SABAN
FOX KIDS
BLACK PANTHER RANGER.
The Caribbean
Mermaid's Cove, Mermaid Island
January 4th-(2000)
Ethan Prince, holding his backpack in his right hand, stepped out of the white van and onto the parking-lot of Mermaid's Cove High School on the morning of January 4th, followed by closing the door, and he turned to see two teen-boys and three other teen-boys chatting with one another.
"Ethan?" Said Delta Emerson-one of the castle maids, sitting in the driver seat of her van, with her seatbelt on, making Ethan turn to face her. She was black and heavy-set, had gray shoulder-length hair, brown eyes, she wore red lipstick, a black suit, as well as pink and red fake finger-nails. She looked like Della Reese, as well as sounded like her. "I know you're nervous, baby, but...today'll be better than yesterday. The first day of school is always hard."
"All school days are hard." Ethan said. It was the second day of school and Ethan was very nervous about it. And with good reason. The first day had't gone so well. Not for him at least. Nothing bad had happened, he was just late getting to school. And that was only because he went to see Arthur to talk to him about a mysterious dream he'd been having over and over again every night, only for the man to dismiss him due to still being tired. But he wasn't about to tell his parents that, they'd flip out. He hadn't even told them he'd been late for school, let alone went to see Arthur not once, but twice yesterday. And he knew it was better that it stayed that way. What his folks didn't know wouldn't hurt them...or him.
"I have a feeling...that very soon you're going to find someone who really gets you. I just know it." Delta said, smiling.
"Okay, Miss Delta." Ethan said before he turned and began heading for the school building.
"I have to work late." Delta said, making Ethan stop and turn to face her. "The museum got a new installment this morning, you'll see it this evening."
"What is it?" Ethan asked.
"You'll have to come to the museum after school today to find out." Delta said, with a smile.
"You mean, it's a surprise? For what?" Ethan asked.
"Well, it's not your birthday for another six months, Ethan. August 8th, to be exact. That's when you were born." Delta said.
"I know, i haven't forgotten. What does that to do with anything?" Ethan said.
"Everything." Delta said.
"(Sighs) Sometimes i never know what you're saying." Ethan said before he turned and resumed heading for the school.
Delta grinned as she watched Ethan walk towards the building to begin his second day of school in the first year of the 21st century, followed by the school-bell ringing, signaling that it was time for school to start. She only hoped that she was right and that today would be better for him than yesterday.
*Rock Music*
A new night in Mermaid's Cove
but the beach town never sleeps
It's never far away from danger
Ohh!
The darkness from beneath the sea
closing on town and now will be
Defended by a costumed stranger
Black Panther!
The Caribbean's fate lies in his hands
It's morphin' time, shift reality
Go, Power Ranger Black Panther!
*Rock Music*
Oh, yeeeah,
Yeeeeeah!
BLACK PANTHER
RANGER.
Hi. I'm Black Panther Ranger. Once, i was just a regular person with a normal life. That all changed in January-2000. It's amazing how fast your whole life can be altered.
Two more teens, a girl and a boy, and Zoey-her hair in the same short ponytails style it was yesterday and a pink seashell brooch clipped to the neckline of her shirt, entered the history classroom through the open door, and she went over to a desk next to Sabrina and sat down in it, then she looked and saw Ethan sitting across from her, his arms folded on his desk. Zoey's messenger-bag was in her locker next to Sabrina's, thanks to Sabrina helping her pick one out yesterday.
The male history teacher, Mr. Smith, entered the classroom dressed as a pirate captain, closing the door behind him. His hair was black and his eyes were brown.
"Check it out, it's Long John Smith." Brook joked, looking back at the class breifly while smiling, as she was sitting up front.
"Okay, settle down." Mr. Smith said. "Uh," He said as he took off his black pirate hat and placed it on his desk. "i have some exciting news. I guess the archeology association has been getting my E-Mails...because, and you are not gonna believe this, but please hear me out...the Wutara exhibit is here. It's at the Mermaid's Cove Museum and we are getting a special sneak preview today after school...before it's open to the public."
The entire class just groaned in boredom, minus Ethan, Zoey and Sabrina.
"Lucky us." Lindsey said sarcastically, her hair fiery red-going past her shoulders and stopping at her upper-back, and her eyes blue.
"Sounds like fun." Said Abby-smiling, her hair brown, curly and shoulder-length, and her eyes were green. "I mean, if you like museums." She said, her smile now gone.
"Well, that is what i was thinking. Uh, we weren't even on the original itinerary, but i guess after they saw my credentials as the acting president of the ancientology fan-club and museum volunteer of the year, they decided to include us." Mr. Smith said.
"Yes, sir, that must be it." Jenny sarcastically replied, her hair dark brown-going past her shoulders and stopping at her upperback, and her eyes blue.
"No need to thank me." Mr. Smith said.
"Oh, don't worry. We won't." Tina said, her hair blond-going past her shoulders and stopping at her upperback, and her eyes blue.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!" All the other kids laughed, minus Ethan, Zoey and Sabrina.
"What was that, Tina? Beg your parden?" Mr. Smith asked. But there was no answer from Tina. "Nothing else?" He asked as Ethan focused on him, both fascinated by his costume and looking forward to seeing the new exhibit and the museum.
