Disclaimer: Power Rangers and all its related logos are property of Saban and/or Disney Entertainment. I am using them without permission, but I do not intend to make a profit. I mean it, I don't. If I do happen to make some quick cash from it, I promise to sponsor a child for seventy-five cents a day with the money I made. Possibly even two of them.

A/N: This fic takes place with the assumption that power rangers are and always were real, though the secret identities of the rangers have remained secret over the years. You may see cameos from other rangers, but this will deal primarily with original characters. It is set some time after Dino Thunder, but before SPD.

Friday March 4th, 2005 4:01pm ... Reefside, California

He'd been there for so long, he'd lost track of the days. In fact, because there were discernable windows or doors, he wasn't even sure what time of day it was. Darkness surrounded him, and with everything completely silent, he found himself catching almost anything that came into earshot. Drips of water along the cold stonewalls, the sound of someone… or something walking by on the other side of the wall, the occasional scream, more than likely from someone else who'd been captured.

Still, in all the time he'd been there, chained to a wall and left for dead, he wasn't concerned about himself in the slightest. His major concern was for Liz. 'I hope she got out okay? If something happened to her, I'd…' he allowed that thought to trail off, refusing to entertain it. The only thing that kept him going, the one thing that gave him hope was that she'd managed to escape somehow.

His wrists were in pain, his feet only inches away from the ground. He'd been dangling there for… well, he wasn't sure how long. He took comfort in believing that Liz had made it to safety, but now, that wasn't really enough for him. Even if she hadn't been able to get away, staying chained to the wall was no longer an option for him.

Every few hours, a portal opened, and a foot solder brought him a plate of food (though calling it food was a bit of a stretch). It seemed to come at regular intervals, and this time, he made a silent vow to himself that when the portal opened again and the foot soldier came through, he'd make his escape.

Jen had done her best to avoid her mother all day, which wasn't difficult considering she'd been in school most of the day. With everything that had happened to her, the last thing she needed was her mother complaining about her sneaking out the house last night. She knew that sooner or later, her mother would confront her, but by stalling, she gave herself time to come up with a good excuse.

She sat in front of her computer, staring down at her morpher. It was a sleek, slender design; primarily black with a gold panel on the front. The panel was covered with writing… 'or maybe they're symbols,' she thought to herself. Towards the top of the panel was a black circle that resembled the Eye of Thorolon, but it was black. 'No doubt cuz I'm the black ranger.'

Power Rangers had been on the evening news almost every night for as far as she could remember; always saving the city, always protecting the world from assorted evil forces. There were times when she dreamt about being a ranger herself, but never in her wildest dreams thought she'd ever be one herself. The only problem was, she couldn't tell anyone.

'I don't get it, we knew who the Lightspeed Rangers were and no one ever went after them. Why can't I tell anyone about my identity?' she wondered. Still, as much as she wanted to tell people, she understood that Mr. James wouldn't have told her to keep it to herself unless there was a good reason. 'Besides, I'm only a ranger in another dimension. Its not like anyone would believe me anyway,' she sighed.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a screen on her computer blinked on…

Zetagreen: Hey, you there?

She reluctantly pulled her chair up to the computer, taking a deep breath. She wanted to be able to tell him everything; how she was there, how she saw someone the ranger he'd created, but doing that would reveal her identity, so she had to choose her words carefully.

RevolutionChick: Yeah, what's up?
Zetagreen: Did you make last night?
RevolutionChick??????
Zetagreen: To Cyber Space for the game?
RevolutionChick: No, mom was being a bitch. U?
Zetagreen: No, but Carl went without me.
Zetagreen: I got called in to work
RevolutionChick: That sucks ass man
Zetagreen: Yeah, but its cool
RevolutionChick: Did you get the game 4 me?
Zetagreen: Carl copied it. I'll get it to u tonight
RevolutionChick: kk, thanks

In the distance, she heard someone coming up the stairs. It was no doubt her mother on her way to her room to ground her forever. Jen sighed, realizing that there was no more stalling.

RevolutionChick: I g2g, mom is about to
bitch at me for something… again
Zetagreen: lol, ok. Good luck
RevolutionChick: thx. TTYL

She turned her computer monitor off just as her mother opened the door and walked into the room.

"I see you made it home," her mother groaned, standing in the doorway.

