Author's notes – this is the fourth in my "Junior Rangers" series, so again, a quick glance through the first three stories will give you the gist of what's happening. The story takes place about a week after the events of 'Tibrogargan.'

Chapter One

"Well, we can tell Scott his power is fine," said Aaron, looking up and shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun, "but his aim still needs some work."

Beside him, Sarah smiled, and they continued to contemplate the dilemma faced by people playing ball-sports in parks all over the world. The cricket ball was wedged solidly between two of the tree's branches about ten feet above their heads. The ball hadn't come down in any tree, either, but the tallest tree in the park, an enormous fig tree that was supposedly older than any tree in town, even older than the city itself.

The two Rangers glanced back to the cricket pitch, a strip of grass in a wide clearing between the trees where Scott and Teresa stood watching, Scott swinging the bat forlornly.

"I'm sorry!" he called, with a helpless shrug.

Aaron grinned. "Don't worry about it."

Sarah nodded. "We'll get it down in a couple of minutes," she called back, and the two Rangers looked back up to their quarry, hanging smugly just out of reach. "Can we climb up for it?" she asked.

"The branch is too narrow," Aaron replied. "Maybe we could... I don't know. I mean we can rescue kittens from trees, right? A cricket ball shouldn't be that hard." He turned back to Sarah to continue but stopped - a young boy, maybe six or seven with dark curls and bright blue eyes, was approaching them through the trees, and they noticed another boy about the same age with blond hair standing a few metres away.

Aaron smiled. "Hey," he said warmly. "Are you okay?"

"Sorry, there was nobody else," the boy began. "Me and my friend were playing before, uh, and we..." but his voice trailed off, his gaze drifting up into the branches of the tree. Turning to follow the boy's line of sight, Aaron nodded - a black frisbee was also held fast by two branches a few feet above the cricket ball.

"Man," Aaron murmured, looking back to the boy, "this tree's deadly. Hang on a minute," he continued, and turned back to Sarah. "So much for summoning the zords," he whispered.

Sarah laughed. "Just a hunch, but I don't think the Seniors would approve."

Aaron nodded, glancing around the base of the ancient tree. Bingo. A thick branch lying on the ground a few feet away caught his attention, and reaching over, he picked it up, took aim and sent the branch flying up through the air, where it struck the ball and knocked it out of its perch. Catching the ball as it fell, Aaron adjusted his aim and threw again - the cricket ball struck the frisbee and immediately dislodged it, both falling to the ground.

Sarah retrieved the ball while Aaron picked up the frisbee and handed it back to the boy. "Day saved," he said.

The boy grinned. "Thank you," he said. "That was awesome."

"Not a problem," Aaron nodded, and he smiled as the boy quickly made his way back to his friend.

"You big softy," grinned Sarah, as they began walking back towards the cricket pitch.

Aaron laughed. "Guilty as charged," he replied. "What are friends for anyway? Actually, speaking of which, can I ask you - I've still got all that maths homework that Mrs Hume gave us on Friday, you wouldn't be able to help me with it when we get back to the Youth Centre?"

Sarah nodded. "Not a problem," she said. "Long division. Nobody should have to deal with that alone."

"You're telling me," he replied. "I mean, calculators. It's why they were invented." By now they'd reached the clearing where Scott and Teresa stood waiting, flanked by Sarah's younger brother and several more members of the Tiaron clan - Teresa and Scott's family was large enough to make up its own team - and Aaron held up the ball to a round of applause. Grinning, he jogged back to the pitch, and the game began again.

Across the clearing, Tommy and Trini stepped out of the trees towards the cricket pitch, stopping by the picnic table where the younger Rangers had left their backpacks. Turning to watch, Trini smiled as Scott swung wildly at the oncoming cricket ball and everyone automatically ducked for cover.

"That's a powerful swing," she smiled.

Tommy regarded the game with a frown and sat down at the table. "So much for practice," he murmured.

"It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon," Trini replied, turning back to the Green Ranger. "I really don't think we can hold it against them."

