The zodiac rangers

Episode 1: a horoscope of beginnings

July 18th 1998

day 1 12:00pm

Enter Sgt hammertone, a muscular bald black man wearing a black tracksuit who is walking back and forth talking to the cadets he is giving orders and briefings

"you will be trapped in here for the next ten days, you must depend on yourself, your team, and the land around you...if you feel that you cannot do the test then say is...the ranger force does not need any weak crybabies to make this new ranger team a joke!" he stopped in front of a candidate Theodore rogers when he said the insulting words and looked at him as he waited for the response "well?"

Theodore looking at attention: "sir I will not quit"

Sgt hammer tone looked at him and said: "well I guess that the baby wants to wear big kid pants now" he was incredibly hard on him for no reason and instead of someone standing up for him, they all sided with what he and the other drill sergeants said by force in fear they will get the same treatment "all this time in boot camp, you've been fucking up, why not give up now and you will only be considered a coward only" he said with a smirk.

Theodore trying to hold back the tears of sadness and anger said "sir, I will never quit...there is too much riding on me becoming a ranger!" the other candidates started laugh except a few who chose to stay silent...the other ranger candidates in his team began to laugh. Theodore chose to keep his mouth shut because he doesn't want to mess things up. He was just standing in attention, standing still until the Sgt said "open the doors let these maggots begin training..."

after a few seconds of waiting the doors opened,revealing a massive dome atmospheres that seemed to clash with one another. the volcano was next to the beach was next to the tundra, the tundra by the city and the city near the area had it's own only real question was..how hard would it be?

The teams were randomized by the skill level as Theodore was place with four people that the said he was compatible with but they didn't want him around. He was given the role of "green" by the teams red ranger. A rank that was lower than the pink and yellow...considering they went the girl colors. a taboo that started only but five years since then. The four that were with him were Mindy hassle-man the teams yellow, Sarah dogmas the team's pink, Andy rascal the teams red and Philip McGowan, the teams blue each chose their colors but they knew that they were going to be stuck with him so they made him green and carry their stuff. Andy, looked at Theodore and laughed and said "guess what, you are only carrying our stuff green boy" he said as they gave him all of the supplies. Theodore fell back on his butt from the over amount of stuff as everyone laugh as a voice screamed "will you all shut up, you are all a bunch of jerks!"then suddenly an automated voice said "attention. the calls are commencing stay near your squadron". The squadron that they were in was squadron 8, meaning they would be the eighth ones in 20 minutes.

The other four talked about strategy but they kept it to themselves non verbally saying to Theodore that they felt he was useless . the teams were being called one by one, each more scared than the last. The sweat was visible on Theodore's face, the feeling that this was the big test made him feel so worried. Suddenly a woman's comforting hand was on his shoulder, he turned around to see the upper class-man he saved on earth, Julia ever-shadow. She smiled at him as she kindly said "hey, are you feeling alright?" she slightly calming him down with her smile and personality. He said quietly "I'm scared but I got to do it" Julia softly smiled at him and said "I know you can do this, but remember this...whatever you do, never forget the kindness in your heart" she said looking at him with her soft green eyes as "team number 8, enter the dome" was heard. with that Theodore said "thank you Julia, I won't let anyone down this time" he said as he walked to the big metal doors as he felt his heart race. He clinched his hands in fear and then as he entered he felt all the fear in heart gathered as he began to cry silently as the other members were confident. Andy was saying "OK lets split up. Sarah and i will find the holo maps, while you three go set up camp. then a soul that sent fear down there spines was heard….a scream of terror. the five raced forward to the scream

They went to the middle platform only to be greeted by a terrifying sight...blood, there was blood everywhere. the ground was red and it appeared to have been a massive struggle. Mindy screamed in horror as the two other teams that were left met up with the 8th team. panic started to ensure as they see a beast with a sharks mouth and a humanoid body eating one of the girls from team 6 and with the bodies of five others behind him. The creature smiled and with low gravelly voice said "dinner is here boys" he said 10 others appeared surrounding them as the doors closed behind the students. What was going on as the doors closed, the sounds of "who is shutting the doors?!" and "help us please!?" was coming out but silenced by the sturdy metal doors.

