Power Rangers: World of Darkness Chapter 4: Awakenings Jason awoke in his quarters. He stared up at the ceiling as the calming lights activated on time with the alarm set in his computer. The recycled air was cool and fresh. His favorite song was playing on the radio, on the entertainment station nicknamed Freedom Radio. He knew all this glamour was just to hide the desolation of the attempted re- construction over ground from the Machina invasion. That nightmare had been over ten years ago, although he often dreamt of the horrid events, when those copper-headed robots had slaughtered his parents in front of his 13- year old eyes. But last night he did not dream of that. He had dreamt something worse. The invasion had happened all over again. This time it had been even more terrifying then the Machina, it had been werewolves. At the thought of this, Jason laughed out loud. Werewolves, he thought, I must be screwed up in the head to think up stuff like that. It wasn't all that bad for him though; he had met the real Black Ranger himself. He shook hands with his hero. Jason smiled at this and got out of bed to get dressed. His computer was displaying a pleasant message to him. It was Sunday, and he expected some new faces at church when he gave his sermon. He proudly donned his black robes, and fixed up the little white collar after making sure his silver crucifix pendant was displayed well overtop. He laughed out loud again when he thought of his dream. What a story he had to tell in mass today. Before leaving his quarters he looked to his display shelf. There lay his best memories of recent events as well as childhood successes. His second-degree black belt in karate lay he got at the age of nine, before the invasion, was draped over his tournament trophy, witch dwarfed the runner-up trophies he had won in the previous years. It reminded him he was going to attend the Sunday school to teach his biweekly class of self- defense. He grabbed at his black helmet, painted over with a metallic red Star of David. This had belonged to his father, who was one of those rare breeds of extreme sports players, had a very high faith in God. The helmet was in good condition, but it had seen its last risk in Jason's eyes, for he only used it on his motorcycle rides around the central subway streets of his beloved city complex: Oasis Deep. Stepping out of his quarters, he made his way towards the vehicle bay. Everything around was serene and beautiful in a rust-colored metallic sort of way. He stood on the circular disc that served as an elevator down past the low-class shelter levels to the city complex underground. One day, he thought, he would move deeper to the city, but that would cost money, and he really could only afford his shelter, located only one level below the quarter-mile thick layer of protective metal that divided it from the over ground world under repair. On his black Kawasaki Motorcycle he sped out down the ramp to the subway streets, mysteriously clear of all other vehicles, as if the road was meant just for him. The metal ceiling and walls went on for only a few miles, and Jason held his breath in anticipation. He expected the metal to be replaced with clear plastic, giving a full breathtaking view of Oasis Deep, of all its garden resorts and white buildings, stretching up almost to the metal shield that shielded everything. The waft of the fresh subtly scented air would fill his nostrils, even through his helmet, making him feel warm in the heart. He would hear the sweet sound of the environment controllers around the area. The sight, smell and sound would give him hope, and he thanked the Lord for the tingle up his spine every time he passed down this ramp. The metal receded suddenly, and Jason suddenly saw his own personal vision of hell itself. It was Oasis Deep, but everything was in flames. The shield had collapsed, and a thick beam of light was pouring down into the complex, sending waves of fire and death out in a chaotic frenzy of destruction. Tiny dots of black scattered in fear, all was tainted in pure red. The road ahead of him caved down and fell away to the ground below. He swerved his bike around and nearly fell off the end of what was left of the street. Back to where he came he sped, pushing his bike to its limits. His rear view mirrors could only glow orange, reflective the serpent of flame shooting up behind him. Back into the metal lined corridors, which were now painted with the raging inferno. The red dragon caught him in its mouth and gorged him in fire, and before his body burst into flames he swore he would never forgive this act. "As God as my witness, REVENGE WILL BE MINE!" he screamed to the void of death that welcomed him. * * * He sat up in cold sweat, breathing hard. Looking around with wide eyes he examined the dark stone shack of a room he had woken up in. He tossed the faded blankets off his body, and stood up off his bed of worn carpet on the floor. There was a wooden chair in