Note: I do not own Power Rangers or Greek Mythology. The only things I own is the new characters and the interpretation of any mythological beings.
(Late 2021 Spidey here. I just want to tell you that this is NOT the original chapter. I have made quite a few edits now that I'm approaching the end of the fic to improve things. I apologize for any confusion this might cause old readers)
Now that that's out of the way, Enjoy!
Myth 1: Power of the Pantheon
"There's no way he's going to make this," Jason "Jay" Parker said to the girl sitting next to him on the grassy hill. "It's just not possible, right Mera?"
Jay was currently looking out at a track field with a 20-foot bar on two poles towering over all who looked at it. His usual red t-shirt was currently covered with a red sweatshirt. He was glad to wear jeans today; this September had been especially cold for the town of Olympia Hills. His brown hair rustled a bit in the wind as it began to pick up.
The girl, Mera, didn't even look up from her book,
"He seems pretty certain that he can," she responded in a Welsh accent. "He is completely wrong, but it will be amusing to spectate."
The wind blew a little harder and her red hair blew around behind her, completely untied. She shivered slightly and zipped her gray hoodie up a bit more over her yellow polo shirt.
Jay gave her a playful nudge,
"Someone's been using that thesaurus that I gave her for her birthday!" he teased.
Mera just rolled her eyes and flipped the page in her novel.
The man of the hour was kneeling down lacing his shoes, the cold obviously not affecting him at all, as he wore a blue sleeveless muscle shirt and sweat shorts, with both making his darker skin even more obvious. His blond afro-like hair didn't shift a hair out of place from the latest blast of wind. Another boy in a black shirt and blue, dirty overalls with tools sticking out of every pocket shuffled forward with a large metal staff in his large hands.
"Nate," the boy in the overalls said. "Why do you do this to yourself? It's extremely unhealthy and dangerous."
His black half-beard bristled a bit as he frowned, obviously worried for his fellow student.
Nate's head shot up as he jumped from the kneeling position into a standing one. He reached out and clasped the staff, yanking it out of the other boy's hands.
"Because I can," he responded simply. "Now just watch, Victor!"
With a shout, he charged at the pole and jumped. Victor could barely watch through his fingers as Nate rose into the air. As he reached the peak of the jump, Nate pressed the button on one side of the staff. Suddenly, a blast of flame spewed out of the end and lifted him high enough to clear the bar barely. He landed on his feet and raised the staff above his head, as if the staff was capturing all of the cheers from his classmates.
"Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week, and I guess you will be too!" he said as the applause grew around him, with a few laughs from his joke. His latest stunt has brought in quite the audience.
His celebration stopped when he heard a small cough behind him. He slowly turned around to see a man in his early 40s glaring at him behind thick glasses. His white muscle shirt and black shorts gave him an air of a man who was used to law and order.
"Oh…hey Mr. Rogers, how are you doing this fine Tuesday morning?" Nate addressed the teacher innocently.
One could almost see the fire raging in the teacher's eyes.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" he shouted angrily.
Nate glanced down at his wrist, as if checking a watch.
"Wow, would you look at the time, I think I have a class to get to. Look, this has been a great talk, but I got places to be and things to learn, you know the drill. See ya!" he said quickly as he turned away and took a run for it.
Mr. Rogers grabbed Nate by the back of his shirt and easily held him as Nate feebly tried to break free. As Nate struggled, the teacher put a slip of paper in his hand.
"I'm sure you can learn quite a lot today… in detention."
"Oof," Jay said as he watched Nate get the detention slip. "That's rough. Not sure what he really expected, though."
"Indeed," Mera said. "That was the most likely outcome to his antics, however."
"You know, you could try to be nicer about it," Jay said.
"I could, but I will not," Mera argued.
"Man, Jay," a girl with black hair and pink streaks said as she walked up to the two of them. "You really think you can get Mera to actually be nice to Nate. I know you're a peacemaker and I admire you trying, but really…"
Jay was about to respond when the 10-minute bell rang. He decided to speak instead as they walked.
"I just want the friend group to get along. Is that so wrong?" he asked as they entered the building.
"When it involves Nate, the answer is yes," Mera replied.
Jay was about to turn around and argue when he noticed that they had reached the main intersection, which was created from the four main corridors of the school coming together.
"Whatever. I guess I'll see you girls at lunch at the usual spot, right?" Jay asked.
Without an answer, the girls walked to the left, as Jay walked to the right. Jay could feel a presence behind him. Without a word, Nate passed him on the right, leaving Jay to catch up.