The people on the other side of the door was scrambling because they were seeing on the life computer that people were dying. "this was not part of the test" and "what was going on?" was heard As they tried to open the door. no matter how hard they tried all they were getting was error messages and one that said "must wait in days when the door opens by itself" with the commotion going on, the sounds of panicked footsteps,screaming and loud pressing of keys were heard until the captain's stern voice said "quiet down everyone" he felt the panic die down as Sgt hammertone ran up to him "the doors won't open, they keep saying in ten days and when we check inside...these creatures were eating the students. He said as he had a still image of a creature of the monitor. The captain looked at the monitor in horror "what is that thing?!" he said as he was in pure fear. He ran to the computer and tried to open the door. After typing on the computer to try and unlock the door...he realized that there was no control at all from the terminal "they are on their own...hope their makers, guide them" Julia heard everything and after thinking for a few seconds she knew what she had to do. she walked away into the shadows.

the students including Theodore were surrounded by those creatures as they tried to run away but as Theodore was running, he was pushed by his teams red ranger hearing him say "better you than us". He fell down a small hill out of the way of the scene. He got up with his body aching and his heart in shock. He looked around and he saw people still running. The sounds of bones crunching, blood being spilled onto the ground and the screams of his classmates. It made him remember a scene back on earth in a janitor closet. He was hiding from a group of people; he hid in the corner trying to be as quiet as much he could. He closed his eyes as his tears fell but then the sounds all kept hearing "come here fish boy, i just wanna talk to you is all.." the look on Theodore's face was getting worse and worse until a calm males said "theo, what's eating you?"

He snapped back into reality and looked around. He didn't see anyone except a few half eaten bodies; he tried to hold his stomach from barfing. Theodore just tried to figure out on what he needed to do. he paced back and forth as he then realized that all the stuff he was carrying was dead weight now and needed to get what's important , he raced to the bags to find something, anything that he could use to survive..he found all the food his team was going to eat, the water and then going through Andy's bag he found two items that made no sense being there...a set of pulse daggers and a master key cards used to unlock weapon boxes and medical stations. Theodore always felt that going through people's things were wrong but the jerk pushed him down a cliff so you know what,fuck him. he put the key card in his pocket and the vibro blades in next to the bag. after searching everything all he had was one bag and then and a set of vibro daggers. he started to walk through the plains that connected all of the biomes to find a place to hide.

Night came fast in the dome; the feeling of fear and anxiety were heightened as the thoughts of those creatures could strike at moment made it unnerving to move forward. Theodore used a small flashlight from his bag to find a place to camp for the night. He found a small place by the path and he began to set up a small campsite. As he lit the fire, he felt more like he was on earth. The camping under the stars put him in a small sense of ease...but not enough ease though to make him forget that a big group of monsters are after anyone that looked like a tasty meal to them. The fire was lit, he ate a few pieces of bread and a bottle of water. He felt odd like someone was watching him, but he did nothing about it. He just stared into the fire, thinking to himself about his home, his family and the fact that he became a ranger in training to help his family financially. His heavy heart made it unbearable to think what would happen if this was all a waste of his life. to never see his parents, to never see his sister ever again and that person who drives him to keep going. Suddenly he heard the sound of a tree branch cracking by the weight of someone stepping on it. He got up into a somewhat basic fighting stance. He was afraid to know what it was until; he saw it was a girl. In fact it was the yellow ranger from team four. Theodore recognized her as the girl who defended him earlier that day. She just walked closer, her eyes locking onto Theodore's as she walked closer. Her eyes looked tired and glazed over as she suddenly collapsed due to fatigue. Theodore got as he ran towards her and brought her to the camp. He put her near the campfire and then began to place her where he had put his sleeping bag "it's all good, you need this more than i do.." he said as he laid next to her on the grass awake

