Episode 1: Raptor Rangers
"If you keep vibrating in your seat, it's gonna break."
Lijuan Kang ignored her new cousin's tone; Kaylyn was just upset that she had to wear a dress her mother picked out than what she wanted to wear for the wedding. Li couldn't help but be excited though, the wedding had been a beautiful ceremony with lots of pastel streamers, flower decorations placed around the venue, and her aunt had asked her to be the flower girl and she got to wear an adorable pink and white dress with a pink floral crown.
Kaylyn Ace had been a rather annoyed-looking bridesmaid, but the smile she'd plastered on during the wedding as her twin sister Dylan escorted Aunt Sorcha down the aisle made her look beautiful even in the blinding yellow bridesmaid dresses. Kaylyn had snidely said that Aunt Sorcha intentionally chose the dresses so she looked better by comparison, but Li couldn't believe her favorite aunt would be so petty.
Well, technically Sorcha Delacruz was her only aunt, but still…
Across the table, Alta Delacruz primly took a sip of her water and delicately nibbled on a piece of steak. Li hadn't meant to stare, but she'd always admired her biological cousin's primness-Lijuan felt that Alta was as close to a princess as she was going to get without being royalty.
Li shifted in her seat as she tried to be just as careful in drinking her soup, but blushed when she slurped up the liquid. She hunched down when Kaylyn smirked, and glanced away as Alta didn't even acknowledge it. Li's eyes roamed around the reception, the outdoor scenery having just enough of a breeze to drive away the warmth of the late summer afternoon.
Alta's new step-sister was sitting beside her father and step-mother, Charo's eyes firmly locked onto her plate as she nervously pushed the peas around with her fork. While Charo was shyly trying to hide herself away, beside her Dylan looked as cool as winter. Her cold expression had made Lijuan a bit baffled upon meeting her before the ceremony, as she'd just met Kay and she certainly wasn't aloof-and the fact Dylan had Kay's face made the out of place expression even eerier.
It was still rather strange though that Kay would choose to sit with Li and Alta instead of at the table with her sister and mother, but Lijuan was only happy to get to know her new step-cousin, even if most of what she said was kind of rude.
"So, what are you?" Lijuan nearly jumped as her head whirled to stare at Kay incredulously. Surely she hadn't just said that, but Kay only continued to look confused even as Alta sent her step-cousin a glare through narrowing eyes. "Fourteen? Fifteen? I thought flower girls were little kids."
Li let out a soft sigh of relief, and Alta resumed eating her dinner. "I'm sixteen, just a year older than Charo I think. What about you?"
Kay leaned back in her seat. "Twenty." Her eyes glanced over at Alta. "You?"
"My name is Alta, not 'you'." Alta reprimanded.
Kaylyn rolled her eyes. "Well sor-ry Miss Manners," she crossed her arms, "so Alta, how old are you?"
"A lady never reveals her age." Alta said primly.
"She's twenty-two." Li piped in helpfully, but ducked back when Alta sent her a sharp glare.
Kay began to laugh though. "Only twenty-two and already an old maid!" she cackled.
Li twiddled her thumbs as Alta's lips pressed into a tight line, and she could see that around them guests and family members were shooting Kay dirty looks-including Dylan and their mother Nanette. Those glares were the ones which Li suspected made Kaylyn quiet down, as she scowled at her plate and angrily drank down her water.
"Water, water, water; your mother have something against soda?" Kay grumbled.
"No, she just didn't want the children to be running around on a sugar high." Alta replied coolly. "Something your uncle Rupert agreed with."
"Ppssh!" Kaylyn cracked her hand like she was holding a whip, and Alta looked at her sourly. "That's what he is alright."
"Tell me, are you intentionally so unpleasant, or do you have to work on being a bitch?" Alta asked, her voice ice cold.
Li blinked, shock coursing through her as Kay's jaw dropped in surprise. Lijuan hurriedly looked around, but no one else appeared to have noticed thankfully. "Um," she faltered when both her cousins looked at her, but she gathered her courage and kept going, "this isn't the place to fight. It's supposed to be a happy occasion, please don't ruin it."
Kay scowled at Alta, who glared back. "Pipsqueak is right," she said grudgingly, "let's settle this in the parking lot like real women."
Alta jerked up her chin. "If you insist."
