"So you have everything?" I asked as Nathan tossed the duffle bag with the last of his Karate gear in it over his shoulder.
"I guess." he replied.
"Good. If I find anything else I'll send it with Lucy when I drop her off at your place this weekend." I said.
Nathan nodded, "Okay and my lawyer told me to remind you that we have a custody meeting Wednesday."
I nodded in turn and watched as he climbed into his truck. When he was out of sight I closed the door and headed for the kitchen to check on dinner for Lucy and I. Her carpool would be dropping her off from Karate soon. However before I could get there my phone rang. It was Tasha.
"Hey girly. What's going on?" I asked.
"I finally got Noah down for his nap. Thought I'd call you and see what it's like to talk to another adult." she replied.
"Ah. I remember days like that. Sometimes I wish I could go back to them. Hell…I'd go up against every monster we ever faced back in the day. Life sucks now." I sighed.
"Nathan?" Tasha asked.
"Yeah. He just came and got the last of his stuff. We officially no longer live under the same roof anymore." I sighed.
"You know it really bums me out that you two are getting divorced." Tasha replied.
"You should've heard Ryan when I broke the news to him. I thought he was going to break out in tears." I said as I collapsed into a chair in the kitchen.
"Is there anything I can do hon?" Tasha asked.
"No. I miss you so much but it would be unfair of me to ask you to come all the way out here. I know how hard it is to travel with a 2 year old. Maybe when Lucy has Spring Break in a few weeks I'll come home for a bit." I replied.
"The others would be ecstatic. Speaking of Mr. DeSantos he's coming into town around that time. It would be great to see you and Luce." Tasha said.
I nodded and a moment later I heard the front door open and the sound of feet in the front hall.
"Hi Mommy." Lucy said as she walked into the kitchen, still in her Gi pants and a pink tank top. She had inherited my love of the color pink and wore one thing in that color everyday.
"Hey sweetie. How was class?" I asked.
"It was good. Sensei said that I might be ready for a purple belt soon!" She grinned.
"That's great baby! Hey! You wanna talk to Auntie Tasha?" I asked.
"Yeah!" she said and I handed her the phone.
As she launched into a description of her day I got her snack ready, my brain wandering as I did so.
It had been 10 years since we had stopped Zard and simultaneously trashed Dad's wedding reception. The fight had drained our powers and we hadn't been able to morph since. In that time Nathan and I had moved to Florida where Jason had opened up a school. He had used some connections that Kimberly still had there to do so and asked us to run it.
However about a year later things had gone south for Nathan and I. The stress of running a brand new school had taken a toll on our marriage and 4 months previous we had filed for separation. Who would've thought that running a karate school would put more stress on a relationship than fighting intergalactic monsters?
The others were still all back in Angel Grove and I missed them like crazy. Nathan and I had a few friends here but nothing like the others. It was hard to not mention everything we'd done. More than once I had caught myself nearly mentioning something about my past as a Ranger. It made me miss the openness I'd had with my old friends.
"Here Mommy…Auntie Tasha wants to talk to you." Lucy said and handed me the phone as she grabbed her apple and juice box, skipping towards the living room to watch TV.
"Hey." I said as I put the phone back up to my ear.
"Lucy seems to be taking the separation well." Tasha said.
"Yeah surprisingly. I mean I can tell it gets to her sometimes but as long as she gets to see Nathan she's fine." I replied.
"Well I'm glad she's doing okay. Look if you need anything though, no matter what, call me. Got it?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am." I laughed.
"Good. Now I'm going to let you go since Lucy is home. I'll talk to you later hon. Love you Iz." she said.
"Love you too Tash." I smiled and hung up.
Sighing I tucked my phone back into my jeans and walked to the fridge. I scanned the shelves for a few minutes before finally deciding that we had nothing to eat. Honestly as bad as it sounded I didn't feel like going to the store so I did what any tired mother would do. I went for the drawer full of take out menus.
