PRLG: A Different Shade of Pink
Episode XL. Yellow and Pink Bellied
by Green Senturion

The four guys stared at Maya for a few minutes after the Phantom Ranger and Cassie had stormed off. “Okay,” Damon started uneasily, “Could you please tell me what in the WORLD that was about?”

Maya sighed and said, “The Phantom Ranger won’t tell Cassie who he is…and it’s depressing her. I’d better go talk to her.”

“Well from the looks of things, you’re not too strong in that department,” Leo laughed.

“What do you mean?” Maya asked innocently.

“What he means is,” Damon answered for him, “That you don’t have tact.”

“Tact?” Maya asked. She was very confused.

“Maya,” Kai began as he put his arm around her shoulders, “You’re a very truthful person, and you speak what’s on your mind. But sometimes, like in this case, that’s not always the best way to be. You come off as being…insensitive.”

Maya threw Kai’s arm off her shoulder and said, “What are you saying? That I’m a bad person? That no one can talk to me?”

Mike walked toward her and said, “Maya, that’s not what he…”

“Well, maybe YOU should think about how the things you say affect people!” Maya cried. She then stormed out of the living quarters, wiping tears from her face as she walked. The guys exchanged upset glances, realizing too late their mistake. As the Ancient Rangers walked in and saw the nervous guys, the Keeper asked, “What troubles you?”

“We said something really bad to a friend of ours,” Kai sighed.

“Young friend,” the Guardian said, “I am not really the best at this…but try talking to her. If my teammate were here, I’m sure the advice given would be bet…”

The Warrior cut him off with a loud gasp as he stared at the sparking Galaxy Book. The other two Ancient Rangers and the four guys immediately ran over and surrounded the book. “I don’t believe it!” Damon cried.

“It’s a miracle,” the Warrior said as he stared intently at the page, “The fourth Ancient Morpher has been claimed.”

Maya trudged through the City Dome, not even bothering now to wipe away the hot tears falling from her eyes. Insensitive…how could they call me insensitive? she thought. Okay, so maybe her flirting advice hadn’t worked out…but it was only because she was too young to ever have been intimate with a man before. She’d just used what she’d heard the other women in the tribe telling her to do when she found a man to reel in…how could she have known that her advice would fail so?

Maya slumped down on a park chair and breathed a loud sigh, staring down at the ground as the angry thoughts raced through her head. She didn’t even notice when a brown-haired young woman wearing a long blue and yellow cloak sat down next to her on the bench.

Maya continued to ignore the woman as the woman spoke, “You’re upset…why?”

“None of your business,” Maya grunted.

“You are having trouble with your friends, am I right?” the woman asked.

Maya sniffled and looked into the woman’s weathered but pretty face, “How did you…”

“Your emotions are easy to read,” the woman said smiling, “I can tell you are a very honest and sincere person. You must have very good friends.”

“Yeah, well,” Maya said, “I THOUGHT I did…until they called me insensitive a little while ago…”

“My dear,” the woman said kindly as she stood up to join Maya, who had begun to walk away, “You have a true heart, and for that reason, you can never stray. Walk with me.”

Trusting as always, Maya walked alongside the woman, albeit a little timidly given her encounters with people who were not as they should be. The woman placed a hand on Maya’s shoulder and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am who I say I am. Now,” she said, “What problem did you and your friends have?”

“I gave one of my friends some bad advice,” Maya said as she rubbed off the last of her tears, “And my other friends made fun of me for it.”

The woman pondered Maya’s words for a moment before replying, “Do YOU think that your advice was poor?”

Maya looked down guiltily as she answered, “Yeah…but it’s not my fault! I was raised on a different planet and they…”

The woman held up her hand and laughed before saying, “There are two things you must hear. The first is that, you seem to be a very upstanding individual, righteous and strong. If you did not mean what you said, I am sure you did not.”

“Secondly, your friends are called so for a reason. If you tell your friends who mocked you how they made you feel, and simply apologize to your other friend and remind her that you only had her best interests in mind, she will of course forgive whatever minor pain you have caused her.”

Maya stopped and shook her head as she said, “I don’t even know you…but you’ve given me some great advice. Thank you.”

The woman nodded and smiled before walking away in the other direction. Maya happily bounced along her path, feeling much better about herself. The sight of Barbarax sealing people into a magical jar made Maya become angry and scared all over again.

