Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning
Chapter 6: Phaedos
Disclaimer: The Power Rangers belong to SABAN. Dulcea and Phaedos belong to Fox. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character. Cerlina is also KJ's and a grown up version of her (spoiler alert if you look) is featured in her series "Return to Action." Some of the dialog in this chapter was also copied from an actual series episode, which I didn't write.
Everything else is from my imagination.
The two girls landed unceremoniously in a tangle on unforgiving shoreline and at a strong enough velocity to send them both bouncing and spinning across the rocks beneath them. They groaned audibly as they finally came to a stop, panting for breath and unwilling to move in case they accidentally discovered something was broken or bleeding or worse.
"Are you insane?" Kim yelled out irritably, eyes still closed, head pounding unmercifully where it had hit the rocky beach. "Never, ever, try and grab someone out of a transportation portal."
Carri didn't answer at first, she was too discombobulated to form the words. She'd been transported once or twice by the Rangers, but the beam that had swallowed them inside the dormitory showers wasn't anything like what she'd experienced before. It felt like a rough, out of control free fall where you were terrified your chute wasn't going to open and then suddenly, without warning, it somehow miraculously did, but ripped the breakfast from your stomach in the process. She was thrilled to be on solid ground, grateful to be alive, and completely pissed off that her legs were shaking in terror. Opening her eyes, she spied the faint outline of not one, but two moons in the dim twilight and realized with a completely sinking feeling that she wasn't on her home planet anymore. Forcing herself into a sitting position, she came face to face with the hideous, decaying remains of an alien skeleton; further confirming her suspicions.
"Something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore Toto." She replied in what she'd intended to be a brash, sardonic tone, but in reality came out far more shaky and unsure.
"Really? Ya think?" Kim responded in an unusually grouchy manner as she pulled herself up and surveyed their surroundings.
She'd been to the same beach twice before, once with her original team and then the last time with the Rangers of her adopted world. The seascape was as beautiful and ethereal as she remembered, but she was also very much aware that it was almost sunset and the serene seascape literally wouldn't remain peaceful after dark. "We need to get moving." She advised. "It won't be safe here once the sun sets."
"Move where?" Carri asked, following her friend's lead and forcing herself to stand up. She felt like she'd just been in an overly intense sparring match without pads, her body bruised and her joints rebelling in places she hadn't known had been hit.
"The temple." Her friend replied, turning and striding confidently toward the cliff-side as if she knew exactly where she was going and as if the other girl would understand her. "Maybe Dulcea can figure out how to send you home."
"You want to tell me what's going on?" Carri asked tetchily, annoyed by her friend's uncharacteristic temper, but falling into step with her instead of waiting where she was for a response.
"You disrupted a transportation portal designed to arc time and transport me into the Phaedosian past. We didn't land where we were supposed to and now I'm worried we could either be in the wrong time or in the wrong dimension." She responded gruffly without looking back.
"I thought I was rescuing you." Carri responded testily. Being wrong was never a position she enjoyed being in, but being wrong after assuming she was doing the right thing and then getting bitched at for it made the sting ten times worse. "Next time I'll just let you fall into some unknown glowing blob all by yourself to whatever doom awaits you."
"That would be appreciated." Kim called back, already beginning her climb up the steep cliff. She knew her friend hadn't meant to do any harm, but she hadn't wanted to go to Phaedos in the first place and now everything was more messed up than before. She was annoyed and cranky and very frustrated, as well as slightly panicked that they could be in serious trouble if they were in the wrong time zone or dimension.
"Fine." Carri shot back, following as best she could in her bare feet and wishing she had more clothing than her thin pajamas to combat the chill wind that blew in from the sea. "How was I supposed to know? I thought I was helping you."
"You know I'm a Ranger Carri." Kim returned as she balanced and pulled her way upward.
"You're a retired Ranger." The other girl volleyed "You don't have your powers anymore, how was I supposed to know Rita wasn't trapping you again? You have a really unique tendency to get yourself into trouble, you know that?"
