A/N: So, I probably should have done this before, but I didn't want to. This is a series I'm writing about how I wish they'd done the anniversary season. As the titles suggest (series: After the Darkest Moments Come the Light, stories: Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Witching Hour, Against the Dying of the Light) this isn't a happy series really. I guess you could say I'm trying my hand at a new style. Feel free to point out things I'm doing wrong and things that work. ADL is a chapter fic, you can consider Wicked and Witching as prologues to ADL. I will be bringing in other characters from the Brotherhood 'verse (ie Teen Wolf, Leverage, and so on) for cameos, but this is a Power Rangers story. I'm only using previously established characters, some of them OCs, some not, to fill roles instead of creating thirty-seven million more OCs to keep track of.
Jason glanced at the clock over Ashburn's shoulder and held back his sigh. "Senator Scott," Ashburn began.
"Lee Scott," Jason corrected him pointedly, for the fifth time in less than an hour.
"Senator Lee Scott," Ashburn said, "one final question, please."
Jason nodded, "Sure," he said.
"What can you tell us about the new free clinic initiative in California?" Ashburn said.
"Well, its many things," Jason said slowly, "as part of the Eltarean treaty, we have access to more advanced technologies, not only for medical, but for building and utilizing buildings. The free clinics that have been proposed will take advantage of grant money that is otherwise unused as well as the technology…"
The door slammed open and Trini stumbled in. She was wearing blue jeans with a ripped knee and a yellow t-shirt and looked terrified as she struggled to pull her hair out of her face. "Jason, rainbow red."
Jason stood up, "I do apologize Mister Ashburn, but we'll have to cut this appointment off. Speak with Ms. Clayton about rescheduling." He walked over to Trini, "What's going on?"
"Galaxy is down, Astro's missing, and the conference was attacked," Trini said. "Turbo's made the call on behalf of Zeo and Megaforce."
Zack was standing outside the office; he joined them as they headed for the exit, "What do we know?" Jason asked.
"There's a Witch who's turning Rangers into figurines," Zack said, "she's targeting us and she's on her way. Megaforce and Rocky got away because their Red, Troy, made them leave."
"Why?" Jason asked.
"Because we need the information," Trini said as they trotted past security.
"How did they get Rocky to leave?" Jason said, "I can't see him leaving Alia or the kids."
"The kids are with their grandmother," Trini said, "Alia was turned into a figurine when she knocked Rocky out of the way. Troy said he picked the path that was best for Earth because that's what he's supposed to do. Rocky's backing him up."
"We'll see about that," Jason said.
"I highly doubt that," a poisonously sweet voice said.
Jason spun as screams filled the air. Trini grunted as a sickly green orb struck her as she moved, for a moment she was enveloped, and then the light vanished, leaving a small yellow figurine on the ground.
"Fuck," Zack said.
Jason glared, it was obvious whom the culprit was, the woman's vibrant purple skin, green tentacles, and leather modesty bands stood out in the somber halls of the nation's capital.
There was a time and a place for secret identities and from the nod Zack gave him, the Black Ranger agreed that this was not that time or place. "I didn't want to be President anyways," Jason muttered. He pointed at the Witch, "You just made a big mistake."
"Did I?" The Witch asked.
"It's Morphin' Time!" Jason shouted.
"Mastodon," Zack said.
"Tyrannosaurus," Jason said.
"Really boys?" The Witch said.
"Power axe," Zack said and leapt forward.
"Loogies!" The Witch said.
Jason glanced around and spotted someone he knew, "Porter!"
"Jason," Porter said. "What's going on?"
Jason snorted, "I don't really know all the details, but she's after us, not civilians. I need you to get Trini to Justin okay. He's working on reversing this."
"All the Rangers?" Porter asked.
"All of them," Jason replied. He winced at the Witch's crackle, indicating that Zack had been changed. He grabbed Porter's hand and shoved the figurine in his hand, "Tell Shane he's got to activate the chain, we have to get a plan."
Green light slammed into his vision, cutting Jason off with a soft grunt.
/././.\.\.\
As the green light faded, the camera zoomed in on the man that the Red Ranger had been speaking with as the Black Ranger had charged the alien and her minions. The man stared at the purple-skinned alien for a long moment before a grin that was clearly a defiant challenge crossed his face as he bent, grabbed something and then ran.
The alien shrieked and vanished.
John Ashburn turned to the camera, his eyes wide, "You saw it here first, Senator Jason Scott of California is, in fact, a Power Ranger who has been hiding his identity since the mid-nineties. We have no official word yet who this new alien menace is. I hope that we will soon be hearing from Lightspeed Rescue or the Overdrive Rangers. This is John Ashburn at the Capital Building in Washington DC."
The camera went dark.
