"Oh, this is exiting," Trechera said to herself. She rubbed her hands together exitedly, like some sort of giant fly. "After ten-thousand years, the Dragon Crystals will finally belong to someone worthy of their power."

The alien helmsman of her starship nodded and spoke enthusiastically: "Yes, it is glorious, Your Majesty! With this new device, we should be able to pinpoint the crystals' location within a ten-mile area!"

The Empress suddenly frowned. "Ten-mile area?"

"Yes!" nodded the helmsmen, "closer than ever before!"

She stood up from her throne and stalked down to where the helmsman sat, pressing buttons on a computer display. "You promised me that you could detect the crystals' exact location." A deadly intensity seemed to burn in her eyes, and anger positively seethed from her.

The helmsman cowered in his seat. "Well, what I meant, you see-- Before, we didn't even know what continent they were on! If any! So, this is a huge--"

Suddenly, his console beeped. "What was that?" the empress demanded.

"The sensor has found the, uh, approximate location of the crystals, Your Majesty." The helmsman pointed at his screen. "There, around those mountains."

Trechera grinned. "Glorious!"

"Shall we send in the troops?" he asked meekly.

"No, no," replied Trechera. "What for, to have them scour the mountains for weeks? Besides, whatever place that old nuisance Zordon hid them in is probably well-guarded. I'll send a monster and some ghouls to the nearest city. We will hold it for ransom!"

"Brilliant plan, Mistress," agreed the helmsman with haste.

----

Deep underground, a siren blared.

Yolzor stood up from his workbench with a start. "Oh, I knew this was coming," he muttered to himself.

The ancient wizard picked up his cane and shuffled through the damp corridors of his lair. When he finally came out to the surface, he let out a yell in the cool mountain air. "OWLMER!"

In a second, a bird dove down from the cloudy sky above and landed in front of Yolzor. "I'm here!" hooted the owl, "What are you doing waking me up at this hour? It's broad daylight!"

Yolzor kneeled down closer to Owlmer's level. "My friend, the forces of darkness descend upon us." He withdrew a scroll on this robe. "I have here the names of some residents of Saint's Hill. Seek them out. Tell them that they must become the new Power Rangers, or our world is doomed."

Owlmer's eyes grew wide. "Oh, wow, all right. You shoulda' said so! Yah, that's definately worth getting me up for." Yolzor laid out the scroll before Owlmer, who read it over. "I'm on it!" the bird said, and took off into the distance.

"Hit me, Hit me!" Deacon commanded, waving his fingers in the direction he wanted the ball to the QB. A perfectly spiraled throw leaped from the senior classmate's hands, whizzing towards the freshman with intense speed. Well practiced hands extended, sucking in the ball and pinning it to his chest as the first defender arrived. A nimble sidestep sent the would-be tackler sprawling, allowing Deacon's quick feet to carry him up the field. Wide open space awaited him. 10, 20, 30 yards eaten up. Practiced vision spotted the safety closing in, Deacon lowered his shoulder, plowing into and over the man for another chunk of yardage. The pair crunched into the turf, Deacon's full weight driving the man into the ground though he was supposedly the one being tackled.

In seconds the freshman was back on his feet, hopping up and down happily, a wide grin across his face. "Yeah, baby!" He exclaimed, helping the still prone man to his feet and giving his helmet a hearty slap of encouragement "That's what its like when you try to tackle a train!"

"Oh don't worry. I'll get you next time" The safety replied, laughing along with Deacon as he pointed a menacing finger in the exuberant freshman's direction.

It was only practice, such verbal jabs were common place, and didn't hold the seriousness that they would come game time. Everyone in Saint's Hill had heard of Deacon Thomas, and if they hadn't, then they had certainly heard of his on the field alias "D-Train." Football was a serious business for the small city, just about everyone turned out for the games, be it high school or college and it was easy to feel like a celebrity if you made you mark as Deacon had.

"Hustle up!" The coach barked, blowing his whistle.