"I have a tendency to get into trouble?" Kim fired back, turning as she pulled herself over the cliff face and reaching out to give her friend a hand up. "You're the one who constantly gets caught up in Ranger affairs when you're not supposed to."
"So this is a Ranger thing?" Carri countered, dark eyes black and cantankerous.
"Not exactly." Her friend answered, giving her an odd look before turning and heading down a well-traveled trail through the thick jungle that seemed to appear from nowhere.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Carri pressed as she fell in line behind her friend. It didn't dawn on her to question where they were going or how her friend knew the way to go; she just simply went.
"Let's just get you to the temple, find out what time and dimension we've landed in, and see if Dulcea can get you home." She answered, marching at a brisk pace that she knew would be difficult for her friend to keep up with without shoes, but determined to reach the safety of the temple ring before dark.
"Kim, what's going on?" Carri demanded, stopping in her tracks then quickly catching up again when it became obvious the other girl was simply going to keep going. Reaching out to grab her arm, she pulled them both to a full stop. "What's going on?" She insisted.
"This is hard enough on me as it is, ok?" He friend replied, all of the anger and frustration suddenly dropping from her tone. "I'm scared. I don't want to be here, but I have to be, ok? Let me just focus on our main problem right now, which is that you're not supposed to be here and I'm not sure what effect your presence in the portal had on us. This jungle is full of predators, if we don't make it to the temple before sunset, I don't have any powers to keep us from being some weird alien dinosaur's dinner. Good enough?"
"Yeah, good enough." Carri answered back, although she had far more questions popping through her head that needed answers. "For now anyway."
Tommy flopped on his bed in frustration, not sure what he wanted to do. He was upset with Rocky's comment that he was spending too much time with Katherine Hillard and not sure how to defend himself or what to do about it. On the one hand, Kat needed a great deal of coaching and encouraging where being a Ranger was concerned. She was learning quickly and doing perfectly fine, but it was obvious that she was the new kid and he felt a huge pressure to help her through her inexperience and hesitancy just as Jason had helped him adjust to the team a few years before. That's what a good leader did, he helped his team adjust and work well together. On the other hand, if the Rangers had the wrong impression, so would his girlfriend, and he certainly didn't want Kimberly thinking he was fooling around on her.
It was a catch twenty-two. If he pulled back and distanced himself from the new pink Ranger, then what kind of a leader was he? What kind of an example was he setting? If he didn't, then that would just confirm everyone's opinion that he was cheating, which could prove disastrous if Kim found out. Kimberly was already insecure and jealous of the other girl. He understood, he really did, the Tommy on her world had been in love with the blond Australian and he could appreciate how that would make her apprehensive, but he wasn't his alternate, he was him, and he loved Kimberly, not Katherine.
He honestly didn't think the new pink Ranger was flirting with him; not really anyway. He genuinely thought that she was just feeling insecure as the new girl and was looking to him for a little support until she found her feet in the strange new role she'd found herself in.
Rangering wasn't fun and games and excitement. It was hard work, damned scary, and very dangerous. The Rangers got hurt every time they went out into battle, sometimes seriously, and he could recognize the signs that Katherine was just beginning to fully realize what she'd committed herself to. All of them were putting their lives on the line and willing to die to defend their world. He didn't think she'd really realized that going in. She was determined to step up to the challenge, had swallowed her fears and fought bravely, which he was very proud of her for, but he didn't think she really enjoyed what she was doing. To complicate things, the last few weeks of battles hadn't been hard at all. Goldar seemed to have stepped back and, for some unknown reason, Rito had taken the lead. He doubted Zedd would allow that to continue and worried about how the new pink would handle things once the attacks went back to their previous level of intensity. Off the field she was just a little too needy, didn't recount her experiences with the same enthusiasm the others did, was just a little too quick to need to go wash up and change afterward.
