Disclaimer: Not mine...ever or else there would be continuity again...
Note: First off, let's just say it's taken a long time for me to post anything. The reason is because I'm currently in Georgia doing summer missions work, so I haven't really had a lot of time to do much. Nor am I sure when I'll get another chance, but fortunately there are only three weeks left. So yeah, that's really all I have. Later
Into The Darkness
Yellow to Black: A History
"You there, who are you?" A deep voice shouted from nearby.
T. J. Johnson looked towards the voice, having absolutely no idea what was happening. A minute ago he had been on KO-35 at a wedding celebration. He had been talking with Cassie, well actually she had been talking to him, about how amazing Ashley looked in her wedding dress, and now he was waist deep in a mud hole with a strange and threatening voice asking who he was.
"I won't ask you again. Who are you?" The voice shouted again.
"My name is T. J. Johnson; I'm one of the Space Rangers from KO-35. I'm unarmed and mean no conflict," sure it sounded lame, but it stated everything up front and laid it out in the open. Of course the biggest reason was due to the new guidelines allotted by the United Space Confederation (USC).
"KO-35?" The voice responded, sounding unfamiliar with the term.
"I'm going to place my hands in the air and step forward," T. J. began walking forward, his hands in the air, palms out.
"Slowly," the voice responded.
T. J. started bogging his way through the mud in the least threatening manner possible. The voice soon had a body to go with it, the man was wearing leather armor and wielding a large lance, his head was covered by a full faced helmet.
"You're human?" The voice responded through the masked helmet.
"Last Time I checked I was," T. J. answered.
"Then you…" the guard collapsed to the ground in a lifeless mass.
"What the!?" T. J. went on the defensive.
"He's just knocked out, don't worry, but if you know what's best for you you'll start running," a female voice sounded from behind the fallen mass. Stepping forward it was obvious that she was a human, a woman actually. She wasn't tall, had dark tan skin and short, slicked back, black hair. She wore all black, and held a taser-like device, she crouched low to the ground and spoke quietly, "listen there will be more here soon, and you can either stay and face these things or you can follow me, a human."
"What's goin on here?" T. J. wasn't sure what to do.
"These things, they take humans and use them for sport, so personally I'm getting out of here, and if you wanna follow I'll be more than willing to fill you in on what I know. The choice is yours," the woman disappeared into the nearby covering.
T. J. stood at a loss for what to do. Approaching voices made him quickly weigh his decisions, on the one hand this strange human woman could be telling the truth yet at the same time she did just knock out an armored guard. The voices got closer, and the Blue Space Ranger decided that he looked to be the guilty party and decided to follow the woman…though he wasn't sure if it was the best idea.
Getting low to the ground T. J. went the direction the woman did, not even for sure which way she went. Taking his best guess he followed.
The voices found the body of the unconscious guard, and immediately they went on the offense.
Running headlong into the forest T. J. found himself in unfamiliar terrain. He continued along the route he believed the woman had followed. A hand reached out grasping his ankle, a sudden pull brought him down to the ground as he managed to swallow the equivalent of a pint of dirt.
"I figured you'd come, now stay quiet, stay low, and watch out for the lizard to your right," the woman whispered harshly towards the Space Ranger.
On impulse T. J. looked to his right, and choked at the sight of the massive, nearly invisible reptile beside him.
"Holy cow, where are we!?" T. J. was louder than he had intended.
The woman slapped her hand over his mouth, giving him the most warning look she could.
Naturally T. J. got the message, remaining silent and still.
The two of them remained in close proximity and in absolute silence for what seemed like eternity.
"So how far is it we're going?" Dustin asked the mechanical woman beside him.
"Not too terribly far, but I must warn you that often there are the local sentient life at the site. It would probably be in our best interest to stay hidden when we arrive there," Archerina told the Wind Ranger as they made there way over an increasingly steep hill.
The man and machine moved quickly over the terrain. Following trails that seemed almost invisible unless someone knew to watch for them. Very little conversation was made between the two as they traveled, not for lack of something to say, but due to the rapidity they used in their movements.
Apparently not too terribly far in machine woman language meant at least two hours walk. That was the primary thought in Dustin's head as they came to an abrupt stop on a small ridge overlooking what looked like a dried out lake. In the middle of the depression was a massive jumble of vines and various plant life.
"Whoa, talk about déjà vu," Dustin said as he looked over the rubble, "this looks exactly like the place I saw in my dreams…only slightly more decrepit, and viney."
"It seems the area is clear, so it should be safe for us to approach," Archerina began moving down the side of the ridge they were on.
"Wait up," Dustin began to follow quickly caching up to the mechanical woman.
Within moments they reached the structure in the middle, the colors on the ship seemed to have faded but Dustin was confident that this was the thing from his dream. As he approached the ship he felt warmth moving through his body, and without even knowing why he started to dig into the ground in front of him.
