Author's Note: Hello again. May this explain some things. Stars bless! _StarWitch
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"Umph."
Alex opened her eyes. She would have thought that hurtling a few hundred feet through the air to be speared on sharp rocks would have hurt more. Her back hurt some, and her hand gripped something that sent warm tingles up her arm, but otherwise she was fine.
"Get the hell off me!" a voice growled beneath her. In shock, Alex rolled over and landed on a cold, flat surface. Her eyes revealed an annoyed, dark-skinned Hispanic boy clad in blue. He barred braces-bound teeth at her before apparently deciding it was too undignified. Then he just scowled. As he got up, Alex thought she heard him whisper, "Idiotic brat."
Alex stared about. She lay on her back on a metallic floor in a metallic room. Numerous consoles rose around her, blinking in all colors. A metal cot lay in a corner of the room. A wide viewscreen occupied most of one wall. Alex grinned, imagining a videogame on that wall. She could see one door, closed. Alex sat up, then settled back, groaning as her vision darkened. "Um," she asked, her eyes closed, "this isn't heaven, is it?"
A snort made her open her eyes again. The boy she had landed on stood toying with a console, one arm wrapped protectively around his ribs. He didn't even glance at her as he drawled in an accented voice, "Sure, dimwit. And I'm head god." Alex stuck out her tongue at the boy, not that he noticed.
A soft swish to her right made Alex whip her head around, then gasp as flashing lights entered her vision. Before she could see the newcomer, a klaxon went off and a girl started screaming.
The blue-clad boy whirled and began yelling at a still-blurred figure about breaking his concentration again. Alex squinted in the direction of the tearful response, slowly making out a pale, black-haired girl in a sleeveless pink dress. Wide blue eyes stared at Alex, her pretty face contorted by screaming. As Alex watched, Blue Boy began shaking Pink Girl by the shoulders, making her screams change into hiccups. The door hissed again and a beautiful girl with long brown hair and yellow clothes ran n, almost colliding with Blue Boy. There was a slight flush to her café au latte skin, as if she had run down the hall as well. Alex groaned. She knew this girl; Elle Tanner was one of the most popular, stylish girls at school.
She apparently had some brains, too, for she glanced at Alex, scowled, and grabbed Pink and Blue before Alex could respond. "She's not a dangerous intruder!" Elle shouted. The two in her grasp froze and stared at Alex, who gave a limp wave.
The door gave a swish, releasing Sean Paret, Elle's boyfriend, and Mick.
"Mick?! What the hell is going on here!" Alex yelled, sick of the bickering and surprises that had started on Kazi Cliff.
Sean ran over and clamped a hand over Alex's mouth, then glanced up to Elle. Alex tried to bite him, making the jock curse, but not let go. Giving a roll of the eyes, Alex spat into his hand.
Sean jerked his hand away and wiped it on his jeans. "You," he informed Alex, "are disgusting. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I don't know," Alex retorted, "annoying you?" Her gaze flipped over to Mick, who had stopped dead in the doorway, where the doors now were trying to close around him. "Mick? You okay?" Alex asked.
Mick snapped back to himself, his green eyes going hard and flat. "How did you get here and what's in your hand?" the boy said coolly.
Alex froze, staring at her friend's icy eyes. "I, Mick… I dropped off Kazi Cliff after a branch I stood on getting this broke," she said, holding out her hand. A silvery watch with purple trim lay in it, the most obvious features being two small black and one large purple button laid out beneath the time.
Before she could see more, a hand swiped the watch out of her grip, making the warm tingles disappear. "Hey!" the blond shouted, her hand shooting up to grab Mick's leather jacket, "That's mine!" Growling at the loss of her watch, Alex surged upward and nearly toppled over from vertigo. Alex latched onto Mick's bony shoulder for support, then flung an arm out for the watch. "Mick, you idiot," she hissed, "I want my watch back!"
Mick shrugged, making Alex dig nails into his coat. "Just a moment, Alex," Mick said absently as he lightly touched the purple button. A green aura flared around him, bathing the room in eerie emerald light. Alex let go, backing up a few steps. Had she just seen her watch glow purple? And why was Mick green? Why had she woken up this morning?
