A Shade of Orange

A New Beginning

By Pink Lightspeed Ranger

Co-Written by Livangel16

Disclaims: Power Rangers belong to Saban. Lucretzia and Sensei Kurahara belong to Livangel16. I only own Jane for now.

The summer Jane Mitchell turned eighteen was one of the most exciting and action-packed summers of her entire teenage life. It was the summer she was chosen by her father, Captain Mitchell, to become a Lightspeed Power Ranger in the battle against the demons.

The day it all began started out ordinary enough. Well, ordinary enough for a city like Mariner Bay. Jane was kicked back on her bed in the room she shared with her older sister, Dana, in the Aquabase reading a book called "How to Make the Good Grades in High School". It was a military-styled base that was located underwater because, as everyone working at Lightspeed knew, the demons were weakened by water. This high-tech, underwater powerhouse was commanded by none other than Captain William Mitchell, her father and Dana's.

Jane was in the middle of her book when Dana entered their shared room wearing a light-blue, short-sleeved shirt tucked into a knee-length, dark-blue skirt. Jane looked up and smiled at her blond-haired sister who also worked as a paramedic when she wasn't busy at the Aquabase or helping Jane with her own paramedic training.

"Jane. What are you doing?" Dana asked.

"Read this book. You should know how much of a bookworm your younger sister is by now, Dana," she replied, earning a chuckle from Dana. Then, her face grew serious and almost…angry as she looked at her sister.

"Jane. We need to talk," she told her.

"What's up? Have the demons returned to Mariner Bay or something?" Jane said jokingly, closing her book and sitting up. Once Jane saw her sister's shocked face, her jaw dropped and she knew she'd hit the nail on the head.

"How did you know about that?" Dana inquired, looking at her sister. "Did you learn that in school?"

"Well…my English teacher wanted us to write a five-paragraph essay about supernatural beings before school ended, and I chose the demons," Jane answered. "It's kinda been on my mind a lot."

"You did a lot of research I hope?"

"If I hadn't, would I have gotten an A+ on the paper?" Jane replied, pulling the paper out of the drawer next to her bed and waving it like a victory flag. Dana smiled a little before her face became serious again. "I think we should tell Dad about this."

"Now," Dana seconded. Leaping off the bed, Jane straightened up her uniform (their father was a real stickler on propriety and order) which was identical to her older sister's and set out to find their father. The naval captain was in the middle of a meeting with the top scientists at Lightspeed. Jane was hesitant about disrupting what was obviously an important meeting, but Dana simply walked right in, stood at ease and cleared her throat.

"Captain. Something's come up," she informed him. It was an unwritten rule at Lightspeed that when Jane and her older sister were in public, they were to address their father as Captain. When they were in private, he was Dad to the both of them.

"We'll finish this later," the Captain told them curtly, taking in the serious looks on the faces of both his daughters. The scientists gathered their notes, and with a few curious glances in the direction of the sisters, left the conference room. Jane then stepped forward and mirrored her sister's position at ease.

"Father. It's the demons. They've escaped," Jane informed her seriously.

"You're sure?" he asked, looking hard at the two girls. They both nodded. Without another word, Captain Mitchell rose and unlocked the safe which sat behind him and then pulled out a handful of folders. "Then it's time to bring them in." He flipped open a file with green stripes on the sides to reveal a picture of a guy called Joel Rawlings, the famous air show pilot who carried the nickname The Sky Cowboy.

The Mitchell sisters soon found themselves sitting in the back of a black limousine. Although Jane would've said something about the benefits of working for the government, she was fidgety and nervous. It was at times like these that she envied her calm, cool, collected sister who was gazing out the window as if this was something she did every day. The two, male government agents who were accompanying them were escorting a not-very-jubilant looking Joel Rawlings away from a group of screaming fans. Soon, he was inside with the two girls.

"Man! They got you girls too?" Joel asked.

"My sister and I work for the government," Dana replied. The Sky Cowboy looked nothing less than shocked.

"Really? Guess that explains the uniforms," Joel thought aloud. "Are you a navy chick?" Jane could barely keep from rolling her eyes.

"Like my sister said, she and I work for the government. So, she's not a navy chick, and neither am I," Jane answered for her sister. Joel didn't seem to ask Jane anything about herself which gladdened the seventeen year old as much as it annoyed her. At least she wouldn't have to explain that she was a teenager who didn't know what was going on.