I ordered Chinese for Lucy and I and the two of us spent a quiet night watching Disney movies. Once dinner was over I sent Lucy to get her bath before it was time for bed.
"So what story do you want to hear about tonight?" I asked scanning the books on Lucy's shelf.
"I want you to tell me the story about the Superheroes again." Lucy replied.
"Oh the Power Rangers?" I asked as I walked over and took a seat on the foot of her bed.
She nodded, "Yeah! Tell me the love story about the White and Pink Rangers."
I smiled and brushed a strand of damp hair from her forehead.
"Alright then. Once upon a time there were a team of warriors called The Power Rangers. They came in all sorts of colors and were the only ones who could stop the evil space aliens from hurting the people of the world. Everything started on the day that the evil Zard came to Earth. The amazing Zordon called upon two people, a boy and a girl, and told them they were to be the Pink and Red Ranger and that it was up to them to find the other Rangers."
"So they set out on their journey. They searched all over the world for the other colors. They found the Blue Ranger in the hot desert, the Black Ranger by the sea and the Yellow Ranger in the African Serengeti. And then it came time to find the next Ranger."
"White right?" Lucy asked.
I smiled and nodded, "That's right. Finally they found him though and the moment the Pink Ranger set eyes on him she fell madly in love. With the White Ranger by their side they managed to find the final Ranger, the Green Ranger, and defeat Zard."
"And they lived happily ever after!" Lucy smiled.
I felt a sharp pain shoot through my heart and a lump rise in my throat. However I shoved it back and nodded.
"Right. Happily ever after." I smiled.
"Good." she smiled back.
"Well now it's time for lights out. I'll see you in the morning sweetheart." I smiled and kissed her forehead one last time before switching off her light and headed out.
It had been a mutual decision for the lot of us to keep things mum about us being Rangers from our kids. We all knew that there were other teams of Rangers out there and who knew what would happen if one of our kids had let something small slip to someone? It could cause all sorts of problems that would put us all in danger.
I made my way towards my room and collapsed on my bed. It wasn't even 10 yet but I was ready for bed. Heading for my room I pulled off my clothes before walking to my bathroom and starting the shower.
After a long and relaxing shower I wrapped a towel around myself and headed back into my room. Flipping on my TV I sat down on my bed and began to comb the tangles from my wet hair.
That was when I first heard it.
It was faint at first. Just something I hardly heard over the sound of my TV. At first I thought that I had imagined it. It hadn't been the first time I had thought I'd heard the six melodic beeps only to realize it was just my imagination.
The communicators had long gone silent. Since there was no real reason for them to stay around Zordon and Alpha had shut down the Command Center and gone into a hibernation of sorts. Billy still checked in every few weeks as did Ann and they were still working on stuff for Rangers but other than that we heard nothing from the Command Center.
But then I heard them again.
Instantly my brush dropped from my hand and I was up and across the room. I yanked the top drawer of my dresser open and dug through the jumble of underwear and various pieces of lingerie until I found what I was looking for.
It was a pink wooden box that had been a gift from Aisha after everything had been said and done. Inside, nestled in a bed of white satin with a painting of the pterodactyl on the lid above them, were my morpher and communicator.
"So did you actually just beep or is the stress finally making me lose it?" I muttered as I looked at the metal device.
Almost as if in answer it beeped yet again and in surprise it fell from my hands. Reaching out I grabbed my cell phone from where it sat on the dresser and dialed the first number that came to mind.
"Hello?" Nathan's voice came from the other end.
"Did your communicator just beep?" I asked.
"What? Izzy? What are you talking about?" he asked.
"My communicator just beeped!" I replied.
"Are you serious?" he asked, his voice suddenly serious.
"No I'm fucking lying! This is all a ploy to get you back!" I snapped as I snatched my communicator from the floor.
"What did Zordon say?" he asked.
"What?" I replied.
He sighed, "What did Zordon say when you answered the beep?"
