SPD 7- “Visions of Crimson”

“Clarissa, come on. Your parents are waiting.” Sammi said.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” I said as I grabbed my purse and ran to catch up with her.

My name is Clarissa Harrington. I’m 16 and a member of SPD B-squad. I’m also the Princess of both TK-91 and Saturn…TK-91 by birthright and Saturn by a mixture of marriage and adoption. My biological father, Arion Alexi, was the royal guard of Saturn but he was killed before I was born. My mother, Arissa Harrington, is the Queen of TK-91. She was adopted by the Queen of Saturn and as such is Saturn royalty as well. Then there is my dad, Dru Harrington. He adopted me the day I was born. As far as I’m concerned he’s my dad. My family tree is a little confusing…this is just the surface.

Anyway, my parents were taking my sister Kara, my cousin Sammi, and myself out to dinner off Academy grounds. Sammi and I got downstairs and found my parents waiting with Kara.

“You girls ready?” Dad asked.

“Yes sir.” I replied.

We got to the restaurant and got a table pretty quickly.

“Sammi, how’s it going with A-squad?” Mom asked.

“Pretty good I guess. Mirloc is ruthless.” Sammi replied.

“I heard the SWAT simulation the other day was a bust.” I said.

“We could have done better.”

“I heard about that. Lilli wasn’t happy.” Kara said.

“We did better the day after. We actually saved the hostages and contained the perp.”

“A-squad should have gotten it right the first time.” I said.

“Clarissa! That was mean. What’s your problem?” Dad asked.

“I’m not saying it to be mean. I’m just saying that if I were on A-squad then I would be more focused on the task at hand.”

“I know you’re upset you’re not on A-squad. You’ll get it eventually.” Sammi said.

“I should be by now. I’ve grown up at SPD.”

“When Commander Tate feels you’re ready he’ll…” Sammi was cut off by her communicator beeping, “Oh…gotta go. Duty calls.”

“Be careful.” Mom said.

“I will. Thanks for dinner.” Sammi said as she ran out.

I put my elbow on the table and propped my head up.

“You ok?” Dad asked.

“It’s not fair.” I sighed.

“SPD isn’t about being fair. It’s about what the commander feels is best for the organization.”

“I know, I know.”

“You’re a talented cadet. I’ve seen you in action. You’ll get A-squad someday.” Kara said.

“I hope so.” I sighed again.

I’d often wondered what it would be like to be a normal high school student…but I’d never known a life outside SPD. My father had been forced to work there until Kara turned 18. You see, Kara wasn’t my biological sister. Kara’s biological parents are my Aunt Savannah and Commander Tate. Evidently Dad had assisted in her kidnapping when she was born…or before she was born…whatever. It’s confusing. Anyway, Mom managed to find out what happened and told Aunt Savannah and Commander Tate. Since Dad was the only parent Kara had ever know they agreed to let Dad continue to raise her as long as Dad stayed in New Tech City and worked at SPD so that Commander Tate could keep a watchful eye on him. Dad continues to work at SPD but he hasn’t really ever done anything else…unless you count those years he was a galactic criminal. Anyway, the point is that I’ve never gone to a normal school or lived what most people would call a normal life. My life has always been SPD, which is why it drives me crazy that I’m still B-squad.

That being said, I didn’t mean to be so mean to Sammi. Sammi is more than my cousin. She’s my best friend and I would never be mean to her on purpose. I’m just frustrated. I don’t know Commander Tate’s reasoning for keeping me with B-squad, but I had to trust there is one…even if I don’t get it.

After dinner I reported back to the Academy. My Squad leader wanted to run some drills before bed. Yeah…I’m not even the B-squad leader. Anyway, I met up with the rest of my Squad…Jenny, Lindsey, Nathan, and Paul...Jenny is the squad leader.

“Ok, A-squad has been really busy with Mirloc’s antics and if this keeps up then we’ll have to be ready to step up and handle other disturbances not related to Mirloc’s attacks. I know B-squad is capable as long as we stay on our game. We’re going to run a combat simulation. Everyone ready?” Jenny asked.

“Ready.” We replied.

“OK, simulation started.”

We started running the simulation.

“Clarissa, suspect at 3 ‘o clock.” Paul said.

I nodded, “Lindsey, cover me.”

We tried to go for the perp but he ran.

“Perp is on the run. Towards the east side of the parking garage, 2^nd level.” I said.

“In pursuit.” Lindsey said.

“I’m on the 4^th level, I have the ramp up covered.” Nathan said.

