Piasa a modern-day retelling of a Native American legend By David Gonterman as told by Zack, formerly of The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Period 1 of The Orange Ranger Trilogy Directions for Reading: For best results, get Blood and Metal I with this file, and begin reading that file immediately after finishing this one. This is BAM's prequel and flows seamlessly into themain story. The story is placed in the Power Rangers Command Center. You will see it from the viewing globe as do the assembled [current] Power Rangers. The text comes from Zack's report of the incident.... A bronze statue of a young man holding a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun standsbefore what used to be the Piasa Bird monument at the Alton cliffs. The dude who that statue was made after stands before it, only he had a robotic left arm in place of the real one he lost in his modern-day battle with this creature from Native American legend. But the wacked part is that it wasn't the Piasa Bird that removed his real left arm, but the ethnic strife in the area that woke it up. I should know, I was around him when it happened. The Piasa Bird is a legend students in St. Louis history get to know early. It was about a monster resembling a jaguar with wings and a tail long enough to do laps around the body. 400 years ago, this over-glorified canary showed up one day, and began snacking on the natives, until a brave warrior and six of his friends fought it off. The bird disappeared into the Alton cliffs and was never heard from again until a few weeks back, around the time that a racial riot that resembled the Rodney King incident broke out around here. What set it off was really predictable if you keep up to date in politics today, like my friend Jason does: Two white cops had to use their night-sticks to stop a black gang- banger on PCP. The cops were tried but they were found innocent. The black community started to protest in the streets. The media did their spin on the whole thing. The Republican-controlled congress in Washington went on TV and warned people not to riot like the people in South Central did. One person got up and shouted something about a lack of compassion, or some other Politically Correct phrase. One thing led to another, and before anyone knew it, there was fighting in the streets, burning cars, and all- around rioting and looting in the heartland. The part I don't get is that, if the main argument was black-vs-white, why did other ethnic groups had to get involved? Like why did some PC Thought Police idiot group picket the world opening of Disney's newest flick, 'Pocahontas?' What were they to gain by saying that a harmless movie is bad history? I mean, I have seen this film with my friends and none of us found anything wrong with it. Everybody was surprised to find a balanced image between Powahatan Tribe and the English Explorers, but that's getting out of the subject. This is where our cyborg friend comes in, only he's not a cyborg yet; that comes later. Our hero's name's Davey Crockett, a college student, aspiring artist, and chronic daydreamer. You'll won't know him, he's not the sociable type. My--ahem--sources tell me that he got a case of mental illness several years after high school; I guess that if you get nagged by your parents day in and day out to get a job that just ain't there in the real world, you'll sink into depression too. He's been doing okay now with counseling and Prosac up to the point where the PC mob at the theater caught him talking with me, Jason and Trini over the movie. Man, it was a miracle that Davey got all four of us in his car and got away before they tried to scalp him, or whatever they had in their sick little minds for rednecks from the Metro East side of the Mississippi River. He didn't stop ‘til he got to his apartment in Granite City, where we decide to hide themselves in for the night; have a party too while were here. Eventually, we all got close enough to tell each other our experience in trying to live in a Multicultural society. Although none of us will admit actually hating another group, there was a moment of two in each of our lives that race relations rubbed us the wrong way. For example, Davey had an African-American history teacher with way too much attitude last fall, who got up in front of the whole class and called him a racist to his face, only because he was sick and tired of having the slavery issue rubbed in his face like a bad dog that wet the bed. I said that she was full of B.S., and that he was definitely not racist in saying that. Angry, yes, but not oficcialy racist. Besides, my mother told me that it's just not right to visit the sins of the fathers onto their children. However, the question over Davey's feelings toward Multicultuarism will crop up to haunt him later in this story. The next morning we went outside to hear people talking about how the earthquake was like. We didn't feel