A/N: So, this story randomly pops into my head…and the more I talk about it with Cat and SpecialK92 about it the more I want to write it. So, yeah. Introducing insert title here…
Disclaimer: I own Nothing! Except for my OCs!
Prologue: A new Life
Hayley tugged at her hair as she eyed her reflection. She felt weird…and definitely looked different. Hayley bit her bottom lip as she noticed that the door to the changing room was opening. A minute later, a young girl with long, loosely curly, blonde hair with light blue and silver tips and soft blue eyes walked in. While Hayley was wearing a blue button down shirt and jeans, the newcomer was far more strangely dressed. She wore a tight light blue and silver spandex uniform, it was mainly light blue, however the boots, gloves and sides were silver, and a matching blue mask that covered her eyes and bridge of her nose. A slender light blue and silver art kit briefcase thing hung off one shoulder. A glowing circle with a picture of what appeared to be an old gateway was set into the chest of her outfit, the golden color seemingly off compared to the rest of her outfit.
"Ready Hayley?" She tapped her art kit almost nervously like.
Hayley frowned, not liking how she seemed so nervous about this. "Artistsa? Aren't you comfortable opening portals to other dimensions by now? You are the Gateway Keeper."
Artistsa shook her head, her blonde curls flying into her face. "No. I'm still far too new at this. Maybe if the last Gateway Keeper didn't die before the Gateway Pendant had a chance to pick the next generation Keeper like it was supposed to, then I would have had a mentor."
Hayley blinked as she looked over to her new friend. Give her power rangers any day of the week. She understood how their powers worked, and how the power transfer worked, if needed. No mystical pendant involved making the choice for them. Hayley rubbed her forehead. "Just send me back to my dimension…and not some other dimension. Like one where superheroes don't exist."
Artistsa threw Hayley an annoyed look at that. "I'm not that bad. I only lost two heroes in that dimension." Hayley quickly shot her a look. "Ok, not helping. But I got them back! Of course, I had to break them out of that dimension's government facility."
Hayley pinched her nose at that. "Just send me back to Florida…in my dimension! Please?"
"Ok…hold on!" Artistsa touched the gold charm, causing a bright flash of light.
Hayley squealed as she felt her feet get yanked out from underneath her. Dimensional traveling was not something she would recommend for anyone to do. To think Artistsa had no choice but to do it!
~One Year Later~
Hayley strolled across the campus, holding her books. She missed doing gymnastics. But her new life required her to avoid it, for her safety. Glancing back down to the books she carried, Hayley vaguely wondered if her presentation would be over the top. Several of her classmates had complained in the past about her overachieving with assignments. Honestly? She just wanted a good grade.
Thud. Hayley jumped as she crashed into someone, knocking them to the ground. "I'm soo sorry! I wasn't paying…" Hayley broke off when she noticed who it was that was now sprawled on the ground in front of her. "Attention. Here, let me help you up." She tried to ignore how her heart thudded in her chest, butterflies fluttering wildly next to it. After all, it wasn't everyday that she would get the privilege of running into the best Power Ranger to ever live, Tommy Oliver himself.
"Hi. Name's Tommy. As you can tell, I'm new here." Tommy brushed his hands against his pants trying to get the dirt form the street off.
"I'm really sorry. I was just concentrating on getting to class and I didn't see you there and…" Hayley broke off when Tommy burst out laughing.
"Sorry, just. I need your name, not your life story." Tommy flashed his charismatic smile in her direction.
Hayley stopped herself from swooning, even as her knees buckled. "Hayley. The name is Hayley."
"Nice to meet you Hayley. Now, how about you help me get to class…then maybe you can afterwards pay for lunch?" Tommy suggested, falling into step with Hayley.
Hayley silently berated herself as her butterflies went wild again. He didn't even know it was her! She was starting all over… and this time, she wasn't going to be a damsel in distress. "Sure thing. I call that a fair trade for knocking you over, Handsome."
Tommy froze, shock flashing across his eyes. "What did you just call me?"
Hayley silently wondered how many mistakes one person can make in a lifetime. Particularly in their second lifetime. "Tommy. I called you Tommy…you know? Your name?" Uncertainty flooded her voice.
Tommy eyed her for five seconds before shrugging. "If you say so. Come on, I have Science 101 right now."
Hayley arched her eyebrows, surprise flashing through her. Tommy never seemed the one for taking science classes for his degree. With his talks about opening a new dojo, she always presumed… "This way. You're headed over to the History Hall, and not the Science Hall."
Tommy quickly mumbled something about it makes total sense that the guy who was under an evil spell would get totally turned around his first day of college. Hayley smiled to herself, even thought she mentally screaming at herself.
…
Hayley double checked that she was by herself before pulling out her dimensional phone. It looked like a typical smart phone, at least what smart phones would look like in a few more years, except that it only had two icons; contacts and messages. Tapping the contacts icon, she quickly scrolled through her contacts until she found the one she was looking for. Techno. Tapping it, she waited a few minutes for it to ring, ignoring how the profile picture was that of a messy pile of wires and metal. Most likely his most recent project. After what seemed like forever, Techno finally answered his phone.
"Hello?"
Hayley felt surprise flash through her over the fact that he sounded out of breath. "Were you exercising?"
"Why do you sound so surprised? Your dimension isn't the only one that needs superheroes."
"I wasn't aware you were in the middle of a battle. Am I interrupting?"
"No. Not at all. Technically it's more of that we may have found Harnessor. Which means its all hands on deck here. Since he kind of, you know…"
"Somehow managed to steal some of the Gateway Keeper's power… meaning that he can travel to different dimensions just like Artistsa." Hayley, not liking the sound of him being still on the loose.
"We're working on it. He's in the Star Wars dimension right now. Which is frustrating beyond words, since we have to convince the Jedi Order we mean no harm…"
Hayley shook her head, a tiny smile crossing her face. Trust Techno to whine about that. They probably had to pass his technopath powers off as the force or something like that, which would explain why he was breathing so heavily. "Techno? My new school…Tommy is here."
"What?!"
"It's true. I ran into him myself."
"Does he know?"
"I don't think so…he didn't recognize me at all."
"That's good, if he doesn't recognize you with your history between you two, then Harnessor won't recognize you either."
Hayley frowned, knowing what she was about to say was going to trigger the lecture. "Yeah…but he invited me to lunch."
"He did what?! Did Artistsa not explain to you that you have to avoid him at all costs?!"
Hayley groaned, twisting her hair with her finger, since she didn't have a cord with this phone. "Of course she did. I just…he asked me. And it was just an apology lunch for knocking him over earlier."
"Fine. But only this once. If I EVER hear that you hung out with him after this lunch, we will have no choice but to relocate you to a different dimension. How does one without any superheroes sound to you?
"Ok, ok! I get it. Stay away from Tommy, or else I get moved to a different dimension."
"Something we both know you don't want…with how hard you fought us into letting you stay in this one." Techno's voice appeared to be full of mirth as he reminded her of that argument she fought hard to win.
Hayley rolled her eyes skyward. "Even if you sent me to another dimension, I'm retired. Which translates to no powers. The only place I'll fit in easy is one with no superheroes…and I just might speak of Power Rangers like they're real people and not fictional to the wrong people."
Laughter rang out from Techno. "Still keeping that argument about why we shouldn't do that. Just stay away from him, alright Hayley?"
Hayley sighed, before quietly agreeing to his demands. After hurriedly saying her good-byes, she hung up the phone, slipping it back into her back pocket.
A/N: Done! How do you like this story so far?
SkyTalon