A light hand on her shoulder made her jump. Pink Girl gave Alex a shy smile. "Don't worry, it will be fine," she said in a girlish voice. "Or, at least, it should be fine." Alex nodded wanly. Yeah, right…
Elle and Sean had yanked the watch away from Mick and were conferring quietly. Blue Boy stalked back to his console, ignoring the rest of us. At least until he commented, "No spells, potions, or other traces of alien magic about her."
The whole group sighed as Alex took another step back. Sean turned from Elle to her and tossed her the watch. "Congrats, Violet," the boy said. "You're a Power Ranger."
"First, my name is Alex, not Violet. And second, WHAT? I'm no Ranger!"
Mick tried to edge between Alex and Sean, but wass shoved back by the jock. "Now look," Sean said with a scowl, "you may not like it, and I sure don't like it, but you're a Ranger. And, that is a morpher. It's violet. You're the Violet Ranger." He raised an eyebrow. "Get it yet?"
Alex wrinkled her nose at the boy. "Why not Purple Ranger?"
"Violet sounds cooler."
"Oh."
As Alex watched, Sean, Elle, Pink, and Blue walked out. Mick sighed as he walked past Alex. "Welcome to the team," he said softly, shaking his head as he walked out the door he had come from. Alex stared and gave herself a pinch. It hurt. Shaking her head, Alex followed through the door the others had left by. It revealed a long hallway in the same metallic color she was getting truly sick of (hadn't they heard of posters at all? It was like the school halls.) with far too many doors. Some rooms had assorted bars of colors and numbers, but half weren't labeled at all. Alex kept to the wall and continued down the hall. Voices drifted from an open door. Alex crept beside the door and froze. They were talking about her.
"I can't believe some fucking bitch like her got a morpher." The arrogant bass voice had to be Sean's.
"Takes one to know one."
"Shut up, MC!"
"MC was my ganger name, Sean. I don't go by that anymore. Got it?" Mick's voice rose.
"Do you two have to fight?" a breathy soprano voice whimpered. "I hate when you do."
Two male sighs. "Sorry, Hannah." Alex ducked her head in thought, making sure to say out of the sight of those in the room. Hannah… Her mind clicked. Hannah Martins was on of the quieter cheerleaders in Elle's group. Hannah had to be the Pink Ranger.
Wait, that's the Pink Ranger? We're screwed!
"And you Marcos, why didn't you sound the alarm? She shouldn't have been there!" Sean thundered.
"Well," came the voice of an annoyed Blue Boy, apparently Marcos, "she obviously wasn't dangerous. She wasn't under a spell. She's not one of Darklord's minions. So why should I have set off the alarm? Besides," he paused. "Hannah set it off anyway."
"I cannot believe this," a clear alto voice stated. "This is crazy. And I am late to track. Bye." The voice became slightly sugary. "Later Sean." Before Alex could hide, Elle sauntered out of the room. The yellow-clad beauty, the Yellow Ranger, gave Alex an icy stare. "Maybe someone should show Violet the ropes," Elle proclaimed, making the other Rangers come to the door. Sean, who had been scowling before, now looked ready to explode. Marcos looked annoyed, where Hannah just looked nervous.
Alex whirled. "I can find my own f-" she began.
"And I'll help," Mick broke in. He began yanking Alex to a door with a bar of green across it at eye level, ignoring Alex's complaints as Marcos started laughing. The door swished open to reveal a surprisingly comfortable room done in green and brown. With a final shove, Mick pushed Alex into the room and the door shut behind them, cutting off Marcos's laughter. Mick began to toy with a panel next to the door just as Alex's muscles gave out. She plopped onto a green beanbag chair in a corner and stared at her friend. With a final sigh, Mick turned to Alex, grabbed a pillow off the bed, and dropped down across from her. "So," he asked, "um… Questions?"
Alex tried to stuff back a laugh, which instead became a snort, making Mick start laughing. The two slumped on their pillows, Alex curled into a giggling ball and Mick holding his head with his hands, unable to get air. "Wow," Mick choked, "stupid question, huh?" Alex nodded, finally relaxing into the beanbag chair. "Well, what do you want to know?" Mick asked.
