A/N: Many thanks to my first readers to follow this fic and offer some positive feedback on the prologue! I'm really excited about where this story will be heading, and I hope that you'll all enjoy the ride! Please continue to share your reviews and comments about this story, if you have questions or constructive criticism to offer. I'll take it all!
This chapter begins the story proper, which takes place just about an hour after the events of 'Hogday Afternoon' the season finale for Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers and the overarching third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. One of the purposes of this fic is to set up events and persons who have more prominent roles in successive Power Rangers seasons, so enjoy the first cameo of a future arch-villain who will show up in Power Rangers in Space! Also as a bon voyage to the happy couple on the Moon, I hope you will enjoy a rendition of a favorite song of Rita Repulsa's Super Sentai counterpart!
Happy Reading! ^_^
Chapter 1: Destruction, Victory, and Consequences
o0o
The events that transpired over the past hour seem almost beyond belief…
At the very moment when we thought that the darkest hour of our experience as Rangers lay behind us—with the spell altering the time line of Earth broken, the Aquitian Rangers able at last to safely return to their own planet after a heroic defense of Earth, the Zeo Crystal in our grasp, and the restoration of our Powers in sight—Lord Zedd, leader of the alien forces seeking to conquer Earth launched a surprise assault. This unexpected move brought catastrophe to our resistance, our mentor, and our world.
Two of his servants, Goldar and Rito Revolto managed to penetrate the defenses of our Command Center, implanting an implosive device. Adding insult to injury, the two then teleported into the main chamber of our Command Center and stole the Zeo Crystal; the only power source capable of restoring our lost powers.
The news that the evil designs of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa had become a success was a crushing blow to our morale, but little did we know that in a matter of seconds, the world as we knew it would come crashing down around our ears in an overwhelming and final blow; that our lives as Power Rangers were about to come to an end…
o0o
A sharp stab of pain struck Tommy Oliver—formerly the White Ranger and leader of the defensive force against intergalactic threats known as the Power Rangers—against his rib-cage, his muscles straining as he forced himself to ascend the steep incline leading towards the smoldering wreckage of what was once their Command Center.
His tired frame wracked with fatigue and exhaustion, Tommy was tempted to throw himself unto the ground in defeat. Despite the nearly overwhelming desire to collapse, Tommy willed the remaining reserves of his strength into his legs as he powered on towards his destination.
Just ahead of him, he could see the shirt tails of Billy's checkered shirt as the normally mild mannered scientific genius who served as the Blue Ranger ran towards the ruins as if his life depended on it. Behind him, he could hear the grunts and gasps for breath as his teammates Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, Katherine Hillard and their newest member Tanya—Aisha's replacement—kept close to his heels. He longed to say something, anything that could encourage his friends and allies, but his own heart was frozen in fear and a suffocating blanket of despair. All he could do was follow Billy's footsteps as the six teenagers raced back to the ruins of the place which barely an hour ago was perhaps the most secure facility on the planet.
As he ran on, it seemed that the shrill whistle of the wind as it sped past his racing form, began to take on the thin, high pitched cackle of his former Mistress and the enemy that in his heart of hearts Tommy hated the most, Rita Repulsa:
'Why continue fighting, Tommy boy?' the hateful voice seemed to sneer, 'You've already lost. Look around you! The Command Center is nothing but a pile of rubble, your powers have been completely decimated, and your precious Zordon has been blown to high-heaven! Look! See the results of you leading the team of Power Rangers! You know that things would have been different if Jason was still leading the team! Barely a year and a half as leader, and you've already blown through two sets of Powers, three sets of Zords, one of the most powerful energy sources in the universe, an entire command outpost, and an intergalactic sage to boot! Bravo, Tommy! Bravo!'
Each poisonous word dug its pointed barb deep into the recesses of Tommy's soul, echoing and re-echoing within his mind until the only thing that he could see in his mind's eye was the sight of his sworn enemy cackling with unsurpassed delight. So lost and chaotic was Tommy in the tempest of his self-condemning thoughts, that it wasn't until he slammed face-first into the rigid back of Billy, that Tommy was able to tear himself from his own inner monologue and focus on his surroundings. In spite of himself, Tommy's heart skipped a beat at the sight before him. Behind him, he could hear the aborted shouts and gasps of the others as they also beheld what Evil had wrought.
The plateau upon which the ancient command outpost once proudly stood, was the very picture of destruction, like an apocalyptic nightmare. Nothing was left standing. Charred stumps of masonry and several scattered lumps of blackened, metallic lumps of molten slag was all that remained. Here and there, small fires were still burning, an acrid smoke darkening the air above them. Tommy's eyes watered as the smoky air stung at them. His lungs burned as he inhaled the stench of burned metal and rock. Almost unwillingly, his eyes were drawn to what he remembered as the center of the room that held the crystalline tube that permitted their mentor and friend Zordon to communicate to them from the time warp prison that he had been trapped into over ten thousand years ago.
All that remained were jagged shards of crystal jutting from molten slag. At the sight of the enormity of his failure, Tommy's knees buckled and he found himself slumping unto the ground in speechless shock. Just ahead of him, Billy appeared to be petrified to the spot as his eyes were glued to all that remained of their teacher and guide. Katherine began to quietly sob just behind Tommy, as she too fell to her knees and clung to his shoulders for support. Tanya looked stricken at the sight and she began to hug herself and rub her arms furiously as if suppressing a sudden chill. Adam was riveted to the spot, his eyes haunted with grief as a few feet to the side, Rocky stood staring at the remains of Zordon's glass tube, his eyes smoldering with a growing rage.
