FicWad

It seemed to William Cranston that there was a natural pecking order to the world, and that he was chosen specifically to be at the bottom. In elementary school, he'd always been pushed around by his classmates, and was left friendless and alone by the boys who chose to play soccer and baseball during recess. In middle school, even though he managed to make some friends, he was still a figure of fun for the rest of his grade, and a target for bullies, who often stole his rucksack and hid his possessions around the school building.

High school had been even worse, as even his friends turned against him. It had taken years for him to realise that they'd been making fun of him behind his back, until they eventually started to ignore him completely, moving on to a larger group of friends.

Upon arriving in college, William had innocently thought his days of being bullied were over. But even college was full of the same old thing. Football teams and fraternities ruled society, and if they weren't bad enough, one guy in particular had chosen William as his favourite victim.

Farkas Bulkmeier. A party animal, and twenty stone of pure muscle. He never got physical, but he made William's life hell. He'd invite him to parties, and never failed to embarass him. Mind games were his favourite; he'd managed to get William to turn up to three separate parties in costume, none of which were costume parties. Twice, he'd managed to get him drunk by spiking his drinks with spirits. And once, he'd pantsed him in front of hundreds of guests. There had been photos.

And then William Cranston received a Power Coin. A magical item that transformed his body to its physical peak. And to restore the balance, hideously strong putty soldiers from hell had turned up to give him concussion.

But that hadn't been a problem. The Power Coin had another property. It could power a morpher – a bulky grey device that created an advanced suit for William and four others he'd met barely an hour ago. The suit didn't look like much – mostly blue, with a white diamond pattern around the torso, a helmet with a stylised triceratops design, with white boots and gloves.

However, the suit had secrets of its own. It was remarkably strong – far stronger than any of the five of them, even at the peak of their potential strength. Unlike the coin itself, the suit even gave the wearers fighting skills they previously didn't possess. William was able to move gracefully and purposefully, as well as focus his superhuman strength and fight with great dexterity.

And with a tragic inevitability, an eight-foot tall humanoid feline had appeared, clad in a tough golden suit of armour, and challenged the five of them to a battle. His name was Goldar.

It didn't take long for William to realise that Goldar was more than a match for his new-found abilities. He'd performed a tornado kick, hitting Goldar's midriff twice. The giant didn't even flinch – he merely swiped at William with a paw the size of a breeze block, knocking the wind from William's lungs, even through the suit.

It took a moment for William to recover sufficiently to even check what the others were doing. Trini wasn't wearing her suit, having handed her morpher to Jason, and was standing defiantly to one side. The others were all battle ready.

In his red suit, Jason was doing his best to surprise Goldar with a variety of different moves, capitalising on his diverse knowledge of martial arts. He was doing a good job of avoiding Goldar's own attacks, but was hardly leaving a mark in return either.

Zack, like William, had no martial arts training at all, and was a reluctant fighter. He nervously tried using his artificially-developed skills to distract the creature from Jason.

Finally, Kimberly was going nuts. She'd found her way between Goldar's legs, where he struggled to hit her. She was clinging to his hip with her legs, and hitting him at crotch lever with all her enhanced strength.

"This is a joke," growled Goldar, lifting an enormous foot, and pushing Zack forcefully onto his back. "You are the Power Rangers? You are children." He tried to push Kim down his leg, but decided it wasn't worth the effort, and aimed a punch at Jason's head, which he managed to duck.

William stood up again. He was feeling much better already – the Power Coin also healed its owner rapidly. He ran behind Goldar, managing a suit-enhanced cartwheel to avoid being hit along the way, and jumped to hit the back of Goldar's helmet.

"This armour is a titanium alloy from my home planet," said Goldar boastfully. "The strongest alloy in this entire galaxy. And you think you can hurt me with a tap to the head?"

He turned around, the ground shaking with each enormous footsetp. He was now facing William.

"You are a fool, Blue Ranger. I was told you would be the clever one."

And a huge paw connected with the side of William's head. For the third or fourth time that day, William collapsed to the ground.

