Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers. The Power Rangers, all names and likenesses concerning them, are all trademarks of Disney Enterprises, LLC. All of the main characters in this story, however, are indeed mine.

Episode 1

Chapter I – Origins, Part 1

Norfolk, VA.
September 18, 2006
11:47 PM

The city, once a well-populated mini-metropolis, now somewhat resembles a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The sky seems to be a permanent shade of red, and many of the buildings that once stood tall are in ruins. In the darkness, a silhouette moves stealthily in order to reach its destination. The shadow ducks behind a large pile of rubble in the remains of Macarthur Mall as a squad of Putties monotonously march past. Once sure that the golems have departed, the silhouetted individual continues to run, taking extreme caution as not to be spotted.

The clouds part to reveal the moon, shining fully in the sanguine sky. Bathed in its pale light, the adumbrated person can be fully seen. He is a young African-American man of about twenty. He is exceedingly tall, standing at 6'7", and weighing about 250 lbs. He has a fairly muscular frame, not the bodybuilder type, but more of the construction worker type. He has shoulder-length dark reddish-brown hair, which he has braided into cornrows, and the ends of said braids are tied back behind his head with a strip of blue cloth. He is wearing a sleeveless T-Shirt that appears to be black at first glance, but closer inspection would reveal that it was actually an extremely dark red, a baggy pair of black jean shorts, and black sneakers. His deep brown eyes dart from side to side as he tries to run to another shadowed safe zone, but is spotted by a battalion comprised of four Tengas.

"You there! Stay where you are!" The alien squawked in a squeaky voice.

"Not a chance, chicken legs." The man responds in a rich baritone voice, crossing his arms and smirking

"Surrender immediately or be destroyed!" Another of the crow monsters demanded.

The man laughed. "Better turkeys than you have tried," he shot back with a chuckle.

The Tenga quartet quickly surrounded him, and his expression quickly turned serious. He assumed a fighting stance, and though many wouldn't notice it, his eyes appeared to lighten a few shades, nearly becoming a dull red.

"You have one last chance to surrender, human." The first Tenga said.

"Must I repeat myself?" The man replied, sighing. "I will not surrender. Will Crosby NEVER surrenders. I thought you overgrown pigeons would get it by now, but I guess it can't be helped."

The Tengas attacked.

- PRDE -

Norfolk, VA.
September 18, 2006
11:43 PM

Granby St.

A Nineteen-year-old young man was using similar tactics to Will to get around. His icy blue-green eyes seemed to glow in the light under the brown bangs that hung over his eyes. He was 5'10" and was wearing a brown-and-white checked shirt over blue jeans and a pair of Converses. Unlike his counterpart however, he wasn't spotted by the alien monsters. Putties were patrolling the area, however, and he wasn't planning to be exposed.

Of course, things NEVER go as planned.

"TYLER!" A voice behind him called. All of the Putty heads turned directly to where Tyler was: currently crouched behind some debris. He froze for a second, and cursed fate for its habit of picking on him. He glanced back to see a man of twenty-one running full speed at him, waving his hands maniacally. He was about the same height as Tyler and was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and baggy black jeans. His normally tanned and five-'o-clock-shadowed face was covered in black and white face-paint, and he was wearing the black baseball cap that never appears to leave his person.

"Skip?" Tyler whispered to himself.

"We gotta go bro." Skip said, his face in its usual goofy smirk. "We. Gotta. Go!"

"What's wrong?" Tyler asked, looking into the hazel eyes of his friend.

"Let's just say, that Putties have no sense of humor whatsoever."

"They're made of clay, Skip. Of course they don't have a sense of humor."

"…That makes so much sense, in retrospect."

Tyler couldn't help but chuckle at Skip's antics. At that moment however, a cold clay hand tapped his shoulder. He visibly stiffened and Skip paled beneath his face paint. He turned his head back to be face-to-face with a putty. He gulped.

Ten seconds later…

The duo was running for their lives. Both, being cross-country runners as well as teammates in school, were keeping pace with one-another, as well as keeping a safe distance from the terra-cotta Stormtroopers.

"I wonder how they found us…" Skip said, rubbing his chin as if in thought.

"I wonder" Tyler replied sarcastically, while giving Skip an annoyed glance. Skip noticed this and gave an embarrassed laugh.