"They don't need a game of cricket, they need to train."

At the tone in Tommy's voice, Trini shook her head. "After all the teams have been through, you still don't trust them?"

"It's not that I don't trust them," Tommy replied. "It's just that I don't trust them. They're kids. Every time we go into battle I can't shake the feeling I'm baby-sitting."

Trini frowned. "Now that's unfair."

"But how do you know we can really count on them?" he asked. "When the chips are down, they're still just kids."

"And we aren't?" Trini asked. "I don't know what to say to convince you but we're not in this alone, Tommy. They are with us. Just give them a chance."

Tommy sighed. "Fine," he said. "What, do you and Jason work from the same cliff notes?"

Trini smiled, and turned back to the game. But everyone seemed to have agreed to a break for afternoon tea, and the four Junior Rangers were all heading back towards the table.

"Hey guys," said Sarah, reaching for the water bottle in her backpack.

"Afternoon," replied Trini. "Looks like fun."

Aaron nodded. "We could always use a couple more deep fielders, if you want to join us," he said, then grinned. "Scott's still batting."

Everybody laughed, and Scott beamed. "What can I say? It's a gift."

Teresa smiled, but looking past the two Senior Rangers, she suddenly caught sight of somebody walking down the hill towards them. "Oh hey, Aaron," she began, "isn't that your older brother?"

Aaron turned to look. "Yeah," he nodded, his brow lowering as his brother approached. "He was at the movies with a bunch of his friends all afternoon, I wonder what he wants?"

"Hi, everyone," said Matthew Gee, glancing around the group as he reached the table. "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but Aaron, Mum wants you home, like five minutes ago."

Aaron nodded, reaching for his backpack. "How come?" he asked.

Matt shook his head. "She didn't say, she just said it was urgent," he replied. "C'mon, we gotta move."

Aaron looked back to the other Rangers. "Sorry guys."

"That's cool," said Sarah. "I hope everything's okay."

"Me too," Aaron replied. "See you all tomorrow," and everyone watched as the two brothers turned and jogged away.

By now, there was no mistaking it - autumn on the Sunshine Coast was steadily turning into winter. The storm clouds that had been such a regular sight in the afternoons were giving way to clear blue skies, and while the sun still shone as brightly as ever, the temperature was dropping more and more away from the unbearable heat of the summer months. June was still a week away, but everyone could already feel that slight biting chill in the air and city instinctively knew that winter was on the way.

A new sandwich bar opened that week in Dicky Beach, and being the sandwich bar connoisseurs that they were, Jason and Zac invited Brendan and I to check it out with them that Sunday afternoon. The subject of far less jokes than you'd think, Dicky Beach is named after the HMS Dicky, a ship wrecked on the beach in 1893. Although the ship's superstructure has long since lost its battle with the elements, the ship's jagged iron ribs still jut from the sand. The sandwich bar sat in a line of shops facing the beach, opposite a caravan park with a monument to the HMS Dicky that held the anchor of the ill-fated ship. The city council was always planning to build a skatebowl there but never seemed to actually get around to it.

"So Zordon really never told you guys about the twelfth Power Coin?" asked Brendan, leaning back in his plastic chair on the pavement outside the shop.

I shook my head. "From the sounds of it, we were the only people who didn't know," I said.

"I wonder why he didn't tell you?" he asked, then smiled. "Probably just likes being dramatic."

I laughed. "You know he does kinda echo his voice in your head sometimes," I smiled. "Anyway, have you handed in your camp permission slip yet?"

Brendan frowned and shook his head. "With everything else I totally forgot."

"It's in like two weeks," I said. "You'd better hurry."

"Are the neanderthals coming?"

I nodded. "Joel's still walking with a limp, so I think you'll be right."

"Not me I'm worried about," he replied.

I waved my hand. "I'll be right. At last year's camp I bunked with Aaron, and funnily enough they left me alone."

Brendan thought of the Aqua Ranger and grinned. "I'll bet they did."

I began to reply but heard voices behind us, and turned around. "Oh hey, our food's here."