"I…I don't know…I didn't answer it. I just called you…" I replied.
"Well how about you try answering it?" he said.
"Why don't you try answering yours hmm? All the communicators are interconnected. Yours had to beep too." I said.
"Because I'm not sure where it is. It's buried in the dozen or so boxes that are everywhere in my apartment right now. I didn't think that we'd be getting calls to action anytime soon." Nathan replied.
"Right. Alright hold on and let me see what's going on." I said and put the phone down, pressing the button on the side of the communicator.
"Zordon?" I asked and waited but only got silence.
"Zordon are you there? This is Izzy. What's going on?" I asked but still got no response.
With a sigh I picked up my phone, "I'm sorry I bugged you. I must have been imagining things. Zordon wasn't there."
"Yeah well it looks like you might not be the only one. Check your texts. I just got one from Ethan. I'll talk to you there." he replied and his side went dead.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and saw that I did have a text. Opening it I found instructions to join a chat room from Ethan. Walking over I followed them and a moment later the screen was full of faces. In one corner were Jakob and Ann, below them was Ryan, other side of Ryan were Tasha and Chris and then above them was Nathan. Finally smack dab in the middle of the whole thing were Ethan and Daphne.
Emotions swelled in my chest at the sight of my friends. It had been so long since I had seen their faces. It made my eyes well up.
"Jeeze Izzy…naked much?" Ryan asked breaking me out of my haze.
"Wha-Ryan! I have a towel on!" I replied moving the camera so he could see the towel wound securely around my body.
"Aww." Ryan frowned.
"Hey dude…that's my sister. Do you mind?" Ethan sighed.
"Sorry bro. Continue." Ryan said.
"Alright I want to know how many of you got the beeps." Ethan said.
"I did." I said holding up my communicator.
"Same here." Jakob replied and Tasha, Chris and Ryan all agreed.
"So you didn't get anything Ann?" Ethan asked.
"No. My communicator has stayed silent." Ann replied.
"What about you Daph? Any word from Cam?" Jakob asked.
"Nope. You heard anything from Dustin?" Daphne asked me.
I shook my head, "No. I talked to him just yesterday. He didn't mention anything."
"There has to be a reason that they beeped." Tasha said.
"Maybe the batteries are running down?" Chris suggested.
"No. The Communicators run on a power cell that has enough energy to sustain them for at least 30 years if not much longer." Ann said.
"Well what if we just go to the Command Center and see what's up? I mean it can't hurt can it?" Jakob asked.
"I guess not but if we're doing this I want to do this as a group. Izzy, Nathan…is there anyway you could teleport here?" Ethan asked.
"I would have to make a few calls to get people to cover the school but I could do that." Nathan replied.
"I can't though. I have Lucy and I'm not teleporting across the country with her. I could maybe catch a red eye though. Be there by morning." I replied.
"Sounds good. Call me and let me know what time you're getting in." Ethan said.
"Gotcha. See you all later." I replied and quickly clicked out of the chat.
I found and booked tickets for Lucy and I before setting about getting ready. We had 2 hours until the flight left so we had to hurry. I threw on a pair of jeans and t-shirt and started throwing random clothes into a duffle bag I'd found in the back of the closet. When it was full I went to wake up Lucy.
"Baby? C'mon sweetheart! Wake up!" I said shaking her gently.
Lucy sat up and looked out the window frowning, "Mom…it's still dark."
"I know sweetheart but I just got a call from Uncle Ethan and he said he really misses us and wants us to come to Angel Grove." I said as I started packing one of Lucy's purple suitcases.
"Really?" she asked giving me a slightly disbelieving look.
"Yes! Now go get dressed. After you're dressed I want you to pack a bag to take on the plane okay?" I said and handed her a pair of black yoga pants and a pink t-shirt.
"Okay but don't forget my leotard and my karate uniform!" she said and hurried out.
I fished out two of Lucy's favorite leotards, both pink, and her spare Gi and packed them into her suitcase before zipping it up and heading back to my room to gather a few last things.
