It is a normal school day for Jesse Plunk, the Silver Atlantean Ranger. Or
so it appears. His battle with Divorx is still fresh in his mind. The Dark
Specter has not sent down any monsters since the defeat of Divorx, but
Jesse knew that the former monarch of evil had not given up.
Everything was normal on Earth. But out in space, things were not normal. The Dark Specter was awaiting the arrival of Voricifa, Mistress of Seduction. It had been centuries since he had called upon her service. Normally he preferred to just flatten his opposition with superior power.
But this was a special case. He could still flatten his opponents with his superior forces, but he didn't want to use up too many of his loyal elite soldiers. This Silver Ranger of Atlantis could eliminate many of his top soldiers before he was finally brought down. That was unacceptable. He had to take care of this problem before it truly became a problem. Divorx had been expendable. True, he had been loyal, but he had also been expendable. Now he couldn't afford to make mistakes. He couldn't risk expending the amount of energy needed to send enough Spectrons to take over the Earth or he would risk being stabbed in the back while he was weak from expending the energy. Darkonda had tried destroying him with a Super Torpedo. He had been weak from using his energy to make himself gigantic. Then again, he had never thought that anyone would dare attack him. He was still invincible as long as he did not expend too much energy.
Darkonda rushes into the throne room. "Dark Specter, Voricifa is here to see you."
Dark Specter smiles, a frightening sight. "Send her in Darkonda, and leave."
"Yes, sire," Darkonda says. He exits the throne room. Moments later a woman so beautiful it had to be magic walks in. It certainly had to be magic considering she was at least 12,000 Earth years old, which was old by any galactic standard.
"Ah, Voricifa, a pleasure to see you," Dark Specter rumbles.
"The pleasure is mine, Dark Specter," Voricifa says with a boy and a too sweet to be real smile, "when the universe heard that you had been destroyed, every being of evil that survived Zordon's wave trembled in fear. Without you as a powerful symbol to lead the forces of Evil into battle, it is no wonder we lost. That traitor Astronema surely is what caused us to be defeated. She allowed the Red Astro Ranger to shatter Zordon's energy tube and release his sickeningly pure energies."
Dark Specter rumbles his agreement. "Yes, Astronema was a disappointment. As was Ecliptor. But that is the past. I have a job for you."
"A job, mighty Dark Specter?" Voricifa asks, intrigued, "one that involves Earth? Perhaps you want me to eliminate the former Ranger's?"
Dark Specter shakes his head. "Maybe some other time. No, right now I want you to watch this."
He makes a motion with his hand and a window appears, showing the first appearance of the Silver Atlantean Ranger.
"You want me to fight a Power Ranger? "Vorfica demands, "I am not a fighter."
"Watch and see," Dark Specter says. He makes another motion with his hand and the image changes to his fight with Divorx in his Zord and his defeating Divorx. And the taking his helmet off.
"I think I understand now, Dark Specter," Voricifa says, "you wish for me to seduce this young Ranger and bring him to you so you can turn him evil."
"NO!" Dark Specter bellows, "Rita and Zed made fools of themselves countless times trying to make themselves an evil Power Ranger. I do want you to seduce him, but I want you to destroy him the moment he is under your power."
"And what about his Morpher?" Voricifa asks.
"Destroy it," Dark Specter says, "better yet, bring it to me so I can destroy it. I haven't destroyed anything Atlantean in millennia. Not since I destroyed Atlantis itself 12,000 years ago and nearly expended all of my power, causing the forces of good to push back and enabling an incompetent like Rita Repulsa to become the self-declared Empress of Evil. Not to mention Lord Zedd crowning himself the Lord of all that is Evil."
"You wish me to bring the Ranger to you so you can destroy him yourself?" Voricifa asks, licking her lips in anticipation of the Dark Specter's answer. If he said yes, then she would be able to hear this young Ranger's screams of pain for years to come, even if in actuality they would last for only a minute or two.
"Yes, that would be most pleasurable," Dark Specter says, seeing Voricifa's anticipation, "now go and hunt him down. Hunt him down and destroy him. Take thirty Spectrons with you to lure him out if you want. Attack that first city we attacked. It is quite likely that is his home. If you cannot capture him to bring him here, don't bother and kill him anyway."
"Yes, my lord," Voricifa says with a bow, then leaves.
"Soon the only hindrance in conquering earth will be gone and I, the dark Specter, shall rule the universe as I was destined to do!" Dark Specter laughs when Voricifa exits completely.
Back on Earth, Jesse was ticked off. Right during the last class, the fire siren goes off. Lucky for him, the teacher had a TV with cable. The teacher, Mrs. Gordon, turned it on to show the news. A group of Spectrons and a monster were attacking uptown Jackson. Jesse's blood ran cold when he saw them attacking the mall.
A few moments later, Jesse's communicator went off. Luckily they had improved over the original models by giving them a function to where they would send a small electric shock to the person wearing it when someone was trying to contact them. Unfortunately, Jesse couldn't respond and the school had abolished the policy of letting students out of class to use the bathroom. Not to mention the fact that there were camera's all over the school and couldn't risk blowing his identity.
So all he could do was watch and wait for them to let school out. He just hoped he could get to a safe place soon enough to morph and take care of the Spectrons and the monster before any innocent civilians got hurt.
'Wait, this is war and there aren't any innocents in war,' a voice in his head says to him, 'after all, people die every day. It is a fact of life that death comes for us all eventually.'
'That's right,' Jesse thinks to himself, seemingly oblivious to the voice, 'people die every day.'
"Oh my," a girl sitting beside him gasps. Jesse looks at the screen. The Spectrons were entering the mall.
"I hope they don't wreck the stores," another girl says. Jesse looks angrily at the girl who said that. Of course. A blonde. It figured.
Jesse checked the clock on his communicator. There was still a half hour of class left.
'I hope I can last until the end of school,' Jesse thinks to himself, 'otherwise I'm gonna blow my cover big time.'
In another part of Jackson, a teenage girl was lying on the couch watching the attack on the news. She was averagely pretty, with long dark blonde hair. She was a bit tall, standing a little over 5' 6". Her features were marred at the moment by a worried brow.
Bethany Black was at home that day recovering from a nasty flu bug. She had been feeling fine that morning but her parents hadn't want her to take a chance on a relapse so they made her stay home that day.
Her brow furrows as a monster at last joins the Spectrons. The monster certainly wasn't anything like the last monster. Whereas the previous monster had been a knight of some sort, this one was a woman. A rather attractive woman with long blue hair. Her skin was unbelievably white. Not quite pure white, more of an off-white. Like white mixed slightly with gray. She had on a bright green dress that seemed to set off the color of her skin and had on silver armbands and a silver tiara. And she is carrying a rather large scythe.
"Man, that is one ugly witch," Bethany mutters to herself, "wish there was something I could do."
A bronze-colored flash of light catches her attention. She glances to her coffee table. Lying on it was a thick disc. Though she didn't know it, it looked almost exactly like Jesse's Silver Morpher of Atlantis.
"What is this?" she mutters. She reaches over and picks it up. "Where did this come from?" A brilliant bronze flash erupts from it and she is teleported away.
"Well, this was most unexpected," the Elder says as he looks over Beth's unconscious form.
"It was most unexpected, by also most fortuitous," Connerly says, "the Silver Ranger isn't answering the summons. He is in class so he can't answer or he'll blow his cover."
"Ugh, what happened?" Bethany groans as she regains consciousness.
"Ah, she is awake," the Elder says, peering into Beth's field of vision.
"If she sees an old man like you, she might doubt whether she is alive or not," Eleanor huffs and pulls the Elder out of Beth's vision. She lends Beth a hand and helps her to her feet.
"There, are you okay dear?" Eleanor asks, her voice soothing and gentle.
"I'm okay," Bethany says, "where am I?"
"I see they all have the same thoughts," the Elder chuckles, "the Silver Ranger same roughly the same thing when he was brought here. Or was that his friend who said it?"
"I believe it was the Silver Ranger who said it," Connerly says, "his friend was silent a lot, though he asked deep questions afterwards."
"He still does," the Elder asks, "that young man has the curiosity like none I have seen in a long, long time."
"The Silver Ranger?" Bethany asks, "you mean the person who has been fighting off the new monster attacks?"
"Ah, I see you know of him," Jacolby says from behind her, "he has been a most adept student at learning the art of fighting from me. His defeat of Divorx proves it."
"Who? What?" Bethany was puzzled by their comments.
"Hush you," Eleanor says, "you're just confusing the poor dear."
"Yes, I tend to forget how easily young girls are confused," the Elder muses, "it has been so long since I've had to try and guess what they were thinking. Even my own daughters have long been grown up and have children of their own. Some even have grandchildren."
"Um, could you please tell me where I am?" Bethany asks.
"Such a polite child," Eleanor says with a smile, "dear, you are on Atlantis, the Lost City. And you hold in your hand the Bronze Morpher of Atlantis."
"What?" Bethany says, then she looks at the disc she had picked up. It was glowing. Bethany nearly drops it in surprise.
"Oh, don't worry dear," Eleanor says, "its not dangerous. At least not to you, anyway."
"But what is it?" Bethany asks, perplexed.
"That, my dear, is the Bronze Morpher of Atlantis," Connerly says, "its power could enable you to fight the evil that is threatening the Earth."
"What?!" Bethany shrieks.
"Yes, it can," the Elder says, "long ago, Atlantis was once a thriving civilization. Still is, I supposed, though we are trapped in Limbo and cannot get out ourselves though we can bring people here and send them back out. Well, an evil being known as the Dark Specter attacked and overcame our defenders. Those were the Atlantean Warriors. Each one held more power than entire teams of Power Rangers. But now, that power is diminished with Atlantis being sealed away in Limbo and the Morphers having been inactive for nearly twelve millennia. And the Green Morpher was destroyed beyond repair by even us. Well, now Dark Specter has returned to finish conquering Earth. But we no longer have the Morphers to bestow upon warriors of Atlantis. Instead, they are out selecting the other peoples of Earth to wield their power. The Silver Morpher has already done so. And it has selected a fine young man. His temperament seems to be perfect for fighting this war against the Dark Specter alone without the aid of the rest of the Atlantean Warriors to back him up."
"So the Silver Ranger is not a Power Ranger, but a Atlantean Warrior?" Bethany asks.
"Yes and no," Connerly replies, "you see, without all seven Morphers functioning, no one can become an Atlantean Warrior if they do not have at least half a measure of Atlantean blood flowing through their veins, so that power is quite likely lost forever. But when the Atlantean Morphers were created, we saw this possibility and created a backup power. This followed the designs of the people of the planet Edenoi, who had the Masked Rider. The Morphers backup was to create a team of warriors, similar to the Atlantean Warriors but without as much power. Now, they are known as Power Ranger's and are highly respected throughout the galaxy as defenders of peace and justice and saving innocent lives from tyrants. The Silver Ranger is exactly that: a Silver Ranger of Atlantis. He has more power at his command than any single Ranger before him and many teams. But he cannot fight alone."
"So, what does this have to do with me?" Bethany asks.
"Well, the Morphers select whom will wield their power," the Elder begins, "only one with the proper personality, temperament, and courage can wield a Morphers power. Another Ranger cannot wield another's powers. There have been very few in all of the history of Atlantis to wield the powers of the Silver Morpher. It is sheer luck that the strongest Morpher of Atlantis found a wielder first. Not only that, that it found a wielder is a stroke of unbelievable luck. Well, it seems that you are a perfect candidate for the Bronze Morpher."
