Chapter 1: Whom The Gods Would Destroy

"The term 'power' comes from the Latin POSSE: to do, to be able, to change, to influence or effect. To have power is to possess the capacity to control or direct change. All forms of leadership must make use of power. The central issue of power in leadership is not Will it be used? But rather Will it be used wisely and well?"

-Al Gini

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"I do not know how long ago I was created. My life, as it were, stretches deep into the past, perhaps billions of years ago.

"I do not know who, or what created me. I don't know if they meant for their universal energy source to gradually have a mind, or if I was an unexpected development. I will never know: by the time the first inklings of my sentience were forming, my creators had long vanished. I have never been able to find a trace of them. I…do wonder sometimes if I am the cause of that.

"The years passed. Other beings besides my makers learned to tap into me and use me as fuel to empower themselves. Some used my powers for good, others for evil. I did not have the ability to decide who could take my power: it was not my place. All I could do was watch, learn, and continue to grow.

"In time, a new being accessed my strength, a champion of light. You knew him as Zordon of Eltar."

"…an' who the hell was he again?" Flynn asked. The grouped Rangers had, by now, settled down into a rough semi-circle around the tube of light where Sentai floated.

"Zordon is our mentor and leader. He's the guy who made the Rangers," Jason said.

"Yeah, dude's super old and super awesome," Zack said.

"None of us would be here without him," Adam added.

"Yeah! He's like this big floating…head in a tube," Rocky said. "…I never really understood how that worked though."

"Zordon was indeed one of the greatest beings to ever live," Zhane said.

There was a pause, and Zhane realized several people were looking oddly at him. A second later, the fact that all the Rangers had been plucked from different parts of their personal time stream crashed back into his mind with a vengeance.

"…Was?" Jason said. Zhane froze, trying to find an out. He could…

"Your concern is understandable, Zhane, but unneeded. Should this…work out well, knowledge can easily be removed from minds where it cannot be known. You may tell him what you have seen," Sentai said.

"…uh…um…" Zhane stammered despite himself. "Zordon was…he was…uh, great?"

"Whoa whoa whoa! What's with the past tense here?" Zack protested. "Zordon can't…I meant he couldn't…Zordon isn't capable of…!"

"Yeah! We'd save him!" Rocky said. "Or he'd save us! Or…he can't just…"

"…He did," Zhane said. "You have to understand…there was an army of evil…the likes of which had never been seen before. It was attacking everything, beating back all our efforts, they were taking over the universe…Andros…uh, he was the Red Ranger, um my Red Ranger, we called ourselves the Space Rangers……….he had to destroy him. Destroy Zordon. To save everyone."

Silence.

"…ai-yi-yi-yi…Zordon…" Alpha 5 said, the sorrow clear even in his usual mechanical tone; Jason, Zack, Adam, and Rocky could just stare dully. Zhane, despite realizing he'd handled it about as well as he could, still wished he could crawl into a hole and disappear.

"Uh, right then!" Dustin said. "Miss Tori lady…power…person thing…what else is going on?"

"Zordon of Eltar used my strength in his battles with the witch Rita Repulsa, and those she served. His battles brought him victory, at a cost. He was cast outside of normal time, only able to interact with the world through this very mechanism I currently occupy. This did not prevent him from realizing that Rita would return, and when she did, sooner or later the darker forces behind her would come as well. With Alpha 5, he began to make preparations. Some aided him, like Ninjor, but when Rita returned, it was Zordon who had created the most vital weapon for the wars to come. He had created a soldier known as a Power Ranger."

"I'm assuming this has a point?" Flynn asked.

"Shush. Nikki is talking," Xander said.

"Indeed, it is impolite to keep interrupting her, Ranger Blue," Cruger said.

"Not you too!"

"FLYNN!" Dr. K hissed between her teeth.

"Right, right."

"Zordon's creation worked better than he had dreamed. His previous battle with Rita had cost him many allies, and he did not wish for that to happen again, but even he was amazed how well his chosen wielders of the Power Coins handled themselves. He did not expect all of you to survive. You not only did, you thrived. Even when greater evils like Lord Zedd came…"

"Who?" Zack said.

