Disclaimer:
The author would like to clarify that Power Rangers and its
characters is owned by Saban Brands and not the author.
Note: This chapter has been
recently revised from its originally published version.
-o-
Night had fallen upon the ravaged city
of Angel Grove.
Although the fighting and struggling
had stopped, the peace was anything but inviting. In fact, most of
the people were either worried or downright terrified, knowing well
that the momentary cease fire was only the calm before the storm.
Some had given up hope, some had believed that the Rangers had been
soundly defeated, while others believed that they couldn't handle the
pressure and fled with their tails tucked between their legs. But
even among those who have lost hope, a few still cling to the chance
that they will pull out of this slump and come back fighting.
Within the shadows of wreckage, Ashley
Hammond overheard the conversation among a group of civilians who
were discussing that which had lingered in the minds of everyone in
the city. Comments of defeat, hopeless, and cowardice had made her
burden heavier than before. Not even the positive attitudes of Bulk
and Skull, who had assured the depressed group that the Rangers had
never let them down before and that this time would be no different,
could change her outlook. Having heard enough and unable to hold back
the tears she fought so hard to keep in, Ashley gently walked from
the group and made her way through rubble and debris to another part
of the ravaged city where the depowered Space Rangers had set up
camp. It was well-hidden, assuring no surprise ambushes from Alliance
troops positioned at various points in the city.
She saw Carlos, Cassie, and TJ
discussing tactics and options over their next course of action.
After a careful study of their faces, Ashley could tell that even
their confidence in their own abilities are far from high.
Nonetheless, they managed to put up a strong face and Ashley, wiping
the tears and thin layer of dust off her face, regained her composure
and approached the group.
"People are worried," she
interrupted the group, who all turned to her. "Worried that
we've abandoned them."
TJ stood up to lay a comforting arm on
Ashley, at which point Andros emerged from the shadows. All eyes
turned to the current Red Ranger. "Any sign of Zhane?"
Andros shook his head. "I've found
the wreckage of the Megawinger about a few blocks away, but no sign
of Zhane."
"Maybe we can rally some of the
locals to form a resistance." Carlos made the suggestion with a
bit of uncertainty because he believed it seemed like a logical yet
untried strategy. After all, the Rangers have tried hard not to have
civilian involvement in their conflicts.
"We can't risk the lives of
civilians in a futile struggle," Andros said prompting all eyes
on him, "Terrans have never faced alien invaders of this
magnitude and would be maimed needlessly unless they're wearing
special colored costumes we don't know about. And I seriously doubt
that."
"They'll be killed either way if
we lose," Carlos said, "So might as well go down fighting."
"We can't risk the lives of
civilians," added TJ, "Unless they all have their own
morphers, it'll be slaughter. We'll have to find another way."
"There is one way," Andros
offered, "If I can get into the Dark Fortress, I still think I
can get through to my sister. Maybe I can talk her into stopping all
this."
"And you were saying my plan was
futile?" Carlos quipped, "Man, she'll kill you first chance
she gets."
"She's my sister," Andros
retorted, "She won't hurt me."
"They've changed her into
something worse. For all we know, she destroyed Dark Specter to take
the reigns of the Alliance herself." TJ gave his words some
thought, laying a hand on his longtime friend's shoulder. "I
hate to have to tell you this, but she's not your sister. Not
anymore."
"I'll never accept that," he
spat out.
"Look, we're not trying to make an
issue out of this," TJ said, "But just think about this.
The Alliance is the only sense of family she's ever got in her life.
She just found out you're her brother a short time ago. Do you really
think she'll betray all she's known just because you say it isn't
right?"
"She's my sister," he said
again, this time in a much more fragile tone.
"The question is does she believe
that?" Cassie said.
"Look, I'm willing to give this a
try," Andros stated, undeterred by what the others have said,
"If it means losing my life to save hers and bring her back into
the light, it's an acceptable risk. I need to do this."
Carlos got up slowly. "Okay, so
let's assume you're right and you might have a chance. How do you
know where to find her? According to the last news broadcast, there
are a dozen spaceships up in space. Not to mention two Dark
Fortresses that happen to look the same."
