Author's Note: Co-written with SunsetBabe17!
Disclaimer: Don't own anything belonging to PR!
As the sun rose, Jace doused the fire and as his teammates started to stir he went to a stream nearby to clean up a bit. Once he finished pulling on his wife beater, he was hit in the chest with his red gi top and he quickly caught it.
"Thanks," he looked up and saw Kim and grinned.
"What are friends for?"
"We're teammates, not friends." Jace frowned as she walked away.
Jace rejoined the group as they were staring at the huge monolith. It still looked so far away, yet they were a lot closer than they were yesterday. Then, without a word Kim entered the jungle again and the rest wordlessly followed.
Jace grinned as he walked in front of Andy and pulled back the branch that he had just passed and let go. SMACK!
"Hey, you did that on purpose," Andy cried in outrage as Jace began to flee the scene. Andy gave chase and soon caught up to Jace, jumping on his back and knocking the other boy to the ground. The two rolled around laughing as they jokingly fought one another.
With the red and black blurs as all that was distinguishable of the two it was easy for Kim to imagine that they were Rocky and Adam. The Red and Black Rangers had been the best of friends and it was fitting that on her new team the tradition would continue.
"Knock it off you two," Charissa admonished, not seeing how they could be so childish when they were on a journey to receive powers so that they could save the world.
The two boys then stood up and brushed the dirt and leaves off that had accumulated on their Ninjetti robes. With sheepish grins they continued on. Kim began to lag behind as she was lost in memories of days gone by. The new Rangers charged ahead with a vigor and innocence that Kim had shed many years ago.
The Rangers soon found themselves climbing up a rocky hill, going from one ledge to the next. Andy led the way, having the most experience with rock climbing, the girls followed behind him and Jace and Kim brought up the rear. The four in front climbed to the next ledge with ease, but when Jace reached up he found that he couldn't reach.
"Hey, a little help here," Jace called to the four that were continuing their climb, not realizing that the last two hadn't followed.
"What's wrong, Jace?" Andy laughed as Jace glared at him with a look that said Andy knew exactly what the problem was.
"Well, are you gonna help us or not?" Jace seethed, now was not the time for Andy to poke fun at him yet again for being short. It was embarrassing enough that the three hot girls had easily made it up and he couldn't.
"Alright, alright," Andy reached down and pulled first Jace up then Kim who was used to these types of situations after all these years. Though it was quite amusing to see someone else ridiculed for being short instead of her for a change.
Jace grumbled something incoherent under his breath as he shoved Andy who was still laughing. Shaking his head Andy led the team up the rest of the rocky mountain slope.
The team pulled themselves up the last ledge and stood at the top, taking a small breather after their climb up. Rachel shielded her eyes against the glaring sun as she looked across the jungle towards the monolith.
"How much farther do you think it is?"
"Not far. I think we should reach it by sunset," Kimberly determined. The group nodded, relieved that they would soon escape the treacherous jungle that they had found themselves in.
Charissa walked to the edge of the cliff to gaze upon the valley below. When she turned around to rejoin the group, the ground beneath her gave away. She screamed, alerting the others to her predicament as she began to freefall. But by a stroke of luck she managed to grab onto a rock outcropping that stopped her fall.
"Hold on Charissa," Jace called down to her as he got on his stomach and leaned precariously over the edge. "Grab my hand."
Charissa looked up at him and then looked down at her legs dangling in the air, with several feet between her and the ground. She tentatively stretched one arm towards his, but then she slipped and quickly grabbed onto the rock with both hands, shaking her head, "I can't".
"Yes you can," Jace encouraged her, "Trust me."
When Charissa looked back up at him, she had a flashback from her journey: She looked up to find Jace with his hand out. Grasping his hand she let him help her up as she glared at him.
"What, didn't you trust me?" Jace grinned
Charissa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she looked up at Jace with a determined look in her eye and reached out, grabbing his hand. Once he had her hand firmly in his, she brought up her other hand, gripping him tight, and Jace quickly pulled her up.
The two sat on the ground, breathing heavily after the close call.