"So, Nate, crazy thing you did today. How did you ever get Victor to create that staff for you? He doesn't seem like the type to make something so dangerous"
Nate turned his head to face Jay.
"I just told him what I wanted to do and asked how much I had to pay him. He said that the technical challenge was better than any money. Personally, I think he just wanted to get out of the apartment, and get his mind off his old man, you know?" he said.
"Is that still a problem?" Jay asked as he reached the Calculus class door. "I mean, the two of them have been arguing since forever, but I just assumed it would have solved itself by now."
Nate gave a shrug. "I guess you'll have to ask him yourself. I try not to pry into other people's problems, while you try too hard to fix it for them. I've gotta get to class."
Nate turned away from Jay and continued up the hallway past the wall of lockers
"I'll see you at the usual spot for lunch. Later."
Jay sighed and walked through the door into Calculus. This was going to be a long, uneventful day.
It was the middle of third period, and because of the rotating 6 class schedule, the class before lunch. He was sitting in a room filled with students with glazed eyes and the rapid clicking of cell phones being texted on. He was pretty sure he was the only one listening, besides Valerie, who sat two seats to his left in the very back. He turned his head to look at her again.
Her pink tank top that showed her belly and sweat shorts certainly left little to the imagination, while also showing off her flawless olive skin. Her black hair with the pink streaks in it made her stand out in a crowd, and her face… well…
"Mr. Parker?" the teacher asked again, her patience growing thin. "Did you hear the question I asked you?"
Jay's head shot around quickly to face front again,
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Woolston," he said. "Could you repeat that question?"
Mrs. Woolston sighed. "I asked about the creation of Rome. Can you tell us how Rome was founded?"
Jay smiled; he knew the answer to this.
"There were twins, Romulus and Remus, who were the children of one of the Vestal Virgins and Mars, the god of war. This was a horrible sin, as the Vestal Virgins were supposed to remain pure, so the children were put into a basket to hide them as they floated down the Tiber River that runs through Rome, until a she wolf named Lupa found them. She raised them for a little while until a shepherd and his wife found the children, and raised them into adulthood. The brothers decided to build a city, but fought over what to call their new city. Romulus killed Remus, and named the city Rome after himself."
Mrs. Woolston gave him a dry look.
"Why don't we try to stick to history, instead of mythology?" she asked. "Does anyone else have a better answer? An answer actually based in fact?"
Jay sighed.
If she didn't like my answer, he thought, she shouldn't have asked for it. Besides, even if someone can't prove myth is true, no one can prove that it's false.
When one wanted to have lunch in the perfect place, all they had to do was go to the roof of Olympia Hills High School. The roof was the location of the student-ran Athens café, and the meeting spot of Jay and his friends.
"Thanks," Jay said to the cashier as he walked away with his tray. The selection hadn't been very good lately, with the cold ruining fruits and vegetables as they grew. Luckily, the roof was covered in a glass, greenhouse-like cover that retracted when the weather was nice, so it was nice and warm inside.
Jay walked up to the table in the back right corner. He had found this table on the first day of school, and people had come one by one to join the table. Mera was a given, as she wanted to sit with her best friend. Valerie came next to sit with her best friend. Nate joined when he realized he had nowhere else to sit, and had become fast friends with the group. Victor was last, as no one wanted to sit with him, and the group welcomed him with open arms. While others came and went, these five were always at the table during this lunch period.
"Man," Jay said as he sat down on Mera's right. "Rogers was not in a good mood today thanks to Nate's stunt. Do you have any idea how painful 50 push-ups are after sitting in Calc for an hour?"
Nate shrugged. "It's not my problem that Rogers decides to squash any creativity in this school. He just won't let me be me."
"You being you almost made you crash head first into a metal bar 20 feet in the air," Valarie remarked as she sat down on Mera's left, glaring at Nate across the table. "You may be hard-headed, but even that bar would hurt. You're not as tough as you think you are."
"Indeed," Mera said as she put her book down to eat. "Do you even think of the consequences of your actions?"
"Not particularly," Nate said as he took a bite out of his cheeseburger.
"Duly noted," Victor said as he sat down on Nate's left, across from Jay. "If I had known exactly what you were planning to do, I would have never built that staff for you."
"Well," Nate said as he took another bite, "you did, so… nothing you can do about it now."
"I know better for next time," Victor said.