"WHAT?!" Bethany shrieks, "you're kidding!"
"Afraid not, miss," Jacolby says, "you may not actually be right for the Morpher now, but you have the potential and are very close to that potential."
"But I don't know how to fight," Bethany says.
"And you think the Silver Ranger knows how?" Jacolby scoffs, "why, there are people half his age that he knows that can tear him apart in a fight without the Silver Powers. The Power teaches you to fight, though if you accept to assist then you will be trained to fight, by me, without having to rely on the Power. So far, the Silver Ranger's case has proved to be pointless. Without the Power guiding him, he'd be dead."
"No so with his young friend though," Connerly remarks, "he is picking up everything quite well. His fighting and magical talents are both coming along quite well. In fact, he is using the mental disciplines from one of the bolster the other. It is quite remarkable. We are already incorporating such tactics in training other young mages. We've always had a problem with the mages being physically weak and being scorned by the warriors. But if they can hold their own and are not in need of a bodyguard all the time, then that might ease the tension and lessen the number of warriors who need to be treated for various maladies that can only be magical in their creation. I treated one young man the other day who needed to have boils removed form a few very unlikely and highly sensitive places."
"Gentlemen," Eleanor says firmly, "we do have a guest here who needs to know what is going on and how she might fit into all of this."
"Oh yes, sorry about that," Connerly says without hardly even acknowledging Eleanor, "well, are you in to help defend your planet?"
"Do I have a choice?" Bethany asks bitterly.
"Of course!" Connerly says, "if you say no, we'll just take the Bronze Morpher and hope we can find someone else. You're memory will be altered so you won't even know that this exchange ever happened."
Bethany appears to think about it for a moment. "Okay, what do I have to do?"
"Excellent," the Elder says, "all you have to do is let us read the inscription on your Morpher to determine how to activate its powers."
Bethany hands it over to the Elder.
"Ah yes, lets see," the Elder says as he begins to examine the writing, "'If ye be of a caring heart and a noble spirit with a just cause to defend, then ye shall be granted the power of this Morpher. Just press the buttons in this sequence: Bronze, Platinum, Crystal, White, Aqua, and Silver. If your cause is found to be worthy, you shall become a mighty Warrior. If you cause not pure, then you shall be cast into oblivion.' Well, that sounds simple enough." He hands the Morpher back to Bethany.
"Cast into oblivion?" Bethany eeps as she takes the Morpher.
"Don't worry dear," Eleanor says, "it wouldn't have appeared to you if you weren't worthy. And your cause is the same as the Silver Ranger's: to defend the Earth against the Dark Specter."
"Well, what do I do?" Bethany asks.
"Try to project your feelings into the Morpher," the Elder says, "what to do will come to you."
Bethany closes her eyes. She thinks about the Morpher and the power it symbolized. The power to protect others who were defenseless against the evil threatening the Earth. No, not just the Earth, but the entire universe was in danger. Suddenly, wisdom begins to course through her very being. She opens her eyes wide, a bronze gleam in them.
"It's Morphin time!: she calls out, then takes the Morpher to her left side of her head. She presses the bronze button, then the platinum one. Then the crystal clear one. Then the white one. Then the aqua one. And finally the silver button.
"Bronze Power of Atlantis!" she calls out. A bronze flash envelopes her. When it fades, she is standing there in a Ranger costume.
I am deeply sorry about that blonde joke. I do have respect for blondes, but I just couldn't resist. I know I'm probably gonna get flamed for it. Please be gentle with the flames though. A friend of mine who is blonde is sure to read it and will likely try to tear my ears off again.
Clad in mostly what appeared to be bronze spandex, she made an impressive site. She had gold armbands. The boots had golden rings around the top and white gloves. She wore a shield like the Gold Ranger who had helped the Zeo Ranger's, only her shield was bronze instead of gold. Her helmet was bronze and had the basic shape of an eagle.
"Wow, this is incredible," she gasps, looking at her gloves and examining what she could of her suit.
"You are the Bronze Atlantean Ranger," Eleanor says, "you, like the Silver Atlantean Ranger, have a Zord. You have the aid of the mighty Bronze Griffin Zord. The griffin, in case you did not know, is a mighty creature, with the body of a lion and the head, wings, and usually the front claws of a great eagle."
"Um, what about a weapon?" Bethany says from within her helmet.
"Focus on your weapon and you will summon it," Eleanor says. Bethany does so. Instantly, the Bronze Staff is in her hands. On one end, the Staff had three points. At a closer inspection, she could see that two of the points were triple-layered for some reason. The Power immediately told her that this would help her form her true weapon, the Bronze Battle Axe. The third point was lightly jeweled, but distinguished.
"Bronze Battle Axe!" she calls out, lifting the Bronze Staff above her head. Immediately, the Bronze Staff begins to glow. The side points flash and split. The outer blades snap up and form a blade. Once they formed a single axe blade on each side, the blades enlarge to a respectable size.
"Wow," Bethany breathes, "this is cool. But its way too bulky for me to use."
"Give it a few tries," Eleanor smiles. Bethany does so and gasps. The weapon was incredibly light! It was as if it was made for her.
"I think its time for you to go and face the attackers until the Silver ranger arrives," the Elder says, "may your Power guide you to victory."
"Right," Bethany says and teleports out.
"'May the Power guide you to victory'?" Eleanor asks after Bethany teleports out.
The Elder shrugs. "Well, to me it sounds a whole lot better than 'May the Power protect you'."
"Zordon of Eltare was a wiser man than you'll ever be," Eleanor says.
"I'm not arguing with you there," the Elder says, "now I just hope that our new Bronze Ranger can handle herself." Eleanor, Connerly, and Jacolby nod in agreement.
"Go, Spectrons, destroy everything!" Hibikime commands.
"Not so fast!" a voice calls out from behind. Hibikime and the Spectrons turn to see who spoke. It was Bethany.
"You're attacking a place of commerce, meant to bring people together," the Bronze Atlantean Ranger says, "now, either leave quietly or be destroyed!"
"You are not whom we are looking for, but we will gladly destroy you," Hikime says, lowering her scythe in Bronze Ranger's direction.
"Bronze Battle Axe!" Bronze Ranger calls out, summoning her weapon. The glistening bronze-hued double-bladed battle-axe appears in her hands.
"Let's rumble," Bronze Ranger says, crouching into a defensive stance just before the Spectrons rush her.
Back at the school, Jesse's eyes widen in shock at the appearance of the Bronze Ranger.
"Hey, it looks like there's another one," another one of the students says, "that's a wicked weapon they've got. What is it?"
"It's a battle-axe," Jesse replies, his eyes never leaving the screen, "it's a formidable weapon. It is best used in wide slashing arcs. It takes a fairly strong person to use one properly."
"Think this new person has a chance?" another student asks.
"They had better," Jesse says, "its not like this is a game, now is it?"
As he watched the Bronze Ranger make a good account of themselves against the Spectrons, he wishes he was there helping out.
Bethany, at that same moment, was wishing that the Silver Ranger, whomever they were, was there helping her. The Spectrons weren't exactly tough, not with the Power guiding her, but she couldn't help but feel scared. If it wasn't for the feeling of pure strength flowing through her, she felt that she would be scared motionless.
As it was, she was tearing into the Spectrons. She drops down to her knees and sweeps a Spectron off its feet. She flips forward and kicks it in the chest when it hits the ground. She then backflips and back kicks another Spectron in the gut. She spins and slashes it with her Battle Axe. She leaps out of the way of a small flurry of lasers from a pair of Spectrons. She rushes them and cleaves through both laser-wielding Spectrons with a single stroke of the Bronze Battle Axe.
"Very impressive," Hibikime claps, "what do they call you?"
Bronze Ranger turns to face Hibikime. "You may call me Bronze Ranger. Now leave or suffer the same fate as these things."
"Ha!" Hibikime laughs, "I am far more powerful than a troupe of mere Spectrons. Now you face me, little girl." She leaps at Bronze Ranger and swings her scythe, who blocks it with her Bronze Battle Axe.
Bronze Ranger jumps back and prepares for another attack.
"Most impressive indeed," Hibikime grins sinisterly, "but you cannot hope to match me. I am Voricifa's prize warrior!"
"Who?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"That is above your concerns though, seeing as how I shall destroy you!" Hibikime yells and attacks. She launches an ear-splitting shriek that brings the Bronze Ranger to her knees.
Back at the school, Jesse winces as the cameras are able to pick up the sound Hibikime emits. This was not looking good. Jesse felt that he was about to go insane if he couldn't go and help soon.
His thoughts are interrupted by the last bell of the day going off. Gathering his books quicker than he ever had before, Jesse practically runs out of the school and to a secluded spot not far from the school. Not long after he had received the Silver Morpher, he had scouted the school and all of the other places he hung out to find places where he could Morph or teleport away from or to.
Checking to see if the coast was clear, Jesse pulls out his Morpher. "It's Morphin time!" he calls out and enters the sequence, "Silver Power of Atlantis!"
With a flash of silver, Jesse teleports to the battle.
Hibikime was tearing into Bronze Ranger with relative ease. Her speed and experience well overcame any small advantages the Bronze Ranger had. Slashing through the shield with her scythe, Hibikime laughs again.
"My my my," Hibikime chuckles, "you certainly aren't in the same league as the Silver Ranger. And if you re, then he must be pathetic."
"Hi-yah!" The Silver Ranger leaps at Hibikime from behind. She turns around just in time to be slashed in the chest by the Silver Saber.
"Take that," Silver Ranger growls. He turns to look at the bronze Ranger. She was struggling to get up. Silver Ranger runs over to help her up.
"You okay?" he asks.
"Yeah, I'm okay," a definitely feminine voice says, "just give me a moment to catch my breath. This is tougher than I thought it would be."
Silver Ranger gapes at Bronze Ranger. "You're a girl?"
"Uh, yeah," Bronze Ranger replies, amused, "anything wrong with that?"
"No, I'm just surprised," Silver Ranger replies, "a battle axe is a rather cumbersome weapon. Too cumbersome for a female to wield as necessary in battle."
"Well, this battle axe is made specifically for me," Bronze Ranger retorts, brandishing the Bronze Battle Axe at the Silver Ranger.
Silver Ranger takes a step back. "Yikes, I didn't mean anything insulting by it, its just that I'm surprised. You are not what I expected for my first ally."
"And what did you expect?" Bronze Ranger demands.
"Hopefully someone who had prior experience," Silver Ranger replies, "or at least knew what they were doing."
"Oh really?" Bronze Ranger replies hotly, "and you've what? Fought two battles before this?"
"I mean no disrespect," Silver Ranger replies, "its just that I have been unable to get here to fight due to those blasted school rules."
"You're still in school?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"My last year," Silver Ranger replies, "watch out!" He grabs Bronze Ranger and hits the dirt, dragging her down with him. An energy ball soars over them. If they hadn't ducked, then it would have hit them both.
Silver Ranger gets back to his feet and helps Bronze Ranger to her feet. "I think we had best wait until this battle is over before we continue this discussion."
"Good idea," Bronze Ranger says, "lets get this witch." With that, she leaps at Hibikime, swinging her battle-axe. Silver Ranger follows suit, stabbing with the Silver Saber.