Alex sighed. "For one, morpher. And who the heck Marcos is. And where we are. And the way out. And since when were you a Ranger? And didn't Elle and Sean hate Rangers anyway? And-"
"Can I start answering yet?" Mick complained.
Alex's mouth quirked into a half smile. "So?"
Mick settled crosslegged on the pillow. "We're in the Central Chamber, home base of the Power Rangers," he began. "Actually in my room. We each picked out a place in here, for when we want away time or need to heal. I'll help you find a place later, okay? And I've been the Green Ranger four months now."
"No way," Alex said with a jerk. "I would have noticed!"
"You weren't supposed to," Mick said with a shrug. "All those projects I had, well…"
"Oh."
"I told you, you weren't supposed to notice," the boy said. "Marcos Valdez is the Blue Ranger. He's from our school too."
"The invention boy-prodigy of the school? The brainiac? That Valdez?"
"See, you do know him," Mick quipped, then ducked a pillow flung at him before hitting Alex with another.
"Right, idiot!" Alex snorted. "Um, morpher?"
"Where did you find one anyway? I know they choose their owners in weird ways, but how did you get yours?" Mick asked.
"The watch?" Alex asked. Mick nodded. "I saw something in the tree at Kazi Cliff, climbed to get it, branch broke, fell off cliff, I'm here," Alex explained as Mick's face grew paler.
"You okay? Falling off Kamikaze would be…" Mick shook his head, studying her with quick, worried eyes.
"Sure," Alex quipped lightly. "Just another of my list of possible nightmares. But seriously Mick." She leaned toward the boy. "It's a watch. What's a morpher?"
"That's a morpher, Allie. Small black button on the left is communications. Think of someone with a communicator, press the button, and it's like walkie-talkies or somethin'. The one on the right is teleportation. Think of a place clearly, press button, and you're there. Be careful though. You don't want to rematerialize inside of something or freak out the teachers materializing in your desk. Right?"
Alex grinned at the image. "You sure I can't…?"
"Don't let me get caught with you," Mick said with a grin. "I know I can't stop all of it. And, last, the purple button lets you morph."
"Okay," Alex murmured, then glanced up. "But didn't Elle and Sean hate Rangers?"
Mick's grin grew wicked. "Mostly just the Green and Blue Rangers after stuff appears in their beds and lockers. Or the entire Ranger setup. But mostly Blue and Green."
Alex started laughing. "You…"
The screech of a still-annoying klaxon drowned out the rest of her statement. Alex winced, her shoulders schrunching to try to cover her ears. Mick gave what looked like a dramatic sigh (she couldn't hear enough to tell for sure), then leaned forward. "Hannah pulls that alarm about three times a day," Mick said, breath warming her ear. "Ignore it." Alex glared. Mick's lips gave a half-smile. He padded over to a table next to his bed and returned with a pair of earplugs. Alex grinned.
The door swished open and Sean ran in. He leaned between the two other Rangers and yelled, "Real one. Marcos shuts off the damn alarm and we go."
The klaxon stopped.
Sean gave a superior smirk. "Go."
Alex rolled her eyes, then walked slowly out the door and to the left. Sean walked out into the hall. "Hey!" he shouted, "Wrong way mini-bitch!"
Alex growled at the jock, "We're on the same friggin' team, so don't call me that."
"Sure, bitchette."
Alex threw a punch at Sean's nose, making him back up, turn, and head for the center room at a speed just under a run. A stifled snort made Alex glare.
Mick dragged his sleeve away from his mouth, gave a low chuckle, and walked briskly toward the center room. Alex gave him a light shove as he passed, then followed.
The giant viewscreen covered one wall with pictures of a brown and purple snake slowly crushing a building. Sean glared at the screen, as if his anger alone would kill the beast. Marcos watched the screen with mild interest, like a movie. Mick studied the creature with tired, troubled eyes, while Hannah turned away as a small figure fell from the building. Alex stared. The monsters never seemed so big before. "Um, how are we supposed to fight that thing?" she asked.