"See you next play, gorgeous." Deacon gave the safety a wink before jogging back in formation.

~~~~~~~~~

It was only late afternoon by the time practice was let out but Deacon wanted nothing more but to sleep. He had been forced to get up early to take a math test (his least favorite subject) and a Bio Lab the following morning promised little sleep would be in store for him tonight. And before he could even THINK about that he had to haul a bag full of equipment back home across town on his bike. Even if someone had offered Deacon a car it was unlikely he'd take the offer. He was still haunted by the death of his brother, he hated being a passenger, let alone driving himself. As he neared the bike rack he lugged the bag over one shoulder before crouching and popping the lock which held his transportation in place.

The hoot of a bird caused his eyes to swivel upwards. Was that an owl? Seemed awfully early. Dismissing it as the product of a tired mind, Deacon hopped on the bike and began to peddle home. Another hoot. What on earth? He stopped again, halfway through crossing the small footbridge near the campus practice field.

"Hello?" He felt ridiculous, talking to a phantom bird, yet there he was doing just that. Deacon's head scanned the nearest trees for an answer, though there was none to be found... yet.

(Edited Double Post)

"Hoo, hoo, hoo," chuckled Owlmer as he descended from behind the man and landed on the right hand-rail of the bridge. He cocked his head, staring at Deacon with his big, golden eyes.. This guy is supposed to be a Power Ranger? he though to himself silently, He looks like someone dropped a mop on his head.

"Wuzzup?" Owlmer greeted him loudly. "Name's Owlmer. Are you Deacon Thomas?"

The well built running back launched off his bike, simultaneously whirling to face the unexpected voice with a grace that was at odds with his size. He wasn't a trained fighter by any means, but where he was from you had better learn to fight or you wouldn't last very long. A defiant hazel stare hung just behind the two clenched fists, ready to defend or counter at a moment notice. Spotting the owl sitting on hand rail, an embarrassed smirk crossed his face. Deacon dropped his fists, chuckling at his own foolish jumpiness.

"That explains the hooting, but who the heck said my name?" Deacon wondered aloud. The owl's all-seeing golden orbs transfixed the young man, the glimmer in its eyes revealed intelligence beyond a normal bird of prey. "I must be going crazy...." He shook his head, as if that would make the strange visitor disappear. Having no luck he cocked his head, narrowing his eyes at Owlmer. "You... talk?"

Rick had just gotten back from the schools tool shed with a strip of pure iron, it weighed 1-2Lbs. When he spotted a owl talking to another guy. "Sneaky....... sneaky....... sneaky......" He said quietly and sneaked up on the owl. "This owl might pay for my mom to get out of that crappy apartment complex." He whisper and pushed threw the feathers on its back and saw that he had a logo on the outside of his neck, PR. "Uh oh. Um Mr.Owl dude you wouldn't happen to work or be in an alliance with the Power Rangers right?" He said astonished.

Owlmer closed his eyes and put a wing over his face. "That's always the first thing they say," he muttered, "'You can talk?' 'Owls can't talk!' 'How did you learn to talk!' on and on and on--"

He looked up at the human. "Yes, I can talk. It's a long, uncomfortable story, and it's not what I'm here for.

This city is going to get attack--SCRAAAWWWW!"

Owlmer flapped his wings hastily when the stranger touched him. He flew to the other side of the bridge and started screeching at the newcomer.

"Well then! I will take that as a yes!" Rick yelled and started walking away from the talking owl. "I wonder who at this school is going to be a new power ranger." He said and banged his metal stick on the ground and waited for something to happen.

Owlmer shook his head. "Odin's beard, what's his problem?" he uttered quietly.

"Uh, anyway, yes, I am the great and powerful Owlmer! Oooh!" He waved his wings at the football player for dramatic effect. "I have come to deliver a warning and," another dramatic pause, "an invitation.

I come on a half, er on behalf of the wizard Yolzor. Evil forces are soon to ascend on this city, and we need you to join a new team of Power Rangers!"

Deacon's jaw fell open as the owl complained about the apparently blatantly obvious question he asked. "My bad, homie. I don't meet many talking animals in this town." The cocky young man replied.

The owl looked to the indignant Deacon with a sigh "Yes, I can talk. It's a long, uncomfortable story, and it's not what I'm here for.... This city is going to get attack--SCRAAAWWWW!" Suddenly a strange man pounced from no where, snatching the owl up in his greedy paws before asking if it had anything to do with Power Rangers. In another flash the man had dropped the owl, walking away as if he was uninterested in the whole scenario, thwacking a metal rod against the ground in various places like some kind of maniac.

"What the...?" Deacon scratched his head, brow crinkling in confusion "I must be dreaming. Crazy dudes keep popping out of the bushes." He mumbled to himself.

The owl shook his head, ruffling his feathers in an annoyed manner. "What's his problem?"

"His problem? I'm the one talking to a bird." Deacon countered.

