EDIT: ok ok, I made a few errors with names, but being the good little PR
fan, I went back and fixed them in a Jiff. BUT uhoh- turns out that they
were NOT errors. Ergh. I confuse myself sometimes. On my behalf, I haven't
watched the show for 9 years, but I play with the action figures on a
regular basis. Thanks to the reviewers who sowed me the light when I
couldn't even remember my intention with my own fanfiction. ;)
Author's notes: I loved the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, and as all the Rangers I had grown to love began leaving the show, I did too. So I didn't particularly ending up taking to the rest of the seasons. But I have never really let go of the MMPR. So this story is kind of a back to the basics thing and a huge indulgence for me. Hopefully I will be able to do one of my childhood favorites the justice and awesomeness it deserves.
It was 7 o'clock on a Saturday morning, sometime at the beginning of May. I can't remember the exact date even though I could tell you every detail of the morning's events.
I wasn't asleep, as you'd expect most 16-year-old students to be on a weekend morning. In fact, I was wide-awake, watching cartoon, just as I had done every Saturday since I could remember. So I wasn't your average teenager in that particular aspect. Other than this quirk, I, and most other people, considered me to be a run-of-the-mill teen. No one would have guessed how easily that could change.
Just as Tino Tornatini uttered "Later Days," the closing line of 'The Weekenders,' my phone rang. I picked up the goofy red receiver and held it to my ear. "Hello?" I said.
Silence.
"Hello?" More silence. "This prank thing is really dumb, you know," I continued to probably no one. "Fine. I'm hanging up now."
"Wait!" A recognizable female voice echoes through the phone's earpiece.
"Kim!"
"Yeah it's me. Listen, are you ready to be the best and most trusting little sister in the world?" Kimberly had begun her classic pleading, yet again. She probably wanted me to drive 200 miles to bring her a certain pair of shoes or something. Kim's done that before. I swear.
I sighed. "Am I finally getting an award for all my sisterly 'duties'?" I made the air quotes around "duties" even though Kimberly couldn't see them.
"I'm being serious, Cecilia." Kimberly's tone made me instantly attentive. "And this time it isn't for me. It's...well, just trust me. You need to go to the boiler room of the high school, like, now."
"What!" I interjected, "The boiler room?"
"Just trust me. This is really important, Cess."
I did trust Kimberly. I trusted her more than any other human being on the face of the planet. I groaned. "Fine." It was a reluctant and almost hostile sounding response, but Kimberly didn't take my tone to heart. She knew better. I said goodbye to my sister and, as promised began the three block drive to Angel Grove High School.
When I got to thinking about it, it struck me that the school doors would doubtlessly be locked on a Saturday. Hey, at least I was trying. If there was no way to get in, I wouldn't waste any more time on this mystery thing and I would still have a clean conscience for making an effort to be here. But I wasn't so fortunate. The front door opened easily when I pulled on it. "There must be a game going on or something going on," I mused. But the hallways were dark and dead silent. It was eerie.
I ventured down a dark stairwell to the basement, aka Freshmen Hallway, where I'd passed the foreboding door labeled "Boiler Room" multiple times in my 2 years of high school. Come to think of it, I'd never actually seen inside the boiler room before. This might prove to be kind of entertaining. I pushed on the heavy door to no avail. "Huh." I pressed my shoulder into with all of my might. That's when I realized you had to pull the door open and not push it.
Upon my entrance, it was difficult not to notice the lights on the wall set to illumine a downward spiraling staircase. The bulbs' fixtures looked like they belonged in some dingy cave.
Wait- Why were these lights, ones in an area no one even goes, the only lights on in the whole building? This was getting really creepy.
There was a round table at the bottom of the staircase with six vacant chairs surrounding it. I looked suspiciously around before occupying one of the seats. I sat by myself for nearly ten minutes before I heard the tap of feet coming down the stairs. The shadows that the 'cave lights' cast sent shivers through my arms. I suddenly had the urge to jump up and run away from the ominous presence. The person stopped at just the right position so that I could only see a teenage boys silhouette. "Hi..." I offered.
The boy didn't say anything, but he skulked forward into my eyeshot. My urge to run almost got bigger. In the dim lighting, dark shadows were cast across a pair of deeply set eyes. His brown hair was shaggy and it hung over his equally brown eyes, creating an even more ominous effect. The vibe was only offset by the fact that the boy wasn't huge, like a football player. No, he was more thin than that, but not necessarily lanky. So I figured that if any problems arose, I could take care of myself.