Hibikime swings her scythe and knocks the Bronze Ranger out of the way, then spins around and kicks the Silver Ranger in the gut.
"Man, this girl is tough," Silver Ranger mutters. He looks over at Bronze Ranger. She was struggling to get up.
"You sure you're an Atlantean Ranger?" he asks.
"Yes, I'm sure," Bronze Ranger retorts.
"Then open yourself up to the knowledge within the power that fuels you," Silver Ranger says, "I'm sure you have more skill at your disposal than this."
"What are you talking about?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"Just look within yourself and you'll feel a wellspring of knowledge opening up," Silver Ranger explains, "the Power that guides the Atlantean Ranger's will help you fight this enemy."
"Okay, I'll try," Bronze Ranger says. She goes still for a moment. Her breathing slows. She delves deep into the recesses of her mind. With her minds eye, she sees a bronze light. It feels warm and inviting. She feels a rush of knowledge. Suddenly, she knows exactly what to do.
"Silver Ranger, you wouldn't happen to know how to throw an energy bolt of some sort, do you?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"I can," Silver Ranger says, "though I need practice."
"Think you can destroy her in one blast?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"No, but I can hurt her enough so that a second, third, or fourth blast can destroy her," Silver Ranger replies, "only it'll take me a while to form these attacks after the second or third one if I don't get some rest after the first. If I can absorb one of her energy attacks, I'll be able to do more damage."
"I'll ask about that later," Bronze Ranger says, "just prepare the attacks. I'll keep her busy."
With that, Bronze Ranger leaps at Hibikime and begins grappling with her for control of her scythe.
Silver Ranger takes the Silver Saber and begins charging it as best he can. He swings the sword in an arc from his lower right to his lower left to his upper left to his upper right. He then twists his wrist so that the point of the blade creates a full circle. A faint trickle of silver sparkles trails behind the blade.
"Silver Shot!" Silver Ranger calls out, slashing at Hibikime. Bronze Ranger leaps out of the attacks way just before it hits Hibikime. The attacks knocks Hibikime back several yards.
"Nice shot!" Bronze Ranger cries out.
"Thanks, but its not over yet," Silver Ranger says, "that attack could tear Spectrons and other low level thugs apart, but Hibikime is just too strong. She's a high ranking warrior by my guess."
"How right you are," Hibikime says as she rises from where she landed, "you're gonna pay for that. It hurt a lot." With that, she sends a stream of crackling lightning at Silver Ranger from her left hand.
Silver Ranger performs the same motions as before, this time forming a shield with the energy. As soon as Hibikime's attack hits, it begins absorbing the energy. Hibikime sees this.
"So, you are planning on absorbing my attack," she chuckles mirthlessly, "well, lets see just how much you can absorb." With that, she increases the power of the blast.
Seeing that the Silver Ranger was in trouble, Bronze Ranger attacks Hibikime, bringing the Bronze Battle Axe down on Hibikime's left hand. But Hibikime blocks by moving her scythe in the way. The blades clash sending sparks flying.
"You shall not interfere," Hibikime says forcefully. She puts more strength behind her scythe and shoves Bronze Ranger back and knocking her into the air and into a wall.
'Can't hold on much longer,' Silver Ranger thinks, 'she was right in that I cannot handle much energy. At least not yet. But there's nothing else I can do.'
Back at Atlantis, Alex had teleported in as soon as he was able to. He was watching the fight on the Pool of Viewing.
"I'm glad Jesse has some back up now, but I do wish they were a bit more competent," Alex remarks dryly.
"This is her first day on the job," Connerly replies, "she did no better than Jesse did in his first battle. It's just that the opponent they are up against is far stronger than Divorx. But unfortunately she isn't a monster. She is an alien, like Divorx."
"Jesse won't like that," Alex says, "he won't like killing a living thing, particularly since it is a female."
"I wonder what his reaction will be to the Bronze Ranger being female?" Eleanor muses.
"Bronze Ranger is female?" Alex chuckles, "Jesse definitely won't like that if she is around our age. He'll go ballistic at first, then he'll likely insult her if she seems the least bit not like a lady in his opinion. Finally he'll just stay away from her."
"He wouldn't actually do that, would he?" the Elder asks.
"Actually, unless those helmets really distort the voice, he already knows she is female," Alex replies, "it probably won't sink in until after the battle."
"And when that happens?" Jacolby asks, amused.
"Just wait and see," Alex says with a grin, "oh, and if you have any popcorn, you might wanna keep some on hand to eat during their future arguments. That is, if she has any backbone."
"Pardon me?" Eleanor asks, not quite catching what he meant.
"If she is strong-willed," Alex apologizes, "I forget that you're not familiar with a lot of the slang we use."
"We're getting used to it," Connerly replies with a small smile.
Alex takes a look in the Pool and blinks. "How did he manage that?"
Silver Ranger manages to teleport out of the way of the blast just before the shield was overcome by Hibikime's blast.
"Very impressive," Hibikime says sinisterly, "you are indeed a worthy opponent."
"It's these Silver Powers," Silver Ranger replies, "without them, I would be long dead."
"Indeed," a sultry voice says from behind him. Before Silver Ranger could turn to see who was talking, a blast hit him from behind and knocks him out.
Jesse wakes up unmorphed in a small cabin. He sits up, immediately clutching his head in pain. A cool hand takes his hand and moves it and a cool damp cloth is placed against is forehead.
"Easy now, you're still recovering from the attack," a soft, sultry voice says. The voice sounds familiar, but Jesse couldn't place it due to the throbbing of his forehead.
"Whe-where am I?" Jesse asks, careful to keep his voice low.
"You are safe, that is all you need to know," the voice says. Jesse carefully turns his head to look at its owner. What he sees startles him.
Before him sat a woman of almost unearthly beauty. She had ivory colored skin, full red lips, and night-black hair. Her eyes were an unearthly shade of green. And she was quite voluptuous. She was wearing a black dress. In short, she was a vision of pure beauty.
"H-hello," Jesse stammers. He had not expected to see someone so lovely.
"Hello yourself," the woman says huskily. The moment he heard how her voice sounded, Jesse's eyes narrow. He didn't like the sound of it.
"Is something wrong?" the lady purrs.
"No," Jesse lies, "nothing is wrong. Tell me, do you have a name?"
"I am called Voricifa," the lady says, "tell me, just who exactly are you?"
"That is of no importance," Jesse mumbles, "tell me, what happened?"
"I found you by the side of the road," Voricifa says, "you were injured. I tended to your wounds."
"I thank you," Jesse says, "tell me, how was I injured?"
"I do not know," Voricifa says.
Upon hearing this, Jesse's eyes narrow. Something about this woman just wasn't right.
"Who are you?" he whispers hoarsely.
"I am Voricifa," she replies, obviously surprised. 'What is going on?' she thinks furiously to herself, 'how is he resisting my charms. I shall have to try my strongest spells on him.'
Voricifa picks up a small mug of some kind of blue liquid and offers it to Jesse. "Drink this. It will help you."
"Sorry, but I never drink anything blue unless I know whats in it and more importantly made it myself," Jesse replies.
"It will help with any soreness you have," Vorifica says.
Jesse's eyes narrow further, but Voricifa doesn't notice this. 'Now I know something is up,' Jesse thinks, 'there's not a mark on me except a few small burns that I can feel on my back. I must have been blasted from behind and some of the blast made it through the armor."
"No thank you," Jesse says, "I am not feeling sore. A little tired, but not sore at all."
'Damn, how can he resist?' Voricifa thinks angrily, 'its just not possible for a human teenager to resist me.'
"Tell me a bit about yourself," Voricifa asks.
"There's not much to know," Jesse replies bluntly.
"Have a girlfriend or a sweetheart?" Voricifa inquires.
"Nope," was Jesse's short reply.
'How can this be?' Voricifa demands to herself, 'no girlfriend or anything to tie his heart and he obviously isn't gay or anything like that. So whats wrong? Am I losing my touch?'
"Are you sure?" she asks.
"Yep," Jesse replies, "don't have a girlfriend."
"Anyone you have a crush on?" Voricifa asks. 'Maybe he has his heart set on someone and just hasn't admitted it to her or something,' Voricifa thinks.
"Nah," Jesse says, getting up and walking to the door, "I must go. There are things I must do."
"Please don't go," Voricifa pleads, "I get lonely and its nice to have a man around."
Jesse pauses for a moment. He was sweating profusely. He was definitely nervous. Voricifa's remark had caught him off guard.
"I. I'm sorry," Jesse says, "but I must go." With that, Jesse runs out of the cabin and quickly draws out his Morpher.
"It's morphin time! Silver Power of Atlantis!" Jesse teleports to Atlantis to check on the situation.
When he arrives on Atlantis, Jesse startles everyone.
"Jesse, what happened?" Alex demands, "where did you go?"
"Wish I could tell you buddy," Jesse replies dryly, "but frankly, I have no idea. When I woke up, I ran out, Morphed, and teleported here. How long have I been gone?"
"Ten minutes," the Elder replies.
"How is Bronze Ranger doing?"
"Could be better, could be worse," Connerly replies, "her technique is far from refined, but the Bronze Atlantean Power is guiding her quite well."
"That's good," Jesse says, "I'll go and give her assistance."
Alex nods. "Right. Good luck."
"May the Power protect you," the Elder says.
Jesse nods his head in acknowledgement. He teleports back to the battle.
Bronze Ranger was having trouble fighting Hibikime. She was quite strong. Maybe too strong for Bronze Ranger to defeat on her own. Hibikime knocks her to the ground and prepares to strike her dead.
Bronze Ranger closes her eyes and awaits her end.
But it is not to be. Hibikime arches her back in pain and slowly turns around. Bronze ranger could see a vicious cut in her back. She peers around Hibikime to see the Silver Ranger, holding his now-bloody Silver Saber at the ready to strike.
"About time you showed back up," Bronze Ranger snaps, rolling to her side and into a crouch.
"Sorry about that," Silver Ranger says, "had a bit of a situation."
"No kidding," Bronze Ranger says sarcastically, grabbing her Bronze Battle Axe.
"Um, any ideas?" Silver Ranger asks, "right now I'm feeling a bit under the weather. I can't concentrate enough to use any of my energy attacks."
"Don't worry, just distract her for a little while," Bronze Ranger says. You could tell she was grinning inside her helmet. "I have an idea."
"Great, a female with an idea," Silver Ranger mutters, "just what I don't need."
Nevertheless, he attacks Hibikime viciously. Slashing and parrying, he soon puts her on the defensive.
But he was far from winning the fight. Hibikime soon counters with a vicious slash across his chest with her scythe and then follows it up with a kick to the groin. As he doubles over in pain, he catches a glimpse of a flash of metal streaking for his face.
However, the scythe never hit. Instead. A wave of bronze-hued energy smashes into Hibikime and sends her flying out the ruined mall doors and into the parking lot.
"Nice shot," Silver Ranger tells Bronze Ranger, "now lets go out and finish this piece of trash."
"You got it," Bronze Ranger says. The two Atlantean Rangers rush out of the mall and double team Hibikime with a flying kick each.
Hibikime crashes into a light pole, bending it over and sending sparks flying everywhere.
"Glad you took care of the Spectrons," Silver Ranger mutters to Bronze Ranger as Hibikime gets back up, "because I do not think we can face an enemy like this while dealing with Spectrons as well."
