Chapter 9

Breaking Ground

Mariner Bay

It was a great day at the Bay. The City Council had approved the construction of a new Lightspeed Aquabase a few years ago after the original Aquabase had been destroyed in the Lightspeed Rangers' final battle against Queen Bansheera, and at long last the day had come for the place to be activated. Captain Bill Mitchell was proud to open the new base for two reasons. One, it brought back fond memories. And two, it brought family pride. Captain Mitchell's son, Ryan, had continued an around the world trek, studying buildings of all countries; how they were designed, how they were built, what the meanings behind them were among other things. Eventually, Ryan became an architect and it was he who designed the new Aquabase.

All the old Rangers were in attendance at the opening day ceremony. Ryan was there, of course. Captain Mitchell's daughter and Ryan's sister, Dr. Dana Mitchell, was in attendance. She had closed her private pediatrician practice for the day just so she could be there. Kelsey Winslow, adventure athlete extraordinaire, was in the front row; thinking to herself: I wonder if I could climb that thing. Joel Rawlings, "The Sky Cowboy", had shown up; fashionably late, but ever energetic. Joel's wife, Angela Fairweather-Rawlings, who had been the Lightspeed team's technical advisor, still couldn't believe he had actually flown his stunt plane in. She couldn't really blame him though, and neither could her brother, Clark; who had assisted in some of the technological aspects of the Lightspeed team's weaponry. Joel never wasted an opportunity to make a big entrance, or to please a crowd. Chad Lee had done a demonstration of underwater combat tactics. And of course, Carter Grayson, now Chief of the Mariner Bay Fire Department, had attended; partly because his duties as chief led him to be there, but Carter wouldn't have missed this for the world.

Captain Mitchell cut the ribbon to thunderous applause. But not all was as it seemed. Deep underground, a voice snarled: "So those pathetic humans think they can build another base on MY hallowed ground? They may have defeated my mate, but they will not defeat me. I shall avenge my queen, my son, and my kind!"

Somewhere Above the Country

The young man, the "Leader of the Broken Hearts" as he called himself; referring to the song by Papa Roach, was at that moment on a plane headed for Miami that would connect to a flight to California. Having to travel cross-country to find his fortune bit major backside, but at this point he'd go to the stars and back to clear his soul. He knew it was his fault that he was so close to a life of mediocrity, but he didn't figure that he could have changed anything about himself; even if he could have, it would do nothing. He was simply a cursed individual; the world was against him, and even if he changed location it would be the same thing. He was Dead Man Walking, waiting for the day when he would finally be sent to his fate.

But what of the mysterious note he had gotten back home? Could fate have spoken? And what of the woman in yellow, he wondered? Angel or not, she had to have known what was wrong with him when she heard him writing his songs. She had suggested this new place, this Angel Grove. He'd heard of it before.

The Power Rangers. He'd seen the stories on TV. He'd even read about them in the newspapers. But things like that just had to be too good to be true, and as they said, if something seemed too good to be true, it probably was. The media did everything these days just to get people to buy their product. Marshall McLuhan, a great Canadian professor, had said "the media is the message." And it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that the media had cooked up these Power Rangers just to get some business. Multiple places had seemed to jump on the bandwagon as well. It wouldn't surprise him much at all to find that they were just a hoax.

But hoax or not, he had to find out. This Angel Grove had been recommended by the woman in yellow. Whether or not she was an angel or just a figment of his imagination, that remained to be seen, but he would find out. Either way, it was better than what he had at home. The tickets may have been cheap, but it was practically all he had, and now he was going to change his life, one way or another.

"This is your captain speaking," a voice over the intercom stated. "We will be landing in Miami International Airport in approximately 20 minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and put your trays in the upright positions to prepare for landing. Thank you." The young man followed suit with the other passengers to his annoyance. He was never one for following orders. Oh well, he thought. I'll just wait at the airport and get something to eat until the connector is ready to go. Why would a flight need to connect to Miami to go to California, anyway? It's all a load of garbage, if you ask me.

