Chapter 2
In Your Dreams
(Original Posting Date: October 17th, 2008)
Mirinoi - 2009
On the horizon, the sun was slowly setting in the cloudless sky, a halo of warm vibrant colors wrapping themselves around it as it seemed to immerse itself in the calm waters below. Darkness would soon come.
Maya, the young woman from the distant planet of Mirinoi and the former Yellow Galaxy Ranger, stared off into the distance, taking in the perfect sunset, as she walked, barefoot, by the water. A soft breeze coming in from the ocean sent stray strands of her hair into her face. The sounds of the waves breaking on the shore soothed her senses, bringing a smile on her lips.
"So what are you thinking about?" her best friend Shondra asked as she walked beside her, her steps mirroring Maya's.
Maya tore her eyes away from the setting sun and looked down, watching her feet sink just a bit into the cool moist sand as they continued walking along the shore. "The sunset, this place, it's just, so beautiful, so hopeful," Maya answered.
"I know what you mean," Shondra replied thoughtfully. "But it's going to get dark soon, Maya. You'd better enjoy this while it lasts."
As Maya turned to face Shondra, she was surprised to find herself alone. A shiver coursed through her spine as she looked around her at the slowly darkening surroundings, her gaze stopping on a familiar object sticking out of the sand, out of place on the deserted beach. She finally knew where she was, in Terra Venture's ocean dome.
She took a few paces away from the water, her feet feeling heavier in the dry sand, and finally reached a sword, the hilt of which pointed upward. It stood at the same angle, in the same spot, unmoved and untouched, just as she'd left it all those years ago for a fallen friend.
"It never gets easier, Maya" she heard his grave voice intone behind her. She turned around and immediately recognized the centuries-old armor-clad warrior that stood there.
"Loyax?" she asked him, her eyes watering up even as she told herself he couldn't really be there. "But Deviot destroyed you."
"Indeed my last breath was rendered on that fateful day," he confirmed, approaching her, "when you led me back onto the path of good I had abandoned all those centuries ago."
"I've missed you," Maya said, bridging the gap between them with a few steps. She threw her arms around his neck, careful not to cut herself on the spikes of his armored body, and raised herself on her toes, giving the towering warrior a hug. She soon felt his heavy right hand settle gently on her back. After a few silent moments, he removed his hand and she took a step back.
"You showed me that no matter how desperate a cause, how great the sacrifices, we must never stop fighting, never give up," Loyax stated, turning towards the ocean, the last few rays of the sun casting a warm glow on his metallic face.
"It's what heroes do, Loyax," Maya said, taking a step to stand beside him. "It's what you did for us that day."
"And it is why I come to you now, Maya," Loyax continued. "You must go, all of you, to the planet your friends once called home. Never before has the legacy of the Power Rangers been tested as it will."
"What's going to happen?" Maya asked, feeling her throat dry up.
"The end," Loyax explained, sorrowful. "And while nothing would appease my soul more than your promise to stay away from those who are doomed to fall, I know now that death, if it results in the slightest chance at the safety of loved ones, is not to be feared."
By now, the sun had gone and what should have been a clear starry night was instead filling with heavy clouds. Thunder roared above as a heavy rain started to come down and the wind picked up.
Loyax turned away from the ocean towards the spot where his sword had been left to rest. Maya did the same, and as she peered through the darkness, she saw that Loyax' sword was gone, replaced by a blade she was only too familiar with.
"The Magna Blaster?" she asked aloud, recognizing the weapon that Mike Corbett had wielded as the Magna Defender. Currently in sword mode, it stuck out of the sand exactly as Loyax' sword had. And forming a perfect circle around it were the Quasar Sabers, source of the Galaxy Rangers' powers.
When Loyax offered no answer, she turned around and saw that he was gone, leaving her alone as the rain and wind built up in their intensity, thunder rumbling loudly in the sky, flashes of lightning providing her with the light necessary to take in more of her surroundings.
All around her, everywhere she looked, she saw them, weapons, arranged in much the same way the Magna Blaster and Quasar Sabers had been. One moment, she caught a flash of a sword with a red hilt, under which an axe, daggers, a lance and a bow were propped up. The next, she saw another blade, this one familiar, as it belonged to a friend, Andros, the Red Space Ranger. Beneath the Spiral Saber, she recognized his teammates' weapons. Later still, she saw the Lightspeed Rangers' V-Lancers standing upright in the sand.