any quaking except for a train speeding by Davey's backyard now and then. Little did we know that one of those faint rumblings didn't come from any train. "We didn't have the TV on then," I said. "We don't know about any quake!" "Must be that New Madrid fault line," Davey added. "It was about time it acted up." "I'm afraid that it wasn't any fault," one neighbor interjected. "This quake came from some sort of explosion from the Alton Cliffs. Here's the news feed on TV, come look for yourselves." The cliff looked like the Oklahoma bombers practiced on it. A giant crevice appeared where the metal sculpture of the Piasa Bird once stood, spreading fifty feet wide at front and narrowing down some seventy-five feet before disappearing into black smoke beyond. The blast--if it were a blast--had not only leveled the visitor's center, which was supposed to be directly under the absent cliff, but it also dug a trench that leads into the river, pouring water into a dark cave where the smoke came out of. Limestone was thrown all the way to the Missouri side of the river. It completely covered what was left of the road between the river and the cliffs, making it unpassable. Only a brave band of news reporters arrived to investigate what they thought was an earthquake. "Great, just what Alton needs now," Davey quipped in the usual smart- alec manner when faceing things he has no control over. "Another natural disaster, as if the floods wrecking the cruise schedule of its gambling boats weren't bad enough--" Suddenly a terrifying scream came from inside the cave. It was so loud that it made windshields shatter and the ground to shake. A gust of wind as strong as a hurricane spewed smoke, sulfur, and pieces of rock the size of soccer balls out toward the camera knocking it around a few times before allowing it to settle on the ground, still facing the cave. It had a perfect view of what came out of that cave. The first to appear was a billow of flame, streaming out toward the water as if it came from a flame thrower, next was the horns, white and twisted, each like a twisted gnarled tree in winter. After that the fangs appeared, as large as elephant's tusks, but jutting upward from a severe underbite, one on each side of the flame throwing nostrils of its lion-like face. At each side, about five feet back, the wings sprang out of the mist. Each wing was thirty feet wide and webbed like a bat. They flapped with a force so strongly it uprooted trees as they passed by. They protruded from a white leopard's body. Fifteen feet long and standing seven feet tall, with claws as big as butcher knives. Finally, snaking out of the cave, appeared the beginning of the tail, python green and forked like a snake's tongue at the end. Eventually that tail will measure seventy-five feet by itself, and it was still coming out of the cave before the beast came into full view of the helicopter camera, but it was no doubt in anyone's minds just what this monster that came from the bowels of hell itself was. "That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my whole life! Don't look at him. You'll turn to stone!" "Holy! What on earth is that thing?" "I know what it is," Davey said. "My God. It's the Piasa Bird." The monster shrieked in rage upon being noticed. It took off with those monstrous wings and went directly for the helicopter camera, its crew screaming in horror as it approached. While the monster attacked the camera broke free, and everyone who watched got to see the Piasa Bird feast on the helicopter pilot before the camera splashes into the river and sinks into white snow. None of us took long in deciding what to do. Between Davey's knowledge on what this Piasa Bird was about, and the rest of us wanting to keep St. Louis safe from this local version of Godzilla, we've decided to destroy this creature, or at least put it back to sleep for another 400 years. The only question on our minds is how that thing woke up. Trini said that the inability for everybody to just get along got whoever counts as the Great Spirit pissed off and woke the creature. A neighbor who was heavy into New Age said that all the negative vibes that we all were giving off that woke it up from its slumber. Davey only said that it woke up from all the noise. Whatever. The point is that we have a jaguar with wings and a tail that can do three laps around the body trashing St. Louis like a Japanese monster movie, and unless you count us, there was not a Power Ranger in sight. Oh, hell. No rest for the wicked, I guess. We did most of our homework while everything was going to heck on the news. We got a printout of the Piasa Bird legend, and read it for clues. >From the legend, we learned that 'Tweety' here is supposed to have a thick hide, almost like chain mail on medieval suits of armor, but it had a weak spot directly underneath the wings. "That's okay is you're throwing spears at it," Davey noted, "but today we've got weaponry that