Jason launched himslf at the golden warrior, hoping he'd remain distracted. Goldar moved his head a fraction, and struck Jason with one colossal wing. Jason fell to the ground, dropping Trini's morpher.

Next, Goldar turned around, grabbed Zack's left arm, and raised him up. He drew him back, and threw him across the park.

Zack landed halfway across the park, landing against the sentinel statue. A sharp pain shot through his back, and he knew that his black power suit was all that had saved him from lifelong paralysis.

Back in the field, Jason was considering his options. He remembered despairingly that the creature had a sword. He'd sheathed it early during the battle. As though he'd decided he wouldn't need it. And with two Rangers down, and a third refusing to fight, it appeared increasingly likely that the creature was correct.

Suddenly, Goldar launched himself into the sky. He flapped his enormous wings forcefully, and surprisingly quickly considering their size. Kim grasped his legs harder, now keeping hold with her arms as well as her legs. And then, Goldar stopped flying. He dropped like a stone, turning as he did so, to land on Kim's arms.

She cried out. She managed to keep hold of his leg with her own legs, but her arms felt numb. She tried to move one, but could barely control it – it felt like the worst pins and needles ever.

Burning with rage, she released Goldar's legs, and dropped to the ground.

"One left," said Goldar, facing Jason. "One on one. My preferred means of battling."

Jason said nothing. He remained standing, prepared to fight to the end.

"You are very funny," said the giant. "I have defeated your friends with ease, and still you stand, as though you alone will pose a greater threat than four of you working together."

"I will fight you," said Jason simply. "You were right – we are children. Children who were chosen to protect the planet from you. I take it you're compensating for something, fighting the kids and all."

Goldar stepped forwards, landing one foot on Jason's. He pressed down, and Jason gritted his teeth to avoid crying out.

"I had forgotten that humans taunt," he said. "You have many traits in common with the honourable warriors of Titan."

"Human soldiers don't taunt," said Jason. "We don't waste our warriors on you. I work in a leisure centre."

Whether or not Goldar knew what a leisure centre was, this taunt certainly hit a nerve. He unsheathed his sword.

"Red Ranger of Earth," he announced. "I name you my nemesis. Once I kill you, I will own all your worldly possessions and blood relations." He grinned and snarled simultaneously. "And now, I will kill you."

He lifted his sword, slowly, with indulgence.

As he did so, Jason felt strange. His fatigue was wearing away, and far more quickly than before. His injuries, already healing thanks to the suit, faded to nothing. He felt stronger than ever before, and somehow elated. Light-headed. Goldar seemed to be moving more slowly than ever.

He examined the sword with curiosity. He saw it swing towards him, so painfully slowly. It seemed laughable that he'd need to move out of its way, but move he did. He smiled behind his helmet. Not a satisfied, smug smile, but the gentle smile of the truly content. He was vaguely aware of the Blue Ranger helping the Pink Ranger to her feet, and of the Black Ranger returning from the opposite side of the field.

The giant seemed confused and angry. Jason giggled. Funny cat man. Cat bird man.

"This is nice," he heard himself say. He realised that the deep hum in the background was Goldar's growling.

"My arms are all work-y again," came Kim's voice. "I think I will hit the big man."

"Can you teach me how?" asked William. "I want to be good at this, like you."

"Oh, shush," said Kim, nudging him playfully.

"I stopped laughing," said Zack, and Jason felt like he hadn't heard his voice in weeks. "But it's funny again now. I like to laugh."

Jason was aware of the funny cat bird man toppling forward. Behind him was a Ranger. A Power Ranger. The Power Ranger who'd knocked him to the ground.

The Yellow Power Ranger.

"Trini," said Jason, and the entire world disappeared.

+++

The world was hard again. Jason's hand shot to his face. He wasn't wearing his helmet any more.

"Well done, Rangers," came the ancient voice of Zordon. "You have defeated Goldar in accordance with his own rules. His pride will not allow him to lay down the same challenge a second time."

"This is probable," agreed Alpha Five, the small red robot.

The Rangers were in the command centre again.

"What happened?" asked Jason. "I tried ... I was going to fight him."

