A/N: There is a virtual book of backstory for this. Since this is a fanfiction story, it obviously does not exit in canon. However, I have done a lot of work to make it work within the established canon (as of the end of Dino Charge, anyway). I get you might be confused from time to time, but I will do my best to answer all your continuity questions in-story (assuming I get far enough in to do so).
Chapter 1
Return of an Old "Friend"
Location: Egypt
This had to be the dustiest tomb in all of Egypt.
As Zander trudged through the dark cavern with only a torch and thirty of his best students, he chuckled at the absurdity of the statement. How much dustier could a tomb get? He'd wondered that during his last expedition, but now he knew, and regretted ever asking the question. His chuckle, however, caused him to start coughing again, as a simple bandanna over his face wasn't the best protection against the stale, dusty air of a tomb whose age was measured in millennia. Still, how could this be any more exciting? He was entering into the tomb of an unknown Pharaoh, one whose traps were more advanced than any he'd seen before. The sheer number that still worked was fascinating, but the traps themselves seemed more technologically cutting-edge (no joke intended). He was keen enough to have avoided most of them, though a poor research assistant was being airlifted to a hospital in Cairo now thanks to a dart in the leg.
It took hours, but Zander found his way into the main chamber. It sat undisturbed, which was an oddity. King Tutankhamen aside, most tombs were raided by graverobbers years before modern archaeologists could find them. But this tomb was pristine, untouched. What they could learn there might turn the world on its head.
The archaeologist's thoughts were interrupted by an assistant's voice. "Professor Lorde! Over there!" The young man was pointing toward a corner of the room, where what looked like a painting covered up by cloth lay. The gold frame was ornate, peeking out from behind the heavy cloth under a layer of thick dust and sand.
The Professor looked at it quizzically as he gingerly stepped over to it, making sure to check for pressure plates or tripwires. Once he got there, he turned to look at the assistants. "Start photographing," he ordered. "I want every inch of this place on photographic record." Normally it was his policy to photograph first, touch later. But something about this picture was calling to him, and he couldn't help himself. He removed the heavy fabric as he picked it up... to reveal it was a mirror.
As he held the large mirror in his hands, he stared at his reflection, watching his expression turn puzzled. Something was... off. Something about all of this seemed familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Before he could think any further on the topic, a strange pulse of energy emitted from the mirror, freezing the world around Zander and sending an all-too familiar chill down his spine. His image in the mirror began to transform into a horrifying creature of red muscle and silver exoskeleton. Zander tried to cry out, but couldn't move either. He could only stare, transfixed by the image he saw before him.
Lord Zedd.
Zander went to drop the mirror, but Zedd was too fast. His chrome hands slithered out of the mirror and grabbed onto Professor Lorde's arms, gripping them painfully while Zander could only watch.
"You are WEAK!" Zedd exclaimed. "You had the power to shape this universe in your own image, and you allowed that weak-willed Zordon to steal that power from you, rendering you a helpless, pathetic human."
"You're wrong!" Zander shouted at the mirror, able to move again for the first time. "I'm free of you now! I never wanted-"
"You always wanted to be evil!" Zedd retorted as he clenched tighter on Zander's arms, causing him to cry out, but leaving him unable to drop the mirror. "Admit it, Professor. You miss the strength. The Power. The ability to have whatever you want, whenever you want."
Zander's resolve was strong - he regretted his life as Lord Zedd and had chosen to live a life of quiet discovery after he was freed of that personality. But for a tenth of a second - an inexplicably tiny moment, that resolve wavered. It became a tiny tinge of regret. Regret over losing that power.
That moment was all Zedd needed. A bright flash of light blinded him, and in Lorde's place was Zedd in all his evil glory.
The exact nature of the accident was never fully understood. While most would have assumed that the old tomb collapsed in on itself after thousands of years of structural instability, the unspeakable horrors the survivors faced, the horrors they couldn't communicate, implied a much darker story.
Location: Sierra Pelona Mountains, California
Billy's footsteps echoed loudly in the dark building as he slowly made his way to the last panel. "Just a couple more adjustments to make," he muttered as he connected two wires together. "It's always a wiring problem around here... Okay, turn it on!" he yelled as he slammed the panel shut.
Across the room, Adam flipped a large switch into the up position. A gentle hum could be heard as lights slowly turned on, and various control panels began powering up. "Is it all working?"
"Running diagnostic," Tommy said from one of the control panels. After a few seconds' pause, he gave the thumbs up. "Alright, everything's good to go."
