Prologue

A tan four door Explorer truck drives down the busy mid-afternoon streets of the city of Briarwood. Briarwood, although a large city by its own right, cannot compare to the vast towers and skyscrapers of Newtech City; from which the three occupants traveling in the truck are traveling from. The passenger riding shotgun watches the people on the sidewalk as they pass them by. The only noise throughout the vehicle is the radio, keeping both the driver of the truck, and the passenger in the back entertained.

As the truck passes through the business district, it heads toward its destination; the center of the city where it's City Council is located. The driver pulls into the Hall's parking deck on the bottom level and the three passengers unload themselves. Out of the three, one is an orange scaled alien, dressed in a black business suit that emerges from the back of the Explorer. The one female, who was the driver, has short golden hair that comes down to the neck of her own business blazer. She is wearing a very dressy pantsuit, with a light yellow undershirt. Her outfit is a deep midnight blue that contrasts greatly against her much lighter complexion.

Their third companion however is dressed more for comfort than business wise. With large baggy blue jeans, a red t-shirt and white long-sleeved jacket; the dark skinned man exits out the passenger side door and looks up at the large building before them. His hair is in thin, tight braids and pulled back into a ponytail dangling over the collar of his jacket. He slides his hands into his pockets; not taking his eyes off the large ten-storey building before him and his companions as the three walk toward and come to a stop before the large building.

"So, this is the place huh," Jack Landors asks his two companions. "Briarwood, City Council."

"My, this place sure has grown since I was here last," Piggy remarks as he straightens his vest. "You know, Jack, Briarwood was one of the first cities on Earth that welcomed non-human life into society. While Newtech City welcomed alien life, Briarwood opened their arms to those that were from the supernatural realm. Fairies, wizards…"

"That's good and all Piggy," Ally Samuels interrupts the orange-scaled alien. "But we are not here to learn Briarwood history. We have an appointment with the city officials about leasing out the land we need to start an Omega Missions here in this city."

"Well it shouldn't be too much of a problem," Piggy grins. "When I first arrived on Earth, I hid amongst this city's unfortunate. I have seen enough to… ah, shall we say, persuade them into favoring the building of the Mission. Eh, eh?"

"What was all that talk about you going the straight and narrow," Ally smirks at the alien.

"Ah, well, you see…"

"Listen you guys," Jack speaks, looking at the two. The twenty-two year old removes his right hand out of its pocket and scratches the tip of his nose. "You two are better at this sorta thing than me. I think I'm going to hit the city and check the situation out for myself. Nothing better than first hand experience, you know?"

"Oh, okay then," Ally frowns slightly. She had wondered why Jack had refused to wear business attire. Despite his eagerness to help others, dressing to impress has never been one of his strong suits since the two had started dating. It's obvious now that the former Red Ranger of Earth's Space Patrol Delta never had any intention to sit in on the meeting with the city officials. Ally shakes her head in amusement. "Behave yourself out there."

Jack chuckles as he closes the car door. "You know me."

"Exactly why I gave you the warning," Ally shakes a finger at her boyfriend. She reaches back inside her car and retrieves her purse as well as several folders. After closing the door, she looks up and notices Jack has already left the parking lot, making his way toward the nearest sidewalk. "Well… later to you to."

"Don't mind Jack Ally," Piggy tells her. "He gets like this at times."

"After close to a year of dating him, I would think that I would have learnt his moods by now," Ally sighs as she presses a button on her keychain to lock the cars doors. The two make their way up to the entrance of the building. "Do you have any idea what could be bothering him?"

"Not a clue," the alien remarks. "The only person who could tell ya' is Z. And that gal has been busy with SPD ever since Gruumm's capture months ago. Rounding up the last remainder of those Troobian soldiers and dismantling all those Krybots confiscated is busy work. I don't thing that they have even had the time to talk much lately. You might want to call her and ask her about it when we get back to Newtech City."

Ally sighs as she watches Jack's form disappear in the distance. "He is so guarded. It's almost as if I don't know the real him at all."

"Jack keeps everyone at arms distance," Piggy remarks as he opens the door before the two, offering Ally entry. "I've always noticed that; even when we all were living on the streets. I guess it's his way of not getting to close to people, and worrying about them leaving his life. Jack's a pretty deep guy."

