DAUGHTER OF LEGENDS
BOOK ONE: GOING GREEN
CHAPTER ONE: DAY OF THE DINO
Jackie Oliver couldn't wait for her first day at Reefside High School. Her father, Tommy, was the science teacher for the school. A few years ago, her dad was working in a laboratory on an island with his partner Anton Mercer on some new experiments. Not only was he a scientist and high school teacher, but he was a legendary veteran Power Ranger having held four different Ranger powers over the years. Jackie knew about his past as a Ranger because he and her mother, Kimberly, the original Pink Ranger, told stories about their adventures and showed her some clips of their old days. When she first saw the videos, she actually laughed at the fact that her father had a mullet. When she did laugh, he told her it was in style back then and left it at that.
Before her first day at Reefside, Jackie and her parents were sitting at the dining room table eating breakfast. Tommy was drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. "Hey, Dad?" said Jackie breaking the silence in the room. He looked up at her. "I know you told me all about your days as a Power Ranger, even the time when Mom sent you that 'Dear John' letter, but you never told me why you retired during your Turbo days."
Tommy sighed and put the newspaper down. "The others...Kat, Adam, Tanya, and I...had already graduated from Angel Grove High and were about to start our careers. At the time, I was huge into racecar driving. Kat wanted to go to London to teach ballet, Adam started a dojo in Angel Grove and Tanya got her music career started during our Turbo days being a radio show host, so it was time for us to pass on our powers to new Rangers."
"Not only that," said Kimberly as she joined the two at the table, "but he wanted to reconcile with me after my little breakup letter. Your dad flew to Florida to find me. At the time, he didn't know I had you already. You see, I got pregnant about a week before I sent the letter."
"Wait..." said Jackie looking at her mom in shock. "You sent that letter because you were afraid to tell him about being pregnant with me, didn't you?" Kim nodded. "What scared you?"
"I was scared because I thought your dad would hate me and want nothing to do with you. So I raised you for the first few years of your life and finally decided to work things out with him when he was in MIT." Kim explained. "I was so shocked when Adam told me Tommy went to MIT and got a doctorate in Paleontology."
Tommy laughed. "Yeah, I remember when you told Jason about me being a doctor in archeology. He kept saying, 'Doctor Who' all the time." Kim and Jackie giggled. "Man, those were good times. That reminds me. Jason called and asked if we could all come out to Angel Grove this weekend for a Ranger Reunion. All the past Rangers will be there."
"That's awesome, Dad." Jackie said. "We better get going. We have to be at school soon." Tommy nodded and, in a few minutes, they were ready to go.
Jackie walked into the science classroom for first period. She took a seat beside a girl named Kira Ford. She wasn't the prettiest girl, but she was nice. Kira had long dirty blonde hair and usually wore some kind of rebellious clothes that made her look a little scary at times. "Can I sit here?" said Jackie. Kira nodded. "Thanks." Jackie and Kira met a few times over the summer and became friends. Not best friends, but they were still friends. "How's your music coming along?"
"I wrote a new song last weekend. Maybe during free period I can play it for you." Kira said. Jackie agreed and got the girls got quiet just as Tommy came in, just a few minutes late.
"Okay, everyone, I'm Dr. Oliver, and welcome to first period science. In my class, you'll be learning about the prehistoric Earth and the dinosaurs that inhabited the planet over sixty-five million years ago. Let's start with roll call." Tommy went down the list on his roster, jotting down who was present and absent. "Kira Ford?" Kira raised her hand. "Ethan James?" A boy wearing blue raised his hand. He got to Jackie and grinned. "Now..."
A blonde girl stood up holding a tape recorder. "Cassidy Cornell, school reporter," she said and everyone groaned. "Anyway, are you old enough to be a teacher, Dr. Oliver? You seem a little young."
"I assre you, Cassidy, I'm more than old enough to teach." Tommy said. "Now, take your seats and let's get into our books." He spotted an empty seat and said, "Is someone missing?"
"That'll be Conner McKnight," Kira told him. "He's the school jock and doesn't like to be in class when he's supposed to. My guess is he'll be in detention before the day's over." Jackie giggled.
After class, during break, Kira sat on a picnic table on the school grounds playing her guitar and singing her new song she wrote. Jackie sat with her and sang along to it. Jackie was multi-talented. She was very good at bike-riding, roller-blading, swimming, martial arts, gymnastics and a few other things. The martial arts she got from her dad and her mom taught her gymnastics. Just as the song ended, Principal Randall appeared. "Miss Ford, performing music on school grounds is prohibited."
"Did you know," said Jackie, "that having a hobby is very good on a college resume?"
