Ethan was still in shock. How could they hope to beat Lord Zedd that guy was probably five times tougher than Mesogog. Hell, he could beat Dr.O in his Ranger prime.
Kimberly patted down one of the armored Rangers and retrieved his plastic key card. She examined the transparent plastic before sliding it into her pocket.
"We don't have time to talk about it," Scorpina said. "We need to rest. Tomorrow they're going to notice to these guys aren't back for the shift change. We have to be ready to invade before they can get any significant barriers."
"You guys can rest," Kira said. "I'm going to step out and talk to Ethan."
"Go on, but watch out," Kimberly said.
Kira grabbed Ethan by the wrist and stepped out.
The air was chilled and the sky was an awesome mix of empty void and red nebulas.
"You can't be serious about all of this," Ethan said.
Kira nodded. "I am."
"What about Dr.O."
"He'll still be there," Kira said. "This world needs us. People are living in fear, people we know are dying."
"These people don't matter," Ethan said. "Not to us at least. Dr.O matters! And he really needs our help."
Kira looked down at the ground.
"Dr.O was worried about this world. He let himself get captured so the Rangers of this world could escape," Kira turned back to the entrance. "I shouldn't have tried to talk you into it. You don't understand."
"I understand Kira," Ethan said, "And trust me, seeing how messed up this world is hasn't been easy for me either. I just don't think we should put saving another world over saving our own."
Kira didn't respond. Instead, she went back down to the subway and slept on her makeshift bed.
The two didn't talk until sunrise.
Ethan awoke with a stiff back and a throbbing headache. He was a little shaken to be back in reality since he had actually been dreaming about his mom.
"Hey, Kira," He called to the only person he knew in this strange universe. She seemed to have already been awake for awhile and was lacing up her shoes. She already had two guns resting on her hip.
The sight might have been badass if not for the context of the battle she was about to enter.
"You don't have to go with them," Ethan said in a somber tone.
"Yeah," Kira mumbled, "I do."
"What do you mean?" Ethan asked, "Why won't you tell me what's going on? What the hell happened to you?"
Kira turned her back to Ethan and continued to prepare for war.
Ethan threw on his shirt when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He whipped around to see one of the teenagers that were accompanying Kira and the others.
"Hey." She said a little awkwardly. She was probably close to sixteen, long curly brown hair and a cute face.
"Hey," Ethan shot back. He really didn't know what else to say to her.
"So you're leaving?" She asked.
"Yeah. I mean somebody's gotta save Dr.O."
The girl nodded. "He seemed like a nice guy. At the very least he doesn't deserve to be Goldar's chew toy."
The imagery sent a chill through Ethan. "How did you know Dr.O?"
She simply held up her Thunder Morpher. "He gave me my powers."
Ethan looked down at his own Morpher. It felt like ages since he had accidentally gotten his own powers. In that time he had grown so much. Dr.O had taught him so much about how to be a hero, both super and otherwise.
"My world needs him," Ethan said. He looked at the abandoned subway and listened to the silence all around him. "I mean your world is messed up, I know that, but I've got to worry about my own life. My own family."
"I don't blame you. I remember my family. I'd have done anything to protect them."
From the look on her face, he didn't need to ask what happened to her family.
Hurt ran across her face like a cracked vase. He could practically see the painful memories stabbing through her mind.
"I'm not going to persuade you anyway," The girl said. "I just want you to imagine how far you'd go if it was your family at the guillotine."
Ethan nodded. A cocktail of emotions brewing in his chest.
"Come on Maria," Scorpina said. "Alpha is going to teleport us to Zedd's private island fortress. You need to be ready."
"Yeah," Maria said, she took one last look at Ethan before standing up.
"Is everyone ready?" Kimberly asked, looked hard at the small team.
"I am," Kira replied in an emotionless tone. "Is everyone else?"
The rest of the six stood up together. They crowded around one another and Kimberly grabbed her ragged communicator.
Ethan looked at the subway exit. In that split second he thought about everything that had transpired in the past few weeks.
"Wait!" He called out to the group. "I'll come with, but I have one condition."
"Make it quick," Scorpina said.
"After we defeat Lord Zedd you help me bring Dr.O home."
