Power Rangers: The First and Last Hope
Chapter 1: The Drain
The year was 2018. No one on the Earth knows where they came from. One day, a huge ship, bigger than anything anyone could have possibly imagined, began approaching the planet. The huge ship was black, cold and lifeless, the size of a space station and yet able to move at speeds our technology could never hope to achieve.
Before anyone on Earth even had the chance to react, a red beam shot a cannon on the front of the ship, releasing a huge red energy wave towards our planet. The beam soon covered the entire planet, stretching and forming an energy field around the Earth directly connected to the ship.
Slowly but surely, power lines around the planet began losing their energy. Everyone's power began to flicker, and then turn off completely. Nuclear power plants powering hundreds of cities were slowly drained of all their energy until there was nothing left, and anymore power they kept on producing kept on being drained. No one on the planet knew what was happening, or how to stop it, but the ship was draining all of the planet's energy fairly quickly.
Even more importantly, active Power Rangers across the country no longer found themselves able to morph. They called on every power they could think of- Dino Gems, Wind Morphers, Thunder Morphers, Chrono Morphers, Rescue Morphers, and many more- but nothing worked. The Rangers soon began to realize what had happened. Just as the world's power had been drained, so had the power inside of their morphers. They could never morph again.
As the energy field remained around the Earth, still sucking every bit of energy it could hope to create dry, the minions of the ship began to descend. Dressed in black cloaks that covered their faces except for their eyes, and armed with long knives in their right hand, and a strange glove on their left hand that allowed them to zap out black-colored energy, the minions descended from the ship like meteors, flying down through the atmosphere and landing at their destinations. Once they arrived, they proceeded to take control of the areas through brute force. Which wasn't exactly difficult- none of the people protecting their regions could hope to compete with the superhuman fighting abilities and power of these cloaked minions, especially without any power. Computers, so important to today's military, were useless now. So the minions took over, area after area, region after region, until finally they descended on the United States of America's capital.
Washington D.C.
Finally, as the President was apprehended and put into custody by the minions, the people of Earth would get their first view of someone other than the silent, cloaked minions that had been conquering their planet. A small shuttle, painted black much like the mothership and just as cold and steely as it, landed on the grass outside the White House. Suddenly, TVs around the country came back to life, turning on with the image of the White House's exterior and the shuttle landing. People who even bothered to change the channel realized the same thing was on every channel- so they watched, waiting to see what exactly was about to happen.
Slowly, the door to the shuttle opened, revealing a flight of stairs. More minions came down quickly, kicking aside some spectators who had crowded around the shuttle hoping to get a glimpse of their conqueror. Then, he appeared.
Dressed in a black cloak much like his minions, but a much smaller one that allowed you to see his face clearly, he appeared to be human. With short black hair and a rugged, unshaven face, he looked somewhat handsome at that. He was huge, well over six feet tall and quite the physical specimen. As he came down the stairs, his huge black boots clanging on the metal, he looked right at the people of the Earth watching both there and around the world- and he smiled.
"Hello, Earthlings." he grinned. "I am your ambassador to the Zarset Empire. You may call me Araken. You probably have many questions...well, they're all about to be answered."
The people around the world watching were all curious as to what he was talking about, but many had a feeling watching it that they weren't going to like his explanations.
"The Zarset Empire are the universe's true race of conquerors." Araken began. "Born from a solar system far away, we developed the most powerful technology ever seen by any race, human or otherwise. The only problem was, our own planet did not have enough energy to power our incredible creations, nor did we have enough manpower to keep building them. So we began to spread ourselves throughout the universe, using our highly advanced technology to produce draining shields, like the one that was used on your planet. All of the energy this planet produces will be sucked dry by our mothership from now until the end of time, and we'll send the energy back to our home planet, and our power will grow even stronger. Additionally, you Earthlings are now servants of the Zarset Empire. You will build us factories, research centers, and much more. And you will make sure they all run correctly. You will take care of all of the hard labor these facilities require. And if you don't...you will die."
Araken's bone-chilling grin as he spoke those last few words shook the people watching it around the world to the core. Because they knew he wasn't bluffing. They knew he was 100 serious just by the look in his eyes.
