Metamorphosis
Arc 1: Ascension
Chapter 1:
"Just the Beginning"

Disclaimer: the Power Rangers are property of Haim Saban, Fox Kids, and Disney, among others. We have no legal claim to any of the characters written herein. This is a work of fanfiction.

Patiently waiting for the bell to ring, the students of Angel Grove High began to fidget as the clock ticked itself away to the last minute before dismissal. When that long minute finally passed, the school bell went off, signaling to the students that they were free to go for the day.

Sitting in the back of the class, Jason, a rather muscular teenager, was forced to be patient as other students took their time to pack up their bags. When he was finally able to make his way out of the classroom, Jason swung his backpack easily over his broad shoulder and used his free hand to brush the loose strands of black hair out of his earth-toned eyes. As Jason walked through the hallway to get to his locker, a short and nerdy looking teenage boy in tattered jeans walked up to him.

"Jason," Billy smiled upon seeing his childhood friend, "How are you?"

"Meh, the usual," said Jason, cheerfully.

Together, the two friends walked side by side in the hallway as they always did since they were in elementary. Though, due to his reputation as a martial arts jock, the majority of the school could not figure out why Jason would even bother with a dweeb like Billy. But, Jason just did not care about the social status that came with being part of a sport. No matter what, he never turned his back on Billy.

"You know, the Youth Center is holding another martial arts tournament," Jason brought up, "you interested in going?"

"I-I'm not sure my physical stature would allow me to compete," Billy stuttered nervously, for he had never felt confident enough to join Jason in any of the past tournaments, "a-are you going?"

"Of course," Jason chuckled, "I'm going to be the one who teaches the class this time."

"Congratulations," said Billy sincerely, "I hope your trial as a martial arts educator will prove to be most successful."

"Thanks," Jason grinned, proudly as he approached his locker.

Billy, standing next to Jason, he took the opportunity to take off his glasses to wipe them clean with his Lord of the Rings shirt. As soon as he finished, he placed the glasses back in front of his pale blue eyes. Seconds later, a dark skinned teenage boy, wearing baggy pants and an oversized hood jacket, pushed his way past Billy, bumping into his shoulder.

"Watch it, nerd," the boy said, glaring at Billy with his dark brown eyes.

"Sorry, Zack," Billy said nervously, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"Yeah, whatever," said Zack who continued on to his own locker which was slightly blocked by a rather popular brunette girl who was surrounded by her gossiping friends.

"Move it!" Zack growled as he pushed his way through to get to his locker.

"Dude, what the hell?" said the girl, turning to face him, her hazel eyes looking angrily into his dark brown ones, "Didn't they teach you any respect when you lived in Oakland?"

"Bitch, I ain't gotta respect you!" Zack spat, as the popular girl's friends stared at him.

Noticing trouble, Jason decided to break up the argument, "hey guys, what's up?"

"These bitches won't get out of my way!" said Zack.

"You could have just said 'excuse me!' " said the girl, angrily gripping her leather school bag which went over the top of her fashionable light blue long skirt.

"Fuck you, bitch!" Zack yelled as he snatched her bag and tossed it to the floor, all of the girls gasping in shock.

"I don't care if you're new to this school, Zack," Jason said angrily, "nobody mistreats a designer Coach bag like that!"

"What the fuck?" Zack said, puzzled by Jason's strange outburst.

"Ugh, whatever, I am so not dealing with this right now," said the girl, picking up her books and stuffing them back into her bag so she could walk away from the scene with her friends.

"Yeah, you better leave," Zack went to open his locker.

"Hey," Jason, feeling kind of bad, wanted to get the girl's attention, "your name is Kimberly right?"

"Yes, and you're Jason the karate guy," Kimberly wisecracked, her friends giggled.

"Yeah, well," said Jason, "I'm sorry about what just happened with Zack."

"It's okay," Kimberly smiled, "some people just need to learn to chill."

"Yeah," Jason replied. At this time a small Asian girl in a light pink sweater walked by, bumping into him.

"Sorry," she said shyly.

"No problem," Jason answered cheerfully.

At that moment, two teenage boys walked in. One was very broad and tall while the other one was short and skinny. Both boys wore jeans with chains and leather jackets to symbolize that they were the rebellious ones of the school. Unfortunately, they happened to walk by as the shy Asian girl went to open her locker.

"Hey, Bulk, look what I see," said the skinny bully, "it's the smart girl."

"Yeah, and you know what Skull?" said Bulk who was scratching his chin, trying to look clever, "I think that it would be a good idea if we let her do our homework for us."

"Yeah!" said Skull.