Mermaid's Cove Museum
8 Hours Later...
"This exhibit documents the history of the people of Wutara," Mr. Smith said as he and Ethan walked up to the glass double-doors of the museum, removing his pirate hat while turning to face the rest of the following class. After getting out of school for the day, they all came straight here on one of the school's buses to look at the Wutara exhibit, with the bus driver remaining on the bus. "who were the people of the mythical land known as Wutara, a country located in Africa." He finished as he and the whole class entered inside the building through the doors, both of them closing afterwards.
"And they had a hero that protected their nation known as the Wutara Panther. A masked-costumed figure dressed as a black panther who saved their nation from being destroyed by a war waged on them by outside forces, sacrificing himself in the process." Ethan finished explaining.
"Well, you certainly know your mythology on Wutara." Mr. Smith said to Ethan. "The Wutara Panther's identity was never un-covered, not even after her sacrificed himself to save Wutara. Imagine guarding and protecting a nation while having to fight off all these people who are trying to take over it." He said to all of the class.
"Welcome, everyone." Delta said as she walked up to Mr. Smith and the class, wearing a black calf-length skirt with her black suit top, a gold rectangle pin-on name-tag on the left side of her suit, sheer gray stockings and black high heel shoes.
"Oh, the exhibit looks wonderful. Thanks for having us." Mr. Smith said.
"My pleasure." Delta said. "If you go upstairs to the exhibition hall, you will be able to see a replica of Wutara's tomb."
"Oh, wow. Thank you." Mr. Smith said.
"Have a good tour, everyone." Delta said.
"Great." Mr. Smith said as he walked off, with the class following. "The Wutarans were made up of two different nationalities of people: Africans and Egyptians." He explained as he and the class headed the upstairs.
"What a bunch of weird losers." Brook said.
"Wutara was a blended cultural nation of Africa and Egypt." Ethan said as he, Zoey, Sabrina, Lindsey and a 14-year old boy made it to the landing, the rest of the class still ascending the stairs, with Mr. Smith already gone on ahead of them. "It was a cool thing." He then looked and saw a long black nail resting on a custom mount next to a small rectangle-shaped piece of paper that had writing on it.
"Wait. What's that, a giant nail?" Said the 14-year old boy.
"Not even close." Ethan said, with some of the other kids laughing. "After you die, they yank your brain out through your nose. That's how it was done in Egypt back then. And since Wutara was a fused culter of both Africa and Egypt, the African population adopted the routine." He said before he and the rest of the class continued on up the rest of the stairs.
"What kind of dog is that?" Zoey asked while she, Ethan and the rest of the class walked to the top of the stairs.
"A jackal." Ethan answered, naming the Egyptian jackal statue lying down ahead of him and the rest of the class. "Some of the Egyptians wore jackal heads when preparing the deceased."
"How do you know all this?" Sabrina asked.
"He probably reads a lot. Like me." Zoey said.
"Yeah. 'Cause you have no friends." Lindsey said.
"Hahahahaha!" Laughed the whole class, except for Ethan and Sabrina.
Ethan and the rest of the class began walking through the Wutara exhibit, with the 13-year old boy going off on his own in a different direction.
...
Ethan made his way between two walls with old, ancient African/Egyptian drawings on them and admired them for a second before going over to a custom mount with a glass encase displaying two small brown statues of African men and a small statue of a gold Pharaoh sarcophagus, where he gazed upon them with amazement for a moment before moving on to another custom mount with a glass encase that showed Egyptian canopic jars. The Wutara exhibit was a mixed culture of Africa and Egypt, as Ethan had explained the mythological history of the fantasy nation downstairs earlier to his class-mates. He really appreciated the beauty of these items. Not many his age did. They were interested only in today's materials.
The teen-boy then looked to his left and saw the Wutara African/Egyptian temple up ahead, then resumed walking through the exhibit, heading towards there.
...
Elsewhere in the exhibit, Zoey looked around for Ethan, but he was nowhere in sight. She then went over to where Lindsey was standing, who was bent over, admiring a beautiful gold Egyptian glass encased necklace around the neck of a mini black headless-shoulderless-armless mannequin that was on a tall pedestal.
"Hey, what happened to Ethan?" Zoey asked.
"I don't know." Lindsey said, not taking her gaze off the necklace.
Seeing as she was getting nowhere with Lindsey on Ethan's where-abouts, Zoey went off in search of the missing boy herself. She walked away from the class, went to another part of the exhibit, and began strolling down the area, looking for Ethan.
...
Inside the temple, Ethan stared at a glass encased glitter gold-yellow ring on a pedestal in front of him, with the ring on the ring-stand. This was the ring of the mysterious black panther hero who protected Wutara and sacrificed himself in the war in order to save it and it's people. What a brave courageous act. To sacrifice one's own life to save the lives of others, especially those of an entire nation. It was ashamed that none of it really happened though. After all, Wutara was just a myth and nothing more. He then looked around at all the other cultural artifacts of Africa and Egypt, astounded by their beauty and how they blended together so well. Just like the cultures of Europe. Africa and Egypt were kind of a hobby of his, so he knew everything there was to know about Wutara, since it was a blended environment of both.
