Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. That is Saban. I do own Xavier, the Slayers, and their enemies.
A/N: I went back to look at some of my older stories and saw how bad my first story was. While it could've been an interesting idea my lack of writing skills at the time really killed it. I still had a more teenage outlook at the time and some of the things I put in the story don't make sense or work for what I want, like the fact that Xavier is a complete dick to the Rangers and that makes Kim want to date him? So I am doing a full reworking of this story. I'll see how it goes and hopefully it will be even better this time.
An X in the Equation Redux
Chapter 1
The First Day of School
Kimberly walked down the crowded halls of Angel Grove High. At 5'5", she had trouble seeing over the crowds in the hallway so she kept getting lost. She ran a hand through her brown hair and looked at her schedule one more time.
'Why does my class have to be on the far side of the school? Couldn't they just make it more organized?' She thought to herself as she made her way down the hall. Her lithe body seemed to slide between the masses in the hallways. Her brown eyes scanned the halls for gaps she could use to get through the groups. For a second she stopped as she thought she saw a person with purple hair going into a classroom but she shrugged it off as a trick of the light or a really expensive dye job. The school was much larger then the middle school that she attended, needing two stories to encompass all the classrooms. This made it harder to get around the school with any kind of speed. Being the first day of school Kim should have been overwhelmed by the newness of everything, but after what she had gone though in the past week school paled in comparison. A week before school Kim and her best friends, Jason, Zach, Trini, and Billy, were all chosen by an inter-dimensional being known as Zordon to be the protectors of the Earth from the evil sorceress Rita Repulsa. They were now the Power Rangers and even had super powers and giant robots to fly around in. Well technically she was the only one that flew as her's was the Pterodactyl. Even now when she thought about it she would get lost in the wonder of what had happened in her life. Because of that she didn't notice the time. She started to run when she heard the warning bell and realized she was still only half way to her class.. Suddenly a Junior slammed into her knocking her books to the ground as he ran for his classroom. Papers scattered across the hall as her binder popped open.
"Damn it!" Kim said under her breath. The junior just kept running down the hall with out even an apology. Kim knew she would be late but she couldn't just leave the mess so she crouched down and started cleaning up the papers. No one even stopped to look at her let alone help her until a girl crouched down in the hall and started to pick up the papers. Even though it was still August and in Southern California, she was wearing a long dress but it was easy to see it was very thin material. Almost too thin as it looked as if when the light caught it someone could see right through it. The light pastel purple color of the dress complemented her lilac colored hair. Her skin was pale and smooth like porcelain. Kim believed that if she was to touch her that her skin would be cold. She smiled at Kim when she handed her the papers. Kimberly was always told that she was gorgeous but this girl blew her away. Kim had classic cheerleader looks mostly because she did gymnastics. She had high cheekbones and her face was delicate and smooth. The girl's face looked like a doll. It was flawless and her light purple eyes seemed to have a warmth all their own. The girl looked at Kim's class schedule and smiled.
"You have your next class with him. That should be interesting." She said as she handed the paper back. Kim never spoke up because she was in awe of this girl's beauty. Up close, Kim could see the light red lipstick she wore. Unlike Kim who blended her make up in so it was barely noticeable, the girl's makeup stood out due to the paleness to her skin, but not comically so. She smiled as she went to walk away.
"Hey my name is Kimberly." Kim called out to the girl.
"I'm Pearth and I'll see you around." She said as she walked out of view. Kim took off running to her class. After just barely making it to her English class Kim looked around at the people she would spend the year with.
Sitting behind her was her best friend Trini. Trini was a Vietnamese girl that was about the same height as Kim with black hair and brown eyes. She was skilled in martial arts, knowing Mantis and Wing-Chung kung fu. Trini was kind and generous always willing and ready to help. In front of Kim was the first friend she ever made in Angel Grove. His name was Billy. He had sandy blonde hair and green eyes. He was about 5'9" and while he wasn't very toned, he had the potential to be a hunk in her opinion. He was a typical nerd. He wore glasses and used pocket protectors. He had a habit of using big words when he spoke. Half the time she needed Trini to translates what he said. Beside Kim was another friend named Zach. He was a dancer that put dancing into everything that he did. He even invented a fighting style called Hip-Hopkedo. While he tried to be an optimist, he at times had a defeatist attitude. Behind him was his best friend named Jason. He was a black belt in karate and very well built. He was built like a football lineman. He was courteous and liked to help people. He even taught karate at the juice bar. Billy was one of his students.
