AN: Anything in relation to Eltar and the Phoenix powers are all improvised. Also, I am aware that I am referring to the new character as "the girl", she, or her until her name is "officially" given.
Also, thank you to JPHBK for allowing me to borrow the concept of the window entry from "Reflections of Red and Pink".
Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban. I own nothing other than the original character.
"Oh, greetings rangers! How nice of you all to visit." Alpha 5 greeted the teens upon materializing in the Command Center.
"Is something the matter? You all looked troubled." Inquired Zordon as he looked over his ranger team.
Trini stepped forward, positioning herself in front of their leader. "Zordon, there's something we wanted your help with."
"If it is in my power to help, then I shall do so. What is the trouble?" Zordon replied.
Billy took a few steps forward as well to stand beside Alpha. "It seems that we have all been experiencing a dream with an abundance of mutual occurrences." Billy explained.
Alpha cocked his head to the side as a sign of curiosity. "You've all been having a "shared dream"?"
"Yeah, and the same thing seems to happen in the dream for all of us, except for one thing." Kimberly stated as her gaze alternated between Alpha and Zordon.
"What precisely happens in this dream?" Zordon asked.
"A fight." Jason replied. "Except who we're fighting is different for each of us, and they are stronger than when we faced them before." He continued on to explain.
"Who were you fighting?" Zordon inquired, concern entering their leader's voice.
"Goldar." Jason replied. "But, it's different for the rest of the guys."
"Knasty Knight." Said Zack.
"Samurai Fan Man." Said Kimberly.
"Madam Woe." Said Billy.
"Bones." Said Trini.
"Tell me everything you can remember." asked Zordon. The rest of the team all turned to Jason, silently giving him the go-ahead to re-tell the details.
Jason looked up to his mentor, noting his intense focus on him as he waited for him to continue. "Well…from what I can remember, I was worn out and weak. My helmet was damaged and my suit was torn to shreds."
Jason's brow furrowed as he recalled that last particular detail. He gaze fell from Zordon down to a spot on the control console in front of him. "Our suits have never taken that kind of damage before, no matter what we faced of who we fought." Jason thought to himself. "For that to happen, our enemy would have to be incredibly strong or…our powers would have somehow managed to weaken."
At that thought, the crease that had formed on Jason's brow deepened. "Is something going to happen to our powers?"
He was broken out of his train of thought as he felt a hand wrap around his wrist. He looked down to see that it was Kim's, who was now standing beside him.
"You spaced out again." Kim said as she searched his eyes in hopes of finding some hint to what was running through his mind.
"Sorry. Guess this dream has me a little more distracted than I thought." Jason replied, noticing her attempt to read him.
"Please, continue." Zordon gently prodded as he noted the distressed look that crossed the ranger leader's face.
"Right…sorry." Jason said as he gave his head a quick shake and re-organized his thoughts.
"Um…well…to add to all of that, my communicator was broken and I couldn't call for help or teleport out. Then Goldar has me cornered, but before he manages to…kill me…"
Jason forced out the last couple of words as they stuck in his throat and felt a sudden chill run through his spine at the memory. "This…creature…like a bird made out of fire saves me."
"It's the same for all of us." Kim added as she tore her eyes from Jason to look up at Zordon.
Their mentor remained silent for several moments as he pondered over the details of the dream. "I see."
"Do you think it means anything, Zordon?" Billy asked.
"Could it mean Rita might be up to something?" Trini interjected.
Zordon looked to each ranger. The fact that he was considering something was evident on his face. "Perhaps it is time I introduced you all to someone." The rangers looked away from Zordon to exchange glances with each other.
"Who?" asked Trini.
"When I first came to Earth, in pursuit of Rita, I brought an old friend and ally with me who possess a very unique and rare power. When Rita learned of their presence here, she sent Goldar to try and capture them to use their powers for destruction. We managed to evade Rita and Goldar's attempt, but knowing that neither of them would stop to try and capture my friend, I placed them into a deep sleep in a chamber located far beneath the command center." Zordon explained.
"So, you're friend has been asleep somewhere beneath the command center for the last ten-thousand years?" Billy asked.
"Yes, but I believe now it is time that I have awoken them." Zordon answered the young man in blue.
"Hold on a sec…how exactly does this relate the dream we've all been having?" Zack questioned.
"I believe your questions will be answered soon." Zordon answered with reassurance. "Alpha, please teleport her here."
"Right away, Zordon." Alpha replied as he moved over to the main control console and began to input a sequence of buttons.
"Her?" Jason inquired.
