FreakinMachine
10-19-2003, 02:49 AM
Ok, so the title is pretty bad, I'm not sure what to name this yet. Check out what I have so far and tell me what you think, thanks!
Edit: And please excuse the lack of indents, when I pasted it, it got rid of them all, so it looks cluttered to me anyways...
PRELOGUE
The barrier between fantasy and the real world is to many something that can never be crossed. Ideas that come from the imaginations of writers and story-tellers are pure fiction, and nothing more. However there are people in this world that like to think past the lines of the fantasy world and reality, those that like to “think outside the box.” Long ago stories were written about the human race exploring outer space and traveling to the moon, and seeing as how such a thing was considered to be absolutely ludicrous at the time, it was classified as “Fantasy.”
Jules Verne was thought of as a terrific fictional author in his time. Long after he passed away, space exploration became possible, and was no longer part of the fantasy world. This would lead one to wonder if the line between the two “worlds” is nothing more than the evolution of human technology and time. Some may call it crazy, but there have been countless “fictional” stories written in the past that have become cold-hard facts over the course of time.
It’s impossible to know what tomorrow will bring, and what fantasies over the course of time will find their way into the real world. Ideas and stories that seem ridiculous and impossible could emerge over the course of a few hundred years as very normal and routine to every day life. Or… fantasy could become impatient and cross over much sooner than expected…
CHAPTER 1
Sweating and laying on his back, Simon could see the blades of the ceiling fan some twenty feet above him, as well as the florescent lights surrounding it. Sighting Victor out of the corner of his eye, he knew he had to move, and it had to be timed just right. The other wrestlers looked on, some sitting on chairs and others walking around as Victor perched himself on the tope rope. Aiming for the shoulder blade of Simon, Victor dove off the top for a move called the Swandive Headbutt, a move in which he would belly-flop to the mat below, connecting his head with the shoulder of his opponent below. How ever this time it was not meant to be, as Simon rolled out of the way as soon as Victor had clearly dedicated himself to the move, allowing him to crash to the ring canvas below.
Clutching his stomach in one hand and his face with the other, the twenty-one year old Victor Adams slowly rose up to his feet. Simon Starr, just passing twenty years of age, was now standing straight and vertical, and full of rage. He pulled Adams up by his hair, standing him face to face with himself. Hoisting Victor stomach first across his shoulders in what fire-fighters like to call the “fireman’s carry,” Simon began spinning around in circles and while doing so, pushed Victor’s legs off his right shoulder. While Adams crashed head-first to the mat, Simon cradled Victor’s neck and sat down, completing the move known as the Death Valley Driver (DVD.) Laying back over Victor’s prone body and exhausted, Simon listened to the acting referee in the match slap the mat three times, concluding the bout.
Sparse clapping could be heard by a few of the wrestlers who were still paying attention, as both spent and tired wrestlers rose to their feet. The referee, David Larson, was the owner of the Extreme Wrestling Alliance (EWA,) and owner/head trainer of the “X-Treme School of Hard Knox.” The 6 footer was skinny as a rail, and being one of the top stars in the company, he lived up to the hype he made for himself with plenty of charisma and dangerous high-flying maneuvers. He walked over to the two who were now conversing about how they thought the fifteen minute practice match they had just endured went, seemingly unaware that their boss and promoter was standing right in front of them.
“Guys!” he semi-yelled with a partial smile lit up on his face. “Not too shabby for practice, but if either of you two wrestle that slowly in front of a live crowd, I’ll personally kick both your asses, got it?”
Not 100% sure if their coach was serious or not, the two exited the ring and joined the others on the floor while David walked over to the edge of the ring facing the group of a little under one dozen wrestlers before him. Leaning chest-first onto the top-rope and dangling his arms over the ropes to the outside, he began to address his crew.
“All right, all of you listen up,” he shouted, his voice echoing through the large concrete gym. “That’s all for today guys. It’s almost 6pm, and I think we’ve all had enough for today.”
“Well D.,” said Larry, who was a twenty-four year old veteran of almost five years. “Some of us are still walking and not bleeding or throwing up, so shouldn’t we stay a while longer?”