"I see you forgot how to knock," Jen pointed out, turning around in her chair to face her.

"I've been waiting for you to wake up. I wanted to tell you…"

Jen stood up, interrupting her. "Before you get started, I want to tell you that if I had to do it all over again, I would have. It was worth it, now do your worst!" she said, folding her arms.

"My worst? For what? I came in here to tell you how proud I was of you."

Jen paused. "What?"

"I got a call from your boss today while you were at school. She explained everything to me," she said.

"My boss?"

"Yes. She said her name was Halley… or Harley… or…" she was interrupted.

"Hayley?" Jen asked.

"Yes, that was it. When she told me you'd be working there after school, I was so proud of you. Its not what I had in mind when I said I wanted to you to find new things to do, but its good that you're earning your own money," her mother told her.

'Thank you Hayley,' she thought to herself, inwardly sighing with relief. Hayley bailing her out saved her the trouble of coming up with a cover story for her mom everytime she had to leave all of a sudden.

"Oh, yeah, that," she paused. "Just don't ask to borrow any money, serving smoothies isn't exactly a top payin' job you know," she said.

"She gave me your schedule for this weekend and next week. Here, I wrote it down for you," she said, handing Jen a slip of paper. "Oh, and she asked to me to tell you come up to the café as soon as you get a chance."

Jen glanced down at the paper. "Oh, okay. I'll try to get down there," she said.

"You need a ride?"

"No, I'm good," Jen said.

"Okay. Dinner is in an hour, so be home by then," her mother said, walking out the room.

Belial walked into the room, dropping to his knees in the middle of the room in front of a symbol on the wall. The symbol itself was triangular shaped, but with ancient markings surrounding it. At the point of each end of the triangle were small openings, and in the middle of the triangle was an eye. The lighting in the room was rather dim, but it was enough for Belial to see exactly where he was. Standing on either side of the symbol were two large creatures, almost as if they were guarding it.

"My lord, new warriors have been chosen. Its only a matter of time before they come here in search of Red Predator Ranger," he announced.

"NON-SENSE. THESE NEW WARRIORS DON'T EVEN KNOW THE LOCATION OF OUR DARK FORTRESS," a voice echoed through the room, shaking the walls slightly. The voice itself seemed to be coming from the symbol itself.

"But my lord, Allumier ranger is with them" he pointed out.

"WHAT?" the voice yelled so loudly that Belial fell backwards. "ALLUMIER AND HER WARRIORS MUST BE DESTROYED BEFORE GAINING ACCESS TO THE FORTRESS. WE WILL ATTACK THEM IN THEIR DIMENSION AND OBTAIL THE THIRD EYE!"

"The identities of the warriors have remained a secret, and the location of the Eye eludes us," he said.

"FIND THE EYE AND DESTROY THEM, OR I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

"Your will shall be done my lord. I swear it!" Belial said as he made it back to his feet, bowing slightly, and then walked out the room.

It was like de'ja'vu. There he was, standing outside of Hayley's Cyber Space… again. He took a minute to look at the surroundings, amazed that when he was in the virtual world, everything looked exactly the same. The fire hydrant outside the café, the buildings on the opposite sides, everything was completely recreated. Part of him expected to walk into the café and be surrounded by light again. 'Hell, wouldn't be the first time,' he thought to himself.

Still, Jake walked in cautiously, getting a good look around. The booths they originally played the game in were gone, replaced by a set of computers along the walls. Hayley, as usual, was behind the counter working, and there were people scattered everywhere. Some of them reading, some of computers, others just hanging out with their friends.

He headed over to the counter, where a young girl walked over to him. "Hey, what can I get you?" she asked him.

"Um… how about a raspberry smoothie?"

"You got it. Anything else? Breaksticks? Pretzel?" she inquired.

"Naw, just a smoothie," he said.

"Okay, be back in a sec," she said, rushing off.

He glanced around the room, hoping to see Mr. James. He wanted to talk to him about what was going on, what was expected of him now that he was a ranger, but there was no sign on him. He also hoped to see another one of the rangers there. 'Then again, they're probably here and I don't even know it. It could be anymore,' he thought to himself.

"Here you go," the young girl said as she returned, handing him a smoothie.

He looked at her strangely. "You're a little young, aren't you…" he glanced down at her nametag. "Jennifer? Isn't there some child labor law or something?" Jake asked her.

