Power Rangers SPD: The New Generation

Chapter 9: Sealed

Jessica Locke still remembered the day she had been saved by the now former Yellow Ranger, Z Delgado. It had been during the days just after the defeat of Emperor Gruumm. The SPD B Squad had lacked a Green Ranger at the time, before Sophie had stepped in and became the new Green Ranger. The B Squad had been chasing a criminal known for taking hostages, and she, being an orphaned girl with powers, seemed like an easy target. What would invisibility do when an alien could use thermal vision to see you nonetheless? The B Squad split up to find the criminal... a criminal that Jessica couldn't even remember the name of currently. She DID remember that the guy was psychotic enough to strap her on a bomb that would have also taken out half of New Tech City! Then Z, unmorphed, arrived. She had fought through the robotic guards the criminal had bought from the black market, and then morphed to more effectively stop the bomb. After Z stopped the criminal, she was the one who took Jessica to the hospital, and upon learning she had no family, got her into the SPD Academy, where she had met her friends. Jessica would forever he grateful to Z.
"Too bad I still can't measure up to her. Invisibility isn't all it's cracked up to be." Jessica said with a sigh.

"You haven't seen the full extent of your power.... I can sense your powers go beyond invisibility." A new voice said as a visitor entered the SPD common room, where Jessica was thinking of her past. Jessica snapped out of her thoughts to see Selena there.

"You're that girl that's always around Luke. What are you doing here?" Jessica asked curiously.

"Waiting on you know who. We're going to volunteer at the Landors Shelter today to help people there, since they still might be freaked out after the recent attack with the fake Power Rangers recently." Selena replied. Jessica nodded. She had been surprised to see that instead of some kind of advanced robotics like they had been running into that the fake Jason Lee Scott clones had been advanced putties... like the days of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd.

"So... you want to become a Ranger... what's stopping you from joining the SPD academy. You're already a skilled fighter, it shouldn't take you so long to rise up the ranks. Heck, Cruger might just bump you to Ranger status off the bat with your skills." Jessica said, wanting to get to know the girl who had captured the attention of her team leader better.

"Honestly, I used to think it was my mom. Sure, she doesn't want me to join SPD, but she no longer intends to stand in the way of my chosen path. It's just... I feel like the energies of the universe are telling me that it's not yet time to step into the fight as a Ranger yet. There are events that still must occur before my time begins." Selena explained. Jessica gave the other girl a confused look. The energies of the universe? Events that still must occur? Selena gave Jessica a knowing look, clearly this was not a new situation to her... where she'd say something she knew was truthful and yet unusual... and as a result the person she had spoken to would be confused. They'd inevitably have more questions than answers.

"You do know how crazy that sounds, right?" Jessica asked. Selena giggled in amusement.

"Earth is full of crazy. I doubt the people of Earth all that time ago would have expected to find an evil witch locked in a dumpster in space, or people dressed in multi colored costumes saving the day in giant robots that combine to make an even bigger robot. Compared to everything the planet has faced over the past, who knows how many years now, I think me vaguely taking about 'energies of the universe' is nowhere near the craziest of things said in this world." Selena joked. Jessica nodded. She had a point. Their lives... and the lives of countless teenagers before them had turned upside down the moment alien war lords decided to invade Earth, and Zordon first introduced the Morphing Grid to the world.

"Let's talk about normal things now. How are you getting along with the rest of your team?" Selena asked. Jessica smiled.

"Well, to be honest with you, I don't feel like I know Luke all that well. He's a good fighter, and over all he's a good person. I haven't really taken the opportunity to really sit down and talk with him, though. Chris, meanwhile, is sometimes easy to get along with, and other times he's not. Chris is always by the book, but he's also pretty prideful. He clearly believes that he should have been made the Red Ranger, but it looks like he's trying to step on Luke's toes less. Luis is hilarious, but he's smart. Back when we were E Squad cadets, it was just so clear to me that Luis, despite acting scatter brained, was easily one of the smartest people there. He's trying to get his head wrapped around the fact that he's a Power Ranger now, but once he's comfortable in the role, I'm sure he'll be one of the best on the team. Sabrina has nature powers similar to the ones I hear you have. I wonder if there is some kind of link between the two of you. And Sam is highly dedicated, but I think he feels like he's in the shadow of his alternate future self that saved the old B-Squad from being destroyed by Devastation during the height of the Troobian Invasion." Jessica explained. Selena nodded. Jessica didn't technically answer her question, but this was an interesting conversation.