“Not a chance,” said David, who was usually referred to as “D.” by the group. A small amount of laughter came from the group, although they knew if they laughed too hard they might be staying for more torture and abuse. “Now in two days boys and girls, we’re going to be putting on a show in Lyndonville, Vermont. We’re expecting a few hundred people to be there, so I’m giving you all tomorrow off to rest up. There is to be no drinking, and I mean for all of you. I would love it if you would all be ready for once both physically and mentally. Now go home and shower, it’s too friggin’ hot in here and I’m sure you all smell like rotting ass.”
With that said, the group of tough guys and gals began to change out of their gear and pads in the locker rooms, and after they all exchanged their traditional good-byes, began to head out of the training center to the parking lot. Victor and Simon exited the men’s locker room with bags over their shoulders, and headed out into the summer heat wave. The two spotted Victor’s younger sister Cassandra near the side door, waiting in her car, air-conditioner blasting.
Cassandra, a nineteen year-old brunette bombshell, was actually the half-sister of Victor. Victor’s parents had divorced years earlier, and she was the daughter of Victor’s mother and her second husband. Having grown up apart most of their childhood, the two didn’t really know much about each other, although they both did enjoy professional wrestling as they grew up. Having moved to the area to be near her brother and to get to know the other parts of her family, Cassandra was looking forward to getting involved with the EWA. Her long, flowing dark hair and gorgeous looks would be perfect as a manager or valet. Her size how ever was the problem which kept her from being too involved. She weighed in at a little less than a hundred pounds, so she couldn’t get involved much in the ring, although she did attend practices on occasion.
“So guys, enjoy yourselves today?” she asked, trying not to laugh at how red their faces were and how much they were sweating.
“Oh tons Cassie,” said Simon in the most sarcastic tone he could come up with. “For my next trick, I plan to pass out in the front seat of your car with my face in front of the air-conditioning ducts.”
“Well as long as you don’t sweat all over the leather, I don’t really have a problem with it,” she replied back with a smile on her face.
“Will you two quit flirting with each other and just get in the damn car?” Victor yelled as he threw his bag in the trunk. “Do you honestly think I want to stand here and watch my sister and best friend perform some very obvious flirting with the other wrestlers staring? I don’t think so, so can we please just get out of here?”
Both Simon and Cassandra looked around, and indeed, a few of the boys had stuck around and were now staring as Victor began to make a scene, hoping to get them on their way home. Blushing, Cassandra shrugged her shoulders and got into the car, and as she got in, Simon looked over at Vic, who was beaming at his success of getting her into the car, as well as knowing he had embarrassed them both. Cassandra dropped the two off at the apartment they shared, and she took off to her own place, as Simon stared a hole through Victor on their way through the door.
“Ok man, I know what you’re going to say, and you can just stop right there,” said Vic as he threw his back off the side as they entered the living room.
“Hey man, you know how I feel about her, and doing things like that is not helping the situation any, all right?” Simon said sternly as he sat down on the couch and turned the TV on.
“Do you have any idea how nauseating it is for me to have to listen to you two day in and day out just flirting with each other? First off, she’s my sister. Second, you’re my best friend, and putting the two together is not something I really care to stomach. So you can either talk to her and ask her out, or you need to cut that crap out, cause I don’t know how much more I can take without throwing up everywhere,” Victor replied as he opened up a bag of chips and fell into the recliner near the TV.
“I can’t blame you there Vic,” said Starr as he flipped through the channels. “Although I must say, I think its about time I did ask her out, although if she turned me down, it would be extremely weird for us considering she’s our valet for the wrestling shows.”
Looking over at his roommate with a blank stare, Victor just shook his head laughing.
“If she says no to you, I will never make fun of you for that ridiculous outfit you wear out to the ring, deal?” he said cracking up.