“Easy citizens for the pickings, and not a single Ranger to stop me!” Barbarax called triumphantly.

Maya stared furiously at him before running behind a tree and whispering, “Go…Galactic!” As Barbarax continued to capture citizens, she leapt out from the tree, Delta Daggers in hand, and tackled the evil minion to the ground. Barbarax threw her off him after receiving a few slashes to the chest and cried, “You will pay for your foolishness, Yellow Ranger!” He then fiercely struck her in the head with his mace. Maya reeled from the blow, unable to steer herself as she toppled to the ground. Barbarax loomed over her, his jar still under his arm as he said, “Your capture will be the most important in my captain’s quest.” As he prepared to unseal the jar, however, a pink ray of light shot him and floored him once more. Maya looked up in shock and couldn’t believe who she saw standing before her:

It was the Pink Ancient Ranger.

The Pink Ranger ran toward Barbarax, poised for battle. She then grabbed a red colored rod from her holster and began slashing Barbarax about with it. This sight encouraged Maya, as the Yellow Ranger then removed her Quasar Saber and ran toward Barbarax. The two Rangers then delivered simultaneous clubs to Barbarax, causing him to fall over and grunt as he hit the ground, keeping his vise-like grip on the jar.

Maya turned to the Pink Ranger and said, “Thank you for your help…but who are you?”

The Pink Ranger moved her head as though ready to speak, but stopped. She then screamed in pain as pink energy surged throughout her body. After a flash of light, the Egyptian-themed witch Hexuba stood in her place.

Barbarax stared up from the ground and cried, “Hexuba…a Ranger? This cannot be!”

Maya backed up and cried, “Who are you?”

The witch laughed and cried, “I am Hexuba, humble servant of Captain Mutiny…and soon you will feel my wrath. Hahaha!”

From behind her back Hexuba drew a large crystal ball, which she rubbed eagerly. “With this orb, I can channel the energy of fallen monsters and cause them to be reborn. And you will not stop me!” She then raised the ball into the air and cackled evilly. She screamed, however, when a green ball of energy hit the orb and compelled it toward the ground, where it cracked and dissolved into sand. Hexuba screamed, angry that her plan had failed. “I can get nothing right!” she screamed. “First I am upstaged by a new general, then my monster fails, and now my ultimate plan fails…and all without an effort! Why?”

The Magna Defender, blowing smoke from the tip of his Magna Blaster, then emerged from the shadows, followed by the three Ancient Rangers. They drew Hexuba’s attention away from herself. The Red Ranger stepped forward and said, “Well, my dear, it is because you are a Ranger that you fail in your plans…since even warped Rangers such as yourself are incapable of doing evil deeds.”

“You are wrong!” Hexuba yelled, before calming herself and asking, “Is…that why I am always stricken with unconsciousness as my body changes? Because I am…a Power Ranger? No!” she resolved, standing straight up and waving her hands, “This cannot be!”

“Oh, it can!” came the voice of Kai from up in the air. He, Damon, Leo, and Cassie were hovering overhead in their Jet Jammers. They simultaneously leapt from their vehicles and landed before the Ancient Rangers and Hexuba. Maya stood to the side of the former Pink Ancient Ranger, wondering what was to happen next.

“You always had good advice, and thought very logically,” the Warrior said, “And we plan to restore to you those powers.”

Maya laughed as she turned to Leo, who was now clad in his Armor. He stomped toward Hexuba, who backed off scared. Leo then called, “FIRE!” and pelted her with his heavy artillery. When the nine Rangers looked again after the smoke had cleared, the fourth original Ancient Ranger in all her morphed glory stood before them where Hexuba had previously been moments ago.

The Pink Ancient Ranger bowed and replied, “Thank you, all…I am the Spellcaster. As it turns out, when my morpher was lost, I was manipulated by one of my own spells, and became that witch…I was convinced I had to serve Mutiny and destroy you. But now I have returned, and I plan to do us good now.”

“You could start,” Mike said, “By getting us out of the Lost Galaxy.”

The Spellcaster shook her head and said, “Unfortunately, no. As you may or may not know, the prophecy of the Seer states that only when both teams are fully united can we leave this place in peace. I feel the spell would be useless were those conditions not yet met.”