The 13-year old boy then walked over to a gold Pharaoh sarcophagus that was leaned up against the wall and looked at the face of it, which was that of a panther, a symbol of Wutara's fallen hero. After the Wutaran Panther sacrificed himself, the Wutaran citizens plastered his face on all sarcophaguses. But this one looked kind of sad. Then again, he was never found and laid to rest. At the end of the war, Wutara's protector vanished when he sacrificed himself, never to be seen again. The only thing the Wutarans found was his gold-yellow ring, which they kept hidden away for safe keeping. Well...until now, that is.
While he was entuned with the sarcophagus, the ring started glowing, which he hadn't taken notice off, as he was too focused on the sarcophagus's sad face.
But Zoey noticed it when she came from around a corner outside the temple. "(Gasps)!"
Ethan turned to see Zoey outside the temple, just as the ring stopped glowing. "What is it, Zoey?"
"The ring!" Zoey said, pointing at the displayed ring in the temple with her right index-finger. "It just glowed!"
Ethan looked at the ring, only to find that it wasn't glowing. "This ring's not glowing, Zoey."
"Well, it was a moment ago." Zoey said.
"Zoey, it's easy to imagine things that aren't real in these exhibits. Especially ones like this that are mythical-based." Ethan said. "Come on, let's go re-join the others." He said before exiting the temple, followed by leaving with Zoey to re-join the rest of the class.
Back inside the temple, the ring started glowing again. If only Ethan...had listened to Zoey.
...
"I'm telling you, that ring was glowing." Zoey said as she and Ethan were walking outside the museum.
"You mean the ring in the temple?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah. Something weird's going on. I mean, that ring kind of gave me the creeps, the way it was glowing?" Zoey explained.
"Hm." Ethan said, not responding to Zoey, as he was too busy thinking about the people of Wutara.
"Ethan?" Zoey said as she touched Ethan's left arm with the back of her right hand, getting the boy's attention. "You alright? You look like you're a million miles away."
Ethan and Zoey stopped in their tracks.
"Well...i was just thinking about the ancient Wutarans. According to mythology, they believed their country was founded by an asteroid billions of years ago when it landed on a huge nation-sized island next to Africa, affecting the plant life around it. And when the two tribes came across it--both from Africa and Egypt--they settled on it and called it Wutara." Ethan explained. "Hey, Zoey...do you ever feel...i don't know."
"What? Tell me." Zoey said.
"I don't know. Lonely...i guess." Ethan said.
"You don't have to be. Lonely, i mean." Zoey said.
"It's alright. I'm use to it." Ethan said before he walked off to re-board the bus and wait for Mr. Smith and the other students, leaving Zoey, who just watched him go while baring a sad look on her face.
...
That night at the Prince Manor castle-it being white with blue mottos and a blue roof and on the edge of a cliff near the ocean, Ethan, wearing a white sleeveless tak top undershirt, was lying sound asleep in his bed on his left side in his dark bedroom-the only source of light being the night sky coming from the large bay window that took up the whole left side of the wall-as well as displayed the ocean, his head resting in the palm of his left hand. After the rest of the class had finished touring the Wutara exhibit at the museum, they got back on the bus with Mr. Smith and were taken to their homes and dropped off. Once Ethan got home, he greeted his parents, went to his room, did his homework, watched TV in the living-room for a bit until dinner, watched some more TV until bed time, then turned in for the night.
...
That same night at the museum, inside the temple of the Wutara exhibit, the gold-yellow ring started to glow like it had earlier.
...
Ethan laid on his back and started tossing and turning in his sleep while the ring was glowing back at the museum. He then stopped moving. He sat up in his bed...pulled the covers back with his right hand...got out of bed, revealing gray sweat-pants and white socks he was wearing...and went to his bedroom door...opened it...and went downstairs.
...
Ethan walked up to the museum's double-doors, used the place's key on Delta's keychain he had taken out of her purse in her room while she was asleep to unlock the left door, opened it and went inside where he put they keys in his right pants-pocket and headed up the stairs. Once at the top, he headed into the Wutara exhibit and went inside the temple, stopping in front of the gold-yellow ring that was no longer glowing. The 13-year old boy removed the glass case with both hands, put it on the floor, got the ring off the stand...and placed it on his first middle finger on his right hand. And it started to glow again. The teenager then turned around and left out of the temple.
...
January 5th
Ethan turned over on his back from his right side as he awoke in his bed shirtless. "(Scoffs)." He scoffed before sitting up in bed. "Only a dream." He said, referring to his night at the museum. "(Yawns)." He yawned. He then looked down with confusion at himself and realized he wasn't wearing his undershirt he had warn to bed. That was weird. He could've sworn he had it on last night. He then saw his undershirt lying on the floor on the right side of his bed, along with his sweat-pants and socks. Oh, snap, he was naked! When had that happened? Since when did he start sleeping in the nude? He also noticed that the door to his room was open. Why was it open? He distinctly remembered closing it last night before he went to bed, like he had done every other night. He'd never left his room door open, especially when he was in it. Ethan was at a loss for words. Brushing it aside, the 13-year old shrugged before wrapping the covers around him to cover his bareness, then he got out of bed and went over to the door and closed it so he could put his sleep-clothes back on.
...