"If you say so," Bronze Ranger says as she grips her Battle Axe, "you know, I have yet to ask you your name."
"Wait till this battle is over," Silver Ranger replies as Hibikime gets back up, "we'll go back to Atlantis and talk."
"Very well," Bronze Ranger says as she blocks a sudden strike from Hibikime. She steps back and swings her Battle Axe at Hibikime, who blocks it with the blade of her scythe.
Silver Ranger leaps into the battle, kicking Hibikime in the ribs and following it up with a slash across her chest. Bronze Ranger takes the moments distraction to slam the flat of her Battle Axe. Hibikime crumples to the ground.
"Well, that was certainly easy," Bronze Ranger remarks with interest.
"Trust me, she'll be back up in a moment," Silver Ranger says, "she's much tougher than Divorx. Dark Specter certainly outdid himself sending her down. She's powerful, and fast."
"Don't you have any qualms about hitting a lady?" Bronze Ranger asks snidely.
"Hitting a lady, yes," Silver Ranger replies, "but this woman is no lady by my judgment. At best she is just a female and that is not enough to protect her from me."
"How noble," Bronze Ranger says wryly.
"I try to be," Silver Ranger replies mockingly. He levels his Silver Saber at the fallen form of Hibikime, who was no longer fallen. Indeed, now she was getting up to her feet.
"You are going down," Silver Ranger says calmly.
"Yeah right," Hibkime snarls, her face twisting in an ugly mask of pure hatred and loathing, "you children don't stand a chance against the likes of me."
'Hibikime,' Vorifica says telepathically to Hibkime, 'retreat for now. It looks like I may actually need your help seducing the Silver Ranger.'
'Yes, mistress,' Hibikime replies telepathically. She drops out of her fighting stance. "Another time, Rangers." She disappears in a flash of yellow-black light.
"Well, that was unexpected," Silver Ranger says, willing his Silver Saber back into its place as Bronze Ranger takes a moment to gather her wits.
"Indeed," Bronze ranger says, putting away her axe, "shall we go back to Atlantis? I'm curious to see the face behind your helmet."
Silver Ranger chuckles. "You're gonna be disappointed if your hoping for a handsome face. I've seen car wrecks that look better than I do."
This startles a bark of laughter from the Bronze Ranger. Silver Ranger joins her in laughing for a moment, then turns serious again.
"Lets go back," he says, then teleports out with a flash of silver light. Bronze Ranger follows him with a flash of bronze light.
Back at Atlantis, the two Rangers are greeted by the Elder, Eleanor, Connerly, Jacolby, and Alex.
"Well done Rangers," the Elder says, "you are certainly a formidable team even though you only met each other today. And you took to the Bronze Ranger powers extremely well, Bronze Ranger."
From her body language, there was a good chance that Bronze Ranger was blushing. Then she sees Alex.
"Hey, you look familiar," she says, peering at Alex, "have we met before?"
"Maybe," Alex replies, "until I see your face, I won't know for certain though."
"Indeed," the Elder says, "would you please remove your helmet and show our friends what you look like?"
"Sure," Bronze Ranger replies, her hands unfastening the clasps on her helmet. She slowly pulls it off, revealing her face to the others. Alex stares at her in surprise.
"I recognize you," he says softly, "Bethany Black, right?"
"Yes, now please tell me who you are," Bethany says.
"I'm Alex Green," Alex replies.
"Hey, I do know you," Bethany says, surprised, "my friend Holly says you're a pretty smart guy with a talent for drawing."
"So you know her dude?" Silver Ranger asks.
"Yep," Alex replies, "she's in the same grade I'm in."
"So she's around 16 or 17?" Silver Ranger asks, "wasn't that about the age that the original Rangers were, Elder?"
"Indeed they were," the Elder replies, "but three of them were properly suited for the fight against evil, and the other two had their hearts in the right place."
"How do you know so much about the original Power Rangers of Angel Grove?" Bethany asks.
"We can view anywhere on Earth here," Connerly explains, "we located the power signatures of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when they returned to their home. We eventually penetrated the fields protecting their Command Center and learned the rest about them and were able to keep an eye on everything that happened to them thereafter."
"How long did it take you?" Silver Ranger asks, smugness in his voice.
"We got through before the Green ranger appeared," Connerly replies simply, "though it pained us to watch all that he did and be unable to do anything about it."
"Um, mind taking that helmet off?" Bethany asks the Silver Ranger, "I do want to see what you look like."
Silver Ranger ponders the idea for a moment, then shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but I will not. I do not think it is time for me to reveal myself to anyone who has yet to truly prove themselves."
"What about Alex" Bethany demands.
"He was brought by accident when I was first summoned to Atlantis, but he was entrusted with a lot of potential," Silver Ranger explains, "he is currently in training to become a wizard of Atlantis. He may be able to eventually use his magic to help us in battle. Hopefully, one of the other Morphers will find him acceptable to wield their power. Now, I must go. I've got a term paper to finish and only three days left to finish it. Glad I'm a damn good typer."
With that, Silver Ranger teleports home.
"Sorry about Silver Ranger," Alex says, haltingly saying the battle name, "he's a bit anti-social. He doesn't let people in on his secrets easily. Apparently this even goes as far as a secret that they will be sharing as well."
"That's right," the Elder says, "you must never reveal your identity if it is avoidable. You must also never use your powers for evil or for your own personal gain. Do so, and the powers will immediately leave you. This is true for all magic based Ranger powers. The Morphin Rangers, the Zeo Rangers, the Turbo Rangers, and the Astro Rangers all went by those rules and they serve us as well in this day and age. I'm not sure about the other Ranger teams. The Time Force Rangers of Silver Hills cannot reveal their identities because they are from the future and cannot risk changing the timeline more than they already have. The Lightspeed Rescue Power Rangers were sworn to secrecy because of how advanced the technology they had. Well, advanced for the rest of Earth anyway. The Wild Force Rangers, well, their reason for keeping their identities secret are still a mystery to us."
"Are there any more rules?" Bethany asks.
The Elder continues. "Yes. You must only use your powers to defend, and never to attack. This only applies for the rest of the Earth. If something actually threatened Atlantis, you would be allowed to take the fight to the enemy."
"What is the reason for this?" Bethany asks.
Eleanor answers her. "The Atlantean Rangers are the defenders of Atlantis. They are to defend Atlantis however they can. This includes taking the fight to an enemy that is attacking. However, since Atlantis is in Limbo, you are stuck with defending."
"Man, I'd really like to hear this whole story sometime," Bethany says.
"Oh, you will," Jacolby says with an evil grin, "because tomorrow after school you are to come here and practice so you can get a feel for your powers."
"What?!" Bethany exclaims.
"Dark Specter could attack at any time," Jacolby says sternly, "you must learn how to use the Bronze Morpher much better than you currently can. You must learn how to harness the fighting abilities when you are unmorphed."
"Here, take this," Alex says, handing Bethany a bronze wristband.
Bethany puts it on. "What is this?"
"It's a communicator," Alex replies, "with it you can contact me, Silver Ranger, though it is highly unlikely that he will answer you unless there is a monster attack, or you can reach the council of Atlantis. You can also use it to teleport yourself and those touching you here to Atlantis."
"Eventually you will be able to do this on your own," Connerly says, "you will also take up some minor magical instruction. How much will depend on your control over the metaphysical energies that make up the universe. Alex here is extremely gifted for a non pure-blooded Atlantean. We're not sure how much Atlantean blood flows through his veins, but it is enough for him to learn anything he wants to of our society if it requires Atlantean blood."
"I have to learn magic?" Bethany asks, surprised.
"Yep," Alex says. He summons a small green ball of light that was about five inches in diameter, "this sphere of energy represents my current reserve of magical energy. It shows that I have quite a bit of power, even though I've only been training for a couple of weeks."
"Should I be impressed?" Bethany asks.
"Not really," Connerly says. He summons a huge ball of blue-green light. It was as big as he was tall.
"Is that your representation of power?" Bethany asks.
"Indeed it is," Connerly says, a smug look on his face.
Bethany looks at Alex, chuckling. "Looks like your quite far from his level of power."
"I know that," Alex replies, "after all, he's had many decades of practice. I've only had a week or two."
"Well, I gotta go," Bethany says, "its about time for my mom to get home."
"Bethany, take this," Connerly says, handing her a bronze-banded wristwatch.
"What is this?" she asks curiously.
"It is a communicator and teleport focus," Connerly replies, "they were originally developed by the Blue Morphin Ranger. These are slightly more advanced models than what he built. You can contact us or the Silver Ranger or Alex here. The multi-colored button will contact everyone whose frequency is on the communicator. The black and bronze button is the teleporter. Press the all-call button and the teleport and you will teleport here. Press an appropriately colored button and you will teleport to the location of the person whose communicator you are teleporting to. Silver Ranger's is, of course, silver. Alex's is the blue button. That will change if we can find a Morpher that will accept him as the avatar of its power."
"Why can't I give you my Morpher, Alex?" Bethany asks.
"Because it would have come to me if you weren't more worthy of it," Alex replies, "don't worry. I can still take care of myself, with or without Ranger powers."
"Well, I think you had better get home," the Elder says, "go now." With a wave of his hand, he teleports Bethany home.
"So, what do you think of our bronze Ranger?" Connerly asks Jacolby.
"Its too soon to tell, but the Morpher wouldn't have selected her if she wasn't worthy of it," Jacolby replies, "but Jesse's reaction surprised me."
"His reaction was two-fold built," Alex says, "he doesn't like females, and his first teammate is a female. It's gonna be interesting seeing how future battles go."
"Indeed," Eleanor says. She quirks a smile. "Alex, shouldn't you be heading home? Your sister should be getting home soon. She'll be curious as to why you aren't home."
"Right," Alex says and teleports out.
~Three hours later~
"So, Katie still doesn't know?" Jesse asks Alex.
"She thinks I decided to walk home since it was such a beautiful day," Alex replies, "so, whats the Bronze Ranger like in combat?"
"She definitely has talent," Jesse replies, "but we won't know for certain until she gets some training. As is, she isn't even as good as I was when I first started since she has no natural proficiency for combat."
"And that's a bad thing?" Alex chuckles.
"No, because she can survive better outside of the battlefield than I ever will," Jesse replies, "the Elders have shown us quite a bit about how the Astro Rangers are away from the battlefield."
"Don't you think its curious that the only Rangers they show us outside of the battlefield are the Astro Rangers?" Alex asks.
"Actually, it makes since," Jesse says, "the Astro Rangers are the only Rangers who have revealed their identities to the rest of the world. The previous Rangers have yet to do so, and likely for good reason. The Astro Rangers are constantly ducking the media."
"Jesse, at the rate that the Morphers are appearing, you may have your full team in a month," Alex says.
"Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it," Jesse says, "there's no telling where the other Morphers are. And so far, Dark Specter has only attacked Jackson. The Council of Atlantis says that he will attack the entire planet at some point or another. Can just two lone Rangers fight such odds? No. We will have to draw on your help."
"But what am I to do?" Alex asks, "I have yet to learn any useful attack spells and my magical reserves are not very high."
"Maybe so, but you never know what will happen," Jesse says.
"Well man, time to go to MYF," Alex says.
"See ya later bud," Jesse says as he walks off to change into some clean clothes.