Kaylyn hunched her shoulders tensely. "Oh, I insist."
Li opened her mouth, but both her cousins were already on their way to the lot. She bit her lip as she wondered what to do, but didn't want to give up on settling things peacefully. She scuttled after Kay and Alta, and found them standing opposite on the gravel behind one of the RV's one of the relatives had used; Kay held up her fists like a boxer, while Alta slipped into a martial arts stance which had her billowing skirt flaring out.
No matter how bizarre it was to see two tall women in fancy dresses- one with running shoes likely won by an agreement with a mother, and the other in matching purple heels that matched her dress ready to duke it out- Li didn't find it amusing at all and jumped in between them, holding her hands out to them both and they jerked back at her sudden appearance.
"No, stop!" she said forcefully. "Can't you both just apologize to each other? We're all family here now."
"That's right, and she insulted my step-father." Alta said venomously.
Kay sneered back at her, but didn't move to shove Li out of the way yet. "It's true though! Uncle Rupert ain't got a spine in his back or a brain in his head! Why do you think his first wife left him?"
"That is his business." Alta said firmly. "I just know that he is good to both my mother and I, and loves Charo with all his heart. I will not stand idly by and listen to you belittle him."
"Move, Li, so I can teach Miss Priss a lesson then!" Kay snarled.
Li shook her head vehemently. "No," she said and felt her heart beat race as she could almost feel the tension in the air, "and if you continue I will get an adult!"
"Go ahead then!" Kay snapped. "Better tell them to call an ambulance cause I'm about to smash Miss Manner's face in!"
Alta narrowed her eyes. "You can try."
"I'm not moving!" Lijuan reaffirmed boldly. She looked up, and suddenly felt very afraid of Kay as her cousin scowled down at her with bright and furious blue eyes.
"I'm warning you…"
"Touch her and you will have a broken wrist to contend with as well." Alta cut in, and Kay's fury deflected back to her.
"Speak normally!" she shouted angrily. "Who talks like that? This aint' Ye Old England and you aren't British anyway! I'm the one who's got a British father and even I don't talk like that!"
Li was dearly hoping someone would overhear the yelling and come running, but luck was not on her side as no one else even seemed to notice as all she could hear was the happy chatter. Oh, how she wished she could be back there. Li tried to desperately think of a way to end this without someone getting hurt, and latched onto the first thing that popped into her head. "If you do this you'll both go to jail!"
Alta's eyes widened, while Kay looked at Li as though she had lost it, but Lijuan didn't back down from the statement. Now that she got their attention she wasn't going to let them fight.
"I…I'll call the police and tell them you're both fighting," she explained painfully, "I don't want to because I just got a new cousin and I haven't seen Alta in a long time, but I-I'll do it!"
Kay and Alta glared at each other over Li's head, and the girl worried from the way they both tensed that they were going to ignore her anyway.
Abruptly, Alta smoothed down her skirt. "Come along, Lijuan. Let's allow Kaylyn to wallow in her own anger. She appears to like doing it very much."
Kay huffed, her features scornful. "And you think you're so much more mature than me?"
"It's true, isn't it?" Alta parroted. Kay growled, but before another chance of a fight could happen, the sound of screams filled the air.
From where the wedding reception was located.
Kay's face paled, horror creasing her features. "Mom, 'Lan." She whispered, and without another word began sprinting back to the reception.
Li watched Alta slip out her heels as well before darting after Kay, nothing covering her feet except her white tights. Li looked down at her flat dress shoes, and didn't waste another moment in standing around before she also ran after her cousins.
When she actually caught sight of the reception, her sprint halted abruptly, her eyes surely playing tricks on her. There were dozens of mismatched creatures-bugs it looked like-swarming around the area with stingers for hands and their colors orange and gray. The Power Rangers were unfortunately not around to deal with this, not since the last threat to Earth had been stopped.
But just because I'm not a Ranger doesn't mean I can't help. Li nodded to herself and rushed in, grabbing one of the plastic chairs and allowing it to fold up before bashing one of the bugs on its head. It stumbled back from one of Charo's cousins and allowed the little boy to be taken away by his parents.
The bug though buzzed angrily as it turned to her, its stingers rising menacingly. Li pressed her lips together as she felt her hands shake, but in a flash, Alta jumped past her, leg coiled and released with a hard roundhouse kick that knocked the bug down.