"I can't believe this," sobbed Katherine as she tried to regain her composure, "I—I thought that th—the Command Center was the o—one safe place that Rita and Zedd could never touch!"
"How could Zordon and Alpha have survived this?" whispered Billy as he took in the scene of devastation. He shook his head in denial, his cobalt-blue eyes haunted by a pain so severe that Tommy had to close his eyes to avoid the sight.
Furiously, Rocky kicked at a pile of broken rock near his feet, his mouth spewing a venomous stream of Spanish obscenities, only a few recognizable to Tommy's ear. He started towards the molten remnant of the tube, but was restrained by Adam, who clearly recognized more of what had to be blistering curses as he tugged Rocky to him and hugged his red-clad friend, whispering soft words that none of the others could make out, causing Rocky after a couple of moments to deflate as quickly as he had exploded and slump against the Black Ranger's wiry frame, letting himself be directed to a large slab of stone. As the pair of them sat down, Tommy forced himself to his feet. He felt, rather than saw Katherine rise up behind him and follow him to a smaller piece of stone, large enough to accommodate the two of them as they too sat down. After a few moments, Tanya and Billy took their seats on the slab of rock occupied by Adam and Rocky.
As the six teens sat despondent, images rushed unbidden to their minds of the countless times they would stand together within the circular space framed by the circuit boards and super computers of the Command Center, receiving counsel and ancient wisdom from the kindly sage who had looked past their rather unique backgrounds and seen in them the potential to serve as the world's elite fighting force against the forces of Rita and later, Lord Zedd. Now, they would no longer hear the high-pitched tones of Alpha 5' laughter or shrieks of dismay. They would never be graced with the deep, rumbling tone of Zordon as he encouraged them whenever the battles against Zedd and Rita would become too burdensome to handle.
"He's gone," whispered Tommy in abject misery as he took in the desolation and the haunted faces of his friends. "And without him, the Earth has no chance against Rita and Zedd."
o0o
Over two hundred thousand miles above the ruins of the Command Center, within the damned halls of the Lunar Palace, the oft-thwarted and irredeemable bride of Lord Zedd, the space sorceress known as Rita Repulsa cackled with irrepressible glee as she moved back from the enchanted lens of her Ritascope and turned to face her husband, the venomous and dastardly crimson Overlord of Darkness, Lord Zedd. His chrome-plated visor glimmered in the firelight of the torches burning on the walls of his Chamber of Command. He along with the rest of the Court awaited expectantly the pronouncement of their Queen.
"Well?" demanded the deformed sorcerer, his exposed muscled arm tightening its grip on the heavy Z-tipped silver and chromium Staff as he stepped towards his wife. "Out with it, woman! Did our plan succeed?"
"Succeed?!" screeched Rita in unholy glee as she sauntered over to the side of her husband and sovereign. "Zordon's Command Center has been blasted into smithereens! That old bastard won't be watching over anything, ever again!"
"Really?" whispered Lord Zedd, as arches of lightning raced up and down his Staff. "Truly? Zordon and his pesky band of Powerpuffs are finally out of my hair, forever?"
At that Rita burst into a fresh screech of victory as she yanked her husband and shoved him towards the balcony of the Lunar Palace.
"See for yourself!" screeched the exultant sorceress. Behind her, the footmen of Zedd's court, an azure vampiric mutant named Baboo and his lighter skinned goblin companion Squatt muttered with barely contained anticipation as the powerful Monarch activated his second sight, his visor glowing a sickly red as he cast his gaze down over two hundred thousand miles unto a concealed mountainous plateau in a mystically shielded section of the Mojave Desert. The entire Chamber began to glow with a crimson light as the evil warlord slowly chuckled, then began to bellow with whoops of triumphs.
Rita screeched with laughter again as she guessed at what her husband was observing, her own wand beginning to glow a dull red as her dark powers began to react to her extreme happiness. Squatt and Baboo squealed in glee and began to jump up and down, clapping their hands.
"At last!" roared the evil Monarch, as he lifted his gaze from the Earth, "after ten thousand years of countless monsters and expended magic, I finally get my victory over that jumped up, two-bit sorcerer of Eltar! The Earth has been rendered utterly defenseless! The Power truly exists no more!"
"No more rotten Power Rangers!" declared Rita, slamming her wand on the stone floor. "Victory is ours at last!"
Her exultant words triggered a fresh roar of delight from Lord Zedd, who leaped down to where his Queen stood and dipped her into a low bow before swinging her up and twirling her around the ancient hall, to her girlish squeals.
"Squatt! Baboo! Heed my command!" thundered Lord Zedd as he whirled around to spear the two henchmen under his dark gaze. "Summon all of our old friends! Get the most rotten, putrid, decomposed delights evil magic can muster! Get the lava juice flowing! I want music! I want screams! It's time to get this party started!"
"At once, your Most Terrifying Grotesqueness!" stammered Baboo as he grabbed Squatt by the scruff of his neck and teleported to see his master's command carried out.
With another bark of hideous laughter, Zedd grabbed a surprised and aroused Rita by the waist and dragged her unto his chrome plated lap as he sighed in delight upon his throne.
"We'll have the grandest party that has been seen in eons my silver-haired conical pet," he rasped in satisfaction as silver tipped claws began to work their way beneath the ceremonial dress of his Empress. "While Zordon's children mourn their loss and imminent destruction, we shall celebrate. As for the climax of our victory party, we shall descend down upon the Earth and use the Zeo Crystal to burn that wretched world into the ground!"