As if to answer his question, a light started to glow in front of the rangers. It started off dim, then rapidly began to grow brighter as it took on the appearance of a flame. The rangers stepped back several steps back in surprise as the flame burst, making it stretch upwards to match their height and brought their hands up to shield their eyes from the glow. Then flame began to dissipate, taking on the form of human. The rangers dropped their hands as the spectacle ended, to see a young woman standing before them with her eyes closed.
"It is good to have you back, phoenix." Zordon said to the girl who appeared as the group of teens looked from the girl in front of them back up to their leader, then dropped their gaze back down. Her eyelids fluttered as she slowly opened them. A collective gasp rang out from the team as her eyes opened to focus on them.
Physically, she looked no older than the rangers, but her eyes were a haunting shade of amber. They were almond shaped, and looked as if they glowed with an orange tint, which shifted from red to yellow in the light as if a flame danced behind them as her eyes darted back and forth across the chamber to each of the rangers. Her complexion was a warm tan, with dark brown hair that looked nearly black. It lay straight down her back and fell to just below her waist. Her ears were pierced with three piercings in her left ear and one on her right. On the left ear was a small gold hoop located just near the top of her ear, while the lobe was pierced twice with a simple gold stud, and just below it was a black marquise stone that was set into an antiqued gold backing that held a feather dangling below it that seemed to shift in color. The lone piercing in her right ear mimicked the simple stud of that on her left. She wore leather armor with metal plates adorning it as added protection that were shaped to mimic the look of feathers, and a pair of daggers laid lengthwise were strapped to her waist behind her back.
The rangers looked around to each other in confusion, caution displayed on their faces. Jason returned his attention to the girl in front of them, observing her. He noted that despite her odd appearance and lean frame, her build indicated that she could more than likely hold her own in a fight if she had to. He carefully stepped forward towards the girl, the movement catching her attention out of the corner of her eye. She abruptly turned her gaze from Trini who was to the right of Jason, back to him, making Jason momentarily freeze on the spot as her eyes met his.
As he came within reaching distance of her, Jason raised his hand to her to shake hers. "Hi…I'm-"
"Jason…the red ranger, commander of the Tyrannosaurus dinozord, and leader of the power rangers." the girl interrupted him. Jason's eyes went wide at her words, puzzled as to how she knew who he was. She looked down to his hand, outstretched towards her then back up to meet his gaze. Finally, she raised her hand, taking his in a firm grip accepting the greeting.
"You know who I am?" Jason asked as they let go of each other, dropping their hands back to their sides.
"Yes." Was all she said in return as her eyes roamed away from his to land on a young man in blue standing behind Jason off to his left next to a control console. "William…the Blue Ranger and commander of the Triceratops dinozord."
Her eyes then floated to Zack, who stood just in front of Billy. "Zachary…the Black Ranger and commander of the Mastodon dinozord."
Her eyes passed over Jason, to his right, landing on Kim. "Kimberly…the Pink Ranger and commander of the Pterodactyl dinozord."
Then finally to Trini who stood just in front of Kim. "Trini…the Yellow Ranger and commander of the Saber-Tooth Tiger dinozord."
"Um…" Kim interjected as she moved up to stand beside Jason. "It's nice to meet you, but I'm confused." she said as her eyes went from the girl back up to Zordon. "Zordon, what does she have to do with our dream and the bird that was in it?"
At this, the girl turned away from the rangers to look up at Zordon. Her eyes meet his in a silent question that he seemed to understand. With a gentle nod, he acknowledged her. "Go ahead and show them." Her eyes then dropped down to Alpha was standing a couple feet beside her.
"It's all right. You can trust them." Alpha said in a cheerful tone as he read also read the question in her eyes.
Nodding in response, she turned back around to face the rangers and with one last glace around at them, she closed her eyes. They stood still, five pairs of eyes focused on her waiting to see what Zordon and Alpha meant about being able to trust them. A bright red aura began to emit from the girl, flickering out in different directions around her body. With a loud "WHOOSH", the aura turned into a roaring flame causing the rangers stumble back and away. They watched in shock as the flame grew bigger and consumed the girl, as they continued to back away from the fire, once again bringing their arms up in an attempt to protect themselves from the heat emitting from it. They huddled together on the steps to the Viewing Globe behind Jason as he pushed the others to stand behind him.
"Zordon! Alpha!" Kim called out from behind Jason, an arm wrapped around his bicep as she and the others watched the fire grow. Her eyes lifted to their leader and the android standing near the main computer console before dropping back down to the fire. The fire then began to retract itself, and with another loud "WHOOSH" it died out.