Li stared up at her cousin in admiration, but Alta's face was grim. Li opened her mouth, but cried out as Kay ran past her and jerked the chair out of her grasp with a sharp tug.
"Thanks, Pipsqueak!" she called over her shoulder before cackling and brandishing the chair like a sword. She may have been crude, but Li winced every time she slammed the chair efficiently against every bug she came across.
"Well that's interesting." Li mumbled.
Alta straightened up. "I'll show her what real technique is." She muttered and gathered up a stack of plates before running off.
Though there was still screaming and buzzing around her, Li felt entirely useless about what to do. Her cousins were infinitely more adapt at fighting than she was-she shook her head rapidly. No, I can't think like this! Not now of all times! This was her family, and she wasn't about to let anything happen to them!
A scream rang out behind her, and Li whirled around in time to see Charo cowering on the ground as a bug was about to slam the stinger into her. Li hurled herself into the bugs side, and felt it jerk away with the stinger impaling the ground inches from Charo, whose eyes were wide and terrified.
"Go, run, run now!" Li screamed and pulled Charo roughly to her feet. "Hurry and find shelter!" Charo fled, but Li couldn't dwell on it too long as her attention was drawn by Kaylyn being tossed through the air by one of the bugs, screaming as her arms flailed wildly.
Alta fell back in time with Kay's sailing, and awkwardly caught her in her arms as she fell back onto the ground with a grimace. Li rushed over in time to hear Kay grumble, "This doesn't change anything" and Alta only pushed her away.
"What are these things?" Li asked before they could start arguing again. "They look like bug monsters."
"Yeah," Kay grumbled, "where are some Power Rangers when you need 'em?"
Li felt a swell of indignation inside. "If there were rangers they wouldn't just stand back and do nothing, they'd be out here fighting!"
"What can we do?" Alta asked wearily. "I kick and punch with all my might, but it's still not enough to take them down. I thought smashing the plates would add something, but nothing has worked."
"It's because you're not using the right kind of weapon."
Li jumped, and both Kay and Alta moved in such synch for two people who couldn't stand each other. All three of them looked to an older woman who had just emerged from the back of a motorcycle, her expression hard as she looked past them at the monsters with a clenched jaw. How could we not have noticed her? Were we so wrapped up in ourselves? Li asked herself before saying aloud, "Who are you and what are you talking about?"
"My name's Karina and those are Blitzbugs." The woman held out a strangely thick pen which had a sharp point and a red crystal on the other end. "I know it's unorthodox, but take this if you want to beat these things!"
Li was already reaching for it, but Alta grabbed her wrist, her gaze suspicious. "What will it do?"
"It'll turn her into a Power Ranger." Karina answered evenly, her gaze earnest.
Alta's grip slackened, and Li pulled her wrist free before she grasped the pen-she could almost feel the power flowing through it! Alta looked back at the bugs and then at Karina with a hard stare. "I know Power Rangers come in more than one, and I will not let Li do this alone."
Karina looked almost relieved. "I was hoping you'd say that." She said and pulled two more pens from her pocket. Kay's face was unreadable, but then a very scary grin stretched across her lips.
"Those things are really gonna pay now!" she said and snatched the black crystal pen while Alta took the green one.
"Now shout 'Raptors Take Flight' and the rest will come to you!" Karina yelled over the screaming.
Those were enough to kick the women into high gear, and all three of them held out their pens. "Raptors Take Flight!" They yelled in unison, and their bodies all glowed for a moment.
Karina looked away, and the glow got the attention of the Blitzbugs, who were surely there to scout out the location of the Virtuore Crystals. She knew what a gamble she took just now, and hoped the three girls would not disappoint. Thankfully it looked like the light show had distracted the Blitzbugs enough that the remaining wedding guests had managed to get away.
When the lights died down, the three women were standing in spandex suits with a top and skirt that corresponded to the individual colors they had been given, while underneath they had on solid white tights. Swooping from shoulder to shoulder though were bird wings designs in white, and sashes around their waists the same color. The helmets all shared the same black visors and sculpted mouths, while the head design varied slightly with each though all had sharp beaks peaking over the visors, and just above were it were varying 'goggle's.