"Hi," he muttered, and sat two places away from me. I didn't know what to expect him to say. What I did know was that I would never trust my sister again.
The boy, slightly hunching over, looked straight into my eyes as if he were sizing me up. He opened his mouth and I sunk back in my seat. "Well this place isn't creepy at all." His voice dripped in sarcasm.
Surprised, I couldn't help but laugh. He offered a genuine chuckle in return. "I'm Tom."
"Cecilia." I shook Tom's extended hand.
"You don't happen to know what this meeting's about, do you?" He asked.
Again, I found myself surprised. I guess I wasn't the only one left in the dark...literally. "Not a clue." When I heard more footsteps, I almost shot out of my skin.
This person was another boy. His dark pigment made him even more of a shadow than Tom. The new guy, however, greeted both Tom and me with a wide smile. "Hi," he said, "I'm Adam." Adam didn't wait to hear our names before he took the seat between Tom and me.
"Hi. I'm Tom. Do you have any idea why we're here?"
"Actually, yeah," Adam answered seriously. "We've been lured here by the school and now we are stuck working the boiler room for the next few years. Congratulations guys."
Naturally, I thought Adam was lying. But his stern expression was so believable. "Really?" Tom asked.
"Yeah."
"You're lying." I stared confidently at Adam with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I'm really not. It was kept secret so you would actually show up. I mean, if you knew you were going to have to work the boiler room, would you have come here today?"
My cocky eyebrow dropped and Tom blinked a few times in confusion. Adam had a point... "Actually I was lying. Sorry guys, but you were so gullible." Tom and I looked at each other and laughed.
Two more people arrived as Tom, Adam and I had: Sarah, a shy yet witty blond girl came next. Eric followed her. He was a super athletic boy I'd seen in numerous school football games. Neither of them knew the purpose for our little gathering either. We all talked for a while; about who the 6th chair might be for, about what we were all interested in, but we spent most of our time trying to determine what a group like us could possibly have in common.
We'd only just realized that we were all sophomores. Eric, Adam, and I went to Angel Grove and Sarah and Tom attended Peak's Ridge, just down the road. That didn't really seem to justify our meeting in the boiler room, though.
It wasn't until I started to mention Kimberly that we started making any headway. "My sister called and asked me to come here," I explained. "Kimberly's asked me to run weird errands before but this..."
"Wait," Eric interjected. "You're Cecilia Parks, aren't you?"
I nodded slowly, not seeing any relevance in m name. "Oh wow." Eric rubbed his forehead. When he raised his eyes to meet mine, Eric looked as if he'd stumbled upon gold. "I'm pretty sure that your sister and my brother, Jason Robertson, were, uh, good friends in high school."
The statement took a moment to sink in. But once it had, I began to see the glimmer of gold as well. "Oh my gosh." Jason nodded. It made sense that Eric was Jason's little brother. He had the same dark hair that Jason was practically famous for and I'd always known that Jason had a sibling who was my age. I'd never put two and two together that we'd both attend Angel Grove High at the same time. I gasped and continued with caution. "And...and did Jason tell you about their...their job?"
For the kids' safety, they'd been instructed not to let anyone in on this little group's secret identity. But Kimberly told me everything from who her first kiss was to the revelation of her own secret identity. I was hoping Eric and Jason were just as close. I was in luck.
Eric nodded with a grin. Another idea went ablaze in my mine. "Adam," I turned to face the boy next to me, "who told you to come here?"
"My cousin, Zack. He said it was urgent so I came as fast as I could." Eric and I shared another grin.
"Tom?" I said.
"My friend Billy. I got an internship at the computer company he manages. I though this might have something to do with that." Finally, things were beginning to make more sense. A little bit, at least.
"Sarah?" Eric prompted the skinny girl next to Tom.
She shrugged. "My stepsister, Trini. She's in town from Med. School and even gave me a ride here."
I looked at all of the kids around me. Save for Eric, none of them knew how intricately intertwined we all really were. My focus was pulled back to Eric as he started talking again. "It makes sense that none of them would know about it. I mean, they were supposed to keep their identities a secret."
"Know about what?" Tom leaned forward with increasing interest.
I ignored him for the moment. "Well, at least they'll know of it," I said. "The whole ordeal inspired a T.V. series a year after it really happened."
Quiet Sarah slammed her fist down on the table with shocking force. "What's going on?" Stop speaking in code," she demanded.
I was a little fazed by the sudden outburst so Eric explained. "There was this television show on the air about nine years ago. And it was based, however loosely, on actual events. It's, well..." Eric turned to me for help.