The next stop was to the middle of a barren desert. Jane wondered what in the world they were doing out there, but then she saw that Joel's folder was no longer on top, and that a yellow one lay open in her sister's lap. Peering over Dana's shoulder, Jane saw a picture of a dark-haired girl named Kelsey Winslow who was an extreme sports athlete. Then, through the tinted window of the limousine, Jane saw Kelsey's head and shoulders appear over the side of the cliff. The two government agents were there waiting for her (and probably spooked her half to death) and she soon joined them in the limo.

"Whoa. More people in here," Kelsey said, dropping in to the seat next to Joel. She was sweaty and breathing hard from her climb. "Who are you guys?" she asked Jane and Dana. It must've been the uniforms that made them stick out.

"My sister and I work for the government," Dana told Kelsey. Even though Jane knew that government projects were all about secrecy and stuff, Dana didn't have to keep repeating the same line over and over again. She took after their father: military to the core.

"So, where are we going?" Kelsey inquired, buckling her seatbelt.

"To the water park," Jane replied, glancing at the blue folder that Dana now held. "But before you ask me why, I don't know, to be perfectly honest." It wasn't that she was as hard-core military as her sister, but it was that she honestly didn't know what was going on. But one thing reassured her: Dad would explain to them-and her-what was going on.

The limo pulled up just as Chad Lee, the next candidate, did an amazing dive off of a dolphin's nose as it leapt out of the water. Jane had seen him before in shows and had to admit that he was a fantastic marine animal trainer in addition to being a lifeguard. He was still dripping wet when the two men in black brought him over. But they did let him grab a towel first. Jane guessed that the government liked keeping their limos dry.

"Hey! I know you two!" Chad said to Dana and Jane as he scrubbed his short, dark hair. "Dana and Jane Mitchell."

"How did you know?" Jane asked, startled.

"I saw you with your dad at the junior high school graduation last year. You were taking pictures with your classmates," Chad answered. Feeling awkward at having someone know her and how young she was, Jane quickly looked to Dana.

"Who do we have left in the list?" Jane asked her older sister.

"Carter Grayson." Dana said. Someone else Jane recognized. Carter Grayson worked at a local firefighter department, and he was a courageous, if reckless, fireman.

The limo drove further into town, to a burning building surrounded by fire trucks. Jane winced at the sirens. Dana opened to the door and climbed out of the car. Her younger sister was about to follow her, but she stopped her.

"Dana, let me come with you," Jane said, glancing at the burning building.

"No. It's too dangerous for you," Dana said. "You don't have a license yet. I'll be back soon."

"Two minutes," Jane said.

Dana went out and found the Fire Captain. The teenage girl resisted the urge to turn around and look out the back window of the limo, feeling the three candidates watching her. Then, with an explosion of glass, a firefighter carrying a little girl leaped out of a window. The others caught him on their trampoline, and Dana rushed over to help the child.

Jane recognized the fireman as he pulled off his helmet and face mask: Carter. He and Dana spoke for a little while, and then he started taking off his firefighting gear. Jane watched as they came over, Dana with that little spring in her step that meant she'd accomplished her mission.

"Where are we going?" Carter asked Dana, as they climbed into the car.

"You'll see soon." Dana said, as the engine rumbled to life. Jane and her sister exchanged a smile: it was always fun to watch someone's first reaction to seeing the Aquabase. It was then that Jane noticed a white folder under Carter's. Jane wanted to say something to her sister, but Dana turned and shot her sister a don't-worry-about-it look.

Finally, they reached the helicopter's landing pad, and everyone piled into the little craft. Soon the six were over the ocean, and coming to the submarine for the last leg of the trip. Carter began to grin.

"Don't tell me, we're going in that submarine." Carter shouted over the sound of the helicopter, pointing to the sub. Kelsey leaped out of her seat and leaned out to see.

"Excellent!" Kelsey exclaimed, eyes lighting up. Chad looked interested as well, but Joel was still sour.

Nobody, though, could stay grumpy as they got their first look at the Aquabase. Jane grinned at the candidates' awed faces, as they took in the four cylindrical outer buildings, the pods, and the tubes linking everything together. A bay door opened on one of the pods, and the sub entered.

"Civilian crew and authorized personnel have entered Lightspeed Aquabase. Security clearances checked and confirmed," one of the scientists said over the loudspeakers, as the six entered Rescue Ops. The candidates looked around at the scientists working on various computers or going by on errands.

"Where are we?" Chad asked quietly.