Well, how was that? Oh, MYF stands for Methodist Youth Fellowship. It's a church youth group that I go to quite often.
Everything was normal on Earth. But out in space, things were not normal. The Dark Specter was awaiting the arrival of Voricifa, Mistress of Seduction. It had been centuries since he had called upon her service. Normally he preferred to just flatten his opposition with superior power.
But this was a special case. He could still flatten his opponents with his superior forces, but he didn't want to use up too many of his loyal elite soldiers. This Silver Ranger of Atlantis could eliminate many of his top soldiers before he was finally brought down. That was unacceptable. He had to take care of this problem before it truly became a problem. Divorx had been expendable. True, he had been loyal, but he had also been expendable. Now he couldn't afford to make mistakes. He couldn't risk expending the amount of energy needed to send enough Spectrons to take over the Earth or he would risk being stabbed in the back while he was weak from expending the energy. Darkonda had tried destroying him with a Super Torpedo. He had been weak from using his energy to make himself gigantic. Then again, he had never thought that anyone would dare attack him. He was still invincible as long as he did not expend too much energy.
Darkonda rushes into the throne room. "Dark Specter, Voricifa is here to see you."
Dark Specter smiles, a frightening sight. "Send her in Darkonda, and leave."
"Yes, sire," Darkonda says. He exits the throne room. Moments later a woman so beautiful it had to be magic walks in. It certainly had to be magic considering she was at least 12,000 Earth years old, which was old by any galactic standard.
"Ah, Voricifa, a pleasure to see you," Dark Specter rumbles.
"The pleasure is mine, Dark Specter," Voricifa says with a boy and a too sweet to be real smile, "when the universe heard that you had been destroyed, every being of evil that survived Zordon's wave trembled in fear. Without you as a powerful symbol to lead the forces of Evil into battle, it is no wonder we lost. That traitor Astronema surely is what caused us to be defeated. She allowed the Red Astro Ranger to shatter Zordon's energy tube and release his sickeningly pure energies."
Dark Specter rumbles his agreement. "Yes, Astronema was a disappointment. As was Ecliptor. But that is the past. I have a job for you."
"A job, mighty Dark Specter?" Voricifa asks, intrigued, "one that involves Earth? Perhaps you want me to eliminate the former Ranger's?"
Dark Specter shakes his head. "Maybe some other time. No, right now I want you to watch this."
He makes a motion with his hand and a window appears, showing the first appearance of the Silver Atlantean Ranger.
"You want me to fight a Power Ranger? "Vorfica demands, "I am not a fighter."
"Watch and see," Dark Specter says. He makes another motion with his hand and the image changes to his fight with Divorx in his Zord and his defeating Divorx. And the taking his helmet off.
"I think I understand now, Dark Specter," Voricifa says, "you wish for me to seduce this young Ranger and bring him to you so you can turn him evil."
"NO!" Dark Specter bellows, "Rita and Zed made fools of themselves countless times trying to make themselves an evil Power Ranger. I do want you to seduce him, but I want you to destroy him the moment he is under your power."
"And what about his Morpher?" Voricifa asks.
"Destroy it," Dark Specter says, "better yet, bring it to me so I can destroy it. I haven't destroyed anything Atlantean in millennia. Not since I destroyed Atlantis itself 12,000 years ago and nearly expended all of my power, causing the forces of good to push back and enabling an incompetent like Rita Repulsa to become the self-declared Empress of Evil. Not to mention Lord Zedd crowning himself the Lord of all that is Evil."
"You wish me to bring the Ranger to you so you can destroy him yourself?" Voricifa asks, licking her lips in anticipation of the Dark Specter's answer. If he said yes, then she would be able to hear this young Ranger's screams of pain for years to come, even if in actuality they would last for only a minute or two.
"Yes, that would be most pleasurable," Dark Specter says, seeing Voricifa's anticipation, "now go and hunt him down. Hunt him down and destroy him. Take thirty Spectrons with you to lure him out if you want. Attack that first city we attacked. It is quite likely that is his home. If you cannot capture him to bring him here, don't bother and kill him anyway."
"Yes, my lord," Voricifa says with a bow, then leaves.
"Soon the only hindrance in conquering earth will be gone and I, the dark Specter, shall rule the universe as I was destined to do!" Dark Specter laughs when Voricifa exits completely.
Back on Earth, Jesse was ticked off. Right during the last class, the fire siren goes off. Lucky for him, the teacher had a TV with cable. The teacher, Mrs. Gordon, turned it on to show the news. A group of Spectrons and a monster were attacking uptown Jackson. Jesse's blood ran cold when he saw them attacking the mall.
A few moments later, Jesse's communicator went off. Luckily they had improved over the original models by giving them a function to where they would send a small electric shock to the person wearing it when someone was trying to contact them. Unfortunately, Jesse couldn't respond and the school had abolished the policy of letting students out of class to use the bathroom. Not to mention the fact that there were camera's all over the school and couldn't risk blowing his identity.
So all he could do was watch and wait for them to let school out. He just hoped he could get to a safe place soon enough to morph and take care of the Spectrons and the monster before any innocent civilians got hurt.
'Wait, this is war and there aren't any innocents in war,' a voice in his head says to him, 'after all, people die every day. It is a fact of life that death comes for us all eventually.'
'That's right,' Jesse thinks to himself, seemingly oblivious to the voice, 'people die every day.'
"Oh my," a girl sitting beside him gasps. Jesse looks at the screen. The Spectrons were entering the mall.
"I hope they don't wreck the stores," another girl says. Jesse looks angrily at the girl who said that. Of course. A blonde. It figured.
Jesse checked the clock on his communicator. There was still a half hour of class left.
'I hope I can last until the end of school,' Jesse thinks to himself, 'otherwise I'm gonna blow my cover big time.'
In another part of Jackson, a teenage girl was lying on the couch watching the attack on the news. She was averagely pretty, with long dark blonde hair. She was a bit tall, standing a little over 5' 6". Her features were marred at the moment by a worried brow.
Bethany Black was at home that day recovering from a nasty flu bug. She had been feeling fine that morning but her parents hadn't want her to take a chance on a relapse so they made her stay home that day.
Her brow furrows as a monster at last joins the Spectrons. The monster certainly wasn't anything like the last monster. Whereas the previous monster had been a knight of some sort, this one was a woman. A rather attractive woman with long blue hair. Her skin was unbelievably white. Not quite pure white, more of an off-white. Like white mixed slightly with gray. She had on a bright green dress that seemed to set off the color of her skin and had on silver armbands and a silver tiara. And she is carrying a rather large scythe.
"Man, that is one ugly witch," Bethany mutters to herself, "wish there was something I could do."
A bronze-colored flash of light catches her attention. She glances to her coffee table. Lying on it was a thick disc. Though she didn't know it, it looked almost exactly like Jesse's Silver Morpher of Atlantis.
"What is this?" she mutters. She reaches over and picks it up. "Where did this come from?" A brilliant bronze flash erupts from it and she is teleported away.
"Well, this was most unexpected," the Elder says as he looks over Beth's unconscious form.
"It was most unexpected, by also most fortuitous," Connerly says, "the Silver Ranger isn't answering the summons. He is in class so he can't answer or he'll blow his cover."
"Ugh, what happened?" Bethany groans as she regains consciousness.
"Ah, she is awake," the Elder says, peering into Beth's field of vision.
"If she sees an old man like you, she might doubt whether she is alive or not," Eleanor huffs and pulls the Elder out of Beth's vision. She lends Beth a hand and helps her to her feet.
"There, are you okay dear?" Eleanor asks, her voice soothing and gentle.
"I'm okay," Bethany says, "where am I?"
"I see they all have the same thoughts," the Elder chuckles, "the Silver Ranger same roughly the same thing when he was brought here. Or was that his friend who said it?"
"I believe it was the Silver Ranger who said it," Connerly says, "his friend was silent a lot, though he asked deep questions afterwards."
"He still does," the Elder asks, "that young man has the curiosity like none I have seen in a long, long time."
"The Silver Ranger?" Bethany asks, "you mean the person who has been fighting off the new monster attacks?"
"Ah, I see you know of him," Jacolby says from behind her, "he has been a most adept student at learning the art of fighting from me. His defeat of Divorx proves it."
"Who? What?" Bethany was puzzled by their comments.
"Hush you," Eleanor says, "you're just confusing the poor dear."
"Yes, I tend to forget how easily young girls are confused," the Elder muses, "it has been so long since I've had to try and guess what they were thinking. Even my own daughters have long been grown up and have children of their own. Some even have grandchildren."
"Um, could you please tell me where I am?" Bethany asks.
"Such a polite child," Eleanor says with a smile, "dear, you are on Atlantis, the Lost City. And you hold in your hand the Bronze Morpher of Atlantis."
"What?" Bethany says, then she looks at the disc she had picked up. It was glowing. Bethany nearly drops it in surprise.
"Oh, don't worry dear," Eleanor says, "its not dangerous. At least not to you, anyway."
"But what is it?" Bethany asks, perplexed.
"That, my dear, is the Bronze Morpher of Atlantis," Connerly says, "its power could enable you to fight the evil that is threatening the Earth."
"What?!" Bethany shrieks.
"Yes, it can," the Elder says, "long ago, Atlantis was once a thriving civilization. Still is, I supposed, though we are trapped in Limbo and cannot get out ourselves though we can bring people here and send them back out. Well, an evil being known as the Dark Specter attacked and overcame our defenders. Those were the Atlantean Warriors. Each one held more power than entire teams of Power Rangers. But now, that power is diminished with Atlantis being sealed away in Limbo and the Morphers having been inactive for nearly twelve millennia. And the Green Morpher was destroyed beyond repair by even us. Well, now Dark Specter has returned to finish conquering Earth. But we no longer have the Morphers to bestow upon warriors of Atlantis. Instead, they are out selecting the other peoples of Earth to wield their power. The Silver Morpher has already done so. And it has selected a fine young man. His temperament seems to be perfect for fighting this war against the Dark Specter alone without the aid of the rest of the Atlantean Warriors to back him up."
"So the Silver Ranger is not a Power Ranger, but a Atlantean Warrior?" Bethany asks.
"Yes and no," Connerly replies, "you see, without all seven Morphers functioning, no one can become an Atlantean Warrior if they do not have at least half a measure of Atlantean blood flowing through their veins, so that power is quite likely lost forever. But when the Atlantean Morphers were created, we saw this possibility and created a backup power. This followed the designs of the people of the planet Edenoi, who had the Masked Rider. The Morphers backup was to create a team of warriors, similar to the Atlantean Warriors but without as much power. Now, they are known as Power Ranger's and are highly respected throughout the galaxy as defenders of peace and justice and saving innocent lives from tyrants. The Silver Ranger is exactly that: a Silver Ranger of Atlantis. He has more power at his command than any single Ranger before him and many teams. But he cannot fight alone."
"So, what does this have to do with me?" Bethany asks.
"Well, the Morphers select whom will wield their power," the Elder begins, "only one with the proper personality, temperament, and courage can wield a Morphers power. Another Ranger cannot wield another's powers. There have been very few in all of the history of Atlantis to wield the powers of the Silver Morpher. It is sheer luck that the strongest Morpher of Atlantis found a wielder first. Not only that, that it found a wielder is a stroke of unbelievable luck. Well, it seems that you are a perfect candidate for the Bronze Morpher."