"Uh, anyway, yes, I am the great and powerful Owlmer! Oooh!" The owl lifted his wings sashaying to and fro like a magician "I have come to deliver a warning and," another dramatic pause, "an invitation: I come on a half, er on behalf of the wizard Yolzor. Evil forces are soon to ascend on this city, and we need you to join a new team of Power Rangers!"

The football player gave the owl a skeptical look, "Me? Are you serious?" After a moment of silence the wide infectious grin took over his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes and revealing a set of perfectly groomed teeth. (Years of braces had paid off) "Where do I sign?" Deacon laughed boisterously at his own joke, before pausing to think his face becoming more serious "I don't have to miss practice do I? Coach would destroy me."

Lottie was late out again, having sat on the grass and turned on her laptop. She jogged to the bike racks, where her scooter was waiting. She tapped in her password to the bikechain she fastened it with "mysticie". Mysticie was her name on MMOs, so she wasn't going to forget that in a hurry. She had stayed back because she had gone on one of her MMOs to grind in preparation for a big quest. Lottie hopped off of her scooter, at the base of the stairs onto the footbridge, and picked up her scooter. Her scooter was a simple, metal affair, if you didn't count all the stickers on every square inch. Anyway, she reached the tops of the stairs fairly quickly, but halted before she could be of much significance to the people's conversations. She vaguely recognised the guy with the bicycle as a member of the football team, but didn't know anything beyond that. What interested her was the owl perched on the bridge railing, surely owls did not come out this early...

"You might miss practice once or twice," conceded Owlmer, although he did not actually know what Deacon was talking about. "But it's for a good cause!"

The bird shrugged dismissively. "'Course, if you don't wanna' do it, we could find someone else."

Just then, what sounded like a loud jet-plane boombed overhead. It was no Earthly aircraft, though, as anyone who looked could plainly see. It was a massive saucer.

----

Aboard the saucer, Trechera was shouting orders. "Stop us over their capitol building!"

The helmsman pointed out fearfully that he did not know which one that was. Trechera glared at him and said, "It will be the most opulent-looking one, of course. Idiot."

The helmsman nodded, "Of course, Your Majesty." He tapped some buttons, and the starship came to a halt over what he assumed to be the capitol building.

It was not the capitol building. City Hall was actually a demure, one-story structure downtown; the monolithic brick building the saucer came to a halt over was actually the Math & Sciences Building at the local college.

A hatch opened up in the belly of the saucer, and dozens of creatures leaped out of it, seeming to be unphased by their fall to the ground. They were pale, vaguely humanoid creatures, with no mouths and bright red eyes. They ran about on all fours like gorrillas. The students and faculty who had been enjoying an afternoon on the lawn in front of the building panicked, screaming and running either as far away as they could or inside to what they hoped was safety.

----

From where they stood Owlmer, Deacon, Lottie, and Rick could not see what sort of chaos the attack was causing, but they clearly saw the saucer hovering over the college and the invaders dropping down from it.

"Aw, nuts, I'm too late!" Owlmer moaned as he lifted himself into the air. "Listen, go to Ministries Church, you know where that is, right?"

Most people in Saint's Hill knew where that was. The old, gothic building stood on the edge of town, abandoned for years. It was one of those places that everybody knew about, but no-one went to. "Get there, and shout 'Power Ranger!' Everything will be clear then."

With that, Owlmer flew off.

"Of course the football star gets to be a power ranger, what about the metal shop kids?" Rick muttered and carried the metal rod to the Church and climbed up to the very top and saw a lot of creepy looking monsters look up at him with there weapons in hand.

Lottie just managed to remain quiet and out of the way when the owl started talking, instead of saying "when did I step into a game". She also managed to remain insignificant when the saucer appeared, even though she screamed slightly. She listened intently to the owl, figuring that she could be of assistance too, ranger or no, and was turning and making her way back down the stairs briskly. At the bottom, she got back on her scooter and set back off to the church.

Arriving on the church's grounds, Lottie promptly found a bush with a hollow in it that she stuffed her scooter into for safekeeping. She hunkered down behind a broken wall, ready to watch this unfold, and find out what she could.

As if taking cue from the owl's warning a massive saucer hovered into view above Deacon's least favorite building at the college, Math & Sciences. For a moment the dumbstruck student simply stared up at the massive flying object silently wishing in the back of his mind the aliens would blow it up and cancel Math class for the foreseeable future. I'd save him from that Bio-Lab the following morning if nothing else.

Strange, clay colored apes began to pour from the vessel, hooting and spreading across the campus like a sea of angry ants. A chorus of screams rose from across the campus as Deacon watched in horror, the aliens tackling his peers and dragging them towards the ship.

