This was originally written for the sole pleasure of myself and my friends, so it has a different feel than my other work. Since readers won't know any of the real-life people in the story, I'll let said readers imagine the individual appearance of each person as they will. I haven't changed any of this from the way it was written, so it may seem a little stilted, but I wrote it as though it was being told to one of my friends. It's unfinished after Part IV, and may never be finished.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return

Part One

Rangers No More

We start out as Zeo Rangers. I'm gold, Nate's red, Drew's blue, Timmo's green, Emily's pink, and Robyn's yellow. We're all in the Youth Center, which is in Geneseo where Jake's used to be. Tim and I are lifting weights. Drew and Nate are sparring. Emily and Robyn are sitting at a table, drinking juice and looking through catalogs, showing each other cool outfits. As far as we know, nothing's wrong.

Meanwhile, at the Power Chamber, Zordon and Alpha are busy creating a new Power Weapon. All of a sudden the doors explode inward, smashing into the control panel. A bunch of Cogs come in, followed by King Mondo. Mondo creates a link between himself and the Chamber's computer. While the Cogs tie Alpha to a support beam and disable Zordon, Mondo (with the computer's help) discovers the location of the Zeocrystal and steals it. After tearing the place up a bit, Mondo and the Cogs teleport away.

Back at the Youth Center, Nate's communicator beeps. We all gather in an empty doorway.

"What is it, Zordon?" Nate asks.

"Not Zordon," a voice replies.

"Mondo! What have you done with Zordon?"

"All will be explained in due time. For the time being, all you need to know is that the Power Rangers Zeo now belong to the Machine Empire!"

"Not if we have anything to do about it! It's Morphin Time!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You see, I am in possession of the Zeocrystal now. If you morph, you'll instantly turn evil! There's no way out for you now! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"He's bluffing!" I shout, and begin to morph. Nate stops me.

"Maybe so," he says, "but we can't take that chance." He looks down at the floor a second, then talks into his communicator again. "OK, Mondo, what's the deal?"

"Oh, it's quite simple, really. Either you give me your powers, or you become my Evil Rangers, forever!"

Nate looks at each of us. We're all wearing concerned looks on our faces.

"All right," Nate says. "We'll meet you on top of the school in an hour."

"Splendid!" Mondo crows.

An hour later, there we are on top of the school, waiting for Mondo to arrive.

"Guys," Nate says, his voice cracking, "when this is over, teleport to the Power Chamber. Zordon will know what to do."

It's a sad scene, all of us standing there silently. My arm is about Emily's shoulders. All of us have tears in our eyes. Being Rangers is the best thing ever to happen to us, and now it's all going to be taken away.

Mondo appears, flanked by Gasket and about ten Cogs. He holds the Zeocrystal over his head, and everyone's powers are sucked up into it. All except mine. I smile. The Cogs stop moving about. All eyes are on me. My fists clench at my sides, my smile fades to a frown, my eyebrows arc downward, and my eyes begin to glow gold.

"No," Mondo whispers.

"It's Morphin Time," I say through clenched teeth.

"Nooooo!" Mondo shouts.

"Gold Ranger Power!"

There's a burst of light, and suddenly I'm standing in the Gold Ranger costume. I adopt a fighting stance.

"No! This can't be happening!" Mondo cries. "My plan was perfect!"

"If your plan was perfect, Mondo, then you would have known that my power comes from the Golden Power Staff! Now, are you gonna give me the Zeocrystal like a good piece of scrap metal, or do I have to come in and take it from you?"

"Cogs! Attack!" Mondo shouts.

Under the helmet, I'm smiling. "Good," I say to myself. I launch myself at the Cogs, fighting with a ferocity none of us has ever displayed in the past.

"More Cogs! More Cogs!" Mondo cries.

More Cogs appear, only to be destroyed by my hands and feet. When all the Cogs are defeated, then and only then do I stop and take a breath. I summon the Power Staff and go straight for Gasket. He raises his sword to block my overhead strike, but it does no good. The staff breaks through Gasket's sword and hits him hard, leaving a mark all the way down the middle of his face. I attack him with everything I've got. He falls face first on the ground a few yards away. I point the staff at him.

"You see?" I yell. "Maybe some day you'll learn: nothing can stop the Gold Rush!"

A flurry of gold balls shoots out of the end of the staff, pelting Gasket's still form. Gasket is completely destroyed by the barrage. Reveling in my victory, I fail to see Mondo sneaking up on me. He hits me from behind. As I reel from the blow, the staff flies from my hands. One of the Cogs I defeated stands up, reaches one hand out, and catches the staff. I get up and leap for the Cog, hoping to get the staff back. The Cog points the staff at me, and my power is sucked away. I drop out of the air to land directly on my face. I stand up. My nose and mouth are gushing blood, but I don't care. I'm prepared to fight and die if it means my friends get to go free. The others are screaming, yelling at me to get away. To me it's just noise. There's one voice that gets to me, though, one voice that cuts through the noise and brings me back to my senses. It belongs to Emily.

"Scott, don't do this!" she shouts. "We'll find another way to stop them!"

"Don't listen to her!" Mondo says. "You are obviously a valiant warrior! Join me, and be the leader of an army of valiant warriors like yourself!"

"No! I love her. And we're all valiant warriors!" is my reply.

"Yeah! Someday, that valiance will be the end of you, Mondo!" Timmo adds.

I join the others, and we teleport away. When we get to the Power Chamber, we see an awful sight: the place is a war zone, with debris strewn all around. Alpha is tied to a support beam, and Zordon is nowhere to be seen. The doors lay on the control panel, which is completely smashed. After we untie Alpha, he explains briefly what happened. When he finishes his story, I'm holding Emily close. She's crying, her face buried in my shoulder, sobs racking her body. Robyn looks close to tears also, and Nate's trying to comfort her.

Timmo looks at Alpha. "Is there anything we can do?" he asks.

"Well, there is one thing," Alpha replies. "We haven't tested them but they might work."

To be continued in Part II: Ninja Power!

Yaaaay, Zordon's dead! In truth, I never liked that character. The way they did it in Zyuranger was much better. I could never figure out why they insisted on the "wizard trapped in a timewarp" thing for MMPR.