A deep frown crossed his forehead as he stared at the ceiling and tried to mull through his thoughts. He liked Katherine, he honestly did, and, if he was honest with himself, if he didn't have the promise that Kimberly was coming back, he probably might try for something a little more than simple friendship. The blond girl had the most stunning blue eyes he'd ever seen on a female and no guy, he didn't care how committed they were, could deny that she filled out pink spandex in ways that should be just plain illegal for a sixteen, almost seventeen year old. She had a pretty voice, was the sweetest, gentlest girl he'd ever met, and she smelled…
He stopped, forcing his mind completely blank and refusing to go there. He had the most beautiful girl in the universe waiting for him and that was that. Kimberly was already his and he was very content. The former pink was far more compatible with him than anyone he'd ever known. They had more than just a physical attraction in common; they could talk about anything, understood one another, had common goals.
Besides, things were looking up. Instead of having to wait seventeen more months for her to turn eighteen and nineteen months for him to turn eighteen, she would be home for senior year in just ten months; almost half the time. He could wait ten months. Ten months was nothing.
Sighing heavily, he blew out the excess stress he was under and tried to calm his mind. He missed his girlfriend desperately. He had totally taken for granted having her close by. He missed having her to talk to when he was stressed or feeling insecure, he missed that added confidence of knowing she had his back in battle, and he desperately missed the sex.
The sex was the hardest thing to give up. He'd become active at a ridiculously young age and it was just one of those things that he'd never really thought about denying himself. Before the Alternate had come into his life, he and Jason had never suffered a shortage of willing girls when the mood struck them and afterward he'd been completely content to be monogamous. Now however, there was a whole continent and an ocean between him and his only permissible partner and it wasn't like she would be sympathetic if he went back to having a one night stand here and there with someone else. He missed her; he seriously missed her.
Sighing heavily again, he sat up and turned his thoughts back to the problem at hand. Rocky was a red Ranger and, even if he'd never really led the team, he was still a very capable second in command. The best thing for him to do was to turn Katherine over to him. Rocky would be able to guide her and let her lean on him until she found her feet and then he would be able to detach and step back a little; put a little space between them.
There was hope that Kim would be coming home for Christmas to visit her dad and her family; he'd just have to put his head down and hang on to that. Feeling somewhat better, he stood and left his room in search of any leftovers his mom might have left in the refrigerator.
"Welcome Kimberly and Carri." Dulcea called warmly as the two girls entered the stone ruins of the old temple and approached her by the fire.
"You know my name?" Carri asked in confusion, forehead knotting and automatically on guard and wary.
"K mentioned you might arrive with Kimberly." The master warrior acknowledged, giving her a welcoming smile. "But I was expecting you early tomorrow morning, not this evening."
"But Carri wasn't supposed to come." Kim countered hesitantly, looking between her friend and the master warrior. "She didn't know what was happening and tried to pull me out of the portal, instead it swallowed both of us and threw us out on the beach."
"Interesting." Dulcea replied, frowning a little and regarding the girl seriously.
K had mentioned that she wanted the young Carri included in the training, but she wasn't sure what the final decision had been until the girl walked up to her. K thought that she might ground the young Kimberly, be a good and strong influence on her as her powers matured. She had also thought it prudent to train the more contentious Hillard descendant on Phaedos, before she ever became a Ranger, to help her mature and be more ready for her future. What that future was, however, the time guardian hadn't decided to confide.
"It doesn't matter," She assured the girls, indicating they should sit and join her by the campfire. "She's here now and both of you are still in time to begin your training with the other acolytes."
"What training?" Carri asked hesitantly.
"You married Lord Zedd!" Master Vile fumed, his temper rising as he argued with his stubborn and wayward daughter. She was his pride and joy, a true daddy's girl and the only one among any of his worthless children who'd managed to accomplish something for herself. "You couldn't have married someone with a skull?"
