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With the year coming to a close, several Angel Grove University students are linking up downtown to celebrate New Years Eve. Celebrations primarily consist of hanging out on the strip, grabbing a few drinks, and listening to some live music. Needless to say, it is extremely crowded in downtown Angel Grove.

Right off the shore there's a concert stage going on with various local acts coming up to perform different sets. Along the side are a row of food trucks, boasting multiple cuisine options. Having already taken off work ahead of time, Andre is meeting up with Ji-Su and Jackson, two of his classmates from a class in a previous semester, to grab a bite at the food truck area seeing as how Ji-Su (surprisingly) didn't bring any snacks with her and Jackson doesn't have any extra pizzas from his job.

Finally for a change, Mila doesn't have her nose in a history book and is enjoying the concert with a new acquaintance she met not too long ago, Hana. Hana is new to Angel Grove and is hoping that attending the New Year's festivities is a perfect opportunity to break out of her shell. What better person to assist in doing that than a cheerful person like Mila?

The evening was supposed to be a fun, relaxing environment... but what happens once there's a terrible explosion on the stage and random creatures begin to harass civilians?

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Andre was just thankful to be able to get out of the house.

The GENESIS Warehouse job that he had been working for a little over two years was beginning to take a toll on him. The pay was great, the benefits were even greater, but the work hours were long and exhausting. A student at Angel Grove University, Andre was studying to become a teacher which was a little bit more than he bargained for. Having to complete practicum hours during the day with classes filled with 30+ students and then going into the warehouse at night was a challenge... but he made it happen. On top of looking after his two younger sisters Ava and Nyla, Andre was beginning to wonder where the hell did this capability of carrying such a heavy burden came from? He had to give himself some credit, but that didn't stop him from feeling fatigued at times.

Fortunately for him, in preparation for the New Year's Eve festivities, Andre had a few days to himself where he slept and rested at his apartment prior to December 31st. The holidays were just about rapping up and he was in need of some time to hang out with his friends. He, Ji-Su and Jackson had grown into a bit of an unlikely trio of sorts, each of the three coming from different backgrounds but somehow managing to make things work amongst them. Before this arrangement, Andre hadn't made any friends at AGU due to his work schedule, but the way fate would have it, he stumbled upon a daredevil pizza guy and a perpetual snacker. And here he was, the warehouse worker. Again, an odd grouping... but they made it work.

Andre was the first of the three to arrive at the food truck area, lingering towards the back of the crowd and occasionally checking his phone to provide them with his location. The great thing about Angel Grove was that it was never too cold during the winter time, but cool enough to dress comfortable. He was sporting a dark wash denim jacket with mustard colored crewneck underneath and tan chinos that tapered down into a pair of Pollen Jordan 1s.

I swear you two would be late to your own funeral.

Which reminds me: Ji-Su, what sort of bags of chips do you want at your grave, yo?

A few short moments later after his message to their group chat, Andre was pleased to see that the two of them finally showed up. Dapping up Jackson and then giving Ji-Su a fist bump, Andre nodded his head in the direction of the naturally forming line at the nearest food truck, leading the trio towards it.

"I dunno if it's just me, but I feel like it's way more crowded this year than last year," Andre quipped, lifting a brow as he surveyed the area. There was a dramatic increase in incoming students now that he thought about it, but never did he think the numbers would rise like this. Not that he was on campus anyway, but it was a clear sign that something positive was going on in Angel Grove and at the local university. Maybe he would consider taking more in-person classes now. As the line slowly began to move, from behind them there were blaring police sirens followed by duo cop cars zooming down the street, honking their horns to encourage people to get out of the way. "More people, more problems I guess..." Andre huffed, looking from Jackson to Ji-Su. There had also been a weird uptick in crime and just... strange things happening. Minor explosions, an increase in unidentifiable homicides... it was weird. But it was Angel Grove.

"Just six months into this internship and I'm gonna be fired... ugh..." Charlie mumbled to herself as she settled into the backseat of her Uber.