"I-I'm sorry," the girl stuttered, "but I'm not even the top of the class. Even if I was, I would rather just tutor you."

"Nah," said Bulk, "I'd rather you do the work while we go play!"

"Yeah, we wanna play!" Skull repeated.

"Please, stop!" the girl pleaded.

"Or what?" Bulk said.

"Yeah! Or what?" Skull copied.

"Trini," said Billy walking up to the girl, "just ignore these clowns. Anyway, how did you do on the Psych test?"

"Oh, I think I did okay," Trini smiled sweetly.

"Great," Billy returned the smile.

Bulk and Skull laughed at them, saying in a sing-song voice, "awww, Billy and Trini sitting in a tree F-U-C-K-I-N-G!"

"How completely immature of you," said Billy, rolling his eyes at them.

"Shut the fuck up, nerd!" Bulk swore as he got into Billy's face.

"Hey!" Jason angrily yelled as he pushed Bulk back into a locker, "Back off before somebody gets hurt!"

"Oh, look it's the almighty Jason!" Bulk teased, then said, "You think you're so tough, well, bring it!"

"I do not want to fight you, Bulk, just leave," Jason said coolly.

"Fuck you!" yelled Bulk as he threw a punch at Jason's stomach.

Flexing the muscle in his abdomen, which absorbed the blow of the punch, Jason hardly felt the hit. Then, when Bulk threw another punch, he grabbed Bulk's wrist and twisted it around the back in order to form a proper submission hold. Slamming Bulk into the nearby lockers just to keep the hold in place, Jason knew that Bulk had no chance in fighting back.

"You will NOT mess with my friend, got that?" Jason yelled, filled with rage.

"Owwie!" Bulk squealed in pain.

"JASON! BULKMEIER!" the principal screamed as he stormed in on what was going on.

"Sir," Jason let go of Bulk and faced the principal.

"Fucking karate boy," Bulk muttered.

The principal glared at Bulk then looked at Jason, disappointed, "I am ashamed to have caught you in such inexcusable behavior Jason. I expect it from Bulkmeier but not from you. So, you will be going to after school detention now and I will call your parents. Bulkmeier, see me in my office!"

Later, as Jason went to detention, Kimberly stayed after school for cheerleader practice, Trini stayed for Chess club, Billy stayed to help his Physics teacher, and Zack loitered around campus feeling bored.

""""""""""'

On the moon, an unexpected headquarters was being built by a couple of monsters. As they were doing so, a witch in a long, puffy dress with a two-way pointed hat, was looking through her giant telescope to spy on the earth.

"After ten thousand years, I am finally free," the witch spoke with a screechy voice then smiled evilly, "and now it's time to conquer Earth!"

"My Empress Rita," a fat sasquatch-like monster wobbled over to her, "we are just about finished with setting up the new headquarters."

"Yes!" piped a tall, blue monkey looking monster as he bowed to his queen, "You will be most pleased with our efforts to give your highness the best that you need!"

"Oh," squeaked another one of Rita's monster minions who looked like a furry white elf, "is my monster-making machine ready yet?" He asked this as he was doing Rita's nails.

"It better be, Finster! Now, where is Goldar?" Rita yelled as she was sitting in her high pimp chair, looking around to find her most powerful minion.

"Please, your highness, settle down and stop moving unless you want nail polish on your lips!" Finster exclaimed.

"It is not in your place to tell me what to do!" Rita reprimanded him as Goldar walked in.

"What is it my queen?" Goldar spoke with a growl as he bowed to Rita.

"We have been ordered to conquer Earth! Make sure everything we need is ready!" Rita commanded.

"Yes, my Queen," Goldar said as he stood up tall, his muscled ape-like body covered in golden armor. The only part of his body that was not covered in armor was his blue monkey shaped face. As soon as he could, Goldar went to fulfill his order to finish building the headquarters.

"Now, Finster," Rita looked at him as he finished polishing her nails, "Make me a monster!"

"I am sorry but I have to test out the machine before I make an outright monster, my Queen," Finster said subtly, "however, I can use it to create Putties to attack Earth."

"Ugh, well hurry up!" Rita cried impatiently.

"Of course, milady," Finster followed his orders as he shaped balls of clay into little monster figurines. When he was finished shaping the clay, he put the figures on a tray that was then put inside a giant oven. Pushing a button to make the machine work, Finster waited to see that it was successfully able to produce about ten or more silver, clay monsters.

"Perfect!" Rita exclaimed as she looked at the clay monsters, "I will send these Putties to Earth to cause chaos!"