"Thank you."
"No problem, I couldn't exactly lose a fellow Ranger before we officially became Power Rangers now could I," Jace joked, making light of the situation they had found themselves in. The rest of the team laughed, albeit a nervous laugh from some. The teenagers were beginning to realize that being Power Rangers was not all fun and games. The situations they might and probably would find themselves in could be life and death. It was a very unsettling realization, but they had already agreed to protect their world, and none of them were going to back out now. So setting their shoulders they continued on their quest for Great Power.
Andy absently kicked a rock as he lagged behind, absorbed in his thoughts. It was already midday, meaning that according to Kim's calculations they were almost there, and there was still no sign of his power coin. His mood turned sour as dark thoughts plagued his mind. What if he wasn't meant to be a Power Ranger? Was he accidentally sucked up in the teleportation beam because of his proximity to the others at the time? So absorbed was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice the vine that was protruding from the ground in front of him, and he tripped and fell on his face.
Groaning he slowly lifted his head and low and behold his power coin was sparkling in the green grass in front of him. It was like it read his thoughts and decided to finally present itself. And here he was just going to walk right passed it. It must have been fate that caused him to trip. Grinning Andy reached out and grabbed it.
He turned his hand over to get a good look at the coin and he realized it wasn't there. That's when he also realized that instead of laying on a soft bed of grass he was on a gritty, desert plane. Quickly he stood up and scanned his surroundings, but it was an endless sea of sand in all directions. Andy whirled around in a circle and began to panic.
"Guys?" All the response that he received was his own echo.
"Jace!" He tried again. "Kim! Melissa! Rachel! Charissa!"
"Anybody!" Andy began to hyperventilate as he ran around desperately trying to find his teammates. Then, Andy stumbled upon a black panther ethereal in form, just sitting there as if waiting for him. As soon as Andy approached though the panther turned and began to run.
"No! Wait! Don't leave me!" Andy shouted as he ran after the panther. Andy was panting and doubled over to catch his breath as soon as the animal stopped. He looked at the panther that was now sitting at his side, and then followed its gaze. He immediately stood up; back ramrod straight as he comprehended what was in front of him. There were five tombstones, each one bearing the name of a teammate.
He fell to his knees in despair as sobs overcame him, "No, this can't be. They left me behind. I'm all alone now," Andy continued to sob; just laying in the sand hoping death would come and claim him so that he could rejoin his teammates. The panther growled beside him.
"Let me die in peace!" Andy wailed. The panther would have none of this as it grabbed Andy's gi with its teeth and dragged the boy away. Once the tombstones were no longer in sight the panther stopped, yet Andy just sat there staring blankly at the ground. The panther smacked him across the face, his claws drawing blood.
"Ow," Andy recoiled in pain and shock, "What was that for?"
"Get over yourself, you still have a job to do," the panther finally spoke.
"What job?" Andy hissed, upset that his friends were dead and that this stupid panther wouldn't let him grieve.
"You're a Power Ranger, remember," the panther growled.
"Yeah, so?" that seemed like the right answer even though he technically hadn't gotten the power yet.
"So you need to go stop King Scion. You are the only one left standing between him and the rest of your world," Andy let the panther's words sink in 'the rest of your world'. He looked around, this place was on Earth? It looked like a wasteland. He ran his hand through the sand by him and a small dandelion sprang to life, free from the confining sand. There was still hope, not all of the Earth was gone.
Andy stood up, wiping his eyes and squaring his shoulders. He would stop King Scion if it was the last thing he did. He nodded towards his spirit animal, "Lead the way."
With that the two began a mad sprint, this time running side by side. They appeared to be a boy and man's best friend out for a run. But they ran at a dead sprint with a fierce determination, the boy's eyes a cold steel.
As they crested the sand dune they came to a halt. Down below Andy could make out King Scion standing tall, leading his army in a march to destroy Earth. With a loud battle cry, the two ran at full speed down the hill and engaged the enemy. Andy swung a staff that had appeared in his hands out of thin air at his opponents.