The morning came as the woman woke up, she saw that Theodore stood by her side while she slept. she was inside a sleeping bag and then thought "did he..help me?" She looked around until she saw that he had food in a bag. She ate at least four things of bread and drank almost a whole gallon of water by herself, she felt bad to eat his food but she was so hungry. "I'm glad that you are doing well now, you had me worried" was heard behind her as she turned to see Theodore's eyes looking at her. "I'm sorry but I was so hungry since yesterday...I ran on pure adrenaline and fear" she said looking down sadly. Theodore smiled softly and said "hey it's alright..i had more than enough" She then realized as she saw the eight on Theodore's academy uniform "aren't you on team eight?" she said as Theodore looked at her as he said "Theodore is the name..after all it was you who stood up for me" she then sat next to him "the name is Lena, I am team four's designated yellow ranger….and i am sorry for they treated you, i really am" her voice showed disappointment with the title and her team mates. Theodore looked at her and said to make her feel better "I am a green ranger, and also think of it this way at least you care?" Lena than said to him "you don't act like a green ranger" she said sounding honest. He looked at her with surprise "what rank should I be?" the Lena said kindly "red" her voice showing a kindness that he never heard before from another beside his sister and Julia. Theodore didn't know how to feel about a compliment, he never really hears them the past few months but something inside made him feel good. He then said "maybe you and I can be on a team together then" he said jokingly until agreed "I think that's a good idea...I think that teamwork can save us" he was shocked "OK...partner" he said as he put his hand out only to be greeted by her hand. Theodore then realized "there needs to be other members of a ranger team though" Lena sighed out of agreement "your right, but I'm sure we can find others" then Lena thought "but maybe, we can do something first...get the morpher out of the volcano" Theodore looked at the volcano and said "how do we get there without a map", Lena pulled out a holomap and smiled "like this" Theodora jumped out of happiness and said "yes, nothing can ruin this" then rustling of the trees was heard

It was a group of four of those creatures. They grinned with their shark faces as one said "look boys' breakfasts" he said as they came closer. Lena and Theodore were scared until they remembered that they were next to each other as they got into fighting stances. "Look boys they want to put up a struggle...let's have a show before we eat" they charged into them as they just jumped out of the way, the four of the creatures landing into a tree. "Looks like we are already in sync with each other..." Lena said until she saw that the things got up "now's our chance...let's make these bastards pay for killing our classmates" she said as Theodore nodded as they charged at them. Theodore grabbed one of them and pushed it into another. He kicked the creature hard as he put its chest twice, with the final face punch knocking him out. The creature turned into a stone, the other three looked at the two with shocked "you will pay for that your lives!" the three charged as Theodore punched one in the face .Lena grabbed one and threw him into the other. As one got up Lena just tornado kicked into a tree as the tree broke the creature was crushed by the tree. Theodore grabbed one of them and started to punch one continuously as Lena punched the other in the face. The feeling of victory was in Lena's heart until she saw Theodore as he was still punching until the creature was gone. He stayed still until Lena said "you were punching the person who hurt you?" Theodore's eyes showed a repressed amount of anger and rage in his heart. She realized why he also fought so much, it was to prove that he was good enough...but what for? "We did it..." Theodore said as he started to come to with slight happiness until he said "holy shit, we did it!" he jumped up out of happiness as Lena was happy too as she smiled and then her mind suddenly went back to a more determined tone "we need to get to that volcano...we need to make sure those creatures don't destroy it!" she said as Theodore was grabbing the supply bag as Lena carried the map. walking into the direction to the path of the volcano, staying together as they walked.

walking on the path was scary as Theodore and Lena saw corpses of their fallen mangled and half eaten, the pools of blood around them were more than unnerving to the two "Theodore, do you think that this was the test?" then Theodore shook his head "no something went wrong Lena, terribly terribly wrong" he said as they walked further down the path. Theodore felt slightly better with Lena by his side, though the feeling of terror was more potent. they reached a sign by a fork in the road, a sign was put in place of where the holo sign was supposed to be. a metallic sculpture in blood said "you will be fresh meat soon" Lena looked at Theodore as he noticed that the holo sign was broken "these creatures are smart, they knew they were doing." Lena than said to him "yeah, now that you mention it….doesn't it seem weird that the first thing they do is destroy something like this?" then Theodore said "Lena, what if these things are only the start of something far worse, after all...this just seems to perfect" Lena and Theodore were silent for a few seconds until Theodore said "...Lena, what if i told you that i saw something extremely misplaced before this all began?" Lena looked confused as Theodore pulled out the key card that was in Andy's bag "this was found in my team's red ranger bag, its a class 1 key card….its to unlock all the secrets" Lena took it and then said "why would a red ranger candidate have this?" Theodore quickly responded "to make sure the team would wins" then as they were done talking, a ruffling of the bushes near them startled them. a creature came out, it wasn't anything the two ever saw. the creature had a lion's head, the paws of a cheetah and the body of a human. the creature's wings were massive as they were threatening. the creature was called winglion "i congratulate you both for realizing that things are not what they appear but sadly...we cannot let you escape...there is too much that rides on this plan" he said as began to walked to them. Theodore had to decide "run to the volcano or run to a safe zone" Lena decided for him "volcano!" she started to run as Theodore followed behind her the creature began to take flight and followed the two. Theodore and Lena running side by side each other, breathing heavily but running for dear life "i don't suppose you have a plan? Lena said as Theodore replied "yeah, keep running" within a few seconds they were at the volcano, but there was a opened doorway. theodore and Lena ran right in. as they caught their breath, the door shut with a metal door. the bangs of the door were heard as the creature tried to get in, but were stopped. Theodore and Lena were dumbfounded by what had just happened.. the two were obviously in shock but as they caught their breath, they scoped their surroundings and then Theodore said "it looks like we were the only ones who even got this far" he said as Lena replied "yeah, just one question.."she then said as she saw a steel room, the volcano was far from it and by the look of the room, it was man made. Theodore said "did the u.r.f really go all out during this exercise?" then the two looked at each other, nodded and walked forward