It took the running back several moments to process Owlmer's command to head towards the church. It was simply too much to accept for his brain. A talking owl, a ufo, the strange man with the metal stick and least likely of all Deacon himself being a power ranger. The sound of a scooter puttering to life drew his attention, a girl looking to be about his age flying off in the direction of the church.

Following the girl's lead, Deacon hopped on his bike, peddling towards the decrepit structure as quickly as his sinewy legs would propel him. Upon arrival there was no one to be seen. It seemed the girl, whoever she was, hadn't come to the church. Throwing the double doors open, Deacon confidently jogged inside, though his face read of confusion and worry. Whatever those things were back at campus they weren't here to make friends. If he really was going to be a ranger, this seemed the opportune moment.

"Hey I'm here!" the man called out, his own voice echoing back to him in the abandon church. No answer. "Damn..." His mind was racing so fast he could not for the life of him remember what the owl told him to say. "Think D-Train think." He commanded himself, knocking a fist against his forehead as if it might help. For a moment he wondered again if it was nothing more than a strange dream from which he could not wake. Irritated, Deacon yelled out "If anyone can hear me, a talking owl told me to come here. Saint's Hill is under attack by these weird... alien monkeythings and we need the Power Rangers!"

Jonah had left campus a while back, he had gone to check it out to see if it was the college that he wanted to attend to. It some something closer to home, other than that he really didn't know. Maybe take some time to figure it out, a year of no school would be no harm, after all he had just graduated. He had parked his car by the Saint Hill's downtown park. The sound of some birds were heard in the distance. Out of nowhere an owl appeared.

"You must be Jonah Rivers" said the owl as it laid its hazel eyes upon him.

"Holy mother, a talking owl" he said in surprise as he stood up from the bench he was seating at.

"Listen I'm out of time, but the world is in danger. Its in grave danger and you have been chosen. Go to the Ministries Church and shout Power Rangers! Everything will be clear" it said as it directed its view to the sky. Jonah turned as well and saw a UFO in the sky. It had settled on top of what looked like the Math and Science Building from the college. Gray dead looking monkey like things were coming out rapidly spreading like wild fire. When he turned back the owl was gone.

He ran quickly to his car and speed up to the church. When he arrived he saw a bike outside, the doors were already opened.

"Someones here already" he said as he walked inside. He saw a man wearing a college jersey, the same college from where he had come from. He looked like he was trying to remember something hitting his head.

"If anyone can hear me, a talking owl told me to come here. Saint's Hill is under attack by these weird... alien monkeythings and we need the Power Rangers!"he screamed.

"POWER RANGERS!!" screamed Jonah. He waited as his voice echoed around the church.

"Aww man I want to see this awesome fight go down, and maybe I could say that thing, oh what was it?" He thought and started to climb down and walked over to the church that the owl told that jock about and walked in just in time for someone to yell, Power Rangers Oh darn another Power Ranger rookie. Rick thought and thought about those words. "Power Ranger." He said softly and cracked his neck making a very loud popping noise.

From out of nowhere, bright, warm lights fell over Deacon, Jonah, and Rick. Thunderous, chaotic noise filled their ears, and the ground fell away beneath their feet.

When the light before their eyes faded, they were standing next to each other in an entirely different place. The air was cold and damp. They were in a cavern with a high ceiling. All along the walls were lights attached to wires running through the chamber. An elaborate and colorful rug was laid out across the wide floor, which seemed unnaturally flat. In front of them, slightly concealed in the shadow cast by a tall stalagmite, a cloaked figure was hunched over a desk.

The figure stood up slowly, turned around, and stepped into the light. It was a man with harsh features, perhaps Native American, who looked to be about eighty years old. He wore a blue cowl and leaned on a gnarled wooden cane.

"Identify yourselves," he said harshly.

"Huh? I am Rick Otilo, where are we?" He asked and looked around to see a bunch of power ranger suits. "Let me guess your the new Zordan, and before you ask me how I know that, my dad was the silver ranger." Rick said and remembered how his dad was destroyed by a bunch of those little drones that didn't have the decency to wake him up to fight them before he was destroyed.

A couple of seconds after a guy had came lights came out of nowhere covering himself and the two other guys. If he could say it was as if thunder was right next to him shaking the place. When the flash was over they were in a way different place. It was as if the church was not what it seemed to be, an illusion. The cave seemed to give off an aura that couldn't be put into words and before he could sight see a tall figure came walking out from the shadows.


