NOTE
While reading another fanfic I got the idea for a really cool story idea. I also wanted to set a story in the future with the children of the rangers from Dark Future. It stars Bradley DeSantos and Adam Park. There is a small special appearence by Tabitha Hart. The story mainly focuses on Brad and Adam, so you can get into the inner workings of the future rangers and how they recieved their powers, and the bond that Adam and Brad had. ENJOY!
The red ranger sat and stared at the starry night. Oblique clouds drifted silently over the city, and the air made his hair dance freely. This night was different than others. He had become a member of an elite group of fighters, who were sworn to rid the universe of evil. They were called the Power Rangers. The name was a little hokey to him at first, like something of an old wives tale.
It wasn't until he was woken in the middle of the night by intruders in his home, that he found out the whole truth. His father had been a ranger once before, and that night, an evil force was going to make sure that he would never experience the same fate.
"Wow..." The teenager muttered to himself, "and here I thought all I would have to worry about was the SAT's this year." He was seventeen and facing an evil older than time. He was facing the original evil.
A creeking door behind him betrayed the person accompanying him on the roof. It was a girl. She walked over in silence and sat beside him, resting a pink and black visor on the ground next to her. He draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. Bradley DeSantos and Tabitha Hart sat in silence, neither of them having to speak about their anxiety. It was thick in the air.
Finally the newly annointed pink ranger spoke. Her voice small. "I'm scared Brad..."
"Don't be." Was all he could get out. Being the red ranger he was the natural leader of the group. He rested his head on hers, as a soft breeze fluttered their hair. His chestnut locks mixed with her auburn ones. They had been friends since practically birth, now they realised why their parents had kept them close.
The new rangers were the children of the old rangers. They harnessed the powers of all of the rangers before them, so they would be strong enough to fight the evil that lay ahead.
"It all feels so unreal... doesn't it?" A voice from behind startled the two. They broke apart and jumped to stance. "Jumpy?"
Adam Park rested his hands on Brad and Tabitha's shoulders. He knew all too well how they felt, being a weathered ranger himself. Tabitha could tell that the two needed to talk, so she made a small goodbye and poor excuse to leave. Then she was back inside as quickly as she had gotten there.
The to guys sat together in silence for a moment. Brad usually could talk to Adam about anything, even his apprehensions about his sexuality. Adam was his mentor, brother, uncle, and a second father. Adam pulled him in for a hug. Upon his release, he saw a stream of tears brandishing Brad's face. Concern inked into his eyes. "What's wrong?" His voice was questioning, but all knowing.
Brad heaved a long breath. "I'm so scared Adam." He gripped Adam around the waist and was held there by the sweet Korean.
Salty tears began to wet Adam's shirt. " I know..." Adam stroked the hair of the sobbing ranger in his arms. Brad's body convulsed with heavy breathing. Adam pushed him back far enough to see Brad's face. "It's okay to be afraid... but I know you-"
"What? Should be proud? Excited?" He spoke through choked tears. " I know, but I can't lead them."
"Why not?" Adam cocked his head to the side a bit. He couldn't understand why this boy was talking the way he was. Brad usually exuded confidence and was very much in control. Now he was a mess. Adam had only seen him this way a few times before, and he was the only one.
"Because I'm weak"
"No." Adam said firmly. "You are one of the strongest people I have ever met in so many ways."
"You're just saying that." Brad was crestfallen. Ever since he had gotten back and had a talk with Tommy, he had felt that the world was on his shoulders.
"No I'm not. I have seen you go through so much, and you always prevail with your head up."
"And now look at me..."
"This..." Adam wiped a tear off of Brad's cheek, "Doesn't mean you are weak. It means you are human."
The thoughts of that night on the Command Center rooftop were but a feint echo in the mind of Adam Park. Now he was a spawn of evil by no will of his own. After a few battles with the future rangers, the un-namable evil that had been plaguing Angel Grove decided to take the rangers out by destroying their leader, psychologically.
Adam had been kidnapped a few months earlier and transformed into a maniacally vengeful monster. His angelic face was preserved, but his body was toned into a fighting, killing machine. His muscles were more defined and rounded, and now a thin black muscle shirt and leather pants. His feet adorned in black, chunky boots. His hair was cut short and gelled to a wet look, and his peaceful brown eyes were now a haunting black.
Today was the day that they would take the red ranger down. Not in a battle, but in a game of cat and mouse. Adam waited in a hidden corridor of the old apartment building, amidst the cobwebs and rotting wood planks. The broken down neighborhood was once a thriving place, before the evil had spread. Now all of the buildings in downtown Angel grove were mere shells of the things they used to be.
The dank smell of wet wood awoke the red ranger. He gasped for breath and inhaled a thick amount of dust. Coughs racked through his body in a desperate attempt to attain cleansed air. Brad pushed up from the floor, his jeans and shirt both adorned in dirt and dust from the building. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the surroundings, but soon he was able to see the boarded up windows, and covered furniture of an old living room. Searching his mind for the last event he could remember, he found nothing. The only thing he could think of was hearing Shane gasp at a figure in the doorway of the Command Center, and then everything went black. He reached onto his right wrist for his morpher/communicator, but all he found was vacant skin. He fumbled around the floor but soon gave up. Whoever brought him here was probably holding the morpher, maybe even Shane.