"Who wants to think ahead?" Nate said with his mouth full, as he stuffed the rest of the cheeseburger into his mouth. "Don't worry about the past or future, the present is all that really matters...ow!"
Mera gave a grin as Nate held his shin. "They say those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, case in point, I kicked you in the exact same spot yesterday, and you still have not figured it out."
Everyone, except Nate, started to laugh. Nate, however, looked around strangely.
"Do you guys feel something… weird? Like someone is watching you?" Nate asked as he glanced around quickly.
"Now you're just trying to change the subject," Valerie said. "We're your friends, and we're worried about your behavior."
Jay and Victor nodded in agreement, while Mera frowned and pursed her lips.
"I am not really worried about his behavior, if he wants to make stupid decisions, that is his fault, not mine," she said.
Nate suddenly pointed behind Jay, Valerie and Mera
"Look! Over there! Behind the café!" he shouted
A dark shadow lurked behind the café building, before dashing away faster than the teens could follow. When they looked back, a bright white envelope was in the middle of the table.
"OK," Jay said. "That was definitely not there before."
There was a moment of silence. Someone could have cut the tension with a knife.
"Is everyone just going to sit there, or is someone going to open it?" Valarie asked impatiently.
With no one else making a move towards it, Jay stretched his arm out and grabbed the letter. He ripped it open as the rest of the group stared at him.
"This isn't uncomfortable at all," Jay said under his breath as he noticed all the stares from his friends.
"Well, what does it say?" Mera asked.
"'Dear Jason, Merrida, Victor, Valerie and Nathaniel, I have been watching you for a while, and I believe you are perfect for my new program. Meet me in library Study Room O after school at 2:40. Please don't be late, sincerely, H.'" Jay read.
Nate snorted, "Merrida? Your name is Merrida?"
"Sure beats Nathaniel," Mera countered.
Valarie put her hands between the two of them.
"You two are acting like children," she said. "Can we get back to the task at hand?"
"Yeah," Victor agreed. "What are we going to do about this letter? Do we go to the Study Room, or should we report this?"
Jay stood up and slammed his hands on the table.
"I vote that we go and figure this out. This is just too weird to not get answers. Who's with me?" he asked.
One by one, the teens raised their hands. Mera was first, followed by Victor, then Valerie, and then, after a little persuading, Nate.
"You guys do realize I have detention, right?" Nate asked the group. "They're not just going to let me leave."
"I can get you out of it," Jay said confidently. "If I say I'm going to tutor you in the library, they should be willing to let you go. Plus, we're already really going to the library anyway."
Victor let out a sigh.
"I guess I have to give up my work time after school. I had a new project and everything."
"Maybe next time, big guy," Jay said, "the letter asked for all of us, so I assume it's best to go as a group."
"I guess I'm going to be skipping dance practice today," Valerie said as she texted a message on her phone. "Coach is going to be so disappointed."
"And I suppose I have to give up Math Club today," Mera said as she sent a message on her phone. She looked up to see 4 pairs of eyes giving her a strange look.
"...Math Club?" Nate snorted, "I'm skipping Detention, Victor's having a day off from his workshop, Valerie is skipping her dance practice, and you're worried about Math Club?"
"Oh no…" Jay whispered to himself. "Here come the fireworks."
Mera's eyes sent a piercing stare at Nate, while her hands balled into fists. The fire of her anger was almost visible, as if it was creating an aura around her.
"Do you have a problem with me being in Math Club?" she growled as Nate cowered a bit, before regaining his composure and gaining the same fiery aura.
"Do you have a problem with me having a problem with you being Math Club?" he snarled back.
"Is that really the best he could come up with?" Valerie whispered to Victor as Jay stood between the two verbally-battling teenagers. Victor replied with a shrug.
"Alright, how about we have a time-out for a minute. You two should separate and calm down, in fact, the bell's about to ring, so how about you go to class?" he said as the self-appointed peacemaker.
The two combatants glared at each other as they grabbed their bags and stomped down the stairs.
Good thing those classes are on the opposite sides of the school, Jay thought. Or that would have never worked.
The final bell rang as the students, who were already standing by the door, despite the teacher's wishes, pushed each other out of the way as everyone tried to leave at once, except Jay. It just so happened that this classroom was also the detention room for the week. He stepped up to the teacher as the rest of the students finally forced their way through.
"They do know that door is supposed to fit one student at the time, right?" Jay asked the teacher.