Dropping their arms down, the five rangers blinked and rubbed their eyes several times to get them to readjust to the dimmer lighting of the command center. Once they could see properly, their jaws dropped at the sight in front of them. An enormous bird stood before them, taking up nearly half of the space of the circle the control panels formed in the middle of the main chamber. It stood on its feet, nearly towering over the five teenagers.
"Whoa…" Zack remarked as he stepped from beside his friend to get a closer look at the creature.
"Ai yi yi yi yi! I thought my circuit boards were going to fry!" Alpha cried out. The robot had retreated from his post at the control panels to stand behind the computer in order to escape the fire that was raging only a few moments prior.
"Amazing." stated Billy as he and the others now moved forward to inspect the large animal. It watched as each ranger filed out from behind their leader to move around it.
"It's huge…" said Zack as he slowly walked around the bird.
Trini and Kim moved hand-in-hand with each other in the opposite direction of Zack. Trini stopped as she reached the back of the enormous bird. "Look at its feathers."
The feathers in question were several inches long and shimmered between a bright red, orange, and yellow in the lighting. Its tail feathers were about two-feet long in length, with a second set of longer feathers that stretched at least a yard or two in length that went from a bright red near the bottom and faded into a crimson red at the top, with the crest feathers on the back of its head to match.
"They're beautiful." Kimberly commented as she dared to lean in to get a closer look. She felt Trini place her other hand on her should, gently pushing her back.
"Careful, Kim." Trini gently warned her friend.
"Yeah…it might be dangerous." Zack commented as he came to stand beside the two girls.
"I assure you, she will not harm you." Zordon commented, reassuring his rangers that they were in no harm of the large creature standing before them.
"Zordon…you called her "phoenix"." Billy contemplated their mentor's words. "Is she a real phoenix? Like the ones from mythology?" he questioned.
"Yes, Billy, though not exactly as the ones you've come to know from human mythos. She is an Eltarian Phoenix. The form you see before you is not her true form, but one granted to her through her powers." Zordon explained.
"Her powers?" asked Kim as she turned to look up at Zordon.
Zordon elaborated further. "In human mythology, a phoenix is described to be a bird made of fire that can reincarnate itself from its ashes. An Eltarian Phoenix differs as they are not actual creatures that exist on Eltar. A person who has been born with the powers of the Phoenix has the ability to take on an avian form that resembles the ones seen in mythology. It is a rare gift that is not bestowed upon many from my homeworld."
Unlike the others, Jason hadn't moved to inspect the large animal, but instead had only moved to stand in front of it, trying to understand its tie to the dream he and the other rangers had shared. He saw as the animal's eyes looked over at him from the corners of its eyes, then turned its head away from the others to face him, bringing its head up to match his height. He watched as the creature cocked its head to the side as it starred at him with curious, yet calm eyes. A flash of recognition suddenly flew through Jason. "It's you."
"It's you." Jason repeated his thought out loud, causing the others to look over to him.
"Jase?" said Trini as she and the others all moved back to stand with him.
"This is bird from our dream." Jason said explaining his earlier outburst as he continued to study the animal's eyes.
"How? We all remember that bird being transparent, this one isn't." Zack remarked, pointing out the obvious difference between the one standing before them and the one they'd seen in their dream.
"Look at its eyes." Jason commented as he stepped back a bit for the others to move forward. The four rangers crowded together, looking into the creatures eyes.
Trini's eyes widened in astonishment as a wave of recognition shot through her as well. A gentle smile spread across her face as she observed the phoenix in its entirety. "He's right, it is you."
"This is too bizarre." stated Kim, as she too came to the realization. "But, why were we able to see through it in our dream?"
At the question, the phoenix retreated back from the group and bowed its head, closing its eyes in the process. They all watched closely before a spark flickered out from the creature, quickly bursting into flames, once again making the teens shrink back in surprise. The flames died down as quick as they'd appeared, and once more the human form of the girl from before stood in front of them.
"Okay…that's a really cool trick, but you gotta warn us before you do that." said Zack, causing the others the laugh at his reaction.
The girl smiled at his remark, amused. "My apologies if I frightened you. It wasn't my intention to do so."
She watched was the group walked forward, stopping when they came back to the center of the circle of computer panels, her eyes landing back onto Kimberly.
"To answer your earlier question, the form of me you all saw in your dreams was my astral form." She replied.
"Astral?" Kim questioned.
"As in Astral Projection. It's the term used to describe ones ability to project their sub-conscious or, in some belief, their soul outside of their physical body." Billy explained.
"That's correct." she replied, turning to Billy, giving him an amused smile as she studied him. "I'm impressed."