“I have the first level covered.” Paul said.

“On my way to the east side. B-squad close in.” Jenny said.

We were closing in on the perp when the simulation shut down.

“What happened?” Lindsey asked.

“Sorry guys, I need to borrow Cadet Harrington.” Kara said.

“Now?” Jenny asked.

“Problem?”

“No ma’am Officer Harrington.”

“OK, good. Clarissa, come with me.”

I nodded, “See ya guys.”

I went with Kara to the Command Center. Commander Tate was in there.

“Cadet Harrington, good.” He said.

“Yes sir. What’s going on?” I asked.

“A-squad has been captured.”

“Captured?”

“Yes. Pyo, an alien working for Mirloc, has captured them all in a mirror provided to him by Mirloc. If he is not stopped then Mirloc will get that mirror and they will be killed.”

“Oh god…Sammi…Sage…my friends and family are in there. What can I do?”

“Glad you asked. We’ve been working on a special project that I believe you are right for.”

“Project? What kind of project?”

“Project Crimson…the next level of SPD Ranger Power.”

“Project Crimson?”

“Yes. This technology incorporates cyborg elements. It makes the holder of the power faster, stronger, and more powerful than ever before.”

“And you want me to be Project Crimson?”

“I want you to take Project Crimson and become SPD Crimson and save the rest of A-squad.”

“The rest?”

“Yes. By accepting Project Crimson you will be promoted to A-squad.”

“I accept.”

“Good. There isn’t much time. You must go now. The Rangers need your help.”

“I’m on it.” I said as I took the Project Crimson Morpher. “SPD Emergency!”

Commander Tate wasn’t lying. The second I Morphed I felt more powerful than I ever had before. I rushed to the coordinates that Pyo was at. I blasted him from behind and flipped overhead, landing in front of him.

“I believe you have something I want.” I said.

“You mean this?” Pyo asked as he held up a bag that had the mirror.

“That would be it. Let my friends go.”

“Well since you asked so nicely…no.”

“Ok, fine, then this is on you, not me.” I said as I attacked him.

The monster fought back. He knocked me on my face.

“Ok, if that’s the way you wanna play it, fine.” I stood up and pulled out my saber. “No more Ms. Nice Crimson.” I ran at him and we fought. Admittedly this was unlike any simulation I’d ever done.

“I have your friends, what makes you think you can beat me?” Pyo asked.

“I have the Power of Crimson.” I said. I knew I had to win. I couldn’t fail. This was my dream. I was fighting as A-squad. On top of that I was in Crimson…my grandfather’s Ranger color. Besides…my friends and family were counting on me. It all rested on me. I couldn’t let them down now. I had to win or die trying. I switched my saber back to blaster mode. “You’re not going to beat me.”

“Little girl, I’ll beat you without breaking a sweat.”

“Never. I can do this. I know I can. I’ll prove to everyone I can do this.”

“Tough words. Now back it up.”

“You got it.” I said. I needed a plan quick. I had to break that mirror so it would release my friends. That’s when it hit me. I could freeze time. He had a tight grip and even frozen I couldn’t get the mirror but if I froze him then I could blast and break the mirror. That’s exactly what I did.

“Hey, Pyo, say freeze.” I said as I threw my hands up, freezing him. Once he was frozen I shot at the mirror with my blaster. The mirror broke and my friends flew out landing on the ground.

“Wow, what a rush.” Bridget said rubbing her head.

“How did we get out?” Angie asked.

“I think…she did it.” Sammi said pointing to me.

“Who are you?” Sage asked.

“SPD Crimson at your service.” I said.

“Clarissa?!” all three of my cousins asked.

“Not to state the obvious but can we do intros later? Pyo is only frozen for about 5 more seconds.” I said.

“Right. Ready?” Angie asked.

“Ready!”

“SPD Emergency!”

“What? What is this? How did you do that?!” Pyo asked as he unfroze.

“Not such a little girl now am I?” I asked.

“You will pay for that!” Pyo cried.

“The way I look at it, you’re the only one paying.” Sammi said.

“We’ll see about that.” Pyo said as he took out this container thing. When he smashed it on the ground it made him grow.

“Ah, 50 foot Pyo, just what we needed.” Bridget said.

“Hey Kara, do I get a Zord with this thing?” I asked into my communicator.

“But of course. Zords are on the way.” Kara replied.

All the Zords arrived. The others had to all combine to form a Megazord. My Zord had it’s own warrior mode so it didn’t need to combine with anyone, which was pretty damn sweet.