"And know that your precious Power Rangers can't help you anymore." he said with another grin. "We've seen Power Rangers on most of the planets we've been on, but none of them have ever been able to morph after we've drained their planets of their energy. So, you see, nothing can save you. Why bother fighting? Some of you will choose to accept us rather than fight us, and we'll be more than happy to receive you into our group. Perhaps you'll become regional managers and help us organize the unwashed masses into a labor force worthy of the Zarset Empire. Perhaps you'll insist on struggling against us, and will have to be beaten into submission. I suppose we'll just have to see, won't we? Hahahaha."
Araken continued laughing as the transmission ended, the TV screens across the world returning to their blank state. He looked around at the people on the White House lawn and, grinning, walked backwards towards the White House. He would have fun turning it into his own personal palace.
Three Months Later...
A young, dirty-blond haired teenager ran through a New York City back alley, a loaf of bread cradled in his arms.
"Hey! Get back here!" a man in an apron yelled behind him. "That bread is for Zarset workers, not street scum like you!"
It's funny of him to say I'm the scum... he thought with a grin.
Ducking a couple workers who attempted to grab him around a corner, the teenager ran down the stairs into the old subway. Of course, the subway was no longer in commission, which made it the perfect hiding place for this young man and others like him.
As he looked around, he spotted who he was looking for. A brown-haired young woman, looking to be not much older than he was, dressed in a pink shirt and blue jeans, with perfect, hand-crafted sandals.
"How did you get those!" he yelled at his older sister. He was dressed in a red t-shirt, jeans, and some really old-looking sneakers.
"I found them." she grinned. "Why the hell do you care, Tristan?"
"Shut up Ada." Tristan said as he sighed. "I had to run for my life just to get this loaf of bread, and you're looking for five-hundred dollar sandals!"
"Six-hundred." she grinned. "Not that it really matters anymore..."
Tristan sighed again and broke off half of the loaf of bread, throwing it to his older sister.
"You know, I wouldn't talk about my sandals." she said between stuffing her face with bread. "You always make sure to steal plenty of hair-care product to keep that silky-smooth hair of yours perfect."
"Leave my hair out of this!" Tristan shot back as he ran his hands through it slowly. That caused Ada to giggle.
The 16-year-old Tristan and 17-year-old Ada were both orphaned at a very young age, when Tristan was 3 and Ada was 4, so neither remembers their parents all that well. They have a few pictures that Tristan saves, but Ada isn't a fan of their parents for abandoning them and finds it silly. She also laughs that in all the pictures, their parents are wearing the same colors- their father green, and their mother pink. Part of her hates the fact that she wears pink herself, just like her mother- but part of her has always been drawn to the color, no matter how she tries to talk herself into wearing something different.
The two of them were raised by a nice foster family, the Williams. But of course, three months ago that all came crashing down. Their parents were forced into the Zarset Empire's labor force, and Tristan and Ada barely escaped into the underground. Just trying to survive day-by-day, the two are lucky that the Earth-born Zarset force isn't very organized just yet.
However, the two were about to be in for an unpleasant surprise. As they munched on bread, suddenly they heard someone's loud scream.
"There they are! Those are the peasants who have been stealing from everyone in this area!"
Tristan and Ada turned around to face the person pointing his finger at them, and he was the same baker that Tristan had just stolen the bread from. However, behind him were two people that Tristan and Ada had hoped to never see.
Because they weren't people at all. Rather, they were the cloaked minions of the Zarset Empire.
Tristan and Ada both dropped their bread as they turned to face the two minions who walked past the baker and walked towards them. Not knowing what else to do, they looked at each other, then back at the minions, and assumed a fighting stance. Trained in the marital arts from a very young age because, as the Williams later explained it, it's what their birth parents would have wanted, they knew they were going to have to call on every bit of skill they had in them if they wanted to survive this day and keep their freedom.
Looking at each other one last time and nodding, they each ran forward towards a minion- and attacked. They kicked and punched, trying everything they knew, but the minions blocked most of their hits, and the hits that did go through, didn't do anything at all to them. Both teenagers realized when they scored a clean hit that it was like hitting steel. The minions shrugged them off and then sent each one to the ground with a relative flick of their wrist, moving their hands up and smacking them to the ground.