She paused, smiling slightly, trying to contain herself. "I'm old enough to work here, I assure you. Is there anything else you need?" she asked.

"No, I'm good."

"That'll be two dollars."

He reached in his pocket, handing her the money, then turned his back to her as she walked away. It was still bizarre to him to say the least. Anyone in the café could be a ranger, disguised amongst the crowd. 'Being the Blizzard Ranger is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. I wish I could tell people,' he thought to himself.

Elaine stormed into the café, rushing over to the counter. Hayley was nowhere to be seen, but there was another person working behind the counter stocking cups on a shelf. Elaine began to pound on the counter. "Hello? Can I get some service over here?" she called out.

The girl behind the counter put the cups down, walking over to her, doing her best to smile. "Hey, what can I get for you?" she asked.

"The usual."

She paused. "If you didn't notice, I'm new here. I'm not sure what your usual is," the girl pointed out.

Elaine looked around, almost completely looked passed the new employee. "Where is Hayley? I don't have time to hold hands with the new kid," she said.

"Is there a problem?" a voice asked.

Elaine turned around as he walked over to them.

"Trent!" Elaine said eagerly. "Its good to see you."

"I'm only here helping Hayley train the new employee, Hayley has her hands full with other things," he said.

'I can imagine,' Elaine sighed inwardly.

"So, whats the problem here?" he asked.

"The problem is this tight ass thinks I'm a mind reader or something. I don't have…" she was interrupted.

"Jennifer, calm down. Elaine has been coming in here since I was a busboy here, and she always orders the same thing: strawberry banana smoothie, large," Trent told her.

"That would explain the big hips," Jennifer mumbled.

"I can't believe you remembered," Elaine sighed, smiling at Trent.

"Of course I do, you were one of my favorite customers," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Are you still working down at that computer store?" he asked her.

"Yeah, not much to it though. Just installing software for high speed internet for our customers. Its no big deal," she turned to Jennifer as she presented her with a smoothie. "Of course, it beats being a busboy," she sighed.

"Skanky bitch!" Jennifer snapped, picking up the smoothie and throwing it in Elaine's face.

Jake, who was sitting only a few feet away at the counter, couldn't help but laugh.

Elaine tried to jump over the counter to go after Jen, but Trent held her back.

"Jennifer, just go into the office with Hayley. I'll be there in a minute," he instructed.

"But I…"

"Just go!" he repeated.

Jen got a good look at Elaine one of time, all covered in strawberry banana smoothie, and couldn't help but smile. "Stuck up bitch," she mumbled, walking into the office.

A portal opened in the alleyway, and seconds later, Carl stepped through, and portal closed behind him. With a demonic look in his eyes, Carl glanced around, realizing exactly where he was.

He headed out the alley and around the corner, stopping at a house and knocking on the door. Within seconds, the door opened, and Patrick greeted him. "Hey man, I was worried about you. Where you been?" he asked.

"Sorry, just been busy," he said in a monotone voice.

Patrick stepped aside, allowing him in, and the two of them headed to his room. "I looked for you after the game last night, but I didn't see you anywhere," he brought up.

"Yeah, I bailed early. That's all," he said. "So, did you win?"

"Win? Oh, no, I didn't. I got eliminated towards the end, but I did a free copy of the game for my effort. Plus, I have a coupon for a smoothie. I was thinking about going down to Cyber Space tonight and getting an order of those breadsticks, you wanna come?" he asked him.

"No thanks. I just want to know who won," he said dryly.

"Why does it matter to you so much?"

Carl paused. "Because they're honorary power rangers now. I want to meet them," he said.

Patrick wanted to tell his friend the truth, that he had in fact won, and now he was officially a power ranger. But, Mr. James warned them about the dangers of revealing their identities. "Well, I'm sure they'll know more about it at the café. You sure you don't wanna come with me?" he asked.

"No, I have other things to do," he paused. "Did your little girlfriend ever show up last night?" he inquired.

"While I was in the game, someone did pick her ranger, but when I talked to her she said she didn't make it," Patrick said.

"What's her name? Her real name?" he asked.

"What's with all the questions today man?"

"Just curious. You've been droolin' over this chick for months now and I don't know much about her, that's all," Carl said.

"Her name is Jen," he said.

