'TIL I COLLAPSE - PART TWO: SPACE INVADERS (PG-13)
SEQUEL TO: ORDINARY WORLD
SUMMARY: A day at Reefside High is about to take a turn for the worse when invaders from space have found their next target to eliminateEarth. What will the Rangers sacrifice to ensure the protection of Earth will stay under their wing?
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is not mine, and it never will. But I would like to welcome you to Flypsyde Pryde Productions and my own little twist to a series that has come to leave a legacy in the eyes of those who love to watch it. No, actually, I really don't have my own production company, but if I did, I would call it that, or something along those lines.
A/N: Won't say much, 'cuz I don't want to give it away. So, I hope you like the twist I have added to our DT team and our rangers from the past. But I hope you enjoy it either way. You know what to do. Read, review. You're all greatly appreciated for even dealing with the stories I write.
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"After all that's happened in the battles we have faced, I never would have thought that things would become this hard. This won't be easy." -Eclyptyk Neo
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T.G.I.F. The week had gone by rather slow, and everyone was happy to find it was now the end of the week.
Trent was sitting at a picnic table in the early morning hours before school sketching a few things in his sketchbook. He would find inspiration in multiple places. But it was evident, many of them were related to his time as a Ranger and of Kira. At the beginning of last year, he was only good at drawing superheroes. Through the past two years, he had improved and gotten into more realistic drawings. Now, he could expand his horizons of drawing to many different fields of art and media.
He looked into the distance, sketching out some of the varsity football players hanging out near the soccer goal post.
"Hey," a voice said from behind him as he jumped, startled.
Trent turned around to see Kira standing there with a gentle smile. She apologized for intruding and sat beside him to see what he was doing.
"Did you just do that?" she asked looking into the distance where his subjects were standing.
Trent nodded. "Yeah, except it's sorta hard when they keep moving."
"You're getting better. I remember when you could only draw superheroes," she said.
"Yeah, and I remember how you weren't much for a huge performance in front of people. Now, you've been more open about presenting your work to the student body. You do realize we opened up a contest to the senior class to create an original song for graduation," he said as he closed the sketchbook and put it into his backpack.
Kira nodded. "Yeah, I heard. Unfortunately, I haven't actually gotten much inspiration for creating a really good piece I think could relate to the whole class."
"Yeah, it's sorta hard to create something that most of the class can relate to. But not that many entries have been submitted anyway. Actually, I don't think any the last time I heard," he admitted.
"Well, I got a week, right?" she asked as he nodded. "I guess we'll see where we go with it."
Trent was apart of many clubs at Reefside High, just because he never really had much of a passion for playing sports on a competitive basis against other schools. He was good, just not something he could really stick with. He was apart of Senior Council, Science Club, National Honor Society, Link Crew, the Yearbook Staff, and a Renaissance (Academic Excellence) recipient. And of course, on top of that, he had to balance it out with his art, job at the cyber cafe, and maintaining good grades.
Kira wasn't much for being involved, though, she still got recognition for her songwriting and performances at lunch. She was also a Renaissance recipient, but that was it. She just was never into school activities or functions, but she still was willing to catch a few sports events, like the rivalry games. And she had to balance out school work on top of her job/internship at the local TV station.
"It's almost hard to imagine that in less than a year, we could all be going our separate ways," Kira stated, slightly saddened at the thought of moving on to bigger things.
"Yeah, I know," Trent nodded. "It's been one crazy ride. And for once, the sun is actually shining down on us."
"No kidding. This rainy weather hasn't done much for us," she said with a nod.
Then the warning bell rang.
"Man, do we really gotta go to class?" Kira groaned.
"Just think of it this way, we make it through the day and we could celebrate by welcoming in the weekend," Trent said with a smile as he got off the picnic table.
Kira followed and looked around the school grounds. Many of the people she could say she never really knew on a personal basis, but that didn't seem to bother her much. In many cases, she was glad it was her final year in high school, she had been waiting for that moment to be dismissed from secondary school for a long time, but there were other reasons she just didn't want to leave for. "I'm almost gonna miss this place, ya know."
Trent looked over at her as they walked into the building. "Yeah, so am I. But, don't celebrate too early. Senioritis may have already taken over, we just don't need it to effect our work completely."
Kira nodded and smiled. "We'll get by. Just as long as nothing out of the blue surprises us."