"WHAT?!" Bethany shrieks, "you're kidding!"
"Afraid not, miss," Jacolby says, "you may not actually be right for the Morpher now, but you have the potential and are very close to that potential."
"But I don't know how to fight," Bethany says.
"And you think the Silver Ranger knows how?" Jacolby scoffs, "why, there are people half his age that he knows that can tear him apart in a fight without the Silver Powers. The Power teaches you to fight, though if you accept to assist then you will be trained to fight, by me, without having to rely on the Power. So far, the Silver Ranger's case has proved to be pointless. Without the Power guiding him, he'd be dead."
"No so with his young friend though," Connerly remarks, "he is picking up everything quite well. His fighting and magical talents are both coming along quite well. In fact, he is using the mental disciplines from one of the bolster the other. It is quite remarkable. We are already incorporating such tactics in training other young mages. We've always had a problem with the mages being physically weak and being scorned by the warriors. But if they can hold their own and are not in need of a bodyguard all the time, then that might ease the tension and lessen the number of warriors who need to be treated for various maladies that can only be magical in their creation. I treated one young man the other day who needed to have boils removed form a few very unlikely and highly sensitive places."
"Gentlemen," Eleanor says firmly, "we do have a guest here who needs to know what is going on and how she might fit into all of this."
"Oh yes, sorry about that," Connerly says without hardly even acknowledging Eleanor, "well, are you in to help defend your planet?"
"Do I have a choice?" Bethany asks bitterly.
"Of course!" Connerly says, "if you say no, we'll just take the Bronze Morpher and hope we can find someone else. You're memory will be altered so you won't even know that this exchange ever happened."
Bethany appears to think about it for a moment. "Okay, what do I have to do?"
"Excellent," the Elder says, "all you have to do is let us read the inscription on your Morpher to determine how to activate its powers."
Bethany hands it over to the Elder.
"Ah yes, lets see," the Elder says as he begins to examine the writing, "'If ye be of a caring heart and a noble spirit with a just cause to defend, then ye shall be granted the power of this Morpher. Just press the buttons in this sequence: Bronze, Platinum, Crystal, White, Aqua, and Silver. If your cause is found to be worthy, you shall become a mighty Warrior. If you cause not pure, then you shall be cast into oblivion.' Well, that sounds simple enough." He hands the Morpher back to Bethany.
"Cast into oblivion?" Bethany eeps as she takes the Morpher.
"Don't worry dear," Eleanor says, "it wouldn't have appeared to you if you weren't worthy. And your cause is the same as the Silver Ranger's: to defend the Earth against the Dark Specter."
"Well, what do I do?" Bethany asks.
"Try to project your feelings into the Morpher," the Elder says, "what to do will come to you."
Bethany closes her eyes. She thinks about the Morpher and the power it symbolized. The power to protect others who were defenseless against the evil threatening the Earth. No, not just the Earth, but the entire universe was in danger. Suddenly, wisdom begins to course through her very being. She opens her eyes wide, a bronze gleam in them.
"It's Morphin time!: she calls out, then takes the Morpher to her left side of her head. She presses the bronze button, then the platinum one. Then the crystal clear one. Then the white one. Then the aqua one. And finally the silver button.
"Bronze Power of Atlantis!" she calls out. A bronze flash envelopes her. When it fades, she is standing there in a Ranger costume.
I am deeply sorry about that blonde joke. I do have respect for blondes, but I just couldn't resist. I know I'm probably gonna get flamed for it. Please be gentle with the flames though. A friend of mine who is blonde is sure to read it and will likely try to tear my ears off again.
Clad in mostly what appeared to be bronze spandex, she made an impressive site. She had gold armbands. The boots had golden rings around the top and white gloves. She wore a shield like the Gold Ranger who had helped the Zeo Ranger's, only her shield was bronze instead of gold. Her helmet was bronze and had the basic shape of an eagle.
"Wow, this is incredible," she gasps, looking at her gloves and examining what she could of her suit.
"You are the Bronze Atlantean Ranger," Eleanor says, "you, like the Silver Atlantean Ranger, have a Zord. You have the aid of the mighty Bronze Griffin Zord. The griffin, in case you did not know, is a mighty creature, with the body of a lion and the head, wings, and usually the front claws of a great eagle."
"Um, what about a weapon?" Bethany says from within her helmet.
"Focus on your weapon and you will summon it," Eleanor says. Bethany does so. Instantly, the Bronze Staff is in her hands. On one end, the Staff had three points. At a closer inspection, she could see that two of the points were triple-layered for some reason. The Power immediately told her that this would help her form her true weapon, the Bronze Battle Axe. The third point was lightly jeweled, but distinguished.
"Bronze Battle Axe!" she calls out, lifting the Bronze Staff above her head. Immediately, the Bronze Staff begins to glow. The side points flash and split. The outer blades snap up and form a blade. Once they formed a single axe blade on each side, the blades enlarge to a respectable size.
"Wow," Bethany breathes, "this is cool. But its way too bulky for me to use."
"Give it a few tries," Eleanor smiles. Bethany does so and gasps. The weapon was incredibly light! It was as if it was made for her.
"I think its time for you to go and face the attackers until the Silver ranger arrives," the Elder says, "may your Power guide you to victory."
"Right," Bethany says and teleports out.
"'May the Power guide you to victory'?" Eleanor asks after Bethany teleports out.
The Elder shrugs. "Well, to me it sounds a whole lot better than 'May the Power protect you'."
"Zordon of Eltare was a wiser man than you'll ever be," Eleanor says.
"I'm not arguing with you there," the Elder says, "now I just hope that our new Bronze Ranger can handle herself." Eleanor, Connerly, and Jacolby nod in agreement.
"Go, Spectrons, destroy everything!" Hibikime commands.
"Not so fast!" a voice calls out from behind. Hibikime and the Spectrons turn to see who spoke. It was Bethany.
"You're attacking a place of commerce, meant to bring people together," the Bronze Atlantean Ranger says, "now, either leave quietly or be destroyed!"
"You are not whom we are looking for, but we will gladly destroy you," Hikime says, lowering her scythe in Bronze Ranger's direction.
"Bronze Battle Axe!" Bronze Ranger calls out, summoning her weapon. The glistening bronze-hued double-bladed battle-axe appears in her hands.
"Let's rumble," Bronze Ranger says, crouching into a defensive stance just before the Spectrons rush her.
Back at the school, Jesse's eyes widen in shock at the appearance of the Bronze Ranger.
"Hey, it looks like there's another one," another one of the students says, "that's a wicked weapon they've got. What is it?"
"It's a battle-axe," Jesse replies, his eyes never leaving the screen, "it's a formidable weapon. It is best used in wide slashing arcs. It takes a fairly strong person to use one properly."
"Think this new person has a chance?" another student asks.
"They had better," Jesse says, "its not like this is a game, now is it?"
As he watched the Bronze Ranger make a good account of themselves against the Spectrons, he wishes he was there helping out.
Bethany, at that same moment, was wishing that the Silver Ranger, whomever they were, was there helping her. The Spectrons weren't exactly tough, not with the Power guiding her, but she couldn't help but feel scared. If it wasn't for the feeling of pure strength flowing through her, she felt that she would be scared motionless.
As it was, she was tearing into the Spectrons. She drops down to her knees and sweeps a Spectron off its feet. She flips forward and kicks it in the chest when it hits the ground. She then backflips and back kicks another Spectron in the gut. She spins and slashes it with her Battle Axe. She leaps out of the way of a small flurry of lasers from a pair of Spectrons. She rushes them and cleaves through both laser-wielding Spectrons with a single stroke of the Bronze Battle Axe.
"Very impressive," Hibikime claps, "what do they call you?"
Bronze Ranger turns to face Hibikime. "You may call me Bronze Ranger. Now leave or suffer the same fate as these things."
"Ha!" Hibikime laughs, "I am far more powerful than a troupe of mere Spectrons. Now you face me, little girl." She leaps at Bronze Ranger and swings her scythe, who blocks it with her Bronze Battle Axe.
Bronze Ranger jumps back and prepares for another attack.
"Most impressive indeed," Hibikime grins sinisterly, "but you cannot hope to match me. I am Voricifa's prize warrior!"
"Who?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"That is above your concerns though, seeing as how I shall destroy you!" Hibikime yells and attacks. She launches an ear-splitting shriek that brings the Bronze Ranger to her knees.
Back at the school, Jesse winces as the cameras are able to pick up the sound Hibikime emits. This was not looking good. Jesse felt that he was about to go insane if he couldn't go and help soon.
His thoughts are interrupted by the last bell of the day going off. Gathering his books quicker than he ever had before, Jesse practically runs out of the school and to a secluded spot not far from the school. Not long after he had received the Silver Morpher, he had scouted the school and all of the other places he hung out to find places where he could Morph or teleport away from or to.
Checking to see if the coast was clear, Jesse pulls out his Morpher. "It's Morphin time!" he calls out and enters the sequence, "Silver Power of Atlantis!"
With a flash of silver, Jesse teleports to the battle.
Hibikime was tearing into Bronze Ranger with relative ease. Her speed and experience well overcame any small advantages the Bronze Ranger had. Slashing through the shield with her scythe, Hibikime laughs again.
"My my my," Hibikime chuckles, "you certainly aren't in the same league as the Silver Ranger. And if you re, then he must be pathetic."
"Hi-yah!" The Silver Ranger leaps at Hibikime from behind. She turns around just in time to be slashed in the chest by the Silver Saber.
"Take that," Silver Ranger growls. He turns to look at the bronze Ranger. She was struggling to get up. Silver Ranger runs over to help her up.
"You okay?" he asks.
"Yeah, I'm okay," a definitely feminine voice says, "just give me a moment to catch my breath. This is tougher than I thought it would be."
Silver Ranger gapes at Bronze Ranger. "You're a girl?"
"Uh, yeah," Bronze Ranger replies, amused, "anything wrong with that?"
"No, I'm just surprised," Silver Ranger replies, "a battle axe is a rather cumbersome weapon. Too cumbersome for a female to wield as necessary in battle."
"Well, this battle axe is made specifically for me," Bronze Ranger retorts, brandishing the Bronze Battle Axe at the Silver Ranger.
Silver Ranger takes a step back. "Yikes, I didn't mean anything insulting by it, its just that I'm surprised. You are not what I expected for my first ally."
"And what did you expect?" Bronze Ranger demands.
"Hopefully someone who had prior experience," Silver Ranger replies, "or at least knew what they were doing."
"Oh really?" Bronze Ranger replies hotly, "and you've what? Fought two battles before this?"
"I mean no disrespect," Silver Ranger replies, "its just that I have been unable to get here to fight due to those blasted school rules."
"You're still in school?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"My last year," Silver Ranger replies, "watch out!" He grabs Bronze Ranger and hits the dirt, dragging her down with him. An energy ball soars over them. If they hadn't ducked, then it would have hit them both.
Silver Ranger gets back to his feet and helps Bronze Ranger to her feet. "I think we had best wait until this battle is over before we continue this discussion."
"Good idea," Bronze Ranger says, "lets get this witch." With that, she leaps at Hibikime, swinging her battle-axe. Silver Ranger follows suit, stabbing with the Silver Saber.
Hibikime swings her scythe and knocks the Bronze Ranger out of the way, then spins around and kicks the Silver Ranger in the gut.