"I may not have a skull, but I've captured the great Ninjor!" Zedd declared, striding into the chamber with his entourage and interrupting what was supposed to have been a private conversation.
He didn't like the idea that his father in law had come for a visit. He liked being married to his wife, although he still wasn't entirely sure why, and he knew her father was going to try and talk her into leaving him. That was why he'd put so much of his efforts into ingratiating himself with the evil warlord, which meant learning his plans and how to be of the greatest assistance. It had taken nearly a month of leaving his inept brother-in-law in charge while he and Goldar figured it out, but it had been worth every moment for the look on Vile's face. Why his father in law needed the senile old wizard was still a mystery, but he had been the one to discover his location and he would be the one who got all the credit for it.
"What do you have to say now?" He added triumphantly.
"I don't believe it." Vile replied, stunned and, grudgingly, a little impressed with his son in law. He'd been after Ninjor's secret location for nearly eight thousand years and, although he'd come close many times, the elusive old ninja master had always eluded him.
"But it's true dad, look!" Rito piped up, stumbling forward past his brother in law with a blue urn precariously balanced in his boney fingers. Unfortunately, as could probably have been predicted, he tripped and the urn went flying from him; shattering into a thousand pieces on the stone floor. "Oh no!" He moaned as the ever present fog of the palace swirled around the broken pottery.
"Aha! I'm free at last!" A tiny, miniaturized version of Ninjor crowed victoriously in a dramatically sing song voice which sounded suspiciously like Marvin the Martian. "You'll never catch me now!" He sang theatrically, then made a hasty exit.
"You miserable excuse for as offspring." Vile growled as the small Ninjor took off at a full run and disappeared into the mist. "How could you let him get away?"
"Gee pop, I'm sorry, it just happened." Rito replied, shrugging his boney shoulders like a dolt and not entirely sure he remembered where he was or what he was supposed to be doing.
"Go get him!" Vile roared and Rito, suddenly remembering the tiny wizard running around on the floor, pounced unsuccessfully, landing in a huge pile of bones as the little version of Ninjor slipped easily away from him.
"That little twerp is essential to my master plan." Vile bemoaned. For a moment, and only a moment, he actually believed he might be close to achieving the impossible, only to be thwarted by his own miserable son. It was the boy's mother's fault, she'd been just as dense and completely hollow; literally.
"What would that be my dreaded father?" Rita asked, watching and wincing as her brother unsuccessfully tried to capture the tiny sorcerer running in circles around the room. She wasn't entirely sure who was more inept, her brother or the renowned old sage.
"Let's just say it involves a certain crystal." Vile elaborated. "The Zeo crystal to be exact."
"Aha!" Ninjor crowed theatrically as he suddenly, and for no reason that anyone could figure, finally grew to his full size; causing Rito, Baboo, and Squatt to collide and fall helplessly into a heap at his feet. "The Zeo crystal will never be yours Vile!" He declared.
"Seize him!" Vile roared, but just as Goldar decided he'd had enough of the incompetence around him and decided to intervene, Rito decided to move his boney leg outward under the swirling mists and he tripped, losing his footing and falling onto the pile of subordinates as well.
"Bye-bye." Ninjor called in his sing song, cartoonish voice, and simply disappeared.
"So let me get this straight." Carri said as they walked with Dulcea up a narrow path toward a massive tree that seemed to be growing over several ancient stone buildings. They had dressed in local garments that were only slightly less revealing than the master warrior's scanty garb and, while she was all for bikinis on the beach, the little leather outfit made her feel more than a little uncomfortable as they walked through the juggle of the strange world. "We're here for two weeks, then the portal will open and take us home and drop us off less than two minutes from the time we left?"
"Exactly." Dulcea responded patiently. "Have faith Carri, the universe and all its possibilities are only now just opening their wonders to you."