Rita's shrieks of delight slowly began to morph into husker moans as his claws found the patch of delight that had been neglected for several millenia and Lord Zedd began to burrow his chrome-plated face into the side of her neck, as they began a long awaited and far more sensual celebration. As she began to squirm delightedly in his lap, the space concealed behind the chrome plated exoskeleton protecting his pelvic area began to tighten almost uncomfortably in a way that it hadn't for more than ten thousand years, on a burning moon in the Aldac-17 Quadrant of the Ikibor Galaxy.
Had the exultant pair however cast their magical sight towards the opposite side of the moon, they might have decided to rethink the advisability of having a party at that particular moment of time, as the first tendrils of a very long and dark shadow began to cast its deadly pall across the eaves of the Lunar Palace…
o0o
The dull roar of thousands of Viriox Nuclear-powered engines emanated across the opaque seas of space, interspersed with the whirring sounds of tens of thousands of mechanical soldiers as they marched across the behemoth, fiery asteroid housing the immense might of the Machine Sky Base.
As the armies of mechanical drones went about their varied duties, a slightly taller five-foot two-toned mechanical drone with a mini-drone perched on his right shoulder shuffled quickly as he approached the veranda of the Sky Base where the he was summoned to give a fresh report concerning their target.
At last, gears whirring furiously with exertion, the mechanical footman known as 'Klank' entered the august chamber and at once bowed low before the figure standing before the veranda overlooking the third planet of the Sol System in the Milky Way Galaxy—also known as Earth.
"You're late," pronounced the figure without turning its head to face the drone. The figure's voice had a distorted metallic tone distinct to the 'citizens' of the powerful and seemingly limitless Machine Empire. Even so, it was decidedly frosty, causing the drone to cringe as once again he bowed his head low behind the shadowed figure.
"A thousand apologies, your Majesty!" exclaimed the minister drone. "I bring news concerning the targeted territory as you requested."
"And?" barked the figure.
"It is as your spies reported six kinic cycles ago, your Majesty. The creatures known as Lord Zedd and his wife Rita Repulsa have lowered the defenses of their Palace and are preparing a celebratory party for their victory over the wizard, Zordon of Eltar! The galactic gossip is that they managed to destroy the strategic command outpost of the Eltarean and destroyed his access to the physical dimension. The paltry defensive measures he had set in place were destroyed very recently! Most importantly my liege, according to your spies, Lord Zedd has not detected our approach at all!"
The figure in the shadows began to laugh chillingly at the news. Turning around, he stepped into the light, revealing a rather rotund and tall richly clad machine, designed in blue and silver Na'Quat plating, a large crown adorning his head. As the Machine King stepped forward, the minister drone shuddered at the waves of dark power emanating from his creator.
"Excellent news, Klank!" boomed the Machine King, as he slammed the heavy Na'Quat staff designed with a massive Gear unto the metallic flooring. Sparks danced upon impact.
"Lord Zedd is a sniveling, incompetent ingrate! It is almost unimaginable that he once commanded an empire that struck fear into the hearts of a thousand planets, almost rising to a level when we could have considered him a suitable ally! It seems the millennia have drained him of his sensibilities as well as his power! I will be doing the universe a favor, blotting that bumbling would-be king and his loathsome bride out of existence!"
Klank nodded frantically, not wanting to further arouse the anger of his Master.
"Very true, Sire." Klank demurred. "Shall I give the order to begin the assault now, your Majesty?"
"Not yet," replied the Machine King, "let the witless worms enjoy their little party for a little while longer. Once they are completely lulled into unawareness, then launch the Quadrafighters and strike hard and without mercy! I want those idiots completely vaporized!"
"It will be done as you command my King!" exclaimed Klank, as with a pirouette, the Chief Minister of the Machine Empire rushed away to alert the Quadrafighter units.
If the Machine King had possessed a face of flesh and blood, his lips would have curled into a cruel smirk as he whirled around and stepped once more towards the shimmering blue-green planet nearly 350,000 miles away. As it was, his mechanized eyes glowed a bright golden color as he stretched forth his scepter in the Earth's direction.
"So, Lord Zedd dares to lay claim to the Zeo Crystal, which by rights belong solely to me? He will pay dearly for his arrogance. And once the little fool has been dealt with, I will quickly establish control over this backwater planet and at last gain the powers of the Crystal for myself! With its powers at my command, the Machine Empire shall reign supreme!"
Exultantly, the Machine King gave in to his mirth as he anticipated another galaxy conquered, providing raw materials for the expansion of the Empire, and access to ultimate power. Only a little while longer…
o0o
Earth
Adam watched Rocky with growing concern as he fought to keep his hands from intertwining with that of his closest friend. In the messed-up state of mind they all were in, he was worried that such a movement might trigger another outburst.
After his explosive round of cursing, Rocky had grown completely still, staring woodenly at a pile of burning rubble. Adam knew that it wasn't only the terrible situation they were in that had his normally cheerful friend in such a dark and violent mood. It was also due to the notable absence of the one girl who could keep them both hopeful, even in the darkest hours.
Looking past his brooding friend, he stared over at the tall African-American young woman who had been chosen by the third member of their trio to take her place as a Power Ranger. To his pleasant surprise, Tanya was taking these shocking events surprisingly in stride, her concerned eyes resting on Billy, who was probably the person most hard hit by this disaster. Adam thought he could begin to see what must have attracted Aisha to her and led her to surrender her piece of the Zeo Crystal to her and send her in her place. She had all the makings of becoming an amazing Power Ranger.
But Aisha, we need you, Adam thought mournfully as he turned his gaze to the despondent figure of his friend and leader, Tommy.
I can't imagine how guilty and conflicted Tommy must be feeling right now, he thought. As the leader, Tommy was sure to be second guessing himself and the decisions that he made since the whole debacle with Master Vile began.