Adjusting her glasses on her face, Charlie lifted a dainty hand to massage her forehead, hoping to alleviate the ensuing headache. Today had been a long day. Really, every day had been long ever since the GENESIS lab assistants managed to concentrate the energy captured from the Morphin Grid into five crystalized forms. Elizabeth Thorne, Charlie's boss, made it a point that they needed to locate five users for these new powers, but she was resistant in locating people outside of the trust of GENESIS. Several attempts to partner the Power Crystals with GENESIS representatives were met with complete and utter failure or a dangerous physical reaction that got swept under the rug. You couldn't sue GENESIS for something you signed up for.

"It would appear that the Crystals will only bond with people that they trust with this immense power," Dr. Ogden had told her a few weeks ago. "I'm not sure a person of a business mindset will understand the emotional connection of that. Charlie... This is your new assignment: locate five worthy people to possess these Power Crystals. For some reason... I have a good feeling."

Weeks later and Charlie was still trying to find the five worthy people to wield the Crystals. She would be lying if she said that she didn't try one of the colorful Crystals on herself, but that only resulted in a nasty burn mark on her hand that was still recovering based on the tightly taped up hand that she had. Whenever she or the other lab assistants that were actually getting paid worked with these Crystals, they had to wear protective gear. It was worth a shot.

The Uber was directed to take her to her apartment, but there appeared to be a situation going on at the four-way intersection. Several cop cars were closing off a section of the area with a hefty amount of smoke and remnants of fire building up from a considerable distance away. The straight away path was the quickest way to get to Charlie's apartment, but there was no way of getting there.

"I'll just get out and walk. Don't worry: I'll leave you a five-star review," Charlie said with a hint of impatience in her tone. Straightening up her olive green bomber jacket over her body and pulling down the beanie over her ears, Charlie walked down the sidewalk towards the area to see if she could at least make it past the officers, but now they were bringing out the police tape.

"Ma'am, we're gonna need you to stay on this side of the street," one of the officers informed, holding out his hand as the other officers continue stretching out the tape.

Furrowing her brows, Charlie stopped short of crossing the tape, gesturing to the other side of the street. "But the only way to my apartment is literally down this street."

"Kid... what are you, 18? Can you even afford an apartment in this economy?" the officer said with a chuckle. "Listen, we're in the middle of a potentially dangerous situation and just wanna keep you and the other Angel Grove citizens safe. Do yourself a favor and go enjoy the New Years Eve festivities, alright?"

Clinching the bag over her shoulder, Charlie winced from the pressure of her bandaged hand. If there was one thing that she hated it was being referred to as a kid. She didn't spend most of her teenage years at Angel Grove University studying various STEM-based subjects to be disrespected like this. Hell, she hadn't been a kid in years.

"Fuck you," she mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes before turning on her heels to head down the narrow street that led towards the shore where there was music being played. The officer had said something moments after her departure, but Charlie disregarded it. Glancing down at her watch, she noticed that it was about 15 minutes until midnight. She was exhausted and wanted to sleep, not socialize with drunk people. "It won't hurt to find something to eat until this gets cleared out..."

As she walked, Charlie was unaware that the Crystals that were lightly clanging in her bag from the slightest of movements were feebly beginning to glow as she headed towards the crowd of people. The way that her backpack was slightly zipped opened allowed anyone from behind and on the left side of her to see that there was something inside glowing a multitude of colors.

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She found Angel Grove was a completely different change of pace and style in comparison to the small sleepy town boarding the forest she had grown up in. It was quicker in many ways, still friendly but there was no denying it was a true California city. Heck, the festival just proved people came to party as well as enjoy and knew how to let go from their everyday lives. She understood why this appealed to her mother even though the other denied that this was part of the reason she settled here and wouldn’t clearly state how she had met her new husband who had come as a package deal. Either way, the downtown area was a bubble of warm lights, fabulous sights, sounds, smells, and full of cheer as people explored the various food trucks or danced to the free music while waiting for the countdown to occur. Hana felt herself smile at the chaotic mess of bodies from her bench as she sat watching the joyous festivities in full swing while munching on a carnitas street taco. She hadn’t planned to come to the festival but was glad that her mind had been changed due to the invitation from Mila. The woman had put up some fantastic points and arguments in the cafe when she tried to shakily explain she didn’t want to be a bother to her but with the tempting opportunity to at least make a one friend, one who was kind enough to invite her out without even really knowing her and one who insisted she wouldn’t be a bother, it was hard to resist so she had caved.

