20Disclaimer: So the characters actually are all mine, save one in the next chapter (although technically, she is too...ugh, copyright law is so complicated!) But obviously, anything actually from the Power Rangers franchise that makes an appearance isn't mine, if anything actually does.
Author's Note: So I have to apologize, Ed the Plot Bunny just hasn't been anywhere near PR in forever. There was zero inspiration, my brain and Ed's brain has been saturated with musicals and Broadway lately (there's so much good stuff goin' on in the theatre world right now!). But then off a chat with my friend Sir Perfluous, I decided to have a go at an original Ranger series. Which is quite terrifying.
Prologue: Creatures of the Deep
Marianas Trench
Challenger Deep
10,984 meters
It was pitch black. It could have been the deepest part of space, or the darkest cave, but those would have been much easier to explore. In the darkness of the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Marianas Trench in the Western Pacific, some of the world's most amazing and terrifying creatures exist, uniquely adapted to the conditions of the deepest spot on Earth. Here, Mount Everest could stand in the bottom, and still be covered by over a mile's worth of ocean. Mysteries still abound in the unexplored depths.
One of those mysteries was about to come to light.
A strange object floated through the darkness, its' halogen headlights rudely splitting the blackness of the Deep as it continued its lazy descent to the bottom of the fissure. Inside were two creatures who did not belong in the Trench.
"The time is 7:26 AM Hawaiian Standard Time," Dr. Kevin McCoy spoke into the recorder. "Current depth-"
"10, 984," Chuck Crowder supplied helpfully, looking at the instrumentation panel in the dim light.
"10, 984 meters," Kevin confirmed. "Deploying Leo." He pressed a couple of buttons and gripped the joystick. Out the seven-inch porthole, a flash of yellow bubbled by in the pitch black of Earth's deepest point. This was Leo, a seafloor mapping robot. Leo bobbed up and down as Kevin toyed with the joystick. Then, he punched a command on the program for autopilot, and Leo disappeared into the inky darkness, off to do its' job of seafloor mapping. "Leo deployed," he said aloud for the audio recorder's benefit. "Today we're covering grid 108."
Chuck crossed it off with a red X on the laminated grid map on his clipboard. Then, he reclined as much as he could in the two-man submersible. He stared up at the ceiling of their ride, the Rose. The oval-shaped sub was nothing to look at- a silver, Airstream trailer-looking thing with a conical hatch like a regular submarine, three small portholes, and two large instrument panels with monitors. One bank of screens followed Leo, their undersea ROV (remote-operated vehicle), and mined and cataloged the data it had been collecting over the past 48 hours. The other monitored Rose itself- oxygen levels, depth, pressure, temperature. Chuck crossed his arms behind his head. "Another day of black smokers and tubeworms."
Kevin chuckled at the nonexistent thrill in his colleague's tone. "What were you expecting when you volunteered to come down here with me?" he asked. Chuck, a data analyst, normally sat topside on the research vessel Paxton, compiling data on the Trench and sending it back to the Aloha Marine Research Institute in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Chuck tapped the paperback on the console in front of him. Kevin glanced at it. The title was one he knew well; it had just been adapted into a popular new movie. "Sorry to burst your bubble," Kevin told him. "That guy's science isn't science…it's just science fiction. We're the biggest thing down here right now."
"How can you stand it?" Chuck asked him, tossing a tennis ball back and forth. It thocked off the ceiling and thudded back into his hand. "We've been down here for two days, and the only exciting thing that's happened was when Leo got snagged on that smoker."
Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Be lucky that's all that's happened," he admonished him. "If something does get exciting down here, it's usually not a good thing." He tapped the porthole. "One crack in the Plexi and the pressure outside crushes us like a Mountain Dew can. One snapped cable, and we're seven miles underwater. By the time they get another submersible down here and repair the cable…" He pointed to the O2 gauge, which was currently hovering at 85%, then dropped his finger abruptly down to zero. "Well, then things would get really interesting. You might wanna put that ball down before you break something."
Chuck's face had gone passive and pale, almost glowing in the dim light, his mouth formed into a small o. He rolled the ball around with his fingers, before letting it drop to the floor, where it rolled under the console.