"Viewing globe appears to be online as well," Katherine said as she watched various images of faraway planets flicker across.
Billy approached the large blue tube of energy in the corner. "What about you, Zordon?"
Moments later, a face appeared inside the energy. "I am here, Billy. All systems appear to be operational. The new Command Center is online. Good work, all of you."
The three former Power Rangers looked around at what they'd done. It looked much like the Power Chamber that served as the Zeo and Turbo Rangers' base of operations. In the center were rows of consoles with flat touchscreen panels capable of emitting holographic interfaces as well. Hidden doors in the gray walls led to other areas, like a break room, holographic training area, and even a room with beds. The new Command Center was state-of-the-art, even by Eltar's standards.
Finally, the back wall was lined with colored display tubes - Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, Pink, Green, and one whose color rotated. In each tube was the image of a Ranger costume that changed randomly - a tribute to the Rangers that came before them. As Katherine approached, she saw the suits belonging to the Red RPM Ranger, the Yellow Ninja Storm Ranger, the Blue Mega Ranger, the Black Dino Charge Ranger, the Pink Time Ranger, the Green Galaxy Ranger, and the Silver Space Ranger. She watched for a few more seconds as the Silver Ranger's costume shimmered and vanished. The tube began to glow purple, and the Jungle Fury Wolf Ranger's costume took its place.
"Billy, it's wonderful," Katherine said, turning back to the original planner of the base. "It almost feels like I'm home again. But I don't understand why. You come back from Aquitar and spend all your time repairing the Power Coins, building this chamber, working behind the scenes helping other Ranger teams without even them knowing... Tommy had trouble separating his life from his time as a Ranger, but you..." She paused, selecting her words carefully. "It almost seems like you don't know how to live your life when there's not a world to save."
"There's always a world to save," Billy replied simply. And, right on cue, the alarms started sounding.
Location: Angel Grove, California
Aiden raced down the street, straight for the source of the chaos. He was knocked down no less that four times before he reached a vantage point. The enemy couldn't see him, but he could certainly see what he was up against.
The creature was some kind of fish monster, cackling and just generally acting crazy. He had a special flute... or something like it... that allowed him to possess cars and smash them into buildings and each other. People were screaming and scattering to the winds as he peeked out from around the corner. The monster was headed this way. It was now or never. Aiden reached for his pocket and...
A hand grabbed his arm and whirled him around, Aiden yelping in surprise. There stood Jake, a dominating guy with a dominating personality. He was your average jock who liked doing jock-y things, and was kind of a jerk at times. But Aiden was (tenuously) friends with Jake, mostly because their parents knew each other. "What are you doing here?" Jake hissed, moving a lock of hair from his eyes.
"I could ask you the same thing," Aiden hissed back. "You need to get out of here, it's not safe."
Jake cocked an eyebrow. "Actually, you're the one who needs to get out of here. I've got this handled."
"Got this handled?" Aiden asked quizzically as another civilian bolted by them in an attempt to escape the chaos. "How exactly do you- wait, you don't mean..."
"What?!" Jake demanded.
In response, Aiden pulled the object from his back pocket. It was a silver Power Morpher with the Mastodon coin.
In response to that, Jake also pulled out a Power Morpher, this one gold with the Dragon coin. The two looked at each other for a few moments before Aiden spoke. "I guess we're doing this together. You think we can work as a team?"
A car flew into the building next to them, smashing loudly as metal twisted and alarms sounded. "Less talking, more morphing," Jake said, eyes wide.
"You start," Aiden said.
With a nod, Jake held his morpher out. Aiden performed a slightly more complicated preparation sequence, arcing the morpher over his head, then rotating it in front of him. Jake called out with a strong, commanding voice.
"It's Morphin' Time! Dragonzord!"
"Mastodon!"
Location: Sierra Pelona Mountains, California
The former Rangers watched in confusion as a Green and a Black Ranger took on Pirantishead. They dodged expertly, took quick strikes and vanished, but weren't able to do much for the property damage.
"Where are your Morphers?" Billy and Kat demanded in unison.
Adam and Tommy looked at each other. "Mine's locked up in a safe at home."
"Same here," Tommy said.
"Are their powers channeling through the Command Center's link with the grid?" Kat asked Billy who was already at the controls.
"Affirmative. Their connection was made through Adam and Tommy's Morphers somehow."
As Adam and Tommy stared dumbfounded at the Viewing Globe, Kat pressed Billy for more information. "Can we get a link into their helmets? Not to speak, just to listen?"
