Rangers: 25 R.R.
Episode 3: The Truth behind the Lies
No one could believe what they were seeing, there in front of them, was a giant floating head inside of the large green tube in the front left corner of the room. None of the teens could take their eyes off of it, how was it even in there? Finally, after a long, awkward pause, Joseph finally spoke up.
"Who are you?" He asked the giant head in the tube.
"I am Zordon" The head replied "I am an interdimensional being, trapped in a time warp. You have already met Alpha 5, my faithful companion. As you know, your world is under the control of an evil dictator, Rita Repulsa. She came to earth twenty-five years ago and conquered the planet with her force of monsters and Putties, though you have been told a much more light-hearted version of this history. Are you prepared to her the entire story?
"I'm still trying to figure out.l your head…" Everyone stared at Shelton following this smart-ass remark "But it can wait" he said, lowering his head and taking a step back.
"We're ready, tell us everything" Joseph Responded, looking as though he were about to go into battle.
"Very well" Zordon began "Ten Thousand years ago, there was a great battle between good and evil, at the conclusion of the battle, the evil was locked away never to be released."
"Would it be fair to guess that Rita was the evil?" Rachele asked, her finger pressed against her cheek.
"That is Correct" Zordon replied.
"Wait…" Spiked lifted his finger into the air "wouldn't that make her, like… Over 10,000 years old?"
"That is Also correct" said Zordon, nodding his incredibly large head
"Wow, she looks good for an old lady." spike said, smirking and nodding his head. The other's showed him a look of disgust "What? She does."
"How is that possible?" Jennifer posed the next question "Even for an alien, that has to be a long time."
"You are right" Zordon began to explain "when she and her henchmen were locked away, the Capsule in which they were imprisoned placed them in a form of suspended animation."
"That means they were placed in a deep sleep that kept them from aging." Alpha pitched in.
"But she was accidently freed twenty-five years ago, by a pair of earth astronauts, who did not know the nature of the capsule or the evil contained within it." Zordon continued "After she escaped, her first order of business was to attack the Command Center directly, the ruined building that stands above us, knowing that it was the only thing on this planet that could stand in her way. Alpha and I detected her escape and had already taken steps to thwart her plans but we were too late. Almost as soon as the five candidates we selected to oppose her arrived, Rita attacked with the full force of her power. The Command Center was completely Destroyed and the candidates we selected were killed." Zordon appeared to be taking a deep breath, as this was probably a sensitive topic for him to discuss. "Their lives were needlessly wasted and their blood is on my conscience."
Everyone waited a moment before speaking again, this was obviously difficult for Zordon to discuss and the teens felt like a moment of silence was appropriate. Finally, Joseph broke the silence. "So, if everything was destroyed, then what's all this?"
"The power Chamber was an experimental facility I'd been working on for some time before Rita attacked" Alpha explained "It just needed a few finishing touches before it was ready to function as a headquarters and as you can imagine, I've had ample time to work on them. Luckily, Rita has no idea it exists."
"Then, what's the hold up?" Shelton asked abruptly "I mean, if you've been here for twenty-five years and you've got all of this… Why couldn't you stop her? Or fight back or start a rebellion or something…?"
"I'm afraid after what happened to those young souls all those years ago, I've been… Hesitant to ask anyone else to place themselves at risk and there is little I can do in my present state but offer guidance."
"And he doesn't look like much of a fighter." Spike chimed in "No offence" he added, looking at Alpha.
"What exactly was it you were asking them to do? "Joseph asked Zordon Directly.
"To become the defenders of this planet, to become an elite team capable of wielding extraordinary power. This power would have made them a Formidable force and with it, they could very well have saved this world from Rita.
"Super Heroes!" Spike suddenly seemed very excited, as though some one just offered him an arena fight. "You were going to make them Super Heroes!"
"As the protectors of Earth, it would have been their sole responsibility to defend all life on this planet not only from Rita but from any evil that would seek to conquer or destroy it. They would have been known to one & all… As The Power Rangers.
There was a glow of light behind the group of five teens and they all turned around to see the empty display cases one the back wall they had noticed during their first visit to the power chamber were no longer empty. They were instead filled with costumes, each a different color. The suits looked like they were made of spandex and were of an identical design, except for the helmets, which all appeared to resemble different Dinosaurs. Each suite was a solid color of red, black, blue, yellow and pink. They all sported white gloves and boots with a diamond pattern wrapped around the wrist and ankles in the color of the suits themselves. There was a white belt Wrapped around the waists with a belt buckle that housed a gold coin, a different dinosaur engraved on each and a large white diamond pattern wrapped around the upper torso. In the center display case was now a grouping of various weapons including a Bow, an Axe, a pair of daggers, a double headed lance and a sword. The seventh display case remained empty, the one left of center.
