Earth
1439 hours 8/53
Sector 1872
I remember a moment in my life where I was on a small coastal beach and was collecting seashells with my mom. We'd watch the waves wash up on the shore and mess around with dad. I remember when I was walking along the shore and found something special. It was a sand dollar that I'm wearing at this very moment. Those were the best times I ever had, compared to our daily lives. My name is Avery Winkle, and I'm 15 years old this year. 4 years ago, papa was forced to take part in the U.S.A.A, leaving me behind to fend for myself on the streets. But most of all, my mom was dead. Me and papa still mourned for her, but we knew we had to keep moving forward.
The houses on this street were now crumbled. Times used to be great before the uetray army invaded Earth. My old friends were now 6 feet under. The uetranians were brutal to our people. There was a resistance in North Montana called the Cyberceans. They stole weapons, food, and medical supplies to help civilians with the plague. Papa always said that they were impeccably brave. If only he were here now.
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Rain pattered on tin roofs. People walked along the streets in rough, ragged clothes. A little girl was crying on a broken curb. Everyone was being their normal, usual selves. Until I heard a faint voice. I thought it was the woman that passed me, but whirled around to find that no one was there. I shrugged, and continued to walk to my apartment. Then, I heard it again, even louder this time. "Who's there? Show yourself," I demanded. "You already see me. Go in there and you'll see me better."
"Ok," I said, wary. I crept cautiously toward the dark and moist alley, as if a kidnapper were in there. As I stepped into the shadows, a fiery outline of a woman began to take shape. "My name is Red Rage, but you can call me Raime. But there's no time for names right now. Your town is in trouble, and I need your help. Go to the wall. You'll pass into the X dimension."
"Your nuts."
"Just do it."
I sighed. I started toward the wall. I didn't really believe the ghost- sorry, Raime -but I had no choice. The next few moments, I couldn't believe my eyes. One moment, I was in our crumbling old village, the next, I was in a world of magic. Raime was now in pure flesh. She had beautiful tan skin with dark blue eyes, with flowing jet-black hair, and was about 5 and a half feet tall. "We must hurry. Find the ring with 7 white fires. Your powers will be found there."
Raime vanished into thin air, leaving a trail of ashes where she was. So much for help.
I began my search for the ring by looking in a large, golden portal, the size of a house.
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My search continued for a few more hours of long, frustrating work. I looked in deep and dark holes. I looked in nasty garbage cans in different worlds. I looked in secret rooms, in hidden compartments, and in sealed laboratories. I even dug up some graves to look inside the coffins(by the way, it was not pretty.) But none of them had the ring. I quit the search for a while, but then I noticed something shining luminously in a toy vending machine. It blazed with a flickering glow of a white fire. There it was. The ring was in a vending machine this entire time. I fished out a nickel in my pocket, and fed it to the vending machine. I turned the knob and the vending machine swallowed it whole. It was like watching gobblegum from Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, the game my great, great grandpa used to play when he was a boy, before the war, being created. I heard a ding, and that was the signal that the ring came out.
I opened the blood-red plastic lid of the clear container and saw a beautiful ring inside. It was linen with pure silver, with intricate designs and glowing with white flaming fire. The rest of the ring was luminous, shiny gold red, like the color of brass when it is cooling down from being melted. I slipped on the ring, and was astonished by the impeccable design it had. But then I looked down at my clothes, and I did not believe what I saw. A dark red suit covered my body, with black under my left and right side of my torso. A new pair of boots that were red, with lines of black that were designed like wires, covered my feet. A molten hot red whip, with a black handle, hung at the side of my waist. A red, white, and black helmet now covered my entire head, topping that with a red hood. I looked like a futuristic, war bound, version of Little Red Riding Hood. I looked epic. But then there was screaming and fires everywhere, sizzling on rooftops. My head started to spin, and the whole world went black.
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When I woke up, I must've been out for a while, because everything in sight was disturbing, yet I was almost drawn to it. Dead bodies were everywhere, buildings crumbled, lamp posts destroyed. Everything in this peaceful city was destroyed. I tried to speak with Raime to see what happened, but she wouldn't answer me. I scanned the entire city to see if anyone survived the mysterious blast. There was only one person who lived. It was a mysterious purple floating woman. At least, that's what I thought. I realized she kept flickering, like a broken lamp. Her hair kept changing from blond to black to purple. Her eyes switched from blue to brown to yellow, like cat eyes. Her face was pretty in a skater way. Her suit was purple and black. She was almost perfect in a war like way. She spoke, and my ears started ringing. "I am the Purple Paratrooper, Lieutenant of the Uetray army. Fight me, and maybe I'll tell you where my master is. Do you accept my challenge Red Rage?"