"Stand by."
There was a few moments of silence. Everyone stopped breathing, even Billy.
"Ranger Green! See if you can distract him! I'll snipe him with the axe."
Adam's jaw dropped.
"Fine, just be quick about it. He's running out of cars to smash."
Tommy stumbled backwards as Kat gasped sharply. Her eyes widened, then narrowed in anger as she turned to Tommy. "Your son stole your Morpher!" she yelled, poking Tommy in the chest.
"My son?! Why is he suddenly my son?!" Tommy demanded, not able to come up with a better retort.
"I don't see him wearing pink out there," she said sharply, producing her Morpher from the back of her belt. "Some of us keep our important items nearby at all times."
In a show of minor solidarity, Billy produced his Triceratops Morpher.
"And you," Kat continued, pointing at Adam. "Is that who I think it is?"
Adam was silent, but nodded slightly, still watching the globe. As Ranger Green ducked out of the way, Ranger Black fired his Power Ax from a nearby rooftop. The ax emitted a beam of cold energy that froze Pirantishead solid. Leaping from the roof, the Black Ranger slashed down with his ax, shattering the ice and sending the injured monster flying down the street. He screeched something about not being beaten yet before teleporting away, his army of Putties following behind.
"Get them back here now." Kat's order chilled Billy's spine as he force-teleported the two Rangers back to the Command Center.
"What were you thinking?!" Adam yelled. "Do you realize what you were up against?!" The Morphers had been confiscated and placed in a lined case, along with all the other Morphers for the rest of the team.
"Hey, we beat it, didn't we?" Jake retorted.
"Stay out of this," Tommy said angrily, but quietly. "Your turn is coming up soon enough."
Aiden shook his head. "Dad, this is necessary. You trained me in martial arts for years. You're the second-longest serving Ranger in history, but... you're getting old. And I want a shot at defending the Earth."
"What he said," Jake said weakly.
"You don't even know what you're defending the Earth against," Tommy pointed out. "Whatever sent that monster has to know a lot about us. He sent a monster that nearly destroyed us last time. You're lucky this battle went so easily. Whoever this new enemy is-"
"Lord Zedd."
Zordon's booming voice turned the heads of everyone in the room. His words, however, dropped the temperature in the Command Center ten degrees. "I've analyzed the sensor readings from a recent disturbance on the moon. They are an exact match to Lord Zedd."
"That's...impossible," Kat said. "Zedd was defeated."
"Defeated, but not killed," Aiden pointed out. "Some of the bad guys went human, right? Besides, is anything impossible? Zordon was dead at one point, and here he is in the... erm, flesh." Aiden's words caused the four Veteran Rangers to look at each other with concern.
"You can't fight Zedd," Adam said flatly. "It's not happening."
"You can't either," Aiden argued back calmly. "Don't pretend like you're not getting older. It's been 27 years since you guys became Rangers. Ish. All those years of fighting monsters and practicing martial arts have taken a toll on you guys and you know it."
"We're older than you were when Zordon chose you," Jake added, diplomatically avoiding any mention of Rita choosing his father. "It's time to pass the torch."
"We are literally two of the most well-trained fighters in the world thanks to you two. And for what? You didn't have us advance to such high levels or dedicate so much time to training to keep us safe from muggers. The Earth is our planet too, and we're the ones inheriting it. It's our turn to defend it, and we're more than ready."
There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Kat spoke up. "You'll need a team," she said.
"We talked about that earlier," Jake said, looking at Aiden. "We each have two candidates in mind to round out the team." Jake stepped forward, retrieving the T-Rex Coin and Morpher. "Red is more my color..." he muttered before tossing Aiden the Mastodon Morpher. "We all know we need to do this," he concluded.
Aiden nodded in agreement. "And we'll always have you guys to advise us and back us up," he said in a reassuring voice. "In the absolute worst-case scenario, you can always assume what's left of the Zeo power. But I honestly don't think it will come to that."
More silence. It was almost deafening for at least a minute before Adam relented. "Alright, Aiden. We'll do this - on a trial basis, mind you - and see what happens. We may honestly not have much choice in the matter." The group glanced at the Viewing Globe which showed an image of the rebuilt palace on the moon.
Kat and Tommy looked at each other, giving a slow nod before looking back at Jake. "Alright, we'll try this. But you two need to know what you're getting yourselves into - Zedd could attack any time, day or night. Your schoolwork will become a mess. Your social lives will be virtually nonexistent."
"We're ready," Jake simply said with a nod from Aiden for support.
