Twin Rangers: Part One

It was a late evening, and Maya had finished rehearsing her speech at the local theatre for the town's summer Acknowledgement ceremony. Her English teacher from her high school, Mr. Bennett, was kind enough to help her practice by giving feedback on her performance.

She stood on the stage behind a podium, finishing off reading off her speech papers.

"-thank you all and have a blessed day," she finished with so much enthusiasm in her voice. She looked up at the front row seat where the slim, black-haired man sat, observing her speech.

Mr. Bennett stood up and approached closer to Maya. "Maya, that was...exceptional."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'exceptional'?" She asked.

Mr. Bennett scratched the back of his neck. "You're...always get excited when giving out your speech, which kind of made it sound a little...off."

Maya's gaze fell as she took in the feedback she received from her judge. "Oh, I guess I can't help myself when I become over-confident."

Mr. Bennett sighed as he walked up the tiny staircase and up the stage. "Maya, I know you may feel the adrenaline once you get up on the stage in front of those people, but you just have to chill, alright?"

Maya looked down as she sighed in defeat. Just then, Mr. Bennett felt a ping from his phone. He picked it up and gasp.

"Oh crap, I forgot to pick up my son from his piano lesson!" He jumped off the stage and grabbed his jacket. He waved at Maya as he was running towards the exit. "Good night, Maya!"

"Good-" Maya spoke, waving goodbye but was interrupted by the slamming of the door. She sighed and finished her sentence. "-night."

She walked off the stage and grabbed her purse and made her way out of the building. It was dark and gloomy out, but Maya still didn't mind the black night. She sort of wished she brought her car with her, but earlier she thought it was no use since her house was just a half a mile from where the theatre was.

As she walked, she decided to pick up her phone and dial someone up. She held her phone against her ear as she heard it ring a few times before a voice answered.

"Hello?"

Maya sighed and smiled a bit. "Hey, Max. It's me."

"Hey, Maya. I haven't heard from you for the past three days. What's up?"

"Nothing, just walking home from the speech practice. You?"

"Nothing, just here in my room chilling with DJ, speaking of which, let me put you on speaker."

Max did and soon enough, Maya heard another voice call out.

"Hey, Maya!"

"Hey, Deej."

"How did your band practice," DJ asked.

Maya sighed sadly. "Not exactly as I hoped. Mr. Bennett simply told me that I was okay, but that I was too excited while giving away my speech."

"Not surprising," Max muttered quietly, but Maya heard him loud and clear.

She stopped in her tracks and asked. "What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Max spoke defensively.

"Crap, dude..." DJ whispered to Max.

"No, no, no, I want to hear what you just said," Maya spoke sternly. It was at this point both boys knew this conversation was not going to end well. Max obviously didn't mean to say what he just muttered. Or at the very least, he didn't mean to say it out loud.

"I'm saying that you being over-the-top is not surprising, since that you are not the calmest person DJ and I know."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Well, you always tend to be excited," DJ explained, "hence the number of times Max and I would tell you to shut up. We sort of tolerate your hyperactivity because we realize that just makes you, well, Maya."

"So you're saying that I'm obnoxious?" Maya's face was getting hot with anger.

"Well, sometimes, but we tolerate you because you are our friend and you do a lot for us."

Maya took a deep breath before letting it out. "And how much have you done for me, MINUS that birthday party?"

Max and DJ were both silent as they tried to come up with the common favors they would do for Maya, but nothing came to mind. Max scratched the back of his neck as he spoke. "Well, we keep you around and support you through your struggles." He chuckled nervously.

"Oh, like simple tell me 'you can do it Maya' before going back to your own lives. What you and DJ do for me is nothing compared to what I put myself through for you guys? In fact, I'm the reason Sensei hasn't expelled you guys yet! And what do I ask for in return? NOTHING! Not even a thank you."

"Yes, and I'd like to take this moment to say thank you so much for your service," DJ said with so much 'gratitude' in his voice.