Sitting here now, she was actually having a nice time and had no regrets even with the vast crowd gathered. Hana heard more than saw Mila return from her adventure to the pizza truck, offering her a drink which she instantly reached out to take and cupping it in both of her hands with a shy smile. ”N-No, that’s okay. T-Thank you for getting this for me, that w-was sweet of you. I was about to get one myself anyway.”, she answered, playing lightly with the tab of the can as she tried to keep her nervous fingers busy. The blare of sirens startled her, making her grip the side of the can a little tighter as her attention shot in the direction of the pasting police cars flying by. She hoped it wasn’t anything serious again but then again, it was New Year’s Eve and people tended to do some pretty stupid things, curtesy of drinking a few more spirits than was necessary in their celebration. It sadly also brought about many worse accidents sometimes which was the major concern for her. Listening to Mila’s explanation of the situation, she hesitantly nodded before adding nervously, ”Y-Yeah, I hope so. I-I mean I d-don’t hope so but I hope it’s nothing worse than that.”

Hana blushed in embarrassment, wanting to just slap her own face every time her mouth opened so she quickly cracked open her drink and chugged, not even caring what the beverage was. Anything that could stop her for a moment from spewing words would be best. "Do you want to get closer to the stage? Wait, better question: how are you doing? Having fun, right? I told you it wouldn't be so bad."
Her fingers reached up to lightly press to her lips after she gulped down the last bit as she couldn’t talk with her mouth full, praying not to hiccup from downing a nice amount of a carbonated drink in a short time. She nodded enthusiastically before taking a deep calming breath just in case. ”I-I’m okay, t-thanks for asking. I’ve never seen a festival q-quite like this so I’m having a lot of fun. I-It’s very different but I’m glad you talked me into coming! It’s definitely not so bad.”, she replied before dumping away her trash. Hana nervously shuffled her feet, her fingers tapping on the sides of her thigh like a piano as she debated on the answer about the stage before getting a determined look on her features, lightly grabbing Mila’s wrist with the softest of pulls. ”Let’s get closer! Come on!”, Hana exclaimed excitedly with a dazzlingly bright smile.

“Yo, is the quesadilla truck here? I wanna get a triple threat.” Ji-Su suggested, looking at the long lines winding from the different trucks. “You’d think shrimp, steak, and chicken would be kinda wild if you stuffed it all in one quesadilla, but I hear it’s pretty fire!” Ji-Su was getting herself a little excited as she talked about one of her main passions in life: food.

At her question about the quesadilla truck, Jackson let out a loud “hmm” noise as he looked around. “I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s here somewhere.” When she mentioned the combo, Jackson could literally picture it and knew he just had to have that triple threat. “I need that in my belly right now! And I got like..50 bucks to spend. Not sure how much y’all do, but I think I can take care of us all. I told Dre not to worry, but if not, then he can cover the rest--” Jackson let himself glance over at Andre, a somewhat mischievous grin on his face as he nudged Andre, “--right, buddy?”

Scoffing and waving off Jackson, Andre replied, "Pffft... I don't get paid until Thursday. You're paying for all of us, Jack." Of course, he had some money in his pocket in case he needed to cover the rest of it. Food trucks originally started off cheap in terms of pricing, but their popularity at events like this one, especially on New Year's Eve, allowed owners to increase their prices exponentially. People had to eat and the convenience of proximity was going to be even more of a motivator for people like the three of them to spend money. "Let's get in line before they run out of it though. We got about.. fifteen minutes before the countdown."

As the trio banded together in the line, thankfully it began to move as quickly as they got into the line. Apparently, making your favorite Mexican dish wasn't so difficult to do in an efficient amount of time. The three of them were standing side by side as the guy at the front called them up to place their order. Three "All-in-Ones" was supposed to be the move, but there was a sudden disruption that caused everyone in line to turn their heads in the direction behind them. A woman's siren-like scream alerted the other citizens that something crazy had just happened, followed by a small explosion from a few buildings back off the coast. A faint orange light indicated fire as thick smoke ascended upward towards the dark sky. What the hell was going on?

