Call to Duty

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Power Rangers, characters, zords, etc. They are owned by Saban and ABC.but the two originals, Jeri Stone and Marley Oliver are MINE!!! All MINE!!!

A.N.: I know that this may not fall under proper circumstances or chronological order but since when does an imagination follow any kind of order!!! This is an AU of MMPR-LSR and eventually DT.

Prologue

From Tommy Oliver's POV

I couldn't help it. It was an emotion that just wouldn't go away. We were all gathered in the Power Chamber; new rangers and old.

I glanced at all of them. It was curiously at first, then a moment of quiet introspection. Most of them had replaced other rangers. But there was still one original ranger left. That would be Miss Jerine Chasen Stone, our beloved purple ranger.

She was there from the beginning. When Jason, Zack, Trini, Kimberly and Billy were all selected, so was she. She was the wallflower, the studious one, the one that accepted everyone for who they were. When my sister and I moved to town, she accepted us with open arms, which I think helped Marley mellow out, even if it was only slightly.

She was an Angel Grove Lifer, born and raised here. She and Billy were next door neighbors. She is like our little sister. I would protect her if she were a member of the family. But all the crew felt that way. She is the sweetest, most considerate individual that anyone knows. And I'd be damned if anyone ever laid a finger on her.

From what I learned from the other guys, Jeri was the youngest. Her sister Chandra was drop dead gorgeous but after she and Jason broke up, she left town. I think that hurt Jeri a bit and she will get quiet whenever anyone mentions her.

The same thing goes for her mother. Her mom left when she was a little kid. I think she misses her but she never says anything. Jeri is one of those types that she holds everything in. One of these days, she's going to blow up and it won't be pretty.

I've often wondered about her. She's a very pretty girl. Long curly chestnut hair, blue eyes that dance and twinkle with excitement, a cute button nose, not my type really but a good woman to the right guy. As long as I've known her, she's never really had a boyfriend, well not one that she speaks of.

I know she has a bright future. She'll make us all proud one day when we can honestly say that we knew her and knew that she'd become something great!!

I just wish this wasn't the end for us.

Jeri's POV

I glanced around the room, gazing at friends. Mostly old but a few new. Tommy, Kat, Tanya and Adam stood behind me, stoic, sullen and just flat out depressed. Much like me.

It was, in essence, graduation day.

We were leaving the ranger hood behind.

I watched, with tears in my eyes, as Alpha transferred Tommy, Kat, Tanya and Adam's powers to the four new rangers. It was a sad and dreary day. TJ Johnson, Carlos Valerte, Ashley Hammond and Cassie Chan assumed the new powers.

"Alpha, what about my powers?" I asked, quietly.

"They will be retired until we can find a deserving replacement for you, Jerine." Alpha said.

It had been the hardest and most excruciating thing for the last three years. It had also been one of the most profound things I could've done in my entire life. It was something I'd never forget.

I still remember that fateful day at the youth center. Three years ago, to be exact.

Jason Scott, Billy Cranston, Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan, Kimberly Harte and I were hanging out there. It was something that we always did and we had grown accustomed to it.

The Youth Center and Juice Bar was the place to hang out. Everyone hung out here. I knew that because I grew up here in Angel Grove. I was used to the quiet living in a smaller city.

But that all changed. On that fateful day, everything changed.

Strange things started happening and we were brought to a darkened power chamber.

It was there that an interdimensional being named Zordon, and his trusty sidekick Alpha 5 did all their dirty work. And in some weird twist of fate, they had selected us to be the Power Rangers.

I often wondered how different my life would have been had they not been there. I wondered if I would have been attacked by monsters or if my dad would have moved us to a safer location. Or even worse, if I would have died.

It was hard keeping this super hero thing a secret. Especially from a cop, like my father Lt. Jerome B. Stone. It really didn't matter though. Dad and I were close. He just assumed that I was growing up and that I was hanging out with my friends.

We've been through quite a bit. It was almost too much. First, Jason, Zack and Trini left. They had been selected to go to Switzerland to be part of a World Peace Conference. They were replaced with Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park and Aisha Campbell; all transfer students from Stone Canyon. Then Kim left to train for the Pan Global games. Katherine Hillard, after being a baddy and working with the dark side, claimed her power coin and became the new pink ranger. Then Aisha went to save us all and was replace with Tanya Sloan. And just recently, we gained and lost a gold ranger. Tommy recruited Jason, who was just coming back from the Peace Conference. He returned in just the nick of time. Through it all, we stood united. I was the purple ranger, which I swear is my signature color even before I became the purple ranger.

This was like a second family to me. I wasn't really close to my real family, other than my father. It wasn't like I had the chance.

Oriana was gone before I had the chance to know her. She lived in Atlanta and worked for CNN. Harley is a bad ass and won't ever clean his act up. He's never home. And Chandra, my twin sister, left home last year. No one has heard from her since. I'm sure it has something to do with her broken relationship with Jason.

Now, it's just me and Dad. Well, that is, until I go to Mariner Bay for college.

We all solemnly left the power chamber and headed back into town.

"I'll see you guys later." Tommy said, heading into another direction.

"Huh? Tommy?" I asked

"Big race today." He said calmly.

"But it's graduation day." Katherine protested.

"It's just a ceremony." He said, calmly

"Tommy. That's not fair!" Tanya yelled.

"Just forget it, guys." I said as I started heading home.

"Jer, where are you going?" Adam asked.

"Hey! I have a valedictorian speech to half-ass my way through."

"Jeri, half-assing something? That's a first." Adam retorted. I reached over and slugged him in the arm

"Shut up."

"Ouch!"

"Whiner!"

I took off running. It was just in time to see my dad beaming with pride.

Graduation went without a hitch and I was now free from the boring high school life. Of course, the Oliver's were missing from the graduation ceremony. That didn't surprise me. Tommy, I knew would but Marley had been looking forward to this. She'd even had big plans to screw everything up and to piss Mr. Caplan off. She wasn't there either.

My grad party was the only time I really saw them that summer. It was the last time I saw any of them. We all pretty much headed in our own directions after graduation. And I missed them terribly.

I worked two jobs that last summer in Angel Grove. I waitressed at the Juice Bar and became a nursing assistant at the Angel Grove Senior Care Center. I figured some of that training would help when I went to Mariner Bay.

My name is Jerine Chasen Stone. I'm the youngest daughter of Jerome B. Stone. Jerome is a former officer of the law and now proprietor to the Juice Bar. That's in addition to his private investigation duties.

He's got Bulk and Skull to keep him company and to take care of him now. I'm not that worried about him because I know he'll be all right.

Dad say's that I'm just like my mom. I always want to take care of people and I want to help them. I decided that I wanted to be an EMT and then eventually a pediatrician. I loved children and wanted to have some of my own someday.