"You don't have to do this Carri." Kim added. "No one asked you, you just fell into it. You can stay with Dulcea for the two weeks we're here and then…"
"But this is where the Ranger's ninja powers came from right?" Carri interrupted. It had been an interesting night, full of wonderful answers to all kinds of questions, but she still wasn't entirely certain that she understood what was really going on.
"Ninjetti." Dulcea corrected gently. "There is a very big difference which you will learn to appreciate when the time comes. No Carri, although you will learn the ways of the Ninjetti along with the other acolytes, the powers the Rangers on your world possess are not something that one can simply learn. You will be training with those among our youth who wish to become warriors of Phaedos, protectors of the Great Power; a sacred right to our people. Many will begin the process, but few will ever see their aspirations come to fruition."
"But that's still related to the Rangers right?" She asked. She honestly wasn't sure why Kim, who was already a Ranger and had already had the Ninjetti powers, would come back and start all over again, but if it was important enough for her to secretly train with them via a time portal so that no one found out, then she wanted in as well. With any luck, she'd be the best candidate for the job the next time an opening in the Rangers came around.
"Only in the sense that Zordon sent me here." Kim answered hesitantly. She wasn't sure at all about this turn of events. If Carri stayed, then she might learn about Kemora's possession of her, that she wasn't really her world's Kimberly at all, but an imposter sent to patch and unstable timeline.
"Those who finish will realize a similar destiny." Dulcea clarified. "The warriors of Phaedos are champions of the Great Power, just as the Rangers you know are, but you will find there are many ways in which the Power will call to you into its service. Becoming a Ranger is but one of many possibilities."
"Well…" Carri replied, thinking it over. "It seems like that's exactly what I've wanted to do. I mean, all I've been able to think about since last year is helping the Rangers and being one of them."
"Then I commend you for your dedication and would hope that this is the beginning of a lifelong journey for you." The master warrior returned with an amused smile. "For now though, this is where I leave you. The Spirit Academy has many rules and I'm afraid I wouldn't be doing you any favors by showing you favoritism. Remember, neither or you are to mention your associations to me, to Zordon, or the Rangers while you are here and neither of you are to mention your training or the existence of this academy while you are away from Phaedos."
As both of them nodded solemnly in understanding, she added. "Good luck girls, may the Power protect you."
"Do you have a second?" Kat asked hesitantly as Tommy looked up from his homework.
"Yeah, I guess." He answered, looking cautiously around the crowded juice bar to see if anyone was watching them. He'd purposely picked the smallest table in the farthest corner, the one with only one chair.
She smiled at him shyly, then, looking around, spied an empty chair and carried it over to his table. If she noticed the groan he tried to stifle, she didn't say anything, but she did notice him looking around the room again.
"Are you expecting someone?" She asked, forehead crinkling a little and following his eyes.
"No." He returned nervously. "No, it's ok, I was just checking to see if the others were around."
"Rocky and Adam are at baseball practice." She offered, "And Aisha's studying for her biology test…I think Billy's in the Power chamber helping Alpha."
She paused when he only nodded, waiting expectantly for her to say something. She felt a little awkward and hoped her nervousness didn't show too much. She'd worn her best school outfit, had taken extra time with her hair and makeup, and had even swiped some of the perfume her cousin had left behind, but instead of drawing his interest, he seemed to be blatantly avoiding her and she wasn't sure why.
"Uhm," She began uncertainly, twisting her fingers around in her lap nervously. "I wanted to ask you…I mean, I… well…"
"What?" He asked, frowning uncomfortably as she paused and looked up at him like a little lost kitten.
"I know this might sound silly, but, well…" She paused again, then sped forward, her words tripping over themselves. "Well today it sort of seems like you're, well, that you don't, I mean…have I done something to make you mad at me?"
"No." He answered automatically, his head shaking back and forth and a little guilty pout forming around his mouth. "No, you're fine. I'm not mad at you."
"That's good." She sighed heavily, smiling brightly and relaxing in her chair. "Because it just sort of seemed that you were, I don't know…avoiding me today."