He stood and kicked a small object. It was a tape. He picked it up and noticed the TV in the corner. It stuck out like a sore thumb. It was a large console. Nobody had used these for a long time. He placed the tape in the video drive, but it felt a bit foreign. Video was now kept on small chips. He pressed the play button, and after a few seconds of snow, a vision of a haunted looking Adam popped onto the screen. Brad drew in a sharp breath, not knowing what kind of situation he could be in.
Was whoever brought him here holding Adam as prisoner? Was Adam already dead and this was just a ploy to get Brad to give up his powers. Could this be a game where Adam was the bait or could this just be a trap? The possibilities were endless, and since Adam was kidnapped so long ago, that he could already be dead and the tape old.
Brad raked his hands through his hair, waiting for the ghost-like man to say something on the screen. After moments of uneasy silence Adam drew in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. Something told Brad that Adam wasn't being held hostage. Finally, he spoke.
"So, Brad..." He paused, looking directly ahead, his eyes meeting with Brad's. "What a great leader you turned out to be." The words were spat out with a manner unlike Adam Park's. "I thought that you would be there for me, but you weren't. I thought that you could keep my son safe on your team, but you didn't."
The camera swiveled around to the body of Shane Park. Brad gasped and cupped his hands over his mouth as he gazed at the dead body. The newly appointed black ranger's eyes were frozen open, and blood had trickled and dried at the edge of his lips. The read rangers eyes widened in terror. This wasn't Adam Park. He began to back away from the Television, fearing the next development. The camera turned back to Adam, now smoking a cigarette.
He took in a long draw and let out a breath of smoke. "He went down fast, don't worry. The only sad thing is, he didn't even put of a fight. I thought I raised a fighter."
The words stung. How could Adam be talking about killing his son? How could he have killed him? His thoughts were interrupted by more speaking form the television. "You see Brad. When you failed me as a leader, I was transformed. My soul was taken from me and now I am this. A hollow shell of a human. A beast if you will." He took another draw and the put out the cigarette as he exhaled the smoke. "You" he paused again, then smiled viciously "are my prey."
The video went blank and the snow again covered the screen. Brad reluctantly reached out his hand and turned off the screen. The seemingly abandoned room seemed to grow smaller. The old chair in the corner, crusted in thick dust was now threatening him. The boarded up windows and doors seemed to be a gateway to hell. The ranger drew his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, sitting in the center of the room.
Hot tears stung his eyes as he remembered the friendship the two shared. His father and Adam were best friends in their youth. Brad and Shane, Adam's son, were best friends too. It only seemed fitting that the kids would adorn the same colors as their parents. Brad becoming the red ranger, and Shane the black. A creak in the floor made a large echo and Brad spun around to his feet in fighting position. It was a nothing but a mouse.
"WHERE ARE YOU"? Brad yelled out. His voice was shrill and full or terror. He was too scared to think of sitting in the room any longer. The fear embedded in his head was now turning slowly into anger. He thought about all the times he had needed Adam and he wasn't there. When he was facing off against a monster that had taken the shape of his father in a fight, he needed Adam's encouragement, but it was nowhere to be found. When he had seemingly destroyed the city from one bad move, he needed a comforting word. Adam was taken from his life, and his whole world had shattered. Shane still had his mom and a similar relationship with Rocky, Brad had a disappointed father and no one to talk with. He was severely pissed.
"COME ON!" He yelled again. "YOURE NOT ADAM AND I KNOW IT, YOU BASTARD!" As he yelled he tried to reassure himself as well. He walked out of the room and found himself in a large stairway. He looked down and could see he was a couple of floors up, and there was a couple of more to go above him. Hanging through the center of the winding stair was a rope.
Just as he began to climb the stairs, Brad heard footsteps above. They were slow and heavy. He couldn't tell if they were ascending or descending, but they were loud. The red ranger broke into a run and was up three flights before he knew it. He didn't know how long he was out before, but his muscles were on fire with energy.
A loud crash stopped him in his tracks. Something had fallen from above. Could it have been Adam? Was he careless enough to have fallen? Brad peered over the railing and looked down to the floor below. There was a table in shards. He pulled his head back just in time for a chair to barely scrape by his face. The surprise of the falling implement knocked his balance and he fell to his back. He landed on an old lighting fixture that had fallen out of the wall and gashed his back and shoulder. He swallowed a small scream and held his shoulder in pain. Then the footsteps got louder, as they neared the floor he was resting on.
"Aww, did the little ranger hurt himself?"
A lump formed in the back of his throat, and Brad scrambled to a nearby door and opened it warily. He couldn't fight just yet. Just as he had gotten in the door and quietly closed it, Adam landed on the floor Brad was on. The former black ranger looked at the trail of blood on the cruddy carpet and followed it to the door or apartment 304. He opened the door and peered inside. The room looked undisturbed. He made his way inside the room and looked around at the furniture covered in white sheets.
The black ranger began to whistle to the tune of 'Catch A Falling Star". That was the song he had sung to Brad and Shane when they were younger. Brad just listened, hiding in a food pantry. In his hands he clutched a large piece of wood, from a chopped down door.
The heavy steps hit the linoleum of the kitchen and the red ranger's body tensed up. He whipped his head slightly to get a string of hair off of his face. The heavy clunks got dangerously close, and Brad stood up. Any second the door would swing open, and he would have to make a move.
The knob turned and he prepared to swing. The door shipped open, and Brad froze in his place, afraid to make a move.