Lost Heaven

[Scales]

This fanfic really is my foray into Power Rangers fandom. I had to do a lot of work (and I mean a lot) drafting out and doing research on it's fandom.

Like most of my fanfics this one a mixture of both an entirely different story and a crossover. It may be different from most PR fanfics you have read. I have to emphasis this but this fanfic DOES take place in Power Rangers canon (or really Power Rangers fandom if I want to get technical). Though I don't make this prevalent until much later in the story. I do slip it in at certain points, like here during the prologue.

This fanfic is split off into 4 ACTS. ACTS separate certain story Arcs within the plot line.

LOST HEAVEN

ACT 1: Light in Darkness

Prologue

Adrian Carter edged himself into the drivers seat of his car very slowly. He closed his door and checked to see if he forgot anything. Before putting his keys into the ignition. Adrian adjusted his mirror, then his seat belt before finally turning the vehicle on. As he felt his dashboard rumble, his hand reached for his gears.

Adrian edged the car into drive and slowly drove out of the parking lot he was in. He checked for other cars before going onto the nearby highway. Adrian flicked on his lights and looked all around his point of view. He slowly merged towards the left lane and finally hit a red light. As soon as he stopped Adrian flicked on his car radio

"... locking down the school. In other news in the town of Mariner Bay the Lightspeed Rescue Power Rangers lead by Carter Grayson managed to..." Adrian quickly turned off the radio and yawned. He was too tired to pay attention to any Power Ranger crap. For him, it was either to boring or to stupid to pay any attention to.

He snapped into focus as he pulled into his apartment complex's garage. He drove through various isles before finding his pre-set spot. As he drove his vehicle into his parking spot, he sighed.

"... I don't care if you take your stuff out. Just do it NOW!" Memories of the past slowly trickled back into his brain. He shuddered slightly as he unbuckled his seat belt. Adrian closed his car door and walked over to the other side of his car. He ran his hand down a long scratch on his passenger side door.

~~5 minutes later~~

A loud clicking noise echoed throughout Adrian's apartment. The lock on his door shifted into a different position as it opened. Adrian slowly closed the door behind him and locked it. Then spun around to the rest of his apartment.

Much of the original furniture was gone. All taken away by her, away from him. He walked into the bathroom, noticing the small ornaments she used to leave lying around were also gone. Adrian chuckled slightly as he reached for his toothbrush.

Adrian caught a glance at his appearance in his bathroom mirror. He smiled back at himself as he looked at his face. Adrian's jawline was rather receded, yet still kept it's sharp look to it. His forehead was rather wide and short, leaving some of his hair covering it. Underneath his hair were his dark blue eyes. One of which had several dark rings underneath it. While his other eye had brown rings, this other one was pitch black. The eye was bloodshot, giving the effect of a demon. Adrian ran his hand through his dark blond hair as he touched his hairline. As he brushed his teeth he caught a glance at his mouth. Adrian's mouth wasn't that wide, yet his lips gave off the effect that he enjoyed talking.

Adrian quickly finished brushing his teeth. Noticing his sink had red water going down the drain now. He washed his hands slowly and then dried off. Adrian wore a grey collar button down shirt, which now looked very worn and broken in. He recalled getting it less then a few hours ago... with her. He took his cellular phone out of the pocket of his jeans and checked his messages. He smiled at one, then placed it back into his pockets.

Adrian slipped off his high tops and walked towards his couch. He sat down on it and relaxed slowly.

"Come on... lets go..." the scream was shrill and loud. He shook his head several times and touched his blackened eye. Adrian laughed to himself slowly before getting up. He walked to his bedroom, noticing it was perfectly clean and untouched. He undressed and began to sleep.

[Scales]

Chapter 1: In the beginning

Adrian didn't know what woke him up the first time around. His alarm blared out a continuous beeping sound. The sound felt piercing to his ears. As if the entire fiber of his being was torn apart by that continuous beeping. His hand reached for the alarm but failed several times. It always fell short and landed on his bedside table. Finally on his third try he hit the off button on his alarm.

Adrian didn't get up immediately. The relaxed feeling he had was too good to leave. His entire body was in perfect harmony for once. Everything was as it should be; calm, peaceful, tranquil. Any combination of those. The Trails and Tribulations of yesterday seemed a faded memory. Only accessible in the mystery that was nightmares.

At around 9:45, a full 10 minutes since he turned off his alarm. Adrian finally rose from his bed. After yawning and taking a few minutes to stretch he finally got up. Adrian walked out of his bedroom and found himself in the living room. It seemed somehow different then last night. It was probably the lighting, but it looked far more peaceful. As if hundreds of angels took the time to look down upon him. Adrian rubbed his sore eye and soon walked into the bathroom.

Adrian took a short cold shower, moving as brisk as possible to get himself clean. All the while keeping his face directly in front of the shower head. Afterward, Adrian brushed his teeth while combing his hair. Reasonably pleased that some of the swelling had gone down since the night before. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror as he walked out.

He rummaged through his dresser drawers, looking for clothing to wear. He picked out a fresh white T-shirt and slipped it on quickly. Then proceeded to pick up his grey button down from the night before. He spent a minute or so buttoning his shirt as he proceeded to put on his jeans. Adrian slipped on a digital watch hanging on his dresser and proceeded back into the living room. A familiar red light flashed in the corner of his eye. Adrian walked towards it.