"Who knows what teenagers think these days," Mr. Ford remarked as he grabbed the sign-out sheet from the desk in front of him, and replaced it with the detention attendance sheet. He glanced down at it and looked up at Jay again.
"You don't appear to be on my list, Mr. Parker," Mr. Ford said as he sat down in his chair. "So why are you here?"
"I decided that I need to help one of my fellow students," Jay responded. "So can I borrow Nate today? I was going to take him to the library, I can sign us in when we get there."
Mr. Ford looked up from his phone slightly.
"Yeah, sure, do whatever you want," he said, completely uninterested. "I don't get paid enough to really care."
As Nate walked in, Jay motioned for him to walk out.
"Alright, thanks," he said before they left
The two turned the corner as they passed the gym, then the auditorium, until they reached the library. They walked in to see that Victor, Valerie and Mera had beat them there, and were sitting in the bean bag chairs next to the non-fiction area. Valerie was texting on her phone, while Mera was back into her novel, ignoring the sound of Victor messing with his little metal bits and pieces he kept in his overall pockets.
Jay walked towards the librarian's desk and signed it. Ever since the problems the school had to face last year with student's...poor decisions, the students had to sign in everywhere. He turned away and motioned for everyone to follow him to the right wall, which had study rooms.
"L...M...N...O!" Jay said as he read the letters on the plaques next to each door. "Who knew we had enough Study Rooms to reach O?"
The response was silence.
"Everyone don't laugh at once," he muttered as he pulled open the door, holding it for everyone before entering himself.
"Looks normal enough to me," Nate said as he crossed his arms.
"Why isn't there somebody here?" Valerie asked as she scanned the room, "I assumed they would meet us here."
Victor glanced down at his homemade watch,
"It should be 2:40 in 3...2...1…" he counted down.
The appearance of the room began to change as the walls began to slide down, revealing a much bigger room around the small box. However, the larger room was not the library, instead it was like a temple. Marble pillars lined the walls and surrounded the former study room to form a square in the middle of the room, holding up the roof, which had carvings on it of animals and humanoid beings on it.
"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Jay remarked as he stepped out of the box, with the others following. With a click, the "room" from which they came flipped over from carpet into the same material as the rest of the room.
"We're trapped!" Valerie yelled out.
"Relax," Victor said. "There has to be a way to either reverse everything back, or another way out."
"Good thinking, Victor," Jay said as he flipped back to serious mode. "Everyone look for that way out."
Everyone nodded and headed in a different direction.
Nate walked to the right and found himself in front of a display of many types of weapons.
"Wicked," he said as he walked around the area, checking out each weapon instead of looking for the way out.
Victor walked straight ahead until he found a large mosaic on the wall.
"Aren't mosaics supposed to be on the floor?" he asked as he stepped towards it. As soon as he was within ten feet of it, the mosaic stones began to rotate into a blue screen with many tan folders on it.
"This seems more high tech than the rest of the place," Victor muttered as he sat down at the "computer" and began to click buttons with symbols he had never seen before.
Mera and Jay walked together towards the back wall
"These look like Ionic pillars," Mera said, "their most common users were the Greek and the Romans. So these must be Greek or Roman ruins!"
"Looks too new to be ruins," Jay said. "If they were, wouldn't the pillars not be that white? They would be dirty with age. These pillars look brand new."
"Well, thank you very much for completely ruining my theory," Mera said sarcastically as she stopped walking.
"No problem, what are friends for…woah!" Jay exclaimed as the walls in front of them slid up to reveal five separate storage areas. In each one was a set of colorful armor. In the center was a red set of armor with two lightning bolts crossing in an "x" shape as a sort of visor and surrounded in gold trim. On the chest/body armor was an elongated omega symbol in the same gold as the one surrounding the visor, as well as a gold belt. The arms were red too, until it reached the wrists, which each had a gold bracelet with an indentation, and then a white glove. The legs were the same red as the rest, except for the golden shin guards and white boots.
Each of the other armors were the same, except for the visors. The sea-blue armor on the red armor's left had a trident-shaped visor. The black one on the right of the red armor has a hammer-shaped visor that looked like a "T". The yellow and pink ones had little skirt attachments, and a spear and heart-shaped visor respectively.
"You know what these look like right?" Jay said as he nudged Mera.
"Oh no," Mera said as she covered her face with her hand. "They look like the…"
"POWER RANGERS!" Jay yelled as he began to run around in a circle freaking out. "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!"
"Not again…" Mera muttered. "I thought we were done with this."
