War of the Hidden
Disclaimer: Nothing that you can google belongs to me.
Ch. 2
"Oof!" Maxi landed with a thud. Groaning, she pushed herself up to her feet, dusting off the grass and dirt that were sticking to her clothes. She looked around to find herself in an entirely unfamiliar surrounding. There was a large tree next to her and across the street were a row of buildings. A colorful one caught her eye. Rock Porium its sign read. Wincing as she realized she had probably sprained her ankle, Maxi hobbled over to what turned out to be a record shop. Someone in there should be able to help her, she figured. But what she saw inside gave her quite a surprise.
"Whoa!" she gasped. The place was flooded with not only people, but…mythical creatures as well. There were goblins and fairies and nymphs and what-not, some working as employees, wearing those purple shirts Maxi guessed were the uniform, others shopping, fingering through the CDs and stuff. Automatically, she dropped down to a defensive stand that her dad and godfather, Jason Lee Scott, had thought her to do. When a hand fell on her shoulder from behind her, she flipped the being without even thinking.
"Hey!" cried a voice of the being she had thrown down. The shop went silent. Everybody turned to look. They saw a strange, unfamiliar little girl standing just inside the entrance, but she didn't see them. She was too busy staring at the creature on the floor in front of her, her jaw hanging open. The creature was—Maxi wasn't going to lie—an ugly one. He had a huge crooked nose and large sharh ears. He had so much hair covering his face, there was enough to make a wig without balding him.
"Phineas!" exclaimed a guy as five teens rushed over to them. They all wore the purple shirt uniform, like the befallen being. Four of them bent to help him up while the fifth, a pink-haired punk-like girl, marched over to Maxi.
"What were you doing?!" she demanded.
"Sorry, I was surprised," Maxi replied. "Where I come from, aliens were the bad guys. I see it's different here. I'm sorry."
Maxi could tell the girl was going to say something, but another girl, one with long brown hair came up and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Forget it Sis, she seems genuinely sorry." The second girl turned to Maxi. "My name is Madison Rocca, this is my twin sister, Vida."
"Hi Madison, I'm Maxi Oliver," the little girl replied, shaking her hand.
"The name's Xander, Xander Bly," said the guy whose uniform said he was the manager in an Australian accent.
"I'm Chip Thorn," added the red-head.
"I'm Nick Russell," said the first guy. "And this is Phineas. He's not an alien."
"I'm truly sorry Phineas," Maxi said, bowing slightly as she was taught as a way to show respect. Maxi was probably one of the most respectful kids you can find, mainly because she was learning so many different kinds of martial arts. "I ask for your forgiveness."
"Oh you're forgiven," the creature replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. It takes more than that to hurt me."
"Speaking of you," Maxi said. "Do you mind me asking…what are you? I mean, since you're not an alien."
"Me? I'm a troblin, half troll, half goblin, hated by both."
"Oh, I'm sorry," the little girl said, putting a hand on the troblin's shoulder. "My parents didn't want me either. I lived in a shelter for four years."
"I'm sorry," Phineas replied.
"I'm not," Maxi said. "'Cause now I've been adopted by Tommy, who I know loves me like his own. And all his friends, they've become my family and I wouldn't trade that for the world. There is a silver lining for every cloud."
"You said you weren't from here," Nick said. "Where are you from then?"
"Well, I was from Angel Grove, and then my dad and I moved to Reefside. I was in Forks before I got here. Speaking of which, where is here?"
"You're in Briarwood now," Chip told her.
"Briarwood," Maxi murmured. "Where have I heard that name before? Briarwood…Briarwood…That's it!" Her face brightened when she realized it, "The home to the most recent team of Power Rangers!" Although Tommy had wanted to keep away from anymore Ranger stuff, he couldn't pry Maxi away with all his might. Power Rangers were extra important to her because it was through a Power Ranger that she had met Tommy and became his daughter. Even without her dad, Maxi kept tabs on Ranger activity through Andros, the KO-35 Ambassador.
"Yeah, we're the Mystic Force," Vida said.