"Well, you and Miss Ford are hardly college material, now, aren't you?" Principal Randall sneered. Jackie and Kira stared at the principal with mouths agape. "Come with me." The girls followed Principal Randall back to the school building. As the three of them walked through the grounds with Conner McKnight, who had gotten caught practicing soccer on the soccer field rather than being in class, the sprinkler system went off soaking the four of them. "Ethan James." Principal Randall said as they saw Ethan leaving the tool shed. She grabbed him as well and, once they were in the building, sat them down on a bench in the hallway. "Now, all four of you will have detention for a week."
"No!" Jackie cried. "I can't! I have gymnastics training after school!" Over her pleas, she heard Ethan say something about computer club, Conner mention sports and Kira gripe about missing a rehearsal.
"Too bad!" Principal Randall snapped. "You four are in big trouble and you will pay the consequences!" She stormed off and Jackie heard her talk to her dad. "Dr. Oliver! Just the man I wanted to see. I need you in detention."
"What did I do?" Tommy asked automatically. When the principal explained that she wanted him to oversee detention, he tried to object. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I have to visit the Reefside museum after school. There's an exhibit that is coming up that I don't want to miss."
"Oh, take the little monsters with you," she said. "I'm sure they'll learn something while they're there." Tommy sighed and walked over to the teens. "Have fun."
He stared at the four teens and said, "You guys like museums?" The teens sighed and followed him to his jeep. Once they were on the road, with Jackie in the front, he said, "What did you do?"
"I was with Kira when Principal Randall showed up. She went on about how performing music without permission was against the rules and gave us detention. Conner was on the soccer field and Ethan hacked into the sprinkler system."
"Hey!" Ethan snapped. "You can't prove it!"
"We saw you leaving the tool shed." Jackie said glaring at him. "So, yeah, I can." Before Ethan could retort, Tommy stopped the jeep in front of the museum and they got out. "Looks like it's closed, Dad."
"That's odd." Tommy said as the reached the door. He saw a sign and his eyes got wide. "Anton Mercer? That's impossible. You kids look around the campus. If you find anything prehistoric, I'll cancel detention for you."
"Thanks, Dad." Jackie said hugging him. "Come on, guys, let's go." The four teens walked through the grounds. "Something's way off here," she said. "Anton Mercer was Dad's partner for a long time and mysteriously went missing. It's strange that a sign with his company logo just happens to be on the door to the museum."
"Be careful, guys," said Ethan. "There could be a sinkhole around here." Conner scoffed. "Okay, but if you fall into a sinkhole, don't come crying to me." The four took a few more steps and screamed as they fell into a giant hole in the ground. "See? What did I tell you?"
"Shut up, Ethan." Jackie said. "Okay, let's look around. There's gotta be a way out of here." She saw Conner looking at her and got so close to him that she could practically touch him. "Look, buster, I'm not in the mood, so keep your eyes off me. Got it?"
"Sure thing, babe." Conner said casually. "WHOA! What's your deal?"
"Don't call me that!" Jackie growled, her eyes narrowing with anger. "I'm not your girlfriend, okay? And I will not be if you and I were the last two people on Earth." Conner grinned and walked away. "Ugh! Men!" she groaned. She heard dirt moving and watched as the boy that she was now angry with attempted to climb up the hole and fell back to the ground. "Back so soon?" she joked causing him to glare at her. Again, she heard a noise and looked to see Ethan had pushed a rock into the wall of the hole and a door opened leading to a tunnel. She had a very bad feeling about it and tried to protest when the others walked into it. "Wait! Don't go there!"
"Why not?" Conner asked. "It's just a tunnel."
"I think I know where that tunnel leads and you don't want to go in there." Jackie told them. "Trust me." She sighed as they walked past her and she groaned as Ethan pulled a jaw bone on the skull of a Triceratops. Another door opened and they walked into a giant room with computers and a strange looking table holding three colored crystals and a lone table holding something that Jackie recognized immediately. "We seriously shouldn't be in here." Jackie said. "I'm gonna be grounded for the rest of my life!"
"Why?" Ethan asked. "You know who owns this lab?" She nodded. "Oh. Well, maybe your dad will cancel detention if we take these to him." He, Kira and Conner picked up the three crystals and pocketed them.
"No!" Jackie cried. "Oh, crap. This is going to be a bad day. I just know it." Not thinking, she picked up the small gold thing on the table near her and felt a strange sensation in her body. In her mind's eye, she saw an animal and instantly knew what happened. "I'm so dead." She and the others left the room and went to the forest. "Okay, let's just forget this ever happened. Got it?"
"I can agree with that." Kira said handing Conner the crystal she held. "Done." She started to walk away, but stopped when she heard a growling sound. "Um...what was that?"
"Something I hoped wouldn't happen." Jackie said getting into a defensive stance. "Stay with me. I'll protect you." The others got behind her and gasped in fear when a bunch of scaly humanoid creatures came out of the forest. One of them tried to punch her, but Jackie ducked and kicked it in the chest making it stumble backward. The others helped her fight off the creatures as best as they could. At first, they were getting their butts kicked, but Jackie saw that each of them gained some kind of super power. Kira had some kind of sonic screech that knocked the creatures back. Ethan's skin hardened to protect him and Conner moved with superspeed. "I wonder what kind of power I'll have." Jackie muttered to herself. One of the creatures tried to sneak up behind her and she went to punch it, but ended up shooting a ball of flame from her fist. The fireball hit the creature and it flew into a tree, unconscious. The four went back to Tommy.