Valerie walked over from her search, having just found two large doors held together by some invisible force.
"Why is Jay running around like a chicken who lost his head?" she whispered to Mera as Jay continued his celebration.
"You haven't seen his collection, have you?" Mera responded. When Valerie shook her head, Mera continued. "I'll have to have him show it to you one time. Long story short, he is obsessed with the Power Rangers."
"Hey, guys?" Victor said in a louder voice than he had ever used in school before. "You may want to look at this."
He gestured to the mosaic-screen as it showed photos of each one of the group doing everyday activities.
Nate walked up behind the other four.
"So we have a stalker?" he asked. "All five of us have the same stalker?"
"Just what kind of 'program' is this?" Valerie asked. "Because this just seems too...freaky to be allowed by the school."
"I don't know, have you seen the school's meatloaf?" Jay asked before Mera smacked him.
"Ow!" he shouted in pain, "that joke wasn't that bad."
"Alright, that's it. I'm done here. This was a waste of my time, it's just a big room full of weird junk. I'm actually missing detention, so I'll just go now…" Nate said as he turned around to try to find the way to leave again, before he stopped and stared above him.
"Why did you trail off… uh, guys?" Valerie said as she turned around and looked up too. "Why don't you turn around for a moment?"
Victor stood up from the chair as he joined the rest of the group as they all turned around and gaped.
Floating in front of them was a man about 30 years old, with light brown hair about down to his ear. He had a silver cap with white wings on it that matched the wings on his sandals. He wore a white tunic that clashed against the silver staff he had in his hand, which had two green snakes winding around it. His eyes opened to reveal a normal brown color.
"You sure know how to keep a god waiting, you think being asleep for almost 2000 years would make waiting four hours easier, but it does not," the humanoid said as he descended to ground level. "My name is Hermes, but I'm pretty sure the staff, sandals and caduceus gave it away."
"Caduce-what?" Victor whispered to Mera.
"It's the name of my staff," Hermes said. "No need to whisper. As the Messenger God, I can hear just about anything. Any other questions?"
Nate cleared his throat before speaking.
"Yeah, how about where the video cameras are?" he said as he looked around. "Alright, you got us good. Great prank, but can we just end this and go home?"
Jay stepped up.
"What Nate means to say is that maybe you could explain this to us," he asked. "Like the letter, the pictures, the armor?"
He grinned on the armor part of his question.
"Of course," Hermes said as he rose into the air and floated above the teens in order to sit in the chair Victor was once in.
"Let me start at the beginning," he said as the screen changed into a black sky and green earth.
"It began with Uranus and Gaia, the sky and the earth. They created many creatures like the Cyclops and Hundred-Handed Ones, but the Titans were their favorite children. These Titans were led by Cronus, the youngest, who eventually betrayed Uranus and took control of everything for himself and his siblings."
The screen changed to a large man eating a swaddled baby. Valerie grimaced the most out of all of the teens.
"When Cronus had children, he feared to be overthrown himself, so he ate his three daughters and two sons as they were born. Only Zeus, the sixth child, escaped. Zeus grew up and rescued his siblings from Cronus' stomach. The five others had grown up in Cronus' stomach, and were ready for war."
The screen changed again, this time into the armor found on the back wall along with other similar suits of different colors. Each figure had a powerful-looking weapon in their hand.
"They were joined by other like-minded gods, and became a group known as Olympians, in which they called upon mighty battle armor forged by the Cyclopes to become powerful warriors. You would probably today call them one of the first teams of Power Rangers."
"When the Olympians fought the Titans for control of Mt. Olympus, and the world, they defeated them and imprisoned them in the darkest depths of the Underworld with Cronus thrown into Tartarus, the worst place anyone alive or dead could go. When it came time for Zeus and his two brothers, Hades and Poseidon, to decide which god got which domain, Zeus won, and chose the sky and the heavens, while Poseidon got the seas. Because no one was allowed to choose the earth, or the developing species that lived upon it, Hades could only choose the Underworld."
The screen changed into a pale faced man with flames on his head and long black robes sitting on a bone throne with a skull on the top.
"Hades was jealous of the better fortune of his brothers, because while their domains could grow and thrive and support life, Hades was left with an ever expanding world of death. He tried many times to escape, creating many natural disasters whenever he did, but the Olympians were always there to stop him. So he bided his time, raising an army while he did, and waited for the gods to vanish. And with the rise of other religions and beliefs like Christianity with Constantine at the end of the Roman Empire, the Olympians lost their power, until they became nothing more but memories of an ancient past. Now Hades has risen again, and because there are no Olympians left, I have to turn to mortals for help."