the room, and there his clothes hung. Looking down at himself, he confirmed the fact he wasn't wearing them. He drew in a breath and faltered a few steps back. His whole body was covered in a thin metallic red exoskeleton, leaving only his head, hands and feet bare. From his midsection a small black box with a featureless ruby disc jutted out like a blister on a severe burn. He closed his eyes and tears rolled down his cheeks as he cried. He had only gone from one nightmare to the next. "Are you really that afraid of it?" a solemn but familiar voice called from the shadows. Jason looked up, startled. He relaxed somewhat as Zack walked out from the shadows into the silver light cast from a window in the wall that looked out to the eternally clouded evening sky. He was wearing a fresh deep violet padded cloak, and wore an expression of woe, mixed with morbid determination. Jason's mind raced with questions as he got off his knees, walking to his hero with a pleading voice. "What is god's name is this," he spoke, holding out his arms, "I don't understand anything." "Nothing is wrong with you," Zack sighed, getting ready to explain it all, "I was just as confused when it happened to me. Only, it should be easier to explain to you." "What?" Jason inquired, "What happened?" "Jason," said Zack, deciding how to go about this talk, "Do you remember me saying that Alpha-5 and I were recruiting?" "Yeah," Jason said, awe filling his eyes, he had a feeling what came next, but he couldn't believe it. "Welcome to the team," Zack said with a grin, "you are the Red Power Ranger." Jason looked at Zack, stunned, then down at the exoskeleton again in a totally new light. This had to be another dream, but he thought so clearly, and more questions filled his head. "The second skin you looked at so fearfully earlier is the dormant phase of your power suit," Zack said, "In time you'll learn to perform the rest of the morph as I can." "Morph?" echoed Jason, "As in change? Into what?" "Morphing is just a nickname that was given to the switch between the dormant stage and active stage of the armor. Here, I'll show you." Zack loosed the padded violet cloak and let it fall. He wore only black leather gloves and boots, the rest of his body was covered in an exoskeleton much like the one Jason now bore. The only difference was it was much bulkier than Jason's was. It wasn't all black, as his armor was, for it had thin lines of purple spread out over the dividing segmentation over his muscles like veins. He also bore a larger version of the black box that Jason had, except the disc was ebony. Zack closed his eyes and exhaled. Then his expression hardened and he grit his teeth, letting out a yell. His eyes had opened and radiated a deep purple energy. The stone room vibrated around, causing Jason to have to fall back against the wall behind him for support. The energy spread out over the purple veins, causing them to glow in the same energy. He thrust his arms to his side, his body in a rising build of intensity as the morph continued. The veins and segmentations suddenly rose like a twisted jigsaw puzzle off his body, and black metal segments telescoped off his body, quickly covering him with dark thick plated metal. It spread over him, covering his entire body in a blur of moving pieces of steel. He then let out a deep metallic sigh, sending purple smoke out from his mouthpiece. The black box had been integrated into the armor, but the ebony disc was now glowing with light purple outlines over a detailed set of markings. Jason gaped at the final product. It was as if a great mystery had been solved, the secret behind the quick appearances and disappearances of the Power Rangers. They must have been able to switch all the time, blending it perfectly with the other humans. It did not answer all his questions, but it did create more questions in Jason's head. "And I can do this?" Jason gasped "Yes" was Zack's only response. "How?" "You're not quite ready for that yet. There's still more you must know." Jason sat down on the ground. This defiantly was good judgement, as even Zack looked down with a bit of satisfaction that at least Jason was as ready as he could be. "You're a priest right?" Zack asked as he also sat. Jason nodded, "Ok, then I guess we'll think spiritually here. Now, in your own opinion, what happens to a body when it dies?" Jason had no idea where this was going, "I suppose the soul would leave the body and ascend into heaven, and the corpse would decay into the Earth." "Right. Ok." Zack said skeptically, and his mind searched for whatever reasoning he can come up with, "Now what do you think happens when the soul can't leave?" "What?" Jason said, getting a bit annoyed at how Zack hesitated before saying the word 'soul' each time. "Just listen. Imagine you had some loose ends in life before dying, maybe even just one, but it was so strong your soul needed to stay back." "Then I suppose it would wander the Earth aimlessly as a ghost." "Ok, good. Let's move on" Jason had no idea what the point of that had been but let Zack continue. "Now, see that little black box on your gut?" Zack pointed to Jason's midsection, "That is your Morpher. It allows your body to accept certain powers and abilities from a thing called the Morphing Grid." "What the-"