"Might've been me when I shouted, huh?"

"I would think so."

"Hn."

"Hey Skip?"

"What's up brotha?"

"…Why the hell are you dressed like a Goth reject?"

"…That's a question best left unanswered"

"Hn."

The two ducked under a wide laser pistol blast that would have given a permanent haircut.

"Tyler, we need to split up." Skip said.

"I agree. We'll meet Will and the others at the rendezvous point." Tyler replied. That said, he took a sharp right turn and Skip kept straight. Without missing a beat, the two clay heads that had been pursuing them split up as well, tracking their prey.

- PRDE -

Norfolk, VA.
September 18, 2006
11:46 PM

Ghent, Colley Ave.

Two young women have just easily dispatched a lone Alpha, and are currently disposing of the metal body. The taller of the two, about 5'7" has shoulder-length brown hair that is tinted red, which contrasts with her milky-white complexion, and midnight blue eyes. She's wearing a black T-Shirt with a thin open-buttoned blue sweater over it, blue jeans, and white sneakers. The other young lady is African-American, around 5'5", and has piercing brown eyes. Her black hair touches her mid back, and she has it pulled back into a high ponytail with a purple hair tie. She is dressed in a long-sleeved gray shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers. After they hide the deactivated robot in a dumpster, she sighed.

"He's fine, Pam." The first girl said to her. "Stop worrying already."

"I can't help it, Jessica" Pam replied, sighing again. "I have a bad feeling about it, and knowing him, he went and picked a fight with them alone."

Jessica sighed, and sat down atop a nearby pile of rubble. "Listen. In the five years I've known Will, he's never once bit off more than he could chew. He's a man who knows his limitations. That's pretty rare nowadays, y'know." She winked at Pam before continuing. "Plus, if you factor in his downright scary fighting skills, he can handle himself, no problem."

"But that's what worries me, Jess." Pam replied quietly. "He seems to relish in the fighting. It's like he thrives off it; the adrenaline rush that comes with it."

"I'm not sure I follow" Jessica said.

"Have you ever seen Will fight?" Pam asked. Jessica shook her head.

"Be glad you haven't. He becomes a completely different person. It's like he becomes an animal, he loses all coherent thought, focuses only on the fight at hand, and I swear I've seen his eyes change colors. It scares the hell out of me." A single tear fell from her eyes, and she choked back a sob.

"Hey, hey, don't cry, Pam." Jessica said, trying to comfort her friend. "Have you told Will about this?"

Pam dropped her head sadly. "I couldn't. I was in shock when it happened. At the time, I had been shot by an Alpha's Laser."

Jessica nodded in understanding. "I see…" She glanced at her watch. "Oh man, we gotta get going, we'll be late!" Both girls hopped off the dumpster and took off full speed.

- PRDE -

Norfolk, VA.
September 18, 2006
11:55 PM

Back with Will…

Will glared at three unconscious piles of black feathers that call themselves Tengas. The fourth was currently hiding nearby. Will's crimson-eyed glare slowly surveyed the surrounding area.

"Now what have we learned, pigeon?" Will called in a tone that a teacher would use with students. He folded his arms behind his back and casually walked around. Silence was his answer. He sighed, and closed his eyes. "I guess we've learned nothing, huh?" Again, nothing was heard. "I suppose we'll have to re-learn, won't we?" He paused, his eyes opening and resuming their hard glare.

A step forward, followed by another. Will was approaching the hiding-area his last assailant-turned-victim. The once-silent Tenga now broke his silence.

"Oh no!" It quietly muttered, followed by a loud gulp.

"Answer a question for me, bird-brain. How afraid are you? Are you ready to meet whatever created you in the afterlife?" He walks to one side of a wall about seven feet tall. The blatantly terrified bird creature on the other side of said wall only shakes harder. Will soundlessly pulled himself atop the wall. He glared down at the top of the Tenga's head.

"Psst. Up here." He whispered. The Tenga froze completely. It slowly craned its head upward to see Will's smirking face. Its dark eyes met his red-tinted ones. Will attacked.

A loud squawk was heard, and then silence. Tyler, who was only a block down the street, stopped, and almost frantically looked around. He saw something move out the corner of his eye and immediately turned toward it, ready for a fight. He saw a tall creature casually walking up to him. He squinted in an attempt to see as the being got closer.