The screen turned black again as he finished.
"And we're those mortals?" Mera asked skeptically.
"Yes, I want you to become the newest Power Rangers," Hermes said as he nodded.
He tapped a few of the runes on the keyboard and the mosaic screen changed into a pink background with pictures of Valerie doing good deeds.
"Valerie, you have passion for everyone and everything. You never turn down a person in need, and help them in any way you can. You will be the Pink Ranger."
The screen changed to a blue background and pictures of Nate's stunts.
"Nathaniel, you throw yourself wholeheartedly into whatever goal you are trying to achieve, even at personal risk to yourself. You will become the Blue Ranger."
The screen changed to black, and showed pictures of Victor building things and then giving them to people.
"Victor, even though people take advantage of your skills, you still use them to help people who truly need it. With your ingenuity and abilities, you will be the perfect Black Ranger."
The screen changed, this time into yellow, with pictures of Mera studying and tutoring other students.
"Merrida, you use your knowledge to teach others, and improve them as students and people. You shall have the power of the Yellow Ranger."
The screen turned to red, with pictures of Jay stopping fights and solving other problems.
"And Jason, you become the peacemaker in any argument, and always try to solve other people's problems. With these qualities and your great leadership, you will lead the team as the Red Ranger."
Jay stood there staring at the god.
"I can't be a leader," he said. "Leaders need to be confident and ready for anything. I'm neither of those things."
Hermes nodded.
"You are right about that, but the truest heroes are the ones who are afraid, but still fight to do the right thing anyway. I believe that you have the ability to overcome great fear, and I also believe you will find a way to bring this team together."
Jay looked around and nodded.
"You're right, Valerie would never want to lead, Victor is too shy to say something, even if he did, and Mera and Nate would argue over the leadership for a while."
"You are the one who brought this group of friends together, and you will be the one to change them into the warriors we need now," Hermes said.
Jay contemplated this for a minute before making his choice.
"I'm in."
He put his hand out in the center of the group.
"If people really need us, I'll help," Victor said as he put his hand on top of Jay's.
"I want to help people, if this gives me the chance, I'm in," Valerie said as she put her hand on top of the other two.
"You guys would be lost without me," Mera said as she joined the circle.
They stood there a minute before looking at Nate.
"Come on, Nate," Jay said, "we need you."
Nate sighed as he put his hand in.
"Fine," he said, "but just because I want to, not because some god told me to."
"Looks like we're all in, Hermes," Jay said. "What do we do next?"
Hermes flew over to a golden box and grabbed it before returning to the teens.
"These Olympian Gems contain what's left of the essence of the Olympians. They are what will allow you to morph into the Olympian Force Power Rangers."
Lying in the box were five sets of two golden metal bracelets. In the center of each bracelet was a certain colored stone. The colors of these stones were red, blue, black, yellow and pink respectively.
Each of the teens took a pair of bracelets that matched the color Hermes had told them they would be. Jay grabbed red, Nate received blue, Valerie obtained pink, Mera acquired yellow, and Victor was given black.
"In order to transform, you must cross the morphers over your chest and yell the color you are followed by 'Olympian Power.' Now, we should train before..."
An alarm sounded as the mosaic stones flipped and twisted around again to reveal skeletons rising from the ground in the city.
"Training will have to wait," Hermes said as he floated down into the chair again. "Guess you'll have to learn on the job, I'll be in contact with you the entire time. Hephaestus designed the morphers to allow communication."
Nate raised his hand. "This is going to sound like a stupid question, but how are we going to get there?"
Hermes snapped his fingers and the double doors to the left of the computer slid open.
"These doors were created by Janus, the god of doorways. They'll take you anywhere you need to go."
Jay nodded as he gestured for the rest of the new Rangers to follow him.
"Let's go!" he shouted as he led the charge.
Jay found himself in the town square, with a few new additions to the decorations. Skeletons with short swords were chasing civilians away as they destroyed everything in their path.
"Hey!" Jay yelled as the rest of the civilians fled from the square. "Why don't you fight someone who has a chance?"
The skeletons turned around and pointed their swords at the teens.
"Uh...does anyone have any ideas on why WE have a chance?" Valerie said as she looked around nervously at all of the swords pointing at her.
"We have these," Jay said. "So, as other Rangers say, it's Morphing Time!"