“Hey, its not my fault if you can’t value a grown man wearing a Power Rangers outfit to the wrestling ring,” Simon said, pulling a full-headed mask out of his gym bag beside him. The mask, based red with a black visor with white lines going around it with a black circle over the top of it, was a custom ordered Lucha Libre mask from Mexico, where down there the masks were sacred and wrestling was almost holy. “Besides, it appeals to the kids that show up, so the parents can’t be too pissed off when you guys start using thumbtacks and staple guns on each other.”
“Hey, just because you decide to dress up like a super-hero reject and stick to the books, doesn’t mean us men have to. And besides, that mask is from a while back, I doubt the kids know what it is,” Victor said, waiting for Simon to get pissed at this point.
“Well, considering you were the one that got me hooked on this 12 years ago in the days of the Dragonzord and Zordon, you’re not one to talk, are you?” Simon said, noting he had just finished an argument, which was very rare for him.
Simon rose up from the couch, tossing his mask to where he had just been sitting, and went into the kitchen. He emerged from the other room a few minutes later with a tank top on and a set of car keys in his hand.
“Where are you going?” Vic asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Thought I would go over and hang out with Cassie for a while,” Simon replied.
“Just remember, the only thing that would keep her from going out with you is your obsession with Power Rangers. Most of us gave that up before we hit our teenage years, just remember that next time you get in that outfit you have when she’s standing about 7 feet from you. I don’t care how much she likes you, I could never go out with a woman if she dressed up like the Pink Ranger for fun. It’s too damn creepy.”
“Well, in that case, I thought I would let you know that your sister is the one that helped me pick out the different parts of the outfit,” Simon said as he opened the door to the heat.
“Well then, I guess you two are just made for each other,” said Vic as he continued munching on his Lays chips. “Have fun, and remember one thing at all times…”
“What, don’t stutter when I ask her out?” inquired Simon.
“No, you must remember; ‘Let the power protect you,’” said Victor in a deep voice before hollowing with laughter.
Not amused, Simon closed the door and headed downstairs toward the car both he and Victor shared. As he stepped out into the sun which was just beginning to set, he noticed a plane flying high in the clear early-evening sky as he pulled out onto the road. Heading down the rather clear street, Simon turned off the main road and began his way along a dirt road, which would lead him to Cassandra’s apartment. As the endless string of trees and the occasional house flew by, the ground began to shake. As Simon began driving through a clearing, he looked up into the sky and saw a huge explosion around the area he last saw the plane he spotted when he left his apartment.
The explosion happened lower in altitude than he thought the plane had been flying, and he pulled the car over and watched what was left of the plane crash into a field. Hopping back into the car, Simon did a u-turn, heading in the direction of the crash. Taking a few different turn-offs, Starr pulled up to within a thousand feet of the burning wreckage. He practically leapt out of his car and hopped a fence, running through a farmer’s field which was usually filled with cows, only they had been scared off and were all off somewhere else, hiding from the wreckage of the aircraft. As he cleared the last hill from the wreckage, he could see even through the twisted metal that this wasn’t an airplane or helicopter, although he had no idea what it could’ve been. Trying to push the thought of a UFO out of his mind for the sheer absurdity of it, he got as close as he could to the flaming pile, which was a good fifty feet away.
“Can anyone here me in there?!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, although he knew there would probably be no response.
And indeed there was no response, and he couldn’t hear any sirens of approaching firemen or policemen either. Backing away from the fire, an object struck his foot as he walked. Looking down, he noticed a green ball rolling away from him as he had kicked it. Picking it up, he looked at it, swearing up and down he knew what he was looking at, although not conclusively sure. Holding onto it, he jogged back to his car and continued on towards Cassandra’s to call the fire department. As he pulled into the driveway, he realized he had the sphere from the wreckage in his passenger’s seat. Knowing he had tampered with an accident scene, Starr realized the mistake of picking the object up and walked up to Cassandra’s door and knocked. Immediately she opened up, very apprehensive about something.
“Cassie, you ok?” Simon asked very concerned.
“Yeah, I just heard a really loud explosion and a ton of fire trucks sped by here, and I don’t know what’s going on,” she replied, looking outside.
“I don’t know where they were heading, but I didn’t see one truck on my way over here,” he said, trying very hard to believe her story even though he knew the trucks hadn’t been by toward the scene. “Let me call the fire department to make sure they’re on their way.”