His ears perked up as Tommy sighed explosively, fingers clenched around two medium-sized pieces of what must have been the outer walls of the Command Center. He was shaking his chestnut brown hair in disgust as he looked around the ruins.
"What a mess," sighed the white-clad teen, his boots scuffing the ground in front of him. "Look at this place! It's been completely wiped off the map!"
Adam watched as the visibly frustrated teen launched the broken masonry in his hands towards the large pile of broken stone several feet away. Tommy hung his head after his throw, so he didn't see where his projectile landed. Adam's keen eyes however followed the broken stone as it flew straight into the side of the large pile in front of them. It skittered off to another scattered pile, where it laid, forgotten, but the Black Ranger's eyes widened in surprise as the momentum of Tommy's throw caused some of the rocks in the pile to shift, revealing a brilliant glimmer of golden-white light.
What was that, he wondered. Could that possibly be what I think it might be?
He said nothing at first, because it was possible that the light of the hot August sun had just reflected off of a piece of broken glass. But as the seconds rolled by and the glow didn't fade, Adam found himself standing up and stepping forward a few feet for a better view. He could see Rocky out of the corner of his eye sitting straighter, a look of concern on his face, but Adam pushed that aside and turned instead to the despondent forms of the Pink and White Rangers.
"Tommy?" he called, raising the pitch of his voice enough to attract the longhaired teen's attention. "Uh, I think there's something you got to see."
As around him, his friends started to stir with curiosity, Adam pointed towards the large pile of rubble where, in the gap precipitated by Tommy's throw, a gap revealed a shining light.
"Guys, is that what I think it is?" he called out. Rocky, now standing next to him, gasped in shock at the view.
"Guys!" hollered Rocky, "is that—?"
Katherine jumped up, her mouth shaped in a surprised 'O'.
"Can it be?" she gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. Billy, his attention now diverted to the rocks as well jumped up in surprise as he caught the glow.
"Come on!" the blonde-haired teen said, urgently. "Hurry!"
Quickly, all six made their way to the spot that Adam pointed out to them. Ignoring the dust, and the sharp and jagged rocks littering the ground before them, they dropped to their knees and started to shift away as much of the broken rocks as they could. For the next several minutes, the only sounds heard were the grunts of exertion and the sound of skittering rocks and small boulder sized masonry, as the Rangers dug into the large pile, endeavoring to widen the gap through which the steady white glow of some object could be seen.
As the six teenagers dug and shifted rock out of the way, the gaping void of misery and defeat which had been choking each of their spirits in different ways and to differing degrees began to lighten as a spark of hope began to burn in their hearts. Unknowingly, as each teen lifted and worked on widening the gap, a similar thread of thought began to loop in their minds, becoming almost a prayer or a mantra.
Please, by all the Powers that are, let this light be what we think it must be!
Bit by bit, the gap suffused with light grew wider and wider, until at last, with a strain of his muscles, Billy lifted the last heavy obstruction in their way and heaved it over to the side, the glowing object at last laid bare before their astonished eyes.
Exchanging jubilant glances with each other, the spark of hope burst into a solid flame as reverently, Tommy reached into the space created and pulled out the one object that could prove to be the answer to their crippling dilemma.
"It is!" exulted Tommy as he cradled the glowing object in his hands, lifting it into clearer view in front of his companions. "It's the Zeo Crystal!" As he lifted the artifact into the sky, the Rangers, now more hopeful than they had been since the explosion, gathered in a semi-circle around Tommy.
"All of the sub-crystals are still connected!" said Billy in awe. He exchanged a brilliant smile towards Adam. "Your eyesight is incredible Adam! Thanks to you, we have a fighting chance now!"
Bashfully, the Korean-American teen dipped his head, a slight blush suffusing his cheeks at the unexpected praise.
"Billy's right," agreed Tommy as he spared a grateful glance at the boy at his side. "You given us new hope, Adam!"
Adam shook his head as he glanced away from the two boys over to Katherine.
"Rito and Goldar must have dropped the Crystal during the explosion," he posited. "I can't believe it survived the blast intact."
Katherine nodded as she pointed at the glowing crystal.
"It's amazing," she agreed, "but does it still have its Power?"
Barely had the words gone out of her mouth when an audible hum filled the air as five distinctive flashes of light—pink, blue, red, yellow, and green—irradiated the Crystal's surface, causing the Australian young woman to step back with a gasp of surprise at the unexpected display.
"I think it heard you," replied Rocky wryly. As Tommy held the vibrating Crystal our at arms length, Billy stepped closer to him, his shock and surprise fading into concern as he witnessed the power surge.
"I don't think you should hold it Tommy," he cautioned the White Ranger cautiously. "It might be better to set it down, we don't know how the blast affected its volatility."
"You're right, Billy," said Tommy. Slowly and carefully, he set the ridged Crystal on the ground before their feet. The second he set it down however, the Crystal glowed a blinding white as a shock-wave of energy swept through the startled teens, rooting their feet to the area surrounding the Crystal as the earth around them began to crack and break apart.
"Woah!" exclaimed Rocky as he waved his arms wildly as he tried to get his balance. On the other side, Tanya staggered as she held onto Billy for support.
"Well, I think we're about to find out!" she cried as with a large rumble, the ground beneath their feet began to sink. "Is it ever going to stop?!"
"I don't know!" exclaimed Billy, straining to make his voice heard amid the rumbling and convulsions of the earth around them. "The blast must have triggered some kind of reaction in the Crystal!"
"Ah! We're sinking!" cried Rocky as the ground beneath them abruptly shuddered as it precipitously dipped an additional six inches below the surface. Next to him, Adam's face blanched as he struggled to force his feet to move.