Sean's glare switched to her. "Fight it. Duh."
"How are we supposed to do that? Kicks would tickle it! Unless the Rangers have Godzilla stashed somewhere?" Alex said.
"Duh no," Sean snorted. "Godzilla isn't real."
Alex shook her head. "Color-coded superheroes aren't supposed to be real either."
"Power up! Red!" Sean belted.
"Huh?" Alex said as the other teens stiffened.
"Green!"
"Pink!"
"Blue!"
The steel room flared into color, then faded again. Alex stared. She had seen the color-coded body armor of the Rangers on the news before, but never this close before and never knowing what lay under the armor. She had always thought the Rangers were some sort of androids, while the news always said they were some sort of hostile aliens. Well, they got the hostile part right…to others of their kind, anyway.
Four helmets turned her way. She could sense Sean's glare from behind the blank surface. There had to be a trick to it…
Her hand came to rest on the purple button on her wa- morpher. "Violet," she whispered.
Alex's vision was invaded by violet light. Her eyes cleared to leave her staring at violet gloves trimmed in white, one still resting on the wrist of the other. Alex shrugged, then glanced up. "It worked," she commented to the Rangers. "Now where to?"
"Where the fight is," Mick said with a shrug.
Five columns of light blazed, then left the Rangers legal district just in front of the city courthouse. Alex only got a glimpse of the pile of people holding the doors shut against a swarm of metallic creatures trying to shove the doors open when a ninja-like figure dropped in front of her and kicked her feet out from under her. "Hey, foul!" Alex yelled. The creature, black-clad with chains around its waist and neck, wrapped arms about her neck and squeezed. The girl gagged, then jerked a knee into the creature's crotch. No response at all.
It's not male, then. Alex slammed a fist into the thing's chest, making it let go of her. Rolling to her feet, the Violet Ranger snapped a hard punch to the ninja's head. A dark cloud of smoke surrounded the thing, then dissipated, leaving Alex staring at a pile of silver sand. She didn't get a chance to consider it though as another thing jumped on her back. She threw it, then flung herself into the fight again with a trilling war-cry.
~*~*~
Darklord leaned against a water cooler atop one of the legal buildings, observing the new Ranger. He had the other five Rangers pinned, in fighting styles at least, and they add this one. The shapeshifter shifted as a stiff breeze whipped past his skin-covered wings. He didn't particularly like this humanoid form, but it reassured his son, who sat on the edge of the building, kicking his legs off the side. Darklord had done well with the blond boy, all the children he could ever claim. It was the cost of being a rogue shapeshifter, having no children of his own. Fenrir, however, easily took the place of any annoying blood-child and mother. Darklord turned crimson eyes on the boy. The maroon aura of Fenrir's magic blazed, strong, concentrated, and contained. His magical potential passed up that of most sorcerers Darklord had met, a quality that had attracted him at the boy's birth. With a bit of brisk manipulation, the hospital had forgotten it should have one more boy child and Darklord had a son.
"The purple girl's good, really," Fenrir commented, his light baritone voice bringing the shapeshifter to reality.
"Violet one," Darklord corrected absently.
"Why violet?"
"That's how the essence expresses itself and is named in spells. Purple suggests royalty and violet has no such connection to presumed nobility. Violet is a trickster, true only to himself and those who gain his respect and trust."
Fenrir's blond head shifted slightly to the left as he memorized the information, a habit Darklord had given up trying to break him of. Shaking his head, the shapeshifer placed a hand lightly on Fenrir's shoulder. "It is time to find Violet's flaws. We go down," Darklord said.
Fenrir nodded. A dark red haze surrounded the two, then faded, leaving the rooftop empty.
~*~*~
Alex kicked yet another black creature hard in the chest, making it dissolve into a pile of powder. "Do these things ever stop?" Alex shouted at the other Rangers.
"Eventually," Blue Ranger's accented voice responded. "They can't churn these things out as easily as the machines over there."
Alex growled. "The bad guys get all the good stuff, don't they?" Another two ninjas went down. Alex stopped and backed away from the Rangers. "Hey!" she screamed. "I'm sick of this, so come get me already!"