Now back in his sleep-clothes and socks, Ethan ran downstairs, yawning as he entered the foyer, and went to the open double-doors of the dining-room where he saw his parents, Stella and George Prince, sitting at the long dining-table next to each other on the left side in their robes, pajamas and slippers-Stella's robe and slippers white and George's robe being a green velvet dressing one and his slippers black, eating breakfast, with Delta standing at the table by Stella on the right, wearing a long black long puffy sleeve 19th century floor-length victorian maid uniform. The breakfast was that of waffles with syrup, scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, scattered hashbrowns with ketchup, and sliced grapefruit, with a 1700s crystal glass pitcher of orange juice, a syrup dispenser with syrup in it, and three wine glasses containing some of the juice on a silver platter.
"Hey, look who's up." George said.
"Well, good morning, my sweet Prince. I was just about to send Delta upstrairs to get you." Stella said.
"Good morning." Ethan said tiredly.
"You look tired." Delta said.
"I feel tired." Ethan said.
"You sleep okay?" Stella asked.
"I had a really weird dream about the Wutara exhibit." Ethan answered.
"Hmm. Images of that ancient world are powerful...aren't they?" Delta said.
"I'll say." Ethan said before entering the dining-room to join his parents for breakfast.
...
Later, upstairs, Ethan entered the bathroom, stopping at the sink and looking in the square mirror at himself for a moment. Having finished breakfast, he was now going to brush his teeth, floss, rinse and get ready for school.
"(Sighs)." Ethan sighed before running his right hand through hair, followed by his blue eyes turning gold-yellow color. He stared wide-eyed with shock in the mirror, his mouth gaping open. Since when did a person's eyes change colors instantly. He knew it was possible for people's eyes to change colors as they got older, but it was usually minor and didn't happen to most people. And the Prince boy considered himself as most people.
Ethan was then snapped out of his thoughts when his reflection disappeared, instantly replaced by that of a black panther with gold-yellow eyes, which roared at him. "AH!" He screamed as he quickly backed away from the minor up against the wall, staring wide-eyed at it, with his mouth open.
A gold-yellow light then lit up on his right side and he looked down at his right hand and saw that the source of the light was on his first middle finger. He held his right hand up in front of his face. The teen-boy's eyes widened even more with shock. For he knew that this was no ordinary ring. This was the ring he had seen back at the museum in the Wutara temple. But what was it doing here on his finger? Shouldn't it be back at the museum where it belonged? The ring then disappeared and his eyes returned to their normal blue color. He put his hand down, then saw that his reflection had returned in the mirror, taking the place of the panther.
Ethan wasn't sure what to think. What was happening to him today?
...
In mythology class of Mermaid's Cove High, the lights were off and Ethan-his arms folded on his desk, and all of the other kids sat at their desks, with the only source of light being a mini white film projector stand that was showing an image of Wutara on the chalk-board Mr. Smith was standing by, dressed like a teacher today.
"So...after the brain was removed, the Wutaran embalmers would make an incision on the left side of the ribs at the bottom made from a knife shaped like a razor sharp obsidian stone. The handle or hilt would be bejeweled with local gems, uh," Mr. Smith said, followed by the image on the chalk-board changing to that of gold Egyptian canopic jars." He finished explaining as Ethan felt a tingle at the bottom of the left side of his ribs.
"Like tupperware." Said Zoey, her hair in it's usual short double ponytail style, with her seashell brooch on the neckline of her shirt.
"Uh, yeah, like-"
"You are the one. And you are here to help save the people of this island." Came a deep, soft, soothing male voice in Ethan's mind, drowning out Mr. Smith as he spoke.
"Can anyone tell me what work contains the-"
"You have watched with utter discomfort as the history of our people has been taught by teachers to your generation of youth, who both dismiss it as a myth and an urban legend...Ethan." Said the same male voice in Ethan's head, drowning out Mr. Smith once again.
"Ethan." Said Mr. Smith. But Ethan didn't respond, he just looked straight ahead with a blank expression on his face. Almost as if his mind was somewhere else. "Ethan." He repeated, getting the boy's attention this time.
"Yes?" Ethan asked.
"Well, nice to see you've come back to Earth." Mr. Smith said. "Can you tell me how the Wutarans buried their deceased?"
Ethan paused for a moment. "Ow!" He said as he placed his hands on the bottom of the left side of his ribs.
"Okay, what now?" Mr. Smith asked.
"Can i go to the boys' room?" Ethan asked.
"Yep, by all means, please. Please do." Mr. Smith said.
Getting up from his desk, with his hands still on the left side of his ribs, Ethan exited the classroom, with Zoey watching him as he did.
...
Ethan opened the door to the boys' bathroom and rushed inside up to one of the sinks' and it's mirror where he pulled up his shirt with both hands, revealing a scar at the bottom of the left side of his ribs, making him stare in shock. How was this possible? How had he gotten this scar? Could he have scratched himself in his sleep? No, he couldn't have done that, he didn't see the scar when he woke up in bed naked. But if it wasn't that, then what else could it have been?
...
Later, in the hallway, Ethan unlock and opened his blue locker to retrieve something from his backpack. All of the lockers on both sides of the hall were blue.
"Ethan." Came a female voice, making Ethan turn to see Zoey. "Why didn't you come back to class?"
"Zoey...something weird is going on with me today." Ethan said.
"What do you mean? Weird how?" Zoey asked, a confused look on her face.
"Look." Ethan said before he pulled his shirt up.
"At what? What am i suppose to be looking at?" Zoey asked.
Ethan looking down at the bottom of the left of his ribs and saw that three was nothing there. The scar was gone. Gone without a trace...as if it had never existed. What happened to the scar? Where did it go? Had he just imagined it? The teen-boy pulled his shirt back down. "This is so weird. There was a...never mind."