"Let's bail out of here!" he shouted over the dull roar of the splitting earth. As Tanya attempted to follow his suggestion, her eyes widened on horror as she found herself stuck to the ground.
"I can't move my legs!" she exclaimed, shrilly. Tommy began tugging at his own legs, finding them as stuck as Tanya's. The others did the same, to the same result.
"None of us can!" yelled Katherine, her blond hair whipping from side to side as she attempted to try different angles in an attempt to free herself.
"Hang on!" ordered Billy as the magnetized area they were stuck in sunk further, this time by several feet.
Another shockwave of energy rocked the six teens, who all began to scream shrilly as the ground below their feet began to plummet at an accelerating rate. Vainly, they attempted to jump, but they remained rooted as the earth fell ten, then thirty, then fifty, then a hundred feet below the surface. The terrifying experience took on a heightened edge of terror as the earth their feet were stuck too began to break apart as they sped down the gaping precipice beneath the surface.
Soon they were scrabbling in vain for some kind of support as they began dropping at an accelerated rate and the ground beneath completely disintegrated, leaving them plummeting in mid-air.
Desperately clutching at any part of their companions' bodies they could reach, the air screamed past them as they dropped faster and faster.
Soon, the rate of speed at which they were plummeting was so great, they one by one began to black out. Soon all of the Rangers were unconscious, unaware that a glimmering energy barrier began to emanate around them as they fell, the light fading into darkness as they plummeted to an unknown destination.
Finally, over seventy miles below the Earth's surface, their deathly journey came to an abrupt halt, unknown to them as the sphere of energy surrounding them impacted squarely upon cold, metal. As the energy field winked out of existence, the unconscious forms of the Rangers lay scattered in a pile of dusty boxes and dirty cloth as the overwhelmed teens unknowingly began the next stage in their journey as Power Rangers…
o0o
Back on the moon, the mood was loud, crude and rowdy as scores of mutant lifeforms milled around the wide hall of the Chamber of Command, transformed into a hellish version of a dance hall. All around, Tengas, Putties, and other unsavory creatures drank steaming goblets of lava juice, ate from the heavily set buffet off to the side and exchanged wild stories about past misdeeds as near the iron throne of Lord Zedd, a line of aliens led by Rita herself danced in circles to the raucous chorus of the dreaded battle song of the famously vicious evil space sorceress (and distant relative) Bandora the Dreadful; most often sung before her forces invaded another doomed world:
Listen up, you foolish creatures!
I am the greatest and most dreadful witch of all, BANDORA!
o0o
Do Do Ra Do Ra! Do Do Do Ra Do Ra!
Do Do Ra Ra Do Do Ra Ra Bandora!
Do Do Ra Dora Do Do Dora Dora!
Do Do Ra Ra Do Do Ra Ra Bandora!
o0o
Viewed from so far away this planet is like a shimmering sapphire,
But with my magic sight I see the truth…
Just what a worthless, garbage planet it is!
o0o
Do Do Ra Do Ra! Do Do Do Ra Do Ra!
Do Do Ra Ra Do Do Ra Ra! Bandora!
Do Do Ra Do Ra! Do Do Do Ra Do Ra!
Do Do Ra Ra Do Do Ra Ra Bandora!
o0o
It stinks because it's been befouled by the indigent fools oozing from the slime!
But soon these fools all will be,
Nothing more than mashed potatoes beneath my feet!
Totbat, Buckback, Griforther, Priripcan, now let's go!
o0o
Do Do Ra Do Ra! Do Do Do Ra Do Ra!
Do Do Ra Ra Do Do Ra Ra! BANDORA!
Do Do Ra Do Ra! Do Do Do Ra Do Ra!
Do Do Ra Ra Do Do Ra Ra! Bandora!
Do Do Ra Do Ra! Do Do Do Ra Do Ra!
Do Do Ra Ra Do Do Ra Ra! Bandora!
Do Do Ra Do Ra! Do Do Do Ra Do Ra!
Do Do Ra Ra Do Do Ra Ra! BANDORA!
DORA!
As the song switched to an equally evil, but well-beloved tune, Lord Zedd soon had his bride and his Court chanting in a tune less chorus:
No more Power Rangers! No more Power Rangers!
No more Power Rangers! No more Power Rangers!
With a roar of ecstasy, Lord Zedd wheeled his wife around and allowed her to lead him the Devil's Waltz, so deliriously happy, he didn't even bother to sneer when the albino dog-faced monster maker Finster dashed from his own private quarters and interrupted their revelry, just as Rita managed to dip him!
"Forgive me, your eminences! I do not mean to disturb you two—"
"Then don't!" screeched Rita as she heaved her husband up from the dip she had placed him in, with surprising upper body strength.
"But—but there really is something that the two of you must see!" protested the oft-maligned and little appreciated monster maker, tugging on his ears in distress.
"Not now!" ordered Rita as she swung her hips lewdly in Lord Zedd's direction. "This is the most fun that I've had in ten thousand years!"
"But…but—" attempted Finster in vain.
His next words were drowned out by the sudden flash of light and ominous rumbling as without warning, the Palace suddenly began to shake as if in the epicenter of a severe earthquake.
With a screech, the music and revelry came to a halt as several more flashes of light—this time accompanied by the distinct sounds of explosions—and more shockwaves sent the assorted guests scrambling for the exits. Despite the loud protests of Rita, the room was soon emptied of all lifeforms save for those of the Court, who gathered near the startled Lord Zedd.
"What. In the name of all wickedness, was that?!" demanded Zedd, stalking over to the visibly frustrated Finster.