Li's had oversized round eyes, while Alta's had dark patches around the eyes that made them seem bigger and Kay's were hawk-like and sharp. Though Li wanted to freak out by the fact she was an actual Power Ranger, she settled for letting the movements come over her naturally. Karina wisely got out of the way as Li flourished her arms downward like she was practicing for a ballet recital.
"Wise as an owl, Raptor Red!"
Alta followed suit; she swivelled her arms up into the air, her hands fanning out. "Graceful as a kite, Raptor Green!"
Following up, Kay crouched slightly, one arm crossing in front of her chest while the other overlapped and the fingers were curled. "Fierce as a hawk, Raptor Black!"
As one, the three of them pushed one arm out and called "Birds of prey, united we stand!" and behind them plums of their colors exploded. Off to the side, Karina was glad she'd decided to move as far back as she had.
Like an unheard bell had been rung, the Blitzbugs rushed them.
Holding her pen out, the black crystal glowed and in an instant a long sword was in her grasp, the black crystal fastened to the hilt. Kay grinned behind her mask as she jumped into the fray with wanton abandon, hacking and slashing every which way.
Alta scoffed. "Still she has no technique." She muttered and her pen turned into a bo staff before she too joined the fighting.
Li watched her cousins fight, and held out her own pen-
"Look out!"
Were it not for Karina's warning, Li wouldn't have ducked back in time to avoid a thin blade coming down where her hand had been. She stepped back further as she stared up, her heart racing as she felt herself beginning to shake.
She'd known that monsters existed, the countless times the earth had been threatened were proof of that, but the Blitzbugs had threatened the illusion of safety, and now this thing threatened her very life. It's dark eyes burned with disdain as it looked down at her, the black and yellow armour glinting in the sunlight.
It thrust the rapier at her again, and Li blocked it with the spear her pen had turned into. The bug kicked her into the stomach, and the force of the blow had Li crashing into a table. She whimpered and gingerly rolled onto her side. The suit took the brunt of the crash, but Li still felt the pain and gasped when she tried to sit up.
The yellow and black bee walked up to her, its expression twisting into a scowl. "You are the Red Ranger? Look at how pathetic you are; it makes me wonder just what we were so worried about." He, and Li tentatively guessed so from the voice, spat.
Li's grip on the spear shaft tightened as she used it to pull herself up. "It is an honor to just be a ranger." she panted heavily. "You shouldn't mock something you don't understand."
It chuckled darkly. "And you should lie still and make this easy."
"Hey, ugly!" The bee whirled around in time to block a strike from Kay. "Pipsqueak, go help Priss, I've got this."
Li nodded unsteadily and used her spear like a cane. She winced as she tried to walk, but before she could go help Alta, the bee suddenly staggered back.
It screeched something unintelligible, its voice turning high and buzzing. The sound had Li covering the sides of her helmet as both Alta and Kay did the same and Li spotted Karina wincing while she copied them. The bee looked around wildly and at once the Blizbugs all sprouted translucent wings from their backs and the bee did the same before they all flew off.
"What just happened?" Li asked dazedly.
Kay though exploded as she yelled up at the sky. "Hey, we were just about to fight, coward!"
"Stop shouting or they'll come back!" Alta reprimanded her.
Kay hissed like an angry cat, and Li had half-expected her suit to bristle as well. "You!" she pointed at Karina. "Explain what the hell this is all about, and it better be a damn good one. You didn't just give us those pens for no reason."
Karina looked around at the ruined reception area, and she tilted her head at the murmuring of the guests still in hiding. "We should go; this is not something you'd want overheard."
"Nu-uh, not until you give us something." Kay said firmly.
Karina sighed. "Very well, those things came from another dimension; now can we please leave?" Without waiting, she hurried to pull her motorbike with her and the three other women followed after her with little choice if they wanted answers, but were mindful not to de-morph just yet.
"What do we say if someone sees we're gone?" Li asked quietly.
Alta gently patted Li's shoulder. "They would have noticed us leave before. Perhaps they think we just stepped out and avoided the attack."
"In other words we're lucky S. ." Kaylyn said crudely. Li grimaced, and Alta gave her a disapproving glare, but they meant nothing to Kay, even if she could see their expressions.
Karina glanced at them, and Li wondered from the way she was grimacing if she'd just made a huge mistake.