*BEEEEP* "You have one new message". Adrian smirked slightly before sitting down in a chair on the side of the answering machine.

"Hey Addy. Listen it is right now...." Adrian heard loud shuffling in the background before it turned silent. "... 5:34. I guess I should have tried your cell. Well call me back." *BEEEP*. Adrian quickly deleted the message before yawning.

~~20 minutes later~~

Adrian's vision slid into focus as he felt warm leather on his skin. His hands were firmly wrapped around his steering wheel. He reached inside his glove compartment and pulled out an all to familiar pair of sunglasses.

"Back in the beginning..." Adrian mumbled as he slid them on. He pulled out of his spot and drove out of the garage. He quickly hit the road and pulled into an intersection.

~~5 hours later~~

"Jeesus he really worked a number on you" Adrian smiled as he walked into the classroom. He had been there almost a hundred times, having the same conversations over and over with the same person. It was his friend Claude Peters. He was a Bio Major at UCLC, the college Adrian was also studying at. UCLC gave reasonable amounts of funding towards it's undergraduates. Unfortunately Adrian didn't really see much of that. Adrian was studying literature and unlike Biology, didn't need as much funding.

"How big did you say he was? Like 6 feet? Your lucky he didn't break you in half." Claude was a husky sort of individual. He had a light french accent behind his thick American. He seemed just a little older then Adrian was. No more then 22 or 23.

"I guess this is a learning experience then for you, eh Adrian?" Adrian felt the temptation to punch him. He could already picture it now. His fist launching itself right for Claude's jaw. His other hand breaking a beaker on the nearby lab table. Taking one of the glass shards and ripping his throat apart like it was taffy. He laughed a little along with Claude, the temptation rising like steam.

"Yeah. Don't get attached." Adrian mumbled under his breath. "So anyway Claude. You told me last week you and your friend from Mexico blew up some..."

~~39 minutes later~~

Professor Foley's room still kept it's musty, library-like smell as Adrian walked in. He sat down with his bag in the middle-right of the room, where he always sat. Adrian only took Archeology since he thought it would be fun. Writing stories about raiding ancient Egyption tombs and the like. Foley was a good all around guy. An ancient old man with a goatee who wore a clip on double Windsor. Adrian commonly doubted he ever learned to tie a tie.

Foley's lesson was dull and dreary as always. It was always about some ruins that he researched on digs in Cambodia. Showing us artifacts he was given on loan from the local museum. Adrian could never go through one class without yawning for several minutes, then losing his concentration. His teaching took something as interesting as Archeology, and turned it into Adrian's freshman Math class again.

Today's class was no exception sadly. As usual Adrian craned his neck around to the other students in the classroom while his back was turned. Some were doing the exact same thing he was, some were day dreaming, some were copying down everything the poor professor said, some were even sitting upright and staring directly at the board like robots. What ever the reasons Adrian commonly found it interesting to look at them.

One particular student sat several chairs to the left of him. Adrian would normally crane his neck to her in particular, but would commonly lose interest minutes later. This particular day was different however. The girl wore her dark red hair down in a straight fashion. Her nice simple, yet unique face was easy to recognize and catch off guard. He always suspected she knew nothing about him. Though in a classroom as crowded as Professor Foley's room obviously she would. She sat near her usual group of friends at their tabe.

"Alice Fletcher." Foley's dark and raspy voice could be heard from the front of the room. The girl stood up and began to speak. Adrian blanked out for several seconds and before he knew it, the class was over.

"Please read chapters 3 and 4. Your test on the Cambodian symbols is next class." As the students prepared to leave I caught my eye on something particularly shiny in the corner of the room. I slowly walked to the front of the class, in front of Foley's desk.

The shiny object was inside what seemed to be a jar. It looked like a miniature full body mirror on a wooden stand. My eyes darted towards what looked like a melted alloy around the reflective glass. My senses darted as I heard a loud noise from behind me.

"Ah Mr. Carter. I see my artifact here intrigues you?" Foley's words caught me off guard. I quickly stood my ground and coughed.

"Uh yeah I guess. What is that?" I asked pointing towards it.

"This is an unknown artifact on loan from the museum. I received a very important assignment to decode the writing on the side. The writing is far to dated to recognize, but it is very intriguing to attempt to do so. I am however making minimal progress." Foley looked disappointed and stared at the ground. I turned my head around and quickly caught eyes with another student.

Brad Winslow was a typical big man on campus. He was in this local fraternity on campus with about 5 other guys. Brad went to the same high school Adrian went to. Over there Brad was a typical cliche stereotype that Adrian commonly ignored. Adrian didn't really understand why Brad of all people, would be interested in Archeology. Yet he was doing far better in the class then Adrian. As Adrian caught eyes with Brad he saw his gaze dart towards Foley, then towards the jar.

Soon after Adrian left Professor Foley's classroom. His right eye began to throb again. Adrian quickly doubled into the nearest bathroom and began to rinse out his eye. Suddenly he heard a loud noise behind him.