"I don't know, but it's cool, huh?" Kelsey said. Jane smiled. She liked Kelsey already. Then an alarm started going off, and everyone jumped. Joel was standing by a computer panel, looking very guilty. Dana strode over, and gave him The Look. She turned off the buttons without a word, grabbed Joel's collar, and led him to the meeting room. The others, including Jane, followed.

Their father was already standing inside as Dana and Jane arrived along with the four candidates arrived.

"Welcome to the Lightspeed Aquabase." He said. Joel pushed Carter out of the way.

"I don't know who you are, but this is illegal. This is kidnapping," Joel said.

"I am Captain William Mitchell. And none of you will be held against your will, you're free to go," their dad replied, cool as always.

"See ya!" Joel said, turning to go, but a black-uniformed man stepped in his way, holding up one hand to stop Joel.

"That is, after you hear me out. Please, have a seat," Captain Mitchell said. The four candidates sat at the meeting table. Dana and Jane waited at ease for further orders. Their dad stepped in front of the candidates.

"Five thousand years ago, this part of the Earth was inhabited by evil spirits. Demons if you will, whose only purpose was to destroy and conquer. Luckily, there was a warlock, who was strong enough to conquer them. Finally, the demons were captured and entombed." My dad turned around as he spoke. "But we always feared that one day, they would escape and would return to Mariner Bay. Well, it seems our fears have come true. Just hours ago, nomad travelers crossing through the desert discovered the tomb and released the demons back into our world."

Captain Mitchell started pacing. "Lightspeed has developed technology and highly sophisticated weapons that we believe can stop them." He passed Dana the folders, and she opened them to show each candidate their own.

"Because of your skills, you have been chosen to use these weapons to defend the city. To become Lightspeed Power Rangers," he finished.

"So, you built this whole Aquabase thing, so the four of us could come together and fight off a bunch of angry demons?" Kelsey asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well, that's putting it simply, but...yes," their father said. Jane couldn't help but smile.

"I heard you out, I think you're nuts, I'm outta here." Joel said, getting up. Just then, a blue vortex appeared in the room close to the table. Everyone except Captain Mitchell stared in shock as a young woman about nineteen years old walked out of the vortex carrying an injured man on her shoulders. There was a long, black case in her hand. Jane's eyes immediately fell on the unopened white folder that lay close to her father. Could this be the mysterious fifth candidate they hadn't found?

"Captain Mitchell?" she asked Jane and Dana's father. She was African-American with her dark hair tied back in a ponytail and brown eyes. She was wearing karate-styled pants with some sort of robe over them.

"Yes?" Captain Mitchell.

"My name is Lucretzia Solomon, and this is my sensei: Sensei Kurahara. We need your help." Just then, the injured man gave a groan of pain.

"Officer!" Captain Mitchell called to the black-uniformed man who'd stopped Joel earlier. "Take this man to the infirmary on the double!" The man gently removed Sensei Kurahara from Lucretzia's shoulders and carried him off to the infirmary. Jane looked at Lucretzia and saw her face marred with worry. She felt bad for the girl.

"OK! You're all officially crazy! See ya!" Joel said. As he walked out, Carter turned towards him.

"Wait!" He said, and Joel stopped. "That explains it," He continued, partly to himself.

"What?" Dana asked.

"The fire. When I was saving the little girl, I…I saw someone, in the flames. It was one of them. One of the demons." Carter said emphatically.

"And two of them attacked the ninja academy I was studying at," Lucretzia added. Dana turned sharply to Captain Mitchell.

"Father," Dana and Jane said at the same time. Then something beeped. Dana, Jane and their father went to the computer screen at the back of the room, and Dana handed Captain Mitchell his earpiece.

"Mitchell here," he said.

"You need to see this sir," one of the scientists said.

"Bring it up on the monitor." He did, and the seven people all watched as a view of the city appeared. Wispy demons zoomed through the sky, blasting buildings and terrorizing the people. Jane glanced over at the candidates, who were all staring with a mixture of horror and anger.

"The city needs you," Captain Mitchell said to the five civilians. Carter rose.

"I'm in, sir," he said.

"Me too," Kelsey added, standing as well. Chad followed their lead.

"I want to help," Chad said. All three looked to Joel.

"What do we do first?" Joel said at last.

Captain Mitchell stepped over the large silver case sitting on the table, and Dana and Jane followed. He unlatched it and swung it around to show the contents to the new team. There were seven silvery, oblong objects inside, all with the Lightspeed Rescue sigil on them.