I found myself more than happy to oblige. I leaned forward, mostly for the dramatic effect, and thought for a long moment until I could figure out the best wording. Finally, it came to me. I smiled facetiously, "Have you guys ever seen 'The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'?"
Author's notes: I loved the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, and as all the Rangers I had grown to love began leaving the show, I did too. So I didn't particularly ending up taking to the rest of the seasons. But I have never really let go of the MMPR. So this story is kind of a back to the basics thing and a huge indulgence for me. Hopefully I will be able to do one of my childhood favorites the justice and awesomeness it deserves.
It was 7 o'clock on a Saturday morning, sometime at the beginning of May. I can't remember the exact date even though I could tell you every detail of the morning's events.
I wasn't asleep, as you'd expect most 16-year-old students to be on a weekend morning. In fact, I was wide-awake, watching cartoon, just as I had done every Saturday since I could remember. So I wasn't your average teenager in that particular aspect. Other than this quirk, I, and most other people, considered me to be a run-of-the-mill teen. No one would have guessed how easily that could change.
Just as Tino Tornatini uttered "Later Days," the closing line of 'The Weekenders,' my phone rang. I picked up the goofy red receiver and held it to my ear. "Hello?" I said.
Silence.
"Hello?" More silence. "This prank thing is really dumb, you know," I continued to probably no one. "Fine. I'm hanging up now."
"Wait!" A recognizable female voice echoes through the phone's earpiece.
"Kim!"
"Yeah it's me. Listen, are you ready to be the best and most trusting little sister in the world?" Kimberly had begun her classic pleading, yet again. She probably wanted me to drive 200 miles to bring her a certain pair of shoes or something. Kim's done that before. I swear.
I sighed. "Am I finally getting an award for all my sisterly 'duties'?" I made the air quotes around "duties" even though Kimberly couldn't see them.
"I'm being serious, Cecilia." Kimberly's tone made me instantly attentive. "And this time it isn't for me. It's...well, just trust me. You need to go to the boiler room of the high school, like, now."
"What!" I interjected, "The boiler room?"
"Just trust me. This is really important, Cess."
I did trust Kimberly. I trusted her more than any other human being on the face of the planet. I groaned. "Fine." It was a reluctant and almost hostile sounding response, but Kimberly didn't take my tone to heart. She knew better. I said goodbye to my sister and, as promised began the three block drive to Angel Grove High School.
When I got to thinking about it, it struck me that the school doors would doubtlessly be locked on a Saturday. Hey, at least I was trying. If there was no way to get in, I wouldn't waste any more time on this mystery thing and I would still have a clean conscience for making an effort to be here. But I wasn't so fortunate. The front door opened easily when I pulled on it. "There must be a game going on or something going on," I mused. But the hallways were dark and dead silent. It was eerie.
I ventured down a dark stairwell to the basement, aka Freshmen Hallway, where I'd passed the foreboding door labeled "Boiler Room" multiple times in my 2 years of high school. Come to think of it, I'd never actually seen inside the boiler room before. This might prove to be kind of entertaining. I pushed on the heavy door to no avail. "Huh." I pressed my shoulder into with all of my might. That's when I realized you had to pull the door open and not push it.
Upon my entrance, it was difficult not to notice the lights on the wall set to illumine a downward spiraling staircase. The bulbs' fixtures looked like they belonged in some dingy cave.
Wait- Why were these lights, ones in an area no one even goes, the only lights on in the whole building? This was getting really creepy.
There was a round table at the bottom of the staircase with six vacant chairs surrounding it. I looked suspiciously around before occupying one of the seats. I sat by myself for nearly ten minutes before I heard the tap of feet coming down the stairs. The shadows that the 'cave lights' cast sent shivers through my arms. I suddenly had the urge to jump up and run away from the ominous presence. The person stopped at just the right position so that I could only see a teenage boys silhouette. "Hi..." I offered.
The boy didn't say anything, but he skulked forward into my eyeshot. My urge to run almost got bigger. In the dim lighting, dark shadows were cast across a pair of deeply set eyes. His brown hair was shaggy and it hung over his equally brown eyes, creating an even more ominous effect. The vibe was only offset by the fact that the boy wasn't huge, like a football player. No, he was more thin than that, but not necessarily lanky. So I figured that if any problems arose, I could take care of myself.
"Hi," he muttered, and sat two places away from me. I didn't know what to expect him to say. What I did know was that I would never trust my sister again.
The boy, slightly hunching over, looked straight into my eyes as if he were sizing me up. He opened his mouth and I sunk back in my seat. "Well this place isn't creepy at all." His voice dripped in sarcasm.