Maya was dead silent for about 10 seconds before Max spoke. "Maya, are you there?"

Maya then chuckled sarcastically. "Do me a huge favor, and drive yourselves to class. Delete my number! Unfollow me on every single social media platform! Do not come anywhere near me, and don't ever visit my house again, and tell DJ to do the same, because in all honestly, screw both of you miserable, ungrateful bastards!"

"Maya! No, wait!"

With that, Maya angrily hung up before stuffing her phone into her purse. She was so livid at the lack of support from both Max and DJ. She felt so unappreciated and misunderstood. She felt as if she was nothing but a servant towards those two boys, and as of right now, she hated the thought of their faces.

Maya looked around the empty streets of her suburban neighborhood. She put her hands into her pockets as she shivered with slight fear. It was dark and gloomy, two things Maya was not very fond of.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks when they noticed two bright balls of light floating over her. She squinted her eyes as the brightness of the globes hindered her vision. The bright globes moved forwards and stopped from a safe distance from Maya. Maya looked up and noticed the difference between the two globes. One was green and one was white. She rubbed her eyes, believing she was hallucinating, but then the lights then began to transform.

She squinted her eyes but then they bulged wide open once she realized the balls of lights transformed into two beings. Not just any beings, it looked like other Power Rangers, and Maya knew better to realize those two looked nothing like DJ and Max.

They stood side by side, facing Maya, who didn't even move a muscle. The setting was so silent that all Maya could hear was her own heart pounding. The rangers' suits were similar _ to the main trio, except the one on the left was green, and his helmet was in the shape snake or a bat, with a square-shaped visor and fangs on the top. The one on the right was white, and her helmet was much more circular-shaped with a polar bear's paw as her visor.

"Who are you?!" Maya called out. The two Rangers glanced at one another before giving nods. The green ranger then faced Maya and pulled out his green staff from his back, which extended once it was pulled out all the way. He pointed the staff towards Maya. Maya was scared and confused, but then a burst of green energy short from the far end of the staff.

Maya screamed as the blast reached her. However, it did not hurt her in the slightest. It simply absorbed her into its tiny compartments.

Once the ball of energy captured Maya, she screamed and begged to be released. The ball then traveled back towards the White Ranger, who took the ball with Maya trapped inside in her hands.

"HEY GET ME OUT OF HERE!" That was all Maya would call out before the two rangers disappeared into thin air, taking Maya with them.

"Wow, dude. Maya was really that ticked off at us?" DJ exclaimed as he walked with Max the next morning down their neighborhood towards Maya's house.

Max sighed sadly. "Yeah, but I know someone like Maya can't be angry at us for too long. Let's just see if she is in the mood to talk."

"Yeah, I think it is about time we do more for her," DJ said, nodding his head.

"Agreed. Well, here we are." Max spoke as he and DJ walked up through the front lawn of the Garcia residence. It was perhaps a small brown-painted home, but what could you expect from a house where the only residents are Maya and her mother.

They reached the front door and were kind of weirded out by the odd silence coming from the house. Normally, Maya's mother would blast her loud cultural Folk music, but there was nothing.

The two shrugged their shoulders before Max rang the doorbell. There was no answer. He rang the doorbell again. Again, no answer.

DJ reached the doorknob. "What are you doing," Max exclaimed.

"Just to see if it is unlocked," DJ answered, raising his eyebrow.

"Dude..."

"Relax, Ms. Garcia loves us. There is no way she can be too peeved of us coming in unannounced."

Max shrugged his shoulders as DJ slowly opened the door. They were stunned to notice the faint sound of crying coming from the living room down the hall.

Both Max and DJ were concerned as they entered the home and walked down the hall towards the living room, where the crying kept getting louder and more clear.

They peeked their hands inside and sure enough, they found a tan-skinned woman with short black hair weeping while sitting on the couch, her face in her hands.

"Ms. Garcia?" Max spoke up.