Behind us, Jason and Zac were weaving their way around tables and chairs across towards Brendan and I, each carrying a tray of food and drinks.

"Wow," said Brendan, as Jason and Zac slid the two trays onto our table and grabbed chairs from nearby tables, "that was fast."

Jason nodded. "I kinda winked at the girl behind the counter."

Zac rolled his eyes. "Dude, she was so not checking you out."

"You're just jealous," Jason grinned. "Anyway, Pete, here's one strawberry milkshake and one sausage roll," and he slid both items off the tray and across the table to me.

Zac gave Brendan his coca cola, then turned to me. "Three cokes and one milkshake," he said with a grin. "You individual, you."

"Can't stand the stuff," I replied, watching Jason drink his own cola. "Tastes like malted battery acid. Give me a lemonade or a good ol' fashioned milkshake any day of the week."

Zac laughed. "You know, Ernie would skin us alive if he knew we'd strayed."

"I won't tell if you won't," replied Jason, in between mouthfuls of his hamburger. "Man, this is good."

Brendan reached across the table to steal some chips from Zac's plate, but Zac swatted his hand away. "Meanie," he laughed.

"Man, so you guys really get tomorrow off?" asked Zac, thinking back to our conversation on the way here. "I wish our teachers all went to interstate conferences."

"Yeah," agreed Jason. "I also wish they didn't give us massive tests that were impossible to study for."

"Big one tomorrow?" I asked.

"Big one tomorrow," Jason nodded. "Some majorly important thing the Education Department needs us to take before we hit grade eleven next year. We'll probably have to turn our communicators off for a couple of hours."

"Leave the city in our hands for the morning?" I asked. "You trust us?"

Jason nodded. "Nothing you guys can't handle," he smiled.

"But wait a second," said Brendan, "if this is tomorrow, shouldn't you be home, at least going through textbooks and stuff?"

"How could I be expected to sit at home and study on a beautiful day like this?" asked Zac with a lopsided grin, before taking another huge bite out of his hamburger.

"What am I going to do?" asked Rita Repulsa, seated in the throne room of her lunar castle holding her head in her hands, with Goldar standing obediently nearby. "Twelve Rangers, Goldar. Twelve Rangers. The city's still standing, the Rangers are multiplying, and I'm running out of competent monsters. The last time twelve Rangers went into battle together..." The centuries-old witch shook her head at memories long past. "What can we do?"

"My queen," began Goldar, "I think I have a plan that will end our troubles once and for all."

Rita looked up to him. "If you've got something Goldar, hit me."

"We are facing a full team, that's true," he replied. "But the Rangers are still two teams of six, and not a single team of twelve. They rely on each other, they need each other. That's the weakness we can exploit."

"So we split them up," Rita said.

Goldar nodded. "If we can exhaust both teams, they won't be able to rely on one another, and should be easy targets. All we need to do is keep them away from each other. Their teamwork is a strength, true, but once broken up, the teams will fall."

A slow smile spread across Rita's face. "Goldar, that's brilliant," she said. "It seems I'm rubbing off on you. But what do we have powerful enough to throw both teams off balance in such a manner?"

"An old enemy of Zordon's," he replied. "You've worked with him before. He is trained in countless forms of combat, he has taken on entire armies single-handedly, and he is especially skilled with teams of Rangers. I believe he's dealt with at least three."

"You're not talking about who I think you're talking about, are you?"

Goldar nodded. "He will need some convincing, but he would be perfect."

"You're right there," agreed Rita. "Ultramarine won't be pleased to see us again, but come," and she stood up and reached for her wand. "We might as well give it a try."

The mountains rose up before Rita and Goldar as they approached the foothills. Mist clung to the peaks like a protective shield, and the forests surrounding the range were also dark and forbidding. Black clouds covered the sky, effectively keeping sunlight at bay, and the usual noises associated with heavily forested areas were totally absent. The landscape was grim, dark and silent.