"These are your Rescue Morphers," their dad said. Kelsey was the first to step forward and take one, the others coming a second later. "They are worn on your wrist." Peeling apart the Velcro, the four civilians put on the morphers.

Dana glanced down at the case, and saw the three morphers still waiting there.

"Seven?" Dana asked their father.

"You are the fifth," he said.

"Me?" Dana asked Captain Mitchell. He held up a pink-labeled folder, and opened it to show Dana a photo of herself.

"For eighteen years I have been training you for this. It's yours, if you want it," he said. Dana nodded, and put the morpher on her wrist. She joined the others on the far side of the table. Jane looked down at the two, remaining morphers, her heart racing.

"Jane, it's your choice." Her dad said to her. Jane bit her lip.

"But I-I don't know if I can be a Power Ranger," Jane said. "I'm just a kid."

"Jane, you saw the screen," Dana said to her younger sister. "And I know you can do it." The other Rangers and Lucretzia nodded, Kelsey the most emphatically. Jane looked at each of them and her dad in the eye, and took a deep breath.

"I'm in," she said, grabbing the sixth morpher. It was cool against her skin, and she stepped next to Dana, who gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze. She grinned nervously at the rest of the team, who all smiled back.

"Lucretzia," Captain Mitchell said, looking down at the last morpher.

"Me?" the young woman asked in shock. "No! I…I can't be a Power Ranger! I…I don't know how! I…!"

"We're all new to this, Lucretzia," Jane said. "And you wouldn't have been chosen by my father if he didn't think you could do this." The other Rangers nodded as Lucretzia stared at the last morpher.

"Sensei Kurahara has been training you for this very purpose, Lucretzia," Captain Mitchell told her. Hesitating for a moment longer, Lucretzia reached in and took the last morpher up, strapping it to her left wrist before joining the six in line beside Jane, who gave an encouraging smile and mouthed Jane to her.

"Okay, Rangers, time to get to work," Captain Mitchell said. The seven left with Dana leading the way.

"These are your jackets. Grab one," Dana said, as they came around a corner to where the jackets hung in a row. Jane knew the drill. Her jacket's arm patch was orange with a white number 6. Coming around another bend, the Rangers reached a wide yellow jeep, which Jane recognized as the Rescue Rover.

The others were impressed, running their hands along it as they all piled in. Carter and Dana sat in the front, him driving, Chad and Jane in the middle, and Joel, Lucretzia and Kelsey in the back.

"All set," the technician working nearby said, giving us a thumbs-up, which Dana returned. The ramp underneath the Rescue Rover began to drop, revealing a tube that led all the way to the mainland.

The trip was thankfully short. The team came out near the edge of the water, and drove in the opposite direction of the fleeing civilians. Soon, they reached the scene of the attack. Carter screeched around the corners and came to a stop. Joel got up to see better, and all of them stared.

A red, fiery-looking monster stood there, laughing. Dozens of black-clad humanoid creatures, all making ear-piercing screeches, were attacking the screaming civilians. Jane's hands became very cold as she watched. She recognized the monster immediately as Ghouligan, and the creatures were obviously Batlings, the demons' footsoldiers.

"Come on, let's go help those people," Carter said.

"Right," they all replied, climbing out of the Rescue Rover.

Joel grabbed a Batling, dragged him away from the civilians and punched him in the gut. At the stairs, Kelsey was getting kicked around by the Batlings, but yelled for the nearby people to run. Chad was doing the best, jumping between some Batlings and civilians and sending the civilians away. Lucretzia was trying to use some martial arts moves on two Batlings while getting civilians to safety. Jane finally reached the fight, seizing a Batling by the arm as it struck at a man and dragging it back.

Carter was driving the Rescue Rover straight at Ghouligan. The monster threw fireballs at him, and one sent the car skidding to the side. Before Carter could do anything, Ghouligan threw him out of the Rescue Rover and into a light pole. He wasn't the only one in trouble.

Jane saw Joel take a hit and double over, Kelsey thrown into a stair railing, Dana in the grip of several Batlings, Lucretzia being thrown hard to the ground and Chad struck in the face. Then a Batling foot slammed into her side, and she lost her balance and fell down.

"They're too strong for us," Carter said into his communicator, wincing in pain.

"Rangers, use your morphers," Captain Mitchell said. Everyone heard and nodded.

