Chapter One: Awakening.
Many Millennia Later, Angel Grove – 1998.
As the team teleported back into the chamber after beating back one of Lord Zedd's most dangerous monster, the ancient sage looked at them from his vantage point. His mind drifted back to the battle he had shared on Eltare with the vile witch called Rita. He had slain many legions of her monstrosities before facing her henchmen in a bloody duel. In that battle, he had managed to knock the armoured simian off the balcony of Rita's palace, leaving him with a clear shot at Scorpina. Using most of his knowledge, experience and power, he had entombed the creature into a giant boulder and had cast her into space to theoretically drift forever. At least it worked in theory.
He had then burst into the main hall of the witch's diabolical castle, sword swinging. He had been surprised that the hall was empty, but not for long as a spell of the darkest evil ripped into his side. He spied the form of his father's killer and had abandoned all self-restraint. The witch had not expected him to assault him in a blind rage, and was momentarily caught off-guard. When she had finally regained her bearings she quickly took the offensive, swiftly drawing her sceptre. In the merest instant, the one sided battle became an all-out clash between Good and Evil. Rita, not one to normally lose, gathered up all of her court in the arena – her monster maker Finster of Giot, the alchemist Baboo of Prosem, the gunslinger Squatt of Harkar and Goldar from a fairly large dent in the ground. Together, with the exception of Goldar, they gathered up all their arcane energies to send Zordon into another dimension.
But Zordon wasn't the type to let this go by easily and without a fight. He successively dodged five of their blasts, weakening their defences so that he could cast the imprisonment spell on them. The problem for him was that they needed something to be put into, otherwise they would only be trapped for a few thousand years. Inspiration hit when he had seen a highly jewelled canister ironically behind them. Focusing his thoughts, he drew a tight bead on the group, unleashing his blast almost at the same time as the witch's entourage had. The two beams had flown past each other, missing by microns, and had slammed into their intended targets. Fortunately, fate was on Zordon's side as his spirit was not cast into another dimension but, rather, into one of his own pocket dimensions. As the sight faded from his physical eyes, he saw Rita and her ghastly company sucked into the canister, which, he realised dimly, was nothing more than a wastepaper basket.
When he finally saw light once more, it had been ten million years since his imprisonment. He learned that Rita and her motley crew had also been blasted into the cosmos to drift for eternity. His friend Ninjor had contacted the mechanical mastermind Prince Lexian on the distant planet of Edenoi, and they had come the Zordon's aid by creating a tube of impenetrable crystal around his dimension. The fact that they had managed to shrink his pocket dimension down was incredible, but they also were the bearers of bad news. It seemed that as a final act of defiance, Rita had snatched the Green Dragon coin from Ninjor and had corrupted it with her evil, prior to her imprisonment. Also, Dorzon had had a mental breakdown while in the scimitar, and has duly changed his name to Saba – the name of a mythical Eltarean War God. He still remembered who he was and retained all his experience, but simply did not want to be associated with the name Dorzon. He had put it simply.
"Dorzon is dead. That's not me anymore."
As he settled in his new surroundings, he noticed a few remarkable things. His entire body was encased in the tube, or "Time Warp" as Ninjor dubbed it, but only his head could be seen. Ninjor was nervous about describing his appearance to the outside world, but was shocked when Zordon started laughing. The thought that he was just a disembodied head was just too funny to be taken seriously. He also found out that he could cast spells and infuse people with energy, although it would seem like he was doing it from his head, another factor that Zordon laughed at. Suddenly, after ten thousand years of adjusting, a message had been sent through. It seemed that Rita's flight had ended, the dumpster crashing into a small body of rock orbiting a fledgling planet. This planet was millions of years old, but already had the potential of powerful magic. The Higher Council had decreed it necessary for Zordon to be stationed on the planet to await Rita's return. Travel arrangements were…hasty to say the least.
He had been unceremoniously carted off to an awaiting starship from the planet KO-87 with plans for a "Command Centre" and an Alpha robot. A dizzying trip through various black holes later and he had finally arrived on Earth. When he had set down, the sudden appearance of a robot and a floating head caused a stir with the local natives. Basically put, they ran like Hell away from him. A few hours later, the Command Centre was fully operational and his tube was set in the centre. It was only then he saw that he had the five coins in his back pocket, apparently slipped there be Ninjor prior to his battle. He looked at them and sighed, knowing that they would be needed in the far future. Strangely, he'd sensed a very familiar energy source slowly coming closer, probably arriving around the year Two Thousand and Ninety Seven, if his timing wasn't off – but then it probably was.
Bringing himself back into the present, he congratulated his fine warriors on a job well done, beaming at his "Power Rangers". Jason, the Red Ranger – strong, brave and iron willed – he reminded Zordon of himself; Trini, the Yellow Ranger – gentle, caring and fierce; William, or Billy, - the Blue Ranger, almost as smart as Lexian; Zack – the Black Ranger, carefree, funny and reminding the ancient sage of Ninjor; Kimberley – the Pink Ranger, graceful, flexible and sharp-tongued. And then, he set his gaze on the sixth Power Ranger, still reeling after his first battle – Tommy. He sensed great things in his future, but he had made no sense out of the images – a falcon, a red star, a racecar and a Brachiosaur. He was the one that was partnered with his father, Saba, and they apparently had "put the smackdown on that bad-assed Nimrod" as he had so eloquently put it. So far, his father was behaving himself.
As his charges teleported out, he sensed a wave of evil sweep over him. It was so immense that the scanners momentarily gave out. He looked down at his faithful assistant and spoke, his deep voice resonating around the cavernous Chamber.
"Alpha, what was that?"
The little droid looked up at his master, with an expression that could almost be described as fear. The usually high-pitched voice came out low, announcing three words that sent a deep, blood-freezing terror into the ancient master's bones.
"He is coming."
TBC…