"I'll tell you something weird. The museum was robbed last night." Zoey said.
"What? Robbed?" Ethan asked. An un-easy feeling instantly washed over him, followed by the dream he'd had about the museum. That was all it had been, right? A dream?
"Yeah, it was on the News this morning. And guess what was stolen?" Zoey said.
"An artifact?" Ethan guessed, hoping his guess would be correct.
"Not just any artifact...a ring. The same ring we saw yesterday in the temple of the Wutara exhibit. And the weird part is that the security cameras were off when the robbery took place, so there's no way to know who the theif was." Zoey said.
"That's impossible. The security cameras are always on, even during the night when the place is closed." Ethan said.
"Well, they weren't on last night, that's for sure. Who ever did this must've hacked into the system and shut down the cameras before they broke into the museum and stole the ring. Only question is...who did it?" Zoey said.
"Who knows? Could be anyone." Ethan said.
"Yeah. Anyone." Zoey agreed.
Ethan remained silent, completely lost and confused regarding everything he had just learned from Zoey. While he was stumped at the fact that the security cameras weren't on last night, he was relieved he hadn't been caught stealing on camera. He was also now shocked and scared of the realization that his dream about taking the ring at the museum hadn't been at all. It had actually happened. He had stolen. He was a thief. Worse than that, he was a thief and a robber. But why had he seen it as a dream and not a real life event? He had to have been sleep-walking, as his eyes were closed in the dream. Or at least what he thought was a dream at the time. That explained why the door to his room had been open this morning. As for why he took off his sleep-clothes and slept in the nude the rest of the night, well...he couldn't say. But if all of that was real...then everything that happened to him at home in the bathroom and here at school in the boys' room must've been real too. What he couldn't understand was why the ring appeared and disappeared like that. What was going on with him today?
...
The school bus hissed as it came to a stop in a grass-covered area, followed by letting out another hiss as the door opened, then Ethan exited the vehicle, with his backpack on.
"See ya, Ethan!" Shouted the voice of Brook on the bus.
Ethan turned back and waved with his right hand, followed by facing forward and running as the bus's door closed and the vehicle rode off with a third hiss. The 13-year old boy ran towards Prince Manor and stopped at it's double-doors when he saw a black ink/cursive written letter taped to the left door. Written by his Mom, no doubt, since she wrote in cursive while his Dad wrote in plane writing. He removed it with his right hand and looked at it.
"Dear Ethan, your father and i have gone out on a date into town. We'll be home by 9:00. Love, Mother. PS: We gave the staff the rest of the day off, so feel free to order fish or a pizza"." He said, reading the letter. "Looks like i'm ordering take-out for dinner." He said before opening the left door and entering the castle, closing the door back afterwards.
...
8:00 PM
Later that night, in his dark room, Ethan laid on his bed on his back-his arms above his head, listening to 'HEROES' by David Bowie on his gray mobile CD player with his gray/black headphones. After entering inside the castle, Ethan ran upstairs to his room and got started on his homework. Once he was finished, he went downstairs to the living-room, where Delta and the staff members were, and watched TV with them before using his cellphone to order pizza. When the delivery guy arrived with the pizza, Ethan paid for it, then returned to the living-room and shared it with the staff as he resumed watching TV with them. When they finished eating the whole pizza, he threw the now empty box it came in into the trash in the kitchen and returned to his room where he started listening to music on his CD player and headphones.
I, i will be King
And you, you will be Queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
We can be heroes, just for one day.
As the song continued playing, Ethan thought about all the weird things that had happened to him last night and today. Everything from him breaking into the museum and stealing the gold-yellow ring from the temple of the Wutara exhibit, which just kept appearing and vanishing, to the disappearing scar at the bottom on the left side of his ribs. When did rings and scars have the ability to appear and vanish as they pleased? It wasn't like they had minds of their own after all. Then he thought back to what Zoey said to him outside the museum yesterday about the ring glowing.
"I'm telling you, that ring was glowing." Zoey said as she and Ethan were walking outside the museum.
"You mean the ring in the temple?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah. Something weird's going on. I mean, that ring kind of gave me the creeps, the way it was glowing?" Zoey explained.
Ethan now knew that Zoey had been right. She had seen the ring glowing at the museum. At the time, hismind had been on the people of Wutara and the origin of their country. But now, after everything that had happened to him last night and today, he didn't doubt it. After all, the ring had appeared and glowed on his first middle finger on his right hand, then vanished. But what did it all mean? What was happening to him? Why was this happening to him? And why now? Ever since he went to the museum with his class yesterday to view the Wutara exhibit, his life hadn't felt right. It hadn't been right as of last night's trip to the museum. It hadn't been normal, it hadn't been the same. He couldn't quite explain it...but he felt like he'd formed some kind of connection to Wutara. Like it was apart of him now. Just yesterday, eight hours earlier, he wouldn't have even considered such a theory. It was so un-realistic. It made no sense.
Things like this didn't happen to people like him. He was Ethan Prince. The son of the wealthiest family in the Caribbean. He was rich, he was the most popular kid in school, the cool kid. The kind of kid that every boy in his class wanted to be and every girl in his class wanted to date and be his girlfriend. The middle school boys even wanted to be like him. He knew he wasn't suppose to know all of that...but he did.
