Transdimensional Archives

 

See my first fanfic – 'Welcome to the Saga' – for disclaimer.

The New Team
Chapter 2: Welcome to the Club
By Peter J. Smith

I tried to comprehend it all, but it was difficult. The head, uh, I mean, Zordon, briefly explained the story to us, about the monster that we faced at the school draining the existing rangers' power. The existing rangers were in fact nowhere in sight, but I figured that they were off somewhere trying to regain their old powers. As Zordon was talking, we were introduced to his helper – a little, constantly 'ay-yi-yi-ing' robot by the name of Alpha Five. It was a little odd, speaking to and interacting with a walking, talking robot, but that was certainly not the strangest thing I'd had to come to terms with.

Finally, Zordon finished talking, and he looked down at us. There were a few brief moments of silence, as we all tried to comprehend everything he'd said to us. It was tough, let me tell you. Finally, I decided to speak.

"Zordon?" I started, quietly and nervously. "Please tell us, why us?"

"I knew you five could do it. You possess the skills and abilities needed. Peter, you are a strong, natural-born leader. Scott and Teresa, you both contain pure virtues and great strength. Sarah, you possess love and kindness, and a determination to do good. And Aaron, you are strong and brave, yet gentle and kind," he replied.

There was another moment of silence. "Wow," said Scott. "This is…wow."

I glanced around to the others, my mind just barely coming to terms with everything that had happened. This was a decision that would change my life, and I knew it. Forever after, I would always think back to this moment and this choice. Perhaps, if I had known then the direction that my life would eventually take, I would have taken longer in making the choice. And I might have even said no. But now, I knew what I had to do.

"Guys," I said quietly. "We've been chosen by a really nice man in a tube to help the Power Rangers of all people, and fight against evil. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but…" and here I glanced away from my friends, up to Zordon and looked him straight in the eye. "Count me in."

Sarah stepped forward, glancing admirably at me, before looking up to Zordon. "What can I say? I sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm in."

Teresa and Scott looked at each other, and simultaneously stepped forward. "We'll do it," they smiled.

Aaron looked around, smiled and stepped forward. "Peer pressure – I gotta enlist. This is my chance to be someone. I'm your man."

Zordon smiled. "I'm glad you accepted, as there is not much time. Alpha, please go get the morphers and call the others in. Rangers," he said, turning to us (I must admit my nerves tingled a bit when he said it), "there are three cardinal rules that you must follow and obey if you are to be effective Power Rangers. First, you must never escalate a battle unless you absolutely must. Secondly, you must never use your powers for personal gain. And thirdly, you must never reveal your identity to anyone. Do you accept these rules?"

We all nodded, silently accepting the responsibility. Then, the little robot walked back into room, leading a procession of six teenagers. They were all older than us by about four years. There were two girls and four guys, and although they weren't dressed in their ranger outfits, they were dressed in six different colours, making it easy to determine who was who.

"Junior team, meet the senior team of Power Rangers. Your team members are Tommy Oliver…"

The guy dressed all in green looked at us and nodded. "Hey," he said. He was tall, with long wavy brown hair, and there was a kind of smug arrogance about him. He also looked like the type of person who didn't smile much.

"Zack Taylor…" Zordon continued. The guy dressed all in black smiled and gave us a thumbs up. He was medium height, with short closely cropped black hair and brown eyes.

"Trini Kwan…"

The girl in yellow smiled and said, "Hello." She was tall, thin and very beautiful, with long, silken black hair.

"Billy Cranston…" The boy dressed all in blue nodded and smiled amiably. He was tall with short blond hair, and he had that air of great intelligence around him.

"Kimberly Hart…"

The girl dressed in pink grinned. "Hi," she said. She was medium height and very pretty, with shoulder-length brown hair.

"And finally, the leader of the Power Rangers, Jason Lee." The boy with short, dark brown hair who was dressed all in red glanced up, and he looked directly at me. He was tall, good-looking, and athletic with intense brown eyes. The ranger called Jason had an air of strength and power about him. There was something about him that I couldn't quite figure out, something powerful and intimidating and yet kind. Needless to say, my sixth sense went straight into hyperdrive. He smiled warmly, and turned away.

"Jason!" I exclaimed, my memory finally catching up with my eyes. "You're my old karate teacher."

"That's how we knew who to look for," answered Zordon.

"I have the morphers right here, Zordon," said Alpha.

Zordon nodded. "Good." Then, he turned to us, and looked at me specifically. "Peter, you will own the Stegosaurus Power Coin, and from now on, you will be known as the Orange Ranger, leader of the junior team of Power Rangers." A little hologram of a sword appeared in mid-air before me. "This is your weapon, the power sword. It is a mighty weapon and will serve you well." With that, Alpha gave me a 'morpher'. It was a circular device with my Power Coin in the centre and two small handles on the back – on the golden coin was inscribed a tiny picture of a Stegosaurus. Wow.

After me, Scott received the Brontosaurus Power Coin – his colour was light blue, and his weapon was the Power Staff. Teresa was given the Velociraptor Power Coin – her colour was white, and the weapon that appeared to her was the Power Whip. Zordon gave Sarah the Rhamphorynchus Power Coin (which we were all confused about until Billy, the ultra-smart one, told us that it was like a pterodactyl with a long tail). Her colour was purple, and her weapon was the Power Mace. Finally, Aaron became the Aqua Ranger, his power coin being modelled after the Parasaurolophus and his weapon being a pair of laser weapons.

Finally, we were shown how to use our morphers and given thin metal wrist bands that resembled watches.

"They are communicators, to help you teleport to and from the Command Centre and to help you keep in touch with myself and your fellow rangers," instructed Zordon. "Your morphers will be kept here. To use them, reach around to your back pockets – the morpher will instantly be with you. To become a Power Ranger, open your morpher and say aloud your dinosaur's name."

"Whoa," mumbled Teresa. "This is simply unreal."

"Don't worry," said Kim. "It was a bit of a shock to us, too."

Zack smiled. "You'll get used to it."

"They're going to have to," said Alpha urgently, an alarm flashing on the control panel. "Monitar just reappeared at the school."

"Rangers, the time is now. You must morph and battle the monster. We will remain in contact with you at all times," Zordon told us.

Sarah looked up at Zordon worriedly. "But what if the monster does the same thing to us? What if we lose our powers?"

Billy stepped forward. "There is a diamond on the Monitar's chest," he explained. "This is what he uses to drain power. Stay away from it and it's beams at all costs, and if you can, try to destroy it."

"We'll give it our best shot," I said, turning to face the others. "C'mon guys, this is it." And we held out our morphers in front of us. I'm not sure why, but I turned back to Jason, the leader of the senior team, for guidance. But he was smiling and looking at me.

"You're on your own, kid," he smiled. "Be careful, and good luck."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Aaron good-naturedly.

I nodded. "It's morphing time!" I cried out.

"Parasaurolophus!" cried Aaron, and an aqua blast of light flashed from his morpher.

"Rhamphorynchus!" said Sarah, and she was blasted with a surge of purple-coloured light.

"Brontosaurus!" shouted Scott, as pale blue light enveloped him.

"Velociraptor!" said Teresa, and pure white light surged forth from her morpher.

"Stegosaurus!" I cried out, and instantly, a blast of orange light blotted out my vision, and an orange suit formed on me. I was now, officially, a Power Ranger.

nd to}"