"These are the uniforms of The Power Rangers." Zordon began again They will grant the wearer protection from enemy attacks as well as increased strength, agility, reflexes and access to an arsenal of advanced weaponry."
"Where's the last suit?" Jennifer asked, noticing the empty seventh display case. "and there's a weapon missing from the middle case"
"I'm afraid those powers were lost in the great conflict ten millennia ago" Zordon replied.
"I don't understand" Rachele began to ask, turning back around to face Zordon "Why are you showing us all of this?"
"Because he wants us to do it." Joseph responded in Zordon's place. He had now turned around to face Zordon and Alpha 5 "He wants us to be The Power Rangers and fight Rita. Is that right?" he asked zordon directly.
"Yes" Zordon replied "That is correct"
"Alright then" Joseph began, looking back at his friends then back at Zordon "I'm in."
"I'm in too." Jennifer declared, stepping forward to take position next to Joseph.
"This guy is going to make us super heroes…" Spike began "That's the next best thing to being arena champion." he said with a look of excitement "I'm definitely in."
"I've wanted to do more to help people my entire life" Rachele said as she turned to join the others "and this looks like the best way to do it."
"Shelton," Joseph looked to his friend "what about you"?
"I'm scared guys" Shelton began "I'm scared their going to come and take my family, my baby sister. I can't lose them." He paused and lowered his head "But like I said on the street…" he raised his head again and moved to join his friends "The best way to protect them, is to stop Rita before she comes for them, I'm in." he then turned to face the Ranger uniforms in the display cases "But I'm not wearing that, me and tights… that's just not a good idea."
Everyone began to laugh at this as Shelton smirked and put his hands up at his sides.
"I'm afraid the uniforms are necessary" Zordon interrupted "without them, you cannot hope to defeat Rita's horde of monsters and army of putties."
"Well, actually…" Alpha chimed in "it is Technically possible to alter the appearance of the suits by some slight reprogramming of the Power Morphers."
"Power Morphers?" Jennifer Asked "what are those?"
Alpha turned to the main control panel, pressed several buttons and suddenly, the five belt buckles that were displayed on the suits in the display cases were now lined up in a row on the base of the computer panel.
"These are your Power Morphers, the keys to your power" Zordon explain "When in danger, hold your morpher to the sky and call out the name of your Dinosour, doing so will morph you into your ranger form.
"Um, question" Spike chirped "what's the deal with dinsours? I mean, we know what they are, we've seen pictures of them in old books and stuff but… Why?"
"You will Learn more about the complete capabilities of you powers in time but for now, I believe it is best for you to return to your homes until alpha has completed the modifications to your morphers."
"Can I help?" Jennifer asked "I'd really like to learn more about this."
"That's alright with me" Alpha said, almost sounding excited "it would be nice to an extra pair of hands after all these years and to have some extra company, no offence Zordon."
"None taken Alpha" said Zordon "I do not see why not, Alpha can teleport you back to your home once you have completed your work. As for the rest of you, we can send you back to your homes now, if you are ready"
"You mean the same way we got here?" Spike Squeaked "How exactly does that work?"
"Do not fear" Zordon reassured them "Teleportation is perfectly safe and will instantly transport you to any destination on the globe"
"The teens all looked at each other, feeling nervous, then nodded to signify that they were ready. Alpha turned to his control panel once again and began pushing buttons, then turned to face the teens. "Make sure you are in a safe place tomorrow evening to be teleported back here, your morphers should be ready by then." They all nodded and Alpha pressed one last button "Teleporting now."
Jennifer watched as her four friends disappeared in a flash of multicolored light, this was the first time she'd seen it from the outside. Each of her friends glowed a different color as they vanished, Joseph Glowed Red, Rachele Pink, Spike Black and Shelton Yellow. After they were gone, she turned to alpha and asked "Okay, what do we do first?
Shelton Found himself in his bedroom, unsure he'd ever get used to that Teleport thing. Looking at the clock on his wall, he realized how late it had gotten and began getting undressed so he could crash for the night. Just as he was about to lay down, there was a knock at his door and his mother's voice called out.
"Baby, are you in there?" his mother asked
"Yeah momma, I'm just getting ready for bed" Shelton responded
"Boy, I didn't even hear you come in. Why were you out so late?"
"Sorry Momma, I was just out with Joseph & the gang and we lost track of time"
"Now you know I like your friends" his mother began "you're all good kids but you got to be more careful, it's dangerous being out late"
"I know Momma" Shelton answered "I'll be more careful, I promise."