Kevin burst out laughing. He pushed his glasses up on his nose as Chuck's face went from horrified to pissed in a split second. "You sonofabitch," Chuck rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I'm telling your wife when we get back up where there's Wifi". He slugged Kevin in the shoulder, but Kevin didn't even flinch. His body had gone rigid and he was nearly nose to nose with the Leo video monitor. Chuck watched his partner tap the monitor once, twice, mumbling to himself.
"Kev?" Chuck asked him. His partner said nothing; he was staring intently at the video footage, rewinding and playing it back. "Hey, man. Quit screwing around-"
The whole submersible jolted.
Kevin's glasses slammed against his face as he hit the monitors. Chuck dropped from his chair onto the floor. "What in the hell was that?" he demanded as the movement ceased and he struggled to right himself. "Kevin?" He looked over at him. His partner was slumped over the monitors, blood dripping from his nose and forehead.
A disembodied voice crackled to life over the speakers. "Rose, this is Paxton topside. We've got a couple of warning lights up here. Everything okay?"
Chuck was feeling for Kevin's pulse. Steady, but… He reached for the radio and hammered the button. "Paxton, This is Rose! Something…I dunno, something hit us!"
"What's your status?" the reply came immediately back.
"Dr. McCoy is unconscious. All other levels reading…" Chuck took a quick glance at the instruments. "Normal." He frowned. What the hell is going on… He shook his head. "Requesting permission to get the hell out of here?"
"Granted. See you topside."
Chuck gently tapped Kevin on the arm. "Kev….hey. Wake up!"
The doctor didn't move. Chuck painstakingly set him in his chair and patched him up as best he could with the basic first aid kit they had onboard. Then, he felt a shudder as the cable went taut and started pulling them painstakingly slow, miles back up to the surface.
He had totally forgotten about Leo.
The little ROV settled gently on the seafloor, disrupting a tubeworm feeding on the mineral-rich deposits erupting from the black smokers. It looked alien, even in this alien world, with its fluorescent yellow paint.
A figure glided through the thick, smoky seafloor. Leo's camera was still operational, even though it wasn't being steered. Had Chuck Crowder looked at his video feed during the slow trek back to the Paxton, he would have noticed a pair of luminous green eyes in the darkness, studying the robot.
Her name was Syrena. An ancient guardian of the seas, she was how the Filipino legends of sirena had emerged. Bright white, almost translucent skin that glowed in the darkness of the Challenger Deep. Green eyes with almost no pupil. Talon-like fingernails, with a deep purple tail that more resembled a shark than a mermaid. Syrena had adapted to the conditions of the Trench, being forced to flee there from the surface centuries prior.
Syrena prodded the ROV with a pointed, claw-like fingernail. Man had come once again to the Deep. She was satisfied that the jolt she'd given them had sent them fleeing for the surface.
But she was not satisfied with just that, not anymore.
She had heard these men, their voices echoing off the strange silvery machine and into the Deep. How there were pollutants in the Deep. Man-made objects and chemicals, permeating her world and poisoning her creatures.
For centuries, the Deep had remained untouched by man, save for the foolish few who dared to venture down with their machines. But now, it seemed, the surface world and the surface dwellers had left a permanent mark.
And so, she thought to herself, perhaps it is time I left an indelible mark on them as well.
Syrena took her tail to the bright yellow ROV, brushing away the black smoke and sand until she could make out the blue lettering on the side of it.
A.M.R.I
HONOLULU HAWAII
She flicked her tail, a vicious kick, sending Leo tumbling through the water and into a fissure.
Hawaii, Syrena mused. I think I'll start there.
Author's Note II: Yes, those were shameless Titanic references. Yes, Chuck is reading Meg by Steve Alten, and the book is WAY better than the movie. Yes, Syrena does understand English even though she's a Filipino mythical creature that lives seven miles underwater, because magic and Power Rangers reasons. And yes, she does kind of resemble Karai from the 2012 TMNT. Oh, and yes, I got permission from Sir Perfluous to set my series in Hawaii and I promised not to infringe too much on his series Power Rangers Oceania, which if you haven't read, you should, because it's awesome.
I think that covers it. :) Constructive criticism is usually warranted and always appreciated.