"I'd wish that he would open up more to me," Ally remarks as she turns and walks in. "When we first me, I could feel the fire burn within his soul. Jack, he was like a breath of fresh air into my life. But over the past few months I've noticed him becoming… I don't know…"

"Depressed," Piggy suggests.

"Unsatisfied," Ally and Piggy walk up to the reception desk, where a young female humanoid is seating. She has a light red colored completion on her skin and bright yellow hair and pointy ears. "Excuse me, I am Ally Samuels, and this is my associate Piggy. We have a two-thirty appointment with Mister Cooper."

The receptionist looks down at her monitor as she types away, pulling up the appointment list. "Ah, yes. Miss Samuels, his office is located on the tenth floor in room N4. He is expecting you."

"Thank you," Ally smiles at the woman. Piggy and her walk toward the elevators.

"Unsatisfied," Piggy final repeats once the elevator doors close. "Are you that bad in the sack?"

Gasping, Ally swaps at Piggy with the folders that she is carrying. Piggy flinches as he desperately tries to shield himself away from the blows. "Ah! Ah! I give, I give!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack had walked for what felt like hours throughout the metal and concrete terrain known as Briarwood, when in actuality it was only over forty minutes. Like most large cities throughout the country and planet, as technology grew, as well did the cities, especially those that were once associated with a Power Ranger team of sort. Although Briarwood had grown, it still has its own cozy, at home, atmosphere.

Jack comes upon an empty bench, just sitting on the outskirts of a small park. School has finally ended for the day, and people are out and about, relishing in the afternoon. He sits upon the red painted bench and sighs as he leans his head backwards, looking into the sky. At twenty-two years of age, he has seen more things than the majority of the people twice his age on this planet have yet to see. He has seen the cruelty of the world; how hard it can be for anyone to move up from the bottom. He was one of the lucky ones. Though he came to resent SPD as his days as Red Ranger drew to a close, having been apprehended by the B-Squad was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. It opened up so many doors for himself and his best friend Elizabeth; doors that they would never have gotten to pass through while they were living on the streets.

But that doesn't explain why he feels so miserable.

Ever since he left SPD behind eight months ago, he felt that he could push forward with his life. But as each day passes, and as Ally, Piggy and him struggle to get their business stretched out; their Missionary's open throughout the state, the more he feels less like himself. He feels that he is meant for more; meant to do something more grand and spectacular and important, than sacrificing his years for people he doesn't even know. He had suffered for years as a homeless child; after his parents died and he was old enough to run away from the orphanage he was placed in. While he lived on the streets, he picked up skills as he came across them. Sneaking in and watching karate competitions, watching other street thieves, he caught on rather quickly. And with his special powers, the ability to phase through any solid object; aside from glass, made him a serious contender on the mean inner streets of Newtech City. He used his abilities and talents to aid those who were shunned, picked on or abused from those within the luxury of society; the other homeless of Newtech City.

As a Power Ranger, he could no longer help those he swore to protect. As Red Ranger he had to deal with more interstellar threats, such as the Troobian Empire. But the Empire has been shattered; the remains of the once grand and unholy army have now gone rouge, creating their own divisions. He has left SPD, and the problem is no longer his. But even as it may, Jack still feels that something is missing. Something that he thought he would find once he left SPD behind.

Something he hasn't found yet.

Jack looks up into the sky, resting the back of his neck on the wooden bench. He watches the clouds as they slowly pass by, and the sounds of the birds nesting within the edge of the park chirp do even less to lift the heavy burden from his heart. "What am I doing with my life? What am I supposed to be doing? What… should I be doing … to make this emptiness go away?"

Not expecting an answer, Jack receives one in the sound of a loud explosion. He jerks upward in his seat, looking frantically for the source of the sound. The sounds of startled people around him draw his attention to a billow of dark smoke rising in the air down the street behind several other buildings. Jumping to his feet, Jack instinctively runs in the direction of the dark smoke pillowing into the sky.

Darting between people and cars as he runs through the street, Jack leaps on top of the hood of a truck and then leaps on top of a stopped city bus. He places his hands over his eyes to block the bright sun so he can see the building, which is now ablaze. In the distance he can hear sirens wail throughout the city.

"They'll never make it in time," Jack's feet decide his course of action before he realizes what he is doing. He runs down the length of the bus and leaps off the edge of it, sailing over several cars. His feet hit the concrete, and he takes off in a sprint.