Unplugging my laptop I slid it into a bag along with the book I'd been reading lately. I knew I'd be too worried to try and even use either but it was better than nothing. Zipping the bag up I listened to make sure that Lucy was busy before walking over to my dresser and opening the box again. I quickly snapped my communicator around my wrist and slid my morpher into the back of my jeans.
Grabbing my bags I headed to check on Lucy.
"Ready to go baby girl?" I asked poking my head into her room.
"Yep." she nodded and slung her favorite Monster High book bag over her shoulder.
"Good girl. Let's go!" I smiled and we headed downstairs.
Once all the lights were turned out we headed downstairs. I locked up the house and we set off for the airport.
I picked up our tickets and after spending a few minutes getting felt up by TSA we sat down to wait for the plane to board. I was surprised the we had made it with time to spare.
"Mom?" Lucy asked as she looked up from her Nintendo DS.
"What's up buttercup?" I asked turning to look at her.
"Is Daddy coming with us?" she asked.
"Daddy will be coming but he's going to meet us there." I replied.
"I wish Daddy could come with us." Lucy sighed.
I pressed a kiss to Lucy's head and gave her a smile, "I know you do baby."
They called our plane for boarding and we headed for the gate. We found our seats and settled in. Lucy was asleep before the plane even took off but I remained awake.
I held my morpher in my hand, the weight familiar and calming. When I had woken up that morning my biggest thought was getting Nathan's stuff together so he could take it to his apartment. Now I might be about to dive headfirst back into a life I had put in the past.
Things were so much different now. Back then I'd been a teenager with everything ahead of her. Now I was mother and had a little girl that depended on me. Could I do this all over again? Could I risk my life?
I knew that the question wasn't even really a question. I was too much like Dad. If it meant saving the world I would do it in a heartbeat. It was with that thought that I fell asleep.
I didn't wake again until the plane landed. After waking Lucy we got off the plane and walked into the terminal. My eyes scanned the clique of people for a familiar face since I had told Ethan when I'd be getting in but he hadn't told me who would pick me up but Lucy's eyes were faster.
"Grandpa! Grandma!" She yelled and pulled her hand out of mine, taking off like a bullet.
Sure enough when I looked over I saw my Dad and Kimberly. Grinning I hurried after my daughter who was being scooped up by Dad.
"Izzy! It's so good to see you!" Kimberly smiled as she wrapped me in a hug.
"I know it's been forever!" I smiled as I hugged her back.
"Well you're here now." Dad said and handed Lucy off to Kim so he could hug me.
"I missed you Dad." I said burying my face in his chest as I hugged him.
"I missed you too kid. How is everything?" he asked.
I sighed, "It's okay."
"You sure?" he asked.
I nodded, "Things happen."
"I know." he smiled and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
We walked over and Dad helped get Lucy and I's bags before we headed for the car.
"So how's Riley?" I asked referring to my little sister.
It was so strange to have a sister younger than even my own daughter but I loved Riley. She was sweet as could be and looked a lot like me. I had always been told I looked like my Mom but I must have looked a lot like my Dad more than I thought.
"She's fine. She's talking a lot more. She'll be so excited to see you and Lucy." Kimberly smiled.
"Grandpa! I might get my purple belt soon!" Lucy said as we drove towards the house.
"Really? That's great sweetheart!" Dad smiled.
"She's been working very hard. She even brought her Karate and Gymnastics stuff." I replied.
"Well then it's looks like we're going to have to make a trip to the gym while you're here." Kimberly smiled.
We pulled up to Dad's house and I climbed out of the car. Kimberly had Lucy and was talking to her so I could talk to Dad.
"So what's going on? Ethan didn't tell us everything." Dad asked as we sat on the front porch. It was still dark out but the light from the street lamps lit the porch.
