This team of five heroes knew nothing of their own legacy. Almost nine years earlier I had made a promise to earth's first defenders, two of whom I counted as my saviors, that I would fight alongside the power rangers as long as I could and as long as there were rangers. It was a promise I'd been having trouble keeping with this group. From what I had seen of them, they'd fallen into the same mental trap as Jason and his friends. They thought I was an innocent bystander and needed protecting. Jason's team were later faced with evidence to the contrary, which they accepted and understood. I made up my mind to change that same misconception deliberately, and a lot sooner.
“Carter?” I said walking up to the red ranger.
“How do you know me?” He replied at once.
“I don't really. I just know you and your friends are power rangers and under any other circumstances, you'd be obliged to take me back to the aqua-base to learn what I knew. Although I'm pretty sure I'll be going there at some point, I'd prefer it to be of my own volition.”
“You apparently don't get it, we're not rangers anymore.” Joel told me in his sardonic tone.
“Not officially, no. But whatever it is that made you rangers in the first place, is something those metal tin-cans will never have. Apparently some things never change.” I looked away.
“What do you mean?” Chad asked me in a sincerely curious voice.
“Those in power always trust the things they can control better than any who can think for themselves, until said control is lost. It is, as a friend of mine once said 'the logic of history'. I remain confident that...well I really have no way of knowing.”
“What are you talking about?” Carter asked me bluntly.
“Well whether you officially become rangers again has as much to do with all of you as it does the cyborgs. While I can't speak to what you ultimately decide, I'm certain the metal-mimics aren't as predictable as the higher-ups think.” I pointed to the high-rises to my left. “Tell Captain Mitchell as much or little about me as you want.” I told them, ready to vanish. “I have something to tell him myself.”
Of course I disappeared before I could explain that one. The most obvious reason was that they had something a bit more pressing to deal with. MY motivation was the simple truth that my message was just for Captain Mitchell. I got back home and sat down to listen to some music and that's when it hit me: there wasn't much time between their meeting with the Cyborgs and the past catching up to Mitchell. If I was to give the captain a warning about the past, before the promise was fulfilled, I had to do it soon. I can't go back so soon after coming home. Traveling anywhere so soon after coming home would be bad enough. Returning to the same set and segment? That just messes with my insides. Also I knew landing there again wouldn't help anything if I didn't have a better idea of what I wanted to say when I got there. Weird thing is, it wasn't three hours later when I found myself in the briefing room at the base.
“Captain Mitchell?” I asked him as though there was any doubt.
“Who are you and how did you get in here?” He asked me curtly.
“My name is Lisa and as long as I have the strength for it, physical as well as willful, I can go anywhere connected to the Legacy of the Power Rangers.” I answered him at once. “But it IS contingent on the rangers themselves letting me in.”
“How do you know of us?” He asked me in a slightly gentler voice.
“I've been alongside different groups of rangers for a long time now. It's the least I can do, to keep a promise. And I feel I should tell you...gosh I don't even know why I'm saying this...A Promise Stands.” He looked concerned for a moment. “I don't know why I say that so please don't ask. Call me back when you figure it out or it comes to fruition.” I passed him a sliver stone, about the size around as my fist. “Of course that offer assumes that you're even alright with my coming back.”
“You're doing this because of a promise?” He said softly. I nodded. “A promise to a friend, I take it?” I nodded again, more slowly. “I won't stop you fulfilling it. Come back when you can.”
“Thank you.” I told him simply. I disappeared again a moment later.
I remember the next time they saw me far more clearly than I should. I was pretty good at not setting off technological alarms. But for some reason I expected more people to be around to physically see me.
“Did you know about him?” Carter asked me as Ryan walked away from the base.
“The promise from Diabolico to Captain Mitchell is what I wanted to talk with him about.” I replied softly. “But if I'm any judge of anything, this is far from the end of his part in this story.”
“Yeah and how would you know about that?” He asked me curtly.
“I only want to talk with you and Captain Mitchell. And I'd prefer answering both of your questions at once. Otherwise there's no point repeating myself or being accused of deliberate omission.”
“You mean that's the best way to avoid such events. Follow me.”
“I'll meet you there.” I answered. I vanished, and showed up in the briefing room seconds later.
“You knew about this, didn't you?” Captain Mitchell asked .
“I knew that there would come a day that a sixth would show up, yes. But if you mean, that night on the bridge...Well, I knew about that too.”
“How could you have? The Lightspeed Rangers didn't exist yet.”
“Because I can see both sides of the equation for one thing. Also, Ryan himself is part of this legacy.”
“You mean he was basically predestined for this?”
“I mean he isn't the first ranger to be freed from a dark cloud over his head. I was never a ranger, but I went through it myself. Like having a dark veil or mask ripped from both my face and eyes. A mask I wore because I assumed I'd fashioned it on of my own free will. Ryan has come back, as himself I mean?”
“...He was back here for a while. He left to find a way to seal the demons back in the cave.”
“This is one part of history that I'm glad repeats itself.” I looked around the room to make sure we were alone. “I'll do what I can. I made my friend a promise and I'll keep it. But helping all of you out, doesn't mean I do anything you suggest. This two-sided coin gives me a particular wisdom...and secrecy.”
“I sincerely hope you're planning on explaining that sometime.” Carter Greyson said from behind me.
“I'll answer any questions you two have, if I at all can. If I shut myself up, please believe I have a good reason to keep silence.” Carter motioned to a chair close to me and I sat down. Captain Mitchell sat down across from me and Carter sat to me left. No one said anything for a few moments.