"Did you guys find anything?" he asked them.
"Oh, just some of your run-of-the-mill forest creatures." Ethan said. "Some furry ones, at least."
"And some scaly ones." Kira said under her breath making Tommy look at her strangely. "Well, I'm ready to head home. It's taco night and I don't want to miss it."
"Okay, I'll take you guys home." Tommy said. "Come on." He dropped the other three off before taking Jackie home as well. "Okay, what happened?"
"Don't get mad, Dad, but I think we accidentally found your secret lab." Jackie told him. Tommy looked scared now. "You know those three gems you had?" He nodded. "Well, Conner, Ethan and Kira took them and..." she showed him what she had. "I got this." Tommy groaned as he saw what it was. "Dad, we need to talk. What are those things and what am I holding here?"
"I need to talk to the others as soon as possible," he said. "You're right. We do need to talk and I'll explain everything when they get here. Something tells me Conner and the others are gonna want answers." A little while later, he was right. He and Jackie were in the lab and were not surprised to see Conner and Ethan come in. "If you guys are looking for extra credit, you came to the wrong place."
"We were going to return these." Ethan said holding out the blue crystal. "Care to tell us what these are?"
"They're called Dino Gems." Tommy explained. "They were part of a meteor that wiped out the dinosaur population. I found them a few years ago and kept them for safe keeping. Now, where's Kira?"
"She got kidnapped by these big scaly things." Conner explained. "Not sure why, but they have her."
"Tyrannodrones." Tommy explained. "I helped create them. See, my partner Anton and I were trying to combine dinosaur DNA with machinery to create beings that could protect the planet from any threats. Somehow, they were reprogrammed for evil. We need to find Kira." They hopped in his jeep once again and drove toward where she got taken. On the way, Tommy told the three teens about what happened to Anton Mercer and how a monster named Mesogog was created. "So that's the whole story."
"That doesn't help us find Kira." Ethan said. "It's not like she's gonna fall out of the sky right in front of us." Suddenly, there was a flash of green light and Kira landed on the hood of the jeep. "Wow!"
"Okay, can someone please tell me what's going on?" Kira said confused. "First thing I know I'm in some kind of lab with Franken-Lizard and now I'm a human hood ornament."
"That was Mesogog." Tommy explained. "And that was an Invisi-Portal you went through to get here." Kira rolled her eyes but hopped in. "Come on. Let's talk about those gems you have." They got back to the house and into the lab. "Okay, like I told Ethan and Conner, Kira, those gems came from a meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. The abilities you have come from those gems. When I found them, I kept them and have been finding a way to harness their energy for something." When the teens asked what he was harnessing the gems' power for, he brought out a box with a dinosaur footprint on the lid and opened it to reveal three devices. "Dino Morphers. You will use them to become Power Rangers."
"Hold on. What about me?" Jackie asked. "Those three get Dino Morphers, so what are you giving me?" Tommy opened a drawer in his desk and held out a very familiar device that Jackie recognized. "Your first Power Morpher? You mean the thing that I grabbed was...?"
"The Dragon Power Coin." Tommy confirmed. "It took a long time for me to do it, but I finally found a way to fully energize the coin. You will take my place as the first Green Ranger, but there will be some difference with the Dragonzord."
"What's the difference?" Jackie asked curiously.
"You'll find out soon enough." Tommy said mysteriously. "You three better get home and Jackie, I think you should go to bed. We have school tomorrow. By the way, consider detention cancelled." The teens cheered and headed home while Tommy and Jackie went up so she could have dinner and go to bed.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So that's the first chapter of my Daughter of Legends story. I hope you all like it. I was planning on doing this story for some time, but never got a chance to write it down. Let's go through some key points to the story.
1. The main character: I got the idean from another author I followed on and kept the idea after they deleted their story series from their story list.
2: Fight scenes: I will make the fight scenes in this story more intense than this first chapter.
3: Pairing: I have no idea who I will put Jackie in a relationship at the moment. I have two in mind, but I'm not sure where this will go. You readers can give me advice in the comments and I'll put those suggestions under consideration.
4: How many seasons will the story take place in? I am not sure at the moment since, unlike the original story from the first author, I chose Dino Thunder as its starting point where they used Ninja Storm for the start of the saga. I would like to keep the character going at least through Ninja Steel or Beast Morphers, though I'm not exactly sure how well that will work.
Thanks for reading and I really hope you like the story so far. I will be trying to add more chapters over time, so you may see a few chapters added every now and then. Have a good day, everyone and happy reading.