Making strange mumbling noises, the Putties were sent down to Earth by Rita's large wand. The minute that they arrived on the planet, they automatically began to attack. In fact, the city they happened to land in was…Angel Grove.

""""""""""'

A couple of hours had passed by and Jason had finally been released from detention, avoiding the lecture from his hardworking parents, he decided to delay going home by stopping at the Juice Bar. Sitting at a high chair, Jason ordered a drink.

"How's it going today, Jason," said the owner of the Juice Bar.

"Not so good, Ernie, I just got out of detention," Jason sighed, disappointed in himself.

"Oh no," Ernie said, concerned, "what happened?"

"Bulk and Skull," Jason replied, irritated at what happened, "they were picking on Billy and some girl. I was just trying to get them to stop it. So, I used a bit of martial arts on Bulk, but then the principal caught me."

"Jeeze, if you were of age, I'd tell you to get something stronger than juice," Ernie chuckled.

"No, the juice is fine," Jason smiled, "but thanks Ernie."

"You're welcome," Ernie grinned, "just remember that I am always here to talk if you have any problems, kid."

"I know," said Jason, thankful.

While Jason was at the Juice Bar, Billy was just leaving the school after helping his Physics teacher. Feeling a bit giddy over his accomplishments in that class, he walked home with a bit of bounce in his step. However, as he was on his way, Billy witnessed a couple of Putties appear.

"What the," Billy said, puzzled over seeing these creatures appear out of nowhere.

As soon as the Putties arrived, they began their raid of destruction. Not noticing Billy, he ran for it. Trying to get away, more Putties appeared, this time, he was surrounded.

"Oh my god," Billy panicked, not knowing what to do, "this can't be happening!"

"Hey!" A strange teenage boy with long dark hair ran in and began fighting off the Putties, "Are you okay?"

"I…" Billy, having a panic attack, could not finish his statement.

"You better get to safety, I'll hold these things off," said the stranger.

""""""""""'

Back on the moon, Rita was furious.

"What?" Rita shrieked, looking through her telescope, "There is a human fighting off my Putties!"

"I'm sure it means nothing, my Queen," said the blue monkey monster, "humans fight all the time but they don't always win."

"Baboo is right, Empress Rita!" said the Sasquatch, "Humans fight, but they will be no match for our Putties."

"You better be right, Squat!" Rita spat at her servants, "There is no way that I want to fail this conquest."

""""""""""'

At the Juice Bar, Trini sat alone doing homework as she noticed Billy run in. Feeling a bit worried for him, she watched him as he spoke to Jason.

"Monsters?" Jason raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Yes! At least ten of them!" Billy breathed, "I was barely able to make it out alive!"

"Billy," Jason sighed, "have you been hallucinating again?"

"No! I know what I saw," he said, "and there was another guy that saw it too! Jason, you have to believe me. These things could show up here too."

Jason sighed, "Billy, sit down. I'll buy you a drink so you can relax."

"Jason, how can I relax when I was just attacked?" Billy yelled, getting everyone's attention.

Trini kept looking at him, feeling a little sorry for him. Then, suddenly, a bunch of Putties began to burst into the Juice Bar.

"What the hell?" Jason exclaimed.

"I told you so!" Billy glared at his friend.

"Billy, get behind me," said Jason, standing up protectively so he could fight.

"Eek!" Trini shrieked as a Putty tried to grab her, "Get away from me!"

"Trini!" Billy looked at her and rushed to her side.

"Get back you monsters!" yelled Trini, as she tried swatting the monsters away with a nearby chair.

"Billy, you need to find a way to safety," Jason said as he was defending himself and the others.

Billy, standing there, not wanting to leave his best friend behind, decided to take action of his own. Knowing he could not fight as well as Jason, he decided to find a way to get people out of the Juice Bar safely.

"Come on! You must find a safe place to hide until these things go away!" Billy ordered as he helped people escape.

""""""""""'

A couple of blocks away from the Juice Bar, Zack was walking alone, not wanting to go home. Then, suddenly, he saw a girl running down the street, it looked like the same girl from earlier.

"What the fuck is that white bitch doing?" Zack muttered to himself. Seconds later, he saw what she was running from, "what the fuck?"

Kimberly ran as fast as she could until she bumped into Zack, "son of a mother duck! These things won't stop chasing me!"

"Holy shit!" Zack yelled, "RUN!"

The two of them ran but eventually ran into more Putty action down the street by the Juice Bar.

"Shit! Shit!" Zack yelled out.

"We're surrounded!" Kimberly cried as the Putties circled around them.

"You know what," Zack looked at Kimberly, " we have no choice. We have to protect ourselves. Do you know how to fight?"