Each of the teens crossed their arms over their chests as the gems glowed.
"Pink Olympian Power!"
"Yellow Olympian Power!"
"Black Olympian Power!"
"Blue Olympian Power!"
"Red Olympian Power!"
There was a flash of multi-colored lights that would have caused the skeletons to cover their eyes if they had any.
Standing in the teens' place were the Olympian Force Power Rangers.
They then began their role call:
"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"
"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"
"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"
"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"
"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"
"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"
If the skeletons were impressed, they didn't show it. Instead of cowering in fear or being in awe, they just charged the Rangers.
"Alright, guys," Jay said, we're here to save the city, so let's take them down!"
He shifted into a fighting stance.
"Right!" the other teens agreed as they shifted into their unique fighting stances. With a cry, they charged at the advancing skeletons.
Nate was the fastest, so he was the first to meet the warriors head on. He gave a rapid jab to one of the skeleton's heads, before roundhouse kicking it straight off.
"This is going to be easy," Nate bragged as he turned around to face another warrior. To his surprise, he was suddenly grabbed from behind by the warrior he had already defeated.
"Hey! What gives?" he yelled as he struggled to break free. "I already defeated this guy! Why is he still fighting?"
The morpher came to life
"These are the Spartoi, they can only be defeated if their heads are blocked from returning to their bodies, otherwise they'll just regenerate forever," Hermes said through the morpher
"Now you tell me," Nate groaned.
"Hang on, Nate!" Valerie yelled as she did a flying kick over Nate and knocked the head off the Spartoi again, before punting it into a trash can.
"And it's in!" Jay yelled as he saw his team's progress.
However, another Spartoi just went over to the trash can and fished his buddy's head out before throwing it to the headless one, who put his removed cranium back in place.
"Alright," Victor said, "this isn't working."
"I agree," Mera confirmed, "our efforts appear to be futile."
Hermes' voice came through their morphers as well
"Don't worry, Rangers," he said, "help is on the way."
The gems on the Rangers' morphers began to glow before weapons materialized out of them.
Jay's created a sword with a lightning bolt design: the blade was a zig-zag shape and the hilt was red, which clashed with the golden blade.
Victor received a large sledge hammer with a black neck and a silver head. It took two hands for him to hold it aloft.
Valerie gained a pink bow with white accents. As she pulled back the string, a pink energy arrow was created.
Nate got a large trident with a blue body and three bronze points on the head.
Mera lifted up the spear she was given. The body was yellow and the point was a dark metallic silver.
"Lightning Sword!"
"Blacksmith Hammer!"
"Love Bow!"
"Ocean Trident!"
"Battle Spear!"
"These weapons should be able to destroy those Spartoi," Hermes said over the radio, "best of luck, and may the power protect you."
"Alright Let's try this again!" Jay yelled as the Rangers jumped back into the group of Spartoi.
"No!" Hades yelled, the blue flames on his head flaring up as the Red Ranger in his blue magic flame-screen sliced a Spartoi head in half. "I thought the Olympians were gone! With both them and other Ranger teams out of action, I would have conquered the Earth quickly! I have to deal with them quickly, before they learn of all of their powers and become too dangerous."
He was wearing black robes that contrasted with his pale skin and sitting on a large skull and bone-covered throne.
"My lord Hades," the woman with blonde hair and a white dress sitting next to him on a slightly smaller, but otherwise identical throne said, "don't you think maybe this is a sign you should stop your assault before it truly begins?"
"Silence!" Hades said as he put up a hand. "Your outbursts about peace annoy me, Persephone."
He dipped his hand into a blue-flamed brazier and drew a fireball from it. He threw it at the ground before his throne.
"If the Spartoi can't win the world for me, I just need to give them a little support."
A cyclops rose from the blue flame. He has dark tan skin and a white horn. The only clothes he wore were a simple loincloth covering his… nether regions. He wielded a club in his left hand.
"It's time to smash these Rangers!" it shouted as it flexed its muscles and slammed it's club on the ground.
Hades grabbed another ball of flame.
"Now, go! Go and destroy these… teenagers!"
The flameball struck the wall and created a ring in front of the Cyclops for him to walk through.
"Alley-oop!" Nate yelled as he removed a head from a Spartoi and threw it up in the air before skewering it on the three points of his trident.
"Here, let me point you in the right direction," Mera said as she stabbed the point of her spear into another Spartoi head, before flinging it into another Spartoi, incapacitating two enemies with one move.