"I'm really busy today." He replied lamely, although that wasn't exactly true and he felt really guilty about saying it.
"Oh." She answered. "Well then I won't…"She began, then stopped mid-sentence as both their communicators chirped simultaneously.
Kim and Carri approached the Spirit Temple at a slow pace, Carri taking her cues from her friend and adopting a non-concerned attitude as they strode up the tiny path, oblivious to the young teen girls that stopped their chores to stare at them. Not all of them were dressed as scantily as they were, which made her a little more self-conscious than she'd previously been, but they weren't the only ones in leather bikinis.
"Well, well…and what do we have here?" A tall blond girl, who was perhaps a little older than they were, asked them as she stepped directly in their way to prevent their progress. She was dressed similarly to everyone else, with a short leather skirt and halter-top, but she also sported a long necklace of some sort of reptilian teeth and balanced a long, intricately carved staff in her hand.
"Greetings." Kim replied evenly, taking in the girl's haughty attitude and derisive looks and deciding to be blunt and to the point. "We're here to see Durla."
"You think that you can just walk up here from the jungle and ask to see a master warrior?" The girl asked them snidely, her posture challenging.
"That's what I was instructed to do." Kim answered, unflinching. The other girl was older, taller, but very egotistical and smug; reminding her of Scorpina. She'd seen her type before. She was queen bee among the underlings and knew it.
"Well then you're an ignorant fool." She spat. She twirled her staff around in an impressive display of various techniques, then slapped it to a loud stop against the palm of her hand. "You're trespassing." She hissed in a deadly tone. "Now run away, back into the jungle, before you get hurt."
"I'm not armed." Kim answered smoothly, unimpressed by the display "I've come here in good faith and friendship. I've offered you no reason to strike me. Is that what they teach you here? To use your powers to bully those who mean you no harm?"
"You little…" The other girl snarled, swinging her staff as if to strike her, but Kim was quicker. She used the momentum of the attack to counter it and sent the other girl flying past her. The girl hissed in outrage and would have turned to strike again, but a sharp reprimand froze them both in place.
The girls watched as an older, but not yet middle aged woman walked steadily down the path. "Explain yourselves." She barked unsympathetically.
"They trespass on sacred ground." The blond girl hissed, surprising Carri and Kim with the intensity of her rage.
"I'm Kimberly." Kim responded, giving the older woman a respectful bow of her head, "My friend is Carri. We were told to follow this path and ask for Durla."
"I am Durla." The older woman announced brusquely, eyes hard and unforgiving. "We have no tolerance here for those who incite needless violence against our students. What have you to say for your actions?"
"I would say I think I might be in the wrong place." Kim surprised Carri by responding calmly, her eyes meeting those of the old woman and holding them firmly. "I was told I would find a place of honor here, where those who serve the Great Power educate themselves in its ways. Not a place where strangers are unfairly blamed for the transgressions of others. "
"How dare you." The other woman countered. "I know who you are, what you are…the spawn of evil, nothing more. Within seconds of your arrival, violence erupts around you. Be gone demon, we have nothing for you here."
Kim was obviously effected by the woman's words, although why she didn't deny them baffled Carri. Outraged, she spoke up, "Your student, or whatever she is, attacked us for no reason. All we did was introduce ourselves."
"You were not asked." Durla replied in a harsh tone.
"Durla!" Another voice called, and both girls raised their eyes to see a long line of older women, presumably teachers and masters, approaching. "You were told to welcome Kimberly and her friend when she arrived, see them both to their living quarters, and inform me when they were ready to begin their training. Is this how you carry out your instructions?"
"Within seconds of her arrival, she incited…"
"She defended herself against your apprentice's unwarranted attack." The other woman countered. "Your apprentice made the first aggressive move, not the new girls." She emphasized, "I saw all from my practice range, as did my students; as did those in the watch towers."