“No!” she blurted, covering her mouth quickly and blushing all at once. “There’s no need for it, they went by and what ever is going on, its ok now.”
Simon was about to reply, but he noticed and object on her kitchen table glaring in the light of the setting sun. He walked toward the kitchen, but before he got close enough he remembered why he was there in the first place through all the excitement that had happened along the way.
“Umm, Cassie, I hate to ask….” he started to speak but quickly froze up. He now knew what was sitting on his front seat; a toy Samurai morphed from the Power Ranger series.
“Sorry?” Cassandra replied, half-dazed.
“Nothing,” Simon replied, giving up on the whole ordeal. “Doesn’t really matter anymore. I came over to ask you something, but after all the commotion on the way over, it can wait.”
“If you’re wondering if I want to go out on a date with you, you know I’ll say yes. You just have to tell me where and when,” she said slyly, smiling toward him.
“Well, I don’t really have anything in mind right now, but I’ll call you later when I think of something, all right? I’m going to get going for now, I gotta go check something out.”
Simon headed out the door, but quickly turned around and gave her a hug, finishing it with a kiss on the cheek. Feeling much better about himself now that he knew she was willing to go out with him, he pulled out of the driveway and began heading home. As he drew nearer to where the aircraft had gone down earlier, he realized he had no idea why he had left Cassandra in the first place, as he had planned to hang out with her for the evening. As he took a hard right curve in the road leading toward where he had pulled over, something made him stop the car again, almost exactly where it had been parked before. Picking up the toy from the seat absent-mindedly, Starr took off back into the field to check out the situation, as he had not spotted one fire truck or squad car in the area.
As he got to where the twisted scrap-heap had been, he stood on a hill to see nothing but a scorched black hole in the earth. Severely puzzled by this, Simon slowly walked down the hill, passing the green sphere back and forth in his hands. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a glimmer similar to the one he had seen at Cassandra’s, only it was coming from a bush. Noticing the sun would be out of sight in a matter of a few minutes leaving him blind as a bat to get back to his car, he ran over and picked up the object. As he looked it over, he noticed it was another toy morphed, only one from a completely different series.
“This is really starting to get weird,” he muttered to himself. “Why am I finding Ranger toys all over this place with no burn marks on them what so ever?”
Recognizing the object in his hand as the morphed for the Quantum Ranger, he stuck it in his pocket and in the process, dropped the green ball.
“So this would definitely be the Samurai Storm Morpher,” he said allowed to absolutely no one.
Looking it over, he noticed it to had absolutely no marks on it. Thinking to himself that there could be no way for toys to survive an explosion and fall hundreds of feet to the ground without a scratch on them, he convinced himself these were either here because of some kids, or he should be really creeped out at this point in time. Running back to the car, he stopped before he opened the door, and began laughing to himself. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and began smoking it, as he got into the car with the Samurai Morpher in his hand. He began rolling around from hand to hand as he continued to smoke, wondering why someone would leave two toys out in the middle of a field where they shouldn’t even be able to get to anyway with all of the cows that are out there on a daily basis.
Flicking the cigarette out of the window, he began pushing the buttons on the Morpher, hoping to turn it on, as he knew how the toy worked, he just never had seen one before. Simon slowly got out of the car for no reason he could think of, and just decided to mess around. Thinking to himself it might turn on if he “tested its authenticity out,” he raised it into the air with both hands.
“If anyone drives by when I do this, I’ll kill myself, I really will,” he once again said aloud to no one. “Never did own one of these toys growing up, may as well humor myself while no one is around…. Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!”
Starr lowered the Morpher to chest level and held it out, and began laughing to himself, part of his mind embarrassed that it had to bear witness to a grown man playing games on the side of the road as it got dark. Suddenly a flash of light filled the vicinity and Simon’s clothes changed into a green suit with gold armor over the shoulders and a helmet flashed on across his face, bearing a four-pointed star. Trying to shake off what he refused to believe actually happened, a few moments passed before Simon realized he had just morphed into the Ninja Storm Samurai Ranger, whether he refused to believe it or not, and he began screaming in sheer terror…
Edit: And please excuse the lack of indents, when I pasted it, it got rid of them all, so it looks cluttered to me anyways...