"Good morning class." The teacher said as she walked in. She was a large woman that looked kind of like Mrs. Clause, except her hair was light brown rather then gray or white. She smiled warmly at the class.
"My name is Ms. Applebee. I will be your English teacher this year. Answer when you hear your name."
As she called off names Kimberly listen to figure out who in the class she knew. For the most part she knew all the kids. They had went to middle school together so she paid attention to the people she didn't know. For the most part none of them made any impression but one voice made her turn around. It was a very sweet sounding voice with an English accent. The name that was called was Xavier Masters. He had trimmed black hair and was very well built. He had wide shoulders and a thick neck. His barrel chest strained against his shirt as did his large arms. He had a strong jaw and his face was full. His most noticeable feature was his blue eyes. They were sharp and hard at complete contrasted to his voice. Ms. Applebee continued on with the role but Kim didn't hear it. She saw Xavier around the school through out the day but they only had two classes together, English and Music where he took a seat with a guitar. Kim took the other guitar and he smiled at her but it didn't quite seem to reach his eyes.
After school Kim and her friends went to the local youth center. It was owned by a jolly man named Ernie, who was normally seen in an Hawaiian shirt. Almost to fit his disposition Ernie was a large man. He had come to California from Hawaii. Ernie believed that everyone should have a place to have fun and he encouraged people to try new things. He was the reason Billy tried karate. Kim and Trini sat at a table while Jason and Zach sparred on big mats in the middle of the floor. Billy was at the juice bar getting drinks. When he sat down they called the others over. They nodded OK and then went back to sparring. Kim just shook her head as she thought of the amount of time they put in to sparring. Honestly it was no different then the amount of time she put in to her routines. As Jason landed a huge kick he heard someone bust out laughing. As he got up Zach looked around the room to see who was laughing at them. That was when he saw Xavier almost doubled over with laughter.
Xavier was sitting at a table with four other people. One was a red headed boy. His green eyes seemed to take in everything as he looked around. His body had a track build and he seemed uninterested about everything his eyes took in. Beside him was a Japanese boy. He was taller then most Orientals. His body had a similar build to Jason's. His black hair seemed to stand straight up in a very spiky hair style. Xavier sat in the middle with a purple haired boy to his right. His skin was very tanned and looked like leather almost as if he had spent too much time in the sun. While he wasn't the biggest guy there he had an air about him that seemed to dare people to mess with him. His purple eyes were the exact opposite of Pearth's very hard and uncaring. Pearth sat on his right holding his hand.
"You see something funny?" He asked. Xavier looked at him confused for a second.
"Is something up?" Xavier asked. While Zach thought he was laughing at him in reality he was laughing at something one of his friends had told him. It just happened that he laughed right as Jason took down Zach.
"Don't play innocent. You laughed at me. You think you could do better?" Zach said angrily.
"Hey I don't want any trouble." He said as he went back to eating a burger in front of him. Zach scoffed at his reaction.
"Good because I know you can't handle this." Zach said cockily. Normally he wouldn't push this but his pride was hurt when he heard the laughter.
"Sure if that is what helps you through the night." Xavier said as he took a big bite of his food. It was making Zach even angrier that Xavier wasn't reacting.
"Sounds like a cop out to me. The truth is that you are a coward." Zach said with a sneer. Xavier looked up at that and he seemed to get very tense.
"What did you just call me?" Xavier asked in a low and dangerous voice.
"You heard me. You are nothing but a coward." He said with a sneer. Jason looked at Zach some what understanding why he was doing what he was doing but this was too much.
"Zach I think you need to calm down." Jason whispered to him. Zach brushed him off so Jason left him to the bed he just made. Xavier looked ready to snap the table in half to get to Zach. The purple haired boy beside him put a hand on his arm as if to calm him down.
"Don't worry about it I'll take care this for you." The purple haired boy said as he got up and moved down to Zach. "Take back what you said or I'll make you take it back."
"I'd really like to see that." Zach said. He got right in the other boy's face. Xavier shook his head and pulled the boy back.