will cut through that like a hot knife through butter." "Yo, Genius," I said, "did we have to print this out to learn this?" "We'll have that advantage," Davey responded. "We just have to find the Power Blaster to feed it with." We couldn't find the Power Blaster. We did find enough guns and rifles to arm a small malitia, with a small fortune on armor piercing bullets, hollow tips, Black Talons, and many other illegal ammo that'll kick some butt. We also found a bulletproof vest for each of us. All this while dodging a riot that was still going on--you'd think that a bunch of inner city people will have enough sense to stop this "No Justice, No Peace" crap and duck inside their homes when a monster starts trashing their neighborhood! Sheesh! This would be a whole lot easier is we were in the good-old rainbow-colored spandex. One problem, though: What color would Davey be? Now, this is when things really start going crazy. Davey Crockett is not one prone to risk life or limb. I don't think that he had something to prove to me, Trini or Jason, or this city, especially when his hometowm thinks he's a nerd. Yet, he said that he had something to prove to himself when he volunteered to stand alone in full view on top of the tallest skyscraper in the city, while Jason, Trini, myself, and several other volunteers were waiting in the wings to blind side the Piasa Bird when it comes for him. He said that he wanted to be someone that other Angry White Men can look up to; someone who is more then just a racist, sexist, homophobic, well, you know. "I don't think that is the reason you're doing this," Trini said to him. "I think you have some Native American in you, Davey. If it isn't from your bloodline, you probably picked it up somehow." "Ah read many stories from them," Davey replied. "I know some of the Native American mythology. But I'm afraid I'm not as serious about it as you are, though." "I can't imagine why," she answered with a wink as she got into position. "They're serious about you. You'll see." It was at the last light of sunset when the Piasa Bird streaked from the western horizon. It strafed the treetops with the speed of a jet as it approached St. Louis. There was not a light in the skyline except for the spotlights poised at the top of the tallest building, which was where it saw his next victim. With a shriek of delight, it picked up speed and attitude to take his prey head on. If it could notice, it would find out that its target for the night had on a bullet proof vest and an eagle feather tied to his SIUE cap. It would also see that his target, named Davey Crockett--as if it cared--was holding a sawed-off shotgun aimed directly at its head. "All right, pal," Davey shouted. "What's on your mind?" Davey waited until both him and the Piasa Bird can see their reflections in each other's eyes before he pulled the trigger. It was nothing short of awe-inspiring. I thought, Zordon, put this guy in the Power Rangers now!!! The Piasa Bird did a back flip in midair before landing before Davey, and then, looking him square in the eyes, swallowed the buckshot he fed into its mouth. "Crud," Davey cursed. "Bad idea." The Piasa Bird pounced out for Davey, but at the last moment, he sidestepped out of the way of the talons and opened fire at it some more, setting it up for the rest of us to open fire at the sides. Some bullets bounced off the hide, some manage to intrude themselves between the scales, but others found the weak spot; the area under the wings that was unprotected. With an agonizing scream that shattered the glass windows of that skyscraper, the Piasa Bird did another loop and plunged into the dark streets below. Davey watched the monster fall as long as he dared before vertigo overtook him. After a few tense seconds he turned to us and triumphantly cried out, "We did it!" Without warning, and I would say on a cue, the Piasa Bird appeared out of the darkness below, snatched Davey up by the talons, and carried him off the scyscraper! Fortunately, the vest kept him from being impaled by the sharp talons. Even so, he was hanging from the Piasa Bird by its talons, nearly blacking out from the loops, twists, and spins it performed. He ran out of ammo in his shotgun, so he had to throw it away and reach for a handgun that he had in his belt. Davey aimed carefully for the chin of his captor, and what seened like an eternity trying to aim, he fired one Black Talon right up the Piasa Bird's chin. The Piasa Bird's head exploded in a burst of blood, brain, and bone. (Dang, No wonder Black Talons are illegal!!!) It fell like a rock immediately, with Davey along for the express ride to the streets below. I couldn't look to see the landing. I was too busy taking the elevator--it was safer than Davey's method of reaching Ground Floor--to find whatever was left of the Piasa Bird . . . and Davey. We were almost at the place where they landed when we could hear Davey say, "Aw, Crud, it's