Red Ranger jerked. "She's gonna get killed," he yelled at Green Ranger. "Get her moving!"
"She knows what she's doing," Green Ranger called back. "Wait!"
Alex grinned under her helmet as the ninjas ganged up on her. Reaching out a gloved hand, Alex grabbed the arm of one swinging at her and sucked. A wave of black energy swept from the farthest edges of the mob to the ninja Alex was holding, leaving silver dust in its wake. Finally only the ninja she held was left, convulsing in dark energy. Alex let go. The creature exploded, throwing Alex back onto her rear.
Pink Ranger crouched next to Alex. "Are you okay?" Hannah asked. "That was incredible!" She gently tugged Violet Ranger to her feet.
The male Rangers jogged over. "Transfer-magic?" Marcos commented. "Using the contact as a current and dragging the darklings' formative magic to yourself, unmaking them. Correct?"
"Yeah, you have the idea," Alex said, impressed. "Why are they called darkl-"
"Are we getting the snake or debating!" Red Ranger growled.
Pink Ranger laid a calming hand on his arm. "We're coming, Sean."
"Would you mind waiting?"
The Rangers whirled toward the strange, echoing voice. The speaker was a tall man with bat-like wings and short-cropped dark hair. Calm crimson eyes studied the Rangers. Behind the man stood a blond teen with maroon eyes and black armor, a slight quirk to his lips as he watched the Violet Ranger. Alex shifted uncomfortably. "Let me guess, the bad guys?" the girl whispered.
Sean stepped forward in the dominant pose Alex had always scoffed at before. "Bring it on, Darklord!" the Red Ranger called, dragging out a sword from… nowhere? Where do we get these from? Alex thought.
A clang nearby caught her attention. Mick had yanked out two long knives from somewhere and was kicking the armored boy in the stomach. How had they gotten behind her?! She wished for a sword to use on the black armored boy, or anything so long as it was pointy.
Her hand made a drawing motion and suddenly a slender, silvery sword lay perfect in her hand. "Nice," Alex laughed, grinning, then hefted the sword. She crept towards the armored figure still busy with Mick, looking for a good spot to stick in a sword.
A blade whistled at her head, just barely deflected by Alex's involuntary defensive flinch. A wicked grin burned at her as the blond boy faced off with her. "Well-met, Violet," he chuckled.
Alex frowned under the helmet of her Ranger suit. "Who the heck are you supposed to be? A role-playing reject?" the girl said.
The boy laughed again. "Fenrir, at your service, Vi," he told her with a bow. Both Mick and Alex attempted to stab him, but Fenrir ducked away, still grinning. His eyes skimmed Alex's figure, making her twitch. Fenrir's grin widened. "Did you want to say something Vi?" e asked cordially.
"No, just the usual," Alex responded.
"The usual?" Fenrir looked curious.
"Yeah, go to hell."
"Care to go with me?"
Alex shook her head. "Sorry, I'm allergic to brimstone.
"Oh," Fenrir said, shifting his sword to his left hand. "Too bad. I suppose you'll have to get used to it anyway." His right hand whipped towards Alex with a glint that made her brace.
Mick cried out as the silver knife took him in the arm.
Alex crouched. "That was low," she informed Fenrir, the flung herself at the black-clad boy in a fury. Fenrir sprung back in surprise, but still received a slice along his chest. He stared down, as if amazed at the slight trickle of violet blood tracking down his armor. Alex swung her sword back for another blow when suddenly the boy disappeared. As did the winged man, the large snake, and the machines that blocked the courthouse.
Alex stood, tired, staring at the spot the boy had stood. Mick quietly put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" he asked her softly.
Alex shook her head. "Mick?" she whispered. "There's a way out of this, right?"
Mick sighed. "No good ones," he admitted. "I'm sorry, Alex." He bowed his head. "We should go. Put the sword away and head back for Central Chamber, okay?" he said.
Alex nodded. "Coming." Mick teleported out in a streak of green. Alex studied the violet blood on the ground another moment, shivered, then pressed the black button. She disappeared in a flash of purple light.