Adana Garcia's head shot up but then she felt relieved when she realized it was just her daughter's friends. "Oh, mijos, why are you here?" She spoke in a distinct, Mexican accent.

They both entered the living room and approached their friend's mother. "We should be asking you a much more important question," DJ spoke, "why are you crying?"

Adana's face fell as she continued weeping. She spoke as she choked on her words. "Maya didn't come home last night. I called the police but they couldn't find her anywhere. I'm so scared right now. My baby girl is lost."

Both boys looked at one another, fear etched onto their faces. Adana continued crying in her hands. Both boys sat next to her and began comforting her.

"Ms. Garcia, I am pretty sure she just got lost. It was dark, after all," DJ spoke. Though he had little hope that Maya was just 'lost', he tried his best to calm her mother down.

"We'll help with the search," Max spoke. "My dad is a cop, and he will most likely let us help."

"Yeah, since practically no one knows better about Maya than us," DJ added with a smile.

Adana brought her head and sniffled, smiling at both boys. "Thank you, boys." She spoke, planting a kiss on each of their cheeks.

"We can go one with the search now! Come on, Deej!" Max spoke as he and DJ made their way out of the living room and out the door, saying farewell to Ms. Garcia. They separated and made their way to their own houses to recruit their parents in order to help them find their best friend.

Deep in a quiet, beautiful area outside of the city, sat Martial Gardens, where Sensei Uni and his daughter reside in. They lived in a traditional, two-story Japanese-style house with a huge garden surrounding the entire perimeter, minus the long, narrow walking that leads from the picket fence to the front door.

"Dad!" Ellie called out for her father, who was already in his black Kimino Robe for work that day. He came out from the kitchen and into the old living room, where his daughter sat on the couch, her laptop in hand.

"What is it, honey," Uni asked with concern, putting a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

Ellie looked up at her father. "You know the two gems we lost the signal to after they were stolen."

"Yes..."

"Well, it reads here that they have just made a disturbance in the town Max, DJ, and Maya live in. And that's not even the worst news..."

Uni's eyes widened. "What could be worse, dear?"

After typing a few symbols on her keyboard, Ellie shook her head in pure defeat. "I lost connection to Maya's gem. I called DJ and Max earlier and they explained to me that they had just been at Maya's house, and her mother flat out them that she didn't come home at all last night." Ellie gave her father a grave look. "To summarize, Maya is missing."

Uni's eyes widened and he knelt down and glanced at Maya's screen. He shook his head in disbelief as he spoke to his daughter. "Contact the boys, and have them search where Maya was last located before her Gem lost connection."

Ellie nodded, turning back to her laptop. "Yes, father."

"Maya!" DJ called out while walking through the woods on the west side of town.

"Maya!" Max hollered. The two boys were accompanied by DJ's father and both of Max's parents. The three adults were lagging behind as the two boys proceeded to move forward deeper into the woods in hopes of finding their friend.

"Max, wait up!" Mr. Cruz spoke to his son. Bobby Cruz was an extremely built guy who attended the same Marine Platoon as Monroe, and it was a coincidence that they were both from the same city. He had short, red hair, an obvious trait Max inherited, along with green eyes. He always wore jeans and a t-shirt, which is similar to Max's attire, but the main difference is that Bobby's t-shirt was white, while Max's was ruby red.

"Relax, Bobby," Monroe spoke to his friend.

Mrs. Cruz rolled her eyes. "Monroe, we just don't want to walk far and lose us, if you know what I mean."

Mary Cruz was an incredibly thin woman who attended the same high school as both DJ's father and Maya's mother. She always were a dark jean jacket, along with black khakis and black sandals. She had long blond hair, but also had Max's blue eyes. Between her and her husband, she was the much more disciplinary one towards Max, while Max's father tended to be far more laid back, like their friend Monroe.

Monroe glanced over at Max's mother and spoke. "I know, but I myself am incredibly worried about Maya's presence as well," he then gave a small smile. "It sort of warms my heart the lengths these boys would go through to find their friend."