My heart was racing. Red Rage? Was she talking about Raime? I don't remember what Raime said she was called, but suddenly, my hands started tingling. I looked at my hands and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen, and trust me, I've had plenty of weird things, from golden portals to ghost people that turn into ashes for no reason. My hands were flaming, literally flaming, like, on fire. It flickered and I just stared at it. I found myself having more confidence in myself, and replied casually," I accept." She smiled cruelly." Then let blood be brought on."
The beginning of the fight immediately went wrong. Fortunately, I was wearing a helmet. Unfortunately, she was too fast for any pair of eyes. She was so fast, I wasn't able to process the pain when I hit the wall. How do I fight something that I can't even see? Then it hit me. What if I don't try and fight up close, but distract her with a barrier fire, while I try and call for that resistance army dad told me about? I don't know if it would work, but it was my only shot. Before I could even give it a chance, I was punched in the gut and knocked on the head. I instantaneously fell on my knees. I couldn't breath for a moment, but I recovered. I thought about all the moments in my life that angered me. The day my mom died, papa going to war, this stupid quest, the war. My body tingled even more.
My suit was flaming with fire so hot, it was white. I blasted the flames where I thought she was at, but missed. I turned just in time to see a blur of purple speeding towards me. I had to think fast. I went for my lash and whipped it at the unknown blur in front of me. I heard the horrible cry of the Purple… whatever it was. I knew I had won, but the victory celebration didn't last long. As quickly as she'd fallen, she got back up and swept me under her feet. My head hit the ground so hard, the world started turning black. My luck had run out, and I was about to die. The last thing I heard before I passed out was the sound of gunshots, explosions, and the screams of the cyberceans attacking.
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When I woke up, I was lying in a plain white cotton bed. I wore a plain white T-shirt and red pajama pants(How I got them on, I have no idea.) The room around me was baby blue, as if someone took a chunk of the sky and decided to smash it against the walls of this room. An old-fashioned wooden coffee table stood right next to the bed, right along with a wireless lamp. A plate with nothing on it and a glass of water lay on the table. Where am I? I thought. Just then, the wood door opened and in came a boy no older than 17. "You're- you're awake," he said, surprised. He had curly, Brown-Blonde hair and cobalt blue eyes. His skin was olive. He wore a dark blue, long sleeve shirt, with a jet black vest unzipped all the way down the middle. His pants were a tanned, brown color, along with black and blue winter boots."Wh-who are you?," I asked. "Where am I?"
"My name is Xaq, and you're at the infirmary in a rebel base. What is your name?" he asked in a polite voice.
"My name is Avery. Avery Winkle," she replied. "How long have I been out?"
"About 3 days. But don't worry, we defeated Miss purple power ranger for you," Xaq said. I couldn't help but smile. "So, are you feeling alright? It might feel weird if you stand up too fast, so try going slow," he cautioned. I kicked out of my covers and got up slowly. I felt a little wobbly at first, but then steadied myself. "Thanks," I said.
"No problem," he replied. "And you can leave whenever you want to," he added. "OK," I said. He started to walk to the door. "Wait!" He stopped and turned around toward her, confused. "What is it?" he asked.
"Do you have sign up sheets for the rebellion?," I asked. He grinned.
"Never thought you'd ask."
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11 months later…
Xaq and I walked along the shores of a sandy beach, the warm spring sun shining down on us. Within the last few months, I had mastered the powers Raime had given her. The Cyberceans had taught me well in hand-to-hand combat, as well with weapons. About 6 months ago, Xaq informed me that a friend of his told him that the Purple ParaTrooper screamed right before she killed herself that the Commander was a guy named Sun Shadow. A month after that, we had intel that he disappeared, nowhere to be found. But the war was almost over now, Earth defeating the Uetranians. Avery's boyfriend, Xaq, had taken her on dates that were beautiful, but nothing was as comforting as this. The wind blew through her light brown hair, the sand soft underneath her bare, tan feet. The silver ring flickered lightly on her finger. I found out that papa died last month on a secret mission to spy on an enemy base to collect intel on their plans. It was tremendously sad, the thought of papa dead. Now I would never get to do the things I wanted to do with him. But at least she has Xaq now. We held hands, talking about the good things that happened in the war, heartwarming memories from their pasts. I knew that his favorite memory as a kid was him hanging with his best friends at his house. He and his friends would have nerf battles and hold video game tournaments. They'd dress up and use their imaginations. I wished I had memories like those, but the best ones I've ever had were the ones with Xaq, and those are the only ones I'll ever need.