"No," said Kimberly, wide-eyed.

"Well, you'll have to figure it out," said Zack as he began punching and kicking the Putties away.

"Zack!" Kimberly cried out as a Putty grabbed her from behind. Zack tried to pull her away from them but there were just too many.

""""""""""'

Watching the Putties as they were currently invading Angel Grove, a self powered robot and an astral projected head in a giant glass tube looked carefully at a viewing globe near the entrance of their Command Center.

"Ay yi yi! Zordon, Rita has already sent her Putties to attack Earth," said the small robot in a panicked voice, "what do we do?"

"You must remain calm, Alpha," said Zordon with a very stern voice. Assessing the damage being done in Angel Grove from the viewing globe, Zordon noticed five teenagers in the middle of the chaos, "Alpha, look at those humans there."

"Zordon, those are teenagers," Alpha complained, "You can't be thinking about-"

"I am," Zordon answered, "we cannot allow Rita to fulfill her plans. These five teenagers may be our only hope."

"But, Zordon," Alpha squeaked, "they are over-bearing, emotional teenagers!"

"Alpha, you have your orders," Zordon demanded, "I want you to summon them here, to my Command Center. We have no other choice."

"Ay yi yi! I just hope you know what you're doing," said Alpha concerned by his master's decision as he began pressing buttons on his control panel alongside the Command Center.

""""""""""'

In the Juice Bar, Jason could no longer keep up his strength for there were too many Putties, Billy tried to help but he just got knocked to the side. Trini, who was the only one still standing, kept trying to fight off the clay monsters but it was no use. Then, suddenly, Trini began to feel a tingling sensation.

"What?" Trini said to herself as her entire body began to glow with a yellowish light.

"Trini?" Billy looked at her, confused as her form suddenly disappeared, "NO!"

Getting up, Billy attempted to move to the spot that Trini was once standing in, but the Putties began to attack again.

"No, you took my friend! I won't let you win!" Billy yelled as he went to punch a Putty in the face. At that moment, however, Billy began to feel a strange tingling sensation as his body shined a bluish light. Just as Trini did, Billy disappeared.

"Billy!" Jason yelled out then suddenly began to glow a reddish color and was transported as well.

Outside, Zack had been able to fight off some of the monsters but could not keep up with Kimberly's "damsel-in-distress" syndrome.

"I thought I told you to fight!" Zack spat at her as he roundhouse kicked a putty.

"And, I thought I told you I don't know how!" Kimberly yelled back. Right after she said this, she began to glow pinkish and was teleported away.

"What the fu-" said Zack, being cut off in mid-sentence, as he was teleported too but with a purplish-black color.

""""""""""'

Back at Rita's headquarters, the Almighty Witch was pleased with the progress that her Putties were making.

"Soon Earth will be mine!" Rita laughed menacingly, "And, nobody will be able to stop me!"

"Yes, my Queen!" both Baboo and Squat bowed.

"Goldar!" Rita yelled out.

"What is it, your highness?" Goldar appeared in front of her.

"I want you to go to Earth and help out the Putties," said Rita, "make sure that any humans that try to stand in your way are destroyed. Got it?

"Yes, your highness!" Goldar bowed then teleported away to Earth.

""""""""""'

Jason, Billy, Trini, Kimberly, and Zack had all appeared standing in the middle of what appeared to be a room surrounded by control panels and gadgets. Looking around, all five teenagers could hardly believe how they were able to suddenly appear in such a place.

"Where are we?" Trini blinked.

"It looks like we are in some sort of computer," Billy guessed.

"Look! It's something shiny!" Kimberly pointed at a giant glass tube in front of them.

"It's just a glass tube," Zack commented. As he said that, Zordon's face appeared, "what the fuck?"

"Welcome to my Command Center, teenagers of Angel Grove," Zordon greeted.

"Holy Vivienne Westwood! It knows how to speak English!" said Kimberly.

Zordon blinks at her, "Yes, I know English among many other languages."

"Oh, okay," said Kimberly.

" Who are you? And, what do you want with us?" Jason said bravely.

"My name is Zordon," he answered, "and I have summoned you here so that you can accept what I am about to give to you."

"What are you proposing you will give to us?" Billy asked.

"I will offer all five of you power," Zordon explained, "so that you will have a chance to save your world."

"Wait, hold up," said Zack, "how do you expect us to do that? We're just a bunch of kids!"

"Do not doubt yourself," Zordon said encouragingly, "for I see five brave warriors who deserve a chance to defeat the evil that has begun to plague Earth."

