Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, but it's times like this that I wish I did.
The coach's whistle blew as the last of the runners crossed the finish line and gym class ended for the day. As the students made their way off the track which circled the school's football field, Jason Scott took a moment to pause and look wistfully at the work being done of the grass. For a moment, he missed the feeling of playing football there. He missed the feel of the grass under his cleats, the sounds of players' pads and helmets colliding, and the thrill of the game itself. Most of all, he missed the sounds of the cheering crowds when the team scored and won their games... but now all that was over.
To think, it hadn't been that long ago that he was once riding a wave of glory... until he screwed up. Now whenever he walked in the stadium or passed by a trophy case in the school, he couldn't help but feel that he was being mocked and reminded of that humiliating failure. He had once been a great hero of Angel Grove High, one who everybody's hopes and dreams of a conference championship was riding on, but no longer. He had been reckless. He let his own hubris get the better of him, and now he was paying for it. But maybe in a way it was better that things had turned out the way that they did.
Had he not screwed up, Jason wouldn't have fallen in with a new group of people. Sure the five of them may have been a bit of an unlikely group of misfit friends, but all that didn't seem to matter so much anymore. Although he was no longer a hero to Angel Grove on the football field, Jason Scott had found that he was slowly becoming a different sort of hero by being a part of something much greater than himself. He was now part of a real team who did great things. He was a Power Ranger.
Despite the bright golden glow of the late afternoon sun, a cool autumn breeze blew and nipped at his skin, bringing him back from his idle thoughts. After the ordeal of having become a Ranger and fighting off the threat of the space witch Rita, there were times Jason would still wonder about the malevolent "Others" that the witch had mentioned. Who were they? When would they come? Would they even come and would the Rangers be ready to face them?
As the new leader of these Rangers, Jason couldn't help but feel that things around here were no longer the same. He could no longer go back to being just a normal high school junior and the only other people who would remotely understand that were his fellow Rangers. But just because things were different now and expectations of him had changed, it didn't mean that he still couldn't try starting over and finding a new path in his high school life. If looking at this football field was any indication, it served as a harsh reminder to him that he needed to... for his own good.
After Jason walked out of the stadium and back into the locker rooms, he showered up and joined Billy and Zack while they changed into their street clothes. Gym was their last period class this semester so no one was in a particular rush to go home. The fact that it was Friday only added to the leisurely pace of the students present. Amid the laughter and banter of the other boys in the room, Zack stopped and pulled a flier off a nearby wall. He took a quick glance at it before flipping it to Jason, all while wearing his cheerful roguish grin. "Hey Jay, check it out."
Jason threw on a plain red t-shit and picked up the flier that Zack had pitched to him. He studied it curiously for a moment and saw that it was an advertisement for the school's annual Homecoming Festival and Dance. Jason raised an eyebrow, "What's all this about? You want to go to Homecoming or something?"
"Oh Jason, I thought you'd never ask," Zack replied swooning in a faux feminine voice while putting an arm around the Red Ranger. He began to laugh as Jason sighed and gave him an elbow to get him off.
"Oh ha ha. Very funny Zack," he sighed as he pushed the paper back to the Black Ranger, "Seriously though, you thinking about getting involved with all that stuff?"
Zack gave a thoughtful shrug and began to put his jeans on, "Maybe. I never had before, but I was thinking it might not be a bad thing, you know? It'd give me an excuse to get out, have some fun and maybe take my mind off my mom for just a night. She's been doing a little better lately so maybe she could manage without me for just one evening."
Nearby, Billy had been busy putting on deodorant and chimed in, "If you're going to go to the dance, you're probably going to need a date... and you've only got about a week left... the uh... pickings might be slim."
"I don't suppose you were thinking of trying to get Crazy Girl to go, were you?" Jason teased gently as he gave a little laugh and picked up his backpack.
"Hey! You're pretty funny too," Zack snorted sarcastically as he gave Jason a light punch in the arm, "You know, I could always just ask Kimberly. I heard she wasn't going with anyone yet."
Jason stopped abruptly and blinked in surprise. He actually found that a little hard to believe. Of all people at school he figured Kimberly would have a long line of potential dates lining up and throwing themselves at her. Zack laughed and clapped Jason's shoulder as he exited the lockers, "Don't sweat it Jay. You know I wouldn't actually do that to you. I'll catch ya round bro."
"Hey! What do you mean by that?" Jason sputtered, "Zack! Where are you... hey! Come back here!"
He turned to Billy who was finishing changing and the Blue Ranger simply titled his head, "Wait, he isn't suggesting that there's something going on between you and..."
"That's far enough Billy," Jason said raising a finger and hoping to silence him, "I'll catch you tomorrow morning at Detention, okay?"
Billy watched as Jason hurried off before sitting down and shaking his head, "Geez, I wonder what his deal is?"
It wasn't long before Jason made his way back into the main schoolhouse and pushed through a small crowd of departing students. While he navigated through the bustle and clamor of the mob, he thought about what Zack had said. After having become a disgraced football star, Jason hadn't been too keen on the idea of attending the Homecoming party this year. All the fanfare and pushing of school spirit seemed a bit much given the circumstances. Hell, in a small boring town like Angel Grove, Homecoming was big news and half the adults probably cared just as much as the local students did. But maybe the Black Ranger was also right about some things. Maybe it would be a good thing to take everyone's minds off the frightening events of Rita's monster attack not too long ago. The Rangers were people too and they deserved to blow off some steam and have a little fun.
