Malachite (Jason Scott x Reader)

Chrysoprase

In the darkness Rita lurked, her presence coiling around you like a python, squeezing your lungs until you were sure they'd burst. Her words were like venom, racing through your veins as she poisoned your subconscious, unable to make out the otherworldly language she spoke.

With a pounding heart and erratic breaths, you jolted awake, frantically looking around as you were certain it had been a dream. Combing your fingers through your hair you tried to grasp reality as your head spun.

"Woah, Woah," Billy said, the bed dipping as he sat on the edge. "It's okay, we're in Jason's room" his voice hushed as he gestured for you to keep yours down.

Swallowing roughly, you let out a shaky exhale. "This isn't real." You told yourself, squeezing your eyes shut.

"This is very real," Billy said, unaware that his words only induced more panic.

"No, this is a dream." You assured yourself as your shoulders continued to rise and fall with each breath. "Please, please wake up." you continued, cradling the sides of your head.

"Hey." He said softly, his hand hesitantly patting your knee before retracting his touch. "I promise you, everything's okay. I'm here, just like old times...remember?"

For a moment you felt as though you were nine years old again, a poorly constructed fort of blankets hanging over your heads as you played cards and sorted through the rocks you had collected from the mines with Billy.

"Yeah," you whispered as your lips turned up into a sad smile. "-and I remember giving you a piggyback ride all the way home because you twisted your ankle on the rocks."

"To be fair, I twisted it trying to grab the rock that you asked me to get," he said defensively before laughing as he recalled the memory. Just for a second, it felt as though no time had passed, picking up right where you left off.

Except it had. Time had come and gone and things would never be the same.

As the soft laughter began to die disappearing into the void, you found yourself nervously toying with the tassels of the knit blanket. It wasn't until a third presence lingering in the doorway broke the silence.

"Hey, you're up!" Zach beamed with a muffled voice as he chowed down on some pizza-which he found hidden away in Jason's fridge. Waltzing into the room, he turned behind him and called out to the others. "Guy's she's up!"

Slowly the others trickled in, unsure of what to say as they were still processing what had happened. While you looked at your hands, unable to make eye contact with anyone, the others looked to Jason to speak.

Letting out a sigh he made his way toward you, turning on a lamp, allowing for warm light to illuminate the dark room. His eyes filled with concern as you winced at the bright light, watching as you slowly adjusted to the change in brightness.

"Sorry, I should've warned you." He apologized, folding his arms across his chest. His eyes glanced over at the others as he was worried by your behaviour. In all honesty, you looked sickly. "We need to talk to you about earlier if you're up to it." He said, crouching in front of you as he tried to meet your eyes.

Running your tongue across the scab that had begun to form over the split on your bottom lip, you nodded. "Okay."

"Where did you get the power coin?" Kimberly asked, sitting on top of Jason's desk as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "The smooth stone with the gem embedded in it." she clarified.

"In the harbour," you explained, now looking up at her with a nervousness hiding in your voice.

"The harbour?" Jason asked, knitting his brows together. "Like on the shore?"

"No, no I mean in the harbour." You continued, now turning your attention him. "It was like...like being hypnotized. Every part of my body told me to dive in, I'm not even a good swimmer but I was compelled to go in. I couldn't control myself, it's like she was in my head."

The rangers looked at each other, the same thought on their mind.

"We should take her to Zordon," Kimberly said, sliding off the desk.

"No." Your voice boomed, startling the rangers. Your head whipped back to Billy with a frantic look in your darkening eyes. "I can't, please. Billy, don't make me go."

"It's okay, Zordon is on our side." He smiled trying to comfort you.

"I'm not on your side." You said through gritted teeth, nails digging into the palms of your hand with a strength that had drawn blood. Frustrated tears pooled in your eyes as you gazed into his. "It's best if you just stay away from me. I'm just going to drag you down with me."

"No." Billy shook his head. "Don't do that to me, not again. We're here for you. Please Y/N, I just got you back."

"C'mon, you're a ranger now." Zach smiled, pushing himself off the wall before nudging Trini. "Right guys? I mean, we were all like you before we found each other. Look at us now. These are the best friends anyone could ask for, and I didn't even ask for them!"

"Wow Zach, that was actually profound." Trini quipped, rolling her eyes from Zach toward you with a small grin. "But he's got a point, what do you say?"

With their gazes burning into you, there was no way out of it. Wanting to get out as far away as possible, you obliged. "Fine."

***

Clouded by fog, the moon hid from Angel Grove, leaving the dimly lit street lamps as the only source of light as you walked home. Kicking a stone along the sidewalk, you allowed your mind to wander for a moment as you blared music through your headphones, wanting nothing more than to drown out the world around you.

"Excellent" Lord Zedd hissed. "Bring them to me."

Your chest tightened, desperately trying to rip the wires from your ears as you were certain it had come from your headphones.

"Get out of my head." You pleaded, nearly falling over the trash can that sat outside the alleyway.

From the shadows of the streetlamp, a smokey figure emerged like a phantom.

Backing up, the palms of your hands met the brick wall. With only a few blocks left, you debated running home, but fear left you frozen in place.

"Take it!" You screamed, reaching into your coat pocket for the green power coin, you held it out to the figure which slowly solidified, like the red skies from the earlier, armour formed from the darkness.

"Just take it, I'm not the right person for you!" You pleaded as you backed up further and further into the alleyway. "I'm not a power ranger, you've made a mistake, please! Just take it back, I don't want this."

The figure was a strange mixture of a shapeless cloud of smoke and armour that coated it like a shell, something only nightmares could conjure up.

"No," he said, his voice dark and blood-curdling. "You are my ranger, just like the one before you." The sharp metal talons of his hands clasped around the coin, fiery eyes igniting where his face should be.

A jolt of excruciating pain rippled through your body as his talon-like fingers pierced through your chest, infusing the essence of the power coin to every fibre of your being. The emerald armour encasing you in all its unearthly glory, spreading over you like an infectious disease.

"Without your coin, you die." He growled, his compulsion slowly hypnotizing you with every word. "You're nothing now. You answer to no other name but green ranger."

His word's poisoned you. No longer strong enough to fight, you succumbed to the darkness. You became nothing.

You were nothing.