Both Tristan and Ada were hurting from that one simple blow as they laid there on the dirty cement of the subway station. The baker behind both minions smiled to himself, happy to see the thieves finally being made to pay for what they had done. As the minions began to advance on their downed bodies, Tristan looked at his older sister, then back up at the two minions, and he knew he had to do something.
The problem was, he didn't know what.
I can't let this happen! Tristan thought to himself. I promised myself I'd always stay free, that I'd never allow myself to die or be made a slave. At least not until I could find...
Tristan's body suddenly began to glow with red energy. Ada looked at him, shocked, not knowing what was going on, as Tristan slowly stood up...and turned into something completely unexpected.
The original Red Power Ranger.
Ada watched, shocked, as Tristan looked down at himself, unable to understand what had just happened to him. Under the familiar helmet, with the red ranger suit with the white diamond in the middle, a Blade Blaster tucked securely into its holster on his left side, and a power coin around his waist, Tristan began to feel the power that he had just gained. The minions backed up in fear, clearly not expecting a teenage runaway to suddenly morph into a Power Ranger, and the baker took off running in the opposite direction, back up the subway stairs from where he came. Tristan raised his now gloved hands to his face and looked at them, as if he was in awe of it all, before clenching them into fists and taking a fighting stance. He pointed towards the two minions.
"Well well, you still want to pick on me now!" he asked them with a cocky tone of voice. "Then come on and try it!"
The minions looked at each other and, not knowing what else to do, charged Tristan. Tristan moved forward and easily blocked the first minion's attacks before throwing him to the ground, then turned and connected with a kick to the second minion, knocking him to the ground as well. He pulled out his Blade Blaster and put it in blaster mode, blasting the first one as he stood up. Ada shrieked and jumped down onto the subway tracks, trying to get out of the way, as Tristan then leaped into the air, turning the Blade Blaster back into blade mode in mid-air, and caught the second minion with a hard slash across his chest as he stood up. Tristan landed on his feet and watched as both minions disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
Tristan was very impressed with his own abilities, and smirking to himself underneath his helmet, he called out to his older sister.
"Ada! You can come out now. They're both gone. I beat their asses." he continued grinning.
Ada climbed back onto the subway platform and looked over him, still in amazement.
"Tristan...this is impossible!" she yelled. "We've seen the original Power Rangers before in pictures- they were around way before we were born, and were gone way before as well! How could you just suddenly morph into one!"
"I have no idea." Tristan admitted. "But come on, isn't this great? Now we can fight back against those creepy minions!"
"I guess..." Ada said. In the back of her mind, she began to realize that a power as great as that of the original Red Power Rangers' is not given merely to help you steal bread and shampoo...
She looked back at Tristan as slowly he began to power down.
"Whoa, how did that happen?" he asked her, now fully demorphed and looking just like he always did.
"Don't ask me." Ada replied. "Hey, what's that in your hand?"
Tristan looked down for the first time and realized he was indeed holding something...a morpher with a gold power coin inside of it!
"What's that on the coin?" Ada asked him as he leaned in to inspect it.
"It looks like a dinosaur or something." Tristan said as he held it up to his eye to inspect it. "Whoa! A t-rex! Awesome!"
"I wonder if that means you get a Tyrannosaurus zord?" Ada thought out-loud.
"A what?"
"A zord, you idiot." Ada snapped. "Don't you know ANYTHING about the Power Rangers!"
"Oh, you mean those big mechanical things? I want one!"
"Well, you'll probably get one now that you're a Power Ranger..." she huffed.
Tristan realized the tone of voice she was using and began to grin.
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy in your voice, big sister?" he asked her sarcastically. "You were always the better marital artist, the taller one, the stronger one...you used to make fun of me for being a wimp. Well, now look at me!"
"Yeah yeah." Ada replied, rolling her eyes. "If ANYONE should have become a Power Ranger in this family, it should have been ME."
"I'm afraid neither one of you should have become Power Rangers." came a cold, threatening voice from above them. "That way, the both of you wouldn't have had to die."
Both Tristan and Ada turned their faces...and were greeted with that same smirking face of Araken they had seen all these months on their TVs.
"Uh-oh." Tristan managed to whisper.