“It’s over now Pyo.” Dallas said.

“Not quite.” Pyo said as he started to blast at us.

“Oh, I don’t think so dude.” I said as I maneuvered my Zord under the attack and slid it into his legs, knocking him down.

“Nice move Crimson.” Angie said.

“Thanks. Now let’s finish this.”

“On my mark. Power Sword full power.”

“Power Sword online and ready.” Ava replied.

“And 3, 2, 1…” Angie said as they used their sword to cut Pyo back down to size. Once he was back to normal we all surrounded him on the ground.

“Crimson, you want to do the honor?” Sammi asked.

“Oh absolutely. Pyo, you are charged with kidnapping, reckless disregard, destruction of public property, and conspiracy. It is my honor to find you…guilty. Enjoy containment.” I said as I contained the perp.

We returned to SPD and reported back to the Command Center and powered down.

“Clarissa, that was amazing!” Sammi said as she hugged me.

“No lie. You rocked it out there.” Sage said.

“Yeah, you totally did.” Bridget echoed.

“Ah-hum.” Commander Tate said as he cleared his throat.

“Oh, sorry sir.” Sage said as we all stood at attention.

“Cadet Harrington, that truly was most impressive. You showed skill and remained composed under duress.”

“Thank you sir.” I said.

“Is Clarissa part of our team now sir?” Sammi asked.

“She has to be. You can’t make her go back to B-squad now.” Bridget said, “Um…sir.” She added noticing the look he gave her.

“I have no intention of sending her back to B-squad Bridget. Yes, Cadet Harrington is the newest addition to A-squad. I know she will serve you all well.” Commander Tate said.

“That awesome!” Bridget cried, “I mean…cool, cool.”

Commander Tate shook his head, “That will be all for today Rangers. Dismissed.”

We saluted and headed out of the Command Center.

“Clarissa…” Kara said, stopping me.

“You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up.” I told my squad as I turned around, “Yes ma’am?”

“I have something for you. Come with me.” Kara said.

I followed Kara to her office. She pulled a bag out and took a crimson cadet uniform out.

“You had a crimson uniform made?” I asked.

Kara smiled, “I figured if you’re gonna be crimson you’d better do it all the way.”

“Thanks Kara!”

“I know you’ve always looked up to Grandpa and this is the ultimate emulation. I knew you’d want a uniform to show it off.”

I hugged her, “Thanks Kara, you’re the best.”

“I know. Now go change and meet up with your Squad.”

I smiled, “Yes ma’am.”

I changed into my new uniform and went to the rec room to meet up with the others.

“Hey, Clarissa, looking good.” Dallas said.

I smiled, “Thanks.”

“Crimson suits you.” Sammi said.

“I think so too.” I agreed.

“Totally. Grandpa will be so proud.” Bridget said.

“We’ll find out soon. We’re going to see him next week.” Sage said.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” Sammi said.

“You guys are leaving?” Angie asked.

“Yeah, just for a weekend. We’re going to see our families. You’re coming too, right Riss?” Bridget asked.

“Um, yeah, I think so. I think my mom said I’m staying at your house Sammi.” I said.

“Yeah, my mom mentioned that.” Sammi said.

“So all four of you are leaving for a weekend? That leaves three of us here if Mirloc attacks.” Angie said.

“Don’t worry Ang, we can handle it.” Ava said.

“Totally.” Dallas agreed.

“Besides, we’re only a call away. I can teleport us back if needed.” Sammi said.

“You can only teleport two people with yourself.” Angie said.

“I’m a trained ninja. Sorta. I can ninja streak.” I said.

Angie made a face, “Hmm.”

“Relax. It’ll be fine. Especially now that we have SPD Crimson.” Bridget said.

I smiled, “Thanks for accepting me guys.”

“Hey, you were A-squad anyway. You’re always one of us.” Sammi said.

I hugged her.

“It all kinda makes sense now.” Angie said.

“What does?” Ava asked.

“Why Clarissa wasn’t put on A-squad officially before.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, you were clearly the best on B-squad but you weren’t leader. You deserved A-squad but didn’t get it. Tate was leaving you on B-squad until it was time for you to take Project Crimson over and he didn’t want to leave B-squad without a leader when that happened.” Angie explained.

“Oh…you’re right…it does make sense now.” I said.

“See Riss, I always knew you were right for A-squad.” Sammi said.

I nodded with a smile.

I finally had everything I wanted. It was nice to finally be recognized for my hard work and it was even nicer to be living my dream.