"There isn't much to tell Dad. Our Communicators went off. Not all of them it seems because Ann didn't get a beep but they did. Ethan thought it would be better to work all this out as a team so he called us in. I should actually call him. Would you mind taking care of Lucy?" I replied.
He nodded, "We already have Noah, Drake, Alex and Hope asleep upstairs. Let the old Rangers handle the stuff on the home front…you go do what you need to do sweetheart. Ethan told me to tell you that they will all be at his house." Dad said.
"Thanks Dad. Now…lets see if I can do this." I said standing up.
"It's just like riding a bike." Dad laughed.
"Let's hope so." I replied and pressed my communicator.
Dad wasn't 100% right. Though the feeling of teleporting was familiar and easy it was the landing I was rusty on. A point I proved when I landed less than gracefully in the middle of Ethan and Daphne's kitchen where all the others stood talking and drinking coffee.
"Nice of you to drop in Sis." Ethan smirked walking over to me, his hand out.
"Yeah. Though I'd make an entrance." I said as I let him pull me to my feet.
He laughed and pulled me into a hug. Once he let me go I was passed around. First to Tasha, then to Daphne, Chris, Jakob, Ann and finally Ryan. Nathan was the only one who I didn't hug. He stood to the side, giving me a nod as I looked at him.
"Well this isn't awkward at all." I heard Daphne mutter.
"So what's the plan?" I asked ignoring Daphne and turning to my brother.
"Well since you're here we're going to teleport to the Command Center. We were waiting on you." Ethan replied.
"Then lets get going. The world might need saving!" I grinned.
"Alright then…move out." Ethan grinned back and we all teleported out.
The eight of us sped towards the command center, our bodies twisting and turning. Even if we were about to be called back into battle this was an amazing feeling. I missed my friends and the freedom being a Ranger gave me.
Soon the Command Center came into view. I prepared myself for the landing when suddenly I felt as if I'd ran into a brick wall. My body bounced off whatever it was and a moment later I slammed into the hard earth that surrounded the Command Center.
I sat up, my body aching and looked at the dark Command Center in front of me.
"Is everyone okay?!" Ethan asked as he sat up a few feet from me.
Everyone gave some form of conformation that they were uninjured before we all staggered to our feet, converging together.
"Anybody know what the hell that was?" Ryan asked.
"Maybe it's because we had Daphne with us. Only people with a Power Coin can enter the command center right?" Jakob asked.
Ann shook her head, "No. That shouldn't have happened. Daphne has been in the Command Center several times. He biometric signature is recognized by the security system just like all of our parents."
"Then why couldn't we-" Nathan started but he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes cast towards the Command Center.
We all turned and looked where he was looking. In the distance there was something. A blinking of sorts. Like fireflies mixed with lightning. And it was coming closer.
All of us stood staring at it. My hand instinctively went around my back, grasping the handle of my morpher. I had no real clue if it would even work. I mean they hadn't in 10 years. There was no solid reason they should work now.
"Who are you?" Ethan demanded.
Suddenly a cold laugh filled the air and I felt my heart stop. That laugh. I knew that laugh.
"No." I said shaking my head
"No? Izzy? What's wrong? You're white as a sheet." Jakob asked looking at me.
"He can't be here. He's gone. I took care of him myself!" I said.
"Izzy what are you talking about?" Ryan asked.
"That laugh….it's…it's…"
Before I could finish my sentence the lights began to come together, forming into a human like shape. A moment later standing before us was the last person I ever wanted to see again, his inky black eyes staring directly at me.
I watched as a twisted smile curled onto his stolen face, "Izabella…as lovely as always."
I wanted to shoot back an insult…something but I couldn't. I couldn't believe it was him. I couldn't believe I was looking at Vormex.
Brand new Power Ranger story featuring Izzy and the others!
Not sure how long this story is going to be but each team of Rangers will be getting their own chapter to catch everyone up on what is going on with them now!
I hope you all enjoy it because I'm having a BLAST writing this again!
Thanks for reading!