"Carter." The sharp voice of Brad Winslow caused Adrian to turn around quickly. "I heard your girl found someone better. Let me guess... trouble in the bedroom." Sharp piercing bursts of wrath flooded Adrian. However he took great lengths not to show it. "What was that old fossil Foley talkin' about with you? It must have been important..." Adrian looked towards Winslow's right hand. Inside his hand was the jar with the miniature mirror. "... since it only took me half a second until his back was turned, then I swiped this old thing." Adrian felt his reflexes challenged as Brad tossed the jar towards him. He caught it with both hands rather easily.

"What do you want Winslow? You don't need to get Foley in trouble with the Museum over this... thing." Adrian held the jar in his left hand.

"Eh I dunno. I like where this is going actually." Winsow's left hand reached toward the bathroom door. As he closed it, Adrian heard a loud *slam*. "So. Lets see whats in it." Adrian backed up slightly but Winslow was to quick. He soon found the jar knocked out of his hands. The jar shattered on the ground very quickly.

"Dumb s....." Suddenly Adrian felt his vision begin to blur. His senses quicken. Something strange was happening. Adrian caught his reflection in the shards of the miniature metal mirror. However something else was happening. Adrian soon felt it difficult to move as his legs felt restricted. Suddenly a dark curtain crept over his eyes, as he blacked out.

Winslow felt rather confused as Adrian vanished in a dark puff of smoke. More surprising was the mirror's disappearance.

[Scales]

Chapter 2: Living in the moment

The dryness of the terrain was the first thing that disturbed him. Not the overall emptiness that surrounded him. Oh no, it was the dry sandy landscape that drifted on beyond him.

Adrian had gotten over the initial shock a few minutes before. Now indifferent thoughts drifted through his mind. He replayed the previous situation with Brad Winslow several times in his head. Then he began walking, confusion still wracked within his brain.

The desert-like landscape just felt far to different for Adrian. He felt like he had a psychiatric embolism and passed out... or something. Nothing began to make sense. The dryness in his mouth, the dust passing by his clothing. It was just too... strange and surreal for him. He fully expected to wake up in some sort of asylum with drawing of cacti on the walls.

Adrian noticed something rather strange in the desert he was now walking through. He spotted a cliff formation a few meters away from when he first opened his eyes. The cliff looked rather jaded and scarred, as if something had happened there. As he ran his hands along the dull, dusty rock he felt a strange ash-like substance rub off on his hands. Something about the rock rubbed him the wrong way. But he quickly sat down in the shade of the rock and began to think.

The logic of the whole situation was thrown out the window. Logic didn't mean jack anymore, nothing previously did. Winslow knocked the mirror out of his hands, and he ended up in the looking glass.

"I wonder if Alice thought about something like this..." The word Alice had a peculiar ring in his mind. He recalled Alice Fletcher in Professor Foley's class. Strange that it was only a few minutes before. Adrian eventually got up from the rock he was sitting under and walked around it. The sun was shining rather bright in the distance. Though he didn't have a compass or anything of the sort. He guessed that it was still morning... wherever he was. A strange thought piqued his interest but he suppressed it.

A strange amount of fatigue gripped Adrian slowly as he stood. He leaned on the rock and began breathing in more dusty air. An unquenchable thirst gripped him as he fell to the ground. The dusty air was to strong for Adrian to suppress.

"Always living in the moment" He mumbled out of his dry breath slowly. It may have been ironic to Adrian, that at his weakest state he noticed something. There was a small speck in the distance, the heat resonating from the ground barely managed to masque it's appearance. Almost at once Adrian got up and began walking ever so slowly. While his thirst still remained, the will to find out what that speck was, was to great.

~~10 minutes later~~

Adrian didn't know what empowered him at the time. In the weeks that followed he would use a simple dismissal or excuse. It is currently known how he managed the walk, but it is known he made it to what the speck was.

The "speck" was really a large building of sorts. It was a square rectangle with several branching squares all around. The entrance Adrian soon found himself at was rather grand and majestic. There appeared to be dozens of steps made out of fine sandstone that lead up to the open doorway. As Adrian walked up these steps his fatigue and thirst seemed to disappear. Now curiosity slowly began to take over.

The entrance lead into a narrow stone corridor. Very little lighting was available, and Adrian soon felt lost and disoriented walking into pure darkness. Yet he soon found the light in the darkness as he pressed on through the corridor. The light grew larger as he soon found himself in a larger room.

Adrian figured the corridor must have lead into one of the square-like rooms he observed earlier outside the structure. The room was much taller then it was wide. As Adrian walked into the small room he caught sight of a basin. Adrian walked toward the basin, noticing there was water inside.

Once he quenched his thirst Adrian checked the wall the Basin was in front of. What appeared to be drawings etched upon it's surface piqued his interest. Adrian ran his finger along a few drawings until he reached a small blank part of the wall. One of the drawings depicted a squiggle-like shape holding a stick. Next to the squiggle was a flying triangle-like shape that was slightly above it. All the drawings were to illegible to make out, indicating they may have been etched there long ago.

The evidence of drawings and a temple-like structure was evidence enough of life. He just needed to find it. Adrian walked back through the corridor he went in previously and soon found himself in another room.

Adrian caught sight of a moving figure within the light. As he walked into the room he quickly shuffled himself towards a pillar near the edge of the room. He was a little shocked by the figures moving around near the middle of the room.