PRELOGUE
The barrier between fantasy and the real world is to many something that can never be crossed. Ideas that come from the imaginations of writers and story-tellers are pure fiction, and nothing more. However there are people in this world that like to think past the lines of the fantasy world and reality, those that like to “think outside the box.” Long ago stories were written about the human race exploring outer space and traveling to the moon, and seeing as how such a thing was considered to be absolutely ludicrous at the time, it was classified as “Fantasy.”
Jules Verne was thought of as a terrific fictional author in his time. Long after he passed away, space exploration became possible, and was no longer part of the fantasy world. This would lead one to wonder if the line between the two “worlds” is nothing more than the evolution of human technology and time. Some may call it crazy, but there have been countless “fictional” stories written in the past that have become cold-hard facts over the course of time.
It’s impossible to know what tomorrow will bring, and what fantasies over the course of time will find their way into the real world. Ideas and stories that seem ridiculous and impossible could emerge over the course of a few hundred years as very normal and routine to every day life. Or… fantasy could become impatient and cross over much sooner than expected…
CHAPTER 1
Sweating and laying on his back, Simon could see the blades of the ceiling fan some twenty feet above him, as well as the florescent lights surrounding it. Sighting Victor out of the corner of his eye, he knew he had to move, and it had to be timed just right. The other wrestlers looked on, some sitting on chairs and others walking around as Victor perched himself on the tope rope. Aiming for the shoulder blade of Simon, Victor dove off the top for a move called the Swandive Headbutt, a move in which he would belly-flop to the mat below, connecting his head with the shoulder of his opponent below. How ever this time it was not meant to be, as Simon rolled out of the way as soon as Victor had clearly dedicated himself to the move, allowing him to crash to the ring canvas below.
Clutching his stomach in one hand and his face with the other, the twenty-one year old Victor Adams slowly rose up to his feet. Simon Starr, just passing twenty years of age, was now standing straight and vertical, and full of rage. He pulled Adams up by his hair, standing him face to face with himself. Hoisting Victor stomach first across his shoulders in what fire-fighters like to call the “fireman’s carry,” Simon began spinning around in circles and while doing so, pushed Victor’s legs off his right shoulder. While Adams crashed head-first to the mat, Simon cradled Victor’s neck and sat down, completing the move known as the Death Valley Driver (DVD.) Laying back over Victor’s prone body and exhausted, Simon listened to the acting referee in the match slap the mat three times, concluding the bout.
Sparse clapping could be heard by a few of the wrestlers who were still paying attention, as both spent and tired wrestlers rose to their feet. The referee, David Larson, was the owner of the Extreme Wrestling Alliance (EWA,) and owner/head trainer of the “X-Treme School of Hard Knox.” The 6 footer was skinny as a rail, and being one of the top stars in the company, he lived up to the hype he made for himself with plenty of charisma and dangerous high-flying maneuvers. He walked over to the two who were now conversing about how they thought the fifteen minute practice match they had just endured went, seemingly unaware that their boss and promoter was standing right in front of them.
“Guys!” he semi-yelled with a partial smile lit up on his face. “Not too shabby for practice, but if either of you two wrestle that slowly in front of a live crowd, I’ll personally kick both your asses, got it?”
Not 100% sure if their coach was serious or not, the two exited the ring and joined the others on the floor while David walked over to the edge of the ring facing the group of a little under one dozen wrestlers before him. Leaning chest-first onto the top-rope and dangling his arms over the ropes to the outside, he began to address his crew.
“All right, all of you listen up,” he shouted, his voice echoing through the large concrete gym. “That’s all for today guys. It’s almost 6pm, and I think we’ve all had enough for today.”
“Well D.,” said Larry, who was a twenty-four year old veteran of almost five years. “Some of us are still walking and not bleeding or throwing up, so shouldn’t we stay a while longer?”