Andros didn't reply. T.J.'s eyes
narrowed as he slowly approached Andros, who was expecting a verbal
lashing for what he had suggested. Instead, TJ placed a hand of
Andros' shoulder and said, "If you're going through with this,
at least let us go with..."
"Forget it, Teej," Andros
interrupted in a calm voice. "I'll stand a better chance of
going alone than if we went together. You need to save your world. Do
whatever you can."
TJ didn't say a word. He couldn't think
of anything else to add to the matter - there was nothing more to be
said except "good luck." So he simply nodded and turned
towards the other Rangers in order to work on a plan to turn things
around. Andros turned and headed towards a secluded area. After
searching the area for any local folk, he pulled out his communicator
unit and dialed in his co-ordinates. Just as he was ready to go, he
noticed Ashley approaching him and for a while, he just stood there
as she got closer, unable to think up anything to say.
"You can't just..." Andros
laid a finger on her lips, silencing her.
"I have to." His voice was
soft and cool, as though he was trying to convey his deepest feelings
for her. "You know that."
"Andros, we're set to go,"
a voice Ashley was unfamiliar with chimed from his morpher. "Be
ready to teleport in one minute."
Andros absently raised his wrist to his
mouth so he could reply, his eyes still staring to Ashley's.
"Whenever you're ready, William."
He took a step back from Ashley. who
just looked at him in surprise. "You mean you had this planned?
From the beginning?"
Andros only half-smiled. "Not
quite from the beginning. More like several minutes ago." He
went closer to her and took her hand, stroking it gently. "If I
don't see you again..."
Ashley puts a finger to Andros' lips,
just as he had done earlier. "I will see you again. That much,
you can be sure of."
"Right," Andros said as he
took a couple steps away from Ashley, trying to hold back some of the
tears that were stinging his eyes. For some time, the two looked each
other in the eyes for what seemed like an eternity, but more like
several seconds. Before Ashley could utter another word, she watched
as Andros' form vanished in a blaze of red light. She found herself
following the red trail with her eyes until it was out of sight. In
some strange way, she knew he would be fine. After a few moments,
Ashley turned and rejoined the others, who didn't notice Andros
leaving.
-o-
"Sir, we must not delay! We must
launch the offensive now!"
The Japanese general shook his head,
earning a look of shock from the two officers that stood before him.
If one would look at the wide room-sized window of the situation
room, they would see a tropical island in flames, with various
monsters slumbering about on their dying breaths as the wave of
meteor rocks fell from the blackened sky. While the rocks were
harmless to humans, they were deadly to the inhabiting monsters, and
one by one, the monsters of the Japanese military installation known
as Monster Island were dying off in a whimper. Just a short while
ago, the general was ready to launch an offensive against the
invaders, but that was before... this devastation. And when the
satellite images revealed the size of the fleet, he felt worse.
"She controls the Earth now,"
the general said bitterly, "Our monsters are all destroyed by
the meteors."
"It's not all lost, General,"
the officer replied enthusiastically, "We still have the five
experimental Arwings fighters designed for space flight."
"Five Arwings against an entire
armada in space?" the general cried incredulously in response.
"You think this is just some Nintendo game we're playing here?
Those aliens will destroy those fighters without a second thought!
Humans will be an extinct species on this planet!"
"Act rationally, sir!" the
second officer said, "We still have the chance. If necessary, we
will activate the fighters and boost them to full power. The aliens
know we are weakened and they won't expect an aggressive assault, not
at our current state."
"And as a last resort, we have the
Jet Icarus attack force," the first officer interjected. "Five
tactical assault jets configured to assemble into a battle mecha with
enough power to destroy a small island." He gathered his
thoughts for a moment. "All we need is your authorization to
make the appropriate preparations for combat. We'll handle the rest."
"With all due respect, sir, we
still have a chance to win," the second officer added, "Are
you willing to take it?"
The general considered his options;
either send the attack force or just sit there and wait for the end
to come. Neither one was a truly appealing option, as he believed
both would lead to imminent defeat and subsequent destruction. In the
end, though, the general believed that if this planet would be
conquered or destroyed, it wouldn't be without a fight. He saw that
now, more than ever. With newfound determination, the general turned
to the two officers and uttered only one word; the only word either
officer really needed.
"Go."