Maybe going to confront his football team and other classmates at this school function could also help Jason move on to that newer better him that he was thinking about earlier. Of course, it was possible that the experience might be a little uncomfortable too, but no growth came without a little pain and discomfort, right? As Jason pushed through the rest of the crowd and turned down a side hallway, his mind drifted to what Zack had said about Kimberly.
Maybe he could use this as another opportunity to start fresh and new by putting a better foot forward and really impressing her. If he was really honest with himself, he had always been attracted to her. Ever since he had started football, he'd always try to catch fleeting glimpses of her on the sidelines with her fellow cheerleaders. Despite their positions in their high school's social hierarchy, they had still always seemed miles apart. As funny as it sounded coming from a jock like him, he had always been a little intimidated by her beauty and charisma. She had been a Queen Bee and gotten whoever and whatever she wanted, yet even then it never seemed like Jason ever really factored in to that equation, leaving him to always admire her from a distance.
Of course, all that seemed to change when she had joined their Detention gang and fell in with the other Power Rangers. It had given them a chance to talk, to spend time, and even get to know each other a little. As much as Jason enjoyed that little unexpected benefit of fate, he still couldn't be quite sure about where he and Kimberly seemed to stand with each other, especially after having defeated Rita now. Maybe it was a little crazy, but he hoped he could use this as a chance to get a better idea, and clear things up a bit between them. As he ambled down the thinning hallway, Jason caught sight of the Pink Ranger at her locker.
To his surprise, he also saw her with her two ex-best friends Amanda Clark and her sidekick Rebecca. He had known Amanda was once in Kimberly's clique and after the cyber-bullying incident, she and Kimberly had a bit of a hostile falling out. He paused and waited from a distance as he watched the two girls speaking to a scowling Kimberly. After they walked off, Kimberly slammed her locker shut and came down his direction in the hallway. The Red Ranger waited patiently until she neared before he slowly raised a hand in greeting, "Hey Kim... uh, is everything okay?"
She eyed him a moment and kept walking as he fell in beside her, "Oh sure. I'll bet you just saw I was having a nice little chat with my old friend Amanda."
Jason kept a cool neutral look on his face while walking with her, "Well, maybe we can all get our zords together and take care of the problem. We already bitch-slapped one evil witch into outer space, right?"
Kimberly's lip curled slightly and she gave a mild snort of amusement.
"See? That's a good sign," Jason said with a hopeful grin, "You're feeling a little better already. And while I'm at it, I thought I might suggest something else to cheer you up."
"Oh really? What's that?" she said with a curious expression.
Jason rubbed the back of his neck in slight nervousness, "Oh... well, Zack had showed me a Homecoming flier earlier and it got me to thinking... maybe we should go."
Kimberly stopped abruptly with a slight hint of incredulity, "We? As in you and I? Go to Homecoming... together?"
"Sure, why not?" Jason shrugged, "It could be fun... right?"
He was desperately trying to play it cool despite a growing feeling of dread that was bubbling up in the pit of his stomach. She blinked a few times before shaking her head to herself and continuing to walk, "I don't know... I'm not so sure that's a great idea Jason."
He frowned and hurried to catch up, "What? Why not?'
"Maybe I just wasn't planning to go at all this year, okay?" Kimberly said defensively
"Really? I thought you loved all the pep rallies and school spirit stuff," Jason said.
Kimberly gave a sigh of growing annoyance and rolled her eyes, "Well, things are different this year, all right? Look, I get what you're trying to do and I appreciate the gesture. It's sweet, but even if we did go, do you really think that's going to look good?"
"What are you talking about?"
Kimberly put her hands on her hips and turned to look him straight in the eye, "Think about it, a football star and head cheerleader both fallen from grace showing up in front of all those people?"
"Come on Kim, who cares what everybody else thinks?" Jason asked offhandedly.
Her features darkened as she fixed him with a look of irritation, "Well maybe I do."
Before he could say anything else, she turned and stormed off down the hallways then out the front doors of the school. Jason could only stand by himself in the middle of the empty hallway shaking his head with a mixture of shock, confusion, and humiliation all at once. It was at that moment, he wished he had known where Zack had run off to. If the Black Ranger hadn't put that stupid Homecoming idea in his head, Jason wouldn't have been ready to punch him in head again right there.
Meanwhile, across town a small blob of animated gold bubbled up from a crack in the sidewalk. Some of the enchanted primordial remains of Rita's monstrous servant Goldar had managed to survive and make its way around the town of Angel Grove. While it was nowhere near as powerful as its original beastly form, it still sought to cause destruction and misery wherever it could. As that gold had been a reflection of and means to channel Rita Repulsa's hate and malice, it continued on with its single minded purpose despite the absence of its mistress.
As the blob writhed on the pavement near a grassy walkway, it stopped when it sensed the presence of a human being approach. As the girl neared, the gold morphed into a beautifully crafted gold bracelet with a few stones that seemed to take the color and shape of small green gems in the sunlight. Moments later, a hand reached down as the young woman picked it up and studied it, "Oh... look at this. Where did you come from? Hey Rebecca, check this out!"
The girl glanced over to see her friend admiring the beautiful piece of jewelry she had found on their walk home from school, "Oh my God Amanda! I can't believe the luck you have. Do you think someone, like dropped it?"
"I don't see anyone around, do you?" Amanda sighed as she tried the bracelet on and admired it in the light. "Besides, finder keepers, right?"
As she continued to stare at her golden bracelet, Amanda Clark could feel a warm feeling coming from within the bangle. Not only was she looking really good right now, but she was now feeling even better.
To Be Continued...