"Man, this girl is tough," Silver Ranger mutters. He looks over at Bronze Ranger. She was struggling to get up.
"You sure you're an Atlantean Ranger?" he asks.
"Yes, I'm sure," Bronze Ranger retorts.
"Then open yourself up to the knowledge within the power that fuels you," Silver Ranger says, "I'm sure you have more skill at your disposal than this."
"What are you talking about?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"Just look within yourself and you'll feel a wellspring of knowledge opening up," Silver Ranger explains, "the Power that guides the Atlantean Ranger's will help you fight this enemy."
"Okay, I'll try," Bronze Ranger says. She goes still for a moment. Her breathing slows. She delves deep into the recesses of her mind. With her minds eye, she sees a bronze light. It feels warm and inviting. She feels a rush of knowledge. Suddenly, she knows exactly what to do.
"Silver Ranger, you wouldn't happen to know how to throw an energy bolt of some sort, do you?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"I can," Silver Ranger says, "though I need practice."
"Think you can destroy her in one blast?" Bronze Ranger asks.
"No, but I can hurt her enough so that a second, third, or fourth blast can destroy her," Silver Ranger replies, "only it'll take me a while to form these attacks after the second or third one if I don't get some rest after the first. If I can absorb one of her energy attacks, I'll be able to do more damage."
"I'll ask about that later," Bronze Ranger says, "just prepare the attacks. I'll keep her busy."
With that, Bronze Ranger leaps at Hibikime and begins grappling with her for control of her scythe.
Silver Ranger takes the Silver Saber and begins charging it as best he can. He swings the sword in an arc from his lower right to his lower left to his upper left to his upper right. He then twists his wrist so that the point of the blade creates a full circle. A faint trickle of silver sparkles trails behind the blade.
"Silver Shot!" Silver Ranger calls out, slashing at Hibikime. Bronze Ranger leaps out of the attacks way just before it hits Hibikime. The attacks knocks Hibikime back several yards.
"Nice shot!" Bronze Ranger cries out.
"Thanks, but its not over yet," Silver Ranger says, "that attack could tear Spectrons and other low level thugs apart, but Hibikime is just too strong. She's a high ranking warrior by my guess."
"How right you are," Hibikime says as she rises from where she landed, "you're gonna pay for that. It hurt a lot." With that, she sends a stream of crackling lightning at Silver Ranger from her left hand.
Silver Ranger performs the same motions as before, this time forming a shield with the energy. As soon as Hibikime's attack hits, it begins absorbing the energy. Hibikime sees this.
"So, you are planning on absorbing my attack," she chuckles mirthlessly, "well, lets see just how much you can absorb." With that, she increases the power of the blast.
Seeing that the Silver Ranger was in trouble, Bronze Ranger attacks Hibikime, bringing the Bronze Battle Axe down on Hibikime's left hand. But Hibikime blocks by moving her scythe in the way. The blades clash sending sparks flying.
"You shall not interfere," Hibikime says forcefully. She puts more strength behind her scythe and shoves Bronze Ranger back and knocking her into the air and into a wall.
'Can't hold on much longer,' Silver Ranger thinks, 'she was right in that I cannot handle much energy. At least not yet. But there's nothing else I can do.'
Back at Atlantis, Alex had teleported in as soon as he was able to. He was watching the fight on the Pool of Viewing.
"I'm glad Jesse has some back up now, but I do wish they were a bit more competent," Alex remarks dryly.
"This is her first day on the job," Connerly replies, "she did no better than Jesse did in his first battle. It's just that the opponent they are up against is far stronger than Divorx. But unfortunately she isn't a monster. She is an alien, like Divorx."
"Jesse won't like that," Alex says, "he won't like killing a living thing, particularly since it is a female."
"I wonder what his reaction will be to the Bronze Ranger being female?" Eleanor muses.
"Bronze Ranger is female?" Alex chuckles, "Jesse definitely won't like that if she is around our age. He'll go ballistic at first, then he'll likely insult her if she seems the least bit not like a lady in his opinion. Finally he'll just stay away from her."
"He wouldn't actually do that, would he?" the Elder asks.
"Actually, unless those helmets really distort the voice, he already knows she is female," Alex replies, "it probably won't sink in until after the battle."
"And when that happens?" Jacolby asks, amused.
"Just wait and see," Alex says with a grin, "oh, and if you have any popcorn, you might wanna keep some on hand to eat during their future arguments. That is, if she has any backbone."
"Pardon me?" Eleanor asks, not quite catching what he meant.
"If she is strong-willed," Alex apologizes, "I forget that you're not familiar with a lot of the slang we use."
"We're getting used to it," Connerly replies with a small smile.
Alex takes a look in the Pool and blinks. "How did he manage that?"
Silver Ranger manages to teleport out of the way of the blast just before the shield was overcome by Hibikime's blast.
"Very impressive," Hibikime says sinisterly, "you are indeed a worthy opponent."
"It's these Silver Powers," Silver Ranger replies, "without them, I would be long dead."
"Indeed," a sultry voice says from behind him. Before Silver Ranger could turn to see who was talking, a blast hit him from behind and knocks him out.
Jesse wakes up unmorphed in a small cabin. He sits up, immediately clutching his head in pain. A cool hand takes his hand and moves it and a cool damp cloth is placed against is forehead.
"Easy now, you're still recovering from the attack," a soft, sultry voice says. The voice sounds familiar, but Jesse couldn't place it due to the throbbing of his forehead.
"Whe-where am I?" Jesse asks, careful to keep his voice low.
"You are safe, that is all you need to know," the voice says. Jesse carefully turns his head to look at its owner. What he sees startles him.
Before him sat a woman of almost unearthly beauty. She had ivory colored skin, full red lips, and night-black hair. Her eyes were an unearthly shade of green. And she was quite voluptuous. She was wearing a black dress. In short, she was a vision of pure beauty.
"H-hello," Jesse stammers. He had not expected to see someone so lovely.
"Hello yourself," the woman says huskily. The moment he heard how her voice sounded, Jesse's eyes narrow. He didn't like the sound of it.
"Is something wrong?" the lady purrs.
"No," Jesse lies, "nothing is wrong. Tell me, do you have a name?"
"I am called Voricifa," the lady says, "tell me, just who exactly are you?"
"That is of no importance," Jesse mumbles, "tell me, what happened?"
"I found you by the side of the road," Voricifa says, "you were injured. I tended to your wounds."
"I thank you," Jesse says, "tell me, how was I injured?"
"I do not know," Voricifa says.
Upon hearing this, Jesse's eyes narrow. Something about this woman just wasn't right.
"Who are you?" he whispers hoarsely.
"I am Voricifa," she replies, obviously surprised. 'What is going on?' she thinks furiously to herself, 'how is he resisting my charms. I shall have to try my strongest spells on him.'
Voricifa picks up a small mug of some kind of blue liquid and offers it to Jesse. "Drink this. It will help you."
"Sorry, but I never drink anything blue unless I know whats in it and more importantly made it myself," Jesse replies.
"It will help with any soreness you have," Vorifica says.
Jesse's eyes narrow further, but Voricifa doesn't notice this. 'Now I know something is up,' Jesse thinks, 'there's not a mark on me except a few small burns that I can feel on my back. I must have been blasted from behind and some of the blast made it through the armor."
"No thank you," Jesse says, "I am not feeling sore. A little tired, but not sore at all."
'Damn, how can he resist?' Voricifa thinks angrily, 'its just not possible for a human teenager to resist me.'
"Tell me a bit about yourself," Voricifa asks.
"There's not much to know," Jesse replies bluntly.
"Have a girlfriend or a sweetheart?" Voricifa inquires.
"Nope," was Jesse's short reply.
'How can this be?' Voricifa demands to herself, 'no girlfriend or anything to tie his heart and he obviously isn't gay or anything like that. So whats wrong? Am I losing my touch?'
"Are you sure?" she asks.
"Yep," Jesse replies, "don't have a girlfriend."
"Anyone you have a crush on?" Voricifa asks. 'Maybe he has his heart set on someone and just hasn't admitted it to her or something,' Voricifa thinks.
"Nah," Jesse says, getting up and walking to the door, "I must go. There are things I must do."
"Please don't go," Voricifa pleads, "I get lonely and its nice to have a man around."
Jesse pauses for a moment. He was sweating profusely. He was definitely nervous. Voricifa's remark had caught him off guard.
"I. I'm sorry," Jesse says, "but I must go." With that, Jesse runs out of the cabin and quickly draws out his Morpher.
"It's morphin time! Silver Power of Atlantis!" Jesse teleports to Atlantis to check on the situation.
When he arrives on Atlantis, Jesse startles everyone.
"Jesse, what happened?" Alex demands, "where did you go?"
"Wish I could tell you buddy," Jesse replies dryly, "but frankly, I have no idea. When I woke up, I ran out, Morphed, and teleported here. How long have I been gone?"
"Ten minutes," the Elder replies.
"How is Bronze Ranger doing?"
"Could be better, could be worse," Connerly replies, "her technique is far from refined, but the Bronze Atlantean Power is guiding her quite well."
"That's good," Jesse says, "I'll go and give her assistance."
Alex nods. "Right. Good luck."
"May the Power protect you," the Elder says.
Jesse nods his head in acknowledgement. He teleports back to the battle.
Bronze Ranger was having trouble fighting Hibikime. She was quite strong. Maybe too strong for Bronze Ranger to defeat on her own. Hibikime knocks her to the ground and prepares to strike her dead.
Bronze Ranger closes her eyes and awaits her end.
But it is not to be. Hibikime arches her back in pain and slowly turns around. Bronze ranger could see a vicious cut in her back. She peers around Hibikime to see the Silver Ranger, holding his now-bloody Silver Saber at the ready to strike.
"About time you showed back up," Bronze Ranger snaps, rolling to her side and into a crouch.
"Sorry about that," Silver Ranger says, "had a bit of a situation."
"No kidding," Bronze Ranger says sarcastically, grabbing her Bronze Battle Axe.
"Um, any ideas?" Silver Ranger asks, "right now I'm feeling a bit under the weather. I can't concentrate enough to use any of my energy attacks."
"Don't worry, just distract her for a little while," Bronze Ranger says. You could tell she was grinning inside her helmet. "I have an idea."
"Great, a female with an idea," Silver Ranger mutters, "just what I don't need."
Nevertheless, he attacks Hibikime viciously. Slashing and parrying, he soon puts her on the defensive.
But he was far from winning the fight. Hibikime soon counters with a vicious slash across his chest with her scythe and then follows it up with a kick to the groin. As he doubles over in pain, he catches a glimpse of a flash of metal streaking for his face.
However, the scythe never hit. Instead. A wave of bronze-hued energy smashes into Hibikime and sends her flying out the ruined mall doors and into the parking lot.
"Nice shot," Silver Ranger tells Bronze Ranger, "now lets go out and finish this piece of trash."
"You got it," Bronze Ranger says. The two Atlantean Rangers rush out of the mall and double team Hibikime with a flying kick each.
Hibikime crashes into a light pole, bending it over and sending sparks flying everywhere.
"Glad you took care of the Spectrons," Silver Ranger mutters to Bronze Ranger as Hibikime gets back up, "because I do not think we can face an enemy like this while dealing with Spectrons as well."