"Cerlina!" Another of the teachers barked harshly, moving past the other women and turning angry eyes on the blond girl who had attacked them. "You disgrace yourself and you disgrace this academy. Two hundred hours in the service of the grounds keepers should teach you that you are not nearly as self-important as you believe. "
Carri stole a cautious look at the girl, who was obviously seething, but she bowed stiffly in acceptance and didn't fight back. "Yes Master Oren." She replied stiffly.
"I am Master Florde." The first of the new women spoke up, turning to the new girls with a welcoming and slightly apologetic look. "Head of the Spirit Academy."
In response Kim bowed in both acknowledgement and respect and Carri mimicked her actions, wondering what was going on and what the ramifications on them might be later. The one named Cerlina was giving them a look that she knew very well, a look that said retribution would be coming very soon. The one named Durla was also going to be a problem. If she was one of the teachers, then they were both in deep trouble.
"Welcome Kimberly." Florde said formally, "Welcome to your friend Carri as well."
"Thank you." Kim replied in the same tone. "It is an honor for us to be here."
"I will take charge of you directly from here on out." Master Florde advised, giving Durla a look that clearly said she was not to interfere. "From now on, you will look to Master Oren and then to me, not Durla for your directions. For now though, I will show you to your dwelling. My apprentice is Werline, she will be your mentor and your direct superior. I will send her to you and she will explain your first duties." With that, she turned and made a slight motion with her hand for the girls to follow her. "Come girls, there is much to do before your training begins on the morrow."
"You know what?" Carri whispered as she caught up to her friend and they fell in line behind their new teachers. "For someone who was the most popular girl in Angel Grove High, you have a distinctly unique talent for making people hate you."
"Zordon, you called us?" Tommy asked as, one by one, all the Rangers appeared in the Power Chamber.
"Rangers," Zordon greeted from his tube. "I'm afraid we have a very serious situation. Before you is Ninjor, a great and venerable master of the Power. He has just presented me with some disturbing news."
"What is it?" Tommy asked, brow furling and stepping into a stance that told his mentor he was ready to hear the challenge awaiting him.
"Master Vile has devised a fiendish plot." Ninjor began in an over-the-top and very worried voice. "He wants…the Zeo crystal." He finished with great flourish.
"This is just as I suspected." Zordon announced solemnly, nodding his head.
"What's the Zeo Crystal?" Katherine asked, frowning and turning her pretty blue eyes upward. She wasn't entirely sure what she thought of Ninjor. Zordon had called him a great and venerable master of the Power, but he seemed kind of creepy to her.
"Rangers," Zordon explained, drawing their attention back to him. "The Zeo crystal is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It…"
"Thousands of years ago," Ninjor explained with breathless drama, interrupting him and taking center stage again, "The people of galaxy M-51 hid it from Master Vile, deep inside the Caves of Deception. They then placed a force field around the crystal, preventing anyone who was not completely pure of heart from even touching it."
"We can't take the chance that Vile will get to it." Tommy interjected, somehow instinctively knowing what Zordon was about to ask of them. Like the others, he wasn't entirely sure what to make of Ninjor. He'd been a Ranger long enough to know that you're allies were often not what you'd expect, but Ninjor seemed a little…he wasn't entirely sure. "Where are the Caves of Deception?" He asked, thinking maybe he'd feel a little better about things if he could plot a course of action.
"I'm afraid that they're on the moon itself, directly beneath Rita and Zedd's palace." Zordon answered solemnly, nodding as the teens gasped in unison.
"As you know, Zedd took over the alien palace above the caves." Ninjor explained. "His evil corrupted the good in the palace, but cannot destroy the pure good in the caverns below."
"We thought the crystal would be safe from Zedd." Zordon continued. "But Master Vile is much older and infinitely wiser in the ways of evil. Further, the crystal's power increases with time. If Master Vile acquires the Zeo crystal for his own, he could rule the entire universe."
"We're ready Zordon." Tommy assured him and the other teens nodded in agreement. "Tell us what we need to do."