"Rita's boss. He was even worse than her," Adam said.

"Zedd?…Why do I…Oh yeah! Thrax!" Mack said. "You remember him, right Bridge? Xander?"

"Um…"

"No?" Xander said.

"What's a Thrax?" Adam said.

"Rita and Zedd's son. Come on guys, you were…oh. Time lines…I hate…time travel…" Mack trailed off as looks of shocked horror came over several of the Ranger's faces.

"Rita and Zedd had a KID? UGH! OH YUCK!" Rocky gagged. "Oh god, I can't unsee the pictures…!"

"What's wrong with that?" Chip asked.

"Oh what indeed, let's see, how about that Zedd looked like a homeless person got all of his skin peeled off like an onion and then got metal pipes glued to his body!" Rocky groaned.

"…Uh…yeah, that is pretty gross."

"Argh…why did I have to get picked, why couldn't they have picked Aisha…!" Adam groaned.

"Come now Adam, it's not that repugnant," Billy said.

"YES IT IS!"

"…All right maybe it is, but that's beside the point," Billy said. "Continue, Sentai."

"The Rangers endured. In the end, powers changed hands due to seeking new paths of life, instead of death."

"That's where you left, Zack," Adam said.

"Why'd I leave again?"

"Peace conference. I left too. So did Trini," Jason said.

"…Okay, if that's what happened but…"

"What?"

"Isn't it kind of odd that only Rangers were chosen?"

"……………You know, I always did…" Jason said.

"Coincidence is very strange sometimes. But I assure you, it was simply that. Perhaps the world felt you would be best suited for the task."

"…If you say so."

"The villains, however, did not cease. In time, the original devices Zordon had created to make his Rangers were destroyed. Faced with this, Zordon turned to his primary aid, Ninjor, in creating new coins."

"That I did! Magnificently!"

"We did have to browbeat you some Ninjor," Billy said.

"You can understand my need for caution!"

"I guess all that stuff on Dr. O's video was accurate…" Ethan commented.

"Dr. O?" Jason said.
"Dr. Oliver. You know, Tommy."

"…TOMMY?"

"Yeah! Original Green Ranger? White Ranger? Red Zeo Ranger? Black Dino Thunder Ranger?"

"Wait WHAT? He got to be a Ranger AGAIN?" TJ said.

"…Doctor?!" Jason and Billy said at roughly the same time.

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP AND LET HER FINISH!" Jen roared.

"I am now grateful I did not give her her firearm back," Cruger commented.

"However, worse evils would again destroy those powers. Zordon turned to a new energy to continue his successful battle…and this is where he made his first error. While he selected a new source of power, he designed it to recreate his Power Ranger concept rather then adapting the power to something new. It was understandable, due to its success…but it was an error, despite that."

"What?" Rocky said.

"No it wasn't!" Jason protested.

"Unfortunately, it was. Why will become clear," Sentai said. "As new evils emerged, so did Zordon continue to modify the powers. Despite their source, or unique facet, they all maintained the same base. They were all Power Rangers. And so, all their powers passed through me, drawing on my energy to empower or supplement their strength. Zordon had even given me a name: the Universal Morphing Grid. And so I watched as you did battle against your enemies. Including the darkest hour of the Rangers, where it seemed like evil would win. To stop this, Zordon made his final sacrifice. He destroyed himself to unleash a wave of purifying energies that would wipe out evil wherever it could. He succeeded. He…did it for all of you. He chose to die so you would not have to."

Silence settled on the room once more. Flynn supposed he could see where the other Rangers were coming from: if someone had dragged him into what he could consider the future and told him Dr. K was doomed to die giving her life for him and his friends, he'd have been shocked too.

"Ai-yi-yi…" Alpha 5 said again. "…We thought you might exist."

Dr. K recognized the second line as a sneaky way of changing topics, and it worked, as the several Rangers who had seemed affected by this news looked at the robot. Apparently for all his annoying vocalization, he had competence lurking beneath it.