A Few Hours Later

When the plane landed in Miami, our young friend checked out a few of the sights at the airport, wrote a little in his notebook, then went through the whole ordeal of going through baggage check and security, boarded the California-bound plane and stayed in his seat as the plane reloaded and the Miami passengers boarded. The young man sat waiting, listening to music on his cell phone when all of a sudden, he felt a chill go through his spine. That frozen tingle. He turned toward the aisle and noticed a woman who looked a little older than him, but was still beautiful. Though, in his opinion, the colors she was wearing didn't seem quite right.

"My ticket has me seated here. Do you mind?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry," he said, moving his backpack up to the overhead compartment.

A relatively short time later, all the passengers were seated and the plane took off. As soon as the captain had told the passengers that they could unhook their safety belts, the young man retrieved his backpack and pulled his notebook and colored pencils out. He would draw a little, write some notes, then draw some more. This seemed to interest the lady seated next to him and she wondered what he was doing.

"What are you drawing?" she asked.

"Just an idea for a superhero. Can't figure out what powers to give him, though. Or what to call him."

"That's cool. You like superheroes?"

"Definitely. That's part of the reason I'm going where I'm going."

"Where you headed?"

"Angel Grove."

"No kidding? That's where I'm going, too. What a coincidence."

"Weird. How come you're going there?"

"High school reunion. It's gonna be great seeing all my old friends. I keep wondering how everyone is all the time, so I'm glad I finally get to see them again. What about you, why are you headed to Angel Grove?"

"Trying to turn my life around. I'm trying to claim my fortune on the west coast."

"How are you gonna get by? I think gold mines are more of a NorCal thing; not to mention they're probably tapped out by now."

"I'll figure it out when I get there, I guess."

"Well, I could give you a ride to Angel Grove as soon as the plane lands."

"I don't know. Trusting people I don't know has bit me hard quite a few times."

"Well then, let me introduce myself. Kimberly."

"Morgan."

"Nice to meet you. So tell me, Morgan, how come you're interested in Angel Grove?"

"I've heard some stories about that place. I want to see if they're real."

"Like what? Tell me."

"Hmmm…"

"I know what he means," said a voice behind them.

"Yep, got it all figured out, right Bulky?"

Kimberly and Morgan turned around to see two guys with big grins on their faces. One was rather large with a purple shirt and black jeans and the other rather thin with a gray shirt and khakis.

Kimberly recognized them immediately. "Bulk, Skull, what are you doing here?"

"Well, it's great to see ya, Kimmy," said Bulk. "Skull and I were working on a little dream of ours."

"Yep, we decided to go on a little country-wide trip," said Skull.

"We figured why not? It isn't often we get to hang together nowadays. So why not try out some of the best cuisine our fine country has to offer," Bulk continued.

"And now we're headed back for the big reunion before we shove off on the west coast run," Skull finished.

"So, Kim, who's your new friend?" asked Bulk.

"Oh, sorry. Bulk, Skull, this is Morgan. Morgan, these are Farkus Bulkmeyer and Eugene Skullovich, A.K.A. Bulk and Skull."

"How ya doin', guys," Morgan greeted them.

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Not much."

"So, it's obvious why the new guy is headed for the Grove," said Bulk.

"The food?" Skull guessed.

"No, numb-Skull." Bulk grumbled. "The Power Rangers. He wants to see the home of the originals."

"So they're real?" Morgan asked.

"You betcha. And we even know who some of them are, too."

"Yep," said Skull. "But we're sworn to secrecy. If everyone knew, it'd be a disaster. Imagine all the media attention they'd get. They'd never get any sleep; right, Bulky?"

"The ones everyone knows about hardly do today."

"So do you guys have anything to do on this flight? I'm don't think talking about all this will do it justice," said Morgan. "I'd rather see it for myself when I get there."

"Well," Skull said to him, "we just happened to bring our Power Rangers chess set with us. I'll play ya if you want.

"Alright, sure," Morgan responded.

"I get winner," Bulk called.

So Skull pulled the chess set out from the carrying case above the seats, switched seats with Kimberly and set up the game. Morgan wasn't sure about these new people, but there seemed to be something different about them from the people back home. These guys didn't seem to be the type to ridicule or make fun of people, especially Kim. Morgan wondered if he may have stumbled upon what the woman in yellow was talking about when she had recommended Angel Grove. Everything happened for a reason, right? What that reason was, Morgan did not know, but he hoped that he would find out soon and that it would lead to an epic turnaround in his life.