"That is just what I've been trying to tell you, my Lord!" huffed the ancient mutant petulantly. "It appears that we are—under attack!"
Horrified gasps filled the room.
Mind whirling madly, Rita dashed towards her trusty Ritascope, peering anxiously through its enchanted lens to see what was attacking their palace. Her strangled gasp of horror had Zedd bounding closer to her.
"Well?" demanded the overlord anxiously, "what is it? What do you see?"
Slowly the self-styled Empress of Evil withdrew her gaze from the Ritascope and turned slowly to face her husband, her usually haughty face now chalk-bone white with shock and fear.
"Zeddy?" the sorceress whimpered. "I think we're in trouble!"
"Why?" exclaimed Zedd, "who dares to breach the palace of the Sovereign of Evil?!"
Bottom lip trembling, Rita began to wail.
"Ah! We're being attacked by the Machine Empire! What are we going to do?!"
Her bald announcement caused the normally confident sorcerer to stumble back in shock.
"The Machine Empire?!"
o0o
Miles away on the Machine Sky Base, the rotund Machine King surveyed his new territory in great satisfaction. Next to him were two mechanical beings as well; one a tall and sturdily built gold and steel female robot adorned in blue and purple and iron, and the second a rather tiny robot very similarly attired to his two companions, right down to the stubby crown with crystalline masses growing out of it. All three were jubilant at the report given concerning the launch of their assault.
"Ah!" exclaimed the mechanical despot with maniacal glee. "How fortunate we are, my mechanical Enchantress! An entire galaxy just waiting to provide raw materials for my Machine Empire!"
"Hmm…yes, it is quite lovely," replied the Queen. "But you forget my dear, this galaxy has been claimed by Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd as their own."
"A minor detail!" retorted the King good naturedly. "Come! See for yourself!"
He chuckled in amusement as his Queen and his first built son and heir saw the holographic imagery of their Quadrafighters blasting the once imposing Palace of the self-styled Emperor and Empress of Evil. It now sported gaping holes and large blackened burn marks, the few rather pitiful minions of the Fools (clay foot soldiers indeed!) were easily being routed by the superior might and relentless onslaught of his soldiers.
"Even now," he boasted to his appreciative audience, "those piteous peasants are fleeing for their very existence!"
As the King and Queen gave in to their mirth at the routing of their enemies, their son jumped up and down in excitement.
"Oh boy, oh boy!" he shouted as he watched the proceedings. "You really have them by the gears, huh Daddy?"
"Precisely!" boomed the Machine King.
o0o
As blast after blast commenced the work of reducing the Lunar Palace into space rubble, the discomfited rulers reeled in shock as all of their careful planning and millennia of effort went up in smoke.
"My Lord!" squealed Finster, struggling to maintain his balance as more energy blasts continued their work of destruction. "I regret to report that there are no resources available to mount a successful defense against the armies of the Machine King! I will prepare at once for our immediate departure!"
He staggered out of the main Chamber and went to begin those preparations amidst the high-pitched wails of Rita as a particularly close blast, sent her tumbling to the ground.
"I can't believe it!" she screamed in rage. "Zedd! This is all your fault!"
To his immense shame, the mutated sorcerer couldn't even refute his wife's poisonous words. There was no reason for the Machine King to want to invade this sector of the universe, so far removed from their normal haunts unless there was an overwhelming incentive for his invasion. And that could on mean one thing…
Somehow, that rusted bucket of bolts must have heard of the legendary powers of the Zeo Crystal and come to claim it for himself! And to add insult to blasted injury, the inexplicable delay of those bumbling numbskulls, Rito and Goldar was evidence that somewhere along the line, they managed to screw up an absolutely perfect plan to overwhelm their enemies and gain ultimate power in one fell swoop! Damn them to the eternal pit fires of Apophis the Mad!
Without the Zeo Crystal, even the combined magic that could be mustered between himself and Rita would not be enough to eliminate the armies of the Machine King! That left him, as much as it galled him to have to admit, only one viable option…
They would have to concede defeat to the Machine Empire and flee…
The decision made, he snapped his visor towards his wife, kicking her heels in rage upon the stone floor.
"Cease your caterwauling at once, you idiot woman!" he snapped, irritably. "Get back on your feet and pack! We'll have only moments to escape before the Machine King himself steps foot on the moon! And think about possible places that we can escape to!"
Not giving her time to spout her usual useless drivel and complaints, he rushed towards their private quarters to gather up all of his most valuable scrolls and tomes of dark magic. Not to mention his chrome polish. As humiliating as this setback was, he was nothing if not a survivor.
This would not be the end...
He would be sure of that!
o0o
"How exciting!" exulted the Queen of the Machine Empire as she observed the continuing assault against the once powerful Lord Zedd and Rita. "Look at their minions run!"
The King chuckled some more as he drained his flask of boiling cog oil.
"Let them run!" he declared. "There is no place to hide!"
They laughed merrily at the discomfiture of their hopeless rivals. It was fortuitous that the powerful, but rather loose-tongued ruler of much of the M-51 Galaxy, had set the tongues of the universal gossips wagging when he boastfully advertised his intent to claim the Zeo Crystal for himself.
It had been a minor effort to track his movements with a small but heavily cloaked squadron of Quadrafighters and follow him to the location where the Crystal had been hidden tens of thousands of years ago, by their most hated enemies! Once the report had returned that Vile and his son-in-law Zedd had managed to remove the Crystal from its protective enchantments, the order had immediately been given to direct their Sky Base towards the distant Milky Way Galaxy and leave the conquest of the Atir Quadrant in the capable hands of their faithful general, Venjix.