"Zordon and I had theorized several times from our work and studies that there was a rudimentary sentience within the morphing grid. We made some effort to try and make contact…"

"I know. At the time, I did not reply. I did not think it wasmy place," Sentai said. "Perhaps it was best. For in Zordon's creation of the Power Ranger, he may have sped up my developmentbut doing such a thing was his first mistake. Sadly, his sacrifice was the other."

"WHAT! How can you say that?!" Jason yelled, clearly with more vehemence then some of his companions expected. Sentai sighed.

"This is the difficult partJason, you devoted yourself to refining your body. You know what was needed to do it well, and what did it harm."

"Yeah so?"

"You also know that some things that did it harm were enjoyable. Such as sweet food. The way to handle it so the overall result was beneficial was to apply balance."

"So…what? We upset the balance…by doing too much good?"

"…precisely."

"WHAT? Man, that's WHACK! Seriously!" Zack said. "How can you do too much good? Where's the issue, man?!"

Sentai sighed again.

"Picture the universe as functionally similarly to a human body. A human body has requirements: food, water, sleep. If you deny the body these things, the body suffers. But if you give too much of these things to the body, you can likewise suffer…"

"You're seventy percent water. You can still drown," Chip said.

"Yes Chip, that is an accurate metaphor. The universe operates, in some ways, on the same basis, with energy and the like. Except the universe also monitors far more abstract concepts, such as morality. It can swing back and forth, but ultimately, the universe seeks balance. Zordon, for all his good intentions, upset the balance."

"…that's bull! Why would the universe care if we won or lost? Wouldn't things be too big and beyond our understanding?" Jen said, stepping forward. "Why would it matter that we don't lose? It's insane!"

"As said, the universe is, in it's own way, a living creaturemuch like I am in my relation to my existence as a source of power. The universe is even older then I am, one could say it is moredeveloped," Sentai said. "As for what you didif it had just ended with Zordon, this would not have happened."

"Zordon upset the balance of good and evil," Ninjor said.

"Yes. In his sacrifice, he wiped out a massive amount of evil forces that threatened the universebut in doing so, he did not balance the scales, he unbalanced them again, this time in the form of good. Had things progressed as normal, the balance would have corrected itself in timeexcept for Zordon's other tragic mistake. The Ranger concept. He had done more than create the best possible warriors for his mission. He had created a TEMPLATE, which had been widely seen around the universe. One that others sought to replicate. And did."

"You mean the Lightspeed Rescue program, don't you Miss?" Carter asked.

"Yes. Though you were not the first. The first were the Galaxy Rangers, who, upon being granted the power of their legendary swords, subconsciously focused the power through me. I believe that some, if not all of them, knew of previous Rangers, and in seeking power to protect and battle against evil, they subconsciously chose the template. Perhaps the universe had something to do with it. Acting in your benefit when things were different. Before this tragedy was set irreversibly in motion."

Dustin glanced at Leo, who looked as confused as Dustin felt.

"…Why does it matter what kind of heroes were made? Wouldn't good winning in general be the key?" Carter asked, after working something out for himself.

"No. Because for most, good always won at a cost. Cole could tell you stories of the past of what forces empowered him. Xander and Chip could likewise tell their own tales. Good won, but barely, and at great cost. Much like Zordon did, thousand of years ago," Sentai said. "Then the Ranger template was created, and continued on after Zordon's sacrifice. Returning forces of good utilized it against their old or new enemies. Zordon's creation changed things drastically: now, instead of good barely winning, good won convincingly. Sometimes overwhelmingly. Creatures that had conquered galaxies and whole dimensions found themselves stopped cold, and despite all their efforts, they would ultimately never regain their forward momentum and fall at the hands of what had stopped them. At the hands of Rangers. And in doing so, Zordon's error was not corrected. Rather, it grew worse."

"…And we undid everything Venjix unleashed," Flynn said.

"That was the ultimate trigger. Due to time manipulation, the order of events was somewhat tangledbut the universe's efforts to balance the scales ultimately was not enough. One could consider the tragedies you suffered as part of the attempts to make things 'right'. The loss of your Pink Ranger, for one, Leo. The destruction of the Wild Force powers, Chip and Xander's teammate Nick losing his father and mentorbut none of it stuck. Ultimately, a grand gesture was needed, and hence Dr. K's actions resulted, through very little fault of her own, in the complete destruction of the world."