"Move it, move it," Jack screams at the people as he desperately tries to avoid running into people as they watch in panic as the fire spreads upward onto the building. Jack skids to a stop as he comes before the building. He takes in the appearance of the building and realizes that any exit out of the building is cut off from anyone inside. Blazing hot fire erupts out of the doors and windows on the bottom floor.

"Oh God," a nearby civilian screams. "Oh God! Those poor people!"

Jack jerks around sharply and looks at the people gathering. "You people get back! By standing to close you are placing yourself in danger!"

"And who are you to be telling us what to do man," a man in all black with piecing all over his peach colored face retorts. He appears young enough to still be in high school.

"SPD punk, now move back," Jack yells. Although he is no longer affiliated with the organization, his name still carries some merit. "Gotta find a way in."

Jack's eyes dart from side to side as he looks for a way into the building. He can simply phase his body right through the brick walls, but he doesn't want to come directly into the path of the fire. A lot of good it would do those poor souls inside the building if he gets himself snuffed out before he can even attempt to save them. Jack turns around and sees the emergency lights nearing.

"Find the opening, find the opening," he tells himself as he looks back at the building. Jack's eyes widen as he spots a window that appears to not have a glow emitting through the glass. Grinning Jack turns around and leaps on top of a truck. He then leaps from off its hood and onto a nearby power pole and proceeds to climb the wooden object.

"What is that guy doing," a green humanoid female asks no one is particular.

"He claimed that he was SPD," a short red-haired man with bright green eyes and freckles remarks. "I… I think I do recognize him… YEAH! I do! He's the Red Ranger from Newtech City!"

Former Red Ranger, Jack thinks. But Morpher or not, I've got to help these people!

Reaching the height of what would be the third floor; Jack spots the window that he had seen from the ground. From where he is, he can see inside the room. Surprisingly, it is the only one he can see without any fire or thick smoke in it. Jack glances back down toward the ground where he sees the police and firemen arrive. He looks back up at the window and without a second thought leaps off the handrails that he climbed up upon. Gasps of surprise fill the air as everyone watches Jack head toward the window.

Jack covers his face with his arms, to protect himself from the shattering glass around him. His feet hit the wooden and he rolls several feet forward. Once he stops he jumps to his feet and takes in his surroundings. He does a quick scan of the apartment and finds it empty despite the heavy smoke it holds. So far the room is lucky to not have had the fire to spread into it yet. Jack darts to the main door to the apartment and places his hands against it, searching for heat from the opposite side. He presses his left cheek against the wood, trying to get a better feel. Satisfied, Jack phases his head through the door to peer on the opposite side. Following, he pulls his body through the door and stands in the black and red smoke filled hallway.

"Hello," Jack yells, cupping his mouth with his hands to make his voice louder. "Hello! Is there anyone here?!"

Receiving no answer, Jack makes his way down the hall. He touches doors as he goes by, trying to feel for heat on the other side. Carefully he phases himself through each apartment to check for survivors. Sadly, the former SPD Cadet comes across several bodies, already burnt to death, killed by the initial explosion that seems to have risen from the bottom level of the building and blasted straight upward through the middle of the entire building. Though the sight would have brought a normal person to their knees in sorrow, Jack Landors has seen much worse during his teen years living on the streets. He sucks it in and continues onto the next floor to search for survivors.

Outside the ragging inferno, Briarwood's own fire department rushes to put out the flames. Jack can hear glass shattering from windows being broken in by the firemen from the outside as they work their way into the building by their ladders. Jack drags several people that he had found passed out to a room which is filled with smoke. He covers his nose and mouth with his sleeve, as he uses his elbow to shatter a window out. The dark smoke begins pouring out of the building in a rush.

"HEY! I GOT SOME SURVIVORS UP HERE," he yells down to the firemen.

From the closest fire truck, a latter is rushed to the window and emergency workers make their way up to assist the people that Jack had gathered. Three men come through the window and begin to pass the people down to others who are waiting. Jack returns moments later with several more people; adults and children, some with burnt clothing and smut covering their arms and faces.

"There are several bodies strung out in the hall and some in rooms," Jack tells a fireman before turning around. "I'm going to check the next floor," Jack yells as he darts down the hallway, heading toward the steps.