-o-
Within the caverns and inner corridors
of the Temple of Power laid Ninjor's meditation quarters. It is here
where the Ninja Master and eons-old arcane specialist had created the
original eight power coins and drew up plans for the original
Ninjazords and Aquitian Battleborgs. Other than for deep meditation
and for thinking through difficult decisions, it is a chamber that
Ninjor had rarely ever occupied, if at all. Aside from being a
well-hidden chamber perfect for maintaining some semblance of
privacy, it was cramped, poorly lit with two simple candles seemingly
close to burning out, and the room bore a fairly unforgiving stench
that seemed to have been around for a long time.
Therefore, he found it funny that it
would be his resting place, as he limped his way to the quarters with
Kimberly's help. Although the excessive bleeding from the open wound
had stopped more than an hour ago, both of them were completely
covered in the crimson liquid from the waist down. When they reach
the quarters, Ninjor waved off Kim, who let go and watched as he
grabbed onto a wall railing with both hands to make his way towards
the plain altar. When he got there, Ninjor dropped to his knees and
began to breathe heavily, prompting Kim to rush over to him. Ninjor
waved her off again and when Kim took a step back, Ninjor managed
whatever strength he could to stand and walk behind the altar to face
Kim.
"What we are about to do has never
been done in ages," he said, making an effort to speak clearly.
"In fact, the trial of the Ranger Sentinel has only been
achieved once in many millenia and all subsequent efforts... what few
had been done since... ended tragically." He weakly thrust his
hand forward and soon a chalice of liquid formed in his hand. "If
we are successful in this procedure, you will attain my life essence,
along with all the knowledge to use it wisely."
"And if we fail?" Kim asked.
"We both die and both our souls
are ripped asunder." His words were straightforward, to the
point, and downright depressing despite his weak state.
"That's bad."
"Yes... ugh!" Ninjor winced
as he felt pain from the wound. "We haven't much time left. We
must start this now."
"So what do we do?" Kim
asked, eager to get this done.
"We shall both drink from the
chalice and then..." Ninjor paused, as if trying to remember.
"And then, we'll... find out."
Kimberly didn't say anything. Instead,
she reached for the chalice, took a small sip from it, and passed it
on to Ninjor, who took the chalice and placed it back on the altar.
Kim wondered about how Ninjor could drink, but then she felt dizzy
for a second. When her head cleared, she no longer found herself in
the dingy meditation quarters, but in an endless white void that
seemed both strange and familiar at the same time. She looked down on
herself to find his clothing clean and free of blood, then turned to
her right and saw Ninjor in pristine condition. Judging from his
stance, he seemed to be in perfect health.
"Where am I?"
"This is white space," Ninjor
said, sounding much more energetic than a few seconds before she was
brought to this state of being. "This is where you'll be for the
moment."
"Doing what?"
"Nothing."
Kim shook her head in disbelief. "This
is supposed to be life-threatening? We just stand here and do
absolutely nothing! What? Did the other five times be failures
because the participants did something and then poof!"
The ninja master gave a hearty laugh in
response. "Oh, don't worry about it, kiddo. You'll do just
fine."
"Why are you so sure about that?"
asked Kim, "And why do you think I'm worth bestowing this? Other
than the fact that I'm the only other human on the planet."
"I assure you, Kimberly, that is
far from the reason I brought you here to begin with," Ninjor
said, "All of you Rangers have admirable qualities that would be
advantage to the success of this. But you're the only one to have a
specific link to the power."
Kimberly shook her head, unable to
grasp what Ninjor was saying, before she looked up in realization.
"When I tapped into the true power of my coin."
"Far quicker than any of the other
coinbearers have," Ninjor added.
"But Billy was the first to find
out about it," she countered. "I didn't even know about
until a year or so ago."
"Yes, but Billy never had that
missing link." Seeing Kimberly was confused by his answer,
Ninjor paused for a moment, considered his words. "It isn't just
the harnessing of the coin's true potential. It is your exposure to
the Power in its purest sense."
"I don't understand."
It took a brief moment for Ninjor to
answer. "Kimberly, do you know about the eighth Power Coin?"
Kimberly's eyes widened, recollecting
the . "I knew the girl who had it. She got it from a master
warrior from some planet. She showed up in Angel Grove. All hell
broke loose, I was knocked out, she helped me out, and then she
left." She paused for a moment before glancing at Ninjor. "But
that all happened before we met you the first time."