"WHAT?!" TJ yelled. "You're lying!"

"…she's not." Dr. K said quietly.

"But they can't just, there would, why wasn't there a warning?!" TJ sputtered.

"So everything we did, all the lives we saved was for nothing? What the hell kind of message is that?!" Jen yelled.

"The universe is not human. It may govern morality, but it does not follow morality. It seeks balance, and to it, such a price was neededexcept it too, didn't stick," Sentai said. "Dr. K sought to undo what she perceived as her crime by manipulating time. She succeeded. In doing so, she produced the straw that broke the camel's back."

Flynn was about to say something, only to be cut off as Dr. K sagged against him. He was confused for a moment, until he saw her hands covering her face. It hit him a moment later: Dr. K had sought to fix things, and in doing so, she'd broken the whole universe. The anguish must have been unbearable.

That realization was not lost on the rest of the Rangers, as a moment later Bridge and TJ were next to Flynn, helping to support the small doctor. It was clear from the looks of the surrounding faces that if those two hadn't done it, they would have: concern was even etched on the rather surly Jen's face.

"Oh, Dr. K, do not take the weight on yourself. It was merely a matter of cruel circumstance. Had you found another way to defeat your enemy, and begun work on restoring your world, this likely would not have happenedbut the problem was still at the brink. There surely would have been more Ranger teams, and one of them would have provided the breaking point. What happened was truly no one's faultthat is why this is such a tragedy."

"…no…NO. You knew,"Jen said, as she turned back to Sentai, who looked quizzically at Jen. "YOU knew! You told us you inspired Billy to build the machine that brought us all here! You knew this was going to happen, and instead of WARNING us, you had GLASSES here build some stupid MACHINE…!"

"I did not know," Sentai said, and Jen strangely fell silent. "The machine, the Empyrean TriggerI did not plant the seeds of knowledge and inspiration into Billy knowing this would someday happen. It began when I was less developed, barely able to do thatand I chose to do it because of your adventures, Jen. Because of how your enemy Ransik traveled back through time, and nearly ended the Ranger legacy with your team."

"…Obviously he didn't, or I'd hate to see how even more lacking in sunshine Miss Scotts would be," RJ said. Jen glared at him, but she found his relaxed tone and 'kidding' expression to be hard to stay annoyed at.

"Ransik's actions prompted the first seeds I put in Billy's mind. The mutant risked great damage with his brutal methods, but it was the concept of someone with a more subtle hand having access to time travel that made me act. Someone could have gone back further, or acted with more grace, and drastically altered history and the lives of the Rangers without anyone knowing, or being in time to stop them. You may protest your Time Force could have prevented it, Jen, but who can say if your 30th century technology could prevent 50th century interference," Sentai said. "I decided that an ace-in-the-hole would be needed, and began placing ideas in Billy's head. The rudimentary concept of the Empyrean Trigger was to provide a backup defense against hostile time travel."

"…What happened?" Billy asked.

"I theorized earlier that my slow development over the ages was due to the originally longer timespan between those who tapped my energies. With the Ranger legacy, I was subjected to constant new interaction and experienceI suspect I grew faster. Even so, it came as a great shock to me when the Rangers of SPD were joined by a future Ranger who called himself Omegaand that upon seeing him, I was able to see another version of him, existing so far into what all of you would call the future that even I was stunned. He presided over a place called the Hall of Legends, where all Ranger history was storedand that made me realize that as much as I had developed, I had not advanced enough to be aware of every group of Rangers there would ever be. Only when they emerged in the current 'line' did I become aware of them. And based on what I could see in the Hall of Legends, it seemed like there would be many more to come. And once again, due to the utilization of time travel, even I, at this point, could not see them in what would be considered 'proper' chronological order."

"It's rather like a…timey wimey ball of stuff," Chip said. Several Rangers gave him odd looks, but Sentai's continued explanation prevented Chip's.