"No! Get back here," a fireman yells. Jack ignores the man's plea and works his way up to the forth floor of the apartment complex. He aids as many people as he can find, leading them back to the room where the firemen are ushering the tenants down their ladder. After double checking the forth floor, Jack heads to the fifth and final floor of the apartment building. Within seconds of reaching the next floor the staircase gives away, crumbling under Jack's feet. Jack leaps forward and manages to grab onto the edge as the staircase falls apart; falling onto the stairs beneath them and those beneath them, clearly cutting off any way back down to the forth level and third levels.

Grunting, Jack rocks his body back and forth, gaining some momentum. He flips himself backwards and lands up on the gagged platform. He wipes the gathered sweat off his forehead as he stands to his feet, carefully of the gagged and warped wood under his feet. Bright orange flames slide up the walls of where the staircase once stood and quickly spread to the ceiling.

"This is getting ridiculous," Jack coughs as he takes several steps back away from the collapsed structure. There is no way out of this place now! I can't risk phasing through the floors and through the fire. I've never phased through fire before! It might scatter my molecules and kill me in the process! Then I'd be no good for anyone else that may be in trouble!

The sounds of a person crying float to his ears. Jack immediately jumps to action searching each apartment for the owner of the cries. Jack had noticed that some of the apartments within the apartment complex had seemed rather vacant; some with no furniture in them and for the ones that did he suspects that the tenants were out and about in the city and the only a few unfortunates were home. Jack leaps backwards as a burst of flames explode out of a doorway, preventing him from going forward. This causes him to trip over a rug as he falls backwards.

"Blast," he swears as he quickly gets to his knees. "Hello," Jack yells. "Can you hear me?!"

The cries get louder and they are indeed coming from the other side of the burning hallway now blocked off in front of him. Jack shields his face from the intense heat in front of him. "Stay where you are! I'm here to help!"

Not receiving any answer, Jack looks around the room for anything to aid him. He runs to a window and rips the window blind off its hanger and wraps it around his head, keeping his dreads covered. He then wraps his hands with the rest; he is thankful that he wore a long-sleeved coat which now offers his arms protection. He takes a step back, waiting for the perfect moment; the right opening needed to jump through the blaze without worrying about his own clothing catching on fire.

"Come on, come on," Jack silently urges, he struggles not to blink from the hot smoke. An opening does indeed come, and Jack quickly leaps through it. He lands on the floor and does several cartwheels between several burning pillars and beams that were built in the middle of the hall. He can feel the heat from the floor on his fingers as the cloth that he had wrapped around his hands begins to burn away. Once he comes to a clearing, he stands upright and quickly discards the wrap from around his face, but still keeps his dreads covered.

The hallway behind him erupts, sending him flying forward. Coughing harshly, Jack stands to his feet once more. "Well, looks like my escape route is gone. No where to go now except forward."

Jack pushes forward through the dark smoke that fills his lungs. He closes in on the screams, and he tests the door for heat. Finding some, Jack moves alongside of the wall of the apartment, trying to find a clear spot that isn't holding any heat. Finding one, he phases through the wooden wall and enters the room. There is dark smoke hovering above the furniture and in several sections of the living room, several beams have fallen. A wall from where he sees an entertainment system has been completely destroyed. Following the sobs, Jack makes his way closer to the couch where he hears the crying coming from. He sees a sight that breaks his heart instantly. Squatting next to an unmoving female figure is a young black girl with braided pigtails. She is holding onto her mother who is laid out on the floor, with the entire left side of her body burnt face. The woman's eyes are open and dull, no life present in them. The young girl is crying, begging her mother to get up.

"Momma," the child wails. "Momma, momma, momma!!!"

"Hey, hey," Jack quickly makes his way over to the two figures. He kneels down beside the adult body and checks her pulse. Shaking his head sadly, Jack finds no pulse. He pulls the crying child into his arms. "It's going… its going to be okay… I'm going to get you out of here."

"Momma," the child, not more than three years old continues to wail, over and over as Jack stands with her in his arms. She reaches down at the form of her mother as she kicks and screams in his arms. "MOMMA! MOMMA!"

"It'll be okay sweetie," Jack places a hand on her head and rests it on his shoulder. "Your momma… she's just sleeping now. The smoke made her go to sleep," Jack, sadly, lies to the child. "Let's get you out of here."

No longer concerned with wither his dreads get burned or not, Jack removes the wrap from around his head and places it over the back of her head. Jack walks over to the window and gazes outward at the distance down from where he now stands in the building. Jumping from a five floor building without the protection of being morphed as a Power Ranger; Jack is certain that the fall would critically injury himself and the child in his arms.