"Please don't ask about that. I couldn't explain that if I tried. If you want to try to understand it later, you can ask Alpha. If he can be repaired." Jason bit his lip. He remembered how the small robot had been trying to tell him what Zack was now explaining before. Jason had rewarded that act with severe damage to its power cell, as well as the addition of a heap of trouble he didn't even know the full extent of. He then remembered the certain situations where his body had been glowing, and he had remembered being faster or stronger than he ever had been. Were those echoes of his powers trying to burst out? "Anyway," Zack sighed, derailing Jason's train of thought, "The Morpher actually uses the power of your will. (Or spirit, or soul. Whatever.) It needs it to be able to connect you to the Morphing Grid. It also houses massive amounts of energy that is meant to course through your veins. It works physically by integrating into your body symbiotically. For that purpose, it is made for a specific genetic coding for it to work properly. It doesn't work backwards though, you don't make the Morpher for the person. You just make the Morpher, and hope that one-day you'll find someone who fits the bill." "Yeesh!" exclaimed Jason, "I guess that's why there was only two Power Rangers during the Machina war?" "Sure." Zack responded quickly, "Well, actually it's also cause they take ages to complete one perfectly, and it takes extreme care, rare materials, and a lot of patience." "I see," Jason looked at the little box for the first time with admiration. "The Green Ranger and myself weren't the first to have Morphers used on," Zack added, "there was one before us. Its creator, on himself, used the first prototype Morpher. At the time he had been able to create it for himself, whether it was luck of the draw, or just plain fate I don't know. He might have even done it on purpose. I'll have to ask him if I talk to him again. In any case, being the only test subject he could trust and he was running out of time before the shit hit the fan, he decided to test it on himself. The energy entered and overwhelmed his body, but it disintegrated his physical self, turning him into pure energy and trapping him in the Morphing Grid." "Wait," interrupted Jason, "how did the other two get built then?" "Well," smirked Zack, "There was 3 of the original A.L.P.H.A-Unit series around then. They were destroyed, shut down, or lost in the creation of the next batch of Morphers. Although only our own Alpha-5 survived this long, as unlike Alpha-4, was made to survive through the times of war the soon followed." "What does that name stand for anyway?" "A.L.P.H.A?" repeated Zack, "It stands for Anti/matter Limbo Power Hub Android Unit." "Anti/Matter Limbo?" "How about we just say the first A is for Ask-Alpha, ok?" "Right." "All you need to know is that the Alpha-series were made to be connected directly to the Morphing Grid for maintenance purposes. When Zordon-" "Who?" "Zordon. He created the Morphers. Soon you'll understand why he's your best fiend. Trust me." Jason nodded and let Zack continue. Things were making sense, and he thought, 'thinking back to before these invasions, I would have kicked him in the face for expecting me to be gullible enough to even be stupid enough to believe this stuff. Things are weird enough with alien invasions, so why not weirder?' "As I was saying. When Zordon was trapped in his own intangible domain, he was able to communicate with the Alpha-Unit series and continue his work. I've had the chance to talk to him myself actually." "Will I be able to as well?" "Let's hope so." "Ok, so there was the dilemma. The Morphers were proven to work, but they were too much for a living body. Why? It's because a living body was too actively connected to its soul. The Morphers only really needed a DNA match to activate, and a soul to control it. Even dead bodies have genetics in them. And what if the soul wasn't directly connected to the body at the time, like. Let's say a spirit that never went to Heaven or Hell and just moped around their corpses?" "So," Jason said slowly, not believing what this means, "That worked?" Zack nodded solemnly, "Three times in a row actually after that point. I was the first to have the process work successfully on. Then there was my partner, the Green Ranger, next. And now, ten years later, there was you." "Wait," Jason interjected dubiously, "I can't possibly be." "Ah!" Zack shot back, raising a hand before he went into a rant, "but there's the grim reality. I thought you could better grasp it if you knew how it all worked. I'm dead and so are you." Jason felt sick to his stomach.