"Andor just drop it. We didn't do anything wrong so this is pointless." Xavier said pulling him back. Andor sighed and then shook his head.
"Sorry X I know you want me to back off but that is not going to happen. I don't know what his problem is but I am going to fix this right now." He said as he moved right back into Zach's face. Jason moved over and tried to pull Zach back as Xavier held on to Andor. Suddenly the girl stood up and got between the two boys. She turned on Andor first.
"Knock this off right now! We both know the truth about X so I don't see why this is bothering you so much. If you start this fight I promise you that you will regret it later. Do you understand me?" She asked in a hard voice. Andor couldn't even look at her as he nodded. She heard Zach snicker behind her and she spun in place and put a finger to his chest. "As for you I don't know what is bothering you right now but Xavier was not laughing at you. Maybe you should take a quick walk or go talk to your friends and sort out what ever is bothering you but stop picking fights." She said as if scolding a child. Zach looked down properly scolded before he shrug Jason's hand off and headed to the locker room to cool his head. Jason turned to Xavier and the girl.
"I'm sorry for him. I saw that you weren't laughing at us so I let it drop. I don't know what got into him but I'll go find out." Jason said looking apologetic. The girl nodded and after Jason left Andor walked down to the sparring mats still fuming at what just happened. Xavier looked at the Asian boy and gestured with is head at Andor.
"Tony." He said. The boy nodded and walked down to the mats behind Andor. When he got there he got ready to throw a kick.
"Andor." He said just before sending a roundhouse kick to his head. Andor spun and blocked the hit but it still pushed him back a little. He nodded and soon they were sparring but it seemed almost like a real fight with the speed of the punches and kicks. As Xavier and his two friends watched the two Jason walked into the locker room. He saw Zach sitting on a bench looking at the floor.
"What was that all about? I've known you since I was five and you have never acted like that." Jason said, his voice laced with concern. Zach didn't answer at first. He pulled out his morpher and looked at the belt buckle sized item. It was silver and shaped like an elongated octagon with a golden coin in the center. Zach's coin had the Mastodon on it. Jason glanced around and made sure they were alone. He then looked at Zach and waited.
"Did you see how much homework they gave us today and it is only the first day? I also have all of my chores that need to be done at the house and not to mention all of the extra stuff that I get to like my classes and the volunteer work. Now on top of all of that I am excepted to save the world. How can I beat up monsters when I can't even beat you? Sparring used to be fun now all it is is training for the next monster. Maybe it is just too much right now." He said as he looked at the morpher. Jason sat beside him and looked at it too.
"I know how you feel. I look at you four and I can't just see my best friends anymore. I have to see you as soldiers too. I have to make calls and decisions that could get you killed. I don't know how to do that. I am not qualified to do that. It makes me wonder why Zordon picked a bunch of teens to have these gifts." He said as he sighed. "But then I think of all the people we have saved in just a week. I don't know what will happen in the future but I know we were picked for a reason. Just if you feel overwhelmed again come to us. We'll help you. You know that Zach."
"Yeah. I do. I need to go apologize to those guys. I went over the line." He said putting his morpher away and walking out. Jason was right behind him and they both stopped when they saw the sparring match going on. Andor and Tony were going at each other hard and fast the kicks and hits landing hard and fast. They finally stopped when Andor managed to trip Tony and then pinned him with a knee to the chest. Tony chuckled and then they both stood up with a smile.
"Good match." Andor said as Xavier, Pearth, and the redhead walked down to them. They all started talking and chatting as Andor and Tony wiped off their faces. Zach walked over and cleared his throat. They all turned and looked at him. Jason when over to the girls and Billy and quickly explained what was going on with Zach. They all turned to watch what was going to happen next.
"I wanted to say I am sorry. I have been going through some things and I let the pressure get to me. I'm sorry." He said holding out his hand. Xavier shook it as did Andor. Zach waved them over to the table where all of his friends sat. "I know you already know them all Xavier but for the rest of you this is Jason, Trini, Kim, and Billy. My name is Zach by the way." He said. Everyone said hello as he said their name. Xavier nodded and then turned to introduce his friends.
"This is Andor, Pearth, Tony, and Eric." He said. They all said their greetings as Eric ran a hand through his red hair. Eric looked around and slid into the seat by Trini. He gave her a warm smile.