I've never de-molecularized another person with me before, Jack swallows the lump forming in his throat as he realizes that there is a good chance, that this time, he has bit off more than he could chew. It's not a risk I'm willing to take, if it could harm this child!

The door to the room explodes, sending a blaze of heated death into the room. Jack jerks in the direction in which is it coming from and his eyes widen as the blaze quickly spreads out toward him on the carpet. He quickly looks down at the floor beneath him, making his decision.

Jack focus and channels his thoughts on pushing his genetic power onto the child in his arms. As a child, Jack had learnt how to force his power onto the clothing that he wore, that way he would not phase through them and end up nude. Jack quickly falls through the floor, with the child in his arm as the blazing inferno lights up the room that he once stood in.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When word about the explosion reached the City Council, Piggy and Ally worriedly looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. Could, or would have Jack gotten involved? When he didn't answer his cell phone that confirmed their suspicion. Forgetting the rest of their meeting, which was going rather terribly, the two hurried down to Ally's truck.

"I hope that I am wrong," Ally wastes no time shifting the trucks gear into reverse and pulling out of the City Council's parking deck. Piggy barely has time to close the passenger door before Ally pulls off.

"Geez girl," Piggy clutches onto the dashboard. "Calm down! The last thing we need is to cause a fender-bender here!"

"I know, I know," Ally repeats as she steers past several cars. "I'm just scared that Jack may do something foolish!"

"Don't you mean brave," Piggy retorts, trying to ease her worries. "Don't forget; Jack was Red Ranger for close to a year. It's been eight months since he resigned from SPD, its going to be hard for him to simply ignore those urges to jump into a situation easily when he knows that he can help someone."

"He's a civilian now," Ally jerks the truck into another lane and has to slam on the breaks to keep herself from rear ending a much smaller car. Already traffic has begun to slow down from all the commotion going on. "Whew… that was close!"

"Calm down girl," Piggy screams as he clutches the sides of his head. "Listen to me, if Jack is there, and that is a BIG if, he would already be helping those people, and he wouldn't stop if you or I begged him to!"

"He helps homeless adults and children have better lives now, not risk his life! Briarwood has their own Power Rangers, police department and firemen to handle things like…"

"Listen," Piggy cuts her off. "I know you are worried. But panicking like this isn't going to get us there any faster. There are a lot more other people trying to get to the scene as well, cops, ambulances… hell even the press! The last thing we need to be doing is getting in their way!"

"We still have to get there," Ally argues back.

"Fine," Piggy throws his hands up in the air, frustrated at the human female. "At least turn on your emergency blinkers on."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack kicks down the entrance to the room he had phased into. Luckily he had landed in the middle of the room where no fire had spread to as of yet. There was no carpet to carry the flames, so it stayed in spot burning onto the wood.

The little girl in his arms begins coughing harshly as she begins to inhale smoke. Jack realizes the wrap that had placed over her head is now missing. Probably fell off her when he was phasing them through the wooden floor. Jack looks around the smoke and fire filled hallway, looking for the staircase. After spotting it, Jack places the child on the floor and begins to remove his jacket.

"What's you name," Jack asks her.

"Kah, kan…" the young black girl continues coughing. "Khandy…"

"Don't worry," Jack wraps his jacket around her and picks her back up into his arms. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you!"

"I want my mommy," she begins to wail; tears pouring out of her eyes. "My throat hurts!"

"I know, I know," Jack tells her. "Listen; keep your head under the jacket. The less smoke you breathe in, the less your throat will hurt. Okay?"

Nodding, Khandy rests her head against Jack's chest as he covers her head with his coat. He heads toward the staircase and notices that it too has been damaged from when the higher level staircase's collapse. "Damn it!"

Jack looks down into the collapsed staircase and sees a spot that he can land safely on the third floor; the same floor that he originally entered the building through. Jack takes several steps back to time his jump correctly, and jumps. He lands on the third floor right above the stair railing, but falls forward from landing awkwardly. He manages to rotate while in mid-fall so he lands on his back and not on the child in his arms.

"You okay," Jack raises the top of his coat to check on her. She nods her head and Jack recovers her face as he stands to his feet. "Got to find that clearing… that window that I jumped through earlier…" Back tracking to the room that he had entered when he first came into the burning building, Jack doesn't make it past the doorway. The room is already in flames; spreading alongside the walls and ceiling. The furniture is lit up, blazing. Jack backs into the hallway, frowning as he gazes up and down the hallway, looking for a way out.