The moment Andre turned his attention towards the food truck, his eyes looked forward and then lifted upward to the numerous amount of beige-colored creatures that wielded lances with what appeared to be steel claws at the ends of them standing on top of each of the food trucks. The crowd behind the trio dispersed into all sorts of directions as one of the humanoids lifted the weapon and slammed it against the top of the food truck, ripping it open and stirring up another fire from the cooking area.

"I guess no quesadillas for us..." Andre humored, taking a step back to protect himself, but wondering what exactly was going on and who the hell these creatures were. Another explosion from behind them had people running from the streets and back onto the concert area, seemingly being trapped between the two areas with no where to go.

By now, there were dozens of the Bechats as they were called, climbing over the destroyed row of food trucks and gaining slowly on any and every person here with a pulse. Lances were pointed dangerously in the direction of the trio as Andre backed away slowly, holding his hands up.

"Look, bruh... I'm just here because I wanted a quesadilla, yo. If you got beef with somebody else, then take that up with them. Not us." Andre's words were futile; in fact, they only proved to upset the Bechat that was facing him as the other took their own turn of individually going for Ji-Su and Jackson.

Across the way, the concert had been overrun by Bechats as well with the group of them lining up, Lances extended to push the crowd back towards where the food truck area was. It wasn't long before Hana and Mila were clumped together in a crowd of people that were being cornered by the weapon-holding warriors. One person was brave enough to charge at the creature full-on, but was swept at the feet and lifted up off the ground by scooping the claw portion of the lance before being tossed airborne across the way with a thud on impact. Whether or not the people wanted to get away, it was going to be a fight.

"Y'all are really about to get my shoes dirty huh?" Andre quipped nervously, jumping up when a Bechat tried to sweep his legs. Seeing an opening, he quickly grabbed at the handle and tried to overpower it, pulling it upward and applying pressure to try and make it stumbled backwards. Instead, he was kneed in the gut, which dropped his face enough to receive a thwack in the jaw with the butt of the weapon. Andre's body tussled backwards as he stumbled into the sand, coughing for a moment to catch his breath as a minor stream of blood poured down from a scratch on his cheek. "Shit... that hurt..." he mumbled, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand and seeing the blood. "And now I'm bleeding... well this is embarrassing..."

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A woman’s scream sharply pierced over the joyous noise created by the festivities, the music from the band instantly dwindling away mid song as multiple people in the crowd paused, glancing around in curiosity to see what was happening over near the food trucks. She felt herself flinch, the distinct sound of an explosion happening in the distance causing her to turn her attention in that direction for a split second and watching a plume of smoke filter into the night sky like a bad omen. It was for this very reason that she missed the beige clad beings first emerging, interrupting what should have been a wonderful occasion. In turn, it caused people to panic, desperately trying to flee the scene and unfortunately for some, meant they were getting shoved together into a pile and trapping a few in this dangerous situation. Hana felt the grip on her wrist, gasping a bit in surprise as she was moved behind Mila and protected a lot of the chaos around them at the moment. "Hana, RUN!"

”W-Wait, what about you?!”, she insisted worriedly, not planning on being a coward or a damsel in distress though she wasn’t sure how much she could do. She could do a bit to defend but she had never really applied much to fighting, much more a lover than a fighter. That much evident when one brave soul from the crowd went to rush forward to charge, only to everyone’s horror as they were swept off their feet and tossed as if nothing. Hana rushed to the person’s side, not caring if she was going to be noticed or in the crossfire doing so to check on them. Luckily, they didn’t seem too harmed but they would definitely feel it in the morning. ”Are you alright? Can you get up?!”, she asked, waiting for them to reply that they thought they were okay before helping them get up. ”Please be careful.”, she softly, watching them go for a moment before working to try and get other people to safety or at least moving them in the right direction while other people joined the fight.