“Not a chance,” said David, who was usually referred to as “D.” by the group. A small amount of laughter came from the group, although they knew if they laughed too hard they might be staying for more torture and abuse. “Now in two days boys and girls, we’re going to be putting on a show in Lyndonville, Vermont. We’re expecting a few hundred people to be there, so I’m giving you all tomorrow off to rest up. There is to be no drinking, and I mean for all of you. I would love it if you would all be ready for once both physically and mentally. Now go home and shower, it’s too friggin’ hot in here and I’m sure you all smell like rotting ass.”
With that said, the group of tough guys and gals began to change out of their gear and pads in the locker rooms, and after they all exchanged their traditional good-byes, began to head out of the training center to the parking lot. Victor and Simon exited the men’s locker room with bags over their shoulders, and headed out into the summer heat wave. The two spotted Victor’s younger sister Cassandra near the side door, waiting in her car, air-conditioner blasting.
Cassandra, a nineteen year-old brunette bombshell, was actually the half-sister of Victor. Victor’s parents had divorced years earlier, and she was the daughter of Victor’s mother and her second husband. Having grown up apart most of their childhood, the two didn’t really know much about each other, although they both did enjoy professional wrestling as they grew up. Having moved to the area to be near her brother and to get to know the other parts of her family, Cassandra was looking forward to getting involved with the EWA. Her long, flowing dark hair and gorgeous looks would be perfect as a manager or valet. Her size how ever was the problem which kept her from being too involved. She weighed in at a little less than a hundred pounds, so she couldn’t get involved much in the ring, although she did attend practices on occasion.
“So guys, enjoy yourselves today?” she asked, trying not to laugh at how red their faces were and how much they were sweating.
“Oh tons Cassie,” said Simon in the most sarcastic tone he could come up with. “For my next trick, I plan to pass out in the front seat of your car with my face in front of the air-conditioning ducts.”
“Well as long as you don’t sweat all over the leather, I don’t really have a problem with it,” she replied back with a smile on her face.
“Will you two quit flirting with each other and just get in the damn car?” Victor yelled as he threw his bag in the trunk. “Do you honestly think I want to stand here and watch my sister and best friend perform some very obvious flirting with the other wrestlers staring? I don’t think so, so can we please just get out of here?”
Both Simon and Cassandra looked around, and indeed, a few of the boys had stuck around and were now staring as Victor began to make a scene, hoping to get them on their way home. Blushing, Cassandra shrugged her shoulders and got into the car, and as she got in, Simon looked over at Vic, who was beaming at his success of getting her into the car, as well as knowing he had embarrassed them both. Cassandra dropped the two off at the apartment they shared, and she took off to her own place, as Simon stared a hole through Victor on their way through the door.
“Ok man, I know what you’re going to say, and you can just stop right there,” said Vic as he threw his back off the side as they entered the living room.
“Hey man, you know how I feel about her, and doing things like that is not helping the situation any, all right?” Simon said sternly as he sat down on the couch and turned the TV on.
“Do you have any idea how nauseating it is for me to have to listen to you two day in and day out just flirting with each other? First off, she’s my sister. Second, you’re my best friend, and putting the two together is not something I really care to stomach. So you can either talk to her and ask her out, or you need to cut that crap out, cause I don’t know how much more I can take without throwing up everywhere,” Victor replied as he opened up a bag of chips and fell into the recliner near the TV.
“I can’t blame you there Vic,” said Starr as he flipped through the channels. “Although I must say, I think its about time I did ask her out, although if she turned me down, it would be extremely weird for us considering she’s our valet for the wrestling shows.”
Looking over at his roommate with a blank stare, Victor just shook his head laughing.
“If she says no to you, I will never make fun of you for that ridiculous outfit you wear out to the ring, deal?” he said cracking up.
“Hey, its not my fault if you can’t value a grown man wearing a Power Rangers outfit to the wrestling ring,” Simon said, pulling a full-headed mask out of his gym bag beside him. The mask, based red with a black visor with white lines going around it with a black circle over the top of it, was a custom ordered Lucha Libre mask from Mexico, where down there the masks were sacred and wrestling was almost holy. “Besides, it appeals to the kids that show up, so the parents can’t be too pissed off when you guys start using thumbtacks and staple guns on each other.”