"It was at the end of the tenure of Mack's team, the Overdrive Rangers, that I first began to get an inkling of what I know now. Something happened at the end of it, a potent sacrifice, and a sacrifice that was well rewardedbut it was watching the Overdrive Rangers after all was said and done that I realized that with this last-minute reward, none of them had truly suffered loss. They had all achieved victory, and total victory at that. It made me turn back, to look at Xander and Chip's Rangersand I realized the evil they vanquished had last claimed great cost when it had first emerged. Not only that, but it could only be sealed. The Mystic Force destroyed it, at no cost. The trend continued. All the way back. Total victory, at virtually no cost," Sentai said. "And as I studied, I began to realize what I have explained to you, about the balance. That there might be a worse threat to the Rangers than interference through time travel. As a result, I turned the task of preventing chronological interference over to the Omega Rangerwhich in the end was needed, but that is another story. To Billy, I began imparting new information, to build upon the Trigger in case of a greater problem

I was right. And wrong, because even I didn't know how fierce the backlash would be."

"But…how could our actions…cause this backlash, I mean, even with the body thing…" Rocky mumbled.

"The human body is immensely complicated, Rocky. Some of your fellows have medical training: they can attest to this," Sentai said. "The universe is even more soand the curse of complication is it increases how many things can go wrong. People can be born with terrible crippling conditions, suffer blows to the head and lose all their memories, or catch diseases where the cure is ultimately as fatal as the illness. When Dr. K rewrote time, it happened with the universe. The human body can suffer problems where its defenses misread something harmless or part of itself as a threatand when Dr. K finally pushed the balance too far, the same thing happened. The universe began read the entire Ranger legacy not as an oddity, or even a problem, but as a threat. In other words, the universe saw the Rangers as a disease. And it activated its immune system to neutralize it."

There was stunned silence once more.

"It is the worst thing that could happen to all of you, and as unfair as possiblebut the universe does not deal in fair. It deals in balance," Sentai said. "In a way, I can see why it began to think this way. The only type of cell that never naturally dies, after all, are cancer cells."

"…THAT'S NOT RIGHT!" Zack erupted again. "That's just…What the HELL? CANCER? We don't HURT ANYTHING! We save lives! That's it! How can…Cancer?! That's messed up! How can you say that? I just…I don't understand…were we wrong to try and save everyone?"

"No. But the universe, as said, deals in higher things. Such dealings arequite cruel, by mortal standards. But as said, this is not a decision of a mortal mind. It is of an existence that, as wrong as it was, read YOU as wrong. And decided that since previous attempts had failed, the most drastic measure was needed," Sentai said. "It manifested the very concept of things coming to an end in concrete form. Entropy itself, the fate of all things. And it sent Entropy to rewrite the progress of time and space until the balance was back to normal. To do this would bring terrible destruction all across time and spacebut to the universe, the other result was worse. And so it did what it was tasked to do. It changed history."

"…Wait, didn't you have the Omega Ranger…?" Ethan asked.

"The Omega Ranger saw it even as I did. He acted as swiftly, and as truly, as I could expect of any of my children," Sentai said, a note of sorrow in her voice. "Entropy destroyed him with a gesture. By the time I mustered myself to act, he had already altered history…"

"…HOW did it change history?" Jason asked, looking worried.

"…it sought to rewrite the timeline by removing your greatest successes, as needed. So it first targeted who was considered by many to be the greatest Ranger in history. Thomas Oliver…"Sentai said. "…I was too slow. It destroyed him, and his soon-to-be-love Kimberly, and threw the universe into chaos."

The room had been silent before. This time, the quiet that descended on the room seemed like that of a tomb.

"…I did not thinkthe universe's response would be sodrastic," Sentai said. "…he fought like a champion. Or he would. Hehad no chance. None of you would have. But he never wavered. Hedid better than I did, in a way. All I could do was tell Billy to activate the Trigger. And even in that, I was too slow."

"…Entropy appeared and attacked when I was turning it on," Billy explained. "But…the machine wasn't fully complete. Oh it was predominantly done, but not…all together."