"'Sup, Ty." Will called to him.

Tyler dropped his guard and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yo, Will." He called back to his close friend. "Looks like you had a good time," he said, gesturing to his teammate to look at himself, which he did.

Will's eyes had returned to their natural dark brown, and he was covered with feathers. He laughed.

"What can I say? A bunch of feather-dusters wanted to fight. I complied."

"How many?" Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Only four." Will replied.

"…FOUR!" Tyler shouted.

"Yeah, it was no big deal," Will said, shrugging his friend's shock off. "C'mon. We need to get going, bro."

"Y-yeah," Tyler said weakly, shaking his head, as if to ward off a dizzy spell. 'How the hell did he take four Tengas alone?' He thought, while they were running.

- PRDE -

Norfolk, VA.
September 18, 2006
11:59 PM


Outside the remains of Norfolk Scope Arena…

Pam was pacing back and forth, muttering to herself quietly. Jessica was sitting lazily, watching Pam with a look between interest and annoyance.

"Y'know, you worry about that man entirely too much, Pam." She mused.

"What's your point, Jess?" Pam snapped.

"Just an observation of the relationship between two former lovers." She replied.

Pam sighed. "I guess I still love him"

"I know, but this is bordering on unhealthy obsession. It's been two months. You gotta get over it."

Skip appeared seemingly from nowhere, out of breath, and still wearing that face-paint. "Hey ladies." He gasped out.

The two women exchanged a look that said 'We'll finish this later,' and then returned his greeting.

"Tyler and Will get here yet?" He asked, still doubled over.

"Not yet." Jessica answered. "It's close to midnight though, they'll probably be here any second!" She added quickly, noticing the distressed look on her female teammate's face.

Just then, as if on cue, Will and Tyler both walked up, waving like total idiots.

"'Sup guys," Tyler said.

"Sorry we're late," Will added, shrugging. "Can't speak for Tyler, but I was having a good time-"

"You call single-handedly taking on four Tengas unarmed a fun time!" Tyler asked incredulously.

Will shrugged again. He looked from Tyler to the others and noticed that they were all staring slack-jawed at him. "What?" He asked. The staring continued. He rolled his eyes. "Anyone could've done it."

"Anyone," Jessica replied airily. "Yeah, sure." She then muttered darkly, "Anyone he says."

As Will began recounting the story to the other guys, Jessica noticed the disturbing quiet surrounding Pam. It was the eerie quiet like the calm before the storm. She silently began counting down from ten and almost eagerly awaited her best friend blowing up and freaking out about Will's "good time."

'Time's up!' She thought, while cursing the fact that she lacked popcorn for the eminent argument. Pam began making her move.

Tyler and Skip, both of whom were facing Pam (Will had his back to her) began to inconspicuously back away. Will noticed however, and raised an eyebrow, but continued talking. He suddenly felt extreme danger in close proximity to himself. His jaw snapped shut and he visibly stiffened. He was quickly turned around roughly by a small hand.

In less than a blink of an eye, he was on the ground, holding his left cheek while Pam berated him for his apparent disregard for his own safety

"…stupidest thing you've EVER…" And that was about all Will heard. His eyes glazed over and he was quickly lost in his own thoughts.

'Let's review. I'm sitting on the ground, Pam's chewing me out, and my face hurts…did she hit me! Damn she packs a wallop…I wonder who organized this rendezvous…I'm kinda hungry…Hmmm, something's wrong with this picture…Let me see, Tyler, Pam, Jessica…Waitaminute!'

"Hey Skip," Will called suddenly, interrupting Pam's ongoing rant.

"What's up brotha?" He responded, gulping in fear at the glare Pam sent his way. She turned back to Will

"Don't change the sub-"

"…Why, in the nine circles of HELL, are you dressed like a Black Panther!"

It was then that the girls finally noticed Skip's…questionable attire. Pam's eyes shifted from a look promising eternal pain and suffering to one of barely contained mirth. Jessica burst out laughing, and Tyler, who had noticed it earlier, just closed his eyes and shook his head.

Author's Notes: No, people. I'm not dead. I just wrote myself into a corner (yet again), and I got fed up with it, so I started completely over. A Reset button of sorts. The next chapter deals with the mysterious organizer of the team.

Up Next: Chapter II – Origins, Part 2