"You don't have a last night? Phone number? An address?" he asked.

"No, just a screen name, but I suppose if I wanted to, I could track her down by her IP number."

"Ya know, that's a good idea," Carl said with a sinister look on his face.

"So when are we going after Rick? There's no telling what they're doing to him in there!" Liz said, pacing back and forth.

Ethan sat in front of the computer, going over settings on the screen. "Don't worry, we'll go after him, I promise, but the rangers we picked are inexperienced. I don't want to send them in there without at least trying to preparing them for what they're going to find. Demorelle is serious trouble, and they'll get destroyed if they go in there without knowing what they're dealing with," he explained to her.

"I don't need them. Send me in by myself," she stopped dead in her tracks, reaching for her morpher. "What am I asking you for? I don't need you to go," she went to push a button on her morpher, but stopped as the door to the office opened and Trent drug Jen in, closing the door behind himself.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but we have a situation out there," Trent said.

Jen snatched away from him. "I'm fine, it was that bitch. I swear I'll…" she was interrupted as Ethan stood up.

"Wow about someone just tell me what happened."

"The new girl got into it with a customer," he said.

"I have a name, damn it. Its Jen," she pointed to her nametag. "J-E-N," she elaborated.

"Okay Jen, just calm down," he turned to Trent. "Ask Hayley how she wants to handle it," Ethan said.

"Okay," Trent said, walking out the room.

"Do you think you can go back out there without attacking the customers?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," Jen groaned.

He nodded. "Good. Now if you'll excuse us, I was in a meeting," Ethan said.

"Oh, my bad," she said, politely making her way out the room.

"Shes got a temper on her," Liz pointed out.

"Yeah, she reminds me a lot of you," he pointed out. "I'm going to contact the rangers and have them meet me in the demon dimension to let them know what they're up against."

"Its about time. Lets get going," she said.

Ethan sat back down in front of the computer, pressing a button on the keyboard. "Rangers, come in," he said.

Patrick heard a beeping sound coming from his pocket, and quickly looked over at Carl, who was on the computer, hoping he didn't hear it.

He needed an excuse to leave, and he needed it quick. "Um, Carl. I just remembered," he reached over to his desk, picking up a book. "I need to get this book down to the library before it closes. I'll be back as soon as I can," he said.

Carl, never looking away from the screen, nodding. "Whatever man, I'll be here," he said.

"Cool," Patrick rushed out the house, turning the corner and standing in the alleyway, then reached for his morpher. "This is Tempest Ranger, come in," he said.

Jen heard her morpher beep, and immediately looked over at Hayley. Hayley nodded, silently giving her permission to leave. Jen removed her apron and leaped over the counter, rushing around the corner to find some privacy. She reached for her morpher, but stopped when she was saw her standing in the alley.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Jen asked.

"Since when do I answer to the busboy? If you must know, I'm trying to get all this smoothie off me," she snapped.

"Whatever," she groaned, rushing down the street and around the corner. "This is Spectra Ranger, what's up?" she asked.

Jake was on the outskirts of town, near the city limit when he heard his morpher beep. He stopped his car, reaching in his back pocket, pushing the button. "This is Blizzard Ranger, whats up?" he asked.

"Meet us in virtual Cyber Space, something is up and we need you there," a voice said.

"Okay, I'm on my way."

He got out the car, locking his doors, but before he could push the button on his morpher, a portal opened in front of him. Jake stood ready, unsure of what to expect, and within moments, a group of Demonites and Belial emerged from the portal, surrounding him.

"Going somewhere?" Belial asked him.

Jake glanced around, realizing there were demonites on either side of him, and behind him was a cliff. He didn't even want to look down, he was fairly sure it was further than he was willing to fall.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me," he said.

"One of your friends are in possession of the Eye of Thoron, I want it," he told him.

"Well I don't have it, and its not like I can just call'em up and say 'hey, can I get that eye so I can hand it over to the forces of evil'. Something tells me that wouldn't work," Jake said.

"If you don't have it, you are of no use to me," he said, rushing towards him with his sword.

Jake ducked his attack, then grabbed Belial's arm, kicking the sword out of his hand. Before he had a chance to follow up on his attack, Belial kicked him in the chest, sending Jack over the side of the cliff.

"One down, four to go," Belial groaned, disappearing into a portal.