but this team is to know his identity."
"Compliance."
"All right, Drake," Andorran said, "let's get you in bed. I've got something you can borrow to sleep in. It's even green."
"Thanks," Jo said, dryly. She followed Andorran through the Chamber and down a long hallway. "So, lots of Rangers live here?"
"Not really," Andorran said. "The Chamber's remade with every team, after we do a ceremony in the morning taking our place as the new Ranger Team, we'll come back here and settle in, including placing our wishes on this place."
A door opened and Jo tensed. An older man with a limp came out, "Back so soon, Andorran? Did you get kicked out?" He asked.
"No," Andorran said, "we just got back. This is Drake, he got caught up in the Power by accident, and Zordon told us that he was supposed to be on our team."
Jo inclined her head slightly. "Not powering down yet?" The man asked.
"No," Jo said, quietly, she glanced at Andorran.
"Drake," Andorran paused, "has a history. We told him that being Chosen as a Ranger will make it go away, but he doesn't trust us. Something Zordon said to him got him to trust us, but he's not taking anything for granted. This room's empty, Drake. You take it. I'll get those night clothes and be back soon."
Jo nodded, "Thanks," she murmured and slipped into the room he indicated. "Now, how do I lock this?"
"Door locks engaged." The computer announced.
"That's freaky," Jo said, turning to look at the room. "What is this, a closet?" She asked, rhetorically. It was a narrow room with a long low bunk on one side, and some sort of bins lined the other side of the room. She walked down to the end and back, and shook her head, "Computer, Andorran said that the Chamber is remade with each team. What does that include?"
"The team designs the living quarters and has some say in the set up of the Command Chamber itself. The Power makes the changes." The Computer replied, "Red Ranger Nerolan requests entrance."
Jo turned to the door, "Unlock the door, please."
Moments later, it opened, and the man from the hallway came in. "Drake?"
"Yes sir?" Jo asked, cautiously.
"I'm Nerolan, and I'm not your enemy. Like you, I'm a Ranger with a history. The day before I joined a Power Quest, I killed a man. It was in self defense, but it was almost declared murder. That would have stained my record for life if I hadn't joined this group of idiots looking to be heroes."
"Hey!" A second man appeared behind Nerolan and Jo shifted into a defensive position.
"Mac, you idiot!" Nerolan hissed, his tone amused. "Drake, this is Maclaren. Mac, this is one of the new Rangers, Drake. He's not a people person."
Jo inclined her head, "Ranger Maclaren," she murmured.
"It's Mac," Maclaren said, "I'm just a Greenie like you. You do know you can demorph right?"
"Excuse me, but why are you harassing my Green Ranger," Andorran asked, to Jo's relief. "If he doesn't want to demorph, that's his prerogative. You ok, Drake?"
"A little overwhelmed," Jo admitted.
"So, you two leave him alone, he's had a hard day. Give him a while to get used to us, and then you can actually meet him." Andorran said.
Mac and Nerolan back away, and Andorran slipped inside, letting the door shut behind him. "Thank you," Jo said, sitting down on the bed. "It's not that I don't like people, but, you are all, what, ten years older than me? All of you have my danger senses going on maximum. It'll take time for me to relax."
"Well, here's the clothes I promised," Andorran said. "Sleep well, Drake." He set a pile of green cloth on the bed and let himself out the door.
"Computer, lock door," Jo ordered, "Do not unlock that door until I give the command, I don't care if it's the Pope himself out there."
"Compliance."
"Power Down." Jo said. As the morph finally faded, she shuddered at as a brief weakness engulfed her. Then she changed into the loose, button down shirt and pants that covered her feet, and giggled. It was like she was dressing in her dad's clothes again. She climbed under the blanket and closed her eyes. In moments she was deep asleep.
In the corridor outside, Andorran faced Nerolan firmly, "Look, Drake made his choice," he said softly, mindful of his sleeping green ranger. "He's young, he's scared, and he doesn't know who he can trust anymore. Please, Nerolan, don't ask him to demorph again. I think the only reason he hasn't bolted already is because we aren't trying to force him to do anything. If you and your team do that, we'll have a scared kid with Ranger Powers running lose."
"Then why did you take him on your Quest?" Nerolan replied.
"We didn't have a choice," Andorran said. "We'd reached the end and he just appeared. Zordon brought him to the Grid specifically to join our team. I don't know much about him, none of us do, except that he wants to be called Drake and Zordon says he's important to our team. We couldn't have the Power unless we accepted him. Zordon also had to talk him into being on the team. If you want to argue this with Zordon, why don't you go to Earth and ask him."
"Easy," Nerolan said his tone soothing and his posture non-offensive, "I'll warn the others off. Get some sleep, you're dead on your feet."
Andorran nodded and stalked down to his room, throwing himself on the bed with a sigh. He was a criminal, and he'd just lied to a Red Ranger he'd always respected and looked up to. This wasn't going to be an easy fight.