The panther tore through the soldiers as if they were cardboard imitations instead of the real thing. Andy was fighting on instinct: ducking and twirling, dealing and receiving blows. All in all it looked like an intricate dance.
At some point Andy found himself lacking opponents and found their bodies littering the ground around him. Looking up, he locked eyes with King Scion. Then, with a savage cry he attacked. He showed no mercy as he beat the now defenseless king to a bloody pulp. He let out all his anger and grief over the death of his teammates.
"Enough!"
Andy immediately stopped at his spirit animal's command. Breathing heavily he looked down at King Scion and noticed that he was dead. He had just saved the world, but at what cost? His teammates were dead and they weren't coming back.
"Though you may feel left behind at times you must always go on," the panther advised.
As he began to fade away he left Andy with these parting words, "And remember you are never truly alone."
Andy found himself staring at the green grass again, and this time as he opened his hand his power coin was there. He reached his hand up to touch his face where his spirit animal had smacked him, only to feel nothing. His skin was smooth and unmarred. Looking up he saw his teammates disappearing in the distance. He quickly pushed himself up, "Hey guys wait up!" Just because he had gotten over his fear didn't mean that he wanted to be left behind anytime soon.
Kim trudged ahead of the group, knowing that they were getting close. A little while back they had all congratulated Andy on the finding of his power coin. The original pink ranger was glad that they were all excited about receiving their coins, but wondered if they were prepared for the responsibilities that came with them. This new team seemed so young, even though they were, in fact, a few years older than Kim and her original team was when they first became Power Rangers.
The rest of the group trailed behind the older woman, chatting as Andy marveled at his new coin.
"Is it just me, or does she seem a little, I don't know, distant to you?" Charissa asked, referring to the brunette ahead of them. Rachel shook her head.
"Not just you."
"Yeah, it's like she doesn't even want to be friends," Melissa piped in. "Just teammates."
"Why do you think that is?" The Blue Ranger asked. The other girls just shrugged and studied their pink comrade from afar. All of a sudden there was a noisy commotion behind them and the girls turned to see the boys rushing towards them. Jace shoved his best friend aside so that he could get the first words in.
"Well, ladies," he flashed them a winning smile as Andy rubbed his shoulder, "there seems to be some confusion that I would appreciate your help in clearing up. Would you bestow some of your great wisdom upon this poor young fool and inform him that indeed the coyote-"Andy interrupted him as he pushed passed Jace to address the trio himself,
"Which one is better: the panther or the coyote?" He paused to grin at them before continuing. "I mean, c'mon. The panther is the strong, stealthy predator of the jungle. The coyote is just a cowardly scavenger."
"Hey!" Jace protested. "I'll have you know that the coyote is very resourceful. And smart," he said, trying to defend his spirit animal. Charissa snickered.
"Then why are you one?" The rest of the teen's laughed at Jace's expense as he pretended to sulk.
Kim continued on ahead of them, ignoring the conversation taking place behind her. She was blinded as the sun bounced off an object up ahead. Squinting she could make out a silver chain dangling from a tree branch and at the end of the chain was a power coin. Kim gasped and quickened her pace, widening the gap between her and her younger teammates.
She came to a halt in front of the coin. On the coins surface was a crane, obvious it was meant for her. This was different than her power coin though, hers had always had the emblem of a pterodactyl etched on its surface. She brought her hand up and reached for it, but hesitated at the last second. Her doubts coming to the forefront of her mind, was she really supposed to be doing this again? She closed her eyes, let out a breath and grabbed the power coin.
"Argh, not again," Jace rolled his eyes as the teens jogged up to their fallen leader.
"But I thought she already had her power coin?" Charissa asked, brows furrowed in puzzlement.
Rachel shrugged, "I guess there's a lot we don't know about our pink ranger."
"So now what?" Melissa asked, knowing that Kim's journey might take awhile.
The boys looked at each other and grinned. Jace propped Kim up against the tree, and the group sat in a circle together.
"Truth or Dare, Melissa?" Andy started.