"What's up?" Trini asked smiling back.
"Nothing much just wanted to sit by the cutest girl here." He said in a flirtatious voice. Trini blushed a lot and wanted to call him a liar. She looked at both Kim and Pearth and knew, at least in her mind and to most people, they were both far more beautiful then her. The others had started their own conversations and weren't paying attention, except for Billy who was fuming. She just brushed his flirting off and turned her attention to Kim and Pearth and was soon in their conversation. The girls were talking about shopping and their favorite stores. Xavier and Eric threw their two cents in when ever they could. Sitting this close to him Kim smelt a faint hint of tobacco and soil on him. Tony and Jason were talking about martial arts and their favorite fighters. Andor was talking with Zach about movies and music. They had gotten in a debate about which were better horror or suspense movies. Their conversations continued for about an hour until Kim glanced at her watch.
"Oh my god I have got to go." She said jumping up from the table.
"Where do you live?" Xavier asked.
"Off of Lincoln."
"I live close to there how about I walk you home?"
"Sure."
"See y'all later." Xavier said as he got up to go. He picked her books and they headed for the door.
Angle Grove was a small city in southern California surrounded by the Moravia desert. The city counsel a few years back made sure that the city stayed green. Angle Grove had its own lake and was also partly in the southern part of the Rockies. Xavier and Kimberly walked through a local park. The grass was full and green and the trees reminded everyone that summer break had just ended. They talked about English and other classes that they had. She told him about gymnastics and he told her about wrestling something he was passionate about. He was amazed with the conditioning that allowed her to move so limber. She was impressed that he could throw people that weighed as much as him. He told her about where he lived in England and she told him about Angel Grove. After a while they ran out of topics and just enjoyed each others company. Kim was shocked at how easily their banter had been upheld. The silence they walked in was not uncomfortable but at ease. Kim thought he was cute and he had a bit of charm but also a little coldness to him. For some reason that made him more appealing. Just before they reached the other side of the park several gray colored creatures landed in front of them.
"Putties!" Kim screamed. She turned to run but found more behind them. She turned to gauge the reaction of Xavier. She expected him to do like most people and run. When he was safely away she would morph. Instead he put her books down then set his own book bag down.
"Kim go and get help. I'll hold them off." He said calmly getting into a fighting stance. Kim's eyes went wide as he grabbed the nearest putty and proceed to slam it into the ground. He then turned and started throwing devastating punches. Every time he hit a putty it fell like a ton of bricks.
'What a joke.' Xavier thought to himself, 'these things can't even take my lightest hits. This is getting annoying.' Another putty went down to his hits.
Not to be out done Kim started to fight the creatures. She jumped at one and kicked it right in the chest. Using her momentum she rolled on the ground to a crouching position. Leaping up she slammed another putty in the head with a devastating kick. She wished Xavier had ran so she could call her friends. She turned to see how he was doing. There was a pile of putties surrounding him. He slammed another one with a clothesline and caused it to flip over him. One ran at him. Ducking down Xavier grabbed it at the thighs and lifted the creature up into the air. It went flying over his head and came crashing down on top of other putties that were on the ground.
The putties seemed to understand that Xavier was the greater threat of the two. One after another started to pile up on him dragging him down under their weight. He was still swinging for the fences when it got to be just too much for him. He disappeared under the mass of putties.
'What the fuck! There is no way I am going down to these fucking beasts.' Xavier thought as he started trying to get the off of him. 'Damn it is like fighting an ant hill. Take out some and you don't make a debt in the swarm.'
"No!" Kim screamed as she ran at the pile. Two more putties grabbed her and restrained her. Another walked in front of her to finish her off. She couldn't even fight back. The last thoughts she had were of the innocent boy that had died to protect her.
Author's Notes: Well here is the first chapter of the remastered story. The biggest changes in this chapter from the original is I changed one of the characters names from Jason to Eric. The reason for this is one it was confusing to name him the same thing as a major character and the other is that the nickname he asked them to use for him, Eagle, should've been a dead giveaway as he becomes a hero named Night Eagle. Also I changed the spar because the old way just made Xavier a complete and utter asshole. Now it makes sense that Kim is attracted to him.
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