Kira and Trent walked quietly through the halls, casually. People around them rushed by hoping not to become tardy yet again. Trent walked her over to her classroom, where Conner and Krista were hanging out before the first bell rang.
"So, when are you two actually gonna hook up?" Conner asked with a laugh.
"Leave them alone, Conner," Krista smacked his arm. "They're just hanging out. How are you guys?"
"Fine. It's all good," Trent nodded with a gentle smile.
"Good. It's Friday," Kira said with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, no doubt. This has been a long week," Conner groaned.
"No kidding. But I'll catch you guys later. I don't want to be late for class," Trent said as he tapped Kira's shoulder. "See you in 3rd hour."
Kira said good-bye to him and walked into her classroom.
Conner looked at them, shaking his head. In the back of his mind he didn't understand why it was taking the two so long to hook-up when it was evident they liked each other. Krista shared a quick kiss with him to bring him back into reality and said her own good-bye. She said she'd see him later, and he knew he had to get to class, too.
When Conner had walked into the room, he could see the spark of something in Kira's eye. He knew he would try to embarrass them, but only to get out what they were keeping in. They would look at each other and blush, sometimes. They hadn't said much about whether or not their relationship had gotten to the point of actually dating, and they knew a lot of people questioned it. They could only conclude that they were hanging out, that was it.
"Should I be concerned?" Conner whispered to the teen in yellow.
Kira looked at him slightly appalled. "There's nothing going on between us."
"It's okay to admit you're still in denial, but I just gotta know. Should I be concerned with the two of you?"
"No. Because there is nothing going on," she said firmly.
Conner backed away knowing he wouldn't get any farther with her. But he knew in her tone, that she was denying anything that could be going on with her and Trent.
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First hour had gone by rather slow, but that didn't seem to bother Trent all too much. All they were doing was watching a movie, "Awakenings." It was a good movie that could very well relate to the science field for finding cures to diseases and cancers.
But that had come to pass, and it was onto second period. Dr. Oliver had been setting up lab stations throughout the room for his 9th Grade Biology class regarding genetics. Trent was sitting at one of the tables looking out toward the school yard, sketching. A small stream of music played in the background to pass the time better.
"So, how has this whole thing been with your dad and Elsa been going, Trent?" Dr. Oliver asked as he took out a few microscopes in the back.
Trent shrugged. "Not a whole lot actually. My dad has been busy looking into some research toward his new project."
"Oh, you mean that project on growing crops in different conditions?" Dr. O looked over at his student.
Trent nodded. "Yeah, with all this rain, he thinks it may need to go into effect, if you get my drift."
"Yeah, no kidding. But the reports just say it's all those streams passing in the Pacific," Dr. O sighed. "I've had Hayley on the case, but she has found nothing wrong."
"I thought you told her to take a break," Trent protested.
"Yeah, I did. She's the one who seems more concerned with it," the science teacher replied with a shrug. "But she has found nothing."
Trent could only shrug as he went back to sketching out the skyline. Dr. O finished setting up the stations and walked back over to his desk, sighing.
"What's up, Dr. O?" Trent asked.
"I don't know, Trent. It's been too quiet around here. Far too quiet for my taste," the teacher admitted as he took a seat. "I guess I'm just not used to living a 'normal' life."
Trent didn't have to disagree. He didn't like the 'quietness' as much as any of the other rangers, and he knew they all had their theory on the new year.
Dr. O went back to setting up the agenda for the following week as Trent went back to drawing.
Time had passed, but it passed slow.
Trent took a color pencil and began to color the picture, looking back up to see the exact color of it. His eyes darted back and forth to get most of the details correct, until a strange cloud coverage began to destroy his scenery. He raised an eyebrow with confusion. "Um...Dr. Oliver..."
Dr. O looked up from his schedule book at the teen. He raised an eyebrow as he averted it to the skies outside.
The area was swamped by a darkness and the ground appeared to shake. The lights in the room dimmed and blacked out for a second before coming back on. The cloud coverage seemed to encase the school in a force field of mystery.
The black and white DT rangers looked at each other and raced out of the room. They knew something must be hidden in those clouds as they headed out of the building.
Crowds of students and staff member gathered in the front of the school. Others were stationed at the windows wondering what was going on. Everyone looked into the clouds questioning what was going on. They had no idea what to make of it.