"Sorry," Valarie said as she pulled back the string of her bow to create three glowing energy arrows, "but love hurts!"
She released the string to cause the arrows to go clean through the Spartoi heads, leaving gaping holes in their foreheads.
Victor swung his hammer down onto a Spartoi.
"Man," he remarked, "I'm really crushing it."
"Sorry, it's been a slice," Jay said as he bisected a Spartoi down the middle, "but I think it's time for you to go home!"
With all of the Spartoi defeated, the teens ran back into a group. They began to celebrate their victory before a portal of blue flame appeared in front of them. Out came the Cyclops as he slammed his club into the ground in an act of intimidation.
"Rangers! My name is Polyphemus, and I will be your doom!"
Hermes gasped as Polyphemus appeared.
The Rangers are too inexperienced! he thought, they aren't ready for a threat like a Cyclops!
Much to his dismay, Nate did not agree with his evaluation of the situation.
"Alright, hornhead!" Nate yelled as he leaped into the air with his trident raised points up. "You're screwed now!"
Polyphemus just backhanded him out of the air and into the nearest bus stop glass ad, which he shattered with the force he was flying at.
"Well, that was ineffective," Mera said smugly as she and the other teens helped their teammate to his feet. "Any other great plans?"
"Oh, shut up!" Nate retorted, "like you had any better plan!"
"That's it!" Jay shouted as he shifted back into his serious mode again. "Would the two of you stop fighting long enough for us to defeat this monster?"
Mera and Nate looked at Jay before looking at each other, then back at Jay.
"Fine," Mera said as Nate nodded in agreement, "I guess we can put aside our differences long enough to combat the current menace."
"What she said," Nate agreed, "but with less complicated words."
"Now that that's out of the way, I have a plan," Jay said as he gathered the team in a huddle. "I've seen this in previous Ranger battles."
Polyphemus started to charge at them as they finally broke apart.
"Time to combine weapons!" Jay shouted as all of the teens threw their weapons into the air.
Nate's trident bent 90 degrees as the "teeth" spread out and bent to form a handle. Victor's hammer landed on the ground handle side up as the Love Bow clicked onto the former trident, which then clicked onto the hammer handle. Mera's spear was bent around the bowstring to make it thicker as the behemoth of a weapon hit the concrete.
"Olympian Crossbow!" the Rangers shouted.
The girls knelt down to support the firing end, while Victor and Nate pulled back the string to allow Jay to place his sword into it.
"...Uh oh," the monster muttered as he stood his ground, stuck in place by fear.
"Olympic Lightning Storm!" Jay yelled as he infused the sword with his power and pulled the trigger. "Fire!"
The sword came rocketing out the bow and flew through the air. Suddenly, lightning struck it, turning a piece of metal into the world's sharpest stun baton.
Polyphemus screamed in agony as he exploded from the electric impact.
"That won't haunt my nightmares forever," Valarie said as she shook her head, as if to shake out the noise.
"I hear that!" Jay said as the crossbow teleported back to who-knows-where.
Back at base, Hermes was congratulating the team on their first victory.
"Good job! You save numerous people and buildings from destruction!" he said until his face turned sour, "but it took far too long. All of you need training immediately!"
The mosaic stones turned a sickly green and black as they turned to form Hades' face.
"You teens must be proud of yourselves, but don't think I'll give up that easily! You certainly haven't heard the last of me!" he shouted as the screen slowly changed back to normal.
Hermes looked at the blank stones confused.
"He shouldn't have been able to do that," he said, half to himself, "and if he could, why only deliver that short message? Something must have blocked him... " He trailed off while thinking it over.
"So what do we do now?" Nate said.
"It's almost 6:00," Mera noticed. "My parents will have a fit if I do not arrive home soon."
"Training will begin at the crack of dawn tomorrow!" Hermes said as he flew down to in front of the Rangers.
"What about school? That starts at the crack of dawn," Jay remarked.
"You are correct," Hermes said as he thought for a minute. "I suppose training will have to wait until after school tomorrow."
He moved over to the computer and pressed a few keys, causing the Doors to open again. As the Rangers walked through, Hermes pressed a few more keys to crete a epsilon symbol on the screen.
"This battle between good and evil could escalate quickly," Hermes remarked. "It may be time to prepare Project Gemini, just in case."
Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to establish everyone, and have a ranger fight! We'll see how long future chapters are.
Until next time, may the power protect you all.