“Hey, just because you decide to dress up like a super-hero reject and stick to the books, doesn’t mean us men have to. And besides, that mask is from a while back, I doubt the kids know what it is,” Victor said, waiting for Simon to get pissed at this point.
“Well, considering you were the one that got me hooked on this 12 years ago in the days of the Dragonzord and Zordon, you’re not one to talk, are you?” Simon said, noting he had just finished an argument, which was very rare for him.
Simon rose up from the couch, tossing his mask to where he had just been sitting, and went into the kitchen. He emerged from the other room a few minutes later with a tank top on and a set of car keys in his hand.
“Where are you going?” Vic asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Thought I would go over and hang out with Cassie for a while,” Simon replied.
“Just remember, the only thing that would keep her from going out with you is your obsession with Power Rangers. Most of us gave that up before we hit our teenage years, just remember that next time you get in that outfit you have when she’s standing about 7 feet from you. I don’t care how much she likes you, I could never go out with a woman if she dressed up like the Pink Ranger for fun. It’s too damn creepy.”
“Well, in that case, I thought I would let you know that your sister is the one that helped me pick out the different parts of the outfit,” Simon said as he opened the door to the heat.
“Well then, I guess you two are just made for each other,” said Vic as he continued munching on his Lays chips. “Have fun, and remember one thing at all times…”
“What, don’t stutter when I ask her out?” inquired Simon.
“No, you must remember; ‘Let the power protect you,’” said Victor in a deep voice before hollowing with laughter.
Not amused, Simon closed the door and headed downstairs toward the car both he and Victor shared. As he stepped out into the sun which was just beginning to set, he noticed a plane flying high in the clear early-evening sky as he pulled out onto the road. Heading down the rather clear street, Simon turned off the main road and began his way along a dirt road, which would lead him to Cassandra’s apartment. As the endless string of trees and the occasional house flew by, the ground began to shake. As Simon began driving through a clearing, he looked up into the sky and saw a huge explosion around the area he last saw the plane he spotted when he left his apartment.
The explosion happened lower in altitude than he thought the plane had been flying, and he pulled the car over and watched what was left of the plane crash into a field. Hopping back into the car, Simon did a u-turn, heading in the direction of the crash. Taking a few different turn-offs, Starr pulled up to within a thousand feet of the burning wreckage. He practically leapt out of his car and hopped a fence, running through a farmer’s field which was usually filled with cows, only they had been scared off and were all off somewhere else, hiding from the wreckage of the aircraft. As he cleared the last hill from the wreckage, he could see even through the twisted metal that this wasn’t an airplane or helicopter, although he had no idea what it could’ve been. Trying to push the thought of a UFO out of his mind for the sheer absurdity of it, he got as close as he could to the flaming pile, which was a good fifty feet away.
“Can anyone here me in there?!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, although he knew there would probably be no response.
And indeed there was no response, and he couldn’t hear any sirens of approaching firemen or policemen either. Backing away from the fire, an object struck his foot as he walked. Looking down, he noticed a green ball rolling away from him as he had kicked it. Picking it up, he looked at it, swearing up and down he knew what he was looking at, although not conclusively sure. Holding onto it, he jogged back to his car and continued on towards Cassandra’s to call the fire department. As he pulled into the driveway, he realized he had the sphere from the wreckage in his passenger’s seat. Knowing he had tampered with an accident scene, Starr realized the mistake of picking the object up and walked up to Cassandra’s door and knocked. Immediately she opened up, very apprehensive about something.
“Cassie, you ok?” Simon asked very concerned.
“Yeah, I just heard a really loud explosion and a ton of fire trucks sped by here, and I don’t know what’s going on,” she replied, looking outside.
“I don’t know where they were heading, but I didn’t see one truck on my way over here,” he said, trying very hard to believe her story even though he knew the trucks hadn’t been by toward the scene. “Let me call the fire department to make sure they’re on their way.”