"There's another abandoned village," said Goldar, pointing his sword down to a cluster of wooden huts that lay off the road he and Rita were following. There was nobody in sight, and the village was eerily silent. Rita nodded - they were definitely in the right area. That was the third abandoned village in the last ten minutes.

"He always did like his privacy," she replied. "It's amazing he hasn't earned the attention of Horath's own team of Rangers yet."

"We passed several Power Weapons lying on the forest floor a few minutes ago," Goldar said. "I think they already tried." He paused, then suddenly came to a halt. "Look my queen - the cave we seek."

Rita followed Goldar's gaze across to a cave in the side of a nearby mountain. The entrance was as black as death, and the stalactites around the entrance gave it the uncanny appearance of a grinning skull. Rita was about to ask Goldar how he knew this was the cave they were looking for when she glanced to either side of the cave entrance and saw two piles of skulls, not all of them appearing to be human.

"That's his calling card," she nodded. Taking the lead, Rita crossed the field, raised her wand and stepped into the cave.

Burning torches lined the cave walls, and they followed the tunnel steadily deeper into the mountain. There was no risk of losing their way - the torches provided more than enough light, and neither noticed a fork anywhere in the tunnel. Finally, the tunnel opened up into an enormous cavern, easily as large as the palace - there were no more torches and their path disappeared into shadow.

"I don't see anything," said Goldar, his voice echoing through the cave. "Maybe he's out..."

But he was suddenly cut off by a voice that echoed out of the darkness nearby, a voice dry and old yet simultaneously loud and pulsing with power. "Who dares enter my home?"

"It's Rita Repulsa," replied Rita, but she suddenly noticed two glowing red eyes peering out of the darkness at her and Goldar, and took an uneasy step back.

"Rita?" repeated the speaker, the surprise in the voice soon turning to outright anger. "We had an agreement. What are you doing here?"

Rita took a deep breath, and spoke. "I need your help, Ultramarine."

A dry laugh echoed from the darkness. "So, the great Rita has come to ask a favour. She even brought along her golden lapdog." In the darkness, Rita heard Goldar utter a low growl beside her, and the voice continued. "What do you want from me?"

Rita stepped forward. "Zordon's team of Power Rangers, you've heard of them?"

There was another evil chuckle from the shadows. "Everyone in this galaxy knows of your ongoing fight with Earth's Power Rangers. Having trouble with a few humans, are we?"

Rita ignored him, expecting no less, and continued. "Putting it simply Ultramarine, I've come to ask whether you wish to help me annihilate the Power Rangers once and for all."

There was a thoughtful pause for a few seconds. "What's in it for me?"

Rita smiled, not surprised at the question but surprised the speaker had taken this long to get to it. "How about the chance to have your name at the top of my Christmas card list?"

An angry growl rose from the shadows, and something that glinted silver in the low-light flashed towards a tall stalagmite several metres away from Goldar. The harsh sound of metal striking stone followed, and a second later, the top of the stalagmite toppled forwards and fell with a crash at Goldar's feet. For just a second, Rita's composure wavered, and she shivered - Ultramarine had just cleaved through a metre-thick hunk of solid rock.

"Don't play games with me witch. I have tolerated your presence in my cave long enough."

Rita stepped forward. "But that's what intrigues me most, Ultramarine. Not 'my planet' or 'my empire', just 'my cave'," she said. "I can't imagine what drove you to seek out this solitude."

There was another humourless chuckle from the darkness. "I ran out of enemies a long time ago, witch."

Rita nodded. "Allies too, knowing you as I do. Still, for someone with your love of victory, Ultramarine, you can understand why finding you here has me at something of a loss," she said. "But that's where Goldar and I enter the picture. Ignoring Earth's resources, here's your opportunity to leave this dank cave, step into the light and prove yourself once again." She paused, and smiling in the darkness, threw in the clincher. "Isn't it about time you showed the galaxy just what they have to fear?"

Rita paused, waiting for a response. She didn't have to wait for long. "You make an interesting argument, witch," the voice replied. "Maybe there is a deal to be cut here..."