Then laser fire showered down on the innocent as people raced for safety. Others gathered around as a light opened from the clouds onto the ground and a line of figures appeared on ground level.
More people freaked out racing for cover, as others looked at the new visitors with awe and confusion.
One of the figures, the one in front, was covered in a black hooded robe. As it removed the cloak, a masked face became evident. There was a line of horns located on the top of the head. It had a glowing set of red eyes and had an armor-plated body similar to a samurai and Darth Vader. He pulled away the cloak to reveal a line of spikes on his arms similar to Trent in Super Dino Mode. When he brought his hands out in front of him, a new line of spikes emerged from his back like a porcupine.
Another figure stood to his right. He was in an armored suit that took the shape of his body. His arms were built strong with a weapon system ready to be called on at the push of a button. The shape of hhis helmet resembled that of short-snouted animal with pointed ears similar to a bat. He only had three-digit hands and a whipping tail that could mistaken him for a dinosaur or an animal with a big strong tail. He had a line of spikes running down his back that could do sheer damage. And he didn't at all look too friendly.
An army of cyborg-like soldiers stood behind them. Each of them were armor plated with bulletproof-like vests. They had a set of spikes emerging from their elbows and knees. Their helmets were all the same, a neutral face that could mistaken them for a bad version of the stormtroopers and clonetroopers in "Star Wars." Each of them were holding a pistol set to do real damage if anyone got near. They only had three digits on their hands. Their eyes glowed in a red hint, similar to the lead guy.
The lead figure stepped forward and began to speak in an alien dialect. But when he pushed a button on his suit, it began to translate what he was saying into English. "I am Mindshatter from the outskirts of space. I have studied the planet Earth, and have found it a perfect place to begin creating my army to rule this entire universe. Those who fail to comply however, will be destroyed..."
Trent and Dr. Oliver had been hidden in the back of the crowd, watching intently. They had seen the leader speak with confidence, feeling their knees weaken at the power of his voice. But it had to be more than that, as the legendary ranger felt a dizziness in his head.
Dr. Oliver forced out a breath as he hit the ground, his knees giving in.
"Dr. O," Trent reached over in a panic and helped him to his feet.
"Something is wrong," the teacher breathed as he shook his head, dazed.
"...you have been warned, people of Earth. I will not take kindly to those who will go up against me," the dark figure replied.
He turned away and disappeared along with his henchman and army back into the cloudy coverage. The clouds moved away, but not without sprinkling the land with a new line of lasers.
People looked at each other questioning where the Rangers could have been, and if that was just a joke. But with the scorched marks on the ground of the laser fire, everyone knew that it was no joke.
"...students, please return to class," the P.A. systemcame on.
Students were unsure what to make of it as they filed back into the building and the cloud coverage was gone, disappearing out of sight in the distance.
Trent had pulled his teacher back on his feet as he forced out a breath. "So, I guess this isn't done?"
"Guess not," the legendary ranger replied as he finally felt the strength come back to his legs. "We got some things to discuss."
"Dr. O! Trent!" a voice called out.
The two turned around as they saw Ethan running their way.
"Did you guys see that? Oh man, did you... Hey, you okay, Dr. O?" Ethan grew concerned as the teacher slowly stood up straighter.
Dr. O nodded slowly. "I'm fine, Ethan. But that guy means business, no doubt about it. But we can't just jump into this and make it obvious. Wait until after school. We'll meet in the lab and discuss this."
"Hey, you don't have to tell me twice," Ethan nodded. "I'll let Conner and Kira know what's up." He flashed a peace and raced back into the building.
Trent and Dr. O looked at each other again sighing.
"C'mon, Trent. We'll figure this out," his teacher nodded as he directed him toward the building.
"Yeah, so much for a nice relaxing year," Trent sighed.
"No doubt," Dr. Oliver nodded.
to be continued...
A/N: Yeah, I know that it doesn't give much now, but just read on. I kinda like building up this tension. It kinda makes a person wonder what will happen next. And I know that is how you're feeling right now. And if you want to actually see what I would interpret at our new bad guy, hit me up with an email and I'll email you my illustration of our newest foe. Either way, I hope you return for more. But, just read on and see what's about to happen to the Power Rangers. See you next chapter. May the Powers Always Protect You.