"Have you checked in on your sister?" his mother asked
"I was just about to; I'm just getting into my PJs"
Shelton finished Changing then walked out of his bedroom door to walk down the hall to his sister's room. His sister always kept her door closed, it wasn't that she wanted the privacy, she just didn't want her family walking by her door and looking in with that look of worry and concern all the time. Shelton knocked on the door and called out in a hushed voice. "Margie, you awake?"
"Yeah, come on in Shelly" his sister's voice answered from the other side of the door.
Shelton opened the door and stepped lightly as he walked in. "You know I hate it when you call me that"
"I know" she replied grinning "that's why I do it."
Shelton sat down in a chair next to his sister's bed, she was about thirteen years old and had a sickly appearance. "How are you feeling?" he asked his sister.
"Same as I was last night… And the night before last… And last week." She answered with a mildly annoyed look on her face.
"I know, I know" Shelton said, nodding his head "but you know Momma wants all of us to check on you before we crash every night."
"Doesn't stop Daddy from falling asleep on the couch every night" Margie said, chuckling.
"Well, you would too if you had to deal with those Puttie faced weirdos all day every day" Shelton responded.
Their father was a police officer and often had to put up with the Putty patrollers and their superiors.
"Yeah, I know" Margie responded, shaking her head "I don't know how he does it without getting creeped out."
"Is he home from the station yet?" Shelton asked is sister
"Not yet" She answered "He called from his desk and said something had come up, He'd be home late"
"Can't say I'm surprised" Shelton muttered, shaking his head.
"Well, as you can see, I'm still here and you can go to bed now" Margie said, looking past Shelton at the door.
"Okay, Okay" Shelton said, smiling and nodding "Goodnight Margie" He kissed his sister on her forehead and stood up to leave the room.
"Goodnight Shelly" His sister said, smiling.
The next morning came sooner than Shelton would have liked, as he dragged himself out of bed to get dressed, he could hear his father in the kitchen. Shelton quickly dressed and headed down stairs to catch his dad before he left for the station. As he walked through the kitchen door, Shelton's father was just pulling a bagel out of the taster.
"Hey Daddy" He called out as he made his way to the refrigerator
"Hey there son" his father replied "What time did you come in last night?"
"Earlier than you" Shelton responded, smirking "was everything ok last night?"
"Nope, I'm afraid not. At first it was just a graffiti call but when we got on site, well… We found something that the Putty division didn't like." Shelton's father had a look of concern as he said this, as though he sensed impending disaster.
Shelton knew exactly what his father was talking about, he had forgotten about the pile of rubble he and his friends had left after they beat the putty patrollers down into the street with their make shift weapons the previous night.
"What was it?" Shelton asked, trying to sound casual.
"It's better I didn't talk about it son, just try not to worry about it and focus on school."
"Okay Daddy, if you say so." He responded to his father, still trying to sound as if nothing was on his mind.
Shelton quickly ate breakfast and headed out the door to meet his friends in their normal manner. When he and Joseph met up with Jennifer, she looked absolutely exhausted.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" Shelton asked his yawning friend.
"Not a wink" Jennifer replied, still yawning "Alpha Teleported me home just in time to get ready for school."
"You were at the Power Chamber all night?" Joseph asked with surprise in his voice.
"Yeah, I couldn't tear myself away from what we were doing." Jennifer said "It's amazing, the technology I was working with, just the fact that it exists is exciting to me. I can't wait to learn more about it."
"Well, you're going to get your chance" Joseph replied solemnly "because, whatever we're about to start, I doubt we'll finish it overnight."
The three met with Spike and Rachele in front of the school and it was then that Shelton told his friends about the conversation he'd had with his father that morning.
"listen Guys" he began "They already know about last night."
"What!?" His friends all reacted at once.
"They don't know who" Shelton continued "But my dad said they found something that bothered the putties… Near some graffiti."
Everyone stood in silence for a moment as they considered what had been said, finally Joseph spoke up.
"Okay, best thing to do is act normal and go about are days as usual. We don't want to give anyone any reason to look at us differently… Or at all for that matter" he added.
The five all nodded in agreement and proceeded to check their packs at the front entrance of the building. School could not have passed by any slower that day, each class felt as though it took three times as long as it normally would have. When the day finally came to an end, just as the final bell was about to ring, there was an announcement made over the intercom…
"To all students" A woman's voice began "Anyone with knowledge or information regarding a vandalism in the form of graffiti, which took place last night in the immediate area, should report to the office following the final bell or proceed to Angel Grove Police Department following the end of class. That is all."