as the two began to walk, they felt like eyes were watching them the whole time. which not only felt weird but extremely annoying. Lena said to Theodore "the teachers said nothing about corridors or tunnels.." Theodore was too busy looking around to really listen to Lena, suddenly he pulled Lena back. only to have a wall made of flame pillars block their path. lena's face was drained of any color by the site "dear god, Theodore, how did you know?" then Theodore said "i noticed that the footsteps were very hollow...then with the sound of a pressure plate going off, yeah this is or at least was the real deal" Theodore than remembered hearing about a sensor that went off when you were eliminated "hey Lena did you by any chance get a halo sensor?" Lena then looked at him "no, what was that?" then Theodore said "wait so no one told you about the sensor?" then she looked more confused "wait a second, did they know something like this would happen?" then a voice said "ha ha ha ha ha, well winglion said that there was two little rangers wannabes who were trying to get in my way..little piece of advice kids...behave yourselves and let my minions eat you. there is no refuge here children.." then the voice stopped suddenly as the lights all turned on ...revealing several student corpses and dozens of terrors surrounded the two "well now boys, its dinner time" then with a sudden flash of light mysterious turret guns appeared and then proceeded to fire on the terrors destroying them. a voice cried out "run!" then as Theodore was "Julia.." Lena grabbed Theodore's hand and began to run. the both running as the creatures were being shot down. the sounds of the heavy footsteps,bullets falling like rain and the sounds of grunt, groans and screams that came from the terrors as the bullets ripped through them like tissue paper. Theodore never in his wildest dreams thought something like this would happen but all he cared about getting Lena and himself out of harms way. Lena fell hurting her leg and spraining it, screaming in pain. Theodore stopped and without hesitation picked her up and let her lean on him. Theodore just did on instinct...Lena didn't know what to say but as Theodore helped. he used all of his strength to push through. at last after reaching the end of the hallway, a shutter slammed behind them.

Theodore and Lena were on the other side of the door. breathing hard and trying their best to calm down. hearing the sound of gun turrets and screams of the terrors outside, Lena and Theodore were scared as they just listened to scream. Theodore than closed his eyes for a second and said to himself "the only way to go is forward" then he got up and then saw that the room they were was a small metal room. the feeling was sterile as if no one else else was able to get to it. Theodore saw a bench and helped Lena on it "thank you Theodore, i owe you.." Theodore quickly said "i don't wanna see you get turn into a snack for them, i know that you're a kind woman. Lena looked at him and said "i know, and I'm not really liked because of it" she said looking at her leg, seeing the seriousness of the condition. Theodore looked down really sad and then said "Lena, not only we will get out….but i want you on my team" he said as Lena said "you do know that this is the red ranger morpher's location" then Theodore thought to himself "i have only one choice in the matter...i have to get it" he said as he got up "Lena, when i go in stay in here" Lena looked at him and nodded "there is a pair vibro daggers i found in the bag, use them if something manages to get in that's not me" Lena nodded as he went in, door locking behind him "please be careful Theodore."

end of episode 1