Billy blushed, a nervous smile forming on his face at her comment as he fidgeted from one foot to the other. "W-well, I do find the study and theories of the metaphysical to be rather fascinating." The other rangers noticed the exchange and their friend's reaction. They looked at each other with knowing smiles, before turning their attention back to the girl.
"Why did you choose a dream to show yourself to us?" Jason asked as he leaned on the ledge of one of the control panels, crossing his arms over his chest.
"To be honest, I am unsure myself as to why that occurred." she answered as she observed the five teenagers. "You all are as much a mystery to me as I am to all of you."
"You said the version we saw of was an astral projection of yourself." Billy pointed out. The girl fell silent, nodding her head in the affirmative as she pondered his claim. She dropped her eyes to a spot on the floor and narrowed them in thought.
"I projected myself to them, but not by my own will." The fact that she had done so bothered her a great deal. The sleeping spell Zordon put her under should have inhibited her to enter a dream state in order to keep her presence hidden.
"Usually, astral projection requires some sort of conscious awareness of where or who they are projecting to." She explained, once again debating the reason to why her astral self moved to find the five rangers.
"So, you had no idea you were doing it?" Trini asked as she compartmentalize and absorbed the information in her usual calm and practiced manner.
The girl shook her head in the negative. "Not consciously, no. As part of the sleeping spell to keep me hidden, Zordon inhibited me from dreaming to keep my astral form from moving as a precaution since we didn't know if or when I'd be re-awakened." Once more, she considered the five individuals before her, each one looking as perplexed as her. She looked up to the glowing tube that housed her friend before dropping her eyes back to the group of teenagers. "They are his rangers…"
"Something remarkably strong from you all must have called out and summoned me." She proposed after a brief bout of silence. They knew Zordon's powers were not something to question or doubt, but something had managed to break through the barrier of his sleeping spell to reach her.
"Perhaps the recent change with the rangers is the cause of this." Zordon offered as a reason for his friend and rangers to seek each other out subconsciously.
"Change? What do you mean?" she asked as she turned her back to the rangers to fully face Zordon.
"Recently, we unfortunately had to lose a sixth member of the ranger team. The green ranger's powers have become unstable and we risked losing them back into the hands of Rita. To prevent her from regaining them, he surrendered his powers to a fellow ranger." Zordon explained. A look of shock formed on the girl's face at the news.
"The green ranger? You mean they've been recovered?" she asked in reference to the green power coin, dragon dagger, and Dragonzord.
"Yes. The green ranger's power is now in possession of the red ranger." Zordon answered as he referred to the teen dressed in red, still leaning against the ledge of one of the control consoles.
She turned around to face Jason, who looked back at her. Her eyes drifted around to the other rangers taking in the news of them reclaiming the green ranger powers. "Remarkable…I see why Zordon chose you all to become Power Rangers." The comment made the rangers smile with pride, each one of them looking at each other in appreciation.
"However, the recent loss has been a difficult one. Perhaps, the loss of Tommy and the instability of the green ranger powers have led the rangers seeking to fill the gap." Zordon surmised.
Jason contemplated Zordon's theory. Losing Tommy had been a harsh blow to their team, and losing his powers had been hard on Tommy as well. Despite his friends' best efforts to reassure him that he'd made the right choice, he still blamed himself for not getting the green candle. Maybe their longing to have their friend and teammate back had reached out in their subconscious.
"We all miss him, but if anyone is going to take his place…well…we want it to be Tommy." Kimberly stated. She looked over to the girl, afraid she may have offended her. She bit her lower lip, a habit she'd developed as a child whenever she was nervous or worried. "No offense."
The girl shook her head in response. "I take no offense. It is understandable you'd feel that way. We've only just met, and this Tommy seems to be a very dear friend to you all."
"That is enough for now." Zordon interjected. "I am certain you all have more questions, but we should allow her a chance to rest."
He turned his eyes to her. "You've only just awoken and have already displayed a good deal of your power."
She shook her head in the affirmative, understanding Zordon's concern. "You're right. I also seem to be a bit out of practice with them. Typically, the transformation between forms did not require so much effort." She said, suddenly noticing the slight sensation of vertigo. She wasn't tired in the least, after having slept through several millennia. However, her display might have drawn Rita's attention, and in her current state, she would most likely be vulnerable if attacked.
Jason stood up and walked over to her. "Zordon's right. Sorry if we put you on the spot."
"Yeah, we sort of threw a lot of questions at you." Trini chimed in as a new thought crossed her mind. "We didn't even ask your name."
"Technically…I don't have one." the girl replied causing the rangers to look at her incredulously.