Shelton and his friends all shot a glance at one another as the bell rang and they all stood up from their desks to leave school for the day. Once they'd checked their packs and had made it outside of the building, they began debating where they could meet for teleportation that evening as the old building where they had met before was now compromised.
"What about the park?" Rachele asked as they walked down the street.
"No way" Jennifer responded quickly "There's just as many putties there as any other place."
"What about back at the school?" Joseph suggested "That's where Alpha sent us the first time we found the Power Chamber, it seems to be safe at night."
"Dude… Nah" Shelton scoffed "I'm not going anywhere near that place if I don't have too."
"Okay" Joseph rolled his eyes "So what does that leave us?"
"The basement in my building" Spike chimed in "the only person that goes down there is my dad and even then, not that much. It's perfect."
"Okay then," Joseph said "we'll all meet back at Spikes building around dusk, sound good?"
Everyone agreed and split off to return to their respective homes.
Shelton returned home to find his mother and sister in the living room, his sister lying on the couch, his mother in the arm chair.
"Hey baby" his mother greeted him as he walked in the front door "how was school?"
"It was school" he responded as he made his was across the room "nothing special."
"Hmm," his mother groaned "I don't know who talks less, you or your father."
Suddenly remembering what his father had been working on, Shelton seized his opportunity. "Speaking of daddy, did he say anything about that case he's been on?"
"Naw baby, we haven't heard from him since he left for work this morning" his mother now looked at him with a look of curiosity "why are you so interested in your daddies work all of the sudden?"
"Just curios" Shelton fibbed "he mentioned it this morning before school." He took a seat next to his sister and began rummaging through his backpack for his homework assignment, he figured he may as well until it was time to meet his friends at Spike's place.
Dusk came at last and Shelton was on his way up the street to meet Joseph at their normal street corner, he hadn't gotten far from his home when he caught sight of a group of putties moving the opposite direction on the other side of the street. At first, he figured it was just another patrol but then he saw them approach a house. Shelton slowed his pace so he could observe what was going on, it wasn't normal for putties to approach someone's home… unless they were looking for something or someone. They disappeared through the front door of the house for just a few moments but then reemerged and proceeded to the next home. It wasn't hard to discern what they were doing, going door to door meant they were definitely looking for someone. Shelton had his money on that they were looking for the graffiti artists from the other night, probably under the assumption that they were responsible for turning those putty patrollers into a pile of dirt. He decided to quicken his pace and stay out of dodge; the putties didn't seem to be interested in him and he wanted to keep it that way. Shelton began to approach the usual street corner where he and Joseph normally met and he could see Joseph approaching from the right in the distance but there was some one behind him… Putties and they appeared to following him. The two met at the corner, Joseph was already aware of his shadows and had been trying to walk normally so as not to arouse suspicion, it seemed to be working for the moment. The two continued up the street, on route to the spot where they normally met Jennifer, and their followers kept pace with them. They came to their normal rendezvous but Jennifer hadn't arrived yet, since the putties had not yet made any hostile action, they decided to stand and wait for Jennifer and hope the putties just passed them by. Sure enough, the putties caught up to them and for a moment, appeared as though they would wait on the corner as well but then continued on their way. Jennifer soon joined them and now the three teens were following the putty patrol.
"What's the deal with the Putties?" Jennifer asked her friends as they walked up the street, carful to keep a safe distance between them-selves and the patrol.
"I don't know" Joseph replied "they got behind me right after I left my house and I've been trying to keep cool since."
"They aren't the only ones in the neighborhood either" Shelton added "there was another patrol going door to door on my street, I think their looking for the kids we saved the other night, the graffiti guys."
"Yeah" Jennifer agreed "they probably think those guys are the ones who killed the putties."
"Regardless, we can't meet at Spikes place until we lose the paparazzi up there." Joseph stated "Any ideas?"
"let's try going the long way" Shelton suggested "Go past the school then circle around."
"It's worth a shot," Jennifer chimed in "we're almost to the school anyway."
"Sounds like a plan, we'll take the next left after the school." Joseph declared.
The three continued past the school, then took the following left, as panned. For a moment, it appeared that they had left the putties behind and they weren't really interested in the teens but that was wishful thinking. The three had only made it a little way up the street when Jennifer looked behind them and there the putties were again, keeping their distance but keeping pace with the teens.
"Guys, what do we do?" Shelton asked "We can't lead them back to spikes place.
"We can't keep wandering either" Jennifer added "Alpha is going to press that button whether we're at spike's or not and if those putties see us teleport, Rita will have a reason to come after us and our families."