She noticed one of them was Mila and quickly tried to rush to her to help since two is always better than one, only to run straight into one of their aggressors, lance pointed at her as she was forced backwards. Hana looked around for options, panic rising rapidly as she didn’t have time to think of a plan, the weapon jutting out viciously at her and causing her to have to react by swiftly jumping back, barely being missed as she stumbled. She quickly darted to the side as it went to slam the butt end of the lance to her head, wincing as it hit her part of her shoulder instead but she bit back the pain, climbing onto one of the picnic tables and went to tackle the being but it didn’t go down. Hana didn’t let that stop her, locking her arm around its neck and holding on tight, praying that since it was a humanoid form then maybe it would need to breathe too. It struggled in her grasp, trying to reach behind at her to get her off as she leaned away which applied more pressure. Unfortunately, she was so focused on the one enemy that she had not been prepared for a second one who roughly snagged her and tossed her harshly away. She rolled along the ground, curling as much as she could to protect herself but feeling pretty scraped up.

She weakly pushed herself up with her good side, glancing between the two as one started advancing in her direction. Hana scooted back as best as she could to create some distance, not able to get up as she got a sudden kick to the stomach which caused her to curl and lay on her side. She coughed, gripping her stomach tightly and just glad the beings attention had turned elsewhere by different fights breaking out close by. She groaned, wanting to get up to assist more people who were also on the ground but she couldn’t find it in her to get up just yet. She took a few deep wheezing breaths, closing her eyes tight and gritting her teeth as she pushed herself up weakly but more hunched over. Her shoulder ached and she held her middle as she shakily headed to see how her friend was. Hana only stopped for a moment, pulling out a colorful bandaid from her pocket and holding it out for a guy who had a bleeding cut from his cheek. ”H-Here.”, she said softly, not waiting for him to take it before taking hold of his hand and placing it in his palm before slowly making her way to Mila. Once reaching the other woman, Hana carefully crouched down and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. ”Mila, a-are you okay? D-Do you need help getting up?”

Somehow, in an effort to fight back against these random humanoids, Andre was realized that, unlike some of the other civilians that took off running for safety, he was still there along with a few other people. There were two more girls that arrived on the scene with one of them that was tending to the blonde that just got knocked over. Jackson wasn't too far from Andre when he got knocked over, so he went over to lend a hand, lifting up his curly haired companion. And then there was Ji-Su... who was content to just lay there after also getting her ass handed to her. Andre couldn't say that he didn't blame her for playing opossum. Maybe these guys would leave them alone if they all played dead.

"Get up, Ji-Su," Andre quipped in the heat of the moment, reaching down to pull up the third member of their trio shortly after giving Jackson some support as well. With the five of them struggling to their feet and facing an incoming group of Bechats, it appeared that all hope was lost. Now, the attention of the creatures was solely on them with carnage in background. Stirred up fires and clouds of smoke shrouded the battlefield, but Andre was determined to at least survive. They had tried to fight for so long that they may as well go down swinging. "What should we do here guys?" he asked, including to the newcomers Mila and Hana.

Schwooooom!

Emerging from the thick smoke were five crystals, each with its own respective color. The crystals seemed to work together in ricocheting off the group of Bechats, stirring up a mini explosion and sending them back before flying in the direction of the group of five people who showed enough bravery to fend off the threat as best as they could.

Moments later, Charlie emerged from the smoke, scorched backpack in hand from where the Power Crystals zipped out of it. "No way..." she mumbled, stopping in place to see the Red Power Crystal floating in front of Jackson, the Yellow Power Crystal floating in front of Andre, the Green Power Crystal floating in front of Mila, the Blue Power Crystals floating in front of Ji-Su and the Pink Power Crystal Floating in front of Hana. "We... I... found the Rangers?" she said to herself, a bit louder.

By now, the Bechats had recovered from the attack via the Power Crystals, but they were a bit more skeptical about this new threat.

"The Power Crystals have chosen you five," Charlie said loudly to get the attention of the group. "There's no turning back from this point if you choose to accept it."

Andre furrowed his brows as he listened to Charlie and then proceeded to turn his head to the floating and glowing Yellow Power Crystal in front of him. "Hey... if I fought these things without whatever this is, I'll take my chances..." Reaching out with his left hand, Andre grasped the Crystal causing it to instantly phase with his body. An overwhelming energy coursed through his veins as a bright yellow light warped around his left write before dulling out to reveal an intricate new device on it. "What the..." he murmured, lifting his hand to observe what appeared to be... a touch screen watch?