"What're you looking for?" Archerina watched perplexed at the human's actions.
"Truthfully I have no idea," Dustin responded as he continued to dig, "but I'll know it when I find…I think."
Archerina shook her head, "I think I'll go watch for anyone arriving."
"Good idea," Dustin said as he moved to a different section to dig.
Archerina moved off to a spot where she could observe who or what could be approaching the area, occasionally casting glance back to Dustin, trying to figure the human out. For the most part it seemed that there was really no sign of any sort of life for the longest. Eventually she decided it was safe and that she should go check up on the human, yet before she could arrive somewhere to her right she heard a screeching noise, followed by a ripping sound. In the sky a dark circle appeared and several bipedal figures seem to leap from the circle to the ground.
Archerina began to sprint back towards Dustin's area, "someone's coming, we have to go." She grabbed the human's arm and began to drag him behind her.
"Who's coming?" Dustin managed to ask, despite be dragged away by the woman.
"Not sure, but I don't think they're good," Archerina answered.
Not far away Trakeena moved to the head of the small band of rock pawns that had been sent with her. Waving for the creatures to follow she moved swiftly towards her objective. The rock pawns seemed to match the insect woman pace for pace as she moved like a woman on a mission, "This way you worthless chunks of gravel, our lord demands we find this source…whatever it may be."
The rock creatures didn't respond verbally, but just moved in the direction that were ordered.
It didn't take long for Trakeena and the pawns to reach the site. Immediately she ordered the rock creatures to start tearing through the ship until they found the great source of power that was supposedly there.
"Anything yet?" Trakeena asked as she watched the creatures rip open sides tear into wires, looking aimlessly for something that could very well not be there.
The whole time Dustin and Archerina remained low to the ground, almost completely unmoving. They watched intently as the creatures tore apart the ancient mound of metals and plastics.
One of the rock creatures eventually showed some excitement, letting out an incoherent noise and moving quickly towards the insect woman.
"What is this?" Trakeena looked at what the creature held; it was a shiny, black stone, no larger than a quarter. "This is…this is complete junk." Trakeena cast the stone to her side, and raised her voice, "we did not come here for rock collecting, we are here the power source, now get back to work!"
Dustin watched as the stone seemed to be flung away, landing no more than a foot away, "That's it, I know it is."
Archerina looked at the human like he was insane; it was only a rock and a not very impressive one at that. She tried to tell him to remain quiet, but Dustin didn't seem to want to listen.
"Trust me, I know it. I don't know how I know it, but I do. Don't worry though, I am a highly trained Ninja, they'll never even notice me." Dustin moved from his position, stealthily as he could manage.
Just as he reached the stone though, he managed to trip over a large vine, that he swore hadn't been there a moment ago. Falling forward he let out a light yelp, that he'd hoped no one heard.
Needless to say, he wasn't that lucky.
"Some kind of ninja," Archerina said to herself as she came from her place and moved towards Dustin.
Trakeena was the first to hear the yelp from the human, "A human! Get him!" She ordered the rock creatures, who immediately left the crashed ship and began to circle both Dustin and Archerina.
"So I take it they heard me?" Dustin asked the machine woman beside him.
"It seems that way," Archerina replied as she converted her bow into a sword, "so let's get ready."
The rock creatures moved towards the human and machine swiftly. In moments Archerina had met a stone blade with her own. Dustin pulled his disappearing act into the dirt; in an attempt to escape what he surmised would be a very painful attack.
His plan worked…for the most part, but he was unfocused and had no clue exactly where he would come up at. Bursting forth from the ground he came up somewhere he really didn't need to be. Only inches behind was the insect woman, and after he initial surprise she has raised her staff, casting it down on the human.
"Oh crap…" was Dustin's reply as the, large, heavy end of a staff came falling towards him.
Trakeena smiled at the ease of the attack, readying for a victory. She would be the first to finish off one of the humans; surely her master would be pleased.
The force of the blow never came.
Both Trakeena and Dustin looked shocked at what was happening. Somehow the human was blocking the blow, but not with his body, but a glowing aura from his hand.
"The stone!?" Trakeena reached for it.
"I think not," Dustin smiled; he could feel what was happening. He could feel the surge of strength that ran through his body. "This'll be fun."
Trakeena stood at a loss for words. This human boy in front of her was encompassed in a black glow. A bright light burst forth from the stone in his hand as it vanished into what seemed like nothingness.
Waldo, "Dustin," Brooks was no longer just a human/ninja. His body was covered in a black material, his arms were grey and the belt across his waist and over his shoulder were a similar gray. The elbow length gloves on his hands matched the black uniform that covered him. Across his back a 3 foot staff was sheathed, and over his forehead the black stone he had lifted from the ground was mounted in a head band over his brow. The stone began to glow as his head became engulfed in a black helmet. He was once again a Power Ranger…albeit now a black one.