This area was much larger then the square room Adrian was in. It was much wider and taller in length and height. But what really shocked Adrian were the figures walking around. They weren't humans, they were lizards. Tall and wide gecko-like creatures anthropomorphised. Their tails had razor-like scales that eventually sharped towards a long point. Adrian witnessed as they conversed with one another and correlated towards the middle of the room. Something in the middle seemed to be drawing them towards it. Finally one of the Gecko's spoke. As he spoke the rest feel backwards and sat down.

"To the anniversary of the Trans temple. Exactly on this day... six thousand years ago. A covenant was drawn." The Gecko spoke in a stinging-like snarling voice. As if Adrian's ears hurt every time he spoke. The Gecko held in his hand a fine bronze goblet. Adrian figured it must have been hundreds of years old.

"The covenant came with a prophetic hero. One who would draw upon... the Ambrosword" Instantly a fine light shined upon the middle area Adrian conveniently shifted his gaze from. In the middle of the room held a tall stone dias. Conveniently stuck in the center of the dias was a sword. The sword had a fine and simple hilt with a bright silver blade.

"The Ambrosword chooses a champion. One who can take control of the responsibilities, the powers, the entire image of the blade. One who can fully command it's abilities and powers. Every champion since the covenant has been drawn has fallen in battle and proven unworthy for the blade. Now I claim superiority to the rest." Adrian was glad the Gecko finally stopped talking. A small history lesson was getting very boring for him.

The Gecko drank out of his bronze goblet. Adrian watched as the fine red liquid dribbled down his dark green mouth. Then he placed the goblet down and walked closer to the dias. His finely sharpened claws grasped for the hilt and pulled out the blade.

"Now I am one step closer to..." The Gecko had barely enough time to speak before he began screaming. The sword's blade switched to a heavy dark red. Adrian watched as the Gecko's flesh began to start melting away from his skeleton. Until all that remained was the sword. The sword appeared to levitate for a few seconds before quickly finding it's way back into the dias.

The remaining geckos slowly got up and marched in an orderly fashion out of the room. Apparently as if they rehearsed this previously. As the last gecko walked out of the room Adrian darted away from the pillar.

"Christ I feel like I am in a Lovecraft book. Now I am seeing talking lizards." He whispered underneath his breath. Adrian slowly passed by the dias as he walked towards the other wall. He was hopeful that there would be something. Like some sort of instruction as to return back to his world. But the wall was completely bare. As if the entire room was built around this stone dias.

"Perfect. Absolutely nothing of any form of importance..." Before Adrian could finish his sentence he heard a loud shuffle behind him. He spun around quickly to see a pair of Gecko's emerging out of the darkly lit corridor

"Why would he keep..." Adrian had barely enough time to walk away from the wall before the Gecko's noticed him. "What is that?" The leftmost gecko asked the other one. The right gecko shrugged as he walked forward. Both baring their sharp claws on the hands. Both of their dark eyes seemed to grow light yellow.

Adrian walked forward a little slowly. As he did so both Gecko's stopped walking. As he walked forward more the Gecko's backed up. Then he noticed why, they were staring at the "Ambrosword" in the middle of the room. Something about it scared them to death. The act was measuring up better then Adrian imagined. He walked closer to the dias without touching the sword. The image of the agonizing death the Gecko went through before was still in his mind.

Adrian kept his ground for a few minutes until both Gecko's stopped backing up. Eventually they looked into each others eyes and began to walk forward again. Adrian felt a strong sting of fear right behind his eyes. The sharp, reflective claws wielded by the Gecko's too threatening.

Adrian desperate for a form of defense swallowed in his gut and reached for the sword hilt. Strangely something came over him. The previous fear and loathing that he experienced before suddenly disappeared. The sword pulled out very easily from the dias and soon Adrian found it clenched in his right hand. What happened next Adrian couldn't have expected. A blinding flash of light emitted from the sword. He soon found his arm glued to the hilt as it levitated itself above him.

"What is happening?" Adrian said as another flash of light appeared. The sword continued to emit strange light for several seconds until finally Adrian felt something else.

[Scales]

Chapter 3: Turn on the power

The sword glistened while it was clutched within Adrian's hands. At the beat of the final light source Adrian's retinas cried in pain. The light was so bright he had to close his eyes and move his head in the opposite direction. As soon as he did this something occurred. Soon Adrian felt a burning sensation directly on his left wrist. He gasped and was afraid of looking to see a wound.

Eventually Adrian felt his feet touch ground, and soon his heel. Adrian felt the sword's levitating powers disappear and he felt tangible again. Adrian opened his eyes fully and looked at his arm, expecting to see some sort of knife or dagger stuck in it. A souvenir from one of the cowering geckos in the front of the room. Instead what he saw was something completely different.

He moved his arm around as if something burning was on it. Finally he got over his animosity and touched the rectangle-like object that was binded to his left wrist. The rectangle was black in color, with a strange shape on it Adrian could not distinguish. His first guess was a capital A. On the opposite side of the A was a bright blue button that was round in color. Around the button was a bronze ring. With several multicolored smaller rectangle-like buttons. The buttons were red, yellow, blue, pink and orange. Adrian was scared to do anything to the rectangle. Yet he felt compelled to touch it. The Ambrosword in his right hand seemed to resonate; beckon to him. To touch the blue button. Adrian gulped as he rest the sword down and pressed the button with his right hand.