It had taken several weeks of travel to get to this obscure system of planets, but the entertainment now being provided—as well as the promise of gaining more territory in addition to the Zeo Crystal—was well worth the long trip.
"Now," continued the Machine King, "it will be only a matter of time before we harness the full potential of the Zeo Crystal for ourselves. With that Power finally on our hands, we will overturn the current balance of power in the universe and crush all those who stand in our way! We will be the supreme Evil in the universe! Even the Monarch of the United Alliance of Evil himself will bow his head in obeisance to us!"
"Yeah, Dad! The Dark Specter will never know what hit him! You'll be the Head of all the powers of Evil!"
The Machine King chuckled at the exuberance of his young heir. The boy was right however.
"Well said, my son!" he replied.
They broke into fresh gales of laughter as they thought about the Power soon to be in their grasp. So focused were they on their approaching triumph, it completely escaped their notice when a curiously designed foot soldier, his head far bulkier and angular in appeared than that of their Cogs and fitted with a heavy metallic breastplate protecting its vulnerable cybernetic enhancements slowly began to back away from the exultant family, disappearing in a flash of white light…
o0o
"I hate packing in a hurry," grumbled Rita as she lugged a heavy black traveling case behind her, "I always feel like I'm forgetting something."
"Silence, my infuriating peacock!" snapped Lord Zedd as he hoisted his own traveling case upon his shoulders. "Save your complaints for after we get inside Sepenterra! We've finally gotten the only chance we're ever going to get to survive this attack by the Machine King, so we don't have time for your gripes and sniveling!"
Rita huffed in irritation, but quieted down as the sad processional of the once proud Court made their way out of the heavily damaged Palace and started trudging along the path towards the only thing standing between them and oblivion, Serpenterra, the personal attack craft of Lord Zedd.
"Indeed," panted Finster as he lugged even more heavy luggage above his head. "I have managed to place a light protective barrier around us to deflect random blasts by the Machine Empire's fighter craft, but it will only prove effective as long as we can take advantage of this lull in the attack! If they resume their full assault again before we reach the safety of Serpenterra, I hardly need to say that our days will be numbered!"
With that, the deposed aliens made their way through the pathway away from their long home. Remaining silent, to avoid alerting any potential sensors, the group managed to get three qquarters of the way towards Sepenterra before the sound of sharp explosions behind them signaled the resumption of the attack.
Only a few hundred feet away from their salvation, Rita suddenly halted with a shriek, causing the line behind her to fall into disorder as the Tengas and Putties carrying their stuff tumbled to the ground.
"Wait a minute!" screeched the evil sorceress as she looked in all directions. "I just remembered! Where are those two knuckleheads, Rito and Goldar! They haven't been back since they blew up Zordon's Command Center and stole the Zeo Crystal! We can't go without them!"
"We have no choice!" growled Lord Zedd venomously. "It's clear that even though the Command Center was destroyed, those two blithering idiots failed to obtain the Zeo Crystal! We don't have time to search for them, we'll just have to mail them a forwarding address!"
"Address to where?" mumbled Squatt miserably.
The innocent comment caused them all to freeze.
"An excellent and overlooked question," moaned Finster. "As powerful as Serpenterra might be, it can only hold a finite amount of energy before needing to be recharged. We must plot our course of escape precisely, or we will run out of fuel and drift into oblivion!"
The bald pronouncement had all of them falling into a miserable reverie. Just where precisely could they go? It would have to be a place either so far away that the Machine Empire would never be able to reach that territory—but also Serpenterra—or a place ruled by a sympathetic being powerful enough to cause even the Machine King to pause before striking. And considering that the path to ultimate power didn't lend itself well to making friends…
Several minutes passed by before Rita jumped up with a shout.
"I know!" she exclaimed happily. "I know a place where we can crash, that's close enough to get there in Serpenterra and ruled by someone nasty enough to keep even the Machine Empire away!"
"Well?" replied Zedd, uncomprehendingly.
"Think about it," continued Rita, "who's the most powerful and evil person we know besides the rulers of the Machine Empire, who's also close by?"
Finster gasped in dismay, recognizing immediately where his Queen was heading with her lead up. Zedd on the other hand, just looked at her in confusion.
"Why—I am of course!" he sputtered in outrage. Squatt and Baboo nodded in agreement, but quickly bowed their heads when Rita bared her teeth at them.
"In your dreams, Tinsel Teeth!" she sneered. "You know who I'm talking about!"
To Zedd's everlasting shame, it took a number of seconds for him to connect the dots and follow his wife's line of thought. When he finally realized however, he jumped up from his resting spot in horror.
"Oh no!" he growled. "If you think for one moment that I will—humble myself before that egotistical, arrogant, cowardly—"
"You can, and you will!" screeched Rita as she immediately began marshaling her psychic connection. "I'm calling my Daddy! We're moving in with Master Vile!"
As Zedd choked with inarticulate fury, she launched her astral call into the void of space.
"Daddy! I need to talk to you! Come in where ever you are! Papa, can you hear me?!"
A wellspring of evil energy bloomed behind her, and she swung around, her sour face brightening as the smoky astral form of the demonic evil ruler of the M51 Galaxy took shape.
"Is that the sour tones of my dastardly daughter I hear, calling?" boomed the spectral form of Master Vile.
"Yes, Daddy Meanest! And I have a little favor to ask!"
Master Vile's head swung in every direction as the nearing sounds of explosions rocked the area where they were having their unholy communion.
"What is that awful sound in the background?" demanded the despot.
"That's the thing!" screeched Rita anxiously, "The Machine Empire is invading, and I— heh! —need a place to crash!"