Maybe he just needed to remind himself of who he was. Yeah, that was it. He just had to be self-reminded of his identity.
"I am Ethan Prince, age-13." Ethan thought. "Personality: I am the most popular kid in school, i am captain of the basket-ball team, the star quarterback on the football team, i'm on the swim team, all of which i like being on, i love the histories of Africa and Egypt, i love the mythical story of Wutara and i am the son of the richest family in the Caribbean. I'm not a weird kid...i'm a cool kid."
A familiar gold-yellow light on the right side above Ethan's head then started to glow, snapping him out of his thoughts. The teen sat up on his bed and looked at his right hand and saw that the ring was back on his first middle finger, glowing. "I'm a cool kid...with weird things happenings to me." He said.
A bright white light then shined in Ethan's room, getting his attention, and he saw that it was coming from the large bay window that took up the whole left side of the wall, as well as displayed the ocean and the sky. "What in the world?" He said before he got off the bed on the left side and went over to the bay window and investigate and see where the source of the light was coming from.
"Whoa." The 13-year old boy said, eyes wide as he looked out the bay window and saw that the light-show was coming from several stars in the night sky that were glowing. "Cool." He said, awe-struck by the beauty of the glowing stars in the dark sky. They then started flying around, much to Ethan's shock. "Wow." He said, shocked by what was happening before his very eyes. The flying stars then made a shape, followed by connecting, forming a large constellation in the shape of a panther. "Neat-o." Ethan said, with an open-mouth smile. What happened next, however, would be nothing to smile about. For little did he know that after tonight, his life as he knew it would be over and the world as he had been raised to believe it to be would no longer exist. The panther constellation then flew forward towards the window Ethan was standing at, phasing through it an entering him.
"(Gasps)!" Ethan gasped, his eyes wide with shock as he levitated off the floor, not sure what to think or do next, then everything white.
Ethan opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings and saw that he was in a jungle in the middle of the night, the only source of light being a camp-fire only a few feet away. But what was he doing here? Last he remembered, he was in his room. How did he get here?
A black panther with glowing gold-yellow eyes stepped out of the darkness and made it's way up over to Earth, stopping a few feet away from him. "Greetings, young one. Welcome to the jungle of Africa." The Panther said telepathically with a deep, male, soft, soothing voice.
Africa? What was Ethan doing in Africa? Last he checked, he was in the Caribbean. Wait. "I know that voice. You're the voice i heard in my head at school earlier today. You're the panther i saw in the mirror in my bathroom this morning." Ethan said telepathically.
"That is correct. I am Mishi Bizhiw-The Great Underwater Panther constellation." The Panther thought-spoke, introducing himself.
"No. Get out of my head." Ethan thought-spoke.
"You need have no fear of me. I am not you're enemy. I only wish to intrust you with a power to save your people." The Panther now known as Mishini Bizhiw thought-explained.
"I don't know you." Ethan thought-spoke.
"I'm only here to guard, protect and guide you on this journey you're about the embark upon. Do you accept this power i am offering you?" Mishi Bizhiw thought-spoke.
"...I do." Ethan thought-spoke. He knew what was happening looked and sounded crazy, but in that moment, crazy was all he had to go on.
Mishi Bizhiw then roared as he lunged at Ethan, merging with him, making them both glow a bright flash of white light that consumed everything.
"I do." Ethan said before the gold-yellow ring turned back, it's glitter now gone. Ethan's blue eyes then turned gold-yellow, followed by his shocked expression turning into a preditor-like glare. "Black Panther Ranger! Fangs Out!" He shouted. A black helmit shaped like a panther's head appeared on his head in a flash of light, covering his whole head, with it's eyes being white, a black spandex top appeared on him in a flash of black light, followed by long black gloves that stopped at his mid-forearms, with long white sharp claws, black spandex pants and a black belt then appeared on him in a flash of black light, a pair of black mid-calf-length boots appeared on his feet in a flash of black light, then he grew to adult size, followed by a black panther tail growing out of his lower back, completing his transformation.
Ethan vanished in a flash of black light.
...
Ethan appeared outside on the left side of a parking-lot in a flash of black light. "What just happened?" He asked before looking at his surroundings, realizing where he was. "I'm in the museum parking-lot. What am i doing here? The place is closed at this hour." He said. The 13-year old boy then looked down at his new black outfit he was wearing and acknowledge his adult size, followed by looking back at the tail that was growing out of his lower-back. "What in the world?" He said before touching his head with both hands, feeling the panther helmit covering his head. "This is...really...cool."
The sound of an explosion snapped Ethan back to reality, followed by an alarm going off. "What's that?" He asked before he ran around to the front of the museum where he saw it's glass double-doors blown in, lying on the floor, broken, as well as heard the alarm coming from inside the dark building-with minimum lighting. "What happened here?" He asked before rushing up to the entrance and entered inside, only to stop when he felt that the floor was wet. He looked down and saw that the floor was covered with water. "What the what?" He said. What was going on around here? Since when could explosions wet floors? He then noticed wet webbed foot-prints leading up the stairs.