Surprised, I couldn't help but laugh. He offered a genuine chuckle in return. "I'm Tom."
"Cecilia." I shook Tom's extended hand.
"You don't happen to know what this meeting's about, do you?" He asked.
Again, I found myself surprised. I guess I wasn't the only one left in the dark...literally. "Not a clue." When I heard more footsteps, I almost shot out of my skin.
This person was another boy. His dark pigment made him even more of a shadow than Tom. The new guy, however, greeted both Tom and me with a wide smile. "Hi," he said, "I'm Adam." Adam didn't wait to hear our names before he took the seat between Tom and me.
"Hi. I'm Tom. Do you have any idea why we're here?"
"Actually, yeah," Adam answered seriously. "We've been lured here by the school and now we are stuck working the boiler room for the next few years. Congratulations guys."
Naturally, I thought Adam was lying. But his stern expression was so believable. "Really?" Tom asked.
"Yeah."
"You're lying." I stared confidently at Adam with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I'm really not. It was kept secret so you would actually show up. I mean, if you knew you were going to have to work the boiler room, would you have come here today?"
My cocky eyebrow dropped and Tom blinked a few times in confusion. Adam had a point... "Actually I was lying. Sorry guys, but you were so gullible." Tom and I looked at each other and laughed.
Two more people arrived as Tom, Adam and I had: Sarah, a shy yet witty blond girl came next. Eric followed her. He was a super athletic boy I'd seen in numerous school football games. Neither of them knew the purpose for our little gathering either. We all talked for a while; about who the 6th chair might be for, about what we were all interested in, but we spent most of our time trying to determine what a group like us could possibly have in common.
We'd only just realized that we were all sophomores. Eric, Adam, and I went to Angel Grove and Sarah and Tom attended Peak's Ridge, just down the road. That didn't really seem to justify our meeting in the boiler room, though.
It wasn't until I started to mention Kimberly that we started making any headway. "My sister called and asked me to come here," I explained. "Kimberly's asked me to run weird errands before but this..."
"Wait," Eric interjected. "You're Cecilia Parks, aren't you?"
I nodded slowly, not seeing any relevance in m name. "Oh wow." Eric rubbed his forehead. When he raised his eyes to meet mine, Eric looked as if he'd stumbled upon gold. "I'm pretty sure that your sister and my brother, Jason Robertson, were, uh, good friends in high school."
The statement took a moment to sink in. But once it had, I began to see the glimmer of gold as well. "Oh my gosh." Jason nodded. It made sense that Eric was Jason's little brother. He had the same dark hair that Jason was practically famous for and I'd always known that Jason had a sibling who was my age. I'd never put two and two together that we'd both attend Angel Grove High at the same time. I gasped and continued with caution. "And...and did Jason tell you about their...their job?"
For the kids' safety, they'd been instructed not to let anyone in on this little group's secret identity. But Kimberly told me everything from who her first kiss was to the revelation of her own secret identity. I was hoping Eric and Jason were just as close. I was in luck.
Eric nodded with a grin. Another idea went ablaze in my mine. "Adam," I turned to face the boy next to me, "who told you to come here?"
"My cousin, Zack. He said it was urgent so I came as fast as I could." Eric and I shared another grin.
"Tom?" I said.
"My friend Billy. I got an internship at the computer company he manages. I though this might have something to do with that." Finally, things were beginning to make more sense. A little bit, at least.
"Sarah?" Eric prompted the skinny girl next to Tom.
She shrugged. "My stepsister, Trini. She's in town from Med. School and even gave me a ride here."
I looked at all of the kids around me. Save for Eric, none of them knew how intricately intertwined we all really were. My focus was pulled back to Eric as he started talking again. "It makes sense that none of them would know about it. I mean, they were supposed to keep their identities a secret."
"Know about what?" Tom leaned forward with increasing interest.
I ignored him for the moment. "Well, at least they'll know of it," I said. "The whole ordeal inspired a T.V. series a year after it really happened."
Quiet Sarah slammed her fist down on the table with shocking force. "What's going on?" Stop speaking in code," she demanded.
I was a little fazed by the sudden outburst so Eric explained. "There was this television show on the air about nine years ago. And it was based, however loosely, on actual events. It's, well..." Eric turned to me for help.
I found myself more than happy to oblige. I leaned forward, mostly for the dramatic effect, and thought for a long moment until I could figure out the best wording. Finally, it came to me. I smiled facetiously, "Have you guys ever seen 'The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'?"