"And Entropy damaged it further when he threw you into it. Had Delphine notalso given her life so you could complete the activation, you may not have been able to turn it on at all," Sentai said. "While the Trigger mostly worked in how it was supposed to give you a fighting chanceit was supposed to bring you all here. All Rangers, from all teams. Insteadit was only able to bring you. The restwere lost. Perhaps forever."

Silence once more.

"That is what has happened. The restI don't know."

"I know," Jason said quietly. "We'll do what we always do. We'll fight back, and we'll save them. We WILL save our friends and family. We'll set things right. I don't believe anything less."

Jason's assessment was mutual, as the various Rangers added their agreements to it.

"I should have known that. Perhaps I still have more to learn," Sentai said. "As implied, the Empyrean Trigger was ultimately designed to allow the Rangers a defense against an attack on an existential basis. What it has done is created a pocket universe while simultaneously removing you from your normal one. By doing so, the process that would erase you is jammed: think of it as an assembly of dominoes where a group have been removed and all the dominoes must fall in one move. In this pocket universe, I can manifest as you see me. I can also, and have done so, bend the rules as far as I can in your favor against Entropy. He will have to come here to complete his task. He already has."

"…I hate to be the killjoy, but HOW are we supposed to fight him?" Flynn asked, looking up. "If he can kill us by LOOKING at us…"

"In the natural universe, that is true. In this artificial one, however, I have some of the cards," Sentai said. "This fortress, or rather its reality, is under my complete control: even Entropy cannot enter it. By that nature, you will not need to rest, eat, or do other natural processes while inside: it is if you are frozen in time. And I have forced him to play by the creed you Rangers hold: he cannot escalate the fight. In other words, he cannot erase you, provided you do not attack him first."

"So how do we beat him?" Cole asked.

"By yourselves, you cannot. As said, the Empyrean Trigger was supposed to bring you all here. All together I had hoped we could correct this mistakebut I have improvised as much as I can. I have brought as much as your gear as I could managesome may be further retrieved later. I have also brought all I could of the Trigger's materials. We have one chance: Billy must reconstruct the Trigger and bring the rest of the Rangers. With all your power combinedthere may be a hope of stopping Entropy. Otherwiseyou can only try and survive."

"But it took me YEARS to build the Trigger the first time…"

"I have brought aid as best I could. Let us hope that and experience speeds the process."

"Do we have what's needed to rebuild the Trigger?" Mack asked.

"For the most part. The rest can hopefully be improvised."

"You said you brought as much gear as you could, but some could be 'retrieved later'. What do you mean by that?" Cruger asked.

"It is somewhat complicatedthe damaged Empyrean Trigger has left some gear in a state of flux, of sorts. In theory, you might need to do more than simply try and call it, as you normally would: you might have to try and will it to yourself. Unfortunately, one set of gear I was unable to…"

"Hey! What the…?!" Came a voice in the background, as the Rangers and their advisors turned to the sound. They discovered Trent kneeling by a crumpled body; specifically, Leo's. Apparently Trent had been the first to glance in the right direction, as everyone's attention had been focused on Sentai.

It was Carter, however, that noticed that while Leo had fallen, someone else was missing altogether.

"You all right?" Trent asked, as Leo groaned groggily.

"How did…" Leo mumbled, as Carter headed over to check for injuries…and to ask the question he felt he already knew the answer to, and on another level he didn't want confirmed.

"Where's the Magna Defender?"

Leo had no reply, but his eyes widening his panic served well enough.

"He DIDN'T…!" Jason said.

"Jason, we Red Rangers traded stories during something that's going to happen in your future. Leo told me all about the headaches he had during the days of the Magna Defender…" TJ said, as several other Rangers searched around the room and confirmed that the Magna Defender was indeed gone.

"…Why did you bring him like this?" Leo asked, looking at Sentai. "WHY LIKE THIS?"

"The Triggerthe damage causedI'm sorry. I wish I'd done better."

"What's that idiot done?" Jen said.