"That... is your Power Morpher. It allows you to access the Morphin Grid to transform into a Power Ranger," Charlie replied, somewhat proudly since she had worked on this project for so long with Dr. O. To see the fruits of their labor in real time was... satisfying.

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Hana felt her cheeks heat up at the unexpected comment or maybe it was a compliment from Mila but either way she was left a bit speechless and stumbling to even find words. She took a few tries, opening and closing her mouth before she ended up clearing her throat while slightly turning her face away to cover up her embarrassment. ”I-I’m not so sure about the b-badass part but I think I’m okay. Just kinda banged up.”, she answered, lightly holding her shoulder even though she knew it wouldn’t be much help against the pain. She forced herself to smile back, happy that the other woman seemed okay for the most part and was staying strong in the face of danger. She wasn’t the only one of course which had her turning her attention back to the other three that were still sticking around with them.

She planned to speak to the others but the second it looked like Mila was going to stand, she quickly reached out to help her even though the action instantly made her regret doing so as her shoulder protested. Hana stuck close to her as they made their way over, making sure to be ready to catch Mila if needed, a new feeling of concern blooming as she noticed blood on her arm while helping the girl on the ground to stand. The sudden flash of colors was startling, causing her to flinch and close her eyes for just a moment but when she nervously opened them, all she was met with was a floating pink crystal. She felt drawn to it in a way, like it was meant for her. She reached out her hands, cupping them just underneath the floating crystal without touching it and just staring wide eyed in fascination. This whole situation was getting more and more bizarre.

"There's no turning back from this point if you choose to accept it."

Was she sure she wanted to? Hana watched the others, for a moment before she became determined, closing her hands around the crystal. Instantly, she felt relief as a rush of power flowed through her and dulled the pain she was experiencing before. A new watch-like device now encompassed her wrist and by the looks of things she wasn’t the only one that had the new accessory. Normally, she would have taken time to fully check out the device but Hana turned her attention to more pressing matters. ”Agreed, I don’t want any more people to get hurt. I think payback is definitely in order to teach these brutes a lesson.”

One moment, Andre had come to terms that this moment would be the end of his time on Earth. Who was going to take care of his two little sisters? Would the news talk about how he went out a hero? Was it selfish to want to actually protect everyone who was out here on New Years? But all of those thought soon vanished with the emergence of a relatively short woman and the synchronization of a mysterious crystal and his body. Everyone was observing the new devices on their wrist simultaneously now with the Bechats looking somewhat hesitant at their enemies being provided with a newfound power. A momentary glow with each person's respective colors emanated from the circular screen of the Power Morpher before subsiding.

Charlie's hazel eyes glanced over at the opposition, the smoke from both sides of the battlefield rising above a quickly spreading fire. The Rangers needed to work quickly before things got out of hand. The morph sequence wasn't something that could simply be figured out on the fly; there was training that needed to be done along with some sort of teaching as well, but Charlie didn't feel qualified for that. If they could somehow survive this battle, Dr. O would be the best person for the job when it came to educating this team about who and what they were now. Between the Bechats sprinting forward now and the Rangers witty comments, Charlie only had one thing to say:

"Focus, guys!"

Glancing up from his Power Morpher, Andre's eyes widened as a Bechat came at him with one of its lances. Before, he was responding and reacting on his own power... but now? He felt an electrical jolt of energy coursing through his body and guiding him with fluid movements. It was like taking a test, but knowing all of the answers to it beforehand... along with actually studying.

Ducking out of the way of the lance, he gripped the staff portion of it and yanked it, sending the Bechat down to its back and then shoving the lance through its torso, causing it to explode in a bright, gray light. "Yooo... what the fuck!?" Andre hollered with brightened eyes. Technically, he had just killed the thing, but somehow watching this intergalactic creature implode upon impact was satisfying. He didn't feel bad about ending a creature that had caused so much damage right into the New Year.

The Bechats swarmed in a manner that forced the group of five to separate with from one another. When Andre finished off one of the humanoids, he looked up and realized that he was back to back with Jackson while the girls were a few feet away handling their own Bechat problem. "You feelin' hella powerful all of a sudden, Jack?" Andre asked, ducking out of the way of another attack of a Bechat, grabbing it by the wrist and then hurling it into Jackson's direction so that he could finish off the double team attack.