Instantly Adrian felt knocked off his feet. A strange feeling of vertigo came over him. He was almost blinded by multicolored light. What appeared to be a vortex rushed toward and around him. Adrian felt a strange warm blanket enclosing his body. A familiar warmth resonated from the device on his wrist. He felt as if a second skin grew off his body. He barely had enough time before he felt his hands enclosed with something. Eventually he felt something heavy grow around his head. He reached up to feel the outline of a helmet. Soon his vision was obscured by a black visor. Adrian felt blinded until the visor suddenly turned transparent, as if to comply with his thoughts.

Strangely enough Adrian didn't feel his field of view change. Though he could only see what was in front of him. He felt the helmet almost had eyes in every direction. He could sense what was around him.

Soon the vortex disappeared and the light went away. Adrian felt a combination of shock and surprise at his appearance.

Adrian's first shock was at the appearance of boots. His broken-in white sneakers seemed to have "melted" into long boots. The boots were rather simple and went up half way to his knee. Above the boots were red latex pants which surprisingly left much to the imagination. Above his pants was, what appeared to be a white belt. The belt had several small latches and pockets, all colored deep bronze. Resting in the middle of the belt was a bronze buckle. Strangely the buckle was entirely blank.

Instead of red latex for his torso. Adrian saw a black armor-like vest attached to his torso. The vest gave off the impression of a bullet-proof flack jacket. The vest had the impression of a form of padding. His shoulders appeared to have white leather pads stitched directly into them. Adrian's arms continued with the latex until his hands. Adrians hands were draped with pristine white gloves. The gloves seemed to narrow down until there was only a line of white leather to his wrists.

A peculiar addition to the wardrobe was a dark yellow scarf wrapped around Adrian's neck. The scarf looked at first glance to be of either wool or cotton. But as Adrian reached up for the scarf it seemed to tighten. As if preventing him from removing it. The end of the scarf was rather long and was angled towards his back.

Adrian felt a strange heaviness in his belt. He moved his hands towards what felt like a scabbard. Adrian felt the familiar hilt of the Ambrosword cleanly from the sheath. As he drew it, he heard a soothing sound as it left it's home. The sword lovingly positioned itself in his right hand. Strangely enough the sword didn't feel like a tool or a knife like before. It was as if the sword gave him a sixth sense on how to use it. Now the sword felt more or less an extension of his hand. As he swiped the sword left and right he felt his whole body comply with the decision.

The Geckos near the entrance of the chamber continued to cower in fear. Suddenly Adrian heard scampering sounds from the hallway. He caught sight of several more geckos entering the chamber.

"Who is this? Why is this figure holding the Ambrosword?" The lead gecko sounded skeptical. As if it wasn't real, like it was all a dream. The geckos around him all had weapons of various sorts. Some had broadswords, claymores, halberds and staffs. Adrian swiped the sword at thin air and smirked within his helmet.

"Turn on the power." He mumbled as the geckos charged him. He caught sight of a gecko with a broadsword coming at him from the left. As if like a reflex he moved and swiped at the gecko. Adrian felt and saw the sword cleanly cut through the gecko's scales like paper. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground with his sword in half.

A gecko to his right jumped at him. With what looked like a dagger clenched within his clawed hand. His other hand had a scissor-like angle with it. Adrian felt the sword almost direct itself in his position. The gecko spewed blood out of it's mouth as he impaled himself on the sword. Adrian thrust the sword in one direction. As he did so the gecko corpse flew at a live one.

Adrian turned his attention to the remaining geckos. All trying to charge him together. As they swiped their weapons at him. Adrian jumped back slightly. Their weapons swiped at him but missed entirely. Adrian looked down to see a sword blade swipe at him and laughed as it didn't make it to his torso. Adrian rushed at the geckos as they retracted their weapons and continued to swipe the sword at them. As he began to walk away. He heard a soft pouncing sound as they fell to the ground.

Adrian walked into the dark hallway. As he did so his visor suddenly turned bright blue. A night vision-like effect was applied to him. As if a large blue flashlight emanated from him. Adrian could literally see in the dark now. He made it quite easily back to the entrance of the temple. Once he walked out he quickly sheathed his weapon. It was still sticky with gecko blood.

As Adrian walked out of the temple he could feel the familiar warmth from before come back. Suddenly he looked down to see his red latex disappear in a flash of red light. He saw as his familiar Grey shirt appeared once again.

Adrian reached up to his head and felt his features. He looked down at the device on his wrist and moved it around. He noticed a watch-like strap and quickly took the device off. He examined the device for a few seconds before strapping it back on.

"I always wanted to be a power ranger when I was a kid." Adrian recalled a fairly fond memory of hearing about the Power Rangers saving the Earth from Astronema on the news. Though that was several years before.

As Adrian took another look around he saw the desert seemed to end in a cliff. He quickly ran to the cliff and looked down it. As he did he saw in the distance more desert that lead to what appeared to be a town of sorts. Adrian looked around the edges of the cliff and saw a path down. Adrian quickly began the trek down to the town.

[Scales]

Chapter 4: Like an apple

The device on Adrian's wrist kept him preoccupied as he walked. Something about the device intrigued Adrian somehow. He wasn't at all shocked or surprised by his "morph". Something about the nature of it seemed to make sense, somehow. The Power Ranger morph felt like Adrian's full emotions coming out. Ready to bit someone's head off.