“No!” she blurted, covering her mouth quickly and blushing all at once. “There’s no need for it, they went by and what ever is going on, its ok now.”
Simon was about to reply, but he noticed and object on her kitchen table glaring in the light of the setting sun. He walked toward the kitchen, but before he got close enough he remembered why he was there in the first place through all the excitement that had happened along the way.
“Umm, Cassie, I hate to ask….” he started to speak but quickly froze up. He now knew what was sitting on his front seat; a toy Samurai morphed from the Power Ranger series.
“Sorry?” Cassandra replied, half-dazed.
“Nothing,” Simon replied, giving up on the whole ordeal. “Doesn’t really matter anymore. I came over to ask you something, but after all the commotion on the way over, it can wait.”
“If you’re wondering if I want to go out on a date with you, you know I’ll say yes. You just have to tell me where and when,” she said slyly, smiling toward him.
“Well, I don’t really have anything in mind right now, but I’ll call you later when I think of something, all right? I’m going to get going for now, I gotta go check something out.”
Simon headed out the door, but quickly turned around and gave her a hug, finishing it with a kiss on the cheek. Feeling much better about himself now that he knew she was willing to go out with him, he pulled out of the driveway and began heading home. As he drew nearer to where the aircraft had gone down earlier, he realized he had no idea why he had left Cassandra in the first place, as he had planned to hang out with her for the evening. As he took a hard right curve in the road leading toward where he had pulled over, something made him stop the car again, almost exactly where it had been parked before. Picking up the toy from the seat absent-mindedly, Starr took off back into the field to check out the situation, as he had not spotted one fire truck or squad car in the area.
As he got to where the twisted scrap-heap had been, he stood on a hill to see nothing but a scorched black hole in the earth. Severely puzzled by this, Simon slowly walked down the hill, passing the green sphere back and forth in his hands. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a glimmer similar to the one he had seen at Cassandra’s, only it was coming from a bush. Noticing the sun would be out of sight in a matter of a few minutes leaving him blind as a bat to get back to his car, he ran over and picked up the object. As he looked it over, he noticed it was another toy morphed, only one from a completely different series.
“This is really starting to get weird,” he muttered to himself. “Why am I finding Ranger toys all over this place with no burn marks on them what so ever?”
Recognizing the object in his hand as the morphed for the Quantum Ranger, he stuck it in his pocket and in the process, dropped the green ball.
“So this would definitely be the Samurai Storm Morpher,” he said allowed to absolutely no one.
Looking it over, he noticed it to had absolutely no marks on it. Thinking to himself that there could be no way for toys to survive an explosion and fall hundreds of feet to the ground without a scratch on them, he convinced himself these were either here because of some kids, or he should be really creeped out at this point in time. Running back to the car, he stopped before he opened the door, and began laughing to himself. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and began smoking it, as he got into the car with the Samurai Morpher in his hand. He began rolling around from hand to hand as he continued to smoke, wondering why someone would leave two toys out in the middle of a field where they shouldn’t even be able to get to anyway with all of the cows that are out there on a daily basis.
Flicking the cigarette out of the window, he began pushing the buttons on the Morpher, hoping to turn it on, as he knew how the toy worked, he just never had seen one before. Simon slowly got out of the car for no reason he could think of, and just decided to mess around. Thinking to himself it might turn on if he “tested its authenticity out,” he raised it into the air with both hands.
“If anyone drives by when I do this, I’ll kill myself, I really will,” he once again said aloud to no one. “Never did own one of these toys growing up, may as well humor myself while no one is around…. Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!”
Starr lowered the Morpher to chest level and held it out, and began laughing to himself, part of his mind embarrassed that it had to bear witness to a grown man playing games on the side of the road as it got dark. Suddenly a flash of light filled the vicinity and Simon’s clothes changed into a green suit with gold armor over the shoulders and a helmet flashed on across his face, bearing a four-pointed star. Trying to shake off what he refused to believe actually happened, a few moments passed before Simon realized he had just morphed into the Ninja Storm Samurai Ranger, whether he refused to believe it or not, and he began screaming in sheer terror…