Deciding to investigate the matter a little further, Ethan made his way up the stairs. As he did, the wheels started to turn in his head on what was happening. The explosion, the doors blown open? One did not have to be a detective or a police officer to know that a robbery was taking place. But why would someone blow the doors open, knowing that would trigger the alarm? Wouldn't it have made more sense to break in some other kind of way? Like through the skylight on the roof or something? Why use a bomb? He soon made it to the top of the stairs where the Wutara exhibit was.
The alarm then went off and all was now quiet in the museum.
Ethan resumed following the foot-prints, which led him onto the side of the exhibit where the Wutara temple was. The 13-year old boy stopped when he looked and saw that the foot-prints ended right in front of him. That was strange. How was it that the tracks ended here and the robber was gone? It just wasn't possible. Not unless the robber had merely vanished into thin air, which he doubted. But if the robber couldn't make himself disappear on a whim, then...where was he?
A drop of water then landed on Ethan's right shoulder...making his stomach drop. In that moment, he experienced all fearful feelings all at once. All the color drained from his already pale skin, making him paler than he already was...his blood went cold...his bones froze like ice...and a chill ran down his spine as the realization of where the robber was became clear. Ethan slowly looked up at the celing and saw a large figure in the darkness, followed by it letting out a big ROAR as it jumped down towards Ethan, only for the teen to jump out of the way before the figure landed on their feet where he once stood.
Ethan landed 20 feet away from the figure and stood up straight, facing them, followed by holding up his fists, prepared for defense. "Are you the one who broke in here?" He asked. But the figure didn't respond. "Cause if you are...i know how you're getting out!" He said. "I am Black Panther Ranger! Guardian Of Wutara!" He shouted. "And on behalf of Wutara, i will stop you!"
The figure, however, didn't respond or react.
"Well?! What are you waiting for?! Come on out and fight!" Said Ethan, now addressing himself as Black Panther Ranger.
The figure then slowly stepped out of the darkness, revealing himself to be not a person dressed in black or a black ski-mask, but a wet hammerhead shark-man-like creature with webbed hands and webbed feet.
"Whoa!" Black Panther Ranger gasped in shock, his mind not able to comprehend what he was seeing. Was this thing real...or some person in a costume? Either way, they weren't a pretty sight to behold. "Talk about ugly."
The hammerhead sharkman let out a big roar.
"You don't scare me one little bit." Black Panther Ranger said.
The sharkman creature roared as it changed forward at Black Panther Ranger, only for the Ranger to vanish in a flash of black light as the sea monster threw a punch at him with it's right fist, with the big fish stopping in it's tracks afterwards. The predator growled as it looked around both ways for the Ranger.
"Looking for me?" Said Black Panther Ranger, now standing behind the hammerhead sharkman 20 feet away.
The apex mutant growled before it turned around and shot water out of it's mouth at Black Panther Ranger, only for him to jump out of the way.
"You know, it's not polite to spit at people." Black Panther Ranger said.
The hammerhead sharkman fired more water from it's mouth at the Ranger, but he dodged that one as well.
"Missed." Black Panther Ranger said, only for more water to be fired at him, with him dodging it too. "Missed again." He said, then more water was shot at him and he narrowly dodged it. "Almost." He said, followed by another shot of water, which he dodged. "Too slow." He said before another shot of water was fired at him, dodging it like the others. "Ya gotta be quicker than that!"
The hammerhead sharkman changed at Black Panther Ranger and they both began throwing punches and kicks at one another. The Ranger then flip-kicked the creature across the face with his right foot, knocking it on the floor. The sharkman-like beast got back to it's feet and tried to resume it's fight with the Ranger, but the Ranger punched it in the stomach, followed by slamming his left fist down on the sea monster's back, knocking it to the floor once again.
The hammerhead sharkman quickly got back up and attempted to resume the fight, but Black Panther Ranger picked the sea mutant up and tossed it over his right shoulder, with it landing back on the floor afterwards as the Ranger turned around.
The monster roared before it stood up again and tried throwing a punch at the Ranger with it's right fist, but the Black Panther Ranger blocked the punch with left fist, followed by elbowing it in the stomach, making it roar in pain.
"Black Panther Scratch!" Black Panther Ranger shouted before he started scratching the sharkman creature up with his claws-causing sparks, with it roaring in pain as he did. He then pushed the monster back and did a back-flip, landing on his feet. "Black Panther Fury Swipes!" He shouted as he charged forward and delivered two swipes to the creature from his claws, creating sparks.
The hammerhead sharkman backhanded Black Panther Ranger, causing sparks, followed by punching in the stomach, then it punched him in the chest, knocking him to the floor. He quickly got to his feet. "That all you got?" The Ranger asked.
The hammerhead sharkman growled as it glared at the Ranger, who appeared to be glaring back. They both then charged at each other and they both started exchanging punches. Hammerhead sharkman threw another punch, but the Ranger dodged it by ducking and rolling, followed by standing up and turning to face the monster. The sharkman quickly turned to face him and they began breathing heavily, both out of breath and exhausted from all the fighting they'd done.
"Is that...all you got...SHARKFACE?!" Black Panther Ranger panted.
Hammerhead sharkman growled in anger at the name-calling from Black Panther Ranger. The sound of police sirens approaching could be heard from outside. The sharkman creature gave one more growl and glared at the Ranger before disappearing in a flash of a whirl-pool.