Kim opened her eyes and it appeared as if she was at the entrance to the Command Center. With some effort she pushed the doors open and walked inside. It looked just as she remembered, but when she reached the end of the walkway and looked up the tube that Zordon once occupied was empty. A painful reminder, like a stab to the heart, that he was no longer with them.
After regaining her composure, she glanced around and spotted a pink crane. Walking over to it she kneeled down and stroked its feathers, taking note that its wing was broken and it could not fly.
"What happened to you?" Kim questioned.
"What happened to you?" the crane shot back.
Stunned, Kim stammered, "What do you mean?"
"I am merely a representation of how you see yourself."
"Wha-"
"Broken and useless."
"That's not how I see myself," Kim protested, but the crane just tilted its head, "Ok, maybe I do." Kim sighed and plopped down in front of the crane.
"I mean I gave up my power coin. I threw away my responsibility to the world for gymnastics. I don't deserve the power again."
"You are not the only one to have given up the power for another calling. I do believe Jason, Trini, and Zack left before you."
"Well yeah, but that was different, they were still fighting for peace just in a different way. They moved on to something important." Kim argued.
"Billy let Tanya have the Zeo crystal. And Rocky gave his powers to Justin." The crane argued back.
"But Billy stayed on to help in the Command Center and Rocky was injured."
"That may be but Tommy, Kat, Tanya, and Adam also transferred their powers to a new team."
"From what I heard they were forced to," Kim grumbled, tired of this.
"Are you not meant to have a life? Did you want to be a soldier from the age of 14 to the day you die?" The crane asked.
"No, I never wanted to be a soldier," Kim thought back to the day that Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy, and her had first been asked by Zordon to become Power Rangers and how they had all refused and walked out.
"Ok I see your point," Kim conceded, round one to the spirit guide, "but that still doesn't answer why I was chosen to lead this team, what makes me a better candidate then the others? I've never led a team before."
"You served the power for 3 years, you are one of the most experienced rangers. You also already hold the powers of the ninjetti which serve this team of Power Rangers." The crane explained.
"Tommy was a Power Ranger longer than I was, and he was also a ninjetti," Kim shot back.
"He has done his part, this is your destiny Kimberly," answered the crane.
Kim took a moment to think things over, "Fine, but if I mess up, then I'm blaming you," she jabbed a finger at her spirit guide.
With that the crane unfurled its wings and took off, its wing now healed. Kim followed its flight as it soared through the sky. Wait, sky? Wasn't she in the Command Center.
She blinked at looked down at the coin that was resting lightly in her palm. With a smile she slipped it over her neck. She couldn't resist touching it one more time to convince herself that it was real.
Kim pushed herself up and began to look for her team, what she found was Andy attempting to do the hula in a makeshift grass skirt and a coconut bra.
Upon hearing her giggle, Andy immediately stopped with a sheepish look on his face and the group turned toward her and cringed, caught in the act.
"What are you doing?" Kim laughed. This was the first time her teammates had seen her so lighthearted.
"Uh," Andy rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "just trying to pass the time, but I guess we should get going now." He hurriedly exchanged his costume for his ninjetti robes.
Everyone laughed as they continued with the last trek of their journey.
"Finally" Jace exclaimed as they reached the monolith.
"Now what," Charissa asked as they all just stood there, the teens obviously having expected something to happen as they received their powers, but nothing.
"Arlight, Kim, think. What did Tommy do?" Kim tried to recall her first time at the monolith. "He walked up to the monolith," she walked up to the monolith, "and then what?"
She rested her head against the cool stone as she tried to remember, "Aha, he touched it. Uh-oh!" She flipped back to her teammates as the four rock warriors came to life.
"Great!" Charissa moaned as the rock warriors charged.
Kim looked around her and noticed that everything seemed exactly the same as last time before her and her friends got there and had their brawl with the rock warriors. So hoping that was true she set her plan in motion.
"Hey ugly!" she kicked one in the face, and took off, the warrior chasing after her, "Andy you're with me." She grabbed him as she ran passed and he followed without a second thought.