"No…" Trakeena answered.
"Oh yeah," Dustin replied as he leapt away from the dumb-founded insect woman. He withdrew the staff on his back, "so…how does this work," without even having to do anything the staff extended an extra couple of feet. "Well…that's cool."
"A Power Ranger!? How!?" Trakeena was not happy with what she was witnessing.
"I have no idea, but I'm not complaining…though I'm not sure if black is my color," Dustin leapt towards Trakeena, elongated staff in hand.
Trakeena readied her own staff, in preparation of the blow. The two staffs met with a ferocious clash, as neither opponent wanted to give way to the other.
Archerina continued to fend down the rock creatures that were attacking her, having eliminated two so far.
Trakeena started to give way to the Ranger's attack, being not prepared for someone that strong at the time. Also noticing the dwindling numbers she decided it was best to call off the attack. She managed to get distance between herself and the new Black Ranger. She summoned a portal in the air and stepped through it, sealing it before the rock pawns could follow. Though there were only four pawns now, Archerina and Dustin easily handled them. Within minutes all was quiet.
Archerina dusted herself off as she walked towards Dustin, who was still looking at himself the best he could. Reaching up he removed the helmet from his head, it vanished from his hands and the stone on his head band reappeared.
"This is totally awesome," Dustin said excitedly.
"Amazing," Archerina said as she looked over the human, "it's a good color on you."
"Thanks," Dustin answered.
"So you're saying that Tommy has a brother?" Trini asked as she walked with Hayley.
One of the village Elders had offered them a place to stay for the time being after discovering that Trini was in fact one of the Great Warriors. The others had chosen to remain in the room and rest. Hayley and Trini decided to walk around the village for a little longer though.
"Yeah, how did you not know that?" Hayley looked surprised.
"Well after leaving for the Peace Conference we had little contact with the guys. I guess we just kinda drifted apart, I know Kimberly broke up with Tommy at one point, and I know that Jason and Tommy stayed in contact, eventually Jason became a Ranger again. Apart from that, I don't really know what happened," Trini confessed, a slight disappointment in her voice. "I guess after high school though, people drift apart."
Hayley didn't know how to reply at first, but just gently bumped into Trini, in a playful manner, hoping to elicit a smile.
"Hey now, don't make me go super-hero on you," Trini shoved back lightly.
"Oh come on, that would be Morphenomenal," Hayley joked back.
"Wow, I haven't heard that word in a very long time," Trini laughed, "so anyway what happened with the others, I mean you're probably more in the loop than I am?"
"Lessee, after his stint as the Black Ranger Tommy decided to remain at the high school, eventually Katherine…do you know Katherine?" Hayley interrupted her own question.
"I've heard of her…that's about it," Trini answered.
"Oh…okay. Well somehow she managed to find her way to Reefside and she and Tommy rekindled their romance. I didn't see this personally, but Adam got a chance to return as the Black Power Ranger, as well as one of our Dino Rangers, named Kira. Of course there've been about 15 or so other Ranger teams, I mostly just kept up with a few things here and there. I never really got involved with any of the groups, though I did keep in contact with the Ninja Storm team every now and again." Hayley explained, "of course if and when we get back to Earth I'm sure Tommy would gladly fill you in on everything."
"Hopefully," though Trini was pretty convinced that it would be a long time until they saw Earth again.
T. J. and the woman in black remained silent and still for a short period longer. Finally the coast seemed clear and the woman motioned to stand.
"Okay, now that's over, how bout you tell me what's going on?" T. J. looked to the woman.
"Not yet, a little further ahead there is shelter. We'll be safer there," the woman began to move again, waving for the Space Ranger to follow.
The terrain remained hilly, and everywhere they stepped there seemed to be mud, but eventually they arrived at a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a large stump.
"This way," the woman moved towards the stump, lifting the top up and sliding into what seemed to be an opening in the stump.
T. J. did the same, though he wasn't sure it was the best idea. For all he knew he was falling right into a trap.
The opening in the tunnel led to a small open spot, underneath the ground. There was a small pit that looked to be used for a fire and a couple of blankets spread across the ground.
"Welcome to the Knothole," the woman said as she motioned towards a blanket, "please sit."
T. J. wasn't sure what was going on, but decided to do as requested, "So what's the deal?"
"It's simple really. Recently there have been a growing number of humans arriving in this world, and the locals of the planet are none too happy. They think it's an invasion, so every time a human appears they try to eliminate them in one form or another. It seems the execution of a human draws in the crowds, so they have been sponsoring coliseum matches, most of which end with a human's death," the woman explained as she sat across from the man.
"Then who are you?" T. J. asked.
"Me? Well I was an escapee, they've been searching for me for weeks, but no luck yet," the woman reached out her hand, "The name is Elsa."
TBC