The town he spotted on the top of the cliff was more or less what he was expecting. Since the Gecko people used swords and staff-like weapons. He guessed whatever this "transdimension" was, was an almost feudal society. The buildings the town had, were simple one story huts almost. Made out of simple wood and primitive plastering methods. As Adrian walked through the narrow alleyways the huts provided he saw taller buildings. Some made out of brick and stone. He slowly noticed a lack of dirt underneath his shoes as grass began to appear. Naturally he assumed he walked through a slum area of the town, now he entered the richer area.

The richer area of the town had larger houses, more greenery and in the distance Adrian caught sight of what appeared to be a lake of some sort. It was very far away but still visible from where Adrian was. He assumed the Oasis there gave the civilians here an access to water. Past the lake Adrian could make out a forest. But he was to far away to make it out. Adrian shrugged as he continued walking. Hoping to see a rational human being or something that could talk, hoping to find out where in the seventh circle of hell he was.

Adrian craned his neck around and also saw a road leading towards some sort of structure. He assumed that if this was a fuedal society. Most of the pedestrians were farmers. But he could not see a single living soul anywhere. Most likely they were sleeping in.

Farmers who sleep in? Not likely. Adrian thought to himself. No most likely they were governed by a different system he wasn't aware of. Adrian continued thinking until he heard a loud scuffling sound nearby. Adrian ran into a nearby alley where he was pretty sure the sound originated from. As he did he saw a most peculiar sight.

Weeks later Adrian would say it was possibly a life changing moment; meeting Raider. But he accurately described a strange anthropomorphic eagle baring ground with two guard-like creatures. The creatures looked like medevel knights. Except with dark fur covered horns and scaly tails. The knights actually had something Adrian could make heads and tails of. One of the guards had a pistol locked in his right hand.

"Take him down quickly" The guard said to the one holding the pistol. Before he could pull the trigger Adrian called out. "Yo!" All three figures turned with peculiar glances.

"Now lets try and resolve this as violently as possible. I'll rip your heart out of your chest and bite out of it like an apple." Adrian started talking calmly, with hints of sarcasm. His left hand rose up, showing the device in all of it's glory. Something about the device caused him to mumble "Turn on the power".

Instantly a bright flash of light erupted from his morpher. The red latex blinded him until a black visor appeared in front of him. The visor turned transparent instantly. Illuminating the field of view.

Adrian's hand went directly to his sword. In that instant he had barely enough time to react as a bullet grazed his helmet. Judging by the stopping power Adrian theorized it was a 10 or 11 mm round. Adrian quickly rushed for the two guards as the Anthro eagle remained shocked and powerless. Before the guard could pull the trigger Adrian was already pointing the Ambrosword toward him. The guard recoiled in terror as Adrian swiped his sword directly into his chest. Gushes of blood flew into the air as Adrian swept his sword out of the body quickly. He turned toward the other guard who was now to shocked to move. He rubbed off a dribble of blood on his visor as he spoke.

"Tell me. Have you ever danced with a demon under the lunar solstice?" Something possessed Adrian to speak. He didn't send anything to his mouth. He recalled that line distinctively. It was a line in a sonnet Adrian had written a few days before. The Guard stumbled around as he backed up. But Adrian's sword was already pointed toward him. Before he could react, his head fell with a loud clank.

"Execute" He whispered slowly as the Ambrosword clicked back into place on his scabbard. Adrian felt the familiar warmth of the morph disappear in a flash of red light. The he turned his head toward the eagle.

"Who and what are you?" Adrian asked curiously to the eagle-thing. The Eagle was humanoid of course. It's head, torso and feet gave left very little to the imagination. It's beak seemed slightly wider then he was used to however. Plus instead of wings as he normally saw on eagles, it had clawed hands with feathers jutting out on all ends. Almost as if his species had once flown. But quickly evolved by some supernatural means to live on the land. It was rather mindboggling to Adrian that he could see something that spectacular. The eagle was just as surprised to see Adrian as he was to see the eagle.

"My name is... Raider." He sputtered out before slowly coughing and relaxing. "I came from Cid before being hasseled by these... bastards... Who and what are you? Ive never seen anything like you before." Adrian walked to the other end of the alleyway and leaned on the wall. "Adrian Carter. I am a human from an alternate dimension and don't ask. I feel like I smoked too much reefer and woke up in a desert where eagles talk and geckos drink blood." Raider slowly looked at him with a confused expression in his eyes. "What is Cid? Some sort of city?" Adrian asked curiously.

"Cid is the only city on this planet. It rests beyond the forest of despair, past evergreen lake. Cid is the capital of the other half of this planet. One part is desert and the other is green forest. The green is slowly coming through to the desert. However it will be a long time before anything significant happens." Adrian's mind slowly began to process the information. Something about the word "Cid" made him remember something. Raider was now eying the device on his wrist

"Like it?" Adrian asked holding it up. Raider nodded slowly as he eyed the blue button. "I got this little present in a temple up on that cliff..." Adrian moved his head backwards to signify direction. "... the temple was full of some of these reptilian pricks who chanted and sang songs. You know that same old song and dance. So I got this sword..." Before he could speak Raider stood up. "Wait a moment. You received a sword?" Adrian nodded slowly. "I am guessing those... reptillian pricks as it were? Called it the Ambrosword?" Adrian nodded slowly. "Ah now I know what your talking about."