you." Then we heard a gunshot. This is where that incident with that Black History Teacher comes into play, because It was she that shot off his left arm, with the same gun used on the Piasa Bird. Yes, with the same type of bullett too. I was immediately pissed off at that woman for what she did. Davey Crockett saved his city and this is how they thank him? I tackled that witch to the ground and asked her why. She said something about getting back at his ancestors for what they did to her ancestors. I would've killed her if Jason hadn't pried me off. I was still angry over Davey's condition though. I would rather see him dead than having him wake up with a good excuse to join the Klan. I mean, he had a future with that left arm. He was going to college to get an art degree. He was going to make something for himself, something nobody expected him to do. I went everywhere defending his case; It just wasn't fair. Fortunately, I got heard. Somehow--I believe it was Zordon--made a state-of-the-art cyborg left arm for Davey. This one was special; it had a compartment in the lower arm with more gadgets than a Swiss Army Knife. He must've made it so that he woke up from the operation with that arm attached to him. He heard the mayor of St. Louis right above. "We did wrong to you, son," he said. "I won't blame you for hating us black's for the rest of your life." I held my breath for the worst. Davey just smiled at him had gave him the thumbs up sign. I couldn't believe it. I just broke down crying. This guy's a regular prince. He said that it was okay, the city was safe, the riot was stopped, and the woman that shot off his arm's facing justice. That's all he wanted. Davey Crockett's a regular hero. He didn't need no stinking spandex, know any martial arts, or even have a Zord. Although now with that cyborg arm, he's his own mech now. Forget the Power Rangers, We've got Davey Crocket--King of the Cyber frointier! They made that bronze statue of him in honor of that night, and placed it in front of the demolished Piasa Bird exhibit. They plan on reconstructing the place and put in another museum to hold the now two legends of the Piasa Bird. But for now, people just drop by the statue and admire what Davey did. Even Davey himself stands in front of that statue and thinks over what he did. He would have stood there forever if I havent yanked at him to "Let's go." Where, you ask? Onwards. Place to go, people to see, and adventures to have, although none as dangerous as that Piasa Bird. Davey plans to return to college to complete his degree, then move to Angel Grove to persue a career. I wish him well. And Zordon, If you're reading this, I would like to thank you for what you did to Davey. May the power potect him. May the power protect us all. ********* *Bridge:* ********* Place: Power Rangers Command Center Cast: All six current Power Rangers (Adam, Aiesha, Billy, Kimberly, Rocky, and Tommy), Alpha 5, and Zordon. Time: Immediately after Zack finished his Piasa report. Zordon: I wish I could take the credit for Davey's recovery, Zack, but I cannot. Rocky: You mean you didn't give him his metal arm? Zordon nods no. Alpha: AiYiYiYi! Something's wrong with Mr. Crockett!! Rocky: That must be his robot arm, Alpha. Alpha: It's not that at all! Check out these readings!! Billy: Let me see those. . . . Davey Crockett. . . . Age: Physically, 26. Chronologically. . . I don't believe it. . . 102. All: 102!?! Billy: How can he be 76 years older than he An alarm sounds. Alpha: And that's not all. I've just detected a disturbance in the time-space continuum. I'm not sure, but I think it's connected to Davey somehow. Billy taps on a keyboard: Affirmative. The subspace disturbance occurred last night, in the exact spot where Davey laid in a coma. Zordon: I think I know what happened to him: While Davey Crockett's body was comatose in this dimension, his mind must be displaced in another dimension. There, he must have lived an entire life, in the span of eight real-time hours. I have detected chronal abnormalities like this one before. Kimberly: Um, can you tap into that dimension Davey was in that night? Zordon: I can, and I will also monitor his progress there. Kimberly: Thanks Zordon. Tommy: What's wrong, Aiesha? You've been quiet all this time. Aiesha: Oh, nothing, Tommy. . . It's just. . . Oh, I just feel bad for Dave here. He just lost his arm because of what his ancestors did. . . It's just not right. Zordon: I understand your sorrow over the political ramifications over his assault, Aiesha, and I am sure that Davey will agree. This I know, because at the end of his 'life' in that dimension he was lost in, I helped him return to this one. All: You? Zordon: Yes, at that time, the racial conflict caused by that event plunged your country into a second civil war, destroying everyone, even all of you. Davey can stop that from occurring in this world by returning to the present and stop the escalation of racial