All five teenagers were shocked to hear that this Zordon guy really believed they were the ones to save Earth.

"I don't mean to be disrespectful, Sir," said Trini, "but even if we could, I don't know if only the five of us could handle all those monsters. I mean, as Zack said, we're just kids."

"You are not just kids anymore," said Zordon, "for I have selected the five of you to become elite warriors on Earth."

"Umm, what?" said Kimberly, confused.

"You will defend your planet against evil Rita's plot to conquer Earth," said Zordon, "look at the viewing globe behind you and I will show you the reason why your planet is under attack."

Jason, Billy, Trini, Kimberly, and Zack all turned to look at an image of Rita's headquarters on the moon. Then, Zordon showed them Rita herself who was laughing at the destruction in Angel Grove.

"She's the reason for this?" Jason said angrily, then looked up at Zordon, "how do we stop her?"

"The first step to defeating Rita is to stop her Putties from attacking Earth," said Zordon, now showing them the clay monsters so they get familiar with what a Putty is exactly. Then, the scene turns to Goldar attacking the city as well.

"Ay yi yi!" Alpha appeared, "Zordon, it's…. Goldar!"

"Alpha, please remain calm," Zordon said coolly.

"But, he's Rita's strongest warrior!" Alpha panicked.

"Maybe so, but we have five warriors here who will have the power to beat him," said Zordon.

"What the fuck is that?" Zack said, looking at Alpha.

"An android, maybe? Or a fully functional automaton?" Billy guessed.

"Ay yi yi! How'd you guess?" Alpha asked, "My full name is Alpha 5 but you can just call me Alpha."

"Oh, okay," Billy answered, smiling.

"This is, like, totally unreal," said Kimberly.

"Yeah, seriously, I'm leaving," said Zack, who was about to walk away.

"And when you leave, where do you suppose you will go, Zack?" said Zordon, feeling annoyed by Zack's stubborn attitude.

"I just want to get away from all this craziness! I never asked for it!" Zack replied.

"And you think we asked for it?" said Jason, getting in his face, "Neither of us wanted to get attacked either, dude."

"Get out of my face you white faggot!" Zack pushed him.

"What'd you call me?" Jason growled and pushed him back.

"Guys! Stop it!" said Trini, who was trying to stop them from fighting, "Now isn't the time to be fighting!"

"She is right," said Zordon, "you must stick together if you want to save your world. Zack, I know you did not wish to be attacked. But, if you stay, I can give you what you need to protect yourself."

"Yeah, and what would that be?" said Zack, irritated, "What exactly can a giant floating head in a tube possibly do to help me?"

"Be patient, Zack. For I am about to give you what you need," Zordon said, "But, first, all five of you must step forward if you agree that you will defend the Earth from evil."

"I will do it," said Jason, bravely stepping forth.

"Me too," said Billy who did the same, "I mean, I don't know exactly how I will do it but I want to help."

"You can count on me, Zordon," Trini said as she stepped forward.

"I don't know," said Kimberly, "I mean, I was completely useless out there. I just kept getting in the way."

"You have inner strength that will guide you when the time is right," Zordon spoke to her, "Please, I would be honored if you joined us."

"Zordon," Kimberly sighed and stepped forward, "if you say so."

"Oh, come on!" said Zack, "I can't believe you guys."

"Just step forward so he can tell us what to do," said Jason.

"Na uh! I am not buying his bullshit!" said Zack.

"Zack, if you wish to see your world be destroyed, then leave," Zordon ordered, feeling aggravated, "But, if you wish to make a difference, then I would rather you stay."

"I just," Zack tried to find the words, "how do you know I can do it? I mean, I've never been good at anything in my life."

"You fought those Putties pretty well," Kimberly giggled, "maybe that's what you're good at."

"I don't know," said Zack, unsure.

"She has a point, Zack," Zordon replied, "You showed great courage in facing the Putties. You are a warrior at heart."

Zack took a moment to think about it before he stepped forward saying, "I'll do it."

"Thank you," said Zordon, then looking at all of them, "all of you. Now, I will give the five of you what you need in order to save your world. Hold out your right hand and close your eyes."

Following his instructions, all five of the teenagers closed their eyes and held out their right hands.

"What I am about to give you," Zordon explained, "Will be the key to your salvation."

Suddenly, five golden coins appeared, each one shining brightly in the palm of the teenagers' hands. Feeling the energy of the coins in their hands, the teenagers opened their eyes to see what had happened.

"Congratulations," Zordon said, "you are now Power Rangers."

A/N: the title is from the Damhnait Doyle song "Just the Beginning".