"Yeah. People in my dimension call people with these sorts of powers; power rangers." Raider eyed Adrian curiously before leaning back on the wall. "Tell me Adrian. Do you know of the counterpart to the Ambrosword?" Adrian shook his head slowly, he only got the sword less then an hour before after all. "The ambrosword has a sister blade known as the "living grey" It is a living sword that was once inhabited by a powerful dragon demon known as the Living Grey. Until the previous weilder of the Ambrosword killed it and died in battle. Since then the Living Grey has not been seen, but is theorized to still be out there. Since the Living Grey does not have a soul inside of it, it is known as a "dead" sword. The Ambrosword was in that temple because those cultists were the ones who got to it first."

"Right..." Adrian said half listening. He stood up slowly and yawned. "I'm bored" He said. Adrian looked down and saw a small puddle of blood begin to move towards his shoes. Adrian's eye caught the pistol in the dead guard's hand. He picked it up slowly and cocked it forward. Accidentally pointing it toward Raider. He ducked quickly out of fear. "Sorry" Adrian said laughing quickly. Adrian ejected the clip slowly, before reinserting it and placing the weapon on the inside of his pants. The gun's handgrip still poked out of his jeans. Adrian moved his shirt over the gun, to hide it quickly.

"Anyway Raider. Since I saved your life from these retards I think I have earned the right to a little information. What is there to do in this hell hole?" Raider shrugged slowly. Then his eyes moved upward, as if an idea came to mind. "I think I know a place we can go. Come on before more guards try and start looking for their friends." Adrian nodded as he followed Raider out of the alley and onto the street.

~~~Meanwhile~~~

The Living Saint was always a scary place for most visitors. It was a large citadel-like structure with the architecture of an eastern European Gothic cathedral. Except it's door was made out of flesh and bone and bled whenever anyone tried to open it. The citadel was a place to stay away from in Cid. The waters turned dark green, the sky turned bright red and the air started to turn to ash. The world began to turn far darker and depressing as one went closer.

"Master... Master..." A thrall said slowly to a shadow in the darkness. The thrall was a dark grey humanoid with three large claws for hands. The thrall had a skull-like face with sunken black eyes. "Master..." The thrall continued limping towards the shadow. "In the land of Gares they reported the Ambrosword was already taken from the temple. Someone has already taken... the counterpart to the Living Grey" A small shuffling sound could be heard in the shadows. Before a raspy, harsh voice returned.

"Send Crevass to Gares to take control of the sword before it's wielder enters Cid." The citadel grew silent as the thrall bowed it's head and obeyed.

[Scales]

Chapter 5: As tragic a hero

"Crevass... Crevass..." The figure Crevass slowly raised it's head. Crevass was draped from head to toe in a long brown cloak. The cloak had no openings to speak of. There was only a round object that may have been a head raised up when it stood. Crevass moved itself slightly to the left as it heard more closely. The forest of despair was a place Crevass enjoyed to dwell. The subtle darkness that enclosed the area appealed to it greatly.

"There is one... in Gares... the guards will come..." Crevass's cloak dragged itself on the rough forest floor. It was unknown if it even walked.

~~Meanwhile~~

"How about... you take it like a man" The sharp shrill scream caused Adrian to lean himself on a nearby building. The memory to sharp, to burning. The memory of the night before... it hurt him to much. Raider slowly perked his head toward Adrian. A confusing look spread within his eyes.

"What?" He asked him. Obviously directed toward his sluggish demeanor.

"Sorry... bad memories." Adrian responded as he pushed off from the wall. Raider rose a muscle above his eye, as if like a human raising an eyebrow. Then continued walking. Adrian placed his hands into his pockets and followed. Choosing to think better thoughts

"Tell me something Adrian. How is it you knew how to use the Ambrosword when you received it?" Raider asked him as they walked. They were now walking through to the poorer section of the town. There was still not a soul to be seen.

"I don't know.. it was like the sword whispered something to me and I forgot it." Adrian said slowly. ".. hey Raider? Why is there no one here?" Adrian arched his head at several of the buildings. All stood vacant and alone.

"Well most of Gares keeps to itself. But a majority of this town has already packed up and left. Since the Thralls are usually sent through the forest." Adrian nodded, pretending he was listening to a word he was saying. Something just felt very odd to him. The ever lasting feeling like he was being watched, mixed in with a feeling of hopelessness. The morpher on his wrist stood vacant and alone.

"Raider where are we going? You said you just came here to this town." Adrian asked. Still moving his head in all directions.

"I have a safehouse in this town. It is in an abandoned house from when I used to live around here. Before i moved to Cid." Something about Raider seemed peculiar to him. There was something Raider was either choosing not to say, or was distrusting of him. Adrian didn't have the time to ask Raider of anything. As he pointed toward a house in the distance.

The house was propped up near a large rock. Giving it the appearance of being cloaked in shadows. The house appeared to be made of both rock and wood. But had architecture Adrian could not pinpoint. Something about the house seemed both unique and different then what he was used to. Raider lead Adrian to the door and closed it quickly.

The house was bare of anything that could have resembled furniture. Instead there was only two rooms. Both were separated by a narrow door that lead through one another. As Raider lead Adrian to the second room, he felt a feeling of both abandonment and despair flood him.