Bobby looked over at his friend and smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I understand, but we can't help them if we lose them."

Monroe sighed and nodded. As much as he wanted to protest, his friend had a point.

As they walked out of the woods and down the street that led back towards their suburban neighborhood. Max kicked an occasional can in frustration.

"I can't believe this," DJ exclaimed. "How could this have happened? Scratch that, out of everyone, how could this have happened to Maya."

Max's gaze fell as he spoke. "Do you really think Maya hates us?"

DJ stopped walking and looked over at his friend. "Are you kidding me? Why would she hate us?"

Max looked up at DJ. DJ's frustrated look quickly disappeared as he noticed tears glistening from his friend's eyes. "DJ, for the past 8 years that we have known Maya, what have we done for her?"

DJ scratched his head as he thought for a moment. "Well, we did have a lot of laughs with her and good times. We would always give her birthday gifts, and...I guess that it."

Max nodded. "Now compare that to what she had done for us."

DJ thought for a moment again before his eyes widened. He knew exactly what his friend was saying now, and he could possibly understand why Maya would have been upset last night. Maya has ALWAYS been there for them. DJ remembered the day he met Maya. It was the anniversary of his mother's death, and he was looking depressed at the school cafeteria until a sweet little girl approached him and sat down with him. She was perhaps DJ's first friend before he met Max. And scratch that, Maya had always given them rides, advice, and practically saved their butts from their sensei almost 24/7.

Maya was a true friend to them, and now DJ realized just how one-sided Maya's friendship was to both him and Max.

"I-I can't believe this. We...we were assholes to her after all the crap she had done for us." DJ spoke. Max sighed as he looked up at his friend.

"I honestly don't believe Maya would even care about being back together with us," Max spoke defeatedly. They continued to move forward towards home, with their parents still lagging behind them by just a few feet. They honestly felt like it was no point after the previous night. They figured even if they found, she probably wouldn't be happy to see them in the slightest and honestly, neither DJ nor Max would blame her.

After a whole minute, Max caught something with his eye that made him gasp.

DJ glanced over at his friend. "Max, what is up?"

Max stopped in his tracks and pointed forward towards what he has just seen. DJ looked over and narrowed his eyes before they widened and he gasp as well. The two boys ran towards what they have just seen.

A pink purse was laying flat in the middle of the narrow road. Max and DJ knelt down as the former picked it up and opened it. He pulled out a driver's license and sure enough, it along with this purse both belonged to Maya.

Max looked up at DJ as their parents approached them.

"Boys, what have you got there?" Max's father asked with his eyebrow raised.

Both boys narrowed their eyes at one another as they muttered one word simultaneously through their teeth.

"Po."

Back in Kartae, the two Rangers have traveled towards their master's lair. The Green Rangers held the bright ball of energy where Maya was trapped inside.

Po grinned as he sat on his throne. "What have you got there?"

The White Ranger spoke. "We have the Yellow Ranger for you, sir."

Po sat up from his room and walked down the steps. He approached the two Rangers as the Green one-handed the ball over to him.

Po held it firmly in his hand. He could already feel the power of the Yellow Gem along with Maya herself.

"HEY, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Maya yelled out from the ball. Po then cackled, which caused her to shiver in fear.

"Hello, Maya Garcia. It's been wonderful to meet you."

Maya growled. "I wish I could say the same thing about you, but LET ME OUT!"

"Oh, I am sorry. I'm afraid I can't do that. Not until I drain the power from you Gem, and you know what's gonna happen to you once I do?"

Maya could hardly catch her breath. Ever since she and her friends acquired the gems, they have been linked to their overall health to the extent that if anything happens to her Gem, it would harm Maya, or even worse, end her life.

"You will feel all of your energy drained. If you're lucky, it may not end your life, but you will be left powerless for the rest of your days."

Maya shook in fear as Po cackled along with the White and Green Rangers.

She was trapped.

That's it for this chapter. See you next time.