tensions from occurring. This he done, exceptionally well. Aiesha: Cool. Adam: So, you think he's Power Ranger potential? Kimberly: Oh, get out! A seventh Power Ranger? Rocky: Oh, you think Zordon was handing out raffle tickets. . . Adam: Someone's needs to be the Green Ranger now that Tommy's vacated it. Kimberly: Adam, he uses a shotgun against a giant monster. Do you see any of us use a shotgun against a giant monster? Tommy: Besides, he looks like the type who would use that shotgun against the putties! Zordon: True, but you don't know who gave him that shotgun, of to be more accurate, the Power Rifle. Kimberly: You? No. Him? A Power Ranger? Zordon: Yes and no, Kimberly. I gave him the Power Rifle, true; He needed it to defeat the Piasa Bird, and it proved useful in his adventures in that other dimension. He also has in his possession a Power Coin that enabled him to contact me. But Davey Crockett will not be an official Power Ranger, per se. His role in the battle against evil will be a different one that the one you all have chosen, but it is equally as important. He is destined to be a key player in several important events in the future, and will require some power of his own in order to win those events to the side of good. Tommy: So, what's his Power Coin? And power, I mean? Zordon: Mr. Crockett is known for his cunning and quick wit. I have chosen for him the power of the fox. With his power coin, he can operate a small sized morphing grid, which was the prototype of the one you Power Rangers use. He can morph into a fox form, and calI on a hovercycle and a jetpack. His robotic arm has continuous access to the Internet, where the majority of his powers reside. Kimberly: One more request, Zordon. Can you show us where he got his cyborg arm? Zordon: I'm glad you asked, because that event is just about to begin in the dimension Davey was in. Observe the viewing globe. Kimberly: Whoa, a talking squirrel. This is too much. Adam: Hey, I think I know what Davey's in. I seen it in a cartoon once. Rocky: What's is that called? . . . ____________________ Okay, like I said, go immediately into Blood and Metal, and continue the storyline from there. Okay, I'll allow you to catch your breath and get a snack in between the segments, because I'm such a nice guy ;-). I'll play a comercial while I'll wait. Piasa is the first story in what I'll call "The Orange Ranger Trilogy." It'll sandwitch BAM together, yet by itself, is a riveting polital thriller centering around Davey Crockett. Period 2 occures 75 years in the future, yet Davey hasn't aged a second, as he struggles to find a way back to the present in an universe that could only be entitled, "The Age of Zed." You have only one guess who took over. You know what happened to 8 of the other 9 Power Rangers. You don't want to know what happened to the ninth--"Dragon Boy," the Green Ranger; the Other Tommy. Period 3 costars everybody from Saban--all 10 Power Rangers (if you count Davey), the V.R. Troopers, and the new Masked Rider, as they battle an political evil that treatens to destroy all of them until they snip it in the bud. It's exciting action mixed with a political message of harmony among the races. Racism. It's everybody's problem, now. Even to White Males. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers--The Orange Ranger Trilogy. On-Line to you by the FoxFire Studios. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and all chara's related (c) Saban Entertainment, Inc. The Orange Ranger Trilogy, Davey Crockett, and storyline (c) 1995 David Gonterman. _______Also Available from FoxFire....Of course.... Are you so pissed off over ABC cancelling the Saturday Morning "Sonic the Hedgehog" cartoon that you would just love to find the dork responsible and roboticize him yourself? Go ahead. Do so. Noone from Knothole will mind. I'll take care of the series that left you hanging from my link to American On-Line....... Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood and Metal Through the mysteries of The Void, King Acorn found himself on the Planet Earth. In case you've been Off-Line this past month, he's the talking squirrel in the last scene. He sends the cyborg Davey C. back through that Void into Mobius to deliver a message to Princess Sally, assist the Freedom Fighters, and trash every bot that gets in his way, MA-17 style. Wanna hear a Swatbot scream? Wanna see Mortal Kombat Fatalities performed on robots? Wanna read about someone puking his guts out on the Internet? If you don't then you need not apply. Just send a subtle hint to Michael Eisner, Current Disney President and now owner of ABC to make more Sonic 'toons and stay out of AOL. Blood and Metal can also be found in the WWW: http://rat.org Look for the On-Line HTML Deluxe Version coming soon. E-mail any comments--flames, threats of lawsuits, and accusations of racism will be ignored, I'll let your tiny minds deal with such unworthy crap--to my address.