"Not cool," Jack mutters as his eyes begins to burn from the heat. He can tell that they have become dried out. "Not cool at all!"

The walls surrounding him in the hall begin to shake uncontrollably. Jack struggles to maintain his footing and his hold on the child. He falls forward and rests on his right knee. He hears a loud crack and he looks up, just in time to see the ceiling above him collapse down upon him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside the burning building, the structure begins to sway. Seeing this, the Firemen and Police urge the gathered newsmen and locals to move farther away from the taped area. "Everyone," a tall black man in a red and yellow protective Fireman gear yells out at the crowd. He has a small stubble surrounding his mouth indicating that he hasn't shaved in about a day. "Please, I urge you all to move away! This place is an inferno! We have no idea which way it will come down!"

"Diane Sawyer, channel 14 News," a short blond-haired woman leans over the caution tape. "Sir, do you have any idea what may have started this blaze? Could it have been arson?"

"Lady, I can't tell you a thing right now other than GET BACK," the man screams. "We are trying to keep you safe! I can't guarantee anyone's safety if you don't listen!"

As soon as the words leave the man's mouth, the street is rocked by another explosion from within the building. Bricks and pipes are tossed out into the crowd, causing the people to quickly scatter. Car rooftops are smashed in as the heavy debris falls upon the automobiles; people; police, firemen and even the nosy journalists and news crew are dive away from the fiery debris. Glass falls from the building and shatters on the gravel below, scattering like a jigsaw puzzle.

A figure leaps from the middle of the blaze. The man's body continues to rotate in a continued flip from the high level from which he appeared to jump from. As he lands upon the cement, he stands upright and slowly begins to walk away from the collapsing structure. The building erupts once more, bringing the entire building down into a smothering mess of rubble.

"Look," a humanoid female with green spots on her neck points out at the man walking away from the building. "He made it!"

Jack looks back at the building with a sorrowful expression. There were many people that died in the first initial explosion and then there were those who lost their lives from deadly smoke inhalation, like the mother to the young girl in his arms. He shakes his head sadly as he turns around and walks toward the paramedic's that are rushing toward him.

"Sir, are you alright," one of the men speaks. He is a slightly older white man with a thick gray beard. The man is in such a rush he almost drops his first aid kit. "You may have some serious burns that…"

"Check her out first," Jack removes his jacket from his chest, revealing the young child in his arms. "She… she lost her mother in there. Tend to her first."

Word about his identity had spread quickly since he had first entered the building. The gathered populace begins to clap and cheer for him, as they watch him hand the girl over to the medic. He drowns the noise out as he looks back at the building's remains behind him before lowering his vision down to his hands. The cloth that was covering them had been completely burned off and his clothing is scorched all over. His left leg pants leg has been burned off all the way to the knee. Despite the ruination of his clothes, his is surprisingly unharmed.

"Jack," the dreaded haired man hears his voice beginning yelled. He turns back to the crowd and sees Ally and Piggy calling out to him as they push themselves through the crowd toward him. "Jack!"

"Hey buddy," a fireman with a thick blond goatee pats him on the shoulder. "That was some rather awesome work you did. Ever though about joining the Fire Department?"

Jack shakes his head slightly. "No," he responds as he continues to observe his hands. "Never crossed my mind."

Ally darts past the police and leaps into her boyfriends arms, squeezing him tightly. "Jack! Oh my God, are you all right!"

"Ma'am please get back, we need to ask him a few questions," one of the three Briarwood policemen remarks. The officer is female and she has dark brown skin with a light golden tin to her hair, which is in a bun.

"It's okay, she's with me," Jack raises a hand to stop the policewoman from pulling Ally from him. "I'll be happy to come down to the station to answer any questions… but I honestly think right now… you have more important things to do."

"We will be needing some information," the female officer adds. "I'll be needing your name."

"Jack," Jack remarks. "Jack Landors. Former Red Ranger and B-Squad Captain of Newtech City."

"Well I hate to disappoint you Mister Landors," the female officer narrows her eyes and a frown appears on her brown features. "But this is not Newtech City, and is not under your jurisdiction. And if I heard correctly, you said former Red Ranger. Leave this kind of work to those qualified for this kind of work!"

Jack almost laughs. "Qualified? Qualified?! I saved many of those people's lives! Many more would have been lost! And who made the rules that you had to be qualified to save a person's life?!"