'It isn't that simple," Scorpina said. "After Lord Zedd, we have to worry about defending the planet from the rest of the universe."
"We'll do our best," Kimberly said. "I was angry when I realized that Dr.O was the Lord Drakkon of your world, but we owe him for letting us get this far."
Ethan nodded. "In that case, I'm ready when you guys are."
Kira grabbed hold of his hand and smiled. The light soon enveloped the seven of them.
The group of freedom fighters landed hard on the stone ground. Kimberly looked around and gave a strange smile. "It feels almost nostalgic doesn't it?"
"We can take a trip down memory lane after we assassinate the intergalactic overlord," Scorpina said.
"Oh I wouldn't worry too much about that," a grumbly voice called out.
"I didn't know Lord Zedd bothered to keep you around, King Sphinx," Scorpina replied.
The monster smiled with his cat-like face. "You'd be surprised what Lord Zedd has at his disposal."
From behind King Sphinx lumbered in Robogoat and a posse of Z-Putties.
"It's time we put an end to this petty resistance," Robogoat said.
"I should have known this wouldn't be easy," Ethan muttered as he armed his Morpher.
Scorpina slashed her blade across one of Z-Putties and shattered it, causing the grunt to simply dissolve.
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!" The two Rangers screamed as Robogoat rushed towards them.
The Yellow Ranger racked her Petra Grips across his thick hide, causing a splash of sparks.
The three Thunder Ranger surrounded King Sphinx. The golden warrior roared and swung his staff, but all three Rangers used their ninja reflexes to easily avoid the attack.
"Sorry dude," The Green Ranger said as he landed back on his feet. "You're gonna have to try harder than that."
"I am more than just some disposable grunt," King Sphinx proclaimed, "I have been given a special gift for my undying loyalty." A dark aura surrounded the Egyptian creature as his muscles began to bulge even further.
The creature slammed his fist into the Red Ranger and sent her flying backward.
The Blue Thunder Ranger jumped in to aid her with his flailing nunchucks but King Sphinx swatted the Ranger away with his cane.
Similarly, Robogoat was swirling with an energy of its own. It swung its fist right into the Blue Dino Ranger but he had managed to deflect the strike with his civilian power.
"What was that?" The monster asked in annoyance.
The Yellow Ranger laughed, "We're more than your average Rangers." She sucked in a large breath and exhaled a horrendous Petra Scream. Robogoat flew back and slammed into the wall. The Yellow Ranger then jumped through the air with her Petra Grips close at hand. Using them in a swift scissoring motion she cleaved the monster's head clean off.
The Red Thunder caught this from the corner of her eye and felt a rush of confidence flow through her core. When King Sphinx threw his golden staff down she caught it with one blade, then, used her other blade to slice right into the monster's chest.
Scorpina noticed this surge of power within the fledgling Ranger and tossed the Red Warrior her own curved blade. The Red Ranger caught it flawlessly and swiftly sliced right through King Sphinx's midsection.
The air was clear as both monsters lay defeated and dead.
The Red Ranger wordlessly gave Scorpina her weapon back. It seemed as if the entire universe were coming back to her at once.
"Good work kid," Scorpina said and patted the Ranger on the back.
Maria just shook Scorpina off. "We don't have time to take a pit stop. We've gotta end this. Now."
Scorpina nodded and the team moved forward.
Billy pulled the cloak back over his face as he crawled through the basement of the Moon Palace. From memories that weren't his own, he knew that this place was once used to store diplomats visiting Earth from far off worlds. Back then the dinosaurs had ruled the world and Zordon was still a youthful romantic. Now it was a prison, the ancient walls had been torn and scarred, the priceless artwork was defiled with crude mustaches and word bubbles that read, "I stink!"
A posse of Z-Putties filed into the room and Billy let out a shallow gasp before remembering that he was surrounded by an invisibility field.
He knew that he shouldn't be there, that this was all one huge mistake, but Ethan had stirred some emotion that had lain dormant in the Phantom Ranger for far too long.
Hope.
A/N: So with today being the anniversary of Personality Shift I knew had to post something. There will be more updates down the pipeline, so be sure to follow and favorite.
And don't forget to tell me what you think!
-Shadowhenshin