One of the warriors tried to bring his weapon down on Jace but he sidestepped him and then prevented the warrior from lifting his weapon back up by putting his foot on it.
"Haha, I've got you now! Oompf," Jace flew back as the rock warrior swung his arm and hit him in the chest.
Rachel quickly stepped in between the rock warrior and her fallen comrade; as Melissa and Charissa took on their own warriors.
Melissa was spending most of her time dodging the pointy mace that the rock warrior was wielding. She knew that in a one on one fight she had no chance against the warrior so in search of an advantage she ran with the warrior in pursuit.
"Here," Kim tossed Andy the wooden plank that Tommy had used years ago as she made it to that same rocky spot. "Help me push this rock over," she was once again gonna 'rock this warrior's world'.
Jace pushed himself up and was getting ready to jump back into the fight when the three of them heard a scream pierce the air. He looked at the two girls who seemed to be doing ok and took off in the direction of the scream.
Melissa found herself cornered with nowhere to go. In front of her was a rock warrior and behind her was a steaming lake.
"Look out!" She hugged the wall as Jace came flying down, swinging on a vine, and kicked the rock warrior into the steaming lake. As he came swinging back though he crashed into Melissa and they crumpled into a tangled heap on the ground.
Charissa was tired as she backpedaled away from the rock warrior's weapon. She jumped and spun around as she bumped into something and came face to face with Rachel. They nodded to each other and face their opponents again, staying back to back.
As soon as their opponent was close enough and in mid-swing, the two dove between the warriors' legs and watched as they destroyed each other with their own weapons.
"Ouch!"
"That's gotta hurt," the two girls grinned and high fived.
"Everyone ok?" Kim asked as they all met back up in front of the stone monolith that had housed the rock warriors. She had expected to fight more than one rock warrior, but was pleasantly surprised at how well her team did.
They all nodded, a bit out of breath, and that's when the ground began to shake. They all grabbed on to each other.
"What now?" Charissa moaned.
"Don't worry, it's good," Kim assured.
The stone wall in front of them lifted up to reveal a pyramid like structure that rolled forward. On it was a circle, and inside that circle a panther and a coyote stood on all fours in front, a dolphin in between them. Behind them stood a polar bear and a kangaroo and pictured in flight above them was a crane. But seemingly watching over these animals above the crane were a falcon, a bear, an ape, a wolf, and a frog.
"Those are our animals," Jace crowed, ignoring the other animals for the moment.
"The Great Power?" Melissa turned in askance to Kim, who only nodded.
The circle began to glow as their animals shot out from it and they could each hear their spirit animal calling to them. They then shot into the coins on their chest as the teens morphed for the first time.
Kim looked upon the familiar suits. They were a bit different though, more armor like and each helmet represented the wearers' animal.
"We did it," the teens cheered as they looked upon their suits in awe.
"Now what do we do?" Andy questioned and as a group they turned to Kim.
"We go home," she smiled though they couldn't see it with her helmet on. She teleported away, the other five copied her actions.
A white owl saw the colorful teleportation streak pass, leaving the planet Phadeos for Earth, "Good luck Rangers."
"Power down," Kim then noticed that she had returned to her apartment and she was no longer with the rest of her teammates, "Oh well," she shrugged. She was too exhausted to do anything about it now and would deal with it tomorrow.
The teens had reappeared in the music store and powered down.
"Isn't this awesome," Jace exclaimed as he could feel the power coursing through him.
"Wow, it's like no time has passed since we left," Andy announced after looking at the clock.
"I'm wiped," Melissa as well as the other teens was beginning to come down from her adrenaline high.
The guys and the girls quickly exchanged numbers and made plans to meet the next day. Then, the girls left as the guys closed up the shop for the night. Once finished, Andy and Jace both hopped into Andy's jeep.
Andy stopped at the intersection and flicked on his right turn signal. Right would take him to Jace's home, left to his.
"Can I crash at your place? No one will notice if I don't come home," Jace didn't really feel like being alone after what they just went through and neither did Andy for that matter so he nodded his head and switched his blinker to left.