"Maya, it's gotten so dark," she heard Shondra's voice say behind her.
"We need to get out of here, Shondra," Maya started to say as she turned to face her friend. "Something is seriously, seriously wrong here," she finished as lightning lit up the sky again, casting light on the thing that stood in front of her. "Rykon!" Maya shouted, recognizing the monster that had impersonated her best friend in an attempt to steal the Galaxy Book during her time on Terra Venture.
"Hello Maya," Rykon said in her real voice, striking at her with a backhand so strong it took her off her feet and spun her in the air for a few seconds before she landed in the wet sand, unconscious.
"So let me try to wrap my head around this," Damon Henderson, the Green Galaxy Ranger, said as he and the rest of his former teammates all stood around the stone where they had returned their Quasar Sabers after their defeat of Trakeena in Mariner Bay, "Loyax, who's dead, comes to you, in a dream, and tells you we need to go back to Earth to avert some kind of apocalypse, and you want us to do it."
"I know it sounds crazy," Maya admitted, looking down at the ground.
"Not necessarily," Kendrix Morgan, the Pink Galaxy Ranger, remarked. "Remember when we became Rangers and Maya sensed the Galactabeasts needed help before we even knew about them?"
"So she has some kind of psychic connection to them, and therefore this dream with Loyax might be a manifestation of that ability?" Mike Corbett, who wielded the powers of the Magna Defender, offered.
"Exactly!" Kendrix answered, enthusiastic that for once, one of her friends was actually keeping up with her.
"I still say it sounds crazy," Damon insisted.
"We trusted her instincts when it came to the Galactabeasts and that paid off," Leo Corbett, the Red Galaxy Ranger, reminded Damon. "I say we go to Earth. Besides, we're way overdue for a visit anyway."
"I'll contact Andros," Kai Chen, the Blue Galaxy Ranger, offered. "If Maya's dream was any indication of what's to come, it probably won't hurt to have the Space Rangers come with us. Besides, the Astro Megaship mark 4 is our best shot at getting to Earth as soon as possible."
"First things first, though," Leo said as he aligned himself with his Quasar Saber. His friends nodded, took their places by his side and, all at once, they took hold of the sabers and pulled them out of the stone, energy coursing wildly through their blades.
While Kendrix, Kai, Damon and Mike immediately started to head for Mirinoi's communications center, Leo noticed Maya was just staring at her sword.
"It'll be okay Maya," he reassured her, stepping in front of her and putting his free hand on her shoulder, his features confident. "It always is."
"When I woke up after that dream," Maya said, her voice quavering as she looked him in the eyes, "I went to see the Galactabeasts. They normally make me feel good, and safe. But not today. Today, they felt agitated, distraught. They were scared for us, Leo."
To be continued...
So to be completely truthful, this chapter was supposed to be all about Bridge. Then I had the idea of a dream for Maya, and that scene grew so much and the visuals were really awesome (although I don't know how that will have translated to the written story) that I decided to put Bridge's storyline on the backburner until Chapter 3. So, next chapter, we're back in 2027!
Now, being a comic book fan, I used to really love letter pages, so I'll be giving feedback to the feedback.
First off, Itz Rayz asked about pairings in this story. To many people, that might translate to "Who's Tommy going to be with?", and to those people, I have to say I still don't know, although it will not be Kirommy. Some pairings I can reveal because I've already thought of them a bit, such as Jen & Wes, Dana & Carter and possibly Syd & Sky. Will there be more? Quite probably, so send in your requests, though they have to be believable (ie Billy and Lily or Dustin and Kendrix, nuh uh).
Second, ae1102 seems to have narrowed down the candidates for the funeral in the trailer. All I will say for now is that the funeral will indeed be held for a Red Ranger. Is it Tommy or Jason? Or someone else entirely? Keep reading.
Flowers-n-Ginger, Ms. Fairweather, Red shadow Ranger, crazedchick & Pinkranger888, thanks for the encouragement!
BlueCrimson4Ever, I myself get goosebumps reading that trailer, especially since I'm actually picturing the scenes in context. It's gonna be in-sane.
So thank you to everyone who wrote in, and also to everyone who gave the story a read, from all corners of the globe, this story is for you all. If you have questions, comments, whatever, post in the review section and you should find a response on our own little letters page here with the following update.
Power down!