Standing up, the seven strode towards Ghouligan, ignoring their new bruises.

"Hey, you, with the hot temper! If you want to destroy Mariner Bay, then you'll have to go through us first," Carter shouted at the monster. They formed a line in Ghouligan's path.

"Gladly!" Ghouligan replied, as the Batlings came to his side.

"Ready?" Carter said, raising his morpher. Jane and the others nodded their heads, doing as he did.

"Lightspeed Rescue!" All of them shouted, crossing their wrists in front of them and grasping their morphers. They popped them open, and time seemed to slow down.

Jane was suddenly in what looked like a dark tunnel. She threw her arms out, and a wide orange-and-white shield appeared in front of her. It passed over her, the colors covering her body and forming a Ranger suit. Her silver face guard formed, and then her diamond-shaped visor covered it. And it—felt—incredible.

They all somersaulted over the monster's head, landing on their knees.

"What? Power Rangers?" Ghouligan cried.

"All right!" Carter said. They whirled around and clenched their fists as one. The remaining civilians saw them and began to cheer.

"Wow, it works!" Chad exclaimed, looking at his blue-clad arm.

"It's incredible," Kelsey, the newest Yellow Ranger, cried.

"Cool!" Lucretzia breathed, looking at her White Ranger suit.

"This is just what we needed. Let's get to work, guys." Carter, the Red Ranger (of course), said.

"Hi-ya!" Dana said, crossing her forearms and striking a fighting pose. Jane had always thought she looked good in pink. The others all followed suit—as she'd guessed, she was orange, and Joel was green.

"Batlings, get them!" Ghouligan yelled. With the new power pumping through her body, Jane didn't feel afraid of him anymore.

"Power Rangers, Rescue Ready!" All seven of them shouted, saluting and dropping into fighting stances. They met the Batlings halfway, and in this fight, they mopped the street with them. Of course, the Rescue Blasters now holstered on their hips helped. Red lasers took out Batling after Batling, with a shower of sparks following each hit. Dana discovered that the Blasters had a baton mode, and quickly crossed swords with the Batlings.

"Hey, over here!" Carter shouted to Ghouligan.

"You're toast!" The demon shouted, throwing another fireball at Carter, but the Red Ranger ducked. The Batlings were gone. Chad, Dana and Jane somersaulted to Carter's side, firing at Ghouligan at once. The demon fell into a heap of debris.

As Joel, Lucretzia and Kelsey joined them, guns at the ready, the monster sat up with a moan. The seven Power Rangers raised their guns—Dana and Chad doing it lefty style—and Ghouligan regained his feet.

"Ready! Aim!" Carter shouted.

"You ain't got the guts!" Ghouligan taunted.

"Fire!" Carter shouted. The seven Rangers shot at the demon, swinging around and twirling their guns as he exploded. The city was safe again. For now.

"Lightspeed, Power down!" they shouted, their morphs fading in a flash. Everyone staggered a little, tired from the fight.

The civilians, some of whom had gathered to watch the fight, mobbed them. Everyone was shouting and cheering. Jane grinned like an idiot, but luckily, she wasn't the only one.

Back at the Aquabase, the technicians and scientists were just as happy as the civilians. The seven Power Rangers moved incredibly slowly to HQ, as various people came to shake their hands, clap or even just look at the newest team of Power Rangers. Only Joel was completely at ease, walking backwards and talking to his captive audience. Finally, though, they reached Rescue Ops, and the noise died down as Captain Mitchell stepped forward.

"Sure no problem, I'll show you the moves," Joel said, his voice standing out with the chatter gone. Dana and Jane had already stopped, and he backed right into them. He turned and stood at attention with the rest of the team.

"There is the time to celebrate," Captain Mitchell said, "But this is not it. You see, now Diabolico knows that you exist. You think this fight was tough? Just wait."

"Sir, we just destroyed Diabolico. Didn't we?" Kelsey piped up.

"No, that was just one of his monsters," Dana and Jane's dad said, to everyone's dismay.

"It was Ghouligan," Jane said, and froze as she felt everyone's eyes on her. "I-I've been studying the demons," she said, and looked down at her feet.

"If you want to defeat him, then you've got a lot of work to do. We all do," Captain Mitchell said.

Dana and Jane snapped to attention and saluted. The technicians and military personnel followed, and after a second, so did Carter, Chad, Kelsey, Lucretzia and Joel.

Please Review. This is a rewrite using Third-Person