“What did you think was going on when you walked in just now?” Carter asked me in a calm voice.
“I thought Ryan had left to find out who he was, not left to seal the demons inside the tomb again.”
“What fuels your involvement in the legacy?” Captain Mitchell asked bluntly. “What is the promise you are keeping in the first place?”
I smiled at him and answered at once. “That one is fairly straight-forward. What feels like a very long time ago I helped a group of my friends fight the bad guys. There were five of them. A sixth soon showed up. But his mind was covered in a dark cloud that the other rangers freed him from. This same, sixth power ranger later freed me from this poison darkness of depression that if anyone asked me now I could swear had an external and malicious cause. I can't remember when in their adventures together I actually made my promise. But I gave my word that I'd keep an eye on them and their posterity for as long as I was both physically capable of doing so by my own assertions and permitted to by...your side.”
“You mean our side of the mirror, or our side of the conflict?”Carter Greyson pondered aloud.
“I would find that more than a little creepy if I gave it a chance. I don't mean this conflict at all. I don't need consensus from all six of you...just the two of you.” I said indicating the leader and the director.
“Why is that, exactly?” they said a breath apart from each other.
“You, Captain Mitchell are their mentor, and Carter is the leader in the field...in the world in general. I'm not entirely sure I like either of you. But I am kind of required to trust you, rely on you.”
Captain Mitchell sighed loudly. “What did you mean by 'both sides of the equation'?”
“...Any-thing having to do with this legacy...on either side of the conflict.” I told him slowly. “I'm not foolhardy enough to actually go there. But it does come to my mind every now and again.”
“The skull cavern, you can see into that place?” Carter was obviously surprised, and a little eager.
“I can, but I tend not to. Honestly I don't like where it takes me on an emotional level, so please don't ask me to for a while.” I replied softly.
Captain Mitchell laughed, almost bitterly. “I can't blame you for that.”
“You're about to vanish again, aren't you?” Carter told me simply.
“Most of what I see is like looking through a mirror, a mirror that reflects *either the Aquabase or the Skull Cavern. I can't line them up. Even if I figured that out, I feel like I would be giving you an unfair advantage. You don't need me pushing the clock forward, I won't be that much of a vigilante creep.”
“Another 'all in good time' scenario.” Captain Mitchell said in a defeated voice.
“Maybe I'm wrong but shouldn't your victory be your own, and in your own good time?” I told them both bluntly. “I have no doubt you'll prevail. Everyone will do their part. And if I'm right about this, even shifting dynamics within the queen's followers will have their role to play. And no, that's not me seeing into the future or any mess like that. The past two chapters of this legacy were helped, usually unintentionally, by lieutenants withing the supposedly 'pure evil' group they were fighting. I'm here to connect you to your own heritage and if possible to be more of a friend than an ally.”
“And, but, so therefore?” Carter told me coolly.
“Flat out telling you something upon which you will base your answer, instead of letting you discover either this truth or its significance on your own, is not being a friend OR an ally as far as I can tell.”
“I see your point. I agree with your assertion. But is there nothing you can say in consideration of your mission, that can help us with ours?” The captain told me plainly, and almost pleadingly.
“My first group of friends, earth's first power rangers, part of their experiences are reflected in Ryan. You can probably guess which aspect I refer to. I was closer to Andros' team than to even that group. Andros was a space ranger who taught four formerly Earth-bound rangers new tricks and new powers. Some of their most consistent enemies became/were revealed as their dedicated allies. Something which is rearing its head in this struggle. I can safely, though not with 100% assurance say things are working the way they should, without any input from me beyond what I already stated. That being the case, I better shut up.”
“You've said and done more than we could've asked.” Captain Mitchell told me in a pleasant voice.
A moment later I could FEEL my eyes growing to the size of grapefruits. “Oh my GOD! I can't tell you what's happening in the cavern. Even were I capable of it I would be taking your victory, your self-worth from you. So don't wait up for it. It's a personal belief of mine that Ryan's mission to seal the demons away, as opposed to trying to defeat them one by one was not only a good idea when he made it, but ends up helping out a lot when things come closer to full circle. But that's just me and I couldn't explain it very well anyway.”
“Don't fake this.” Carter said plainly, coldly.“ Even I can see you are not as unsure as you sound.”
“You're right, I'm not.” I said chuckling. “But until things come full circle, you'll have to continue your own lives and your mission, without constantly wondering what's going on in the skull cavern. Eventually those two worlds will collide, believe me. But I'm not a fighter in the strictest sense.”
“I'm sorry what does that...” Carter began.
“I am part of this struggle. I am in this fight as far as striving against the bad guys. But things are very different, than when I met up with Jason's team. I have changed much since Zordon was your...their mentor. I will not physically fight. I want you to count me as an ally. I want the same things you do and I am definitely working for the same goal. I must achieve this same end on my own course. I cannot join your struggles if it means actually doing martial arts around innocents. I draw a distinction between being part of a struggle and being part of a fight for the self-same reason.
“I can't blame you for that.” Carter Grayson assured me. “I respect the integrity of your decision.”
“You...never actually told me your name.” Captain Mitchell said passively.
“Lisa Weaver. Some people call me 'Sophie' I never got why. I'm not wise, smart or brainy. If I had a nickname, if I gave myself a name that I chose to me called they would call me 'Miri'....It implies a child's wisdom: unbiased and incomplete.” I vanished from their sights moments later. The first thing I did when I found myself back home was to lay on the couch and close my eyes.
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