The second room had a peculiar sight. On the ground was a beige drape with lumpy objects underneath it. The drape had fragments of sand and dirt spread around it. As if it had been there for a long time. Raider quickly swept the drape off. Causing large amounts of dust and sand to spread into the air. As the dust settled Adrian caught sight of weapons of various sorts on the ground. Raider bent down and picked up what appeared to Adrian, as a mixture of a semi automatic rifle and an early twentieth century British musket. It even had a knife attached underneath the barrel. Giving the impression of a bayonet. Adrian drew the pistol from his pants and cocked it slowly.

"You seem to be a quick learner." Raider said quickly to Adrian's motion.

"I used to have a friend named Dwight. He lived across the hall from my ex girlfriend's house. Anyway he had this massive gun collection and somehow always invited me in..." Adrian ejected the clip and caught sight of several bullets on the ground. He slowly filled the clip with 10mm rounds. "... he seemed to practice the second amendment like it was a full blown religion. It was amazing the amount of armed weaponry he had." Adrian aimed the gun at the wall. Content on pressing the trigger as quickly as he could. However as he did not shot fired from the gun. Adrian waved the gun around several times until Raider clicked the safety off. Adrian fired the gun twice at the wall. Making two clean holes in the wood.

~~Meanwhile~~

"Now what is the objective?" The guard asked.

"Take the Ambrosword at any cost." His platoon said at the exact same time. The guard shifted his weight as he marveled at his platoon. He had dozens of soldiers at his command now. Only for this mission however, though he knew this would be a walk in the park.

"We are now going into Gares. If you find this man who wields the Ambrosword do anything in your power to kill him. Our benefactors stresses to make him as tragic a hero as possible. The guards all gave statutory animations toward him. The guard waved his hand in one direction and began walking. "Now move out." The guard followed him as he walked into the town.

[Scales]

Chapter 6: Pale sunlight

Adrian noticed the troops before Raider did. He peered out the nearest window to see them poring out of the forest in the distance. Before Raider could speak Adrian's hand was already to the morpher. His pistol dropping to the ground with a loud "thunk"

Instantly a bright flash of light erupted from his morpher. The red latex blinded him until a black visor appeared in front of him. The visor turned transparent instantly. Illuminating the field of view. As Adrian morphed he bent down to pick up the dropped pistol. He raised it up and cocked it slowly. Adrian looked toward Raider and slowly walked out of the house.

The troopers did not notice Adrian coming out of the pale sunlight. He at first started running at them, firing several rounds into the nearest one running. As soon as the clip ran out Adrian dropped the gun and pulled out the Ambrosword. As soon as he pulled out the sword he felt a loud stinging sensation in his abdomen. A flash of sparks flew out of his body as the bullet grazed his bodysuit. The pain caused Adrian to slow down a little, his confidence shattered like glass.

He was in the middle of the town now. As he was shot at the soldiers surrounded around the buildings. Taking cover as if expecting he would do something crazy or insane. Adrian quickly shook his head and charged for the nearest guard, sword ready. Before the guard could react his hands were sliced off with Adrian's sword. The guard screamed in pain as he buckled. Adrian could barely react as a hail of bullets came at him. He quickly dived toward the nearest building as the guard fell to the ground. Several rounds embedded into his body. Adrian slowly got up and looked around the corner of the building. The hole where the bullet grazed his bodysuit was still visible-albeit sizzling with a small amount of smoke visible.

The pain was a little much for Adrian, but he quickly tolerated it. He moved his head around the corner of the building. Looking at several guards near him before spinning back behind the building.

Adrian swore quickly as bullets flew at the building. He looked around and caught slight of the guard's weapon. Adrian reached for it quickly, taking notice toward the gun's detail. The gun was similar to Raider's in many ways. It took the appearance of an assault rifle from his time, while having the straightness and uniqueness of a British musket. Complete with a bayonet at the end of the gun. He emptied the clip slowly and checked the rounds. Then he placed the clip back into the weapon and cocked it.

Foot steps sounded all around him. Adrian reacted instantly as a guard ran ahead and fired his weapon at him. Adrian fired his gun as several shots grazed his bodysuit. Gasping as the shots continued to fire. As the guard went down he picked up his sword. He sensed an incoming pair of footsteps around the corner. Adrian pointed the sword outward quickly as a guard impaled himself on it.

Adrian kicked the corpse off his sword and ran to the other end of the building. Seeing another guard and instantly cut him down. He could hear more guards surrounding the entire building. Adrian looked around for a solution and spotted a shiny object on the guard's belt. He picked it up and caught sight of a peculiar round object. The object was bright blue in color and had an orange button on the top of it. Curiously Adrian pressed the button. But immediately regretted it as soon as he heard a loud beeping sound. Adrian dropped the object as he ran from the building.

He could barely react as several rounds exploded in his back. Showers of sparks flew out of his body as Adrian gasped in pain. He found himself flung off his feet and propelled through the air as an explosive blast sounded behind him.

~~Meanwhile~~

Crevass's cloak dragged itself toward the lake outside of the forest of despair. It stood up within it's cloak and appeared to look around at the area. It dragged itself toward the water and peered into it's contents. The beast recoiled in horror and backed away, back toward the forest.