The ninja master nodded. "Indeed."
"Do you know what happened to
her?" Kim asked suddenly, "I only saw her a couple times
after, but after I left for-"
Ninjor raised a hand. "I'm afraid
I know nothing of the girl's fate, but I'm sure she's just fine."
Kimberly frowned.
"When she healed you with the
coin," explained Ninjor, "It did more than just break your
state of unconsciousness. It left behind a permanent presence upon
your own life force. That permanent presence, regardless of whatever
power drain, bodily harm, or ailments inflicted, can never be severed
outside of your eventual passing. It never would have manifested
itself otherwise had you gone on to live a normal, productive life."
"Didn't quite turn out that way,"
she said, "Especially when I used as bait for a giant lava
monster, among other things."
Ninjor shrugged. "That wouldn't
have made a difference, because nothing would have come of it if you
had left it all behind. Your continued possession of your old coin
and its gradual restoration of power had caused that inert essence to
mature slowly and eventually embed itself as part of your being. It
is because of this essence that you were able to harness your power
coin to its fullest potential, potential that goes beyond any mere
Ranger. And that, my dear, is why this ordeal will be successful."
Kimberly thought about what Ninjor had
said. In some strange way, it almost made some sense to her. The pain
she felt earlier could have been her body adjusting to changes that
were sudden and drastic. And considering she didn't feel any pain
during the recent battle, she knew, from Ninjor's point of view, that
whatever changes she had experienced were complete. And while she was
relieved to learn that what she had experienced wasn't fatal, it also
made her uneasy... what would she be when this is all over? How much
would she change when all is said and done.
Kim cringed at the thought.
-o-
Eltare. The homeworld of the sage
Zordon. The first casualty of the Alliance War.
Although heavily defended and in
control of the United Alliance of Evil, it is not safe from conflict.
Above the planet and within the atmosphere, mighty starships lock
horns in a struggle for dominance. Neither side had gain a
significant advantage, but one wrong move can turn the tide. So far,
none were made. But the true battle had yet to begun - as an assault
group of Ranger Wraiths and Tenga Knights approached the shining
crystal citadel that had served as the main headquarters of the
Eltarian government. The strangest aspect of this group was not its
complement, but rather on the two beings who lead it - two beings
whom, at one point, despised each other like nothing more. But for
the time being, both fleshman Lord Zedd and Ranger Thomas Oliver had
agreed to put aside their differences to reclaim the planet. Or at
least, that is what Zedd told Thomas, who is still weary of Zedd's
true motives.
"There it is," the fleshman
called in reference to the twin spires. "The Capital Palace, our
target, is dead ahead."
Thomas stood ahead of Zedd and took a
long look at the palace. "You don't really think that they'll
just let us in, do you?"
"Of course not," Zedd
replied, "I hope they send their robots after us. Let's go."
After several minutes of walking, the
group were standing before the stairs leading up to the main door.
Around the same time, from hidden entry points, several groups of
color-coordinated Robot Rangers emerged and formed a blockade between
the group and the entrance. Shortly, the blockade was joined by
Quantrons of black, gold, and silver varieties, as well as the rare
but deadly Iron Golem foot soldiers. Finally, yet another group of
Robot Rangers appeared and formed the final blockade.
"That's a lot of Turbo Rangers,"
Thomas said smugly, "Maybe you should have stayed in
retirement."
Zedd didn't reply. He looked intently
on as the group of multi-colored Ranger bots summoned their
respective power weapons, which were replicas of those used by the
original Turbo Ranger teams on which these robots were based upon.
Quantrons wielded their weapons while Iron Golems pulled out various
swords, axes, and stone clubs. At the same time, Ranger Wraiths
summoned their own weapons - swords, axes, blasters, and other
weapons - while Thomas pulled out Saba before discarding the jacket
and Zedd summoned his curved saber out of thin air.
"If you have morphing powers, I
suggest you use them," the fleshman advised, "This could be
a little rough."
"Nah," Thomas said, ignoring
the trail of sweat riding down his face. "Where's the fun in
that?"
And before anyone knew it, without
warning and with no turning back, both armies clashed with each other
and the brutal, bloody battle for control of the planet Eltare
began...
End FIVE
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