"Identify yourselves," he said harshly.


"I'm Jonah Rivers" he said to the man that looked like he could barely walk. Before he could say something else the guy named Rick started talking. He asked the question that was in Jonah's mind.

Where are we? he said. Before he knew it he started talking all this nonsense.

"The man never asked you, he just wants to know whats your name" he said looking annoyed. It looked like Rick was the kind of guy that like to tell stories about his life.

Lottie saw the light flash through a window she had been trying to look through but it was to dirty to see through. She sprinted around her wall, darting in to look at what had happened, and was surprised to find nothing. Not even piles of ash or anything. She walked further in, looking around, between pews, at the rafters, even behind the old altar. She couldn't find anything to suggest a trap door or something, and ended up sitting heavily in one of the pews after a long search.
"What am I even looking for?" She asked the dusty air. The guys who had went in the church had said "power rangers", then vanished. She figured she wasn't a power ranger, she didn't have an attitude nor was she any good at fighting, so she supposed whatever they did wouldn't work for her. Maybe it was something like a rangers-only conference.

An enveloping warmth bathed Deacon in a soft pink light. It was like being plunged into a frigid river, the breath was sucked from his lips, still it was an oddly comforting feeling one that ended sooner than perhaps Deacon would have liked. When his eyes opened he found himself, along with the other two, in some dank hole. It was like some massive underground cathedral, patiently awaiting the chosen few to pray at its altar.

Of the three, Deacon was closest to the gnarled wizard who approached from the darkness. "Identify yourselves." The words stank of disdain. Deacon turned disbelieving as the crazed man with the metal stick claimed he was the son of a power ranger. Impossible. Deacon decided. No true ranger would raise such an imbecile. As luck would have it, the other man, apparently named Jonah Rivers, quelled Metal Man's outburst with some contemptuous words of his own, causing a slight smirk to spread across Deacon's features. It was obvious already to the young footballer that Jonah and himself would get along famously. The same could not be said for Rick.

Turning his attention back to the strange shaman looking man he gave him a mock salute, tapping the back of his Nike's together and clicking his tongue. "Deacon D-Train Thomas, reporting for duty." He exclaimed, a tinge of sing-song in his tone.

"Good. Rick, Jonah, and," the wizard smiled a little, "'D-Train,' my name is Yolzor."

His grim default expression returned. "As you are no doubt aware, your city is under attack. The enemy your people face comes from far beyond this world, and wields weaponry unlike any this world knows of."

He turned back around and walked back to his desk. He picked something up, then faced them again. "There is only one power on Earth that can hope to stand up to it."

He held out his hands. In them he held what looked like three bulky belt-buckles. A softly shining stone was inset to the middle of each: one white, one black, and one pink.

"That of the Power Rangers. These are the dragon morphers. With them, you will be able to access the power of the Dragon Crystals set within them and morph into superpowered forms to combat this enemy."

Jonah was kind of amazed at what the man was saying. So other lifeforms DO exist he said to himself. It was kind of strange and hard to take in at once. To be a Power Ranger, one of the legendary heroes that people always thought to me a myth actually existed, and he was chosen to be one. That meant that they were going to have a big secret to hide. It was a good thing that he wasn't in high school any longer. That would mean a lot of skips and running out of class.

When Yolzor walked back he had in his hand what looked like to be three bulky belt buckles in his hand. For some odd reason they were all glowing and emitting a warm light. Though he liked the pink one the best the black one was the one that was calling to him. He walked up to him and grabbed it. So this is my morpher, kinda bigger than what I had in mind

"Yo, umm Yolzor, not to be rude or anything but lets just say that bulky belt-buckles are out of style, or better yet they never were." he said looking at D-train and giving him smirk.

"I was just wondering if there was a way that you could turn these into like a phone, watch or something like that. I'm sure its happened before" he said as he looked at his morpher again. When he payed close attention the black gem seemed to show what looked like a sleeping dragon inside of it.

Yolzor cocked his eyebrows in offense. "Of course, Master Rivers. How silly of me. Obviously this ancient magical artifact of unspeakable arcane power is not good enough for one such as you."

He rolled his eyes. "We can discuss that later. For now, know this: the Black Dragon Crystal, whatever form it takes, has chosen you to wield its power. You shall become the Black Dragon Ranger and shall command the Night Dragonzord."

The wizard then hobbled over to Rick. "Rick Otilo, you have been chosen to wield the power of the White Dragon Crystal. You shall become the White Dragon Ranger and command the Lightning Dragonzord."

He handed Rick the second morpher.