"The Magna Defender's…EAGER to put it as nicely as possible. He probably woke up, sucker-punched Leo, and then ran off to fix this problem before he heard all of the information," TJ said.

"I think…he did hear," Leo said. "He doesn't care. At this point, all he knows is revenge and trying to cut down anything that stands between him and it."

"Oi! Enough talking! Let's get out there and grab him before he gets his rear end vaporized!" Xander said.

"Rangers, wait! That may not be the only risk!" Sentai said, as the Rangers began looking for an exit.

"There's MORE? Now I want two smoothies," Flynn complained.

"What is it Sentai?" Jason asked.

"Entropy was created to 'correct' the imbalance. I may have created this pocket universe to bend the rules needed to give you a chance, but Entropy can bend it right back. All of the time and space that you came from is his to access, and if you won't escalate the fight and allow him to attack youhe'll simply summon beings who are NOT bound by such restrictions."

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The structure was another twisted mirror, this time of several kingdoms and hearts of darkness that evil had resided in and planned their schemes. The strongholds were effortlessly and faultlessly fused together, a nightmare bastion of wicked intent and desire.

Deep within, Entropy stood, a lone unidentifiable light shining down above him.

At least until the wall behind him and to his right exploded into a mass of rubble. Despite this sudden new entrance, Entropy did not move an inch as the Magna Defender stalked in.

Some beings would have spoken after such an introduction. The Magna Defender preferred to let his actions speak, as he swung up his Magna Blaster and fired.

The shots sprayed out…and vanished into thin air, not even going near Entropy. The incarnation of ending didn't give any indication he'd noticed.

Growling deep in his throat, the Magna Defender unleashed several more shots. All had the same result, the blasts disappearing into the ether. Having not gotten the hint, the Magna Defender simply shifted the weapon and drew his blade from it, charging forward with another bellow.

It was amazing he heard Entropy speak, and between the noise he was making and Entropy's constantly modulating voice, he wasn't sure what he heard.

The fact of what it COULD be was enough to stop even him.

"…what?"

"Your name. Your real name, as it were. It translates, roughly, to 'zeal'. Fitting," Entropy said, still not looking at the Magna Defender. "You seek the end to the one you blame for what you have lost."

"Yes, and you are in my way! Release the hold of this dimension and return me to my proper place. Scorpius must be destroyed!"

"Do you really believe the end of your enemy will coincide with the end of your pain?" Entropy said. "It's a belief I've seen a great deal of. A deal that has no basis in concrete fact."

The Magna Defender growled so loudly it echoed across the room, as he rushed forward and brought his blade down in a slash.

"YOU KNOW NOTHIN-!"

The fire balls flew past Entropy and detonated on the Magna Defender, throwing him backwards with another bellow. A second spray of destructive blasts flew through the air and blew him back out the impromptu entrance he'd created for himself.

"I know more than you could ever comprehend. I know the highest realities of the universe, and what is needed to uphold them. Your vendetta pales to nothing in comparison," Entropy said, for the first time shifting his vision a bit to where the attacks had come from. "You know your tasks. Execute them."

The emerging figure merely grunted in reply, as he and his companion followed the Magna Defender out through the same hole.

With a gesture from Entropy, the wall closed up.

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The Magna Defender's roar was cut off as he hit the rocky sand outside of Entropy's citadel, bouncing a few times before he stopped himself. He was able to defend just in time as the second spray of attacks exploded around him: he forced his way through the eruptions to look at his enemy.

"LIKE THIS REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE! I WILL DESTROY YOU FIRST!" Magna Defender roared.

"Ohhhh, fiercer then the Rangers tended to be," The smaller, lither humanoid of the pair said as they touched down.

"He is that, yes…" The growlish voice replied. "And he is also the key."

"Key?" Magna Defender said, seeing the blades his two enemies carried and readied his own. "Key to what?"

"TO THE EMPRESS' VICTORY!" Goldar bellowed, and charged, as Scorpina laughed merrily.

The clash of the blades shook the ground beneath them.


"All the lessons of history in four sentences:

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.

The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small.

The bee fertilizes the flower it robs.

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."

-Charles A. Beard