"Either way, you are in the way now," the officer continues as she places her hands upon her hips. "I'm going to ask you to move behind the tape lines so we can get some emergency crews in here to finish putting out those fires and see if we can find any other survivors."

Jack's fist clenches. "Don't let my presence here interfere with your work." Jack huffs as he turns around and begins walking toward the crowd, which once again starts up with applause for his aid. Many of the people that he have rescued and lead them to the ladders that the firemen had placed to the windows, rush up to him and shake his hand. Once the commotion lessens, Ally turns him around to face her.

"Jack that was totally stupid," Ally wails. "You are not a Power Ranger no more! Nor are you a police officer or a fireman! You know you could get arrested for interfering! That woman looked like she was ready to!"

"I arrived before the fireman or anyone else did," Jack looks up at the remains of the burning building. "All those people would have died when the building exploded if I didn't act. And that cop can kiss my black ass for all I care. I did what needed to be done."

"You could have died in there," Ally pulls him into a hug, tears running down her face. "When I saw that explosion from our car, I feared for the worse! Jack, babe, promise me that you wont do anything stupid like that again?"

Jack doesn't answer, but slowly pulls away. He looks over at the small child that he had rescued and it hits him that the young child has now lost a home and a mother. There was no man in the apartment, so unless there was a husband, he may be at work and the news may not have gotten to him yet. If not, the child has nowhere to go.

"Ally," Jack finally speaks, looking back at his beloved.

"Yeah Jack," Ally walks back up to him.

"That little girl over there," Jack points to the girl who he handed over to the medics to be checked over for burns. "Her mother died before I had a chance to get to that floor. Her name is Khandy… see if she has any family."

Ally immediately understands. "Of course," Ally looks at the child. "With… with our credentials, if there is no one that will claim her, I am sure we can make a home for her back at our Missionary back in Newtech City." Ally lingers a moment longer holding onto Jack's hand, before going over to where Khandy is being observed.

" Briarwood City Officials wouldn't approve of our building arrangement," Piggy scowls as he takes Ally's place beside Jack. "They don't want any outside business taking profits away from this city! With what just happened, there are defiantly going to need building assistance. These people have no home now!"

"Some were more unfortunate," Jack remarks sadly. "There were some that died instantly… and others before I could get to them. I should have moved faster."

"You did the best you could have done," Piggy tells him. "Out of all the people standing around out here, you were the only one who risked their life to help those inside. No one here asked you to risk your neck."

"I couldn't just not do anything," Jack smiles sadly at the orange alien. "It's not who I am."

"Helping people is just in your nature," Piggy squeezes his shoulder. "Must be in your blood."

"My blood huh? Yeah right," Jack gives Piggy a look before he turns around to look at the still burning building. Firemen on the ground and on the trucks blast water onto the building, rushing to keep the flames from spreading. Ally is talking to the medic's to see if she can talk with the child and the police are doing what they can to keep the reporters back behind the yellow tape that has been placed up.

"Having regrets," Piggy asks him. "About leaving SPD?"

Jack looks up at his friend, but has no answer to give him. He is silent for several more moments before he finally does answer. "Maybe…"

Blocking out the rest of the noise around him, Jack looks down at his hands again. His mind goes back to the moment when he thought that the fire would devour him and the child alive when the ceiling had collapsed above him. He had instinctively thrown his right hand out before him, which seems to stop the fire which in turn kept the burning wood and frames from falling down upon them. Somehow… he had been able to control the fire.

In that instant; his sudden surprise from that knowledge made him lose concentration, but gave him the time needed to make a bee-line for the window that he busted himself and the child through. Words that he had spoken to himself earlier flow through his mind; his own voice echoing through his mind.

What am I doing with my life? What am I supposed to be doing? What… should I be doing … to make this emptiness go away?

"Okay," Jack speaks softly as he gazes into the dark smoke colored sky above as if speaking to an unseen person. Although his parent's were missionaries, his many years on the streets had dampened the faith that his parent's had instilled in him as a child. But obviously, someone, somewhere, is trying to tell him something. "You got my attention…"

SPD
THE RETURN

This is the beginning, of my latest epic SPD Fanfiction. Grab a bucket of popcorn, grape soda and sit back, relax and loose yourself in this fantasy realm of space flight, evil aliens, kung-fu fighting and romance. I got it all!

Blanks