"Man!" Black Panther Ranger said in frustration. He almost had that...that...that...whatever it was. One thing was for certain though: That was no person in a costume. It was real. That thing was real. A real sea monster. He didn't wanna believe it...but it was. Hearing the police's arrival, Black Panther Ranger decided that was his exit cue. He may have had a lot of things he wanted to do in the year 2000, but getting arrested certainly wasn't one of them. The Ranger turned into a black light as he zoomed up to the ceiling, phasing through it like a ghost.
January 6th
The next day at Mermaid's Cove High, in the cafeteria during lunch, Ethan-his original teen size and his eyes blue once again, sat at the left side of a long table all by himself, his blue trey resting on the table in front of him-with his lunch and red barrel juice on it, not even caring that he wasn't sitting at the cool kids table with Brook, Lindsey, Jenny, Tina and Abby, who referred to themselves as "The Popular 5". "Pop-5" for short. He knew he was damaging his reputation by not sitting at the cool kids table, but he no longer cared. Who cared about being popular and cool after experiencing what he had last night?
After leaving the museum as the Black Ranger before the cops showed up, Ethan returned home back into his room. Surprisingly, no one knew he had been gone from the castle and he hadn't bothered to ask why. His parents soon arrived back home from their date and he bid them good night and went to bed. But he wasn't sleepy or tired. Who would be after what he'd seen? It was hard to get any Zs after that ordeal at the museum and he had gotten very little shut-eye, but...somehow he had managed to fall asleep.
When morning came, he had dismissed it all as a bad dream, convincing himself that it had all been just a nightmare, which was what he had been telling himself in his head all day and was currantly doing right now. But if it was all just a dream, why was he trying to convince himself that it was? Because deep down, he knew it wasn't.
Ethan then looked around, gazing at all of the other kids in the cafeteria, sitting at the long tables, eating their lunch, chatting and laughing like it was just another normal day at school, Zoey and Sabrina being among them-sitting at the same table beside each other, with Zoey's hair in it's short double ponytail style and her seashell brooch clipped to the neckline of her shirt. And they had every reason to feel that way, 'cause as far as they were concerned, it was just another normal of high school...for them. Not for Ethan. As of last night's events, normal life was gone.
"Dude, can you believe this?" Asked 12-year old Travis Long as he sat down at the right side of the table in front of Ethan, snapping the Prince boy out of his thoughts. He had spiky black hair, brown eyes and tan skin.
"Believe what?" Ethan asked.
"You haven't heard?" Travis asked.
"Two people dressed in costumes broke into the museum last night." Travis answered.
"What? No way." Ethan said, trying to sound surprised.
"Yeah way. According to the security camera footage on the News this morning, it was two people that broke into the place." Travis said.
"Do the cops know who did it?" Ethan asked.
"They're completely clueless. I mean, one of the robbers was dressed like a shark monster and the other was dressed like a black panther. They're interigating the entire town, of course, but-"
"They think the people who broke into the museum live here in town?" Ethan asked, cutting Travis off.
"They don't know. I mean, the News was saying this is the strongest crime they've seen in years, they even think it might be..." Travis stopped himself.
"Worse than what? Go on, tell me." Ethan said.
"Well...two days ago, on the night of January 3rd...two criminals broke into the mall and tried to rob the jewelry store. One was dressed as a shark and the other was dressed in a pink costume with a pink helmit on that covered her whole head. Like the thieves at the museum, the cops didn't catch this crime duo either. All four of them are still at large. They think both incidents might be related." Travis said before he got up. "Nice ring, by the way." He said before he left, going back to wherever his seat was.
Ethan looked at his right hand, noticing the familiar black ring on his first middle finger. The ring that had once been glitter gold-yellow. The ring that had once been an artifact at the museum in the Wutara temple. The ring that had been reported stolen stolen by police. That and that alone was enough to convince him that ladt night's events were real and not some bad dream, like he'd been telling himself all day. It was real. It was all real. The hammerhead shark monster was real. It wasn't a dream or a person in a costume. It was REAL.
The 13-year old boy just sat there, stunned as his mind shifted from last night's ordeal to the ordeal that happened two days ago on the night of January 3rd. Someone broke into the mall and tried to rob the jewelry store two days ago? Why was he just now hearing about this? Sure, he didn't watch the News, but he would've at least heard about it from someone. Like his parents or one of the staff-members. But none of them ever said anything. Either they didn't know what had happened or they did and just didn't mention it.
His mind then went to the robber in pink. From the way Travis had described her, she didn't sound like a theif at all. In fact, she sounded more like the way he was last night when he was the Black Panther Ranger. But if that were the case, that meant there was another one like him out there who had experienced the same thing he had. He had to find her. Maybe they could work together, figure out what had happened to them and what was happening in Mermaid's Cove regarding those two shark creatures.
As he sat at the table, tuned out from the rest of the world...he couldn't help but think that this was only the beginning. The beginning of what, he didn't know. But whatever he and this mystery person in pink had gotten themselves caught up in...was just getting started.
I'm Black Panther Ranger. I guess it doesn't matter who i was before now. And there's another. Another one out there, just like me, who's experienced what i've experienced. I have to find her...and i have to talk to her. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this mystery together. Just the two of us against two ugly skark creatures...and who knows what else.
Saban(c) 2000
This has been 'BLACK PANTHER RANGER'. Hope you liked it. See you in the next spin-off on the KAMEN RIDER fanfic site.
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Next: Kamen Rider-Secrets Of The Caribbean Sea.