"The Machine Empire?!" exclaimed Vile. "The Machine King and his odious Queen are the only creatures that I have ever encountered in my quest for Power, more evil than myself! They destroy everything they touch!"
"Exactly, Daddy!" simpered Rita piteously. "So how about it? Will you let us crash for a while with you?!"
Master Vile huffed unpleasantly as he took in the ragged group before him, sneering particularly at a glowering Lord Zedd.
"I suppose you'll be bringing that husband of yours," he grumbled. "Oh, all right. I'll leave a skeleton key for you under the mat, just don't wake me when you get in!"
As his projection shimmered away, Rita crowed in victory as the Putties and Tengas began gathering up the fallen luggage and began eking their way the last hundred feet or so to the cargo hold of the massive serpentine Battle Zord. Soon only Rita and Zedd remained, the latter stubbornly planting himself right where he stood, refusing to move.
"I object!" he roared. "I refuse to move in with that decrepit dictator, you call a father!"
"Well get over it!" yelled Rita, "it's a done deal! All we have to do is load everything up and we're off to live with Master Vile!"
"Never!" retorted Zedd. "I will never place myself under the tender mercies of that madman, not even to save my very existence!"
"You can, and you will!" hissed Rita, more menacingly than he had ever heard her before. Before he could object further, she darted forward, and grabbing him by the horn of his visor, she began yanking him behind her as she marched towards the massive form of Sepenterra, ignoring the yells of protest emanating from her husband.
In less than an hour, the once mighty dark sorcerer who could boast the title of Emperor of All I See found himself buckled into his own Zord, with only the barest essentials with him and the pathetic entourage of Courtiers surrounding him while his own Queen punched in the coordinates and fired up the engines as they prepared to cower in the domains of that wretched Master Vile as an escape from a rival Empire! What a humiliating conclusion to a battle for power that raged unchecked for over ten thousand years!
With a growl of unbridled rage and bitterness, he smashed his fists against the iron throne as Serpenterra slowly ascended into the void of space and prepared to accelerate and blast past the blockade of the Machine Empire's forces, arches of lighting racing up and down his exoskeleton.
"Mark my words, Machine King!" he vowed solemnly. "You will pay dearly for your treachery someday! I will be back! And when I return, I will grind your entire House into dust and melt your forces into molten scrap metal! I will rule this galaxy with every drop of evil I possess! And no one—no one!—will ever be able to stand before my Power! I swear it!"
o0o
14 million light years away, at the edge of a distant sector of space known as the Kerova Galaxy, a massive metallic space fortress hung in the void of space. Thousands of small two-fighter attack craft flew in and out of its multiple docking bays. Within the behemoth fortress, nearly fifty thousand mechanical foot soldiers known as Quantrons bustled about the vast space station, carrying out their assigned tasks.
One particular Quantron teleported into a silent hall, and quickly made its way to the central hub of the Dark Fortress. A door slid open, and the cybernetic done walked into a control room. The dominating feature of the room was a massive metallic throne. The chair was facing a massive viewing screen and contained a figure sitting quietly, concealed in the shadows.
The drone stood at attention for several minutes, before a sharp, and cold voice sliced through the air.
"Report."
The drone walked up to the back of the chair and began to deliver its report. Had any human been present on that ship, they would have found the lengthy debriefing entirely baffling as the drone seemed only able to make a variety of vibrational sounds. The being sitting in the throne however, was more than able to understand the drone's report perfectly. Once the report was delivered, the Quantron stepped back exactly thirteen paces, saluted, then spun around and exited the room.
For the next several minutes, all was silent as the mysterious figure contemplated the information. The eerie silence was then broken once more, by a light, throaty, feminine laugh. The chair slowly began to turn, and upon the completion of its circuit, it revealed the nature of the creature in command of the legions in service on the massive station.
A tall, thin human woman lounged comfortably on the throne. She was young in appearance, no older than 21 years of age. Her face was pale and shimmered with glitter and a purplish eye shadow that accentuated the light color of her eyes, giving her an exotic and sultry look.
She was dressed in a tight, black space suit, made of a leather-like material. It was accentuated by a silver corset and a pair of Na'Quat wrist bands, each of them armed with a jutting razor-sharp blade. She had an intricately styled mass of shimmering platinum blonde hair.
Despite her sensuous appearance, one glance at her would be enough to warn anyone from thinking to take any unwarranted liberties, for her eyes were cold as ice and a crackling aura of seething dark magic clung to her like an extra layer of skin.
"So," mused the woman to herself thoughtfully, "it seems that the Machine King is showing his traitorous colors at last. No wonder he broke off the negotiations for the excavation of Na'Quat ore so abruptly. Now, what to do, what to do?"
She fell silent for a few minutes before she slowly began to smile. With a look, she summoned one of the Quantron guards. It snapped to attention the second it came before her presence.
"Get me Ecliptor!" she ordered.
As the drone ran off to deliver her summons, the woman sat back in her throne and conjured a holographic board displaying several figures in various positions and most notably a miniature facsimile of the Machine King, his Queen, his heir and his Chief Minister.
"So, you want to betray the Dark Specter, do you?" whispered the woman aloud as she directed a movement, causing the board to shift as several pawns now surrounded the Machine Empire leadership.
"Well, you'll get your chance to try. Search for the Zeo Crystal if you wish, dear Machine King. All the Zeo Crystals in the universe won't be enough power for you to rise above the Supreme Monarch of All Evil. But since I hate playing fair, expect a big surprise. You'll find the Crystal, and deliver its Power—to me."
With a chilling smile, she banished the board as the hiss of the door's hyperlocks releasing signaled the arrival of her loyal general.
You think you can stab the Dark Specter in the back? Very well you mechanical fool, let the games begin…