"If you say so," Bronze Ranger says as she grips her Battle Axe, "you know, I have yet to ask you your name."
"Wait till this battle is over," Silver Ranger replies as Hibikime gets back up, "we'll go back to Atlantis and talk."
"Very well," Bronze Ranger says as she blocks a sudden strike from Hibikime. She steps back and swings her Battle Axe at Hibikime, who blocks it with the blade of her scythe.
Silver Ranger leaps into the battle, kicking Hibikime in the ribs and following it up with a slash across her chest. Bronze Ranger takes the moments distraction to slam the flat of her Battle Axe. Hibikime crumples to the ground.
"Well, that was certainly easy," Bronze Ranger remarks with interest.
"Trust me, she'll be back up in a moment," Silver Ranger says, "she's much tougher than Divorx. Dark Specter certainly outdid himself sending her down. She's powerful, and fast."
"Don't you have any qualms about hitting a lady?" Bronze Ranger asks snidely.
"Hitting a lady, yes," Silver Ranger replies, "but this woman is no lady by my judgment. At best she is just a female and that is not enough to protect her from me."
"How noble," Bronze Ranger says wryly.
"I try to be," Silver Ranger replies mockingly. He levels his Silver Saber at the fallen form of Hibikime, who was no longer fallen. Indeed, now she was getting up to her feet.
"You are going down," Silver Ranger says calmly.
"Yeah right," Hibkime snarls, her face twisting in an ugly mask of pure hatred and loathing, "you children don't stand a chance against the likes of me."
'Hibikime,' Vorifica says telepathically to Hibkime, 'retreat for now. It looks like I may actually need your help seducing the Silver Ranger.'
'Yes, mistress,' Hibikime replies telepathically. She drops out of her fighting stance. "Another time, Rangers." She disappears in a flash of yellow-black light.
"Well, that was unexpected," Silver Ranger says, willing his Silver Saber back into its place as Bronze Ranger takes a moment to gather her wits.
"Indeed," Bronze ranger says, putting away her axe, "shall we go back to Atlantis? I'm curious to see the face behind your helmet."
Silver Ranger chuckles. "You're gonna be disappointed if your hoping for a handsome face. I've seen car wrecks that look better than I do."
This startles a bark of laughter from the Bronze Ranger. Silver Ranger joins her in laughing for a moment, then turns serious again.
"Lets go back," he says, then teleports out with a flash of silver light. Bronze Ranger follows him with a flash of bronze light.
Back at Atlantis, the two Rangers are greeted by the Elder, Eleanor, Connerly, Jacolby, and Alex.
"Well done Rangers," the Elder says, "you are certainly a formidable team even though you only met each other today. And you took to the Bronze Ranger powers extremely well, Bronze Ranger."
From her body language, there was a good chance that Bronze Ranger was blushing. Then she sees Alex.
"Hey, you look familiar," she says, peering at Alex, "have we met before?"
"Maybe," Alex replies, "until I see your face, I won't know for certain though."
"Indeed," the Elder says, "would you please remove your helmet and show our friends what you look like?"
"Sure," Bronze Ranger replies, her hands unfastening the clasps on her helmet. She slowly pulls it off, revealing her face to the others. Alex stares at her in surprise.
"I recognize you," he says softly, "Bethany Black, right?"
"Yes, now please tell me who you are," Bethany says.
"I'm Alex Green," Alex replies.
"Hey, I do know you," Bethany says, surprised, "my friend Holly says you're a pretty smart guy with a talent for drawing."
"So you know her dude?" Silver Ranger asks.
"Yep," Alex replies, "she's in the same grade I'm in."
"So she's around 16 or 17?" Silver Ranger asks, "wasn't that about the age that the original Rangers were, Elder?"
"Indeed they were," the Elder replies, "but three of them were properly suited for the fight against evil, and the other two had their hearts in the right place."
"How do you know so much about the original Power Rangers of Angel Grove?" Bethany asks.
"We can view anywhere on Earth here," Connerly explains, "we located the power signatures of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when they returned to their home. We eventually penetrated the fields protecting their Command Center and learned the rest about them and were able to keep an eye on everything that happened to them thereafter."
"How long did it take you?" Silver Ranger asks, smugness in his voice.
"We got through before the Green ranger appeared," Connerly replies simply, "though it pained us to watch all that he did and be unable to do anything about it."
"Um, mind taking that helmet off?" Bethany asks the Silver Ranger, "I do want to see what you look like."
Silver Ranger ponders the idea for a moment, then shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but I will not. I do not think it is time for me to reveal myself to anyone who has yet to truly prove themselves."
"What about Alex" Bethany demands.
"He was brought by accident when I was first summoned to Atlantis, but he was entrusted with a lot of potential," Silver Ranger explains, "he is currently in training to become a wizard of Atlantis. He may be able to eventually use his magic to help us in battle. Hopefully, one of the other Morphers will find him acceptable to wield their power. Now, I must go. I've got a term paper to finish and only three days left to finish it. Glad I'm a damn good typer."
With that, Silver Ranger teleports home.
"Sorry about Silver Ranger," Alex says, haltingly saying the battle name, "he's a bit anti-social. He doesn't let people in on his secrets easily. Apparently this even goes as far as a secret that they will be sharing as well."
"That's right," the Elder says, "you must never reveal your identity if it is avoidable. You must also never use your powers for evil or for your own personal gain. Do so, and the powers will immediately leave you. This is true for all magic based Ranger powers. The Morphin Rangers, the Zeo Rangers, the Turbo Rangers, and the Astro Rangers all went by those rules and they serve us as well in this day and age. I'm not sure about the other Ranger teams. The Time Force Rangers of Silver Hills cannot reveal their identities because they are from the future and cannot risk changing the timeline more than they already have. The Lightspeed Rescue Power Rangers were sworn to secrecy because of how advanced the technology they had. Well, advanced for the rest of Earth anyway. The Wild Force Rangers, well, their reason for keeping their identities secret are still a mystery to us."
"Are there any more rules?" Bethany asks.
The Elder continues. "Yes. You must only use your powers to defend, and never to attack. This only applies for the rest of the Earth. If something actually threatened Atlantis, you would be allowed to take the fight to the enemy."
"What is the reason for this?" Bethany asks.
Eleanor answers her. "The Atlantean Rangers are the defenders of Atlantis. They are to defend Atlantis however they can. This includes taking the fight to an enemy that is attacking. However, since Atlantis is in Limbo, you are stuck with defending."
"Man, I'd really like to hear this whole story sometime," Bethany says.
"Oh, you will," Jacolby says with an evil grin, "because tomorrow after school you are to come here and practice so you can get a feel for your powers."
"What?!" Bethany exclaims.
"Dark Specter could attack at any time," Jacolby says sternly, "you must learn how to use the Bronze Morpher much better than you currently can. You must learn how to harness the fighting abilities when you are unmorphed."
"Here, take this," Alex says, handing Bethany a bronze wristband.
Bethany puts it on. "What is this?"
"It's a communicator," Alex replies, "with it you can contact me, Silver Ranger, though it is highly unlikely that he will answer you unless there is a monster attack, or you can reach the council of Atlantis. You can also use it to teleport yourself and those touching you here to Atlantis."
"Eventually you will be able to do this on your own," Connerly says, "you will also take up some minor magical instruction. How much will depend on your control over the metaphysical energies that make up the universe. Alex here is extremely gifted for a non pure-blooded Atlantean. We're not sure how much Atlantean blood flows through his veins, but it is enough for him to learn anything he wants to of our society if it requires Atlantean blood."
"I have to learn magic?" Bethany asks, surprised.
"Yep," Alex says. He summons a small green ball of light that was about five inches in diameter, "this sphere of energy represents my current reserve of magical energy. It shows that I have quite a bit of power, even though I've only been training for a couple of weeks."
"Should I be impressed?" Bethany asks.
"Not really," Connerly says. He summons a huge ball of blue-green light. It was as big as he was tall.
"Is that your representation of power?" Bethany asks.
"Indeed it is," Connerly says, a smug look on his face.
Bethany looks at Alex, chuckling. "Looks like your quite far from his level of power."
"I know that," Alex replies, "after all, he's had many decades of practice. I've only had a week or two."
"Well, I gotta go," Bethany says, "its about time for my mom to get home."
"Bethany, take this," Connerly says, handing her a bronze-banded wristwatch.
"What is this?" she asks curiously.
"It is a communicator and teleport focus," Connerly replies, "they were originally developed by the Blue Morphin Ranger. These are slightly more advanced models than what he built. You can contact us or the Silver Ranger or Alex here. The multi-colored button will contact everyone whose frequency is on the communicator. The black and bronze button is the teleporter. Press the all-call button and the teleport and you will teleport here. Press an appropriately colored button and you will teleport to the location of the person whose communicator you are teleporting to. Silver Ranger's is, of course, silver. Alex's is the blue button. That will change if we can find a Morpher that will accept him as the avatar of its power."
"Why can't I give you my Morpher, Alex?" Bethany asks.
"Because it would have come to me if you weren't more worthy of it," Alex replies, "don't worry. I can still take care of myself, with or without Ranger powers."
"Well, I think you had better get home," the Elder says, "go now." With a wave of his hand, he teleports Bethany home.
"So, what do you think of our bronze Ranger?" Connerly asks Jacolby.
"Its too soon to tell, but the Morpher wouldn't have selected her if she wasn't worthy of it," Jacolby replies, "but Jesse's reaction surprised me."
"His reaction was two-fold built," Alex says, "he doesn't like females, and his first teammate is a female. It's gonna be interesting seeing how future battles go."
"Indeed," Eleanor says. She quirks a smile. "Alex, shouldn't you be heading home? Your sister should be getting home soon. She'll be curious as to why you aren't home."
"Right," Alex says and teleports out.
~Three hours later~
"So, Katie still doesn't know?" Jesse asks Alex.
"She thinks I decided to walk home since it was such a beautiful day," Alex replies, "so, whats the Bronze Ranger like in combat?"
"She definitely has talent," Jesse replies, "but we won't know for certain until she gets some training. As is, she isn't even as good as I was when I first started since she has no natural proficiency for combat."
"And that's a bad thing?" Alex chuckles.
"No, because she can survive better outside of the battlefield than I ever will," Jesse replies, "the Elders have shown us quite a bit about how the Astro Rangers are away from the battlefield."
"Don't you think its curious that the only Rangers they show us outside of the battlefield are the Astro Rangers?" Alex asks.
"Actually, it makes since," Jesse says, "the Astro Rangers are the only Rangers who have revealed their identities to the rest of the world. The previous Rangers have yet to do so, and likely for good reason. The Astro Rangers are constantly ducking the media."
"Jesse, at the rate that the Morphers are appearing, you may have your full team in a month," Alex says.
"Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it," Jesse says, "there's no telling where the other Morphers are. And so far, Dark Specter has only attacked Jackson. The Council of Atlantis says that he will attack the entire planet at some point or another. Can just two lone Rangers fight such odds? No. We will have to draw on your help."
"But what am I to do?" Alex asks, "I have yet to learn any useful attack spells and my magical reserves are not very high."
"Maybe so, but you never know what will happen," Jesse says.
"Well man, time to go to MYF," Alex says.
"See ya later bud," Jesse says as he walks off to change into some clean clothes.
Well, how was that? Oh, MYF stands for Methodist Youth Fellowship. It's a church youth group that I go to quite often.