Authors Note:
Part 4 coming fast! Manage to get in the zone pretty quickly for this next part. Hoping its not going to slow (Or too fast!) the early chapters here will involve some pandering as the Rangers figure out who they are and just what exactly is going on. Planning on dropping some interlude stuff next before I begin to round out Phase 2 and Zoe's beginning to this story. Stay tuned!
And may the power protect you.
Zoe found herself slowly running out of breath, the corridor seemed endless and her injuries were beginning to win the battle against her adrenaline. She decided that anywhere was a good place to stop and found herself sitting down against the wall. Manta had really set her off.
At first, she thought it was because of what happened, what she did eight years ago.
However the more she thought about it, the less she truly believed what her memories told her. What was it Manta said?
"You saved my life," Zoe just couldn't accept that, surely she wouldn't have stood against her father to save Manta? Her head was thrumming, the whispers hadn't stopped and the strange sensation still tugged at her. Like she was being drawn towards something she couldn't quite figure out.
She wanted to hate Manta, to accept what her memories had told her all these years. A fog now swirled around those memories and suddenly everything was far less clear.
"It can't all be a lie, I know what I saw. What I felt, it has haunted my dreams for years." Zoe dropped her head, letting it rest on her hand.
That was when she saw the strange device in her hand. She was holding it tight and now that she noticed it the distinct thrum tickled her palm. Looking at it a blue glow blinked back at her, enticing her in, welcoming her into a strange abyss.
"Zoe are you alright?" Manta's words cut through her trace bringing her mind back to reality.
"I thought I told you to leave me alone?" What the hell was that, why had she felt so absorbed by the device? What even was it. Manta had strolled to the window on the other side of the hallway. It wasn't boarded up like her room was.
"For eight years I have tried to find a way to thank you for what you did for me." Zoe sat in silence, which apparently gave Manta queue to continue speaking.
"You were so lost when I first met you, so wounded. After what happened with the local thug lord you just wanted to sulk and be left alone."
"Do you know what else I saw? Courage and strength. Despite being locked away, being pampered and given everything you still chose to walk into the world. To see what the world was really like." Manta touched something that hung around her neck, turning towards Zoe as she continued to speak.
"I see that same look now, you have been knocked down Zoe you may think you have lost your fire but looking in your eyes I can tell you it burns more fiercely than ever." Zoe thought she would be angry when she heard this but instead, she found herself feeling an entirely different emotion, sadness.
"What do you expect me to do, march into Chiwarris home and force him to give Mouse back?" Zoe clenched her fist.
"I am not strong enough, I have nothing, I am just a privileged girl pretending to be a street dog. All I have is a loud bark." Manta smiled and turned to look out the window again.
"You mistake has always been that you believe you cannot be both." Zoe arched her head in confusion. Manta smiled harder and continued.
"I mean both Zoe and Sapphire. Pampered Privileged and Rabid dog. Afterall a tiger can be both beautiful and deadly." Zoe felt the tears welling up again. She had never cried this much. In fact, she hadn't really cried since the day her friends died all those years ago.
It was Manta who cut the silence again.
"Why did you take the device, Zoe?" Manta said.
Zoe looked at the device still clenched tightly in her hand. She didn't really have an answer.
"I..I don't know, I don't even remember taking it. I feel it thrumming, calling to me, what the hell is it?" Zoe suddenly felt fear. This thing had somehow got her to subconsciously take it without her knowing. That meant she couldn't control it, or herself. That was a scary thought.
"It is called a morpher a device used by an ancient pack to harness the power of the morphing grid. To become a warrior known as a Power Ranger." Zoe's mind imploded. What the hell had she just heard? A mysterious power that allowed someone to become a Power Ranger. Some kind of soldier?
"What the hell? Are you trying to tell me this thing is some kind of weapon? More importantly what the hell does it have to do with me?" Zoe asked.
"It's not a weapon but more like it makes you a weapon. In some sense of the word. Zordan believes, as do I, that the morphing grid has chosen you, Zoe, to become one of the next group of Power Rangers. That you will help save this world."
"WHAT?" Zoe stood, a little too quickly as the pain shot up her spine.
"You think I am destined to wield some strange power to save the planet?" Zoe watched Mantas expression remain unchanged. She was serious. Also crazy apparently.
"You said it yourself you can hear it calling you, feel it's power. That device has laid dormant for over twenty years. The morphing grid has been silent until a few months ago. The very fact you are responding to it shows you are chosen." Mantra spoke calmly and with complete confidence.
"Your crazy, I can't even save the people closest to me and you expect me to save the whole world? Completely insane." Zoe wanted to drop the device, to let it fall and just run away a hide. Like she had always done.
"You have always been a hero Zoe, this is your choice. Don't you think it's about time you finally made a choice?" Manta was sincere in her words.
Zoe looked at the device in her hand she knew now what it wanted it to do. She needed to embrace it, accept it as part of her and it would accept her. Raising her free hand she hovered over the blue glowing light. It burst brighter stinging her palm slightly and in a flash, a wave of memories washed over her.
She saw her father standing with his bodyguards surrounding Manta. Three against one, their pulsing swords poised to strike. Manta stood at the centre her own scythe-like blade raised in defence. She remembered screaming for her father to stop.
To show mercy, he merely said it was for the good of their family.
Without thinking Zoe had jumped between the falling blade and Manta, the weapon slicing into her shoulder leaving a deep wound. Zoe had shoved Manta out the way. Her father had cried out and the guards cowering back in fear of their actions. Allowing Manta to slip out the room and escape.
It was that same night she had adorned the name Sapphire and slipped out of her home to live in the world she did now. Never seeing Manta again. Zoe touched her shoulder where the scar still stained her skin and she was crying again.
She looked at Manta and saw the relief wash over her face. Manta simple placed a hand on her shoulder and stepped back. Zoe was ready to accept her future. Without hesitation, she slammed her palm against the device. Instantly her mind was shocked by a journey showing memories dating back to god knows when.
She saw the Power Rangers defending the world over generations. She watched as they fell to Zeal and the Zodiac Empire and then she saw a hooded figure raising another one of the devices and in a blinding light of red she saw him transform, the last image she saw was a Red Ranger standing tall against a horde of snakes before snapping back into reality.
"What the hell was that!" Zoe stood staring at the device, at its centre a strange symbol now glowed steadily like a hologram coin. It showed what looked like a Ying and yang style logo but one side looked like a flower and the other a beast.
"The power is with you now, it has enhanced you. Changed you, made you stronger than ever before. Can you feel it?" Manta sounded excited, like a child finally that one toy they wanted.
Zoe could feel it, the power thrummed through her whole body. The pain was gone, she felt stronger, faster. Like she could take on the world. That is exactly what she planned to do. First, though there was something she needed to do.
"Where are you going?" Manta asked.
"I'm going to see a dog, I've got a bone or two to pick with him." Zoe finally felt whole. This is what she had been waiting for her whole life. There was a question on her mind though. She had seen the Red Ranger morph, who were they?
It would seem the rumours surrounding the fall of the snake lord were true, it was a Ranger that brought down a monster. That only filled her with more confidence. If a Ranger had already won against a creature of the Zodiac empire then so could she. Chiwarri wouldn't know what hit him.
I will get you back Mouse, I will avenge you, Dozer. I finally have the power to truly show this world just how wrong it is.
End of Part 4