"I'm guessing you five are the Rangers then," Maxi said, noting their color choice of apparel.
"Yeah," Nick nodded. "There are more of us though."
"No secret identities?" Maxi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not when you end up demorphing in front of the whole city during the final battle," Madison replied.
"Ah, just like the Space Rangers," Maxi said, nodding in the memory. She had been there during the last battle against Astronema's forces (later nicknamed "Battle of UAE" by the Rangers). Although she had been really young then (being barely three-years-old) she couldn't forget the memory even if she tried. When those civilians that tried to help the Rangers by saying she was one and Ecliptor, Astronema's right-hand man (or should I say, robot), didn't believe them and tried to shoot her down with his lasers, she was standing a bit too close. She was pulled away in the nick of time by a boy named Justin Stewart, who became her best friend. Through him, she met the Space Rangers, who were his friends from high school (Maxi was surprised to find the 12-year-old to be a sophomore), and it was he who introduced her to his old friend Tommy.
"You know Power Rangers from the past?" Chip asked excitedly, breaking Maxi's train of thought.
"I grew up in Angel Grove, the origins of the Power Rangers," the little girl replied.
"There were Ranger teams in a lot of other cities as well," Madison pointed out.
"Like the Lightspeed Rescue team, government-funded for public service."
"You sure know a lot about Power Rangers," Xander noted.
"Every kid in Angel Grove knows a lot about the Power Rangers," Maxi told him. Just not as much as I do, she added silently. "The Rangers were there for six years!"
"Wow, whoever that team was, I sure feel sorry for them," Nick said. "And we thought one year was bad," he added to his teammates.
"They weren't all the same people!" Maxi told him. "When it was time for a Ranger to move on with his or her life, then a right replacement is found to take their place."
"Okay, now you know too much about Power Rangers," Vida said, getting suspicious again.
"Well…" Maxi internally smacked herself. Me and my big mouth, she thought. I shouldn't have said that!
"Well…?" the Pink Mystic Ranger urged.
"Is there somewhere else we can discuss this?" Maxi asked, leaning in as she lowered her voice. Even though people here, humans and non-humans alike, already knew the identity of their Rangers and were no longer paying attention to the group, one of the agreements of all the Rangers was to never allow any Ranger's identity to be revealed. Maxi didn't want to say anything about them or her connection with them while they were out in the open, but she also had a feeling only they can help her now and to do that she would have to earn their trust, which meant she would have to tell them.
The teens looked at each other, then back at the little girl. She didn't seem dangerous, but then again, she did flip Phineas. She looked innocent, but looks can be deceiving. Can they trust her? She did know a lot about Power Rangers, so she can't be that bad, right?
"Okay, follow us," Madison said, nodding. She started outside and the others followed. Maxi limped after them.
"Are you okay?" Xander asked when they reached the tree across the street and the girl was barely halfway.
"I think I twisted my ankle," Maxi replied.
"Nick, help her. Maybe Clare can fix her up later," Madison said.
The Red Mystic Ranger nodded in agreement. He walked back and picked up the little girl, holding her as if she was a small child (which she was, in size).
"Let's go," he said, rejoining his friends.
"Hey Maxi, you ever tree-traveled before?" Chip asked.
"No. What is it?" the little girl asked, interested.
"You're about to find out," the red-head grinned, and to Maxi's disbelief, he walked right through the tree!
"Whoa!" she gasped. "How did he do that?"
"Do what?" Nick asked innocently and Maxi realized they had all crossed through the tree. Now, they were in a completely different place. A forest it seemed like, one with super tall, yet thin trees. The place was kind of a dull gray, it gave Maxi the creeps. The five teens began walking in a way that told her the idea that they have been here many times before and knew exactly where they were going. She relaxed a bit until she noticed that they were walking into a dragon-shaped root with large red spheres for eyes. She tensed visibly when the mouth closed, engulfing them in darkness. But that only lasted for a short time, 'cause the next thing she knew, Maxi found herself in what she figured was the Mystic Force's base of operations.
"Maxi," Madison said, noticing the girl's awe. "Welcome to Rootcore."