"It was me," said Trini, sounding slightly embarassed – maybe slightly ashamed. "I worked it out. At first, when I morphed, I thought that's what it felt like. Like you can do anything."

"It doesn't," confirmed William. "May I guess?"

Trini nodded.

"When all five of us are wearing our suits, it completes a circuit. Makes all of us stronger still."

"You know," said Zack thoughtfully. "That might have been useful to know."

"There was not enough time to explain everything," said Zordon.

"Okay," said Zack. "For future reference, priority should go to 'morphers make you strong, all five make you stronger, beat monsters or get killed'. We can pick up the origin story down the line."

"Nonetheless, you fared admirably," said Zordon. "You will continue to serve as Power Rangers until the threat of Rita Repulsa is over."

"I'm up for that," said Kim. "But, y'know, try to schedule world-threatening monsters for free periods if you can. I've got kids to teach."

"Now," said Alpha Five. "You must be told the three laws of being a Power Ranger."

"Yeah, sure," said Zack. "We won't injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm."

"The first rule is that you may not use your power for personal gain," said Alpha.

"I knew it!" said Kim. "Superpowers suck."

"Secondly, never escalate a battle unless Rita forces you to."

The group looked blankly at him.

"That means no suits unless there are monsters, and use minimum necessary force."

Trini seemed interested in this, but said nothing.

"And finally, keep your identity secret. From everyone."

"No."

Everyone looked around in surprise at Zack.

"No," he repeated. "I'm telling my girlfriend, or I'm off the team."

"You cannot tell anyone," said Alpha.

"Then I'm off the team."

"You were chosen specifically!" insisted the robot. "To turn this down would doom the entire world."

"Then I'm telling my girlfriend," said Zack stubbornly. "No way am I going to be on a secret team without her knowing. We want to get married some day. I've never kept secrets from her, and I'm not starting with super powers."

Alpha seemed fidgety. Jason took Zack to one side.

"Are you sure you can't make an exception here?" he asked.

"Are you in a relationship?" asked Zack.

"No."

"Good."

Jason frowned.

"I don't want to be on a team with anyone who thinks they can balance this with any sort of meaningful relationship," Zack explained. "I'm not changing my mind on this."

Jason nodded. He moved to face the pipe at the edge of the command centre.

"Zordon," he said, feeling strange greeting this being by what sounded so much like a first name. "May we have some time to think about this? To decide whether or not we want to be on this team?"

Several minutes passed. The others looked at one another, but Jason kept looking towards the pipe.

Finally, Zordon spoke.

"You have twenty-four hours to decide."

And the world returned.

+++

"Where have you been, Miss Hart? We've been looking everywhere."

Kim opened her eyes. It was Mr Oliver, her teaching assistant.

He helped her to her feet. She was surprised to find that she still had her enhanced strength. She placed her hand against her pocket, and found that she still had her Power Coin, still in its morpher.

"Are the kids alright?" she asked.

"Yes," said Mr Oliver. "They're all fine."

She smiled. "Good."

+++

William got to his feet shakily. He was several yards from the science block, which was now in ruins. The emergency services were busily searching the area.

He looked around, and saw Trini.

"Do you want to talk about this?" he asked, feeling awkward.

"Yes," she said. "No. Yes." She rubbed her head. "Not now."

She smiled weakly, turned around, and jogged away. William stayed where he was, and for the next few hours, watched the emergency services going about their business.

+++

Jason checked his watch as soon as he arrived back in the leisure centre. Midday. So short a time since he'd been here last, and so much had happened.

Checking he still had his morpher, he walked out through the door, and headed back to his apartment. Alone.

+++

Zack walked through the door of his building. He dashed up the stairs, and opened the door to his and Angela's apartment.

"Zack." Angela threw her arms around him. "Thank God. I couldn't find you. You weren't answering your phone."

Absent-mindedly, Zack felt the cell-phone in his pocket. He hugged Angela back, and for five minutes, neither of them said a word.

Finally, she let him go, and smiled, giggling emotionally.

"Angela," he said. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Now," he said. "Let's grab a seat. We need to talk about something."