"How do you live for ten-thousand years and not have a name?" Zack asked skeptically, a look of disbelief etched on his face which she couldn't help but giggle at. Her hands quickly shot up to cover her mouth at her outburst, which made the rangers laugh in return at her. She dropped her hands and cleared her throat before speaking.
"I apologize. I did not intend for that. As for my name, as part of tradition and custom, when someone is shown to have fully manifested the Phoenix powers and taken into training, we give up our birth names and only are referred to as "Phoenix". It is our way of showing respect for it being granted to us."
"Man, that must get really confusing." Zack remarked imagining several Eltarians' all responding in unison at someone calling out the word "phoenix".
"No, not particularly." she responded, giving Zack a small, understanding smile. "Someone being born with the Phoenix powers is uncommon, and it is even rarer if it fully manifests if someone does have it."
"How rare precisely?" Billy asked, his intellectual curiosity piqued as he listened to her talk about her powers.
"Well…sometimes only one would be born with them, but will only show signs without the power fully manifesting. Occasionally, there would be times where we had as many as three or five people show signs, but only one or two would have their powers fully form. Other times, there may not be one for several thousand years." she explained as she recalled the teachings of her mentors about her powers.
"How many of you are still on Eltar?" asked Kim. She noticed a flash of what Kim could only describe as sadness enter into the other girl's eyes before a quick flash of anger replaced it, making her eyes glint with a hint of a fiery red. The girl blinked, instantly dissipating the heated spark in her eyes and returning them back to the glowing amber they originally were.
She simply shook her head "no" in response to Kim. "I am not sure." She replied as Kim wondered if her friends had also noticed the flare in the other girl's eyes like she had.
"Before I left Eltar, there were about six of us that had completed the training and were using our powers to serve our people." She paused momentarily, as if she were thinking something over. "When Zordon brought me with him here to Earth, there were only two of us left." She finally spoke after a brief moment of silence.
"Only two? What happened to the others?" Billy asked.
"Rita…" she answered, the tone of her face fully expressing the amount of disdain she had for the sorceress.
"Rita? Wha-" was all Jason managed to get out before a flame flared out from her, making the rangers jump back, surprising them as well as her.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Zack.
The girl closed her eyes, willing her power under control. After a few seconds, the flame faded away as she reopened her eyes. "I'm sorry. It seems my powers are a bit unstable." She apologized, moving herself back several steps from the rangers as a precaution.
"Phoenix, perhaps Alpha should perform a few tests on you to ensure your powers are not destabilizing from coming out of the spell." Zordon interjected, having observed the spontaneous flare up of her powers and now concerned that the spell may have had an unexpected side effect.
"Phoenix…why don't we call you by that?" Trini asked to their new ally, revisiting the subject of her not having a name. "It isn't an uncommon name, and you're already use to it." She said referencing the girl's earlier comment of being referred to as such.
Phoenix shook her head in the affirmative at the proposition. "That seems like a practical idea."
"Then it's nice to officially meet you, Phoenix." Said Trini as she took one of Phoenix's hands in both of hers, giving it a light squeeze in greeting, the other rangers following suit.
"And please, call me Billy." Billy commented, referring to her earlier occurrence of calling him by his full name of William.
"Yeah. Just Zack for me, if you don't mind." Zack chimed in, giving her a friendly smile.
"Um…Zordon?" said Kim as she walked up to their leader. "Now that Phoenix is awake, where is she going to stay?" Though she knew that the command center was one of the safest places they knew, and was more than well supplied in case of an emergency, it wasn't meant to be lived in.
"I understand your concern for her well-being, Kimberly, but for now she will remain here." He answered the pink ranger, then turned his eyes to Phoenix. "I apologize, old friend. I had not anticipated having to waken you so suddenly. However, I thought it best that you would be better suited to answering the rangers' questions about the dream."
Phoenix smiled to her old friend. "I understand, Zordon, and I'm glad you did." She turned to the rangers, considering the reason to have met them in both the dream and now real life. "I think it was time I was awakened."
"I agree, but for now, we should let Alpha do a full check on your physical health and the stability of your powers." Zordon responded.
"Right, and we should head out." said Jason. Despite that there were still some questions he wanted to ask, his mind was more at ease now than it had been for the last few weeks.
"Yeah, let's go guys." said Zack. "See ya, Nix." he directed at Phoenix.
The nickname made her cock her head to the side in curiosity at him. "Nix?" she asked.
"You'll get use to it." Zack replied, giving her a friendly smile and a wink that made the other rangers smile. They brought their wrists up and activated their communicators, teleporting home.
