Angel Grove, 1993

The Command Center shook viciously, forming cracks in the walls and ceiling. The natural light that spilled in had never before entered the Ranger's base of operations. Alpha 5 scrambled at the control panel, pressing a confusing series of buttons that seemingly had no impact on the destruction that raged around him. Zordon remained immobile in his energy tube, a stoic expression permanently frozen on his face. Six teens rushed in from a usually hidden entrance, still in their uniforms. Jason, the Red Ranger, tore off his helmet and looked directly at his mentor.

"Zordon! The Zords are gone!" He called out attempting to be courageous for his team, but much like the building around him, he was cracking.

"You were right about going out at half power," he continued, the weight of the world weighing on him heavily, "We could barely hold our own against Cyclpopsis, but when Lokar returned, and without Titanus, we… we couldn't do it." Jason hung his head in a combination of shame and hurt.

"Rangers," Zordon returned, addressing the scared teens in his usual loud monotone, "What has transpired today is not your fault. It was far too much for me to ask you to battle Rita." Though his face never changed, it was obvious Zordon was not pleased by the words coming out of his mouth.

"The blame rests on myself alone. I asked an enormous task of you, and I am sorry," the Ranger's mentor finished. The heroes had removed their helmets and now exchanged frightened looks, now being faced by unknown circumstances. The building continued to rock, and various menacing voices were heard from outside the shattering walls.

"The truth will be frightening, but it must be confronted," the intergalactic wizard continued, "The Command Center will fall, and Rita will have an enormous advantage over you." Zordon's usually motionless eyes shifted to each of his charges, "I will have Alpha send you away from here, but you must continue on without us."

"But Zordon, what about the citizens of Angel Grove? What about our families?" the Pink Ranger, Kimberly, asked with as much volume as she could muster, "Rita has them in her Dark Dimension."

Zordon locked eyes with the young gymnast and remembered how terrifying warfare was when it was right in front of you. "I am sorry, Rangers," the ancient sorcerer began, "Never forget your mission, nor how proud of you I will always be. May the Power protect you."

As if on cue, Alpha pressed a button that caused the Rangers to extend into beams of light and vanish. "Th-this is it, isn't it Zordon?" Alpha asked, while shaking.

"You still have time to save yourself Alpha," Zordon replied to his longtime friend, "I cannot ask you to remain." Alpha 5's optics looked down to the control panel for a moment that seemed like an eternity. He looked back up at his companion and replied, "I cannot leave you to face this alone, Zordon."

The two extraterrestrial visitors locked eyes in a moment of unspoken brotherhood, before a wall was blown inward from the outside. A horned figure wielding a large staff entered the Command Center, desecrating it with her prescence.

"Ahhhh, Zordon, at last I have found where you and your pathetic Rangers have been hiding," the dark witch Rita cackled. Behind her stood her lithe assassin, Scorpina. Zordon eyed her, boiling in rage and defeat, before responding.

"You have not bested the Rangers yet, Rita. Though young, they are fierce combatants, and will not stop till your tyranny has been ended."

"You put on a brave face, Zordon, but we both know this is the end," Rita responded sadistically, "I will remake this world in my image, and your little brats will be too terrified to stop me. Especially after they see the fate I have planned for those closest to them…" Rita finished with a wicked smile that brought nightmares to mind.

"No!" Alpha 5 cried out, lunging forward, "You can't do that! I won't let you!" As her cybernetic foe approached her, Rita tipped her staff in his direction. This fired off a crimson beam of energy that struck Alpha squarely in the chest. Red bolts of energy ricocheted off his metallic form, blasting off his limbs and cracking his metal flesh.

As the last of Alpha 5's life drained from him, he muttered a final message, "Goodbye, Zordon…" The benevolent mage watched his friend die, his face steeling. His adopted family was going to suffer, and there was nothing he could do about it. Or was there?

"If you're so powerful, Rita," he said, shifting his gaze to his nemesis, "Release me from this time warp, and kill me with your bare hands." Rita stopped, seeming to consider this offer, before laughing madly.

"You really think that I'd fall for that?!" The sadistic witch leveled her gaze at Zordon's dark glare. "Trapping you between time was the best decision I ever made! Unfortunately, your talkative toaster was able to locate and create contact with you." Rita stepped toward the control panel in front of Zordon's tube, threateningly. "Without these computers locked on to your exact temporal coordinates, you'd be aimlessly wandering in an infinite blank slate. I can't think of anything more torturous for the galaxy's smartest sorcerer!" Rita's staff crackled with red energy as she aimed it at the computer panels in front of her. "Enjoy going mad, Zordon!"

A blast of magical energy fired from Rita's crescent-topped staff, reducing the console to rubble. The image of her hated enemy flickered, and finally fizzled out, as connection between him and the time stream was severed.

"Thus begins my reign!" Rita called out, laughing manically as Scorpina came to her side. The gem powering Rita's staff glowed proudly before unleashing a concussive blast that leveled the building around her and Scorpina.