"Okay, then we need a place to hide and we need it now." Joseph was looking around, seeing nothing but other houses and street lamps, no good hiding places. "okay… Hiding is out, looks like we'll have to fight these guys."
"What!?" Shelton looked flabbergasted "Here? While it's still broad daylight?"
"Shelton's right Joseph," Jennifer interjected "too many people could see and we don't know if we can beat these thigs with-out weapons."
"You mean like a pipe or a 2-by-4." Shelton snickered.
"Not the time Shelton." Joseph said, unamused "In any case I don't think we have much choice, we can't let them see us teleport and we can't lead them back to spikes, that leaves one option…"
Nodding their heads in agreement, the three teens stopped dead in their tracks and turned to face the putties, who did not stop in their tracks. The putties drew closer and just as Shelton and his friends prepared to attack first, the putties disappeared in a flash of light.
"Um… What?" Shelton was understandably confused.
"I don't… Um…" Joseph was also at a loss for words.
"It was Alpha" Jennifer declared.
"How do you know that?" Shelton asked.
"When I stayed at the power chamber to help alpha work on the morphers, I watched you guys as he teleported you out and it looked exactly like that." Jennifer explained.
"Okay, we'll figure it out later. Right now, we have to get to spike's" Joseph stated and the teens began to jog the rest of the way to Spike's apartment building. Once they arrived, they saw that Spike and Rachele were waiting for them in front of the building.
"What took you so long?" Spike looked as though he were in full on panic mode.
"We had some fans," Joseph explained as Rachele and spiked looked on with looks of confusion "a group of putties were following us."
"Putties following you" Rachele was in disbelief.
"Oh No! We're totally busted!" If Spike wasn't panicking before, he was now.
"Calm down spike," Joseph tried to be reassuring "we don't think they know anything about us, they were going door to door, probably looking for the guys we saved the other night."
"How did you lose them?" Rachele asked.
"I think Alpha teleported them away." Jennifer explained.
"You know guys, as much as I'd love to chat out here and catch some rays, don't you think we should continue this in the basement like we planned in the first place…" Shelton was darting his eyes towards the front door of Spikes building.
"He's right, let's get inside." Joseph lead his friends through the front door then let Spike take the lead so they could follow him to the basement. Spike lead them down a hallway behind the building leasing office then down a flight of stairs, at the bottom of the stair way was a door with what looked like wood rot in the top left corner. The teens opened the door and walked through it, inside they found a dark and dingy room full of cobwebs, rusty pipes and piles of dust. There were also old work benches, power tools and chests that were probably filled with more tools. Everyone had a disgusted look on their face, everyone except Joseph, who appeared to surveying the room.
"This place is beyond nasty." Shelton was stroking his finger along a work bench with a thick lair of dust on it.
"Doesn't your building have a cleaning staff?" Rachele asked as she pulled cobwebs out of her hair.
"Well, actually it's just my dad," Spike began to explain "he does everything for the building himself. Cleaning, maintenance, he even shows apartments to new residents when the leasing office is on lunch. So, since he's the only person who comes down here, he kind of lets it go."
Everyone stood in silence for a moment, feeling a bit ashamed. None of them would have said anything about the condition of the room if they'd known just how much Spikes dad had on his plate.
"Sorry Spike," Joseph apologized for the group "we didn't know."
"It's cool," Spike replied "my dad doesn't mind, he says it keeps him out of trouble."
Everyone giggled at this but before they could continue the conversation, they were all over come with the familiar sensation of pins and needles throughout their bodies and suddenly, they found themselves in the Power chamber.
"Welcome back everyone." Alpha 5 greeted them with excitement in his voice.
"Alpha," Jennifer approached him "were you the one who teleported those putties off the street earlier?"
"Of course," Alpha acknowledged "as much as I would have enjoyed watching you reduce those clay bullies to rubble in the middle of the street, I thought it would be best if you didn't make a scene."
"The putties saw us," Joseph began to ask with concern in his voice "where did you send them?"
"To the bottom of the ocean," Alpha responded gleefully "where they can't cause us any problems."
Everyone smiled at the thought of the putties becoming soggy and falling apart under water but now, it was time to get serious.
"Attention everyone," Zordon had appeared in the large green tube and began to speak. "the time has come for you to receive your new powers. From this day forward, your lives as you have known them, will be over. You will be the front line in the revolution that will soon begin, to free your world from the rule of Rita Repulsa and her minions. Though this is not the purpose for which the power was created, it is the purpose it must now serve. Are you ready to except your new responsibilities, are you ready to become… The Power Rangers?"