The Galaxy Rangers breathed a collective sigh of disappointment. Another Ranger had joined their group, but she had no solution to offer as to how they could escape the Lost Galaxy. They then looked up when they heard Barbarax laughing. They looked over to see that he was now the only being in sight.

“While you were distracted, I rounded up about half of the space colony,” Barbarax laughed, “See you later, losers! HAHA!”

Now all the Rangers, Ancients included, were disappointed by their prospects.

But, life must go on. The nine Rangers, a little annoyed and depressed about the days’ events, returned to their living quarters. Everyone stood around in the room awkwardly as the Galaxy Rangers looked at one another discontentedly. The Ancient Rangers saw their opportunity to catch up and to get out of their young friends’ way, and left the room.

Maya sighed, and said, “Look guys, I wanna say…”

“We’re sorry,” Leo said, “What we said earlier was totally uncool.”

“Yeah, what he said,” Damon seconded, “You’re a really nice person, and one piece of bad advice doesn’t change that.”

Kai nodded and said, “We’re your friends, Maya, and we’d never do anything to hurt you on purpose.”

“The Spellcaster helped us understand what we’d done wrong on the way back,” Mike said, “Your honesty doesn’t make you insensitive. So…forgive us?”

Maya smiled and shrugged, as the four guys came together for a group hug. Cassie was still standing at the corner of the room, put off. Maya stepped away from the guys and said, “If you’ll excuse me…some more forgiving needs to be done.”

Cassie rolled her eyes and stormed off toward her room. Maya followed her and ran in before the door closed. “Look, Cass, I’m sorry…I never meant for you and the Phantom Ranger to fight…you’re my best friend now, and…”

Maya bit her tongue as she realized what she had just said. She then continued, holding back tears, “And I would never give my best friend bad advice on purpose. I told you to do what I thought was right, and I was wrong. You know, I can sort of understand why you didn’t come to help me during the battle at first…”

Cassie shook her head and said, “Maya, we’d never abandon a fellow Ranger like that. Even though I WAS annoyed with you…angry, even…I realize now that you didn’t mean to upset me, and trust me, the only reason we didn’t come at first was because you seemed to be holding your own in battle. You’re a strong person, Maya, and a great friend.”

Maya smiled as Cassie tapped the bed and said, “Sit down here…I wanna show you something.” Maya sat down, wondering what Cassie could possibly want to show her. Cassie took a note out of her desk and said, “I was writing this earlier today…and while I didn’t want to show it to you then, I do now…”

As the door to Cassie’s room opened, Maya looked out. She saw the Spellcaster wave and wink before rejoining her fellow Ancient Rangers in the hallway again. Maya thanked the Spellcaster silently for having given all of the Galaxy Rangers good advice that day. Maya then turned to Cassie and said, “So, what is this?”

“A song I wrote,” Cassie replied, “Explaining what I’ve been feeling about the Phantom Ranger. Ahem…

Maya stayed silent for a moment before replying, “Cassie, I’m sorry if I ever thought I understood what you were feeling. That song’s really deep. My GOOD advice this time is that you talk to Phantom about your feelings. He’ll want to listen. And show him the song—it’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Cassie said distractedly, “Too bad he’ll never see it.”

Cassie then crumbled up the paper and threw in her pink trashbin. “He’ll never show me his real face…so what am I in love with? A helmet? A person who doesn’t really exist at all?”

“I don’t know, Cassie,” Maya replied, “I guess, since it’s been so long and he hasn’t shown you his face yet, you may have to decide whether you love the mask or the man behind the mask.”

The girls then whirled their heads toward the hallway as they heard an almost inaudible gasp. Maya got up and stared, asking, “Did you hear something?”

Cassie shook her head and turned her head back toward her desk as she said, “No…it was probably nobody.”

The Phantom Ranger, invisibly standing in front of the girls’ room in the hallway, quietly walked into his room. He softly removed his helmet from his head and stared into the mirror at his blondish hair and gentle features. So, he thought, that’s all you are to her then. A mystery man and a nobody. That’s all you are to anyone, isn’t it? You won’t let anyone get close, afraid of what they might think when they see the real you…

The Phantom Ranger angrily chucked his helmet against the wall, partially breaking a corner of the visor. Then, as he stared into the sad reflection of himself in the mirror, he stared down at the ground and breathed heavily, as a miniscule pile of teardrops began collecting on the floor beneath him.