INTERLUDE : FORCES FROM THE FUTURE

The world was a mess. Years ago, the power rangers had failed to stop the UAE from conquering the universe, and now everybody was suffering because of it.

The UAE appeared as peaceful benefactors, but everybody knew who they really were. People were too scared to speak out, for anyone who even whispered controversial stuff regarding their rulers were dragged off-planet to the mines of Andresia. None of them were ever returned to Earth.

Any hope of reclaiming their freedom vanished after the establishment of the UAE's own vast army of ranger sentries and the destruction of Eltar. It was not possible to save the world now, but there was still a way to prevent the universe from falling into the clutches of darkness.

In the ruins of Crystal City, a cloaked spaceship lay, hidden amongst the collapsed buildings, damaged vehicles and wrecked roads.

Under the blinking lights, five elusive figures gathered around a cracked round table. They were the last real rangers left in the universe. But they were wanted across star-systems, labelled as theives and pirates. The UAE called them the Rogue Rangers to differentiate them from it's own ranger teams.

"Did you get it ?" The phantom ranger asked.

The four rangers looked at the only demorphed person in the ship.

Fred Kelman smirked, as he tossed the Teseract to his mentor.

The Tesseract could open a breach in space and time, allowing them to go back in time and stop the Fall of the Rangers. This entire mess happened because Zedd used it to unleash the horrors of the Shadow World on them - a threat even the Ninjetti couldn't handle.

But now, they could fix the past.

"You know, we'll be messing with the timeline, right ?" Beevor, the blue ranger asked.

The Phantom Ranger looked up at him. "There's no other way. The temporal paradoxes will be overwritten by the spatial disturbances caused by the Tesseract. Zedd wasn't supposed to use it either, but he did. Then, why should we hesitate to even the odds ?"

The blue ranger nodded grudgingly. He was not from Earth. Heck, he didn't even look human. But he knew that the key to liberate the universe was to free Earth first. That's why he left his own home to help the Terran Resistance.

Charlie, the red ranger took off her helmet, and looked directly at the Phantom Ranger.

"Can you make it work, Billy ?"

" I can." He replied. The war had taken a huge toll on him. He was the last of Zordon's rangers still fighting. His body had been decimated by a surprise attack by Zedd, but the previous phantom ranger had fused with him, giving him one last chance to save humanity.

He quickly recruited a new team of rangers, who were willing to do whatever is necessary to bring down the UAE. They were not heroes, they were warriors.

Charlie, Beevor and Ivan were his selected candidates to be the Rebel Rangers. Fred Kelman volunteered to go undercover and infiltrate the S.P.D rangers (who were part of the corrupted galactic police force). He became part of that team, joining Drew (Red), Rachel (Pink) and Clifford (Yellow) as the Gold S.P.D ranger.

He gained the trust of his 'superiors' and when the time was right, he recovered the Tesseract from the most secure place in the universe- the S.P.D. Headquarters of Earth.

While he was masquerading as a S.P.D officer, the others collected various gadgets to build a transportal device. All it needed was the Tesseract to provide it with chronitron particles, and secure a connection to the past.

And now finally, they were ready.

Charlie joined hands with Ivan, as Billy inserted the glowing blue cube into the portal generator. He tossed it to the ground, as a purple portal opened up.

"Let's go. We won't have much time before they find -" Before he could complete the sentence, a rapier struck his shoulder from behind, causing sparks to erupt from his armour.

"I am already here, darling. Did you miss me ?" A burst of energy blindened them all, as a purple ranger teleported Infront of them.

"Go!" He screamed. "I'll hold her off!"

" No. We can't leave -" Before Fred could do anything, Billy unleashed an energy wave from his gem, pushing all four of them into the portal. "You'll lose. They're already there. We will stop you before you even rise!"

"We'll see." She responded coldly. Her helmet resembled that of the Psycho Rangers, while the rest of her armour was an altered version of the Mighty Morphin Ranger suits, with purple diamonds replacing white and her torso covered by black fabric. A tattered cloak latched onto her shoulders.

" You know I've dreamt of this moment for so long, Billy. We were chosen by the gods themselves. Finally we can be together again." She tore the ruby from his chest, forcing him to demorph.

" You can kill me if you want. But you'll never be able to stop them. You can't follow them. The tesseract is gone, and -"

" There's still enough residual energy from the tesseract. Our powers joined together can harness that energy and allow us to go back and stop your students from messing up history." She stated.

"And why would I help you ?"

"Because I love you. What I am doing is for the best of the universe."

"Don't try to fool me. I know exactly who you are. The woman I loved died years ago, when you possessed her."

" Well, I tried to do this the easy way." She shrugged, before stabbing him with her rapier. "Goodbye, my love."

Billy Cranston staggered, collapsing on the floor, as his attacker pulled her weapon back.

"Don't do this, K-"

"You said it yourself. I am not the woman you love. I am the Wraith Ranger, leader of the UAE. "

She turned her back to the dying man, before clutching the phantom ruby tightly. She held it up with one hand, and a coin in the other, channeling it's energies. She grinned underneath her helmet as the portal reappeared.

The evil ranger walked through it, determined to stop the rebels from altering the timeline, at all costs.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

The alternate Spd rangers and the Rebel Rangers are based on "Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patoranger".

The Wraith ranger is my own creation. If anyone wants to see how she looks like, you can find a fanart of her, created by yours truly, in my Deviantart page :

bluelegendsnolan/art/WRAITH-RANGER-767148958